Bisexuality, Slippery Slopes, and Multipartner Marriage

This paper explores the position of polyamory in slippery-slope arguments directed against the campaign for same-sex marriage rights in the United States. In the rhetoric of right-wing opponents granting same-sex marriage rights is seen as the first step on a long spiral downwards toward moral decay, which will successively normalise a whole range of problematic and ‘unwanted’ practices. Polygamy and, in its close proximity, polyamory are usually the first items on a list that may also include adultery, adult incest, bestiality and pedophilia. The paper highlights the mobilisation of racist and nationalist tropes at the heart of anti-polygamy sentiments and considers the impact of this legacy for poly politics. Concentrating on the analysis of essays published by the Conservative journalist Stanley Kurtz, the paper explores the connection between bisexuality and polyamory in some slippery slope arguments. Slippery slope arguments have been a constant feature of the debates about same-sex marriage rights in the USA. Their relative prominence and strong hold within the public imagination have also impacted upon the discourses deployed by poly activists, resulting in common dis-associations from polygamy and an a reluctance to engage with questions regarding the legal recognition of multi-partner relationships at all. Understanding the slippery slope dynamic is important for grasping the conditionality that contributes to the persisting hostilities against polyamory, polygamy, and LGBTQ intimacies and that shape social movement politics

Comparative queer methodologies and queer film festival research

This paper examines how a critical examination of the queer politics of comparison can inform queer film festival research. The discussion of the queer politics of comparison draws on a qualitative study of five queer film festivals in different European cultural geopolitical contexts which examined these festivals as sites for the reproduction of queer visibility, solidarity and queer space. We propose an approach of relational comparison within a framework that highlights regional contextuality. We further argue that queer approaches to comparative research should be informed by postcolonial critiques that challenge hegemonic notions of temporality and spatiality within political geographical imaginaries of Europe. We therefore suggest that poststructural and postcolonial informed perspectives on ‘cultural translation’ are key to the queering of comparison. Such an approach to cultural translation critical self-reflexivity within a transversal hermeneutics that at the same time pay attention to geopolitics, positionality and difference

Modification of 40X13 steel at high-intensity nitrogen ion implantation

This paper presents the results of the formation of deep modified layers in 40X13 steel using a high-intensity repetitively pulsed nitrogen ion beam with a current density up to 0.25 A/cm2. An arc generator with a hot cathode provided the DC nitrogen plasma flow. A plasma immersion approach was used for high-frequency, short-pulse very intense nitrogen ion beam formation. A grid hemisphere with radii of 7.5 cm was immersed in the plasma. Negative bias pulses with an amplitude of 1.2 kV, a pulse duration of 4 µs, and a pulse repetition rate of 105 pulses per second were applied to the grid. The substrates were implanted at the temperature of 500 °C and various processing times ranging from 20 to 120 minutes with 1.2 keV nitrogen ions using a very-high current density up to 0.25 A/cm2 ion beams. The work explores the surface morphology, elemental composition, and mechanical properties of deep-layer modified 40X13 steel after low ion energy, very-high-intensity nitrogen ion beam implantation

Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation with Sequential Melphalan-Based Conditioning in AML: Residual Morphological Blast Count Determines the Risk of Relapse

Introduction: Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) during chemotherapy-induced aplasia may offer long-term survival in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with otherwise poor prognosis including ELN adverse risk, relapsed or refractory disease. However, the value of residual morphologic disease prior HCT in this context has not been conclusively settled until yet. Therefore, we aimed to investigate variables predicting outcome in this unique setting of sequential conditioning therapy, with a focus on pretreatment morphologic blast count. In contrast to the most popular FLAMSA-RIC protocol, we used a melphalan-based conditioning regimen during aplasia. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 173 AML patients who underwent a sequential melphalan-based conditioning therapy between 2003 and 2015 at our centre. All patients participated either in the prospective Phase 2 BRIDGE trial (NCT01295307), the Phase 3 AML2003 study (NCT00180102) or were treated according to this protocol and underwent allogeneic HCT after melphalan-based conditioning in treatment-induced aplasia. Results: Median bone marrow blast count prior to conditioning was 10% (range, 0–96%). Four year probabilities of EFS and OS were 34% (95% CI, 28–43%) and 43% (95% CI, 36–52%), respectively. In multivariate analysis, blast count >20% was associated with worse EFS (HR = 1.93; p = 0.009) and OS (HR = 1.80; p = 0.026). This effect was not significant anymore for HCT during 1st line therapy. Conclusion: Allogeneic HCT in aplasia with a melphalan-based conditioning regimen has the potential to cure a subset of adverse risk AML patients, even with persistent morphological disease prior HCT. However, a high pre-transplant blast count still indicates patients with a dismal prognosis, especially in the relapsed patient group, for whom post-transplant strategies should be considered to further optimize post HCT outcome