Scientific study of the pigments and binders used in mural painting from the 16th-century ce St Mary's Church of Cheriapally,Kottyam, Kerala,and its relevance to conservation

The aim of this investigation was to analyze the materials and techniques of the paintings in the 16th-century ce St Mary's Church, to evaluate deterioration of the paintings, and to propose a suitable conservation treatment for their preservation. The material analysis of ground, pigments, binders, and plasters was undertaken using binocular microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM)–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in reflectance (KBr) and transmittance mode (attenuated total reflection), thin-film X-ray diffraction, and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used for identifying proteinaceous and lipidic materials extracted from the micro-samples. The study generated data on two different red and green pigments used as decorative materials. The red pigments were identified as cinnabar along with traces of hematite and clay minerals, and green as malachite and the minor presence of other minerals. SEM analysis identified cotton fiber embedded in the coarse plaster layer that provided better strength to the plaster. Plant oils and proteins found as the binder in the pigment samples suggested that the painting technique was executed as tempera. Lead white and gypsum materials were used in previous restoration works.     

光导纤维光谱技术无损鉴定彩绘文物颜料的研究

为了克服传统的有损文物分析技术对文物造成的破坏,研制出一种简易光导纤维反射光谱仪。建立了光导纤维反射光谱技术对颜料分析鉴定的基本方法,提供了一种简捷的文物颜料无损分析鉴定的新技术。通过对西安、重庆等地彩绘文物颜料成分的鉴定,表明光导纤维反射光谱法测量结果准确、可靠,在文物颜料鉴定等方面具有广阔的应用前景。     

Linking Bone Changes in the Distal Femur to Functional Deficits

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition that leads to functional deficits in the afflicted. Quantifying these deficits in a clinical population and relating them to bone changes in the distal femur is crucial to identifying potential impairment in archaeological populations. This study provides a hybrid knee OA grading system linking MRI observations of clinical populations and direct bone observations on skeletal populations. This system is then related to 28 pain, disability, and activity limitation outcome variables provided by the OA Initiative through frequency distributions, probability profiles, and Spearman's rank correlations. The results suggest that while the five outcome variables with the highest probabilities were common to males and females, bone changes in knee OA impact males and females differently. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

20世纪90年代的中日纤维产品贸易

20世纪90年代中日两国贸易结构发生较大变化,即中国对日本出口的食品及矿产等初级产品在对日出口总额中降到不足一成,而纤维产品贸易以几乎每年占中日贸易额的20～30％的速度强劲发展,推动了两国贸易总额的迅速增长,但同时也引起贸易摩擦。尽管纤维产品贸易由垂直贸易分工向初级水平贸易分工发展,以及密切的依存关系两大特征,使中日两国避免了在该领域的贸易战,但是,如何在互补性贸易结构中寻求更多的合作领域以减少贸易摩擦甚至避免贸易战争,是20世纪90年代中日纤维产品贸易带来的重要启示。     

现代显微技术在纸质文物鉴定与修复中应用

现代显微技术在纸质文物的研究和修复中,是不可或缺的研究手段,因此应用显微镜对几件纸质文物进行了显微观察和分析。结果获得了纤维表面形态、纸张工艺和纤维特性等信息,同时获取了表面图像、分散纤维图像,纤维长、宽、配比等数据。所获信息对文物鉴定与修复工作有明显的参考意义,说明现代显微技术可以对纸质文物进行分析、鉴别,并为选配修复用纸和断代等提供参考依据。     

Postlesion Recovery of Motor and Sensory Cortex in the Early Twentieth Century

This article addresses early work on partial recovery that followed small motor cortical lesions. Leyton and Sherrington (1917 Leyton, ASF and Sherrington, CS. 1917. Observations on the excitable cortex of the chimpanzee, orang-utan and gorilla. Q J Exp Physiol, 11: 135–222.  [Google Scholar]) studied the motor cortex in apes, hoping to learn more about the contralateral muscle representations. Then they placed small lesions within the precentral cortex, followed by a loss of the contralateral muscle twitches. The sudden loss remained for about one week, but recovery was observed and continued for weeks, up to a standstill. Sherrington and Graham Brown (1913) Graham Brown, T and Sherrington, CS. 1913. Note on the functions of the cortex cerebri. J Physiol (Lond), 46: xxii [Google Scholar] observed the same results in a serial, chronic experiment on a chimpanzee. The brain was sent to Monakow's Brain-Institute in Zurich for investigating the lesions and the degeneration pattern. Constantin von Monakow (1853–1930) had been a pioneer on recovery after acute lesions, coining the term “diaschisis.” During WWI, Graham Brown and Stewart (1916) Graham Brown, T and Stewart, RM. 1916. On disturbances of the localization and discrimination of sensations in cases of cerebral lesions, and on the possibility of recovery of these functions after a process of training. Brain, 39: 348–454. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar] studied a soldier in a British army hospital who suffered from a cerebral gunshot wound, localized in the sensorimotor cortex. Early and prolonged rehabilitation was successful. In 1950, Glees (1909–1999) and Cole (Oxford) placed a small motor-cortical lesion in macaque monkeys; for a few days, the monkeys had difficulties and were slow for the task. Daily training was resumed and recovery was accelerated by alimentary reward. Finally, Lashley (1890–1958) understood that handicapped patients “achieved their goal with variable means.” This demonstrated the value of active and prolonged rehabilitation, in addition to the (passive) recovery of function.     

‘To Make a New Tongue’: Natural and Manufactured Language in the Late Fiction of William Morris

The paper considers William Morris's belief that modern language was ‘degraded’, and explores how his late fiction tried to resist this degradation. Morris was influenced by the romantic philology of the mid-Victorian period which depicted languages as living organisms. Philologists such as Max Müller claimed that modern civilization had arrested this growth, mechanizing language into conventional signs; and Morris adapted the idea into a critique of industrial capitalism. He conceptualized modern English as manufactured external forms, sundered from organic history. His late prose fictions trace the ‘natural’ meanings of words which he imagined feudalism and capitalism had suppressed. However, this narrative of organic origins existed in tension with Morris's socialist ideals, which sought an objective language above local or national perspectives. The older Morris was writing at a time when romantic philology was coming under attack from a new generation of scholars. These proto-linguists regarded meaning as conventional and narratives of organic ‘roots’ in the distant past as mere mythology. Morris's struggles to reconcile the contradictions in his philosophy of language reflect wider tensions in romantic philology. His imaginary worlds in which everyone spoke the same relied upon myths of original linguistic unity and stasis which new research and theories were undermining. Ironically, Morris's attempts to re-organicize English inadvertently demonstrated the conventionality and perspectivism of language, relying upon common cultural frames of reference.     

声频应力波法检测土遗址加固用玻璃纤维锚杆锚固质量初探

土遗址锚杆锚固质量一直是土遗址加固工程中关注的重点问题。目前,土遗址领域均采用具有破坏性的拉拔试验对其进行检测。基于土遗址的文物属性,本研究尝试利用无损检测技术评价土遗址加固用玻璃纤维锚杆的锚固质量。通过锚杆无损检测仪与拉拔仪分别对甘肃省红沙堡遗址与永泰城址加固工程中的玻璃纤维锚杆锚固系统进行检测。比较实际测量杆长与仪器测量杆长结果,得出杆长指标可以判断无损检测仪所测结果的真实性。无损检测仪得出的检测波形衰减规律显著,对比相应锚杆的拉拔试验的评价结果,证实了声频应力波法在土遗址玻璃纤维锚杆锚固系统无损检测中的适用性。本研究结果将为评价土遗址加固用玻璃纤维锚杆锚固质量提供可靠的依据。     

古代彩塑和壁画中植物纤维种类鉴别

针对古代彩塑泥层和壁画地仗中植物纤维种类鉴定技术欠缺的现状,开发出一套以纤维横截面细胞形貌识别为基础的植物纤维种类鉴别方法。从秸秆类植物的化学脱胶技术、提取单根纤维、纤维横截面切片,以及纤维截面细胞形貌对比等开展了系列研究。将该方法应用于彩塑泥层和壁画地仗中常见的9种植物纤维：麦秸秆、稻秸秆、玉米秸秆、高粱秸、黄麻、亚麻、苎麻、剑麻和棉花,并以宁夏须弥山石窟以及甘肃麦积山石窟的彩塑文物样品中取出的纤维标本为例进行了鉴定。结果表明：须弥山石窟彩塑粗泥层中的植物纤维为小麦与黄麻,细泥层中的为苎麻,彩塑佛像手指中的为棉花;麦积山彩塑泥层中含有麦秸秆。研究结果证明本方法可以应用于文物样品中植物纤维种类鉴别。     

浅谈现代生活中的电子技术新应用

随着社会进入信息化及电子智能化时代,电子技术发展越来越迅速,应用越来越广泛,对人类生活的影响也更加深远。节能减排、保护环境,是全世界、全人类共同关心的问题,也是我国社会经济发展的重要问题。