Considering blackness in George A. Romero\u27s Night of the Living Dead: an historical exploration

When George A. Romero\u27s Night of the Living Dead was released in 1968, the independent black and white zombie film stunned American moviegoers. Having assaulted the audience with a new level of violence-laden gore, Night of the Living Dead received much attention from both popular and critical audiences, with the former rushing to theaters to see the film over and over and the latter almost universally panning the film for its poor taste and gratuitous violence. Since its release, however, Night of the Living Dead has become one of the most written about horror films in American history, with critics praising the film for its ingenuity and reviving the zombie genre and also for its treatment of American sociopolitical issues, including the most critically noted issue-the Vietnam War. Although I agree with those critics who assert that controversy over Vietnam War is raised in Night of the Living Dead (as well as are many other sociopolitical issues which are well worth exploring), the Vietnam imagery of the film has been almost exclusively analyzed at the expense of exploring what I believe is another important aspect of Night of the Living Dead- its re-inscription of blackness in the zombie film. By exploring the lineage between blackness and the zombie film, I hope to show that Night of the Living Dead is an important film to the study of blackness on the American screen not only because a black man plays the hero of the film, which was revolutionary in and of itself, but also because the film repositioned the manner in which blackness would be depicted in the American zombie film, moving away from the portrayal of black characters and black culture as exotically dangerous towards a more positive representation

All in or A` la carte: Preferences of Medical Tourists Towards Value of Co-Creation

Patients Beyond Borders (2014) defines a medical tourist as anyone who travels across international borders for the purpose of receiving nonemergency medical care. It has been estimated that the market size in USD ranges from 38.5 to 55 billion based upon eleven million cross-border patients worldwide spending an average of 3,500 – to 5,000 USD per visit. Further, Patients Beyond Borders suggests that the top Medical tourism destinations are Costa Rica, India, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and the United States

A Rare Case of Metastases from a High-grade Astrocytoma to the Pleura, Bones, and Liver within Six Months of Diagnosis

High grade astrocytomas such as anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma multiforme are aggressive central nervous system malignancies with a poor prognosis. Due to shortened survival times, their devastating effects are usually localized intracranially and rarely metastasize outside of the central nervous system. When metastases occur, they usually present in patients with longer survival times and they typically coincide with a primary site recurrence. We present a rare case of metastases from a high-grade astrocytoma/glioblastoma to the pleura, bones and liver within six months of diagnosis, without primary site recurrence

Building a strength-based support program for college students with autism

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Race Differences in Initial Presentation, Early Treatment, and 1-year Outcomes of Pediatric Crohnʼs Disease: Results from the ImproveCareNow Network

BACKGROUND: Racially disparate care has been shown to contribute to suboptimal health care outcomes for minorities. Using the ImproveCareNow network, we investigated differences in management and outcomes of pediatric patients with Crohn's disease at diagnosis and 1-year postdiagnosis. METHODS: ImproveCareNow is a learning health network for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. It contains prospective, longitudinal data from outpatient encounters. This retrospective study included all patients with Crohn's disease ≤21 years, September 2006 to October 2014, with the first recorded encounter ≤90 days from date of diagnosis and an encounter 1 year ±60 days. We examined the effect of race on remission rate and treatment at diagnosis and 1 year from diagnosis using t-tests, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, χ statistic, and Fisher's exact tests, where appropriate, followed by univariate regression models. RESULTS: Nine hundred seventy-six patients (Black = 118 (12%), White = 858 (88%), mean age = 13 years, 63% male) from 39 sites were included. Black children had a higher percentage of Medicaid insurance (44% versus 11%, P < 0.001). At diagnosis, Black children had more active disease according to physician global assessment (P = 0.027), but not by short Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (P = 0.67). Race differences in treatment were not identified. Black children had lower hematocrit (34.8 versus 36.7, P < 0.001) and albumin levels (3.6 versus 3.9, P = 0.001). At 1 year, Black children had more active disease according to physician global assessment (P = 0.016), but not by short Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: Black children with Crohn's disease may have more severe disease than White children based on physician global assessment. Neither disease phenotype differences at diagnosis nor treatment differences at 1-year follow-up were identified

Racial Disparities in Readmission, Complications, and Procedures in Children with Crohnʼs Disease:

Racial disparities in care and outcomes contribute to mortality and morbidity in children however the role in pediatric Crohn’s disease (CD) is unclear. In this study, we compared cohorts of Black and White children with CD to determine the extent race is associated with differences in readmissions, complications, and procedures among hospitalizations in the United States

Assessment of Sex Differences for Treatment, Procedures, Complications, and Associated Conditions Among Adolescents Hospitalized with Crohnʼs Disease:

Sex differences among adults in healthcare treatment and outcomes have been reported, however, there is a paucity of literature regarding pediatric populations, particularly adolescents with Crohn’s disease (CD). The objective was to identify whether sex differences exist with respect to complications, procedures, and medication usage (corticosteroids, biologic agents, and total parenteral nutrition (TPN)) among hospitalized adolescents with CD

Overview of the Kepler Science Processing Pipeline

The Kepler Mission Science Operations Center (SOC) performs several critical functions including managing the ~156,000 target stars, associated target tables, science data compression tables and parameters, as well as processing the raw photometric data downlinked from the spacecraft each month. The raw data are first calibrated at the pixel level to correct for bias, smear induced by a shutterless readout, and other detector and electronic effects. A background sky flux is estimated from ~4500 pixels on each of the 84 CCD readout channels, and simple aperture photometry is performed on an optimal aperture for each star. Ancillary engineering data and diagnostic information extracted from the science data are used to remove systematic errors in the flux time series that are correlated with these data prior to searching for signatures of transiting planets with a wavelet-based, adaptive matched filter. Stars with signatures exceeding 7.1 sigma are subjected to a suite of statistical tests including an examination of each star's centroid motion to reject false positives caused by background eclipsing binaries. Physical parameters for each planetary candidate are fitted to the transit signature, and signatures of additional transiting planets are sought in the residual light curve. The pipeline is operational, finding planetary signatures and providing robust eliminations of false positives.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Feasibility and Validity of the Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index in Routine Clinical Practice

The Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI) is a non-invasive disease activity index developed as a clinical trial endpoint. More recently, practice guidelines have recommended the use of PUCAI in routine clinical care. We therefore sought to evaluate the feasibility, validity and responsiveness of PUCAI in a large, diverse collection of pediatric gastroenterology practices

Carsharing in a small city : Ithaca Carshare's first two years.

Ithaca Carshare launched service in June 2008 as the first independent carsharing organization in New York State, offering anaffordable and reliable transportation option to the residents of the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County. During the first two yearsof operation, Ithaca Carshare registered over 800 drivers who collectively made 14,126 trips totaling nearly 250,000 miles. IthacaCarshare vehicles are scattered throughout Ithaca, where they are proximate to registered drivers. Usage is best during spring andfall seasons, when the academic institutions are in session. The majority of Ithaca Carshare members are between the ages of 20 and34, and many are affiliated with either Ithaca College or Cornell University. The organization serves members across a variety ofincome brackets, indicating the affordability of carsharing services