Diamond mining, rice farming, and a ‘Maggi cube’: a viable survivial strategy in rural Liberia?

Since the conclusion of its 14-year civil war in 2003, Liberia has struggled economically. Jobs are in short supply and operational infrastructural services, such as electricity and running water, are virtually nonexistent. The situation has proved especially challenging for the scores of people who fled the country in the 1990s to escape the violence and who have since returned to re-enter their lives. With few economic prospects on hand, many have elected to enter the artisanal diamond mining sector, which has earned notoriety for perpetuating the country's civil war. This article critically reflects on the fate of these Liberians, many of whom, because of a lack of government support, finances, manpower and technological resources, have forged deals with hired labourers to work artisanal diamond fields. Specifically, in exchange for meals containing locally grown rice and a Maggi (soup) cube, hired hands mine diamondiferous territories, splitting the revenues accrued from the sales of recovered stones amongst themselves and the individual ‘claimholder’ who hired them. Although this cycle—referred to here as ‘diamond mining, rice farming and a Maggi cube’—helps to buffer against poverty, few of the parties involved will ever progress beyond a subsistence level

The glacial question, unsolved: a specimen commentary on lines 1-31

A commentary on J.H. Prynne's poem 'The Glacial Question, Unsolved', from The White Stones (1969)

Back to the margins in search of the core: "Foreign Land"'s geography of exclusion

The crisis of the national project in the early 1990s, caused by a short-lived but disastrous government, led Brazilian art cinema, for the first time, to look at itself as periphery and re-approach the old colonial center, Portugal. Terra estrangeira/Foreign Land (Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas, Brazil/Portugal, 1995), a film about Brazilian exiles in Portugal, is the best illustration of this perspective shift which provides a new sense of Brazil’s scale and position within a global context. Shot mainly on location in São Paulo, Lisbon and Cape Verde, it promotes the encounter of Lusophone peoples who find a common ground in their marginal situation. Rather than as a former empire, Portugal is defined by its situation at the edge of Europe and by beliefs such as Sebastianism, whose origins go back to the time when the country was dominated by Spain. As a result, notions of “core” or “center” are devolved to the realm of myth. The film’s carefully crafted dialogue combines Brazilian, Portuguese and Creole linguistic peculiarities into a common dialect of exclusion, while language puns trigger visual rhymes which refer back to the Cinema Novo (the Brazilian New Wave) repertoire and restage the imaginary of the discovery turned into unfulfilled utopia. The main characters also acquire historical resonances, as they are depicted as descendants of Iberian conquistadors turned into smugglers of precious stones in the present. Their activities define a circuit of international exchange which resonates with that of globalized cinema, a realm in which Foreign Land, made up of citations and homage to other cinemas, tries to retrieve a sense of belonging.

Back to the margins in search of the core: foreign land's geography of exclusion

The crisis of the national project in the early 1990s, caused by a short-lived but disastrous government, led Brazilian art cinema, for the first time, to look at itself as periphery and re-approach the old colonial centre, Portugal. Terra estrangeira/Foreign Land (Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas, Brazil/Portugal, 1995), a film about Brazilian exiles in Portugal, is the best illustration of this perspective shift aimed at providing a new sense of Brazil’s scale and position within a global context. Shot mainly on location in São Paulo, Lisbon and Cape Verde, it promotes the encounter of Lusophone peoples who find a common ground in their marginal situation. Even Portugal is defined by its location at the edge of Europe and by beliefs such as Sebastianism, whose origins go back to the time when the country was dominated by Spain. As a result, notions of ‘core’ or ‘centre’ are devolved to the realm of myth. The film’s carefully crafted dialogues combine Brazilian, Portuguese and Creole linguistic peculiarities into a common dialect of exclusion, while language puns trigger visual rhymes which refer back to the Cinema Novo (the Brazilian New Wave) repertoire and restage the imaginary of the discovery turned into unfulfilled utopia. The main characters also acquire historical resonances, as they are depicted as descendants of Iberian conquistadors turned into smugglers of precious stones in the present. Their activities define a circuit of international exchange which resonates with that of globalized cinema, a realm in which Foreign Land, made up of citations and homage to other cinemas, tries to retrieve a sense of belonging.

Effects of phytate and minerals on the bioavailability of oxalate from food

Phytate and mineral cations are both considered as important dietary factors for inhibiting the crystallisation of calcium oxalate kidney stones in susceptible individuals. In this paper, the phytate and mineral composition of whole bran cereals (wheat, barley and oat) and legumes were determined together with their soluble and insoluble oxalate concentrations in order to investigate the effects on oxalate solubility. The oat bran sample had the highest soluble oxalate concentration at 79 ± 1.3 mg/100 g, while total and soluble oxalate concentrations in the food samples studied range from 33 to 199 mg/100 g and 14 to 79 mg/100 g, respectively. The phytate concentration was in the range from 227 to 4393 mg/100 g and the concentrations of cations were in the range 54–70 mg/100 g for calcium, 75–398 mg/100 g for magnesium, 244–1529 mg/100 g for potassium and 4–11 mg/100 g for iron. Soluble oxalate concentration did not increase in proportion to total oxalate, and the phytate concentration in all foods was sufficient to contribute to an increase in soluble oxalate concentration by binding calcium.

Rethinking the Conversion of Scotland in the fifth and sixth centuries

Reconsidering the initial Christian Conversion of Scotland in the fifth and sixth centuries AD, using archaeological and historical evidence, it is argued that this was carried out by missionaries from what had been Roman Britain. It is shown that this missionary activity - and similar British missions in Ireland - represents the first instance of Western missionary work beyond the former Roman imperial frontiers. The location of the northern frontier of Roman Britain in the fourth century, and the meaning of Pictish Class 1 symbol stones, are discussed as part of the broader argument.

Otherworlds: fantasy and history in medieval literature

This book offers a new perspective on the otherworlds of medieval literature. These fantastical realms are among the most memorable places in medieval writing, by turns beautiful and monstrous, alluring and terrifying. Passing over a river or sea, or entering into a hollow hill, heroes come upon strange and magical realms. These places are often very beautiful, filled with sweet music and adorned with precious stones and rich materials. There is often no darkness, time may pass at a different pace, and the people who dwell there are usually supernatural. Sometimes such a place is exactly what it appears to be-the land of heart's desire-but, the otherworld can also have a sinister side, trapping humans and keeping them there against their will. Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature takes a fresh look at how medieval writers understood these places and why they found them so compelling. It focuses on texts from England, but places this material in the broader context of literary production in medieval Britain and Ireland. The narratives examined in this book tell a rather surprising story about medieval notions of these fantastical places. Otherworlds are actually a lot less 'other' than they might initially seem. Authors often use the idea of the otherworld to comment on very serious topics. It is not unusual for otherworld depictions to address political issues in the historical world. Most intriguing of all are those texts where locations in the real world are re-imagined as otherworlds. The regions on which this book focuses, Britain, Ireland and the surrounding islands, prove particularly susceptible to this characterization.

Different strategies for improving summer thermal comfort in heavyweight traditional buildings

In order to exploit the passive energy potential of the building envelope, it is important to provide a right combination of insulation thickness, heat capacity and night-time ventilation. In this paper, this issue will be tackled with reference to an historic building in Catania (Southern Italy). The building was built at the end of the XIX century, and its opaque envelope is entirely made with lava stones, which is typical of traditional architecture in this area. Starting from the current configuration of the building, many hypotheses for refurbishment are considered, combined with different strategies for passive cooling, such as night-time ventilation, use of shading devices and adoption of highly-reflective coatings. The effectiveness of each solution in terms of summer thermal comfort is evaluated through dynamic thermal simulations carried out with EnergyPlus. The results show the synergic effect of these strategies, as well as their individual impact, and allow to draw some general conclusions about the behaviour of heavyweight buildings under moderately hot weather conditions.