Jordan’s Mental Healthcare System

Mental illness is a serious health concern often neglected in healthcare schemes in countries around the world. This study surveyed the mental healthcare system in Jordan through interviews with a former student, an academic, a public and private practitioner, a representative of the WHO, and a representative of the Jordanian Ministry of Health (MoH) and a survey among students of the University of Jordan in order to describe the system in Jordan and discover common perspectives toward the system. Results show that the system is in need of increased access to mental healthcare, decreased stigma regarding mental illness, and increased options in treatment. The MoH’s current initiative to integrate mental healthcare into primary healthcare is supported, but it is also suggested that significant education initiatives take place to lesson stigma and increase the number of trained professionals in Jordan

Fear Of Missing Out: Performance art through the lens of participatory culture

This research project set out to examine FOMO through the curation of a performance art event. Referring to the ‘fear of missing out’, FOMO is posited as symptomatic of the ways in which embodied subjectivities are performed through participatory cultures. With the insidious co-option of such cultures by powerful multinational companies, come new ways in which the body is commodified in late-capitalist economies. This paper examines modes of prosumption emergent from digital and social media and considers strategies of performance in this context. It could be argued that performance art practices might resist or intervene in such discourses through a powerful ability to re-establish human connection through a live and affective performing or spectating experience (O’Dell 1998; Phelan 2005). However, liveness, affect and human connection are themselves enmeshed in digital cultures. This paper will consider how performance can think through the ways in which embodied subjectivities are produced through FOMO and ask whether in this context performance art practice can reclaim the affective body

Seducing the machine : narcissism and performance in contemporary feminist practice

The thesis concerns the prevalent western concept of femininity as narcissistic and exhibitionist, and addresses the stereotyping notion that woman are obsessed with their appearance

Design considerations for early-phase clinical trials of immune-oncology agents

Background With numerous and fast approvals of different agents including immune checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, immunotherapy is now an established form of cancer treatment. These agents have demonstrated impressive clinical activity across many tumor types, but also revealed different toxicity profiles and mechanisms of action. The classic assumptions imposed by cytotoxic agents may no longer be applicable, requiring new strategies for dose selection and trial design. Description This main goal of this article is to summarize and highlight main challenges of early-phase study design of immunotherapies from a statistical perspective. We compared the underlying toxicity and efficacy assumptions of cytotoxic versus immune-oncology agents, proposed novel endpoints to be included in the dose-selection process, and reviewed design considerations to be considered for early-phase trials. When available, references to software and/or web-based applications were also provided to ease the implementation. Throughout the paper, concrete examples from completed (pembrolizumab, nivolumab) or ongoing trials were used to motivate the main ideas including recommendation of alternative designs. Conclusion Further advances in the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies will require new approaches that include redefining the optimal dose to be carried forward in later phases, incorporating additional endpoints in the dose selection process (PK, PD, immune-based biomarkers), developing personalized biomarker profiles, or testing drug combination therapies to improve efficacy and reduce toxicity

Evaluation and Learning at Foundations: A Field Guide

This brief grew out of conversations with evaluation and learning leaders working in foundations across the United States about both the value of evaluation and learning in philanthropy, and the challenges of implementing this function well across diverse institutional contexts. Our intent is to provide practical guidance that new and existing leaders can use to navigate their roles in support of more effective and equitable philanthropy. It is based on indepth case studies of the Irvine, Kauffman, and Kresge Foundations along with our own experience partnering with foundations on evaluation, strategy, and learning efforts

The individual in EU data protection law

The individual and the idea of the individual are at the centre of EU data protection law, particularly the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the fundamental right to data protection under Article 8 of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Critiques of that role have emerged, and exist in parallel to broader concerns about individualist tendencies of information privacy law. These concerns go to the heart of the law’s capacity to protect individuals and groups, and to ensure a just digital society, and the understanding of what data protection law sets out to achieve. I argue that an understanding of the role and conception of the individual is central to understanding EU data protection law, both its promise and limitations. The individual’s role in the GDPR emerges as a multi-faceted one, at times contradictory. Understanding this role can enable us to more precisely assess the GDPR and imagine alternative regulatory approaches to data protection. Placing the role of the individual in EU data protection law in historical and institutional context helps us to see that the notion of the individual, their status and capacities, have shaped the regime, and that many of the assumptions underpinning this notion of personhood in the regime also merit question. The conception of the individual in EU data protection law is analysed according to three parameters of personhood: relational versus individuated, empowered versus protected and different versus uniform. The picture of personhood which emerges is fragmentary, and reveals ideas and assumptions which have informed the regime, which can indicate limited understandings of personhood and gaps in the reach of EU data protection law. By re-engaging with these assumptions and the multi-faceted role of the individual, new understandings of the GDPR, associated case law and the right to data protection are possible

The use of peer tutoring with beginning readers

This study is an investigation into social and emotional outcomes of peer tutoring with reading, specifically student confidence, motivation and reading enjoyment. A small sample of cross age, same sex pairs from grade one and grade five were observed over a period of four weeks using the Paired Reading method. Findings suggest that participant enjoyment and motivation to read was high. Increased tutee confidence remained relatively unobservable while high levels of tutor confidence were notable. Tutor delivery, error correction and positive reinforcement were strong as a direct result of quality programme implementation in the initial stages of research. The role of the educator as facilitator and participant trainer plays a crucial part in potential social and emotional outcomes of a peer tutoring project. Data additionally revealed that ‘trio reading’ compiling one tutor with two tutees, using the same Paired Reading technique was highly engaging and enjoyable for both tutors and tutees alike. This raises further implications for future reading programmes. This research contributes to current knowledge in the field with additional qualitative findings regarding the social and emotional effects of peer tutoring

Urban Ecology: History and Practice

Thesis advisor: Eric G. StraussThe study of human interactions with nature in the context of urban environments has evolved over the past fifty years. Early writers who were able to view urban areas as ecosystems planted the seeds for what is today an important and growing movement across the United States. They paved the way for later scholars to develop human- and ecologically-based natural histories, to imagine land uses, urban planning and development in new and sustainable ways, and to reinforce the spiritual and emotional bond between humanity and nature. In the last ten to fifteen years, organizations in urban areas around the United States have begun to look at planning and development with both an ecological lens and a focus on community-based, grassroots organizing. The layers of information available for study in an urban area are many and complex, providing an immense amount of data to those who choose to study cities. This study will first trace the theoretical development in understanding urban ecosystems, touching on important themes and groundbreaking authors. Subsequent chapters will build on the foundation laid by these authors in an exploration of the current practical use of urban ecology in the field, focusing on community-based organizations throughout the country.Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2005.Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: College Honors Program

Twelve tips to foster healthcare student recognition and reporting of unprofessional behaviour or concerns

Medical trainees and students are required to report concerns where they identify concerning practice or behaviours. While leadership attributes and skills are increasingly expected curricular outcomes, students still struggle to report concerns due to a variety of factors. Changing societal awareness and expectations continue to shine light on poor professionalism and unethical behaviours whose reach extends to medical training and education and that need to be systematically reported and addressed. To prepare graduates for these challenges in professional practice and for exercising skills of reporting concerns, education and training environments must ensure that speaking up is ingrained in the organisational ethos. Supported by evidence from the literature and our experience of revising and enhancing approaches, this paper outlines tips for developing and embedding an infrastructure that facilitates robust concerns reporting and management. Further, we consider mechanisms that support students to develop tendencies and skills for reporting concerns