Digital heritage politics from the perspective of relational sociology: the case of Nüshu culture in China

In proposing a new conceptual framework that systematises and comprehends the complex dynamics of cultural heritage politics in China, the study takes its inspiration from Chinese scholars who have explored the relevance of Guanxi beyond its immediate business context. While current discourse theory acknowledges that heritage-making entails complex relationships that structure this making, there is as yet no systematic theoretical account of how these relationships co-exist, mediate and transform heritage-making. In developing a relational sociological framework based on the work of John Dewey, the analysis of digital heritage-making includes a case study of Nüshu, the dominant language and culture in villages on the southwestern frontier of China’s Hunan Province. Using netnography, the study analyses a range of online accounts and websites that form part of the heritage-making process. Drawing on rich digital material that includes online competitions, virtual conversations or comments and digital certificates, the findings highlight the need for a more dynamic relational perspective that acknowledges the mutuality of heritage producers and the process of heritage-making. The findings contribute to a sociological account of heritage-making in China and to a more generalist theory of relational sociology

Low temperature scattering with the R-matrix method: the Morse potential

Experiments are starting to probe collisions and chemical reactions between atoms and molecules at ultra-low temperatures. We have developed a new theoretical procedure for studying these collisions using the R-matrix method. Here this method is tested for the atom -- atom collisions described by a Morse potential. Analytic solutions for continuum states of the Morse potential are derived and compared with numerical results computed using an R-matrix method where the inner region wavefunctions are obtained using a standard nuclear motion algorithm. Results are given for eigenphases and scattering lengths. Excellent agreement is obtained in all cases. Progress in developing a general procedure for treating ultra-low energy reactive and non-reactive collisions is discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, conferenc

The Conduit System Transports Soluble Antigens from the Afferent Lymph to Resident Dendritic Cells in the T Cell Area of the Lymph Node

AbstractResident dendritic cells (DC) within the T cell area of the lymph node take up soluble antigens that enter via the afferent lymphatics before antigen carrying DC arrive from the periphery. The reticular network within the lymph node is a conduit system forming the infrastructure for the fast delivery of soluble substances from the afferent lymph to the lumen of high endothelial venules (HEVs). Using high-resolution light microscopy and 3D reconstruction, we show here that these conduits are unique basement membrane-like structures ensheathed by fibroblastic reticular cells with occasional resident DC embedded within this cell layer. Conduit-associated DC are capable of taking up and processing soluble antigens transported within the conduits, whereas immigrated mature DC occur remote from the reticular fibers. The conduit system is, therefore, not a closed compartment that shuttles substances through the lymph node but represents the morphological equivalent to the filtering function of the lymph node

Low-Temperature Scattering with the R-Matrix Method: The Morse Potential

Experiments are starting to probe collisions and chemical reactions between atoms and molecules at ultralow temperatures. We have developed a new theoretical procedure for studying these collisions using the R-matrix method. Here, this method is tested for the atom—atom collisions described by a Morse potential. Analytic solutions for continuum states of the Morse potential are derived and compared with numerical results computed using an R-matrix method, where the inner region wavefunctions are obtained using a standard nuclear motion algorithm. Results are given for eigenphases and scattering lengths. Excellent agreement is obtained in all cases. Progress in developing a general procedure for treating ultralow energy reactive and non-reactive collisions is discussed