Can Messages Make a Difference? The Association Between E‐Mail Messages and Health Outcomes in Diabetes Patients

This investigation examined the impact of social support messages on patient health outcomes. Forty‐one American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian patients received a total of 618 e‐mail messages from their healthcare provider (HCP). The e‐mail messages were divided into 3,565 message units and coded for instances of emotional social support. Patient glycosulated hemoglobin scores (HbA1c) showed significantly improved glycemic control and emotional social support messages were associated with significant decreases in HbA1c values. Patient involvement with the system, measured by system login frequency and the frequency of uploaded blood glucose scores to the HCP, did not predict change in HbA1c.     

Writing the (researcher) self: reflective practice and undergraduate research

This paper discusses the way in which postmodern emergence was used to assist a group of undergraduate students come to new understandings of research practice as they participated in a reflective component of an Undergraduate Research Summer School. Students were encouraged to ‘write the (researcher) self’ through a collaborative writing group based on the theoretical and pedagogical work of Somerville. Postmodern emergence highlights three stages of learning; firstly, assigning time for wondering, then a liminal space for becoming and finally an opportunity for generating new knowledge. This article is both the tangible product of this emergence reflective writing process and a recommendation about the capacity of undergraduate students to engage with their own professionalisation and meaning-making.     

First‐time mothers in home visitation services utilizing child development specialists

Professionals in the field of child development were employed to provide home visitation services to 156 mothers and infants prenatally through the infants' first birthdays. Compared to a control group of mothers (n = 107), the intervention mothers utilized more community resources, had safer homes, had more appropriate developmental expectations, had better understanding of noncorporal punishment, and had behaviors that were more accepting and respectful to their infants. The home visitors were well educated, with experience in home visitation, and supervised. Program implementation procedures were documented and supervised. Program fidelity and the efficacy of using child development specialists as home visitors are discussed in regards to the positive findings. ©2004 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Foucault and the Glamazon: The Autonomy of Ronda Rousey

In this paper, we examine the case of Ronda Rousey, a high profile female Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). We argue that Rousey represents a female athlete who can be considered a gender transgressor yet simultaneously a Glamazon. The case of Rousey will be applied to gender transgressor theories to demonstrate that Rousey counters traditional discourse which holds that exhibiting stereotypically masculine traits implies not being an authentic woman. Female fighters face criticisms for being “unfeminine” or “manly” because they participate in such an aggressive sport. Despite her gender divergent behaviour, as much as she transgresses, Rousey is also pinned by sporting and societal sexist culture that reinforces sex binaries and exposes pressures to adhere to hyperfemininity and heterosexual ideals. Finally, using the notions of self and power found in Michel Foucault’s later work as a springboard, we examine whether Rousey’s embrace of the Glamazon identity is an act of autonomy or evidence of false consciousness.     

Diagnostic spatial frequencies and human efficiency for discriminating actions

Humans extract visual information from the world through spatial frequency (SF) channels that are sensitive to different scales of light-dark fluctuations across visual space. Using two methods, we measured human SF tuning for discriminating videos of human actions (walking, running, skipping and jumping). The first, more traditional, approach measured signal-to-noise ratio (s/n) thresholds for videos filtered by one of six Gaussian band-pass filters ranging from 4 to 128 cycles/image. The second approach used SF "bubbles", Willenbockel et al. (Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 36(1), 122-135, 2010), which randomly filters the entire SF domain on each trial and uses reverse correlation to estimate SF tuning. Results from both methods were consistent and revealed a diagnostic SF band centered between 12-16 cycles/image (about 1-1.25 cycles/body width). Efficiency on this task was estimated by comparing s/n thresholds for humans to an ideal observer, and was estimated to be quite low (>.04%) for both experiments.     

Internet identification and future internet use.

This paper reports a study investigating the relationship between Internet identification and future Internet use. We predict that Internet identification is stable over time and that it is predictive of future use. The participants were 216 undergraduate students (184 females and 32 males) from five universities in the United Kingdom. They completed a questionnaire concerning their use of the Internet and a measure of Internet identification at the start of the academic year and at the end of the academic year. We found that Internet identification measured at the beginning of the academic year was positively related to Internet identification measured at the end of the academic year. Furthermore, there was a positive relationship between Internet identification and future general Internet use and a positive relationship between Internet identification and future educational Internet use.     

Translating Evidence to Practice: Two Stories from the Field

Translating research evidence into daily practice is a challenging process at the organizational level. Conceptual models about this process point to the importance of resources for change and environmental influences as two key factors that need to be addressed in translation efforts. Two organizational case studies focused on improving care for adults with depression are described that illustrate lessons about translating evidence to practice that may be helpful to others.     

EFFECT OF SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT ON THE VOCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF PERSONS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

This paper reports the job placement of 5 males with severe traumatic brain injury. An individual placement model of supported employment was used. All individuals were placed in competitive employment and received staggered intervention over time by trained employment specialists. A multiple baseline design across persons was used to evaluate results. All individuals had been unable to work consistently or at all in competitive work environments. The range of wages was $4.25 to $5.00 per hour with an average of 339 hours of employment specialist intervention time required per case. The major problems experienced by employment specialists were insubordinate and disruptive behaviors as well as other inappropriate social behaviors displayed at the job site.