Genitourinary Tract Tumors in Children: An Update

Background: Genitourinary tract tumors in children are less common than in adults. Most of these tumors have different genetic backgrounds, clinical presentation, and oncologic behavior than their adult counterpart. As a result of low prevalence in children, some of the treatment approaches and recommendations are based on treatment experience in adult patients. However, thanks to scientific and technological development, survival rates have risen considerably. Objective: This paper presents a review of the principal features of the tumors involving the genitourinary tract in children and an update in genetic background, diagnosis, and treatment. Methods: A narrative review was performed on published literature about genitourinary tract tumors in pediatric patients. Papers presented in English and Spanish literature were reviewed. PubMed, Science Direct, and SciELO databases were used to collect information and present this article. Results: Kidney tumors are the most common type of genitourinary tumors in children. Among those, Wilms tumor represents the majority of cases and shows the successful work of clinical trial groups studying this tumor type. Other tumors involving the genitourinary tract in children include Rhabdomyosarcoma, Transitional cell carcinoma, Testicular, and Adrenal tumors. Conclusion: Genitourinary tract tumors in children represent significant morbidity and economic burden, so awareness in early diagnosis represents improvement in treatment, clinical and oncological outcomes.

The Development of Postmodern Art: A Historical Overview

In general, modernists see the art form as a pure form independent of the art form itself. They give priority over what is shown. Or more importantly, the form or medium of representation they use is themselves. Based on this opinion, it seems that in its development the post-modern travel model can roughly be distinguished between those that are deconstructive and constructive or revisionary. Actually, one of the most prominent characteristics of modernism that distinguishes it from previous cultures such as romanticism, realism or naturalism is the existence of a systematic and amazing categorization. The energy that appears in each part is recognized for its strength. As in this case are the schools: post-impressionism, symbolism, cubism, vorticism, imagination, akmeism, and neo-plasticism. The term modernism was first used in 1890 by the Nicaraguan writer Ruben Dario to distinguish between Latin American literature and Spanish literature. Until the 1920s, modern artists managed to maintain by inspiring and integrating various art groups as a cultural force. These artists include; novelists James Joyce, Marcel Proust, and Andre Breton. In post-modernism also emerged conceptual art, a movement that attaches great importance to concepts. Often the work of conceptual artists is not shown in reality, but the work is limited to sketches and texts in which the artist's ideas are depicted. Post-modern thinkers are disillusioned with grand visions of the past such as Marxism and various religions. According to postmodernists, these visions bring only misery. These old views are being erased and replaced by more personal ideas.

The Development of Postmodern Art: A Historical Overview

In general, modernists see the art form as a pure form independent of the art form itself. They give priority over what is shown. Or more importantly, the form or medium of representation they use is themselves. Based on this opinion, it seems that in its development the post-modern travel model can roughly be distinguished between those that are deconstructive and constructive or revisionary. Actually, one of the most prominent characteristics of modernism that distinguishes it from previous cultures such as romanticism, realism or naturalism is the existence of a systematic and amazing categorization. The energy that appears in each part is recognized for its strength. As in this case are the schools: post-impressionism, symbolism, cubism, vorticism, imagination, akmeism, and neo-plasticism. The term modernism was first used in 1890 by the Nicaraguan writer Ruben Dario to distinguish between Latin American literature and Spanish literature. Until the 1920s, modern artists managed to maintain by inspiring and integrating various art groups as a cultural force. These artists include; novelists James Joyce, Marcel Proust, and Andre Breton. In post-modernism also emerged conceptual art, a movement that attaches great importance to concepts. Often the work of conceptual artists is not shown in reality, but the work is limited to sketches and texts in which the artist's ideas are depicted. Post-modern thinkers are disillusioned with grand visions of the past such as Marxism and various religions. According to postmodernists, these visions bring only misery. These old views are being erased and replaced by more personal ideas.

“Sir Francis Drake in the Spanish Literature of the Armada”

The subject of this paper is Sir Francis Drake, Elizabeth I’s most famous privateer, and his role in Spanish texts composed throughout the Armada campaign of 1588. A well-known seaman in both the New World and Europe, Drake had a significant impact on Anglo-Spanish relations, acquiring a reputation as a violent and ambitious man determined to serve his country to the death. The fight against him was conducted not only at sea, but also in literature where he was decried as Spain’s worst enemy. In poems by Juan de Castellanos, Góngora, Cervantes and Lope de Vega, Drake is portrayed as the worst enemy Spain had ever faced. Lope de Vega’s La Dragontea, a long poem about Drake’s last voyage, shows how his fearless and arrogant nature, and his disdain for danger, were not enough to enable him to avoid death and to prevent Spaniards from ridiculing him and his fate.

Crisis and Dystopia in the Current Spanish Novel Un incendio invisible, by Sara Mesa and Por si se va la Luz, by Lara Moreno

Europe in general and Spain in particular are still experiencing the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis. Spanish cultural narratives have imagined other possible scenarios around a financial crisis that has not only been an economic one, but also a social one. In that context, Spanish literature was used not only as a means to elaborate coherent narratives in times of crisis but also as a space to create other possible worlds. The novels Un incendio invisible (2011), by Sara Mesa, and Por si se ve la Luz (2013), by Lara Moreno, are both set in imaginary places in which their protagonists – sometimes driven by desire and other times by necessity – survive in hostile, abandoned and primitive places. The article attempts to analyse the dominance of the construction of dystopian places and the creation of ‘another possible world’ as a consequence of the financial crisis of 2008.

ENCARNACIÓN JUÁREZ-ALMENDROS. Disabled Bodies in Early Modern Spanish Literature: Prostitutes, Aging Women and Saints. Liverpool: Liverpool UP, 2017. viii + 201 pp.

Reseña de Disabled Bodies in Early Modern Spanish Literature: Prostitutes, Aging Women and Saints de Encarnación Juárez-Almendros.