Investigations from the ribcage : the (dis)embodied order of safety, children, and the problematics of public school policy practice

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 6, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Rex CampbellVita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2011.This dissertation endeavors to explore the ways in which policies of safety in the public school order the everyday lives of student-children. Using varying feminist methodologies, I explore the experiences that children have with the safety curricula, and the implications on their daily lives as a result of these policies. Children are exposed to a variety of rules and regulations as a way to teach them how to be "productive citizens and employees," by this particular school district. I use this intention as a premise to talk about how rules against "public displays of affection," and interests in "behavior management" intersect with the determining factors of gender and violence, respectively. This research also explores the larger implications of police in public schools, control over the bodies of children, and the problematics of popular conceptions of preadolescent and teenage bullying. Using interview data from work with public school children, aged 7 to 14, characters are developed that encompass a variety of experiences to create non-fictional stories about the experiences of two children, Jane and John, and their two mothers, Pat and Susan. These short stories, integrated with sociological analysis of education policy, state welfare policy and institutional discourses creates maps that attempt to make the abstractions of policies actual, confronting problems with the assumptions of family, children, sexuality, gender, violence and youth. The metaphors of the child's body as a prison and a safe place are also discussed in relation to consent and when the child's body becomes their own, both in the discourse and in the everyday lives of children, their parents, and the public school.Includes bibliographical reference

The Ghosts of Infertility: haunted by the realities of reproductive death

The use of graphics in academic research is a relatively underexplored and underutilized medium through which social science researcher s can communicate and share the knowledge they’ve acquired with larger audiences. The graphic article attempts to disseminate the findings of sociological research to non-academic audiences in an effort to make more public and more accessible the information intended to help regular people in everyday life. This article will use autoethnography in addition to critical discourse analysis to expose the connections between the ways in which female-bodied people experience psycho-medical discourses in everyday interaction, and in more institutionalized settings (i.e. doctor’s offices). The character featured in this piece serves as an amalgam to tell the stories of many female-bodied people’s stories. Using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a guide through “hysteria” and “hypochondriasis,” this graphic narrative will explore the social exchanges of this fictional character as she asks questions about aging, reproduction, and gendered ideological frameworks set in motion by academic/medical discourses in her everyday life. Providing evidence of physio-biological changes in her body, her questions and stories prove to reveal responses in her interactions that are not only interestingly similar, but also strangely framed as comfort and dismissals of her embodied experiences

Press coverage of lynchings in Missouri : an analysis of the newspaper coverage of black and white lynchings between 1882 and 1942

Beginning in 1882, Missouri communities experienced a wave of lynchings that would not subside until 1942. The lynchings that took place in Missouri initially affected both White and Black males accused of crimes. In Missouri, lynchings occurred within predominately rural areas, and incorporated into the rural community was the rural newspaper. This study focuses on the coverage of the lynchings that took place between 1882 and 1942, and discusses the differences between the reporting of the Black lynching and the reporting of the White lynching.Includes bibliographical references (pages 128-132)

Patient experience and challenges in group concept mapping for clinical research.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Group concept mapping (GCM) is a research method that engages stakeholders in generating, structuring and representing ideas around a specific topic or question. GCM has been used with patients to answer questions related to health and disease but little is known about the patient experience as a participant in the process. This paper explores the patient experience participating in GCM as assessed with direct observation and surveys of participants. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis performed within a larger study in which 3 GCM iterations were performed to engage patients in identifying patient-important outcomes for diabetes care. Researchers tracked the frequency and type of assistance required by each participant to complete the sorting and rating steps of GCM. In addition, a 17-question patient experience survey was administered over the telephone to the participants after they had completed the GCM process. Survey questions asked about the personal impact of participating in GCM and the ease of various steps of the GCM process. RESULTS: Researchers helped patients 92 times during the 3 GCM iterations, most commonly to address software and computer literacy issues, but also with the sorting phase itself. Of the 52 GCM participants, 40 completed the post-GCM survey. Respondents averaged 56 years of age, were 50% female and had an average hemoglobin A1c of 9.1%. Ninety-two percent (n = 37) of respondents felt that they had contributed something important to this research project and 90% (n = 36) agreed or strongly agreed that their efforts would help others with diabetes. Respondents reported that the brainstorming session was less difficult when compared with sorting and rating of statements. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that patients find value in participating in GCM. Patients reported less comfort with the sorting step of GCM when compared with brainstorming, an observation that correlates with our observations from the GCM sessions. Researchers should consider using paper sorting methods and objective measures of sorting quality when using GCM in patient-engaged research to improve the patient experience and concept map quality

First Profunda Artery Perforator Flap for Breast Reconstruction Performed at a VA Hospital

The profunda artery perforator (PAP) flap for breast reconstruction originated by Dr. Robert J. Allen in 2010 after multiple failed attempts at using muscle-sparing transverse rectus abdominal muscle (MS-TRAM) flap and implants. This flap method was initially approached due to the patient’s request for an autologous tissue graft that did not sacrifice muscle. The PAP flap has grown significantly in popularity and usage in breast reconstruction and makes up to about 16% of autologous breast reconstruction, coming second to DIEP flaps (76%). This well-tolerated, muscle-sparing approach is ideal for patients without sufficient abdominal fat (low BMI or previous abdominal liposuction) or those who prefer a non-abdominal donor site. In addition to its gained popularity for breast reconstruction, the PAP flap has also been utilized in defects reconstruction over the entire body such as the head and neck, lower extremities, vulva, and tongue. This is a sophisticated procedure and has never been performed at a VA hospital before this case

Concert recording 2013-12-03

[Track 01]. Adelaide / Ludwig van Beethoven -- [Track 02]. Der Kuss / L van Beethoven -- [Track 03]. Der Neugierige / Franz Schubert -- [Track 04]. Fruhlingsglaube / F. Schubert -- [Track 05]. Andenken / L. van Beethoven -- [Track 06]. Nussbaum / Robert Schumann -- [Track 07]. Er, der herrlichste von allen / R. Schumann -- [Track 08]. Das erste Veilchen / Felix Mendelssohn -- [Track 09]. O liebliche Wangen / Johannes Brahms -- [Track 10]. Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer / J. Brahms -- [Track 11]. Elfenlied / Hugo Wolf -- [Track 12]. Vergebliches Standchen / J. Brahms -- [Track 13]. Allerseelen / Richard Strauss -- [Track 14]. Die Mainacht / J. Brahms -- [Track 15]. Zueignung / R. Strauss -- [Track 16]. Der Rattenfanger / H. Wolf

Geographic distribution and genetic diversity of the Ehrlichia sp. from Panola Mountain in Amblyomma americanum

Background: A novel Ehrlichia, closely related to Ehrlichia ruminantium, was recently discovered from Panola Mountain State Park, GA, USA. We conducted a study to determine if this agent was recently introduced into the United States. Methods: We developed a sensitive PCR assay based on the conserved gltA (citrate synthase) gene and tested DNA samples extracted from 1964 field-collected and 1835 human-biting Amblyomma americanum from 23 eastern states of the USA. Results: The novel agent was detected in 36 ticks collected from 10 states between 1998 and 2006. Infected ticks were collected both from vegetation (n = 14, 0.7%) and from humans (n = 22, 1.2%). Fragments of the conserved gltA gene and the variable map1 gene were sequenced from positive samples. Two distinct clades, with 10.5% nucleic acid divergence over the 730 bp map1 sequence, were identified. Conclusion: These data suggest that the Panola Mountain Ehrlichia was not recently introduced to the United States; this agent has an extensive distribution throughout the range of its tick vector, has been present in some locations for several years, and displays genetic variability. Furthermore, people in several states were exposed to this agent through the bite of infected ticks, underscoring the potential public health risk of this emerging ehrlichiosis

Measuring psychosocial determinants of vaccination behavior in healthcare professionals: validation of the Pro-VC-Be short-form questionnaire

BACKGROUND: Vaccine confidence among health care professionals (HCPs) is a key determinant of vaccination behaviors. We validate a short-form version of the 31-item Pro-VC-Be (Health Professionals Vaccine Confidence and Behaviors) questionnaire that measures HCPs’ confidence in and commitment to vaccination.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey among 2,696 HCPs established a long-form tool to measure 10 dimensions of psychosocial determinants of vaccination behaviors. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models tested the construct validity of 69,984 combinations of items in a 10-item short form tool. The criterion validity of this tool was tested with four behavioral and attitudinal outcomes using weighted modified Poisson regressions. An immunization resource score was constructed from summing the responses of the dimensions that can influence HCPs’ pro-vaccination behaviors: vaccine confidence, proactive efficacy, and trust in authorities.RESULTS: The short-form tool showed good construct validity in CFA analyses (RMSEA = 0.035 [0.024; 0.045]; CFI = 0.956; TLI = 0.918; SRMR 0.027) and comparable criterion validity to the long-form tool. The immunization resource score showed excellent criterion validity.CONCLUSIONS: The Pro-VC-Be short-form showed good construct validity and criterion validity similar to the long-form and can therefore be used to measure determinants of vaccination behaviors among HCPs.</div

Concert recording 2013-11-15

[Track 01]. Amarilli, mia bella / Guilio Caccini ; [Track 02]. Dein blaues auge / Johannes Brahms -- [Track 03]. Come raggio di sol / Antonio Caldara -- [Track 04]. Come ready and see me / Richard Hundley -- [Track 05]. La promessa / Giacchino Rossini -- [Track 06]. Se tu m\u27ami / Giovanni Pergolesi -- [Track 07]. Sonntag / Johannes Brahms -- [Track 08]. Le colibri / Ernest Chausson -- [Track 09]. Paulus. Jerusalem! / Felix Mendelssohn -- [Track 10]. Gia il sole dal Gange / Alessandro Scarlatti -- [Track 11]. Go, lovely Rose / Roger Quilter -- [Track 12]. Si mes vers avaient des ailes / Raynaldo Hahn -- [Track 13]. I\u27m a person too / Leonard Bernstein -- [Track 14]. Les chemins de l\u27amour / Francis Poulenc -- [Track 15]. La Boheme. Donde lieta usci al tuo... / Giacomo Puccini -- [Track 16]. Plum pudding / Leonard Bernstein -- [Track 17]. Queues de boeuf / Leonard Bernstein -- [Track 18]. Tavouk gueunksis / Leonard Bernstein -- [Track 19]. Civet a toute vitesse / Leonard Bernstein -- [Track 20]. When I have sung my songs to you / Ernest Charles -- [Track 21]. Linda di chamournix. Ah! Tardai troppo...o luce di quest\u27anima / Gaetano Donizetti