On the edge: liminal spaces in the novels of Benito Pérez Galdós

Liminal spaces in Benito Pérez Galdós’s novels offer profound insights into the society, characters, and practices of representation in his art. By examining settings that lie at the intersection between public and private, domestic and commercial, interior and exterior, such as balconies, display windows, patios, and corridors, this dissertation reveals unexplored aspects of Galdós’s work. In-between spaces determine the social reality of many Galdosian characters. For example, balconies and miradores show the importance of the facade of a home as a projection of bourgeois wealth. The windows of middle-class homes blur the line between domestic and commercial practices, as merchant families displayed goods in that space. The development of the display window transforms the public space of the street into a shop, forever changing the way characters navigate their urban surroundings. When middle-class characters visit the lower-class space of the casa de corredor, class tensions and inequalities become apparent. The narrative gaze, drawn to children as they play on the patio, reveals the lack of basic resources such as bread and water available to the lower class. Liminal spaces also communicate the fears and desires of Galdosian characters. Display windows, at once transparent and reflective, play a role in the identity formation of the characters who stare into them and observe their own image superimposed onto exhibited goods. In some cases, the balcony places characters on the edge of death as they consider suicide in the hope of regaining autonomy in their lives. For other characters, windows and balconies offer insight into their hidden fantasies, as they view the street from their home, filtering their observations through their own imagination. Lastly, the balcony is an essential space for characters to view and perform spectacle and for Galdós’s fiction to consider its own narrative discourse. Galdós’s characters take part in carnivalesque rituals on balconies and patios that directly oppose ecclesiastical norms. As they observe and interpret the misfortune of other characters on and from balconies, Galdós’s fiction itself becomes performative, pointing to the metafictional function of liminal space in his art

Involvement of Family Communication Partners in Using an iPad to Enhance the Communication Skills and Appropriate Behavior of Youth with Severe/Multiple Disabilities in Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this study was to determine how a family communication partner (usually the mother IS primarily responsible for communication with a youth with a communication disability) could be trained to use an iPad and communication software for increasing appropriate communication and decreasing inappropriate behavior of youth with severe/multiple disabilities. The research design was a qualitative case study consisting of pre- and post-interviews along with the intervention. Three mothers were given special training in using the MyTalkTools® app on the iPad as an AAC tool and using these tools in working with their youths. Data were also collected on youth behavior changes during the training. The data analysis included within-case analysis through the life story and a cross-case analysis to find similarities and differences between three cases. The results showed significant improvements in the communication behavior and reduction of inappropriate behaviors for the three youths with their family partners as effective trainers in different settings at home. Future research is recommended to expand and apply this study with larger sample sizes and more areas in Middle East countries. Key words: youth with severe/multiple disabilities, AAC, iPad, communication, behavior, family communication partner, FCT

AKT/GSK3 signaling pathway and schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a prevalent complex trait disorder manifested by severe neurocognitive dysfunctions and lifelong disability. During the past few years several studies have provided direct evidence for the involvement of different signaling pathways in schizophrenia. In this review, we mainly focus on AKT/GSK3 signaling pathway in schizophrenia. The original study on the involvement of this pathway in schizophrenia was published by Emamian et al. in 2004. This study reported convergent evidence for a decrease in AKT1 protein levels and levels of phosphorylation of GSK-3β in the peripheral lymphocytes and brains of individuals with schizophrenia; a significant association between schizophrenia and an AKT1 haplotype; and a greater sensitivity to the sensorimotor gating-disruptive effect of amphetamine, conferred by AKT1 deficiency. It also showed that haloperidol can induce a stepwise increase in regulatory phosphorylation of AKT1 in the brains of treated mice that could compensate for the impaired function of this signaling pathway in schizophrenia. Following this study, several independent studies were published that not only confirmed the association of this signaling pathway with schizophrenia across different populations, but also shed light on the mechanisms by which AKT/GSK3 pathway may contribute to the development of this complex disorder. In this review, following an introduction on the role of AKT in human diseases and its functions in neuronal and non-neuronal cells, a review on the results of studies published on AKT/GSK3 signaling pathway in schizophrenia after the original 2004 paper will be provided. A brief review on other signaling pathways involved in schizophrenia and the possible connections with AKT/GSK3 signaling pathway will be discussed. Moreover, some possible molecular mechanisms acting through this pathway will be discussed besides the mechanisms by which they may contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Finally, different transcription factors related to schizophrenia will be reviewed to see how hypo-activity of AKT signaling pathway may impact such transcriptional mechanisms

Spectroscopic analysis of electronic energy transfer in molecular cassettes formed around boron dipyrromethene dyes

PhD ThesisPhotosynthesis, in its many diverse forms, has provided inspiration for countless researchers over several centuries and continues to spring surprises and new concepts. At the simplest level, photosynthesis can be considered to store sunlight in the form of chemical (or electrochemical) potential. As such, it is often proposed as a model for artificial systems aimed at the conversion and storage of solar energy. One of many key components of photosynthesis concerns the collection of sunlight by various pigments and the transfer of the resultant exciton to a reaction centre, where fuel formation can take place. In this thesis, we examine chemical systems that facilitate electronic energy transfer (EET) between chromophores arranged in rather simple molecular architectures built around boron dipyrromethene (Bodipy) dyes. These latter compounds are taken from an ever-expanding family of robust, highly fluorescent synthetic reagents developed originally as laser dyes and bio-labels. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to the general field of EET and covers a few basic concepts special to the photosynthetic apparatus. This is followed by a brief consideration of Förster theory, which is the staple mechanism underpinning much of the work covered in later chapters, and mention of the alternative Dexter theory for EET. By way of acknowledging that we are not the only researchers to explore this type of work, we provide a few key examples of molecular systems designed to probe various aspects of intramolecular EET. These examples cover Bodipy-based arrays and certain bio-inspired molecular systems. In Chapter 2, we describe the behaviour of certain sterically unhindered Bodipy dyes as fluorescent probes for rheology changes, most notably variations in viscosity under ambient conditions. This situation depends on changing the degree of (micro) friction between an appended meso-aryl ring and the surrounding medium. In order to vary in a systematic manner the resistance to gyration of the aryl ring, the photophysical properties of the dye have been recorded in different media and as functions of temperature and pressure. Local viscosity is also affected by the presence of an inert polymer. Extending the system to include an unusual bichromophore where the linkage is through boron-oxygen bonds switches off the sensory action due to light-induced electron transfer. Chapter 3 includes a critical comparison of EET within two disparate molecular types; namely, covalently-linked and non-covalently-linked molecular dyads bearing ii identical subunits drawn from the Bodipy family. Here, the intention is to explore how the binding motif affects the likelihood of intramolecular EET between the subunits. Both systems, which consist of a yellow Bodipy dye as a donor and a blue Bodipy dye as the complementary acceptor, show highly efficient EET. Again, the probability of EET has been probed as a function of applied pressure and temperature to better expose the mechanism. The non-covalently-linked system, which makes use of electrostatic binding between charged species, forms a liquid crystalline state upon heating and it is notable that efficacious EET occurs within this phase. Chapter 4 looks at the nano-mechanical properties of molecular-scale bridges in linear donor-spacer-acceptor compounds by monitoring the probability of intramolecular EET as a function of bridge length. The bridge (or spacer) consists of 1 to 5 ethynylene-carborane units that allow the centre-to-centre distance between the donor and acceptor to be varied systematically from 38 to 115 Å. Interestingly, the probability of EET is higher than the predicted value for all systems except the shortest bridge. On cooling to 77K, the agreement between theory and experiment agrees much better but depends on applied pressure in fluid solution at room temperature. We rationalise these various results in terms of structural distortion of the longer bridges, thereby allowing determination of the strain energy and Young’s modulus for the spacer unit. In Chapter 5, we report on a study of intramolecular EET in a molecular triad where the highest-energy donor is situated in the centre and there are two disparate Bodipy at the terminals. Overall, the probability of EET exceeds 95% and the individual EET steps can be resolved; the rate of EET follows the order of spectral overlap integrals. By selective protonation of one of the Bodipy-based terminals, it is possible to change the relative ordering of the spectral overlap integrals and thereby switch the direction of EET. This chapter also includes an investigation of the general photophysical behaviour of the symmetric triads, where the same Bodipy dye is present at each terminal, in addition to the spectroscopic properties of the isolated chromophores. Experimental variations include changes in solvent polarity, effect of lowing the temperature, moving from fluid to solid phases and applying high pressure to the fluid medium are discussed in this chapter. Finally, Chapter 6 provides a brief summary of the experimental approaches used throughout the work, including instrumentation and chemicals. In addition, the many mathematical equations and computer programs employed are mentioned here.King AbdulAziz University as represented through the Saudi Embassy for providing scholarship funds and the financial support

An empirical study on identifying critical success factors on chaos management

Chaos management is one of the most necessary efforts on managing business units. Many organizations fail to cope with undesirable circumstances, which may happen without any prior notice and as a result, they may face with significant financial losses. In this paper, we present an empirical study to determine critical success factors, which could help handle any possible chaos in organizations. The proposed study of this paper is implemented for a set of travel agencies located in Tehran, Iran. Chronbach alpha is calculated as 0.821, which is well above the minimum desirable level. In addition, we have also performed factor analysis, which yields a KMO value of 0.576 with the level of significance of 0.000. The results indicate that there are six important factors including effective management strategy, internal environmental factors, creative and innovative attitudes, external environmental factors and top level management thoughts

Interactions between a water molecule and C 60 in the endohedral fullerene H2O@C60

A water molecule encapsulated inside a C 60 fullerene cage behaves almost like an asymmetric top rotor, as would be expected of an isolated water molecule. However, inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments show evidence of interactions between the water molecule and its environment [Goh et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16, 21330]. In particular, a resolved splitting of the 1 01 rotational level into a singlet and a doublet indicates that the water molecule experiences an environment of lower symmetry than the icosahedral symmetry of a C 60 cage. Recent calculations have shown that the splitting can be explained in terms of electrostatic quadrupolar interactions between the water molecule and the electron clouds of nearest-neighbour C 60 molecules, which results in an effective environment of S 6 symmetry [Felker et al.]. We use symmetry arguments to obtain a simple algebraic expression, expressed in terms of a linear combination of products of translational and rotational basis functions, that describes the effect on a water molecule of any potential of S 6 symmetry. We show that we can reproduce the results of the electrostatic interaction model up to ≈ 12 meV in terms of two unknown parameters only. The resulting potential is in a form that can readily be used in future calculations, without needing to use density functional theory (DFT) for example. Adjusting parameters in our potential would help identify whether other symmetry-lowering interactions are also present if experimental results that resolve splittings in higher-energy rotational levels are obtained in the future. As another application of our model, we show that the results of DFT calculations of the variation in energy as a water molecule moves inside the cage of an isolated C 60 molecule, where the water molecule experiences an environment of icosahedral symmetry, can also be reproduced using our model