The Black Bull: Exploring Celtic Mythology And Romance Fiction Tropes Through A Historical Fantasy Novella

The Black Bull is a historical fantasy novella set in late eighteenth-century Ireland. It explores traditional Irish folklore and a common romance fiction trope through a feminist lens. Claire Featherfew, a sensible young woman not quite young enough to be unmarried, works as a book-binder for the taciturn Mr. Collins for the better part of a year before he proposes to her. She accepts and continues restoring his large collection of fairy-tales and books of folklore. Mr. Collins is secretive about the great black bull that has long been regarded as the pride of Collins Manor. Claire’s curiosity gets the better of her, and she uncovers a secret about Mr. Collins and the bull. She makes a difficult choice, and finds herself contending with wild, perilous creatures she thought only existed in the pages of her fiancé’s books. The Black Bull addresses a common trope in both classic and contemporary fiction: the aloof but handsome bachelor whose prickly (and frequently abusive) behavior the heroine endures before redeeming him with her love. Most of the time, these stories also have a significant power imbalance between the brooding male love interest and the heroine. From Hades and Persephone and Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester to modern Byronic heroes like Uprooted’s Sarkan (not to mention the endless adaptations of Beauty and the Beast), it is clear that this trope continues to fascinate and entertain readers. The Black Bull simultaneously embraces and subverts this trope

Everyday life in a UK retirement village: a mixed-methods study

This study focuses on the experiences of older people living in a UK purpose-built retirement community – Denham Garden Village (DGV). The aim was to understand more about everyday life in this particular environmental context including how the environment and organisation of the village related to residents’ everyday experiences. Using a mixed methods approach, the study draws on quantitative survey data from the Longitudinal study of Ageing in a Retirement Community (LARC) and combines this with 20 in-depth qualitative interviews with residents living in DGV. Data analysis combined descriptive statistics for the quantitative data with qualitative themes. The dimensions of work-leisure, solitary-social, and community integration were used as a framework to explore how aspects of the environment and individual circumstances, attitudes and beliefs shape patterns of everyday life. The study found that decisions to move were frequently preceded by changes in personal situations. The social and spatial separation of DGV from the wider community maintained the village as an almost exclusively age-segregated environment. Opportunities for social contact were widespread, but levels of loneliness were no lower than in the general population. The diversity in residents’ situations, resources and experiences contrasted with shared community stories of the village as a community of ‘choice’. In addition, norms and expectations about levels of activity and engagement served, in some cases, to prompt feelings of obligation and guilt among residents. Findings suggest a need for more emphasis on the individuality of residents’ experiences of everyday life – both in terms of representing such diversity in publicity and marketing materials, and in working towards an ethos of respect, tolerance and acceptance within communities like DGV. It is suggested that future research could focus on ways to reduce the age-segregated nature of existing developments like DGV, enabling them to function as integrated parts of the wider community

Return to driving in the first 6 months of community integration after acquired brain injury

BACKGROUND: Return to driving is a goal and milestone in the recovery process following acquired brain injury (ABI). Knowledge of whether and when a person is likely to return to driving is important to people with ABI, family members and clinicians

Connecting at Local Level: Exploring Opportunities for Future Design of Technology to Support Social Connections in Age-friendly Communities

Social connectedness in later life is an important dimension of an age-friendly community, with associated implications for individual health and wellbeing. In contrast with prior efforts focusing on connections at a distance or online communities where the digital technology is the interface, we explore the design opportunities and role of technology for connectedness within a geographically local community context. We present findings from interviews with 22 older adults and a linked ideation workshop. Our analysis identified shared concerns and negative perceptions around local relationships, connections and characteristics of the geographical area. However, local connectedness through technology was largely absent from day-to-day life and even perceived as contributing to disconnection. By uncovering how older adults use and perceive technology in their social lives and combining these findings with their ideas for improving local connections, we highlight the need for thoughtful consideration of the role of technology in optimising social connections within communities. Our research highlights a need for design work to understand the specifics of the local context and reduce emphasis on technology as the interface between people. We introduce an amended definition—‘underpinned by a commitment to respect and social inclusion, an age-friendly community is engaged in a strategic and ongoing process to facilitate active ageing by optimising the community’s physical, social and digital environments and its supporting infrastructure’—to conceptualise our approach. We conclude by suggesting areas for future work in developing digitally connected age-friendly communities

Natural Supergravity inflation

We identify a new mechanism in supergravity theories which leads to successful inflation without any need for fine tuning. The simplest model yields a spectrum of density fluctuations tilted away from scale-invariance and negligible gravitational waves. We demonstrate that this is consistent with the observed large-scale structure for a cold dark matter dominated, critical density universe. The model can be tested through measurements of microwave background anisotropy on small angular scales.Comment: 14 pages (revtex) including 3 figures (epsf); Minor changes to Introduction and discussion and modified Figure 1; to appear in Phys. Lett. B; Postscript also available from ftp://ftp.physics.ox.ac.uk/pub/local/users/sarkar/SugraInfl.ps.g

Effectiveness of Group Work Contracts to Facilitate Collaborative Group Learning and Reduce Anxiety in Traditional Face-to-Face Lecture and Online Distance Education Course Formats

Group work (GW) in undergraduate education facilitates the development of communication and collaborative skills. However, dysfunctional and inequitable group dynamics can have adverse effects, leading to increased anxiety. This research sought to determine the effectiveness of a Group Work Contract to facilitate the GW process in the face-to-face (n=168) and online (n=105) formats of a third year nutritional science course. Changes in students’ attitudes and approaches to GW were assessed before (semester week 4) and after (semester week 12) completion of the contract and assignment via online surveys. The results in both course formats were similar, wherein the Group Work Contract reduced student anxiety and improved group dynamics and communication between group members, resulting in an improved learning experience overall . Further, the preferred methods of GW online communication utilized social networking platforms. This data demonstrates the benefits of formally structuring the GW process to optimize the student learning experience

Occupational safety and health in the wind energy sector - European Risk Observatory

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Measuring older people’s socioeconomic position: a scoping review of studies of self-rated health, health service and social care use

Background The challenges of measuring socioeconomic position in older populations were first set out two decades ago. However, the question of how best to measure older people’s socioeconomic position remains pertinent as populations age and health inequalities widen. Methods A scoping review aimed to identify and appraise measures of socioeconomic position used in studies of health inequalities in older populations in high-income countries. Medline, Scopus, EMBASE, HMIC and references lists of systematic reviews were searched for observational studies of socioeconomic health inequalities in adults aged 60 years and over, published between 2000 and 2020. A narrative synthesis was conducted. Findings One-hundred and thirty-eight studies were included; 20 approaches to measuring socioeconomic position were identified. Few studies considered which pathways the chosen measures of socioeconomic position intended to capture. The validity of subjective socioeconomic position measures, and measures that assume shared income and educational capital, should be verified in older populations. Incomplete financial data risk under-representation of some older groups when missing data are socially patterned. Older study samples were largely homogeneous on measures of housing tenure, and to a lesser extent, measures of educational attainment. Measures that use only two response categories risk missing subtle differences in older people’s socioeconomic circumstances. Conclusion Poor choice of measures of socioeconomic position risk underestimating the size of health inequalities in older populations. Choice of measures should be shaped by considerations of theory, context and response categories that detect subtle, yet important, inequalities. Further evidence is required to ascertain the validity of some measures identified in this review

Implementation of the National Early Warning Score in UK care homes:a qualitative evaluation

BACKGROUND: The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) is a tool for identifying and responding to acute illness. When used in care homes, staff measure residents' vital signs and record them on a tablet computer, which calculates a NEWS to share with health services. This article outlines an evaluation of NEWS implementation in care homes across one clinical commissioning group area in northern England. AIM: To identify challenges to implementation of NEWS in care homes. DESIGN AND SETTING: Qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with 15 staff members from six care homes, five health professionals, and one clinical commissioning group employee. METHOD: Interviews were intended to capture people's attitudes and experiences of using the intervention. Following an inductive thematic analysis, data were considered deductively against normalisation process theory constructs to identify the challenges and successes of implementing NEWS in care homes. RESULTS: Care home staff and other stakeholders acknowledged that NEWS could enhance the response to acute illness, improve communication with the NHS, and increase the confidence of care home staff. However, the implementation did not account for the complexity of either the intervention or the care home setting. Challenges to engagement included competing priorities, insufficient training, and shortcomings in communication. CONCLUSION: This evaluation highlights the need to involve care home staff and the primary care services that support them when developing and implementing interventions in care homes. The appropriateness and value of NEWS in non-acute settings requires ongoing monitoring