The Woods Ate Them

For this project I set out to write a hybrid novella-memoir, while reading novels by authors generating work of a similar aim. I also took an offset printing course to learn how to print completed work, because I was interested in being able to myself make a book. Throughout, the intention of this work was an exploration of the density of the imagination and the self - all the lives we create, even if we never live them. During my time at the University of Rhode Island, I have made repeated visits to cetain arguments and ideas, questions that intrigue and grapple for my attention. Even as I changed majors and colleges, I circled back to some of the same ideas and curiosity about how plurality operates and is occurring in all areas of study in the many ways humans process the world around them. As an evolving species, humans are in constant flux, however, our narratives and language might lead us to believe we are pattern-seeking creatures and bound to make assertions of stability. My writing project tries to reckon with the more abstract and unrealized places of hidden selves- false lives and real ones, and their interactions with one another. With the support of my mentor, Dr. Jody Lisberger, author of Remember Love and director of Gender and Women\u27s Studies at the University of Rhode Island, we explored the operations of the plural and evolving self through literature and the writing and revision of my own work. The literature portion of the project was a study of style and prose, from classic literature to modern graphic novels.In studying these various styles and techniques, I began to see more ways to help my own plural and complex voice take shape

Studying the anti-cancer potential of the natural compound pancratistatin.

One of the current challenges in the fight against cancer is to find anti-cancer treatments that specifically target cancerous cells, while leaving normal cells unharmed. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a non-traumatic, physiological process by which cells that are no longer needed or are potentially harmful can be removed from the system. Recently, anti-cancer research has focused on targeting the components of biochemical pathways that can induce apoptosis specifically in cancerous cells. The search for cancer-specific drugs has led some researchers to investigate the potential anti-cancer activity of natural compounds. Pancratistatin (PST) is a natural compound that was isolated from the spider lily Pancratium littorale and has shown to exhibit antineoplastic activity. The specificity of PST to cancer cells and the mechanism of its action remain unknown. In this study, we provide a detailed look at the effect of PST treatment on several types of cancerous and normal cells. Our results indicate that PST induced apoptosis selectively and effectively in cancer cells, while normal cells were not affected. In this study we have found that PST activates the intrinsic apoptotic pathway in cancerous cells and our results indicate that the mitochondria may be the site of action of PST in cancer cells, as experiments using isolated mitochondria have shown that only the mitochondria isolated from cancerous cells are vulnerable to PST treatment. This study has demonstrated the novel anti-cancer potential of the natural compound Pancratistatin and provided insight into a possible biochemical target available only in cancerous mitochondria that may allow us to specifically target cancer.Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2006 .M355. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-01, page: 0320. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2006

Innovations in Rural Health System Development: Recruiting and Retaining Maine\u27s Health Care Workforce

This series of briefs were produced by the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) in conjunction with the Maine Rural Health Research Center to describe robust and innovative models and strategies from Maine and other parts of the country related to the areas of health finance and payment, governance, workforce, and service delivery that have the potential to be replicated or adapted here in Maine. Other briefs in this series: Moving Rural Health Systems to Value-Based Payment Governance Maine\u27s Behavioral Health Services Service Delivery Advances in Care Coordination Emergency Care, and Telehealth Federally Qualified Health Center Initiatives Learn more at www.mehaf.or

Intervenors before the Supreme Court of Canada, 1997--1999: A content analysis.

The increased appearance of intervenors at the Supreme Court of Canada has received much attention since the advent of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Political scientists have studied the quantitative increase in cases with intervenor presence, but have yet to take the next logical step. The next step is to analyse the influence of intervenors at the Supreme Court and this requires that a new method of data analysis be utilized. This thesis investigates the influence of intervenors before the Supreme Court of Canada and poses the following research questions: (1) do intervenors attract the attention of the Supreme Court Justices within the Justices\u27 written decisions? and (2) if the jurists are found to acknowledge the intervenors in their decisions, what is the form of this acknowledgement? In other words, is the intervenor acknowledged independently or is the intervenor linked to the arguments put forth by the appellant or the respondent? (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of History, Philosophy, and Political Science. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2000 .B86. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-03, page: 0598. Adviser: Howard Pawley. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2000

Health Care Use and Access among Rural and Urban Nonelderly Adult Medicare Beneficiaries

Little is known about the characteristics and health care use of rural residents with disabilities. Using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (2009-2013), we compared access to and use of health services among rural and urban nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries with a disability, and examined their health and functional status along with sociodemographic characteristics. We found that the characteristics of nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries with a disability reflected the differences observed between rural and urban populations overall: rural recipients were more likely than their urban peers to be older, non-Hispanic white, and have a lower level of educational attainment. Although self-reported access to care appeared comparable among rural and urban nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries, rural Medicare beneficiaries with a disability reported generally poorer health status and greater impairment compared to their urban counterparts, and certain subgroups of rural nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries with a disability reported greater challenges accessing care. Policymakers and clinicians should consider opportunities to improve access for individuals made vulnerable by functional status, access to care barriers, and/or poorer financial coverage for care

Rural HIV Prevalence and Service Availability in the United States: A Chartbook

This chartbook examines 2016 HIV prevalence and the availability of HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services across the rural-urban continuum and by US Census region. Publicly available county-level HIV prevalence data from the CDC and state-produced HIV surveillance reports were used to estimate HIV prevalence across the rural-urban continuum. HIV prevalence data include all diagnoses of HIV infection, with or without a stage 3 (AIDS) diagnosis. Geocoded data on organizations that provide prevention, testing, and treatment services related to HIV were obtained from the National Prevention Information Network. HIV prevalence is higher in urban counties than rural counties (399 per 100,000 compared with 149 per 100,000, respectively), with prevalence decreasing with increasing level of rurality. HIV prevalence in urban counties is higher than HIV prevalence in rural counties in all but two states (South Carolina and Hawaii). The Northeast has the highest HIV prevalence (485 per 100,000) followed by the South (429 per 100,000), West (302 per 100,000), and Midwest (205 per 100,000). Analyses of the availability of HIV-related services show that compared with urban counties, a smaller proportion of rural counties have organizations that provided HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services. The findings of this study may help inform policies that augment rural HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and outbreak response efforts

The Role of Public versus Private Health Insurance in Ensuring Health Care Access & Affordability for Low-Income Rural Children

Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have played a critical role in ensuring access to health insurance coverage among children and have been particularly important sources of coverage for rural children. More than 35.5 million children were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in September 2016—accounting for just over half of total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment. Given the large proportion of rural children covered by public insurance, it is critically important to understand the role of that coverage in ensuring access to affordable healthcare for rural children. Using data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health, this study examined rural-urban differences in children’s access to care, and their families’ perceived affordability of that care among those enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP and those covered by private insurance. Findings indicate that public coverage supported access to care for low-income rural children and low-income rural families reported fewer problems paying medical bills for their child’s care. CHIP is up for reauthorization in 2017 and decisions about the program’s future should consider the potential implications for affordability of healthcare services among rural children

Rural Working-Age Adults Report More Cost Barriers to Health Care

Using the 2019-2020 National Health Insurance Survey, researchers at the Maine Rural Health Research Center examined rural-urban differences in affordability of care and cost-saving strategies among working-age adults. Rural adults (18-64) were more likely than their urban counterparts to report problems paying, or being unable to pay, their medical bills. They were also more likely to delay or go without needed care because of the cost. Compared with urban adults, those in rural areas were more likely to engage in prescription drug cost-saving measures such as skipping doses, delaying refills, or taking less medication than prescribed. For all affordability measures, adjusted analyses showed that rural adults who were uninsured, lower income, or in fair or poor health were more likely to experience affordability problems compared with other rural adults. Given that individuals in fair or poor health are more likely to report affordability problems, these barriers may also translate into worse outcomes by exacerbating poor health. More research is needed to understand how affordability problems may be affecting the longer-term health of rural adults and what policy strategies may be optimal for addressing these concerns

Innovations in Rural Health System Development: Federally Qualified Health Center Initiatives

Part of a series of briefs profiling innovative rural health system transformation models and strategies from Maine and other parts of the US, this brief focuses on promising strategies of federally qualified health centers. These strategies include workforce recruitment and retention initiatives, approaches to serving high-need patient populations, services to address the opioid crisis and dental care, and innovations in providing enabling services that address the social determinants of health. This series on Innovations in Rural Health System was funded by the Maine Health Access Foundation. Other briefs in this series include: Moving Rural Health Systems to Value-Based Payment Recruiting and Retaining Maine\u27s Health Care Workforce Governance Maine\u27s Behavioral Health Services Service Delivery Advances in Care Coordination, Emergency Care, and Telehealth Learn more at www.mehaf.or