‘Death talk’, ‘loss talk’ and identification in the process of ageing

In this paper, we examine the injunction issued by the prominent politician, broadcaster and older people's advocate, Baroness Joan Bakewell, to engage in ‘death talk’. We see positive ethical potential in this injunction, insofar as it serves as a call to confront more directly the prospects of death and dying, thereby releasing creative energies with which to change our outlook on life and ageing more generally. However, when set against a culture that valorises choice, independence and control, the positive ethical potential of such injunctions is invariably thwarted. We illustrate this with reference to one of Bakewell's interventions in a debate on scientific innovation and population ageing. In examining the context of her intervention, we affirm her intuition about its positive ethical potential, but we also point to an ambivalence that accompanies the formulation of the injunction – one that ultimately blunts the force and significance of her intuition. We suggest that Gilleard and Higgs' idea of the third age/fourth age dialectic, combined with the psycho-analytic concepts of fantasy and mourning, allow us to express this intuition better. In particular, we argue that the expression ‘loss talk’ (rather than ‘death talk’) better captures the ethical negotiations that should ultimately underpin the transformation processes associated with ageing, and that our theoretical contextualisation of her remarks can help us see this more clearly. In this view, deteriorations in our physical and mental capacities are best understood as involving changes in how we see ourselves, i.e. in our identifications, and so what is at stake are losses of identity and the conditions under which we can engage in new processes of identification.

Radiation Dose to the Lens of the Eye from Computed Tomography Scans of the Head

While it is well known that exposure to radiation can result in cataract formation, questions still remain about the presence of a dose threshold in radiation cataractogenesis. Since the exposure history from diagnostic CT exams is well documented in a patient’s medical record, the population of patients chronically exposed to radiation from head CT exams may be an interesting area to explore for further research in this area. However, there are some challenges in estimating lens dose from head CT exams. An accurate lens dosimetry model would have to account for differences in imaging protocols, differences in head size, and the use of any dose reduction methods.

The overall objective of this dissertation was to develop a comprehensive method to estimate radiation dose to the lens of the eye for patients receiving CT scans of the head. This research is comprised of a physics component, in which a lens dosimetry model was derived for head CT, and a clinical component, which involved the application of that dosimetry model to patient data.

The physics component includes experiments related to the physical measurement of the radiation dose to the lens by various types of dosimeters placed within anthropomorphic phantoms. These dosimeters include high-sensitivity MOSFETs, TLDs, and radiochromic film. The six anthropomorphic phantoms used in these experiments range in age from newborn to adult.

First, the lens dose from five clinically relevant head CT protocols was measured in the anthropomorphic phantoms with MOSFET dosimeters on two state-of-the-art CT scanners. The volume CT dose index (CTDIvol), which is a standard CT output index, was compared to the measured lens doses. Phantom age-specific CTDIvol-to-lens dose conversion factors were derived using linear regression analysis. Since head size can vary among individuals of the same age, a method was derived to estimate the CTDIvol-to-lens dose conversion factor using the effective head diameter. These conversion factors were derived for each scanner individually, but also were derived with the combined data from the two scanners as a means to investigate the feasibility of a scanner-independent method. Using the scanner-independent method to derive the CTDIvol-to-lens dose conversion factor from the effective head diameter, most of the fitted lens dose values fell within 10-15% of the measured values from the phantom study, suggesting that this is a fairly accurate method of estimating lens dose from the CTDIvol with knowledge of the patient’s head size.

Second, the dose reduction potential of organ-based tube current modulation (OB-TCM) and its effect on the CTDIvol-to-lens dose estimation method was investigated. The lens dose was measured with MOSFET dosimeters placed within the same six anthropomorphic phantoms. The phantoms were scanned with the five clinical head CT protocols with OB-TCM enabled on the one scanner model at our institution equipped with this software. The average decrease in lens dose with OB-TCM ranged from 13.5 to 26.0%. Using the size-specific method to derive the CTDIvol-to-lens dose conversion factor from the effective head diameter for protocols with OB-TCM, the majority of the fitted lens dose values fell within 15-18% of the measured values from the phantom study.

Third, the effect of gantry angulation on lens dose was investigated by measuring the lens dose with TLDs placed within the six anthropomorphic phantoms. The 2-dimensional spatial distribution of dose within the areas of the phantoms containing the orbit was measured with radiochromic film. A method was derived to determine the CTDIvol-to-lens dose conversion factor based upon distance from the primary beam scan range to the lens. The average dose to the lens region decreased substantially for almost all the phantoms (ranging from 67 to 92%) when the orbit was exposed to scattered radiation compared to the primary beam. The effectiveness of this method to reduce lens dose is highly dependent upon the shape and size of the head, which influences whether or not the angled scan range coverage can include the entire brain volume and still avoid the orbit.

The clinical component of this dissertation involved performing retrospective patient studies in the pediatric and adult populations, and reconstructing the lens doses from head CT examinations with the methods derived in the physics component. The cumulative lens doses in the patients selected for the retrospective study ranged from 40 to 1020 mGy in the pediatric group, and 53 to 2900 mGy in the adult group.

This dissertation represents a comprehensive approach to lens of the eye dosimetry in CT imaging of the head. The collected data and derived formulas can be used in future studies on radiation-induced cataracts from repeated CT imaging of the head. Additionally, it can be used in the areas of personalized patient dose management, and protocol optimization and clinician training.

Swimming between the flags: A preliminary exploration of the influences on Australians’ intentions to swim between the flags at patrolled beaches

Swimming at patrolled beaches reduces the likelihood of drownings and near-drownings. The present study tested the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), with the addition of risk perceptions, in predicting people’s intentions to swim between the flags at patrolled beaches. We examined also the predictors of people’s willingness to swim [1] up to 10 metres and [2] more than 10 metres outside of the patrol flags. Participants (N = 526) completed measures of attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC), intentions/willingness, and both objective and subjective risk perceptions. Two weeks later, a sub-sample of participants reported on their beach swimming behaviour for the previous fortnight. Attitude and subjective norm predicted intentions to swim between and willingness to swim outside of the flags. Age and PBC influenced willingness to swim beyond the flags. Objective risk predicted willingness to swim beyond the flags (both distances) while subjective risk predicted willingness to swim up to 10 metres outside the flags. People’s intentions to swim between the flags were correlated with their behaviour at follow-up. This study provides a preliminary investigation into an important safety behaviour and identifies factors to target when promoting safe swimming behaviours to prevent drowning deaths on Australian beaches.

Workplace design in the knowledge economy : a case of the NetWorkPlace™©

This thesis explores a way to inform the architectural design process for contemporary workplace environments. It reports on both theoretical and practical outcomes through an exclusively Australian case study of a network enterprise comprised of collaborative, yet independent business entities. The internet revolution, substantial economic and cultural shifts, and an increased emphasis on lifestyle considerations have prompted a radical re-ordering of organisational relationships and the associated structures, processes, and places of doing business. The social milieu of the information age and the knowledge economy is characterised by an almost instantaneous flow of information and capital. This has culminated in a phenomenon termed by Manuel Castells as the network society, where physical locations are joined together by continuous communication and virtual connectivity. A new spatial logic encompassing redefined concepts of space and distance, and requiring a comprehensive shift in the approach to designing workplace environments for today’s adaptive, collaborative organisations in a dynamic business world, provides the backdrop for this research. Within the duality of space and an augmentation of the traditional notions of place, organisational and institutional structures pose new challenges for the design professions. The literature revealed that there has always been a mono-organisational focus in relation to workplace design strategies. The phenomenon of inter-organisational collaboration has enabled the identification of a gap in the knowledge relative to workplace design. This new context generated the formulation of a unique research construct, the NetWorkPlace™©, which captures the complexity of contemporary employment structures embracing both physical and virtual work environments and practices, and provided the basis for investigating the factors that are shaping and defining interactions within and across networked organisational settings. The methodological orientation and the methods employed follow a qualitative approach and an abductively driven strategy comprising two distinct components, a cross-sectional study of the whole of the network and a longitudinal study, focusing on a single discrete workplace site. The complexity of the context encountered dictated that a multi-dimensional investigative framework was required to be devised. The adoption of a pluralist ontology and the reconfiguration of approaches from traditional paradigms into a collaborative, trans-disciplinary, multi-method epistemology provided an explicit and replicatable method of investigation. The identification and introduction of the NetWorkPlace™© phenomenon, by necessity, spans a number of traditional disciplinary boundaries. Results confirm that in this context, architectural research, and by extension architectural practice, must engage with what other disciplines have to offer. The research concludes that no single disciplinary approach to either research or practice in this area of design can suffice. Pierre Bourdieau’s philosophy of ‘practice’ provides a framework within which the governance and technology structures, together with the mechanisms enabling the production of social order in this context, can be understood. This is achieved by applying the concepts of position and positioning to the corporate power dynamics, and integrating the conflict found to exist between enterprise standard and ferally conceived technology systems. By extending existing theory and conceptions of ‘place’ and the ‘person-environment relationship’, relevant understandings of the tensions created between Castells’ notions of the space of place and the space of flows are established. The trans-disciplinary approach adopted, and underpinned by a robust academic and practical framework, illustrates the potential for expanding the range and richness of understanding applicable to design in this context. The outcome informs workplace design by extending theoretical horizons, and by the development of a comprehensive investigative process comprising a suite of models and techniques for both architectural and interior design research and practice, collectively entitled the NetWorkPlace™© Application Framework. This work contributes to the body of knowledge within the design disciplines in substantive, theoretical, and methodological terms, whilst potentially also influencing future organisational network theories, management practices, and information and communication technology applications. The NetWorkPlace™© as reported in this thesis, constitutes a multi-dimensional concept having the capacity to deal with the fluidity and ambiguity characteristic of the network context, as both a topic of research and the way of going about it.

Heidegger's hippies : a dissenting voice on "the problem of the subject"

This is a deliberately contentious paper about the future of the socio-political sphere in the West based on what we know about its past. I argue that the predominant public discourse in Western countries is best characterised as one of selective forgetfulness; a semi-blissful, amnesiacal state of collective dementia that manifests itself in symbolic idealism: informationalism. Informationalism is merely the latest form of idealism. It is a lot like religion insofar as it causally relates abstract concepts with reality and, consequently, becomes confused between the two. Historically, this has proven to be a dangerous state of affairs, especially when elites becomes confused between ideas about how a society should work, and the way it actually does work. Central to the idealism of the information age, at least in intellectual spheres, is the so called "problem of the subject". I argue that the "problem of the subject" is a largely synthetic, destabilising, and ultimately fruitless theoretical abstraction which turns on a synthetically derived, generalised intradiscursive space; existentialist nihilism; and the theoretical baubles of ontological metaphysics. These philosophical aberrations are, in turn, historically concomitant with especially destructive political and social configurations. This paper sketches a theoretical framework for identity formation which rejects the problem of the subject, and proposes potential resources, sources, and strategies with which to engage the idealism that underpins this obfuscating problematic in an age of turbulent social uncertainty. Quite simply, I turn to history as the source of human identity. While informationalism, like religion, is mostly focused on utopian futures, I assert that history, not the future, holds the solutions for substantive problematics concerning individual and social identities. I argue here that history, language, thought, and identity are indissolubly entangled and so should be understood as such: they are the fundamental parts of 'identities in action'. From this perspective, the ‘problem of the subject’ becomes less a substantive intellectual problematic and more a theoretical red herring.

Career paths in the third sector : implications for human resource management

My interest in career paths in the third sector came from three early observations. First, the majority of workers appear to be women, in fact 77% of community sector community services in NSW (O'Donnell, 1985). Second, when asked about their career, most workers express the opinion that they have none. Third, when I examined the individual career paths of community sector workers I was struck by the stop and start nature of their paid work. Even, or perhaps especially, well qualified workers would move out of a position after about two years often to a more difficult position in a new area, with little or no salary increase and little prospect of future promotion. Indeed, there appears to be little career path available. These observations raise a number of important questions, some of which will be explored in this paper. What is the structure of the third sector labour market? What is the staff structure of third sector organisations? Is it true that career paths are unavailable, either within organisations or within the sector? If none exists, why do workers stay in the field? What motivates them? If there is a high turnover of staff, is this the reason? What are the implications of all this? If some sort of career path does exist, why do workers deny having a career? What do we mean by `career' anyway?

Optics of the human eye in diabetes

This study compared optics of eyes in people with diabetes with those age-balanced controls. Relative to the control group, the diabetes group demonstrated greater lens thickness, more curved lens shapes, smaller lens diameters, higher light scatter, greater lens yellowing, and poorer focusing ability. While the optics of the people with diabetes made them appear as older eyes than those of people of the same age without diabetes, the differences did not increase significantly with age. It was concluded that age-related changes in eyes of people with diabetes need not be accelerated if the diabetes is well controlled.

The crystal structure of the amino-terminal pentapeptide of suzukacillin. Occurrence of a four-fold peptide helix

The monohydrate of the protected amino-terminal pentapeptide of suzukacillin, t-butoxycarbonyl--aminoisobutyryl-L-prolyl-L-valyl--aminoisobutyryl-L-valine methyl ester, C29H51N5O8, crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P212121 with a= 10.192, b= 10.440, c= 32.959 Å, and Z= 4. The structure has been solved by direct methods and refined to an R value of 0.101 for 1 827 observed reflections. The molecule exists as a four-fold helix with a pitch of 5.58 Å. The helix is stabilised by N–H O hydrogen bonds, two of the 51 type (corresponding to the -helix) and the third of the 41 type (310 helix). The carbonyl oxygen of the amino-protecting group accepts two hydrogen bonds, one each from the amide NH groups of the third (41) and fourth (51) residues. The remaining 51 hydrogen bond is between the two terminal residues. The lone water molecule in the structure is hydrogen bonded to carbonyl oxygens of the prolyl residue in one molecule and the non-terminal valyl residue in a symmetry-related molecule.

Sensemaking in the Third Space - Essays on French-Finnish Bicultural Experiences in Organizations and Their Narratives (summary section only)

Research on cross-cultural and intercultural aspects in organizations has been traditionally conducted from an objectivist, functionalist perspective, with culture treated as an independent variable, and often the key explanatory factor. In order to do justice to the ontological relativity of the phenomena studied, more subjectivist research on intercultural interactions, and especially on their relationships with the dynamics of cultural identity construction, is needed. The present research seeks to address this gap by focusing on bicultural interactions in organizations, as they are experienced by the involved individuals. It is argued that such bicultural situations see the emergence of a space of hybridity, which is here called a ‘third space’, and which can be understood as providing ‘occasions for sensemaking’: it is this individual sensemaking that is of particular interest in the empirical narrative study. A first overall aim of the study is to reach an understanding of the dynamics of bicultural interactions in organizations; an understanding not only of the potential for learning and emancipatory sensemaking, but also of the possibility of conflict and alienatory ordering (this is mainly addressed in the theoretical essays 1 and 2). Further, a second overall aim of the study is to analyze the reflexive identity construction of four young French expatriates involved in such bicultural interactions in organizations in Finland, in order to examine the extent to which their expatriation experiences have allowed for an emancipatory opportunity in their cases (in essays 3 and 4). The primary theoretical contribution in this study lies in its new articulation of the dynamics of bicultural interactions in organizations. The ways in which the empirical material is analyzed bring about methodological contributions: since the expatriates’ accounts are bound to be some kind of construction, the analysis is made from angles that point to how the self-narratives construct reality. There are two such angles here: a ‘performative’ one and a ‘spatial’ one. The most important empirical contributions lie in the analysis of, on the one hand, the alternative uses that the young expatriates made of the notion of ‘national culture’ in their self-narratives, and, on the other hand, their ‘narrative practices of the third space’: their politics of escape or stabilization, their exploration of space or search for place, their emancipation from their origin or return to home as only horizon.

Contributions to the Geology and Paleontology of the Canal Zone, Panama, and geologically related areas in central America and the West Indies. Part 11: The biologic character and geologic correlations of the sedimentary formations of Panama in their relation to the geologic history of Central America and the West Indies

The paper presents: 1) biologic summaries for each of the formations for which paleontologic data are available, with brief discussions of the geologic age; 2) geologic correlations of the formations and the distribution of their age-equivalents in Central America, the West Indies, and the southeastern United States; 3) an outline of the paleogeography of middle America. The biologic summaries are based on the paleontologic memoirs in this vol. by Messars. Howe, Berry, Chuchman, Jackson, Canu and Bassler and Pilsbry, Miss Rathbun and myself.

Production of the chironomids of the Uchinsk Reservoir. [Translation of: Methods for the estimation of production of aquatic animals. (Handbook and papers) (ed. G. G. Vinberg) p226-239. Minsk, Vysheishaya Shkola, 1968]

The method of E.V. Borutski was used for determining the production of chironomids, that is, the dynamics of the number and biomass of the larvae were analysed, their death, a calculation of emergence and the number of deposited egg layings was carried out. In addition to the method of Borutski, the authors also calculated the seasonal dynamics of the number of larvae of the younger age stages in the microbenthos.

Report of the PRA carried out at Obenge Beach, Kenya, June 23-26, 2000

This document contains the findings of the third Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) carried out on Obenge Beach in Kenya, from the 23rd to the 26th of June 2000, under the LVFRP. Its principal objectives were to develop base-line information on a Kenyan beach for the 3-beaches survey of the LVFRP.

A report on the strategic stock assessment survey of the Colton Beck catchment 1994 with particular reference to salmonids

This is the report on the strategic stock assessment survey of the Colton Beck catchment in 1994 with particular reference to salmonids in Colton Beck, River Ea, River Gilpin and Rusland Pool. This report forms one part of the third year of a triennial survey programme for the South West Cumbria and South Cumbria catchments. It was produced by the National Rivers Authority in 1994. Colton Beck had excellent densities of sea trout (Salmo trutta) and a small population of salmon (Salmo salar) in its lowest reaches. The total productivity was very good throughout the catchment. Stocking of sea trout fry in 1993 has enhanced the population with survivors through to parr probably adding to the scoring of double class A at two sites in the survey in 1994. Stocking was not undertaken in 1994, but the population appears to be maintaining itself at a very high level.

Basic steps in the production of the African catfish seed

A typical production cycle for African catfish farming begins with a selection of fingerlings or juvenile fish of good quality for brood stock development. Fish are selected from a family or grow out stock basing on records of the origin,age, strain and performance history of the parents or from the wild in this brochure, we explain the basic steps and requirements a farmer needs in order to achieve good results in the hatchery.

Analysis of the energies of the triple base triplets

Sixty-four sets of three-dimensional models of DNA triplex base triplets (TBT) were built up based on codons by homologous modeling method and their energies were minimized. According to sequence of TBT and orientation of the third ODN strand third, the energies of monomers and water-K+-TBT ternary complexes of TBT were analyzed. The results showed: (i) The energies of the symmetric parallel monomers are generally lower than those of the symmetric anti-parallel monomers of TBT, but the energies of the symmetric parallel ternary complexes are higher than those of the symmetric anti-parallel ternary complexes of TBT. (ii) No matter TBTs are monomers or ternary complexes, the energies of asymmetric parallel TBTs are generally lower than those of the asymmetric anti-parallel ones. (iii) Although the energies of the parallel TBTs are correlated with those of the anti-parallel ones, the energy differences are significant between them. The results here suggest the sequences of TBTs and the orientations of the third ODN strands are two of the key factors that can influence the formation and stability of TBT. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.