An unusual preparation of an eighteenth-century spider and its consequences

Investigation into an eighteenth-century spider in the collection of The Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, revealed an unusual and intriguing mounting method for a natural history specimen. This article discusses research into how and why the spider had been mounted using such a method, including attempts to replicate it to test the theories developed. The specimen exhibits interesting aspects of preservation linked to historical collecting practices of the period

Liminal Surfaces

The poet Ben Okri wrote: “Stories are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories individuals and nations live by and tell themselves, and you change the individuals and nations.” (Stibbe) In the early 21st Century we are facing numerous environmental problems that are being caused by human activity. This era is termed the Anthropocene , a time when accumulated pollutants are causing detrimental ecological change. Ocean creatures are threatened by increasing seawater temperature, acidifying pH levels and melting ice. On land we are experiencing droughts, alteration of biomes, extinctions and an atmosphere that contains less oxygen per breath than it used to. I wondered how humanity had allowed this to happen. What tales have we told ourselves that led to this situation, and how might we devise new tales that might lead to a less polluted future? I see our environment as a structure of surfaces. Material surfaces on which we live, existential surfaces that enfold our thoughts, and liminal surfaces that transition awareness of these through experiential learning. I researched non-toxic printmaking techniques to attach images to surfaces, both physical and cognitive, as a way to bring about recognition that we are part of the natural world, and need to reconnect to it. if we are to begin to solve human-caused environmental damage. The textured surfaces and prints I created in my thesis work are intended to be visually compelling, yet unsettling. An audience for my work would need to articulate new language if they are to assimilate the educable moments it offers. The research presented here uses the concept of surface to unify information about language, cognition, biology and art history as they give context to my artwork about the Anthropocene. I present research that indicates humanity\u27s present difficulty is not a sudden occurrence. Rather, it is the continuance of centuries of behavior built on faulty assumptions derived from metaphorical language and imagery that gave rise to generational practices of acquisitiveness and economic expansion at the expense of the environment. I present a real-world consequence of our actions: the invention of plastic, useful in many ways, but like the sorcerer\u27s apprentice with too many water buckets, is now a profound danger to aquatic ecosystems

Rethinking the Romans: New Views of Ancient Sculpture

Exhibition Notes, Number 13, 2001. This gallery guide has been created to accompany the exhibition Rethinking the Romans: New Views of Ancient Sculpture at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). The installation presents RISD’s exceptional Roman sculpture collection in light of new scholarship, which stresses meaning, use, and context within Roman culture. Includes six short essays.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdmuseum_journals/1028/thumbnail.jp

Is the Donnan effect sufficient to explain swelling in brain tissue slices?

Brain tissue swelling is a dangerous consequence of traumatic injury and is associated with raised intracranial pressure and restricted blood flow. We consider the mechanical effects that drive swelling of brain tissue slices in an ionic solution bath, motivated by recent experimental results that showed that the volume change of tissue slices depends on the ionic concentration of the bathing solution. This result was attributed to the presence of large charged molecules that induce ion concentration gradients to ensure electroneutrality (the Donnan effect), leading to osmotic pressures and water accumulation. We use a mathematical triphasic model for soft tissue to characterize the underlying processes that could lead to the volume changes observed experimentally. We suggest that swelling is caused by an osmotic pressure increase driven by both non-permeating solutes released by necrotic cells, in addition to the Donnan effect. Both effects are necessary to explain the dependence of the tissue slice volume on the ionic bath concentration that was observed experimentally

Effects of Flight on Gene Expression and Aging in the Honey Bee Brain and Flight Muscle

Honey bees move through a series of in-hive tasks (e.g., “nursing”) to outside tasks (e.g., “foraging”) that are coincident with physiological changes and higher levels of metabolic activity. Social context can cause worker bees to speed up or slow down this process, and foragers may revert back to their earlier in-hive tasks accompanied by reversion to earlier physiological states. To investigate the effects of flight, behavioral state and age on gene expression, we used whole-genome microarrays and real-time PCR. Brain tissue and flight muscle exhibited different patterns of expression during behavioral transitions, with expression patterns in the brain reflecting both age and behavior, and expression patterns in flight muscle being primarily determined by age. Our data suggest that the transition from behaviors requiring little to no flight (nursing) to those requiring prolonged flight bouts (foraging), rather than the amount of previous flight per se, has a major effect on gene expression. Following behavioral reversion there was a partial reversion in gene expression but some aspects of forager expression patterns, such as those for genes involved in immune function, remained. Combined with our real-time PCR data, these data suggest an epigenetic control and energy balance role in honey bee functional senescence

Consulting project for the lubricants export department of Galp energia: global market assessment and redefinition of the internationalization strategy

The subsequent report is aimed at describing the group project conducted under the Management Consulting Field Labs initiative. It consisted of, as the name indicates, a consulting project completed by four NOVA SBE’s students for the Oil and Gas Company Galp energia (Galp)on its Lubricants Export Department(Export Department). The project’s main objective was to develop a global market assessment and redefine Galp’s Lubricants Export Department internalization strategy. In order to respond to the Company’s needs, having in consideration the dimension of the scope, a high level approach was adopted. Furthermore, the close relationship with the client was critical in order to develop a project that matches the Export Department’s specific needs and therefore creating value for the client

Emotional Intelligence and Managerial Effectiveness of Principals in Ogoja Educational Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria: Implication for Counseling

Emotional intelligence as a predictor of principals’ managerial effectiveness in secondary schools in Ogoja Educational Zone of Cross River State was investigated. Two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Simple random sampling was used to select 20 principals and 160 teachers and administered Emotional intelligence test and teachers’ questionnaire. Pearson Correlation analysis was used at 0.05 significance level. There was a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and managerial effectiveness of principals. Principals with high emotional intelligence scored higher than their counterparts with low emotional intelligence. It was recommended that regular workshops and seminars should be organized to develop or improve the level of emotional intelligence of principals. Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Managerial, Effectiveness and Principal DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-27-02 Publication date:September 30th 201

Backward recall and benchmark effects of working memory

Working memory was designed to explain four benchmark memory effects: the word length effect, the irrelevant speech effect, the acoustic confusion effect, and the concurrent articulation effect. However, almost all research thus far has used tests that emphasize forward recall. In four experiments, we examine whether each effect is observable when the items are recalled in reverse order. Subjects did not know which recall direction would be required until the time of test, ensuring that encoding processes would be identical for both recall directions. Contrary to predictions of both the primacy model and the feature model, the benchmark memory effect was either absent or greatly attenuated with backward recall, despite being present with forward recall. Direction of recall had no effect on the more difficult conditions (e.g., long words, similar-sounding items, items presented with irrelevant speech, and items studied with concurrent articulation). Several factors not considered by the primacy and feature models are noted, and a possible explanation within the framework of the SIMPLE model is briefly presented