Journal articles: 'Van amberg' – Grafiati (2024)

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Learning stress or academic stress is a category of distress in which students perceive academic demands as disturbing. It can also be interpreted as pressure related to the ability to master a science. Symptoms of learning stress include physical reactions, behaviour, thought processes, and emotions. Based on various research results, the level of learning stress increases during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is considered related to the change in the face-to-face learning system to online (in the network), which raises new factors as triggers for learning stress. This research was conducted to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic affects stress in learning and find solutions to overcome feelings of stress in learning, especially solutions from an Islamic perspective. The method used by the author in this study is a qualitative method with a literature study approach with analysis of the theory of Robert J. Van Amberg about the stages of stress. The results of the study revealed that learning stress factors during the covid-19 pandemic were in the form of lack of understanding of the material, a lot of assignments, declining grades, a tiring and boring learning system, quota constraints and internet networks, individual internal factors, and social factors other. Islam views stress as a trial that every Muslim must face. Islam also provides solutions for stress, namely patience, tawakkal, and the discipline of worship. Other solutions for learning stress during the COVID-19 pandemic can also be in the form of problem-focused coping and emotional focused coping, web-based Solution-Focused Brief Counseling (SFBC), and spiritual, emotional freedom technique (SEFT).

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

The Turkish Van cat originates from eastern Turkey. One of the characteristic features of Van cats is the colour of their eyes, which can be both eyes blue, both eyes amber or one eye blue and the other amber. Serum essential trace, macro and industrial element concentrations of Van cats (n = 47) according to sex, age, hair length and eye colour differences were investigated. Serum aluminium, arsenic, boron, barium, cobalt, chromium, copper, gallium, indium, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, nickel, selenium, silver, sulphur, strontium, vanadium and zinc were measured with ICP-OES plasma optical atomic emission spectrometer. In result, serum aluminium, barium, copper, manganese and strontium levels in male cats were found higher (p < 0.05) than in female cats. Serum aluminium, copper, manganese, strontium and zinc amounts of blue-blue eyed cats were found higher (p < 0.05) than amber-amber, amber-blue and blue-amber eyed cats, and serum lithium of blue-amber eyed cats was higher (p < 0.05) than blue-blue eyed cats. There were no statistically significant differences (p &#x003E 0.05) found in the age and hair length groups. Our results indicate that several of the blood serum elements of Van cats may be related to their eye colours and sex differences.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Masona popeye Quicke & Chaul sp. n. is described from Brazil, and differentiated from other species of the genus. Described extant species of Masona are known from Australia and south eastern U.S.A. (Georgia and Florida including the Key Islands). Two undescribed species are known from Tanzania and Cambodia. The new species is therefore the first representative of the subfamily Masoninae van Achterberg from South America, demonstrating the completely cosmopolitan distribution of this very poorly known group. The new species most closely resembles a fossil species, M. pyriceps van Achterberg, 2001, from Dominican amber with which it shares the plesiomorphic presence of a scutellum.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

The paper presents description of new anthocorid taxa from the inclusions in the Upper Eocene Baltic amber: Xyloesteles parvulus gen.nov and sp. nov. and Xyloesteles kerneggeriorum sp. nov. They are described and illustrated here. These fossil flower bugs of the family Anthocoridae (s.l.) belong to the tribe Dufouriellini Van Duzee (Lyctocorinae) are reported for the first time.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Identifying and describing fossil thrips (Thysanoptera) sometimes touches the limits of feasibility. Complications handling these tiny fossils are not only caused by their size, their position or fragmentary nature, but also by the state and condition of the matrices surrounding them. Due to poor preservation in some matrices (such as lime, potash and lignite) their identification often remains uncertain (Ulitzka 2015a). Amber, however, considered as a window on times past (Gröhn et al. 2015), presents a wide range of insect inclusions in excellent condition. Nevertheless, many problems can impede our visibility through this ‘window’. Fissures, opacity or clouding in the fossil resin, as well as inclusions or bubbles of air, can cover specific characteristics of an included specimen. Curvature of the amber surface results in optical distortions that can impede a reliable assessment of certain features, and the deeper an inclusion is in the amber the greater are the problems. For these reasons cutting or grinding the amber as close as possible to a specimen is essential. In the future, synchrotron X-ray microtomography may be an alternative (Henderickx et al. 2012; van de Kamp et al. 2014), but at present is too complex and expensive.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

We provide the first report of the Nearctic diving beetle subfamily Coptotominae Van den Branden, 1885 for the Paleactic Region, based on † Coptotomus balticus sp. n. from Baltic amber. Coptotomus Say, 1830 is otherwise distributed with five extant species and one subspecies in the Nearctic Region. The new species is the smallest species of the genus and thus readily separated from the extant taxa.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Análisis de la obra de Gysbrecht Thys: pintor de “devociones, poesías y paisajes” y colaborador de Joris van SonEl pintor flamenco Gysbrecht Thys (también escrito Thijs, Thyssen o Tijssens) (1617- h. 1684) ha sido durante siglos confundido con varios de sus homónimos. Aunque su identidad fue desentramada en 1996 en dos artículos fundamentales, ninguna obra suya había salido a la luz hasta hoy. Las pinturas estudiadas en el presente artículo, primeras aportaciones a la producción de Gysbrecht Thys, ayudan a definir la personalidad artística de un pintor olvidado. Considerando las composiciones de sus pinturas, sus fuentes de inspiración formales y literarias, y las influencias que forjan su estilo, el pintor se revela versátil, con un cierto grado de cultura clásica adquirido en Italia y probablemente en contacto con círculos religiosos eruditos en Amberes. Su participación en una Guirnalda de flores y frutas de Joris van Son permite un excurso en la producción de éste y su probable colaboración con Jan van Balen entre otros; en busca de un mejor conocimiento de la producción de algunos pintores poco estudiados de la escuela de Amberes del siglo XVII.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Léon van Montenaeken es el nombre de un poeta hispano-belga no advertido hasta la fecha en la historia de la literatura en lengua francesa. Aunque nacido en Amberes, vivió en Sevilla desde su niñez. Es autor de un único libro de poesía, titulado Rimes futiles (1879), pero colaboró en importantes revistas como La Jeune Belgique y mereció ser incluido en la antología Parnasse de la Jeune Belgique (1887). Este ensayo aporta información inédita que permite conocer la biografía y obra de este autor.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Actinomycetes are Gram-positive prokaryotes that tend to form branching and fragmenting filaments, which in some groups form a sizable mycelium. They make up a large and important part of modern terrestrial microfloras but are not known extensively as fossils, although they have a long fossil history. Actinomycete-like fossils appear several times in the Precambrian: in the middle Precambrian Gowganda Formation of Ontario (Jackson, 1967), in the 2.0 Ga Gunflint Chert of Ontario (Lanier, 1987), and possibly in a lichen-like symbiosis in the 2.8 Ga Witwatersrand rocks of South Africa (Hallbauer and Van Warmelo, 1974), among others. Direct fossil evidence of actinomycetes is very rare in the Phanerozoic, and some “fossil” actinomycetes may be later contaminants (Knoll, 1977; Smoot and Taylor, 1983). Hyphae identified as actinomycetes are known from rod-like bodies identified as nematodes inside a decaying scorpion from the lower Carboniferous of Scotland (Stoermer, 1964), and from the interior of fern phloem cells from the Pennsylvanian (Smoot and Taylor, 1983). Unmineralized Actinomyces-like cells are known from calcite in bituminous lake-bed sediments from the early Cretaceous of Nevada (Bradley, 1963), and similar, poorly preserved fossils of a form called Actinomycites have been reported from the Jurassic of Scotland (Ellis, 1915). Actinorhizal nodules, formed by actinomycetes symbiotic with plant roots, have been described from the late Pleistocene (Baker and Miller, 1980).

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Features of energy metabolism in children with cardiovascular diseases are of great practical importance. It is prognostically important to determine the status of the energy of cardiomyocytes to normalize bioenergetic deficit cardiomyocytes in rheumatoid arthritis, myocarditis, congenital heart diseases to decrease reduction in myocardial contractility and reduce precondition for the progression of heart failure. The experimental and clinical studies of the pathogenesis of idiopathic cardiomyopathy in children in recent years indicate directly the damage of oxidative phosphorylation in myocardial tissue due to decreased activity of the mitochondrial electron transport system. Numerous congenital diseases like syndrome Ivemark, Holt-Oram, Ellis-Van Creveld, Ivemark, Noonan, Greeg, Kugel-Stoloff, Werner, West, Adams-Stokes, MERRF include cardiomyopathy in their symptoms. Vibration-type model of hypoxic cell metabolism was suggested to estimate antihypoxant succinic acid as cardioprotective substance in in drug “Amber-antitoks” on rabbit cardiomyocytes. The experiment of bioenergy dependent reaction of native heart mitochondria was studied by polarographic method performed using a closed membrane Clarke’ electrode. Pharmacological drug “Amber-antitoks” in dose as 8.4 mg/kg prevents the formation of bioenergy dependent hypoxia of cardiomyocytes and restore the activity of NAD-dependent, and suppress hyperactivity suktsinat-degidrogenaze enzyme-substrate complex of the respiratory chain. It causes reduction of the severity of mitochondrial dysfunction and the degree of morphological myocardial tissue damage. The protective properties of drug “Amber-antitoks” allow to recommend it for using in the treatment in combination with other drugs of cardiovascular disease in children.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

El interés de la historiografía artística española por las representaciones del santo de origen alemán, san Norberto, ha sido muy escaso. De ahí el interés de este artículo en el que abordamos el estudio de una serie de estampas de este santo, realizadas en Amberes a lo largo del siglo XVII. Como otros santos de medievales canonizados al calor del Concilio tridentino, se debido a que respondía al nuevo modelo de santidad defendido por la Iglesia: fue predicador de Amberes, fundador de una orden religiosa, defensor de la Eucaristía y se enfrentó al hereje Tanchelino. Todos ellos aspectos que vemos captados en estas estampas amberinas. También abordamos el papel crucial que tuvo el convento premostratense de San Miguel de Amberes, sobre todo gracias al abad Jan Chrisostomus van der Sterre que encargó muchas de ellas.The interest of the Spanish artistic historiography for the representations of the Saint of German origin, Saint Norbert, has been very scarce. Hence the interest of this article in which we address the study of a series of prints of this saint, made in Antwerp throughout the seventeenth century. Like other medieval saints canonized in the heat of the Tridentine Council, it was because he responded to the new model of sanctity defended by the Church: he was preacher of Antwerp, founder of a religious order, defender of the Eucharist and faced the heretic Tanchelino. All of them aspects that we see captured in these amberine prints. We also addressed the crucial role played by the Premonstratensian convent of San Miguel de Antwerp, especially thanks to the abbot Jan Chrisostomus van der Sterre, who commissioned many of them.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

The present work describes the comparative study of the trans- and the cis-xylomollin structures. We have determined the two bridgehead H5 and H9 configurations using simulation calculations for both trans- and cis- distereoisomers. Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulations of the trans- and cis- xylomollin were performed with an efficient program. The geometries, interaction energies, bonds, angles, and the Van der Waals (VDW) interactions were carried out in solution and gas phases. This comparative study shows that the trans-xylomollin acquires the high configuration energy under the AMBER field using MD method. This molecule reaches its high stable configuration state in solution environment. Our MD simulation results are goods and in agreement with those of literature.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

The present work describes the solvation effect on the trans-xylomollin conformation. We have studied the trans-xylomollin conformations with the distance restraints using simulation calculations. Distance Restraint Molecular Dynamic (DR-MD) and Distance Restraint Langevin Dynamic (DR-LD) simulations of the trans-xylomollin were performed with an efficient program. The geometries, interaction energies, bonds, angles, and the Van der Waals (VDW) interactions were carried out in solution and gas phases. This comparative study shows that the trans-xylomollin acquires low total energy in solution using DR-MD method and stable conformation under the AMBER field. This molecule reaches its high stable conformation state in solution environment. The solvation effect is more important with DR-MD simulations. Our results are goods and in agreement with the used force field.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

[First paragraph]De eerste Adam & De rots der struikeling. BOELI VAN LEEUWEN. Amsterdam: Ooievaar, 1996. 237 pp. (Paper NLG 25.00)Gedane zaken: De beste verhalen. HUGO Pos. Amsterdam: Ooievaar, 1996. 230 pp. (Paper NLG 15.00)Maar ik blijf. ASTRID H. ROEMER. Amsterdam: Ooievaar, 1996. 763 pp. (Paper NLG 25.00)De allermooiste romans van de Antillen en Suriname. Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1996. 605 pp. (Paper NLG 39.90)Zingende eilanden. WIM RUTGERS (ed.). Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1996. 317 pp. (Paper NLG 25.00)De eeuwige belofte van Eldorado: Verhalen over Latijns-Amerika en het Caribisch gebied. Nieuwegein: Aspekt, 1996. 188 pp. (Paper NLG 34.50)Echo van eldorado. ROSEMARIJN HOEFTE & GERT OOSTINDIE (comps). Leiden: KITLV Uitgeverij, 1996. 150 pp. (Paper NLG 15.00)Achter het eeuwig El Dorado: Fictie en realiteit in Latijnsamerikaanse literatuur. GEERT A. BANCK et al. Amsterdam: Thela, 1996. 140 pp. (Paper NLG 19.90)Eldorado: Werkelijkheid en droom. ROBERT LEMM. Amsterdam: Arbeiderspers, 1996. 160 pp. (Paper NLG 29.90)302 New West Indian Guide/Nieuwe West-Indische Gids vol. 70 rw. 3 & 4Surinaamse recepten van A tot Z. MURIEL SAM-SIN-HEWITT. Schoorl: Conserve, 1996. 243 pp. (Paper NLG 29.95)De Bonistraat. AMBER NAHAR. Amsterdam: Piramide, 1996. 71 pp. (Cloth NLG 19.90)Beneden en boven de wind: Literatuur van de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba. WIM RUTGERS. Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1996. 468 pp. (Paper NLG 54.90)Elisabeth Samson: Een vrije, zwarte vrouw in het 18e-eeuwse Suriname. CYNTHIA MC LEOD. Schoorl: Conserve, 1996. 177 pp. (Paper NLG 29.90)De beroepsherinneraar en andere verhalen. ANIL RAMDAS. Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1996. 280 pp. (Paper NLG 34.90)Geef mij maareen Surinamer. RONALD SNIJDERS. Amsterdam: Prometheus, 1996. 88 pp. (Paper NLG 19.90)De vrolijke dood van David Caprino. HENRY MENCKEBERG. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff. 291 pp. (Paper NLG 39.90)Caribische winter. ANNA BRIDIÉ. Amsterdam: Contact, 1996. 222 pp. (Cloth NLG 39.90)Ma Rochelle passée, Welkom El Dorado: Surinaamse historische roman. CYNTHIA MC LEOD. Schoorl: Conserve, 1996. 277 pp. (Paper NLG 39.95)Gewaagd leven. ASTRID H. ROEMER. Amsterdam: Arbeiderspers, 1996. 239 pp. (Paper NLG 29.90)Each year in March an organization with the rather awkward name Collectieve Propaganda voor het Nederlandse Boek (Collective Propaganda for Dutch Books, CPNB) organizes the Dutch national Book Week around a unifying idea. The theme for 1996 was "Eternal Eldorado: Literature from Latin America and the Caribbean." Even though many booksellers expressed their disappointment with this subject, arguing that the Latin American literary boom had long passed, publishers were not deterred. A great number of publications on Latin America and particularly the (Dutch) Caribbean appeared. Some of these books would have been published anyway and now could take advantage of all the accompanying media publicity, others were produced expressly with the Eldorado theme in mind.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

The description of an extinct species of Metaclisa Jacquelin du Val, 1861 (Tenebrionidae) is presented. This genus and the tribe Metaclisini are recorded as fossils for the first time, from Eocene Baltic amber. The new species Metaclisa ottoi sp. nov. belongs to the subgenus Trichometaclisa subgen. nov. and differs from all other Metaclisini in possessing short, fine recumbent setation on the pronotum and elytra; in addition, the prosternal process in Metaclisa ottoi sp. nov. is roundly bent down and weakly projected behind the procoxae, which differs from extant species.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Crispijn van den Broeck y Frans Pourbus I fueron dos pintores flamencos discípulos de Frans Floris. Su actividad artística se desarrolló en la segunda mitad del siglo XVI. Lograron gran fama y sus obras fueron exportadas a muchos países Europeos. En Burgos se conservan dos interesantes pinturas sobre tabla: Un Juicio Final de Crispijn van den Broeck y un San Jerónimo de Frans Pourbus I que llegaron a esta ciudad gracias a las relaciones comerciales entre Castilla y Flandes.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Este artículo pretende justificar con las teorías de Terapia Ocupacional una propuesta de intervención comunitaria, la cual contribuya a promover la salud mental de los colombianos, la formación de valores éticos y el desarrollo de actitudes personales que promuevan la convivencia. Describe el impacto sobre el desempeño ocupacional de las disfunciones psicosociales que pueden tener origen en la situación nacional. Se basa en autores como Neuhaus, Van Amburg, Short-De Graft, Kielhofner y Trujillo. Plantea la propuesta de intervención comunitaria con los programas de Desarrollo Emocional y Convivencia, de Ecología y de Formación de Valores, los cuales son el resultado del trabajo oolectivo de terapeutas ocupacionales, fonoaudiólogos, maestros, padres y niños del Jardín Infantil Por un Mañana, ubicado en Bogotá, Colombia. Utiliza en forma holística los marcos de referencia de la ocupación humana, comportamiento ocupacional, ecología, adaptación ocupacional, psicosocial y de pedagogía participativa. Con esta propuesta se ha influido de manera definitiva en las actitudes personales y comunitarias, tanto de los niños como de los adultos que han participado de ellos. Además cuenta con un inmenso potencial de futuro ya que es absolutamente posible masificarlos a lo largo y ancho del país.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Introducción y edición parcial de la obra de Marcos Fernández, Olla podrida a la española (Amberes [Amsterdam]: Felipe Van Eyck, 1655), texto cuyo valor literario ha sido rescatado por fin hace poco, así como sus interesantes influencias cervantinas. Se edita en concreto el último capítulo con una etimología burlesca de la palabra hidalgo y en el que aparece un pariente de Sancho Panza, llamado Toncho Panza. El texto es presentado como una sátira menipea en la que se critica el pensamiento gramatical y político de la época, por ejemplo la obra de César Oudin y la de Saavedra Fajardo. Los criterios de edición buscan un nuevo camino de compromiso entre la conservación de grafías (necesaria en un tratado inductivo de ortografía como es la Olla podrida) y la modernización gráfica que facilite la comprensión y lectura del texto, con las necesarias anotaciones lingüísticas e histórico-literarias.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Penyakit infeksi terus berkembang dewasa ini. Salah satu gejalanya adalah demam. Demam adalah kenaikan suhu tubuh yang ditandai adanya kenaikan titik ambang regulasi panas hipotalamus. Demam dapat mengakibatkan komplikasi jika tidak ditangani, maka dari itu perlu penanganan yang baik untuk mengobati demam. Salah satu obat antipiretik yang sering digunakan yaitu parasetamol. Terapi parasetamol dapat menyebabkan efek samping pada saluran cerna dan sistem kardiovaskular. Sesuai dengan efek sampingnya dalam menurunkan temperatur tubuh, dapat dilakukan pengembangan potensi tanaman berkhasiat obat sebagai terapi obat antipiretik dengan efek samping lebih kecil. Tanaman yang berpotensi sebagai antipiretik adalah kunyit. Kunyit (Curcuma domestica) merupakan salah satu tanaman herbal yang potensial sebagai terapi demam. Tanaman herbal ini bisa menjadi terapi alternatif untuk demam. Kunyit mengandung senyawa aktif yaitu curcumin. Senyawa tersebut telah banyak diteliti memiliki efek dapat menghambat protein Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). COX-2 merupakan enzim yang dapat memediasi proses kenaikan suhu pada demam. Maka dari itu, curcumin yang terkandung di dalam kunyit memiliki efek antipiretik. Efek potensial tersebut yang bisa menjadi landasan untuk terapi demam.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Abstract An evolutionary perspective on gecko adhesion was previously hampered by a lack of an explicit phylogeny for the group and of robust comparative methods to study trait evolution, an underappreciation for the taxonomic and structural diversity of geckos, and a dearth of fossil evidence bearing directly on the origin of the scansorial apparatus. With a multigene dataset as the basis for a comprehensive gekkotan phylogeny, model-based methods have recently been employed to estimate the number of unique derivations of the adhesive system and its role in lineage diversification. Evidence points to a single basal origin of the spinulate oberhautchen layer of the epidermis, which is a necessary precursor for the subsequent elaboration of a functional adhesive mechanism in geckos. However, multiple gains and losses are implicated for the elaborated setae that are necessary for adhesion via van der Waals forces. The well-supported phylogeny of gekkotans has demonstrated that convergence and parallelism in digital design are even more prevalent than previously believed. It also permits the reexamination of previously collected morphological data in an explicitly evolutionary context. Both time-calibrated trees and recently discovered amber fossils that preserve gecko toepads suggest that a fully-functional adhesive apparatus was not only present, but also represented by diverse architectures, by the mid-Cretaceous. Further characterization and phylogenetically-informed analyses of the other components of the adhesive system (muscles, tendons, blood sinuses, etc.) will permit a more comprehensive reconstruction of the evolutionary pathway(s) by which geckos have achieved their structural and taxonomic diversity. A phylogenetic perspective can meaningfully inform functional and performance studies of gecko adhesion and locomotion and can contribute to advances in bioinspired materials.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

AbstractThis article is dedicated to the collection from the Bremen Kunsthalle, comprising 1715 drawings, 50 paintings, and about 3000 prints found by Soviet troops in castle of Karnzow near Berlin in May 1945. The collection was not seized by Soviet trophy brigades but was looted by soldiers and officers of the 38th Field Engineers' Brigade of the Red Army.After their return to the USSR and demobilization, some of the officers donated their loot to different museums around the Soviet Union. One of the most important parts of the collection, with 362 drawings and two paintings—among them works of Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, and Van Gogh, was appropriated by Captain Viktor Baldin. In 1948 Baldin deposited his loot in the A. V. Shchusev State Research Museum of Architecture in Moscow. Later Baldin became the director of the museum and advocated return of the art to its rightful owners.Since the days of Gorbachev's perestroika, these art works have frequently attracted public attention and provoked fierce debates. The Federal Law on Cultural Valuables adopted in 1998 did not cover art works looted by private individuals. Rather, such conflicts have to be solved within the framework of Russian criminal law.In contrast, other works of art from the same Bremen Kunsthalle collection were restituted from the United States, Ukraine, and Estonia. Another 101 drawings and prints of the collection, seized by another member of Baldin's brigade, were returned from Russia to Bremen in 2000, but that was in “exchange” for an original mosaic from the legendary Amber Chamber. However, despite more than 20 years of efforts by German officials and endless negotiations, the Baldin Collection remains in the Russian Federation. The return of those stolen drawings any time soon now looks highly improbable. The case of the Baldin Collection became the most striking example of the Russian nonrestitution of cultural property looted during World War II.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Force fields based on molecular mechanics (MM) are the main computational tool to study the relationship between protein structure and function at the molecular level. To validate the quality of such force fields, high-level quantum-mechanical (QM) data are employed to test their capability to reproduce the features of all major conformational substates of a series of blocked amino acids. The phase-space overlap between MM and QM is quantified in terms of the average structural reorganization energies over all energy minima. Here, the structural reorganization energy is the MM potential-energy difference between the structure of the respective QM energy minimum and the structure of the closest MM energy minimum. Thus, it serves as a measure for the relative probability of visiting the QM minimum during an MM simulation. We evaluate variants of the AMBER, CHARMM, GROMOS and OPLS biomolecular force fields. In addition, the two blocked amino acids alanine and serine are used to demonstrate the dependence of the measured agreement on the QM method, the phase, and the conformational preferences. Blocked serine serves as an example to discuss possible improvements of the force fields, such as including polarization with Drude particles, or using tailored force fields. The results show that none of the evaluated force fields satisfactorily reproduces all energy minima. By decomposing the average structural reorganization energies in terms of individual energy terms, we can further assess the individual weaknesses of the parametrization strategies of each force field. The dominant problem for most force fields appears to be the van der Waals parameters, followed to a lesser degree by dihedral and bonded terms. Our results show that performing a simple QM energy optimization from an MM-optimized structure can be a first test of the validity of a force field for a particular target molecule.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

This is a review of our recent modeling work aimed at: (i) development and assessment of techniques for reliable refinement of low-resolution protein structures and (ii) using these techniques, at solving specific problems pertinent to neurophysin-bioligand interactions. Neurophysins I and II (NPI and NPII) serve in the neurosecretory granules of the posterior pituitary as carrier proteins for the neurophyseal hormones oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP), respectively, until the latter are released into blood. NPs are hom*ologous two-domain, sulphur rich small proteins (93-95 residues, 7 disulphide bridges per monomer), capable of being aggregated. The C2 symmetrical NPI2 and NPII2 hom*odimers, and the (NPI/OT)2 and (NPII/VP)2 heterotetramers, all believed to be the smallest functional units, were modeled using low-resolution structure information, i.e. the C alpha-carbon coordinates of the hom*ologous NPII/dipeptide complex as a template. The all-atom representations of the models were obtained using the SYBYL suite of programs (by Tripos, Inc.). Subsequently, they were relaxed, using a constrained simulated annealing (CSA) protocol, and submitted to about 100 ps molecular dynamics (MD) in water, using the AMBER 4.1 force field. The (NPI/OT)2 and (NPII/VP)2 structures, averaged after the last 20 ps of MD, were remarkably similar to those recently reported either for NPII/dipeptide or NPII/oxytocin complex in the solid state (Chen et al., 1991, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., U.S.A. 88, 4240-4244; Rose et al., 1996, Nature Struct. Biol. 3, 163-169). The results indicate that the 3(10) helices (terminating the amino domains) and the carboxyl domains are more mobile than the remainder of the NP monomers. The hormones become anchored by residues 1-3 and 6 to the host, leaving residues 4-5 and 7-9 exposed on the surface and free to move. A cluster of attractive interactions, extending from the ligand binding site, Tyr-24-Ile-26 of unit 1(2), to the inter-monomer interface Val-36 of unit 1(2), Cys-79 and Ile-72 of unit 2(1), is clearly seen. We suggest that both these interactions as well as the increased mobility of the 3(10) helix and the carboxyl domain may contribute to the allosteric communication between the ligand and the unit1-unit2 interface.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Background:Structural damage was identified as an important outcome domain in the Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) Core Domain Set and should be assessed at least once in the development of a new therapeutic.Objectives:To conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify studies addressing the measurement properties (MPs) for ROIs and appraise the evidence through the OMERACT Filter 2.1 Framework Instrument Selection Algorithm (OFISA). [1]Methods:An SLR was conducted in EMBASE and MEDLINE to identify full-text English studies developing or assessing MPs of ROIs in PsA. Determination of eligibility, data extraction and methodology asssessment were performed by 2 reviewers. MPs were rated according to the ‘Provisional Standards’ and assigned a Red/Amber/White/Green (RAWG) rating (Figure 1). [1, 2]Results:3621 references were screened, 531 full-text articles reviewed, and 12 were included (Figure 2). Nine instruments assessing peripheral radiographs and six assessing axial radiographs were identified (Table 1). Three of the nine peripheral radiographic instruments had adequate evidence for reliability and some evidence for construct validity: the modified Steinbrocker, Ratingen, and modified Sharp van der Heijde scores. There was scant evidence for reliability, construct validity and responsiveness for the axial ROIs, compounded by the lack of a standardized definition of axial PsA.Conclusion:This SLR summarizes the MPs of ROIs and identifies relevant knowledge gaps that need to be addressed prior to endorsem*nt of an instrument for the PsA Core Domain Set.References:[1]Richards P and De Wit M, editors. The OMERACT Handbook (March 2019)[2]Mokkink LB and D’Agostino MA. Protocol for performing a systematic review on imaging techniques (unpublished)Figure 1.Criteria for the RAWG RatingFigure 2.PRISMA DiagramTable 1.Summary of Measurement PropertiesROIDomain MatchFeasibilityConstruct ValidityDiscriminationReliabilityResponsivenessInter-raterIntra-raterMeasurement ErrorLongitudinal Construct ValidityClinical Trial DiscriminationThresholds of MeaningOriginal Steinbrocker ScoreA[1]A[1]R[1]Modified Steinbrocker Score#G[2]G[2]A[1]A[2]Modified Larsen ScoreA[1]A[1]A[1]*Ratingen Score#A[1]G[3]G[3]A[3]A[1]mTSS-AA[1]A[1]A[1]mTSS-B#A[1]A[1]A[1]A[1]*mSvdHs#A[2]G[2]G[2]A[1]A[1]*ReXPsAR[0]SPARS#A[1]A[1]A[1]Axial PsA Definition 1MSASSS#A[2]R[0]BASRI - Total#A[2]R[0]PASRI#A[2]R[0]Axial PsA Definition 2MSASSS#A[1]R[1]A[1]A[1]BASRI - Spine#R[1]A[1]A[1]PASRI#A[1]A[1]A[1]Modified NYC#R[1]A[1]RASSS#R[1]A[1]A[1]A = Amber, R = Red, G = Green[Total available studies for synthesis following excluding studies with poor methodology]* RCT data available but no published effect sizes# Feasibility data availableDisclosure of Interests:Anna Antony: None declared, Richard Holland: None declared, Wieneke Mokkink: None declared, Maria-Antonietta d’Agostino: None declared, Walter P Maksymowych Grant/research support from: Received research and/or educational grants from Abbvie, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Consultant of: WPM is Chief Medical Officer of CARE Arthritis Limited, has received consultant/participated in advisory boards for Abbvie, Boehringer, Celgene, Eli-Lilly, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Speakers bureau: Received speaker fees from Abbvie, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB., Heidi Bertheussen: None declared, Lori Schick: None declared, Niti Goel Shareholder of: UCB and Galapagos, Consultant of: VielaBio, Mallinckrodt, and IMMVention, Alexis Ogdie Grant/research support from: Pfizer, Novartis, Consultant of: Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Celgene, Corrona, Janssen, Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Ana-Maria Orbai Grant/research support from: Abbvie, Eli Lilly and Company, Celgene, Novartis, Janssen, Horizon, Consultant of: Eli Lilly; Janssen; Novartis; Pfizer; UCB. Ana-Maria Orbai was a private consultant or advisor for Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc, not in her capacity as a Johns Hopkins faculty member and was not compensated for this service., Pil Hoejgaard: None declared, Laura C Coates: None declared, Vibeke Strand Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Celltrion, Consortium of Rheumatology Researchers of North America, Crescendo Bioscience, Eli Lilly, Genentech/Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Hospira, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sanofi, UCB, Dafna D Gladman Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen Inc., BMS, Celgene Corporation, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB – grant/research support, Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen Inc., BMS, Celgene Corporation, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB – consultant, Robin Christensen: None declared, Ying Ying Leung Speakers bureau: Novartis, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Philip J Mease Grant/research support from: Abbott, Amgen, Biogen Idec, BMS, Celgene Corporation, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Sun Pharmaceutical, UCB – grant/research support, Consultant of: Abbott, Amgen, Biogen Idec, BMS, Celgene Corporation, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Sun Pharmaceutical, UCB – consultant, Speakers bureau: Abbott, Amgen, Biogen Idec, BMS, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Janssen, Pfizer, UCB – speakers bureau, William Tillett Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer Inc, UCB, Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, Celgene, Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, MSD, Pfizer Inc, UCB, Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Amgen, Celgene, Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer Inc, UCB

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Background:Systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) is the main cause of death in SSc and accounts for up to 30-35% of SSc-mortality (1-2). All SSc cases, irrespective of the extent of the skin disease, should be evaluated for ILD (3). The epidemiology of SSc-ILD in Belgium is unknown. In literature, the prevalence of ILD in SSc varies between 19% and 52%. However, different criteria were used to diagnose ILD (4). In 2008, Goh et al. proposed a flow diagram to diagnose SSc-ILD based on chest high-resolution CT-scan (HRCT) and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). Their categorization into limited or extensive ILD has prognostic value (5).Objectives:To determine the prevalence and incidence rate of SSc-ILD in Flanders.Methods:Up to 12-year follow-up data of consecutive SSc patients were obtained by 2 Flemish expert centres (University Hospitals Ghent and Leuven). Patients fulfilling the LeRoy and/or ACR-EULAR classification criteria were included consecutively in the prospective cohort (6). Patients received HRCT at baseline and on indication thereafter, as well as yearly PFT. All HRCTs were centrally analyzed (Ghent) and patients were categorized according to the Goh criteria as without ILD, with limited ILD (limILD) or with extensive ILD (extILD) (5).Results:Between 2006 and 2018, 797 SSc patients (557 Ghent/240 Leuven; 22% limited SSc (LSSc)/59% limited cutaneous SSc (LcSSc)/19% diffuse cutaneous SSc (DcSSc)) had baseline HRCT and PFT. The baseline characteristics are depicted in the table. The mean age (SD) was 53 +/-15 years and the majority of patients was female (76%).272 SSc patients had ILD at baseline, implicating a baseline prevalence of 34% (272/797). The baseline prevalences were 35% and 55% for the LcSSc and DcSSc subgroups respectively. During a median follow-up of 39 months (IQR: 11-79 months), 44 patients were diagnosed with incidental SSc-ILD, resulting in an incidence rate of 21,0/1000 person-years (PY), 95% CI:15,2-28,1. The incidence rates were 21,7/1000 PY, 95%CI: 14,3-31,6 and 43.9/1000PY, 95%CI: 22.7-76.8 for the LcSSc and DcSSc subgroups respectively.Table.Baseline characteristicsSSc (n=797)LcSSc (n=470)DcSSc (n=149)age (years) °53+/-1554+/-1554+/-14♂/♀ *193(24%)/604(76%)109(23%)/361(77%)58(39%)/91(61%)Disease Duration (months) #for 718: 22 (5-72)for 443: 25 (5-80)for 145: 16 (7-52)LSSc/LcSSc/DcSSc *178(22%)/470(59%)/149(19%)follow-up (months) #39 (11-79)38.5 (9.75-81)44 (17.5-78)Anti-centromere antibodies§252/538 (47%)163/317 (51%)19/108 (18%)Anti-topoisomeraseI antibodies§119/519 (23%)66/297 (22%)45/112 (40%)ILD at baseline, *272 (34%)163 (35%)82 (55%)LimILD, *230 (29%)139 (30%)67 (45%)ExtILD, *42 (5%)24 (5%)15 (10%)New ILD during follow-up, §44/52527/30712/67°: mean +/- standard deviation, *: number of patients (percent), #: median (interquartile range), §= number of patients/total number of patients with available data (%)Conclusion:In an unselected cohort of SSc patients, a third of the patients has ILD at baseline which is in line with previous prevalence reports. Importantly, this is the first study reporting incidence rates of SSc-ILD.References:[1]Steen VD and Medsger TA, Ann Rheum Dis 2007;66:940-4[2]Elhai M et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2017;76:1897-1905[3]Smith V et al. RMD Open 2019;4:e000782. doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2018-000782[4]Bergamasco A et al. Clinical Epidemiology 2019;11:257-73[5]Goh N et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2008;177:1248-54[6]van den Hoogen et al. Arthritis Rheumatol 2013;65:2737-47Disclosure of Interests:Els Vandecasteele Grant/research support from: my institution has received a research grant from the Research Foundation Flanders FWO), Speakers bureau: my institution has received speaker fees from Actelion, Karin Melsens: None declared, Daniel Blockmans Consultant of: yes, Speakers bureau: yes, Charlotte Carton: None declared, Filip De Keyser: None declared, Ellen De Langhe Consultant of: member of advisory board for Boehringer, Bernard Lauwerys: None declared, Yves Piette: None declared, Amber Vanhaecke: None declared, Koen Verbeke: None declared, Wim Wuyts Grant/research support from: my institution has received a grant from Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche, Consultant of: my institution has received payments for consultancy from Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche, Speakers bureau: my institution has received speaker fees from Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche, Guy Brusselle: None declared, Vanessa Smith Grant/research support from: The affiliated company received grants from Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO), Belgian Fund for Scientific Research in Rheumatic diseases (FWRO), Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co and Janssen-Cilag NV, Consultant of: Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co, Speakers bureau: Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co and UCB Biopharma Sprl

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Harald Deceulaer. Agremiados, empresarios y segmentos de mercado: el caso de los comercios de vestido en Amberes y Gante (siglos XVI a XVIII).Johan Dambruyne. Gremios, movilidad social y prestigio en Gante en el siglo XVI.Dick van Lente. Las máquinas y el orden del puerto: el debate sobre la introducción de las máquinas descargadoras de grano en Rotterdam, 1905–1907.Sharif Gemie. Octave Mirbeau y la naturaleza de la cultura política de derechas en cambio. Francia 1870–1914.Traducción: Willeke Tijssen

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

En 1976, cuando cursaba el último año de mis estudios como guitarrista en el Conservatorio Realde Amberes, Bélgica, vi a nunciados una serie de seminarios especiales que ofrecía el conservatorio a todos los estudiantes y maestros interesados. Especialmente uno atrajo mi atención, por lo enigmático que para mí se presentaba en ese entonces el tema, por el profesor (una joven leyenda local, el clavecinista, organista, pianista, cantante y director de orquesta Jos van Immerseel) y por su largo, preciso y explicativo título: La retórica en la práctica, como base para una interpretación responsable de la música de los siglos xvi, xvii y xviii.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Este artículo proporciona información sobre una importante pieza del patrimonio histórico de Andalucía. Se trata del políptico la familia Bravo de Lagunas, pintado en Amberes por Jan Sanders van Hemessen entre 1540 y 1544 y conservado en la iglesia de San Vicente (Sevilla). Se ofrecen datos que permiten encajar la obra en el catálogo del artista al tiempo que se da a conocer por vez primera la correcta morfología del políptico, así como las circunstancias que rodearon su encargo y desmembración en el siglo XVII. También se identifican los retratos de los personajes históricos que se representan en una de las hojas del conjunto y se analizan los contenidos del programa decorativo y funcional trazado por el comitente hacia 1539, del que el políptico es la pieza central.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Del 10 al 17 de septiembre de 1989, la Cruz Roja de Bélgica (comunidad de lengua neerlandesa) y la Cruz Roja Neerlandesa organizaron conjuntamente en Brujas (Bélgica) un cursillo sobre el derecho internacional humanitario para todas las zonas de lengua neerlandesa. Siguieron el cursillo, primero de este tipo, 38 participates, entre los cuales había profesores, estudiantes, difusores, diplomáticos y representantes de los Ministerios de los Países Bajos, de la región belga de Flandes, de Indonesia y de Surinam.El cursillo, que fue presentado por los señores Daniel Coens, ministro de Educación de la comunidad flamenca, J. J. van der Weel, presidente de la Cruz Roja Neerlandesa, y V. Leysen, presidente de la Cruz Roja de Bélgica (comunidad de lengua neerlandesa), versó sobre diversos aspectos del derecho humanitario, sobre su desarrollo y su difusión. Las disertaciones corrieron a cargo de varios profesores de las universidades de Leiden, de Limburgo (Países Bajos), de Amberes, de Lovaina y de Bruselas, así como de un representante del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Bélgica y de miembros de las dos Sociedades Nacionales organizadoras.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Background: Minor groove binding is a rate-limiting step in proflavine-DNA intercalation reaction. This step is believed also to be responsible for the sequence-dependent kinetics of proflavine binding to DNA. At the same time, most studies are focused on the final stage of the reaction – the intercalation complex, and there is a lack of data concerning the structure and stability of proflavine-DNA minor groove-bound complexes. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the stability of proflavine minor groove-bound complexes with DNA oligonucleotides of different sequence by molecular dynamics simulation and to analyze the DNA conformational changes caused by the proflavine binding. Materials and methods: The molecular dynamics simulations of proflavine minor groove-bound complexes with poly(dA)·poly(dT) and poly(dCG)·poly(dCG) oligonucleotides of 30 bp length were done in program package AMBER12 with explicit water (SPC/E) and ions (NaCl 0.15 M) using force fields FF14SB for DNA and GAFF for ligand. The starting configurations of complexes were obtained by docking method in AutoDock 3.05. After multi-stage equilibration protocol, each system was simulated at T=300 K and p=1 bar for a 50 ns production phase. Then trajectories were post-processed in AMBERTools17 and VMD-1.9.3 packages. Results: Our simulations confirm that proflavine-DNA minor groove-bound complexes are stable in the 50 ns time range but there are some structural rearrangements in them with respect to the initial structures. The narrowing of the DNA minor groove is observed in the proflavine binding site. In proflavine-poly(dCG)·poly(dCG) complex it is more pronounced and is accompanied by the BI/BII transitions in DNA and the reorientation of ligand. In proflavine-poly(dA)·poly(dT) complex the specific intermolecular hydrogen bonds are formed, which are optimized by the changes in opening and propeller twisting of involved AT-base pairs. Complexes are stabilized by the van der Waals and hydrophobic interactions, which are more favorable in the proflavine-poly(dA)·poly(dT) complex. Conclusions: Our results show that the binding of proflavine to a minor groove of DNA induces the conformational changes in the DNA that are important for the resulting complex stability.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

Whatever a work of art may be, the artist certainly cannot dare to be simple. (Rebecca West) Van Gogh's Sunflowers is [not] considered worthy of inclusion in a new selection of the world's finest art. The compilers of the Folio Society's lavish and expensive Book of the 100 Greatest Paintings believe that some works are so overexposed and have been reproduced so often that they can no longer be viewed with a fresh eye. The Independent, 24.8.2001. Sometimes the day just falls down on you. One day they'll measure the weight of a day. One day science will be able to measure the density of 24 hours. And then I can claim the burden of getting through a day as part of my fitness programme. She imagined filling in her exercise diary. Lifted three fallen days from shoulders. Pumped up biceps, triceps, amassed muscle gain in legs. Strengthened heart tissue. Deepened lung capacity. She shouldn't joke about it. But of course she did. Sometimes it was how she coped. She'd tried not joking, joking, paying attention, ignoring, running away from, facing head on, talking, not talking, sharing, selfishly selflessly, hopefully hopelessly, alone and in company. Of course some methods of dealing with it were more fun than others. She used to have sex a lot when she felt most depressed. What she'd liked most about the sex was the feeling of being what she called underneath, somewhere darker, more primal. Crawling around on the inside of things. That was how she eventually looked at it. As if it was a special sort of art she had created, woven through the threads of her brain cells and tendrils of her nerve endings. Sometimes profoundly scary, sometimes just a cheap thrill. Why can't you just be happy? she'd heard people ask. People who cared and those who didn't particularly. As if she had willed it upon herself and could just as easily will herself out of it. I choose. Or I do not choose, she might say. Either way it remains because I have understood it ultimately is not a matter of choice. I will be happy when happiness comes around again. Just the same as the sunshine comes out after the rain clouds disappear. It is a cycle and I am part of its nature. And I haven't yet learnt to control the weather. Of course shamans could do it. Certain sorts of yogis. Witches. Tap into energy flows and seismic quivers. Even then it was not a matter of controlling shifts in temperature but rather surrendering to it. Making them not just observers of natural phenomena. But participants. Adding their own energy to the natural energy. Bringing about change through focus and attention rather than resistance and will. It would be hard to stay that sensitive in the city. Too hard with all the relentless metal, the swabs of smoke and smog blinding the eyes, the clang and grrrs of the smashing traffic, all the urban thoughts circling your brain like gangs out for some kicks. She made herself scarce when the days fell like this one. Right on top of her like a mountain of collapsing ash. Even though the others had what always seemed a grudging respect for it. As if she limped. Or was blind in one eye. They sensed its genetic implications. And almost admired the way she wore it like a piece of dark, sombre clothing. Instead of letting it wear her. Still These dark days. These black moods. Like a monstrous pet She had to walk Endlessly through the city streets Until it had walked off Its rage. She closed her eyes. Somewhere in the distance she could faintly detect the scent of a certain sort of coffee, which she craved. She opened her eyes and headed up King St, peering into cafes as she passed, twitching her nostrils like a sniffer dog, nosing out the secret stash of illicit nectar that would, of course, be the momentary answer to all her problems. She walked past Café Bleu. Too stark, too gloomy. Past El Bache. Too fluorescent, too sugary. Straight past CITRUS. Too friendly, too trendy. Criss-crossed King St to Macro Whole Foods. Too positive, too pure. Back over the other side to the Marleborough Hotel. Oh no, too desperate before midday. Turned left, walked down past the hospital, briefly thought about their cafeteria. But no, way too hopeless and pessimistic. Back onto City Road, past the Uni. Way too cool and know it all. Across Broadway, past IKU. Same problem as Macro, and almost up to Badde Manors. Eek! Way, way too hip. She got herself back down almost to Paramatta Road and stopped. She briefly wondered whether she should go back to Essential Energies and see the Clairvoyant. But she was sick at the idea of handing over forty bucks for someone to tell her that everything, even depression, eventually had to pass. She may as well go up to a complete stranger on the street and ask them: Tell me what to do, please tell me what to do. In certain cultures she was sure this would work. Older, more spiritual ethnicities, which had long ago given up the idea that human beings could control everything that happened in life. They'd even laugh at the concept. They might say something ancient and wise and comforting. Something about death and rebirth and transformation and illness being a sign of health and everything the other way round. But here, pioneer's children, building, growing, planning, committing, grasping, holding on, they'd tell her to pull herself together and get on with it. If you'd just tell me what IT was, maybe I'd be able to get on with it. She might answer them if she was in the mood for a conversation. But of course she wasn't going to accost anyone. Not today. Not in Glebe. Not just down the road from Gleebooks. Too literary, too secure. She bought some Turkish bread from the Lebanese place next door, intending to feed the ducks in City Park, but slipped back inside Essential Energies, with the bread tucked under her arm, just to stand for a few moments near the oil burner. The scents were Orange, Marjoram and Lavender, a soothing combination, the sign said, to calm the troubled mind and open the third eye. Jesus, she thought to herself, suddenly laughing out loud, on days like this I'm lucky if I can keep one good eye open. Let alone two. Without realizing it, she'd been making a racket. Aware of the shop assistant staring disapprovingly at her, she backed out the door, chattering to herself like a madwoman, fleetingly remembering how being in a church always seemed to create the same sense of misadventure as being in a New Age Shop. Too clean, too quiet, too affluent, too aromatic. Back on Paramatta Road she felt like crying. Some days that was all she felt like doing, tears gathering inside her, not like great thunderstorms about to explode, but grey sheets of drizzle with their slow, maddening incessant drip drip drip on the brain. She remembered Emerald Green telling her that depression would be the Super Disease of the Millennium. Sometimes she wondered how she would last that long. If you chart your course through it, you'll mark the map for others, Emerald had told her. Maybe the true pioneers of tomorrow are those with the courage to go out alone into the most forbidding terrain and return intact. It sounded encouraging when Emerald said it, but it never helped when she was standing at crossroads such as these wondering which way to go. Walk down Broadway into Chinatown. Wolf down a Laksa for lunch. Burn her mouth and body back to life. Halfway down Broadway she stopped as she always did, at the Broadway Framers. They'd taken down the Whitely that had been in the window for ages, and replaced it with the usual assortment of famous and popular prints, framed unnecessarily, she'd always thought, in ostentatious gold. Matisse's Blue Nude, Picasso's Harlequin from his Rose period and Van Gogh's Sunflowers. When she was younger and more easily impressed, her post modernist friends had told her painting was dead and that figurative art was bogus. They seemed so sure of everything, she'd never been sure of anything and so she'd been almost ashamed to admit that one of her favourite pictures was Sunflowers. She'd never analyzed why she liked it. If pressed to give an intelligent answer it would have been something along the lines of the visceral textures of the flowers, still so apparently immediate even in the hundreds of flat prints that had crowded the waiting rooms of her life since she was a little girl. It would have had something to do with the extravagance with which the stems were stuffed into the case, the overloaded slightly bedraggled, lushness of nature crammed by the artist into the humble little pot on which he'd scrawled his name. It could have been the energy of the brush strokes, which seem to thrust the flowers towards you with such force, as if Vincent is saying to you personally: LOOK LOOK. Have you ever seen anything so beautiful? He was just doing his job, Painter Bob had said, the job that artists do. To make us look at things that mostly we're too distracted, too busy, too depressed to see. The stars in the sky at night. Swirling clouds. The sloping downwards of a face and all the stories which that particular angle tells. She thought of Van Gogh whenever she saw that picture. On his lonely road to pure painting, too crazy, to stubborn to do anything else. Painter Bob had said he'd been a shaman, a channel through which his subjects passed in order to be delivered onto paper so that … we, the rest of the world, us, the rest of history, decade after decade of casual and not so casual observers of art, could see, feel, absorb through the nerve endings in our eyes the essence of what is was, not just to see the sunflowers but to be the sunflowers. Yellow, she thought. And amber. Orange. Bits of gold. They've always made me feel so happy. It couldn't be that simple, she thought. To have the courage to cross the gap that separates the subject from the object. To become the thing which you see. To empathize. To inhabit. To break down the disconnection between matter. Plump, healthy flowers, slightly past their prime. Still, she thought, they'd cost a packet at the florists. She liked sunflowers. Despite their larger than life, exotic qualities they'd always seemed to her to be completely and utterly ordinary. ..in the end only someone who suffered deeply could see the radiance in such simple things Painter Bob was right. He was after all an expert in such things. Sometimes she felt as if she didn't know much about anything at all. Here she was looking at reproductions through plate glass windows, while above her the sun was almost coming out. Feeling hopeful, she put on her sunglasses. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Neil, Linda. "Sunflowers " M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 5.2 (2002). [your date of access] < http://www.media-culture.org.au/0205/sunflower.php>. Chicago Style Neil, Linda, "Sunflowers " M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 5, no. 2 (2002), < http://www.media-culture.org.au/0205/sunflower.php> ([your date of access]). APA Style Neil, Linda. (2002) Sunflowers . M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 5(2). < http://www.media-culture.org.au/0205/sunflower.php> ([your date of access]).

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles

Abstract:

“Di? Di? Come on, Di. I know you’re in there.” It would have been better if she had just said nothing, just lay there. The voice would have gone away eventually. She did attempt a small silence, leaning back on her pillow and listened to the rattling of the door handle, then a sigh, and an ongoing tapping. “Di?” Finally, she couldn’t help herself. “f*ck off, Nic.” “Come on, Di. What’s up?” “Why don’t you go and find someone else to rip off?” “What do you mean?” “You know what I mean.” “What’s wrong? Come on, let me in, Di. Please?” The door to Diana’s King Street bed-sit was pink, the paint chipped. She threw a cushion at it, producing a dull thumping sound followed by a soft whistle as the polyester cover slid down toward the floor. “So, where’d you take it all to, Nic?” Diana raised her voice to the ceiling. “What was it worth to you?” There was no answer. She could feel bitterness rising in her throat. “What am I supposed to do now? You want me to go down to the f*cking pawn shop and buy back my own stuff just so you can come and rip me off again?” Silence. A shifting of weight. The sliding of cloth against the door. Then, again: tap, tap. “Di?” A low, childish whisper. “Don’t shut me out, Di, please, I need you.” Something compelled Diana Kooper. She rose up from her spot on the futon and moved toward the closed door. The movement seemed to stretch out momentarily, as if offering the chance to change her mind, to sit down again, to forget. But she did none of these things, instead opening the door with a swish and a body fell immediately into the room. Diana was ready for it. Her hands landed quickly on the soft hollow of Nicole’s armpits, pulling the other girl further inside then pinning her by the shoulders to the filthy carpet. She climbed on top of the body and knocked the head against the floor, hard. Soon she was aware only of sounds: fabric tearing; the soft whoosh of her friend’s breath beneath shawls of hair. Diana discovered a vital physical strength fed by rage and despair: a blinding extravagance of will. But Nicole fought back, so that Diana too was flung against the furniture legs, against the floor, against the corner of the low bed. Blood swam from their noses and skin burnt at hips, knees, elbows. They knocked into an open cupboard door, sending empty containers and food packaging like celebratory confetti across the stained carpet. They were using fists, boots, wrangles, pinches. They were tripping each other up, wedging grit and splinters and skin beneath short fingernails. Wrestling gave way briefly to a round of boxing. Diana could picture the kids practising in the warehouse near their old place in Glebe. Maybe Nicole could see them too. For a moment the girls were fenced in by thick red ropes. They had bright silk shorts on. Diana could feel her right fist clenched at her side, burning to lodge a lethal knock. She was raking up stray instructions from the schoolyard: Go for the soft temple / Avoid the jaw / Form the fist right / Dance! Dance on your feet. Diana’s bare fist made sharp contact with an eye, flinging the other girl back. Nicole stumbled and held one hand across her damaged eyelid, trying to refocus. Diana smirked, too pleased with herself. She had only glanced away momentarily when she felt something land with the force against her own gut. Suddenly the wind was gone from her. Breathing is life. Life is breathing. She folded forward and fell. The world blackened. When she came to there was a smell of hot metal. The electric kettle had boiled dry. There was a pillow beneath her head, and the familiar shape of Nicole Carr sprawled out on the bed beside her. “Oh, God,” she said. All that effort, for nothing. The body beside her moaned in response. Diana got up and turned off the kettle. Diana had coined the term Big Change Trouble when she was small. It was something she reckoned she could sense early, before others got a whiff of it. It was the kind of trouble she had watched her mother trying to dodge at the last minute, the way drivers who speed are forced to dodge sudden obstacles on the road, without much success. When she was a kid, Big Change Trouble meant the convergence of all number of small trouble things - things to do with her mother’s drinking, things to do with money, or things to do with school. It started with little ruptures right across all the stuff she’d gotten used to. Sometimes it was like she was outside of herself, looking down, watching it all going on, and always this sense that nobody else could make out it quite like she could. Just before she did the bolt from Sydney, Diana could sense that eerie childhood feeling, so rotten, so familiar. It rose up the day after she and Nicole had beat the sh*t out of each other. She went to work, as usual, in the bar in Redfern in the late afternoon, her limbs tired and sore. Dick Richards, the guy who always gave her good, reliable tips, stood at the bar rubbing his hand across his left nipple and saying “Caaaw,” widening his eyes and blinking. She got an odd feeling, watching the way his t-shirt creased beneath his hand as he rubbed. Maybe he was actually having a heart attack, right there at the bar. She felt removed from him, on edge, and said nothing that might have helped. She was more concerned that there was something wrong with one of her work shoes. The rubber sole was coming off at the front, and it was flip-flapping around, getting stuck on the edges of the bar mats. Twice she nearly tripped carrying two full schooners of Resch’s. Later one of the other regulars, Marty Miller, told her about how he had to walk home all the way from St Peters the previous afternoon, because he had these three boils on his arse and they had burst, and even though one of his mates went by and offered him a lift, he didn’t want to get in. He didn’t want to make a mess on his mates’ seat. It was so bad, he wouldn’t even have gotten into a taxi. It was about eight kilometres he had to walk. He was the nicest guy, Marty, but he didn’t generally talk too much, it was unlike him to even be standing at the bar. Usually he drank over by the window, looking out at the street. Diana was left wondering about him, long after he’d gone home. Marty Miller and the boils on his arse, the blood and puss leaking down his legs as he walked. Why did he have to tell her about it? That night, Jeff Fenech was due to defend his WBC Featherweight Title. Skychannel was broadcasting it live. Gradually, the place filled up and soon there wasn’t a punter in the whole pub who wasn’t barracking for Fenech. It was dead busy. Diana’s boss, Micheal, was completely stoned. He kept smiling and pointing at the bruises on her face and shaking his head, but he was smiling from the wrong side of the bar. There should have been two of them serving. It was annoying. Beryl and Matt’s two kids came in again, they must be six and eight years old, and Diana had to keep her eyes on them as they pushed their way through the crowd to find Mum and Dad at their usual spot in front of the card machines. Probably just asking for money for a feed, poor buggers, but they weren’t supposed to come into the pub, especially at night, especially in a big crowd like this. She lost track of them, couldn’t tell if they’d already gone or not. Big Change Trouble gives a certain flavour to everything. It might as well have been in the beer itself, the yeasty scent of it filling the room every time a drinker exhaled. Jeff Fenech went to twelve rounds with the tiny little Mexican, Mario Martinez. It was a long, monotonous fight with barely any drama in it. Jeff wasn’t at his best. “His hands are f*cked,” people were saying. “His f*cking hands are ratsh*t.” There’d been too many fractures, too many punches over too many years. It was difficult to watch. Everybody sensed the champion’s reign close to being over. Jeff won the fight, but it wasn’t with anything you could call style. The pub emptied out quickly after that. It was like someone had just taken a giant scoop out of the place, and everybody was gone, even Dick Richards. She put up the stools, wiped down the bar, emptied the flat amber fluid out of the trays. When she got outside, she watched two taxis go past with their “Engaged” signs up, even though there was no one but the drivers in them. Several mounted police turned out of Raglan Street and she could hear the sound of their horse’s hooves against the blacktop, the clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop ricocheting up and down the length of near empty Botany Road. Her little Suzuki coughed to a start and she drove home the back way through this odd disquiet. When she got to the laneway behind her King Street bed-sit, she was met by the picture of Nicole Carr walking into the stream of her headlights. Nicole held up a limp hand, shielding her face from the light. “What?” “You gotta help me, Di. I want to get clean.” She seemed thinner than ever, her hair all flat. “I want to give it a go, I mean it, really,” she said through the open driver’s window. “I got to stay away from Harry.” She followed Diana up the stairs. “You’ve got to help me keep away from him, Di. We’re bad for each other.” Nicole was going to move out of Harry’s place in Bondi and find a place of her own. She was going to work two jobs and save to go to a private college, do a course in natural medicine. Diana could tell she’d had a hit not long before she arrived. Her friend sat at the table, flicking her hair back out of her eyes and doodling on an old telephone bill. They went to sleep a little after one, but Diana slept lightly. At seven, Nicole was up and getting restless, wandering in small loops around the tiny space. Diana tried to sleep on, raising an eyelid occasionally to see Nicole hunched over, biting her nails, staring out into space. They ate blueberry yoghurt for breakfast, sharing the same spoon, eating straight out of the tub. Diana was supposed to be at the TAFE that morning, to see about a supplementary exam. And she was due to start at her shift at The Royal at two. But she was afraid to leave. If she left, Nicole might go out. If Nicole went out, that would be the end of it. “You must hate me,” Nicole said, sulkily. “Yes and no.” The bed-sit had very little in it. The old blue fridge rumbled and buzzed. Nicole had already stolen the stereo, the television, the microwave, even the little dual ring gas cooktop. There were two folding chairs beside a fold-out table. There was the futon. Diana shared the bathroom down the hall with Bernie and Wanda, the drag queens in the next room. The tiny bed-sit’s best feature was a set of French doors, opening onto a railing and overlooking the busy road below. The breeze, or sometimes just the hot air created by the ceaseless traffic, made the red curtains above the doorway dance and sway. The girls sat watching this dance for most of the morning. Funny the way the fabric lifted, ballooned then fell. Lifted, ballooned, then fell. There was something in it. And yet, also, there was nothing. Soon Nicole Carr’s stomach would knot into a long, sharp cramp. Citation reference for this article Substitute your date of access for Dn Month Year etc... MLA Style BLoon, Julienne van. "An Excerpt from the Novella Moving" M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 6.1 (2003). Dn Month Year < http://www.media-culture.org.au/0302/02-feature.php>. APA Style Loon, J. v., (2003, Feb 26). An Excerpt from the Novella Moving. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture, 6,(1). Retrieved Month Dn, Year, from http://www.media-culture.org.au/0302/02-feature.html