Art, academe and the language of knowledge

In this chapter I pursue the effects for knowledge, pedagogy and learning of practice led research in art and design education. I examine how postgraduate students of art, design and museology at the Institute of Education, University of London, explore and critically engage with the implications of art as a situated research practice. In particular, I foreground the complexities and antinomies surrounding methodology when students negotiate the practice of making in a studio context that encourages them to analyse their subject identities as teachers/lecturers, students, artists, academics and researchers. The expectation of academe and the position which language (written, spoken and visual) occupies is central to the formation of these identities, negotiations and dialogues. I will demonstrate, through discussion of work produced by students, that the traditional division between engagements with art making as a ‘sensory experience’ and with reading, writing and research as ‘rational activities’, presents a false dichotomy that needs to be reappraised in the debates surrounding practice-led research and its potential for pedagogy

How did the reticent object become so obliging? : artists' interventions as interpretive strategies in galleries and museums

This is a study about knowledge/power in galleries and museums, contested and reconfigured\ud by a genre of artworks, referred to as Artists' Interventions. Such\ud artworks, their intended functions, and pedagogic uses are the locus of the study.\ud I define galleries and museums as inherently pedagogic institutions, which have\ud historically constructed and disseminated dominant systems of value. In order to\ud examine in what ways these values have been reconfigured through Artists'\ud Interventions, I undertake a historiography of the role of the gallery and museum.\ud In defining interventions, I differentiate between interventionist artworks that disrupt\ud and contest the 'normative' or dominant discourse of galleries and museums, and\ud artworks that support and confirm established interpretations of art and artefacts, and\ud focus attention on the former.\ud I propose art-historical predecessors for Artists' Interventions and situate\ud contemporary initiatives in relation to disruptive, dialogic and parodic methodologies.\ud These are more closely examined in a central case study, a practice-based aspect of the\ud thesis in which I make my own intervention, An Elite Experience for Everyone,\ud performed and exhibited at the William Morris Gallery, London (2005).\ud Where Artists' Interventions have emerged against a backdrop of dominant regulatory\ud and divisionary discourse their disruptive and parodic strategies re-establish the\ud museum as a discursive forum. However, the trope of disruption and dialogue has\ud recently been accommodated within curatorial and pedagogic initiatives. Only the\ud trickster is allowed to evade this assimilation

Using bio-physical modelling and population genetics for conservation and management of an exploited species, Pecten maximus L.

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: The microsatellite data along with the site location data that support the findings of this study are openly available in FigShare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12907430Connectivity between populations is important when considering conservation or the management of exploitation of vulnerable species. We investigated how populations of a broadcast-spawning marine species (scallop, Pecten maximus) that occur in discrete geographic locations were connected to each other. Population genetic insights were related to the outputs from a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model implemented with scallop larval behaviour to understand the extent to which these areas were linked by oceanographic processes and how this was altered by season and two contrasting years that had strongly different average temperature records (warm vs cold) to provide contrasting oceanographic conditions. Our results span from regional to shelf scale. Connectivity was high at a regional level (e.g. northern Irish Sea), but lower at scales >100 km between sites. Some localities were possibly isolated thus dependent on self-recruitment to sustain local populations. Seasonal timing of spawning and inter-annual fluctuations in seawater temperature influenced connectivity patterns, and hence will affect spatial recruitment. Summer rather than spring spawning increased connectivity among some populations, due to the seasonal strengthening of temperature-driven currents. Furthermore, the warm year resulted in higher levels of modelled connectivity than the cold year. The combination of genetic and oceanographic approaches provided valuable insights into the structure and connectivity at a continental shelf scale. This insight provides a powerful basis for defining conservation management units and the appropriate scale for spatial management. Temporal fluctuations in temperature impact upon variability in connectivity, suggesting that future work should account for ocean warming when investigating population resilience.Isle of Man GovernmentEuropean Fisheries FundEuropean Union Regional Development Fun

Cord Blood Glutathione Depletion in Preterm Infants: Correlation with Maternal Cysteine Depletion

Background: Depletion of blood glutathione (GSH), a key antioxidant, is known to occur in preterm infants. Objective: Our aim was to determine: 1) whether GSH depletion is present at the time of birth; and 2) whether it is associated with insufficient availability of cysteine (cys), the limiting GSH precursor, or a decreased capacity to synthesize GSH. Methodology: Sixteen mothers delivering very low birth weight infants (VLBW), and 16 mothers delivering healthy, full term neonates were enrolled. Immediately after birth, erythrocytes from umbilical vein, umbilical artery, and maternal blood were obtained to assess GSH [GSH] and cysteine [cys] concentrations, and the GSH synthesis rate was determined from the incorporation of labeled cysteine into GSH in isolated erythrocytes ex vivo, measured using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Principal Findings: Compared with mothers delivering at full term, mothers delivering prematurely had markedly lower erythrocyte [GSH] and [cys] and these were significantly depressed in VLBW infants, compared with term neonates. A strong correlation was found between maternal and fetal GSH and cysteine levels. The capacity to synthesize GSH was as high in VLBW as in term infants. Conclusion: The current data demonstrate that: 1) GSH depletion is present at the time of birth in VLBW infants; 2) As VLBW neonates possess a fully active capacity to synthesize glutathione, the depletion may arise from inadequate cysteine availability, potentially due to maternal depletion. Further studies would be needed to determine whether maternal-fetal cysteine transfer is decreased in preterm infants, and, if so, whether cysteine supplementation of mothers at risk of delivering prematurely would strengthen antioxidant defense in preterm neonates

The NICE-GUT trial protocol:A randomised, placebo controlled trial of oral nitazoxanide for the empiric treatment of acute gastroenteritis among Australian Aboriginal children

Diarrhoeal disease is the second leading cause of death in children under 5 years globally, killing 525 000 annually. Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter Aboriginal) children suffer a high burden of disease. Randomised trials in other populations suggest nitazoxanide accelerates recovery for children with Giardia, amoebiasis, Cryptosporidium, Rotavirus and Norovirus gastroenteritis, as well as in cases where no enteropathogens are found. This double blind, 1:1 randomised, placebo controlled trial is investigating the impact of oral nitazoxanide on acute gastroenteritis in hospitalised Australian Aboriginal children aged 3 months to <5 years. Dosing is based on age-based dosing. The primary endpoint is the time to resolution of 'significant illness' defined as the time from randomisation to the time of clinical assessment as medically ready for discharge, or to the time of actual discharge from hospital, whichever occurs first. Secondary endpoints include duration of hospitalisation, symptom severity during the period of significant illness and following treatment, duration of rehydration and drug safety. Patients will be followed for medically significant events for 60 days. Analysis is based on Bayesian inference. Subgroup analysis will occur by pathogen type (bacteria, virus or parasite), rotavirus vaccination status, age and illness severity. Ethics approval has been granted by the Central Australian Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC-14-221) and the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Northern Territory Department of Health and Menzies School of Health Research (HREC2014-2172). Study investigators will ensure that the trial is conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Individual participant consent will be obtained. Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publication. ACTRN12614000381684

Mapping Robots to Therapy and Educational Objectives for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The aim of this study was to increase knowledge on therapy and educational objectives professionals work on with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to identify corresponding state of the art robots. Focus group sessions (n = 9) with ASD professionals (n = 53) from nine organisations were carried out to create an objectives overview, followed by a systematic literature study to identify state of the art robots matching these objectives. Professionals identified many ASD objectives (n = 74) in 9 different domains. State of the art robots addressed 24 of these objectives in 8 domains. Robots can potentially be applied to a large scope of objectives for children with ASD. This objectives overview functions as a base to guide development of robot interventions for these children