324 research outputs found

    Organising people, contructing meanings : social and institutional dynamics in the production of art museum knowledges

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    PhD ThesisWhile some research has focused on what happens ‘behind the scenes’ in art museums and how this relates to ‘front stage’ museum representations, little has been written about how this relates to what happens ‘centre stage’: in other words, how the organisational structure and culture of an institution influence the art historical knowledges constructed and presented through display. While much work has been done on the relationship between collecting, collections and display, little has been done to examine interpretation practices in museums of art. This thesis attempts to address this gap in order to better understand the importance of the role of interpretation in the construction of art and art history. This thesis presents the results of research into the production of knowledge, understood as modes of representation, at three museums of art: the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Tate Britain in London, and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. The research focuses on the relationship between changing organisational structures and interpretive practices in these institutions, with a focus on how the traditional divide between ‘educators’ and ‘curators’ is being blurred - suggesting a reinvention of the purpose and function of museums of art. Each case study institution had recently undergone (or was in the process of undergoing) significant organisational change, providing a chance to map out or reflect upon changes to interpretation over time. Combining qualitative, ethnographic methods and display analysis, the research attempts to trace the internal, social workings of each institution with the statements of position communicated to visitors. Proceeding from a social constructionist viewpoint that museum displays are a type of embodied theory, and that museums are not merely ‘reflective’ (Macdonald 1996), the research argues that the structural and cultural dynamics of organisations influence the knowledges communicated to visitors. The research argues that staffing structures (and the power and politics that exist within these structures) not only influence the content of exhibitions and displays, but are capable of altering museum representations. In revealing these connections and examining production practices, this research opens up new thinking about the significance of organisational structures in the production of museum knowledges. This thinking challenges naturalised assumptions about the nature of art and its histories, presenting new possibilities for representation, understanding and the experience of visiting exhibitions.Arts and Humanities Research Counci

    Evaluation of Corrosion Protection Methods for Reinforced Concrete Highway Structures

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    Since the 1970s, research projects and field studies have been conducted on different methods for protecting reinforced concrete bridges from corrosion damage. The methods include alternative reinforcement and slab design, barrier methods, electrochemical methods, and corrosion inhibitors. Each method and its underlying principles are described, performance results of laboratory and/or field trials are reviewed, and systems are evaluated based on the results of the trials. Using performance results from the studies and costs obtained from transportation agencies, an economic analysis is used to estimate the cost of each system over a 75 year economic life using discount rates of 2, 4, and 6%. Epoxy-coated reinforcing steel is the most common corrosion protection method used in the United States today. Although controversial in many areas, epoxy-coated reinforcement has performed well in many states, including Kansas, since it was introduced in the early 1970s and is a low-cost backup to many other corrosion protection options. Research on stainless steel reinforcement indicates that it may remain free of corrosion in chloride contaminated concrete for more than 75 years. At a low discount rate (2%), solid stainless steel reinforcement is a cost-effective option compared to other options, but at higher discount rates (4%+), the present value cost of a deck with solid stainless steel is significantly higher than that of an unprotected deck. Stainless steel clad reinforcement is much less expensive than solid stainless steel reinforcement. The performance of stainless steel-clad reinforcement will be similar to that of solid stainless steel bars if the stainless steel coating is continuous and if the black steel core, exposed at the bar ends, is protected so that it does not come into contact with concrete pore solution. The present value of the cost of a bridge deck built with stainless steel-clad reinforcement is significantly lower than the present value for the cost of any other corrosion protection system. This method should be considered for experimental use. Solid stainless steel should be considered, as well, if a low discount rate (around 2%) is used. Hot rubberized asphalt membranes are the least expensive option, other than stainless steel-clad reinforcement. Hot rubberized asphalt and spray-applied liquid membranes should be considered for use on future projects. In laboratory tests, corrosion inhibitors have been shown to provide protection to steel in chloride contaminated concrete, but information on their performance in the field is limited. Both calcium nitrite and organic corrosion inhibitors have the potential to be cost-effective, if they perform as well in the field as they have in the laboratory, and should be considered for experimental use

    The Safe Zone--It\u27s not segregation

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    Let\u27s talk about the Safe Zone. Let\u27s talk about the creation of a ten room, single occupancy wing which is open to heterosexuals, allies, gays, lesbians, bisexual, transgendered, as well as thos who haven\u27t quite self-identified as… Let\u27s be realistic, the Safe Zone, as proposed, will not come close to housing every gay and lesbian on the University of Maine campus, nor is that its attempt

    Differences in Nursery Pigs’ Behavior on the Day of Vaccination

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    Swine industry feed suppliers are continually striving to develop techniques and tools to reduce the additive stressors imposed on the weanling piglet, to increase advantageous behaviors (feeding and drinking) and to reduce aggressive interactions. One product on the market designed to ease the transition from a liquid diet (sow\u27s milk) to a dry ration is a gel-based feed supplement that was incorporated in this trial as a means to positively affect feeding and drinking behaviors. The objectives of this study were to determine if there were differences in the nursery pigs’ behavior on the day of vaccination when provided a gel supplement. A total of 29 d crossbred pigs (5.94 kg) were housed in Double L® confinement nursery buildings. Four treatments were compared. No vaccine and no gel (control n = 4) defined as unvaccinated and without supplemental gel at days 8 to 10. No vaccine and gel (n = 4) defined as pigs that were provided supplemental gel at days 8 to 10 without vaccination. Vaccinated and no gel (n = 4) defined as pigs that were vaccinated but did not receive supplemental gel at days 8 to 10. Vaccinated and gel (n = 4) defined as pigs that were provided supplemental gel at days 8 to 10 and were vaccinated. The group of four pigs housed together in a pen was considered the experimental unit for data analysis. Definitions for the behaviors and postures recorded and summarized for the trial included the following: Active was defined as standing, this included any upright postures. Inactive posture was defined as sitting or lying postures (both lateral and sternal). Time at drinker was defined as when an individual pig’s mouth was around the water nipple. Time at feeding stations was defined as the time when the individual pig’s head was inside the creep (that contained gel) or the three hole feeder (dry pelleted feed). Nursery aged pigs were less active (P \u3c 0.05; Figure 1) and spent less time (P \u3c 0.05; Figure 2) at the feeding stations 1- h after receiving Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae vaccination, indicating a short term behavioral response to this stressor. These behavioral alterations continued for approximately 6- h (or 5:00 PM the vaccination day afternoon). After this time, all nursery pigs regardless of treatment engaged in the same behavioral repertoire. However, the behavioral repertoire of these nursery pigs were not different over the 3-d trial (previously published worked by Johnson et al., 2008) suggesting that the effects of this vaccination stressor and product were not long lasting

    A Multi-City Comparison of Front and Backyard Differences in Plant Species Diversity and Nitrogen Cycling in Residential landscapes

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    We hypothesize that lower public visibility of residential backyards reduces households’ desire for social conformity, which alters residential land management and produces differences in ecological composition and function between front and backyards. Using lawn vegetation plots (7 cities) and soil cores (6 cities), we examine plant species richness and evenness and nitrogen cycling of lawns in Boston, Baltimore, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Los Angeles (LA), and Salt Lake City (SLC). Seven soil nitrogen measures were compared because different irrigation and fertilization practices may vary between front and backyards, which may alter nitrogen cycling in soils. In addition to lawn-only measurements, we collected and analyzed plant species richness for entire yards—cultivated (intentionally planted) and spontaneous (self-regenerating)—for front and backyards in just two cities: LA and SLC. Lawn plant species and soils were not different between front and backyards in our multi-city comparisons. However, entire-yard plant analyses in LA and SLC revealed that frontyards had significantly fewer species than backyards for both cultivated and spontaneous species. These results suggest that there is a need for a more rich and social-ecologically nuanced understanding of potential residential, household behaviors and their ecological consequences

    Ecological homogenization of oil Properties in the American Residential Macrosystem

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    The conversion of native ecosystems to residential ecosystems dominated by lawns has been a prevailing land-use change in the United States over the past 70 years. Similar development patterns and management of residential ecosystems cause many characteristics of residential ecosystems to be more similar to each other across broad continental gradients than that of former native ecosystems. For instance, similar lawn management by irrigation and fertilizer applications has the potential to influence soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools and processes. We evaluated the mean and variability of total soil C and N stocks, potential net N mineralization and nitrification, soil nitrite (NO2−)/nitrate (NO3−) and ammonium (NH4+) pools, microbial biomass C and N content, microbial respiration, bulk density, soil pH, and moisture content in residential lawns and native ecosystems in six metropolitan areas across a broad climatic gradient in the United States: Baltimore, MD (BAL); Boston, MA (BOS); Los Angeles, CA (LAX); Miami, FL (MIA); Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN (MSP); and Phoenix, AZ (PHX). We observed evidence of higher N cycling in lawn soils, including significant increases in soil NO2−/NO3−, microbial N pools, and potential net nitrification, and significant decreases in NH4+ pools. Self-reported yard fertilizer application in the previous year was linked with increased NO2−/ NO3− content and decreases in total soil N and C content. Self-reported irrigation in the previous year was associated with decreases in potential net mineralization and potential net nitrification and with increases in bulk density and pH. Residential topsoil had higher total soil C than native topsoil, and microbial biomass C was markedly higher in residential topsoil in the two driest cities (LAX and PHX). Coefficients of variation for most biogeochemical metrics were higher in native soils than in residential soils across all cities, suggesting that residential development homogenizes soil properties and processes at the continental scale

    The UK Centre for Astrobiology:A Virtual Astrobiology Centre. Accomplishments and Lessons Learned, 2011-2016

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    Authors thank all those individuals, UK research councils, funding agencies, nonprofit organisations, companies and corporations and UK and non-UK government agencies, who have so generously supported our aspirations and hopes over the last 5 years and supported UKCA projects. They include the STFC, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), the EU, the UK Space Agency, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), The Crown Estate, Cleveland Potash and others. The Astrobiology Academy has been supported by the UK Space Agency (UKSA), National Space Centre, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Dynamic Earth, The Royal Astronomical Society, The Rotary Club (Shetlands) and the NASA Astrobiology Institute.The UK Centre for Astrobiology (UKCA) was set up in 2011 as a virtual center to contribute to astrobiology research, education, and outreach. After 5 years, we describe this center and its work in each of these areas. Its research has focused on studying life in extreme environments, the limits of life on Earth, and implications for habitability elsewhere. Among its research infrastructure projects, UKCA has assembled an underground astrobiology laboratory that has hosted a deep subsurface planetary analog program, and it has developed new flow-through systems to study extraterrestrial aqueous environments. UKCA has used this research backdrop to develop education programs in astrobiology, including a massive open online course in astrobiology that has attracted over 120,000 students, a teacher training program, and an initiative to take astrobiology into prisons. In this paper, we review these activities and others with a particular focus on providing lessons to others who may consider setting up an astrobiology center, institute, or science facility. We discuss experience in integrating astrobiology research into teaching and education activities.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

    Multi-Messenger Astronomy with Extremely Large Telescopes

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    The field of time-domain astrophysics has entered the era of Multi-messenger Astronomy (MMA). One key science goal for the next decade (and beyond) will be to characterize gravitational wave (GW) and neutrino sources using the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). These studies will have a broad impact across astrophysics, informing our knowledge of the production and enrichment history of the heaviest chemical elements, constrain the dense matter equation of state, provide independent constraints on cosmology, increase our understanding of particle acceleration in shocks and jets, and study the lives of black holes in the universe. Future GW detectors will greatly improve their sensitivity during the coming decade, as will near-infrared telescopes capable of independently finding kilonovae from neutron star mergers. However, the electromagnetic counterparts to high-frequency (LIGO/Virgo band) GW sources will be distant and faint and thus demand ELT capabilities for characterization. ELTs will be important and necessary contributors to an advanced and complete multi-messenger network.Comment: White paper submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Surve
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