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"GENERAL ESSAYS"
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The Essential Ginsberg
\"A collection of essential poems, essays, letters, songs, and photographs which aims to introduce new readers to the scope of Allen Ginsberg's work in its prolific and profound diversity\"-- Provided by publisher.
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Toward a Planetary History of Afrofuturism
This essay examines twenty-first-century African science fiction in the context of the history of Afrofuturism. The Pan-African vision of the Black Audio Film Collective, a British group active in the 1980s and 1990s, provides a framework for analyzing contemporary works by artists including Nnedi Okorafor, Tendai Huchu, Wanuri Kahiu, and Wangechi Mutu. The essay argues for the inclusion of African artists in the discourse on Afrofuturism and identifies points of convergence between African and African diasporic futurisms that require, and will reward, further research, such as posthumanism, time travel as resistance, and the philosophy of the remix.
Journal Article
Passions
\"Revenge-Revenge is so sweet one often wishes to be insulted so as to be able to take revenge, and I don't mean just by an old enemy, but anyone, or even (especially when in a really bad mood) by a friend.-from Passions The extraordinary quality of Giacomo Leopardi's writing and the innovative nature of his thought were never fully recognized in his lifetime. Zibaldone, his 4,500-page intellectual diary-a vast collection of thoughts on philosophy, civilization, literary criticism, linguistics, humankind and its vanities, and other varied topics-remained unpublished until more than a half-century after his death. But shortly before he died, Leopardi began to organize a small, thematic collection of his writings in an attempt to give structure and system to his philosophical musings. Now freshly translated into English by master translator, novelist, and critic Tim Parks, Leopardi's Passions presents 164 entries reflecting the full breadth of human passion. The volume offers a fascinating introduction to Leopardi's arguments and insights, as well as a glimpse of the concerns of thinkers to come, among them Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Wittgenstein, Gadda, and Beckett\"-- Provided by publisher.
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Assessing the economic challenges posed by orphan drugs
Historically, patients with rare diseases have been underserved by commercial drug development. In several jurisdictions, specific legislation has been enacted to encourage the development of drugs for rare diseases (orphan drugs), which would otherwise not be commercially viable. However, because of the small market, these drugs are often very expensive. Under the standard methods of health technology assessment (HTA) incorporating economic evaluation, orphan drugs do not usually prove to be cost-effective and this, coupled with their high cost, means that funding and patient access may be limited. However, these restrictions may not be in line with societal preferences. Therefore, this study discusses whether the standard methods of HTA are adequate for assisting decisions on patient access to and funding of orphan drugs and outlines a research agenda to help understand the societal value of orphan drugs and issues surrounding their development, funding, and use.
Journal Article
Graphic design discourse : evolving theories, ideologies, and processes of visual communication
\"Since its inception, the field of graphic design--whose primary aim is visual communication--has struggled between two contradictory poles: design resulting from a rigorous, fixed set of rules, and design that expresses the hand of the artist. But what if designers focused on process and critical analysis over visual outcome? Through a carefully selected collection of more than seventy-five seminal texts spanning centuries and bridging the disciplines of art, architecture, design history, philosophy, and cultural theory, this illuminating anthology establishes a new paradigm for graphic design methodologies for the twenty-first century\"-- Provided by publisher.
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Commentary
Battista has written a thoughtful and timely challenge to the field of health technology assessment (HTA). As the author points out, HTA is changing and evolving. One of the greatest challenges is that HTA now seems firmly established in a number of countries, and is being looked to more and more for the “answers.” We accept and endorse Battista's central thesis, and essentially all of his critical questions, including his ideas about future research topics. We hope to evoke further thoughts in the reader and perhaps stimulate other responses, either private and public.
Journal Article
Daily rituals : how artists work
\"How artists work, how they ritualize their days with the comforting (mundane) details of their lives: their daily routines, fears, dreams, naps, eating habits, and other prescribed, finely calibrated 'subtle maneuvers.'\"-- Provided by publisher.
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INTERRUPTED TIME SERIES DESIGNS IN HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT: LESSONS FROM TWO SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE STRATEGIES
Objectives: In an interrupted time series (ITS) design, data are collected at multiple instances over time before and after an intervention to detect whether the intervention has an effect significantly greater than the underlying secular trend. We critically reviewed the methodological quality of ITS designs using studies included in two systematic reviews (a review of mass media interventions and a review of guideline dissemination and implementation strategies). Methods: Quality criteria were developed, and data were abstracted from each study. If the primary study analyzed the ITS design inappropriately, we reanalyzed the results by using time series regression. Results: Twenty mass media studies and thirty-eight guideline studies were included. A total of 66% of ITS studies did not rule out the threat that another event could have occurred at the point of intervention. Thirty-three studies were reanalyzed, of which eight had significant preintervention trends. All of the studies were considered “effective” in the original report, but approximately half of the reanalyzed studies showed no statistically significant differences. Conclusions: We demonstrated that ITS designs are often analyzed inappropriately, underpowered, and poorly reported in implementation research. We have illustrated a framework for appraising ITS designs, and more widespread adoption of this framework would strengthen reviews that use ITS designs.
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The Portable Emerson
\"A comprehensive collection of writings by \"the most influential writer of the nineteenth century\" (Harold Bloom) Ralph Waldo Emerson's diverse body of work has done more than perhaps any other thinker to shape and define the American mind. Literary giants including Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Walt Whitman were among Emerson's admirers and proteges, while his central text, Nature, singlehandedly engendered an entire spiritual and intellectual movement in transcendentalism. This long-awaited update-the first in more than thirty years-presents the core of Emerson's writings, including Nature and The American Scholar, along with revelatory journal entries, letters, poetry, and a sermon\"-- Provided by publisher.
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Effects of continuing medical education on improving physician clinical care and patient health: A review of systematic reviews
Objectives: The objective of physician continuing medical education (CME) is to help them keep abreast of advances in patient care, to accept new more-beneficial care, and discontinue use of existing lower-benefit diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. The goal of this review was to examine effectiveness of current CME tools and techniques in changing physician clinical practices and improving patient health outcomes. Methods: Results of published systematic reviews were examined to determine the spectrum from most- to least-effective CME techniques. We searched multiple databases, from 1 January 1984 to 30 October 2004, for English-language, peer-reviewed meta-analyses and other systematic reviews of CME programs that alter physician behavior and/or patient outcomes. Results: Twenty-six reviews met inclusion criteria, that is, were either formal meta-analyses or other systematic reviews. Interactive techniques (audit/feedback, academic detailing/outreach, and reminders) are the most effective at simultaneously changing physician care and patient outcomes. Clinical practice guidelines and opinion leaders are less effective. Didactic presentations and distributing printed information only have little or no beneficial effect in changing physician practice. Conclusions: Even though the most-effective CME techniques have been proven, use of least-effective ones predominates. Such use of ineffective CME likely reduces patient care quality and raises costs for all, the worst of both worlds.
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