Effectiveness of an educational intervention on first-year nursing students' knowledge and confidence to perform basic life support: a quasi-experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Knowing how to respond effectively to an acutely deteriorating patient is a National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard and a requirement for nurse registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Authority. Literature has highlighted that a lack of knowledge, skills and confidence in healthcare professionals to perform basic life support may be a contributing factor to the high mortality and morbidity rates associated with cardiac arrest in the hospital setting. AIM: To explore first-year nursing students' knowledge and confidence to perform basic life support according to the Australian Resuscitation Council guidelines before and after watching an online video lecture. METHOD: A quantitative quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design to measure changes, if any, in first-year nursing students' knowledge and confidence to perform basic life support at an Australian university in 2021. FINDINGS: The collected data were analysed using Stata, a statistical software for data sciences. Participants' mean knowledge score increased from 9.3 (SD: 2.5) in the pre-test to 13.9 (SD: 3) (p < 0.001) in the post-test (maximum possible score: 19). Participants' mean confidence score increased from 17.0 (SD: 6.3) in the pre-test to 24.5 (SD: 4.4) (p < 0.001) in the post-test (maximum possible score: 30; p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: The most significant improvement in knowledge was observed in chest compression rate, breathing/ ventilation and checking patient response. The study found that the video lecture is an effective teaching method to increase students' confidence to perform basic life support. CONCLUSION: An online video-recorded lecture can increase undergraduate student nurses' knowledge and confidence to perform basic life support. This is one educational strategy that universities can use to improve students' knowledge and confidence to perform this essential skill for practice.

Cyanobacterial biorefinery: Towards economic feasibility through the maximum valorization of biomass.

Cyanobacteria are well known for their plethora of applications in the fields of food industry, pharmaceuticals and bioenergy. Their simple growth requirements, remarkable growth rate and the ability to produce a wide range of bio-active compounds enable them to act as an efficient biorefinery for the production of valuable metabolites. Most of the cyanobacteria based biorefineries are targeting single products and thus fails to meet the efficient valorization of biomass. On the other hand, multiple products recovering cyanobacterial biorefineries can efficiently valorize the biomass with minimum to zero waste generation. But there are plenty of bottlenecks and challenges allied with cyanobacterial biorefineries. Most of them are being associated with the production processes and downstream strategies, which are difficult to manage economically. There is a need to propose new solutions to eliminate these tailbacks so on to elevate the cyanobacterial biorefinery to be an economically feasible, minimum waste generating multiproduct biorefinery. Cost-effective approaches implemented from production to downstream processing without affecting the quality of products will be beneficial for attaining economic viability. The integrated approaches in cultivation systems as well as downstream processing, by simplifying individual processes to unit operation systems can obviously increase the economic feasibility to a certain extent. Low cost approaches for biomass production, multiparameter optimization and successive sequential retrieval of multiple value-added products according to their high to low market value from a biorefinery is possible. The nanotechnological approaches in cyanobacterial biorefineries make it one step closer to the goal. The current review gives an overview of strategies used for constructing self-sustainable- economically feasible- minimum waste generating; multiple products based cyanobacterial biorefineries by the efficient valorization of biomass. Also the possibility of uplifting new cyanobacterial strains for biorefineries is discussed.

Fluorescence Quenching Property of C-Phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis and its Binding Efficacy with Viable Cell Components.

Phycocyanin is a natural brilliant blue colored, fluorescent protein, which is commonly present in cyanobacteria. In this study, C-phycocyanin was extracted and purified from Spirulina platensis, which are multicellular and filamentous cyanobacteria of greater importance because of its various biological and pharmacological potential. It was analyzed for its binding affinity towards blood cells, algal cells, genomic DNA of microalgae, and bacteria at different temperature and incubation time. It showed good binding affinity with these components even at low concentration of 2.5 µM. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the applicability of C-phycocyanin as a green fluorescent dye substituting carcinogenic chemical dyes.

Bio-optic characterization of Discosphaera tubifer bloom occurs in an overcrowded fishing harbour at Veraval, India.

Discosphaera tubifer, a coccolithophore has been first time reported as a bloom-forming organism from an over-crowded fishing harbour at Veraval, west coast of India. Physiochemical and optical parameters were measured following standard protocols. Average concentration of inorganic nutrients, such as NO2-N (17.26 ± 2.92 µM), NO3-N (643.80 ± 215.99 µM), PO4-P (74.10 ± 26.52 µM) and SiO3-Si (137.66 ± 25.83 µM) were recorded as very high at Veraval port as compared to other coastal stations i.e., 1.48 ± 0.66, 49.16 ± 13.73, 10.03 ± 5.31 and 96.23 ± 22.74 µM, respectively. The pH and salinity (‰) were observed to be low (7.80 ± 0.15 and 28.00 ± 4.54 ‰) as compared to coastal seawaters (8.34 ± 0.06 and 33.24 ± 2.32 ‰). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and spectral signature (absorbance and reflectance) study revealed that the bloom-forming organism was D. tubifer. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) study detected that chlorophyllide-a represent nearly 47.53 % of total pigment composition followed by chlorophyll c2 (27.40 %) and chlorophyll c3 (14.25 %). Four prominent absorption peaks were observed within 350 to 700 nm. The first peak was very wide and ranged from 350 to 530 nm and the rest of the three peaks ranged from 550 to 590, 590 to 650 and 650 to 690 nm, respectively. In case of reflection, three peaks appeared between 550 and 590, 590 and 630 and 630 and 670 nm. Nearly 100 % reflection was observed after 720 nm. The eutrophic condition of the port water along with low salinity and low pH might be the reason for D. tubifer bloom formation. This species-specific spectral signature of the D. tubifer bloom may be helpful for developing algorithm of remote sensing data analysis.

Biofuel potential of the newly isolated microalgae Acutodesmus dimorphus under temperature induced oxidative stress conditions.

Lack of control over temperature is one of the major issues in large scale cultivation of microalgae. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the effects of cultivation temperature on the growth and physiology of microalgae. In the present study, freshwater microalgae Acutodesmus dimorphus was grown at different temperature in continuous and two stage cultivation. Results revealed that during continuous cultivation A. dimorphus grows better at 35°C than at 25°C and 38°C. At 35°C, A. dimorphus produced 22.7% lipid (containing 59% neutral lipid) and 33.7% carbohydrate along with 68% increase in biomass productivity (23.53mg/L/day) compared to 25°C grown culture. Stress biomarkers like reactive oxygen species, antioxidant enzymes like catalase and ascorbate peroxidase and lipid peroxidation were also lowest in 35°C grown culture which reveals that A. dimorphus is well acclimatized at 35°C.

Dominance of cyanobacterial and cryptophytic assemblage correlated to CDOM at heavy metal contamination sites of Gujarat, India.

Industrial clusters of Gujarat, India, generate high quantity of effluents which are received by aquatic bodies such as estuary and coastal water. In the present study, microalgal assemblage, heavy metals, and physico-chemical variables were studied from different habitats. Principal component analysis revealed that biovolume of cyanobacterial and cryptophytic community positively correlated with the heavy metal concentration (Hg, As, Zn, Fe, Mo, Ni, and Co) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) under hypoxic environment. Green algae and diatoms dominated at comparatively lower nitrate concentration which was positively associated with Pb and Mn.

Potential of Monoraphidium minutum for carbon sequestration and lipid production in response to varying growth mode.

Mixotrophic growth at flask level and, autotrophic-mixotrophic and autotrophic growth in photobioreactor by utilizing CO2/air/flue gas were checked for the isolated strain of Monoraphidium minutum from polluted habitat. Our study confirmed that it is a saturated fatty acid rich (30.92-68.94%) microalga with lower degree of unsaturation oil quality (42.06-103.99) making it potential biodiesel producing candidate. It showed encouraging biomass productivity (80.3-303.8mgl(-1)day(-1)) with higher total lipid (22.80-46.54%) under optimum glucose, fructose, microalgal biodiesel waste residue and sodium acetate fed mixotrophic conditions. The pH control by intermittent CO2, continuous illumination with 30% flue gas, and utilization of biodiesel glycerin were effective schemes to ameliorate either biomass productivity or % lipids or both of these parameters at photobioreactor scale (7.5L working volume). The modulation of environmental variables (pH control, CO2 and organic substrates concentration) could augment % saturated fatty acids, such as C16:0.

Effects of different media composition, light intensity and photoperiod on morphology and physiology of freshwater microalgae Ankistrodesmus falcatus--a potential strain for bio-fuel production.

Media composition, light intensity and photoperiod significantly affect the algal growth and productivity and their optimization is important for the commercialization of microalgae based biofuels. In the present study, effects of different culture medium, light intensity and photoperiod were studied on growth, biomass productivity, and biochemical composition of a fresh water microalgae Ankistrodesmus falcatus in batch culture. The results revealed that A. falcatus could yield more than 35% of total lipid (containing around 65.74% neutral lipid) along with optimal growth (0.20 µ) and biomass productivity (7.9 mg/L/day) in the BG-11 medium under a light intensity of 60 µmol m(-2) s(-1) and 12:12 (Light: Dark) cycle. The highest total lipid yield of 67.2% (containing 72.68% of neutral lipid) was observed in Zarrouk's medium grown culture but with altered cell morphology and ultra-structural changes.

Nitrogen stress triggered biochemical and morphological changes in the microalgae Scenedesmus sp. CCNM 1077.

The aim of present study was to investigate the effects of nitrogen limitation as well as sequential nitrogen starvation on morphological and biochemical changes in Scenedesmus sp. CCNM 1077. The results revealed that the nitrogen limitation and sequential nitrogen starvation conditions significantly decreases the photosynthetic activity as well as crude protein content in the organism, while dry cell weight and biomass productivity are largely unaffected up to nitrate concentration of about 30.87mg/L and 3 days nitrate limitation condition. Nitrate stress was found to have a significant effect on cell morphology of Scenedesmus sp. CCNM 1077. Total removal of nitrate from the growth medium resulted in highest lipid (27.93%) and carbohydrate content (45.74%), making it a potential feed stock for biodiesel and bio-ethanol production. This is a unique approach to understand morphological and biochemical changes in freshwater microalgae under nitrate limitation as well as sequential nitrate removal conditions.

Racial discrimination and health in Brazil: evidence from a population-based survey.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between racial discrimination and three health outcomes: self-rated health (SRH), physical morbidity and depression, in the Brazilian population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study based on data obtained from a representative national survey carried out in 2008: The Research for Social Dimension of Inequalities. PARTICIPANTS: 3,863 household heads who classified themselves as Blacks or Mullatoes regarding their race and answered the entire research questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Racial discrimination was measured through a scale of 9 domains based on a previously validated instrument and classified into two categories: no discrimination and any experience of racial discrimination. SRH was based on the question from the SF-36 quality of life instrument. Physical morbidity and depression were obtained from a list of chronic diseases from the questionnaire. Regression analysis was carried out for the three health outcomes controlling for socioeconomic, demographic, health behavior variables, and body mass index. RESULTS: Racial discrimination was negatively associated with health for all evaluated outcomes. Any experience of racial discrimination was associated with 1.37 more chance of having worse SRH, 1.55 more chance of having more physical morbidities and 1.77 more chance of having depression, even after controlling for confounders. CONCLUSION: An impact of racial discrimination on the health of the Brazilian population was found, regardless of the health indicator used, which revealed that depression was the health outcome with the most pronounced association.