The Business of Unfinished Business : Reflections on Co-construction of Meanings in Research Encounters

My concern in this commentary is the discrepancy between cultural psychologists' theoretical claims that meanings are co-constructed by, with and for individuals in ongoing social interaction, and their research practices where researcher's and research participant's meaning-making processes are separated in time into sequential turns. I argue for the need to live up to these theoretical assumptions, by making both the initial research encounter and the researcher's later interpretation process more co-constructive. I suggest making the initial research encounter more co-constructive by paying attention to these moments when the negotiated flow of interaction between researcher and research participant breaks down, for it allows the research participant's meaning-making to be traced and makes the researcher's efforts towards meaning more explicit. I propose to make the later interpretation process more co-constructive by adopting a more open-ended and dialogical way of writing that is specifically addressed to research participants and invites them to actively engage with researcher's meaning-making.

Fibroin-based materials support co-cultivation of limbal epithelial and stromal cells

The silk protein fibroin (Bombyx mori) provides a potential substrate for use in ocular tissue reconstruction. We have previously demonstrated that transparent membranes produced from fibroin support cultivation of human limbal epithelial (HLE) cells (Tissue Eng A. 14(2008)1203-11). We extend this body of work to studies of human limbal stromal cell (HLS) growth on fibroin in the presence and absence of serum. Also, we investigate the ability to produce a bi-layered composite scaffold of fibroin with an upper HLE layer and lower HLS layer.

Co-creating stories in social learning systems : The role of community media and cultural organisations in disseminating knowledge

This paper investigates how community based media organisations are co-creative storytelling institutions, and how they learn to disseminate knowledge in a social learning system. Organisations involved in story co-creation are learning to create in fluid environments.They are project based, with a constant turnover of volunteers or staff. These organisations have to meet the needs of their funding bodies and their communities to remain sustainable. Learning is seen as dialogical, and this is also reflected in the nature of storytelling itself. These organisations must learn to meet the needs of their communities, who in turn learn from the organisation’s expertise in a facilitated setting. This learning is participatory and collaborative, and is often a mix of virtual and offline interaction. Such community-based organisations sit in the realm of a hybrid-learning environment; they are neither a formal educational institution like a college, nor do their volunteers produce outcomes in a professional capacity. Yet, they must maintain a certain level of quality outcomes from their contributors to be of continued value in their communities. Drawing from a larger research study, one particular example is that of the CitizenJ project. CitizenJ is hosted by a state cultural centre, and partnered with publishing partners in the community broadcasting sector. This paper explores how this project is a Community of Practice, and how it promotes ethical and best practice, meets contributors’ needs, emphasises the importance of facilitation in achieving quality outcomes, and the creation of projects for wider community and public interest.

Crystal structures and hydrogen-bonding in the co-crystalline adducts of 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid with 4-aminosalicylic acid and 2-hydroxy-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)propenoic acid

The structures of the cocrystalline adducts of 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (3,5-DNBA) with 4-aminosalicylic acid (PASA), the 1:1 partial hydrate, C7H4N2O6 .C7H7NO3 . 2H2O, (I) and 2-hydroxy-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)propenoic acid (HIPA) and the 1:1:1 d6-dimethylsulfoxide solvate, C7H4N2O6 . C11H9NO3 . C2D6OS, (II) are reported. The crystal substructure of (I) comprises two centrosymmetric hydrogen-bonded R2/2(8) homodimers, one with 3,5-DNBA, the other with PASA, and an R2/2(8) 3,5-DNBA-PASA heterodimer. In the crystal, inter-unit amine N-H...O and water O-H...O hydrogen bonds generate a three-dimensional supramolecular structure. In (II), the asymmetric unit consists of the three constituent molecules which form an essentially planar cyclic hydrogen-bonded heterotrimer unit [graph set R2/3(17)] through carboxyl, hydroxy and amino groups. These units associate across a crystallographic inversion centre through the HIPA carboxylic acid group in an R2/2~(8) hydrogen-bonding association, giving a zero-dimensional structure lying parallel to (100). In both structures, pi--pi interactions are present [minimum ring centroid separations: 3.6471(18)A in (I) and 3.5819(10)A in (II)].

Crystal structures of the co-crystalline adduct 5-(4-bromophenyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-amine--4-nitrobenzoic acid (1/1) and the salt 2-amino-5-(4-bromophenyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-3-ium 2-carboxy-4,6-dinitrophenolate

The structures of the 1:1 co-crystalline adduct C8H6BrN3S . C7H5NO4 (I) and the salt C8H7BrN3S+ C7H3N2O7- (II) from the interaction of 5-(4-bromophenyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-amine with 4-nitrobenzoic acid and 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid, respectively, have been determined. The primary inter-species association in both (I) and (II) is through duplex R2/2(8) (N-H...O/O-H...O) or (N-H...O/N-H...O) hydrogen bonds, respectively, giving heterodimers. In (II), these are close to planar [dihedral angles between the thiadiazole ring and the two phenyl rings are 2.1(3)deg. (intra) and 9.8(2)deg. (inter)], while in (I) these angles are 22.11(15) and 26.08(18)deg., respectively. In the crystal of (I), the heterodimers are extended into a one-dimensional chain along b through an amine N-...N(thiadiazole) hydrogen bond but in (II), a centrosymmetric cyclic heterotetramer structure is generated through N-H...O hydrogen bonds to phenol and nitro O-atom acceptors and features, together with the primary R2/2(8) interaction, conjoined R4/6(12), R2/1(6) and S(6) ring motifs. Also present in (I) are pi--pi interactions between thiadiazole rings [minimum ring centroid separation, 3.4624(16)deg.] as well as short Br...O(nitro) interactions in both (I) and (II) [3.296(3)A and 3.104(3)A, respectively].

Theatre, co-creativity & co-creative spectatorship

Theatre is a socially and politically aware artform. It participates in the construction – and, potentially, the contestation – of a community’s history, identity, and ideals. It does this live, in the moment, where artist, artwork and audience meet here, now, together. This, most theatre makers think, gives theatre special power to make spectators think about the stories it stages. But it also creates challenges.

Social media, audiences, and audience co-creativity in contemporary performance: Restoring balance?

Producers, technicians, performers, audiences and critics are all critical components of the performing arts ecology – critical components of an ecosystem that have to come together into some sort of productive relationship if the performing arts are to be vital, viable and successful. Different performance practices developed in different times, spaces and places do, of course, connect these players in different ways as part of their attempt to achieve their own definition of success, be it based on entertainment, educational, expression, empowerment, or something else. In some contemporary performance practices, social media platforms, applications and processes are seen to have significant potential to restore balance to the relationship between performer and audience, providing audiences with more power to participate in a performance event. In this paper, I investigate prevailing assumptions about social media’s power to democratise performance practice, or, at least, develop more co-creative performance practices in which producers, performers and audiences participate actively before, during and after the event. I focus, in particular, on the use of social media as a means of developing a participatory aesthetic in which an audience member is asked to contribute to the cast of characters, plot or progression of a performance. Although diverse – from performances streamed online, to performances that offer transmedia components the audience can use to learn more about character, context and plot online, to performances that incorporate online voting, liking or linking, to performances that unfold fully online on websites, blogs, microblogs or other social media platforms – what a lot of uses of social media in contemporary performance today share is a desire to encourage audiences to reflect on their role in making, and making meaning, of the event. In this paper I interrogate if, and if so how, this democratises or develops deeper levels of co-creativity in the relationship between producers, performers and audiences.