Mark Twain in Japan: The Cultural Reception of an American Icon

American Literature in an Eastern Culture Japanese Interpretation and Absorption of Mark Twain Tsuyoshi Ishihara\u27s study of the Japanese reception of Mark Twain may not be of much interest to those with a narrow focus on the American Civil War. On the other hand, it is of immense...

Literature for the rainbow nation: The case of sol Plaatje's <i>Mhudi</i>

The rise in critical status of Sol Plaatje's Mhudi is traced, with the connections between the changing political conditions and the (increasingly generous) receptions of the novel sketched. Brief comparisons to canon construction in Roman, English, and United States literatures provide a basis for the argument that a conservative aesthetic is likely to prevail in the new South Africa, with writing “too angry”, “not literary enough”, and “not truly South African” marginalised. Brief suggestions are given as to how such an aesthetic might be resisted

Advanced patient monitoring displays: Tools for continuous informing

We reviewed the use of advanced display technologies for monitoring in anesthesia. Researchers are investigating displays that integrate information and that, in some cases, also deliver the results continuously to the anesthesiologist. Integrated visual displays reveal higher-order properties of patient state and speed in responding to events, but their benefits under an intensely timeshared load is unknown. Head-mounted displays seem to shorten the time to respond to changes, but their impact on peripheral awareness and attention is unknown. Continuous auditory displays extending pulse oximetry seem to shorten response times and improve the ability to timeshare other tasks, but their integration into the already noisy operative environment still needs to be tested. We reviewed the advantages and disadvantages of the three approaches, drawing on findings from other fields, such as aviation, to suggest outcomes where there are still no results for the anesthesia context. Proving that advanced patient monitoring displays improve patient outcomes is difficult, and a more realistic goal is probably to prove that such displays lead to better situational awareness, earlier responding, and less workload, all of which keep anesthesia practice away from the outer boundaries of safe operation.Penelope M. Sanderson, Marcus O. Watson, W. John Russel

Red sprites, upward lightning, and VLF perturbations

In the last decade there has been a great deal of interest in the detection and understanding of phenomena occurring above active thunderstorms. The discovery of the optical phenomena now termed “red sprites” is discussed, along with the properties that have been experimentally determined. Areas of disagreement between experimentalists are pointed out. Other optical and electromagnetic phenomena associated with red sprites are presented. These include blue jets, transionospheric pulse pairs, and gamma ray flashes. Particular attention is given to the work on perturbations on very low frequency radio wave transmissions (“VLF sprites”), which has provided estimates of the electrical properties of sprites. Research into activity above thunderstorms will continue to lead to a greater understanding of the coupling between thunderstorms in the troposphere to the stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, and beyond