Rethinking Minor Literature and Small Literature as Secondary Zone Literature

The aim of this article is to argue that both “minor literature” and “small literature” should be readdressed as Michel Ragon’s “secondary zone literature” from three perspectives. Firstly, it will be argued that “minor and small literature” began to lose its theoretical capacity with the advent of globalization after the new millennium. Secondly, the problems of “minor literature” and “small literature” will be updated. “Minor literature” mainly has two problems: 1)  The first feature of “minor literature” runs the risk of not only dismissing all literature written by minorities in “minor languages”, but also diminishing the possible meanings of the term, “minority”; and 2) The second and third characteristics of “minor literature” are unable to explain why only non-European arts are perceived to be political and collective. “Small literature” also has two problems: a) it fails to explain why countries that hardly qualify as ‘small’, face problems similar to those of “small literature” in the international literary context; and b) it does not have the capacity to explain the literature of minority and marginal groups within a nation or country. Thirdly, “minor and small literature” will be reconsidered as “secondary zone literature”, not only in an attempt to emphasize cultural dynamics and power relations based on the visibility of various “minor & small” related literary works, but also to demonstrate that literature may be minor or small, but it always has quantitative implications

Characterization of particle number concentrations and PM2.5 in a school: influence of outdoor air pollution on indoor air

Background, Aim and Scope The impact of air pollution on school children’s health is currently one of the key foci of international and national agencies. Of particular concern are ultrafine particles which are emitted in large quantities, contain large concentrations of toxins and are deposited deeply in the respiratory tract. Materials and methods In this study, an intensive sampling campaign of indoor and outdoor airborne particulate matter was carried out in a primary school in February 2006 to investigate indoor and outdoor particle number (PN) and mass concentrations (PM2.5), and particle size distribution, and to evaluate the influence of outdoor air pollution on the indoor air. Results For outdoor PN and PM2.5, early morning and late afternoon peaks were observed on weekdays, which are consistent with traffic rush hours, indicating the predominant effect of vehicular emissions. However, the temporal variations of outdoor PM2.5 and PN concentrations occasionally showed extremely high peaks, mainly due to human activities such as cigarette smoking and the operation of mower near the sampling site. The indoor PM2.5 level was mainly affected by the outdoor PM2.5 (r = 0.68, p<0.01), whereas the indoor PN concentration had some association with outdoor PN values (r = 0.66, p<0.01) even though the indoor PN concentration was occasionally influenced by indoor sources, such as cooking, cleaning and floor polishing activities. Correlation analysis indicated that the outdoor PM2.5 was inversely correlated with the indoor to outdoor PM2.5 ratio (I/O ratio) (r = -0.49, p<0.01), while the indoor PN had a weak correlation with the I/O ratio for PN (r = 0.34, p<0.01). Discussion and Conclusions The results showed that occupancy did not cause any major changes to the modal structure of particle number and size distribution, even though the I/O ratio was different for different size classes. The I/O curves had a maximum value for particles with diameters of 100 – 400 nm under both occupied and unoccupied scenarios, whereas no significant difference in I/O ratio for PM2.5 was observed between occupied and unoccupied conditions. Inspection of the size-resolved I/O ratios in the preschool centre and the classroom suggested that the I/O ratio in the preschool centre was the highest for accumulation mode particles at 600 nm after school hours, whereas the average I/O ratios of both nucleation mode and accumulation mode particles in the classroom were much lower than those of Aitken mode particles. Recommendations and Perspectives The findings obtained in this study are useful for epidemiological studies to estimate the total personal exposure of children, and to develop appropriate control strategies for minimizing the adverse health effects on school children

Impact of the World Wars and the Cold War on Langston Hughes

The two World Wars and the Cold War had a profound impact on Langston Hughes. World War I and the October Revolution wove a web that connected the Soviet Union and its socialist cause to African Americans, and then the Yokinen and Scottsboro trials directly nurtured the “New Red Negro” writings with the spirit of rising “up from bondage” as oppressed people. Hughes traveled the world, became a global citizen, and assumed a cosmopolitan mission for international and racial affairs. However, the Nazi-Soviet Pact changed his view of the world. Hughes began to focus on the problems of “colored soldiers” and compared the advantages and disadvantages of the United States of America and the Soviet Union. When the Iron Curtain came about, McCarthyism drove Hughes to stay in the United States, maintain a distance from international and political affairs, confirm his national position, and rely on writing children’s books for a living, as well as translating and editing others’ works

Di-μ-sulfato-bis­{[bis­(3,5-dimethyl­pyrazol-1-yl)methane]copper(II)}

The mol­ecule of the title compound, [Cu2(SO4)2(C11H16N4)2], sits on a center of symmetry. The CuII atom has a distorted trigonal–bipyramidal coordination geometry comprising three O atoms of the two symmetry-related SO4 2− anions and two N atoms from one bis­(3,5-dimethyl­pyrazol-1-yl)methane ligand

Surface roughness of thin wood veneers sliced from laminated green wood lumber

Freshly-felled Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolate), Masson Pine (Pinus massoniana) and Camphor Tree (Cinnamomum camphora) logs were reconstituted to form laminated lumber with moisture content above fiber saturation point by slicing, finger-jointing, gluing, and cold-pressing processes. The laminated lumber was then sliced into wood veneers, which were air-dried to about 15% moisture content. The surface roughness of the veneer was tested in comparison with two commercial engineered wood veneers using a stylus tracing method. The influence of&nbsp; the wood surface roughness was relatively &nbsp;small&nbsp; for&nbsp; the&nbsp; wood&nbsp; species chosen due&nbsp; to&nbsp; their&nbsp; similar densities. All roughness parameter values were consistently larger along the transverse direction compared with these along longitudinal direction. The values of surface roughness at the finger-joint region were higher than these that at the non-finger-joint region along both longitudinal direction and transverse direction. The two engineered wood veneers had surface roughness values noticeably smaller in the longitudinal direction, but their values in transverse direction were comparable and even larger compared with these of the prepared wood veneers including both non-finger-joint and finger-joint regions.&nbsp; Overall, the process of laminating finger-jointed green wood planks and subsequently slicing can be used to yield acceptable wood veneers with sufficient surface quality

Heart failure with midrange ejection fraction: Prior left ventricular ejection fraction and prognosis

Evidence-based guidelines for heart failure management depend mainly on current left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). However, fewer studies have examined the impact of prior LVEF. Patients may enter the heart failure with midrange ejection fraction (HFmrEF) category when heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) deteriorates or heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) improves. In this study, we examined the association between change in LVEF and adverse outcomes. HFmrEF patients with at least two or more echocardiograms 3 months apart at the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University between September 1, 2015 and November 30, 2019 were identified. According to the prior LVEF, the subjects were divided into improved group (prior LVEF < 40%), stable group (prior LVEF between 40 and 50%), and deteriorated group (prior LVEF ≥ 50%). The primary outcomes were cardiovascular death, all-cause mortality, hospitalization for worsening heart failure, and composite event of all-cause mortality or all-cause hospitalization. A total of 1,168 HFmrEF patients (67.04% male, mean age 63.60 ± 12.18 years) were included. The percentages of improved, stable, and deteriorated group were 310 (26.54%), 334 (28.60%), and 524 (44.86%), respectively. After a period of follow-up, 208 patients (17.81%) died and 500 patients met the composite endpoint. The rates of all-cause mortality were 35 (11.29%), 55 (16.47%), and 118 (22.52%), and the composite outcome was 102 (32.90%), 145 (43.41%), and 253 (48.28%) for the improved, stable, and deteriorated groups, respectively. Cox regression analysis showed that the deterioration group had higher risk of cardiovascular death (HR: 1.707, 95% CI: 1.064-2.739, = 0.027), all-cause death (HR 1.948, 95% CI 1.335-2.840, = 0.001), and composite outcome (HR 1.379, 95% CI 1.096-1.736, = 0.006) compared to the improvement group. The association still remained significant after fully adjusted for both all-cause mortality (HR = 1.899, 95% CI 1.247-2.893, = 0.003) and composite outcome (HR: 1.324, 95% CI: 1.020-1.718, = 0.035). HFmrEF patients are heterogeneous with three different subsets identified, each with different outcomes. Strategies for managing HFmrEF should include previously measured LVEF to allow stratification based on direction changes in LVEF to better optimize treatment. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2021 Zhang, Sun, Zhang, Chen, Zhang, He, Song, Tse and Liu.

Aberrant Methylation of Thrombospondin-1 and Its Association with Reduced Expression in Gastric Cardia Adenocarcinoma

Aim. Investigate the promoter methylation of the Thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) gene in gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA). Methods. MSP approach, immunohistochemistry method, and RT-PCR were used respectively to examine the promoter methylation of TSP1, its protein and mRNA expression in tumors and corresponding normal tissues. The expression and concentration of TGF-β1 were examined respectively by immunohistochemistry and ELISA method. The status of T cell immunity was examined by Flow cytometry analysis. Results. TSP1 was methylated in 34/96 (35.4%) tumor specimens, which was significantly higher than that in corresponding normal tissues (P < .001). Protein and mRNA expression of TSP1 in GCA tumor tissues were reduced significantly and were associated with TSP1 methylation. The protein expression of TGF-β1 was significantly higher in tumor tissues (P < .001) and was associated with TNM stage and histological differentiation. The concentration of active and total TGF-β1 did not show significant difference between the GCA patients with hypermethylation of TSP1 and without methylation of TSP1 (P > .05). The function of T cell immunity was significantly different between the GCA patients with hypermethylation of TSP1 and without methylation of TSP1. Conclusions. Epigenetic silencing of TSP1 gene by promoter hypermethylation may play an important role in GCA