FACTORS AFFECTING THE VIABILITY OF THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING OF GLASS

The aim of this study is to achieve a better understanding of some of the factors that limit the thermoluminescence (TL) dating of glass. Using a‘model system’(lithium-disilicate samples having different levels of crystallinity from 0 to 100%), we show, first, that the TL of glass is reproducible only if the glass is not heated above its temperature glass transition and second, that there is a clear connection between the TL sensitivity and the degree of crvstallinity of the sample. We conclude that thermoluminescence is not a general dating method for archaeological glass, but it can be applied to particular glass samples that haue specified characteristics.     

THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON THE INCIDENCE OF LUNG CANCER AMONG RURAL RESIDENTS

Lung cancer mortality in the rural areas of Moscow Oblast is found to be virtually identical with data for urban areas. In an effort to establish a set of potential causative factors in rural areas, selected factors are correlated with lung cancer mortality by Moscow Oblast rayons. The highest positive correlation is found for the use of farm pesticides from the carcinogenic dithiocarbamate group, followed by the percentage of workers employed in agriculture, the amount of smoking per capita, the amount of dust-causing plowing, the use of farm machinery (producing exhaust gases) and the use of kerosene (producing household soot). A negative correlation is found between lung cancer and the percentage of white-collar workers employed in rural areas. The selected set of factors accounts for 45 percent of the variance in lung-cancer incidence, but no single specific factor can be isolated to explain the high mortality in rural areas, which evidently stems from a combination of causes.     

FACTORS AFFECTING RESPONSE TO NOISE IN OUTDOOR RECREATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS

As the world gets more and more crowded, silence becomes a rarer and rarer natural resource. (Rennicke 1987, 27)     

SEPARATION,RETALIATION AND SUICIDE: MOURNING AND THE CONFLICTS OF YOUNG TIWI MEN

This paper describes some Tiwi conceptions of death, linking an important myth of the origins of death to an interpretation of the dynamics of Tiwi mourning. It argues that one part of the myth describes the psychological dangers of human responses to loss, in particular the dangers of destructive rage and self-destructive withdrawal, suicide. The mourning ceremonies facilitate the overcoming of these dangers and the re-integration of the individual into collective life in the course of a drawn-out process, a patterned dramatization of reactions to grief in collective action. The collective process of mourning is central to processes of psychological and social integration in Tiwi life. The paper then discusses a case of pathological mourning which led to the suicide of a young man, and sketches the impact of this death on a number of the younger male kinsmen of the deceased. The suicide was followed by a number of suicide attempts by these men. These attempts can be seen partly as manifestations of individuals' conflict with their surroundings, but also as manifestations of the collective process of adjustment to the death, in a sense as the culmination of the history of mourning in a family-group extending over more than twenty years. In conclusion, the paper briefly summarizes recent changes in Tiwi social life which have contributed to the precariousness of integration of young men, and to the emergence of the historically new pathological forms implied by the contemporary rise in the number of instances of suicide.     

BIOPOLITICS AMONG THE DISCIPLINES

A new wave of publications attempts to bring together theory and history in order to reconsider the past, present, and future in light of a looming catastrophe. Whether in political theory, sociology, anthropology, or intellectual history, scholars are attempting to reflect about the present beyond the old boundaries that separate left and right, inner and outer, civilian and solider, friend and enemy. Three recent publications, by Catherine Mills, Didier Fassin, and an anthology edited by Devin Pendas, Mark Roseman, and Richard Wetzel, do so by considering the growth of biopolitical critique in their respective disciplines.     

THE POLITICS OF MEASURING POVERTY AMONG THE ELDERLY

We discuss the special problems associated with efforts to measure poverty among the elderly. Income measures must be adjusted for a variety of non-income sources of well-being such as net worth, human capital, and in-kind, transfers. While such adjustments are needed, efforts to date are problematic to the extent that new sources of error are introduced. A close analysis of official government measures of poverty reveals that they reflect a variety of political assumptions and compromises. Examination of the eligibility criteria associated with various government social programs for the elderly reveal implicit poverty lines that differ from the official poverty lines. The importance of these operational poverty lines cannot be overestimated.     

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF CARD PLAYING AMONG THE DAULO

While most Daulo people in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea gamble at cards, there is disagreement about the acceptability of this activity. Organized opposition to card-playing comes from two sources that, in other contexts, are at odds with each other: the wok meri (‘women's work‘) movement and the Village Court. Both criticize card-playing as individualistic, economically unproductive, and unpredictable. Gambling at cards contributes to differences in individual wealth and the Daulo are ambivalent about inequality. While they strongly approve of competition, they believe that it should be harnessed for the good of the group, not just the individual. The tension between these sometimes conflicting values is expressed by the polarity of Daulo people's strong attraction to card games and the organized opposition that gambling elicits from wok meri and the Village Court.     

VALUES DUALISM AND SOCIAL POLICY AFFECTING THE ELDERLY*

The impact of American values on social policy for and affecting older people is a little explored and complex area. A conceptual framework is developed which reveals the dual and often contradictory nature of the American value system. This framework sets forth the interrelationships of fundamental value-laden issues such as adequacy/equity, work/leisure and religious/secular.     

对钱币学的一点认识

在迎接中国钱币学会成立二十周年,中国钱币博物馆成立十周年的日子里,《中国钱币论文集》第四辑的编辑工作正在抓紧进行,不日可以面世。翻阅第一辑到第四辑钱币文集,大致可以感悟到,这二十年里中国钱币学研究的主要成果和前进步伐。如果     

给博物馆一点时间

<正>一条主要由博物馆构成的旅游线路,是否显得单调,缺乏趣味?最近这些年,被都市文化层层裹挟的心灵,倾向于与大自然相亲,越是与现代文明呈现出背离的田园景观以及不能加以斧凿的奇丽风光,越是旅游的首选。与此同时,参观博物馆被视为"白天看庙,晚上睡觉",似乎不足为取,被人们搁置了。