Ellen Glasgow's Gothicism

A close study of Ellen Glasgow's work reveals a clear, if uneven, strain of Gothicism running throughout. It begins in her poems as the use of macabre imagery and the concern with Evil and in her short stories as psychological and supernatural inquiry. From these bits and pieces the Gothicism evolves in her novels into a persistent theme — that Evil is in Nature and Nature is sovereign over man — a theme appropriately reinforced by Gothic motifs. Chapter I shows that although the Gothic quality in Ellen Glasgow's writing was largely ignored by the critics and never acknowledged by Glasgow herself, it nevertheless grew naturally out of her affinities with other Gothic writers, her cultural milieu, and her own temperament and life experiences. In Chapter II an examination of one large group of Glasgow's poems reveals how she used the imagery of death to arouse feeling and how she was beginning to work toward her definition of Evil. A group of five short stories likewise shows an interest in Evil and a developing probe into the nature of the inner man. Chapter III exposes the pattern of Gothic theme supported by Gothic elements that exists in thirteen selected novels. The sovereignty of Nature is expressed through the erupting passions of lust, rage, and revenge, as well as through the natural forces of darkness, death, and decay. Moreover, out of this main theme three prominent sub-themes emerge: aristocratic debility, the effect of soil upon soul, and the influence of the past. These themes are accompanied by a full assortment of traditional Gothic elements. Together they construct the Gothicism which must be considered a salient characteristic of Ellen Glasgow's literary style

Causal effect of shifting from precarious to standard employment on all-cause mortality in Sweden : an emulation of a target trial

Background: We aimed at estimating the causal effect of switching from precarious to standard employment on the 6-year and 12-year risk of all-cause mortality among workers aged 20-55 years in Sweden. Methods: We emulated a series of 12 target trials starting every year between 2005 and 2016 using Swedish register data (n=251 273). We classified precariously employed individuals using a multidimensional approach at baseline as (1) remaining in precarious employment (PE) (73.8%) and (2) shifting to standard employment (26.2%). All-cause mortality was measured from 2006 to 2017. We pooled data for all 12 emulated trials and used covariate-adjusted pooled logistic regression to estimate intention-to-treat and per-protocol effects via risk ratios (RRs) and standardised risk curves (the parametric g-formula). Results: Shifting from precarious to standard employment decreases the 12-year risk of death by 20% on the relative scale (RR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.73; 0.93), regardless of what happens after the initial shift. However, we estimated a 12-year risk reduction of 30% on the relative scale for workers shifting from precarious to standard employment and staying within this employment category for the full 12 years (RR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.54; 0.95). Conclusions: This study finds that shifting from low to higher-quality employment conditions (ie, stable employment, sufficient income levels and high coverage by collective agreements) decreases the risk of death. Remaining in PE increases the risk of premature mortality. Our results emphasise the necessity of ensuring decent work for the entire working population to accomplish the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Initiatives addressing precarious employment and its effects on workers’ health and well-being: a protocol for a systematic review

Precarious employment is a significant determinant of population health and health inequities and has complex public health consequences both for a given nation and internationally. Precarious employment is conceptualized as a multi-dimensional construct including but not limited to employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and lack of rights and protection in the employment relation, which could affect both informal and formal workers. The purpose of this review is to identify, appraise, and synthesize existing research on the effectiveness of initiatives aiming to or having the potential to eliminate, reduce, or mitigate workers’ exposure to precarious employment conditions and its effects on the health and well-being of workers and their families

Southern GEMS Groups I: Dynamical Properties

Here we present an investigation of the properties of 16 nearby galaxy groups and their constituent galaxies. The groups are selected from the Group Evolution Multi-wavelength Study (GEMS) and all have X-ray as well as wide-field neutral hydrogen (HI) observations. Group membership is determined using a friends-of-friends algorithm on the positions and velocities from the 6-degree Field Galaxy Survey (6dFGS) and NASA/IPAC Extra-galactic Database (NED). For each group we derive their physical properties using this membership, including: velocity dispersions (sigma_v), virial masses (M_V), total K-band luminosities (L_K(Tot)) and early-type fractions (f_early) and present these data for the individual groups. We find that the GEMS X-ray luminosity is proportional to the group velocity dispersions and virial masses: L_X(r_500)\propto\sigma_v^{3.11\pm0.59} and L_X(r_500)\propto M_V^{1.13\pm0.27}, consistent with the predictions of self-similarity between group and clusters. We also find that M_V\propto L_K(Tot)^{2.0\pm0.9}, i.e. mass grows faster than light and that the fraction of early-type galaxies in the groups is correlated with the group X-ray luminosities and velocity dispersions. We examine the brightest group galaxies (BGGs), finding that, while the luminosity of the BGG correlates with its total group luminosity, the fraction of group luminosity contained in the BGG decreases with increasing total group luminosity. This suggests that BGGs grow by mergers at early times in group evolution while the group continues to grow by accreting infalling galaxies. (Abridged)Comment: 30 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS, Table 3 available at http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~sbrough/landscape_table3.p

Review of \u3ci\u3eTexas Quilts and Quilters: A Lone Star Legacy\u3c/i\u3e By Marcia Kaylakie with Janice Whittington

This beautiful book showcases thirty-four Texas quilts, selected by Marcia Kaylakie from the hundreds she saw in public and private collections during a decade of documenting quilts throughout the state of Texas. It is a visual delight that adds to the body of work on Texas quilts and quiltmakers. Marion Ann Montgomery\u27s foreword helps set the book in context. Janice Whittington worked with Kaylakie to shape the interesting human stories behind the quilts. We learn that a simple Dutch Doll quilt became known as The Sick Quilt, as a mother entertained her ill children with stories about each doll. We can delight that a quilt sharing of a 1930s signed friendship quilt in the small town of Ralls brought forth more than forty other quilts made by the same circle of friends. Jim Lincoln\u27s photographs of the quilts, both overall views and clear details, are outstanding. The striking Blue Lone Star quilt, featured on a ranch fence with Blue Mountain in the background, dramatically illustrates how the quilts in this book reflect the rich and varied landscape of the Great Plains and life in the small towns and rural areas of Texas. Wonderful black-and-white vintage photographs of people and places connected to the quilts also enhance the book

Nursing Professionalization, Gender Equality, and the Welfare State: Identifying Macro-level Factors that Advance Nursing Professionalization

Nursing professionalization has important benefits for the nursing workforce, patients, and health systems. Given the large number of associated goals, the process is ongoing and of continuous relevance to all countries where nursing is practiced. Although the body of research focusing on this topic is vast, the macro-level structural determinants of this process are currently less understood. The objectives of this thesis were to examine the effects of (a) welfare state and gender regimes and (b) measures of education, health, family, labour market, and gender policies on nursing professionalization in high-income countries. The literature review conducted synthesised health and socio-political studies, bringing attention to key links between nursing professionalization and welfare state policies. The empirical analysis consisted of two studies, the first one focused on the welfare state and the second one on gender equality, both using a time-series, cross-sectional design and fixed-effects linear regression models. The analysis covered 16 years and 22 countries. The findings suggest that both the average regulated nurse and the nurse graduate ratios differ among welfare state and gender regimes. In addition, the following policy measures were found to be predictive of (a) the regulated nurse ratio: total government expenditure on education, total and public health care spending, length of paid paternity leave, female share of tertiary education graduates, female share of employment in managerial positions, gender wage gap, and female share of seats in national parliaments; and of (b) the nurse graduate ratio: total government expenditure on education, total health care spending, length of both paid maternity and paid paternity leaves, female share of employment in managerial positions, gender wage gap, female share of seats in national parliaments, and female labour force participation rate. This study’s findings could add to existing upstream advocacy efforts to strengthen nursing and the nursing workforce through healthy public policy.Ph.D.2020-11-13 00:00:0