Atlas de l’Afrique - Côte d’Ivoire

International audience

Matkakohteesta historian kaupungiksi – Historian ja matkakirjoittamisen suhde historioitsija John Andrewsin grand tour -oppaan Letters to a Young Gentleman, on His Setting out for France (1784) Pariisi-osuuksissa

Työni kohteena on ollut historiankirjoittaja John Andrewsin (n.1736–1809) grand tour -opas Letters to a Young Gentleman, on His Setting out for France (1784). Tutkielmassa olen tarkastellut sitä, millaiseen suhteeseen historia ja matkakirjoittaminen ovat teoksen Pariisi-osuuksissa asettuneet. Ilmiötä olen lähestynyt hyödyntämällä niin kutsuttua reframingin käsitettä, jolla historiantutkimuksessa on jäsennetty ajatusten kehystymistä eri konteksteissa – siis niille annettujen merkitysten muuttumista. Tämä käsite on mahdollistanut sellaisen tarkastelun, jossa huomio on kohdistunut historian oppaassa saamiin käyttöihin sekä sen merkitysten muotoutumiseen. Andrewsin oppaasta voi erottaa kaksi pistettä, joissa historia ja matkakirjoittaminen ovat kietoutuneet toisiinsa. Pisteistä ensimmäinen on kytkeytynyt nähtävyyksien kohtaamiseen, kun taas niistä jälkimmäinen on liittynyt Pariisin kulttuurisen aseman määrittelemiseen. Andrewsille historia onkin näyttäytynyt eräänlaisena välineenä, joka on paitsi ohjannut myös perustellut nähtävyyksien tarkastelemista. Samalla historia on jäsentänyt kaupungin suhdetta Ranskaan, Eurooppaan ja kristikuntaan – sekä muihin kansoihin ja eri kirkkokuntiin. Nämä pisteet eivät kuitenkaan ole jääneet irrallisiksi, sillä molemmissa yhteyksissä uskonnolliset erot ovat saaneet merkittävän sijan. Yhtäältä historia on tukenut näihin eroihin perustuneita vertailuasetelmia; toisaalta erot ovat muokanneet Andrewsin suhdetta nähtävyyksiin sekä niiden historiallisuuteen. Reframingin käsitteeseen perustuva erittely on osoittanut sen, että Andrewsin oppaassa historia ei ole ollut vain matkakirjoittamisen aihepiiri. Tekstissä historia onkin saanut myös toisenlaisia käyttöjä, minkä voi liittää matkakirjallisuuden konventioihin sekä aikakauden grand tour -keskusteluihin. Kyse on siitä, että Andrewsin matkakirjoittamista ovat ohjanneet lajityypin genrepiirteet sekä teoksen oletettu yleisö – siis grand tourille aikovat nuorukaiset. Nämä keskustelut ja konventiot ovat tarjonneet Andrewsille eräänlaisen kehyksen, joka on säädellyt hänen tekemiään valintoja. Samalla se on jäsentänyt historian oppaassa saamia merkityksiä.

Perceptions of aging across 26 cultures and their culture-level associates

College students (N = 3,435) in 26 cultures reported their perceptions of age-related changes in physical, cognitive, and socioemotional areas of functioning and rated societal views of aging within their culture. There was widespread cross-cultural consensus regarding the expected direction of aging trajectories with (1) perceived declines in societal views of aging, physical attractiveness, the ability to perform everyday tasks, and new learning, (2) perceived increases in wisdom, knowledge, and received respect, and (3) perceived stability in family authority and life satisfaction. Cross-cultural variations in aging perceptions were associated with culture-level indicators of population aging, education levels, values, and national character stereotypes. These associations were stronger for societal views on aging and perceptions of socioemotional changes than for perceptions of physical and cognitive changes. A consideration of culture-level variables also suggested that previously reported differences in aging perceptions between Asian and Western countries may be related to differences in population structure.

Knowledge and attitudes about Vitamin D and impact on sun protection practices among urban office workers in Brisbane, Australia

Background: Sun exposure is the main source of vitamin D. Increasing scientific and media attention to the potential health benefits of sun exposure may lead to changes in sun exposure behaviors. Methods: To provide data that might help frame public health messages, we conducted an online survey among office workers in Brisbane, Australia, to determine knowledge and attitudes about vitamin D and associations of these with sun protection practices. Of the 4,709 people invited to participate, 2,867 (61%) completed the questionnaire. This analysis included 1,971 (69%) participants who indicated that they had heard about vitamin D. Results: Lack of knowledge about vitamin D was apparent. Eighteen percent of people were unaware of the bone benefits of vitamin D but 40% listed currently unconfirmed benefits. Over half of the participants indicated that more than 10 minutes in the sun was needed to attain enough vitamin D in summer, and 28% indicated more than 20 minutes in winter. This was significantly associated with increased time outdoors and decreased sunscreen use. People believing sun protection might cause vitamin D deficiency (11%) were less likely to be frequent sunscreen users (summer odds ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.52-0.75). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there is some confusion about sun exposure and vitamin D, and that this may result in reduced sun-protective behavior. Impact: More information is needed about vitamin D production in the skin. In the interim, education campaigns need to specifically address the vitamin D issue to ensure that skin cancer incidence does not increase.

Bushfire sustainability : Strategies for reconciling bushfire and biodiversity with daily life

This exhibition and catalogue provides a visual record of student work exhibited at the Australian Institute of Architects offices in Brisbane from November 15 to 29, 2010. The exhibition features the final design outcomes of the inaugural Bushfire Sustainability unit conducted at QUT in semester two, 2010. The core objective of this unit was to develop our students’ skills in collaborative practice in design, research and presentation. The theme of ‘bushfire sustainability’ was chosen because living sustainably in bushfire prone landscapes presents a number of problems, the nature of which might only be resolved via multidisciplinary collaboration among the design disciplines. The students involved represent the disciplines of Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Industrial Design, Architecture and Sustainability – all from within the School of Design at QUT. 55 students, mostly in their third year of study, worked in teams of five (one from each discipline) to design one of a number of homes in highly bushfire prone sites in either Western Australia or SE Queensland. This year level and the interdisciplinary mix are perhaps the best placed to resolve these problems: being unrestrained from the burdens of professional practice and technical overload they retain the potential for innovative, lateral thinking across the range of spatial scales and philosophical perspectives associated with inhabitation of bushfire prone landscapes. It is envisaged that, through the ‘vehicle’ of this design research, that the students’ work will contribute to understandings of how creative design disciplines might respond to this significant national problem, which hitherto has been attended to primarily by engineering and the sciences.

High-pressure Raman spectroscopic and other structural studies of hydrotalcites containing intercalated dicarboxylic acid anions

The results of pressure-tuning Raman spectroscopic, X-ray powder diffraction and solid-state 13C-NMR studies of selected dicarboxylate anions intercalated in a Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (talcite) lattice are reported. The pressure dependences of the vibrational modes are linear for pressures up to 4.6 GPa indicating that no phase transitions occur. The interlayer spacings show that the oxalate, malonate and succinate dianions are oriented perpendicular to the layers, but the glutarate and adipate are tilted. The solid-state 13C-NMR spectra of these materials show full chemical shift anisotropy and, therefore, the anions are not mobile at room temperature.

Inter-sector leader transitions and organisation transformation : a research agenda

Faced with the need for strategic change, structural and cultural realignment, innovation and value-adding, many public sector organisations are tapping into a wider senior leadership talent pool and attracting successful leaders from other sectors (Flynn and Thompson, 2009). Leadership renewal has resulted, in some cases, in the external recruitment of whole senior leadership teams (Hockridge, 2008), raising issues about the influence of context on leader success (Pawar and Eastman, 1997) and potential leader transition failure, a costly outcome for leaders and organisations (Howard, 2001). There is little research on inter-sector leader transitions, which is surprising given the significant costs associated with leader acquisition and failure(Conger, 2010; Day and Halpin, 2004). For example, it is not clear what organizations do (or do not do) to ensure the outcomes of their significant investment in inter sector transitions are realised. In addition, it is not clear how the individual leader manages the challenging transition into a new leadership context and how their approach to leadership facilitates or inhibits successful transition (Avolio, 2010). Leader assimilation programs have been developed to assimilate new leaders (Manderscheid, 2008); however, assimilation is not necessarily a desired organisational outcome (Denis and Pineault, 2000). In this paper we critically review the limited literature on inter-sector leader transitions and transformational change outcomes and argue for a mutual accommodation approach. We draw on our own initial empirical work to propose the elements of a program for achieving this outcome from the perspective of the public organisation and the inter-sector appointee.

The validity and structure of culture-level personality scores: Data from ratings of young adolescents

We examined properties of culture-level personality traits in ratings of targets (N=5,109) ages 12 to 17 in 24 cultures. Aggregate scores were generalizable across gender, age, and relationship groups and showed convergence with culture-level scores from previous studies of self-reports and observer ratings of adults, but they were unrelated to national character stereotypes. Trait profiles also showed cross-study agreement within most cultures, 8 of which had not previously been studied. Multidimensional scaling showed that Western and non-Western cultures clustered along a dimension related to Extraversion. A culture-level factor analysis replicated earlier findings of a broad Extraversion factor but generally resembled the factor structure found in individuals. Continued analysis of aggregate personality scores is warranted.

Sulfate anion templation of macrocycles, capsules, interpenetrated and interlocked structures

This review examines the potential of anions, in particular sulfate, to template the formation of complex molecular architectures. Until recently, sulfate has been largely overlooked in this area and the examples described herein demonstrate this anion’s versatility in templating the formation of a diverse range of molecular systems including macrocycles, helixes, molecular capsules, interpenetrated and interlocked assemblies such as catenanes. In addition sulfate has been shown to template the formation of interpenetrated structures on a range of solid surfaces including gold, polystyrene beads and silicate nanoparticles, highlighting the potential of this anion in the fabrication of functional sensory devices exhibiting highly selective binding behaviour.