“Fugitive Visions”: Cultural Pseudomemory and the Death of the Indigenous Child in the Indian Poems of Duncan Campbell Scott

Whether describing a fictional child’s decease in the Canadian wilds or the painfully real death rates in Indian Residential Schools, poetry and policy entangle in Duncan Campbell Scott’s depictions of Indigenous child mortality. The Confederation Group poet-bureaucrat is perhaps most infamous for his architectural role in the IRS system: it was his 1920 amendment to the Indian Act that legislated mandatory attendance at the chronically underfunded and inherently violent institutions. Yet the relationship between Scott’s responses to consistent reports documenting horrific rates of death and disease in IRS and his insistence that Canadian poets were the stewards of cultural memory for the young colonial nation has largely escaped critique. This paper makes this relationship visible by investigating how Scott’s characterization of Indigenous child mortality participates in the network of “administrative fictions” that governed IRS policy during and beyond Scott’s tenure. Scott’s depictions of dead, dying, and neglected Indigenous children reveal a fiction of neglect that undermines divisions between his so-called “Indian poems” and early-twentieth-century Aboriginal Affairs policy. This fiction implicitly undermines critiques of the IRS system by constructing an historically distant narrative in which the Indigenous child is always already subjected to the physical violence of residential schools within his/her own community. It fabricates a cultural pseudomemory for Anglo audiences in which poetry functions as an administrative technology — a masked violence reverberating at the literary substratum of the bureaucratic fictions which continue to obscure and forestall justice for Indigenous families and communities in Canada

Protocol for the economic evaluation of a complex intervention to improve the mental health of maltreated infants and children in foster care in the UK (The BeST? services trial)

Introduction: Children who have experienced abuse and neglect are at increased risk of mental and physical health problems throughout life. This places an enormous burden on individuals, families and society in terms of health services, education, social care and judiciary sectors. Evidence suggests that early intervention can mitigate the negative consequences of child maltreatment, exerting long-term positive effects on the health of maltreated children entering foster care. However, evidence on cost-effectiveness of such complex interventions is limited. This protocol describes the first economic evaluation of its kind in the UK. Methods and analysis: An economic evaluation alongside the Best Services Trial (BeST?) has been prospectively designed to identify, measure and value key resource and outcome impacts arising from the New Orleans intervention model (NIM) (an infant mental health service) compared with case management (CM) (enhanced social work services as usual). A within-trial economic evaluation and long-term model from a National Health Service/Personal Social Service and a broader societal perspective will be undertaken alongside the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)–Public Health Research Unit (PHRU)-funded randomised multicentre BeST?. BeST? aims to evaluate NIM compared with CM for maltreated children entering foster care in a UK context. Collection of Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and the recent mapping of PedsQL to EuroQol-5-Dimensions (EQ-5D) will facilitate the estimation of quality-adjusted life years specific to the infant population for a cost–utility analysis. Other effectiveness outcomes will be incorporated into a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and cost-consequences analysis (CCA). A long-term economic model and multiple economic evaluation frameworks will provide decision-makers with a comprehensive, multiperspective guide regarding cost-effectiveness of NIM. The long-term population health economic model will be developed to synthesise trial data with routine linked data and key government sector parameters informed by literature. Methods guidance for population health economic evaluation will be adopted (lifetime horizon, 1.5% discount rate for costs and benefits, CCA framework, multisector perspective). Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval was obtained by the West of Scotland Ethics Committee. Results of the main trial and economic evaluation will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal as well as published in the peer-reviewed NIHR journals library (Public Health Research Programme). Trial registration number: NCT02653716; Pre-results

Localized cytokine responses to total knee arthroplasty and total knee revision complications

Background The study of localized immune-related factors has proven beneficial for a variety of conditions, and one area of interest in the field of orthopaedics is the impact of implants and localized infections on immune response. Several cytokines have shown increased systemic concentrations (in serum/plasma) in response to implants and infection, but tissue-level cytokines have not been investigated as thoroughly. Methods This exploratory study investigated tissue-level cytokines in a cohort of patients (N = 17) in response to total knee arthroplasty and total knee revision to better understand the immune response to implants and localized infection (e.g., prosthetic joint infection). The overall goal of this study was to provide insight into the localized cytokine response of tissues and identify tissue-level markers specific to inflammation caused by implants vs. inflammation caused by infection. Tissues were collected across several anatomical locations and assayed with a panel of 20 human inflammatory cytokines to understand spatial differences in cytokine levels. Results In this study, six cytokines were elevated in implanted joints, as compared to native joints: IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-17A, IL-4, and TNF-α (p \u3c 0.05). Seven cytokines showed infection-dependent increases in localized tissues: IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, MIP-1α, and MIP-1β (p \u3c 0.05). Conclusions This study demonstrated that differences exist in tissue-level cytokines in response to presence of implant, and some cytokines were specifically elevated for infection; these responses may be informative of overall tissue health. These results highlight the utility of investigating localized cytokine concentrations to offer novel insights for total knee arthroplasty and total knee revision procedures, as well as their complications. Ultimately, this information could provide additional, quantitative measurements of tissue to aid clinical decision making and patient treatment options

Design and methods of Shape Up Under 5: Integration of systems science and community-engaged research to prevent early childhood obesity

Shape Up Under 5 (SUU5) was a two-year early childhood obesity prevention pilot study in Somerville, Massachusetts (2015–2017) designed to test a novel conceptual framework called Stakeholder-driven Community Diffusion. For whole-of-community interventions, this framework posits that diffusion of stakeholders’ knowledge about and engagement with childhood obesity prevention efforts through their social networks will improve the implementation of health-promoting policy and practice changes intended to reduce obesity risk. SUU5 used systems science methods (agent-based modeling, group model building, social network analysis) to design, facilitate, and evaluate the work of 16 multisector stakeholders (‘the Committee’). In this paper, we describe the design and methods of SUU5 using the conceptual framework: the approach to data collection, and methods and rationale for study inputs, activities and evaluation, which together may further our understanding of the hypothesized processes within Stakeholder-driven Community Diffusion. We also present a generalizable conceptual framework for addressing childhood obesity and similar complex public health issues through whole-of-community interventions

The ENIGMA Stroke Recovery Working Group: Big data neuroimaging to study brain–behavior relationships after stroke

The goal of the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta‐Analysis (ENIGMA) Stroke Recovery working group is to understand brain and behavior relationships using well‐powered meta‐ and mega‐analytic approaches. ENIGMA Stroke Recovery has data from over 2,100 stroke patients collected across 39 research studies and 10 countries around the world, comprising the largest multisite retrospective stroke data collaboration to date. This article outlines the efforts taken by the ENIGMA Stroke Recovery working group to develop neuroinformatics protocols and methods to manage multisite stroke brain magnetic resonance imaging, behavioral and demographics data. Specifically, the processes for scalable data intake and preprocessing, multisite data harmonization, and large‐scale stroke lesion analysis are described, and challenges unique to this type of big data collaboration in stroke research are discussed. Finally, future directions and limitations, as well as recommendations for improved data harmonization through prospective data collection and data management, are provided

Validation of a sonographic checklist for the detection of histologic placenta accreta spectrum

Background: To standardize research terminology and reduce unanticipated placenta accreta spectrum (PAS), the European Working Group for Abnormally Invasive Placenta (EW-AIP) developed a consensus checklist for reporting PAS suspected on antenatal ultrasound. The diagnostic accuracy of the EW-AIP checklist has not been assessed. Objective: To test the performance of the EW-AIP sonographic checklist in predicting histologic PAS. Study Design: This is a multi-site, blinded, retrospective review of transabdominal ultrasound studies performed between 26-32 weeks gestation for subjects with histologic PAS between 2016-2020. We matched a 1:1 control cohort of subjects without histologic PAS. To reduce reader bias, we matched the control cohort for known risk factors including previa, number of prior cesarean deliveries, prior dilation and curettage (D&C), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and clinical factors affecting image quality including multiple gestation, body mass index (BMI) and gestational age at the ultrasound. Nine sonologists from 5 referral centers, blinded to the histologic outcomes, interpreted the randomized ultrasound studies using the EW-AIP checklist. The primary outcome was the sensitivity and specificity of the checklist to predict PAS. Two separate sensitivity analyses were performed: 1) we excluded subjects with mild disease (i.e. only assessed subjects with histologic increta and percreta); 2) we excluded interpretations from the 2 most junior sonologists. Results: 78 subjects were included (39 PAS, 39 matched control). Clinical risk factors and image quality markers were statistically similar between cohorts. The checklist sensitivity (95% Confidence Interval, CI) was 76.6% (63.4%-90.6%) and specificity (95% CI) was 92.0% (63.4%-99.9%), with a positive and negative likelihood ratio of 9.6 and 0.3, respectively. When we excluded subjects with mild PAS disease, the sensitivity (95% CI) increased to 84.7% (73.6%-96.4%) and specificity was unchanged at 92.0% (83.2%-99.9%). Sensitivity and specificity were unchanged when the interpretations from the 2 most junior sonologists were excluded. Conclusion: The 2016 EW-AIP checklist for interpreting PAS has a reasonable performance in detecting and excluding histologic placenta accreta spectrum

Characteristics and sources of fluorescent aerosols in the central Arctic Ocean

The Arctic is sensitive to cloud radiative forcing. Due to the limited number of aerosols present throughout much of the year, cloud formation is susceptible to the presence of cloud condensation nuclei and ice nucleating particles (INPs). Primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) contribute to INPs and can impact cloud phase, lifetime, and radiative properties. We present yearlong observations of hyperfluorescent aerosols (HFA), tracers for PBAP, conducted with a Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor, New Electronics Option during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition (October 2019–September 2020) in the central Arctic. We investigate the influence of potential anthropogenic and natural sources on the characteristics of the HFA and relate our measurements to INP observations during MOSAiC. Anthropogenic sources influenced HFA during the Arctic haze period. But surprisingly, we also found sporadic “bursts” of HFA with the characteristics of PBAP during this time, albeit with unclear origin. The characteristics of HFA between May and August 2020 and in October 2019 indicate a strong contribution of PBAP to HFA. Notably from May to August, PBAP coincided with the presence of INPs nucleating at elevated temperatures, that is, &amp;gt;−9°C, suggesting that HFA contributed to the “warm INP” concentration. The air mass residence time and area between May and August and in October were dominated by the open ocean and sea ice, pointing toward PBAP sources from within the Arctic Ocean. As the central Arctic changes drastically due to climate warming with expected implications on aerosol–cloud interactions, we recommend targeted observations of PBAP that reveal their nature (e.g., bacteria, diatoms, fungal spores) in the atmosphere and in relevant surface sources, such as the sea ice, snow on sea ice, melt ponds, leads, and open water, to gain further insights into the relevant source processes and how they might change in the future.</jats:p

Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurants and the Changing Meanings of Meat in Urban China

This article charts the changing meanings of meat in contemporary urban China and explores the role played by Buddhist vegetarian restaurants in shaping these changes. In Kunming, meat has long been a sign of prosperity and status. Its accessibility marked the successes of the economic reforms. Yet Kunmingers were increasingly concerned about excessive meat consumption and about the safety and quality of the meat supply. Buddhist vegetarian restaurants provided spaces where people could share meat-free meals and discuss and develop their concerns about meat-eating. While similar to and influenced by secular, Western vegetarianisms, the central role of Buddhism was reflected in discourses on karmic retribution for taking life and in a non-confrontational approach that sought to accommodate these discourses with the importance of meat in Chinese social life. Finally, the vegetarian restaurants spoke to middle-class projects of self-cultivation, and by doing so potentially challenged associations between meat-eating and social status