Neues Slowenisches Museum: An Essay on Institutional Critique and the Production of Institution

In 1984, three art groups – the multimedia group Laibach (formed in 1980), the visual art group Irwin (1983), and the theatre group the Sisters of Scipio Nasica Theatre (which lasted from 1983 to 1987) – established the movement Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) in Ljubljana. At the same time, they created a fourth group, New Collectivism. Other groups later joined NSK, of which the most active one is the Department of Pure and Applied Philosophy. All the artist groups making up the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) have been greatly concerned with institutions from the outset, in particular the state, the army, the ideological system, capital, and the museum. In order to really understand the workings of the official system and be able to criticize it, they had to themselves become what the object of their critique was – a system. To make the NSK phenomenon more easily understandable to a Western audience, the familiar term ‘institutional critique’ is used in this essay. This universal designation, however, is also problematic: unlike Western artists, the NSK were not interested in criticising institutions, but rather wanted to replace them. To this end, they employed the strategies of over-identification, self-historicizing, and the production of reality

A screen for round egg mutants in Drosophila identifies tricornered, furry, and misshapen as regulators of egg chamber elongation.

The elongation of tissues and organs during embryonic development results from the coordinate polarization of cell behaviors with respect to the elongation axis. Within the Drosophila melanogaster ovary, initially spherical egg chambers lengthen dramatically as they develop to create the elliptical shape of the mature egg. This morphogenesis depends on an unusual form of planar polarity within the egg chamber's outer epithelial cell layer known as the follicle cells. Disruption of follicle cell planar polarity leads to the production of round rather than elongated eggs; however, the molecular mechanisms that control this tissue organization are poorly understood. Starting from a broadly based forward genetic screen, we have isolated 12 new round egg complementation groups, and have identified four of the mutated genes. In mapping the largest complementation group to the fat2 locus, we unexpectedly discovered a high incidence of cryptic fat2 mutations in the backgrounds of publicly available stocks. Three other complementation groups correspond to the genes encoding the cytoplasmic signaling proteins Tricornered (Trc), Furry (Fry), and Misshapen (Msn). Trc and Fry are known members of an NDR kinase signaling pathway, and as a Ste20-like kinase, Msn may function upstream of Trc. We show that all three proteins are required for follicle cell planar polarity at early stages of egg chamber elongation and that Trc shows a planar polarized distribution at the basal follicle cell surface. These results indicate that this new mutant collection is likely to provide novel insight into the molecular mechanisms controlling follicle cell planar polarity and egg chamber elongation

Associations Between Early Childhood Attachment and Maternal Depression and Anxiety Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The current study aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze concurrent and longitudinal associations between maternal depression and anxiety symptoms and mother-child attachment during early childhood (aged 2 to 7 years) as assessed using the coding systems by Cassidy and Marvin (1992) and Main and Cassidy (1988). The review was pre-registered with PROSPERO and followed PRISMA guidelines. A total of 7,969 records were screened and 20 articles were deemed as eligible for inclusion in the review. Studies were reviewed using qualitative synthesis techniques and meta-analysis. Results indicated that higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms were consistently associated with disorganized/controlling child attachment behaviours. No significant association was found between maternal anxiety symptoms and child attachment. These results suggest that maternal depressive symptoms may confer risk for disorganized/controlling attachment during early childhood. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed

Oralna higijena kao važan čimbenik u sprječavanju pneumonije povezane s mehaničkom ventilacijom

Inadequate oral hygiene in intensive care units (ICUs) has been recognized as a critical issue, for it is an important risk factor for ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). VAP is an aspiration pneumonia that occurs in mechanically ventilated patients, mostly caused by bacteria colonizing the oral cavity and dental plaque. It is the second most common nosocomial infection and the leading cause of complications and death in mechanically ventilated patients. It has been suggested that improvement of oral hygiene in ICU patients could lead to a reduced incidence of VAP. Although diverse oral care measures for ICU patients have been proposed in the literature, there is no evidence that could identify the most efficient ones. Although there are several evidence-based protocols, oral care measures are still performed inconsistently and differ greatly between individual ICUs. This paper lists the oral care measures most commonly performed in ICUs, indicating their advantages and disadvantages. Brushing with regular toothbrush and rinsing with chlorhexidine are considered optimal measures of oral hygiene in critically ill patients. To date, there is no definitive agreement about the most effective oral care protocol, but evidence demonstrates that consistent performance of oral care may lower the incidence of VAP in critically ill patients.Nezadovoljavajuća oralna higijena na jedinicama intenzivnog liječenja (JIL ) prepoznata je kao ključno pitanje, jer predstavlja značajan čimbenik rizika za razvoj pneumonije povezane s mehaničkom ventilacijom. Pneumonija povezana s mehaničkom ventilacijom je aspiracijska pneumonija koja se javlja kod mehanički ventiliranih bolesnika i većinom je uzrokovana bakterijama koje koloniziraju usnu šupljinu i zubni plak. Druga je po redu najčešća nozokomijalna infekcija i vodeći je uzrok komplikacija i smrti u mehanički ventiliranih bolesnika. Smatra se kako bi poboljšanje oralne higijene u JIL moglo rezultirati smanjenom incidencijom pneumonije povezane s mehaničkom ventilacijom. Iako su u literaturi predložene razne mjere oralne higijene za bolesnike u JIL , ne postoje dokazi koji bi pokazali koje su od njih najučinkovitije. Iako postoji nekoliko protokola temeljenih na dokazima, mjere oralne higijene se još uvijek provode nedosljedno i razlikuju se među pojedinim JIL . Ovaj rad navodi mjere oralne higijene koje se najčešće provode u JIL i ukazuje na njihove prednosti i nedostatke. Optimalnim mjerama oralne higijene smatraju se četkanje običnom zubnom četkicom i ispiranje klorheksidinom. Iako do danas ne postoji suglasje o najučinkovitijem protokolu oralne skrbi, pokazalo se kako dosljedno provođenje oralne higijene može smanjiti incidenciju pneumonije povezane s mehaničkom ventilacijom u kritično bolesnih pacijenata

Dynamic regulation of basement membrane protein levels promotes egg chamber elongation in Drosophila

AbstractBasement membranes (BMs) are sheet-like extracellular matrices that provide essential support to epithelial tissues. Recent evidence suggests that regulated changes in BM architecture can direct tissue morphogenesis, but the mechanisms by which cells remodel BMs are largely unknown. The Drosophila egg chamber is an organ-like structure that transforms from a spherical to an ellipsoidal shape as it matures. This elongation coincides with a stage-specific increase in Type IV Collagen (Col IV) levels in the BM surrounding the egg chamber; however, the mechanisms and morphogenetic relevance of this remodeling event have not been established. Here, we identify the Collagen-binding protein SPARC as a negative regulator of egg chamber elongation, and show that SPARC down-regulation is necessary for the increase in Col IV levels to occur. We find that SPARC interacts with Col IV prior to secretion and propose that, through this interaction, SPARC blocks the incorporation of newly synthesized Col IV into the BM. We additionally observe a decrease in Perlecan levels during elongation, and show that Perlecan is a negative regulator of this process. These data provide mechanistic insight into SPARC's conserved role in matrix dynamics and demonstrate that regulated changes in BM composition influence organ morphogenesis

Defining Memory CD8 T Cell

CD8 T cells comprising the memory pool display considerable heterogeneity, with individual cells differing in phenotype and function. This review will focus on our current understanding of heterogeneity within the antigen-specific memory CD8 T cell compartment and classifications of memory CD8 T cell subsets with defined and discrete functionalities. Recent data suggest that phenotype and/or function of numerically stable circulatory memory CD8 T cells are defined by the age of memory CD8 T cell (or time after initial antigen-encounter). In addition, history of antigen stimulations has a profound effect on memory CD8 T cell populations, suggesting that repeated infections (or vaccination) have the capacity to further shape the memory CD8 T cell pool. Finally, genetic background of hosts and history of exposure to diverse microorganisms likely contribute to the observed heterogeneity in the memory CD8 T cell compartment. Extending our tool box and exploring alternative mouse models (i.e., “dirty” and/or outbred mice) to encompass and better model diversity observed in humans will remain an important goal for the near future that will likely shed new light into the mechanisms that govern biology of memory CD8 T cells

Spectroscopic characterization of pyrene-cyanine dipeptides and their interactions with double-stranded polynucleotides

Pireni i cijanini poznate su fluorescentne probe. Pireni se često koriste za praćenje konformacijskih promjena proteina kovalentno vezanih na njih dok se cijanini, intrinzično nefluorescentni, odlikuju izrazitom fluorescencijom prilikom vezanja na biološke mete kao što su proteini ili nukleinske kiseline. U sklopu ovog diplomskog rada proučavana su dva novosintetizirana i do sad nepoznata izomera dipeptida pirena i cijanina. Prvo su ispitana njihova spektroskopska svojstva, temperaturna stabilnost te uvjeti agregiranja UV/Vis spektroskopijom. Potom su ispitane interakcije dvaju izomera s dvolančanim polinukleotidima različitih slijedova baza i sekundarnih struktura. Obradom fluorimetrijskih titracija dobivene su konstante stabilnosti kompleksa s polinukleotidima te ovisnost intenziteta emisije o sekundarnoj strukturi polinukleotida. Način vezanja spojeva na polinukleotide određen je spektroskopijom cirkularnog dikroizma, dok je utjecaj na stabilizaciju dvolančane uzvojnice određen spektroskopski određivanjem temperature mekšanja kompleksa. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na biološki relevantne interakcije novih spojeva s DNA i RNA.Pyrenes and cyanines are known fluorescent probes. Pyrenes are often used to monitor the conformational changes of proteins by covalently bound to them, whereas cyanins, intrinsically nonfluorescent, are characterized by a pronounced fluorescence emission when bound to biological targets such as proteins or nucleic acids. Two newly synthesized and still unknown isomers of pyrene and cyanine dipeptides were studied as part of this thesis. First, their spectroscopic properties, temperature stability, and aggregation conditions by UV/Vis spectroscopy were examined. The interactions of the two isomers with double-stranded polynucleotides of different base sequences and secondary structures were then examined. Treatment with fluorimetric titrations obtained the stability constants of the complex with polynucleotides and the dependence of the emission intensity on the secondary structure of the polynucleotides. The mode of binding compounds to polynucleotides was determined by spectroscopy of circular dichroism, while the influence on stabilization of the double-stranded helix was determined spectroscopically by determining the melting temperature of the complex. The results obtained indicate the biologically relevant interactions of new compounds with DNA and RNA