180 research outputs found
The Ungovernable Governess:The Figure of the Governess in the Victorian Sensation Novel of the 1860s.
Get PDFThis dissertation will examine the figure of the governess in the Victorian Sensation Novels of the 1860s in order to determine if sensation fiction in this period was inevitably concerned with portraying the ungovernable side of femininity. The primary focus will be on the female protagonist in Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret, Wilkie Collins Armadale, Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Behind a Mask,’ and Ellen Wood’s East Lynne.1 The effects of the moral and social climate of the nineteenth century and the influence the historical governess had on these works will be examined. The hypothesis that Braddon, Collins, Alcott, and Wood use the governess to depict various forms of female non-conformity in order to comment on the limitations and injustices of the woman’s position in a male dominated society will be considered, particularly in relation to the depiction of Victorian matrimony and the sexual double standard. Under discussion will be the liminal position of the governess and the way in which these villainous and deviant women use masquerade and their position in ways that tend towards deception. The motivation behind the actions of these transgressive females will also be discussed, particularly the significance of poverty and social position on their ungovernable behaviour, and the extent to which these texts and the governess figure can be seen as feminist will be explored.
Building Your Programs 20 Minutes at a Time: Leadership & Reflection Activities You Can Use
Get PDFThis archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu.Research on youth program quality and brain-based learning give us scientific proof that time for reflection and the use of a variety of reflective techniques facilitate learning. This resource booklet will help you build skills for facilitating reflection and building leadership skills with youth or adult groups. It offers a brief overview of experiential learning and youth program quality research, facilitator tips, and 27 short activities to help create quality experiential learning
Speaking out about gender imbalance in invited speakers improves diversity.
Get PDFOmissions of qualified women scientists from major meeting programs continue to occur despite a surge in articles indicating persistent gender-discriminatory practices in hiring and promotion, and calls for gender balance in conference organizing committees
A Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Alternate Formats for Presenting Benefits and Harms Information for Low-Value Screening Services: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Get PDFHealthcare overuse, the delivery of low-value services, is increasingly recognized as a critical problem. However, little is known about the comparative effectiveness of alternate formats for presenting benefits and harms information to patients as a strategy to reduce overuse. To examine the effect of different benefits and harms presentations on patients' intentions to accept low-value or potentially low-value screening services (prostate cancer screening in men ages 50-69 years; osteoporosis screening in low-risk women ages 50-64 years; or colorectal cancer screening in men and women ages 76-85 years). Randomized clinical trial of 775 individuals eligible to receive information about any 1 of the 3 screening services and scheduled for a visit with their clinician. Participants were randomized to 1 of 4 intervention arms that differed in terms of presentation format: words, numbers, numbers plus narrative, and numbers plus framed presentation. The trial was conducted from September 2012 to June 2014 at 2 family medicine and 2 internal medicine practices affiliated with the Duke Primary Care Research Consortium. The data were analyzed between May and September of 2015. One-page evidence-based decision support sheets on each of the 3 screening services, with benefits and harms information presented in 1 of 4 formats: words, numbers, numbers plus narratives, or numbers plus a framed presentation. The primary outcome was change in intention to accept screening (on a response scale from 1 to 5). Our secondary outcomes included general and disease-specific knowledge, perceived risk and consequences of disease, screening attitudes, perceived net benefit of screening, values clarity, and self-efficacy for screening. We enrolled and randomly allocated 775 individuals, aged 50 to 85 years, to 1 of 4 intervention arms: 195 to words, 192 to numbers, 196 to narrative, and 192 to framed formats. Intentions to accept screening were high before the intervention and change in intentions did not differ across intervention arms (words, -0.07; numbers, -0.05; numbers plus narrative, -0.12; numbers plus framed presentation, -0.02; P = .57 for all comparisons). Change in other outcomes also showed no difference across intervention arms. Results were similar when stratified by screening service. Single, brief, written decision support interventions, such as the ones in this study, are unlikely to be sufficient to change intentions for screening. Alternate and additional interventions are needed to reduce overused screening services. clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01694784
Preliminary assessment of the feasibility of using AB words to assess candidacy in adults
Get PDFBackground: Adult cochlear implant (CI) candidacy is assessed in part by the use of speech perception measures. In the United Kingdom the current cut-off point to fall within the CI candidacy range is a score of less than 50% on the BKB sentences presented in quiet (presented at 70 dBSPL).
Goal: The specific goal of this article was to review the benefit of adding the AB word test to the assessment test battery for candidacy.
Results: The AB word test scores showed good sensitivity and specificity when calculated based on both word and phoneme scores. The word score equivalent for 50% correct on the BKB sentences was 18.5% and it was 34.5% when the phoneme score was calculated; these scores are in line with those used in centres in Wales (15% AB word score).
Conclusion: The goal of the British Cochlear Implant Group (BCIG) service evaluation was to determine if the pre-implant assessment measures are appropriate and set at the correct level for determining candidacy, the future analyses will determine whether the speech perception cut-off point for candidacy should be adjusted and whether other more challenging measures should be used in the candidacy evaluation
Implementation of an Outpatient HD-MTX Initiative
Get PDFIntroduction: Methotrexate (MTX) a folate antagonist is often given in high doses (≥500 mg/m2) to treat a variety of disease processes. While inpatient administration has been the norm, outpatient administration, has been shown to be safe, effective, and patient centered. Here in we describe development of an outpatient HDMTX protocol and our initial experience.
Methods: All patients were to receive their first cycle of HDMTX in the hospital to ensure they tolerate it well and also to use this time to assist in training for home administration. The outpatient protocol involved continuous IV sodium bicarbonate, along with oral leucovorin and acetazolamide. Patients were required to visit the infusion center daily for labs and methotrexate levels. Clear criteria for admission were developed in the case of delayed clearance or methotrexate toxicity.
Results: Two patients completed the safety run-in phase. Both patients tolerated treatment well. There were no associated toxicity. Methotrexate cleared within 3 days for all cycles. Both patients were able to follow the preadmission instructions for sodium bicarbonate and acetazolamide. The patients reported adequate teaching on the protocol and were able to maintain frequency of urine dipstick checks.
Conclusion: We developed and implemented an outpatient protocol for high dose methotrexate. This study largely details the development of this protocol and its initial safety evaluation. More work needs to be done to assess its feasibility on a larger number of patients who receive more cycles in the outpatient setting
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: development of concensus referral criteria for specialist diagnostic assessment in Australia
Get PDFBackground: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is known to be under-recognised in Australia. The use of standard methods to identify when to refer individuals who may have FASD for specialist assessment could help improve the identification of this disorder. The purpose of this study was to develop referral criteria for use in Australia. Method: An online survey about FASD screening and diagnosis in Australia, which included 23 statements describing criteria for referral for fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and FASD based on published recommendations for referral in North America, was sent to 139 health professionals who had expertise or involvement in FASD screening or diagnosis. Survey findings and published criteria for referral were subsequently reviewed by a panel of 14 investigators at a consensus development workshop where criteria for referral were developed.Results: Among the 139 health professionals who were sent the survey, 103 (74%) responded, and 90 (65%) responded to the statements on criteria for referral. Over 80% of respondents agreed that referral for specialist evaluation should occur when there is evidence of significant prenatal alcohol exposure, defined as 7 or more standard drinks per week and at least 3 standard drinks on any one day, and more than 70% agreed with 13 of the16 statements that described criteria for referral other than prenatal alcohol exposure. Workshop participants recommended five independent criteria for referral: confirmed significant prenatal alcohol exposure; microcephaly and confirmed prenatal alcohol exposure; 2 or more significant central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities and confirmed prenatal alcohol exposure; 3 characteristic FAS facial anomalies; and 1 characteristic FAS facial anomaly, growth deficit and 1 or more CNS abnormalities .Conclusion: Referral criteria recommended for use in Australia are similar to those recommended in North America. There is a need to develop resources to raise awareness of these criteria among health professionals and evaluate their feasibility, acceptability and capacity to improve the identification of FASD in Australia
Alliance of Genome Resources Portal: unified model organism research platform
Get PDFThe Alliance of Genome Resources (Alliance) is a consortium of the major model organism databases and the Gene Ontology that is guided by the vision of facilitating exploration of related genes in human and well-studied model organisms by providing a highly integrated and comprehensive platform that enables researchers to leverage the extensive body of genetic and genomic studies in these organisms. Initiated in 2016, the Alliance is building a central portal (www.alliancegenome.org) for access to data for the primary model organisms along with gene ontology data and human data. All data types represented in the Alliance portal (e.g. genomic data and phenotype descriptions) have common data models and workflows for curation. All data are open and freely available via a variety of mechanisms. Long-term plans for the Alliance project include a focus on coverage of additional model organisms including those without dedicated curation communities, and the inclusion of new data types with a particular focus on providing data and tools for the non-model-organism researcher that support enhanced discovery about human health and disease. Here we review current progress and present immediate plans for this new bioinformatics resource
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