Ideological efficacy before martial efficacy: on the relationship between martial arts, theatricality and society

This article relates the training of gendai budō/mudo to theatrical performance. While there are already studies that discuss theatricality in martial arts, the aim of this paper is to provide a systematic overview of the theatrical structuring of elements of martial arts training. This could be further developed in the study of different martial arts and in comparative case studies. For this purpose, Andreas Kotte’s theory of scenic processes is used to arrange different phenomena in martial arts training systematically, representing the constitutive aspects of theatricality as derived from theatre and performance art. Gendai budō/mudo are used as cases to elaborate a systematic approach to the analysis of martial arts as theatrical performance. These examples were chosen because of their emphasis on aesthetics and technical expertise, rather than practical fighting applications. While theatricality in martial arts is usually seen as something for enjoyment or possibly to improve and display athleticism, it is argued here that theatricality has to be viewed as a mode of communication to convincingly elevate and spread information. It is therefore possible to trace ideological features such norms, values, and ideals in the theatrical staging of martial arts training

A very rare case of late diagnosis of cor triatriatum sinistrum

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Perfusion vector - a new method to quantify myocardial perfusion scintigraphy images: a simulation study with validation in patients

The interpretation of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) largely relies on visual assessment by the physician of the localization and extent of a perfusion defect. The aim of this study was to introduce the concept of the perfusion vector as a new objective quantitative method for further assisting the visual interpretation and to test the concept using simulated MPS images as well as patients

Bichir external gills arise via heterochronic shift that accelerates hyoid arch development.

In most vertebrates, pharyngeal arches form in a stereotypic anterior-to-posterior progression. To gain insight into the mechanisms underlying evolutionary changes in pharyngeal arch development, here we investigate embryos and larvae of bichirs. Bichirs represent the earliest diverged living group of ray-finned fishes, and possess intriguing traits otherwise typical for lobe-finned fishes such as ventral paired lungs and larval external gills. In bichir embryos, we find that the anteroposterior way of formation of cranial segments is modified by the unique acceleration of the entire hyoid arch segment, with earlier and orchestrated development of the endodermal, mesodermal, and neural crest tissues. This major heterochronic shift in the anteroposterior developmental sequence enables early appearance of the external gills that represent key breathing organs of bichir free-living embryos and early larvae. Bichirs thus stay as unique models for understanding developmental mechanisms facilitating increased breathing capacity

Global quieting of high-frequency seismic noise due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures

Human activity causes vibrations that propagate into the ground as high-frequency seismic waves. Measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread changes in human activity, leading to a months-long reduction in seismic noise of up to 50%. The 2020 seismic noise quiet period is the longest and most prominent global anthropogenic seismic noise reduction on record. While the reduction is strongest at surface seismometers in populated areas, this seismic quiescence extends for many kilometers radially and hundreds of meters in depth. This provides an opportunity to detect subtle signals from subsurface seismic sources that would have been concealed in noisier times and to benchmark sources of anthropogenic noise. A strong correlation between seismic noise and independent measurements of human mobility suggests that seismology provides an absolute, real-time estimate of population dynamics

Standard first-line chemotherapy with or without nintedanib for advanced ovarian cancer (AGO-OVAR 12): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial.

peer reviewed[en] BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis is a target in the treatment of ovarian cancer. Nintedanib, an oral triple angiokinase inhibitor of VEGF receptor, platelet-derived growth factor receptor, and fibroblast growth factor receptor, has shown activity in phase 2 trials in this setting. We investigated the combination of nintedanib with standard carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer. METHODS: In this double-blind phase 3 trial, chemotherapy-naive patients (aged 18 years or older) with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) IIB-IV ovarian cancer and upfront debulking surgery were stratified by postoperative resection status, FIGO stage, and planned carboplatin dose. Patients were randomly assigned (2:1) via an interactive voice or web-based response system to receive six cycles of carboplatin (AUC 5 mg/mL per min or 6 mg/mL per min) and paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2)) in addition to either 200 mg of nintedanib (nintedanib group) or placebo (placebo group) twice daily on days 2-21 of every 3-week cycle for up to 120 weeks. Patients, investigators, and independent radiological reviewers were masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed progression-free survival analysed in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01015118. FINDINGS: Between Dec 9, 2009, and July 27, 2011, 1503 patients were screened and 1366 randomly assigned by nine study groups in 22 countries: 911 to the nintedanib group and 455 to the placebo group. 486 (53%) of 911 patients in the nintedanib group experienced disease progression or death compared with 266 (58%) of 455 in the placebo group. Median progression-free survival was significantly longer in the nintedanib group than in the placebo group (17·2 months [95% CI 16·6-19·9] vs 16·6 months [13·9-19·1]; hazard ratio 0·84 [95% CI 0·72-0·98]; p=0·024). The most common adverse events were gastrointestinal (diarrhoea: nintedanib group 191 [21%] of 902 grade 3 and three [<1%] grade 4 vs placebo group nine [2%] of 450 grade 3 only) and haematological (neutropenia: nintedanib group 180 [20%] grade 3 and 200 (22%) grade 4 vs placebo group 90 [20%] grade 3 and 72 [16%] grade 4; thrombocytopenia: 105 [12%] and 55 [6%] vs 21 [5%] and eight [2%]; anaemia: 108 [12%] and 13 [1%] vs 26 [6%] and five [1%]). Serious adverse events were reported in 376 (42%) of 902 patients in the nintedanib group and 155 (34%) of 450 in the placebo group. 29 (3%) of 902 patients in the nintedanib group experienced serious adverse events associated with death compared with 16 (4%) of 450 in the placebo group, including 12 (1%) in the nintedanib group and six (1%) in the placebo group with a malignant neoplasm progression classified as an adverse event by the investigator. Drug-related adverse events leading to death occurred in three patients in the nintedanib group (one without diagnosis of cause; one due to non-drug-related sepsis associated with drug-related diarrhoea and renal failure; and one due to peritonitis) and in one patient in the placebo group (cause unknown). INTERPRETATION: Nintedanib in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel is an active first-line treatment that significantly increases progression-free survival for women with advanced ovarian cancer, but is associated with more gastrointestinal adverse events. Future studies should focus on improving patient selection and optimisation of tolerability. FUNDING: Boehringer Ingelheim

Approximation to EU Technical Standards with and without the Promise of Membership: the Cases of Slovakia and Ukraine. EU Diplomacy Paper 02/2013

This paper aims to identify the extent to which the non-promise of membership of the European Union (EU) precludes the motivation of Ukraine as European Neighbourhood Policy country to adopt EU policies in the field of market access, namely technical standards and regulations. Its approximation approach is compared to the fast-tracked accession of Slovakia, which was driven by a clear-cut membership promise. Furthermore, the paper elaborates whether the conclusion of an Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, provides sufficient incentives for Ukraine to continue reforming its quality infrastructure in order to gain access to the Single European Market. Finally, scenarios of possible developments of EU-Ukraine relations are deliberated in the context of the EU-Ukraine-Russia triangle. The paper argues that market access provides sufficient stimulus for third countries to adhere to EU technical standards – even in the absence of a clear and credible promise of future EU membership. Yet, in the case of Ukraine, the country’s relations with Russia appear to compete with its EU approximation process, resulting for the time being in Ukraine attempting to pursue a balanced dual cooperation with both the EU and Russia

Improved estimates of the radiation absorbed dose to the urinary bladder wall.

Specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) have been calculated as a function of the content in the urinary bladder in order to allow more realistic calculations of the absorbed dose to the bladder wall. The SAFs were calculated using the urinary bladder anatomy from the ICRP male and female adult reference computational phantoms. The urinary bladder and its content were approximated by a sphere with a wall of constant mass, where the thickness of the wall depended on the amount of urine in the bladder. SAFs were calculated for males and females with 17 different urinary bladder volumes from 10 to 800 mL, using the Monte Carlo computer program MCNP5, at 25 energies of mono-energetic photons and electrons ranging from 10 KeV to 10 MeV. The decay was assumed to be homogeneously distributed in the urinary bladder content and the urinary bladder wall, and the mean absorbed dose to the urinary bladder wall was calculated. The Monte Carlo simulations were validated against measurements made with thermoluminescent dosimeters. The SAFs obtained for a urine volume of 200 mL were compared to the values calculated for the urinary bladder wall using the adult reference computational phantoms. The mean absorbed dose to the urinary wall from (18)F-FDG was found to be 77 µGy/MBq formales and 86 µGy/MBq for females, while for (99m)Tc-DTPA the mean absorbed doses were 80 µGy/MBq for males and 86 µGy/MBq for females. Compared to calculations using a constant value of the SAF from the adult reference computational phantoms, the mean absorbed doses to the bladder wall were 60% higher for (18)F-FDG and 30% higher for (99m)Tc-DTPA using the new SAFs

AN INTERNAL RADIATION DOSIMETRY COMPUTER PROGRAM, IDAC 2.0, FOR ESTIMATION OF PATIENT DOSES FROM RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS.

The internal dosimetry computer program internal dose assessment by computer (IDAC) for calculations of absorbed doses to organs and tissues as well as effective doses to patients from examinations with radiopharmaceuticals has been developed. The new version, IDAC2.0, incorporates the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP)/ICRU computational adult male and female voxel phantoms and decay data from the ICRP publication 107. Instead of only 25 source and target regions, calculation can now be made with 63 source regions to 73 target regions. The major advantage of having the new phantom is that the calculations of the effective doses can be made with the latest tissue weighting factors of ICRP publication 103. IDAC2.0 uses the ICRP human alimentary tract (HAT) model for orally administrated activity and for excretion through the gastrointestinal tract and effective doses have been recalculated for radiopharmaceuticals that are orally administered. The results of the program are consistent with published data using the same specific absorption fractions and also compared with published data from the same computational phantoms but with segmentation of organs leading to another set of specific absorption fractions. The effective dose is recalculated for all the 34 radiopharmaceuticals that are administered orally and has been published by the ICRP. Using the new HAT model, new tissue weighting factors and the new adult computational voxel phantoms lead to an average effective dose of half of its earlier estimated value. The reduction mainly depends on electron transport simulations to walled organs and the transition from the stylised phantom with unrealistic interorgan distances to more realistic voxel phantoms