Strategies for retention of nursing students: A scoping review.

Retention of students in nursing programs is a costly concern that affects the supply and demand of nurses to the healthcare system. Successful retention strategies require consideration of social and academic institutional systems with attention to student integration in a program. This systematic review explores implemented retention strategies in nursing programs worldwide and provides guidance for nursing programs and researchers considering the retention question. Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methods informed this review. CINAHL, ERIC, PsychINFO, and MEDLINE, databases were searched from January 1998 to December 2019. Data was extracted from 112 full text papers and dissertations. Papers were of varying quality and inconsistently evaluated, usually lacking theoretical grounding. Student participants in strategies were preselected by racial minority status or through various markers of academic performance. Retention strategies described in the literature are single program and multifactorial, with mentorship, study skills, literacy and language approaches, and tutoring the most common components. Reports of graduation rates or attrition rates through comparison with a pre-strategy time period or a comparison group were the most informative evaluations. Whole-program strategies that provided pathway options to students based on reading assessments or other academic criteria were the most comprehensive and effective strategies presented in the literature.

Social and academic integration strategies for retention of nursing students: a scoping review protocol.

REVIEW QUESTION: The review question is: what are the types of formal and informal social and academic integration strategies that have been explored to influence nursing student persistence and increase retention in nursing programs? A secondary review objective is to address how the described strategies have specifically been implemented with minority nursing students.

Organochlorine pesticides, lead, and mercury in northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) from the Rolling Plains ecoregion of Texas and Oklahoma.

Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) from the Rolling Plains ecoregion in Texas and Oklahoma were evaluated for organochlorine pesticides, Pb, and Hg. Of all organochlorine pesticides analyzed, only p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (p,p'-DDD) were found in a few composite liver samples. Similarly, a small fraction of tissue samples had detectable levels of Hg (liver and breast) or Pb exceeding background concentrations (femur). Lead concentrations in a few individuals fell within the range associated with moderate toxicity.

The parasitic eyeworm Oxyspirura petrowi as a possible cause of decline in the threatened lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus).

Lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) have been declining range wide since the early 1900's despite efforts to establish conservation and improve their habitat. In early 2014, the lesser prairie-chicken was listed as a threatened species under the U.S Endangered Species Act and the need to find out why they are declining is more important than ever. Nine hunter shot lesser prairie-chickens were donated and sampled for the presence or absence of the eyeworm Oxyspirura petrowi, a known parasite that can cause damage to the eye of its host, and common environmental contaminants. Eyeworm infection was found in 7 of 9 birds (78% infection rate) with an infection range between 0-16 O. petrowi per bird. Breast, liver, and fat tissue samples from the lesser prairie-chickens were analyzed for the frequency of 20 organochlorine pesticides. Femurs and livers were also tested on these birds for metal contaminants. Pesticides were found in several samples above the detection limits but were still in the low ng/g range. Notable was the ubiquitous presence of endrin aldehyde across all tissues. One femur showed 5.66 µg/g of lead (Pb) but this is still relatively low. No liver samples had elevated mercury (Hg) above detection limits. The presence of these organochlorines is consistent with the historic use of pesticides in this region. With pesticide and metals found in such low levels and parasitic nematode infections at rather high levels, it is recommended that these parasites be further evaluated as a contributing factor to the decline of the lesser prairie-chicken.

Diversification and co-option of RAD-like genes in the evolution of floral asymmetry.

To understand how changes in gene regulatory networks lead to novel morphologies, we have analysed the evolution of a key target gene, RAD, controlling floral asymmetry. In Antirrhinum, flower asymmetry depends on activation of RAD in dorsal regions of the floral meristem by the upstream regulators CYC and DICH. We show that Arabidopsis, a species with radially symmetric flowers, contains six RAD-like genes, reflecting at least three duplications since the divergence of Antirrhinum and Arabidopsis. Unlike the situation in Antirrhinum, none of the Arabidopsis RAD-like genes are activated in dorsal regions of the flower meristem. Rather, the RAD-like genes are expressed in distinctive domains along radial or ab-adaxial axes, consistent with a range of developmental roles. Introduction of a RAD genomic clone from Antirrhinum into Arabidopsis leads to a novel expression pattern that is distinct from the expression pattern of RAD in Antirrhinum and from the endogenous RAD-like genes of Arabidopsis. Nevertheless, RAD is able to influence developmental targets in Arabidopsis, as ectopic expression of RAD has developmental effects in this species. Taken together, our results suggest that duplication and divergence of RAD-like genes has involved a range of cis- and trans-regulatory changes. It is possible that such changes led to the coupling of RAD to CYC regulation in the Antirrhinum lineage and hence the co-option of RAD had a role in the generation of flower dorsoventral asymmetry.