Introduction : screen Londons

Our aim, in editing the ‘London Issue’ of this journal, is to contribute to a conversation between scholars of British cinema and television, London historians and scholars of the cinematic city. In 2007, introducing the themed issue on ‘Space and Place in British Cinema and Television’, Steve Chibnall and Julian Petley observed that it would have been possible to fill the whole journal with essays about the representation of London. This issue does just that, responding to the increased interest in cinematic and, to a lesser extent, televisual, Londons, while also demonstrating the continuing fertility of the paradigms of ‘space and place’ for scholars of the moving image1. It includes a wide range of approaches to the topic of London on screen, with varying attention to British institutions of the moving image – such as Channel Four or the British Board of Film Classification – as well as to concepts such as genre, narration and memory. As a whole, the issue, through its juxtapositions of method and approach, shows something of the complexity of encounters between the terms ‘London’, ‘cinema’ and ‘television’ within British film and television studies

JPN Guidelines for the management of acute pancreatitis: severity assessment of acute pancreatitis

This article addresses the criteria for severity assessment and the severity scoring system of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan; now the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (the JPN score). It also presents data comparing the JPN score with the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score and the Ranson score, which are the major measuring scales used in the United States and Europe. The goal of investigating these scoring systems is the achievement of earlier diagnosis and more appropriate and successful treatment of severe or moderate acute pancreatitis, which has a high mortality rate. This article makes the following recommendations in terms of assessing the severity of acute pancreatitis

The ‘Book of Manson’: Raymond Pettibon and the killing of America

noRaymond Pettibon's work sits uncomfortably in the world of comics or cartoons. Instead of jokes or punch-lines, his work promotes an intense form of narrative and exhibits a unique ‘illustrative-comic style’ (O'Connor, The Believer [online], 1995). His work emerged from and reflects upon underground pop culture (rock music, TV, films), and it is the dark side of humanity that his work explores. Pettibon says that he actually prefers writing to drawing and the importance of ‘texts’ can be seen in Raymond Pettibon: A Reader (1998, Philadelphia Museum of Art), a collection in which the written inspirations for his psycho-graphic style is clear. This paper examines how the disturbing subject of Charles Manson oozes into the consciousness of writers, artists and musicians, using Pettibon's work as a powerful case study of this weird phenomenon. Manson has haunted the art of our time; he typifies the way in which, as Pettibon acknowledges, ‘There are certain figures, without even my meaning to do it, that become subjects’ (O'Connor, The Believer [online], 1995). In his cartoons, Pettibon depicts Charles Manson in a variety of ways. This reflects the various multiple readings of Manson and his story evident since his trial and conviction in the late 1960s. Pettibon's links with the American music underground brought him in contact with Manson as a symbol. The media obsession with celebrity – especially ‘bad’ celebrities – is a powerful force which Pettibon addresses. In 1989, Pettibon even made a low-budget movie about Manson and his followers. It is a fascinating intersection of graphic art, music and murder which this paper opens up

Is the Glasgow Blatchford score useful in the risk assessment of patients presenting with variceal haemorrhage?

Background: The Glasgow Blatchford score (GBS) is a pre-endoscopic risk assessment tool for patients presenting with upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage. There are few data regarding use in patients with variceal bleeding, who are generally accepted as being at high risk. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess GBS in correctly identifying patients with subsequently proven variceal bleeding as ‘high risk’ and to compare GBS, admission and full Rockall scores in predicting clinical endpoints in this group. Patients and methods: Data on consecutive patients with upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage presenting to four UK hospitals were collected. The GBS, admission and full Rockall scores were calculated and compared for the subgroup subsequently shown to have variceal bleeding. Area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) was used to assess the scores ability to predict clinical endpoints within this variceal bleeding subgroup. Results: A total of 1432 patients presented during the study period. Seventy-one (5%) had a final diagnosis of variceal bleeding. At presentation, none of this group had GBS less than 2, but six had an admission Rockall score of 0. In predicting need for blood transfusion, AUROC scores for GBS, full and admission Rockall scores were 0.68, 0.65 and 0.68, respectively. For endoscopic/surgical intervention the scores were 0.34, 0.51 and 0.55, respectively, and for predicting death the scores were 0.56, 0.72 and 0.70, respectively. None of these AUROC score comparisons were significant. Conclusion: At presentation, GBS correctly identifies patients with variceal bleeding as high risk and appears superior to the admission Rockall score. However, GBS and both Rockall scores are poor at predicting clinical outcome within this grou