“It Just Gives You Another Look on Things”: Using Adolescent Literature to Construct Inquiry and Deconstruct Social Stereotyping

In the current climate of standardization, areas such as social justice are often overlooked as the pressures of covering the learning standards increase. Within today’s classrooms, it is imperative that teachers encourage curiosity, creativity, and student voice. Using a blend of both traditional literacy and new literacies, students in a rural junior high setting worked to establish a classroom environment dedicated to critical thinking and debunking social conventions related to both the prison system and gang life. This social justice exploration allowed students to be immersed in a variety of texts that empowered them to discuss and question a system that faces them currently. By providing a platform of inquiry, students cultivated their own understandings related to social justice and formulated new meanings that led to the dissemination of topic-related stereotypes

Use and outcomes of targeted therapies in early and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer in Australia: Protocol detailing observations in a whole of population cohort

Background: The management of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer (BC) has changed dramatically with the introduction and widespread use of HER2-targeted therapies. However, there is relatively limited real-world information on patterns of use, effectiveness and safety in whole of population cohorts. The research programme detailed in this protocol will generate evidence on the prescribing patterns, safety monitoring and outcomes of patients with BC treated with HER2- targeted therapies in Australia. Methods/design: Our ongoing research programme will involve a series of retrospective cohort studies that include every patient accessing Commonwealth-funded HER2-targeted therapies for the treatment of early BC and advanced BC in Australia. At the time of writing, our cohorts consist of 11 406 patients with early BC and 5631 with advanced BC who accessed trastuzumab and lapatinib between 2001 and 2014. Pertuzumab and trastuzumab emtansine were publicly funded for metastatic BC in 2015, and future data updates will include patients accessing these medicines. We will use dispensing claims for cancer and other medicines, medical service claims and demographics data for each patient accessing HER2- targeted therapies to undertake this research. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been granted by the Population Health Service Research Ethics Committee and data access approval has been granted by the Australian Department of Human Services (DHS) External Review Evaluation Committee. Our findings will be reported in peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and policy forums. By providing detailed information on the use and outcomes associated with HER2-targeted therapies in a national cohort treated in routine clinical care, our research programme will better inform clinicians and patients about the real-world use of these treatments and will assist third-party payers to better understand the use and economic costs of these treatments

Estimating Contrail Climate Effects from Satellite Data

An automated contrail detection algorithm (CDA) is developed to exploit six of the infrared channels on the 1-km MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra and Aqua satellites. The CDA is refined and balanced using visual error analysis. It is applied to MODIS data taken by Terra and Aqua over the United States during 2006 and 2008. The results are consistent with flight track data, but differ markedly from earlier analyses. Contrail coverage is a factor of 4 less than other retrievals and the retrieved contrail optical depths and radiative forcing are smaller by approx.30%. The discrepancies appear to be due to the inability to detect wider, older contrails that comprise a significant amount of the contrail coverage. An example of applying the algorithm to MODIS data over the entire Northern Hemisphere is also presented. Overestimates of contrail coverage are apparent in some tropical regions. Methods for improving the algorithm are discussed and are to be implemented before analyzing large amounts of Northern Hemisphere data. The results should be valuable for guiding and validating climate models seeking to account for aviation effects on climate

Risk factors for human brucellosis in northern Tanzania

Little is known about the epidemiology of human brucellosis in sub-Saharan Africa. This hampers prevention and control efforts at the individual and population levels. To evaluate risk factors for brucellosis in northern Tanzania, we conducted a study of patients presenting with fever to two hospitals in Moshi, Tanzania. Serum taken at enrollment and at 4–6 week follow-up was tested by Brucella microagglutination test. Among participants with a clinically compatible illness, confirmed brucellosis cases were defined as having a ≥ 4-fold rise in agglutination titer between paired sera or a blood culture positive for Brucella spp., and probable brucellosis cases were defined as having a single reciprocal titer ≥ 160. Controls had reciprocal titers < 20 in paired sera. We collected demographic and clinical information and administered a risk factor questionnaire. Of 562 participants in the analysis, 50 (8.9%) had confirmed or probable brucellosis. Multivariable analysis showed that risk factors for brucellosis included assisting goat or sheep births (Odds ratio [OR] 5.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4, 24.6) and having contact with cattle (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0, 1.4). Consuming boiled or pasteurized dairy products was protective against brucellosis (OR 0.12, 95% CI 0.02, 0.93). No participants received a clinical diagnosis of brucellosis from their healthcare providers. The under-recognition of brucellosis by healthcare workers could be addressed with clinician education and better access to brucellosis diagnostic tests. Interventions focused on protecting livestock keepers, especially those who assist goat or sheep births, are needed

Incidence of human brucellosis in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania in the periods 2007-2008 and 2012-2014

Background: Brucellosis causes substantial morbidity among humans and their livestock. There are few robust estimates of the incidence of brucellosis in sub-Saharan Africa. Using cases identified through sentinel hospital surveillance and health care utilization data, we estimated the incidence of brucellosis in Moshi Urban and Moshi Rural Districts, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania, for the periods 2007–2008 and 2012–2014. Methods: Cases were identified among febrile patients at two sentinel hospitals and were defined as having either a 4-fold increase in Brucella microscopic agglutination test titres between acute and convalescent serum or a blood culture positive for Brucella spp. Findings from a health care utilization survey were used to estimate multipliers to account for cases not seen at sentinel hospitals. Results: Of 585 patients enrolled in the period 2007–2008, 13 (2.2%) had brucellosis. Among 1095 patients enrolled in the period 2012–2014, 32 (2.9%) had brucellosis. We estimated an incidence (range based on sensitivity analysis) of brucellosis of 35 (range 32–93) cases per 100 000 persons annually in the period 2007–2008 and 33 (range 30–89) cases per 100 000 persons annually in the period 2012–2014. Conclusions: We found a moderate incidence of brucellosis in northern Tanzania, suggesting that the disease is endemic and an important human health problem in this area

Public Engagement through Burial Landscapes: Cupids and Ferryland, Newfoundland

British occupation of Newfoundland dates to the early 1600s with the founding of settlements such as Cupids and Ferryland. While records of deaths exist at both colonies, their seventeenth-century burial grounds have not been located. Historic burial grounds in Newfoundland come with certain characteristic features: surviving gravestones in a rocky landscape, views of the ocean, and often a large cross on top of a hill. Though not visible at the sites in question, these ‘lost’ burial landscapes can be employed as an engagement tool by archaeologists. By exploring a ‘lost’ burial landscape with visitors, a dialogue is opened to speculate where the settlers were buried and why. While indirect, discussing these themes with visitors provokes thought on historic vs. modern burial practices and acknowledges the seventeenth-century dead within the context of the modern landscape. This article aims to explore the use of burial landscapes to engage visitors in a conversation about early colonial history, but also about mortality in both historic and modern contexts

A Theological Foundation for the Use of Artistic Mediums and Technology in Preaching and Evangelism

The Problem. Can artistic forms and technology be utilized in making the biblical truth appear attractive in that it may attract the postmodern culture to Jesus? Postmodern preachers are cautious when it entails the use of interactive artistic mediums. Numerous Pastors choose to preach safe monologue sermons, resulting in bored congregants when it comes to many ineffectual three-point messages. Preaching isn’t just conveying God’s messages; instead it confronts listeners, in the same way Jesus used parables. God has already used these useful and operative techniques consequently; preachers of his word ought to use comparable effective methods in connecting their audiences to God, finishing the work of the Three Angels Message and the Great Commission. Method. The diverse examples of art forms to humanity throughout the Bible conveyed by God exposes the preacher to a multitude of mediums, allowing them to move ahead boldly recognizing that art forms and technology are within God’s intention for preaching. Jesus dramatic narratives are not easily forgotten as he communicated the daily drama’s relating to his worldview. The message of redemption and love for the people surrounding him would have been lost without these artistic mediums. Therefore, a variety of technological and artistic mediums were presented to various congregations, including the non-use of artistic mediums to evaluate the effectiveness of art forms and technology by the preacher in preaching to the postmodern audience. Results. Artistic genres and technological methods in preaching were shown to be more effective in connecting the audience to the sermon (p. 189), compared to the non-use of artistic genres and technology (p. 173). Art necessitates action; it is an instrumental element in how we communicate characterizing who the preacher is. The Bible is of itself art, enticing the reader from one artistic medium to the next, beneficially presenting God\u27s messages. Conclusions. How should the preacher preach God’s words? Is it through the use of a stringed instrument, poetry or perhaps sculptures, carvings or architecture? Should it be through a song an eloquent speech or stain glass windows? Do we present it through drama, film or multimedia? “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). These artistic expressions involved creative methods in the establishment of the world. “Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food…” (Gen 2:9 NIV). Not only did he make trees that were good for food, but they where pleasing to the eye. God’s messages to the world have included various art forms and natural technology (lightning, etc.) that are effective, powerful and memorable. Technology and artistic mediums have become reality in postmodern society. Without these mediums, preaching is far less effective, and fewer people are reached with God’s message, when these methods of communication cease to exist. Through artistic mediums and technological methods further successful preaching can be accomplished, reaching those in the twenty first century

Italian futurism and the development of English literary modernism, 1909-1915

This thesis considers the role of Italian Futurism in the development of English literary modernism between 1909 and 1915. It maps a set of complex and heterogeneous responses to the movement, involving both rejection and appropriation, in which attempts to experiment with English literature are undertaken in a bid to become ‘modern’. I argue that Futurism represented for many English modernists a profoundly relevant approach to a social and cultural crisis that had emerged in the late nineteenth century. In this sense, Futurism was less a movement to be officially joined than a methodology that was appropriated in order to subvert and develop finde-siècle cultural discourses. The thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter one addresses Futurism’s inception in the internationalised space of cultural production of Europe before the First World War, and the movement’s emergence in England. It suggests that Futurism was frequently understood as a means of transforming social discourses of decline, cultural discourses of Decadence, and the relationship between art and the public. The second chapter explores Harold Monro’s interactions with F. T. Marinetti and his publication of Futurist poetry in Poetry and Drama, and considers how Monro transmitted Futurism to an English readership to suggest ways of developing Decadent and Symbolist poetry. Chapter three examines Wyndham Lewis’s use of Futurist strategies in Vorticism to negotiate the Aestheticist divide between art and life, but also shows how tensions between the two movements continue to manifest in Blast. The fourth chapter considers Mina Loy’s writings in the context of Futurist discourses and New Woman debates in Florence, demonstrating how she appropriated Futurist methods to inform her feminist thought and disrupt the basis on which gendered difference is predicated. I conclude the thesis by considering the implications of my work for the field of modernist studies