Diagnosed: Consolidating an Authentic Self within the Practice of Narrative Medicine

Diagnosed: Consolidating an Authentic Self within the Practice of Narrative Medicine If initially conceived by Rita Charon as a “unifying designation to signify a clinical practice informed by the theory and practice of reading, writing, telling and receiving of stories,” Narrative Medicine quickly outgrew is originating medical setting to encompass a more extended healing environment. Fortunate to have participated in two of the earliest workshops, I discovered that the practice of narrative medicine integrated for the first time all aspects of my disparate personal and professional life: my academic work in trauma theory and Woolf Studies; my recovery from childhood abuse; my practice of poetry; and my long familiarity with the medical profession Inspired by Rita Charon’s example, I have sought to articulate the silence and gaps in the narratives of the most vulnerable among us—the physically, sexually, and emotionally abused. This paper will explore perhaps the most compelling opportunity which I have been afforded to embody convey the possibility of such integration to others. At the University of Connecticut Stamford’s Center for Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, I have been able to discuss the relationship between trauma—medical and mental—creativity, and self-silencing. Contrasting poems written at different ages of my life, I have been able to exemplify the reclamation of self from the various diagnoses that had been attached to me. Informed by Narrative Medicine’s practice of close reading, my presentations allow others to share their own experiences at whatever stage in a nurturing environment that encourages personal awareness together with an academic understanding of the effects of trauma

The EIU Student Life Survey: Explanations for Involvement

The research reported in this paper was designed to assist the EIU General Education Assessment Committee to understand the ways in which undergraduate students made use of their time on campus, both in-class and out-of-class. The results provided stakeholders with information to support student activities and student involvement. The survey instrument used for data collection is also attached

Zoom invariant vision of figural shape: The mathematics of cores

Believing that figural zoom invariance and the cross-figural boundary linking implied by medial loci are important aspects of object shape, we present the mathematics of and algorithms for the extraction of medial loci directly from image intensities. The medial loci called cores are defined as generalized maxima in scale space of a form of medial information that is invariant to translation, rotation, and in particular, zoom. These loci are very insensitive to image disturbances, in strong contrast to previously available medial loci, as demonstrated in a companion paper. Core-related geometric properties and image object representations are laid out which, together with the aforementioned insensitivities, allow the core to be used effectively for a variety of image analysis objectives.

ν(νˉ)\nu(\bar\nu)-208^{208}Pb deep inelastic scattering

Nuclear-medium effects in the weak structure functions $F_2(x,Q^2)$ and $F_3(x,Q^2)$ in the charged current neutrino and antineutrino induced deep inelastic reactions in $^{208}$Pb have been studied. The calculations have been performed in a theoretical model using relativistic nuclear spectral functions which incorporate Fermi motion, binding and nucleon correlations. We also consider the pion and rho meson cloud contributions calculated from a microscopic model for meson-nucleus self-energies. Using these structure functions, the results for the differential cross section have been obtained and compared with the CERN Hybrid Oscillation Research apparatUS (CHORUS) data. The results for the ratios $\frac{2F_{i}^{Pb}}{208F_i^D}$, $\frac{4F_{i}^{Pb}}{208F_i^{He}}$, $\frac{12F_{i}^{Pb}}{208F_i^C}$, $\frac{16F_{i}^{Pb}}{208F_i^O}$, and $\frac{56F_{i}^{Pb}}{208F_i^{Fe}}$ (i=2,3) have also been obtained and a few have been compared with some of the phenomenological fits.Comment: 19Pages, 12 Fig

An underwater neutral-buoyancy telerobot for zero-gravity simulation with attitude control and automatic balancing

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1991.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-128).by Kurt D. Eberly.M.S

NASA Cube Quest Challenge: Citizen Inventors Advance CubeSats into Deep Space on 2018 EM-1 Mission

Cube Quest Challenge, sponsored by Space Technology Mission Directorate\u27s Centennial Challenges program, is NASA\u27s first in-space prize competition. Cube Quest is open to any U.S.-based, nongovernment CubeSat developer. Entrants will compete for one of three available 6U CubeSat dispenser slots on the EM-1 mission - the first un-crewed lunar flyby of the Orion spacecraft launched by the Space Launch System in early 2018. The Cube Quest Challenge will award up to $5M in prizes. The advanced CubeSat technologies demonstrated by Cube Quest winners will enable NASA, universities, and industry to more quickly and affordably accomplish science and exploration objectives. This paper describes the teams, their novel CubeSat designs, and the emerging technologies for CubeSat operations in deep space environment. Over a 2-year development period, teams demonstrate progress and vie for one of three available dispenser slots on NASA\u27s SLS vehicle through a series of ground-based competitions called Ground Tournaments . The first Ground Tournament (GT-1) was conducted in August of 2015. The remaining three events are at roughly 6-month intervals. Judges assess the team\u27s designs and mission plans for technical excellence and compliance with rules and safety requirements. The top three winners of the fourth Ground Tournament, scheduled for March 2017, will be selected for integration with the SLS vehicle. After being dispensed in a trans-lunar injection trajectory, the three competing CubeSats will boldly go where no CubeSat has operated before, to compete at the moon and well beyond. The in-space competition is also open to qualified teams that can procure their own launch. There are two competition tracks: Lunar Derby requires teams to successfully achieve and maintain a lunar orbit, while the Deep Space Derby will be conducted only after CubeSats have achieved a range of over 4M km from Earth. Once in either lunar orbit or beyond 4M km, teams will attempt to achieve or exceed communications data goals (rates and data volume over time), to survive the longest (up to a year), and to successfully communicate from the farthest distance (for the Deep Space Derby). To survive in deep space and demonstrate the rigor needed to operate at the moon or beyond and attempt prizes, teams will have to push the envelope of CubeSat capabilities. Teams will have to demonstrate advancements in propulsion in order to get into lunar orbit, in navigation without GPS or Earth\u27s magnetic field, in reliability, in fault tolerance and radiation hardening to survive and operate in deep space beyond the Van Allen belts, and in long distance communications capabilities that no CubeSat has previously demonstrated. Twelve teams of citizen inventors registered for GT-1 and ten for GT-2. About two thirds of the competitors are from academia, while the remaining teams are small companies. At GT-1 there was one high school team and a team comprised of one individual engineer. Cube Quest is open to any team at no charge. Teams develop CubeSats on their own time without government support

The metabolic syndrome adds utility to the prediction of mortality over its components: The Vietnam Experience Study

Background\ud The metabolic syndrome increases mortality risk. However, as “non-affected” individuals may still have up to two risk factors, the utility of using three or more components to identify the syndrome, and its predictive advantage over individual components have yet to be determined.\ud \ud Methods\ud Participants, male Vietnam-era veterans (n = 4265) from the USA, were followed-up from 1985/1986 for 14.7 years (61,498 person-years), and all-cause and cardiovascular disease deaths collated. Cox's proportional-hazards regression was used to assess the effect of the metabolic syndrome and its components on mortality adjusting for a wide range of potential confounders.\ud \ud Results\ud At baseline, 752 participants (17.9%) were identified as having metabolic syndrome. There were 231 (5.5%) deaths from all-causes, with 60 from cardiovascular disease. After adjustment for a range of covariates, the metabolic syndrome increased the risk of all-cause, HR 2.03, 95%CI 1.52, 2.71, and cardiovascular disease mortality, HR 1.92, 95%CI 1.10, 3.36. Risk increased dose-dependently with increasing numbers of components. The increased risk from possessing only one or two components was not statistically significant. The adjusted risk for four or more components was greater than for only three components for both all-cause, HR 2.30, 95%CI 1.45, 3.66 vs. HR 1.70, 95%CI 1.11, 2.61, and cardiovascular disease mortality, HR 3.34, 95%CI 1.19, 9.37 vs. HR 2.81, 95%CI 1.07, 7.35. The syndrome was more informative than the individual components for all-cause mortality, but could not be assessed for cardiovascular disease mortality due to multicollinearity. Hyperglycaemia was the individual strongest parameter associated with mortality.\ud \u

Factors related to genetic testing in adults at risk for Huntington disease: the prospective Huntington at-risk observational study (PHAROS)

Huntington disease (HD) is a late onset ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by a cytosine-adenine-guanine ( CAG) triplet repeat expansion in the Huntingtin gene which was discovered in 1993. The PHAROS study is a unique observational study of 1001 individuals at risk for HD who had not been previously tested for HD and who had no plans to do so. In this cohort, 104 (10%) individuals changed their minds and chose to be tested during the course of the study but outside of the study protocol. Baseline behavioral scores, especially apathy, were more strongly associated with later genetic testing than motor and chorea scores, particularly among subjects with expanded CAG repeat length. In the CAG expanded group, those choosing to be tested were older and had more chorea and higher scores on the behavioral section of the unified Huntington's disease rating scale at baseline than those not choosing to be tested. Following genetic testing, 56% of subjects with CAG < 37 had less depression when compared to prior to testing, but depression generally stayed the same or increased for 64% of subjects in the expanded group. This finding suggests that approaches to testing must continue to be cautious, with appropriate medical, psychological and social support

Witness: The Modern Writer as Witness

Editor\u27s Note [Excerpt] Magic can mean many different things, especially for writers. Magic can be an illusion, a sleight of hand designed to trick onlookers into believing the impossible. Or magic can be a supernatural force in a world of harsh reality, a set of beliefs that sits just outside the realms of organized religion and advanced technology. Wizards and demons, Las Vegas entertainers and houngans --they all practice a kind of sorcery. For poets and prose writers, though, magic affords an opportunity for us to stretch the limitations of the physical world in search of new themes, settings, and characters. Magic is a door we eagerly walk through to reach new lands. We at Witness have thoroughly enjoyed the process of selecting the themed works we have collected here, mainly because the idea of enchantment is inspiring. There is the possibility of positive charms; there is a chance for dark witchery. And sometimes the spell cast by a character is nebulous, difficult to categorize. It’s arguable that we cherish these incantations the most, since they leave us in a state of wonderment bordering on disorientation. Yes, magic can also leave us bewildered and thankful for the bewilderment.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/witness/1001/thumbnail.jp