46 results on '"Megan Ward"'
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2. Perspectives of health educators and interviewers in a randomized controlled trial of a postpartum diabetes prevention program for Latinas: a qualitative assessment
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Aline Gubrium, Denise Leckenby, Megan Ward Harvey, Bess H. Marcus, Milagros C. Rosal, and Lisa Chasan-Taber
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Process evaluation ,Researchers’ perspective ,Hispanic ,Postpartum ,Qualitative ,Lifestyle intervention ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
Abstract Background Lifestyle interventions regularly rely on study staff to implement the intervention and collect outcomes data directly from study participants. This study describes the experiences of project staff in two randomized controlled trials of a postpartum lifestyle intervention to reduce risk factors for type 2 diabetes in Latinas. Latinas are the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. and have the highest rates of type 2 diabetes after a diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus. The challenges of implementing lifestyle interventions for postpartum women have been poorly documented. Methods A qualitative focus group was conducted with eight staff members (five health educators and three health interviewers) involved in Proyecto Mamá and Estudio Parto. The discussion was audio recorded, transcribed, and coded in NVivo. Focus group topics included: 1) participant recruitment, 2) participant retention, 3) implementation of the lifestyle intervention, 4) assessment of behavior change, 5) overall challenges and rewarding aspects of the trial, and 6) recommended changes for future trials. Results Key themes emerged regarding enabling factors and barriers to implementing a lifestyle intervention in postpartum Latinas. Enabling factors included: a) the staff’s belief in the importance of the intervention, b) opportunities associated with the longitudinal nature of the trial, c) belief that the staff could empower participants to make behavior change, d) benefits of flexible intervention sessions, and e) connection with participants due to shared cultural backgrounds. Barriers included: a) participant stressors: home, food, and financial insecurity, b) low health literacy, c) issues related to recent immigration to the continental U.S., d) handling participant resistance to behavior change, e) involvement of family members in assessment visits, f) limitations of the assessment tools, and g) time limitations. Conclusions Findings highlight the challenging contexts that many study participants face, and shed light on the potentially influential role of health educators and interviewers in intervention implementation and data collection. Specific recommendations are made for strategies to improve adherence to diabetes prevention programs in postpartum underserved and minority populations in this challenging, transitional period of life. Trial registration NCT01679210. Registered 5 September 2012; NCT01868230. Registered 4 June 2013.
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- 2019
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3. Walls and Cows: Social Media, Vigilante Vantage, and Political Discourse
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Megan Ward
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Communication. Mass media ,P87-96 - Abstract
Vigilante groups in the United States and India have used social media to distribute their content and publicize violent spectacles for political purposes. This essay will tackle the spectacle of vigilante lynchings, abduction, and threats as images of vigilante violence are spread online in support of specific candidates, state violences, and election discourse. It is important to understand the impact of not only these vigilante groups, but understand the communicative spectacle of their content. Using Leo R. Chavez’s understanding of early 2000s vigilante action as spectacle in service of social movements, this essay extends the analysis to modern vigilante violence online content used as dramatic political rhetoric in support of sitting administrations. Two case studies on modern vigilante violence provide insight into this phenomenon are as follows: (1) Vigilante nativist militia groups across the United States in support of border militarization have kidnapped migrants in the Southwest desert, documenting these incidents to show support for the Trump Administration and building of a border wall and (2) vigilante mobs in India have circulated videos and media documenting lynchings of so-called “cow killers”; these attacks target Muslims in the light of growing Hindu Nationalist sentiment and political movement in the country. Localized disinformation and personal video allow vigilante content to spread across social media to recruit members for militias, as well as incite quick acts of mob violence. Furthermore, these case studies display how the social media livestreams and video allow representations of violence to become attention-arresting visual acts of political discourse.
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- 2020
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4. Assessing contraband tobacco in two jurisdictions: a direct collection of cigarette butts
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Julie Stratton, Samantha Shiplo, Megan Ward, Alexey Babayan, Adam Stevens, and Sarah Edwards
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Tobacco products ,Contraband tobacco ,Smoking behaviours ,Smoking-prevention and control ,Tobacco industry ,Unobtrusive observation ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
Abstract Background The sale of contraband tobacco allows for tobacco tax evasion, which can undermine the effectiveness of tobacco tax policies in reducing the number of smokers. Estimates of the proportion of contraband vary widely as do the methods used to measure the proportion of contraband being smoked. The purpose of this study is to determine the proportion of contraband use in two different jurisdictions. Methods A cross-sectional direct collection of cigarette butts was conducted in Peel and Brantford, Ontario, Canada in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Cigarette butts were collected from a variety of locations within both regions. Cigarette butts were assessed and classified into one of the following categories: contraband, legal Canadian, legal Native, International, unknown, and discards. Results The overall proportion of contraband cigarettes in Peel was 5.3 %, ranging from 2.8 to 8.6 % by location. In Brantford, the proportion of contraband was 33.0 %, with a range from 32.8 to 33.1 % by location. Conclusions The direct collection of cigarette butts was determined to be a feasible method for a local public health unit in determining the proportion of contraband cigarettes. This approach showed that Brantford has a higher proportion of contraband consumption compared to Peel, which may be due to geographic location and proximity to the United States (US)-Canada border and Native Reserves. More research is needed to confirm this geographic association with other jurisdictions.
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- 2016
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5. When Reading Matters
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Megan Ward
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Cultural Studies ,Literature and Literary Theory - Abstract
One way to tell the story of our discipline is as a story about reading. In the early twentieth century, in order to establish the value of literary criticism, critics used the framework of professionalism to create specialized vocabulary, professional societies, and reading methods distinguished from those of laypeople. Foundational pieces of literary criticism often pry analysis apart from the affective experiences of reading literature—our sympathy, identification, shock, or sadness. Early literary critics did so in order to privilege literature's patterns and structures to argue, implicitly or explicitly, that literature is art, not life. In other words, reading literary description isn't a substitute for experiencing sensory perception of those settings, people, or objects. Fictional characters’ affective lives—and our responses to those lives—aren't a way to understand our own subjecthood.
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- 2023
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6. Archives
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Megan Ward
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- 2023
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7. Perspectives of health educators and interviewers in a randomized controlled trial of a postpartum diabetes prevention program for Latinas: a qualitative assessment
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Gubrium, Aline, Leckenby, Denise, Harvey, Megan Ward, Marcus, Bess H., Rosal, Milagros C., and Chasan-Taber, Lisa
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- 2019
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8. Should Victorian Studies Be Posthuman? A Panel Discussion
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Sarah Alexander, Miranda Butler, Bruce Clarke, Tamara Ketabgian, Amy R. Wong, Dongshin Yi, and Megan Ward
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General Medicine - Published
- 2022
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9. Participatory Security and Punitive Agency: Acclimation to Homeland Surveillance in the United States
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Megan Ward
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Urban Studies ,Political science ,Agency (sociology) ,Punitive damages ,U s politics ,Social media ,Homeland ,Citizen journalism ,Public administration ,Safety Research - Published
- 2021
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10. Reductive Reading: A Syntax of Victorian Moralizing
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Megan Ward
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- 2020
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11. What Impacts HPV Vaccination Recommendations? An Exploration of Medical Residents’ Knowledge, Training, Barriers, and Practices
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Freya Spielberg, Jennifer Duc, Megan Ward, Katie Hansen, and Swati B. Avashia
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,education ,Specialty ,Psychological intervention ,Training (civil) ,Obstetrics and gynaecology ,Pregnancy ,Humans ,Medicine ,Papillomavirus Vaccines ,Child ,Cervical cancer ,business.industry ,Papillomavirus Infections ,Vaccination ,Internship and Residency ,medicine.disease ,Obstetrics ,Gynecology ,Family medicine ,Female ,Thematic analysis ,Family Practice ,business ,Inclusion (education) - Abstract
Background and Objectives: Increasing human papillomavirus vaccination (HPVV) uptake is critical to the prevention of cervical cancer. Effective physician communication and clinical workflow policies have a significant impact on vaccination rates. However, resident training programs vary in the inclusion of training in effective HPVV practices. At Dell Medical School in Austin, Texas, HPVV rates at primary care residents’ clinic sites vary. We examined HPVV-related knowledge, training, barriers, and practices among residents in pediatrics (Peds), family medicine (FM), obstetrics and gynecology (Ob/Gyn), and internal medicine (IM) with the aim of identifying interventional targets to improve vaccination rates. Methods: This was a mixed-method study including qualitative interviews and a survey. We interviewed a sample of residents from each specialty to assess their training experiences and how they discuss HPVV. We recorded, transcribed, and coded interviews for thematic analysis. All residents were offered the opportunity to complete an electronic survey to quantitatively evaluate knowledge and vaccine practices. We performed χ2 and Fisher exact analysis to compare results between disciplines. Results: HPVV-related knowledge was similar across all four specialties and between resident year. Peds residents reported always recommending the HPVV significantly more than FM and Ob/Gyn residents for 11-17-year-old females. Only Peds residents reported receiving evidence-based vaccine communication training. Among all residents, the primary HPVV barriers included forgetting to offer the vaccine and time constraints. When discussing the vaccine, many interviewed residents were not offering a confident recommendation to all eligible patients, and instead were using a risk-based approach to vaccination. Conclusions: There were inconsistencies across programs related to how and where residents receive HPVV training. This may impact the frequency and strength of resident vaccine recommendations. To increase HPVV rates, residency programs should prioritize implementation of multimodal interventions, including opt-out workflows and education on how to give confident vaccine recommendations.
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- 2020
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12. Asclepias curassavica (bloodflower)
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Megan Ward
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This datasheet on Asclepias curassavica covers Identity, Overview, Distribution, Dispersal, Hosts/Species Affected, Diagnosis, Biology & Ecology, Environmental Requirements, Natural Enemies, Impacts, Uses, Prevention/Control, Further Information.
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- 2022
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13. Overcoming Access Issues With Online Ethnography and the Archival Turn: Walls and Cows: Social Media, Vigilante Vantage, and Political Discourse
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Megan Ward
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- 2022
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14. An analysis of minoritisation in domestic homicide reviews in England and Wales
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Khatidja Chantler, Kelly Bracewell, Victoria Baker, Kim Heyes, Peter Traynor, and Megan Ward
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Political Science and International Relations - Abstract
This article considers how minoritisation features in Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) in England and Wales and identifies critical learning in relation to addressing minoritisation. Five themes were identified: i) the invisibility of race, culture and ethnicity; ii) perceptions and experiences of services; iii) use of stereotypes and the culturalisation of domestic violence and abuse (DVA); iv) lack of interpreters; and v) DHR recommendations. Our analysis illustrates that statutory sector services should strengthen their responses to Black and minoritised victims by ensuring proper recording of cultural background is used to inform practice; engage professionally trained interpreters with an awareness of DVA; resist framing DVA as endemic to minoritised cultures; and enhance trust and confidence in public services within minoritised communities. The best examples of DHRs challenged service narratives and usually sought expertise from a specialist Black/minoritised DVA service or community organisation (frequently minoritised women's rights organisations).
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- 2022
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15. Ghosts, Spooks, and Martyrs. Historical Hauntings in Tom Clancy���s Ghost Recon Wildlands
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Megan, Ward
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In 1985, a United States undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, Enrique Kiki Camarena, was abducted, tortured, and murdered in Guadalajara, Mexico by an alleged drug cartel. The ensuing international murder investigation saw breaches in extradition procedures, accusations that Mexican officials had destroyed key evidence, and allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had targeted Camarena to cover evidence of CIA covert involvement in Nicaragua. Camarena���s death and subsequent martyrdom took form in national anti-drug campaigns, DEA awards, and the drug war foreign policy. More recently in 2017, French video game company Ubisoft released a massively popular video game, Tom Clancy���s Ghost Recon Wildlands (2017), which fictionalizes Camarena���s death and draws its players into a history of the United States drug war, complete with CIA Spooks, agrarian militias, and Mexican drug lords. In conversation with historical epistemologies, game studies, and with close attention to the obscured record of covert operation, this article investigates how cultural artifacts, specifically interactive ones, not only create history, but place their audience within in a history only now freshly unearthed and resurrected. Camarena���s many resurrections in popular politics and media are salient examples of the participatory nature of history and the narratives we use to place ourselves within murky pasts., gamevironments, No. #14 (2021)
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- 2021
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16. Temporal and Geographic Patterns of Social Media Posts About an Emerging Suicide Game
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Peter Mork, Brad Bartholow, Stacey Galik, Megan Ward, Alison Dingwall, Jennifer Mathieu, Thomas Kiley, and Steven A. Sumner
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Public health ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Poison control ,Human factors and ergonomics ,Advertising ,Suicide prevention ,Mental health ,Occupational safety and health ,Suicide ,03 medical and health sciences ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,0302 clinical medicine ,Games, Recreational ,030225 pediatrics ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Injury prevention ,medicine ,Humans ,Social media ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Psychology ,Self-Injurious Behavior ,Social Media - Abstract
Purpose Rates of suicide are increasing rapidly among youth. Social media messages and online games promoting suicide are a concern for parents and clinicians. We examined the timing and location of social media posts about one alleged youth suicide game to better understand the degree to which social media data can provide earlier public health awareness. Methods We conducted a search of all public social media posts and news articles on the Blue Whale Challenge (BWC), an alleged suicide game, from January 1, 2013, through June 30, 2017. Data were retrieved through multiple keyword search; sources included social media platforms Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, Tumblr, as well as blogs, forums, and news articles. Posts were classified into three categories: individual “pro”-BWC posts (support for game), individual “anti”-BWC posts (opposition to game), and media reports. Timing and location of posts were assessed. Results Overall, 95,555 social media posts and articles about the BWC were collected. In total, over one-quarter (28.3%) were “pro”-BWC. The first U.S. news article related to the BWC was published approximately 4 months after the first English language U.S. social media post about the BWC and 9 months after the first U.S. social media post in any language. By the close of the study period, “pro”-BWC posts had spread to 127 countries. Conclusions Novel online risks to mental health, such as prosuicide games or messages, can spread rapidly and globally. Better understanding social media and Web data may allow for detection of such threats earlier than is currently possible.
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- 2019
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17. The large-scale feed-in tariff reverse auction scheme in the Australian Capital Territory 2012, to 2016
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Megan Ward, Greg Buckman, and Jon Sibley
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Rate of return ,060102 archaeology ,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ,business.industry ,020209 energy ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Tariff ,06 humanities and the arts ,02 engineering and technology ,Renewable energy ,Interest rate ,Reverse auction ,Scale (social sciences) ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Common value auction ,0601 history and archaeology ,Business ,Feed-in tariff ,Industrial organization ,media_common - Abstract
Feed-in tariffs offer renewable energy developers investor certainty but often at the cost of overly generous subsidisation. Reverse feed-in tariff auctions can overcome this problem but can be adversely affected by non-delivery risks, high auction costs and locational concentration. Between 2012 and 2016, the Australian Capital Territory Government in Australia conducted reverse auctions for the feed-in tariff rights to 640 MW of large-scale solar or wind generating capacity, the first such reverse auction program undertaken in the country. The auctions were used to meet a 100% by 2020 renewable electricity target. The auctions came to be assessed on a number of criteria, including local engagement and economic returns, rather than being narrowly focused on delivery risk and feed-in tariff price. Although the auction’s successful projects were relatively concentrated, the auctions were successful in delivering significant local economic benefits as well as decreasing average feed-in tariff prices that declined by 23% for wind and 58% for solar over the period of the auctions driven, in part, by lower internal rates of return and lower interest rates. The delivery of projects and project commitments, and potential locational concentration, are key challenges that other reverse auction users may face.
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- 2019
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18. Victorian Fictions of Computational Creativity
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Megan Ward
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Computational creativity ,Aesthetics ,Computer science - Abstract
In designing his foundational test of AI, Alan Turing refers to Ada’s Lovelace’s Victorian pronouncement that a machine cannot be intelligent because it only does what it is programmed to do. This idea continues to shape the field of computational creativity as the ‘Lovelace objection’. This chapter, however, argues that the term is a misnomer; Lovelace actually proposes a much more nuanced understanding of human–machine collaboration. Returning to Lovelace’s 1843 essays, I situate them within broader Victorian debates about originality in literary realism, especially in relation to Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope’s fictional uses of ‘mechanicity’. This chapter hopes to intervene in contemporary discussions of computational creativity, which continue to invoke the Lovelace objection as a means to focus on a human-centred definition of ‘creativity’. Seeing computational creativity as the outgrowth of a long history of human–machine originality may open up the field to that history’s creative symbiosis.
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- 2020
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19. CORRELATION OF GEOTHERMAL FEATURES SOUTHEAST OF THE SALTON SEA WITH FAULT SYSTEMS USING SUBSURFACE GEOPHYSICS
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Jascha Polet, Daniel Wright, Kyle Garcia, and Megan Ward-baranyay
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geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Geophysics ,Fault (geology) ,Geothermal gradient ,Geology - Published
- 2020
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20. Interventions to improve liver enzyme screening testing in obese patients aged <18 years in a public hospital, Chicago, IL, 2017–2018
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Megan Ward, Rosibell Arcia, Kenneth Soyemi, Peter Nguyen, and Simi Akintorin
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obesity ,Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Cirrhosis ,ALT ,Psychological intervention ,Overweight ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,NAFLD ,030225 pediatrics ,Health care ,Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease ,medicine ,Outpatient clinic ,Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics ,Original Research ,business.industry ,screening ,Medical record ,medicine.disease ,Obesity ,pediatric ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
Megan Ward,1 Peter Nguyen,1 Simi Akintorin,2 Rosibell Arcia,1 Kenneth Soyemi1,3 1Department of Pediatrics, Cook County Health, and Hospitals System, The John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA; 2Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California Medical School, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 3Department of Emergency Medicine, Cook County Health, and Hospitals System, The John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA Introduction: Our study objective was to determine the health care provider liver enzyme screening testing (LEST) rates in obese pediatric patients at risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), with the goal of improving NAFLD LEST after specific system-wide provider intervention.Methods: We conducted a bi-phased retrospective electronic medical record review of health care practitioner encounters to determine LEST in overweight/obese (body mass index≥25) patients between ages 2 and 18 years in our outpatient clinics. Intervention activities included lectures to staff and residents, fliers distributed to providers, monthly email reminders, and computer stickers placed on all terminals. From both phases, samples of simple random samples were drawn from the selected electronic medical records and reviewed for LEST screening; after intervention from this pool of patients, a random sample was chosen for LEST rate analysis. LEST rates were calculated per 100 patient encounters.Results: We screened 2,979 and 2,634 pre and postintervention pediatric encounters from which we obtained a simple random sample of patients for LEST analysis. Overall of the 264 preintervention patients, 65 (24.4%) patients received LEST translating to 24/100 encounters. Of the 65 who received screening, 53 (81%) were classified as overweight/obese. Screening rate was higher for overweight/obese patients (32/100 encounters), when compared with normal weight patients’ crude OR 3.8 (11/100 encounters; 95% CI: 1.9–7.6, P
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- 2018
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21. The Cybernetic Character of Domestic Realism
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Megan Ward
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Structure (mathematical logic) ,Literature and Literary Theory ,Repetition (rhetorical device) ,Aesthetics ,Reading (process) ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Literary criticism ,Cybernetics ,Character (symbol) ,Sociology ,Development theory ,Realism ,media_common - Abstract
Critics have struggled to account for realist characters’ development on the repetitive timescale of Victorian domestic realism, which is devoted to representing the sameness of daily routine. This essay argues that this struggle stems from literary criticism’s implicit reliance on psychological interiority as the defining criterion for humanlike mimesis. It proposes that we instead look to an alternative theory of seeming human, one based on repetition and routine. Cybernetics, an early form of artificial intelligence, provides a theory of developmental time through the feedback loop. Reading Charlotte M. Yonge’s Daisy Chain (1856) and Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters (1866) through the temporal structure of the intelligent machine, this essay argues that these novels imagine new, routinized theories of development. Through the characters’ endless meal planning, sewing, and verse memorizing, an alternate history of realist character emerges: the lifelikeness of automation.
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- 2018
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22. A strategic approach to workforce development for local public health
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Beverley Bryant and Megan Ward
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Innovations in Policy and Practice ,Population health ,03 medical and health sciences ,Professional Competence ,0302 clinical medicine ,Nursing ,Humans ,Medicine ,Staff Development ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Health policy ,Ontario ,HRHIS ,ComputingMilieux_THECOMPUTINGPROFESSION ,business.industry ,030503 health policy & services ,Public health ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,General Medicine ,Public relations ,Workforce development ,Health promotion ,Evidence-Based Practice ,Workforce ,Workforce planning ,Public Health ,0305 other medical science ,business - Abstract
SETTING: In 2009, Peel Public Health set a vision to transform the work of public health from efficient delivery of public health services as defined by provincial mandate to the robust analysis of the health status of the local population and selection and implementation of programming to achieve best health outcomes. A strategic approach to the workforce was a key enabler. PPH is a public health unit in Ontario that serves 1.4 million people. INTERVENTION: An organization-wide strategic workforce development program was instituted. It is theory-based, evidence-informed and data-driven. A first step was a conceptual framework, followed by interventions in workforce planning, human resources management, and capacity development. The program was built on evidence reviews, theory, and public health core competencies. Interventions spread across the employee work-life span. OUTCOMES: Capacity development based on the public health core competencies is a main focus, particularly analytical capacity to support decision-making. Employees gain skill and knowledge in comprehensive population health. Leadership evolves as work shifts to the analysis of health status and development of interventions. Effective human resource processes ensure appropriate job design, recruitment and orientation. Analysis of the workforce leads to vigorous employee development to ensure a strong pool of potential leadership successors. IMPLICATIONS: Theory, research evidence, and data provide a robust foundation for workforce development. Competencies are important inputs to job descriptions, recruitment, training, and human resource processes. A comprehensive workforce development strategy enables the development of a skilled workforce capable of responding to the needs of the population it serves.
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- 2017
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23. The Archive after Theory
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Megan Ward and Adrian S. Wisnicki
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- 2019
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24. Debates in the Digital Humanities 2019
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Andrew Goldstone, Laura Mandell, Alban Webb, Jason Mittell, Kathi Inman Berens, Andrew Gomez, Brian Greenspan, Moacir P. de Sá Pereira, Mark Sample, Elyse Graham, Megan Ward, Brad Pasanek, David Norton, Ben Roberts, Radhika Gajjala, James Baker, R. C. Alvarado, David S. Roh, Tim Sherratt, Michael Gavin, Collin Jennings, Trevor Muñoz, Ted Underwood, Lincoln Mullen, Curtis Fletcher, Steven J. Jackson, Lauren Tilton, Claire Bishop, Katie Rawson, John Hunter, Stephen Ramsay, Bobby L. Smiley, M Beatrice Fazi, James Coltrain, Kyle Parry, Marta Effinger-Crichlow, Kari Kraus, Taylor Arnold, Matt Ratto, Seth Long, Adrian S. Wisnicki, Rachel Mann, Élika Ortega, Bethany Nowviskie, Jussi Parikka, Safiya Umoja Noble, Marisa Parham, David Berry, Jennifer Edmond, Lauren Kersey, Claire Warwick, Neil Fraistat, Kevin L. Ferguson, and Johanna Drucker
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Digital humanities ,Media studies ,Sociology - Published
- 2019
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25. Reading Under a Big Tent. A review of Roger Whitson, Steampunk and Nineteenth-Century Digital Humanities: Literary Retrofuturisms, Media Archaeologies, Alternate Histories
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Megan Ward
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Cultural Studies ,Literature and Literary Theory ,Visual Arts and Performing Arts ,Digital humanities ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Reading (process) ,Art history ,Steampunk ,Art ,media_common - Published
- 2018
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26. Seeming Human: Artificial Intelligence and Victorian Realist Character
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Megan Ward
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- 2018
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27. Canberra—Renewable Energy Leader
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Dorte Ekelund, Stephen Bygrave, Megan Ward, Greg Buckman, and Jon Sibley
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Reverse auction ,Mains electricity ,Natural resource economics ,business.industry ,Order (exchange) ,Australian capital ,Electricity ,National capital ,business ,Renewable energy - Abstract
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), home to Australia’s national capital city, Canberra, is increasingly being globally recognized for its ambitious climate change action agenda. In 2010, the Territory legislated emission reduction targets, including a commitment to reduce emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2020. To achieve the ambitious target, in 2012, it established a program of large-scale renewable electricity feed-in tariffs, allocated by an innovative reverse auction process, in order to achieve 100% renewable electricity supply by 2020. The ACT's strong renewable electricity target was augmented by a range of complementary programs and was leveraged into associated sectors.
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- 2018
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28. Seeming Human : Artificial Intelligence and Victorian Realist Character
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Megan Ward and Megan Ward
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- English fiction--20th century--History and criticism, English fiction--19th century--History and criticism, Realism in literature, Artificial intelligence in literature
- Abstract
Seeming Human: Artificial Intelligence and Victorian Realist Character offers a new theory of realist character through character's unexpected afterlife: the intelligent machine. The book contends that mid-twentieth-century versions of artificial intelligence (AI) offer a theory of verisimilitude omitted by traditional histories of character, which often focus on the development of interiority and the shift from “flat” to “round” characters in the Victorian era. Instead, by reading character through AI, Megan Ward's Seeming Human argues that routinization, predictability, automation, and even flatness are all features of realist characters. Early artificial intelligence movements such as cybernetics, information theory, and the Turing test define ways of seeming—rather than being—human. Using these theories of verisimilitude to read Victorian novelists such as Elizabeth Gaskell, Margaret Oliphant, Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy, and Henry James, Seeming Human argues that mechanicity has been perceived as anti-realist because it is the element that we least want to identify as human. Because AI produces human-like intelligence, it makes clear that we must actually turn to machines in order to understand what makes realist characters seem so human.
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- 2018
29. Assessing Quality of Care and Elder Abuse in Nursing Homes via Google Reviews
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Jing Jian, Megan Ward, Jared Mowery, Elizabeth Le, and Amanda Andrei
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Gerontology ,media_common.quotation_subject ,social media ,Gerontological nursing ,03 medical and health sciences ,Patient safety ,0302 clinical medicine ,patient safety ,Medicine ,Quality (business) ,supervised machine learning ,030212 general & internal medicine ,natural language processing ,geriatric nursing ,General Environmental Science ,media_common ,Multinomial logistic regression ,business.industry ,030503 health policy & services ,Elder abuse ,Confidence interval ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,0305 other medical science ,business ,Nursing homes ,Medicaid ,Research Article - Abstract
Background: It is challenging to assess the quality of care and detect elder abuse in nursing homes, since patients may be incapable of reporting quality issues or abuse themselves, and resources for sending inspectors are limited. Objective: This study correlates Google reviews of nursing homes with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) inspection results in the Nursing Home Compare (NHC) data set, to quantify the extent to which the reviews reflect the quality of care and the presence of elder abuse. Methods: A total of 16,160 reviews were collected, spanning 7,170 nursing homes. Two approaches were tested: using the average rating as an overall estimate of the quality of care at a nursing home, and using the average scores from a maximum entropy classifier trained to recognize indications of elder abuse. Results: The classifier achieved an F-measure of 0.81, with precision 0.74 and recall 0.89. The correlation for the classifier is weak but statistically significant: = 0.13, P < .001, and 95% confidence interval (0.10, 0.16). The correlation for the ratings exhibits a slightly higher correlation: = 0.15, P < .001. Both the classifier and rating correlations approach approximately 0.65 when the effective average number of reviews per provider is increased by aggregating similar providers. Conclusions: These results indicate that an analysis of Google reviews of nursing homes can be used to detect indications of elder abuse with high precision and to assess the quality of care, but only when a sufficient number of reviews are available.
- Published
- 2016
30. Assessing contraband tobacco in two jurisdictions: a direct collection of cigarette butts
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Megan Ward, Alexey Babayan, Julie Stratton, Adam Stevens, Samantha Shiplo, and Sarah J L Edwards
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Tax evasion ,Tobacco Industry ,Unobtrusive observation ,Smoking-prevention and control ,Tobacco industry ,Contraband tobacco ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Environmental health ,Medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Location ,Tobacco harm reduction ,Tobacco products ,Ontario ,Public health ,030505 public health ,business.industry ,lcsh:Public aspects of medicine ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,lcsh:RA1-1270 ,Taxes ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Smoking Cessation ,0305 other medical science ,business ,Smoking behaviours ,Research Article - Abstract
Background The sale of contraband tobacco allows for tobacco tax evasion, which can undermine the effectiveness of tobacco tax policies in reducing the number of smokers. Estimates of the proportion of contraband vary widely as do the methods used to measure the proportion of contraband being smoked. The purpose of this study is to determine the proportion of contraband use in two different jurisdictions. Methods A cross-sectional direct collection of cigarette butts was conducted in Peel and Brantford, Ontario, Canada in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Cigarette butts were collected from a variety of locations within both regions. Cigarette butts were assessed and classified into one of the following categories: contraband, legal Canadian, legal Native, International, unknown, and discards. Results The overall proportion of contraband cigarettes in Peel was 5.3 %, ranging from 2.8 to 8.6 % by location. In Brantford, the proportion of contraband was 33.0 %, with a range from 32.8 to 33.1 % by location. Conclusions The direct collection of cigarette butts was determined to be a feasible method for a local public health unit in determining the proportion of contraband cigarettes. This approach showed that Brantford has a higher proportion of contraband consumption compared to Peel, which may be due to geographic location and proximity to the United States (US)-Canada border and Native Reserves. More research is needed to confirm this geographic association with other jurisdictions.
- Published
- 2016
31. Generalised pollination systems for three invasive milkweeds in Australia
- Author
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Steven D. Johnson and Megan Ward
- Subjects
Asclepias curassavica ,Plant Nectar ,Pollination ,Wasps ,Introduced species ,Flowers ,Plant Science ,Gomphocarpus ,Gomphocarpus fruticosus ,Pollinator ,Animals ,Nectar ,Zoophily ,Asclepias ,Ecosystem ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,biology ,Ecology ,General Medicine ,biology.organism_classification ,Apocynaceae ,Lepidoptera ,Queensland ,Introduced Species ,Butterflies - Abstract
Because most plants require pollinator visits for seed production, the ability of an introduced plant species to establish pollinator relationships in a new ecosystem may have a central role in determining its success or failure as an invader. We investigated the pollination ecology of three milkweed species - Asclepias curassavica, Gomphocarpus fruticosus and G. physocarpus - in their invaded range in southeast Queensland, Australia. The complex floral morphology of milkweeds has often been interpreted as a general trend towards specialised pollination requirements. Based on this interpretation, invasion by milkweeds contradicts the expectation than plant species with specialised pollination systems are less likely to become invasive that those with more generalised pollination requirements. However, observations of flower visitors in natural populations of the three study species revealed that their pollination systems are essentially specialised at the taxonomic level of the order, but generalised at the species level. Specifically, pollinators of the two Gomphocarpus species included various species of Hymenoptera (particularly vespid wasps), while pollinators of A. curassavica were primarily Lepidoptera (particularly nymphalid butterflies). Pollinators of all three species are rewarded with copious amounts of highly concentrated nectar. It is likely that successful invasion by these three milkweed species is attributable, at least in part, to their generalised pollinator requirements. The results of this study are discussed in terms of how data from the native range may be useful in predicting pollination success of species in a new environment.
- Published
- 2012
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32. Creating an Organizational Culture for Evidence-Informed Decision Making
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Megan Ward and David L. Mowat
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Ontario ,Capacity Building ,Evidence-based practice ,Knowledge management ,Decision engineering ,business.industry ,Health Policy ,Decision Making ,Health services research ,Change management ,Organizational culture ,Public relations ,Organizational Culture ,Organizational Innovation ,R-CAST ,Organizational Case Studies ,Evidence-Based Practice ,Business decision mapping ,Humans ,Health Services Research ,Public Health ,business - Abstract
A public health department in Ontario, Canada, seta 10-year strategic direction for evidence-informed decision making, defined as the systematic application of research evidence to program decisions. The multifaceted approach has identified eight key lessons for leadership, funding, infrastructure, staff development, partnerships, and change management. Results after 4 years include systematic and transparent application of research to >15 program decisions and, increasingly, evidence-informed decision making as a cultural norm.
- Published
- 2012
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33. Our Posthuman Past: Victorian Realism, Cybernetics, and the Problem of Information
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Megan Ward
- Subjects
Health (social science) ,Literature and Literary Theory ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Posthuman ,Representation (arts) ,Epistemology ,Philosophy ,Information practices ,Reading (process) ,Cybernetics ,Sociology ,Philosophical realism ,Realism ,media_common - Abstract
This essay argues that Victorian realism pre-imagines the conditions of early artificial intelligence by reading Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford (1853) alongside key cybernetic texts. In doing so, it claims that Victorian realism influences twentieth-century definitions of what it means to be human—definitions that have sparked contemporary debate about information and embodiment. By examining realism’s representation practices, information practices can be better understood, not just in the twenty-first century, but as part of an ongoing debate.
- Published
- 2012
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34. Modes of reproduction in three invasive milkweeds are consistent with Baker’s Rule
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Myron P. Zalucki, Steven D. Johnson, and Megan Ward
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education.field_of_study ,Modes of reproduction ,Ecology ,Pollination ,Range (biology) ,Population ,Introduced species ,Biology ,Gomphocarpus ,biology.organism_classification ,Gomphocarpus fruticosus ,Biological dispersal ,education ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
According to Baker’s Rule, uniparental reproduction is associated with colonizing plants because it provides a means for population establishment following single long-distance dispersal events. There is, however, limited evidence for the applicability of Baker’s Rule to invasive plants. We determined the breeding systems of three invasive milkweed species—Asclepias curassavica, Gomphocarpus fruticosus and G. physocarpus—in their invaded range in south-east Queensland, Australia. Although dependent on pollinators for reproduction, hand-pollinations revealed that all three species are self-compatible which is consistent with Baker’s Rule and notable because milkweeds are generally self-incompatible. In progeny performance trials, seedlings from self-pollinations generally did not perform as well as those from cross-pollinations, but the differences were minor. Evidence for self-compatibility in G. physocarpus is a particularly noteworthy feature of this study, as this species has been reported to be self-incompatible in its native range and may thus have evolved self-compatibility during the invasion process. Furthermore, potential for hybridization between the two Gomphocarpus species was observed. Hybridization may have assisted the invasion of these species through providing additional sources of pollen and/or broadening genetic variation. Our study adds to the growing evidence that breeding systems are significant for the process of plant invasion.
- Published
- 2011
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35. La prise de décision fondée sur des données probantes en santé publique
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Megan Ward
- Subjects
Health Policy - Abstract
On a créé un processus pour appliquer systématiquement la recherche aux décisions de santé publique dans une grande organisation de santé publique du Canada. Ce processus en neuf étapes est soutenu par des outils et une formation pour accéder à la recherche, l'évaluer et l'appliquer. Il a été mis en œuvre dans l'ensemble de l'organisation selon les principes de la théorie de gestion du changement élaborée par Kotter et Cohen.
- Published
- 2011
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36. The Woodlanders and the Cultivation of Realism
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Megan Ward
- Subjects
Literature ,Literature and Literary Theory ,business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Philosophy ,Individual development ,Ambivalence ,Undoing ,Aesthetics ,Depiction ,Narrative ,business ,Realism ,Skepticism ,media_common - Abstract
Thomas Hardy is perhaps best known for his depictions of a nostalgic, rural past—and the interruption of that rural life by modern cultivation. This essay takes as its starting point Hardy's suspicion of cultivation, but it reverses any notion of nostalgia. Hardy's skeptical depiction of cultivation ultimately arises not from the novel's ambivalence about culture but from its ambivalence about nature. Modern cultivation in The Woodlanders (1887) is a circular, nonprogressive practice that undoes the narrative of linear individual development on which the midcentury realist novel was founded. Though Hardy is often seen as departing from midcentury realism, this article argues that, instead, we can see a new direction for realism in the discussion of cultivation. Hardy contends that nature is not, and probably has never been, more real than cultivation. By making a world of surfaces and then undoing it, The Woodlanders highlights the cultivated nature of subjecthood, a cultivation that end-of-century realism must attempt to capture.
- Published
- 2011
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37. 'A Charm in those Fingers': Patterns, Taste, and the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine
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Megan Ward
- Subjects
Sight ,Idyll ,History ,History and Philosophy of Science ,Literature and Literary Theory ,Housewife ,Modernity ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Perspective (graphical) ,Merge (version control) ,nobody ,media_common ,Visual arts - Abstract
"There are a thousand things that everybody sees, and nobody thinks of," marvels the author of "Railway Magic," an 1855 article in the Englishwoman s Domestic Magazine.1 The writer is particularly interested in drawing attention to the sensory experience of train travel. It is not just that new parts of the country open up to the railway, or that the speed allows one to cover new territory; the actual sights of the everyday are given new meaning when seen from the window of a train. The modernity of train travel enables the traveler to see the English countryside with new eyes: the eyes of a housewife. Looking out the train window, the anonymous author asks, "And did you remark not a spike wrenched from its good hold, not a tie un-tied, not a timber splintered? There must be a charm in those fingers indeed." The construction of the railway is the work of an especially tidy and conscientious laborer, depicted here as the domestic woman.2 As the train rushes the viewer from far to near perspective, the features of the landscape are crafted from quotidian housewifely objects: "Strips of narrow yellow ribbon widen into broad acres of golden grain; scattered skeins of silk floss are webbed into running rivers." Rural idyll and modern power merge into one image, united through a visual perspective that draws its references from needlework rather than farming or factory work. Fingers, ribbon, and silk floss feature prominently in the parts of the periodical devoted to sewing and fancy-work patterns. "Railway Magic" concludes that the railway marks out and almost creates the surrounding fields, lakes, and towns. The railway's relationship to the landscape becomes much like a pattern for an embroidered scene: "the railway itself, in the magic of distance seems the double scoring of the beautiful fields and lakes and towns along
- Published
- 2008
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38. Supporting successful implementation of public health interventions: protocol for a realist synthesis
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Ruta Valaitis, Bernadette Pauly, Warren O’Briain, Samantha Tong, Thea van Roode, Karen Dickenson Smith, Kara Schick-Makaroff, Anita Kothari, Heather Manson, Heather Wilson Strosher, Victoria Lee, Geoff Wong, Megan Ward, Marjorie MacDonald, and Simon Carroll
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,Population health ,Knowledge translation ,Public health interventions ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Health care ,medicine ,Protocol ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Health policy ,Realist review ,Public health ,business.industry ,030503 health policy & services ,Behavior change ,Public relations ,Health equity ,3. Good health ,Research Design ,Implementation ,Implementation research ,0305 other medical science ,business ,Delivery of Health Care ,Systematic Reviews as Topic ,Realist synthesis - Abstract
Background There is a growing emphasis in public health on the importance of evidence-based interventions to improve population health and reduce health inequities. Equally important is the need for knowledge about how to implement these interventions successfully. Yet, a gap remains between the development of evidence-based public health interventions and their successful implementation. Conventional systematic reviews have been conducted on effective implementation in health care, but few in public health, so their relevance to public health is unclear. In most reviews, stringent inclusion criteria have excluded entire bodies of evidence that may be relevant for policy makers, program planners, and practitioners to understand implementation in the unique public health context. Realist synthesis is a theory-driven methodology that draws on diverse data from different study designs to explain how and why observed outcomes occur in different contexts and thus may be more appropriate for public health. Methods This paper presents a realist review protocol to answer the research question: Why are some public health interventions successfully implemented and others not? Based on a review of implementation theories and frameworks, we developed an initial program theory, adapted for public health from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, to explain the implementation outcomes of public health interventions within particular contexts. This will guide us through the review process, which comprises eight iterative steps based on established realist review guidelines and quality standards. We aim to refine this initial theory into a ‘final’ realist program theory that explains important context-mechanism-outcome configurations in the successful implementation of public health interventions. Discussion Developing new public health interventions is costly and policy windows that support their implementation can be short lived. Ineffective implementation wastes scarce resources and is neither affordable nor sustainable. Public health interventions that are not implemented will not have their intended effects on improving population health and promoting health equity. This synthesis will provide evidence to support effective implementation of public health interventions taking into account the variable context of interventions. A series of knowledge translation products specific to the needs of knowledge users will be developed to provide implementation support. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42015030052 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-016-0229-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
- Published
- 2015
39. Pollen limitation and demographic structure in small fragmented populations ofBrunsvigia radulosa(Amaryllidaceae)
- Author
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Megan Ward and Steven D. Johnson
- Subjects
Habitat fragmentation ,Pollination ,Ecology ,Population size ,fungi ,food and beverages ,Small population size ,Biology ,medicine.disease_cause ,Habitat ,Pollinator ,Pollen ,Threatened species ,medicine ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
The ecological consequences of disruptions in plant-pollinator mutualisms are poorly understood. We examined how seed production and recruitment of juveniles in populations of the spectacular grassland geophyte Brunsvigia radulosa (Amaryllidaceae) correlate with various indices of habitat fragmentation, including habitat fragment area, population size and population isolation. The species was found to be self-incompatible and adapted for pollination primarily by the long-proboscid fly Philoliche aethiopica (Tabanidae). In places where this fly is locally extinct, carpenter bees appear to act as substitute, though less effective, pollinators. Seed production in B. radulosa showed a significant positive relationship with population size, but not with habitat fragment area or spatial isolation of populations when all three indices of habitat fragmentation were included as predictor variables in multiple regression models. Reduced seed production in small populations was attributable to pollen limitation, as supplemental hand pollinations resulted in proportionally greater increases in seed production in these populations. Pollen limitation appears to have demographic consequences; specifically, the proportion of juvenile plants in populations showed significant positive relationships with current levels of seed production per plant and size of populations. Thus the long term persistence of small B. radulosa populations in habitat fragments may be threatened by a pollination deficit.
- Published
- 2005
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40. Connecting to a Cause: An Experiment Testing Dialogic Theory and Relationships within Social Marketing
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Megan Ward and Kaye D. Sweetser
- Subjects
lcsh:Public relations. Industrial publicity ,lcsh:HD59-59.6 ,lcsh:P87-96 ,lcsh:Communication. Mass media - Abstract
These days, it isn’t enough for a product to be good – people have to feel good about the product. In servicing that need among consumers, the social marketing practice has emerged at within the public relations industry. Social marketing can involve selling an issue alongside a product. That is, a consumer isn’t just buying a stylish pair of shoes, instead that purchase of the stylish shoes enables a free pair of shoes being donated to someone who doesn’t have shoes. Simply put, in an effort to break through the information clutter and catch one’s attention, companies are incorporating social issues into the communication efforts. As with much activism, or slackivism as some may call it, the Internet presents an ideal vehicle for pushing those issue-wrapped corporate messages. Along these lines, the growth of the Internet and social networking sites is facilitating a record opportunity for organizations to connect and engage with publics. Research shows that using social media develops mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and target publics (Yang & Lim, 2009). Blogs, in particular, offer a distinct opportunity for developing and maintaining relationships between parties due to their unlimited nature of message dissemination (Kelleher & Miller, 2006). This study seeks to provide empirical insight into blogs’ potential in building and strengthening the organization-public relationship, and examines how one’s connection to an issue (in this case the social issue touted by the stimulus organization) interacts with dialogic capacity and relationship. Studying dialogic capacity via experiment on actual prospective publics is an extension of the dialogic method, which has traditionally employed content analysis. Using public relations material written for a series of researcher-created organizational blogs, experimental cells were presented as being a corporate blog from a social marketing company; only dialogic capacity was manipulated. Participants (N = 165) were randomly assigned to one of three cells: high dialogic (n = 57, 34.5%), low dialogic (n = 51, 30.9%), or control (n = 57, 34.5%). Through the comparison of a high dialogic blog and a low dialogic blog – both containing the same public relations messages where only dialogic capacity was manipulated – this study was able to experimentally identify how dialogic capacity influences organization-public relationships and individual levels of issue involvement. The post-test only questionnaire included an exploratory dialogic experience scales, relational maintenance scale, and a measure to gauge issue involvement. Results indicate that (1) the presence (or absence) of dialogic features on a blog indeed affects visitor experience, (2) dialogic capacity of an organizational blog impacts how effectively an organization-public relationship is established, and (3) one’s issue involvement is not impacted by exposure to a blog. Findings from this study will have implications for developing a clearer understanding of how online organization communication tools can be better developed into dialogic communication outlets, how the resulting effect on organization-public relationships can be measured and improved upon, and if varying dialogic capacities can effect individual levels of issue involvement.
- Published
- 2014
41. Spectrally Illuminating the Hidden Material History of David Livingstone's 1870 Field Diary
- Author
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Adrian S. Wisnicki, Roger L. Easton, Megan Ward, and Keith T. Knox
- Subjects
Cultural Studies ,Literature ,History ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Literature and Literary Theory ,Sociology and Political Science ,Visual Arts and Performing Arts ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,0507 social and economic geography ,06 humanities and the arts ,National endowment ,060202 literary studies ,050701 cultural studies ,Field (geography) ,Spectral imaging ,Visual arts ,Philosophy ,Digital humanities ,0602 languages and literature ,medicine ,Sociology ,business ,Composition (language) - Abstract
This paper presents the initial results of the second phase of the Livingstone Spectral Imaging Project (2013–16), a digital humanities initiative funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The results suggest that spectral imaging technology can be applied successfully to illuminate the composition history of David Livingstone’s 1870 Field Diary and to enhance and/or reveal material features of the text otherwise invisible to the naked eye. The results represent an important advance in the use of spectral imaging in the study of manuscripts. Preliminary review of the results also indicates that more detailed analysis will reveal new and important information about Livingstone, his manuscript, the African cultures among which he traveled, and the many environments through which his diary traveled and was preserved.
- Published
- 2016
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42. When bigger is not better: intraspecific competition for pollination increases with population size in invasive milkweeds
- Author
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Myron P. Zalucki, Steven D. Johnson, and Megan Ward
- Subjects
Population Density ,Models, Statistical ,Reproductive success ,Pollination ,Ecology ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Population Dynamics ,Australia ,food and beverages ,Introduced species ,Small population size ,Biology ,Competition (biology) ,Intraspecific competition ,Apocynaceae ,symbols.namesake ,Species Specificity ,Pollinator ,symbols ,Introduced Species ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Ecosystem ,Allee effect ,media_common - Abstract
One of the essential requirements for an introduced plant species to become invasive is an ability to reproduce outside the native range, particularly when initial populations are small. If a reproductive Allee effect is operating, plants in small populations will have reduced reproductive success relative to plants in larger populations. Alternatively, if plants in small populations experience less competition for pollination than those in large populations, they may actually have higher levels of reproductive success than plants in large populations. To resolve this uncertainty, we investigated how the per capita fecundity of plants was affected by population size in three invasive milkweed species. Field surveys of seed production in natural populations of different sizes but similar densities were conducted for three pollinator-dependent invasive species, namely Asclepias curassavica, Gomphocarpus fruticosus and G. physocarpus. Additionally, supplemental hand-pollinations were performed in small and large populations in order to determine whether reproductive output was limited by pollinator activity in these populations. Reproductive Allee effects were not detected in any of the study species. Instead, plants in small populations exhibited remarkably high levels of reproductive output compared to those in large populations. Increased fruit production following supplemental hand-pollinations suggested that the lower reproductive output of naturally pollinated plants in large populations is a consequence of pollen limitation rather than limitation due to abiotic resources. This is consistent with increased intraspecific competition for pollination amongst plants in large populations. It is likely that the invasion of these milkweed species in Australia has been enhanced because plants in small founding populations experience less intraspecific competition for pollinators than those in large populations, and thus have the ability to produce copious amounts of seeds.
- Published
- 2012
43. Evidence-informed decision making in a public health setting
- Author
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Megan Ward
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Canada ,Knowledge management ,Evidence-based practice ,business.industry ,Process (engineering) ,Health Policy ,Public health ,MEDLINE ,Evidence informed ,Public relations ,Models, Theoretical ,Evidence-Based Practice ,medicine ,Program development ,Sociology ,Program Development ,business ,Public Health Administration ,Decision Making, Organizational - Abstract
A process for systematically applying research to public health decisions was created for a large, public health organization in Canada. The 9-step process is supported by tools and training in accessing, appraising, and applying research. The process has been implemented throughout the organization using the change management theory developed by Kotter and Cohen.
- Published
- 2011
44. Sex differences in adolescent white matter architecture
- Author
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Veronique Boucquey, Rachel E. Thayer, Diane Goldenberg, Sunita Bava, Megan Ward, Joanna Jacobus, and Susan F. Tapert
- Subjects
Male ,Aging ,Adolescent ,Pyramidal Tracts ,Poison control ,Neuropsychological Tests ,Article ,Developmental psychology ,White matter ,Injury prevention ,medicine ,Humans ,Child ,Molecular Biology ,Sex Characteristics ,General Neuroscience ,Puberty ,Human factors and ergonomics ,Brain ,Cognition ,Mental health ,Sexual dimorphism ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Diffusion Tensor Imaging ,Mental Health ,Data Interpretation, Statistical ,Female ,Neurology (clinical) ,Psychology ,Developmental Biology ,Sex characteristics - Abstract
Sex-specific trajectories in white matter development during adolescence may help explain cognitive and behavioral divergences between males and females. Knowledge of sex differences in typically developing adolescents can provide a basis for interpreting sexual dimorphisms in abilities and actions.We examined 58 healthy adolescents (12-14years of age) with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Diffusion parameters fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean (MD), radial (RD), and axial diffusivities (AD) were subjected to whole-brain voxel-wise group comparisons using tract-based spatial statistics. Sex differences in white matter microstructure were examined in relation to pubertal development.Early adolescent females (n=29) evidenced higher FA in the right superior corona radiata, higher FA and AD in bilateral corticospinal tracts (≥164μl, p.01), and lower MD in the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and left forceps major (≥164μl, p.01) than age-matched males (n=29). Males did not show any areas of higher FA or lower MD than females, but had higher AD in the right superior longitudinal fasciculus, ILF, and forceps minor (≥ 164μl, p.01). Pubertal stage did not account for sex disparities.In early adolescence, females' motor tracts may reflect widespread changes, while males may undergo relatively more microstructural change in projection and association fibers.
- Published
- 2010
45. Longitudinal characterization of white matter maturation during adolescence
- Author
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Rachel E. Thayer, Joanna Jacobus, Sunita Bava, Megan Ward, Susan F. Tapert, and Terry L. Jernigan
- Subjects
Male ,Internal capsule ,Adolescent ,computer.software_genre ,Brain mapping ,Nerve Fibers, Myelinated ,Article ,White matter ,Young Adult ,Neuroimaging ,Voxel ,Corona radiata ,Fractional anisotropy ,medicine ,Humans ,Longitudinal Studies ,Molecular Biology ,Brain Mapping ,General Neuroscience ,Brain ,Anatomy ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Anisotropy ,Female ,Neurology (clinical) ,Psychology ,computer ,Neuroscience ,Developmental Biology ,Diffusion MRI - Abstract
Background. Late adolescence is comprised of considerable developmental transitions, though brain maturational changes during this period are subtle and difficult to quantitatively evaluate from standard brain imaging acquisitions. To date, primarily cross-sectional studies have characterized typical developmental changes during adolescence, but these processes need further description within a longitudinal framework. Method. To assess the developmental trajectory of typical white matter development, we examined 22 healthy adolescents with serial diffusion tensor images (DTI) collected at a mean age of 17.8 years and 16-months later. Diffusion parameters fractional anisotropy, and mean, radial, and axial diffusivity were subjected to whole-brain voxelwise time point comparisons using tract-based spatial statistics. Results. At follow-up, adolescents showed a significant change (≥ 153 contiguous voxels each at p
- Published
- 2010
46. William Morris’s Conditional Moment
- Author
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Megan Ward
- Subjects
Memorialization ,Literature ,Poetry ,business.industry ,Philosophy ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Narrative history ,Historical materialism ,Historiography ,General Medicine ,Mainstream ,Narrative ,Consciousness ,business ,media_common - Abstract
This article argues that William Morris’s “The Defence of Guenevere” (1858) writes history through a singular unit of the time, the ephemeral moment. The moment is constructed through sensory experience, lodging historical narrative in the body and departing from mainstream Victorian progressive narratives. Morris constructs what I call an historiography of conditionality, an historical consciousness predicated on the immanent self-contradiction of memorializing any particular moment. In doing so, Morris anticipates what Walter Benjamin and others, following Karl Marx, theorized as historical materialism. My reading of “The Defence of Guenevere” departs from critics who have labeled Morris as escapist, nostalgic, or someone who uses the past to critique the present. Instead, Morris creates a poetic historical consciousness that weighs the cost of memorialization for the present day.
- Full Text
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