Romantismo e objetividade: notas sobre um panorama do Rio de Janeiro

The article deals with the great Panorama of Rio de Janeiro exhibited in Paris, 1824, and its sources - a series of watercolours which have also generated succeeding engravings produced dur-ing the 1830s. Panoramas, in their early formal conventions are shown to interplay with Romanticism's and Naturphilosophie's theses and to put in motion the legacy of 11th-century paint-ing . As this geme of visual device develops, Rio's watercoulours display symptoms of a gradual dismissal of its initial ambilions, through lhe treatment of the natural site and the city. At last the invention of the daguerreotype and vai d'oiseau urban images, among other traits, signale the changes in sensibility related to the production and consumption of those circular canvasses. From 1840/50 on panoramas conceived by the will to fuse art and science and bya reflection on nature and liberty turn essentially into a mass entertainment.Romantismo e objetividade: notas sobre um panorama do Rio de Janeiro Margarelh da Silva Pereira Enfoca O grande Panorama do Rio de Janeiro, exibido em Paris em 1824, do qual se conhece a série de aquarelas que serviram de base tanto àquela ampliação quanto às sucessivas gravuras da cena que foram produzidas na década de 1830. Busca-se mostrar como os panoramas em sua formalização inicial dialogam com as teses do romantismo e da Naturphilosophie, mobilizan-do heranças da pintura seiscentista. No desenvolvimento desta forma de exibição as aquarelas do Rio apresentam sintomas do gradual afastamento das ambições iniciais através do tratamento dispensado ao sítio natural e à cidade. Por fim, a invenção do daguerreótipo, e as vistas urbanas em võo de pássaro, enlre outros, balizariam a mudança de sensibilidade na produção e na fruição dessas telas circulares. A partir de 1840/50 os panoramas engendrados pelo desejo de fusão entre arte e ciência e pela reflexão sobre a natureza e a liberdade, tornar-se-iam, sobretudo, um divertimento de massas

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Growing knowledge: an overview of Seed Plant diversity in Brazil

Abstract An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country's biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, showing an increase of 3% in its species richness in relation to 2010. The Amazon Rainforest is the richest Brazilian biome for Gymnosperms, while the Atlantic Rainforest is the richest one for Angiosperms. There was a considerable increment in the number of species and endemism rates for biomes, except for the Amazon that showed a decrease of 2.5% of recorded endemics. However, well over half of Brazillian seed plant species (57.4%) is endemic to this territory. The proportion of life-forms varies among different biomes: trees are more expressive in the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest biomes while herbs predominate in the Pampa, and lianas are more expressive in the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, and Pantanal. This compilation serves not only to quantify Brazilian biodiversity, but also to highlight areas where there information is lacking and to provide a framework for the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique and diverse flora