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The present article derived from my interest in oral narratives, particularly those that refer to events that their narrator has experienced. It is this reason that led me to actualize a project based on oral narratives of this kind, which is termed "diegesis." Among the ways that were familiar or known to me, I choose the medium of video to explore certain levels of diegesis. My destination is to approach the semiotics of video-diegesis as a form of unlocking narrative video-art projects. Hence, by the end of my theoretic endeavor to systematize the semiotics of video-diegesis, I realize that the diegetic story sustains a correspondence with the stories we taught and the stories we live by. The text aims to define the diegetic study and practice in respect to the temporal and spatial arrangement of its elements. The relationships it advances in "praesentia" are so rich that they render a strict organization in "absentia" relationships, a fact on which the forthcoming textual elaboration is based. In narrative terms, such an elaboration allows, and even necessitates, a certain amount of segmentation and synthesis to be imposed upon the constituents of any videotic diegesis. Its case includes the video recording, manipulation, and representation of a narrative; the camera registers each narrator and projects her/him in the space of another. The compelling characteristic of video is that cognition develops from the visuality of the instance. Most of the time, the representation offers no settings; it uses simple camera work and editing applications. The possibility for the speaking person to perform is just as fictional as the possibility for language to ascertain. For this reason, an approach to diegesis in this text departs from the local difficulties of the videotic diegesis, namely, the process of dislocation, disarticulation, fragmentation, and structuration that function selfreflexively, like a "mise-en-abyme" of a recounting of a personal narrative. With regard to the narrative potentialities that appear, the videotic works that are inscribed to the particular filed are more interesting in their narrative results than their causes. The relevant topological elaboration is inspired from the tactics of remembrance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which monitor nesting activities of loggerheads sea turtle in Zakynthos Island. The researchers from ARCHELON Association conducted daily beach surveys, tagging of female turtles and operation of nationwide Sea Turtle Stranding Network. Results showed that monk seals in Zakynthos prey on loggerheads during the nesting season. It concludes that declining marine species have forced monk seals to prey on turtles and suggests finding solutions to address the problem.

INTRODUCTION: The growing cohort of children conceived after preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) techniques underlines the importance of evaluating potential risks for their developmental outcome. There are some data concerning the incidence of congenital anomalies, medical status, and cognitive development of children conceived after PGD techniques, based mainly on reports and not on objective medical evaluation. OBJECTIVE: We sought to perform multidisciplinary evaluation (physical, genetic, and developmental) of 31 children conceived after PGD techniques (aged 30 days to 7.5 years) and the stress level of parents who used PGD regarding their parental role. METHODS: Among 24 couples at risk for transmitting monogenic diseases and with an unsuccessful reproductive history, 31 children conceived after PGD techniques were examined. Genetic examination was performed by 2 independent geneticists, and developmental assessment included formal testing of cognitive and motor skills (Bayley scales, Griffiths scales, Athina test). Parental stress was measured by using the Parent Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF), a self-report questionnaire that assesses parental stress. The PSI-SF was also completed by 35 parents of naturally conceived, healthy children matched for age, gender, and socioeconomic level. RESULTS: A high rate of cesarean deliveries were reported, but no higher risk was found for perinatal complications. The increased incidence of prematurity and low birth weight among children conceived after PGD techniques did not seem to affect their growth development later in life. Major malformations (cardiac, gastrointestinal, urogenital, skeletal) were present in 4 (12.9%) of 31 children, with a discrepancy between singletons and multiples. A significant number of children conceived after PGD techniques (6 of 31 [19%]), mostly multiple, premature, and small-for-gestational-age infants, experienced low levels of cognitive, verbal, and perceptual abilities (Global Development Quotient scores of <85). Parents who used PGD experienced lower levels of parenting stress compared with controls (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Children conceived after PGD techniques seem to be at greater risk for exhibiting congenital malformations and lower cognitive skills. Whether these observations are linked to the PGD procedure itself, rather than to subfertility, multiplicity, or prematurity, is a question that is difficult to answer. An unexpected finding was that once parents who used PGD finally had what they struggled for (a healthy infant), the stresses of parenthood may have been offset by a broader sense of fulfillment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The 4q deletion syndrome, comprising all microscopically visible deletions (interstitial and terminal) is a well-recognized distinctive malformation entity, with an estimated incidence of 1:10,000. Here we present the clinical and molecular findings in a 3-year-old male with a de novo distal deletion of 4q33 [46,XY,del(4) (q33)]. Clinical findings of the patient include: hypertelorism, broad nasal bridge, short nose with anteverted nares, long philtrum, thin upper lip, micro-retrognathia, low-set and protruding ears, pre-auricular tag unilaterally, low posterior hairline, clinodactyly of the 5th fingers, tapering fingers, hypospadias, and severe psychomotor retardation. Soon after birth he developed severe hypotonia and feeding difficulties. Echocardiography at 15months documented aortic supravalvular membrane resulting in mild aortic stenosis and dysplasia of the pulmonary valve. Genome-wide screening using 1Mb resolution array-CGH and subsequent FISH analyses defined a 18.9–22.9Mb deletion located at the beginning of 4q33 and extending to the telomere. The description of additional cases with similar distal deletions of 4q33 will allow a more precise prognosis and is therefore of great value for genetic counsellors, while detailed molecular characterization in any well clinically characterized patient is expected to track down individual candidate genes for the specific features of the syndrome. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We report on a 13-year-old girl with normal karyotype and a de novo cryptic terminal deletion of chromosome 2q, detected by subtelomeric FISH analysis. Further investigation with array-CGH analysis using the 1Mb resolution Spectral Chip 2600 (Spectral Genomics) confirmed the deletion and also showed a deletion of four additional clones. No other abnormalities were detected by array-CGH. FISH studies using 8 BAC-probes were performed for fine mapping of the deletion and confirmed the array results. FISH analysis showed that the deletion breakpoint lies between clones RP11-84G18 and RP11-83N2 (physical distance between clones 0.36Mb) and extends to the telomere. The size of the deletion was estimated to be about 6.4–6.7Mb. Clinical findings include: developmental delay, severe behavioural disturbances, growth-pubertal retardation, congenital conductive mild hearing loss, growth hormone deficiency, compensate hypothyroidism, dysmorphic facial features, excessive joint hypermobility, brachymetaphalangy, abnormal dermatoglyphics and a history of neonatal laryngomalacia, hypotonia and umbilical hernia. The phenotype of our patient is in keeping with those of the literature, with the exception of cardiovascular, urogenital, neurological anomalies and eczema, which were not observed. The report of the clinical and molecular presentation of similar cases will allow accurate phenotype–genotype correlation and proper genetic counseling of the family. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]