A Comparative Analysis of National Identity Construction and Rhetorization in William Shakespeare\u27s King Henry V and Aphra Behn\u27 Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave

Positioned at the climax of both William Shakespeare’s King Henry V (1600) and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave (1688) are dynamic calls for battle. While King Henry rallies his forces against the French, Oroonoko—an enslaved African prince—ignites a slave revolt against English colonial masters. This comparative analysis of the speeches’ rhetoric identifies three sets of similar appeals: to martial masculinity, honor as a moral code, and collective political identities. From Behn’s application of Shakespeare’s canonical rhetoric derives commentary on each rhetor’s ability to construct and rhetorize his national identity. Importantly, analysis reveals the impact of racialized difference on the rhetors’ access to structures of political mobilization

Startup of a reactive distillation process with a decanter

The startup of a reactive distillation process for the production of propyl acetate including a decanter is studied. A simulation model is presented which describes the whole startup from a cold and empty state and takes into account the liquid phase split in the decanter. The simulation model is successfully validated with own dynamic experimental data. Different startup strategies are developed and analysed in simulation studies showing the high influence of the initial charging of decanter and reboiler on the startup time

Relationship between preoperative anxiety and postoperative satisfaction in dental implant surgery with intravenous conscious sedation

Purpose: To study if patient preoperative anxiety is related to age and gender and to compare preoperative anxiety with postoperative patient and surgeon satisfaction in dental implant surgery under intravenous conscious sedation. Materials and Methods: Dental implants were placed in 102 patients under local anesthesia and intravenous conscious sedation. The procedures were performed with or without dental extractions, and with or without bone regeneration. Anxiety was evaluated using Corah?s Dental Anxiety Scale and levels of surgeon and patient satisfaction were evaluated on an adapted scale. Results: Low preoperative anxiety was observed in 27.8% of patients, moderate in 50%, and high in 22.2%. Mean value of anxiety was 9.8+/-3.7. The level of surgeon satisfaction was adequate in 87.8% of the surgeries; patients were awake and nervous in 4.4% of surgeries, and excessively sleepy, with little cooperation in 7.8% of surgeries. Regarding patient satisfaction, the procedure was comfortable for 23.3% of patients, neither comfortable nor uncomfortable for 28.9%, a slightly uncomfortable experience for 36.7%, and very uncomfortable for 10% of patients. Younger patients and women were observed to have more anxiety, the difference being statistically significant. Patients with higher preoperative anxiety expressed a lower level of satisfaction, with statistically significant differences. There was no significant relationship between preoperative patient anxiety and postoperative surgeon satisfaction. Conclusion: Anxiety was higher in younger patients and women. In this study, a higher preoperative patient anxiety was associated with lower patient satisfaction, but had no influence on postoperative surgeon satisfaction

Hemodynamic and ventilatory changes during implant surgery with intravenous conscious sedation

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the hemodynamic and ventilatory changes during implant surgery with intravenous conscious sedation, and whether preoperative anxiety, gender or age influence these parameters. Patients and Methods: A prospective study carried out between May 2004 and February 2007, on 102 patients treated with dental implants under local anesthesia and conscious intravenous sedation. Patients completed a questionnaire prior to surgery to evaluate preoperative dental anxiety using Corah's scale. The hemodynamic and ventilatory changes were evaluated by monitoring systolic pressure (SP), diastolic pressure (DP), heart rate (HR) and oxygen saturation (SaO2). These values were collected at 5 points during surgery; before commencing the operation (baseline value), during local anesthetic injection, at the moment of incision and raising of a mucoperiosteal flap, during implant placement, and finally at suturing. Intravenous conscious sedation was administered between baseline value and injection of the local anesthetic. Results: The highest SP and DP were recorded at baseline and at suturing. The highest HR was recorded at the moment of incision and raising of the mucoperiosteal flap; the lowest SaO2 was recorded at local anesthetic injection. There was no relationship between hemodynamic and ventilatory values and preoperative anxiety or gender. A greater age was associated with higher SP and lower SaO2, these differences being statistically significant. Conclusions: Most of the cardiovascular and ventilatory changes induced by the implant surgery with intravenous conscious sedation were within normal ranges. The results indicate that midazolam with fentanyl do not produce important hemodynamic and ventilatory changes, being a good association for intravenous conscious sedation in dental implant surgery. © Medicina Oral S. L

A high-efficiency matching technique for low power levels in RF harvesting

Radiofrequency (RF) energy can be harvested in order to power autonomous sensors either from the surrounding environment or from dedicated sources. A conventional RF harvester is mainly composed by an antenna, a matching network and a rectifier. At low power levels, e.g., -10dBm and below, the corresponding voltage amplitude at the antenna is low and comparable to the voltage drop of the diodes used in the rectifier. In order to boost the voltage at the rectifier input and thus the rectifier efficiency, an L-network optimized for an input power of -10dBm at 868MHz is proposed in this work. As for the rectifier, a half-wave rectifier with a single zero-bias Schottky diode (HSMS2850) was selected. First, a theoretical analysis was performed followed by simulations with ADS (Harmonic Balance). Simulations show efficiencies of 75% for an input power of -10dBm with ideal components but using the actual model of the diode rectifier. The incorporation of the PCB layout effects and the actual components decreases the efficiency to below 50%. Finally, a PCB implementation was performed using a 0.5 pF capacitor and a 27 nH inductor for the L network. The input power was generated by an RF generator. The RF-to-DC efficiency was of 45% at 868 MHz with an optimum load of 2.5 k¿. Efficiencies of 34.5% and 22.5% were achieved at -15dBm and -20dBm, respectively.Postprint (published version

Palaeontology close to home: the presence of Leptosalenia barredai (Echinoidea: Saleniidae) in the Albian of the city of Tarragona

El present treball és una aproximació a la paleontologia de la ciutat de Tarragona i a la col·lecció dipositada al museu d’Història de Tarragona. Es reporta un conjunt faunístic de l’Albià (Cretaci Inferior), de la Formació Montmell, recuperat en els anys setanta a l’antiga pedrera del Sanatori de la Salut, anomenada la Casablanca. Al mateix temps, es registra un equínid, Leptosalenia barredai Forner, 2014, originalment descrit en nivells coetanis de la conca del Maestrat i es discuteixen les seves implicacions paleobiogeogràfiques.In the present work, the paleontology of the city of Tarragona and the collection housed in the Museu d’Història de Tarragona is addressed. A faunal collection from the Albian (Lower Cretaceous), from the so-called Montmell Formation, recovered in the late 70’s in the old Sanatori de la Salut quarry, ‘la Casablanca’, is reported. Further, an echinoid, Leptosalenia barredai Forner, 2014, originally described in coeval levels of the Maestrat basin, is described herein and its paleobiogeographic implications are discussed

Milenarismo y mesianismo en la Edad Moderna.

Se trata de un acercamiento a los fenómenos milenaristas y mesiánicos de Europa, el mundo del Mediterráneo y la América incaica, antes de la presencia española y durante la época colonial. Con un breve resumen de cada movimiento y posterior clasificación. Tratados como movimientos escatológicos con transferencias interculturales y que generan migraciones. Abstract It is an approach to the millenarian and messianic phenomena in Europe, the world of the Mediterranean and Incaic America, before the Spanish presence and during the colonial era. With a brief summary of each movement and subsequent classification. Treated as eschatological movements with intercultural transfers and generate migrations.<br /

Trans-arterial chemoembolization as a loco-regional inducer of immunogenic cell death in hepatocellular carcinoma: implications for immunotherapy

Immunotherapy; Liver neoplasmsInmunoterapia; Neoplasias hepáticasImmunoteràpia; Neoplàsies hepàtiquesBackground Modulation of adaptive immunity may underscore the efficacy of trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE). We evaluated the influence of TACE on T-cell function by phenotypic lymphocyte characterization in samples of patients undergoing surgery with (T+) or without (T-) prior-TACE treatment. Methods We profiled intratumoral (IT), peritumoral (PT) and non-tumoral (NT) background tissue to evaluate regulatory CD4+/FOXP3+ (T-reg) and immune-exhausted CD8+/PD-1+ T-cells across T+ (n=58) and T− (n=61). We performed targeted transcriptomics and T-cell receptor sequencing in a restricted subset of samples (n=24) evaluated in relationship with the expression of actionable drivers of anti-cancer immunity including PD-L1, indoleamine 2,3 dehydrogenase (IDO-1), cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), Lag-3, Tim-3 and CD163. Results We analyzed 119 patients resected (n=25, 21%) or transplanted (n=94, 79%) for Child-Pugh A (n=65, 55%) and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage A (n=92, 77%) hepatocellular carcinoma. T+ samples displayed lower IT CD4+/FOXP3+ (p=0.006), CD8+ (p=0.002) and CD8+/PD-1+ and NT CD8+/PD-1+ (p<0.001) compared with T−. Lower IT (p=0.005) and NT CD4+/FOXP3+ (p=0.03) predicted for improved recurrence-free survival. In a subset of samples (n=24), transcriptomic analysis revealed upregulation of a pro-inflammatory response in T+. T+ samples were enriched for IRF2 expression (p=0.01), an interferon-regulated transcription factor implicated in cancer immune-evasion. T-cell clonality and expression of PD-L1, IDO-1, CTLA-4, Lag-3, Tim-3 and CD163 was similar in T+ versus T−. Conclusions TACE is associated with lower IT density of immune-exhausted effector cytotoxic and T-regs, with significant upregulation of pro-inflammatory pathways. This highlights the pleiotropic effects of TACE in modulating the tumor microenvironment and strengthens the rationale for developing immunotherapy alongside TACE.DJP is supported by grant funding from the Wellcome Trust Strategic Fund (PS3416) and by the Cancer Research UK Postdoctoral bursary (C57701/A26137). AF is supported by grant from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI18/00542)