Ratio

This paper reconstructs the deficiencies of formal democracies to explain the internal injustices of the modern state, the self-righteous swaggering foreign policy of Western powers, and the dangerously over-simplified, polar logic characterizing the war rhetoric of the modern era. ...

Both traditional accounts of hope and some of their recent critics analyze hope exclusively in terms of attitudes that a hoper bears towards a hoped-for prospect, such as desire and probability assignment. I argue that all of these accounts misidentify cases of despair as cases of hope, and so misconstrue the nature of hope. I show that a more satisfactory view is arrived at by noticing that in addition to the aforementioned attitudes, hope involves a characteristic attitude towards an external factor, on whose operation the hoper takes the prospect's realization to depend causally.

Background Right Ventricular Outflow Tract {RVOT} reconstruction using a conduit may be used in Tetralogy of Fallot patients who would otherwise require a trans-annular patch with the advantages of avoidance of free pulmonary regurgitation with its deleterious short and long term effects. Whereas an ideal conduit remains undefined, Contegra® bovine jugular vein bioprosthesis has been increasingly favored for this purpose worldwide. Present study summarizes the early and midterm outcome of Contegra bioprosthesis in RVOT reconstruction in patients of Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Methods Between Jan 2000 to April 2009, 34 patients of TOF required conduit reconstruction of RVOT using Contegra at our centre. Hospital records of these patients were retrospectively reviewed. Results Patients were in the age range of 2 to 20 years [mean age 3.2 years] and weighing between 12 to 57 kg [mean weight 15 kg].There were two early and no late deaths at a mean follow up of 23 months [range 6–110 months]. There were no reintervention or reoperations. All patients had trans-thoracic echo before leaving hospital with a mean pulmonary valve pressure gradient of 11.7 ± 6.1 mmHg. During the whole follow-up, there was no pressure gradient detectable across the conduit valve in 15 patients (44%). The maximal transvalvular peak gradients of 22–28 mmHg were measured in 3 patients (8%). Also, there was no valvular incompetence at all detectable in 20 patients (58%). Grade 1 regurgitation was seen in 10 patients (29%). Conclusions The Contegra bovine xenograft offers many advantages. It is suitable for patients of all age groups and is technically simple and safe to implant and provides excellent midterm hemodynamic results.

[ES] El principal centro intelectual y de traducción en la península ibérica en los siglos XII y XIII sin duda fue la Escuela de Toledo o también llamada Escuela de Traductores de Toledo. Jourdain fue uno de los primeros que se percató de la importancia de ella, y de ello dio cuenta en los resultados preliminares de sus investigaciones en 1819. Las referencias a la Escuela de Toledo, desde entonces, y, en especial, las controversias sobre su significado, existencia e importancia no han cesado y tampoco hay acuerdos sobre ciertos aspectos básicos, debido sobre todo a una mezcla de intereses intelectuales, políticos, sociales e identitarios. Naturalmente en este trabajo no pretendo solucionar dichas controversias, sino tan sólo ofrecer algunas precisiones históricas y semánticas relativas al significado de la noción Escuela de Toledo. Así, en primer lugar, contextualizaré el origen de la denominación Escuela de Traductores de Toledo, para ello analizaré las contribuciones germinales de Jourdain y Rose; luego describiré la recepción de estas nociones en Renan y Menéndez Pelayo, y finalmente, ofreceré unas notas para la comprensión de la noción de Escuela de Toledo, que estarán centradas en examinar: (1) la importancia de Toledo; (2) la existencia de una escuela formal; y (3) la actividad realizada en Toledo.
[EN] The main intellectual and translation center in the Iberian Peninsula in the twelfth and thirteenth century, without a doubt, was the School of Toledo, or also called School of Translators of Toledo. Jourdain was one of the first to realize the importance of it, and he gave an account in the preliminary results of his research in 1819. Since then, references to the Toledo School, and, especially, disputes over its significance, existence and importance have not ceased, and so, there are no agreements on certain basic aspects, due above all to a mixture of intellectual, political, social and identity interests. Naturally, in this work I do not intend to solve these controversies, but only to offer some historical and semantic precisions regarding the meaning of the School of Toledo notion. So, first, I will contextualize the origin of the denomination School of Translators of Toledo; for this, I will analyze the germinal contributions of Jourdain and Rose; then, I will describe the reception of these notions in Renan and Menéndez Pelayo, and finally, I will offer some notes for the understanding of the notion of Toledo School, which will be focused on examining: (1) the importance of Toledo; (2) the existence of a formal school; and (3) the activity carried out in Toledo.