Miraculous Monstrosity: Birth and Female Sexuality in the Illuminated Scivias and Cloisters Apocalypse

This paper compares the illuminations in two medieval apocalypses, the Cloisters Apocalypse and Hildegard von Bingen’s Scivias, to inspect their similar constructions of female sexuality, motherhood, and monstrosity. It first analyzes the monstrosity of female sexual organs found in Hildegard’s portrayal of the Church and the Mother of the Antichrist. The paper then goes on to consider the uncanny slippage between images of birth and death in the Cloisters’s depiction of John and the Woman of Revelation 12. Ultimately, the paper not only explores the monstrosity of female bodies in apocalyptic manuscripts, but also concludes that medieval women’s circular experience of time and memory corresponds with medieval conceptions of circular apocalyptic time, thereby making women’s bodies an apt metaphorical vehicle for apocalyptic narratives

Insistent, Persistent, Resilient: The Negative Poetics of Patient Griselda

This essay argues for silence as a dynamic actant and vibrant rhetoric. While Walter commits slow violence against her, Griselda in Chaucer\u27s Clerk\u27s Tale resists the predatory practice of exploiting nonhuman objects, which, within misogyny, women embody. Ultimately framed within an ecocritical paradigm, this essay is grounded in lessons from trauma studies concerning silence, as well as new materialist and ecocritical approaches. Whether focusing on emotional distress, environmental devastation, or the agency of materiality, these critical approaches cohere by making manifest and heard what has been repressed, silenced, or overlooked. Griselda writes her own narrative, patiently and resiliently enacting agency through her poetics of negation

Pilots in the First World War: How the Phenomenon of the Flying Ace Impacted the War Effort

This thesis analyzes the British and German air forces during the First World War, and the various uses of planes and the men that flew them. Pilots were valued militarily, but their uses went beyond pure battle strategy and militaristic accomplishments. From the beginning of the 20th century, Europe had been infatuated with the idea of airfare and its potential power, and Europeans were also obsessed with the heroic pilots that flew them. Some of Europe’s most famous authors including H.G. Wells and Jules Verne heavily featured pilots as their glamorous, daring and brave heroes, so when the war broke out, many young men who had grown up listening and reading about pilots wanted to join the newly created air forces. The Royal Flying Corps and the Luftstreitkräfte faced tough opposition from the more traditional military branches at the beginning of the war, but would soon rise to power as reconnaissance was realized as useful, and dogfighting became an unmatched spectacle on the Western front, akin to a boxing match or other sporting event. Aces started to become recognized military and public figures. With airpower’s growing importance in the military, pilots became famous and enjoyed privileges that no other branch had. Government propaganda agencies realized pilots’ popularity and worked to use the image of the chivalrous knight in the sky for morale and recruitment purposes, in opposition to the anonymous and nameless face in trench warfare. This image turned flying into the ultimate game, and ignored the stressful reality of life as a fighter pilot. My thesis reconciles the alluring image of the flying ace with the alcoholism, debauchery, and danger that became so prevalent throughout the war, and the impact that the new technology had on the war and the men above the front lines. Using media such as film, newspapers, and memoirs, government propagandists were able to create a romanticized image of the flying ace that they could align with their own nation’s image in order to boost military and homefront morale

1The Hootenannies of East BerlinThe North American Roots of an East German Singing Movement

This work focuses on analyzing in further detail an East German singing movement that developed during the 1960s, the hootenanny movement as it was initially called and later the FDJ singing movement. This works focuses in detail on the North American folk music influences on the movement and the largest and most well-known group, the Hootenanny Klub Berlin or later the Oktoberklub. A brief introduction to aspects of East German music, and notably political music is provided before looking at the influences that North American artists had both indirectly and directly on the movement. The political environment of various musicians in the American context of the Folk Revival is also looked at as a way of understanding how North American folk music was imported into an East German context. Various conflicts within the movement with origins within political and musical themes in part brought by the North American influence, such as antiwar politics, are also briefly disused. The lasting legacy of the hootenanny movement on East German society and East German political music is also analyzed. Overall North American folk music deeply permeated the hootenanny movement in East Germany. From the initial performing artists, the songs covered and used as inspiration, as well as the world view of many club members. North American folk music deeply influenced the hootenanny movement. One reason for the importation of this largely American folk music tradition was some of the politics inherit in the initial American Folk Revival, most notably the early generation of American artists, who had had ties to left wing political parties and movements in the United States. There were difficulties and conflicts within the movement that had their origins, in part, due to some aspects of the political themes imported from North American folk music traditions. Most notably antiwar songs and pacifism orientated politics created friction within the movement and with party and government authorities. The lasting legacies of the North American influence on the hootenanny movement were the increase of interest in folk music in East Germany as well as the internationalization of East German political music

The Challenge of Maternal Mortality

The Challenge of Maternal Mortality, University of Iowa Obstetrics and Gynecology Postgraduate Virtual Conference, November 20, 2020. Poster presentations

Comparability of IFRS and GAAP

IFRS had been adopted by 166 countries, with the U.S. being a notable exception. The U.S. still uses GAAP as its reporting framework. Comparability of financial statements should be an important factor in evaluating the best frameworks. I collected data about operating leases of domestic and international airlines to compare the disclosures between IFRS and GAAP for the two reporting frameworks. The international airlines had more inconsistencies with the reported items, whereas the domestic airlines all reported the same items under GAAP standards, making it easier to compare the companies. My preliminary research of the new leasing standards under both GAAP and IFRS show that GAAP is a better reporting framework for comparability, and the U.S. should not adopt IFRS as it would compromise that comparability

Upstream oncology: identifying social determinants of health in a gynecologic oncology population

Introduction: Social determinants of health (SDoH) are the factors that affect a patient’s health quality and outcomes and contribute to health disparities. Evidence suggests that clinical care contributes only 20% to patients’ health outcomes, while the remainder is under the influence of upstream factors. The upstream approach to healthcare aims to address SDoH before they contribute to less ideal outcomes downstream. Several SDoH may contribute to outcomes for cancer patients. This Upstream Gynecologic Oncology Initiative seeks to identify which SDoH affect a population of patients with gynecologic malignancies. Hypothesis: This study hypothesizes that women receiving care for gynecologic malignancies are affected by specific SDoH among the categories of housing, food, transportation, finances, health literacy and social support. This study aims to identify the frequency of these six social factors among the outpatient gynecologic oncology population at the University of Iowa. Methods: This needs assessment is the first phase in a quality improvement project assessing the SDoH affecting women with gynecologic cancers. Two hundred twenty-two patients receiving outpatient care for gynecologic malignancies completed an anonymous needs assessment survey. Validated survey questions regarding housing, food, transportation, finances, health literacy and social support were used to identify needs. Responses were considered positive if any degree of need was reported. Results: Responses demonstrated the most substantial need in the categories of social support (32%), health literacy (28%) and financial stability (24%). Less need was reported in the categories of food (11%), transportation (5%) and housing (4%). Fifty-seven percent of women reported at least one social need among the six categories screened. Conclusion: Upstream SDoH, most notably social support, health literacy and financial stability are identified to be present and likely contributing to health quality, outcomes, and disparities within this gynecologic oncology patient population. Overall, these findings support the idea that SDoH should be assessed for each unique patient population - and for each patient receiving care for gynecologic cancer. While social support was the most frequently reported SDoH, many patients already received adequate help at home; suggesting that meaningful efforts should next be directed at improving health literacy in the population. Appreciation and assessment of SDoH potential to impact care and management should be used to design a routine screening tool for the study population and organize resources to address or mitigate the identified needs

COVID-19 related complete blood count changes among asymptomatic pregnant women

Objective: To evaluate complete blood count (CBC) changes that suggest coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) among asymptomatic pregnant women attending routine antenatal care Methods: A cross-sectional study included 187 healthy pregnant women who were attending the antenatal care clinic of a tertiary University hospital between March and June 2020. After a thorough history and examinations, a venous blood sample was taken from each participant for complete and differential blood counts. Those who showed CBC findings suggestive of COVID-19 were further scheduled for a nasopharyngeal swab for detection of SARS-CoV-2 specific antigens through polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: We found 5.3% (n=10) of the study population showed CBC changes that are suggestive of COVID-19. When they were scheduled for nasopharyngeal swab for a PCR confirmatory test, 30% (n=3) of them were PCR positive (which represented 1.6% of the entire study population). The most frequently encountered COVID-19-suggestive change in peripheral blood leukocyte differential counts was leucopenia (100%), followed by decreased eosinophil count (50%), then neutropenia and lymphocytopenia (30%). Conclusions: Certain differential leucocyte count changes (leucopenia, neutropenia, lymphocytopenia and decreased eosinophil count) among asymptomatic pregnant women might be related to COVID-19 infection and may indicate a need for further testing