The role of copper on colour of palaeo-Christian glass mosaic tesserae: An XAS study

This work reports mainly the results of an X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) study carried out on coloured glass tesserae from the palaeo-Christian mosaic which decorated the votive chapel of St. Prosdocimus (Padova) until its replacement with the current frescoes of Renaissance age, and which is one of the only two known mosaics in the Veneto region (Italy). The study aims at clarifying how the different local structure, oxidation state and quantity of copper influenced colour. Analysis of high-resolution Cu-K edge X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) and Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectra showed that copper is present as cuprite (Cu₂O) in orange samples and as metallic copper in red and brown ones. These phases are responsible for both the colour and opacity of the samples. In addition, Cu¹⁺ ions linked to the oxygen atoms of the glass framework were identified in ratios of about 60% and 30% of total copper in orange and red/brown samples, respectively. In blue and green samples, copper is dispersed in the glass matrix as a mixture of Cu¹⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions, and no crystalline phases are visible. In this context, the Cu¹⁺ and Cu²⁺ contents in glass were also quantified thanks to suitable standards, demonstrating that, when Cu²⁺ is the main chromophorous ion, colour intensity is directly correlated to its content in the glass. In particular, in green and blue samples, coloured by copper, Cu²⁺ content varies from 26% to 56% of total copper, and the higher contents of Cu²⁺ are shown by more intensely coloured samples. It should be stressed here that the green colour of the analysed tesserae is given by the physical interaction of blue colour, due to Cu²⁺ ions, and yellow colour, due to Pb antimonates used as opacifiers.     

The system of thematic classification of an integrated databank of geological research considering polydisciplinarity

Questions about the construction of linguistic tools of an integrated databank on geology on a unified basis considering the polydisciplinarity and comparison of generally adopted information retrieval languages are examined. A system model of thematic classification for the integration of heterogeneous geological information on the basis of research problems is offered. Using the example of the common rubricators at the bibliographic (VINITI rubricator of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and factographic levels (VSEGEI dictionaries) generalized models are presented, viz., the organization of a thematic polydisciplinary space, the integration of geoecological data, and the thematic classifications of radiogeological data, volcanic danger, and mineralogical-planetological subjects.     

Can ‘pooling teaching tips’ be more than ‘pooling teaching tips’?

Abstract

There is increasing interest in how academic development of various kinds influences university teaching and student learning. To date the focus has been on formal, expert-led opportunities to learn how to teach. Our institution has developed a less formal, participant-led forum for teaching staff that was initially established to share ideas on teaching techniques and skills. We report here on participant-led research that explores if and how this model of group learning works, and how it might relate to other models that have been applied to tertiary teaching development. Authors adopted a self-study research framework incorporating a collaborative autoethnography. The data emphasises how participants use this forum as a community of practice, as a means for deep engagement with learning about teaching, and as a means to rationally manage their learning against a backdrop of challenges associated with learning to teach in research-led higher education.     

Faculty integration of technology in teacher preparation: outcomes of a development model

This article reports on a faculty development model that uses a variety of approaches and strategies to help faculty restructure their curricula and effectively model technology integration for their students. A multifaceted model, funded in part by the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) initiative, was implemented at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The model included training, technical and collegial support, access, and incentives. Questionnaires and qualitative data indicated substantive changes in faculty expectations and assumptions regarding technology as well as increases in faculty and student technology skills and the degree to which faculty members integrate technology into their curricula. The model helped to facilitate the collaborative efforts of a cadre of faculty to model and integrate technology throughout their teacher preparation programs.     

The Influence of Criminal Justice Major on Punitive Attitudes

Students majoring in criminology and criminal justice are assumed to have more detailed and accurate knowledge about crime, criminal justice, and punishment practices than peers majoring in other disciplines. The purpose of this study was to examine if criminology/criminal justice majors were more or less punitive than students pursuing other majors at three universities using standard predictors of punitiveness that have not been consistently examined in previous research. The results indicate that criminology and criminal justice students are more punitive in the combined three‐campus sample and in two of the three‐campus samples considered separately.     

Teaching gender and sexuality diversity in foundations of education courses in the US

This article is a summary of comprehensive units on gender and sexuality diversity that the authors have used in teacher education courses in undergraduate and graduate social foundations of education classes over several years. The course lesson plan includes a five‐part analysis of the following categories: biological sex; gender identity/sexual identity; gender roles; sexual behavior; and sexual orientation. The authors have experienced much success and positive student evaluation by using this approach. This is true even in religiously and politically conservative universities. The authors introduce the complexity of biology, gender roles, and gender identity, before addressing human sexuality. This helps to diffuse many stereotypes and misconceptions in the initial lessons.     

Classroom behaviour management content in Australian undergraduate primary teaching programmes

The ability to differentiate classroom behaviour management (CBM) strategies is an important skill for novice teachers in increasingly diverse classrooms. Worldwide, little is known about the curriculum content offered to pre-service teachers in the area of CBM. This article reports the findings from the first nationwide survey of Australian primary pre-service teacher educators coordinating units and programmes with CBM content. Twenty-five Australian tertiary institutions with primary programmes participated, providing information on 102 of the 118 units with CBM content. Stand-alone units were offered in 68% of programmes and embedded in 96% of programmes. Unit coordinators included a mean of 8.3 approaches/models per unit. They commonly included applied behaviour analysis, decisive discipline, positive behaviour intervention and support, and choice theory/reality therapy, among the 36 approaches/models listed. More than half (57.9%) of the stand-alone units and only 20% of embedded units were coordinated by an academic with a stated CBM research interests. Units coordinated by an academic with CBM research interests contained more hours/model and included research-based models more often than those without CBM research interests, although they still included non-research-based models.     

萧山方言是非问与上海方言是非问比较研究

是非问是疑问的一种,常根据疑问语气和语气词划分内部研究角度。笔者因区域之便对萧山方言进行了较为深入的研究,发现其与泛吴语的大同,但亦存在差异,在此将它分为三类讨论,并与上海方言是非问对比分析。     

The art and artifice of early sports photography

Abstract

The rise of modern sport in the mid-nineteenth century coincided with the emergence of photography as a new image-making medium. Thus, both practices developed in parallel. Notably, many early photographers turned to sport as a subject for their work, despite the early technological limitations of the medium. Histories of photography have, however, tended to overlook this. Similarly, sport historians have tended to regard these early photographs simply as illustrative material rather than important innovations in the formation of new visual conventions for the representation of sport. This paper seeks to redress this by exploring, in close detail, examples of sports photography produced in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. More importantly, it examines the visual vocabularies deployed by these early photographers within the context of contemporary art practices, demonstrating how artistry and artifice were deployed in the production of some of the earliest, and finest, examples of sports photography ever produced.