SPRAWL AND HUMAN MISERY: AN ECOMARXIST READING OF ARTHUR MILLER’S DEATH OF A SALESMAN

The study explores connection between emerging Markets and human misery in Death of a Salesman, focusing to prove Market reigns supremacy in the lives of Americans under the guise of ‘modernity’. The new Split in the personality of characters in the play is tallied to the ‘changing times’. The so-called progress has created an ‘industrialized world’ where the characters are unwillingly voyaging in the economic direction. The protagonists in the narrative are depicted as disconnected from the natural world, instead actively participating in market, pursuing marketecture, and contributing to the prevalence of consumerism within a society influenced by marketecture. The phenomenon emerges from urban sprawl disrupts the ecological equilibrium, leading to detrimental consequences for the individuals in United States. The phenomenon of urban expansion significantly impacts the development of characters and their outlook on life, exerting influences across many levels of society, ranging from private residences to larger communal spaces

Feminist Marxist Aesthetics and Women’S Literary Voice: An Analysis of Virginia Woolf’S Essays

Art and literature according to Marxist aesthetic theory are part of the social superstructure founded upon the economic infrastructure. Relations of production determine the moral, intellectual and aesthetic values of a particular time according to Marxist aesthetic theory. Marxist theorists contend, building on Gramsci’s concept of cultural hegemony, that the ruling class upholds patriarchal values and silences the voices of women by using cultural production, including literature, to sustain control over the political and cultural spheres in addition to economic ones. Marxist literary theorists look at the tangible circumstances surrounding the creation and dissemination of literature. The present paper seeks to prove that Virginia Woolf’s aesthetic theory advances a materialist explanation of literature. Woolf investigates production and proliferation of literature and explicates that in a money-oriented social set-up, literature is shaped by ideologies of powerful gender groups. Woolf embarks in an investigative journey to reveal the political nature of literature and its historical development in Britain. In addition to gender biases, women’s voices are muffled because of their marginalized status within the class system. Historically, women have had less access to the professional networks, financial resources, and education that are essential for success in writing. These financial obstacles are perceived as a type of systemic oppression that has added in suppression of women’s voices; she places a strong focus on the value of retrieving and appreciating the literary contributions made by historically oppressed women. By critically reevaluating literary canons and drawing attention to underappreciated or neglected works by women, this challenges the prejudices that have influenced criticism and literary history. KEY WORDS: Marxist aesthetic theory, social superstructure, economic base, bourgeoisie literature, gender-determined social set-up, suppression, women’s voice

Cultural violence and gender identities: a feminist post-structural discourse analysis of this house of clay and water

The present study explores the dialectic relation between gender, identity, violence, discourse and social practices, as portrayed in Mansab’s book This House of Clay and Water. Viewing gender as a biological trait determined at birth whereas all the social roles and identities are considered fixed is a prevalent social practice in countries like Pakistan. Proving that gender is a socio-cultural construct is the first step towards awareness that gender roles are not fixed and certain violent social norms can be transformed to help the marginalized groups like intersex/transgenders, and women. This study aims to show that certain forms of abuse, repression and cultural violence are normalized through the use of language and literary discourses, and the very same tools can be used to counter these structures. The theoretical insights for this research are drawn from Feminist post-structural discourse Analysis and Butler’s Queer theory. The qualitative analysis is based on the closed textual reading and discourse analysis within the parameters of the chosen framework. The significance of this study lies in the fact that it applies FPDA to study fictional characters who are a reflection of humans and social practices in general, and how they are forced to suffer and ultimately resist gender-based violence to co-construct their ever-shifting identities through discourse

VAN WYK GRUMBACH SYNDROME: CASE REPORT

BACKGROUND: Children with primary hypothyroidism usually presents with delay in linear growth and pubertal development, but in rare instances they can present with precocious puberty. In 1960, presentation of primary hypothyroidism with precocious puberty was first reported and labelled as Van Wyk Grumbach syndrome (VWGS). We report a case of VWGS in a six years old girl. CASE DESCRIPTION: A six years old girl presented with precocious puberty accompanied by short stature and delayed bone age due to untreated hypothyroidism. On examination she had Tanner’s stage B3 (breast development) and P2 (pubic hair). She had normal external genitalia. On workup her Thyroid Stimulating Hormone was 100 mIU/ml, Free-T4 0.7 was ηg/dl, Follicle Stimulating Hormone 8.1 mIU/ml, Luteinizing Hormone 0.12 mIU/ml, estradiol 58 ρg/ml and prolactin 177 ηg/ml. Pelvic ultrasound revealed a uterine size of 5.4 × 3.2 × 3.6 cm and enlarged ovaries with multi cystic appearance. She was started on 50 µg of Levo-thyroxine per day and then was reassessed after 9 weeks of treatment which showed improvement in her Tanner’s Stage and hormonal profile. CONCLUSION: The girl was diagnosed as VWGS and responded to the treatment which was evident by improvement in her physical and biochemical assessment

Potential Role of Ultrafine Particles in Associations between Airborne Particle Mass and Cardiovascular Health

Numerous epidemiologic time-series studies have shown generally consistent associations of cardiovascular hospital admissions and mortality with outdoor air pollution, particularly mass concentrations of particulate matter (PM) ≤2.5 or ≤10 μm in diameter (PM(2.5), PM(10)). Panel studies with repeated measures have supported the time-series results showing associations between PM and risk of cardiac ischemia and arrhythmias, increased blood pressure, decreased heart rate variability, and increased circulating markers of inflammation and thrombosis. The causal components driving the PM associations remain to be identified. Epidemiologic data using pollutant gases and particle characteristics such as particle number concentration and elemental carbon have provided indirect evidence that products of fossil fuel combustion are important. Ultrafine particles < 0.1 μm (UFPs) dominate particle number concentrations and surface area and are therefore capable of carrying large concentrations of adsorbed or condensed toxic air pollutants. It is likely that redox-active components in UFPs from fossil fuel combustion reach cardiovascular target sites. High UFP exposures may lead to systemic inflammation through oxidative stress responses to reactive oxygen species and thereby promote the progression of atherosclerosis and precipitate acute cardiovascular responses ranging from increased blood pressure to myocardial infarction. The next steps in epidemiologic research are to identify more clearly the putative PM casual components and size fractions linked to their sources. To advance this, we discuss in a companion article (Sioutas C, Delfino RJ, Singh M. 2005. Environ Health Perspect 113:947–955) the need for and methods of UFP exposure assessment

Lead-induced oxidative stress and metabolic alterations in Cassia angustifolia Vahl

Forty-five-days old plants of Indian senna (Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) were subjected to 0–500 µM lead acetate (Pb-Ac) in pot culture. Changes in contents of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), ascorbate, glutathione, proline, sennosides (a+b), and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), and catalase (CAT) were studied at pre-flowering (60 d after sawing, DAS), flowering (90 DAS) and post-flowering (120 DAS) stages of plant development. Compared with the controls, the Pb-Ac treated plants showed an increase in contents of TBARS, dehydroascorbate, oxidized and total glutathione at all stages of growth. However, sennoside yield and contents of ascorbate and reduced form of glutathione declined. Proline content increased at 60 DAS but declined thereafter. Activities of SOD, APX, GR and CAT were markedly increased. Sennoside content was higher at 60 and 90 DAS but lower at 120 DAS, compared to the control

Systems healthcare: a holistic paradigm for tomorrow

Systems healthcare is a holistic approach to health premised on systems biology and medicine. The approach integrates data from molecules, cells, organs, the individual, families, communities, and the natural and man-made environment. Both extrinsic and intrinsic influences constantly challenge the biological networks associated with wellness. Such influences may dysregulate networks and allow pathobiology to evolve, resulting in early clinical presentation that requires astute assessment and timely intervention for successful mitigation. Herein, we describe the components of relevant biological systems and the nature of progression from at-risk to manifest disease. We illustrate the systems approach by examining two relevant clinical examples: Alzheimer's and cardiovascular diseases. The implications of systems healthcare management are examined through the lens of economics, ethics, policy and the law. Finally, we propose the need to develop new educational paradigms to enhance the training of the health professional in an era of systems medicine

The Global Polio Eradication Initiatives: From Past to Present

The war against infections is one that has been remuneration all through the history of human. In this centuries-long effort the worldwide population has prepared remarkable advancement in stopping infections, therapeutic infections, and enlarging living expectancies. Up till now for all our successes, only once in history 30 years ago, with smallpox made completely eliminate an infection from the earth. Now a days we are on the entrance of eradicating the earth of polio an infection able of crippling and killing many children. The story of polio is both lengthy and hesitant. The arrival of efficient vaccines in the 1950s facilitated polio prevention, and the resultant struggles were victorious wildly, however confronts still continue (Plan, 2011)