Excusions Beyond the Frame

The Disciplinary Frame: Photographic Truths and the Capture of Meaning by John Tagg. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Pp. 392, 65 black-and-white photos. $82.50 cloth,$27.50 paper.

Second asymptomatic carotid surgery trial (ACST-2): a randomised comparison of carotid artery stenting versus carotid endarterectomy

Background: Among asymptomatic patients with severe carotid artery stenosis but no recent stroke or transient cerebral ischaemia, either carotid artery stenting (CAS) or carotid endarterectomy (CEA) can restore patency and reduce long-term stroke risks. However, from recent national registry data, each option causes about 1% procedural risk of disabling stroke or death. Comparison of their long-term protective effects requires large-scale randomised evidence. Methods: ACST-2 is an international multicentre randomised trial of CAS versus CEA among asymptomatic patients with severe stenosis thought to require intervention, interpreted with all other relevant trials. Patients were eligible if they had severe unilateral or bilateral carotid artery stenosis and both doctor and patient agreed that a carotid procedure should be undertaken, but they were substantially uncertain which one to choose. Patients were randomly allocated to CAS or CEA and followed up at 1 month and then annually, for a mean 5 years. Procedural events were those within 30 days of the intervention. Intention-to-treat analyses are provided. Analyses including procedural hazards use tabular methods. Analyses and meta-analyses of non-procedural strokes use Kaplan-Meier and log-rank methods. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN21144362. Findings: Between Jan 15, 2008, and Dec 31, 2020, 3625 patients in 130 centres were randomly allocated, 1811 to CAS and 1814 to CEA, with good compliance, good medical therapy and a mean 5 years of follow-up. Overall, 1% had disabling stroke or death procedurally (15 allocated to CAS and 18 to CEA) and 2% had non-disabling procedural stroke (48 allocated to CAS and 29 to CEA). Kaplan-Meier estimates of 5-year non-procedural stroke were 2·5% in each group for fatal or disabling stroke, and 5·3% with CAS versus 4·5% with CEA for any stroke (rate ratio [RR] 1·16, 95% CI 0·86–1·57; p=0·33). Combining RRs for any non-procedural stroke in all CAS versus CEA trials, the RR was similar in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients (overall RR 1·11, 95% CI 0·91–1·32; p=0·21). Interpretation: Serious complications are similarly uncommon after competent CAS and CEA, and the long-term effects of these two carotid artery procedures on fatal or disabling stroke are comparable. Funding: UK Medical Research Council and Health Technology Assessment Programme

Introduction: Visual Publics, Visible Publics

Our theoretical understanding of public is much changed since Jurgen Habermas first put forth his notion of the bourgeois public sphere in 1962.1 While Habermas’ ideal of a democratic, dialogic community external to both the private sphere and the state is still valuable today, the more recent critical work of Bruce Robbins, Nancy Fraser, Rosalyn Deutsche, and Michael Warner (to name only a few)2 point less to a definable, singular public sphere and more to an often-indistinct and fragmentary interplay of multiple publics and counterpublics. These new critical understandings of public raise questions about who is included and who is excluded in the formation of certain publics, and problematize overly simplistic binary distinctions between inside and outside, public and private. As such, it has become more difficult than ever to define a public (or publics) concretely, as either theoretical or practical cultural entities

E-Commerce shop and marketing plan for Retro Rebuilds

This thesis project began with the client's need for an online store and digital marketing strategy to expand its business beyond a third-party platform for web sales. Having their own webstore would allow them to better engage in their chosen market of used video game consoles, yet they lacked a clear idea and knowledge of how to do this by themselves. The outcome of the thesis project is an e-commerce package that includes a fully functioning online store with a marketing plan. The client company "Retro Rebuilds" was established by combining the client's hobbies of customized electronics and art. Based in San Francisco, the client has been engaged in customized retro console refurbishing and re-selling since 2019. The project was separated into two main modules that would divide building the store and developing a marketing plan for the client. This allowed the work to be divided equally between the students involved in the project work for the client. The project results were deemed acceptable by the client, completing our set objectives successfully. Future developments expect that the client business will be able to grow if they continue to utilize the project deliverables made during this thesis. The client is now able to maintain and continue to develop their business independently

Occipital condyle syndrome: self diagnosed

We present the case of a 71-year-old man who presented to us with unilateral lower motor neuron hypoglossal palsy along with the characteristic occipital headache. He himself forwarded a paper on occipital condyle syndrome to the clinician who initially reviewed him. Later the patient underwent a series of investigations that confirmed the diagnosis of underlying prostatic carcinoma with widespread metastasis to bones including the base of the skull. Seven months after the diagnosis he is doing well, his headache is much better and the tongue deviation is stable. He was initially treated with tapering doses of dexamethasone and is currently receiving the depo gonadorelin analogue leuprorelin