Manipulating the Hype: contemporary art's response to media cliches

Manipulating the Hype addresses art’s reaction to the barrage of signs produced by the media. The paper researches contemporary art’s response to clichéd media stereotypes and elucidates artists’ multifaceted perspective on overtly obvious yet widely embraced paradigms marketed by the media. Contemporary art’s strategic reconfiguration of media stereotypes is a valuable introspection upon the superficiality and impracticability of advertising and entertainment industry constructs. By reconsidering the mediated image, art has the ability to inspire reevaluation of cultural values. The thesis additionally attempts to ascertain the reinterpretation of media stereotypes as a common thread linking principal art movements and historically significant artworks from around the world since 1960. How does contemporary art respond to the extensive cultural influence of the media? Is a reaction to mass media a thematic commonality linking contemporary artists in the age of globalization? Manipulating the Hype is a dual outcome investigation comprised of written thesis and studio practice. The written thesis combines experience from a lengthy professional practice with historical and theoretical research. The visual thesis consists of twelve photographic works taken at on the Big Island of Hawaii. The images juxtapose artificial icons of power from popular culture with the natural force of the active lava flow. The process of research discloses how the advertising and entertainment industries capitalize upon innate human desires through the manipulative proliferation of archetypal imagery. Furthermore, the thesis establishes the widespread retort to media clichés as a palpable commonality in studio practices worldwide. The findings in the research make evident that although contemporary art does not have sufficient influence to reform the media, it can heighten public awareness of media tactics

Functional impairment of systemic scleroderma patients with digital ulcerations: results from the DUO Registry

OBJECTIVES: Digital ulcers (DUs) are frequent manifestations of systemic scleroderma (SSc). This study assessed functional limitations due to DUs among patients enrolled in the Digital Ulcer Outcome (DUO) Registry, an international, multicentre, observational registry of SSc patients with DU disease. METHODS: Patients completed at enrolment a DU-specific functional assessment questionnaire with a 1-month recall period, measuring impairment in work and daily activities, and hours of help needed from others. Physician-reported clinical parameters were used to describe the population. For patients who completed at least part of the questionnaire, descriptive analyses were performed for overall results, and stratified by number of DUs at enrolment. RESULTS: This study included 2327 patients who completed at least part of the questionnaire. For patients with 0, 1–2, and ≥3 DUs at enrolment, mean overall work impairment during the prior month among employed/self-employed patients was 28%, 42%, and 48%, respectively. Across all included patients, ability to perform daily activities was impaired on average by 35%, 54%, and 63%, respectively. Patients required a mean of 2.0, 8.7, and 8.8 hours of paid help and 17.0, 35.9, and 63.7 hours of unpaid help, respectively, due to DUs in the prior month. Patients with DUs had more complications and medication use than patients with no DUs. CONCLUSIONS: With increasing number of DUs, SSc patients reported more impairment in work and daily activities and required more support from others

Demographic, clinical and antibody characteristics of patients with digital ulcers in systemic sclerosis: data from the DUO Registry

OBJECTIVES: The Digital Ulcers Outcome (DUO) Registry was designed to describe the clinical and antibody characteristics, disease course and outcomes of patients with digital ulcers associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: The DUO Registry is a European, prospective, multicentre, observational, registry of SSc patients with ongoing digital ulcer disease, irrespective of treatment regimen. Data collected included demographics, SSc duration, SSc subset, internal organ manifestations, autoantibodies, previous and ongoing interventions and complications related to digital ulcers. RESULTS: Up to 19 November 2010 a total of 2439 patients had enrolled into the registry. Most were classified as either limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc; 52.2%) or diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc; 36.9%). Digital ulcers developed earlier in patients with dcSSc compared with lcSSc. Almost all patients (95.7%) tested positive for antinuclear antibodies, 45.2% for anti-scleroderma-70 and 43.6% for anticentromere antibodies (ACA). The first digital ulcer in the anti-scleroderma-70-positive patient cohort occurred approximately 5 years earlier than the ACA-positive patient group. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides data from a large cohort of SSc patients with a history of digital ulcers. The early occurrence and high frequency of digital ulcer complications are especially seen in patients with dcSSc and/or anti-scleroderma-70 antibodies

The effects of six-day SSRI administration on diurnal cortisol secretion in healthy volunteers

RATIONALE: Hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been widely reported in depression, and evidence suggests that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) might exert their therapeutic effects through altering cortisol secretion. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the effects of SSRI administration on diurnal cortisol secretion in healthy volunteers. METHODS: Sixty-four healthy men and women were randomised to receive either 10 mg escitalopram or placebo for six days in a double-blind fashion. On day six of medication, saliva samples were obtained at home for measurement of diurnal cortisol parameters (cortisol slope, cortisol awakening response, total daily cortisol output). RESULTS: Women receiving escitalopram had significantly steeper cortisol slopes across the day compared with those receiving placebo (F(1, 36) = 7.54, p = 0.009). This alteration in cortisol slope was driven by increases in waking cortisol levels (F(1, 35) = 9.21, p = 0.005). Escitalopram did not have any significant effect on the cortisol awakening response or the total daily cortisol output. CONCLUSIONS: Flattened cortisol slopes have been seen in depression. The results of this study suggest that escitalopram might exert its therapeutic effect in women in part through correction of a flattened diurnal cortisol rhythm

Permanent genetic memory with >1-byte capacity

Genetic memory enables the recording of information in the DNA of living cells. Memory can record a transient environmental signal or cell state that is then recalled at a later time. Permanent memory is implemented using irreversible recombinases that invert the orientation of a unit of DNA, corresponding to the [0,1] state of a bit. To expand the memory capacity, we have applied bioinformatics to identify 34 phage integrases (and their cognate attB and attP recognition sites), from which we build 11 memory switches that are perfectly orthogonal to each other and the FimE and HbiF bacterial invertases. Using these switches, a memory array is constructed in Escherichia coli that can record 1.375 bytes of information. It is demonstrated that the recombinases can be layered and used to permanently record the transient state of a transcriptional logic gate.United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA CLIO N66001-12-C-4016)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA CLIO N66001-12-C-4018)United States. Office of Naval Research. Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (N00014-13-1-0074)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM095765)National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (P50 GM098792)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC EEC0540879)FA9550-11-C-0028American Society for Engineering Education. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (32 CFR 168a