Sacred Contagion: Illness and the Origins of Community in Blai Bonet's El mar

Aquest article planteja que la representació de la malaltia i la violència en la novel·la debut de Blai Bonet, El mar, identi ca allò sagrat com un dels components existencials clau de l’ésser-amb-altres. L’atenció que mostra Bonet per allò sagrat relaciona la representació literària amb la indagació teològica i losò ca, particularment amb la del Collège de Sociologie francès i l’aportació d’un dels seus membres fundadors, Georges Bataille, qui va teoritzar de manera semblant sobre la importància d’allò sagrat en la construcció de la comunitat. En el cas de Bonet, la poètica fusiona contemplacions existencialistes abstractes amb la pràctica de la vida diària i, especialment, amb el temps particular en què va escriure El mar, un moment que l’autor va considerar com d’un «esfondrament total». L’article estudia tres a nitats clares entre les interpretacions que fan Bonet i Bataille de dues parelles relacionades: d’una banda, allò sagrat i profà, d’altra, tabú i transgressió. This article proposes that Blai Bonet’s representation of illness and violence in his debut novel El mar identifies the sacred as a primary existential component of being-with-others. Bonet’s attention to the sacred relates literary representation with theological and philosophical inquiry, particularly that of the French College of Sociology and the mid-century work of one of its founding members, Georges Bataille, who similarly theorized the importance of the sacred in the construction of community. For Bonet, poetics merges abstract existentialist contemplations of the sacred with the practice of everyday life, and especially with the historical moment of El mar’s writing, which he referred to as a moment of ‘esfondrament total’. The article studies three clear affinities between Bonet and Bataille’s interpretations of two related dyads: the sacred and the profane, on the one hand, and taboo and transgression, on the other.    Este artículo se propone demostrar que la representación de la enfermedad y de la violencia en la primera novela de Blai Bonet, El mar, identi ca lo sagrado como un componente existencial clave del ser-con- otros. La atención que Bonet presta a lo sagrado relaciona la representación literaria con una re exión teológica y losó ca, particularmente la del Collège de Sociologie francés y el trabajo de uno de sus miembros fundadores, Georges Bataille, quien teorizó de manera similar la importancia de lo sagrado en la construcción de la comunidad. Para Bonet, la poética fusiona las abstractas contemplaciones existencialistas de lo sagrado con las prácticas de la vida cotidiana, y particularmente con el momento histórico de la escritura de la novela El mar, al que Bonet se re rió como un momento de «esfondrament total». El artículo estudia tres claras a nidades entre las interpretaciones de dos dicotomías, relacionadas entre sí, propuestas por Bonet y Bataille: lo sagrado y lo profano, por una parte, y por otra, el tabú y la transgresión.

Objective analysis of toric intraocular lens rotation and centration

PURPOSE: To assess the repeatability of an objective image analysis technique to determine intraocular lens (IOL) rotation and centration. SETTING: Six ophthalmology clinics across Europe. METHODS: One-hundred seven patients implanted with Akreos AO aspheric IOLs with orientation marks were imaged. Image quality was rated by a masked observer. The axis of rotation was determined from a line bisecting the IOL orientation marks. This was normalized for rotation of the eye between visits using the axis bisecting 2 consistent conjunctival vessels or iris features. The center of ovals overlaid to circumscribe the IOL optic edge and the pupil or limbus were compared to determine IOL centration. Intrasession repeatability was assessed in 40 eyes and the variability of repeated analysis examined. RESULTS: Intrasession rotational stability of the IOL was ±0.79 degrees (SD) and centration was ±0.10 mm horizontally and ±0.10 mm vertically. Repeated analysis variability of the same image was ±0.70 degrees for rotation and ±0.20 mm horizontally and ±0.31 mm vertically for centration. Eye rotation (absolute) between visits was 2.23 ± 1.84 degrees (10%>5 degrees rotation) using one set of consistent conjunctival vessels or iris features and 2.03 ± 1.66 degrees (7%>5 degrees rotation) using the average of 2 sets (P =.13). Poorer image quality resulted in larger apparent absolute IOL rotation (r =-0.45,P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Objective analysis of digital retroillumination images allows sensitive assessment of IOL rotation and centration stability. Eye rotation between images can lead to significant errors if not taken into account. Image quality is important to analysis accuracy

The Potential Use of Electrochemotherapy in the Treatment of Uveal Melanoma: In Vitro Results in 3D Tumor Cultures and In Vivo Results in a Chick Embryo Model

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular tumor that arises from neoplastic melanocytes in the choroid, iris, and ciliary body. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) has been successfully established for the treatment of skin and soft tissue metastatic lesions, deep-seated tumors of the liver, bone metastases, and unresectable pancreas lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ECT in vitro in 3D spheroid culture systems in primary and metastatic UM cell lines. We also investigated the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) as an in vivo model system for the growth and treatment of UM tumors using ECT. The cytotoxic effect of ECT in 3D spheroids was analyzed seven days following treatment by assessment of the size and MTT [(3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) tetrazolium reduction] assay. The cytotoxicity of ECT after intratumoral or intraarterial administration was evaluated histologically. In vitro and in vivo ECT caused a significant reduction in tumor size and viability compared to electroporation or chemotherapy in both sections of our study. The current results underline the effectiveness of ECT in the treatment of UM and prepare the way for further investigation of its potential application in UM

Retinal Vascular Occlusion after COVID-19 Vaccination : More Coincidence than Causal Relationship? Data from a Retrospective Multicentre Study

Background: To investigate whether vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the onset of retinal vascular occlusive disease (RVOD). Methods: In this multicentre study, data from patients with central and branch retinal vein occlusion (CRVO and BRVO), central and branch retinal artery occlusion (CRAO and BRAO), and anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (AION) were retrospectively collected during a 2-month index period (1 June–31 July 2021) according to a defined protocol. The relation to any previous vaccination was documented for the consecutive case series. Numbers of RVOD and COVID-19 vaccination were investigated in a case-by-case analysis. A case– control study using age- and sex-matched controls from the general population (study participants from the Gutenberg Health Study) and an adjusted conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results: Four hundred and twenty-one subjects presenting during the index period (61 days) were enrolled: one hundred and twenty-one patients with CRVO, seventy-five with BRVO, fifty-six with CRAO, sixty-five with BRAO, and one hundred and four with AION. Three hundred and thirty-two (78.9%) patients had been vaccinated before the onset of RVOD. The vaccines given were BNT162b2/BioNTech/Pfizer (n = 221), followed by ChadOx1/AstraZeneca (n = 57), mRNA1273/Moderna (n = 21), and Ad26.COV2.S/Johnson & Johnson (n = 11; unknown n = 22). Our case–control analysis integrating population-based data from the GHS yielded no evidence of an increased risk after COVID-19 vaccination (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.60–1.45, p = 0.75) in connection with a vaccination within a 4-week window. Conclusions: To date, there has been no evidence of any association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and a higher RVOD risk