1,031 research outputs found
Saint Augustine's Critical Judgment of the Pagan Writers
No full textThe following is an attempt to study Saint Augustine’s attitude toward the Greek and Latin pagan writers. An effort has been made to record all of the direct quotations of the pagan authors used by Saint Augustine in the twenty-two books of his Be Civitate Dei. |I have undertaken to emphasize the fact that the number of times an author has been quoted and the manner in which each author has been described somewhat emphasizes Augustine’s judgment of them. |Therefore, with the chart containing the above mentioned information, I have included short commentaries and recordings of those quotations to indicate Augustine’s appraisal of those who were responsible for them.ProQuest Traditional Publishing Optio
Reclaiming Our Democracy: Challenging Global Poverty and Climate Change through Civic Action
No full textThe Center for Global Education\u27s Global Topics Series Fall 2013 Lecture was delivered by Sam Daley-Harris, global activist, author and microfinance trailblazer. His work on the international Microcredit Summit Campaign has brought global microloans to over 100 million impoverished families, and has helped bring issues of climate change into the national spotlight. A close collaborator of Nobel Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus and recent TED Talks presenter, Daley-Harris has pioneered a brand of activism that inspires ordinary citizen to effectively engage the political and media establishements in order to make their voices and causes heard -- and heeded
The feasibility and efficacy of an exercise intervention in depressed postnatal women: a pilot randomised controlled trial
No full textBackgroundPostnatal depression is a serious mental health problem that may be reduced by exercise.AimThis study examined the feasibility of an exercise intervention for women with postnatal depression, and assessed which methods of recruitment are most effective.Design of studyRandomised controlled trial.SettingGeneral practice and the community.MethodParticipants were recruited from various sources and randomised to an exercise intervention or usual care with follow-up at 12 weeks. As well as assessing feasibility, other trial outcomes included exercise participation and self-efficacy for exercise. Levels of depression were assessed but the study was not powered to show a difference in this.ResultsThe recruitment rate of eligible patients was 23.1%. The highest recruitment rate was via referral from the psychiatric mother and baby unit (9/28; 32.1%), followed by invitation letters from GPs (24/93; 25.8%). Thirty-eight eligible participants were randomised. At follow-up there was no significant difference in exercise participation between groups. The intervention group reported significantly higher self-efficacy for exercise compared to usual care, but depression scores did not differ.ConclusionExercise participation over the 12-week period was not significantly increased, possibly because it is difficult to motivate women with postnatal depression to exercise, or the intervention was not sufficiently intensive. Eligible patients were recruited into this study but response rates were low. Optimum methods of recruitment in this difficult-to-reach population are required prior to a substantive trial. Further research is imperative given poorly-evidenced recommendations by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to consider this treatment
Participant recruitment into a randomised controlled trial of exercise therapy for people with multiple sclerosis
No full textBackground: The success of a clinical trial is often dependant on whether recruitment targets can be met in the required time frame. Despite an increase in research into the benefits of exercise in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), no trial has reported detailed data on effective recruitment strategies for large-scale randomised controlled trials. The main purpose of this report is to provide a detailed outline of recruitment strategies, rates and estimated costs in the Exercise Intervention for Multiple Sclerosis (ExIMS) trial to identify best practices for future trials involving multiple sclerosis (MS) patient recruitment.
Methods: The ExIMS researchers recruited 120 PwMS to participate in a 12-week exercise intervention. Participants were randomly allocated to either exercise or usual-care control groups. Participants were sedentary, aged 18–65 years and had Expanded Disability Status Scale scores of 1.0–6.5. Recruitment strategies included attendance at MS outpatient clinics, consultant mail-out and trial awareness-raising activities.
Results: A total of 120 participants were recruited over the course of 34 months. To achieve this target, 369 potentially eligible and interested participants were identified. A total of 60 % of participants were recruited via MS clinics, 29.2 % from consultant mail-outs and 10.8 % through trial awareness. The randomisation yields were 33.2 %, 31.0 % and 68.4 % for MS clinic, consultant mail-outs and trial awareness strategies, respectively. The main reason for ineligibility was being too active (69.2 %), whilst for eligible participants the most common reason for non-participation was the need to travel to the study site (15.8 %). Recruitment via consultant mail out was the most cost-effective strategy, with MS clinics being the most time-consuming and most costly.
Conclusions: To reach recruitment targets in a timely fashion, a variety of methods were employed. Although consultant mail-outs were the most cost-effective recruitment strategy, use of this method alone would not have allowed us to obtain the predetermined number of participants in the required time period, thus leading to costly extensions of the project or failure to reach the number of participants required for sufficient statistical power. Thus, a multifaceted approach to recruitment is recommended for future trials
'Understanding adult's experiences and perceptions of how to maintain physical activity: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis'
No full textBackground: many adults do not meet physical activity recommendations for optimal health, and this is often because people find it difficult to maintain physical activity in the long term. This study focuses on identifying and synthesising factors that may influence the maintenance of physical activity in adults with and without known health conditions.Method: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis using thematic analysis was conducted. Four databases (MEDLINE, SPORT Discus, APA, and Web of Science) were systematically searched for studies published from inception to February 2023 that included qualitative data about people’s experiences of maintaining physical activity.Results: a total of 9337 abstracts were screened and 68 studies from 14 countries were included. Six main themes were identified: (1) influence of others (e.g. four forms of social support, accountability); (2) contextual and environmental influences (e.g. cost and access of physical activity, weather); (3) health-related influences (e.g. reflexivity about how physical activity improves health conditions, weight control); (4) making it work (e.g. flexibility, prioritising exercise); (5) habits; and (6) psychological processes (e.g. enjoyment, identifying as a physically active person).Conclusion: people who maintained their participation in physical activity found it enjoyable, prioritised it, and integrated it into their daily routine. Participants were motivated to continue being physically active when they realised the benefits for their health. Social support, in particular companion support, was a key component facilitating continued engagement. Findings specific to maintenance of physical activity included reflexivity of how physical activity benefited health, flexibility, and identifying as a physically active person
Exercise therapy in women treated for breast cancer
No full textTreatment for breast cancer can result in reduced quality of life (QoL), psychological and physical well-being. Evidence suggests that exercise may be of therapeutic benefit for breast cancer patients. To date, however, no randomised controlled trial in the UK has examined the effects of aerobic exercise therapy upon QoL and associated outcomes in women who have completed breast cancer treatment. Furthermore no trial has included an exercise-placebo and a usual care group to control for possible attention effects arising from instructor-patient interaction. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to examine the effects of a supervised one-to-one aerobic exercise-therapy intervention upon QoL and associated outcomes in women who had completed treatment for breast cancer 12-36 months previously. Additional aims of the thesis were to provide detailed information about participants' adherence to the trial interventions and to examine the most effective methods of recruitment into the trial. A qualitative study was also included to explore the personal exercise experiences of participants who took part in the exercise therapy and exercise-placebo interventions.The sample consisted of 108 sedentary women who had been treated for breast cancer 12-36 months previously. The mean age of the participants was 51 years (age range 32-65years). The primary route of recruitment was via clinician invitation letters. Participants were randomised to one of three groups: exercise therapy (n=34), exercise-placebo (n=36) or usual care (n=38). The exercise therapy and exercise-placebo groups attended one-to-one supervised sessions three times a week for a period of eight weeks (24 sessions in total). The exercise therapy group participated in moderate intensity aerobic exercise and received exercise counselling designed to promote exercise participation. The exercise-placebo group participated in light flexibility, mobility and body conditioning exercises and did not receive exercise counselling.Repeated measures mixed analyses of covariance (controlling for baseline scores) revealed a significant mean difference of 9.8 units in the primary outcome (QoL), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT-G)-General scale, favouring exercise therapy at eight week follow-up relative to usual care. The exercise placebo group did not report similar statistical significant benefits. Significant differences favouring exercise therapy relative to usual care were found for FACT-B (breast cancer specific QoL), social/family well-being, functional well-being and breast specific concerns subscales. Outcomes including depression, physical self-worth and aerobic fitness improved significantly in the exercise therapy group compared to usual care. Adherence to both exercise interventions was excellent. The estimated trial recruitment rate based on clinician invitation was 28.6%.Findings from the qualitative study revealed participants perceived the exercise interventions had accelerated their psychological and physical recovery from breast cancer. A patient-centred approach mediated exercise enjoyment and adherence.This pioneering study demonstrated that exercise therapy was a safe, tolerable intervention that elicited short-term, clinically important benefits upon QoL in women treated for breast cancer. Future research should focus on sustaining QoL benefits through longer-term exercise participation and the feasibility of integrating exercise rehabilitation into mainstream breast cancer care
Physical activity and smoking abstinence in young people
No full textA reduction in the number of young smokers and an increase in physical activity levels among young people are currently public health priorities, because of the lifetime health risks of smoking and inactivity from a young age. The aims of this thesis were to investigate the effects of exercise on desire to smoke, withdrawal symptoms and mood in young people, and to investigate the promotion of physical activity and exercise in young people who smoke, using a variety of methodologies. Five studies were conducted to investigate these aims. There was some evidence to suggest that a short bout of moderate intensity exercise can be beneficial in young adults, but this was not the case in adolescents. Overall, both moderate and vigorous intensity exercise reduced the desire to smoke relative to control, however moderate intensity exercise
provided the most benefit in terms of withdrawal symptoms and mood in young adults. With regard to physical activity promotion, the theory of planned behaviour appears to be a useful framework for explaining physical activity behaviour among young people who smoke, however an exercise consultation intervention to promote physical activity in this population did not prove feasible regarding participant recruitment. In addition, an evaluation of physical activity prompts designed for young people (including smokers) revealed that such prompts are likely to be most effective if they contain intrinsically motivating messages. With regard to issues surrounding physical activity and exercise behaviour, young smokers appear to constitute a distinct population, and may
present their own unique challenges for the promotion of physical activity. The findings of this research have important public health implications for physical
activity promotion with young smokers
The role of exercise in the treatment of menstrual disorders: What evidence do we actually have?
No full textAn Analysis of and Conductor\u27s Guide to Eleanor Daley\u27s Requiem
No full textThis study provides a thorough analysis of and conductor\u27s guide to Eleanor Daley\u27s Requiem. It includes a theoretical analysis, a textual analysis, an analysis of performance and conducting considerations, a list of compositions by the composer, and a discography. Additionally, it includes score corrections, the composer\u27s biography, a brief history of the Requiem Mass and Christian funeral music, and historical connections to other Requiems, including a chapter dedicated to the Requiem of Herbert Howells.
The study was informed by numerous correspondences and multiple interviews with the composer, as well as singing under her direction. It is the author\u27s hope that this study will encourage and equip future conductors to program this exceptional composition, and encourage greater exploration of other accessible modern works
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