Pragmatics and the consequentiality of talk: a study of members' methods at a planning application meeting

This study explores how talk is consequential by examining the sequential and pragmatic phenomena in talk-in-interaction. Reflecting the work of conversation analysis (CA), the approach assumes that the consequentiality of a 'context' must be demonstrated by the informants' sequential practices (cf. Schegloff 1987, Boden and Zimmerman 1991). However, in this study a model of consequentiality is proposed, in which not only sequential phenomena but also pragmatic categories are included within the repertoire of members' methods. In this way, the indexicality of language as explained by pragmatic theory is seen to contribute to the account of talk as consequential. The data represent a meeting between an urban planning department and a national development company in which a planning application is discussed. As such, members' methods are seen to invoke the institutional nature of the encounter, in which the formality of the setting and the work-related membership of the interactants is systematically oriented to. The talk consists of a series of negotiated issues in which the developers and the planners propose different candidate outcomes reflecting each party’s professional aims and the constraints they consider themselves to operate under. In particular, the analysis shows that candidate outcomes are largely managed by sequential preference systems and pragmatically characterized face-address (Brown and Levinson 1978, 1987).The notion of reflexivity is also seen as a significant component in the study of consequentiality. While the concept is a basic assumption in a CA framework (Garfinkel and Sacks 1969) and is also recognized as fundamental in pragmatic inquiry (Lucy 1993), few studies provide a detailed analysis of members' reflexive awareness of the contexts they create. In this study, the interactants' metalinguistic and metapragmatic orientation, invoked by both pragmatic and sequential methods, is shown to be a prevalent members' resource for indicating awareness of consequentiality. Finally, observations of the kind made in this thesis, wherein pragmatic categories both work together and are systematically related to the sequential environment, contribute to a general re-analysis of pragmatic meaning. At the same time, the interaction of pragmatic and sequential features also represents a dynamic starting point for developing new methodological categories for investigating talk-in-interaction

The value of best-practice guidelines for OSCEs in a postgraduate program in an Australian remote area setting

© CA Jeffery, ML Mitchell, A Henderson, S Lenthall, S Knight, P Glover, M Kelly, D Nulty, M Groves, 2014. Introduction: Nurses in remote areas of Australia are the primary healthcare professionals, who need to be able to deliver comprehensive and culturally sensitive care to clients, many of whom are Indigenous Australians. Adequate and specific preparation for practice is crucial to the quality of care delivered by remote area nurses (RANs). Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) provide an excellent opportunity for student practice in a simulated environment that is safe, authentic, fair and valid when well constructed. Seven integrated best practice guidelines (BPGs), previously developed by project team members to inform OSCEs within educational programs, provided guidance in restructuring the OSCE. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the value of BPGs used in the development, teaching and learning, and evaluation of OSCEs in a rural and remote postgraduate course for RANs. Method: A pre-site visit to the Centre for Remote Health, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, was conducted with modification of the course and previous OSCE according to BPGs. Following delivery of the course and OSCE, evaluations occurred via a mixed method approach. Student surveys (n=15) and focus groups (n=13) and staff interviews (n=5) provided an in-depth analysis of their perceptions of the revised OSCE. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the student sample. The narrative data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using content analysis. Triangulation was achieved with the convergence of the separate data sources focusing on themes and patterns within and between students and tutors. Results: All 15 students and five tutors provided feedback. The majority of student participants had limited experience in working in remote area nursing prior to participation and therefore the opportunities that availed themselves were critical in adequately equipping them with the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities. Three themes emerged from the data: (1) value of common and significant events in OSCE; (2) power of deliberate actions; and (3) learning cultural sensitivity. Discussion: OSCEs in this setting proved to be a good way for students to learn the skills required by RANs. Overwhelmingly, the modifications using the BPGs were highly valued by students and staff. Three themes emerged and were clearly linked to specific BPGs, indicating the positive impact the BPGs had on the OSCEs and student learning. The authentic content for the scenarios was seen as relevant and motivational for student learning. The practice element of the OSCEs enhanced the learning experience and feedback supported learning. Conclusions: OSCEs developed, taught and assessed using BPGs were highly valued. The BPGs provided an integrated approach with real-life scenarios with a strong cultural perspective - all important features to the RANs' future success in providing individualised care to clients in remote areas of Australia. Further use of BPGs is recommended

The value of best-practice guidelines for OSCEs in postgraduate program in an Australian remote area setting

Introduction: Nurses in remote areas of Australia are the primary healthcare professionals, who need to be able to deliver comprehensive and culturally sensitive care to clients, many of whom are Indigenous Australians. Adequate and specific preparation for practice is crucial to the quality of care delivered by remote area nurses (RANs). Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE) provide an excellent opportunity for student practice in a simulated environment that is safe, authentic, fair and valid when well constructed. Seven integrated best practice guidelines (BPGs), previously developed by project team members to inform OSCEs within educational programs, provided guidance in restructuring the OSCE. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the value of BPGs used in the development, teaching and learning, and evaluation of OSCEs in a rural and remote postgraduate course for RANs. Method: A pre-site visit to the Centre for Remote Health, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, was conducted with modification of the course and previous OSCE according to BPGs. Following delivery of the course and OSCE, evaluations occurred via a mixed method approach. Student surveys (n=15) and focus groups (n=13) and staff interviews (n=5) provided an in-depth analysis of their perceptions of the revised OSCE. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the student sample. The narrative data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using content analysis. Triangulation was achieved with the convergence of the separate data sources focusing on themes and patterns within and between students and tutors.Results: All 15 students and five tutors provided feedback. The majority of student participants had limited experience in working in remote area nursing prior to participation and therefore the opportunities that availed themselves were critical in adequately equipping them with the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities. Three themes emerged from the data: (1) value of common and significant events in OSCE; (2) power of deliberate actions; and (3) learning cultural sensitivity.Discussion: OSCEs in this setting proved to be a good way for students to learn the skills required by RANs. Overwhelmingly, the modifications using the BPGs were highly valued by students and staff. Three themes emerged and were clearly linked to specific BPGs, indicating the positive impact the BPGs had on the OSCEs and student learning. The authentic content for the scenarios was seen as relevant and motivational for student learning. The practice element of the OSCEs enhanced the learning experience and feedback supported learning. Conclusions: OSCEs developed, taught and assessed using BPGs were highly valued. The BPGs provided an integrated approach with real-life scenarios with a strong cultural perspective – all important features to the RANs’ future success in providing individualised care to clients in remote areas of Australia. Further use of BPGs is recommended

The Quest for Orthologs benchmark service and consensus calls in 2020.

The identification of orthologs-genes in different species which descended from the same gene in their last common ancestor-is a prerequisite for many analyses in comparative genomics and molecular evolution. Numerous algorithms and resources have been conceived to address this problem, but benchmarking and interpreting them is fraught with difficulties (need to compare them on a common input dataset, absence of ground truth, computational cost of calling orthologs). To address this, the Quest for Orthologs consortium maintains a reference set of proteomes and provides a web server for continuous orthology benchmarking (http://orthology.benchmarkservice.org). Furthermore, consensus ortholog calls derived from public benchmark submissions are provided on the Alliance of Genome Resources website, the joint portal of NIH-funded model organism databases

Identification and functional characterisation of CRK12:CYC9, a novel cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-cyclin complex in Trypanosoma brucei

The protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei, is spread by the tsetse fly and causes trypanosomiasis in humans and animals. Both the life cycle and cell cycle of the parasite are complex. Trypanosomes have eleven cdc2-related kinases (CRKs) and ten cyclins, an unusually large number for a single celled organism. To date, relatively little is known about the function of many of the CRKs and cyclins, and only CRK3 has previously been shown to be cyclin-dependent in vivo. Here we report the identification of a previously uncharacterised CRK:cyclin complex between CRK12 and the putative transcriptional cyclin, CYC9. CRK12:CYC9 interact to form an active protein kinase complex in procyclic and bloodstream T. brucei. Both CRK12 and CYC9 are essential for the proliferation of bloodstream trypanosomes in vitro, and we show that CRK12 is also essential for survival of T. brucei in a mouse model, providing genetic validation of CRK12:CYC9 as a novel drug target for trypanosomiasis. Further, functional characterisation of CRK12 and CYC9 using RNA interference reveals roles for these proteins in endocytosis and cytokinesis, respectively

Conditional genome engineering reveals canonical and divergent roles for the Hus1 component of the 9-1-1 complex in the maintenance of the plastic genome of Leishmania.

Leishmania species are protozoan parasites whose remarkably plastic genome limits the establishment of effective genetic manipulation and leishmaniasis treatment. The strategies used by Leishmania to maintain its genome while allowing variability are not fully understood. Here, we used DiCre-mediated conditional gene deletion to show that HUS1, a component of the 9-1-1 (RAD9- RAD1-HUS1) complex, is essential and is required for a G2/M checkpoint. By analyzing genome wide instability in HUS1 ablated cells, HUS1 is shown to have a conserved role, by which it preserves genome stability, and also a divergent role, by which it promotes genome variability. These roles of HUS1 are related to distinct patterns of formation and resolution of single-stranded DNA and γH2A, throughout the cell cycle. Our findings suggest that Leishmania 9-1-1 subunits have evolved to co-opt canonical genomic maintenance and genomic variation functions. Hence, this study reveals a pivotal function of HUS1 in balancing genome stability and transmission in Leishmania. These findings may be relevant to understanding the evolution of genome maintenance and plasticity in other pathogens and eukaryote

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

An Application of the Concept of the Therapeutic Alliance To Sadomasochistic Pathology

This paper traces the history of the therapeutic alliance concept, examining how it has been used and misused, at times elevated to a central position and at others rejected altogether. The loss of this concept created a vacuum in classical psychoanalysis that has been filled by rival theories. The continuing usefulness of looking at the treatment process through the lens of the therapeutic alliance, particularly in relation to the manifold difficulties of working with sadomasochistic pathology, is suggested. To this end, revisions of the theory of the therapeutic alliance are suggested to address some of the difficulties that have arisen in conceptualizing this aspect of the therapeutic relationship, and to provide an integrated dynamic model for working with patients at each phase of treatment. This revised model acknowledges the complexity of the domain and encompasses the multiple tasks, functions, partners, and treatment phases involved. The utility of the revised theory is illustrated in application to understanding the sadomasochistic, omnipotent resistances of a female patient through the phases of her analysis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66889/2/10.1177_00030651980460031301.pd