The polaroid image as photo-object

This article is part of a larger project on the cultural history of Polaroid photography and draws on research done at the Polaroid Corporate archive at Harvard and at the Polaroid company itself. It identifies two cultural practices engendered by Polaroid photography, which, at the point of its extinction, has briefly flared into visibility again. It argues that these practices are mistaken as novel but are in fact rediscoveries of practices that stretch back as many as five decades. The first section identifies Polaroid image-making as a photographic equivalent of what Tom Gunning calls the ‘cinema of attractions’. That is, the emphasis in its use is on the display of photographic technologies rather than the resultant image. Equally, the common practice, in both fine art and vernacular circles, of making composite pictures with Polaroid prints, draws attention from image content and redirects it to the photo as object

Lung epithelial tip progenitors integrate glucocorticoid- and STAT3-mediated signals to control progeny fate.

Insufficient alveolar gas exchange capacity is a major contributor to lung disease. During lung development, a population of distal epithelial progenitors first produce bronchiolar-fated and subsequently alveolar-fated progeny. The mechanisms controlling this bronchiolar-to-alveolar developmental transition remain largely unknown. We developed a novel grafting assay to test if lung epithelial progenitors are intrinsically programmed or if alveolar cell identity is determined by environmental factors. These experiments revealed that embryonic lung epithelial identity is extrinsically determined. We show that both glucocorticoid and STAT3 signalling can control the timing of alveolar initiation, but that neither pathway is absolutely required for alveolar fate specification; rather, glucocorticoid receptor and STAT3 work in parallel to promote alveolar differentiation. Thus, developmental acquisition of lung alveolar fate is a robust process controlled by at least two independent extrinsic signalling inputs. Further elucidation of these pathways might provide therapeutic opportunities for restoring alveolar capacity.Medical Research Council (G0900424, ER), the March of Dimes (5-FY11-119, ER), the Wellcome Trust (093029, ER), Newton Trust (14.07h, ER), Wellcome Trust PhD programme for Clinicians (MN), Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Government of the Basque Country (UL), MRC studentship (RVR), British Heart Foundation Studentship (EJB), COST BM1201. Core grants from the Wellcome Trust (092096) and Cancer Research UK (C6946/A14492).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the Company of Biologists at http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dev.134023

A Case Study : Is This Elder Abuse?

When older patients enter the healthcare system, determining the origin of injuries requires differentiating accidental from nonaccidental, or neglect-related causes. The involvement of a forensic nurse is invaluable, as the foundational education and expertise help in the assessment and documentation of the person\u27s capacities and competence. Distinguishing between effective care planning and considering the risk of further harm occurs throughout the entire process, where the preservation of the older person\u27s integrity, autonomy, and dignity includes delicately listening to statements made, and confirming the sources of injury. Adopting a trauma-informed person-centered care approach to care and recovery is the goal, creating an environment where older persons feel safe, supported, and understood. In a fast-paced healthcare setting, challenges in addressing lesser-known or less frequently discussed diseases reflect limited knowledge, complicating the care provided.  Therefore, ongoing education and training expose the forensic nurse to the latest medical advancements, diminishing misdiagnoses or delayed treatments as outcomes. Critical and accurate communication, coupled with seamless collaboration among interprofessional and community members, serves as the cornerstone to establish a comprehensive and cohesive plan of care. Working together, all members of the interprofessional team ensure that the older person\u27s presenting condition is thoroughly assessed, treated, and supported in the services by the community of providers

Les snapshots

Fig. 1. Amateur anonyme, petite fille sur le pas de la porte, tirage gélatino-argentique, 12 x 7,6 cm, v. 1943-44, coll. Frank Maresca/ The Newark Museum, New Jersey. L’histoire de l’art a son cauchemar : les images ennuyeuses. J’entends par là les instantanés, qui forment le plus incontournable et le plus populaire des genres photographiques. J’aborderai donc ici le problème que pose l’écriture d’une histoire consacrée à l’instantané. Un problème qui tient à l’embarras du choix qui s’impose,..

Les snapshots

Fig. 1. Amateur anonyme, petite fille sur le pas de la porte, tirage gélatino-argentique, 12 x 7,6 cm, v. 1943-44, coll. Frank Maresca/ The Newark Museum, New Jersey. L’histoire de l’art a son cauchemar : les images ennuyeuses. J’entends par là les instantanés, qui forment le plus incontournable et le plus populaire des genres photographiques. J’aborderai donc ici le problème que pose l’écriture d’une histoire consacrée à l’instantané. Un problème qui tient à l’embarras du choix qui s’impose,..

Glucocorticoid receptor alters isovolumetric contraction and restrains cardiac fibrosis

Corticosteroids directly affect the heart and vasculature and are implicated in the pathogenesis of heart failure. Attention is focussed upon the role of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) in mediating pro-fibrotic and other adverse effects of corticosteroids upon the heart. In contrast, the role of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the heart and vasculature is less well understood. We addressed this in mice with cardiomyocyte and vascular smooth muscle deletion of GR (SMGRKO mice). Survival of SMGRKO mice to weaning was reduced compared with that of littermate controls. Doppler measurements of blood flow across the mitral valve showed an elongated isovolumetric contraction time in surviving adult SMGRKO mice, indicating impairment of the initial left ventricular contractile phase. Although heart weight was elevated in both genders, only male SMGRKO mice showed evidence of pathological cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, associated with increased myosin heavy chain-β expression. Left ventricular fibrosis, evident in both genders, was associated with elevated levels of mRNA encoding MR as well as proteins involved in cardiac remodelling and fibrosis. However, MR antagonism with spironolactone from birth only modestly attenuated the increase in pro-fibrotic gene expression in SMGRKO mice, suggesting that elevated MR signalling is not the primary driver of cardiac fibrosis in SMGRKO mice, and cardiac fibrosis can be dissociated from MR activation. Thus, GR contributes to systolic function and restrains normal cardiac growth, the latter through gender-specific mechanisms. Our findings suggest the GR:MR balance is critical in corticosteroid signalling in specific cardiac cell types

Awards, Archives, and Affects: Tropes in the World Press Photo Contest 2009 - 2011

__Abstract__ Photography contests have assumed an increasingly significant public role in the context of the global surge of mass-mediated war reporting. This study focuses on the recurrence of visual tropes in press photographs awarded in the annual contest World Press Photo (WPP) in the years 2009–11. By tropes, we mean conventions (e.g. a mourning woman, a civilian facing soldiers, a distressed witness to an atrocity) that remain unchanged despite their travels across the visual sphere, gaining professional and public recognition and having a strong affective impact. We contend that photography contests such as the WPP influence and organize a process of generic understanding of war, disaster and atrocity that is based on a number of persistent tropes, such as the mourner, the protester or the survivor amidst chaos and ruins. We further show that these tropes are gendered along traditional conceptions of femininity and masculinity, appealing strongly to both judges and wider audiences. The evidence for our claim comes from an analysis of the photographs that won awards, observation of the judging sessions, semi-structured interviews with three jury chairmen, and public commentary on the juries’ choices (blogs, newspapers and websites)

Is this photograph taken? - The active (act of) collaboration with photography

Over more than thirty years of commercial and fine art photographic practice, I have often noticed remarkable disparities between the scenes, objects, events or moments ‘out there’ I had attempted to record – and the images within the resulting photographs. These (sometimes subtle, sometimes profound, but rarely anticipatable) disparities between what I had seen and what the photograph shows me offer the tantalising suggestion that there may be something else going on here – but something which the popular conception of photography may hinder our ability to recognise. This article explores the implications of four central assumptions implicit within the popular conception of photography which may impede new ways of thinking about photographic practice. Supported by a number of photographs that depict scenes, events and ‘moments’ which were not ‘taken’ but were created by the act of photographing them, I will suggest that new opportunities for practice may be available by ‘re-imagining’ the practice of photography as an active – or, as an act of – collaboration between medium and practitioner

Duchamp's Erotic Stereoscopic Exercises

This article explores certain links between medicine and art, with regard to their use of stereoscopy. I highlight a work by the artist Marcel Duchamp (the ready-made Stéréoscopie a la Main) and stereoscopic cards used in ophthalmic medicine. Both instances involve the drawing of graphic marks over previously existing stereoscopic cards. This similarity between Stéréoscopie a la Main and stereoscopic cards is echoed in the form of "stereoscopic exercises." Stereoscopic exercises were prescribed by doctors to be performed with the stereoscope as early as 1864. Stereoscopic cards were widely diffused in the 19th century, often promoted as "stay-at-home travel." It was over such kinds of materials that both Marcel Duchamp and doctors of ophthalmic medicine drew their graphic marks. I explore Duchamp's Stéréoscopie a la Main as a hypothetical basis for stereoscopic exercises of different types, proposing that this rectified ready-made is the locus for erotic stereoscopic exercises.Este artigo busca explorar certos elos entre a medicina e a arte por meio da estereoscopia. Destaca-se uma obra do artista Marcel Duchamp (o ready-made Stéréoscopie a la Main) e cartões estereoscópicos usados na oftalmologia. As duas instâncias envolvem o desenho de marcas gráficas sobre cartões estereoscópicos pré-existentes. A similaridade entre Stéréoscopie a la Main e os ditos cartões ecoa também na forma dos exercícios estereoscópicos. O cartão estereoscópico foi amplamente difundido na segunda metade do séc. XIX, frequentemente na forma da "viagem sem sair de casa." Foi sobre esse tipo de material que tanto médicos quanto Marcel Duchamp desenharam suas marcas. Explora-se a obra Stéréoscopie a la Main como um sítio hipotético para uma espécie de exercício, propondo que tal ready-made retificado seja um lugar para exercícios estereoscópicos eróticos