Material cultures of television

Research indicates that deaf children can have marked social difficulties compared with their hearing peers. Factors that influence these social interactions need to be reviewed to inform interventions. A systematic search of 5 key databases and 3 specialized journals identified 14 papers that met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality of the articles was assessed using an adapted checklist. There was a general lack of consensus across studies. The main factors investigated were the deaf child’s communication competency, age, and level of mainstreaming, which overall were positively associated with peer interactions. Some studies also found that females were more likely to have positive social interactions. The majority of studies were cross-sectional. Some studies lacked appropriate control groups and did not recruit an appropriate range of informants. A wide range of factors were associated with social interactions between deaf and hearing children. The role of communication gained the highest consensus across studies. Other factors were involved in more complex interactions

Antikenrezeption in Corneilles "Médée". Euripides', Senecas und Corneilles Medea-Tragödien

Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) gehört neben Racine (1639-1699) und Molière (1622-1673) zu den drei großen Autoren des klassischen französischen Theaters. Seine erste Tragödie "Médée" wurde von Publikum und Kritikern zurückgewiesen. Corneille hatte seinen typischen Stil noch nicht entwickelt: Das Drama oszilliert zwischen Komödie und Tragödie, ist einerseits dem Handlungstheater des Barock verpflichtet und wahrt andererseits die Einheiten der "doctrine classique". Der französische Dramatiker rezipiert in seinem Stück den griechischen Tragiker Euripides (480-406 v. Chr.) und den römischen Autor Seneca (1-65 n. Chr.). Gerade den Stil Senecas ahmt er nach. Dieses Buch soll einen Beitrag zum besseren Verständnis der französischen Klassik leisten: Zwar spielt die direkte Rezeption der senecanischen Tragödie eine wichtige Rolle für das klassische französische Drama, doch Form und dramatische Technik resultierten vor allem aus der Beschäftigung mit antiken Poetiken

Twelve-month follow-up of left atrial appendage occlusion with Amplatzer Amulet

  Background: The Amplatzer Amulet (St. Jude Medical, Minneapolis, MN, USA) is a second gen­eration Amplatzer device for left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion (LAAO) for stroke prophylaxis in patients with atrial fibrillation. This research sought to assess the clinical performance of the Amplatzer Amulet device and in follow up for 12 months. Methods: In this single-center registry patients with atrial fibrillation and contraindication to oral anticoagulation underwent LAAO with the Amplatzer Amulet device. Follow-up was performed before discharge, by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) after 6 weeks and telephone interview after 3, 6 and 12 months. Results: Between October 2014 and August 2015 50 patients (76.1 ± 8.3 years; 30 male) were en­rolled. Procedural success was achieved in 49 (98%) patients. Major periprocedural adverse events were observed in 4 (8%) of patients: 1 device embolization, 2 pericardial effusions requiring pericardiocente­sis and 1 prolonged hospital stay due to retropharyngeal hematoma from the TEE probe. Follow-up TEE was available in 38 of 50 patients showing complete LAA sealing in all. 2 device-related thrombi were also documented. At 12-month follow-up 7 patients had died unrelated to the device. Ischemic stroke occurred in 3 patients. According to neurological examination two were classified as microangiopathic and not cardio-embolic. The other one could not be classified. Bleeding complications (5 minor, 3 major) were documented in 8 patients. Conclusions: Although minimizing procedure-related complications remains challenging, LAAO with the Amplatzer Amulet device showed high procedural success and excellent LAA sealing. (Cardiol J 2017; 24, 2: 131–138

Effect of GTP and Ca2+ on inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate induced Ca2+ release from permeabilized rat exocrine pancreatic acinar cells

The effects of Ca2+ and GTP on the release of Ca2+ from the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) sensitive Ca2+ compartment were investigated with digitonin permeabilized rat pancreatic acinar cells. The amount of Ca2+ released due to IP3 directly correlated with the amount of stored Ca2+ and was found to be inversely proportional to the medium free Ca2+ concentration. Ca2+ release induced by 0.18 μM IP3 was half maximally inhibited at 0.5 μM free Ca2+, i.e. at concentrations observed in the cytosol of pancreatic acinar cells. GTP did not cause Ca2+ release on its own, but a single addition of GTP (20 μM) abolished the apparent desensitization of the Ca2+ release which was observed during repeated IP3 applications. This effect of GTP was reversible. GTPγS could not replace GTP. Desensitization still occurred when GTPγS was added prior to GTP. The reported data indicate that GTP, stored Ca2+ and cytosolic free Ca2+ modulate the IP3 induced Ca2+ release. EGTA, Ethylene-glycol-bis (2-aminoethylether)-N,N,N′,N′- tetra acetic acid; GTPγS, Guanosine 5′-O-[3-thio]triphosphate; GDPβS, Guanosine 5′-O-[2-thio]diphosphate; IP3, Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate; IP2, Inositol 1,4-bisphosphate; IP4, Inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate; MOPS, Morpholinopropane sulfonic acid; HEPES, 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine ethanesulfonic acid; pHMB, Parahydroxymercuribenzoat

Peroxisomal dysfunctions cause lysosomal storage and axonal Kv1 channel redistribution in peripheral neuropathy

Impairment of peripheral nerve function is frequent in neurometabolic diseases, but mechanistically not well understood. Here, we report a novel disease mechanism and the finding that glial lipid metabolism is critical for axon function, independent of myelin itself. Surprisingly, nerves of Schwann cell-specific Pex5 mutant mice were unaltered regarding axon numbers, axonal calibers, and myelin sheath thickness by electron microscopy. In search for a molecular mechanism, we revealed enhanced abundance and internodal expression of axonal membrane proteins normally restricted to juxtaparanodal lipid-rafts. Gangliosides were altered and enriched within an expanded lysosomal compartment of paranodal loops. We revealed the same pathological features in a mouse model of human Adrenomyeloneuropathy, preceding disease-onset by one year. Thus, peroxisomal dysfunction causes secondary failure of local lysosomes, thereby impairing the turnover of gangliosides in myelin. This reveals a new aspect of axon-glia interactions, with Schwann cell lipid metabolism regulating the anchorage of juxtaparanodal Kv1-channels

CtGEM typing: Discrimination of Chlamydia trachomatis ocular and urogenital strains and major evolutionary lineages by high resolution melting analysis of two amplified DNA fragments

© 2018 Giffard et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Chlamydia trachomatis infects the urogenital tract (UGT) and eyes. Anatomical tropism is correlated with variation in the major outer membrane protein encoded by ompA. Strains possessing the ocular ompA variants A, B, Ba and C are typically found within the phyloge-netically coherent “classical ocular lineage”. However, variants B, Ba and C have also been found within three distinct strains in Australia, all associated with ocular disease in children and outside the classical ocular lineage. CtGEM genotyping is a method for detecting and discriminating ocular strains and also the major phylogenetic lineages. The rationale was facilitation of surveillance to inform responses to C. trachomatis detection in UGT specimens from young children. CtGEM typing is based on high resolution melting analysis (HRMA) of two PCR amplified fragments with high combinatorial resolving power, as defined by computerised comparison of 65 whole genomes. One fragment is from the hypothetical gene defined by Jali-1891 in the C. trachomatis B_Jali20 genome, while the other is from ompA. Twenty combinatorial CtGEM types have been shown to exist, and these encompass unique genotypes for all known ocular strains, and also delineate the TI and T2 major phylogenetic lineages, identify LGV strains and provide additional resolution beyond this. CtGEM typing and Sanger sequencing were compared with 42 C. trachomatis positive clinical specimens, and there were no disjunctions. CtGEM typing is a highly efficient method designed and tested using large scale comparative genomics. It divides C. trachomatis into clinically and biologically meaningful groups, and may have broad application in surveillance

A Novel Experience in Crime Narrative: Watching and Reading The Killing

This essay will consider the adaptation of series one of the Danish television serial Forbrydelsen / The Killing (2007) into David Hewson’s novel The Killing (2012). Considering the television show through theoretical paradigms of contemporary long-form television, I will examine the discourses of ‘the novel’ and the ‘novelistic’ as they relate to both texts. As I will argue, attributing ‘novelistic’ characteristics to television texts may be problematic, but it also provides a significant opportunity for rethinking dominant or fixed conceptions of the novel as a cultural form and product. Looking closely at Hewson’s novel, the paper will also aim to reconfigure the ‘convergence’ model of novelization, thinking instead about the novel adaptation as a form of interpretive process across media. In doing this, I will consider how such adaptations are informed by conceptions of novelistic form and style, which may work discursively to reconfigure or ‘legitimize’ the adapted text but also to disavow ‘low’ cultural connotations

Impact of conscious sedation and general anesthesia on periprocedural outcomes in Watchman left atrial appendage closure

Background: Transcatheter left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is performed either in conscious sedation (CS) or general anesthesia (GA), and limited data exist regarding clinical outcomes for the two approaches. The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of CS versus GA on acute outcomes in a large patient cohort undergoing LAAC with a Watchman occluder.Methods: A cohort of 521 consecutive patients underwent LAAC with Watchman occluders at two centers (REGIOMED hospitals, Germany) between 2012 and 2018. One site performed 303 consecutive LAAC procedures in GA, and the other site performed 218 consecutive procedures in CS. The safety endpoint was a composite of major periprocedural complications and postoperative pneumonia. The efficacy endpoint was defined as device success.Results: After a 1:1 propensity score matching, 196 (CS) vs. 115 (GA) patients could be compared. In 5 (2.6%) cases CS was converted to GA. The primary safety endpoint (3.5% [CS] vs. 7.0% [GA], p = 0.18) and its components (major periprocedural complications: 2.5% vs. 3.5%, p = 0.73; postoperative pneumonia: 2.6% vs. 4.3%, p = 0.51) did not differ between the groups. Also, device success was comparable (96.9% vs. 93.9%, p = 0.24).Conclusions: In patients undergoing LAAC with the Watchman device, conscious sedation and general anesthesia showed comparable device success rates and safety outcomes. The type of anesthesia for LAAC may therefore be tailored to patient comorbidities, operator experience, and hospital logistics