Backward Glance at James Joyce: Finnegans Wake’s Postmodernist Devices

James Joyce, more known as a well-known modern fictionist who rightly possesses a unique position in the world canon, seems to be an early postmodernist fictionist too. Taking a diachronic approach to literary history, this article views Finnegans Wake in the context of literary postmodernism, and presents an attempt to both delineate postmodernist fiction techniques as well as trace them in Joyce’s last novel. Joyce introduces a whole series of new themes and techniques in his last novel later drawn upon by post-1940s postmodernist fictionists. Finnegans Wake can be considered a postmodernist novel proper

Joyce the Postmodernist: A Glance at Finnegans Wake

Postmodernism criticizes metanarratives. Modern metanarratives including Enlightenment, Hegelianism, and Marxism present general claims about knowledge and truth. Under postmodern condition metanarratives are damageable, criticizable, and finally negligible. In this essay metanarratives are explained and the incredulity towards them is traced. In Finnegans Wake, which is under postmodern condition, metanarratives are targets of Joyce's parody. In this novel, religion is bitterly criticized, Enlightenment is mocked, and Hegelianism and Marxism are disfigured. Joyce shows his incredulity towards metanarratives and employs postmodernist techniques. Finnegans Wake's world is postmodern

The effect FRIENDS program on the anxiety of adolescent girls

Background: Anxiety is one of the most common psychological problems among adolescents which have been almost considered by researchers. In this regard, the present study was conducted to examine the effect of the FRIENDS training program on the anxiety of female adolescent clients referred to Tolou-e-Now Health Counseling Center of Bam. Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial. The statistical population included 65 people of female adolescents with anxiety disorder referred to Tolou-e-Now Health Counseling Center of Bam, who were studying in academic year 2018-2019. Among them 30 people whose total anxiety level were higher than intermediate, were selected through convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to control (n=15) and experimental (n=15) groups. The experimental group received the FRIENDS training program for 10 sessions during 2 months and the control group did not receive any intervention. Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to collect data. The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance and SPSS software version 22. Results: the results of analyzing the data showed that FRIENDS program training had a statistically significant effect on reducing both obvious and hidden anxiety in female adolescents in experimental compare to control group. The rate of the effect of this training program was estimated 33.4% with statistic potent 92.4. Conclusion: FRIENDS training program could be considered as a protective intervention on reducing anxiety of adolescents

Malnutrition Has No Effect on the Timing of Human Tooth Formation

The effect of nutrition on the timing of human tooth formation is poorly understood. Delays and advancements in dental maturation have all been reported as well as no effect. We investigated the effect of severe malnutrition on the timing of human tooth formation in a large representative sample of North Sudanese children. The sample (1102 males, 1013 females) consisted of stratified randomly selected healthy individuals in Khartoum, Sudan, aged 2-22 years using a cross-sectional design following the STROBE statement. Nutritional status was defined using WHO criteria of height and weight. Body mass index Z-scores and height for age Z-scores of ≤-2 (cut-off) were used to identify the malnourished group (N = 474) while the normal was defined by Z-scores of ≥0 (N = 799). Clinical and radiographic examination of individuals, with known ages of birth was performed including height and weight measurements. Mandibular left permanent teeth were assessed using eight crown and seven root established tooth formation stages. Mean age at entry and mean age within tooth stages were calculated for each available tooth stage in each group and compared using a t-test. Results show the mean age at entry and mean age within tooth stages were not significantly different between groups affected by severe malnutrition and normal children (p>0.05). This remarkable finding was evident across the span of dental development. We demonstrate that there is little measurable effect of sustained malnutrition on the average timing of tooth formation. This noteworthy finding supports the notion that teeth have substantial biological stability and are insulated from extreme nutritional conditions compared to other maturing body systems

Experimental and Kinetics Modelling Studies of NOx, N2O, and O3 in Plasma Discharges

Recently, it has been a rise in the plasma application in the NOx remediation processes. This promising technology is in its infancy yet, and there are several knowledge gaps in the fundamental of NOx chemical reactions in the plasma discharge. Plasma technology has also been utilized for the N2O abatement; however, its detailed chemical kinetics is not well studied. In contrast to the new emerged plasma applications in the NOx and N2O removal, ozone has been generated by plasma since 19th century. However, the efficiency of ozone generation has remained low (99.4 %. Addition of H2O to the NO/N2 discharge results in decrease of NO conversion. Similar to the effect of H2O, addition of oxygen also results in decrease of NO removal efficiency. In the dielectric barrier O2 discharge, N2O is mainly converted through the reaction with O(1D) with 67% selectivity to NOx. In contrast to the traditional catalytic N2O removal, in the presence of ozone, N2O reacts with the adsorbed atomic oxygen released from ozone dissociation and form N2 and NO. In the gliding arc O2 discharge, N2O is mainly removed through the reaction with O (N2O+O=N2+O2). The addition of H2O to the feed results in decrease of N2O conversion. In the ozone formation process, with addition of argon to the pure oxygen, the concentration of formed O3 decreases while the O3/O2 ratio increases. In contrast to the effect of argon, addition of nitrogen up to 2% results in increase of both O3/O2 ratio and concentration of formed ozone

Joyce the Deconstructionist: Finnegans Wake in Context

Had Finnegans Wake not been written, some seminal post-1950s innovations in the field of modern literary theory and criticism would have been impossible. James Joyce, who seems to have inspiringly influenced the entire sphere of modern literary theory and criticism greatly, is a pioneer of deconstruction too. His last novel, which reflects his deconstructive tendencies, has played a seminal role in the formation of 20th century deconstruction, and comprises an inchoate mass of implicit ideas on the subject. It was perhaps not until Jacques Derrida and his deconstruction techniques that the theory implied by Finnegans Wake really came into focus. This article seeks to delineate Derrida’s theory of deconstruction as well as Joyce's deconstructive aesthetics; and taking a diachronic approach to literary theory and criticism it glances at Finnegans Wake in the light of deconstruction

MicroRNAs as the critical regulators of cisplatin resistance in gastric tumor cells

Abstract Combined chemotherapeutic treatment is the method of choice for advanced and metastatic gastric tumors. However, resistance to chemotherapeutic agents is one of the main challenges for the efficient gastric cancer (GC) treatment. Cisplatin (CDDP) is used as an important regimen of chemotherapy for GC which induces cytotoxicity by interfering with DNA replication in cancer cells and inducing their apoptosis. Majority of patients experience cisplatin-resistance which is correlated with tumor metastasis and relapse. Moreover, prolonged and high-dose cisplatin administrations cause serious side effects such as nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity, and anemia. Since, there is a high rate of recurrence after CDDP treatment in GC patients; it is required to clarify the molecular mechanisms associated with CDDP resistance to introduce novel therapeutic methods. There are various cell and molecular processes associated with multidrug resistance (MDR) including drug efflux, detoxification, DNA repair ability, apoptosis alteration, signaling pathways, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). MicroRNAs are a class of endogenous non-coding RNAs involved in chemo resistance of GC cells through regulation of all of the MDR mechanisms. In present review we have summarized all of the miRNAs associated with cisplatin resistance based on their target genes and molecular mechanisms in gastric tumor cells. This review paves the way of introducing a miRNA-based panel of prognostic markers to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy and clinical outcomes in GC patients. It was observed that miRNAs are mainly involved in cisplatin response of gastric tumor cells via regulation of signaling pathways, autophagy, and apoptosis