Month: February 2020
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The smartest vampire story
Alice TheibaultRochester, New York, United States There is something uniquely terrifying about vampires. The concept of a nocturnal creature showing up at one’s home to suck their blood is enough to make just about anyone uneasy, and so vampires have been mined as a horror device for generations. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which is arguably the…
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Hereditary blood disorders in blue-blood aristocrats
N. Reece Ho-SheffieldSingapore Famous people with genetic disorders have always been a subject of interest, and royalty are often considered the crème de la crème of celebrities. Any medical condition may give some insight into their lives and provide an explanation for a physical feature or behavior. Two genetic blood diseases plagued the European Royals.…
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Blood under the moon: The role of astrology in surgery
Margareta-Erminia CassaniMichigan, United States Imagine your doctor telling you that you need surgery. Then they follow that unsettling news with something, well, a little strange sounding. They tell you that the date picked for your surgery needs to occur during a waning moon to control bleeding. After you have stared blankly at them for a…
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Red Cross humanitarianism and female volunteers in Australia
Ian WillisCamden, NSW, Austalia “There were a lot of people who had lost everything,” said Australian Red Cross volunteer Tracey Ayrton, who has been providing comfort to bushfire victims at the Laurieton evacuation centre in northern New South Wales. Tracey, who has taken time off work, has been volunteering for over ten years. She says,…
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The past and future of blood banking
Eva Kitri Mutch StoddartSaigon, Vietnam Blood oozes allure. The elixir of life, viscous and dramatic scarlet, courses through the veins of every living human. Blood has been viewed as sacred for centuries. Aristocrats used to sip at it to stoke their youth and vitality. Bram Stoker’s quintessential vampire novel, the revered Dracula, was published in…
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Bloodlust: The embodiment of the uncanny in “The Vampyre”
Emily ClineMontréal, QC, Canada Upon her neck and breast was blood, and upon her throat were the marks of teeth having opened the vein:—to this the men pointed, crying, simultaneously struck with horror, “A Vampyre! a Vampyre!” — The Vampyre, John William Polidori With this image Polidori introduces the conventions of the modern vampire story.…
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Diamond-Blackfan anemia and tap shoes
Jill PurteeSurprise, Arizona, United States Forty years ago I worked in a four-bed pediatric intensive care unit nestled in the pediatric ward. Every few weeks amongst the beeps and alarms, I heard the clicking of tap shoes coming down the pediatric ward hallway. My morning hug from Alma, a young girl with Diamond-Blackfan anemia, followed…