David Thatcher Gies: Theatre and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Spain: Juan de Grimaldi as lmpresario and Government Agent

Review of: David Thatcher Gies. Theatre and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Spain: Juan de Grimaldi as lmpresario and Government Agent, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988, 257 pp

"This illness diminishes me. What it does is like theft" : A qualitative meta-synthesis of people's experiences of living with asthma

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This review was funded through a Seed Grant from the Centre for Research Excellence in Severe Asthma, Australia. The Healthtalk resources included in the systematic review were produced by two of the co-authors on the systematic review (SK and LL). LL is supported by NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Analysis of Vertebrae Pathologies of Grave A650 Chryssi Island, Crete, Greece

This study of multiple, co-mingled adult individuals located in grave A650 on Chryssi Island, Crete, Greece, examines the prevalence of several pathologies of the vertebrae. This grave was built into a collapsed Late Minoan period house (1400-1100 B.C.E.). Grave A650, which likely dates to the 5th – 7th century C.E., shows evidence of being used over a long period of time and may have served as an ossuary. The pathologies of approximately 30 recovered vertebrae, both complete and incomplete, show signs of degenerative joint disease, spondylolisthesis, and body expansion. Researching this data aims to accomplish a comprehensive understanding of what the present pathologies indicate about the physical activity endured by individuals during their lifetime. Conclusions of this data reveal these co-mingled individuals endured intense and sustained physical activity throughout their lives. There were high numbers of degenerative joint diseases in the thoracic vertebrae, which could indicate repetitive movement in bending down. A plausible cause of this intense labor could be slavery, as revealed by accompanying evidence in the ossuary itself

High-Impact Practices in Anthropology: Creating a Bridge Between Liberal Arts and Neoliberal Values

Neoliberal values are dramatically affecting higher education in the United States, with a focus on running these institutions as businesses and molding students into productive workers. This shift toward training and away from traditional liberal arts education at U.S. universities and colleges has occurred even as studies demonstrate that the ability to adapt in a rapidly evolving marketplace promotes long-term professional success. While neoliberalism and traditional liberal arts education are often seen as antithetical, we show how one anthropology program has combined these values into pedagogical practice through a select subset of high impact practices to improve academic outcomes for low achieving students. Student feedback shows that they value our approach as a positive feature of our major. This study finds that neoliberal skills-based training and academically rigorous liberal arts education are not mutually exclusive and, in conjunction, can lead to improved student outcomes

The Art of Teaching Anthropology: Examples from Biological Anthropology

Teaching in a college or university setting has many challenges, including often-inadequate preparation in graduate school and the requirement to develop new courses, often in a short period of time. Anthropology faculty are at a particular disadvantage because anthropology lacks any discipline-specific journals for the publication of articles on the scholarship of teaching and learning. Many anthropology faculty desire to have more resources available for course and assignment development. In this chapter, we present several examples of course syllabi, class activities, and a sample student paper that faculty can use as they develop or revise anthropology courses

Isometric exercise-induced hemodynamic load strongly predicts left ventricular mass in hypertension

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Breaking through the Sexed Glass Ceiling: Women in Academic Leadership Positions

In 2009, Patterson, Kirschke, Seaton and Hossfeld revisited the ongoing conversation about gender inequity and inequality in higher education. Their work entitled Challenges for Women Department Chairs (New Prairie Press, 2009) focused on the numerous gaps – salary, promotion, discrimination, harassment -- that define women’s experiences in academic leadership. The emerging trends in academia still suggest that the work that they started in 2009 continues to be a vital concern for women in academic leadership positions. Very little research exists in relation to the intersectional conversations that need to occur when these gendered gaps are coupled with other aspects of difference including age, appearance, race, field and ethnicity. In spite of the lack of research focused on the intersections among aspects of difference as they relate to women in academic leadership, the lived experiences of women academic leaders is defined by both covert overt acts of gender-based and intersectional discrimination that is deeply entrenched in the academy. As women rise in the ranks of academic leadership, it is critical for women in academic leadership positions to address this entrenchment by exposing the multiple axes of this bias and by incorporating real-world solutions to the problems that we face. As importantly, this entrenchment has been complicated by the ways in which the current political climate has impacted the work of the university in reference sexism, racism and the risk of campus carry initiatives. Women serving in leadership roles at the college level, provost level and as department chairs – arguably one of the most difficult positions in academia – must advocate for their own work as academic leaders while simultaneously continuing to expand their administrative and research profiles. In this seminar, participants will have the opportunity to evaluate, discuss and respond to real-life scenarios focused on women in academic leadership. The panelists will frame the discussion by presenting an extensive literature review, relevant data and experience-driven solutions so that presenters will leave the panel with a heuristic through which to derive solutions for the issues that women leaders in academia face. Participants will have the opportunity to review case studies and derive real-world solutions to the problems that women leader face in academia

Untimely illness:When diagnosis does not match age-related expectations

Background We explore the concept of “untimely diagnosis,” where the onset of a long-term condition occurs at a life stage which does not conform to traditional expectations, focusing on two conditions (asthma and arthritis) typically associated with a particular life stage (childhood and older adulthood, respectively). Previous literature has focused on the meaning of chronic illness in terms of life history, and the biographical lens has been used in various ways to make sense of the experience. Less attention has been paid to the condition onset when it seems dissonant with chronological age. Methods Secondary analysis of two qualitative data sets (total 58 interviews) exploring the experiences of people with adult-onset asthma and young people diagnosed with arthritis. Data from the original interview transcripts relating to diagnosis and symptom recognition were re-analysed using a “candidacy” framework to examine how age and diagnosis intersect. Results People did not always assert their candidacy for either condition because of pre-conceived expectations around age. Similarly, health professionals sometimes failed to recognize patients’ candidacy, instead pursuing “age-plausible” possibilities. In some cases, participants were proactive in suggesting a diagnosis to the health professional where diagnosis was delayed. Conclusion The diagnosis of adult-onset asthma, and arthritis in young people, may be regarded as “untimely.” We suggest that being diagnosed with what is perceived to be a “childhood” condition in adulthood, or “an older person's” condition in childhood, may be viewed as a “biographical paradox” and an “untimely breach” to the expected order

Synchronous genitourinary lichen sclerosus signals a distinct urinary microbiome profile in men with urethral stricture disease.

PurposeAlterations in the urinary microbiome have been associated with urological diseases. The microbiome of patients with urethral stricture disease (USD) remains unknown. Our objective is to examine the microbiome of USD with a focus on inflammatory USD caused by lichen sclerosus (LS).MethodsWe collected mid-stream urine samples from men with LS-USD (cases; n = 22) and non-LS USD (controls; n = 76). DNA extraction, PCR amplification of the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene, and sequencing was done on the samples. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were defined using a > 97% sequence similarity threshold. Alpha diversity measurements of diversity, including microbiome richness (number of different OTUs) and evenness (distribution of OTUs) were calculated and compared. Microbiome beta diversity (difference between microbial communities) relationships with cases and controls were also assessed.ResultsFifty specimens (13 cases and 37 controls) produced a 16S rRNA amplicon. Mean sample richness was 25.9 vs. 16.8 (p = 0.076) for LS-USD vs. non-LS USD, respectively. LS-USD had a unique profile of bacteria by taxonomic order including Bacillales, Bacteroidales and Pasteurellales enriched urine. The beta variation of observed bacterial communities was best explained by the richness.ConclusionsMen with LS-USD may have a unique microbiologic richness, specifically inclusive of Bacillales, Bacteroidales and Pasteurellales enriched urine compared to those with non-LS USD. Further work will be required to elucidate the clinical relevance of these variations in the urinary microbiome

Involving service users in the qualitative analysis of patient narratives to support healthcare quality improvement

Economic and Social Research Council (ES/L01338X/1). Locock, L., Kirkpatrick, S., Brading, L. et al. Response to “comments on: involving service users in the qualitative analysis of patient narratives to support healthcare quality improvement. Res Involv Engagem 5, 26 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-019-0158-yPeer reviewedPublisher PD