Elizabeth I and the 1559 Act of Uniformity: A Study of the Impact of Gender Roles and Religious Conflict

This study, which is entitled, “Elizabeth I and the 1559 Act of Uniformity: A Study of the Impact of Gender Roles and Religious Conflict” analyzes the impact of 16th century gender roles and religious conflict to explain the decision of Elizabeth I, Queen of England from 1558 – 1603, to champion the passage of the Act of Uniformity through Parliament in 1559. Through the analysis of primary sources, specifically Elizabeth’s letters from her childhood through the Act’s passing in 1559, an understanding of these influences on Elizabeth is developed which illuminates important turning points in her life and the subsequent development of her personal desire to mitigate religious conflict in England and to bring unity to her people. The analysis was conducted through the use of historical analysis of primary sources in combination with the use of Narrative Thematic Analysis in order to discover themes within the sources. The themes which emerged then offered insight into Elizabeth’s personal development and her decisions regarding the Act of Uniformity. The focus of this dissertation is guided by the context of 16th century gender roles and the 16th century Protestant Reformation which ultimately laid the foundation for Elizabeth’s birth and directly influenced her education as well as religious and personal development. The impact of gender roles and the expectations placed upon Elizabeth is intertwined with the subsequent religious conflict Elizabeth witnessed in England from her birth. The results focus on illustrating areas of conflict in the 16th century and how each area of conflict is relevant to comprehend if there is to be success in altering the path of both gender conflict and religious conflict in the modern era

Reasons for female neonaticide in India

Invited commentary on ‘Neonaticide in India and the stigma of female gender: report of two cases’, Mishra et al

RAFCON: a Graphical Tool for Task Programming and Mission Control

There are many application fields for robotic systems including service robotics, search and rescue missions, industry and space robotics. As the scenarios in these areas grow more and more complex, there is a high demand for powerful tools to efficiently program heterogeneous robotic systems. Therefore, we created RAFCON, a graphical tool to develop robotic tasks and to be used for mission control by remotely monitoring the execution of the tasks. To define the tasks, we use state machines which support hierarchies and concurrency. Together with a library concept, even complex scenarios can be handled gracefully. RAFCON supports sophisticated debugging functionality and tightly integrates error handling and recovery mechanisms. A GUI with a powerful state machine editor makes intuitive, visual programming and fast prototyping possible. We demonstrated the capabilities of our tool in the SpaceBotCamp national robotic competition, in which our mobile robot solved all exploration and assembly challenges fully autonomously. It is therefore also a promising tool for various RoboCup leagues.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Guidelines for the performance of fusion procedures for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine. Part 2: assessment of functional outcome

Journal ArticleStandards. It is recommended that functional outcome be measured in patients treated for low-back pain due to degenerative disease of the lumbar spine by using reliable, valid, and responsive scales. Examples of these scales in the low-back pain population include the following: The Spinal Stenosis Survey of Stucki, Waddell-Main Questionnaire, RMDQ, DPQ, QPDS, SIP, Million Scale, LBPR Scale, ODI, the Short Form-12, the JOA system, the CBSQ, and the North American Spine Society Lumbar Spine Outcome Assessment Instrument. Guidelines. There is insufficient evidence to recommend a guideline for assessment of functional outcome following fusion for lumbar degenerative disease. Options. Patient satisfaction scales are recommended for use as outcome measures in retrospective case series, where better alternatives are not available. Patient satisfaction scales are not reliable for the assessment of outcome following intervention for low-back pain

Guidelines for the performance of fusion procedures for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine. Part 1: introduction and methodology

Journal ArticleAs scientific understanding of the pathophysiology of degenerative disease of the lumbar spine has increased, the possibilities for correcting the underlying problem and the resulting improvement in clinical function have expanded exponentially. Fueled by advances in material technology and surgical technique, treatment of greater numbers of individuals suffering from lumbar spinal disease has proliferated. Using data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey, Deyo and colleagues4 described a 200% increase in the frequency of lumbar fusion procedures in the 1980s. Davis3 observed that the age-adjusted rate of hospitalization for lumbar surgery and lumbar fusion increased greater than 33% and greater than 60%, respectively, from 1979 to 1990. Lumbar fusion has been described as a treatment of symptomatic degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and degenerative scoliosis. Lumbar fusion has been performed to treat acute and chronic lowback pain, radiculopathy, and spinal instability

Guideline update for the performance of fusion procedures for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine. Part 10: Lumbar fusion for stenosis without spondylolisthesis

pre-printLumbar stenosis is one of the more common radiographic manifestations of the aging process, leading to narrowing of the spinal canal and foramen. When stenosis is clinically relevant, patients often describe activity-related low-back or lower-extremity pain, known as neurogenic claudication. For those patients who do not improve with conservative care, surgery is considered an appropriate treatment alternative. The primary objective of surgery is to reconstitute the spinal canal. The role of fusion, in the absence of a degenerative deformity, is uncertain. The previous guideline recommended against the inclusion of lumbar fusion in the absence of spinal instability or a likelihood of iatrogenic instability. Since the publication of the original guidelines, numerous studies have demonstrated the role of surgical decompression in this patient population; however, few have investigated the utility of fusion in patients without underlying instability. The majority of studies contain a heterogeneous cohort of subjects, often combining patients with and without spondylolisthesis who received various surgical interventions, limiting fusions to those patients with instability. It is difficult if not impossible, therefore, to formulate valid conclusions regarding the utility of fusion for patients with uncomplicated stenosis. Lower-level evidence exists, however, that does not demonstrate an added benefit of fusion for these patients; therefore, in the absence of deformity or instability, the inclusion of a fusion is not recommended

Guidelines for the performance of fusion procedures for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine. Part 4: radiographic assessment of fusion

Journal ArticleStandards. Static lumbar radiographs are not recommended as a stand-alone means to assess fusion status following lumbar arthrodesis surgery. Guidelines. 1) Lateral flexion and extension radiography is recommended as an adjunct to determine the presence of lumbar fusion postoperatively. The lack of motion between vertebrae, in the absence of rigid instrumentation, is highly suggestive of successful fusion. 2) Technetium-99 bone scanning is not recommended as a means to assess lumbar fusion. Options. Several radiographic techniques, including static radiography, lateral flexion-extension radiography, and/ or CT scanning, often in combination, are recommended as assessment modality options for the noninvasive evaluation of symptomatic patients in whom failed lumbar fusion is suspected

Guidelines for the performance of fusion procedures for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine. Part 3: assessment of economic outcome

Journal ArticleStandards. There is insufficient evidence to recommend a standard for assessment of economic outcome following lumbar fusion for degenerative disease. Guidelines. There is insufficient evidence to recommend a guideline for assessment of economic outcome following lumbar fusion for degenerative disease. Options. It is recommended that valid and responsive economic outcome measures be included in the assessment of outcomes following lumbar fusion surgery for degenerative disease. Return-to-work rates and termination of disability compensation are two such measures. It is recommended that cost analyses related to lumbar spinal fusion include perioperative expenses as well as expenses associated with long-term care, including those incurred in both the operative and nonoperative settings

Guideline update for the performance of fusion procedures for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine. Part 9: Lumbar fusion for stenosis with spondylolisthesis

pre-printPatients presenting with stenosis associated with a spondylolisthesis will often describe signs and symptoms consistent with neurogenic claudication, radiculopathy, and/or low-back pain. The primary objective of surgery, when deemed appropriate, is to decompress the neural elements. As a result of the decompression, the inherent instability associated with the spondylolisthesis may progress and lead to further misalignment that results in pain or recurrence of neurological complaints. Under these circumstances, lumbar fusion is considered appropriate to stabilize the spine and prevent delayed deterioration. Since publication of the original guidelines there have been a significant number of studies published that continue to support the utility of lumbar fusion for patients presenting with stenosis and spondylolisthesis. Several recently published trials, including the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial, are among the largest prospective randomized investigations of this issue. Despite limitations of study design or execution, these trials have consistently demonstrated superior outcomes when patients undergo surgery, with the majority undergoing some type of lumbar fusion procedure. There is insufficient evidence, however, to recommend a standard approach to achieve a solid arthrodesis. When formulating the most appropriate surgical strategy, it is recommended that an individualized approach be adopted, one that takes into consideration the patient's unique anatomical constraints and desires, as well as surgeon's experience

Guidelines for the performance of fusion procedures for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine. Part 5: correlation between radiographic and functional outcome

Journal ArticleStandards. There is insufficient evidence to recommend a treatment standard. Guidelines. There is insufficient evidence to recommend a treatment guideline. Options. It is recommended that when performing lumbar arthrodesis for degenerative lumbar disease, strategies to achieve successful radiographic fusion should be considered. There appears to be a correlation between successful fusion and improved clinical outcomes; however, it should be noted that the correlation between fusion status and clinical outcome is not strong, and in a given patient fusion status may be unrelated to clinical outcome. between fusion status and clinical outcome after lumbar arthrodesis procedures performed in the treatment of lumbar spinal degenerative disease