The Si–O–Si bonds formed at the Ta2O5/Si interface by annealing were investigated by using Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy. The Ta2O5 thin films deposited on Si substrates were annealed in different ambient (H2O, O2, and N2) at temperatures between 500 and 800 °C. When annealing is done in H2O, the interfacial silicon–oxide grows very rapidly, because the oxidation species can easily diffuse through Ta2O5 films, and because the Si–O formation is controlled by the diffusion of H2O in the interfacial layer. When annealing is done in O2, the oxidation species can also easily diffuse through Ta2O5, but not through the interfacial layer. The interfacial layer is formed by a reaction between Ta2O5 and Si even if the annealing ambient does not contain oxidation species, as is the case when annealing is done in N2. We conclude that the Si–O formation during postannealing in O2 and N2 is controlled by the diffusion of the Si from the substrate through the interfacial layer with an activation energy of 0.7 to 0.8 eV, and that new Si–O bonds are formed at the interface between the Ta2O5 and interfacial layer. Oxidation species from the annealing ambient enhance the frequency factor of the reaction, but do not control Si–O formation.
This study examined the current status of disaster preparedness at perinatal medical care facilities across Japan and supporting factors.Method: An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was administered to the nursing supervisors of 2,909 facilities (hospitals, clinics, and birthing centers) that were on the list of birthing facilities participating in the Japan Obstetric Compensation System for Cerebral Palsy operated by the Japan Council for Quality Health Care. Mainly investigated disaster management in facilities and disaster education for perinatal women. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were performed.Results: Seven hundred and ninety-five participants provided valid responses to the questionnaire. The mean number of disaster management-related items that were in place was 9.3 (0-22). The implementation rates of the items "Facility and Preparedness" and "Documentation" were high whereas those of the items "Training," "Human Resources," and "Regional Alliance" were low. Regarding disaster education for perinatal women, the mean number of items in place was 2.5 (0-18). Only about 30% of the facilities had implemented such education. Factors that promoted disaster preparedness included "The facility is a disaster base hospital," "The facility previously dispatched nurses to disaster areas," "The facility is well aware of natural disaster risks," "Nursing supervisors have been trained to provide nursing care during a disaster," and "Nursing supervisors are well aware of the post-disaster care needs of perinatal women."Conclusion: It is necessary to develop strategies for establishing a perinatal medical care system, implementing training to improve disaster management competency, strengthening disaster education, and enhancing awareness of disaster education among perinatal women.
We investigated an OSCE for evaluating delivery practices during the completion of a midwifery course (below, "pre-graduation") and implemented trials for pre-graduation students to analyze the validity of this OSCE. Methods We implemented a two-stage development process during the period from March 2017 to March 2018. In Stage 1, we planned an OSCE that evaluated the clinical reasoning tasks. For scenarios, we set four scenes and eight tasks as excerpts from the stretch of time between when a pregnant woman enters the hospital and the completion of childbirth. The evaluation chart was based on the Japan Society of Midwifery Education's (2016) "Factual Survey of Midwifery Student Degree of Learning of Delivery Care Abilities" and was completed after running a pilot test. In Stage 2, we ran trials for pre-graduation midwifery students, with two lanes of two student test subjects and six evaluating instructors in teams of three, and we aggregated the trial data and extracted items that were consistent or different among the evaluations of the evaluators. We also conducted focus-group interviews of the evaluators, analyzed the content, and integrated it with quantitative data to analyze the results. This study obtained the approval of the affiliated institution's ethics review committee. Results The items of the evaluators' evaluations that were in agreement were "prediction of progress status," "delivery preparation timing," "torso delivery," and "judgment of hemorrhage." Conversely, the evaluations varied for the following items: "psychological support," "support for accelerating delivery progress," "assistance of child's first respiration," "identification of external deformities," and "precautions against abnormalities." The evaluators opinions were that the diagnostic skills appeared well, that it was difficult to standardize the evaluation of behavioral aspects, and that detailed standards were needed regarding technical aspects. Conclusion This OSCE aims to evaluate students' abilities to gather information, to conduct all kinds of medical examinations for pregnant women visiting hospitals and to make decisions about care plans and put them into practice. In the trial, students' clinical reasoning was made apparent, and the results suggested that the trial had high validity as an evaluation method for the comprehensive practical abilities of pre-graduation students. In the future, it will be necessary to accumulate and study data, while further increasing validity by improving on topics such as evaluator consistency, standardization of evaluation standards, number of cases, number of tasks, time required, and number of evaluators.
Expectant and nursing mothers need to prepare for natural disasters to protect their lives and their children’s lives and to maintain their health and daily life after the disaster. This study aimed to clarify the actual conditions of disaster preparedness behaviors of expectant and nursing mothers and to identify factors promoting disaster preparation behavior and behavioral intentions that lead to disaster preparation behavior among expectant and nursing mothers. We conducted a cross-sectional survey involving 1,000 expectants and nursing mothers between October 2020 and January 2021 using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. We received 135 valid responses. The questionnaire included items about the actual status of disaster preparation, attitudes toward preparation behavior based on Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, subjective norms on disaster preparation determined by perceived expectations from others, descriptive norms on disaster preparation that refer to the perceptions of others’ engagement in disaster preparation behavior, perceptions of behavioral control that refer to views regarding how easy or difficult it is to perform a given behavior, and social support sources that are required for disaster preparation behavior. Correlations among variables were analyzed. A structural equation modeling technique was used to test a model to explain factors encouraging expectant and nursing mothers to prepare for disaster.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.