Development and validation of the Chinese version of the evidence-based practice profile questionnaire (EBP2Q).

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based practice (EBP) education or training are considered fundamental to building and strengthening an EBP culture, as well as to encouraging evidence-based academic and clinical practice in the nursing community. However, few valid and reliable instruments are available for the assessment of EBP teaching and learning in clinical nurses in China. Translation, reliability, and validity testing of the English Evidence-Based Practice Profile Questionnaire (EBP2Q), which has strong psychometric properties, may encourage evaluation and promote the implementation of EBP in Mainland China. METHODS: Based on established guidelines for the development of questionnaires, the English EBP2Q was translated and cross-culturally adapted. The Chinese version of the EBP2Q (EBP2Q-C) was validated using a sample of 543 nurses. Structural validity was evaluated through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, and the questionnaire was tested for convergent and criterion validity. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were also evaluated. RESULTS: The content validity index demonstrated good content validity (≥0.98). An eight-factor structure was obtained in the exploratory factor analysis, and verified by a three-order factor model from the confirmatory factor analysis (χ2/df = 2.001; RMSEA = 0.065; SRMR = 0.077; and CFI = 0.884). The Spearman's rank correlation analysis of the EBP2Q-C with the Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire showed moderate correlations for Practice (0.58) and Confidence (0.68) and a low correlation for Sympathy (0.32). Criterion validity was demonstrated by significant differences in terms of nurses' highest education, present position, EBP training, involvement in research programs, and level of understanding of English. Both the overall Cronbach's α and the Cronbach's α for the domains exceeded 0.70. The intraclass correlation coefficients for the domains ranged between 0.75 and 0.96, indicating satisfactory repeatability. CONCLUSIONS: Except for the convergent validity of the Sympathy domain, the EBP2Q-C provided evidence of validity and reliability. Therefore, it can be applied in EBP education or training assessment in Mainland China.

A Chinese version of the Patient Perceptions of Patient-Empowering Nurse Behaviours Scale: Reliability and validity assessment in chronically ill patients.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To translate the Patient Perceptions of Patient-Empowering Nurse Behaviours Scale (PPPNBS) into Chinese and to psychometrically test the Chinese version of PPPNBS (PPPNBS-C) in chronically ill patients. BACKGROUND: The growing prevalence and burden of chronic illnesses became the driving force for the need of empowerment as an approach to engage patients in self-management. The PPPNBS was developed to assess patient perceptions of the process of empowerment during hospitalisation. Extending its application to different clinical context and ethnicities is worth pursuing. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. METHODS: The PPPNBS was translated according to Brislin's translation guidelines and was culturally adapted. A questionnaire survey was carried out to determine the reliability and validity of the PPPNBS-C among a total of 517 hospitalised patients with chronic illnesses. RESULTS: The content validity was found to be good with a content validity index of 0.94. Exploratory factor analysis identified six factors explaining 68.56% of the total variance and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this six-factor structure. The hypothesised differences were demonstrated through contrasted group comparisons by time since diagnosis and length of hospital stay. The score of the PPPNBS-C was significantly and positively associated with that of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, as was the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease 6-Item Scale score, providing evidence of convergent validity. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.960 and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.86 for the total scale, explaining good internal consistency and time stability. CONCLUSIONS: The PPPNBS-C has preliminary verification of the validity and reliability and could be useful in measuring patient perceptions of patient-empowering nurse behaviours. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The PPPNBS-C can be applied to chronically ill patients as a metric of the implementation status of patient-empowering nurse behaviours and can be used as a guide to encourage nurse's intentional utilisation of empowering behaviours.

[Influence of annealing and sputtering ambience on the photoluminescence of silicon nitride thin films].

The radio frequency (r. f.) magnetron sputtering was used for preparing silicon-rich silicon nitride films deposited on polished Si substrates at 80 degrees C substrate temperature. The high-purity Ar was used as a sputtering gas and the high-purity N2 as a reactive gas. The silicon nitride films with different Si-rich degrees were obtained by changing the flow ratio of Ar/N2, and subsequently the samples were annealed at a high temperature in pure N2 ambience. The influence of annealing on the properties of films was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL). The appearance of Si-N bonds can be confirmed by the XPS, from which the ratio of Si/N can be rough estimated. Therefore, the XPS reveals that the sample before annealing has a high content of Si which is the premise to come into being nanometer Si. However, the PL peak of the films before annealing in the visible light region was not observed obviously. The XRD results indicate that the presence of Si clusters buried in the films after annealing was confirmed by two novel diffraction peaks, which are related to nanometer Si. As the flow ratio of Ar/N2 decreased, the emission intensity of PL peak in the visible light region was enhanced, accompanied with a blue-shift of emission peak. According to the quantum confinement effect, the blue-shift of PL peak should be attributed to the enlarged band gap of Si clusters in the sample, and the increased intensity of the PL peak turns out to be due to the size of nanometer Si. The two important factors of annealing treatment and flow ratio of Ar/N2 were studied, which have an intimate connection with emitting mechanism in PL. The blue-shift of PL peak caused by nanometer Si embodied in the silicon nitride thin films depends on the sputtering condition, such as flow ratio, deposition temperature and sputtering pressure.

Wnt4 is significantly upregulated during the early phases of cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury.

Wnt4 is a secreted growth factor associated with renal tubulogenesis. Our previous studies identified that renal and urinary Wnt4 are upregulated following ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice, but the roles of Wnt4 in other forms of acute kidney injury (AKI) remain unclear. Here, we investigated the changes in Wnt4 expression using a cisplatin-induced AKI model. We found that renal and urinary Wnt4 expression increased as early as 12 hours, peaked at day 4 following cisplatin-induced AKI and was closely correlated with histopathological alterations. By contrast, the serum creatinine level was significantly elevated until day 3, indicating that Wnt4 is more sensitive to early tubular injury than serum creatinine. In addition, renal Wnt4 was co-stained with aquaporin-1 and thiazide-sensitive NaCl cotransporter, suggesting that Wnt4 can detect both proximal and distal tubular injuries. These data were further confirmed in a clinical study. Increased urinary Wnt4 expression was detected earlier than serum creatinine and eGFR in patients with contrast-induced AKI after vascular intervention. This study is the first to demonstrate that increased expression of renal and urinary Wnt4 can be detected earlier than serum creatinine after drug-induced AKI. In particular, urinary Wnt4 can potentially serve as a noninvasive biomarker for monitoring patients with tubular injury.