Representing a Traumatized Nation in Ghassan Kanafani’s Men in the Sun

This article investigates post-colonial trauma in Ghassan Kanafani’s Men in the Sun (1962), a novella portraying the harsh life and psychological pain of the Palestinians after losing their homeland. The article explores examples of traumatized characters and Kanafani’s techniques of conveying this trauma to the reader. Characters seem to be engulfed in a bleak atmosphere of trauma pervading every aspect of their lives. Symptoms of trauma including hopelessness, confusion, helplessness, anxiety, inability to forget the past, and loneliness show in characters’ behavior, thoughts, and feelings. Struggling with their unbearable despair, they become victims of a smuggler who is also traumatized and rendered impotent by war. The journey made to find a decent life only brings misery, humiliation, and death. Kanafani’s concern about the general public appears in a plot revolving around the needs and frustrations of people coming from a humble social background. Kanafani pinpoints the grave consequences of colonialism which put Palestinian people under nerve-racking conditions. His account may be seen as an attempt to draw attention to the suffering of his fellow citizens, and consequently gain support for their cause. Alternatively, Kanafani may be living in the same trauma his characters suffer from, and thus revisiting it in his fictional retelling of the story of his nation.

Face Recognition using a Newly Developed Linear Subspace Learning Method

Face recognition is considered a specific physiological biometric in order to identify an individual according to the physical features of the human face. Much research has been conducted in such areas, but still more accurate processes are required for biometric facial recognition. This article presents a novel linear subspace learning method for face recognition which not only can take advantage of principle components analysis (PCA) as a successful feature extraction, but also can apply nearest local centroid mean vector (LMKNCN) as an effective classifier to improve the classification performance. The main goal of this particular scheme is to handle two common existing issues in recognition techniques: named sensitivity to the training sample size and negative effects of outliers. Moreover, to illustrate the performance of proposed developed PCA, we compare it with the latest dimensionality reduction techniques such as traditional PCA and KPCA on publicly available face dataset. Experimental results illustrate that our newly developed method has significantly achieved better performance over the same face database compared with the former KNN-based algorithms

Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in stool samples and nasopharyngeal swabs from COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first identified in respiratory samples and was found to commonly cause cough and pneumonia. However, non-respiratory symptoms including gastrointestinal disorders are also present and a big proportion of patients test positive for the virus in stools for a prolonged period. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated viral load trends in stools and nasopharyngeal swabs and their correlation with multiple demographic and clinical factors. The study included 211 laboratory-confirmed cases suffering from a mild form of the disease and completing their isolation period at a non-hospital center in the United Arab Emirates. Demographic and clinical information was collected by standardized questionnaire and from the medical records of the patient. Of the 211 participants, 25 % tested negative in both sample types at the time of this study and 53 % of the remaining patients had detectable viral RNA in their stools. A positive fecal viral test was associated with male gender, diarrhea as a symptom, and hospitalization during infection. A positive correlation was also observed between a delayed onset of symptoms and a positive stool test. Viral load in stools positively correlated with, being overweight, exercising, taking antibiotics in the last 3 months and blood type O. The viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs, on the other hand, was higher for blood type A, and rhesus positive (Rh factor). Regression analysis showed no correlation between the viral loads measured in stool and nasopharyngeal samples in any given patient. The results of this work highlight the factors associated with a higher viral count in each sample. It also shows the importance of stool sample analysis for the follow-up and diagnosis of recovering COVID-19 patients

The global burden of adolescent and young adult cancer in 2019 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background In estimating the global burden of cancer, adolescents and young adults with cancer are often overlooked, despite being a distinct subgroup with unique epidemiology, clinical care needs, and societal impact. Comprehensive estimates of the global cancer burden in adolescents and young adults (aged 15-39 years) are lacking. To address this gap, we analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, with a focus on the outcome of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), to inform global cancer control measures in adolescents and young adults. Methods Using the GBD 2019 methodology, international mortality data were collected from vital registration systems, verbal autopsies, and population-based cancer registry inputs modelled with mortality-to-incidence ratios (MIRs). Incidence was computed with mortality estimates and corresponding MIRs. Prevalence estimates were calculated using modelled survival and multiplied by disability weights to obtain years lived with disability (YLDs). Years of life lost (YLLs) were calculated as age-specific cancer deaths multiplied by the standard life expectancy at the age of death. The main outcome was DALYs (the sum of YLLs and YLDs). Estimates were presented globally and by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintiles (countries ranked and divided into five equal SDI groups), and all estimates were presented with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). For this analysis, we used the age range of 15-39 years to define adolescents and young adults. Findings There were 1.19 million (95% UI 1.11-1.28) incident cancer cases and 396 000 (370 000-425 000) deaths due to cancer among people aged 15-39 years worldwide in 2019. The highest age-standardised incidence rates occurred in high SDI (59.6 [54.5-65.7] per 100 000 person-years) and high-middle SDI countries (53.2 [48.8-57.9] per 100 000 person-years), while the highest age-standardised mortality rates were in low-middle SDI (14.2 [12.9-15.6] per 100 000 person-years) and middle SDI (13.6 [12.6-14.8] per 100 000 person-years) countries. In 2019, adolescent and young adult cancers contributed 23.5 million (21.9-25.2) DALYs to the global burden of disease, of which 2.7% (1.9-3.6) came from YLDs and 97.3% (96.4-98.1) from YLLs. Cancer was the fourth leading cause of death and tenth leading cause of DALYs in adolescents and young adults globally. Interpretation Adolescent and young adult cancers contributed substantially to the overall adolescent and young adult disease burden globally in 2019. These results provide new insights into the distribution and magnitude of the adolescent and young adult cancer burden around the world. With notable differences observed across SDI settings, these estimates can inform global and country-level cancer control efforts. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Effect of Intermediate-Dose vs Standard-Dose Prophylactic Anticoagulation on Thrombotic Events, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Treatment, or Mortality among Patients with COVID-19 Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit: The INSPIRATION Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance: Thrombotic events are commonly reported in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Limited data exist to guide the intensity of antithrombotic prophylaxis. Objective: To evaluate the effects of intermediate-dose vs standard-dose prophylactic anticoagulation among patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Design, Setting, and Participants: Multicenter randomized trial with a 2 � 2 factorial design performed in 10 academic centers in Iran comparing intermediate-dose vs standard-dose prophylactic anticoagulation (first hypothesis) and statin therapy vs matching placebo (second hypothesis; not reported in this article) among adult patients admitted to the ICU with COVID-19. Patients were recruited between July 29, 2020, and November 19, 2020. The final follow-up date for the 30-day primary outcome was December 19, 2020. Interventions: Intermediate-dose (enoxaparin, 1 mg/kg daily) (n = 276) vs standard prophylactic anticoagulation (enoxaparin, 40 mg daily) (n = 286), with modification according to body weight and creatinine clearance. The assigned treatments were planned to be continued until completion of 30-day follow-up. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of venous or arterial thrombosis, treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or mortality within 30 days, assessed in randomized patients who met the eligibility criteria and received at least 1 dose of the assigned treatment. Prespecified safety outcomes included major bleeding according to the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (type 3 or 5 definition), powered for noninferiority (a noninferiority margin of 1.8 based on odds ratio), and severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count <20 �103/µL). All outcomes were blindly adjudicated. Results: Among 600 randomized patients, 562 (93.7) were included in the primary analysis (median interquartile range age, 62 50-71 years; 237 42.2% women). The primary efficacy outcome occurred in 126 patients (45.7%) in the intermediate-dose group and 126 patients (44.1%) in the standard-dose prophylaxis group (absolute risk difference, 1.5% 95% CI,-6.6% to 9.8%; odds ratio, 1.06 95% CI, 0.76-1.48; P =.70). Major bleeding occurred in 7 patients (2.5%) in the intermediate-dose group and 4 patients (1.4%) in the standard-dose prophylaxis group (risk difference, 1.1% 1-sided 97.5% CI,-� to 3.4%; odds ratio, 1.83 1-sided 97.5% CI, 0.00-5.93), not meeting the noninferiority criteria (P for noninferiority >.99). Severe thrombocytopenia occurred only in patients assigned to the intermediate-dose group (6 vs 0 patients; risk difference, 2.2% 95% CI, 0.4%-3.8%; P =.01). Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients admitted to the ICU with COVID-19, intermediate-dose prophylactic anticoagulation, compared with standard-dose prophylactic anticoagulation, did not result in a significant difference in the primary outcome of a composite of adjudicated venous or arterial thrombosis, treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or mortality within 30 days. These results do not support the routine empirical use of intermediate-dose prophylactic anticoagulation in unselected patients admitted to the ICU with COVID-19. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04486508. © 2021 American Medical Association. All rights reserved

Association of EGFR Gene Common Mutations with Uterine Fibroids in Iranian Affected Women

Abstract Background: Uterine myomas are benign tumors of the uterus which are derived from smooth muscle cells of the myometrium. Genetic factors play a major role in the progression of the disease. One of the most important genes which have impression in the mechanism of formation of the myoma is epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) that plays a basic role in the process of cell growth, differentiation, proliferation and mitogenesis. The aim of this study is survey of EGFR gene common mutations in Iranian women with uterine myomas. In this test, the common mutations of the exon 21 and 19 in the EGFR gene were surveyed. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 80 women with myoma and 80 healthy women were studied as control. For checking deletion mutation of the Exon 19 (rs121913438), the Tetra ARMS/PCR method has been used and also for checking point mutation of the exon 21(rs121434568), the ARMS/PCR method has been used and results of the experiments were analyzed via χ 2 test. Results: The comparison of the genotypes frequency of exon 21 (TT, TG, GG) and exon 19 (WW, WD, DD) related to EGFR gene in two groups of patients and control with using statistical test respectively represents the significant difference (p=1.320e-16) and (p=3.053e-13) in the different genotypes frequency among the patients and control groups. Conclusion: The results of research indicate a significant relationship between EGFR gene mutations in exon 19 and exon 21 and potential for myoma in the studied population

Subverting children’s literature: A feminist approach to reading Angela Carter

This article argues the importance of the short stories of Angela Carter to the field of children’s literature and its current adaptations. It looks at two of her stories. The result is fiction building on some patterns of children’s literature yet with a feminist tinge that questions the foundations of patriarchy. Her stories do not simply reverse patriarchy but subvert it from within. Sexual victimization and complicity in one’s oppression might be harmful, Carter seems to argue, but equally harmful is the underlying sexual slant of the popular fairy tales told/taught to children and instilling patriarchal values.Este artículo argumenta la importancia de los cuentos de Angela Carter en el campo de la literatura infantil y sus adaptaciones actuales. Mira dos de sus historias. El resultado es que la ficción se basa en algunos patrones de literatura infantil pero con un matiz feminista que cuestiona los fundamentos del patriarcado. Sus historias no solo revierten el patriarcado sino que lo subvierten desde adentro. La victimización sexual y la complicidad en la opresión de uno pueden ser perjudiciales, parece argumentar Carter, pero igualmente perjudicial es la inclinación sexual subyacente de los populares cuentos de hadas contados / enseñados a los niños e inculcando valores patriarcales