Becoming a Monarch by Representing One: The Power of Role-play in Shakespeare’s Elizabethan Plays

In William Shakespeare\u27s Elizabethan plays, role-play is capable of the highest form of empowerment for its players: possession of the monarchy. The ability of theatrics to empower, or even cause, a fictitious monarch resonated with Shakespeare\u27s Elizabethan audience, whose own monarch, Queen Elizabeth, shamelessly embraced and exploited this ability. However, while virtually all of Shakespeare\u27s plays possess the potential for role-play\u27s ultimate empowerment, the extent to which his characters are able to achieve this potential varies. In this essay I examine the varying successes with which Shakespeare\u27s characters attempt to use role-play as a means of gaining a monarchy. I begin by discussing the successful manipulation of role-play and improvisation by Prince Hal and King Henry in I Henry IV. Secondly, I discuss Claudius\u27 ability to gain a monarchy by representing King Hamlet and inability to maintain it by failing to control his own representation in Hamlet. Finally, I discuss Julius Caesar\u27s use of theatrics to create a monarchy for himself where one does not previously exist, and the failure of his assassins to control their own representation. By comparing these scenes in I Henry IV, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet to Elizabeth\u27s own manipulation of her representation, I argue that the extent to which role-play is a form of empowerment in Shakespeare\u27s plays is subject to constraints similar to those present in Elizabethan society

Acceptance and commitment therapy as an adjunct to the MOVE! programme: a randomized controlled trial.

ObjectiveThe current study tested the efficacy of an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) group intervention for disinhibited eating behaviour as an adjunct to the Veterans Affairs MOVE!© weight management programme.MethodsVeterans (N = 88) with overweight or obesity who completed the MOVE! weight management programme and self-identified as having problems with 'stress-related eating' were randomized to four 2-h weekly ACT sessions or a continued behavioural weight-loss (BWL) intervention. Assessments were completed at baseline, post-treatment and 3- and 6-month follow-up on outcomes of interest including measures of disinhibited eating patterns, obesity-related quality of life, weight-related experiential avoidance and weight.ResultsThe BWL group exhibited significantly greater reductions in binge eating behaviour at post-treatment compared with the ACT group. Significant improvements in other outcomes were found with minimal differences between groups. In both groups, decreases in weight-related experiential avoidance were related to improvements in binge eating behaviour.ConclusionsTaken together, the continued BWL intervention resulted in larger improvements in binge eating behaviour than the ACT intervention. The two groups showed similar improvements in other disinhibited eating outcomes. Future studies are encouraged to determine if more integrated or longer duration of ACT treatment may maximize eating outcomes in MOVE.Trial Registration Number: This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov database (NCT01757847)

Azimuthal clumping instabilities in a ZZ-pinch wire array

A simple model is constructed to evaluate the temporal evolution of azimuthal clumping instabilities in a cylindrical array of current-carrying wires. An analytic scaling law is derived, which shows that randomly seeded perturbations evolve at the rate of the fastest unstable mode, almost from the start. This instability is entirely analogous to the Jeans instability in a self-gravitating disk, where the mutual attraction of gravity is replaced by the mutual attraction among the current-carrying wires.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87765/2/052701_1.pd

Individual quality assessment of autografting by probability estimation for clinical endpoints: a prospective validation study from the European group for blood and marrow transplantation.

The aim of supportive autografting is to reduce the side effects from stem cell transplantation and avoid procedure-related health disadvantages for patients at the lowest possible cost and resource expenditure. Economic evaluation of health care is becoming increasingly important. We report clinical and laboratory data collected from 397 consecutive adult patients (173 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 30 Hodgkin lymphoma, 160 multiple myeloma, 7 autoimmune diseases, and 28 acute leukemia) who underwent their first autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). We considered primary endpoints evaluating health economic efficacy (eg, antibiotic administration, transfusion of blood components, and time in hospital), secondary endpoints evaluating toxicity (in accordance with Common Toxicity Criteria), and tertiary endpoints evaluating safety (ie, the risk of regimen-related death or disease progression within the first year after PBSCT). A time-dependent grading of efficacy is proposed with day 21 for multiple myeloma and day 25 for the other disease categories (depending on the length of the conditioning regimen) as the acceptable maximum time in hospital, which together with antibiotics, antifungal, or transfusion therapy delineates four groups: favorable (≤7 days on antibiotics and no transfusions; ≤21 [25] days in hospital), intermediate (from 7 to 10 days on antibiotics and 7 days on antibiotics, >3 but 30/34 days in hospital after transplantation), and very unfavorable (>10 days on antibiotics, >6 transfusions; >30 to 34 days in hospital). The multivariate analysis showed that (1) PBSC harvests of ≥4 × 106/kg CD34 + cells in 1 apheresis procedure were associated with a favorable outcome in all patient categories except acute myelogenous leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (P = .001), (2) ≥5 × 106/kg CD34 + cells infused predicted better transplantation outcome in all patient categories (P 500 mL) (P = .002), and (5) patients with a central venous catheter during both collection and infusion of PBSC had a more favorable outcome post-PBSCT than peripheral access (P = .007). The type of mobilization regimen did not affect the outcome of auto-PBSCT. The present study identified predictive variables, which may be useful in future individual pretransplantation probability evaluations with the goal to improve supportive care

Caterpillar structures in single-wire Z-pinch experiments

A series of experiments have been performed on single-wire Z pinches (1–2 kA, 20 kV, pulse length 500 ns; Al, Ag, W, or Cu wire of diameter 7.5–50 μm, length 2.5 cm). Excimer laser absorption photographs show expansion of metallic plasmas on a time scale of order 100 ns. The edge of this plasma plume begins to develop structures resembling a caterpillar only after the current pulse reaches its peak value. The growth of these caterpillar structures is shown to be consistent with the Rayleigh–Taylor instability of the decelerating plasma plume front at the later stage of the current pulse. © 2003 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71205/2/APPLAB-83-24-4915-1.pd

The orbital period, black hole mass and distance to the X-ray transient GRS 1716-249 (=N Oph 93)

We present evidence for a 0.278(8) d (=6.7 h) orbital period in the X-ray transient GRS 1716-249 (=N Oph 93), based on a superhump modulation detected during the 1995 mini-outburst plus ellipsoidal variability in quiescence. With a quiescent magnitude of r=23.19+-0.15 N Oph 93 is too faint to warrant a full dynamical study through dedicated time-resolved spectroscopy. Instead, we apply the FWHM-K2 correlation to the disc Halpha emission line detected in Gran Telescopio Canarias spectra and obtain K2=521+-52 km/s. This leads to a mass function f(M)=4.1+-1.2 Msun, thus indicating the presence of a black hole in this historic X-ray transient. Furthermore, from the depth of the Halpha trough and the quiescent light curve we constrain the binary inclination to i=61+-15 deg, while the detection of superhumps sets an upper limit to the donor to compact star mass ratio q=M2/M1<=0.25. Our de-reddened (r-i) colour is consistent with a ~K6 main sequence star that fills its Roche lobe in a 0.278 d orbit. Using all this information we derive a compact object mass M1=6.4+3.2-2.0 Msun at 68 per cent confidence. We also constrain the distance to GRS 1716-249 to 6.9+-1.1 kpc, placing the binary ~0.8 kpc above the Galactic Plane, in support of a large natal kick.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 12 pages, 9 figures, 2 Table

A tumor-stroma targeted oncolytic adenovirus replicated in human ovary cancer samples and inhibited growth of disseminated solid tumors in mice

Targeting the tumor stroma in addition to the malignant cell compartment is of paramount importance to achieve complete tumor regression. In this work, we modified a previously designed tumor stroma-targeted conditionally replicative adenovirus (CRAd) based on the SPARC promoter by introducing a mutated E1A unable to bind pRB and pseudotyped with a chimeric Ad5/3 fiber (Ad F512v1), and assessed its replication/lytic capacity in ovary cancer in vitro and in vivo. AdF512v1 was able to replicate in fresh samples obtained from patients: (i) with primary human ovary cancer; (ii) that underwent neoadjuvant treatment; (iii) with metastatic disease. In addition, we show that four intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of 5 × 10(10) v.p. eliminated 50% of xenografted human ovary tumors disseminated in nude mice. Moreover, AdF512v1 replication in tumor models was enhanced 15-40-fold when the tumor contained a mix of malignant and SPARC-expressing stromal cells (fibroblasts and endothelial cells). Contrary to the wild-type virus, AdF512v1 was unable to replicate in normal human ovary samples while the wild-type virus can replicate. This study provides evidence on the lytic capacity of this CRAd and highlights the importance of targeting the stromal tissue in addition to the malignant cell compartment to achieve tumor regression.Fil: Lopez, Maria Veronica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquimicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación Instituto Leloir; ArgentinaFil: Rivera, Angel A.. University Of Alabama At Birmingahm; Estados UnidosFil: Viale, Diego Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquimicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación Instituto Leloir; ArgentinaFil: Benedetti, Lorena Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquimicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación Instituto Leloir; ArgentinaFil: Cuneo, Nicasio. Hospital Municipal de Oncología Marie Curie; ArgentinaFil: Kimball, Kristopher J.. University Of Alabama At Birmingahm; Estados UnidosFil: Wang, Minghui. University Of Alabama At Birmingahm. School Of Medicine. Division Of Human Gene Therapy; Estados UnidosFil: Douglas, Joanne T.. University Of Alabama At Birmingahm. School Of Medicine. Division Of Human Gene Therapy; Estados UnidosFil: Zhu, Zeng B.. University Of Alabama At Birmingahm. School Of Medicine. Division Of Human Gene Therapy; Estados UnidosFil: Bravo, Alicia I.. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Interzonal de Agudos "eva Peron"; ArgentinaFil: Gidekel, Manuel. Universidad de la Frontera; ChileFil: Alvarez, Ronald D.. University Of Alabama At Birmingahm; Estados UnidosFil: Curiel, David T.. University Of Alabama At Birmingahm. School Of Medicine. Division Of Human Gene Therapy; Estados Unidos. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Podhajcer, Osvaldo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquimicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación Instituto Leloir; Argentin

Prognosis of follicular lymphoma: a predictive model based on a retrospective analysis of 987 cases

Patients (n-987) with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of follicular lymphoma were studied with the aim of developing a prognostic model specifically devised for this type of lymphoma. We collected information on age, sex, Ann Arbor stage, number of extranodal disease sites, bone marrow (BM) involvement, bulky disease, B symptom criteria (fever, night sweats, and weight loss), performance status (PS), serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level, serum albumin level, hemoglobin level, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). In the training sample of 429 patients with complete data, multivariate analysis showed that age, sex, number of extranodal sites, B symptoms, serum LDH level, and ESR were factors predictive for overall survival. Using these 6 variables, a prognostic model was devised to identify 3 groups at different risk. The 5- and 10-year survival rate was 90% and 65% for patients at low risk, respectively; 75% and 54% for patients at intermediate risk; and 38% and 11% for those at high risk (log-rank test, 86.62; P < .0001). The model was also predictive (P = .0001) in the validation sample of 265 patients with complete data only for the 6 variables used in the development of the model and even in the group of 210 patients from the validation sample uniformly treated with doxorubicin-containing regimens (P = .0001). The prognostic model appears to be very useful in identifying patients with follicular lymphoma at low, intermediate, or high risk