South Ways - Art Undercurrents across the South

A series of projects attempted to explore a southern perspective for global visual art. The South Project was a series of gatherings across the latitude to develop a south-south network and conversation. This was followed by an intellectual push through Southern Theory to diversity academic frameworks beyond the trans-Atlantic. The application of this to visual arts was explored with the project South Ways, which involved developing particular verbs for creative engagements - to bestow, to open, to swap and to glean. Such ventures involve a promise yet to be realised - that the orientation of visual arts towards the South can involve people of the South themselves, both popular and elite.

A chromatin modifying enzyme, SDG8, is involved in morphological, gene expression, and epigenetic responses to mechanical stimulation

Thigmomorphogenesis is viewed as being a response process of acclimation to short repetitive bursts of mechanical stimulation or touch. The underlying molecular mechanisms that coordinate changes in how touch signals lead to long-term morphological changes are enigmatic. Touch responsive gene expression is rapid and transient, and no transcription factor or DNA regulatory motif has been reported that could confer a genome wide mechanical stimulus. We report here on a chromatin modifying enzyme, SDG8/ASHH2, which can regulate the expression of many touch responsive genes identified in Arabidopsis. SDG8 is required for the permissive expression of touch induced genes; and the loss of function of sdg8 perturbs the maximum levels of induction on selected touch gene targets. SDG8 is required to maintain permissive H3K4 trimethylation marks surrounding the Arabidopsis touch-inducible gene TOUCH 3 (TCH3), which encodes a calmodulin-like protein (CML12). The gene neighboring was also slightly down regulated, revealing a new target for SDG8 mediated chromatin modification. Finally, sdg8 mutants show perturbed morphological response to wind-agitated mechanical stimuli, implicating an epigenetic memory-forming process in the acclimation response of thigmomorphogenesis

The determination of the structure of Saturn's F ring by nearby moonlets

International audienceSaturn's narrow F ring exhibits several unusual features that vary on timescales of hours to years. These include transient clumps, a central core surrounded by a multistranded structure and a regular series of longitudinal channels associated with Prometheus, one of the ring's two 'shepherding' satellites. Several smaller moonlets and clumps have been detected in the ring's immediate vicinity, and a population of embedded objects has been inferred. Here we report direct evidence of moonlets embedded in the ring's bright core, and show that most of the F ring's morphology results from the continual gravitational and collisional effects of small satellites, often combined with the perturbing effect of Prometheus. The F-ring region is perhaps the only location in the Solar System where large-scale collisional processes are occurring on an almost daily basis

Higher habitual flavonoid intakes are associated with a lower risk of peripheral artery disease hospitalizations

Background The role of nutrition in the primary prevention of peripheral artery disease (PAD), the third leading cause of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, is undetermined. Flavonoids may attenuate atherosclerosis and therefore persons who consume flavonoid-rich foods may have a lower risk of developing PAD. Objectives We aimed to examine the association between flavonoid intake and PAD hospitalizations and investigate if the association differs according to established risk factors for PAD. Methods Baseline data from 55,647 participants of the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study without PAD, recruited from 1993 to 1997, were cross-linked with Danish nationwide registries. Flavonoid intake was calculated from FFQs using the Phenol-Explorer database. Associations were examined using multivariable-adjusted restricted cubic splines based on Cox proportional hazards models. Results After a median [IQR] follow-up time of 21 [20–22] y, 2131 participants had been hospitalized for any PAD. The association between total flavonoid intake and total PAD hospitalizations was nonlinear, reaching a plateau at ∼750–1000 mg/d. Compared with the median flavonoid intake in quintile 1 (174 mg/d), an intake of 1000 mg/d was associated with a 32% lower risk of any PAD hospitalization (HR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.77), a 26% lower risk of atherosclerosis (HR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.88), a 28% lower risk of an aneurysm (HR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.88), and a 47% lower risk of a hospitalization for other peripheral vascular disease (HR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.42, 0.67). A higher total flavonoid intake was also significantly associated with a lower incidence of revascularization or endovascular surgery and lower extremity amputation. The association between total flavonoid intake and PAD hospitalizations differed according to baseline smoking status, alcohol intake, BMI, and diabetes status. Conclusions Ensuring the adequate consumption of flavonoid-rich foods, particularly in subpopulations prone to the development of atherosclerosis, may be a key strategy to lower the risk of PAD

Habitual flavonoid intake and ischemic stroke incidence in the Danish diet, cancer, and health cohort

Background Flavonoid-rich foods have antiinflammatory, antiatherogenic, and antithrombotic properties that may contribute to a lower risk of ischemic stroke. Objectives We aimed to investigate the relationship between habitual flavonoid consumption and incidence of ischemic stroke in participants from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Study. Design In this prospective cohort study, 55,169 Danish residents without a prior ischemic stroke [median (IQR) age at enrolment of 56 y (52–60)], were followed for 21 y (20–22). We used Phenol-Explorer to estimate flavonoid intake from food frequency questionnaires obtained at study entry. Incident cases of ischemic stroke were identified from Danish nationwide registries and restricted cubic splines in Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate relationships with flavonoid intake. Results During follow-up, 4237 individuals experienced an ischemic stroke. Compared with participants in Q1 and after multivariable adjustment for demographics and lifestyle factors, those in Q5—for intake of total flavonoids, flavonols, and flavanol oligo + polymers—had a 12% [HR (95% CI): 0.88 (0.81, 0.96)], 10% [0.90 (0.82, 0.98)], and 18% [0.82 (0.75, 0.89)] lower risk of ischemic stroke incidence, respectively. Multivariable (demographic and lifestyle) adjusted associations for anthocyanins and flavones with risk of ischemic stroke were not linear, with moderate but not higher intakes associated with lower risk [anthocyanins Q3 vs. Q1 HR (95% CI): 0.85 (0.79, 0.93); flavones: 0.90 (0.84, 0.97)]. Following additional adjustment for dietary confounders, similar point estimates were observed; however, significance was only retained for anthocyanins and flavanol oligo + polymers [anthocyanins Q3 vs. Q1 HR (95% CI): 0.86 (0.79, 0.94); flavanol oligo + polymers Q5 vs. Q1 0.86 (0.78, 0.94)]. Conclusions These findings suggest that moderate habitual consumption of healthy flavonoid-rich foods is associated with a lower risk of ischemic stroke and further investigation is therefore warranted

Vegetable nitrate intake, blood pressure and incident cardiovascular disease: Danish diet, cancer, and health study

Whether the vascular effects of inorganic nitrate, observed in clinical trials, translate to a reduction in cardiovascular disease (CVD) with habitual dietary nitrate intake in prospective studies warrants investigation. We aimed to determine if vegetable nitrate, the major dietary nitrate source, is associated with lower blood pressure (BP) and lower risk of incident CVD. Among 53,150 participants of the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study, without CVD at baseline, vegetable nitrate intake was assessed using a comprehensive vegetable nitrate database. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using restricted cubic splines based on multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. During 23 years of follow-up, 14,088 cases of incident CVD were recorded. Participants in the highest vegetable nitrate intake quintile (median, 141 mg/day) had 2.58 mmHg lower baseline systolic BP (95%CI − 3.12, − 2.05) and 1.38 mmHg lower diastolic BP (95%CI − 1.66, − 1.10), compared with participants in the lowest quintile. Vegetable nitrate intake was inversely associated with CVD plateauing at moderate intakes (~ 60 mg/day); this appeared to be mediated by systolic BP (21.9%). Compared to participants in the lowest intake quintile (median, 23 mg/day), a moderate vegetable nitrate intake (median, 59 mg/day) was associated with 15% lower risk of CVD [HR (95% CI) 0.85 (0.82, 0.89)]. Moderate vegetable nitrate intake was associated with 12%, 15%, 17% and 26% lower risk of ischemic heart disease, heart failure, ischemic stroke and peripheral artery disease hospitalizations respectively. Consumption of at least ~ 60 mg/day of vegetable nitrate (~ 1 cup of green leafy vegetables) may mitigate risk of CVD

Estimating the horizontal and vertical direction-of-arrival of water-borne seismic signals in the northern Philippine Sea

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2013. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 134 (2013): 3282, doi:10.1121/1.4818843.Conventional and adaptive plane-wave beamforming with simultaneous recordings by large-aperture horizontal and vertical line arrays during the 2009 Philippine Sea Engineering Test (PhilSea09) reveal the rate of occurrence and the two-dimensional arrival structure of seismic phases that couple into the deep ocean. A ship-deployed, controlled acoustic source was used to evaluate performance of the horizontal array for a range of beamformer adaptiveness levels. Ninety T-phases from unique azimuths were recorded between Yeardays 107 to 119. T-phase azimuth and S-minus-P-phase time-of-arrival range estimates were validated using United States Geological Survey seismic monitoring network data. Analysis of phases from a seismic event that occurred on Yearday 112 near the east coast of Taiwan approximately 450 km from the arrays revealed a 22° clockwise evolution of T-phase azimuth over 90 s. Two hypotheses to explain such evolution—body wave excitation of multiple sources or in-water scattering—are presented based on T-phase origin sites at the intersection of azimuthal great circle paths and ridge/coastal bathymetry. Propagation timing between the source, scattering region, and array position suggests the mechanism behind the evolution involved scattering of the T-phase from the Ryukyu Ridge and a T-phase formation/scattering location estimation error of approximately 3.2 km.This research is supported by the Office of Naval Research, both the Applied Research Laboratory program and Code 322(OA)