The novel at work: Reflections on art and politics in selected counter-totalitarian novels, 1920-70

The novel’s ability to portray and protest the political is generally well recognized. More controversial is how, and with what effects, the assertive nature of political critique combines with the open-ended qualities of artistic expression. Such is the problem confronting this thesis. My inquiry is based on a selection of early to mid-twentieth century counter-totalitarian novels, drawn from across Western Europe and Russia, and representing a variety of different literary styles and political commitments. In the case of Western Europe, my selected authors are Ignazio Silone, Arthur Koestler and George Orwell; for Russia, they are Yevgeny Zamyatin, Andrei Platonov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Vasily Grossman and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. How we ‘read’ the artistic/political relationship is important as it influences how we approach texts, the kinds of questions we ask, and the nature of the conclusions we reach. These issues find a theoretical home in the debate on politically committed art, where theorists such as Theodor Adorno and Jacques Rancière oppose the overt commitments of authors such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Bertolt Brecht. My contention is that the abstractions of this debate obscure the density of the relationship, both as it is experienced by authors and as it may strike us as readers. Hence I argue for a grounded approach to the issue: that is, one that is attentive to the detail of texts situated in all the specificity of their political, historical circumstances. For my guide to the literary practices of the novel, I turn to Mikhail Bakhtin, focusing on the dialogic and polyphonic, the parodic and subversive, and the time/space settings of chronotope. These elements show how the political can be expressed in an evocative and/or subversive way. At the same time, Bakhtin’s binary distinctions—the monological and dialogical; the centripetal and centrifugal qualities of language; and the notions of finalizability and unfinalizability—invite further reflection, for they promote an oppositional reading of the artistic/political relationship, and thus form part of the problem with which I am critically engaged. In concluding, I expand on the intricate intersections between finalizability and unfinalizability; the carrying power of the texts’ imaginative calls; and the force of their emotional narratives. The inquiry is broad-ranging and interdisciplinary, drawing variously on the insights of literary theory, philosophy and political analysis. It aims to be of interest to all those broadly concerned with fiction’s powers to speak to the political in its distinctive and controversial fashion

Laminitis: risk factors and outcome in a group of Danish horses

Reasons for performing study: Recent systematic reviews have highlighted the lack of quality information with respect to the epidemiology of equine laminitis. Objectives: To identify in Denmark the risk factors for new (i.e. not believed to have suffered from laminitis previously) cases of laminitis (NL) and to look at the outcome and incidence of repeated episodes of laminitis in these animals as well as those which had previously suffered an episode of laminitis (i.e. chronic cases) over the following 12 months. Methods: Information was obtained from 110 veterinary diagnosed cases of laminitis (69 new and 41 chronic) and 80 control animals (the next non-laminitic horse/pony seen by that participating practice). All animals were followed for up to one year. Univariable and multivariable conditional logistic regression was conducted for the NL case control pairs. Variables were retained within the final multivariable models if the likelihood ratio p-value was < 0.05. Results: There was no association between sex or gender and laminitis. A recent change of grass, being on what was considered high quality grass and being a cold-blooded type, <149cm ( i.e. Shetland, Fell, Welsh, or Dartmoor pony, Icelandic horse, Norwegian fjords, or a mix of these breeds) were all significant risk factors for laminitis. Although cresty neck score (CNS), and body condition Score (BCS), were significantly associated with NL at the univariable screening stage, they were found to be confounders of breed and each other during the multivariable model building process. Other factors such as weight, and estimated starch intake were not found to be significant .Thirty three percent of all the laminitis cases had been humanely destroyed within 12 months of diagnosis, mainly for laminitis associated reasons, compared with only 7.5% of the controls (none for laminitis associated reasons). Conclusions: and potential Relevance: This study confirms the importance of grass turn out and breed on laminitis risk. Horses in work at the time of diagnosis as well as those diagnosed in the winter and spring were more likely to be humanely destroyed within the next 12 months than those not in work or diagnosed in the autumn and summer

Out of the Comfort Zone

Imagine the following experience: Your are a student nurse working with other health care providers in the obstetric unit of your facility. A fifteen-year-old Haitian girl, along with her grandmother, arrives seeking help because her two-day-old, eight-pound baby boy is having difficulty breathing..

Preparing Novice Nurses for Early Recognition Acute Deterioration

Hospitalized patients increasingly present with complex health issues that place them at risk for acute patient deterioration (APD). Novice nurses are ill-equipped with the critical clinical skills to function competently in recognizing APD, placing patients at risk for negative health outcomes. This project addressed the need to educate novice nurses to recognize APD and answered the project focused questions that asked if an educational intervention with high-fidelity simulation (HFS) would improve nurse knowledge and clinical confidence in recognizing APD. Benner\u27s novice-to-expert and the constructivism theory were used to guide the project. Based upon a review of the literature, the HFS was developed to provide scenarios in which participants would view APD evolving case studies and demonstrate knowledge and skill for caring for patients with APD. A convenience sample of 11 novice nurses participated in the pre- and posttest design project to determine if knowledge and clinical competence increased. Data from the HFS program were analyzed; results showed no statistically significant change in knowledge or confidence post intervention (p = 0.441). A larger sample size is recommended for future HFS interventions at the site to determine if the program of education will increase knowledge and clinical confidence with future iterations of HFS. The project has the potential to promote positive social change as novice nurses learn to recognize and respond to APD and as APD events are reduced

Analysis of Patient Alarms in Adult Intensive Care Units

...Our study aims were pretty straight-forward. We concentrated quite a bit on arrhythmia alarms, which is a little different than the parameter alarms we\u27ve been talking about so far today. We decided we were going to assess the alarm prevalence of patient\u27s physiological monitor alarms. We\u27ll identify the alarm burden, analyze a select high priority number of arrhythmia alarms and determine patient characteristics that may be associated with the frequent alarms

Factors related to special educators concepts of exceptional students, regular students, and themselves

The affective meanings, defined by a semantic differential, that special educators of the mentally retarded, learning disabled and emotionally disturbed in Virginia public schools assign to their concepts of certain exceptional students, regular students, special educators, and themselves personally were explored. In addition, relationships between these affective meanings and the age, race, sex, endorsements, and experience of teachers were examined.;Mailed survey data were returned by 152 special educators from a 10% stratified random sample of Virginia public school systems. Data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis and a series of multiple regressions, and the following conclusions were drawn: (1) Virginia special educators perceived each concept studied as distinctive, with affective meanings in the moderate positive range. The exceptions were the concepts learning disabled student and regular class student which did not differ in their affective meanings. (2) The concept emotionally disturbed student was significantly higher on potency and significantly lower on evaluation than all other concepts. (3) The concept educable mentally retarded student was significantly lower on activity and potency than other concepts. (4) The concepts special educator and me (myself) were significantly higher on evaluation and activity than other concepts, but comparatively low on potency. (5) Special educators perceived exceptional students as significantly lower on activity than the non-handicapped. (6) The predictor variables (1) age, (2) race, (3) type of service delivery, (4) special education endorsement, and (5) size of employing school system were significantly correlated with several of the affective meanings studied, while level of education, length of teaching experience, sex and level of service delivery were not found to be important predictors