Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationGrounded in poststructural feminist theory and feminist race theories, this qualitative study explores the education trajectories of three Women of Color for insights into their persistence to and in higher education. Specifically, through narrative analysis of the participants' authoring and re-authoring of their student subjectivities, this research investigates the relationship between lived experiences, complex identities, and education decision-making. Data were generated in a university class that employed (post)critical feminist pedagogy to center education experiences of underrepresented students. Data included participants' education histories, journals, and class assignments, participant interviews, and classroom observations. Findings illustrate how attending to students' situated contexts and lived experiences provides better understandings of persistence to and engagement with higher education. The three case studies presented point to the necessity of understanding the role families play in persistence to higher education in more complex ways to build upon the multiple forms of capital and support that families provide in students' trajectories to higher education. A second finding was that histories of participation in earlier schooling, specifically experiences with racism, sexism and classism, created challenges to engaging with education. Findings showcase the agency with which participants drew upon lived in re-authoring themselves to persist with and in higher education

Influence of Cue Exposure on Inhibitory Control and Brain Activation in Patients with Alcohol Dependence

Alcohol dependence is a serious condition characterized by persistent desires to drink and unsuccessful efforts to control alcohol consumption despite the knowledge of dysfunction through the usage. The study at hand examined the influence of an alcohol exposure on inhibitory processes. Research provides evidence that trying to resist the temptation to drink exerts self-control, a limited resource which is used during all acts of inhibition. In line with this, studies demonstrate an impaired ability to regulate an already initiated response in alcohol-dependent and healthy subjects when confronted with alcohol-related stimuli. The related neuronal correlates in alcohol-dependent patients remain to be elucidated. The inhibition performance of 11 male alcohol-dependent patients during an alcohol exposure was compared with the task performance during a control condition. Behavioral data and neural brain activation during task performance were acquired by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging. The alcohol cue exposure led to subjectively stronger urges to drink which was accompanied by differential neural activation in amygdala and hippocampus. Moreover, the results revealed typical neural activation during inhibition performance across both conditions. Anyhow, we could not detect any behavioral deficits and only subtle neural differences between induction conditions during the performance of the inhibition task within the inferior frontal cortex. The results suggest that although the sample reports a subjectively stronger urge to drink after the alcohol cue exposure this effect was not strong enough to significantly impair task performance. Coherently, we discover only subtle differential brain activation between conditions during the inhibition task. In opposition to findings in literature our data do not reveal that an exposure to alcohol-related cues and thereby elicited cue reactivity results in impaired inhibition abilities

The impact of shift work induced chronic circadian disruption on IL-6 and TNF-α immune responses

Aim: Sleep disturbances induce proinflammatory immune responses, which might increase cardiovascular disease risk. So far the effects of acute sleep deprivation and chronic sleep illnesses on the immune system have been investigated. The particular impact of shift work induced chronic circadian disruption on specific immune responses has not been addressed so far. Methods: Pittsburgh-Sleep-Quality-Index (PSQI) questionnaire and blood sampling was performed by 225 shift workers and 137 daytime workers. As possible markers the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-alpha and lymphocyte cell count were investigated. A medical examination was performed and biometrical data including age, gender, height, weight, waist and hip circumference and smoking habits were collected by a structured interview. Results: Shift workers had a significantly higher mean PSQI score than day workers (6.73 vs. 4.66; p < 0.001). Day workers and shift workers had similar serum levels of IL-6 (2.30 vs. 2.67 resp.; p = 0.276), TNF-alpha (5.58 vs. 5.68, resp.; p = 0.841) or lymphocytes count (33.68 vs. 32.99, resp.; p = 0.404). Furthermore there were no differences in cytokine levels (IL-6 p = 0.761; TNF-alpha p = 0.759) or lymphocyte count (p = 0.593) comparing the sleep quality within the cohorts. When this calculation of sleep quality was stratified by shift and day workers irrespective of their sleep quality day workers and shift workers had similar serum levels of IL-6, TNF-alpha or lymphocytes count. Multiple linear regression analysis showed a significant correlation of lymphocytes count and smoking habits. Conclusion: Shift work induces chronic sleep debt. Our data reveals that chronic sleep debt might not always lead to an activation of the immune system, as we did not observe differences in lymphocyte count or level of IL-6 or TNF-alpha serum concentration between shift workers and day workers. Therefore chronic sleep restriction might be eased by a long-term compensating immune regulation which (in healthy) protects against an overstimulation of proinflammatory immune mechanisms and moderates metabolic changes, as they are known from short-term sleep deprivation or sleep related breathing disorders

Ionisation feedback in star formation simulations: The role of diffuse fields

We compare the three-dimensional gas temperature distributions obtained by a dedicated radiative transfer and photoionisation code, MOCASSIN, against those obtained by the recently-developed Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) plus ionisation code iVINE for snapshots of an hydrodynamical simulation of a turbulent interstellar medium (ISM) irradiated by a nearby O star. Our tests demonstrate that the global ionisation properties of the region are correctly reproduced by iVINE, hence validating further application of this code to the study of feedback in star forming regions. However we highlight potentially important discrepancies in the detailed temperature distribution. In particular we show that in the case of highly inhomogenous density distributions the commonly employed on-the-spot (OTS) approximation yields unrealistically sharp shadow regions which can affect the dynamical evolution of the system. We implement a simple strategy to include the effects of the diffuse field in future calculations, which makes use of physically motivated temperature calibrations of the diffuse-field dominated regions and can be readily applied to similar codes. We find that while the global qualitative behaviour of the system is captured by simulations with the OTS approximation, the inclusion of the diffuse field in iVINE (called DiVINE) results in a stronger confinement of the cold gas, leading to denser and less coherent structures. This in turn leads to earlier triggering of star formation. We confirm that turbulence is being driven in simulations that include the diffuse field, but the efficiency is slightly lower than in simulations that use the OTS approximation.Comment: 11 pages, 10 Figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

A Delphi study to determine the European core curriculum for Master programmes in genetic counselling.

Genetic counsellors have been working in some European countries for at least 30 years. Although there are great disparities between the numbers, education, practice and acceptance of these professionals across Europe, it is evident that genetic counsellors and genetic nurses in Europe are working autonomously within teams to deliver patient care. The aim of this study was to use the Delphi research method to develop a core curriculum to guide the educational preparation of these professionals in Europe. The Delphi method enables the researcher to utilise the views and opinions of a group of recognised experts in the field of study; this study consisted of four phases. Phases 1 and 4 consisted of expert workshops, whereas data were collected in phases 2 and 3 (n=35) via online surveys. All participants in the study were considered experts in the field of genetic counselling. The topics considered essential for genetic counsellor training have been organised under the following headings: (1) counselling; (2) psychological issues; (3) medical genetics; (4) human genetics; (5) ethics, law and sociology; (6) professional practice; and (7) education and research. Each topic includes the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to enable genetic counsellors to develop competence. In addition, it was considered by the experts that clinical practice should comprise 50% of the educational programme. The core Master programme curriculum will enable current courses to be assessed and inform the design of future educational programmes for European genetic counsellors

Tribute to Myo Ji Sunim JDPS

Myo Ji Sunim JDPS died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage on November 4, 2011. She practiced, taught and traveled tirelessly in Europe, Asia and North America. In recogni¬ tion of the many lives she touched, we present the following tributes from her students and famil

The international EAACI/GA(2)LEN/EuroGuiDerm/APAAACI guideline for the definition, classification, diagnosis, and management of urticaria

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 GA²LEN. Allergy published by European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.This update and revision of the international guideline for urticaria was developed following the methods recommended by Cochrane and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group. It is a joint initiative of the Dermatology Section of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA(2)LEN) and its Urticaria and Angioedema Centers of Reference and Excellence (UCAREs and ACAREs), the European Dermatology Forum (EDF; EuroGuiDerm), and the Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology with the participation of 64 delegates of 50 national and international societies and from 31 countries. The consensus conference was held on 3 December 2020. This guideline was acknowledged and accepted by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). Urticaria is a frequent, mast cell-driven disease that presents with wheals, angioedema, or both. The lifetime prevalence for acute urticaria is approximately 20%. Chronic spontaneous or inducible urticaria is disabling, impairs quality of life, and affects performance at work and school. This updated version of the international guideline for urticaria covers the definition and classification of urticaria and outlines expert-guided and evidence-based diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the different subtypes of urticaria.Peer reviewe

The international EAACI/GA²LEN/EuroGuiDerm/APAAACI guideline for the definition, classification, diagnosis, and management of urticaria

This update and revision of the international guideline for urticaria was developed following the methods recommended by Cochrane and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group. It is a joint initiative of the Dermatology Section of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA(2)LEN) and its Urticaria and Angioedema Centers of Reference and Excellence (UCAREs and ACAREs), the European Dermatology Forum (EDF; EuroGuiDerm), and the Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology with the participation of 64 delegates of 50 national and international societies and from 31 countries. The consensus conference was held on 3 December 2020. This guideline was acknowledged and accepted by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). Urticaria is a frequent, mast cell-driven disease that presents with wheals, angioedema, or both. The lifetime prevalence for acute urticaria is approximately 20%. Chronic spontaneous or inducible urticaria is disabling, impairs quality of life, and affects performance at work and school. This updated version of the international guideline for urticaria covers the definition and classification of urticaria and outlines expert-guided and evidence-based diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the different subtypes of urticaria