The national tales of Maria Edgeworth and Walter Scott function by enforcing the normalcy of the bounded, self-reliant body through the gothic representation of the disabled body as threatening to ...undo, dissolve, or haunt the ‘normal’ body and its body politic. Whether through the exclusion of physically disabled characters or through the containment of the threat of ‘performance’ of mental disability, the National Tale reveals the instability of the distinction between able-bodied and disabled. The gothicized threat of disability in the national tale reveals the awkward constructedness of the space between dis- and abled. By reading these Romantic national tales through the relationship between deformity and citizenship, the exclusion of improper bodies not only conveys gothic anxieties over bodily ability, but also constructs a national community that enforces corporeal normalcy. Ultimately, the national tale reveals the capacity of the newly-formed state to condition citizenship upon a shifting concept of bodily normalcy in a way that will continue to shape and haunt the body politic long after the Romantic period.
This essay explores the significance of the specific sites that dominate O'Brien's representations of self-development in her novels set in Paris. Building on the central position that critics ...allocate to Paris, this article asserts that O'Brien's representation of Bakhtinian ‘becoming’ demonstrates a clear relationship between the type of space and the type of development available to the protagonist. Since space determines growth, O'Brien's Parisian novels only achieve the characteristic open growth when they include the geography of the Left Bank. This argument bridges the spatial turn, studies of the
Bildungsroman
, and O'Brien's European fiction.
Absurd Speculations REZNICEK, MATTHEW L.
Nineteenth-century literature,
12/2016, Letnik:
71, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This essay explores shared concerns regarding the representation of economic development that occurs in Maria Edgeworth’s Irish bildungsroman Ormond (1817) and in Johann Wolfang von Goethe’s two-part ...tragic retelling of the Faust myth (1808, 1832), building on recent interest in the representation of money in literature from the romantic period. While these two literary works are often seen as foundational texts in their respective national literatures, they both also explore the damning effects of economic and social development, especially through the medium of paper money. To this end, I examine the representation of paper money in Goethe’s Faust Part Two and of the capitalist ventures of Sir Ulick O’Shane in Ormond in order to situate more firmly Edgeworth’s writing within the broad European literary and social landscape. By focusing on the tragic representation of modernizing economics in these two works, it becomes obvious that Edgeworth, like Goethe, participates in and advances the formation of a modern world.
The purpose of this study is to establish the correlation between functional and morphological aspects before and 12 months after macular hole surgery.
In this prospective, interventional, ...consecutive study 16 eyes of 16 patients were included. All eyes received a successful transconjunctival 23-gauge vitrectomy with ILM peeling after initial diagnosis and maximum duration of symptoms of two months. Preoperatively and 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively determinations of best-corrected visual acuity (logMAR), a 10° microperimetry (MP-1) and a spectral-domain based optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) examination were performed. The photoreceptor layer (inner and outer segment, IS/OS) was evaluated based on SD-OCT images and correlated with data assessed by microperimetry analysis in the foveal and parafoveal region.
After three months a stabilisation of BCVA with regeneration of the IS/OS line, an improvement of the fixation behaviour and the macular sensitivity could be observed. A significant restitution of the IS/OS line was observed after 12 months. Best corrected visual acuity, mean overall macular sensitivity and fixation improved significantly within the twelve month observation period (p < 0.05). Comparison of patients with at least two lines of visual acuity gain with patients having less than two lines of visual acuity gain 12 months after surgery showed no statistically significant difference in regeneration of the IS/OS integrity in the fovea (p = 0.433), but a difference was seen in the parafoveal region. A postoperative visual acuity gain of at least two lines was significantly more often seen in eyes with postoperative continuous IS/OS line in the parafoveal sectors compared to eyes with persistent IS/OS defects (p < 0.02).
Correlations of morphological and functional improvements can be observed after successful micro-invasive macular hole surgery. The extent of the preoperative IS/OS defect, particularly in the parafoveal region, is a good predictive parameter for the postoperatively obtained macular sensitivity. The prediction of the postoperative visual acuity should not be made on the basis of a single clinical, anatomic finding.
Over the past years, a significant progress in genetic, functional and imaging diagnostics in hereditary retinal diseases has been made. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) as well as fundus ...autofluorescence (FAF) allow for high-resolution, non-invasive imaging - from various perspectives - of retinal and choroidal layers of the posterior fundus. Both techniques have gained more and more significance in the diagnosis of hereditary retinal diseases.
Of all patients presented in this review, extensive family history was taken and a clinical ophthalmological examination performed. OCT scans as well as FAF images were acquired and compared to results of other functional and molecular genetic tests in the context of each disease.
The presented cases in this review addressing hereditary retinal diseases (Best's disease, Stargardt's disease, cone-rod dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa, achromatopsia, and X-linked retinoschisis) show the significance of ophthalmic imaging (OCT + FAF) for a targeted diagnosis of hereditary retinal diseases.
The described imaging techniques (OCT + FAF) are becoming more and more important in the diagnosis of hereditary retinal diseases. Due to increasing availability of the devices, earlier detection of typical morphological changes not seen in clinical fundoscopy is feasible.
The importance and complexity of clinical trials is continuously increasing, especially in innovative specialties like ophthalmology. Therefore an efficient clinical trial site organisational ...structure is essential. In modern internet times, this can be accomplished by web-based applications.
In total, 3 software applications (Vibe on Prem, Sharepoint and open source software) were evaluated in a clinical trial site in ophthalmology. Assessment criteria were set; they were: reliability, easiness of administration, usability, scheduling, task list, knowledge management, operating costs and worldwide availability.
Vibe on Prem customised by the local university met the assessment criteria best. Other applications were not as strong.
By introducing a web-based application for administrating and organising an ophthalmological trial site, studies can be conducted in a more efficient and reliable manner.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the fixation and other functional and morphological alterations in patients with diabetic macular oedema (DMO) under intravitreal ranibizumab therapy.
Thirty ...patients (39 eyes) with DMO with central involvement were included in this prospective study. Morphological (fluorescein angiography, OCT) as well as functional (visual acuity, microperimetry including fixation) parameters were analysed before and after three monthly intravitreal applications of ranibizumab.
Best-corrected mean visual acuity (BCVA) increased significantly by 6.85 + 6.45 letters from 26.15 ± 13.83 to 33.03 ± 13.31 letters. Mean central retinal thickness and mean central retinal volume decreased significantly from 503.72 ± 143.78 µm, respectively (p < 0.001) before treatment to 387.05 ± 122.02 µm after the third intravitreal injection with ranibizumab. Mean retinal sensitivity obtained with microperimetry did not change significantly over the course of treatment. Mean fixation within 2° (4°) improved from 64.15 % (85.7 %) before treatment significantly to 70.15 % (91.5 %) after three intravitreal injections with ranibizumab. Mean fixation stability within 2° improved from 43.9 % before treatment significantly to 58.5 % after three intravitreal injections.
DMO improved both morphologically with a significant reduction of central retinal thickness and volume and a significantly improved BCVA as well as fixation and fixation stability over the course of three monthly intravitreal injections with ranibizumab. Retinal sensitivity obtained in microperimetry did not change significantly over the course. Based on our observations we interpret and suggest fixation and fixation stability as an early functional parameter and prior to microperimetrically detectable changes of retinal sensitivity additional to BCVA during treatment of diabetic macular edema.
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