Screening boredom: the history and aesthetics of slow cinema

This thesis examines Slow Cinema, a stylistic trend within contemporary art cinema, although one with a longer pre-history. Its distinguishing characteristics pertain ultimately to narration: the films, minimalistic by design, retard narrative pace and elide causality. Specifically, its aesthetic features include a mannered use of the long take and a resolute emphasis on dead time; devices fostering a mode of narration that initially appears baffling, cryptic and genuinely incomprehensible and offers, above all, an extended experience of duration on screen. This contemporary current emerges from a historical genealogy of modernist art films that for decades distended cinematic temporality and, furthermore, from the critical and institutional debates that attended to it. This thesis, therefore, investigates Slow Cinema in its two remarkable aspects: firstly, as an aesthetic practice, focusing on the formal aspects of the films and their function in attaining a contemplative and ruminative mode of spectatorship; and, secondly, as a historical critical tradition and the concomitant institutional context of the films’ mode of exhibition, production and reception. As the first sustained work to treat Slow Cinema both as an aesthetic mode and as a critical discourse with historical roots and a Janus-faced disposition in the age of digital technologies, this thesis argues that the Slow Cinema phenomenon can best be understood via an investigation of an aesthetic experience based on nostalgia, absurd humour and boredom, key concepts that will be explored in respective case studies. My original contribution to knowledge is, therefore, a comprehensive account of a global current of cultural practice that offers a radical and at times paradoxical reconsideration of our emotional attachment and intellectual engagement with moving images.The introduction chapter begins with a discussion of the Slow Cinema debate and then establishes the aims of the thesis, its theoretical framework and elaborates on the adopted methodologies, namely formal analysis and aesthetic historiography. Chapter 2 examines Béla Tarr in light of the evolution of the long take and attributes Tarr’s use of this aesthetic device as a nostalgic revision of modernist art cinema. Chapter 3 explores the films of Tsai Ming-liang, which embrace incongruous aesthetic features, envision an absurdist view of life, create humour through duration and are situated within the minimalist trends of the international film festival circuit. Chapter 4 focuses on Nuri Bilge Ceylan, whose films emerge from the aftermath of the collapse of a domestic film industry and intervene into its historical heritage by adopting fundamental features of boredom as well as transforming its idleness into an aesthetically rewarding experience. The conclusion chapter incorporates the case studies by stressing the role of Slow Cinema within the complex negotiations taking place between indigenous filmmaking practices and the demands of global art cinema audiences as well as the circulation of art films through networks of film festivals and their respective funding bodies

The ring vaccination trial: a novel cluster randomised controlled trial design to evaluate vaccine efficacy and effectiveness during outbreaks, with special reference to Ebola.

A World Health Organization expert meeting on Ebola vaccines proposed urgent safety and efficacy studies in response to the outbreak in West Africa. One approach to communicable disease control is ring vaccination of individuals at high risk of infection due to their social or geographical connection to a known case. This paper describes the protocol for a novel cluster randomised controlled trial design which uses ring vaccination.In the Ebola ça suffit ring vaccination trial, rings are randomised 1:1 to (a) immediate vaccination of eligible adults with single dose vaccination or (b) vaccination delayed by 21 days. Vaccine efficacy against disease is assessed in participants over equivalent periods from the day of randomisation. Secondary objectives include vaccine effectiveness at the level of the ring, and incidence of serious adverse events. Ring vaccination trials are adaptive, can be run until disease elimination, allow interim analysis, and can go dormant during inter-epidemic periods

Experimental Investigation of Frost Formation in a Finned-Tube Evaporator under Simulated Real Operation Conditions

Finned tube evaporators are used in a wide range of application such as commercial and industrial cold/freezed storage rooms with high traffic loading under frosting conditions. During the literature survey it has been realized that there is not enough experimental and visual data regarding the unit cooler tested with casing and fan integrated as in real operating conditions. As it is known, the usage of fan and evaporator external case and non-optimum distributor design may affect air and refrigerant side distribution, capacity and frost formation along the fins with respect to degree of maldistribution. In this paper, an evaporator with an integrated fan was manufactured and tested at under frosting conditions by only changing air flow rate at ambient balanced type test laboratory in contrast with testing at wind tunnel and more uniform flow distribution. During the test, operation performed according to three different air flow rate separately. The parameters concerning test operation such as the changes of air temperature, air relative humidity, surface temperature, air-side pressure drop and refrigerant side capacity etc. were followed in detail for each air flow rate. At the same time, the digital and thermal images were captured in front of heat exchanger; thus, the frost temperature distributions, blockage ratios and frost thicknesses occurring throughout all surfaces were investigated. In this study the effect of air flow rate on frosting has been investigated. The test and visual results showed that the trendline of air side pressure drop has increased slowly at the first stage of test operations, then this phenomena has increased linearly up to a top point and then the linearity has disrupted instantly and this point has admitted beginning of defrost operation for each case. On the other hand, the refrigerant capacities were declined continuously during the test operations. When examining visual and thermal images captured at certain time intervals, it was shown an uneven frost layers and detected the temperature distributions in front of evaporator as different degree for each case via thermal and digital camera. Similarly, the frost thicknesses distribution with time occurring at the specific area of each circuit was identified via macro lens and Matlab Image Process Program. Moreover, the initial period of frost growth, which have significant impact on further frost growth, was followed and the stages of frost growth has been determined.

Effects of air-polishing powders on color stability of composite resins

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different air-polishing powders on the color stability of different types of composite resin restorative materials. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty cylindrical specimens (15×2 mm) were prepared for each of 7 composite resin restorative materials. All specimens were polished with a series of aluminum oxide polishing discs (Sof-Lex). The prepared specimens of each composite resin were randomly divided into 3 groups of 10 specimens each, for control (Group-C) and two air-powder applications (Group-CP: Cavitron Prophy-Jet; Group-PS: Sirona ProSmile prophylaxis powder). A standard air-polishing unit (ProSmile Handly) was used. All specimens were air-powdered for 10 s at 4-bar pressure. The distance of the spray nosel from the specimens was approximately 10 mm and angulation of the nosel was 90°. Specimens were stored in 100 mL of coffee (Nescafe Classic) for 24 h at 37°C. Color measurement of all specimens was recorded before and after exposure to staining agent with a colorimeter (Minolta CR-300). Color differences (∆E*) between the 2 color measurements (baseline and after 24 h storage) were calculated. The data were analyzed with a 2-way ANOVA test, and mean values were compared by the Tukey HSD test (

Evaluation of surgical-orthodontic treatments on impacted mandibular canines

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate patients treated for impacted mandibular canines through a combined surgical and orthodontic approach. Study Design: The cases which were made button operations of impacted mandibular canines were selected from 5100 panoramic radiographs taken from patients who made use of our oral and maxillofacial surgery services between January 1998 to April 2006. All of these selected patients were assessed radiographically. Pertinent information such as sex, age at the time of surgery, site of the unerupted tooth, space availability and any other associated pathoses were also recorded. These patients were called again, and the condition of the mandibular canines was evaluated with panoramic radiographs. If the tooth erupted in the right position and it was functional and asymptomatic, we assumed the treatment to be successful clinically. Results: In the present study, from 5100 patients, 69 patients had impacted mandibular canines and only 21 patients' teeth (a total of 23 teeth) were treated orthodontically. Sixteen impacted mandibular canine teeth of 14 patients erupted successfully. Two impacted canine were extracted, and only one canine tooth was transplanted to the normal position. Four patients ended the treatment because of failure of eruption. Conclusion: If a mandibular canine tooth is impacted, not only is surgical exposure sufficient but also traction force must be applied orthodontically after the surgical exposure. In addition, age influences the success of the treatment on impacted mandibular canine teeth more than the position and impaction level of the teeth. © Medicina Oral S. L

Effects of polishing procedures on color stability of composite resins

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different polishing methods on color stability of posterior, universal and nanohybrid composite resin restorative materials upon exposure to a staining agent. Twenty-five specimens were prepared for each of 5 different composite resins (Filtek Z250, Filtek P60, Quadrant LC, Grandio and Filtek Supreme). Specimens were divided into 5 groups and different polishing procedures, including polishing discs (Pd), polishing discs then diamond polishing paste (PdP), polishing discs then a liquid polishing system (Biscover) (PdB), and combinations of these (PdPB) were used. Unpolished specimens served as the control (C). The specimens were stored for 48 h in a coffee solution. The color of all specimens was measured before and after exposure with a colorimeter, and total color change (DE*) were calculated. The data were analyzed with a two-way ANOVA and the means were compared by Tukey HSD test (a=0.05). The lowest color difference was observed in the groups PdP and C, while the highest color difference was observed in PdPB, and PdB. When comparing the five different restorative materials, no significant difference was observed between FiltekP60 and FiltekZ250, and these materials demonstrated significantly less color change than Quadrant LC and the nanohybrid materials (Grandio, Filtek Supreme). The posterior (Filtek P60) and universal (Filtek Z250) composite resin restorative materials, which do not contain tetraethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA), were found to be less stainable than the nanohybrid (Grandio, Filtek Supreme) and universal (Quadrant LC) composite resins, which contain TEGDMA. The use of diamond polishing paste after polishing with polishing discs significantly decreased staining when compared to the groups that used polishing discs alone, for all restorative materials tested. The highest color change values were obtained for the specimens that were polished with the Biscover liquid polish system (PdB and PdPB groups)

Cytotoxicity of a new hemostatic agent on human pulp fibroblasts in vitro

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the plant extract ankaferd blood stopper (ABS) in vitro. Study Design: ABS was eluted with fresh Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM) without serum for 72 h, at 37°C. The cells treated with various dilutions of ABS were seeded into 96-well microplate at 10 4 /well in triplicates. Cells without treatment served as a control group. The number of viable cells after 48 h incubation was determined by a modified 3-(4, 5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The relative viability of pulp cells was expressed as color intensity of the number in the experimental wells relative to that of the control group. Absorbances were read at 570 nm on a microplate reader with a background subtraction at 620 nm. Result: The results showed that ABS was cytotoxic to human pulp fibroblasts by MTT assay. Conclusions: The influence of cytotoxicity to human pulp fibroblasts depended on concentration of ABS. The more dilutions exhibited less cytotoxic characteristics compared to the more concentrated forms. © Medicina Oral S. L

Development of a Novel Integrated CCSD-ITARA-MARCOS Decision-Making Approach for Stackers Selection in a Logistics System

The main goal of this paper is to propose a Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach that will facilitate decision-making in the field of logistics—i.e., in the selection of the optimal equipment for performing a logistics activity. For defining the objective weights of the criteria, the correlation coefficient and the standard deviation (CCSD method) are applied. Furthermore, for determining the semi-objective weights of the considered criteria, the indifference threshold-based attribute ratio analysis method (ITARA) is used. In this way, by combining these two methods, the weights of the criteria are determined with a higher degree of reliability. For the final ranking of the alternatives, the measurement of alternatives and ranking according to the compromise solution method (MARCOS) is utilized. For demonstrating the applicability of the proposed approach, an illustrative case study pointing to the selection of the best manual stacker for a small warehouse is performed. The final results are compared with the ones obtained using the other proved MCDM methods that confirmed the reliability and stability of the proposed approach. The proposed integrated approach shows itself as a suitable technique for applying in the process of logistics equipment selection, because it defines the most influential criteria and the optimal choice with regard to all of them in a relatively easy and comprehensive way. Additionally, conceiving the determination of the criteria with the combination of objective and semi-objective methods enables defining the objective weights concerning the attitudes of the involved decision-makers, which finally leads to more reliable result