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This article focuses on the meaning and practice of publicly engaged scholarship. The authors use examples of research in partnership with communities to demonstrate what it means to be with or in a community, how mutuality can be established, and how trust can be earned. The article addresses how university-based researchers can be fully present in shared work with communities and stand with community partners in an effort to answer questions together. The first author discusses the idea of teaching as a form of publicly engaged scholarship that is community-centric, collaborative, humanizing, and guided by equity and justice. The second author discusses what it means to “stand” with community in the fight for justice and argues that we need to rethink what counts as knowledge production when working authentically alongside community instead of at or for them. The third author considers what it means to take seriously children’s ideas and perspectives as we imagine new possibilities for literacy, learning, equity, and diversity in local and global community spaces. The fourth author concludes with a discussion of issues raised and features of community-engaged literacy research evident across all examples.

Gaps between users’ and designers’ mental models of digital libraries often result in adverse user experiences. This article details an exploratory user research study at a large, predominantly online university serving non-traditional distance education students with the goal of understanding these gaps. Using qualitative data, librarians created personas and mental models focused on users' perceptions and obstacles in using a digital library and conducting research. The findings provided insight into the research habits and challenges of library users, thus allowing the library to make evidence-based decisions about designing digital learning objects and the library website.

My husband is determined that we don't give away all the rituals. --Kitty McEaddy, mother of five Charleston debutantes I don't know what people would do without deb season. --Margaret Lee McEaddy, one of the five [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The grand staircase fronting the South Carolina Historical Society in Charleston leads to large, wooden, locked double doors and instructions to ring the bell for service. The summons brings a face between the doors and, in a moment that recalls the Wizard's brushing off Dorothy through a similar aperture, the question "May I help you?" faintly discourages a reply. Inside, other assistants hustle to retrieve documents from the unseen depths where archives are stored. I pay my five-dollar non-member's fee and ask to see any documents pertaining to the St. Cecilia Society, a Charleston musical society established in 1762, which became, sometime in the nineteenth century, perhaps the most exclusive and mysterious of all debutante societies in America. My wait is brief. A smiling assistant, having warmed to my curiosity, has unearthed a scrapbook belonging to a Miss Mary de Merrell of 129 Tradd Street, Charleston. As I respectfully leaf through the fragile pages that chronicle Miss de Merrell's coming out on 23 December 1943, I find a newspaper photo of her and her cohort of seventeen debs, dated 9 January 1944, posed elegantly for the occasion. Mary de Merrell has penciled an arrow above herself, atop which she has written "me." At last, I have burrowed through layers of secrecy to the private record of one war-time St. Cecilia debutante--an excavation that, just moments before and over long months, I'd thought was impossible. Mary Pinckney de Merrell Brady obviously prepared this scrapbook for archival purposes, having inscribed her married name and address in the front, dated June 1999, and having added notes throughout in the same hand, with the same pen. A newspaper photo of eleven mothers--nearly all hatted and in fox furs--records their meeting in early November 1943 about the upcoming festivities. Yet the reportage is everywhere inflected with personal touches. Lined notebook pages with contact phone numbers for the other debutantes and for such helpful people as "caterers" also list "presents given me," including flowers ("mums") and jewelry ("chain topax [sic] necklace"). Mostly, there are traces of parties, parties, parties! Hand-written and printed invitations line the rag pages, each bearing Mary's note that it was "answered." Every newspaper clipping dutifully reports who attended the punch bowl at whose residence. Mary kept a list of days and nights already reserved for parties, a list of what she wore to each party, and a list of her dates, as well as their heights ("I was 5' 7" barefoot!" she inserts). Next to one of those dates, Lt. Ned Brady, she has added, parenthetically, "whom I married!" Here, before me, are both infectious girlish excitement over a brimming social life and twilight nostalgia for days gone by. It is the single glimpse into the inner world of St. Cecilia that, as an outsider, I have been able to catch. Like a number of women who didn't themselves debut, I'm intrigued by women who have. Growing up in Ohio, I was never aware of debutante societies, although I partook in sororities, which thrived in my high school and at my university. Later, as a graduate student in the Ivy League, I encountered some of the same elitist separatism that characterizes contemporary debutante society. Today, still no stranger to exclusivity, I teach at a highly selective private college given to occasional bouts of self-ascribed superiority. In the case of schools, selectivity can be defended at least partly on the basis of merit. But what leads contemporary women to draw firm social boundaries, protected by the rites of a sorority or the rituals of coming out, for the sole apparent reason of inviting some people in and excluding others? …

In this paper, we argue that emotion in English classrooms is a mediated action mobilized through discursive and material practices that transform texts and signs. We first provide an overview of the current state of English as a secondary school subject in the United States to provide a context for our work on emotion within a critical literacy framework. Next, we theorize emotion as mediated action rather than as an internal psycho-physiological state. Finally, we offer an example of how emotion was mobilized in a racially and ethnically diverse classroom that focused on documentary film analysis and production in ways that constrained and enabled particular ideologies, identities, and opportunities for learners. We argue that personal growth models of English focus on the right and tasteful kind of affect (or feeling) and mask the ideological roots of language which emotion – when we cease to police it – has the potential to illuminate.

Background Embolic protection devices are used during carotid artery stenting procedures to reduce risk of distal embolization. Although this is a standard procedural recommendation, no studies have shown superiority of these devices over unprotected stenting procedures. Objective To assess the periprocedural outcome and durability of carotid artery stenting without embolic protection devices and poststent angioplasty. Methods We performed a retrospective chart review of 174 carotid angioplasty stent procedures performed at our institution. One hundred sixty-six patients underwent angioplasty and stenting without distal protection devices or poststent angioplasty. Complications related to stenting, including procedural complications, postoperative stroke and/or myocardial infarction, and stent restenosis were analyzed. Results One hundred thirty-five stents (78%) were performed in symptomatic patients, whereas 22% of stents were placed for asymptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis. The degree of stenosis was 80% or greater in 75% of patients and 90% or greater in 55% of patients. Following the stenting procedure, the 24-hour and 30-day rate of transient ischemic attack, intracranial hemorrhage, or ischemic stroke was 0. Three (2%) patients had a perioperative, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. Five patients (2.8%) required treatment for restenosis (>50% stenosis from baseline), 1 of which was symptomatic. Conclusion Our data show that carotid artery stenting without the use of embolic protection devices and without postangioplasty stenting, in experienced hands, can be performed safely. Furthermore, this technique does not result in a higher degree of in-stent restenosis than series in which poststenting angioplasty is performed.

Background and Purpose The term ‘spinal neuropathic pain’ has been coined to describe the chronic neuropathic pain that results when spinal nerve roots are aggravated by scar tissue. (It is different from the pain of spinal cord injury.) Such patients have longstanding back and radicular pain (nerve root pain, predominantly in the limbs) caused by scar or inflammatory tissue around the nerve roots. The pathology of such patients' pain means that special consideration needs to be given to the fact that such adhesions compromise nerve biomechanics and that movement generates additional pain. Patients with such spinal neuropathic pain often do not do well from conventional physiotherapy. Exacerbation (flare-up) frequently follows the exercise routines in common practice. Method Individual patient experience was collected from an internet support group, and the results were tabulated. Results All patients considered stretching, flexing and strenuous exercise to be harmful. A few reported that gentle exercise with instruction not to cause pain was beneficial. Some patients received advice not to do physiotherapy once they had been diagnosed with arachnoiditis. Conclusions The treatment of patients with spinal neuropathic pain warrants special consideration as far as physiotherapy is concerned: patients should only be prescribed gentle, individually tailored exercise. It is hoped the present small study will promote understanding and the development of better therapy. Copyright © 2004 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

Nursing in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union has undergone a period of awakening since the fall of the Soviet system. Through international partnerships, health care providers and leaders are considering the importance of a well educated and appropriately managed nursing work force to the health of society. Nursing reform activities against the backdrop of the Soviet health system are described.

Collaborative efforts among community members, health care professionals, and faith-based institutions can prove valuable in efforts to improve community health. This study used data obtained from before and after health risk assessment surveys to assess participant's knowledge of risk factors leading to chronic diseases among African Americans in an underserved community of Alabama. Data obtained from activity logs and health screening sessions was used to assess effect of knowledge gained on lifestyle practices. The study findings support the need for ongoing population-specific education program development in religious institutions located inside underserved communities.

ails are well known to compromise patient outcomes, resulting in loss of independence and confidence as well as susceptibility to future falls. While the majority of falls don't result in serious physical injury, they can influence morbidity and mortality. A general hesitancy among hospital staff to file incident reports makes it difficult to obtain actual fall statistics, but falls are estimated to account for nearly 90% of all reported hospital incidents. It's also well documented that falls increase hospital costs and length of stay. Depending on cognitive impairment, muscle weakness, and balance and visual impairment, a patient with a hip fracture requires a sevento 10-day stay in the acute care setting. National expenses for fall-related fractures are calculated at $10 billion annually. The confused patient, who's at risk for falls, presents a particular nursing challenge. You're often called upon to intervene before the cause of the patient's confusion is even identified. And though immediate action is necessary, you must comply with the standards of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) in using any physical or chemical restraints. That's why, in 1992, as part of a quality improvement project, nurses at Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, implemented a fall-prevention program with special emphasis on the confused patient. We developed an algorithm for assessing confused patients and intervening appropriately. Here we'll present our algorithm and describe how it works.

Whether the Duke ultimately reaches his goal to unite strict punishment and mercy is an issue that has evoked as much comment as the means by which he sets out to accomplish it. Readers who, like Harriett Hawkins, find the play's ending "not only aesthetically and intellectually unsatisfying, but personally infuriating," usually see Measure for Measure as fundamentally split in tone, structure, and viewpoint. For Hawkins, any effort in Measure to combine law and mercy fails utterly. Moreover, she argues, the Duke's character becomes muddled and unconvincing. He proves contemptibly shallow "by forcing the comic upon the characters and the audience." 2 On the other hand, many readers see Measure for Measure as unified. Arthur