Nature Morte: Lynne Allen

This is the catalogue of the exhibition "Nature Morte" at Boston University Art Gallery

From the Gertrude Posel Gallery to the Wits Art Museum: exhibiting African Art in a South African University

In 1979, the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the Standard Bank Investment Corporation came together to form the Standard Bank Foundation Collection of African Tribal Art, the first public collection of its kind in South Africa, which fundamentally re-shaped public and institutional perceptions of black art in the country. Its collection and display, at first in the Gertrude Posel Gallery and then in the Wits Art Museum, formed a canon of African art that represented the artistic identities of a larger continent as well as those of South Africa’s majority black population. Together these formed an explicit political statement. This dissertation traces the evolution of the Standard Bank Collection, examining key developments at critical moments in South Africa’s political history. Divided into two parts that juxtapose the apartheid and post-apartheid periods, the first section begins with the founding of the Standard Bank Collection and its inaugural exhibition, African Tribal Sculpture held in 1979. In Chapter One, a case study considers how Wits placed black South African objects in dialogue with the canonical sculpture from West and Central Africa. Wits thereby authenticated black South African objects as art, both in South Africa itself and within the field of African art history, an action that undermined the apartheid system. Chapter Two offers a second case study that takes on the racially charged climate of late apartheid, situating Wits’ collecting practices in relationship to the collections and exhibitions of other art museums in the country. Wits curators employed and politicized the labels traditional art and transitional art in their classifications of South African objects at a critical juncture in the nation’s political transformation. Part two looks at the post-apartheid period in a single case study. Chapter Three examines the politics present in exhibitions featuring African art in the new Wits Art Museum that addressed themes relevant to popular urban culture – including style, fashion, and adornment – viewed as central to the presentation of post-apartheid black identities. By examining the types of objects Wits collected and the kinds of exhibitions it mounted, this dissertation illuminates how the art museum’s cultural authority represented and grappled with the changing racial politics of the nation

Uncoverings: The Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, Volume 38 (2017)

Foreword by Lynne Zacek Bassett Old Quilt Brought to America by Dana Fobes Bowne The Cushman Quilt Tops: A Tale of North and South by Rachel May and Linda Welters Louisiana Acadian Cotonnade Quilts: Preserving the Weaving Heritage of a People by Dale Drake Baltimore Album Quilts: New Research by Deborah Cooney and Ronda Harrell McAllen Whence Garlands, Swags, Bowknots, and Baskets? Four Neoclassical Design Motifs Found in American Quilts by Anita Loscalzo The Mystery of the Harlequin Star Quilts: Finding and Naming a Previously Unidentified Regional Design by Kathleen L. Moore Contributors Inde

‘Function First’: how to promote physical activity and physical function in people with long-term conditions managed in primary care? A study combining realist and co-design methods

Objectives To develop a taxonomy of interventions and a programme theory explaining how interventions improve physical activity and function in people with long-term conditions managed in primary care. To co-design a prototype intervention informed by the programme theory. Design Realist synthesis combining evidence from a wide range of rich and relevant literature with stakeholder views. Resulting context, mechanism and outcome statements informed co-design and knowledge mobilisation workshops with stakeholders to develop a primary care service innovation. Results A taxonomy was produced, including 13 categories of physical activity interventions for people with long-term conditions. Abridged realist programme theory Routinely addressing physical activity within consultations is dependent on a reinforcing practice culture, and targeted resources, with better coordination, will generate more opportunities to address low physical activity. The adaptation of physical activity promotion to individual needs and preferences of people with long-term conditions helps affect positive patient behaviour change. Training can improve knowledge, confidence and capability of practice staff to better promote physical activity. Engagement in any physical activity promotion programme will depend on the degree to which it makes sense to patients and professions, and is seen as trustworthy. Co-design The programme theory informed the co-design of a prototype intervention to: improve physical literacy among practice staff; describe/develop the role of a physical activity advisor who can encourage the use of local opportunities to be more active; and provide materials to support behaviour change. Conclusions Previous physical activity interventions in primary care have had limited effect. This may be because they have only partially addressed factors emerging in our programme theory. The co-designed prototype intervention aims to address all elements of this emergent theory, but needs further development and consideration alongside current schemes and contexts (including implications relevant to COVID-19), and testing in a future study. The integration of realist and co-design methods strengthened this study

Promoting physical activity and physical function in people with long-term conditions by primary care:the Function First realist synthesis with co-design

Background As people age and accumulate long-term conditions, their physical activity and physical function declines, resulting in disability and loss of independence. Primary care is well placed to empower individuals and communities to reduce this decline; however, the best approach is uncertain. Objectives To develop a programme theory to explain the mechanisms through which interventions improve physical activity and physical function in people with long-term conditions in different primary care contexts, and to co-design a prototype intervention. Data sources Systematic literature searches of relevant databases with forwards and backwards citation tracking, grey literature searches and further purposive searches were conducted. Qualitative data were collected through workshops and interviews. Design Realist evidence synthesis and co-design for primary care service innovation. Setting Primary care in Wales and England. Participants Stakeholders included people with long-term conditions, primary care professionals, people working in relevant community roles and researchers. Methods The realist evidence synthesis combined evidence from varied sources of literature with the views, experiences and ideas of stakeholders. The resulting context, mechanism and outcome statements informed three co-design workshops and a knowledge mobilisation workshop for primary care service innovation. Results Five context, mechanism and outcome statements were developed. (1) Improving physical activity and function is not prioritised in primary care (context). If the practice team culture is aligned to the elements of physical literacy (mechanism), then physical activity promotion will become routine and embedded in usual care (outcome). (2) Physical activity promotion is inconsistent and unco-ordinated (context). If specific resources are allocated to physical activity promotion (in combination with a supportive practice culture) (mechanism), then this will improve opportunities to change behaviour (outcome). (3) People with long-term conditions have varying levels of physical function and physical activity, varying attitudes to physical activity and differing access to local resources that enable physical activity (context). If physical activity promotion is adapted to individual needs, preferences and local resources (mechanism), then this will facilitate a sustained improvement in physical activity (outcome). (4) Many primary care practice staff lack the knowledge and confidence to promote physical activity (context). If staff develop an improved sense of capability through education and training (mechanism), then they will increase their engagement with physical activity promotion (outcome). (5) If a programme is credible with patients and professionals (context), then trust and confidence in the programme will develop (mechanism) and more patients and professionals will engage with the programme (outcome). A prototype multicomponent intervention was developed. This consisted of resources to nurture a culture of physical literacy, materials to develop the role of a credible professional who can promote physical activity using a directory of local opportunities and resources to assist with individual behaviour change. Limitations Realist synthesis and co-design is about what works in which contexts, so these resources and practice implications will need to be modified for different primary care contexts. Conclusions We developed a programme theory to explain how physical activity could be promoted in primary care in people with long-term conditions, which informed a prototype intervention. Future work A future research programme could further develop the prototype multicomponent intervention and assess its acceptability in practice alongside existing schemes before it is tested in a feasibility study to inform a future randomised controlled trial. Study registration This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42018103027. Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme and will be published in full in Health Services and Delivery Research; Vol. 9, No. 16. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information. </jats:sec

Association of selenium, tocopherols, carotenoids, retinol, and 15-isoprostane F(2t) in serum or urine with prostate cancer risk: the multiethnic cohort.

We examine the association of antioxidants and 15-isoprostane F(2t) with risk of prostate cancer.We conducted a nested case-control study of serum antioxidant biomarkers (selenium, tocopherols, carotenoids, and retinol) and a urinary oxidation biomarker (15-isoprostane F(2t)) with risk of prostate cancer within the Multiethnic Cohort. Demographic, dietary, and other exposure information was collected by self-administered questionnaire in 1993-1996. We compared prediagnostic biomarker levels from 467 prostate cancer cases and 936 cancer free controls that were matched on several variables. Multivariate conditional logistic regression models were used to compute adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).We observed that there was no overall association of serum concentrations of antioxidants and urinary concentrations of 15-isoprostane F(2t) with risk of prostate cancer or risk of advanced prostate cancer. However, we did observe an inverse association for serum selenium only among African-American men (p trend = 0.02); men in the third tertile of selenium concentrations had a 41% lower risk (95% CI: 0.38-0.93) of prostate cancer when compared to men in the first tertile.Overall, our study found no association of serum antioxidants or 15-isoprostane F(2t) with the risk of prostate cancer. The observed inverse association of selenium with prostate cancer in African-Americans needs to be validated in other studies

Association of Serum γ-Tocopherol Levels with Mortality: The Multiethnic Cohort Study

Background/Objectives—γ-Tocopherol has unique properties that protect against nitrogen oxide-mediated cellular damage. To elucidate the potential role of γ-tocopherol in the aging process, we examined the associations of serum γ-tocopherol levels with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Subjects/Methods—Among participants in the biorepository subcohort of the Multiethnic Cohort Study, pre-cancer diagnostic serum γ-tocopherol levels were measured in a subset of 3904 men and 4461 women. Of these, 22.7% of men and 13.5% of women died during a mean follow- up time of 9.6±2.6 years. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for mortality associated with γ-tocopherol were estimated by Cox proportional hazards regression. Results—Positive associations of serum γ-tocopherol with all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality (CVD) (Ptrend\u3c0.05) were detected after adjusting for age, race-ethnicity and serum cholesterol levels. The respective HRs (95%CIs) for the highest versus the lowest sex- specific γ-tocopherol quartile were 1.43 (1.17–1.74), 1.79 (1.22–2.64), and 1.52 (1.10–2.11) for men and 1.58 (1.25–2.00), 1.59 (1.05–2.41), and 1.59 (1.07–2.37) for women. Associations remained significant for all-cause mortality among women after further adjusting for smoking variables and history of cancer, CVD, diabetes, and hypertension at cohort entry (highest vs. lowest γ-tocopherol quartile: HR=1.38; 95%CI=1.08–1.75; Ptrend= 0.005). Overall, associations with all-cause mortality were consistent across race/ethnicity and were significant in three of ten sex-specific racial/ethnic groups in the fully adjusted models with no interactions between ethnicity and γ-tocopherol. Conclusions—The positive association between γ-tocopherol and mortality suggests a potential physiological role for γ-tocopherol in response to pathological conditions

Predicting total, abdominal, visceral and hepatic adiposity with circulating biomarkers in Caucasian and Japanese American women.

Characterization of abdominal and intra-abdominal fat requires imaging, and thus is not feasible in large epidemiologic studies.We investigated whether biomarkers may complement anthropometry (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference [WC], and waist-hip ratio [WHR]) in predicting the size of the body fat compartments by analyzing blood biomarkers, including adipocytokines, insulin resistance markers, sex steroid hormones, lipids, liver enzymes and gastro-neuropeptides.Fasting levels of 58 blood markers were analyzed in 60 healthy, Caucasian or Japanese American postmenopausal women who underwent anthropometric measurements, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging. Total, abdominal, visceral and hepatic adiposity were predicted based on anthropometry and the biomarkers using Random Forest models.Total body fat was well predicted by anthropometry alone (R(2) = 0.85), by the 5 best predictors from the biomarker model alone (leptin, leptin-adiponectin ratio [LAR], free estradiol, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 [PAI1], alanine transaminase [ALT]; R(2) = 0.69), or by combining these 5 biomarkers with anthropometry (R(2) = 0.91). Abdominal adiposity (DXA trunk-to-periphery fat ratio) was better predicted by combining the two types of predictors (R(2) = 0.58) than by anthropometry alone (R(2) = 0.53) or the 5 best biomarkers alone (25(OH)-vitamin D(3), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 [IGFBP1], uric acid, soluble leptin receptor [sLEPR], Coenzyme Q10; R(2) = 0.35). Similarly, visceral fat was slightly better predicted by combining the predictors (R(2) = 0.68) than by anthropometry alone (R(2) = 0.65) or the 5 best biomarker predictors alone (leptin, C-reactive protein [CRP], LAR, lycopene, vitamin D(3); R(2) = 0.58). Percent liver fat was predicted better by the 5 best biomarker predictors (insulin, sex hormone binding globulin [SHBG], LAR, alpha-tocopherol, PAI1; R(2) = 0.42) or by combining the predictors (R(2) = 0.44) than by anthropometry alone (R(2) = 0.29).The predictive ability of anthropometry for body fat distribution may be enhanced by measuring a small number of biomarkers. Studies to replicate these data in men and other ethnic groups are warranted

Plasma carotenoids, retinol, and tocopherols and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the Multiethnic Cohort Study: a nested case-control study

Assessments by the handful of prospective studies of the association of serum antioxidants and breast cancer risk have yielded inconsistent results. This multiethnic nested case-control study sought to examine the association of plasma carotenoids, retinol, and tocopherols with postmenopausal breast cancer risk.From the biospecimen subcohort of the Multiethnic Cohort Study, 286 incident postmenopausal breast cancer cases were matched to 535 controls on age, sex, ethnicity, study location (Hawaii or California), smoking status, date/time of collection and hours of fasting. We measured prediagnostic circulating levels of individual carotenoids, retinol, and tocopherols. Conditional logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals.Women with breast cancer tended to have lower levels of plasma carotenoids and tocopherols than matched controls, but the differences were not large or statistically significant and the trends were not monotonic. No association was seen with retinol. A sensitivity analysis excluding cases diagnosed within 1 year after blood draw did not alter the findings.The lack of significant associations in this multiethnic population is consistent with previously observed results from less racially-diverse cohorts and serves as further evidence against a causal link between plasma micronutrient concentrations and postmenopausal breast cancer risk

‘Playing’ with Evidence: combining creative co-design methods with realist evidence synthesis

Breaking the cycle of declining physical function and physical activity can improve health and independence for people with long-term conditions. Services within primary care are well placed to empower individuals and communities to achieve this. However, the best approach is uncertain, and must consider needs of people with long-term conditions and complexities of service delivery. This study aimed to understand how to reduce decline in physical function and physical activity in people with long-term conditions. We used realist methods integrated with co-design to provide an explanatory account of what works (or does not), for whom and in what circumstances, to generate ideas about service innovation, and provide recommendations for primary care. A key aspect was tracking evidence from different sources, presenting it creatively by converting it into physical games, enabling stakeholders to ‘play with’ and make-sense of it, to inform co-design work, enabling them to draw upon their own experiences and a wider understanding. In this article, we focus on the game activities, adding to the co-design games’ literature and suggest that this expands participants’ knowledge base beyond their experiences, empowering them to contribute more to the process and creating a strong link between the realist and co-design methods