Hasil untuk "American literature"

Florian Dürlinger, Jakob Pietschnig

Negative intelligence and religiosity associations have been well established. Despite a broad consensus about the direction of this effect, reported effect strengths differed substantially in previous research. Because measurement modalities regarding religiosity and intelligence have been found to explain some of the identified inconsistencies, the literature would benefit from thoroughly assessing both constructs. Moreover, little is known about the role of the influence of the g-loadedness of an intelligence test or the role of religious denominations. Most proposed explanations suggest that the intelligence and religiosity association is on g, rather than specific cognitive abilities. However, systematic empirical evidence on the generality of religiosity link with intelligence domains is currently unavailable and the potential causes of the intelligence and religiosity link are little understood. Here, we used subject-level data of American participants of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) as well as a meta-analytical approach to examine test g-loading-specific effects on the intelligence and religiosity link. The primary data analyses (for two religiosity measures: η2 = 0.49 and η2 = 0.54) as well as the meta-analytical approach (r = 0.12 for poor vs. r = −0.20 for excellent g-loadedness) yielded indications of more pronounced intelligence and religiosity associations for studies assessing intelligence with more g-loaded tasks, thus tentatively suggesting a causal direction of intelligence influences on religiosity. Moreover, results of our primary data analyses suggest stronger associations of intelligence with religious beliefs than with religious behaviors in Catholic (r = −0.09 vs. r = 0.04), but not in Protestant (r = −0.06 vs. r < 0.01) participants.

Fabiane Veronica da Silva, Gutembergue Santos de Sousa, Eric Brito Ferraz et al.

<h4>Objective</h4>To synthesize the scientific evidence regarding the prevalence of leprosy relapse following multidrug therapy.<h4>Method</h4>A systematic review was conducted following the JBI methodology for prevalence studies and reported according to the guidelines, with the registration number CRD42020177141. The inclusion criteria were based on the mnemonics (Population, Condition, Context). Population: Individuals of any age or sex diagnosed with leprosy relapse and previously treated with paucibacillary or multibacillary multidrug therapy. Conditions: Leprosy relapse after multidrug therapy, measured as the proportion of cases. Context: Studies conducted within the healthcare service settings. The databases searched included Medline, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Scopus, WoS, and Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). The references were managed using Mendeley. A random-effects meta-analysis model was employed, and heterogeneity was assessed using Higgins' I² statistics.<h4>Results</h4>Of 26 studies (a combined sample of 71,385 participants), 19 were included in the meta-analysis. A higher prevalence of relapse was observed in working-age males, multibacillary cases with a high bacillary load, and those with established physical disabilities. The estimated prevalence of relapse across studies ranged from 0% to 10%, with a pooled estimate of 4% in India (95% CI: 0.03-0.05). The overall point estimate for relapse using regular multidrug therapy was 0.04 (95% CI: 0.02-0.05).<h4>Conclusion</h4>The prevalence of relapse varied according to the geographic location and type of multidrug therapy, with substantial heterogeneity across studies. These findings suggest that factors such as individual patient characteristics, treatment adherence, and capacity for healthcare services may have influenced the outcomes observed in this review.

Jenny Telleria, Jaime A. Costales

The protozoan parasite <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>, causative agent of Chagas disease, affects millions of people in endemic Latin American countries and beyond. In Latin America, Chagas disease is an important cause of death and disability, for which vaccines are lacking and improved treatment options are required. Additionally, the factors governing the development of a variety of clinical manifestations during Chagas disease, ranging from complete lack of symptoms to severe irreversible chronic organ damage (mainly cardiac or digestive), remain largely unknown. Much remains to be learned regarding the biology of <i>T. cruzi</i> in order to enhance our understanding of these lines of inquiry. In this context, proteomic methods have been leveraged to investigate different parasite strains, life-cycle forms, subcellular compartments, macromolecular complexes, signaling events and secreted molecules. The factors driving morphological transformation during the life cycle, the composition and functions of the parasite’s organelles and secreted molecules as well as the determinants of pathogenicity have been explored via proteomic methods, yielding insights into the fundamental processes behind the parasite biology and informing drug design and vaccine development. Importantly, the correlation between the wide genetic and phenotypic variability displayed by <i>T. cruzi</i> has been examined through proteomic methods as well. Here, we review the literature on <i>T. cruzi</i> proteomics and discuss it in the light of its limitations and in the context of the parasite’s genetic diversity.

Johannes Buchallik-Schregel, Frederik Kiene, Juliane Buchallik et al.

Abstract Background The nutritional status in alpacas is often masked by their dense fibre coat. Its assessment is commonly approached by different body condition scores (BCS) that rely on manual palpation of defined anatomical regions. However, BCS is an important diagnostic tool to aid recognition of diseased South American camelids (SACs) and low BCS has been associated with conditions like anaemia and neutrophilia. For dose-dependent veterinary treatment, body weight (BW), that should be as accurate as possible, is required. As on-site weighing with scales is often not possible, BW can mostly only be roughly estimated. To date, it remains unclear whether BCS in alpacas provides reliable information on BW or the ratios of BW to body length commonly known as Body Mass Index (BMI) or Ponderal Index (PI). Equations to estimate BW based on body measurements are available in the literature. Nonetheless, respective equations were developed in growing alpacas or adult llamas and BCS was not included. Results To compare six different BCS approaches and to examine the relationship between BCS and BW, body measurements and BCS scores were recorded in a herd of 105 alpacas. The examined BCS approaches showed significant (p < 0.05) but poor to moderate positive correlations to BW, BMI or PI. A solely visual inspection of BCS, in contrast, was not correlated with BW, BMI or PI. Equations previously developed in other studies provided an accurate estimation of BW. Multiple linear regression showed that the accuracy in predicting BW could be further increased by adding BCS data and sex. Conclusion Our observations indicate that most selected BCS approaches are not only important measures of nutritional status but can also be used to create more accurate models for BW calculation in alpacas. The study also supports the claim that a purely visual inspection of alpacas is not an adequate method to evaluate the nutritional status of these animals.

SANTIAGO CEVALLOS

En este trabajo se plantea que acaso con mayor intensidad que en Huasipungo (1934) y El Chulla Romero y Flores (1958), es en tres obras poco estudiadas de Jorge Icaza donde puede apreciarse con claridad –tal que deslumbra– su propuesta estética: en la pieza de teatro Flagelo (1936), la novela Media vida deslumbrados (1942) y el cuento «El nuevo San Jorge» (1952). Sin apartarse de la denuncia social, Icaza cierra con Flagelo su propuesta dramática; constituyen una suerte de manifiesto literario, por las repercusiones estéticas que alcanzan a la narrativa del autor. En Media vida deslumbrados se puede apreciar un equilibrio efectivo entre las propuestas del autor y su afán de denuncia social. «El nuevo San Jorge», según el autor de este ensayo, sería la obra que alberga lo más radical, en cuanto propuesta estética, de toda la obra icaciana; destaca los elementos neo-barrocos de la misma, con insistencia en los juegos de máscaras, las intermitencias entre las luces y las sombras, y en el múltiple y a la vez unívoco rostro de quien detenta el poder –algunos de estos elementos comunes a las dos obras comentadas, y a El Chulla Romero y Flores.

Arin Keeble, Sheri-Marie Harrison

This article reads Percival Everett’s The Trees (2021) as a novel of racial terror that is both about the reading and interpreting of an archive of this violence and, in some senses, formally archival, too. Drawing on Theodore Martin’s theory of the “drag of genre” and “drift of the contemporary,” we consider the ways Everett’s novel modulates through different generic modes while critiquing and disrupting the ideological currents that move within them and normalize violence via generic conventionality. In The Trees, an extensive set of allusions complement the inherent intertextuality of the crime and gothic genres to form an archive which is further constituted by a literal (fictional) archive at the heart of the novel. This archive, kept by an elderly root doctor, features “almost everything ever written about every lynching in these United States of America since 1913” (103). From this point we draw on Saidiya Hartman’s and Toni Morrison’s critiques of the archives of slavery and an American literary archive, respectively, locating Everett’s project as a timely intervention that rightly positions state and state-sponsored terrorism at the heart of America’s history.

Shuhan Meng, Hua Li, Xianhua Wu et al.

This paper makes a systematic visual analysis of cruise research literature collected in science network database from 1996 to 2019. The results show that: the overall number of published literatures on cruise research are growing; North American states, Europe, and Asia are the main regions of cruise research. The evolutionary of theme development of cruise research has three stages, and the current hot topics of cruise research can be summarized as cruise tourism, luxury cruises, cruise passengers, destination ports, environmental and biological conservation, and cruise diseases. Future research in the cruise field is in the areas of cruise supply chain, technology in cruise, children’s cruise experience, itinerary design, planning and optimization, brand reputation and luxury cruises, public transportation in destinations, environmental responsibility of passengers and corporate social responsibility, optimization of energy systems, climate change in relation to the cruise industry, the Chinese cruise market and risk management of cruise diseases.

Sumon Nandi, MD, MBA, Javad Parvizi, MD, FRCS, Muyibat A. Adelani, MD et al.

Background: Current literature does not provide conclusive evidence on whether routine pathologic examination of femoral heads from total hip arthroplasty is indicated or cost-effective. As a result, there is substantial variation in opinion among surgeons related to this issue. Our study aim was to determine factors that impact surgeon propensity to order pathologic examination of femoral heads. Methods: A 12-question survey was created to evaluate surgeon practices, indications, and patient care implications surrounding routine pathologic examination of femoral heads. The email survey was distributed to all members of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (n = 2598). Results: There were 572 survey respondents. Out of all respondents, 28.4% always send femoral heads to pathology, and 27.6% reported an institutional requirement to do so. Of the 572 surgeons, 73.6% report femoral head pathology has never resulted in a change in patient disease course. Factors that increase the likelihood of surgeons ordering femoral head pathologic examination include institutional requirements, medicolegal concern, and prior experience with femoral head pathologic examination changing patients' disease course (P < .001). Cost concern decreases the likelihood of surgeons ordering femoral head pathologic examination (P = .0012). Conclusions: A minority of surgeons routinely send femoral heads from total hip arthroplasty for pathologic examination, mostly because of institutional requirement. The majority of surgeons feel that femoral head pathologic examination never changes patient management, although others have infrequently detected malignancy and infection. Institutional policy, concern for litigation, and prior experience with discordant pathologic diagnoses increase femoral head pathologic examinations, while cost concern decreases them.

Berrebbah Ishak

Arab American fiction has received great attention in the post-9/11 period. This ethnic literature has been put under a critical lens due to the aspects that shape it and the issues discussed in it. One of the main objectives of Arab American fiction is to bridge cultural differences and appeal to its readers, both Arabs and non-Arabs. This particular objective is achieved by the authors’ willingness to trigger empathetic engagement with their characters. As such, this paper looks at how Laila Halaby’s West of the Jordan (2003) functions in accordance with the poetics of empathy. In other words, the aim of this paper is to show how fiction appeals to its readers through empathy and how empathetic engagement sustains the characters-readers connection, taking West of the Jordan as a literary example. This paper suggests that empathy in fiction is multi-layered and serves different purposes. The arguments are based on a conceptual framework supported by scholarly perspectives of prominent critics and theorists such as Chielozona Eze, Heather Hoyt, and Suzanne Keen, to name just a few.

Paulo Emílio Vauthier Borges de Macedo

This Article criticizes two trends on the Brazilian literature of communitarian law: A mental exercise that can only be termed as an “EU analogy” and a need to evoke the Congress of Panama of 1826 as the origin of Mercosur. As odd as it may seem, those trends are somewhat connected. Comparisons between the European Union and Mercosur abound in scholarly works, and they became so popular that a more simplified version of this comparison came into being. When explaining the current dilemma that Mercosur faces—or any other predicament as well—Brazilian scholars often tend to provide only one solution consisting in a vague reference to the supranational character of the European Union. This reference appears out of context and solves any problem. A trend so common as the EU analogy exemplifies that some Brazilian experts on communitarian law have also assumed an idealized version of our neighbors’ take on the Latin America integration. Apparently, Mercosur dates back to the Congress of Panama of 1826 and Simón Bolívar’s ideals on Latin American integration. The story faces several historical obstacles and yet has spread so rapidly that it has acquired the stature of a true myth. This work presents these two inclinations and contends that one relies on the other. Rather than providing an accurate explanation, as one would expect on a scientific text, they justify a certain concealed intent. This Article employs an inductive method of approach and relies on primary sources to explain the foundational myth so to prevent historical misconceptions.

Joel Windle, Bárbara Bravo Pires Ferreira

Although plurilingualism is a well-established topic in the international literature, especially in situations of transnational mobility, we still know little about the learning and appropriation of non-standard forms of English by young Brazilians online. Unlike the instrumental uses that predominate in formal English language teaching, digital literacy practices often focus on identity construction and expression, posing questions of race, gender, sexuality, and social status. Based on a digital ethnography of a Facebook page focused on American black popular culture, we analyze the linguistic resources and cultural references drawn upon by participants. The research seeks to understand the perspectives and online practices of young Brazilians, mobilizing theoretical resources from New Literacy Studies to understand the processes of discursive construction and resignification. The results show the importance of virtual spaces for the affirmation of subaltern identities, and at the same time the spatial restriction of some discursive expressions of identity, isolated from other educational and social environments in which the participants circulate. The article concludes by considering the implications for the democratization of foreign language learning in Brazil.

Vicente Robalino

En este ensayo se relacionan las posibilidades simbólico-evocadoras que tiene la naturaleza en la poesía del ecuatoriano César Dávila Andrade y el colombiano Aurelio Arturo, ante la desmesura del espacio que surge entre el presente de la evocación y el mundo evocado. Así como también la interiorización sensual y emotiva de la naturaleza en el yo lírico. De esta manera la evocación de la naturaleza fija y hasta petrifica el recuerdo, lo eterniza y evita su evanescencia del mundo evocado. En los dos poetas se puede apreciar una transfiguración simbólica de la naturaleza para evocar el mundo de la infancia y la intimidad familiar. En los dos autores es esencial la presencia de la madre, unida al paisaje rural cotidiano.

Nur Muhammad Ardiansyah, Vidya Mandarani

This article describes the study of semantic in a specified domain of figurative language upon a selected work of American English literature, in form of short story written by the renowned writer and author, William Wymark Jacobs, entitled as ‘The Monkey’s Paw’. Several objectives are deduced by the researcher in quest of finding the forms of this figurative language within the passage. Briefly, figurative language itself is a feature of every languages, which emphasized the use of expression to symbolize a different meaning from the usual literal interpretation. In our analysis of ‘The Monkey’s Paw’, the varieties of figurative language: Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole, Symbolism, also another terms used to represent unusual words construction or combination such as Onomatopoeia, Idiom, and even Imagery, are discussed in order in relation with true meaning discovery behind each figurative language properties.

Emily Vargas-Riaño, Víctor Becerril-Montekio, Francisco Becerra-Posada et al.

Abstract As part of the MASCOT/WOTRO multinational team conducting the maternal health literature mapping, four Latin American researchers were particularly interested in analysing information specific to their region. The mapping started with 45,959 papers uploaded from MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, LILACAS, PopLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Knowledge. From these, 4175 full texts were reviewed and 2295 papers were subsequently included. Latin America experienced an average maternal mortality decline of 40% between 1990 and 2013. Nevertheless, the region’s performance was below the global average and short of the 75% reduction set in Millennium Development Goal 5 for 2015. The main outcomes show that research on maternal health in the countries where the most impoverished populations of the world are living is not always aligned with their compelling needs. From another perspective, the review made it possible to recognize that research funding as well as the amount of scientific literature produced concentrate on issues that are not necessarily among the main causes of maternal deaths. Even though research on maternal health in Latin America has grown from an average of 92.5 publications per year in 2000-2003 to 236.7 between 2008 and 2012, it’s not satisfactorily keeping pace with other regions. In conclusion, it is critical to effectively orient research funding and production to respond to the health needs of the population. At the same time, there is a need for innovative mechanisms to strengthen the production and uptake of scientific evidence that can properly inform public health decision making.

Orm Øverland

Thanks to the generosity of Solidelle Fortier Wasser and her son Professor Frederick Wasser NAAS now has a travel grant named for their husband and father, Professor Henry Wasser, for the participation of PhD and MA students in our national and Nordic conferences. Although dearly remembered by Norwegian Americanists of my generation, Henry Wasser may need an introduction to my younger colleagues in NAAS. The following is a brief outline of his participation in and contribution to American Studies in Norway in the early 1960s as well as a note on the continued involvement of the Wasser family in American Studies in the Nordic countries.

Noor Mohammed, Amer Rehman, Mark Thomas Swinscoe et al.

Introduction: Patients with gastrointestinal bleeding admitted out of hours or at the weekends may have an excess mortality rate. The literature reports around this are conflicting. Aims and methods: We aimed to analyze the outcomes of emergency endoscopies performed out of hours and over the weekends in our center. We retrospectively analyzed data from April 2008 to June 2012. Results: A total of 507 ‘high risk’ emergency gastroscopies were carried out over the study period for various indications. Patients who died within 30 days of the index procedure [22 % (114 /510)] had a significantly higher Rockall score (7.6 vs. 6.0, P < 0.0001), a higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status (3.5 vs. 2.7, P < 0.001), and a lower systolic blood pressure (BP) at the time of the examination (94.8 vs 103, P = 0.025). These patients were significantly older (77.7 vs. 67.5 years, P = 0.006), and required more blood transfusion (5.9 versus 3.8 units). Emergency out-of-hours endoscopy was not associated with an increased risk of death [relative risk (RR) 1.09, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.12 – 1.95]. Whether the examination was carried out by a senior specialist registrar (senior trainee) or a consultant made no difference to the survival of the patient (RR 0.98, CI 0.77 – 1.32). Conclusion: Higher pre-endoscopy Rockall score and ASA status contributed significantly to the 30-day mortality following upper gastrointestinal bleeding, whereas lower BP tended towards significance. Outcomes did not vary with the time of the endoscopy nor was there any difference between a consultant and a senior specialist registrar led service.

Sandra Léa Bonfim Reis, Carmita H.N. Abdo

With advancing age, there is an increase in the complaints of a lack of a libido in women and erectile dysfunction in men. The efficacy of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, together with their minimal side effects and ease of administration, revolutionized the treatment of erectile dysfunction. For women, testosterone administration is the principal treatment for hypoactive sexual desire disorder. We sought to evaluate the use of androgens in the treatment of a lack of libido in women, comparing two periods, i.e., before and after the advent of the phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors. We also analyzed the risks and benefits of androgen administration. We searched the Latin-American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica, Scientific Electronic Library Online, and Medline (PubMed) databases using the search terms disfunção sexual feminina/female sexual dysfunction, desejo sexual hipoativo/female hypoactive sexual desire disorder, testosterona/testosterone, terapia androgênica em mulheres/androgen therapy in women, and sexualidade/sexuality as well as combinations thereof. We selected articles written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. After the advent of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, there was a significant increase in the number of studies aimed at evaluating the use of testosterone in women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. However, the risks and benefits of testosterone administration have yet to be clarified.

Janina Rojek

This essay examines and compares the quality debates surrounding serialized narratives in nineteenth-century periodicals and in contemporary television. It explores the processes of cultural hierarchization, the media, and the spaces of reception, both aspects that form the basis of the quality debate.

Igor Istomin

The impact of interest groups on foreign policy of the state up until today has not received substantial attention in the theory of international relations. In particular, activities of the entities shaped by the common religious affiliation of their members lack assessment in the academic literature. Meanwhile, their mobilization in the recent decades became significant aspect of political life both in developing and developed countries. The activity of religious groups in the United States forced deep transformation of the national political landscape, as they desire to affect not only internal debate, but external policies as well. Among other issues attention of such social and political bodies is also focused on the situation in the middle East. Their proactive standing facilitated advancement of the partnership between the United States and Israel, including growth of American diplomatic and military aid to Tel-Aviv. The supporters of such policy include not only small, but well organized Jewish community, but also representatives of the conservative Evangelical Protestants, which constitute the most numerous religious group in the U.S. Despite the fact that leaders of both group often use theological reasons to justify their support for Israel, the real motivation of the most regular members is primarily humanitarian and pragmatic. The diversity of the Pro-Israeli groups promotes bipartisan support of cooperation between the two countries, and enabled creation of both Democratic and Republican lobby on this issue. However the growing criticism of the current policy of Tel-Aviv on behalf of some of the adherents of American-Israeli cooperation leads to the erosion of impact of these groups.

Ljubomir Hristić

Richard Mercer Dorson made great strides in fieldwork theory and technique, influ­encing especially his own students' work. He pioneered the analysis of oral style in folk narratives and of the role of folklore in American literature, here too stirring up considerable controversy. He was an architect of intellectual bridges between folklor­ists of the United States and their counterparts in Europe, Africa, and Asia, both through his own writings and through the published works and conferences he stimu­lated others to bring about. And, more than anyone else, he agitated for the establish­ment of academic programs in folklore in the United States, with the respected pro­fessional instructors, systematic curricula, and scholarly bibliography needed to sus­tain them. The legacy of Dorson's writings to future American, and folklorists world­wide, is rich and complex, requir­ing the long term for its full significance to be appre­ciated.