394 research outputs found
Religious intellectuals : the poetic gravity of Emily Brontë and Christina Rossetti
No full textThis thesis examines the writing of Emily Brontë and Christina Rossetti in terms of its
expression of religious culture and belief. It is my argument that Brontë and Rossetti
experienced religion as intellectuals, questioning and exploring doctrine and dogma neither
as sentimental lady Christians nor dismissive, secular critics. I contend that by close
reading their poetry, the genre both women privileged as most appropriate for the
consideration of religious matters, the reader may trace the sermons and theological works
they read. Moreover, their writing, I suggest, evinces their intellectual response to
theological, ecclesiological and ecclesiastical developments that took place in the
nineteenth century. I thus label Brontë and Rossetti 'religious intellectuals,' a phrase
suggestive of their intense understanding of, rather than their mild acquaintance with,
religious debate. Many women writing within the nineteenth century found that religion
granted them a field within which to freely read and research, but were denied the
professional title of 'theologian.' Brontë and Rossetti are thus examples of a wider
phenomenon wherein women encountered religion like scholars, one disregarded by current
criticism unable as it is to categorize a female activity simultaneously religious and
intellectual. I use Brontë and Rossetti as examples of what I call the 'religious intellectual'
because they represent different sides of this classification. Where Brontë struggled away
from her Methodist background, serving as a cultural commentator on its enthusiastic
belief-system, Rossetti forged a scholarly identity as a late member of the High Church
Oxford Movement. Both poets, I contend, wrote about religion in order to signal their
intellectual ability. I conclude that Brontë's interest in Methodism and Rossetti's
fascination with Tractarianism reveals the poets to be both independent of family pressures
and false consciousness, and fully engaged with a subject central to their age
A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials comparing the efficacy and safety of latanoprost, travoprost, and bimatoprost in reducing the intraocular pressure
No full textPurpose: To compare the intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction induced by latanoprost, travoprost, and bimatoprost. Comparison of drugs tolerability and side effects was also one aim of the study.
Methods: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing the IOP reducing effect of latanoprost, travoprost, and bimatoprost, were electronically searched and collected. Methodological quality of the RCTs was reviewed by 2 independent evaluators. Data about drugs efficacy, tolerability and side effects were abstracted and statistically combined. Effect size calculation and Mantel–Haenszel–Peto method were used to obtain pooled estimates. Heterogeneity among studies’ results was also tested.
Results: Eight RCTs were eligible and provided data from 1,165 patients, to be statistically combined. Out of the 8 RCTs, only 3 reported a statistically significant difference ammong prostaglandin analogues, favouring bimatoprost. The combination of the 8 studies’s results indicated that bimatoprost was the most effective prostaglandin analogue with a further 0.91 mm Hg (0.6–1.6) IOP reduction as compared with latanoprost. The heterogeneity among RCTs’ results was not statistically significant. Bimatoprost was associated with a significantly increased occurrence of ocular side effects (summary OR 2.79, 95% C.I. 2.11 to 3.68), while when only severe side effects were considered, there was no significant difference among prostaglandin analogues (summary OR 1.48, 95% C.I. 0.65 to 3.37).
Conclusion: Bimatoprost was found to be the most effective prostagladin analogue. The difference between bimatoprost and other prostaglandin analogues was less than 1 mmHg. The benefit of this effect must be evaluated together with the rate of ocular discomforts
A 12-week comparison of bimatoprost 0.03% and a fixed combination of latanoprost 0.005% and timolol 0.5% in reducing the 24-hour IOP in glaucoma patients. A European multi-centre, randomised, double-masked trial
No full textPurpose: To compare the 24–h mean IOP between bimatoprost and the fixed combination of latanoprost and timolol when switched from a non–fixed combination of latanoprost and timolol.
Methods: This randomised, double masked trial was carried out in 7 centres throughout Europe. Included were patients who were controlled (IOP <22 mmHg) on the unfixed combination of latanoprost and timolol for at least 3 months prior to the baseline visit or patients on monotherapy either with latanoprost or timolol who were eligible for dual therapy being uncontrolled. The last group of patients underwent a 6 weeks wash–in phase with the non–fixed combination of latanoprost and timolol before baseline IOP determination and inclusion into the study. Supine and sitting positions IOPs were recorded at 8 pm, midnight, 5 am, 8 am, noon, and 4 pm at baseline, week–6 and week–12 visits. At each time point IOP was measured twice by well–trained evaluators, and then averaged. Holter 24–hour blood pressure was also recorded. An ANCOVA model was used for the primary efficacy variable, with mean area under the IOP curve after 12 weeks of treatment as response variable, and treatment, centre and baseline as factors. The interaction between treatment and centre was investigated. A secondary analysis was performed on the within treatment change from baseline.
Results: Mean baseline IOP was 16.3 (sd, 3.3) and 15.5 (2.9) in bimatoprost and the fixed combination of latanoprost and timolol groups respectively. At week 12, mean IOPs were respectively 16.1 (2.5) and 16.3 (3.7). Mean daytime and nighttime IOPs were similar and no statistical significant difference between the 2 groups could be found. Mean IOP changes from baseline were 0.3 (3.6) during daytime and –0.8 (3.8) during nighttime in bimatoprost group and 1.43 (2.6) and 0.14 (3.2) in the fixed combination of latanoprost and timolol respectively.
Conclusions: Bimatoprost is at least as good as the fixed combination of latanoprost and timolol in maintaining the IOP on a controlled level
Manuscript Poem "John Keats" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
No full textabstract: Concerning the manuscript for "John Keats".Publication Details: Not the same version as some published versions of "John Keats."Curator's Note: Handwriting in upper right corner reads "Rossetti's Handwriting." Writing on verso reads "Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Mss.
Assessment of the rate of non-responders to latanoprost therapy
No full textPurpose: To determine the rate of non-responders to latanoprost therapy in patients with POAG or OHT. Methods: Two hundred and eighty newly diagnosed untreated POAG-OHT consecutive patients or patients treated only with a beta-blocker were enrolled in the study after proper wash-out. Ten academic italian centres participated in this study. All patients were put on latanoprost therapy for one month. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to the level of IOP reduction after one month of latanoprost therapy: non-responders (IOP reduction 15% but 30%). Non-responders entered a randomized cross-over study in which the efficacy of timolol, brimonidine, and pilocarpine was tested. Each treatment period lasted 30 days. Iris colour, axial length, refraction, gonioscopy were the variables tested as predictors of treatment efficacy in lowering IOP. Results: Mean baseline IOP was 23.6 mmHg (sd 2.7) and, after 1 month of therapy with latanoprost, mean IOP was lowered to 16.8 mmHg (sd 2.6) with an average effect of 28.8%. Non-responders rate was 4.6%, while hyper-responders were 27% of the patients. Non-responders had a significant reduction of IOP after brimonidine (p < 0.05), while after timolol and pilocarpine the decrease in IOP did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: A low rate of non-responders to latanoprost was found in this multicentric prospective study; in non-responders patients only brimonidine, as compared with timolol and pilocarpine, was able to effectively lower IOP
The Forgotten Gothic of Christina Rossetti
No full textIn this essay, the author analyzes the Gothic of Christina Rossetti in such poems as A Coast Nightmare, Shut Out, but also the well-known Goblin Market and the Prince's Progress. Interested in what the imagery of these poems convey, and intent on declaring Rossetti as a prominent example of Gothic poets, the author makes a strong case for the including of Rossetti among the great Gothics
I rilievi per la mostra e il libro su Biagio Rossetti
No full textNel 1960 Bruno Zevi diede alle stampe il volume Biagio Rossetti architetto ferrarese. Il primo urbanista moderno europeo. Nell’opera, che conta 727 pagine, sono presenti 200 disegni di rilievo riferibili ad una parte delle architetture indagate: si tratta di 19 edifici, di cui 12 civili e 7 sacri.
In chiusura al volume Zevi sintetizza gli eventi che resero possibile la realizzazione prima della famosa mostra Identità di Biagio Rossetti, inaugurata il 28 giugno 1956 nel Ridotto del Teatro Comunale e, quattro anni dopo, dell’imponente libro, indicando i nomi di coloro che collaborarono all’iniziativa. L’autore cita la prof. Luisa Balboni sindaco di Ferrara, e l’assessore alle BB. AA. Mario Roffi che nel 1955 si rivolsero all’allora preside dell’Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia, Giuseppe Samonà per celebrare il 440° anniversario della morte di Rossetti. Zevi afferma che «[...] gli studenti ed io accettammo con entusiasmo di ordinare una mostra: dedicai il mio corso al maestro ferrarese, mentre gli allievi del primo anno rilevarono vari monumenti, e quelli del secondo, con la guida del mio assistente dott. Giuseppe Mazzariol, svolsero indagini documentate in una serie di tesine.» Questo scritto propone alcune riflessioni sul ruolo del rilievo nella vicenda editoriale zeviana e nei suoi esiti.In 1960, Bruno Zevi published the book Biagio Rossetti architetto ferrarese. Il primo urbanista moderno europeo. In the 727 page long work, there are 200 survey drawings, some of which refer to the investigated architectures: these are 19 buildings (twelve non-religious and seven religious).
At the end of the publication, Zevi summarizes the events that made the realization of the book possible before the famous exhibition Identità di Biagio Rossetti, inaugurated on June 28 1956 in the Ridotto of the Municipal Theater. Four years later, the imposing book indicated the names of those who collaborated in the initiative. The author quotes prof. Luisa Balboni, mayor of Ferrara, and the assessore BB. AA. Mario Roffi, who in 1955 contacted the then dean of the University Institute of Architecture in Venice, Giuseppe Samonà to celebrate the 440th anniversary of Rossetti's death. Zevi says "[...] the students and I enthusiastically accepted to organize an exhibition: I dedicated my course to the celebrated Ferrara architect, the first-year students surveyed various monuments, while those of the second year carried out documented investigations in a series of papers with the guidance of my assistant Dr Giuseppe Mazzariol."
This paper offers some reflections on the survey's role in Zevy’s work and its outcomes
A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials on medical treatment of glaucoma
No full textPurpose:A meta–analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on medical treatment of primary open–angle glaucoma (POAG) was performed in order to 1. properly summarize the evidence of published RCTs; 2. quantitatively obtain a precise estimate of the effect of medical therapy on visual field and optic disc changes.
Methods:The search for reports of all RCTs published in English was updated to July 2003. Studies were identified by searching through MEDLINE for specific Medical Subject Headings’ key words (i.e., GLAUCOMA, OCULAR HYPERTENSION, CLINICAL TRIALS) and by inspecting the bibliographies of original and review articles on medical treatment of POAG. Eligible for inclusion were articles published in English that referred to RCTs on medical treatment of POAG or ocular hypertension (OH), comparing an active treatment (or more than one) to placebo or no treatment. As we were interested in the effect of medical treatment on progression of POAG, only RCTs assessing outcomes such as visual field or optic disc changes with a follow–up longer than one year were considered. The quality of the trials was assessed by 2 independent evaluators (LR, SM). The statistical combination of the results of the trials, contrasting an active treatment with an untreated control group, was made with reference to three different end points: a. reduction in IOP; b. occurrence of visual field changes; c. occurrence of optic disc changes.
Results: The present systematic review summarizes the results of 8 RCTs published between 1989 and 2003, and evaluating more than 2,700 patients. The pooled estimate of results in occurrence of any end–point indicated a highly significant protective treatment effect with a summary OR of 0.49 (95% CI 0.38–0.61). A statistically significant treatment effect was shown in reducing both visual field progression (OR = 0.59; 95% CI 0.45–0.77) and optic disc changes (OR = 0.35; 95% CI 0.23–0.53). Heterogeneity among studies’ results was not statistically significant.
Conclusions: A decrease in IOP of – 4.3 mmHg (17.4%) allowed to obtain a highly significant protective effect of treatment for glaucoma progression. Around 13% of treated got worse despite treatment
Comparison of the effect of latanoprost, travoprost, and bimatoprost on circadian intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension
No full textPurpose: To compare the around-the-clock intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction induced by latanoprost 0.005%, bimatoprost 0.3% and travoprost 0.2% in patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) or ocular hypertension (OHT).
Methods: In a cross-over trial, 10 patients with POAG and 10 with OHT were treated with latanoprost, travoprost, and bimatoprost for one month. Treatment sequence was randomized. All patients underwent 4 around-the-clock tonometric curves: a baseline and after one month of treatment with each trial drug. IOP was measured by two well-trained evaluators masked to treatment assignment at 3, 6, 9 a.m., and at noon, and at 3, 6, 9 p.m., and at midnight using a handheld electronic tonometer (TonoPen XL, Bio-Rad, Glendale, California) with the patient in supine and sitting positions, and a Goldmann applanation tonometer with the patient sitting at the slit lamp. Systemic blood pressure was recorded at the same times. Sample size was estimated assuming a difference in mean IOP of 2.5 mmHg as clinically relevant, = 0.05, 1-ß = 0.90, and a sd = 2 mmHg.
Results: The Goldmann measurements showed that bimatoprost was significantly (p<0.05) more effective than travoprost at 3 a.m. and at noon, and it was more effective than latanoprost only at noon. The supine position measurements showed that bimatoprost was more effective than travoprost at 3, 9, 12 a.m., and it was more effective than latanoprost at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.. Travoprost was more effective than latanoprost at 3 and 6 p.m., while latanoprost was more effective than travoprost at noon.
Conclusions: All the three drugs were highly effective in reducing IOP. Bimatoprost seemed to be more effective in the morning hours
The effects of intraocular pressure reduction on perimetric variability in glaucomatous eyes
No full textPURPOSE: To investigate changes in the variability of white-on-white perimetry in patients with glaucoma who are undergoing surgical or medical reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP). METHODS: This retrospective study included 67 eyes of 50 patients who underwent trabeculectomy (25 eyes) or medical IOP reduction (25 eyes) about midway through the follow-up; 17 fellow eyes of the surgical group were the control group. Their pre- and postinterventional visual fields were analyzed (full-threshold, 24-2 program, Humphrey Field Analyzer; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Oberkochen, Germany) to evaluate changes in short-term fluctuation (SF) and test-retest variability (TRV). The longest follow-up periods possible were considered, provided that glaucoma was stable (as confirmed by intraocular pressure, optic nerve appearance and visual field). For each patient and in each period, TRV was defined as the mean of the square roots of the mean variances in each of the 54 locations. RESULTS: Trabeculectomy reduced mean IOP (5.7 +/- 4.7 mm Hg; P < 0.0001), IOP fluctuations (-2.9 +/- 4.4 mm Hg; P = 0.003), and eye drop use (-1.3 +/- 1.4; P = 0.0001). Pre- and postsurgical SF was 3.0 +/- 1.1 and 2.7 +/- 1.0 dB, respectively (P = 0.34), and pre- and postsurgical TRV was 2.90 +/- 0.97 and 2.53 +/- 0.86 dB, with a decrease of 0.37 dB (P = 0.0006). In the medical group, mean IOP decreased (-4.0 +/- 2.0 mm Hg; P < 0.0001) as did IOP fluctuation (-3.7 +/- 4.1 mm Hg; P = 0.0008), but eye drop use increased by 1.0 +/- 0.6 (P < 0.0001). TRV (2.58 +/- 0.53 vs. 2.72 +/- 0.67 dB; P = 0.37) and SF (2.3 +/- 0.8 vs. 2.3 +/- 0.8 dB; P = 0.89) remained stable during the study. There was no change in perimetric variability throughout the study in the control group. The individual reductions in TRV were higher in the surgical group than in the medical (P = 0.004) or control (P = 0.015) groups. No differences were found between the control and medical groups (P = 0.55). CONCLUSIONS: After trabeculectomy, there was a small but statistically significant reduction in long-term perimetric variability compared with the medical and control groups. There were no significant changes in short-term variability in any of the groups during the study
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