Living in Two Worlds: Speaking BEV in a SE World

Researchers have come to the conclusion that all English speakers speak a "dialect", or variation, of English. Linguists claim no single dialect is inherently better than another. Each is mutually intelligible to other speakers of English. The main difference lies in how each of these dialects is accepted by people outside of that particular speech community. Every dialect has a specific phonological (sound) system, grammar, and vocabulary. The most widely accepted dialect in the United States is Standard English (SE). This is, with some variation, the dialect utilized by television and radio announcers, educated people, literature , and the business world. It often comes as a surprise to people when they learn for the first time that it is no more linguistically valid than Southern English or New York English. There is no single dialect that is linguistically "better" than another. All dialects are adequate for communication, learning and speech. What makes some seem more or less accepted is the way society views them. This is often the case with the dialect known as African-American English, Black English, Black Dialect, or Black English Vernacular (BEV). BEV has existed in the United States for several hundred years, getting its start on the islands of the Caribbean and the plantations of the South. Its speakers have struggled with the question of the validity of their language and the difficulty of trying to fit into the dominant white culture. The result is often a sense of living a linguistically dual life. They use one dialect (SE) for business and socializing in the dominant culture, and another (BEV) for their home dialect and among friends. It is important to note here that not all black people speak BEV, just as it is true that not all BEV speakers are black. BEV is a dialect that may be spoken by any person who lives in a speech community where this is the primary dialect of the people, usually those in a working class environment, and, especially, the young.Master of ArtsLiberal StudiesUniversity of Michigan-Flinthttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143453/1/HuntW.pd

Developing diagnostic assessment of breast lumpectomy tissues using radiomic and optical signatures

High positive margin rates in oncologic breast-conserving surgery are a pressing clinical problem. Volumetric X-ray scanning is emerging as a powerful ex vivo specimen imaging technique for analyzing resection margins, but X-rays lack contrast between non-malignant and malignant fibrous tissues. In this study, combined micro-CT and wide-field optical image radiomics were developed to classify malignancy of breast cancer tissues, demonstrating that X-ray/optical radiomics improve malignancy classification. Ninety-two standardized features were extracted from co-registered micro-CT and optical spatial frequency domain imaging samples extracted from 54 breast tumors exhibiting seven tissue subtypes confirmed by microscopic histological analysis. Multimodal feature sets improved classification performance versus micro-CT alone when adipose samples were included (AUC = 0.88 vs. 0.90; p-value = 3.65e−11) and excluded, focusing the classification task on exclusively non-malignant fibrous versus malignant tissues (AUC = 0.78 vs. 0.85; p-value = 9.33e−14). Extending the radiomics approach to high-dimensional optical data—termed “optomics” in this study—offers a promising optical image analysis technique for cancer detection. Radiomic feature data and classification source code are publicly available

Enhancing activity, nutrition and mental health in overweight adolescents. Stage 1 – Formative research

The aim of the project was to refine, implement and evaluate a multi-disciplinary family-centred community-based intervention intended to influence the physical activity, nutrition and psychosocial behaviours of overweight adolescents in Western Australia

Research encounters, reflexivity and supervision

Reflexivity in qualitative and ethnographic social science research can provide a rich source of data, especially regarding the affective, performative and relational aspects of interviews with research subjects. This paper explores by means of three case examples different ways of accessing and using such reflexivity. The examples are drawn from an empirical psycho-social study into the identity transitions of first-time mothers in an inner-city multicultural environment. Fieldnotes and supervision were used to engage with researcher subjectivity, to enhance the productive use of reflexivity and to address the emotional work of research. The methodology of the supervision was psychoanalytic, in its use of a boundaried frame and of psychoanalytic forms of noticing oneself, of staying engaged emotionally as well as creating a reflective distance. The examples illustrate how this can enhance the knowledge gained about the research subjects

A Call for Responsible Estimation of Global Health

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

BMI is Associated with the Willingness to Record Diet with a Mobile Food Record among Adults Participating in Dietary Interventions

Image-based dietary assessment methods have the potential to address respondent burden and improve engagement in the task of recording for dietary interventions. The aim of this study was to assess factors associated with the willingness of adults to take images of food and beverages using a mobile food record (mFR) application. A combined sample of 212 young adults and 73 overweight and obese adults completed a 4-day mobile food record on two occasions and a follow-up usability questionnaire. About 74% of participants stated they would record using the mFR for a longer period compared with a written record (29.4 ± 69.3 vs. 16.1 ± 42.6 days respectively; p < 0.0005). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify those who were more likely to record mFR in the top tertile (=14 days). After adjusting for age and gender, those with a BMI = 25 were 1.68 times more likely (Odds Ratio 95% Confidence Interval: 1.02-2.77) than those with BMI < 25 to state a willingness to record with the mFR for = 14 days. The greater willingness of overweight and obese individuals to record dietary intake using an mFR needs further examination to determine if this translates to more accurate estimates of energy intake

Hockey Fans in Training (Hockey FIT) Pilot Study Protocol: A Gender-Sensitized Weight Loss and Healthy Lifestyle Program for Overweight and Obese Male Hockey Fans

Background: Effective approaches that engage men in weight loss and lifestyle change are important because of worldwide increases, including in Canada, in obesity and chronic diseases. Football Fans in Training (FFIT), developed in Scotland, successfully tackled these problems by engaging overweight/obese male football fans in sustained weight loss and positive health behaviours, through program deliveries at professional football stadia. Methods: Aims: 1) Adapt FFIT to hockey within the Canadian context and integrate with HealtheSteps™ (evidence-based lifestyle program) to develop Hockey Fans in Training (Hockey FIT); 2) Explore potential for Hockey FIT to help overweight/obese men lose weight and improve other outcomes by 12 weeks, and retain these improvements to 12 months; 3) Evaluate feasibility of recruiting and retaining overweight/obese men; 4) Evaluate acceptability of Hockey FIT; and 5) Conduct program optimization via a process evaluation. We conducted a two-arm pilot pragmatic randomized controlled trial (pRCT) whereby 80 overweight/obese male hockey fans (35–65 years; body-mass index ≥28 kg/m2 ) were recruited through their connection to two junior A hockey teams (London and Sarnia, ON) and randomized to Intervention (Hockey FIT) or Comparator (Wait-List Control). Hockey FIT includes a 12-week Active Phase (classroom instruction and exercise sessions delivered weekly by trained coaches) and a 40-week Maintenance Phase. Data collected at baseline and 12 weeks (both groups), and 12 months (Intervention only), will inform evaluation of the potential of Hockey FIT to help men lose weight and improve other health outcomes. Feasibility and acceptability will be assessed using data from self-reports at screening and baseline, program fidelity (program observations and coach reflections), participant focus group discussions, coach interviews, as well as program questionnaires and interviews with participants. This information will be analyzed to inform program optimization. Discussion: Hockey FIT is a gender-sensitive program designed to engage overweight/obese male hockey fans to improve physical activity and healthy eating choices, thereby leading to weight loss and other positive changes in health outcomes. We expect this study to provide evidence for a full-scale confirmatory pRCT. Trial registration: NCT02396524 (Clinicaltrials.gov). Date of registration: Feb 26, 2015

Vereckei criteria as a diagnostic tool amongst emergency medicine residents to distinguish between ventricular tachycardia and supra-ventricular tachycardia with aberrancy

SummaryBackgroundAccurate electrocardiographic (ECG) differentiation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) from supraventricular tachycardia with aberrancy (SVT-A) on ECG is key to therapeutic decision-making in the emergency department (ED) setting.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to test the accuracy and agreement of emergency medicine residents to differentiate VT from SVT-A using the Vereckei criteria.MethodsSix emergency medicine residents volunteered to participate in the review of 114 ECGs from 86 patients with a diagnosis of either VT or SVT-A based on an electrophysiology study. The resident reviewers initially read 12-lead ECGs blinded to clinical information, and then one week later reviewed a subset of the same 12-lead ECGs unblinded to clinical information.ResultsOne reviewer was excluded for failing to follow study protocol and one reviewer was excluded for reviewing less than 50 blinded ECGs. The remaining four reviewers each read 114 common ECGs blinded to clinical data and their diagnostic accuracy for VT was 74% (sensitivity 70%, specificity 80%), 75% (sensitivity 76%, specificity 73%), 61% (sensitivity 81%, specificity 25%), and 68% (sensitivity 84%, specificity 40%). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.31 (95% CI 0.22–0.42). Eliminating two of the four reviewers who left a disproportionately high number of ECGs unclassified resulted in an increase in overall mean diagnostic accuracy (70–74%) and agreement (0.31–0.50) in the two remaining reviewers. Three reviewers read 45 common ECGs unblinded to clinical information and had accuracies for VT 93%, 93% and 78%.ConclusionThe new single lead Vereckei criteria, when applied by emergency medicine residents achieved only fair-to-good individual accuracy and moderate agreement. The addition of clinical information resulted in substantial improvement in test characteristics. Further improvements (accuracy and simplification) of algorithms for differentiating VT from SVT-A would be helpful prior to clinical implementation