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In the light of the latest historical discussion on medieval feudalism, which focuses on the economic implications of fief-holding and feudo-vassallic relations, the question is, if and how economic data play a part in the feudality topic of Courtly Romances. Although the courtly authors from time to time provide detailed information on the economics of fief-holding, they are much more interested in the literary topics of personal vassalage and homage. This interest is specifically focused on problems of feudal services, conflicts of fidelity and humiliating acts of subordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NW by Zadie Smith opens with a multicultural and multiracial scene and revolves around the crises in the lives of four people with longstanding connection to Northwest London. The Northwest London in NW is a besieged city, and the people therein could not see any possibility of getting out because the gate has been latched with the concept of social class. In NW, the social class is materialized as space, economic position and race. Geographically NW features the main areas of London, and considers the role of that city in shaping the consciousness of the major characters, a partly spatial configuring of identity. In addition, the major characters in NW also suffer from occupational exclusion and economic exploitation, which then lead to their lower-class position since social class is constructed in such a way that agents are distributed according to their positions in the statistical distribution based on the economic and cultural capital. Finally the racial discrimination encountered by the characters in NW shows that class relations shape the form that racial oppression takes. The racialization of class issues becomes a politically effective tool for the wealthy to divide and rule the lower classes. In NW, Smith thus has adopted a more political attitude than in her previous books, so the relatively new perspective of her fiction might be the attention she draws to the persistent obstacles to class crossing and the acknowledgment of the rigid lines that still define the social classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Injury is second only to cardiovascular disease in terms of acute care costs in North America. One key to improving injury care efficiency is to generate knowledge on the determinants of resource use. Socio-economic status (SES) is a documented risk factor for injury severity and mortality but its impact on length of stay (LOS) for injury admissions is unknown. This study aimed to examine the relationship between SES and LOS following injury. This multicenter retrospective cohort study was based on adults discharged alive from any trauma center (2007-2012; 57 hospitals; 65,486 patients) in a Canadian integrated provincial trauma system. SES was determined using ecological indices of material and social deprivation. Mean differences in LOS adjusted for age, gender, comorbidities, and injury severity were generated using multivariate linear regression. Results: Mean LOS was 13.5 days. Patients in the highest quintile of material/social deprivation had a mean LOS 0.5 days (95 % CI 0.1-0.9)/1.4 days (1.1-1.8) longer than those in the lowest quintile. Patients in the highest quintiles of both social and material deprivation had a mean LOS 2.6 days (1.8-3.5) longer than those in the lowest quintiles. Conclusions: Results suggest that patients admitted for traumatic injury who suffer from high social and/or material deprivation have longer acute care LOS in a universal-access health care system. The reasons behind observed differences need to be further explored but may indicate that discharge planning should take patient SES into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]