273 research outputs found

    Art in a World of Change: A Vision for Global Aesthetics

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    This article focuses on art, the aesthetic, and the body as a medium for self and social change in developing some thoughts on this issue of globalization and dance. The article explores how art, and specifically dance, can be a vehicle for aesthetic activism that emphasizes the importance of social justice and compassionate community. Drawing on critical and feminist pedagogies the author links pedagogy and aesthetic activism to social integration and cohesion, a sense of belonging and interdependence, and a sense of shared consciousness. The choreographic process described centers on the body as a site for self and social awareness and a critical understanding of the context of women’s lives. The aesthetic here is understood as that domain in which dominant meanings are disclosed and possibilities for social change can be imagined and realized. The author describes a community dance process in Cape Town South Africa in which notions of embodied knowledge and critical understanding come together to create a dance performance. This pedagogy suggests ways in which meaning and purpose within a changing global context can be grounded in an ethics of social justice, human rights and inclusive community

    Supersymmetric dS/CFT

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    We put forward new explicit realisations of dS/CFT that relate N=2{\cal N}=2 supersymmetric Euclidean vector models with reversed spin-statistics in three dimensions to specific supersymmetric Vasiliev theories in four-dimensional de Sitter space. The partition function of the free supersymmetric vector model deformed by a range of low spin deformations that preserve supersymmetry appears to specify a well-defined wave function with asymptotic de Sitter boundary conditions in the bulk. In particular we find the wave function is globally peaked at undeformed de Sitter space, with a low amplitude for strong deformations. This suggests that supersymmetric de Sitter space is stable in higher-spin gravity and in particular free from ghosts. We speculate this is a limiting case of the de Sitter realizations in exotic string theories.Comment: V2: references and comments added, typos corrected, version published in JHEP; 27 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

    A Burgessian critique of nominalistic tendencies in contemporary mathematics and its historiography

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    We analyze the developments in mathematical rigor from the viewpoint of a Burgessian critique of nominalistic reconstructions. We apply such a critique to the reconstruction of infinitesimal analysis accomplished through the efforts of Cantor, Dedekind, and Weierstrass; to the reconstruction of Cauchy's foundational work associated with the work of Boyer and Grabiner; and to Bishop's constructivist reconstruction of classical analysis. We examine the effects of a nominalist disposition on historiography, teaching, and research.Comment: 57 pages; 3 figures. Corrected misprint

    Variety in the video game industry:an empirical study of the Wundt curve

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    This study analyzes the effect of variety on consumer utility using historical behavioral information for 1,397 consumers participating in 729,049 unique rounds of play. We show that consumers generally exhibit a preference for variety as part of their gameplay utility. The relationship between variety and utility is nonlinear and follows, at least for some types of variety, an inverted u-shape as predicted by the Wundt curve. Our results represent the first such evidence on the importance of variety in video gaming, which has significant implications for consumption through optimization of gameplay utility to satisfy the demand for variety.</p

    Recovery of Endogenous β-Cell Function in Nonhuman Primates After Chemical Diabetes Induction and Islet Transplantation

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    OBJECTIVE—To describe the ability of nonhuman primate endocrine pancreata to reestablish endogenous insulin production after chemical β-cell destruction

    Challenges for molecular neuroimaging with MRI

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    Magnetic resonance (MRI)-based molecular imaging methods are beginning to have impact in neuroscience. A growing number of molecular imaging agents have been synthesized and tested in vitro, but so far relatively few have been validated in the brains of live animals. Here, we discuss key challenges associated with expanding the repertoire of successful molecular neuroimaging approaches. The difficulty of delivering agents past the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a particular obstacle to molecular imaging in the central nervous system. We review established and emerging techniques for trans-BBB delivery, including intracranial infusion, BBB disruption, and transporter-related methods. Improving the sensitivity with which MRI-based molecular agents can be detected is a second major challenge. Better sensitivity would in turn reduce the requirements for delivery and alleviate potential side effects. We discuss recent efforts to enhance relaxivity of conventional longitudinal relaxation time (T1) and transverse relaxation time (T2) MRI contrast agents, as well as strategies that involve amplifying molecular signals or reducing endogenous background influences. With ongoing refinement of imaging approaches and brain delivery methods, MRI-based techniques for molecular-level neuroscientific investigation will fall increasingly within reach.Raymond and Beverley Sackler FoundationNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01-DA28299)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (DP2-OD2441
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