A Study of Employment Costs for a Graduate Staff Nurse

The purpose of this study was to develop a method for determining the costs involved in the employment and initial orientation of a graduate staff nurse at X Hospital, to determine the average cost involved in the employment and initial orientation of a graduate staff nurse at X Hospital, and to make recommendations in relation to cost of employment and turnover figures. A form was developed for collecting and tabulating the data and tried out with a new graduate staff nurse. It was revised during and after the try-out period and in final form was used with six new graduate staff nurses as they sought employment during April and May, 1953. The costs involved in employing the graduate staff nurses were calculated on the basis of the hourly salary rate of those workers who participated in the employment procedure. The study showed that employment costs did not vary greatly for this type of worker, the minimum cost being $62.47 and the maximum,$69.93. The Nursing Service Department contributed 86 per cent of the cost of the employment procedure. No single figure can be stated as the cost of employment of a graduate staff nurse. As details are added to the procedure or taken away, and as long as tasks and workers are considered in the method used, the costs will vary from time to time and in different institutions

Responding to Per.Art's Dis_Sylphide:Six Voices from IFTR's Performance and Disability Working Group

This submission by IFTR's Performance and Disability working group features responses by six participants – voices projected from Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Wales, England and Australia – to Per.Art's production Dis_Sylphide, which was presented on 7 July 2018 at the Cultural Institution Vuk Karadžić as part of IFTR's conference in Belgrade at the invitation of the Performance and Disability working group. Per.Art is an independent theatre company founded in 1999 in Novi Sad, Serbia, by the internationally recognized choreographer and performer Saša Asentić, the company's artistic director. The company brings together people with learning disabilities, artists (theatre, dance and visual arts), special educators, representatives of cultural institutions, philosophers, architects and students to make work. This co-authored submission examines how the production responds to three important dance works of the twentieth century – Mary Wigman's Hexentanz (1928), Pina Bausch's Kontakthof (1978) and Xavier Le Roy's Self Unfinished (1998) – to explore normalizing and normative body concepts in dance theatre and in society, and how they have been migrating over the course of dance histories. The shared experience of witnessing the performance provoked discussion on the migration of dance forms across time and cultures, as well issues of access and (im)mobility, which are especially pertinent to a disability studies context

Incidental findings on cerebral MRI in twins: the Older Australian Twins Study

Incidental findings on structural cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are common in healthy subjects, and the prevalence increases with age. There is a paucity of data regarding incidental cerebral findings in twins. We examined brain MRI data acquired from community-dwelling older twins to determine the prevalence and concordance of incidental cerebral findings, as well as the associated clinical implications. Participants (n = 400) were drawn from the Older Australian Twins Study. T1-weighted and T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) cerebral MRI scans were systematically reviewed by a trained, blinded clinician. Incidental findings were recorded according to pre-determined categories, and the diagnosis confirmed by an experienced neuroradiologist. Periventricular and deep white matter hyperintensities (WMH) were scored visually. WMH heritability was calculated for those with the twin pair included in the study (n = 320 individuals; monozygotic (MZ) = 92 twin pairs, dizygotic (DZ) = 68 twin pairs). Excluding infarcts and WMH, a total of 47 (11.75%) incidental abnormalities were detected. The most common findings were hyperostosis frontalis interna (8 participants; 2%), meningiomas, (6 participants; 1.5%), and intracranial lipomas (5 participants; 1.25%). Only 3% of participants were referred for follow-up. Four twin pairs, all monozygotic, had lesions concordant with their twin. Periventricular WMH was moderately heritable (0.61, CI 0.43–0.75, p = 7.21E-08) and deep WMH highly heritable (0.80, CI 0.66–0.88, p = 1.76E-13). As in the general population, incidental findings on cerebral MRI in older twins are common, although concordance rates are low. Such findings can alter the clinical outcome of participants, and should be anticipated by researchers when designing trials involving cerebral imaging

High polygenic risk score for exceptional longevity is associated with a healthy metabolic profile

Healthy metabolic measures in humans are associated with longevity. Dysregulation leads to metabolic syndrome (MetS) and negative health outcomes. Recent exceptional longevity (EL) genome wide association studies have facilitated estimation of an individual's polygenic risk score (PRS) for EL. We tested the hypothesis that individuals with high ELPRS have a low prevalence of MetS. Participants were from five cohorts of middle-aged to older adults. The primary analyses were performed in the UK Biobank (UKBB) (n = 407,800, 40-69 years). Replication analyses were undertaken using three Australian studies: Hunter Community Study (n = 2122, 55-85 years), Older Australian Twins Study (n = 539, 65-90 years) and Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (n = 925, 70-90 years), as well as the Swedish Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies (n = 2273, 70-93 years). MetS was defined using established criteria. Regressions and meta-analyses were performed with the ELPRS and MetS and its components. Generally, MetS prevalence (22-30%) was higher in the older cohorts. In the UKBB, high EL polygenic risk was associated with lower MetS prevalence (OR = 0.94, p = 1.84 × 10-42) and its components (p < 2.30 × 10-8). Meta-analyses of the replication cohorts showed nominal associations with MetS (p = 0.028) and 3 MetS components (p < 0.05). This work suggests individuals with a high polygenic risk for EL have a healthy metabolic profile promoting longevity

High polygenic risk score for exceptional longevity is associated with a healthy metabolic profile

Healthy metabolic measures in humans are associated with longevity. Dysregulation leads to metabolic syndrome (MetS) and negative health outcomes. Recent exceptional longevity (EL) genome wide association studies have facilitated estimation of an individual’s polygenic risk score (PRS) for EL. We tested the hypothesis that individuals with high ELPRS have a low prevalence of MetS. Participants were from five cohorts of middle-aged to older adults. The primary analyses were performed in the UK Biobank (UKBB) (n = 407,800, 40–69 years). Replication analyses were undertaken using three Australian studies: Hunter Community Study (n = 2122, 55–85 years), Older Australian Twins Study (n = 539, 65–90 years) and Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (n = 925, 70–90 years), as well as the Swedish Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies (n = 2273, 70–93 years). MetS was defined using established criteria. Regressions and meta-analyses were performed with the ELPRS and MetS and its components. Generally, MetS prevalence (22–30%) was higher in the older cohorts. In the UKBB, high EL polygenic risk was associated with lower MetS prevalence (OR = 0.94, p = 1.84 × 10–42) and its components (p < 2.30 × 10–8). Meta-analyses of the replication cohorts showed nominal associations with MetS (p = 0.028) and 3 MetS components (p < 0.05). This work suggests individuals with a high polygenic risk for EL have a healthy metabolic profile promoting longevity

Is healthy neuroticism associated with longevity? A coordinated integrative data analysis

Early investigations of the neuroticism by conscientiousness interaction with regards to health have been promising, but to date, there have been no systematic investigations of this interaction that account for the various personality measurement instruments, varying populations, or aspects of health. The current study - the second of three - uses a coordinated analysis approach to test the impact of the neuroticism by conscientiousness interaction on the prevalence and incidence of chronic conditions. Using 15 pre-existing longitudinal studies (N > 49,375), we found that conscientiousness did not moderate the relationship between neuroticism and having hypertension (OR = 1.00,95%CI[0.98,1.02]), diabetes (OR = 1.02[0.99,1.04]), or heart disease (OR = 0.99[0.97,1.01]). Similarly, we found that conscientiousness did not moderate the prospective relationship between neuroticism and onset of hypertension (OR = 0.98,[0.95,1.01]), diabetes (OR = 0.99[0.94,1.05]), or heart disease (OR = 0.98[0.94,1.03]). Heterogeneity of effect sizes was largely nonsignificant, with one exception, indicating that the effects are consistent between datasets. Overall, we conclude that there is no evidence that healthy neuroticism, operationalized as the conscientiousness by neuroticism interaction, buffers against chronic conditions