Unveiling the Colours of Cellulose Nitrate Black and White Film-based Negatives in Colonial Photography

ABSTRACT

Aiming at contributing to the preservation of black and white (B&W) film-based negatives held by Portuguese archives, four photographic collections from the first half of the twentieth century were selected for study. During the macro assessment of the collections the preservation condition and hues found in photographic negatives from the Elmano Cunha e Costa (ECC) were noticed, distinguishing this collection from the remaining ones. Additional attention was given considering that the ECC collection was formed in a colonial context in the 1930s, while the others were formed on the Portugal mainland. The ECC collection results from an ethnographic survey of Angolan tribes recorded with B&W film-based negatives. In this collection, sets of negatives with pink, lemon yellow, greenish, orange brownish, and red brownish hues were found. To identify the origin of such hues, the image layer was analysed by microscale energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (μ EDXRF) and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Additionally, to assess the base decay and its effect on the formation of hues, the plastic supports were characterized by Fourier transform infrared microscopy (μ FTIR). To complement the assessment of the film-base decay, pH was measured by using combined microelectrodes. The identification of mercury, iodine, chromium, and iron by μ EDXRF allowed correlation of the hues found in the negatives with chemical corrective treatments performed to improve the image quality. SEM-EDX confirmed those results and proved that the elements found were in the photographic emulsion layer. The results obtained are relevant since the hues identified may now be used as markers to indicate the technical work performed on colonial photography. Additionally, the visual and molecular assessment of the negatives’ supports (good to fair condition) allow proposing that the original storage conditions may have had a beneficial contribution to their present condition.     

Françoise Dolto (1908–88)

Conclusion Her brief experience of paediatrics and her subsequent discovery of psychoanalysis gave Fran?oise Dolto access to a therapeutic practice enabling her to apply ethical principles that were in conformity with her view of the human person. This path led her to develop a prophylaxis, put to the test in various institutional projects, with a ‘socializing’ or ‘educational’ value. Psychoanalysis thus not only enabled her to bring the light of ethics stemming from it to bear on the therapeutic process, but also stimulated her in her educational and spiritual activity. It was, no doubt, that feature of her thinking that prompted Dolto, in her relations with others, always to use speech for the benefit of the person by calling or recalling each person to his or her archaic desire. This is perhaps the origin of what prompted in her readers and listeners that jubilant enthusiasm so decried thereafter. There is a paradox here between the rejection of any claim to set standards and any imitation, and the power to attract an extensive readership or audience that ‘imitated’ and ‘set standards’, and, above all, was not steeped in the ethical convictions that she alone knew to be essential to any application of her ‘advice’. The very inner distinctiveness of her therapeutic, educational and spiritual action no doubt explains the absence, as Dolto saw it, of pupils to whom she might have taught the essence of her practice, since her subjectivity—the sense of her genius, her faith—is not something that can be taught. Original language: French éric Binet (France) Clinical psychologist in the public child welfare department of the département of Hauts-de-Seine, Paris, and mother and child welfare service for the City of Paris. He is also an instructor at the National Childhood and Family Institute, Centre d'Innovation et de Recherche dans le Champ Social, Paris. He is at present working for a doctorate in the educational sciences at the Université Lyon II, under Professor Guy Avanzini, and completing a thesis on the educational thinking of Fran?oise Dolto. I wish to thank Colette Parcheminier, who is in charge of the association ‘Archives et documentation Fran?oise Dolto’ [Fran?oise Dolto: records and documents], for her invaluable assistance in this work.     

Active science as a contribution to the trauma recovery process: Preliminary indications with orphans from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda

Constructivist, hands-on, inquiry-based, science activities may have a curative potential that could be valuable in a psychological assistance programme for child victims of violence and war. To investigate this idea, pilot sessions were performed in an orphanage located in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, with seven young adults and two groups of 11 children aged from 9 to 16 years. Despite a number of imperfections in this attempt, significant observations have been made. First, a sound communication was established with all, even with the young adults who at the beginning were not as enthusiastic as the children. Furthermore, some children, originally isolated, silent and sad, displayed a high degree of happiness during the activities, and an overall increasing positive change of attitude. In addition, they appropriated well some principles of experimental science. This suggests that a joint development of science literacy and joy may be an interesting approach, both in education and therapy.     

Extending the testing effect to self-regulated learning

In addition to serving summative assessment purposes, testing has turned out to be a powerful learning tool. However, while the beneficial effect of testing on learning performances has been confirmed in a large body of literature, the question of exactly how testing influences cognitive and metacognitive processes remains unclear. We therefore set out to investigate the effect of testing on self-regulated learning (SRL) processes. We hypothesized that by recalibrating metacognitive monitoring, regular practice testing can trigger efficient SRL processes and, in turn, foster learning. To test this hypothesis, we exposed first-year undergraduates to a complex neurology module. Participants were randomly assigned to either the practice testing group or a control group. The testing group underwent multiple practice tests during the neurology module, whereas the control group only underwent the multiple practice tests after the course. To assess the impact of practice testing on SRL processes, we combined a think aloud protocol with a metacognitive monitoring self-report measure. Results showed that, compared with controls, participants in the practice testing group were significantly less overconfident in their ability to recall recently learned information and performed better on a posttest questionnaire. Furthermore, mediation analyses confirmed that enhanced learning performance was explained by the use of efficient SRL processes. Therefore, these results allow us to extend the testing effect to SRL, and empirically underscore the central role of monitoring in SRL. Contributions to the fields of practice testing and SRL are discussed.     

Muscle oxygenation and EMG activity during isometric exercise in children

The aim of this study was to examine the time-course of and the relationships between muscle oxygenation, blood volume and myoelectrical manifestations during isometric exercise in children. Twelve healthy children aged 12.5 +/- 1.2 years (mean +/- s) performed an isometric knee extension at 50% of their maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) until exhaustion to assess endurance time (limit time, T(lim)). Changes in muscle oxygenation and blood volume were assessed by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). The root mean square (RMS) amplitude and the mean power frequency (MPF) from electromyogram (EMG) signals were obtained, as NIRS parameters, from the vastus lateralis. Mean T(lim) was 117 +/- 34 s. The muscle oxygenation and blood volume curves decreased immediately at the beginning of exercise. Maximal deoxygenation occurred at 50% T(lim), and fell by 76.9% from the resting value. Similarly, minimal blood volume was observed at 50% T(lim); it reached a plateau that lasted until the end of exercise. The kinetics of the MPF and RMS curves were inversely related to time. At the last set of exercises (after 75% T(lim)), a steeper RMS curve and an abrupt decrease in the MPF curve were observed. Significant correlations (r) between muscle oxygenation, blood volume, root mean square amplitude and mean power frequency were observed, which ranged from 0.72 to 0.99. These findings suggest that the fatigue resulting from sustained isometric exercise is related to a decrease in oxygenation and blood volume.     

Distributed Teaching Presence and Participants' Activity Profiles: a theoretical approach to the structural analysis of Asynchronous Learning Networks1

The rapid spread of learning networks based on asynchronous written communication — Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) — makes it crucial to assess the possibilities offered by these new environments to facilitate and promote learning processes and learning outcomes. Our interest in this area is specifically directed towards the study of distributed teaching presence understood as the exercise of educational influence, i.e. as the help provided to each other participant in an ALN to promote individual and collective learning. We adopt a multi-method approach that integrates the structural analysis of presence (access and participation) and connectivity (reciprocity and responsiveness) with the content analysis of the participants’ contributions. This article focuses on structural analysis as a relevant and powerful tool for the study of collaborative learning in networking and asynchronous contexts. Its main objective is to show how a relevant and useful system of indicators and profiles, which identify and examine the distribution of educational influence in ALNs, can be constructed. We present the theoretical assumptions surrounding the concept of distributed teaching presence and illustrate the analysis with data from two didactic sequences in higher education. The results show that the structural analysis, when theoretically grounded and oriented, is a powerful tool for identifying different activity profiles related to different levels and modalities of the exercise of educational influence and for assessing the distributed teaching presence in learning networks. Finally, we discuss the benefits and constraints of this kind of analysis.     

Engineering Education in ERASMUS: an overview

The ERASMUS Programme has meant a leap forward in both the quality and the quantity of student exchange programmes in engineering. About 4700 engineering students will be involved in the first three years of the programme. There is a variety of organisational patterns in the inter-university co-operation programmes, ranging from bilateral exchanges of short duration (three months) to fully integrated multilateral programmes leading to a double qualification. The ERASMUS exchanges have proved to be highly beneficial to students: in addition to the basic academic training, the period abroad allows students to improve their language proficiency, obtain cultural and social enrichment, and develop important personal virtues like openness, adaptability and the ability to stand on their own feet.     

Evaluating the teaching and learning experience for the child with dyslexia in special and mainstream settings in Ireland

This study examines and evaluates special provision for pupils with dyslexia in three different settings: reading schools, reading units and mainstream support. The research focused on the teaching and learning context for pupils with dyslexia, the support teacher, the mainstream teacher and the experience of the student. The main participants were teachers and tutors supporting pupils with dyslexia, and the parents of these children. Survey methods included questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews and quantitative data on pupils' reading attainment. In addition, a total of six schools, two representing each model of support, were selected as case studies. This article reports part of a larger survey, which evaluated the effectiveness of three models of special provision for children with dyslexia in primary school. The study shows that there are academic and social benefits for the child with dyslexia who is enrolled in a special setting. However, placement in a reading school or reading unit per se does not guarantee that a child will ‘catch up’ with his or her peers. The findings reported a similarity in the methods and practices teachers use in both mainstream and special settings. The discussion suggests that if teachers are to ‘catch them before they fall’ there are serious questions that must be asked about how we are teaching basic literacy skills. The findings suggest an urgent need for a more balanced approach to teaching reading and writing.     

Educação Integral e Pedagogia Social: Reflexões Aproximativas Com Base No Contexto Brasileiro

As relações entre as políticas educacionais no Brasil e as discussões da Pedagogia Social se evidenciam a partir da análise crítica da implementação da Educação Integral em escolas brasileiras. Neste trabalho, a abordagem da análise documental permitiu acessar os conteúdos das políticas para relacioná-lo aos fundamentos da Pedagogia Social. Uma das conclusões é que a escola e as políticas que a ela se dirigem consideram cada vez mais aspectos sociais, gerando novas demandas formativas e a outra é referente ao debate nacional atual sobre a formação dos Educadores Sociais para atuarem em diferentes espaços educativos, incluindo o escolar.