Sweet Old Things and Dirty Old Men: The Vices and Virtues of Old Age in Muriel Spark's Memento Mori

Paper submitted to The Journal of Aging Studies March 27, 2012Through the lens of Muriel Spark’s dark comedic novel, Memento Mori, this paper explores questions of morality, mortality, and the moral choices and performances in old age and in the systems and places of care. Spark’s elderly characters are complex moral actors—some virtuous and some decidedly not—who have been receiving mysterious phone calls telling them simply, “Remember you must die.” We, the co-authors, are from two different disciplines, namely Renaissance and medieval literature, and social work and critical gerontology. Among the questions that interest us is the paradox of a master narrative that on the one hand exempts the old from moral criticism yet holds them to a higher moral standard—essentially positioning them as moral nonentities, and relieving the old, their caretakers, and society of moral responsibility. Another is the question of whether moral agency in old age has distinctive aspects, and whether consciousness of one’s impending mortality effects moral reasoning and performance. In this paper we offer our individual readings of the ways the novel opens up conceptual space in aging theory, and conclude with our thoughts about what our collaboration suggests for continuing cross-disciplinary dialogue

Coupling of a Core Post-Translational Pacemaker to a Slave Transcription/Translation Feedback Loop in a Circadian System

Analysis of the cyanobacterial circadian biological clock reveals a complex interdependence between a transcription/translation feedback loop and a biochemical oscillator

Genome-wide association identifies nine common variants associated with fasting proinsulin levels and provides new insights into the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Proinsulin is a precursor of mature insulin and C-peptide. Higher circulating proinsulin levels are associated with impaired β-cell function, raised glucose levels, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Studies of the insulin processing pathway could provide new insights about T2D pathophysiology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We have conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association tests of ∼2.5 million genotyped or imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and fasting proinsulin levels in 10,701 nondiabetic adults of European ancestry, with follow-up of 23 loci in up to 16,378 individuals, using additive genetic models adjusted for age, sex, fasting insulin, and study-specific covariates. RESULTS: Nine SNPs at eight loci were associated with proinsulin levels (P < 5 × 10(-8)). Two loci (LARP6 and SGSM2) have not been previously related to metabolic traits, one (MADD) has been associated with fasting glucose, one (PCSK1) has been implicated in obesity, and four (TCF7L2, SLC30A8, VPS13C/C2CD4A/B, and ARAP1, formerly CENTD2) increase T2D risk. The proinsulin-raising allele of ARAP1 was associated with a lower fasting glucose (P = 1.7 × 10(-4)), improved β-cell function (P = 1.1 × 10(-5)), and lower risk of T2D (odds ratio 0.88; P = 7.8 × 10(-6)). Notably, PCSK1 encodes the protein prohormone convertase 1/3, the first enzyme in the insulin processing pathway. A genotype score composed of the nine proinsulin-raising alleles was not associated with coronary disease in two large case-control datasets. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified nine genetic variants associated with fasting proinsulin. Our findings illuminate the biology underlying glucose homeostasis and T2D development in humans and argue against a direct role of proinsulin in coronary artery disease pathogenesis

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI &lt;18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For school&#x2;aged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI &lt;2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI &gt;2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit

An examination of the relationship between admission functional independence measure and length of stay in acute inpatient rehabilitation patients

The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to examine the relationship between admission disability and length of stay obtained from the records of neurological and orthopedic acute rehabilitation adult inpatients. The research question was, "Is there a relationship between the admission disability and length of stay?" Orem's self-care theory was used as the framework of the study. The sample consisted of 118 records of patients dismissed from a freestanding midwestern rehabilitation hospital during July 1, 1996 to November 30, 1996. Admission disability was measured with the Functional Independence Measure (FIM'''*1) instrument that was available in the patient's record. Length of stay was the number of days in the rehabilitation facility. Motor disability was significantly and negatively correlated with length of stay (r= -0.249, p=.006). Implications for practice were discussed.School of NursingThesis (M.S.

An examination of the relationship between admission functional independence measure and length of stay in acute inpatient rehabilitation patients

The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to examine the relationship between admission disability and length of stay obtained from the records of neurological and orthopedic acute rehabilitation adult inpatients. The research question was, "Is there a relationship between the admission disability and length of stay?" Orem's self-care theory was used as the framework of the study. The sample consisted of 118 records of patients dismissed from a freestanding midwestern rehabilitation hospital during July 1, 1996 to November 30, 1996. Admission disability was measured with the Functional Independence Measure (FIM'''*1) instrument that was available in the patient's record. Length of stay was the number of days in the rehabilitation facility. Motor disability was significantly and negatively correlated with length of stay (r= -0.249, p=.006). Implications for practice were discussed.Thesis (M.S.)School of Nursin

Sweet Old things and Dirty Old Men: The Vices and Virtues of Old Age in Muriel Spark's Memnto Mori

Paper presented at Theorizing Age, Maastricht, ND, Oct. 4, 2011Inspired by William F. May&rsquo;s writings on the vices and virtues of the elderly we offer our reflections on his ideas as they are revealed by Muriel Spark&rsquo;s novel, Memento Mori.. May argues that exempting the old from moral criticism positions them as &ldquo;moral nonentities&rdquo; and relieves the old, their caretakers, and society of moral responsibility. We, the coauthors of this paper, are from two different disciplines, namely Renaissance and medieval literature (Martha Rust), and social work and critical gerontology (Suzanne England). We offer our individual readings of the ways the novel illustrates May&rsquo;s ideas, and conclude with our thoughts about how our collaboration opened up space in our own thinking and for continuing cross-disciplinary dialogue

"The Circle Uncoiled, Unwound": Following Memory's Storyline with Mystory

"A colored spiral in a small ball of glass, this is how I see my own life," writes Vladimir Nabokov in his memoir, Speak, Memory. In our course “What is Memory?” we read and write with Nabokov’s life story using our own form of Gregory Ulmer’s "mystory" mode of writing as a way to discover the life cycles of memories--ours and our students as well as those related by Nabokov--and to explore their tendencies to constellate around images, objects, and their metaphorical relations--the spiral, for instance. Following Ulmer, our mystory is modeled after Roland Barthes’ A Lover’s Discourse. Like A Lover’s Discourse, it is based on a "tutor text": A Lover’s Discourse’s tutor text is Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther; ours is Nabokov’s Speak, Memory. Like A Lover’s Discourse, our mystory consists of a collection of "figures," short open-ended compositions in which we write with and after Nabokov, weaving our responses to the autobiography with our own and each others' memories, including autobiographical and collective memories as well as memories of other texts. This "weaving" process is supported by our use of Scalar a multi-modal web-authoring platform, as the environment for our collaborative work. Coupling the responsive mystory mode of studying a memoir to the collaborative Scalar writing environment facilitates students’ appreciation of the similarities between life writing and story writing, thereby also helping them to recognize the activity of remembering as itself a creative process

AT Reutilization

Presented on November 16, 2011 from 9:30 - 11:30 am in Room 207 of the Health Systems Institute (HSI) Building.Joy Kniskern, M.Ed, CRCC, Assistive Technology Services Manager for the Georgia Department of Labor Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program, is a 30-year veteran in the rehabilitation services arena. In her current role as AT Unit Manager, she provides leadership and technical assistance to Tools for Life and the Assistive Work Technology Services (AWT), the most comprehensive state agency rehabilitation engineering program for public VR services in the country. Ms. Kniskern holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Sociology from Vanderbilt University and an Masters of Education Degree in Psychological Services and Community Counseling from Georgia State University. Joy maintains her certification as a rehabilitation counselor and is a member of the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America (RESNA).Carolyn Phillips is Project Director of the Pass It On Center and Tools for Life. She has a Masters in Rehab Counseling from the University of Kentucky. She also has an undergraduate degree from UGA and is a licensed Assistive Technology Practitioner.Martha Rust is an Assistive Technology Specialist with Tools for Life and has a Masters in Rehab Counseling from the University of Tennessee.Runtime: 67:46 minutesAssistive Technology (AT) reutilization is a concept that is born out of need. From local grassroots efforts, it has grown to become a nationally recognized response to providing AT to those people who would otherwise “go without”. We have witnessed the power and independence AT brings to the individuals who have participated in many programs committed to the intelligent reutilization of assistive technology. We have also experienced the incredible frustration of knowing that efforts to assist more people have been limited because of the lack of understanding about reuse programs. The Pass It On Center will respond to this unmet need by coordinating national collaborative on AT reuse programs that will provide multi-faceted information on best practices, a national database and home page, a coordinated plan to respond to natural disasters, and a National Pass It OnTask Force. At DATHA, Joy Kniskern, Carolyn Phillips and Martha Rust will talk about the latest programs developed at the center