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Very Essence (very + essence)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	60%

Selected Abstracts

Titian's Ruggiero and Angelica: a tribute to Ludovico Ariosto

RENAISSANCE STUDIES, Issue 3 2001
L Freedman
Titian's drawing (25 × 40 cm) in Musée Bonnat (Bayonne), showing a recumbent voluptuous nuda in a lush landscape, depicts an episode from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (×, 94,107). It conveys the very essence of the romance, proclaimed in the famous first lines of the poem. The episode about Ruggiero's rescue of Angelica that Ariosto described and that Titian rendered with acclaimed ,verisimilitude' occurred in an imaginary place, in the ,olden days'. By emphasizing the recumbent nuda, her posture, and gestures, rather than the knights heroic deeds, Titian intimates Angelica's role in Ruggiero's life. The motif of the recumbent nude transcends the subject's boundaries. I suggest interpreting this figure as Voluptas, understood ambivalently in both antiquity and the Renaissance. Titian created a pen-and-ink visual counterpart to Ariosto's literary account of the romance as a whole. The episode serves as an example of what ,usually' happens in a romance, as pars pro toto. [source]

The geographies of crisis: exploring accessibility to health care in Canada

THE CANADIAN GEOGRAPHER/LE GEOGRAPHE CANADIEN, Issue 3 2002
KATHLEEN WILSON
There is increasing concern in Canada that the health care system is in a state of crisis. It is argued that reductions in federal government transfers to the provinces have resulted in a health care system characterized by under-funding in key areas and policy decisions based more on provincial fiscal concerns than the health needs of their constituents. Provincial governments have responded to reduced levels in federal funding by undertaking aggressive restructuring tactics such as the closure of hospitals and the deinsuring of medical services from provincial health plans. The end result of this restructuring, as argued by the media, consumer groups and indeed some health researchers, is a state of crisis' (i.e., lower levels of accessibility, long waiting lists, overcrowding in hospitals and increasing costs of medication). One crisis theme often mentioned is that fiscal decisions of various kinds are reducing economic and geographic accessibility, one of the five principles of the Canada Health Act (CHA) that defines the very essence of the Canadian health care system. Using data from the 1998-99 National Population Health Survey (NPHS), this paper explores the extent to which an accessibility crisis exists within the Canadian health care system by examining access to health care services and the barriers encountered in trying to access services in each of the ten provinces. The results show that approximately 6.0 percent of Canadians report access problems, with values ranging from 4.5 percent in Newfoundland to 8.3 percent in Manitoba. Regional variations in barriers to accessing care were also observed. In particular, geographic accessibility appears to be a main barrier to care in Atlantic Canada while economic accessibility emerges as a main barrier to care in Western Canada. We discuss these findings in the context of the current debates on the Canadian health care system ,crisis'. De plus en plus de Canadiens s'inquiétent que leur systéme de soins de santé soit en état de crise. On défend l'idée selon laquelle la réduction des paiements de transfert aux provinces par le gouvernement fédéral serait responsable de l'état d'un systeme de santé caractérisé par un sous-financement dans les domaines-clés et des décisions politiques de santé basées, non pas sur les besoins des membres de la société canadienne, mais sur la fiscalité provinciale. Les gouvernements provinciaux ont réagi à la réduction du financement fédéral par une tactique de restructuration agressive (fermeture d'hôpitaux et retrait de services médicaux des programmes d'assurance de santé provinciaux). Selon les médias, les groupes de consommateurs et même les chercheurs en soins de santé, cette restructuration a eu pour effet un système en état de ,crise' (diminution de l'aecès aux services, longues fetes d'attente, hôpitaux surchargés, augmentation des coûts des médicaments etc). Un des thèmes récurrent est celui des décisions flscales de toutes sortes qui entraînent une baisse de l'accessibilité financière et géographique. Cette accessibilité est pourtant un des cinq principes de la Loi canadienne sur la santé définissant l'essence même du système de santé au Canada. Utilisant les données tirèes de l'Enquête nationale sur la santé de la population, 1998-99 et examinant l'accès aux services de santé et les obstacles rencontrés dans les 10 provinces canadiennes, cet article évalue dans quelle mesure une crise d'accessibilité existe au sein du système de santé canadien. Les résultats démontrent qu'environ 6.0 pour cent des Canadiens ont rencontré des problèmes d'accessibilité, avec des variantes allant de 4.5 pour cent à Terre-Neuve jusqu'à 8.3 pour cent au Manitoba. On observe aussi des variantes régionales dans les obstacles rencontrés. L'accessibilité géographique en particulier semble un obstacle mqjeur dans les régions de l'Atlantique, alors que l'accessibilite financière semble être un obstacle majeur dans l'Ouest du Canada. Ces résultats sont présentés dans le contexte des débats actuels sur l'existence dune, ,crise' dans le système de santé au Canada. [source]

Between memory and destiny: Repetition,

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOANALYSIS, Issue 2 2007
NORBERTO CARLOS MARUCCO
This essay focuses mainly on the topic of repetition (agieren),on its metapsychological, clinical, and technical conceptions. It contains a core problem, that is, the question of the represented, the nonrepresented, and the unrepresentable in the psyche. This problem, in turn, brings to light the dialectical relation between drive and object and its specific articulation with the traumatic. The author attributes special significance to its clinical expression as ,destiny'. He points out a shift in the theory of the cure from recollection and the unveiling of unconscious desire, to the possibility of understanding ,pure' repetition, which would constitute the very essence of the drive. The author highlights three types of repetition, namely, ,representative' (oedipal) repetition, the repetition of the ,nonrepresented' (narcissistic), which may gain representation, and that of the ,unrepresentable' (sensory impressions, ,lived experiences from primal times,',prelinguistic signifiers,',ungovernable mnemic traces'). The concept-the metaphor-drive embryo brings the author close to the question of the archaic in psychoanalysis, where the repetition in the act would express itself. ,Another unconscious' would zealously conceal the entombed (verschüttet) that we are not yet able to describe-the ,innermost' rather than the ,buried' (untergegangen) or the ,annihilated' (zugrunde gegangen)-through a mechanism whose way of expression is repetition in the act. With ,Constructions in analysis' as its starting point, this paper suggests a different technical implementation from that of the Freudian construction; its main material is what emerges in the present of the transference as the repetition of ,something' lacking as history. The memory of the analytic process offers a historical diachrony whereby a temporality freed from repetition and utterly unique might unfold in the analysis. This diachrony would no longer be the historical reconstruction of material truth, but the construction of something new. The author briefly introduces some aspects of his conception of the psyche and of therapeutic work in terms of what he has designated as psychic zones. These zones are associated with various modes of becoming unconscious, and they coexist with different degrees of prevalence according to the psychopathology. Yet each of them will emerge with unique features in different moments of every analysis, determining both the analyst's positions and the very conditions of the analytic field. The zone of the death drive and of repetition is at the center of this essay. ,Pure' repetition expresses a time halted by the constant reiteration of an atemporal present. In this case, the ,royal road' for the expression of ,that' unconscious will be the act. The analyst's presence and his own drive wager will be pivotal to provide a last attempt at binding that will allow the creation of the lost ,psychic fabric' and the construction, in a conjectural way, of some sort of ,history' that may unravel the entombed (verschüttet) elements that, in these patients' case, come to the surface in the act. The analysand's ,pure' repetition touches, resonates with something of the new unconscious of the analyst. All of this leads the author to underline once again the value of the analyst's self-analysis and reanalysis in searching for connections and especially in differentiating between what belongs to the analyst and what belongs to the analysand. A certain degree of unbinding ensures the preservation of something ungraspable that protects one from the other's appropriation. [source]

Co-ordinating innate and adaptive immunity to viral infection: mobility is the key

APMIS, Issue 5-6 2009
JEANETTE ERBO CHRISTENSEN
The host counters a viral infection through a complex response made up of components belonging to both the innate and the adaptive immune system. In this report, we review the mechanisms underlying this response, how it is induced and how it is co-ordinated. As cell,cell communication represents the very essence of immune system physiology, a key to a rapid, efficient and optimally regulated immune response is the ability of the involved cells to rapidly shift between a stationary and a mobile state, combined with stringent regulation of cell migration during the mobile state. Through the co-ordinated recruitment of different cell types intended to work in concert, cellular co-operation is optimized particularly under conditions that may involve rare cells. Consequently, a major focus is placed on presenting an overview of the co-operative events and the associated cell migration, which is essential in mounting an efficient host response and co-ordinating innate and adaptive immunity during a primary viral infection. [source]

Participatory evaluation (I) , sharing lessons from fieldwork in Asia

CHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2007
B. Crishna
Abstract Background There is a need to study methodologies for evaluating social development projects. Traditional methods of evaluation are often not able to capture or measure the ,spirit of change' in people, which is the very essence of human development. Using participatory methodologies is a positive way to ensure that evaluations encourage an understanding of the value of critical analysis among service providers and other stakeholders. Participatory evaluation provides a systematic process of learning through experiences. Methods Practical experiences of conducting a number of evaluation studies in social development projects have led the author to develop four basic principles of participatory evaluation strategies. This has been further conceptualized through an extensive literature search. The article develops and shares these principles through descriptions of field experiences in Asia. Results The article illustrates that the role of any evaluation remains a learning process, one which promotes a climate of reflection and self-assessment. It shows how using participatory methods can create this environment of learning. However, one needs to keep in mind that participatory evaluation takes time, and that the role and calibre of the facilitator are crucial. Conclusion Participatory evaluation methods have been recommended for social development projects to ensure that stakeholders remain in control of their own lives and decisions. [source]