Instruction and Entertainment: Chaucer\u27s Nun\u27s Priest\u27s Tale

The Nun\u27s Priest\u27s Tale is one of the most entertaining stories in Chaucer\u27s Canterbury Tales--it is captivating, witty, and amusing--but it is also one of the most instructive in the entire collection. In fact, the Nun\u27s Priest himself emphasizes the instructional purpose of his tale by telling his listeners Taketh the moralite, goode men (NPT 3440), advising them to look for the points he makes in his narration. Although the Nun\u27s Priest never explicitly states the moralite of his tale, many scholars have taken his advice seriously and searched for its instruction on their own. Approaching it from a different angles, they have generated a multitude of interpretations and have emphasized various morals that can be found in the tale. The problem, however, is that none of the single interpretations we can give to the tale, and none of the morals we can draw from it, is satisfactory alone. This circumstance suggests that we might have to accept the multiplicity of interpretations and morals as part of the Nun\u27s Priest\u27s instruction. This thesis explores the three ways in which Chaucer enhances not just the entertainment, but especially the instructional value of the Nun\u27s Priest\u27s Tale, encouraging readers to search for its meaning, by looking at it from various angles. Chaucer introduces important structural changes that take the focus away from the foolish cock and the fable moral, turning instead to life in the hen-yard, the cock\u27s dream, and the chicken-debate, which he uses to tell us something about human nature. Furthermore, he introduces material from other sources into his tale, and interrupts it with comments about fiction, thus heightening our awareness of its fictitious character and stimulating in us an active search for meaning. He also introduces many themes that appear in other tales, and various morals and sententiae, forcing us as readers to evaluate one aginst the other, if we want to gain a deeper understanding of the tale

Identification of redox-sensitive transcription factors as markers of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Although asbestos has been banned in most countries around the world, malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a current problem. MPM is an aggressive tumor with a poor prognosis, so it is crucial to identify new markers in the preventive field. Asbestos exposure induces oxidative stress and its carcinogenesis has been linked to a strong oxidative damage, event counteracted by antioxidant systems at the pulmonary level. The present study has been focused on some redox-sensitive transcription factors that regulate cellular antioxidant defense and are overexpressed in many tumors, such as Nrf2 (Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2), Ref-1 (Redox effector factor 1), and FOXM1 (Forkhead box protein M1). The research was performed in human mesothelial and MPM cells. Our results have clearly demonstrated an overexpression of Nrf2, Ref-1, and FOXM1 in mesothelioma towards mesothelium, and a consequent activation of downstream genes controlled by these factors, which in turn regulates antioxidant defense. This event is mediated by oxidative free radicals produced when mesothelial cells are exposed to asbestos fibers. We observed an increased expression of Nrf2, Ref-1, and FOXM1 towards untreated cells, confirming asbestos as the mediator of oxidative stress evoked at the mesothelium level. These factors can therefore be considered predictive biomarkers of MPM and potential pharmacological targets in the treatment of this aggressive cancer

The Potential of Visible and Far-Red to Near-Infrared Light in Glaucoma Neuroprotection

Alternative treatment strategies are necessary to reduce the severity of glaucoma, a group of eye conditions that progressively damage the optic nerve and impair vision. The aim of this review is to gain insight into potentially exploitable molecular mechanisms to slow down the death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), a fundamental element in the pathophysiology of all forms of glaucoma, and to stimulate adult optic nerve repair. For this purpose, we focus our analysis on both visible and far-red to near-infrared light photobiomodulation (PBM) as phototherapeutic agents, which were recently proposed in RGCs, and on the nerve lamina region neural progenitor cell (ONLR-NPC) niche. Both are suggested as potential strategies in glaucoma neuroprotection. We discuss the impact of beneficial molecular effects of PBM on both mitochondrial derangement and the alteration of ion fluxes that are considered important causes of RGC damage, as well as on the stimulation of progenitor cells. We suggest these are the most promising approaches to prevent excessive neuronal cell loss. We describe the experimental evidence supporting the validity of PBM therapy which, despite being a safe, non-invasive, inexpensive, and easy to administer procedure, has not yet been fully explored in the clinical practice of glaucoma treatment