A Community-Focused Health & Work Service (HWS)

We recommend establishment of a community-focused Health & Work Service (HWS) dedicated to responding rapidly to new health-related work absence among working people due to potentially disabling conditions. The first few days and weeks after onset are an especially critical period during which the likelihood of a good long-term outcome is being influenced, either favorably or unfavorably, by some simple things that either do or do not happen during that interval. It is the optimal window of opportunity to improve outcomes by simultaneously attending to the worker’s basic needs and concerns as well as coordinating the medical, functional restoration, and occupational aspects of the situation in a coordinated fashion

Evangelicals and the Environment: Sticking Points, and Ways Forward

This session will discuss the major social scientific understandings of the relationship between American Evangelicals and environmental issues. While a recent body of literature notes a growing acceptance of environmentalism by Evangelicalism, typically couched in the language of “Creation Care” and environmental stewardship, Evangelicals as a group have maintained a staunch oppositional attitude towards most pro-environmental issues for the past thirty years. We will consider some of the primary reasons for this, including the calcification of the Evangelical-Republican political coalition, the Evangelical suspicion of scientists, and the effect of popular end-times theology that predicts an imminent Second Coming. We will also discuss how it may be possible to move past these obstacles and the role that institutions like SPU might play in making this happen

Reflections On The Detective Novel As A Moral Fable Of Contemporary Kenya

The detective novel has for a long time been seen as a popular genre, often supposedly read for entertainment as opposed to its concern with ‘serious’ issues about society. This paper reads two detective novels by Richard Crompton to examine what they seem to be suggesting about social reality in 21st century Kenya. Crompton’s The Honey Guide (2013) and Hell’s Gate (2014) appear to suggest that the Kenyan national body is ailing because of social turpitude. We argue that these two detective novels are profound commentaries, moral fables and critiques of given socio-economic, political and cultural realities in the 21st century Kenya; and that the corruption of the Kenyan body is partly a consequence of both local and international forces such as the circulation of what could be called ‘crimescapes.’ &nbsp

Empirical treatment of bacterial keratitis: an international survey of corneal specialists.

Background/aimsNew antibiotic agents and changing susceptibility patterns may have changed the empirical treatment of bacterial keratitis. Our objective in this study was to survey cornea specialists' practice patterns in the initial treatment of bacterial ulcers.MethodsThis study consisted of a short online survey emailed to members of the Cornea Society listserv for an international sample of cornea specialists. Data collection began July 2014 and ended October 2014.ResultsA total of 1009 surveys were emailed, and we received 140 (14%) responses. The majority of US clinicians surveyed (n=83, 80%) chose fortified antibiotics empirically, with 55% (n=57) selecting fortified vancomycin and 16% (n=17) using fluoroquinolone alone. International respondents were twice as likely to use fluoroquinolone monotherapy (31%, n=11, p=0.07) and less likely to use fortified vancomycin (33%, n=12, p=0.03). Forty-five per cent (n=46) of US respondents reported that their initial antibiotic choice covered methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, compared with 22% (n=8) of international respondents (p<0.01). Overall, respondents who were concerned about availability of antibiotics and toxicity were 20.86 (p<0.001) and 7.48 (p<0.001) times more likely to choose fluoroquinolone monotherapy, respectively. If respondents' primary considerations were broad spectrum coverage or antibiotic resistance they had 7.10 (p<0.001) and 12.51 (p<0.001) times the odds of using fortified vancomycin, respectively.ConclusionPractice patterns for the initial treatment of bacterial keratitis vary with clinicians in the USA being more likely to use fortified antibiotics versus fluoroquinolone monotherapy and more concerned with resistant organisms than their international peers

Using the Authentic Intellectual (AIW) Framework to Connect First Year Students with the Local Blues Society

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how I used the Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) pedagogical framework in conjunction with Project-Based Learning (PBL) to develop a campus-community partnership while enhancing and promoting the goals of the local blues society. In order to achieve the goals of the AIW framework, I created a major class project which charged the students with writing and editing a book telling stories of members of the local blues society to be available on Amazon.com. The results, or outcomes, of this project were categorized relative to two areas: academic (classroom) and civic (The Blues Society). The narratives and stories in the final version of the book varied significantly, but each, in their own way, contributed to a process where my students were able to think about civic engagement and community partnerships in an advanced and engaging way

Disney during COVID-19: The tourist and the actor’s nightmare

In this essay, we argue that the experience of being at Disney theme parks in COVID times was a waking version of what is sometimes called “The Actor’s Nightmare.” Due to safety regulations, theme parks either dropped live entertainment that structures the day as a show with a clear beginning and end (e.g. park-opening rope drop performances, and the fireworks), attempted to include references to COVID in live entertainment (like in the Frozen Ever After singalong, which added some COVID jokes), or to ignore it (like the Festival of the Lion King). In any case, due to these measures the narrative story of a theme park visit crumbles and the often-cited difference between a “theme park” and an “amusement park” disintegrates: the dissolution of structure provokes anxiety and unease in guests, especially those with previous park experience; the silencing of audiences that had previously been scripted to participate similarly creates a form of narrative anxiety, as both park and tourist no longer knew what story they were telling, or how best to tell it. Disney’s dramaturgical choices in COVID times reveal the extent to which the narrative structure of a theme park visit, the participation of the theme park visitors, and the distinction between “theme park” and “amusement park” rely on live entertainment

The impact of facial abnormalities and their spatial position on perception of cuteness and attractiveness of infant faces

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Research has demonstrated that how “cute” an infant is perceived to be has consequences for caregiving. Infants with facial abnormalities receive lower ratings of cuteness, but relatively little is known about how different abnormalities and their location affect these aesthetic judgements. The objective of the current study was to compare the impact of different abnormalities on the perception of infant faces, while controlling for infant identity. In two experiments, adult participants gave ratings of cuteness and attractiveness in response to face images that had been edited to introduce common facial abnormalities. Stimulus faces displayed either a haemangioma (a small, benign birth mark), strabismus (an abnormal alignment of the eyes) or a cleft lip (an abnormal opening in the upper lip). In Experiment 1, haemangioma had less of a detrimental effect on ratings than the more severe abnormalities. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the position of a haemangioma on the face. We found small but robust effects of this position, with abnormalities in the top and on the left of the face receiving lower cuteness ratings. This is consistent with previous research showing that people attend more to the top of the face (particularly the eyes) and to the left hemifield