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Use of febuxostat is not associated with increased risk for all-cause mortality, death from cardiovascular diseases (CVD), or CVD events, according to study results published in The Journal of Rheumatology.
A safety study previously indicated that febuxostat vs allopurinol use contributed to the risk for cardiovascular mortality. In the current study, researchers collected data on CVD events and mortality (including CVD-related) in patients with hyperuricemia from 20 relevant studies across several databases. They conducted a meta-analysis to validate the safety of febuxostat and its association with CVD, heart-related mortality, and all-cause mortality. Risk ratios (RRs) were calculated or extracted from studies.
Researchers determined that there were no clear associations between febuxostat and increased risk for mortality of any cause (RR=0.87; 95% CI, 0.57-1.32). There was also no significant difference between febuxostat and allopurinol or placebo in terms of incidence of all-cause mortality. Data also revealed that there was no association between febuxostat and CVD death incidences (RR=0.84; 95% CI, 0.49-1.45) and CVD events (RR=0.98; 95% CI, 0.83-1.16; P =.827). Researchers also found that likelihood of CVD event occurrence was not dependent on febuxostat dose (RR=1.04; 95% CI, 0.84-1.30; P=.723)
Overall, results indicated that febuxostat vs allopurinol or placebo was not associated with increased risk for CVD events, CVD-related mortality, or all-cause death.
Study limitations included limited data from published articles in clinical trials, the short-term nature of included studies, and lack of data on other drugs used in combination with febuxostat that could increase risk for CVD-related events.
Study authors concluded, "…patients and doctors should carefully consider the potential CV risks associated with febuxostat use in the treatment of patients with gout and underlying hyperuricemia. In future, more [randomized controlled] trials should be performed to validate findings of this meta-analysis."
Deng H, Zhang BL, Tong JD, Yang XH, Jin HM. Febuxostat use and risks of CVD events, death from cardiac-cause and all-cause mortality: metaanalysis of randomized controlled trials. Published online August 15, 2020. J Rheumatol. doi:10.3899/jrheum.200307


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Iowa Writes
Anthony's arms flex outward. It's 5 a.m. The sky releases a violent exhaustion. The CT scanner cackles a warning. Anthony lies on his back. The cackling of the scanner dislodges his dream. Of screams. Ripe. Like plums. There's a pounding in his head.
* * *
What is the last thing he remembered? It wasn't firecrackers. Or the outline of bodies dark against a mountainside. Or a Humvee. Or smoke rising from a narrow rutted trail. Or his Commander's last words. This might be dangerous. He said. He remembered going to sleep. Breathless. Counting the days until his departure from Afghanistan to a base in Italy. But plans change. Like presidents. He sat above it all. In the air. From a U.S. Black Hawk he watched. Where was that second chopper? His own chopper quiet. Except for the soft cooing of a sergeant. Don't stop fighting! We're almost home. You're gonna make it. You're gonna make it. And the hiss. Of a rocket. And a thick thudding. Chopper blades slicing air. Broken. He fell from the sky. After that moment he can't remember. But from before that, he remembered movies. "Born on the Fourth of July." "Casualties of War." "Black Hawk Down." And words. This matter is not of trust not bullets but. The last thing he remembered. A mullah's words. That was it.
* * *
Anthony lies flat on his back. Strapped in. A mechanical hum cuts the stillness. Like a chopper's blade. Time slows. Into degraded motion. Inside the CT scanner radiation bursts. Hits his ears. His eyes. His brain. His body. Absorbs x-rays. The beams follow a spiral path around his mouth. Is the image they create even Anthony at all?
* * *
RPG! Anthony pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Inside, the cockpit erupted. A constellation of green and red. Blinking lights. Be advised. I'm hit. Cannot hold position. Say again. Cannot hold position. Can you hear me? In his head he counted the days until his tour would have ended. Then the ground tried to get in. To stuff its mouth with sky. His body. A ripe plum. He shuddered. The crash was just a moment. That came to life. Was someone knocking? The metallic sound of the motion of the airframe interrupted. Was someone trying to get in?
* * *
Anthony thinks it's always 3:39 a.m. He wonders if he will ever stop falling out of the sky. The ground is everywhere it is not supposed to be. In his belly button. Underneath his fingernails. Behind his knees. Maybe this time. He won't make it back.
* * *
The gentle way his skin gave in. The softness just underneath his uniform. His shoulder straps barely hit the top of his thighs. The force of gravity struck him. Tried to take everything in. He popped open his shoulder strap. Pushed open the side glass of the cockpit. The monitor lights did not flash. The flight deck was no longer whining. He leaned outside. The ground was brushed purple and red like a plum. Soft like goose down. Necessary. Like air.
* * *
Are you hurt? His face. A smile. An IV pushed it way into him. Blood dripped from his chest onto the floor. On his back. He wrapped his fingers around her picture. Brought it down on top of him. His legs splayed on the stretcher. He strained his neck upward. Lifted his hips. Upward. Warmth on all sides. But no movement. His stomach muscles pulled tight. But it settled in. Settled into him. Interrupted his motion. Pulled its nails down his chest. Stared into his eyes. Traced a red chalk line around his body. Grabbed his wrists and upturned his heart in his chest. Captain, can you hear me? He opened his mouth. Hold his wrists! Hold his wrists! He was running toward the sound of that voice. Was he getting closer? Or farther away?
* * *
Anthony is used to waiting. He floats inside the scanner. In the sky. He thinks about Moville. Of his girlfriend Michelle. In his mind her face is framed by a window pane. The center of a stained-glass flower. She is fragrant. In bloom. Blooming. Before his eyes. She is opening the back door. Anthony? What are you doing out there? I just wanted you to come out here. And see the moon. I start my fifth tour tomorrow. His face is smiling. Michelle is silent. Unbelieving. Just like a scene in a movie. Her lips. Ripe as plums.
About Iowa Writes
Since 2006, Iowa Writes has featured the work of Iowa-identified writers (whether they have Iowa roots or live here now) and work published by Iowa journals and publishers on The Daily Palette. Iowa Writes features poetry, fiction, or nonfiction twice a week on the Palette.
In November of 2008, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Iowa City, Iowa, the world's third City of Literature, making the community part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
Iowa City has joined Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia as UNESCO Cities of Literature.
Find out more about submitting by contacting email@example.com
Raquel Lisette Baker is working on a PhD in English Literary Studies, specializing in Postcolonial Studies and African literatures in English. She received a BA in Psychology from San Francisco State University and a MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She has published in The Womanist and Crux.
Stay tuned! Part Two and the Conclusion of When He Gets Weary: A Revision still to come.
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2017-01-25 Release Notes
Effective: Demo sites 01/26/2016; Weekly sites 02/03/2017; Monthly sites 03/03/2017
69005: Added a date picker icon to the various date fields on the static event, task, and deadline forms.
69448: Report filters based on user names now include suffixes (Esq., Jr., etc.) in the list of names.
71612: Made the "Pro Bono Involvement Type(s)" field available as a display only field on case profile pages.
75154: Added some system values to the Actor lookup to prevent issues with document templates if actor types were deleted.
75333: Reduced the load time and resources needed by the My Time widget.
75338: Fixed the Logout link on sites using the legacy interface. Effective for all those sites 1/27/2017.


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Presented by Optimal Livestock Services, LLC
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Caseous Lymphadenitis (CLA) can be a devastating disease for the sheep and goat producer. It can pose a huge economic loss by decreasing pelt value through abscess scars or, with the internal form, a loss through decreased weight gain and general unthriftiness, poor wool harvest or poor milk production. The internal form of the disease has been reported as the third most important cause of condemnation of sheep carcasses in the U.S. Eradication and control of the disease in a flock is of utmost importance. Efforts should be made to eradicate or control rather than treatment of infected individuals. Infection should be considered lifelong even if an animal appears to be non-symptomatic.
CLA is caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, which can survive in the environment for months to years. Infection with this organism causes two forms of the disease. Superficial CLA involves the lymph nodes just under the skin. It presents as an abscess or multiple abscesses which can be found around the head and neck or at the junction of the legs and body. These lesions will eventually rupture and drain. The second form, visceral CLA, involves the lymph nodes and organs found in the body cavity, especially the kidney and liver. Infected animals become debilitated, with poor weight gain, lower wool yield and decreased milk production. While both sheep and goats can have either form of the disease, goats tend to get the superficial form more commonly and sheep usually present with the visceral form. Animals less than six months old are less likely to have the disease than older animals. It is thought that this is due to repeated exposure to the organism throughout an animal's life. Infection should be considered lifelong. Infected animals should be eliminated.
Even though there are no cases of humans being infected with this disease in the U.S., there is always the potential. Cases have occurred in other countries, although these are generally found to be from hand skinning carcasses. Usually the person has injured their hand with an infected knife. Other cases were caused by consumption of raw infected milk. Because of this potential, handling of the body parts of infected animals and especially the pus from abscesses should never be taken lightly.
There is no reliable test method available to determine if the disease exists within a herd free of superficial CLA (abscesses). Abscesses can be cultured with an acceptable result for confirmation of the disease. A vaccination program aids in preventing the spread of the disease within an infected herd. The toxoid vaccine does not prevent the disease but reduces the amount of abscesses in infected animals thus reducing the volume of the bacteria shed. An autogenous vaccine can be produced specific to your herd as well. The vaccination program should be tailored to your specific entity.
As mentioned before, control and eradication of CLA are the most important goals for the producer with infected animals. The bacteria can infect animals through skin abrasions or punctures. Because of its ability to infect animals so readily, there are many things for the producer to keep in mind to protect healthy animals. Remove infected animals from the rest of the herd to prevent spreading the disease. Shear infected animals last, and youngest animals first. Do not open abscesses. Disinfect any area (feeders, waterers, etc.) that an infected animal may have used or where an abscess has drained. Minimize crowding to decrease spread to non-infected animals by seemingly uninfected herd mates. When buying new animals, make sure they come from CLA-free herds. Control external parasites and have the shearing crew use only the equipment from your farm. By keeping these things in mind, producers will be able to keep CLA from decreasing their economic gains.
Prepared by Cleon V. Kimberling, Gerilyn A. Parsons, Jay Parsons, Wayne Cunningham, Steve Sharkey, Steve Davis, and Kevin Inman
Copyright © 2013 CleonsCorner.com All Rights Reserved
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As more blockchain-based payment networks and fiat-backed digital currencies – including one from the largest U.S. bank – emerge, experts and analysts are predicting a sea change for the financial services industry.
"I think you're starting to see a growing consensus," said Matt Savare, a partner who works in the technology group of New Jersey-based law firm of Lowenstein Sandler LLP. "I do quite a bit of FinTech and I can tell you my clients... the banks, are inherently conservative – at least the large ones. But once they see other banks adopt new technologies, you see it snowball. Other banks will often join on in pretty quick fashion."
On the heels of JPMorgan Chase & Co. creating its own stable coin token for use on blockchain distributed ledgers, IBM last week launched its Blockchain World Wire, which will enable banks to transfer tokens and cryptocurrency in near-real time, cutting out banking intermediaries and lowering capital costs and clearing fees.
The distributed ledger technology (DLT) network will initially enable cross-border payments and settlements based on the Stellar protocol, a decentralized payment network that uses its own cryptocurrency, Stellar Lumens (XLM). While the IBM network will support XLM, it will primarily use stable coin backed one-for-one by the U.S. dollar and other national currencies.
In other words, IBM will run the blockchain infrastructure – the computer nodes and software – and the banks will transmit digital tokens tied to fiat currency over the network.
The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), one of the Philippines' top 10 banks by assets, will be among the first of four using the Blockchain World Wire for remittance payments services. Those payments are mainly made by foreign workers who send money back to their home country in the same way Western Union and MoneyGram do today.
These kinds of moves are likely to spark even more experimentation and use in the financial world.
Avivah Litan, a Gartner vice president of research, said various vertical industries – including financial services – are now beginning to "actualize" the benefits of blockchain technology, which is constructed on a peer-to-peer network topology where every participant receives their own copy of an electronic transaction ledger.
Litan compared blockchain-based payment, clearing and settlement networks to 5G for the communications marketplace, saying the old financial systems are long past due for an upgrade.
"We had really slow communications networks and we're always upgrading those because of demand for video and entertainment. We never pay attention to the payment networks and we need to," Litan said.
But blockchain is changing that.
Big banks are interested
An IBM spokesperson confirmed the company has had discussions with two major U.S. banks considering issuing a stable coin for use on the World Wire network. That would echo what JPMorgan did earlier this year when it launched its own fiat-backed token for its payment network.
Bloomberg last week posted an interview with Jesse Lund, IBM's vice president of blockchain, who said his company has had "initial discussions" with the two lenders on issuing a so-called stable coin.
"We have received interest on the heels of JPM Coin," said Lund, who declined to name the banks.
"Because IBM World Wire runs on blockchain, it has a low fee structure and low operational costs. The total transaction cost is comprised of two components – a per-transaction fee and a basis point charge applied to the total payment value," an IBM spokesperson said. "In total, the overall cost is still far less than what is being charged in the market today."
IBM expects to see from 10% and 20% savings in operational liquidity management and potentially more than a 50% reduction in overall transaction cost, according to Stanley Yong, CTO of IBM Blockchain for Finance.
"Stable coin is a unique breed," Savare said. "There are a variety of online retailers accepting not only stable coin, but cryptocurrency like bitcoin and ether. I think you're going to see a growing trend, especially among millennials who tend to use crypto, especially at the retail level. You're already seeing that and it's not just tech geek types."
Along with JPMorgan, IBM and its banking partners, Visa, Mastercard and New York-based global settlement service CLS bank have also deployed blockchain-based payment networks. CLS handles about $5 trillion a day in global settlements.
In November, CLS and IBM announced that investment banking giants Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were the first to use its CLSNet; six more participants from North America, Europe and Asia, including Bank of China (Hong Kong), have committed to joining in the next few months.
Once banks are comfortable using blockchain-based foreign exchange (FX) networks such as IBM's World Wire, and believe it's efficient, reliable and secure, they will likely open up those payment services to business and consumer customers, Litan said.
"Clearly, it could become the new payment backbone of the future," Litan said.
Blockchain DLT offers several advantages over conventional payment and settlement networks. Along with reducing friction and fees from central banks that oversee the transactions, the distributed ledgers are transparent to participants; everyone gets a real-time copy of the immutable ledger. And those ledgers can be used for audits.
"One of the problems in the current payment systems is they're so opaque. When you move money, you can't see when it's going to get there. Some systems will tell you it'll be there in two days, but you don't have a lot of visibility," Litan said. "This [World Wire] is totally visible to the participants. It's actually a great technology for moving money."
Along with financial services companies, companies such as Facebook are purportedly working on creating blockchain-based payment systems that would allow users have a "PayPal-like" experience to purchase advertised products.
The new cadre of blockchain-based payment networks are bound to compete with traditional networks, such as VisaNet and SWIFT, as well as with earlier blockchain-based FX and settlement networks such as Ripple.
SWIFT, which stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is behind most cross-border money and security transfers, serving 10,000 member institutions who send about 24 million messages daily over the network.
In what may be an attempt to thwart an end run around it, SWIFT said earlier this month it will jointly conduct a blockchain proof-of-concept in the Asia Pacific region with securities software provider SLIB and the Singapore Exchange (SGX), along with Deutsche Bank, DBS Bank, HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered Bank.
The hurdles that lie ahead
Ethan Silver, a partner at Lowenstein Sandler LLP who leads the firm's regulatory practice relating to blockchain technology and digital assets, said existing regulations will have to be interpreted appropriately to address DLT payment networks, but they probably won't "perfectly" address the technology in their current state.
"We have already seen the SEC... commenting on stable coins for example, and how some of them have the appearance of securities," Silver said via email. "Accordingly, companies have to be very mindful of the existing structure of the legal landscape and its application to evolving technology like blockchain in this paradigm shift, including for currencies."
Along with the future of international regulatory oversight, blockchain networks have to prove they can scaleup enough in performance to match traditional networks such as VisaNet.
"It's got to be proven to operate 10,000 transactions per second," Litan said. "We've seen it in pilots, but we haven't seen it in production yet. That's the main hurdle: scalability. Then there's security and data confidentiality – all the usual things have to be proven."
Seven major universities are already working together to develop a digital currency network that solves blockchain's scalability problems, as are industry groups such as the Ethereum Foundation.
The Distributed Technology Research Foundation (DTR) Foundation, the Swiss organization behind the new Unit-e cryptocurrency development effort backed by seven universities, is targeting throughputs of 5,000 to 10,000 transactions per second.
Along with addressing performance issues, however, banks can't simply rely on blockchain service providers such as IBM, Google, Microsoft and SAP to run the infrastructure – the so-called rails over which payment transfers ride; in a sense, the financial services industry must "take ownership" of blockchain technology by committing internal resources to it.
"For instance, IBM is not in the position to become a bank issuing stable coin. IBM doesn't collect deposits from consumers or companies, so they don't have deposits being used for stable coin. You have to have collateral," Litan said. "They can have IBM manage it on their behalf, but they really have to own it, meaning they need to know how it works, they need to be able to run it if they have to, they have to be able to manage their demands.
Banks must also commit back-office IT staff to oversee transaction networks because they do not run on their own and must be managed for risk, something already done with legacy payment and settlement networks. "So I don't think there will be much more to managing this," Litan said.
Lastly, few banks today are participating in blockchain transaction validation – the consensus process where large numbers of participants endorse transactions versus a central authority. The larger the crowd endorsing the transactions, the greater the security because it will be nearly impossible for one or even many bad actors to usurp the consensus mechanism and take control of a network.
IBM chose to use Stellar stable coin and cryptocurrency, which is known for the ease with which it can be used for international settlements. Stellar is considered robust for its ability to process many transactions in parallel.
"I think that's one reason IBM chose Stellar. Some of our blockchain clients are migrating toward Stellar. Four years ago, they'd say Ether and now it could be Ether, Stellar, or any one of a number of cryptocurrencies," Savare said. "I think it's going to democratize banking."
This story, "How blockchain is becoming the 5G of the payment industry" was originally published by Computerworld.


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Living Concrete, a graffiti mural event at Oakland Museum of California's Oak Street Plaza, took place on January 21. The Plaza's giant blackboard became a canvas for a massive mural by four Oakland graffiti artists: Ras Terms, Safety First, Resta, and Tecka.
The artists painted from 11 am to 5 pm with live DJ music. After listing to music and watching muralists at their craft, there was ample time fto peruse the John Muir exhibition before it closed on January 22nd, and Richard Misrach's stunning photographs of the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley fire.
The mural design drew upon Oakland's diversity and history, referencing iconic posters in museum's political poster collection. Artists Resta and Tecka worked under the mentorship of Ras Terms and Safety First. They used a traditional graffiti style and a combination of brush and aerosol paint.
More information about Oakland Standard can be found here as well as a calendar of upcoming Oakland Standard events.


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Children have a fundamental right to learn in a safe environment and to be protected from harm.
At GEMS World Academy - Dubai we expect each of our students to be fully prepared for the opportunities and demands of the adult world.
Every GEMS World Academy - Dubai student has talents, skills and interests which must be nurtured and developed.
GEMS World Academy - Dubai provides a curriculum which is rich, varied, challenging and inspiring, enabling all students to achieve their personal best.


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In the "tradition" of Interweave's other theme publications, Jane Austen Knits, and The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, this magazine presents designs inspired by the popular television program Downton Abbey. The cover promises "27 inspired knitting projects for upstairs, downstairs & the troops." The story lines in Downton Abbey cover the time period from the sinking of the Titanic, through the Great War (WWI) and the roaring twenties, so the knitting projects run the thin line between retro and costume.
I enjoyed the articles on life in Highclere Castle, marrying an English lord, and knitting for the troops more than the knitting designs. I was surprised by the knitwear for "downstairs." The projects for the servants hold more modern appeal to me as a knitter and potentially for my wardrobe.
These magazines are expensive at $14.99 US/CAN and are more easily justified if you think of them as a booklet that you will keep for ideas and inspiration. I have not made a project from any of these specialty publications so I can only hope that they hold the same standard of pattern accuracy as other Interweave publications.
This magazine will disappear from the news stands about the time Season 4 begins to play on PBS in the United States: January 5, 2014.


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What is an absolute blast for a person that lives a plant-based lifestyle and loves food? Eating somewhere and you don't have to ask what ingredients are inside because everything is vegan! Saturday 27 August was all about Mr. & Mrs. Watson a plant-based food bar at the east side of Amsterdam, especially for yes…. Cheese lovers. Read in this blog post how I experienced it.
Donald Watson
The name Mr. & Mrs. Watson is inspired by Donald Watson. An animal activist that came with the word 'vegan'. He started 'The Vegan Society', a registered charity and the oldest vegan society in the world.
Vegan food tasting
There was a three-course food tasting of little bites for vegan and cheese lovers. A lot of different cheeses and all vegan. Before I became a plant-based eater I loved eating cheese and I could enjoy eating cheese again.
Appetizers (vegan with a cheesy twist)
One of the dishes from the first course was a Watson tarte with almond cream-cheese, bacon tempeh on olive dough. There was also a cheese fondue toast with egg salad.
Main course (pulled 'no pork' sandwich)
This was fun. Look at that sandwich pulled 'no pork' in the middle with habanero mayo, and pineapple salsa!!!
Dessert (eggless tiramisu)
As a dessert, we had a tiramisu and of course without the egg yolk ;-).
Service on point!
The service was super. The staff was very friendly and told us the names of the bites and their ingredients.
Mr. & Mrs. Watson
I must mention, I've never experienced a vegan food bar like this before. Love the concept of a bar that serves vegan food with so many different cheeses. You should definitely experience it when you are a cheese lover but also when you haven't enjoyed cheese anymore due to becoming vegan or lactose intolerance.
Mr. & Mrs. Watson is located in Amsterdam on the east side.
Linnaeuskade 3h
1098 BC Amsterdam


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Grant Morrison really loves superheroes. That fact is sometimes obscured by the difficult, even willfully over-complicated way he often writes them (at least in the eyes of some readers). Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human presents his history of superheroes. The main focus is on comics–the medium where the characters were created–but film and television also receive a lot of attention. While very personal at times, Morrison also makes an effort to maintain objectivity. His treatment of Watchmen is a prime example: he states at the outset that he did not like it when it came out, but he gives it it's due as an influential work, and spends considerable space on an appreciation of its technical virtues. He also largely fails to deliver on the book's subtitle. But he frequently speculates on the social relationship between superheroes and their times: why they were created as they were, and how their evolution reflects changes in society.
The book is organized into four main parts. Part 1: The Golden Age describes the first appearance of superheroes in 1938, which Morrison attributes to feelings of powerlessness brought on by the Great Depression and World War II. He begins with a chapter on Superman and Batman, the first great superhero creations, the embodiment of light and dark. From there he moves on to Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, and others. The era was capped by Frederick Wertham's attack on comics in his book Seduction of the Innocent, and the creation of the Comics Code. This is the briefest section of the book, and apart from comparisons made between superheroes and various world religions and mythologies, there is little that represents a distinct Morrisonian viewpoint.
Part 2: The Silver Age covers the rebirth of the genre, and the creation of the DC and Marvel characters in the form we know them today. Morrison glories in the bizarre twists of the Silver Age, and notes that this is where he first became a comics fan, citing The Flash as his favorite superhero. He also begins to play fast and loose with chronology, mentioning his series The Invisibles (which didn't begin until 1994), and quoting the Who song "Won't Get Fooled Again" a bit before it actually came out in 1971. I note that once again a comics writer I admire has musical tastes far different from mine, as Morrison disparages progressive rock as a "musical bywater." I don't love all prog by any means, but I return to it far more often than the punk rock he loves so much.
Part 3: The Dark Age details the advent of "grim and gritty" realism, led by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. As noted above, Morrison disliked Watchmen (although he praises Miller's work). And he regrets the loss of the shiny, heroic superheroes of his youth. Nevertheless, it was a period of great creativity, as the genre expanded with new possibilities. It was also the time of Morrison's first work as a professional comic book writer. So we finally get some detailed personal history about his career, surely the reason most readers will have for picking up a book with the name "Grant Morrison" on the cover. His British comics work attracted the attention of DC Comics in America, and his breakthrough work on the series Animal Man and Doom Patrol followed. Morrison discusses these at some length, as well as his Batman graphic novel Arkham Asylum, still probably his biggest mainstream hit.
Finally, Part 4: The Renaissance posits a new age of brighter, more hopeful superheroes. Exhibit A is the legendary Vertigo miniseries Flex Mentallo, which is so important to him that he devotes most of a chapter to it. Flex was a Doom Patrol character, but publication of a collected edition has been held up for years due to a lawsuit by the Charles Atlas company (look here for a good overview). I've been waiting to read the series for years, being unable to afford the sky-high collector's prices the single issues command. So I won't really be able to judge Morrison's take on it until it finally gets reprinted in February. His All-Star Superman series is another obvious example. Morrison actually puts his creator-owned series The Invisibles into this category as well, as a kind of bridge from the Dark Age. Fans of that series will be interested to read his detailed account of the famous mystical experience in Kathmandu that played such a key role in the cosmology. Morrison grants that he was a little bit high at the time, but insists that it was as real to him as anything he's ever experienced. He relates how his life-threatening tropical infection mirrored events in the comic, then shaped its progress. Later, he discusses Iain Spence's theory of cultural cycles (the Sekhmet Hypothesis), which predicts just the sorts of changes seen in the various "ages" of comics described in this book by looking at sunspot cycles.
For me the book was the most interesting when Morrison described the forces driving his writing. Even the esoteric theories are a part of the mix. You don't have to agree with them to see their impact, and Morrison leaves little doubt about what he believes. He's an enthusiastic comics historian, but not a very scrupulous one. Anyone looking for a thorough history of superheroes would be better off with some of the previous books he acknowledges in his "Suggested Further Reading" at the end. If Morrison had limited himself to discussing his influences and the way his work has evolved, this would have been a shorter book, but all the better for it. It certainly would have limited the size of the audience, so I can hardly fault him for going larger. And "going larger" is a good description of most of his creative work!
UPDATE: The Flex Mentallo collected edition finally did see print. I discuss it here.