49 research outputs found
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#1 - The New Borders with Dr. Ayelet Shachar
No full textIn the inaugural episode, Ben speaks with Dr. Ayelet Shachar, Professor of Law, Political Science and Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, and author of The Shifting Border: Legal Cartographies of Migration and Mobility, on what borders mean in the 21st century for sovereignty and human rights
The CTLA-4 rs231775 GG genotype is associated with favorable 90-day survival in Caucasian patients with sepsis
No full textCytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) is a surface protein on T cells, that has an inhibitory effect on the host immune reaction and prevents overreaction of the immune system. Because the functional single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs231775 of the CTLA-4 gene is associated with autoimmune diseases and because of the critical role of the immune reaction in sepsis, we intended to examine the effect of this polymorphism on survival in patients with sepsis. 644 septic adult Caucasian patients were prospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were followed up for 90 days. Mortality risk within this period was defined as primary outcome parameter. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed a significantly lower 90-day mortality risk among GG homozygous patients (n = 101) than among A allele carriers (n = 543; 22% and 32%, respectively; p = 0.03565). Furthermore, the CTLA-4 rs231775 GG genotype remained a significant covariate for 90-day mortality risk after controlling for confounders in the multivariate Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio: 0.624; 95% CI: 0.399–0.975; p = 0.03858). In conclusion, our study provides the first evidence for CTLA-4 rs231775 as a prognostic variable for the survival of patients with sepsis and emphasizes the need for further research to reveal potential functional associations between CTLA-4 and the immune pathophysiology of sepsis
Effect of the Lymphocyte Activation Gene 3 Polymorphism rs951818 on Mortality and Disease Progression in Patients with Sepsis—A Prospective Genetic Association Study
No full text(1) Background: Sepsis is a leading cause of death and a global public health problem. Accordingly, deciphering the underlying molecular mechanisms of this disease and the determinants of its morbidity and mortality is pivotal. This study examined the effect of the rs951818 SNP of the negative costimulatory lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3) on sepsis mortality and disease severity. (2) Methods: 707 consecutive patients with sepsis were prospectively enrolled into the present study from three surgical ICUs at University Medical Center Goettingen. Both 28- and 90-day mortality were analyzed as the primary outcome, while parameters of disease severity served as secondary endpoints. (3) Results: In the Kaplan–Meier analysis LAG-3 rs951818 AA-homozygote patients showed a significantly lower 28-day mortality (17.3%) compared to carriers of the C-allele (23.7%, p = 0.0476). In addition, these patients more often received invasive mechanical ventilation (96%) during the course of disease than C-allele carriers (92%, p = 0.0466). (4) Conclusions: Genetic profiling of LAG-3 genetic variants alone or in combination with other genetic biomarkers may represent a promising approach for risk stratification of patients with sepsis. Patient-individual therapeutic targeting of immune checkpoints, such as LAG-3, may be a future component of sepsis therapy. Further detailed investigations in clinically relevant sepsis models are necessary
Acquired selective IgA deficiency induced by dietary bovine IgA
No full textSelective IgA deficiency (sIgAD) is the most common immunodeficiency in humans. Auto-reactive antibodies to human IgA are found in the serum of 20-40% of individuals with sIgAD. It is unknown whether these antibodies play a role in the pathogenesis of this immunodeficiency, and most researchers believe that they are secondary to the onset of sIgAD. However, it is possible that in these individuals, the anti-IgA antibodies are in fact responsible for the removal of IgA from serum, and are originally generated against xenogeneic IgA. To examine this hypothesis, the presence of anti-bovine and anti-human IgA antibodies was tested by ELISA in serum samples from IgA-deficient and control individuals. All 14 of the IgA-deficient individuals that were tested had IgG anti-bovine IgA antibodies (100%), whereas only 8 had IgG anti-human IgA antibodies (57%). Individuals with both anti-bovine and anti-human IgA antibodies always had a higher titre against bovine IgA than against human IgA. Of 18 control individuals who have normal serum levels of IgA and no anti-human IgA antibodies, a surprisingly high proportion (61%) had IgG anti-bovine IgA antibodies in their serum. These results strongly support the hypothesis that the anti-human IgA antibodies found in IgA-deficient individuals are originally produced against xenogeneic IgA, specifically bovine IgA found in dietary beef products. These antibodies can be found in many normal individuals, but only those that cross-react with endogenous human IgA will lead to the removal of IgA from circulation, and to sIgAD. Thus, sIgAD with anti-IgA antibodies is an acquired immunodeficiency, initiated by cross-reactive antibodies consumed in the diet.M.S.Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-32)
Conceptualizing cognitive-behavioral supervision: an exploratory study of supervising psychologists
No full textAlthough supervision plays a key role in the training of psychologists and in improving adherence to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), there is a scarcity of systematic knowledge on the supervision of CBT therapists. In response, Judith Beck’s supervision model has been a valuable development. However, there remains a dearth of research on the supervision practices of doctoral-level CBT supervisors in the field, and whether they adhere to Beck’s model. The current exploratory study investigated the practices of doctoral-level CBT supervisors along the following five dimensions: (a) the structure of CBT supervision, (b) attending to supervisees’ emotions, thoughts and behaviors, (c) relationship factors, (d) evaluation of supervisees, and (e) self-evaluation. In addition, this study assessed the extent to which supervisors followed Beck’s supervision model. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 10 experienced doctoral-level CBT supervisors. The participants had a median of 10 years of experience as CBT supervisors and 70% attained Diplomate or Fellow Certification with the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. The interviews were analyzed using a content analysis approach based on the five major topic domains outlined above. Case examples were also provided to further illustrate the supervision practices of three individual supervisors. Findings indicated that the supervision practices of supervisors in this sample were very similar along the five dimensions, and were also mostly consistent with Beck’s supervision model. More specifically, supervisors described their supervision structure as mirroring CBT therapy sessions (e.g., check-in, agenda setting, and problem solving); emphasized attending to supervisee’s thoughts if they interfere with the patient’s treatment; and stressed the importance of creating a collaborative and collegial relationship with supervisees. On the other hand, supervisors did not generally listen to entire therapy tapes and use rating scales to assess therapy sessions due to time constraints. Moreover, supervisors emphasized the importance of attending to supervisees’ emotions in supervision as well as the importance of increasing autonomy in CBT supervision, neither of which are explicitly discussed in Beck’s supervision model. Implications for future research are discussed, along with recommendations for CBT supervisors and training programs.Psy. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Ayelet Katta
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S1E3: Rights at the Border
No full textThe right to seek and enjoy asylum has never been more important than in today’s global landscape. At the same time, countries have never been more committed to finding increasingly creative ways to avoid having to take in refugees. Today on Entitled, we discuss the right to asylum and what our rights are at the border of another country. We know the movement of distressed migrants at sea and nations’ borders is the cause for a lot of human tragedy. Are borders necessary – can we conceive of them in a different way? What duties should nations have to assist these migrants?Joining Professors Claudia Flores and Tom Ginsburg this week are Nina Kerkebane, an Algerian asylee and an entering graduate student at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy; Ayelet Shachar, author of The Birthright Lottery: Citizenship and Global Inequality; Maya Elzinga-Soumah, Senior Legal Associate with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Aruba and Curaçao; and Itamar Mann, Director of the Global Legal Action Network and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Haifa Faculty of Law.</p
Iconic situations: multimodality, witnessing and collective memory
No full textThis article deals with the multimodal components of televised situations that the author calls ‘iconic’ and that revolve around a dramatic announcement or declaration delivered on camera as part of a television broadcast. She argues that, in contemporary visual culture, iconic still photographs are gradually being replaced by iconic televised situations that become established as units of memory whose repeated airings and viewings ultimately gain an iconic status. Understanding this re-enactment has crucial importance in understanding the process by which the experience of the individual viewer or listener is interwoven with the narrative of the televised situation and in comprehending the role of witnessing. The article focuses on the spoken text, the roles of those who partake in the iconic situation and on the manner in which the fabric of verbal and visual elements helps to establish these situations as memorable. The author addresses three situations that were aired on Israeli television: the official announcement of the assassination of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, the announcement of the death of Israeli singer Arik Einstein and the video message delivered by the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from his place of captivity in Gaza.</jats:p
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Usu venisse hoc : unity and purpose of rhetoric in the Bellum Africum
No full textThis report seeks to bring better understanding specifically to the rhetoric of the Bellum Africum and how that understanding sheds new light on the political atmosphere in the aftermath of the assassination of Julius Caesar. Through a literary analysis of various vignettes, monologues, and examples of adaptations of Caesar’s own rhetorical style within the Bellum Africum, I look to prove that the work’s anonymous author consciously sought to create a unified rhetorical program throughout his text which aids the image of the Caesarian cause as it stands at his time of writing in 44/3 BCE. I have found that he does this through a multi-part strategy: he took advantage of the circumstances of the African War, especially Scipio’s alliance with Juba, to reframe the civil war as defense from foreign aggression and to downplay Caesar’s own monarchical tendencies before his death; pulling from his own military background, he focused in especially on matters of military and political procedure to most vividly contrast the ‘Romanness’ of the values of the Caesarians and the opposing Pompeians; he divided the legacy of the original Optimates from that of the contemporary Pompeians, casting them as a disconnected and inferior set of political leaders; lastly, he amplified the pragmatic nature of Caesar’s clementia, dramatized Caesar’s emotional loyalty to the state and its people, and introduced religious connection to Caesar’s idea of felicitas to elevate Caesar and shift Caesar’s original model as servant to the Republic to appear more like a singular leader or savior of the Republic.Classic
Photography and Invisibility: Indexicality and Performativity Asia-Pacific War Memory in Tsukada Mamoru's <i>Identical Twins</i> Series (2003) and Suzuki Norio's Photos of Onoda Hiroo (1974)
No full textThis manuscript engages with two central ideas: the first concerns issues related to the problem of truth value in photography, vis-à-vis issues of fictionality and the powers of the false. This discussion is set forth through the analysis of two photographic series—Tsukada Mamoru's Identical Twins (2003), a series of staged photographs of two young men dressed alternately in Japan's imperial military uniform and modern casual dress, posing in a jungle setting, coinciding with the public debates on Japan's possible involvement in the Iraq war in 2003. The author utilizes the ideas and questions raised through this series to understand the powers and position of the second series, Suzuki Norio's 1974 photographs of Onoda Hiroo, the Japanese straggler who stayed for three decades in the jungles of Lubang Island—photographs that were directly responsible for Onoda's repatriation to Japan. The discussion in the text also illuminates a second idea—how complex is Japan's position toward the trauma of defeat and the specters of war, reflecting the complicated emotions experienced toward war memory and its representation in photographs, films, art, and other visual forms. The analysis of the two series delves into issues of photography theory, on questions of indexicality and performativity, and the relations between photographic images in specific cultural climate. The author analyzes how these images may indicate the political fluctuations between the Asia-Pacific War, the 1970s, and 2003, looking at such issues as indexicality and performativity, ghostly presences and staged scenes, truth and fiction, using photography as an immediate visual reference. Through the text, political, social, and cultural questions concerning wartime Japan are intertwined with an analysis of the visual methods, creating a complex view of visual representation and its means and methods.</jats:p
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Do Gestural Interfaces Promote Thinking? Embodied Interaction: Congruent Gestures and Direct-Touch Promote Performance in Math
No full textCan action support cognition? Can direct touch support performance? Embodied interaction involving digital devices is based on the theory of grounded cognition. Embodied interaction with gestural interfaces involves more of our senses than traditional (mouse-based) interfaces, and in particular includes direct touch and physical movement, which are believed to help retain the knowledge that is being acquired. There is growing evidence that spontaneous gestures affect thought and possibly learning. The author was interested to explore whether designed gestures (for gestural interfaces) affect thought. It was hypothesized that the use of congruent gestures helps construct better mental representations and mental operations to solve problems (Gestural Conceptual Mapping). There is also evidence that physical manipulation of objects can benefit cognition and learning; it was therefore also hypothesized that manipulating objects through direct touch on the screen supports performance. These hypotheses were addressed by observing children's performance in arithmetic and numerical estimation. Arithmetic is a discrete task, and should be supported by discrete rather than continuous actions. Estimation is a continuous task, and should be supported by continuous rather than discrete actions. Children used either a gestural interface (multi-touch, e. g., iPad) or a traditional mouse interface. The actions either mapped congruently to the cognition (continuous action for estimation and discrete action for arithmetic), or not. If action supports cognition, children who use continuous actions for estimation or discrete actions for addition should perform better than children for whom the action-cognition mapping is less congruent. In addition, if manipulating the objects by touching them directly on the screen could yield a better performance, children who use a touch interface should perform better than children who use a mouse interface. The results confirmed the predictions
