Mrs. Ramsay\u27s Art in To the Lighthouse

When Virginia Woolf discusses the struggles of women writers in A Room of One’s Own she points out that one of the greatest hindrances to women’s ability to write fiction, besides the criticism they will face, is the fact “that they had no tradition behind them, or one so short and partial that it was of little help. For we think back through our mothers if we are women” (76). In To the Lighthouse, Woolf further explores this need for a female tradition through the struggles Mrs. Ramsay faces as an unfulfilled artist working through the only mode of art open to her, her role as angel in the house, and her influence over the painter Lily Briscoe, whom many critics consider to be a surrogate daughter to Mrs. Ramsay. Lily cannot exist without Mrs. Ramsay and not because she is motivated by a desire to rebel against Mrs. Ramsay’s angel in the house, but because Mrs. Ramsay is the foundation on which Lily can begin to build a tradition. Woolf is not necessarily pitting Mrs. Ramsay against Lily Briscoe, but instead she is revealing a struggle that they have in common, which is the struggle to create art in a patriarchal society

Does the Quality of the Patient-Physician Relationship Moderate Predictors of Poor Adherence in Urban, Underserved and Vulnerable Patients with Chronic Illness?

Escalating prevalence rates and rising economic costs of chronic illnesses necessitate a better understanding of factors affecting patient adherence in the primary care setting. Despite technological advances and evidenced-based treatments, clinical outcomes are often poor. Data drawn from archival data of the “A Healthier You” wellness program designed to serve a predominately underserved population were examined to assess whether or not positive predictors of adherence could moderate the impact of negative predictors such as depression. Limitations of the study methodology precluded significant interpretations but suggested significant discrepancies between patient and physician perceptions of trust in the relationship and the satisfaction with medical services. Results supported trust and satisfaction as essential components of the patient-physician relationship construct

Giving in Illinois, 2015

Illinois is home to over 5,200 grantmaking foundations spanning all types—independent or family, corporate, community, and operating—sizes, and issue areas. The community includes many foundations that only give locally or within the state, as well as those that fund nationally and even internationally. The following analysis provides an overview of the scale and composition of the Illinois foundation community and an examination of how Illinois foundations have fared relative to U.S. foundations in general over the past decade

Trabajo y familia: ¿cómo se articula esta frágil relación?

A partir de la revisión teórica del concepto de familia vinculada al estudio del mercado de trabajo, y mediante la realización y el análisis de una serie de entrevistas a grupos familiares que desarrollan su actividad laboral en micronegocios, se propone indagar en el vínculo trabajo/familia, buscando identificar cómo se articulan el trabajo y la familia en su relación con el mercado laboral en un nicho específico del mismo. A través de las entrevistas se pudo reconocer a los trabajadores en sus diferencias y con ello comprender mejor el sentido y orientaciones que el trabajo con la familia adquiere tanto para ellos como para todas sus unidades domésticas. De este modo, la principal aportación del documento está en analizar la díada producción/reproducción ampliamente debatida, traducida en unidad familiar y unidad laboral desde una perspectiva sociodemográfica

Assessing Community Foundation Needs and Envisioning the Future

Community foundations have several attributes that, taken together, distinguish them from many of their philanthropic brethren, including a local orientation, relationships with many living donors, and a public charity tax status. This affects everything from their approach to solving problems to their business model. Because of this, community foundations have sought out support services that are designed for their particular needs. The infrastructure of organizations serving community foundations has evolved, and there has been confusion among community foundations over where to get their needs met and some frustration over the perceived fragmentation of services.In response to these concerns and to create some clarity, CFLeads and CF Insights, both of which exclusively serve community foundations, decided to map out the current support services and lead a discussion exploring a vision for the future. The findings from a survey of a dozen large community foundations and a one-day symposium are summarized here. Hopefully the results of this partnership provide a better understanding of the ecosystem of organizations serving community foundations and some initial thinking on how to meet needs in the future

Giving in Illinois 2016

Illinois is home to over 5,200 grantmaking foundations spanning all types—independent or family, corporate, community, and operating—sizes, and issue areas. The community includes many foundations that only give locally or within the state, as well as those that fund nationally and even internationally. The following analysis provides an overview of the scale and composition of the Illinois foundation community and an examination of how Illinois foundations have fared relative to U.S. foundations in general over the past decade

Encuadre normativo y empírico para un diagnóstico del trabajo infantil en México

This paper seeks to diagnose the phenomenon of children and adolescent labour in Mexico from the legal and empirical perspective, while expecting to make visible aspects which have been invisible over time. With this framework, we present a general path concerning some legal instruments that allow us to define and categorize the studied phenomenon, and we carry out an empirical analysis from a series of indicators developed in the Module of child labour included in the National Survey of Occupation and Employment raised by National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, INEGI) in 2009. Information and analyzed data allow us to conclude in a broad manner that the constitutional and legal prohibition to child labour has not fulfill its eradication, further more, not starting from the approach of rights has implied a position of more vulnerability to underage persons who work due to several circumstances, whether economical, social or cultural.En este trabajo se busca realizar una aproximación diagnóstica al fenómeno del trabajo infantil y adolescente en México con miras a visibilizar aspectos que han estado invisibilizados a lo largo del tiempo, desde la perspectiva legal y empírica. En este marco, se hace un recorrido general de algunos instrumentos legales que permiten definir y categorizar el fenómeno, y se realiza un análisis empírico a partir de una serie de indicadores surgidos del Módulo de Trabajo Infantil incluido en la Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo levantada por el Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía en el año 2009. La información manejada, así como los datos analizados permiten concluir de manera general que la prohibición constitucional y legal del trabajo infantil no ha conseguido su erradicación, y el no partir de un enfoque de derechos colocaría en una posición de mayor vulnerabilidad a las personas menores de edad que trabajan por diversas circunstancias, ya sean económicas, sociales o culturales

Pharmacological targeting of the transcription factor Nrf2 at the basal ganglia provides disease modifying therapy for experimental parkinsonism

Current therapies for motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) are based on dopamine replacement. However, the disease progression remains unaffected, because of continuous dopaminergic neuron loss. Since oxidative stress is actively involved in neuronal death in PD, pharmacological targeting of the antioxidant machinery may have therapeutic value. Here, we analyzed the relevance of the antioxidant phase II response mediated by the transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) on brain protection against the parkinsonian toxin methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). Intraperitoneal administration of the potent Nrf2 activator sulforaphane (SFN) increased Nrf2 protein levels in the basal ganglia and led to upregulation of phase II antioxidant enzymes heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1). In wild-type mice, but not in Nrf2-knockout mice, SFN protected against MPTP-induced death of nigral dopaminergic neurons. The neuroprotective effects were accompanied by a decrease in astrogliosis, microgliosis, and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These results provide strong pharmacokinetic and biochemical evidence for activation of Nrf2 and phase II genes in the brain and also offer a neuroprotective strategy that may have clinical relevance for PD therapy.This work was supported by a Target Validation Grant of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and grant SAF2010-17822 from the Spanish Ministery of Science and Innovation. N.G.I. is recipient of a fellowship FPU from Universidad Autónoma of Madrid.Peer reviewe

Prolonged oral cannabinoid administration prevents neuroinflammation, lowers β-amyloid levels and improves cognitive performance in Tg APP 2576 mice

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.[Background]: Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain shows an ongoing inflammatory condition and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories diminish the risk of suffering the neurologic disease. Cannabinoids are neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory agents with therapeutic potential. [Methods]: We have studied the effects of prolonged oral administration of transgenic amyloid precursor protein (APP) mice with two pharmacologically different cannabinoids (WIN 55,212-2 and JWH-133, 0.2 mg/kg/day in the drinking water during 4 months) on inflammatory and cognitive parameters, and on 18F-fluoro-deoxyglucose (18FDG) uptake by positron emission tomography (PET). [Results]: Novel object recognition was significantly reduced in 11 month old Tg APP mice and 4 month administration of JWH was able to normalize this cognitive deficit, although WIN was ineffective. Wild type mice cognitive performance was unaltered by cannabinoid administration. Tg APP mice showed decreased 18FDG uptake in hippocampus and cortical regions, which was counteracted by oral JWH treatment. Hippocampal GFAP immunoreactivity and cortical protein expression was unaffected by genotype or treatment. In contrast, the density of Iba1 positive microglia was increased in Tg APP mice, and normalized following JWH chronic treatment. Both cannabinoids were effective at reducing the enhancement of COX-2 protein levels and TNF-α mRNA expression found in the AD model. Increased cortical β-amyloid (Aβ) levels were significantly reduced in the mouse model by both cannabinoids. Noteworthy both cannabinoids enhanced Aβ transport across choroid plexus cells in vitro. [Conclusions]: In summary we have shown that chronically administered cannabinoid showed marked beneficial effects concomitant with inflammation reduction and increased Aβ clearance.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (SAF 2005-02845 to M.L.C). A.M.M-M. was recipient a fellowship from the Ministry of Education and Science.Peer Reviewe

An Italian expert consensus on the use of opioids for the management of chronic non-oncological pain in clinical practice: focus on buprenorphine

Purpose: The aim of the present work was to evaluate the knowledge and prescriptive habits of clinicians involved in the management of chronic non cancer pain (CNCP), with a special focus on the use of opioids. Methods: A Delphi method was used. A Board of specialists elaborated and discussed a series of statements, based on available literature and personal clinical expertise, about particularly controversial topics on pain pathophysiology and treatment. A Panel of experts in the field of pain management, selected by the Board, was invited to vote the proposed statements, indicating the level of agreement on a 5-point Likert scale (1: strongly disagree; 2: disagree; 3: partially agree; 4: agree; 5: strongly agree). The threshold for consensus was set at minimum 66.6% of the number of respondents with a level of agreement ≥4 (Agree or Strongly agree). Results: The Board included 5 pain therapists, 1 pharmacologist and 1 methodology expert and drew up a total of 36 statements (for a total of 40 requested answers)”. A total of 100 clinicians were included in the Expert Panel. Respondents were 89 (89%). Consensus was achieved for 32 out of 40 answers. Most of the lack of consensus was recorded for statements regarding opioids use, and resulted from a low level of agreement (3 on the Likert scale), suggesting a neutral position deriving from a lack of knowledge rather than a strong contrary opinion. Conclusion: Most of the proposed items reached consensus, suggesting a generally homogeneous approach to CNCP management. However, the lack of consensus recorded for several items regarding opioid use confirms the need to fill important gaps in the knowledge of available agents. A clear explanation of the peculiar pharmacological properties of drugs associated with potential clinical advantages (such as buprenorphine) will help optimize pain treatment in both primary care and hospital settings and improving pain control in CNCP patients