11 research outputs found
Why Bother With Inter-Regionalism? Negotiations for a European Union-Mercosur Agreement
No full textThe article examines why a decade of inter-regional negotiations failed to result in an EU-MERCOSUR agreement, notwithstanding motivating factors at the international, national and societal level. It focuses on inter-regional trade and investment flows to underline the practical value of any agreement, but also considers strategic and ideational issues. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author(s); Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Voicing the other : female narrators in the fiction of J.M. Coetzee and Albert Wendt
No full textFull text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only.The aim of this thesis is to investigate the use of a female narrative perspective in the fiction of J.M. Coetzee and Albert Wendt. The novels chosen for this purpose are distinctive, within the corpus of their works, in that they are dominated by a female consciousness. In Coetzee and Wendt the deployment of a female narrative perspective is not about defining new language games, nor is it about playing new games with old rules; rather, it is a device to unmask what is understood as ‘reality.’ Their female narrators are used to show how conventional understandings of reality condemn us to see through certain frames, including the ones that constrain the authorial sensibilities of the writers in question. Offering their particular brand of resistance, Coetzee’s self-reflexive fictions seek separation from a personal and cultural heritage moulded by colonialism; while for Wendt, the project of decolonization in the Pacific demands that the indigenous and the local be reinterpreted. At the same time, as male writers trained in the western (academic) tradition, both have inherited a culture of privilege and patriarchy. Their use of a female narrative perspective is thus plagued with contradiction and ambiguity, presenting them with an irresolvable problem of authorship. As a result, the rigid traditions that their female narrators intend to subvert are nevertheless reproduced and reinforced through language, which their fictions explore as an ambivalent medium of expression. These fictions expose the forms of authority made possible through language. This not only adds to the problem of representation for the writer but also presents the reader with the difficulty of interpretation. Yet, the only way freedom may be sought is by calling attention to the linguistic labyrinths of reflecting mirrors, and the perplexing twists and turns that form the pattern of the writers’ aesthetic lives. The recognition of one’s confinement brings with it a kind of freedom paradoxically intertwined with the discovery of boundaries and the possible breaking of barriers. So the desire of these novelists’ to take on a female sensibility primarily communicates an engagement with the limits of their own personal, cultural and gendered experience. Further, for these writers, the deployment of a female perspective relates to larger questions of postcolonialism and the processes of decolonization pertaining to politics, culture and the psychological unfolding of the once colonized sensibility. So, in the selected novels, gender acts as a privileged medium for examining existing hegemonies. Through an interrogation of the compulsions imposed by habit and an implicit failure of imagination, which hinders our understanding of the other, the author, and possibly the reader too, is temporarily freed from his imprisonment within the limits of representation
A Month in Cross Section: A Case Series of Eleven Sphenoid Wing Meningiomas: A Single Center Experience
No full textObjective: The objective of this work was to present our experience of SWM in a single-center case series of eleven patients in one month.
Materials & Methods: 11 cases of joint global sphenoid wing meningiomas were operated on in September 2022. Patient demographic, clinical, radiology, and perioperative salient features were noted. Post-operative clinical outcome included improvement in visual acuity, neural deficit, and headache. The extent of resection on radiology plus survival was noted as an outcome measure.
Results: Patients aged 28 to 65 years, with 9 females and 2 males, had giant sphenoid wing meningioma. Complete medial sphenoid wing involvement along with neurovascular structures, post operatively, they had visual deterioration; hence, the extent of resection was limited to prevent greater post-operative morbidity. 3/7 undergoing GTR had complete carotid artery encasement, in which full full-thickness MCA infarct was noted in 6 6-hour post-operative scan; they were later converted to a full 16 cm decompressive craniotomy. One survived with hemiparesis and aphasia while two died – male (49y), female (65), both had left craniectomies. STR was done in four patients, with cavernous sinus invasion and internal carotid encasement.
Conclusion: Giant sphenoid meningioma involving the medial sphenoid wing and associated neurovascular structures is surgically challenging and must be treated with STR. If GTR is to be attempted, early CT Brain postoperatively to prevent mortality
A Month in Cross Section: A Case Series of Eleven Sphenoid Wing Meningioma’s: A Single Center Experience
No full textIntroduction: Sphenoid wing meningiomas represent 20% of supratentorial meningiomas. The tumor usually involves the visual pathway, the anterior vasculature, and cavernous sinus invasion. A higher morbidity, mortality, and recurrence are documented in comparison to meningiomas in other locations.
Materials & Methods: 11 cases of joint global sphenoid wing meningiomas were operated in September 2022. Patient demographic, clinical, radiology, and per-operative salient features were noted. Post-operative clinical outcomes included improvement in visual acuity, neural deficit, and headache. The extent of resection on radiology plus survival was noted as an outcome measure.
Results: Patients aged 28 to 65 years, with 9 females and 2 males had giant sphenoid wing meningioma. Complete medial sphenoid wing involvement along with neurovascular structures, post-operatively they had visual deterioration, hence, the extent of resection was limited to prevent greater post-operative morbidity. 3/7 undergoing GTR had complete carotid artery encasement, in which full thickness MCA infarct was noted in 6 hours’ post-operative scan, they were later converted to a full 16 cm decompressive craniotomy. One survived with hemiparesis and aphasia while two died – a male (49y) and, a female (65), both left craniectomies. STR was done in four patients, with cavernous sinus invasion and internal carotid encasement.
Conclusion: Giant sphenoid meningioma involving the medial sphenoid wing and associated neurovascular structures is surgically challenging and must be treated with STR. If GTR is to be attempted, early CT Brain postoperatively to prevent mortality
Practical Use of Infliximab Concentration Monitoring in Pediatric Crohn Disease
No full textOBJECTIVES:
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) that guides infliximab (IFX) intensification strategies has been shown to improve IFX efficacy. We conducted a review to evaluate the utility of TDM in the assessment and subsequent management of IFX loss of response in our pediatric population with Crohn disease (CD). METHODS:
Single-center retrospective study of patients with CD receiving IFX that had TDM from December 2009 to September 2013. We defined subtherapeutic trough as a drug level below the detection limit of the Prometheus enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay and Anser reference values (1.4 and 1 μg/mL, respectively) or a mid-interval level \u3c12 \u3eμg/mL. RESULTS:
One hundred ninety-one IFX concentration tests were performed on 72 patients with CD with loss of response to therapy as the primary indication (72%). 34% of all TDM were subtherapeutic. After initial TDM, 25 of the 72 patients received regimen intensification with 72% in clinical remission at 6 months. Including all of the TDM that resulted in IFX dose intensification, we found a significant improvement in 6-month remission rates whether intensification followed mid-interval (88% remission) or trough (56% remission) testing (P = 0.026). Antibody to infliximab was found in 14 patients with 5 occurring in the first year of therapy. Furthermore, 71% of patients with antibody to infliximab that were switched to an alternative anti-tumor necrosis factor achieved clinical remission at six months. In multivariable regression analysis, we found IFX dose (mg/kg), IFX dosing frequency (weeks), and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate at the previous infusion were significantly associated with the IFX concentration. CONCLUSIONS:
TDM in our pediatric population with CD led to informed clinical decisions and improved rates of clinical remission
Comparative effectiveness of antiplatelet therapies for saphenous venous graft occlusion and cardiovascular outcomes: A network meta-analysis
No full textIntroduction: The ideal antiplatelet therapy to maintain graft patency after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) remains controversial. This review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) aims to compare aspirin monotherapy, ticagrelor monotherapy, dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin and ticagrelor (Asp+Tica) or with aspirin and clopidogrel (Asp+Clopi) to evaluate differences in post-CABG saphenous vein graft (SVG) occlusion, internal mammary artery (IMA) occlusion, myocardial infarction (MI), bleeding, and all-cause mortality (ACM) rates.Evidence acquisition: The literature review was conducted on several electronic databases, including Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Central, from inception to August 10, 2022. Data was extracted using a predefined proforma. A Bayesian random-effects model was used for calculating point effect estimates (odds ratio and standard deviation). Quality assessment was done using the Cochrane RoB-2 tool.Evidence synthesis: Ten RCTs comprising 2139 patients taking anti-platelets post-CABG were included. For preventing SVG occlusion, Asp+Tica showed the lowest mean AR of 0.144±0.068. Asp+Tica also showed a trend toward lesser postoperative MI risk and lower ACM rates, with a mean AR of 0.040±0.053 and 0.018±0.029, respectively. For maintaining IMA graft patency, Asp+Clopi showed the lowest mean AR of 0.092±0.053. Ticagrelor had the lowest mean AR of 0.049±0.075, with Asp+Tica showing a similar mean AR of 0.049±0.045 for postoperative major bleeding risk.Conclusions: Our analysis demonstrates that Asp+Tica can be the ideal therapy for patients undergoing CABG using SVG as it decreases the risk of post-CABG SVG occlusion and is not associated with a significantly higher risk for major bleeding
Author Correction: On discovery of novel hub genes for ER+ and TN breast cancer types through RNA seq data analyses and classification models
No full textFull-length and ΔC200 forms of Sgs1p rescue the fast senescence of mutants
No full text<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Evidence that the Sgs1 protein facilitates recombinational repair of telomeres during senescence"</p><p>Nucleic Acids Research 2006;34(2):506-516.</p><p>Published online 20 Jan 2006</p><p>PMCID:PMC1342037.</p><p>© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved</p> Full-length , or control vector sequences were integrated at the locus of diploids heterozygous for and null mutations. and spore products without or with the integrated alleles (indicated by an asterisk) were compared in liquid senescence assays (see Materials and Methods). The cumulative population doubling since spore germination, and the density of cells after 22 h of growth, from cultures inoculated with 4 × 10 cells/ml are shown. For each time point, the mean and standard errors for at least three independent spore products for each genotype are indicated. For each experiment, filled diamonds indicate , filled circles indicate , open diamonds indicate with an integrated * allele, and open circles indicate with an integrated * allele, as shown. Rescue by full-length integrated * Lack of rescue by the pRS405 vector used to integrate the * alleles. Rescue by , which encodes an Sgs1p derivative lacking the C-terminal 200 amino acids
Stylistics of “Tarikh i Balami”
No full textAbstractTarikh i Balami", written by abu Ali Mohammad Ibn Abdollah Balami, Minister of Samanis in the fourth century, is one of the oldest books in Islamic period that contains the first step of creation till Arab raid and the prophet's life and the kings. Amir Mansur ibn Noah Samani ordered Translation of the book âTarikh al-Omam va al-Mulukâ of Tabari to his minister , Balami. But on several occasions he summarized The original book in the translation and used the other sources and removed something from his translation.  Different versions of this book show that many differences between eleven versions used for comparison, none of them became similar to each other. Replacing the oldest words with new words and the Arabic word with Persian word in the same meaning is one of problems that copyists have caused for stylistics of this book.  Writing "Tarikh i Balami" is related to the first period of Persian prose in Iran. During this time that took Samanis and Tahiris period, the authors have written in a simple style. This style of writing, also called Khurasani style, because the authors have lived in Khorasan. The style is also called Balami, the author of the book, because he was one of the most prominent writers of this genre.  Results of comparison between this book and the other books of this period, such as mughaddamih Shahnameh abu Mansuri, translation of Tafsir i Tabari, Hudud al-alam min al-Mashriq ela al-Maqrib, Tafsir i Pak andâ¦. show that the most important stylistic features in its language level are significant in some areas. One of them is the author tried to use Persian words, but sometimes the shorter and more familiar Arabic words have been replaced. -       Some verbs used in specific ways, for example, the old prefixes âÙراâ, âÙرÙâ, âبازâ,⦠are used with verbs. -       Using infinitives in a specific method for example âÙداÙستÙد Ú©Ù ÚÙ Ø®ÙاÙد بÙدÙâ, -       Using intransitive verb in The transitive meaning like â Ø¢Ùگا٠ک٠بخت Ùصر Ø¢Ù Ùزگت ÙÛرا٠کرد٠بÙØ¯Ø ØªÙرÛت برگرÙت٠بÙد ٠سÙخت٠â,-       Creating a gap between the âÙÙâ and verb for negation the verb for example âاÙدر سÛاست Ù٠رÙا باشد Ú©Ù Ø´Ùا را زÙد٠ÙاÙÙâ,-       adding âبâ at the beginning of the verb to emphasize and deleting it from imperative verbs, -       Using âبÙد٠بÙدâ as a verb, Using âاâ in verbs for praying or for changing the meaning like âاگر خبر Ø®Ûر است Ø®Øست٠ÙاÙÛا Ù Ùا٠خØست٠ÙاÙاد از ت٠در ÙرزÙدا٠آد٠تا ØÙا٠باشد. ٠اگر بداست Ø´Ù٠باشÛا Ù Ùا٠شÙÙ ÙاÙاد از ت٠تا ØÙا٠باشد.â⦠are some of the other stylistics Characteristics. Balami was very careful in translation to not affect his composition by the Arabic grammar. He has some innovations in translation too. Briefness, shortening sentences, using infinitives in a specific method, using abounded vocabularies, were seen in his Prose. Beauty metrics in writing have been different from those of now. For example, repeating verbs, nouns and prepositions at that time were popular and beautiful in prose but these techniques can be avoided these days. We may not be able to comment on the intellectual level by reading this book, because this book is a translated work of Mohammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. For example, it can be spoken about sentences that he added to the original book after quoting histories. In this case it can be said he has been logical and wise man. There are some instances of this case. For example, he has written after the three narrations About the death of Moses: â these three narrations are superstitions and it is not appropriate to this book and those possess knowledge do not accept them.â But about the Iranian pre-Islamic stories he has added to the original book like âBahram i Choobinâ story, it can be said that it was because of his sense of patriotism. Because he has been one of pure Iranian families, the Balamis, he has tried to revive the Persian language and national rites.References1.     Anonymous Aouthor (1939). Moâjm ol-Tavarikh va al-Qasas. Tehran: Kulali Khavar press.2.     Arabi, MuhammadAli (1994). Translation Glossary Tabari commentary with The equivalent of Quran for Some words, Theses of MA, Mashad: Firdowsi University press.3.     Ashuri, Daryush (2001). Definitions and the concept of culture.Tehran: agah press.4.     Ayati, Abd al-Mohammad et al. (2007). Encyclopedia of Persian Language and Literature, Tehran: Academy of Persian Language and Literature.5.     Bahar, MuhammadTaqi (1991). Stylistics Or on the evolution of Persian prose. Tehran: Amir Kabir press.6.     Balami, Abu Ali Muhammad ibn Muhammad. (2006). Tarikh i Balami. Tehran: Zavvar press.7.     Chagani, Ibrahim (2003). Encyclopedic dictionary of language and languages. Khurram abad: Luristan University.8.     Dihkhuda, AliAkbar (2011). Persian dictionary. Tehran: Dihkhuda Persian dictionary Institude and Tehran University.9.     Farshidvard, Khosrow (1973). Decrease numerous Forms and shapes of Verb in Persian language, Guhar.No3.Pp305-313.10. Khanlari, Zahra (1969). The Dictionary of Dari Persian literature. Tehran: Now and Moein press.11. Kumiyli, Mukhtar (2011). An Introduction to stylistics works of Zoheiri Samarkandi, Fununi Adabi. No1. 3th year. Pp75-92.12. Miqdadi, Bahram (1999). Glossary of Terms for Literary Criticism. Tehran: Fikr i Ruz press.13. Moein, Muhammad (2007). Moein Persian dictionary. Tehran: Farhang i Mahrukh press.14. Muvaffaq Hiravi, abuMansur Ali (2010). al-Abniye an Haqaiq al-Adwiyyih. Tehran: Tehran University.15. Rizazadehmalik, Rahim (2003). Preface of Shahnameh Abu Mansuri and the introduction of Shahnamih. Tehran: Golab press.16. Safa, Zabihullah (2007). Literary History of Iran. Tehran: Quqnus press.17. Shamisa, Sirus (2007). Stylistics. Tehran: Payam i Nur University.Sharifi, Muhammad (2008). Dictionary of Persian Literature . Tehran: Now and Moein presses
Understanding national trends in COVID‐19 vaccine hesitancy in Canada – April 2020 to March 2021
No full textObjective: Key to reducing COVID‐19 morbidity and mortality and reducing the need for further lockdown measures in Canada and worldwide is widespread acceptance of COVID‐19 vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy has emerged as a key barrier to achieving optimal vaccination rates, for which there is little data among Canadians. This study examined rates of vaccine hesitancy and their correlates among Canadian adults. Methods: This study analyzed data from five age, sex and province‐weighted population‐based samples to describe rates of hesitancy between April 2020 and March 2021 among Canadians who completed online surveys as part of the iCARE Study, and various sociodemographic, clinical and psychological correlates. Vaccine hesitancy was assessed by asking: “If a vaccine for COVID‐19 were available today, what is the likelihood that you would get vaccinated?” Responses were dichotomized into ‘very likely’, ‘unlikely’, ‘somewhat unlikely’ (reflecting some degree of vaccine hesitancy) vs ‘extremely likely’ to get the vaccine, which was the comparator. Results: Overall, 15,019 respondents participated in the study. A total of 42.2% of respondents reported vaccine hesitancy over the course of the study, which was lowest during surveys 1 (April 2020) and 5 (March 2021) and highest during survey 3 (November 2020). Fully adjusted multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that women, those aged 50 and younger, non‐Whites, those with high school education or less, and those with annual household incomes below the poverty line in Canada (i.e., $60,000) were significantly more likely to report being vaccine hesitant over the study period, as were essential and healthcare workers, parents of children under the age of 18, and those who do not get regular flu vaccines. Believing engaging in infection prevention behaviours (like vaccination) is important for reducing virus transmission and high COVID‐19 health concerns (being infected and infecting others) were associated with 77% and 54% reduction in vaccine hesitancy, respectively, and having high personal financial concerns (worried about job or income loss) was associated with 1.33 times increased odds of vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: Results point to the importance of targeting vaccine efforts to women, younger people and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, and that vaccine messaging should emphasize the benefits of getting vaccinated, and how the benefits (particularly to health) far outweigh the risks. Future research is needed to monitor ongoing changes in vaccine intentions and behaviour, as well as to better understand motivators and facilitators of vaccine acceptance, particularly among vulnerable groups. The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license
