Joseph C. Scott

Abstract: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, prospective investigation was undertaken to determine whether the outpatient administration of prostaglandin E2 gel was helpful for ripening the cervix in postdate pregnancies. One hundred eighteen women with an uncomplicated pregnancy at or beyond 42 weeks' gestation with an unripe cervix (Bishop score ⩽5) were randomly administered a single dose of gel containing either 2.5 mg prostaglandin E 2 (n = 55) or a placebo (n = 63) before induction of labor with Pitocin. No side effects were detected in these healthy mothers and fetuses. A distinct change in Bishop score after 12 hours occurred more often in the prostaglandin E 2 than in the placebo group (42% versus 6%, p 2 were admitted in early labor; they required little or no oxytocin for augmentation. The duration of labor and maximum dose of oxytocin infused were significantly decreased in the prostaglandin E2 group, and forceps delivery or primary cesarean sections were performed less often when prostaglandin E2 was used (24% versus 44%, p

Abstract: Background Sheltered, homeless women disproportionately experience cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer. Low rates of Pap smear screening contribute to late diagnosis with accompanying increased morbidity and mortality. Self-efficacy (SE) has been demonstrated to be predictive of several health behaviors, but limited evidence about SE for Pap smear screening exists. Objectives To develop, test, and refine the conceptually based Self-Efficacy Scale for Pap Smear Screening Participation (SES-PSSP). Methods This correlational, descriptive study included a purposive sampling of sheltered women (N = 161). Results The 20-item SES-PSSP demonstrated acceptable initial validity and reliability. Reliability estimates of stability (>or=84%) and internal consistency (alpha = .95) exceeded criteria. Content validity and construct validity were supported (e.g., common factor analysis and predictive model testing that included SE, decisional balance, knowledge regarding Pap smear screening, demographics, health-related behaviors, health status, and personal beliefs about risks for cervical cancer and dysplasia). Self-efficacy, decisional balance, illicit drug usage, and age predicted 28% of the variance in stages of change (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance) for Pap smear screening participation. Discussion The SES-PSSP provides a new scale for measuring SE pertinent to Pap smear screening participation in a vulnerable, ethnically diverse sample of sheltered, inner-city women. Validity testing demonstrated that the SE concept was predictive of Pap smear screening behavior, suggesting that SE-based interventions tailored to the SES-PSSP subscale or total scores could increase screening. A 10-minute completion time supports feasibility for use in the clinic setting.

Abstract: All cone biopsies from our institution over a 10-year period were reviewed. Two hundred seveny-one patients underwent 274 procedures. Preoperative colposcopie evaluation markedly reduced the proportion of patients with residual cervical epithelial neoplasia (CIN). No patient in our series required conization for dignosis of frankly invasive carcinoma. Following colposcopy and conization, 8% of patients had disease extending to the surgical margins; eight of 11 such patients (72%) with adequate follow-up had no further CIN. Colposcopy and cytology underestimate the final pathologic diagnosis in many patients with incomplete visibility of the transformation zone, so conization is mandatory in this circumstance. Conization in pregnancy was associated with increased hemorrhage; colposcopy has reduced the need for this operation in gravid patients.

Abstract: ith increasing frequency over the past several years we, as members of a community of investigator-practitioners, have been telling stories about teaching and teacher education rather than simply reporting correlation coefficients or generating lists of findings. This trend has been upsetting to some who mourn the loss of quantitative precision and, they would argue, scientific rigor. For many of us, however, these stories capture, more than scores or mathematical formulae ever can, the richness and indeterminacy of our experiences as teachers and the complexity of our understandings of what teaching is and how others can be prepared to engage in this profession. It is not altogether surprising, then, that this attraction to stories has evolved into an explicit attempt to use the literatures on "story" or "narrative" to define both the method and the object of inquiry in teaching and teacher education. Story has become, in other words, more than simply a rhetorical device for expressing sentiments about teachers or candidates for the teaching profession. It is now, rather, a central focus for conducting research in the field. We are certainly not alone in giving formal attention to story. This term, like others from linguistics and literary theory (e.g., discourse, text, deconstruction), has caught on with considerable enthusiasm throughout the intellectual world and is beginning to appear in widely different contexts. In psychology, for example, Bruner (1985) speaks of a narrative mode of thought, and Sarbin (1986) proposes story as a "root metaphor" for the study of human conduct. Within education, scholars such as Cole and Knowles (1992); Clandinin and Connelly (1992); Elbaz (1991); Grossman (1987); Gudmundsdottir (1991); Hollingsworth (in press); and Richert (1990) have recently made story a central element in their analyses of teachers' knowledge. As Mitchell (1981) noted as early as 1981, "The study of narrative is no longer the province of literary specialists or folklorists ... but has now become a positive source of insight for all branches of human and natural science" (p. ix). Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the literatures on story soon realizes, however, that these are quite turbulent intellectual waters and quickly abandons the expectation of safe passage toward the resolution, once and for all, of the many puzzles and dilemmas we face in advancing our knowledge of teaching. Much needs to be learned about the nature of story and its value to our common enterprise, and about the wide range of purposes, approaches, and claims made by those who have adopted story as a central analytical framework. What does story capture and what does it leave out? How does this notion fit within the emerging sense of the nature of teaching and what it means to educate teachers? These and many other critical questions need to be faced if story is to become more than a loose metaphor for everything from a paradigm or worldview to a technique for bringing home a point in a lecture on a Thursday afternoon. Given both the excitement story has generated and the many issues this movement has brought to the fore, it seems appropriate to provide an analysis of the place of story in the study of teaching and teacher education. My overall purpose here is to begin the process of clarifying the arguments, mapping the intellectual terrain, and casting light on the major issues we need to consider in incorporating story into our research activities. I have no illusions that this discus-

Abstract: Publication status and date: New search for studies and content updated (no change to conclusions), published in Issue 5, 2018.