Metropolis

Non-fiction by Martha Pearson

Considering an alternative perspective : an exploration of the meaning and experience of gratitude for individuals living with illness

This portfolio thesis consists of three parts: a systematic literature review, an empirical paper and a set of related appendices. The thesis as a whole considers what gratitude means and how it is experienced by individuals living with a diagnosis of a chronic condition.The first section is a systematic literature review that explores how gratitude is experienced by individuals living with a diagnosis of cancer, and critically examines how gratitude as a concept is understood and discussed within the cancer literature. Eighteen papers were reviewed. The data were synthesised using a meta-ethnographic approach, which took a critical interpretivist stance to consider how findings were structured and interpreted by researchers. The findings indicate that people living with cancer encounter positive experiences related to gratitude, which have multiple aspects, and co-occur with difficult experiences. The findings are discussed within the context of wider literature, and the implications for future gratitude research are considered.The second section of the portfolio is an empirical study that explores the meaning of the concept of gratitude for people who are living with dementia in the community, and the experience of this concept. A secondary aim of the study was to explore the usability and acceptability of a diary as a data collection method for this group. The research used a mixed-methods approach, primarily collecting qualitative data using interviews and diaries, and analysing this using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Secondary quantitative data were collected via a questionnaire and summarized using descriptive statistics to assess the usability of the diary method. Eight participants aged over 65 and living in the community were interviewed, and six of these participants kept a gratitude diary for a week following interview. Two superordinate themes and seven subthemes emerged from the data. These findings indicate that gratitude has meaning as a multidimensional construct and is experienced in life with dementia, influenced by and balanced with the changes of dementia and ageing. Descriptive statistics indicate that a diary may be an acceptable method of data collection for this group. The findings are discussed in the context of wider literature, and the implications for dementia care generally and the specific application of positive psychology interventions are discussed.The third section consists of a set of appendices relating to both the systematic literature review and the empirical paper. Also contained within these appendices are a reflective statement and an epistemological statement, which consider the researcher’s experience of conducting the research and the philosophical position and assumptions underlying the research

Citation of Unpublished Opinions as Precedent

The federal courts of appeals have used unpublished opinions for thirty years as one method of coping with the crisis of volume. Recent developments demonstrate that interest in this controversial practice remains high. Panels of the Eighth Circuits and Ninth Circuits reached opposite conclusions regarding the propriety of the practice, and in so doing described the nature of the appellate process in remarkably different ways. Several circuits have recently amended their rules, liberalizing citation of unpublished opinions. The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules has approved a proposed new rule permitting citation of unpublished opinions. Inasmuch as the rules regarding citation of unpublished opinions speak in terms of the precedential effect of such decisions, this Article examines the no-citation rules in light of the purpose and operation of the doctrine of precedent. Professor Dragich Pearson argues that limited publication and, especially, no-citation rules are fundamentally incompatible with a system based on the rule of precedent. The courts of appeals, in adopting limited publication and no-citation rules, have taken an incomplete view of the way precedent matters. Past decisions are precedents, whether or not published, because they are historical facts. The reach of a precedent is determined not by publication but by the breadth of the deciding court\u27s characterization of its holding. It is up to the subsequent court to determine the applicability of the precedent in a later case. The economy arguments typically advanced in support of the rules are weak and reflect a flawed understanding of precedent. Professor Dragich Pearson suggests that federal courts of appeals abandon the notion of unpublished decisions. Instead, the courts of appeals could use abbreviated opinions to process easy or redundant cases quickly and to limit the future effect of decisions in such cases. Citation of such opinions should be permitted for whatever they may be worth in the free market of precedents

Revelations from the Blackmun Papers on the Development of Death Penalty Law

Justice Blackmun\u27s legacy is strongly linked to two issues - abortion and capital punishment. Blackmun\u27s opinions in these controversial areas account for much of the notion that his ideology changed while on the Court. Participants in this Symposium have reflected on these and other areas where Justice Blackmun left his mark on American law. Professor Deason explores the arbitrability cases and shows that the Court struggled - and Justices changed their minds - even in connection with relatively technical legal issues arising in non-controversial commercial contexts. One reason the Court struggles with some issues is that legal standards are (or become) inherently contradictory or confusing over time. As the law evolves, it moves in directions the Justices may not have anticipated and cannot continue to support. As a result, both the Court and individual Justices change direction. In the arbitrability cases, Justice Blackmun was one of several Justices whose approach changed as the law developed, largely through opinions authored by others. In the context of the politically-charged abortion cases, on the other hand, Justice Blackmun was the architect of the trimester framework and, later, the most vocal defender of the abortion right. Professor Kobylka notes that personal attachment to the issue, increasingly heated rhetorical style, and growing focus on egalitarianism were essential features in the development of Justice Blackmun\u27s abortion jurisprudence. Interestingly, the nature of the abortion right was not fully appreciated even by Blackmun at the time it was first articulated. Both its privacy dimension and its role in assuring equality for women were initially subordiante to the role of the physician-patient relationship on which Blackmun focused in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. My comments focus on the death penalty cases, responding to some of Professor Sisk\u27s conclusions about them. As I wil show, both Professor Deason\u27s and Professor Kobylka\u27s observations are applicable to the death penalty cases. The availability of the Blackmun Papers aids immeasurably in scholars\u27 attempts to understand how the law developed and what role particular Justices may have played in that development

Reflections on Judging: A Discussion following the Release of the Blackmun Papers

Justice Blackmun\u27s papers were opened to the public on March 4, 2004, the fifth anniversary of his death. Held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, the collection includes over half a million items, many handwritten by Justice Blackmun. Anyone can read them. For legal scholars, this kind of research can only be described as exhilarating and many of the articles in this symposium draw on research from Justice Blackmun\u27s papers. For the public, the release comes at a time when the interest in judges is particularly acute

The Meaning and Experience of Gratitude for People Living with Dementia

RationaleSupporting people to live well with dementia is an international government priority. People living with dementia experience a range of positive emotions despite the challenges associated with dementia. Further research is needed to explore how these positive experiences can be fostered to support well-being. There is empirical evidence of the benefits of gratitude in other clinical groups, but no studies have explored how gratitude is experienced by people living with dementia.MethodsIn this mixed-methods study, eight people living with dementia shared their experiences of gratitude through interviews and gratitude diaries. Qualitative data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Quantitative data regarding diary use were analysed using descriptive statistics.Findings and ConclusionsGratitude holds interpersonal and transpersonal meanings for people living with dementia, balanced with challenges of dementia and ageing. This study offers insight into the existence and relevance of gratitude for people living with dementia, highlighting the importance of using multiple methods in dementia research. Positive psychology interventions informed by these findings may be effective in supporting well-being for people with dementia

BluGen: An Analytic Framework for Mission-Cyber Risk Assessment and Mitigation Recommendation

Systems security engineering (SSE) is a complex, manually intensive process, with implications for cost, time required, and repeatability/reproducibility. This paper describes BluGen, an analytic framework that generates risk plots and recommends prioritized mitigations for a target mission/system environment based on a stated level of threat and risk tolerance. The goal is to give working system security engineers a head start in their analysis. We describe BluGen in the context of Design Science Research and evaluate accordingly

Messages Do Diffuse Faster Than Messengers: Reconciling disparate estimates of the morphogen Bicoid diffusion coefficient

The gradient of Bicoid (Bcd) is key for the establishment of the anterior-posterior axis in Drosophila embryos. The gradient properties are compatible with the SDD model in which Bcd is synthesized at the anterior pole and then diffuses into the embryo and is degraded with a characteristic time. Within this model, the Bcd diffusion coefficient is critical to set the timescale of gradient formation. This coefficient has been measured using two optical techniques, Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) and Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), obtaining estimates in which the FCS value is an order of magnitude larger than the FRAP one. This discrepancy raises the following questions: which estimate is ?correct?; what is the reason for the disparity; and can the SDD model explain Bcd gradient formation within the experimentally observed times. In this paper, we use a simple biophysical model in which Bcd diffuses and interacts with binding sites to show that both the FRAP and the FCS estimates may be correct and compatible with the observed timescale of gradient formation. The discrepancy arises from the fact that FCS and FRAP report on different effective (concentration dependent) diffusion coefficients, one of which describes the spreading rate of the individual Bcd molecules (the messengers) and the other one that of their concentration (the message). The latter is the one that is more relevant for the gradient establishment and is compatible with its formation within the experimentally observed times.Fil: Sigaut, Lorena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Pearson, John E.. Los Alamos National Laboratory;Fil: Colman Lerner, Alejandro Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Ponce Dawson, Silvina Martha. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; Argentin