Animal companionship and identity construction in the middle English "Ywain and Gawain"

Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2011As a relatively recent field within literary cultural studies, "animal studies" has the potential to ask sophisticated new questions about the central and privileged place of the humanist "cogito." Through an examination of the human-animal companionship found in the Middle English romance "Ywain and Gawain", this thesis aims to contribute to the project of animal studies by tracing how questions about humanity and animality both construct and deconstruct a subject's identity. In the poem, Ywain, a knight in Arthur's court, is exiled from society and befriends a lion, who travels and fights alongside him. The dynamics of their bond highlight a posthumanist identity which begins to articulate itself within Ywain. The fluid nature of the category "man" is further examined throughan analysis of Ywain's sojourn in the woods as a wild man, and the "what is a man" encounter which occurs at the beginning of the poem. Though normative society is reinstated at the end of the text, the study concludes that the added presence of the lion in court undermines humanism's inherently speciesist imagination and serves as a microcosm of one possible vision of a posthumanist society.Introduction: Identity construction and significant otherness -- 1. Ywain's "Leo Fidelis": animal mirror for posthumanist reflection -- 2. Adventures in construction: the giant herdsman, wild men, and Ywain's lion again -- Conclusion: The animals we study -- Works cited

Modeling Surface and Subsurface Pesticide Transport Under Three Field Conditions Using PRZM-3 and GLEAMS

Contaminant transport models should be evaluated over a wide range of conditions to determine their limitations. The models PRZM and GLEAMS have been evaluated many times, but few studies are available in which predicted movement in runoff and percolate were simultaneously evaluated against field data. Studies of this type are essential because pesticide leaching and runoff are mutually dependent processes. For this reason, PRZM-3 and GLEAMS were evaluated for their ability to predict metribuzin concentrations in runoff, sediment, subsurface soil, and pan lysimeters under three field conditions (yard waste compost amended, no-till, and conventional-till) on a Lowell silt loam soil. Sensitive input parameters were either site specific (climatic, soil, and chemical) or calibrated (K-factor, C-factor, curve number). In general, both models under-predicted metribuzin concentration in runoff water, runoff sediment, subplow layer soil (15-75 cm), and pan lysimeter water (75 cm). Contrary to field data, both models predicted that a large percentage (\u3e 50%) of metribuzin would move below the “mixing zone” (top 1 cm) during the first rainfall event after application. Relatively little metribuzin was predicted to move beyond the plow layer (top 15 cm) into the pan lysimeters or subsurface soil throughout the simulation period, possibly due to the lack of a macropore component in the models. High metribuzin concentrations in sediment (field data) indicated that relatively little metribuzin moved below the “mixing zone”, possibly because of hysteresis but much of the metribuzin that did move was quickly transported into the pan lysimeters, probably due to macropore flow. GLEAMS more accurately predicted pesticide concentration in sediment and PRZM predicted subsurface soil concentration somewhat more accurately than GLEAMS. Little difference in accuracy was detected between models on metribuzin concentration in runoff or metribuzin concentration in percolate. Although both models generally under-predicted metribuzin concentration in runoff, runoff transport (mass of metribuzin in runoff) for the study period was over-predicted by both models which emphasizes the importance of accurately predicting herbicide concentration and runoff volume soon after application when the surface pesticide concentrations are highest

Cyclosporine-Steroid Combination Therapy in 84 Cadaveric Renal Transplants

Sixty-three primary and 21 retransplant cadaver kidney allografts were placed in 77 patients over a one-year period with three- to six-month follow-up. Eight primary grafts (12.7%) and six retransplants (28.6%) were lost to rejection. Patient mortality was 3.9%. There were no grafts lost and no deaths due to opportunistic infections. Renal function at 6 months after transplantation was similar in all primary transplant recipients regardless of risk factors, including advanced age, diabetes, or the need for postoperative dialysis. © 1985, National Kidney Foundation, Inc.. All rights reserved

CONSENSUS CONFERENCE REPORT ON LIVER* TRANSPLANTATION.

Liver transplantation has been developed to the point of a service operation, the exploitation of which depends upon the establishment of multiple regional centers. The increased use of this procedure will permit the delivery of optimum health care to victims of end stage liver disease

Hydrologic and isotopic modeling of Alpine Lake Waiau, Mauna Kea, Hawai'i

Analysis of hydrologic, meteorologic, and isotopic data collected over 3 yr quantifies and explains the enormous variability and isotopic enrichment (δ18O = +16.9, δD = +50.0) of alpine Lake Waiau, a culturally and ecologically significant perched lake near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawai'i. Further, a simple one-dimensional hydrologic model was developed that couples standard water budget modeling with modeling of δD and δ18O isotopic composition to provide daily predictions of lake volume and chemistry. Data analysis and modeling show that winter storms are the primary source of water for the lake, adding a distinctively light isotopic signature appropriate for high-altitude precipitation. Evaporation at the windy, dry summit is the primary loss mechanism for most of the year, greatly enriching the lake in heavy isotopes

Indications for liver transplantation in the cyclosporine era

One hundred seventy orthotopic liver transplants were performed under conventional immunosuppression with azathioprine and steroids with 1- and 5-year survivals of 32.9% and 20.0%, respectively. Since the introduction of cyclosporine-prednisone therapy in March 1980, 313 primary orthotopic liver transplants have been performed. Actuarial survivals at 1 and 5 years have improved to 69.7% and 62.8%, respectively. Biliary atresia is now the most common indication for liver replacement. In adults, primary biliary cirrhosis and sclerosing cholangitis have become more common indications for transplantation, and alcoholic cirrhosis and primary liver malignancy as indications have declined. Early enthusiasm for liver transplantation in patients with hepatic cancer has been tempered by the finding that recurrence is both common and rapid. An increasing number of patients with inborn errors of metabolism originating in the liver are receiving transplants, including patients with Wilson's disease, tyrosinemia, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, glycogen storage disease, familial hypercholesterolemia, and hemochromatosis. Survival in this group of patients has been excellent (74.4% at 1 and 5 years). A hemophiliac who received a transplant for postnecrotic cirrhosis has survived and may have been cured of his hemophilia. About 20% of patients require retransplantation for rejection, technical failure, or primary graft failure. Only 4 of the patients receiving retransplants under conventional immunosuppression survived beyond 6 months, and all died within 14 months of retransplantation. Sixty-eight patients have received retransplants under cyclosporine-prednisone. Thirty-one patients are surviving, all for at least 1 year. Six of the 12 patients requiring a third transplant are alive 2 to 3 years after the primary operation. An aggressive approach to retransplantation in the patient with a failed graft is justified

Mouse Estrous Cycle Identification Tool and Images

The efficiency of producing timed pregnant or pseudopregnant mice can be increased by identifying those in proestrus or estrus. Visual observation of the vagina is the quickest method, requires no special equipment, and is best used when only proestrus or estrus stages need to be identified. Strain to strain differences, especially in coat color can make it difficult to determine the stage of the estrous cycle accurately by visual observation. Presented here are a series of images of the vaginal opening at each stage of the estrous cycle for 3 mouse strains of different coat colors: black (C57BL/6J), agouti (CByB6F1/J) and albino (BALB/cByJ). When all 4 stages (proestrus, estrus, metestrus, and diestrus) need to be identified, vaginal cytology is regarded as the most accurate method. An identification tool is presented to aid the user in determining the stage of estrous when using vaginal cytology. These images and descriptions are an excellent resource for learning how to determine the stage of the estrous cycle by visual observation or vaginal cytology

Comparison of baricitinib, upadacitinib, and tofacitinib mediated regulation of cytokine signaling in human leukocyte subpopulations

BACKGROUND: The in vitro pharmacology of baricitinib, upadacitinib, and tofacitinib was evaluated to understand differences among these JAK inhibitors (JAKis) at the cellular level. METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors were incubated with different JAKis, levels of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription (pSTAT) were measured following cytokine stimulation, and half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were calculated in phenotypically gated leukocyte subpopulations. Therapeutic dose relevance of the in vitro analysis was assessed using calculated mean concentration-time profiles over 24 h obtained from JAKi-treated subjects. Time above IC50 and average daily percent inhibition of pSTAT formation were calculated for each JAKi, cytokine, and cell type. RESULTS: Distinct JAKis displayed different in vitro pharmacologic profiles. For example, tofacitinib and upadacitinib were the most potent inhibitors of the JAK1/3-dependent cytokines tested (interleukin [IL]-2, IL-4, IL-15, and IL-21) with lower IC50 values and increased time above IC50 translating to a greater overall inhibition of STAT signaling during the dosing interval. All JAKis tested inhibited JAK1/2-dependent cytokines (e.g., IL-6 and interferon [IFN]-γ), the JAK1/tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2)-dependent cytokines IL-10 and IFN-α, the JAK2/2-dependent cytokines IL-3 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and the JAK2/TYK2-dependent cytokine granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), but often to significantly differing degrees. CONCLUSIONS: Different JAKis modulated distinct cytokine pathways to varying degrees, and no agent potently or continuously inhibited an individual cytokine signaling pathway throughout the dosing interval. Notably, baricitinib inhibited JAK1/3 signaling to a lesser extent than upadacitinib and tofacitinib, while upadacitinib, baricitinib, and tofacitinib inhibited the signaling of JAK2/2-dependent cytokines, including GM-CSF and IL-3, as well as the signaling of the JAK2/TYK2-dependent cytokine G-CSF