Saints in Space and the Queer Fantastic

The following thesis is a creative work focused around saints, space, and whales. The work is comprised of both fiction and creative non-fiction pieces, introduced by a critical-creative preface which examined the intellectual background of the work as well as the author’s creative process. The pieces within cover subject matter pertaining to wonderment, the fantastic, and whales in space. They pay particular attention to relationships between queer women, to the imaginative possibilities of outer-space and the ocean, and mapping the way to a hopeful futur

The Use of Disposable Chlorhexidine Wipes Compared to Traditional Bed Bath

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1218/thumbnail.jp

Math Tutoring Choice Board (Version 2)

This choice board invites students and teachers to Draw math comics about mathematical concepts. Create a 3D monument to honor women mathematicians. Make a math story using stop motion animation. Write a poem using the Fibonacci sequence in nature. And many more ways to explore and learn math.https://scholarworks.umass.edu/tecs_ed_materials/1053/thumbnail.jp

When Tutors Self Tutor: What Preservice Teachers Learn about Themselves, Technology, and Teaching during a Time of Remote Learning

Tutoring has been called “the act of saying to somebody else, ‘Let me help you learn’ ” (Chin, Rabow, & Estrada, 2011, p. 2). Teacher preparation programs regularly encourage college students becoming elementary or secondary school teachers to tutor younger learners as an early school-based field experience. Tutors, acting as teachers, must learn how to provide ideas and information to aid and encourage students to accomplish learning goals. Tutors must also assess the effectiveness of their decisions about when and how to implement different instructional strategies to respond to students’ needs

Acetone ingestion mimics a fasting state to improve glucose tolerance in a mouse model of gestational hyperglycemia

Gestational diabetes mellitus results, in part, from a sub‐optimal β‐cell mass (BCM) during pregnancy. Artemisinins were reported to increase BCM in models of diabetes by α‐ to β‐cell conversion leading to enhanced glucose tolerance. We used a mouse model of gestational glucose intolerance to compare the effects of an artemisinin (artesunate) on glycemia of pregnant mice with vehicle treatment (acetone) or no treatment. Animals were treated daily from gestational days (GD) 0.5 to 6.5. An intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test was performed prior to euthanasia at GD18.5 or post‐partum. Glucose tolerance was significantly improved in both pregnant and non‐pregnant mice with both artesunate and vehicle‐alone treatment, suggesting the outcome was primarily due to the acetone vehicle. In non‐pregnant, acetone‐treated animals, improved glucose tolerance was associated with a higher BCM and a significant increase in bihormonal insulin and glucagon‐con-taining pancreatic islet cells, suggesting α‐ to β‐cell conversion. BCM did not differ with treatment during pregnancy or post‐partum. However, placental weight was higher in acetone‐treated animals and was associated with an upregulation of apelinergic genes. Acetone‐treated animals had reduced weight gain during treatment despite comparable food consumption to non‐treated mice, suggesting transient effects on nutrient uptake. The mean duodenal and ileum villus height was reduced following exposure to acetone. We conclude that acetone treatment may mimic transient fasting, resulting in a subsequent improvement in glucose tolerance during pregnancy

To what extent can we rely on the views of family members and friends when it comes to understanding aphasic people’s quality of life?

This study addresses the important question of to what extent can we rely on the views of proxy respondents when it comes to understanding aphasic people’s quality of life. Thirty proxies answered six open-ended questions on their partners’ behalf in semi-structured interviews. Case by case matches of proxies’ with their aphasic partners’ responses are reported. Proxies were limited in their capacity as informants, able to describe the impact of people, activities, and verbal communication only. Whilst these were the key concepts for aphasic participants, only one third of proxies generally identified them, and the breadth of participants’ views remained uncaptured by proxies (e.g. mobility, one’s home, support from others, positive outlook, in/dependence, health, impairments, and recognising strengths in communication). (119 words

Level of Agreement of 36-Month ASQ-3 between Parents, Child Care Providers, and Health Care Professionals

Introduction Developmental delay is present in approximately 15 percent of children in the United States. 1 Less than one fifth of those children receive early intervention before age 3. Screening processes in pediatric settings are insufficient to identify all children with developmental delay. Objective Investigate the level of agreement in typical methods of administration of the 36 month Ages and Stages Questionnaire 3rd ed. (ASQ 3) between parents, CCPs, and student physical therapists (SPTs). Participants 11 children and parents from 2 childcare centers 5 childcare providers (CCPs) 7 student physical therapists (SPTs) Methods Outcome Measure: 36-Month ASQ-3 Standardized developmental screening tool designed to test a wide age range and be administered by various parties Rapid, simple, and cost effective way to monitor a child’s development Developmental screening was conducted across two testing sessions for each child based on common practices of ASQ-3 administration (Fig. 1). Session 1: Parent scored child’s performance from memory, unless confronted with novel items in which scoring was inferred or administered. SPT was present for questions. Session 2: CCP administered every item and scored the child based on their elicited performance while another SPT scored as an observer. Results Inter-rater Agreement: CCPs and SPTs significantly agreed in 4/5 domains No significant agreement between parents/CCPs or parents/SPTs for any domain (Table 1). Trends in specific domains (Fig. 2): Highly variable across the 5 domains Gross Motor: 73% of parents scored their child’s ability higher than at least one rater from the standardized session by as much as 25 points. Problem Solving: 64% of the parents scored their child as much as 30 points lower than at least one other rater. Conclusion Inter rater agreement between parents and CCPs or healthcare professionals was limited. Clinical Relevance Testing condition for parents was not parallel to the condition for other groups Recommend future exploration into interpretation of this screening tool and best use of the ASQ 3 by parents and CCPs to promote their participation

Conceptualising quality of life for older people with aphasia

Background: There is an increasing need in speech and language therapy for clinicians to provide intervention in the context of the broader life quality issues for people with aphasia. However, there is no descriptive research that is explicitly focused on quality of life (QoL) from the perspectives of older people with aphasia. Aims: The current study explores how older people with chronic aphasia who are living in the community describe their QoL in terms of what contributes to and detracts from the quality in their current and future lives. The study is descriptive in nature, and the purpose is to conceptualize the factors that influence QoL. Methods & Procedures: Thirty older participants (16 women, 14 men) with mild to moderate aphasic impairment took part. All participants had adequate communication skills to participate: demonstrating reliable yes/no response and moderate auditory comprehension ability. Participants were interviewed in their own homes using six brief unprompted open questions about QoL, in a structured interview. The first five questions were drawn from previous gerontological research (Farquhar, 1995), and a sixth question specifically targeting communication was added. Content analysis was used, identifying discrete units of data and then coding these into concepts and factors. Additional demographic information was collected, and participants’ mood on day of interviewing was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (Sheikh & Yesavage, 1986). Outcomes & Results: Activities, verbal communication, people, and body functioning were the core factors in QoL for these participants, and they described how these factors both contributed quality in life as well as detracted from life quality. Other factors that influenced QoL included stroke, mobility, positive personal outlook, in/dependence, home and health. Whilst the findings are limited by the lack of probing of participants’ responses, the study does present preliminary evidence for what is important in QoL to older people with aphasia. Conclusions: Quality of life for older people with predominantly mild to moderate chronic aphasia who are living in the community is multifactorial in nature. Some factors lie within the remit of speech and language therapy, some lie beyond the professional role, but all are relevant for consideration in rehabilitation and community practice. Further qualitative research is implicated to better understand QoL with aphasia, using in-depth interviewing with a broader range of people with aphasia

UNC2025, a MERTK Small-Molecule Inhibitor, Is Therapeutically Effective Alone and in Combination with Methotrexate in Leukemia Models

MERTK tyrosine kinase is ectopically expressed in 30–50% of acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) and over 80% of acute myeloid leukemias (AML) and is a potential therapeutic target. Here, we evaluated the utility of UNC2025, a MERTK tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for treatment of acute leukemia