Catharine Maria Sedgwick\u27s Hope Leslie : Clues to a Woman\u27s Journey.

Prevalent in both archetypal and religious literature, the journey motif weaves its way through tales of human growth-stories which grapple with the processes of how people come to be and to know. Such images of identity formation and knowledge construction hold significant implications for the field of education. Indeed, Huebner (1993) notes that we do not need learning theory or developmental theory to explain human change...The question educators need to ask is not how people learn and develop, but what gets in the way of the great journey---the journey of the self or soul (p. 405). While Huebner\u27s suggested paradigm shift is promising, it is limited by current conceptions of the journey metaphor. For example, narratives which promote separation and rugged individualism dominate American Literature classrooms, and although the canon contains numerous quest stories, these tales tend to be limited to individualistic journeys which center only on men\u27s experiences. Therefore, rather than promote a unitary quest which exclusively emphasizes separation, individuation, and mate heroes, it is important to investigate and to construct new possibilities that consider the life experiences of women and marginalized peoples. The focus of this study is the life journey of the once well-known nineteenth century American novelist Catharine Maria Sedgwick (1789--1867). Using her most popular novel Hope Leslie (1827) as a primary source, I will gather clues regarding how a woman I have come to know as a scholar-artist-teacher negotiated her life journey. In particular, I will discuss how Sedgwick\u27s historical novel became a site from which she could safely experiment with cultural change. Sedgwick searched early national histories and disrupted cultural myths in order to construct spaces for herself, other women, and indigenous peoples within their nation\u27s story. In contrast to conventional, linear journeys that stress extreme individualism, Sedgwick\u27s non-linear quest emphasized the importance of community and an awareness of interconnection. Themes or clues that emerge from her subversive journey, involve an acceptance of contradictions, a reshaping of false binaries, the redemption of racial stereotypes, and the creative use of love and the imagination

Review of offshore cable reliability metrics

Reliable cable systems are essential for offshore wind operation. Industry trends have led to a large number of offshore cable connections being installed recently, with 11027 MW of offshore wind connected at the end of 2015 compared to just 2955 MW in 2010 [1]. Despite the increase in connections, the publically available reliability data in this area is almost non-existent. With several connections in planning of both similar and increasing lengths it is essential to better understand these metrics. A review of published reliability data was undertaken in order to populate a database which is presented in this paper. This data focusses on a number of connection types including both AC and DC connections across a number of cable ratings and configurations. From this database it is confirmed that reliability figures currently being used across the literature generally conform to those currently being experienced in the offshore wind industry. However it is established that failure rates taken from some reports are not accurate as the technology and environments these are calculated from are typically different from those used in offshore wind farm connections. This information is collated and converted into reliability metrics in order for comparisons to be made. Analysis of the cost of an outage experienced by a windfarm is also carried out in this paper. The results of which establish that the revenue lost from a cable failure could potentially be substantial. The findings in this paper would also suggest a greater risk of failure in the early life of a windfarm and as such a greater potential cost associated with this risk. It is important to have a better understanding of offshore renewable energy cable connections as the reliability of a cable has a significant impact on the Levelised Cost of Energy. With a greater understanding of the metrics investors can make more informed decisions with respect to the technology that is installed as well as the importance of the installation process itself, due diligence on subsequent OFTO asset purchases and the maintenance plans that have been outlined for the connection

Response to Scottish Government's 'Draft Offshore Wind Policy Statement: Consultation'

This is a combined response to the Scottish Government's consultation on its Draft Offshore Wind Policy Statement

The inter-relationship of diversity principles for the enhanced participation of older people in their care : a qualitative study

Background: The health and aged care workforce must understand and support the diverse needs of older people to enhance their care experience. We previously identified five principles of diversity training for this workforce: awareness of unconscious bias and prejudice; promotion of inclusion; access and equity; appropriate engagement; and intersectionality. This study aims to explore how these principles are considered from the perspectives of older Australians. Methods: Older people (≥65 years) receiving home care and nursing services based in Victoria, Australia were invited to participate in a home-based semi-structured interview about their experience of, or with, diversity. Interviews were thematically analysed using a priori categories based on our previous work on principles of diversity training, and themes were interpreted and expanded upon based on the participants' experiences and understanding of diversity concepts and their care needs. Results: Fifteen older people (seven female, eight male), mean age 76 years (range 71-85 years), were interviewed. Five themes were drawn from the data. It was found that human connection through building (1) trust and rapport was highly valued as an approach by older people, crucial as a first step to understanding what is important to the older person. Identifying with (2) intersectionality, that is, the different intersecting aspects of who they are and their experiences was understood by the participants as an important framework to meet their needs. The participants were aware of (3) unconscious bias and prejudice by health professionals and its impact on their care. Participants also noted that (4) promotion of inclusion through language was important to for a positive relationship with the healthcare worker. The participants understood that to facilitate human connection, these four principles of human interaction were critical, underpinned by (5) access and equity of the system. A model articulating these relationships was developed. Conclusion: Health and aged care training should incorporate the five diversity principles to support older people to participate in their own care. © 2020 The Author(s)

Failure rates of offshore wind transmission systems

In the offshore wind industry, failures are often costlier than those experienced onshore. Through examination of the literature, it is clear that failures occurring in offshore transmission systems are not well documented. As a result of this, many developers and other parties involved in the planning processes associated with offshore wind farms will defer back to existing reliability metrics in the public domain. This article presents a review of European offshore wind farm transmission failures based on fusing information from multiple public domain sources. The results highlight both the spread of the reliability performance of these assets and the reliability performance over time. The results also reinforce the industry view that installation practices could lead to low reliability in the initial years of operation, resulting in increased repair costs and decreased revenue for wind farm owners and operators. The information collated in the review is also compared to metrics from across the literature to evaluate the difference in forecasted failure rates to those experienced within the industry. In general, it is found that the experienced failure rates are subject to a much higher spread in practice than those published until now

‘It’s just taking our souls back’: discourses of apartheid and race

Although apartheid officially ended in 1994, the issue of race as a primary identity marker has continued to permeate many aspects of private and public life in post-apartheid South Africa. This paper seeks to understand how youth at two South African tertiary institutions position themselves in relation to race and the apartheid past. Our data include four focus group interviews from two universities, one which can be described as historically ‘black’ and the other as historically ‘white’. Given the complex nature of the data, we elected to use a combination of corpus linguistics and discourse analysis as our methodological approach. We explore how words such as black, white, coloured, they, we, us and them feature in the interviews. Our analysis shows that the positioning by the interviewees reflects a complexity and ambivalence that is at times contradictory although several broader discourse patterns can be distilled. In particular, we argue, that all groups employ a range of discursive strategies so as to resist being positioned in the historical positions of ‘victim’ and ‘perpetrator’. Our paper reflects on these findings as well as what they offer us as we attempt to chart new discourses of the future.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Development of a predictive Monte Carlo radiative transfer model for ablative fractional skin lasers

L.M. would like to acknowledge the funding from EPSRC grant code: EP/K503162/1. P.O'M. is funded by Medi‐Lase (registered charity SC 037390) and the Alfred Stewart Trust'.It is possible to enhance topical drug delivery by pretreatment of the skin with ablative fractional lasers (AFLs). However, the parameters to use for a given AFL to achieve the desired depth of ablation or the desired therapeutic or cosmetic outcome are hard to predict. This leaves open the real possibility of overapplication or underapplication of laser energy to the skin. In this study, we developed a numerical model consisting of a Monte Carlo radiative transfer (MCRT) code coupled to a heat transfer and tissue damage algorithm. The simulation is designed to predict the depth effects of AFL on the skin, verified with in vitro experiments in porcine skin via optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. Ex vivo porcine skin is irradiated with increasing energies (50–400 mJ/pixel) from a CO2 AFL. The depth of microscopic treatment zones is measured and compared with our numerical model. The data from the OCT images and MCRT model complement each other well. Nonablative thermal effects on surrounding tissue are also discussed. This model, therefore, provides an initial step toward a predictive determination of the effects of AFL on the skin.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Characteristics of strong midwifery leaders and enablers of strong midwifery leadership:An international appreciative inquiry

Objectives: This research aimed to identify the characteristics of strong midwifery leaders and explore how strong midwifery leadership may be enabled from the perspective of midwives and nurse-midwives globally. Design: In this appreciative inquiry, we collected qualitative and demographic data using a cross-sectional online survey between February and July 2022.Setting: Responses were received from many countries (n = 76), predominantly the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, the United States of America (USA), Canada, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Rwanda, India, and Kenya. Participants: An international population (n = 429) of English-speaking, and ethnically diverse midwives (n = 211) and nurse-midwives (n = 218).Measurements: Reflexive thematic analysis was used to make sense of the qualitative data collected. Identified characteristics of strong midwifery leadership were subsequently deductively mapped to established leadership styles and leadership theories. Demographic data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings: Participants identified strong midwifery leaders as being mediators, dedicated to the profession, evidence-based practitioners, effective decision makers, role models, advocates, visionaries, resilient, empathetic, and compassionate. These characteristics mapped to compassionate, transformational, servant, authentic, and situational leadership styles. To enable strong midwifery leadership, participants identified a need for investment in midwives’ clear professional identity, increased societal value placed upon the midwifery profession, ongoing research, professional development in leadership, interprofessional collaborations, succession planning and increased self-efficacy. Key conclusions and implications for practice: This study contributes to understandings of trait, behavioural, situational, transformational and servant leadership theory in the context of midwifery. Investing in the development of strong midwifery leadership is essential as it has the potential to elevate the profession and improve perinatal outcomes worldwide. Findings may inform the development of both existing and new leadership models, frameworks, and validated measurement tools