The Changeling Legend and Queer Kinship in Caitriona Lally’s Eggshells

In Caitriona Lally's debut novel Eggshells (2015), the narrator Vivian Lawlor is an adult woman with a quirky personality living in North Dublin, who believes herself to be a changeling. Throughout the novel, Vivian travels various paths in Dublin looking for specific ‘thin places,’ creating ‘an alternative map of Dublin’, as Claire Kilroy's review puts it. Folklore is often used as a code for hiding aspects of Irish life that are unspeakable, and in Eggshells the changeling story is a coded testimony of family violence in which the changeling figure is labelled as nonhuman. Rejected by family, she looks to queer models of kinship as outlined by Judith Butler, through transformative portals and a companion who is a fellow trauma survivor. This essay argues that, while her experience of traumatic family violence is silently coded within the changeling story, Vivian strategically deploys changeling legend to embody a nonconforming gender presentation.

Recurrent primary pyogenic ventriculitis in an adult woman: a case report

Background Recurrent primary pyogenic ventriculitis has not been reported previously. We present a unique case of recurrent primary pyogenic ventriculitis in an adult. And we believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature. Case presentation An adult woman with uncontrolled diabetes experienced two episodes of pyogenic ventriculitis caused by Escherichia coli over 4 years. She had typical imaging features, and the source of infection was undetermined. After antibiotic treatment, she recovered fully. Conclusions Early recognition and therapy will improve patient prognosis.

Cochlear implantation in an adult woman with Takayasu’s arteritis: a case report

Background: Takayasu’s arteritis (TAK) is an idiopathic large-vessel vasculitis. Sensori­neural hearing loss is a rare complication in patients with TAK. In this study, we report an adult woman with hearing loss associated with TAK who underwent cochlear implantation (CI). The Case: The case was a 28-year-old hearing-impaired woman with TAK who underwent uni­lateral CI. The surgery improved the patient’s speech perception and perceived sound quality. However, her auditory and speech performances changed over time. Conclusion: The present case report highlights the importance of monitoring auditory and spe­ech performance of CI patients with TAK. Keywords: Cochlear implantation; Takayasu arteritis; hearing loss

Adult presentation of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) associated with recent COVID-19 infection: lessons learnt in timely diagnosis and management

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS-A) is an uncommon and under-recognised postinfectious manifestation that presents 4–6 weeks after COVID-19 infection. Patients affected tend to be young or middle-aged, from ethnic minority backgrounds and previously healthy. In addition to high fever and myalgia, there are a myriad of extrapulmonary symptoms and signs, including cardiac, gastrointestinal, neurological and dermatological involvement. Cardiovascular shock and markedly raised inflammatory markers are prominent features, while significant hypoxia is uncommon. Patients respond well to corticosteroid therapy, but failure of clinicians to recognise this recently identified phenomenon, which can mimic common conditions including sepsis, could delay diagnosis and treatment. Here we present a case of MIS-A in an adult woman, compare her presentation and management with other similar case reports, and reflect on how clinicians can learn from our experiences.

Archaeological and Anthropological Analysis of New Materials from the Mayak Burial Ground in the Samara Region

The article introduces new paleoanthropological materials from the Mayak burial ground near Sidelkino village in the Samara region into scientific discourse. The materials were obtained as a result of excavations in 1995 and only recently was it possible to date them. As a result of AMS analysis fulfilled by the authors, human remains from two burials were dated back to the Early Mesolithic. The analysis was carried out taking into account the influence of the “reservoir effect.Despite the rather poor preservation of individuals from the two described burials, the authors carried out an osteological analysis of an adult male from the second burial. He turned out to be quite tall, with elongated legs, shortened forearms, saber-shaped tibia and relatively massive bones of the lower limbs. In burial 3, the remains of an adult woman and a child of 7–10 years old were found. Comparing the osteological indicators of the man from the second burial with materials from the same burial ground of excavations in 2002, the authors came to the conclusion that the people whose remains were found on the hill Mayak in 1995 and in 2002 probably belong to the same population. Similar morphological characteristics are proof of this.