Dust or Fire by Alyda Faber

Review of Alyda Faber\u27s Dust or Fire

Alien Registration- Burtt, Moses (Houlton, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/36115/thumbnail.jp

Abdominal body composition in paediatric Crohn’s disease

Childhood Crohn’s disease is associated with growth failure, weight loss and malnutrition. The aetiology of which is multifactorial; chronic inflammation, therapy induced and reduced calorific intake. These factors contribute to alterations in metabolism and body composition. Visceral adipose tissue is the adipose compartment, most strongly associated with chronic inflammation. Intestinal adipose tissue expansion described as ‘creeping fat’ is well recognized from surgical specimens as a hallmark of Crohn’s disease. Expansion of visceral adipose tissue is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors which have been reported in adults and children with inflammatory bowel disease. I performed a systematic review, to understand gaps in the literature in the context of body composition in children with inflammatory bowel disease. 22 studies were included, reporting on body composition in a total of 1477 children with inflammatory bowel disease . Lean mass deficits were more pronounced in children with Crohn’s ; 93.6% of Crohn’s and 47.7% of ulcerative colitis. Fat related compartment findings were inconsistent, and no clear conclusions could be drawn. Given that children with Crohn’s disease had more pronounced deficits in body composition, and intestinal fat expansion is a hallmark of disease, but there is a paucity of data regarding body fat measures; my main aim was to quantify visceral adipose tissue volumes and liver ectopic fat using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry (MRS), in this cohort. My secondary aim was to examine relationship of visceral adipose tissue and ectopic liver fat in children with Crohn’s disease, disease specific and, metabolic parameters and plasma adipokines. I tested a null hypothesis in that no difference would be observed in abdominal adipose tissue or ectopic liver fat between children with Crohn’s disease and healthy children. A prospective cohort of children (7–17 years) with CD and healthy children, were recruited. Visceral adipose tissue , abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue, abdominal muscle volumes (expressed in litres), and intrahepatocellular lipid (IHCL), was determined using MRS. Blood was analysed for CRP, ESR, albumin, fasting insulin, fasting glucose, lipid profile, adipokines (adiponectin, leptin, visfatin and resistin). Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with the dependent variable (compartment volume) significance was set at p<0.05. Spearman’s rank coefficient for non-parametric data was determined to examine relationship between adipose tissue volumes and disease and blood parameters, R values were reported as per published cut offs. 33 children were recruited (25 CD; 16 males), and 8 controls (5 males), mean age 14.0 ± 2.3 years and 13.4 ± 2.5 years. No participant with CD was receiving concurrent systemic steroids. CD vs. healthy controls; CD was significantly associated with 0.41 litres [0.15 to 0.55] more visceral adipose tissue and 1.71 litres [1.36 to 2.45] more abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue; after adjusting for sex, weight z score, height z score, and pubertal status (p<0.05). Abdominal muscle volumes were lower in Crohn’s disease. There was no significant difference in intrahepatocellular lipid. In children with CD, disease duration, male sex and CRP were significant positive predictors of visceral adipose tissue volume. abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue had a positive relationship with plasma leptin. Dyslipidaemia was observed, and visceral adipose tissue was associated with plasma triglyceride levels. Visceral adipose tissue was found to positively influence adiposity in CD, namely intrahepatocellular lipid and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. Children with Crohn’s were found to have poor quality diets; low calorie, macronutrient imbalance and high percentage non-milk extrinsic sugars . For the first time in paediatric CD patients, we show an association with abdominal adipose tissue obesity (visceral adipose tissue and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue) and a trend towards muscle deficit in the context of normal hepatic lipid. Possible drivers of this obesity phenotype in children with Crohn’s disease may be the result of dietary inadequacy, energy imbalance, systemic and local chronic inflammation.Open Acces

The reaction of the Quebec press to the American debate on the League of Nations

Québec Université Laval, Bibliothèque 201

Pedagogy in performance: An investigation into decision training as a cognitive approach to circus training

This research project represents the first formal research conducted into the potential application of Decision Training in an elite circus arts school environment. The research examines the effects of the introduction of Decision Training—a training model developed for sports applications—into the elite circus arts training program at the National Circus School (NCS), a key circus arts school in one of the world’s most vital circus domains, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Decision Training, a cognitive-based training model, has been shown through extensive sports-based research to support the development of decision-making ability and self-regulatory learning behaviour, both of which are fundamental for the long-term retention and application of physical skills. A key research aim was to investigate whether Decision Training had the potential to enhance existing teaching practice at the NCS. This research investigates how this cognitive training model—developed for use in the world of competitive sports—functions in a performing arts context in which not only physical and technical skills are trained, but also elements connected with performance, such as aesthetic expression and the creation and development of new performance material. A qualitative action research methodology was employed, consisting of three reflection–action cycles with three case studies of student–teacher pairings. Data collection took place over an extended training period at the NCS from November 2011 to April 2012. Observation, interviews with teachers and students, and group discussions were used to collect data and to provide the impetus for the Decision Training interventions for the three action research cycles. This qualitative study reveals how teachers implemented the three-step Decision Training model and how students responded to these teaching interventions. This was done through an action research process investigating the lived experiences of the participants involved in each case study. The research findings indicate that incorporating a cognitive training method such as Decision Training into circus pedagogy has the potential benefit of giving students the means of acquiring important skills such as effective decision making in performance situations, and self-regulatory behaviour such as the ability to effectively self-assess their performance. Teachers have the potential to benefit by not having to be the sole providers of feedback or motivation, allowing the rapport between student and teacher to become collaborative and creative. The research findings show that the effectiveness of the Decision Training interventions was influenced by the different learning and teaching backgrounds and styles of the student–teacher pairings, and the different ways in which the teachers integrated Decision Training into their existing teaching practices. The research findings led to the proposal of an “integrated” pedagogical approach based on a combination of Decision Training and direct teaching. This “integrated” pedagogy would enable a teacher to use the cognitivist, student-centred learning approach of Decision Training to develop self-regulation and effective decision making in students, but switch to aspects of direct teaching at appropriate times: for instance, when a student needs to be directly aware of safety issues or has little foundational knowledge in a circus discipline; in the lead-up to a performance showing; or during the period in which a student is adjusting to the new cognitivist learning and teaching environment. Recommendations are made for the gradual phasing in of Decision Training into the main training program at the NCS, and implications for future research are discussed

Reimagining Non-Profit Communications: The Importance of A Digital Media Plan for Rhody Outpost

Ever since social media went viral in the early 2000s with the platform MySpace, the theory of what media is, and how to spread one’s ideas, has never been the same. The emergence of digital media, specifically, social media, has reimagined what it is to market products, organizations, and ideas. With the ever-growing population of social media users, it is important now more than ever to develop a strong, consistent social media presence, no matter how big or small an organization might be, and the findings of my Honors Project prove just that. In this Honors Project, I will be focusing on the importance of a digital media plan for the University of Rhode Island’s own non-profit organization, the Rhody Outpost, and will be addressing the question of: Why does the Rhody Outpost need a social media presence? Through this project, I answered this question by consulting experts in the field of hunger and poverty, such as the Food & Housing Security Coordinator for URI, and the Director of the URI Feinstein Center for a Hunger-Free America. I also created and distributed a survey to URI students that asked questions surrounding social media usage and social media content preferences that gave me invaluable insight into the digital media habits of students at URI. Evident from the findings of my survey, as well as consulting with experts in the field of hunger and poverty, it is extremely important for the Rhody Outpost to develop a digital media plan, as many URI students consume and share media digitally in this new age of social media. This project demonstrates the revolutionizing of how students consume media, and how non-profit organizations such as the Rhody Outpost should use this revolution in increasing accessibility to more students

Age, Gender, Race, and Culture in the ER: A Content Analysis of End-of-Life Issues in the Television Drama

Within one of the most popular television dramas on American television, hundreds of depictions of end-of-life (EOL) care and decision-making conveyed impressions of how death and dying occurred in a hospital. This content analysis of EOL incidents that appeared in every episode of the television drama ER indicated that viewers got powerful messages about EOL. The long-playing, popular television drama exaggerated the role of physician within the EOL scenes and minimized the roles of women, racial minorities and ethnic groups. Notably lacking from the EOL content were accurate or positive representations of racial, ethnic or cultural differences in death and dying practices. The absence of these important distinctions in EOL effectively marginalized groups that have been at risk, historically, for receiving less or substandard health care services. The American health care system as it exists, fit the definition of an Althusserian Ideological State Apparatus. The potential, therefore, exists for this newly-identified ISA to disseminate an EOL ideology calling for limits on care to the dying, through the mass communication structure. This study, however, did not reveal any substantial indication that fictionalized content about EOL fulfills that expectation. This study revealed previously-unidentified themes that recurred in the majority of the 222 end-of-life-incidents (EOLIs), most of which were about organ donation. Each of these three areas--new themes, population differences in approaching EOL, and organ donation--bear additional scrutiny to develop insight into how mass media portray them in dramatic television content

Alien Registration- Burtt, William A. (Monticello, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/33918/thumbnail.jp