scholarly journals Rail Networks, Mobility, and the Cultures of Cities

Transfers ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-48
Author(s):  
Steven D. Spalding

Scholars writing about railway mobility have pointed to the rails' impact on the culture of cities, while urban theorists and critics have cited the crucial importance of movement and mobility to how cities are lived. A truly interdisciplinary approach, which balances the priorities of mobility studies and urban studies, and informs itself through compelling cultural artifacts (including visual, literary, or other media) offers insight into the processes of urban cultural production and their close link to the discursive valences of urban rail mobility.

Author(s):  
Olga Wronikowska ◽  
Maria Zykubek ◽  
Agnieszka Michalak ◽  
Anna Pankowska ◽  
Paulina Kozioł ◽  
...  

AbstractMephedrone is a widely used drug of abuse, exerting its effects by interacting with monoamine transporters. Although this mechanism has been widely studied heretofore, little is known about the involvement of glutamatergic transmission in mephedrone effects. In this study, we comprehensively evaluated glutamatergic involvement in rewarding effects of mephedrone using an interdisciplinary approach including (1) behavioural study on effects of memantine (non-selective NMDA antagonist) on expression of mephedrone-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in rats; (2) evaluation of glutamate concentrations in the hippocampus of rats following 6 days of mephedrone administration, using in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS); and (3) determination of glutamate levels in the hippocampus of rats treated with mephedrone and subjected to MRS, using ion-exchange chromatography. In the presented research, we confirmed priorly reported mephedrone-induced rewarding effects in the CPP paradigm and showed that memantine (5 mg/kg) was able to reverse the expression of this effect. MRS study showed that subchronic mephedrone administration increased glutamate level in the hippocampus when measured in vivo 24 h (5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg) and 2 weeks (5 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg) after last injection. Ex vivo chromatographic analysis did not show significant changes in hippocampal glutamate concentrations; however, it showed similar results as obtained in the MRS study proving its validity. Taken together, the presented study provides new insight into glutamatergic involvement in rewarding properties of mephedrone.


2017 ◽  
pp. 93-97
Author(s):  
A. M. Tormakhova

One of the leading trends in contemporary cultural studies is the appealto the field of visual. Thepurpose of the article is to investigate the range of problems associated withthe existence, functioning of various visual practices in the urban space and the disclosure of the specifics of communication carried out through their intermediation. In urban space, there are many forms, such as monumental architecture, urban sculpture, outdoor illumination, landscape art, street art, graffiti and others. These artifacts are the subject of cultural research within different disciplines - aesthetics, cultural studies, design, and art. It may be noted that in recentdecades, significant development gets such a direction as Urban Studies, in which the focus of research serves the city. The methodology of the study includes an appeal to an interdisciplinary approach that relies on the achievements of practical cultural studies, Urban studies,and aesthetics theory by Ukrainian and Western authors. Scientific novelty consists in analyzing the connection ofactual visual practices presented in the urban space and forming of Internet activity, which facilitates the mutual influence of these spheres one on another. The author noted that urban space is gradually becoming not only interactive, but also fully assuming the characteristics of WEB 2.0, which means active rethinking and transforming the environment, urban residents involvement in decision-making that becomes a norm of everyday life. City is a kind of text that reflects changing tastes, politicaland economic factors in visualform. Town and city public spaces play an important role in shaping the interaction within society. One of the pressing problems of practical cultural studies in general and urban areas in particular, should be integrated into organization of the urban environment and design the image of the city. The practical significance lies in the fact that the results of the research can beused in developing the urban sphere in particular and in actualizing the issue of organizing the urban environment and constructing the image of the city.


2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Alberti

The long reign of Ivan Aleksandăr (1331-1371), the penultimate emperor of Bulgaria prior to the Turkish conquest, was marked by a series of successful military campaigns against Serbia and Byzantium and above all by an intensive cultural production, largely fostered and funded by the sovereign himself. The central decades of the fourteenth century were of crucial importance for the later cultural evolution of Bulgaria and the whole of Orthodox Slovenia, despite which to date ample and exhaustive studies on the figure of Ivan Aleksandăr are lacking. There is, in effect, a considerable amount of information at disposal, although it is scattered over the literary sources, the colophons of the manuscripts, the epigraphic documentation and also, obviously, the official deeds promulgated by the Emperor. Through the analysis of this varied documentation, this book attempts to reconstruct the figure of the sovereign, the context in which he lived and worked, his greatness and his mistakes and his parallel activities as a strategist and an illuminated patron of the arts. For the first time, the Italian reader can find collected and translated all the manuscript sources relating to the Bulgarian sovereign. The book is completed by an appendix with the original texts of the Slavonic-ecclesiastical tradition.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 567-584
Author(s):  
Clare Sandford-Couch

Taking an interdisciplinary approach the article offers a fresh legal historical understanding of the Fifth Story of the Eighth Day in Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. Detailed analysis of the tale reveals much about the realities of the administration of justice in fourteenth century Florence and contemporary expectations of those exercising judicial authority. In making apparent the expectation that judges would look and act in a certain manner, the article suggests that Boccaccio’s story can be interpreted as offering an insight into the extent to which public perception of a man’s identity as a judge was dependent upon his appearance and attire.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi C. J. Hintzen ◽  
Jordi Poater ◽  
Kiran Kumar ◽  
Abbas H. K. Al Temimi ◽  
Bas J. G. E. Pieters ◽  
...  

Gaining a fundamental insight into the biomolecular recognition of posttranslationally modified histones by epigenetic reader proteins is of crucial importance to understanding the regulation of the activity of human genes. Here, we seek to establish whether trimethylthialysine, a simple trimethyllysine analogue generated through cysteine alkylation, is a good trimethyllysine mimic for studies on molecular recognition by reader proteins. Histone peptides bearing trimethylthialysine and trimethyllysine were examined for binding with five human reader proteins employing a combination of thermodynamic analyses, molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical analyses. Collectively, our experimental and computational findings reveal that trimethylthialysine and trimethyllysine exhibit very similar binding characteristics for the association with human reader proteins, thereby justifying the use of trimethylthialysine for studies aimed at dissecting the origin of biomolecular recognition in epigenetic processes that play important roles in human health and disease.


Urban History ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
NEIL EVANS

Five separate strands which have gone into the making of urban studies in Wales are identified and reviewed. The need for a broad, interdisciplinary approach, derived from H.J. Dyos, is suggested. The most comprehensive existing work is that of the geographer, Harold Carter, whose massive contribution is briefly outlined and evaluated. A more historical approach, centring on the idea of urbanization, is advocated, with the aim of drawing together the disparate fields of study.


2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-522
Author(s):  
Scott Martin

The interaction of Spanish and indigenous peoples during the conquest of Mexico yielded a wide variety of actions and decisions. Native groups sometimes battled the Spanish but in other instances cooperated. The Spaniards often attacked when facing overwhelming odds but in other situations retreated with meager gains. Insight into those decisions and actions is gained by looking at human wants and preferences. The Friedman-Savage utility function is applied to specific important events of the conquest of Mexico to clarify the decision making of the participants. An interdisciplinary approach is employed in constructing the expected utility of wealth model, where the maximization of the expected utility of wealth and movement between socioeconomic classes is critically analyzed. Evidence from the Juan de Grijalva expedition, interactions with coastal villages, Hernán Cortés's approach to Tenochtitlan, and the Tlaxcalan decision to ally with the Spaniards are used to clearly illustrate the relationship between the utility of wealth and decision making. Looking through the lens of the Friedman-Savage utility function at events up to Cortés's meeting with Moteucçoma, it is clear that the utility of wealth and the unprecedented opportunities to move to a new socioeconomic class were strong factors in the decision making of the participants.


Author(s):  
Vanessa Pérez Rosario

This chapter highlights the multiple ways in which Burgos's legacy extends into visual culture and El Barrio neighborhood in East Harlem. In the act of remembering Julia de Burgos, visual artists are less concerned with finding the “true” Julia; rather, they create sites of memory that are at once collective and individual. As Burgos emerged as an icon specific to New York Latino/a culture, remembering her became one of the memory circuits mapping the migratory routes of New York Latino/a cosmopolitan networks. The chapter then charts the course of Burgos's iconography, mapping the migratory trajectories and circulation of her influence from New York to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and consequently offering insight into New York Latino/a cultural production.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Palme ◽  
Nikolaos E. Bechrakis ◽  
Martin Stattin ◽  
Gertrud Haas ◽  
Claus Zehetner

This case illustrates that hematologic disorders must be considered as a potentially life-threatening cause for vision loss. Proper laboratory workup and timely interdisciplinary approach are essential to ensure the best possible care for ophthalmic patients. Historically, before the use of bone marrow biopsy, the ophthalmologist was often asked to assist in the diagnosis of leukemia. Since ophthalmological symptoms may be the initial presenting signs of leukemia as highlighted in this case, the ophthalmogist is still of crucial importance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 151-172
Author(s):  
Halyna Stoyanova ◽  

This article explores manifestations of the Balkan concept as a component of the phenomenon of ‘Odessa culture’. The research aims to reveal the concept’s specific components, how they were formed in Odessa’s sociocultural environment and how they are manifested today. These tasks are solved by means of retrospective analysis, one of the key methods of Historical Urban Studies. This form of analysis enables investigation of the issues of city development and functioning in a comprehensive fashion and implies an interdisciplinary approach. The process of populating Odessa and its ethnic composition shaped the ‘Odessa culture’ phenomenon. Its unique nature involves a harmonious blend of various social, ethnic and religious layers. Since Odessa was established as a city, the Balkan peoples have become an integral part of this process. The Balkan component is now cemented in the city’s culture and is strongly reflected in its toponymy and social and cultural practices. The public activities of individuals and cultural communities contribute to the positive image of Balkan ethnicities. For example, the Balkan culinary tradition is an integral component of Odessans’ everyday culture. All the investigated aspects (demographic, toponymic, personal, sociocultural, culinary) enable the process whereby the Balkan concept synthesizes with the ‘Odessa culture’ phenomenon to be revealed. Odessa culture today is unimaginable without its Balkan component.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document