Politics and Prophecy : Melville\u27s America in Moby-Dick and Benito Cereno

The goal of this thesis is to explore and identify Herman Melville’s position on a government that participated in slavery in the 1850’s. By examining the stories of Moby- Dick and Benito Cereno Melville’s distrust in government is exposed. The period in which he wrote was filled with political and social reforms during which he took influence from other vocal authors and slaves involved in revolt. I use two research strategies: (1) a look at literary and social events during Melville’s writing and (2) his personal correspondences. In the first part of the exploration is Melville’s attack on a government that allowed the continuation of slavery. The research then goes on to explore the signs and warnings in his texts that lead readers to question their governing system of power. This thesis seeks to show that Melville was not solely interested in slavery and his writings were not just an attack on the slave trade. He was an advocate for brotherhood and unity in the face of an immoral government. Some critics strive to show that he wrote about larger issues and not the simple issue of color. By exposing his personal writings, Melville was not passive and was quite disappointed in his government

Giotto e o Purgatório : a difícil missão de salvar a alma de um usurário

A instituição do purgatório proporciona uma terceira via para o destino das almas após a morte. Muito impulsionada pelo surgimento de novos estratos sociais, associados ao comércio, traduzia a necessidade de mudança, pois cada vez mais, rejeitavam-se idéias e explicações de caráter simplista e a sociedade voltava-se contra os modelos estritamente antagônicos. Em 1303, Giotto é convidado a pintar uma sequência de afrescos para Enrico Scrovegni, usurário paduano e filho do recém-falecido Reginaldo Scrovegni; este citado por Dante devido a sua extrema avareza. Enrico, após a morte do pai, talvez tenha pensado em alguma forma de apressar a chegada de Reginaldo ao Paraíso. Da Cappella Scrovegni, com seu conjunto iconográfico extenso e variado, queremos focar nossa atenção no afresco cujo tema é a Injustiça.The institution of the Purgatory provides a third way for the destination of the souls after death. It was driven by the appearance of the new social stratum, associated with trade, and translated the need of change, because each time more, the ideas and explanations of simplistic character were refused and the society turned against the antagonistic models. In 1303, Giotto is invited to paint a fresco cycle for Enrico Scrovegni, paduan usurer and son of the recently deceased Reginaldo Scrovegni; mentioned by Dante due to his extreme avarice. Enrico, after the death of his father, maybe had thought something to hurry Reginaldo's arrival in Paradise. From the Scrovegni Chapel, with its extensive and varied iconographic cycle, we want to focus our attention on the fresco, whose theme is Injustice

Giotto and the Purgatory : the difficult mission to save a usurer´s soul

The institution of the Purgatory provides a third way for the destination of the souls after death. It was driven by the appearance of the new social stratum, associated with trade, and translated the need of change, because each time more, the ideas and explanations of simplistic character were refused and the society turned against the antagonistic models. In 1303, Giotto is invited to paint a fresco cycle for Enrico Scrovegni, paduan usurer and son of the recently deceased Reginaldo Scrovegni; mentioned by Dante due to his extreme avarice. Enrico, after the death of his father, maybe had thought something to hurry Reginaldo’s arrival in Paradise. From the Scrovegni Chapel, with its extensive and varied iconographic cycle, we want to focus our attention on the fresco, whose theme is Injustice

Management by Trajectory: Improving Predictability for Airspace Operations

In the present-day National Airspace System, the air traffic management system attempts to predict the trajectory for each flight based on the flight plan and scheduled or controlled departure time. However, gaps in trajectory data and models, coupled with tactical control actions that are not communicated to automation systems or other stakeholders, lead to trajectory predictions that are less accurate than they could be. This affects traffic flow management performance. Management by Trajectory (MBT) is a NASA concept for air traffic management in which every flight operates in accordance with a 4D trajectory that is negotiated between the airspace user and the FAA to account for the airspace users goals while complying with NAS constraints. The primary benefit of MBT is an improvement in system performance due to increased trajectory predictability and stability, which result from managing traffic in all four dimensions (2D route, vertical, and time), ensuring that changes to the flights trajectory are incorporated into the assigned trajectory, and utilizing improved time or arrival control standards. Importantly, the performance improvements support increasing efficiency without increasing collision risk. This paper provides an overview of MBT and describes fast-time simulation results evaluating the safety, performance, and efficiency effects of MBT

Evaluation of AMSTAR to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews in overviews of reviews of healthcare interventions

Abstract Background Overviews of reviews (overviews) compile information from multiple systematic reviews (SRs) to provide a single synthesis of relevant evidence for decision-making. It is recommended that authors assess and report the methodological quality of SRs in overviews—for example, using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews (AMSTAR). Currently, there is variation in whether and how overview authors assess and report SR quality, and limited guidance is available. Our objectives were to: examine methodological considerations involved in using AMSTAR to assess the quality of Cochrane and non-Cochrane SRs in overviews of healthcare interventions; identify challenges (and develop potential decision rules) when using AMSTAR in overviews; and examine the potential impact of considering methodological quality when making inclusion decisions in overviews. Methods We selected seven overviews of healthcare interventions and included all SRs meeting each overview’s inclusion criteria. For each SR, two reviewers independently conducted AMSTAR assessments with consensus and discussed challenges encountered. We also examined the correlation between AMSTAR assessments and SR results/conclusions. Results Ninety-five SRs were included (30 Cochrane, 65 non-Cochrane). Mean AMSTAR assessments (9.6/11 vs. 5.5/11; p < 0.001) and inter-rater reliability (AC1 statistic: 0.84 vs. 0.69; “almost perfect” vs. “substantial” using the Landis & Koch criteria) were higher for Cochrane compared to non-Cochrane SRs. Four challenges were identified when applying AMSTAR in overviews: the scope of the SRs and overviews often differed; SRs examining similar topics sometimes made different methodological decisions; reporting of non-Cochrane SRs was sometimes poor; and some non-Cochrane SRs included other SRs as well as primary studies. Decision rules were developed to address each challenge. We found no evidence that AMSTAR assessments were correlated with SR results/conclusions. Conclusions Results indicate that the AMSTAR tool can be used successfully in overviews that include Cochrane and non-Cochrane SRs, though decision rules may be useful to circumvent common challenges. Findings support existing recommendations that quality assessments of SRs in overviews be conducted independently, in duplicate, with a process for consensus. Results also suggest that using methodological quality to guide inclusion decisions (e.g., to exclude poorly conducted and reported SRs) may not introduce bias into the overview process

Identification of senescence and death in Emiliania huxleyi and Thalassiosira pseudonana: Cell staining, chlorophyll alterations, and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) metabolism

We measured membrane permeability, hydrolytic enzyme, and caspase-like activities using fluorescent cell stains to document changes caused by nutrient exhaustion in the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi and the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, during batch-culture nutrient limitation. We related these changes to cell death, pigment alteration, and concentrations of dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) to assess the transformation of these compounds as cell physiological condition changes. E. huxleyi persisted for 1 month in stationary phase; in contrast, T. pseudonana cells rapidly declined within 10 d of nutrient depletion. T. pseudonana progressively lost membrane integrity and the ability to metabolize 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA; hydrolytic activity), whereas E. huxleyi developed two distinct CMFDA populations and retained membrane integrity (SYTOX Green). Caspase-like activity appeared higher in E. huxleyi than in T. pseudonana during the post-growth phase, despite a lack of apparent mortality and cell lysis. Photosynthetic pigment degradation and transformation occurred in both species after growth; chlorophyll a (Chl a) degradation was characterized by an increase in the ratio of methoxy Chl a : Chl a in T. pseudonana but not in E. huxleyi, and the increase in this ratio preceded loss of membrane integrity. Total DMSP declined in T. pseudonana during cell death and DMS increased. In contrast, and in the absence of cell death, total DMSP and DMS increased in E. huxleyi. Our data show a novel chlorophyll alteration product associated with T. pseudonana death, suggesting a promising approach to discriminate nonviable cells in nature

Genetic factors regulating lung vasculature and immune cell functions associate with resistance to pneumococcal infection

Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important human pathogen responsible for high mortality and morbidity worldwide. The susceptibility to pneumococcal infections is controlled by as yet unknown genetic factors. To elucidate these factors could help to develop new medical treatments and tools to identify those most at risk. In recent years genome wide association studies (GWAS) in mice and humans have proved successful in identification of causal genes involved in many complex diseases for example diabetes, systemic lupus or cholesterol metabolism. In this study a GWAS approach was used to map genetic loci associated with susceptibility to pneumococcal infection in 26 inbred mouse strains. As a result four candidate QTLs were identified on chromosomes 7, 13, 18 and 19. Interestingly, the QTL on chromosome 7 was located within S. pneumoniae resistance QTL (Spir1) identified previously in a linkage study of BALB/cOlaHsd and CBA/CaOlaHsd F2 intercrosses. We showed that only a limited number of genes encoded within the QTLs carried phenotype-associated polymorphisms (22 genes out of several hundred located within the QTLs). These candidate genes are known to regulate TGFb signalling, smooth muscle and immune cells functions. Interestingly, our pulmonary histopathology and gene expression data demonstrated, lung vasculature plays an important role in resistance to pneumococcal infection. Therefore we concluded that the cumulative effect of these candidate genes on vasculature and immune cells functions as contributory factors in the observed differences in susceptibility to pneumococcal infection. We also propose that TGFbmediated regulation of fibroblast differentiation plays an important role in development of invasive pneumococcal disease.This work was supported by the European Union-funded Pneumopath Project HEALTH-F3-2009-222983. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer-reviewedPublisher Versio

Critérios de alta fisioterapêutica após reconstrução do ligamento cruzado anterior: uma revisão da literatura

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (Graduação)CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO: O retorno seguro às atividades, pós reconstrução do Ligamento Cruzado Anterior, minimiza risco de recidiva da lesão, entretanto não existe um consenso na literatura sobre quais os aspectos da avaliação fisioterapêutica devem ser utilizados como critérios de alta e retorno às atividades. OBJETIVO: O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar uma revisão da literatura sobre os critérios de alta fisioterapêutica após a reconstrução do ligamento cruzado anterior. MÉTODOS: Foi realizada uma busca nas principais bases de dados disponíveis na internet utilizando os termos “return to irirrestrict activity”, “funcional evaluation”, “return to sports”, “restoration”, " acl reconstruction". Ao final da pesquisa e após aplicar os critérios de exclusão como estudos de baixa qualidade de acordo com a escala PEDro (nota igual ou inferior a 6), 10 artigos foram utilizados para a revisão. RESULTADOS: Esta revisão concluiu que, dentre os testes mais utilizados para definir um critério de alta para um retorno seguro ao esporte após um processo de reconstrução do ligamento cruzado anterior, os que mais se destacam são os hop tests, sendo que um dos critérios de alta mais utilizados nos artigos captados por esta revisão foi a simetria entre ambos os membros inferiores. Além disso, a aplicação de questionários em conjunto com os testes funcionais se mostrou bastante presente nos artigos abordados nesta revisão. CONCLUSÃO: Apesar da evidência de que os testes funcionais (testes de saltos, força muscular) em conjunto com os questionários (IKDC e ACL-RSI) serem bons indicadores, ainda é necessárias orientações quanto aos melhores instrumentos neste processo