Adventures in Angelic Material Imagination: The Baroque and the Digital as Recounted by Putto_1435

This chapter examines the potential of representations of human figures to contribute to the material imagination by drawing on intriguing parallels between the Baroque and the present day. Both eras witnessed a destabilization of architectural form and a profound turn in human subjectivity. To explore how the 17th century Baroque could inform contemporary design I focus on putti, Baroque-era ornamental figures— a trope that linked material and perception in the imagination of designers and inhabitants of architecture, and speculate on how such a figure could be integrated into contemporary design. In the design of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Fonseca Chapel, ornamental figures such as putti were drawn in such a way to suggest that their gestures and positions evolved in conjunction with the design of the architecture itself; in this way, both the figure and material were animate in the creation of the drawing. Once built as ornament, the figures in the Fonseca Chapel directed the viewers’ attentions to the visual and haptic sensations arising from the interplay of elements in a rich bel composto. The figures themselves were materially and spatially integrated with their surroundings, in some cases appearing to merge with or float through it. In this way, they emphasized the forces of distortion implied by the composition, and helped to give inert materials a compelling duality which weaved together affective and representational dimensions of perception. The images in my own recent projects include the incorporation of a Body Agent, a figure that is shown in a reciprocal engagement with the design. Narratives from the viewpoint of the Body Agent— in this case a ‘Digital-Age Putto’ — were keys to the design process and are excerpted throughout the chapter. An ornamental figure who has witnessed both the Baroque and our own era, the narrative begins as the putto expresses bewilderment by the ‘mesh carapace’ of the shell that defines his digital flesh. In the narrative, the putto explains his own embodied state; eventually, he grows to accept and enjoy the fleeting malleability of both his flesh and the material world that surrounds him. However, the putto still retains wistful desires from his Baroque-era predilections: It becomes evident that he wishes for discernible symbolic ‘meaning’ from the eccentric forms of digital architecture. The architectural expression of the 17th century Baroque, achieved in part through a careful, radical manipulation of materials, and negotiated by figural ornamentation, purposefully signalled “a transformation of human consciousness.” In the digital design image, matter and the human body are equivocated: like all actants displayed on the screen, they are information, a mutable collection of points without fixity. As Wölflinn noted, space quivered and walls vibrated in the Baroque. Such an instability of matter and body is a given in today’s design image, but what is the human consciousness that is signalled by the designs that arise from them? I argue that the Baroque figure offers guidance through this thorny digital turn

Using stakeholder dialogue as a source for new ideas. A dynamic capability underlying sustainable innovation

This paper attempts to gain a deeper understanding of the firm's ability for integrating stakeholder insights into the process of organisational innovation within the context of sustainable development. Given the early stage of empirical research on the topic, we used an exploratory case study method of two Spanish companies that have successfully learned from stakeholder dialogue and have generated innovations that are both beneficial for the company and for sustainable development in general. The evidence from the two case studies suggests the existence of two simple capabilities - stakeholder dialogue and stakeholder knowledge integration - for generating innovations in accordance with stakeholder needs. Whereas stakeholder dialogue leverages organisational resources that promote two-way communication, transparency and appropriate feedback to stakeholders, stakeholder knowledge integration relies on non-hierarchical structures, flexibility and openness to change. The paper sheds some light on the under-researched issue of linking stakeholder dialogue and sustainable innovation, and contributes to opening the 'black box' of dynamic capabilities and advancing in the understanding of this fundamental organisational concept.sustainable development; stakeholders; innovation; capabilities;

Maximizing stakeholders' interests: An empirical analysis of the stakeholder approach to corporate governance

The purpose of this paper is to build on the emerging stakeholder model of corporate governance by analyzing the CSR function at board level, board diversity, and stakeholder engagement, and how it relates to financial performance. Based on an empirical study of an international sample of large companies, we find board responsibility for CSR to be a key factor in promoting engagement with primary and secondary stakeholders of the firm. Depending on the legal tradition of the country in which the company is based, we find evidence that board diversity and stakeholder engagement are positively correlated with firm financial performance.Corporate governance; corporate social responsibility; board diversity; stakeholder engagement; firm performance;

Risk factors for incidence and persistence of disability in chronic major depression and alcohol use disorders: longitudinal analyses of a population-based study

BackgroundMajor depression and alcohol use disorders are risk factors for incidence of disability. However, it is still unclear whether a chronic course of these health conditions is also prospectively associated with incidence of disability. The aim of the present study was, first, to confirm whether chronic major depression (MD) and alcohol use disorders (AUD) are, respectively, risk factors for persistence and incidence of disability in the general population; and then to analyze the role of help-seeking behavior in the course of disability among respondents with chronic MD and chronic AUD. MethodData from two assessments in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions were analyzed. Disability was measured by eight domains of the Short Form 12 Health Survey version 2 (SF-12). Generalized estimating equations and logistic regression models were run to estimate risk factors for persistence and incidence of disability, respectively. ResultsAnalyses conducted on data from the US general population showed that chronic MD was the strongest risk factor for incidence and persistence of disability in the social functioning, emotional role and mental health domains. Chronic AUD were risk factors for incidence and persistence of disability in the vitality, social functioning, and emotional role domains. Within the group of chronic MD, physical comorbidity and help-seeking were associated with persistent disability in most of the SF-12 domains. Help-seeking behavior was also associated with incidence of problems in the mental health domain for the depression group. Regarding the AUD group, comorbidity with physical health problems was a strong risk factor for persistence of disability in all SF-12 domains. Help-seeking behavior was not related to either persistence or incidence of disability in the chronic alcohol group. ConclusionsChronic MD and chronic AUD are independent risk factors for persistence and incidence of disability in the US general population. People with chronic MD seek help for their problems when they experience persistent disability, whereas people with chronic AUD might not seek any help even if they are suffering from persistent disability.<br/

Special issue on the 13th international conference on computational management science

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The Best-or-Worst and the Postdoc problems

We consider two variants of the secretary problem, the\emph{ Best-or-Worst} and the \emph{Postdoc} problems, which are closely related. First, we prove that both variants, in their standard form with binary payoff 1 or 0, share the same optimal stopping rule. We also consider additional cost/perquisites depending on the number of interviewed candidates. In these situations the optimal strategies are very different. Finally, we also focus on the Best-or-Worst variant with different payments depending on whether the selected candidate is the best or the worst

Geology of the Bottle Lake Complex, Maine

Guidebook to the geology of Northeastern Maine and neighboring New Brunswick: The 72nd annual meeting of the New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, Presque Isle, Maine, October 10-13, 1980: Trip A-

Influence of relative age effect in basic physical abilities

Este trabajo se centra en el Efecto de la Edad Relativa (RAE) sobre las capacidades físicas básicas del alumnado de ESO, tras un estudio descriptivo correlacional transversal contextualizado mediante muestreo incidental en un Instituto de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron pruebas físicas y un cuestionario. Los resultados muestran que no existen diferencias significativas (p>0,05) entre las medias de las pruebas físicas del alumnado nacido en el primer y segundo semestre. Las mejores marcas corresponden al alumnado nacido en los primeros meses del año. Esta tendencia se ve alterada en función del sexo, curso escolar y actividad física extraescolar. El alumnado nacido a principios de año obtuvo una mejor calificación numérica en Educación Física. Como conclusión podemos afirmar que el RAE es un factor más del proceso educativo, que está presente en las Capacidades Físicas Básicas y debe tenerse en cuenta para evitar situaciones desfavorables para el alumnadoThis paper focuses on the Relative Age Effect (RAE) over the basic physical abilities of Compulsory Secondary School (ESO) students after a descriptive, cross-sectional, correlation study in context by incidental sampling in a Compulsory Secondary Education school. The tools applied were physical tests and a questionnaire. The results reveal that there are no significant differences (p>0,05) between the mean results in the physical tests taken by students born in the first and the second semesters. The highest marks belong to the students born in the early months of the year. This tendency is altered by sex, school year and after school physical activity. Students born towards the beginning of the year attained better school marks in PE. As a conclusion we can argue that the RAE is one more factor within the education process, it is present in basic physical abilities and must be taken into account in order to prevent unfavourable situations for student