Contemporary art in the museum; responsibilities and professional roles of care

This thesis investigates the professional roles responsible for perpetuating contemporary artworks, using the term “perpetuation” to refer to a holistic preservation of the integral components (material and/or immaterial) of an artwork over time. A contemporary artwork is re-enacted differently between exhibitions: materials are replaced, time-based media equipment and formats are changed and spatial arrangements are altered. A work can start as a performance and over the years develop into an object, or vice versa. There is change to be prevented and change to be cherished; every artwork has its own rules, and there are even cases where these rules are meant to be altered over time. Contemporary art, as sociologist Nathalie Heinich has argued, constitutes a new paradigm of art, distinct from traditional and modern. Contemporary artworks transgress conventional barriers, are highly idiosyncratic, and have a disposition to embrace change. As a result, the identity and ontology of a contemporary artwork are not self-evident, leading to a requirement of extensive and thorough research and documentation of the artist’s intent, as well as of the artwork’s institutional life. This requirement has proven challenging to institutions. Through literature review, a field-study and 27 semi-structured expert interviews, this thesis seeks to investigate the ways in which this requirement challenges traditional museum roles, namely, conservators and curators. It concludes that this demanding requirement posed by contemporary artworks is difficult to be fulfilled when added as a peripheral responsibility to the many primary responsibilities conservators and curators have. The thesis proposes the establishment of a new museum role: a collaborator to conservators and curators; a researcher with the role of understanding and documenting the identity and ontology of a contemporary artwork, tracing the artist’s intent, as well as the rationale of institutional decision-making — supporting a clear, effective and well-documented reflection back and forth from the archive to the exhibition space.Esta tese investiga aqueles que são responsáveis pela perpetuação de obras de arte contemporâneas. Utilizando o termo “perpetuação” refere-se a uma preservação holística das componentes integrais (materiais e/ou imateriais) de uma obra de arte ao longo do tempo. Uma obra de arte contemporânea é reencenada de forma distinta em cada exposição: os materiais são substituídos, os formatos e equipamentos são alterados e as suas disposições espaciais vão variando. Uma obra pode começar como uma performance e ao longo dos anos evoluir para um objeto, ou vice-versa. Algumas alterações devem serem evitadas, outras devem ser acolhidas; cada obra de arte tem suas próprias regras, e há até casos em que essas regras devem ser alteradas ao longo do tempo. Tal como argumentou a socióloga Nathalie Heinich, a arte contemporânea constitui um novo paradigma de arte distinto do tradicional e do moderno. As obras de arte contemporâneas transgridem barreiras convencionais, são altamente idiossincráticas e têm uma disposição para abraçar a mudança. Assim, a identidade e a ontologia de uma obra contemporânea não são auto-evidentes, o que leva a que se deva exigir um trabalho de investigação e de documentação extenso e minucioso sobre as intenções do artista, bem como sobre a vida institucional da obra. Para os museus, esta exigência tem sido um desafio. Após a realização de uma revisão de literatura, de trabalho de campo e 27 entrevistas semiestruturadas com especialistas, esta tese procura investigar as formas pelas quais essa exigência afronta os papéis tradicionais dos museus, em particular as funções dos conservadores e curadores. Conclui-se que esta exigência imposta pelas obras de arte contemporâneas é difícil de ser cumprida, se for encarada como uma responsabilidade periférica e adicionada às muitas responsabilidades primárias que devem ser asseguradas por conservadores e curadores. A tese propõe que se institua um novo papel museológico: um colaborador de conservadores e curadores; um investigador que assuma as funções de compreender e documentar a identidade e a ontologia de uma obra contemporânea; alguém que faça um mapeamento sobre a intenção do artista, bem como sobre as razões que levam às decisões institucionais — a partir de uma reflexão clara, eficaz e bem documentada, desde o arquivo ao espaço expositivo

Migrants accomodation, cultural alterations and urban tissue_social networks in Nea Smyrni, Kallithea and Syggrou Avenue

Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο. Μεταπτυχιακή εργασία. Διεπιστημονικό - Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών (Δ.Π.Μ.Σ.) "Αρχιτεκτονική - Σχεδιασμός του Χώρου : Πολεοδομία - Χωροταξία (Κατ. Β')

Quality control and fate determination of Hsp90 client proteins

AbstractQuality control processes regulate the proteome by determining whether a protein is to be folded or degraded. Hsp90 is a hub in the network of molecular chaperones that maintain this process because it promotes both folding and degradation, in addition to regulating expression of other quality control components. The significance of Hsp90's role in quality control is enhanced by the function of its clients, which include protein kinases and transcription factors, in cellular signaling. The inhibition of Hsp90 with small molecules results in the rapid degradation of such clients via the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway, and also in the induction of the Hsp70 molecular chaperone. These two events result in markedly different outcomes depending on cell type. For tumor cells there is a profound loss of signaling in growth promoting pathways. By contrast, increased amounts of Hsp70 in neuronal cells ameliorate the toxicity that is associated with the formation of aggregates observed in neurodegenerative conditions. In this review we discuss the mechanisms underlying these differential effects of Hsp90 inhibition on the quality control of distinct client proteins. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90)

How the human brain introspects about one's own episodes of cognitive control

Available online 8 November 2017.Metacognition refers to our capacity to reflect upon our experiences, thoughts and actions. Metacognition processes are linked to cognitive control functions that allow keeping our actions on-task. But it is unclear how the human brain builds an internal model of one's cognition and behaviour. We conducted two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments in which brain activity was recorded ‘online’ as participants engaged in a memory-guided search task and then later ‘offline’ when participants introspected about their prior experience and cognitive states during performance. In Experiment 1 the memory cues were task-relevant while in Experiment 2 they were irrelevant. Across Experiments, the patterns of brain activity, including frontoparietal regions, were similar during on-task and introspection states. However the connectivity profile amongst frontoparietal areas was distinct during introspection and modulated by the relevance of the memory cues. Introspection was also characterized by increased temporal correlation between the default-mode network (DMN), frontoparietal and dorsal attention networks and visual cortex. We suggest that memories of one's own experience during task performance are encoded in large-scale patterns of brain activity and that coupling between DMN and frontoparietal control networks may be crucial to build an internal model of one's behavioural performance.D.S. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), through the ’Severo Ochoa’ Programme for Centres/Units of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-490), and project grant PSI2016-76443-P which is also funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)

Investigating the development of executive functions and their relationship with educational attainment during adolescence: a study of inhibition, shifting and working memory

Background Research regarding the development of executive functions (EFs) and their association with educational attainment has disproportionately focused on younger ages, mainly pre-schoolers and primary school aged children. Conversely, the period of adolescence and specifically the later stages thereof have been largely overlooked, despite indications suggesting that particular aspects of EFs continue developing throughout adolescence and into young adulthood. Researching EFs during the latter part of adolescence might be particularly informative considering the increasing academic demands that adolescents encounter at school during these ages. In the final years of secondary school, adolescents are called to make critical academic and life decisions and work towards long-term goals (e.g., employment, further education), rendering EFs ever more potent during this period. Furthermore, in multifaceted subjects, such as science, in which attainment relies heavily on a variety of transferable skills, it may be through these skills that EFs affect adolescents’ attainment. Methods This thesis constitutes a unique contribution to the existing EF literature, in that it addresses questions regarding the development and relation of EFs to educational attainment in the previously overlooked period of late adolescence. Attainment in different disciplines was examined separately and, in the case of science, numeracy and non-verbal reasoning skills were examined as mediators of the relationship between EFs and attainment. A total of 347 adolescents, aged between 14 and 18 (i.e., years 3-5 of secondary school), were administered cognitive tasks that measured three EF components, namely inhibition, shifting and working memory, and completed paper-based assessments of their numeracy and non-verbal reasoning skills. Participants’ school grades/performance in national qualifications on a variety of subjects were considered as indicators of their educational attainment. Results The results showed that, within the large cross-sectional sample of 14-18 year olds considered, there were significant developmental changes in inhibition, but not shifting or working memory. Furthermore, there was strong evidence of associations between older adolescents’ EFs and their attainment in the curriculum areas of English, maths, science, social studies, modern languages and arts. Interestingly, the patterns of association among the three EF components and attainment differed as a function of age cohort. In a separate study, EFs were examined in relation to the oldest (fifth-year) adolescents’ performance in national qualifications for entry into university, but EFs were not found to have any significant effect beyond that of socioeconomic status. Finally, it was shown that the relationship between EFs and attainment in science was mediated by numeracy but not non-verbal reasoning skills. Conclusions This thesis showcases the significance of studying EFs in adolescence, with the results showing that certain aspects of EF continued maturing during the ages of 14- 18 and had an ongoing effect on adolescents’ educational attainment. These findings suggest that, even during the later stages of adolescence, EFs may constitute a useful target for educational interventions aimed at improving pupils’ attainment. In addition, this thesis highlights the important role of socioeconomic status as a determining factor of adolescents’ EFs and their educational attainment

Political governance, civil liberties and human capital : evaluating their effect on foreign direct investment in emerging and developing economies

We study the influence of a country’s political governance on its attractiveness to foreign direct investors. We argue that democracy is not a unidimensional concept and that the effect of host country political governance on incoming Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) differs depending on whether FDI originates from a democratic or an autocratic country. We also hypothesize that the effect of civil liberties depends on the motivations of investing Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and that human capital moderates this relationship. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 35,000 investments in emerging and developing countries between 2003 and 2013

Το δεύτερο κοντσέρτο του Liszt: ζητήματα ερμηνείας και ενορχήστρωσης

Η εργασία αυτή θα ασχοληθεί με το δεύτερο κοντσέρτο του Liszt. Αυτό το κοντσέρτο αποτελεί πρόκληση για κάθε ερμηνευτή διαχρονικά. Το έργο αυτό ανήκει στη λίστα των αγαπημένων κοντσέρτων για πιάνο και ορχήστρα της ρομαντικής εποχής για ερμηνευτές, αναλυτές μουσικολόγους και κοινό. Κατά τη διάρκεια αναζήτητσης πηγών που αφορούν το συγκεκριμένο κοντσέρτο, διαπιστώθηκε ότι υπάρχουν πολλές ερμηνείες με ουσιώδης ομοιότητες αλλά και διαφορές. Από όλη αυτή την αναζήτηση προέκυψε το εξής ερώτημα: ''Τί άλλαξε με τα χρόνια και τί έμεινε απαράμιλλα ίδιο στην ερμηνεία του κοντσέρτου. Η εργασία αυτή απευθύνεται σε όσους θέλουν να γνωρίσουν το Liszt σε θέματα ερμηνείας και ενορχήστρωσης κατά την περίοδο της δεξιοτεχνικής του καριέρας. Θα αναφερθούν ζητήματα ερμηνείας και ενορχήστρωσης, αλλά και μία άλλη πτυχή της φύσης του Liszt, δηλαδή, η έντονη ζωή που βίωσε κι αν αυτό φανερώνεται μέσα από τη συγκεκριμένη σύνθεση. Ένα ακόμη πολύ σημαντικό θέμα που θα αναλυθεί, είναι αυτό του τρόπου που αντιμετωπίζει ο Liszt την ορχήστρα και που μπορεί να αντιληφθεί κι ένας άνθρωπος χωρίς γνώσεις μουσικής! Ένας τρόπος που διαφέρει κατά πολύ από τα πρότυπα της εποχής και που όμως είχε πολύ μεγάλη επιτυχία. Στη συνέχεια της εργασίας θα γίνουν γνωστά τα νέα δεδομένα που εισήγαγε ο Liszt στην ορχήστρα καθώς θα διαπιστωθούν οι σχέσεις που προκύπτουν μεταξύ ενορχήστρωσης και ερμηνείας. Αυτή η θεματική ενότητα θα υλοποιηθεί μέσα από την παρουσίαση έξι ερμηνειών, εκ των οποίων τριών παλαιών και τριών σύγχρονων, που επιλέχθηκαν ώστε να προκύψουν ασφαλή συμπεράσματα.This work will deal with Liszt's second concert. This concert Is a challenge for every performer over time. This work belongs to their list favorite piano concerts and a romantic orchestra for performers, analysts musicologists and audiences. During searches for sources specific to this concerto, it has been found that there are many interpretations with substantial similarities but also various. From all this search came the following question: "What changed over the years and what he remained unparalleled in the interpretation of the concert. This work is addressed to those who want to get to know Liszt about interpretation And orchestration during the period of his skillful career. Issues will be mentioned Interpretation and orchestration, but also another aspect of the nature of Liszt, that is, the intense Life experienced, even if it is revealed through this particular composition. One more important subject to be analyzed is the way that Liszt faces the orchestra And that a man without a musical knowledge can understand! One way to differs greatly from the standards of the era and which, however, has been very successful. Following the work, the new data introduced by Liszt will be known orchestra as the relationship between orchestration and Interpretation. This thematic section will be implemented through the presentation of six interpretations, of which three old and three modern, chosen to be safe conclusions

Προσομοίωση των επαγόμενων, σύνθετων βλαβών στο DNA σε υγιείς και καρκινικούς ιστούς κατά την ακτινοθεραπεία

Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο--Μεταπτυχιακή Εργασία. Διεπιστημονικό-Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών (Δ.Π.Μ.Σ.) “Φυσική και Τεχνολογικές Εφαρμογές