10 research outputs found
The dramaturgy of the tragedies of John Webster and John Ford with special reference to their use of stage imagery.
No full textPhDThe imagery of the plays of John Webster and John
Ford is not only verbal: in staging as well as language
these dramas display strongly imagistic, symbolic elements.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the seven extant
tragedies of Webster and Ford from the point of view of
their total dramatic nature - to examine the staging,
costumes, hand and large properties, movement and gestures
as well as the verbal imagery, and the interplay of these
verbal and visual elements. The original appearance, of
these plays in their contemporary theatre, and the
dramatist's intentions for performance, can only be surmised.
The original stage directions are examined for
hints of the original presentation: these stage directions
may not always be authorial, but, especially in the case of
Ford, they seem to reveal the playwright's hand. The dialogue,
too, frequently implies particular gestures,
grouping or stage placement.
The visual imagery, it is here suggested, is created
by the dramatist for several purposes: a moral or ironical
point may be silently established; a chain of related
visual motifs may bind various actions and characters into
an organic union; a visualization may appeal outward to
other works of art or theatrical or non-dramatic conventions,
enlarging the immediate significance by this shorthand
reference; visual ceremonies may make concrete the more
ephemeral words and feelings of the characters.
Each of the tragedies is studied in a separate chapter,
in the following order: Webster's The White Devil, The
Duchess of Malfi, and Appius and Virginia (the authorship
of which is disputed); John Ford's The Broken Heart,
Love's Sacrifice, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, and Perkin
Warbeck. A conclusion indicates the differences between
Webster's more overtly theatrical visualizations and Ford's
quiet tableaux.
The thesis is accompanied by illustrations which are
either explanatory or comparative
Recommended from our members
Review: Lal, Deepak. The poverty of “Development Economics.” 2d revised and expanded US edition.
No full textThe ‘end of AIDS’ project: Mobilising evidence, bureaucracy, and big data for a final biomedical triumph over AIDS
No full textEfforts are currently underway by major orchestrators and funders of the global AIDS response to realise the vision of achieving an end to AIDS by 2030. Unlike previous efforts to provide policy guidance or to encourage ‘best practice’ approaches for combatting AIDS, the end of AIDS project involves the promotion of a clear set of targets, tools, and interventions for a final biomedical solution to the epidemic. In this paper, we examine the bureaucratic procedures of one major AIDS funder that helped to foster a common vision and mission amongst a global AIDS community with widely divergent views on how best to address the epidemic. We focus on the methods, movements, and materials that are central to the project of ending AIDS, including those related to biomedical forms of evidence and big data science. We argue that these approaches have limitations and social scientists need to pay close attention to the end of AIDS project, particularly in contexts where clinical interventions might transform clinical outcomes, but where the social, economic, and cultural determinants of HIV and AIDS remain largely intact and increasingly obscured
Highly active anti-retroviral treatment as a bridge towards education for all in sub-Saharan Africa
No full textHIV/AIDS continues to pose serious challenges to the health and economic development of many low-resource countries. Over the last decade, the impact of HIV/AIDS has been well documente
Geometry-independent inclusion of basal myocardium yields improved cardiac magnetic resonance agreement with echocardiography and necropsy quantified left-ventricular mass
No full textObjectivesLeft-ventricular mass (LVM) is widely used to guide clinical decision-making. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) quantifies LVM by planimetry of contiguous short-axis images, an approach dependent on reader-selection of images to be contoured. Established methods have applied different binary cut-offs using circumferential extent of left-ventricular myocardium to define the basal left ventricle (LV), omitting images containing lesser fractions of left-ventricular myocardium. This study tested impact of basal slice variability on LVM quantification.MethodsCMR was performed in patients and laboratory animals. LVM was quantified with full inclusion of left-ventricular myocardium, and by established methods that use different cut-offs to define the left-ventricular basal-most slice: 50% circumferential myocardium at end diastole alone (ED50), 50% circumferential myocardium throughout both end diastole and end systole (EDS50).ResultsOne hundred and fifty patients and 10 lab animals were studied. Among patients, fully inclusive LVM (172.6±42.3g) was higher vs. ED50 (167.2±41.8g) and EDS50 (150.6±41.1g; both P<0.001). Methodological differences yielded discrepancies regarding proportion of patients meeting established criteria for left-ventricular hypertrophy and chamber dilation (P<0.05). Fully inclusive LVM yielded smaller differences with echocardiography (Δ=11.0±28.8g) than did ED50 (Δ=16.4±29.1g) and EDS50 (Δ=33.2±28.7g; both P<0.001). Among lab animals, ex-vivo left-ventricular weight (69.8±13.2g) was similar to LVM calculated using fully inclusive (70.1±13.5g, P=0.67) and ED50 (69.4±13.9g; P=0.70) methods, whereas EDS50 differed significantly (67.9±14.9g; P=0.04).ConclusionEstablished CMR methods that discordantly define the basal-most LV produce significant differences in calculated LVM. Fully inclusive quantification, rather than binary cut-offs that omit basal left-ventricular myocardium, yields smallest CMR discrepancy with echocardiography-measured LVM and non-significant differences with necropsy-measured left-ventricular weight
Improved Left Ventricular Mass Quantification with Partial Voxel Interpolation – In-Vivo and Necropsy Validation of a Novel Cardiac MRI Segmentation Algorithm
No full textBackground—CMR typically quantifies LV mass (LVM) via manual planimetry (MP), but this approach is time consuming and does not account for partial voxel components - myocardium admixed with blood in a single voxel. Automated segmentation (AS) can account for partial voxels, but this has not been used for LVM quantification. This study used automated CMR segmentation to test the influence of partial voxels on quantification of LVM. Methods and Results—LVM was quantified by AS and MP in 126 consecutive patients and 10 laboratory animals undergoing CMR. AS yielded both partial voxel (ASPV) and full voxel (ASFV) measurements. Methods were independently compared to LVM quantified on echocardiography (echo) and an ex-vivo standard of LVM at necropsy. AS quantified LVM in all patients, yielding a 12-fold decrease in processing time vs. MP (0:21±0:04 vs. 4:18±1:02 min; pFV mass (136±35gm) was slightly lower than MP (139±35; Δ=3±9gm, pPV yielded higher LVM (159±38gm) than MP (Δ=20±10gm) and ASFV (Δ=23±6gm, both pPV and ASFV correlated with larger voxel size (partial r=0.37, pPV yielded better agreement with echo (Δ=20±25gm) than did ASFV (Δ=43±24gm) or MP (Δ=40±22gm, both pPV and ex-vivo results were similar (Δ=1±3gm, p=0.3), whereas ASFV (6±3g, P\u3c0.001) and MP (4±5 g, P=0.02) yielded small but significant differences with LVM at necropsy
Bassani e l’omosessualità
No full textIn this essay the author analyzes the presence of homosexuality, as well as its symbolic equivalents of injured or diminished virility, in Giorgio Bassani’s narrative. In this direction, the most significant texts are considered The Gold Rimmed Glasses (where the tragic hero is an homosexual), Behind the Door and The Heron, but also the figure of Alberto (and somewhat of the protagonist and narrator) in The Garden of the Finzi-Contini and of Barilari in One night in ‘43 are the subject of thematic interpretation. The author claims that homosexual identity is not investigated itself and ontologically legitimized by Bassani, but takes the value of a metaphor for exclusion, even a violent one, as the one that struck, at the same time, Jewish identity after the enactment of Racial Laws in Italy. From this point of view, the doubt on the “conformity” of his own sexuality, the fear this sexuality would meet the regime’s propaganda stereotypes, or (in Behind the Door) the liberating projection of these stereotypes on an antagonistic character and alter ego seem to inhabit the protagonists of the aforementioned novels and short stories and produce, with their diverted or evaded questions, the agony of false consciousness.In questo saggio l’autore analizza la presenza dell’omosessualità, nonché dei suoi equivalenti simbolici della virilità lesa o diminuita, nella narrativa di Giorgio Bassani. In tale direzione, i testi bassaniani più significativi vengono considerati Gli occhiali d’oro (in cui il tragico protagonista è un omosessuale), Dietro la porta e L’airone, ma anche la figura di Alberto (e, in parte, dello stesso protagonista) nel Giardino dei Finzi-Contini e quella di Barilari in Una notte del ’43 sono oggetto di interpretazione tematica. L’autore del saggio cerca di mostrare che l’identità omosessuale non è da Bassani indagata in sé e legittimata ontologicamente, ma assume un puro valore di metafora dell’esclusione, anche violenta, quella che parallelamente colpì l’identità ebraica dopo l’emanazione delle leggi razziali in Italia. Secondo questa angolazione di lettura, il dubbio sulla “conformità” della propria sessualità, il timore di un’omologazione di essa agli stereotipi della propaganda di regime o (in Dietro la Porta) la proiezione liberatoria di questi ultimi su un personaggio antagonistico / alteregoico, sembrano abitare i protagonisti dei romanzi e dei racconti succitati e produrre, coi loro interrogativi deviati o elusi, i tormenti della falsa coscienza
Myocardial Extracellular Volume Expansion And The Risk Of Recurrent Atrial Fibrillation After Pulmonary Vein Isolation
No full textObjectives This study tested whether myocardial extracellular volume (ECV) is increased in patients with hypertension and atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing pulmonary vein isolation and whether there is an association between ECV and post-procedural recurrence of AF. Background Hypertension is associated with myocardial fibrosis, an increase in ECV, and AF. Data linking these findings are limited. T1 measurements pre-contrast and post-contrast in a cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) study provide a method for quantification of ECV. Methods Consecutive patients with hypertension and recurrent AF referred for pulmonary vein isolation underwent a contrast CMR study with measurement of ECV and were followed up prospectively for a median of 18 months. The endpoint of interest was late recurrence of AF. Results Patients had elevated left ventricular (LV) volumes, LV mass, left atrial volumes, and increased ECV (patients with AF, 0.34 ± 0.03; healthy control patients, 0.29 ± 0.03; p < 0.001). There were positive associations between ECV and left atrial volume (r = 0.46, p < 0.01) and LV mass and a negative association between ECV and diastolic function (early mitral annular relaxation [E′], r = -0.55, p < 0.001). In the best overall multivariable model, ECV was the strongest predictor of the primary outcome of recurrent AF (hazard ratio: 1.29; 95% confidence interval: 1.15 to 1.44; p < 0.0001) and the secondary composite outcome of recurrent AF, heart failure admission, and death (hazard ratio: 1.35; 95% confidence interval: 1.21 to 1.51; p < 0.0001). Each 10% increase in ECV was associated with a 29% increased risk of recurrent AF. 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