Psycho-social effects of a brain-training program among healthy older adults

Grounded in cognitive neuroscience and social exchange theory, this research evaluated the relationship between changes in cognitive functioning and two psycho-social dimensions of life among healthy adults over the age of 70 (N=12). Specific psycho-social dimensions examined were social interaction and depression. Six females and six males participated in the study. All were white, college-educated individuals residing in a life-care residential retirement community. The participants used the Posit Science® Brain Fitness Program™, an auditory-based computer training program that improves memory and speed of processing, for forty hours over an eight-week period. Pre- and post-tests related to social interaction and depressive symptoms indicated that improvement in cognitive functioning was related to improvement in psychosocial dimensions in later life

Use of a Bath Calendar as a Cue for Bathing for Patients Suffering from Alzheimer\u27s Disease

This pilot study determined the ability of Alzheimer patients to recognize bath day using a bath calendar with a specific visual cue to denote bath day. A quasi-experimental design using a control and experimental group receiving a pre and post test was employed. Sixteen subjects scoring on the MSQ in the middle dementia area and living in an area nursing home participated in this study. Caregivers of subjects in the experimental group were responsible for reinforcing the cue to the subjects daily for four (4) weeks. Pre and post recognition and MSQ scores were tallied and differences between groups were tested at the .05 level of significance using a Kruskal Wallis l-Way ANOVA test. Results of the study demonstrated that a direct relationship exists between the use of the bath calendar and recognition of bath day as evidenced by a chi-square of 12.1739, p\u3c.0005. No relationship was found in MSQ scores. Results indicate that pictorial cues may be useful in structuring the functional activities of daily living in Alzheimer patients

A Competency-based Approach to Faculty Development

Background—Faculty development at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (VCU SOM) has previously focused on enhancing teaching and learning in the medical and clinical education settings. While this work is important, this narrow focus does not address all facets a faculty member’s role. To broaden their programming, the VCU SOM faculty development team adopted a competency-based approach to the development and planning of faculty development activities. Summary of work—The Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs completed a research project focused on successful medical faculty who promote through the tenure process and advance in their careers. She identified the following categories for success: teaching, service, scholarship, advancing, and leadership. Each of these categories contains action-focused competencies that align with career progression addressing early, mid, and late career stages. The faculty development team adopted the identified competencies to their curriculum development and planning processes. Summary of results—The results of this adoption have been clearer goals for learners, a mapped structure for faculty development activities, and a broader range of topics offered that align with career stages. Discussion—Faculty development activities are now categorized into five (5) categories: Teach, Lead, Serve, Discover, and Advance with each category color coded for easy recognition in event marketing materials. A new logo reflecting these competency categories is now included on all Office of Faculty Affairs communications. Faculty are beginning to recognize and register for activities they need for promotion, tenure, and advancement. Conclusions—The adoption of the competencies for success from the Senior Associate Dean’s study has enriched faculty development offerings providing a recognizable structure allowing faculty to easily identify competency areas for development

'For this I was made': conflict and calling in the role of a woman priest

There has been an increasing focus on ‘work as calling’ in recent years, but relatively few empirical sociological accounts that shed light on the experience of performing calling work. Although callings have generally been referred to as positive and fulfilling to the individual and as beneficial to society, researchers have also suggested there is a ‘dark side’ to calling, and have drawn attention to the potential conflicts and tensions inherent in the pursuit of calling, especially for women. This article explores these themes through the first-hand experiences of one woman who felt called to work as a priest. Her narrative illustrates how callings draw the individual irresistibly towards a particular line of work. It also shows how calling work can be both satisfying individually and beneficial to the wider community but, at the same time, involves sacrifice, compromise and a willingness to defer personal rewards

Disability, vulnerability and citizenship: To what extent is education a protective mechanism for children with disabilities in countries affected by conflict?

Humanitarian crises as a result of conflict are often characterised by failure of the social contract between the state and its citizens. For a variety of reasons, children with disabilities are often particularly vulnerable in time of humanitarian crisis. This paper draws on research undertaken by the authors in a series of countries affected by conflict, and looks at how the politics and policies of such countries, and the humanitarian and development agencies working in them, continue to exclude children with disabilities from formal and informal education structures. It will be argued that this exclusion not only impedes progress on inclusive education, but has wider implications as education programmes are often the conduit through which a number of additional child protection mechanisms are implemented. Children with disabilities who are not in the formal education system are therefore at risk not only of missing out on education opportunities, but are also excluded from critical child survival initiatives, thus increasing their vulnerability

Impact of ERP implementation on the quality of work life of users: A sub-Saharan African study

ERP implementations have a disruptive impact on users and in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are more problematic than in developed countries. Extant ERP literature has not focused on the impact of implementations on users work life. Therefore this research aimed to confirm this impact on SSA users’ work life. A theoretical framework and survey was developed from Dooyeweerd’s “Down-To-Earth” aspects and the Easton and Van Laar Work-Related Quality of Life scale. Responses from users from 7 countries working for one case organisation were analysed. The significant effect of an ERP implementation on work life quality was confirmed. Cultural differences were also confirmed. The factors mostly accounting for work life quality impact were skills development and an improvement in working conditions due to a reduction in corruption pressure. The framework and research instrument can be used by organisations to assess the impact of an ERP implementation on user work life quality

A comparison of HPV DNA testing and liquid based cytology over three rounds of primary cervical screening: extended follow up in the ARTISTIC trial.

BACKGROUND: The additional sensitivity of HPV testing compared with cytology could permit extended cervical screening intervals. We wished to determine, through a further (third) round of screening in the ARTISTIC trial, the protection provided by a negative baseline HPV screen compared with that of cytology over a 6 year period. METHODS: Cumulative rates of CIN2 or worse (CIN2+) and CIN3 or worse (CIN3+) were correlated with baseline HPV status and cytology. HPV was detected using the Hybrid Capture 2 (Qiagen) assay for high risk types and genotyped using the Linear Array (Roche) and Papillocheck (Greiner) assays. LBC was performed using ThinPrep (Hologic). FINDINGS: Round 3 included 8,873 women of whom 6,337 had been screened in both rounds 1 and 2 and 2,536 had not been screened since round 1. The median duration of follow-up was 72.7 months. The cumulative rate of CIN2+ over three rounds was 3.88% (95%CI 3.59%, 4.17%) overall; 2.39% in round 1, 0.78% in round 2 and 0.74% in round 3. Cumulative rates by baseline status were 20.53% (95%CI 19.04%, 22.08%) for abnormal cytology, 20.12% (95%CI 18.68%, 21.61%) for HPV detection, 1.41% (95%CI 1.19%, 1.65%) for negative cytology and 0.87% (95%CI 0.70%, 1.06%) for a negative HPV test. In HPV negative women aged over 50 the cumulative rate was 0.16% (95%CI 0.07%, 0.34%). Women who were HPV positive/cytology negative at entry had a cumulative CIN2+ rate of 7.73% (95%CI 6.29%, 9.36%) over 6 years, twice the overall rate. INTERPRETATION: A negative HPV test was significantly more protective than normal cytology over three rounds. The findings of this extension of ARTISTIC suggest that the screening interval could be extended to 6 years if HPV testing replaced cytology as the primary screening test

"Eateth Not the Bread of Idleness": Church Cookbooks and Victorian American Domesticity

The Victorian era in the United States saw significant changes in the social, domestic and religious roles of women. This period, from shortly after the Civil War until the First World War, marked a shift for women from traditional middle-class female responsibilities to more domestically challenging ones. This study examines late Victorian Protestant church community cookbooks as moral and cultural guides written by women for women, documenting the domestic roles and Christian practices of women in the years before and after the turn of the twentieth century. This paper first defines the American Victorian period. It considers the relationship between women and Protestant Christianity during the era in relation to female social roles. It then examines church community cookbooks as uniquely viable and valuable historical and autobiographical sources through which to better understand Christian domestic practice in Victorian America. Protestant Victorian female ideals and gendered piety reveal the role of women as moral matriarchs, and how men factored into the domestic equation during the period. Eleven American Protestant Christian cookbooks published from 1881 to 1913 serve as case studies throughout. These texts illuminate the late Victorian period through the words and recipes of the women who wrote them. They also present recipes for food and life in broader terms as domestic and religious guides, and advertisements from the texts offer additional information about the connection between domesticity and religion during the era. This argument concludes with an analysis of the lasting influences of the church community cookbooks on domestic manuals through the mid-twentieth century, reflecting on the relevance of the texts to the generations of women who have shared them

Mother Knows Best: Methodism, Seventh-day Adventism, and Dietary Morality in Victorian America

This dissertation is a denominational historical study of nineteenth- and early twentieth- century Methodist and Seventh-day Adventist dietary reforms and contributions to American food culture. It first considers the eighteenth-century health reforms of John Wesley as anticipations of nineteenth-century developments. It then asserts, through the lens of a “long” Victorian period, that Methodist and Adventist women, as wives, mothers, and nurturers, were the most influential among all denominations in shaping food culture through actual and perceived moral, religious, and domestic authority. It also brings to light the ways in which Methodist women contributed to the formation of American middle-class morality through their unique Protestant domesticity and striving for moral perfectionism, while Adventist dietary reformers culturally and spiritually set themselves apart from the Protestant mainline through their dietary reforms in preparation for what they believed was an imminent Second Coming of Christ. The overall purpose of this project is to offer a more nuanced study of culture and meaning when looking at food as a “signifier” of things like gender, race, ethnic identity, the exchange of religious and cultural ideas, and the transmission of those ideas between generations. From the perspective of Victorian American Methodism and Seventh-day Adventism, it shows the ways in which women from both denominations used food for good health, in the construction of religious identity, to mediate shifting American gendered labor patterns, and to alleviate and navigate moral tensions between abundance and frugality with the rise of increasingly industrialized American food production, and in a competitive Victorian American religious marketplace. As a study of material Christianity, this dissertation reveals how middle-class American Protestant women participated in the formation and maintenance of normative gendered labor and women’s power. It explores how food was used by sectarian and mainline traditions to create a sacred order and pervasive sense of Christian morality that influenced American life well into the Progressive Era in the opening decades of the twentieth century