Avaliação da qualidade da assistência à mulher e ao filho durante o parto normal

The practices developed in the everyday life of obstetric services are sometimes out of step with the recommendations of the public health policies. Accordingly, this research had the objective of assessing the quality of the care provided to women and children during cases of natural childbirth in municipal public maternity wards of the city of Natal/RN, Brazilian Northeast. We developed a cross-sectional and quantitative study in two maternity wards that provide care actions to pregnant women at regular risk (maternity wards A and B). The participants were 314 puerperal women who were treated during the period between April and July 2014, whose children were born alive, through transpelvic way, with spontaneous or induced beginning of labor and that showed physical and emotional conditions to respond to the proposed questions. The data collection instrument was constructed on the basis of the recommendations of the World Health Organization focused on the care of normal childbirth and validated by skilled judges, and the final version has obtained optimum agreement (k = 0,96; IVC = 0,99). Associated with these recommendations, we used three indicators: percentage of women with induced labor or subjected to elective cesarean section (Indicator A); percentage of women served by a qualified health professional during labor and childbirth (Indicator B); and Bologna Index (Indicator C). The research obtained a favorable opinion of the Research Ethics Committee from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, under the nº 562.313 and Certificate of Presentation for Ethics Appreciation: 25958513.0.0000.5537. The analysis of categories related to the recommendations of the World Health Organization was conducted by means of absolute and relative frequency and the Chi-square Pearson’s and Fisher’s exact tests made the comparison of the differences observed between the two maternity wards. Furthermore, we calculated the percentage of the indicators A and B and with the results of the Indicator C, the quality was assessed as follows: the closer to 5, the better will be the quality, and the closer to 0, the worst will be the quality, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the differences of the obtained averages. The significance level of 5% was considered in all statistical tests. The differences between the maternity wards were identified with regard to the provision of liquids orally (p=0,018), stimulus for non-supine positions (p=0,002), existence of partograph (p=0,001), support or welcoming by health professionals (p= 0,047), intravenous infusion (p<0,001), supine position (p<0,001), use of oxytocin (p<0,001), food and liquid restriction (p= 0,002) and, lastly, the fact of the touch is performed by more than 1 examiner (p=0,011). The indicators A and B showed percentages of 13,09% and 100%, respectively. The overall average of the Indicator C was equal to 2,07 (± 0,74). There was a statistically significant difference between the averages of the maternity wards (p<0,001). The care actions provided during the process of labor and childbirth is inappropriate, especially in the maternity ward B. It is necessary to implement improvements and redesign the obstetric model in force

The mermaid series of Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists (1887-1909): a literary and critical history

The Mermaid Series (1887-1909) edited by Havelock Ellis was a major watershed in appreciation of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. Before it appeared plays were available to general readers in scattered anthologies, large expensive collected editions or in expurgated selections which included only the more lyrical speeches and memorable scenes. Criticism of the drama followed suit; the majority of critics concentrated on the sections which appealed to the romantic and sentimental tastes of nineteenthcentury readers. The two men who conceived the Mermaid Series, John Addington Symonds and Havelock Ellis, approached the drama differently from their contemporaries; Symonds studied a play as a whole work of art and Ellis concentrated on its view of life. Both were unsatisfied with the "select beauties", fragmented approach and wanted readers to have the best plays in their entirety easily available in handy, inexpensive editions. Symonds's awareness of the drama as theatre was combined with a historical perspective allowing him to judge the drama in relation to its own time. He made a lasting but hitherto underestimated contribution to study of Beaumont and Fletcher, Dekker, Marlowe, and Ford. Ellis's work on the drama is overshadowed today by his studies of sex but his concentration on ideas and appreciation of unconventional behaviour enabled him to formulate new views on Ford, Middleton and Chapman. The two other major editors to work on the series, A. C. Swinburne and Arthur Symons had more conventional nineteenth-century approaches. Both were impressionistic critics who were most attracted to the l~nguage of the drama. Swinburne, however, occasionally transcended his fragmented approach and offered significant interpretations of Tourneur, Massinger; 'The .Changeling, Heywood. Symons's range was more limited but his form of impressionism was valuable for its concentration on the aesthetic experience at the heart of a work of art. His most important contributions were the study of Middleton and Massinger. Besides these four major critics numerous lesser writers worked on the series. Their editorial work was valuable and some, notably Ernest Rhys, c. H. Herford and Thomas Dickinson offered criticism of enduring importance. In my first chapter I consider the general availability of texts of the Elizabethan and Jacobean drama in the nineteenth century, the general attitudes towards the drama, and the critical approaches of each of the editors. The subsequent chapters are organized around the volumes of the series. I consider the climate of opinion in which each appeared, assess its critical and editorial contribution and evaluate the work of the other Mermaid editors on the dramatist included in the volume. My study shows that the concept of the Mermaid Series and the work of its editors helped to revolutionize study of the Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists by providing good texts and by pointing the way to our present view of the plays as whole works of art.

Design and analysis of a compliant parallel pan-tilt platform

In combination of the advantages of both parallel mechanisms and compliant mechanisms, a compliant parallel mechanism with two rotational DOFs (degrees of freedom) is designed to meet the requirement of a lightweight and compact pan-tilt platform. Firstly, two commonly-used design methods i.e. direct substitution and FACT (Freedom and Constraint Topology) are applied to design the configuration of the pan-tilt system, and similarities and differences of the two design alternatives are compared. Then inverse kinematic analysis of the candidate mechanism is implemented by using the pseudo-rigid-body model (PRBM), and the Jacobian related to its differential kinematics is further derived to help designer realize dynamic analysis of the 8R compliant mechanism. In addition, the mechanism’s maximum stress existing within its workspace is tested by finite element analysis. Finally, a method to determine joint damping of the flexure hinge is presented, which aims at exploring the effect of joint damping on actuator selection and real-time control. To the authors’ knowledge, almost no existing literature concerns with this issue.

Vocabulary Learning through Use of the Picture-Word Inductive Model for Young English Learners in China: A Mixed Methods Examination Using Cognitive Load Theory

English has been taught as a core and compulsory subject in China for decades. Recently, the demand for English in China has increased dramatically. China now has the world’s largest English-learning population. The traditional English-teaching method cannot continue to be the only approach because it merely focuses on reading, grammar and translation, which cannot meet English learners and users’ needs (i.e., communicative competence and skills in speaking and writing). This study was conducted to investigate if the Picture-Word Inductive Model (PWIM), a new pedagogical method using pictures and inductive thinking, would benefit English learners in China in terms of potential higher output in speaking and writing. With the gauge of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), specifically, its redundancy effect, I investigated whether processing words and a picture concurrently would present a cognitive overload for English learners in China. I conducted a mixed methods research study. A quasi-experiment (pretest, intervention for seven weeks, and posttest) was conducted using 234 students in four groups in Lianyungang, China (58 fourth graders and 57 seventh graders as an experimental group with PWIM and 59 fourth graders and 60 seventh graders as a control group with the traditional method). No significant difference in the effects of PWIM was found on vocabulary acquisition based on grade levels. Observations, questionnaires with open-ended questions, and interviews were deployed to answer the three remaining research questions. A few students felt cognitively overloaded when they encountered too many writing samples, too many new words at one time, repeated words, mismatches between words and pictures, and so on. Many students listed and exemplified numerous strengths of PWIM, but a few mentioned weaknesses of PWIM. The students expressed the idea that PWIM had a positive effect on their English teaching. As integrated inferences, qualitative findings were used to explain the quantitative results that there were no significant differences of the effects of the PWIM between the experimental and control groups in both grade levels, from four contextual aspects: time constraints on PWIM implementation, teachers’ resistance, how to use PWIM and PWIM implemented in a classroom over 55 students.

Mineral and chemical compositions of a ferromanganese nodule from Station DM41-3911-76

Processes of authigenic manganese ore formation in sediments of the North Equatorial Pacific are considered on the basis of a study of the surface layer (<2 mm) of a ferromanganese nodule and four micronodule size fractions from associated surface sediment (0-7 cm). Inhomogeneity of nodule composition is shown. Mn/Fe ratio is maximal in samples from lateral sectors of the nodule at the water-sediment interface. Compositional differences of nodules are related to preferential accumulation of trace elements in iron oxyhydroxides (P, Sr, Pb, U, Bi, Th, Y, and REE), manganese hydroxides (Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Mo, Tl, W), and lithogenic component trapped during nodule growth (Ga, Rb, Ba, and Cs). Ce accumulation in the REE composition is maximal in the upper and lower parts of the nodule characterized by minimal Mn/Fe values. A compositional comparison of manganese micronodules and surface layers of the nodule demonstrates that micronodule material was subjected to more intense reworking during diagenesis of sediments. The micronodules are characterized by higher Mn/Fe and P/Fe, but lower Ni/Cu and Co/Ni ratios. The micronodules and nodules do not differ in terms of contents of Ce and Th that are the least mobile elements during diagenesis. Differences in chemical composition of the micronodules and nodules are related not only to additional input of Mn in the process of diagenesis, but also to transformation of iron oxyhydroxides after removal of Mn from the close association with Fe formed in suspended matter during sedimentation.

(Table 1) AMS-14C ages determined in pairs of spreiten and directly adjacent host sediment of cores M39029-4 and M29039-8

he downward transport of surface sediment deep into the sediment column by the Zoophycos-producing animal leads not only to large age differences between the Zoophycos structure and surrounding host sediment but also to large differences in age between different foraminifer species found inside the trace fossil. In the late Quaternary material from the southwestern Portuguese continental slope examined in this study, age differences of up to 2590 years were observed between the planktic foraminifer species Globigerinoides ruber and Globigerina bulloides. These differences are caused by the mixing of surface and host material with different abundances of the two species. If there are differences in the abundance of the two species at the surface and/or in the host sediment, plenty of relatively young foraminifers may be mixed with few relatively old ones, or vice versa. The age differences between species caused by the combination of deep-reaching bioturbation by the Zoophycos producer and abundance variations may be considerably larger than the age differences caused by the homogenizing bioturbation in the mixed layer.

Firn line elevation of the Dickson Land peninsula

The Dickson Land peninsula is located in central West-Spitsbergen between the NNE branches of Isfjorden. The climatic firn line lying at 500 m causes plateau glaciers with outlet tongues which are characteristic of S-Dickson Land. The distribution of valley glaciers and the variations of the orographic firn line depend on wind direction. In comparing the firn lines established by the methods of LICHTENECKER (1938) and VISSER (1938), to the values calculated by the method of v. HÖFER (1879), differences of up to l07 m are found. These differences may depend on the inclination and distance relationships of the glaciers above and below the real firn lines. During the latest glacial advance, Dickson Land was located on the peripheries of two local glaciation centers. At that time an inland glaciation of West-Spitsbergen did not exist . The formation of a subglacial channel system dates back to the maximum extent of the late glacial phase before 17500 B.P, (+2000/-1375 years). A correlation of postglacial stadia and 14C dated marine terraces (FEYLING-HANSSEN & OLSSON, 1960; FEYLING-HANSSEN, 1965) is possible. Considering isostatic movement and the difference between calculated and real firn lines, a postglacial stadium at about 10400 B. P. can be reconstructed with a firn line lying 265 m above former sea level. On average, the absolute depression below the recent firn line amounted to 246 m. Stagnation at 9650 B.P. coincided with a firn line at 315 m above former sea level and a depression of 173 m. Around 1890 A.D., glacial fluctuations corresponded to a firn line at 415 m (depression: 64 m). To some extent the morphology of the main valleys appears to depend on structure and petrography. Therefore their value as indicators of former glaciations is questionable. The periglacial forms are shown on a large-scale map. At the time of the "Holocene warm interval", between 7000 and 2000 B.P. (FEYLING-HANSSEN, 1955a, 1965), an increase of periglacial activity seems likely. This can be explained by a simultaneous increase in the depth of the active layer in both soil and bedrock.

Validação do Youth Quality of Life Instrument para a população portuguesa: YQOL-R

É incontornável o estatuto que o conceito de qualidade de vida assume hoje na prática e políticas de saúde pública. Na infância e adolescência é ainda escassa a investigação, tornando-se crucial o desenvolvimento de instrumentos de qualidade vida relacionada com a saúde validados para esta população. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo fundamental analisar as qualidades psicométricas e validar a versão portuguesa do Youth Quality of Life (YQOL-R) (Patrick, et al., 2002). A amostra é constituída por 507 adolescentes, com idades compreendidas entre os 12 e os 19 anos, a frequentar o 3º ciclo do ensino básio e ensino secundário de escolas públicas do ensino regular. Para além do citado instrumento a validar, os jovens preencheram também, para a análise da validade convergente e divergente, o Kidscreen-27 (Gaspar & Matos, 2008) e a Escala da Depressão, Ansiedade e Stresse (EADS-21) (Pais-Ribeiro, Honrado & Leal, 2004). Os resultados mostram que o YQOL-R apresenta uma estrutura fatorial de quatro fatores, semelhantes à versão original americana (individual, relações sociais, ambiente e qualidade de vida em geral). Possui uma boa consistência interna e uma adequada estabilidade temporal. Mostrou correlações significativas e no sentido esperado com as variáveis em estudo. Foram igualmente encontradas diferenças de género em relação à qualidade de vida, sendo os rapazes a reportarem em média níveis mais elevados de perceção da qualidade de vida, comparativamente às raparigas. Futuros estudos devem ser realizados em amostras clínicas para confirmação dos dados. Não obstante esta limitação, o presente estudo contribuiu para a disponibilização de um novo instrumento para avaliação da qualidade de vida em crianças e adolescentes, o qual evidenciou boas propriedade psicométricas, apoiando, assim empiricamente, a sua utilização nas práticas de saúde e investigação em amostras da comunidade. / Nowadays, it´s unavoidable the status that, the concept of quality of life assumes in practices and politics of public health. In childhood and adolescence it´s weak the investigation but it´s crucial the development of instruments of quality of life related to health validated to this population. The present work has an important aim, it´s analyze the psychometric qualities and validate the Portuguese version of Youth Quality of Life (YQOL-R) (Patrick, et al., 2002). The sample consists of 507 adolescents, aged between 12 and 19 years old and they attend the 3 rd cycle of basic education and secondary education schools in villages of regular education. Apart from that instrument, teenagers fill in, also, to the analysis convergent and divergent, the Kidscreen-27 (Gaspar & Matos, 2008) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (EADS-21) (Pais-Ribeiro, Honrado & Leal, 2004). The results show that the YQOL-R presents a factorial structure with four factors similar to original American version (individual, social relations, environment and general quality of life), presenting a good internal consistence and an adequate temporal stability. Substantial correlations showed and in the expected way with the variables in study. Have been found differences of gender related to quality of life, boys reported on average higher levels of quality of life perception, comparatively to the girls. Future studies must be performed in clinical samples to confirm the findings. In spite of this restriction, the actual study contributes to providing a new instrument to evaluate the quality of life in children and adolescents, this evidenced good psychometric properties, supported empirically its application in heath practices and investigation in community samples.

A Comparison of the Performance of Brand-Affiliated and Unaffiliated Hotel Properties

Research has shown that performance differences exist between brand-affiliated hotels and unaffiliated properties. However, the extant empirical results are mixed. Some research has shown that brands outperform unaffiliated hotels on various metrics, whereas other research has shown the opposite. This article analyzes this issue using a matched-pair approach where we compare the performance differences of brand-affiliated and unaffiliated properties between 1998 and 2010. The matched-pair approach ensures that local competitive conditions as well as hotel characteristics are the same across the comparison pair. In addition, all potential omitted-variable bias and model misspecifications are avoided. Thus, to address our research question, we compare branded hotels with unaffiliated properties that are identical in age, market segment, location, and duration of operation, as well as having a similar number of rooms. Our analysis shows that performance differentials are present, albeit not systematic. We found no consistent advantages in all segments for either the affiliated hotels or the comparable unaffiliated properties, taking into account our comparison factors. That said, the methodology of our approach yields results that are more informative to the affiliation choice of owners and to the growth strategies of hotel brand–owner companies than those of previous empirical studies.

Rheological Characterization of Bitumen and Asphalt including the effect of Added-recycled Material

This thesis evaluates the rheological behaviour of asphalt mixtures and the corresponding extracted binders from the mixtures containing different amounts of Reclaimed Asphalt (RA). Generally, the use of RA is limited to certain amounts. The study materials are Stone Mastic Asphalts including a control sample with 0% RA, and other samples with RA rates of 30%, 60% and 100%. Another set of studied mixtures are Asphalt Concretes (AC) types with again a control mix having 0% RA rate and the other mixtures designs containing 30%, 60% and 90% of reclaimed asphalt which also contain additives. In addition to the bitumen samples extracted from asphalt mixes, there are bitumen samples directly extracted from the original RA. To characterize the viscoelastic behaviour of the binders, Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) tests were conducted on bitumen specimens. The resulting influence of the RA content in the bituminous binders are illustrated through master curves, black diagrams and Cole-Cole plots with regressing these experimental data by the application of the analogical 2S2P1D and the analytical CA model. The advantage of the CA model is in its limited number of parameters and thus is a simple model to use. The 2S2P1D model is an analogical rheological model for the prediction of the linear viscoelastic properties of both asphalt binders and mixtures. In order to study the influence of RA on mixtures, the Indirect Tensile Test (ITT) has been conducted. The master curves of different mixture samples are evaluated by regressing the test data points to a sigmoidal function and subsequently by comparing the master curves, the influence of RA materials is studied. The thesis also focusses on the applicability and also differences of CA model and 2S2P1D model for bitumen samples and the sigmoid function for the mixtures and presents the influence of the RA rate on the investigated model parameters.

Assessing Non-market Benefits of Seagrass Restoration in the Gulf of Gdańsk

Seagrass meadows (Zostera marina) are an important ecosystem in the coastal environment of the Baltic Sea. This study employs a discrete choice experiment to value a set of non-market benefits provided by seagrass meadows in the Gulf of Gdańsk, Poland. The benefits valued in this study are a reduction of filamentous algae in the water and on the beach; access to seagrass meadows for boaters and divers; and improved water clarity. Results show significant willingness to pay for each attribute and differences of value estimates across different groups of survey respondents. It is discussed how to link choice attributes and estimated values with established ecosystem benefit categories in order to facilitate value transfer.

Effects of IFRS adoption on the financial statements of Nigerian listed entities: the case of oil and gas companies

On 28 July 2010, the Nigerian Federal Executive Council approved January 1, 2012 as the effective date for the convergence of Nigerian Statement of Accounting Standards (SAS) or Nigerian GAAP (NG-GAAP) with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). By this pronouncement, all publicly listed companies and significant public interest entities in Nigeria were statutorily required to issue IFRS based financial statements for the year ended December, 2012. This study investigates the impact of the adoption of IFRS on the financial statements of Nigerian listed Oil and Gas entities using six years of data which covers three years before and three years after IFRS adoption in Nigeria and other African countries. First, the study evaluates the impact of IFRS adoption on the Exploration and Evaluation (E&E) expenditures of listed Oil and Gas companies. Second, it examines the impact of IFRS adoption on the provision for decommissioning of Oil and Gas installations and environmental rehabilitation expenditures. Third, the study analyses the impact of the adoption of IFRS on the average daily Crude Oil production cost per Barrel. Fourth, it examines the extent to which the adoption and implementation of IFRS affects the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of listed Oil and Gas companies. The study further explores the impact of IFRS adoption on the contractual relationships between Nigerian Government and Oil and Gas companies in terms of Joint Ventures (JVs) and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) as it relates to taxes, royalties, bonuses and Profit Oil Split. A Paired Samples t-test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and Gray’s (Gray, 1980) Index of Conservatism analyses were conducted simultaneously where the accounting numbers, financial ratios and industry specific performance measures of GAAP and IFRS were computed and analysed and the significance of the differences of the mean, median and Conservatism Index values were compared before and after IFRS adoption. Questionnaires were then administered to the key stakeholders in the adoption and implementation of IFRS and the responses collated and analysed. The results of the analyses reveal that most of the accounting numbers, financial ratios and industry specific performance measures examined changed significantly as a result of the transition from GAAP to IFRS. The E&E expenditures and the mean cost of Crude Oil production per barrel of Oil and Gas companies increased significantly. The GAAP values of inventories, GPM, ROA, Equity and TA were also significantly different from the IFRS values. However, the differences in the provision for decommissioning expenditures were not statistically significant. Gray’s (Gray, 1980) Conservatism Index shows that Oil and Gas companies were more conservative under GAAP when compared to the IFRS regime. The Questionnaire analyses reveal that IFRS based financial statements are of higher quality, easier to prepare and present to management and easier to compare among competitors across the Oil and Gas sector but slightly more difficult to audit compared to GAAP based financial statements. To my knowledge, this is the first empirical research to investigate the impact of IFRS adoption on the financial statements of listed Oil and Gas companies. The study will therefore make an enormous contribution to academic literature and body of knowledge and void the existing knowledge gap regarding the impact and implications of IFRS adoption on the financial statements of Oil and Gas companies.

User Behavioral Modeling of Web-based Systems for Continuous User Authentication

Authentication plays an important role in how we interact with computers, mobile devices, the web, etc. The idea of authentication is to uniquely identify a user before granting access to system privileges. For example, in recent years more corporate information and applications have been accessible via the Internet and Intranet. Many employees are working from remote locations and need access to secure corporate files. During this time, it is possible for malicious or unauthorized users to gain access to the system. For this reason, it is logical to have some mechanism in place to detect whether the logged-in user is the same user in control of the user's session. Therefore, highly secure authentication methods must be used. We posit that each of us is unique in our use of computer systems. It is this uniqueness that is leveraged to "continuously authenticate users" while they use web software. To monitor user behavior, n-gram models are used to capture user interactions with web-based software. This statistical language model essentially captures sequences and sub-sequences of user actions, their orderings, and temporal relationships that make them unique by providing a model of how each user typically behaves. Users are then continuously monitored during software operations. Large deviations from "normal behavior" can possibly indicate malicious or unintended behavior. This approach is implemented in a system called Intruder Detector (ID) that models user actions as embodied in web logs generated in response to a user's actions. User identification through web logs is cost-effective and non-intrusive. We perform experiments on a large fielded system with web logs of approximately 4000 users. For these experiments, we use two classification techniques; binary and multi-class classification. We evaluate model-specific differences of user behavior based on coarse-grain (i.e., role) and fine-grain (i.e., individual) analysis. A specific set of metrics are used to provide valuable insight into how each model performs. Intruder Detector achieves accurate results when identifying legitimate users and user types. This tool is also able to detect outliers in role-based user behavior with optimal performance. In addition to web applications, this continuous monitoring technique can be used with other user-based systems such as mobile devices and the analysis of network traffic.

Plant Size as Determinant of Species Richness of Herbivores, Natural Enemies and Pollinators across 21 Brassicaceae Species

Large plants are often more conspicuous and more attractive for associated animals than small plants, e.g. due to their wider range of resources. Therefore, plant size can positively affect species richness of associated animals, as shown for single groups of herbivores, but studies usually consider intraspecific size differences of plants in unstandardised environments. As comprehensive tests of interspecific plant size differences under standardised conditions are missing so far, we investigated effects of plant size on species richness of all associated arthropods using a common garden experiment with 21 Brassicaceae species covering a broad interspecific plant size gradient from 10 to 130 cm height. We recorded plant associated ecto-and endophagous herbivores, their natural enemies and pollinators on and in each aboveground plant organ, i.e. flowers, fruits, leaves and stems. Plant size (measured as height from the ground), the number of different plant organ entities and their biomass were assessed. Increasing plant size led to increased species richness of associated herbivores, natural enemies and pollinating insects. This pattern was found for ectophagous and endophagous herbivores, their natural enemies, as well as for herbivores associated with leaves and fruits and their natural enemies, independently of the additional positive effects of resource availability (i.e. organ biomass or number of entities and, regarding natural enemies, herbivore species richness). We found a lower R-2 for pollinators compared to herbivores and natural enemies, probably caused by the high importance of flower characteristics for pollinator species richness besides plant size. Overall, the increase in plant height from 10 to 130 cm led to a 2.7-fold increase in predicted total arthropod species richness. In conclusion, plant size is a comprehensive driver of species richness of the plant associated arthropods, including pollinators, herbivores and their natural enemies, whether they are endophagous or ectophagous or associated with leaves or fruits.

Photo-excess : two paradigms of archaeological photography

Discovering ‘photo-excess’: what difference does digital photography bring to the archaeological process, and does this difference constitute a paradigm shift from the traditional film model? Using reflexive practice, the contribution that digital photography has made to the archaeological process is explored. The themes presented in the photographs and exegesis combine visual exploration and original research to examine the role and place of archaeological photography in both a contemporary and an historical context. In contrasting the development of film-based photography of archaeology undertaken in the Eastern Mediterranean during the early 1900s with contemporary digital photography, this exegesis and creative work explores both the synergies and differences of the two photographic methods in archaeology. I introduce the term ‘photo-excess’ to describe the new role that digital photography plays in archaeological practice as compared to film, and demonstrate this difference through my creative work. At the turn of the 20th century, photography was affirmed as the major instrument for visual recording of an archaeological excavation. The combination of archaeological methods and photographic techniques from that era formed an approach to archaeological documentation and recording that was formalised by William Matthews Flinders Petrie in 1904. In this thesis I propose that Petrie became the father of modern archaeological photography through his work, and in recognition of his contribution I refer to his method as the ‘Petrie Paradigm’. Digital photography has made possible a quantum leap in the volume, quality and immediacy of visual data available to the user. Further, through the creative process, digital archaeological photography may provide visual information that exceeds the archaeologist’s original research questions, so that the digital image may sometimes exceed its primary role as a recording device. In such cases it may become the starting point for new research due to its potential photo-excess. I propose this as an emerging paradigm for archaeological photography.