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Christina Stead's The Puzzleheaded Girl: The Political Context
Full text linkThe fiction of Christina Stead (1902-83) is at last receiving something of its proper recognition after years of critical neglect, ascribed variously to her gender, to her expatriate status (born in Australia and spending her creative life in Europe and America), and to her left-wing politics. Her work is now being brought back into view within the general reappraisal of women writers and the extending of the canon of Australian literature. This essay explores her political vision with an examination of her volume of four novellas, The Puzzleheaded Girl. The collection of novellas, even more than the volume of stories, is most publishers' least favourite form. Ithas proved similarly unattractive to critical commentary. Yet so many fiction writers have felt most at their ease in the novella, enjoying the space for amplification denied !n the short story and free from the necessity of the ramifications of complex plotting and narrative expected in the novel. The novellas in The Puzzleheaded Girl work not by conventional plot but by the great monologues her characters deliver and the obliquely realized, compulsive, seemingly unwilled, and unmotivated entanglements in which they live. Stead catches most remarkably the way people talk, and the way, talking, they reveal themselves, their sexual and political involvements and obsessions - though the characters themselves could never recognize them as obsessions. The world of intellectual, radical, fringe bohemian groups during the late 1940s and the McCarthyite period and its aftermath is effortlessly documented. None of the actions has that neat Jamesian form, but instead a succession of seemingly inconsequential events. It seems sometimes as if Christina Stead is writing a variation on, or descant to, material a more mundane writer would have treated naturalistically; though we could never reconstruct those ur-novellas. It is a manner that leads to a remarkable concision, an elliptical compression, resulting in a solidity and fulness free from any ponderousness; and from the elisions and ellipses retaining a powerful energy that imprints these stories on the memory
Chaucer's Double Telling of the Knight's Tale
Full text linkAmong literary deathbed scenes, the pathos of Arcite's passing in Chaucer's Knight's Tale ranks with that of Falstaff, Little Nell, and Marguerite. But while Falstaff babbles of green fields (Henry V, II. 3), Arcite delivers a formal lamentation in which he mourns the unhappy lot of man and commends Emily, his bride-to-be, to his cousin, friend, and rival, Palamon. The latter is associated with all the chivalric virtues: 'That is to seyen, trouthe, honour, knyghtede, I Wysdom, humblesse, estaat, and heigh kynrede, I Fredom, and al that longeth to that art' (11. 2789-91),1 although from what we've seen of Palamon's conduct to this point, these lines sound more like Falstaffs delirium than an accurate assessment of knighthood in general, and Palamon's in particular. Arcite's eloquent valediction is not the only occasion in the Knight's Tale where discrepancies arise between ritual (whether verbal, like Arcite's lament, or staged, like the tournament of Book IV) and 'reality'. Set within the framework of chivalric romance, that narrative form in which the noble hero is characteristically successful in his quest, loved by his lady, and in command of his destiny, the Knight's Tale upends such comfortable audience expectations in a world controlled by spiteful deities, baleful fortune, and arbitrarily minded despots, where the best man does not get the girl, the bride dedicates herself to the goddess of virginity on her nuptial eve, and the wedding feast becomes the funeral meats. Although it is a story of love and war, told by a knight, fitting the Knight's Tale into the mould of medieval romance is a square peg into round hole exercise. Its source, Boccaccio's Teseida, calls itself an epic but owes much to popular Italian romance. If Chaucer really intended, as is sometimes suggested, to turn the twelvebook epic into a chivalric romance, he made a botched job of it; but if his purpose was to make the frequently banal conventions and optimistic outlook of that genre play an ironic counterpoint to the tale's bleak picture of the human condition, the result is a tour de force
Language and Perspective in the Physician's Tale
Full text linkTwo recent reviews of criticism of the Physician's Tale suggest that a continuing unease exists amongst readers as to how the tale should be apprehended. In the Variorum edition of the Physician's Tale Helen Corsa reports a 'general indifference to, or devaluation of, the tale'. Then, in The Riverside Chaucer, C. David Benson reports that the majority of critics have found the tale 'poorly written and motivated', while some have actually gone on to apologize for its failures as intentional on the part of the poet, functioning to cast an ironic light either on the Physician or on the literary premises of the tale. Briefly, the tale concerns a worthy knight called Virginius and his beautiful but chaste daughter, Virginia. A judge called Appius conspires with a fellow called Claudius to have her made a ward of court so that he can possess her, but Virginius, after explaining matters to his daughter, with her willing participation beheads her instead of handing her over. The people rise against Appius, he is imprisoned and commits suicide, and Claudius is exiled. The Physician draws the lesson that whoever sins will be punished, and he urges the audience to forsake sin. In the following link passage the Host observes that the girl's beauty was the cause of her death
Medical Physics Topics as an Anchor for Physics Learning
Full text linkStudents taking introductory courses in physics at the secondary and university level may benefit from the inclusion of medical physics topics, a growing field related to biophysics that includes radiation therapy physics, medical imaging physics, nuclear medicine, and health physics. Both standard physics classes for physics and engineering students, as well as physics courses for students interested in the life sciences may take advantage of the applied and immediately applicable nature of medical physics topics. Integrating medical physics as examples of physics topics stimulates learning as relevant and connected to students’ prior knowledge and interests, develops problem solving skills, engages students with concepts involving ethical and social implications of science and technology, and introduces students to a potential career opportunity. Examples of medical physics topics are discussed. Physics educators are encouraged to consider integrating some examples from medical physics into their curricula to spur student engagement and to acquaint students with one example of a rewarding career opportunity in physics
Australian medical regulations and the use of eHealth data analytics to strengthen Continuing Professional Development (CPD). A policy implementation gap analysis with the Australian Specialist Medical Colleges
No full textTitle: Australian medical regulations and the use of eHealth data analytics to strengthen Continuing Professional Development (CPD). A policy implementation gap analysis with the Australian Specialist Medical Colleges
Background: Starting from 2023, Australian medical practitioners will have to meet specific mandatory CPD Standards to renew their registration to practice medicine. Among other requirements, they will be asked to undertake “Measuring Outcomes” CPD activities for a set minimum hours per year.
According to the regulatory policies developed by the Medical Board of Australia (MBA), these activities require the analysis of patient health data to be completed and, ideally, the use of large eHealth datasets and big data analytics technologies for better insights.
Australian Specialist Medical Colleges are currently working on the implementation of these particular requirements - even though many of them have voiced their concern around eHealth data accessibility and outcome measurement challenges.
Aims: This study aims to identify the factors that can be addressed by the Colleges to foster data strengthened CPD and to support medical practitioners in completing their mandatory “Measuring Outcomes” activities.
Methods: A policy implementation gap analysis was conducted together with participating Colleges. Specifically, interviews were conducted with those College teams that are responsible of CPD Standards implementation to identify existing barriers and propose a list of recommendations to address them.
Preliminary Results: It appears that pre-existing internal environmental factors - such as organisational operations, structure, and culture - are currently hindering Colleges’ efforts.
Conclusions: Final considerations and related recommendations will be made at study completion
The Effect Mechanical Force in Dental Follicle (FEA)
No full textBackground: FEA technique is now commonly used to address a variety of important biological questions including assessment of stress and strain distribution in bone, dental implants, orthodontics, and tooth eruption.
Aim: This study is based upon finite element analysis (FEA) that was used to study tooth eruption sequelae.
Methods: The computer modelling approach (ANSYS Workbench V 18.2), applying software to investigate stress and strain of dental follicles, which comprises soft tissues that surround the developing tooth. Different stages for tooth and soft tissue are defined, and the current study examines changes in soft and hard tissues relevant to necessary bone remodelling for tooth eruption to occur.
Results: The association of tooth eruption with root formation, leads to the presence of the root generating compressive and tensile hydrostatic strain in the coronal and apical follicle, as per the Dental Follicle Functional theory. It is shown that there would be compression of coronal DF, and tension of apical DF of the simulated teeth, with inferred bone remodeling leading to tooth eruption.
Conclusions: This new model has appreciable clinical significance. In the first instance, this would account for the static behavior of unerupted impacted teeth, that have lost their polarizing soft-tissue pathway. Further, it should be possible to guide the eruption of teeth, by surgically creating a narrow soft-tissue path
Embedding Digital Therapeutics into Primary Care: A New Era of Prescribing and Dispensing
No full textBackground: The current practice and resource constraints in primary care make the management of mental health and sleep disturbances amenable to digital health interventions (DHIs). However, the enablers and barriers for practice translation has not been concurrently explored across key primary care healthcare professionals (HCPs)
Aims: To explore primary care HCPs attitudes towards DHIs and perceived readiness for practice integration.
Methods: Secondary analysis of two qualitative datasets collected from HCPs enrolled in a clinical trial evaluating SleepFix, an app-based intervention for insomnia. Interviews were guided by a schedule of questions focusing on HCPs current use of DHIs, perceived practice barriers/enablers of implementation, user experience of SleepFix and potential models of care for integrating DHIs into practice. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.
Results: 45 HCP participants (GP=17, nurse =14, pharmacist=14) were interviewed pre-intervention and 15 (GP=6, nurses=2, pharmacist=1) at post-intervention. While participants appeared more receptive towards using DHIs post-pandemic, they did not feel primary care was ready for embedding DHIs, especially sleep-based interventions, into mainstream care. Participants reiterated the need for reliable point-of-care formularies for DHIs to guide practice. Further, in response to the lack of clarity for how DHIs mapped to the respective professions’ scope of practice and reimbursement structures alternative care models were articulated.
Conclusions: While DHIs show promise for improving patient care, establishing a robust evidence-base and revising the respective professions’ scope of practice scope and reimbursement are necessary
How do health professionals use online communities to engage with their peers?
No full textBackground: Online communities have emerged as popular technologies for connecting individuals in health. Research on these communities to date has centred on how these digital health tools support patient to patient peer interactions and professional-patient interactions. Our research instead focuses on how health professionals use online communities (including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp) to engage with their peers.
Aims: To investigate how health professionals use online communities for peer education, information exchange, support, and social connection across different online platforms.
Methods: Our study included an international sample of health professionals from medical, nursing, and allied health disciplines including physiotherapy, psychology, speech pathology, and podiatry. Participants completed an online survey that included demographics, engagement and participation in online communities, and instruments including the Social Media in Healthcare Scale and the Physician Well-Being Index. The qualitative interviews centred on experiences, identities and roles in online community participation.
Results: Our participants detailed numerous aspects of their online community participation. This included reports of their use of multiple platforms and distinguishing different ways of presenting themselves and engaging with each platform. Participants described benefits of online community participation as allowing them to communicate with leaders in their fields and developing collaborations that they would otherwise not have access to.
Conclusions: Our initial findings indicate that health professionals use a variety of social media technologies to engage with their peers. They find these technologies to be useful for forming and maintaining peer networks and keeping up with current research in their disciplines