Gender, Sexuality, And LGBTQ+ Identities In General Education Literature Courses: Three Major Conceptual Frameworks

This thesis examines how three major conceptual frameworks can allow instructors of literature courses to explore, define, and utilize their understanding of queerness. For instructors who possess little experience in queer discourse, the three major conceptual frameworks – LGBTQ+ identities, gender critical paradigms, and the sexual episteme – are outlined, with major subfields, lenses, and authors detailed for further research. To demonstrate the veracity of utilizing these three major conceptual frameworks in the existing pedagogical praxis of instructors, a study was conducted. The study was a survey of six instructors who taught general education literature courses in the past five years (Fall 2018 to Fall 2023 semesters). Responses to the survey show that instructors are able to recognize and categorize their own understanding of and pedagogical experiences with queerness within the three major conceptual frameworks. Data from the study also suggests that general education courses taught at the institutions surveyed follow certain patterns of concern for LGBTQ+ and gender representation, which are absent in portrayals of sex/uality. The three major frameworks explored in this thesis offer instructors – particularly those of general education literature courses – an opportunity to explore how their knowledge of queerness does and can affect how they create their pedagogy to include or elide queerness

The Importance of Relationships in Service-Learning Projects: A Case Study from Eastern Kentucky University

A graduate course at Eastern Kentucky University included a significant Service-Learning project that evaluated and made recommendations about the University’s Writing Intensive program in collaboration with University administrators. The project’s goals included making sure that students have quality writing courses, that faculty are supported in teaching Writing Intensive courses, and that students develop the writing skills necessary to be successful in their professional lives. Additionally, the goals of Service-Learning center both on learning outcomes and community engagement, making it an effective method for cultivating this collaboration

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Thigh-length compression stockings and DVT after stroke

Controversy exists as to whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in patients with invasive bladder cancer, despite randomised controlled trials of more than 3000 patients. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of such treatment on survival in patients with this disease

Characterizing the Ordinary Broad-lined Type Ic SN 2023pel from the Energetic GRB 230812B

International audienceWe report observations of the optical counterpart of the long gamma-ray burst (LGRB) GRB 230812B, and its associated supernova (SN) SN 2023pel. The proximity ($z = 0.36$) and high energy ($E_{\gamma, \rm{iso}} \sim 10^{53}$ erg) make it an important event to study as a probe of the connection between massive star core-collapse and relativistic jet formation. With a phenomenological power-law model for the optical afterglow, we find a late-time flattening consistent with the presence of an associated SN. SN 2023pel has an absolute peak $r$-band magnitude of $M_r = -19.46 \pm 0.18$ mag (about as bright as SN 1998bw) and evolves on quicker timescales. Using a radioactive heating model, we derive a nickel mass powering the SN of $M_{\rm{Ni}} = 0.38 \pm 0.01$$\rm{M_\odot}$, and a peak bolometric luminosity of $L_{\rm{bol}} \sim 1.3 \times 10^{43}$$\rm{erg}$$\rm{s^{-1}}$. We confirm SN 2023pel's classification as a broad-lined Type Ic SN with a spectrum taken 15.5 days after its peak in $r$ band, and derive a photospheric expansion velocity of $v_{\rm{ph}} = 11,300 \pm 1,600$$\rm{km}$$\rm{s^{-1}}$ at that phase. Extrapolating this velocity to the time of maximum light, we derive the ejecta mass $M_{\rm{ej}} = 1.0 \pm 0.6$$\rm{M_\odot}$ and kinetic energy $E_{\rm{KE}} = 1.3^{+3.3}_{-1.2} \times10^{51}$$\rm{erg}$. We find that GRB 230812B/SN 2023pel has SN properties that are mostly consistent with the overall GRB-SN population. The lack of correlations found in the GRB-SN population between SN brightness and $E_{\gamma, \rm{iso}}$ for their associated GRBs, across a broad range of 7 orders of magnitude, provides further evidence that the central engine powering the relativistic ejecta is not coupled to the SN powering mechanism in GRB-SN systems