Female Empowerment in Classical Spanish Theatre

Last spring, after reading Golden Age plays in our Early Modern Spanish Literature and Culture course, Adrian Burr and I became interested in the role women played in these stories. Within the Spanish comedia, women are relegated to two stock roles, the “dama” (lady), or the “criada” (maid), while men are able to play a much wider variation of roles. Classical Spanish works by playwrights such as Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes, and Pedro Calderón de la Barca are still produced today, just as English-speakers still revive Shakespearean works. We became curious about how modern directors and theatre practitioners adapt these works and these female characters for modern audiences. What do they do to give give women more agency and create complex female characters? To find out, we wrote a Theory-to-Practice Grant “Female Empowerment in Classical Spanish Theatre” and traveled to Spain for two weeks last summer. In Burgos, we interviewed and workshopped with two members of Morfeo Teatro, Francisco Negro and Mayte Bona, who taught us about their work with classical texts and Bona’s portrayal of masculine, androgynous, and feminine characters. We also traveled to Almagro for the International Festival of Classical Spanish Theatre, where we saw five productions of Golden Age plays. For the last part of the trip, we visited Madrid, workshopping with Sandra Arpa and Paula Rodríguez of Teatro Inverso. They taught us about their work reimagining classical plays through the performance technique called Storytelling, and how they refocused the story of La vida es sueño to portray the journey of its main female character, Rosaura. In our presentation, we will discuss what we learned about this culture of theatrical adaptation and present modern ideas that artists are using to tell old stories in new ways

Social Media and the Fear of Missing Out: Scale Development and Assessment

For many, viewing social media causes them to relate their own lives to what they are seeing or reading, resulting in feelings that they are somehow missing out.  It is suggested that the fear of missing out influences decision making and behavior. The current research explores the measurement of FOMO, focusing on scale development and validation. Using extant scales for inadequacy, irritability, anxiety, and self- esteem, a list of items (n=37), postulated to measure FOMO, was created. In addition to the scale items, questions to assess behavioral and demographic characteristic were included.  A pre-test of the survey instrument was conducted (n=30).  The final survey was administered electronically, resulting in a useable sample of n=202. Principal components analysis resulted in a 10 item, 3-factor solution explaining 71% of the overall variance. The three factors performed reasonably well all with Cronbach’s alpha above or near Nunnally’s suggested .70 (Nunnally, 1978). Using the newly created scale, FOMO scores were calculated for each respondent. Results suggest significant differences in social media consumption across levels of FOMO.  Results also suggest significant differences in the use of particular social media based on ones level of FOMO.  Limitations include the sample and it is suggested that future research, including confirmatory factor analysis, should be conducted

Elder Abuse in the European Union

The rapid rise in persons over age 60 has created a platform for the rise of elder abuse all over the world. Increasing strains on caregivers and the realization that elder abuse is a serious issue have only recently produced research on the topic. In light of this, this presentation evaluates the state of the aging population in the European Union where more research has been done on elder abuse than in other areas of the world. This presentation focuses specifically on elder abuse in Germany and in Greece, as these countries represent the cultural and geographical extremes in Europe today. First, the presentation evaluates the risk factors and forms that elder abuse is taking today in the European Union. The presentation then describes the state of elder abuse in both Germany and Greece, taking into consideration demographics, culture, and current responses. Finally, this presentation evaluates possible steps to implement for effective change in the area of elder abuse

An outbreak of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis associated with coxsackievirus A24 variant in The Gambia, West Africa.

OBJECTIVE: An outbreak of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis occurred in The Gambia, West Africa in 2011. Affected individuals presented with conjunctival haemorrhages, swelling and ocular discharge. In an effort to identify a causative agent of the disease, ocular swabs were taken from patients during the acute and convalescent phases. Total RNA was extracted from all samples and reverse-transcriptase PCR performed using primers specific for all enteroviruses. Resulting amplicons were sequenced and data compared to known sequences using the BLAST algorithm. RESULTS: Forty-eight swabs were included in the analysis. Of these, 21 acute and 9 convalescent swabs (65% of the total) gave positive PCR results. Sequence analysis of the resulting amplicons indicated 99% sequence identity with coxsackievirus A24 variant identified during independent outbreaks of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis around the world and suggest the Gambian outbreak was due to this virus

Morphology of fluvial networks on Titan: Evidence for structural control

Although Titan’s surface shows clear evidence of erosional modification, such as fluvial incision, evidence for tectonism has been less apparent. On Earth, fluvial networks with strongly preferred orientations are often associated with structural features, such as faults or joints, that influence flow or erodibility. We delineated and classified the morphologies of fluvial drainages on Titan and discovered evidence of structural control. Fluvial networks were delineated both on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images covering ∼40% of Titan from the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper up through T71 and on visible light images of the Huygens landing site collected by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR). The delineated networks were assigned to one of three morphologic classes—dendritic, parallel or rectangular—using a quantitative terrestrial drainage pattern classification algorithm modified for use with Titan data. We validated our modified algorithm by applying it to synthetic fluvial networks produced by a landscape evolution model with no structural control of drainage orientations, and confirmed that only a small fraction of the networks are falsely identified as structurally controlled. As a second validation, we confirmed that our modified algorithm correctly classifies terrestrial networks that are classified in multiple previous works as rectangular. Application of this modified algorithm to our Titan networks results in a classification of rectangular for one-half of the SAR and DISR networks. A review of the geological context of the four terrestrial rectangular networks indicates that tensional stresses formed the structures controlling those terrestrial drainages. Based on the similar brittle response of rock and cryogenic ice to stress, we infer that structures formed under tension are the most likely cause of the rectangular Titan networks delineated here. The distribution of these rectangular networks suggests that tensional stresses on Titan may have been widespread.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Cassini Data Analysis Program Grant NNX08BA81G

Trachoma and Ocular Chlamydial Infection in the Era of Genomics.

Trachoma is a blinding disease usually caused by infection with Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) serovars A, B, and C in the upper tarsal conjunctiva. Individuals in endemic regions are repeatedly infected with Ct throughout childhood. A proportion of individuals experience prolonged or severe inflammatory episodes that are known to be significant risk factors for ocular scarring in later life. Continued scarring often leads to trichiasis and in-turning of the eyelashes, which causes pain and can eventually cause blindness. The mechanisms driving the chronic immunopathology in the conjunctiva, which largely progresses in the absence of detectable Ct infection in adults, are likely to be multifactorial. Socioeconomic status, education, and behavior have been identified as contributing to the risk of scarring and inflammation. We focus on the contribution of host and pathogen genetic variation, bacterial ecology of the conjunctiva, and host epigenetic imprinting including small RNA regulation by both host and pathogen in the development of ocular pathology. Each of these factors or processes contributes to pathogenic outcomes in other inflammatory diseases and we outline their potential role in trachoma

Evaluation of a Chlamydia trachomatis-specific, commercial, real-time PCR for use with ocular swabs.

BACKGROUND: Trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide, is caused by conjunctival Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Trachoma is diagnosed clinically by observation of conjunctival inflammation and/or scarring; however, there is evidence that monitoring C. trachomatis infection may be required for elimination programmes. There are many commercial and 'in-house' nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of C. trachomatis DNA, but the majority have not been validated for use with ocular swabs. This study evaluated a commercial assay, the Fast-Track Vaginal swab kit, using conjunctival samples from trachoma-endemic areas. An objective, biostatistical-based method for binary classification of continuous PCR data was developed, to limit potential user-bias in diagnostic settings. METHODS: The Fast-Track Vaginal swab assay was run on 210 ocular swab samples from Guinea-Bissau and Tanzania. Fit of individual amplification curves to exponential or sigmoid models, derivative and second derivative of the curves and final fluorescence value were examined for utility in thresholding for determining positivity. The results from the Fast-Track Vaginal swab assay were evaluated against a commercial test (Amplicor CT/NG) and a non-commercial test (in-house droplet digital PCR), both of whose performance has previously been evaluated. RESULTS: Significant evidence of exponential amplification (R2 > 0.99) and final fluorescence > 0.15 were combined for thresholding. This objective approach identified a population of positive samples, however there were a subset of samples that amplified towards the end of the cycling protocol (at or later than 35 cycles), which were less clearly defined. The Fast-Track Vaginal swab assay showed good sensitivity against the commercial (95.71) and non-commercial (97.18) tests. Specificity was lower against both (90.00 and 96.55, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study defined a simple, automated protocol for binary classification of continuous, real-time qPCR data, for use in an end-point diagnostic test. This method identified a population of positive samples, however, as with manual thresholding, a subset of samples that amplified towards the end of the cycling program were less easily classified. When used with ocular swabs, the Fast-Track Vaginal swab assay had good sensitivity for C. trachomatis detection, but lower specificity than the commercial and non-commercial assays it was evaluated against, possibly leading to false positives

Hubungan Kepemimpinan Kepala Ruangan Menurut Persepsi Perawat Terhadap Motivasi Kerja Perawat Pelaksana Di Ruang Instalasi Rawat Inap F Blu Rsup Prof. Dr. R.d. Kandou Manado

: Leadership is the ability to provide a constructive influence others to do the business of the cooperative achieve the planned objectives. Motivation to work an employee is usually indicated by a continuous activity, and goal oriented. The purpose of this study is on the analysis of the relationship to the head of the room under the leadership of the nurse\u27s perception of the motivation of nurses in the inpatient department Prof.Dr.R.D. Kandou F BLU Manado. Analytic survey research design using a cross-sectional approach. Popolasi that all nurses in the inpatient space F BLU Prof. Dr. R.D. Kandou Manado. Total sampling using sampling. Data processed through univariate and bivariate analysis using Chi square with Fisher\u27s exact test alternatives. Results obtained by analysis of the probability (p) = 0.003 <α (0.05), which means that Ho is rejected. Conclusion, an association under the leadership of head room nurse perceptions of the work motivation of nurses in the inpatient department Prof.Dr.RDKandou F BLU Manado. Suggestions, for a head irina F would increase the motivation to work more room nurses, and for nurses would be to maintain and further enhance the motivation to work better