Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution IV : August 17-21, 2008, Vredefort Dome, South Africa

Topics include: Drilling of Impact Structures; Extraterrestrial Cratering; Impact Ejecta; Terrestrial Craters; Modeling Impact Cratering; Drilling at Impact Craters - ICDP and Other Projects; Large Impacts; Structural Geology of Impact Craters from Macro to Micro.sponsored by Lunar and Planetary Institute ... [and others]hosted by University of the Witwatersrand ; sponsored by Lunar and Planetary Institute ... [and others] ; conveners Roger Gibson and Uwe Reimold ; organizing committee, Charles Cockell ... [and others].PARTIAL CONTENTS: A New Method of Testing the Heterogeneity of the Impact Origin, Shatter Cones of Newly Discovered Impact Site, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA / T. Adachi and G. Kletetschka--Proposed Bushveld Scenario: Impact, Mantle Upwelling, Meltdown, Collapse / W.E. Elston--Impact Deposits at Rochechouart-Chassenon / P. Lambert--The Control of Target Structure on the Crater Morphology on the Moon, Mars, and Venus: Evidence and Implications / T. Öhman, M. Aittola, V.-P. Kostama, J. Korteniemi, and J. Raital

Assessment of plastics in the National Trust: a case study at Mr Straw's House

The National Trust is a charity that cares for over 300 publically accessible historic buildings and their contents across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There have been few previous studies on preservation of plastics within National Trust collections, which form a significant part of the more modern collections of objects. This paper describes the design of an assessment system which was successfully trialled at Mr Straws House, a National Trust property in Worksop, UK. This system can now be used for future plastic surveys at other National Trust properties. In addition, the survey gave valuable information about the state of the collection, demonstrating that the plastics that are deteriorating are those that are known to be vulnerable, namely cellulose nitrate/acetate, PVC and rubber. Verifying this knowledge of the most vulnerable plastics enables us to recommend to properties across National Trust that these types should be seen as a priority for correct storage and in-depth recording

Evolution: From Big Bang to Nanorobots

The present volume is the fourth issue of the Yearbook series entitled ‘Evolution’. The title of the present volume is ‘From Big Bang to Nanorobots’. In this way we demonstrate that all phases of evolution and Big History are covered in the articles of the present Yearbook. Several articles also present the forecasts about future development. The main objective of our Yearbook as well as of the previous issues is the creation of a unified interdisciplinary field of research in which the scientists specializing in different disciplines could work within the framework of unified or similar paradigms, using the common terminology and searching for common rules, tendencies and regularities. At the same time for the formation of such an integrated field one should use all available opportunities: theories, laws and methods. In the present volume, a number of such approaches are used

Evolution: From Big Bang to Nanorobots

The present volume is the fourth issue of the Yearbook series entitled ‘Evolution’. The title of the present volume is ‘From Big Bang to Nanorobots’. In this way we demonstrate that all phases of evolution and Big History are covered in the articles of the present Yearbook. Several articles also present the forecasts about future development. The main objective of our Yearbook as well as of the previous issues is the creation of a unified interdisciplinary field of research in which the scientists specializing in different disciplines could work within the framework of unified or similar paradigms, using the common terminology and searching for common rules, tendencies and regularities. At the same time for the formation of such an integrated field one should use all available opportunities: theories, laws and methods. In the present volume, a number of such approaches are used

Association of Architecture Schools in Australasia

"Techniques and Technologies: Transfer and Transformation", proceedings of the 2007 AASA Conference held September 27-29, 2007, at the School of Architecture, UTS

Becoming Soil: Five Contemporary Cases in Eco Materialism (On Art, Fermentation, and Soil Remediation)

This dissertation proposes a new approach to soil remediation that I term becoming soil. Becoming soil seeks to help reclaim soil’s aesthetic dimensions, dimensions where soil is dynamic and alive. I argue that soil remediation is an artistic, creative, and collaborative practice that goes well beyond a romantic attempt to recover a lost fertile ground. Instead, it invites the senses to become invested in the continuous processes that keep soil alive. Furthermore, the dissertation reveals the hidden aesthetic underpinning of soil depletion, a crucial environmental problem, while offering creative means to resist the massive and adverse impact that humans have on soil. To this end, the subject of Becoming Soil is examined through five operational questions: a) What is Value? b) What Hides? c) What Remains? d) What Resurfaces? and e) What is Recovered? That correspond to the five artworks by artists Claire Pentecost’s Soil-Erg (2012), Frances Whitehead’s SLOW Clean-up (2008-10), Mel Chin’s Revival Field (1991—ongoing), Jea Rhim Lee’s Infinity Burial Project (2009—ongoing), and Wormfarm Institute creative initiatives on art and agriculture, Fermentation Fest (2010—ongoing). I answer these questions in the light of contemporary ecological theory; more precisely, eco criticism and eco materialism, than like fermentation, are methods of transformation (a giving and and taking in reciprocity) that benefit both the aesthetic and scientific aspects of soil remediation. These methods make tangible transdisciplinary collaborations possible. Illuminate the impact of humans on soil, becoming soil reveals the possibilities for new artistic, scientific, economic, social, and political engagements that are soil centric. Moreover, becoming soil amplifies the aesthetic dimensions of soil remediation, helping to restore the sensual experiences of eating nutritious food, standing on solid ground, and the enigmatic return to the soil in death.https://digitalmaine.com/academic/1044/thumbnail.jp

Aiding the conservation of two wooden Buddhist sculptures with 3D imaging and spectroscopic techniques

The conservation of Buddhist sculptures that were transferred to Europe at some point during their lifetime raises numerous questions: while these objects historically served a religious, devotional purpose, many of them currently belong to museums or private collections, where they are detached from their original context and often adapted to western taste. A scientific study was carried out to address questions from Museo d'Arte Orientale of Turin curators in terms of whether these artifacts might be forgeries or replicas, and how they may have transformed over time. Several analytical techniques were used for materials identification and to study the production technique, ultimately aiming to discriminate the original materials from those added within later interventions

CRC806-Database: A semantic e-Science infrastructure for an interdisciplinary research centre

Well designed information infrastructure improves the conduct of research, and can connect researchers and projects across disciplines to facilitate collaboration. The topic of this thesis is the design and development of an information infrastructure for a large interdisciplinary research project, the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre 806 (CRC 806). Under the name CRC806-Database the presented infrastructure was developed in the frame of the subproject "Z2: Data Management and Data Services", a so-called INF project, which is responsible for the research data management within a DFG funded CRC. During the design, development and implementation of the CRC806-Database, the complex requirements for sound data management in the context of a large interdisciplinary research project were considered theoretically, as well as practically during the implementation. The presented infrastructure design is mainly based on the requirements for research data management in CRC's, that is mainly the secure storage of primary research data for at least ten years, as well as on the further recommendations, that are about support and improvement of research and facilitation of Web-based collaboration, for information infrastructure by the DFG. The CRC806-Database semantic e-Science infrastructure consists of three main components, i.) the CRC806-RDM component that implements the research data management, including a data catalog and a publication database, ii.) the CRC806-SDI component that provides a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for Web-based management of spatial data, and additionally, iii.) the CRC806-KB component that implements a collaborative virtual research environment and knowledgebase. From a technical perspective, the infrastructure is based on the application of existing Open Source Software (OSS) solutions, that were customized to adapt to the specific requirements were necessary. The main OSS products that were applied for the development of the CRC806-Database are; Typo3, CKAN, GeoNode and Semantic MediaWiki. As integrative technical and theoretical basis of the infrastructure, the concept of Semantic e-Science was implemented. The term e-Science refers to a scientific paradigm that describes computationally intensive science carried out in networked environments. The prefix "Semantic" extends this concept with the application of Semantic Web technologies. A further applied conceptual basis for the development of CRC806-Database, is known under the name "Open Science", that includes the concepts of "Open Access", "Open Data" and "Open Methodology". These concepts have been implemented for the CRC806-Database semantic e-Science infrastructure, as described in the course of this thesis

Chemical characterisation of cherts from the valley of Serpis river (Alcoy, Alicante) for archaeological purpose

Mobility range and territorial control are central questions for Archaeology in the study of human groups’ life during Prehistoric Ages. A key point to get to grips with this set of problems is to understand the dynamics of supply of natural resources such as food and raw materials. Thus, the identification of the outcrops of chert and their characterisation is essential, due to the use of this particular rock as raw material for the production of several different tools. Since the nakedeye description of stone characters (colour, translucency, presence of carbonatation or patina, etc.) often lacks to identify different outcrops and to determine the provenance of a sample, in the last decades, scientists have tried to develop methods to improve the characterisation of this rock from the chemical, mineralogical and petrographic point of view [1,2]. This contribution shows the study of some chert varieties which were widely used since the Paleolithic by the inhabitants of the valley of Serpis river [3], in the southern part of the Valencian Community. Forty-three samples of Serrat, Mariola and Serreta chert were collected from different kinds of outcrops: from the wall rock, and from fluvial and colluvial deposits. The cortex or crust and the nucleus of each sample were mechanically separated and individually analysed to control the variability caused by the amount of cortex and consequently to develop a methodological approach that permits to identify different chert sources in a restricted area. For this purpose, Xray fluorescence and Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analyses have been carried out to determine major elements, trace elements and rare earth elements [4] of cherts affected by different depositional and post-depositional conditions. [1] Luedtke, An Archaeologist's Guide to Chert and Flint (1992) 172. [2] Skarpelis et al., J. Archaeolog. Sci.: Rep. 12 (2017) 819. [3] Molina Hernández, El sílex del Prebético y cuencas neógenas en Alicante y sur de Valencia :su caracterización y estudio aplicado al Paleolítico Medio, tesis doctoral (2015) 902. [4] Murray, Sediment. Geol. 90 (1994) 213

Chemical characterisation of historic mortars to evaluate decay and construction phases

The chemical characterization of ancient mortars allowed the researchers to answer relevant questions about production technologies, raw materials supply, construction phases and state of decay. In this work one hundred and sixteen samples were collected from different structures during two archaeological excavations carried out in Sagunto’s city centre (Valencia, Spain). The studied area has been interested by several continuous phases of occupation since the Iberian Epoch (5th century BC) to the present times [1,2]. The samples were analysed employing X-ray fluorescence and Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine major and trace elements. The obtained data was statistically processed with Sagunto’s Castle mortar results [3], allowing us to identify the construction phases of most of the wall structures, confirming the particular effectiveness of Rare Earth Elements analysis to distinguish mortars from different periods. In conclusion, according to this data, the state of conservation of the different mortars has been evaluated. [1] Ripollés, Opulentissima Saguntum (2004) 165. [2] Monserrat, Arse 41 (2007) 231. [3] Gallello et al., Microchem. J. 132 (2017) 251