Narratives of Enfoldment: Multi-linear and Parafictional Storytelling in Media Art

Narratives have been witnessing a state of enfoldment within the virtual world(s) since the proliferation of transmedia story worlds and new media art works. The aesthetics of enfoldment are discussed by Laura U. Marks within different trends in media art. She follows a genealogy of media art that has its roots in premodern Islamic concepts. Enfoldment is therefore situated as the broad framework of this paper’s discussion. Since the prevalence of the concept of transmedia storytelling, coined by Henry Jenkins in 2007, different franchises (be it in entertainment and others) have adopted certain narrative tropes to create a transmedia presence or universe. One of these tropes is the usage of multi-linear storytelling. Multi-linearity is one of the forms narrative storytelling that liberates a story from its temporal structure, making the consumption of narrative open to the end user. Parafiction, on the other hand, denotes instances when the lines between fact and fiction become blurry creating contemporary artworks where story worlds are essential for the dissemination of the works themselves. According to Lambert-beaty (2009) “the slew of recent writings trying to describe or explain this condition ranges from philosophical explorations of ‘the ethics of the lie’, to moralist warnings about our entry into ‘the post-truth era’” (Lambert-beatty, 2009). The following article aims at disseminating past scholarship on multi-linear and parafictional storytelling in trans and new media art in an attempt at shaping the theoretical framework of my doctoral thesis project; a podcast series intended for online dissemination that features conversations between a fictional character and non-fictional historical figures

“Le fantasme de Babel Aboli” vs. Babel ou la facture assumée

Il est indéniable que nulle époque n’a autant insisté, comme c’est le cas lors de ces dernières décennies, pour rendre à la traduction ses lettres de noblesse. On a assisté à la multiplication des études qui prenaient en considération, dans la pratique interprétative, des enjeux auxquels l’humanité n’a pas eu auparavant à faire face. nous nous proposons dans notre intervention de nous centrer sur une réflexion sur la traduction et les liens qu’elle entretient avec la langue et la culture à partir d’un a priori qui a façonné les rapports de l’imaginaire occidental avec l’imagination, à savoir le mythe de Babel.It is known that our era is the era of translation. Many studies were dedicated in these last decades to understand in the process of translation many whereabouts which are very new in the history of humanity. we propose in our intervention to study the translation and the links that it has to the language and culture. In our study, we realize the importance of the myth of Babylon which is related to the comprehension of translation in the occidental imaginary.é inegável que em momento algum foi tão enfatizada a necessidade de traduzir as cartas de nobreza, como nas últimas décadas. Temos assistido à proliferação de estudos que levaram em conta, na prática, questões interpretativas com que a humanidade ainda não se tinha deparado. na nossa intervenção, propomos concentrarmo-nos em uma relexão sobre tradução e suas ligações com a língua e a cultura a partir de um a priori que moldou as relações do imaginário ocidental com a imaginação, ou seja, o mito de Babel

Adipokinetic hormone enhances laminarin and bacterial lipopolysaccharide-induced activation of the prophenoloxidase cascade in the African migratory locust, Locusta migratoria

Lom-AKH-I enhances the activation in vivo of prophenoloxidase in the haemolymph of the African migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, in response to challenge with laminarin. AKH does not influence the speed or initial magnitude of the phenoloxidase response to laminarin, but prolongs the period of activation of the enzyme in a dose-dependent manner. Injections of preparations of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) do not activate prophenoloxidase in vivo, but co-injection of Lom-AKH-I with commercial preparations of LPS from Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, or Shigella flexneri (but not one from Pseudomonas aeroginosa) results in dose-dependent increases in the levels of phenoloxidase that persist in the haemolymph for several hours. It is argued that the effects of AKH on phenoloxidase activation in locusts described here are, at least in part, related directly to changes in lipid metabolism brought about by the hormone

Effects of Practice and Experience on the Arcuate Fasciculus: Comparing Singers, Instrumentalists, and Non-Musicians

Structure and function of the human brain are affected by training in both linguistic and musical domains. Individuals with intensive vocal musical training provide a useful model for investigating neural adaptations of learning in the vocal–motor domain and can be compared with learning in a more general musical domain. Here we confirm general differences in macrostructure (tract volume) and microstructure (fractional anisotropy, FA) of the arcuate fasciculus (AF), a prominent white-matter tract connecting temporal and frontal brain regions, between singers, instrumentalists, and non-musicians. Both groups of musicians differed from non-musicians in having larger tract volume and higher FA values of the right and left AF. The AF was then subdivided in a dorsal (superior) branch connecting the superior temporal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus (STG ↔ IFG), and ventral (inferior) branch connecting the middle temporal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus (MTG ↔ IFG). Relative to instrumental musicians, singers had a larger tract volume but lower FA values in the left dorsal AF (STG ↔ IFG), and a similar trend in the left ventral AF (MTG ↔ IFG). This between-group comparison controls for the general effects of musical training, although FA was still higher in singers compared to non-musicians. Both musician groups had higher tract volumes in the right dorsal and ventral tracts compared to non-musicians, but did not show a significant difference between each other. Furthermore, in the singers’ group, FA in the left dorsal branch of the AF was inversely correlated with the number of years of participants’ vocal training. Our findings suggest that long-term vocal–motor training might lead to an increase in volume and microstructural complexity of specific white-matter tracts connecting regions that are fundamental to sound perception, production, and its feedforward and feedback control which can be differentiated from a more general musician effect

Sex and Gender in Research on Healthcare Workers in Conflict Settings: A Scoping Review

The occupational health literature has established that sex and gender are associated with all dimensions of the workplace. Sex and/or gender (sex/gender) factors play an important role in shaping the experiences, exposures, and health outcomes of male and female healthcare providers working in war and conflict settings. This study aims to (1) assess how sex/gender is considered in the occupational health literature on healthcare workers in conflict settings, and (2) identify the gaps in incorporating sex/gender concepts in this literature. A scoping review was carried out and nine electronic databases were searched using a comprehensive search strategy. Two reviewers screened the titles/abstracts and full-texts of the studies using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Key information was extracted from the studies and four themes were identified. Of 7679 identified records, 47 were included for final review. The findings underlined the harsh working conditions of healthcare workers practicing in conflict zones and showed sex/gender similarities and differences in experiences, exposures and health outcomes. This review revealed a dearth of articles with adequate consideration of sex/gender in the study design. Sex/gender-sensitive research in occupational health is necessary to develop effective occupational health and safety policies to protect men and women healthcare workers in conflict settings