Spectacle, tourism and the performance of everyday geopolitics

In recent years scholars have explored the geopolitics of spectacle in exciting ways. While tourism presents a rich opportunity to think about the intersection of geopolitics and spectacle, only a small but growing number of researchers have explored this area where state-society relations unfold in complex ways. This article draws on this work and other traditions in feminist political geography and non-representational theories to explore the embodied geopolitics of a festival and its tourist landscape in the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. As such, we glimpse a complex set of geopolitical relations at play in the multiple spaces of the Yii Peng Festival. A closer look at the Festival with the theoretical tools proposed here helps reveal ongoing geopolitical forces that shape its many contours, including a multiplicity of difference

Reglamento para el Casino "Hijos del Trabajo" de Ávila : aprobado en Junta General celebrada en 19 de mayo de 1886.

Copia digital. Valladolid : Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, 201

Biochemical and cytological interactions between callose synthase and microtubules in the tobacco pollen tube

Key message: The article concerns the association between callose synthase and cytoskeleton by biochemical and ultrastructural analyses in the pollen tube. Results confirmed this association and immunogold labeling showed a colocalization. Abstract: Callose is a cell wall polysaccharide involved in fundamental biological processes, from plant development to the response to abiotic and biotic stress. To gain insight into the deposition pattern of callose, it is important to know how the enzyme callose synthase is regulated through the interaction with the vesicle-cytoskeletal system. Actin filaments likely determine the long-range distribution of callose synthase through transport vesicles but the spatial/biochemical relationships between callose synthase and microtubules are poorly understood, although experimental evidence supports the association between callose synthase and tubulin. In this manuscript, we further investigated the association between callose synthase and microtubules through biochemical and ultrastructural analyses in the pollen tube model system, where callose is an essential component of the cell wall. Results by native 2-D electrophoresis, isolation of callose synthase complex and far-western blot confirmed that callose synthase is associated with tubulin and can therefore interface with cortical microtubules. In contrast, actin and sucrose synthase were not permanently associated with callose synthase. Immunogold labeling showed colocalization between the enzyme and microtubules, occasionally mediated by vesicles. Overall, the data indicate that pollen tube callose synthase exerts its activity in cooperation with the microtubular cytoskeleton

Detection of genetic diversity among clones of cv. Fortana (Vitis vinifera L.) by microsatellite DNA polymorphism analysis

Allelic polymorphism at 6 microsatellite loci was analyzed in 5 clones of cv. Fortana, which had been divided into two morphological groups (CAB 2, CAB 13, CAB 14, and CAB 1, CAB 3, respectively) by discriminant multivariate analysis of leaf traits. Of the 6 microsatellite loci, 5 (VVS1, VVS2, VVS4, VVMD3, VVMD6) showed polymorphism between clones and one (VVMD7) gave identical DNA profiles. Two genotypic patterns were found: clones CAB 2: CAB 13 and CAB 14 appeared identical and distinct from clones CAB 1 and CAB 3, but all of them shared at least one of the two alleles for each locus, thus showing a certain degree of genetic relatedness. The slight morphological differences of the two Fortana clone groups could thus be related to the diversity of their genotypic profiles. Thus, the two clone groups may have originated not via vegetative propagation of a single individual but from seedlings, parents or siblings of this progenitor. The present investigation supports the assumptions of the polyclonal origin of cv. Fortana and concludes that the strict definition of cultivar, which admits of clonal origin only, is not altogether adequate for the old varieties of unknown origin. The Italian term ''vitigno'' and the French ''cepage'', which do not imply genetic uniformity, would appear more appropriate than cultivar to indicate a winegrape variety

Empowering AI: Recontextualizing Our Pedagogical Impact Through Supportive Uses of Machine Learning

Over time, the use of digital technologies has transformed the landscape of higher education, and the recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are no exception. At the same time, there is a need to move from a binary of use versus eradication of AI systems in higher education toward critical examination and curation of the plurality of examples of how AI may lead to the empowerment of educators and students. This paper explores the potential benefits and challenges of incorporating AI into higher education while also discussing the implications for educators and students, as well as the ethical concerns surrounding the use of AI in education. The paper examines the benefits of using AI in higher education, including personalized learning, adaptive assessments, and predictive analytics, as well as emerging challenges, such as data privacy and algorithmic bias. The paper proposes a set of guiding ethical principles for the empowering use of AI in education, including transparency, collaboration, creativity, and accountability. Each author offers a call to action for educators who are required to reevaluate their relationship with technology broadly and the seismic shifts in interaction and communicative modes within a landscape forever changed by machine learning

Graphene oxide impairs the pollen performance of Nicotiana tabacum and Corylus avellana suggesting potential negative effects on the sexual reproduction of seed plants

The production of graphene based materials (GBMs) is steadily increasing but the effects of the possible release of GBMs in the environment are far from being understood. Graphene oxide (GO) is among the most active GBMs and it causes widely varying effects on the vegetative body of seed plants. However, nothing is known yet about its potential effects on the reproductive process. This study addresses the effects of GO on pollen germination and pollen tube elongation in the model species Nicotiana tabacum and in the non-model species Corylus avellana. In vitro germination experiments were conducted without or with GO (control and treated samples, respectively) at concentrations of 25, 50 and 100 μg mL−1. Pollen germination and tube elongation were affected at GO concentrations ≥50 μg mL−1, decreasing by 20% and 19% in N. tabacum and by 68% and 58% in C. avellana, respectively. GO did not affect the viability of N. tabacum pollen, but doubled the frequency of bent tubes. Microscopy observations of pollen tubes exposed to a cellpermeant, dual-excitation ratiometric pH indicator revealed that GO affected the intracellular pH homeostasis. Further germination experiments on C. avellana conducted by inverting the pH conditions of the control and treated (100 μg GO mL−1) samples demonstrated that the main factor influencing the pollen performance is the acidic properties of GO. This might affect the reproductive process of numerous seed plants thus being relevant from an environmental point of view