Transnational embodied belonging within ‘edge habitats’

The author discusses the concept of denizenship and the different articulations of embodied transnational belonging, exploring projects by Joanna Rajkowska and Nada Prlja. Through metaphors of an ecotone and edge habitat, facilitating exchange within and between communities, she examines spaces across and in-between in which national identifications of individuals in Europe are deconstructed. The article discusses transition (through Rajkowska’s artistic practice) and tension (through Prlja’s artistic practice) zones, drawing upon Jacques Derrida’s discourse on hospitality, in order to seek for alternative modes of thinking about citizenship. These are based on generosity, friendship, hospitality and acknowledge locatedness of individuals and the space in-between – being here and there, at home and not at home. Rajkowska and Prlja’s projects offer fresh and innovative articulations of cosmopolitan and hospitable spaces, which enable communities based on identification with others

Transnational embodied belonging within ‘edge habitats’

The author discusses the concept of denizenship and the different articulations of embodied transnational belonging, exploring projects by Joanna Rajkowska and Nada Prlja. Through metaphors of an ecotone and edge habitat, facilitating exchange within and between communities, she examines spaces across and in-between in which national identifications of individuals in Europe are deconstructed. The article discusses transition (through Rajkowska’s artistic practice) and tension (through Prlja’s artistic practice) zones, drawing upon Jacques Derrida’s discourse on hospitality, in order to seek for alternative modes of thinking about citizenship. These are based on generosity, friendship, hospitality and acknowledge locatedness of individuals and the space in-between – being here and there, at home and not at home. Rajkowska and Prlja’s projects offer fresh and innovative articulations of cosmopolitan and hospitable spaces, which enable communities based on identification with others

Introduction

Introductio

FISH-aimed karyotype analysis in Aconitum subgen : aconitum reveals excessive rDNA sites in tetraploid taxa

The location of 5S and 35S rDNA sequences in chromosomes of four Aconitum subsp. Aconitum species was analyzed after fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Both in diploids (2n = 2x = 16; Aconitum variegatum, A. degenii) and tetraploids (2n = 4× = 32; A. firmum, A. plicatum), rDNA repeats were localized exclusively on the shorter arms of chromosomes, in subterminal or pericentromeric sites. All analyzed species showed similar basal genome size (Cx = 5.31-5.71 pg). The most striking features of tetraploid karyotypes were the conservation of diploid rDNA loci and emergence of many additional 5S rDNA clusters. Chromosomal distribution of excessive ribosomal sites suggests their role in the secondary diploidization of tetraploid karyotypes

Exploring the Gamification Paradox: Why Does Improved Engagement Not Lead to Improved Performance?

Gamification is the application of game elements to non-game environments (Deterding, 2012), and is often used to engage people and make their experiences more enjoyable in areas ranging from fitness and education to psychological research. Previous studies have shown that adding gamification to new environments can result in increased motivation (Hamari, Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014). However, increased motivation from gamification does not seem to increase performance in terms of accuracy or response times (Hawkins et al., 2013). This research study examined this “gamification paradox” by testing the performance of 87 participants on a visual search task both with and without gamification elements. We found no difference in terms of intrinsic motivation between participants in the gamified and non-gamified conditions. Additionally, the two conditions did not significantly differ in their performance. However, we did find that motivation was related to performance in terms of accuracy. We also found that our point formula altered participant behavior, such that participants emphasized accuracy over response time. These findings suggest that game elements, such as points, can affect participant behavior. However, because the implementation of gamification failed to sufficiently motivate participants, we were unable to see whether gamification can increase participant performanc

Editorial

Editoria

Methods of Assessment and Clinical Relevance of QT Dynamics

The dependence on heart rate of the QT interval has been investigated for many years and several mathematical formulae have been proposed to describe the QT interval/heart rate (or QT interval/RR interval) relationship. While the most popular is Bazett’s formula, it overcorrects the QT interval at high heart rates and under-corrects it at slow heart rates. This formulae and many others similar ones, do not accurately describe the natural behaviour of the QT interval. The QT interval/RR interval relationship is generally described as QT dynamics. In recent years, several methods of its assessment have been proposed, the most popular of which is linear regression. An increased steepness of the linear QT/RR slope correlates with the risk of arrhythmic death following myocardial infarction. It has also been demonstrated that the QT interval adapts to heart rate changes with a delay (QT hysteresis) and that QT dynamics parameters vary over time. New methods of QT dynamics assessment that take into account these phenomena have been proposed. Using these methods, changes in QT dynamics have been observed in patients with advanced heart failure, and during morning hours in patients with ischemic heart disease and history of cardiac arrest. The assessment of QT dynamics is a new and promising tool for identifying patients at increased risk of arrhythmic events and for studying the effect of drugs on ventricular repolarisation

TMS demonstrates that both right and left superior temporal sulci are important for facial expression recognition

Prior studies demonstrate that a face-responsive region in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is involved in facial expression recognition. Although this region can be identified in both hemispheres, studies more commonly report it in the right hemisphere. However, the extent to which expression recognition is lateralised in pSTS remains unclear. In the current study, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to systematically compare the causal contribution of the right pSTS (rpSTS) with the left pSTS (lpSTS) during facial expression recognition. TMS was delivered over the functionally localised rpSTS, lpSTS and the control vertex site while participants (N = 30) performed an expression matching task and a control object matching task. TMS delivered over the rpSTS impaired expression recognition more than TMS delivered over the lpSTS. Crucially, TMS delivered over the rpSTS and lpSTS impaired task performance more than TMS delivered over the control site. TMS had no effect on the control task. This causally demonstrates that while task disruption was greater in the rpSTS, both the rpSTS and the lpSTS were engaged in facial expression recognition. Our results indicate that cognitive functions that are seemingly lateralised in neuroimaging studies, still rely on computations performed in both hemispheres for optimum task performance