Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning; and, (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1985. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 210-213. / by Ellen Lou. / M.S.

Astrocytes are the most abundant type of glial cell in the brain, required to ensure optimal neuronal functioning, neurogenesis, and brain vascular tone. Moreover, they play a crucial role in support of neuronal metabolism. The human brain utilizes around 20% of the energy consumed to ensure its proper function. Glucose, an important energy source for the brain, access the neuropil across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and then is transported into astrocytes through their perivascular end-feet, where it can be stored as glycogen. Furthermore, lactate can be synthesized through glycogenolysis and then shuttled via monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) to neurons to fuel their tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. This mechanism is known as astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle (ANLS) and is involved in learning and memory formation. Aging is associated with a decline of faculties such as memory, motor skills, and sensory perception. These deficits are not thought to be due to a substantial loss of neurons but rather changes at the level of connectivity, morphological changes, and white matter structure. In the present study, we aim to compare the glycogen distribution in layer I of the somatosensory cortex between adult (4 months old) and geriatric mice (24 months old). We carried out the visual analysis using Connectome Explorer, which allows us to explore, in real-time, brain reconstructions at the nanometric-level. Using the computational tool GLAM (Glycogen-derived Lactate Absorption Map), we can infer a probability map of the locations where astrocytic glycogen-derived lactate is most likely accessing the surrounding neurites. We analyzed and compared the probability maps on axons, dendrites, boutons, and spines to make a functional hypothesis about single compartments’ energy consumption. Our results indicate that aging brains have a more glycolytic metabolism, with fewer peaks facing mitochondria, and smaller glycogen granules.

In the 1990s, the MLA sector – archives, libraries, museums – was defined as a comprehensive sector. One of the reasons for this was the belief that the digitizing of institutional collections and catalogues would provide a seamless access to the cultural heritage for the general public. No one would any longer need to know in which institution a certain object was kept; everything would be available on the Internet. The questions in this dissertation depart from the expectations in the late 1900s aimed at the available systems in the MLA sector for the management and storage of information and at knowledge maintained in such systems. My point of departure is the idea that access to collections in the MLA sector – real or digital – is made possible through the catalogues. It is in the catalogues that the sector orders data and preserves knowledge collected about the objects. My most important conclusions deal with the management and production of knowledge in the sector. The data systems generally used in the MLA sector lack the indulgence needed to accommodate inherent variability of information. Systems must be based on exact sorting, uniform terminology and classification without deviations in spelling or interpretation. Furthermore, international projects and systems presuppose distinct translations between national terminologies and international classification systems to work for information retrievals. This is not the case with the museum systems here investigated, in opposition to, primarily, the libraries. The museum systems are characterised as distinctive instead of following uniformity principles and national or international taxonomies. An important conclusion about knowledge processing and knowledge production in the MLA sector is that the value of compiling digitalised data from many museums is limited. It is not possible to realize the political goal other than at a superficial level. The conclusions in a comparison between the three professional groups are that in the beginning of the 21th century an extensive part of the antiquarians confirm a thought style, according to Ludwik Fleck, which has another direction than that of archivists and librarians. Throughout the 20th century or in the last decades of the 20th century the two latter groups professionalised their roles both through changes in education and through new professional requirements which led to positions and attitudes in their work other than what happened in the museum sector. Museums are mainly research institutions with members of staff who in many respects lack a focus on increased accessibility of collections. Challenges formulated for museums of cultural history by the cultural politics of the 1970s have not been answered with great flexibility. The investigation in this dissertation demonstrates that archives, libraries and museums in many respects continue to pursue activities according to a thought style which was formed during the first half of the 20th century. Their positions in society, their administrational practice and expectations from the general public constitute stabilising and preserving factors. The MLA sector is not as comprehensive as the policy makers want to believe.

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For the last thirty years Swedish institutions, both on governmental and foundational level, have seeked to illuminate the horrors of the Holocaust and antisemitism. A part in this was collection of testimonies from survivors of the Holocaust as to save first-hand accounts from an aging population of survivors. In the middle ground between making said collections accessible and protecting the materials from potential racist and antisemitic attacks, sometimes collections were deemed too vulnerable to be made fully available which has put substantial accounts from the Holocaust behind protective barriers, figuratively speaking. A recent effort of once again intending to bring the Holocaust to the table, the newly established Swedish Holocaust Museum must deal with similar considerations of accessibility versus vulnerability. An aspect that was not as prevalent thirty years ago was digitization of cultural heritage or society in general. This practice of dealing with cultural heritage comes with its own set of considerations – Something that has been discussed in this study.  With a starting point in the Swedish Holocaust Museum, digitization of collections dealing with either Jewish cultural heritage or Holocaust memory has been the focus in this study. Other than the Swedish Holocaust Museum, the Nordic Museum, Uppsala University Library and the Jewish Library has been surveyed through interviews in trying to extract each institutions’ policies and practices regarding digitization of the abovementioned kind. To focus the study Gidlund & Sundbergs (2021) digitization as a societal arrangement was used together with Gamstorps (2020) description of Jewish history and Holocaust history as two sides of the same coin.  It was found that each institutions have limitations as to what they can digitize, be it lack of funds or regulations. In some cases, the limitations halted the digitization of the materials and other institutions tried to find solutions. The Swedish Holocaust Museum, the author argues, is placed in a unique spot in challenging current status quo in making accessible cultural heritage deemed vulnerable.

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The sculptural environments I create immerse the viewer in a decrepit vaudevillian past. The sculptures allude to narratives within Community Theater as well as the Drag Show. Making becomes an act; manipulating materials such as synthetic hair and paint are associated with the guise of the makeup artist. Frantic rehearsal logic prevails as a dress is repurposed into a male giant's costume and window blinds are used to construct a boat's deck. This collusion asks the viewer to transgress the boundary of the stage, becoming a voyeur privileged to the world of exiled props and role reversal.

This thesis examines the benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing technology within the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) sector of Sweden and Finland. It employs the case study of the recently developed and launched Digital Archive Project at Åland Maritime Museum which leveraged the Amazon Web Services (AWS) technology stack to provide a cloud-based digital platform for the museum's archival materials. The primary objective of this study is to understand the interaction, usage, and suitability of cloud computing technologies and the impact of User Experience (UX) (primary users being the GLAM professionals) on digitalization efforts. This study analyzes eight GLAM institutions in Sweden and Finland using semi-structured interviews and compares the trust and readiness of adapting to private cloud service providers. The findings reveal that Finland has a more ‘aggressive’ and experimental approach to newer technologies such as cloud computing tools, compared to Sweden. In Sweden, there is an appreciation for pleasant UX and methods to make heritage material more accessible, but there is also a lot of hesitation due to the data privacy regulations in the aftermath of the Schrems II Judgment and the invalidation of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Agreement. The study concludes that AWS as a cloud provider is difficult to incorporate in the public sector GLAM institutions compared to the private sector. The study also provides practical recommendations for GLAM institutions and professionals and calls for further interdisciplinary research with Digital Humanists at the center of it.