α-Synuclein senses lipid packing defects and induces lateral expansion of lipids leading to membrane remodeling.

There is increasing evidence for the involvement of lipid membranes in both the functional and pathological properties of α-synuclein (α-Syn). Despite many investigations to characterize the binding of α-Syn to membranes, there is still a lack of understanding of the binding mode linking the properties of lipid membranes to α-Syn insertion into these dynamic structures. Using a combination of an optical biosensing technique and in situ atomic force microscopy, we show that the binding strength of α-Syn is related to the specificity of the lipid environment (the lipid chemistry and steric properties within a bilayer structure) and to the ability of the membranes to accommodate and remodel upon the interaction of α-Syn with lipid membranes. We show that this interaction results in the insertion of α-Syn into the region of the headgroups, inducing a lateral expansion of lipid molecules that can progress to further bilayer remodeling, such as membrane thinning and expansion of lipids out of the membrane plane. We provide new insights into the affinity of α-Syn for lipid packing defects found in vesicles of high curvature and in planar membranes with cone-shaped lipids and suggest a comprehensive model of the interaction between α-Syn and lipid bilayers. The ability of α-Syn to sense lipid packing defects and to remodel membrane structure supports its proposed role in vesicle trafficking.

Haptic Sensation and Instrumental Transgression

Anyone who has ever played a musical instrument will certify the development of a particular type of relationship between the instrument and the performer. This relationship goes beyond a convenient coupling that is optimized for sound production. Every musical instrument defines ways in which to be touched, felt, activated. Music performance is dependent on bodily involvement that goes beyond the auditory and the sense of hearing. This article investigates the role of haptic sensation in the context of the performer-instrument relationship and draws on the writings of Georges Bataille to illuminate a discussion of the erotic in performance.

The relationship between time attitudes profiles and self-efficacy, sensation seeking, and alcohol use: An exploratory study

A growing body of research has begun to report on time attitudes which specifically refers to an individual's emotional and evaluative feelings toward the past, the present, and the future. The present study used data from the first wave of a longitudinal cohort study in the United Kingdom. Sample 1 consisted of 1580 adolescents (40% female, 1.7% unreported) in Northern Ireland, while Sample 2 consisted of 813 adolescents (46.7% female, 1.4% unreported) in Scotland. Five similar time attitudes profiles emerged in both countries, with one additional "balanced" profile in Scotland. Results show that there were no substantive differences between profiles in terms of socio-demographic indicators. However, in respect of academic, social and emotional self-efficacy, best results were observed for those with Positive, Ambivalent, and Balanced profiles, with the reverse true for those with Negative, Past Negative, and Pessimistic profiles. Positives were also less likely to report using alcohol.

Dans le Noir? Eating in the dark: sensation and conviviality in a lightless place

Drawing on ethnographic interviews with customers, this paper looks at the experience of dining at Dans le Noir?, a restaurant in London where eating is carried out in complete darkness. As an exemplary gastro-tourist site within the expanding leisure economy at which sensory alterity is sought, we argue that the transformation of the usual unreflexive habits of sensing while dining offer opportunities to encounter difference and reflect upon our culturally located ways of sensing the world. In focusing upon the altered experience of apprehending space, eating and socialising in the absence of light, we contend that this dining experience offers broader suggestions about how we might reconsider the qualities and potentialities of darkness, a condition which has been historically feared and reviled in the west.

Colour Sensation and Empathy: Arthur Schopenhauer's Negative Philosophy and Colour Theory as the Basis of an Elemental Colour Architecture

Arthur Schopenhauer proposed a theory of colour as a consequence of his first hand knowledge of J.W. Goethe’s experiments with color phenomena. This colour theory can be used to explore an interesting proposition Schopenhauer made about architecture. For Schopenhauer, architecture is about feelings, not about functions or forms, its purpose as an art is to reveal the principles of primitive forces, specifically gravity and rigidity. For Schopenhauer, architecture expresses these forces in the poised equilibrium of massive structures built out of stone. Schopenhauer was inclined to believed that architecture had already achieved its most perfect expression in Greek temple architecture. However; he did offer one possibility for architectural research: this was the suggestion that architecture was also concerned with the expression of light. It seems never to have occurred to Schopenhauer to use his colour theory to speculate about light in architecture. This paper explores some of the implications of Schopenhauer’s theory of colour for his aesthetics of architecture?

Moderating effects of gender and general self-efficacy on the relationship between sensation-seeking and adolescent substance use /

This study performed a aecondvy dau analysis of information collected during the Youth Leisure Study (YLS). The purpose of this study was to examine the potential moderating influences of gender and general self-efTicacy on the relationships aoKXig sensation-seeking and various forms of substance use in adolescents. Specifically, the predictive ability of sensation seeking on five adolescents substance use outcomes (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use; binge drinking; and number of times drunk) was examined. Moderated hierarchical multiple regression (MHMR) analyses were used to examine the relationships among study variables. The results for this study indicate that the relationships among sensation-seeking and forms of adolescent substance use are more complex than literature suggests. Main effect relationships were found consistently for sensation-seeking and general self-efficacy with each of the outcome variables. Results for gender were not consistent across the substance use outcomes. Gender was a significant predictor for marijuana use only. The moderating effects of general self-efficacy (GSE) on the sensation-seekingsubstance use relationship were inconsistent. While no significant interactions were found for tobacco or alcohol use outcomes, GSE was found to moderate the relationship between sensation-seeking and marijuana use indicating that feelings of high general selfefficacy act as a buffer or guard against marijuana use. A consistent pattern was found among the alcohol use variables (alcohol use. binge drinking, and number of times drunk). Gender was found to moderate each of these variables indicating that higher levels of sensation seeking are more predictive of higher levels of adolescent alcohol use in males only. Implications of this study on the field of education, are discussed further, and suggestions for future research are presented.

Design and Control of an Anthropomorphic Robotic Finger with Multi-point Tactile Sensation

The goal of this research is to develop the prototype of a tactile sensing platform for anthropomorphic manipulation research. We investigate this problem through the fabrication and simple control of a planar 2-DOF robotic finger inspired by anatomic consistency, self-containment, and adaptability. The robot is equipped with a tactile sensor array based on optical transducer technology whereby localized changes in light intensity within an illuminated foam substrate correspond to the distribution and magnitude of forces applied to the sensor surface plane. The integration of tactile perception is a key component in realizing robotic systems which organically interact with the world. Such natural behavior is characterized by compliant performance that can initiate internal, and respond to external, force application in a dynamic environment. However, most of the current manipulators that support some form of haptic feedback either solely derive proprioceptive sensation or only limit tactile sensors to the mechanical fingertips. These constraints are due to the technological challenges involved in high resolution, multi-point tactile perception. In this work, however, we take the opposite approach, emphasizing the role of full-finger tactile feedback in the refinement of manual capabilities. To this end, we propose and implement a control framework for sensorimotor coordination analogous to infant-level grasping and fixturing reflexes. This thesis details the mechanisms used to achieve these sensory, actuation, and control objectives, along with the design philosophies and biological influences behind them. The results of behavioral experiments with a simple tactilely-modulated control scheme are also described. The hope is to integrate the modular finger into an %engineered analog of the human hand with a complete haptic system.

Sexual sensation-seeking and worry about sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among Spanish adolescents. = B??squeda de sensaciones y preocupaci??n por las Enfermedades de Transmisi??n Sexual y VIH en adolescentes espa??oles

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n. Resumen tambi??n en ingl??s

The horizontal spread of a vertical malady: cosmopolitanism and history in Pernambuco’s recent cinematic sensation

Brazil’s recent cinematic sensation, O som ao redor/Neighboring Sounds (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012), displays an effective integration of form and content, as exemplified by its vertical figuration that crystallizes the devastating effects of property development and global capitalism. This chapter will attempt to unravel a two-way drive within this vertical motif: a movement off the ground, resulting in global cosmopolitanism; and another into the ground, in search of the social history and film history at its base. As I hope to demonstrate, despite the characters’ late postmodernist disconnect from local context and history, O som ao redor offers a perspicacious insight into regional and national history that contributes an original and exciting addition to Brazilian and world cinema.

Souvenirs of the senses - Handdunes

This series of works "Handunes" were in response to a curatorial premise that my colleagues, Patrick West and Valerie Jeremijenko produced for a invited workshop and in tensive fabrication. The premise was to re-think the notion of the souvenir and how things are mad in a place by starting with a sensation of place and building an object (reverse engineering it) from that sensation or experience. this works against the notion of an miniature icon. these objects and documented processes were exhibited at the end of the one week intensive workshop.