2,117 research outputs found
Alan Moore Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel
No full textEclectic British author Alan Moore (b. 1953) is one of the most acclaimed and controversial comics writers to emerge since the late 1970s. He has produced a large number of well-regarded comic books and graphic novels while also making occasional forays into music, poetry, performance, and prose. In Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel , Annalisa Di Liddo argues that Moore employs the comics form to dissect the literary canon, the tradition of comics, contemporary society, and our understanding of history. The book considers Moore's narrative strategies and pinpoints the main thematic threads in his works: the subversion of genre and pulp fiction, the interrogation of superhero tropes, the manipulation of space and time, the uses of magic and mythology, the instability of gender and ethnic identity, and the accumulation of imagery to create satire that comments on politics and art history. Examining Moore's use of comics to scrutinize contemporary culture, Di Liddo analyzes his best-known works-- Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, From Hell, Promethea , and Lost Girls . The study also highlights Moore?s lesser-known output, such as Halo Jones, Skizz , and Big Numbers , and his prose novel Voice of the Fire. Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel reveals Moore to be one of the most significant and distinctly postmodern comics creators of the last quarter-century.Intro -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- CHAPTER 1. Formal Considerations on Alan Moore's Writing -- CHAPTER 2. Chronotopes: Outer Space, the Cityscape, and the Space of Comics -- CHAPTER 3. Moore and the Crisis of English Identity -- CHAPTER 4. Finding a Way into Lost Girls -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- ZEclectic British author Alan Moore (b. 1953) is one of the most acclaimed and controversial comics writers to emerge since the late 1970s. He has produced a large number of well-regarded comic books and graphic novels while also making occasional forays into music, poetry, performance, and prose. In Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel , Annalisa Di Liddo argues that Moore employs the comics form to dissect the literary canon, the tradition of comics, contemporary society, and our understanding of history. The book considers Moore's narrative strategies and pinpoints the main thematic threads in his works: the subversion of genre and pulp fiction, the interrogation of superhero tropes, the manipulation of space and time, the uses of magic and mythology, the instability of gender and ethnic identity, and the accumulation of imagery to create satire that comments on politics and art history. Examining Moore's use of comics to scrutinize contemporary culture, Di Liddo analyzes his best-known works-- Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, From Hell, Promethea , and Lost Girls . The study also highlights Moore?s lesser-known output, such as Halo Jones, Skizz , and Big Numbers , and his prose novel Voice of the Fire. Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel reveals Moore to be one of the most significant and distinctly postmodern comics creators of the last quarter-century.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
An Alternative Approach to the Mean
No full textThis article, created by Alan W. Sykes of Swansea University College, describes an alternate calculation of expected value, which illustrates continuous random variables. The author uses charts, graphs and text to help illustrate these mathematical concepts. The author provides external references for those interested in further study of this subject
Post-war British working-class fiction with special reference to the novels of John Braine, Alan Sillitoe, Stan Barstow, David Storey and Barry Hines
No full textThis study is about British working-class fiction in the post-war period.
It covers various authors such as Robert Tressell, George Orwell, Walter Greenwood, Lewis Grassic Gibbon and DH Lawrence from the early twentieth century; writers traditionally classified as 'Angry Young Men' like John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, Shelagh Delaney, John Wain and
Kingsley Amis; and working-class novelists like John Braine, Stan Barstow, David Storey, Alan Sillitoe and Barry Hines from the 1950s and 1960s.
Some of the main issues dealt with in the course of this study are language, form, community, self/identity/autobiography, sexuality and relationship with bourgeois art. The major argument centres on two questions: representation of working-class life, and the
relationship between working-class literary tradition and dominant ideologies.
We will be arguing that while working-class fiction succeeded in challenging and rupturing bourgeois literary tradition, on the level of language and linguistic medium of expression for example, it utterly failed to break away from dominant, bourgeois modes of literary production in relation to form, for instance.
Our argument is situated within Marxist approaches to literature, a political and aesthetic position from which we attempt an analysis and an evaluation of this working-class literary tradition. These critical approaches provide us also with the theoretical tool to define the political perspective of this tradition, and to judge whether it was confined to a descriptive mode of representation or
located in a radical, political outlook
Assessing the George W. Bush Presidency: A Tale of Two Terms
No full textIn one of the first volumes assessing the full two terms of the George W. Bush presidency, Wroe and Herbert have gathered the work of leading American and European scholars. In fifteen succinct and incisive chapters, authorities such as Jim Pfiffner, John Maltese, Graham Wilson and Alan Gitelson offer assessments of the Bush administration's successes and failures. Extensive attention is paid to Bush's foreign policy, including 'The War on Terror' but the focus is broadened to absorb not only the Bush Doctrine and its repercussions, but also his trade and homeland security policies. The president's domestic leadership in economics and social policy is investigated, as are his dealings as president with the other institutions of the U.S. political system. The result is a comprehensive guide to the Bush presidency and its legacy
A Tissue Engineering Approach for Prenatal Closure of Myelomeningocele with Gelatin Sponges Incorporating Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor
No full textMiho Watanabe, Jun-ichiro Jo, Antonetta Radu, Michio Kaneko, Yasuhiko Tabata, and Alan W. Flake. Tissue Engineering Part A.May 2010.1645-1655. http://doi.org/10.1089/ten.tea.2009.0532.Myelomeningocele (MMC) is a common and devastating malformation. Although fetal surgical closure may improve outcome, a less invasive approach that can be applied earlier in gestation is desirable. The objective of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic feasibility of a tissue engineering approach for prenatal coverage of MMC. A gelatin hydrogel composite combining a gelatin sheet and gelatin sponge was prepared with or without basic fibroblast growth factor incorporation, and applied prenatally to retinoic-acid-induced fetal MMC in the rat model. Most of the composites were adherent to the MMC within the amniotic fluid environment with the help of cyanoacrylate adhesive. Histological examination revealed cells layered over the composites with associated extracellular matrix as well as cellular ingrowth into the sponges. The layer over the composite was composed of mixed nonepithelial and epithelial cells with the extracellular matrix consisting of collagen type I and hyaluronic acid. The tissue inside the sponge consisted of nonepithelial cells and hyaluronic acid. Epidermal ingrowth underneath the sponges and neovascularization into the sponges occurred and were significantly increased by the incorporation of basic fibroblast growth factor. Although further development is needed, this study supports the therapeutic potential of a tissue engineering approach for prenatal coverage of MMC. © 2010 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
Faithfulness and Reduplicative Identity
No full textThis paper proposes a revised view of faithfulness in Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky 1993), relating it to reduplicative identity (McCarthy & Prince 1993). Faithfulness and identity are unified in a theory of Correspondence relations between structures. The theory is investigated by way of a study of over- and underapplication effects in reduplicated structures.The definitive version of this paper was published in Papers in Optimality Theory (1995)McCarthy, J. J., & Prince, A. S. (1995). Faithfulness and reduplicative identity. In J. N. Beckman, L. W. Dickey, & S. Urbanczyk (Eds.) Papers in optimality theory (pp. 249-384). Amherst, MA: GLSA (Graduate Linguistic Student Association), Dept. of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts.This work was supported in part by grant SBR-9420424 from the National Science Foundation and by research funds from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, at New Brunswic
Looking for mechanisms regulating lung growth in CDH: rat and human studies
No full textTese de Doutoramento em Ciências da SaúdeLung development is a complex process that involves a coordinated orchestration of several signalling pathways and mechanisms in order to growth normally. Pulmonary hypoplasia emerges as a result of foetal abnormal lung development and consequently it leads to high rates of morbidity and mortality. The understanding of normal and abnormal foetal lung growth has became clinical relevant because it can offer new perspectives in the treatment of lung diseases. Regardless the recent
advances in the knowledge of lung development, there are still a lot of mechanisms that need to be elucidated and investigated.
The main aim of this PhD dissertation was to investigate new physiological regulators of foetal lung growth in order to find a prenatal therapy to revert foetal lung hypoplasia in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) context. Moreover, two already well-known and studied signalling
pathways (retinoic acid and neuroendocrine factors) were further investigated and an important link between them was discovered/established. Using molecular/histological techniques and gain-loss of function studies with nitrofen rat model and human samples we tried to achieve our goals.
In this PhD thesis, it was demonstrated that ephrins B1, -B2 and eph B4 receptor were expressed during all foetal lung developmental stages. Moreover ephrin B1 and eph B4 receptor mainly presented mesenchymal expressions whereas ephrin B2 presented an epithelial expression.
Ephrin B1 and –B2 administration contributed to increase foetal lung branching, but the observed increase has not significant biological meaning. Another interesting finding was the importance of
microRNAs in human CDH. MicroRNA 10a and microRNA 200b are up-regulated in CDH human lungs when compared to normal lungs and they are also changed in the tracheal fluid of CDH babies
that respond or did not respond to FETO. In FETO responders, after removing the plug, tracheal fluid presented higher expression of miR-10a and miR-200 family when compared to non-responders.
Moreover, in responders the expression of those microRNAs increased significantly after removing
the plug when compared to the expression observed at the moment of plug insertion. In line with the
second aim mentioned above, we decided to look into two already known and apparently unrelated
signalling pathways and discover a link between them because both of them are altered in CDH
(retinoic acid was down-regulated and neuroendocrine factors were up-regulated). We found that
neuroendocrine factors act as regulators of lung growth, sensitizing the lungs to the action of retinoic
acid through RAR α and RAR γ up-regulation.
To conclude, in this thesis, we showed that ephrins seem to be strong candidates to act as
morphogens or being involved in vascular regulation instead of being a promisor mechanism to
regulate lung growth. Additionally, we discovered that microRNAs are an important tool as a
prognostic biomarker for CDH new-borns outcome. Moreover, we established a novel physiological
link showing that neuroendocrine factors and retinoic acid signalling pathways interact with each
other during foetal lung growth regulation. With this work, new insights into normal and abnormal
foetal lung development were brought, discovering novel mechanisms to further explore as potential
therapeutic targets into CDH field.O desenvolvimento pulmonar é um processo complexo que envolve a combinação e funcionamento coordenados de várias vias e mecanismos de sinalização, a fim do crescimento pulmonar normal. A hipoplasia pulmonar surge como resultado do desenvolvimento anormal do pulmão fetal estando associada a elevadas taxas de morbilidade e mortalidade. A compreensão do crescimento do pulmão fetal normal e anormal, tornou-se clinicamente relevante pelo facto de poder oferecer novas perspetivas no tratamento de doenças pulmonares. Independentemente dos recentes avanços no conhecimento do desenvolvimento pulmonar, ainda há muito que é preciso
fazer, ser elucidado e investigado.
O objetivo principal desta dissertação de doutoramento foi investigar novos reguladores
fisiológicos de crescimento do pulmão fetal, a fim de encontrar uma terapia pré-natal para reverter a
hipoplasia pulmonar fetal no contexto da Hérnia Diafragmática Congénita (HDC). Por outro lado, foi
descoberto e estabelecido um elo de ligação entre duas vias de sinalização (via do ácido retinóico e
fatores neuroendócrinos) já bem conhecidas e estudadas como sendo importantes ao longo do
desenvolvimento pulmonar fetal. Foram utilizadas técnicas moleculares/histológicas e estudos de
ganho-perda de função com o modelo do nitrofeno em rato e com amostras humanas.
Nesta tese de doutoramento, foi demonstrado que as efrinas B1,-B2 e o recetor eph B4 são
expressos durante todas as fases de desenvolvimento pulmonar fetal. Além disso, a efrina B1 e o
recetor eph B4 expressaram-se essencialmente no mesenquima enquanto que a efrina B2
apresentou ter uma expressão epitelial. A administração de efrina B1 e –B2 em culturas de
explantes pulmonares, contribuiu para aumentar a ramificação pulmonar fetal, embora o aumento
observado não tenha significado biológico relevante. Outro achado interessante ao longo deste
trabalho de Doutoramento, foi a importância dos microRNAs na fisiopatologia da HDC em humanos.
O microRNA 10a e o microRNA 200b estão aumentados em pulmões humanos com HDC quando
comparados com pulmões normais e a sua expressão está também alterada no fluido traqueal em
crianças que sobrevivem ou morrem à oclusão fetal da traqueia (FETO). Nos pacientes que
sobrevivem depois do FETO, após se remover o balão da traqueia, o fluido traqueal apresentou uma
maior expressão de miR-10a e da família do miR-200 quando comparados com os não
sobreviventes. Por outro lado, nos sobreviventes, a expressão desses microRNAs aumentou
significativamente após a remoção do balão quando comparada com a expressão observada no
momento da inserção do balão na traqueia. Em linha com o segundo objetivo acima mencionado,
decidimos revesitar duas vias de sinalização já conhecidas e aparentemente não relacionadas, e
descobrir uma ligação entre elas, pelo facto de ambas estarem alteradas na HDC (défice de ácido
retinóico e aumento dos fatores neuroendócrinos nomeadamente da bombesina e da grelina).
Descobrimos que os fatores neuroendócrinos atuam como reguladores do crescimento pulmonar,
sensibilizando os pulmões para a ação do ácido retinóico através do aumento da expressão dos
seus recetores (RAR α e RAR γ).
Para concluir, nesta tese, mostramos que as efrinas parecem ser fortes candidatos para atuar
como morfogéneos ou como fatores importantes na regulação vascular ao invés de serem um
mecanismo importante de regulação do crescimento pulmonar. Por outro lado, descobrimos que os
microRNAs são uma ferramenta importante que poderá vir a ser utilizada como um biomarcador de
prognóstico em crianças com HDC. Adicionalmente, estabelecemos uma nova ligação fisiológica
mostrando que os fatores neuroendócrinos e a via de sinalização do ácido retinóico interagem entre
elas durante a regulação do crescimento fetal pulmonar. Com este trabalho, hipotetizámos novas
abordagens sobre o desenvolvimento/regulação do pulmão fetal normal e anormal, descobrindo-se
novos mecanismos para continuar a explorar como potenciais alvos terapêuticos para o tratamento
da HDC
Klasycyzm w dramacie polskim XVI–XVIII wieku
No full textArtykuł został opublikowany w serii " Humanizm. Idee, nurty, paradygmaty humanistyczne w kulturze polskiej"Autorka wiąże dramat klasycystyczny z antropologią humanistyczną odwołującą się do tradycji starożytnej modyfikowaną przez kulturę judeochrześcijańską. W artykule omówiono problemy polskiego dramatu klasycystycznego w epoce nowożytnej w odniesieniu do teorii rodzaju literackiego oraz do wzorów antycznych i zachodnioeuropejskich, będących przedmiotem naśladowania polskich twórców. Autorka podkreśla, że recepcja Poetyki Arystotelesa w kulturze europejskiej XVI-XVII wieku kluczowa dla formułowania poetyk dramatycznych w literaturze nowożytnej. Przekonuje także, że należy czytać nowożytną tragedię jako pochodną ówczesnych modeli antropologiczno-etycznych.
Z tej perspektywy przeanalizowane zostają najwcześniejsze przykłady dramatu klasycyzującego w literaturze polskiej, jak zbudowana na problemach etycznych Odprawa posłów greckich (1578) Jana Kochanowskiego czy przekład Buchananowskiej tragedii Jeftes (1587) pióra Jana Zawickiego reprezentujący nurt humanizmu chrześcijańskiego. W utworach XVII wieku badaczka dostrzega rosnącą popularność Seneki jako wzorca dla tragediopisarzy (m. in. Jan Alan Bardziński). Równolegle odnotowuje obecność – choć w mniejszym nasieniu – wpływów francuskich, Corneille'a i Racine'a (przejawiającą się w spolszczeniach dokonanych przez Jana Andrzeja Morsztyna i Stanisława Morsztyna, jak i sporadycznie utworach rodzimych, jak np. Ermida Stanisława Herakliusza Lubomirskiego z 1664). Wzory francuskie zostają wyzyskane do dydaktyki teatru szkolnego około połowy XVIII wieku.
W podsumowaniu autorka zestawia klasyczne reguły postulowane przez Arystotelesa z prawidłami tragediopisarstwa oświeceniowego, podkreślając osadzenie tej drugiej w retoryczności, która pozwalała na wiarygodne ujawnienie szlachetności mówiących bohaterów. Ciężar polskich utworów oświeceniowych mieści się więc w sferze wysłowienia, a nie działania.
Niewielki passus poświęcony zostaje uwagom o komedii. Autorka zwraca na osiemnastowieczne tendencje do estetyzacji komedii jako gatunku niskiego oraz wprowadzenia śmiechu jako narzędzia dydaktycznego i moralizującego, głównych wzorców na oświeceniowych utworów komediowych upatrując we francuskiej tradycji pomolierowskiej oraz włoskim komediopisarstwie dell'arte (zwłaszcza w Goldonim).Barbara Judkowiak
Classicism in Polish Drama of the Sixteenth–Eighteenth Centuries
The author links the classical drama with humanistic anthropology referring to ancient tradition modified by Judeo-Christian culture. The article discusses the problems of Polish Classicist drama in the modern era concerning the theory of the literary genre and to ancient and Western European patterns, which are imitated by Polish authors. Barbara Judkowiak emphasises that the reception of Aristotle’s Poetics in European culture of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is key to the formulation of dramatic poetics in modern literature. She also argues that early-modern tragedy should be read as a derivative of contemporary anthropological and ethical models.
From this perspective, she analyses the earliest examples of the Classicising drama in Polish literature, such as the Odprawa posłów greckich (The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys, 1578) by Jan Kochanowski, built on ethical problems, or a translation of the Buchanan’s tragedy Jephtes (1587) by Jan Zawicki, representing the trend of Christian humanism. In the seventeenth-century works, the researcher notices the growing popularity of Seneca as a model for tragedy writers (including Jan Alan Bardziński). At the same time, she notes the presence – albeit to a lesser degree – of French influences, Corneille and Racine (evident in the adaptations to Polish made by Jan Andrzej Morsztyn and Stanisław Morsztyn, as well as sporadically in native texts, such as Ermid by Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski from 1664). French patterns were used for the didactics of school plays around the mid-eighteenth century.
In summary, the author juxtaposes the Classic rules postulated by Aristotle with the canons of the Enlightenment tragedy writing, emphasising the fact that the latter were embedded in rhetoric, which allowed the credible disclosure of the nobleness of speaking protagonists. Thus, the weight of Polish Enlightenment works falls within the sphere of expression, not action.
A small passus of the text is devoted to comments about the comedy. The author draws attention to the eighteenth-century tendencies to aestheticise comedy as a low genre and to introduce laughter as a didactic and moralising tool, perceiving the main patterns of Enlightenment comedy pieces in the French post-Moliere tradition and the Italian comedy dell’ arte (especially in Goldoni).Ewa Kuczyńsk
Economics, real estate, and the supply of land / Alan W. Evans.
No full text"RICS Foundation"--Cover.Includes bibliographical references (p. [249]-255) and index.xiv, 258 pages.
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