The A B C’s of Graphic Novels

I have highlighted twenty-five concerns that I address when talking about the graphic novel in the many recent presentations I have conducted on this topic

Storytelling, Folktales and the Comic Book Format

The reading process in comics is an extension of text. In text alone the process of reading involves word-to-image conversion. Comics accelerate that by providing the image. When properly executed, it goes beyond conversion and speed and becomes a seamless whole. In every sense, this misnamed form of reading is entitled to be regarded as literature because the images are employed as a language. There is a recognizable relationship to the iconography and pictographs of oriental writing. When this language is employed as a conveyance of ideas and information, it separates itself from mindless visual entertainment. This makes comics a storytelling medium

Graphic Novels and the Reluctant Reader

What has happened to influence this change? First, the quality of comic books, particularly graphic novels, is now formally acknowledged. Graphic novels, the sturdy, lengthy comic books that contain one story or a set of related stories, are now being sporadically reviewed in selection journals as well as being the focus of a large number of recent articles. But the most compelling reason is wider awareness of our highly visual culture and its impact on our youth. Far from receiving stories from television and film passively, readers of comic books are actively constructing meaning from the text and illustrations and are sophisticated decoders of this new language,” which is an iconographic narrative. Like well-crafted picture books, comic books are both verbal and visual, a hybrid in which words and illustrations work together to convey meaning. The differences between picture books and graphic novels are not as wide as some think: the work of illustrator Raymond Briggs (author of Father Christmas and The Snowman), for example, is highly regarded in both the worlds of children’s literature and comic books

Culture, participative decision making and job satisfaction

This study explores the impact of culture on participative decision making (PDM) and job satisfaction (JS) using data obtained from the European Values Study. We parameterise two different cultural variables using principal components analysis: first a continuum based on survival versus self-expression values, and second a continuum based on traditional versus secular-rational values. Application of ordered logistic regression to Likert scales of PDM and JS suggest that greater self-expression in the survival versus self-expression variable enhances both PDM and JS; more traditional values in the traditional versus secular-rational continuum have the same effect.Job satisfaction; participatory decision making; culture

MS

thesisA descriptive correlation study was conducted with 110 postoperative coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients at the Naval Regional Medical Center, San Diego, California. The purpose of the research project was to determine the occurrence of depression in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients who were up to 12-months post surgery, establish a common time of occurrence and identify any relationships of variables with coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and depression. A mail survey was utilized an questionnaire packets were mailed simultaneously to subject. Evidence of depression was based on scores from the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, while relationships between variables were identified from information obtained from a personal profile questionnaire. Statistical analysis revealed 18.6% of the sample clinically depressed. The use of an exclusive military sample somewhat limited the comparison of the findings to the national depression occurrence of 17.3% of the general population. However, there was a positive finding of higher depression scores within the first one to three months following CABG surgery. Furthermore, statistically significant relationships were found between satisfaction with surgical outcome, felling as well as expected and the number of postoperative complications, with findings of depression in CABG patients

Topologically Protected Zero Modes in Twisted Bilayer Graphene

We show that the twisted graphene bilayer can reveal unusual topological properties at low energies, as a consequence of a Dirac-point splitting. These features rely on a symmetry analysis of the electron hopping between the two layers of graphene and we derive a simplified effective low-energy Hamiltonian which captures the essential topological properties of twisted bilayer graphene. The corresponding Landau levels peculiarly reveal a degenerate zero-energy mode which cannot be lifted by strong magnetic fields.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; published versio

A qualitative study exploring barriers related to use of footwear in rural highland Ethiopia: implications for neglected tropical disease control

Background The role of footwear in protection against a range of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) is gaining increasing attention. Better understanding of the behaviors that influence use of footwear will lead to improved ability to measure shoe use and will be important for those implementing footwear programs. Methodology/Principal Findings Using the PRECEDE-PROCEED model we assessed social, behavioral, environmental, educational and ecological needs influencing whether and when children wear shoes in a rural highland Ethiopian community endemic for podoconiosis. Information was gathered from 242 respondents using focus groups, semi-structured interviews and extended case studies. Shoe-wearing norms were said to be changing, with going barefoot increasingly seen as ‘shameful’. Shoes were thought to confer dignity as well as protection against injury and cold. However, many practical and social barriers prevented the desire to wear shoes from being translated into practice. Limited financial resources meant that people were neither able to purchase more than one pair of shoes to ensure their longevity nor afford shoes of the preferred quality. As a result of this limited access, shoes were typically preserved for special occasions and might not be provided for children until they reached a certain age. While some barriers (for example fit of shoe and fear of labeling through use of a certain type of shoe) may be applicable only to certain diseases, underlying structural level barriers related to poverty (for example price, quality, unsuitability for daily activities and low risk perception) are likely to be relevant to a range of NTDs. Conclusions/Significance Using well established conceptual models of health behavior adoption, we identified several barriers to shoe wearing that are amenable to intervention and which we anticipate will be of benefit to those considering NTD prevention through shoe distribution

Nudging the adaptive thermal comfort model

The recent release of the largest database of thermal comfort field studies (ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II) presents an opportunity to perform a quality assurance exercise on the first generation adaptive comfort standards (ASHRAE 55 and EN15251). The analytical procedure used to develop the ASHRAE 55 adaptive standard was replicated on 60,321 comfort questionnaire records with accompanying measurement data. Results validated the standard's current adaptive comfort model for naturally ventilated buildings, while suggesting several potential nudges relating to the adaptive comfort standards, adaptive comfort theory, and building operational strategies. Adaptive comfort effects were observed in all regions represented in the new global database, but the neutral (comfort) temperatures in the Asian subset trended 1–2°C higher than in Western countries. Moreover, sufficient data allowed the development of an adaptive model for mixed-mode buildings that closely aligned to the naturally ventilated counterpart. We present evidence that adaptive comfort processes are relevant to the occupants of all buildings, including those that are air conditioned, as the thermal environmental exposures driving adaptation occur indoors where we spend most of our time. This suggests significant opportunity to transition air conditioning practice into the adaptive framework by programming synoptic- and seasonal-scale set-point nudging into building automation systems