Persistent Popular Images of Pastoralists

Pastoralists have long been recurrent figures in visual images and other representations of Africa and Africans. Whether seen in positive or negative terms, pastoralists have provided means for thinking about and imaging cultural difference and identity, with considerable continuity in representational forms and themes. As popular visual media proliferated and changed over the past two centuries--from postcards, trade cards, and live shows to Hollywood films and video games--African pastoralists have continued to appear in each new form, often replicating the types and stereotypes of Euroamerican understandings even as they register new and varied circumstances. The proliferation and reverberation of similar images through diverse visual media is one way these images have come to seem "natural" and to develop such remarkable persistence [Kratz 2002]. Using cases drawn from eastern and southern Africa, this collection of articles considers the multifaceted processes of representation involved in imaging African pastoralists. It invites attention to how such representations are produced in diverse visual media and through interconnections among visual and verbal media, examining the range of actors, interactions, and mediations involved in crafting representations of African pastoralists at different times and in different places.     

How Visual Figures Speak: Narrative Inventions of "The Pastoralist" in East Africa

Through their media images, pastoralists have become "icons" of African traditionalism and unwitting symbols of resistance to the modernist values of development and conservation. Their pictorial fame bears political costs. Popular visual images convey tacit narrative presuppositions that shape public (mis)understanding of pastoral communities, as tacitly pejorative images of pastoralists--most notably of Maasai--proliferate in film, tourist brochures, and advertising, at a time when pastoral communities are faced with political marginalization and dispossession. This article examines the narratives implicit in ethnographic images of pastoralists, images that support the "fulfillment" of pastoral "characters" through policies detrimental to their future.     

The visual remaking of urban space: Relocation and the use of public housing in “modern” Cairo

Focusing on an urban group that was moved from the center of the capital during 1979–1981 to public housing in a neighborhood in northern Cairo,1 this article explores some of the strategies used by the relocated population to articulate their daily needs and cultural dispositions with the state's hegemonic construction of “modern” space. The discussion focuses on the visual manifestations of these strategies that localize change in durable forms. It is the visibility of these transformations, the article shows, that makes them important signs of distinction and markers of social status. At the same time, it is this visibility that transforms the housing project and remakes the image of Cairo that the state envisaged.     

Where Is the Carnivalesque in Rio's Carnaval? Samba,Mulatas and Modernity

This article chronicles the historical normalization of carnaval parades and samba performances in Rio de Janeiro, by looking at the progressive standardization of audiovisual imagery fueled by a nationalistic project based on cultural appropriation. Afro–Brazilian performance traditions have come to stand for Brazilian national identity since at least the 1930s, and practices of visual consumption such as shows de mulata(spectacles where Afro–Brazilian women dance the samba) have elevated “mixed-race” women to be icons of Brazilianness. While these practices have de-emphasized grotesque excess in order to fit scopophilic drives, they have failed to secure a firm grip over performers' experiences.     

Sensory Shifts and ‘Synaesthetics’ in Sukuma Healing

Sensorial anthropologies come, broadly speaking, in two forms. The first, multi-sensory approach depicts cultures as specializing in a sensory mode such as tactility (Howes) or kinaesthesia (Geurts) and associates individual cultures with one dominant mode. The second, cross-sensory approach rejects this sensorial essentialization (Ingold) and suggests that cultures differ in their ‘perspectives’ or, as I suggest, in sensory ‘codes’. However, the article argues that this latter approach verges on cultural essentialization as it overlooks the presence in any one culture of multiple sensory ‘codes’ and culturally warranted shifts between them. In this article on the Sukuma in northwestern Tanzania I outline an approach that takes into account both the modes and codes of sensory perception. I focus on the visual mode, and shifts between different codes, in Sukuma rituals of divination, exorcism and spirit possession.     

Visual immersion for cultural understanding and multimodal literacy

ABSTRACT

When considering inclusive art curriculum that accommodates all learners, including English language learners, two distinct yet inseparable issues come to mind. The first is that English language learner students can use visual language and visual literacy skills inherent in visual arts curriculum to scaffold learning in and through the arts. Second, in facilitating a sense of belonging for students whose home language and cultural aesthetic may be different from those of the dominant school culture, an authentically developed multicultural art curriculum can guide self-efficacy and inclusiveness. Both aspects of teaching art for English language learners can have the added benefits of facilitating collaborative learning opportunities and increasing worldviews for all students.     

Made in China: The Gods Go East

ABSTRACT

Jamie Uys's The Gods Must be Crazy and its sequel films are icons of South African entertainment, perceived both as hilarious comedy and blatant apartheid propaganda. Three further sequels, made from Hong Kong by Chinese directors, are hardly known in South Africa. These films are particularly interesting from a cultural point of view, as they portray Orientals (and white South Africans) from an Oriental perspective and San Bushmen from a position that is neither Western nor set in an apartheid/post-apartheid South African context. The current context of globalization in which cultures are expressed and negotiated creates an interesting space for the analysis of these “multicultural” films. This article examines these films especially, Crazy Safari, and discusses them in terms of responses from focus groups, one of Taiwanese viewers in Durban, and another of Kenyans in Kenya.     

The influence of genetics on contemporary art

Contemporary visual artists are incorporating genetic concepts into their work, and this work has become prominently featured in numerous museum and gallery exhibitions. Such art uses visual images that represent the language of genomics, the values affected by genetic understanding of the body and the implications of bioengineering. Here, we present various examples of how artists depict aspects of genetics as cultural icons and symbols; in particular, their focus on DNA as information and on the commercialization of genetics research material.     

Systems of representation: Towards the integration of digital photography into the practice of creating visual images

This paper aims to set the foundations for an integration of digital photography into the broader framework of visual representation. The current climate seems to be marked by a preoccupation with contrasting the digital with the analog image. An alternative cross‐cultural approach is proposed, employing “systems of representation” characterized by the wide range of strategies for communicating through the visual image that can be found in the anthropology of art. These take into account the optical principles of depiction and their cultural determinants. The paper aims to place the practice of the digital generation and manipulation of photographs at a point of convergence with a variety of other means of transcribing the three‐dimensional world onto a two‐dimensional flat surface.     

Observations with a different approach to morphological colour variation in an isopod population (Crustacea: Isopoda)

Morphological colour variation in Idotea baltica basteri Audouin, 1827 (Isopoda: Crustacea) is reported for the first time on populations from a brackish water lake (Kucukcekmece Lagoon) in Turkey. According to pigmentation characteristics, the isopods were described and sorted to ten different colour morphs which are named as maculata, maculata-lineata, uniformis, uniformis-lineata, immaculatum, immaculatum-lineata, nigrum, nigrum-lineata, albafusca, and albafusca-fasciatum. The similarity of the morphs was compared by defining digit codes to some of the visual pigmentation characteristics and calculating the Bray-Curtis similarity index of the colour morphs. The albafusca and albafusca-fasciatum forms were found to be the most similar to each other (similarity 96%), whereas immaculatum forms were considered the most different from maculata-lineata (similarity 50%). The morphs named maculata and maculata-lineata, having the highest abundance with 70%, belong to the most successful forms which may achieve crypsis by background matching in their living habitat in Kucukcekmece Lagoon which has sandy and rocky bottom surface area.     

Textualizing the san “past”: Dancing with development

The anthropology of conservation and the way that visual media, especially documentary film, contribute to mythical Tourist perceptions of the San, are discussed in relation to categories of conservancy, living museums, cultural ecology and the marketing of ecological legitimacy. The central metaphor of dance as a mythical tourist image of Africa is the vehicle through which the analysis is undertaken.     

Visual performance impaired by elevated sedimentary and algal turbidity in walleye Sander vitreus and emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of different forms of elevated turbidity on the visual acuity of two native Lake Erie fishes and to assess the response of fishes from different trophic levels to elevated turbidity. Additionally, the role of visual morphology (e.g., eye and optic lobe size) on visual acuity was evaluated across visual environments. Reaction distance, a behavioural proxy for measures of visual acuity, was measured for a top predator, walleye Sander vitreus and a forage fish, emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides. In both S. vitreus (n = 27) and N. atherinoides (n = 40) reaction distance across all types of turbidity (sedimentary, algal, sedimentary + algal; 20 NTU) was approximately 50% lower relative to the clear treatment. Reaction distance was further reduced in algal compared with sedimentary turbidity for wild-caught S. vitreus. Eye and brain morphology also influenced reaction distance across turbidity treatments, such that larger relative eye and brain metrics were positively correlated with reaction distance. This study provides evidence for disrupted visual acuity as a potential mechanism underlying fish responses, such as decreased foraging efficiency, to increased turbidity and further indicates that algal turbidity will probably be more detrimental to visual processes than sedimentary turbidity. With the increasing occurrence and severity of harmful algal blooms due to cultural eutrophication globally, this could have significant implications for predator–prey relationships in aquatic systems.     

The state and the future of the Earth, planetary and environmental sciences, especially in Italy

Abstract  A critical review of the health state of the Earth sciences is carried out for the world and for Italy, with special regard to both their traditional branches and those recently developed to address the preservation of the Italian environment and cultural heritage. Past and recent achievements by Lincei members who contributed to the progress of the Earth sciences vision to changing public opinion on the impact of natural and human actions on the environment are briefly discussed. The possible contribution of renovated “Rendiconti Lincei” to distributing internationally the present best achievements by Italian Earth scientists and by foreign scientists working on Italian soil is also analyzed. Keywords Geology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology, Applied Geosciences, Cultural Heritage Subject codes: U12007, G17002, G24009     

Difficulties with anonymous shortlisting of medical school applications and its effects on candidates with non-European names: prospective cohort study

ObjectiveTo assess the feasibility of anonymous shortlisting of applications for medical school and its effect on those with non-European names.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingLeeds school of medicine, United Kingdom.Subjects2047 applications for 1998 entry from the United Kingdom and the European Union.InterventionDeletion of all references to name and nationality from the application form.ResultsDeleting names was cumbersome as some were repeated up to 15 times. Anonymising application forms was ineffective as one admissions tutor was able to identify nearly 50% of candidates classed as being from an ethnic minority group. Although scores were lower for applicants with non-European names, anonymity did not improve scores. Applicants with non-European names who were identified as such by tutors were significantly less likely to drop marks in one particular non-academic area (the career insight component) than their European counterparts.ConclusionsThere was no evidence of benefit to candidates with non-European names of attempting to blind assessment. Anonymising application forms cannot be recommended.

Key messages

• It is cumbersome to anonymise the current Universities and Colleges Admissions Service form as a candidate''s name may appear up to 15 times
• Anonymised application forms may still be identified as being from candidates from ethnic minority groups
• More thorough anonymising of application forms, such as deletion of cultural activities, would edit out some personal attributes and may disadvantage these candidates
• Anonymous assessment of applications cannot be recommended

     

Monte Carlo transport of swift protons and light ions in water: The influence of excitation cross sections,relativistic effects,and Auger electron emission in w-values

PurposeTo develop a particle transport code to compute w-values and stopping power of swift ions in liquid water and gases of interest for reference dosimetry in hadrontherapy. To analyze the relevance of inelastic and post-collisional processes considered.MethodsThe Monte Carlo code MDM was extended to the case of swift ion impact on liquid water (MDM-Ion). Relativistic corrections in the inelastic cross sections and the post-collisional Auger emission were considered. The effects of introducing different electronic excitation cross sections were also studied.ResultsThe stopping power of swift ions on liquid water, calculated with MDM-Ion, are in excellent agreement with recommended data. The w-values show a strong dependence on the electronic excitation cross sections and on the Auger electron emission. Comparisons with other Monte Carlo codes show the relevance of both the processes considered and of the cross sections employed. W and w-values for swift electron, proton, and carbon ions calculated with the MDM and MDM-Ion codes are in very close agreement with each other and with the 20.8 eV experimental value.ConclusionWe found that w-values in liquid water are independent of ion charge and energy, as assumed in reference dosimetry for hadrontherapy from sparse experimental results for electron and ion impact on gases. Excitation cross sections and Auger emission included in Monte Carlo codes are critical in w-values calculations. The computation of this physical parameter should be used as a benchmark for micro-dosimetry investigations, to assess the reliability of the cross sections employed.     

视网膜周边视野人工成像研究

目的 对于中心视力受损的人群，新型人工视觉系统可以将简化后的图像投射到视网膜上黄斑区以外的区域，从而帮助他们利用周边视觉感知信息。本文探究周边视野的感知特征，为植入式光学人工视觉系统的图形编码设计提供依据。方法 设计了探索周边视野感知特征的实验环境，向被试施加符号、数字、汉字的图案刺激，并控制刺激的大小、颜色组合、偏离角度、运动情况。用图形化的方法分析感知能力与各变量的关系。结果 周边视野的感知能力随偏离角度增大而下降，其趋势分为两个阶段，且受颜色组合、大小的影响明显。结论 研究结果提供了感知识别率较高的变量组合，为人工视觉系统的光学投影、眼内光学植入装置、特殊通信彩色符号编码开发等“人机结合”新技术提供重要的实验依据。     

Two Mummies From The Pitchfork Rock Shelter In Northwestern Wyoming

Abstract

A protohistoric rock shelter burial from the Pitchfork Site in northwestern Wyoming produced two partially mummified skeletons of young adult male American Indians. Preserved clothing, buffalorobes, trade goods and additional cultural items were present. Equally well preserved is the twisted and braided scalp hair of one mummy, andother bodily tissues sufficiently preserved to reveal forms of cultural modification and ornamentation. Osteological analysis of the specimens reveals patterns of physical characteristics typical of Late Prehistoric and protohistoric populations of the northwestern Plains.     

基于因子分析法的医患信任危机成因研究

目的 探讨导致医患信任危机的多维影响因素与解决策略。方法 运用文献研究、专家咨询、现场调查及因子分析的方法,寻找对医患关系信任构成重要影响的潜在公因子,分析医患信任危机的成因。结果 医疗服务因子、医疗纠纷调解与行业监管因子、社会制度因素及文化价值因子、医患沟通因子是驱动医患信任危机形成的主因。结论 医患信任危机的形成受到医疗服务过程、外部社会制度及文化观念、行业监管及医患沟通和互动等多重因素的影响,需要政府、医疗机构和全社会共同努力,消解医患信任危机的坚冰,促进医患关系修复与和谐。     

Fast Monte Carlo codes for occupational dosimetry in interventional radiology

PurposeInterventional radiology techniques cause radiation exposure both to patient and personnel. The radiation dose to the operator is usually measured with dosimeters located at specific points above or below the lead aprons. The aim of this study is to develop and validate two fast Monte Carlo (MC) codes for radiation transport in order to improve the assessment of individual doses in interventional radiology. The proposed methodology reduces the number of required dosemeters and provides immediate dose results.MethodsTwo fast MC simulation codes, PENELOPE/penEasyIR and MCGPU-IR, have been developed. Both codes have been validated by comparing fast MC calculations with the multipurpose PENELOPE MC code and with measurements during a realistic interventional procedure.ResultsThe new codes were tested with a computation time of about 120 s to estimate operator doses while a standard simulation needs several days to obtain similar uncertainties. When compared with the standard calculation in simple set-ups, MCGPU-IR tends to underestimate doses (up to 5%), while PENELOPE/penEasyIR overestimates them (up to 18%). When comparing both fast MC codes with experimental values in realistic set-ups, differences are within 25%. These differences are within accepted uncertainties in individual monitoring.ConclusionThe study highlights the fact that computational dosimetry based on the use of fast MC codes can provide good estimates of the personal dose equivalent and overcome some of the limitations of occupational monitoring in interventional radiology. Notably, MCGPU-IR calculates both organ doses and effective dose, providing a better estimate of radiation risk.