Together | Apart: Printmaking and the Space Between

In this practice-led creative research, being both artist and identical twin, I examine sameness and difference in the relationships between two people and between multiple objects/creative works. Through the inherent ability of printmaking processes to produce multiples and the attendant installation opportunities created by punctuated space, I unfold and re-tell a doubled and ambiguous understanding of being in the world. Martin Heidegger’s notion of Being-in-the-world (Dasein) underpins and situates my understanding of being in the world, thrown into a world as an individual, and my existence as a double: being in the world with others. I relate his thinking through Barbara Bolt’s interpretation of Heidegger’s Dasein to the artist’s making to seek new ways of understanding Dasein / being-there. The work I make is a metaphor for investigating how I understand the world around me. To do this, I discuss tacit methodology and draw together the ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’, which forms and informs a praxical knowledge, a knowledge that comes from doing and its reflective dimension. By investigating practices by both historical and contemporary artists who employ the diptych as a device to present works as an interconnected pair, I position my forms of the diptych to create relationships of closeness and separation, together | apart. The space in between two people or artworks—a gap—becomes instrumental in separating while simultaneously relating to and evoking continuation and connection. Imagery derived from and alluding to the body, in a gap between figuration and abstraction, is developed in an iterative, open-ended series of prints. Academic discussions about the nature of studio research are applied and interpreted through creative practice, imparting and enabling both an informed, personally situated perspective and an appraisal of the engagement of other artists, such as Roni Horn, Lesley Duxbury, and Paul Uhlmann, whose practices of ambiguity, in-between spaces and gaps are embedded in the wider field of visual arts practices. This research contributes to a broader field of discussion of understandings of being in the world, of spaces in-between and impermanence as related to unique printmaking practices

A review of the microbiome associated with human decomposition

The decomposition of human remains involves a complex microbial ecology that few studies have examined in depth. This review investigated the microbiome of human decomposition to further understand their functions within the decomposition process and their potential to increase the accuracy of post-mortem interval (PMI) estimations in forensic applications. The aims of the literature review were to (1) identify the external microbiome responsible for human decomposition, focusing on insect, soil and skin sources, (2) determine the roles of external bacteria in the various stages of human decomposition and (3) to analyse and compare the current contributions of literature in furthering the understanding of the ecological mosaic of decomposition. The current literature was reviewed and their contributions to necrobiome research was analysed using qualitative and contemporary research techniques. Bacteria were found to play a significant role in each stage of human decomposition with multiple studies demonstrating an observable successive shift in microbial communities through time. This change in community profile was found to be an important biomarker for the estimation of the PMI and potential substitute for entomological techniques currently utilised in forensic investigations. High interpersonal variation between decomposition events, in addition to narrow geographic specificity, represented limitations in the studies which may be remedied by increasing sample size while focusing on different geographic regions and environmental conditions

Location and function of the slow afterhyperpolarization channels in the basolateral amygdala

The basolateral amygdala (BLA) assigns emotional significance to sensory stimuli. This association results in a change in the output (action potentials) of BLA projection neurons in response to the stimulus. Neuronal output is controlled by the intrinsic excitability of the neuron. A major determinant of intrinsic excitability in these neurons is the slow after hyperpolarization (sAHP) that follows action potential (AP) trains and produces spike-frequency adaptation. The sAHP is mediated by a slow calcium-activated potassium current (sI(AHP)), but little is known about the channels that underlie this current. Here, using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and high-speed calcium imaging from rat BLA projection neurons, we examined the location and function of these channels. We determined the location of the sI(AHP) by applying a hyperpolarizing voltage step during the sI(AHP) and measuring the time needed for the current to adapt to the new command potential, a function of its electrotonic distance from the somatic recording electrode. Channel location was also probed by focally uncaging calcium using a UV laser. Both methodologies indicated that, in BLA neurons, the sI(AHP) is primarily located in the dendritic tree. EPSPs recorded at the soma were smaller, decayed faster, and showed less summation during the sAHP. Adrenergic stimulation and buffering calcium reduced the sAHP and the attenuation of the EPSP during the sAHP. The sAHP also modulated the AP in the dendrite, reducing the calcium response evoked by a single AP. Thus, in addition to mediating spike-frequency adaptation, the sI(AHP) modulates communication between the soma and the dendrite

That Thing in Your Pocket: Cultivating a Geo-Sustainable Mindset in High School Chemistry Students Using GIS to Study Smartphone Components

Smartphones are ubiquitous in high schools across the US, but students rarely learn about the complex world of elements and materials beneath their shiny exteriors. Educators can bridge the gap between the abstract concept of smartphone elements and the real-world geography of their origin and impact by integrating ArcGIS geospatial software into their curriculum. A team of researchers has been working with high school teachers to infuse geospatial concepts and technologies into their teaching. One project involved a teacher using GIS to revisit his approach to teaching the periodic table: he would have his students investigate the global origins of smartphone components. This approach equipped students with essential knowledge about the materials that power their daily lives and nurtured critical thinking skills and an awareness of the environmental and ethical dimensions of technology consumption. This paper includes a description of the project and how geospatial technology was utilized, as well as a discussion on the implications and future research in this area

A Musical and Dramatic Analysis of the Principal Tenor Roles in Mozart's Singspiele

This paper will examine one area of Mozart's work, the Singspiele. This study is an analysis of the principal tenor roles of Mozart's Singspiele. The organization for analyzing these works conforms to three periods in Mozart's life. (1) Childhood and Early Youth, to 1774; (2) The Period of the First Masterworks, 1774-1781; and (3) The Years in Vienna, 1781-1791. Related biographical data and historical background have been utilized in discussing each work. Because the Singspiele is a musical composition, analyses will consider music as the major source of development, using plot and character wholly as supporting features

Cue utilisation reduces the impact of response bias in histopathology

Histopathologists make diagnostic decisions that are thought to be based on pattern recognition, likely informed by cue-based associations formed in memory, a process known as cue utilisation. Typically, the cases presented to the histopathologist have already been classified as ‘abnormal’ by clinical examination and/or other diagnostic tests. This results in a high disease prevalence, the potential for ‘abnormality priming’, and a response bias leading to false positives on normal cases. This study investigated whether higher cue utilisation is associated with a reduction in positive response bias in the diagnostic decisions of histopathologists. Data were collected from eighty-two histopathologists who completed a series of demographic and experience-related questions and the histopathology edition of the Expert Intensive Skills Evaluation 2.0 (EXPERTise 2.0) to establish behavioural indicators of context-related cue utilisation. They also completed a separate, diagnostic task comprising breast histopathology images where the frequency of abnormality was manipulated to create a high disease prevalence context for diagnostic decisions relating to normal tissue. Participants were assigned to higher or lower cue utilisation groups based on their performance on EXPERTise 2.0. When the effects of experience were controlled, higher cue utilisation was specifically associated with a greater accuracy classifying normal images, recording a lower positive response bias. This study suggests that cue utilisation may play a protective role against response biases in histopathology settings

Kindergarten teacher perceptions of kindergarten readiness: The importance of social–emotional skills

Using the National Center for Early Development and Learning’s Transition Practices Survey (1996), Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, and Cox (2000) addressed teachers’ judgments of children’s problems at Kindergarten entry. Since then, many changes have occurred in both early childhood education and Kindergarten. For example, pre-Kindergarten has been expanded by private, local, state, and federal agencies to serve the needs of all children and Kindergarten teachers are expected to deliver a more rigorous academic curriculum. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify current Kindergarten teachers’ judgments about children’s Kindergarten readiness and learning-related behaviors at school entry. Findings from Kindergarten teachers (N=531) indicated that teachers placed a high value on social–emotional skills and viewed many children as not having the requisite skills for successful Kindergarten entry. Further, they believed a large number of children were experiencing significant struggles that could hinder their classroom work. Implications for these findings are discussed as is the need for future research on strategies to enhance young children’s behavioral self-regulation and social-emotional skills prior to and during the transition to Kindergarten.First author draf