In vivo confocal microscopy of the palpebral conjunctiva and tarsal plate

Purpose The aim of this work is to develop a more complete understanding of the in vivo histology of the human palpebral conjunctiva and tarsal plate. Methods. The upper eyelids of 11 healthy human volunteer subjects were everted, and laser scanning confocal microscopy was used to examine the various tissue layers of the palpebral conjunctiva and tarsal plate. Results The superficial and basal epithelial layers are composed of cells with gray cytoplasm and thick, light gray borders.Nuclei can not be seen. The stroma has a varied appearance; fibrous tissue is sometimes observed, interspersed with dark,amorphous lacunae, and crevases. Numerous single white or gray cells populate this tissue, and fine blood vessels are seen traversing the field. Occasional conjunctival microcysts and Langerhans cells are observed. The tarsal plate is dark and amorphous, and meibomian gland acini with convoluted borders are clearly observed. Acini are composed of an outer lining of large cuboidal cells, and differentiated secretory cells can be seen within the acini lumen. Conclusions Laser scanning confocal microscopy is capable of studying the human palpebral conjunctiva, tarsal plate, and acini of meibomian glands in vivo. The observations presented here may provide useful supplementary anatomical information relating to the morphology of this tissue.

Never-Never Land : affective landscapes, the touristic gaze and heterotopic space in Australia

This article explores how the imaginative use of the landscape in Baz Luhrmann’s Australia (2008) intersects with the fantasy of Australianness that the film constructs. We argue the fictional Never-Never Land through which the film’s characters travel is an, albeit problematic, ‘indigenizing’ space that can be entered imaginatively through cultural texts including poetry, literature and film, or through cultural practices including touristic pilgrimages to landmarks such as Uluru and Kakadu National Park. These actual and virtual journeys to the Never-Never have broader implications in terms of fostering a sense of belonging and legitimating white presence in the land through affect, nostalgia and the invocation of an imagined sense of solidarity and community. The heterotopic concept of the Never-Never functions to create an ahistorical, inclusive space that grounds diverse conceptions of Australianness in a shared sense of belonging and home that is as mythical, contradictory and wondrous as the idea of the Never-Never itself. The representations of this landscape and the story of the characters that traverse it self-consciously construct a relationship to past events and to film history, as well as constructing a comfortable subject position for contemporary Australians to occupy in relation to the land, the colonial past, and the present.

The Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS): overview and experimental design

The climate in the Arctic is changing faster than anywhere else on earth. Poorly understood feedback processes relating to Arctic clouds and aerosol–cloud interactions contribute to a poor understanding of the present changes in the Arctic climate system, and also to a large spread in projections of future climate in the Arctic. The problem is exacerbated by the paucity of research-quality observations in the central Arctic. Improved formulations in climate models require such observations, which can only come from measurements in situ in this difficult-to-reach region with logistically demanding environmental conditions. The Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS) was the most extensive central Arctic Ocean expedition with an atmospheric focus during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2008. ASCOS focused on the study of the formation and life cycle of low-level Arctic clouds. ASCOS departed from Longyearbyen on Svalbard on 2 August and returned on 9 September 2008. In transit into and out of the pack ice, four short research stations were undertaken in the Fram Strait: two in open water and two in the marginal ice zone. After traversing the pack ice northward, an ice camp was set up on 12 August at 87°21' N, 01°29' W and remained in operation through 1 September, drifting with the ice. During this time, extensive measurements were taken of atmospheric gas and particle chemistry and physics, mesoscale and boundary-layer meteorology, marine biology and chemistry, and upper ocean physics. ASCOS provides a unique interdisciplinary data set for development and testing of new hypotheses on cloud processes, their interactions with the sea ice and ocean and associated physical, chemical, and biological processes and interactions. For example, the first-ever quantitative observation of bubbles in Arctic leads, combined with the unique discovery of marine organic material, polymer gels with an origin in the ocean, inside cloud droplets suggests the possibility of primary marine organically derived cloud condensation nuclei in Arctic stratocumulus clouds. Direct observations of surface fluxes of aerosols could, however, not explain observed variability in aerosol concentrations, and the balance between local and remote aerosols sources remains open. Lack of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) was at times a controlling factor in low-level cloud formation, and hence for the impact of clouds on the surface energy budget. ASCOS provided detailed measurements of the surface energy balance from late summer melt into the initial autumn freeze-up, and documented the effects of clouds and storms on the surface energy balance during this transition. In addition to such process-level studies, the unique, independent ASCOS data set can and is being used for validation of satellite retrievals, operational models, and reanalysis data sets.

Identification of thermally-tagged coherent structures in the zero pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer

A zero pressure gradient boundary layer over a flat plate is subjected to step changes in thermal condition at the wall, causing the formation of internal, heated layers. The resulting temperature fluctuations and their corresponding density variations are associated with turbulent coherent structures. Aero-optical distortion occurs when light passes through the boundary layer, encountering the changing index of refraction resulting from the density variations. Instantaneous measurements of streamwise velocity, temperature and the optical deflection angle experienced by a laser traversing the boundary layer are made using hot and cold wires and a Malley probe, respectively. Correlations of the deflection angle with the temperature and velocity records suggest that the dominant contribution to the deflection angle comes from thermally-tagged structures in the outer boundary layer with a convective velocity of approximately 0.8U∞. An examination of instantaneous temperature and velocity and their temporal gradients conditionally averaged around significant optical deflections shows behavior consistent with the passage of a heated vortex. Strong deflections are associated with strong negative temperature gradients, and strong positive velocity gradients where the sign of the streamwise velocity fluctuation changes. The power density spectrum of the optical deflections reveals associated structure size to be on the order of the boundary layer thickness. A comparison to the temperature and velocity spectra suggests that the responsible structures are smaller vortices in the outer boundary layer as opposed to larger scale motions. Notable differences between the power density spectra of the optical deflections and the temperature remain unresolved due to the low frequency response of the cold wire.

THE GREAT RUSSIAN PIANO TRADITION: SELECTED REPERTOIRE BY TCHAIKOVSKY, RACHMANINOFF AND PROKOFIEV

This dissertation explores representative piano music by three great Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. The areas of research include: 1) the short character piece; 2) the Russian piano transcription tradition; 3) the concerto and sonata cycle; 4) extra-musical imagery; 5) the influence of popular and dance music of the period. Perhaps the most important result of this research is learning how the art of incorporating a singing quality at the piano stands at the center of Russian pianistic heritage. The first recital features compositions by Sergei Prokofiev. The Seventh Sonata exhibits rebellious, uncompromisingly dissonant treatment of its musical content. Ten Pieces from “Cinderella” shows an ascetic approach to piano texture - a common characteristic in Prokofiev’s late works. The Third Concerto is Prokofiev’s masterpiece in the genre. One of the 20th century’s most performed concerti, it overflows with pianistic challenges. For my second dissertation recital, I have chosen Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. These short character pieces were inspired by literary sources. The text portrays Russian rural life, nature, moments of intimate reflection, and imaginary experiences and impressions. Tchaikovsky’s gift as a melodist and remarkable musical individualist is represented in his two Nocturnes as well as in the Nutcracker Suite, masterfully transcribed by Mikhail Pletnev. The final program features Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Ten Preludes, Op. 23, regarded as a culmination of the turn-of-the-century grand Russian pianistic style. The Fantasy Pieces helped establish Rachmaninoff’s reputation as a pianist-composer, a profoundly lyrical poet of the piano. The three Rachmaninoff transcriptions, the Minuet, the Hopak and the Polka de W.R. preserve the spirit of the Golden Era’s musical salon. These pieces were written to delight and dazzle audiences with their bold character, musical taste, virtuosic tricks and technical finesse. The three recitals comprising this dissertation were presented in Gildenhorn Recital at the University of Maryland School of Music on November 13, 2010, April 11, 2011 and February 27, 2012. The recitals were recorded on compact discs and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

THE GREAT RUSSIAN PIANO TRADITION: SELECTED REPERTOIRE BY TCHAIKOVSKY, RACHMANINOFF AND PROKOFIEV

This dissertation explores representative piano music by three great Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. The areas of research include: 1) the short character piece; 2) the Russian piano transcription tradition; 3) the concerto and sonata cycle; 4) extra-musical imagery; 5) the influence of popular and dance music of the period. Perhaps the most important result of this research is learning how the art of incorporating a singing quality at the piano stands at the center of Russian pianistic heritage. The first recital features compositions by Sergei Prokofiev. The Seventh Sonata exhibits rebellious, uncompromisingly dissonant treatment of its musical content. Ten Pieces from "Cinderella" shows an ascetic approach to piano texture - a common characteristic in Prokofiev's late works. The Third Concerto is Prokofiev's masterpiece in the genre. One of the 20th century's most performed concerti, it overflows with pianistic challenges. For my second dissertation recital, I have chosen Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky's The Seasons. These short character pieces were inspired by literary sources. The text portrays Russian rural life, nature, moments of intimate reflection, and imaginary experiences and impressions. Tchaikovsky's gift as a melodist and remarkable musical individualist is represented in his two Nocturnes as well as in the Nutcracker Suite, masterfully transcribed by Mikhail Pletnev. The final program features Sergei Rachmaninoff's Ten Preludes, Op. 23, regarded as a culmination of the turn-of-the-century grand Russian pianistic style. The Fantasy Pieces helped establish Rachmaninoff's reputation as a pianist-composer, a profoundly lyrical poet of the piano. The three Rachmaninoff transcriptions, the Minuet, the Hopak and the Polka de W.R. preserve the spirit of the Golden Era's musical salon. These pieces were written to delight and dazzle audiences with their bold character, musical taste, virtuosic tricks and technical finesse. The three recitals comprising this dissertation were presented in Gildenhorn Recital at the University of Maryland School of Music on November 13, 2010, April 11, 2011 and February 27, 2012. The recitals were recorded on compact discs and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).

Collagenolytic Activities of the Major Secreted Cathepsin L Peptidases Involved in the Virulence of the Helminth Pathogen, Fasciola hepatica

The temporal expression and secretion of distinct members of a family of virulence-associated cathepsin L cysteine peptidases (FhCL) correlates with the entry and migration of the helminth pathogen Fasciola hepatica in the host. Thus, infective larvae traversing the gut wall secrete cathepsin L3 (FhCL3), liver migrating juvenile parasites secrete both FhCL1 and FhCL2 while the mature bile duct parasites, which are obligate blood feeders, secrete predominantly FhCL1 but also FhCL2.

Renouveau du genre fantasy pour la jeunesse dans Ellana de Pierre Bottero

Le tournant des XXe et XXIe siècles coïncide avec l’essor de la littérature fantasy, héritière de nombreuses formes littéraires et cinématographiques. Plusieurs œuvres de ce corpus récent procèdent au renouvellement des paramètres conventionnels de la fantasy. Pierre Bottero prend part à cet effort par le truchement de la figure singulière d’une femme, Ellana, appartenant à la guilde des marchombres, et dont la quête de liberté renvoie à la recherche de dépassement de l’auteur. Après l’écriture de La Quête d’Ewilan (2003) et Les Mondes d’Ewilan (2005), Bottero se détourne en effet de la tradition tolkiénienne et de la légende arthurienne afin de mettre au point Le Pacte des marchombres, une trilogie qui relate l’émancipation du personnage d’Ellana par sa pratique d’une écriture « poétique ». Le présent mémoire explore les potentialités de l’écriture fantasy qui se déploient au sein du récit Ellana (2006), premier volet de la dernière trilogie de Bottero. Ellana relève d’une pratique particulière de l’écriture transfictionnelle – le prequel – qui s’effectue à rebours. Bottero substitue à la figure de Merlin, mythe fondateur de ses premières trilogies, celle d’Ellana, qui en vient à jouer un rôle central au sein du cycle alavirien. Nous mettons en relief les principaux traits du genre fantasy dans le but d’identifier les topoï qu’Ellana reconduit ou transgresse. Parallèlement, nous procédons à l’étude de l’imaginaire bottérien dont la figure d’Ellana est tributaire. En faisant de la protagoniste une figure mythique, l’auteur construit l’image d’un féminin à la fois sauvage et gracieux que rien n’empêche de vivre indépendamment des hommes.

Interdisciplinary Pedagogical Experience for Health Human Resources Focused on the Holistic Promotion of Health and the Prevention of the Disease

The object of this experience is to offer the students the opportunity to take part in the construction of a pedagogic strategy centred on the ludic, for the promotion of the integral health and the prevention of the disease with an educational community; directed to supporting and qualifying the well-being so much individually as group. The project is designed to five years, about interdisciplinary character (Speech Therapy, Medicine, Psychology, Nursery, Occupational Therapy), interinstitutional (Universidad del Rosario, Universidad de San Buenaventura y Universidad de Cundinamarca) and intersectorial (Education and Health). It considers the different actors of the educational community and school and the home as propitious scenes for the strengthening potential, beside being the fundamental spaces for the construction of knowledges and learnings concerning the integral health. To achieve the target, one has come constructing from the second semester of 2003, one pedagogic strategy centred on the ludic and the creativity, from which they are planned, they develop and evaluate the actions of promotion of skills, values, behaviors and attitudes in the care of the health and the prevention of disease, orientated to the early, opportune and effective detection of risk factors and problematic of the development that they affect the integral health. The above mentioned strategy raises a so called scene Bienestarópolis: A healthy world for conquering, centred on prominent figures, spaces and elements that alternate between the fantasy and the reality to facilitate the approximation, the interiorización and the appropriation of the integral health. Across this one, the children motivated by the adults enter an imaginary world in that theirs desires, knowledges and attitudes are the axis of his development. Since Vigotsky raises it, in the game the child realizes actions in order to adapt to the world that surrounds it acquiring skills for the learning. The actions of the project have involved 410 children and 25 teachers, of the degrees Zero, The First and The Second of basic primary; 90 parents of family, and an average of 40 students and 8 teachers of the already mentioned disciplines.

Estudios sonoros desde la Región Andina UIO-BOG = Sonic Studies from the Andean Region

El presente trabajo se basa en el análisis de las prácticas sonoras y, a partir de ahí, de una apuesta por un nuevo campo de estudios, el de los Estudios Sonoros; cuyo fin último es establecer una perspectiva epistemológica y política de las prácticas experimentales con sonido, en diálogo con proyectos provenientes de los Estudios Culturales, como son el proyecto modernidad/ colonialidad, las teorías poscoloniales y los estudios subalternos. Desde estas posiciones teóricas y políticas, estoy conciente de que el sonido, y sus posibilidades experimentales, articulan un régimen influyente en el mundo contemporáneo. Razón por la cual, sobre todo, esta es una reflexión desde las prácticas sonoras que surgen en dos ciudades andinas: Quito y Bogotá, como una expresión emergente para establecer encuentros Sur-Sur, que puedan generar diálogos epistemológicos sobre el sonido. En otras palabras, en este libro estoy proponiéndo a mis lectoras y lectores, una especie de “juego epistémico”: comprender el sonido como un lugar de conocimiento.Y el sonido es conocimiento precisamente porque el sonido nos permite vernos (y permite verme) como un sujeto históricamente ubicado. En el capítulo primero abordaré la pregunta de cómo se fue articulando el régimen discursivo del sonido como arte, dentro de diálogos y conflictos que se generaron en el contexto de la Guerra Fría que, para el caso de Latinoamérica, constituyó la transferencia de conocimientos articulados desde promesas como el desarrollismo y la modernización. También analizaré el cómo se configuraron, tanto en Quito como en Bogotá, las nuevas subjetividades “artísticas” frente al discurso de las vanguardias europeas del siglo XX y el experimentalismo estadounidense. Como verán mis lectoras y lectores, estos modelos, aparentemente originales e innovadores, fueron influidos por formas de saber y poder moduladas alrededor de la idea de la renovación de las artes a través del sonido, formulación que instaló el sonido como dispositivo/materia desde el cual, en detrimento de lo local, se articuló la fantasía de un universal deseado: las máquinas de sonido y de reproducibilidad técnica. En el segundo capítulo me centraré en algunas prácticas de experimentación sonora para indagar cuestiones como el estilo, procedimiento posmodernista ampliamente diseminado dentro de las instituciones artísticas y de éstas hacia la vida cotidiana. A partir de lo cual intentamos esclarecer el porqué de la confiscación y sometimiento de lo sonoro bajo el cuidadoso encierro del régimen discursivo del arte, que de manera eficiente lo absorbe como un “nuevo” medio para disciplinarlo y nombrarlo como proyecto sonoro, pieza sonora, instalación sonora, performance sonoro, acción sonora, objeto sonoro, paisaje sonoro, composición, loop. En otras palabras, cómo todo lo que genera el posmodernismo es apropiado por las universidades para crear la noción de “pastiche”, en donde todo cabe, bajo la indulgencia del “estilo”, procedimiento desde el cual se va instalando el régimen de verdad de un nuevo universal deseado: El Arte Sonoro. En este mismo capítulo, indagamos sobre las lógicas de producción de estas prácticas, para avanzar hacia las lógicas culturales donde lo sonoro se define y redefine por el posicionamiento y el lugar desde el que actúan los sujetos. Bajo estas consideraciones, queda planteada la propuesta, acuñada por esta investigación, la de un nuevo campo de estudio: Los Estudios Sonoros, propuesta que debe ser entendida como lo que algunos intelectuales latinoamericanos llaman epistemes emergentes11, precisamente porque esta investigación hace un esfuerzo por esclarecer las interdependencias existentes entre prácticas artísticas con sonido, el campo discursivo del arte y otras construcciones discursivas de la modernidad-colonialidad que establecen y regulan la formación del régimen sonoro. En el capítulo tercero analizaré cómo un “medio de creación” se vuelve hegemónico y cómo ciertos artistas que usan el sonido, bajo la pretensión de representar la marginalidad, marginalizan aún más a las personas que han sido históricamente subalternizadas. Seguido de este análisis, en el capítulo cuarto, indagamos sobre las tácticas que marcan nuevas formas de adhesión, de representación y de resistencia cultural, las mismas que son estrategias suplementarias frente, y en contra, de los discursos dominantes de las prácticas artísticas con sonido y las geopolíticas de conocimiento.

An ichnofabric approach to the depositional interpretation of the intensely burrowed Bateig Limestone, Miocene, SE Spain

The foraminiferal-rich pelagic Bateig Limestone forms several varieties of the important building stones quarried at Bateig Hill in southeastern Spain. Three principal ichnofabrics (Bichordites, mottled-Palaeophycus and mottled-Ophiomorpha) are recognized, which are present in at least two (possibly up to four) repeated successions (cycles). Each succession begins with an erosional event. The Bichordites ichnofabric represents a new type of facies, formed as thin turbidity/grain flow, stratiform units derived from sediment slips off a fault into deep water. Each slipped unit became almost completely bioturbated by infaunal echinoids, colonizing by lateral migration. Because of the thinness of the units, successive colonizations tended to truncate the underlying burrows giving rise to a pseudo-stratification. As the Bichordites ichnofabric accumulated on the fault apron, thus reducing the effective height of the fault scarp, the substrate gradually came under the influence of currents traversing the shelf. This led to a change in hydraulic regime, and to the mottled-Palaeophycus and mottled-Ophiomorpha ichnofabrics in sediment deposited under bed load transport, and associated with laminar and cross-stratified beds and local muddy intervals. Reactivation of the fault triggered erosion and channeling and a return to grain flow sedimentation, and to the Bichordites ichnofabric of the succeeding cycle. The highest unit of the Bateig Limestone is formed entirely of cross-stratified calcarenites with occasional Ophiomorpha (Ophiomorpha-primary lamination ichnofabric) and is similar to many shallow marine facies but they still bear a significant content of pelagic foraminifera. The sedimentary setting bears resemblance with that described for the Pleistocene Monte Torre Paleostrait and the modem Strait of Messina (Italy), where the narrow morphology of the depositional area enhanced tidal currents and allowed for high-energy sandy deposition in relatively deep areas. More data on the Miocene paleogeography of the Bateig area should provide further testing for this hypothesis. The ichnofacies and stacking of the Bateig Limestone differ from the classic Seilacherian model in that they reflect changes in hydraulic process and are associated with faulting and subsidence and changes in sediment supply. Recognition of the unusual ichnofabrics and their relationships provides a clear indication of the overall dynamic setting. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The human bridge

Two of the ideas taken into collaborative groups emerging within the workshop symposia were: 1. models of collaboration and 2. notions of the gift and gift economy. This research addressed the idea of stepping on other to progress. And asks the question as to how whether one will literally step on another person and how one handles this delicate proposition when confronted with it the notion of putting their weight on the bodies of several people lying on the ground. In this performance, several people lie on the floor blocking access to a entrance way. Persons wishing to enter the space for activities in the community hall, must walk over the person lying on the floor. Two assistants advise, guide and encourage persons entering the hallway if they request or look in need of assistance traversing the human bridge.

Facilitating best practice : transferring the lessons of the Clinical Support Systems program

The Clinical Support Systems Program (CSSP) includes the management of clinical practice using clinical and consumer pathways, outcome and performance indicators, clinical measurement and review in a continuous improvement cycle using the best available extant evidence. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians is testing the CSSP model through four consortia around Australia. There are 17 project sites in three States. The funded projects address major clinical problems including congestive heart failure and acute coronary syndromes, acute stroke management, and colorectal cancer care. There is some early evidence of the CSSP influencing change in areas beyond the bounds of the project settings and the College has developed a plan to promote wider adoption of best practice. This approach recognises the College’s role in providing Fellows with the practical tools of quality improvement, the means to collect data and compare their practice to other clinicians, while traversing the appropriate educational framework.

Nutrient accumulation in 'Fantasy' net melon cultivated on substrate

Knowledge of the most essential nutrients for plant growth facilitates the efficient handling of its nutrition, especially when they are grown on a substrate supported by fertigation. The objective of this study was to determine the accumulation of nutrients in net melon grown on a substrate and understand the relationship between mineral nutrition and plant growth. The Fantasy hybrid was cultivated in pots containing a substrate consisting of a mixture of sand and peanut shells (ratio, 1:1). Determination of nutrient accumulation was performed in 6 seasons. The substrate was chemically characterized before and after cultivation. Harvesting occurred 78 days after transplantation, resulting in an average yield of 70,120 kg·ha-1. Substrate analysis showed a small increase in nutrient levels by the end of cultivation. The order of nutrient accumulation was as follows: N>Ca>K>P>Mg>S>B> Fe>Mn>Zn>Cu.

The selectivity of the hair cell’s mechanoelectrical-transduction channel promotes Ca2+ flux at low Ca2+ concentrations

The mechanoelectrical-transduction channel of the hair cell is permeable to both monovalent and divalent cations. Because Ca2+ entering through the transduction channel serves as a feedback signal in the adaptation process that sets the channel’s open probability, an understanding of adaptation requires estimation of the magnitude of Ca2+ influx. To determine the Ca2+ current through the transduction channel, we measured extracellular receptor currents with transepithelial voltage-clamp recordings while the apical surface of a saccular macula was bathed with solutions containing various concentrations of K+, Na+, or Ca2+. For modest concentrations of a single permeant cation, Ca2+ carried much more receptor current than did either K+ or Na+. For higher cation concentrations, however, the flux of Na+ or K+ through the transduction channel exceeded that of Ca2+. For mixtures of Ca2+ and monovalent cations, the receptor current displayed an anomalous mole-fraction effect, which indicates that ions interact while traversing the channel’s pore. These results demonstrate not only that the hair cell’s transduction channel is selective for Ca2+ over monovalent cations but also that Ca2+ carries substantial current even at low Ca2+ concentrations. At physiological cation concentrations, Ca2+ flux through transduction channels can change the local Ca2+ concentration in stereocilia in a range relevant for the control of adaptation.