Plague Dot Text:Text mining and annotation of outbreak reports of the Third Plague Pandemic (1894-1952)

The design of models that govern diseases in population is commonly built on information and data gathered from past outbreaks. However, epidemic outbreaks are never captured in statistical data alone but are communicated by narratives, supported by empirical observations. Outbreak reports discuss correlations between populations, locations and the disease to infer insights into causes, vectors and potential interventions. The problem with these narratives is usually the lack of consistent structure or strong conventions, which prohibit their formal analysis in larger corpora. Our interdisciplinary research investigates more than 100 reports from the third plague pandemic (1894-1952) evaluating ways of building a corpus to extract and structure this narrative information through text mining and manual annotation. In this paper we discuss the progress of our ongoing exploratory project, how we enhance optical character recognition (OCR) methods to improve text capture, our approach to structure the narratives and identify relevant entities in the reports. The structured corpus is made available via Solr enabling search and analysis across the whole collection for future research dedicated, for example, to the identification of concepts. We show preliminary visualisations of the characteristics of causation and differences with respect to gender as a result of syntactic-category-dependent corpus statistics. Our goal is to develop structured accounts of some of the most significant concepts that were used to understand the epidemiology of the third plague pandemic around the globe. The corpus enables researchers to analyse the reports collectively allowing for deep insights into the global epidemiological consideration of plague in the early twentieth century.Comment: Journal of Data Mining & Digital Humanities 202

The perspective of people with axial spondyloarthritis regarding physiotherapy : room for the implementation of a more active approach

Objectives. Physiotherapy is recommended in the management of people with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), with new insights into its preferred content and dosage evolving. The aim of this study was to describe the use and preferences regarding individual and group physiotherapy among people with axSpA. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among people with axSpA living in The Netherlands (NL) and Switzerland (CH). Results. Seven hundred and thirteen people with axSpA participated (56.7% male, median age 55 years, median Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society Health Index score 4.2). Response rates were 45% (n¼206) in NL and 29% in CH (n¼507). Of these participants, 83.3% were using or had been using physiotherapy. Individual therapy only was used or had been used by 36.7%, a combination of individual plus land- and water-based group therapy by 29.1% and group therapy by only 5.3%. Fewer than half of the participants attending individual therapy reported active therapy (such as aerobic, muscle strength and flexibility exercises). Although the majority (75.9%) were not aware of the increased cardiovascular risk, participants showed an interest in cardiovascular training, either individually or in a supervised setting. If supervised, a majority, in CH (75.0%) more than in NL (55.7%), preferred supervision by a specialized physiotherapist. Conclusion. The majority of people with axSpA use or have used physiotherapy, more often in an individual setting than in a group setting. The content of individual therapy should be more active; in both therapy settings, aerobic exercises should be promoted. In particular, enabling people with axSpA to perform exercises independently would meet their needs and might enhance their daily physical activity

Expression profiling and Ingenuity biological function analyses of interleukin-6- versus nerve growth factor-stimulated PC12 cells

The major goal of the study was to compare the genetic programs utilized by the neuropoietic cytokine Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the neurotrophin (NT) Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) for neuronal differentiation

The stigmatisation of people with chronic back pain

This study responded to the need for better theoretical understanding of experiences that shape the beliefs, attitudes and needs of chronic back patients attending pain clinics. The aim was explore and conceptualise the experiences of people of working age who seek help from pain clinics for chronic back pain. Methods. This was a qualitative study, based on an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA). During in-depth interviews in their homes, participants were invited to 'tell their story' from the time their pain began. Participants were twelve male and six female patients, aged between 28 and 62 years, diagnosed as having chronic benign back pain. All had recently attended one of two pain clinics as new referrals. The interview transcripts were analysed thematically. Findings. Stigmatisation emerged as a key theme from the narrative accounts of participants. The findings expose subtle as well as overt stigmatising responses by family, friends, health professionals and the general public which appeared to have a profound effect on the perceptions, self esteem and behaviours of those interviewed. Conclusions. The findings suggest that patients with chronic back pain feel stigmatised by the time they attend pain clinics and this may affect their attitudes and behaviours towards those offering professional help. Theories of chronic pain need to accommodate these responses, while pain management programmes need to address the realities and practicalities of dealing with stigma in everyday life

Midwifery students’ views and experiences of birth on mainstream factual television

© 2020 Objectives: To investigate midwifery students’ experiences of viewing childbirth on mainstream factual television and to explore implications for student career intentions and potential pedagogical uses of television excerpts in midwifery education. Design: Twenty-two undergraduate midwifery students at one of two universities took place in focus groups between February and June 2019. Ethical approval was obtained at both sites. Thematic analysis was employed to generate key themes from the data. Setting: Two UK universities based in the East Midlands and East Yorkshire regions of England. Participants: Twenty-two midwifery students at any stage of their studies. Findings: Researchers generated four key themes from the data a) Changed Perspectives on Televised Childbirth, b) Representations of Midwives and Social Implications, c) Representation of Childbirth and Social Implications and d) The Role of Televising Childbirth in Midwifery Education. Key conclusions: Midwifery students often experience a change of perspective on birth on television as they acquire new knowledge and skills. They recognise the potential social implications of how childbirth and midwifery are represented on television. Pedagogical use of televised birth has potential benefits but needs further investigation in the context of midwifery education. Implications for practice: Midwifery students are likely to begin their studies with pre-existing views and experiences around how birth is represented on mainstream factual television. They may need support to reflect on these to consider their expectations of the profession, to effectively support childbearing women and to potentially influence future production of media images of childbirth

The Grizzly, February 27, 1996

Koestner Gives First-Hand Account of Date Rape • J-Board Charges Reimert Residents • Swastikas are Removed from Bomberger Hall • Buchanan Wins New Hampshire • The Skipped Diploma • Evolutionary Doubts • Fighting for Real Social Change • In Support of Healthier Relationships • Alan Morrison to Perform Recital • U.S.G.A. News • Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Peter Perreten • Staff Spotlight: Todd McKinney • Gymnasts End Season With a Win • Lacrosse Team Ranked 15th • Bears Compete at Indoor Championships • Lady Bears Fall in Conference Semishttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1376/thumbnail.jp

The NMDA agonist D-cycloserine facilitates fear memory consolidation in humans

Animal research suggests that the consolidation of fear and extinction memories depends on N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA)- type glutamate receptors. Using a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm in healthy normal volunteers, we show that postlearning administration of the NMDA partial agonist D-cycloserine (DCS) facilitates fear memory consolidation, evidenced behaviorally by enhanced skin conductance responses, relative to placebo, for presentations of a conditioned stimulus (CS) at a memory test performed 72 h later. DCS also enhanced CS-evoked neural responses in a posterior hippocampus/collateral sulcus region and in the medial prefrontal cortex at test. Our data suggest a role for NMDA receptors in regulating fear memory consolidation in humans

The Grizzly, March 26, 1996

Marijuana Incident Results in Dismissal of Two Students • UC Professors to Participate in AIDS Ride • Ryan Auch: The Gentle Giant • Women\u27s Week • Opinions: Capitalism, Individualism and Responsibility; Scotland Fury • Thoughts on the Honor Code • Senegel Professor Speaks on Africa • Berwyn Tavern & Grill: A Trappe Alternative • Faculty Spotlight: Antoni Castells-Talens • Bears at 10-3 After Winning Streak • Trecroce Named Player of the Week • Lacrosse Starts Season With a Banghttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1378/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, April 16, 1996

Greeks Sponsor Easter Egg Hunt for Local Kids • New Members Inducted to Phi Beta Kappa • Ursinus Physics Professor to Run in Boston Marathon • Spring Service Day • What is Phi Beta Kappa? • Choir Performs Carmina Burana • The S.U.N. is Rising • Summer Fellows Program • Opinions: Environmental Wackos; Is God Weak or is God Evil?; God in the Gymnasium; An Open Letter to the Ursinus Community • proTheatre Speaks Romance Language • Colorful Olympic Poster Art Exhibition Opens at Berman • Dine & Act Fine Restaurant Night Offers Etiquette Lesson • Spotlight: Debbie Nolan, Dean of Students • Girls Send Hopkins Home with a Loss • Team Controls Own Destiny • Men\u27s Team Wins Two Straight; Women\u27s Losing Trend Continues • Knittel Wins Gettysburg Invitational • Pecovsky Wins at Shippensburg Invitational • Softball Team Keeps Winninghttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1380/thumbnail.jp