334 research outputs found

    OncoLog Volume 47, Number 11, November 2002

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    Diagnosis Based on Nonsurgical Biopsy: A Cooperative Effort Benign Care: Young Patients with a Variety of Noncancerous Conditions Find Treatment at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Cognitive Interventions Are Crucial for Many Patients with Neurofibromatosis FNA Clinic Streamlines Biopsy Diagnosis of Palpable Lesions Is This Going to Hurt? , by Frank A. Morello Jr., MD, Assistant Professor, Section of Vascular and Interventional Radiology House Call: Answers to Common Questions about the Use of Radioisotopes for Diagnosishttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/oncolog/1111/thumbnail.jp

    Uncanny Objects and the Fear of the Familiar:Hiding from Akan Witches in New York City

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    This article examines the cosmology and secret practices of West African traditional priests in New York City in preventing the spread of witchcraft, an evil invisible spirit transmitted between female members of the Akan matrilineage. Explored is an uncanny dynamic as everyday habitus becomes increasingly strange in the world of a young Ghanaian woman in the Bronx, who has become petrified of insinuations of witchcraft from close family members. In trying to hide the young woman from infection by her fellow witches, Akan priests attempt to ‘capture’ her habits and everyday routines, calling upon the iconic magic of New York City in order to ‘misplace’ familiarity within the anonymity of Manhattan. In this process, the transmission of the witch’s spirit to the intended victim is disturbed as the victim’s life and things are moved. Nowhere to be found, the witch shifts her attention to other victims

    Antibacterial activity testing methods for hydrophobic patterned surfaces

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    One strategy to decrease the incidence of hospital-acquired infections is to avoid the survival of pathogens in the environment by the development of surfaces with antimicrobial activity. To study the antibacterial behaviour of active surfaces, different approaches have been developed of which ISO 22916 is the standard. To assess the performance of different testing methodologies to analyse the antibacterial activity of hydrophobic surface patterned plastics as part of a Horizon 2020 European research project. Four different testing methods were used to study the antibacterial activity of a patterned film, including the ISO 22916 standard, the immersion method, the touch-transfer inoculation method, and the swab inoculation method, this latter developed specifically for this project. The non-realistic test conditions of the ISO 22916 standard showed this method to be non-appropriate in the study of hydrophobic patterned surfaces. The immersion method also showed no differences between patterned films and smooth controls due to the lack of attachment of testing bacteria on both surfaces. The antibacterial activity of films could be demonstrated by the touch-transfer and the swab inoculation methods, that more precisely mimicked the way of high-touch surfaces contamination, and showed to be the best methodologies to test the antibacterial activity of patterned hydrophobic surfaces. A new ISO standard would be desirable as the reference method to study the antibacterial behaviour of patterned surfaces.The present study was carried out as part of a European project called “Antimicrobial FLEXible POLymers for its use in hospital environments” (FLEXPOL Grant agreement No. 721062) funded by Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020)

    Healing Multiculturalism: Middle-Ground Liberal Forgiveness in a Diverse Public Realm

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    This article examines debates about political forgiveness in liberal, pluralist societies. Although the concept of forgiveness is not usually taken up by liberals, I outline a plausible conception by exploring two recent approaches. The first, ‘unattached articulation’, concept requires no real emotional change on the forgiver’s part, but rather a form of civic restraint. In contrast, the second version highlights a strong form of empathy for perpetrators. In spite of their advantages, each concept proves too extreme. The problems are revealed by focusing on the case of the Harkis, who fought for the French during the Algerian war. Often still marginalised in French society, their case helps to highlight the conceivability of a ‘middle-ground’ or moderate concept of political forgiveness. Its core rests on the forgiver’s care for the social world. While this concept brings considerable challenges also, and is not inevitable in any particular case, it entails a more plausible combination of emotional and rational shifts in the forgiver’s world-view. Although the article does not recommend forgiveness by any person or group, it observes, recalling Arendt’s idea of amor mundi or ‘love of the world’, that political forgiveness may sustain a viable connection between diverse citizens’ public and non-public lives

    Clinical features and comorbidity pattern of HCV infected migrants compared to native patients in care in Italy: A real-life evaluation of the PITER cohort

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    Background: Direct-acting antivirals are highly effective for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, regardless race/ethnicity. We aimed to evaluate demographic, virological and clinical data of HCV-infected migrants vs. natives consecutively enrolled in the PITER cohort. Methods: Migrants were defined by country of birth and nationality that was different from Italy. Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression were used. Results: Of 10,669 enrolled patients, 301 (2.8%) were migrants: median age 47 vs. 62 years, (p < 0.001), females 56.5% vs. 45.3%, (p < 0.001), HBsAg positivity 3.8% vs. 1.4%, (p < 0.05). Genotype 1b was prevalent in both groups, whereas genotype 4 was more prevalent in migrants (p < 0.05). Liver disease severity and sustained virologic response (SVR) were similar. A higher prevalence of comorbidities was reported for natives compared to migrants (p < 0.05). Liver disease progression cofactors (HBsAg, HIV coinfection, alcohol abuse, potential metabolic syndrome) were present in 39.1% and 47.1% (p > 0.05) of migrants and natives who eradicated HCV, respectively. Conclusion: Compared to natives, HCV-infected migrants in care have different demographics, HCV genotypes, viral coinfections and comorbidities and similar disease severity, SVR and cofactors for disease progression after HCV eradication. A periodic clinical assessment after HCV eradication in Italians and migrants with cofactors for disease progression is warranted

    The WEBT BL Lacertae Campaign 2001 and its extension : Optical light curves and colour analysis 1994–2002

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    BL Lacertae has been the target of four observing campaigns by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) collaboration. In this paper we present UBVRI light curves obtained by theWEBT from 1994 to 2002, including the last, extended BL Lac 2001 campaign. A total of about 7500 optical observations performed by 31 telescopes from Japan to Mexico have been collected, to be added to the ∼15 600 observations of the BL Lac Campaign 2000. All these data allow one to follow the source optical emission behaviour with unprecedented detail. The analysis of the colour indices reveals that the flux variability can be interpreted in terms of two components: longer-term variations occurring on a fewday time scale appear as mildly-chromatic events, while a strong bluer-when-brighter chromatism characterizes very fast (intraday) flares. By decoupling the two components, we quantify the degree of chromatism inferring that longer-term flux changes imply moving along a ∼0.1 bluerwhen- brighter slope in the B − R versus R plane; a steeper slope of ∼0.4 would distinguish the shorter-term variations. This means that, when considering the long-term trend, the B-band flux level is related to the R-band one according to a power law of index ∼1.1. Doppler factor variations on a “convex” spectrum could be the mechanism accounting for both the long-term variations and their slight chromatism.Reig Torres, Pablo, [email protected]

    roma westward migration in europe rethinking political social and methodological challenges

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    The idea for this book stemmed from two symposia that brought together scholars from a range of different countries and disciplines to reflect upon the political and legal context of the mobility of Romani citizens in Europe. Our interest in this topic started with the adoption of a EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies in 2011, when Member States were requested to develop integration strategies that were explicitly yet not exclusively targeted at their Roma populations (European Commission 2011). Even though this policy scheme represented an effort to overcome the inadequacies of the anti-discrimination directives to address the social and institutional discrimination suffered by Roma people in Europe, tangible results of such measures have so far been lacking. The symposia, titled "Roma Westward Migration in Europe: Rethinking Political, Social, and Methodological Challenges", addressed the emergence of Roma-specific policies alongside an increasing concern about migration and diversity management. The drive to bring together different disciplinary and methodological approaches to "Roma migration" in Europe, and to explore how such phenomenon has been narrated, policed, politicized or ignored was – and is – rooted in four main considerations. Firstly, we are convinced that putting the focus squarely on the so-called "Roma westward migration" and problematizing the assumptions that underpin such a label contributes to uncover the structural inconsistencies of the European "Roma integration" framework and to question its overall political approach. Secondly, the intersections and overlaps between the categories of "Roma" and of "migrants" show how the classifications of deservingness and of access to welfare resources have shifted in recent years, making explicit the under-studied link between inclusive and securitarian policies. Thirdly, we believe that "Roma migration" provides a unique testing ground to understand how those portrayed as "the others" in contemporary Europe cope and develop counter-strategies in a system in which their options are limited. Fourthly and finally, we strongly support ethnographic accounts as a useful means to evaluate public policies at the local level, as they offer rich data that cannot be captured by national statistics or by surveys alone
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