Celebrating authentic bodies: Instagram (self)representations of models

South African society is characterized by a historical legacy of institutionalized segregation and oppression along racial and, to a lesser extent, gender and (dis)ability lines. While social media can be considered a relatively elite phenomenon, it has the potential to challenge stereotypes and reshape public discourse. Beauty contests, fashion shows and modelling parades represent offline as well as online sites of struggle over aesthetic canons, aspirational looks, and ideal bodies. At the same time, they offer opportunities for alternative, marginalized and stigmatized bodies to "step into the light", as it were. Due to the primacy of the visual element, a platform like Instagram offers a rather unique opportunity to affirm that racialized, gendered and disabled bodies are not only normal, but authentically beautiful. In this paper we adopt an intersectional lens to investigate Instagram profiles by South African models with disabilities. Five women who differ in terms of ethnic affiliation as well as impairment were selected for an in-depth qualitative critical visual analysis and an ethnographic content analysis. In a South African context still largely shaped by patriarchy, sexism and ableism, we found (self)representations on social media are intimately intertwined with resistance, advocacy and social change. Self-representations by models with disabilities include sharing authentic aspects of self, affirmation, and role modellin

High mobility reduces beta-diversity among orthopteran communities - implications for conservation

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Disentangling effects of habitat diversity and area on orthopteran species with contrasting mobility

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Towards a Deeper Understanding: EEG and Facial Expressions in Museums

Although personalization is a staple in several online settings, achieving an ad-hoc experience in some environments is impossible based on personal tastes. One such environment is the museum. In our view, visitors’ facial reactions in front of artworks can play a crucial role. In this context, we want to study visitor behavior with an even finer-grained approach, identifying the most activated brain areas and how they relate to facial expressions. This paper describes how we intend to create a multimodal dataset to validate our study. We aim to fill a gap in personalizing the heritage experience with multidisciplinary research that combines neuroscience and computer science

Smooth kinematic and metallicity gradients reveal that the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster and disc might be part of the same structure

Context. The innermost regions of most galaxies are characterised by the presence of extremely dense nuclear star clusters. Nevertheless, these clusters are not the only stellar component present in galactic nuclei, where larger stellar structures known as nuclear stellar discs, have also been found. Understanding the relation between nuclear star clusters and nuclear stellar discs is challenging due to the large distance towards other galaxies which limits their analysis to integrated light. The Milky Way’s centre, at only ~8 kpc, hosts a nuclear star cluster and a nuclear stellar disc, constituting a unique template to understand their relation and formation scenario. Aims. We aim to study the kinematics and stellar metallicity of stars from the Milky Way’s nuclear star cluster and disc to shed light on the relation between these two Galactic centre components. Methods. We used publicly available photometric, proper motions, and spectroscopic catalogues to analyse a region of ~2.8′ × 4.9′ centred on the Milky Way’s nuclear star cluster. We built colour magnitude diagrams, and applied colour cuts to analyse the kinematic and metallicity distributions of Milky Way’s nuclear star cluster and disc stars with different extinction, along the line of sight. Results. We detect kinematic and metallicity gradients for the analysed stars along the line of sight towards the Milky Way’s nuclear star cluster, suggesting a smooth transition between the nuclear stellar disc and cluster.We also find a bi-modal metallicity distribution for all the analysed colour bins, which is compatible with previous work on the bulk population of the nuclear stellar disc and cluster. Our results suggest that these two Galactic centre components might be part of the same structure with the Milky Way’s nuclear stellar disc being the grown edge of the nuclear star cluster

A list of methods to detect arthropod quarantine pests in Europe

A total of 177 species of quarantine arthropods in Europe have been analysed for detection methods that are used in surveillance. This paper provides a link to a list where the methods most frequently used, either alone or in combination, are given for each species. Inspection remains the most common method of detection (108 species). Volatile compounds produced by either insects or host plants, or those released from food attractants are used for 85 species, while light trapping accounts for 28 species. Semiochemicals are known for 73 species, but are commercially available for only 43 species.Un ensemble de 177 espèces d’arthropodes de quarantaine en Europe ont été analysés pour identifier les méthodes de détection qui sont utilisées pour leur surveillance. Cet article fournit un lien vers une liste qui donne les méthodes les plus fréquemment utilisées, seules ou en combinaison, pour chaque espèce. L’inspection reste la méthode la plus fréquente de detection (108 espèces). Les composées volatiles produits soit par des insectes, soit par les plantes-hôtes ou libérés par des aliments, sont utilisés pour 85 espèces, alors que les pièges lumineux sont utilisés pour 28 espèces. Les substances semiochimiques sont connues pour 73 espèces, mais ne sont disponibles commercialement que pour 43 espèces

Smooth kinematic and metallicity gradients between the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster and nuclear stellar disc. Different components of the same structure?

The innermost regions of most galaxies are characterised by the presence of extremely dense nuclear star clusters. Nevertheless, these clusters are not the only stellar component present in galactic nuclei, where larger stellar structures known as nuclear stellar discs, have also been found. Understanding the relation between nuclear star clusters and nuclear stellar discs is challenging due to the large distance towards other galaxies which limits their analysis to integrated light. The Milky Way's centre, at only 8 kpc, hosts a nuclear star cluster and a nuclear stellar disc, constituting a unique template to understand their relation and formation scenario. We aim to study the kinematics and stellar metallicity of stars from the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster and disc to shed light on the relation between these two Galactic centre components. We used publicly available photometric, proper motions, and spectroscopic catalogues to analyse a region of $\sim2.8'\times4.9'$ centred on the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster. We built colour magnitude diagrams, and applied colour cuts to analyse the kinematic and metallicity distributions of Milky Way's nuclear star cluster and disc stars with different extinction along the line of sight. We detect kinematics and metallicity gradients for the analysed stars along the line of sight towards the Milky Way's nuclear star cluster, suggesting a smooth transition between the nuclear stellar disc and cluster. We also find a bi-modal metallicity distribution for all the analysed colour bins, which is compatible with previous work on the bulk population of the nuclear stellar disc and cluster. Our results suggest that these two Galactic centre components might be part of the same structure with the Milky Way's nuclear stellar disc being the grown edge of the nuclear star cluster.Comment: Submitted to A&A. 13 pages, 9 figure

Un settore di 'Campagna Romana' a rischio di urbanizzazione (Valle Fontana - Valle delle Campanelle; Roma; Italia centrale). Un primo inquadramento finalizzato alla tutela

We carried out a first arrangement (by field study and literature) aimed at developing a local conservation strategy. Direct and indirect evidence were collected for 53 breeding bird species (23 from the original field study), with a significant dominance of the agro-forest species, including species declining at a regional/national level (e.g., Emberiza calandra). The area was recently indicated as the subject of anthropogenic changes by urbanization. In this regard, there is an urgent need for its inclusion in the natural reserve system of RomaNatura Protected Areas

An increase in the levels of middle surface antigen characterizes patients developing HBV-driven liver cancer despite prolonged virological suppression

: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) contains three surface glycoproteins-Large-HBs (L-HBs), Middle-HBs (M-HBs), and Small-HBs (S-HBs), known to contribute to HBV-driven pro-oncogenic properties. Here, we examined the kinetics of HBs-isoforms in virologically-suppressed patients who developed or did not develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study enrolled 30 chronically HBV-infected cirrhotic patients under fully-suppressive anti-HBV treatment. Among them, 13 patients developed HCC. Serum samples were collected at enrolment (T0) and at HCC diagnosis or at the last control for non-HCC patients (median (range) follow-up: 38 (12-48) months). Ad-hoc ELISAs were designed to quantify L-HBs, M-HBs and S-HBs (Beacle). At T0, median (IQR) levels of S-HBs, M-HBs and L-HBs were 3140 (457-6995), 220 (31-433) and 0.2 (0-1.7) ng/mL. No significant differences in the fraction of the three HBs-isoforms were noticed between patients who developed or did not develop HCC at T0. On treatment, S-HBs showed a >25% decline or remained stable in a similar proportion of HCC and non-HCC patients (58.3% of HCC- vs. 47.1% of non-HCC patients, p = 0.6; 25% of HCC vs. 29.4% of non-HCC, p = 0.8, respectively). Conversely, M-HBs showed a >25% increase in a higher proportion of HCC compared to non-HCC patients (50% vs. 11.8%, p = 0.02), in line with M-HBs pro-oncogenic role reported in in vitro studies. No difference in L-HBs kinetics was observed in HCC and non-HCC patients. In conclusion, an increase in M-HBs levels characterizes a significant fraction of HCC-patients while under prolonged HBV suppression and stable/reduced total-HBs. The role of M-HBs kinetics in identifying patients at higher HCC risk deserves further investigation

HDV can constrain HBV genetic evolution in hbsag: Implications for the identification of innovative pharmacological targets

Chronic HBV + HDV infection is associated with greater risk of liver fibrosis, earlier hepatic decompensation, and liver cirrhosis hepatocellular carcinoma compared to HBV mono-infection. However, to-date no direct anti-HDV drugs are available in clinical practice. Here, we identified conserved and variable regions in HBsAg and HDAg domains in HBV + HDV infection, a critical finding for the design of innovative therapeutic agents. The extent of amino-acid variability was measured by Shannon-Entropy (Sn) in HBsAg genotype-D sequences from 31 HBV + HDV infected and 62 HBV mono-infected patients (comparable for demographics and virological-parameters), and in 47 HDAg genotype-1 sequences. Positions with Sn = 0 were defined as conserved. The percentage of conserved HBsAg-positions was significantly higher in HBV + HDV infection than HBV mono-infection (p = 0.001). Results were confirmed after stratification for HBeAg-status and patients’ age. A Sn = 0 at specific positions in the C-terminus HBsAg were correlated with higher HDV-RNA, suggesting that conservation of these positions can preserve HDV-fitness. Conversely, HDAg was characterized by a lower percentage of conserved-residues than HBsAg (p < 0.001), indicating higher functional plasticity. Furthermore, specific HDAg-mutations were significantly correlated with higher HDV-RNA, suggesting a role in conferring HDV replicative-advantage. Among HDAg-domains, only the virus-assembly signal exhibited a high genetic conservation (75% of conserved-residues). In conclusion, HDV can constrain HBsAg genetic evolution to preserve its fitness. The identification of conserved regions in HDAg poses the basis for designing innovative targets against HDV-infection