Glocal Routes in British Asian Drama: Between Adaptation and Tradaption

In the context of British Asian theatre and the search for a diasporic theatre aesthetics the practice of adaptation has emerged as a recurring feature. Over the last decades, British Asian theatre has sought to create a language of the theatre that can reflect the cultural heritage of Asians in Britain; this search has taken different directions testified also by the plurality of voices that today make up British Asian theatre and has responded to the need to challenge the conceptual binary of British and Asian, aiming to affirm South Asian culture on the stage as an integral part of British culture. As the article argues, adaptation also plays a role in highlighting the dialectic between local and the global particularly in those cases where regions of Britain such as the Northwest of England can be recreated on stage as South Asian British cultural spaces

Pregnancy and heart disease: risk and predictors of obstetric complications

Background: Although the disease is limited to only 0.5 to 1.0 percent of pregnant women, it remains an important cause of maternal morbidity and even mortality and has a significant effect on fetal outcome. Pregnancy and the peripartum period are associated with important cardiocirculatory changes that can lead to marked clinical deterioration in the woman with heart disease. Objectives of present study were to comprehend the impact of heart disease during pregnancy, to study the maternal and neonatal outcomes of pregnancies in women with heart disease, to identify predictors of pregnancy related complications in women with heart disease and to refine the risk stratification and to assess the individual risk of each pregnant woman with heart disease.Methods: It is a perspective study carried out at College Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Govt. Medical, Kottayam from January 2012 to March 2014.Results: The outcomes of the pregnancies in 100 women who presented with heart disease and received their obstetrical care were evaluated. A maternal cardiac event, neonatal event, or both occurred in 37 completed pregnancies. A cardiac event complicated 8 completed pregnancies. It includes 2 maternal deaths, one on 9th postnatal day in women with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and another in women with rheumatoid mitral stenosis who died of congestive cardiac failure. Most cardiac events (75%) occurred in the antepartum period and were either heart failure or cardiac arrhythmia.Conclusions: Strict prenatal care and early risk stratification during gestation are fundamental measures to improve the prognosis of pregnancy in women with heart disease

Incidence and public health burden of sunburn among beachgoers in the United States.

The beach environment creates many barriers to effective sun protection, putting beachgoers at risk for sunburn, a well-established risk factor for skin cancer. Our objective was to estimate incidence of sunburn among beachgoers and evaluate the relationship between sunburn incidence and sun-protective behaviors. A secondary analysis, of prospective cohorts at 12 locations within the U.S. from 2003 to 2009 (n = 75,614), were pooled to evaluate sunburn incidence 10-12 days after the beach visit. Behavioral and environmental conditions were cross-tabulated with sunburn incidence. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the association between new sunburn and sun-protective behaviors. Overall, 13.1% of beachgoers reported sunburn. Those aged 13-18 years (16.5%), whites (16.0%), and those at beach locations along the Eastern Seaboard (16.1%), had the highest incidence of sunburn. For those spending ≥5 h in the sun, the use of multiple types of sun protection reduced odds of sunburn by 55% relative to those who used no sun protection (Odds Ratio = 0.45 (95% Confidence Interval:0.27-0.77)) after adjusting for skin type, age, and race. Acute health effects of sunburn tend to be mild and self-limiting, but potential long-term health consequences are more serious and costly. Efforts to encourage and support proper sun-protective behaviors, and increase access to shade, protective clothing, and sunscreen, can help prevent sunburn and reduce skin cancer risk among beachgoers

Widespread Infilling of Tidal Channels and Navigable Waterways in the Human-Modified Tidal Deltaplain of Southwest Bangladesh

Since the 1960s, ~5000 km2 of tidal deltaplain in southwest Bangladesh has been embanked and converted to densely inhabited, agricultural islands (i.e., polders). This landscape is juxtaposed to the adjacent Sundarbans, a pristine mangrove forest, both well connected by a dense network of tidal channels that effectively convey water and sediment throughout the region. The extensive embanking in poldered areas, however, has greatly reduced the tidal prism (i.e., volume of water) transported through local channels. We reveal that \u3e600 km of these major waterways have infilled in recent decades, converting to land through enhanced sedimentation and the direct blocking of waterways by embankments and sluice gates. Nearly all of the observed closures (~98%) have occurred along the embanked polder systems, with no comparable changes occurring in channels of the Sundarbans (2 of new land in the last 40–50 years, the rate of which, ~2 km2/yr, offsets the 4 km2/yr that is eroded at the coast, and is equivalent to ~20% of the new land produced naturally at the Ganges-Brahmaputra tidal rivermouth. Most of this new land, called ‘khas’ in Bengali, has been reclaimed for agriculture or aquaculture, contributing to the local economy. However, benefits are tempered by the loss of navigable waterways for commerce, transportation, and fishing, as well as the forced rerouting of tidal waters and sediments necessary to sustain this low-lying landscape against rising sea level. A more sustainable delta will require detailed knowledge of the consequences of these hydrodynamic changes to support more scientifically-grounded management of water, sediment, and tidal energy distribution

An Examination of Website Advice to Avoid Jury Duty

The use of a jury in legal proceedings can be traced as far back as the participatory democracies that emerged in Greece in the sixth century BC, although it was not until the signing of the Magna Carta that the right to a trial by a jury of one’s peers emerged.1 In the United States, the Sixth and Seventh Amendments of the U.S. Constitution expressly provide this right in both criminal and civil proceedings.2 Furthermore, these amendments provide individuals with the right to a trial before an impartial jury.3 This right intends to serve as a safeguard against unfair treatment during a trial, providing a system of checks and balances to pursue the goal that justice remains at the heart of the legal system. A jury is intended to serve as a cross-section of the community, as it is drawn from and purports to represent the collective community conscience and common sense when resolving disagreements.4 Despite this rich constitutional history and community context, many residents of the United States actively seek to avoid jury service when they are called, for reasons we discuss further below. Some individuals search the Internet for information about how to avoid participating in jury service. As trial judges are tasked with oversight that spans the entire process of impanelment through voir dire, this study sought to provide a contextual background to assist the judiciary in easily recognizing and assessing potential jury avoidance. In the current study, the investigators examined advice offered by popular websites about how reluctant jurors may attempt to be excused from jury service

Loss-of-function genetic diseases and the concept of pharmaceutical targets

The biomedical world relies heavily on the definition of pharmaceutical targets as an essential step in the drug design process. It is therefore tempting to apply this model to genetic diseases as well. However, whereas the model applies well to gain-of-function genetic diseases, it is less suited to most loss-of-function genetic diseases. Most common diseases, as well as gain-of-function genetic diseases, are characterized by the activation of specific pathways or the ectopic activity of proteins, which make well identified targets. By contrast, loss-of-function genetic diseases are caused by the impairment of one protein, with potentially distributed consequences. For such diseases, the definition of a pharmaceutical target is less precise, and the identification of pharmaceutically-relevant targets may be difficult. This critical but largely ignored aspect of loss-of-function genetic diseases should be taken into consideration to avoid the commitment of resources to inappropriate strategies in the search for treatments

The Importance of Data Visualization: Incorporating Storytelling into the Scientific Presentation

From its inception in 2000, one of the primary tasks of the Biomedical Data Reduction Analysis (BDRA) group has been translation of large amounts of data into information that is relevant to the audience receiving it. BDRA helps translate data into an integrated model that supports both operational and research activities. This data integrated model and subsequent visual data presentations have contributed to BDRA's success in delivering the message (i.e., the story) that its customers have needed to communicate. This success has led to additional collaborations among groups that had previously not felt they had much in common until they worked together to develop solutions in an integrated fashion. As more emphasis is placed on working with "big data" and on showing how NASA's efforts contribute to the greater good of the American people and of the world, it becomes imperative to visualize the story of our data to communicate the greater message we need to share. METHODS To create and expand its data integrated model, BDRA has incorporated data from many different collaborating partner labs and other sources. Data are compiled from the repositories of the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health and the Life Sciences Data Archive, and from the individual laboratories at Johnson Space Center that support collection of data from medical testing, environmental monitoring, and countermeasures, as designated in the Medical Requirements Integration Documents. Ongoing communication with the participating collaborators is maintained to ensure that the message and story of the data are retained as data are translated into information and visual data presentations are delivered in different venues and to different audiences. RESULTS We will describe the importance of storytelling through an integrated model and of subsequent data visualizations in today's scientific presentations and discuss the collaborative methods used. We will illustrate the discussion with examples of graphs from BDRA's past work supporting operations and/or research efforts

Framing Young Childrens Oral Health: A Participatory Action Research Project

Despite the widespread acknowledgement of the importance of childhood oral health, little progress has been made in preventing early childhood caries. Limited information exists regarding specific daily-life and community-related factors that impede optimal oral hygiene, diet, care, and ultimately oral health for children. We sought to understand what parents of young children consider important and potentially modifiable factors and resources influencing their children’s oral health, within the contexts of the family and the community

Severe Tracheobronchomalacia after Prolonged Intubation of Multitrauma Patient

Tracheobronchomalacia is a condition with significant morbidity with many etiologies including iatrogenic ones and should be considered in critically ill ventilated trauma patients. We present a case of a multitrauma patient who had difficulty weaning from the ventilator after prolonged intubation followed by tracheostomy tube placement. We describe her presentation, diagnosis, and management provide and as well a discussion of the condition

Biofortification of Sodium Selenate Improves Dietary Mineral Contents and Antioxidant Capacity of Culinary Herb Microgreens

Selenium biofortification of plants has been suggested as a method of enhancing dietary seleniumintake to prevent deficiency and chronic disease in humans, while avoiding toxic levels of intake. Popular herbs such as basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), cilantro (Coriandrum sativum L.), and scallions (Allium fistulosum L.) present an opportunity for biofortification as these plants are used for added flavors to meals and are available as microgreens, young plants with increasing popularity in the consumer marketplace. In this study, basil, cilantro, and scallion microgreens were biofortified with sodium selenate under hydroponic conditions at various selenium concentrations to investigate the effects on yield, selenium content, other mineral contents (i.e., sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, sulfur, and boron), total phenol content, and antioxidant capacity [oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC)]. The results showed that the selenium content increased significantly at all concentrations, with scallions demonstrating the largest increase. The effects on other minerals varied among herb species. Antioxidant capacity and total phenol content increased in all herbs at the highest selenium treatments, but basil and scallions demonstrated a decreased crop yield. Overall, these biofortified culinary herbmicrogreens are an ideal functional food for enhancing selenium, other dietary minerals, and antioxidants to benefit human health