African Artist Networks and Artistic Sovreignty

In a quest for artistic sovereignty, there is a growing movement in Africa toward regional artist networks.This article speculates on the impacts of emerging artistic networks on the African continent

Physiologically active factors in the corpora cardiaca of insects

Imperial Users onl

Mental health nurses' encounters with occupational health services

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Occupational Medicine following peer review. Under embargo until 16 June 2019. The version of recordJ. Oates, J. Jones, and N. Drey, ‘Mental health nurses’ encounters with occupational health services’, Occupational Medicine, kqy084, (2018), is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqy084.Background: Staff wellbeing is vital to the functioning of the UK National Health Service (NHS). Mental health nurses with personal experience of mental illness can offer a professionally and personally informed insight into the occupational health service offered by their employer. Aims: To investigate mental health nurses’ views of occupational health provision in the NHS, based on their personal experience. Methods: A qualitative interview study using a purposive sample of mental health nurses with personal experience of mental illness. Results: Twenty-seven mental health nurses met the inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis identified three themes: comparisons of ‘relative expertise’ between the mental health nurse and the occupational health clinician; concerns about ‘being treated’ by a service at their work; and ‘returning to work’. Conclusion: Occupational health provision in mental health settings must take account of the expertise of its staff. Further research, looking at NHS occupational health provision from the provider perspective is warranted.Peer reviewe

Can Memoirs Be Used For Spiritual Development in a Book Group?

Biographies have historically been used by Christians for instruction and encouragement. The current trend in biographical writing is the memoir. Can spiritual memoirs be used as an effective tool for learning more about Scripture, doctrine or the Christian life? Approximately twenty spiritual memoirs were read and evaluated to determine if there was a central theme or series of themes that provided a story-based context for exploring greater biblical truths. This article reviews the genre of spiritual memoirs, discusses their strengths and weaknesses, and suggests a method for preparing them for a book group format

Talking With Patients: How Hospitals Use Bilingual Clinicians and Staff to Care for Patients With Language Needs

Presents survey findings on bilingual clinicians, staff, interpreters, and volunteers providing language services; training and assessment; hospital policies; and their impact. Recommends explicit policies, robust assessments, and proactive approaches

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart

Student perspectives on worship services from Instructor Jennifer Garvin-Sanchez\u27s Religious Studies 108 Human Spirituality course at Virginia Commonwealth University

Ekoji Buddhist Sangha

Student perspectives on worship services from Instructor Jennifer Garvin-Sanchez\u27s Religious Studies 108 Human Spirituality course at Virginia Commonwealth University

Does the Addition of Muramyl Tripeptide to Chemotherapy Improve Overall Survival for Patients with Osteosarcoma?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not “Does the addition of muramyl tripeptide to chemotherapy improve overall survival for patients with osteosarcoma?” STUDY DESIGN: Review of three English language primary randomized controlled trials published between 2005 and 2009. DATA SOURCES: Randomized controlled trials evaluating the addition of muramyl tripeptide (MTP) to chemotherapy for patients with osteosarcoma were found using Medline/PubMed databases. OUTCOMES MEASURED: Event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival were the outcome measures used to determine the effectiveness of the additional chemotherapy treatment in osteosarcoma patients. EFS was defined as the time from entry until an adverse event or last patient contact. Overall survival was defined as the time from entry until death or last patient contact. RESULTS: Three randomized controlled trials were included in this review. A study by Meyers et al could not be analyzed according to its original factorial design due to an interaction between the study interventions. However, a follow up by Meyers et al, reported no evidence of statistically significant interaction between study interventions. The results demonstrated that the addition of MTP to chemotherapy resulted in a trend toward better EFS (p=.08), and improved 6-year overall survival from 70% to 78% (p=.03). Another study, by Chou et al, looked at the metastatic cohort from Intergroup Study 0133 in isolation, and found that the 5-year EFS for patients who received liposomal MTP was 42% versus 26% for those who did not (RR 0.72; p=.23; 95% CI). The 5-year OS for patients who received MTP versus no MTP was 53% and 40% respectively (RR 0.72; p=0.27; 95% CI). CONCLUSION: Based on these three trials, it is inconclusive if the addition of MTP to chemotherapy improves overall survival in patients with osteosarcoma. The addition of MTP to chemotherapy has demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival, as well as a trend toward better EFS, but only in non-metastatic cohorts. The addition of MTP to chemotherapy did not achieve a statistically significant improvement in EFS or overall survival for those with metastatic osteosarcoma. Although the pattern of outcome was similar in all three studies, further research should be aimed at determining a particular chemotherapy plus MTP regimen and a specific patient population for which MTP is most effective