bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Growth of a Population of Bacteria in a Dynamical Hostile Environment
Authors: Garet Olivier , Marchand Régine
Published: August 2014

We study the growth of a population of bacteria in a dynamical hostile environment corresponding to the immune system of the colonized organism. The immune cells evolve as subcritical open clusters of oriented percolation and are perpetually reinforced by an immigration process, while the bacteria try to grow as a supercritical oriented percolation in the remaining empty space. We prove that the population of bacteria grows linearly when it survives. From this perspective, we build general tools to study dependent oriented percolation models issued from renormalization processes.
The Optimal Dividend Problem in the Dual Model
Authors: Ekström Erik , Lu Bing
Published: August 2014

We study de Finetti's optimal dividend problem, also known as the optimal harvesting problem, in the dual model. In this model, the firm value is affected both by continuous fluctuations and by upward directed jumps. We use a fixed point method to show that the solution of the optimal dividend problem with jumps can be obtained as the limit of a sequence of stochastic control problems for a diffusion. In each problem, the optimal dividend strategy is of barrier type, and the rate of convergence of the barrier and the corresponding value function is exponential.
Sustainable Release of Paclitaxel from Biodegradable Poly(γ-glutamic acid) Nanoparticles for Treatment of Atherosclerosis
Authors: Chetprayoon Paninee , Shima Fumiaki , Matsusaki Michiya , Akagi Takami , Akashi Mitsuru
Published: August 2014

We synthesized 200 nm biodegradable nanoparticles (NPs) composed of amphipathic copolymers, l-phenylalanine ethyl ester-grafted poly(γ-glutamic acid) as drug carriers for atherosclerosis treatment. Paclitaxel (PTX) was successfully loaded on NPs by physical adsorption. The antiproliferative effect of PTX-loaded NPs was clearly observed in umbilical artery smooth muscle cells for at least one week by sustained release of PTX. PTX-loaded NPs are expected to be applicable in the treatment of atherosclerosis.
The effects of extremes of pH on the growth and transcriptomic profiles of three haloarchaea
Authors: Moran-Reyna Aida , Coker James A.
Published: August 2014

The halophilic archaea (haloarchaea) live in saline environments, which are found across the globe.  In addition to salinity, these niches can be quite dynamic and experience extreme conditions such as low oxygen content, radiation (gamma and UV), pH and temperature.  However, of all the naturally occurring stresses faced by the haloarchaea, only one, pH, has not been previously investigated in regard to the changes induced in the transcriptome. Therefore, we endeavored to determine the responses in three haloarchaea:Halorubrum lacusprofundi(Hla),Haloferax volcanii(Hvo), andHalobacteriumsp. NRC-1 (NRC-1) to growth under acidic and alkaline pH. Our observations showed that the transcriptomes of Hvo and NRC-1 regulated stress, motility, and ABC transporters in a similar manner, which is in line with previous reports from other prokaryotes when grown in an acidic environment.  However, the pattern for Hla was more species specific. For alkaline stress, all three haloarchaea responded in a manner similar to well-studied archaea and bacteria showing the haloarchaeal response was general to prokaryotes. Additionally, we performed an analysis on the changes in the transcriptomes of the three haloarchaea when shifting from one pH extreme to the other. The results showed that the transcriptomes of all three haloarchaea respond more similarly when moving from alkaline to acidic conditions compared to a shift in the opposite direction. Interestingly, our studies also showed that individual genes of multiple paralogous gene families (tbp,tfb,orc/cdc6, etc.) found in the haloarchaea were regulated under specific stresses thereby providing evidence that they modulate the response to various environmental stresses. The studies described here are the first to catalog the changes in the haloarchaeal transcriptomes under growth in extreme pH and help us understand how life is able to thrive under all conditions present on Earth and, if present, on extraterrestrial bodies as well.
Kissing spines: advances in treatments
Authors: Jacklin B D
Published: August 2014

B D Jacklin MA VetMB MRCVS, Royal Veterinary College, continues with a discussion on how treatment options have evolved and improved
Supporting cancer patients and their carers: the contribution of art therapy and clinical psychology
Authors: Jones Gudrun , Browning Mary
Published: August 2014

The value of various types of psychosocial support for people with cancer is now becoming well established. Typically the term ‘psychosocial’ includes: counselling and psychotherapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, education and information, and social support. The research literature sometimes fails to clarify the exact nature of the different approaches and their relative efficacy. Inevitably, even within a specific type of therapeutic approach, there is variation owing to the professional background and skills of different practitioners.

This article describes the relative contributions made by an art psychotherapist and a clinical psychologist working together in a cancer and palliative care service in Wales. The referrals come from the same sources and tend to be for similar types of problem. The assessment and formulation processes are also broadly similar. Interventions, however, are markedly different. These are described in some detail through case study examples.
Making first impressions count: be proud of your home
Authors: Buswell Chris
Published: August 2014

With the amount of work with which care staff have to cope regularly, considerations about the first impression that they give visitors are often not at the top of their priority list. However, as Chris Buswell argues, creating a good impression is an integral part of running a professional care home.
Borescope-Aided Inspection May Be Useful in Some Drywood Termite Detection Situations
Authors: Sutherland Andrew M. , Tabuchi Robin L. , Moore Sara , Lewis Vernard R.
Published: August 2014

Detection and delimitation, usually accomplished via visual inspection, are primary tactics used for integrated pest management of drywood termite infestations, helping to determine whether whole-structure or localized treatment will be required. Borescopes, fiber-optic devices enabling views within voids, represent alternative or supplemental inspection tools, potentially increasing accuracy and efficiency. We observed and recorded successes of seven participants, with varied levels of termite inspection experience, when asked to identify sample items evidential of drywood termite infestation or likely to be confused with such items. Identifications were made in the laboratory, where samples were protected from view by a physical division, and in a simulated field environment, where samples were placed within inaccessible wall voids, some of which contained insulation material and were therefore designated as “external” voids. Identification accuracy was 80.6 percent overall, highest in the laboratory and lowest in external voids in the field. Differences due to participant became evident in the field, where accuracy ranged from 35.7 to 78.6 percent. Differences in identification accuracy due to sample type were important in both the laboratory and the field. In some cases, participants were able to achieve levels of identification accuracy comparable to those previously observed with alternative inspection devices such as acoustic emission and microwave. Borescope-aided inspection may be useful (but should not be solely relied upon) in cases where structural/environmental impediments are few, inspectors are experienced and physically able, and infestations are large enough to produce evidential items such as dead alate termites and accumulations of termite pellets.
The Rise of the Special Constabulary: Are Forces Getting Value for Money from Their Voluntary Officers? An Empirical Study in Avon and Somerset Police
Authors: Whittle Joe
Published: August 2014

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, to explore whether Avon and Somerset Police can get better value for money from the Special Constabulary by increasing officer retention and second, and perhaps more importantly, to stimulate debate and highlight the apparent dearth of research and evidence pertaining to the Special Constabulary at a time of rapid expansion. Based on personal experience as a Special Constable and empirical research conducted in 2012 within Avon and Somerset Police, this paper considers whether forces nationally can increase value for money from their Special Constabulary volunteers by reducing annual attrition. The findings indicate that some relatively simple interventions and changes could increase retention and, through this, value for money. In a period of economic stringency forces cannot afford to assume that the voluntary nature of the Special Constabulary automatically presents value for money.
Contributing Factors to Police Homicide in Nigeria
Authors: Ojedokun Usman Adekunle
Published: August 2014

Police homicide has become a serious problem in Nigeria as cases of police killings continue to increase across the country. Against this background, this paper examines the scale of, and contributing factors to, police homicide in Nigeria. It argues that a combination of certain institutional and non-institutional factors are responsible for the growing vulnerability of police personnel in Nigeria to violent death. A comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria Police Force operations is advocated as a means of reversing this trend.
Understanding the Process of Professionalisation in the Police Organisation
Authors: Green Tracey , Gates Alison
Published: August 2014

The push toward professionalisation of policing is an expanding discourse in western societies. Professions, as opposed to trades, crafts or occupations, have particular characteristics, some of which have eluded policing and must be considered if the police are to reach this goal. Characteristics of a profession include a professional association, cognitive base, institutionalised training, licensing, work autonomy, colleague control, a code of ethics and high standards of professional and intellectual excellence. Further, professionalisation requires the alignment of various aspects of professional practice (Schneider, 2009). Tertiary education and the development of a body of discipline knowledge through research are crucial components of this. This paper examines some of the issues which have previously prevented police adopting a full professional model. It also examines the increasing involvement in the university sector by the police practitioner, which would seem to indicate some ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ and room for optimism for the future.
Perceptions about the Police in Drug Control: A Survey of Drug Users in Kunming, China
Authors: Dai Mengyan
Published: August 2014

Illicit use of drugs has received tremendous public attention in China in recent years, but little is known about the effectiveness of the get-tough practices, especially those adopted by the police. Due to the lack of official data, this study explores the effectiveness of drug control as perceived by drug users. Using citizen surveys collected in Yunnan province, this research also analyses citizens' perceptions about what is effective in drug control. Policy implications and future research are discussed.
The First Pillar of Terror — Kill One, Frighten Ten Thousand: A Critical Discussion of the Doctrinal Shift Associated with the ‘New Terrorism’
Authors: Prunckun Henry
Published: August 2014

A critical discussion on the terrorist doctrine of ‘kill one, frighten ten thousand’ and how it has shifted to one that is aimed at inflicting mass casualties. The discussion weighs up what this change means in terms of coercive political influence. The article uses a critical analytic approach, employing a simple PEST framework to focus its discussion on a number of key media factors that appear at the centre of this change. The article argues that the shift in tactic to mass killings has the potential to reach more people and inflict greater fear and anxiety.
Keeping the Peelian Spirit: Resilience and Spirituality in Policing
Authors: Hesketh Ian , Ivy Jonathan , Smith Jonathan
Published: August 2014

This paper details research the authors have conducted on the relationship between resilience and spirituality. A well-being psychometric instrument is modelled, providing resilience data (attitudes towards work, perceptions of the job and general health) from a small study of police officers in a provincial force in the north of the UK. Findings highlight the significant role of leadership as a key enabler in creating a positive environment where matters of concern can be discussed openly, and which encourages employees to engage proactively in resilience enhancing behaviours. It is proposed that spirituality is an important aspect of both organisational and individual values and can be seen as a lens through which to view meaning and purpose, and as such can strongly support resilience programmes aimed at improving well-being in organisations.
Restoring Public Confidence: Perceptions of Community Police Officers
Authors: Wooden Kenneth , Rogers Colin
Published: August 2014

Community policing has often been viewed by many as a panacea for solving community-based problems. In particular, following instances of riot or other public disorder, police agencies have instigated this type of approach with a view to regaining support from within communities and restoring public confidence whilst reducing acts of criminality. Inherent within this approach is a focus upon the involvement of community members and their perceptions in order for this approach to succeed. However, such approaches appear to ignore the perceptions of front-line police officers, who are generally considered to be homogenous in their views and attitudes. This article suggests that the success of such community policing initiatives is reliant upon their acceptance by street police, those who have most contact with the public. Utilising the example of the disorders witnessed at Macquarie Fields, Sydney, Australia, the problems associated with this lack of understanding are explored, and discussed with a view to providing insights for police managers and community leaders alike.
Reviews
Authors: Gilchrist Brian , Dress Abby , Pittman Matthew
Published: August 2014

Of Ong & Media Ecology: Essays in Communication, Composition, and Literary Studies, Thomas J. Farrell and Paul A. Soukup (eds) (2012) New York, NY: Hampton Press, 364 pp., ISBN: 9781612890753, p/bk, $39.95

The Newsphere: Understanding the News and Information Environment, Tracy M. Christine (2012) New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc, 132 pp., ISBN: 9791433110436, p/bk, $34.95

An Aesthesia of Networks: Conjunctive Experience in Art and Technology, Anna Munster (2013) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 248 pp., ISBN: 9780262018951, h/bk, $30.00
Modernity and visual appeal in the Telenovela Dancin’ Days (1978)
Authors: Wajnman Solange
Published: August 2014

This article analyses Dancin’ Days, a telenovela broadcast in 1978 by Rede Globo, Brazil’s largest FTA-TV network. The process of economic, social, political and ideological change during the late 1970s, including the renewal of the material base of societies all over the world, is the general context in which the article seeks to identify the aesthetic and visual implications of the technological revolution afoot at that time. More specifically, it attributes them to aspects of the production of Dancin’ Days, like its set, costumes and recording techniques, associated with the dramatic technological expansion of the period and the rise of the consumer culture.
Carmen Miranda and Brasilidade: Hollywood glamour and exoticism reinterpreted
Authors: Hall-Araujo Lori
Published: August 2014

This article examines the role leading twentieth-century Brazilian popular culture figure, Carmen Miranda, had in shaping modern ideas of brasilidade/Brazilianness. I show that she became a popular film and radio star in 1930s Brazil not only because she was an adept performer, but also because she crafted a public image inspired by Hollywood glamour. Unlike the World War II-era Latin American caricature she became in the United States, from 1929 to 1939 Carmen Miranda was a culturally influential and modern star in Brazil. Inspired by the Hollywood styles that she observed in imported films and that were featured in domestic magazines, Carmen Miranda became one of Brazil’s first film stars, the nation’s international ‘Ambassador of Samba’ and an important influence on modern understandings of brasilidade.
Typos urbanos: João Affonso and street characters of northern Brazil in the nineteenth century
Authors: Hage Fernando
Published: August 2014

The artist and journalist João Affonso (1855–1924) published in his early career drawings of characters, or ‘street types’, from the city of São Luís in the magazine A Flecha (1880–1881), and from the city of Belém in the magazine A Vida Paraense (1883–1884). These sets of characters, especially the women, were presented later in his book Três Séculos de Modas/Three Centuries of Fashion in 1923, considered one of the first studies of fashion history undertaken in Brazil. These types and their way of dressing show us the traits, diversity and contradictions of the Brazilian population and its relationship with European fashion.
From periphery to centre: Fashion and popular culture in Brazil
Authors: Guimarães Maria Eduarda Araujo
Published: August 2014

This article comprises three sections aimed at presenting some questions about the relationship between fashion and popular culture in Brazil. The first part deals with the relationship developed between the centre (Europe) and the periphery (Brazil) in the period when fashion culture emerged in Brazil in the nineteenth century. The second part addresses the emergence of a Brazilian visuality, expressed through clothing – yet not constituting fashion – and connected to popular culture, which developed on the fringes of Brazilian society from the nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century. Finally, the third part seeks to show how, from the end of the twentieth century, the phenomenon of globalization and its impact on identity have established a different relationship between centre and periphery.
Brazilian fashion: A place of cultural contamination
Authors: Sequeira Rosane Preciosa
Published: August 2014

If our historic-cultural mestizo background can endow us with a capacity to face the challenge of mixed races matrices, there is also an anthropophagic inscription that is found in our culture that can enable us to select and assimilate critically the repertoires to obtain power and expand our horizons. This article seeks to formulate ideas about Brazilian Fashion that are raised by these questions.
Fashion phenomena and the post-postmodern condition: Enquiry and speculation
Authors: Morgado Marcia A.
Published: August 2014

Elements of fashion-forward dress and appearance, along with novel fashion initiation and adoption practices, have been described as exhibiting the expressive features of postmodern culture. But a recent body of theoretical work suggests that postmodernism has been eclipsed by a new epoch. ‘Post-postmodern’ is a catch-all term for the new cultural ethos and the theories that describe it. Among these are Bourriaud’s thesis on altermodernism, Lipovetsky’s proposal on hypermodernity, Eshelman’s discussion of performatism, Samuels’ argument on automodernity, and Kirby’s argument on digimodernism. I describe these theories and address how their authors substantiate post-postmodern expressions in varying forms of popular culture. And, because none address fashion-related dress and appearance per se, I extrapolate from the propositions to propose possible parallel post-postmodern fashion phenomena. I conclude with a critique of the extrapolations and an assessment of the viability of the idea that aspects of current fashion-related phenomena reflect a post-postmodern condition.
Speaking for the army: The rhetoric of the US Army Combat Uniform and digital camouflage in popular culture
Authors: Stowell Rich
Published: August 2014

Clothing operates as a medium of communication, and military clothing has particular and powerful meanings. In 2004, the US Army adopted a new uniform, based on the digitized ‘Universal Camouflage Pattern’ (UCP). Since then, the digital Army Combat Uniform (ACU) has operated rhetorically to reinforce messages promulgated by the Army around the time the uniform was introduced, particularly those messages related to the Future Force and the Warrior Ethos. Drawing upon research and theory of fashion, sociology and visual rhetoric, this article examines how the US Army has presented itself through the ACU as powerful, agile and technologically driven, while reinforcing traditional martial and American ethics. Its success at employing the digital camouflage as visual rhetoric is validated by cultural appropriations of the camouflage pattern.
No jacket required: Academic women and the problem of the blazer
Authors: Moore Monica M. , Williams Gwyneth I.
Published: August 2014

Suits and suit-like jackets are clothing signifiers in our culture, denoting professionalism, seriousness of purpose and formality. The suit jacket is the standard for male formal wear in both social and professional settings: a suit is de rigeur for a man attending both his daughter’s wedding and a meeting with his Board of Directors. The more status, income and power connected to his job, the more likely he is to wear a suit jacket (hence the term, ‘power suit’). The most powerful men in an organization may be (somewhat derisively) referred to as the ‘suits’. Precisely because the jacket is so laden with social meaning, it is not unambiguously welcomed in the world of academia. To the extent a jacket is associated with traits such as power and conformity to a masculinist norm, it eschews the traits of intimacy, informality, creativity and femininity. We have been engaged in a research project on faculty clothing choices, involving extensive interviews with over sixty faculty members. We found that female professors understand the meanings associated with the jacket and thus take a variety of stances towards wearing this garment. Some don it regularly to project an image of masculinized authority, some completely reject it for much the same reasons, and many pull it on and take it off as they shift between the various demands of their jobs. In this article we examine the latent meaning of the suit jacket and the various responses it provokes among female faculty members.
Victorian gear heads and locomotive zealots: Vicarious nostalgia, retro-futurism and anachronisms of Steampunk and Dieselpunk
Authors: Strubel Jessica
Published: August 2014

This article explored the histories of both Steampunk and Dieselpunk with a focus on their dress behaviour and musical preferences as related to the ideologies of these groups. Particular attention was paid to both group’s fixations on nostalgia for periods outside of the individual members’ living memories and how this nostalgia is a feature of their consumption experiences. The article also addresses the anachronistic use of the word ‘punk’ in the name of each of these groups. There is an obvious incongruity with the naming of Steampunk and Dieselpunk because they are shameless consumer cultures with no obvious political inclinations. Although Steampunks and Dieselpunks do share the DIY aesthetic of the traditional punk subculture, their styles have been prefabricated, neatly packaged and made available for sale on any of the many websites devoted to providing the quintessential Victorian or diesel-era garb.
Fashion as public art: Strengthening communities through site-specific fashion collections
Authors: Navarro Henry
Published: August 2014

Fashion design and public art can be perceived to inhabit almost opposite realms, yet both practices engage audiences in the social domain. Through the completion of three site-specific projects, I have found that combining both disciplines makes for a uniquely effective way to empower and strengthen communities. To wit, my most recent sited fashion project brought together the African American and Caucasian communities of Cincinnati, Ohio, transforming the city into a space for cultural discourse. The success of these in situ fashion projects underlines the advantages of such work over other forms of public art, as audiences normally intimidated by contemporary art become willing participants in fashion-based undertakings. This article introduces the concept of site-specific collections, explains the peculiarities of fashion-based public-art practice, and defines their objectives, features and theoretical framework.
Reviews
Authors: Sperling Joy , Lindholm Christina , Tyrer Pat
Published: August 2014

Oral History in the Visual Arts, Linda Sandino and Matthew Partington (eds) (2013) London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney: Bloomsbury, 212 pp. ISBN: 9780857851970, h/bk, $99.95, ISBN: 9780857851987, p/bk, $29.95

The Story of Colour in Textiles: Imperial Purple to Denim Blue, Susan Kay-Williams (2013) London: Bloomsbury, 176 pp., ISBN: 9781408134504, p/bk, $29.95

Fetish Style, Frenchy Lunning (2013) London: Bloomsbury Academic, 159 pp., ISBN: 9781847885715, h/bk, $100, ISBN: 9781847885708, p/bk, $29.95
Nollywood production, distribution and reception
Authors: Tomaselli Keyan G.
Published: August 2014

This article outlines and examines the genesis of a pan-African research project on Nollywood that sought to widen current research on the topic to include distribution, exhibition and reception in a variety of African regions, including Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. ‘South-North Conversations’ was devised by the overarching project to frame analysis. The role of key African satellite distributor, MultiChoice, is briefly discussed as a background to the project.
The perception/reception of DSTV/multichoice’s Africa Magic channels by selected Nigerian audiences
Authors: Ekwuazi Hyginus
Published: August 2014

There are three reasons for this study. The Africa Magic audience is significant – because Africa Magic remains the most significant distributor of the Nollywood film. Another reason is the significance of television and its audience in the growth of the Nollywood film – and M-Net’s Africa Magic channels/audience offer, perhaps, the best platform on which to investigate this. The third reason is the dearth of empirical studies on the Nollywood audience. This study on the perception/reception of DSTV/Multichoice’s Africa Magic channels by selected Nigerian audiences has necessarily adopted various reception theories as the major theoretical framework. Also adopted are both the stratified and convenient sampling techniques based on the tripodal structure of the Nollywood market/audience-blocs: Kano (Hausa); Onitsha/Aba (Igbo); and Idumota/Lagos (Yoruba). Data obtained from the samples were analysed, using frequency tables and simple percentages. Central to the findings here is the overwhelming popularity of the Africa Magic brand; and, in particular, a heavy preference for Africa Magic Yoruba.
The trends in digital switchover of Russia and other CIS countries
Authors: Richter Andrei
Published: August 2014

This review examines the most recent developments in the regulation of licensing and of the line-up of digital television, as well as related policies in post-Soviet countries.The article has two parts. Part One covers recent developments in Russia’s switchover policies, while
Part Two contains an assessment of some worrying trends emerging across both Russia and the other Commonwealth of Independent States countries. It points to a possible new broadcasting landscape designed by the authorities in the process of switchover.
Australia’s ‘Convergence Review’
Authors: Given Jock
Published: August 2014

A three-member Convergence Review has recommended fundamental changes to media and communications regulation in Australia. Set up in December 2010 to ‘take a fresh look at Australia’s existing regulatory frameworks with a view to modernising them’ and released in April
2012, the Convergence Review proposes less regulation, differently targeted, and new regulatory institutions to do it. Broadcast licensing would end but some of the obligations currently imposed on licensees would continue for major ‘content service enterprises’. At the time of
writing, the Government had not announced a formal response to the Review’s recommendations.
Telepresence and immersion with high-definition digital displays: Background and future directions for research
Authors: Seel Peter B.
Published: August 2014

As Ultra-High-Definition Televisions (UHDTVs) increase in size and screen resolution, viewers may choose to sit closer to them for a greater sense of immersion in programme or game content. The article reviews the evolution of the immersive aspects of widescreen motion picture formats such as Cinerama and IMAX and their influence on widescreen television displays. Potential areas for future research in telepresence and immersion are suggested with the advent of 4K and 8K UHDTVs and the development of ultra-wide-angle digital Head-Mounted Displays (HMD). Producers of widescreen motion pictures, television programmes and video games are creating content with the goal of increasing viewer immersion – and digital display technologies are evolving to replicate the theatrical motion picture experience in the home. Future research will be required to study the positive and negative immersive effects of these technologies as they are adopted by consumers.
Television white spaces: Learning from cases of recent trials
Authors: Ko Hsien-Tang , Lee Chien-Hsun , Lin Jia-Huei , Chung Kay , Chu Nan-Shiun
Published: August 2014

With the development of Super Wi-Fi technology starting in 2011, TV White Space (TVWS) trials have been conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and other developed countries, and applicable spectrum band, technology regulations and types of applications with regard to TVWS technology have been examined in this article. In many trials, Microsoft and Google have played a significant role. Supported by Spectrum Bridge, Microsoft set up spectrum databases in the UK’s and Singapore’s trials and voluntarily promoted TVWS applications in Kenya and Tanzania. This enabled Microsoft to provide broadband services in rural areas at a lower cost than previously possible in developing countries. Google also actively developed TVWS-related applications to increase broadband penetration and provide various innovative services, especially for the vertical markets. In addition, after Google obtained the authorization of the TVWS database from FCC on 28 June 2013, it became the third largest TVWS database provider in the United States. In order to improve the accessibility of broadband in Africa, Google supported the roll-out of TVWS broadband services in Republic of Liberia and Cape Town, South Africa. As a result, both Google and Microsoft have helped narrow the digital divide between African countries and developed ones.
Challenging neutrality: Invoking extra parties in political TV-interviews
Authors: Huls Erica , Pijnenburg Naomi
Published: August 2014

The study focuses on a practice that interviewers exploit when asking questions in one-on-one political TV-interviews: they invoke extra parties. This happens when they alter the participant structure of the dyadic talk by speaking on another’s behalf, inserting a video clip that speaks for them, inviting a guest at the table to take up a position in the argument-so-far or embed a physical object with a message in their utterance. The study aims to discover patterns and actions that coincide with the various forms of invoking extra parties. It also investigates whether the exploitation of an extra party touches upon the borderline between neutrality and non-neutrality. The data collection encompasses fragments of interviews taken from the Dutch talk show Pauw & Witteman. The analysis focuses on turn-taking, repair, laughter, face-saving acts and meta-conversation.

Results show that two procedures for invoking extra parties in one-on-one political interviews – inserting a video clip and embedding an object with a message – put pressure on a central value of good journalism: its neutrality.
Releasing the potential of Shakespearean comic book adaptations in the classroom: A case study of Romeo and Juliet
Authors: McNicol Sarah
Published: August 2014

The increasing number of comic book adaptions of Shakespeare’s plays is unsurprising given their prevalence within school curricula. Graphic novel adaptations are often seen as a stepping stone to the ‘real’ text, a way of introducing young people to works whose language, settings and complexity may, initially, be off-putting. Retelling Shakespeare’s plays in a comics format has, therefore, become a popular approach to attempt to engage students and to make the work more accessible, especially to ‘reluctant readers’. Romeo and Juliet is among the most frequently taught of Shakespeare’s texts, and is often used as a first introduction to studying Shakespeare. The four adaptations compared in this article illustrate the variety of ways in which Shakespeare can be reinterpreted in a comics format and used to support young people studying his plays. Classical Comics offers the most conventional representation, drawing obviously on long-standing comic traditions of the western hemisphere. A different approach is taken by the Manga Shakespeare version, which is set in present day Tokyo. This incorporates many elements of Japanese manga, while remaining accessible to readers without previous experience of manga, for instance, the action flows from left to right across the page and the book is read from ‘front to back’. The Manga Edition has many similar features, but retains the original setting of the play. Finally, Gareth Hinds’ recent adaptation clearly draws on European comic conventions, but also incorporates elements of manga, most noticeably in action scenes. Comparing these diverse approaches, this article considers how comic book adaptations can do more than simplify the text and make Shakespeare more attractive for young people. It considers ways in which they can act as an effective pedagogical device to support young people of differing abilities and levels of reading experience studying Shakespeare’s play. It also considers the extent to which these texts have a value in their own right, rather than simply being viewed as inferior versions of the original that merely engage and simplify Shakespeare’s plays and can be discarded as soon as they are no longer required.
Building a better ‘comic theory’: Shortcomings of theoretical research on comics and how to overcome them
Authors: Cohn Neil
Published: August 2014

Research on the understanding of ‘how comics work’ has grown tremendously over the past twenty years, with more articles and books emerging each year. Much of this research has discussed comparisons between comics and language, and/or has speculated on comics’ cognition. However, much of this research faces limitations, which hamper the seriousness of the endeavour and reflect the youth of this emerging field. This article points out these deficiencies that pervade theories about comics. These include inadequate background research, overly general and unsupportable claims, a lack of adequate evidence, and limitations for research methodologies. To address these concerns, I draw from over 50 years of research from linguistics and cognitive science to inform how the field of ‘comic theory’ can move forward. In particular, I outline two primary ways of progressing with this line of research: (1) explicit manipulation of the component parts of the structure used in comics and (2) cataloguing actual comics for various theoretically relevant phenomena. This data-driven approach is offered as a guiding vision for future works on the understanding of ‘how comics work’.
Metacomics – a poetics of selfreflection in Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes and Pádár and Koska’s ‘Lifetime Story’
Authors: Szép Eszter
Published: August 2014

This article examines the ways, modes, tools and categories of medium-specific self-reflexivity in comics. I approach the genre of metacomics in the light of theories of metafiction, as well as W. J. T. Mitchell’s concept of ‘metapicture’. As several scholars regard comics as a form of literature, I think testing the ideas of metafiction on comics has legitimacy. We can define metafiction with Hutcheon’s words as ‘the new need, first to create fictions, then to admit their fictiveness, and then to examine critically such impulses’. In this article I argue that metacomics is similar, though it features self-reflexive elements not only on the level of plot or (textual) narration, but also in its very form and layout. Mitchell’s approach from the field of iconology, and his typology of metapictures serves as a model for conceptualizing metacomics. According to Mitchell, ‘[m]etapictures are pictures that show themselves in order to know themselves: they stage the “self-knowledge” of pictures’. This article builds on Mitchell’s category of the ‘speaking metapicture’, which is strikingly close to comics. Thus I simultaneously rely on a framework for analysis from literary theory, and another one from iconology, in order to examine the self-reflexive methods bound to the comics medium. Following Hatfield, I approach comics as an art form of four kinds of tension, namely code vs code, single image vs image-in-series, sequence vs surface and text as experience vs text as object. I am interested in the theory and typology of the kinds of reflection on the medium of comics that are made possible by these tensions. I am examining the works of Bill Watterson, and the Hungarian authors Zoltán Koska and Ádám Pádár.
‘Oh c’mon, those stories can’t count in continuity!’ Squirrel Girl and the problem of female power
Authors: Goodrum Michael
Published: August 2014

The history of superheroines is one of tensions, contradictions and difficulties. Squirrel Girl is no stranger to these, and her journey through the last twenty years of Marvel comic books has not been easy. In her debut in Marvel Super-Heroes #8 (S. Ditko and W. Murray, 1992), Squirrel Girl failed to become Iron Man’s sidekick even though she saved him from Doctor Doom. Despite initial success, at least in terms of the narrative, Squirrel Girl disappeared for over ten years. When she reappeared in 2005, Squirrel Girl was in rather less illustrious surroundings – outside continuity. This article tracks the career of Squirrel Girl, focusing on strategies of narrative and visual representation and the relationship of the character to the structuring principle of continuity. Squirrel Girl demonstrates the ability to wield considerable power outside continuity but even here, where the victories of a woman can be easily disavowed thanks to their structural position within the Marvel universe, Squirrel Girl is still problematic. Various strategies of containment are implemented and this article will engage with these, demonstrating continuity and discontinuity in these policies as Squirrel Girl is ultimately drawn into continuity. Through a close critical reading of Squirrel Girl’s appearances, then, this article will provide initial insights into how powerful women are simultaneously promoted and contained by superhero narratives.
Semiconductor’s landscapes as sound-sculptured time-based visualizations
Authors: Hinterwaldner Inge
Published: August 2014

The results of artistic experimentation with data sets from the natural sciences differ considerably with respect to quality and consistency. The British artist duo Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) counts among those setting the standard. In its animations and videos, it explores, in an equally multifaceted and concise manner, how scientists affect our world-view with their respective pictorial languages and visualization strategies. Especially in domains that elude our natural sense of space and time, the researchers’ representations are inevitably creative. Semiconductor combines everyday experiences and complex imaging techniques in manifold ways. Thus, they offer unseen and sometimes unorthodox interpretations of a world in constant flux while retaining a high degree of complexity in their subtly crafted works. Semiconductor’s works provide opportunities for reflection on the extensive procedures in the sciences on various levels and in doing so they create poetic pieces that shift and recombine in various ways. With these means, sensualized data – like sounds and images – take on a strong role in their time-based works. As operative entities they not only represent but they seem to act.
Extraterrestrial contact: Creating xenolinguistic sonic messages for extraterrestrial communication – Ether Ship electronic music orchestrations in the Anza-Borrego Desert
Authors: Van De Bogart Willard
Published: August 2014

Communication with other life forms in our universe has been an ongoing effort most notably conducted by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Project (SETI). Whereas SETI uses a network of radio telescopes to search for frequencies that may indicate intelligent design, there are also attempts to communicate with extraterrestrials by using different ways to listen for messages as well as send messages. This article outlines a phenomenological approach that includes changes in cognition due to the creation of electronic sounds mixed with stellar acoustics, radio frequencies, and natural and manmade sounds as a way of experiencing changes in cognitive states. These cognitive states may be related to a conscious contact with other life forms not from our world. In this sense it is a galactic approach to interspecies communication.
Automation and design for prevention: Fictional accounts of misanthropic agency from the elevator (lift) to the sexbot (chatbot)
Authors: Windle Amanda
Published: August 2014

Fiction is an important tool in an artist/designer/developer’s vocabulary, but its usage is polyvalent. Speculative research in this article introduces the ‘rudiment’ to embrace the undeveloped and the improvisory phases of research practice. Fiction is used to reflect on the ways practicing designers and developers might already engage in misanthropic thinking – involving automated technologies. Tracing the misanthropic agencies in relation to automated technologies contributes to expanding the ways designers and developers reflect on the technical potential of their designs, with whom they are designing (and for) and the way they understand their reflexive self. Bringing together Colson Whitehead’s novel The Intuitionist (1999) and its account of an elevator crash, their design and maintenance, with a narrative account of software agents enables an investigation into the promises made through a design-for-the-prevention-of-failure imperative. These examples highlight the relation between physical and non-physical failures such as failures to connect or to create intimacy. Those who contribute to designing in this article get caught up in configuring misanthropic agencies involving themselves, the designed artefact and the spaces they both inhabit be that an elevator in a housing block, or a sexbot in an online chat room. I will argue that the misanthropic agencies of automated technologies can have a confining impact on our emergent modes of design. Automated software operating in virtual spaces are confining in as much as they attempt to connect things to exploit the de-personalized aspects of automated, misanthropic agency.
Cigarette Taxes with Endogenous Addictiveness
Authors: Calcott Paul , Petkov Vladimir P.
Published: August 2014

We examine how a tax on cigarettes would be affected by endogeneity of their addictiveness. In our model, the rationale for government intervention is based on internalities and externalities. While a corrective tax could be imposed to address these two distortions, it may result in excessive nicotine consumption per cigarette. This suggests that tax rates should be moderated. We consider two types of behavior that affect the addictiveness of cigarettes. First, producers can manipulate the nicotine content of tobacco products. Second, consumers are able to adjust the intensity of their smoking. We show that there may still be a case for a corrective tax. However, tax policies and attainable welfare depend on whether the nicotine dose from each cigarette is influenced by producers or consumers.
Piqueteros: An Experimental Analysis of Direct vs. Indirect Reciprocity
Authors: Blanco Mariana
Published: August 2014

Research in behavioral economics has widely recognized the importance of reciprocity concerns in shaping individual behavior. The literature is however dominated by a focus on direct reciprocity. Motivated by a real life situation in Argentina – the Piqueteros (pickets) conflict — I designed a three-player three-stage game in order to investigate what type of reciprocity prevails in the face of a negative externality in an environment that allows for direct and indirect reciprocity simultaneously. I show that (negative) reciprocity from the directly affected second mover is more frequent than punishment from the indirectly affected third party. However, the third party more frequently punishes the first mover than the second mover, even though he is negatively affected by the latter’s punishment effort while not by the former’s move directly. In oder words, in real life settings featuring the incentives captured by this paper’s experimental design, affected third parties more frequently act in line with indirect rather than direct reciprocity.
The morphosyntax of adverbs of the carpone/i type in (Old and Modern) Italian
Authors: Ludovico Franco
Published: August 2014

In this paper, we will present a morpho-syntactic analysis of the class of Italian adverbs signalling bodily movements and postures ending with the suffix
Chronic stress as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Machado Alberto , Herrera Antonio J. , de Pablos Rocío M. , Espinosa-Oliva Ana María , Sarmiento Manuel , Ayala Antonio , Venero José Luis , Santiago Martiniano , Villarán Ruth F. , Delgado-Cortés María José , Argüelles Sandro , Cano Josefina
Published: August 2014

This review aims to point out that chronic stress is able to accelerate the appearance of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), proposing the former as a risk factor for the latter. Firstly, in the introduction we describe some human epidemiological studies pointing out the possibility that chronic stress could increase the incidence, or the rate of appearance of AD. Afterwards, we try to justify these epidemiological results with some experimental data. We have reviewed the experiments studying the effect of various stressors on different features in AD animal models. Moreover, we also point out the data obtained on the effect of chronic stress on some processes that are known to be involved in AD, such as inflammation and glucose metabolism. Later, we relate some of the processes known to be involved in aging and AD, such as accumulation of β-amyloid, TAU hyperphosphorylation, oxidative stress and impairement of mitochondrial function, emphasizing how they are affected by chronic stress/glucocorticoids and comparing with the description made for these processes in AD. All these data support the idea that chronic stress could be considered a risk factor for AD.