A new multi-spectral imaging system for examining paintings

A new multispectral system developed at the National Gallery is presented. The system is capable of measuring the spectral reflectance per pixel of a painting. These spectra are found to be almost as accurate as those recorded with a spectrophotometer; there is no need for any spectral reconstruction apart from a simple cubic interpolation between measured points. The procedure for recording spectra is described and the accuracy of the system is quantified. An example is presented of the use of the system to scan a painting of St. Mary Magdalene by Crivelli. The multispectral data are used in an attempt to identify some of the pigments found in the painting by comparison with a library of spectra obtained from reference pigments using the same system. In addition, it is shown that the multispectral data can be used to render a color image of the original under a chosen illuminant and that interband comparison can help to elucidate features of the painting, such as retouchings and underdrawing, that are not visible in trichromatic images

A new camera for high-resolution infrared imaging of works of art

A new camera – SIRIS (scanning infrared imaging system) – developed at the National Gallery in London allows high-resolution images to be made in the near infrared region (900–1700 nm). The camera is based on a commercially available 320 × 256 pixel indium gallium arsenide area array sensor. This relatively small sensor is moved across the focal plane of the camera using two orthogonal translation stages to give images of c. 5000 × 5000 pixels. The main advantages of the SIRIS camera over scanning infrared devices or sequential image capture and mosaic assembly are its comparative portability and rapid image acquisition – making a 5000 × 5000 pixel image takes less than 20 minutes. The SIRIS camera can operate at a range of resolutions; from around 2.5 pixels per millimetre over an area of up to 2 × 2 m to 10 pixels per millimetre when examining an area measuring 0.5 × 0.5 m. The development of the mechanical, optical and electronic components of the camera, including the design of a new lens, is described. The software used to control image capture and to assemble the individual frames into a seamless mosaic image is mentioned. The camera was designed primarily to examine underdrawings in paintings; preliminary results from test targets and paintings imaged in situ are presented and the quality of the images compared with those from other cameras currently used for this application

Space opera: a hybrid form of science fiction and fantasy

This thesis considers space opera as a hybrid form of science fiction and fantasy.“Falling Stars,” the creative component which includes fantasy, space opera and science fiction stories, constitutes a spectrum of speculative fiction. In order to illustrate the similarities and difference between the genres represented in the spectrum, I focus on the central figure of the alien other and the ways in which such a figure can be gendered and embodied. The space opera novella combines motifs of both fantasy and science fiction within the figure of the cyborg, Orlando, who is transgendered and hyperchangeably embodied.The exegesis offers a theoretical context through which to view the creative work. I argue that space operas are melodramatic adventure stories, which operate as a hybrid form of science fiction and fantasy, using the non-realist expectations inherent in both, but mixing the extrapolations and icons of science fiction with the self-consistent but unbelievable discontinuities of fantasy. I also consider space opera’s tendency to exhibit a conservative, unexamined colonialistic imperative, with the attendant assumptions that create a potential for feminist subversion

SIRIS: a high resolution scanning infrared camera for examining paintings

The new SIRIS (Scanning InfraRed Imaging System) camera developed at the National Gallery in London allows highresolution images of paintings to be made in the near infrared region (900–1700 nm). Images of 5000 × 5000 pixels are made by moving a 320 × 256 pixel InGaAs array across the focal plane of the camera using two orthogonal translation stages. The great advantages of this camera over scanning infrared devices are its relative portability and that image acquisition is comparatively rapid – a full 5000 × 5000 pixel image can be made in around 20 minutes. The paper describes the development of the mechanical, optical and electronic components of the camera, including the design of a new lens. The software routines used to control image capture and to assemble the individual 320 × 256 pixel frames into a seamless mosaic image are also mentioned. The optics of the SIRIS camera have been designed so that the camera can operate at a range of resolutions; from around 2.5 pixels per millimetre on large paintings of up to 2000 × 2000 mm to 10 pixels per millimetre on smaller paintings or details of paintings measuring 500 × 500 mm. The camera is primarily designed to examine underdrawings in paintings; preliminary results from test targets and paintings are presented and the quality of the images compared with those from other cameras currently used in this field

Australia Before Whitlam: A Slice of the Sixties

What was Australia like before the Whitlam Government? This presentation explores that question by homing in on February 1967, the month that Gough Whitlam succeeded Arthur Calwell as Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party. That same month saw Australia’s last execution at Pentridge Prison in Melbourne, that of Ronald Ryan, amid vocal protest in which Labor Party members and trade unionists were prominent. Ending capital punishment had been among the issues championed by progressives in the 1960s, and Whitlam’s government would later abolish it for federal offences. In similar ways, political causes and social movements that were gathering momentum in the late 1960s and early 1970s would shape the Whitlam program and, eventually, the Labor government of 1972 to 1975. The new leader had to negotiate the thickets of Australian policy on the Vietnam War, but he would also be grappling with the fraying at the edges of the affluent society. Education was under-funded at all levels, and educational opportunity remained limited. Women, immigrants and Indigenous people suffered various forms of discrimination, and Papua New Guinea still had a de facto colonial status. Social and economic enquiry found holes in the welfare state by exposing poverty amid plenty. High rates of economic growth associated with the long boom continued, but tariff protection and the industrial relations system were attracting critics and there was a growing awareness of the costs to the environment, and to the general ‘quality of life’, of economic growth. A ‘new nationalism’ was in evidence in cultural life, but its full development awaited the coming of the Whitlam government in December 1972, the most radically transformative three years in modern Australian history

IN VITRO PROPAGATION OF ANGIOPTERIS EVECTA USING SPORES

Techniques of establishing Angiopleris evecta plants  in vitro were studied. Soaking of A. evecta spores in water for 24 hours markedly reduced spore contamination. Soaking of the spores in 1 -2 % of sodium hypochlorite for  less  than 5 minutes allowed satisfactory disinfestation without affecting spore viability. Lower concentration of minerals (1/4 MS), presence of charcoal in the medium and exposure of the spores to light were crucial for spore germination and gainetophytc development of A. evecta. Keywords:   Angiopleris evecta I King fern / spore / MS medium / bleach / light / tissue culture / sporophyte / gamctophyt

Visuality without form: video-mediated communication and research practice across disciplinary contexts

Visuality is a concept that crosses boundaries of practice and meaning, making it an ideal subject for interdisciplinary research. In this article, we discuss visuality using a fragment from a video meeting of television producers at Swedish Television’s group for programming in Swedish Sign Language. This example argues for the importance of recognizing the diversity of analytical and practice-derived visualities and their effect on the ways in which we interpret cultures. These different visualities have consequences for the methods and means with which we present scholarly research. The role of methods, methodology, and analysis of visual practices in an organizational and bilingual setting are key. We explore the challenges of incorporating deaf visualities, hearing visualities, and different paradigms of interdisciplinary research as necessary when visibility, invisibility, and their materialities are of concern. We conclude that in certain contexts, breaking with disciplinary traditions makes visible that which is otherwise invisible

Elucidation of xenobiotic metabolism pathways in human skin and human skin models by proteomic profiling

Human skin has the capacity to metabolise foreign chemicals (xenobiotics), but knowledge of the various enzymes involved is incomplete. A broad-based unbiased proteomics approach was used to describe the profile of xenobiotic metabolising enzymes present in human skin and hence indicate principal routes of metabolism of xenobiotic compounds. Several in vitro models of human skin have been developed for the purpose of safety assessment of chemicals. The suitability of these epidermal models for studies involving biotransformation was assessed by comparing their profiles of xenobiotic metabolising enzymes with those of human skin