Street Art and Space

Various forms of street art, such as murals, anamorphic painting or urban interventions, become an important component of urban space. The paper examines examples of selected works of urban art in the context of space and its reception. These unexpected “events” entertain and educate. They become, on the one hand, a tourist attraction, and on the other hand, a major voice in the debate on the public nature of visual urban sphere. Although ephemeral and inconspicuous, usually reluctantly accepted by architects and urban planners, they successfully urge viewers to reflect on space and its existing functions

Cigarette Smoke Initiates Oxidative Stress-Induced Cellular Phenotypic Modulation Leading to Cerebral Aneurysm Pathogenesis.

OBJECTIVE: Cigarette smoke exposure (CSE) is a risk factor for cerebral aneurysm (CA) formation, but the molecular mechanisms are unclear. Although CSE is known to contribute to excess reactive oxygen species generation, the role of oxidative stress on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotypic modulation and pathogenesis of CAs is unknown. The goal of this study was to investigate whether CSE activates a NOX (NADPH oxidase)-dependent pathway leading to VSMC phenotypic modulation and CA formation and rupture. APPROACH AND RESULTS: In cultured cerebral VSMCs, CSE increased expression of NOX1 and reactive oxygen species which preceded upregulation of proinflammatory/matrix remodeling genes (MCP-1, MMPs [matrix metalloproteinase], TNF-α, IL-1β, NF-κB, KLF4 [Kruppel-like factor 4]) and downregulation of contractile genes (SM-α-actin [smooth muscle α actin], SM-22α [smooth muscle 22α], SM-MHC [smooth muscle myosin heavy chain]) and myocardin. Inhibition of reactive oxygen species production and knockdown of NOX1 with siRNA or antisense decreased CSE-induced upregulation of NOX1 and inflammatory genes and downregulation of VSMC contractile genes and myocardin. p47phox-/- NOX knockout mice, or pretreatment with the NOX inhibitor, apocynin, significantly decreased CA formation and rupture compared with controls. NOX1 protein and mRNA expression were similar in p47phox-/- mice and those pretreated with apocynin but were elevated in unruptured and ruptured CAs. CSE increased CA formation and rupture, which was diminished with apocynin pretreatment. Similarly, NOX1 protein and mRNA and reactive oxygen species were elevated by CSE, and in unruptured and ruptured CAs. CONCLUSIONS: CSE initiates oxidative stress-induced phenotypic modulation of VSMCs and CA formation and rupture. These molecular changes implicate oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of CAs and may provide a potential target for future therapeutic strategies

“Pleasure stolen from the poor”: community discourse on the ‘theft’ of a Banksy

The removal of street art from community walls for private auction is a morally problematic yet legal action. This paper examines community reactions to the removal of Banksy’s No Ball Games for private auction. 500 unique reader comments on online newspaper articles reporting this controversial event were collected and analysed. An emerging set of urban moral codes was used to position street art as a valuable community asset rather than as an index of crime and social decay. An older discourse depicted No Ball Games as unlawful graffiti that was rightfully removed. Here, the operations of ‘the police’ (Rancière, 1999) in the distribution of the sensible are evident in the assertions that validate and depoliticize the removal of No Ball Games. This repertoire was used to attribute responsibility for the work’s removal to deterministic external forces, while reducing the accountability attributable to those responsible for the removal of the work. A contrasting anti removal repertoire depicted street art as a gift to the community, and its removal as a form of theft, and a source of harm to the community. The pro-removal repertoire incorporates and depoliticizes elements of the anti-removal repertoire, by acknowledging the moral wrong of the removal, but yielding to the legal rights of the wall owners to sell the work; and by recognizing the status of street art as valuable, but asserting that the proper place for art is a museum. The anti-removal repertoire counters elements of the pro-removal repertoire, by acknowledging the illegality of street art, but containing this to the initial act of making unsanctioned marks on a wall, after which point the work becomes the property of the community it is located within. This analysis reveals an emergent set of urban moral codes that positions a currently legal action as a form of criminal activity

"I’ll be there for you": The One with Understanding Indirect Answers

Indirect answers are replies to polar questions without the direct use of word cues such as ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Humans are very good at understanding indirect answers, such as ‘I gotta go home sometime’, when asked ‘You wanna crash on the couch?’. Understanding indirect answers is a challenging problem for dialogue systems. In this paper, we introduce a new English corpus to study the problem of under- standing indirect answers. Instead of crowd- sourcing both polar questions and answers, we collect questions and indirect answers from transcripts of a prominent TV series and manually annotate them for answer type. The resulting dataset contains 5,930 question-answer pairs. We release both aggregated and raw human annotations. We present a set of experiments in which we evaluate Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for this task, including a cross-dataset evaluation and experiments with learning from disagreements in annotation. Our results show that the task of interpret- ing indirect answers remains challenging, yet we obtain encouraging improvements when ex-plicitly modeling human disagreement

Potential Impacts of PCBs on Sediment Microbiomes in a Tropical Marine Environment

Within the tropical marine study site of Guánica Bay, Puerto Rico, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are subjected to coastal and oceanic currents coupled with marine microbial and geochemical processes. To evaluate these processes a hydrodynamic model was developed to simulate the transport of PCBs within nearshore and offshore marine areas of Guánica Bay. Material transport and circulation information from the model were matched with measurements from samples collected from within the bay. These samples, consisting of both intertidal and submerged sediments, were analyzed for physical characteristics (organic carbon, grain size, and mineralogy), microbial characteristics (target bacteria levels and microbial community analyses), presence of PCBs, and PCB-degrading enzymes. Results show that the bay geometry and bathymetry limit the mixing of the extremely high levels of PCBs observed in the eastern portion of the bay. Bay bottom sediments showed the highest levels of PCBs and these sediments were characterized by high organic carbon content and finer grain size. Detectable levels of PCBs were also observed within sediments found along the shore. Microbes from the bay bottom sediments showed a greater relative abundance of microbes from the Chloroflexi, phylum with close phylogenetic associations with known anaerobic PCB-degrading organisms. Based on quantitative PCR measurement of the biphenyl dioxygenase gene, the intertidal sediments showed the greatest potential for aerobic PCB degradation. These results elucidate particular mechanisms of PCB’s fate and transport in coastal, tropical marine environments

Istota protekcjonizmu w dziewiętnastym wieku oraz współcześnie

Despite the buoyant activity of the WTO, the idea of protectionism is still valid. Most countries officially support liberalism while limiting trade. This activity is intensified during periods of economic stagnation and in relation to the developmental differences among the participants in the world market. The economic backwardness of nineteenth-century Germany influenced the development of many original ideas, including those related to foreign trade. Therefore, it is worth examining and comparing neoprotectionism to the protectionism presented by nineteenth-century economists. The analysis of contemporary and nineteenth century protectionism indicates that the essence of these concepts does not differ, because neoprotectionism and its nineteenth-century equivalent fulfill the same aims, but using different measures. / Synopsis. Pomimo działalności WTO idea protekcjonizmu jest wciąż aktualna. Większość państw oficjalnie opowiada się za liberalizmem, a przy tym ogranicza wymianę handlową. Działalność ta ulega nasileniu w okresach stagnacji gospodarczej oraz w związku z różnicami rozwojowymi między uczestnikami rynku światowego. To właśnie zacofanie gospodarcze XIX-wiecznych Niemiec wpłynęło na stworzenie wielu oryginalnych myśli, a wśród nich tych, które odnosiły się do sposobu prowadzenia handlu zagranicznego. Warto zatem zbadać i porównać neoprotekcjonizm z protekcjonizmem prezentowanym przez XIX-wiecznych ekonomistów. Analiza współczesnego i XIX-wiecznego protekcjonizmu wskazuje, że istota tych pojęć nie różni się bowiem neoprotekcjonizm i jego XIX wieczny odpowiednik realizują te same cele, aczkolwiek przy wykorzystaniu innych środków

Manufactured Aluminum Oxide Nanoparticles Decrease Expression of Tight Junction Proteins in Brain Vasculature

Manufactured nanoparticles of aluminum oxide (nano-alumina) have been widely used in the environment; however, their potential toxicity provides a growing concern for human health. The present study focuses on the hypothesis that nano-alumina can affect the blood-brain barrier and induce endothelial toxicity. In the first series of experiments, human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC) were exposed to alumina and control nanoparticles in dose- and time-responsive manners. Treatment with nano-alumina markedly reduced HBMEC viability, altered mitochondrial potential, increased cellular oxidation, and decreased tight junction protein expression as compared to control nanoparticles. Alterations of tight junction protein levels were prevented by cellular enrichment with glutathione. In the second series of experiments, rats were infused with nano-alumina at the dose of 29 mg/kg and the brains were stained for expression of tight junction proteins. Treatment with nano-alumina resulted in a marked fragmentation and disruption of integrity of claudin-5 and occludin. These results indicate that cerebral vasculature can be affected by nano-alumina. In addition, our data indicate that alterations of mitochondrial functions may be the underlying mechanism of nano-alumina toxicity

HIV-1 Tat Triggers Nuclear Localization of ZO-1 via Rho Signaling and cAMP Response Element-Binding Protein Activation

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific protein trans-activator of transcription (Tat) can contribute to the dysfunction of brain endothelial cells and HIV trafficking into the brain by disrupting tight junction (TJ) integrity at the blood–brain barrier (BBB) level. Specific TJ proteins, such as zonula occludens (ZO) proteins, localize not only at the cell–cell borders but are also present in the nuclei. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the mechanisms and significance of Tat-induced nuclear localization of ZO-1. Treatment of a brain endothelial cell line (hCMEC/D3 cells) with Tat resulted in a decrease in total levels of ZO-1 but significantly upregulated ZO-1 protein expression in the nuclei. In addition, exposure to Tat stimulated Rho signaling and induced phosphorylation and activity of transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), binding sites that have been identified in the proximal region of the ZO-1 promoter. Interestingly, inhibition of the Rho cascade protected against Tat-induced upregulation of ZO-1 in the nuclei and activation of CREB. Depletion of CREB by infection of cells with specific shRNA lentiviral particles attenuated both Tat-induced Rho signaling and nuclear targeting of ZO-1. A decrease in CREB levels also attenuated Tat-induced endothelial and BBB hyperpermeability as well as transendothelial migration of monocytic cells. The role of CREB in Tat-mediated alterations of ZO-1 was confirmed in brain microvessels in mice with CREB shRNA lentiviral particles injected into the cerebral circulation. The present results indicate the crucial role of Rho signaling and CREB in modulation of nuclear localization of ZO-1 and maintaining the integrity of endothelial monolayers