bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Study on Healthcare Infrastructure for Children in Karnataka
Authors: Lakshmana C.M.
Published: December 2010

The major objective of this article is to take stock of the overall healthcare infrastructure for children in the district hospitals in the state of Karnataka. Governmental healthcare initiative in India can be traced back to the year 1951. Interestingly, India was the only country in the world to launch a Family Planning Programme intended to reduce population growth. This was renamed as Family Welfare Programme in 1977. Thereafter, in 1983, the National Health Policy was institutionalised with the objective of reducing Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Neo Mortality Rate (NMR) and Child Mortality Rate (CMR) by the year 2000. Concurrently, programmers like Prevention of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) and Oral Dehydration Therapy (ORT) came into existence in the country. As follow-up of these major initiatives, in the year 1997, a specific programme called Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) became operational in all the districts of the country. As a result of these initiatives, over the years, India has been able to cross a major milestone in reducing IMR, NMR, as well as CMR. According to latest NFHS-3 (National Family Health Survey) report, the IMR, NMR and CMR rates in the country are 57, 39 and 18 respectively. However, the progressive state of Karnataka has always registered lower IMR (43.2), NMR (28.9) and CMR (12.1) than the national average. The present investigation is based on the information collected from children outpatient departments of the district hospitals in Karnataka.
Media Exposure, Gender Stereotype and Contextual Stigma Perceptions about HIV and AIDS
Authors: Nanda Satyajeet , Pramanik Aparimita
Published: December 2010

This article examines whether variation in media exposure and gender would yield diverse stigma perceptions on HIV AIDS, and finds the mechanism behind these phenomena. It employs data from 2005–06 NFHS (National Family Health Survey) for Gujarat, a major western state of India, supplemented with some qualitative information. Logistic regressions were undertaken modelling five different stigma perceptions for women and men in varying contexts such as maintaining secrecy of HIV infection, care and support to and service from HIV infected persons. A chi-square test on response from men and women reveals that significant gender differential exists in terms of nature of HIV-related stigma perceptions. While women prefer to keep family member’s HIV infection secret, men rebuff providing care to HIV infected relatives in their own households and disapprove infected persons continue teaching in schools. The exposure to electronic as well as print media has consistent effect on HIV-related stigma perceptions. Newspaper and TV significantly influence men’s perceptions, whereas cinema and radio also play important roles in altering the stigma perceptions of women in different contexts. Qualitative information reveals that gender stereotype added with some socio-cultural factors (roles, knowledge and vulnerability) also generate perception differential regarding HIV and AIDS in varying circumstances.
Technical Efficiencies of Healthcare System in Major States of India
Authors: Shetty Udaya , Pakkala T.P.M.
Published: December 2010

Most research works in healthcare efficiency have focused on measuring to organisational level efficiency. The aim of this article is to compare the technical efficiency of healthcare of major states in India based on specific health indicators. In order to improve the health status of a country as a whole, government needs to recast its policies by auditing the performance of the states with reference to their respective health indicators. Our article purports to analyse technical efficiency based on health outcomes such as reduced infant mortality and increased life expectancy at birth. To measure the performance of health system and handle negative data Non-proportional Range Directional Model (NP-RDM ) of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA ) is used. This model measures the relative efficiency of the states with reference to ideal state. Application of NP-RDM of DEA formulation reveals that some of the states achieve relative efficiency advantages by good health outcomes and some of them by virtue of least utilisation of healthcare resources. This study reveals two categories of states responsible for poor health outcomes of the country. One category of states makes inefficient use of health inputs and the second category of states has only inadequate healthcare resources. They go to show that there is a need to restructure health policies in order to provide the best healthcare services in the country by efficient use of available resources.
Reproductive Tract Infections among Women of Rural Community in Mewat, India
Authors: Srivastava Lalima
Published: December 2010

Mewat is a backward area of north India, dominated by Meo community, a Muslim Rajput community following a mixture of Hindu and Islamic customs, practices and beliefs. Illiteracy, unhealthy lives, burden of frequent pregnancies, strong traditional culture and practices put the Meo women at higher risk of acquiring Reproductive Tract Infections (RTIs). A community based cross-sectional study was undertaken among married women (between 15 and 49 yrs) in Mewat. The objective of the study was to understand the socio-demographic and socio-cultural factors that increase vulnerability to RTI among women. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. This article presents the findings of the study. 72.6 per cent of the respondents reported one or more symptoms of RTI. Only 31 per cent of the respondents were aware about RTI and 21 per cent about HIV/AIDs. Bivariate analysis indicated statistically significant association between educational level, age at marriage, place of delivery and awareness about RTI with presence of self-reported symptoms of RTI among the study population. Improving literacy and increasing awareness level among women about reproductive health is needed to reduce incidence of RTI in the study area.
Managerial Roles of Physicians in the Turkish Healthcare System
Authors: Akbulut Yasemin , Esatoglu Afsun Ezel , Yildirim Turkan
Published: December 2010

In recent years, many healthcare organisations in the world have been changing in the direction of a professional management leaving behind a model of physician dominance. As one of the most essential functions in hospitals, professional management is vital in order to achieve performance efficiently. The main point which must not be ignored is that the education, the knowledge and the skills are key elements for professional management in the healthcare sector. This issue is also currently one of the major topical issues in the Turkish healthcare system to overcome existing management problems. The study assesses the roles of physicians for the future environment by analysing the management roles of Turkish physicians based on available data.
Healthcare Services Based on Knowledge Structure
Authors: Gonçalo Cláudio Reis , Borges Maria de Lourdes
Published: December 2010

This article presents a conceptual structure for enabling knowledge creation and knowledge transference in the knowledge-intensive health services. Identifying the proposed critical elements in health management, it analyses the required organisational characteristics for the change from a traditional context to a complex context. The conceptual framework applied to the hospital management highlights the differences between ’structure based on information’ and ’structure based on knowledge’. Hospitals which are focused on solving complex problems demand new service strategies for the creation and transference of knowledge. A qualitative research was applied in a in-depth case study and conducted as an exploratory investigation in the Vascular Medical Center, that includes neurology and cardiology services, and is a Brazilian hospital specialised in complex problems. By looking into the patient’s adherence, two critical contexts were identified: one was the interaction between patients and healthcare professionals, and the second was the organisational behaviour regarding the patients’ experiences. Knowledge structure demands the reconfiguration of the internal value chain of hospitals considering the results of the assistance process. The organisational context to promote knowledge for solving adherence problems was characterised as a facilitator environment that would be required to develop an educational process for both patients and healthcare professionals.
A History of Virulence: The Body and Computer Culture in the 1980s
Authors: Casilli Antonio A.
Published: December 2010

The recent turn in ubiquitous computing challenges previous theories of ‘technological disembodiment’. In a mediascape where technology permeates bodies, the current discourse of viral information insinuates elements of fear and risk associated with both physical presence and computer usage. This article adopts a socio-historical approach to investigate the factors underlying the early emergence of such features of our social imaginary by tracking them back to the computer culture of the 1980s. Analysing both mainstream and underground press sources from 1982 to 1991, a discursive core is revealed that revolves around the ‘computer virus’ metaphor. Popularized in this period, this notion came to resonate with mounting moral panic over the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Anxieties about the body in computer culture are then conceptualized (and historically contextualized) along two dimensions: first, the political proximity between HIV/AIDS activists and computer hackers during the FDA clinical trials controversy of 1987—8; and, second, the ideological reinforcement provided by academic progressive elements to these political actions. The implications of these results are discussed.
Imagining the Other in Cosmetic Surgery
Authors: Gimlin Debra
Published: December 2010

This article considers matters of narration and intersubjectivity in cosmetic surgery by drawing from interviews with 80 British and American women who have had an aesthetic procedure and 16 British and American cosmetic surgeons. It explores constructions of the ‘surgical other’ — that is, the woman who has cosmetic surgery with little consideration of its risks, is motivated by vanity rather than need, has unreasonable expectations regarding its outcome and/or is obsessively concerned with her appearance. It shows that constructions of surgical otherness are deeply contextual and interactive. They involve the production of narratives that reflect individual experience, are shaped by cultural imagery and incorporate narratives provided by other people. They also function as a form of identity work, as patients and surgeons draw upon them (and assist in reproducing them) in their performances of self. As part of that process, physicians not only confirm the patient’s self-presentation as a ‘good surgical candidate’, but also aid in producing her as such. Practitioners too engage in their own presentations of self; their negative commentary on surgical others implies a criticism of — and thus an effort to differentiate themselves from — the surgeons responsible for their production.
Disney-Formalism: Rethinking ‘Classic Disney’
Authors: Pallant Chris
Published: December 2010

With the release of The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker, 2009) the phrase ‘Classic Disney’ has re-entered popular discussion. Unfortunately, the concept of ‘Classic Disney’ has evolved in recent years, developing from a seemingly straightforward term featured in numerous discussions of Disney, to one which lacks the specificity required to support ‘shorthand’ critical engagement with the studio’s animated features. This article develops the neologism ‘Disney-Formalism’ as a potential alternative to the term ‘Classic Disney’, referring to the formation, and continuation, of the aesthetic style forged in the films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand, 1937), Pinocchio (Ben Sharpsteen et al., 1940), Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, 1941), and Bambi (David Hand, 1942).
Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks and its Transition from Comic Strip to Animated Series
Authors: Krueger Rex
Published: December 2010

This article explores The Boondocks and its transition from daily newspaper strip to animated series. The article is particularly concerned with the ways in which the animated series exceeds the expectations set up by the printed comic strip and emerges as a complex, highly inter-textual work with a large number of subtle cultural references. In order to account for The Boondocks, transition from one medium to another, the animated series is analyzed via theories of appropriation and adaptation, with special attention paid to the series’ deft cultural borrowing and the use of formal conventions typically associated with Japanese anime. The article also examines The Boondocks’ relationship to The Simpsons, and establishes The Simpsons as an important forbear to The Boondocks in terms of realism and social commentary.
Diegetic Short Circuits: Metalepsis in Animation
Authors: Feyersinger Erwin
Published: December 2010

This article explores a highly striking phenomenon termed metalepsis. A metalepsis is a fictional and paradoxical transgression of the border between mutually exclusive worlds that cannot be transgressed in our actual world. The hand of the animator reaching into the diegesis of his creations as well as characters communicating with the audience, escaping to the world of their creators, or altering their own worlds are all different types of metaleptic transgressions. Even though this phenomenon appears extensively throughout the history of animation, it has not been theorized in animation studies thus far. This article introduces transmedial narratological conceptualizations of metalepsis as an analytical tool for animation. It discusses a wide range of examples, testing the applicability of the framework to various animated forms.
Using helicopter electromagnetic (HEM) surveys to identify potential hazards at coal-waste impoundments: Examples from West Virginia
Authors: Hammack Richard , Kaminski Vlad , Harbert William , Veloski Garret , Lipinski Brian
Published: December 2010

We have used 14 multifrequency helicopter-borne electromagnetic (HEM) surveys to determine the internal structure and integrity of mine-impoundment structures in West Virginia, U.S.A. — the first time such technology has been applied in this way and apparently well suited for such activities. The HEM surveys identified areas of concern in each of the impoundments investigated. In most cases, these were areas where filtrate was emerging high on the downstream embankment and represented an erosion risk. Of greater concern, the HEM survey identified thick bodies of slurry that remained unconsolidated and were buried deep beneath the embankment’s crest of some impoundments. Ground confirmation activities indicated that HEM survey interpretations provided an accurate representation of the conductivity distribution within coal-waste impoundments. We then interpreted the conductivity/depth images from the HEMsurveys to provide a snapshot of hydrologic conditions that existed within the impoundment at the time of the survey. Resistivity profiles were obtained at the inactive impoundment along segments of flight lines from the HEM survey. HEM and resistivity surveys detected a conductive layer at a depth of about [Formula: see text] that was interpreted to be unconsolidated coal slurry. The methods also detected conductive bodies at a depth of about [Formula: see text] that were interpreted to be flooded mine works. Resistivity surveys from these segments corroborated HEM data, thereby providing independent confirmation of the HEM data and its processing. The resistivity and HEM surveys indicated a resistive surface layer where the coarse coal refuse was placed. Beneath the resistive surface layer is a conductive layer of unconsolidated or partially consolidated coal slurry. These highly loaded bodies of unconsolidated slurry are susceptible to solifluction, which can threaten embankment stability. Underground mine workings were identified in the HEM data from one impoundment.
High-resolution reservoir characterization by an acoustic impedance inversion of a Tertiary deltaic clinoform system in the North Sea
Authors: Tetyukhina Daria , van Vliet Lucas J. , Luthi Stefan M. , Wapenaar Kees
Published: December 2010

Fluvio-deltaic sedimentary systems are of great interest for explorationists because they can form prolific hydrocarbon plays. However, they are also among the most complex and heterogeneous ones encountered in the subsurface, and potential reservoir units are often close to or below seismic resolution. For seismic inversion, it is therefore important to integrate the seismic data with higher resolution constraints obtained from well logs, whereby not only the acoustic properties are used but also the detailed layering characteristics. We have applied two inversion approaches for poststack, time-migrated seismic data to a clinoform sequence in the North Sea. Both methods are recursive trace-based techniques that use well data as a priori constraints but differ in the way they incorporate structural information. One method uses a discrete layer model from the well that is propagated laterally along the clinoform layers, which are modeled as sigmoids. The second method uses a constant sampling rate from the well data and uses horizontal and vertical regularization parameters for lateral propagation. The first method has a low level of parameterization embedded in a geologic framework and is computationally fast. The second method has a much higher degree of parameterization but is flexible enough to detect deviations in the geologic settings of the reservoir; however, there is no explicit geologic significance and the method is computationally much less efficient. Forward seismic modeling of the two inversion results indicates a good match of both methods with the actual seismic data.
Streaming potential coupling coefficient of quartz glass bead packs: Dependence on grain diameter, pore size, and pore throat radius
Authors: Glover Paul W. , Déry Nicholas
Published: December 2010

The Helmholtz-Smoluchowski (HS) equation is commonly used to relate the streaming potential coupling coefficient of rocks to their zeta potential, pore fluid dielectric permittivity, conductivity, and viscosity despite it being known for almost [Formula: see text] that it does not work well for porous media. One of the problems is that the HS equation contains no implicit dependence on grain size, pore size, or pore throat size. Another has been the lack of high-quality data relating the streaming potential coupling coefficient to rock microstructural parameters. In this, predominantly experimental work, we have measured the streaming potential coupling coefficient for 12 sizes of quartz glass beads and two fluid salinities. A comparison of the new data and the existing data with the conventional HS equation and Revil’s grain size-dependent HS model shows the grain size-dependent model to be far superior in describing the data. Recognizing their utility in reservoir characterization, we have developed new equations that describe how the streaming potential coupling coefficient varies with pore diameter and pore throat diameter. We have compared experimental determinations as a function of pore throat diameter with these new relationships and found them to work very well if the ratio of the mean pore diameter to the pore throat diameter is 1.662, which is valid for random arrangement of monodisperse spheres. The zeta potential has also been calculated from the grain size-dependent HS equations and are found to be approximately constant and in agreement with the theoretically predicted values. The equations presented in this paper allow the streaming potential coupling coefficient of a reservoir rock to be calculated as a function of grain size, pore size, and pore throat size.
A generalized Archie’s law for n phases
Authors: Glover Paul W. J.
Published: December 2010

Archie’s law has been the standard method for relating the conductivity of a clean reservoir rock to its porosity and the conductivity of its pore fluid for more than [Formula: see text]. However, it is applicable only when the matrix is nonconducting. A modified version that allows a conductive matrix was published in 2000. A generalized form of Archie’s law is studied for any number of phases for which the classical Archie’s law and modified Archie’s law for two phases are special cases. The generalized Archie’s law contains a phase conductivity, a phase volume fraction, and phase exponent for each of its [Formula: see text] phases. The connectedness of each of the phases is considered, and the principle of conservation of connectedness in a three-dimensional multiphase mixture is introduced. It is confirmed that the general law is formally the same as the classical Archie’s law and modified Archie’s law for one and two conducting phases, respectively. The classical second Archie’s law is compared with the generalized law, which leads to the definition of a saturation exponent for each phase. This process has enabled the derivation of relationships between the phase exponents and saturation exponents for each phase. The relationship between percolation theory and the generalized model is also considered. The generalized law is examined in detail for two and three phases and semiquantitatively for four phases. Unfortunately, the law in its most general form is very difficult to prove experimentally. Instead, numerical modeling in three dimensions is carried out to demonstrate that it behaves well for a system consisting of four interacting conducting phases.
Introduction: Researching and Rethinking the Labors of Love
Authors: Olcott Jocelyn
Published: December 2010

This introduction situates the articles in this special issue within the broader United States and Latin American historiographies of reproductive labor—the unpaid “caring” work of childcare, housekeeping, food provision, and the maintenance of critical community networks. It explores the conceptual and methodological issues raised in studying labor that individual actors often performed in both public and private realms and in commodified and uncommodified forms. By considering studies dating back to the colonial period and across the Americas, this essay explores the historical contingencies of reproductive labor with particular attention to the specificities of social relations, the impact of modernization and industrialization, and the role of policy makers and state agencies. These studies underscore the challenges of defining and researching this understudied area of labor history and its potential contributions to other historical subfields, especially family, economic, political, social, and cultural history. The introduction concludes with a brief delineation of the articles’ methodological contributions and promising directions in the study of reproductive-labor history.
Entertaining Inequalities: Doña Petrona, Juanita Bordoy, and Domestic Work in Mid-Twentieth-Century Argentina
Authors: Pite Rebekah E.
Published: December 2010

Over the course of the mid-twentieth century Doña Petrona C. de Gandulfo established herself as Argentina’s leading domestic expert. Her popularity reached new heights when she began broadcasting her cooking lessons on television with her assistant, Juanita Bordoy. In this article, Rebekah Pite explores the model of domestic work portrayed by these two women in comparison to that of other Argentine homemakers and their paid help during the 1950s and 1960s. She does so by drawing from a broad source base that includes oral histories, television programming, cookbooks, magazines, and government and legal documents. She finds that Doña Petrona and Juanita Bordoy’s public interactions were both captivating and open to critique because they enabled others to observe a typically private domestic relationship during a period in which many women’s relationships to domesticity and to paid work were in flux. Pite argues that to understand the tensions surrounding these changes, we must shift our framework and our terminology. While scholars of Latin America have tended to cast domestic work relationships as paternalistic, the bonds of power and affection between Doña Petrona and Juanita Bordoy—and countless other domestic pairs—were (and continue to be) more maternalistic in nature. Her research suggests that middle-class or elite women, as opposed to their male partners, have often taken the lead in negotiating the affective terms of these relationships as well as the work to be done.
Phase Separation of Block Copolymer Synthesized via Catalytic ROMP Reaction
Authors: Suzuki Yuya , Hayano Shigetaka , Tsunogae Yasuo
Published: December 2010

A new block copolymer of cycloolefin was synthesized by catalytic block copolymerization. Nanoscaled phase separation of the block copolymer was observed by TEM, demonstrating the formation of the block copolymer by this method. The coexistence of plural nanostructures might be caused by broader polydispersity of the block copolymer.
Multivariate Analysis of Clinical, Demographic, and Laboratory Data for Classification of Disorders of Calcium Homeostasis
Authors: O’Neill Stacey S. , Gordon Christopher J. , Guo Ruixin , Zhu Hongtu , McCudden Christopher R.
Published: December 2010

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) nomograms combine total calcium and intact PTH (iPTH) measurements to classify disorders of calcium homeostasis. Our objective was to determine if using a combination of laboratory, demographic, and clinical parameters improves the accuracy of classification of these disorders. Chart data were collected for 236 patients with physician-ordered iPTH and total calcium tests. Classification was done using 3 approaches: (1) PTH nomogram plotting total calcium and iPTH results against known cases; (2) review of all available chart data (“gold standard”); and (3) multivariate model (classification and regression tree [CART] or logistic regression) using 24 variables. The CART model was developed using the gold standard patient classification and validated using leave-one-out cross-validation. The CART model was significantly (P = .002) more accurate (80.6%) than the PTH nomogram (59.7%) and logistic regression (66.2%) at classifying calcium homeostasis disorders. The CART model used 6 of 24 variables (iPTH, calcium, creatinine, renal transplantation, percentage of females, and urea nitrogen) and had a misclassification error rate of 0.194 (27/139). Classification of disorders of calcium homeostasis based on the PTH nomogram can be improved by using the CART model developed in this study.
Pure Sarcomatoid Carcinoma of Maxillary Sinus and Nasal Cavity Simulating Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma
Authors: Terada Tadashi
Published: December 2010

Although a few cases of sinonasal carcinoma with focal sarcomatous differentiation have been reported, pure sarcomatoid carcinoma has not been reported in the English literature. Imaging studies and gross inspection in a 60-year-old man with left-sided face pain revealed a mass in the left maxillary sinus and nasal cavity. A large incisional biopsy specimen from the nasal cavity revealed proliferation of malignant spindle and round cells with a malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) pattern. Tumor giant cells were scattered, and there were areas of a vague storiform pattern. Mitotic figures were numerous. Carcinomatous component was not recognized. The histologic diagnosis was storiform-pleomorphic MFH. Tumor cells were positive for pancytokeratins AE1/3, KL-1, and CAM5.2 and cytokeratin (CK) 18, vimentin, CD68, p53, Ki-67 (labeling, 90%), α1-antitrypsin, and α1-antichymotrypsin and negative for pancytokeratin WSS, CK 34βE14, CK7, CK8, CK14, CK19, CK20, epithelial membrane antigen, S-100 protein, desmin, α-smooth muscle actin, CD34, HMB45, chromogranin, synaptophysin, myoglobin, CD45, CD30, and CD15. Because keratins were positive in tumor cells, a diagnosis of sarcomatoid carcinoma simulating MFH was made. The patient was treated with chemoradiation without significant effect and died 9 months after initial examination.
Cytopathologic Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells Using the Isolation by Size of Epithelial Tumor Cell Method
Authors: Hofman Véronique J. , Ilie Marius I. , Bonnetaud Christelle , Selva Eric , Long Elodie , Molina Thierry , Vignaud Jean Michel , Fléjou Jean François , Lantuejoul Sylvie , Piaton Eric , Butori Catherine , Mourad Nathalie , Poudenx Michel , Bahadoran Philippe , Sibon Stéphanie , Guevara Nicolas , Santini José , Vénissac Nicolas , Mouroux Jérôme , Vielh Philippe , Hofman Paul M.
Published: December 2010

Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) morphologically may be a promising new approach in clinical oncology. We tested the reliability of a cytomorphologic approach to identify CTCs: 808 blood samples from patients with benign and malignant diseases and healthy volunteers were examined using the isolation by size of epithelial tumor cell (ISET) method. Cells having nonhematologic features (so-called circulating nonhematologic cells [CNHCs]) were classified into 3 categories: CNHCs with malignant features, CNHCs with uncertain malignant features, and CNHCs with benign features. CNHCs were found in 11.1% and 48.9% of patients with nonmalignant and malignant pathologies, respectively (P < .001). CNHCs with malignant features were observed in 5.3% and in 43.1% of patients with nonmalignant and malignant pathologies, respectively. Cytopathologic identification of CTCs using the ISET method represents a promising field for cytopathologists. The possibility of false-positive diagnosis stresses the need for using ancillary methods to improve this approach.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia With IDH1 or IDH2 Mutation
Authors: Patel Keyur P. , Ravandi Farhad , Ma Deqin , Paladugu Abhaya , Barkoh Bedia A. , Medeiros L. Jeffrey , Luthra Rajyalakshmi
Published: December 2010

Mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and IDH2 genes are reported in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We studied the frequency and the clinicopathologic features of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in AML. Mutations in IDH1 (IDH1R132) and IDH2 (IDH2R172) were assessed by Sanger sequencing in 199 AML cases. Point mutations in IDH1R132 were detected in 12 (6.0%) of 199 cases and in IDH2R172 in 4 (2.0%) of 196 cases. Of the 16 mutated cases, 15 (94%) were cytogenetically normal, for an overall frequency in this group of 11.8%. IDH1R132 and IDH2R172 mutations were mutually exclusive. Concurrent mutations in NPM1, FLT3, CEBPA, and NRAS were detected only in AML with the IDH1R132 mutation. The clinical and laboratory variables of patients with AML with IDH mutations showed no significant differences compared with patients with wild-type IDH. We conclude that IDH1R132 and IDH2R172 mutations occur most often in cytogenetically normal AML cases with an overall frequency of approximately 11.8%.
FLT3 and NPM1 Mutations in Myelodysplastic Syndromes
Authors: Bains Ashish , Luthra Rajyalakshmi , Medeiros L. Jeffrey , Zuo Zhuang
Published: December 2010

We reviewed FLT3 and NPM1 mutation data in a large cohort of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The frequencies of FLT3 and NPM1 mutation were 2.0% and 4.4%, respectively, and mutations were restricted to cases of intermediate- and high-risk MDS. Cytogenetic abnormalities were identified in 46.9% of cases. FLT3 mutations were associated with a complex karyotype (P = .009), whereas NPM1 mutations were associated with a diploid karyotype (P < .001). FLT3 mutation (P < .001) was associated with progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), as were a higher bone marrow (BM) blast count (P < .001) and complex cytogenetics (P = .039). No patient with an NPM1 mutation alone had disease that progressed to AML. Cox proportional regression multivariate analysis indicated that FLT3 mutation, NPM1 mutation, complex cytogenetics, BM blast count, pancytopenia, and age were independent factors that correlated with progression-free survival. We conclude that FLT3 and NPM1 mutations are rare in MDS, but assessment of mutation status is potentially useful for predicting progression to AML.
Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura and Urinary Tract Infections
Authors: Park Yara A. , Schultz Elizabeth F. , Hay Shauna N. , Brecher Mark E.
Published: December 2010

Most cases of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) are considered idiopathic without an identifiable etiologic agent. It has been previously reported that a number of patients with TTP had a urinary tract infection (UTI). Apheresis records were searched for patients with TTP from 1999 through 2007. Records were examined for evidence of UTI, and the patients were divided into 4 groups: 1, laboratory evidence of UTI on admission; 2, UTI just before admission; 3, UTI that developed during hospitalization; and 4, weak laboratory evidence of a UTI. The study included 90 TTP “visits.” (A visit was defined as all admissions for TTP for a specific patient within a 1-month period.) Of the TTP visits, 21 (23%) were associated with UTIs. Group 1 included 7 patients; group 2, 10 patients; group 3, 3 patients; and group 4, 1 patient. This suggests that UTIs might serve as a TTP stimulus. Owing to the relatively strong association of UTIs with TTP, all patients with TTP should be screened for UTI and treated accordingly.
The Changing Spectrum of DNA-Based Specimen Provenance Testing in Surgical Pathology
Authors: Pfeifer John D. , Zehnbauer Barbara , Payton Jacqueline
Published: December 2010

Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis has emerged as the method of choice for testing to resolve specimen source contamination and identity problems that arise in surgical pathology. We studied a series of consecutive cases referred for STR typing during a 5-year period to document the usefulness of the approach and to describe the broadening scope of testing. The series demonstrates that STR-based typing can be applied in virtually any setting in which specimen source confirmation is requested, that STR-based typing is informative in 92% of cases, but that exceptions occasionally arise that complicate test interpretation. The series also demonstrates that in addition to traditional uses of STR typing, testing is now performed in the absence of any direct indication that a specimen mix-up or contamination may have occurred, namely, when the pathologic findings are unexpected or the clinical setting is atypical. The case series underscores the ability of STR testing to detect errors that cannot be captured by current laboratory protocols, a finding that has important implications for patient safety.
Book Reviews
Authors: Wagner Kristen Anderson , Berra John , Riley John A , Douglas Paul
Published: December 2010

Douglas Fairbanks, Jeffrey Vance, with Tony Maietta, (2008) Berkeley: University of California Press and Los Angeles: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 368 pp., ISBN 9780520256675 (hbk), $45.00

Remade in Hollywood: The Global Presence in Transnational
Cinemas, Kenneth Chan, (2009) Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 259 pp., ISBN 9789622090569 (pbk), $27.95, ISBN 9789622090552 (hbk), $57.50

Hong Kong Cinema Since 1997: The Post-Nostalgic Imagination, Vivian P.Y. Lee, (2009) Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan, 256 pp., ISBN 9780230221437 (hbk), $85.00

Translating Time: Cinema, the Fantastic, and Temporal Critique, Bliss Cua Lim, (2009) Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 345 pp., ISBN 9780822345107 (pbk), $23.95

Postcolonial African Cinema: From
Political Engagement to Postmodernism, Kenneth W. Harrow, (2007) Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 296 pp., ISBN 9780253219145 (pbk), $25.95
is not Dave Sim: Writing life as parody in Cerebus
Authors: Theisen Nicholas A
Published: December 2010

In the notes to the penultimate volume of Cerebus, Dave Sim remarks that it's not too much of a stretch to say that fantasy writers are schizophrenic for a living in referring to how a single author must come to inhabit his own fiction if he wishes for it to remain plausibly
consistent over decades and thousands of pages. This article, in two parts, examines how Sim uses parodies of autobiographical details from his own life (and denials of the inclusion thereof) to lay bare the poverty of the language of representation; how the comic text becomes an experience
rather than merely representing lived events fundamentally alien to it; how the parody and the life are, ironically, relatively independent; and how the two halves of his schizophrenic life relate to rather than represent each other. Part one, Dave is not Dave Sim, focuses on how in Volume
9 (Minds) Sim presents himself as Dave, a voice that, for the most part, remains contained solely within Cerebus' own thought bubbles. Part two, Cerebus is not Dave Sim, begins from an obvious presumption that the character Cerebus does not represent him to examine why it is that Cerebus,
both the character and comic, are subjected to so many personal events in Sim's life. It becomes clear that autobiography in Cerebus is a game of seduction in which the denial of autobiography becomes the clearest invitation to see it there.
Distributed identity: networking image fragments in graphic memoirs
Authors: Mitchell Adrielle Anna
Published: December 2010

While the primary argument of this article is that graphic memoirists significantly complicate their visual self-representations with variation, embellishment and interpretation, an equally important methodological thesis concerns the actual process of reading graphic memoirs. In Systeme
de la bande dessine/The System of Comics (2007), Thierry Groensteen presents a method of reading comics that is based on discovering linkages amongst non-contiguous panels. While Groensteen predicates his nonlinear system of networking on whole panels, I argue that a finer-grained analysis
of image fragments (e.g. facial hair, gestures, demon figures, symbols, etc.) in relationship with each other results in a more complex reading of a graphic text. I argue that units smaller than the panel, liberated from the panel, carry their own semiotic weight, and can share iconic solidarity
with other visual fragments of the text. This article limits its consideration to comic memoirs, and discerns a set of visual series (Groensteen 2007) that illuminate self-representational techniques in David B.'s L'Ascension du Haut-Mal/ Epileptic (2005), Toufic El Rassi's Arab
in America (2007), Craig Thompson's Carnet de Voyage (2004) and Aleksandar Zograf's Regards from Serbia (2007).
Subjective time in David B.'s graphic memoir Epileptic
Authors: Refaie Elisabeth El
Published: December 2010

The article uses David B's graphic memoir Epileptic as a way of identifying the semiotic resources that are available to comics artists in order to convey their subjective experiences of temporality. Epileptic describes the increasingly desperate, and ultimately futile,
attempts by the autobiographical narrator's parents to find a cure for his elder brother's illness. The whole family is caught up in a recurring cycle of hope and despair, and time becomes frustratingly circular, trapping the family members and isolating them both from each other and from
the outside world. Drawing on Hatfield's (2005) notion of comics as the art of tensions, I argue that the medium is well suited to the task of conveying subjective time, since many of its formal features follow patterns that reflect the way memory itself works. Examples include the way in
which comics panels are separated by gaps, and the fact that in this medium meanings emerge not only through the syntagmatic logic of the sequence, but also through associative links across a page or even a whole work. Most importantly, comics reflect the intimate links between our experience
of time and of space. The size, shape and layout of panels can, for instance, strongly influence our perception of the flow of time.
Showing silence: David Small's Stitches
Authors: Vgnes yvind
Published: December 2010

David Small's graphic memoir Stiches (2009), about his childhood and youth in Detroit in the 1950s, is a book of silences: the silence of a withdrawing mother whose compensatory language is to wash the dishes noisily; the silence of a father who goes to the basement to thump
a punching bag; the silence of a little brother who beats incessantly on a drum. In a household in which conversation is infrequent and at best tense, Small is left to guess his way to hidden family stories of both the present (his mother's closeted lesbianism) and the past (the circumstances
surrounding the violent death of a grandfather). The most devastating silences in Small's depiction of his early years, however, grow out of his bouts with cancer, the diagnosis of which his parents left him ignorant about, and that was the cause of tests made by his radiologist father. After
returning from two hospital operations at age 14, Small finds that he has only one vocal cord left, that he has been transformed into a mute teenager in a profoundly malfunctional family.

With reference to the literature on verbal/visual tensions in graphic narrative, various writings on
comics autobiography, as well as to works that address the relationship between trauma and narratology, my article explores the various ways in which Stitches can be said to be showing silence. A book of more images than words, Small's memoir powerfully describes visually a gestic that
articulates painful isolation as a result of various forms of incommunication. Using pen and ink as well as grey-toned watercolour, Small creates a black and white world of shadows and darkness, of starkly precise memories and vivid dreams that blend into one another, of imaginary spaces into
which the pained child at the centre of the story retreats. An image of tearing apart and bringing together, of wounding as well as healing, the stitches of the title refer both to the scar across David's throat and to the way in which he weaves his narrative together, as an attempt at human
recovery against substantial odds.
Daddy's little girl: Multigenerational queer relationships in Bechdel's Fun Home
Authors: Spiers Miriam Brown
Published: December 2010

In this article I will examine an unusual queer relationship, as represented by comics artist Alison Bechdel, best known for her strip Dykes to Watch Out For. While the fatherdaughter relationship is a common literary theme, it becomes more complicated in Bechdel's graphic memoir
Fun Home, which depicts two generations simultaneously struggling with issues of gender identity. Alison's ability to lead a queer lifestyle exists in sharp contrast to the way that her father, Bruce, has handled his homosexuality. Rather than reacting to her father's example, either
positively or negatively, Alison must create her own narrative, relying primarily on literature to guide the way. Yet, by identifying as queer, Alison opens the door for her father to discuss his sexuality, leading Alison to wonder, Which of us was the father? (Bechdel 2006: 221). Because
of the history of queerness across generations in America, it is Alison who is in a position to set a positive, open example in a queer fatherdaughter relationship.

Adding to the intricate ways in which Alison and Bruce explore their identities and relationship is the fascinating style
in which Bechdel draws both herself and her father. As characters on the page, they look remarkably similar to one another, a coincidence that is reinforced by Bechdel's use of the pose method to draw her memoir that is, she dresses up as the character, takes photos and bases her drawings
on those photos. However, there is more than that at stake: in some panels, Bechdel draws an explicit physical comparison between Alison and Bruce at various stages in their lives. As a comics artist, Bechdel is able to make use of a variety of visual cues that play an important role in her
representation of queer identity.

These visual cues extend to include visual adaptations of texts, from love letters between her parents to excerpts from her father's noted and underlined novels. Using these real documents as evidence, she describes her parents as literary figures rather
than people. This is most noticeable in her extended comparison of herself and her father to Stephen Dedalus and Leo Bloom in Joyce's Ulysses. Such a comparison simultaneously distances the reader and reaffirms the legitimacy of the relationship. The presence of those references serves
to remind us that Alison's relationship to her father is part of a larger literary pattern, something that can be comfortably understood and examined. Not only is Bechdel able to naturalize and familiarize that relationship, the comparison even canonizes it. Bechdel combines familiar, cartoonish
characters with careful textual detail in both her narration and her frequent use of literary citation. Using her own relationship to literature as a way of exploring her relationship with her father, Bechdel is able to tackle the complexity of a multigenerational narrative that is simultaneously
empowering and disempowering, that requires that she both embrace and fear her own queer identity.
Reviews
Authors: Round Julia , Venezia Tony , Stein Daniel , Williams Ian , Buhle Paul , Heinze Ulrich , Morton Drew , Priego Ernesto
Published: December 2010

Comics Arts Conference and Comic-Con, San Diego CA: 2327 July 2010

Rude Britannia: British Comic Art 9 June5 September 2010, Tate Britain, Millbank, London, SW1P 4RG

Comics and the City: Urban Space in Print, Picture and Sequence, edited by Jrn Ahrens and
Arno Meteling (2010) London and New York: Continuum International Publishing, 288 pp., ISBN: 9780826403896, Hardback, 60.00, ISBN: 9780826440198, Paperback, 15.99

Comics as a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay of Media, Disciplines and International Perspectives, edited
by Mark Berninger, Jochen Ecke and Gideon Haberkorn (2010) Jefferson and London: McFarland & Company, 308 pp. ISBN 9780786439874, Paperback, $39.95

Psychiatric Tales, Darryl Cunningham (2010) London: Blank Slate Books, 152 pp. Hardback 11.99 ISBN: 1906653089

The
Search for Smilin' Ed!, Kim Deitch (2010) London: Fantagraphic Books, 161 pp., ISBN: 978-1606993248, Paperback, $16.99

The Dragon and the Dazzle: Models, Strategies and Identities of Japanese Imagination. A European Perspective (With an Essay by Jean-Marie Bouissou),
Marco Pellitteri (2010) Latina: Tunu, 689 pp., 25.00

Superman vs. Hollywood: How Fiendish Producers, Devious Directors, and Warring Writers Grounded an American Icon, Jake Rossen (2008) Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 339 pp., ISBN: 1556527314, Paperback, $16.95

My
Life with Charlie Brown, Charles M. Schulz; introduction by M. Thomas Inge (2010) Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 193 pp. ISBN: 978-1-60473-448-5, Hardback, $25.00
Distribution Functions of the Sequence φ(m)/m, m ∈ (k, k + N) as k, N go to Infinity
Authors: Baláž Vladimír , Liardet Pierre , Strauch Oto
Published: December 2010

Let
A Left Weighted Catalan Extension
Authors: Schumacher Paul R. F.
Published: December 2010

There are many representations of the Catalan numbers. In this article, we will examine the ballot problem and extend it beyond the standard
Staircases in
Authors: Breuer Felix , von Heymann Frederik
Published: December 2010

A staircase in this paper is the set of points in
Cycles in War
Authors: Spivey Michael Z.
Published: December 2010

We discuss a simplified version of the well-known card game War in which the cards in the deck have a strict ranking from 1 to
Min, a Combinatorial Game Having a Connection with Prime Numbers
Authors: Cairns Grant , Ho Nhan Bao
Published: December 2010

We introduce a two person game played with a pair of nonnegative integers; a move consists of subtracting from the larger integer, a positive integer no greater than the smaller integer. The player who reduces one of the integers to zero wins. The game is curious in several respects: in particular, its Sprague–Grundy values have an interesting connection with prime numbers.