JISC funded Kaptur project environmental assessment report

The overall objective of the JISC funded Kaptur project (October 2011 - March 2013) is to discover, create and pilot a sectoral model of best practice in the management of research data in the visual arts. This report outlines findings from the first workpackage, environmental assessment, based on the following research question: What is the nature of visual arts research data? Appendix A provides detail on the methodology; data was gathered from a literature review and 16 face-to-face interviews with visual arts researchers; four at each partner institution: Glasgow School of Art; Goldsmiths, University of London; University for the Creative Arts; and University of the Arts London

The treatment of character types and methods of character portrayal in Patience and Purity considered with reference to other literature of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century including drama

Some initial consideration of character types and usages in mediaeval literature is undertaken before an examination of the poems' structures which seem to be adaptions of the homiletic genre. The Gawain-poet uses the homiletic framework but presents his themes, not by the customary argument, but by the use of exemplary characters. The narrator's voice is adapted to become more positive, like that of the dream vision genre, and less didactic. The poet characterizes mainly by amplifying the Vulgate with realistic detail. Other literary traditions used are the description of behaviour in the sin-manuals, and the romance and drama which have parallel with the complementary King-figures in Purity. Other characters without such well-defined social roles are more difficult to place in mediaeval literature. Abraham, the embodiment of Purity's theme that the pure see God, is presented initially through his actions, and, although a figure of purity, he is shown as an individual and not a type figure. Lot, too, is individualized but he is seen as a fallible man and presented in a humorous light, as is Jonah. He is disobedient to God, but he is not totally condemned, which is in itself unusual. In a longer presentation than any in Purity, his thought processes and feelings are only detailed where they show impatience and further the theme. That characterization is dependent on the effective presentation of theme is clear from the non-development of Noah (considered with Abraham and Lot), when the poet emphasises instead God's character of wrath at impurity. The poet uses character as he does imagery by accumulating examples, in a paratactic structure to present a loosely-knit, composite picture of the theme. His purpose is not only didactic, and his characterizations are unusual in their individual presentation of reality, through the dramatizing of action and speech.<p

Ontogenetic Changes in Limb Bone Structural Properties and Locomotor Behavior in Pan

As our closest living relatives, chimpanzees have often served as models to help reconstruct early hominin behavior. However, despite documented behavioral variation at the species and subspecies level, we still know little about how skeletal variation relates to behavior among living chimpanzees. This is especially important in light of increasing evidence that early hominins engaged in a variety of locomotor modes involving mixtures of arboreal and terrestrial behaviors: previous studies have often focused on broad taxonomic and behavioral groups, but closely-related modern taxa with subtle behavioral differences may provide better models. Studies of ontogenetic trajectories within groups can also serve as "natural experiments" for testing the relationship of morphology to known behavioral changes with age while controlling for genetic heritage. This study compares skeletal morphology with field observational behavioral data among bonobos and the individual subspecies of common chimpanzee. Aspects of skeletal morphology previously hypothesized to reflect locomotor behavior, including bone lengths, articular proportions, phalangeal curvature and dorsal metacarpal and metatarsal ridge (DMR) morphology, and cross-sectional structural properties (e.g. inter-limb strength proportions, diaphyseal shape ratios), were compared both across adult P. paniscus and P. troglodytes subspecies and during ontogeny. These results were then contextualized in existing data on locomotor behavior frequencies in these same taxa. Bone lengths and articular proportions were hypothesized to primarily reflect genetic differences and thus mainly vary along phylogenetic lines, while internal cross-sectional geometry, phalangeal curvature, and the DMR were predicted to show greater concordance with behavior regardless of phylogenetic relationships. Results suggest that, even at these narrow taxonomic levels, length and articular proportions primarily vary along taxonomic lines, distinguishing P. paniscus from other Pan, while cross-sectional geometry and phalangeal curvature show more differences between P. troglodytes subspecies and are more consistent with differences in frequencies of locomotor behavior. Dorsal metacarpal ridge morphology seemed to be related both to body size and to behavior. This increased understanding of the relative importance of genetic inheritance and developmental plasticity in the production of adult skeletal features in Pan informs both our understanding of the functional anatomy of living hominoids and our interpretations of morphological variation in fossil hominins

Exploring research data management in the visual arts

This workshop will enable participants to explore the nature of research data in the visual arts and the essential elements of its appropriate management. For researchers, the effective management of research data helps validate and contextualise the outputs of artistic research, while at the same time supports the research method by enabling researchers to work more effectively and to mitigate against the risk of data lost. In addition, many funders now require data management plans to be submitted as part of the funding process. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and led by the Centre for Digital Scholarship (formerly VADS), at the University for the Creative Arts, and working in partnership with Falmouth University and the Glasgow School of Art, the VADS4R project is developing a series of tailored skills development workshops and materials on research data management in the visual arts. These are focused on the needs of early careers researchers and postgraduate students in the visual arts and will be piloted over the course of the academic year 2013-14

Gaugino Masses in Modular Invariant Supergravity

We calculate gaugino masses in string-derived models with hidden-sector gaugino condensation. The linear multiplet formulation for the dilaton superfield is used to implement perturbative modular invariance. The contribution arising from quantum effects in the observable sector includes the term recently found in generic supergravity models. A much larger contribution is present if matter fields with Standard Model gauge couplings also couple to the Green-Schwarz counter term. We comment on the relation of our K\"ahler U(1) superspace formalism to other calculations.Comment: 15 pages, full postscript also available from http://phyweb.lbl.gov/theorygroup/papers/43259.p

A 3D searchable database of transgenic zebrafish gal4 and cre lines for functional neuroanatomy studies

Citation: Marquart, G. D., Tabor, K. M., Brown, M., Strykowski, J. L., Varshney, G. K., LaFave, M. C., . . . Burgess, H. A. (2015). A 3D searchable database of transgenic zebrafish gal4 and cre lines for functional neuroanatomy studies. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 9(November), 1-17. doi:10.3389/fncir.2015.00078Transgenic methods enable the selective manipulation of neurons for functional mapping of neuronal circuits. Using confocal microscopy, we have imaged the cellular-level expression of 109 transgenic lines in live 6 day post fertilization larvae, including 80 Gal4 enhancer trap lines, 9 Cre enhancer trap lines and 20 transgenic lines that express fluorescent proteins in defined gene-specific patterns. Image stacks were acquired at single micron resolution, together with a broadly expressed neural marker, which we used to align enhancer trap reporter patterns into a common 3-dimensional reference space. To facilitate use of this resource, we have written software that enables searching for transgenic lines that label cells within a selectable 3-dimensional region of interest (ROI) or neuroanatomical area. This software also enables the intersectional expression of transgenes to be predicted, a feature which we validated by detecting cells with co-expression of Cre and Gal4. Many of the imaged enhancer trap lines show intrinsic brain-specific expression. However, to increase the utility of lines that also drive expression in non-neuronal tissue we have designed a novel UAS reporter, that suppresses expression in heart, muscle, and skin through the incorporation of microRNA binding sites in a synthetic 3? untranslated region. Finally, we mapped the site of transgene integration, thus providing molecular identification of the expression pattern for most lines. Cumulatively, this library of enhancer trap lines provides genetic access to 70% of the larval brain and is therefore a powerful and broadly accessible tool for the dissection of neural circuits in larval zebrafish. © 2015 Marquart, Tabor, Brown, Strykowski, Varshney, LaFave, Mueller, Burgess, Higashijima and Burgess

A Case of Scopulariopsis brevicaulis

Scopulariopsis is a genus of mold that is usually associated with onychomycosis and rarely causes complicated infection in immunocompetent persons. We describe a case of an immunocompetent 65-year-old male with a history of mitral valve repair with prosthetic ring placement who developed acute left posterior knee pain. Imaging showed a left popliteal artery aneurysm and thrombus, and further evaluation with transesophageal echocardiogram demonstrated two large, mobile mitral valve vegetations. He underwent debridement and replacement of the mitral valve, followed by debridement of the left popliteal artery with peroneal artery bypass. The intraoperative cultures grew Scopulariopsis brevicaulis. Due to the resistant nature of the organism, he was initially treated with combination antifungals including liposomal amphotericin B, caspofungin, and voriconazole and was continued on chronic suppression with posaconazole with no evidence of recurrence. Scopulariopsis is a rare cause of fungal endocarditis. Treatment of Scopulariopsis endocarditis is challenging and is not well understood due to its rarity

Strategies to Enhance Out of State Enrollment at VCU Focusing on Name Recognition, Successful Alumni and Out of State Students

The project team has conceptualized several possible university marketing initiatives. These initiatives revolve around a central concept: increasing out-ofstate student enrollment at VCU. In concert with the Office of the Vice President of University Outreach, Team 3 will study and test the effectiveness of outdoor and other strategically located VCU advertising along major northeast corridor transportation routes and hubs to attract out-of state undergraduates