Princesses in the Suburbs: Reading The Virgin Suicides as a Fairytale

<p>The concept of male gaze has been present for a very long time. It is present in literature, albeit literature being an entirely different media. In <em>The Virgin Suicides </em>by Jeffrey Eugenides, this theme seems to be very apparent along with themes such as voyeurism and objectifications. Drawing on the structuralist and gender studies, this article emphasizes about the effect of the male gaze and how this specific way of viewing affects the girls in a way that it shifts their function as a character, by reading the novel as a fairytale—a form of literary work of which the elements are easy to understand—helped by Vladimir Propp’s theory of <em>dramatis personae</em>. The findings attained from literature reading and library research concludes that the way the neighborhood boys' view of the Lisbon girls does affect their roles in the story. I argue that the Lisbon girls were put on a very high pedestal since the very beginning; therefore positions them as the fairytale princess. However, due to the nature of the gaze applied in the work, there are possibilities that it may shift to other characters.</p><p> </p>

The Quality Improvement of Educator Recruitment and Selection System in Madrasa

This study describes the recruitment and selection of teachers at Private Madrasah Aliyah PTP-VI Berangir, North Labuhanbatu Regency, North Sumatra Province. This research was conducted using a qualitative method with a case study design. Data collection tools using interviews with the head of the foundation, the head of the madrasa, the deputy head of the madrasa in the field of curriculum, and certified teachers, observation, and documentation. The research procedures include theme selection, literature reading, formulation of research focus and problems, data collection, data improvement, data processing, data analysis, theoretical dialogue, triangulation of findings, and conclusions of research results. Data analysis techniques include data collection, reduction, presentation, and conclusion. The results of this study are: (1) announcements of teacher recruitment and selection are rarely read or seen by the general public or even though they have used social media Facebook; (2) the admissions experience a few obstacles, namely the many qualifications that are not following the requirements of the madrasa (3) the implementation of all tests involves the principal, madrasa principal, deputy head of the madrasa in the field of curriculum, and teachers who already have professional educator certificates; (4) the results of the selection are carried out by contacting directly the prospective teacher who has passed all the tests and who has the highest score.

Non-Coding RNA Networks in Pulmonary Hypertension

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are involved in various cellular processes. There are several ncRNA classes, including microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs). The detailed roles of these molecules in pulmonary hypertension (PH) remain unclear. We systematically collected and reviewed reports describing the functions of ncRNAs (miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs) in PH through database retrieval and manual literature reading. The characteristics of identified articles, especially the experimental methods, were carefully reviewed. Furthermore, regulatory networks were constructed using ncRNAs and their interacting RNAs or genes. These data were extracted from studies on pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells, pulmonary artery endothelial cells, and pulmonary artery fibroblasts. We included 14 lncRNAs, 1 circRNA, 74 miRNAs, and 110 mRNAs in the constructed networks. Using these networks, herein, we describe the current knowledge on the role of ncRNAs in PH. Moreover, these networks actively provide an improved understanding of the roles of ncRNAs in PH. The results of this study are crucial for the clinical application of ncRNAs.

The art design of industrialised manufacturing furniture products based on the simulation of mathematical curves

After a lot of literature reading and practical research, the paper uses the parametric modelling method of curve simulation characteristic line to establish the mathematical model of the furniture product leg shape. This article first uses the surface construction method to analyse the composition of the leg size of the industrialised production and manufacture of furniture products, and makes the solid modelling according to the construction method of non-uniform rational spline mathematical curve and surface simulation. At the same time, the parameter function of furniture leg type is set on SolidWorks, and the research results obtained in the paper are found by simulation, which opens up a new research path for the application of mathematical curve model in furniture design.

Zadie Smith’s Partnerships

Taking up questions of reading and the agency of the critic, the second chapter offers the most direct treatment of post-critical discourse. In it, I argue that Zadie Smith’s claim that all critics are artists, contrary to expectations, recommends a disposition of critical modesty. Though Smith works to reimagine criticism as a “difficult partnership” between writer and critic, what makes it difficult, according to Smith, is the need for the critic to subordinate their view of the world to the one on offer in the work of literature. Reading Smith as a reader and critic, especially her work on E. M. Forster, I find that the comparison of the work of the artist to that of the critic is less an aggrandizement of the importance of writing (in terms of style) for the critic than an effort to recognize that novels and works of criticism are engaged in the same kind of activity: making a certain experience of the world sufficiently shared to create common ground for further conversation. The chapter ends with a reading of Smith’s novel On Beauty that models the kind of difficult partnership that Smith cultivates in her essays.