471 research outputs found
Stranging Times in New Electric City
No full text(Statement of Responsibility) by Malcolm Maclachlan(Thesis) Thesis (B.A.) -- New College of Florida, 1993RESTRICTED TO NCF STUDENTS, STAFF, FACULTY, AND ON-CAMPUS USE(Bibliography) Includes bibliographical references.This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.Faculty Sponsor: Miller, Arthu
Adult literacy, learning identities and pedagogic practice
No full textThis article discusses the relationship between persistence in adult literacy and numeracy
programs, changes in the participants’ attitudes to engaging in learning and pedagogic practices
using data from eight Scottish literacy education organizations. It argues that literacy learning can act as a resource that enables vulnerable adults to change their dispositions to learning, achieve their goals and make a transition towards their imagined futures. Pedagogic practices that operate from an approach that emphasized learners’ strengths, rather than their deficits, and critically interrogated learners’ experiences used as a resource for learning were the most successful in enabling this transition. Holistic provision that creates a supportive community of practice was found to be the most effective in bringing about the positive changes that learners identified they wished to make in their lives.
This article draws on data from a research project that focused on participation in adult literacy and numeracy (ALN) education courses by those who were at risk of not completing their programs (Maclachlan et al. 2008). It explores the relationship between persistence in the program, changes in the participants’ attitudes to engaging in learning and the pedagogic practice of the organizations in which they participated. Since persistence in learning is a contested concept we begin with a brief review of the literature
Organizational psychology and poverty reduction: Where supply meets demand
No full textDeveloping a globally responsive Science-Practitioner-Humanist model (Lefkowitz, 2008) means articulating professional values (supply) and meeting global demand. The United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) seek to halve human poverty by 2015 and how organizations respond to this constitutes a formidable demand on Organizational Psychology. A key process for delivering more effective aid is the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, which seeks collaborative contributions from a plethora of Organizations, including business organizations and professions like ours. We argue that a thoughtful articulation of what Organizational Psychology uniquely stands for, and can offer, is therefore needed. It is proposed that a key mechanism for addressing this challenge is a Task Force, whose functions will include the coordination of institutions within psychology, and linking them to those in development. We describe such a task force and outline its core mission (Reichman, Frese, Schein, Carr, MacLachlan, & Landy, 2008). Organizational Psychology's response to poverty reduction should meet Lefkowitz's criteria for developing a more humanist model of science and practice as the MDGs are inherently humanist and values-based
The Trinity amputation and prosthesis experience scales and quality of life in people with lower-limb amputation
No full textGallagher P, MacLachlan M. The Trinity Amputation and Prosthesis Experience Scales and quality of life in people with lower-limb amputation. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2004;85:730–6.
Objectives
To undertake preliminary research into quality of life (QOL) for a group of people with a lower-limb amputation and to investigate what aspects of the “prosthetic experience” are most strongly associated with QOL using the Trinity Amputation and Prosthesis Experience Scales (TAPES).
Design
Cross-sectional survey.
Setting
Prosthetic limb fitting center.
Participants
Sixty-three people older than 18 years with unilateral lower-limb amputation.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main outcome measures
The TAPES and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire—Brief Version.
Results
There were no significant differences in any of the QOL domain scores (physical health, psychological, social relationships, environmental) arising from age, gender, level of amputation, or cause of amputation. However, there were significant differences depending on the length of time living with the prosthesis and the degree of prosthetic use. Stepwise regression identified different significant predictors for each domain of QOL.
Conclusions
These findings support the claim that the TAPES can be used to evaluate QOL for this patient group. Further research is warranted to learn how sensitive the scale and its items are to change in clinical status
Evaluating a written emotional disclosure homework intervention for lower-limb amputees
No full textGallagher P, MacLachlan M. Evaluating a written emotional disclosure homework intervention for lower-limb amputees. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:1464-6. Objective: To evaluate the Pennebaker Emotional Disclosure paradigm with lower-limb amputee patients in terms of compliance and efficacy. Design: Repeated measures. Setting: Home based. Participants: Low compliance, both with the initial mailed request (28%) and the subsequent writing task (48%), resulted in 23 lower-limb amputees who had been fitted with a prosthesis participating. Interventions: Patients completed a 15-minute writing task, 6 times, over 2 weeks, with initial baseline and 2-month follow-up assessments. Main Outcome Measures: Cognitive processing, well-being, adjustment to an artificial limb, pain, and prosthetic use. Results: Stronger emotional disclosure was associated with significant reductions in psychologic and physical aspects of amputees' satisfaction with their prosthesis, some of which were mediated by positive changes in affect immediately after the writing tasks. Conclusions: Our results failed to support previous findings with nonclinical samples; in fact, our results contradicted previous findings. We therefore caution that written emotional disclosure may be contraindicated with lower-limb amputee patients
Development and optimisation of a duplex real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR assay targeting the VP7 and NS2 genes of African horse sickness virus
No full textNucleotide sequences of 52 South African isolates of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) collected during 2004–2005 and including viruses of all nine AHSV serotypes, were used to design and develop a duplex real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-PCR) assay targeting the VP7 (S8) and NS2 (S9) genes of AHSV. The assay was optimized for detection of AHSV in fresh and frozen blood of naturally infected horses. Assay performance was enhanced using random hexamers rather than gene-specific primers for RT, and with denaturation of double-stranded RNA in the presence of random hexamers. The assay was efficient with a linear range of at least five orders of magnitude. The analytical sensitivity of the assay was 132 copies of the target genes (4125 copies per ml of blood), and the assay was at least 10-fold more sensitive than virus isolation on BHK-21 cells. The assay was also highly specific because it did not detect related orbiviruses, such as bluetongue and equine encephalosis viruses.ID: S0166093410000893; M3: Article; Accession Number: S0166093410000893; Author: M. Quan (a, b, ⁎); Author: C.W. Lourens (a, b); Author: N.J. MacLachlan (c); Author: I.A. Gardner (d); Author: A.J. Guthrie (a); Affiliation: Equine Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Affiliation: Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Affiliation: Equine Viral Disease Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Affiliation: Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Keyword: African horse sickness virus; Keyword: Real-time quantitative RT-PCR; Keyword: VP7 gene; Keyword: NS2 gene; Keyword: Duplex; Number of Pages: 8; Language: English
[Book review] Disability, health and international development
No full textReview of: Disability and International Development: Towards Inclusive Global Health MacLachlan Malcolm, Swartz Leslie Springer, 2009No Full Tex
An exploratory study into secondary school teacher motivation, occupational attitudes and job performance in Uganda in the context of HIV/AIDS
No full textTHESIS 9450The current study aimed at exploring how teachers\u27 perception of the HIV/AIDS context
impacts their motivation and occupational attitudes and how these in turn affect their job performance. Data was collected in two phases: in the first phase, motivational and demotivational factors for teachers and job performance indicators were generated and an understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS on education was gained using three
discussion groups. Most of the data generated in the first phase were used in the
construction of the questionnaire for the main survey in phase two to which 410
secondary school teachers responded. The survey was organized in sections to cover
teacher demographic variables; motivation; HIV/AIDS context; job satisfaction; job
involvement; organizational commitment; work ethic; and job performance
Plotting the intertwining psychological and biological pathways linking stress and health
No full textTHESIS 8926The ability to maintain psychological well-being in the face of exposure to stressors is a crucial capacity that has implications for human health. How a person responds to adverse conditions is contingent on a multitude of interwoven biological and psychological factors. It is my goal in this thesis to outline a broad framework derived closely from the reserve capacity model (Gallo & Matthews, 2003) that specifies and provides empirical support for these relations. I do this by extending the current reserve capacity model and the methodology used to test its core tenets. Specifically, I demonstrate via empirical studies (i) how methodological advancements for the measurement of affect and psychobiological functioning can be used to test and provide support for the model (chapters 2 and 3), (ii) how feedback loops from health to emotion can be addressed in the model (chapters 4 and 5), and (iii) how genetic factors can be incorporated into the reserve capacity model (chapters 6 and 7). This is followed by a general discussion of the main findings, chapter 8. Chapter 2 investigates the relation between affect levels and cardiovascular activity in day-to-day settings using a primary data source of 186 people who completed the Day Reconstruction Method (Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2004) and underwent baseline physiological testing and were monitored naturalistically for an entire day. Negative affect was found to predict an elevated ambulatory heart rate and tiredness predicted a lower heart rate. Chapter 3 examines whether a psychosocial resource, self-control, modulates patterns of emotion with likely implications for psychobiological functioning. High trait self-control was associated with stable emotional patterns which partially mediated cortisol and heart rate levels. This study indicated that the capacity to sustain stable patterns of affect across diverse contexts appears to be an important pathway through which self-control relates to health. Chapters 4 and 5 address the idea that health conditions and psychobiological processes can influence well-being. Firstly, morning cortisol levels were shown to predict a steep increase in positive affect from morning through to the evening, particularly among the distressed. Next, in a study based on secondary data from two samples (N = 8190), obesity-related inflammation, as indexed by the acute phase reactant C-reactive protein, was shown to mediate between the presence of obesity and the neurovegetative symptoms of depression. Both of these studies suggest that it may be beneficial to extend the reserve capacity model to incorporate reciprocal relations and reverse feedback processes. Chapters 6 and 7 aimed to investigate if genetic factors can modulate the emotional and health response to life-stressors (based on secondary data, N = 755). The first genetic study tested the role of the apolipoprotein E gene in moderating the influence of an exogenous stressor, an earthquake, on health. Those who experienced damage to their property or were forced to move from their homes as a result of the earthquake had low self-rated health a year later, only if they were apolipoprotein 4 carriers (a dysfunctional lipid transporter). This study indicates support for the proposed extension to include genetic factors in the reserve capacity model. The second gene-stressor interaction study aimed to test if the stress of illness can be modified by both psychosocial and genetic factors. It did this by showing the number of chronic illnesses a person has been diagnosed with interacted with perceived control and variation in the apolipoprotein E gene to predict psychological adjustment. High levels of perceived control appeared to dampen genetic sensitivity to the adverse psychological effects of illness. As discussed in Chapter 8, the results of this thesis support a bidirectional resource model of health where one?s genetic endowment, exposure to stressors, and psychological resources interact to produce patterns of emotion and psychobiological functioning which may lead to the exacerbation of illness
Risk Factors for Fatigue in Shipping, the Consequences for Seafarers’ Health and Options for Preventive Intervention:Research in Organizational & Health Behavior at Sea
No full textThe consequences of fatigue for the health and safety of seafarers have caused concern in the industry and among academics, and indicates the importance of further research into risk factors and preventive interventions at sea. This chapter gives an overview of the key issues relating to seafarer fatigue. A literature study was conducted aimed at collecting publications that address risk factors for fatigue, short-term and long-term consequences for health and safety, and options for fatigue mitigation at sea. Due to the limited number of publications that deal with seafarers, experiences from other populations sharing the same exposures (e.g. shift work) were also included when appropriate. Work at sea involves multiple risk factors for fatigue, which in addition to acute effects (e.g. impaired cognition, accidents) contributes through autonomic, immunologic and metabolic pathways to the development of chronic diseases that are particularly prevalent in seafarers. Taking into account the frequency of seafarer fatigue and the severity of its consequences, the efficacy of the current legislative framework and the industry’s compliance, the manning of the international merchant fleet, and optimized working, living and sleeping conditions at sea all need serious reconsideration. Given the circumstances at sea which cannot be altered, e.g. working in shifts and crossing time zones, further assessment of the potentials of preventive interventions including fatigue prediction tools and individual Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS) is recommended
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