Dislocating Applied Theatre: Crossing the Borders between Practice and Context.

Amongst ongoing state programmes of austerity, heightened nationalisms, and a bitter public debate around migration, this research project is positioned within the field of applied theatre. This thesis investigates the ways in which recent examples of applied theatre practice in Yorkshire, that developed in response to the refugee crisis in mainland Europe, were situated in, shaped by, counteracted, contributed to, reproduced and/or resisted contexts of austerity and migration. Through this, the thesis and the research it represents examines the relationship between applied theatre practice and its contexts. First, it develops a critical concept of ‘context within’ for applied theatre, reimagining context as flat, dislocal, and woven through practice. It then seeks to trace the shifting threads that weave between practice and context, and unravel the knotty double binds and points of contradiction on those threads. Alongside this, it draws from critical and cultural theory, with a detailed focus on Gayatri Spivak’s theories of representation, ethical practice, and participation. This research adds to the field of applied theatre by offering a routes and strategies for practitioners and researchers to analyse the relationship that any example of applied theatre practice might have to a chosen context, through original theories of intention, representation, effect and affect, which develop through the analysis of the case study material. It also develops critical thought around what it means to work in an imagined local context, invoking some thinkers largely neglected by applied theatre discourse, to analyse the relationship between the self of the applied theatre practitioner, and the other of the marginalised participant. This research engaged with three arts projects, working on themes of forced migration, in Yorkshire over the course of a year, through an ethnographic process. The first analysis of this case study material focuses on a piece of street theatre that used puppets to share a narrative of a sinking boat of migrants seeking rescue and refuge. The second focuses on the participatory workshops of the second project, which led to the creation of a piece of shadow theatre. The final piece marked the 70th anniversary of the partition and independences of India and Pakistan. Through the case study analysis, I search for the border crossings between context and practice on the four threads of connectivity. The thesis makes claims for the relationship of applied theatre practice to people and place, as enmeshed in unique and dislocal constellations that connect to broader, global networks, and facilitate points of refusal and political effectivity, even amongst a renewed focus on affect in the field. It offers new theories of intention, representation, effect and affect, as intersecting threads on the networks between dislocal constellations of people, place and practice, and contexts. Offering a novel concept of ‘context within’, it also ignites strategies for the field, of ‘working in the local’ and searching for a ‘theatre of little contexts’

Dielectric elastomer generators that stack up

This paper reports the design, fabrication, and testing of a soft dielectric elastomer power generator with a volume of less than 1 cm3. The generator is well suited to harvest energy from ambient and from human body motion as it can harvest from low frequency (sub-Hz) motions, and is compact and lightweight. Dielectric elastomers are highly stretchable variable capacitors. Electrical energy is produced when the deformation of a stretched, charged dielectric elastomer is relaxed; like-charges are compressed together and opposite-charges are pushed apart, resulting in an increased voltage. This technology provides an opportunity to produce soft, high energy density generators with unparalleled robustness. Two major issues block this goal: current configurations require rigid frames that maintain the dielectric elastomer in a prestretched state, and high energy densities have come at the expense of short lifetime. This paper presents a self-supporting stacked generator configuration which does not require rigid frames. The generator consists of 48 generator films stacked on top of each other, resulting in a structure that fits within an 11 mm diameter footprint while containing enough active material to produce useful power. To ensure sustainable power production, we also present a mathematical model for designing the electronic control of the generator which optimizes energy production while limiting the electrical stress on the generator below failure limits. When cyclically compressed at 1.6 Hz, our generator produced 1.8 mW of power, which is sufficient for many low-power wireless sensor nodes. This performance compares favorably with similarly scaled electromagnetic, piezoelectric, and electrostatic generators. The generator's small form factor and ability to harvest useful energy from low frequency motions such as tree swaying or shoe impact provides an opportunity to deliver power to remote wireless sensor nodes or to distributed points in the human body without the need for costly periodic battery replacemen

Multi-responsive thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials : optical ZnCl2 sensors and efficient green to deep-red OLEDs

Funding: China Scholarship Council - 201806890001; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council - EP/L017008/1; Horizon 2020 Framework Programme - 101024874; Royal Society - NF171163.Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) is an emission mechanism whereby both singlet and triplet excitons can be harvested to produce light. Significant attention is devoted to developing TADF materials for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), while their use in other organic electronics applications such as sensors, has lagged. A family of TADF emitters, TPAPyAP, TPAPyBP, and TPAPyBPN containing a triphenylamine (TPA) donor and differing nitrogen-containing heterocyclic pyrazine-based acceptors is developed and systematically studied. Depending on the acceptor strength, these three compounds emit with photoluminescence maxima (λPL), of 516, 550, and 575 nm in toluene. Notably, all three compounds show a strong and selective spectral response to the presence of ZnCl2, making them the first optical TADF sensors for this analyte. It is demonstrated that these three emitters can be used in vacuum-deposited OLEDs, which show moderate efficiencies. Of note, the device with TPAPyBPN in 2,8-bis(diphenyl-phoshporyl)-dibenzo[b,d]thiophene (PPT) host emits at 657 nm and shows a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax) of 12.5%. This electroluminescence is significantly red-shifted yet shows comparable efficiency compared to a device fabricated in 4,4′-bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1′-biphenyl (CBP) host (λEL = 596 nm, EQEmax = 13.6%).Peer reviewe

Culture change in elite sport performance teams: Examining and advancing effectiveness in the new era

Reflecting the importance of optimizing culture for elite teams, Fletcher and Arnold (2011) recently suggested the need for expertise in culture change. Acknowledging the dearth of literature on the specific process, however, the potential effectiveness of practitioners in this area is unknown. The present paper examines the activity's precise demands and the validity of understanding in sport psychology and organizational research to support its delivery. Recognizing that sport psychologists are being increasingly utilized by elite team management, initial evidence-based guidelines are presented. Finally, to stimulate the development of ecologically valid, practically meaningful knowledge, the paper identifies a number of future research directions

Pain Controlling and Cytokine-regulating Effects of Lyprinol, a Lipid Extract of Perna Canaliculus, in a Rat Adjuvant-induced Arthritis Model

Using an adjuvant-induced arthritis rat model, we investigated the effects of a lipid extract of Perna canaliculus (Lyprinol®) on pain. Radiological examinations, as well as levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory (AI) cytokines, were measured aiming to provide independent objective data to the pain controlling investigation. We confirmed the ability of Lyprinol® to control pain at the initial phase of its administration; with similar efficacy to that observed with Naproxen. The pain scores slowly increased again in the group of rats treated with Lyprinol® after day 9–14. The Naproxen-treated rats remained pain-free while treated. Both Naproxen and Lyprinol® decreased the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IFN-γ, and increased that of IL-10. Extra-virgin olive oil was ineffective on cytokine secretion. Rats treated with Lyprinol® were apparently cured after 1 year. This study confirms the AI efficacy of this lipid extract of P. canaliculus, its initial analgesic effect, its perfect tolerance and its long-term healing properties

Bioactive Trace Metals and Their Isotopes as Paleoproductivity Proxies: An Assessment Using GEOTRACES-Era Data

86 pages, 33 figures, 2 tables, 1 appendix.-- Data Availability Statement: The majority of the dissolved data were sourced from the GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Products in 2014 (Mawji et al., 2015) and 2017 (Schlitzer et al., 2018), and citations to the primary data sources are given in the caption for each figure. Data sources for Figure 1 are given below. Figure 1: Iron: Conway & John, 2014a (Atlantic); Conway & John, 2015a (Pacific); Abadie et al., 2017 (Southern). Zinc: Conway & John, 2014b (Atlantic); Conway & John, 2015a (Pacific); R. M. Wang et al., 2019 (Southern). Copper: Little et al., 2018 (Atlantic); Takano et al., 2017 (Pacific); Boye et al., 2012 (Southern). Cadmium: Conway and John, 2015b (Atlantic); Conway & John, 2015a (Pacific); Abouchami et al., 2014 (Southern). Molybdenum: Nakagawa et al., 2012 (all basins). Barium: Bates et al., 2017 (Atlantic); Geyman et al., 2019 (Pacific); Hsieh & Henderson, 2017 (Southern). Nickel: Archer et al., 2020 (Atlantic); Takano et al., 2017 (Pacific); R. M. Wang et al., 2019 (Southern). Chromium: Goring-Harford et al., 2018 (Atlantic); Moos & Boyle, 2019 (Pacific); Rickli et al., 2019 (Southern). Silver: Fischer et al., 2018 (Pacific); Boye et al., 2012 (Southern)Phytoplankton productivity and export sequester climatically significant quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide as particulate organic carbon through a suite of processes termed the biological pump. Constraining how the biological pump operated in the past is important for understanding past atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and Earth's climate history. However, reconstructing the history of the biological pump requires proxies. Due to their intimate association with biological processes, several bioactive trace metals and their isotopes are potential proxies for past phytoplankton productivity, including iron, zinc, copper, cadmium, molybdenum, barium, nickel, chromium, and silver. Here, we review the oceanic distributions, driving processes, and depositional archives for these nine metals and their isotopes based on GEOTRACES-era datasets. We offer an assessment of the overall maturity of each isotope system to serve as a proxy for diagnosing aspects of past ocean productivity and identify priorities for future research. This assessment reveals that cadmium, barium, nickel, and chromium isotopes offer the most promise as tracers of paleoproductivity, whereas iron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum do not. Too little is known about silver to make a confident determination. Intriguingly, the trace metals that are least sensitive to productivity may be used to track other aspects of ocean chemistry, such as nutrient sources, particle scavenging, organic complexation, and ocean redox state. These complementary sensitivities suggest new opportunities for combining perspectives from multiple proxies that will ultimately enable painting a more complete picture of marine paleoproductivity, biogeochemical cycles, and Earth's climate historyThis contribution grew (and grew) out of a joint workshop between GEOTRACES and Past Global Changes (PAGES) held in Aix-en-Provence in December 2018. The workshop was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) through the GEOTRACES program, the international PAGES project, which received support from the Swiss Academy of Sciences and NSF, and the French program Les Envelopes Fluides et l'Environnement. [...] T. J. Horner acknowledges support from NSF; S. H. Little from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/P018181/1); T. M. Conway from the University of South Florida; and, J. R. Farmer from the Max Planck Society, the Tuttle Fund of the Department of Geosciences of Princeton University, the Grand Challenges Program of the Princeton Environmental Institute, and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment of Princeton University. [...] With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S

Genome-wide Linkage on Chromosome 10q26 for a Dimensional Scale of Major Depression

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and potentially life-threatening mood disorder. Identifying genetic markers for depression might provide reliable indicators of depression risk, which would, in turn, substantially improve detection, enabling earlier and more effective treatment. The aim of this study was to identify rare variants for depression, modeled as a continuous trait, using linkage and post-hoc association analysis. The sample comprised 1221 Mexican–American individuals from extended pedigrees. A single dimensional scale of MDD was derived using confirmatory factor analysis applied to all items from the Past Major Depressive Episode section of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Scores on this scale of depression were subjected to linkage analysis followed by QTL region-specific association analysis. Linkage analysis revealed a single genome-wide significant QTL (LOD=3.43) on 10q26.13, QTL-specific association analysis conducted in the entire sample revealed a suggestive variant within an intron of the gene LHPP (rs11245316, p=7.8×10−04; LD-adjusted Bonferroni-corrected p=8.6×10−05). This region of the genome has previously been implicated in the etiology of MDD; the present study extends our understanding of the involvement of this region by highlighting a putative gene of interest (LHPP)

Genome-wide significant linkage of schizophrenia-related neuroanatomical trait to 12q24

The insula and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) share functional, histological, transcriptional and developmental characteristics and they serve higher cognitive functions of theoretical relevance to schizophrenia and related disorders. Meta-analyses and multivariate analysis of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans indicate that gray matter density and volume reductions in schizophrenia are the most consistent and pronounced in a network primarily composed of the insula and mPFC. We used source-based morphometry, a multivariate technique optimized for structural MRI, in a large sample of randomly ascertained pedigrees (N = 887) to derive an insula-mPFC component and to investigate its genetic determinants. Firstly, we replicated the insula-mPFC gray matter component as an independent source of gray matter variation in the general population, and verified its relevance to schizophrenia in an independent case-control sample. Secondly, we showed that the neuroanatomical variation defined by this component is largely determined by additive genetic variation (h2 = 0.59), and genome-wide linkage analysis resulted in a significant linkage peak at 12q24 (LOD = 3.76). This region has been of significant interest to psychiatric genetics as it contains the Darier’s disease locus and other proposed susceptibility genes (e.g. DAO, NOS1), and it has been linked to affective disorders and schizophrenia in multiple populations. Thus, in conjunction with previous clinical studies, our data imply that one or more psychiatric risk variants at 12q24 are co-inherited with reductions in mPFC and insula gray matter concentration

Using Sybil for interactive comparative genomics of microbes on the web

Motivation: Analysis of multiple genomes requires sophisticated tools that provide search, visualization, interactivity and data export. Comparative genomics datasets tend to be large and complex, making development of these tools difficult. In addition to scalability, comparative genomics tools must also provide user-friendly interfaces such that the research scientist can explore complex data with minimal technical expertise