90 research outputs found
Gateway and garden : a kind of tourism in Bali
No full textGenerally speaking, the heritage places encountered by tourists are clearly defined spaces featuring architectural or archaeological remains, these remains being the central focus of the visitor's attention. This is the case at places like Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal and the Forbidden City. Even where heritage comes in the form of cultural landscapes - the Banawe rice terraces, Chinatown in Malacca, the ruins of the former Thai capital, Ayutthaya - these are spatially circumscribed and clearly distinguished physically from what surrounds them. Framed in terms of heritage tourism, heritage places often take the form of what Tim Edensor (1998, 2001) has described as 'enclavic' spaces, meaning they are 'single-purpose' places carefully managed to focus the visitor's attention on the heritage items and 'minimize underlying ambiguity and contradiction' (Edensor 2001: 63). Such places are eminently visitable. The subject of the first part of this chapter is a kind of heritage not so easily visitable and not enclavic in Edensor's terms. It comprises the physical traces of events that occurred during the Cold War in Asia, events which in the decades after they occurred were subject to censorship and sanctions against public acts of remembering, amounting to an imposed forgetfulness. The events saw the violent mass death of civilians at the hands of the state during circumstances of political polarisation in which other fractions of the civilian population were either complicit in the suffering and death of the victims or unsympathetic to their fate. This was the case with the massacre of civilians in Bali in late-1965 and early-1966, which took place as part of the Indonesian army's purge of communists. Unlike some other instances of the mass killing of civilians (the Jewish Holocaust obviously comes to mind) the violence in Bali was not spatially concentrated at nodal sites. There were no centralised death camps. The killings were dispersed at numerous sites across the island and there was no dedicated infrastructure created to facilitate them. The heritage of the events of 1965-66 is not, then, 'visitable' at particular sites. Not merely is it not visitable, for the most part it is not even visible- it exists 'below the thresholds at which visibility begins' (de Certeau 1984: 93). It seems unlikely that even an interested and historically informed tourist would succeed in finding any physical traces of these events.
And yet, insofar as the whole island in 1965-66 was gripped by a violence that directly or indirectly extended everywhere, there is a sense in which millions of us today, by going to Bali as tourists, do unconsciously visit the 'heritage' of the killings. Many of the older Balinese we as tourists see on the island today, working in the fields, walking to the temples or sitting on the beach, experienced the events of 1965-66 or even participated in them.
With an eye to the theme of the present volume, I pose the question of what potential there exists for a tourist to communicate with the human dimension of this history. By this I mean communication in the form of empathy, distinct from or in addition to any effort that might be made to achieve a political or intellectual understanding of the events. I am aware that governments and non-governmental institutions sometimes mount determined campaigns to encourage people to empathise with those in the past who experienced traumatic events. Graham Carr (2003: 65-8), for instance, describes various efforts to encourage Canadian students to empathise with the D-Day experience of Canadian soldiers on the Normandy beaches in June 1944, efforts which extend to staging pilgrimages to those beaches. While places and physical traces certainly also play a central role in my discussion, I am more interested in the possibilities of an empathy that is voluntary rather than encouraged or coerced. Meaghan Morris (2006: 5) has urged scholars in the humanities to develop a 'critical proximity' to their subject matter, as distinct from the usual critical distance that 'objective', instrumentalist academic writing usually strives for (see also Simon 2010). I am interested in the potential of heritage tourism to put people in situations of critical proximity to past events and perhaps precipitate them into moments of empathy with past others
Altered antibiotic transport in OmpC mutants isolated from a series of clinical strains of multi-drug resistant E. coli
No full textThis work is also partially supported by BBSRC and the Scottish Funding Council (through SULSA)Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, particularly Gram negative species, present significant health care challenges. The permeation of antibiotics through the outer membrane is largely effected by the porin superfamily, changes in which contribute to antibiotic resistance. A series of antibiotic resistant E. coli isolates were obtained from a patient during serial treatment with various antibiotics. The sequence of OmpC changed at three positions during treatment giving rise to a total of four OmpC variants (denoted OmpC20, OmpC26, OmpC28 and OmpC33, in which OmpC20 was derived from the first clinical isolate). We demonstrate that expression of the OmpC K12 porin in the clinical isolates lowers the MIC, consistent with modified porin function contributing to drug resistance. By a range of assays we have established that the three mutations that occur between OmpC20 and OmpC33 modify transport of both small molecules and antibiotics across the outer membrane. This results in the modulation of resistance to antibiotics, particularly cefotaxime. Small ion unitary conductance measurements of the isolated porins do not show significant differences between isolates. Thus, resistance does not appear to arise from major changes in pore size. Crystal structures of all four OmpC clinical mutants and molecular dynamics simulations also show that the pore size is essentially unchanged. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that perturbation of the transverse electrostatic field at the constriction zone reduces cefotaxime passage through the pore, consistent with laboratory and clinical data. This subtle modification of the transverse electric field is a very different source of resistance than occlusion of the pore or wholesale destruction of the transverse field and points to a new mechanism by which porins may modulate antibiotic passage through the outer membrane.Peer reviewe
Wzi Is an Outer Membrane Lectin that Underpins Group 1 Capsule Assembly in Escherichia coli
No full textMany pathogenic bacteria encase themselves in a polysaccharide capsule that provides a barrier to the physical and immunological challenges of the host. The mechanism by which the capsule assembles around the bacterial cell is unknown. Wzi, an integral outer-membrane protein from Escherichia coli, has been implicated in the formation of group 1 capsules. The 2.6 angstrom resolution structure of Wzi reveals an 18-stranded beta-barrel fold with a novel arrangement of long extracellular loops that blocks the extracellular entrance and a helical bundle that plugs the periplasmic end. Mutagenesis shows that specific extracellular loops are required for in vivo capsule assembly. The data show that Wzi binds the K30 carbohydrate polymer and, crucially, that mutants functionally deficient in vivo show no binding to K30 polymer in vitro. We conclude that Wzi is a novel outer-membrane lectin that assists in the formation of the bacterial capsule via direct interaction with capsular polysaccharides.Peer reviewe
Canonical Initiation Factor Requirements of the Myc Family of Internal Ribosome Entry Segments
No full textInitiation of protein synthesis in eukaryotes requires recruitment of the ribosome to the mRNA and its translocation to the start codon. There are at least two distinct mechanisms by which this process can be achieved; the ribosome can be recruited either to the cap structure at the 5' end of the message or to an internal ribosome entry segment (IRES), a complex RNA structural element located in the 5' untranslated region (5'-UTR) of the mRNA. However, it is not well understood how cellular IRESs function to recruit the ribosome or how the 40S ribosomal subunits translocate from the initial recruitment site on the mRNA to the AUG initiation codon. We have investigated the canonical factors that are required by the IRESs found in the 5'-UTRs of c-, L-, and N-myc, using specific inhibitors and a tissue culture-based assay system, and have shown that they differ considerably in their requirements. The L-myc IRES requires the eIF4F complex and the association of PABP and eIF3 with eIF4G for activity. The minimum requirements of the N- and c-myc IRESs are the C-terminal domain of eIF4G to which eIF4A is bound and eIF3, although interestingly this protein does not appear to be recruited to the IRES RNA via eIF4G. Finally, our data show that all three IRESs require a ternary complex, although in contrast to c- and L-myc IRESs, the N-myc IRES has a lesser requirement for a ternary comple
Roberto Gerhard’s Sound Compositions: A Historical-Philological Perspective. Archive, Process, Intent and reenactment
No full textThis research advances the current state of knowledge in the field of early tape music both empirically and methodologically. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact that the electronic medium exerted in the musical thinking of Roberto Gerhard, one of the most outspoken, prolific and influential composers in the Spanish diaspora whose musical legacy, for the most part unknown, is a major landmark in the early history of electroacoustic music. Gerhard’s personal tape collection, one of the largest historical archives of its kind reported in the literature, is exceptional for both its antiquity (50+-year-old tapes) and its abundance of production materials. Through the digitisation and analysis of the composer’s tape collection this research argues that the empirical study of audio documents sets out a basis for a broader understanding of textual processes. More specifically, the research demonstrates that the reconstruction of works based on magnetic tape sketches is a powerful method to advance the understanding of early tape music. This research also examines Gerhard’s sound compositions in relation to the post-war context in which they were composed. Finally, this research presents performance documentation that proposes an approach to the electroacoustic music repertoire in which creativity is not at odds with rigor and critical discernment demonstrating that archival study can be closely aligned to the concept of re-enactment
Measuring Floc Structural Characteristics
No full textA review is presented of a range of techniques for the structural characterisation of flocs. Flocs may be considered as highly porous aggregates composed of smaller primary particles. The irregular size and shape of flocs makes them difficult to measure and quantify. A range of different equivalent diameters are often used to define the floc size and allow comparison with other floc systems. The application of a range of floc sizing methods has been described. Microscopy is time consuming, requiring large sample size and considerable preparation but gives good information on floc shape and form. Light scattering and transmitted light techniques have been used to good effect to measure floc size on-line whilst individual particle sensors have limited applicability to measuring floc size. Fractal dimension can be measured using one of three major techniques: light scattering, settling and two dimensional (2D) image analysis. Light scattering is ideally suited for small, open flocs of low refractive index whilst settling may be applied to most floc systems of low porosity. 2D image analysis requires flocs to have good contrast between the solid in the floc and the background
1-Methoxy-, 1-deoxy-11-hydroxy- and 11-Hydroxy-1-methoxy-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinols: new selective ligands for the CB2 receptor
No full textEnantioselective synthesis of 1-methoxy- and 1-deoxy-2′-methyl-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinols: New selective ligands for the CB2 receptor
No full textThe practical application of fractal dimension in water treatment practice-the impact of polymer dosing
No full textThe application of floc fractal dimension has been investigated in this work to determine if this parameter can have operational significance in water treatment. Natural organic matter suspensions were coagulated with aluminium sulphate and varying concentrations of a non‐ionic polymer. The fractal dimensions of the flocs formed were measured using light scattering and settling combined with image analysis. By using the correct methodology, optimum floc properties could be determined using the floc fractal dimension combined with the floc size and strength data
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