Western Governors University (WGU) is a non-profit private, online university based in Millcreek, Utah. The university uses an online competency-based learning model as opposed to the traditional, cohort-based class model present at most universities. The university was founded by 19 U.S. governors in 1997 after the idea was formulated at a 1995 meeting of the Western Governors Association to expand education offerings to the internet. WGU degree programs are accredited by institutional and professional accreditation bodies such as the NWCCU, ACBSP, CAEP, CAHIIM, CCNE, and the NCATE.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.
Baleen whales (mysticetes) underwent a profound transition from raptorial to filter feeding early in their history, allowing the exploitation of new food sources and environments. Their key structural innovation, baleen, is rarely fossilized, complicating reconstruction of the transition. Muscles used in food capture, locomotion, and respiration are anchored on developmentally discrete subunits of the sternum in living mysticetes, offering a novel approach for predicting muscle function and feeding style in extinct taxa. Elliptic Fourier Analysis was used to test the relationship between sternal shape and feeding style in extant balaenopteroid mysticetes. Results indicate that sternal shape changes during the ontogenetic transition from juvenile nursing to adult filter feeding and differs among adults of species with different styles of filter feeding, providing support for the use of sternal structure to predict the feeding habits of extinct taxa. The dense, block-shaped presterna and multiple sternebrae of early mysticetes suggest that they used static buoyancy control in nearshore environments and lacked the thoracic compliance necessary for deep diving. Variably enlarged sternohyoid muscle fields indicate that they all employed suction during prey capture. In sharp contrast, eomysticetes have osteoporotic, planar sterna without sternebrae and minimal sternohyoid fields, signaling deeper water habitats, diving facilitated by thoracic compliance, and little or no suction. Taxa crownward of eomysticetes display novel elaborations of the sternohyoid and sternocephalic muscle fields that characterize continuous and intermittent ram-feeding in living balaenopteroids.
Reintegrating those once affiliated with terrorism poses significant challenges. Yet a gap remains in interventions to improve public attitudes, due to a poor understanding of the rationale behind reintegration programmes and the need for greater receptiveness to discourage reoffending. This study makes an original contribution to empirically test the likelihood of a novel intervention called Prosociality, Empathy and Awareness Communication to aid rEintegration (PEACE) to improve attitude towards reintegration. A total of 70 participants were recruited and randomised into the experimental group, which received the PEACE intervention, or the waitlist control group. The study found that prior to the intervention, participants held negative views towards former rehabilitated Boko Haram members due to a perceived sense of injustice and alienation characterized by poor awareness of the government reintegration programme. However, participants in the experimental group who took part in the PEACE intervention demonstrated greater willingness to accept former rehabilitated prospective members back following awareness of the rationale behind the government reintegration program, while those in the control group's attitudes towards reintegration remained unchanged. The finding provides important insights into the significance of targeted media communication in improving attitudes towards reintegration relevant for policy globally and recommends a fully powered trial to determine the intervention's effectiveness in large populations.
The integration of simulation into nursing education is essential for providing safe, structured, and effective clinical learning experiences. This paper presents findings from the 2024 review of simulation regulations in nursing education across the United States and Canada. The authors conducted a descriptive study of simulation regulations in the United States and Canada and compared findings to the results of previous simulation regulation reviews to identify changes in regulations that occurred since 2022. This study noted simulation regulations in 90% of U.S. states and 15% of Canadian provinces. Clinical replacement ratios ranged from 1:1 to 2:1, with limits from 25 to 100% in both countries. Canadian regulations did not elaborate on the use of virtual simulation, simulation best practice, or accreditation standards. Regulations in the United States mentioned virtual simulation in 12 states. Regulations referenced best practice standards in 26% of states; accreditation in 10%. Regulation rose from 35% in 2014 to 68.3% in 2022; and is now at 90% in the United States. This review provides updated information on the evolving, yet inconsistent regulations for simulation education across the United States and Canada. These findings demonstrate an increase in formalized simulation use with continued variability in some key regulatory areas.
Background:Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is an issue of public health concern. Yet most research on GBV focuses predominantly on women. A gap remains in a review of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) men's experiences of gender-based violence, help-seeking behaviours, and interventions to improve their psychosocial wellbeing in the United Kingdom. This review addressed the gap. Methods:Six databases were searched (PsycINFO, ProQuest Central, Scopus, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstract, PudMed, and Embase) for published articles between 2011 and June 2025. N = 10 studies met the inclusion criteria. The relevant data were synthesised and thematically analysed. Findings:The review found that sexual and physical abuse, masculinity, and societal perceptions of men as abusers pose barriers to help-seeking. Religio-cultural factors, including psychological effects, victimisation from service providers, also limit help-seeking. It also found that there was persistent recourse to informal platforms for support alongside limited psychosocial interventions. Conclusion:Culturally adapted psychosocial interventions are suggested alongside testing using randomised controlled trials. Systematic review registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420261280683, identifier PROSPERO (CRD420261280683).
Specialized suction feeders independently evolved in several odontocete (toothed whale) lineages, with paradigmatic examples in sperm whales and beaked whales. Although little is known about feeding behavior in most cetacean species, many studies have identified morphological correlates of feeding ecology, such as skull shape. Here, we develop a suction specialization index (SSI) to quantify the extent of suction specialization in 68 extant odontocete taxa. This metric incorporates 10 morphological characters historically associated with suction feeding, including skull and hyoid osteology, dentition, and soft tissue structures. Our analyses show that both SSI and individual morphological characters reliably distinguish suction-feeding odontocetes from other taxa. Reduced dentition, non-occluding teeth/jaws, specialized palate, and weak jaw adductors were the strongest predictors. The blunt, wide rostrum was the weakest predictor. The distribution of SSI in the morphospace demonstrates that lineages of suction-feeding odontocetes specialize without converging on skull shape. Our results suggest that quantifying specialization across a suite of morphological predictors can provide a robust framework for reconstructing feeding ecology in extinct taxa. Our findings also highlight the interplay of convergence and constraint in vertebrate feeding systems, ultimately contributing to a broader understanding of how specializing on feeding behavior (e.g., suction) manifests across many different forms.
