Reflections on Doing Research Grounded in My Experience of Perinatal Loss: From Auto/biography to Autoethnography

This article, derived from my doctoral dissertation (Davidson 2007) examining the emergence of hospital protocols for perinatal bereavement during the last half of the twentieth century in Canada, focuses on the methodological complexities – the draw, the drain, and the delight of doing qualitative research grounded in my own experience of perinatal loss. With my dissertation now a fait a complete, reflecting back on my research, my use of autoethnography at this point allows a return to a story that has already happened and involves \'\'the construction and reconstruction\' of my personal 2 experiences as narratives\' (Autrey 2003: 10). Taking this narrative turn, my enquiry here shifts auto/biography to autoethnography as a mode of enquiry.Qualitative Research; Feminist Research; Perinatal Loss and Grief; Bereavement; Experience; Auto/biography; Autoethnography

Partners and Peers: Sexual and Dating Violence Among NYC Youth

Partners and Peers found that youth tell other youth -- if they tell anyone at all -- about their experiences. This makes it essential that information is available to teens in a format they can utilize. The Teen Health Map, with a subway map on one side and youth-friendly referral guide to health and sexual violence resources on the other, was developed by the Alliance to support those who participated in the study. This has become an important resource on its own as a confidential source of information that youth can share with each other. In its second printing, the map has been purchased by the NYC Department of Education and Department of Youth and Community Development for those they serve. The Teen Health Map was tested extensively and developed to young people's specifications for use and confidentiality

An adult social care compendium of approaches and tools for organisational change

The purpose of this compendium is to support managers working in adult social care to be more knowledgeable about and confident in the application of different approaches and tools relevant to managing change in their organisations. In the compendium an ‘approach to change’ is used to denote an ‘overarching framework that can guide a change process’ and ‘change management tools’ as ‘techniques or templates to understand or support a specific aspect of the change process’. Examples of the latter would be stakeholder mapping exercises, organisational diagnostic methodologies, engagement processes, and direct team based interventions. The compendium does not provide detailed guidance on how to apply each approach and tool, but presents an accessible overview of what each entails, the thinking that lies behind them, and (where available) a reflection on the empirical evidence of their application in practice. Having access to this information will help to demystify the often confusing and intimidating terminology that surrounds change approaches, and in doing so will enable managers to identify the approaches most relevant to a change they are leading and explore in more depth. Understanding the method being followed will also support individuals who access services and their families to engage on a more equal playing field within a change process. This includes people who access services and their families. While potentially relevant to social care managers working at all levels of an organisation, the compendium is specifically designed for those responsible for a single service (e.g. home care team, residential care home) or team (e.g. care management team), and those who directly manage service and team managers

An Evaluation of Ecolabels, Standards & Certifications in the Chemical Industry

In recent years, ecolabels, standards and certifications (ESCs) have been increasingly utilized to signal a product’s environmental and socially responsible profile, both in the business-to-business and business-to-consumer spheres. The growing demand for this sustainability information from consumers, retailers, and governments has put pressure on the suppliers to provide qualitative and quantitative data on products’ environmental footprint. A multi-national chemical company and the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources team have collaborated to conduct this master’s project, An Evaluation of Ecolabels, Standards & Certifications in the Chemical Industry. The purpose of this project is to provide a strategy for multinational chemical companies to better engage their customers in the marketplace in a way that supports the transfer of sustainability information throughout the value chain. The student team engaged with stakeholders in sustainability reporting, studied a number of ecolabel schemes, and developed a survey addressing members of the home and personal care industry to learn from their experience and priorities. Results of the survey indicate that home and personal care manufacturers expect to double the percentage of their products labeled with an ESC in the next five years. Manufacturers use ESCs on finished products to differentiate, and to increase market penetration and perception of product quality. The main barriers to this use of ESCs are the lack of accredited raw materials and supplier information. The R&D department is most often the agent pursuing ingredients labeled with an ESC and the most important decision-making factors influencing procurement are unsurprisingly, performance and price. Suppliers of ingredients to home and personal care manufacturers can use valuable ESCs as a short-term measure to communicate the ingredient sustainability information, but given the ongoing development of the ESC marketplace, businesses throughout the value chain should continue to collaborate with stakeholders and watch for trends.Master of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90877/1/An_Evaluation_of_Ecolabels,_Standards_and_Certifications_in_the_Chemical_Industry[1].pd

Chemical and spectroscopic studies of chromone derivatives

Various chromone derivatives have been used in asthma therapy, and their biological activity is apparently related to certain chemical features which include conformation and acidity. In the present study, substituent effects on conformation and acidity have been explored in chromone systems with potential biological activity. A range of variously substituted symmetrical chromone-2-carboxamides (including a series of N,N-dimethylchromone-2-carboxamides) have been prepared via chromone-2-carboxylic acids, which, in turn, were prepared from the corresponding o-hydroxyacetophenones. The N,N-dimethylchromone-2-carboxamides were prepared by reacting the appropriate chromone-2-carbonyl chlorides with dimethylammonium chloride in pyridine, in an approach which resolved various problems encountered in the preparation of these compounds. Substituent effects on the conformation of chromone-2-carboxamides have been explored using dynamic NMR spectroscopy, and the observed splitting of the N-alkyl signals has been attributed to slow site-exchange of the N-alkyl substituents. Dynamic NMR frequency separations and coalescence temperatures have been used to calculate rotational energy barriers, and substituent effects on these rotational energy barriers have been analysed. The possible implication of ring-opening of chromones in chromone pharmacology has also been examined. A range of 3-(2-hydroxybenzoyl)acrylamides has been prepared via the dimethylamine-mediated ring-opening of N,N-dimethylchromone-2-carboxamides and the E-double-bond configuration of the ring-opened products has been unambiguously established by single crystal analysis of the parent system. The configuration and conformation of the crystal structure of the parent system have been shown, using IR and NMR spectroscopic, and molecular graphics techniques, to be maintained in solution and to characterise the whole series. ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy have also been used to study the dimethylamine-mediated ring-opening of disodium cromoglycate. The kinetics of the dimethylamine-mediated ring-opening of N,N-dimethylchromone-2-carboxamides have been studied using UV spectroscopy. These reactions have been shown to follow third-order kinetics overall and a mechanism accommodating the observed third-order kinetics has been proposed. Substituent effects have been further investigated by the potentiometric determination of the pKa (pK [subscript a]) values for a series of chromone-2-carboxylic acids. The relationship between acidity and the observed rate constants has been explored and has verified that the observed rate constants are sensitive to the influence of meta-substituents on the stability of the phenoxide ion "leaving group" rather than C-2 electrophilicity