Drawn Stories, Moving Images. Comic Books and their Screen Adaptations

The comic transcends the merely entertaining, and fans of comics become engaged and invested in the field through a range of activities. Major cities host regular comic conventions, attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees each year, who search for special issues of their favourite comic-book series, meet artists, attend workshops and buy merchandise. Many fans do not stop at just attending conventions; they do so dressed as their favourite comic characters or wearing badges, buttons, T-shirts or sweaters with images of those characters on them. In other words: many fans do ot merely consume comic books; rather, they arrange a considerable part of their lives around them and in some cases even embody their heroes, that is, they copy their behaviour and their language. The comic universe, the comic books and the range of activities emerging out of them and around them become a meaningful universe for fans

Religion and Popular Music

The interactions between popular music and religion are manyfold and highly complex. Popular music as an important part of popular culture is a means of communication. Music can transmit not only emotions and a sense of community but also religious knowledge, knowledge that leaves diverse traces in different times and places. In the end, whether we extract religious meaning from popular music and what that meaning is depend on our background and on our capacity to contextualise symbols, motives and narratives – and also on the media used to convey these references. By analysing Florence + The Machines song “Big God” and its music video we will address some of the questions that arise while working in the field of popular music and religion

Shadows of the Bat. Constructions of Good and Evil in the Batman Movies of Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan

The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain, the mythical struggle between good and evil. It therefore promotes a Manichaean worldview where good and evil are clearly distinguishable quantities. This bipolar model is questioned in the Batman movies of Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan. Since his creation in 1939, Batman has blurred the line between black and white unlike any other classic comic book superhero. As a “floating signifier”, he symbolizes the permeability of boundaries, for his liminal character inhabits a world between light and darkness, order and anarchy, hero and villain. Drawing on the complex ambiguity of the character, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan deconstruct the traditional dichotomy of good and evil in the superhero narrative by reversing its polarity and emphasizing the fictionality of it all. Although they differ in style and method, both filmmakers invite us to overcome the Manichaean belief in favor of a more ambivalent and sophisticated viewpoint

Shadows of the Bat

The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain, the mythical struggle between good and evil. It therefore promotes a Manichaean worldview where good and evil are clearly distinguishable quantities. This bipolar model is questioned in the Batman movies of Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan. Since his creation in 1939, Batman has blurred the line between black and white unlike any other classic comic book superhero. As a “floating signifier”, he symbolizes the permeability of boundaries, for his liminal character inhabits a world between light and darkness, order and anarchy, hero and villain. Drawing on the complex ambiguity of the character, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan deconstruct the traditional dichotomy of good and evil in the superhero narrative by reversing its polarity and emphasizing the fictionality of it all. Although they differ in style and method, both filmmakers invite us to overcome the Manichaean belief in favor of a more ambivalent and sophisticated viewpoint

Mid-German Sepsis Cohort (MSC): a prospective observational study of sepsis survivorship

Purpose The Mid-German Sepsis Cohort (MSC) aims to investigate mid-term and long-term functional disabilities in sepsis survivors from intensive care unit (ICU) discharge until 1 year after. Secondary, post-acute mortality and morbidity, health-related quality of life and healthcare utilisation will be investigated.Participants The MSC comprises adult (aged ≥18 years) patients who were treated for (severe) sepsis or septic shock on ICU. The participants were recruited between 15 April 2016 and 30 November 2018 from five German centres. Three thousand two hundred and ten patients with sepsis were identified, of which 1968 survived their ICU stay and were eligible for enrolment in the follow-up cohort. Informed consent for follow-up assessment was provided by 907 patients (46.1% of eligible patients).Findings to date The recruitment of the participants for follow-up assessments and the baseline data collection is completed. Incidence of sepsis was 116.7 patients per 1000 ICU patients. In this cohort profile, we provide an overview of the demographics and the clinical characteristics of both the overall sepsis cohort and the ICU survivors who provided informed consent for follow-up assessment (907 out of 1968 ICU survivors (46.1%)).Future plans The follow-ups are conducted 3, 6 and 12 months after ICU discharge. Another yearly follow-up up to 5 years after ICU discharge is pursued. Several cooperation and satellite projects were initiated. This prospective cohort offers a unique resource for research on long-term sequelae of sepsis survivors.Trial registration number German Clinical Trials Registry (DRKS00010050)

Dual endothelin antagonist aprocitentan for resistant hypertension (PRECISION): a multicentre, blinded, randomised, parallel-group, phase 3 trial

Auteurs : the PRECISION investigatorsInternational audienceBackground Resistant hypertension is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. The endothelin pathway has been implicated in the pathogenesis of hypertension, but it is currently not targeted therapeutically, thereby leaving this relevant pathophysiological pathway unopposed with currently available drugs. The aim of the study was to assess the blood pressure lowering efficacy of the dual endothelin antagonist aprocitentan in patients with resistant hypertension. Methods PRECISION was a multicentre, blinded, randomised, parallel-group, phase 3 study, which was done in hospitals or research centres in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. Patients were eligible for randomisation if their sitting systolic blood pressure was 140 mm Hg or higher despite taking standardised background therapy consisting of three antihypertensive drugs, including a diuretic. The study consisted of three sequential parts: part 1 was the 4-week double-blind, randomised, and placebo-controlled part, in which patients received aprocitentan 12•5 mg, aprocitentan 25 mg, or placebo in a 1:1:1 ratio; part 2 was a 32-week single (patient)-blind part, in which all patients received aprocitentan 25 mg; and part 3 was a 12-week double-blind, randomised, and placebo-controlled withdrawal part, in which patients were re-randomised to aprocitentan 25 mg or placebo in a 1:1 ratio. The primary and key secondary endpoints were changes in unattended office systolic blood pressure from baseline to week 4 and from withdrawal baseline to week 40, respectively. Secondary endpoints included 24-h ambulatory blood pressure changes. The study is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03541174. Findings The PRECISION study was done from June 18, 2018, to April 25, 2022. 1965 individuals were screened and 730 were randomly assigned. Of these 730 patients, 704 (96%) completed part 1 of the study; of these, 613 (87%) completed part 2 and, of these, 577 (94%) completed part 3 of the study. The least square mean (SE) change in office systolic blood pressure at 4 weeks was-15•3 (SE 0•9) mm Hg for aprocitentan 12•5 mg,-15•2 (0•9) mm Hg for aprocitentan 25 mg, and-11•5 (0•9) mm Hg for placebo, for a difference versus placebo of-3•8 (1•3) mm Hg (97•5% CI-6•8 to-0•8, p=0•0042) and-3•7 (1•3) mm Hg (-6•7 to-0•8; p=0•0046), respectively. The respective difference for 24 h ambulatory systolic blood pressure was-4•2 mm Hg (95% CI-6•2 to-2•1) and-5•9 mm Hg (-7•9 to-3•8). After 4 weeks of withdrawal, office systolic blood pressure significantly increased with placebo versus aprocitentan (5•8 mm Hg, 95% CI 3•7 to 7•9, p<0•0001). The most frequent adverse event was mild-to-moderate oedema or fluid retention, occurring in 9%, 18%, and 2% for patients receiving aprocitentan 12•5 mg, 25 mg, and placebo, during the 4-week double-blind part, respectively. This event led to discontinuation in seven patients treated with aprocitentan. During the trial, a total of 11 treatment-emergent deaths occurred, none of which were regarded by the investigators to be related to study treatment. Interpretation In patients with resistant hypertension, aprocitentan was well tolerated and superior to placebo in lowering blood pressure at week 4 with a sustained effect at week 40