Understanding the health and social care needs of people living with IBD: A meta-synthesis of the evidence

AIM: To undertake a metasynthesis of qualitative studies to understand the health and social needs of people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: A systematic search strategy identified qualitative studies exploring the phenomenon of living with inflammatory bowel disease. Databases included MEDLINE, PsychInfo, EMBASE, CINAHL and the British Nursing Index via the OVID platform. Qualitative search filters were adapted from Hedges database (http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/hslt/miner/digital_library/tip_sheets/Cinahl_eb_filters.pdf). Qualitative empirical studies exploring the health and social needs of people living with inflammatory bowel disease were selected. Study eligibility and data extraction were independently completed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme for qualitative studies. The studies were analysed and synthesised using metasynthesis methodology. The themes from the studies allowed for common translations into a new interpretation of the impact of living with inflammatory bowel disease. RESULTS: Of 1395 studies, six published studies and one unpublished thesis fulfilled the inclusion criteria. First iteration of synthesis identified 16 themes, 2nd iteration synthesised these into three main 2nd order constructs: “detained by the disease”; “living in a world of disease” and “wrestling with life”. “Detained by the disease” is the fear of incontinence, the behaviour the patients display due to the fear, and the impact this has on the individual, such as social isolation and missing out on life events. All of these serve to “pull” the patient back from normal living. “Living in a world of disease” is the long term effects of living with a long term condition and the fear of these effects. “Wrestling with life” is the continued fight to thrive, the “push” to continue normal living. CONCLUSION: The metasynthesis provides a comprehensive representation of living with IBD. The unmistakeable burden of incontinence is exposed and its ongoing effects are demonstrated. The combined overall impact of living with IBD is the tension these patients live with: “Pushed and pulled: a compromised life”, people living with IBD experience a constant conflict throughout their lives, they push to be normal but IBD pulls them back. The impact of the fear of incontinence and behaviour of the individual as a result, requires further qualitative enquiry

“This word in Latyn”: translation and untranslatability in late medieval religious macaronic lyrics

This article examines the role played by untranslatability in late medieval religious macaronic lyrics (ca.1350 to ca.1500). Asking what, and how, the Latin elements in these lyrics communicate, it first argues that the untranslated presence of liturgical quotations is no less important than their literal sense. Examining the relationship between codeswitches and verse form, it demonstrates that such quotations are formally differentiated in a way that not only seems to acknowledge their innate virtus (or spiritual efficacy), but reemphasizes it for doctrinal ends; even when they are comprehensively glossed, they are presented as untranslatable. This effect is particularly pronounced in carols and other lyrics that explicitly identify their liturgical phrases as quotations, framing them so as to encourage readers to voice them, and thus join in an eternal Christian community. Yet while such techniques imply that untranslatability is a rhetorical effect as much as a reality, the final section of the article examines a partial exception to this rule: lyrics whose Latin elements seem not to be part of a considered formal strategy, but rather the incidental result of their authors’ bilinguality. Examining lyric responses to the liturgical sequence Laetabundus, it suggests that, even as the Latin elements in these lyrics are made to serve instructive ends, they also reveal how bilingual poets may – like their readers – encounter Scriptural or liturgical Latin as irreducible, and thus untranslatable. It proposes that to look at macaronic lyrics through the lens of untranslatability not only enables us to discern how their Latin elements communicate to their readers, but also brings into focus their authors’ cognitive processes: the business of making in the material medium that is language, as well as the verbal artefact that is made

Saccades in the absence of binocular vision

The mechanism of suppression in strabismus is unclear and contribution of the suppressing eye to the generation of eye movements has received little attention. A series of nine experiments tested how the strabismic eye contributes to saccade generation in the presence of suppression and also considered the effect of the strabismic eye in the presence of abnormal retinal correspondence (ARC). These data were compared with data from subjects with normal binocular single vision (BSV). Chapters 2 and 3 describe the equipment, laboratory set-up and testing of the equipment used in the thesis for measuring eye movements, Skalar IRIS 6500 infrared limbal tracker, and presenting stimuli to each eye separately. The design of a novel method for dissociation of the eyes using four liquid crystal polymer shutters is presented. Chapter 4 compares the characteristics of saccades made by subjects with normal BSV (n=5) and strabismus (n=8). The effect of distractors on saccades is explored in Chapter 5 in subjects with normal BSV (n=5). The experiment documents the distractor effect produced in the described laboratory set-up, and compares it with that previously reported by Walker et al (1997). This is investigated further by comparing the effect of distractor presentations to the dominant eye, non-dominant eye or both eyes. There was no difference in the effect on saccade latency or gain with distractors presented to the dominant or non-dominant eye. The effect of binocular distractors on saccade gain was greater than monocular presentations. Chapter 6 repeats the experiment of Chapter 5 in subjects with constant strabismus and suppression (n=6) and constant strabismus with ARC (n=2) and found that distractors in the strabismic eye did affect saccades however the response differed from normal BSV. This was true even though it was shown that the distractor was not perceived by the strabismic eye. Chapter 7 investigates the influence of the central fixation target in the strabismic eye on saccade generation by inducing disconjugate saccade adaptation in subjects with normal BSV (n=8) and constant strabismus and suppression (n=6). The findings were that in the presence of suppression, disconjugate adaptation similar to that in normal BSV was possible. The conclusion of this thesis is to suggest that information from the suppressed eye is available to the saccadic system by either a sub-cortical pathway or processed cortically without conscious awareness

Optimising microalgal lipid productivity for biodiesel production

The purpose of this work was to identify promising microalgal species and strategies of nitrogen deprivation that optimise lipid productivity for biodiesel production. This was carried out by I) developing the tools necessary to measure lipid productivity accurately, II) identifying and quantifying the key characteristics of promising microalgal strains, initially through a literature survey and then experimentally, and III) investigating the effect of different degrees of N limitation, and different N culture regimes, on cell physiology and lipid productivity in Chlorella vulgaris

Together We Can Do So Much: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Framework of Collaboration in Schools

Effective collaboration is associated with positive outcomes for students and is a key component of equitable educational opportunities. There are challenges to effective collaboration, however, as our understanding of it differs based on the various definitions in the literature. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify the common constructs across definitions of collaboration as a means to develop a universal model that can be used in the schools. Through the development of a “building blocks” framework, we provide a common definition and identify the steps that must be taken before true collaboration can occur. This model highlights the iterative nature of the collaborative process and the importance of revisiting the foundational aspects of collaborative development. The systematic review focuses on using a common definition for research and the practice of collaboration

An Investigation into Patient Adherence to Dietary Advice for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

© 2014 Griffiths and McClinchy; This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedPeer reviewedFinal Published versio

Jane Montgomery Griffiths' Theatrical Poetics

As scholar of the Classics and drama studies, Jane Montgomery Griffiths has devoted much of her artistic practice to interpreting the voices of women who have either been censored or misinterpreted throughout history. Montgomery Griffiths has been celebrated for her writing of, and solo performances in, productions such as Razing Hypatia and Sappho in 9 Fragments . With her experience of theatrically exploring female desire, sexuality and intellectual contribution, it is understandable that Montgomery Griffiths was attracted to Dorothy Porter's verse novel Wild Surmise written in the Sapphic tradition with lyrics mediating on desire, exploration and loss

The Implementation of a Regional Education Network Through the Application of the Developmental Evaluation Process: A Case Study

One in three young adults with autism or developmental disability have never been employed within eight years of their leaving high school (Newman et al., 2011). These students graduate from schools and may then work with multiple services providers across agencies. Collaboration between these agencies is critical. This case study describes the successful efforts of a group of educational leaders, parents, individuals with disabilities, and service providers who came together to improve the transition outcomes of young adults with disabilities. The success of this large and complex effort was facilitated by the application of a developmental evaluation process which adjusted the networks efforts in real time. We present a case study of the first two years of the development and implementation of this regional educational network, as well as the theory and methods of developmental evaluation used to guide its implementation. We conclude with implications for building and leading effective collaborative networks in education

The Implementation of a Regional Education Network Through the Application of the Developmental Evaluation Process: A Case Study

Abstract: One in three young adults with autism or developmental disability have never been employed within eight years of their leaving high school (Newman et al., 2011). These students graduate from schools and may then work with multiple services providers across agencies. Collaboration between these agencies is critical. This case study describes the successful efforts of a group of educational leaders, parents, individuals with disabilities, and service providers who came together to improve the transition outcomes of young adults with disabilities. The success of this large and complex effort was facilitated by the application of a developmental evaluation process which adjusted the networks efforts in real time. We present a case study of the first two years of the development and implementation of this regional educational network, as well as the theory and methods of developmental evaluation used to guide its implementation. We conclude with implications for building and leading effective collaborative networks in education