Constellations of identity: place-ma(r)king beyond heritage

This paper will critically consider the different ways in which history and belonging have been treated in artworks situated in the Citadel development in Ayr on the West coast of Scotland. It will focus upon one artwork, Constellation by Stephen Hurrel, as an alternative to the more conventional landscapes of heritage which are adjacent, to examine the relationship between personal history and place history and argue the primacy of participatory process in the creation of place and any artwork therein. Through his artwork, Hurrel has attempted to adopt a material process through which place can be created performatively but, in part due to its non-representational form, proves problematic, aesthetically and longitudinally, in wholly engaging the community. The paper will suggest that through variants of ‘new genre public art’ such as this, personal and place histories can be actively re-created through the redevelopment of contemporary urban landscapes but also highlight the complexities and indeterminacies involved in the relationship between artwork, people and place

Lifeworld Inc. : and what to do about it

Can we detect changes in the way that the world turns up as they turn up? This paper makes such an attempt. The first part of the paper argues that a wide-ranging change is occurring in the ontological preconditions of Euro-American cultures, based in reworking what and how an event is produced. Driven by the security – entertainment complex, the aim is to mass produce phenomenological encounter: Lifeworld Inc as I call it. Swimming in a sea of data, such an aim requires the construction of just enough authenticity over and over again. In the second part of the paper, I go on to argue that this new world requires a different kind of social science, one that is experimental in its orientation—just as Lifeworld Inc is—but with a mission to provoke awareness in untoward ways in order to produce new means of association. Only thus, or so I argue, can social science add to the world we are now beginning to live in

Evidence for a Moist to Wet Source Transition Throughout the Oman‐UAE Ophiolite, and Implications for the Geodynamic History

The Oman‐United Arab Emirates (UAE) ophiolite represents the largest and best‐preserved fragment of obducted oceanic lithosphere in the world. However, debate continues regarding its geodynamic history. This debate is in part a consequence of the lateral variability in the later stage magmatic units, with arc signatures considered to be well developed in the north of the ophiolite but less so in the south. In this study, we investigate later stage intrusions in the central and southern part of the ophiolite. These intrusions vary from wehrlite to gabbro and tonalite and crosscut all levels of the main ophiolite sequence from the mantle peridotites up to the sheeted dike complex. They are characterized by the presence of magmatic amphibole, low TiO2 (<1 wt%), document an enrichment in Th, Sr, and Ba, depletion of Y and Dy, and decreasing Dy/Yb and Dy/Dy* with increased fractionation. These data record hydrous fractionation with a significant role for amphibole, which is comparable to many arc‐type magmas. The relative Nb and light rare earth element ((La/Yb)nchon < 1) depletion and coupled Nd and Hf isotope variations indicate the same (but depleted) Indian mid‐ocean ridge basalts‐type mantle source as the main ophiolite sequence. More radiogenic Pb isotope compositions of plagioclase imply the addition of a fluid component likely derived from sediments or altered oceanic crust. These intrusions occur across larger areas than previously reported, implying the entire ophiolite formed in a setting characterized by arc‐type magmas, such as a suprasubduction zone setting

Increase of Direct C-C Coupling Reaction Yield by Identifying Structural and Electronic Properties of High-Spin Iron Tetra-azamacrocyclic Complexes

Macrocyclic ligands have been explored extensively as scaffolds for transition metal catalysts for oxygen and hydrogen atom transfer reactions. C–C reactions facilitated using earth abundant metals bound to macrocyclic ligands have not been well-understood but could be a green alternative to replacing the current expensive and toxic precious metal systems most commonly used for these processes. Therefore, the yields from direct Suzuki–Miyaura C–C coupling of phenylboronic acid and pyrrole to produce 2-phenylpyrrole facilitated by eight high-spin iron complexes ([Fe3+L1(Cl)2]+, [Fe3+L4(Cl)2]+, [Fe2+L5(Cl)]+, [Fe2+L6(Cl)2], [Fe3+L7(Cl)2]+, [Fe3+L8(Cl)2]+, [Fe2+L9(Cl)]+, and [Fe2+L10(Cl)]+) were compared to identify the effect of structural and electronic properties on catalytic efficiency. Specifically, catalyst complexes were compared to evaluate the effect of five properties on catalyst reaction yields: (1) the coordination requirements of the catalyst, (2) redox half-potential of each complex, (3) topological constraint/rigidity, (4) N atom modification(s) increasing oxidative stability of the complex, and (5) geometric parameters. The need for two labile cis-coordination sites was confirmed based on a 42% decrease in catalytic reaction yield observed when complexes containing pentadentate ligands were used in place of complexes with tetradentate ligands. A strong correlation between iron(III/II) redox potential and catalytic reaction yields was also observed, with [Fe2+L6(Cl)2] providing the highest yield (81%, −405 mV). A Lorentzian fitting of redox potential versus yields predicts that these catalysts can undergo more fine-tuning to further increase yields. Interestingly, the remaining properties explored did not show a direct, strong relationship to catalytic reaction yields. Altogether, these results show that modifications to the ligand scaffold using fundamental concepts of inorganic coordination chemistry can be used to control the catalytic activity of macrocyclic iron complexes by controlling redox chemistry of the iron center. Furthermore, the data provide direction for the design of improved catalysts for this reaction and strategies to understand the impact of a ligand scaffold on catalytic activity of other reactions

The Next Generation of Platinum Drugs: Targeted Pt(II) Agents, Nanoparticle Delivery, and Pt(IV) Prodrugs

The platinum drugs, cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin, prevail in the treatment of cancer, but new platinum agents have been very slow to enter the clinic. Recently, however, there has been a surge of activity, based on a great deal of mechanistic information, aimed at developing nonclassical platinum complexes that operate via mechanisms of action distinct from those of the approved drugs. The use of nanodelivery devices has also grown, and many different strategies have been explored to incorporate platinum warheads into nanomedicine constructs. In this Review, we discuss these efforts to create the next generation of platinum anticancer drugs. The introduction provides the reader with a brief overview of the use, development, and mechanism of action of the approved platinum drugs to provide the context in which more recent research has flourished. We then describe approaches that explore nonclassical platinum(II) complexes with trans geometry or with a monofunctional coordination mode, polynuclear platinum(II) compounds, platinum(IV) prodrugs, dual-threat agents, and photoactivatable platinum(IV) complexes. Nanoparticles designed to deliver platinum(IV) complexes will also be discussed, including carbon nanotubes, carbon nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, quantum dots, upconversion nanoparticles, and polymeric micelles. Additional nanoformulations, including supramolecular self-assembled structures, proteins, peptides, metal–organic frameworks, and coordination polymers, will then be described. Finally, the significant clinical progress made by nanoparticle formulations of platinum(II) agents will be reviewed. We anticipate that such a synthesis of disparate research efforts will not only help to generate new drug development ideas and strategies, but also will reflect our optimism that the next generation of approved platinum cancer drugs is about to arrive.National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (CA034992

Antimicrobial Efficacy and Synergy of Metal Ions against Enterococcus faecium, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii in Planktonic and Biofilm Phenotypes

The effects of metal ion solutions (silver, copper, platinum, gold and palladium) were determined individually and in combination against Enterococcus faecium, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Platinum, gold and palladium showed the greatest antimicrobial efficacy in zone of inhibition (ZoI) assays. When tested in combinations using ZoI assays, gold/platinum, gold/palladium and platinum/palladium were indicative of synergy. Microbial inhibitory concentration demonstrated platinum and gold against Enterococcus faecium, platinum against Klebsiella pneumoniae and platinum and silver against Acinetobacter baumannii were optimal. Minimal bactericidal concentrations determined the greatest bactericidal activity was again platinum gold and palladium against all three bacteria. Fractional Inhibitory Concentration (FIC) studies demonstrated that the silver/platinum combination against Enterococcus faecium, and silver/copper combination against Acinetobacter baumannii demonstrated antimicrobial synergy. Following crystal violet biofilm assays for single metal ion solutions, antimicrobial efficacies were demonstrated for all the metals against all the bacteria Synergistic assays against biofilms demonstrated gold/palladium, gold/platinumand platinum/palladium resulted in the greatest antimicrobial efficacy. Overall, platinum, palladium and gold metal ion solutions in individual use or combination demonstrated the greatest antimicrobial efficacies against planktonic or biofilm bacteria. This work demonstrates the potential for using a range of metal ions, as biocidal formulations against both planktonic or biofilm bacteria