Objects mediating relationships in changing contexts. The Firth Collection from Tikopia, Solomon Islands

Prologue A day at the museum. A play in 3 acts Act One: Discussing the exhibition. Museum Worker: So, tell me more about your exhibition proposal Guest Curator: As a gay Aboriginal artist, I'm interested in Aboriginality and homosexuality. Museum Worker. How are you thinking of using the collections in this project? Guest Curator: I've seen the collections and I think there are some really fantastic artworks here. I've got a list of the ones I want to use. Museum Worker: Yes, I have the list. I sent a copy to the Aboriginal Heritage Officer; who has come along today. He always works on projects concerning the Aboriginal collections. You do realize that many of the items you're interested in don't have information with them. We generally don't display objects with no information, unless this is a particular focus of your exhibition? Guest Curator: No, not particularly. I liked the look of those objects, but I can choose others. Aboriginal Museum Worker: I see that you have a ''phallic looking club" on this list. As an Aboriginal person, I have spent many years visiting Aboriginal communities in this state. This object will present a problem. We will have to seek permission to use it. Guest Curator: But I am Aboriginal And I'm an artist. Act 2. Repatriation requests. Museum Worker: I had two repatriation requests this week. The first from the great- grandson of a European missionary, who collected temple objects from India at the turn of the century. He thinks that his great-grandfather did the wrong thing, and feels responsible. He wants the objects to go back to India. The second was from a business man wanting to set up operations in an outback town. He feels his business plans will go more smoothly if he facilitates the return of an item to the Aboriginal people of the area. He rang to find out our repatriation procedure. Act 3. Media Opportunity Media Officer. They want to do something on museum collections, particularly the primitive stuff. Can you do an interview? Museum Worker: What exactly are they interested in? Media Officer: Oh anything really it's just a fill in case there's no news. They're keen for a photo. How about that place you keep all the weapons and spears. Can you pose as if you were about to throw one? Museum Worker: Media Officer: Museum Worker: No. This is a great publicity opportunity. Only if they report on preservation of cultural heritage, the international standard of our storage facilities, the number of research and public inquiries and visitors we handle, and they don't use the words primitive, treasures, buried, forgotten, dusty or basements. • Media Officer: Ok. By the way, can someone show 20 overseas tourists the Aboriginal galleries and collections. We want to develop a cultural tourism program, in conjunction with eco-tours run by other departments. Newspaper head line: "Hidden artefacts revealed for first time

A strategy for improving the functional health and well-being of Cambodian university faculty and staff

The range of outcomes and published record on the Transcendental Meditation technique across 50 years of research in education, business, and government makes its application unique. Its association with health and relation to an individual’s quality-of-life have also made the technique useful in some developing countries. Data related to application of the technique to higher education in Cambodia have been accruing since the early 1990s. The 26-year research program begun by these authors associated with Transcendental Medita-tion and non-verbal intelligence, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, learning, memory, and personality in university students, as well as its collective effects on economic and social indicators and reduc-tions in socio-political violence and crime, makes for an uncommonly rich body of knowledge in a country where empirical research has been rare. Indeed, the early studies in this research program represented among the first published research on higher education since the 1960s, after which Cambodia was plunged into civil war, genocide, and ongoing social turmoil and political conflict until 1993. The present study, which is a modified version of a study previously published in ASEAN Journal of Education, extends this research program to include a preliminary investigation of the practice of Transcenden-tal Meditation by faculty and staff in three regional Cambodian universities and examines its impact on health and well-being. Findings generated by a concurrent, quasi-experimental mixed methods design suggest the practice may be of benefit to university personnel as measured by physical mental and social health, perceived health, self-esteem, anxiety, and depression, among other quality-of-life variables, thereby adding to previous results associated with higher education in this increasingly important south-east Asian nation

Health and school performance during home isolation at Institucion Educativa Privada Prescott in Puno, Peru

Approximately 2,000 indigenous students at Institución Educativa Privada Prescott in Puno, located in the Andes high on the Altiplano of Lake Titicaca, have been instructed in Transcendental Meditation. In this study, we examine the impact of home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic on physical, cognitive, and emotional health, and school performance for a group of 54 meditating students and contrast these results to a comparison group of 53 meditating students who reported their health and learning prior to the pandemic. The study is the first to consider the association of home isolation on students practicing meditation in a group: A) at the same time of day and in the same place as part of their daily school routine; and B) during online sessions at the same time of day but in a different place. Findings indicate both approaches to group meditation before and during the pandemic produced favourable results for health and school performance

Ultrastructural morphology and expression of proteoglycans, ig-h3, tenascin-C, fibrillin-1, and fibronectin in bullous keratopathy

AIMS To investigate the ultrastructural localisation of proteoglycans (PG), ig-h3 (keratoepithelin), tenascin-C (TN-C)), fibrillin, and fibronectin in bullous keratopathy (BK) corneas. METHODS Five corneas from cases of pseudophakic bullous keratopathy (BK) were examined by electron microscopy. PG were demonstrated using cuprolinic blue, and the proteins ig-h3, TN-C, fibrillin, and fibronectin were immunolocalised with rabbit anti-ig-h3, mouse anti-TN-C (BC10 and TN2), mouse anti-fibrillin-1 (MAB2502), mouse anti-fibrillin (MAB1919), and rabbit anti-fibronectin by using a standard immunogold technique. RESULTS Epithelial cells contained numerous vacuoles. Epithelial folds and large, electron lucent subepithelial bullae were present. Basal lamina was thickened and traversed by disrupted anchoring filaments. In the stroma, interfibrillar collagen spacing was increased and abnormally large PG were present. Descemet's membrane (DM) contained lucent spaces in which there were small filaments. Keratocyte and endothelial cells contained melanin granules. A posterior collagenous layer (PCL) contained numerous microfilaments and wide spacing collagen fibres with a periodicity of 100 nm. Large quantities of abnormal PG were observed at the endothelial face of the PCL. Very strong labelling with ig-h3 antibody was observed in the basement membrane, Bowman's layer, stroma, DM, and PCL, but not in keratocytes and endothelial cells. Strong labelling with BC10 and TN2 was seen below the epithelium, in electron lucent spaces where the hemidesmosomes were absent, in the fibrotic pannus, in parts of Bowman's layer, the stroma, and Descemet's membrane. Labelling with BC10 was stronger and more evenly distributed than with TN2. Fibrillin-1 (MAB2502) and fibrillin (MAB1919) labelling was similar to TN-C labelling. Fibrillin (MAB1919) labelling was stronger than fibrillin-1 (MAB2502) labelling. CONCLUSIONS Immunoelectron microscopy showed precise labelling of proteins at both the cellular and the subcellular level. Expression of proteins ig-h3, TN-C, fibrillin, and fibronectin was highly increased compared with normal cornea. In the oedematous stroma, increased collagen fibril separation may facilitate a wider distribution of some soluble proteins, such as ig-h3, throughout stroma. The modified expression of the proteins studied in these cases of BK may be regarded as part of an injury response

Managing the Built Environment for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention With Maharishi Vastu Architecture: A Review

Background and objectives: The evolution of healthcare from 18th-century reductionism to 21st-century postgenomic holism has been described in terms of systems medicine, and the impact of the built environment on human health is the focus of investigation and development, leading to the new specialty of evidence-based, therapeutic architecture. The traditional system of Vāstu architecture—a design paradigm for buildings which is proposed to promote mental and physical health—has been applied and studied in the West in the last 20 years, and features elements absent from other approaches. This review critically evaluates the theory and research of a well-developed, standardized form of Vāstu—Maharishi Vastu® architecture (MVA). MVA’s principles include development of the architect’s consciousness, universal recommendations for building orientation, siting, and dimensions; placement of key functions; and occupants’ head direction when sleeping or performing tasks. The effects of isolated Vāstu elements included in MVA are presented. However, the full value of MVA, documented as a systematic, globally applicable practice, is in the effect of its complete package, and thus this review of MVA includes evaluating the experience of living and working in MVA buildings. Methods: The published medical and health-related literature was systematically surveyed for research on factors related to isolated principles applied in MVA as well as on the complete system. Results: Published research suggests that incorporating MVA principles into buildings correlates with significant improvements in occupants’ physical and mental health and quality of life: better sleep, greater happiness of children, and the experience of heightened sense of security and reduced stress. The frequency of burglaries, a social determinant of health, also correlates. Potential neurophysiological mechanisms are described. Conclusions: Findings suggest that MVA offers an actionable approach for managing a key social determinant of health by using architectural design as preventive medicine and in public health

Abnormal prion protein in the retina of the most commonly occurring subtype of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Background: Involvement of the eye has been reported in patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), but there is disagreement on whether retinal involvement occurs in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Methods: Western blotting, paraffin embedded tissue blotting, and immunohistochemistry were used to test whether the abnormal form of the prion protein (PrP(Sc)) accumulates to detectable levels in the eye in a case of the most common subtype of sCJD (MM1). Results: Low levels of PrP(Sc) were detectable in the retina, localised to the plexiform layers of the central retina. PrP(Sc) was not detectable in other ocular tissues. Conclusions: The abnormal form of the prion protein is present in the retina in the most common sCJD subtype (MM1), albeit at levels lower than those found previously in vCJD and in sCJD of the VV2 subtype