Beyond Violence: "The Merchant of Venice"

Beyond Violence: “The Merchant of Venice” borrows from Jewish and postmodern thought to engage in an epiphanic analysis of Shakespeare’s play. This thesis begins with the important and foundational critical history of 'Merchant', tracks the epiphanic drive of five characters in five chapters, reviews the humiliating trial scene as an important moment in the plot, and finally points to the rings as the material realization of the epiphany itself. This thesis argues that the epiphanies in "The Merchant of Venice" finally merge in the figure of the rings revealing a transformed spiritual and societal paradigm. The corrupt, racist, and antisemitic characters of 'Merchant' do not necessarily form heavenly bonds with God or the other by the end of the play. They each, however, drive themselves beyond religion to a potential trace of an epiphanic transcendence. This trace of transcendence indicates that even within the cruelest cultures, there is the eternal possibility of astounding love and a world community beyond violence

Insufficient access to harm reduction measures in prisons in 5 countries (PRIDE Europe): a shared European public health concern

Background: Prisoners constitute a high-risk population, particularly for infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to estimate the level of infectious risk in the prisons of five different European countries by measuring to what extent the prison system adheres to WHO/UNODC recommendations. Methods: Following the methodology used in a previous French survey, a postal/electronic questionnaire was sent to all prisons in Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Italy to collect data on the availability of several recommended HIV-HCV prevention interventions and HBV vaccination for prisoners. A score was built to compare adherence to WHO/UNODC recommendations (considered a proxy of environmental infectious risk) in those 4 countries. It ranged from 0 (no adherence) to 12 (full adherence). A second score (0 to 9) was built to include data from a previous French survey, thereby creating a 5-country comparison. Results: A majority of prisons answered in Austria (100 %), France (66 %) and Denmark (58 %), half in Belgium (50 %) and few in Italy (17 %), representing 100, 74, 89, 47 and 23 % coverage of the prison populations, respectively. Availability of prevention measures was low, with median adherence scores ranging from 3.5 to 4.5 at the national level. These results were confirmed when using the second score which included France in the inter-country comparison. Overall, the adherence score was inversely associated with prison overpopulation rates (p = 0.08). Conclusions: Using a score of adherence to WHO/UNODC recommendations, the estimated environmental infectious risk remains extremely high in the prisons of the 5 European countries assessed. Public health strategies should be adjusted to comply with the principle of equivalence of care and prevention with the general community

The FLUXNET2015 dataset and the ONEFlux processing pipeline for eddy covariance data

The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as gap-filled time series, ecosystem respiration and photosynthetic uptake estimates, estimation of uncertainties, and metadata about the measurements, presented for the first time in this paper. In addition, 206 of these sites are for the first time distributed under a Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0) license. This paper details this enhanced dataset and the processing methods, now made available as open-source codes, making the dataset more accessible, transparent, and reproducible.Peer reviewe

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

Cognitive Decline and Reorganization of Functional Connectivity in Healthy Aging: The Pivotal Role of the Salience Network in the Prediction of Age and Cognitive Performances

Normal aging is related to a decline in specific cognitive processes, in particular in executive functions and memory. In recent years a growing number of studies have focused on changes in brain functional connectivity related to cognitive aging. A common finding is the decreased connectivity within multiple resting state networks, including the default mode network (DMN) and the salience network. In this study, we measured resting state activity using fMRI and explored whether cognitive decline is related to altered functional connectivity. To this end we used a machine learning approach to classify young and old participants from functional connectivity data. The originality of the approach consists in the prediction of the performance and age of the subjects based on functional connectivity by using a machine learning approach. Our findings showed that the connectivity profile between specific networks predicts both the age of the subjects and their cognitive abilities. In particular, we report that the connectivity profiles between the salience and visual networks, and the salience and the anterior part of the DMN, were the features that best predicted the age. Moreover, independently of the age of the subject, connectivity between the salience network and various specific networks (i.e., visual, frontal) predicted episodic memory skills either based on a standard assessment or on an autobiographical memory task, and short-term memory binding. Finally, the connectivity between the salience and the frontal networks predicted inhibition and updating performance, but this link was no longer significant after removing the effect of age. Our findings confirm the crucial role of episodic memory and executive functions in cognitive aging and suggest a pivotal role of the salience network in neural reorganization in aging

ABSENTEÍSMO EM CONSULTAS ODONTOLÓGICAS PROGRAMÁTICAS NA ESTRATÉGIA SAÚDE DA FAMÍLIADOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5892/ruvrd.v14i1.2601

As faltas às consultas odontológicas programáticas podem gerar prejuízos na assistência e resolubilidade das demandas, além do aumento na fila de espera e das urgências. Objetivo: Determinar os motivos que contribuíram para essas faltas na Estratégia Saúde da Família. Metodologia: Trata-se de um estudo observacional, quantitativo e descritivo. A população foi de 125 usuários que faltaram a, pelo menos, uma consulta entre junho e julho de 2013. Os dados foram coletados a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas em visitas domiciliares. Resultado: Cerca de 69,6% dos usuários eram do sexo feminino com média de 28,2 anos de idade, onde 59,2% possuíam renda de 1,1 a 3 salários mínimos. Ao aplicar o Teste Exato de Fisher com significância de 5% observou-se que a renda não influenciou os motivos para não as faltas à consulta (p=0,7953). Sobre os motivos do agendamento das consultas 36,8% relataram dor, outros 36,8% prevenção/manutenção. O esquecimento foi o motivo mais citado para a ausência à consulta (28%).  O tempo mediano de espera foi de sete dias e não influenciou para o absenteísmo (p=0,516). Conclusão: A gestão deve atuar junto à comunidade com ações que fortaleçam sua autonomia, melhorem o fluxo de informações, e assim prevenir os fatores que levam às faltas dos usuários em consultas.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Absenteísmo. saúde bucal. Agendamento de consultas. Atenção Primária à Saúde. Estratégia Saúde da Família

Absenteísmo em consultas odontológicas programáticas na estratégia saúde da família

As faltas às consultas odontológicas programáticas podem gerar prejuízos na assistência e resolubilidade das demandas, além do aumento na fila de espera e das urgências. Objetivo: Determinar os motivos que contribuíram para essas faltas na Estratégia Saúde da Família. Metodologia: Trata-se de um estudo observacional, quantitativo e descritivo. A população foi de 125 usuários que faltaram a, pelo menos, uma consulta entre junho e julho de 2013. Os dados foram coletados a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas em visitas domiciliares. Resultado: Cerca de 69,6% dos usuários eram do sexo feminino com média de 28,2 anos de idade, onde 59,2% possuíam renda de 1,1 a 3 salários mínimos. Ao aplicar o Teste Exato de Fisher com significância de 5% observou-se que a renda não influenciou os motivos para não as faltas à consulta (p=0,7953). Sobre os motivos do agendamento das consultas 36,8% relataram dor, outros 36,8% prevenção/manutenção. O esquecimento foi o motivo mais citado para a ausência à consulta (28%).  O tempo mediano de espera foi de sete dias e não influenciou para o absenteísmo (p=0,516). Conclusão: A gestão deve atuar junto à comunidade com ações que fortaleçam sua autonomia, melhorem o fluxo de informações, e assim prevenir os fatores que levam às faltas dos usuários em consultas.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Absenteísmo. saúde bucal. Agendamento de consultas. Atenção Primária à Saúde. Estratégia Saúde da Família

Cognitive decline and reorganization of functional connectivity in healthy aging: the pivotal role of the salience network in the prediction of age and cognitive performances

Normal aging is related to a decline in specific cognitive processes, in particular in executive functions and memory. In recent years a growing number of studies have focused on changes in brain functional connectivity related to cognitive aging. A common finding is the decreased connectivity within multiple resting state networks, including the default mode network and the salience network. In this study, we measured resting state activity using fMRI and explored whether cognitive decline is related to altered functional connectivity. To this end we used a machine learning approach to classify young and old participants from functional connectivity data. The originality of the approach consists in the prediction of the performance and age of the subjects based on functional connectivity. Our findings showed that the connectivity profile between specific networks predicts both the age of the subjects and their cognitive abilities. In particular, we report that the connectivity profiles between the salience and visual networks, and the salience and the anterior part of the default mode network, were the features that best predicted the age. Moreover, independently of the age of the subject, connectivity between the salience network and various specific networks (i.e., visual, frontal) predicted episodic memory skills either based on a standard assessment or on an autobiographical memory task, and short-term binding.Finally, the connectivity between the salience and the frontal networks predicted inhibition and updating performance, but this link was no longer significant after removing the effect of age. Our findings confirm the crucial role of episodic memory and executive functions in cognitive aging and suggest a pivotal role of the salience network in neural reorganization in aging

Corps, gestes et vêtements dans l’Antiquité

Les 3 et 4 octobre 2013 se sont tenues à Caen les quatrièmes journées d'étude du programme Corps, gestes et vêtements dans les mondes anciens : une lecture historique et anthropologique (ANHiMA et CRBC), animé par Jean-Baptiste Bonnard (maître de conférences en histoire grecque à l’université de Caen, ANHIMA, HISTEMÉ), Florence Gherchanoc (professeure à l’université de Paris VII, ANHIMA) et Valérie Huet (professeure à l’université de Brest, ANHIMA, CRBC). Ce programme s’est fixé pour but d’étudier les valeurs et les symboliques des gestes et attitudes attachés au corps et aux mouvements du corps, les qualifications contextuelles et spatiales de gestes corporels et du corps en mouvement, les gestes et les identités, les normes corporelles et les transgressions. La thématique portait cette fois sur les manifestations du politique : il s’agissait de voir, à partir des textes littéraires et des images, comment s’articulent corps, gestes et vêtements avec un contexte ou une situation politiques donnés. Les auteurs du présent ouvrage se sont attachés à rechercher s’il existe, dans les sociétés antiques (Assyrie, Grèce, Rome) des physionomies, des attitudes corporelles, des postures, des manières de s’habiller ou de porter un vêtement qui signalent un droit ou une prérogative politique, une appartenance ou une orientation politiques