Navigating Postmodernism & Critical Theory in Family Therapy

Postmodern and critical theories have become important theoretical paradigms encouraging therapists to honor diversity and combat oppressive social structures and practices. However, at times, these two paradigms have been thought to position therapists in contradictory ways, with critical models advocating for activism and postmodern models encouraging pluralism. In many ways, these two therapeutic positions have come to characterize two distinct ways of conceptualizing therapist roles, with little conversation about how to embrace both stances in clinical practice. Through a grounded theory analysis, fifteen family therapists known for working within postmodern and critical paradigms shared with us how they navigate between positions of activism and pluralism in clinical practice. We found that therapists described their work in similar ways, engaging in a set of shared constructionist practices: therapist transparency, Inquiry as intervention, and staying experience near, and also employed therapeutic activism in different ways, with counter activism and collaborative activism representing two distinct stances. Keywords: postmodernism, critical theory, collaborative activism, social justic

Tourism

Sydney has been shaped by tourism but in a large metropolis, where tourist experiences so often overlap with everyday activity, its impact often escapes attention. Urban tourism involves not just international visitors, but people from interstate and regional NSW and even day trippers, who all see and use the city differently. Tourist Sydney has never been the same as workaday Sydney – the harbour, beaches, city centre, the Blue Mountains and national parks to the north and south loomed disproportionately large in the tourist gaze, while vast swathes of suburbia were invisible

Diversifying assessment across the ‘Two Cultures’: student-produced podcasts in Geography

Since 2008, following growing collective interest in learning technologies and pedagogy, Geography and History departments at Northumbria and Newcastle Universities have successfully incorporated student-generated podcasting into a mixture of science, humanities and social science modules across all undergraduate levels. This paper presents a number of innovative examples using this approach, with the aim of promoting student creativity and analytical skills in ways different from traditional report- or essay-based assessments. It goes on to consider some of the advantages and challenges of this alternative assessment mode, from both student and tutor perspectives, across the science-humanities divide

When too much entertainment is barely enough : current affairs television in the 1990s

The article examines the state of current affairs journalism and looks at news values versus entertainment values

Medication Administration: interactive multimedia package for nurses

This program has been designed for undergraduate Nursing Science students to enable an in-depth investigation of the principles and practices of Medication Administration. From the Nurse's Station (see screenshot) you can select from: 1. Tutorials: The Tutorial has two purposes:- it teaches you how to use this software, and provides short teaching segments on different aspects of medication administration. It is recommended that if you are new to using computers you begin here. If you have any difficulties in the other sections, you may also need to refer to this section. 2. References: Provides a list of references used to produce this package. 3. Help: Provides balloon explanations of the screens and controls in the various sections. 4. Calculation: Allows you to practice calculating dosages required for different patients. 5. Principles of Administration: Is a short tutorial about administering medication. 6. Medication Round: Allows you to go on a medication round. 7. Quit: Exits the package

The effect of cancer stage and treatment modality on quality of life in oropharyngeal cancer

Objectives/Hypothesis To examine changes in health-related quality of life among oropharyngeal cancer patients by stages and across treatment types among advanced cancer patients. Study Design Individual prospective cohort study. Methods All newly diagnosed patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with curative intent were routinely assessed. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) both the Main Module quality-of-life questionnaire (QLQ-C30) and the Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) Module (QLQ-H&N35) were administered at diagnosis and 3, 6, and 12 months thereafter. Complete case analysis was used following assessment of missing data. The proportion of patients with clinically significant deterioration (changes of ≥10 points) from baseline were calculated for each follow-up time point and compared by stage (I/II vs. III/IV) and then treatment type (chemotherapy and radiotherapy [CRT] vs. surgery and postoperative radiotherapy [S&PORT]). Results Deterioration in most domains was most frequent for stage III/IV patients at 3 months (both modules), whereas stage I/II patients experienced this at 6 months (QLQ-C30) and 12 months (H&N35). Among stage III/IV patients, this happened at all time points for S&PORT patients (QLQ-C30) versus 12 months for CRT patients (H&N35). The number of patients reporting deterioration was lower for most domains at 12 months compared to earlier periods, although dry mouth remained a problem for most patients (60%-85% across treatment/stage groups). Conclusions Our preliminary findings suggest that general and disease-specific deterioration is of most concern for stage I/II patients at 6 and 12 months and at 3 months for advanced cancer patients. For stage III/IV patients receiving S&PORT, general deterioration remains a problem after diagnosis, whereas for CRT patients, disease-specific deterioration is of most concern at 12 months. Level of Evidence 4. Laryngoscope, 124:151-158, 201

Perspectives on relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S): A qualitative case study of athletes, coaches and medical professionals from a super league netball club

Background Research into relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) has increased substantially over recent years given the impact on athletes’ health and performance. Most studies have considered sports that place emphasis on the aesthetics, endurance, or weight-restriction. Fewer studies exist in team sports. Netball is a team sport yet to be explored despite players potentially being at risk of RED-S given the high training volumes, sporting culture, internal and external pressures, and small network of coaches and medical professionals. A qualitative case study was used to explore the perspective of athletes, coaches, and medical professionals on RED-S. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 players, 4 coaches and 4 medical professionals affiliated to a Super League club. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results Five main themes were identified in this study. Awareness of RED-S amongst athletes and coaches was generally inadequate whereas medical professionals had some awareness of RED-S. Some athletes used contraception to reduce discomfort/pain during menstruation whilst others expressed concerns around long-term contraceptive use and previous menstrual cycle disturbance. Sporting demands, individual and contextual factors, and a preoccupation with body image were associated with nutritional restriction, whilst appearance was a source of internal and external pressure. External pressures also extended to coaches, assessments/feedback, social media, and commentary. Strategies suggested to reduce the risk of RED-S included “hard hitting cases”, multidisciplinary team involvement, and support from the governing body. Conclusion The findings of this study provide insight into factors potentially associated with the risk of RED-S from an athletes, coaches, and medical professional perspective. This insight can be used to increase overall awareness of RED-S in key stakeholders as well as improve the recognition for the pressures netball athletes face that might alter the level of risk

Understanding park visitors’ soundscape perception using subjective and objective measurement

Environmental noise knows no boundaries, affecting even protected areas. Noise pollution, originating from both external and internal sources, imposes costs on these areas. It is associated with adverse health effects, while natural sounds contribute to cognitive and emotional improvements as ecosystem services. When it comes to parks, individual visitors hold unique perceptions of soundscapes, which can be shaped by various factors such as their motivations for visiting, personal norms, attitudes towards specific sounds, and expectations. In this study, we utilized linear models and geospatial data to evaluate how visitors’ personal norms and attitudes, the park’s acoustic environment, visitor counts, and the acoustic environment of visitors’ neighborhoods influenced their perception of soundscapes at Muir Woods National Monument. Our findings indicate that visitors’ subjective experiences had a greater impact on their perception of the park’s soundscape compared to purely acoustic factors like sound level of the park itself. Specifically, we found that motivations to hear natural sounds, interference caused by noise, sensitivity to noise, and the sound levels of visitors’ home neighborhoods influenced visitors’ perception of the park’s soundscape. Understanding how personal factors shape visitors’ soundscape perception can assist urban and non-urban park planners in effectively managing visitor experiences and expectations

Androgen Receptor Copy Number Variation and Androgenetic Alopecia: A Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND: The functional polymorphism that explains the established association of the androgen receptor (AR) with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) remains unidentified, but Copy Number Variation (CNV) might be relevant. CNV involves changes in copy number of large segments of DNA, leading to the altered dosage of gene regulators or genes themselves. Two recent reports indicate regions of CNV in and around AR, and these have not been studied in relation to AGA. The aim of this preliminary case-control study was to determine if AR CNV is associated with AGA, with the hypothesis that CNV is the functional AR variant contributing to this condition. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification was used to screen for CNV in five AR exons and a conserved, non-coding region upstream of AR in 85 men carefully selected as cases and controls for maximal phenotypic contrast. There was no evidence of CNV in AR in any of the cases or controls, and thus no evidence of significant association between AGA and AR CNV. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results suggest this form of genomic variation at the AR locus is unlikely to predispose to AGA