Feminism meets the big exhibition: museum survey shows since 2005

In the years 2005-2011 something remarkable happened. Feminist art and/ or art by women was made the focus of many exhibitions in major museums: over twenty institutions in different parts of the world put significant time and financial resources into surveys of feminist art and/or art by women. This phenomenon occurred mostly in European countries, but also in the USA, Iceland, Russia, Japan and elsewhere. These exhibitions have occurred 35-40 years after the women’s liberation movement, the art world, and art history first intersected in a way that was highly productive. That so many major museums felt that it was timely to reassess this movement and its intersection with the art world provokes the questions: What feminist politics informed these exhibitions, and what feminist politics did they produce? As a result of the choices made by the curators, how would viewers of these exhibitions understand the intersection of feminism with the art world? What was the curators’ reading of the history of this work? What histories of feminism have these exhibitions produced? This essay will examine four of the survey exhibitions in an attempt to answer some of these questions: 'WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution' (LA: 2007); Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: 45 Years of Art and Feminism (Bilbao: 2007); REBELLE. Art and Feminism 1969-2009 (Arnhem: 2009); elles@centrepompidou (Paris: 2009)

Women with guns: resistance, re-appropriation, revolution

Women in patriarchal and sexist societies have always been outgunned, if not outmanned, and the image of the armed woman has frequently been hypersexualised. Images of women with guns are commonplace in certain places of representation

Women, feminism, and art schools: the UK experience

Women, feminism, and art schools: the UK experienc

Bodies, borders, and law: Tanja Ostojić: Looking for a Husband with a EU Passport

Bodies, borders, and law: Tanja Ostojić: Looking for a Husband with a EU Passpor

Vanessa German: Assembling a radical generosity

Vanessa German: Assembling a radical generosit

Flood prediction using distributed hydrologic modeling in the Dominican Republic

The Yuna River watershed experiences long-duration floods near its mouth, and deadly flash floods in its mountainous upper reaches. To better understand this watershed, a distributed hydrologic model is created that describes flood behavior and acts as a resource for flood control decisions. Since gage and hydrologic data in the watershed is sparse, the model requires customized calibration to historic storms. Using the calibrated model outputs, a GIS-based Area-Slope statistic is proposed that prioritizes tributaries for flood control and permits implementation of parallel modeling in nearby watersheds. Additionally, a flood alert tool is proposed that catalogues expected peak flows, times to peak, and time delays around the city of Bonao. Potential structural controls are tested for effective flow attenuation, including reservoirs and diversions. The flood control analysis indicates that a multiple structure approach and/or a non-structural approach is necessary in Bonao, where a number of topographic factors exacerbate flooding

Students' attitudes to the communications employed during an outbreak of meningococcal disease in a UK school: a qualitative study.

BackgroundFollowing an outbreak of meningococcal disease in a school in the North West of England, the communication methods employed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) were evaluated in order to explore ways of improving communication with the public.MethodsQualitative questionnaires were distributed to Year 12 (sixth form) students. The Framework approach was used to analyse the data, which were coded, and emergent themes identified.ResultsIn the absence of clear communication from official sources, many participants suggested that circulating rumours caused confusion and anxiety in the student population. Rumours were spread through informal networks in person or through text and MSN messaging. It was generally perceived that accurate information in this period would have been useful to allay potentially unfounded anxiety. Most students surveyed reported that they were sufficiently aware of the situation prior to receiving official announcements. The information provided by the HPA through the school was generally perceived as being useful, but it came too late.ConclusionIn outbreak situations, rumours will spread rapidly in the absence of early communication, and this can be a significant cause of anxiety. The use of digital communication strategies should be considered, since they can seed dependable information that will disseminate rapidly through peer groups

A simple method of equine limb force vector analysis and its potential applications

Background Ground reaction forces (GRF) measured during equine gait analysis are typically evaluated by analyzing discrete values obtained from continuous force-time data for the vertical, longitudinal and transverse GRF components. This paper describes a simple, temporo-spatial method of displaying and analyzing sagittal plane GRF vectors. In addition, the application of statistical parametric mapping (SPM) is introduced to analyse differences between contra-lateral fore and hindlimb force-time curves throughout the stance phase. The overall aim of the study was to demonstrate alternative methods of evaluating functional (a)symmetry within horses. Methods GRF and kinematic data were collected from 10 horses trotting over a series of four force plates (120 Hz). The kinematic data were used to determine clean hoof contacts. The stance phase of each hoof was determined using a 50 N threshold. Vertical and longitudinal GRF for each stance phase were plotted both as force-time curves and as force vector diagrams in which vectors originating at the centre of pressure on the force plate were drawn at intervals of 8.3 ms for the duration of stance. Visual evaluation was facilitated by overlay of the vector diagrams for different limbs. Summary vectors representing the magnitude (VecMag) and direction (VecAng) of the mean force over the entire stance phase were superimposed on the force vector diagram. Typical measurements extracted from the force-time curves (peak forces, impulses) were compared with VecMag and VecAng using partial correlation (controlling for speed). Paired samples t-tests (left v. right diagonal pair comparison and high v. low vertical force diagonal pair comparison) were performed on discrete and vector variables using traditional methods and Hotelling’s T2 tests on normalized stance phase data using SPM. Results Evidence from traditional statistical tests suggested that VecMag is more influenced by the vertical force and impulse, whereas VecAng is more influenced by the longitudinal force and impulse. When used to evaluate mean data from the group of ten sound horses, SPM did not identify differences between the left and right contralateral limb pairs or between limb pairs classified according to directional asymmetry. When evaluating a single horse, three periods were identified during which differences in the forces between the left and right forelimbs exceeded the critical threshold (p < .01). Discussion Traditional statistical analysis of 2D GRF peak values, summary vector variables and visual evaluation of force vector diagrams gave harmonious results and both methods identified the same inter-limb asymmetries. As alpha was more tightly controlled using SPM, significance was only found in the individual horse although T2 plots followed the same trends as discrete analysis for the group. Conclusions The techniques of force vector analysis and SPM hold promise for investigations of sidedness and asymmetry in horses

Stimulating growth and xylindein production of Chlorociboria aeruginascens in agar-based systems

Four isolates of Chlorociboria aeruginascens were tested for possible stimulatory effects when grown on malt agar media containing wood additives. The addition of any of the four types of test wood (Acer saccharum, Populus tremuloides, spalted P. tremuloides, and Ailanthus altissima), stimulated colony growth and xylindein production in C. aeruginascens. Addition of any amount of wood produced more growth than no wood additions, while ground wood produced more growth than chopped wood. Of the wood types tested, A. saccharum wood stimulated all four isolates, while spalted Populus tremuloides stimulated three of the four isolates. High glucose and sucrose amounts may be partially responsible for the greater stimulatory affect of some woods over others. The development of this simple and reliable method for growth and pigment stimulation of C. aeruginascens in laboratory conditions will allow for further development of this fungus for decorative and commercial use