bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the origins of American Criollo pigs: A common genetic background with a lasting Iberian signature
Authors: Revidatti Maria Antonia , Gama Luis T. , Martin Burriel Inmaculada , Cortés Gardyn Oscar , Cappello Villada Juan Sebastian , Carolino María Inés , Cañón Francisco Javier , Ginja Catarina , Sponenberg Philip , Vicente Antonio P. , Zaragoza Pilar , Delgado Juan Vicente , Martínez Amparo ,   the BioPig Consortium
Published: May 2021

American Criollo pigs are thought to descend mainly from those imported from the Iberian Peninsula starting in the late 15th century. Criollo pigs subsequently expanded throughout the Americas, adapting to very diverse environments, and possibly receiving influences from other origins. With the intensification of agriculture in the mid-20th century, cosmopolitan breeds largely replaced Criollo pigs, and the few remaining are mostly maintained by rural communities in marginal areas where they still play an important socio-economic and cultural role. In this study, we used 24 microsatellite markers in samples from 1715 pigs representing 46 breeds with worldwide distribution, including 17 American Criollo breeds, with the major focus of investigating their genetic diversity, structure and breed relationships. We also included representatives of the Iberian, Local British, Hungarian, Chinese and Commercial breeds, as well as Wild Boar, in order to investigate their possible influence in the genetic composition of Criollos. Our results show that, when compared with the other breeds, Criollo pigs present higher levels of genetic diversity, both in terms of allelic diversity and expected heterozygosity. The various analyses indicate that breed differentiation overall explains nearly 21% of the total genetic diversity. Criollo breeds showed their own identity and shared a common genetic background, tending to cluster together in various analyses, even though they differ from each other. A close relationship of Criollos with Iberian breeds was revealed by all the different analyses, and the contribution of Iberian breeds, particularly of the Celtic breeds, is still present in various Criollo breeds. No influence of Chinese breeds was detected on Criollos, but a few were influenced by Commercial breeds or by wild pigs. Our results confirm the uniqueness of American Criollo pigs and the role that Iberian breeds have played in their development.
Biogeochemical dynamics and microbial community development under sulfate- and iron-reducing conditions based on electron shuttle amendment
Authors: Flynn Theodore M. , Antonopoulos Dionysios A. , Skinner Kelly A. , Brulc Jennifer M. , Johnston Eric , Boyanov Maxim I. , Kwon Man Jae , Kemner Kenneth M. , O’Loughlin Edward J.
Published: May 2021

Iron reduction and sulfate reduction are two of the major biogeochemical processes that occur in anoxic sediments. Microbes that catalyze these reactions are therefore some of the most abundant organisms in the subsurface, and some of the most important. Due to the variety of mechanisms that microbes employ to derive energy from these reactions, including the use of soluble electron shuttles, the dynamics between iron- and sulfate-reducing populations under changing biogeochemical conditions still elude complete characterization. Here, we amended experimental bioreactors comprised of freshwater aquifer sediment with ferric iron, sulfate, acetate, and the model electron shuttle AQDS (9,10-anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate) and monitored both the changing redox conditions as well as changes in the microbial community over time. The addition of the electron shuttle AQDS did increase the initial rate of FeIIIreduction; however, it had little effect on the composition of the microbial community. Our results show that in both AQDS- and AQDS+ systems there was an initial dominance of organisms classified asGeobacter(a genus of dissimilatory FeIII-reducing bacteria), after which sequences classified asDesulfosporosinus(a genus of dissimilatory sulfate-reducing bacteria) came to dominate both experimental systems. Furthermore, most of the ferric iron reduction occurred under this later, ostensibly “sulfate-reducing” phase of the experiment. This calls into question the usefulness of classifying subsurface sediments by the dominant microbial process alone because of their interrelated biogeochemical consequences. To better inform models of microbially-catalyzed subsurface processes, such interactions must be more thoroughly understood under a broad range of conditions.
Automatic semantic segmentation of breast tumors in ultrasound images based on combining fuzzy logic and deep learning—A feasibility study
Authors: Badawy Samir M. , Mohamed Abd El-Naser A. , Hefnawy Alaa A. , Zidan Hassan E. , GadAllah Mohammed T. , El-Banby Ghada M.
Published: May 2021

Computer aided diagnosis (CAD) of biomedical images assists physicians for a fast facilitated tissue characterization. A scheme based on combining fuzzy logic (FL) and deep learning (DL) for automatic semantic segmentation (SS) of tumors in breast ultrasound (BUS) images is proposed. The proposed scheme consists of two steps: the first is a FL based preprocessing, and the second is a Convolutional neural network (CNN) based SS. Eight well-known CNN based SS models have been utilized in the study. Studying the scheme was by a dataset of 400 cancerous BUS images and their corresponding 400 ground truth images. SS process has been applied in two modes: batch and one by one image processing. Three quantitative performance evaluation metrics have been utilized: global accuracy (GA), mean Jaccard Index (mean intersection over union (IoU)), and mean BF (Boundary F1) Score. In the batch processing mode: quantitative metrics’ average results over the eight utilized CNNs based SS models over the 400 cancerous BUS images were: 95.45% GA instead of 86.08% without applying fuzzy preprocessing step, 78.70% mean IoU instead of 49.61%, and 68.08% mean BF score instead of 42.63%. Moreover, the resulted segmented images could show tumors’ regions more accurate than with only CNN based SS. While, in one by one image processing mode: there has been no enhancement neither qualitatively nor quantitatively. So, only when a batch processing is needed, utilizing the proposed scheme may be helpful in enhancing automatic ss of tumors in BUS images. Otherwise applying the proposed approach on a one-by-one image mode will disrupt segmentation’s efficiency. The proposed batch processing scheme may be generalized for an enhanced CNN based SS of a targeted region of interest (ROI) in any batch of digital images. A modified small dataset is available: https://www.kaggle.com/mohammedtgadallah/mt-small-dataset (S1 Data).
Facilitators and barriers of 2-1-1 HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis
Authors: Camp Christina , Saberi Parya
Published: May 2021

An alternative strategy for men who have sex with men (MSM) experiencing challenges with daily HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) includes 2-1-1 dosing. Understanding 2-1-1 PrEP facilitators and barriers, especially during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, may guide researchers and healthcare providers in future studies and clinical preparedness. We conducted a national cross-sectional study of MSM in the US who had taken 2-1-1 PrEP to examine facilitators and barriers of this on-demand PrEP dosing option. With the shelter-in-place orders in March 2020, this study was adapted to include questions on how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affected participants’ PrEP use. A total of 140 individuals participated in the survey, 106 of which completed questions pertaining to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The most common reasons for switching from once-daily to 2-1-1 PrEP included having sex less frequently (63.6%) and wanting to take fewer pills (46.4%). Participants reported high medication adherence based on each component of 2-1-1 PrEP dosing (>84%). The most common barriers with 2-1-1 PrEP dosing included unplanned sexual encounters resulting in missing the double-dose pre-sex (43.6%) and trouble remembering doses post-sex (29.3%). Facilitators of the 2-1-1 PrEP dosing strategy included reductions in sexual encounters (63.6%), preference to take fewer pills (46.4%), need to reduce cost (22.1%), and desire to reduce side effects (19.3%). Challenges to receiving PrEP services during the pandemic included obtaining laboratory testing (25.5%) and PrEP refills (either receipt of a refill authorization from a healthcare provider or processing of a refill from the pharmacy) (18.9%). 2-1-1 PrEP is an effective HIV prevention method; therefore, understanding facilitators and barriers of this dosing strategy can result in continuous provision of HIV prevention efforts, particularly during a pandemic.
COVID-19 and the kidney: A retrospective analysis of 37 critically ill patients using machine learning
Authors: Herzog Anna Laura , von Jouanne-Diedrich Holger K. , Wanner Christoph , Weismann Dirk , Schlesinger Tobias , Meybohm Patrick , Stumpner Jan
Published: May 2021

Introduction

There is evidence that SARS-CoV2 has a particular affinity for kidney tissue and is often associated with kidney failure.

Methods

We assessed whether proteinuria can be predictive of kidney failure, the development of chronic kidney disease, and mortality in 37 critically ill COVID-19 patients. We used machine learning (ML) methods as decision trees and cut-off points created by the OneR package to add new aspects, even in smaller cohorts.

Results

Among a total of 37 patients, 24 suffered higher-grade renal failure, 20 of whom required kidney replacement therapy. More than 40% of patients remained on hemodialysis after intensive care unit discharge or died (27%). Due to frequent anuria proteinuria measured in two-thirds of the patients, it was not predictive for the investigated endpoints; albuminuria was higher in patients with AKI 3, but the difference was not significant. ML found cut-off points of >31.4 kg/m2for BMI and >69 years for age, constructed decision trees with great accuracy, and identified highly predictive variables for outcome and remaining chronic kidney disease.

Conclusions

Different ML methods and their clinical application, especially decision trees, can provide valuable support for clinical decisions. Presence of proteinuria was not predictive of CKD or AKI and should be confirmed in a larger cohort.
Incidence of deep vein thrombosis through an ultrasound surveillance protocol in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in non-ICU setting: A multicenter prospective study
Authors: Pieralli Filippo , Pomero Fulvio , Giampieri Margherita , Marcucci Rossella , Prisco Domenico , Luise Fabio , Mancini Antonio , Milia Alessandro , Sammicheli Lucia , Tassinari Irene , Caldi Francesca , Innocenti Francesca , Faraone Antonio , Beltrame Chiara , Pini Riccardo , Ungar Andrea , Fortini Alberto
Published: May 2021

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the lower limbs, using serial compression ultrasound (CUS) surveillance, in acutely ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to a non-ICU setting.

Methods

Multicenter, prospective study of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to Internal Medicine units. All patients were screened for DVT of the lower limbs with serial CUS. Anticoagulation was defined as: low dose (enoxaparin 20–40 mg/day or fondaparinux 1.5–2.5 mg/day); intermediate dose (enoxaparin 60–80 mg/day); high dose (enoxaparin 120–160 mg or fondaparinux 5–10 mg/day or oral anticoagulation). The primary end-point of the study was the diagnosis of DVT by CUS.

Results

Over a two-month period, 227 consecutive patients with moderate-severe COVID-19 pneumonia were enrolled. The incidence of DVT was 13.7% (6.2% proximal, 7.5% distal), mostly asymptomatic. All patients received anticoagulation (enoxaparin 95.6%) at the following doses: low 57.3%, intermediate 22.9%, high 19.8%. Patients with and without DVT had similar characteristics, and no difference in anticoagulant regimen was observed. DVT patients were older (mean 77±9.6 vs 71±13.1 years; p = 0.042) and had higher peak D-dimer levels (5403 vs 1723 ng/mL; p = 0.004). At ROC analysis peak D-dimer level >2000 ng/mL (AUC 0.703; 95% CI 0.572–0.834; p = 0.004) was the most accurate cut-off value able to predict DVT (RR 3.74; 95%CI 1.27–10, p = 0.016).

Conclusions

The incidence of DVT in acutely ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia is relevant. A surveillance protocol by serial CUS of the lower limbs is useful to timely identify DVT that would go otherwise largely undetected.
Deforestation effects on Attalea palms and their resident Rhodnius, vectors of Chagas disease, in eastern Amazonia
Authors: Santos Walter Souza , Gurgel-Gonçalves Rodrigo , Garcez Lourdes Maria , Abad-Franch Fernando
Published: May 2021

Attaleapalms provide primary habitat toRhodniusspp., vectors ofTrypanosoma cruzi. Flying from palms, these blood-sucking bugs often invade houses and can infect people directly or via food contamination. Chagas disease (CD) risk may therefore increase whenAttaleapalms thrive near houses. For example,Attaleadominate many deforested landscapes of eastern Amazonia, where acute-CD outbreaks are disturbingly frequent. Despite this possible link between deforestation and CD risk, the population-level responses of AmazonianAttaleaand their residentRhodniusto anthropogenic landscape disturbance remain largely uncharted. We studied adultAttaleapalms in old-growth forest (OGF), young secondary forest (YSF), and cattle pasture (CP) in two localities of eastern Amazonia. We recorded 1856Attaleaalong 10 transects (153.6 ha), and detected infestation byRhodniusspp. in 18 of 280 systematically-sampled palms (33 bugs caught). Distance-sampling models suggest that, relative to OGF, adultAttaleadensity declined by 70–80% in CP and then recovered in YSF. Site-occupancy models estimate a strong positive effect of deforestation on palm-infestation odds (βCP-infestation= 4.82±1.14 SE), with a moderate decline in recovering YSF (βYSF-infestation= 2.66±1.10 SE). Similarly,N-mixture models suggest that, relative to OGF, mean vector density sharply increased in CP palms (βCP-density= 3.20±0.62 SE) and then tapered in YSF (βYSF-density= 1.61±0.76 SE). Together, these results indicate that disturbed landscapes may support between ~2.5 (YSF) and ~5.1 (CP) times moreAttalea-dwellingRhodniusspp. per unit area than OGF. We provide evidence that deforestation may favor palm-dwelling CD vectors in eastern Amazonia. Importantly, our landscape-disturbance effect estimates explicitly take account of (i) imperfect palm and bug detection and (ii) the uncertainties about infestation and vector density arising from sparse bug data. These results suggest that incorporating landscape-disturbance metrics into the spatial stratification of transmission risk could help enhance CD surveillance and prevention in Amazonia.
Preferred and undesirable genotypes of bGH and bIGF-1 genes for the milk yield and quality of black-and-white breed
Authors: Ulyanov Vadim Aleksandrovich , Kubekova Bakhyt Zhanaidarovna , Beishova Indira Saltanovna , Belaya Alena Valentinovna , Papusha Natalya Vladimirovna
Published: May 2021

Background and Aim: The market demand for the quality of milk and dairy products, in particular in terms of such indicators as fat content, the amount and composition of milk protein, etc., is growing. Thus, the need for the selection of dairy herds using genetic markers associated with qualitative traits of milk productivity is becoming urgent. This study aimed to determine the preferred and undesirable genotypes of the AluI polymorphism of the growth hormone gene and SnaBI polymorphism of the insulin-like growth factor-1 gene associated with milk productivity and quality indicators of the black-and-white breed. The genotypes of animals were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Materials and Methods: Samples of the black-and-white breed from Kazakhstan served as the research subjects. The polymorphism of the growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 genes was determined by PCR-RFLP. The relationship of bGH-AluI and bIGF-1-SnaBI polymorphisms with productivity was assessed (fat, protein, and milk yield for 305 days of lactation, live weight, somatic cells, and milk production coefficient) by analysis of variance using Statistica 6.0 software. Results: The black-and-white cows with the bGH-AluILV genotype had significantly higher milk yield in 305 days (3174.5±157.2 kg) than those with the bGH-AluILL (2940.0±152.6 kg) and bGH-AluIVV genotypes (2964.0±36.0; p<0.05). The milk fat content of cows with genotypes bGH-AluILV and bGH-AluILL (121.8±6.5 and 120.6±10.2, respectively) was significantly higher than those with bGH-AluIVV genotype (109.8±10.8; p<0.05). The black-and-white cows with the bGH-AluILV genotype (96.7±5.3) had significantly more milk protein than those with the bGH-AluILL (90.3±5.6) and bGH-AluIVV (86.9±4.6) genotypes (p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the indicators of milk productivity of cows with different genotypes of bIGF-1-SnaBI polymorphism. Conclusion: The results showed that the bGH-AluILV genotype was preferred for the black-and-white breed. The study demonstrated that genotype determined the relevant qualities, while the conditions of feeding, maintenance, and industrial technology provided the manifestation of this genotype. Thus, cows of the same (Wis Burke Ideal) line, having common ancestors in close (IV–V) ranks but living in different farming conditions, had large differences in milk productivity level. The variation was 2046 kg or 67.6% of milk per lactation.
Semen extenders: An evaluative overview of preservative mechanisms of semen and semen extenders
Authors: Bustani Ghadeer Sabah , Baiee Falah Hasan
Published: May 2021

Reproduction is fundamental for all living things as it ensures the continued existence of a species and an improved economy in animal husbandry. Reproduction has developed since history, and diverse processes, such as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, have been developed. Semen extenders were discovered and developed to protect sperm from harmful factors, such as freeze and osmotic shock, oxidative stress, and cell injury by ice crystals. Semen extenders preserve sperm by stabilizing its properties, including sperm morphology, motility, and viability and membrane, acrosomal, and DNA integrity. Therefore, semen extenders must provide a favorable pH, adenosine triphosphate, anti-cooling and anti-freeze shock, and antioxidant activity to improve semen quality for fertilization. Hence, this review provides precise data on different semen extenders, preservative mechanisms, and essential additives for semen extenders in different animals.
Cephalometric Antero-Posterior Parameter Evaluation in Orthodontic Patients with Facial Asymmetries
Authors: C Szuhanek , R Nagib , A Sabo-Meze , R Buzatu , D Malita
Published: May 2021

Aesthetic and functional problems associated with significant facial asymmetry can negatively affect the patient's facial appearance, nutritional and psychosocial development. Therefore, a critical assessment and accurate treatment planning is absolutely necessary. The aim of this study was to evaluate the parameters of PA cephalometric analysis defined by Ricketts and Grummons and establish statistically relevant correlations and their importance in diagnosing orthodontic patients with varying degrees facial asymmetries. The research included facial asymmetry Romanian patients from the Department of Orthodontics and Dento-Facial Orthopedics of UMF "Victor Babes", Timisoara. The PA cephalogram investigations that met the inclusion criteria were digitally analyzed. Dental and skeletal cephalometric parameters described by Ricketts, Grummons and Kappeyne Van De Coppello were collected through linear, angular and volumetric measurements. Statistically significant correlations between the degree of asymmetry and the dimension of the internal structures were observed.Our conclusion is that PAcephalograms are cost effective and useful investigations in identifying and evaluating skeletal and dental imbalances in orthodontic facial asymmetry patients.
Therapeutic Potential of Autologous Adipose Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Human POI and Ovarian Aging
Authors: Estuardo Luján Irastorza Jesús , Carlos Durand Montaño , Roberto Hernández Ramos , Jesús Ávila Pérez Felipe de , Juan Guerrero Vargas José , Alejandro Kava Braverman , Daniela Ávila Rebollar , Maruxa Pariente Fernández , Angélica Paredes Núñez María , Ruiz Gabriel de la Rosa , Manuel Vargas Hernández Víctor
Published: May 2021

Background
Women play an important role in the work setting. This leads them to put off their motherhood, sometimes preventing them from getting pregnant. Delaying pregnancy face women with low ovarian response, such as in Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) or Ovarian Aging (OA). There is no current treatment, although there is evidence of improving ovarian function by inyecting mesenchymal stem cells (MSC).

Materials and Methods
Prospective, observational study of 17 women who attended Pronatal Clinic from 2019 to 2020. Each patient was registered in Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) and was enrolled in ovarian treatment with an autologous adipose tissue Mesenchymal Stem Cell (AD-MSCs) protocol. Three groups were assembled: 1) Control: AMH >1.2 ng/mL, without AD-MSCs, 2) POI/OA: female infertility due to POI/OA with AMH <1.2 ng/mL and 3) Amenorrhea: female infertility due to POI/OA with amenorrhea and AMH <1.2 ng/mL. Variables: Age, weight, height, serum AMH, endometrial thickness, follicular size and number on day 2 and 11 of the menstrual cycle, oocyte number, number of blastocysts and pregnancy rate.

Results
Between month 2 and 5, after AD-MSCs inyection, POI/OA group showed an increase in follicle number (2 to 9) and size (13.5 to 15.5 mm) on day 11 of the menstrual cycle, which resulted in a higher number of MII oocytes (2.6 to 4.2), and an increase in number of blastocysts (0 to 3) and endometrial thickness (8.6 to 9.4). Regarding the Amenorrhea group, a reboot in menstrual cycle was observed, although no further development of blastocyst was found.

Conclusion
The AD-MSCs inyection directly in the ovary allowed an increase in number of blastocysts and improved pregnancy rates in POI/OA patients.
5S Dashboard Design Principles for Self-Service Business Intelligence Tool User
Authors: Lin Ching-Yi , Liang Fu-Wen , Li Sheng-Tun , Lu Tsung-Hsueh
Published: May 2021

Non–information technology (IT) professionals and nonexpert casual users are increasingly adopting self-service business intelligence (SSBI) tools (such as Tableau, Qlik, and Power BI) to create data visualization dashboards. This study identified the most relevant dashboard design principles for SSBI tool users. The research approach included organizing a focus group in which most of the participants were non-IT professionals in health care, extracting recommended principles from the literature, applying these recommended principles by using data on quality of diabetes care to design relevant dashboards, and proposing the following 5S dashboard design principle framework: 1) seeing both the forest and trees, 2) simplicity through self-selection, 3) simplicity through significance, 4) simplicity through synthesis, and 5) storytelling. The third and fourth principles are novel and provide solutions to decision-making problems (such as conflicting results from excessive and discordant indicators) encountered by health care professional in the public sector as well as in other domains. The 5S dashboard design principles are easily memorized and practical and thus enable non-IT professionals and nonexpert casual users to design insightful dashboards efficiently by using SSBI tools.
Comics and Figurative Narration: What Pierre Couperie Contributed
Authors: Sausverd Antoine
Published: May 2021

This chapter contains a new translation of the 2014 article by the French comics scholar Antoine Sausverd exploring Pierre Couperie’s role in the founding of the French intellectual comics fan group SOCERLID; details about the 1967 Musee des Arts Decoratifs exhibit ‘Bande dessinée et figuration narrative’ and its influential catalog ‘A History of the Comic Strip,’ and Couperie’s disdain for Roy Lichtenstein.
Sequential Titillation: Comics Stripped at the Museum of Sex, New York
Authors: Yoe Craig
Published: May 2021

This chapter includes a 2018 commentary about Comics Stripped (2011) at the Museum of Sex in New York curated by publisher/collector Craig Yoe and Sarah Forbes. Covering the decades between the Great Depression to the present, the exhibit featured art by Joe Shuster, R. Crumb, Wally Wood, Jack Cole, Tom Finland, and many others. Topics included Tijuana Bibles (“The People’s Pornography”), 1950’s men’s magazines, censorship crusades, the underground comix revolution, fetish art by Joe Shuster (as featured in Yoe’s book Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster) and Eric Stanton, cartoon porn, same sex comics, and international comics. This chapter includes commentary by curator, collector, and publisher Craig Yoe about how this extensive examination of sexual taboos and other naughty bits came about, as well as his thoughts about sharing his collection and the public response to the show. Images: two exhibition photos
How Low Can You Go?
Authors: Carlin John
Published: May 2021

This chapter includes a 1990 review of MoMA’s High and Low: Modern Art, Popular Culture by cultural entrepreneur John Carlin, co-curator of The Comic Art Show (Whitney, 1983) and curator of Masters of American Comics (Hammer, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2005).  This chapter discusses the differences between fine art and pop culture,the importance of excluded topics like jazz, video, and film, and how pop culture is environmental. Carlin explains: “Pop culture is ugly, rude, sexist, racist and politically naive. Fine art is obscure, elitist, misogynist and has no politics. Obviously they were made for each other.”
Splashing Ink on Museum Walls: How Comic Art Is Conquering Galleries, Museums, and Public Spaces
Authors: Salkowitz Rob
Published: May 2021

In this 2018 essay, Forbes cultural journalist Rob Salkowitz explains how exhibitions contribute to the valuation of an artist’s work while recognizing exhibitions of comic art as landmarks on comics’ long march to cultural legitimacy. Salkowitz begins his essay by sharing his memories of the 2016 Seattle Art Museum exhibition Graphic Masters, which was centered around The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis. This chapter discusses the evolution of exhibitions since 1990, how exhibitions have enhanced the valuation of original comics drawings, challenges for commercial galleries and dealers, and curatorial strategies.
Genius in a Box
Authors: Worth Alexi
Published: May 2021

This chapter includes a 2017 article by artist and art critic Alexi Worth wherein he reviews two exhibitions centered on the work of the “King of Comics” Jack Kirby: Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby at California State University Northridge and What Nerve! Alternative Figures in American Art, 1960 to the Present at Rhode Island School of Design Museum. This chapter focuses on the relationship between comics and Pop Art, discussing the use of Kirby’s cover for Young Romance #26 in Richard Hamilton’s groundbreaking Pop Art collage Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing (1956) and Kirby’s place in art history. This chapter discusses Dream Machine,Kirby’s dynamic drawing style and influences, and the twists and turns of his career at Marvel Comics.
Childhood Traumas, Journeys, and Healing in Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child
Authors: Gallego Mar
Published: May 2021

In Morrison’s works, traumatized children are victimized by the dreadful impact of racist and sexist stereotypes and their subsequent patterns of exclusion and marginalization. My contention is that in Morrison’s latest novel God Help the Child (2015), these children learn to survive their early traumatic experiences, and develop diverse strategies of resilience, re-embodiment, and self-empowerment in order to articulate a new sense of identity on their path to physical and psychological healing. Drawing from gender and intersectional studies, I argue that Morrison’s God Help the Child delineates the coming into being of alternative female and male identities that are intrinsically dynamic and highly performative. The main protagonists, Bride and Booker, embark on a mysterious journey back to their childhood to be able to come to terms with their former selves that eventually leads to healing and wholeness, allowing them to envision a brighter future.
The Monstrous in Batwoman
Authors: Dauw Esther De
Published: May 2021

This chapter discusses the demonization of powerful women in superhero narratives. It considers how military masculinity is infused with toxic masculinity, impacting Batwoman’s childhood, subsequent military career, and lesbian identity. It discusses how Batwoman is consistently doubled and cast as the Other. Surrounded by Gothic monsters and haunted by her own Otherness, this chapter investigates if the lesbian superhero can sustain superheroism or if she is doomed to failure. It discusses to what degree superhero narratives tend to align military masculinity with superhero masculinity, which draws a line between the heroic combatant and the feminine.
From Damsels to Specters in Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Hannah Crafts’s The Bondwoman’s Narrative
Authors: Ford Sarah Gilbreath
Published: May 2021

This chapter focuses on Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) and Hannah Crafts’s The Bondwoman’s Narrative (written circa 1858 and published 2002). Although Jacobs and Crafts depict their personal experiences in slavery, they infuse their stories with gothic tropes to employ the power of fictionality. Gothic damsels in distress are beset by lascivious slaveholders and traders who are cast as monstrous villains. While the damsels are haunted by the law’s pronouncement of them as merely property, they find refuge in haunted spaces, thereby claiming a different kind of ownership. This spectral possession is then doubled by the authors, Jacobs and Crafts, who shape their narratives as literary property they themselves can own.
Specters on Staircases in William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!, Eudora Welty’s Delta Wedding, and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon
Authors: Ford Sarah Gilbreath
Published: May 2021

This chapter examines parallel scenes in William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! (1936), Eudora Welty’s Delta Wedding (1946), and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon (1977), where a character rushes into a haunted house seeking to climb the stairs only to be thwarted by a seemingly supernatural African American woman. These scenes signify the women’s contradictory roles as powerless property and powerful specters. Treated as property, the women do not just haunt the houses, they haunt as houses; they are conflated with the legal property of white families, even after the end of slavery. The women’s status as housekeepers, however, allows them a “keeping,” or possession of property, that provides them the power as specters to block the outsiders, who want to transgress the boundary of time to travel back into the past. Legal possession established by property rights confronts spectral possession signified by haunting.
Claiming, Killing, and Haunting in Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Authors: Ford Sarah Gilbreath
Published: May 2021

This chapter examines Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987). In reading Sethe’s impossible choice between ending her children’s lives or letting them be taken back into slavery, critics have largely blamed her daughter’s death on the system of slavery. That critics do not want to blame Sethe for the murder is understandable, given how much she suffers under slavery. What these critics miss, however, is Sethe’s agency. In killing Beloved and attempting to kill the rest of her children, Sethe makes a property claim that speaks directly to the history of cases on American property law and slavery. This chapter examines Sethe’s choice in the context of State v. Mann and Pierson v. Post, arguing that her willingness to destroy makes her a valid property owner. Her legal possession, however, is answered by spectral possession when Beloved haunts to reclaim personhood.
Hollywood and Anti-Fascism, 1939–1940
Authors: Yogerst Chris
Published: May 2021

By February of 1939, Motion Picture Pictures and Distributors Association (MPPDA) President Will Hays argued that movies needed more realism connecting to the types of problems that face average Americans. With growing anti-Nazi sentiment in Hollywood, the release of Confessions of a Nazi Spy on May 6th would become a watershed moment for an industry largely cautious of how they should approach the growing unrest in Europe. At the same time, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, discontinued the shipment of official Nazi war films to the United States. Producer Walter Wanger and radio journalist Jimmie Fidler took to blows in the press. Wanger claimed the Hollywood press was a joke while Fidler defending his work. In February 1940, MPPDA president Will Hays sent out a report commending the cultural importance of movies during the 1930s as “exposing the tragedy of war.”
Isolationists Push Back
Authors: Yogerst Chris
Published: May 2021

MPPDA president Will Hays observed that only a small number of films dealt with the conflict in Europe. While critics of Hollywood would soon refer to film primarily as a means of amusement, Hays defined films as “a medium of information, education, and entertainment.” Anti-Hollywood sentiment was amplified in a pamphlet written by G. Allison Phelps. An American’s History of Hollywood opens with the claim that Hollywood is largely informed by its many Russian immigrant employees, and, therefore, is an industry led by communists. Phelps’ evidence, without listing specific productions, was that “the Hollywood leaders, in selecting ‘literature’ from which to produce pictures, reached far back into Russia to bring forth the embryo of atheism, the oriental germ of eroticism, [and] the seeds of lust and hatred.” The summer of 1941 saw two competing events in Los Angeles that would serve as a primer for coming debates. Two rallies were held at the Hollywood Bowl, one isolationist rally featuring Charles Lindbergh and an interventionist rally featuring Wendell Willkie.
Zanuck, Balaban, and the Wild Finish
Authors: Yogerst Chris
Published: May 2021

This chapter focuses on the brief testimonies of James G Stahlman of the Nashville Banner, Darryl F. Zanuck of 20th Century Fox, and Barney Balaban of Paramount Pictures. Knowing the xenophobic slant of certain senators on the committee, Zanuck paraded out his born in the USA credentials to the embarrassment of Nye and others. These testimonies were quick, and ended with Senator Tobey’s final desperate attempt to discredit Hollywood. Tobey had two “smoking gun” witnesses, one was his secretary and another was his neighbour. The statements were so poorly executed that Senator McFarland walked out.
Soul in Seoul
Authors: Anderson Crystal S.
Published: May 2021

Soul in Seoul: African American Popular Music and K-pop examines how K-pop cites musical and performative elements of Black popular music culture as well as the ways that fans outside of Korea understand these citations. K-pop represents a hybridized mode of Korean popular music that emerged in the 1990s with global aspirations. Its hybridity combines musical elements from Korean and foreign cultures, particularly rhythm and blues-based genres (R&B) of African American popular music. Korean pop, R&B and hip-hop solo artists and groups engage in citational practices by simultaneously emulating R&B’s instrumentation and vocals and enhancing R&B by employing Korean musical strategies to such an extent that K-pop becomes part of a global R&B tradition. Korean pop groups use dynamic images and quality musical production to engage in cultural work that culminates the kind of global form of crossover pioneered by Black American music producers. Korean R&B artists, with a focus on vocals, take the R&B tradition beyond the Black-white binary, and Korean hip-hop practitioners use sampling and live instrumentation to promote R&B’s innovative music aesthetics. K-pop artists also cite elements of African American performance in Korean music videos that disrupt limiting representations. K-pop’s citational practices reveal diverse musical aesthetics driven by the interplay of African American popular music and Korean music strategies. As a transcultural fandom, global fans function as part of K-pop’s music press and deem these citational practices authentic. Citational practices also challenge homogenizing modes of globalization by revealing the multiple cultural forces that inform K-pop.
“Rewriting the Résumé”
Authors: Anderson Crystal S.
Published: May 2021

Mainstream Korean hip-hop performers cite the R&B tradition through sampling and the use of R&B vocals and enhance it through Korean musical strategies that mix multiple genres with hip-hop elements and the use of live instrumentation. Some hip-hop acts emulate the tradition by engaging in “old school” music and using R&B vocals, while others include remixes, samples of non-R&B genres, and the use of non-R&B vocalists. Mainstream Korean hip-hop acts cite limiting and liberating hip-hop tropes in music videos as well. Korean hip-hop artists participate in a globalized R&B tradition by promoting its music aesthetics.
Conclusion
Authors: Anderson Crystal S.
Published: May 2021

This chapter uses Korean indie groups to reveal the diversity of music under the K-pop umbrella and the ramifications of such diversity for music aesthetics, authenticity, and globalization. Placing K-pop within a global R&B tradition highlights K-pop as a diverse style of music largely informed by African American popular music. It reveals the extent to which Black popular music has informed K-pop. Technology enables fans to access a wide array of K-pop, foster fan communities, and act as critics and arbiters of taste. K-pop’s place in a global R&B tradition also reveals the diversity of global influences, challenging the focus on a generalized West and United States that obscures the impact of African American culture.
Chaos and Compromise
Authors: Pugh Brian A. , Frith Ronny
Published: May 2021

This book explains how Mississippi’s budget making process evolved and examines legislation and litigation, as well as those legislators and governors responsible for developing this process. This book explains in detail the significant actions taken by the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government that affected Mississippi’s procedures. Significant legislation covered includes the passage of Senate Bill 356, which gave the governor the authority to prepare and submit a budget recommendation in 1918; the passage of the Administrative Reorganization Act of 1984; the passage of the Budget Reform Act of 1992; and the passage of the Financial and Operational Responses That Invigorate Future Years Act (FORTIFY) during the First Extraordinary Session of 2017. The first two chapters provide a historical perspective and give the reader an understanding of how legislation and litigation contributed. The book also covers interventions by the courts, which led to the unprecedented separation of powers case Alexander v. State of Mississippi by and Through Allain (1983). In addition to discussing important laws and legislators, Pugh takes a detailed look at six of Mississippi’s recent governors—Bill Allain, Ray Mabus, Kirk Fordice, Ronnie Musgrove, Haley Barbour, and Phil Bryant—to examine their methods for getting the legislature to include their ideas in the often anguished process of making a budget.
The Origin and Evolution of Mississippi’s Budget Process and Control over It
Authors: Pugh Brian
Published: May 2021

This chapter discusses Mississippi’s historic budget process and constitutional power structure. It discusses the powers given to the separate branches of government by Mississippi’s four constitutions (1817, 1832, 1868, and 1890). It shows how Mississippi’s current 1890 Constitution provided more legislative budget authority rather than executive budget authority. Chapter one shows how executive authority was weakened even more when the Budget Commission was replaced by the legislatively dominated commission of Budget and Accounting.
The Budget Process, Postreorganization, under Allain
Authors: Pugh Brian
Published: May 2021

This chapter discusses Bill Allain’s contributions to the budget making process as governor. The Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision in the Alexander case made Allain the first governor to serve under the new reorganization act. Chapter 3 takes a look at how Allain adjusted to the new budget making process post reorganization. This chapter discusses the establishment of the Fiscal Management Board and how Allain utilized executive budget powers, designated to governors, to force the legislature to provide more funding to the Mississippi Highway Department.
Legislative Joint Rules Change
Authors: Pugh Brian
Published: May 2021

Chapter 9 discusses an important legislative rules change (Joint Rule 20A) which critics claimed weekend the powers of rank-and-file legislators. Joint Rule 20A had no direct effect on the executive branch of government. The chapter explains how House Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Governor Tate Reeves pushed through the rules change during the opening day of their tenure to prohibit any legislators from trying to increase the budget of any agency without stating from what agency the increase in funding would be taken.
Conclusion
Authors: Pugh Brian
Published: May 2021

Major budget reform in Mississippi has occurred only twice in the last four decades, with the most significant reform occurring in the mid-1980s. No reform shaped Mississippi’s budget-making process more than the Mississippi Administrative Reorganization Act of 1984 (S.B. 3050, passed during the 1984 legislative session), which was passed not voluntarily by the legislature but as a result of a court order. The drastic budget reform would have not occurred if it had not been for then–Attorney General Bill Allain’s challenge to the structural makeup of the committee responsible for the budget-making process at the time, the Commission of Budget and Accounting. The state supreme court’s decision in ...
Meet Jason Voorhees: An Autopsy
Authors: Clayton Wickham
Published: May 2021

This chapter goes deeper into understanding the background of the project, as well as the primary concept of perspective as it is used throughout the book. Then, the chapter explores the history of horror cinema through perspective. The chapter goes on to explain and describe the concept of the eye/camera, which is linked to writing about point-of-view shots, which is significant to the arguments in chapter 2. This leads into a summary of the Friday the 13
th film series and its contexts. Finally, the chapter summarizes the chapters in the book and the overarching argument across the chapters.
Have You Met Jason?
Authors: Clayton Wickham
Published: May 2021

This chapter considers the perspective of the viewer who comes into a serialized story. First, the chapter considers the ‘franchise viewer,’ or someone who has seen other films in the series. Second, the chapter looks at the ‘new viewer,’ or someone who has no familiarity with other films in the series. The chapter considers all the films in the series after the first Friday the 13th movie and how the information provided proves advantageous to either group of viewers. Finally, there is a discussion of the reboot from 2009, and the way it uses a style closely linked with nostalgia to provide a particular viewing experience for both sets of viewers.
The Importance of Being Jason
Authors: Clayton Wickham
Published: May 2021

The final chapter concludes that early presumptions about the simplicity and sadism of these movies are not wholly accurate. Instead, the shifts in perspective result in more complex viewing experiences both within a single film as well as across the whole series. Finally, this chapter considers the stylistic connections between these films and contemporary Hollywood movies that have been recognized and praised by the critical establishment. This implies these movies have more to offer the world of film than their critical legacy suggests.
Futuramas and Atom Bombs
Authors: Lambert Matthew M.
Published: May 2021

This chapter shifts away from geographical landscapes to focus on technology during the period. Not only does the chapter examine debates over the “technological sublime” at the 1939/40 New York World’s Fair, it examines ways that science fiction authors use the “sf grotesque” to highlight the potentially devastating environmental and social consequences of uncritical forms of technological progress. The early work of Ray Bradbury and Judith Merril calls attention to the apocalyptic threat of the atom bomb by exposing its effects on the natural world as well as on human communities and bodies. Merril and George Schuyler also call attention to ways that ideologies associated with Western notions of science and progress have been used to support gender and racial inequality. In Black Empire (1938), Schuyler envisions innovative forms of renewable energy created by Black scientists that allow them to establish independence from Euro-American control.
E L James and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Fangirl
Authors: Salter Anastasia , Stanfill Mel
Published: May 2021

The second chapter examines the double standard between fanboys and fangirls—fanboys redeem fandom and fangirls are contaminated by it; fanboys take the obvious step to professionalize while fangirls are sell-outs; fanboys make bold choices with their uncompromising creative visions while fangirls are control freaks who break all the rules—fangirl auteurs never quite get to be auteurs. Moreover, not only is James not really allowed to be an auteur, she’s something of a punching bag, routinely targeted with gleeful vitriol for every decision, including by large groups of people piling on via Twitter. Ultimately, the chapter argues the Fifty Shades franchise disrupts norms in some ways and upholds them in other, possibly more dangerous ones.
Intro
Authors: Bolden Tony
Published: May 2021

Groove Theory traces the concept of funk from the beginning of the blues era around 1890 to its manifestation as a full-fledged genre in the 1970s. This chapter provides an introduction. In the chapters, Bolden examines the development of blue funk in a multidimensional discussion that engages songs, fiction, memoirs, interviews, scholarship, and more. The discussion proceeds in two parts. Side A presents a conceptual introduction to funk aesthetics, an historical overview of funk during the blues era, and a chapter on Sly Stone that examines his foundational role as an architect of funk. Side B includes chapters on Chaka Khan, Gil Scott-Heron, and Betty Davis, whose recordings and aesthetics exemplify distinct variations of blue funk and the black fantastic.
Shifting Land, Shifting Language
Authors: Dajko Nathalie
Published: May 2021

Chapter One provides an overview of the themes of the book and introduces the reader to the people whose lives will be profiled in the coming chapters. It details the disappearance of the French language as well as the ongoing destruction of the land. It also discusses the link between place and language, and the use of language variation to express identity. The residents whose stories will be highlighted throughout the book appear in this chapter; these include Toot Naquin, whose tie to the land is so strong that she proudly notes that despite the flooding that now reaches the house she lives in (which her father built high above the flood lines when she was a child), she was born on this bayou (Pointe au Chien), she was raised on the bayou, and she will die on the bayou, and there is no hurricane that can take her.