The Italic I: between liveness and the lens

In this article, the question of ‘the alternative document’ is addressed with reference to The Italic I, a practice-based artistic enquiry developed through collaboration between writer-artist Emma Cocker and interdisciplinary artist Clare Thornton. Evolving gradually (since 2012) through a series of research residencies, exhibitions, publications and performance-lectures, The Italic I explores the event of repeatedly falling apprehended consciously as an exercise of mind and muscle, tested out in physical and cognitive terms. The conceptual implications of falling itself (conceived within The Italic I as both a bodily-kinesthetic and verbal-linguistic act) have been elaborated within other research articles, where we have framed the purposeful action of surrendering to a repeated fall as a training practice or exercise for cultivating a willfully non-corrective tendency in thought, speech and action; for operating against expectation, against normative conditioning (Cocker and Thornton 2016, 2017). For this context, our research focus shifts to address the functioning and performativity of the various ‘documents’ generated within The Italic I, exploring what is at stake at the threshold where live and lens meet, in the gap or interval between live performance and lens-based mediation, between event and document

The Italic I: a 16 stage lexicon on the arc of falling

The Italic I is a practice-based collaboration between writer-artist Emma Cocker and interdisciplinary artist Clare Thornton that explores the different states of potential made possible through purposefully surrendering to the event of a repeated fall.1 Rather than an accidental occurrence encountered by chance, within our artistic investigation falling is apprehended consciously as a training exercise for mind and muscle, tested out in physical, cognitive, and even linguistic terms. Within The Italic I the act of falling is slowed and extended through the use of both lens and language, as a means for attending to its discrete phases or scenes. Central to our performative-poetic enquiry has been the production of an artists' publication (of the same title as our project), comprising photographic performance-documents presented alongside a textual lexicon generated in the 'free-fall' of conversational exchange (Fig. 1). The publication is not conceived as documentation (of a performance), but rather as a performative enactment of our enquiry, an exercise companion. We approach the production of the publication as a form of training in and of itself, requiring a specific physical and conceptual practice undertaken towards building — increasing and deepening — our collaborative capacity. Less a step-by-step manual for instructing another on how to fall, we propose the publication The Italic I as a spur or prompt for cultivating a willfully non-corrective tendency in thought, peech and action, for operating against expectation

Secondary organic aerosol formation from phenolic compounds in the absence of NO_x

SOA formation from benzene, toluene, <i>m</i>-xylene, and their corresponding phenolic compounds were investigated using the UCR/CE-CERT Environmental Chamber to evaluate the importance of phenolic compounds as intermediate species in aromatic SOA formation. SOA formation yield measurements coupled to gas-phase yield measurements indicate that approximately 20% of the SOA of benzene, toluene, and <i>m</i>-xylene could be ascribed to the phenolic route under low NO_x conditions. The SOA densities tend to be initially as high as approximately 1.8 g cm^&minus;3 and eventually reach the range of 1.3–1.4 g cm^&minus;3. The final SOA density was found to be independent of elemental ratio (O/C) indicating that applying constant density (e.g., 1.4 g cm^&minus;3) to SOA formed from different aromatic compounds tested in this study is a reasonable approximation. Results from a novel on-line PILS-TOFMS (Particle-into-Liquid Sampler coupled with Agilent Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer) are reported. Major signals observed by the on-line/off-line Agilent TOFMS indicated that products had the same number of carbon atoms as their parent aromatics, suggesting importance of ring-retaining products or ring-opening products following ring-cleavage

Organic aerosol formation from the oxidation of biogenic hydrocarbons

A series of outdoor chamber experiments has been used to establish and characterize the significant atmospheric aerosol-forming potentials of the most prevalent biogenic hydrocarbons emitted by vegetation. These compounds were also studied to elucidate the effect of structure on aerosol yield for these types of compounds. Because oxidation products partition between the gas and aerosol phases, the aerosol yields of the parent biogenic hydrocarbons depend on the concentration of organic aerosol into which these products can be absorbed. For organic mass concentrations between 5 and 40 µg m^(-3), mass-based yields in photooxidation experiments range from 17 to 67% for sesquiterpenes, from 2 to 23% for cyclic diolefins, from 2 to 15% for bicyclic olefins, and from 2 to 6% for the acyclic triolefin ocimene. In these photooxidation experiments, hydroxyl and nitrate radicals and ozone can contribute to consumption of the parent hydrocarbon. For bicyclic olefins (α-pinene, β-pinene, Δ^3-carene, and sabinene), experiments were also carried out at daytime temperatures in a dark system in the presence of ozone or nitrate radicals alone. For ozonolysis experiments, resulting aerosol yields are less dependent on organic mass concentration, when compared to full, sunlight-driven photooxidation. Nitrate radical experiments exhibit extremely high conversion to aerosol for β-pinene, sabinene, and Δ^3-carene. The relative importance of aerosol formation from each type of reaction for bicyclic olefin photooxidation is elucidated

Oakleaf: an S locus-linked mutation of Primula vulgaris that affects leaf and flower development

•In Primula vulgaris outcrossing is promoted through reciprocal herkogamy with insect-mediated cross-pollination between pin and thrum form flowers. Development of heteromorphic flowers is coordinated by genes at the S locus. To underpin construction of a genetic map facilitating isolation of these S locus genes, we have characterised Oakleaf, a novel S locus-linked mutant phenotype. •We combine phenotypic observation of flower and leaf development, with classical genetic analysis and next-generation sequencing to address the molecular basis of Oakleaf. •Oakleaf is a dominant mutation that affects both leaf and flower development; plants produce distinctive lobed leaves, with occasional ectopic meristems on the veins. This phenotype is reminiscent of overexpression of Class I KNOX-homeodomain transcription factors. We describe the structure and expression of all eight P. vulgaris PvKNOX genes in both wild-type and Oakleaf plants, and present comparative transcriptome analysis of leaves and flowers from Oakleaf and wild-type plants. •Oakleaf provides a new phenotypic marker for genetic analysis of the Primula S locus. We show that none of the Class I PvKNOX genes are strongly upregulated in Oakleaf leaves and flowers, and identify cohorts of 507 upregulated and 314 downregulated genes in the Oakleaf mutant

Observation of gaseous and particulate products of monoterpene oxidation in forest atmospheres

Atmospheric oxidation of biogenic hydrocarbons, such as monoterpenes, is estimated to be a significant source of global aerosol. Whereas laboratory studies have established that photochemical oxidation of monoterpenes leads to aerosol formation, there are limited field studies detecting such oxidation products in ambient aerosols. Drawing on prior results of monoterpene product analysis under controlled smog chamber conditions, we have identified organic aerosol components attributable to monoterpene oxidation in two forest atmospheres, Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Big Bear, San Bernardino National Forest, California, U.S.A. The major identified aerosol products derived from α-pinene and β-pinene oxidation include pinic acid, pinonic acid, norpinonic acid and its isomers, hydroxy pinonaldehydes, and pinonaldehyde, concentrations of which in the aerosol phase are in the sub ng m^(−3) range. Identification of oxidation products in atmospheric aerosol samples serves as direct evidence for aerosol formation from monoterpenes under ambient conditions

Comprehensive Simultaneous Shipboard and Airborne Characterization of Exhaust from a Modern Container Ship at Sea

We report the first joint shipboard and airborne study focused on the chemical composition and water-uptake behavior of particulate ship emissions. The study focuses on emissions from the main propulsion engine of a Post-Panamax class container ship cruising off the central coast of California and burning heavy fuel oil. Shipboard sampling included micro-orifice uniform deposit impactors (MOUDI) with subsequent off-line analysis, whereas airborne measurements involved a number of real-time analyzers to characterize the plume aerosol, aged from a few seconds to over an hour. The mass ratio of particulate organic carbon to sulfate at the base of the ship stack was 0.23 ± 0.03, and increased to 0.30 ± 0.01 in the airborne exhaust plume, with the additional organic mass in the airborne plume being concentrated largely in particles below 100 nm in diameter. The organic to sulfate mass ratio in the exhaust aerosol remained constant during the first hour of plume dilution into the marine boundary layer. The mass spectrum of the organic fraction of the exhaust aerosol strongly resembles that of emissions from other diesel sources and appears to be predominantly hydrocarbon-like organic (HOA) material. Background aerosol which, based on air mass back trajectories, probably consisted of aged ship emissions and marine aerosol, contained a lower organic mass fraction than the fresh plume and had a much more oxidized organic component. A volume-weighted mixing rule is able to accurately predict hygroscopic growth factors in the background aerosol but measured and calculated growth factors do not agree for aerosols in the ship exhaust plume. Calculated CCN concentrations, at supersaturations ranging from 0.1 to 0.33%, agree well with measurements in the ship-exhaust plume. Using size-resolved chemical composition instead of bulk submicrometer composition has little effect on the predicted CCN concentrations because the cutoff diameter for CCN activation is larger than the diameter where the mass fraction of organic aerosol begins to increase significantly. The particle number emission factor estimated from this study is 1.3 × 10^(16) (kg fuel)^(−1), with less than 1/10 of the particles having diameters above 100 nm; 24% of particles (>10 nm in diameter) activate into cloud droplets at 0.3% supersaturation

In the absence of ATPase activity, pre-RC formation is blocked prior to MCM2-7 hexamer dimerization

The origin recognition complex (ORC) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae binds origin DNA and cooperates with Cdc6 and Cdt1 to load the replicative helicase MCM2–7 onto DNA. Helicase loading involves two MCM2–7 hexamers that assemble into a double hexamer around double-stranded DNA. This reaction requires ORC and Cdc6 ATPase activity, but it is unknown how these proteins control MCM2–7 double hexamer formation. We demonstrate that mutations in Cdc6 sensor-2 and Walker A motifs, which are predicted to affect ATP binding, influence the ORC–Cdc6 interaction and MCM2–7 recruitment. In contrast, a Cdc6 sensor-1 mutant affects MCM2–7 loading and Cdt1 release, similar as a Cdc6 Walker B ATPase mutant. Moreover, we show that Orc1 ATP hydrolysis is not involved in helicase loading or in releasing ORC from loaded MCM2–7. To determine whether Cdc6 regulates MCM2–7 double hexamer formation, we analysed complex assembly. We discovered that inhibition of Cdc6 ATPase restricts MCM2–7 association with origin DNA to a single hexamer, while active Cdc6 ATPase promotes recruitment of two MCM2–7 hexamer to origin DNA. Our findings illustrate how conserved Cdc6 AAA+ motifs modulate MCM2–7 recruitment, show that ATPase activity is required for MCM2–7 hexamer dimerization and demonstrate that MCM2–7 hexamers are recruited to origins in a consecutive process

Positioning discourse on homophobia in schools: What have lesbian and gay families got to say?

This paper reports findings from a study in England, which investigated the experiences of lesbian and gay parents in relation to homophobia in primary and secondary schools. The study was part of a larger European Union project investigating the impact of family and school alliances against homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools across six nation states. Qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with seven lesbian and gay parents from five families were conducted to explore their unique experience and perspectives on these issues. Discourse analysis was used to facilitate understanding of how lesbian and gay families negotiated the outsider/insider and public/private spheres of the school and communities of which they were a part. Parents identified a number of strategies to address their experiences of homophobia within schools. The findings have implications for how social work recognises and promotes diversity and equality when working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, as social workers have a powerful role in supporting families. This involves recognising the strengths of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families in their assessments

Positioning discourse on homophobia in schools: what have lesbian and gay families got to say?

This paper reports findings from a study in England, which investigated the experiences of lesbian and gay parents in relation to homophobia in primary and secondary schools. The study was part of a larger European Union project investigating the impact of family and school alliances against homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools across six nation states. Qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with seven lesbian and gay parents from five families were conducted to explore their unique experience and perspectives on these issues. Discourse analysis was used to facilitate understanding of how lesbian and gay families negotiated the outsider/insider and public/private spheres of the school and communities of which they were a part. Parents identified a number of strategies to address their experiences of homophobia within schools. The findings have implications for how social work recognises and promotes diversity and equality when working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, as social workers have a powerful role in supporting families. This involves recognising the strengths of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families in their assessments