Anton Raederscheidt’s Distorted Self-Portraits and Their Significance for Understanding Balance in Art

Following a right cerebral stroke, the German artist Anton Raederscheidt produced a remarkable series of self-portraits that depicted his severe visual neglect and gradual recovery. These distorted images, like those drawn by others with this disorder, inform us about lateral balance in art and why it is common in the art of cultures separated in time and space. After describing how artists in various cultures have employed lateral balance, I present Arnheim’s view that this aspect of art is the result of visual forces generated by the brain. Following a brief history of visual neglect, I present evidence that this disorder provides us with clues to the origin of the visual forces responsible for lateral balance in art. The relevant brain mechanisms control exploration of visual space by integrating orienting movements with visual spatial information. The prevalence of lateral balance in art becomes understandable when we consider that these brain mechanisms evolved to promote survival in our vertebrate ancestors. I end with a speculative neurological account of the aesthetics of lateral balance – why it is pleasing and its absence is displeasing.     

International mobility of women in science and technology careers: shaping plans for personal and professional purposes

International mobility has become a key requirement in science and technology (S&T) professional career progression. On the one hand, the increasing mobility of women suggests that this may be a way for them to avoid or get away from women-unfriendly working environments. On the other hand, international mobility can present problems for women as they, particularly, have to plan their lives around their professional goals and personal lives. This article addresses the international mobility strategies of women regarding their personal and professional choices. We analyse their motivations to move, the way they manage their lives abroad and the effects of mobility on their lives. The analysis is based on 24 in-depth interviews of highly skilled women working in Spanish S&T sectors. Our main findings show that mobility is a new challenge which may improve women's family lives and professional careers. However, they have to plan carefully their lives on a long-term as well as a daily basis. In this sense, they need strong personal determination and the ability to balance their professional and personal goals. Moreover, their personal decisions depend not only on them as individuals, but also on their partners and families, on wider social values, on the institutional support they enjoy, and on the general public policies which they are affected by.     

The effect of growth on stable nitrogen isotope ratios in subadult bone collagen

Stable nitrogen isotopes have been used to reconstruct infant feeding practices as nursing infants have elevated δ¹⁵N ratios compared with their mothers. However, infancy is also a time of rapid growth, which may alter nitrogen isotope diet‐to‐tissue spacing. Several studies have documented a decrease in δ¹⁵N during growth in tissues with relatively fast accretion rates. This study investigates the effect that the growth of long bones, via collagen accretion, has on δ¹⁵N ratios. Long bones from individuals aged seven to nineteen years were obtained from a protohistoric ossuary in Ontario, Canada. Analysis of juveniles and adolescents permitted the examination of growth in a group who were not also nursing. It is concluded that a nitrogen isotope growth effect is not detectable in bone collagen from juveniles and adolescents, because: (1) δ¹⁵N ratios are not significantly different among the epiphyses, metaphyses and diaphysis of a growing long bone; (2) δ¹⁵N ratios are not significantly different between faster‐growing versus slower‐growing metaphyses; and (3) δ¹⁵N ratios are not significantly different between bones (or areas of a bone) that are still undergoing growth, versus bones that have ceased growing. The relatively slow speed of collagen accretion may explain why a growth effect is not manifested. Ultimately this research lends support to the use of nitrogen isotopes from bone collagen for infant feeding reconstructions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changes in the Physico-Chemical and Microbial Nature of Wetlands from the Leaching of Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA)-Treated Wood

Abstract

Microbial activities are responsible for reducing the harmful effects of pollutants in different burial environments. Within wetlands in particular, microorganisms play an important role in the transformation of heavy metals and metalloids via direct or indirect oxidation/reduction. In turn, these microbial transformations can lead to the detoxification of pollutant elements such as copper, chromium and arsenic that comprise CCA-treated wood.

CCA was the most commonly used wood preservative in the UK (up until its partial ban in 2004). CCA prolongs the service life of wood by making it resistant to microbiological attack. As such, it has been regularly used in the construction of platforms and boardwalks in wetlands. However, recent concerns over the impact of the chemical constituents of this treatment on both the environment and human health have prompted the introduction of legislation in order to ensure that this type of treated wood is disposed of in accordance with the relevant health and safety guidelines.

In light of this information, it is important to assess changes in the physico-chemical and microbial nature of wetlands associated with the leaching of CCA from wooden structures. The results will not only provide a greater scope for understanding the implications associated with the in situ preservation of the archaeological resource contained within these environments, but also highlight the potential ramifications for wetland ecosystem dynamics.     

清康熙年间意大利传教士马国贤及避暑山庄铜版画

传教士马国贤是清康熙年间中西文化交流中的重要人物,是中国园林西传的先驱人物。他曾在中国宫廷服务13年,将西方的铜版技术传入中国,为康熙皇帝制作了避暑山庄铜版画。后来,他把避署山庄铜版画带回欧洲,使中国园林的图像资料第一次进入欧洲并在欧洲传播,推动了欧洲特别是英国园林设计的革命。     

四川广元千佛崖石窟绿色颜料分析研究

千佛崖石窟位于广元市城北5㎞嘉陵江东岸,现存54窟、819龛、大小造像7000余身,这些珍贵文化遗产具有极高的艺术及科研价值。2008年由于受到汶川地震的影响,很多彩绘佛造像损毁情况严重,修复工作亟待进行。为此,本研究以四川千佛崖采集的7个样品的绿色颜料为研究对象,利用金相显微分析、偏光显微分析、拉曼光谱分析技术对其进行物象和成分分析。分析结果表明,千佛崖采用的绿色颜料主要为人工合成的氯铜矿和石绿,还有少量的巴黎绿,且处于颜料最外层,应为近代重新修复所施加的;同时,对于碱式氯化铜及其相关物质、石绿、巴黎绿在中国的使用情况及其应用特点进行探讨,以期对后期的保护工作提供借鉴作用。     

东汉伦理政治初探

伦理政治的迷失是新朝政权倏忽兴亡的重要原因.刘秀复汉的成功,与对儒家思想的借重是分不开的.儒家政治伦理作为东汉极力表彰的意识形态,享有崇高地位,并与政治实践密切结合.伦理制衡既体现为东汉前期皇帝对治道和施政政策的主动调整,也体现在儒臣对朝廷决策和施政的约束和引导,从而发挥了一定的政治调节作用.东汉素来以朝廷表彰名节、士风高亢而彪炳中古史册,这构成该时期伦理控制的鲜明特征.东汉社会的伦理冲突,集中表现为清流士大夫捍卫德治传统、与黑暗势力的殊死斗争.     

An Interwoven Learning Exchange: Transforming Research‐Teaching Relationships in the Top End,Northern Australia

In this paper, we explore processes of learning through a focus on relationships. Situated within the context of our research on educational tourism with Indigenous tour operators in the Northern Territory, we examine the relationships built between three groups: ourselves, Indigenous tour operators and undergraduate university students. We develop a conceptualisation of teaching and research as an interwoven learning exchange characterised by multi‐directional learning experiences within which all collaborators teach, research and learn. By viewing all contributors, including ourselves, as active and multiple situated co‐learners, we begin a process of recognising and reconfiguring power relationships. We reflect on how an interwoven learning exchange may bring new subjectivities into being through transformed research‐teaching relationships.     

Mr. Dithers Comes to Dinner: Telework and the merging of women's work and home domains in Canada

Studies of home-based telework by women yield mixed results regarding the usefulness of telework in facilitating work–life balance. Most research on the social impacts of home-based telework focuses on workers—employees or self-employed—who deliberately choose that alternative work arrangement. Labour force analysts, however, predict an increase in employer-initiated teleworking. As a case study of the workforce of one large, financial-sector firm in Canada, this article considers the conditions of employment of involuntary teleworkers, those required by their employer to work full-time from a home office. In-depth interviews were co nducted with a sample of 18 female teleworkers working for the case study firm in a professional occupation. Study participants described the advantages and disadvantages of working from home, particularly with regard to spatial and social aspects of locating work in a home setting. The gendered nature of their jobs, and the caring and supportive functions they provide both through their employment and their household responsibilities are seen to support the relocation of their jobs from office to their homes. In many jurisdictions, telework is promoted as a means of giving women more flexibility to balance their paid work with their household responsibilities; the article highlights some of the contradictions involved in moving the workplace into women's homes.