Reading Narrative Images: Visual Literacy in Medieval Romance Texts and Illuminated Manuscripts

This study examines the instructive aspects of visual material in medieval romance texts and their illuminated manuscripts. Medieval romance contains an extensive array of visual references, and the present discussion focuses on the phenomenology of these episodes: depictions of the aesthetic and intellectual aftereffects of sight, and the imagination at work. Such instances are often related within the text to the act of reading itself, and through them the author encourages correct and effective practices of reading. In romance texts the characters often struggle to interpret such signs, sometimes with disastrous consequences, and their reactions in turn become lessons for the reader. The first section of the discussion focuses on romance texts, and particularly on depictions of image-crafting, the imagination at work, and the recognition and interpretation of visual signs. The discussion in the second section concentrates on illuminated romance manuscripts, and examines the authorial perspectives expressed through narrative illustration. The visual material of medieval romance is largely concerned with communication, and the didactic conversation that occurs between author and reader is implicit within the romance text. This study therefore demonstrates that the visual material in medieval romance narratives often has a practical function: to establish a dialogue between the author and reader, and sometimes the limner and reader, concerning good reading practices

Cotrimoxazole Prophylaxis in HIV-Infected Pregnant Women and their Infants: Associations with Parasitemia, Common Illnesses and Birth Outcomes

Cotrimoxazole prophylactic treatment (CPT) is recommended by the World Health Organization for prevention of opportunistic infections in adults and children. CPT is also recommended for HIV-exposed infants while they remain at risk of HIV acquisition through breastfeeding. The benefits of CPT have been well established in adults and HIV-infected children but limited information exists among HIV-infected pregnant women and HIVexposed, uninfected infants, including whether CPT offers protection against malaria. Using data from a longitudinal study of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, we examined the effect of CPT, initiated at six weeks of age, on adverse health outcomes during the first 36 weeks of life in HIV-exposed uninfected infants, and the effect of CPT in HIVinfected pregnant women on birth outcomes, incident malaria during pregnancy, and CD4 cell count at 24 weeks postpartum. Among HIV-exposed, uninfected infants, CPT was associated with fewer cases of incident malaria during the first 10 weeks of CPT exposure (hazard ratio (HR) 0.35, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.21, 0.57), but not during the remaining 20 weeks of CPT use (HR 0.93, 95% CI: 0.67, 1.29). CPT did not offer protection against other serious illness, moderate or severe anemia, or underweight. Among HIV-infected pregnant women, CPT was not associated with a protective effect against malaria after adjustment for confounding (adjusted HR 0.66, 95% CI: 0.28, 1.52), when compared to women receiving intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. CPT was not associated with a protective effect in analyses of low birth weight or preterm birth. CPT was associated with a lower CD4 cell count at 24 weeks postpartum, among women receiving antiretrovirals (-77.6 cells/μL, 95% CI: -125.2, -30.1) and among women not receiving antiretrovirals (-33.7 cells/ μL, 95% CI: -8.8, -58.6). CPT appears to offer limited protection against malaria among HIV-exposed, uninfected infants. Compared to intermittent preventive treatment administered during the first two years of the study, CPT did not offer greater protection against malaria in HIV-infected pregnant women, or against low birth weight or preterm birth. CPT was associated with a lower CD4 cell count at 24 weeks compared to women not receiving CPT

Examining the effect of ice dynamic changes on subglacial hydrology through modelling of a synthetic Antarctic glacier

Hydrologic pathways beneath ice sheets and glaciers play an important role in regulating ice flow. Antarctica has experienced, and will continue to experience, changes in ice dynamics and geometry, but the associated changes in subglacial hydrology have received less attention. Here, we use the GlaDS subglacial hydrology model to examine drainage evolution beneath an idealised Antarctic glacier in response to steepening ice surface slopes, accelerating ice velocities and subglacial lake drainages. Ice surface slope changes exerted a dominant influence, redirecting basal water to different outlet locations and substantially increasing channelised discharge crossing the grounding line. Faster ice velocities had comparatively negligible effects. Subglacial lake drainage results indicated that lake refilling times play a key role in drainage system evolution, with lake flux more readily accommodated following shorter refilling times. Our findings are significant for vulnerable Antarctic regions currently experiencing dynamic thinning since subglacial water re-routing could destabilise ice shelves through enhanced sub-shelf melting, potentially hastening irreversible retreat. These changes could also affect subglacial lake activity. We, therefore, emphasise that including a nuanced and complex representation of subglacial hydrology in ice-sheet models could provide critical information on the timing and magnitude of sea-level change contributions from Antarctica

Neurodevelopmental Trajectory of HIV-Infected Children Accessing Care in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

To assess the effect of HIV care (including HAART if eligible) on neurodevelopment

Postpartum Depression and HIV Infection Among Women in Malawi

HIV-infected women face several risk factors for postpartum depression (PPD). We aimed to describe the prevalence and cumulative incidence of PPD in the low-income setting of Malawi, and to determine the association between maternal and infant HIV and PPD

“They Have Already Thrown Away Their Chicken”: barriers affecting participation by HIV-infected women in care and treatment programs for their infants in Blantyre, Malawi

HIV-infected infants and young children are at high risk of serious illness and death. Morbidity and mortality can be greatly reduced through early infant diagnosis (EID) of HIV and timely initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Despite global efforts to scale-up of EID and infant ART, uptake of these services in resource poor, high HIV burden countries remains low. We conducted a qualitative study of 59 HIV-infected women to identify and explore barriers women face in accessing HIV testing and care for their infants. To capture different perspectives, we included mothers whose infants were known positive (n=9) or known negative (n=14), mothers of infants with unknown HIV status (n=13), and pregnant HIV-infected women (n=20). Five important themes emerged: lack of knowledge regarding EID and infant ART, the perception of health care workers as authority figures, fear of disclosure of own and/or child’s HIV status, lack of psychosocial support, and intent to shorten the life of the child. A complex array of cultural, economic and psychosocial factors creates barriers for HIV-infected women to participate in early infant HIV testing and care programs. For optimal impact of EID and infant ART, reasons for poor uptake should be better understood and addressed in a culturally sensitive manner

The Effect of Free Amino Acids on Fibrin Formation

poster abstractFibrinogen, a plasma protein, is a main component of blood clot formation. In the event of an injury, blood loss is hindered through a process that forms a thrombus by conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin induced by activation of the enzyme thrombin. The fibrin network structure depends on the concentration of thrombin, as expected, but is also highly influenced by its environment during formation. In particular, we find that fibrin formation is altered in the presence of zwitterions. Zwitterions are dipolar molecules, typically highly polarizable, exhibiting both a positive and a negative charge depending on the pH of the solution. Amino acids are highly abundant zwitterions in biological materials. In this study we measured by visible/UV-spectroscopy the effects of various types of amino acids on the rate of fibrin network formation. We show that the electrical charge and type of amino acid, such as lysine, glycine and arginine, inhibits or promotes formation of fibrin networks. Such an ability to decrease or increase the rate of coagulation can be valuable in the treatment of patients suffering from hemostatic and thrombotic disorders

An Explanation for Terson Syndrome at Last: the Glymphatic Reflux Theory

Terson Syndrome (TS) describes the presence of intraocular hemorrhage in patients with intracranial hemorrhage, typically subarachnoid hemorrhage. Despite TS being a well-defined and frequently occurring phenomenon, its pathophysiology remains controversial. This review will present the current understanding of TS, with view to describing a contemporary and more plausible pathomechanism of TS, given recent advances in ophthalmic science and neurobiology. Previously proposed theories include a sudden rise in intracranial pressure (ICP) transmitted to the optic nerve sheath leading to rupture of retinal vessels; or intracranial blood extending to the orbit via the optic nerve sheath. The origin of blood in TS is uncertain, but retinal vessels appear to be an unlikely source. In addition, an anatomical pathway for blood to enter the eye from the intracranial space remains poorly defined. An ocular glymphatic system has recently been described, drainage of which from the globe into intracranial glymphatics is reliant on the pressure gradient between intraocular pressure and intracranial pressure. The glymphatic pathway is the only extravascular anatomical conduit between the subarachnoid space and the retina. We propose that subarachnoid blood in skull base cisterns near the optic nerve is the substrate of blood in TS. Raised ICP causes it to be refluxed through glymphatic channels into the globe, resulting in intraocular hemorrhage. We herewith present glymphatic reflux as an alternative theory to explain the phenomenon of Terson Syndrome

First spectroscopic measurements of [OIII] emission from Lyman-alpha selected field galaxies at z ~ 3.1

We present the first spectroscopic measurements of the [OIII] 5007 A line in two z ~ 3.1 Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs) using the new near-infrared instrument LUCIFER1 on the 8.4m Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). We also describe the optical imaging and spectroscopic observations used to identify these Lya emitting galaxies. Using the [OIII] line we have measured accurate systemic redshifts for these two galaxies, and discovered a velocity offset between the [OIII] and Ly-alpha lines in both, with the Lya line peaking 342 and 125 km/s redward of the systemic velocity. These velocity offsets imply that there are powerful outflows in high-redshift LAEs. They also ease the transmission of Lya photons through the interstellar medium and intergalactic medium around the galaxies. By measuring these offsets directly, we can refine both Lya-based tests for reionization, and Lya luminosity function measurements where the Lya forest affects the blue wing of the line. Our work also provides the first direct constraints on the strength of the [OIII] line in high-redshift LAEs. We find [OIII] fluxes of 7 and 36 x 10^-17 erg s^-1 cm^-2 in two z ~ 3.1 LAEs. These lines are strong enough to dominate broad-band flux measurements that include the line (in thiscase, K_s band photometry). Spectral energy distribution fits that do not account for the lines would therefore overestimate the 4000 A (and/or Balmer) break strength in such galaxies, and hence also the ages and stellar masses of such high-z galaxies.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal. 11 pages, 3 figures, 1 table (emulateapj

Implementing early infant diagnosis of HIV infection at the primary care level: experiences and challenges in Malawi

Malawi’s national guidelines recommend that infants exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) be tested at 6 weeks of age. Rollout of services for early infant diagnosis has been limited and has resulted in the initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in very few infants