简介:Thispaperwilldiscussthedifferencebetweengenrefictionandmainstreamfiction,thedifferencebetweensciencefictionandotherfieldsofgenrefiction,andinparticular,thephilosophicaluseofsciencefictioninoursearchforabetterworld.Allgenresusedtobecalled″romance″todistinguishthemfrom″true″novels.TherewereargumentsaboutitinHawthorne'sTheHouseofSevenGablesandinaheatedexchangebetweenH.G.WellsandHenryJames.Iwilltalkaboutthisdifference.Allgenrefictionpaysattentiontotheexternalworld,butsciencefictionistheonlyoneofthemthatlooksforwardbybeinggroundedinthepresent.Issciencefictionreallyagenre?Therearesomedoubts.Sciencefictionisnotaboutscienceperse,butaboutthephilosophyofscience:thestudyoftheexternalworldanditsrelationtoman.Itisidealfor″thoughtexperiments.″Byexploringpossiblefutures,wecannotonlyexamineourpresentworld,butcanseewaysinwhichitcanbeimproved.Hence,sciencefictionisthesearchfor,ifnotutopia,thenatleastabetterworld.ThispaperwillalsodiscusstheideasofKimStanleyRobinson,UrsulaK.LeGuin,andothersintheirsearchforabetterfuture.
简介:Cultureisbroadlyviewedasallthehumanactivitiesthatdefineusasaspecies.″Sturgeon'sLaw″(that90%ofeverythingisinferior)isintroducedtodefendthestudyoffiction,andsciencefictioninparticular,inhighereducationasawayofunderstandingourselvesbetter,andperhapsimprovingtheworldthroughtheincreasedunderstandingoftomorrow'sleaders.Severalwaysofreadingparticularworksofsciencefictionareexamined,likeprovidinghistoricalcontextsforreaders,closereadingandstructuralanalysis,andapplicationoftheoriesbasedonparticularideologiesorfromotherdisciplinesinthesocialandpoliticalsciences(suchasfeministtheory,Marxisttheory,psychologicaltheory,etc.).Aconclusionisdrawnthatforliteraryanalysis,ahybridmethodology,onedevisedindividuallyforeachtext,worksbest.
简介:CLCWeb:ComparativeLiteratureandCulture17.5(December2015)DeadlineforSubmission:31March2015Callforpapers:'FictionandEthicsintheTwenty-firstCentury.'Ed.ZhenzhaoNie(CentralChinaNormalUniversity)andBiwuShang(ShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity).SpecialIssueCLCWeb:ComparativeLiteratureandCulture17.5(December2015):
简介:Sarcoidosisisarareconditionofgranulomatousinfiltrationofmanytissuesofthebody,includingtheheart.Cardiacsarcoidosishasbeenchallengingtostudy,asitisoftenasymptomatic,althoughtheinitialpresentationcanbesuddencardiacdeath.Theincidenceandprevalencerateshavebeendifficulttoestablishandnoexpertagreeduponguidelinesfordiagnosisandmanagementofcardiacsarcoidosisexist,andclinicalmanifestationsarevaried.Thepathophysiologyofgranulomaformationinthemyocardiumaswellasothertissuesisgovernedbyimmuneresponsetosomeenvironmentalantigen.Geneticsisalsothoughttoplayarole,althoughgenealterationshavenotbeenextensivelystudied,andnospecificsetofgeneticmutationshasbeenidentifiedtoaidinidentificationofindividualsatriskofdevelopingdisease.Epigeneticfactorslikelyplayasignificantroleinmodulationofgeneexpressionwithrespecttoimmuneresponse.Thereisnostandardizedscreeningtoolfortheidentificationofcardiacsarcoidosis.Thepresenceofsystemicsarcoidosisandnew-onsetthird-degreeheartblockorventriculararrhythmiaswarrantsfurtherinvestigationforcardiacsarcoidosis.MRIandPETareusefulinhelpingtoidentifycardiacsarcoidosisbutarenotstand-alonetests.Endomyocardialbiopsyisthegoldstandardbuthasalowyieldowingtothepatchynatureofgranulomaformationinthemyocardium.Therapyshouldbeinstitutedearlyandinvolvesimmunosuppressivetherapywithpredominantuseofcorticosteroids.Arrhythmias,eitherventricularorhigh-gradeheartblocks,aremanagedwithdevicetherapy.Clinicalpresentationmaywarrantuseofantiarrhythmicagentsand/orcatheterablation.Survivalanddiseaseprognosisaredependentonearlydiagnosisandtreatment.Thisreviewdetailsthecurrentunderstandingofcardiacsarcoidosisandhighlightsdiagnosticstrategiesandtreatmentwiththeaimofguidingthecliniciantoearlyidentificationofpatientsandimplementationofappropriatemanagementinthisraredi
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简介:Thedistributionofsensorysymptomsincarpaltunnelsyndromeisstronglydependentonthedegreeofelectrophysiologicaldysfunctionofthemediannerve.Theassociationbetweencarpaltunnelsyndromeandulnarnerveentrapmentisstillunclear.Inthisstudy,wemeasuredulnarnervefunctionin82patientswithcarpaltunnelsyndrome.ThepatientsweredividedintogroupIwithminimalcarpaltunnelsyndrome(n=35)andgroupIIwithmildtomoderatecarpaltunnelsyndrome(n=47)accordingtoelectrophysiologicaldata.Sixty-oneage-andsex-matchedsubjectswithoutcarpaltunnelsyndromewereusedasacontrolgroup.Therewerenosignificantdifferencesinulnarsensorynervepeaklatenciesorconductionvelocitiesfromthe4thand5thfingersbetweenpatientswithcarpaltunnelsyndromeandthecontrolgroup.Theulnarsensorynerveactionpotentialamplitudesfromthe4thand5thfingerswerelowerinpatientswithcarpaltunnelsyndromethaninthecontrolgroup.Theratiosoftheulnarsensorynerveactionpotentialamplitudesfromthe4thand5thfingerswerealmostthesameinpatientswithcarpaltunnelsyndromeasinthecontrolgroup.Thesefindingsindicatethatinpatientswithminimaltomoderatecarpaltunnelsyndrome,thereissomeelectrophysiologicalevidenceoftractionontheadjacentulnarnervefibers.Thefindingsdonotindicateaxonaldegenerationoftheulnarnerve.