Narratives of Inequality: Postcolonial Literary Economics.

Whereas postcolonial criticism might have been entrapped into culturalism and identity politics, the novel, at least its best specimens, continues to address the more fundamental question of economic inequality whose relevance has been rediscovered since the 2008 financial crisis – or so Melissa Kennedy asserts in her latest book, Narratives of Inequality. The book offers an extensive survey of postcolonial fiction across different historical times and locations. Convinced that literary studies should play an important role in the critique of global capitalism along the lines of Thomas Piketty and Amartya Sen, Kennedy selects novels that explicitly handle economic vocabulary and subject-matter. According to her, these works register the same or similar structures of inequality regardless of their specific local, historical, and cultural contexts

Narratives of Inequality: Postcolonial Literary Economics.

Whereas postcolonial criticism might have been entrapped into culturalism and identity politics, the novel, at least its best specimens, continues to address the more fundamental question of economic inequality whose relevance has been rediscovered since the 2008 financial crisis – or so Melissa Kennedy asserts in her latest book, Narratives of Inequality. The book offers an extensive survey of postcolonial fiction across different historical times and locations. Convinced that literary studies should play an important role in the critique of global capitalism along the lines of Thomas Piketty and Amartya Sen, Kennedy selects novels that explicitly handle economic vocabulary and subject-matter. According to her, these works register the same or similar structures of inequality regardless of their specific local, historical, and cultural contexts

Tissue-Tissue Interaction-Triggered Calcium Elevation Is Required for Cell Polarization during Xenopus Gastrulation

The establishment of cell polarity is crucial for embryonic cells to acquire their proper morphologies and functions, because cell alignment and intracellular events are coordinated in tissues during embryogenesis according to the cell polarity. Although much is known about the molecules involved in cell polarization, the direct trigger of the process remains largely obscure. We previously demonstrated that the tissue boundary between the chordamesoderm and lateral mesoderm of Xenopus laevis is important for chordamesodermal cell polarity. Here, we examined the intracellular calcium dynamics during boundary formation between two different tissues. In a combination culture of nodal-induced chordamesodermal explants and a heterogeneous tissue, such as ectoderm or lateral mesoderm, the chordamesodermal cells near the boundary frequently displayed intracellular calcium elevation; this frequency was significantly less when homogeneous explants were used. Inhibition of the intracellular calcium elevation blocked cell polarization in the chordamesodermal explants. We also observed frequent calcium waves near the boundary of the dorsal marginal zone (DMZ) dissected from an early gastrula-stage embryo. Optical sectioning revealed that where heterogeneous explants touched, the chordamesodermal surface formed a wedge with the narrow end tucked under the heterogeneous explant. No such configuration was seen between homogeneous explants. When physical force was exerted against a chordamesodermal explant with a glass needle at an angle similar to that created in the explant, or migrating chordamesodermal cells crawled beneath a silicone block, intracellular calcium elevation was frequent and cell polarization was induced. Finally, we demonstrated that a purinergic receptor, which is implicated in mechano-sensing, is required for such frequent calcium elevation in chordamesoderm and for cell polarization. This study raises the possibility that tissue-tissue interaction generates mechanical forces through cell-cell contact that initiates coordinated cell polarization through a transient increase in intracellular calcium

Tazobactam/piperacillin for moderate-to-severe pneumonia in patients with risk for aspiration: comparison with imipenem/cilastatin.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of aspiration pneumonia is becoming an important issue due to aging of populations worldwide. Effectiveness of tazobactam/piperacillin (TAZ/PIPC) in aspiration pneumonia is not clear. PURPOSE: To compare clinical efficacy between TAZ/PIPC (1:4 compound) and imipenem/cilastatin (IPM/CS) in patients with moderate-to-severe aspiration pneumonia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this open-label, randomized study either TAZ/PIPC 5 g or IPM/CS 1 g was intravenously administered every 12 h to patients with moderate-to-severe community-acquired aspiration pneumonia or nursing home-acquired pneumonia with risk for aspiration pneumonia for average 11 days. The primary outcome was clinical response rate at the end of treatment (EOT) in validated per-protocol (VPP) population. Secondary outcomes were clinical response during treatment (days 4 and 7) and at the end of study (EOS) in VPP population, and survival at day 30 in modified intention-to-treat (MITT) population. RESULTS: There was no difference between the groups in primary or secondary outcome. However, significantly faster improvement as measured by axillary temperature (p < 0.05) and WBC count (p = 0.01) was observed under TAZ/PIPC treatment. In patients with gram-positive bacterial infection, TAZ/PIPC was more effective at EOT in VPP population (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: TAZ/PIPC is as effective and safe as IPM/CS in the treatment of moderate- to-severe aspiration pneumonia

コウソク サツゾウホウ シヨウ ニ ヨル シネ MRI デ ノ シキュウ ゼンドウ ノ ビョウシュツ オヨビ ケイチツ チョウオンパ ト ノ ヒカク

京都大学0048新制・論文博士博士(医学)乙第11874号論医博第1901号新制||医||930(附属図書館)UT51-2006-K272(主査)教授 福山 秀直, 教授 平岡 眞寛, 教授 坂井 義治学位規則第4条第2項該当Doctor of Medical ScienceKyoto UniversityDA