Yeats,Wittgenstein and the ladder of linguistic inversion

This paper will consider the philosophy of language by Ludwig Wittgenstein in relation to the later modernist poetry of W. B. Yeats in Last Poems (1939). Accordingly, Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922) and Philosophical Investigations (1953) are used to understand the limits of language in conveying the facts of existence and the necessity for the inversion of previously held truths to navigate the altering nature of reality through time. W. B. Yeats’s final volume of poetry, Last Poems (1939), is shown to parallel the philosophical ideas of Wittgenstein, thus demonstrating the subversive nature of Yeats’s last written poetry as an interrogation of his own constructed truths of the past. Both philosopher and poet are shown to coalesce in the deconstruction of linguistic representations of the world through the “form of life” that is the game of language in order to question limiting worldviews.     

Direct inversion of Young's and Poisson impedances for fluid discrimination

Seismic inversion with prestack seismic data such as amplitude variation with offsets (AVO) inversion is an important tool in the estimation of elastic parameters for predicting lithology and discriminating fluid in conventional or unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. The product of Young's modulus and density (Young's impedance, YI) and the product of Poisson ratio and density (Poisson ratio impedance, PI) show great potential in lithology prediction and fluid discrimination of unconventional resources such as shale gas or oil. The high quality requirements for prestack data in density inversion render the estimation of YI and PI arduous and inaccurate with a conventional prestack inversion approach. In this study, a direct AVO inversion approach is proposed to estimate YI, PI, and density directly from P‐wave seismic data. The linearized P‐wave reflectivity approximate equation in terms of YI, PI, and density is initially derived. Five models, including four typical AVO classes, are utilized to verify the accuracy of the derived linearized P‐wave reflectivity equation in comparison with the exact P‐wave reflectivity equation and the frequently used linearized reflectivity approximate equation involving P‐ and S‐wave velocities and density. Parameter sensitivity analysis illustrates that YI and PI can reasonably be estimated from P‐wave reflectivity if a decorrelation scheme is utilized in the inversion algorithm. In addition, a pragmatic AVO inversion using a Bayesian scheme is suggested for the direct inversion of YI and PI from prestack seismic data. Synthetic and field data examples demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed inversion approach in the estimation of YI and PI and show the potential of this approach in fluid discrimination.     

NATIONALIZING HISTORY AND THE CHALLENGE OF DISCORDANT TEMPORALITIES1

Christopher Hill's National History and the World of Nations reminds us of the conjunctural moment of an emerging world market in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the promise it offered for vitalizing a “world history” yet to be written. More importantly, it supplies the silhouette of a radically different interpretive approach, formed by the force of a centrifugal perspective that—through its concentration on how France, the United States, and Japan were simultaneously motivated to construct representations of self‐identity in national narratives—converged to disclose the possibility of a wider world no longer held hostage to the geopolitical category of the “West.” Hill's account shows that the impulse behind the formation of national history employed different strategies to imagine a singular linear historical narrative of national identity that aimed both to remove the spectacle of coexisting, different, multiple temporalities and to weld large and regionally disparate populations into a single people who, in a new time, would be instructed to recognize themselves in the nation's story. In Hill's reckoning, national history in France, the United States, and Japan appears simply as another name for historical necessity that sought, through processes of naturalization and nationalization, to overcome the unstable and uneven relationship between state and capital but that failed to conceal the deeper reality of determinations demanded by the relations of capital at the local and international levels.     

Rare Types of Trephination from Hungary Shed New Light on Possible Cross‐cultural Connections in the Carpathian Basin

Symbolic or incomplete trephinations are very common in Hungary in 9^th–11^thcentury AD skeletal series connected to early Hungarians, although they also occur in the preceding Avar Age (6^th–9^th c. AD) material. During the compilation of a database of regional cranial modification data, the authors found rare almond‐shaped symbolic trephinations in both periods, while these had formerly only been reported in Early Hungarian series. In this study, the new almond‐shaped lesions are described along with other symbolic trephinations of 14 newly found skulls from the 8^th–11^thcenturies AD in the Southern Great Plain of Hungary. The authors review the research of the phenomenon. The new findings may strengthen the theory of direct and very close cultural connections of these two ethnic groups, adding a new aspect to the debate over the origin and relationship of Late Avar (late 7^th–early 9^th c. AD) and Early Hungarian (9^th–11^th c. AD) populations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

三岛由纪夫美学观的形成和变异

三岛由纪夫是一位非常复杂的作家,其作品中表现出的男性之美以及健壮的肌肉,大海的波涛和南国的太阳等象征性描述,往往使读者感到迷惑,尤其是晚年的政治表现和切腹自杀的那幕闹剧,要使得学界围绕其人和其美学观长期争论不休,本文试图从病迹学的角度解释这位作家美学观的形成和变异。     

祭祀仪式“反结构”的“不完整倒置性”——基于上果村壮族“祭太阳”仪式的讨论

云南西畴县上果村壮族"祭太阳"仪式在"反结构"阈限期内具有"不完整倒置性"现象。在上果村的传统文化和村民生活结构中,"祭太阳"仪式的"反结构"具有生活的逻辑性和合理性。"祭太阳"仪式中男性与女性"不完整倒置"的反结构现象蕴涵了上果村传统地方知识、壮族两性文化和仪式结构功能共同支配下的稳定性与流动性。     

浅议新砦残器盖纹饰的复原

本文对新砦遗址出土的残器盖纹饰的复原,其结果与台北故宫所藏鹰纹圭上的高羽冠神像非常相似。它具有鲜明的时代特征,对探讨二里头文化铜牌饰乃至商周青铜器较常见的“高羽冠饕餮纹” 的渊源具有重要学术价值。     

浅析《徒然草》的审美意识

《徒然草》是日本古代最具代表性的随笔之一,在日本文学史上占有十分重要的地位。作品不同程度地反映出佛、神、儒以及道家思想,尤其是佛教的无常观;其中蕴涵的深刻哲理、人生智慧以及对王朝文化、贵族情趣、自然风物的描写,表现出作者浓厚的崇古尚雅,钟情于自然以及崇尚“处静守拙”,欣赏“不完整美”、“残缺美”等美学意识,这些都为《徒然草》赋予了无穷的艺术魅力。     

Scottish Landform Example 40: The Buchan Gravels Formation: A Remnant Deposit of a Palaeo-landscape

Abstract

The Buchan Gravels Formation (BGF) takes the form of a series of gravel deposits of intriguing age and origin in North-East Scotland. The BGF is divided into two geographically-distinct groups, the Windy Hills Gravel Member (WHGM) and the Buchan Ridge Gravel Member (BRGM). The WHGM occurs in central Buchan, and is predominantly composed of quartzite gravels considered to have been deposited by eastwardly-flowing rivers. In contrast the BRGM is found in eastern Buchan, and is composed largely of flint-rich gravels, the precise origins of which are still under debate. Both gravel members are of considerable age, judging by the number of rotted clasts they contain. In addition, both presently occupy high ground, despite seeming to have originated as water-lain deposits. Although of unknown age, the BGF members provide evidence of topographic inversion since their deposition, and quite possibly preglacial age.     

Sonic Tomography for Masonry Walls Characterization

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, Sonic Pulse Velocity tests (SPV tests) are widely applied for detecting the morphology, hidden defects, and voids within structural elements. This technique, largely applied because non invasive and easy to perform, reveals particularly adapt in the case of ancient buildings, where usually any damage is not tolerated due to the historical preservation requirements. Moreover, recently the SPV tests have been also applied with tomography technology to obtain images of sonic speeds from which it is possible to rapidly reconstruct the internal elements morphology.

In this article, the results of some SPV tomographies regarding masonry elements are presented. The tests are carried out with the aim of establishing consistency and accuracy of this technique in determining the morphology of the investigated elements. The influence of investigation points number and noise smoothing is taken into account, too. At first, the results of a tomography derived from synthetic data of an ideal section are shown. Then, the SPV tomographies of some masonry specimens and of elements sections of a real case study are illustrated and compared among them.