‘‘An old quarrel between us that will never be at an end": Middleton’s Women Beware Women and Late Jacobean Religious Politics

In this article, I examine Thomas Middleton's Women Beware Women as a response to the particular religio-political context in the years surrounding 1621. The onset of the Thirty Years War in 1618 and the subsequent humiliation of James' son-in-law Frederick, Elector of Palatine, the vexed question of a possible Catholic marriage for Charles, Prince of Wales, the ever present difficulty of Anglo-Catholic relations, particularly with Spain, as well as growing religious factionalism within the Church of England between Calvinists and Arminians: all contributed towards a culturally febrile atmosphere, one to which, as I will argue, Middleton was well placed to respond. Given Middleton's Calvinistic beliefs, I suggest that Women Beware Women offers an acerbic examination of contemporary debates concerning human will, especially women's will, as well as promoting a sceptically apocalyptic anti-Catholic agenda throughout. I also examine the religious language and imagery used to construct Bianca as the whore of Babylon, and argue that her emergence and fall offer a political commentary on the precarious position of the English Church around 1621.

Clinical significance of sperm DNA damage in assisted reproduction outcome

Background: Sperm DNA damage shows great promise as a biomarker of infertility. The study aim is to determine the usefulness of DNA fragmentation (DF), including modified bases (MB), to predict assisted reproduction treatment (ART) outcomes. Methods: DF in 360 couples (230 IVF and 130 ICSI) was measured by the alkaline Comet assay in semen and in sperm following density gradient centrifugation (DGC) and compared with fertilization rate (FR), embryo cumulative scores (ECS1) for the total number of embryos/treatment, embryos transferred (ECS2), clinical pregnancy (CP) and spontaneous pregnancy loss. MB were also measured using formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase to convert them into strand breaks. Results: In IVF, FR and ECS decreased as DF increased in both semen and DGC sperm, and couples who failed to achieve a CP had higher DF than successful couples (+12.2 semen, P = 0.004; +9.9 DGC sperm, P = 0.010). When MB were added to existing strand breaks, total DF was markedly higher (+17.1 semen, P = 0.009 and +13.8 DGC sperm, P = 0.045). DF was not associated with FR, ECS or CP in either semen or DGC sperm following ISCI. In contrast, by including MB, there was significantly more DNA damage (+16.8 semen, P = 0.008 and +15.5 DGC sperm, P = 0.024) in the group who did not achieve CP. Conclusion: SDF can predict ART outcome for IVF. Converting MB into further DNA strand breaks increased the test sensitivity, giving negative correlations between DF and CP for ICSI as well as IVF. © 2010 The Author.

The Influence of COX-2 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms on Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Development and the Associated Inflammation

Introduction: Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 influences cardiovascular disease and serum concentration of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). The study purpose was to determine the influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the COX-2 gene on abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) development and serum hsCRP concentrations. Patients and Methods: Patients with AAA and disease-free controls were recruited. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. The distributions of COX-2 SNPs were investigated (rs20417 and rs4648307). The influence of the COX-2 SNPs on the hsCRP serum concentration was assessed.Results: A total of 230 patients with AAA and 279 controls were included. No difference was found in the genotype distribution of the COX-2 SNPs rs20417 (P = .26) and rs4648307 (P = .90). They did not influence the hsCRP concentration (P = .24 and P = .61, respectively). Haplotype analysis of COX-2 SNPs revealed no difference. Conclusion: These COX-2 SNPs do not play any role in AAA development and do not influence serum hsCRP. These results differentiate AAA development from atherosclerotic diseases.