No abstract

The analysis of 310 Romanian spondyloarthritides patients confirmed the association of the HLA-B27 marker with the susceptibility to different diseases of this group. For ankylosing spondylitis, the HLA-B27 frequency in Romanian patients (72.1%) was similar to that found in several regions in the Mediterranean area.

This article analyzes the successful Romanian weekly satire show Cronica Cârcotaşilor (The Tattlers' Tattle) in the context of the televisual landscape of postsocialist Romania. I argue that given the widespread skepticism toward the unfulfilled promises of the post-socialist transition and the European Union (EU) accession, the show's ability to curb Romanians' disaffection from politics is remarkable. Positioning Romanians as active television viewers and gatekeepers against practices of manipulation and incorrect uses of the Romanian language, the show fosters discursive contestation and activates a desire for political engagement. My discussion introduces the notion of "national linguistic intimacy" to evoke how the show strives to naturalize the affective ties with the national community by reusing the flavor of Romanian comedic and satirical literature and encouraging language play.

After first exploring Pawel Pawlikowski's status as an outsider in British cinema through a brief comparison to German director Fatih Akin, I focus on Pawlikowski's film Last Resort (UK, 2000) to assess and problematize its portrayal of refugees. I argue that rather than relying on open didacticism, Pawlikowski's representation of asylum seekers defies the established conventions of the genre, highlighting the fragility of hospitable conventions. Neither portraying them as despairing victims lacking agency nor commending them as virtuous 'heroes' (as if by default), Last Resort does not allow its spectators an easy access to the spectacle of the Others' suffering. Instead, it points to the discrepancy between the projected image of Britain as a welcoming country and the exclusions through which it operates. Moreover, the focus on a Russian woman's narrative provides the opportunity to open up a discussion on how whiteness is negotiated in a European context. Given that a majority of films portrayBritain as a utopian land strongly desired by migrants, Pawlikowski's significant intervention is that he ultimately presents it as a 'counter-utopia', a space from which one wishes to escape. Since Pawlikowski's 'poetic realism' has been aligned with that of Michael Winterbottom's, in the last part of the article I discuss Last Resort in conjunction with Winterbottom's Wonderland (UK, 1999).