Some Lost Bliss: Tracing the Dark Night of the Soul in Jack Kerouac's Visions of Gerard, The Dharma Bums, Desolation Angels, and Big Sur, and an Excerpt from the Novel Mayor of Hollywood

Blended dissertation in fulfillment of the PhD in creative writing at University of St. Andrews. Includes both a critical and a creative component. The critical component is an analysis of Catholic mysticism in the novels of American Beat author Jack Kerouac, with a specific focus on John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul. The creative component is a portion of an early draft of the now-published novel, Mayor of Hollywood

Healthy babies through infant-centered feeding protocol: an intervention targeting early childhood obesity in vulnerable populations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Poor feeding practices during infancy contribute to obesity risk. As infants transition from human milk and/or formula-based diets to solid foods, these practices interfere with infant feeding self-regulation and healthy growth patterns. Compared with other socioeconomic groups, lower-income mothers are more likely to experience difficulty feeding their infants. This may include misinterpreting feeding cues and using less-than-optimal feeding styles and practices, such as pressuring infants during mealtimes and prematurely introducing solid food and sweetened beverages. The Healthy Babies trial aims to determine the efficacy of a community-based randomized controlled trial of an in-home intervention with economically and educationally disadvantaged mother-infant dyads. The educational intervention is being conducted during the infant's first 6 months of life to promote healthy transition to solids during their first year and is based on the theory of planned behavior.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>We will describe our study protocol for a multisite randomized control trial being conducted in Colorado and Michigan with an anticipated sample of 372 economically and educationally disadvantaged African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian mothers with infants. Participants are being recruited by county community agency staff. Participants are randomly assigned to the intervention or the control group. The intervention consists of six in-home visits by a trained paraprofessional instructor followed by three reinforcement telephone contacts when the baby is 6, 8, and 10 months old. Main maternal outcomes include a) maternal responsiveness, b) feeding style, and c) feeding practices. Main infant outcome is infant growth pattern. All measures occur at baseline and when the infant is 6 and 12 months old.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>If this project is successful, the expected outcomes will address whether the home-based early nutrition education intervention is effective in helping mothers develop healthy infant feeding practices that contribute to improving infant health and development and reducing the risk of early-onset childhood obesity.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials <a href="http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN126100000415000.aspx">ACTRN126100000415000</a></p

Students’ Self-Perceptions of Self-Awareness/Self-Regulation when Experiencing Unexpected Situations in an Interprofessional Clinical Simulation

Background: The healthcare environment is becoming increasingly complex and demanding; therefore, providers need to possess both technical and non-technical skills to respond in unexpected circumstances. Self-awareness and regulation are non-technical skills where an individual becomes aware of personal and others’ emotions and then modulates those emotions to effectively act during a challenging situation. Educational programs need to embed more opportunities for students to develop these skills to enhance patient outcomes. Purpose: The purpose of this research study was to explore student self-perceptions of self-awareness and self-regulation when experiencing unexpected situations in an interprofessional clinical simulation. Methods: Healthcare students (n = 109) from four disciplines participated in this qualitative research study involving an interprofessional small group, face to face simulation with unexpected circumstances. Following the simulation, participants engaged in a semi-structured debriefing. Comments were recorded and analyzed to develop a thematic structure. Results: Participants had varying views about their level of preparedness to handle complex, unexpected situations ranging from feeling not prepared at all to recognizing that they need to be equipped for anything. Students also reported a greater appreciation for the interprofessional team, acknowledging the need for one another as they navigated unexpected circumstances. Some students used their self-awareness and regulation skills in the moment to manage their emotions and move to action in response to the unexpected circumstances, while others benefited from observing and hearing from others during the simulation and debriefing session. Conclusions: The interprofessional simulation helped to prepare students to navigate unexpected challenging patient care circumstances. Students experienced some role and action confusion in response to the emotionally charged scenario; however, they recognized the importance of being self-aware, regulating their own emotions and the skills of the interdisciplinary team to best meet the needs of the patient and family. Additional opportunities for non-technical skill practice should be included in healthcare curriculums to enhance students’ preparedness for the current healthcare environment. Further research is recommended to determine best practices for teaching these non-technical skills

Assessment of cleaning to control lead dust in homes of children with moderate lead poisoning: treatment of lead-exposed children trial

In this article we describe the assessment and control of lead dust exposure in the Treatment of Lead-exposed Children (TLC) Trial, a clinical trial of the effects of oral chelation on developmental end points in urban children with moderately elevated blood lead levels. To reduce potential lead exposure from settled dust or deteriorated paint during the drug treatment phase of the trial, the homes of 765 (98%) of the randomized children (both active and placebo drug treatment groups) were professionally cleaned. Lead dust measurements were made in a sample of 213 homes before and after cleaning. Geometric mean dust lead loadings before cleaning were 43, 29, 308, and 707 micro g/ft2 in the kitchen floor, playroom floor, playroom windowsill, and playroom window well samples respectively. Following cleaning, floor dust lead loadings were reduced on average 32% for paired floor samples (p < 0.0001), 66% for windowsills (p < 0.0001), and 93% for window wells (p < 0.0001). Cleaning was most effective for 146 homes with precleaning dust lead levels above the recommended clearance levels, with average reductions of 44%, 74%, and 93% for floors (p < 0.0001), windowsills (p < 0.0001), and window wells (p < 0.0001), respectively. Despite these substantial reductions in dust lead loadings, a single professional cleaning did not reduce the lead loadings of all dust samples to levels below current federal standards for lead in residential dust. Attainment of dust levels below current standards will require more intensive cleaning and lead hazard reduction strategies

Mayor of Hollywood

The research and creative portions of this thesis develop from the various responses individuals experience in the wake of a loss. The research into the evolution of faith in author Jack Kerouac's 'Duluoz Legend' and the central storyline of the novel 'Mayor of Hollywood' spring from the same well: the crossroads between death and faith. The research piece concerns itself with Kerouac's exploration of the spiritual interior in the wake of the death of his protagonist's older brother, developing a personal faith that blends Buddhism and Catholicism unfettered by formal religious practice, mirroring instead an older path of Catholic mysticism. Mayor of Hollywood explores the opposite side of the religious coin: the protagonist, Lucy Cassidy, has little compelling interest in her own spiritual existence but must address the practicalities of her partner's formal practice of Catholicism, including dietary restrictions, regular worship, moral strictures, and the religious formalization of the guilt process. At the same time, Lucy and Mark must resolve several deaths that have occurred, substituting the secular path of crime detection for the more spiritual quest to reunite with God. Linked by the shared topic of death, the two halves of the thesis address faith as a whole, exploring the interior and exterior spiritual life

Re-Remembering Gerard: Using Beat Author Jack Kerouac’s Letters to Lead Students to a Deeper Understanding of his Novels

In recent years, American Beat author Jack Kerouac’s body of work has found a reduced role in the study of 20th century American literature, functioning primarily as a window into an aspect of Americana that has largely vanished with the proliferation of high speed roadways: the cross-country road trip. However, the widespread availability of Kerouac’s personal letters opens the door to new interpretations of his novels, offering teachers of American literature both an intertextual approach to presenting Kerouac’s novels and a clear example, through private letters, of the role that authorial view can play in shaping the Roman à clef. This article uses letters written by Kerouac to shed light on the authorial choices made in his novel Visions of Gerard. By closely examining the influences at work— including historical events, the reliability of human memory, familial pressures, and Kerouac’s own guilt—the novel can be viewed on many levels, including those that do not reveal themselves if the novel is studied in the absence of the letters. Using Visions of Gerard as an example, this article seeks to demonstrate the value of using Kerouac’s letters and other private writings to support classroom study of his body of work

Some lost bliss : tracing the dark night of the soul in Jack Kerouac's 'Visions of Gerard', 'The dharma bums', 'Desolation angels', and 'Big Sur' : and an excerpt from the novel 'Mayor of Hollywood'

The research and creative portions of this thesis develop from the various responses individuals experience in the wake of a loss. The research into the evolution of faith in author Jack Kerouac's 'Duluoz Legend' and the central storyline of the novel 'Mayor of Hollywood' spring from the same well: the crossroads between death and faith. The research piece concerns itself with Kerouac's exploration of the spiritual interior in the wake of the death of his protagonist's older brother, developing a personal faith that blends Buddhism and Catholicism unfettered by formal religious practice, mirroring instead an older path of Catholic mysticism. Mayor of Hollywood explores the opposite side of the religious coin: the protagonist, Lucy Cassidy, has little compelling interest in her own spiritual existence but must address the practicalities of her partner's formal practice of Catholicism, including dietary restrictions, regular worship, moral strictures, and the religious formalization of the guilt process. At the same time, Lucy and Mark must resolve several deaths that have occurred, substituting the secular path of crime detection for the more spiritual quest to reunite with God. Linked by the shared topic of death, the two halves of the thesis address faith as a whole, exploring the interior and exterior spiritual life.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Anthropogenic Sulfur Perturbations on Biogenic Oxidation: SO₂ Additions Impact Gas-Phase OH Oxidation Products of α- and β‑Pinene

In order to probe how anthropogenic pollutants can impact the atmospheric oxidation of biogenic emissions, we investigated how sulfur dioxide (SO₂) perturbations impact the oxidation of two monoterpenes, α-and β-pinene. We used chemical ionization mass spectrometry to examine changes in both individual molecules and gas-phase bulk properties of oxidation products as a function of SO₂ addition. SO₂ perturbations impacted the oxidation systems of α-and β-pinene, leading to an ensemble of products with a lesser degree of oxygenation than unperturbed systems. These changes may be due to shifts in the OH:HO₂ ratio from SO₂ oxidation and/or to SO₃ reacting directly with organic molecules. Van Krevelen diagrams suggest a shift from gas-phase functionalization by alcohol/peroxide groups to functionalization by carboxylic acid or carbonyl groups, consistent with a decreased OH:HO₂ ratio. Increasing relative humidity dampens the impact of the perturbation. This decrease in oxygenation may impact secondary organic aerosol formation in regions dominated by biogenic emissions with nearby SO₂ sources. We observed sulfur-containing organic compounds following SO₂ perturbations of monoterpene oxidation; whether these are the result of photochemistry or an instrumental artifact from ion–molecule clustering remains uncertain. However, our results demonstrate that the two monoterpene isomers produce unique suites of oxidation products

Losing, and finding, spaces to learn in the university

The issue of healthy environments for learning became a focal point in a peer research group at a university, where a change of physical meeting place galvanized a discussion about losing and finding spaces in which to know and learn. This paper presents a ‘postcard’ conversation exploring in presentational forms our experiences of these places as students and scholars. We present this as an example of an arts-based methodology giving rise to themes of neglected ways of knowing and learning, and the yearning for spaces for creativity and collaboration. We offer representations of and reflections on experience in order to further discussion about what it means for universities to be healthy settings for students and staff in the age of academic entrepreneurship