O uso da maquete física como ferramenta de leitura do patrimônio cultural

O presente artigo vincula-se às pesquisas do Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Estudos de Linguagem em Arquitetura e Cidade (N.ELAC), que atua na área de Linguagem e Representação. Diante das diversas formas de representação em arquitetura (desenho, maquete, modelos digitais), nesta pesquisa o modelo tridimensional físico é trazido como ferramenta que proporciona maior facilidade de leitura do projeto e tratado como meio de aproximação da comunidade ao patrimônio arquitetônico, envolvendo, sobretudo, a arquitetura moderna paulista. Como estudo de caso, escolheu-se o Edifício E1, obra de Ernest Mange e Hélio Duarte. Localizado no campus da USP em São Carlos, é considerado patrimônio da cidade, entretanto, encontra-se praticamente enclausurado no interior do campus, dificultando maior contato da comunidade com o edifício. Durante sua execução, foi utilizado apenas o desenho como ferramenta de representação de projeto, não incluindo nenhum tipo de modelo tridimensional (físico ou digital). A partir do levantamento das representações gráficas utilizadas, foi possível fazer uma comparação entre o nível de compreensão do projeto apenas com as peças gráficas dos arquitetos e a partir do modelo físico, produzido pela pesquisadora. Realizou-se um pré-teste em escola pública municipal, que indicou um aumento no interesse desses alunos pelo edifício em questão.

Tu ULPGC N.3. Marzo 2009

Editorial: Objetivo: los estudiantes; Actualidad Institucional: Supercomputador en el Campus de Tafira, Eliminar las barreras de los edificios universitarios, Inaugurado el Jardín de las Naciones, Se abre la posibilidad de las dobles titulaciones; Reportaje: Jornada de Puertas Abiertas; Entrevista: Luz Caballero, Consejera de Cultura y Patrimonio Histórico y Cultural del Cabildo de Gran Canaria “El Teatro Cuyás se ha consolidado entre los mejores de España gracias a la calidad de su programación y a la fidelidad del público”; La ULPGC investiga: Estudio sobre el clima del cuaternario en Canarias, Promoción de la energía fotovoltaica en Europa, Congreso Eurocast 2009; Comunidad Universitaria: Más de 10.000 becas en el pasado curso académico, Premios a los mejores expedientes académicos, Colaboración con la Bienal de Canarias, Premio Bancaja al Mejor Proyecto de Empresas; Agenda

Las aptitudes y los hábitos musicales de los adolescentes de la Comunidad Valenciana

[ES] Una vez expuestos los objetivos de la investigación definimos el término aptitud musical en toda su amplitud, nos acercamos a las características del adolescente para conocer el funcionamiento de su oído y adentrarnos en la legislación educativo musical de la Comunidad Valenciana. Realizamos un trabajo de campo con casi 2000 alumnos de 2º, 3º y 4º de Educación Secundaria de 15 centros educativos y les aplicamos dos pruebas: el test de aptitudes musicales de Seashore y el cuestionario de hábitos musicales de P.L. Nebreda. Una vez analizados los resultados observamos que la edad y el nivel educativo ejercen una influencia positiva en la discriminación de las aptitudes musicales, como también el hábito de escuchar música clásica y la práctica instrumental y vocal.

Importance of dietary n-3 hufa for eye development and cone formation along gilthead seabream sparus aurata larval development.

[EN] Being fish larvae visual feeders, vision plays an important role in larval orientation at first feeding (Blaxter, 1986). Larval trophic behaviour is closely related with the development of the visual capacity, which directly depends on retina organogenesis. In sparids, such as Pagrus major (Kawamura, 1984) and Pagrus auratus (Pankhurst, 1996), the most important changes in the eye structure occur along the lecitotrophic stage as a preparation for prey capture. Neuringer et al.,(1988) has established a critical role for n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in neural and retinal tissue functions in mammals. Similarly, in larval fish there is a high demand of DHA to form nervous membranes. Bell and Dick (1993) found photoreceptors in the eye, rods and cones accumulate and selectively retain DHA in external segments.Bell et al. (1995) found that feeding juvenile herring a DHA poor Artemia diet during the period of rod development resulted in impaired vision at low light intensities, when rod vision is essential.

Application of FTIR microscopy to cultural heritage materials

Research in art conservation has been developed from the early 1950s, giving a significant contribution to the conservation-restoration of cultural heritage artefacts. In fact, only through a profound knowledge about the nature and conditions of constituent materials, suitable decisions on the conservation and restoration measures can thus be adopted and preservation practices enhanced. The study of ancient artworks is particularly challenging as they can be considered as heterogeneous and multilayered systems where numerous interactions between the different components as well as degradation and ageing phenomena take place. However, difficulties to physically separate the different layers due to their thickness (1-200 µm) can result in the inaccurate attribution of the identified compounds to a specific layer. Therefore, details can only be analysed when the sample preparation method leaves the layer structure intact, as for example the preparation of embedding cross sections in synthetic resins. Hence, spatially resolved analytical techniques are required not only to exactly characterize the nature of the compounds but also to obtain precise chemical and physical information about ongoing changes. This thesis focuses on the application of FTIR microspectroscopic techniques for cultural heritage materials. The first section is aimed at introducing the use of FTIR microscopy in conservation science with a particular attention to the sampling criteria and sample preparation methods. The second section is aimed at evaluating and validating the use of different FTIR microscopic analytical methods applied to the study of different art conservation issues which may be encountered dealing with cultural heritage artefacts: the characterisation of the artistic execution technique (chapter II-1), the studies on degradation phenomena (chapter II-2) and finally the evaluation of protective treatments (chapter II-3). The third and last section is divided into three chapters which underline recent developments in FTIR spectroscopy for the characterisation of paint cross sections and in particular thin organic layers: a newly developed preparation method with embedding systems in infrared transparent salts (chapter III-1), the new opportunities offered by macro-ATR imaging spectroscopy (chapter III-2) and the possibilities achieved with the different FTIR microspectroscopic techniques nowadays available (chapter III-3). In chapter II-1, FTIR microspectroscopy as molecular analysis, is presented in an integrated approach with other analytical techniques. The proposed sequence is optimized in function of the limited quantity of sample available and this methodology permits to identify the painting materials and characterise the adopted execution technique and state of conservation. Chapter II-2 describes the characterisation of the degradation products with FTIR microscopy since the investigation on the ageing processes encountered in old artefacts represents one of the most important issues in conservation research. Metal carboxylates resulting from the interaction between pigments and binding media are characterized using synthesised metal palmitates and their production is detected on copper-, zinc-, manganese- and lead- (associated with lead carbonate) based pigments dispersed either in oil or egg tempera. Moreover, significant effects seem to be obtained with iron and cobalt (acceleration of the triglycerides hydrolysis). For the first time on sienna and umber paints, manganese carboxylates are also observed. Finally in chapter II-3, FTIR microscopy is combined with further elemental analyses to characterise and estimate the performances and stability of newly developed treatments, which should better fit conservation-restoration problems. In the second part, in chapter III-1, an innovative embedding system in potassium bromide is reported focusing on the characterisation and localisation of organic substances in cross sections. Not only the identification but also the distribution of proteinaceous, lipidic or resinaceous materials, are evidenced directly on different paint cross sections, especially in thin layers of the order of 10 µm. Chapter III-2 describes the use of a conventional diamond ATR accessory coupled with a focal plane array to obtain chemical images of multi-layered paint cross sections. A rapid and simple identification of the different compounds is achieved without the use of any infrared microscope objectives. Finally, the latest FTIR techniques available are highlighted in chapter III-3 in a comparative study for the characterisation of paint cross sections. Results in terms of spatial resolution, data quality and chemical information obtained are presented and in particular, a new FTIR microscope equipped with a linear array detector, which permits reducing the spatial resolution limit to approximately 5 µm, provides very promising results and may represent a good alternative to either mapping or imaging systems.

Aufbau eines flugzeuggetragenen Massenspektrometers zur Messung von HNO 3 und HONO und Quantifizierung der HNO 3-Aufnahme in Eispartikel in Kondensstreifen und Zirren

Im Zuge dieser Arbeit ist ein Massenspektrometer zur flugzeuggetragenen Messung von HNO3 und HONO auf dem neuen deutschen Forschungsflugzeug HALO aufgebaut worden (AIMS - Atmospheric chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer). Die Ionisation der HNO3- und HONO-Moleküle erfolgt chemisch durch Reaktion mit SF5- -Ionen. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen von Laborversuchen wurden die Betriebsparameter optimiert, die Einzelkomponenten im HALO-Rack zusammengestellt und eine Einlassleitung entworfen, die Wandeffekte minimiert und Untergrundmessungen und HNO3-Kalibrationen im Flug ermöglicht. Die Empfindlichkeit der Messung von HNO3 und HONO wurde ebenso im Labor untersucht wie Interferenzen mit Wasserdampf und Ozon. Die HONO-Vergleichskampagne FIONA am Europäischen Photoreaktor (EUPHORE) in Valencia war die erste Messkampagne mit AIMS. Bei den offenen Vergleichsmessungen stimmten die von AIMS gemessenen HONO-Mischungsverhältnisse innerhalb +-20% mit dem Median von 9 weiteren HONO-Messungen überein. Die ersten flugzeuggetragenen Messungen mit AIMS werden im Verlauf der HALO-Missionen ML-CIRRUS und TACTS stattfinden. Neben dem Aufbau und der Charakterisierung von AIMS war die Analyse der Aufnahme von HNO3 in Eispartikel von Kondensstreifen und Zirren Gegenstand dieser Arbeit. Die Aufnahme von HNO3 in Kondensstreifeneispartikel wurde erstmals systematisch anhand einer Flugzeugmesskampagne (CIRRUS-III) untersucht. Während CIRRUS-III im November 2006 wurden Zirren und zufällig knapp 40 persistente Kondensstreifen über Deutschland und Nordeuropa beprobt. Die Messungen fanden in Höhen zwischen 10 und 11.5 km und bei Temperaturen zwischen 210 und 230 K statt. Die HNO3-Konzentration wurde mit Hilfe von NOy-Messungen bestimmt. Im Mittel war in Kondensstreifen ein größerer Anteil des Gesamt-HNO3 in den Eispartikeln gebunden (6 %) als in Zirren (3 %). Das Gasphasenäquivalent des eisgebundenen HNO3 betrug in Zirren durchschnittlich 6 pmol/mol, in Kondensstreifen 14 pmol/mol und in jungen Kondensstreifen (Alter<1 h) 21 pmol/mol. Das Mischungsverhältnis von HNO3 zu H2O in Eispartikeln war in Kondensstreifen leicht höher als in Zirren unter ähnlichen meteorologischen Bedingungen. Ursächlich für die höheren Werte in persistenten Kondensstreifen sind wahrscheinlich die hohen HNO3-Konzentrationen in den Abgasfahnen der Flugzeuge bei der Kondensstreifenbildung. Die beobachtete Abnahme des HNO3/H2O-Molverhältnisses mit zunehmendem Effektivdurchmesser der Eispartikel deutet an, dass die HNO3-Konzentrationen in Eispartikeln von jungen Kondensstreifen durch die Aufnahme von Abgas-HNO3 in die gefrierenden Aerosolpartikel bestimmt wird. Die Konzentrationen in älteren Kondensstreifen werden zunehmend durch das Vergraben von Umgebungs-HNO3 in wachsenden Eispartikeln kontrolliert. Diese Studie leistet einen Beitrag zu einem besseren Prozessverständnis der HNO3-Aufnahme in atmosphärische Eispartikel. Sie motiviert die Nutzung persistenter Kondensstreifen als atmosphärisches Labor zur Untersuchung der Spurengasaufnahme in wachsende Eispartikel.

Sviluppo e convalida di un modello Monte Carlo per ottenere le curve isodose all'interno di una sala a raggi x nell'ospedale clinico Universitario di Valencia

Per prevedere i campi di dose attorno a dispositivi radiologici, vengono sviluppati e validati, per mezzo di misure sperimentali, modelli Monte Carlo (utilizzando MCNP5). Lo scopo di questo lavoro è quello di valutare le dosi ricevute da persone che operano all'interno della sala di raggi X, mentre il tubo è in funzione. Il tubo utilizzato è un DI-1000/0.6-1.3 della azienda svizzera COMET AG. Per prima cosa si è ottenuto lo spettro di emissione dei raggi X con la Tally F5 simulando l'interazione di un fascio di elettroni contro un anodo di tungsteno. Successivamente, con una F4MESH, si è ricavato il flusso di fotoni in ogni cella della mesh tridimensionale definita sulla sala; la conversione a dose equivalente è ottenuta per mezzo di fattori di conversione estratti dal NIST. I risultati della Tally FMESH vengono confrontati con i valori di dose misurati con una camera di ionizzazione Radcal 1800 cc. I risultati sono ottenuti per le seguenti condizioni operative: 40 kVp, 100 mA, 200 mAs, fuoco fine e filtro in alluminio di spessore 0,8 mm. Confrontando con le misure sperimentali si osserva che tali valori differiscono da quelli simulati di circa un 10%. Possiamo quindi prevedere con buona approssimazione la distribuzione di dose mentre il tubo è in funzione. In questo modo è possibile ridurre al minimo la dose ricevuta dall'operatore.

A cross cultural study of vaginal practices and sexuality: Implications for sexual health

Between 2005 and 2006, we investigated vaginal practices in Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Tete, Mozambique; KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; and Bangkok and Chonburi, Thailand. We sought to understand women's practices, their motivations for use and the role vaginal practices play in women's health, sexuality and sense of wellbeing. The study was carried out among adult women and men who were identified as using, having knowledge or being involved in trade in products. Further contacts were made using snowball sampling. Across the sites, individual interviews were conducted with 229 people and 265 others participated in focus group discussions. We found that women in all four countries have a variety of reasons for carrying out vaginal practices whose aim is to not simply 'dry' the vagina but rather decrease moisture that may have other associated meanings, and that they are exclusively "intravaginal" in operation. Practices, products and frequency vary. Motivations generally relate to personal hygiene, genital health or sexuality. Hygiene practices involve external washing and intravaginal cleansing or douching and ingestion of substances. Health practices include intravaginal cleansing, traditional cutting, insertion of herbal preparations, and application of substances to soothe irritated vaginal tissue. Practices related to sexuality can involve any of these practices with specific products that warm, dry, and/or tighten the vagina to increase pleasure for the man and sometimes for the woman. Hygiene and health are expressions of femininity connected to sexuality even if not always explicitly expressed as such. We found their effects may have unexpected and even undesired consequences. This study demonstrates that women in the four countries actively use a variety of practices to achieve a desired vaginal state. The results provide the basis for a classification framework that can be used for future study of this complex topic.