Educational needs of community visiting nurses for infection prevention and control: Application of the Borich needs assessment and the Locus for Focus models.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the educational needs and analyze the priorities of infection prevention and control (IPC) for community-visiting nurses. DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. SAMPLE: This study was conducted with 144 visiting nurses working in public health centers and long-term care facilities in South Korea. METHOD: A total of 23 questions in five subcategories were used to measure the current knowledge and perceived importance of IPC in community-visiting nursing. Data were collected from June 23 to October 30, 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed paired t-test, the Borich needs assessment, and the Locus for Focus models. RESULTS: Top-priority content was defined as content belonging to two models, the first 10 contents of Borich needs assessment and the contents located in the Quadrant I of the Locus for Focus models. "Reporting in case of infection-related accidents," "Mandatory vaccination for visiting nurses," "Standard precaution," "Airborne precaution," "Contact precautions," "Respiratory infection control," and "Post-visit management." CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that it is necessary to provide visiting nurses with more opportunities for IPC education and to develop standardized IPC programs that consider educational priorities.

A Comparative Study of Gamma-Ray Irradiation-Induced Oxidation: Polyethylene, Poly (Vinylidene Fluoride), and Polytetrafluoroethylene.

Radiation techniques are used to modify the physical, chemical and biological properties of polymers. This induces crosslinking and degradation reactions of polymers by utilizing radicals generated through ionizing radiation. However, oxidation products (such as carbonyl) can be formed because oxidation occurs by chain scission in the presence of oxygen. Herein, we demonstrate the gamma-ray irradiation-induced oxidation with and without fluorine using polyethylene, polyvinylidene fluoride and polytetrafluoroethylene under the same conditions. In this study, changes in element-content and chemical-bond structures were analyzed before and after gamma-ray irradiation under air atmosphere. As a result, polytetrafluo-roethylene showed less oxidation and excellent thermal properties after the absorbed dose of 500 kGy. This can be attributed to the generation of stable perfluoroalkylperoxy radicals after gamma ray irradiation in the PTFE structure containing only CF2 groups, thereby hindering the oxidation reaction.

Evaluation of Radiation Resistance of Polystyrene Using Molecular Dynamics Simulation.

The scission rates of polystyrene and fluorinated polystyrene irradiated in an irradiation facility with Co-60 γ-rays were determined using molecular dynamics simulation and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) molecular weight distributions. The prediction was based on the assumption that γ-ray energy is transferred to the initial velocity of the primary knock-on atom. We employed a molecular dynamics simulation procedure to compute the changes in bond length between the connections for selected values of the absorbed dose and compared the calculated values with measurements made on the irradiated samples. The samples were exposed to four different absorbed doses of 25, 50, 75, and 100 kGy. The scission process and scission ratio were simulated with LAMMPS with ReaxFF potential for each bond, and we compared the simulation results with the experimental data especially measuring average molecular weight to evaluate the effect of fluorination on radiation enhancement.

Preliminary Study on the Simulation of a Radiation Damage Analysis of Biodegradable Polymers.

In this study, biodegradable poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) and poly(L-co-d,l lactide) (PLDLA) were evaluated using Geant4 (G4EmStandardPhysics_option4) for damage simulation, in order to predict the safety of these biodegradable polymers against gamma ray sterilization. In the PLCL damage model, both chain scission and crosslinking reactions appear to occur at a radiation dose in the range 0-200 kGy, but the chain cleavage reaction is expected to be relatively dominant at high irradiation doses above 500 kGy. On the other hand, the PLDLA damage model predicted that the chain cleavage reaction would prevail at the total irradiation dose (25-500 kGy). To verify the simulation results, the physicochemical changes in the irradiated PLCL and PLDLA films were characterized by GPC (gel permeation chromatography), ATR-FTIR (attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared), and DSC (difference scanning calorimetry) analyses. The Geant4 simulation curve for the radiation-induced damage to the molecular weight was consistent with the experimentally obtained results. These results imply that the pre-simulation study can be useful for predicting the optimal irradiation dose and ensuring material safety, particularly for implanted biodegradable materials in radiation processing.

Gold-Nanoparticle-Immobilized Desalting Columns for Highly Efficient and Specific Removal of Radioactive Iodine in Aqueous Media.

There has been worldwide attention on the efficient removal of radioactive iodine, because it is commonly released in nuclear plant accidents. Increasing concerns on environmental problems due to the radioactive iodine are leading us to develop stable and sustainable technology for remediation of radioelement contaminants. In this work, we report a highly efficient chromatographic method for specific and rapid capture of radioactive iodine. The gold nanoparticles immobilized dextran gel columns showed excellent removal capabilities of radioactive iodine in various conditions. These results suggested that our platform technology can be a promising method for the desalination of radioactive iodines in water.