Visible Space Research Articles

Spectatissima Femina : Female Visibility and Religion in Urban Spaces in Republican Rome

Abstract: This article challenges and reevaluates the model of the domesticated, invisible Roman woman, and seeks out the relationships between female visibility, religion, and urban spaces in Republican Rome. I adopt an intersectional approach to female visibility, focusing especially on religious rites, temporality, and on status symbols. I argue that women of various backgrounds used and were visible in numerous urban spaces, drawing on instances of their regular and episodic female religious activity, and on matronal vehicles and mobility privileges. At times, the Urbs was visibly female.

Advances in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: Sandra E. Black Lecture to the Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation.

Cerebral small vessel diseases (CSVDs) are among the most common age-related pathologies of the brain. Arteriolosclerosis and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) are the most common CSVDs. In addition to causing stroke and dementia, CSVDs can have diverse covert radiological manifestations on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging including lacunes, T2-weighted white matter hyperintensities, increased density of visible perivascular spaces, microbleeds and cortical superficial siderosis. Because they cannot be visualized directly, research on the pathophysiology of CSVD has been difficult. However, advances in quantitative imaging methods, including physiological imaging such as measurement of cerebrovascular reactivity and increased vascular permeability, are beginning to allow investigation of the early effects of CSVD in living people. Furthermore, genomics, metabolomics and proteomics have the potential to illuminate previously unrecognized pathways to CSVD that could be important targets for new clinical trials.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury andCareer Stage Associate with Visible Perivascular Spaces in Special Operations Forces Soldiers.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and occupational blast exposure in military Service Members may lead to impaired brain waste clearance which increases neurological disease risk. Perivascular spaces (PVS) are a key part of the glymphatic system which supports brain waste clearance, preferentially during sleep. Visible PVS on clinical magnetic resonance imaging have been previously observed in patients with neurodegenerative diseases and animal neurotrauma models. The purpose of this study was to determine associations between PVS morphological characteristics, military career stage, and mTBI history in Special Operations Forces (SOF)Soldiers. Participants underwent T2-weighed neuroimaging to capture three-dimensional whole brain volumes. Segmentation was performed using a previously validated, multi-scale deep convolutional encoder-decoder neural network. Only PVS clusters within the white matter mask were quantified for analyses. Due to non-normal PVS metric distribution, non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests were used to determine group differences in PVS outcomes. In total, 223 healthy SOF combat Soldiers (age = 33.1 ± 4.3yrs) were included, 217 reported career stage. Soldiers with mTBI history had greater PVS number (z = 2.51, P = 0.013) and PVS volume (z = 2.42, P = 0.016). In-career SOF combat Soldiers had greater PVS number (z = 2.56, P = 0.01) and PVS volume (z = 2.28, P = 0.02) compared to a baseline cohort. Mild TBI history is associated with increased PVS burden in SOF combat Soldiers that are clinically recovered from mTBI. This may indicate ongoing physiological changes that could lead to impaired waste clearance via the glymphatic system. Future studies should determine if PVS number and volume are meaningful neurobiological outcomes for neurodegenerative disease risk and if clinical interventions such as improving sleep can reduce PVS burden.

Abstract TP39: Multi-Marker Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Score and Risk of Incident Depression: The Framingham Heart Study

Introduction: The vascular depression hypothesis postulates that cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) contributes to the development of depression. A multi-marker CSVD score based on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could serve as a valuable tool for predicting the risk of developing vascular depression. This is important as depression can mimic cognitive impairment, dementia and is treatable. This study aimed to determine the relation of a MRI multi-marker CSVD score with incident depression in community-dwelling individuals. Methods: Framingham Heart Study participants from the Original and Offspring cohorts free of stroke, dementia and depression with available data on depression and CSVD ratings on MRI were included. Depression was defined as Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale score ≥16 or use of antidepressant medication. The multi-marker CSVD score was calculated by summing 1 point for individual CSVD markers present (covert brain infarcts, cerebral microbleeds, extensive white matter hyperintensities, high burden perivascular spaces, cortical superficial siderosis), ranging 0-5. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to relate the MRI-multi-marker CSVD score and incident depression in a primary analysis and individual CSVD biomarkers and depression in an exploratory analysis. Models were adjusted for age, sex, FHS cohort, time interval between MRI and clinic exam, body mass index, smoking, prevalent hypertension and diabetes. Results: In 1768 participants included (mean age 54.4±12.4 years, 54% male), the incidence of depression was 11% (median follow-up 6.0 years, IQR: 5.3-6.7). No CSVD score group had a statistically significant association with incident depression, however a CSVD score 3+ showed a trend towards increased odds of developing incident depression (OR 2.65 [0.87, 8.06], p =0.09). Among the individual CSVD markers, visible perivascular spaces had the highest odds for incident depression (OR 1.55 [0.96, 2.51] p =0.07). Conclusion: A higher multi-marker CSVD score might be associated with increased odds of incident depression. Further studies with a larger sample may help elucidate a potential association between this CSVD burden and onset of depression.

Framing urbanities: invisible/visible urban assemblages

This visual essay provides a reflective journey through the complexities of urban places. Drawing on curated juxtapositions of photographs from different places, I explore the transformations of public spaces and their role in shaping urban environments. The included frames offer a critical perspective on themes such as urban informality, affordance, temporality, urban transformation, mobility, visibility, performance, and public space. Informed by the theoretical frameworks of assemblage thinking and comparative urbanism, this visual essay enables a more sophisticated exploration of the relations between various elements across different scales and contexts. It cuts across geographical boundaries and highlights the evolving nature of urban places as they are continuously being made, unmade, and remade over time. I delve into the complexities of urban transformation and questions of urban inequalities, while also shedding light on the dynamics of visibility and the politics of public space. This visual essay highlights the capacities of urban photography to facilitate critical reflections on urban environments and the dynamic processes that shape them.

Assessment of glymphatic dysfunction in pediatric idiopathic intracranial hypertension: insights from quantitative diffusivity and perivascular spaces analysis-a case-control study.

The impaired drainage of cerebrospinal fluid through the glymphatic system is thought to play a role in the idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) pathophysiology. Limited data exist regarding the glymphatic system's involvement in pediatric patients with IIH. Therefore, the study's objective was to quantitatively evaluate alterations in parenchymal diffusivity and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-visible dilated perivascular spaces (PVS) as imaging indicators of glymphatic dysfunction in pediatric patients with IIH. Patients diagnosed with IIH in 2017-2022 in a single tertiary center (Sheba Medical Center, Israel) were retrospectively reviewed. Twenty-four pediatric patients were enrolled. All patients underwent clinical 3-T brain MRI. The control group included 24 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects with a normal-appearing brain on imaging. We used automatic atlas-based diffusion-weighted imaging analysis to determine regional diffusivity of the thalamus, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, hippocampus, amygdala, and brain stem. PVS were evaluated using a semi-quantitative rating scale on T2-weighted images. Variables were compared using the Mann-Whitney test. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to test for differences between controls and IIH patients. No significant differences in regional brain diffusivity were observed between individuals with IIH and healthy controls (P=0.14-0.91 for various brain regions). The number of visible PVS was comparable between patients with IIH and the control group across all evaluated sites (P=0.12-0.74 for various brain regions). Pediatric IIH patients exhibited similar patterns of parenchymal diffusivity and PVS compared to age-matched controls. These findings do not support the hypothesis that the glymphatic system may play a role in the pathophysiology of pediatric IIH, although previously postulated. However, employing more sophisticated magnetic resonance (MR) techniques could enhance the sensitivity in uncovering underlying glymphatic dysfunction. Further research is warranted to validate and explore this association in larger cohorts and investigate the underlying mechanisms involved in IIH.

Use of Preoperative Lumbosacral Spine X-rays in Developing a Predictor Score for Facilitating Neuraxial Blocks in Patients undergoing Lower Limb Arthroplasty Surgeries: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Due to bony changes and narrow lumbar interspinous spaces, performing a neuraxial block becomes difficult in older patients undergoing lower limb arthroplasties. Aim: To formulate a difficulty predictor score (MUSG score) for anticipating difficult Central Neuraxial Blocks (CNB) and to compare lumbar spine radiological findings with clinical findings. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 166 patients admitted for knee or hip arthroplasties from March 2023 to March 2024 in the main operation theatre complex of a tertiary care hospital. All patients were advised to get X-rays of the lumbosacral spine in both anteroposterior and lateral views before surgery. The total difficulty predictor score was calculated from the X-rays based on the presence or absence of scoliosis, bony osteophytes, angulation of spinous processes, calcification of the ligamentum flavum, and the ratio of inner and outer visible interspinous space. The minimum score was 5 and the maximum was 12. The individual score at each interspinous level was calculated and selected the space with the minimum score for the CNB. A comparison was also made with the clinically selected best space, which was identified using the traditional palpation technique. A block was labeled difficult if there were more than two attempts for spinal and epidural block, respectively. All collected data were entered into a Microsoft Excel sheet and analysed using Microsoft Excel software. Results: The study patients had a mean age of 59.83 years. The total difficulty predictor score (MUSG Score) of the lumbar spine was 5 in 3 patients (1.8%), 6-9 in 140 patients (84.3%), and ≥10 in 23 patients (13.9%). However, the minimum score at the best interspinous space was 5 in 15 patients (9%), 6-9 in 151 patients (91%), and none had a score of 10 or more. From radiological imaging, the spaces with minimal scores were in the order of L2-L3 (76), L3-L4 (62), and L1-L2 (28); while on clinical examination, they were – L2-L3 (96), L3-L4 (43), L1-L2 (23). The difference between the two was statistically significant (p-value <0.05). The time required for the block procedure was longer in patients with a score of 6-9 (13.99 minutes) than in those with a score of 5 (11.13 minutes). Haemodynamic changes from baseline were also more pronounced in patients with a score of 6-9 compared to those with a score of 5. Conclusion: CNBs in patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasties are easier to perform with the help of the difficulty predictor score (MUSG Score). A difficulty predictor score of 5 is associated with an easier block compared to higher scores.

Exploring lesbian adolescence: an analysis of Abha Dawesar’s Babyji

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the advancement of cultural transformation over time demands certain alterations in human perceptions. It also aims to examine the 21st century’s many radical changes in India, the constant legal battles to decriminalize homosexuality, and challenges to the rigid dichotomy between heterosexuality and homosexuality. Besides, it influences popular culture among the masses, which has turned out to create a more visible space for the lesbian community. In India, lesbian literature begins synchronously under the shades of women’s writing and feminism that wires new hopes for their identity.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines a primary text as Indian writer Abha Dawesar’s Babyji (2005). There comes the iconic work of Abha Dawesar’s Babyji (2005), which creates a turning point by introducing the life, inner conflict and turbulence of a teenage girl. In addition, a textual analysis of this novel brings forth an analysis of attributes such as sexuality, gender and the interplay of caste and class that meld lesbian childhood and adolescence. This paper also examines how a lesbian girl adapts to and negotiates her maturation amidst vivid social scenarios and cultural conditioning.FindingsA few studies (Hidalgo, et al., 2013; Bem, 1989; Pyne, 2016) show many children have reached or crossed their teenage life without accurate or affirmative knowledge of sexuality and gender. Parents, teachers and even other intellectuals of the adult world fail to transfer their knowledge effectively to children. Definitely, the relevance of sex education is paramount, but more important is what implementation tactics should be used for the same cause. The point is that sex education should not be condensed into a certain gender or perpetuate parochial discrimination. It needs to adapt an age-appropriate curriculum for the cognitive and emotional development of the individuals. Considering these factors, understanding comprehensive sex education is what is most likely to find sustainable remedies for this matter. Gerald writes about a socialization process and gays and lesbians hiding their identity from family and society; a fear of rejection; there is a social gap in peer and family spheres. These fears prevent lesbian or gay young persons from fully developing their identities (1999). Rao and Mason tested a model derived from minority stress theory in which the perceived impact of Section 377 increases depressive symptoms of sexual minorities by increasing concealment stress, leading to a diminished sense of belonging. Because of their minority status, they are more vulnerable to and have a higher prevalence of mental illness than heterosexual individuals (2018).Originality/valueBabyji has created a discourse to perpetuate normativity and gives importance to the mental health of the excluded lesbian group. It opens a door to studying teenage groups’ issues and their challenges to understanding social and mental issues regarding their identity. A study on this untouched area is required to highlight their issues and mental health problems. This research is an initiative step to create and provide a platform to raise awareness in society.

Detectability and accuracy of computational measurements of in-silico and physical representations of enlarged perivascular spaces from magnetic resonance images

BackgroundMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) visible perivascular spaces (PVS) have been associated with age, decline in cognitive abilities, interrupted sleep, and markers of small vessel disease. But the limits of validity of their quantification have not been established. New methodWe use a purpose-built digital reference object to construct an in-silico phantom for addressing this need, and validate it using a physical phantom. We use cylinders of different sizes as models for PVS. We also evaluate the influence of ‘PVS’ orientation, and different sets of parameters of the two vesselness filters that have been used for enhancing tubular structures, namely Frangi and RORPO filters, in the measurements’ accuracy. ResultsPVS measurements in MRI are only a proxy of their true dimensions, as the boundaries of their representation are consistently overestimated. The success in the use of the Frangi filter relies on a careful tuning of several parameters. Alpha= 0.5, beta= 0.5 and c= 500 yielded the best results. RORPO does not have these requirements and allows detecting smaller cylinders in their entirety more consistently in the absence of noise and confounding artefacts. The Frangi filter seems to be best suited for voxel sizes equal or larger than 0.4 mm-isotropic and cylinders larger than 1 mm diameter and 2 mm length. ‘PVS’ orientation did not affect measurements in data with isotropic voxels. Comparison with existent methodsDoes not apply. ConclusionsThe in-silico and physical phantoms presented are useful for establishing the validity of quantification methods of tubular small structures.

The Representation of Black Queer Masculinities on YouTube in the Film Out of This World

This article is an explorative study of the documentary film Out of This World (2017), which captures the narratives and experiences of queer individuals in Johannesburg, South Africa, through a series of snapshots. Guided by activist and host Mykki Blanco, the film explores queer creative cultures in post-apartheid South Africa using YouTube as a platform. It exposes the lived realities of queer voices often silenced and marginalised, bringing visibility to stories of urban CBD and township queer experiences. The film navigates the experiences of the “born-free” generation within the queer community, as they grapple with continued marginalisation. Utilising social media, the film exemplifies self-fashioned queer visualities in post-apartheid South Africa, enabling visibility and belonging for some queer individuals. The film employs YouTube as a visual media to understand how black queer people forge spaces of visibility, countering historical oppression and erasure. The article serves to explore and discuss how black queer masculinities are represented on YouTube in the film Out of This World. The article will employ Grant Andrews’s concept of “mirror” and “mirroring,” utilising visual media to foster recognition and identity in the post-apartheid context. The project uses qualitative visual content analysis to unpack the complex social and cultural dynamics represented in these texts, and the analysis demonstrates how these visual texts are themselves sites of resistance and of imagining and claiming “liveable lives” that the transgressive vulnerabilities allow for.

Building a Digital Education Library

As a formal institutional structure, university libraries represent at their core the collective knowledge and opportunity for deep personalised learning and professional development across the traditionalist subject matters. As professionals working within rapidly-evolving fields of online learning, in particular those around Learning Design, we do not have this same level of access or historical record as more traditional subjects (Elmborg, 2011). The Digital Education Library is an exploration of bridging this gap in a collaborative, co-curated, less formal approach to professional development. In adapting the library structure to meet the needs and breadth of our team, we also have the opportunity to modernise for access and inclusion. This design accounts for the needs of modern hybrid work models and encourages recognition of the breadth of skills, knowledge, and interests existing within our own team structures. The [institution]’s Digital Education division comprises of four smaller areas; a Learning Design, Learning Media, Learning Environments, and Exams & e-Assessments teams, under its broader banner. These interconnected roles each add value and contexts to library content and design (Ilahi et al., 2019). With a diverse team from dispersed locations, curation and access to digital resources and physical books are embedded in the design to normalise and facilitate hybrid teams. With these factors considered, building a Digital Education library gathers a broad range of themes related to third space design needs. The platform chosen utilises a hybrid approach (UNESCO, 2003), alongside a physical library of works, focused on not just instructional design, but a broad range of adjacent themes related to the areas of the Digital Education division – assessment design, media and graphic design, user experience, learning design, academic development, as well as works focused on the scholarship of teaching & learning, leadership, team culture, and data literacy. The range of themes explored is intentionally designed to foster partnerships between areas of the team, and hold intentional and visible space for professional development. Agency within the team is also fostered through opportunity for co-creation, through the option for team members to easily share resources they’ve found interesting, with relevant tags, descriptors, and templates. This presentation will explore the Digital Education Library and its design process, from its dual perspective roles as both a library of digital education, and a digital library of education.

Affected Mexico human papillomavirus vaccine: a proposal for collective health care

The objective of this article is to analyze the process of formation of Afectadas México Vacuna Virus del Papiloma Humano, a group of mothers organized from the health affectations of their daughters attributed to the immunization against this virus, as a space of collective care. The qualitative research, with in-depth interviews and an analysis from the sociocultural perspective of emotions and crossed by gender, has focused on reflecting on the causes that have led these mothers, as primary caregivers in the process of care and attention to the health of the affected daughters, to build alternative spaces of visibility, mutual support, dialogue and collective denunciation, taking as main tool the use of social networks and digitality, as these are the most used means of mass contact at present, with projection to different social spheres. From this study it has been concluded that the competent contexts to the health-disease-care process are not alien to social responses that take shape in organizations of denunciation, rejection and protest, even from a non-physical and conventional mobilization. The post-vaccine effect has served to make it clear that health is also a matter of social and political competition, in which emotions are the binding element that strengthens the union. The experience with the loss of the daughters' health links the expressions of feeling in action, interaction and politicization of women from their own material and ideological resources.

Renal Lobulation—A Benign Macroanatomical Variation?

Introduction: Renal lobulation (also known as fetal or embryonic lobulation) is a rare variation during development in which renal lobules have a visible anatomical space between them, and this can be seen in 0.5–4% of adults. Material and methods: this study was conducted on 54 human kidneys from patients who died due to causes unrelated to renal pathology which were fixed in a 10% formaldehyde solution and then carefully dissected. Results: The group with fetal lobulation (n = 16) was associated with a length M = 9.89 (SD = 0.6, p = 0.15). By comparison, the kidneys without lobulation (n = 38) were associated with a numerically longer length M = 10.29 (SD = 0.607, p = 0.098). To test the hypothesis that lobulation is associated with a statistically significant different length a Mann–Whitney test was performed, which indicated that the length of the kidneys is smaller in scase of lobulation U = 198, Z = −2.04, p = 0.04. Cross-tabulation also demonstrated that kidney lobulation may be influenced by the presence of polar arteries with r = 0.41 (p < 0.02). The likelihood ratio was 7.28, df 1, p = 0.003, with an odds ratio of 6.857 (CI 95% = 1.84–25.61). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that kidneys with lobulation were 6.85 times more likely to have polar arteries than kidneys without lobulation. Conclusions: the data from our research indicate that even though no pathological conditions have been linked with lobulated kidneys, the incidence of vascular variations (specifically polar arteries) is higher when there is persistent fetal lobulation.

MRI Visible Perivascular Spaces and the Risk of Incident Mild Cognitive Impairment in a Community Sample.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visible perivascular spaces (PVS) are associated with the risk of incident dementia but their association with the early stages of cognitive impairment remains equivocal. We examined the association between MRI visible PVS and the risk of incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the community-based Framingham Heart Study (FHS). FHS participants aged at least 50 years free of stroke, cognitive impairment, and dementia at the time of MRI were included. PVS were rated according to severity in the basal ganglia and centrum semiovale (CSO) using established criteria. Cox regression analyses were used to relate PVS to incident MCI adjusted for demographic and cardiovascular variables. The mean age of the sample (1,314 participants) at MRI was 68 years (SD, 9; 54% women). There were 263 cases of incident MCI over a median 7.4 years follow-up (max, 19.8 years). MCI risk increased with higher PVS severity in the CSO. Relative to persons with the lowest severity rating, persons with the highest severity rating in the CSO had a higher risk of incident MCI (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48-4.37; p = 0.0007). In secondary analysis, this association seemed stronger in women. Risk of incident MCI was nominally higher for participants with the highest severity grade of PVS in the basal ganglia, though not statistically significant relative to the lowest grade (HR = 2.19; 95% CI, 0.78-6.14; p = 0.14). PVS burden in the CSO may be a risk marker for early cognitive impairment.

(In)visible spaces: Probing into the politics of same sex belonging in Geetanjali Shree’s The Roof Beneath Their Feet

ABSTRACT The paper adopts a close textual analysis of the representation of same sex desire in Geetanjali Shree’s novel The Roof Beneath Their Feet (2013), originally published in Hindi as Tirohit (2007), as it tends to dismantle the domestic realm as a heteronormative space. It focuses on clandestine and parallel arrangements of togetherness forged out of love and longing formed within the heterosexual family, which imparts a sense of belonging. Using belonging as a conceptual framework, it examines how female sexual subjectivity is mediated through spatial markers of intimacy as evident through the use of sub-urban local community spaces (mohalla), secrecy, and gossip as modes of articulation. Rather than understanding families in terms of hetero/homosexual binary, it tries to locate same sex familial belonging within specific networks of power relationships such as class, gender, and community thereby outlining the shifting connotations of desire, visibility, invisibility and female sexual subjectivity. Thus, drawing from Feminist Geography and Queer theory, it demonstrates how same sex belonging, which is manifested through the “experiencing” of desire, is both performatively constituted and also influenced by the politics of intersectionality.

Effects of sleep on brain perivascular space in a cognitively healthy population

The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visible perivascular space (PVS) reportedly clears amyloid-β and metabolic waste during sleep. Previous studies reported an association between sleep and the PVS in small vessel disease, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer's disease. However, this relationship in a healthy cohort is still unclear. Here, we used the Human Connectome Project Aging dataset to analyze the relationship between sleep and the PVS in cognitively healthy adults across the aging continuum. We measured sleep parameters using the self-reported Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire. We found that older adults who had better sleep quality and sleep efficiency presented with a larger PVS volume fraction in the basal ganglia (BG). However, sleep measures were not associated with PVS volume fraction in the centrum semiovale (CSO). In addition, we found that body mass index (BMI) influenced the BG-PVS across middle-aged and older participants. In the entire cognitively healthy cohort, the effect of sleep quality on PVS volume fraction was mediated by BMI. However, BMI did not influence this effect in the older cohort. Furthermore, there are significant differences in PVS volume fraction across racial/ethnic cohorts. In summary, the effect of sleep on the PVS volume alteration was different in the middle-aged adults and older adults.

Spatial–temporal enactments of home-schooling among low-income families of primary-aged children

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on spatial–temporal enactments of home-schooling among low-income families of primary-aged children in England. COVID-19 re-set boundaries and spaces of formal education for children across the globe, bringing it directly into homes and shifting the involvement of parents/carers in their children’s education. In England, “home-school” engagement was brought into sharp focus as “home” became a more visible quasi-public space through which multiple government COVID-19 policies were enacted. Despite emerging literature on home-schooling during the pandemic, voices of parents and children from low-income families have been little heard. Here we take a critical family approach and draw on interviews with low-income families to understand how education was negotiated, enacted and reconfigured within the home during the pandemic. Drawing on literatures relating to policy enactment, carescapes and home-school engagement, we offer unique insight into spatial and temporal constraints of the everyday and the necessary reconstitution of wholescale policy enactment among low-income families.

On the longevity of visual colonial stereotyping and its influence on twenty-first-century societal and identity debates

This paper engages with current societal identity debates related to select postcolonial southern African circles, whose European origins can partially be traced back to the creation of the colonial photography genre. The contemporary visualisation of non-white Africans in the European landscape is linked to a genre that was born in the times of High Imperialism. As a child of its time, colonial photography laid the foundation for both racist and racial depiction patterns of certain African peoples and what their supposed traits and looks were from the coloniser’s point of view, thereby creating seeing patterns. Until today, social debates and political movements are linked to the visualisation of non-white peoples. This project is about the historical muting of sub-Saharan Africa through stereotypical images and its links to the shaping and maintenance of postcolonial identity debates concerning racialised visualisation traditions in Europe. This repetitive visual blinding is another form of colonial aggression by constantly perpetuating certain image(rie)s and thereby facilitating colonial mentalities. Examples presented below show how far-reaching the colonial photographic stereotypes are by not limiting the scope of seeing traditions to photographs. Instead, other areas of visible everyday spaces like street names, monuments, statues, lawsuits or book covers are included.

The EB Correlation in Resolved Polarized Images: Connections to the Astrophysics of Black Holes

We present an in-depth analysis of the newly proposed correlation function in visibility space, between the E and B modes of linear polarization, hereafter the EB correlation, for a set of time-averaged general relativistic magnetohydrodynamical simulations compared with the phase map from different semianalytic models and the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) 2017 data for M87*. We demonstrate that the phase map of time-averaged EB correlation contains novel information that might be linked to black hole (BH) spin, accretion state, and electron temperature. A detailed comparison with a semianalytic approach with different azimuthal expansion modes shows that to recover the morphology of real/imaginary part of the correlation function and its phase, we require higher orders of azimuthal modes. To extract the phase features, we use Zernike polynomial reconstruction developing an empirical metric to break degeneracies between models with different BH spins that are qualitatively similar. We use a set of geometrical ring models with various magnetic and velocity field morphologies, showing that both the image space and visibility-based EB-correlation morphologies in magnetically arrested disk simulations can be explained with simple fluid and magnetic field geometries as used in ring models. Standard and normal evolutions by contrast are harder to model, demonstrating that the simple fluid and magnetic field geometries of ring models are not sufficient to describe them owing to higher Faraday rotation depths. A qualitative comparison with the EHT data demonstrates that some of the features in the phase of EB correlation might be well explained by the current models for BH spins and electron temperatures, while others require larger theoretical surveys.

Optic Nerve Head Abnormalities in Nonpathologic High Myopia and the Relationship With Visual Field.

To describe the optic nerve head (ONH) abnormalities in nonpathologic highly myopic eyes based on swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) and the relationship with visual field (VF). Secondary analysis from a longitudinal cohort study. Highly myopic patients without myopic maculopathy of category 2 or higher were enrolled. All participants underwent a swept-source OCT examination focused on ONH. We differentiated between 3 major types (optic disc morphologic abnormality, papillary/peripapillary tissue defect, and papillary/peripapillary schisis) and 12 subtypes of ONH abnormalities. The prevalence and characteristics of ONH abnormalities and the relationship with VF were analyzed. A total of 857 participants (1389 eyes) were included. Among the 1389 eyes, 91.86%, 68.61%, and 34.92% of them had at least 1, 2, or 3 ONH abnormalities, respectively, which corresponded to 29.55%, 31.79%, and 35.67% of VF defects, respectively. Among the 12 subtypes of the 3 major types, peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structure, visible retrobulbar subarachnoid space, and prelaminar schisis were the most common, respectively. Perimetric defects corresponding to OCT abnormalities were more commonly found in eyes with peripapillary retinal detachment, peripapillary retinoschisis, and peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structure. Glaucoma-like VF defects were more common in eyes with deep optic cups (28.17%) and with optic disc pit/pit-like change (18.92%). We observed and clarified the ONH structural abnormalities in eyes with nonpathologic high myopia. These descriptions may be helpful to differentiate changes in pathologic high myopia or glaucoma.