Why Harry woke up and other stories

This thesis consists of a collection of eight diverse short stories. It begins with an internal controlling metaphor, proceeds to build upon it, and ends when it is externalized, thus causing the dissimilar to appear similar and the collection, an unification

"Soft she withdrew": Separation and Self-determination in Milton's Paradise Lost

While John Milton’s epoch was dominated by religious fervor and ongoing attempts to redefine Christianity, his epic, Paradise Lost, is dominated by his own religious fervor and his attempts to define Christianity as a religion of free will. Ostensibly a religious poem, Milton’s epic expansion of the Christian creation story is also a consolidation of his thoughts on all matters personal, political, and theological, which can be distilled down to the idea that, “Man is the occasion of his owne miseries” (The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce 934).1 In addition to its theological underpinnings, Paradise Lost, originally published in 1667, not long after the 1660 restoration of the English Monarchy, incorporates a veiled manifesto of republican political ideology, as well a suggestive primer on marriage and personal relations. The common thread that runs through all of Milton’s personal, political, and theological thinking is the importance of self-determination. Milton’s chief concern with his poem is the assertion that free will is an integral part of Christianity, that free will existed in the Garden of Eden and continues to exist up to the present as an essential part of what it means to be human, and that everything good that the Christian God stands for is based in his gift of free will

Preservice teachers' reflections on professional education : a synthetic rendition

The purpose of this investigation was to do an in-depth case study of the reflections of a select group of students during the first professional component of their teacher education program in middle grades mathematics education. More specifically, this study explored the themes, patterns, unique differences, and omissions of their reflections (a) on themselves personally, (b) on themselves as learners, (c) on themselves as preservice teachers, (d) on the learning-teaching process, and (e) on their views of emerging adolescents as students. Data were obtained from five preservice teachers through interviews, journals, and course papers. A technique of "synthetic rendition" was devised to create a composite Interpretation of each series of interviews. The purpose of this technique was to present reconstructed "interviews" in a way that maintained the integrity of the participant's verbal expression while providing the reader with insight into the "voice" of the participant

Intravenous mycophenolate mofetil: safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72291/1/j.1399-0012.2000.140301.x.pd

Counseling Native Americans

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89558/1/j.1556-6676.1990.tb01473.x.pd

A systematic review of the use of quality-of-life instruments in randomized controlled trials for psoriasis

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: F. M. Ali, A. C. Cueva, J. Vyas, A. A. Atwan, M. S. Salek, A. Y. Finlay, and V. Piguet, ‘A systematic review of the use of quality-of-life instruments in randomized controlled trials for psoriasis’, British Journal of Dermatology, Vol. 176 (3): 577-593, March 2017, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.14788. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Planners of interventional studies in psoriasis face the dilemma of selecting suitable quality-of-life (QoL) measures. Systematic reviews have the potential of identifying psychometrically sound measures in a given therapeutic area, while guiding the development of practice guidelines. The aim of this systematic review was to generate evidence of the use of QoL instruments in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for interventions in psoriasis. The methodology followed the PRISMA guidelines. Six databases were searched with 388 search terms. Abstracts of articles were reviewed independently by two assessors, and a third adjudicator resolved any opinion differences. Risk of bias was assessed using the Jadad scale. Of 3646 screened publications, 99 articles (100 trials) met the eligibility criteria for inclusion, describing research on 33 215 patients. Thirty-three trials tested topical therapy, 18 systemic, 39 biologics, nine phototherapy and 10 other interventions. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was the most commonly used QoL instrument (83 studies, 83%), followed by the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) (31, 31%), EuroQoL-5D (EQ-5D) (15, 15%), Psoriasis Disability Index (14, 14%) and Skindex (five, 5%). There was widespread inconsistency in the way that QoL data were reported. Of the 100 trials identified, 37 reported minimal clinically important difference (MCID): 32 for DLQI, 10 for SF-36 and six for EQ-5D. QoL measurement is increasingly being reported in RCTs of psoriasis. Formal guidelines are needed for assessment and publishing of QoL data. Researchers should consider whether MCID information is available, and development of MCID data should be encouraged.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Randomized comparison of the effects of the vitamin D(3 )adequate intake versus 100 mcg (4000 IU) per day on biochemical responses and the wellbeing of patients

BACKGROUND: For adults, vitamin D intake of 100 mcg (4000 IU)/day is physiologic and safe. The adequate intake (AI) for older adults is 15 mcg (600 IU)/day, but there has been no report focusing on use of this dose. METHODS: We compared effects of these doses on biochemical responses and sense of wellbeing in a blinded, randomized trial. In Study 1, 64 outpatients (recruited if summer 2001 25(OH)D <61 nmol/L) were given 15 or 100 mcg/day vitamin D in December 2001. Biochemical responses were followed at subsequent visits that were part of clinical care; 37 patients completed a wellbeing questionnaire in December 2001 and February 2002. Subjects for Study 2 were recruited if their 25(OH)D was <51 nmol/L in summer 2001. 66 outpatients were given vitamin D; 51 completed a wellbeing questionnaire in both December 2002 and February 2003. RESULTS: In Study 1, basal summer 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] averaged 48 ± 9 (SD) nmol/L. Supplementation for more than 6 months produced mean 25(OH)D levels of 79 ± 30 nmol/L for the 15 mcg/day group, and 112 ± 41 nmol/L for the 100 mcg/day group. Both doses lowered plasma parathyroid hormone with no effect on plasma calcium. Between December and February, wellbeing score improved more for the 100-mcg/day group than for the lower-dosed group (1-tail Mann-Whitney p = 0.036). In Study 2, 25(OH)D averaged 39 ± 9 nmol/L, and winter wellbeing scores improved with both doses of vitamin D (two-tail p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The highest AI for vitamin D brought summertime 25(OH)D to >40 nmol/L, lowered PTH, and its use was associated with improved wellbeing. The 100 mcg/day dose produced greater responses. Since it was ethically necessary to provide a meaningful dose of vitamin D to these insufficient patients, we cannot rule out a placebo wellbeing response, particularly for those on the lower dose. This work confirms the safety and efficacy of both 15 and 100 mcg/day vitamin D(3 )in patients who needed additional vitamin D