Summary
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling can be a highly sensitive method for detecting aquatic taxa; however, the cost‐efficiency of this technique relative to traditional methods has not been ...rigorously assessed.
We show how methods that account for imperfect and stochastic detection can be used to (i) determine the optimal allocation of survey effort with eDNA sampling for a fixed budget (i.e. identify the optimal combination of water samples vs. site visits), and (ii) assess the cost‐efficiency of eDNA sampling relative to traditional survey techniques. We illustrate this approach by comparing eDNA sampling and bottle‐trapping for an exotic newt species (Lissotriton v. vulgaris) recently detected in Melbourne, Australia.
Bottle traps produced much lower detection rates than eDNA sampling, but the cost‐efficiency of the two methods can be similar because bottle‐trapping is cheaper per sample. The relative cost‐efficiency of the two sampling methods was sensitive to the available survey budget, the costs of eDNA primer/probe development and sample processing and the number of positive quantitative PCR assays (qPCRs) used to designate a water sample as positive for newt DNA. Environmental DNA sampling was more cost‐efficient than bottle‐trapping for small to intermediate budgets when primer/probe development and sample processing costs were low, and 1/4 or 2/4 positive qPCRs were used to label a water sample as positive for newt eDNA. However, bottle traps were generally more cost‐efficient than eDNA sampling when primer/probe development and sample processing costs were high, regardless of qPCR threshold or survey budget.
Traditional sampling methods may achieve lower detection probabilities compared to eDNA sampling, but the totality of costs can make eDNA sampling less efficient than traditional techniques in some circumstances. Our approach provides a quantitative framework for determining how many water samples and site visits are required to maximize detection probabilities with eDNA sampling, and can calculate the cost‐efficiency of any sampling method.
Explore health professionals’ perceptions toward how to address malnutrition within the first 1,000 days of life in underresourced communities.
A qualitative explorative-descriptive study using 8 ...face-to-face focus group discussions.
Health facilities serving underresourced communities within Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
Fifty-six health professionals (n = 13 doctors, n = 28 nurses, n = 6 dietitians, and n = 9 social workers) aged between 20 and 60 years, with 1–16 years (5 years average) of working experience. The majority (n = 53; 94.6%) were women.
Health professionals’ perceptions of effective methods or strategies to address malnutrition are referred to as undernutrition.
Content analysis.
Health professionals perceived socioeconomic conditions; caregiver lack of nutrition knowledge; and behavioral, cultural, and generational infant feeding practices as contributing factors to malnutrition. Participants recommended efforts to strengthen the availability, accessibility, and utilization of contraception, especially for teenagers, increase support to caretakers of children from families, health facilities, and communities, and a multisector and multidisciplinary approach to improve social determinants of health in underresourced communities.
To address malnutrition within the first 1,000 days of life, data supports that health professionals in underresourced communities require a multisector, multidisciplinary approach. This approach entails educational interventions, peer mentoring and community empowerment through support to and involvement of caregivers of children.
Abstract
We present the results of a monitoring campaign using the KAT-7 and HartRAO 26 m telescopes, of hydroxyl, methanol, and water vapour masers associated with the high-mass star-forming region ...G9.62+0.20E. Periodic flaring of the mainline hydroxyl masers was found, similar to that seen in the 6.7 and 12.2 GHz methanol masers. The 1667 MHz flares are characterized by a rapid decrease in flux density, which is coincident with the start of the 12.2 GHz methanol maser flare. The decrease in the OH maser flux density is followed by a slow increase till a maximum is reached after which the maser decays to its pre-flare level. A possible interpretation of the rapid decrease in the maser flux density is presented. Considering the projected separation between the periodic methanol and OH masers, we conclude that the periodic 12.2 methanol masing region is located about 1600 au deeper into the molecular envelope compared to the location of the periodic OH masers. A single water maser flare was also detected, which seems not to be associated with the same event that gives rise to the periodic methanol and OH maser flares.
Effective management of alien species requires detecting populations in the early stages of invasion. Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling can detect aquatic species at relatively low densities, but few ...studies have directly compared detection probabilities of eDNA sampling with those of traditional sampling methods. We compare the ability of a traditional sampling technique (bottle trapping) and eDNA to detect a recently established invader, the smooth newt
Lissotriton vulgaris vulgaris
, at seven field sites in Melbourne, Australia. Over a four-month period, per-trap detection probabilities ranged from 0.01 to 0.26 among sites where
L. v. vulgaris
was detected, whereas per-sample eDNA estimates were much higher (0.29-1.0). Detection probabilities of both methods varied temporally (across days and months), but temporal variation appeared to be uncorrelated between methods. Only estimates of spatial variation were strongly correlated across the two sampling techniques. Environmental variables (water depth, rainfall, ambient temperature) were not clearly correlated with detection probabilities estimated via trapping, whereas eDNA detection probabilities were negatively correlated with water depth, possibly reflecting higher eDNA concentrations at lower water levels. Our findings demonstrate that eDNA sampling can be an order of magnitude more sensitive than traditional methods, and illustrate that traditional- and eDNA-based surveys can provide independent information on species distributions when occupancy surveys are conducted over short timescales.
Abstract Aedes aegypti (yellow fever mosquito) and Ae. albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) are globally invasive pests that confer the world’s dengue burden. Insecticide-based management has led to the ...evolution of insecticide resistance in both species, though the genetic architecture and geographical spread of resistance remains incompletely understood. This study investigates partial selective sweeps at resistance genes on two chromosomes and characterises their spread across populations. Sweeps at the voltage-sensitive sodium channel ( VSSC ) gene on chromosome 3 correspond to one resistance-associated nucleotide substitution in Ae. albopictus and three in Ae. aegypti , including two substitutions at the same nucleotide position (F1534C) that have evolved and spread independently. In Ae. aegypti , we also identify partial sweeps at a second locus on chromosome 2. This locus contains 15 glutathione S-transferase ( GST ) epsilon class genes with significant copy number variation among populations and where three distinct genetic backgrounds have spread across the Indo-Pacific region, the Americas, and Australia. Local geographical patterns and linkage networks indicate VSSC and GST backgrounds probably spread at different times and interact locally with different genes to produce resistance phenotypes. These findings highlight the rapid global spread of resistance and are evidence for the critical importance of GST genes in resistance evolution.
Objective Structured Clinical Examinations are widely adopted as a clinical assessment method in nurse education. Quality is an integral aspect of the design and implementation of OSCEs, facilitating ...their credibility and rigour. However, there is a dearth of literature regarding the management of the quality of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations.
To summarise existing literature regarding best practices on the management of the quality of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations in health science education.
An integrative literature review.
EBSCOhost, including CINAHL, eBook Collection, E-journals, ERIC, Health Source-Consumer Edition, Health Source-Nursing/Academic Edition, Humanities International Complete and MEDLINE, together with Cochrane Online, PubMed, Taylor & Francis Online and ScienceDirect, were searched, followed by hand searching of references as well as a manual search for grey literature, using Google.
Using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, research documents (experimental, non-experimental, descriptive and qualitative studies), non-research documents (editorials, opinion letters), including grey literature, published between January 2010 and March 2021.
A total of thirteen (n = 13) studies were included in the review. A total of 22 quality measures were identified, which should be applied in the preparation and planning, implementation and evaluation phases of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations. The preparation and planning phase is crucial for the quality of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, as more than half (n = 12) of the 22 quality measures were identified in this phase.
There is limited available recorded evidence that defines and describes the management of the quality of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations. Future research should focus on the context-specific use of psychometric analysis to ensure generation of valid, objective and consistent assessment during Objective Structured Clinical Examinations. More rigorous large-scale studies (such as quantitative or randomised controlled trials) regarding management of variances amongst examiner scores, impact of moderation on Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, and virtual Objective Structured Clinical Examinations should be conducted.
•Limited evidence is available regarding the management of the quality of OSCEs.•Quality measures must be applied in OSCEs' preparation and planning, implementation and evaluation phases.•Further exploration regarding management of examiner variances, moderation and virtual OSCEs is needed.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is a promising tool for monitoring cryptic species. Numerous studies have demonstrated that eDNA sampling can achieve higher detection rates than traditional ...monitoring techniques, such as trapping; however, the consequences of that sensitivity for survey design requirements and resulting survey costs have not been investigated.
We demonstrate how site occupancy detection models and optimal survey design methods can be used to evaluate the cost‐efficiency of eDNA sampling vs. traditional survey methods. We apply these approaches to two datasets—one in which eDNA sampling and trapping were conducted simultaneously (paired dataset), and another in which sampling methods were independently deployed (unpaired dataset)—to assess the cost‐efficiency of eDNA sampling for detecting a freshwater mammal: the platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus.
Conditional probabilities of platypus eDNA being captured in a single water sample (paired dataset: 0.838, unpaired: 0.879), and detected in a single water sample by qPCR (paired: 0.892, unpaired: 0.858), were higher than the conditional probability of detecting a platypus with a single trapping visit (paired: 0.470, unpaired: 0.219).
eDNA sampling was more cost‐efficient than trapping, regardless of whether the management objective was to (1) minimize the survey budget needed to achieve a particular asymptotic variance of the occupancy estimator, or (2) minimize the survey budget needed to detect a change in occupancy over time.
Site occupancy detection models coupled with optimal survey design methods provide a powerful means with which to compare the sensitivity and cost‐efficiency of eDNA sampling vs. traditional sampling methods.
Aim
To summarize what facilitates patient‐centred care for adult patients in acute healthcare settings from evidence‐based patient‐centred care guidelines.
Design
An integrative literature review.
...Data sources
The following data sources were searched between 2002‐2020:
Citation databases: CINAHL, Medline, Biomed Central, Academic Search Complete, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition and Google Scholar.
Guideline databases: US National Guideline Clearinghouse, Guidelines International Network, and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Websites of guideline developers: Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, Royal College of Nurses, Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, New Zealand Guidelines Group, National Health and Medical Research Council, and Canadian Medical Association. Guidelines.
Review methods
Whittemore and Knafl's five‐step integrative literature review: (1) identification of research problem; (2) search of the literature; (3) evaluation of data; (4) analysis of data; and (5) presentation of results.
Results
Following critical appraisal, nine guidelines were included for data extraction and synthesis. The following three groups of factors were found to facilitate patient‐centred care: 1) Patient care practices: embracing values foundational to patient‐centred care, optimal communication in all aspects of care, rendering basic nursing care practices, and family involvement; 2) Educational factors: staff and patient education; and 3) Organizational and policy factors: organizational and managerial support, organizational champions, healthy work environment, and organizational structures promoting interdisciplinary partnership.
Conclusion
Evidence from included guidelines can be used by nurses, with the required support and buy‐in from management, to promote patient‐centred care.
Impact
Patient‐centred care is essential for quality care. No other literature review has been conducted in the English language to summarize evidence‐based patient‐centred care guidelines. Patient care practices and educational, organizational, and policy factors promote patient‐centred care to improve quality of care and raise levels of awareness of patient‐centred care among nursing staff and patients.
Standardisation of clinical teaching practices by nurse educators for undergraduate students is vital, especially within large nursing education institutions distributed over multiple campuses. This ...quantitative study investigated current clinical teaching practices of nurse educators at a Public College of Nursing in South Africa. A total of n = 68 nurse educators were selected from 5 campuses over a two-month period (April–May 2016), using convenience sampling. Data was collected with a structured questionnaire, the design of which was informed by the Dundee Three Circle Outcomes Model for Clinical Teaching. The results showed that 37% (n = 25) of the nurse educators had above 10 years of clinical teaching experience. Of the 66% (n = 45) who had formal education on clinical teaching practices, 49% (n = 33) received in-service education. Most nurse educators were willing to share amongst colleagues documents they used for clinical teaching, to promote standardisation of teaching practices. Further, they evidenced best clinical practices regarding planning for assessment and clinical placement of students. However, there were significant variations in the majority (seven) of the nine investigated clinical teaching practices among participants. In-service education was positively correlated to best clinical teaching practices (Chi square (d.f. = 2, n = 68) = 7.24; p = .027; V = 0.33 Medium).
•This study investigated clinical teaching practices of South African nurse educators.•Standardisation of clinical teaching practices does not always happen.•Most nurse educators showed good clinical teaching practices.•Variations were found in the clinical teaching practices of nurse educators.•In-service training was positively correlated to best clinical teaching practices.
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