'"The Meaner & More Usual &c.": Everybody in Emma'

This essay aims to read Jane Austen’s Emma (1815) not as a portrait of a pampered individual but as a story of collective or communal selfhood—that is, as the story of everybody. “Everybody”—the term is used approximately one hundred times in this novel—in Emma is both more and less than a village or a neighborhood. Spread and shared across people, discourses, bodies, and institutions, “everybodiness” is variously apprehended as public opinion, or a ubiquitous collective gaze, or a shared repertoire of constantly updated gossip-narratives, without ever being quite reducible to any one of these. With a mixture of disdain and disquiet, Emma equates everybodiness with banal group-think, senseless chatter, lackluster mediocrity, and oppressive sameness—but, even as it thinks these superciliously undemocratic thoughts, Austen’s novel grants “everybody” narrative space in which to contest the terms of its own marginalization

Fluorination studies using difluoroiodotoluene

This thesis is divided into three parts. The first part is an introduction to the fluorination chemistry of difluoroiodotoluene and consists of two reviews. The first review concerns the use of iodine(III) difluorides in the formation of carbon-fluorine bonds. The second deals with the Fluoro-Pummerer reaction, introduction of fluorine into the α-position of sulfoxides or sulfides via sulfonium ion intermediates. The second part is a discussion of the results obtained with difluoroiodotoluene in the fluorination of sulfur-containing compounds. Early results indicated that the reagent could perform Fluoro-Pummerer chemistry, and this transformation forms the basis of much of the work. A range of α-fluoro sulfides could be formed cleanly and in good yield by treatment of fi-oxo sulfides with one equivalent of difluoroiodotoluene in dichloromethane solution. Difluorination of substrates was also feasible, and treatment with excess reagent was found to produce α-fluoro sulfoxides. The reaction was established as being promoted by electron-withdrawing groups in the α-position, accordingly simple dialkyl sulfides were found not to undergo the Fluoro-Pummerer reaction with difluoroiodotoluene. In cases were substrates had β-hydrogens an elimination reaction was found to operate, producing vinyl sulfides. These vinyl sulfides could then add two equivalents of fluoride via an additive-Pummerer reaction to produce α,β-difluorosulfides. In this manner a range of novel 3,4-difluoro pyrrolidinones and piperidinones were synthesised. Certain a-phenylsulfanyl acetamides were found to be resistant to fluorination, undergoing preferential oxidation to the sulfoxides. Arguments based on a coordination of the β-carbonyl oxygen to the iodine centre of the putative iodosulfonium salt, forming a stabilised chelate complex are advanced to explain this behaviour. The chemistry of hypervalent tellurium difluorides in carbon-fluorine bond formation is discussed. The synthesis of α,β-difluoroethers from fluorodesulfurisation of thione esters and dithioorthoester derivatives using difluoroiodotoluene was attempted. Such fluorination reactions were successful but the hydrolytic instability of the products renders purification and analysis difficult. Part three is an account of the experimental results and procedures employed throughout this work

The Association between Physical Activity and Metabolic Syndrome in Older Adults with Obesity

Background: Physical activity reduces the likelihood of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, the association between different physical activity levels and MetS remains unclear in older adults with obesity. Methods: This cross-sectional study used four waves of data (2007-2008, 2009-2010, 2011-2012, 2013-2014) from two datasets: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and United Sates Department of Agriculture’s Food Patterns Equivalents Database. The sample included adults 60+ years of age (n= 613) with obesity who had physical activity and MetS data. Physical activity was assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire and categorized into three physical activity levels (low, medium, and high); and medium or high physical activity levels are aligned with or exceed current physical activity recommendations. Participants were classified as having MetS using a commonly agreed upon definition. Multiple logistic regression models examined the association between the three physical activity levels and MetS risk factors and MetS. All analyses adjusted for potential confounding variables and accounted for complex sampling. Results: Of 613 respondents, 72.1% (n=431) were classified as having MetS, and 44.3% (n = 263) had not met physical activity recommendations. Participants with high levels of physical activity had a lower risk of MetS (OR = 0.31, 95%CI: 0.13, 0.72) and more healthful levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR = 0.39, 95%CI: 0.18, 0.84), blood pressure (OR = 0.39, 95%CI: 0.20, 0.77), fasting glucose (OR = 0.34, 95%CI: 0.15, 0.78) than participants categorized as having low physical activity. Conclusions: Physical activity is associated with lower risk of MetS only for participants with the highest level of physical activity, which suggests that physical activity dosage is important to reduce MetS risk in older adults with obesity

Direct arylations on water: synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted oxazoles balsoxin and texaline

An efficient two-step palladium catalysed synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted oxazoles is reported

Activity pacing for osteoarthritis symptom management: study design and methodology of a randomized trial testing a tailored clinical approach using accelerometers for veterans and non-veterans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent chronic disease and a leading cause of disability in adults. For people with knee and hip OA, symptoms (e.g., pain and fatigue) can interfere with mobility and physical activity. Whereas symptom management is a cornerstone of treatment for knee and hip OA, limited evidence exists for behavioral interventions delivered by rehabilitation professionals within the context of clinical care that address how symptoms affect participation in daily activities. Activity pacing, a strategy in which people learn to preplan rest breaks to avoid symptom exacerbations, has been effective as part of multi-component interventions, but hasn't been tested as a stand-alone intervention in OA or as a tailored treatment using accelerometers. In a pilot study, we found that participants who underwent a tailored activity pacing intervention had reduced fatigue interference with daily activities. We are now conducting a full-scale trial.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This paper provides a description of our methods and rationale for a trial that evaluates a tailored activity pacing intervention led by occupational therapists for adults with knee and hip OA. The intervention uses a wrist accelerometer worn during the baseline home monitoring period to glean recent symptom and physical activity patterns and to tailor activity pacing instruction based on how symptoms relate to physical activity. At 10 weeks and 6 months post baseline, we will examine the effectiveness of a tailored activity pacing intervention on fatigue, pain, and physical function compared to general activity pacing and usual care groups. We will also evaluate the effect of tailored activity pacing on physical activity (PA).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Managing OA symptoms during daily life activity performance can be challenging to people with knee and hip OA, yet few clinical interventions address this issue. The activity pacing intervention tested in this trial is designed to help people modulate their activity levels and reduce symptom flares caused by too much or too little activity. As a result of this trial, we will be able to determine if activity pacing is more effective than usual care, and among the intervention groups, if an individually tailored approach improves fatigue and pain more than a general activity pacing approach.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01192516">NCT01192516</a></p