I want out of the labels : how Chuck Palahniuk\u27s characters challenge the dominant discourse

The purpose of this study was to explore postmodern identity in the work of Chuck Palahniuk. The characters within Palahniuk\u27s text Invisible Monsters realize the manner in which identity is a construct, and their response is to oppose and redefine it. In my research, I looked at how postmodern identity is defined by some of the leading critical thinkers in the field, and then I applied their thought to Palahniuk\u27s characters. I showed how these characters come to understand the process by which society defines them, and with that realization, they oppose its totalizing definitions. The characters deconstruct the natural attitudes society has towards identity, and they reveal that it is in some way possible to create a unique identity that is not easily definable by the ruling discourse. I concluded that his attention to identity highlights Palahniuk\u27s concern for the place, identity, and influence of his generation

A avaliação formativa no uso de feedback na formação de professores de educação física: um olhar interdisciplinar

Producción CientíficaUna de las competencias docentes más importantes es la comunicación verbal y no verbal, considerando la retroalimentación que se establece en las relaciones docente-alumnado, un aspecto esencial de ella. El feedback es una herramienta comunicativa del profesorado para conocer el estado del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de su alumnado, y con él garantizar los aprendizajes. La presente experiencia toma la coevaluación como técnica de la evaluación formativa para potenciar su desarrollo durante las experiencias en contextos reales que los estudiantes de EF realizan en su Practicum. Se pretende con ello incrementar la toma de conciencia sobre la comunicación en el aula, la importancia de la cantidad y variedad de feedback aplicados, su valor pedagógico en situaciones reales de docencia y su proyección investigativa en los Trabajos de Fin de Grado. Según los resultados obtenidos se aprecia variedad e incremento en el porcentaje de feedback aplicado durante la experiencia docente.One of the most important teaching competences is verbal and non-verbal communication, considering the feedback that is established in teacher-student relationships an essential aspect. Feedback is a communicative tool for teachers to know the state of the teaching-learning process of their students, and with it guarantee learning. The present experience takes the coevaluación like technique of the formative evaluation to harness its development during the experiences in real contexts that the students of EF realize in their Practicum. The aim is to increase the awareness of communication in the classroom, the importance of the quantity and variety of applied feedback, its pedagogical value in real teaching situations and its research projection in the Final Degree Projects. According to the results obtained, variety and increase in the percentage of feedback applied during the teaching experience are appreciated.Uma das competências docentes mais importantes é a comunicação verbal e não verbal, sendo o feedback que se estabelece nas relações professor-aluno, um aspecto essencial da mesma. O feedback é uma ferramenta comunicativa dos professores para conhecerem o estado do processo de ensino-aprendizagem dos seus alunos e, com isso garantir aprendizagem. A presente experiência usa a coavaliação como técnica de avaliação formativa para potenciar o seu desenvolvimento durante as experiências em contextos reais que os alunos de EF realizam no seu Estágio Profissional. Pretende-se aumentar a consciência sobre o uso da comunicação na aula, a importância da quantidade e variedade de feedback usados, o seu valor pedagógico em situações reais de ensino e sua projeção investigativa nos trabalhos finais de Licenciatura. De acordo com os resultados, verifica-se variedade e aumento da percentagem de feedback aplicado durante a experiência de ensino

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided injection of coils for the treatment of refractory post-ERCP bleeding

No presenta resumen.Revisión por pare

Effects of Jejunal Manipulation During Surgical Laparotomy Techniques and Its Evaluation Using Physical, Clinical, and Echographic Parameters in Horses

The laparotomy surgical procedure allows for the identification and correction of intestinal lesions associated with acute abdomen in horses. The clinician relies on various laparotomy techniques to diagnose and treat this syndrome, and to date, the postsurgical effects of these techniques have not been clarified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of jejunal manipulation during three laparotomy techniques through physical and clinical parameters and echography. Fifteen healthy horses were randomly assigned to three groups: animals in G1 (n 1⁄4 5) were subjected to an exploratory laparotomy, animals in G2 (n 1⁄4 5) to a laparotomy with an enterotomy, and animals in G3 (n 1⁄4 5) to a laparotomy with an enterectomy. Degree of pain, jejunal wall thickness, and clinical parameters were evaluated before and after surgery. Horses in G3 had higher heart rates, respiratory frequency, degree of pain, and je- junal wall thickness compared with G1. Clinical variables during the postsurgical period were compared among the laparotomy techniques, and higher values of erythrocytes, leucocytes, neutrophils, and proteins were found in horses belonging to G3 compared to those in G1. Intestinal manipulation during the surgical procedure altered the physical and clinical pa- rameters, as well as the results of the echography evaluation, with more significant effects from laparotomy with enterectomy. In the postsurgical period, the heart rate of horses in G3 was higher (P 1⁄4 .02) than the values obtained in G1 and G2. Upon the evaluation of degree of pain, statistically significant differences (P 1⁄4 .04) were identified between horses in G1 versus G3. G3 animals presented a higher degree of pain. Regarding the erythrocytes (L/L), higher values were measured in G3 (P 1⁄4 .001) in comparison with G1 and G2. These results suggest that meticulous tissue handling is essential to minimize intestinal trauma and inflammation

Effects of astaxanthin in mice acutely infected with Trypanosoma cruzi

During Trypanosoma cruzi infection, oxidative stress is considered a contributing factor for dilated cardiomyopathy development. In this study, the effects of astaxanthin (ASTX) were evaluated as an alternative drug treatment for Chagas disease in a mouse model during the acute infection phase, given its anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating, and anti-oxidative properties. ASTX was tested in vitro in parasites grown axenically and in co-culture with Vero cells. In vivo tests were performed in BALB/c mice (4–6 weeks old) infected with Trypanosoma cruzi and supplemented with ASTX (10 mg/kg/day) and/or nifurtimox (NFMX; 100 mg/kg/day). Results show that ASTX has some detrimental effects on axenically cultured parasites, but not when cultured with mammalian cell monolayers. In vivo, ASTX did not have any therapeutic value against acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection, used either alone or in combination with NFMX. Infected animals treated with NFMX or ASTX/NFMX survived the experimental period (60 days), while infected animals treated only with ASTX died before day 30 post-infection. ASTX did not show any effect on the control of parasitemia; however, it was associated with an increment in focal heart lymphoplasmacytic infiltration, a reduced number of amastigote nests in cardiac tissue, and less hyperplasic spleen follicles when compared to control groups. Unexpectedly, ASTX showed a negative effect in infected animals co-treated with NFMX. An increment in parasitemia duration was observed, possibly due to ASTX blocking of free radicals, an antiparasitic mechanism of NFMX. In conclusion, astaxanthin is not recommended during the acute phase of Chagas disease, either alone or in combination with nifurtimox.CONACYT PROY NO. 000000000156701. (REGISTRO INTERNO UAEM 3326

TcVac1 vaccine delivery by intradermal electroporation enhances vaccine induced immune protection against Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mice

Trabajo de investigación doctoral de Wael Hegazy Hassan Moustafa bajo la dirección de Juan Carlos Vázquez ChagoyánThe efforts for the development and testing of vaccines against Trypanosoma cruzi infection have increased during the past years. We have designed a TcVac series of vaccines composed of T. cruzi derived, GPI-anchored membrane antigens. The TcVac vaccines have been shown to elicit humoral and cellular mediated immune responses and provide significant (but not complete) control of experimental infection in mice and dogs. Herein, we aimed to test two immunization protocols for the delivery of DNA-prime/ DNA-boost vaccine (TcVac1) composed of TcG2 and TcG4 antigens in a BALB/c mouse model. Mice were immunized with TcVac1 through intradermal/electroporation (IDE) or intramuscular (IM) routes, challenged with T. cruzi, and evaluated during acute phase of infection. The humoral immune response was evaluated through the assessment of anti-TcG2 and anti-TcG4 IgG subtypes by using an ELISA. Cellular immune response was assessed through a lymphocyte proliferation assay. Finally, clinical and morphopathological aspects were evaluated for all experimental animals. Our results demonstrated that when comparing TcVac1 IDE delivery vs IM delivery, the former induced significantly higher level of antigen-specific antibody response (IgG2a + IgG2b > IgG1) and lymphocyte proliferation, which expanded in response to challenge infection. Histological evaluation after challenge infection showed infiltration of inflammatory cells (macrophages and lymphocytes) in the heart and skeletal tissue of all infected mice. However, the largest increase in inflammatory infiltrate was observed in TcVac1_IDE/Tc mice when compared with TcVac1_IM/Tc or non-vaccinated/infected mice. The extent of tissue inflammatory infiltrate was directly associated with the control of tissue amastigote nests in vaccinated/ infected (vs. non-vaccinated/infected) mice. Our results suggest that IDE delivery improves the protective efficacy of TcVac1 vaccine against T. cruzi infection in mice when compared with IM delivery of the vaccine.Universidad Autónoma de Estado de México (proyecto No. 3326/2012C), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Proyecto No. 156701) . Beca CONACyT a M.Sc. Wael Hegazy Hassan Moustafa (Beca numero No. 518232/291117)

A Large Multicenter Prospective Study of Community-Onset Healthcare Associated Bacteremic Urinary Tract Infections in the Era of Multidrug Resistance: Even Worse than Hospital Acquired Infections?

Introduction: Healthcare-associated (HCA) infections represent a growing public health problem. The aim of this study was to compare community-onset healthcare associated (CO-HCA) bacteremic urinary tract infections (BUTI) and hospital-acquired (HA)-BUTI with special focus on multidrug resistances (MDR) and outcomes. Methods: ITUBRAS-project is a prospective multicenter cohort study of patients with HCA-BUTI. All consecutive hospitalized adult patients with CO-HCA-BUTI or HA-BUTI episode were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were: patients \ 18 years old, non-hospitalized patients, bacteremia from another source or primary bacteremia, non-healthcare related infections and infections caused by unusual pathogens of the urinary tract. Th main outcome variable was 30-day all-cause mortality with day 1 as the first day of positive blood culture. Logistic regression was used to analyze factors associated with clinical cure at hospital discharge and with receiving inappropriate initial antibiotic treatment. Cox regression was used to evaluate 30-day all-cause mortality. Results: Four hundred forty-three episodes were included, 223 CO-HCA-BUTI. Patients with CO-HCA-BUTI were older (p \ 0.001) and had more underlying diseases (p = 0.029) than those with HA-BUTI. The severity of the acute illness (Pitt score) was also higher in CO-HCABUTI (p = 0.026). Overall, a very high rate of MDR profiles (271/443, 61.2%) was observed, with no statistical differences between groups. In multivariable analysis, inadequate empirical treatment was associated with MDR profile (aOR 3.35; 95% CI 1.77?6.35), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (aOR 2.86; 95% CI 1.27?6.44) and Charlson index (aOR 1.11; 95% CI 1.01?1.23). Mortality was not associated with the site of acquisition of the infection or the presence of MDR profile. However, in the logistic regression analyses patients with CO-HCA-BUTI (aOR 0.61; 95% CI 0.40?0.93) were less likely to present clinical cure. Conclusion: The rate of MDR infections was worryingly high in our study. No differences in MDR rates were found between CO-HCA-BUTI and HA-BUTI, in the probability of receiving inappropriate empirical treatment or in 30-day mortality. However, CO-HCA-BUTIs were associated with worse clinical cure.Funding. This study and the journal’s Rapid Service Fee are sponsored and funded by MSD Spain. The study was also supported by Plan Nacional de I+D+i 2013–2016 and Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Subdirección General de Redes y Centros de Investigación Cooperativa, Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI RD16/0016/0004, RD16/ 0016/0005, RD16/0016/0007, RD16/0016/0010, RD16/0016/0011 and RD16/0016/0015), co-financed by the European Development Regional Fund ‘A way to achieve Europe’ (ERDF), Operative program Intelligent Growth 2014–2020

Immune protection against Trypanosoma cruzi induced by TcVac4 in a canine model

Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is endemic in southern parts of the American continent. Herein, we have tested the protective efficacy of a DNA-prime/T. rangeli-boost (TcVac4) vaccine in a dog (Canis familiaris) model. Dogs were immunized with two-doses of DNA vaccine (pcDNA3.1 encoding TcG1, TcG2, and TcG4 antigens plus IL-12- and GMCSF- encoding plasmids) followed by two doses of glutaraldehyde-inactivated T. rangeli epimastigotes (TrIE); and challenged with highly pathogenic T. cruzi (SylvioX10/4) isolate. Dogs given TrIE or empty pcDNA3.1 were used as controls. We monitored post-vaccination and post-challenge infection antibody response by an ELISA, parasitemia by blood analysis and xenodiagnosis, and heart function by electrocardiography. Post-mortem anatomic and pathologic evaluation of the heart was conducted. TcVac4 induced a strong IgG response (IgG2>IgG1) that was significantly expanded post-infection, and moved to a nearly balanced IgG2/IgG1 response in chronic phase. In comparison, dogs given TrIE or empty plasmid DNA only developed high IgG titers with IgG2 predominance in response to T. cruzi infection. Blood parasitemia, tissue parasite foci, parasite transmission to triatomines, electrocardiographic abnormalities were significantly lower in TcVac4-vaccinated dogs than was observed in dogs given TrIE or empty plasmid DNA only. Macroscopic and microscopic alterations, the hallmarks of chronic Chagas disease, were significantly decreased in the myocardium of TcVac4-vaccinated dogs.We conclude that TcVac4 induced immunity was beneficial in providing resistance to T. cruzi infection, evidenced by control of chronic pathology of the heart and preservation of cardiac function in dogs. Additionally, TcVac4 vaccination decreased the transmission of parasites from vaccinated/infected animals to triatomines.CONACYT PROY No. 156701 UAEM PROY No. 2381/2006U National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases http://www.niaid.nih.gov/Pages/ default.aspx GRANT NUMBER (AI072538) NJG; American Heart Association http://www.heart.org/ HEARTORG/ GRANT NUMBER (0855059F) to NJG

Long Term Ground Deformation in Volcanic Islands: Tenerife and La Palma, Canaries

Canary Islands form a volcanic archipelago with 7 major islands with a long-standing history of volcanic activity that began more than 40 million years ago More than a dozen eruptions have occurred on the islands of Tenerife, Lanzarote, and La Palma since the 16 th century. We used several geodetic techniques in order to achieve ground deformation on those islands. We propose that the measured deformation is directly related to gravitational sinking of the intrusive core the island into a weak lithosphere. We favour this thesis, relative to that of spreading, because neither the published data on the geology of Tenerife show evidence of compressional structures around the base of the island nor the GPS data indicate significant radial displacements, which would have been present in the case of spreading. In adition, given that the crust has been inflected under the mass of Tenerife, following Borgia (1994), we propose that the volcanic edifice is in a state of compression, which, in some volcanoes, has in the past been associated with hazardous explosive eruptions

J-PAS: Forecasts for dark matter - dark energy elastic couplings

We consider a cosmological model where dark matter and dark energy feature a coupling that only affects their momentum transfer in the corresponding Euler equations. We perform a fit to cosmological observables and confirm previous findings within these scenarios that favour the presence of a coupling at more than $3\sigma$. This improvement is driven by the Sunyaev-Zeldovich data. We subsequently perform a forecast for future J-PAS data and find that clustering measurements will permit to clearly discern the presence of an interaction within a few percent level with the uncoupled case at more than $10\sigma$ when the complete survey, covering $8500$ sq. deg., is considered. We found that the inclusion of weak lensing measurements will not help to further constrain the coupling parameter. For completeness, we compare to forecasts for DESI and Euclid, which provide similar discriminating power.Comment: 34 pages, 17 figures, added some clarifications and discussions, matches published versio