Of poetic thinking : a 'pataphysical investigation of Cixous, Derrida and the Kabbalah

Situated between contemporary feminist theory/deconstructionist poetics, and Kabbalistic discourse, "Of Poetic Thinking: A 'Pataphysical Investigation of Cixous, Derrida and the Kabbalah" theorizes the aesthetics of, and contextualizes, two writing praxes concerned with interrogating a Eurocentric myth of Meaning, a regime of Truth, Authenticity and Representation; deconstructing an apparatus of Power and the gendered-political fallacy of genre purity. Focusing on the writing of Helene Cixous, Jacques Derrida and the major texts of Kabbalistic discourse, through a re-evaluation of ethnicity, gender, power and language, this thesis challenges ways meaning is produced. Though Kabbalistic discourse posits itself as a mystico-religious doctrine, and contemporary feminist deconstruction and post-structuralist philosophy aim to question Western metaphysics, notions of property and Being, through a re-politicization of socio-historic linguistic structures, this research reassesses the "mystical" or "metaphysical", not as an onto-theologically insulated discourse validated by transcendency, but as that without specific meaning and heterogenous to all hermeneutic totalization. Rather than engaging in a Derridean reading of Kabbalah, but through the linking of modalized presents, this thesis tracks ways in which seemingly "oppositionary" exegetical praxes restage cultural temporalities into the invention of tradition: how they question inheritance as that which is not natural, transparent or universal, but an intervening space, a space of syncretism, juxtaposition and integration; an irreducible legacy inscribed through cultural memory, iterability and palimpsestic processes of prosthetic supplementarity, and foreground how difference is performed at the liminal edge of identity. This analysis is significant in that, through re-staging two interpretive strategies, it problematizes the metaphysics of the "propre" of logocentrism, linguisticism, phonologism, the demystification or the de-sedimentation of the autonomic hegemony of language, and becomes a network of echoes, traces; displaced in a palimpsestic abscess, and, thus, argues how language becomes an agency of cultural construction

How to Interpret a Functional or Motility Test - Defecography

Defecography evaluates in real time the morphology of rectum and anal canal in a physiologic setting by injection of a thick barium paste into the rectum and its subsequent evacuation. Because of its ability of structural and functional evaluation, defecography is primarily performed for work up of patients with longstanding constipation, unexplained anal or rectal pain, residual sensation after defecation or suspected prolapse. Technique and interpretation of this examination are outlined in this review

Calcifying Aponeurotic Fibroma with Osseous Involvement of the Finger: a Case Report with Radiologic and US Findings

Calcifying aponeurotic fibroma is a rare soft tissue tumor that occurs in the distal extremities of children and adolescents. We report ultrasound and X-ray findings of a calcifying aponeurotic fibroma in the finger of a 36-year-old woman, associated with distal phalangeal bone involvement

Klippel-Feil syndrome – the risk of cervical spinal cord injury: A case report

BACKGROUND: Klippel-Feil syndrome is defined as congenital fusion of two or more cervical vertebrae and is believed to result from faulty segmentation along the embryo's developing axis during weeks 3–8 of gestation. Persons with Klippel-Feil syndrome and cervical stenosis may be at increased risk for spinal cord injury after minor trauma as a result of hypermobility of the various cervical segments. Persons with Klippel-Feil Syndrome often have congenital anomalies of the urinary tract as well. CASE PRESENTATION: A 51-year male developed incomplete tetraplegia in 1997 when he slipped and fell backwards hitting his head on the floor. X-rays of cervical spine showed fusion at two levels: C2 and C3 vertebrae, and C4 and C5 vertebrae. Intravenous urography (IVU) revealed no kidneys in the renal fossa on both sides, but the presence of crossed, fused renal ectopia in the left ilio-lumbar region. This patient had a similar cervical spinal cord injury about 15 years ago, when he developed transient numbness and paresis of the lower limbs following a fall. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: 1) Persons with Klippel-Feil syndrome should be made aware of the increased risk of sustaining transient neurologic deterioration after minor trauma if there is associated radiographic evidence of spinal stenosis. 2) Patients with Klippel-Feil syndrome often have congenital anomalies of the urinary tract. Our patient had crossed, fused, ectopia of kidney. 3) When patients with Klippel-Feil syndrome sustain tetraplegia they have increased chances of developing urinary tract calculi. Treatment of kidney stones may pose a challenge because of associated renal anomalies. 4) Health professionals caring for cervical spinal cord injury patients with Klippel-Feil syndrome and renal anomalies should place emphasis on prevention of kidney stones. A large fluid intake is recommended for these patients, as a high intake of fluids is still the most powerful and certainly the most economical means of prevention of nephrolithiasis

Successful radiopeptide targeting of metastatic anaplastic meningioma: Case report

A patient with anaplastic meningioma and lung metastases resistant to conventional treatment underwent radiopeptide therapy with 177Lu- DOTA-octreotate in our institute. The treatment resulted in significant improvement in patient's quality of life and inhibition of tumor progression. This case may eventually help to establish the value of radiopeptide therapy in patients with this rare condition