Lost in the savage garden: A nihilistic interpretation of Anne Rice\u27s Vampire Chronicles .

This study examines Anne Rice\u27s Vampire Chronicles in light of the nihilist tradition. Nihilism is defined in this study as the absence of meaning. Rice uses vampires to explore problems created through this philosophy that ultimately leaves a void in human existence. In a sense, this study is an exploration of the ways which humanity fails to find an adequate reason to live. Louis begins the exploration by searching for God. Unable to find supernatural answers in his animated state, he falls into spiritual decay. Lestat, however, takes an aggressive approach patterned on Fredrick Nietzsche. By killing God and giving up the search that destroys Louis, Lestat attempts to become the ubermensche. Lestat, however, soon discovers that the role of ubermensche itself also is meaningless. Other vampires seek meaning in other ways. Marius seeks meaning in art while Gabrielle tries to find a reason to live in nature. Akasha fails to save everyone by imposing her own version of utopia on the society of vampires. In the end, nothing works. Rice\u27s Vampire Chronicles suggest that there really no meaning to human existence. Humans are ultimately lost in a savage garden

A systematic review and meta-synthesis of the impact of becoming parents on the couple relationship.

BACKGROUND: the transition to parenthood (TTP) is associated with changes to a couple's relationship. Quantitative evidence shows the TTP is associated with reduced satisfaction and quality of a couples' relationships. Qualitative research provides information on the lived experience of couples in the TTP so can provide a more in-depth understanding of the impact. This review therefore aimed to synthesise qualitative research of the perceived impact of the TTP on a couple's relationship in contemporary Western society. DESIGN: a systematic search was conducted of nine databases and grey literature. Key author, citation and reference searches were also undertaken. Papers were included if they presented qualitative data of romantic partner relationships during the TTP with parents aged 18 or over. Studies were restricted to those conducted from 1996 in Western societies. Analysis was conducted using meta-ethnography. FINDINGS: searches identified 5256 papers. After applying inclusion criteria 12 papers were included in the meta-synthesis. Six main themes were identified: (1) Adjustment Phase (a period of change in the relationship), (2) Focus on the Baby (with a sub-theme of feeling unprepared for the relationship impact), (3) Communication (shifts in communication patterns and importance), (4) Intimacy (changes to sexual relations, romance and closeness), (5) Strain on the Relationship (short-term or prolonged), and (6) Strengthened Relationships (deepening of connection and new affinity). Except for the themes of Strain on the Relationship and Strengthened Relationships, the findings showed the TTP had positive and negative impacts on couples' relationships. KEY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: the review highlights a range of TTP relationship issues that couples experience and may require help with. Health care professionals working with parents in the TTP may be able to provide support through antenatal education that includes preparation for relationship changes, and provision of postnatal support to identify and overcome problems

Oat production in North Dakota

A-89

Geometric Finiteness and Non-quasinormal Modes of the BTZ Black Hole

The BTZ black hole is geometrically finite. This means that its three dimensional hyperbolic structure as encoded in its metric is in 1-1 correspondence with the Teichmuller space of its boundary, which is a two torus. The equivalence of different Teichmuller parameters related by the action of the modular group therefore requires the invariance of the monodromies of the solutions of the wave equation around the inner and outer horizons in the BTZ background. We show that this invariance condition leads to the non-quasinormal mode frequencies discussed by Birmingham and Carlip.Comment: 8 Pages, Latex file, minor changes in the text, journal versio

The impact of childbirth-related post-traumatic stress on a couple's relationship: a systematic review and meta-synthesis

Objective: This review aimed to identify the impact of childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or symptoms (PTSS) on a couple’s relationship. Background: Childbirth can be psychologically traumatic, and can lead to PTSD. There is emerging evidence that experiencing a traumatic birth can affect the quality of the couple’s relationship. This is an important issue as poor quality relationships can impact on the well-being of partners, their parenting, and the welfare of the infant. Methods: A systematic search was conducted of Amed, CENTRAL, Cinahl, Embase, Maternity and Infant Care, Medline, MITCognet, POPLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycBITE, PsycINFO, Pubmed, and Science Direct. Additionally, grey literature, citation, and reference searches were conducted. Papers were eligible for inclusion if they reported qualitative data about parents who had experienced childbirth and measures of PTSD or PTSS and the relationship were taken. Analysis was conducted using meta-ethnography. Results: Seven studies were included in the meta-synthesis. Results showed that childbirth-related PTSD or PTSS can have a perceived impact on the couple’s relationship and five themes were identified: negative emotions; lack of understanding and support; loss of intimacy; strain on the relationship; and strengthened relationships. A model of proposed interaction between these themes is presented. Conclusions: The impact of childbirth-related PTSD or PTSS on the couple’s relationships is complex. As the quality of the couple relationship is important to family wellbeing, it is important that health care professionals are aware of the impact of experiencing psychologically traumatic childbirth as impetus for prevention and support

Organizing information on the next generation web - Design and implementation of a new bookmark structure

The next-generation Web will increase the need for a highly organized and ever evolving method to store references to Web objects. These requirements could be realized by the development of a new bookmark structure. This paper endeavors to identify the key requirements of such a bookmark, specifically in relation to Web documents, and sets out a suggested design through which these needs may be accomplished. A prototype developed offers such features as the sharing of bookmarks between users and groups of users. Bookmarks for Web documents in this prototype allow more specific information to be stored such as: URL, the document type, the document title, keywords, a summary, user annotations, date added, date last visited and date last modified. Individuals may access the service from anywhere on the Internet, as long as they have a Java-enabled Web browser

Sunitinib mediates mitochondrial ROS production in adult rat cardiac fibroblasts via CaMKII oxidation

Ca2+/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a central mediator of Ca2+-induced signalling in the heart and regulates both normal cardiac physiology and pathology. Sunitinib malate is an oral Type I tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) known to inhibit more than 50 kinases, with anti-angiogenic and anti-proliferative effects affiliated with off-target cardiotoxicity. Previous work has shown that chronic sunitinib treatment significantly increases CaMKII expression and activity and this correlates with significant cardiac dysfunction in vivo.1 Mitochondrial dysfunction, mediated by increased mitochondrial Ca2+ and resultant mitochondrial ROS production, has been proposed as an underlying mechanism for TKI-induced cardiotoxicity in cardiomyocytes.2 However, little is known of how TKIs may affect the non-contractile cells of the heart. Here, we have investigated whether sunitinib treatment increases mitochondrial ROS production in cardiac fibroblasts (CF) and whether CaMKII may play a role in this potential cardiotoxic mechanis