Amnesia racial e identidades cuir en “Chac Mool” de Carlos Fuentes

Few of Carlos Fuentes’s short stories have achieved greater recognition than “Chac Mool,” which has been anthologized on numerous occasions. Most of the scholarship centers on how the story treats the tensions inherent to the promotion of a modernity-driven, mestizophillic postrevolutionary state and the pre-Columbian cosmologies that continued to exist in the country well into the twentieth century. In this reading, Filiberto’s ultimate death by drowning in Acapulco results from his ignorance about pre-Columbian deities. This article validates previous readings while also suggesting that Fuentes’s story opens possibilities for parallel readings that emphasize different cultural critiques. Alongside the nationalist paradigm, we posit a queer reading of the story. When read through this register, our interpretation of different elements of the story—particularly the narrative surrounding Filiberto’s ultimate death—necessarily shifts. Beyond simply criticizing a nationalist order that reified its Indigenous past while remaining ignorant about pre-Columbian peoples, the story also communicates the author’s uneasiness with the role that gay and LGBTQ+ individuals were playing in national literature.Pocos cuentos de Carlos Fuentes han alcanzado mayor reconocimiento que “Chac Mool”, que ha sido antologado en numerosas ocasiones. La mayor parte de la crítica se centra en cómo la historia trata las tensiones inherentes a la promoción de un Estado posrevolucionario mestizófilo que fetichiza la modernidad y las cosmologías precolombinas que continuaron existiendo en el país hasta mediados del siglo XX. Según esta lectura, la muerte final de Filiberto al ahogarse en Acapulco resulta de su ignorancia sobre las deidades precolombinas. Nuestro artículo valida estas lecturas previas al mismo tiempo que sugiere que el cuento abre posibilidades para lecturas paralelas que enfatizan diferentes críticas culturales. Junto al paradigma nacionalista, postulamos una lectura queer de la historia. Al leerlo de esta perspectiva, tenemos que modificar nuestra interpretación de los diferentes elementos de la historia, en particular la narrativa que rodea la muerte final de Filiberto. Más allá de simplemente criticar un orden nacionalista que exaltaba su pasado indígena mientras permanecía ignorante sobre los pueblos precolombinos, el cuento también comunica la inquietud del autor con el papel que las personas homosexuales y LGBTQ+ jugaban en la literatura nacional

Novel mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in Iranian women with early-onset breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common female malignancy and a major cause of death in middle-aged women. So far, germline mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in patients with early-onset breast and/or ovarian cancer have not been identified within the Iranian population. METHODS: With the collaboration of two main centres for cancer in Iran, we obtained clinical information, family history and peripheral blood from 83 women under the age of 45 with early-onset breast cancer for scanning of germline mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. We analysed BRCA1 exons 11 and BRCA2 exons 10 and 11 by the protein truncation test, and BRCA1 exons 2, 3, 5, 13 and 20 and BRCA2 exons 9, 17, 18 and 23 with the single-strand conformation polymorphism assay on genomic DNA amplified by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Ten sequence variants were identified: five frameshifts (putative mutations – four novel); three missense changes of unknown significance and two polymorphisms, one seen commonly in both Iranian and British populations. CONCLUSIONS Identification of these novel mutations suggests that any given population should develop a mutation database for its programme of breast cancer screening. The pattern of mutations seen in the BRCA genes seems not to differ from other populations studied. Early-onset breast cancer (less than 45 years) and a limited family history is sufficient to justify mutation screening with a detection rate of over 25% in this group, whereas sporadic early-onset breast cancer (detection rate less than 5%) is unlikely to be cost-effective

Evaluation of the ‘Rotational Post - End of Life Care, Cancer Care and Care of the Elderly’ Project

In 2017, South London Hospices Education Collaborative approached the University of Greenwich to conduct an evaluation of the first year of the ‘Rotational Post - End of Life Care, Cancer and Care of the Elderly’ Project. The original project had offered newly-qualified and developing band 5 nurses (within 3 years of qualifying) the opportunity to work in three care settings over the course of a year (4 month blocks) with support from palliative care professionals, managers and the project lead. The nurses also undertook a postgraduate module in palliative care or a relevant topic. The identified care settings were - specialist inpatient palliative care in hospices, oncology wards, and care of the frail elderly in intermediate care settings or similar community provision. The evaluation began in September 2017 and its aim was to evaluate the perceived and felt impact of the project as assessed by the nurses who took part and the key staff (stakeholders) in the host organisations. Qualitative focus groups (with participating nursing staff) and interviews (with stakeholders) were conducted and analysed to assess the perceived impact the project had on stakeholders’ and participating nurses’ perceptions and experiences of the rotation project, and whether the project had, according to participants’ accounts, attained its original aims. The data presented in this report are the outcome of gathering and analysing data from two focus groups (N = 7 & 5 participants) with nurses who rotated during the project, and seven interviews with stakeholder participants who rotated their own, and hosted other organisations’, staff

Liquid Rocket Engine and Test System

The goal of this project is to design the University of Akron’s first design team built liquid propulsion rocket engine and testing system. The creation of this engine and testing system will create new opportunities for the Akronauts Rocket Design Team moving forward, allowing the team to enter more prestigious competitions, and will also enable students to better pursue opportunities in the space and defense industry by exposing them to more relevant industry experiences. The liquid rocket engine designed by the team will utilize ethanol and liquid nitrous oxide to generate approximately 500 lbf of thrust. An accompanying test system was designed for this motor with modularity and safety in mind. These design foci will enable the team to safely test motors of various thrust capacities without needing to make major modifications to the system. To verify the safety of the rocket engine and testing system, the team did hand calculations and computer analysis of critical components and their designs. To further verify the safety and functionality of the systems, physical testing of individual components and assembled subsystems will be completed once components are acquired

International students in a faith-based institution: An intra/interpersonal spiritual framework

International students experience specific stressors that domestic students generally do not encounter. Despite the larger body of research on international students, there has been a lack of attention towards the experience of international students enrolled in faith-based institutions. Hence, this study aimed to highlight the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and spiritual aspects of the international student experience in faith-based institutions. Through the Consensual Qualitative Research method (Hill et al., 2005), we conducted interviews with participants enrolled in a Christian university. We identified domains and some core ideas, and found several culture-specific aspects of the international student experience in faith-based institutions

International students in a faith-based institution: An intra/interpersonal spiritual framework

International students experience specific stressors that domestic students generally do not encounter. Despite the larger body of research on international students, there has been a lack of attention towards the experience of international students enrolled in faith-based institutions. Hence, this study aimed to highlight the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and spiritual aspects of the international student experience in faith-based institutions. Through the Consensual Qualitative Research method (Hill et al., 2005), we conducted interviews with participants enrolled in a Christian university. We identified domains and some core ideas, and found several culture-specific aspects of the international student experience in faith-based institutions

Balancing trust and power:a qualitative study of GPs perceptions and strategies for retaining patients in preventive health checks

Objective: Little is known about how strategies of retaining patients are acted out by general practitioners (GPs) in the clinical encounter. With this study, we apply Grimens’ (2009) analytical connection between trust and power to explore how trust and power appear in preventive health checks from the GPs’ perspectives, and in what way trust and power affect and/or challenge strategies towards retaining patients without formal education. Design: Data in this study were obtained through semi-structured interviews with GPs participating in an intervention project, as well as observations of clinical encounters. Results: From the empirical data, we identified three dimensions of respect: respect for the patient’s autonomy, respect for professional authority and respect as a mutual exchange. A balance of respect influenced trust in the relationship between GP and patients and the transfer of power in the encounter. The GPs articulated that a balance was needed in preventive health checks in order to establish trust and thus retain the patient in the clinic. One way this balance of respect was carried out was with the use of humour. Conclusions: To retain patients without formal education in the clinical encounter, the GPs balanced trust and power executed through three dimensions of respect. In this study, retaining patients was equivalent to maintaining a trusting relationship. A strategic use of the three dimensions of respect was applied to balance trust and power and thus build or maintain a trusting relationship with patients.KEY POINTS   Little is known about how strategies for retaining patients are acted out by GPs in preventive health checks.  •  Retaining patients requires a balance of trust and power, which is executed through three dimensions of respect by the GPs.  •  Challenges of recruiting and retaining patients in public health initiatives might be associated with the balance of respect

Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Sciences?

In academia, there is a growing acceptance of sharing the final electronic version of graduate work, such as a thesis or dissertation, in an online university repository. Though previous studies have shown that journal editors are willing to consider manuscripts derived from electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), faculty advisors and graduate students continue to raise concerns that online discoverability of ETDs negatively impact future opportunities to publish those findings. The current study investigated science journal policies on open access ETDs and found that more than half of the science journals responding (51.4%) reported that manuscripts derived from openly accessible ETDs are welcome for submission and an additional 29.1 percent would accept revised ETDs under certain conditions