Surfing for Inspiration: digital inspirational material in design practice

Over the last decade, many new opportunities have emerged to support creativity and problem-solving in design by finding inspirational materials via the Internet. Online design communities such as those of Behance and Pinterest showcase portfolios and user-made artwork, and they offer support for designers’ day-to-day work to find and collect inspirational material. However, very little is known about how these communities affect inspiration-related practices of professional designers and how designers view them. This paper presents new data on the practices designers employ when seeking digital inspiration sources online and reflecting on, tracking, and managing them in today’s Web design. Current practice and views on sources of inspiration were described based on responses from 51 professional designers. The results suggest that the Internet has become a prevalent source for ideas in design, yet designers experience mounting issues of trust and relatedness with regard to online sources. Therefore, encouraging both should be considered a guiding principle for tools aimed at supporting designers within the realm of design practice.Peer reviewe

Skeletal Muscle 11beta-HSD1 Controls Glucocorticoid-Induced Proteolysis and Expression of E3 Ubiquitin Ligases Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1

Recent studies demonstrated expression and activity of the intracellular cortisone-cortisol shuttle 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) in skeletal muscle and inhibition of 11beta-HSD1 in muscle cells improved insulin sensitivity. Glucocorticoids induce muscle atrophy via increased expression of the E3 ubiquitin ligases Atrogin-1 (Muscle Atrophy F-box (MAFbx)) and MuRF-1 (Muscle RING-Finger-1). We hypothesized that 11beta-HSD1 controls glucocorticoid-induced expression of atrophy E3 ubiquitin ligases in skeletal muscle. Primary human myoblasts were generated from healthy volunteers. 11beta-HSD1-dependent protein degradation was analyzed by [3H]-tyrosine release assay. RT-PCR was used to determine mRNA expression of E3 ubiquitin ligases and 11beta-HSD1 activity was measured by conversion of radioactively labeled [3H]-cortisone to [3H]-cortisol separated by thin-layer chromatography. We here demonstrate that 11beta-HSD1 is expressed and biologically active in interconverting cortisone to active cortisol in murine skeletal muscle cells (C2C12) as well as in primary human myotubes. 11beta-HSD1 expression increased during differentiation from myoblasts to mature myotubes (p<0.01), suggesting a role of 11beta-HSD1 in skeletal muscle growth and differentiation. Treatment with cortisone increased protein degradation by about 20% (p<0.001), which was paralleled by an elevation of Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 mRNA expression (p<0.01, respectively). Notably, pre-treatment with the 11beta-HSD1 inhibitor carbenoxolone (Cbx) completely abolished the effect of cortisone on protein degradation as well as on Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 expression. In summary, our data suggest that 11beta-HSD1 controls glucocorticoid-induced protein degradation in human and murine skeletal muscle via regulation of the E3 ubiquitin ligases Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1

Fast-exchanging spirocyclic rhodamine probes for aptamer-based super-resolution RNA imaging

Live-cell RNA imaging with high spatial and temporal resolution remains a major challenge. Here we report the development of RhoBAST:SpyRho, a fluorescent light-up aptamer (FLAP) system ideally suited for visualizing RNAs in live or fixed cells with various advanced fluorescence microscopy modalities. Overcoming problems associated with low cell permeability, brightness, fluorogenicity, and signal-to-background ratio of previous fluorophores, we design a novel probe, SpyRho (Spirocyclic Rhodamine), which tightly binds to the RhoBAST aptamer. High brightness and fluorogenicity is achieved by shifting the equilibrium between spirolactam and quinoid. With its high affinity and fast ligand exchange, RhoBAST:SpyRho is a superb system for both super-resolution SMLM and STED imaging. Its excellent performance in SMLM and the first reported super-resolved STED images of specifically labeled RNA in live mammalian cells represent significant advances over other FLAPs. The versatility of RhoBAST:SpyRho is further demonstrated by imaging endogenous chromosomal loci and proteins

Les friches : espaces en marge ou marges de manœuvre pour l'aménagement des territoires ?

International audienceAgricultural or urban derelict lands can be considered as a split, a gap in a territory or a society. Both derelict lands are associated to a process of abandon and land management. Moreover, both derelict lands can be questioned as lost or future resources according to an economic, ideal, symbolic or spatial value. In that sense the following question can be considered as the main guideline of our thought : as abandoned and awaiting territories, can derelict lands be considered as the witnesses of the way a society manages its changes ? This article aims to analyse agricultural and urban derelict lands changes processes as to prove that urban and agricultural derelict lands can not be distinguished by the nature of their previous activity but by their localisation, their visibility and the stakes they are linked to. As derelict lands have more often been analysed according to their nature, this paper brings another regard on the process of abandon and managementwhich can be helpful for research and professional interdisciplinary.Les friches, qu'elles soient rurales ou urbaines, constituent une rupture, un vide, dans un territoire et une société. Toutes ont pour trait commun le fait d'être associées à un processus d'abandon, à une appréhension et un mode de gestion. Toutes peuvent être interrogées en tant que ressources perdues ou futures, par rapport à un système de valeurs (économique, foncier, symbolique, idéel,...). Ce n'est pas tant l'origine des friches, industrielles ou agricoles, qui les distingue, mais leur localisation, leur visibilité et les enjeux dont elles sont l'objet. Cet article s'attache à analyser les formes d'abandon et les modes de gestion des friches, de toutes natures confondues, afin de montrer comment ces espaces acquièrent un statut à part entière dans les processus d'aménagement

Les friches : espaces en marge ou marges de manœuvre pour l'aménagement des territoires ?

Les friches, qu’elles soient rurales ou urbaines, constituent une rupture, un vide, dans un territoire et une société. Toutes ont pour trait commun le fait d’être associées à un processus d’abandon, à une appréhension et un mode de gestion. Toutes peuvent être interrogées en tant que ressources perdues ou futures, par rapport à un système de valeurs (économique, foncier, symbolique, idéel, ...). Ce n’est pas tant l’origine des friches, industrielles ou agricoles, qui les distingue, mais leur localisation, leur visibilité et les enjeux dont elles sont l’objet. Cet article s’attache à analyser les formes d’abandon et les modes de gestion des friches, de toutes natures confondues, afin de montrer comment ces espaces acquièrent un statut à part entière dans les processus d’aménagement. // Agricultural or urban derelict lands can be considered as a split, a gap in a territory or a society. Both derelict lands are associated to a process of abandon and land management. Moreover, both derelict lands can be questioned as lost or future resources according to an economic, ideal, symbolic or spatial value. In that sense the following question can be considered as the main guideline of our thought : as abandoned and awaiting territories, can derelict lands be considered as the witnesses of the way a society manages its changes ? This article aims to analyse agricultural and urban derelict lands changes processes as to prove that urban and agricultural derelict lands can not be distinguished by the nature of their previous activity but by their localisation, their visibility and the stakes they are linked to. As derelict lands have more often been analysed according to their nature, this paper brings another regard on the process of abandon and management which can be helpful for research and professional interdisciplinary

Regulation of 11beta-HSD1 and differentiation markers during differentiation of C2C12 cells and primary human myoblasts.

<p>Data were normalized to mRNA expression of 16s-RiboProtein. Mean ± SEM of at least three experiments are shown. Relative 11beta-HSD1 mRNA expression in C2C12 (<b>A</b>). Relative Myosin Heavy Chain-1 mRNA expression in C2C12 cells (<b>B</b>). Relative Myf5 mRNA expression in C2C12 cells (<b>C</b>). Relative 11beta-HSD1 mRNA expression in primary human myoblasts (<b>D</b>). Relative Myosin Heavy Chain-1 mRNA expression in primary human myoblasts (<b>E</b>). * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.0001.</p

Effects of cortisone, dexamethasone (dexa) and inhibition of 11beta-HSD1 by carbenoxolone (Cbx) on Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 expression.

<p>Relative Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 mRNA expression in C2C12 (<b>A and B</b>) and in primary human myotubes (<b>C and D</b>). Data are normalized to mRNA expression of 16s-RiboProtein. Mean ± SEM of at least three experiments are shown. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.0001.</p