Mummies Unwrapped: from medical dissections to public performances

Mummies are objects of wonder in museums worldwide, often made popular by films and books. Fascinated by the different perceptions of mummies in society, PhD student Angela Stienne investigates the multifaceted history of mummy collections, and their place in debates surrounding the exhibition of human remains in museums

Think you know mummies? Think again: Mummy stories

Angela Stienne is a third year PhD student at the School of Museum Studies researching engagements with Egyptian mummies in Paris and London between 1753 and 1855. Angela has worked at the Musée du Louvre in Paris and volunteered at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London. Throughout her academic career, she has been involved in a variety of public engagement projects

The Egyptian mummy in UK museums: cultural histories and object biographies

Egyptian mummies are at the centre of attention of most Egyptology collections. Their dual nature as bodies (human remains) and artefacts make them peculiar museum objects and, consequently, they have been left out of the debate concerning the collection, retention and display of human remains. This paper aims to reinvigorate the debate over the display of Egyptian mummies in museums by addressing three points: the ‘object habits’ of collectors which led to the building up of mummy collections, the specificity of mummies and how it has been addressed by UK museum authorities, and finally, the new modes of display, making a case for a better understanding of human remains collections through the use of object biographies.Les momies occupent une place centrale dans la plupart des collections d’égyptologie. Leur double nature de corps (restes humains) et d’œuvres en fait des objets à part, laissés à l’écart du débat sur la collection, la détention et l’exposition de restes humains. Cet article relance la réflexion sur l’exposition des momies égyptiennes dans les musées autour de trois thèmes : le rapport à l’objet qui a conduit à constituer des collections de momies, la spécificité des momies et sa prise en compte par les instances muséales anglaises et, enfin, les nouveaux modes de présentation. Les biographies d’objets contribuent à une meilleure appréhension des collections de restes humains

Strong Authentication for Web Services using Smartcards

The popularity of the Internet and the variety of services it provides has been immense. Unfortunately, many of these services require the user to register and subsequently login to the system in order to access them. This has resulted in the user having to remember a multitude of username and password combinations in order to use the service securely. However, literature has clearly demonstrated this is not an effective approach, as users will frequently choose simple passwords, write them down, share them or use the same password for multiple systems. This paper proposes a novel concept where Internet users authenticate to web services (service providers) by the use of a smartcard – taking away any requirement for the user to provide credentials. The smartcard is useful in this context as it is a trusted device that is capable of applying cryptography in a tamper resistant environment. The development of the concept is based upon an extension to Authentication Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI) models, where a trusted authority (Identity Provider) will provide and manage the smart card to end-users. In devices such as mobile phones, a smartcard is already present (e.g. the SIM) to facilitate this and it is envisaged such a card could also be produced for desktop environments – similarly to what many banks are currently implementing

‘To turn round a dead’: Engagements with Egyptian Mummies in London at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century

Starting with observations on a coffin that was brought from Egypt in 1722 and displayed at the British Museum from the first day of its opening — coffin EA6695 — this paper explores physical engagements with Egyptian mummies in London at the turn of the 19th century. It argues that it is through physical engagements — including investigations and destructions — that the Egyptian mummy was used to construct knowledge, not only about ancient Egypt, but about the body, race and the modern world. Using a number of sources from a range of individual reports, this paper sheds light on the cultural practices that surrounded and shaped engagements with Egyptian human remains, and reappraises the value of looking at destructive investigations as cultural interventions that can explain later practices, including the public mummy unrolling

La qualité de vie de patients atteints de polyarthrite rhumatoïde: interventions infirmières et apport du partenariat humaniste en santé

Ressortir les preuves issues de la pratique concernant l’amélioration et/ou le maintien de la qualité de vie (QDV) de patients atteints de polyarthrite rhumatoïde (PR) et fournir un accompagnement infirmier suivant le modèle de partenariat humaniste en santé (MPHS)

Characterizing Ionospheric Effects on GNSS Reflectometry at Grazing Angles from Space

Coherent observations in GNSS reflectometry are prominent in regions with smooth reflecting surfaces and at grazing elevation angles. However, within these lower elevation ranges, GNSS signals traverse a more extensive atmospheric path, and increased ionospheric effects (e.g., delay biases) are expected. These biases can be mitigated by employing dual-frequency receivers or models tailored for single-frequency receivers. In preparation for the single-frequency GNSS-R ESA “PRETTY” mission, this study aims to characterize ionospheric effects under variable parameter conditions: elevation angles in the grazing range (5° to 30°), latitude-dependent regions (north, tropic, south) and diurnal changes (day and nighttime). The investigation employs simulations using orbit data from Spire Global Inc.’s Lemur-2 CubeSat constellation at the solar minimum (F10.7 index at 75) in March 2021. Changes towards higher solar activity are accounted for with an additional scenario (F10.7 index at 180) in March 2023. The electron density associated with each reflection event is determined using the Neustrelitz Electron Density Model (NEDM2020) and the NeQuick 2 model. The results from periods of low solar activity reveal fluctuations of up to approximately 300 TECUs in slant total electron content, 19 m in relative ionospheric delay for the GPS L1 frequency, 2 Hz in Doppler shifts, and variations in the peak electron density height ranging from 215 to 330 km. Sea surface height uncertainty associated with ionospheric model-based corrections in group delay altimetric inversion can reach a standard deviation at the meter level

Atmospheric effects resolved in airborne GNSS reflectometry by data fusion processing

The advent of the Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS) allowed the emergence of multiple satellite, airborne and terrestrial systems for remote sensing and Earth observation that make use of GNSS signals for navigation and positioning. However, GNSS signals can be also used as a remote sensing technique to obtain characteristics of the Earth's surface once they get reflected. This technique is nowadays called GNSS Reflectometry (GNSS-R) and offers different applications such as sea state, soil moisture, and sea ice concentration. GNSS reflectometry relies on bistatic radar configuration. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate multiple data sources to produce more accurate, useful, and consistent information from the transmitter-surface-receiver interaction. In this study, we fuse GNSS and ancillary data to resolve the tropospheric residual from the signal path change over the observed period. The experiment consisted of four flights performed with a gyrocopter in July 2019 along the coast between Calais and Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France. The processing comprises the integration of aircraft trajectory, broadcasted GNSS satellites orbits, and geoid model for direct and reflected signal path difference modeling. The latter is used for GNSS-R data processing by means of a model-aided software receiver. The resulting reflected signal is passed through a retracking module to obtain the corrected phase residual observable comparable with the tropospheric residual retrieved from ray-tracing modeling. Initial results have shown promising performance at calm sea and grazing angles. Satellites with low elevations (E < 10°) reveal coherent observations that allow resolving atmospheric effects from GNSS-R airborne data

Atmospheric effects resolved in coherent airborne GNSS reflectometry

The advent of the Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS) allowed the emergence of multiple satellites, airborne and terrestrial systems for remote sensing, and Earth observation. GNSS signals, designed for positioning and navigation, can be used to obtain characteristics of the Earth's surface once they get reflected. Recent studies have made use of GNSS Reflectometry as a tool for atmospheric sounding with promising results, broadening the spectrum for the use of the reflected GNSS signals. This study examines the occurrence of high-precision phase delay information for airborne reflectometry under the condition of various sea states in coastal waters. We fuse GNSS and ancillary data to resolve the tropospheric residual from the signal path change over the observed period. The experiment consisted of four flights performed with a gyrocopter in July 2019 along the coast between Calais and Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France. The processing comprises the integration of aircraft trajectory, GNSS satellites orbits, and geoid model for direct and reflected signal path difference modeling. Path predictions are used for GNSS-R data processing by means of a model-aided software receiver. The resulting reflected signal is passed through a retracking module to obtain the corrected Doppler shift and residual phase observable comparable with the tropospheric residual retrieved from ray-tracing modeling assuming a standard atmosphere. Initial results have shown promising performance at calm sea and grazing angles. Satellites with low elevations (E < 10°) reveal coherent observations that allow resolving tropospheric effects from GNSS-R airborne data

Sea state-dependent Doppler spread as a limit of coherent GNSS reflectometry from an airborne platform

Sea level rise and sea state variability due to climate change and global warming are major research topics in the scientific community. Ocean weather conditions considerably impact coastal areas, and wind speed (WS) and significant wave height (SWH) are usable parameters to monitor the sea state threats on the coasts. GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R) has shown considerable promise as a remote sensing technique for ocean parameters estimation. Multiple studies have been conducted successfully in the recent two decades by using GNSS-R ground-based, airborne and spaceborne data to retrieve geophysical properties of the ocean surface. The focus of this study is to investigate the Doppler shift of the reflected signal as observable to estimate the Doppler spread (DS) and determine its correlation with sea state changes employing GNSS-R airborne data in coastal areas. An additional aim is to study the possibility of using the Doppler spread as a metric for coherent GNSS reflectometry for applications such as precise altimetry and precise total electron content (TEC) estimates. An experiment was conducted from the 12th to the 19th of July 2019 along Opal Coast, between the cities of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. The experiment consisted of multiple flights at an altitude of ~780m (a.m.s.l), and the direct and reflected signals were received by dual-polarized (Right-Handed and Left-Handed Circular Polarizations) antenna mounted on a gyrocopter. A software receiver is used to process the direct and reflected signals from the right-hand channel. The resulting in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components (at 50 Hz rate) of the reflected signals are analyzed in the spectral domain every ten seconds to obtain the relative Doppler shift and power estimates. The coherence is established by analyzing the phase observations obtained from I and Q. The sensitivity of the reflected signal parameters and the sea state is determined by the correlation between the Doppler Spread with wind speed and significant wave height. The latter two were obtained from the atmospheric, land and oceanic climate model, ERA5, provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Initial results have shown promising performance at a calm sea (WS: 2.9 m/s and SWH: 0.26 m) and grazing angles. Satellites with low elevations (E 30°). The DS increases up to 2.1 Hz and the correlation decrease to 0.55 and 0.42 respectively. Coherence conditions are still under study; however, preliminary phase analysis reveals coherent observations at events with elevations below 15° and sea state with a significant wave height of 0.26 m