Advanced design of Chinese traditional materials for the conservation of historic stone buildings

The conservation of historic stone buildings and sculptures is recently receiving growing attention and becoming a focus of research because of rapid changes in weather conditions (pollution, acid rain, etc.). Presently, techniques for stone conservation primarily involve the use of organic coating treatments, but their side effects have been recognized. In contrast, some traditional materials used in historic stone buildings function well for thousands of years. In this paper, we report our research on the reasons why traditional protective materials can provide an unexpected long-term protection. First, calcium carbonate was prepared according to a formula for making Chinese traditional consolidating materials, and its structure and morphology were examined by different instruments. Second, the reinforcing effectiveness of the prepared CaCO₃ powders was tested and analyzed by investigating its surface characteristics. The experimental results reveal that a biocontrolled process occurs, in which an organic template can induce the precipitation of a mineral structure, which in turn results in a great improvement in the conservation of the historic stone buildings protected by these traditional protective materials. This provides a contribution toward the development of new researches on biocontrolled processes and on some protective materials with excellent performance through biocontrolled synthesis.     

实现先进性教育与先进性建设的相互促进

本文围绕“实现党员的先进性教育与党的先进性建设的相互促进”这一论题,分析了实现党员先进性教育与党的先进性建设相互促进的重要意义;阐明了加强党的先进性建设要注重发挥党员先进性教育四个方面的作用;论证了党员先进性教育应根据党的先进性建设进行的基本要求;提出了实现党员先进性教育与党的先进性建设相互促进的基本思路。     

在北京市地方志编纂工作先进集体和先进工作者表彰大会上的讲话

首先,我代表市委、市政府和市地方志编纂委员会,向所有受表彰的单位和个人,以及所有为北京市地方志、年鉴工作做出过贡献的同志,表示崇高的敬意和衷心的感谢!     

传播先进文化服务社会大众--走进青海省文化馆

青海省文化馆始建于1957年,肩负着全省群众文化活动的组织、调研和业务指导,全省群众文艺队伍的辅导和培训,搜集整理民间文化遗产和群众文化理论研究等工作。内设八个工作机构。现有职工45名,其中副高职称专业人员14名,中级职称专业人员15名。     

新教材，新教法

根据新教材的特点和未来社会对学生的要求,教师要认识和了解社会的发展和变革,要用全新的眼光来看待我们国家的课程和教材的改革,更要加强学习,转变我们的教学观念,在教学过程中要从教材、学生等方面获取各种信息,正确引导学生认真学习,学会学习,充分体现学生的主体地位。     

民族精神、先进文化和历史研究

化是经济发展和社会进步的强大精神动力,是衡量一个国家综合国力的重要标志之一。在当代中国,坚持和发展社会主义先进化的重要任务之一,是培育和弘扬民族精神,为建设有中国特色的社会主义,提供精神的和智力的支持。发展先进化,培育和弘扬民族精神的重要途径之一,是发掘丰厚的中国历史化资源。优秀的中国史学遗产,不仅是中华民族精神发展的记录,同时也是当今为实现中华民族的伟大复兴,培育和弘扬中华民族精神的取之不竭、用之不尽的宝藏。     

Advanced Research Training in Human Geography: the Scottish Experience

Formal research training is integral to research degrees in human geography completed in UK higher education institutions today. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has been the driving force behind the formalization of research training. Arguably less well known among the ESRC research training recommendations is the stipulation that postgraduate research students complete advanced research training. This paper will draw upon the authors' experiences of the collaborative ESRC/Royal Scottish Geographical Society Advanced Research Training for Scottish Postgraduate Human Geographers. A detailed account of the advanced research training provision will be given, followed by staff and student reflections on the training. The paper concludes by considering what advanced research training offers to the PhD process and future developments in advanced research training.     

More Evidence for an Advanced Prehistoric Iron Technology in Africa

Abstract

Ethnographic and technological observations of iron smelting among the Raya people of NW Tanzania during 1976 and 1979 have contributed important new evidence for a technologically advanced culture in East-Central Africa. The ethnoarchaeology of Haya iron working shows that the Raya practiced an iron-smelting technology that employed preheating of the air blast—a highly efficient technique—and formed a massive steel altogether different from that known in the European tradition of iron production.

Excavations in 1977 at the KM2 site near Kemondo Bay west of Lake Victoria in Kagera Region, Tanzania, provided abundant evidence for an ancient technology, dating to the first six centuries A.C., that shared many similarities to the living iron-smelting technology. Excavations during 1978–1979 at the KM3 site, also located near Kemondo Bay, yielded physical evidence for the antiquity of the preheated process and provided definitive proof for a technology similar to the process in historical times. These discoveries affirm that one of the most advanced technologies in the ancient world developed in Africa independent of European influence.     

Advanced manufacturing as an online case study for global geography education

Advanced manufacturing continues to be an important sector for emerging and industrialized economies, therefore, remaining an important topic for economic geography education. This article describes a case study created for the Association of American Geographer's Center for Global Geography Education and its implementation. The international machine tool industry is particularly useful for introducing students to the regional impacts of broader economic processes.     

Risk assessment and structural integrity aspects of materials behaviour

Abstract

Risk has always been an inherent part of everyday life, but quantified assessment of risk is now an important part of several different aspects of materials and engineering applications. Risk is taken into account as an integral part of the design of many constructions in limit state design through the use of partial safety factors to achieve a target reliability, depending on the consequences of failure and the uncertainties of the input data and design relationships. Risk is also increasingly being used as a basis for decisions on inspection, maintenance, and life extension of engineering structures and infrastructure. As part of the effective management of projects, assessments of the financial risks both for the client and for the contractor are essential requirements. Environmental risk assessments are obligatory for major projects before decisions to proceed can be taken. The current status of the application of risk analysis methods to avoidance of failure by plastic collapse, fracture, buckling, fatigue, creep, and corrosion is reviewed, and applications in a range of industries are considered. The application of risk analysis to the use of new materials, methods of construction, and life extension is then briefly explored. Finally, the importance of a proper understanding of both risk analysis and materials behaviour for students on degree courses is stressed.     

元代诗人萨都剌绘画史料考述

萨都刺是诗书画兼长的多面手,尤以诗歌创作为主①,其书法与绘画才能则为诗名所掩.如果说其书法才能尚有记载的话②,其绘画才能则被遗忘已久,不仅其同时代的夏文彦《图绘宝鉴》没有提及,明代朱谋垔的《画史会要》、张丑的《清河画舫录》亦没有一丝关于萨都剌画作的踪迹,今人陈高华《元代画家史料》亦没有收入萨都刺,萨氏几成绘画史上的失踪者.其实,萨都剌作为天才诗人,其所作大量脍炙人口的诗歌中,涉及绘画的题画诗达三十余首,同时作为丹青好手,其画作以山水景物为主,画学宋代著名山水画家郭熙.现存有《严陵钓台图》,已佚的则有《云山图》、《岁寒图》、《萱蝶图》等,所谓的《梅雀图》则系伪作.此外,他还留下重要的题画文--《题董展《三顾茅庐》图》.这些零星的绘画资料,不仅有利于了解其绘画才能以及在绘画史上的地位,而且对于考订萨都剌的生平有较大助益.     

Identification of materials in post-Byzantine textiles from Mount Athos

Numerous textiles of inestimable historical significance have been preserved in the monasteries of Mount Athos for several centuries. However, our knowledge regarding the materials used in these objects is very limited. In the present study, microsamples extracted from ecclesiastical textiles (16th – 19th c.) of the monastery of Xeropotamou (Mount Athos) are investigated using Optical Microscopy (OM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to a Photodiode Array Detector (HPLC-PDA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy equipped with an Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDX). The first goal of the study is to identify the colouring materials of the historical samples, which were of silk nature (OM). The presence of Prussian blue is revealed using FTIR and organic colourants such as cochineal, dyer’s broom (Genista tinctoria L.), fuchsin, indigo carmine, old fustic (Chlorophora tinctoria L.), soluble redwood (Caesalpinia trees), weld (Reseda luteola L.), young fustic (Cotinus coggygria Scop.) and indigoid dyestuff source(s) are identified using HPLC-PDA. Dyestuff extraction from silk substrates is achieved using the TFA method, which preserves the contained glycosides. Thus, the report provides further evidence to support the efficacy of the TFA method to extract various organic colourants from historical silk samples (second goal). Finally, metal threads included in some historical samples are studied using OM and SEM-EDX. The latter is employed to analyse the composition of the metal surfaces. Silver (Ag) and gold (Au) are detected on the surfaces of the majority of the samples. Two samples were manufactured only with Ag.     

Anselm Kiefer: a study of his artistic materials

The style of the contemporary German artist Anselm Kiefer is highly innovative and unconventional and is characterized by the use of diverse materials that he selects and combines according to the emotions that they stir in him. The conservation and preservation of works by Kiefer are particularly difficult tasks because of the heterogeneity and, in some cases, the incompatibility of the materials used; therefore, a thorough characterization is crucial before any intervention is considered. In this paper, we report the results of an investigation on a fragment from a multimaterial work and on samples from the paintings Bohemia Lies by the Sea and Die Größe Fracht. The large fragment was cut by the artist himself from a work in progress and is considered destitute of any artistic value; therefore, it was possible to sample it extensively. This fragment and the samples from the Die Größe Fracht and Bohemia Lies by the Sea paintings were analyzed by ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence imaging, fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This multitechnique approach allowed us to fully characterize and identify pigments, dyes, and organic components that reflect the diversity of the materials typically chosen by the artist. The results are evaluated in the context of the interview that Antonio Rava had with the Anselm Kiefer in 2000.