10,433 research outputs found

    The soft-focus lens and Anglo-American pictorialism

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    Electronic version excludes illustrations for which permission has not been granted by the rights holderThe history, practice and aesthetic of the soft focus lens in photography is elucidated and developed from its earliest statements of need to the current time with a particular emphasis on its role in the development of the Pictorialist movement. Using William Crawford's concept of photographic 'syntax', the use of the soft focus lens is explored as an example of how technology shapes style. A detailed study of the soft focus lenses from the earliest forms to the present is presented, enumerating the core properties of pinhole, early experimental and commercial soft focus lenses. This was researched via published texts in period journals, advertising, private correspondence, interviews, and the lenses themselves. The author conducted a wide range of in-studio experiments with both period and contemporary soft focus lenses to evaluate their character and distinct features, as well as to validate source material. Nodal points of this history and development are explored in the critical debate between the diffuse and sharp photographic image, beginning with the competition between the calotype and daguerreotype. The role of George Davison's The Old Farmstead is presented as well as the invention of the first modern soft focus lens, the Dallmeyer-Bergheim, and its function in the development of the popular Pictorialist lens, the Pinkham & Smith Semi-Achromatic. The trajectory of the soft focus lens is plotted against the Pictorialist movement, noting the correlation betwixt them, and the modern renaissance of soft focus lenses and the diffuse aesthetic. This thesis presents a unique history of photography modeled around the determining character of technology and the interdependency of syntax, style and art

    Judith Butler, race and education

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    This book provides an analysis of race and education through the lens of the work of Judith Butler. Although Butler tends to be best known in the field of education for her work on gender and sexuality, her work more broadly encompasses the functioning of power and hegemonic norms and the formation of subjects, and thus can also be applied to analyse issues of race. Applying a Butlerian framework to race allows us to question its ontological status, while considering it a hegemonic norm and a performative notion which has a significant impact on real lives. The author considers the implications of Butler’s thinking for debates; addressing diverse contemporary educational issues in which race continues to be (re)produced, such as the formation of leaner identities, the production of the good citizen, raising student aspirations, counter terrorism and surveillance in education, and qualitative research in education

    Perspectives on ‘the lens of risk’ interview series: interviews with Tom Horlick-Jones, Paul Slovic and Andy Alaszewski

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    This article is the fourth and final of an interview series with a selection of significant contributors to the social science of risk. It provides quasi-verbatim interviews with Tom Horlick-Jones, Paul Slovic and Andy Alaszewski. Tom Horlick-Jones contributed to Chapter 6 of the Royal Society Risk monograph, on risk management. He offers further insights into the debates which underlay its production to those given by Nick Pidgeon in the first article of this series. Paul Slovic provides a North American perspective on risk social science. Andy Alaszewski, in the last of the eight interviews, discusses his views about risk in relation to the evolution of his journal, Health, Risk & Society

    Transcriptionally correlated subcellular dynamics of MBNL1 during lens development and their implication for the molecular pathology of myotonic dystrophy type 1

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    This work is supported by the Scottish Universities Life Science Alliance (SULSA) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) via a Ph.D. studentship to S.M.C.DM1 (myotonic dystrophy type 1) is caused by elongation of a CTG repeat in the DMPK (dystrophia myotonica-protein kinase) gene. mRNA transcripts containing these CUGexp (CUG expansion) repeats form accumulations, or foci, in the nucleus of the cell. The pathogenesis of DM1 is proposed to result from inappropriate patterns of alternative splicing caused by sequestration of the developmentally regulated alternative splicing factor MBNL1 (muscleblind-like 1) by these foci. Since eye lens cataract is a common feature of DM1 we have examined the distribution and dynamics of MBNL1 in lens epithelial cell lines derived from patients with DM1. The results of the present study demonstrate that only a small proportion of nuclear MBNL1 accumulates in CUGexp pre-mRNA foci. MBNL1 is, however, highly mobile and changes localization in response to altered transcription and splicing activity. Moreover, immunolocalization studies in lens sections suggest that a change in MBNL1 distribution is important during lens growth and differentiation. Although these data suggest that the loss of MBNL1 function due to accumulation in foci is an unlikely explanation for DM1 symptoms in the lens, they do demonstrate a strong relationship between the subcellular MBNL1 localization and pathways of cellular differentiation, providing an insight into the sensitivity of the lens to changes in MBNL1 distribution.Peer reviewe

    Dr. Judith Plaskow Engages with the Question: What is the Starting Point for Your Theological Work?

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    What is the starting point for your theological work? Dr. Judith Plaskow discusses her starting point of theology as the experiences of feminists within the Jewish tradition, as most are already looking at the faith through a critical lens

    Examining a culturally diverse non-governmental organization through the lens of embedded intergroup relations theory: an exploratory study

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    Organizational psychology as a field has been moving toward more work with social change organizations. The non-governmental organization (NGO) is one common type of social change organization, but while studied in the international development literature, it is rarely explored through the lens of organizational psychology theory. This study uses one such theory, Embedded Intergroup Relations Theory, and its related methodology of organizational assessment, organizational diagnosis, to examine a culturally diverse NGO. The analysis describes the NGO from an intergroup perspective, revealing how organizational and identity group memberships affected individuals’ experiences of their roles, including their personal and professional needs, work orientation, and attitudes toward power, authority, and decision making. Results also show how the intersection of group memberships and the system within which the organization was embedded helped explain individual experiences, group dynamics, and organizational functioning. Overall, the study found that challenges the NGO faced were related to both organizational growth and diversity. This study serves as a rare model of an organizational diagnosis of a culturally diverse NGO. Recommendations for consultants working with culturally diverse NGOs include using self-awareness and a social justice perspective. Findings imply a need for further research on different cultural models of work, organizational growth, and change in order to better inform consultants in their work.Psy.DIncludes bibliographical references (p. 160-166)by Melissa Judith Extei

    An epidemiological assessment of lens opacifications that impaired vision in patients injected with radium-224

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    The incidence of lens opacifications that impaired vision (cataract) was analyzed among 831 patients who were injected with known dosages of 224Ra in Germany shortly after World War II. The dependence of the incidence on dosage, i.e., injected activity per unit body weight, and on time after treatment was determined. The observations are equally consistent with proportionality of the incidence of cataract to the square of dosage or with a linear dependence beyond a threshold of 0.5 MBq/kg. The possibility of a linear dependence without threshold was strongly rejected (P less than 0.001). The analysis of temporal dependences yielded a component that was correlated with the injected amount of 224Ra and a component that was uncorrelated. The former was inferred by a maximum likelihood analysis to increase approximately as the square of the time after treatment. The component unrelated to the treatment was found to increase steeply with age and to become dominant within the collective of patients between age 50 and 60. The relative magnitudes of the two components were such that a fraction of 55 to 60% of the total of 58 cataracts had to be ascribed to the dose-related incidence. Impaired vision due to cataract was diagnosed before age 54 in 25 cases. In terms of injected activity per unit body weight no dependence of the sensitivity on age was found; specifically there was no indication of a faster occurrence of the treatment-related cataracts in patients treated at older ages

    Protecting Animals 36: Author Witi Ihimaera

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    In this very special episode of Knowing Animals I am joined by beloved New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera. Witi has written many books featuring nonhuman animals. He offers us a non-colonial lens through which to think about the human/nonhuman relationship

    The application of a computerised videokeratography (CVK) based contact lens fitting software programme on irregularly shaped corneal surfaces

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    Purpose: To explore the success of the application of a computerised videokeratography (CVK) software system for the fitting of rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses (CLs) on irregular corneal surfaces and compare it to the standard diagnostic fitting procedure. Methods: This was a comparative prospective study, over a 1-year period (2004–2005). It included 41 RGP CL wearers (68 eyes) with irregular corneal surfaces. Of these, 51 (75%) had keratoconus, 7 (10%) corneal scarring (infectious or traumatic), 6 (6.82%) corneal transplants, 2 (2.9%) astigmatism, and 2 (2.9%) aphakia. Each eye was being re-fitted with a new RGP CL based on a topographical measurement in conjunction with a CL fitting software programme. The performance of the CLs was evaluated regarding visual outcome, fitting characteristics, and efficiency of the fitting procedure. Results: Of the 68 eyes, 53 (77.94%) chose the CL fitted using the CVK software system, 9 (13.24%) chose the CL fitted using the standard procedure, and 6 (8.82%) showed no preference for either CL. There was a statistically significant improvement regarding visual outcome [contrast sensitivity at the spatial frequencies of 0.66 ( p = 0.029), 3.40 ( p = 0.008), and 17 ( p = 0.032), subjective vision ( p = 0.009)], fitting characteristics [grading scale ( p = 0.00), lens comfort ( p = 0.00) and daily wearing time ( p = 0.002)], and efficiency [number of trial lenses required ( p = 0.00)] with the CL fitted using the CVK software system. Correlating factors for the likely preference for the CL fitted using the CVK software system were subjective vision ( p = 0.004), lens comfort ( p = 0.009), and convenience of the fitting procedure ( p = 0.023). Conclusion: The application of a CVK software system for the fitting procedure of RGP CLs on irregular corneal surfaces was a safe procedure and shown to be more successful and efficient than the standard diagnostic fitting method

    High Aperture Efficiency Plastic Lens Antenna for Scanning Lens Phased Array at 180 GHz

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    In this contribution, we present a plastic resonant leaky-wave lens antenna with high aperture efficiency (>80%) over a 1:2 bandwidth centered at 180 GHz. This antenna can be integrated in a scanning lens phased array architecture for next-generation wireless and sensing applications that require high-directivity steerable beams. The high aperture efficiency is achieved thanks to the combination of annular corrugations in the ground plane with a leaky-wave resonant cavity. A WR-5 (140-220 GHz) prototype is manufactured and measured in terms of reflection coefficient, radiation patterns, directivity, losses, cross-polarization and scan performance, showing excellent agreement with simulations.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Tera-Hertz Sensin
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