Academic literature on the topic 'Ten American Painters (New York, N.Y.)'

Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV; genus Tospovirus) was detected in experimental greenhouse-grown potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and Nicotiana benthamiana in New York State in July and August of 2003 and 2004. Potato leaves exhibiting necrotic lesions with a concentric pattern similar to those induced by Tomato spotted wilt virus (1) were observed on cvs. Atlantic, Huckleberry, NY115, and Pentland Ivory. The presence of INSV was confirmed using double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a rapid ‘ImmunoStrip’ assay (Agdia, Inc., Elkhart, IN). INSV-specific sequences were amplified from total RNA extracts using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction with ‘Tospovirus Group’ primers (Agdia, Inc.) and two independently amplified DNAs were sequenced. A common sequence of 355 nucleotides (GenBank Accession No. AY775324) showed 98% identity to coding sequences in an INSV L RNA. The virus was mechanically transmitted to potato and N. benthamiana and could be detected in asymptomatic, systemically infected potato leaves. Stems nodes and leaves were removed from infected potato plants, and sterile in vitro plantlets were established (2). None of the regenerated in vitro plantlets of cvs. Pentland Ivory (6 plantlets) or NY115 (5 plantlets) were infected with INSV. Two of ten regenerated cv. Atlantic plantlets initially tested positive, but INSV could not be detected after 6 months in tissue culture. In vitro tissue culture plantlets could not be established from infected cv. Huckleberry plants, even though they were consistently obtained from uninfected plants. Infected greenhouse plants were grown to maturity and the tubers harvested, stored for 6 months at 4°C, and replanted in the greenhouse. INSV could not be detected in plants from 26 cv. Huckleberry, 4 cv. NY115, or 4 cv. Atlantic tubers. Although this isolate of INSV was able to systemically infect potato, it was not efficiently maintained or transmitted to progeny tubers. This might explain why INSV has not been reported as a problem in potato production. Lastly, in both years, dying N. benthamiana provided the first sign of a widespread greenhouse infestation of INSV in a university facility housing ornamental and crop plants. INSV induced a systemic necrosis in N. benthamiana, and this host may be useful as a sensitive ‘trap’ plant indicator for natural infections in greenhouse production. References: (1) T. L. German. Tomato spotted wilt virus. Pages 72–73 in: Compendium of Potato Diseases. W. R. Stevenson et al., eds. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, 2001. (2) S. A. Slack and L. A. Tufford. Meristem culture for virus elimination. Pages 117–128 in: Fundamental Methods of Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture and Laboratory Operations. O. L. Gamborg and G. C. Philips, eds. Springer-Velag, Berlin, 1995.

Resistance in sweet corn conferred by the Rp1-D gene has controlled common rust, caused by Puccinia sorghi, in North American corn for nearly 15 years. Eleven isolates of P. sorghi virulent on corn with the Rp1-D gene were collected from Rp-resistant corn in 1999 from Wiscon-sin, Illinois, New York, and Minnesota. Isolates were increased on susceptible sweet corn. Urediniospores of nine isolates were bulked. Reactions of individual Rp genes in the rp1 region and reactions of linked combinations of Rp genes in the rp1 region (i.e., compound rust resistance genes) were evaluated against the bulked population of P. sorghi in several greenhouse trials. Reactions of individual and compound Rp genes also were evaluated against individual isolates of P. sorghi. Each trial contained at least two replicates of several lines with Rp genes and one susceptible check. Five to 10 two-leaved seedlings per line were inoculated at least twice with a suspension of urediniospores. Ten days after inoculation, rust reactions were rated:+ = sporulating uredinia, - = no sporulating uredinia, and I = chlorotic or necrotic tissue surrounding small uredinia. Four single genes, Rp1-E, Rp-G, Rp1-I, and Rp1-K, and eight compound genes, Rp1-JFC, Rp1-JC, Rp-GI, Rp-G5, Rp-GDJ, Rp-G5JD, Rp-G5JC, and Rp-GFJ, conferred resistance. Additional characterization of virulence in North American populations of P. sorghi that are avirulent against Rp1-D is necessary to determine if these genes will be as widely effective as the Rp1-D gene has been. Two subpopulations of P. sorghi were detected from the bulked population after it was sequentially cultured for at least five cycles on seedlings with Rp1-C or with Rp1-J. The subpopulation cultured on Rp1-J was avirulent on lines with Rp1-C/L/N, Rp1-B, and Rp1-M; whereas the subpopulation cultured on Rp1-C was virulent on lines with each of these genes. Both subpopulations were virulent on lines with Rp1-D.

Abstract Objective The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the efficacy of a five-week Spanish cognitive skills training program on 18 participants with subjective cognitive complaints. Participants and Method Eighteen Spanish-speaking participants completed a series of cognitive and emotional measures pre- and post-training, including objective measures of cognitive functioning (Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Spanish-version; MoCA), self-reported mood measures (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI; Beck Anxiety Inventory, BAI-Spanish version), and subjective cognitive complaints questionnaire (Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire, Spanish version). Drawing from existing literature on effective interventions for subjective cognitive impairment (Reijnders et al., 2015), this research focused on delivering a five-week intervention program in Spanish, which included psychoeducation on cognition, cognitive strategy training, and applied practice of mindfulness techniques. Furthermore, this intervention incorporated Personalismo and indirect communication, which was applied by engaging with participants in a warm and culturally appropriate manner (Jiménez et al., 2014). Results Participants demonstrated significant improvement in overall MoCA scores. Improvements in subjective cognitive performance, as well as decreases in depression and anxiety (as indicated by the BDI and BAI, respectively) were noted. Results also showed that changes in mood, anxiety, and subjective cognitive performance were not predictive of improvements in MoCA performance, lending support to the hypothesis that skills learned in the program contributed to improved cognitive performance. Conclusions Overall, these results demonstrate that linguistically and culturally tailored psychoeducation regarding cognition, cognitive skills training, and mindfulness, can positively impact subjective and objective cognitive performance, as well as psychological wellbeing among Spanish-speaking adults. References Jiménez, A.L., Alegría, M., Camino-Gaztambide, R.F., & Zayas I, L.V. (2014) Cultural sensitivity: What should we understand about Latinos? In R. Parekh (ed.) The Massachusetts General Hospital Textbook on Diversity and Cultural Sensitivity in Mental Health (pp.61-70). New York, NY: Springer. Rebok, G. W., Ball, K., Guey, L. T., Jones, R. N., Kim, H. Y., King, J. W., … ACTIVE Study Group (2014). Ten-year effects of the advanced cognitive training for independent and vital elderly cognitive training trial on cognition and everyday functioning in older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 62(1), 16–24. doi:10.1111/jgs.12607.

In the fall of 2005, processing carrot fields in Mason, Newaygo, and Oceana counties, Michigan, were surveyed for Phytophthora spp. Carrot roots were sampled from areas of fields that exhibited patches of chlorotic, blighted, or wilted foliage. Dark brown, firm, water-soaked lesions occurred near the middle and crown areas of diseased carrot roots. In the advanced stages of disease, carrot root tissue readily collapsed and a soft rot developed while petioles turned black. The internal portions of the diseased carrot roots were brown and rubbery. Roots with these symptoms are not suitable for processing. Carrot roots were washed with tap water and the tissue excised from the edge of developing lesions and plated aseptically onto BARP-amended (25 ppm of benomyl, 100 ppm of ampicillin, 30 ppm of rifampicin, and 100 ppm of pentachloronitrobenzene) regular V8 juice agar. Plates were incubated at 23 to 25°C for 7 days. Phytophthora sp. was isolated from carrot root samples from all surveyed areas. Ten representative single-sporangium isolates cultured on dilute V8 juice agar were examined for morphological characteristics. The homothallic Phytophthora sp. isolates produced papillate, obpyriform, caducous sporangia (35.0 to 45.2 × 26.2 to 33.2 μm) with 1 to 3 μm long pedicels, plerotic oospores (27.0 to 32.0 μm in diameter) with paragynous antheridia, and primarily terminally produced chlamydospores that were 30.0 to 40.0 μm in diameter. Radial growth on V8 juice agar was observed at temperatures between 10 and 30°C with optimum growth at 25°C and no growth at 5 and 35°C. Pathogenicity of the 10 isolates was tested by inoculating three of each wounded and nonwounded carrot roots with a 7-mm mycelial plug from the edge of actively growing 5-day-old cultures. Inoculated carrot roots were incubated for 7 days in a moist chamber at 23 to 25°C. Symptoms developed 3 to 7 days after inoculation, with non-wounded roots exhibiting firm, dark brown, water-soaked lesions and wounded roots exhibiting soft rot with dark brown margins. The Phytophthora sp. was always isolated from the inoculated roots. Controls remained healthy and no pathogen was isolated from these roots. On the basis of the morphological and physiological characteristics, the Phytophthora sp. isolated was identified as Phytophthora cactorum ((Lebert & Cohn) J. Schrot.) (2). Identity of these isolates was confirmed by sequencing of the internal transcriber spacers (ITS). Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) profiles for 37 isolates were >83% similar, which is expected for conspecific isolates. The ITS sequences from six representative isolates were identical and shared 100% homology to P. cactorum (GenBank Accession No. AF266772) isolated from Rubus idaeus (1). The consensus ITS sequence was deposited in NCBI (Accession No. EF052680). P. cactorum was reported in New York on field and stored carrot roots in 1952 (3), but to our knowledge, this is the first report in Michigan. Finding of P. cactorum on carrot roots represents a new and significant threat to the Michigan processing carrot industry, which ranks fourth in the United States. References: (1) D. E. L. Cooke et al. Fungal Gen. Biol. 30:17, 2000. (2) D. C. Erwin and O. K. Ribeiro. Phytophthora Disease Worldwide. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul, MN, 1996. (3) W. E. Rader. N Y State (Cornell) Agr. Exp. Stn. Bull. 889:5, 1952.

В данной работе продемонстрирована возможность применения ИК-микроспектроскопии для многомерной визуализации и анализа интеграции с нативными твердыми тканями зуба человека нового поколения биомиметических материалов, воспроизводящих минералорганический комплекс эмали и дентина.На основе ИК-картирования интенсивности конкретной функциональной молекулярной группы с использованием синхротронного излучения найдены и визуализированы характеристические особенности биомиметического переходного слоя в межфазной области эмаль/стоматологический материал и определено расположение функциональных групп, отвечающих процессам интеграции биомиметического композита REFERENCES Rohr N., Fischer J. Tooth surface treatment strategies for adhesive cementation // The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics, 2017, v. 9(2), pp. 85–92. https://doi.org/10.4047/jap.2017.9.2.85 Pereira C. N. de B., Daleprane B., Miranda G. L. P. de, Magalhães C. S. de, Moreira A. N. Ultramorphology of pre-treated adhesive interfaces between self-adhesive resin cement and tooth structures // Revista de Odontologia da UNESP, 2017, v. 46(5), pp. 249–254. https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-2577.04917 Temel U. B., Van Ende A., Van Meerbeek B., Ermis R. B. Bond strength and cement-tooth interfacial characterization of self-adhesive composite cements //American Journal of Dentistry, 2017, v. 30(4), pp. 205–211. Watson T. F., Atmeh A. R., Sajini S., Cook R. J., Festy F. Present and future of glass-ionomers and calcium-silicate cements as bioactive materials in dentistry: Biophotonics-based interfacial analyses in health and disease // Dental Materials, 2014, v. 30(1), pp. 50–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2013.08.202 Pontes D. G., Araujo C. T. P., Prieto L. T., de Oliveira D. C. R. S., Coppini E. K., Dias C. T. S., Paulillo L. A. M. S. Nanoleakage of fi ber posts luted with different adhesive strategies and the effect of chlorhexidine on the interface of dentin and self-adhesive cements // General Dentistry, 2015, v. 63(3), pp. 31–37. PMID: 25945761 Teaford M. F., Smith M. M., Ferguson W. J. Development, Function and Evolution of Teeth. Cambridge University Press, 2007, 328 p. Dorozhkin S. V. Hydroxyapatite and Other Calcium Orthophosphates: Bioceramics, Coatings and Dental Applications [Hardcover]. Nova Science Publishers, Inc New York, 2017, 462 p. URL: https://istina.msu.ru/publications/book/58538935/ Uskoković V. Biomineralization and biomimicry of tooth enamel. Non-Metallic Biomaterials for Tooth Repair and Replacement. Elsevier, 2013, pp. 20–44. URL:http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9780857092441500021 Niu L., Zhang W., Pashley D. H., Breschi L., Mao J., Chen J., Tay F. R. Biomimetic remineralization of dentin // Dental Materials, 2014, v. 30(1), pp. 77–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2013.07.013 Cao C., Mei, Li Q., Lo E., Chu C. Methods for Biomimetic Mineralisation of Human Enamel: A Systematic Review // Materials, 2015, v. 8(6), pp. 2873–2886. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma8062873 Chen L., Yuan H., Tang B., Liang K., Li J. Biomimetic remineralization of human enamel in the presence of polyamidoamine dendrimers in vitro // Caries Research, 2015, v. 49(3), pp. 282–290. https://doi.org/10.1159/000375376 Seredin P. V., Goloshchapov D. L., Gushchin M. S., Ippolitov Y. A., Prutskij T. The importance of the biomimetic composites components for recreating the optical properties and molecular composition of intact dental tissues. // Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2017, v. 917(4), pp. 042019. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/917/4/042019 Xia Z. Biomimetic Principles and Design of Advanced Engineering Materials. John Wiley & Sons, 2016, 321 p. Dorozhkin S. V. Self-Setting Calcium Orthophosphate Formulations: Cements, Concretes, Pastes and Putties // International Journal of Materials and Chemistry, 2012, v. 1(1), pp. 1–48. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.ijmc.20110101.01 Li H., Gong M., Yang A., Ma J., Li X., Yan Y. Degradable biocomposite of nano calcium-defi cient hydroxyapatite-multi(amino acid) copolymer // International Journal of Nanomedicine, 2012, v. 7, pp. 1287–1295. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S28978 Ruan Q., Zhang Y., Yang X., Nutt S., Moradian-Oldak J. An amelogenin–chitosan matrix promotes assembly of an enamel-like layer with a dense interface// Acta Biomaterialia, 2013, v. 9(7), pp. 7289–7297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2013.04.004 Yao, Shao H., Zhang Q. Development and Characterization of a Novel Amorphous Calcium Phosphate/Multi (Amino Acid) Copolymer Composite for Bone Repair // Journal of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, 2015, v. 5(5), pp. 387–390. https://doi.org/10.1166/jbt.2015.1321 Melo M. A. S., Weir M. D., Rodrigues L. K. A., Xu H. H. K. Novel calcium phosphate nanocomposite with caries-inhibition in a human in situ model // Dental Materials, 2013, v. 29(2), pp. 231–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2012.10.010 Wu X.-T., Mei M., Li Q.-L., Cao C., Chen-L., Xia R., Zhang Z.-H., Chu C. A Direct Electric Field-Aided Biomimetic Mineralization System for Inducing the Remineralization of Dentin Collagen Matrix // Materials, 2015, v. 8(12), pp. 7889–7899. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ma8115433 Barghamadi H., Atai M., Imani M., Esfandeh M. Effects of nanoparticle size and content on mechanical properties of dental nanocomposites: experimental versus modeling // Iranian Polymer Journal, 2015, v. 24. (10), pp. 837–848. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-015-0369-5 Wang H., Xiao Z., Yang J., Lu D., Kishen A., Li Y., Chen Z., Que K., Zhang Q., Deng X., Yang X., Cai Q., Chen N., Cong C., Guan B., Li T., Zhang X. Oriented and Ordered Biomimetic Remineralization of the Surface of Demineralized Dental Enamel Using HAP@ ACP Nanoparticles Guided by Glycine // Scientifi c Reports, 2017, v. 7(1), рр. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep40701 Wu X., Zhao X., Li Y., Yang T., Yan X., Wang K. In situ synthesis carbonated hydroxyapatite layers on enamel slices with acidic amino acids by a novel twostep method // Materials Science & Engineering. C, Materials for Biological Applications, 2015, v. 54, pp. 150–157. httsp://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2015.05.006 Aljabo A., Abou Neel E. A., Knowles J. C., Young A. M. Development of dental composites with reactive fi llers that promote precipitation of antibacterial-hydroxyapatite layers // Materials Science and Engineering: C, 2016, v. 60, pp. 285–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2015.11.047 Wang P., Liu P., Peng H., Luo X., Yuan H., Zhang J., Yan Y. Biocompatibility evaluation of dicalcium phosphate/calcium sulfate/poly (amino acid) composite for orthopedic tissue engineering in vitro and in vivo // Journal of Biomaterials Science. Polymer Edition, 2016, v. 27(11), pp. 1170–1186. https://doi.org/10.1080/09205063.2016.1184123 Lübke A., Enax J., Wey K., Fabritius H.-O., Raabe D., Epple M. Composites of fl uoroapatite and methylmethacrylate-based polymers (PMMA) for biomimetic tooth replacement // Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 2016, v. 11(3), pp. 035001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/11/3/035001 Sa Y., Gao Y., Wang M., Wang T., Feng X., Wang Z., Wang Y., Jiang T. Bioactive calcium phosphate cement with excellent injectability, mineralization capacity and drug-delivery properties for dental bio- mimetic reconstruction and minimum intervention therapy. RSC Advances, 2016, v. 6(33), pp. 27349–27359. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6RA02488B Adachi T., Pezzotti G., Yamamoto T., Ichioka H., Boffelli M., Zhu W., Kanamura N. Vibrational algorithms for quantitative crystallographic analyses of hydroxyapatite-based biomaterials: II, application to decayed human teeth // Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2015, v. 407(12), pp. 3343–3356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-8539-z Mitić Ž., Stolić A., Stojanović S., Najman S., Ignjatović N., Nikolić G., Trajanović M. Instrumental methods and techniques for structural and physicochemical characterization of biomaterials and bone tissue: A review // Materials Science and Engineering: C, 2017, v. 79, pp. 930–949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2017.05.127 Optical spectroscopy and computational methods in biology and medicine / Ed. by Barańska M., Dordrecht: Springer, 2014, 540 p. URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-94-007-7832-0 Hędzelek W., Marcinkowska A., Domka L., Wachowiak R. Infrared Spectroscopic Identifi cation of Chosen Dental Materials and Natural Teeth // Acta Physica Polonica A, 2008, v. 114(2), pp. 471–484. https://doi.org/10.12693/APhysPolA.114.471 Vongsvivut J., Perez-Guaita D., Wood B. R., Heraud P., Khambatta K., Hartnell D., Hackett M. J., Tobin M. J. Synchrotron macro ATR-FTIR microspectroscopy for high-resolution chemical mapping of single cells // The Analyst, 2019, v. 144(10), pp. 3226–3238. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8an01543k Seredin P., Goloshchapov D., Ippolitov Y., Vongsvivut P. Pathology-specifi c molecular profi les of saliva in patients with multiple dental caries—potential application for predictive, preventive and personalised medical services // EPMA Journal, 2018, v. 9(2), pp. 195–203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13167-018-0135-9 Dusevich V., Xu C., Wang Y., Walker M. P., Gorski J. P. Identifi cation of a protein-containing enamel matrix layer which bridges with the dentine–enamel junction of adult human teeth // Archives of Oral Biology, 2012, v. 57(12), pp. 1585–1594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.04.014 Seredin P. V., Kashkarov V. M., Lukin A. N., Goloshchapov D. L., Ippolitov Y. A. Research Hydroxyapatite Crystals and Organic Components of Hard Tooth Tissues Affected by Dental Caries Using Ftir-Microspectroscopy and Xrd-Microdiffraction // Condensed Matter and Interphases, 2013, v. 15(3), с. 224–231. URL: http://www.kcmf.vsu.ru/resources/t_15_3_2013_002.pdf Fattibene P., Carosi A., Coste V. D., Sacchetti A., Nucara A., Postorino P., Dore P. A comparative EPR, infrared and Raman study of natural and deproteinated tooth enamel and dentin // Physics in Medicine and Biology, 2005, v. 50(6), pp. 1095. https://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9155/50/6/004 Seredin P., Goloshchapov D., Kashkarov V., Ippolitov Y., Bambery K. The investigations of changes in mineral–organic and carbon–phosphate ratios in the mixed saliva by synchrotron infrared spectroscopy // Results in Physics, 2016, v. 6, pp. 315–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2016.06.005 Goloshchapov D. L., Kashkarov V. M., Rumyantseva N. A., Seredin P. V., Lenshin A. S., Agapov B. L., Domashevskaya E. P. Synthesis of nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite by precipitation using hen’s eggshell // Ceramics International, 2013, v. 39(4), pp. 4539–4549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2012.11.050 Goloshchapov D. L., Lenshin A. S., Savchenko D. V., Seredin P.V. Importance of defect nanocrystalline calcium hydroxyapatite characteristics for developing the dental biomimetic composites // Results in Physics, 2019, v. 13, pp. 102158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2019.102158 Nanci A. Ten Cate’s Oral Histology: Development, Structure, and Function. 8th ed., Elsevier Health Sciences, 2013, 400 p. Ippolitov Ju. A. Vozmozhnost’ povyshenija biologicheskoj tropnosti svetootverzhdaemoj bondingovoj sistemy dlja adgezii tverdyh tkanej zuba k plombirovochnomu material [The possibility of increasing the biological tropism of the lightcuring bonding system for adhesion of hard tooth tissues to the filling material]. Volgogradskij nauchno-medicinskij zhurnal, 2010, v. 4 (28), pp. 31–34. URL: https://www.volgmed.ru/uploads/journals/articles/1293119124-bulletin-2010-4-815.pdf Seredin P., Goloshchapov D., Prutskij T., Ippolitov Y. Phase Transformations in a Human Tooth Tissue at the Initial Stage of Caries. PLoS ONE, 2015, v. 10(4), pp. 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124008 Seredin P. V., Goloshchapov D. L., Prutskij T., Ippolitov Yu. A. A Simultaneous Analysis of Microregions of Carious Dentin by the Methods of Laser- Induced Fluorescence and Raman Spectromicroscopy. Optics and Spectroscopy, 2018, v. 125(5), pp. 803–809. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0030400X18110267 Seredin P. V., Goloshchapov D. L., Prutskij T., Ippolitov Yu. A. Fabrication and characterisation of composites materials similar optically and in composition to native dental tissues. Results in Physics, 2017, v. 7, pp. 1086–1094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2017.02.025

King sago palm or sago cycas are the other name of Kangi palm (Cycas revoluta) sago palm has been used as an indoor and outdoor landscape plant for centuries. The present study was conducted to estimate the effect of different priming treatments on seed germination of sago palm (Cycas revoluta L.) in the research area of Department of Horticulture PMAS, University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The Experiment consisted of ten treatments; the seeds without pulp were soaked in solution of 500, 750 and 1000 ppm GA3 and 2%, 3% and 4% solution of KNO3 for 24 hr at room temperature. In case of hot water treatment, seeds were primed at 80oC, 90oC and 100oC for 30, 20 and 10 minutes respectively. The effect of different concentrations of gibberellic acid (GA3), potassium nitrate (KNO3) and hot water on various parameters like germination rate, germination percentage, germination value, decayed seed percentage, time of germination, number of leaves and seedling height were studied. Significant results of germination rate (55.56 days), germination value (192.19) were achieved from 500 ppm GA3. Maximum germination percentage (73.33%) and number of leaves (2) were observed in KNO3 at 2% followed by 500 ppm GA3. Similarly lowest decayed seed percentage (26.66%) and time of germination (59.41 days) were noted in 2% KNO3. The seedling height was optimum (19.33 cm) in 3% KNO3 followed by 2% KNO3. Best germination results were obtained due to permeability of hard seed coat made by low concentrations of priming treatments (KNO3 @ 3%).Key wordCycas revoluta, gibberellic acid, potassium nitrate, germination parametersINTRODUCTIONThe sago palm (Cycas revoluta L.) is one of the important cycad commonly known as Kanghi palm or Japanese sago or simply sago palm. The cold hardy sago palm has been used as an indoor and outdoor landscape plant for centuries. It is used as a significant or focal point in any landscape design. Despite its importance in ornamental industry, it is facing certain problems regarding its germination due to its hard seed coat. It has been estimated that over 25% of all palm species require over 100 days for germination and they have less than 20% total germination (Tomlinson, 1990). So, there is a serious need of consideration to sort out this major issue. The reasons for this remain obscure, as little research work has been accomplished on seed dormancy in palms. Certain mechanical and chemical scarification, pretreatments were proved to be effective in germination of the hard-seeded species of Cycas and some other species (Frett, 1987; Chauhan et al., 2009; Rouhi et al., 2010). Cycad seeds respond to various pretreatment, including scarification, depulping and exposure to some chemical materials like gibberellic acid (GA3), potassium nitrate (KNO3) and soaking in hot water for specific period of time.The overall development of plant is regulated by the growth hormones, nutrient and environmental factors. They also vary in their germination requirement (Chauhan et al., 2009). KNO3 is most widely used chemical for promoting germination. Solutions of 0.1 to 0.2% KNO3 are common in routine germination testing and are recommended by the Association of Official Seed Analysts and the International Seed Testing Association for germination tests of many species (Copeland and McDonald, 1995).OBJECTIVESThe objectives of the present research was to minimize the time period of seed germination and to enhance percentage of germination by breaking the external dormancy through different levels of chemicals including GA3, KNO3 and hot water.MATERIALS AND METHODSThis study was conducted in the research field of Department of Horticulture PMAS, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi. An experiment was conducted by using Completely Randomized Design (CRD).The seeds of sago palm were collected from 10-15 years old female stocks growing at a commercial garden located in suburb of Islamabad city. Uniform, equal and the same weight and healthy seeds were selected. The seeds had diameter 2.54 to 5.08 cm. Seeds were soaked in fresh water for two weeks to remove pulp from the upper surface of hard seed coat. Seeds without pulp were soaked in solution of 500, 750 and 1000 ppm GA3 and 2%, 3% and 4% solution of KNO3 for 24 hr at room temperature. In case of hot water treatment, seeds were primed at 80oC, 90oC and 100oC for 30, 20 and 10 minutes respectively (Table 1). Then seeds were washed with few drops of tween twenty in order to remove surface tension. Seeds were dried at 24oC room temperature. After sterilization, 10 seeds of sago palm were planted in each pot of 14 inch diameter containing sterilized soil media ( Sand, soil, FYM 1:1:1) at 4-8 cm depth and incubated in a greenhouse at daytime temperature of 25±2°C and relative humidity of 60-80% and watered weekly depending on weather conditions. Germination was evaluated at the end of 10 months. Seed emergence was recorded as germination index. The data for germination rate (days), germination percentage (%), germination value, seed decayed percentage (%) and time of germination (days) were recorded during the course of study. After seed germination, observations were recorded for number of leaves an d seedling height. The data collected was compiled and analysed statistically by using computer software germination; observations were recorded for number of leaves (Steel and Torrie, 1980).RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONAnalysis of data showed that parameters related to germination significantly affected by hydro and chemical priming treatments (Table 2). Seeds treated with 500 ppm GA3 showed maximum germination rate (55.56 days) which was statistically significant with control. Hot water treatments observed average germination rate. Minimum germination rate (159.88 days) was recorded in unprimed seeds. Gibberellin encourage germination by inducing hydrolytic enzymes that weaken the hurdle tissues such as the endosperm or seed coat, inducing mobilization of food reserves in seed and stimulating expansion of the embryo (Bewley and Black, 1994; Dhoran and Gudadhe, 2012).Germination rate (days) and germination percentage (%): The data regarding germination percentage indicated that difference between primed and non-primed seeds was statistically significant. Lower concentrations of potassium nitrate (KNO3) @ 2% and gibberellic acid (GA3) @ 500 ppm treatments significantly affected the germination percentage 73.33% and 70% respectively as compared to control (33.33%). Significant improvement in seed germination might be due to enhanced breakdown of reserve metabolites present in seed. The lower concentration of KNO3 has promoting effect on seed germination as compared to its higher concentration. This leads to supposition that higher concentrations exercise decreasing effects on seed germination by causing death of cells and ultimately result in loss of seed viability (Nascimento, 2003; Ramzan et al., 2010).Germination value: Analysis of variance revealed that germination value was affected by various priming treatments (Table 2). Result regarding germination value (192.19) was highest in T1 (500 ppm GA3) followed by 186.42 in T4 (3% KNO3) and 184.12 in T2 (750 ppm GA3). Minimum germination (74.43) was noted in control. The gibberellic acid has positive effect on germination value due to its hormonal regulation capability and retarding effect against abscisic acid present in dormant seeds (Var et al., 2010; Zarchini et al., 2013; Pipinis et al., 2015).Decayed seed percentage (%): Data regarding decayed seed percentage have displayed in Table 2. The difference between primed and non-primed seed was significant and primed seed have minimum decayed seed percentage as compared to non-primed seeds. Lowest decayed seed percentage (26.66%) was recorded when 2% KNO3 was applied followed by 30% when 500 ppm GA3) was applied. Whereas maximum decayed (66.66%) of seeds was occurred in untreated seeds. It is reported that scarified treatments have improved germination as compared to non-scarified seeds. Decayed seed percentage might be highest in control due to impermeability of hard seed coat (Fallahabadi et al., 2012).Time of germination (days): Potassium nitrate showed a statistically significant effect on reducing the germination time (Table 2). Minimum time of germination (59.41 days) was recorded in seeds treated with 2% KNO3 followed by 3% and 4% KNO 3 levelswhich took 63.81 days and 72.15 days respectively while maximum time duration was taken by control (204.58 days). Reduction in seed germination time was occurred when seeds of Descurainia sophia and Plantago ovate were primed with 0.3% KNO3 (Ali et al., 2010; Gashi et al., 2012). Stimulating effect of nitrate for seed germination might be due to dormancy breakage (Hilhorst, 1990). It stimulates oxygen uptake (Hilton and Thomas, 1986) and KNO3 act as co-factor for phytochrome (Mavi et al., 2006).Number of leaves: Analysis of data showed that number of leaves influenced by different treatments. Hormonal priming with 2% KNO3 gave maximum number of leaves per seedling followed by priming with 3% KNO3, 4% KNO3 and in 500 ppm GA3, 750 ppm GA3 and 1000 ppm GA3 in improving number of leaves per seedling as compared to other physical priming treatments, while results of minimum number of leaves were achieved in non-primed seeds. It was suggested that potassium is an important macronutrient that plays a key role in carbohydrate metabolism and photosynthesis (Marschner, 2011; Kazemi, 2013).Seedling height (cm): Analysis of variance exposed that there was a significant difference between primed and non-primed seed for seedling height (Table. 2). It was found that maximum seedling height was 19.33 cm influenced by 3% KNO3 while minimum 11.33 cm observed in 90oC hot water. It is reported that foliar application of K, improved the chlorophyll and fruits-NK content (Sarrwy et al., 2010; Marschner, 2011; Kazemi, 2013).CONCLUSIONThe present study was undertaken to assess the effect of different priming treatments on seed germination of Cycas revoluta L. The results of the study clearly indicated that germination rate and germination value were maximum at lower concentration of gibberellic acid (500 ppm GA3). While, germination percentage, maximum number of leaves, maximum seedling height , decayed seed percentage and time required for seed germination were observed minimum at lower concentration of potassium nitrate (2% and 3% KNO3). Hot water treatments had least effect on seed germination. CONFLICT OF INTERESTAuthors have no conflict of interest.REFERENCES Ali, T., P. Hossein, F. Asghar, Z. Salman and Z. C. M. Ali, 2010. The effect of different treatments on improving seed germination characteristics in medicinal species of Descurainia sophia and Plantago ovata. African Journal of Biotechnology, 9(39): 6588-6593.Bewley, J. and M. Black, 1994. Seeds: Physiology of development and germination plenum. Plenum Press New York, USA.Chauhan, J., Y. Tomar, N. I. Singh and S. Ali, 2009. Effect of growth hormones on seed germination and seedling growth of black gram and horse gram. Journal of American Science, 5(5): 79-84.Copeland, L. and M. McDonald, 1995. Seed science and technology (3rd eds.). Chapman and Hall.Dhoran, V. and S. Gudadhe, 2012. Effect of plant growth regulators on seed germination and seedling vigour in Asparagus Sprengeri regelin. Research Journal of Biologicalical Sciences 1(7): 6-10.Fallahabadi, P., D. Hashemabadi, R. Onsinejad, M. Zarchini and B. R. Kaviani, 2012. Improving germination rate of Cycas revoluta L. By using different cultivation media and scarification. Annals of Biological Research, 3(7): 3187-3191.Frett, J. J., 1987. Seed germination of Cyeas revoluta. Journal of Environmental Horticulture, 5(3): 105-106.Gashi, B., K. Abdullai, V. Mata and E. Kongjika, 2012. Effect of gibberellic acid and potassium nitrate on seed germination of the resurrection plants Ramonda serbica and Ramonda nathaliae. African Journal of Biotechnology, 11(20): 4537-4542.Hilhorst, H. W., 1990. Dose-response analysis of factors involved in germination and secondary dormancy of seeds of Sisymbrium officinale: Ii. Nitrate. Plant Physiology, 94(3): 1096-1102.Hilton, J. R. and J. A. Thomas, 1986. Regulation of pregerminative rates of respiration in seeds of various weed species by potassium nitrate. Journal of Experimental Botany, 37(10): 1516-1524.Kazemi, M., 2013. Effect of foliar application of humic acid and potassium nitrate on cucumber growth bull. Bulletin of Environment, Pharmacology and Life Sciences, 2(11): 03-06.Marschner, H., 2011. Marschner's mineral nutrition of higher plants. Academic Press.Mavi, K., S. Ermis and I. Demir, 2006. The effect of priming on tomato rootstock seeds in relation to seedling growth. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences, 5(6): 940-947.Nascimento, W. M., 2003. Muskmelon seed germination and seedling development in response to seed priming. Scientia Agricola, 60(1): 71-75.Pipinis, E., E. Milios, M. Georgiou and P. J. F. I. Smiris, 2015. Effects of gibberellic acid and cold stratification on seed germination of two sorbus species. 21(1): 107-114.Ramzan, A., I. Hafiz, T. Ahmad and N. Abbasi, 2010. Effect of priming with potassium nitrate and dehusking on seed germination of gladiolus (Gladiolus alatus). Pakistan Journal of Botany, 42(1): 247-258.Rouhi, H., K. Shakarami and R. Afshari, 2010. Seed treatments to overcome dormancy of waterlily tulip (Tulipa kaufmanniana regel). Australian Journal of Crop Science, 4(9): 718.Sarrwy, S., E. A. Mohamed and H. Hassan, 2010. Effect of foliar sprays with potassium nitrate and mono-potassium phosphate on leaf mineral contents, fruit set, yield and fruit quality of picual olive trees grown under sandy soil conditions. American-Eurasian Journal of Agricultural Environmental Science, 8(4): 420-430.Steel, R. G. and J. H. Torrie, 1980. Principles and procedures of statistics, a biometrical approach. McGraw-Hill Kogakusha, Ltd.Tomlinson, P. B., 1990. The structural biology of palms. Oxford University Press.Var, M., B. Bekci and D. Dinçer, 2010. Effect of stratification treatments on germination of Sorbus torminalis L. Crantz (wild service tree) seeds with different origins. African Journal of Biotechnology, 9(34): 5535-5541.Zarchini, M., D. Hashemabadi, N. Negahdar and S. Zarchini, 2013. Improvement seed germination of wild service tree (Sorbus aucoparia L.) by gibberellic acid. Annals of Biological Research, 4(1): 72-74.

This study aimed to explore the perceived barriers to physical activity among college students Study Design: Qualitative research design Eight focus group discussions on 67 college students aged 18-24 years (48 females, 19 males) was conducted on College premises. Data were analysed using inductive approach. Participants identified a number of obstacles to physical activity. Perceived barriers emerged from the analysis of the data addressed the different dimensions of the socio-ecological framework. The result indicated that the young adults perceived substantial amount of personal, social and environmental factors as barriers such as time constraint, tiredness, stress, family control, safety issues and much more. Understanding the barriers and overcoming the barriers at this stage will be valuable. Health professionals and researchers can use this information to design and implement interventions, strategies and policies to promote the participation in physical activity. This further can help the students to deal with those barriers and can help to instil the habit of regular physical activity in the later adult years.

IntroductionThe 2009 American film Trash Humpers, directed by Harmony Korine, was released at a time when the hipster had become a ubiquitous concept, entering into the common vernacular of numerous cultures throughout the world, and gaining significant press, social media and academic attention (see Žižek; Arsel and Thompson; Greif et al.; Stahl; Ouellette; Reeve; Schiermer; Maly and Varis). Trash Humpers emerged soon after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis triggered Occupy movements in numerous cities, aided by social media platforms, reported on by blogs such as Gawker, and stylized by multi-national youth-subculture brands such as Vice, American Apparel, Urban Outfitters and a plethora of localised variants.Korine’s film, which is made to resemble found VHS footage of old-aged vandals, epitomises the ironic, retro stylizations and “counterculture-meets-kitsch” aesthetics so familiar to hipster culture. As a creative stereotype from 1940s and ‘50s jazz and beatnik subcultures, the hipster re-emerged in the twenty-first century as a negative embodiment of alternative culture in the age of the Internet. As well as plumbing the recent past for things not yet incorporated into contemporary marketing mechanisms, the hipster also signifies the blurring of irony and authenticity. Such “outsiderness as insiderness” postures can be regarded as a continuation of the marginality-from-the-centre logic of cool capitalism that emerged after World War Two. Particularly between 2007 and 2015, the post-postmodern concept of the hipster was a resonant cultural trope in Western and non-Western cultures alike, coinciding with the normalisation of the new digital terrain and the establishment of mobile social media as an integral aspect of many people’s daily lives. While Korine’s 79-minute feature could be thought of as following in the schlocky footsteps of the likes of Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects (2006), it is decidedly more arthouse, and more attuned to the influence of contemporary alternative media brands and independent film history alike – as if the love child of Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures (1963) and Vice Video, the latter having been labelled as “devil-may-care hipsterism” (Carr). Upon release, Trash Humpers was described by Gene McHugh as “a mildly hip take on Jackass”; by Mike D’Angelo as “an empty hipster pose”; and by Aaron Hillis as either “the work of an insincere hipster or an eccentric provocateur”. Lacking any semblance of a conventional plot, Trash Humpers essentially revolves around four elderly-looking protagonists – three men and a woman – who document themselves with a low-quality video camera as they go about behaving badly in the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee, where Korine still lives. They cackle eerily to themselves as they try to stave off boredom, masturbating frantically on rubbish bins, defecating and drinking alcohol in public, fellating foliage, smashing televisions, playing ten-pin bowling, lighting firecrackers and telling gay “hate” jokes to camera with no punchlines. In one purposefully undramatic scene half-way through the film, the humpers are shown in the aftermath of an attack on a man wearing a French maid’s outfit; he lies dead in a pool of blood on their kitchen floor with a hammer at his feet. The humpers are consummate “bad” performers in every sense of the term, and they are joined by a range of other, apparently lower-class, misfits with whom they stage tap dance routines and repetitively sing nursery-rhyme-styled raps such as: “make it, make it, don’t break it; make it, make it, don’t fake it; make it, make it, don’t take it”, which acts as a surrogate theme song for the film. Korine sometimes depicts his main characters on crutches or in a wheelchair, and a baby doll is never too far away from the action, as a silent and Surrealist witness to their weird, sinister and sometimes very funny exploits. The film cuts from scene to scene as if edited on a video recorder, utilising in-house VHS titling sequences, audio glitches and video static to create the sense that one is engaging voyeuristically with a found video document rather than a scripted movie. Mainstream AlternativesAs a viewer of Trash Humpers, one has to try hard to suspend disbelief if one is to see the humpers as genuine geriatric peeping Toms rather than as hipsters in old-man masks trying to be rebellious. However, as Korine’s earlier films such as Gummo (1997) attest, he clearly delights in blurring the line between failure and transcendence, or, in this case, between pretentious art-school bravado and authentic redneck ennui. As noted in a review by Jeannette Catsoulis, writing for the New York Times: “Much of this is just so much juvenile posturing, but every so often the screen freezes into something approximating beauty: a blurry, spaced-out, yellow-green landscape, as alien as an ancient photograph”. Korine has made a career out of generating this wavering uncertainty in his work, polarising audiences with a mix of critical, cinema-verité styles and cynical exploitations. His work has consistently revelled in ethical ambiguities, creating environments where teenagers take Ritalin for kicks, kill cats, wage war with their families and engage in acts of sexual deviancy – all of which are depicted with a photographer’s eye for the uncanny.The elusive and contradictory aspects of Korine’s work – at once ugly and beautiful, abstract and commercial, pessimistic and nostalgic – are evident not just in films such as Gummo, Julien Donkey Boy (1999) and Mister Lonely (2007) but also in his screenplay for Kids (1995), his performance-like appearances on The Tonight Show with David Letterman (1993-2015) and in publications such as A Crackup at the Race Riots (1998) and Pass the Bitch Chicken (2001). As well as these outputs, Korine is also a painter who is represented by Gagosian Gallery – one of the world’s leading art galleries – and he has directed numerous music videos, documentaries and commercials throughout his career. More than just update of the traditional figure of the auteur, Korine, instead, resembles a contemporary media artist whose avant-garde and grotesque treatments of Americana permeate almost everything he does. Korine wrote the screenplay for Kids when he was just 19, and subsequently built his reputation on the paradoxical mainstreaming of alternative culture in the 1990s. This is exemplified by the establishment of music and film genres such “alternative” and “independent”; the popularity of the slacker ethos attributed to Generation X; the increased visibility of alternative press zines; the birth of grunge in fashion and music; and the coining of “cool hunting” – a bottom-up market research phenomenon that aimed to discover new trends in urban subcultures for the purpose of mass marketing. Key to “alternative culture”, and its related categories such as “indie” and “arthouse”, is the idea of evoking artistic authenticity while covertly maintaining a parasitic relationship with the mainstream. As Holly Kruse notes in her account of the indie music scenes of the 1990s, which gained tremendous popularity in the wake of grunge bands such as Nirvana: without dominant, mainstream musics against which to react, independent music cannot be independent. Its existence depends upon dominant music structures and practices against which to define itself. Indie music has therefore been continually engaged in an economic and ideological struggle in which its ‘outsider’ status is re-examined, re-defined, and re-articulated to sets of musical practices. (Kruse 149)Alternative culture follows a similar, highly contentious, logic, appearing as a nebulous, authentic and artistic “other” whose exponents risk being entirely defined by the mainstream markets they profess to oppose. Kids was directed by the artist cum indie-director Larry Clark, who discovered Korine riding his skateboard with a group of friends in New York’s Washington Square in the early 1990s, before commissioning him to write a script. The then subcultural community of skating – which gained prominence in the 1990s amidst the increased visibility of “alternative sports” – provides an important backdrop to the film, which documents a group of disaffected New York teenagers at a time of the Aids crisis in America. Korine has been active in promoting the DIY ethos, creativity and anti-authoritarian branding of skate culture since this time – an industry that, in its attempts to maintain a non-mainstream profile while also being highly branded, has become emblematic of the category of “alternative culture”. Korine has undertaken commercial projects with an array skate-wear brands, but he is particularly associated with Supreme, a so-called “guerrilla fashion” label originating in 1994 that credits Clark and other 1990s indie darlings, and Korine cohorts, Chloë Sevigny and Terry Richardson, as former models and collaborators (Williams). The company is well known for its designer skateboard decks, its collaborations with prominent contemporary visual artists, its hip-hop branding and “inscrutable” web videos. It is also well known for its limited runs of new clothing lines, which help to stoke demand through one-offs – blending street-wear accessibility with the restricted-market and anti-authoritarian sensibility of avant-garde art.Of course, “alternative culture” poses a notorious conundrum for analysis, involving highly subjective demarcations of “mainstream” from “subversive” culture, not to mention “genuine subversion” from mere “corporate alternatives”. As Pierre Bourdieu has argued, the roots of alternative culture lie in the Western tradition of the avant-garde and the “aesthetic gaze” that developed in the nineteenth century (Field 36). In analysing the modernist notion of advanced cultural practice – where art is presented as an alternative to bourgeois academic taste and to the common realm of cultural commodities – Bourdieu proposed a distinction between two types of “fields”, or logics of cultural production. Alternative culture follows what Bourdieu called “the field of restricted production”, which adheres to “art for art’s sake” ideals, where audiences are targeted as if like-minded peers (Field 50). In contrast, the “field of large-scale production” reflects the commercial imperatives of mainstream culture, in which goods are produced for the general public at large. The latter field of large-scale production tends to service pre-established markets, operating in response to public demand. Furthermore, whereas success in the field of restricted production is often indirect, and latent – involving artists who create niche markets without making any concessions to those markets – success in the field of large-scale production is typically more immediate and quantifiable (Field 39). Here we can see that central to the branding of “alternative culture” is the perceived refusal to conform to popular taste and the logic of capitalism more generally is. As Supreme founder James Jebbia stated about his brand in a rare interview: “The less known the better” (Williams). On this, Bourdieu states that, in the field of restricted production, the fundamental principles of all ordinary economies are inversed to create a “loser wins” scenario (Field 39). Profit and cultural esteem become detrimental attributes in this context, potentially tainting the integrity and marginalisation on which alternative products depend. As one ironic hipster t-shirt puts it: “Nothing is any good if other people like it” (Diesel Sweeties).Trash HipstersIn abandoning linear narrative for rough assemblages of vignettes – or “moments” – recorded with an unsteady handheld camera, Trash Humpers positions itself in ironic opposition to mainstream filmmaking, refusing the narrative arcs and unwritten rules of Hollywood film, save for its opening and closing credits. Given Korine’s much publicized appreciation of cinema pioneers, we can understand Trash Humpers as paying homage to independent and DIY film history, including Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures, William Eggleston’s Stranded in Canton (1973), Andy Warhol’s and Paul Morrissey’s Lonesome Cowboys (1967) and Trash (1970), and John Waters’s Pink Flamingos (1972), all of which jubilantly embraced the “bad” aesthetic of home movies. Posed as fantasized substitutions for mainstream movie-making, such works were also underwritten by the legitimacy of camp as a form of counter-culture critique, blurring parody and documentary to give voice to an array of non-mainstream and counter-cultural identities. The employment of camp in postmodern culture became known not merely as an aesthetic subversion of cultural mores but also as “a gesture of self-legitimation” (Derrida 290), its “failed seriousness” regarded as a critical response to the specific historical problem of being a “culturally over-saturated” subject (Sontag 288).The significant difference between Korine’s film and those of his 1970s-era forbears is precisely the attention he pays to the formal aspects of his medium, revelling in analogue editing glitches to the point of fetishism, in some cases lasting as long as the scenes themselves. Consciously working out-of-step with the media of his day, Trash Humpers in imbued with nostalgia from its very beginning. Whereas Smith, Eggleston, Warhol, Morrissey and Waters blurred fantasy and documentary in ways that raised the social and political identities of their subjects, Korine seems much more interested in “trash” as an aesthetic trope. In following this interest, he rightfully pays homage to the tropes of queer cinema, however, he conveniently leaves behind their underlying commentaries about (hetero-) normative culture. A sequence where the trash humpers visit a whorehouse and amuse themselves by smoking cigars and slapping the ample bottoms of prostitutes in G-strings confirms the heterosexual tenor of the film, which is reiterated throughout by numerous deadpan gay jokes and slurs.Trash Humpers can be understood precisely in terms of Korine’s desire to maintain the aesthetic imperatives of alternative culture, where formal experimentation and the subverting of mainstream genres can provide a certain amount of freedom from explicated meaning, and, in particular, from socio-political commentary. Bourdieu rightly points out how the pleasures of the aesthetic gaze often manifest themselves curiously as form of “deferred pleasure” (353) or “pleasure without enjoyment” (495), which corresponds to Immanuel Kant’s notion of the disinterested nature of aesthetic judgement. Aesthetic dispositions posed in the negative – as in the avant-garde artists who mined primitive and ugly cultural stereotypes – typically use as reference points “facile” or “vulgar” (393) working-class tropes that refer negatively to sensuous pleasure as their major criterion of judgment. For Bourdieu, the pleasures provided by the aesthetic gaze in such instances are not sensual pleasures so much as the pleasures of social distinction – signifying the author’s distance from taste as a form of gratification. Here, it is easy to see how the orgiastic central characters in Trash Humpers might be employed by Korine for a similar end-result. As noted by Jeremiah Kipp in a review of the film: “You don't ‘like’ a movie like Trash Humpers, but I’m very happy such films exist”. Propelled by aesthetic, rather than by social, questions of value, those that “get” the obscure works of alternative culture have a tendency to legitimize them on the basis of the high-degree of formal analysis skills they require. For Bourdieu, this obscures the fact that one’s aesthetic “‘eye’ is a product of history reproduced by education” – a privileged mode of looking, estranged from those unfamiliar with the internal logic of decoding presupposed by the very notion of “aesthetic enjoyment” (2).The rhetorical priority of alternative culture is, in Bourdieu’s terms, the “autonomous” perfection of the form rather than the “heteronomous” attempt to monopolise on it (Field 40). However, such distinctions are, in actuality, more nuanced than Bourdieu sometimes assumed. This is especially true in the context of global digital culture, which makes explicit how the same cultural signs can have vastly different meanings and motivations across different social contexts. This has arguably resulted in the destabilisation of prescriptive analyses of cultural taste, and has contributed to recent “post-critical” advances, in which academics such as Bruno Latour and Rita Felski advocate for cultural analyses and practices that promote relationality and attachment rather than suspicious (critical) dispositions towards marginal and popular subjects alike. Latour’s call for a move away from the “sledge hammer” of critique applies as much to cultural practice as it does to written analysis. Rather than maintaining hierarchical oppositions between authentic versus inauthentic taste, Latour understands culture – and the material world more generally – as having agency alongside, and with, that of the social world.Hipsters with No AlternativeIf, as Karl Spracklen suggests, alternativism is thought of “as a political project of resistance to capitalism, with communicative oppositionality as its defining feature” (254), it is clear that there has been a progressive waning in relevance of the category of “alternative culture” in the age of the Internet, which coincides with the triumph of so-called “neoliberal individualism” (258). To this end, Korine has lost some of his artistic credibility over the course of the 2000s. If viewed negatively, icons of 1990s alternative culture such as Korine can be seen as merely exploiting Dada-like techniques of mimetic exacerbation and symbolic détournement for the purpose of alternative, “arty” branding rather than pertaining to a counter-hegemonic cultural movement (Foster 31). It is within this context of heightened scepticism surrounding alternative culture that the hipster stereotype emerged in cultures throughout the world, as if a contested symbol of the aesthetic gaze in an era of neoliberal identity politics. Whatever the psychological motivations underpinning one’s use of the term, to call someone a hipster is typically to point out that their distinctive alternative or “arty” status appears overstated; their creative decisions considered as if a type of bathos. For detractors of alternative cultural producers such as Korine, he is trying too hard to be different, using the stylised codes of “alternative” to conceal what is essentially his cultural and political immaturity. The hipster – who is rarely ever self-identified – re-emerged in the 2000s to operate as a scapegoat for inauthentic markers of alternative culture, associated with men and women who appear to embrace Realpolitik, sincerity and authentic expressions of identity while remaining tethered to irony, autonomous aesthetics and self-design. Perhaps the real irony of the hipster is the pervasiveness of irony in contemporary culture. R. J Magill Jnr. has argued that “a certain cultural bitterness legitimated through trenchant disbelief” (xi) has come to define the dominant mode of political engagement in many societies since the early 2000s, in response to mass digital information, twenty-four-hour news cycles, and the climate of suspicion produced by information about terrorism threats. He analyses the prominence of political irony in American TV shows including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Simpsons, South Park, The Chappelle Show and The Colbert Report but he also notes its pervasiveness as a twenty-first-century worldview – a distancing that “paradoxically and secretly preserves the ideals of sincerity, honesty and authenticity by momentarily belying its own appearance” (x). Crucially, then, the utterance “hipster” has come to signify instances when irony and aesthetic distance are perceived to have been taken too far, generating the most disdain from those for whom irony, aesthetic discernment and cultural connoisseurship still provide much-needed moments of disconnection from capitalist cultures drowning in commercial hyperbole and grave news hype. Korine himself has acknowledged that Spring Breakers (2013) – his follow-up feature film to Trash Humpers – was created in response to the notion that “alternative culture”, once a legitimate challenge to mainstream taste, had lost its oppositional power with the decentralization of digital culture. He states that he made Spring Breakers at a moment “when there’s no such thing as high or low, it’s all been exploded. There is no underground or above-ground, there’s nothing that’s alternative. We’re at a point of post-everything, so it’s all about finding the spirit inside, and the logic, and making your own connections” (Hawker). In this context, we can understand Trash Humpers as the last of the Korine films to be branded with the authenticity of alternative culture. In Spring Breakers Korine moved from the gritty low-fi sensibility of his previous films and adopted a more digital, light-filled and pastel-coloured palette. Focussing more conventionally on plot than ever before, Spring Breakers follows four college girls who hold up a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation. Critic Michael Chaiken noted that the film marks a shift in Korine’s career, from the alternative stylings of the pre-Internet generation to “the cultural heirs [of] the doomed protagonists of Kids: nineties babies, who grew up with the Internet, whose sensibilities have been shaped by the sweeping technological changes that have taken place in the interval between the Clinton and Obama eras” (33).By the end of the 2000s, an entire generation came of age having not experienced a time when the obscure films, music or art of the past took more effort to track down. Having been a key participant in the branding of alternative culture, Korine is in a good position to recall a different, pre-YouTube time – when cultural discernment was still caught up in the authenticity of artistic identity, and when one’s cultural tastes could still operate with a certain amount of freedom from sociological scrutiny. Such ideas seem a long way away from today’s cultural environments, which have been shaped not only by digital media’s promotion of cultural interconnection and mass information, but also by social media’s emphasis on mobilization and ethical awareness. ConclusionI should reiterate here that is not Korine’s lack of seriousness, or irony, alone that marks Trash Humpers as a response to the scepticism surrounding alternative culture symbolised by the figure of the hipster. It is, rather, that Korine’s mock-documentary about juvenile geriatrics works too hard to obscure its implicit social commentary, appearing driven to condemn contemporary capitalism’s exploitations of youthfulness only to divert such “uncool” critical commentaries through unsubtle formal distractions, visual poetics and “bad boy” avant-garde signifiers of authenticity. Before being bludgeoned to death, the unnamed man in the French maid’s outfit recites a poem on a bridge amidst a barrage of fire crackers let off by a nearby humper in a wheelchair. Although easily overlooked, it could, in fact, be a pivotal scene in the film. Spoken with mock high-art pretentions, the final lines of the poem are: So what? Why, I ask, why? Why castigate these creatures whose angelic features are bumping and grinding on trash? Are they not spawned by our greed? Are they not our true seed? Are they not what we’ve bought for our cash? We’ve created this lot, of the ooze and the rot, deliberately and unabashed. Whose orgiastic elation and one mission in creation is to savagely fornicate TRASH!Here, the character’s warning of capitalist overabundance is drowned out by the (aesthetic) shocks of the fire crackers, just as the stereotypical hipster’s ethical ideals are drowned out by their aesthetic excess. The scene also functions as a metaphor for the humpers themselves, whose elderly masks – embodiments of nostalgia – temporarily suspend their real socio-political identities for the sake of role-play. It is in this sense that Trash Humpers is too enamoured with its own artifices – including its anonymous “boys club” mentality – to suggest anything other than the aesthetic distance that has come to mark the failings of the “alternative culture” category. In such instances, alternative taste appears as a rhetorical posture, with Korine asking us to gawk knowingly at the hedonistic and destructive pleasures pursued by the humpers while factoring in, and accepting, our likely disapproval.ReferencesArsel, Zeynep, and Craig J. Thompson. “Demythologizing Consumption Practices: How Consumers Protect Their Field-Dependent Identity Investments from Devaluing Marketplace Myths.” Journal of Consumer Research 37.5 (2011): 791-806.Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Trans. Richard Nice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.Bourdieu, Pierre. The Field of Cultural Production Essays on Art and Literature. Edited by Randal Johnson. London: Polity Press, 1993.Carr, David. “Its Edge Intact, Vice Is Chasing Hard News.” New York Times 24 Aug. 2014. 12 Nov. 2016 <https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/business/media/its-edge-intact-vice-is-chasing-hard-news-.html>.Catsoulis, Jeannette. “Geriatric Delinquents, Rampaging through Suburbia.” New York Times 6 May 2010. 1` Nov. 2016 <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/movies/07trash.html>.Chaiken, Michael. “The Dream Life.” Film Comment (Mar./Apr. 2013): 30-33.D’Angelo, Mike. “Trash Humpers.” Not Coming 18 Sep. 2009. 12 Nov. 2016 <http://www.notcoming.com/reviews/trashhumpers>.Derrida, Jacques. Positions. London: Athlone, 1981.Diesel Sweeties. 1 Nov. 2016 <https://store.dieselsweeties.com/products/nothing-is-any-good-if-other-people-like-it-shirt>.Felski, Rita. The Limits of Critique. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015.Greif, Mark. What Was the Hipster? A Sociological Investigation. New York: n+1 Foundation, 2010.Hawker, Philippa. “Telling Tales Out of School.” Sydney Morning Herald 4 May 2013. 12 Nov. 2016 <http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/telling-tales-out-of-school-20130503-2ixc3.html>.Hillis, Aaron. “Harmony Korine on Trash Humpers.” IFC 6 May 2009. 12 Nov. 2016 <http://www.ifc.com/2010/05/harmony-korine-2>.Jay Magill Jr., R. Chic Ironic Bitterness. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007.Kipp, Jeremiah. “Clean Off the Dirt, Scrape Off the Blood: An Interview with Trash Humpers Director Harmony Korine.” Slant Magazine 18 Mar. 2011. 1 Nov. 2016 <http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/clean-off-the-dirt-scrape-off-the-blood-an-interview-with-trash-humpers-director-harmony-korine>.Latour, Bruno. “Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern.” Critical Inquiry 30.2 (2004): 225-248.Maly, Ico, and Varis, Piia. “The 21st-Century Hipster: On Micro-Populations in Times of Superdiversity.” European Journal of Cultural Studies 19.6 (2016): 637–653.McHugh, Gene. “Monday May 10th 2010.” Post Internet. New York: Lulu Press, 2010.Ouellette, Marc. “‘I Know It When I See It’: Style, Simulation and the ‘Short-Circuit Sign’.” Semiotic Review 3 (2013): 1–15.Reeve, Michael. “The Hipster as the Postmodern Dandy: Towards an Extensive Study.” 2013. 12 Nov. 2016. <http://www.academia.edu/3589528/The_hipster_as_the_postmodern_dandy_towards_an_extensive_study>.Schiermer, Bjørn. “Late-Modern Hipsters: New Tendencies in Popular Culture.” Acta Sociologica 57.2 (2014): 167–181.Sontag, Susan. “Notes on Camp.” Against Interpretation. New York: Octagon, 1964/1982. 275-92. Stahl, Geoff. “Mile-End Hipsters and the Unmasking of Montreal’s Proletaroid Intelligentsia; Or How a Bohemia Becomes BOHO.” Adam Art Gallery, Apr. 2010. 12 May 2015 <http://www.adamartgallery.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/adamartgallery_vuwsalecture_geoffstahl.pdf>.Williams, Alex. “Guerrilla Fashion: The Story of Supreme.” New York Times 21 Nov. 2012. 1 Nov. 2016 <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/fashion/guerrilla-fashion-the-story-of-supreme.html>.Žižek, Slavoj. “L’Etat d’Hipster.” Rhinocerotique. Trans. Henry Brulard. Sep. 2009. 3-10.

Hotspots of Cultural InnovationIn the 1960s, a long list of poets, writers, and musicians flocked to the Chelsea Hotel, 222 West 23rd Street, New York (Tippins). Among them Bob Dylan, who moved in at the end of 1964, Leonard Cohen, who wrote Take This Longing dedicated to singer Nico there, and Patti Smith who rented a room there together with Robert Mapplethorpe in 1969 (Smith; Bell; Simmons). They all benefited not just from the low rents, but also from the close, often intimate, presence of other residents who inspired them to explore new creative paths. Around the same time, across the Atlantic, the Indica Bookshop and Gallery, 6 Mason’s Yard, London played a similar role as a meeting place for musicians, artists and hangers-on. It was there, on the evening of 9 November 1966, that John Lennon attended a preview of Yoko Ono's first big solo exhibition, Unfinished Paintings and Objects. Legend has it that the two met as Lennon was climbing up the ladder of Ono’s installation work ‘Ceiling Painting’, and reaching out to a dangling magnifying glass in order to take a closer look at the single word ‘YES’ scribbled on a suspended placard (Campbell). It was not just Lennon’s first meeting with Yoko Ono, but also his first run into conceptual art. After this fateful evening, both Lennon’s private life and his artistry would never be the same again. There is already a rich body of literature on the geography of music production (Scott; Kloosterman; Watson Global Music City; Verboord and Brandellero). In most cases, these studies deal with the city or neighbourhood scales. Micro-geographies of concrete places are rarer, with some notable exceptions that focus on recording studios and on specific venues (cf. Gibson; Watson et al.; Watson Cultural Production; van Klyton). Our approach focuses on concrete places that act more like third spaces – something in between or even combining living and working. Such places enable frequent face-to-face meetings, both planned and serendipitous, which are crucial for the exchange of knowledge. These two spaces represent iconic cultural hotspots where innovative artists, notably (pop) musicians, came together in the 1960s. Because of their many famous visitors and residents, both spaces are well documented in (auto)biographies, monographs on art scenes in London and New York, as well as in newspapers. Below, we will explore how these two spaces played an important role at a time of cultural revolution, by connecting people and scenes to the micro geography of concrete places and by functioning as nodes of knowledge exchange and, hence, as milieus of innovation.Art Worlds, Scenes and Places The romantic view that artists are solitary geniuses was discarded already long ago and replaced by a conceptualization that sees them as part of broader social configurations, or art worlds. According to Howard Becker (34), these art worlds consist “of all the people necessary to the production of the characteristic works” – in other words, not just artists, but also “support personnel” such as sound engineers, editors, critics, and managers. Without this “resource pool” the production of art would be virtually impossible. Art worlds are also about the consumption of art. The concept of scene has been used to articulate the local processes of taste making and reputation building, as they “provide ways of social belonging attuned to the demands of a culture in which individuals increasingly define themselves” (Silver et al. 2295). Individuals who share certain aesthetic preferences come together, both socially and spatially (Currid) and locations such as cafés and nightclubs offer important settings where members of an art world may drink, eat, meet, gossip, and exchange knowledge. The urban fabric provides an important backdrop for these exchanges: as Jane Jacobs (181) observed, “old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must come from old buildings.” In order to function as relational spaces, these amenities have to meet two sets of conditions. The first set comprises the locational characteristics, which Durmaz identifies as centrality and proximity. The second set relates to socio-economic characteristics. From an economic perspective, the amenity has to be viable– either independently or through patronage or state subsidies. Becoming a cultural hotspot is not just a matter of good bookkeeping. The atmosphere of an amenity has to be tolerant towards forms of cultural and social experimentation and, arguably, even transgression. In addition, a successful space has to have attractors: persons who fulfil key roles in a particular art world in evaluation, curation, and gatekeeping. To what extent did the Indica Gallery and the Chelsea Hotel meet these two sets of conditions in the 1960s? We turn to this question now.A Hotel and a GalleryThe Indica Gallery and the Chelsea Hotel were both highly central – the former located right in the middle of St. James’s in the central London Borough of Westminster (cf. Kloosterman) and the latter close to Greenwich Village in Manhattan. In the post-war, these locations provided a vacant and fertile ground for artists, who moved in as firms and wealthier residents headed for the green suburbs. As Ramanathan recounts, “For artists, downtown New York, from Chambers Street in Tribeca to the Meatpacking District and Chelsea, was an ideal stomping ground. The neighbourhoods were full of old factories that had emptied out in the postwar years; they had room for art, if not crown molding and prewar charm” (Ramanathan). Similarly in London, “Despite its posh address the area [the area surrounding the Indica Gallery] then had a boho feel. William Burroughs, Brion Gysin and Anthony Blunt all had flats in the same street.” (Perry no pagination). Such central locations were essential to attract the desired attention and interest of key gatekeepers, as Barry Miles – one of Indica’s founding members - states: “In those days a gallery virtually had to be in Mayfair or else critics and buyers would not visit” (Miles 73). In addition, the Indica Gallery’s next-door neighbour was the Scotch of St James club. The then up and coming singer Marianne Faithfull, married to Indica founder John Dunbar, reportedly “needed to be seen” in this “trendy ‘in’ club for the new rock aristocracy” (Miles 73). Undoubtedly, their cultural importance was also linked to the fact that they were both located in well-connected budding global cities with a strong media presence (Krätke).Over and above location, these spaces also met important socio-economic conditions. In the 1960s, the neighbourhood surrounding the Chelsea Hotel was in transition with an abundance of available and affordable space. After moving out of the Chelsea Hotel, Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe (Smith) had no difficulty finding a cheap loft to rent nearby. Rates in the Chelsea Hotel – when they were settled, that is - were incredibly low to current standards. According to Tippins (350), the typical Chelsea Hotel room rate in 1967 was $ 10 per week, which would amount to some $ 67.30 per week in 2013. Again, a more or less similar story can be told for the Indica Gallery. When Barry Miles, Peter Asher and John Dunbar founded the Gallery in September 1965, the premises were empty and the rent was low: "We paid 19 quid a week rent" according to John Dunbar (Perry). These cheap spaces provided fruitful economic conditions for cultural experimentation. Innovative relational spaces require not only accessibility in spatial and financial terms, but also an atmosphere conducive to cultural experimentation. This implies some kind of benevolent, preferably even stimulating, management that is willing and able to create such an atmosphere. At the Chelsea Hotel and Indica Gallery alike, those in charge were certainly not first and foremost focused on profit maximisation. Instead they were very much active members of the art worlds themselves, displaying a “taste for creative work” (Caves) and looking for ways in which their spaces could make a contribution to culture in a wider sense. This holds for Stanley Bard who ran the Chelsea Hotel for decades: “Working besides his father, Stanley {Bard} had gotten to know many of these people. He had attended their performances and exhibitions, read their books, and had been invited to their parties. Young and malleable, he soon came to see the world largely from their point of view” (Tippins 166). Such affinity with the artistic scene meant that Bard was more than accommodating. As Patti Smith recalls (100), “you weren’t immediately kicked out if you got behind on the rent … Mostly everybody owed Bard something”. While others recall a slightly less flexible attitude towards missed rents - “… the residents greatly appreciated a landlord who tolerated everything, except, quite naturally, a deficit” (Tippins 132) – the progressive atmosphere at the Chelsea was acknowledged by many others. For example, “[t]he greatest advantage of life at the Chelsea, [Arthur] Miller had to acknowledge, was that no one gave a damn what anyone else chose to do sexually” (Tippins 155).Similarly at the Indica Gallery, Miles, Asher and Dunbar were not first and foremost interested in making as much money as possible. The trio was itself drawn from various artistic fields: John Dunbar, an art critic for The Scotsman, wanted to set up an experimental gallery with Peter Asher (half of the pop duo Peter & Gordon) and Barry Miles (painter and writer). When asked about Indica's origins, Dunbar said: "There was a reason why we did Indica in the first place: to have fun" (Nevin). Recollections of the Gallery mention “a brew pot for the counterculture movement”, (Ramanathan) or “a haven for the free-wheeling imagination, a land of free expression and cultural collaboration where underground seeds were allowed to take root” (Campbell-Johnston).Part of the attraction of both spaces was the almost assured presence of interesting and famous persons, whom by virtue of their fame and appeal contributed to drawing others in. The roll calls of the Chelsea Hotel (Tippins) and of the Indica Gallery are impressive and partly overlapping: for instance, Allen Ginsberg was a notable visitor of the Indica Gallery and a prominent resident of the Chelsea Hotel, whereas Barry Miles was also a long-term resident of the Chelsea Hotel. The guest books read as a cultural who-is-who of the 1960s, spanning multiple artistic fields: there are not just (pop) musicians, but also writers, poets, actors, film makers, fashion designers, and assorted support personnel. If innovation in culture, as anywhere else, is coming up with new combinations and crossovers, then the cross-fertilisation fostered by the coming together of different art worlds in these spaces was conducive to these new combinations. Moreover, as the especially the biographies of Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Leonard Cohen, and Patti Smith testify, these spaces served as repositories of accessible cultural capital and as incubators for new ideas. Both Leonard Cohen and Patti Smith benefited from the presence of Harry Smith who curated the Anthology of American Music at the Chelsea Hotel. As Patti Smith (115) recalls: “We met a lot of intriguing people at the Chelsea but somehow when I close my eyes to think of them, Harry is always the first person I see”. Leonard Cohen was also drawn to Harry Smith: “Along with other assorted Chelsea residents and writers and music celebrities who were passing through, he would sit at Smith’s feet and listen to his labyrinthine monologue” (Simmons 197).Paul McCartney, actively scanning the city for new and different forms of cultural capital (Miles; Kloosterman) could tap into different art worlds through the networks centred on the Indica Gallery. Indeed he was credited with lending more than a helping hand to Indica over the years: “Miles and Dunbar bridged the gap between the avant-garde rebels and the rock stars of the day, principally through their friendship with Paul McCartney, who helped to put up the shop’s bookshelves, drew its flyers and designed its wrapping paper. Later when Indica ran into difficulties, he lent his friends several thousands of pounds to pay their creditors” (Sandbrook 526).Sheltered Spaces Inevitably, the rather lenient attitude towards money among those who managed these cultural breeding spaces led them to serious financial difficulties. The Indica Gallery closed two years after opening its doors. The Chelsea Hotel held out much longer, but the place went into a long period of decline and deterioration culminating in the removal of Stanley Bard as manager and banishment from the building in 2007 (Tippins). Notwithstanding their patchy record as viable business models, their role as cultural hotspots is beyond doubt. It is possibly because they offered a different kind of environment, partly sheltered from more mundane moneymaking considerations, that they could thrive as cultural hotspots (Brandellero and Kloosterman). Their central location, close to other amenities (such as night clubs, venues, cafés), the tolerant atmosphere towards deviant lifestyles (drugs, sex), and the continuous flow of key actors – musicians of course, but also other artists, managers and critics – also fostered cultural innovation. Reflecting on these two spaces nowadays brings a number of questions to the fore. We are witnessing an increasing upward pressure on rents in global cities – notably in London and New York. As cheap spaces become rarer, one may question the impact this will have on the gestation of new ideas (cf. Currid). If the examples of the Indica Gallery and the Chelsea Hotel are anything to go by, their instrumental role as cultural hotspots turned out to be financially unsustainable against the backdrop of a changing urban milieu. The question then is how can cities continue to provide the right set of conditions that allow such spaces to bud and thrive? As the Chelsea Hotel undergoes an alleged $40 million dollar renovation, which will turn it into a boutique hotel (Rich), the jury is still out on whether central urban locations are destined to become - to paraphrase John Lennon’s ‘In my life’, places which ‘had their moments’ – or mere repositories of past cultural achievements.ReferencesAnderson, P. “Watch this Space.” Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Apr. 2014.Becker, H.S. Art Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.Bell, I. Once upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan. Edinburgh/London: Mainstream Publishing, 2012.Brandellero, A.M.C. The Art of Being Different: Exploring Diversity in the Cultural Industries. Dissertation. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, 2011.Brandellero, A.M.C., and R.C. Kloosterman. “Keeping the Market at Bay: Exploring the Loci of Innovation in the Cultural Industries.” Creative Industries Journal 3.1 (2010): 61-77.Campbell, J. “Review: A Life in Books: Barry Miles.” The Guardian, 20 Mar. 2010.Campbell-Johnston, R. “They All Wanted to Change the World.” The Times, 22 Nov. 2006Caves, R.E. Creative Industries: Contracts between Art and Commerce. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000.Currid, E. The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art, and Music Drive New York City. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.Durmaz, S.B. “Analyzing the Quality of Place: Creative Clusters in Soho and Beyoğlu.” Journal of Urban Design 20.1 (2015): 93-124.Gibson, C. “Recording Studios: Relational Spaces of Creativity in the City.” Built Environment 31.3 (2005): 192-207.Hutton, T.A. Cities and the Cultural Economy. London/New York: Routledge, 2016.Jacobs, J. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Vintage Books, 1961.Jury, L. “Sixties Art Swings Back into London: Exhibition Brings to Life Decade of the 'Original Young British Artists'.” London Evening Standard, 3 Sep. 2013 Kloosterman, R.C. “Come Together: An Introduction to Music and the City.” Built Environment 31.3 (2005): 181-191.Krätke, S. “Global Media Cities in a World-Wide Urban Network.” European Planning Studies 11.6 (2003): 605-628.Miles, B. In the Sixties. London: Pimlico, 2003.Nevin, C. “Happening, Man!” The Independent, 21 Nov. 2006Norman, P. John Lennon: The Life. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008.Perry, G. “In This Humble Yard Our Art Boom was Born.” The Times, 11 Oct. 2006Ramanathan, L. “I, Y O K O.” The Washington Post, 10 May 2015.Rich, N. “Where the Walls Still Talk.” Vanity Fair, 8 Oct. 2013. Sandbrook, Dominic. White Heat: A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties. London: Abacus, 2009. Scott, A.J. “The US Recorded Music Industry: On the Relations between Organization, Location, and Creativity in the Cultural Economy.” Environment and Planning A 31.11 (1999): 1965-1984.Silver, D., T.N. Clark, and C.J.N. Yanez . “Scenes: Social Context in an Age of Contingency.” Social Forces 88.5 (2010): 293-324.Simmons, S. I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen. London: Jonathan Cape, 2012.Smith, P. Just Kids. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.Tippins, S. Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York’s Legendary Chelsea Hotel. London/New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013.Van Klyton, A.C. “Space and Place in World Music Production.” City, Culture and Society 6.4 (2015): 101-108.Verboord, M., and A.M.C. Brandellero. “The Globalization of Popular Music, 1960-2010: A Multilevel Analysis of Music Flows.” Communication Research 2016. DOI: 10.1177/0093650215623834.Watson, A. “Global Music City: Knowledge and Geographical Proximity in London's Recorded Music Industry.” Area 40.1 (2008): 12-23.Watson, A. Cultural Production in and beyond the Recording Studio. London: Routledge, 2014.Watson, A., M. Hoyler, and C. Mager. “Spaces and Networks of Musical Creativity in the City.” Geography Compass 3.2 (2009): 856–878.

Cyborgs already walk among us. (“Cures to Come” 76) This essay was begun as a reaction to a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie called Sweet Nothing in My Ear (2008), which follows the lives of two parents, Dan, who is hearing (played by Jeff Daniels), and Laura, who is deaf (Marlee Matlin), as they struggle to make a decision about whether or not to give their 11-year-old son, Adam (late-deafened), a cochlear implant. Dan and Laura represent different perspectives, hearing and deaf perspectives. The film dramatizes the parents’ conflict and negotiation, exposing audiences to both sides of the cochlear implant debate, albeit in a fairly simplistic way. Nevertheless, it represents the lives of deaf people and gives voice to debates about cochlear implants with more accuracy and detail than most film and television dramas. One of the central scenes in the film is what I call the “activation scene”, quite common to cochlear implant narratives. In the scene, the protagonists witness a child having his implant activated or turned on. The depiction is reminiscent of the WATER scene in the film about Helen Keller, The Miracle Worker, employing a sentimental visual rhetoric. First, the two parents are shown seated near the child, clasping their hands as if in prayer. The audiologist, wielder of technology and therefore clearly the authority figure in the scene, types away furiously on her laptop. At the moment of being “turned on,” the child suddenly “hears” his father calling “David! David!” He gazes angelically toward heaven as piano music plays plaintively in the background. The parents all but fall to their knees and the protagonist of the film, Dan, watching through a window, weeps. It is a scene of cure, of healing, of “miracle,” a hyper-sentimentalised portrait of what is in reality often a rather anti-climactic event. It was certainly anti-climactic in my son, Michael’s case. I was taken aback by how this scene was presented and dismayed overall at some of the inaccuracies, small though they were, in the portrayal of cochlear implants in this film. It was, after all, according to the Nielsen ratings, seen by 8 million people. I began to wonder what kinds of misconceptions my son was going to face when he met people whose only exposure to implants was through media representations. Spurred by this question, I started to research other recent portrayals of people with implants on U.S. television in the past ten years, to see how cochlear implant (hereafter referred to as CI) identity has been portrayed by American media. For most of American history, deaf people have been portrayed in print and visual media as exotic “others,” and have long been the subject of an almost morbid cultural fascination. Christopher Krentz suggests that, particularly in the nineteenth century, scenes pairing sentimentality and deafness repressed an innate, Kristevan “abject” revulsion towards deaf people. Those who are deaf highlight and define, through their ‘lack’, the “unmarked” body. The fact of their deafness, understood as lack, conjures up an ideal that it does not attain, the ideal of the so-called “normal” or “whole” body. In recent years, however, the figure of the “deaf as Other” in the media, has shifted from what might be termed the “traditionally” deaf character, to what Brenda Jo Brueggeman (in her recent book Deaf Subjects: Between Identities and Places), calls “the new deaf cyborg” or the deaf person with a cochlear implant (4). N. Katharine Hailes states that cyborgs are now “the stage on which are performed contestations about the body boundaries that have often marked class, ethnic, and cultural differences” (85). In this essay, I claim that the character with a CI, as portrayed in the media, is now not only a strange, “marked” “Other,” but is also a screen upon which viewers project anxieties about technology, demonstrating both fascination fear. In her book, Brueggeman issues a call to action, saying that Deaf Studies must now begin to examine what she calls “implanting rhetorics,” or “the rhetorical relationships between our technologies and our identity” and therefore needs to attend to the construction of “the new deaf cyborg” (18). This short study will serve, I hope, as both a response to that injunction and as a jumping-off point for more in-depth studies of the construction of the CI identity and the implications of these constructions. First, we should consider what a cochlear implant is and how it functions. The National Association of the Deaf in the United States defines the cochlear implant as a device used to help the user perceive sound, i.e., the sensation of sound that is transmitted past the damaged cochlea to the brain. In this strictly sensorineural manner, the implant works: the sensation of sound is delivered to the brain. The stated goal of the implant is for it to function as a tool to enable deaf children to develop language based on spoken communication. (“NAD Position”) The external portion of the implant consists of the following parts: a microphone, which picks up sound from the environment, which is contained in the behind-the-ear device that resembles the standard BTE hearing aid; in this “hearing aid” there is also a speech processor, which selects and arranges sounds picked up by the microphone. The processor transmits signals to the transmitter/receiver, which then converts them into electric impulses. Part of the transmitter sits on the skin and attaches to the inner portion of the transmitter by means of a magnet. The inner portion of the receiver/stimulator sends the impulses down into the electrode array that lies inside the cochlea, which in turn stimulates the auditory nerve, giving the brain the impression of sound (“Cochlear Implants”). According to manufacturer’s statistics, there are now approximately 188,000 people worldwide who have obtained cochlear implants, though the number of these that are in use is not known (Nussbaum). That is what a cochlear implant is. Before we can look at how people with implants are portrayed in the media, before we examine constructions of identity, perhaps we should first ask what constitutes a “real” CI identity? This is, of course, laughable; pinning down a homogeneous CI identity is no more likely than finding a blanket definition of “deaf identity.” For example, at this point in time, there isn’t even a word or term in American culture for someone with an implant. I struggle with how to phrase it in this essay - “implantee?” “recipient?” - there are no neat labels. In the USA you can call a person deaf, Deaf (the “D” representing a specific cultural and political identity), hearing impaired, hard of hearing, and each gradation implies, for better or worse, some kind of subject position. There are no such terms for a person who gets an implant. Are people with implants, as suggested above, just deaf? Deaf? Are they hard of hearing? There is even debate in the ASL community as to what sign should be used to indicate “someone who has a cochlear implant.” If a “CI identity” cannot be located, then perhaps the rhetoric that is used to describe it may be. Paddy Ladd, in Understanding Deaf Culture, does a brilliant job of exploring the various discourses that have surrounded deaf culture throughout history. Stuart Blume borrows heavily from Ladd in his “The Rhetoric and Counter-Rhetoric of a 'Bionic' Technology”, where he points out that an “essential and deliberate feature” of the history of the CI from the 60s onward, was that it was constructed in an overwhelmingly positive light by the mass media, using what Ladd calls the “medical” rhetorical model. That is, that the CI is a kind of medical miracle that promised to cure deafness. Within this model one may find also the sentimental, “missionary” rhetoric that Krentz discusses, what Ladd claims is a revival of the evangelism of the nineteenth-century Oralist movement in America. Indeed, newspaper articles in the 1980s and 90s hailed the implant as a “breakthrough”, a “miracle”; even a quick survey of headlines shows evidence of this: “Upton Boy Can Hear at Last!”, “Girl with a New Song in Her Heart”, “Children Head Queue for Bionic Ears” (Lane). As recently as January 2010, an issue of National Geographic featured on its cover the headline Merging Man and Machine: The Bionic Age. Sure enough, the second photograph in the story is of a child’s bilateral cochlear implant, with the caption “within months of the surgery (the child) spoke the words his hearing parents longed for: Mama and Dada.” “You’re looking at a real bionic kid,” says Johns Hopkins University surgeon John Niparko, proudly (37). To counter this medical/corporate rhetoric of cure, Ladd and Blume claim, the deaf community devised a counter-rhetoric, a discourse in which the CI is not cast in the language of miracle and life, but instead in terms of death, mutilation, and cultural oppression. Here, the implant is depicted as the last in a long line of sadistic experiments using the deaf as guinea pigs. Often the CI is framed in the language of Nazism and genocide as seen in the title of an article in the British Deaf News: “Cochlear Implants: Oralism’s Final Solution.” So, which of these two “implanting rhetorics” is most visible in the current construction of the CI in American television? Is the CI identity presented by rendering people with CIs impossibly positive, happy characters? Is it delineated using the metaphors of the sentimental, of cure, of miracle? Or is the CI identity constructed using the counter-rhetorical references to death, oppression and cultural genocide? One might hypothesize that television, like other media, cultivating as it does the values of the hearing hegemony, would err on the side of promulgating the medicalised, positivist rhetoric of the “cure” for deafness. In an effort to find out, I conducted a general survey of American television shows from 2000 to now that featured characters with CIs. I did not include news shows or documentaries in my survey. Interestingly, some of the earliest television portrayals of CIs appeared in that bastion of American sentimentality, the daytime soap opera. In 2006, on the show “The Young and the Restless”, a “troubled college student who contracted meningitis” received an implant, and in 2007 “All My Children” aired a story arc about a “toddler who becomes deaf after a car crash.” It is interesting to note that both characters were portrayed as “late-deafened”, or suddenly inflicted with the loss of a sense they previously possessed, thus avoiding any whiff of controversy about early implantation. But one expects a hyper-sentimentalised portrayal of just about everything in daytime dramas like this. What is interesting is that when people with CIs have appeared on several “reality” programs, which purport to offer “real,” unadulterated glimpses into people’s lives, the rhetoric is no less sentimentalized than the soaps (perhaps because these shows are no less fabricated). A good example of this is the widely watched and, I think, ironically named show “True Life” which appears on MTV. This is a series that claims to tell the “remarkable real-life stories of young people and the unusual subcultures they inhabit.” In episode 42, “ True Life: I’m Deaf”, part of the show follows a young man, Chris, born deaf and proud of it (his words), who decides to get a cochlear implant because he wants to be involved in the hearing world. Through an interpreter Chris explains that he wants an implant so he can communicate with his friends, talk with girls, and ultimately fulfill his dreams of having a job and getting married (one has to ask: are these things he can’t do without an implant?). The show’s promo asks “how do you go from living a life in total silence to fully understanding the spoken language?” This statement alone contains two elements common to the “miracle” rhetoric, first that the “tragic” deaf victim will emerge from a completely lonely, silent place (not true; most deaf people have some residual hearing, and if you watch the show you see Chris signing, “speaking” voluminously) to seamlessly, miraculously, “fully” joining and understanding the hearing world. Chris, it seems, will only come into full being when he is able to join the hearing world. In this case, the CI will cure what ails him. According to “True Life.” Aside from “soap opera” drama and so-called reality programming, by far the largest dissemination of media constructions of the CI in the past ten years occurred on top-slot prime-time television shows, which consist primarily of the immensely popular genre of the medical and police procedural drama. Most of these shows have at one time or another had a “deaf” episode, in which there is a deaf character or characters involved, but between 2005 and 2008, it is interesting to note that most, if not all of the most popular of these have aired episodes devoted to the CI controversy, or have featured deaf characters with CIs. The shows include: CSI (both Miami and New York), Cold Case, Law and Order (both SVU and Criminal Intent), Scrubs, Gideon’s Crossing, and Bones. Below is a snippet of dialogue from Bones: Zach: {Holding a necklace} He was wearing this.Angela: Catholic boy.Brennan: One by two forceps.Angela {as Brennan pulls a small disc out from behind the victim’s ear} What is that?Brennan: Cochlear implant. Looks like the birds were trying to get it.Angela: That would set a boy apart from the others, being deaf.(Bones, “A Boy in the Tree”, 1.3, 2005) In this scene, the forensics experts are able to describe significant points of this victim’s identity using the only two solid artifacts left in the remains, a crucifix and a cochlear implant. I cite this scene because it serves, I believe, as a neat metaphor for how these shows, and indeed television media in general, are, like the investigators, constantly engaged in the business of cobbling together identity: in this particular case, a cochlear implant identity. It also shows how an audience can cultivate or interpret these kinds of identity constructions, here, the implant as an object serves as a tangible sign of deafness, and from this sign, or clue, the “audience” (represented by the spectator, Angela) immediately infers that the victim was lonely and isolated, “set apart from the others.” Such wrongheaded inferences, frivolous as they may seem coming from the realm of popular culture, have, I believe, a profound influence on the perceptions of larger society. The use of the CI in Bones is quite interesting, because although at the beginning of the show the implant is a key piece of evidence, that which marks and identifies the dead/deaf body, the character’s CI identity proves almost completely irrelevant to the unfolding of the murder-mystery. The only times the CI character’s deafness is emphasized are when an effort is made to prove that the he committed suicide (i.e., if you’re deaf you are therefore “isolated,” and therefore you must be miserable enough to kill yourself). Zak, one of the forensics officers says, “I didn’t talk to anyone in high school and I didn’t kill myself” and another officer comments that the boy was “alienated by culture, by language, and by his handicap” (odd statements, since most deaf children with or without implants have remarkably good language ability). Also, in another strange moment, the victim’s ambassador/mother shows a video clip of the child’s CI activation and says “a person who lived through this miracle would never take his own life” (emphasis mine). A girlfriend, implicated in the murder (the boy is killed because he threatened to “talk”, revealing a blackmail scheme), says “people didn’t notice him because of the way he talked but I liked him…” So at least in this show, both types of “implanting rhetoric” are employed; a person with a CI, though the recipient of a “miracle,” is also perceived as “isolated” and “alienated” and unfortunately, ends up dead. This kind of rather negative portrayal of a person with a CI also appears in the CSI: New York episode ”Silent Night” which aired in 2006. One of two plot lines features Marlee Matlin as the mother of a deaf family. At the beginning of the episode, after feeling some strange vibrations, Matlin’s character, Gina, checks on her little granddaughter, Elizabeth, who is crying hysterically in her crib. She finds her daughter, Alison, dead on the floor. In the course of the show, it is found that a former boyfriend, Cole, who may have been the father of the infant, struggled with and shot Alison as he was trying to kidnap the baby. Apparently Cole “got his hearing back” with a cochlear implant, no longer considered himself Deaf, and wanted the child so that she wouldn’t be raised “Deaf.” At the end of the show, Cole tries to abduct both grandmother and baby at gunpoint. As he has lost his external transmitter, he is unable to understand what the police are trying to tell him and threatens to kill his hostages. He is arrested in the end. In this case, the CI recipient is depicted as a violent, out of control figure, calmed (in this case) only by Matlin’s presence and her ability to communicate with him in ASL. The implication is that in getting the CI, Cole is “killing off” his Deaf identity, and as a result, is mentally unstable. Talking to Matlin, whose character is a stand-in for Deaf culture, is the only way to bring him back to his senses. The October 2007 episode of CSI: Miami entitled “Inside-Out” is another example of the counter-rhetoric at work in the form of another implant corpse. A police officer, trying to prevent the escape of a criminal en route to prison, thinks he has accidentally shot an innocent bystander, a deaf woman. An exchange between the coroner and a CSI goes as follows: (Alexx Woods): “This is as innocent as a victim gets.”(Calleigh Duquesne): “How so?”AW: Check this out.”CD: “I don’t understand. Her head is magnetized? Steel plate?”AW: “It’s a cochlear implant. Helps deaf people to receive and process speech and sounds.”(CSI dramatization) AW VO: “It’s surgically implanted into the inner ear. Consists of a receiver that decodes and transmits to an electrode array sending a signal to the brain.”CD: “Wouldn’t there be an external component?”AW: “Oh, she must have lost it before she was shot.”CD: “Well, that explains why she didn’t get out of there. She had no idea what was going on.” (TWIZ) Based on the evidence, the “sign” of the implant, the investigators are able to identify the victim as deaf, and they infer therefore that she is innocent. It is only at the end of the program that we learn that the deaf “innocent” was really the girlfriend of the criminal, and was on the scene aiding in his escape. So she is at first “as innocent” as they come, and then at the end, she is the most insidious of the criminals in the episode. The writers at least provide a nice twist on the more common deaf-innocent stereotype. Cold Case showcased a CI in the 2008 episode “Andy in C Minor,” in which the case of a 17-year-old deaf boy is reopened. The boy, Andy, had disappeared from his high school. In the investigation it is revealed that his hearing girlfriend, Emma, convinced him to get an implant, because it would help him play the piano, which he wanted to do in order to bond with her. His parents, deaf, were against the idea, and had him promise to break up with Emma and never bring up the CI again. His body is found on the campus, with a cochlear device next to his remains. Apparently Emma had convinced him to get the implant and, in the end, Andy’s father had reluctantly consented to the surgery. It is finally revealed that his Deaf best friend, Carlos, killed him with a blow to the back of the head while he was playing the piano, because he was “afraid to be alone.” This show uses the counter-rhetoric of Deaf genocide in an interesting way. In this case it is not just the CI device alone that renders the CI character symbolically “dead” to his Deaf identity, but it leads directly to his being literally executed by, or in a sense, excommunicated from, Deaf Culture, as it is represented by the character of Carlos. The “House Divided” episode of House (2009) provides the most problematic (or I should say absurd) representation of the CI process and of a CI identity. In the show, a fourteen-year-old deaf wrestler comes into the hospital after experiencing terrible head pain and hearing “imaginary explosions.” Doctors Foreman and Thirteen dutifully serve as representatives of both sides of the “implant debate”: when discussing why House hasn’t mocked the patient for not having a CI, Thirteen says “The patient doesn’t have a CI because he’s comfortable with who he is. That’s admirable.” Foreman says, “He’s deaf. It’s not an identity, it’s a disability.” 13: “It’s also a culture.” F: “Anything I can simulate with $3 earplugs isn’t a culture.” Later, House, talking to himself, thinks “he’s going to go through life deaf. He has no idea what he’s missing.” So, as usual, without permission, he orders Chase to implant a CI in the patient while he is under anesthesia for another procedure (a brain biopsy). After the surgery the team asks House why he did it and he responds, “Why would I give someone their hearing? Ask God the same question you’d get the same answer.” The shows writers endow House’s character, as they usually do, with the stereotypical “God complex” of the medical establishment, but in doing also they play beautifully into the Ladd and Blume’s rhetoric of medical miracle and cure. Immediately after the implant (which the hospital just happened to have on hand) the incision has, miraculously, healed overnight. Chase (who just happens to be a skilled CI surgeon and audiologist) activates the external processor (normally a months-long process). The sound is overwhelming, the boy hears everything. The mother is upset. “Once my son is stable,” the mom says, “I want that THING out of his head.” The patient also demands that the “thing” be removed. Right after this scene, House puts a Bluetooth in his ear so he can talk to himself without people thinking he’s crazy (an interesting reference to how we all are becoming cyborgs, more and more “implanted” with technology). Later, mother and son have the usual touching sentimental scene, where she speaks his name, he hears her voice for the first time and says, “Is that my name? S-E-T-H?” Mom cries. Seth’s deaf girlfriend later tells him she wishes she could get a CI, “It’s a great thing. It will open up a whole new world for you,” an idea he rejects. He hears his girlfriend vocalize, and asks Thirteen if he “sounds like that.” This for some reason clinches his decision about not wanting his CI and, rather than simply take off the external magnet, he rips the entire device right out of his head, which sends him into shock and system failure. Ultimately the team solves the mystery of the boy’s initial ailment and diagnoses him with sarcoidosis. In a final scene, the mother tells her son that she is having them replace the implant. She says it’s “my call.” This show, with its confusing use of both the sentimental and the counter-rhetoric, as well as its outrageous inaccuracies, is the most egregious example of how the CI is currently being constructed on television, but it, along with my other examples, clearly shows the Ladd/Blume rhetoric and counter rhetoric at work. The CI character is on one hand portrayed as an innocent, infantilized, tragic, or passive figure that is the recipient of a medical miracle kindly urged upon them (or forced upon them, as in the case of House). On the other hand, the CI character is depicted in the language of the counter-rhetoric: as deeply flawed, crazed, disturbed or damaged somehow by the incursions onto their Deaf identity, or, in the worst case scenario, they are dead, exterminated. Granted, it is the very premise of the forensic/crime drama to have a victim, and a dead victim, and it is the nature of the police drama to have a “bad,” criminal character; there is nothing wrong with having both good and bad CI characters, but my question is, in the end, why is it an either-or proposition? Why is CI identity only being portrayed in essentialist terms on these types of shows? Why are there no realistic portrayals of people with CIs (and for that matter, deaf people) as the richly varied individuals that they are? These questions aside, if these two types of “implanting rhetoric”, the sentimentalised and the terminated, are all we have at the moment, what does it mean? As I mentioned early in this essay, deaf people, along with many “others,” have long helped to highlight and define the hegemonic “norm.” The apparent cultural need for a Foucauldian “marked body” explains not only the popularity of crime dramas, but it also could explain the oddly proliferant use of characters with cochlear implants in these particular shows. A person with an implant on the side of their head is definitely a more “marked” body than the deaf person with no hearing aid. The CI character is more controversial, more shocking; it’s trendier, “sexier”, and this boosts ratings. But CI characters are, unlike their deaf predecessors, now serving an additional cultural function. I believe they are, as I claim in the beginning of this essay, screens upon which our culture is now projecting repressed anxieties about emergent technology. The two essentialist rhetorics of the cochlear implant, the rhetoric of the sentimental, medical model, and the rhetoric of genocide, ultimately represent our technophilia and our technophobia. The CI character embodies what Debra Shaw terms a current, “ontological insecurity that attends the interface between the human body and the datasphere” (85). We are growing more nervous “as new technologies shape our experiences, they blur the lines between the corporeal and incorporeal, between physical space and virtual space” (Selfe). Technology either threatens the integrity of the self, “the coherence of the body” (we are either dead or damaged) or technology allows us to transcend the limitations of the body: we are converted, “transformed”, the recipient of a happy modern miracle. In the end, I found that representations of CI on television (in the United States) are overwhelmingly sentimental and therefore essentialist. It seems that the conflicting nineteenth century tendency of attraction and revulsion toward the deaf is still, in the twenty-first century, evident. We are still mired in the rhetoric of “cure” and “control,” despite an active Deaf counter discourse that employs the language of the holocaust, warning of the extermination of yet another cultural minority. We are also daily becoming daily more “embedded in cybernetic systems,” with our laptops, emails, GPSs, PDAs, cell phones, Bluetooths, and the likes. We are becoming increasingly engaged in a “necessary relationship with machines” (Shaw 91). We are gradually becoming no longer “other” to the machine, and so our culturally constructed perceptions of ourselves are being threatened. In the nineteenth century, divisions and hierarchies between a white male majority and the “other” (women, African Americans, immigrants, Native Americans) began to blur. Now, the divisions between human and machine, as represented by a person with a CI, are starting to blur, creating anxiety. Perhaps this anxiety is why we are trying, at least in the media, symbolically to ‘cure’ the marked body or kill off the cyborg. Future examinations of the discourse should, I believe, use these media constructions as a lens through which to continue to examine and illuminate the complex subject position of the CI identity, and therefore, perhaps, also explore what the subject position of the post/human identity will be. References "A Boy in a Tree." Patrick Norris (dir.), Hart Hanson (by), Emily Deschanel (perf.). Bones, Fox Network, 7 Sep. 2005. “Andy in C Minor.” Jeannete Szwarc (dir.), Gavin Harris (by), Kathryn Morris (perf.). Cold Case, CBS Network, 30 March 2008. Blume, Stuart. “The Rhetoric and Counter Rhetoric of a “Bionic” Technology.” Science, Technology and Human Values 22.1 (1997): 31-56. Brueggemann, Brenda Jo. Deaf Subjects: Between Identities and Places. New York: New York UP, 2009. “Cochlear Implant Statistics.” ASL-Cochlear Implant Community. Blog. Citing Laurent Le Clerc National Deaf Education Center. Gallaudet University, 18 Mar. 2008. 29 Apr. 2010 ‹http:/ /aslci.blogspot.com/2008/03/cochlear-implant-statistics.html›. “Cures to Come.” Discover Presents the Brain (Spring 2010): 76. Fischman, Josh. “Bionics.” National Geographic Magazine 217 (2010). “House Divided.” Greg Yaitanes (dir.), Matthew V. Lewis (by), Hugh Laurie (perf.). House, Fox Network, 22 Apr. 2009. “Inside-Out.” Gina Lamar (dir.), Anthony Zuiker (by), David Caruso (perf.). CSI: Miami, CBS Network, 8 Oct. 2007. Krentz, Christopher. Writing Deafness: The Hearing Line in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. Chapel Hill: UNC P, 2007. Ladd, Paddy. Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Limited, 2002. Lane, Harlan. A Journey Into the Deaf-World. San Diego: DawnSignPress, 1996. “NAD Position Statement on the Cochlear Implant.” National Association of the Deaf. 6 Oct. 2000. 29 April 2010 ‹http://www.nad.org/issues/technology/assistive-listening/cochlear-implants›. Nussbaum, Debra. “Manufacturer Information.” Cochlear Implant Information Center. National Deaf Education Center. Gallaudet University. 29 Apr. 2010 < http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu >. Shaw, Debra. Technoculture: The Key Concepts. Oxford: Berg, 2008. “Silent Night.” Rob Bailey (dir.), Anthony Zuiker (by), Gary Sinise (perf.). CSI: New York, CBS Network, 13 Dec. 2006. “Sweet Nothing in My Ear.” Joseph Sargent (dir.), Stephen Sachs (by), Jeff Daniels (perf.). Hallmark Hall of Fame Production, 20 Apr. 2008. TWIZ TV scripts. CSI: Miami, “Inside-Out.” “What Is the Surgery Like?” FAQ, University of Miami Cochlear Implant Center. 29 Apr. 2010 ‹http://cochlearimplants.med.miami.edu/faq/index.asp›.

Nationalism: Past as Prologue began as a single volume being compiled by Ad Akande, a scholar from South Africa, who proposed it to me as co-author about two years ago. The original idea was to examine how the damaging roots of nationalism have been corroding political systems around the world, and creating dangerous obstacles for necessary international cooperation. Since I (Bruce E. Johansen) has written profusely about climate change (global warming, a.k.a. infrared forcing), I suggested a concerted effort in that direction. This is a worldwide existential threat that affects every living thing on Earth. It often compounds upon itself, so delays in reducing emissions of fossil fuels are shortening the amount of time remaining to eliminate the use of fossil fuels to preserve a livable planet. Nationalism often impedes solutions to this problem (among many others), as nations place their singular needs above the common good. Our initial proposal got around, and abstracts on many subjects arrived. Within a few weeks, we had enough good material for a 100,000-word book. The book then fattened to two moderate volumes and then to four two very hefty tomes. We tried several different titles as good submissions swelled. We also discovered that our best contributors were experts in their fields, which ranged the world. We settled on three stand-alone books:” 1/ nationalism and racial justice. Our first volume grew as the growth of Black Lives Matter following the brutal killing of George Floyd ignited protests over police brutality and other issues during 2020, following the police assassination of Floyd in Minneapolis. It is estimated that more people took part in protests of police brutality during the summer of 2020 than any other series of marches in United States history. This includes upheavals during the 1960s over racial issues and against the war in Southeast Asia (notably Vietnam). We choose a volume on racism because it is one of nationalism’s main motive forces. This volume provides a worldwide array of work on nationalism’s growth in various countries, usually by authors residing in them, or in the United States with ethnic ties to the nation being examined, often recent immigrants to the United States from them. Our roster of contributors comprises a small United Nations of insightful, well-written research and commentary from Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, China, India, South Africa, France, Portugal, Estonia, Hungary, Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the United States. Volume 2 (this one) describes and analyzes nationalism, by country, around the world, except for the United States; and 3/material directly related to President Donald Trump, and the United States. The first volume is under consideration at the Texas A & M University Press. The other two are under contract to Nova Science Publishers (which includes social sciences). These three volumes may be used individually or as a set. Environmental material is taken up in appropriate places in each of the three books. * * * * * What became the United States of America has been strongly nationalist since the English of present-day Massachusetts and Jamestown first hit North America’s eastern shores. The country propelled itself across North America with the self-serving ideology of “manifest destiny” for four centuries before Donald Trump came along. Anyone who believes that a Trumpian affection for deportation of “illegals” is a new thing ought to take a look at immigration and deportation statistics in Adam Goodman’s The Deportation Machine: America’s Long History of Deporting Immigrants (Princeton University Press, 2020). Between 1920 and 2018, the United States deported 56.3 million people, compared with 51.7 million who were granted legal immigration status during the same dates. Nearly nine of ten deportees were Mexican (Nolan, 2020, 83). This kind of nationalism, has become an assassin of democracy as well as an impediment to solving global problems. Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times (2019:A-25): that “In their 2018 book, How Democracies Die, the political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt documented how this process has played out in many countries, from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, to Recep Erdogan’s Turkey, to Viktor Orban’s Hungary. Add to these India’s Narendra Modi, China’s Xi Jinping, and the United States’ Donald Trump, among others. Bit by bit, the guardrails of democracy have been torn down, as institutions meant to serve the public became tools of ruling parties and self-serving ideologies, weaponized to punish and intimidate opposition parties’ opponents. On paper, these countries are still democracies; in practice, they have become one-party regimes….And it’s happening here [the United States] as we speak. If you are not worried about the future of American democracy, you aren’t paying attention” (Krugmam, 2019, A-25). We are reminded continuously that the late Carl Sagan, one of our most insightful scientific public intellectuals, had an interesting theory about highly developed civilizations. Given the number of stars and planets that must exist in the vast reaches of the universe, he said, there must be other highly developed and organized forms of life. Distance may keep us from making physical contact, but Sagan said that another reason we may never be on speaking terms with another intelligent race is (judging from our own example) could be their penchant for destroying themselves in relatively short order after reaching technological complexity. This book’s chapters, introduction, and conclusion examine the worldwide rise of partisan nationalism and the damage it has wrought on the worldwide pursuit of solutions for issues requiring worldwide scope, such scientific co-operation public health and others, mixing analysis of both. We use both historical description and analysis. This analysis concludes with a description of why we must avoid the isolating nature of nationalism that isolates people and encourages separation if we are to deal with issues of world-wide concern, and to maintain a sustainable, survivable Earth, placing the dominant political movement of our time against the Earth’s existential crises. Our contributors, all experts in their fields, each have assumed responsibility for a country, or two if they are related. This work entwines themes of worldwide concern with the political growth of nationalism because leaders with such a worldview are disinclined to co-operate internationally at a time when nations must find ways to solve common problems, such as the climate crisis. Inability to cooperate at this stage may doom everyone, eventually, to an overheated, stormy future plagued by droughts and deluges portending shortages of food and other essential commodities, meanwhile destroying large coastal urban areas because of rising sea levels. Future historians may look back at our time and wonder why as well as how our world succumbed to isolating nationalism at a time when time was so short for cooperative intervention which is crucial for survival of a sustainable earth. Pride in language and culture is salubrious to individuals’ sense of history and identity. Excess nationalism that prevents international co-operation on harmful worldwide maladies is quite another. As Pope Francis has pointed out: For all of our connectivity due to expansion of social media, ability to communicate can breed contempt as well as mutual trust. “For all our hyper-connectivity,” said Francis, “We witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all” (Horowitz, 2020, A-12). The pope’s encyclical, titled “Brothers All,” also said: “The forces of myopic, extremist, resentful, and aggressive nationalism are on the rise.” The pope’s document also advocates support for migrants, as well as resistance to nationalist and tribal populism. Francis broadened his critique to the role of market capitalism, as well as nationalism has failed the peoples of the world when they need co-operation and solidarity in the face of the world-wide corona virus pandemic. Humankind needs to unite into “a new sense of the human family [Fratelli Tutti, “Brothers All”], that rejects war at all costs” (Pope, 2020, 6-A). Our journey takes us first to Russia, with the able eye and honed expertise of Richard D. Anderson, Jr. who teaches as UCLA and publishes on the subject of his chapter: “Putin, Russian identity, and Russia’s conduct at home and abroad.” Readers should find Dr. Anderson’s analysis fascinating because Vladimir Putin, the singular leader of Russian foreign and domestic policy these days (and perhaps for the rest of his life, given how malleable Russia’s Constitution has become) may be a short man physically, but has high ambitions. One of these involves restoring the old Russian (and Soviet) empire, which would involve re-subjugating a number of nations that broke off as the old order dissolved about 30 years ago. President (shall we say czar?) Putin also has international ambitions, notably by destabilizing the United States, where election meddling has become a specialty. The sight of Putin and U.S. president Donald Trump, two very rich men (Putin $70-$200 billion; Trump $2.5 billion), nuzzling in friendship would probably set Thomas Jefferson and Vladimir Lenin spinning in their graves. The road of history can take some unanticipated twists and turns. Consider Poland, from which we have an expert native analysis in chapter 2, Bartosz Hlebowicz, who is a Polish anthropologist and journalist. His piece is titled “Lawless and Unjust: How to Quickly Make Your Own Country a Puppet State Run by a Group of Hoodlums – the Hopeless Case of Poland (2015–2020).” When I visited Poland to teach and lecture twice between 2006 and 2008, most people seemed to be walking on air induced by freedom to conduct their own affairs to an unusual degree for a state usually squeezed between nationalists in Germany and Russia. What did the Poles then do in a couple of decades? Read Hlebowicz’ chapter and decide. It certainly isn’t soft-bellied liberalism. In Chapter 3, with Bruce E. Johansen, we visit China’s western provinces, the lands of Tibet as well as the Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang region, who would most assuredly resent being characterized as being possessed by the Chinese of the Han to the east. As a student of Native American history, I had never before thought of the Tibetans and Uighurs as Native peoples struggling against the Independence-minded peoples of a land that is called an adjunct of China on most of our maps. The random act of sitting next to a young woman on an Air India flight out of Hyderabad, bound for New Delhi taught me that the Tibetans had something to share with the Lakota, the Iroquois, and hundreds of other Native American states and nations in North America. Active resistance to Chinese rule lasted into the mid-nineteenth century, and continues today in a subversive manner, even in song, as I learned in 2018 when I acted as a foreign adjudicator on a Ph.D. dissertation by a Tibetan student at the University of Madras (in what is now in a city called Chennai), in southwestern India on resistance in song during Tibet’s recent history. Tibet is one of very few places on Earth where a young dissident can get shot to death for singing a song that troubles China’s Quest for Lebensraum. The situation in Xinjiang region, where close to a million Muslims have been interned in “reeducation” camps surrounded with brick walls and barbed wire. They sing, too. Come with us and hear the music. Back to Europe now, in Chapter 4, to Portugal and Spain, we find a break in the general pattern of nationalism. Portugal has been more progressive governmentally than most. Spain varies from a liberal majority to military coups, a pattern which has been exported to Latin America. A situation such as this can make use of the term “populism” problematic, because general usage in our time usually ties the word into a right-wing connotative straightjacket. “Populism” can be used to describe progressive (left-wing) insurgencies as well. José Pinto, who is native to Portugal and also researches and writes in Spanish as well as English, in “Populism in Portugal and Spain: a Real Neighbourhood?” provides insight into these historical paradoxes. Hungary shares some historical inclinations with Poland (above). Both emerged from Soviet dominance in an air of developing freedom and multicultural diversity after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed. Then, gradually at first, right wing-forces began to tighten up, stripping structures supporting popular freedom, from the courts, mass media, and other institutions. In Chapter 5, Bernard Tamas, in “From Youth Movement to Right-Liberal Wing Authoritarianism: The Rise of Fidesz and the Decline of Hungarian Democracy” puts the renewed growth of political and social repression into a context of worldwide nationalism. Tamas, an associate professor of political science at Valdosta State University, has been a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and a Fulbright scholar at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. His books include From Dissident to Party Politics: The Struggle for Democracy in Post-Communist Hungary (2007). Bear in mind that not everyone shares Orbán’s vision of what will make this nation great, again. On graffiti-covered walls in Budapest, Runes (traditional Hungarian script) has been found that read “Orbán is a motherfucker” (Mikanowski, 2019, 58). Also in Europe, in Chapter 6, Professor Ronan Le Coadic, of the University of Rennes, Rennes, France, in “Is There a Revival of French Nationalism?” Stating this title in the form of a question is quite appropriate because France’s nationalistic shift has built and ebbed several times during the last few decades. For a time after 2000, it came close to assuming the role of a substantial minority, only to ebb after that. In 2017, the candidate of the National Front reached the second round of the French presidential election. This was the second time this nationalist party reached the second round of the presidential election in the history of the Fifth Republic. In 2002, however, Jean-Marie Le Pen had only obtained 17.79% of the votes, while fifteen years later his daughter, Marine Le Pen, almost doubled her father's record, reaching 33.90% of the votes cast. Moreover, in the 2019 European elections, re-named Rassemblement National obtained the largest number of votes of all French political formations and can therefore boast of being "the leading party in France.” The brutality of oppressive nationalism may be expressed in personal relationships, such as child abuse. While Indonesia and Aotearoa [the Maoris’ name for New Zealand] hold very different ranks in the United Nations Human Development Programme assessments, where Indonesia is classified as a medium development country and Aotearoa New Zealand as a very high development country. In Chapter 7, “Domestic Violence Against Women in Indonesia and Aotearoa New Zealand: Making Sense of Differences and Similarities” co-authors, in Chapter 8, Mandy Morgan and Dr. Elli N. Hayati, from New Zealand and Indonesia respectively, found that despite their socio-economic differences, one in three women in each country experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence over their lifetime. In this chapter ther authors aim to deepen understandings of domestic violence through discussion of the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of theit countries to address domestic violence alongside studies of women’s attitudes to gender norms and experiences of intimate partner violence. One of the most surprising and upsetting scholarly journeys that a North American student may take involves Adolf Hitler’s comments on oppression of American Indians and Blacks as he imagined the construction of the Nazi state, a genesis of nationalism that is all but unknown in the United States of America, traced in this volume (Chapter 8) by co-editor Johansen. Beginning in Mein Kampf, during the 1920s, Hitler explicitly used the westward expansion of the United States across North America as a model and justification for Nazi conquest and anticipated colonization by Germans of what the Nazis called the “wild East” – the Slavic nations of Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, and Russia, most of which were under control of the Soviet Union. The Volga River (in Russia) was styled by Hitler as the Germans’ Mississippi, and covered wagons were readied for the German “manifest destiny” of imprisoning, eradicating, and replacing peoples the Nazis deemed inferior, all with direct references to events in North America during the previous century. At the same time, with no sense of contradiction, the Nazis partook of a long-standing German romanticism of Native Americans. One of Goebbels’ less propitious schemes was to confer honorary Aryan status on Native American tribes, in the hope that they would rise up against their oppressors. U.S. racial attitudes were “evidence [to the Nazis] that America was evolving in the right direction, despite its specious rhetoric about equality.” Ming Xie, originally from Beijing, in the People’s Republic of China, in Chapter 9, “News Coverage and Public Perceptions of the Social Credit System in China,” writes that The State Council of China in 2014 announced “that a nationwide social credit system would be established” in China. “Under this system, individuals, private companies, social organizations, and governmental agencies are assigned a score which will be calculated based on their trustworthiness and daily actions such as transaction history, professional conduct, obedience to law, corruption, tax evasion, and academic plagiarism.” The “nationalism” in this case is that of the state over the individual. China has 1.4 billion people; this system takes their measure for the purpose of state control. Once fully operational, control will be more subtle. People who are subject to it, through modern technology (most often smart phones) will prompt many people to self-censor. Orwell, modernized, might write: “Your smart phone is watching you.” Ming Xie holds two Ph.Ds, one in Public Administration from University of Nebraska at Omaha and another in Cultural Anthropology from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, where she also worked for more than 10 years at a national think tank in the same institution. While there she summarized news from non-Chinese sources for senior members of the Chinese Communist Party. Ming is presently an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, West Texas A&M University. In Chapter 10, analyzing native peoples and nationhood, Barbara Alice Mann, Professor of Honours at the University of Toledo, in “Divide, et Impera: The Self-Genocide Game” details ways in which European-American invaders deprive the conquered of their sense of nationhood as part of a subjugation system that amounts to genocide, rubbing out their languages and cultures -- and ultimately forcing the native peoples to assimilate on their own, for survival in a culture that is foreign to them. Mann is one of Native American Studies’ most acute critics of conquests’ contradictions, and an author who retrieves Native history with a powerful sense of voice and purpose, having authored roughly a dozen books and numerous book chapters, among many other works, who has traveled around the world lecturing and publishing on many subjects. Nalanda Roy and S. Mae Pedron in Chapter 11, “Understanding the Face of Humanity: The Rohingya Genocide.” describe one of the largest forced migrations in the history of the human race, the removal of 700,000 to 800,000 Muslims from Buddhist Myanmar to Bangladesh, which itself is already one of the most crowded and impoverished nations on Earth. With about 150 million people packed into an area the size of Nebraska and Iowa (population less than a tenth that of Bangladesh, a country that is losing land steadily to rising sea levels and erosion of the Ganges river delta. The Rohingyas’ refugee camp has been squeezed onto a gigantic, eroding, muddy slope that contains nearly no vegetation. However, Bangladesh is majority Muslim, so while the Rohingya may starve, they won’t be shot to death by marauding armies. Both authors of this exquisite (and excruciating) account teach at Georgia Southern University in Savannah, Georgia, Roy as an associate professor of International Studies and Asian politics, and Pedron as a graduate student; Roy originally hails from very eastern India, close to both Myanmar and Bangladesh, so he has special insight into the context of one of the most brutal genocides of our time, or any other. This is our case describing the problems that nationalism has and will pose for the sustainability of the Earth as our little blue-and-green orb becomes more crowded over time. The old ways, in which national arguments often end in devastating wars, are obsolete, given that the Earth and all the people, plants, and other animals that it sustains are faced with the existential threat of a climate crisis that within two centuries, more or less, will flood large parts of coastal cities, and endanger many species of plants and animals. To survive, we must listen to the Earth, and observe her travails, because they are increasingly our own.

<em>Abstract.</em>—The Hudson River Estuary (defined here as the Hudson River drainage and New York Harbor) is home to a large and diverse ichthyofauna. Estimates of species richness reflect both their geographic boundaries and time periods. The most complete estimate is for the Hudson River drainage north of the southern tip of Manhattan, where, as of 2005, 212 fish species have been recorded. This includes 11 new forms not reported in the most recently published tally (1990). We categorize the fishes of the Hudson River drainage as derived from 12 zoogeographic or anthropogenic sources (including species for which we make no judgment [<em>n </em>= 26]), the largest contributions from which include temperate marine strays (<em>n </em>= 65), introduced species (<em>n </em>= 28), and freshwater species that survived Pleistocene glaciations in Atlantic coastal refugia (<em>n </em>= 21). Additional species appear to have invaded from the Mississippi refugia, some naturally (<em>n </em>= 11) and some later, via canals (<em>n </em>= 11). Only ten diadromous fishes occur in the estuary, but many of these are, or have been, commercially and recreationally important (e.g., Atlantic sturgeon <em>Acipenser oxyrinchus</em>, American shad <em>Alosa sapidissima</em>, and striped bass <em>Morone saxatilis</em>). Extremely high seasonal temperature changes in the main-channel Hudson River foster a seasonally dynamic ichthyofauna with relatively few species occurring year round. However, the small number of resident estuarine fishes (<em>n </em>= 8) often occur in high abundances. Species richness peaks between June and September and reaches a minimum in winter. Long-term data indicate that although species richness has increased with the additions of new species, diversity is decreasing because of the decrease in population size of certain species, especially native cyprinids. The Hudson estuary hosts a population of one federally endangered species, shortnose sturgeon <em>Acipenser brevirostrum</em>, which is flourishing. Only one species, the anadromous rainbow smelt <em>Osmerus mordax </em>appears to have become extirpated in the Hudson Estuary.

<em>Abstract.</em>—The Hudson River Estuary (defined here as the Hudson River drainage and New York Harbor) is home to a large and diverse ichthyofauna. Estimates of species richness reflect both their geographic boundaries and time periods. The most complete estimate is for the Hudson River drainage north of the southern tip of Manhattan, where, as of 2005, 212 fish species have been recorded. This includes 11 new forms not reported in the most recently published tally (1990). We categorize the fishes of the Hudson River drainage as derived from 12 zoogeographic or anthropogenic sources (including species for which we make no judgment [<em>n </em>= 26]), the largest contributions from which include temperate marine strays (<em>n </em>= 65), introduced species (<em>n </em>= 28), and freshwater species that survived Pleistocene glaciations in Atlantic coastal refugia (<em>n </em>= 21). Additional species appear to have invaded from the Mississippi refugia, some naturally (<em>n </em>= 11) and some later, via canals (<em>n </em>= 11). Only ten diadromous fishes occur in the estuary, but many of these are, or have been, commercially and recreationally important (e.g., Atlantic sturgeon <em>Acipenser oxyrinchus</em>, American shad <em>Alosa sapidissima</em>, and striped bass <em>Morone saxatilis</em>). Extremely high seasonal temperature changes in the main-channel Hudson River foster a seasonally dynamic ichthyofauna with relatively few species occurring year round. However, the small number of resident estuarine fishes (<em>n </em>= 8) often occur in high abundances. Species richness peaks between June and September and reaches a minimum in winter. Long-term data indicate that although species richness has increased with the additions of new species, diversity is decreasing because of the decrease in population size of certain species, especially native cyprinids. The Hudson estuary hosts a population of one federally endangered species, shortnose sturgeon <em>Acipenser brevirostrum</em>, which is flourishing. Only one species, the anadromous rainbow smelt <em>Osmerus mordax </em>appears to have become extirpated in the Hudson Estuary.