Traditional indigenous Australian stories for children

 The thesis explores how Aboriginality is portrayed in texts that offer specific representations of Indigenous Australian culture through traditional story or legend. It examines a selection of texts from the twentieth century and make observations about the significance of these postcolonial publications in transforming reader understanding of Indigenous traditional culture

The Root of the Recycled: A Comparative Analysis of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and the Mythological "Ur-Hamlet"

The purpose of my thesis was to explore the problem surrounding the sources believed to constitute the Ur-Hamlet from which Shakespeare derived Hamlet. By utilization of close reading, analysis, and archetypical criticism, my thesis confirms Shakespeare’s usage of the “Hero as Fool” archetype present in the Danish legend of Amleth, translated by Saxo Grammaticus and Francois Belleforest, as the Ur-Hamlet. My study is significant because it further develops the notion that the earlier legend served as the originary source for Hamlet, while providing evidence that rejects the validity of other sources of the Ur-Hamlet. The evidence was corroborated by presenting analytical comparisons of the framework both works share. Focusing on the archetypal origins of Shakespeare’s plot, characters and their actions revealed a more complex understanding of the play. These findings indicate and substantiate the claim that the Ur-Hamlet can be no other source but the Danish legend of Amleth.

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Ickefarmakologiska interventioner vid cancerrelaterad smärta : En litteraturstudie ur ett patientperspektiv

Introduktion: Ett av huvudmålen med omvårdnad är att lindra lidande hos patienter, vilket kan uppnås genom att möta patienten med värdighet och genom att stötta i lidandet. Cancer är en snabbt växande sjukdom där smärta är ett vanligt symtom som orsakar lidande. Smärtan är ofta svårbehandlad och patienter kan uppleva den farmakologiska smärtlindringen som otillräcklig, vilket kan vara anledning till ickefarmakologiska interventioner. Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att belysa den upplevda effekten av ickefarmakologiska interventioner vid cancerrelaterad smärta. Metod: En litteraturstudie med systematiskt arbetssätt baserat på en nio-stegsmodell av Polit och Beck (2012). Granskning av artiklar utgick från en induktiv process där sammanlagt 10 artiklar kategoriserats. Resultatet delades in i tre kategorier; Lokalstimulerande interventioner, Punktstimulerande interventioner samt Stimuli utan eller med mycket lätt hudkontakt. Resultat: Lokalstimulerande interventioner visade varierande effekter. Vid Punktstimulerande interventioner upplevde majoriteten av patienterna en god effekt. Även Stimuli utan eller med mycket lätt hudkontakt gav en upplevelse av god effekt på smärtan hos deltagarna. Slutsats: De ickefarmakologiska interventioner som gav god effekt på cancerrelaterad smärta var de som administrerades utanför smärtområdet istället för direkt på smärtpunkterna. Genom att integrera resultatet i omvårdnadsarbetet kan patienter smärtlindras till en högre grad och vården kan förbättras.

What Are Effective Program Characteristics of Self-Management Interventions in Patients With Heart Failure? : An Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis

Background To identify those characteristics of self-management interventions in patients with heart failure (HF) that are effective in influencing health-related quality of life, mortality, and hospitalizations. Methods and Results Randomized trials on self-management interventions conducted between January 1985 and June 2013 were identified and individual patient data were requested for meta-analysis. Generalized mixed effects models and Cox proportional hazard models including frailty terms were used to assess the relation between characteristics of interventions and health-related outcomes. Twenty randomized trials (5624 patients) were included. Longer intervention duration reduced mortality risk (hazard ratio 0.99, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97–0.999 per month increase in duration), risk of HF-related hospitalization (hazard ratio 0.98, 95% CI 0.96–0.99), and HF-related hospitalization at 6 months (risk ratio 0.96, 95% CI 0.92–0.995). Although results were not consistent across outcomes, interventions comprising standardized training of interventionists, peer contact, log keeping, or goal-setting skills appeared less effective than interventions without these characteristics. Conclusion No specific program characteristics were consistently associated with better effects of self-management interventions, but longer duration seemed to improve the effect of self-management interventions on several outcomes. Future research using factorial trial designs and process evaluations is needed to understand the working mechanism of specific program characteristics of self-management interventions in HF patients.

The quality of the physical environment and its association with activities and well-being among older people in residential care facilities

The physical environment can influence older people’s health and well-being, and is often mentioned as being an important factor for person-centred care. Due to high levels of frail health, many older people spend a majority of their time within care facilities and depend on the physical environment for support in their daily life. However, the quality of the physical environment is rarely evaluated, and knowledge is sparse in terms of how well the environment meets the needs of older people. This is partly due to the lack of valid and reliable instruments that could provide important information on environmental quality. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to study the quality of the physical environment in Swedish care facilities for older people, and how it relates to residents’ activities and well-being. Methods: The thesis comprises four papers where both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Study I involved the translation and adaptation of the Sheffield Care Environment Assessment Matrix (SCEAM) into a Swedish version (S-SCEAM). Several methods were used including forward and backward translation, test of validity via expert consultation and reliability tests. In Study II, S-SCEAM was used to assess the quality of the environment, and descriptive data were collected from 20 purposively sampled residential care facilities (RCFs). Study III was a comparative case study conducted at two RCFs using observations, interviews and S-SCEAM to examine how the physical environment relates to older people’s activities and interactions. In study IV, multilevel modeling was used to determine the association between the quality of the physical environment and the psychological and social well-being of older people living in RCFs. The data in the thesis were analysed using qualitative content analysis, and descriptive, bivariate and multilevel statistics. Results: A specific result was the production of the Swedish version of SCEAM. The instrument contains 210 items structured into eight domains reflecting the needs of older people. When using S-SCEAM, the results showed a substantial variation in the quality of the physical environment between and within RCFs. In general, private apartments and dining areas had high quality, whereas overall building layout and outdoor areas had lower quality. Also, older people’s safety was supported in the majority of facilities, whereas cognitive support and privacy had lower quality. Further, the results showed that environmental quality in terms of cognitive support was associated with residents’ social well-being. Specific environmental features, such as building design and space size, were also noted, through observation, as influencing residents’ activities, and several barriers were found that seemed to restrict residents’ full use of the environment. Conclusions: This thesis contributes to the growing evidence-based design field. The S-SCEAM can be used in future research on the association between the environment and people’s health and well-being. The instrument could also serve as a guide in the planning and design process of new RCFs.

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The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association

Annually, the association publishes a journal, The Proceedings, which consists of papers presented at the annual meeting. Southern Legend: Climate or Climate of Opinion by William A. Foran John Barnwell and British Western Policy by Mrs. George Fisher Teaching American History with a South Carolina Accent by Albert N. Sanders

TECTONIC CONTROLS ON FLUVIAL LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL-EASTERN PORTUGAL: INSIGHTS FROM LONG PROFILE TRIBUTARY STREAM ANALYSES

This study examines the long profiles of tributaries of the Tejo (Tagus) and Zêzere rivers in central eastern Portugal (West Iberia) in order to provide new insights into the patterns, timing and controls on drainage development during the Pleistocene to Holocene incision stage. The long profiles were extracted from lower order tributary streams associated with the trunk drainage of the Tejo River and one main tributary, the Zêzere River (Fig. 1). These streams flow through a landscape strongly influenced by variations in bedrock lithology (mainly granites and metasediments), fault structures delimiting crustal blocks with distinct uplift rates, and a base-level lowering history (tectonic uplift / eustatic). The long profiles of the tributaries of the Tejo and Zêzere rivers record a series of transient and permanent knickpoints. The permanent knickpoints have direct correlation with the bedrock strength, corresponding to the outcropping of very hard quartzites or to the transition from softer (slates/metagreywaques) to harder (granite) basement. The analyzed streams/rivers record also an older transient knickpoint/knickzone separating: a) an upstream relict graded profile, with lower steepness and higher concavity, that reflects a long period of quasi-equilibrium conditions reached after the beginning of the incision stage; and b) a downstream reach displaying a rejuvenated long profile, with steeper gradient and lower concavity, particularly for the final segment, which is often convex (Fig. 2). The rejuvenated reaches testify the upstream propagation of several incision waves that are the response of each stream to continuous or increasing crustal uplift and dominant periods of base-level lowering by the trunk drainages, coeval of low sea level conditions. The long profiles and their morphological configurations enabled spatial and relative temporal patterns of incision to be quantified for each individual tributary stream. The incision values of streams flowing in uplifted blocks of the Portuguese Central Range (PCR) (ca.380-280 m) indicate differential uplift and are higher than the incision values of streams flowing on the adjacent South Portugal planation surface – the Meseta (ca. 200 m). The normalized steepness index, calculated using the method of Wobus et al. (2006), proved to be sensitive to active tectonics, as lower ksn values were found in relict graded profiles of streams located in less uplifted blocks, (e.g. Sertã stream in the PCR), or in those flowing through tectonic depressions. Fig. 1 – Geological map of the study area. 1 – fluvial terraces (Pleistocene); 2 – sedimentary cover (Paleogene and Neogene); 3 – slates and metasandstones (Devonian); 4 – slates and quartzites (Silurian); 5 – quartzites (Ordovician); 6 – slates and metagreywackes (Precambrian to Cambrian); 7 – slates, metagreywackes and limestones (Precambrian); 8 – granites and ortogneisses; 9 – diorites and gabros; 10 - fault. SFf – Sobreira Formosa fault; Sf – Sertã fault; Pf – Ponsul fault; Gf – Grade fault. The differential uplift indicated by the distribution of the ksn values and by the fluvial incision was likely accumulated on a few major faults, as the Sobreira Formosa fault (SFf), thus corroborating the tectonic activity of these faults. Due to the fact that the relict graded profiles can be correlated with other geomorphic references documented in the study area, namely the T1 terrace of the Tagus River (with an age of ca. 1 Myr), the following incision rates can be estimated: a) for the studied streams located in uplifted blocks of the PCR, 0.38 m/kyr to 0.28 m/kyr; b) for the streams flowing on the South Portugal planation surface, 0.20 m/kyr. The differential uplift inferred between crustal blocks in the study area corroborates the neotectonic activity of the bordering faults, which has been proposed in previous studies based upon less robust data. Fig. 2 – Longitudinal profile of the Nisa stream a tributary of the Tejo River. Note the equilibrium relict profile upstream the older transient knickpoint (hatched line) and the downstream rejuvenated profile (continuous line). Legend: tKP – transient knickpoint; rKp – resistant knickpoint; Mt – schist and phyllite; Gr – granite; Hf – hornfels; Og – orthogneisse. In the inset Distance – Slope plots, fill circles correspond to the relict graded profile, crosses correspond to the rejuvenated profile located downstream the older transient knickpoint (tKP).