Looking into the light : reinventing the apparatus in contemporary art

Technical images such as photography, film and video, are dependent on apparatuses for their production and dissemination, yet the apparatus itself is often hidden or obscured in the experience of the work and the discourse that surrounds it. This practice-led research identifies key practice strategies to foreground the apparatus both in the production of work and in its presentation. It therefore develops critical and generative strategies to explore and interrogate the workings of the 'apparatus-audience complex,' and the particular modes of spectatorship that this entails.

Ruby Holler.

Historia que relata las aventuras unos mellizos huérfanos: Florida, una niña, y Dallas, un niño. Cuando la historia comienza tienen trece años, y viven en la Casa de los Niños, un miserable orfanato dirigido por los codiciosos señor y señora Trepid. Cada cierto tiempo son adoptados por una cruel o peculiar familia. Los hermanos dependen el uno del otro en lugar de buscar apoyo en los adultos y cada cual es el único amigo del otro. Un día el señor Trepid les informa de que van a un lugar llamado Ruby Holler para acompañar al viejo señor Tiller y a la señora Morey, por separado, en vacaciones. Tiller y Sairy Morey son una inusual pareja. Florida es la compañera de viaje del señor Tiller y Dallas ayuda a Sairy Morey a perseguir a un ave. Florida y Dallas, aunque no siempre obedecen las normas, hacer descubrimientos acerca de unos con los otros, así como de un tranquilo medio rural. Para edades comprendidas entre ocho y doce años.

Dr. August Holler

von Dr. H. Paul

Flora ægyptiaco-arabica. Sive Descriptiones plantarum, quas per Ægyptum inferiorem et Arabiam felicem detexit, illustravit Petrus Forskål ... Post mortem auctoris edidit Carsten Niebuhr. Accedit tabula Arabiae felicis geographico-botanica.

Florula littoris Galliæ ad Estac prope Massiliam. Accedit florula insulæ Maltæ. p., [i]-xiv.--Flora constantinopolitana, littoris ad Dardenellos et insularum Tenedos, Imros, Rhodi, p. [xv]-xxxvi.--Flora ægyptiaca: sive Catalogus plantarum systematicus Ægypti inferioris: Alexandriæ, Rosettæ, Kahiræ, Sues, p. [xxxvii]-lxxviii.--Flora arabicovemen. Sive Catalogue plantarum Arabiæ felicis systematicus. p. [lxxix]-cxxvi.--Descriptiones plantarum floræ ægyptiaco-arabicæ. p. 1-219.

The Life of Carsten Niebuhr, the oriental traveller /

Translation of : Carsten Niebuhrs leben.

The neurokinin 1 receptor antagonist, ezlopitant, reduces appetitive responding for sucrose and ethanol

Abstract Background: The current obesity epidemic is thought to be partly driven by over-consumption of sugar-sweetened diets and soft drinks. Loss-of-control over eating and addiction to drugs of abuse share overlapping brain mechanisms including changes in motivational drive, such that stimuli that are often no longer ‘liked’ are still intensely ‘wanted’ [7,8]. The neurokinin 1 (NK1) receptor system has been implicated in both learned appetitive behaviors and addiction to alcohol and opioids; however, its role in natural reward seeking remains unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings: We sought to determine whether the NK1-receptor system plays a role in the reinforcing properties of sucrose using a novel selective and clinically safe NK1-receptor antagonist, ezlopitant (CJ-11,974), in three animal models of sucrose consumption and seeking. Furthermore, we compared the effect of ezlopitant on ethanol consumption and seeking in rodents. The NK1-receptor antagonist, ezlopitant decreased appetitive responding for sucrose more potently than for ethanol using an operant self-administration protocol without affecting general locomotor activity. To further evaluate the selectivity of the NK1-receptor antagonist in decreasing consumption of sweetened solutions, we compared the effects of ezlopitant on water, saccharin-, and sodium chloride (NaCl) solution consumption. Ezlopitant decreased intake of saccharin but had no effect on water or salty solution consumption. Conclusions/Significance: The present study indicates that the NK1-receptor may be a part of a common pathway regulating the self-administration, motivational and reinforcing aspects of sweetened solutions, regardless of caloric value, and those of substances of abuse. Additionally, these results indicate that the NK1-receptor system may serve as a therapeutic target for obesity induced by over-consumption of natural reinforcers.

Morphine-induced receptor endocytosis in a novel knockin mouse reduces tolerance and dependence

Abstract Opioid drugs, such as morphine, are among the most effective analgesics available. However, their utility for the treatment of chronic pain is limited by side effects including tolerance and dependence. Morphine acts primarily through the mu-opioid receptor (MOP-R) , which is also a target of endogenous opioids. However, unlike endogenous ligands, morphine fails to promote substantial receptor endocytosis both in vitro, and in vivo. Receptor endocytosis serves at least two important functions in signal transduction. First, desensitization and endocytosis act as an "off" switch by uncoupling receptors from G protein. Second, endocytosis functions as an "on" switch, resensitizing receptors by recycling them to the plasma membrane. Thus, both the off and on function of the MOP-R are altered in response to morphine compared to endogenous ligands. To examine whether the low degree of endocytosis induced by morphine contributes to tolerance and dependence, we generated a knockin mouse that expresses a mutant MOP-R that undergoes morphine-induced endocytosis. Morphine remains an excellent antinociceptive agent in these mice. Importantly, these mice display substantially reduced antinociceptive tolerance and physical dependence. These data suggest that opioid drugs with a pharmacological profile similar to morphine but the ability to promote endocytosis could provide analgesia while having a reduced liability for promoting tolerance and dependence

The impact of nonlinear exposure risk relationships on seasonal time series data: modelling danish neonatal birth anthropometric data

Background Birth weight and length have seasonal fluctuations. Previous analyses of birth weight by latitude effects identified seemingly contradictory results, showing both 6 and 12 monthly periodicities in weight. The aims of this paper are twofold: (a) to explore seasonal patterns in a large, Danish Medical Birth Register, and (b) to explore models based on seasonal exposures and a non-linear exposure-risk relationship. Methods Birth weight and birth lengths on over 1.5 million Danish singleton, live births were examined for seasonality. We modelled seasonal patterns based on linear, U- and J-shaped exposure-risk relationships. We then added an extra layer of complexity by modelling weighted population-based exposure patterns. Results The Danish data showed clear seasonal fluctuations for both birth weight and birth length. A bimodal model best fits the data, however the amplitude of the 6 and 12 month peaks changed over time. In the modelling exercises, U- and J-shaped exposure-risk relationships generate time series with both 6 and 12 month periodicities. Changing the weightings of the population exposure risks result in unexpected properties. A J-shaped exposure-risk relationship with a diminishing population exposure over time fitted the observed seasonal pattern in the Danish birth weight data. Conclusion In keeping with many other studies, Danish birth anthropometric data show complex and shifting seasonal patterns. We speculate that annual periodicities with non-linear exposure-risk models may underlie these findings. Understanding the nature of seasonal fluctuations can help generate candidate exposures.