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Background: This study investigates the extent to which the GHQ-12 exhibits configural, metric and scalar invariance across six ethnic groups in Britain and Northern Ireland, using the UK Household Longitudinal Study (N = 35 410). Methods: A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out on a white British group in order to establish an adequate measurement model. Secondly, a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was conducted in order to assess measurement invariance. A sensitivity analysis comparing summated and latent means across groups was carried out. Finally, revised estimates of scale reliability were derived using two different methods. Results: A one-factor model including correlated error terms on the negatively phrased items showed superior fit in all ethnic groups. Tests for equal factor loadings and intercepts also showed adequate fit demonstrating metric and scalar invariance. Latent and summated scale estimates of mean group differences were similar for all groups. Scale reliability using McDonald's ω is lower than when using the more conventional Cronbach's α. Reliability across groups is reasonably consistent. Conclusions: We find that the GHQ-12 does not display obvious bias in regard to ethnic groups in the UK and that valid comparisons across these groups can be made for the purposes of population research. Caution is needed when using as a screening tool for individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of government HIV strategies that aimed to increase HIV testing uptake and frequency among gay and bisexual men (GBM) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Design: We analysed HIV testing data from existing passive and sentinel surveillance systems between 2010 and 2018. Methods: Six indicators were measured: (1) state‐wide total HIV laboratory tests; (2) number of GBM attending publicly‐funded clinics; (3) 12‐monthly testing uptake; (4) annual testing frequency; (5) HIV testing with a STI diagnosis; and (6) HIV positivity. Mathematical modelling was used to estimate (7) the proportion of men with undiagnosed HIV. Indicators were stratified by Australian vs. overseas‐born. Results: Overall, 43,560 GBM attended participating clinics (22,662 Australian‐born, 20,834 overseas‐born) from 2010‐2018. Attendees increased from 5,186 in 2010 to 16,507 in 2018. There were increasing trends (p<0.001 for all) in testing uptake (83.9% to 95.1%); testing with a STI diagnosis (68.7% to 94.0%); annual HIV testing frequency (1.4 to 2.7); and a decreasing trend (p<0.01) in HIV positivity (1.7% to 0.9%).Increases in testing were similar in Australian‐born and overseas‐born GBM. However, there were decreasing trends in the estimated undiagnosed HIV proportion overall (9.5% to 7.7%) and in Australian‐born GBM (7.1% to 2.8%), but an increasing trend in overseas‐born GBM (15.3% to 16.9%) (p<0.001 for all). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beowulf by Santiago García and David Rubín stands out among the many graphic adaptations of the medieval heroic poem on account of its length, insight and art. Theirs is a cultural translation that adapts medieval to postmodern tropes. This article examines how their reading brings closer the character of the medieval hero with the contemporary superhero. It also explores how both creators subvert the tropes of the hero and the monster in terms of graphic treatment and storyline, whether approaching original themes under a new light--such as guilt--or hybridizing monstrous bodies and aligning them with humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fred Van Lente is the writer of the award-winningAction Philosopherscomic book series and co-founder, with artist Ryan Dunlavey, of Evil Twin Comics. His credits includeConan, Magnus: Robot Fighter, Resurrectionists: Near Death Experience, Alpha FlightandThe Incredible Hercules(with co-author Greg Pak),Marvel Zombies, The Silencers, Cowboys & Aliens(with co-author Andrew Foley),Archer and Armstrong, Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk: Season One, X-Men Noir, andIvar, Timewalker. This interview explores the trajectory and evolution of his career in comics to date, collaboration as a key element of making comics, narrative franchises and ‘change’, comics history, and Jack Kirby. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both drawing and language are fundamental and unique to humans as a species. Just as language is a representational system that uses systematic sounds (or manual/bodily signs) to express concepts, drawing is a means of graphically expressing concepts. Yet, unlike language, we consider it normal for people not to learn to draw, and consider those who do to be exceptional. Why do we consider drawing to be so different from language? This paper argues that the structure and development of drawing is indeed analogous to that of language. Because drawings express concepts in the visual-graphic modality using patterned schemas stored in a graphic lexicon that combine using 'syntactic' rules, development thus requires acquiring a vocabulary of these schemas from the environment. Without sufficient practice and exposure to an external system, a basic system persists despite arguably impoverished developmental conditions. Such a drawing system is parallel to the resilient systems of language that appear when children are not exposed to a linguistic system within a critical developmental period. Overall, this approach draws equivalence between drawing and the cognitive attributes of other domains of human expression. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jewish American writers addressing the Holocaust in fiction have encountered a daunting set of moral and aesthetic difficulties. Among these are the seemingly unbridgeable historical divide between a relatively comfortable American Jewish present and the dark European past and the inadequacy of any attempt, fictive or not, to "capture" the scope and intensity of such a massive collective experience. Recent fiction by young writers shows that these difficulties have become exacerbated by time. With this greater cultural and historical gap, and the loss of many witnesses to the Holocaust, has come a loss in direct access to the experience of the Holocaust and its effects.

In a world where the mass media pelts you with images at every possible turn, it is no wonder films are so popular. There is something about sitting down in a darkened theater and immersing yourself in a story for two hours that appeals to many. The simplest bit of dialogue can bring a man to tears, make him laugh out loud, or bring him to the boiling point with rage. One of the greatest aspects of a film is its ability to show an event from differing perspectives. Often in reality, we are only able to view one side of an issue, whereas film allows us to see it from all sides. Recently, there has been a resurgence of films based on events stemming from the Second World War, more specifically, the mindset of Nazism. While war films were very popular in the 1950s and 1960s, there has been something of a drop-off since then. Not all of these new movies are set in wartimes, however. Many recent films have taken a look at how the ideals and politics of the war have affected the generations that followed those dark times.