Experimental White Glazes

Throughout my experience in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Iowa, my focus has been centered on ceramics, specifically functional work. During my final year I made a shift to sculptural work and an interest in glaze chemistry. With these ideas in mind, my overall goal for this project was to experiment with a variety of materials in hopes of creating three to five new glaze textures to use on my final pieces. My focus for this project is on texture, not necessarily on color, and how different elements and chemicals in glaze materials can work together to create different effects. The experiments I have conducted with glaze chemistry throughout my time working on this project have resulted in many failures with a small percentage of success. My process with this project has included book research in the Val Cushing handbook that has a compilation of a variety of different base glaze recipes as well as what specific elements make a glaze white. My purpose for a plain color palate is to focus more on texture and to have the viewer experience the pieces closer and more intimately. The substance I have most frequently worked with for differently textured, white glazes has been zircopax, which is an substance that is high in zirconium silicate. It is used in glazes as an opacifier to make the glaze less transparent. A larger volume of this element will result in a white glaze. Other elements I have been experimenting with have been zinc and tin oxide as well as differentiating volumes of flint/silica. During my process with this project, I have experimented with over seventy different glaze recipes and formulations by measuring out one hundred gram batches, applying the glazes to test tiles, firing the tests to cone six or 2232 degrees Fahrenheit, waiting for my results, and then troubleshooting my mistakes. At the beginning of my research and experimentation, there were many glaze recipes that were not turning out white which led me to the discovery of the material, zircopax. Because this is a reliable material, I was able to focus more on experimenting with textures knowing that the glazes will turn out white. My experiments have led to four different glaze recipes that I have altered in some way to be applied to my final pieces for display. Although glaze experimentation is a process that could continue for years, I am pleased with the few successful results from this project and the amount of knowledge I have gained in glaze chemistry. These experimentations have given me the knowledge I desired for at the beginning of this project. I believe I was most successful in the way I conducted thorough research and executed my experiments with care. While I believe my process has been successful, I know that there is much more to consider in the world of glaze chemistry. In the future, I would like to continue these experiments with texture and how I can create the results I want while being more economical by firing my tests at a lower temperature

The Effects of Sexual Orientation and Behavioral Style on Perceptions of Men\u27s Leadership Potential and Effectiveness

This study addressed a gap in the industrial-organizational psychology research by investigating perceptions of LGBTQ leaders in the workplace. Specifically, it investigated the theory that gay men and heterosexual women experience similar scrutiny and resulting discrimination when in leadership roles. Participants were 363 psychology students who evaluated an applicant for a managerial position. Participants scored the candidate’s leadership potential (hirability) and effectiveness based upon his resume, biography, and short video interview. The candidate’s sexual orientation (gay, heterosexual, control) and behavioral style (agentic/masculine, communal/feminine) were manipulated, for a resulting 2 x 3 research design. By integrating gender and leadership theories with stereotyping literature, it was hypothesized that the gay candidate would be perceived to be less hirable and less effective than the heterosexual candidate. Further, an interaction between the candidate’s sexual orientation and behavioral style was expected. Specifically, it was hypothesized that scores of hirability and effectiveness would be lower for the gay candidate who employed a communal behavioral style than the gay candidate who used agentic behaviors. There was no main effect found for sexual orientation; gay and heterosexual candidates received similar scores. There was a marginally significant interaction effect on perceived leadership effectiveness in the expected direction. These results are discussed in parallel with findings in gender and leadership literature. Limitations and recommendations for future research directions are discussed

Utilization Of Microsatellite Markers For A Comparative Assessment Of Norton And Cynthiana, And The Linkage Map Construction Of A \u27Chambourcin\u27 X \u27Cabernet Sauvignon\u27 Population

The first part of this study utilized microsatellites to comparatively assess the cultivars Norton and Cynthiana. Although isozyme and simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker analyses in 1993 and 2009 provided preliminary evidence that Norton and Cynthiana grapes are genetically identical, only five banding patterns and four microsatellite loci were reported. Microsatellites (n=185) spanning 19 linkage groups were used to compare the cultivars for a genome-wide analysis. Capillary electrophoresis results revealed Norton and Cynthiana to be identical at 98.6% of alleles. In the second part of this study, an interspecific hybrid population was generated by crossing V. interspecific hybrid \u27Chambourcin\u27 and V. vinifera \u27Cabernet Sauvignon\u27. The ultimate goal of performing this cross is to create a cultivar with the cold hardiness of \u27Chambourcin\u27 combined with the superior wine quality of V. vinifera \u27Cabernet Sauvignon\u27. Cross-population (CP) maps were generated using the statistical software JoinMap 4.1 by genotyping 90 F1 progenies using microsatellites. Map sizes ranged from 999.3 cM to 1821.9 cM and contained a maximum of 276 SSR markers

An Examination Of The Strength And Locus Of Interim Activities During Periods Of Nonreinforcement On Various Simple And Multiple Schedules Of Food Reinforcement

Three experiments were conducted to investigate Staddon\u27s account of interim activities as induced behaviors which occur at times when a reinforcer is unlikely to be delivered (S(\u27-) times). These experiments examined Staddon\u27s S(\u27-) interpretation of interim behavior by studying drinking and wheel running on various simple and multiple schedules of food reinforcement.;Experiments 1 and 2 were concerned with Staddon\u27s contention that drinking is a representative interim activity which is occasioned by the unavailability of food rather than by the presence of food per se or its ingestion. Contrary to other accounts of schedule-induced polydipsia, this interpretation infers that the link between eating and drinking is not essential for the induction of drinking. In Experiment 1, three rats were exposed to a series of multiple schedules to determine whether drinking occurs during S(\u27-) times that are signalled by events other than food (S(\u27-)(,nonfood)) or is confined to S(\u27-) times signalled by the occurrence of food (S(\u27-)(,food)). Each multiple schedule consisted of a food component, in which reinforcement was delivered on either a fixed or random-interval schedule, and an extinction component, a period when food never occurred. In Experiment 2, drinking was compared in four independent groups of rats exposed to simple or multiple variable-interval or random-interval schedules.;The results of Experiments 1 and 2 indicate that drinking does not occur during an S(\u27-)(,nonfood) even if it predicts the nonoccurrence of food just as well as an S(\u27-)(,food). In all instances, drinking was restricted to S(\u27-)(,food) occasions with very little drinking during the S(\u27-)(,nonfood) extinction component of any multiple schedule. The results also suggest that interim activities differ in the extent to which they can be allocated to S(\u27-)(,nonfood) times. For example, consistently higher levels of wheel running occurred in the extinction component compared to the food component of the multiple schedules.;Behaviors that can be induced by S(\u27-)(,nonfood) occasions are particularly important for Staddon\u27s account of contrast since the effect depends, according to the time allocation model, on the reallocation of interim activities from the food to the extinction component of a multiple schedule. . . . (Author\u27s abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of school.) UM

The Effects of Sexual Orientation and Behavioral Style on Perceptions of Leadership Potential and Effectiveness

This research explored the influences that sexual orientation and gender norm adherence play in impacting perceptions of a leader’s hirability into and evaluation within a leadership role. Though sexual minority issues in the workplace represent a growing field of research, investigations into sexual orientation’s impact on outcomes relevant to leadership remain scant. As increasing numbers of openly gay and lesbian men and women take positions of leadership, there is a need for more information regarding the experiences of sexual minority leaders, with potential benefits to these individuals, their organizations, and related stakeholders. The research conducted here was intended to address this gap by investigating the effect of a leader’s sexual orientation and adherence to gender role behavioral norms on perceptions of their leadership in both stereotypically masculine and feminine leadership roles. Participants were asked to review and evaluate the qualifications of a male or a female candidate of heterosexual or gay/lesbian sexual orientation for a managerial position in retail sales. This position was described in particularly masculine/agentic or feminine/communal terms. They then viewed the candidate’s interview video, with the applicant displaying either an agentic or a communal behavioral style, and subsequently provided an evaluation of his or her effectiveness as a leader. Drawing from both role congruity theory and sexual orientation research, it was hypothesized that discrimination will occur based on the distances between stereotypes of gay men and lesbian women (specifically, that gay men are feminine and lesbian women are masculine), gender role expectations of men and women, and beliefs about a leader role’s requirements. It was expected that gay men would be perceived as less hirable into a leadership position than heterosexual men, and even more so for positions with masculine-typed tasks, while lesbian women would be perceived as more hirable into a masculine-typed leadership position than heterosexual women. It was further expected that, when a male leader uses an agentic (masculine) style, they would be perceived as more effective if they are heterosexual than if they are gay. On the other hand, lesbian women who enact agentic behaviors would be evaluated as less effective than heterosexual agentic women. However, the masculine stereotype of lesbian women was predicted to null the effects of prejudice demonstrated in evaluations of communal female leaders’ effectiveness, so that lesbian women who enacted a communal (feminine) style were expected to receive more positive evaluations of leader effectiveness than heterosexual communal women. Although findings did not support hypotheses, several significant interactions were revealed in unexpected directions. Sexual orientation had no influence on men or women’s hirability into leader roles, regardless of the requirements, and no impact on ratings of female leader’s effectiveness. Similarly, both gay and heterosexual men received similar ratings of effectiveness when employing a communal style; however, while this rating did not change when gay men instead used an agentic style, ratings for heterosexual men were significantly lower. Implications are discussed in light of recent cultural shifts around beliefs about and attitudes toward LGBT individuals

Defining, transforming, and providing sacred presence : a sarcophagus reliquary in the Menil Collection

This thesis attempts a complete object biography of a fifth-century sarcophagus reliquary currently held by the Menil Collection in Houston. This thesis proposes that the Menil reliquary is a container with acute agency in its original context that continues into its modern museum context. This stone container has openings on its lid and front face, a pattern of carved birds and crosses, and is shaped like a Roman sarcophagus. The relics contained by this reliquary are completely concealed. This makes an analysis of their container even more vital, as the Menil reliquary carries the signifiers for the material inside. Without reliquaries surrounding them, relics would be unrecognizable fragments. Reliquaries define relics. Due to its iconographic program and complete circulation system for liquids, the Menil sarcophagus reliquary was displayed visibly in a late-antique pilgrimage church. A common belief in Late Antiquity was that sacred power could be transferred via touch. Liquids poured into the tops of sarcophagus reliquaries touched the relics, sources of sacred power, inside. When they exited the second opening in the reliquary, these substances had also become sacred material. Audiences of these reliquaries could then interact directly with the sacred power they desired by touching, tasting, and otherwise experiencing these sanctified fluids. Reliquaries with this ability, including the Menil reliquary, transformed and provided a means of contacting otherwise-inaccessible sacred presences. The Menil sarcophagus reliquary was a visible object that communicated the above abilities to its late-antique audience through its various physical features. The Menil reliquary continues to be a tangible point of recognition of and access to invisible, distant worlds in its modern location. As a museum object, the Menil sarcophagus reliquary has become a relic like those it once contained, while the institution of the Menil Collection acts a reliquary. This object has an ongoing vitality and, in both its late-antique and modern contexts, makes tangible the otherwise unattainable.Art Histor

The New International Economic Order and the Law of the Sea

The interrelationship between the development of the New International Economic Order (NIEO) and the new law of the sea oceans play an important and rapidly expanding role in the economic life of nations, it is impossible to build an NIEO without including the oceans. The principles developed by the Sixth and Seventh Special Sessions of the General Assembly and the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States must be applied to States and to the international community in their activities both in the seas and on land, or no NIEO can come into existence

The Role of the International Seabed Authority in the 1980\u27s

This Article examines the proposed development of an International Seabed Authority to enforce and monitor the requirements of the Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Seabed and in the Subsoil Thereof. The author argues that many of the provisions for the Authority\u27s activities are rendered inoperable by developments beyond the control of the Law of the Sea Conference. The author suggests that there have been significant developments at both the conceptual level and the technical level that hinder the ability of the International Seabed Authority to monitor compliance with the prescriptions of the treaty and proposes various methods to adjust the activities of the Authority, within the terms of the Draft Convention of the Law of the Sea

Depression in primary care patients with coronary heart disease: baseline findings from the UPBEAT UK study

BACKGROUND: An association between depression and coronary heart disease is now accepted but there has been little primary care research on this topic. The UPBEAT-UK studies are centred on a cohort of primary patients with coronary heart disease assessed every six months for up to four years. The aim of this research was to determine the prevalence and associations of depression in this cohort at baseline. METHOD: Participants with coronary heart disease were recruited from general practice registers and assessed for cardiac symptoms, depression, quality of life and social problems. RESULTS: 803 people participated. 42% had a documented history of myocardial infarction, 54% a diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease or angina. 44% still experienced chest pain. 7% had an ICD-10 defined depressive disorder. Factors independently associated with this diagnosis were problems living alone (OR 5.49, 95% CI 2.11-13.30), problems carrying out usual activities (OR 3.71, 95% CI 1.93-7.14), experiencing chest pain (OR 3.27, 95% CI 1.58-6.76), other pains or discomfort (OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.42-8.10), younger age (OR 0.95 per year 95% CI 0.92-0.98). CONCLUSION: Problems living alone, chest pain and disability are important predictors of depression in this population