Perspectives on gender, migration and transnational work: joint work of social reproduction and care in Southern Europe

This paper presents the "state of the art" and some of the main issues discussed in relation to the topic of transnational migration and reproductive work in southern Europe. We start doing a genealogy of the complex theoretical development leading to the consolidation of the research program, linking consideration of gender with transnational migration and transformation of work and ways of survival, thus making the production aspects as reproductive, in a context of globalization. The analysis of the process of multiscale reconfiguration of social reproduction and care, with particular attention to its present global dimension is presented, pointing to the turning point of this line of research that would have taken place with the beginning of this century, with the rise notions such as "global care chains" (Hochschild, 2001), or "care drain" (Ehrenreich and Hochschild, 2013). Also, the role of this new agency, now composed in many cases women who migrate to other countries or continents, precisely to address these reproductive activities, is recognized. Finally, reference is made to some of the new conceptual and theoretical developments in this area.

Indicators on community art practices: some reflections

From the Divercity project, the article reflects on methodology, good practices and indicators useful for community art practices. At first term, social exclusión is defined as well as community art, and which features it presents. Subsequently, the article reviews the indicators that are being used to measure the success or achievement of community arts practice, raising criticism from equality and including indicators that measure the well-being of women.

Valorization of cultural diversity throught Good Practices Dissemination on Art Mediation: sharing experiencies

In this article, as part of the Erasmus+ project “Divercity”, we focus on the collection and analysis of good practices in Spain and other countries in Europe. The project revolves around the development of methods that valorize cultural diversity and in this respect, identifying and sharing best practices on diversity and inclusion through artistic mediation inside museums, culture institutions, our urban walks, forms an mandatory stage of the research process.

Standardization in the Pre-Columbian Pottery from El Caño, Panama: Specialization, Productivity and Consumption

The pottery found in the burials of El Cano is uniform in style to these made in the coclesanos valleys between 700 and 1000 AD. The coefficient of variability of the different pottery forms, evidence diverse standardizations values for polychrome and non-polychrome ceramics. Moreover, data of funerary contexts from the Cano recently excavated, suggest that elite has controlled ceramic production. This control over the production of certain goods reveals that these were important in the support or proper operational of the chiefdoms in Panama and mark the phase of splendour of this culture.

Latina Super-heroines: Hot Tamales in Tights vs. Women Warriors, Wrestlers and Guerrilla Fighters of La Raza

The year 1977 saw the making of the first Latino superhero by a Latino artist. From the 1980s onwards it is also possible to find Latina super-heroines, whose number and complexity has kept increasing ever since. Yet, the representations of spandexed Latinas are still few. For that reason, the goal of this paper is, firstly, to gather a great number of Latina super-heroines and, secondly, to analyze the role that they have played in the history of American literature and art. More specifically, it aims at comparing the spandexed Latinas created by non-Latino/a artists and mainstream comic enterprises with the Latina super-heroines devised by Latino/a artists. The conclusion is that whereas the former tend to conceive heroines within the constraints of the logic of Girl Power, the latter choose to imbue their works with a more daring political content and to align their heroines with the ideologies of Feminism and Postcolonialism.

Of Marx and Makers: an Historical Perspective on Generative Justice

In Marxist frameworks “distributive justice” depends on extracting value through a centralized state. Many new social movements—peer to peer economy, maker activism, community agriculture, queer ecology, etc.—take the opposite approach, keeping value in its unalienated form and allowing it to freely circulate from the bottom up. Unlike Marxism, there is no general theory for bottom-up, unalienated value circulation. This paper examines the concept of “generative justice” through an historical contrast between Marx’s writings and the indigenous cultures that he drew upon. Marx erroneously concluded that while indigenous cultures had unalienated forms of production, only centralized value extraction could allow the productivity needed for a high quality of life. To the contrary, indigenous cultures now provide a robust model for the “gift economy” that underpins open source technological production, agroecology, and restorative approaches to civil rights. Expanding Marx’s concept of unalienated labor value to include unalienated ecological (nonhuman) value, as well as the domain of freedom in speech, sexual orientation, spirituality and other forms of “expressive” value, we arrive at an historically informed perspective for generative justice. 

The Role of Art in Computer Game Design

Computer games are significant since they embody our youngsters’ engagement with contemporary culture, including both play and education. These games rely heavily on visuals, systems of sign and expression based on concepts and principles of Art and Architecture. We are researching a new genre of computer games, ‘Educational Immersive Environments’ (EIEs) to provide educational materials suitable for the school classroom. Close collaboration with subject teachers is necessary, but we feel a specific need to engage with the practicing artist, the art theoretician and historian. Our EIEs are loaded with multimedia (but especially visual) signs which act to direct the learner and provide the ‘game-play’ experience forming semiotic systems. We suggest the hypothesis that computer games are a space of deconstruction and reconstruction (DeRe): When players enter the game their physical world and their culture is torn apart; they move in a semiotic system which serves to reconstruct an alternate reality where disbelief is suspended. The semiotic system draws heavily on visuals which direct the players’ interactions and produce motivating gameplay. These can establish a reconstructed culture and emerging game narrative. We have recently tested our hypothesis and have used this in developing design principles for computer game designers. Yet there are outstanding issues concerning the nature of the visuals used in computer games, and so questions for contemporary artists. Currently, the computer game industry employs artists in a ‘classical’ role in production of concept sketches, storyboards and 3D content. But this is based on a specification from the client which restricts the artist in intellectual freedom. Our DeRe hypothesis places the artist at the generative centre, to inform the game designer how art may inform our DeRe semiotic spaces. This must of course begin with the artists’ understanding of DeRe in this time when our ‘identities are becoming increasingly fractured, networked, virtualized and distributed’ We hope to persuade artists to engage with the medium of computer game technology to explore these issues. In particular, we pose several questions to the artist: (i) How can particular ‘periods’ in art history be used to inform the design of computer games? (ii) How can specific artistic elements or devices be used to design ‘signs’ to guide the player through the game? (iii) How can visual material be integrated with other semiotic strata such as text and audio?

Integrated science and art education for creative climate change communication

An interdisciplinary field trip to a remote marine lab joined graduate students from fine arts and natural resource science departments to think creatively about the topic of climate change and science communication. We followed a learning cycle framework to allow the students to explore marine ecosystems and participate in scientific lectures, group discussions, and an artist-led project making abstract collages representing climate change processes. Students subsequently worked in small groups to develop environmental communication material for public visitors. We assessed the learning activity and the communication product using pre- and post-field trip participant surveys, focus group discussions, and critiques by art and communication experts of the products. Significant changes in knowledge about climate change occurred in program participants. Incorporating artists and the arts into this activity helped engage multiple senses and emphasized social interaction, as well as providing support to participants to think creatively. The production of art helped to encourage peer learning and normalize the different views among participants in communicating about climate change impacts. Students created effective communication products based on external reviews. Disciplinary differences in cultures, language, and standards challenged participating faculty, yet unanticipated outcomes such as potentially transformative learning and improved teacher evaluations resulted.

Crescimento e desenvolvimento de Plinia cauliflora de acordo com a intensidade luminosa em clima subtropical

The jabuticaba fruit tree from classified in the Myrtaceae family and Plinia genre. There are about nine species of this fruit tree, that include as most important, Plinia trunciflora (jabuticaba de cabinho), naturally occurring in southwestern Paraná State, Brazil, P. cauliflora (jabuticaba Paulista or Jabuticaba Açu) and P. jaboticaba (Vell) (jabuticaba sabará), with all the over species producing fruit for the industry or fresh consumption. Nevertheless, there aren‟t commercial orchards with this culture, with highest yield part from extractive. This fact can be combined with lack of technical knowledge for the plants produce in the field. As these species are found in the forest, the first point is whether they can adapt to other light intensity conditions. The aim of this work was to identify the adaptive behavior of jabuticaba fruit seedling and tree when they were put in different light intensities and what this can be considered ideal for the growth, as well as, its influence in the leaves secondary compounds production. Two experiments were conducted, with the first involved with the study of the seedlings and the second with plants in the field. The work was carried out at Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná – Câmpus Dois Vizinhos, Paraná State - Brazil. The experimental design was a completely randomized and a block design with four treatments and four replications of 10 seedlings or two plants per plot, according to nursery or orchard conditions, respectively. The treatments were base according to the light intensity. The treatments used were, 1 - full sun, similar the orchard condition, with 0% shading; 2 - side cover with shade cloth and top with transparent plastic, representing a gap forest condition; 3 - side and top cover with shade cloth, representing stage where the forest canopy is closing, focusing only indirect sunlight; 4 - side and top cover with shade cloth, simulating a closed canopy condition, with PPD (photon flux density) of 10% (90% shading); 5 - side and top cover with shade cloth, simulating a more open canopy condition with PPD 65% (35% shading). The growth and development seedling and plant characteristics were evaluated once by month, as also, during time part in the plants the secondary metabolites leaves, soil activity microbiological and the fresh and dry matter root and shoot and, root length from seedlings. For the growth and development of jabuticaba Açú Paulista seedling recommend to use of side cover with shade cloth and top with transparent plastic, representing a gap forest condition. In orchard, for the growth and development of plants jabuticaba Híbrida tree it was recommended the use of side and top cover with shade cloth of some type. For production of secondary metabolites of leaves, the plant must to be full sunlight condition orchard.

Publics, visibilité et reconnaissance en art contemporain : étude du cas de Ai Weiwei

Pour respecter les droits d’auteur, la version électronique de ce mémoire a été dépouillée de certains documents visuels et audio-visuels. La version intégrale du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Sorghum Crop Modeling and Its Utility in Agronomy and Breeding

Crop models are simplified mathematical representations of the interacting biological and environmental components of the dynamic soil–plant–environment system. Sorghum crop modeling has evolved in parallel with crop modeling capability in general, since its origins in the 1960s and 1970s. Here we briefly review the trajectory in sorghum crop modeling leading to the development of advanced models. We then (i) overview the structure and function of the sorghum model in the Agricultural Production System sIMulator (APSIM) to exemplify advanced modeling concepts that suit both agronomic and breeding applications, (ii) review an example of use of sorghum modeling in supporting agronomic management decisions, (iii) review an example of the use of sorghum modeling in plant breeding, and (iv) consider implications for future roles of sorghum crop modeling. Modeling and simulation provide an avenue to explore consequences of crop management decision options in situations confronted with risks associated with seasonal climate uncertainties. Here we consider the possibility of manipulating planting configuration and density in sorghum as a means to manipulate the productivity–risk trade-off. A simulation analysis of decision options is presented and avenues for its use with decision-makers discussed. Modeling and simulation also provide opportunities to improve breeding efficiency by either dissecting complex traits to more amenable targets for genetics and breeding, or by trait evaluation via phenotypic prediction in target production regions to help prioritize effort and assess breeding strategies. Here we consider studies on the stay-green trait in sorghum, which confers yield advantage in water-limited situations, to exemplify both aspects. The possible future roles of sorghum modeling in agronomy and breeding are discussed as are opportunities related to their synergistic interaction. The potential to add significant value to the revolution in plant breeding associated with genomic technologies is identified as the new modeling frontier.

Strzygowski and his theory of early Christian art ...

From the Harvard theological review, v. III, July, 1910.

Neuroscience and Hindu Aesthetics: A Critical Analysis of V.S. Ramachandran’s “Science of Art”

Neuroaesthetics is the study of the brain’s response to artistic stimuli. The neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran contends that art is primarily “caricature” or “exaggeration.” Exaggerated forms hyperactivate neurons in viewers’ brains, which in turn produce specific, “universal” responses. Ramachandran identifies a precursor for his theory in the concept of rasa (literally “juice”) from classical Hindu aesthetics, which he associates with “exaggeration.” The canonical Sanskrit texts of Bharata Muni’s Natya Shastra and Abhinavagupta’s Abhinavabharati, however, do not support Ramachandran’s conclusions. They present audiences as dynamic co-creators, not passive recipients. I believe we could more accurately model the neurology of Hindu aesthetic experiences if we took indigenous rasa theory more seriously as qualitative data that could inform future research.

Victorian letter writing and its representation in literature and painting: the case study of love letters

One of the main features of nineteenth-century fiction is the quasi-total disappearance of the epistolary novel that had had its heydays in the previous century. For this reason, some scholars have declared the “death” of the letter in literature after the transitional romantic period. However, Victorian novels overflow with letters that are embedded, quoted in part or described and commented on by narrators or characters. Even when its content is not revealed to the reader, the letter becomes a signifier loaded with meanings, also and particularly so, when it is burnt, torn, hidden, found or buried. The Postal Reform of 1839-40 caused the number of letters sent every year in Britain to grow from 75 to 410 million in only 14 years, and the mediatic campaign that supported it drew the attention of the population to the material aspects concerning this means of communication. Newspapers became more affordable too and they promoted a taste for sensationalism that often involved the “spectacularization” of private correspondence. Starting from an excursus on the history of the letter aimed at identifying the key aspects of the genre, this work deals with some real love correspondences from people belonging to different classes in the period from 1840 to the 1870s, to then analyse their fictional and pictorial counterparts. The general picture that emerges from this analysis is that of a Victorian society where letters were able to break down the boundaries between high and low forms of cultural expressions and where, more than ever, letters were present in people’s everyday lives as well as in the art and literature they enjoyed.

Dyspareunia And Lubrication In Premature Ovarian Failure Using Hormonal Therapy And Vaginal Health.

To evaluate vaginal microbiological and functional aspects in women with and without premature ovarian failure (POF) and the relationship with sexual function. A cross-sectional study of 36 women with POF under hormonal therapy who were age-matched with 36 women with normal gonadal function. The vaginal tropism was assessed through hormonal vaginal cytology, vaginal pH and vaginal health index (VHI). Vaginal flora were assessed by the amine test, bacterioscopy and culture for fungi. Sexual function was evaluated through the questionnaire Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Women in both groups were of similar age and showed similar marital status. The two groups presented vaginal tropic scores according to the VHI but the tropism was worse among women in the POF group. No difference was observed with respect to hormonal cytology and pH. Vaginal flora was similar in both groups. Women with POF showed worse sexual performance with more pain and poorer lubrication than women in the control group. The VHI, the only parameter evaluated showing statistical difference between the groups, did not correlate with the domains of pain and lubrication in the FSFI questionnaire. These findings suggest that the use of systemic estrogen among women with POF is not enough to improve complaints of lubrication and pain despite conferring similar tropism and vaginal flora. Other therapeutic options need to be evaluated.