Bibliography and Readings

Jane Dyer Cook to present The Peace and Forgiveness Readings, illustrating forgiveness elements and literary genre

Sex, Metaphysics, and Mental 'Dis-ease'

The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus believed that our metaphysics determines our state of mind: a correct view of the nature of human and worldly existence brings inner peace and tranquillity; an incorrect view, inner turmoil. More recently, Australian philosopher John Bigelow lamented that, despite over 2000 years of theorizing, philosophers have yet to reach consensus on a correct metaphysics. This thesis posits the source of this metaphysical discontent to be the Platonic/Aristotelian conception of essence (or form) as a purely immaterial, male preserve, thereby reducing woman to the material source, (Logical) properties and (sexual) demise of man’s essential being; this phallocentric misconception impelling a history of further misconceptions of essence, and of the metaphysical theories and binary logic based upon it. Through the construction of a genealogy and critique of various historical (re)conceptions and permutations of essence, I theorize the existence of an originary spirogenetic essence that causes, determines and motivates the (whole) individual, species, and sexuate form, function, growth, and development of every human being, the metaphysical and symbolic denial of this essence resulting in, not just inner turmoil, but some forms of mental disorder. Empirical research into female self-development and eating disorders yielded support for the hypothesis of a spirogenetic essence and essentially whole, subjective (sexual) female self, the metaphysically based, familialy/socially imposed denial, (de)construction and demonization of which is causing its fragmentation and loss, and the existential need to reconstruct this real, ‘de-formed’ sexual female self/body into the ideal feminine ‘form’ - the perfect pretend self - that will earn Paternal recognition, love, approval, and thus, ongoing subjective existence. While in modern, pre-feminist times, this perfect self was conceived and constructed as the sexual object of male desire, appropriation and control, in these post-feminist, post-modern times in which boys/men are reclaiming the feminine, girls/women have no option but to do what Plato advised, and ‘become a man’. That is, they must hide/erase their real sexual female self/body and attain the boyishly perfect form/function that promises (limited) imitative access to phallic subjectivities and identities. Failure to attain or maintain this perfect, pretend (prophylactic) self, and a consequent state of existential distress, is resulting in eating and associated disorders, as an inner, self-adjudicated battle to control, punish, purify, desexualize, defeminize, and thus perfectly ‘re-form’, the real ('Eve-il') sexual female self, as a means of subjective survival. This understanding resituates current discursive approaches to anorexia/bulimia as part of its pathogenic origin; resolution of these and associated existential (dis)orders requiring the metaphysical/social/discursive recognition of what Plato/Aristotle denied: a sexed, spirogenetic essence that is the source of persisting sameness and difference, fixity and fluidity, unity and plurality, and thus, of an essentially whole, subjective fe/male self that can only fully exist, develop, and be constructed within enduring bonds of unconditional, intersubjective recognition and love. It is within this spirogenetic model of human and worldly existence - as it frees patriarchal man from his forbidden, feared, feminizing, ho(m)mosexual desires - that I glimpse that long-sought Epicurean state of peace, contentment, and ‘ease’

The use of visualization in the treatment of substance abusing adolescents

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of visualization in the treatment of adolescents who abuse substances. This study measured whether the use of visualization had an impact on levels of depression, acting out behavior and ego development.;The sample consisted of 63 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 who had been referred to a residential group home by the court system. The adolescents were evaluated using the Child Behavior Checklist, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Washington University Sentence Completion Test. The subjects were evaluated at the beginning of the study and again at the end of four weeks of visualization.;The research indicated that the experimental subjects were significantly less depressed at the end of the study. There were no statistical differences found in acting out behavior or in level of ego development

Essential care for older patient specialling in acute care settings : a concurrent mixed methods study

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Health.: During hospitalisation, older people can quickly become disoriented, confused and agitated. In these instances, ‘specialling’ is often provided and involves close monitoring and observation of the person to prevent accidents, injuries and clinical deterioration. Despite the widespread practice of older patient specialling, there is a lack of conceptual clarity around the scope, purpose and expected outcomes of specialling. There is no evidence of the best model, or any clear guidelines around the essential requirements for this practice in terms of who should be specialled, experience and qualifications of staff who special, the type of care that should be provided when specialling and the type of environment that is appropriate for specialling. : This study aimed to examine specialling of older people in acute care settings and to inform the development of a set of evidence-based care guidelines for specialling older people in these settings. Two research questions that guided the study were (a) what characterises older person specialling in the acute care setting? and (b) what essential care is required when specialling older people in acute care settings? The central premises are the concerns about the lack of guidelines and procedures for specialling the older person in hospital, the varying expectations of the specialling role and limited suggestions on what constitutes a positive, person-centred experience for older people who are specialled. : Concurrent mixed methods were used to obtain data on older person specialling experiences. The inquiry was conducted in two phases in four acute aged care wards of a large metropolitan hospital in Sydney, Australia. Phase One comprised a focus group interview with nine registered nurses to obtain data on the characteristics of older person specialling. Phase Two used two validated tools to observe care interactions between staff and their care recipients, and the older person’s care during specialling. A total of 58 observations of specialling were undertaken for 12 patients aged 65 years and older. These data were used to further inform the characteristics of older person specialling and identify the essential care required for specialling older people in acute care. : Delirium was the most common reason for older person specialling, and most specialling was undertaken by assistants in nursing. Specialling was influenced by an ethos that did not always support person-centred care; rather adopting a task-focused custodial approach. Acute care administrative practices appeared to lack consideration of the impact of specialling on nurses’ workload, and lacked clear policies or procedures around specialling, including staff most appropriate to special older people and how they should be prepared to undertake the role. However, 45 of the 58 care interactions and responses were recorded as positive. These observations were dependent upon the special’s familiarity with the ward and their care recipients, the overall acuity of patients in the wards, the general ward busy-ness and the presence of personal possessions in the person’s immediate surroundings. : The diverse nature of the literature reviewed for the study precluded the use of a quality appraisal tool and therefore the extent to which findings are useful is difficult to determine. Limitations are also acknowledged in the methodology. One focus group of registered nurses held in one hospital potentially limits the findings in voice, time and location and may not fully represent the characteristics of older person specialling in acute care. The small sample size for the observations, small number of observations and short observation periods are also considered to be a limitation. : The use of formal guidelines for decision-making on initiation and cessation of specialling, requirements for workload allocation, staff qualifications, educational preparation for the specialling role and team-based care models are proposed for specialling the older person in the acute hospital setting, along with recommendations on what constitutes person-centred specialling practice. Research that focuses on outcomes for person-centred specialling of older people in acute care settings is suggested

Designing Motivational Interviewing Instruction Employing the First Principles of Instruction

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Health care reform emphasizes prevention of chronic disease through the reduction of modifiable risk factors as a way to reduce health care costs, morbidity, and mortality. Motivational interviewing (MI) is an effective method of health behavior counseling. It has been used successfully applied in health related behavior change and self- management of chronic disease. The knowledge, skills, and attitude of MI are acquired through learning as other techniques used in the health professions. Nurse practitioner faculty need guidance on how to design instruction in MI that incorporates competencies and utilizes innovative strategies. Prescriptive instructional design theory utilizes knowledge from educational research to establish the steps in the design process. The purpose of this research was to apply prescriptive instructional theory to the design of effective, efficient, and engaging instruction in MI resulting in beginning proficiency in the NP students. A formative design was used for this study. The First Principles of Instruction served as the prescriptive design theory used in the design of instruction in MI. Data sources included the researcher’s design journal, observation during interaction with the instance, demographics of authentic users, authentic user reaction, and knowledge testing. Four cycles of design-redesign were completed. Results of the study point to improvements in the First Principles of Instruction. The instruction was effective, based on the improved scores from pretest to posttest on the Helpful Response Questionnaire. The improved scores also indicated an increase in knowledge of MI. Efficiency was not improved from pretest to posttest. The definition of efficiency as less time to completion of the task did not apply to MI communication skills. The First Principles of Instruction were useful in the design of the techniques of MI. However, there is little guidance for the affective component of MI such as empathy. The prescriptions of the First Principles of Instruction were useful in designing the instruction in MI. NP students indicated in post instruction interviews that engagement in the instruction was related to the relevance of the subject matter to practice and interactive exercises

Drift

Drift is a movement by, or as if by, a current of air or water . It can mean the depositing of debris by such a current. It can also connote a veering off from a projected path. What interests me about the word is that it suggests a slight loss of control, but not a devastating one. Most importantly, for this body of work, it implies a passive movement, a transition in which one is not able to control every part. We can perhaps choose the river we get into but not the direction of its flow. Using properties of handmade paper as an intrinsic part of the work, I have explored ideas of transition in a number of ways. First, material„othe process of changing things from solid to liquid to solid again in papermaking by combining and removing water; second, by suggesting the blurred shift from land to water in swamplands; third, through the idea of journey, which is suggested by the imagery of the boats; and, finally, through use of imagery that lies between abstraction and representation. By walking that particular visual line the work creates poetic imagery, a visual reverie or daydream. It seeks to walk a line between conscious and unconscious thought allowing for the work to be open-ended and suggestive

Polysaccharide food matrices for controlling the release, retention and perception of flavours

Polysaccharides have many roles across both the food and pharmaceutics industries. They are commonly used to enhance viscosity, stabilise emulsions and to add bulk to food products. In the pharmaceutics industry, they are also utilised for their mucoadhesive nature. Mucoadhesive polysaccharides can facilitate retention of active ingredients at mucosal sites for a prolonged time and formulations can be designed to control their release and bioavailability. This study investigates how polysaccharides, with differing physicochemical properties (e.g. functional groups and molecular weight), affect the release and perception of flavour compounds from films. Polysaccharide films were prepared using either high or low viscosity carboxymethyl cellulose, pullulan or hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. Glucose, vanillin or a combination of both was also added to the films to assess the effect of flavour release and perception over time. The films were assessed for glucose release in vitro, swelling and disintegration times, and mucoadhesive ability. Results show that flavour release and perception depend on the polysaccharide matrix properties; this includes how quickly the films dissolves, the rate of release of tastant compounds, and the mucoadhesive strength of the polysaccharide. A higher viscosity and slower disintegration time resulted in slower release of glucose in vitro and flavour perception in vivo

Fold: A modern lighting line that explores ways to meld energy efficiency and health benefits into essential elements of interior lighting.

Thesis Statement Lighting plays an essential role in the modern world. Electrical lighting from fluorescent bulbs to LED fixtures greet humans from the moment they wake up until the moment they sleep at night. Light is essential to human life. As such, lighting has been and continues to be a prominent element of design from the grandiose chandeliers of the Rococo period to the minimal, modern lighting of the 21st century. Lighting continues to be researched, developed, and innovated and plays such an essential role in homes, offices, and the interior or exterior of any building. Lighting design has been pushed more recently by the need to be more energy efficient and renewable, and the phasing out of incandescent bulb production expanded lighting to new directions not tried in the past. Lighting is the way individuals see, and effects the visual perception of a space, making it one of the most important elements of a well-designed interior. Can the lighting that is used in homes, work spaces, and any interior be designed to not only be energy efficient but also be healthier for humans