THE DIFFÉRENED IN PAUL AUSTER’S CITY OF GLASS: A LYOTARDIAN APPROACH

Postulating on Quinn and the Stillmans’ state of dissipation at theend of Auster’s City of Glass, one can align it with what Lyotard dubs as astate of différend. Lyotard defines différend as a state of clash between twoparties over the distribution of justice which is conventionally made through metanarratives.Since the concept of justice, in Lyotard’s view, has always been in such a waythat there is always justice to one party and injustice to the other one,Lyotard holds that there can be no true justice. Hence Lyotard claims that the appropriatestate of justice in such a condition is the différend, a state of the sublime,of simultaneous pleasure and pain, in which there is no resolution for eitherparty and the clash is always on the run. Extrapolating on this issue, thispaper argues that Quinn and the Stillmans are left in such a state at the endof Auster’s City of Glass, and it is in accordance with the inability oflanguage to signify or to convey meaning effectively as presented by Auster.Quinn develops madness, a consequence of his pain over his identity crisis,while merging as a “Private eye” in the urban world of his pleasure; StillmanSr, suffering the corrupt state of language, finds pleasure and relief in committingsuicide; and Virginia and Peter just vanish, their pleasure or pain being unrepresented,since there is no medium of articulation for their rights. The findings pointto the incommensurability of justice among and specific to these characters alongwith the inability of language to convey any meaning which highlights the stateof the différend that Auster presents. The case remains open as neither party achievesan appropriate justice. Their final disappearance hints to their unpresentablepresences or final painful pleasures

Nifedipine, Captopril or Sublingual Nitroglycerin, Which can Reduce Blood Pressure the Most?

BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HTN) is one of the most important problems in all parts of the world. Although the disease is usually asymptomatic, its diagnosis and treatment are easy. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of Nifedipine (Adalat®), Captopril and sublingual Nitroglycerin on reducing blood pressure (BP). METHODS: This study was a parallel group randomized controlled trial. From the patients referred to our heart clinic, 120 patients with severe HTN were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomly allocated into 3 groups A, B, and C. The patients were advised to use 5 drops of Adalat in group A, Captopril 25 mg sublingually in group B, and 1 sublingual Nitroglycerin pearl in group C. The BP was measured every 20 minutes during one hour. RESULTS: Systolic BP was reduced significantly by Adalat and Captopril compared with sublingual Nitroglycerin in the 20th, 40th and 60th minutes (P = 0.001), but there was no significant difference between Adalat and captopril in reducing systolic BP. In addition, the result of reducing diastolic BP was not significantly different among the three groups. CONCLUSION: We saw the same effect on reducing BP by Captopril, Adalat, and sublingual Nitroglycerin. Among these three drugs, the side effects of Captopril were the least frequent. Adalat caused headache and flushing. Thus, it seems Captopril can be used instead of Adalat in medical centers. Keywords: Adalat, Captopril, Nitroglycerin, Severe Hypertensio

Tubitak i „potencijal za bitak“ u pustoj zemlji: Austerova Zemlja posljednjih stvari

This paper proposes a reading of Paul Auster’s novel In the Country of Last Things (1987) through the conceptual lens of Heidegger’s theory of Dasein. It focuses on Heidegger’s definition of human nature as Dasein by discussing the range of existential possibilities that the German philosopher outlined for human beings in order to make authentic sense of their being and life before death. The progression from birth to death constitutes Dasein’s state of being or its existence. However, not many individuals are conscious of this process, being lost in the limiting situation of their everydayness. Accordingly, inauthentic lives without understanding one’s true possibilities take place. A fictional visualization of Dasein’s attempts at an authentic existence within its limiting situation or, we could say, within its typical society, can concretize Heidegger’s points in a better way. Concerning Paul Auster’s existential outlook on life, In the Country of Last Things is a portrayal of such a struggle for an authentic existence in a dystopian predicament where humankind is thrown into the lowest possible situation. Allegorically, the novel is a laboratory for experimenting with human potentiality for being in the face of severely lacking conditions for the fulfilment of biological needs, with death always in the background. In such a thrown state of life, the protagonist, Anna Blume, is called to authenticity against others’ inauthenticity and life-threatening situations, highlighting the possibility of living in a dystopia through authentic selfhood. The paper thus argues that Auster’s existentialism in this novel is not alien to Heidegger’s worldview on human existence.Rad predlaže čitanje romana Paula Austera U zemlji posljednjih stvari (1987) kroz konceptualnu perspektivu Heideggerove teorije tubitka. Naglasak se stavlja na Heideggerovu definiciju ljudske prirode kao tubitka i pritom se raspravlja o rasponu egzistencijalnih mogućnosti na koje njemački filozof upućuje ljudska bića kako bi prije smrti postigla autentičan osjećaj vlastitoga bića i života. Kretanje od rođenja prema smrti predstavlja tubitkovo stanje bitka, odnosno egzistenciju. Međutim, rijetki su svjesni toga procesa te su izgubljeni u ograničavajućoj situaciji svakodnevnog života. U skladu s time, neautentični su životi nesvjesni vlastitih mogućnosti. Fikcionalna vizualizacija tubitkovih pokušaja autentičnoga postojanja unutar svoje ograničavajuće situacije ili, mogli bismo reći, unutar svog uobičajenoga društva, može na bolji način konkretizirati Heideggerove tvrdnje. Kada je u pitanju Austerov egzistencijalni pogled na život, U zemlji posljednjih stvari prikaz je jedne takve borbe za autentično postojanje u distopijskom svijetu u kojem je čovječanstvo svedeno na najnižu životnu situaciju. U alegorijskom smislu, roman predstavlja laboratorij za eksperimentiranje s ljudskim potencijalom bitka suočenog s izuzetno nepovoljnim uvjetima za ispunjenje bioloških potreba neprestano praćenima smrću koja vreba iz prikrajka. U takvom teškom životnom okruženju protagonistica Anna Blume osjeća poriv prema autentičnosti usprkos neautentičnosti drugih ljudi i sveprisutnoj smrtnoj opasnosti, pritom naglašavajući mogućnost života usred distopije na temelju autentične svijesti o sebi. U radu se stoga tvrdi da je egzistencijalizam u Austerovu romanu blizak Heideggerovu svjetonazoru o ljudskom postojanju

Role of big data in the future of the banking industry with scenario planning approach

This research has been done with the aim of developing Iran's banking scenarios with an emphasis on big data. The current research is practical in terms of orientation and exploratory in terms of the goal. It is also mixed in terms of its philosophical, pragmatic and methodological foundations. To carry out the research in the first stage, 20 key drivers of the research were extracted through literature review and interviews with banking and technology experts. After screening with the fuzzy Delphi method, 8 factors were removed and the rest were evaluated with the Marcus decision making technique. The findings of the research show that the two factors of "technology regulation" and "technology transfer costs" were chosen as key uncertainties for developing research scenarios. Based on these two key uncertainties, four scenarios were developed based on interviews with the focus group with the titles of comprehensive banking, static banking, searching banking, wandering banking. In the comprehensive banking scenario, everything is in its optimal state; Technology transfer costs have decreased and regulators are supportive of the technologies. According to the findings of the research, considering drivers, key uncertainties and alternative scenarios by managers and decision makers can improve the performance and increase the competitive advantage of banks

Design of single-mode single-polarization large-mode-area multicore fibers

ABSTRACT: In laser science and industry, considerable effort is directed toward designing fibers for fiber laser and fiber amplifier applications, each of which offers a particular advantage over the others. Evanescently coupled multicore fibers, however, have been studied less extensively due to the relatively small mode area in the single-mode regime. Here, by proposing a new structure with stress-applying parts in a 37-core fiber and optimizing this structure through a comprehensive framework, we present 21 solutions characterized by large-mode-area and high beam quality in the single-mode, single-polarization regime. Different fiber designs are optimal for different output parameters. In one design, the mode area can significantly increase to above 880 μm², which is comparable with that of photonic-crystal fibers. Moreover, besides the single-mode operation, the beam quality factor (M² factor) of the fundamental mode is considered an output parameter in the bent state and is improved up to 1.05 in another design. A comprehensive tolerance analysis is then performed to assess the performance of the designs under deviations from normal conditions. Moreover, in spite of the shifts in the loss of modes, the proposed high beam quality LMA fibers maintain single-polarization, single-mode operation across a wide range of core pitches, bending orientation angles, and bending radius deviations. Our results highlight the potential of multicore fibers for the efficient operation of fiber lasers and amplifiers

Evaluation of the Antibacterial and Wound Healing Properties of a Burn Ointment Containing Curcumin, Honey, and Potassium Aluminium

Burn wounds can severely trouble the health system and life quality of patients. The present study aimed to analyze the synergistic healing properties of curcumin, honey, and potassium alum substances merged in a newly-devised burn ointment on second-degree burn wounds in rats. The MIC and MBC tests on 200 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginous are compared to imipenem in vitro. Their killing time and cytotoxicity are also studied using a standard isolate of P. aeruginous, fibroblast stem cells (FSC) and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF). Furthermore, histopathological and histomorphological assessments are conducted on 150 male Wistar rats whitin four experimental groups to evaluate the efficiency of the prepared burn ointment. We found a significant wound healing in both macroscopical observations and microscopical evaluations. Both curcumin and honey show strong antimicrobial effects with no cytotoxicity. Also, the histopathological results present a considerable and comparable wound re-epithelization in the a group of rats treated with both honey and curcumin after 7 days. The burn ointment containing curcumin, honey, and potassium alum show considerable efficacy in accelerating the healing of experimentally-induced burn wounds in animals. Th novel onement product is propose as a powerful alternative for the topical treatment of burn injuries

Polymorphism of rs599839 in the PSRC1 gene is associated with coronary artery disease in an Iranian population

Introduction: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading health complication worldwide because of its high prevalence and mortality. The association between CAD susceptibility and the rs599839 (C/T) polymorphism in the human proline and serine-rich coiled-coil (PSRC1) was reported in a genome-wide association study. To validate this association, we performed this case-control study to genotype the 1p13.3 (rs599839) locus in a sample of the Iranian population with CAD (stenosis≥70% in≥1 coronary artery). Methods: We performed an association analysis with PCR and Sanger sequencing of rs599839 (C/T) polymorphism and CAD risk in 280 CAD patients and 287 healthy controls defined as a coronary calcium score of zero and no noncalcified plaques in coronary computed tomography angiography. SPSS, version 16.0, was applied for statistical analysis. Results: The rs599839 (C/T) locus showed a significant association with CAD (P value<0.001). TT and CT genotypes were associated with CAD (P value<0.001). Furthermore, the dominant status (TT+CT vs. CC) was associated with an increased risk of CAD (OR, 9.14; 95% CI, 3.77 to 22.15; and P value<0.001). Conclusion: The study findings indicate strong evidence for rs599839 (C/T) association with CAD risk

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Adolescent transport and unintentional injuries: a systematic analysis using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Globally, transport and unintentional injuries persist as leading preventable causes of mortality and morbidity for adolescents. We sought to report comprehensive trends in injury-related mortality and morbidity for adolescents aged 10–24 years during the past three decades. Methods: Using the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2019 Study, we analysed mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributed to transport and unintentional injuries for adolescents in 204 countries. Burden is reported in absolute numbers and age-standardised rates per 100 000 population by sex, age group (10–14, 15–19, and 20–24 years), and sociodemographic index (SDI) with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We report percentage changes in deaths and DALYs between 1990 and 2019. Findings: In 2019, 369 061 deaths (of which 214 337 [58%] were transport related) and 31·1 million DALYs (of which 16·2 million [52%] were transport related) among adolescents aged 10–24 years were caused by transport and unintentional injuries combined. If compared with other causes, transport and unintentional injuries combined accounted for 25% of deaths and 14% of DALYs in 2019, and showed little improvement from 1990 when such injuries accounted for 26% of adolescent deaths and 17% of adolescent DALYs. Throughout adolescence, transport and unintentional injury fatality rates increased by age group. The unintentional injury burden was higher among males than females for all injury types, except for injuries related to fire, heat, and hot substances, or to adverse effects of medical treatment. From 1990 to 2019, global mortality rates declined by 34·4% (from 17·5 to 11·5 per 100 000) for transport injuries, and by 47·7% (from 15·9 to 8·3 per 100 000) for unintentional injuries. However, in low-SDI nations the absolute number of deaths increased (by 80·5% to 42 774 for transport injuries and by 39·4% to 31 961 for unintentional injuries). In the high-SDI quintile in 2010–19, the rate per 100 000 of transport injury DALYs was reduced by 16·7%, from 838 in 2010 to 699 in 2019. This was a substantially slower pace of reduction compared with the 48·5% reduction between 1990 and 2010, from 1626 per 100 000 in 1990 to 838 per 100 000 in 2010. Between 2010 and 2019, the rate of unintentional injury DALYs per 100 000 also remained largely unchanged in high-SDI countries (555 in 2010 vs 554 in 2019; 0·2% reduction). The number and rate of adolescent deaths and DALYs owing to environmental heat and cold exposure increased for the high-SDI quintile during 2010–19. Interpretation: As other causes of mortality are addressed, inadequate progress in reducing transport and unintentional injury mortality as a proportion of adolescent deaths becomes apparent. The relative shift in the burden of injury from high-SDI countries to low and low–middle-SDI countries necessitates focused action, including global donor, government, and industry investment in injury prevention. The persisting burden of DALYs related to transport and unintentional injuries indicates a need to prioritise innovative measures for the primary prevention of adolescent injury. Funding: Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation