Decontamination of Biocide Treated Museum Objects of the Swiss National Museum’s Collection by Liquid CO2 Technology

ABSTRACT

A decontamination treatment using liquid CO₂ (li-CO₂) and specifically developed for the requirements of museum objects (Lombardo, T., M. Wörle, V. Hubert, E. Hildbrand, I. Mayer, C. Hinterleitner, U. von Arx. 2020. “Influence of Process Parameters on Chlorinated Biocide Decontamination by li-CO₂ on Artificially Contaminated Model Materials.” Studies in Conservation, in press, doi:10.1080/00393630.2019.1641001) was first tested on model materials of wood (with and without coating), silk, and wool with different dyes, paper, and leather in order to evaluate possible material changes. Then, selected museum objects from the collection of the Swiss National Museum were treated to determine the efficiency of biocide decontamination and any resulting chemical and/or structural changes. Results show that dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), pentachlorophenol (PCP), lindane, and chlorpyrifos were successfully removed. Wool, silk, leather, and non-coated wood did not experience any detectable modifications, while moderate to major modifications were observed in wood coated with shellac and polychromy.     

Salivary Testosterone Levels in Intellectually Gifted and Non-Intellectually Gifted Preadolescents: An exploratory study

There are suggestive data to link salivary testosterone concentrations (ST) to cognitive abilities in humans. Saliva reflects the plasma-free fraction of ST, which is biologically active, available for uptake by tissues including the brain. In the present study, therefore, salivary testosterone levels in healthy preadolescent children of both sexes, 6 to 9 years old, were determined. Among a total of 215 participants, 122 were intellectually gifted, attending special classes for gifted in primary school (IQ 130 or more in two independent standard tests of general intelligence). Their ST levels were compared with ST levels of 93 non-gifted children attending regular primary school. In general, results show there are no changes in ST concentrations between ages 6 and 9. However, there are significant differences between gifted and non-gifted participants. ST levels in gifted children were lower (p < 0.01) in all age categories. This also holds for both sexes separately (p < 0.01).     

Generational perceptions of promotion and tenure expectations by faculty in a striving university: A quest for legitimacy?

Striving universities seek to gain prestige in the academic market. One characteristic of striving universities is a change in the faculty reward system. In this study, we examined historical promotion and tenure criteria in five disciplinary units at one striving university and then conducted interviews with senior faculty and recently tenured faculty in each unit to better understand the striving dynamics at play. Findings demonstrated that pressures to seek legitimacy were a result of the faculty themselves, the institution’s desire to gain legitimacy through an increased research profile and the disciplinary ties outside the university.     

Tracking instructional quality across secondary mathematics and English Language Arts classes

Teachers have the largest school-based influence on student learning, yet there is little research on how instructional practice is systematically distributed within tracking systems. We examine whether teaching practice varies significantly across track levels and, if so, which aspects of instructional practice differ systematically. Using multilevel modeling, we find that teachers of low track classrooms provided significantly less emotional support, organizational support, and instructional support to students in their classes than did teachers of high track classrooms. Mathematics classes were also observed to have higher quality instructional support for both content understanding and analysis and problem solving than English classes. We develop cases illustrating how small but significant differences in instructional quality are associated with substantially diverging lived experiences for students in high and low track classes.