\u27Characters ... Worth Listening To\u27: Dialogized Voices in Sarah Orne Jewett\u27s \u27The Country of the Pointed Firs\u27

Since its publication in 1896, critics of Sarah Orne Jewett\u27s The Country of the Pointed Firs have disputed the work\u27s claim to be a novel. Feminist critics in particular have defended the fiction\u27s nonlinear structure, some claiming that its circularity and nondramatic development characterize a novelistic mode that is distinctively female. Yet even such defenses of Pointed Firs are limited. Resting as they do on binary polarities (male/female; linearity/nonlinearity), such oppositions reduce discussion of Pointed Firs\u27s genre to issues of engenderment and plot variation. I believe that the work of Mikhail Bakhtin offers another way to address the question of whether Pointed Firsis a novel, a way that avoids the dichotomized nature of previous criticisms. Bakhtin\u27s theory of the novel rejects traditional definitions of the genre as a homogeneous form and of language as a unitary, centripetalizing system. Unlike his structuralist and linguistic contemporaries, Bakhtin recognizes that stratifications within language extend to include not only a variety of dialects but socio-ideological languages as well. In redirecting our attention to the realm of language, Bakhtin situates interanimated discourses and contesting voices at the heart of all novelistic fiction

Degree of Change: The MA in English Studies

From the publisher: As the needs of those seeking an MA in English studies have evolved, so too have the degree’s mission and identity. Margaret M. Strain and Rebecca C. Potter, editors of Degree of Change: The MA in English Studies, argue that the MA is positioned in a dynamic contact zone—“a place where disciplinary knowledge, student need, and local exigencies interact and where disciplinary identity is constantly negotiated.”Looking primarily at stand-alone master’s programs, this volume examines the design, delivery, and value of a master’s degree in English in the twenty-first century and challenges the characterization that MA programs in English serve primarily as stepping-stones to the PhD. Rather, contributors reveal how central the MA is to shaping the purpose and identity of contemporary English studies, through descriptions of a variety of specific MA programs. Gathering perspectives from faculty, program directors, and students from across the country, Strain and Potter showcase not only the diversity of such programs, but also the ways in which program identity and mission are richly interwoven with concerns about local needs, graduate student career trajectories, and the effects of a market-driven educational climate. This collection provides a substantive discussion that goes beyond questioning the state of English studies—it points to curricular, programmatic, and professional innovations that are transforming the field, calling for new dialogue in higher education about the pivotal role of the MA in English

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Early and Prolonged Antiretroviral Therapy Is Associated with an HIV-1-Specific T-Cell Profile Comparable to That of Long-Term Non-Progressors

Background: Intervention with antiretroviral treatment (ART) and control of viral replication at the time of HIV-1 seroconversion may curtail cumulative immunological damage. We have therefore hypothesized that ART maintenance over a very prolonged period in HIV-1 seroconverters could induce an immuno-virological status similar to that of HIV-1 long-term non-progressors (LTNPs).Methodology/Principal Findings: We have investigated a cohort of 20 HIV-1 seroconverters on long-term ART (LTTS) and compared it to one of 15 LTNPs. Residual viral replication and reservoirs in peripheral blood, as measured by cell-associated HIV-1 RNA and DNA, respectively, were demonstrated to be similarly low in both cohorts. These two virologically matched cohorts were then comprehensively analysed by polychromatic flow cytometry for HIV-1-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell functional profile in terms of cytokine production and cytotoxic capacity using IFN-gamma, IL-2, TNF-alpha production and perforin expression, respectively. Comparable levels of highly polyfunctional HIV-1-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cells were found in LTTS and LTNPs, with low perforin expression on HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cells, consistent with a polyfunctional/non-cytotoxic profile in a context of low viral burden.Conclusions: Our results indicate that prolonged ART initiated at the time of HIV-1 seroconversion is associated with immuno-virological features which resemble those of LTNPs, strengthening the recent emphasis on the positive impact of early treatment initiation and paving the way for further interventions to promote virological control after treatment interruption

\u27The Twain Shall Meet\u27: Rethinking the Introductory Course to Graduate Studies

This essay argues for an interdisciplinary, team-taught approach to the Introduction to Graduate Studies course in which faculty from literary and rhetoric/writing studies model the intersections of both fields through course texts, assignments, and theoretical frameworks. The authors also discuss the role of terminal master\u27s programs in English and the need for graduate writing instruction

NCTE on \u27Why Get an M.A. in English?\u27

Authors Margaret Strain and Rebecca Potter discuss with host Larry Jacobs the how and especially the why of getting the MA In English

The blood supply to the canine middle ear

Current descriptions of the anatomy of the blood supply to the canine middle ear are either incomplete or inconsistent, particularly in regards to the vascular branches in close proximity to the temporomandibular articulation (TMJ). To further investigate this blood supply, dissections (n = 9), corrosion casts (n = 4), and computed tomography (n = 8) of canine temporal regions/ears were performed. The goal of this study was to identify and describe branches of the external carotid and maxillary arteries in close proximity to the TMJ that supply the middle ear of the dog. Specific focus was placed on the constancy and origin of the canine rostral tympanic artery since this artery was anticipated to arise from the maxillary artery and enter a foramen at the medial aspect of the mandibular fossa adjacent to the TMJ. New anatomical variations of three canine arteries are described in this study. (1) The rostral tympanic artery is a branch of the temporomandibular ramus and is accommodated by a small foramen located within a depression medial to the temporomandibular joint. (2) A pharyngeal branch of the caudal deep temporal artery was identified. (3) The origin of the caudal auricular artery occurred opposite the lingual artery in 25.8% of dissected specimens, contrary to published descriptions. Anat Rec, 299:907-917, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

HIV type 1 (HIV-1) proviral reservoirs decay continuously under sustained virologic control in HIV-1-infected children who received early treatment

BACKGROUND: Early initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected infants controls HIV-1 replication and reduces mortality. METHODS: Plasma viremia (lower limit of detection, \u3c 2 copies/mL), T-cell activation, HIV-1-specific immune responses, and the persistence of cells carrying replication-competent virus were quantified during long-term effective combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in 4 perinatally HIV-1-infected youth who received treatment early (the ET group) and 4 who received treatment late (the LT group). Decay in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proviral DNA levels was also measured over time in the ET youth. RESULTS: Plasma viremia was not detected in any ET youth but was detected in all LT youth (median, 8 copies/mL; P = .03). PBMC proviral load was significantly lower in ET youth (median, 7 copies per million PBMCs) than in LT youth (median, 181 copies; P = .03). Replication-competent virus was recovered from all LT youth but only 1 ET youth. Decay in proviral DNA was noted in all 4 ET youth in association with limited T-cell activation and with absent to minimal HIV-1-specific immune responses. CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of early effective cART during infancy significantly limits circulating levels of proviral and replication-competent HIV-1 and promotes continuous decay of viral reservoirs. Continued cART with reduction in HIV-1 reservoirs over time may facilitate HIV-1 eradication strategies