Corpus communismi mysticum :history, politics and continuity in communist Hungary

Examining board: Bo Stråth, European University Institute ; István Rév, Central European University ; Luisa Passerini, European University Institute ; Andrea Pető, European University InstituteDefence date: 11 June 2002PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 201

Faith

Chapter 8, ‘Faith’, challenges the dominance of secular activism in accounts of ‘1968’ by exploring the ways in which individuals were inspired by or converted to Christian activism in order to fight for a more just and spiritual society. It returns to the idea of encounter with difference, especially with poverty and deprivation, as a shaper of activism. It addresses the impact of the teaching of Vatican II and the dialogue between Christianity and Marxism, as activists attempted to reduce the distance between clergy and laity and to develop much more egalitarian ‘base communities’ as vehicles for faith and action. Taking Mediterranean and eastern bloc Catholicism and as its foci, it examines the different thinking and practice of radical Christianity in different political contexts

"We Are with You, Vietnam': Transnational Solidarities in Socialist Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia

Global solidarity with anti-imperialist struggles - which state socialist regimes in eastern Europe sought to inculcate in their populations from the 1950s onwards - constitutes a little studied form of modern transnational political socialization. This article explores this theme by analysing how three socialist countries - Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia - attempted to build mass solidarity with the Vietnamese in the 1960s and 1970s. First, the article examines the political uses of transnationalism for socialist regimes in the 1960s, as the struggle for socialism in the so-called Third World', and support for such struggles in the West, allowed the socialist East to construct powerful images of a world turning towards its own political and moral values. Second, it explores how socialist citizens themselves re-interpreted transnational solidarity for their own ends, turning its language into a criticism of foreign policy, or state socialism at home; or using the opportunities it provided to challenge the state's right to control the public sphere. In doing so, the article suggests that we cannot understand such solidarity movements simply as top-down impositions from Moscow or national capitals; rather, they also reveal important aspects of state-society relations

Diagnostic Performance of On-Site Computed Tomography Derived Fractional Flow Reserve on Non-Culprit Coronary Lesions in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

The role of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) in the assessment of non-culprit lesions (NCL) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is debated. In this prospective clinical study, a total of 68 ACS patients with 89 moderate (30–70% diameter stenosis) NCLs were enrolled to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of on-site CT-FFR compared to invasive fractional flow reserve (FFRi) and dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) as reference standards. CT-FFR and FFRi values ≤0.80, as well as new or worsening wall motion abnormality in ≥2 contiguous segments on the supplying area of an NCL on DSE, were considered positive for ischemia. Sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive value of CT-FFR relative to FFRi and DSE were 51%, 89%, 75%, and 74% and 37%, 77%, 42%, and 74%, respectively. CT-FFR value (β = 0.334, p < 0.001) and CT-FFR drop from proximal to distal measuring point [(CT-FFR drop), β = −0.289, p = 0.002)] were independent predictors of FFRi value in multivariate linear regression analysis. Based on comparing their receiver operating characteristics area under the curve (AUC) values, CT-FFR value and CT-FFR drop provided better discriminatory power than CCTA-based minimal lumen diameter stenosis to distinguish between an NCL with positive and negative FFRi [0.77 (95% Confidence Intervals, CI: 0.67–0.86) and 0.77 (CI: 0.67–0.86) vs. 0.63 (CI: 0.52–0.73), p = 0.029 and p = 0.043, respectively]. Neither CT-FFR value nor CT-FFR drop was predictive of regional wall motion score index at peak stress (β = −0.440, p = 0.441 and β = 0.403, p = 0.494) or was able to confirm ischemia on the territory of an NCL revealed by DSE (AUC = 0.54, CI: 0.43–0.64 and AUC = 0.55, CI: 0.44–0.65, respectively). In conclusion, on-site CT-FFR is superior to conventional CCTA-based anatomical analysis in the assessment of moderate NCLs; however, its diagnostic capacity is not sufficient to make it a gatekeeper to invasive functional evaluation. Moreover, based on its comparison with DSE, CT-FFR might not yield any information on the microvascular dysfunction in the territory of an NCL