An interview with Jacques Rancière : on medium-specificity and discipline crossovers in modern art

Jacques Rancière's work on aesthetics has received a great deal of attention in recent years. Given his work has enormous range – covering art and literature, political theory, historiography, pedagogy and worker's history – Andrew McNamara and Toni Ross (UNSW) explore his wider critical ambitions in this interview, while showing how it leads to alternative insights into aesthetics. Rancière sets aside the core suppositions linking the medium to aesthetic judgment, which has informed many definitions of modernism. Rancière is emphatic in freeing aesthetic judgment from issues of medium-specificity. He argues that the idea of autonomy associated with medium-specificity – or 'truth to the medium' – was 'a very late one' in modernism, and that post-medium trends were already evident in early modernism. While not stressing a simple continuity between early modernism and contemporary art, Ranciere nonetheless emphasizes the on-going ethical and political ramifications of maintaining an a-disciplinary stance.

Transparent colloid containing upconverting nanocrystals: An alternative medium for three-dimensional volumetric display

We report an alternative medium of transparent upconverting colloid containing lanthanide ion doped NaYF4 nanocrystals for three-dimensional (3D) volumetric display. The colloids exhibit tunable upconversion luminescence with a wide spectrum of colors by adjusting the doping concentrations of the nanocrystals and the compositions of the colloids. Our preliminary experimental result indicates that an upconverting colloid-based 3D volumetric display using a convergent, near infrared laser beam to induce a localized luminescent spot near the focus is technically feasible. Therefore arbitrary 3D objects can be created inside the upconverting colloid by use of computer controlled 3D scanning systems. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America

Pen fish culture in reservoirs: an alternative to land based nurseries

An experiment to rear carp seed was conducted in Tamil Nadu, India during October 2001 to April 2002 as a part of an ambitious programme aimed at standardization of pen fish rearing technology for production of stocking material of desired size at a lower cost. The experiment used six pens erected using locally available materials in the exposed marginal area of an existing reservoir. The high survival rate of carps (67.2-94.7%) and reasonable returns on investment (26.2%) obtained in the experiment indicated that fish seed rearing in pens erected in suitable areas of existing reservoirs could serve as a cheaper alternative to the expensive land-based nursery ponds.

Enhanced anthocyanin production by repeated-batch culture of strawberry cells with medium shift

Repeated-batch cultures of strawberry cells (Fragaria ananassa cv. Shikinari) subjected to four medium-shift procedures (constant LS medium, constant B5 medium, alternation between LS and B5 starting from LS and alternation between LS and B5 starting from B5) were investigated for the enhanced anthocyanin productivity. To determine the optimum period for repeated batch cultures, two medium-shift periods of 9 and 14 days were studied, which represent the end of the exponential growth phase and the stationary phase. By comparison with the corresponding batch cultures, higher anthocyanin productivity was achieved for all the repeated-batch cultures at a 9-day medium-shift period. The average anthocyanin productivity was enhanced 1.7-and 1.76-fold by repeated-batch cultures in constant LS and constant B5 medium at a 9-day shift period for 45 days, respectively. No further improvement was observed when the medium was alternated between LS (the growth medium) and B5 (the production medium). Anthocyanin production was unstable at a 14-day shift period regardless of the medium-shift procedures. The results show that it is feasible to improve anthocyanin production by a repeated-batch culture of strawberry cells.

The Film Society and the Creation of an Alternative Film Culture in Britain in the 1920's

Sexton, J. (2002). The Film Society and the Creation of an Alternative Film Culture in Britain in the 1920's. In A. Higson (Ed.), Young and Innocent?: The Cinema in Britain 1896-1930 (pp.291-305). Exeter: University of Exeter Press. RAE2008

Changes in the properties of Bacillus thuringiensis after prolonged culture in a rich medium

AIM: To investigate the effect of repeated culture in a rich medium on certain genetic, metabolic, pathogenic and structural characteristics of fresh isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Four strains of B. thuringiensis, which had been isolated in vegetative form from leaf surfaces, were grown for 500 generations in batch culture in a rich medium. One of the strains, S4g, differed from the parent in the following respects: greater cell width; changed plasmid profile; complete loss of ability to produce delta-endotoxins; loss of ability to produce beta-exotoxin and disruption of vip3 gene; radically different fatty acid composition; and altered metabolic activity. Two of the other evolved strains (S1g and S6g) showed differences in fatty acid profiles compared with the parents. Genetic finger-printing showed that there were also mutations in the cry genes of two of the evolved strains (S1g and S2g). The delta-endotoxins of strain S6g were significantly less toxic to the larvae of Pieris brassica compared with those of the parent and it also differed in the plasmid content. CONCLUSION: Radical and unpredictable changes can occur in fresh isolates of B. thuringiensis when subjected to growth in the laboratory. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This is the first analysis of a Gram positive and biotechnologically significant bacterium after repeated laboratory culture. It is of great relevance to the biotechnological exploitation of B. thuringiensis that prolonged growth of environmental isolates on laboratory culture media can have profound effects on their structure, genome and virulence determinants.

Antimicrobial Efficacy of an Innovative Emulsion of Medium Chain Triglycerides against Canine and Feline Periodontopathogens

OBJECTIVES: To test the in vitro antimicrobial efficacy of a non-toxic emulsion of free fatty acids against clinically relevant canine and feline periodontopathogens 
METHODS: Antimicrobial kill kinetics were established utilising an alamarBlue® viability assay against 10 species of canine and feline periodontopathogens in the biofilm mode of growth at a concentration of 0·125% v/v medium chain triglyceride (ML:8) emulsion. The results were compared with 0·12% v/v chlorhexidine digluconate and a xylitol-containing dental formulation. Mammalian cellular cytotoxicity was also investigated for both the ML:8 emulsion and chlorhexidine digluconate (0·25 to 0·0625% v/v) using in vitro tissue culture techniques.
RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was observed in the antimicrobial activity of the ML:8 emulsion and chlorhexidine digluconate; a high percentage kill rate (>70%) was achieved within 5 minutes of exposure and was maintained at subsequent time points. A statistically significant improvement in antibiofilm activity was observed with the ML:8 emulsion compared with the xylitol-containing formulation. The ML:8 emulsion possessed a significantly lower (P<0·001) toxicity profile compared with the chlorhexidine digluconate in mammalian cellular cytotoxicity assays.
CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The ML:8 emulsion exhibited significant potential as a putative effective antimi-crobial alternative to chlorhexidine- and xylitol- based products for the reduction of canine and feline periodontopathogens.

Company size, organisational culture and human resource management in small to medium sized professional services firms: a case study

Cultura organizacional e gestão de recursos humanos (GRH) são componentes fundamentais para a estratégia corporativa raramente estudada no contexto das pequenas e médias empresas (PME) no setor de serviços profissionais, um ambiente no qual o capital humano das empresas companhias é particularmente importante. Um estudo de caso de uma empresa de gestão de investimentos inglesa foi realizado. A PME quase triplicou o seu quadro de funcionários, de menos de 50 a mais de 140, nos últimos seis anos. Cultura e GRH foram pesquisadas tanto historicamente quanto no momento atual por meio de uma combinação de entrevistas individuais, observação direta durante as visitas ao local e análise documental. Foi verificado que a G RH (junto com um número de outras estruturas e processos internos) tornou-se mais formal, apesar do fato de que a empresa começou com políticas de RH relativamente desenvolvidas, em comparação com outras pequenas empresas. Uma possível explicação para esta estruturação das práticas de RH é que empresas do setor de serviços profissionais tendem a dar uma importância especial à qualidade da sua força de trabalho. Esta relativa estabilidade cultural pode ser explicada pelo fato da cultura ser forte e é mantida tanto inconscientemente quanto conscientemente, por meio de mecanismos como o planejamento de pessoal, recrutamento e remuneração. As conclusões, por conseguinte, demonstram que as atitudes e percepções nem sempre mudam tão rápido quanto sistemas organizacionais, e que a relação entre cultura e gestão de recursos humanos pode ser complexa; a formalização da GRH pode reforçar a mudança cultural em certos aspectos, ao mesmo tempo abrandá-lo em outros.

Mycelial growth and microscopic characteristics of Thermomyces lanuginosus Tsiklinskaya in YpSs medium with different carbon sources

Muitos fungos termofílicos são conhecidos como sendo produtores de lipases e o potencial dessas enzimas nas reações de esterificação (reação inversa à hidrólise), há muito tem sido reconhecida. O aspecto do micélio e diversas observações microscópicas foram efetuadas em Thermomyces lanuginosus cultivado em Placas de Petri com meios de culturas YpSs (extrato de levedura + amido + agar) e mais quatro variações na fonte de carbono neste meio. As matérias-primas usadas e avaliadas foram pentaeritritol, ácido oléico e dioleato de pentaeritritol como possíveis fontes de carbono disponíveis ao microrganismo são comumente encontradas na indústria química como intermediários clássicos na síntese de diversos ésteres. Com o crescimento de Thermomyces lanuginosus em todos os meios propostos e a manutenção da capacidade de reprodução mostramos ser esse fungo altamente promissor em futuros trabalhos de biocatálise com microrganismos vivos.