Seeds of Change: Assia Djebar’s Les Enfants du nouveau monde/ Children of the New World: a novel of the Algerian War

Examining Djebar’s third novel, Les Enfants du nouveau monde, (Children of the New World: A Novel of the Algerian War), her first to depict the Algerian Revolution, I argue that it not only reveals the political, feminist, and aesthetic elements that define her later work, but is a well-crafted text that is politically correct in its anti-colonial stance, subversive in its feminist objectives; it expresses Djebar’s belief that Algerian independence alone will not liberate women. The novelist discerns a significant gender gap regarding the goals of liberation: Algerian men struggle against French colonialism, women seek agency within their family and society and political independence from France. In my analysis, I ground the text historically (Amrane-Minne), and apply anti-colonial and feminist theory (Fanon; Mernissi)

Problems Handling Dystocia

The recognition of abnormal calving (dystocia) comes FIRST from a basic understanding of normal calving. From this understanding, the establishment of guidelines for observation of cattle and for intervention will reduce calf losses . In Colorado, as part of a pilot program of the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), two-thirds of the costs of disease losses were associated with death loss. From a subset of 73 of the 86 NAHMS herds in studied in 1986-87 in 24,396 births, 4.5% of the calves were lost. Of the 4.5% losses, 34% were attributed to dystocia related losses. In addition, losses attributed to diarrhea, pneumonia, or cold may have been a consequence of the increased risks associated with dystocia. On most operations this is a very effective area where personnel training in obstetrical management will have a large beneficial impact. Most large operations have a labor turnover and small operations sometimes don\u27t see enough problems to feel comfortable handling them. Thus, this training should be an ongoing part of the management program

STUDY OF EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX SCAFFOLD REMODELING IN THE PORCINE TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT: UNIAXIAL COMPRESSION AND BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS

Regenerative medicine techniques, such as extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds, are currently being investigated to address temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc replacement. Positive results were seen in the canine TMJ model, where ECM scaffolds remodeled to tissue resembling the native TMJ disc biochemically and in compressive properties (Brown et al. 2012, Brown et al. 2011). To further quantify the temporal remodeling of the ECM when implanted in the TMJ, the porcine model was chosen due to similarities with the human TMJ. These pigs underwent bilateral discectomy and a unilateral small intestine submucosa extracellular matrix (SIS-ECM) device implantation and were then euthanized at 1, 3 and 6 months post-op. Unconfined uniaxial compression was performed on the remodeled ECM, and the condylar cartilage from both joints. Biochemical characterization was also performed to measure glycosaminoglycan and DNA content. The results of this study found no statistical (p<0.a05) difference in the mechanical properties between the remodeled tissue and the native tissue at any time point. Additionally, the ipsilateral condylar cartilage was not statistically different from the native condylar cartilage except for peak stress and tangent modulus at the 30% strain rate for the 3 month post implant group. Conversely, the contralateral condylar cartilage at the 6 month time point had a statistically significant difference in the peak stress and tangent modulus at 20% and 30% strain. The mechanical findings are supported by the biochemistry, which shows no statistical difference between native and remodeled tissue. Overall, this study indicates that the SIS-ECM scaffold constructively remodels into a TMJ disc-like structure

Ovarian Cancer: Opportunity for Targeted Therapy

Ovarian cancer is a common cause of cancer mortality in women with limited treatment effectiveness in advanced stages. The limitation to treatment is largely the result of high rates of cancer recurrence despite chemotherapy and eventual resistance to existing chemotherapeutic agents. The objective of this paper is to review current concepts of ovarian carcinogenesis. We will review existing hypotheses of tumor origin from ovarian epithelial cells, Fallopian tube, and endometrium. We will also review the molecular pathogenesis of ovarian cancer which results in two specific pathways of carcinogenesis: (1) type I low-grade tumor and (2) type II high-grade tumor. Improved understanding of the molecular basis of ovarian carcinogenesis has opened new opportunities for targeted therapy. This paper will also review these potential therapeutic targets and will explore new agents that are currently being investigated

Low rate of bacterial co-infection in patients with COVID-19

We agree with Michael J Cox and colleagues1 that clinical management of COVID-19 would be enhanced by further characterisation of bacterial co-infections. A few case reports have described examples of such co-infections.2, 3, 4 However, national5 and international6 guidelines recommend empirical antibiotics for all patients who are severely ill with suspected COVID-19, and that cessation of therapy is left to the clinicians' discretion. Pending the widespread availability of metagenomic sequencing as envisaged by Cox and colleagues,1 we argue that traditional diagnostics still have a role

Quest for wine yeasts—An old story revisited

Numerous studies have described the yeast biota of grapes, and grape must in order to understand better the succession of yeasts during fermentation of wine. The origin of the wine yeasts has been rather controversial. By using more elaborate isolation methods, classical genetic analysis and electrophoretic karyotyping of monosporic clones, with this study, credible proof now exists that the vineyard is the primary source for the wine yeasts and that strains found on the grapes can be followed through the fermentation process

Study protocol: the effects of air pollution exposure and chronic respiratory disease on pneumonia risk in urban Malawian adults - the Acute Infection of the Respiratory Tract Study (The AIR Study)

Background Pneumonia is the 2nd leading cause of years of life lost worldwide and is a common cause of adult admissions to hospital in sub-Saharan Africa. Risk factors for adult pneumonia are well characterised in developed countries, but are less well described in sub-Saharan Africa where HIV is a major contributing factor. Exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollution is high, and tobacco smoking prevalence is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa, yet the contribution of these factors to the burden of chronic respiratory diseases in sub-Saharan Africa remains poorly understood. Furthermore, the extent to which the presence of chronic respiratory diseases and exposure to air pollution contribute to the burden of pneumonia is not known. Design The Acute Infection of the Respiratory Tract Study (The AIR Study) is a case–control study to identify preventable risk factors for adult pneumonia in the city of Blantyre, Malawi. Cases will be adults admitted with pneumonia, recruited from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, the largest teaching hospital in Malawi. Controls will be adults without pneumonia, recruited from the community. The AIR Study will recruit subjects and analyse data within strata defined by positive and negative HIV infection status. All participants will undergo thorough assessment for a range of potential preventable risk factors, with an emphasis on exposure to air pollution and the presence of chronic respiratory diseases. This will include collection of questionnaire data, clinical samples (blood, urine, sputum and breath samples), lung function data and air pollution monitoring in their home. Multivariate analysis will be used to identify the important risk factors contributing to the pneumonia burden in this setting. Identification of preventable risk factors will justify research into the effectiveness of targeted interventions to address this burden in the future. Discussion The AIR Study is the first study of radiologically confirmed pneumonia in which air pollution exposure measurements have been undertaken in this setting, and will contribute important new information about exposure to air pollution in urban SSA. Through identification of preventable risk factors, the AIR Study aims to facilitate future research and implementation of targeted interventions to reduce the high burden of pneumonia in SSA

Mechanism of Vanadium Leaching during Surface Weathering of Basic Oxygen Furnace Steel Slag Blocks: A Microfocus X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and Electron Microscopy Study

© 2017 American Chemical Society. Basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking slag is enriched in potentially toxic V which may become mobilized in high pH leachate during weathering. BOF slag was weathered under aerated and air-excluded conditions for 6 months prior to SEM/EDS and μXANES analysis to determine V host phases and speciation in both primary and secondary phases. Leached blocks show development of an altered region in which free lime and dicalcium silicate phases were absent and Ca-Si-H was precipitated (CaCO 3 was also present under aerated conditions). μXANES analyses show that V was released to solution as V(V) during dicalcium silicate dissolution and some V was incorporated into neo-formed Ca-Si-H. Higher V concentrations were observed in leachate under aerated conditions than in the air-excluded leaching experiment. Aqueous V concentrations were controlled by Ca 3 (VO 4 ) 2 solubility, which demonstrate an inverse relationship between Ca and V concentrations. Under air-excluded conditions Ca concentrations were controlled by dicalcium silicate dissolution and Ca-Si-H precipitation, leading to relatively high Ca and correspondingly low V concentrations. Formation of CaCO 3 under aerated conditions provided a sink for aqueous Ca, allowing higher V concentrations limited by kinetic dissolution rates of dicalcium silicate. Thus, V release may be slowed by the precipitation of secondary phases in the altered region, improving the prospects for slag reuse