The eventization of leisure and the strange death of alternative Leeds

The communicative potential of city spaces as leisure spaces is a central assumption of political activism and the creation of alternative, counter-cultural and subcultural scenes. However, such potential for city spaces is limited by the gentrification, privatization and eventization of city centres in the wake of wider societal and cultural struggles over leisure, work and identity formation. In this paper, we present research on alternative scenes in the city of Leeds to argue that the eventization of the city centre has led to a marginalization and of alternative scenes on the fringes of the city. Such marginalization has not caused the death of alternative Leeds or political activism associated with those scenes—but it has changed the leisure spaces (physical, political and social) in which alternative scenes contest the mainstream

The production and consumption activities relating to the celebrity artist

This paper considers the impact of the celebrity artist on the associated production and consumption activities. It also considers the role which entrepreneurial marketing plays in helping to create the celebrity artist aura. The artist Thomas Kinkade is used to illustrate how this occurs in practice. Here, authenticity and nostalgia dimensions are also influential factors. Underpinning these relationships are the roles played out by the media, including communication of celebrity artist identity, and the catalysing of its commodification within the celebrity artist brandscape. An enduring celebrity brand results due to the market creation activities of the celebrity artist. A conceptual model is developed which synthesises the factors behind the production and consumption of the celebrity artist which can stimulate further research. This paper provides innovative insight into the world of the celebrity artist by interrogating the market making and shaping devices behind successful production and consumption practices

What's new pussycat? A genealogy of animal celebrity

Animal celebrity is a human creation informing us about our socially constructed natural world. It is relational, expressive of cultural proclivities, political power plays and the quotidian everyday, as well as serious philosophical reflections on the meaning of being human. This article attempts to outline some key contours in the genealogy of animal celebrity, showing how popular culture, including fairground attractions, public relations, Hollywood movies, documentary films, zoo attractions, commercial sport and mediatised moral panics - particularly those accompanying scientific developments such as cloning - help to order, categorise and license aspects of human understanding and feelings. The nature of [animal] charisma and celebrity are explored with assistance from Jumbo the Elephant, Guy the Gorilla, Paul the clairvoyant octopus, Uggie the film star, Nénette the orang-utan and Dolly the sheep. It argues that the issue of what it is to be human lies beneath the celebritised surface or, as Donna Haraway noted, the issue 'of having to face oneself'

The behaviour of repeat visitors to museums: Review and empirical findings

This study presents a theoretical and operational framework for analysing repeat visit to museums. Starting from the literature on repeat visit in tourism, the specificities of these cultural attractions are made explicit through a review of theoretical and applied works. Consistently with previous contributors, the paper suggests that the analysis of actual past behaviours has to be preferred to the one of attitudes. The application of proper econometric models is also remarked in order to put into account individual profiles. Information coming from three techniques is then used in an integrated way in order to provide a more comprehensive view of the phenomenon. Evidence from an ad hoc survey suggests the necessity to give a greater attention to perceived cultural value during the visit, promoting cultural events during the week and addressed to children, and taking care of those visitors that come from far places also through an integrated tourist supply. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Christopher Hitchens' Public dying: Toward a Secular-Humanist Ars Moriendi?

This article explores the public dying of journalist, writer, provocateur, public intellectual, and renowned atheist, Christopher Hitchens. It does so primarily through an analysis of television interviews given by Hitchens following his diagnosis with esophageal cancer in June 2010. Four key themes are identified as emerging from analysis of the interviews: (a) Hitchens’ explicit sense of mission in challenging myths and superstitions surrounding cancer, dying, and death; (b) the personal experience of terminal illness and dying and the particular way (or style of dying) by which it is approached; (c) issues of regret and a life well lived; and (d) questions surrounding religion, the afterlife, and possibility of deathbed conversion. In light of the claim that ours is a culture in search of an ars moriendi, the article examines what we can learn from Hitchens’ auto/pathographic interviews (and writings) and the extent to which this rational-humanist, atheistic, and stoical style of dying provides a useable “template” for others nearing the end of life

Comparative analysis of the influence of the therapy with continuous and pulse wave laser on the neural conduction in the median nerve

Laseroterapia należy do najczęściej zalecanych zabiegów wspomagających leczenie patologii nerwów obwodowych. W pracy oceniano wpływ laseroterapii o różnych L-aratnetrach promieniowania na prędkość przewodnictwa nerwowego we włóknach mchowych i czuciowych nerwu pośrodkowego w celu określenia optymalnej dawki terapeutycznej. Materiał i metoda. Badania zostały przeprowadzone na 45 nerwach pośrodkowych u 45 osób zdrowych, w wieku od 19 do 26 lat. Wpływ laseroterapii o fali ciągłej i impulsowej na prędkość przewodnictwa w nerwie pośrodkowym określano na podstawie zmian we włóknach ruchowych oraz czuciowych danego nerwu następujących parametrów: latencji końcowej, amplitudy, szybkości przewodzenia i czasu trwania impulsu. Mierzony był również wpływ biostymulacji na wartości progu czucia we włóknach czuciowych. Wyniki i wnioski. Badania wykazały, że ciągle promieniowanie laserowe o długości fali 820 nm, mocy promieniowania 400 mW oraz dawce 5 J/cm2 nie powoduje istotnie statystycznych zmian szybkości przewodnictwa nerwowego we włóknach czuciowych oraz ruchowych nerwu pośrodkowego. Dowiedziono natomiast, iż laseroterapia o fali ciągłej znacząco wpływa na latencję końcową potencjału ruchowego przy dawce 10 J/cm2 . Analiza statystyczna potwierdza, iż promieniowanie laserowe o fali impulsowej o mocy impulsu 75 W, dawce 10 J/cm2 oraz częstotliwości 10 000 Hz powoduje istotne zmiany szybkości przewodzenia we włóknach ruchowych nerwu pośrodkowego oraz powoduje wzrost amplitudy we włóknach czuciowych, zatem będzie ona zdecydowanie skuteczniejsza terapeutycznie.Laser therapy is one t h e freąuentły applied procedures in peripheral nerves treatment . The aim of this study was to evahiate the influence of laser therapy on the nerve conduction velocity in motor and sensory fibers of the median nerve, in order to specify the optimal therapeulic dose. Material and methods. The treatment was conducted on 4 5 median nerves of 45 healthy people aged from 19 to 26. The influence of laser therapy on the median nerve velocity conduction in motor and sensory fibers, was characterized, where as various parameters were measured: latency, amplitude, conduction velocity and pulse duration. The influence of biostimulation on sensory thresold values in sensory fibers was also measured. Results and Conclusions. It was demonstrated that the centinuous laser radiation with wavelength 820 nm, radiant power 400 mW and radiation dose 5 J/cm2 , does not cause statistically significant changes in the nerve conduction. However, i t was shown that continuous laser radiation with the dose of 10 J/cm2 influences on the latency of the motor potential. Statistical analysis indicates that pulsed laser radiation of the wavelength of 905 nm, pulse radiant power 75 W, radiation dose 10 J/cm2 a n d freąuency 10 000 Hz does have a significant effect on t h e changes in the nerve conduction in motor and sensory fibers of the median nerve and causes t h e amplitude inerease in sensory fibers

Role of DC-SIGN in Lassa virus entry into human dendritic cells.

The arenavirus Lassa virus (LASV) causes a severe hemorrhagic fever with high mortality in humans. Antigen-presenting cells, in particular dendritic cells (DCs), are early and preferred targets of LASV, and their productive infection contributes to the virus-induced immunosuppression observed in fatal disease. Here, we characterized the role of the C-type lectin DC-specific ICAM-3-grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN) in LASV entry into primary human DCs using a chimera of the prototypic arenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) expressing the LASV glycoprotein (rLCMV-LASVGP). We found that differentiation of human primary monocytes into DCs enhanced virus attachment and entry, concomitant with the upregulation of DC-SIGN. LASV and rLCMV-LASVGP bound to DC-SIGN via mannose sugars located on the N-terminal GP1 subunit of LASVGP. We provide evidence that DC-SIGN serves as an attachment factor for rLCMV-LASVGP in monocyte-derived immature dendritic cells (MDDC) and can accelerate the capture of free virus. However, in contrast to the phlebovirus Uukuniemi virus (UUKV), which uses DC-SIGN as an authentic entry receptor, productive infection with rLCMV-LASVGP was less dependent on DC-SIGN. In contrast to the DC-SIGN-mediated cell entry of UUKV, entry of rLCMV-LASVGP in MDDC was remarkably slow and depended on actin, indicating the use of different endocytotic pathways. In sum, our data reveal that DC-SIGN can facilitate cell entry of LASV in human MDDC but that its role seems distinct from the function as an authentic entry receptor reported for phleboviruses