Communality and the Individual in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road

The subject of the article is the analysis of the notion of communality in the relation between the two protagonists of The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Traversing the post-apocalyptic landscape populated mostly by wretched savages harbouring ill intent towards other human beings, the heroes ostensibly seek a place where establishing a sustainable society composed of the “good guys” can still be possible. However, while for the young son this goal implies the necessity of maintaining a sense of openness and hospitality towards the other, for the father it is the matter of day-to-day survival that takes precedence, which leads to repeated instances of withdrawing help from destitute survivors and avoiding human contact. The boy objects to this behavior, despite being wholly dependent on his father, as his sense of responsibility seems innate and unconditional. The man, on the other hand, gradually recognizes that he was so profoundly afflicted by the experience of losing his world that he cannot overcome his radical pessimism and distrust of the other. Therefore, when the man arrives at the end of his life, he comes to understand that it is only without him at his side that the son can enter a larger community

The Vivified Sacrificial Rites as the Site of Conflation of Man and Animal in Adele Wiseman’s "The Sacrifice"

The article juxtaposes two explanations of the ancient phenomenon of sacrifice, one of which, formulated by René Girard, emphasizes the aspects of scapegoating and transference of people’s violent inclinations, while the other, developed by Jonathan Klawans and focused on the ancient Israeli sacrificial customs, attributes chief significance to the notions of purity, defilement, and achieving the state of imitatio Dei by the offerer. Though these explanations are at odds in many respects, with Klawans being vocally critical of Girard’s approach, the article seeks to present both of them as applicable to the context of a contemporary sacrifice depicted in Adele Wiseman’s novel, The Sacrifice. Its protagonist, the article argues, finds a way of blending these two orders together largely by the use of the mental figure of the animal, the projection of which onto his victim allows him to perceive her in dualistic manner, as simultaneously sacred and wicked. In the light of this, the ostensibly morally sanctioned practice of ancient Abrahamic sacrifice is shown to contain an unaccounted for potential to instigate ruinous acts, and the figure of the animal, within a situation characterized by the blurring of boundaries and distinctions, with which a sacrificial crisis is unalterably associated, attains an ambiguous, if not sinister, significance

Risk factors and treatment strategy for retinal vascular occlusive diseases

Retinal occlusive diseases are common diseases that can lead to visual impairment. Retinal artery occlusion and retinal vein occlusion are included in the clinical entity, but they have quite different pathophysiologies. Retinal artery occlusion is an emergent eye disorder. Retinal artery occlusion is mainly caused by thromboembolism, which frequently occurs in conjunction with life-threatening stroke and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, prompt examinations and interventions for systemic vascular diseases are often necessary for these patients. Retinal vein occlusion is characterized by retinal hemorrhage and ischemia, which may impair visual function via several complications such as macular edema, macular ischemia, vitreous hemorrhage, and neovascular glaucoma. Even though anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy is the current established first-line of treatment for retinal vein occlusion, several clinical studies have been performed to identify better treatment protocols and new therapeutic options. In this review, we summarize the current findings and advances in knowledge regarding retinal occlusive diseases, particularly focusing on recent studies, in order to provide an update for a better understanding of its pathogenesis

Oxidative stress-induced cellular senescence in aging retina and age-related macular degeneration

Aging leads to a gradual decline of function in multiple organs. Cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are age-related ocular diseases. Because their pathogenesis is unclear, it is challenging to combat age-related diseases. Cellular senescence is a cellular response characterized by cell cycle arrest. Cellular senescence is an important contributor to aging and age-related diseases through the alteration of cellular function and the secretion of senescence-associated secretory phenotypes. As a driver of stress-induced premature senescence, oxidative stress triggers cellular senescence and age-related diseases by inducing senescence markers via reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial dysfunction. In this review, we focused on the mechanism of oxidative stress-induced senescence in retinal cells and its role in the pathogenesis of AMD

Krajobraz śląski : społeczne aspekty rewitalizacji miast poprzemysłowych

Since 1989, that is the beginning of the system transformation, a degredation of the entire urban sectors can be observed in the former Katowice, and present Silesia Voivodship. This concerns areas, where flats of closed down factories were located. The observed poverty pockets are identical with the sociological term of natural area, that is an area inhabited by the population of common professional tradition, interests, or other cultural features (mining districts can be a model example). Poverty pockets become a sort of ghettoes. They originated as the result of degradation of city quarters located just near big industrial plants. The most degraded areas are situated within the Dąbrowa Górnicza—Ruda Śląska belt, and embrace a number of districts, sometimes just streets. To -date, the following areas have been identified as poverty pockets, where concentration of all unfavourable factors exist; starting with the environmental and aesthetical degradation, followed by fatal dwelling infrastructure, not to mention the pathologies and social exclusion

Region i społeczność lokalna w perspektywie socjologicznej

Local communities in the traditional sense seems to have less impact on the shaping of our social personality, but really we all subconsciously long for the times in which the yard and closest friends were our social universe. All also are present in a global world, thanks to increasingly advanced information technology and transport, we yearn for our “small worlds”, which in contrast to the confused and dangerous area without borders, we determined the stable and secure place “here and now” tamed by us and the social world in which we live. Hence we see renaissance, both local communities and try to play it in some form of virtual communities, which are now taking different forms, most commonly refers to the sentiments and emotions associated with our ‘local’ past, and whose formation was made possible by development of the Internet. We are looking for answer how is presen regional identity

Human breast tissue cancer diagnosis by Raman spectroscopy

Abstract. Differences between Raman spectra of normal, malignant and benign tissues have been recorded and analyzed as a method for the early detection of cancer. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the most statistically reliable research (67 patients) on Raman spectroscopy-based diagnosis of breast cancers among the world women population. The paper demonstrates that Raman spectroscopy is a promising new tool for real-time diagnosis of tissue abnormalities