18,674 research outputs found

    The place where curses are manufactured : four poets of the Vietnam War

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    The Vietnam War was unique among American wars. To pinpoint its uniqueness, it was necessary to look for a non-American voice that would enable me to articulate its distinctiveness and explore the American character as observed by an Asian. Takeshi Kaiko proved to be most helpful. From his novel, Into a Black Sun, I was able to establish a working pair of 'bookends' from which to approach the poetry of Walter McDonald, Bruce Weigl, Basil T. Paquet and Steve Mason. Chapter One is devoted to those seemingly mismatched 'bookends,' Walt Whitman and General William C. Westmoreland, and their respective anthropocentric and technocentric visions of progress and the peculiarly American concept of the "open road" as they manifest themselves in Vietnam. In Chapter, Two, I analyze the war poems of Walter McDonald. As a pilot, writing primarily about flying, his poetry manifests General Westmoreland's technocentric vision of the 'road' as determined by and manifest through technology. Chapter Three focuses on the poems of Bruce Weigl. The poems analyzed portray the literal and metaphorical descent from the technocentric, 'numbed' distance of aerial warfare to the world of ground warfare, and the initiation of a 'fucking new guy,' who discovers the contours of the self's interior through a set of experiences that lead from from aerial insertion into the jungle to the degradation of burning human feces. Chapter Four, devoted to the thirteen poems of Basil T. Paquet, focuses on the continuation of the descent begun in Chapter Two. In his capacity as a medic, Paquet's entire body of poems details his quotidian tasks which entail tending the maimed, the mortally wounded and the dead. The final chapter deals with Steve Mason's JohnnY's Song, and his depiction of the plight of Vietnam veterans back in "The World" who are still trapped inside the interior landscape of their individual "ghettoes" of the soul created by their war-time experiences

    Co-designing age-friendly neighborhood spaces in Copenhagen: Starting with an age-friendly co-design process

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    Age-friendly cities and communities are currently attracting much attention as the ageing population becomes a larger proportion of our societies and their needs and aspirations become more diverse, which needs to be reflected in our cities. This calls for older people to play an active role in the design of suitable environments, e.g., by being involved in the design process. With this paper, we present a study where the methodology of co-design was used to engage 100+ older people in a low-income neighborhood in Copenhagen in designing new neighborhood spaces to reflect their needs and wishes. By focusing on the co-design process, and not the design solution, we investigate and present insights across the entire span of the process—from recruitment to implementation—and seek to extract particular elements that contribute to the age friendliness of the process. Recommendations for future co-design processes with older people include focusing on explicit communication and foreseeable steps to create a process that offers multiple and flexible participation options and to upgrade the latter stages of the co-design process through scale 1:1 prototyping and implementation. The findings contribute to both the professional practice of co-designing with older people on a spatial scale, as well as to policy makers and practice stakeholders when initiating initiatives with age-friendly cities and communities

    Animating potential for intensities and becoming in writing: challenging discursively constructed structures and writing conventions in academia through the use of storying and other post qualitative inquiries

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    Written for everyone ever denied the opportunity of fulfilling their academic potential, this is ‘Chloe’s story’. Using composite selves, a phrase chosen to indicate multiplicities and movement, to story both the initial event leading to ‘Chloe’s’ immediate withdrawal from a Further Education college and an imaginary second chance to support her whilst at university, this Deleuzo-Guattarian (2015a) ‘assemblage’ of post qualitative inquiries offers challenge to discursively constructed structures and writing conventions in academia. Adopting a posthuman approach to theorising to shift attention towards affects and intensities always relationally in action in multiple ‘assemblages’, these inquiries aim to decentre individual ‘lecturer’ and ‘student’ identities. Illuminating movements and moments quivering with potential for change, then, hoping thereby to generate second chances for all, different approaches to writing are exemplified which trouble those academic constraints by fostering inquiry and speculation: moving away from ‘what is’ towards ‘what if’. With the formatting of this thesis itself also always troubling the rigid Deleuzo-Guattarian (2015a) ‘segmentary lines’ structuring orthodox academic practice, imbricated in these inquiries are attempts to exemplify Manning’s (2015; 2016) ‘artfulness’ through shifts in thinking within and around an emerging PhD thesis. As writing resists organising, the verb thesisising comes into play to describe the processes involved in creating this always-moving thesis. Using ‘landing sites’ (Arakawa and Gins, 2009) as a landscaping device, freely creating emerging ‘lines of flight’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 2015a) so often denied to students forced to adhere to strict academic conventions, this ‘movement-moving’ (Manning, 2014) opens up opportunities for change as in Manning’s (2016) ‘research-creation’. Arguing for a moving away from writing-representing towards writing-inquiring, towards a writing ‘that does’ (Wyatt and Gale, 2018: 127), and toward writing as immanent doing, it is hoped to animate potential for intensities and becoming in writing, offering opportunities and glimmerings of the not-yet-known

    Estudo da remodelagem reversa miocárdica através da análise proteómica do miocárdio e do líquido pericárdico

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    Valve replacement remains as the standard therapeutic option for aortic stenosis patients, aiming at abolishing pressure overload and triggering myocardial reverse remodeling. However, despite the instant hemodynamic benefit, not all patients show complete regression of myocardial hypertrophy, being at higher risk for adverse outcomes, such as heart failure. The current comprehension of the biological mechanisms underlying an incomplete reverse remodeling is far from complete. Furthermore, definitive prognostic tools and ancillary therapies to improve the outcome of the patients undergoing valve replacement are missing. To help abridge these gaps, a combined myocardial (phospho)proteomics and pericardial fluid proteomics approach was followed, taking advantage of human biopsies and pericardial fluid collected during surgery and whose origin anticipated a wealth of molecular information contained therein. From over 1800 and 750 proteins identified, respectively, in the myocardium and in the pericardial fluid of aortic stenosis patients, a total of 90 dysregulated proteins were detected. Gene annotation and pathway enrichment analyses, together with discriminant analysis, are compatible with a scenario of increased pro-hypertrophic gene expression and protein synthesis, defective ubiquitinproteasome system activity, proclivity to cell death (potentially fed by complement activity and other extrinsic factors, such as death receptor activators), acute-phase response, immune system activation and fibrosis. Specific validation of some targets through immunoblot techniques and correlation with clinical data pointed to complement C3 β chain, Muscle Ring Finger protein 1 (MuRF1) and the dual-specificity Tyr-phosphorylation regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) as potential markers of an incomplete response. In addition, kinase prediction from phosphoproteome data suggests that the modulation of casein kinase 2, the family of IκB kinases, glycogen synthase kinase 3 and DYRK1A may help improve the outcome of patients undergoing valve replacement. Particularly, functional studies with DYRK1A+/- cardiomyocytes show that this kinase may be an important target to treat cardiac dysfunction, provided that mutant cells presented a different response to stretch and reduced ability to develop force (active tension). This study opens many avenues in post-aortic valve replacement reverse remodeling research. In the future, gain-of-function and/or loss-of-function studies with isolated cardiomyocytes or with animal models of aortic bandingdebanding will help disclose the efficacy of targeting the surrogate therapeutic targets. Besides, clinical studies in larger cohorts will bring definitive proof of complement C3, MuRF1 and DYRK1A prognostic value.A substituição da válvula aórtica continua a ser a opção terapêutica de referência para doentes com estenose aórtica e visa a eliminação da sobrecarga de pressão, desencadeando a remodelagem reversa miocárdica. Contudo, apesar do benefício hemodinâmico imediato, nem todos os pacientes apresentam regressão completa da hipertrofia do miocárdio, ficando com maior risco de eventos adversos, como a insuficiência cardíaca. Atualmente, os mecanismos biológicos subjacentes a uma remodelagem reversa incompleta ainda não são claros. Além disso, não dispomos de ferramentas de prognóstico definitivos nem de terapias auxiliares para melhorar a condição dos pacientes indicados para substituição da válvula. Para ajudar a resolver estas lacunas, uma abordagem combinada de (fosfo)proteómica e proteómica para a caracterização, respetivamente, do miocárdio e do líquido pericárdico foi seguida, tomando partido de biópsias e líquidos pericárdicos recolhidos em ambiente cirúrgico. Das mais de 1800 e 750 proteínas identificadas, respetivamente, no miocárdio e no líquido pericárdico dos pacientes com estenose aórtica, um total de 90 proteínas desreguladas foram detetadas. As análises de anotação de genes, de enriquecimento de vias celulares e discriminativa corroboram um cenário de aumento da expressão de genes pro-hipertróficos e de síntese proteica, um sistema ubiquitina-proteassoma ineficiente, uma tendência para morte celular (potencialmente acelerada pela atividade do complemento e por outros fatores extrínsecos que ativam death receptors), com ativação da resposta de fase aguda e do sistema imune, assim como da fibrose. A validação de alguns alvos específicos através de immunoblot e correlação com dados clínicos apontou para a cadeia β do complemento C3, a Muscle Ring Finger protein 1 (MuRF1) e a dual-specificity Tyr-phosphoylation regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) como potenciais marcadores de uma resposta incompleta. Por outro lado, a predição de cinases a partir do fosfoproteoma, sugere que a modulação da caseína cinase 2, a família de cinases do IκB, a glicogénio sintase cinase 3 e da DYRK1A pode ajudar a melhorar a condição dos pacientes indicados para intervenção. Em particular, a avaliação funcional de cardiomiócitos DYRK1A+/- mostraram que esta cinase pode ser um alvo importante para tratar a disfunção cardíaca, uma vez que os miócitos mutantes responderam de forma diferente ao estiramento e mostraram uma menor capacidade para desenvolver força (tensão ativa). Este estudo levanta várias hipóteses na investigação da remodelagem reversa. No futuro, estudos de ganho e/ou perda de função realizados em cardiomiócitos isolados ou em modelos animais de banding-debanding da aorta ajudarão a testar a eficácia de modular os potenciais alvos terapêuticos encontrados. Além disso, estudos clínicos em coortes de maior dimensão trarão conclusões definitivas quanto ao valor de prognóstico do complemento C3, MuRF1 e DYRK1A.Programa Doutoral em Biomedicin

    Does international patent collaboration have an effect on entrepreneurship?

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    .Entrepreneurship is one of the main pillars of growth in any economy. Achieving a high rate of entrepreneurship in a region has become the priority objective of governments and firms. However, in many cases, new firm creation is conditioned by relations or collaboration in innovation with agents from other countries. Previous literature has analyzed the mechanisms that foster entrepreneurship. This paper attempts to shed light on the influence of international patent collaboration (IPC) on entrepreneurial activity at country level taking into account the timing of this relationship. An empirical study is proposed to verify whether IPC leads to greater entrepreneurship and to analyze the gestation period between international patenting actions and firm creation. Using the Generalized Method of Moments, the two hypotheses proposed were tested in a data panel of 30 countries for the period 2005–2017. Results show the influence of IPC in promoting entrepreneurship in the same year, but especially in the following year. The study offers implications for entrepreneurs and public agents. IPC affects the integration and interaction of international agents in a country, favors the production of new knowledge, and increases positive externalities in a territory. All this facilitates the creation of new companies with a high innovative component.S

    Educació postural: avaluació dels coneixements de la salut de l'esquena en activitats de la vida diària en estudiants d'Educació Secundària

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    Objectiu: Dissenyar i validar un qüestionari sobre coneixements de la salut i la cura de l’esquena en activitats de la vida diària en joves També analizar diferents models de puntuació de les respostes. Metodologia: Es va seguir un mètode general de prospectiva (Delphi), amb el consens d’un grup de sis experts. Estudi de consistencia interna i fiabilitat en una mostra de 89 xics i 80 xiques. Amb les dades obteses aplicació de cinc models de puntuació basats en donar un pes diferent a les respostes. Consistència interna del qüestionari calculada amb l'Alfa de Cronbach amb cadascú dels models. Estudi de la fiabilitat amb l'anàlisi de mesures repetides test-retest i l’estudi de l’error de mesura amb la representació gràfica dels valors descrita per Bland i Altman. Es calcularen les desviacions estàndard de les diferències, la prova t per a una mostra amb les diferències, els coeficients de correlació intraclasse i els seus intervals de confiança del 95%, l’error estàndard de mesura, el canvi mínim detectable i el coeficient de reproductibilitat. Efecte sòl/sostre calculat amb els percentatges de resposta més alts i més baixos en les puntuacions del primer passe. Per a l'anàlisi de la capacitat discriminatòria de les puntuacions obtingudes es van utilitzar les mitjanes totals del primer passe, es va reagrupar la variable en quatre grups per quartils i es va aplicar una ANOVA d'un factor entres el quartil 1 y el quartil 4. Resultats: Anàlisi de la validesa tots els valors obtesos sobre la consistència interna són iguals o majors a .6 Als diferents models, l'Alfa de Cronbach va oscil·lar entre .6 i .7. En la representació de les puntuacions mitjanes de totes dues passades i el càlcul del pendent de la seua funció lineal hi ha una relació positiva entre les mesures. El valor del pendent, en tots els models al voltant de .7 excepte en el model C que va ser de .56. L’índex de determinació va mostrar un nivell de coherència de les mesures reals amb les teòriques moderat Coeficient de correlació entre les puntuacions i el coeficient de correlació intraclasse igual o major a .75. Error de mesura i límits d'acord de les puntuacions calculats a partir de la desviació típica de la diferència de les mitjanes van indicar una probabilitat molt baixa de ser diferents entre ells. L'efecte sòl/sostre va indicar que aquest efecte no es va produir L'anàlisi de regressió de les mitjanes i diferències de les puntuacions totals de tots els models va indicar un augment significatiu de les diferències en les puntuacions a mesura que el valor mitjà d'aquestes va augmentar. Les diferències entre tots els models van ser significatives. Conclusions: Es presenta un qüestionari per a mesurar els coneixements sobre la postura corporal i la cura de l'esquena en activitats de la vida diària en adolescents validat. Es determina que les mateixes dades, es poden analitzar utilitzant diferents models, proporcionant cadascun d#aquests informació diferent

    Metaphors of London fog, smoke and mist in Victorian and Edwardian Art and Literature

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    Julian Wolfreys has argued that after 1850 writers employed stock images of the city without allowing them to transform their texts. This thesis argues, on the contrary, that metaphorical uses of London fog were complex and subtle during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, at least until 1914. Fog represented, in particular, formlessness and the dissolution of boundaries. Examining the idea of fog in literature, verse, newspaper accounts and journal articles, as well as in the visual arts, as part of a common discourse about London and the state of its inhabitants, this thesis charts how the metaphorical appropriation of this idea changed over time. Four of Dickens's novels are used to track his use of fog as part of a discourse of the natural and unnatural in individual and society, identifying it with London in progressively more negative terms. Visual representations of fog by Constable, Turner, Whistler, Monet, Markino, O'Connor, Roberts and Wyllie and Coburn showed an increasing readiness to engage with this discourse. Social tensions in the city in the 1880s were articulated in art as well as in fiction. Authors like Hay and Barr showed the destruction of London by its fog because of its inhabitants' supposed degeneracy. As the social threat receded, apocalyptic scenarios gave way to a more optimistic view in the work of Owen and others. Henry James used fog as a metaphorical representation of the boundaries of gendered behaviour in public, and the problems faced by women who crossed them. The dissertation also examines fog and individual transgression, in novels and short stories by Lowndes, Stevenson, Conan Doyle and Joseph Conrad. After 1914, fog was no more than a crude signifier of Victorian London in literature, film and, later, television, deployed as a cliche instead of the subtle metaphorical idea discussed in this thesis

    Investigation of a Histidine-Based Probe for the Exploration of Proteomes

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    Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease which affects 0.7-1 million people per year. Current chemotherapies for leishmaniasis are toxic with long treatment times and reports of increasing resistance, which stresses the importance of this research area. Inositol phosphorylceramide synthase is a membrane bound enzyme that has no direct human homologue, which converts ceramide to inositol phosphorylceramide through the action of a highly conserved HHD catalytic triad. An ideal method to study this enzyme further would be through activity-based protein profiling, however, there are currently no activity-based probes reported that reacts with this type of active site. Therefore, an activity-based probe was designed based on the structure of diethyl pyrocarbonate, a compound known to bind covalently to active site histidine residues. The synthesised activity-based probe was shown to inhibit Leishmania major inositol phosphorylceramide synthase in a simple assay. In addition, the probe was shown to selectively bind to the active site histidine residue in two pure enzyme models; one of which has the same catalytic triad as inositol phosphorylceramide synthase, and the other was an acid base active site histidine residue. Further, this activity-based probe was able to isolate an overexpressed enzyme in the lysate of Escherichia coli as well as bind to intrinsic proteins. Following the function validation of the activity-based probe, preliminary work was started in Leishmania to isolate proteins identify expressed enzymes

    Contemporary, decadal, and millennial-scale permafrost- and vegetation dynamics and carbon release in an alpine region of Jotunheimen, Norway

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    Climatic warming in northern alpine regions facilitates the thawing of permafrost, the associated release of soil carbon into the atmosphere, and the altitudinal shifts in vegetation patterns. Here, a multi-disciplinary approach is adopted to investigate the response of an alpine permafrost landscape (Jotunheimen, Norway, with focus on Galdhøpiggen) to climatic changes over long- to medium timescales. First, a gas analyser is used to explore how ecosystem respiration is affected by ecosystem (soil and vegetation) and geomorphological (cryogenic disturbance) factors during the peak growing season. A palaeoecological record is then analysed to infer the past dynamics of the alpine tree lines and the lower limit of permafrost on Galdhøpiggen over the millennial- and centennial scales. Finally, remotely sensed satellite imagery is combined with observed air temperatures to create a model that provides an estimation of land surface temperatures over the past six decades. The model is then used to predict surface ‘greenness’ over the same period. Palynological evidence from Galdhøpiggen indicates that the altitudinal limits of alpine tree lines have shifted by hundreds of metres in response to climatic changes over the millennial scale. Since 1957, the model predictions indicate substantial increases in land surface temperatures and growing season surface ‘greenness’ (i.e., vegetation abundance) in Jotunheimen, but the change has not been spatially uniform. The highest increases were recorded over the low- and mid-alpine heaths above the tree line (1050-1500 m a.s.l.), which was attributed to increased shrub cover. This trend could facilitate carbon release from the ground, as peak growing season ecosystem respiration was found to be most strongly controlled by soil microclimate and plant growth forms. The likely future scenario in response to warming in Jotunheimen will be continued permafrost degradation, with higher altitudes (≥1500 m a.s.l.) experiencing decreased cryoturbation, increased shrub encroachment and higher surface CO2 emissions
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