A conversion disorder

Interrogating the relationship between reading, writing and ‘conversion disorder’, this creative-critical essay explores the eversion of the glove in the work of Woolf, Genet, Freud and Derrida. Gathering together reflections on gloves and glove anaesthesia, doubles and pairs, and flowers and the death knell (glas), it offers a series of literary, philosophical and psychoanalytic conversions in order to return to and rethink the question of ‘disorder’

New Life for Old Clothes

This publication provides information on recycling clothing to save money. It discusses accessorizing, altering, restyling, tapering, and making over old clothing to stretch the wardrobe budget

Style Watch: Blackface Edition

The above quote is from a statement/apology offered by Sebastian Kim, a photographer, whose recent editorial, “African Queen,” which featured a 16-year-old white female made to appear black, was marred with controversy. According to the photographer, dousing a young white female in deep bronze, accessorizing her in elaborate head wraps and heavy jewels (symbols that are often associated with Africa), was in no way an attempt to depict what an “African queen” looks like. Rather, his spread was attempting to showcase “the beauty aesthetic of his shoot” by using a “tanned or golden skin” model. [excerpt

Giorcelli, Cristina and Paula Rabinowitz, eds. Accessorizing the Body.

Accessorizing the Body is the first out of the four-volume series, entitled Habits of Being, which hosts a selection of essays from the ongoing research project Abito e Identità: Ricerche di Storia Letteraria e culturale. This vigorous study, edited by Cristina Giorcelli and Paula Rabinowitz, invites the reader, student or researcher to start a journey from the European capitals to the American continent during the riotous era of the First and the Second World War in order to investigate the ..

Fluorescent Visualization of In Vitro Mitochondrial DNA Transcription

Mitochondria are important organelles within eukaryotic cells especially for their role in metabolism and ATP production by the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathway. In human cells there are approximately 80 protein subunits that make up the OXPHOS pathway, thirteen of which are encoded by the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA). Mitochondria house all the transcription and translation machinery (i.e., mitochondrial RNA polymerase, mitochondrial ribosome, tRNAs, etc.) required to produce those thirteen mtDNA encoded subunits. In vitro mitochondrial transcription is a method that utilizes recombinantly purified proteins and linear mitochondrial DNA templates to investigate transcription regulation of the organelle. To visualize the products of in vitro transcription, it is still common practice to utilize radioactive nucleotides or staining with ethidium bromide. These conditions can be undesirable due to safety hazards, expense, interference with electrophoresis, and time demands. As an alternative, fluorescent dyes have been developed for DNA and RNA tagging. This work establishes a procedure for post-staining of T7 RNA polymerase in vitro transcription products run via denaturing gel electrophoresis and stained with Gel Red and SYBR Gold dyes. Our current studies focus on applying this procedure to the in vitro mitochondrial transcription assay

In Vitro Analysis of the Thyroid Hormone Receptor in Mitochondrial Transcription

The central dogma theory relates how DNA is transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNAs) and then translated into proteins. Since the nucleus contains the majority of the DNA in cells, research related to transcription and translation focuses on these processes within the nucleus and cytosol; however, these processes are also taking place within the mitochondrial organelle. Mitochondria are most widely known for their essential role in producing energy for the cell, but the organelle also contains its own small, circular genome. Transcription of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) follows similar mechanisms as does transcription of nuclear DNA. During this essential process, specific mitochondrial transcription factors, such as TFAM and TFB2M, regulate the attachment of the mitochondrial RNA polymerase (POLRMT) to the promoter and initiation of transcription. With a fully functioning mitochondrial RNA polymerase, transcription is properly conducted, and transcripts can be translated to protein by the mitochondrial ribosome. Mitochondrial transcription is a major regulatory process within the organelle, and determining transcription factors involved in this control point is important for understanding mitochondrial function and many diseases relating to mitochondrial dysfunction. Numerous transcription factors are found both in the nucleus as well as in the mitochondria where their function is not well understood. One such transcription factor is the thyroid hormone receptor. Previous research suggests that when the hormone triiodothyronine (T3) is present and taken up in cells, mitochondrial transcription increases. The mechanism behind the T3 stimulation of transcription is thought to be a coordinated effect by interacting with both the mitochondrial and nuclear thyroid hormone receptor. Our aim is to analyze the level of interaction that the mitochondrial thyroid hormone receptor (mt-TRalpha1) has with the mitochondrial DNA and other core mitochondrial transcription factors in the presence and absence of the T3 hormone. With this information, we further understand another component of mitochondrial transcription that could have implications in mitochondrial dysfunction and disease

Comics, robots, fashion and programming: outlining the concept of actDresses

This paper concerns the design of physical languages for controlling and programming robotic consumer products. For this purpose we explore basic theories of semiotics represented in the two separate fields of comics and fashion, and how these could be used as resources in the development of new physical languages. Based on these theories, the design concept of actDresses is defined, and supplemented by three example scenarios of how the concept can be used for controlling, programming, and predicting the behaviour of robotic systems

Giorcelli, Cristina and Paula Rabinowitz, eds. Accessorizing the Body.

Accessorizing the Body is the first out of the four-volume series, entitled Habits of Being, which hosts a selection of essays from the ongoing research project Abito e Identità: Ricerche di Storia Letteraria e culturale. This vigorous study, edited by Cristina Giorcelli and Paula Rabinowitz, invites the reader, student or researcher to start a journey from the European capitals to the American continent during the riotous era of the First and the Second World War in order to investigate the ..