656 research outputs found
Untangling creativity and art for policy purposes : ethnographic insights on Manchester International Festival and Manchester Day Parade
This paper draws on anthropological fieldwork of a civic parade in Manchester
from 2010 to 2012 to argue for engaging with creativity as a process rather
than an attribute of a particular sector or individual. It shows how the focus on
funding and supporting âcreative industriesâ defined as âcinema, television,
music, literature, performing arts, heritage and related areasâ actually excludes
and diminishes the potential for others to engage with ideas and creative
processes. Two major events in Manchesterâs cultural calendar â Procession by
artist Jeremy Deller, produced by Manchester International Festival and
Manchester Day Parade, a council-led civic celebration â both combined community
groups with artist input to put large-scale structures and people on the
cityâs streets. In this ethnographic analysis, I argue that the âcreativityâ sought
from these artists is their adaptive and productive approach to making ideas tangible.
By focusing on creativity as a process rather than a character trait, there
is even greater potential for stimulating a âcreativeâ city
Manageable creativity
This article notes a perception in mainstream management theory and practice that creativity has shifted from being disruptive or destructive to 'manageable'. This concept of manageable creativity in business is reflected in a similar rhetoric in cultural policy, especially towards the creative industries. The article argues that the idea of 'manageable creativity' can be traced back to a 'heroic' and a 'structural' model of creativity. It is argued that the 'heroic' model of creativity is being subsumed within a 'structural' model which emphasises the systems and infrastructure around individual creativity rather than focusing on raw talent and pure content. Yet this structured approach carries problems of its own, in particular a tendency to overlook the unpredictability of creative processes, people and products. Ironically, it may be that some confusion in our policies towards creativity is inevitable, reflecting the paradoxes and transitions which characterise the creative process
Thermodynamics of Dipolar Chain Systems
The thermodynamics of a quantum system of layers containing perpendicularly
oriented dipolar molecules is studied within an oscillator approximation for
both bosonic and fermionic species. The system is assumed to be built from
chains with one molecule in each layer. We consider the effects of the
intralayer repulsion and quantum statistical requirements in systems with more
than one chain. Specifically, we consider the case of two chains and solve the
problem analytically within the harmonic Hamiltonian approach which is accurate
for large dipole moments. The case of three chains is calculated numerically.
Our findings indicate that thermodynamic observables, such as the heat
capacity, can be used to probe the signatures of the intralayer interaction
between chains. This should be relevant for near future experiments on polar
molecules with strong dipole moments.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, final versio
Therapeutic Potential of a Novel Vitamin D3 Oxime Analogue, VD1-6, with CYP24A1 Enzyme Inhibitory Activity and Negligible Vitamin D Receptor Binding
Abstract: The regulation of vitamin D3 actions in humans occurs mainly through the Cytochrome P450 24-hydroxylase (CYP24A1) enzyme activity. CYP24A1 hydroxylates both 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25(OH)D3) and 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25(OH)2D3), which is the first step of vitamin D catabolism. An abnormal status of the upregulation of CYP24A1 occurs in many diseases, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). CYP24A1 upregulation in CKD and diminished activation of vitamin D3 contribute to secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT), progressive bone deterioration, and soft tissue and cardiovascular calcification. Previous studies have indicated that CYP24A1 inhibition may be an effective strategy to increase endogenous vitamin D activity and decrease SHPT. This study has designed and synthesized a novel C-24 O-methyloxime analogue of vitamin D3 (VD1-6) to have specific CYP24A1 inhibitory properties. VD1-6 did not bind to the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in concentrations up to 10-7 M, assessed by a VDR binding assay. The absence of VDR binding by VD1-6 was confirmed in human embryonic kidney HEK293T cultures through the lack of CYP24A1 induction. However, in silico docking experiments demonstrated that VD1-6 was predicted to have superior binding to CYP24A1, when compared to that of 1,25(OH)2D3. The inhibition of CYP24A1 by VD1-6 was also evident by the synergistic potentiation of 1,25(OH)2D3-mediated transcription and reduced 1,25(OH)2D3 catabolism over 24 h. A further indication of CYP24A1 inhibition by VD1-6 was the reduced accumulation of the 24,25(OH)D3, the first metabolite of 25(OH)D catabolism by CYP24A1. Our findings suggest the potent CYP24A1 inhibitory properties of VD1-6 and its potential for testing as an alternative therapeutic candidate for treating SHPT.Ali K. Alshabrawy, Yingjie Cui, Cyan Sylvester, Dongqing Yang, Emilio S. Petito, Kate R. Barratt, Rebecca K. Sawyer, Jessica K. Heatlie, Ruhi Polara, Matthew J. Sykes, Gerald J. Atkins, Shane M. Hickey, Michael D. Wiese, Andrea M. Stringer, Zhaopeng Liu, and Paul H. Anderso
Search for the standard model Higgs boson in tau final states
We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson using hadronically
decaying tau leptons, in 1 inverse femtobarn of data collected with the D0
detector at the Fermilab Tevatron ppbar collider. We select two final states:
tau plus missing transverse energy and b jets, and tau+ tau- plus jets. These
final states are sensitive to a combination of associated W/Z boson plus Higgs
boson, vector boson fusion and gluon-gluon fusion production processes. The
observed ratio of the combined limit on the Higgs production cross section at
the 95% C.L. to the standard model expectation is 29 for a Higgs boson mass of
115 GeV.Comment: publication versio
Search for W' bosons decaying to an electron and a neutrino with the D0 detector
This Letter describes the search for a new heavy charged gauge boson W'
decaying into an electron and a neutrino. The data were collected with the D0
detector at the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton Collider at a
center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity
of about 1 inverse femtobarn. Lacking any significant excess in the data in
comparison with known processes, an upper limit is set on the production cross
section times branching fraction, and a W' boson with mass below 1.00 TeV can
be excluded at the 95% C.L., assuming standard-model-like couplings to
fermions. This result significantly improves upon previous limits, and is the
most stringent to date.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Evidence of Color Coherence Effects in W+jets Events from ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV
We report the results of a study of color coherence effects in ppbar
collisions based on data collected by the D0 detector during the 1994-1995 run
of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, at a center of mass energy sqrt(s) = 1.8
TeV. Initial-to-final state color interference effects are studied by examining
particle distribution patterns in events with a W boson and at least one jet.
The data are compared to Monte Carlo simulations with different color coherence
implementations and to an analytic modified-leading-logarithm perturbative
calculation based on the local parton-hadron duality hypothesis.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Physics Letters
Search for a scalar or vector particle decaying into Zgamma in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV
We present a search for a narrow scalar or vector resonance decaying into
Zgamma with a subsequent Z decay into a pair of electrons or muons. The data
for this search were collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron
ppbar collider at a center of mass energy sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. Using 1.1 (1.0)
fb-1 of data, we observe 49 (50) candidate events in the electron (muon)
channel, in good agreement with the standard model prediction. From the
combination of both channels, we derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the cross
section times branching fraction (sigma x B) into Zgamma. These limits range
from 0.19 (0.20) pb for a scalar (vector) resonance mass of 600 GeV/c^2 to 2.5
(3.1) pb for a mass of 140 GeV/c^2.Comment: Published by Phys. Lett.
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