Reconsidering History Painting

This thesis accompanies a body of practical work as the submission for a practice-­‐ based investigation of history painting. It proposes that a contemporary form of history painting can be developed by drawing upon micro-­‐historical source material including photographs, documents and letters. It addresses research questions related to the nature of such a practice and its relevance to the present day, and represents a contribution to knowledge by setting out a range of models for a form of contemporary painting capable of reflexively engaging with historical subjects and themes. The thesis sets out the art historical precedents and theoretical contexts of the practical work, and documents the methodologies and evolution of the three major projects. The theoretical research, drawn from art history (Bann, 1984; Green and Seddon 2000), historiography (White, 1973; 1978; 1987), photography (Green and Lowry, 2003; Berger, 2013), archaeology (Schofield, 2005; 2006), and geography (Relph, 1976; Soja, 1989), contributed consistently and critically to the development of the work, and as a result, each chapter contains an embedded literature review. The Appendix contains supplementary written material, together with visual documentation of all the practical work and the exhibitions in which it has featured. During the course of study, the aims of the research shifted considerably. What began as an attempt to devise a form of photo-­‐derived painting capable of contributing to public discourse about current political conflicts, became problematic as a result of issues relating to the provenance and nature of the source material. These difficulties led to an exploration of the potential for a form of history painting based on the acquisition of accredited second-­‐hand amateur snapshots, seen as both iconic records and traces of social activity. This, in turn, opened up a greater range of historical source material and subject matter for treatment, and led to a diversification of media to include film, printmaking, and assemblage. The research aims were reframed in terms of the production of series of works intended to embody the past as a spatial, temporal, and social phenomenon that both promotes and resists interpretation. The need to integrate a sense of contemporary relevance into the practice and to acknowledge my own agency in the research, resulted in an expanded conception of history painting, in which paintings feature as key elements amongst works in a range of media, all of which are of equal significance for the conception of each project

Correcting deficiencies in approximate density functionals

In the last fifty years, approximate density functional theory (DFT) has become firmly established as the de facto standard for electronic structure calculations in chemistry. Although the theory itself is formally exact, approximations must be made for the unknown exchange–correlation (XC) functional, and whilst many successful approximate functionals exist, a number of deficiencies still persist, leading to many cases where the approximation breaks down completely. This thesis addresses two prevalent deficiencies, and examines some novel approaches to reducing and eliminating them. Chapter 1 provides a background to electronic structure theory, with particular reference to the approximate solution of the electronic Schrödinger equation through ab initio wavefunction methods. Chapter 2 then provides the formal justification for DFT as an alternative to wavefunction-based methods, and outlines common approximations to the XC functional. Two prominent deficiencies of approximate DFT are discussed: delocalisation error due to non-linearity in the energy variation with number of electrons, and incorrect long-range behaviour of the XC potential. Chapter 3 examines a system-dependent tuning technique for the range-separated hybrid class of XC functionals, whereby the range-separation parameter is non-empirically tuned to self-consistent energy-linearity conditions, which has been successfully used to improve the calculation of quantities affected by the delocalisation error. A full, systematic assessment of this tuning technique is provided, and it is demonstrated that the success of the technique is aided by a convenient cancellation of errors. In Chapter 4, the tuned functionals are applied to quantities relevant to conceptual DFT. It is shown that functionals tuned to the energy conditions of Chapter 3 remain appropriate for calculation of the electronegativity from orbital energies, however the density variation with number of electrons — described by the Fukui function — is better modelled by conventional non-tuned functionals. Finally, an entirely new approach to functional development is provided in Chapter 5. The behaviour of a functional under density scaling is used to impose homogeneity constraints on a simple functional form, culminating in an electron-deficient functional that satisfies the appropriate energy-linearity condition and exhibits the correct asymptotic XC potential

High-resolution spectroscopy of QY Sge -- An obscured RV Tauri variable?

The first high-resolution optical spectra of QY Sge are presented and discussed. Menzies & Whitelock (1988) on the basis of photometry and low-resolution spectra suggested that this G0I supergiant was obscured by dust and seen only by scattered light from a circumstellar reflection nebula. The new spectra confirm and extend this picture. Photospheric lines are unusually broad indicating scattering of photons from dust in the stellar wind. Presence of very broad Na D emission lines is confirmed. Sharp emission lines from low levels of abundant neutral metal atoms are reported for the first time. An abundance analysis of photospheric lines shows that the stellar atmosphere is of approximately solar composition but with highly condensible (e.g., Sc and Ti) elements depleted by factors of 5 to 10.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The Effect of Self-Focused Attention and Mood on Appearance Dissatisfaction after Mirror-Gazing: An Experimental Study

Background and objectives: Self-focused attention is hypothesized to be a maintenance factor in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The aim of this study was to use an experimental paradigm to test this hypothesis by studying the effect of self-focused attention during mirror-gazing on appearance dissatisfaction. Methods: An experimental group design was used, in which 173 women were randomly allocated to one of three conditions before mirror-gazing for 2 min: (a) external focus of attention, (b) self-focus of attention, and (c) self-focus of attention with a negative mood induction. Results: After mirror-gazing, participants across all groups rated themselves as being more dissatisfied with their appearance. In both the self-focus conditions, there was an increase in sadness from pre to post mirror gazing, and there was a significant difference in focus of attention for participants in the self-focused, mood-induced group from pre to post manipulation, suggesting mood induction had more of an effect than focus of attention. Limitations: (1) there was no condition involving an external focus with a negative mood induction, and (2) due to the level of information provided to patients on the nature of the task, we cannot rule out demand characteristics as an influencing factor on our results. Conclusions: Self-focused attention during mirror-gazing may act indirectly to increase appearance dissatisfaction via the effect of negative mood. Further studies are required to establish the relative contribution of self-focused attention and negative mood to increases in appearance dissatisfaction as a function of mirror-gazing

Heme b distributions through the Atlantic Ocean: evidence for "anemic" phytoplankton populations

Heme b is an iron-containing cofactor in hemoproteins that participates in the fundamental processes of photosynthesis and respiration in phytoplankton. Heme b concentrations typically decline in waters with low iron concentrations but due to lack of field data, the distribution of heme b in particulate material in the ocean is poorly constrained. Here we report particulate heme b distributions across the Atlantic Ocean (59.9°N to 34.6°S). Heme b concentrations in surface waters ranged from 0.10 to 33.7 pmol L−1 (median = 1.47 pmol L−1, n = 974) and were highest in regions with a high biomass. The ratio of heme b to particulate organic carbon (POC) exhibited a mean value of 0.44 μmol heme b mol−1 POC. We identified the ratio of 0.10 µmol heme b mol−1 POC as the cut-off between heme b replete and heme b deficient (anemic) phytoplankton. By this definition, we observed anemic phytoplankton populations in the Subtropical South Atlantic and Irminger Basin. Comparison of observed and modelled heme b suggested that heme b could account for between 0.17–9.1% of biogenic iron. Our large scale observations of heme b relative to organic matter provide further evidence of the impact of changes in iron supply on phytoplankton iron status across the Atlantic Ocean

Cometary Dust in the Debris Disks of HD 31648 and HD 163296: Two ``Baby'' beta Pics

The debris disks surrounding the pre-main sequence stars HD 31648 and HD 163296 were observed spectroscopically between 3 and 14 microns. Both possess a silicate emission feature at 10 microns which resembles that of the star beta Pictoris and those observed in solar system comets. The structure of the band is consistent with a mixture of olivine and pyroxene material, plus an underlying continuum of unspecified origin. The similarity in both size and structure of the silicate band suggests that the material in these systems had a processing history similar to that in our own solar system prior to the time that the grains were incorporated into comets.Comment: 17 pages, AASTeX, 5 eps figures, accepted for publication in Ap.