Carving Out a Past: The Canadian Nurses' Association War Memorial

Nurses are the one exception to the lack of female figures corresponding to the ‘‘ordinary man’’ in monuments of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Canadian Nurses’ Association War Memorial, unveiled in 1926 in honour of the 49 Canadian nurses killed in World War I, was conceived by the artist as a tribute to generic feminine caregiving. A second more complex story is told in the symbolism of the monument, which reveals that nurses’ unique position lay not only in their distinctive uniform, their control over male bodies, their racial and ethnic privilege, and their contribution to the colonial, imperial, and national accomplishments of Canada, but also in the inclusion of nursing in masculine historical narratives.Les infirmières sont la seule exception à l’absence de figures féminines correspondant à l’« homme ordinaire » sur les monuments du XIXe et du début du XXe siècles. Le monument aux morts de l’Association des infirmières et infirmiers du Canada, dévoilé en 1926 en l’honneur des 49 infirmières tuées durant la Première Guerre mondiale, fut conçu par l’artiste en hommage au secours type des femmes. Une deuxième histoire, plus complexe, se dégage du symbolisme de ce monument, à savoir que la position unique des infirmières tenait non seulement à leur uniforme caractéristique, à leur contrôle sur le corps des hommes, à leur privilège racial et ethnique et à leur contribution aux faits d’armes coloniaux, impériaux et nationaux du Canada, mais également à l’inclusion de la profession d’infirmière dans les récits historiques masculins

Was the "Frontier" Good for Women?: Historical Approaches to Women and Agricultural Settlement in the Prairie West, 1870-1925

How do we interpret the experiences of women in the agricultural settlement of the prairie west, 1870-1925? Historians traditionally have focused either on the region's "frontier equality" or, conversely, on its distinctive gender inequities. This article reviews those two interpretive frameworks, then considers how new research on women's involvement in the market economy and in the colonization process provides a new lens through which to evaluate gender relations in the region.Comment interpretons-nous les experiences des femmes durant le developpement agricole de l'ouest des prairies, de 1870 a 1925? Les historiens tradilionnellement se sont concentres soit sur "l'egalite de la frontiere"de la region, ou inversement, sur ses iniquites distinctives entre les sexe

SMS text pre-notification and delivery of reminder e-mails to increase response rates to postal questionnaires in the SUSPEND trial : a factorial design, randomised controlled trial

Acknowledgements SUSPEND was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme (project 80/71/01) and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment. The Health Services Research Unit of the University of Aberdeen is funded in part by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Chief Scientist Office, HTA programme, NIHR, National Health Service, or Department of Health. The authors thank the SUSPEND staff and participants, without whom this study would not have been possible.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Work of Veronica Strong-Boag

The pieces in this cluster originated roundtable, “Veronica Strong-Boag, Canadian Feminist Historian: An Assessment and Appreciation” at the 2010 Canadian Committee on Women’s History conference held in Vancouver. A multiple award-winning feminist scholar who has published numerous books, edited collections, and journal articles, Veronica Strong-Boag has had an enormous influence on Canadian history in general and Canadian women’s and gender history in particular. Throughout an academic career which has now spanned almost four decades, Strong-Boag has taught undergraduates and supervised graduate students in history, women’s and gender studies, and education-al studies. Her impressive body of research includes historical studies of feminism, female pacifists, women in suburbia, E. Pauline Johnson, child welfare, adoption, and fostering. As the pieces in this cluster well illustrate, Strong-Boag is admired and respected by her feminist colleagues as an esteemed academic, supportive mentor, and committed feminist.Les pièces de ce groupe ont vu le jour à partir d’une table ronde présentée en 2010 à Vancouver, dans le cadre de la conférence présentée par le Comité canadien sur l’histoire des femmes, et intitulée “Veronica Strong-Boag, historienne féministe cana-dienne: évaluation et appréciation”. Universitaire féministe, lauréate de multiples prix, ayant publié de nombreux livres, des collections éditées et des articles scientifiques,Veronica Strong-Boag a eu une énorme influence dans le domaine de l’histoire canadienne en général, et en particulier sur l’histoire des femmes et sur le genre. Au fil d’une carrière qui s’étale maintenant sur près de quatre décennies, Strong-Boag a enseigné à plusieurs étudiants de premier cycle et a supervisé des étudiants de cycles supérieurs en histoire, en études sur les femmes et sur le genre, et en études sur l’éducation. Son impressionnant répertoire de recherche comprend des études sur l’histoire du féminisme, sur les pacifistes féministes, les femmes dans les banlieues, E. Pauline Johnson, le bien-être des enfants, l’adoption et les familles d’accueil. Tel que le démontrent les pièces de ce groupe, Strong-Boag est admirée et respectée par ses pairs féministes. Elle est une universitaire appréciée, un mentor dolidaire et une féministe engagée

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for Assisted Living: Testing the Aura Object Location (AOL) Model

Systems for assisted living that support people in their own home are becoming ever more important internationally as social and economic demands change. In our system, we view everyday activity around the home as travel between landmarks, with objects deposited and collected in locations that only need to be localised in relation to those landmarks rather than in terms of a fixed frame of reference. The placement of such landmarks – implemented as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags – can be determined by the degree of resolution required, so that areas where there is more spatial complexity may have a higher density of tags than those areas that are less complex. In this paper we describe a prototype system built around RFID tags used as fixed landmarks and attached to moveable objects along with a portable interrogator, using commercially available hardware and software. Two methods were developed: history recall, using continuous object tracking and real-time object location sensing. Usability testing of the system is described and the results reported. Future development challenges, potential applications and critical technological development points are discussed

Sports-related brain injury in the general population: An epidemiological study

Objectives To determine the incidence, nature and severity of all sports-related brain injuries in the general population. Design Population-based epidemiological incidence study. Methods Data on all traumatic brain injury events sustained during a sports-related activity were extracted from a dataset of all new traumatic brain injury cases (both fatal and non-fatal), identified over a one-year period in the Hamilton and Waikato districts of New Zealand. Prospective and retrospective case ascertainment methods from multiple sources were used. All age groups and levels of traumatic brain injury severity were included. Details of the registering injuries and recurrent injuries sustained over the subsequent year were obtained through medical/accident records and assessment interviews with participants. Results Of 1369 incident traumatic brain injury cases, 291 were identified as being sustained during a sports-related activity (21% of all traumatic brain injuries) equating to an incidence rate of 170 per 100,000 of the general population. Recurrent injuries occurred more frequently in adults (11%) than children (5%). Of the sports-related injuries 46% were classified as mild with a high risk of complications. Injuries were most frequently sustained during rugby, cycling and equestrian activities. It was revealed that up to 19% of traumatic brain injuries were not recorded in medical notes. Conclusions Given the high incidence of new and recurrent traumatic brain injury and the high risk of complications following injury, further sport specific injury prevention strategies are urgently needed to reduce the impact of traumatic brain injury and facilitate safer engagement in sports activities. The high levels of ‘missed’ traumatic brain injuries, highlights the importance in raising awareness of traumatic brain injury during sports-related activity in the general population

Use of drug therapy in the management of symptomatic ureteric stones in hospitalized adults (SUSPEND), a multicentre, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of a calcium-channel blocker (nifedipine) and an α-blocker (tamsulosin) : study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire:internal validity and reliability for New Zealand preschoolers

OBJECTIVES: This observational study examines the internal construct validity, internal consistency and cross-informant reliability of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a New Zealand preschool population across four ethnicity strata (New Zealand European, Māori, Pasifika, Asian). DESIGN: Rasch analysis was employed to examine internal validity on a subsample of 1000 children. Internal consistency (n=29 075) and cross-informant reliability (n=17 006) were examined using correlations, intraclass correlation coefficients and Cronbach's alpha on the sample available for such analyses. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Data were used from a national SDQ database provided by the funder, pertaining to New Zealand domiciled children aged 4 and 5 and scored by their parents and teachers. RESULTS: The five subscales do not fit the Rasch model (as indicated by the overall fit statistics), contain items that are biased (differential item functioning (DIF)) by key variables, suffer from a floor and ceiling effect and have unacceptable internal consistency. After dealing with DIF, the Total Difficulty scale does fit the Rasch model and has good internal consistency. Parent/teacher inter-rater reliability was unacceptably low for all subscales. CONCLUSION: The five SDQ subscales are not valid and not suitable for use in their own right in New Zealand. We have provided a conversion table for the Total Difficulty scale, which takes account of bias by ethnic group. Clinicians should use this conversion table in order to reconcile DIF by culture in final scores. It is advisable to use both parents and teachers' feedback when considering children's needs for referral of further assessment. Future work should examine whether validity is impacted by different language versions used in the same country