Twitter Chats as an Alternative to Discussion Boards in Graduate Nursing Courses.

BACKGROUND: Health care is increasingly dependent on technology and social media for communication. Nurse educators are tasked with developing a nursing workforce equipped with digital literacy to deliver safe, quality patient care. Twitter (now X) chats are an alternative social engagement opportunity for online nursing education students that can facilitate digital literacy. METHOD: The instructor of an 8-week online nursing education course revised three required discussions as Twitter chats. Written instructions for the Twitter chats were provided, as well as a podcast. Self-report data and Twitter analytics were analyzed. RESULTS: Findings identified the benefits of incorporating a social media platform into traditional coursework. Chats helped students view course objectives in a new light and increased understanding of class content. CONCLUSION: Twitter is a social media technology that can help nursing students educationally and professionally. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(X):XXX-XXX.].

Noise Reduction in Abdominal Computed Tomography Applying Iterative Reconstruction (ADMIRE).

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to compare image quality of filtered back projection (FBP) and iterative reconstruction (advanced modeled iterative reconstruction, ADMIRE) in contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen, and to assess the differences of reconstructions according to these methods. It also aimed to investigate the potential for noise reduction of ADMIRE for different reconstructed slice thicknesses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CT data of the abdomen and pelvis were acquired using a 128-slice single-source CT system using automated kV selection and tube current adaption based on patients' anatomy. Raw data sets from patients scanned at 100 kV were selected, and images were reconstructed with slice thicknesses of 1 mm, 3 mm, and 5 mm, both with FBP and ADMIRE. Filter strength F1, F3, and F5 of the ADMIRE algorithm and the corresponding reconstruction kernels were used. In total, 58 raw data sets from 17 patients were used to reconstruct from the same raw data FBP and ADMIRE images, representing identical body regions. Identical regions of interest were placed at the same position of up to four images and image noise was measured. Differences of reconstructed images and detail preservation were tested using an image subtraction technique, and subjective image quality was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS: On average, for 1-mm slice thickness, noise reduction was 9.15% ± 2.4% with filter strength level F1, 30.2% ± 3.4% with F3, and 54.4% ± 7.0% with F5 as compared to FBP. For a slice thickness of 3 mm, noise reduction was 8.5% ± 3.7% with F1, 28.6% ± 3.9% with F3, and 52.2% ± 9.1% with F5. For 5 mm, the corresponding values are 8.9% ± 2.7%, 31.4% ± 2.8%, and 52.7% ± 7.7%. On subtraction images, edge information of tissue classes with a high attenuation gradient was found, but structures with small differences in attenuation were not detectable on subtraction images, confirming that no relevant details were lost in the iterative reconstruction process. CONCLUSIONS: ADMIRE is able to reduce image noise considerably (up to 50%) without any obvious negative impact on lesion depiction as assessed visually. Noise reduction of ADMIRE seems to be independent of slice thickness.

Cardenolide genin pattern in Isoplexis plants and shoot cultures.

An HPLC method for the quantitative analysis of cardenolides was developed and applied. The procedure was optimised for analysing small samples (40 mg dw) of plant and tissue culture material. ISOPLEXIS CANARIENSIS plants obtained from seeds accumulated cardenolides to about 20 - 40 micromol g (-1) dw as calculated from the levels of cardenolide genins released after acidic hydrolysis of methanolic extracts. The relative contents of xysmalogenin, digitoxigenin, uzarigenin and canarigenin were 5 - 15 %, 0 - 5 %, 10 - 15 % and 70 - 90 %, respectively. Shoot cultures were initiated from seeds, established as permanent cultures and cultivated on agar-solidified or in liquid medium. Shoot cultures maintained on solid medium contained an average of about 6 micromol cardenolides g (-1) dw. A relatively high proportion of digitoxigenin was found in two-thirds of the shoot cultures examined. The cardenolide content of amphibian shoot cultures averaged to about 1 micromol g (-1) dw. Plants regenerated from shoot cultures and maintained under hydroponic conditions accumulated the same amount of cardenolides as plants collected in the field. No cardenolides could be detected in callus cultures.