Space and Place and the “American” Legacy: Female Protagonists and the Discovery of Self in Two Novels for Young Adults

This qualitative literary analysis explores the intersection of place, space, and identity in two novels for young adults to explore how the provision of a new physical place provides space for independence development among female teen protagonists and the implications of this development given the authors’ identities as non-US authors writing about the US. Through the application of theories centered on conceptions of space and place and how they work together to influence the identity development of characters in literature, the piece examines how experiences in new places can provide space to redefine one’s personal identity and foster a sense of belonging. It recognizes the value of place-based narratives as stories that offer hope and inspiration to those longing to visit while simultaneously encouraging educators to support students in a critical reading of place to challenge misconceptions and romanticized views and build more complex understandings of communities and cultures that lie beyond the national borders in which they reside

Ecology and Control of Wildlife Damage to Electric Substations

This study addresses several aspects of the ecology and control of wildlife damage to electric substations because the amount of existing research is not sufficient to make informed decisions about how best to minimize that damage. Records of 121 incidents of animal-caused faults showed that 78% of the faults were caused by squirrels and raccoons and an average of 2,511 customers lost service during the outage caused by such a fault. Animal damage control measures were evaluated by observing challenges to control measures by raccoons and squirrels at a substation. The control measures were breached twice because they had not been properly applied. In 1994, 301 transmission and distribution substations in Michigan were sampled and categorized based on various structural and habitat characteristics. Significant relationships (p \u3c 0.10) were found between faulted substations and the number of nests in the substation, the distance of water from the substation, and the beam type used in the substation

Adaptación basada en la toma de decisiones generadoras de valor

Este artículo pretende explicar cómo los procesos económicos se han desarrollado mediante técnicas puramente lineales, afectando profundamente al desarrollo a nivel empresarial. Esto se debe a que la economía es una ciencia normal que ha estandarizado y cuantificado el crecimiento, el desarrollo y la generación de valor, evidenciando una brecha sustancial. Esto ha motivado el desarrollo del presente manuscrito, cuya propuesta de valor radica en articular la creación y desarrollo de la economía a través de la adaptación efectiva y positiva del capital humano mediante la toma de decisiones óptimas en el entorno complejo, que permitan generar valor multidimensional tangible e intangible, reconociendo un nuevo enfoque basado en activos tangibles e intangibles que permitan desarrollar el conocimiento y transformarlo en valor. Así, la esencia de este manuscrito radica en la revisión de la literatura, que ayuda a articular antecedentes que evidencian la linealidad de la función de producción que sustenta la economía clásica, aportando así literatura que permite deconstruir modelos lineales y construir sistemas generadores de valor (agentes u organizaciones) enfatizando el capital humano como tomadores de decisiones que generan valor a través de la inteligencia emocional y la resiliencia.This article aims to explain how economic processes have been developed through purely linear techniques, deeply affecting development at the business level. This is because economics is a normal science that has standardized and quantified growth, development, and value generation, evidencing a substantial gap. This has motivated the development of the present manuscript, whose value proposition lies in articulating the creation and development of the economy through the effective and positive adaptation of human capital through making optimal decisions in the complex environment, which allows generating tangible and intangible multidimensional value—recognizing a new approach based on tangible and intangible assets that allow knowledge to develop and transform it into value. Thus, the essence of this manuscript lies in the review of literature, which helps to articulate antecedents that evidence the linearity of the production function that sustains the classical economy, providing thus literature that allows deconstructing linear models and building value-generating systems (agents or organizations) emphasizing human capital as decision-makers which generate value through emotional intelligence and resilience

Activation and inhibition of phosphorylase kinase by monospecific antibodies raised against peptides from the regulatory domain of the γ-subunit

The C terminus of the catalytic γ-subunit of phosphorylase kinase comprises a regulatory domain that contains regions important for subunit interactions and autoinhibitory functions. Monospecific antibodies raised against four synthetic peptides from this region, PhK1 (362-386), PhK5 (342-366), PhK9 (322-346) and PhK13 (302-326), were found to have significant effects on the catalytic activities of phosphorylase kinase holoenzyme and the γ•δ complex. Antibodies raised against the very C terminus of the γ-subunit, anti-PhK1 and anti-PhK5, markedly activated both holoenzyme and the γ•δ complex, in the presence and absence of Ca2+. In the presence of Ca2+ at pH 8.2, anti-PhK1 activated the holoenzyme more than 11-fold and activated the γ•δ complex 2.5-fold. Activation of the holoenzyme and the γ•δ complex by anti-PhK5 was 50-70 % of that observed with anti-PhK1. Prior phosphorylation of the holoenzyme by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase blocked activation by both anti-PhK1 and anti-PhK5. Antibodies raised against the peptides from the N terminus of the regulatory domain, anti-PhK9 and anti-PhK13, were inhibitory, with their greatest effects on the γ•δ complex. These data demonstrate that the binding of antibodies to specific regions within the regulatory domain of the γ-subunit can augment or inhibit structural changes and subunit interactions important in regulating phosphorylase kinase activity

Breastfeeding, breast milk and viruses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is seemingly consistent and compelling evidence that there is no association between breastfeeding and breast cancer. An assumption follows that milk borne viruses cannot be associated with human breast cancer.</p> <p>We challenge this evidence because past breastfeeding studies did not determine "exposure" of newborn infants to colostrum and breast milk.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a prospective review of 100 consecutive births of infants in the same centre to determine the proportion of newborn infants who were "exposed" to colostrum or breast milk, as distinct from being fully breast fed. We also report a review of the breastfeeding practices of mothers of over 87,000 newborn infants in the Australian State of New South Wales.</p> <p>This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia). Approval 05063, 29 September 2005.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Virtually all (97 of 100) newborn infants in this centre were "exposed" to colostrum or breast milk whether or not they were fully breast fed. Between 82.2% to 98.7% of 87,000 newborn infants were "exposed" to colostrum or breast milk.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In some Western communities there is near universal exposure of new born infants to colostrum and breast milk. Accordingly it is possible for the transmission of human milk borne viruses. This is contrary to the widespread assumption that human milk borne viruses cannot be associated with breast cancer.</p

Societal perspective on access to publicly subsidised medicines:A cross sectional survey of 3080 adults in Australia

Background Around the world government agencies responsible for the selection and reimbursement of prescribed medicines and other health technologies are considering how best to bring community preferences into their decision making. In particular, community views about the distribution or equity of funding across the population. These official committees and agencies often have access to the best available and latest evidence on clinical effectiveness, safety and cost from large clinical trials and population-based studies. All too often they do not have access to high quality evidence about community views. We therefore, conducted a large and representative population-based survey in Australia to determine what community members think about the factors that do and should influence government spending on prescribed medicines. Methods A choice-based survey was designed to elicit the importance of individual criteria when considering the equity of government spending on prescribed medicines. A representative sample of 3080 adult Australians completed the survey by allocating a hypothetical budget to different combinations of money spent on two patient populations. Societal preferences were inferred from absolute majority responses i.e. populations with more than 50% of respondents\u27 allocation for a particular allocation criterion. Results This study shows that, all else being equal, severity of disease, diseases for which there is no alternative treatment available on the government formulary, diseases that affect patients who are not financially well off, and life-style unrelated diseases are supported by the public as resource allocation criteria. Where \u27all else is not equal\u27, participants allocated more resources to the patient population that gained considerable improvement in health and fewer resources to those that gained little improvement in health. This result held under all scenarios except for \u27end-of-life treatments\u27. Responses to cost (and corresponding number of patients treated) trade-off scenarios indicated a significant reduction in the proportion of respondents choosing to divide resources equally and a shift in preference towards devoting resources to the population that were more costly to treat for all criteria with the exception of severity of disease. Conclusions The general public have clear views on what\u27s fair in terms of government spending on prescribed medicines. In addition to supporting the application of the \u27rule of rescue\u27, important considerations for government spending included the severity of disease being treated, diseases for which there is no alternative treatment available on the government formulary, diseases that affect patients who are not financially well off and life-style unrelated diseases. This study shows that the general public are willing to share their views on what constitutes an equitable allocation of the government\u27s drug budget. The challenge remains to how best to consider those views alongside clinical and economic considerations

Community views on factors affecting medicines resource allocation:Cross-sectional survey of 3080 adults in Australia

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine Australian community views on factors that influence the distribution of health spending in relation to medicines. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was performed of 3080 adults aged ≥18 years. Participants were asked to rank, in order of importance, 12 criteria according to which medicines funding decisions may be made. Results: Of all respondents, 1213 (39.4%) considered disease severity to be the most important prioritisation criterion for funding a new medicine. This was followed by medicines treating a disease affecting children (13.2%) and medicines for cancer patients (9.1%). Medicines targeting a disease for which there is no alternative treatment available received highest priority from 8.6% of respondents. The remaining eight prioritisation criteria were each assigned a top ranking from 6.6% to 1.7% of respondents. Medicines targeting a disease for which there is no alternative treatment available were ranked least important by 7.7% of respondents, compared with 2.4%, 1.9% and 1.0% for medicines treating severe diseases, diseases affecting children and cancer respectively. \u27End-of-life treatments\u27 and \u27rare disease therapies\u27 received the least number of highest priority rankings (2.0% and 1.7% respectively). Conclusions: These results provide useful information about public preferences for government spending on prescribed medicines. Understanding of public preferences on the funding of new medicines will help the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and government determine circumstances where greater emphasis on equity is required and help inform medicines funding policy that best meets the needs of the Australian population. What is known about this topic?: There is increased recognition of the importance of taking into account public preferences in the heath technology assessment (HTA) decision-making process. What does this paper add?: The Australian public view the severity of disease to be the most important funding prioritisation criterion for medicines, followed by medicines used to treat children or to treat cancer. What are the implications for practitioners?: The general public are capable of giving opinions on distributional preferences. This information can help inform medicines funding policy and ensure that it is consistent with the values of the Australian population

Being an Athlete or Being a Girl: Selective Identities among Fictional Female Athletes Who Play with the Boys

This article examines the experiences of female protagonists who join all-male teams in recently published middle grade and young adult sports fiction. Two frames of analysis, identity and intersectionality, are applied in examining the question of how female protagonists navigate girlhood identities given their nontraditional sports participation on historically male teams. Findings suggest that as the fictional female athletes move into male-dominated spaces, they must reconceptualize their identities within either/or binaries that reaffirm gendered expectations and that these binaries ignore the complicated multiplicity of identities and their associated privileges and oppressions.</p

Opportunities for Advocacy: Interrogating Multivoiced YAL’s Treatment of Denied Identities

This article explores multivoiced young adult texts that feature characters who decide to intentionally deny or silence their identities. It includes three classroom units with advocacy projects

The Role of Personalised Choice in Decision Support: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Decision Aid for Prostate Cancer Screening.

IMPORTANCE: Decision support tools can assist people to apply population-based evidence on benefits and harms to individual health decisions. A key question is whether "personalising" choice within decisions aids leads to better decision quality. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of personalising the content of a decision aid for prostate cancer screening using the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 1,970 men aged 40-69 years were approached to participate in the trial. INTERVENTION: 1,447 men were randomly allocated to either a standard decision aid with a fixed set of five attributes or a personalised decision aid with choice over the inclusion of up to 10 attributes. OUTCOME MEASURES: To determine whether there was a difference between the two groups in terms of: 1) the emergent opinion (generated by the decision aid) to have a PSA test or not; 2) self-rated decision quality after completing the online decision aid; 3) their intention to undergo screening in the next 12 months. We also wanted to determine whether men in the personalised choice group made use of the extra decision attributes. RESULTS: 5% of men in the fixed attribute group scored 'Have a PSA test' as the opinion generated by the aid, as compared to 62% of men in the personalised choice group (χ2 = 569.38, 2df, p< 0001). Those men who used the personalised decision aid had slightly higher decision quality (t = 2.157, df = 1444, p = 0.031). The men in the personalised choice group made extensive use of the additional decision attributes. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of their stated intention to undergo screening in the next 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these findings suggest that personalised decision support systems could be an important development in shared decision-making and patient-centered care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12612000723886