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A multidisciplinary evaluation, exploration, and advancement of the concept of a traumatic birth experience
Get PDFBackground: Understanding a woman’s traumatic birth experience benefits from an approach that considers perspectives from various fields of healthcare and social sciences.
Aim: To evaluate and explore the multidisciplinary perspectives surrounding a traumatic birth experience to form a theory and to capture its structure.
Methods: A multidisciplinary advanced principle-based concept analysis was conducted, including the following systematic steps: literature review, assessment of concept maturity, principle-based evaluation, concept exploration and advancement, and formulating a multidisciplinary concept theory. We drew on knowledge from midwifery, psychology, childbirth education, bioethics, obstetric & gender violence, sociology, perinatal psychiatry, and anthropology.
Results: Our evaluation included 60 records which were considered as ‘mature’. Maturity was determined by the reported concept definition, attributes, antecedents, outcomes, and boundaries. The four broad principles of the philosophy of science epistemology, pragmatics, linguistics, and logic illustrated that women live in a political, and cultural world that includes social, perceptual, and practical features. The conceptual components antecedents, attributes, outcomes, and boundaries demonstrated that a traumatic birth experience is not an isolated event, but its existence is enabled by social structures that perpetuate the diminished and disempowered position of women in medical and institutionalised healthcare regulation and management.
Conclusion: The traumatic childbirth experience is a distinctive experience that can only occur within a socioecological system of micro-, meso-, and macro-level aspects that accepts and allows its existence and therefore its sustainability - with the traumatic experience of the birthing woman as the central construct
SDG Quest: Leveraging Mobile Game-Based Learning to Foster Environmental, Social, and Economic Sustainable Development Goals
No full textAmid the quest for sustainable development, education can serve as a catalyst for incentivising people of all ages and backgrounds to realise the vision towards a healthier planet, a fairer society, and a more peaceful and prosperous future for all. This study presents the design and evaluation of ‘SDG Quest’ - a novel mobile educational game crafted for raising awareness about environmental, social, and economic Sustainable Development Goals. Embracing gamification features and game mechanics such as rewards, points, milestones, challenges, badges, and mentor personalisation, SDG Quest aims to advance players’ understanding of all dimensions and goals of sustainable development, captivate their interest through an engaging, gamified learning experience, and ultimately, nurture the right mindset required for realising the goals. This paper discusses the design and empirical evaluation of SDG Quest. The evaluation involving both users (n = 73) and experts (n = 12) reflects a positive user experience and highlights the game’s usability, appealing design, and learning effectiveness. Creative ideas and suggestions for further enhancing the game’s features and impact are also captured. The findings illuminate the beneficial contribution of mobile game-based learning in the sphere of education for sustainable development
Association between a large change between the minimum and maximum monthly values of solar insolation and a history of suicide attempts in bipolar I disorder
Get PDFBackground
The rate of suicide attempts by patients with bipolar disorder is high. In addition to patient and country specific factors, environmental factors may contribute to suicidal behavior. Sunlight has multiple diverse impacts on human physiology and behavior. Solar insolation is defined as the electromagnetic energy from the sun striking a surface area on earth. We previously found that a large change in solar insolation between the minimum and maximum monthly values was associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts in patients with bipolar I disorder.
Methods
The association between solar insolation and a history of suicide attempts in bipolar disorder was again investigated using an international database with 15% more data and more sites at diverse locations and countries.
Results
Data were available from 5641 patients with bipolar I disorder living at a wide range of latitudes in 41 countries in both hemispheres. A large change in solar insolation between the minimum and maximum monthly values was associated with a history of suicide attempts in patients with bipolar I disorder, a replication of our prior analysis. The estimated model also associated state sponsored religion in the onset country, female gender, a history of alcohol or substance abuse, and being part of a younger birth cohort with a history of suicide attempts.
Conclusions
A large change between the minimum and maximum monthly values of solar insolation was associated with a history of suicide attempts in bipolar I disorder, replicating our prior research. Physicians should be aware that daylight has wide ranging physiological and psychiatric impacts, and that living with large changes in solar insolation may be associated with an increased suicide risk
Knowledge creation by student leaders to promote their own leadership development: Amulti-university social dream-drawing project
Get PDFEngaging student leaders in knowledge creation in support of their own leadership development is an important strategy in the scholarship of integration which seeks to promote research-based, student-engaged professional practices. This article describes a strategy for engaging student leaders in support of such development, drawing on the insights they gained from their own leadership experiences. South African student leaders participated in a multi-university, social dream-drawing study which was designed using a socio-analytical framework. Through this project, leadership experiences were made manifest at unconscious and conscious levels. Group sharing and reflection helped the participants
recognise and process their leadership experiences, and to uncover and explore areas that needed development. Engaging in knowledge creation about their own development, the participating students co-produced an evidence-based understanding of the importance of integrated approaches about the development of student leadership. In addition, their participation in a process of compassionate engagement positioned them as co-developers of problem-solving insights in support of their own development and, more broadly, universities’ social and cultural capabilities. Pule and Gibney (2023) also demonstrated this. The social dream-drawing findings furthermore indicated how such interventions could go beyond an examination of the perspectives of individual leaders to consideration of the nature of student leadership as a group, organizational or even societal function – considering intra- and inter-group dynamics; different organizational levels and their leadership sub-systems; and the role of student leadership in society at large. In addition, the research conducted through social dream-drawing may be seen as strengthening the argument for the broader adoption of the scholarship of integration in pursuit of strategic goals
The “active struggle” of the hybrid middle manager: exploring the notion of ethical resistance
Get PDFPurpose
This paper brings attention to the role of hybrid middle managers. In particular it explores the relationship of organisational purpose and role requirements.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary research question for the original research was: What does it mean to hybrid managers to lead and deal with imposed changes (restructuring) to services? A novel narrative approach based on a synthesis of Czarniawska, Gabriel and Boje was applied. Accounts from interviews were condensed into narratives by initially using the categories defined by Gabriel (2000) as epic, tragic, comic and romantic and then further categorised into stories, themes and a serial (Czarniawska, 1997). The final stage of the three-way synthesised narrative approach incorporated Boje’s (2001) notion of “antenarrative” to include pre-emplotment elements.
Findings
Four narratives are provided that give insight to the nature of the struggles the hybrid middle managers were in the midst of. A struggle to address incongruent demands being placed on them that cause tension with their sense of purpose, organisational goals and their hybrid clinical roles and management roles. In the midst of these struggles the narratives illustrate the dynamic of ethical resistance that seeks a way forward. However, this appears to come at a health and well-being cost to the middle managers.
Originality/value
The paper offers up the notion of an added third bind to the traditional double, that of “ethical resistance”, a struggle to align organisational purpose with clinical and management role requirements. Theorising this third bind provides a new insight into understanding the context and dynamics of the hybrid middle manager role and behaviour. Indeed, the idea of ethical resistance may cause a revision of how resistance is understood
Temperature variation of gypsum and gypsum plasterboard physical properties
No full textThe characteristics of fire spreading in a compartment fire may be strongly affected by the thermophysical properties of the employed construction materials and products. To increase the accuracy of relevant fire safety engineering design calculations and numerical simulations, the use of temperature-dependent thermophysical properties is required. This chapter analyzes the physical and chemical phenomena that occur when gypsum-derived construction products, such as gypsum plasterboards (GPs), are exposed to a fire environment. The high-temperature effects on gypsum-based construction products are discussed in terms of solid-phase reactions, macroscopic effects, and cracking and how those should be incorporated to simulate gypsum and GPs fire behavior effectively. The impact of these phenomena on a range of physical properties. i.e., density, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and thermal expansion, is described by using a range of temperature-dependent correlations. Currently available numerical models for GP assemblies exposed to fire are analyzed. The fire safety aspects of GPs enhanced with phase change materials (PCMs) and their potential adverse effect on the fire behavior of a building in case of encapsulation failure are analyzed
‘Admirably situated for Building upon’ Ashton Freehold Land Society and the suburban development of mid-Victorian Preston
Get PDFThis dissertation examines the impact of the mid-Victorian freehold land society movement on suburban development, through the case study of the Ashton Freehold Land Society, established in Preston, Lancashire. Although brief and now little-known, the movement was for a time politically and socially significant. The prevailing narrative is of freehold land societies driven by Liberal voter creation, working-class self-help, temperance and non-conformism. More recent studies have suggested they were far more diverse in practice, acting as a spur to social mobility, contributing to the development of permanent building societies and anticipating the garden suburbs. The impact of estates created by the freehold land societies is still discernible in the suburban topography of towns and cities, with many recognised as conservation areas.
The evidence for the freehold land society movement and for individual societies is sparse. Limited documentary sources have been supplemented by newspapers, family records, maps, and extensive fieldwork to establish the history of the Ashton society and the people who created and lived on the estate in Ashton-on-Ribble. The case study underpins three main arguments. The first is that the distinctive character of the Ashton Freehold estate results from its origins as a freehold land society. The diversity of its architecture and consequent early social mix can be traced to the movement’s evolution from self-help to commercial development. The second argues that joining the society and moving to the estate were significant steps in the owners’ and residents’ lives in terms of their social status and financial position. Finally, that the establishment of the estate in Ashton-on-Ribble was the point at which the aspirational but unremarkable tradesmen and shopkeepers of Preston first moved to the suburbs.
This study reveals the impact of the freehold land society movement beyond the large cities, showing how it promoted the suburban development of an industrial town. A similar approach might reveal its significance for other smaller towns. The history of a new community on the semi-rural outskirts of town is particularly relevant when Preston is once again expanding into the surrounding fields
Super-slowly rotating Ap (ssrAp) stars: Spectroscopic study
Get PDFTo gain better understanding of the Ap stars with the longest rotation periods, we obtained high resolution spectra of a sample of super-slowly rotating Ap (ssrAp) star candidates identified by a TESS photometric survey, to confirm that they are indeed Ap stars, to check that their v sin i values are compatible with super-slow rotation, and to obtain a first estimate of their magnetic field strengths. We determined whenever possible their mean magnetic field modulus, their mean quadratic magnetic field, and an upper limit of their projected equatorial velocities. Eighteen of the 27 stars studied are typical Ap stars; most of the other nine appear to be misclassified. One of the Ap stars is not a slow rotator; it must be seen nearly pole-on. The properties of the remaining 17 are compatible with moderately to extremely long rotation periods. Eight new stars with resolved magnetically split lines in the visible range were discovered; their mean magnetic field modulus and their mean quadratic magnetic field were measured. The mean quadratic field could also be determined in five more stars. Five new spectroscopic binaries containing an Ap star were identified. Among the misclassified stars, one SB2 system with two similar, sharp-lined Am components was also discovered. The technique that we used to carry out a search for ssrAp star candidates using TESS data is validated, but appears limited by uncertainties in the spectral classification of Ap stars. The new magnetic field measurements obtained as part of this study lend further support to the tentative conclusions of our previous studies: the absence of periods longer than ~150 d in stars with magnetic fields stronger than ~7.5 kG, the lower rate of occurrence of super-slow rotation for field strengths less than ~2 kG than in the range ~3-7.5 kG, and the deficiency of slowly rotating Ap stars with field strengths between ~2 and ~3 kG
Foreigners’ Portrayal in Russian Film over 1924-53 and 1991-Present
Get PDFThe Russian film industry has changed dramatically since Stalin ruled the communist Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953, with a new capitalist system in the post-Soviet period from 1991 to present day changing the motives for making these films as well as changing the way characters are depicted. This study analyses the subject matter through the prism of cultural studies, going beyond narrative content and an analysis of the Russian film industry to identify trends and differences in how foreign characters are portrayed in Russian films during these two periods. A binary representation of foreigners as heroes and villains is demonstrated by applying theories including Hall’s Representation, Barthes’ Mythology and Bakhtin’s Dialogical Theory. The study reveals that there are generally negative portrayals of foreigners in Stalinist film that stemmed from the dominant ideology of socialist realism, with mixed portrayals in the post-Soviet period that coincide with a more balanced portrayal of Russian characters. This is attributed to propagandic motives for making the films changing to fiscal ones, motives that changed from influencing the audience to showing them what they want to see