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Enhancing the performance of layered nickel-cobalt double hydroxides (NiCo-LDH) as electrode materials for supercapacitors represents a promising strategy for optimizing energy storage systems. However, the complexity of the preparation method for electrode materials with enhanced electrochemical performance and the inherent defects of nickel-cobalt LDH remain formidable challenges. In this study, we synthesized acetate-ion-intercalated NiCo-LDH (NCLA) through a simple one-step hydrothermal method. The physical and chemical structural properties and supercapacitor characteristics of the as-prepared NCLA were systematically characterized. The results indicated that the introduction of Ac- engendered a distinctive tetragonal crystal structure in NiCo-LDH, concomitant with a reduced interlayer spacing, thus enhancing structural stability. Electrochemical measurements revealed that NCLA-8 exhibited a specific capacitance of 1032.2 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1 and a high specific capacitance of 922 F g-1 at 10 A g-1, demonstrating a rate performance of 89.3%. Furthermore, NCLA-8 was used to construct the positive electrode of an asymmetric supercapacitor, while the negative electrode was composed of activated carbon. This configuration resulted in an energy density of 67.7 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 800 W kg-1. Remarkably, the asymmetric supercapacitor retained 82.8% of its initial capacitance following 3000 charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 10 A g-1. Thus, this study demonstrates the efficacy of acetate-ion intercalation in enhancing the electrochemical performance of NiCo-LDH, establishing it as a viable electrode material for supercapacitors.

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Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) have been widely used in health care education to simultaneously assess knowledge, skill and attitude. Due to the high cost of running an OSCE, its application in professional psychology is still limited. To solve this problem, virtual standardised patient (VSP) implementations in creating psychology OSCEs can be a cost-effective method for administering a psychology OSCE regularly. This study aimed to develop and examine the psychometric properties of the VSP version of the Intake OSCE (VSP-Intake OSCE) in measuring psychologists' psychological assessment competencies (PACs) from entry to early practice. The initial development of the VSP-Intake OSCE contains a VSP station and a follow-up written station to measure PACs when conducting an intake assessment. To administer the VSP station, we built a new VSP system that allows psychologists to interact with a VSP verbally. A sample of 36 participants, including 27 graduate students and nine psychologists, were recruited to examine the psychometric properties of the VSP-Intake OSCE. As a newly developed instrument, the VSP-Intake OSCE revealed good inter-rater reliability and construct validity. We believe using VSP implementations to develop psychology OSCEs will be essential in promoting OSCE applications in professional psychology.

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Through English language teaching (ELT), educator professional development is an interesting and significant subject due to the fact it is in the interest of the educators' career to make sure that its participants perform consistently with the highest degrees of agreed criteria. Correspondingly, educators mostly state a willingness to enhance their own education that allows them to enhance learners' knowledge and consistent with the advent of the information-based community, the self-directed learning is vital for the employees. The self-directed professional development (PD) method is considered one option to improve vocational educators' skills to improve their professionalism, learning development, and school development. Within the learning procedure, self-directed PD has used the rules of learning that are covered within the rules of individual teaching and the mental traits and ideas including motivation and grit that could have a mediating function in this area. Grit is critical within English language educator PD and improving it within educator PD means modeling it as a determinant of the learners' success. In addition, comprehending motivation is vital for everybody intending to reduce expenses for PD, motivate employees, or be self-directed in their learning about the job. The purpose of the present literature review is to examine the function of such constructs in self-directed PD which is considered a great dimension of educator quality. Briefly, many applications are suggested for the scholastic beneficiaries.

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Preoperative concurrent chemoradiation, total mesorectal excision and adjuvant chemotherapy have become the standard of care for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Several studies have reported increased pathologic complete response rates and improved locoregional control with escalating doses of preoperative radiotherapy. In this study, we assess the dosimetric feasibility and impact of intensity-modulated and image-guided radiation therapy (IMRT-IGRT) with a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) in preoperative chemoradiation for LARC. Ten rectal cancer patients treated with preoperative chemoradiation were enrolled in this study, and IMRT56.25Gy and IMRT50Gy plans were made for each patient with a CTV-PTV50Gy margin of 5 mm and a GTV-PTV56.25Gy margin of 10 mm adapted to daily KV cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging. In the boost group (IMRT56.25Gy), the prescribed doses were 56.25 Gy to the gross tumor (PTV56.25Gy) and 50 Gy to areas at high risk of harboring microscopic disease (PTV50Gy). Doses were delivered over 25 daily fractions using a SIB technique. In the no-boost group (IMRT50Gy), the prescribed dose was 50 Gy to PTV50Gy without a boost. The goals were to give at least 95% of the prescribed doses to at least 95% of the PTVs while keeping irradiated volumes of the organs at risk dose as low as possible. Differences in dose distributions between the two sets of plans were analyzed using a paired sample t-test. All IMRT56.25Gy plans met the needs of the prescribed doses and organ at risk dose constraints. Compared to IMRT50Gy, the addition of a SIB in IMRT56.25Gy resulted in significant increases in mean dose and V40Gy to the bladder and significant increases of V30Gy and V40Gy to femoral heads (p < 0.05 for all points). There were no significant differences in dose to small bowel or pelvic bone marrow between the two sets of plans. Preoperative IMRT-IGRT with SIB for LARC is feasible dosimetrically with respect to organ at risk dose constraints. A phase II trial to evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of this approach is being undertaken.

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BACKGROUND: Studies on the effects of tuberculosis on a patient's quality of life (QOL) are scant. The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Taiwan short version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire using patients with tuberculosis in Taiwan and healthy referents. METHODS: The Taiwanese short version of the WHOQOL-BREF was administered to patients with tuberculosis undergoing treatment and healthy referents from March 2007 to July 2007. Patients with tuberculosis (n = 140) and healthy referents (n = 130), matched by age, sex, and ethnicity, agreed to an interview. All participants lived in eastern Taiwan. Reliability assessments included internal consistency, whereas validity assessments included construct validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. RESULTS: More than half of these patients and referents were men (70.7% and 66.2%, respectively), and their average ages were 50.1 and 47.9 years, respectively. Approximately 60% of patients and referents were aboriginal Taiwanese (60.7% and 61.1%, respectively). The proportion with low socioeconomic status was greater for these patients. The internal consistency reliability coefficients were .92 and .93 for the patients and healthy referents, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis on the healthy referents displayed a 4-domain model, which was compatible with the original WHOQOL-BREF 4-domain model. However, for the TB patient group, after deleting 3 items, both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a 6-domain model. CONCLUSION: Psychometric evaluation of the Taiwan short version of the WHOQOL-BREF indicates that it has adequate reliability for use in research with TB patients in Taiwan. However, the factor structure generated from this TB patient sample differed from the WHO's original 4-factor model, which raised a validity concern to apply the Taiwan short version of the WHOQOL-BREF to Taiwanese TB patients. Future research recruiting another sample to revisit this validity issue must be conducted to determine the validity of the WHOQOL-BREF TW in patients with TB.

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OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of a stress reduction elective on Year 2 medical students and to assess the sustainability of any noted improvement. METHODS: A new elective entitled 'Mind-Body Medicine: an Experiential Elective' was offered to Year 2 medical students. It was based on a course developed by the Center for Mind-Body Medicine. Enrolled students were surveyed on the first (time 1) and last (time 2) days of the elective and again 3 months later (time 3). Four validated self-report instruments were used to examine effects on anxiety, stress, mood states and depression. A comparison group of non-enrolled classmates completed the same instruments during the same timeframes. The study began in autumn 2004 and ended in June 2005. RESULTS: Participating students had higher initial anxiety scores than students in the comparison group. Anxiety in the study group declined significantly during the course, with enrolled students becoming indistinguishable from non-enrolled counterparts. These decreased anxiety levels were sustained for 3 months following the conclusion of the course. CONCLUSIONS: This elective was successful in attracting students who were more anxious than their peers. Enrolees had higher baseline anxiety levels than their peers. The course decreased anxiety levels. The significant drop in anxiety scores of the study group suggests that this mind-body elective was an effective way to decrease anxiety in these pre-clinical medical students. Decreases in anxiety were sustained 3 months after the course ended, indicating that the benefits of the course may be longlasting.

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