Girlie

‘Girlie’ was a solo show of paintings in October-November 2008 that commented on the idea of the girlie in popular culture. Historically, the term referred to early pornographic magazines. Contemporary usage of the term is employed by advertisers and is aimed at selling products that sexualise pre-pubescent girls. This exhibition was an attempt to explore the paradoxes that issue from the popular conflation of these two ideas. References to fairy queens, princesses, girlie tattoos, cuddly toys, playboy bunnies and slogans from girlie T-shirts are juxtaposed with patronising and derogatory labels such as bitch, whore, tart, slut etc., so as to draw attention to the persistence of hypocritical moral judgements of women. Not only are these judgements inconsistent with the egalitarian ideals implicit in our democracy but also they endorse distorted conceptions of the boundaries between women and children’s sexuality. At a more formal level, the paintings were intentionally constructed to evoke standard prejudices of painting. That is, the medium of painting is often regarded with disdain and/or is seen as a quaint activity pursued by women (evidence of which can be seen in a review of the show in Art Review, issue no. 29, Jan-Feb, 2009). I wanted to play with these common attitudes by setting up the viewer to assume that the work fits seamlessly with these prejudices. Indeed, I wanted to mock those in the art-world who have little ability or interest in looking at art that is not presented in conventional modes

DEATH (MACHINES) AND TAXES

In the defense policy literature, it is widely believed that there is a pronounced bias towards the procurement of a less than optimal number of excessively sophisticated weapons. In this paper, we consider the possibility that this perceived bias is the result of the timing and informational structure of defense procurement decisions, and the inter-relationship of this structure with overall fiscal policy. Specifically, this paper presents a model that suggests that tax smoothing considerations of the type first articulated in Barro (1979) could lead social welfare maximizing decision makers to choose a higher level of weapon quality than would be optimal if government revenue could be raised without resort to distortionary taxation.Defense procurement, Weapon quality, Tax smoothing, Public Economics, H57,

THE IDENTIFICATION OF ENEMY INTENTIONS THROUGH OBSERVATION OF LONG LEAD-TIME MILITARY PREPARATIONS

Intuitively, we would expect that an increase in the military preparations of potential enemies imply that the rival perceives an increase in the likelihood of future conflict. In this paper, we present a simple model that suggests that, surprisingly, the relationship is ambiguous. We find that (a) the specification of the social utility function; and (b) the rate of substitution between long and short lead-time preparations in the production of defense capability play a role in determining whether rivals respond to an increased future threat, by increasing or decreasing their long lead-time preparations.International Relations/Trade,

Differences in reactivation of tuberculosis induced from anti-tnf treatments are based on bioavailability in granulomatous tissue

The immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection is complex. Experimental evidence has revealed that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) plays a major role in host defense against Mtb in both active and latent phases of infection. TNF-neutralizing drugs used to treat inflammatory disorders have been reported to increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB), in accordance with animal studies. The present study takes a computational approach toward characterizing the role of TNF in protection against the tubercle bacillus in both active and latent infection. We extend our previous mathematical models to investigate the roles and production of soluble (sTNF) and transmembrane TNF (tmTNF). We analyze effects of anti-TNF therapy in virtual clinical trials (VCTs) by simulating two of the most commonly used therapies, anti-TNF antibody and TNF receptor fusion, predicting mechanisms that explain observed differences in TB reactivation rates. The major findings from this study are that bioavailability of TNF following anti-TNF therapy is the primary factor for causing reactivation of latent infection and that sTNF-even at very low levels-is essential for control of infection. Using a mathematical model, it is possible to distinguish mechanisms of action of the anti-TNF treatments and gain insights into the role of TNF in TB control and pathology. Our study suggests that a TNF-modulating agent could be developed that could balance the requirement for reduction of inflammation with the necessity to maintain resistance to infection and microbial diseases. Alternatively, the dose and timing of anti-TNF therapy could be modified. Anti-TNF therapy will likely lead to numerous incidents of primary TB if used in areas where exposure is likely. © 2007 Marino et al

Nuclear actin assembly in mammalian cells

The filament-forming protein actin is abundant in eukaryotic cells and its rapid dy- namics as well as versatile protein interactions result in a diverse array of functions to form important cytoskeletal structures. These influence among others shape, mi- gration and organelle-associated processes, i.e. vesicle movement or mitochondrial fission. The study of such structures in the nuclear compartment was first successful in germline cells of non-mammalian model organisms with high nuclear actin con- centrations. Somatic, mammalian cell nuclei show substantially lower actin levels and faithful visualization of nuclear actin assembly could only be achieved by actin- binding probes fused to nuclear localization sequences circumventing the otherwise saturated cytoplasmic signal. Although high expression levels can lead to artificially induced filaments, careful titrations allowed the discovery of two different types of nuclear actin assembly by live-cell imaging of mammalian cells, regulated either by extracellular signals or the cell cycle. Extracellular signals for nuclear actin assembly can be induced by integrins and mechanotransduction, activation of other cell surface receptors or DNA damage and subsequent repair mechanisms. Mechanistic evaluation revealed that integrin- mediated nuclear actin filaments depend on the actin assembly factors mDia1 and 2 as well as the linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton complex positively influenc- ing myocardin-related transcription factor A/serum response factor-dependent gene expression. Integrin-mediated nuclear actin assembly was also observed during can- cer cell invasion trough collagen matrices. In contrast, cell cycle-regulated nuclear actin assembly occurs together with the re-assembly of daughter nuclei after mitosis. Due to the breakdown of the nuclear envelope for open mitosis, daughter cells have to re-assemble this compartment at mitotic exit. However, the complex organization of interphase nuclei originating from mitotic chromosomes is not fully understood. Our data indicate an important role for nuclear actin dynamics in nuclear volume expansion and chromatin decondensation, which are necessary for a functional interphase nucleus and physiological cellular behavior as well as early embryonic development. We could visualize single and bundled actin filaments in inter-chromosomal spaces and at the nuclear envelope, which were negatively regulated by the actin-depolymerizing factor Cofilin. However, multidisciplinary approaches are further required to study the pre- cise influence of nuclear actin assembly on chromatin dynamics in more detail. Ex- ploring this phenomenon by a combination of proteomics, Hi-C, super-resolution live- cell imaging and novel labeling methods for genomic loci and nucleosomes will aid our understanding of the complex and dynamic nuclear architecture. Further mech- anistic studies into the upstream regulation and the influence of other actin-binding proteins are required to model nuclear actin assembly at mitotic exit

Toxoplasma gondii F-actin forms an extensive filamentous network required for material exchange and parasite maturation

Apicomplexan actin is important during the parasite's life cycle. Its polymerization kinetics are unusual, permitting only short, unstable F-actin filaments. It has not been possible to study actin in vivo and so its physiological roles have remained obscure, leading to models distinct from conventional actin behaviour. Here a modified version of the commercially available actin-chromobody was tested as a novel tool for visualising F-actin dynamics in Toxoplasma gondii. Cb labels filamentous actin structures within the parasite cytosol and labels an extensive F-actin network that connects parasites within the parasitophorous vacuole and allows vesicles to be exchanged between parasites. In the absence of actin, parasites lack a residual body and inter-parasite connections and grow in an asynchronous and disorganized manner. Collectively, these data identify new roles for actin in the intracellular phase of the parasites lytic cycle and provide a robust new tool for imaging parasitic F-actin dynamics

Decision-making of English Netball Superleague umpires: Contextual and dispositional influences

Objectives. The decisions made by officials have a direct bearing on the outcomes of competitive sport contests. In an exploratory study, we examine the interrelationships between the decisions made by elite netball umpires, the potential contextual and environmental influences (e.g., crowd size), and the umpires’ dispositional tendencies – specifically, their propensity to deliberate and ruminate on their decisions. Design/Method. Filmed footage from 60 England Netball Superleague matches was coded using performance analysis software. We measured the number of decisions made overall, and for home and away teams; league position; competition round; match quarter; and crowd size. Additionally, 10 umpires who officiated in the matches completed the Decision-Specific Reinvestment Scale (DSRS). Results. Regression analyses predicted that as home teams’ league position improved the number of decisions against away teams increased. A model comprising competition round and average league position of both teams predicted the number of decisions made in matches, but neither variable emerged as a significant predictor. The umpire analyses revealed that greater crowd size was associated with an increase in decisions against away teams. The Decision Rumination factor was strongly negatively related to the number of decisions in Quarters 1 and 3, this relationship was driven by fewer decisions against home teams by umpires who exhibited higher Rumination subscale scores. Conclusions. These findings strengthen our understanding of contextual, environmental, and dispositional influences on umpires’ decision-making behaviour. The tendency to ruminate upon decisions may explain the changes in decision behaviour in relation to the home team advantage effect

Siderophore Utilization by Bradyrhizobium japonicum

Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110 and 61A152 can utilize the hydroxamate-type siderophores ferri- chrome and rhodotorulate, in addition to ferric citrate, to overcome iron starvation. These strains can also utilizethepyoverdin-typesiderophorepseudobactinSt3.Theabilitytoutilizeanotherorganism\u27ssiderophores may confer a selective advantage in the rhizosphere

The past, present and future of research on judgment and decision making in sport

Objectives: The study of judgment and decision-making in sports is at least as old as the anniversary of FEPSAC we celebrate with this special issue. It seems therefore appropriate to look into the past, present and future of this topic. Design: For the past, a focus of the review is relating the European perspective of the co-authors into a larger frame of areas in judgment and decision making within the last 50 years and beyond. Method/Results/Conclusions: For the present, scientific current developments will be structured as judgments from the most influential perspectives such as the economical, social cognition, ecological dynamics or cognitive approaches illustrating some milestones in research on judgment and decision-making in sports of today. For the future, potentials of the field will be structured based on theory, methodology and practical applications showcasing challenges for the next decades of research ahead of us