Some notes on the ‘Baader-Meinhof Complex'

This film review essay offers some reflections on the contemporary receptions of left-wing armed struggle politics as represented in the film Baader Meinhof Complex, directed by Uli Edel and based on a book by Stefan Aust. It argues for a political understanding of the actions of the RAF or similar ‘terrorist’cells. From such a perspective, the anti-imperialist ideology of armed struggles can be subjected to criticism

Update on Poly-ADP-ribose polymerase inhibition for ovarian cancer treatment

Background: Despite standard treatment for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), that involves cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy, and initial high response rates to these, up to 80 % of patients experience relapses with a median progression-free survival of 12–18 months. There remains an urgent need for novel targeted therapies to improve clinical outcomes in ovarian cancer. Of the many targeted therapies currently under evaluation, the most promising strategies developed thus far are antiangiogenic agents and Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. Particularly, PARP inhibitors are active in cells that have impaired repair of DNA by the homologous recombination (HR) pathway. Cells with mutated breast related cancer antigens (BRCA) function have HR deficiency, which is also present in a significant proportion of non-BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer (“BRCAness” ovarian cancer). The prevalence of germline BRCA mutations in EOC has historically been estimated to be around 10–15 %. However, recent reports suggest that this may be a gross underestimate, especially in women with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). Main body of the abstract: The emergence of the DNA repair pathway as a rational target in various cancers led to the development of the PARP inhibitors. The concept of tumor-selective synthetic lethality heralded the beginning of an eventful decade, culminating in the approval by regulatory authorities both in Europe as a maintenance therapy and in the United States treatment for advanced recurrent disease of the first oral PARP inhibitor, olaparib, for the treatment of BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer patients. Other PARP inhibitors are clearly effective in this disease and, within the next years, the results of ongoing randomized trials will clarify their respective roles. Conclusion: This review will discuss the different PARP inhibitors in development and the potential use of this class of agents in the future. Moreover, combination strategies involving PARP inhibitors are likely to receive increasing attention. The utility of PARP inhibitors combined with cytotoxic chemotherapy is of doubtful value, because of enhanced toxicity of this combination; while, more promising strategies include the combination with antiangiogenic agents, or with inhibitors of the P13K/AKT pathway and new generation of immunotherapy

Herding cats: observing live coding in the wild

After a momentous decade of live coding activities, this paper seeks to explore the practice with the aim of situating it in the history of contemporary arts and music. The article introduces several key points of investigation in live coding research and discusses some examples of how live coding practitioners engage with these points in their system design and performances. In the light of the extremely diverse manifestations of live coding activities, the problem of defining the practice is discussed, and the question raised whether live coding will actually be necessary as an independent category

The Logic of Spectacle c. 1970

This paper examines the site plan and theme exhibit of the Osaka Expo of 1970, together with a week-long protest staged in the Tower of the Sun, which was the main element of the Theme Exhibit. Attempts to communicate a critical account of contemporary society and so transform the visitor were undercut by the Expo's ability to accommodate diverse interests and investments and to account for almost anything that was exhibited or staged on site. The Expo thus suggests that we need to supplement our understanding of spectacle as communication with an analysis of spectacle as a system

The Irish Currency Report of 1804

May 2004 marks the 200-year anniversary of the publication of the Irish Currency Report of 1804.

A Bosnian refugee who became a great story-teller: Adnan Mahmutovic on what drives him as a person and author

Adnan Mahmutovic is fast becoming a literary phenomenon across the Anglophonic world, courtesy a strong narrative voice that is unique and spotlights the human endurance in most extreme conditions, including war, ethnic cleansing and survival in new places as a refugee. His recent novel Thinner than a hair is in news; so is the collection of short fiction How to fare well and stay fair. Adnan has a PhD in English literature and an MFA in creative writing, and is currently a lecturer and writer-in-residence at the Department of English, Stockholm University. Fellow writer Sunil Sharma interviewed Adnan by email

Integration, disintegration and trade in Europe: Evolution of trade relations during the 1990s

The gravity model of trade is used to assess the economic consequences of new borders, which arose in the wake of break-ups of multinational federations in Eastern Europe. The intensity of trade relations among the constituent parts of Czechoslovakia, Soviet Union and the Baltics was very high around the time of disintegration, exceeding the normal level of trade approximately 40 times. Disintegration has been followed by a sharp fall in trade intensity. On the other hand, the trade liberalization between East and West has lead to gradual normalization of trade relations, and liberalization within CEFTA has reversed the fall in trade intensity among Central European countries. --Gravity Model,International Trade,European Integration,Disintegration

ANA, SA: a risk management approach

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsIn 2007, following a series of sector transformations and wanting to be up to speed on industry best practices, ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, SA, the Portuguese airports manager, adopts an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) model. In 2009, with a challenging new regulatory model in sight and the idea of an imminent privatization, the company reassesses and restructures the model. This case study follows this transition process, the implementation of the new ERM model and the intricacies brought by the new regulatory model