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Writing in 2004, bell hooks suggests that Black men respond to histories of patriarchal domination and emotional isolation through a "politics of cool." She ties the notion of cool to the ability to be "real." For her this is epitomized by the vulnerability of blues and jazz musicians whose art was historically a form of lament. She contrasts this with the versions of rap and hip-hop that, she says, use "cool" to distance men from their feelings. Whether empowering or a form of further disenfranchisement, the strategies of cool are the subject of this article. It asks how the politics of cool intersects with race and gender. The article considers the epistemology of "cool" across different consumer media. The music video, This Is America, it is argued, resists easy classification but expands the concept of and jouissance of 'cool' so that violence too becomes a kind of vulnerability, an expression of pain. The art of Mohau Modisakeng likewise pulls the politics of cool into the gallery and creates new possibilities for the sublimation of righteous anger. Through iterations of cool, Black masculine subjectivities are discussed as in tension with the dream of decolonization and the transnational reality of capitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the confessional pages of her memoirs Prozac Nation and More, Now, Again and in the meditations on popular culture that characterise her journalism and non-fiction, Elizabeth Wurtzel's writing demonstrates a consistent emphasis on images of iconic rebellion. Recognising the ways these patterns mesh with her wider focus on addiction and depression, this article situates Wurtzel's vision of outsiderdom in relation to cool's often explicitly masculine discourses and moves from there to demonstrate the extent to which the focus on cool lifestyles informs her representations of addiction and depression. In terms that connect the cultural with the psychological, 'Uncomfortably numb' illuminates not just Wurtzel's writing and the patterns that shape the interpretation of cool, but the nature of the way a depressive self is narrated, negotiated and understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract On January 9, 2017, the United States (US) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration enacted the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) in an effort to close the world's largest seafood market for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. It also alleges to mitigate the widespread phenomenon of seafood fraud in the US by promoting traceable supply chains involved in its transnational commerce. This novel program shows the potential to complement the decades-long yet patchy seafood country-of-origin labelling in the US, as it mandates more complete and precise chain-of-custody information from harvest to arrival at the US border. In this context, this article further explores the regulatory room and fundamental pitfalls of this program to advance the human vision on sustainable fish and fisheries. It provides a legal and policy insight into the status quo and the reasons accountable for the SIMP to end up serving its narrowly-focused regulatory purposes. Upon that basis the article proposes practical ways for the system to develop and become a viable driver of ecological and social sustainability in the implementation years to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to find out the seed vigour tests related to the field emergence and to combine the tests by a stepwise linear multiple regression model for the best prediction possibilities of field performance. Fifty-four seed lots of sunflower hybrids were investigated for germination, emergence, seedling growth, cool germination (CG) and cold test (CT), accelerated aging (AA) conditioned at 41, 43 and 45°C for 48, 72, 96, 120 and 144 h. Seed weight and oil content were not related to the emergence capacity of sunflower seed lots. The seed lots showed significant variation for initial seed viability ranked between 47.5% and 100.0%, but the field emergence ranged between 34.0% and 95.0%. Germination percentage was significantly correlated with the cool germination (r=0.823**), laboratory emergence (r=0.802**) and cold test (r=0.775**), respectively. The highest correlation coefficient for the field emergence was calculated with the laboratory emergence (r=0.856**), followed by the cool (r=0.783**) and cold test (r=0.735**). All of the combinations of AA conditions exhibited lower and insignificant correlations than that of others; consequently, it was not found as advisable for sunflower. A stepwise linear multiple regression revealed an ideal model consisted of the variables laboratory emergence, cool and cold test with determination coefficient of R²=0.80, y=6.46+0.89*LE+0.35*CG-0.41*CT for forecasting the field performance of sunflower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the succession of countercultural music scenes in the region of former Yugoslavia and their visual expressions. They deserve attention not only as important cultural formations largely unknown outside of Yugoslavia, but also because of critical questions raised by their current revival. The paper will discuss the work of influential designers Dragan S. Stefanović and Mirko Ilić,and Sarajevan collectives New Primitvs and Trio, tracing a visual subcultural heritage that evolved from one scene onto another from the 1980s to the present. ‘Cool’ is the identity framework that governed all generations of Yugoslav countercultural scenes. Positioned as an alternative to the mainstream, it served as a platform to innovate. In reaching its maturity during the 1990s Yugoslav war, it became the ideal vehicle to express a cosmopolitan vision rooted in the multi-ethnic culture of Sarajevo, an antidote to the ethnic conflict that plagued the region. It is this cosmopolitan vision that is questionable today, despite the scenes’ revival. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A family of composite cool thermal insulation materials has been developed as part of the DICOM research project, in order to provide building materials optimized for the retrospective insulation of existing buildings, which contribute in particular to the reduction of cooling loads in summer. An integrated evaluation of the materials was carried out in 2013-2014, by means of in vitro and in situ measurements, in order to determine and evaluate the materials’ performance and the thermal comfort conditions before and after the retrofitting. Finally, a Life Cycle Analysis was carried for the materials, in order to evaluate their environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory Design (PD) is a methodology concerned with bringing the voices of future users into the design process, as well as with the design of tools and methods that enable the participants to engage in design activities. While user participation in design of new technologies is a well-researched field, this paper presents user participation in the design, implementation, and appropriation of a card-based method. The purpose of the method was to support young patients in organizing and explaining their experiences and expectations surrounding their transition from pediatrics to adult healthcare. Application of PD and the concept of cool in the process of designing the method resulted in a method that the participating young patients could redesign and appropriate to better fit their particular situation. Hence, the paper argues in favor of not only including users in the design of new technologies, but also in the design of methods. Our results indicate that user participation in the design of methods, for use in Participatory Design processes, enable the appropriation of the methods, rather than mastery of the methods. This appropriation may increase the space for mutual learning and may result in better methods and participant-empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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