7,668 research outputs found
The Discursive Significance Of Violence: An Analysis of Four Popular Twentieth Century Films
PhDThis thesis examines the discursive significance of violence in twentieth century
popular culture. It explains the desire and demand for representations of violence by
analyzing their dual role as a force of subjectivation and subjugation. I argue that
modern subjectivity is historically constituted and delimited by violence but that
recognition of this is prevented by an overly instrumental understanding of its role.
The reduction of violence to simple blunt force figures prominently within cultural
and social theory, leaving the armature of cultural analysis ill equipped to explain the
demand for violent representation. By providing a genealogy of the political violence
once expressed in examples of public torture and execution but transmuted into the
more minute expressions integrated within discursive regimes, this thesis argues that
State violence produces a Janus-faced consciousness; a subject split between its
performance of political Sovereignty and its political subjugation. The thesis
progresses through historical-textual analysis of four phenomenally popular films that
were, or continue to be, noted for their excess of violence [The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
(1919); The Sheik (1922), Once Upon a Time in The Kest (1969); and Deliverance (1972)].
While a subject divided by violence explains the dynamic of attraction and repulsion
characteristic to violent narratives, these films also comment directly on the
relationship between violence and subjectivity. Each film, in its own way-, is
concerned with subjectivity understood as a force of violence as well as an object of
violence. Their continuing significance suggests a more general practice of the
cultural exploration of violence; a desire to understand and know its elusive terms.
These narratives, and so popular representations of violence in general, can be
understood to provide a focus for audiences to imagine (however momentarily and
however questionably) a shared sense of subjectivity and cultural bearings
Convenient care clinics: The future of accessible health care
The need for accessible, affordable, quality health care in the United States has never been greater. In response to this need, convenient care clinics (CCCs) are being launched across the country to help provide care to meet the basic health needs of the public. In CCCs, highly qualified health care providers diagnose and treat common health problems, triage patients to the appropriate level of care, advocate for a medical home for all patients, and reduce unnecessary visits to emergency rooms and Urgent Care Clinics. CCCs have been called a disruptive innovation because they are consumer driven. They serve as a response to many patients who are unhappy with the current conventional health care delivery system—a system that is challenged to provide access to basic health care services when people need it the most. CCCs are based in retail stores and pharmacies. They are primarily staffed by nurse practitioners (NPs). Some CCCs are staffed by physician assistants (PAs) and physicians. The authors acknowledge the important roles of both PAs and physicians in CCCs; however, this paper primarily provides education about the role of NPs in CCCs. CCCs have evolved at a time when our health care system is floundering, and the need for accessible, affordable health care is at its greatest. The CCC model provides an accessible, affordable entry point into the health care system for those who previously were restricted access
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Acute Infection and Subsequent Subclinical Reactivation of Herpes Simplex Virus 2 after Vaginal Inoculation of Rhesus Macaques.
Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) is a common sexually transmitted infection with a highly variable clinical course. Many infections quickly become subclinical, with episodes of spontaneous virus reactivation. To study host-HSV-2 interactions, an animal model of subclinical HSV-2 infection is needed. In an effort to develop a relevant model, rhesus macaques (RM) were inoculated intravaginally with two or three HSV-2 strains (186, 333, and/or G) at a total dose of 1 × 107 PFU of HSV-2 per animal. Infectious HSV-2 and HSV-2 DNA were consistently shed in vaginal swabs for the first 7 to 14 days after each inoculation. Proteins associated with wound healing, innate immunity, and inflammation were significantly increased in cervical secretions immediately after HSV-2 inoculation. There was histologic evidence of acute herpesvirus pathology, including acantholysis in the squamous epithelium and ballooning degeneration of and intranuclear inclusion bodies in epithelial cells, with HSV antigen in mucosal epithelial cells and keratinocytes. Further, an intense inflammatory infiltrate was found in the cervix and vulva. Evidence of latent infection and reactivation was demonstrated by the detection of spontaneous HSV-2 shedding post-acute inoculation (102 to 103 DNA copies/swab) in 80% of RM. Further, HSV-2 DNA was detected in ganglia in most necropsied animals. HSV-2-specifc T-cell responses were detected in all animals, although antibodies to HSV-2 were detected in only 30% of the animals. Thus, HSV-2 infection of RM recapitulates many of the key features of subclinical HSV-2 infection in women but seems to be more limited, as virus shedding was undetectable more than 40 days after the last virus inoculation.IMPORTANCE Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) infects nearly 500 million persons globally, with an estimated 21 million incident cases each year, making it one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). HSV-2 is associated with increased human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) acquisition, and this risk does not decline with the use of antiherpes drugs. As initial acquisition of both HIV and HSV-2 infections is subclinical, study of the initial molecular interactions of the two agents requires an animal model. We found that HSV-2 can infect RM after vaginal inoculation, establish latency in the nervous system, and spontaneously reactivate; these features mimic some of the key features of HSV-2 infection in women. RM may provide an animal model to develop strategies to prevent HSV-2 acquisition and reactivation
Tidal breakup of binary stars at the Galactic Center. II. Hydrodynamic simulations
In Paper I, we followed the evolution of binary stars as they orbited near
the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the Galactic center, noting the cases in
which the two stars would come close enough together to collide. In this paper
we replace the point-mass stars by fluid realizations, and use a
smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code to follow the close interactions. We
model the binary components as main-sequence stars with initial masses of 1, 3
and 6 Solar masses, and with chemical composition profiles taken from stellar
evolution codes. Outcomes of the close interactions include mergers, collisions
that leave both stars intact, and ejection of one star at high velocity
accompanied by capture of the other star into a tight orbit around the SMBH.
For the first time, we follow the evolution of the collision products for many
() orbits around the SMBH. Stars that are initially too small to
be tidally disrupted by the SMBH can be puffed up by close encounters or
collisions, with the result that tidal stripping occurs in subsequent periapse
passages. In these cases, mass loss occurs episodically, sometimes for hundreds
of orbits before the star is completely disrupted. Repeated tidal flares, of
either increasing or decreasing intensity, are a predicted consequence. In
collisions involving a low-mass and a high-mass star, the merger product
acquires a high core hydrogen abundance from the smaller star, effectively
resetting the nuclear evolution "clock" to a younger age. Elements like Li, Be
and B that can exist only in the outermost envelope of a star are severely
depleted due to envelope ejection during collisions and due to tidal forces
from the SMBH. In the absence of collisions, tidal spin-up of stars is only
important in a narrow range of periapse distances, with the tidal disruption radius.Comment: ApJ accepted, 22 pages, 19 figures. Version with high-resolution
figures, and additional animations, available at this url:
http://astrophysics.rit.edu/fantonini/tbbs2
Gelation as arrested phase separation in short-ranged attractive colloid-polymer mixtures
We present further evidence that gelation is an arrested phase separation in
attractive colloid-polymer mixtures, based on a method combining confocal
microscopy experiments with numerical simulations recently established in {\bf
Nature 453, 499 (2008)}. Our results are independent of the form of the
interparticle attractive potential, and therefore should apply broadly to any
attractive particle system with short-ranged, isotropic attractions. We also
give additional characterization of the gel states in terms of their structure,
inhomogeneous character and local density.Comment: 6 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Condens. Matter, special issue
for EPS Liquids Conference 200
K2: A new method for the detection of galaxy clusters based on CFHTLS multicolor images
We have developed a new method, K2, optimized for the detection of galaxy
clusters in multicolor images. Based on the Red Sequence approach, K2 detects
clusters using simultaneous enhancements in both colors and position. The
detection significance is robustly determined through extensive Monte-Carlo
simulations and through comparison with available cluster catalogs based on two
different optical methods, and also on X-ray data. K2 also provides
quantitative estimates of the candidate clusters' richness and photometric
redshifts. Initially K2 was applied to 161 sq deg of two color gri images of
the CFHTLS-Wide data. Our simulations show that the false detection rate, at
our selected threshold, is only ~1%, and that the cluster catalogs are ~80%
complete up to a redshift of 0.6 for Fornax-like and richer clusters and to z
~0.3 for poorer clusters. Based on Terapix T05 release gri photometric
catalogs, 35 clusters/sq deg are detected, with 1-2 Fornax-like or richer
clusters every two square degrees. Catalogs containing data for 6144 galaxy
clusters have been prepared, of which 239 are rich clusters. These clusters,
especially the latter, are being searched for gravitational lenses -- one of
our chief motivations for cluster detection in CFHTLS. The K2 method can be
easily extended to use additional color information and thus improve overall
cluster detection to higher redshifts. The complete set of K2 cluster catalogs,
along with the supplementary catalogs for the member galaxies, are available on
request from the authors.Comment: Accepted in ApJ. 25 pages, including 10 figures. Latex with
emulateapj v03/07/0
Range corrections for two-neutron halo nuclei in effective theory
The range corrections to the universal properties and structure of
two-neutron halo nuclei are investigated within an effective quantum mechanics
framework. Treating the nucleus as an effective three-body system, we make a
systematic improvement upon previous calculations by calculating the linear
range corrections at next-to-leading order. Since the effective ranges for the
neutron-core interactions are not known, we estimate the effective range to be
set by the inverse of the pion mass. We investigate the possibility of excited
Efimov states in two-neutron halo nuclei and calculate their mean square radii
to next-to-leading order. We find that the effective range corrections are
generally small and the leading order predictions are very robust.Comment: 19 pages, 4 eps figures, revtex4, final version to appear in Nucl.
Phys.
Kupe Virus, a New Virus in the Family Bunyaviridae, Genus Nairovirus, Kenya
One-sentence summary for table of contents: A new nairovirus isolated from ticks collected from cattle hides was characterized
Planet Four: Probing springtime winds on Mars by mapping the southern polar CO2 jet deposits
The springtime sublimation process of Mars’ southern seasonal polar CO2 ice cap features dark fan-shaped de- posits appearing on the top of the thawing ice sheet. The fan material likely originates from the surface below the ice sheet, brought up via CO2 jets breaking through the seasonal ice cap. Once the dust and dirt is released into the atmosphere, the material may be blown by the surface winds into the dark streaks visible from orbit. The location, size and direction of these fans record a number of parameters important to quantifying seasonal winds and sublimation activity, the most important agent of geological change extant on Mars. We present results of a systematic mapping of these south polar seasonal fans with the Planet Four online citizen science project. Planet Four enlists the general public to map the shapes, directions, and sizes of the seasonal fans visible in orbital images. Over 80,000 volunteers have contributed to the Planet Four project, reviewing 221 images, from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera, taken in southern spring during Mars Years 29 and 30. We provide an overview of Planet Four and detail the processes of combining multiple volunteer assessments together to generate a high delity catalog of ∼ 400000 south polar seasonal fans. We present the results from analyzing the wind directions at several locations monitored by HiRISE over two Mars years, providing new insights into polar surface winds
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