Dancing to a new beat : shifting the dialogue in mentoring to a more holistic approach in the Caribbean

The purpose of this research is to reflect on the importance of a whole-body, holistic approach to the act of mentoring. In addressing what makes a good mentor and/or what are some best practices and strategies of mentoring, the author makes a connection between what we can learn from dance pedagogy in order to shift understandings of mentoring within a Caribbean context. The techniques and benefits of dance might offer ways to approach mentoring that take into consideration bodily effects and mind, body, and spirit connection. Dance, in particular somatics, can be used as a tool for creative expression and healing, in which the practices of both can assist in pursuing mentorship more holistically.peer-reviewe

Empowering the female machine: remapping gender dynamics in technologically augmented dance

Empowering the Female Machine: Remapping Gender Dynamics in Technologically Augmented Dance Performance makes a “mess” of dance through the framework of feminist Science and Technology Studies (STS). Briefly defined, the practice and performance of technologically augmented dance combines human and machine-based actions, where a feedback loop occurs between technical apparatuses and a body in motion in real-time. My research question asks: in collaborative projects involving dance and technology, how do issues of agency, materiality, and gendered subjectivity arise, operate, and govern both research and development and the production processes? I argue for a historical account of gender, technology, and dance and question the very terms of relationality by articulating these dynamics that occur through particular modern and postmodern epistemic regimes. As a female dancer and technologist, my experience produces a unique form of situated knowledge and kinesthetic sense that serves as my foundation of analysis. Through the lens of artistic practice, I weave together four distinct narratives to illustrate the complexities arising from distinct social contexts of technologies and bodily techniques in operation from the early twentieth-century to the present times. First, the historical work of modernist artist Loïe Fuller, in particular her 1895 Fire Dance, complicates notions of femininity by transforming the performance space into an entanglement of agents. Second, Yvonne Rainer’s 1966 Carriage Discreteness from 9 Evenings outlines the shift into early computational machinery and the Space Age where her work was a successful intervention into queering technology, dance, and gender in the performance event. Third, Troika Ranch’s 2009 loopdiver, with dancer and choreographer Dawn Stoppiello and musician and computer programmer Mark Coniglio, reveals the persistence of control in the digital era in the process and development of their work and highlights an emotive and female-centric experience of a cyborgian body. Finally, my own research-creation practice Orbital Resonance (2014) will address current issues in collaborative artistic practice that combines a multiplicity of gender identities and expressions through an interdisciplinary approach. Through these artistic works, my goal is to reveal a feminist STS method of making and doing the act of technologically augmented dance performance

Frontal Lobe Deficits in Domestic Violence Offenders

Functional frontal-lobe deficits were examined in 38 male batterers and 38 male non-batterers matched on age and education level. Dependent measures that examine frontal-lobe deficits including the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Stroop Test, and Trails B were used. The Crossing-off Test (a reaction time measure), the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST), and the WAIS-R vocabulary subtest were used as moderator variables. Batterers scored lower on the vocabulary subtest and higher on the SMAST than did control participants. Controlling for vocabulary ability and SMAST scores, compared to controls, batterers took significantly longer to complete Trails B. However, the groups did not significantly differ on the other neuropsychological measures. A discriminant analysis that included both the dependent and moderator variables was highly significant (p \u3c .001), explaining 24% of the variance. The WAIS-R vocabulary subtest score and the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST;! score were moderate contributors, and the Trails B completion time contributed slightly to the derivation of this function. A second discriminant analysis that included only the dependent variables was also significant (p \u3c .05), explaining only 7% of the variance. Trails B was the only contributor to this second equation. The hypothesis that batterers would perform more poorly on neuropsychological measures related to frontal lobe deficits (particularly inhibition) was partially supported. Controlling for vocabulary ability and SMAST scores, compared to controls, batterers took significantly longer to complete Trails B but the groups did not significantly differ on the other neuropsychological measures. Trails B draws on the participant\u27s ability to regulate competing response sets. Therefore, longer completion times suggests participants may not be as good at inhibiting the competing response and thus take longer to complete the task. Trails B is the only frontal lobe measure in which the two groups performed differently. Thus, little support was found for the hypothesis that compared to controls, batterers have more frontal lobe deficits. Future directions for research in this area are discussed

Number and size of randomised trials reported in general health care journals from 1948-1997

BACKGROUND: Randomized trials are important for controlling selection biases, and where sufficient numbers of participants are involved, have the potential to yield reliable estimates of treatment effects. METHODS: We investigated trends in the number and size of randomized trials reported in general health care journals from 1948 to 1997. From the handsearching of 18 general health care journals we collected data on the number of reports of randomized trials in each journal per year, and the number of participants in each trial. RESULTS: A total of 5503 reports of trials were identified in 18 general health care journals. More than a third appeared in the British Medical Journal. The peak period for trial reports was the mid 1980s, with more in 1986 than any other year (242). By the mid 1990s the number per year had declined by a third. Trials with fewer than 100 participants accounted for most of the reports (69%). In spite of the overall decline in the number of trial reports, those involving 100 participants or more continued to increase throughout the period studied. CONCLUSIONS: The continued increase in the number of larger trials reported is encouraging, especially if it represents an increase in the size of trials more generally. Further research is needed to determine whether the trends over time identified here are reflective more of trends in the actual conduct of, rather than simply the reporting, of randomized trials

Maraviroc versus efavirenz, both in combination with zidovudine-lamivudine, for the treatment of antiretroviral-naive subjects with CCR5-tropic HIV-1 infection

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe