Aesthetics of self-scaling: parallaxed transregionalism and Kutluğ Ataman's art practice

This article examines relations of ethnography, contemporary art-practice, globalisation and scalar geopolitics with particular reference to Kutluğ Ataman’s artworks. Having been shortlisted for the Turner Prize at the Tate and awarded the prestigious international Carnegie Prize in 2004 with his forty-screen video installation Küba (2004), Ataman became an extremely well-known, globally acclaimed artist and filmmaker. Self-conscious of their global travel and critically attentive to the contemporary ethnographic turn in the visual arts scene, Ataman’s video-works perform a conscientious failure of representing cultural alterity as indigeneity. Concentrating on the artist’s engagement with ethnography, this article contains three main parts. Analyses of the selection of videos in each part will give an account of different scalar aspects of Ataman’s artworks. It will first revisit a previous study (Çakirlar 2011) on the artist’s earlier work of video-portraits including Never My Soul! (2002) and Women Who Wear Wigs (1999). A detailed discussion of Küba follows, which may be taken as the ‘hinge - work’ in Ataman’s oeuvre that marks a scalar transition in his critical focus - from body and identity to community and geopolitics. The discussion will then move to a brief analysis of the series Mesopotamian Dramaturgies, including the screen-based sculptures Dome (2009), Column (2009), Frame (2009), English as a Second Language (2009), and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (2009). Rather than addressing scale as a differential concept, this article aims to demonstrate the ways in which Ataman’s art-practice produces self-scaling, self-regioning subjects that unsettle the hierarchical constructions of scale and facilitates a critique of the scalar normativity within the global art world’s regionalisms and internationalisms

Performance of Polymerase Chain Reaction Techniques Detecting Perforin in the Diagnosis of Acute Renal Rejection: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Studies in the past have shown that perforin expression is up-regulated during acute renal rejection, which provided hopes for a non-invasive and reliable diagnostic method to identify acute rejection. However, a systematic assessment of the value of perforin as a diagnostic marker of acute renal rejection has not been performed. We conducted this meta-analysis to document the diagnostic performance of perforin mRNA detection and to identify potential variables that may affect the performance. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Relevant materials that reported the diagnostic performance of perforin mRNA detection in acute renal rejection patients were extracted from electronic databases. After careful evaluation of the studies included in this analysis, the numbers of true positive, true negative, false positive and false negative cases of acute renal rejection identified by perforin mRNA detection were gathered from each data set. The publication year, sample origin, mRNA quantification method and housekeeping gene were also extracted as potential confounding variables. Fourteen studies with a total of 501 renal transplant subjects were included in this meta-analysis. The overall performance of perforin mRNA detection was: pooled sensitivity, 0.83 (95% confidence interval: 0.78 to 0.88); pooled specificity, 0.86 (95% confidence interval: 0.82 to 0.90); diagnostic odds ratio, 28.79 (95% confidence interval: 16.26 to 50.97); and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves value, 0.9107±0.0174. The univariate analysis of potential variables showed some changes in the diagnostic performance, but none of the differences reached statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Despite inter-study variability, the test performance of perforin mRNA detected by polymerase chain reaction was consistent under circumstances of methodological changes and demonstrated both sensitivity and specificity in detecting acute renal rejection. These results suggest a great diagnostic potential for perforin mRNA detection as a reliable marker of acute rejection in renal allograft recipients

Avian diversity in Moka, Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea

Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea is a biodiversity hotspot facing encroaching development, logging, and hunting. Long-term monitoring of the species composition and community structure of birds on Bioko allows for a better understanding of the effects of seasonality, anthropogenic development, and climate change. The objective of this study was to evaluate the species composition, richness, and relative abundance of birds in Moka, an agricultural town with patches of secondary forest located on the edge of a protected area on Bioko. Here we report on mist netting conducted as part of student-led projects from 2008 to 2015. In total, 674 birds, representing 46 species, were caught over 76 days of sampling, including one restricted-range species and one species designated Near Threatened by the IUCN, the White-tailed Warbler Poliolais lopezi. Moka is an important area for conservation, ecotourism, and educational opportunities on Bioko; however, it is relatively understudied, with little long-term data published on the ecology of native species. These data help to create a baseline with which to make comparisons over time as land-use changes affect the habitat surrounding Moka, especially as the adjacent protected area is considered for international recognition and protection as a proposed biosphere reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Diversité aviaire à Moka, Ile de Bioko, Guinée équatoriale L’île de Bioko, en Guinée équatoriale, est un haut lieu de biodiversité confronté au développement agricole, à l’exploitation forestière et à la chasse. Un suivi à long terme de la composition des espèces et de la structure de la communauté aviaire à Bioko permet une meilleure compréhension des effets de la saisonnalité, du développement anthropogénique et du changement climatique. L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer la composition et la richesse des espèces ainsi que l’abondance relative des oiseaux à Moka, une ville agricole comportant des zones de forêt secondaire fragmentées, situées en périphérie d’une zone protégée de Bioko. Nous présentons ici un rapport qui s’appuie sur des captures avec des filets japonais, réalisées par des étudiants entre 2008 et 2015. Au total, 674 oiseaux ont été capturés, soit 46 espèces, sur une durée d’échantillonnage d’environ 76 jours, et comprenant notamment une espèce à aire de répartition restreinte, l’Hirondelle brune Psalidoprocne fuliginosa, et une espèces désignée comme quasi-menacée sur la liste rouge de l’UICN, la Poliolaïs à queue blanche Poliolais lopezi. Moka est une zone importante pour la conservation, l’écotourisme et les opportunités éducatives à Bioko, cependant, elle reste très peu étudiée et dispose de très peu d’historique de données publiées sur l’écologie des espèces indigènes. Ces éléments permettent la création d’une base de référence avec laquelle il sera possible de réaliser des comparaisons dans le temps, étant donné que les changements d’affectation des terrains sont susceptibles d’impacter les habitats qui environnent Moka, et ce d’autant plus que la zone protégée adjacente est envisagée pour être reconnue et protégée à un niveau international en tant que réserve de biosphère et site de patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO

Varicella Vaccine Effectiveness in Preventing Community Transmission in the 2-Dose Era

OBJECTIVES: We examined overall and incremental effectiveness of 2-dose varicella abstract vaccination in preventing community transmission of varicella among children aged 4 to 18 years in 2 active surveillance sites. One-dose varicella vaccine effectiveness (VE) was examined in those aged 1 to 18 years. METHODS: From May 2009 through June 2011, varicella cases identified during active surveillance in Antelope Valley, CA and Philadelphia, PA were enrolled into a matched case–control study. Matched controls within 2 years of the patient’s age were selected from immunization registries. A standardized questionnaire was administered to participants’ parents, and varicella vaccination history was obtained from health care provider, immunization registry, or parent records. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate varicella VE against clinically diagnosed and laboratory-confirmed varicella. RESULTS: A total of 125 clinically diagnosed varicella cases and 408 matched controls were enrolled. Twenty-nine cases were laboratory confirmed. One-dose VE (1-dose versus unvaccinated) was 75.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 38.7%–90.3%) in preventing any clinically diagnosed varicella and 78.1% (95% CI, 12.7%–94.5%) against moderate or severe, clinically diagnosed disease (≥50 lesions). Among subjects aged ≥4 years, 2-dose VE (2-dose versus unvaccinated) was 93.6% (95% CI, 75.6%–98.3%) against any varicella and 97.9% (95% CI, 83.0%–99.7%) against moderate or severe varicella. Incremental effectiveness (2-dose versus 1-dose) was 87.5% against clinically diagnosed varicella and 97.3% against laboratory-confirmed varicella. CONCLUSIONS: Two-dose varicella vaccination offered better protection against varicella from community transmission among school-aged children compared with 1-dose vaccination