Truth After cinema: The explosion of facts in the documentary films of Jia Zhangke

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 Intellect Books.This article identifies and elaborates on two models of resistance evident in JiaZhangke’s film corpus. The deployment of different cinematic strategies produces an experimental calling into question of the value of truth and of truth as value. In the films here analysed Jia moves from resistance through organic observation to a model of resistance structured around a series of fabulations. If the first regime addresses the truth of ideology, then the target of the second is the ideology of truth. It is in this passage that Jia enters political cinema, collapsing the distinction between factual and fictional and opening up a space that belongs to no collectivity

Marco Ferreri: The task of cinema and the end of the world

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 Intellect Books.This article identifies Marco Ferreri's original contribution to cinema as a gesture aimed at exposing the 'end of the world'. This expression should be understood - aside from millenarian connotations - as a reopening of sense in excess of acquired significations. Ferreri supports this gesture through images that deliberately defy conceptual validation, so that his films often move from the meticulous description of ordinary situations to the collapse of meaningful references. In order to contextualize the framework described above, the argument traces Ferreri's trajectory back to neo-realism, highlighting elements of continuity and moments of rupture. In particular, the article highlights how Ferreri delivers the humanism expressed by neo-realism to a world without thought

Emerging treatment options for the management of brain metastases in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

The widespread use of trastuzumab in the past decade has led to a significant and measureable improvement in the survival of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) overexpressing breast cancer, and in many ways has redefined the natural history of this aggressive breast cancer subtype. Historically, survival in patients with HER2-positive disease was dictated by the systemic disease course, and what appears to be the central nervous system (CNS) tropism associated with HER2-amplified tumors was not clinically evident. With improved systemic control and prolonged survival, the incidence of brain metastases has increased, and CNS disease, often in the setting of well-controlled extracranial disease, is proving to be an increasingly important and clinically challenging cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer. This review summarizes the known clinical data for the systemic treatment of HER2-positive CNS metastases and includes information about ongoing clinical trials of novel therapies as well as emerging strategies for early detection and prevention

Scalp cooling with adjuvant/neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer and the risk of scalp metastases: systematic review and meta-analysis.

PurposeThe risk of scalp metastases in patients using scalp cooling for preservation of hair during chemotherapy has been a concern but is poorly described.MethodsA systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies was undertaken to evaluate the effect of scalp cooling versus no scalp cooling on the risk of scalp metastasis in patients treated for breast cancer with chemotherapy. Electronic databases, journal specific, and hand searches of articles identified were searched. Patients were matched based on disease, treatment, lack of metastatic disease, and sex.ResultsA total of 24 full-text articles were identified for review. Of these articles, ten quantified the incidence of scalp metastasis with scalp cooling over time. For scalp cooling, 1959 patients were evaluated over an estimated mean time frame of 43.1 months. For no scalp cooling, 1238 patients were evaluated over an estimated mean time frame of 87.4 months. The incidence rate of scalp metastasis in the scalp cooling group versus the no scalp cooling group was 0.61% (95% CI 0.32-1.1%) versus 0.41% (95% CI 0.13-0.94%); P = 0.43.ConclusionThe incidence of scalp metastases was low regardless of scalp cooling. This analysis suggests that scalp cooling does not increase the incidence of scalp metastases

More or less, and nothing in between

For the last three decades Jean-Luc Nancy has worked at a methodical and vigorous deconstruction of the world, driven by the affirmation that the world is without sense. This gesture insists instead on a return to the world from the neglect imposed on it by our philosophical and theological traditions. The demand emerging from Nancy’s thought is that we ask again and again what the world wants of us and what we want of it

Asghar Farhadi: Acknowledging Hybrid Traditions: Iran, Hollywood and Transnational Cinema

Post-revolutionary Iranian cinema has been praised for its emotional immediacy and compositional simplicity. The work of Asghar Farhadi stands as an exception to this canon. His films focus on domestic conflicts and cultural contradictions in urban life and are marked by emotional complexity and intricate narrative structures. Focusing on these characteristics, critics have stressed his proximity to mainstream American cinema. The article analyses this proximity by discussing the thematic parallels that Farhadi's work enjoys with classical Hollywood films, as conceptualised by philosopher Stanley Cavell. The article explores the limit of this approach by connecting Farhadi's films to pre-revolutionary Iranian cinema, a body of work that, despite the little attention it has received, can nonetheless provide significant insights into Farhadi's oeuvre to date, whilst bringing to the fore the heterogeneous tradition of Iranian cinema

THE ACQUISITION OF SOCIOLINGUISTIC SKILLS OF CROATIAN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF ITALIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

In foreign language teaching, the main objective is often a semistandard variety of the language. However, learners should be put in contact with all possible variations, from the diaphasic dimension to the diastratic, from the diametric to the diatopic (Udier & Gulešić Machata, 2011). Among all variations, the diaphasic dimension is very difficult to acquire and is the one which mainly concerns the use of language in relation to different interactional situations. In fact, it is easier to absorb diaphasic varieties in the spontaneous acquisition process than in guided learning (for the difference between these two see Medved Krajnović, 2010). Indeed, although many foreign learners have already assimilated the rules of a certain standard language, it is still difficult for them to acquire a more informal spoken language or to use different linguistic registers (Pallotti, 2000). This study presents an analysis of the ability of Croatian students to use the Italian language in different interactional registers, in particular the most colloquial and everyday spoken variety. For the purposes of this study, written works and oral productions of Croatian undergraduate students of Italian between the third and fifth year of study have been examined by observing their productive capacities in the stylistic field, especially at the lexical level, but also from a structural and morphosyntactic point of view. The aim was to establish if these linguistic productions are suitable for real communicative situations in the Italian diaphasic range. Although different registers are not entities with clearly delimitable boundaries (Rovere, 2011), sociolinguistic competence, both productive and receptive, must be one of the main objectives of language teaching. A good sociolinguistic awareness is in fact synonymous with linguistic mastery. In addition to giving a general overview of the competence of Croatian students, our goal was also to examine which means appear to be the most effective for the needs of the mentioned students

The impact of 5-hydroxytryptamine-receptor antagonists on chemotherapy treatment adherence, treatment delay, and nausea and vomiting.

PurposeTo determine the incidence of chemotherapy-induced nausea/vomiting (CINV) and chemotherapy treatment delay and adherence among patients receiving palonosetron versus other 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor antagonist (5-HT3 RA) antiemetics.Materials and methodsThis retrospective claims analysis included adults with primary malignancies who initiated treatment consisting of single-day intravenous highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) or moderately EC (MEC) regimens. Treatment delay was defined as a gap in treatment at least twice the National Comprehensive Cancer Network-specified cycle length, specific to each chemotherapy regimen. Treatment adherence was determined by the percentage of patients who received the regimen-specific recommended number of chemotherapy cycles within the recommended time frame.ResultsWe identified 1,832 palonosetron and 2,387 other 5-HT3 RA ("other") patients who initiated HEC therapy, and 1,350 palonosetron users and 1,379 patients on other antiemetics who initiated MEC therapy. Fewer patients receiving palonosetron experienced CINV versus other (HEC, 27.5% versus 32.2%, P=0.0011; MEC, 36.1% versus 41.7%, P=0.0026), and fewer treatment delays occurred among patients receiving palonosetron versus other (HEC, 3.2% versus 6.0%, P<0.0001; MEC, 17.0% versus 26.8%, P<0.0001). Compared with the other cohort, patients receiving palonosetron were significantly more adherent to the index chemotherapy regimen with respect to the recommended time frame (HEC, 74.7% versus 69.7%, P=0.0004; MEC, 43.1% versus 37.3%, P=0.0019) and dosage (HEC, 27.3% versus 25.8%, P=0.0004; MEC, 15.0% versus 12.6%, P=0.0019).ConclusionPalonosetron more effectively reduced occurrence of CINV in patients receiving HEC or MEC compared with other agents in this real-world setting. Additionally, patients receiving palonosetron had better adherence and fewer treatment delays than patients receiving other 5-HT3 RAs

Powers of Existence: The Question of Otherness in the Philosophy of Jean-Luc Nancy

While the present work analyzes three distinct motifs – body, world, with – in the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, the dissertation intends to investigate Nancy’s reading of Heidegger, with particular focus on the question of Being-with. Given the nature of the reflection – opening the question of otherness from within Heidegger – the research will also articulate a dialogue between Nancy and Levinas. Through the examination of Nancy’s reading of Heidegger, the dissertation will then endeavor to establish the original gesture of Nancy’s contribution to philosophy, which will be identified in the concept of powers of existence. Under the light of the analysis of the three concepts which structure the work, the conclusions will define powers of existence as singular resistances of existence to the mastering decision of philosophical work. This being the case philosophy will in turn continuously loosen its categories and key words in the attempt to decide its course according to what happens between us. The opening of a series of incommensurable measures responds to the demand existence casts on philosophical work. The problem of otherness is thus resolved as the work of powers of existence

Design of a 3 GHz Accelerator Structure for the CLIC Test Facility (CTF 3) Drive Beam

For the CLIC two-beam scheme, a high-current, long-pulse drive beam is required for RF power generation. Taking advantage of the 3 GHz klystrons available at the LEP injector once LEP stops, a 180 MeV electron accelerator is being constructed for a nominal beam current of 3.5 A and 1.5 microsecond pulse length. The high current requires highly effective suppression of dipolar wakes. Two concepts are investigated for the accelerating structure design: the "Tapered Damped Structure" developed for the CLIC main beam, and the "Slotted Iris - Constant Aperture" structure. Both use 4 SiC loads per cell for effective higher-order mode damping. A full-size prototype of the TDS structure has been built and tested successfully at full power. A first prototype of the SICA structure is being built.Comment: Contribution to Linac 2000 Conference, TUA16 (Poster