Censorship's Distortion of Narrative and Marital Relationships in Japanese War Period Fiction

The purpose of this paper is to challenge the notion that most Japanese writers only wrote nationalist fiction during the Pacific War with America. I analyzed two short stories published shortly after the start of the Pacific War, “December 8th” by Dazai Osamu and “A Wife’s Letters,” by Uno Chiyoi, with Gérard Genette’s theory of narratology and voice as a frame. I establish that censorship perverts the traditional relationship between narrator and narratee, intradiegetic or extradiegetic, within the story and without the story. In each story, a housewife takes the role of author, one of her diary and the other of letters to her husband. Both of these cases should be examples of natural thoughts, uncensored, particularly a diary. However, both stories have censors, within and without the story. The presence of the censor changes how the story is told, and even the diegetic relationships within the story. The necessity of being over patriotic to appease censors causes a lack of connection between the husband and wife of “December 8th,” in how they express their emotions. And in “A Wife’s Letters,” the war and censorship cause physical and emotional separation between husband and wife. In conclusion, these authors appease censors with nationalist prose, yet subvert censorship through author characters, thus revealing not only their true feelings about the war, but also on the effects of censorship on relationships and writing.Ope

The state of preparations for a UN code of conduct

In the United Nations an Intergovernmental Working Group tries to cope with the phenomenon of transnational corporations by working on a code of conduct. Hartmut Scheele, who participated in this work, reviews the results the Group has achieved up to now

Do patients with craniosynostosis have increased incidence of auditory neuropathy newborns? [abstract]

Objective: To investigate the incidence of abnormal auditory brainstem response (ABR) with normal otoacoustic emissions, in newborn patients with craniosynostosis as compared to published standards. Design: A retrospective review of consecutive patients with single or multiple-suture craniosynostosis seen between 2002 and 2009 was performed. Patients identified by the diagnostic code of craniosynostosis were divided into groups based on the involved suture(s). The newborn ABR screening and, if patients were referred, diagnosis from audiologic diagnostic testing were obtained from the Missouri Department of Health. Institutional review board approval was obtained. Patients: One hundred and thirty-five patients were identified. Seventy-two were excluded; 3 were listed as "missed" and 69 were not born in-state. The 63 patients included in the study were grouped by involved sutures: 2 left coronal, 7 right coronal, 2 nonsyndromic bicoronal, 3 syndromic bicoronal, 13 sagittal, 17 operative metopic, 15 nonoperative metopic, 1 pansynostosis, and 3 multiple-suture. Main Outcome Measures: The newborn screening results for each patient were recorded as well as the diagnosis from audiologic diagnostics if the patient was referred. Results: Of the 63 patients, 94% (59/63) passed their ABR screening. Four were referred for diagnostic exam in both ears. Of those, one had a normal exam (right coronal) and three did not have diagnostic exams on file (right coronal, bicoronal syndromic and bicoronal non-syndromic). Conclusions: According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1.8 percent of newborns failed their ABR screening in 2007. Of those, 37% were found to have normal hearing on diagnostic exam. Although our study was inconclusive due to inadequate state records, it does demonstrate an increased incidence of abnormal ABR's in patients with coronal craniosynostosis. This is consistent with a recent publication that demonstrated a higher incidence of abnormal ABR's in syndromic coronal craniosynostosis. If auditory abnormalities are present at birth, as our study suggests, the etiology would likely be unrelated to increased intracranial pressures

Impact of Ig-Therasorb (R) immunoapheresis on stability of xenogeneic ex vivo porcine liver perfusion - Value of aminotransferases and flow rates for the assessment of metabolic graft viability

Due to growing shortage of donor organs, the concept of extracorporeal pig liver perfusion in the treatment of acute liver failure has been rediscovered. Immunomodulation, such as immunoapheresis or inhibition of complement, results in long-term perfusion without exact knowledge of the remaining metabolic graft viability. This study was aimed at the comparison of conventional parameters of graft stability such as perfusion rates and release of aminotransferases with parameters of metabolic graft function. Ig-Therasorb(R) immunoapheresis (IA) of the xenogeneic perfusate was performed to protect the discordant pig livers from hyperacute rejection, mediated by preformed naturally occurring human xenogeneic antibodies. The application of IA created stable autologous graft reperfusion after a short time of xenoperfusion, but it was not able to prevent the livers from severe synthetic and functional damage. In the future, improvement of xenogeneic graft function, rather than pure prolongation of perfusion, must be the principal aim