An emotional father and son reunion that sometimes is at a loss for words [Review]

DRAMA often develops around the idea of a return: a return to events of the past, memories of the past, or people from the past...

From Absence to Presence, from Silence to Voice: Victims in Transitional Justice Since the Nuremberg Trials

As much as victims have been absent in traditional and national criminal justice for a long time, they were invisible in transitional and international criminal justice after World War II. The Nuremberg Trials were dominated by the perpetrators, and documents were mainly used instead of victim testimony. Contemporaries shared the perspective that transitional justice, both international and national procedures should channel revenge by the victims and their families into the more peaceful venues of courts and legal procedures. Since then, victims have gained an ever more important role in transitional, post-conflict and international criminal justice. Non-judicial tribunals, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, and international criminal courts and tribunals are relying on the testimony of victims and thus provide a prominent role for victims who often take centre stage in such procedures and trials. International criminal law and the human rights regime have provided victims with several routes to make themselves heard and fight against impunity. This paper tracks the road from absence to presence, and from invisibility to the visibility of victims during the second half of the last and the beginning of the present century. It shows in which ways their presence has shaped and changed transitional and international justice, and in particular how their absence or presence is linked to amnesties.

Multimodal and monomodal discourses of marketization in higher education : power, ideology, and the absence of the image

The ubiquity of multimodality in hypermedia environments is undeniable. Bezemer and Kress (2008) have argued that writing has been displaced by image as the central mode for representation. Given the current technical affordances of digital technology and user-friendly interfaces that enable the ease of multimodal design, the conspicuous absence of images in certain domains of cyberspace is deserving of critical analysis. In this presentation, I examine the politics of discourses implicit within hypertextual spaces, drawing textual examples from a higher education website. I critically examine the role of writing and other modes of production used in what Fairclough (1993) refers to as discourses of marketisation in higher education, tracing four pervasive discourses of teaching and learning in the current economy: i) materialization, ii) personalization, iii) technologisation, and iv) commodification (Fairclough, 1999). Each of these arguments is supported by the critical analysis of multimodal texts. The first is a podcast highlighting the new architectonic features of a university learning space. The second is a podcast and transcript of a university Open Day interview with prospective students. The third is a time-lapse video showing the construction of a new science and engineering precinct. These three multimodal texts contrast a final web-based text that exhibits a predominance of writing and the powerful absence or silencing of the image. I connect the weightiness of words and the function of monomodality in the commodification of discourses, and its resistance to the multimodal affordances of web-based technologies, and how this is used to establish particular sets of subject positions and ideologies through which readers are constrained to occupy. Applying principles of critical language study by theorists that include Fairclough, Kress, Lemke, and others whose semiotic analysis of texts focuses on the connections between language, power, and ideology, I demonstrate how the denial of image and the privileging of written words in the multimodality of cyberspace is an ideological effect to accentuate the dominance of the institution.

Absence of intersystem crossing in 1,4-didehydrobenzene

The rate of singlet-to-triplet intersystem crossing in 1,4-didehydrobenzene (the biradical produced as a reactive intermediate in the thermal cycloaromatization of enediynes), cannot be increased by the application of an external magnetic field. The rate of product formation and the distribution of stable products of 2,3-di-n-propyl-1,4-didehydrobenzene thermolysis is unchanged at magnetic flux densities in the range 0–2000 G and at 66 000 G. Similarly, the rate of thermolysis of an unsymmetrical enediyne is insensitive to magnetic field flux in the same range. This finding precludes the modulation of enediyne reaction rates in pharmaceutical and synthetic pursuits.

Evidence for a dual function of EphB4 as tumor promoter and suppressor regulated by the absence or presence of the ephrin-B2 ligand

Overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase EphB4 is common in epithelial cancers and linked to tumor progression by promoting angiogenesis, increasing survival and facilitating invasion and migration. However, other studies have reported loss of EphB4 suggesting a tumor suppressor function in some cancers. These opposing roles may be regulated by (i) the presence of the primary ligand ephrin-B2 that regulates pathways involved in tumor suppression or (ii) the absence of ephrin-B2 that allows EphB4 signaling via ligand-independent pathways that contribute to tumor promotion. To explore this theory, EphB4 was overexpressed in the prostate cancer cell line 22Rv1 and the mammary epithelial cell line MCF-10A. Overexpressed EphB4 localized to lipid-rich regions of the plasma membrane and confirmed to be ligand-responsive as demonstrated by increased phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and internalization. EphB4 overexpressing cells demonstrated enhanced anchorage-independent growth, migration and invasion, all characteristics associated with an aggressive phenotype, and therefore supporting the hypothesis that overexpressed EphB4 facilitates tumor promotion. Importantly, these effects were reversed in the presence of ephrin-B2 which led to a reduction in EphB4 protein levels, demonstrating that ligand-dependent signaling is tumor suppressive. Furthermore, extended ligand stimulation caused a significant decrease in proliferation that correlated with a rise in caspase-3/7 and -8 activities. Together, these results demonstrate that overexpression of EphB4 confers a transformed phenotype in the case of MCF-10A cells and an increased metastatic phenotype in the case of 22Rv1 cancer cells and that both phenotypes can be restrained by stimulation with ephrin-B2, in part by reducing EphB4 levels.

Poem for my father at Sanssouci

Poem

Usability of small crisis data sets in the absence of big data

Big data is big news in almost every sector including crisis communication. However, not everyone has access to big data and even if we have access to big data, we often do not have necessary tools to analyze and cross reference such a large data set. Therefore this paper looks at patterns in small data sets that we have ability to collect with our current tools to understand if we can find actionable information from what we already have. We have analyzed 164390 tweets collected during 2011 earthquake to find out what type of location specific information people mention in their tweet and when do they talk about that. Based on our analysis we find that even a small data set that has far less data than a big data set can be useful to find priority disaster specific areas quickly.

The facile formation of silver dendritic structures in the absence of surfactants and their electrochemical and SERS properties

In this work a simple approach to the creation of highly dispersed electrocatalytically active silver microstructured dendrites on indium tin oxide in the absence of any surface modification or surfactant is presented. It is found that the addition of low concentrations of supporting electrolyte to the AgNO3 solution dramatically influences the morphology of electrodeposited silver which is independent of both the anion and the cation employed. The silver dendrites are characterized by SEM, XRD, XPS as well as by cyclic voltammetry under alkaline conditions. It is found that the surface oxide formation and removal processes are significantly influenced by the microstructured morphology of the silver electrodeposits compared to a smooth macrosized silver electrode. The facile formation of dendritic silver microstructures is also shown to be beneficial for the electrocatalytic oxidation of both formaldehyde and hydrazine and oxygen reduction. The formation of a continuous film of dendritic silver is also investigated for its SERS activity where the connectivity between the individual dendrites is found to be particularly important.

The sound of silence : the absence of voice in determining flexible working arrangements

In the context of a dramatically reconfigured labour market characterized by an individualistic culture and increasingly enmeshed life domains of employees, there is raised awareness of how employees may shape or modify their work arrangements. A small component of broader scholarship addressing issues that affect the social context in which individuals work, has focused on the role of ‘employee voice' in determining flexible-work outcomes (Donnelly et al., 2012). Employee voice is a broad term incorporating a spectrum of different practices designed to give employees a say in organisational issues and decisions (Dundon et al., 2004). This article extends work on voice and workplace flexibility by focusing not simply on ‘voice' but on its antithesis: employee silence. Silence is defined here, (following Van Dyne et al., 2003), as the intentional withholding of ideas, information and opinions. The consequences of employee silence in achieving work-life preferences are likely to be significant for both individuals and organizations, in achieving for example, the goals of business efficiency and facilitating employees' needs to fulfill multiple roles and minimize work-life interference.

Kiwifruit floral gene APETALA2 is alternatively spliced and accumulates in aberrant indeterminate flowers in the absence of miR172

In Arabidopsis, the identity of perianth and reproductive organs are specified by antagonistic action of two floral homeotic genes, APETALA2 (AP2) and AGAMOUS (AG). AP2 is also negatively regulated by an evolutionary conserved interaction with a microRNA, miR172, and has additional roles in general plant development. A kiwifruit gene with high levels of homology to AP2 and AP2-like genes from other plant species was identified. The transcript was abundant in the kiwifruit flower, particularly petal, suggesting a role in floral organ identity. Splice variants were identified, all containing both AP2 domains, including a variant that potentially produces a shorter transcript without the miRNA172 targeting site. Increased AP2 transcript accumulation was detected in the aberrant flowers of the mutant 'Pukekohe dwarf' with multiple perianth whorls and extended petaloid features. In contrast to normal kiwifruit flowers, the aberrant flowers failed to accumulate miR172 in the developing whorls, although accumulation was detected at the base of the flower. An additional role during dormancy in kiwifruit was proposed based on AP2 transcript accumulation in axillary buds before and after budbreak.

Association of increased basement membrane invasiveness with absence of estrogen receptor and expression of vimentin in human breast cancer cell lines

Lack of estrogen receptor (ER) and presence of vimentin (VIM) associate with poor prognosis in human breast cancer. We have explored the relationships between ER, VIM, and invasiveness in human breast cancer cell lines. In the matrigel outgrowth assay, ER+/VIM- (MCF-7, T47D, ZR-75-1), and ER-/VIM- (MDA-MB-468, SK-Br-3) cell lines were uninvasive, while ER-/VIM+ (BT549, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-435, MDA-MB-436, Hs578T) lines formed invasive, penetrating colonies. Similarly, ER-/VIM+ cell lines were significantly more invasive than either the ER+/VIM- or ER-/VIM- cell lines in the Boyden chamber chemoinvasion assay. Invasive activity in nude mice was only seen with ER-/ VIM+ cell lines MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-435 and MDA-MB-436. Hs578T cells (ER-/VIM+) showed hematogenous dissemination to the lungs in one of five mice, but lacked local invasion. The ER-/VIM+ MCF-7ADR subline was significantly more active than the MCF-7 cells in vitro, but resembled the wild-type MCF-7 parent in in vivo activity. Data from these cell lines suggest that human breast cancer progression results first in the loss of ER, and subsequently in VIM acquisition, the latter being associated with increased metastatic potential through enhanced invasiveness. The MCF-7ADR data provide evidence that this transition can occur in human breast cancer cells. Vimentin expression may provide useful insights into mechanisms of invasion and/or breast cancer cell progression.

The Ash Burner

Growing up with his father in a small coastal town, all Ted knows about his mother is that she died when he was a boy. His father has brought them halfway across the world to start anew, but her absence defines and haunts their lives. When Ted meets Anthony and Claire, an intense friendship begins, carrying them to Sydney and university. They introduce him to poetry and art, and he feels a sense of belonging at last. But as the trio’s friendship deepens over the years, Ted must learn to negotiate the boundaries of love, and come to terms with a legacy of secrets and silence. Written with extraordinary grace and sensitivity, The Ash Burner explores beauty and desire, grief and loss, and the search for one’s true self.

FGF-2 induces the proliferation of human periodontal ligament cells and modulates their osteoblastic phenotype by affecting Runx2 expression in the presence and absence of osteogenic inducers

The exact phenotype of human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) remains a controversial area. Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF‑2) exhibits various functions and its effect on hPDLCs is also controversial. Therefore, the present study examined the effect of FGF‑2 on the growth and osteoblastic phenotype of hPDLCs with or without osteogenic inducers (dexamethasone and β‑glycerophosphate). FGF‑2 was added to defined growth culture medium and osteogenic inductive culture medium. Cell proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and mineralization were measured. The selected differentiation markers, Runx2, collagen type Ⅰ, α1 (Col1a1), osteocalcin (OCN) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), were investigated by reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR). Runx2 and OCN protein expression was measured by western blotting. FGF‑2 significantly increased the proliferation of hPDLCs, but did not affect alkaline phosphatase activity. RT‑qPCR analysis revealed enhanced mRNA expression of Runx2, OCN and EGFR, but suppressed Col1a1 gene expression in the absence of osteogenic inducers, whereas all these gene levels had no clear trend in their presence. The Runx2 protein expression was clearly increased, but the OCN protein level showed no evident trend. The mineralization assay demonstrated that FGF‑2 inhibited mineralized matrix deposition with osteogenic inducers. These results suggested that FGF‑2 induces the growth of immature hPDLCs, which is a competitive inhibitor of epithelial downgrowth, and suppresses their differentiation into mineralized tissue by affecting Runx2 expression. Therefore, this may lead to the acceleration of periodontal regeneration.

The relationship between controlling feeding practices and boys’ and girls’ eating in the absence of hunger

Parental controlling feeding practices have been directly associated with maladaptive child eating behaviours, such as Eating in the Absence of Hunger (EAH). The aim of this study was to examine EAH in very young children (3-4 years old) and to investigate the association between maternal controlling feeding practices and energy intake from a standardised selection of snacks consumed ‘in the absence of hunger’. Thirty-seven mother-child dyads enrolled in the NOURISH RCT participated in a modified EAH protocol conducted in the child’s home. All children displayed EAH, despite 80% reporting to be full or very full following completion of lunch 15 minutes earlier. The relationship between maternal and child covariates and controlling feeding practices and EAH were examined using non-parametric tests, and were stratified by child gender. For boys only, pressure to eat was positively associated with EAH. Neither restriction nor monitoring practices were associated with EAH in either boys or girls. Overall, the present findings suggest gender differences in the relationship between maternal feeding practices and children’s eating behaviours emerge early and should be considered in future research and intervention design.