Artykuły w czasopismach na temat „W.A. Snow Iron Works”

[Model of a Film Fairy Tale in the Disney Golden Age (with Later Modifications)] The article attempts to determine the constitutive elements of a model film fairy tale in the so-called Disney Golden Age and to examine how it was used in later works, both these created by the studio and those by unrelated creators. After preliminary remarks, the author analyses three feature-length animated films: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Sleeping Beauty (1959). In these works, as he notes, one can notice a set of features that make up the classic Disney model of a film fairy tale. Next, the author discusses modifications applied to the pattern during the Disney Renaissance and Revival. Finally, he cites examples of cultural texts polemical to this paradigm which point to the cultural vitality and heterogeneity of the studio’s films.

The aim of the article is to present an unusual raw material, which is the meteorite iron and its specific status in the culture of ancient Egypt. The presentation of this extraordinary material, highlighting the features allowing to recognize it, the interpretation of the artifacts made of it (taking into account the physicochemical analyzes), and the development of the results of experimental works recreating the methods of its processing allow us to obtain the necessary information about the delineation of meteorite iron metallurgy in ancient Egypt up to the beginning of the Late Period. An important source for achieving the article’s goal are also texts. Text analysis highlights the ambiguity of the terminology used to describe meteorite iron. By reviewing the contexts of its use, they allow us to enrich knowledge about its metallurgy and help to characterize the status of this metal in the consciousness of the Egyptians.

Andrzej Stasiuk, a Polish writer, is among authors who enjoy dealing with the world through the form of a reportage. Central Europe becomes the key point of his books, such as: Kroniki Beskidzkie i Światowe, Dziennik pisany później, Fado, Jadąc do Babadag, Wschód, and Moja Europa (written with Jurij Andruchowycz). In these works, Stasiuk touches upon the issue of the borders of Europe, which he defines as an intellectual space community. The question arises as to what criteria can be used in order to define the concept of Central Europe — to the author, one of the most important ones is the shared experience of the imposed communist system. The regime, which is an integral part of the immaterial culture of vast regions of Europe, has left its mark on the identities of those who lived behind the Iron Curtain until 1989/90. This is expressed and processed in Stasiuk’s literary works.

Józef Łobodowski’s pre-war translations were published in the weekly “Wołyń” which he was the editor of in the years 1937–1938, and in “Biuletyn Polsko-Ukraiński”. Among them, the translations of poems by Yuriy Kosach, Natalya Lyvitska-Kholodna, Oleh Olzhych and Yevhen Malanyuk can be found. Łobodowski had personal contacts with was Malanyuk as he was his long-time acquaintance. They both published their works in “Biuletyn Polsko-Ukraiński” and in “Kultura” based in Paris. Łobodowski translated in total over 20 works of the Ukrainian poet, the majority of which were published in “Kultura” after the war, together with a number of literary critical articles, such as Scylle i Charybdy poezji ukraińskiej (The Scyllas And Charybdas of the Ukrainian Poetry), Poezja Jewhena Małaniuka (Yevhen Malanyuk’s Poetry), Ostatnia wiosna (The Last Spring), or a memoir note Po śmierci Małaniuka (After Malanyuk’s Death). In the 1930s, Łobodowski became interested in the poetry from the collection Земля й залізо (Earth and Iron). In the interwar period, three translations were published: An Inscription on a Book of Poems (Напис на книзі віршів), 13 November 1920 (13 листопада 1920 р.) and fragments of the Epiphanies (Прозріння) cycle. In his translations, the author for Lublin was guided mainly by the principle of the hierarchy of values and equivalence. His works include Malanyuk’s poems close to his own poetry. Moreover, in his translation work he tended to avoid texts speaking against Poles and dividing the two nations. Łobodowski is characterised by his interpretational talents and the ability to preserve the main meanings of the original versions. In spite of the fact that his translations are characterised by dynamic equivalence, they are not spontaneous, they do not stem from emotions, but they have a solid theoretical foundation and are based on his excellent knowledge of the Ukrainian poet’s works.

The article is a collection of thoughts that transpired during the work at the Archive of Włodzimierz Odojewski. The aim of the authors was to identify and indicate the potential ways to study the life and works of the writer, and the expected result of the research is a biography of Odojewski. The research was based on the exploration of the writer’s private collection: unpublished documents, manuscripts, typescripts, personal papers, correspondence, family and estate papers and photographs. The authors focused on a number of issues. One, the biographical facts that influenced Odojewski’s output – World War II, frequent relocations, censorship and a ban on publishing in Poland, emigration, the relation with the Polish Institute in Maisons-Laffitte and working at Radio Free Europe’s editorial office. Two, the analysis of literary works including hundreds of typescripts in many variants (related to the phases of the genetic history of a literary work through the stages of Odojewski’s life) which allowed for describing Odojewski’s writing techniques. Three, ‘The writer’s map’ which points out places important for the author – Poznań, Gniezno, Kłecko, Podole,Szczecin, Warsaw, Paris, Berlin, Munich. Four, the correspondence (personal and cultural) which can be used as an important source of knowledge of the history of Polish post-war emigration. One of the most interesting parts of the collection is a collection of letters from Jerzy Giedroyć that show Polish culture outside the Iron Curtain.

Evaluations of water retention characteristics of typical iron ore fines (IOF) were presented, which was part of experimental works for the estimation of liquefaction potential of IOF heaps. The water retention tests were conducted in a suction range from 0.1 to 106 kPa on two IOFs and two artificial soils with various testing techniques. It is observed that water retention characteristic curves of one IOF (IOF-B) converge in terms of the relationship between suction (S) and water content (w) regardless densities of specimens when S exceeds a threshold value (Sth). Based on this finding, water retention characteristics are divided into density and materials affected zones. It is also found that IOFs generally have higher water retention ability than the two artificial soils, from which discussion is made on the effect of specific surface area and mineralogy on water retention characteristics of IOF. Finally, water retention characteristics are linked to compaction curves, from which, with the consideration that degree of saturation at peaks of compaction curves is relatively constant, a safety margin of a recently proposed regulation for maritime transportation of IOF is discussed.

A number of water utilities have been experiencing operational difficulties during specific times of the year, associated with elevated levels of organics due to heavy rainfall or snow melt. Water samples were collected from Albert treatment works (Halifax, UK) and the natural organic matter (NOM) was characterised using XAD resin adsorption techniques. The addition of a cationic polyelectrolyte was employed to determine the charge density of the fractions. Results show that NOM fraction make-up changes throughout the year, with the fulvic acid fraction (FAF) showing the greatest increase during the autumn and winter period. The charge density of the FAF fraction also increases. The coagulation conditions for traditional coagulants, such as iron, are more affected by increased levels of organics than the novel coagulant also investigated, and the zeta potential range for optimum removal is narrower. Therefore, the conditions required for zero charge during coagulation varies with both raw water source and the coagulant type.

Transformation of fairy tales patterns in children’s literature available on the contemporary publishing marketWhat the contemporary publishing market offers the youngest readers are texts that make various forms of fairy tale characters — a strongly representative group among them consists of texts that are transformations of fairy tale patterns that are deeply rooted in the mass imaginations including children’s imagination, which promote a new version of a well-known story: fairy tale renarrations. Such texts not only constitute evidence of changes in the fairy tale genre, but also prove the continuous updates on fairy tales. The aim of the article is to present and discuss how the authors modify specific characteristics of the fairy tale and play with its tradition. The examples of recognizable fairy tale patterns that are deeply rooted in the culture Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella were used to present the primary mechanisms of use and modification of fairy tales in children’s literature on the post-2000 Polish publishing market.The description of intertextual relationships between the fairy tale patterns and their renarrations renarration mechanisms has been supplemented with an analysis of influence of popular culture on children’s literature interpenetrating of cultural and literary circulations and the fashion for fairy tales. The studied works include those that have been written with gender education in mind, promotion of knowledge on rights of a child or the environment and those primary aim of which is to entertain the young audience through reading. The article is also an encouragement to reflection on the genealogy of contemporary fairy tales and the shape, in which the “children’s fabulous fairy-tale-sphere” functions, and the factors that influence it.

Concrete bridge decks are prone to ice accumulation. Bridge decks freeze before the roads approaching them freeze, making wintry highway travel treacherous. Road salts and deicing chemicals are effective for ice removal but cause damage to concrete and corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete bridge decks. The resulting rapid degradation of existing concrete pavements and bridge decks is a major concern to transportation and public-works officials. The use of insulation materials for ice control and electric or thermal heating for deicing have been attempted, with unsatisfactory results. Conductive concrete is a cementitious admixture containing electrically conductive components to attain high and stable electrical conductivity. Due to its electrical resistance and impedance, a thin conductive concrete overlay can generate enough heat to prevent ice formation on a bridge deck when connected to a power source. In 1998, Yehia and Tuan, at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, developed a conductive concrete mix specifically for bridge deck deicing. In this application, a conductive concrete overlay is cast on the top of a bridge deck for deicing or anti-icing. The mechanical and physical properties of the conductive concrete mix after 28 days have met ASTM and AASHTO specifications. Two concrete slabs were constructed with a 9-cm (3.5-in.) conductive concrete overlay for conducting deicing experiments in the natural environment. Deicing and anti-icing experiments were conducted in five 1998 snowstorms. Average power of about 590 W/m2 (55 W/ft2) was generated by the conductive concrete overlays to prevent snow and ice accumulation.

Construction of a Bridge on Boats and the Crossing of Władysław Jagiełło’s Army to Czerwińsk in 1410 Władysław Jagiełło and Witold Kiejstutowicz were preparing a war with the Teutonic Order. It was decided to build a bridge across the Vistula near Czerwińsk. The wood for building about 50 riverboats (punts) and spans had to dry for several months. The works which started in February 1409 in the Kozienice Forest were coordinated by Master Jarosław and Staroste Dobrogost the Black. Teams of boatbuilders, carpenters, blacksmiths and raftsmen made the elements of the bridge (boats, spans, anchors, iron buckles). The bridge was erected between Śladow and Czerwińsk on June 28–30, 1410. The barriers on the banks and the military forces ensured an uninterrupted march of the Polish army on June 30–July 3, comprising approx. 15,000 mounted knights, several hundred heavy tabor wagons, and several dozen cannons. The combined Polish and Lithuanian-Ruthenian armies departed from Czerwińsk for the war with the Teutonic Order. The bridge was dismantled, floated to Płock and rebuilt on the Vistula near Przypust on September 24–27, 1410 for the returning Polish army.

An experimental investigation is described concerning the effect of the existence of a remanent magnetization of the dispersed particles on the rheological properties of magnetorheological fluids (MRF). Two MRF's were used: (1) solid phase: cobalt ferrite particles + silica gel (1.5% w/w); liquid phase: silicone oil (viscosity 20 mPa·s); and (2) solid phase: carbonyl iron + silica gel; liquid phase; silicone oil. The cobalt ferrite particles were synthetized as monodisperse colloidal spheres with an average diameter of 850 nm. The dependence of the dimensionless shear stress (τ⋆/ϕ) vs. Mason number (Mn) fails to scale when a "magnetorheological hysteresis procedure" is followed, specially for the higher volume fractions used (≈ 7.5%). The yield stress (τy) is first estimated from successive rheograms obtained decreasing the external field (H0) values for different ϕ. A more precise determination can be done by applying a stress ramp in the oscillatory regime. The critical stress amplitude (τc) needed to exceed the viscoelastic linear region (VLR) is obtained. It is found that both τy and τc strongly depend on the magnetic history of the sample. As expected, the previous results were not obtained in a classical MRF of carbonyl iron particles since they do not present magnetic hysteresis. We conclude that cobalt ferrite suspensions are an other kind of MRF which works at low fields (0 – 17.8 kA/m) with the opposite effect: decrease of the yield stress with the field. This property can be improved using particles with stronger remanent magnetization.

Context. The current paradigm to explain the presence of Jupiter-like planets with small orbital periods (P < 10 days; hot Jupiters), which involves their formation beyond the snow line following inward migration, has been challenged by recent works that explore the possibility of in situ formation. Aims. We aim to test whether stars harbouring hot Jupiters and stars with more distant gas-giant planets show any chemical peculiarity that could be related to different formation processes. Methods. Our methodology is based on the analysis of high-resolution échelle spectra. Stellar parameters and abundances of C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn for a sample of 88 planet hosts are derived. The sample is divided into stars hosting hot (a < 0.1 au) and cool (a > 0.1 au) Jupiter-like planets. The metallicity and abundance trends of the two sub-samples are compared and set in the context of current models of planet formation and migration. Results. Our results show that stars with hot Jupiters have higher metallicities than stars with cool distant gas-giant planets in the metallicity range +0.00/+0.20 dex. The data also shows a tendency of stars with cool Jupiters to show larger abundances of α elements. No abundance differences between stars with cool and hot Jupiters are found when considering iron peak, volatile elements or the C/O, and Mg/Si ratios. The corresponding p-values from the statistical tests comparing the cumulative distributions of cool and hot planet hosts are 0.20, <0.01, 0.81, and 0.16 for metallicity, α, iron-peak, and volatile elements, respectively. We confirm previous works suggesting that more distant planets show higher planetary masses as well as larger eccentricities. We note differences in age and spectral type between the hot and cool planet host samples that might affect the abundance comparison. Conclusions. The differences in the distribution of planetary mass, period, eccentricity, and stellar host metallicity suggest a different formation mechanism for hot and cool Jupiters. The slightly larger α abundances found in stars harbouring cool Jupiters might compensate their lower metallicities allowing the formation of gas-giant planets.

This work addresses an urgent problem which is saving alloying elements (Ni, Mo, Nb, V, W and others) -which very scarce in Ukraine and other countries- while increasing the physical, mechanical and operational properties of the new designed and developed wear-resistant cast irons. Optical microscopy, x-ray structure analysis, transmission and scanning (fracture) electron microscopy methods, different-thermal, magnetometric and x-ray analyses, as well as hardness and micro-hardness tests, impact energy, and abrasive wear tests in environments of cast-iron shots were employed in the research. The work summarizes the controlling conditions for forming various metastable phases by including deformation (or strain) induced phase transformation (DIPT) and through realization in the process of testing. New wear-resistant economical alloyed cast irons with a metastable austenite-carbide and austenite-martensite-carbide structure are developed, which are being strain- hardened under impact-abrasive wearing operation conditions due to the realization of process DIPT in the superficial layer. These new cast irons are intended for manufacturing parts of different equipment (protective plates of sinter machines, furnaces, tracks for transferring raw materials at iron and steel works, etc.). These cast irons do not contain expensive and deficit alloying components, like nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, and more expensive similar materials. Simultaneously they possess enhanced impact-abrasive wear resistance.

Alum natural mineral salt is the world's leading crystal deodorant which works in removing unpleasant body smell. Some other products attempt to block the sweat pores with harmful chemicals such as aluminum chlorohydrates or aluminum zirconium. However, crystal is hypoallergenic deodorant that is healthy, safe, and effective in inhibiting odor formation on the axillary. The light scent infused with natural essential oils might enhance the properties of the crystal deodorant and its antimicrobial activity in fighting against body odor bacteria. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential antimicrobial activity of both citrus essential oils and alum salt. The essential oils were extracted from Citrus aurantifolia, and Citrus sinensis peels by water-steam distillation and analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Antibacterial assay against Escherichia coli was carried out on the extracted essential oils using paper disc diffusion assay. Results showed that no lead and cadmium constituents were detected, while low concentration of iron (0.993 ± 0.0059 ppm) and copper (0.134 ± 0.0078 ppm) were detected in the crystal salt (15% w/v). D-limonene, decanal and citral were major components responsible for the citrus scents aroma. The C. aurantifolia essential oil and 15% w/v alum salt were active against E. coli with inhibitory zones at 7.23 ± 0.15 mm and 11.13 ± 0.51 mm respectively. The citrus scented crystal deodorant was successfully developed and tested.

The article presents the interest of Polish archaeology before 1945 in the prehistory and early history of the Slavs. The pioneers were Count Jan Potocki towards the end of the 18th century a representative of the Enlightenment period, and then Zorian Dołęga Chodakowski. Chodakowski’s work from 1818 about the Slavs before Christianity opened the Romantic period in Polish antiquarianism. At this time the greatest Polish poets were writing important works relating to the pre-Christian past of Poland, and a statue of the pagan god Światowid (Światowit) was found in the river Zbrucz. Studies of the earliest Slavs were continued by the positivists. At the beginning of the 20th century, one of them was E.Majewski from Warsaw, a promotor of the works of L. Niederle devoted to Slavic antiquities. In the period when the cultural-historical school dominated, prehistoric archaeology was becoming ever more closely associated with nationalism and politics (G. Kossinna). Majewski was one of the first critics of Kossinna’s method and works. In the years 1919–1944 Majewski’s pupil, L. Kozłowski, and J. Czekanowski studied the origin of the Slavs. Both were professors of the University in Lviv. Together with J. Kostrzewski, a prehistorian from Poznań, they regarded the Lusatian culture from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age as ancient Slavic. This view was important as propaganda in the political and scholarly dispute with prehistorians of the Third Reich. Its significance increased after the discovery and start of excavations of a fortified settlement of the Lusatian culture in Biskupin, in northwestern Poland. During the Second World War, Biskupin was excavated by H. Schleif from the SS-Ahnenerbe. The intention was to refute Kostrzewski’s views. At the same time, Kostrzewski and Kozłowski were writing works intended to confirm the ancient Slavic character of the Lusatian culture. Today their views constitute an interesting chapter in the history of science. Key words: early history of the Slavs, Światowid, Biskupin, Romantic period, Lusatian culture.

As a zoologist, I have never really understood why those of us who study nematodes continue to partition ourselves into at least two distinct camps, one of which works on the plant-parasitic and free-living species, and the other primarily on animal-parasitic species. And I suspect that nematodes themselves are equally puzzled by this segregation of their ardent scholars. Historically, of course, plant nematologists aggregated in crop research and botany departments, whereas the animal nematologists were stationed in livestock, veterinary, medical and zoological departments of research institutes and universities. I found much of interest in NematologyVol. 1, but I was left with the impression that, whilst the ‘iron curtain’ was beginning to tumble, it still had a long way to fall. We have not yet reached a stage where nematodes as distinct organisms, whatever their niche, take priority in our thinking. But I race ahead. Let us retrace and begin with the details of this volume.

In this study, the effect of molarity on the structural, magnetic, and heat dissipation properties of magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) was investigated to optimise the parameters for potential application in magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT). MHT works based on the principle of local temperature rise at the tumour site by magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONPs) with the application of an alternating magnetic field. MHT is a safe method for cancer treatment and has minimal or no side effects. Magnetite (Fe3O4) is the best material among MIONPs to be applied in local MHT due to its biocompatibility and high saturation magnetisation value. MNPs were prepared by co-precipitation at varying molarity. Structural characterisation was performed via X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) for crystalline structure analysis and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) for morphology and particle size analysis. Measurement of the magnetic properties of the as-synthesised MNPs was carried out using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Power loss (P) was determined theoretically. The increase in molarity resulted in significant effects on the structural, magnetic, and heat dissipation properties of MNPs. The particle size and saturation magnetisation (Ms) decreased with the gradual addition of base but increased, together with crystallinity, with the gradual addition of iron source. M3 recorded the smallest crystalline size at 3.559 nm. The sample with the highest molarity (M4) displayed the highest heat generation capacity with a p value of up to 0.4056 W/g. High p values at the nano-scale are crucial, especially in local MHT, for effective heat generation, thus proving the importance of molarity as a vital parameter during MNP synthesis.

Motor neuron diseases (MNDs) like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are progressive neurodegenerative disorders affecting upper and lower motor neurons (UMN and LMN). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) often reveals a “motor band sign” (MBS) of hypointensity along the precentral gyri in ALS, considered a radiologic hallmark. This review comprehensively summarizes the literature on MBS in ALS and related MNDs using multiple MRI techniques. A systematic search was conducted in the PubMed and Scopus databases to identify relevant studies on MBS in MNDs published until August 2023. Twelve studies were included. Most patients had UMN involvement at the onset. MBS was correlated with UMN impairment severity. Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) detected MBS in the majority of MND patients. The use of SWI could be particularly useful in detecting MBS, and it should be considered as part of the routine clinical MRI protocols. Recent studies suggest that hypointensity and atrophy of the primary motor cortex (M1) and nearby regions can be used as MRI markers of UMN impairment in MNDs. Other MRI techniques like T2-weighted (T2-w), T2 ∗ -w, and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) also showed characteristic changes. Furthermore, quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is an advanced MRI technique that allows sensitive quantification of iron deposition and has shown promise for accurately detecting MBS in MNDs. The findings suggest that MR neuroimaging techniques can provide valuable insights into the pathophysiology of MND and can be used to detect biomarkers such as MBS. The review demonstrates that advanced MRI techniques can detect cortical and white matter changes reflecting upper motor neuron degeneration in MNDs like ALS. To find out how sensitive and suggestive the MBS is in MNDs and neurodegenerative movement disorders and how well it works as a prognostic indicator, we will need to do more research that combines comprehensive prospective and longitudinal research.

This study aimed to develop a model and prototype of a more sustainable electromagnetic braking system which can cope with the future demands of the automobile industry due to the increasing number of e-vehicles. The braking mechanism is been used in almost every type of mechanical vehicle and it utilizes crude oil as fuel which when burnt causes air pollution. To save the environment from air pollution e-vehicles have been introduced to the market. Electromagnetic brakes are been used in e-vehicles as these vehicles incorporate huge electric systems which may be damaged or ignited through any leakage from the hydraulic brake. In this study, engineering knowledge has been implemented to design and fabricate a model of the electromagnetic braking system (EMS) which works on the principle of eddy current. A 3D model of EMS was developed. Further, static displacement and brake power analyses were performed to check the strength of EMS and the performance of the prototype developed, respectively. At an average speed of 31 RPM, brake power produced was 3.9 W. Static structural analysis on a frame made of grey cast iron showed that there was negligible deformation for load up to 200 N. Electromagnetic braking system based on this analysis and model could meet the market needs for conveyor belt application as well. The observations from this study might be useful in the development of a more efficient electrical vehicle braking system with varying demands of momentum.

The State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, was established and politically from the geographic division of the State of Mato Grosso in 1977. The new State assumed the title of largest producer of dairy cattle and cropping in Latin America. Since then, various artistic themes have been addressed by local art production, as it has been done throughout Latin America: the artistic cultural productions turn their heads to their rural areas. From this period of division of states, cattle prevailed routinely as the most expressive theme of art production. In this production, cattle is preserved and supported both by the government and by its co-opted critics, which keep resonances in Mato Grosso do Sul’s artistic production. Horns, leather, iconographies, hot iron brands permeate the works made by artists born and residing in the State. This article aims to investigate critically this recurrence in artistic production between the years of 1977 and 2010, a period that marked the State of Mato Grosso do Sul as a particular artistic and cultural entity member of the National Assembly, by tracking the way in which the lowland landscape of the bull is still in keep with being an “artistic relief” representing the State. Using concepts like Charles Baudelaire’s beauty, as well as Theodor W. Adorno’s Essay as form, among others, this work aims to reflect on Mato Grosso do Sul’s current, post-division artistic situation. That is, why is the bull a constant in the state’s visual arts.

In this study, daily fine particulate matters (PM2.5) were sampled between 22 February 2011 and 22 February 2012 in Bolu Abant ?zzet Baysal University Campus. 277 PM2.5 samples were collected by using a stacked filter unit. Fifty-one elements (Li, Be, Na, K, Mg, Al, P, S, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ge, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cs, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Hf, W, Pt, Au, Pb, Bi, Tl, Th, U) were determined using ICP-MS technique. The most frequently observed elements were Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ce, and Cd in PM2.5. Aluminum, Ca, Na, Fe, K, and Mg were the elements having the largest arithmetic means. The concentrations of elements in the summer seasons were higher than the concentrations of elements in the winter season except for As and Bi. Source apportionment of elements was performed by using positive matrix factorization. Five sources were determined for the samples namely sea salt (Na, K, Mg, Ca), coal combustion (As, Pb, Bi, Tl, Cd, Sb, Se, Mo), wood and coal combustion (K, Rb, Se, Cs, Sb, Pb, Bi, Tl, Fe, Mn, Cd), soil (Ca, Mg, Ti, Fe, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Th) and industrial activity (iron-steel works) (Cr, Mo, Fe, Ni, Cu, Mn, Cd, Sb, Ca). The factor of wood and coal combustion showed the same trend in the region for the whole year.

Introduction. A large number of industrial metallurgical shops, currently in operation in Russia, were erected in 1960–1980. Nowadays, these facilities need large-scale reconstruction to improve the production procedure and to install new, high performance and environmentally friendly equipment and automated control systems. Higher capacity production requires a change in the frame behaviour and the loads acting on it, in comparison with the design ones. It should be noted that the remaining service life of the frame is coming to an end in the harsh environment of a metal factory, and therefore, it needs a major overhaul and reinforcement to ensure smooth operation under the action of new loads. Materials and methods. To ensure the most accurate evaluation of forces and displacements in the frame elements and to design its reinforcement, it is advisable to perform a 3D analysis of the frame using the finite element method. This analysis must take into account current regulatory requirements, that are much tighter than those that were in effect when the frame was designed (for example, higher standard snow load, requirements ensuring protection from progressive collapse, higher values of some reliability factors, etc.). Results. The author describes the practical analysis of the frame of converter shop No. 2 at Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works (NLMK), which was part of a reconstruction project, that included replacement of two converters with gas exhaust ducts and construction of a fugitive emission treatment system. The calculation model was described; loads acting on the frame of the converter shop were provided; principal combinations of loads and progressive collapse prevention actions were analyzed. The analysis confirmed that the bearing capacity of some structures was insufficient, and therefore, they were to be reinforced. Conclusions. Proper analysis of the stress-strain state of the frame was made using the finite element method. The bearing capacity of the converter shop frame was analyzed, and its effective reinforcement was designed according to current standards. Further research will be focused on improving the analysis by contributing the actual stiffness of joints, evaluating actual loads and ensuring the combined action of enclosing and other non-bearing structures.

This work is a modern revisitation of an old idea of great chemists of the past such as Berthelot, Mendeleev, Cloez and Moissan: the formation of organic matter under pre-biotic conditions starting from the hydrolysis of metal carbides. This idea was originally proposed for the formation of petroleum in the Earth and was extended to other bodies of the solar system by Sokolov at the end of the 19th century. The reason for this revisitation lies in the fact that complex organic matter resembling a petroleum fraction may exist in certain protoplanetary nebulae. The present work starts with a survey of the theory of the inorganic origin of petroleum and reports on current evidence for its derivation from residues of formerly living matter, but also considers theories that admit both a biogenic and an abiogenic origin for petroleum. By considering the cosmic abundance of elements and the evidence concerning the presence of carbides in meteorites, we discuss the formation, structure and hydrolysis products derived from the metal carbides of the iron peak of cosmic elemental abundance. Chromium carbide (Cr3C2) has then been used as a model compound for all the key carbides of the iron peak of the cosmic abundance (Cr, Fe, Ni, V, Mn, Co) and it has been hydrolysed under different conditions and the hydrocarbons formed have been analysed using electronic spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography with a diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD) and by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Methane, a series of about 20 different alkenes with single and conjugated double bonds have been detected. Paraffins are formed simultaneously with the alkene series but no acetylenic hydrocarbons have been detected. This study confirms early works considering the easy hydrolysis of the carbides of Cr, Fe, Ni, Mn and Co with the formation of H2, a series of alkanes including methane and a series of alkenes including ethylene. The peculiar behaviour of copper carbide (copper is inside the iron peak of the cosmic abundances) has been discussed as well. A survey of the hydrolytic behaviour of other carbides has been included so that all lanthanides and actinides are considered as well as carbides of the second and third groups of the periodic table of elements and highly refractory carbides such as those of Ti, Zr, Ta and W have been briefly discussed. Furthermore, the hydrolysis of mixed metal carbides and nitrides is discussed, which gives a mixture of extremely interesting molecules that are considered the raw materials for the formation of the molecules of life: guanidine, methyl hydrazine, formic acid, hydrogen cyanide, urea, cyanamide, methylamine and formaldehyde. The hydrolysis of metal carbides has also been discussed within the framework of other reactions that are well considered in the present day in an astrochemical context: the ion–molecule reaction, the Miller–Urey and the Sagan–Kaare synthesis as well as the catalytic Fischer–Tropsch synthesis and the radiation-driven Fischer–Tropsch synthesis.

The Pinto Aceh motif is the creativity of local Acehnese motifs that are different from other motifs in Indonesia. The Pinto Aceh motif has its own uniqueness and aesthetic value. This can be seen from its symmetrical like a butterfly shape. Interest in raising the theme of Pinto Aceh motifs is because researchers want to give a new touch, especially in leather crafts combined with Pinto Aceh motifs. So far the Pinto Aceh motif works that have been created are still the same as the first time this motif was created, always in form of a symmetrical butterfly. Because of that the creation of leather craft works is realized in the form of two-dimensional and three- dimensional works by presenting the new forms. The materials used are parchment leather, vegetable tanned leather, mosquito netting wire, wood, glass, mirrors, synthetic leather and iron. The method used in the creation of this work goes through three stages, that is the exploration stage, the design stage and the embodiment stage. The works created do not only contain aesthetic value but also contain the meaning of freedom of creation, which is manifested in the creation of the Pinto Aceh motif. The expression of the Pinto Aceh motif as a source of inspiration for the creation of leather craft can be a medium for art connoisseurs, especially craft art and in hope to give another new forms of craft art, so that in the future it can become a reference for the development of craft art, especially leather craft.Keywords: PintoAceh,motifs,leather,craf. AbstrakMotif Pinto Aceh merupakan kreativitas lokal masyarakat Aceh yang jauh berbeda dengan daerah lain di Indonesia. Motif Pinto Aceh mempunyai keunikan dan nilai estetika tersendiri. Hal ini dapat dilihat dari bentuknya yang simetris seperti kupu-kupu. Ketertarikan mengangkat tema motif Pinto Aceh karena peneliti ingin memberikan sentuhan baru khususnya kriya kulit yang dipadukan dengan motif Pinto Aceh khususnya kriya kulit. Sejauh ini karya-karya motif Pinto Aceh yang diciptakan masih sama seperti motif pertama kali diciptakan, yaitu seperti kupu-kupu yang simetris. Oleh karena itu penciptaan karya kriya kulit ini direalisasikan ke dalam bentuk karya dua dimensi dan tiga dimensi dengan menghadirkan bentuk-bentuk yang baru. Bahan yang digunakan adalah kulit perkamen, kulit tersamak nabati, kawat jaring nyamuk, kayu, kaca, cermin, kulit sintetis dan besi. Metode yang digunakan pada penciptaan karya ini melalui tiga tahap, yaitu: tahap eksplorasi, tahap perancangan dan tahap perwujudan. Karya-karya yang diciptakan tidak hanya mengandung nilai estetik tetapi juga mengandung makna kebebasan dalam berkarya yang diwujudkan dalam bentuk kreasi motif Pinto Aceh. Ekspresi motif Pinto Aceh sebagai sumber inspirasi penciptaan kriya kulit ini dapat menjadi media terhadap penikmat seni, khususnya seni kriya dan diharapkan dapat melahirkan bentuk kriya seni baru, sehingga dapat menjadi acuan untuk pengembangan kriya seni khususnya kriya kulit selanjutnya.Kata Kunci: Pinto Aceh, motif, kulit, kriya. Authors: Karya Mansyah : Institut Seni Budaya Indonesia AcehSaniman Andi Kafri : Institut Seni Budaya Indonesia AcehMuhammad Hamzah : Institut Seni Budaya Indonesia Aceh References:Dharsono, D. (2016). Kreasi Artistik “Perjumpaan Tradisi Modern Dalam Paradigma Kekaryaan Seni”. Surakarta: Citra Sain.Ferawati, F., & Dewi, L. (2020). Suluah Dalam Nagari; Penciptaan Kriya Ekspresi Dengan Inspirasi Bundo Kanduang. Artchive: Jurnal Seni Rupa dan Desain Indonesia , 1(2), 122-133. http://dx.doi.org/10.53666/artchive.v1i2.1630.Ginting, J., & Triyanto, R. (2020). Tinjauan Ketepatan Bentuk, Gelap Terang, dan Warna padaGambar Bentuk Media Akrilik. Gorga: Jurnal Seni Rupa, 9(2), 300-308. https://doi.org/10.24114/gr.v9i2.20118.Gustami, SP. 2007. Butit-Butir Mutiara Estetika Timur “Ide Dasar Penciptaan Seni Kriya Indonesia”. Yogyakarta: Prasista.Izzara, W. A., & Nelmira, W. (2021). Desain Motif Tenun Songket Minangkabau Di Usaha Rino Risal Kecamatan Koto Tangah Kota Padang. Gorga: Jurnal Seni Rupa, 10(2), 423-431. https://doi.org/10.24114/gr.v10i2.25928.Mansyah, K. (2019), “Kaligrafi Arab Dalam Ekspresi Pinto Aceh Melalui Hiasan Interior”. Hasil Wawancara Pribadi: 30 Agustus 2019, Institut Seni Indonesia Padangpanjang.Mansyah, K., Sulaiman, S., & Nursyirwan, N. (2020). Seni Kaligrafi Arab Dalam Ekspresi Pinto Aceh. Melayu Arts and Performance Journal, 3(1), 27-36. http://dx.doi.org/10.26887/mapj.v3i1.1341.Sunarto, S. (2008). Seni Tatah Sungging Kulit. Yogyakarta: Prasista.Susanto, M. (2011). Diksi Rupa; Kumpulan Istilah Seni Rupa. Yogyakarta: DictiArt Lab & Djagad Art House.Zam, R., Dharsono, D., & Raharjo, T. TransformasiEstetik Seni Kriya; Kelahiran Dan Kriya Masa Kini. Gorga: Jurnal Seni Rupa, 11(2), 302-310. https://doi.org/10.24114/gr.v11i2.36026.

This research was conducted to explore the works of monuments in the city of Medan. This study aims to reveal, explain and document the works of monuments and monuments. Related to this, this research is also: (1) to find out in real terms the techniques, materials of manufacture, visualization of ideas, shape characteristics, and layout arrangements in terms of the observer's perspective on the art of sculpture, monuments, and monuments, (2) to produce teaching materials for Sculpture. with local content in the Department of Fine Arts at the State University of Medan. The study was conducted on a population and a sample of 3 works. Data were collected by using the methods of observation, documentation, and questionnaires. Data analysis was used descriptively and qualitatively with the type of taxonomic analysis. The results of the analysis and discussion conclude that the meaning of monumental sculpture in the city of Medan expresses the value of state ideology, history, and culture. The meaning is contained in the shape, color, size of the material, and the location of the work which is based on the philosophy of Pancasila, the history of struggle, and the culture of the Indonesian nation. While the techniques used were the grain technique and cast iron reinforced concrete, the techniques were also modeling (printing), then the materials used were cement, concrete, and bronze. The average visualization of the work displayed human figures, while the monument displayed rectangular concrete objects towering upwards.Keywords: statues, monuments, teaching materials. AbstrakPenelitian ini dilakukan untuk mendalami tentang karya patung monumen dan tugu yang terdapat di Kota Medan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengungkapkan, menjelaskan, dan mendokumentasikan karya patung monumen dan tugu. Terkait hal ini, penelitian ini juga adalah: (1) mengetahui secara nyata teknik, bahan pembuatan, visualisasi ide, karakteristik bentuk, pengaturan tata letak ditinjau dari perspektif pengamat pada seni patung monumen dan tugu, (2) menghasilkan bahan ajar Seni Patung yang bermuatan lokal pada Jurusan Seni Rupa di Universitas Negeri Medan. Penelitian dilakukan terhadap populasi dan 3 sampel karya. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan menggunakan metode observasi, dokumentasi dan kuesioner. Analisis data digunakan secara deskriptif kualitatif dengan jenis analisis taksonomi. Hasil analisis dan pembahasan menyimpulkan bahwa makna karya seni patung monumen di Kota Medan mengungkapkan nilai pada ideologi negara, sejarah dan budaya. Makna tersebut terkandung pada bentuk, warna, ukuran, bahan dan lokasi karya yang berlandaskan pada falsafah Pancasila, sejarah perjuangan dan budaya bangsa Indonesia. Sedangkan teknik yang digunakan adalah teknik butsir, cor beton bertulang besi, juga teknik modelling (cetak), selanjutnya bahan yang digunakan rata-rata semen beton dan ada perunggu. Rata-rata visualisasi karya menampilkan sosok/figur manusia, sedangkan tugu menampilkan benda bentuk beton persegi panjang menjulang ke atas.Kata Kunci: patung, tugu pengayaan, bahan ajar.Authors:Tetty Mirwa : Universitas Negeri MedanSugito : Universitas Negeri MedanKhaerul Saleh : Universitas Negeri MedanNelson Tarigan : Universitas Negeri MedanReferences:Gie, L. (1976). Garis Besar Estetik. Yogyakarta: UGM.Hoeve, V. W. (1950). Ensiklopedia Indonesia. Bandung: Hoeve Press.Muchtar, B. (1992). Seni Patung Indonesia. Yogyakarta: ISI Yogyakarta.Primadi, P. (1978). Proses Kreasi dan Apresiasi Seni. Jakarta: Ghalia Indonesia.Saylor, H. H. (1952). Dictionary of Architecture. New York: John Wilcy and Son Inc.Sirait, B. (1985). Komposisi Seni Rupa. Medan: IKIP Medan.Soedarso, S.P. (1976). Tinjauan Seni. Yogyakarta: ASRI.Soekadarman, M. S. (1977). Filsafat Seni dan Fenomenologi Karya Seni. Malang. Malang: IKIP Malang.Suryabrata, S. (2012). Metodologi Penelitian. Jakarta: Raja Grafindo Persada.Webster, M. (1971). Webster Seven New Dictionary. New York: G & C Merriam Company.

Introduction. In the process of coal mining and beneficiation, a large amount of wastewater is formed at enterprises. Sewage has a variety of origins, which can be classified into: natural (mine, quarry, drainage); technological (water for carrying out technological process, water for cooling of cars and devices); surface (water from rain, snow and maintenance of the enterprise); household (water is formed from showers, bathrooms, dining rooms). Wastewater from mines and factories is highly polluted and can have toxic effects on the environment. Problem Statement. Natural waters have a high rate of mineralization, salts of heavy metals, iron. Waters are polluted with organic matter, large and small particles of coal and rock. Surface and process effluents are contaminated with coal dust and petroleum products. Domestic waters are contaminated with surfactants, fats, animal and plant food residues, alkali, cadmium, nickel. Purpose. The aim is to study in detail the sources of pollution of mine effluents, to determine their composition and properties. Identify the seasonality of sources. Describe the method of water treatment and suggest possible improvements to existing technology. Materials and methods. The water must undergo some purification before it enters the environment. One of the main processes of wastewater treatment is filtration. This process is the most common and effective, so it should be part of the cleaning technology. The filter element can be a thin partition with pores or three-dimensional elements with a porous filler. This paper presents a technology with a granular filter, also called fast. The fast filter works on the principle of volume filtration, impurities are retained in the entire volume of the filter medium, in the pores and on the surface of the grains. Before filtration, the water is treated with coagulants. Types of granular materials: quartz sand, anthracite, expanded clay, expanded polystyrene, ceramic sand, mesoporous coal. Mesoporous coal is a promising material for filtration. Results. In the result of consideration of the composition and properties of wastewater, the appropriate technological scheme of mine wastewater treatment is selected and described. The technology provides purification from large impurities in open hydrocyclones, water treatment with flocculant, provides a filter and clarifier, enhanced purification from petroleum products in the oil trap and carbon filter. Filling the filter is sent to the coal warehouse, which is a cost-effective solution. Conclusions. The effluents of mining enterprises are saturated with pollutants and have a very aggressive composition, so it is unacceptable to release them into the environment without prior lighting. Should attention be paid to the purification of petroleum products that fall into the water as a result of the operation of machines and devices. As one of the possible methods, the technological scheme, improved by the department with oil trap and filter, is presented. Filter backfill is mesoporous coal, which is a very promising sorbent. Water treated with this technology can be used for recirculating water supply. This is justified not only by the economic aspect, but also by the environmental one. Keywords: mine drains, mining, pollution, petroleum products, filtration, technological scheme.

Interpretation of Aeromagnetic and Radiometric Data covering the basement region of Benue-Niger confluence was executed to delineate major structures and other geologic frame works of mineral interest. The study area which hosts the Benue-Niger confluence also encloses two major geologic units which are basement complex and sedimentary basins. The Aeromagnetic data set comprising sheet 227 (Koton-Karfe), 247 (Lokoja) and 267 (Idah) was enhanced to reveal geologic structures while radiometric data was analysed to map lithology and zones affected by hydrothermal alterations. A set of mathematical algorithms was used to enhance the data for interpretation. First Vertical derivatives, Analytical Signal and Euler deconvolution filters were applied to the Aeromagnetic data while Ratio and Ternary images of the three radiogenic elements were obtained for the radiometric data. Magnetic signatures from the TMI showed a mixture of high and low susceptibility below koton-karfe due to intrusion of oolitic iron ore within the sedimentary formation. Lokoja regions recorded highest susceptibility of 165 nT due to magnetic signatures emanating from exposed basement rocks. The southern Idah regions recorded relatively low susceptibility. Result of First Vertical Derivative revealed near surface mineral potent structures labelled F1 – F8, cringing surface features B1, B2 and B3. Analytical signal revealed high amplitudes range of 0.174 to 0.579 cycles for magnetic sources majorly at the basement regions, while low amplitude range of 0.021 to 0.157 cycles were recorded around the sedimentary regions. Euler depth analysis revealed shallower depth to sources in the basement and deeper depth to sources in the sedimentary regions due to thick overburden. Radiometric signatures from the K/Th ratio map revealed portions around Latitude 8°00’ NW and 7°30’ SW shaded in pink colour and having values above known threshold of 0.2 %/ppm to be hydrothermally altered. Mapping of lithology from Ternary map revealed K-Feldspar mineral bearing rocks dominated the NW and SW regions, while sandstones, ironstones, mudstones, shale, alluvium and other fluvial sedimentary lithologies dominated the sedimentary North-east and South-Eastern regions. The western regions (NW and SW) hosted the major structures in form of magnetic lineaments trending NE-SW and E-W which also coincided with regions delineated to be hydrothermally altered and apparently represents the most prospective regions of mineralisation in the study area.

The attraction of aqueous organic redox flow batteries (AORFBs) lies in the potential for low mass-production cost and long lifetime of the organic molecules. To reach cell potentials >1.0 V, several AORFBs have employed the ferri/ferrocyanide redox couple as posolyte in alkaline conditions. Recent works have reported significant amounts of capacity fade of this redox couple at high pH, attributed either to chemical decomposition associated with cyanide ligand dissociation and irreversible hydroxylation of the iron complex [1,2], or due to cell unbalancing associated with electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) [3]. We assess the chemical and electrochemical stability of ferri/ferrocyanide utilizing a volumetrically unbalanced, compositionally symmetric cell method [4]. A series of electrochemical and chemical characterization experiments was performed to distinguish between “real” capacity fade (redox-active is structurally damaged) and “apparent” capacity fade (redox-active remains structurally intact), when ferri/ferrocyanide electrolytes are used in the capacity-limiting side of a flow battery. Our results indicate that, in contrast with previous reports [1,2], no chemical decomposition of ferri/ferrocyanide occurs at tested pH values as high as 14 in the dark or in diffuse indoor light. Instead, an apparent capacity fade takes place due to an electroless reduction of ferricyanide to ferrocyanide, via electroless OER. We find that this parasitic process can be further enhanced by carbon electrodes, with apparent capacity fade rates at pH 14 increasing with an increased ratio of carbon electrode surface area to total amount of ferricyanide in solution. Based on these results, we report a set of operating conditions that enables the cycling of alkaline ferri/ferrocyanide electrolytes, and further demonstrate how apparent capacity fade rates can be engineered by the initial cell setup. If protected from direct exposure to light, the chemical stability of ferri/ferrocyanide anions allows for their practical deployment as electroactive species in long duration energy storage applications at alkaline pH values up to at least 14. References [1] J. Luo, A. Sam, B. Hu, C. DeBruler, X. Wei, W. Wang, and T.L. Liu, “Unraveling pH dependent cycling stability of ferricyanide/ferrocyanide in redox flow batteries,” Nano Energy, 42, 215 (2017). [2] M. Hu, A. Wang, T.L. Liu, “Cycling Performance and Mechanistic Insights of Ferricyanide Electrolytes in Alkaline Redox Flow Batteries,” ChemRxiv, (2022), DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2022-lqms7-v2 [3] T. Paéz, A. Martínez-Cuezva, J. Palma, E. Ventosa, “Revisiting the cycling stability of ferrocyanide in alkaline media for redox flow batteries,” Journal of Power Sources, 471, 228453 (2020). [4] M-A. Goulet, M.J. Aziz, “Flow Battery Molecular Reactant Stability Determined by Symmetric Cell Cycling Methods”, Journal of the Electrochemical Society 165, A1466 (2018).

The article presents the current state of research on the hillfort in Chotyniec, excavated since 2016. The scope and methods of excavations and other research works (e. g. geophysical prospection) are discussed. So far, the focus has been on studying the «zolnik» and identifying the embankments, uncovering an impressive array of artifacts and recording very interesting stratigraphic observations. The original size of the «zolnik» can be calculated (estimated) on the basis of the preserved systems of scattered layers, saturated with burning and charcoal. In the horizontal projection, they marked an almost circular surface with approximate dimensions of 20.8 (E—W) × 21 m (N—S). The maximum height of the «zolnik» could be up to 2 m from its base. The arrangement of layers turned out to be very interesting, allowing the reconstruction of the stages of setting up and using this object. It provided an exceptional amount of artifacts — fragments of ceramics, including Greek amphoras for wine, brown and bone arrowheads, brown pins, a necklace and small ornaments, glass and ceramic beads, clay spindles, «katushki» and a fragment of a figurine. The series of other ceramics is also very important, among which typical forms like pots and bowls. Completely reconstructed amphora of Klazomenei, as well as fragments of others, including those related to the Lesbos circle, indicate a convergent chronology at the end of the 7th and the beginning of the 6th century BC. A similar chronology is shared by brown and bone arrowheads, representing different types within four main groups dated from the end or even from the 2nd half of the 7th century BC to the middle of the 6th century BC. On the other hand, the series of radiocarbon dates, in connection with the stratigraphy, shows a slightly different chronological range. It confirms the older horizon from the second half of the 7th century, but also clearly points to the 6th—5th centuries BC, and one of the dates is even younger. The hillfort in Chotyniec, together with the surrounding settlements, forms a very interesting settlement complex — the most northwestern enclave of the Scythian cultural circle. We can say that it is an extremely interesting microregion, and its importance is multifaceted. It concerns the possibility of getting to know the relations (e. g. chronological, functional, etc.) of the settlement and its surroundings, which is not so common in the archeology of the Early Iron Age in this part of Europe. In a broader territorial perspective, the Chotyniec agglomeration forces corrections to the existing, well-established findings on the relationship of the Scythian world with other cultures — e. g. the Lusatian cultural circle or a group of groups and cultures in Volhynia.

The attraction of aqueous organic redox flow batteries (AORFBs) lies in the potential for low mass-production cost and long lifetime of the organic molecules. To reach cell potentials >1.0 V, several AORFBs have employed the ferri/ferrocyanide redox couple as posolyte in alkaline conditions. Recent works have reported significant amounts of capacity fade of this redox couple at high pH, attributed either to chemical decomposition associated with cyanide ligand dissociation and irreversible hydroxylation of the iron complex [1,2], or due to cell unbalancing associated with electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) [3]. We assess the chemical and electrochemical stability of ferri/ferrocyanide utilizing a volumetrically unbalanced, compositionally symmetric cell method [4]. A series of electrochemical and chemical characterization experiments was performed to distinguish between “real” capacity fade (redox-active is structurally damaged) and “apparent” capacity fade (redox-active remains structurally intact and active), when ferri/ferrocyanide electrolytes are used in the capacity-limiting side of a flow battery. Our results indicate that, in contrast with previous reports [1,2], no chemical decomposition of ferri/ferrocyanide occurs at tested pH values as high as 14 in the dark or in diffuse indoor light. Instead, an apparent capacity fade takes place due to a chemical reduction of ferricyanide to ferrocyanide, via chemical OER. We find that this parasitic process can be further enhanced by carbon electrodes, with apparent capacity fade rates at pH 14 increasing with an increased ratio of carbon electrode surface area to total amount of ferricyanide in solution. Based on these results, we report a set of operating conditions that enables the cycling of alkaline ferri/ferrocyanide electrolytes. We further demonstrate how apparent capacity fade rates can be engineered by the initial cell setup and employ a zero-dimensional model [5] to explain cell behavior. If protected from direct exposure to light, the chemical stability of ferri/ferrocyanide anions allows for their practical deployment as electroactive species in long duration energy storage applications at alkaline pH values up to at least 14. [1] J. Luo, A. Sam, B. Hu, C. DeBruler, X. Wei, W. Wang, and T.L. Liu, “Unraveling pH dependent cycling stability of ferricyanide/ferrocyanide in redox flow batteries,” Nano Energy, 42, 215 (2017). [2] M. Hu, A. Wang, T.L. Liu, “Cycling Performance and Mechanistic Insights of Ferricyanide Electrolytes in Alkaline Redox Flow Batteries,” ChemRxiv, (2022), DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2022-lqms7-v3 [3] T. Paéz, A. Martínez-Cuezva, J. Palma, E. Ventosa, “Revisiting the cycling stability of ferrocyanide in alkaline media for redox flow batteries,” Journal of Power Sources, 471, 228453 (2020). [4] M-A. Goulet, M.J. Aziz, “Flow Battery Molecular Reactant Stability Determined by Symmetric Cell Cycling Methods”, Journal of the Electrochemical Society 165, A1466 (2018). [5] S. Modak, D.G. Kwabi, “A Zero-Dimensional Model for Electrochemical Behavior and Capacity Retention in Organic Flow Cells,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society 168, 080528 (2021). Figure caption: Potentiostatic cycling of a 0.1 M ferri-/0.1 M ferrocyanide pH 14 symmetric cell with SGL electrodes. The volume of the capacity-limiting side (CLS) was 6 mL and that of the non-capacity-limiting-side (NCLS) was 11 mL. Each refresh is a NCLS replacement of 11 mL of fresh 50% SOC electrolyte. Figure 1

Collaborative innovation become one of the most strategy decision across firms and a well-defined phenomenon that became popular among practitioners and researchers (A. S. Cui O’Connor, 2012; Liu et al., 2017). Many theories were considered to explain collaboration phenomena such as resources-based view, organization theory, strategy, information processing theory, the economic theory of complementarities among others (Barney, 1991; Cassiman Veugelers, 2006; Daft Lengel, 1986; Milgrom Roberts, 1995; Tushman Nadler, 1978). However, technology advances provide new variations in collaboration to innovativeness. For example, collaborative activities with suppliers and customers (Karhade Dong, 2021), community source projects (Liu et al., 2017) or collaboration with distant partners (T. Cui et al., 2020), corporate engagement with startups (Shankar Shepherd, 2019), innovation networks (Aarikka-Stenroos et al., 2017), and innovation ecosystems (Granstrand Holgersson, 2020).Collaborative innovation takes over the existence of an inter-organizational activities executed by people that together perform with high level of interdependence something innovative (T. Cui et al., 2020; Davis Eisenhardt, 2011). Some authors (Adner Kapoor, 2010; T. Cui et al., 2020; Rico et al., 2008) highlight that this interdependence is characterized along two dimensions: technological and behavioral. Technological interdependence is linked to knowledge and the exchange of resources for research and development, and behavioral interdependence is associated with the field of communication, social interaction between collaborative actors and the coordination of these relationships to innovate.Other perspectives in the literature explain and theorize about collaborative innovation as knowledge-sharing trajectories (Majchrzak Malhotra, 2016; Trkman Desouza, 2012), or multi-actor collaboration (Torfing, 2019), or building collaborative capabilities (Swink, 2006) among other approaches. In this editorial, we bring some thoughts and idea about collaborative innovation under a technological perspective to incentive researchers to go beyond in innovative technologies research embedded in collaboration.Collaboration efforts also became a common way of firms to enhance innovations and its technological development with clear determinants about their beneficial effects, and therefore, the literature is well stablished in this subject (Pereira et al., 2018). However, collaboration only succeeds when technological resources and capabilities are combined, and parties define jointly how to enhance and use them accordingly (Snow, 2015).Collaborative innovation as a new technological paradigm refers to a network innovation model supported by interactions of multiple parties such as enterprises, universities and research institutions as core elements and government, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, intermediaries as auxiliary elements (W. Zhang et al., 2021). Notwithstanding, collaboration networks operating in different organizational levels are present in various patterns and characteristics of evolution, they require different actors and capabilities in the network composition to become a remarkable asset in developing technologies to be patented afterwards in some cases (Gomes et al., 2017).In facing of risks of failures during innovative trajectories, firms invest in collaborative initiatives as an attempt to mitigate cost impacts, share responsibilities and greater technical performance in the process of technology lifecycle development. Thus, technological alliances are useful means to attend these goals (Kim Song, 2007). Technological alliances are critical to enable digital transformation and innovation. Briefly, Zhang et al. (2021) highlight technological alliance as a voluntary interfirm cooperation involving codeveloping technologies through sharing and exchanging of these technologies to meet business needs (W. Zhang et al., 2021).The collaborations in various technological domains help to bring heterogenous knowledge, complementary resources, and capabilities for a better innovation performance (Swink, 2006; W. Zhang et al., 2021). Under the perspective that innovation is essentially knowledge creation (Nonaka, 1994), collaborative innovation through a technological perspective may be configured by different activities, processes, or routines of generation, sharing, integration, and utilization of knowledge produced during the innovation process lifecycle (Nonaka, 1994; W. Zhang et al., 2021). Further, this configuration of activities, processes, or routines support the development of evolutionary technological capabilities (Sampson, 2007).In the field of technological innovations, the evolution now is more collaborative in nature (J. Zhang et al., 2019). Collaboration is a trend for technological prosperity. Analyzing collaborative innovation in the literature is a great challenge even if the focus on technologies is defined because various aspects and applications of collaboration to innovate invade the academic literature in many forms. For instance, Zhou and Ren (2021) analyzed low-carbon technology collaborative innovation in industrial cluster; Shen et al. (2021) studied collaborative innovation in supply chain systems; Wan et al. (2022) highlight that blockchain application intensify collaborative innovation through distributed computing, cryptography and game theory; Li and Zhou (2022) researched on the mechanism of Government–Industry–University–Institute collaborative innovation in green technology; and Fan et al. (2022) pointed out that collaborative innovation also may act as a driver to mobilize and coordinate scientific and technological resources within a city, further promoting innovative development among cities.On the other hand, technological collaborative innovations has its own dark side for firms: it has been costly, it demands money, efforts, and time (Torugsa Arundel, 2016; Wegrich, 2019), and, further, it provokes operational adjustments, technological reconfiguration, and legal barriers to overcome to be effective for innovation (McGuire Agranoff, 2011; Vivona et al., 2022). To address this side of collaborative innovation, Vivona et al. (2022) developed the cost theory to systematize all insights from the literature in four main factors: governance, compactness, reliability, and institutionalization to shed light on a broader range of costs for innovation incurred by collaborative arrangements. Governance refers to relationships in hierarchical level and the number of collaborators involved, reliability refers to relationships’ quality; compactness is about the degree of formality in relationships that connect collaborators; and institutionalization that measure what the extent the relationships in practice have been pre-established. This cost perspective may be explored empirically.The decentralization of technological collaborative innovation, its nonlinear, globalized, and networked form transformed its process to more collaborative approaches among entities (Fan et al., 2020). Lopes and Farias (2022) showed that technology tools support the establishment of relationships of trust promoted by leaders committed to well-established goals, being a characteristic of governance that has a positive influence on collaborative innovation processes. Hwang (2020) mentioned that several countries have implemented policies to facilitate technological convergence by supporting collaborative innovations. The author also mentions that collaborative innovation is a crucial strategy to facilitate technological convergence. In sum, firms have been increased collaboration in technological activities and collaboration works as an enabling to learn about turbulent technological change and uncertainties to enhance the ability to deal with innovations (Dodgson, 1993).Technological collaborative innovation is considered essential to promote the flow of resources, knowledge, and technology among entities, considering that innovation is no longer a closed and isolated system. The main premise is technologies do not exist in isolation. Only by exchanging materials, energy, and information with the environment the innovation system be renewed and developed. Therefore, the integrator condition of technological collaborative innovation is also conducive to a more comprehensive disclosure of the collaborative mode and overall performance of technological innovation activities (Fan et al., 2020).Technological collaborative innovation is not a merely coordination of an orderly arrangements of efforts to pursue a common technological purpose (Mooney, 1953), or a merely cooperation to join agreed-on goals into a share comprehension about design systems or reconfigure technological resources (Gulati et al., 2012). It merges cooperation (commitment towards same end) with coordination (complexity to work together effectively) (Vivona et al., 2022). This view may be much more explored by the researchers to enhance the practical aspects of this perspective.In general, collaboration itself does not survive in the face of inevitable behavioral problems which requires an establishment of trust characterized by receptive organizational cultures, community of interest, and continually supplement knowledge for the purpose of collaboration in highly successful technological innovations (Dodgson, 1993). Thus, this can be a new chapter for technological collaborative innovations.

Introduction. A revision of syntaxa was carried out within the framework of the classification of the Brown-Blanquet school identified in the Russian Arctic. A geodatabase (GDB) and GIS, which include several interconnected main modules (see: Matveyeva et al., 2019a, b), with information on species composition, structure, ecology, and geography of syntaxa of all levels, integrated in these databases, became the basis of the presented checklist. This is the first result of compiling information on the vegetation classification, performed with the prospect to produce Prodromus of syntaxa, identified in this territory, with detailed information (character/differential/diagnostic species, ecology, zonal position, geography, bibliography), available in the GDB. It will be in time included in the Prodromus and later will become the basis for a volume in multivolume series on the vegetation of the Russian Federation (see: Plugatar et al., 2020). Territory. The checklist contains information on syntaxa established in the Russian Arctic within the boundaries of the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (hereafter CAVM) (CAVM Team, et al., 2003; Walker et al., 2005; Raynolds et al., 2019), as well as on the Barents Sea coast of the Kola Peninsula, which is referred to the tundra zone in accordance with the zonation of the Russian Arctic flat territory (see: Matveyeva, 1998). The list includes syntaxa found north of the treeline — in the tundra zone (subzones of the southern, typical, and arctic tundra) and polar deserts.1 Hence, it follows that there are no syntaxa from the forest-tundra as well as those above the treeline in the mountains adjacent to the tundra zone (Putorana and Anabarskoe plateaus). The syntaxa from the territory of the «Russian Arctic» (Barentsburg, Pyramida) on the West Spitsbergen Island (Spitsbergen archipelago) are also not taken into account (their positioning is logical in Spitzbergern syntaxonomy). History. The study of the Russian Arctic plant cover began in the second third of the XIXth century in the north-east of the European Russia (Schrenk, 1855) and in Siberia on the Taymyr Peninsula (Middendorf, 1860–1867). After a significant break, it continued in the USSR in the pre-war time and intensified after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The most intense (both in the size of the studied areas and the numbers and duration of the field works) was the period from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s. Researchers working both in other zones and in the Arctic processed the obtained data in accordance with the approaches of the dominant classification, and the relevés were either not published or presented in a small (4–5) number for association. Despite the obvious limitations of this approach, there were published (both in the form of text with listing of few dominants and with relevé tables) both general (Gorodkov, 1935) and regional (Andreev, 1932; Bogdanovskaya-Giyenef, 1938; Smirnova, 1938; Dedov, 2006 [1940]; Aleksandrova, 1956, 1983; Gorodkov, 1956, 1958 a, b; Katenin, 1972) classifications, and checklists — a draft classification of vegetation of the whole Arctic (Aleksandrova, 1979) and classification of Taymyr vegetation (Matveyeva, 1985). In the late 1980s, Russian phytosociologists turned to the Brown-Blanquet floristic (= floristic-sociological (Theurillat et al., 2021), or ecological-floristic (Mirkin, Naumova, 2014)), classification system as the most conceptually substantiated, with generally accepted rules for describing communities in the field and the technique of relevé tabular processing, and also with clear rules for the formation of syntaxon names. In this system, the obligatory publication of the original data and the requirements for its validity when describing the basic syntaxon are strictly postulated, which provides an objective comparison and classification of any plant community types, in whatever system these data are not submitted. Just as it is impossible to imagine the development of taxonomy without the existence of herbarium collections, so it should be an axiom for phytosociologists that since the relevé is the only documentary reflection of a natural phenomenon named «plant community» (Matveyeva, 2008), it should be available for analysis to all syntaxonomists. Since the second decade of the XXth century, the followers of the Braun-Blanquet system have published thousands of relevés from different regions of the globe, which made it possible to produce a unified classification of vegetation from the Arctic to the tropics and its constant replenishment. Currently, the process of creating electronic databases (archives) of relevés, including the Arctic Vegetation Archive, which accumulates information on circumpolar vegetation is accumulated, is actively underway (Walker et al., 2018). The starting point when Russian tundra experts began to work consistently, following the principles of this classification, is the first International Meeting on the Classification and Mapping of Arctic Vegetation, which took place in 1992 in Boulder, CO (USA). For the publication of its data, a special issue of the Journal of Vegetation Science (1994, Vol. 5, N 6) named «Circumpolar arctic vegetation» (where 4 papers by Russian syntaxonomists were published) was provided. After 1992, when the intensity of field works decreased sharply, the number of publications with complete characteristics of the communities of the Russian Arctic increased rapidly.The proposed checklist of syntaxa is the result of this almost 30-year acti­vity. The checklist structure. The arrangement of syntaxa of class rank is mainly the same as in the EuroVegChecklist — hereafter EVC (Mucina et al., 2016): zonal and intrazonal communities of the polar desert zone (one class); zonal (one class) and landscape-forming intrazonal (five classes) communities of the tundra zone; intrazonal communities (13 classes), united into groups according to the gradients of moisture, snow depth and soil mechanical composition. A syntaxon is represented as follows: — higher units of the rank Class/Order/Allian­ce (Suballiance): number (for Class), abbreviated rank in English (Cl., Ord., All. (Suball.)), in square brackets — code (if any) from EVC (Mucina et al., 2016); full name, author(s) and year; below is a brief description in two languages: English — in general as in the cited paper with some corrections due to the specificity in syntaxon geography and ecology in the Asian part; Russian — partly in accordance with the English version and/or to Prodromus of higher vegetation units of Russia (Ermakov, 2012), sometimes with minor corrections or clarifications. For new orders and alliances within the zonal tundra class differential taxon combinations are listed; — syntaxa of the rank Association, Community Type, Community, established on the territory of the Russian Arctic: abbreviated rank in English (Ass., Com. Type, Com.), name, author(s) and year (besides association, the cited papers are included in the Refe­rences). If syntaxon was previously described by European/American authors outside the Russian Fede­ration, the link to the publication, where it was found in the Russian Arctic, is placed in brackets. The ­arrangement of associations is alphabetical; — syntaxa of units of a lower (within association) rank (subassociation and vicariant, variant, subvariant, facies): abbreviated rank in English (subass. and vicar., var., subvar., fac.), name, in brackets author, year (besides subassociation, the cited papers are included in the References). The arrangement of the syntaxa is as follows: typicum(-cal, -ca), inops, then alphabetically. For subass. typicum authors are not listed (Theurillat et al., 2021), but if it was described by another author and/or in another paper, then the link to it is given in brackets and the paper is included in the References. All names of syntaxa are given in the author’s edition (as it was published), including the endings of a typical syntaxon within an association (subassociation, vicariant, variant, facia) — typicum, typical, typica. In different papers, there are two English spellings of Russian surnames: Aleksandrova/Alexandrova, Andreev/Andreyev, Bogdanovskaya-Giyenef/Bogdanovskaya-Gienef, Pristyazhnyuk/Prystyazhnyuk, Savich/Savič. A uniform (the first one) spelling of the surname is used here. If there was something that caused a disagreement with the author’s decision (including the assignment of an association to a syntaxon of a higher rank), there is a superscript number before the syntaxon name, or before the author’s surname (when it is in brackets), referring to critical comments. Critical comments. 1 – The name is invalid or needs change because: 1a – no reference to the nomenclature type; 1b – published ineffectively (names published as ‘manuscript’ or ‘unpublished’); 1c – not accompanied by a sufficient diagnosis, no tables with original relevés; 1d – suggested by the author as preliminary; 1e – not obvious from what species syntaxon epithet is formed and it cannot be extracted from the diagnosis and/or tables); 1f – syntaxon with the same name was described earlier (including the case of inversion); 1g – the form of the syntaxon name does not correspond to Art. 10 of «International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature» — hereafter ICPN (Theurillat et al., 2021); 1h – the given nomenclature type belongs to a different syntaxon, validation does not correspond to ICPN; 1i – the relevé chosen as an association or subassociation nomenclature type does not contain the name-giving taxon of this syntaxon; 1j – there is a subspecies in the original diagnosis and in the tables, while in the syntaxon name the species name is used; 1k – the nomenclature type is given for 2 variants of the vicariant, among which there is no tyicum one; 1l – published or validated in 2002 or later with no indication of novelty (like, Ass. nov.). 2 – the author(s) did not place the syntaxon among the higher units. 3 – the author(s) placed the syntaxon in other higher units than suggested in this list. 4 – the syntaxon was renamed due to a change in its rank; in this checklist it is also given under a new name. 5 – the syntaxon is described by the author(s) in the Community rank but is assigned within the known association as a unit of it internal division. 6 – the author(s) assigned the syntaxon to this class with a question. 7 – the author(s) unreasonably (noted in literature) placed the communities in given syntaxon that needs revision. 8 – in the EVC there is only one author, while in the original source there are two. 9 – it is written that the title proposed by the first author was valid, but according to Principle II of the ICPN it is not. 10 – the author(s) of the syntaxon is(are) incorrect: the syntaxonomic units originally described in the framework of the ecological-physiognomic classification are invalid in accordance with Principle II (Art. 3d ICPN), and have been validated by subsequent authors. 11 – the author(s) assigned the syntaxon to this class/order, but did not refer to an alliance or placed in the alliance other than that proposed in this checklist. 12 – the author(s) attributed the syntaxon to this alliance, but as part of a different class/order, or not attributed to the class/order. 13 – the author(s) changed the rank of the syntaxon in comparison with the original description. 14 – the spelling of the syntaxon name does not correspond to the rules of the ICPN; the correct name [recte[ is given in square brackets. 15 – in the EVC the alliance is placed in another order. 16 – the author(s) of the syntaxon are incorrect, the first author (in brackets) did not give such a name, or incorrect year. 17 – the author(s) of the syntaxon incorrectly cited, priority belongs to other author(s) who published the name earlier and/or effectively. 18 – in the EVC the alliance is placed in synonyms for another alliance, which name was changed but not yet approved (nom. mut. propos). THE CHECKLIST — see the main text. Brief analysis of the composition. The checklist is based upon analysis of more than 70 papers, professionally reviewed and published, which contain more than 6,000 geobotanical relevés, that make available information on the composition and structure of 734 syntaxa ranging from association/community type/community to facies. At the mid-2021, the checklist includes 241 associations (152 subassociations and 25 vicariants, 190 variants and 61 subvariants, 13 facies), 35 types of communities and 17 communities from 62 alliances (6 suballiances), 33 orders and 20 classes. Most of the higher rank units — Class/Order/Alliance — are taken from the classification of vegetation in Europe (Mucina et al., 2016) Class. Of the 20 classes, 19 are in EVC (Mucina et al., 2016), to which we have assigned 207 associations, although we do not consider this decision final. A new class for zonal tundra vegetation Carici arctisibiricae–Hylocomietea alaskani class. prov.2 so far is left in the provisional status. Conventionally is used the class Betulo carpaticae–Alnetea viridis which contains willow scrubs in the valleys and on the interfluves. Order. Of the 33 orders 29 are in EVC. Among the known ones there is formally described Salicetalia glauco-lanatae so far located in Betulo carpaticae–Alnetea viridis. Three orders (Arctophiletalia fulvae; Chamerio–Betuletalia nanae; Schulzio crini­tae–Aquilegietalia glandulosae) were described by Russian authors. Three new orders (Salici polaris–Hylocomietalia alaskani ord. nov. prov., Caricetalia arctisibiricae-lugentis ord. nov. prov., Eriophoretalia vaginati ord. nov. prov.) are suggested here in the provisional status, for establishing within the tund­ra zonal class Carici arctisibiricae–Hylocomietea alaskani class. prov. Nameless order is proposed for communities dominated by mesophytic arctic and/or arcto­alpine herbs often with dwarf shrubs (Salix arctica/polaris/reticulata, Dryas octopetala/punctata) and few mosses on the southern slopes of hills and high river banks in the tundra zone of Eurasia; conventionally it is placed in the Mulgedio–Aconitetea. According to both species composition and habitat the order Arabidetalia caeruleae is moved from Thlaspietea rotundifolii (as in EVC) into Salicetea herbaceae. Alliance. Of the 62 alliances 36 are in EVC, 5 of which (Arctophilion fulvae; Caricion stantis, Chamerio angustifolii–Matricarion hookeri; Dryado octopetalae–Caricion arctisibiricae, Polemonio acutiflorum–Veratrion lobeliani) are described by Russian authors. Alliance Oxytropidion nigrescentis, validated in 1998 (Matveyeva 1998, p. 81), is given as valid. The following 8 alliances are valid: Aulacomnio palustris–Caricion rariflorae, Polemonio acutiflorum–Salicion glaucae and Rubo chamaemori–Dicranion elongati on the European North, Carici concoloris–Aulacomnion turgidi, Oxytropido sordidae–Tanacetion bipinnati in Siberia, Androsaco arctisibiricae–Aconogonion laxmannii, Aulacomnio turgidi–Salicion glaucae, Salici pulchrae–Caricion lugentis on Chukotka. Another 7 alliances have invalid names (suggested as preliminary, no nomenclature type was chosen, etc.). For 6 of these validation is necessary and quite simple. An exeption is the alliance Luzulo–Festucion rubrae (Ektova, Ermokhina, 2012), with all invalid associations (no both relevés and diagnoses); after the later are validated they logically could be placed in Loiseleurio-Arctostaphylion. Within the tundra zonal class the alliance Salici polaris–Hylocomion alaskani all. nov. is formally described and the alliances Cassiopo tetragonae–Eriophorion vaginati all. nov. prov. and Poo arcticae–Calamagrostion holmii all. nov. prov. are proposed provisionally. It is recommended to establish 6 alliances (in the checklist with no name) in classes Drabo corymbosae–Papaveretea dahliani (3), Betulo carpaticae–Alnetea viridis (1), Thlaspietea rotundifolii (1) and Mulgedio-Aconitetea (1). Syntaxonomic decisions, other than those derived from the EVC, are made on the positions of 4 alliances within the higher-rank units: Caricion stantis was moved from Sphagno warnstorfii–Tomentypnetalia to Caricetalia fuscae; Dryado octopetalae–Caricion arctisibiricae — from Carici rupestris–Kobresietea bellardii to Carici arctisibiricae–Hylocomietea alaskani class. prov. (see: Lavrinenko, Lavrinenko, 2018a); Potentillo–Polygonion vivipari is recognized (Koroleva et al., 2019) as different from Kobresio-Dryadion, synonym with which it is given in the EVC; the Honckenyo–Leymion arenarii is used compare to the EVC where it is the synonym of Agropyro–Honckenyion peploidis nom. mut. propos. Compared to the author’s decision, the alliance Carici concoloris–Aulacomnion turgidi from Loiseleurio procumbentis–Vaccinietea is moved to Carici arctisibiricae–Hylocomietea alaskani class. prov. Suballiance. Of the 6 suballiances 4 (Androsaco arctisibiricae–Aconogonenion laxmannii; Astragalo pseudadsurgentis–Calamagrostienion purpurascentis; Caricenion rariflorae; Oxytropido vassilczenkoi–Dryadenion punctatae) are valid, and two (Anemono parviflorae–Salicenion and Pediculari lapponicae–Salicenion) require validation. The suballiance Caricenion rariflorae placed in the checklist in Scheuchzerion palustris was originally established within the Sphagnion baltici, which in the EVC is synonymous with the first name. Association. Of 241 associations only 34 are known outside the Russian Arctic, and the remaining 207 are new. The known ones are mainly on coastal bio­topes — marshes (15) and dunes (3) — and extremely wet habitats (9). There are 4 associations described earlier in Europe within the large landscape-forming classes (Dryadetum octopetalae, Empetro–Betuletum nanae, Loiseleurio-Diapensietum, Phyllodoco–Vaccinietum myrtilli) which distribution ranges are extended to the European North of Russia, and 3 within small intrazonal classes (Geranietum sylvatici, Potentillo crantzii–Polygonetum vivipari, and Rumici–Salicetum lapponi) found on Kola Peninsula. Only 2 associations, described by European (Dryado–Cassiopetum tetragonae) and American syntaxonomists (Sphagno–Eriophoretum vaginati), occur in the Asian part of the Russian Arctic (with new subunits within both). The most association-rich are 8 main classes. The two zonal classes include Drabo corymbosae–Papaveretea dahliani (20 associations) in the polar desert zone and Carici arctisibiricae–Hylocomietea alaskani class. prov. (34 associations) in the tundra zone — 54 in total. 129 associations are identified in the 6 main classes of intrazonal vegetation: Be­tulo carpaticae–Alnetea viridis (29 associations) Loiseleurio procumbentis–Vaccinietea 1960 (22 associations), Carici rupestris–Kobresietea (21 associations), Salicetea herbaceae (16), Scheuchzerio palustris–Caricetea fuscae (25 associations); Juncetea maritimi (16 associations) — 187 in total. The vegetation of other 12 classes is described locally geographically and selectively syntaxonomically. 37 associations were not assigned to any of the known classes. This, in particular, was the case with the vegetation of the polar desert zone (Matveyeva, 2006) before Drabo corymbosae–Papaveretea dahliani class was described in 2016. But it also happened when deciding to assign an association to some well-known class, authors stressed that they did this forcibly in the absence of an adequate unit. For example, before the proposal, albeit provisionally, of the class Carici arctisibiricae–Hylocomietea alaskanii class. prov., even zonal communities from the Arctic tundra subzone were placed in the Loiseleurio procumbentis–Vaccinietea class accentuating that they do not contain a single characteristic species of this class (Kholod, 2007). Community type is distinguished when author does not establish new association due to the small number (less than 10) relevés in one location, leaving this for the future There are 35 such units, most of which (9) are in the Drabo corymbosae–Papaveretea dahliani in the polar desert zone. It is worth noting two points: 1) almost never Community types reach the association status; 2) not all authors are stopped by a small number of relevés, when naming syntaxa, and many associations are based upon on less than not 10, but even 5 relevés. As a result, units of different status often contain equally little information about their composition. Community. This rank exists when there is only one relevé, due to both the type rarity and the lack of time. There are 17 such units, with 7 in the polar desert zone. Two main subordinate levels are used within the association: the first — subassociation and vicariant (not protected by the ICPN), the second — variant. Both reflect small but obvious differences in composition, abundance, constancy of species from the type of association (typicum), conditioned edaphically, locally-climatically, chorologically (Ellenberg, 1956; Braun-Blanquet, 1964) or indicate different stages of succession (Westhoff, van der Maarel, 1978). Differences in the listed characteristics from the type group (typicum) due to ecology are an undoubted reason for identifying several subassociations even in a landscape. To reflect similar differences due to the object location in several areas on latitudinal (in different tundra subzones) or longitudinal (in different sectors of the same zone/subzone) gradients in similar habitats (on the same landscape elements, with the same soil type), subassociation (a unit protected by the ICPN) is used as well. However, the desire to distinguish the reasons that caused such differences is also understandable. Hence, understandable is the interest to the concept of geographic vicariant, perceived by some Russian syntaxonomists working in the Arctic, which is reflected in the checklist (since the unit is not protected by ICPN, after the name in brackets there is a link to References). Leading European phytosociologists E. van der Maarel and W. Westhoff, who in 1993 reviewed an article by N. Matveyeva on the vegetation of Taymyr (Matveyeva, 1994), recalling the concept of geographical races (Becking, 1957), or vicariants (Barkman, 1958), recommended to use the status of a geographic vicariant to reflect changes in the composition of communities of one association related with a geographic location, leaving ecologically determined differences for subassociations.The need for such a division is reflected in the famous paper of F. Daniëls (1982) on Greenland, where the author distinguishes ecologically (habitat-differential) and geographically (area-differential) determined syntaxa, although uses only the name of subassociations. It is a great pity that the concept of a geographical vicariant, which was formed in the minds of the classics of phytosociology almost 60 years ago, did not find formal support: this unit was not included nor in the 3rd edition of the ICPN (Weber et al., 2000), neither in the 4th (Theurillat et al., 2021). The question of whether such a unit should be covered by the ICPN regulations «... can be resolved with the accumulation of experience in its application» (Weber et al., 2000, p. 6); the results of such experience are reflected in this checklist. Subassociation. There are 152 subassociations within 71 associations: most of all in the Carici arctisibiricae–Hylocomietea alaskani (24), slightly less in Loiseleurio procumbentis–Vaccinietea (21) and Betulo carpaticae–Alnetea viridis (23), more than 11 in Carici rupestris–Kobresietea bellardii (16), Scheuchzerio palustris–Caricetea fuscae (17), Juncetea maritimi (12) and Thlaspietea rotundifolii (12). Usually there are 2–3 subassociations in one association. Vicariant. There are 25 vicarians in the 14 associations. 19 of these are latitudinal in associations of zonal, mire, snowbed (Matveyeva, 1994, 1998, 2006) and herb meadow (Zanokha, 1993, 1995a, b) communities within 3 tundra subzones and syntaxa, replacing them in the polar deserts on Severnaya Zemlya (Zanokha, 2001; Matveyeva, 2006. The appeal to the concept of vicariant on Taymyr, where in the only place on the Earth on the mainland at about 900 km a full latitudinal gradient from the tree line to the polar deserts is expressed (Matveyeva, 1998), is quite understandable and logical. The other 6 vicariants are longitudinal: 1 in the European North of Russia (Matveyeva, Lavrinenko, 2011) and 5 on Wrangel Isl. (Kholod, 2007). Variant. There are 190 variants within 66 associations. There are no clearly formulated rules regarding their fundamental difference from subassociations. It is also not obvious whether the level of variant is the next after subassociation in association subdivision, or these are units of the same rank: in 31 associations, variants are allocated within subassociations or vicariants, in 34 — directly in the association. There is no clear logic behind why even one and the same author follows the first way in some cases, and the second in others. Subvariant. This unit was used for the division of variants of technogenically disturbed vegetation (Sumina, 2012, 2018), where 54 subvariants (2–5 in each) were identified in 20 variants of 6 associations, as well as of the baydzharakh vegetation in the arctic tundra subzone in Siberia (7 subvariants). Facies. The unit without differentiaal taxa, recognized by the predominance (with a high abundance) of a species of the «normal» floristic complex of the association, due to particular or sometimes ­extreme abiotic factors, or under anthropogenic impact (Westhoff, van der Maarel, 1978). There are 14 facies in 2 associations of 2 classes on Wrangel Isl. (Kholod, 2007) and in 3 syntaxa of 3 classes in the Bolshezemelskaya tundra (Neshataev, Lavrinenko, 2020). Conclusion. One of the purposes of publishing this checklist is to draw the attention of northern phytosociologists to assessing the validity of syntaxa and the legality of their position in the Braun-Blanquet system. Our task was to bring together all available information, which is done in this article. Even a simple list of syntaxa makes it possible to assess the completeness of the geographical and syntaxonomic knowledge of vegetation. Geographically, sytaxonomic information is available for 12 of the 13 Russian floristic provinces (according to CAVM), in which about 130 districts have been investigated. The most studied provinces (from west to east) are Kanino-Pechora, Yamalo-Gydan, Taymyr, East Chukotka, Wrangel Island (the number of published relevés in each more than 600. There are no published data for the Kharaulakh province. It is not possible to say for sure to what extent the number of associations reflects the presence and distribution communities of 20 classes in different regions of the Russian Arctic. The completeness of the vegetation study depended on the tasks and on the possibility of their implementation. High attention to zonal vegetation is natural, since it is used for subdivision of the territory, for zonal division, and for maps of various scales. Both snowless (Carici rupestris–Kobresietea bellardii) and snowbed (Salicetea herbaceae) communities, as specific for the Arctic, are also always in the sphere of interests. Polygonal mires and bog-hollow vegetation (Scheuchzerio palustris–Caricetea) certainly require much more research, due to their vast areas in the eastern regions of the Siberian Arctic, where these types are not described. For the relatively well-studied shrub communities in the Asian part (conditionally assigned to the Betulo carpaticae–Alnetea viridis), validation of many syntaxa are required; the gap in the description of this object in the northern European regions has just begun to be filled. For 12 associations of grass-forbs communities on the well heated slopes conditionally positioned in the Mulgedio-Aconitetea, new orders and allian­ces, and, potentially, the class are necessary to be established. Unreasonably little data are available for raised bogs (Oxycocco-Sphagnetea), if even these are ­rather common of the southern regions of the tundra zone. Very scattered geographically and sparse syntaxonomic data are on the vegetation of naturally eroded mobile substrates (sand screes, gravel debris, landslides). In the Arctic, as in other regions of the globe, communities are placed in this class not by their species composition, but by habitat (unstable substrate), and the fact of the sparse cover. Only recently the zonal vegetation of polar deserts on horizontal surfaces with quite stable loamy substrates has been classified as a distinct class (Daniëls et al., 2016). In the list of habitat types with associated described Brown-Blanquet syntaxa from Arctic regions of Europe, Greenland, western North America, and Alaska, there are 5 classes (Walker et al., 2018) which are absent in our checklist: Juncetea trifidi Hadač in Klika et Hadač 1994, Saxifrago cernuae–Cochlearietea groenlandica Micuna et Daniëls in Mucina et al. 2016, Vaccinio-Piceetea Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl. et al. 1939, Asplenietea trichomanis (Br.-Bl. in Meier et Br.-Bl. 1934) Oberd. 1977, Salicetea purpureae Moor 1958. Communities of these classes either exist in the Russian Arctic, but were not described (e. g. forest «islets» in tundra landscapes — Vaccinio-Piceetea, and the vegetation of rocks and rubble talus — Asplenietea trichomanis), or they exist, but are positioned in the other classes. An open question remains with Junce­tea trifidi on acidic substrates. Final conclusions on these classes will become possible after the thorough analysis of syntaxa throughout the entire circumpolar space. Even a very brief analysis of the available data revealed numerous cases of invalid names of syntaxa (no indication of the nomenclature type) or inconsistency names with ICPN rules (correct [recte] names are given for 43 ones); leaving the association outside of higher-level units or assigning one basic unit to ­several higher ones, etc. There are more such cases than we have noted now, especially taking into ­account the new edition of the ICPN (for example, the obligatory Latin or English terminology for denoting ranks and new units (ICPN 4th, Art. 3d, 3i, 3o, 5), mutation ­cases (Lat. mutatum, ICPN. 4th, Art. 45), inversions (Lat. inversum, ICPN. 4th, Art. 42) of names and autonym (Lat. autonym, ICPN 4th, Art. 13b, 4d). Now it becomes possible for each author to take measures to eliminate errors of various kinds to validate their syntaxa. Consolidated participation in joint publication is also possible. This is a necessary step for the next action — preparing the Prodromus of the vegetation syntaxa of the Russian Arctic with the expanded characteristics for all levels.

AbstractAccurate thermoelastic properties and thermal conductivity are crucial for understanding the thermal evolution of the Martian core. A fitting method based on ab initio calculated pressure‐volume‐temperature data was proposed for the formulation of the equation of state with high accuracy, by which the pressure and temperature dependent thermoelastic properties can be directly calculated by definitions. Ab initio results showed that Fe0.75S0.25 liquid under Martian core conditions was thoroughly in a magnetic state without existing spin crossover. The Fe0.75S0.25 liquid in magnetic calculations had a low thermal conductivity (21–23 W/m/K) when compared with non‐magnetic calculations at the same state. Based on Insight's estimated Martian core properties (Stähler et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi7730) and ab initio calculated properties of the Fe0.75S0.25 liquid, the scenario for the thermal evolution of the Martian core is the iron‐snow model crystallization regime. The parameter uncertainty effect on the cessation time of the dynamo and zone of iron snow was systematically analyzed.

Summary: The State of and Needs for Research on Weapons in the Przeworsk Culture and in Pomerania in the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age Militaria are one of the most numerous groups of finds in Poland dated to the Pre-Roman Period. This category of sources has recently been a subject of two comprehensive studies: on the Przeworsk culture (Bochnak 2005) and the entirety of Poland (Łuczkiewicz 2006). These works, despite some differences resulting from the adopted methodology, systematised the material in the morphological and typological as well as chronological and cultural terms. However, the database has grown significantly in the last 15 years. There is a lot of information about new sites with weapons (at least 34); many sites (new and already known) were also published, e.g. Oblin, Siemiechów, Kuny, Gola, Wyszków-Zakręzie, Pajewo-Szwelice, Legionowo, Ruszków Pierwszy, Oronne, Gołębiewo, Nowy Targ, Malbork-Wielbark (pre-war research).However, the extremely important cemeteries in Zadowice, Niechmirów-Mała Wieś, Lemany, Modła, Glinki, Korytnica, Masów, and from Pomerania: Czarnówko, Brzyno, Wyczechowo, Żukczyn, Różyny and above all Gostkowo and Pruszcz Gdański, site 7, are still awaiting publication.After cataloguing the source database, organizing the material, and typological studies (the culmination of which were the two previously mentioned works), different areas of research are now dominant in the studies on armaments from Polish territory from the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age. The conference Waffen – Gewalt – Krieg (Wefers et alii 2015) has reviewed and summarised the topic. There is a lively discussion in the literature on the issue of armaments as an indicator for supra-regional contacts, as well as links with the Celtic world and imports from that zone. Various groups of military items (most often double-edged swords and their scabbards) are being analysed, as well as their distribution and influx routes. Also hotly debated is the general issue of the share of weapons of a foreign origin in the armaments of the population from the current Polish territory in the Pre-Roman Period.Another discussed issue is the importance of armament in the funeral rites, i.e.in the belief systems of the Przeworsk culture population. The weaponry is also used for sociological analyses, in terms of its importance for the world of the living, as a determinant of the status and social position of its owners during life and after death. The issue of the internal structure of warrior groups in the entire zone of the Baltic Sea was also extensively studied. Finally, the issues of the possible scale and scope of local arms production in the Przeworsk culture and Pomerania region were raised.As a postulate for the future, one should above all emphasise the need for continuous publication of the sources – new and archival ones. It is still possible to supplement or improve the existing typological systems, in the first place – that of spearheads. It is advisable to intensify research on the mechanisms behind the influx of foreign weapons, also in terms of sociology and ethnology. Militaria are still to be fully integrated into the study of social diversity and structure, as well as in the research of crafts and manufacturing in Poland in the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age.

AbstractGroundwater abstraction wells located in aquifers hydraulically connected with rivers or lakes will induce bank filtration if the water level in the aquifer is lowered below the surface-water level. Many groundwater works utilize this induced infiltration to increase the abstraction capacity of their wells. Unfortunately, infiltration of organic-rich surface water may alter the aquifer’s redox geochemistry, and mobilize iron and/or manganese. Ringerike groundwater works in southeastern Norway operates with bank filtration. Manganese concentrations in the abstracted water began to increase 19 years after the start of operations, and stabilized at an elevated level 8 years later. The estimated manganese retardation (Rsorp = 45±18) from a simplified advection-sorption model is comparable to the observed manganese retardation range 36 < Robs < 50, assuming a groundwater residence time tgw ~200 days. The advection-sorption model is based on limited sediment composition and hydrochemical data, which introduces significant uncertainty to Rsorp. However, Rsorp and Robs in the same range, and the good fit between PHREEQC simulated and observed data, indicates that sorption is a possible explanation for the delayed breakthrough of elevated manganese concentrations in Ringerike waterworks’ production wells. Comparable bank filtration schemes are advised to establish observation well(s) between the bank filtration and production well field for early detection of sorption fronts. This would facilitate (1) longer time available for remediation measures and their evaluation, and (2) less manganese to be desorbed during the remediation stage.

Abstract Objectives To prospectively evaluate a 3D-multiecho-Dixon sequence with inline calculation of proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and R2* (qDixon), and an improved version of it (qDixon-WIP), for the MR-quantification of hepatic iron in a clinical setting. Methods Patients with increased serum ferritin underwent 1.5-T MRI of the liver for the evaluation of hepatic iron overload. The imaging protocol for R2* quantification included as follows: (1) a validated, 2D multigradient-echo sequence (initial TE 0.99 ms, R2*-ME-GRE), (2) a 3D-multiecho-Dixon sequence with inline calculation of PDFF and R2* (initial TE 2.38 ms, R2*-qDixon), and optionally (3) a prototype (works-in-progress, WIP) version of the latter (initial TE 1.04 ms, R2*-qDixon-WIP) with improved water/fat separation and noise-corrected parameter fitting. For all sequences, three manually co-registered regions of interest (ROIs) were placed in the liver. R2* values were compared and linear regression analysis and Bland-Altman plots calculated. Results Forty-six out of 415 patients showed fat-water (F/W) swap with qDixon and were excluded. A total of 369 patients (mean age 52 years) were included; in 203/369, the optional qDixon-WIP was acquired, which showed no F/W swaps. A strong correlation was found between R2*-ME-GRE and R2*-qDixon (r2 = 0.92, p < 0.001) with Bland-Altman revealing a mean difference of − 3.82 1/s (SD = 21.26 1/s). Correlation between R2*-GRE-ME and R2*-qDixon-WIP was r2 = 0.95 (p < 0.001) with Bland-Altman showing a mean difference of − 0.125 1/s (SD = 30.667 1/s). Conclusions The 3D-multiecho-Dixon sequence is a reliable tool to quantify hepatic iron. Results are comparable with established relaxometry methods. Improvements to the original implementation eliminate occasional F/W swaps and limitations regarding maximum R2* values. Key Points • The 3D-multiecho-Dixon sequence for 1.5 T is a reliable tool to quantify hepatic iron. • Results of the 3D-multiecho-Dixon sequence are comparable with established relaxometry methods. • An improved version of the 3D-multiecho-Dixon sequence eliminates minor drawbacks.

This essay reviews the following works: Collision of Worlds: A Deep History of the Fall of Aztec Mexico and the Forging of New Spain. By David M. Carballo. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp. xvi + 351. $37.99 hardcover, $23.99 paperback, e-book. ISBN: 9780197661451. Conquistadores: A New History of Spanish Discovery and Conquest. By Fernando Cervantes. New York: Viking, 2021. Pp. vxiii + 496. $35.00 hardcover, e-book. ISBN: 9781101981269. Inca Apocalypse: The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World. By R. Alan Covey. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp. xix + 592. $34.95 hardcover. ISBN: 9780190299125. Death in the Snow: Pedro de Alvarado and the Illusive Conquest of Peru. By George W. Lovell. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022. Pp. xv + 280. $39.95 hardcover. ISBN: 9780228014409. Strike Fear in the Land: Pedro de Alvarado and the Conquest of Guatemala, 1520–1541. By W. George Lovell, Christopher H. Lutz, and Wendy Kramer. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2020. Pp. xvi + 194. $32.95 hardcover, $21.95 paperback, e-book. ISBN: 9780806190044. German Conquistadors in Venezuela: The Welsers’ Colony, Racialized Capitalism, and Cultural Memory. By Giovanna Montenegro. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2022. Pp. xvii + 372. $95.00 hardcover, $75.99 e-book. ISBN: 9780268203214. Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. By Matthew Restall. Updated edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. Pp. xix + 272. $21.99 paperback. ISBN: 9780197537299. Conquistadors and Aztecs: A History of the Fall of Tenochtitlan. By Stefan Rinke. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. Pp. ix + 328. $34.95 hardcover. ISBN: 9780197552469.

Since the late 1990s, W. G. Sebald’s innovative contribution to the genre of prose fiction has been the source of much academic scrutiny. His books Vertigo, The Rings of Saturn, The Emigrants and Austerlitz have provoked interest from diverse fields of inquiry: visual communication (Kilbourn; Patt; Zadokerski), trauma studies (Denham and McCulloh; Schmitz), and travel writing (Blackler; Zisselsberger). His work is also claimed to be a bastion for both modernist and postmodernist approaches to literature and history writing (Bere; Fuchs and Long; Long). This is in addition to numerous “guide to” type books, such as Mark McCulloh’s Understanding Sebald, Long and Whitehead’s W. G. Sebald—A Critical Companion, and the comprehensive Saturn’s Moons: A W. G. Sebald Handbook. Here I have only mentioned works available in English. I should point out that Sebald wrote in German, the country of his birth, and as one would expect much scholarship dealing with his work is confined to this language. In this article I focus on what is perhaps Sebald’s prototypical work, The Rings of Saturn. Of all Sebald’s prose fictional works The Rings of Saturn seems the example that best exhibits his innovative literary forms, including the use of lists. This book is the work of an author who is purposefully and imaginatively concerned with the nature of his vocation: what is it to be a writer? Crucially, he addresses this question not only from the perspective of a subject facing an existential crisis, but from the perspective of the documents created by writers. His works demonstrate a concern with the enabling role documents play in the thinking and writing process; how, for example, pen and paper are looped in with our capacity to reason in certain ways. Despite taking the form of fictional narratives, his books are as much motivated by a historical interest in how ideas and forms of organisation are transmitted, and how they evolve as part of an ecology; how humans become articulate within their surrounds, according to the contingencies of specific epochs and places. The Sebald critic J. J. Long accounts for this in some part in his description “archival consciousness,” which recommends that conscious experience is not simply located in the mind of a knowing, human subject, but is rather distributed between the subject and different technologies (among which writing and archives are exemplary).The most notable peculiarity of Sebald’s books lies in their abundant use of “non-syntactical” kinds of writing or inscription. My use of the term “non-syntactical” has its origins in the anthropological work of Jack Goody, who emphasises the importance of list making and tabulation in pre-literate or barely literate cultures. In Sebald’s texts, kinds of non-syntactical writing include lists, photographic images, tables, signatures, diagrams, maps, stamps, dockets and sketches. As I stress throughout this article, Sebald’s shifts between syntactical and non-syntactical forms of writing allows him to build up highly complex schemes of internal reference. Massimo Leone identifies something similar, when he notes that Sebald “orchestrates a multiplicity of voices and text-types in order to produce his own coherent discourse” (91). The play between multiplicity and coherence is at once a thematic and poetic concern for Sebald. This is to say, his texts are formal experiments with these contrasting tendencies, in addition to discussing specific historical situations in which they feature. The list is perhaps Sebald’s most widely used and variable form of non-syntactical writing, a key part of his formal and stylistic peculiarity. His lengthy sentences frequently spill over into catalogues and inventories, and the entire structure of his narratives is list-like. Discrete episodes accumulate alongside each other, rather than following a narrative arc where episodes of suspenseful gravity overshadow the significance of minor events. The Rings of Saturn details the travels of Sebald’s trademark, nameless, first person narrator, who recounts his trek along the Suffolk coastline, from Lowestoft to Ditchingham, about two years after the event. From the beginning, the narrative is framed as an effort to organise a period of time that lacks a coherent and durable form, a period of time that is in pieces, fading from the narrator’s memory. However, the movement from the chaos of forgetting to the comparatively distinct and stable details of the remembered present does not follow a continuum. Rather, the past and present are both constituted by the force of memory, which is continually crystallising and dissolving. Each event operates according to its own specific arrangement of emphasis and forgetting. Our experience of memory in the present, or recollective memory, is only one kind of memory. Sebald is concerned with a more pervasive kind of remembering, which includes the vectorial existence of non-conscious, non-human perceptual events; memory as expressed by crystals, tree roots, glaciers, and the nested relationship of fuel, fire, smoke, and ash. The Rings of Saturn is composed of ten chapters, each of which is outlined in table form at the book’s beginning. The first chapter appears as: “In hospital—Obituary—Odyssey of Thomas Browne’s skull—Anatomy lecture—Levitation—Quincunx—Fabled creatures—Urn burial.” The Rings of Saturn is of course hardly exceptional in its use of this device. Rather, it is exemplary concerning the repeated emphasis on the tension between syntactical and non-syntactical forms of writing, among which this chapter breakdown is included. Sebald continually uses the conventions of bookmaking in subtle though innovative ways. Each of these horizontally linked and divided indices might put the reader in mind of Thomas Browne’s urns, time capsules from the past, the unearthing of which is discussed in the book’s first chapter (25). The chapter outlines (and the urns) are containers that preserve a fragmentary and suggestive history. Each is a perspective on the narrator’s travels that abstracts, arranges, and uniquely refers to the narrative elaborations to come.As I have already stressed, Sebald is a writer concerned with forms of organisation. His works account for a diverse range of organisational forms, some of which instance an overt, chronological, geometric, or metrical manipulation of space and time, such as grids, star shapes, and Greenwich Mean Time. This contrasts with comparatively suggestive, insubstantial, mutable forms, including various meteorological phenomena such as cloudbanks and fog, dust and sand, and as exemplified in narrative form by the haphazard, distracted assemblage of events featured in dreams or dream logic. The relationship between these supposedly opposing tendencies is, however, more complex and paradoxical than might at first glance appear. As Sebald warily reminds us in his essay “A Little Excursion to Ajaccio,” despite our wishes to inhabit periods of complete freedom, where we follow our distractions to the fullest possible extent, we nonetheless “must all have some more or less significant design in view” (Sebald, Campo 4). It is not so much that we must choose, absolutely, between form and formlessness. Rather, the point is to understand that some seemingly inevitable forms are in fact subject to contingencies, which certain uses deliberately or ignorantly mask, and that simplicity and intricacy are often co-dependent. Richard T. Gray is a Sebald critic who has picked up on the element in Sebald’s work that suggests a tension between different forms of organisation. In his article “Writing at the Roche Limit,” Gray notes that Sebald’s tendency to emphasise the decadent aspects of human and natural history “is continually counterbalanced by an insistence on order and by often extremely subtle forms of organization” (40). Rather than advancing the thesis that Sebald is exclusively against the idea of systematisation or order, Gray argues that The Rings of Saturn models in its own textual make-up an alternative approach to the cognitive order(ing) of things, one that seeks to counter the natural tendency toward entropic decline and a fall into chaos by introducing constructive forces that inject a modicum of balance and equilibrium into the system as a whole. (Gray 41)Sebald’s concern with the contrasting energies exemplified by different forms extends to his play with syntactical and non-syntactical forms of writing. He uses lists to add contrast to his flowing, syntactically intricate sentences. The achievement of his work is not the exclusive privileging of either the list form or the well-composed sentence, but in providing contexts whereby the reader can appreciate subtle modulations between the two, thus experiencing a more dynamic and complex kind of narrative time. His works exhibit an astute awareness of the fact that different textual devices command different experiences of temporality, and our experience of temporality in good part determines our metaphysics. Here I consider two lists featured in The Rings of Saturn, one from the first chapter, and one from the last. Each shows contrasting tendencies concerning systems of organisation. Both are attributable to the work of Thomas Browne, “who practiced as a doctor in Norwich in the seventeenth century and had left a number of writings that defy all comparison” (Sebald, Rings 9). The Rings of Saturn is in part a dialogue across epochs with the sentiments expressed in Browne’s works, which, according to Bianca Theisen, preserve a kind of reasoning that is lost in “the rationalist and scientific embrace of a devalued world of facts” (Theisen 563).The first list names the varied “animate and inanimate matter” in which Browne identifies the quincuncial structure, a lattice like arrangement of five points and intersecting lines. The following phenomena are enumerated in the text:certain crystalline forms, in starfish and sea urchins, in the vertebrae of mammals and the backbones of birds and fish, in the skins of various species of snake, in the crosswise prints left by quadrupeds, in the physical shapes of caterpillars, butterflies, silkworms and moths, in the root of the water fern, in the seed husks of the sunflower and the Caledonian pine, within young oak shoots or the stem of the horse tail; and in the creations of mankind, in the pyramids of Egypt and the mausoleum of Augustus as in the garden of King Solomon, which was planted with mathematical precision with pomegranate trees and white lilies. (Sebald, Rings 20-21)Ostensibly quoting from Browne, Sebald begins the next sentence, “Examples might be multiplied without end” (21). The compulsion to list, or the compulsiveness expressed by listing, is expressed here in a relationship of dual utility with another, dominant or overt, kind of organisational form: the quincunx. It is not the utility or expressiveness of the list itself that is at issue—at least in the version of Browne’s work preserved here by Sebald. In W. G. Sebald: Image, Archive, Modernity, Long notes the historical correspondences and divergences between Sebald and Michel Foucault (2007). Long interprets Browne’s quincunx as exemplifying a “hermeneutics of resemblance,” whereby similarities among diverse phenomena are seen as providing proof of “the universal oneness of all things” (33). This contrasts with the idea of a “pathological nature, autonomous from God,” which, according to Long, informs Sebald’s transformation of Browne into “an avatar of distinctly modern epistemology” (38). Long follows Foucault in noting the distinction between Renaissance and modern epistemology, a distinction in good part due to the experimental, inductive method, the availability of statistical data, and probabilistic reasoning championed in the latter epoch (Whitehead; Hacking). In the book’s final chapter, Sebald includes a list from Browne’s imaginary library, the “Musæum Clausium.” In contrast to the above list, here Sebald seems to deliberately problematise any efforts to suggest an abstract uniting principle. There is no evident reason for the togetherness of the discrete things, beyond the mere fact that they happen to be gathered, hypothetically, in the text (Sebald, Rings 271-273). Among the library’s supposed contents are:an account by the ancient traveller Pytheas of Marseilles, referred to in Strabo, according to which all the air beyond thule is thick, condensed and gellied, looking just like sea lungs […] a dream image showing a prairie or sea meadow at the bottom of the Mediterranean, off the coat of Provence […] and a glass of spirits made of æthereal salt, hermetically sealed up, of so volatile a nature that it will not endure by daylight, and therefore shown only in winter or by the light of a carbuncle or Bononian stone. (Sebald, Rings 272-73)Unlike the previous example attributed to Browne, here the list coheres according to the tensions of its own coincidences. Sebald uses the list to create spontaneous organisations in which history is exhibited as a complex mix of fact and fantasy. More important than the distinction between the imaginary and the real is the effort to account for the way things uniquely incorporate aspects of the world in order to be what they are. Human knowledge is a perspective that is implicated in, rather than excluded from, this process.Lists move us to puzzle over the criteria that their togetherness implies. They might be used inthe service of a specific paradigm, or they might suggest an imaginable but as yet unknown kind of systematisation; a specific kind of relationship, or simply the possibility of a relationship. Take, for example, the list-like accumulation of architectural details in the following description of the decadent Sommerleyton Hall, featured in chapter II: There were drawing rooms and winter gardens, spacious halls and verandas. A corridor might end in a ferny grotto where fountains ceaselessly plashed, and bowered passages criss-crossed beneath the dome of a fantastic mosque. Windows could be lowered to open the interior onto the outside, and inside the landscape was replicated on the mirror walls. Palm houses and orangeries, the lawn like green velvet, the baize on the billiard tables, the bouquets of flowers in the morning and retiring rooms and in the majolica vases on the terrace, the birds of paradise and the golden peasants on the silken tapestries, the goldfinches in the aviaries and the nightingales in the garden, the arabesques in the carpets and the box-edged flower beds—all of it interacted in such a way that one had the illusion of complete harmony between the natural and the manufactured. (Sebald, Rings 33-34)This list shifts emphasis away from preconceived distinctions between the natural and the manufactured through the creation of its own unlikely harmony. It tells us something important about the way perception and knowledge is ordered in Sebald’s prose. Each encounter, or historically specific situation, is considered as though it were its own microworld, its own discrete, synecdochic realisation of history. Rather than starting from the universal or the meta-level and scaling down to the local, Sebald arranges historically peculiar examples that suggest a variable, contrasting and dynamic metaphysics, a motley arrangement of ordering systems that each aspire to but do not command universal applicability. In a comparable sense, Browne’s sepulchral urns of his 1658 work Urn Burial, which feature in chapter I, are time capsules that seem to create their own internally specific kind of organisation:The cremated remains in the urns are examined closely: the ash, the loose teeth, some long roots of quitch, or dog’s grass wreathed about the bones, and the coin intended for the Elysian ferryman. Browne records other objects known to have been placed with the dead, whether as ornament or utensil. His catalogue includes a variety of curiosities: the circumcision knives of Joshua, the ring which belonged to the mistress of Propertius, an ape of agate, a grasshopper, three-hundred golden bees, a blue opal, silver belt buckles and clasps, combs, iron pins, brass plates and brazen nippers to pull away hair, and a brass Jews harp that last sounded on the crossing over black water. (Sebald, Rings 25-26)Regardless of our beliefs concerning the afterlife, these items, preserved across epochs, solicit a sense of wonder as we consider what we might choose for company on our “last journey” (25). In death, the human body is reduced to a condition of an object or thing, while the objects that accompany the corpse seem to acquire a degree of potency as remnants that transcend living time. Life is no longer the paradigm through which to understand purpose. In their very difference from living things these objects command our fascination. Eric Santner coins the term “undeadness” to name the significance of this non-living agency in Sebald’s prose (Santner xx). Santner’s study places Sebald in a linage of German-Jewish writers, including Walter Benjamin, Franz Kafka, and Paul Celan, whose understanding of “the human” depends crucially on the concept of “the creature” or “creatureliness” (Santner 38-41). Like the list of items contained within Sommerleyton Hall, the above list accounts for a context in which ornament and utensil, nature and culture, are read according to their differentiated togetherness, rather than opposition. Death, it seems, is a universal leveller, or at least a different dimension in which symbol and function appear to coincide. Perhaps it is the unassuming and convenient nature of lists that make them enduring objects of historical interest. Lists are a form of writing to which we appeal for immediate mnemonic assistance. They lack the artifice of a sentence. While perhaps not as interesting in the present that is contemporary with their usefulness (a trip to the supermarket), with time lists acquire credibility due to the intimacy they share with mundane, diurnal concerns—due to the fact that they were, once upon a time, so useful. The significance of lists arrives anachronistically, when we look back and wonder what people were really up to, or what our own concerns were, relatively free from fanciful, stylistic adornment. Sebald’s democratic approach to different forms of writing means that lists sit alongside the esteemed poetic and literary efforts of Joseph Conrad, Algernon Swinburne, Edward Fitzgerald, and François René de Chateaubriand, all of whom feature in The Rings of Saturn. His books make the exclusive differences between literary and non-literary kinds of writing less important than the sense of dynamism that is elicited through a play of contrasting kinds of syntactical and non-syntactical writing. The book’s closing chapter includes a revealing example that expresses these sentiments. After tracing over a natural history of silk, with a particular focus on human greed and naivety, the narrative arrives at a “pattern book” that features strips of colourful silk kept in “the small museum of Strangers Hall” (Sebald, Rings 283). The narrator notes that the silks arranged in this book “were of a truly fabulous variety, and of an iridescent, quite indescribable beauty as if they had been produced by Nature itself, like the plumage of birds” (283). This effervescent declamation continues after a double page photograph of the pattern book, which is described as a “catalogue of samples” and “leaves from the only true book which none of our textual and pictorial works can even begin to rival” (286). Here we witness Sebald’s inclusive and variable understanding as to the kinds of thing a book, and writing, can be. The fraying strips of silk featured in the photograph are arranged one below the other, in the form of a list. They are surrounded by ornate handwriting that, like the strips of silk, seems to fray at the edges, suggesting the specific gestural event that occasioned the moment of their inscription—something which tends to be excluded in printed prose. Sebald’s remarks here are not without a characteristic irony (“the only true book”). However, in the greatercontext of the narrative, this comment suggests an important inclination. Namely, that there is much scope yet for innovative literary forms that capture the nuances and complexity of collective and individual histories. And that writing always includes, though to varying degrees obscures, contrasting tensions shared among syntactical and non-syntactical elements, including material and gestural contingencies. Sebald’s works remind us of what potentials might lay ahead for books if the question of what writing can be is asked continually as part of a writer’s enterprise.ReferencesBere, Carol. “The Book of Memory: W. G. Sebald’s The Emigrants and Austerlitz.” Literary Review, 46.1 (2002): 184-92.Blackler, Deane. Reading W. G. Sebald: Adventure and Disobedience. Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2007. Catling Jo, and Richard Hibbitt, eds. Saturn’s Moons: A W. G. Sebald Handbook. Oxford: Legenda, 2011.Denham, Scott and Mark McCulloh, eds. W. G. Sebald: History, Memory, Trauma. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2006. Fuchs, Anne and J. J. Long, eds. W. G. Sebald and the Writing of History. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2007. Goody, Jack. The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1986. Gray, Richard T. “Writing at the Roche Limit: Order and Entropy in W. G. Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn.” The German Quarterly 83.1 (2010): 38-57. Hacking, Ian. The Emergence of Probability: A Philosophical Study of Early Ideas about Probability, Induction and Statistical Inference. London: Cambridge UP, 1977.Kilbourn, Russell J. A. “Architecture and Cinema: The Representation of Memory in W. G. Sebald’s Austerlitz.” W. G. Sebald—A Critical Companion. Ed. J. J. Long and Anne Whitehead. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2004.Leone, Massimo. “Textual Wanderings: A Vertiginous Reading of W. G. Sebald.” W. G. Sebald—A Critical Companion. Ed. J. J. Long and A. Whitehead. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2004.Long, J. J. W. G. Sebald: Image, Archive, Modernity. New York: Columbia UP, 2007.Long, J. J., and Anne Whitehead, eds. W. G. Sebald—A Critical Companion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh U P, 2004. McCulloh, Mark. Understanding W. G. Sebald. Columbia, S. C.: U of South Carolina P, 2003.Patt, Lise, ed. Searching for Sebald: Photography After W. G. Sebald. Los Angeles: The Institute of Critical Inquiry and ICI Press, 2007. Sadokierski, Zoe. “Visual Writing: A Critique of Graphic Devices in Hybrid Novels from a Visual Communication Design Perspective.” Diss. University of Technology Sydney, 2010. Santner, Eric. On Creaturely Life: Rilke, Benjamin, Sebald. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2006. Schmitz, Helmut. “Catastrophic History, Trauma and Mourning in W. G. Sebald and Jörg Friedrich.” The German Monitor 72 (2010): 27-50.Sebald, W. G. The Rings of Saturn. Trans. Michael Hulse. London: Harvill Press, 1998.---. Vertigo. Trans. Michael Hulse. London: Harvill Press, 1999.---. Campo Santo. Trans. Anthea Bell. London: Penguin Books, 2005. Print. Theisen, Bianca. “A Natural History of Destruction: W. G. Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn.” MLN, 121. The John Hopkins U P (2006): 563-81.Whitehead, Alfred North. Science and The Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1932.Zisselsberger, Markus. The Undiscover’d Country: W. G. Sebald and the Poetics of Travel. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2010.

В статье анализируются некоторые аспекты процесса перевода, являющегося не только центральным элементом лингвистической деятельности, предполагающей передачу значения одного инвентаря в другой набор знаков, но и обязательно включающего в себя внелингвистические критерии, один из которых – знание культуры и мировоззрения того общества, в рамках которых автор создавал своё творение. Объектом анализа является стихотворение К.Л. Хетагурова «Кубады», образ которого украшает рукописный вариант книги классика осетинской литературы «Ирон фандыр» («Осетинская лира»). Цель статьи – рассмотреть названное стихотворение с точки зрения прочтения текста оригинала переводчиком, анализируя неправомерные случаи употребления лексических вариантов в аспекте такой грани художественного произведения, как его национальный колорит. Используется сопоставительный анализ перевода и оригинала, позволяющий обнаружить сходство и различие указанных источников исследования, определить правомерность допущенных отклонений. Уместным представляется учет общеязыковедческих постулатов о языке как совокупности речевых реализаций и об отношении языка к логическим категориям и явлениям реального мира. Особую значимость приобретает контекстологический анализ, основной постулат которого – обусловленность смысла высказывания ситуативно-социальным контекстом. Установлено, что переводчик, во-первых, не учитывает национально-культурную обусловленности языка на уровне реалий, эмоциональной и социальной значимости системы вокабуляра; во-вторых, нарушает лексико-стилистические особенности идеолекта автора; в-третьих, допускает употребление аналоцизмов, обусловливающих неоправданные лексические замены. Отмечается, что автор русского перевода стихотворения «Кубады» в известной мере пренебрег эстетической и литературно-художественной доминантой первоисточника и в литературоведческом, и в лингвистическом отношении. The article analyzes some aspects of the translation process, which is not only the central element of linguistic activity, which involves the transfer of the value of one inventory into another set of characters, but also necessarily includes extralinguistic criteria, one of which is knowledge of the culture and worldview of that society, within which the author created his creation. The object of analysis is a poem by K.L. Khetagurov “Cubady”, the image of which decorates the handwritten version of the book of Ossetian literature classic “Iron Fandyr” (“Ossetian Lira”). The purpose of the article is to consider the named poem from the point of view of reading the text of the original by the translator, analyzing illegal cases of using lexical options in the aspect of such a facet of art works as its national flavor. A comparative analysis of the translation and the original is used, which makes it possible to detect the similarities and differences of these sources of research, to determine the legitimacy of the deviations. It seems appropriate to take into account general linguistic postulates about language as a totality of speech realizations and about the relation of language to logical categories and phenomena of the real world. Of particular importance is the contextual analysis, the main postulate of which is the conditionality of the meaning of the utterance in a situational-social context. It is established that the translator, firstly, does not take into account the national-cultural conditionality of the language at the level of the realities, emotional and social significance of the vocabulary system; secondly, violates the lexical and stylistic features of the author’s ideolect; thirdly, it allows the use of analocisms, causing unjustified lexical replacements. It is noted that the author of the Russian translation of the poem "Cubady" to a certain extent neglected the aesthetic and literary-artistic dominance of the original source both in literary and linguistic terms.

In his directorial debut, The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), RZA not only evokes the textual borrowing techniques he has utilised as a hip-hop producer, but also reflects the influence of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, who has built a career upon acknowledging mainstream and cult film histories through mise-en-scene, editing, and deft characterisation. The Man with the Iron Fists was originally to coincide with Tarantino’s rebel slave narrative Django Unchained (2012), which Tarantino has discussed openly as commentary regarding race in contemporary America. In 2011, Variety reported that RZA had joined the cast of Tarantino’s anticipated Django Unchained, playing “Thaddeus, a violent slave working on a Mississippi plantation” (Sneider, “Rza Joins ‘Django Unchained’ Cast”). Django Unchained follows Tarantino’s pattern of generic and trope mixology, combining elements of the Western, blaxploitation, and buddy/road film. He famously stated: “[If] my work has anything it's that I'm taking this from this and that from that and mixing them together… I steal from everything. Great artists steal; they don't do homages” (“The Directors of Our Lifetime: In Their Own Words”). He sutures iconography from multiple films in numerous genres to form new texts that stand alone, albeit as amalgamations of references. In considering meanings attached particularly to exploitation films, this article addresses the significance of combining influences within The Man with the Iron Fists and Tarantino’s Django Unchained, and the ideological threads that emerge in fusing exploitation film aesthetics. Ultimately, these films provide a convergence not only of texts, but also of the collective identities associated with and built upon those texts, feats made possible through the filmmakers’ use of pastiche. Pastiche in Identity Formation as Subversive A reflection of the postmodern tendency towards appropriation and borrowing, pastiche is often considered less meaningful than its counterpart, parody. Fredric Jameson suggests that though pastiche and parody share commonalities (most notably the mimicry of style and mannerisms), they do so to different effects. Jameson asserts that parody mimics in an effort to mock the idiosyncrasies within a text, whereas pastiche is “neutral parody” of “dead styles” (114). In short, as Susan Hayward writes, “In its uninventiveness, pastiche is but a shadow of its former thing” (302). For Jameson, the most ubiquitous form of pastiche is the nostalgia film, which attempts to recapture the essence of the past. As examples, he points to the George Lucas films American Graffiti (1973), which is staged in the United States of the 1950s, and Star Wars (1977), which reflects the serials of the 1930s-1950s (114-115). Though scholars such as Jameson and Hayward are contemptuous of pastiche, a growing number see its potential for the subversion and critique that the aforementioned suggest it lacks. For instance, Sarah Smith reminds us that pastiche films engage in “complicitous critique”: the films maintain the trappings of original texts, yet do so in order to advance critique (209). For Smith and other scholars, such as Judith Butler and Richard Dyer, Jameson’s criticism of pastiche is dismissive, for while these scholars largely agree that pastiche is a form of mimicry in which the distance between original and copy is minimal, they recognise that a space still exists for it to be critical. Smith writes: “[W]hile there may be greater distance between the parody and its target text than there is between the pastiche and the text it imitates, a prescribed degree of distance is not a prerequisite for critical engagement with the ur-text” (210). In this regard, fidelity to the original texts is not only required but to be revered, for these likenesses to the original “act as a guarantee of the critique of those origins and provide an opportunity for the filmmaker to position [himself or herself] in relation to them” (Smith 211). Essentially, pastiche is a useful technique in which to construct hybrid identities. Keri E. Iyall Smith suggests that hybrid identities emerge from “a reflexive relationship between local and global” (3). According to popular music scholar Brett Lashua, hybrid identities “make and re-make culture through appropriating the cultural ‘raw materials’ of life in order to construct meaning in their own specific cultural localities. In a sense, they are ‘sampling’ from broader popular culture and reworking what they can take into their own specific local cultures” (“The Arts of the Remix: Ethnography and Rap”). As will be evidenced here, Tarantino utilises pastiche as an unabashed genre poacher; similarly, as a self-avowed Tarantino student and hip-hop producer known for his sampling acumen, RZA invokes pastiche to reflect mastery of his craft and a hybridised identity his multifaceted persona. Plagiarism, Poaching, and Pastiche: Tarantino Blurs Boundaries As a filmmaker, Tarantino is known for indulging in excess: violence, language, and aesthetics. Edward Gallafent characterised the director’s work as having a preoccupation with settings and journeys, violence (both emotional and physical), complicated chronological structures, and dissatisfying conclusions (3-4). Additionally, pieces of Tarantino’s cinematic fandom are inserted into his own films. Academic and popular critics continually note Tarantino’s rise as an obsessive video store clerk turned respected and eccentric auteur. Tarantino’s authorship lies mostly in his ability to borrow (or in his words, steal) narrative arcs, characterisations, and camera work from other filmmakers, and use them in ways that feel innovative and different from those past works. It is not that he borrows generally from movements, films, and filmmakers, but that he conscientiously lifts segments from works to incorporate into his text. In Postmodern Hollywood: What’s New in Film and Why It Makes Us Feel So Strange, Keith M. Booker contends that Tarantino’s work often straddles lines between simplistic reference for reference’s sake and meditations upon the roles of cinema (90). Booker dismisses claims for the latter, citing Tarantino’s unwillingness to contextualise the references in Pulp Fiction, such that the film is best described not an act of citation so much as a break with the historical. Tarantino’s lack of reverence provides him freedom to intermingle texts and tropes to fit his goals as a filmmaker, rather than working within the confines of generic narratives. Each film feels both apart and distinct from genre categories. Jackie Brown, for example, has many of the traits attached to blaxploitation, from its focus on drug culture, the casting of Pam Grier who gained status playing female leads in blaxploitation films, and extreme violence. Tarantino’s use of humour throughout, particular in his treatment of character types, plot twists, and self-aware musical cues distances the film from easy characterisation. It is, but isn’t. What is gained is a remediated conception of cinematic reality. The fictions created in films of the past are noted in Tarantino’s play with tropes. His mixes produce an extreme form of mediated reality – one that is full of excess, highly exaggerated, and completely composed of stolen frameworks. Tarantino continues his generic play in Django Unchained. While much of it does borrow heavily from 1960s and 1970s Western filmmakers like Leone, Corbucci, and Peckinpah (the significance of desolate landscapes, long takes, extreme violence), it also incorporates strands of buddy cop (partners with different backgrounds working together to correct wrongs), early blaxploitation (Broomhilda’s last name is von Shaft suggesting that she is an ancestor of blaxploitation icon John Shaft, the characterisation of Django as black antihero enacting revenge on white racists in power), and kung fu (revenge narrative, in addition to the extensive training moments between Dr. Schultz and Django). The familiar elements highlight the transgressions of genre adherence. The comfort of the western genre and its tropes eases the audience, only for Tarantino to incorporate those elements from outside the genre to spark interest, to shock, to remind audiences of the mediated reality onscreen. Tarantino has been criticised for his lack of depth and understanding regarding women and people of colour, despite his attempts to provide various leading and supporting roles for both. Django Unchained was particularly criticised for Tarantino’s use of the term nigger - over 100 instances in the film. Tarantino defended his decision by claiming historical accuracy, poetic license, and his desire to confront audiences with various levels of racism. Many, including Spike Lee, disagreed, arguing Tarantino had no claim to making a film about slavery. Lee stated through Twitter: “American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them” (“Spike Lee on Django Unchained: Filmmaker Calls Movie ‘Disrespectful’”). Not only does Lee evoke the tragedy of the American slave trade and the significance of race within contemporary filmmaking, but he uses genre to underscore what he perceives is Tarantino’s lack of reverence to the issue of slavery and its aftermath in American culture. Django Unchained is both physically and emotionally brutal. The world created by Tarantino is culturally messy, as Italian composers rub elbows with black hip-hop artists, actors from films’ referenced in Django Unchained interact with new types of heroes. The amounts of references, people, and spectacles in his films have created a brand that is both hyperaware, but often critiqued as ambivalent. This is due in part to the perception of Tarantino as a filmmaker with no filter. His brand as a filmmaker is action ordered, excessive, and injected with his own fandom. He is an ultimate poacher of texts and it is this aesthetic, which has also made him a fan favourite amongst young cinephiles. Not only does he embrace the amount of play film offers, but he takes the familiar and makes it strange. The worlds he creates are hazier, darker, and unstable. Creating such a world in Django Unchained provides a lot of potential for reading race in film and American culture. He and his defenders have discussed this film as an “honest” portrayal of the effects of slavery and racial tension in the United States. This is also the world which acts as context for RZA’s The Man with the Iron Fists. Though a reference abandoned in Django Unchained, the connection between both films and both filmmakers pleasure in pastiche provide further insight to connections between film and race. Doing the Knowledge: RZA Pays Homage As a filmmaker, RZA utilises Tarantino’s filmmaking brand techniques to build his own homage and add to the body of kung-fu films. Doing so furnishes him the opportunity to rehash and reform narratives and tropes in ways that change familiar narrative structures and plot devices. In creating a film which relies on cinematic allusions to kung fu, RZA—as a fan, practitioner, and author—reconfigures kung fu from being an exploitative genre and reshapes its potential for representational empowerment. While Tarantino considers himself an unabashed thief of genre tropes, RZA envisions himself more as a student who pays homage to masters—among whom he includes Tarantino. Indeed, in an interview with MTV, RZA refers to Tarantino as his Sifu (a Chinese term for master or teacher) and credits him not only for teaching RZA about filmmaking, but also for providing him with his blessing to make his first feature length film (Downey, “RZA Recalls Learning from ‘The Master’ Quentin Tarantino”). RZA implies that mastery of one’s craft comes from incorporating influences while creating original work, not theft. For instance, he states that the Pink Blossom brothel—the locus for most of the action in the film—was inspired by the House of Blue Leaves restaurant, which functions in a similar capacity in Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (“RZA Talks Sampling of Kung Fu Films for Movie & The Difference Between Biting vs. Influence”). Hip-hop is an art form in which its practitioners “partake of a discursive universe where skill at appropriating the fragments of a rapidly-changing world with verbal grace and dexterity is constituted as knowledge” (Potter 21). This knowledge draws upon not only the contemporary moment but also the larger body of recorded music and sound, both of which it “re-reads and Signifies upon through a complex set of strategies, including samplin’, cuttin’ (pastiche), and freestylin’ (improvisation)” (Potter 22). As an artist who came of age in hip-hop’s formative years and whose formal recording career began at the latter half of hip-hop’s Golden Age (often considered 1986-1993), RZA is a particularly adept cutter and sampler – indeed, as a sampler, RZA is often considered a master. While RZA’s samples run the gamut of the musical spectrum, he is especially known for sampling obscure, often indeterminable jazz and soul tracks. Imani Perry suggests that this measure of fidelity to the past is borne out of hip-hop’s ideological respect for ancestors and its inherent sense of nostalgia (54). Hallmarks of RZA’s sampling repertoire include dialog and sound effects from equally obscure kung fu films. RZA attributes his sampling of kung fu to an affinity for these films established in his youth after viewing noteworthy examples such as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) and Five Deadly Venoms (1978). These films have become a key aspect of his identity and everyday life (Gross, “RZA’s Edge: The RZA’s Guide to Kung Fu Films”). He speaks of his decision to make kung fu dialog an integral part of Wu-Tang Clan’s first album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers): “My fantasy was to make a one-hour movie that people were just going to listen to. They would hear my movie and see it in their minds. I’d read comic books like that, with sonic effects and kung fu voices in my head. That makes it more exciting so I try to create music in the same way” (Gross, ““RZA’s Edge: The RZA’s Guide to Kung Fu Films”). Much like Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and his other musical endeavours, The Man with the Iron Fists serves as further evidence of RZA’s hybrid identity., which sociologist Keri E. Iyall Smith suggests emerges from “a reflexive relationship between local and global” (3). According to popular music scholar Brett Lashua, hybrid identities “make and re-make culture through appropriating the cultural ‘raw materials’ of life in order to construct meaning in their own specific cultural localities. In a sense, they are ‘sampling’ from broader popular culture and reworking what they can take into their own specific local cultures” (“The Arts of the Remix: Ethnography and Rap”). The most overt instance of RZA’s hybridity is in regards to names, many of which are derived from the Gordon Liu film Shaolin and Wu-Tang (1983), in which the competing martial arts schools come together to fight a common foe. The film is the basis not only for the name of RZA’s group (Wu-Tang Clan) but also for the names of individual members (for instance, Master Killer—after the series to which the film belongs) and the group’s home base of Staten Island, New York, which they frequently refer to as “Shaolin.” The Man with the Iron Fists is another extension of this hybrid identity. Kung fu has long had meaning for African Americans particularly because these films frequently “focus narratively on either the triumph of the ‘little guy’ or ‘underdog’ or the nobility of the struggle to recognise humanity and virtue in all people, or some combination of both” (Ongiri 35). As evidence, Amy Obugo Ongiri points to films such as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, a film about a peasant who learns martial arts at the Shaolin temple in order to avenge his family’s murder by the Manchu rulers (Ongiri 35). RZA reifies this notion in a GQ interview, where he speaks about The 36th Chamber of Shaolin specifically, noting its theme of rebellion against government oppression having relevance to his life as an African American (Pappademus, “This Movie Is Rated Wu”). RZA appropriates the humble origins of the peasant San Te (Gordon Liu), the protagonist of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, in Thaddeus (whom RZA plays in the film), whose journey to saviour of Jungle Village begins with his being a slave in America. Indeed, one might argue that RZA’s construction of and role as Thaddeus is the ultimate realisation of the hybrid identity he has developed since becoming a popular recording artist. Just as Tarantino’s acting in his own films often reflects his identity as genre splicer and convention breaker (particularly since they are often self-referential), RZA’s portrayal of Thaddeus—as an African American, as a martial artist, and as a “conscious” human being—reflects the narrative RZA has constructed about his own life. Conclusion The same amount of play Tarantino has with conventions, particularly in characterisations and notions of heroism, is present in RZA’s Man with the Iron Fists. Both filmmakers poach from their favourite films and genres in order to create interpretations that feel both familiar and new. RZA follows Tarantino’s aesthetic of borrowing scenes directly from other films. Both filmmakers poach from films for their own devices, but in those mash-ups open up avenues for genre critique and identity formation. Tarantino is right to say that they are not solely homages, as homages honour the films in which they borrow. Tarantino and RZA do more through their poaching to stretch the boundaries of genres and films’ abilities to communicate with audiences. References “The Directors of Our Lifetime: In Their Own Words.” Empire Online. N.d. 8 May 2013 ‹http://www.empireonline.com/magazine/250/directors-of-our-lifetime/5.asp›. Booker, Keith M. Postmodern Hollywood: What’s New in Film and Why It Makes Us Feel So Strange. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007. Downey, Ryan J. “RZA Recalls Learning from ‘The Master’ Quentin Tarantino.” MTV. 30 August 2012. 14 July 2013 ‹http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1692872/rza-man-with-the-iron-fists-quentin-tarantino.jhtml›. Gallefent, Edward. Quentin Tarantino. London: Longman. 2005. Gross, Jason. “RZA’s Edge: The RZA’s Guide to Kung Fu Films.” Film Comment. N.d. 5 June 2013 ‹http://www.filmcomment.com/article/rzas-edge-the-rzas-guide-to-kung-fu-films›. Iyall Smith, Keri E. “Hybrid Identities: Theoretical Examinations.” Hybrid Identities: Theoretical and Empirical Examinations. Ed. Keri E. Iyall Smith and Patricia Leavy. Leiden: Brill, 2008. 3-12. Jameson, Fredric. “Postmodernism and Consumer Society.” Postmodern Culture. Ed. Hal Foster. London: Pluto, 1985. 111-125. Lashua, Brett. “The Arts of the Remix: Ethnography and Rap.” Anthropology Matters 8.2 (2006). 6 June 2013 ‹http://www.anthropologymatters.com›. “The Man with the Iron Fists – Who in the Cast Can F-U Up?” IronFistsMovie 21 Sep. 2012. YouTube. 8 May 2013 ‹http://youtu.be/bhJOQZFJfqA›. Pappademus, Alex. “This Movie Is Rated Wu.” GQ Nov. 2012. 6 June 2013 ‹http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201211/the-rza-man-with-the-iron-fists-wu-tang-clan›. Perry, Imani. Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2004. Potter, Russell. Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism. Albany, NY: SUNY P, 1995. “RZA Talks Sampling of Kung Fu Films for Movie & The Difference between Biting vs. Influence.” The Well Versed. 2 Nov. 2012. 5 June 2013 ‹http://thewellversed.com/2012/11/02/video-rza-talks-sampling-of-kung-fu-films-for-movie-the-difference-between-biting-vs-influence/›. Smith, Sarah. “Lip and Love: Subversive Repetition in the Pastiche Films of Tracey Moffat.” Screen 49.2 (Summer 2008): 209-215. Snedier, Jeff. “Rza Joins 'Django Unchained' Cast.” Variety 2 Nov. 2011. 14 June 2013 ‹http://variety.com/2011/film/news/rza-joins-django-unchained-cast-1118045503/›. “Spike Lee on Django Unchained: Filmmaker Calls Movie ‘Disrespectful.’” Huffington Post 24 Dec. 2012. 14 June 2013 ‹http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/23/spike-lee-django-unchained-movie-disrespectful_n_2356729.html›. Wu-Tang Clan. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Loud, 1993. Filmography The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Dir. Chia-Liang Lui. Perf. Chia Hui Lui, Lieh Lo, Chia Yung Lui. Shaw Brothers, 1978. Django Unchained. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Perf. Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz. Miramax, 2012. Five Deadly Venoms. Dir. Cheh Chang. Perf. Sheng Chiang, Philip Kwok, Feng Lu. Shaw Brothers, 1978. Jackie Brown. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Perf. Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster. Miramax, 1997. Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Perf. Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Darryl Hannah. Miramax, 2003. The Man with the Iron Fists. Dir. RZA. Perf. RZA, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu. Arcade Pictures, 2012. Pulp Fiction. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Perf. John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson. Miramax, 1994. Shaolin and Wu-Tang. Dir. Chiu Hui Liu. Perf. Chiu Hui Liu, Adam Cheng, Li Ching.

Until the 1980s research into computer technology was developing outside of a context of media culture. Until the 1970s the computer was seen as a highly effective calculator and a tool for the use in government, military and economic life. Its popular image from the 1940s to 1950s was that of a calculator. At that time the computer was a large machine which only white lab-coated engineers could understand. The computer was studied as a technical instrument, not from the viewpoint of the user. The peculiar communication between the user -- engineers at this point -- and the machine was described in caricatures like those in Electric Media (Brown & Marks 100). Many comics handled the issue of understanding. In one cartoon one engineer asks another: "Do you ever feel that it is trying to tell us something?" And in Robert Sherman Townes's novel "Problem of Emmy", the computer (Emmy) acts out of control and prints the words: "WHO AM I WHO AM I WHO AM I?". In these examples the man-machine relationship was taken under consideration, but the attitude towards the relationship was that of a master-tool way. The user was pronouncedly in control and the machine just a passive tool. After the 1980s the image of the computer was turning into that of a playful toy and a game machine, thanks to the game houses' and marketing departments' efforts. Suddenly the player was playing with the computer, and even fairly often got beaten by it. That definitely raises feelings towards the machine! The playing situation was so intensive that the player did not often pay any attention to the interface, and the roles were not so clear anymore. This was a step towards the idea of natural communication between human and machine. Later science fiction influenced depictions of virtual reality, and haptic interfaces mediated the ideas into reality. In this paper I will discuss the man-machine relationship from the viewpoint of interface design. My expertise is in electronic games, and thus I will use examples from the game industry. This paper is a sidetrack of RAID -- Research of Adaptive User Interface Design, which was going on at the University of Lapland, Finland in 1995-1999. The RAID project was about research into adaptive interface design from the viewpoint of media archaeology, electronic games, toys and media art. Early Visions Already in the 1960s, MIT professor J.C.R. Licklider wrote about man-machine symbiosis. He saw that "man machine symbiosis is an expected development in cooperative interaction between men and electronic computers". He believed that it would lead to a new kind of cooperative partnership between man and machine (9). Licklider's visions are important, because the relationship between man and machine was seen generally differently at those days. At the time of the first mainframe computers in the 1940s, man and machine were seen as separate entities from the viewpoint of data processing. The operator put in data to the machine, which processed it by its own language which only the machine and very few engineers could understand. Fear -- a fearful affection -- has affected the development of machines and the idea of man-machine relationships throughout the decades. One reason for this is that the ordinary person had no contact to the computer. That has led to fears that when cooperating with the machine, the user will become enslaved by it, or sucked into it, as in Charlie Chaplin's film Modern Times (1936). The machine captivates its user's body, punishes it and makes its movement impossible at the end. Or the machine will keep the body's freedom, but adapt its functions to work by the automatic rhythm: the human body will be subordinated to the machine or made a part of it. What Is the Interface? In reality there still is a mediator between the user and the machine: the interface. It is a connector -- a boundary surface -- that enables the user to control the machine. There has been no doubt who is in charge of whom, but the public image of the machine is changing from "computer as a tool" to "computer as an entertainment medium". That is also changing the somewhat fearful relationship to the computer, because such applications place the player much more intensively immersed in the game world. The machine as a tool does not lose its meaning but its functionality and usability are being developed towards more entertainment-like attributes. The interface is an environment and a structural system that consists of the physical machine, a virtual programming environment, and the user. The system becomes perfect when all its parts will unite as a functional, interactive whole. Significant thresholds will arise through the hapticity of the interface, on one hand questioning the bodily relationship between user and machine and on the other hand creating new ways of being with the machine. New haptic (wearable computing) and spatial (sensors in a reactive space) interfaces raise the question of man-machine symbiosis from a new perspective. Interfaces in a Game World In games the man-machine relationship is seen with much less emotion than when using medical applications, for example. The strength of electronic games is in the goal-oriented interaction. The passivity of older machines has been replaced by the information platform where the player's actions have an immediate effect in the virtual world. The player is already surrounded by the computer: at home sitting by the computer holding a joystick and in the arcades sometimes sitting inside the computer or even being tied up with the computer (as in gyroscope VR applications). The symbiosis in game environments is essential and simple. During the 1980s and 1990s a lot of different virtual reality gear variants were developed in the "VR boom". Some systems were more or less masked arcade game machines that did not offer any real virtuality. Virtuality was seen as a new way of working with a machine, but most of the applications did not support the idea far enough. Neither did the developers pay attention to interface design nor to new ways of experiencing and feeling pleasure through the machine. At that time the most important thing was to build a plausible "virtual reality system". Under the futuristic cover of the machine there was usually a PC and a joystick or mouse. Usually a system could easily be labelled as a virtual theater, a dome or a cabin, which all refer to entertainment simulators. At the beginning of the 1990s, data glasses and gloves were the most widely used interfaces within the new interaction systems. Later the development turned from haptic interfaces towards more spatial ideas -- from wearable systems to interaction environments. Still there are only few innovative applications available. One good example is Vivid Group's old Mandala VR system which was later in the 1990s developed further to the Holopod system. It has been promoted as the interface of the future and new way of being with the computer. As in the film Modern Times so also with Holopod the player is in a way sucked inside the game world. But this time with the user's consent. Behind the Holopod is Vivid Group's Mandala VGC (Video Gesture Control) technology which they have been developing since 1986. The Mandala VGC system combines real time video images of the player with the game scene. The player in the real world is the protagonist in the game world. So the real world and the game world are united. That makes it possible to sense the real time movement as well as interaction between the platform and the player. Also other manufacturers like American Holoplex has developed similar systems. Their system is called ThunderCam. Like Konami's Dance Dance Revolution, it asks heavy physical involvement in the Street Fighter combat game. Man-Man and Man-Machine Cooperation One of the most important elements in electronic games has been reaction ability. Now the playing is turning closer to a new sport. Different force feedback systems combined with haptic interfaces will create much more diverse examples of action. For example, the Japanese Konami corporation has developed a haptic version of a popular Playstation dance game where karaoke and an electronic version of the Twister game are combined. Besides new man-machine cooperative applications, there are also under development some multi-user environments where the user interacts with the computer-generated world as well as with other players. The Land of Snow and Ice has been under development for about a year now in the University of Lapland, Finland. It is a tourism project that is supposed to be able to create a sensation of the arctic environment throughout the year. Temperature and atmosphere are created with the help of refrigerating equipment. In the space there are virtual theatre and enhanced ski-doo as interfaces. The 3-D software makes the sensation very intense, and a hydraulic platform extends the experience. The Land of Snow and Ice is interesting from the point of view of the man-machine relationship in the way that it brings a new idea to the interface design: the use of everyday objects as interfaces. The machine is "hidden" inside an everyday object and one is interacting and using the machine in a more natural way. For example, the Norwegian media artist Stahl Stenslie has developed "an 'intelligent' couch through which you communicate using your body through tactile and visual stimuli". Besides art works he has also talked about new everyday communication environments, where the table in a café could be a communication tool. One step towards Stenslie's idea has already become reality in Lasipalatsi café in Helsinki, Finland. The tables are good for their primary purpose, but you can also surf the Internet and read your e-mail with them, while drinking your tea. These kind of ideas have also been presented within 'intelligent home' speculations. Intelligent homes have gained acceptance and there are already several intelligent homes in the world. Naturally there will always be opposition, because the surface between man and machine is still a very delicate issue. In spite of this, I see such homogeneous countries as Finland, for example, to be a good testing ground for a further development of new man-machine interaction systems. Pleasure seems to be one of the key words of the future, and with the new technology, one can make everyday routines easier, pleasure more intense and the Internet a part of social communication: within the virtual as well as in real world communities. In brief, I have introduced two ideas: using games as a testing ground, and embedding haptic and spatial interfaces inside everyday objects. It is always difficult to predict the future and there are always at least technology, marketing forces, popular culture and users that will affect what the man-machine relationship of the future will be like. I see games and game interfaces as the new developing ground for a new kind of man-machine relationship. References Barfield, W., and T.A. Furness. Virtual Environments and Advanced Interface Design. New York: Oxford UP, 1995. Brown, Les, and Sema Marks. Electric Media. New York: Hargrove Brace Jovanovich, 1974. Burdea, G., and P. Coiffet. Virtual Reality Technology. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1994. Greelish, David. "Hictorically Brewed Magazine. A Retrospective." Classic Computing. 1 Sep. 1999 <http://www.classiccomputing.com/mag.php>. Huhtamo, Erkki. "Odottavasta Operaattorista Kärsimättömäksi Käyttäjäksi. Interaktiivisuuden Arkeologiaa." Mediaevoluutiota. Eds. Kari Hintikka and Seppo Kuivakari. Rovaniemi: U of Lapland P, 1997. Jones, Steve, ed. Virtual Culture: Identity and Communication in Cybersociety. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 1997. Kuivakari, Seppo, ed. Keholliset Käyttöliittymät. Helsinki: TEKES, 1999. 1 Sep. 1999 <http://media.urova.fi/~raid>. Licklider, J.C.R. "Man-Computer Symbiosis." 1960. 1 Sep. 1999 <http://memex.org/licklider.pdf>. Picard, Rosalind W. Affective Computing. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT P, 1997. "Return of the Luddites". Interview with Kirkpatrick Sale. Wired Magazine June 1995. Stenslie, Stahl. Artworks. 1 Sep. 1999 <http://sirene.nta.no/stahl/>. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Sonja Kangas. "From Haptic Interfaces to Man-Machine Symbiosis." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2.6 (1999). [your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9909/haptic.php>. Chicago style: Sonja Kangas, "From Haptic Interfaces to Man-Machine Symbiosis," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2, no. 6 (1999), <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9909/haptic.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Sonja Kangas. (1999) From haptic interfaces to man-machine symbiosis. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2(6). <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9909/haptic.php> ([your date of access]).

Food is not a trifling matter on Japanese television. More visible than such cultural staples as sumo and enka, food-related talk abounds. Aired year-round and positioned on every channel in every time period throughout the broadcast day, the lenses of food shows are calibrated at a wider angle than heavily-trafficked samurai dramas, beisboru or music shows. Simply, more aspects of everyday life, social history and cultural values pass through food programming. The array of shows work to reproduce traditional Japanese cuisine and cultural mores, educating viewers about regional customs and history. They also teach viewers about the "peculiar" practices of far-away countries. Thus, food shows engage globalisation and assist the integration of outside influences and lifestyles in Japan. However, food-talk is also about nihonjinron -- the uniqueness of Japanese culture1. As such, it tends toward cultural nationalism2. Food-talk is often framed in the context of competition and teaches viewers about planning and aesthetics, imparting class values and a consumption ethic. Food discourse is also inevitably about the reproduction of popular culture. Whether it is Jackie Chan plugging a new movie on a "guess the price" food show or a group of celebs are taking a day-trip to a resort town, food-mediated discourse enables the cultural industry and the national economy to persist -- even expand. To offer a taste of the array of cultural discourse that flows through food, this article serves up an ideal week of Japanese TV programming. Competition for Kisses: Over-Cooked Idols and Half-Baked Sexuality Monday, 10:00 p.m.: SMAP x SMAP SMAP is one of the longest-running, most successful male idol groups in Japan. At least one of their members can be found on TV every day. On this variety show, all five appear. One segment is called "Bistro SMAP" where the leader of the group, Nakai-kun, ushers a (almost always) female guest into his establishment and inquires what she would like to eat. She states her preference and the other four SMAP members (in teams of two) begin preparing the meal. Nakai entertains the guest on a dais overlooking the cooking crews. While the food is being prepared he asks standard questions about the talento's career; "how did you get in this business", "what are your favorite memories", "tell us about your recent work" -- the sort of banal banter that fills many cooking shows. Next, Nakai leads the guest into the kitchen and introduces her to the cooks. Finally, she samples both culinary efforts with the camera catching the reactions of anguish or glee from the opposing team. Each team then tastes the other group's dish. Unlike many food shows, the boys eat without savoring the food. The impression conveyed is that these are everyday boys -- not mega CD-selling pop idols with multiple product endorsements, commercials and television commitments. Finally, the moment of truth arrives: which meal is best. The winners jump for joy, the losers stagger in disappointment. The reason: the winners receive a kiss from the judge (on an agreed-upon innocuous body part). Food as entrée into discourse on sexuality. But, there is more than mere sex in the works, here. For, with each collected kiss, a set of red lips is affixed to the side of the chef's white cap. Conquests. After some months the kisses are tallied and the SMAPster with the most lips wins a prize. Food begets sexuality which begets measures of skill which begets material success. Food is but a prop in managing each idol's image. Putting a Price-tag on Taste (Or: Food as Leveller) Tuesday 8:00 p.m.: Ninki mono de ikou (Let's Go with the Popular People) An idol's image is an essential aspect of this show. The ostensible purpose is to observe five famous people appraising a series of paired items -- each seemingly identical. Which is authentic and which is a bargain-basement copy? One suspects, though, that the deeper aim is to reveal just how unsophisticated, bumbling and downright stupid "talento" can be. Items include guitars, calligraphy, baseball gloves and photographs. During evaluation, the audience is exposed to the history, use and finer points of each object, as well as the guest's decision-making process (via hidden camera). Every week at least one food item is presented: pasta, cat food, seaweed, steak. During wine week contestants smelled, tasted, swirled and regarded the brew's hue. One compared the sound each glass made, while another poured the wines on a napkin to inspect patterns of dispersion! Guests' reasoning and behaviors are monitored from a control booth by two very opinionated hosts. One effect of the recurrent criticism is a levelling -- stars are no more (and often much less) competent (and sacrosanct) than the audience. Technique, Preparation and Procedure? Old Values Give Way to New Wednesday 9:00: Tonerus no nama de daradara ikasette (Tunnels' Allow Us to Go Aimlessly, as We Are) This is one of two prime time shows featuring the comedy team "Tunnels"3. In this show both members of the duo engage in challenging themselves, one another and select members of their regular "team" to master a craft. Last year it was ballet and flamenco dance. This month: karate, soccer and cooking. Ishibashi Takaaki (or "Taka-san") and his new foil (a ne'er-do-well former Yomiuri Giants baseball player) Sadaoka Hiyoshi, are being taught by a master chef. The emphasis is on technique and process: learning theki (the aura, the essence) of cooking. After taking copious notes both men are left on their own to prepare a meal, then present it to a young femaletalento, who selects her favorite. In one segment, the men learned how to prepare croquette -- striving to master the proper procedure for flouring, egg-beating, breading, heating oil, frying and draining. In the most recent episode, Taka prepared his shortcake to perfection, impressing even the sensei. Sadaoka, who is slow on the uptake and tends to be lax, took poor notes and clearly botched his effort. Nonetheless, the talento chose Sadaoka's version because it was different. Certain he was going to win, Taka fell into profound shock. For years a popular host of youth-oriented shows, he concluded: "I guess I just don't understand today's young people". In Japanese television, just as in life, it seems there is no accounting for taste. More, whatever taste once was, it certainly has changed. "We Japanese": Messages of Distinctiveness (Or: Old Values NEVER Die) Thursday, 9:00 p.m.: Douchi no ryori shiou: (Which One? Cooking Show) By contrast, on this night viewers are served procedure, craft and the eternal order of things. Above all, validation of Japanese culinary instincts and traditions. Like many Japanese cooking showsDouchi involves competition between rival foods to win the hearts of a panel of seven singers, actors, writers and athletes.Douchi's difference is that two hosts front for rival dishes, seeking to sway the panel during the in-studio preparation. The dishes are prepared by chefs fromTsuji ryori kyoshitsu, a major cooking academy in Osaka, and are generally comparable (for instance, beef curry versus beef stew). On the surface Douchi is a standard infotainment show. Video tours of places and ingredients associated with the dish entertain the audience and assist in making the guests' decisions more agonising. Two seating areas are situated in front of each chef and panellists are given a number of opportunities to switch sides. Much playful bantering, impassioned appeals and mock intimidation transpire throughout the show. It is not uncommon for the show to pit a foreign against a domestic dish; and most often the indigenous food prevails. For, despite the recent "internationalisation" of Japanese society, many Japanese have little changed from the "we-stick-with-what-we-know-best" attitude that is a Japanese hallmark. Ironically, this message came across most clearly in a recent show pitting spaghetti and meat balls against tarako supagetei (spicy fish eggs and flaked seaweed over Italian noodles) -- a Japanese favorite. One guest, former American, now current Japanese Grand Sumo Champion, Akebono, insisted from the outset that he preferred the Italian version because "it's what my momma always cooked for me". Similarly the three Japanese who settled on tarako did so without so much as a sample or qualm. "Nothing could taste better than tarako" one pronounced even before beginning. A clear message in Douchi is that Japanese food is distinct, special, irreplaceable and (if you're not opposed by a 200 kilogram giant) unbeatable. Society as War: Reifying the Strong and Powerful Friday, 11:00 p.m.: Ryori no tetsujin. (The Ironmen of Cooking) Like sumo this show throws the weak into the ring with the strong for the amusement of the audience. The weak in this case being an outsider who runs his own restaurant. Usually the challengers are Japanese or else operate in Japan, though occasionally they come from overseas (Canada, America, France, Italy). Almost without exception they are men. The "ironmen" are four famous Japanese chefs who specialise in a particular cuisine (Japanese, Chinese, French and Italian). The contest has very strict rules. The challenger can choose which chef he will battle. Both are provided with fully-equipped kitchens positioned on a sprawling sound stage. They must prepare a full-course meal for four celebrity judges within a set time frame. Only prior to the start are they informed of which one key ingredient must be used in every course. It could be crab, onion, radish, pears -- just about any food imaginable. The contestants must finish within the time limit and satisfy the judges in terms of planning, creativity, composition, aesthetics and taste. In the event of a tie, a one course playoff results. The show is played like a sports contest, with a reporter and cameras wading into the trenches, conducting interviews and play-by-play commentary. Jump-cut editing quickens the pace of the show and the running clock adds a dimension of suspense and excitement. Consistent with one message encoded in Japanese history, it is very hard to defeat the big power. Although the ironmen are not weekly winners, their consistency in defeating challengers works to perpetuate the deep-seated cultural myth4. Food Makes the Man Saturday 12:00: Merenge no kimochi (Feelings like Meringue) Relative to the full-scale carnage of Friday night, Saturdays are positively quiescent. Two shows -- one at noon, the other at 11:30 p.m. -- employ food as medium through which intimate glimpses of an idol's life are gleaned.Merenge's title makes no bones about its purpose: it unabashedly promises fluff. In likening mood to food -- and particularly in the day-trip depicted here -- we are reminded of the Puffy's famous ditty about eating crab: "taking the car out for a spin with a caramel spirit ... let's go eat crab!"Merengue treats food as a state of mind, a many-pronged road to inner peace. To keep it fluffy,Merenge is hosted by three attractive women whose job it is to act frivolous and idly chat with idols. The show's centrepiece is a segment where the male guest introduces his favorite (or most cookable) recipe. In-between cutting, beating, grating, simmering, ladling, baking and serving, the audience is entertained and their idol's true inner character is revealed. Continuity Editing Running throughout the day, every day, on all (but the two public) stations, is advertising. Ads are often used as a device to heighten tension or underscore the food show's major themes, for it is always just before the denouement (a judge's decision, the delivery of a story's punch-line or a final tally) that an ad interrupts. Ads, however, are not necessarily departures from the world of food, as a large proportion of them are devoted to edibles. In this way, they underscore food's intimate relationship to economy -- a point that certain cooking shows make with their tie-in goods for sale or maps to, menus of and prices for the featured restaurants. While a considerable amount of primary ad discourse is centred on food (alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, coffees, sodas, instant or packaged items), it is ersatz food (vitamin-enriched waters, energy drinks, sugarless gums and food supplements) which has recently come to dominate ad space. Embedded in this commercial discourse are deeper social themes such as health, diet, body, sexuality and even death5. Underscoring the larger point: in Japan, if it is television you are tuned into, food-mediated discourse is inescapable. Food for Conclusion The question remains: "why food?" What is it that qualifies food as a suitable source and medium for filtering the raw material of popular culture? For one, food is something that all Japanese share in common. It is an essential part of daily life. Beyond that, though, the legacy of the not-so-distant past -- embedded in the consciousness of nearly a third of the population -- is food shortages giving rise to overwhelming abundance. Within less than a generation's time Japanese have been transported from famine (when roasted potatoes were considered a meal and chocolate was an unimaginable luxury) to excess (where McDonald's is a common daily meal, scores of canned drink options can be found on every street corner, and yesterday's leftover 7-Eleven bentos are tossed). Because of food's history, its place in Japanese folklore, its ubiquity, its easy availability, and its penetration into many aspects of everyday life, TV's food-talk is of interest to almost all viewers. Moreover, because it is a part of the structure of every viewer's life, it serves as a fathomable conduit for all manner of other talk. To invoke information theory, there is very little noise on the channel when food is involved6. For this reason food is a convenient vehicle for information transmission on Japanese television. Food serves as a comfortable podium from which to educate, entertain, assist social reproduction and further cultural production. Footnotes 1. For an excellent treatment of this ethic, see P.N. Dale, The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness. London: Routledge, 1986. 2. A predilection I have discerned in other Japanese media, such as commercials. See my "The Color of Difference: Critiquing Cultural Convergence via Television Advertising", Interdisciplinary Information Sciences 5.1 (March 1999): 15-36. 3. The other, also a cooking show which we won't cover here, appears on Thursdays and is called Tunnerusu no minasan no okage deshita. ("Tunnels' Because of Everyone"). It involves two guests -- a male and female -- whose job it is to guess which of 4 prepared dishes includes one item that the other guest absolutely detests. There is more than a bit of sadism in this show as, in-between casual conversation, the guest is forced to continually eat something that turns his or her stomach -- all the while smiling and pretending s/he loves it. In many ways this suits the Japanese cultural value of gaman, of bearing up under intolerable conditions. 4. After 300-plus airings, the tetsujin show is just now being put to bed for good. It closes with the four iron men pairing off and doing battle against one another. Although Chinese food won out over Japanese in the semi-final, the larger message -- that four Japanese cooks will do battle to determine the true iron chef -- goes a certain way toward reifying the notion of "we Japanese" supported in so many other cooking shows. 5. An analysis of such secondary discourse can be found in my "The Commercialized Body: A Comparative Study of Culture and Values". Interdisciplinary Information Sciences 2.2 (September 1996): 199-215. 6. The concept is derived from C. Shannon and W. Weaver, The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1949. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Todd Holden. "'And Now for the Main (Dis)course...': Or, Food as Entrée in Contemporary Japanese Television." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2.7 (1999). [your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9910/entree.php>. Chicago style: Todd Holden, "'And Now for the Main (Dis)course...': Or, Food as Entrée in Contemporary Japanese Television," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2, no. 7 (1999), <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9910/entree.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Todd Holden. (1999) "And now for the main (dis)course...": or, food as entrée in contemporary Japanese television. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2(7). <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9910/entree.php> ([your date of access]).

Historic-Archaeological Research of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milano on the Indus Delta (2010-2018). The following text is only an abridged note on the excavations at Banbhore and some significant extra-moenia surveys carried out by the Italian Team within the Institutional framework of a “Pak-French-Italian Historical and Archaeological Research at Banbhore” on the basis of a Licence issued by the competent Pakistani Authorities (2010-2015 - Coordinator of the Project Dr Kaleemullah Lashari), and, some later, within a new institutional asset: a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) signed in the 2017 between the Director General of the Department of Antiquities of Sindh (Manzoor A. Kanasro) and the Magnifico Rettore of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan (Prof. Franco Anelli). Aims of the said MoU are: (a) historical-archaeological research-work at Banbhore and Rani Kot; (b) training (theoretical and on the job) to selected students and officers of the DAS. The Italian group works under the sponsorship of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs (now Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation/MAECI). Scientific director for the Italian Team is Prof. Valeria Piacentini, member of the Board of Directors of the Research Centre CRiSSMA of the Catholic University. In the following dissertation I won’t linger on the debated issue about the identification of the site of Banbhore with historic sites on the Indus delta (the historical Mihrān river) mentioned and described in the written sources of the past. Too many respected scholars and archaeologists have entered this debate since the end of the 19th Century, for which I refer to a well-known exhaustive literature. In the “50s of the previous century, Leslie Alckok – then official to the Department of Archaeology of Pakistan – carried out some preliminary excavations, followed by Dr Rafique Mughal and F.A. Khan. This latter carried out a systematic and extensive archaeological campaign of several years between the “50s and the “60s, well backed by one of the most authoritative Pakistani historians, N.A. Baloch. Khan brought to light extraordinary archaeological and architectural evidence, but, unfortunately, his excavation-notes have gone lost and little or nothing has been published. Thence, our research-work had to start from nothing. First of all and most urgent was an updated planimetric and altimetric study of the site by kite-photos: a massive wall of c. 1,4 km with 55 towers, 7 posterns, and major and secondary accesses to the citadel (2010-2012 by Y. Ubelman, S. Reynard, A. Tilia), regularly updated with advanced technologies (A. Tilia). Then, in collaboration with Dr M. Kervran, head of the French Team, we undertook an accurate study of the bastions and the shapes of its towers (squared, U-shaped, circular), which has brought to envisage three main occupational phases of the intra-moenia area: 1. Indo-Parthian/Indo-Kushan phase (c. III-II Century b.CE – III-IV Century CE); 2. Sasanian/Indo-Sasanian phase (c. III-IV Century – early VIII Century CE); 3. Islamic phase (VIII – XII/early XIII Century CE). Decay and/or abandonment and end of any settled life on the site can be dated around the XII-early XIII Century, due to attacks and pillaging by Turco-Mongol nomadic tribes, and/or the deviation of this branch of the Indus delta and consequent filling of the harbour, or both. Archaeological evidence come to light confirms the historical information. Our third aim (2010-2015) was to arrive to a first chronological panorama of the site through levels in stratigraphy and the assemblage of pottery and other significant evidence with the individual levels (N. Manassero – A. Fusaro – A. Tilia). Deep trenches were excavated (T/7 and T/9 on the Italian side; T/1 on the French side near the western portion of the bastions skirting the Hindu Temple. These brought to the very early Sasanian period or late Indo-Parthian (c. II-III Century CE), then the water-table invaded the trenches preventing us to go deeper; however, drillings (T/9) have allowed to go deeper for c.1,8 mt of shards …thus reaching a much earlier occupational phase. The question about an Hellenistic occupation at the bottom of the site (Arrian’s harbour of Alexander) is still unanswered… a dream…but the importance of Banbhore has induced to take it seriously and include it within our priorities. Ours and the French trenches have also produced significant information on the architectural panorama of the site for its earlier periods of life. A main N-S and E-W road axis was traced. The site was organised in insulae, each insula with its pits of organic and inorganic refusals, densely built along narrow roads by small mono-nuclear houses, roofed, bases in local stones and the elevation in unbacked bricks. Interesting the presence of refusals of some crafts, as if each building had at the same time the function of “home” and workshop. The refusals shew activities of ivory-working (T/1,T/4, T/9), and other crafts carried out “within the bastions of the citadel”, such as glass, shells and mother of pearl, alloys and various metallurgic activities, too, and so on. Significant the presence of a wealth of clay-moulds. T/5 has produced a clay-mould nearly intact in its shape. No less interesting, in the deeper layers, the presence of a well arranged organisation of the hydraulic resources (small canals, little domed cisterns in roughly cut local stones, wells..: T/9). One element of the site attracted our attention: the so called “Partition Wall”. It has a North-South direction; then, it bends Eastwards, including the Mosque and the Eastern lagoon, but cutting out the majestic Southern Gate. So far, it had been interpreted as a Wall that had a “religious” or “social” function to separate – after the Islamic conquest – the Muslims from the non-Muslim inhabitants of the site. Manassero dedicated the 2014 Field-Season to investigate: T/7 and T/8 were the trenches that gave a new profile to this structure and to the general occupational organisation of the citadel during its last period of life. The round-shaped tower in mud-bricks and the walls on both sides show that they had been hurriedly erected in a late phase of the life of the citadel (around the end of the X – early XI Century CE). They had been built on the top of pre-existing buildings either abandoned and collapsed or hastily flatted-down, likely to defend this eastern portion of the site and its Mosque by some human ravage that had succeeded to open a breach in the lower western bastion leaving the higher north-eastern area exposed to attacks (the skeleton found by Dr Kervran on her portion of the wall, and Khan’s skeletons with arrow-heads in their skulls and chests). According to F.A. Khan’s excavations and what he left us in his little booklet that so far – printed and re-printed – is the guide for visitors to Banbhore, in the eastern portion of the site during the latest stage of its life still stood beautiful palaces, the Friday Mosque, markets, and an eastern gate where a staircase (still in situ in the 2015) brought to a lagoon at the foot of the eastern bastions and to the river. At the end of this first stage of our historical and archaeological research-work, the identification of the site of Banbhore with the historic Sasanian/Indo-Sasanian fortified harbour-town seemed quite feasible. When we resumed our field-work in the 2017, we decided to go deeper in this direction. In the meantime, Dr Manassero had resigned due to personal choices of life. Dr Simone Mantellini bravely accepted to be our Field-Director for the archaeological sector. T/9 had unearthed an imposing Building (Building 1) running along the East-West road-axis, parallel to a second Building (Building 2). The road – wide about 5 meters – must have been a major road, that had played a central role within the general architectural urban asset of the site. Building 2 had the typical structure of the local houses: base in rough stones, elevation in mud-bricks. Excavations of Building 1 produced fillings well flatted and an endless chronological procession of floors in row mud, likely the re-occupation of an important palace during the last phase of the occupational life of Banbhore. The material (pottery and others) associated with the various levels in stratigraphy (Dr A. Fusaro) confirmed the dating of the dug portion from c. the early XIII to the XI Century CE. Historically speaking, it makes sense: chronicles of the time report about the invasion of Lower Sindh by the Seljuks (second half of the XI Century CE); they indulge on the assaults against the walls of its great harbour-town named Daybul, its long siege concluded with a peace-treaty that fixed the border with Makrān at Gwadar and gave to Daybul an autonomous status (nāḥiya) within the Seljuk dominion of Qāvurd-Khān ibn Chaghrī Beg. More interesting was the copious filling with ivory refusals. Along Building 2, were found semi-worked shells, glass, iron and brass rivets, iron instruments, alloys, coins and other. This induced to think to a late quarter of work-shops outside the Partition Wall, built on previous buildings. Lastly, some surveys extra-moenia and in the Lahiri Bandar and Mullah-ka Kot islands have revealed a close connection and interaction between these spaces and the citadel. Around the bastions: the remains of a densely settled area and a well organised regulation of the waters and the territory, rock quarries, urban quarters, dwellings, cairn-tombs (some of them re-used), an artificial lake of sweet water delimited to the south by a “barrage”, wells, and a vast so called “industrial area” to the north-northwest of the bastions, pottery kilns and others completed the image of a urban asset at least for a given span of time. Architectural and archaeological evidences have regularly been graphically, photographically and topographically documented (A. Tilia). Archaeometric analyses on the job (pottery, metals, alloys, coins…) and in Italy (ivory, glass, clay-moulds, shards…) have provided precious support and new elements to the archaeological work. We are now confronted with the plan of a positive shahristān. Banbhore is no longer only a fortified citadel. Written sources in Arabic and Persian confirm this feature. After the Jan.-Feb. 2018 field-season, the Islamic occupational phase of Banbhore and the “archaeological park” surrounding it enhanced this image: a positive fluvial and maritime system stemmed out, a well-fortified system and harbour-town, a centre of mercantile power, production and re-distribution of luxury goods, an international centre of pilgrimage and religious learning, too, outlet to the sea of the capital-city of the moment. For the forthcoming field-seasons, it was decided to concentrate the attention on the sector where the North-South axis crosses the East-West one. In particular: to further investigate Building 1; to look for the ivory-workshops that must be there around – given the copious pieces so far brought to light and used as refilling (more than 9.000 fragments) and some fragments of rough ivory (specialist of the Italian Team G. Affanni); to organise a deep-trench in the Pakistani sector (T/11), in order to resume Manassero’s investigations on the urban and architectural features of the pre-Islamic phases...and (why not?) try to overcome the water-table problem with the technological support offered by the Bahrya University of Karachi…the much dreamed quest of Alexander the Macedonian’s port. All in all and to conclude. Nowadays, at the end of this first stage of historical and archaeological research-work in collaboration with the DAS, the identification of the site of Banbhore and its surrounding area with the Sasanian/Indo-Sasanian and the Early-Islamic well-fortified harbour-town of Daybul/Debol can be confirmed. No other site with the characteristics described by the written sources of the time (chronicles, geographies, travelogues…plus Marco Polo and some significant Genoese archival documents) has so far come to light on the Indus deltaic region. Conversely, still un-answered are other queries: Banbhore can be identified also with the great harbour of Alexander the Macedonian? Or with the Barbaricum/Barbarikon/Barbariké, harbour-town of Parthian rulers or local lords of “Skuthia”, also mentioned in the Periplus Maris Erythraei? Or again with Dib/Deb, harbour mentioned in a Parthian-Manichaean text? Or again the Dibos of Greek sources? Or the Dêbuhl/Dêphul of an Arminian text à propos of the Prophet Mani? Wishful thinking; however, these queries represent some amongst the ambitious aims of our future research-work.

Although I'm a rich white guy, I'm also a feminist anti-racism activist who fights for the rights of the poor and oppressed. (Carl Kenner)Systemic bias is a scourge to the pillar of neutrality. (Cerejota)Count me in. Let's leave the bias to the mainstream media. (Orcar967)Because this is so important. (CuttingEdge)These are a handful of comments posted by online editors who have banded together in a virtual coalition to combat Western bias on the world’s largest digital encyclopedia, Wikipedia. This collective action by Wikipedians both acknowledges the inherent inequalities of a user-controlled information project like Wikpedia and highlights the potential for progressive change within that same project. These community members are taking the responsibility of social change into their own hands (or more aptly, their own keyboards).In recent years much research has emerged on Wikipedia from varying fields, ranging from computer science, to business and information systems, to the social sciences. While critical at times of Wikipedia’s growth, governance, and influence, most of this work observes with optimism that barriers to improvement are not firmly structural, but rather they are socially constructed, leaving open the possibility of important and lasting change for the better.WikiProject: Countering Systemic Bias (WP:CSB) considers one such collective effort. Close to 350 editors have signed on to the project, which began in 2004 and itself emerged from a similar project named CROSSBOW, or the “Committee Regarding Overcoming Serious Systemic Bias on Wikipedia.” As a WikiProject, the term used for a loose group of editors who collaborate around a particular topic, these editors work within the Wikipedia site and collectively create a social network that is unified around one central aim—representing the un- and underrepresented—and yet they are bound by no particular unified set of interests. The first stage of a multi-method study, this paper looks at a snapshot of WP:CSB’s activity from both content analysis and social network perspectives to discover “who” geographically this coalition of the unrepresented is inserting into the digital annals of Wikipedia.Wikipedia and WikipediansDeveloped in 2001 by Internet entrepreneur Jimmy Wales and academic Larry Sanger, Wikipedia is an online collaborative encyclopedia hosting articles in nearly 250 languages (Cohen). The English-language Wikipedia contains over 3.2 million articles, each of which is created, edited, and updated solely by users (Wikipedia “Welcome”). At the time of this study, Alexa, a website tracking organisation, ranked Wikipedia as the 6th most accessed site on the Internet. Unlike the five sites ahead of it though—Google, Facebook, Yahoo, YouTube (owned by Google), and live.com (owned by Microsoft)—all of which are multibillion-dollar businesses that deal more with information aggregation than information production, Wikipedia is a non-profit that operates on less than $500,000 a year and staffs only a dozen paid employees (Lih). Wikipedia is financed and supported by the WikiMedia Foundation, a charitable umbrella organisation with an annual budget of $4.6 million, mainly funded by donations (Middleton).Wikipedia editors and contributors have the option of creating a user profile and participating via a username, or they may participate anonymously, with only an IP address representing their actions. Despite the option for total anonymity, many Wikipedians have chosen to visibly engage in this online community (Ayers, Matthews, and Yates; Bruns; Lih), and researchers across disciplines are studying the motivations of these new online collectives (Kane, Majchrzak, Johnson, and Chenisern; Oreg and Nov). The motivations of open source software contributors, such as UNIX programmers and programming groups, have been shown to be complex and tied to both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, including online reputation, self-satisfaction and enjoyment, and obligation to a greater common good (Hertel, Niedner, and Herrmann; Osterloh and Rota). Investigation into why Wikipedians edit has indicated multiple motivations as well, with community engagement, task enjoyment, and information sharing among the most significant (Schroer and Hertel). Additionally, Wikipedians seem to be taking up the cause of generativity (a concern for the ongoing health and openness of the Internet’s infrastructures) that Jonathan Zittrain notably called for in The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It. Governance and ControlAlthough the technical infrastructure of Wikipedia is built to support and perhaps encourage an equal distribution of power on the site, Wikipedia is not a land of “anything goes.” The popular press has covered recent efforts by the site to reduce vandalism through a layer of editorial review (Cohen), a tightening of control cited as a possible reason for the recent dip in the number of active editors (Edwards). A number of regulations are already in place that prevent the open editing of certain articles and pages, such as the site’s disclaimers and pages that have suffered large amounts of vandalism. Editing wars can also cause temporary restrictions to editing, and Ayers, Matthews, and Yates point out that these wars can happen anywhere, even to Burt Reynold’s page.Academic studies have begun to explore the governance and control that has developed in the Wikipedia community, generally highlighting how order is maintained not through particular actors, but through established procedures and norms. Konieczny tested whether Wikipedia’s evolution can be defined by Michels’ Iron Law of Oligopoly, which predicts that the everyday operations of any organisation cannot be run by a mass of members, and ultimately control falls into the hands of the few. Through exploring a particular WikiProject on information validation, he concludes:There are few indicators of an oligarchy having power on Wikipedia, and few trends of a change in this situation. The high level of empowerment of individual Wikipedia editors with regard to policy making, the ease of communication, and the high dedication to ideals of contributors succeed in making Wikipedia an atypical organization, quite resilient to the Iron Law. (189)Butler, Joyce, and Pike support this assertion, though they emphasise that instead of oligarchy, control becomes encapsulated in a wide variety of structures, policies, and procedures that guide involvement with the site. A virtual “bureaucracy” emerges, but one that should not be viewed with the negative connotation often associated with the term.Other work considers control on Wikipedia through the framework of commons governance, where “peer production depends on individual action that is self-selected and decentralized rather than hierarchically assigned. Individuals make their own choices with regard to resources managed as a commons” (Viegas, Wattenberg and McKeon). The need for quality standards and quality control largely dictate this commons governance, though interviewing Wikipedians with various levels of responsibility revealed that policies and procedures are only as good as those who maintain them. Forte, Larco, and Bruckman argue “the Wikipedia community has remained healthy in large part due to the continued presence of ‘old-timers’ who carry a set of social norms and organizational ideals with them into every WikiProject, committee, and local process in which they take part” (71). Thus governance on Wikipedia is a strong representation of a democratic ideal, where actors and policies are closely tied in their evolution. Transparency, Content, and BiasThe issue of transparency has proved to be a double-edged sword for Wikipedia and Wikipedians. The goal of a collective body of knowledge created by all—the “expert” and the “amateur”—can only be upheld if equal access to page creation and development is allotted to everyone, including those who prefer anonymity. And yet this very option for anonymity, or even worse, false identities, has been a sore subject for some in the Wikipedia community as well as a source of concern for some scholars (Santana and Wood). The case of a 24-year old college dropout who represented himself as a multiple Ph.D.-holding theology scholar and edited over 16,000 articles brought these issues into the public spotlight in 2007 (Doran; Elsworth). Wikipedia itself has set up standards for content that include expectations of a neutral point of view, verifiability of information, and the publishing of no original research, but Santana and Wood argue that self-policing of these policies is not adequate:The principle of managerial discretion requires that every actor act from a sense of duty to exercise moral autonomy and choice in responsible ways. When Wikipedia’s editors and administrators remain anonymous, this criterion is simply not met. It is assumed that everyone is behaving responsibly within the Wikipedia system, but there are no monitoring or control mechanisms to make sure that this is so, and there is ample evidence that it is not so. (141) At the theoretical level, some downplay these concerns of transparency and autonomy as logistical issues in lieu of the potential for information systems to support rational discourse and emancipatory forms of communication (Hansen, Berente, and Lyytinen), but others worry that the questionable “realities” created on Wikipedia will become truths once circulated to all areas of the Web (Langlois and Elmer). With the number of articles on the English-language version of Wikipedia reaching well into the millions, the task of mapping and assessing content has become a tremendous endeavour, one mostly taken on by information systems experts. Kittur, Chi, and Suh have used Wikipedia’s existing hierarchical categorisation structure to map change in the site’s content over the past few years. Their work revealed that in early 2008 “Culture and the arts” was the most dominant category of content on Wikipedia, representing nearly 30% of total content. People (15%) and geographical locations (14%) represent the next largest categories, while the natural and physical sciences showed the greatest increase in volume between 2006 and 2008 (+213%D, with “Culture and the arts” close behind at +210%D). This data may indicate that contributing to Wikipedia, and thus spreading knowledge, is growing amongst the academic community while maintaining its importance to the greater popular culture-minded community. Further work by Kittur and Kraut has explored the collaborative process of content creation, finding that too many editors on a particular page can reduce the quality of content, even when a project is well coordinated.Bias in Wikipedia content is a generally acknowledged and somewhat conflicted subject (Giles; Johnson; McHenry). The Wikipedia community has created numerous articles and pages within the site to define and discuss the problem. Citing a survey conducted by the University of Würzburg, Germany, the “Wikipedia:Systemic bias” page describes the average Wikipedian as:MaleTechnically inclinedFormally educatedAn English speakerWhiteAged 15-49From a majority Christian countryFrom a developed nationFrom the Northern HemisphereLikely a white-collar worker or studentBias in content is thought to be perpetuated by this demographic of contributor, and the “founder effect,” a concept from genetics, linking the original contributors to this same demographic has been used to explain the origins of certain biases. Wikipedia’s “About” page discusses the issue as well, in the context of the open platform’s strengths and weaknesses:in practice editing will be performed by a certain demographic (younger rather than older, male rather than female, rich enough to afford a computer rather than poor, etc.) and may, therefore, show some bias. Some topics may not be covered well, while others may be covered in great depth. No educated arguments against this inherent bias have been advanced.Royal and Kapila’s study of Wikipedia content tested some of these assertions, finding identifiable bias in both their purposive and random sampling. They conclude that bias favoring larger countries is positively correlated with the size of the country’s Internet population, and corporations with larger revenues work in much the same way, garnering more coverage on the site. The researchers remind us that Wikipedia is “more a socially produced document than a value-free information source” (Royal & Kapila).WikiProject: Countering Systemic BiasAs a coalition of current Wikipedia editors, the WikiProject: Countering Systemic Bias (WP:CSB) attempts to counter trends in content production and points of view deemed harmful to the democratic ideals of a valueless, open online encyclopedia. WP:CBS’s mission is not one of policing the site, but rather deepening it:Generally, this project concentrates upon remedying omissions (entire topics, or particular sub-topics in extant articles) rather than on either (1) protesting inappropriate inclusions, or (2) trying to remedy issues of how material is presented. Thus, the first question is "What haven't we covered yet?", rather than "how should we change the existing coverage?" (Wikipedia, “Countering”)The project lays out a number of content areas lacking adequate representation, geographically highlighting the dearth in coverage of Africa, Latin America, Asia, and parts of Eastern Europe. WP:CSB also includes a “members” page that editors can sign to show their support, along with space to voice their opinions on the problem of bias on Wikipedia (the quotations at the beginning of this paper are taken from this “members” page). At the time of this study, 329 editors had self-selected and self-identified as members of WP:CSB, and this group constitutes the population sample for the current study. To explore the extent to which WP:CSB addressed these self-identified areas for improvement, each editor’s last 50 edits were coded for their primary geographical country of interest, as well as the conceptual category of the page itself (“P” for person/people, “L” for location, “I” for idea/concept, “T” for object/thing, or “NA” for indeterminate). For example, edits to the Wikipedia page for a single person like Tony Abbott (Australian federal opposition leader) were coded “Australia, P”, while an edit for a group of people like the Manchester United football team would be coded “England, P”. Coding was based on information obtained from the header paragraphs of each article’s Wikipedia page. After coding was completed, corresponding information on each country’s associated continent was added to the dataset, based on the United Nations Statistics Division listing.A total of 15,616 edits were coded for the study. Nearly 32% (n = 4962) of these edits were on articles for persons or people (see Table 1 for complete coding results). From within this sub-sample of edits, a majority of the people (68.67%) represented are associated with North America and Europe (Figure A). If we break these statistics down further, nearly half of WP:CSB’s edits concerning people were associated with the United States (36.11%) and England (10.16%), with India (3.65%) and Australia (3.35%) following at a distance. These figures make sense for the English-language Wikipedia; over 95% of the population in the three Westernised countries speak English, and while India is still often regarded as a developing nation, its colonial British roots and the emergence of a market economy with large, technology-driven cities are logical explanations for its representation here (and some estimates make India the largest English-speaking nation by population on the globe today).Table A Coding Results Total Edits 15616 (I) Ideas 2881 18.45% (L) Location 2240 14.34% NA 333 2.13% (T) Thing 5200 33.30% (P) People 4962 31.78% People by Continent Africa 315 6.35% Asia 827 16.67% Australia 175 3.53% Europe 1411 28.44% NA 110 2.22% North America 1996 40.23% South America 128 2.58% The areas of the globe of main concern to WP:CSB proved to be much less represented by the coalition itself. Asia, far and away the most populous continent with more than 60% of the globe’s people (GeoHive), was represented in only 16.67% of edits. Africa (6.35%) and South America (2.58%) were equally underrepresented compared to both their real-world populations (15% and 9% of the globe’s population respectively) and the aforementioned dominance of the advanced Westernised areas. However, while these percentages may seem low, in aggregate they do meet the quota set on the WP:CSB Project Page calling for one out of every twenty edits to be “a subject that is systematically biased against the pages of your natural interests.” By this standard, the coalition is indeed making headway in adding content that strategically counterbalances the natural biases of Wikipedia’s average editor.Figure ASocial network analysis allows us to visualise multifaceted data in order to identify relationships between actors and content (Vego-Redondo; Watts). Similar to Davis’s well-known sociological study of Southern American socialites in the 1930s (Scott), our Wikipedia coalition can be conceptualised as individual actors united by common interests, and a network of relations can be constructed with software such as UCINET. A mapping algorithm that considers both the relationship between all sets of actors and each actor to the overall collective structure produces an image of our network. This initial network is bimodal, as both our Wikipedia editors and their edits (again, coded for country of interest) are displayed as nodes (Figure B). Edge-lines between nodes represents a relationship, and here that relationship is the act of editing a Wikipedia article. We see from our network that the “U.S.” and “England” hold central positions in the network, with a mass of editors crowding around them. A perimeter of nations is then held in place by their ties to editors through the U.S. and England, with a second layer of editors and poorly represented nations (Gabon, Laos, Uzbekistan, etc.) around the boundaries of the network.Figure BWe are reminded from this visualisation both of the centrality of the two Western powers even among WP:CSB editoss, and of the peripheral nature of most other nations in the world. But we also learn which editors in the project are contributing most to underrepresented areas, and which are less “tied” to the Western core. Here we see “Wizzy” and “Warofdreams” among the second layer of editors who act as a bridge between the core and the periphery; these are editors with interests in both the Western and marginalised nations. Located along the outer edge, “Gallador” and “Gerrit” have no direct ties to the U.S. or England, concentrating all of their edits on less represented areas of the globe. Identifying editors at these key positions in the network will help with future research, informing interview questions that will investigate their interests further, but more significantly, probing motives for participation and action within the coalition.Additionally, we can break the network down further to discover editors who appear to have similar interests in underrepresented areas. Figure C strips down the network to only editors and edits dealing with Africa and South America, the least represented continents. From this we can easily find three types of editors again: those who have singular interests in particular nations (the outermost layer of editors), those who have interests in a particular region (the second layer moving inward), and those who have interests in both of these underrepresented regions (the center layer in the figure). This last group of editors may prove to be the most crucial to understand, as they are carrying the full load of WP:CSB’s mission.Figure CThe End of Geography, or the Reclamation?In The Internet Galaxy, Manuel Castells writes that “the Internet Age has been hailed as the end of geography,” a bold suggestion, but one that has gained traction over the last 15 years as the excitement for the possibilities offered by information communication technologies has often overshadowed structural barriers to participation like the Digital Divide (207). Castells goes on to amend the “end of geography” thesis by showing how global information flows and regional Internet access rates, while creating a new “map” of the world in many ways, is still closely tied to power structures in the analog world. The Internet Age: “redefines distance but does not cancel geography” (207). The work of WikiProject: Countering Systemic Bias emphasises the importance of place and representation in the information environment that continues to be constructed in the online world. This study looked at only a small portion of this coalition’s efforts (~16,000 edits)—a snapshot of their labor frozen in time—which itself is only a minute portion of the information being dispatched through Wikipedia on a daily basis (~125,000 edits). Further analysis of WP:CSB’s work over time, as well as qualitative research into the identities, interests and motivations of this collective, is needed to understand more fully how information bias is understood and challenged in the Internet galaxy. The data here indicates this is a fight worth fighting for at least a growing few.ReferencesAlexa. “Top Sites.” Alexa.com, n.d. 10 Mar. 2010 ‹http://www.alexa.com/topsites>. Ayers, Phoebe, Charles Matthews, and Ben Yates. How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It. 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Biopunk is an intriguing development of that essential cultural reference point for the information age: cyberpunk. William Gibson's Neuromancer (1984) did more than popularise the phrase cyberspace, it laid the basis for a genre that went on to capture the turbulent zeitgeist of a new digital age in which the promises of the much-vaunted, information society finally seemed possible. Karl Marx used the phrase "All that is solid melts into air..."1 to describe the profound social changes wrought by capitalism. It is also a fitting description of the apparent technology-induced paradigm shift in our contemporary perception of the world. Increasingly, solid, material structures are viewed in immaterial, informational terms and the boundaries between previously distinct categories are blurring. This paradigm shift has produced attendant tensions and the significance of biopunk resides in its cultural representation or 'playing out' our contemporary ontological confusion: physicality's newly problematic status. This article briefly samples the work of the British writers Jeff Noon and Michael Marshall Smith to argue that in the rapidly-approaching era of a fully-mapped human genome, biopunk provides a much-needed cathartic imaginative outlet for our growing confusion about the status of the physical in our brave new digital world. Viral Times -- Hybrid Confusion In the past we have always assumed that the external world around us has represented reality, however confusing or uncertain, and that the inner world of our minds, its dreams, hopes, ambitions, represented the realm of fantasy and the imagination. These roles it seems to me have been reversed ... the one small node of reality left to us is inside our own heads. (Ballard 5) The notion that biopunk's imaginative excesses can provide potentially useful insights into the contemporary condition is backed by the sense that the traditional boundary between the real and imagined worlds has become irretrievably blurred. Thus J.G. Ballard suggests that the ubiquity and pervasiveness of modern technology has reversed our usual ontological categories, a sentiment endorsed by Columbus, a character from Noon's novel Pollen, who asserts that "what is presently inside the head will shortly be outside the head. The dream! The dream will live!" (193). The increasing perception of such an ontological reversal is reflected in claims that cyberpunk can be viewed as social theory (Burrows) whereas "Baudrillard's futuristic postmodern social theory can be read in turn as science fiction" (Kellner 299). Cyberpunk fiction utilises the pace of technological change as a permanent narrative back-drop, and having identified various social trends within late capitalism re-presents them with an 'exaggerated clarity' that has become its hallmark. Biopunk takes such exaggerations even further. It metaphorises cyberpunk's social instabilities into an alarming maelstrom of biological uncertainty: exaggerated clarity becomes exaggerated anxiety. Biopunk develops the informationally saturated mise-en-scène of cyberpunk by exploring further the implications of the increasing convergence between information as an abstract entity and its embodied manipulation in biological DNA. It pursues Marx's previously cited image of melting ephemerality with fictional fervour: "These days the doors between the two worlds were slippery, as though the walls were going fluid" (Noon, Pollen 92)2. Biopunk's fictional emphasis upon disorienting levels of fluidity reflects non-fictional concerns about the potential information overloading tendencies of digital technologies: "the tie between information and action has been severed ... we are glutted with information, drowning in information, we have no control over it, don't know what to do with it" (Postman 6). In Pollen, Noon provides a grotesque metaphorical representation of Postman's fears in his portrayal of a near-future Manchester struggling to cope with the after-effects of the widespread dispersal of a powerful fertility drug called Fecundity 10. The city is over-run by exponentially proliferating flora and fauna that combine in a frenetic confusion of unlikely hybrid genetic couplings. Noon uses a blurring of previously distinct genetic categories to symbolise society's inability to control the growth of information. His fiction 'fleshes out' digitally-induced anxieties with a sustained depiction of futuristic Hieronymous Bosch-like febrility and fecundity, or, to use a phrase of Baudrillard's, 'organic delirium': The Zombies were dancing and blooming around the shit and the dust, flowers sprouting from their tough skins, petals falling from their mouths. It was a fine show of fauna and flora, all mixed into one being. New species ... It was a time of happenings and flower power. A time of changes. That's why this hayfever wave is exciting me so much, despite the danger. It's got me in two minds, this fever. The flowers are making a come back, and the world is getting messier. The barricades are coming down. This city is so fucking juicy right now. (Noon, Pollen 117 & 166) Noon's Nymphomation is set in a near-future Manchester that is the testing site for a national lottery based upon a domino-like game. The neologism that provides the novel's title, continues his key theme of fecundity, it is used: ... to denote a complex mathematical procedure where numbers rather than being added together or multiplied or whatever, were actually allowed to breed with each other, to produce new numbers, which had something to do with 'breeding ever more pathways towards the goal'. (Noon, Nymphomation 119) Fecundity in this setting does not only apply to the mating of informational and biological entities but is also apparent in the meme-like transmission of a pervasive copulatory capitalist zeitgeist: "the naked populace, making foreplay to the domiviz, bone-eyed and numberfucked ... Even the air had a hard-on, bulging with mathematics. Turning the burbflies into a nympho-swarm, liquid streets alive with perverts ..." (Noon, Nymphomation 65) General fecundity is specifically manifested in a glut of commercial activity which the authorities no longer seem able to control: "the streets of Blurbchester were thick with the mergers, a corporate fog of brand images. People had to battle through them ... The Government was at a loss regarding the overwhelming messages; they knew the experiment had gone wrong ... but how to right it?" (240). Informational overload becomes a reproductive frenzy whereby corporate messages breed literally like flies. Gibson's dance of biz becomes an actual buzz: As the burbflies went out of control, blocking out the streetlights, making a cloud of logos. It was rutting season for the living verts, and all over the city the male blurbs were riding on the backs of females. Biting their necks, hoping for babyverts. The city, the pulsating city, alive with the rain and colours and the stench of nymphomation Mathemedia. Here we go, numberfucked ... (Noon, Nymphomation 159) In the real world, the process of technological change causes flux and confusion. Cyberpunk fiction represents this by describing dystopian social environments. Its protagonists revel in the loss of traditional and coherent social values such as law and order and community where its protagonists revel in an unlimited smorgasboard of privatised formerly public services. Biopunk's distinctive quality stems from its own peculiar perspective on such confusion, manifested in a distinctive attention to bodily substance and a whole bestiary of new hybrid life-forms. Fleshy Contempt For Case, who'd lived for the bodiless exultation of cyberspace it was the Fall. In the bars he'd frequented as a cowboy hotshot, the elite stance involved a certain relaxed contempt for the flesh. The body was meat. Case fell into the prison of his own flesh. (Gibson, Neuromancer 12) This early passage from Neuromancer describes its protagonist's addictive relationship to the Matrix and provides a neat summary of cyberpunk's perspective on the growing subordination of the physical. Digital pleasure is experienced at the expense of alienation with the material environment. In Douglas Coupland's 'factional' work Microserfs (1995) the excessively manicured lawns at Microsoft headquarters merely represent an epiphenomenon of a more deeply-rooted societal trend towards the diminished importance of our physical sensibilities. Lego, or 'Satan's playtoy', is humorously identified as an emblematic commodity of this tendency due to the way in which it is responsible for brainwashing entire generations of youth from the information-dense industrialized nations into developing mind-sets that view the world as unitized, sterile, inorganic, and interchangeably modular ... Lego is, like, the perfect device to enculturate a citizenry intolerant of smell, intestinal by-products, nonadherence to unified standards, decay, blurred edges, germination and death. Try imagining a forest made of Lego. Good luck. Do you ever see Legos made from ice? dung? wood? iron? and sphagnum moss? No -- grotacious, or what? (Coupland 258) A typically distinguishing feature of biopunk is its willingness to stretch such aspects of the digital zeitgeist to their limits. In contrast to Coupland's easy humour and cyberpunk's "relaxed contempt for the flesh", biopunk refashions sentiments of unease with physical immediacy to take the form of nauseating disgust with the biological per se. In Spares, this is vividly embodied when, for example, objects fall into reality from the cyberspatial Gap: It was a bird, of a kind. A bird or a cat, either way. It was featherless, but stood a foot tall on spindly jointed legs; its face was avian but -- like the body -- fat and dotted with patchy, moulting orange fur. Two vestigial wings poked out of its side at right angles, looking as if they had been unceremoniously amputated with scissors and then re-cauterized. Most of the creature's skin was visible, an unhealthy white mess that appeared to be weeping fluid. The whole body heaved in and out as it sat, as if labouring for breath, and it gave of a smell of recent decay -- as if fresh-minted for death ... its beak opened. The hole this revealed looked less like a mouth than a churned wound, and the eyes, though vicious, were faltering ... The bird tried to take a step towards us, but the effort caused one of its legs to break. The top joint teetered in its socket and then popped out. The creature flopped onto its side. The skin over the joint tore like an over-ripe fruit, releasing a gout of matter that resembled nothing so much as a heavy period mixed with sour cream. (Smith 162) Biopunk's almost neo-gnostic distaste for flesh has arguably become increasingly apparent in William Gibson's later work. In Neuromancer, for example, the tone of 'relaxed contempt' is still evident in his description of the population's consumer demand: "Summer in the Sprawl, the mall crowds swaying like windblown grass, a field of flesh shot through with sudden eddies of need and gratification" (60). However, his vision is certainly less relaxed when, by the time of Idoru (1996), he describes how the media's audience ... is best visualized as a vicious, lazy, profoundly ignorant, perpetually hungry organism craving the warm god-flesh of the annointed. Personally I like to imagine something the size of a baby hippo, the color of a week-old boiled potato, that lives by itself, in the dark, in a double-wide on the outskirts of Topeka. It's covered with eyes and it sweats constantly. The sweat runs into those eyes and makes them sting. It has no mouth ... no genitals, and can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote. Or by voting in presidential elections. (28-9) Conclusion Just before an airplane breaks the sound barrier, sound waves become visible on the wings of the plane. The sudden visibility of sound just as sound ends is an apt instance of that great pattern of being that reveals new and opposite forms just as the earlier forms reach their peak performance. (McLuhan 12) McLuhan's image of the dramatic visibility of sound right at the moment of its imminent supercedance is a useful way of conceptualising the significance of biopunk and its obsessive highlighting of bodies and their metaphoric power. Perhaps as we leap-frog the mechanical technologies of modernity into a postindustrial world where information attains the status of the fourth element, biopunk is performing an idiosyncratic eulogy at the funeral of physicality. Footnotes Marshall Berman uses this phrase for the title of his historical, socio-cultural exploration of capitalism and its effects. Further examples include: ... the world is getting very fluid these days. Very fluid. Dangerously so (Noon, Pollen 101) ... It was a fluid world and there was danger for everybody living there. (157) ... the real world is up for grabs, especially since the world has become so fluid. (200) ... Even time was becoming fluid under the new map (246) ... Coyote is howling now, turning the road into liquid so he can glide down its throat. (254) The world was dissolving and the new day bled away ... safety, the rules, cartography, instruction ... all the bad things were peeling away (278) References Ballard, J.G. Crash. London: Vintage, 1995. Berman, M. All That Is Solid Melts into Air. London: Verso, 1983. Burrows, R. "Cyberpunk as Social Theory." Imagining Cities. Eds. S. Westwood and J. Williams. London: Routledge, 1997. Coupland, D. Microserfs. London: Flamingo, 1995. Gibson, W. Neuromancer. London: Grafton, 1984. ---. Idoru. London:Viking, 1996. Kellner, D. Media Culture. London: Routledge, 1995. McLuhan, M. Understanding Media. New York: New American Library, 1964. Noon, Jeff. Vurt. Manchester: Ringpull, 1993. ---. Pollen. Manchester: Ringpull, 1995. ---. Nymphomation, London: Corgi, 1997. Postman, N. "Informing Ourselves to Death." German Informatics Society, Stuttgart. 1990. 26 June 2000 <http://www.eff.org/pub/Net_culture/Criticisms/informing_ourselves_to_death.paper>. Smith, M. M. Spares. London: HarperCollins, 1996. Stephenson, N. Snow Crash. New York: Bantam Spectra, 1992. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Paul Taylor. "Fleshing Out the Maelstrom: Biopunk and the Violence of Information." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3.3 (2000). [your date of access] <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0006/speed.php>. Chicago style: Paul Taylor, "Fleshing Out the Maelstrom: Biopunk and the Violence of Information," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3, no. 3 (2000), <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0006/speed.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Paul Taylor. (2000) Fleshing Out the Maelstrom: Biopunk and the Violence of Information. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3(3). <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0006/speed.php> ([your date of access]).

Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur on Unsplash ABSTRACT The UK-based campaign group Scrap Factory Farming has launched a legal challenge against industrial animal agriculture; the challenge is in the process of judicial review. While a fringe movement, Scrap Factory Farming has already accrued some serious backers, including the legal team of Michael Mansfield QC. The premise is that factory farming is a danger not just to animals or the environment but also to human health. According to its stated goals, governments should be given until 2025 to phase out industrialized “concentrated animal feeding organizations” (CAFOs) in favor of more sustainable and safer agriculture. This paper will discuss the bioethical issues involved in Scrap Factory Farming’s legal challenge and argue that an overhaul of factory farming is long overdue. INTRODUCTION A CAFO is a subset of animal feeding operations that has a highly concentrated animal population. CAFOs house at least 1000 beef cows, 2500 pigs, or 125,000 chickens for at least 45 days a year. The animals are often confined in pens or cages to use minimal energy, allowing them to put on as much weight as possible in as short a time. The animals are killed early relative to their total lifespans because the return on investment (the amount of meat produced compared to animal feed) is a curve of diminishing returns. CAFOs’ primary goal is efficiency: fifty billion animals are “processed” in CAFOs every year. The bioethical questions raised by CAFOs include whether it is acceptable to kill the animals, and if so, under what circumstances, whether the animals have rights, and what animal welfare standards should apply. While there are laws and standards in place, they tend to reflect the farm lobby and fail to consider broader animal ethics. Another critical issue applicable to industrial animal agriculture is the problem of the just distribution of scarce resources. There is a finite amount of food that the world can produce, which is, for the moment, approximately enough to go around.[1] The issue is how it goes around. Despite there being enough calories and nutrients on the planet to give all a comfortable life, these calories and nutrients are distributed such that there is excess and waste in much of the global North and rampant starvation and malnutrition in the global South. The problem of distribution can be solved in two ways: either by efficient and just distribution or by increasing net production (either increase productivity or decrease waste) so that even an inefficient and unjust distribution system will probably meet the minimum nutritional standards for all humans. This essay explores four bioethical fields (animal ethics, climate ethics, workers’ rights, and just distribution) as they relate to current industrial agriculture and CAFOs. l. Animal Ethics Two central paradigms characterize animal ethics: welfarism and animal rights. These roughly correspond to the classical frameworks of utilitarianism and deontology. Welfarists[2] hold the common-sense position that animals must be treated well and respected as individuals but do not have inalienable rights in the same ways as humans. A typical welfare position might be, “I believe that animals should be given the best life possible, but there is no inherent evil in using animals for food, so long as they are handled and killed humanely.” Animal rights theorists and activists, on the other hand, would say, “I believe non-human animals should be given the best lives possible, but we should also respect certain rights of theirs analogous to human rights: they should never be killed for food, experimented upon, etc.” Jeremy Bentham famously gave an early exposition of the animal rights case: “The question is not Can they reason?, nor Can they talk?, but Can they suffer? Why should the law refuse its protection to any sensitive being?” Those who take an animal welfare stance have grounds to oppose the treatment of animals in CAFOs as opposed to more traditional grass-fed animal agriculture. CAFOs cannot respect the natural behaviors or needs of animals who evolved socially for millions of years in open plains. If more space was allowed per animal or more time for socialization and other positive experiences in the animal’s life, the yield of the farm would drop. This is not commercially viable in a competitive industry like animal agriculture; thus, there is very little incentive for CAFOs to treat animals well. Rampant abuse is documented.[3] Acts of cruelty are routine: pigs often have teeth pulled and tails docked because they often go mad in their conditions and attempt to cannibalize each other; chickens have their beaks clipped to avoid them pecking at each other, causing immense pain; cows and bulls have their horns burned off to avoid them damaging others (as this damages the final meat product, too); male chicks that hatch in the egg industry are ground up in a macerator, un-anaesthetized, in the first 24 hours of their life as they will not go on to lay eggs. These practices vary widely among factory farms and among jurisdictions. Yet, arguably, the welfare of animals cannot be properly respected because all CAFOs fundamentally see animals as mere products-in-the-making instead of the complex, sentient, and emotional individuals science has repeatedly shown them to be.[4] ll. Climate Ethics The climate impact of farming animals is increasingly evident. Around 15-20 percent of human-made emissions come from animal agriculture.[5] and deforestation to create space for livestock grazing or growing crops to feed farm animals. An average quarter-pound hamburger uses up to six kilograms of feed, causes 66 square feet of deforestation, and uses up to 65 liters of water, with around 4kg of carbon emissions to boot – a majority of which come from the cattle themselves (as opposed to food processing or food miles).[6] According to environmentalist George Monbiot, “Even if you shipped bananas six times around the planet, their impact would be lower than local beef and lamb.”[7] The disparity between the impact of animal and plant-based produce is stark. Not all animal products are created equally. Broadly, there are two ways to farm animals: extensive or intensive farming. Extensive animal farming might be considered a “traditional” way of farming: keeping animals in large fields, as naturally as possible, often rotating them between different areas to not overgraze any one pasture. However, its efficiency is much lower than intensive farming – the style CAFOs use. Intensive animal farming is arguably more environmentally efficient. That is, CAFOs produce more output per unit of natural resource input than extensive systems do. However, environmental efficiency is relative rather than absolute, as the level of intensive animal agriculture leads to large-scale deforestation to produce crops for factory-farmed animals. CAFOs are also point-sources of pollution from the massive quantities of animal waste produced – around 1,000,000 tons per day in the US alone, triple the amount of all human waste produced per day – which has significant negative impacts on human health in the surrounding areas.[8] The environmental impacts of CAFOs must be given serious ethical consideration using new frameworks in climate ethics and bioethics. One example of a land ethic to guide thinking in this area is that “[it] is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”[9] It remains to be seen whether CAFOs can operate in a way that respects and preserves “integrity, stability, and beauty” of their local ecosystem, given the facts above. The pollution CAFOs emit affects the surrounding areas. Hog CAFOs are built disproportionately around predominantly minority communities in North Carolina where poverty rates are high.[10] Animal waste carries heavy metals, infectious diseases, and antibiotic-resistant pathogens into nearby water sources and houses. lll. Workers’ Rights The poor treatment of slaughterhouse workers has been documented in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic, where, despite outbreaks of coronavirus among workers, the White House ordered that they remain open to maintain the supply of meat. The staff of slaughterhouses in the US is almost exclusively people with low socioeconomic status, ethnic minorities, and migrants.[11] Almost half of frontline slaughterhouse workers are Hispanic, and a quarter is Black. Additionally, half are immigrants, and a quarter comes from families with limited English proficiency. An eighth live in poverty, with around 45 percent below 200 percent of the poverty line. Only one-in-forty has a college degree or more, while one-in-six lacks health insurance. Employee turnover rates are around 200 percent per year.[12] Injuries are very common in the fast-moving conveyor belt environment with sharp knives, machinery, and a crowd of workers. OSHA found 17 cases of hospitalizations, two body part amputations per week, and loss of an eye every month in the American industrial meat industry. This is three times the workplace accident rate of the average American worker across all industries. Beef and pork workers are likely to suffer repetitive strain at seven times the rate of the rest of the population. One worker told the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) that “every co-worker I know has been injured at some point… I can attest that the line speeds are already too fast to keep up with. Please, I am asking you not to increase them anymore.”[13] Slaughterhouses pose a major risk to public health from zoonotic disease transmission. 20 percent of slaughterhouse workers interviewed in Kenya admit to slaughtering sick animals, which greatly increases the risk of transmitting disease either to a worker further down the production line or a consumer at the supermarket.[14] Moreover, due to poor hygienic conditions and high population density, animals in CAFOs are overfed with antibiotics. Over two-thirds of all antibiotics globally are given to animals in agriculture, predicted to increase by 66 percent by 2030.[15] The majority of these animals do not require antibiotics; their overuse creates a strong and consistent selection pressure on any present bacterial pathogens that leads to antibiotic resistance that could create devastating cross-species disease affecting even humans. The World Health Organization predicts that around 10 million humans per year could die of antibiotic-resistant diseases by 2050.[16] Many of these antibiotics are also necessary for human medical interventions, so antibiotics in animals have a tremendous opportunity cost. The final concern is that of zoonosis itself. A zoonotic disease is any disease that crosses the species boundary from animals to humans. According to the United Nations, 60 percent of all known infections and 75 percent of all emerging infections are zoonotic.[17] Many potential zoonoses are harbored in wild animals (particularly when wild animals are hunted and sold in wet markets) because of the natural biodiversity. However, around a third of zoonoses originate in domesticated animals, which is a huge proportion given the relative lack of diversity of the animals we choose to eat. Q fever, or “query fever,” is an example of a slaughterhouse-borne disease. Q fever has a high fatality rate when untreated that decreases to “just” 2 percent with appropriate treatment.[18] H1N1 (swine flu) and H5N1 (bird flu) are perhaps the most famous examples of zoonoses associated with factory farming. lV. Unjust Distribution The global distribution of food can cause suffering. According to research commissioned by the BBC, the average Ethiopian eats around seven kilograms of meat per year, and the average Rwandan eats eight.[19] This is a factor of ten smaller than the average European, while the average American clocks in at around 115 kilograms of meat per year. In terms of calories, Eritreans average around 1600kcal per day while most Europeans ingest double that. Despite enough calories on the planet to sustain its population, 25,000 people worldwide starve to death each day, 40 percent of whom are children. There are two ways to address the unjust distribution: efficient redistribution and greater net production, which are not mutually exclusive. Some argue that redistribution will lead to lower net productivity because it disincentivizes labor;[20] others argue that redistribution is necessary to respect human rights of survival and equality.[21] Instead of arguing this point, I will focus on people’s food choices and their effect on both the efficiency and total yield of global agriculture, as these are usually less discussed. Regardless of the metric used, animals always produce far fewer calories and nutrients (protein, iron, zinc, and all the others) than we feed them. This is true because of the conservation of mass. They cannot feasibly produce more, as they burn off and excrete much of what they ingest. The exact measurement of the loss varies based on the metric used. When compared to live weight, cows consume somewhere around ten times their weight. When it comes to actual edible weight, they consume up to 25 times more than we can get out of them. Cows are only around one percent efficient in terms of calorific production and four percent efficient in protein production. Poultry is more efficient, but we still lose half of all crops we put into them by weight and get out only a fifth of the protein and a tenth of the calories fed to them.[22] Most other animals lie somewhere in the middle of these two in terms of efficiency, but no animal is ever as efficient as eating plants before they are filtered through animals in terms of the nutritional value available to the world. Due to this inefficiency, it takes over 100 square meters to produce 1000 calories of beef or lamb compared to just 1.3 square meters to produce the same calories from tofu.[23] The food choices in the Western world, where we eat so much more meat than people eat elsewhere, are directly related to a reduction in the amount of food and nutrition in the rest of the world. The most influential theory of justice in recent times is John Rawls’ Original Position wherein stakeholders in an idealized future society meet behind a “veil of ignorance” to negotiate policy, not knowing the role they will play in that society. There is an equal chance of each policymaker ending up poverty-stricken or incredibly privileged; therefore, each should negotiate to maximize the outcome of all citizens, especially those worst-off in society, known as the “maximin” strategy. In this hypothetical scenario, resource distribution would be devised to be as just as possible and should therefore sway away from animal consumption. CONCLUSION Evidence is growing that animals of all sorts, including fish and certain invertebrates, feel pain in ways that people are increasingly inclined to respect, though still, climate science is more developed and often inspires more public passion than animal rights do. Workers’ rights and welfare in slaughterhouses have become mainstream topics of conversation because of the outbreaks of COVID-19 in such settings. Environmentalists note overconsumption in high-income countries, also shining a light on the starvation of much of the low-income population of the world. At the intersection of these bioethical issues lies the modern CAFO, significantly contributing to animal suffering, climate change, poor working conditions conducive to disease, and unjust distribution of finite global resources (physical space and crops). It is certainly time to move away from the CAFO model of agriculture to at least a healthy mixture of extensive agriculture and alternative (non-animal) proteins. - [1] Berners-Lee M, Kennelly C, Watson R, Hewitt CN; Current global food production is sufficient to meet human nutritional needs in 2050 provided there is radical societal adaptation. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. 6:52, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.310 [2] : Lund TB, Kondrup SV, Sandøe P. A multidimensional measure of animal ethics orientation – Developed and applied to a representative sample of the Danish public. PLoS ONE 14(2): e0211656. 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0211656 [3] Fiber-Ostrow P & Lovell JS. Behind a veil of secrecy: animal abuse, factory farms, and Ag-Gag legislation, Contemporary Justice Review, 19:2, p230-249. 2016. DOI: 10.1080/10282580.2016.1168257 [4] Jones RC. Science, sentience, and animal welfare. Biol Philos 28, p1–30 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-012-9351-1 [5] Twine R. Emissions from Animal Agriculture—16.5% Is the New Minimum Figure. Sustainability, 13, 6276. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.3390/su13116276 [6] Capper JL. "Is the Grass Always Greener? Comparing the Environmental Impact of Conventional, Natural and Grass-Fed Beef Production Systems" Animals 2, no. 2: 127-143. 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani2020127 [7] Monbiot, George. “In Trying to Reduce the Impact of Our Diets, … Their Impact Would Be Lower than Local Beef and Lamb.” Twitter, Twitter, 24 Jan. 2020, twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/1220691168012460032. [8] Copeland C. Resources, Science, and Industry Division. "Animal waste and water quality: EPA regulation of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)." Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress, 2006. [9] Leopold A. A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. 1949. [10] Nicole W. “CAFOs and environmental justice: the case of North Carolina.” Environmental health perspectives vol. 121:6. 2013: A182-9. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.121-a182 [11] Fremstad S, Brown H, Rho HJ. CEPR’s Analysis of American Community Survey, 2014-2018 5-Year Estimates. 2020. Accessed 08/06/21 at https://cepr.net/meatpacking-workers-are-a-diverse-group-who-need-better-protections [12] Broadway, MJ. "Planning for change in small towns or trying to avoid the slaughterhouse blues." Journal of Rural Studies 16:1. P37-46. 2000. [13] Wasley A. The Guardian. 2018. Accessed 08/06/2021 at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/05/amputations-serious-injuries-us-meat-industry-plant [14] Cook EA, de Glanville WA, Thomas LF, Kariuki S, Bronsvoort BM, Fèvre EM. Working conditions and public health risks in slaughterhouses in western Kenya. BMC Public Health. 17(1):14. 2017. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3923-y. [15] Global trends in antimicrobial use in food animals. Van Boeckel TP, Brower C, Gilbert M, Grenfell BT, Levin SA, Robinson TP, Teillant A, Laxminarayan R. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences May 2015, 112 (18) 5649-5654; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1503141112 [16] Resistance, IICGoA. "No Time to Wait: Securing the future from drug-resistant infections." Report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations: p1-36. 2019. [17] Espinosa R, Tago D, Treich N. Infectious Diseases and Meat Production. Environ Resource Econ 76, p1019–1044. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-020-00484-3 [18] “Q Fever Fact Sheet.” Pennsylvania Department of Health, 4 Jan. 2003. https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Diseases%20and%20Conditions/Q%20Fever%20.pdf [19] Ritchie, Hannah. “Which Countries Eat the Most Meat?” BBC News, BBC, 4 Feb. 2019, www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47057341. [20] Reynolds, Alan. “The Fundamental Fallacy of Redistribution.” Cato.org, 11 Feb. 2016, 1:22 pm, www.cato.org/blog/fundamental-fallacy-redistribution. [21] Patricia Justino Professor and Senior Research Fellow. “Welfare Works: Redistribution Is the Way to Create Less Violent, Less Unequal Societies.” The Conversation, 20 Aug. 2021, theconversation.com/welfare-works-redistribution-is-the-way-to-create-less-violent-less-unequal-societies-128807. [22] Cassidy E, et al, “Redefining Agricultural Yields: From Tonnes to People Nourished Per Hectare.” Environmental Research Letters, V. 8(3), p2-3. IOPScience. 2013, http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/3/034015 [23] Poore J, Nemecek T. Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), p987-992. 2018.

IntroductionThe common origin of the adjective “corporeal” and the noun “corpse” in the Latin root corpus points to the value of mortuary practices for investigating how the human body is objectified. In post-mortem rituals, the body—formerly the manipulator of objects—becomes itself the object that is manipulated. Thus, these funerary rituals provide a type of double reflexivity, where the object and subject of manipulation can be used to reciprocally illuminate one another. To this extent, any consideration of corporeality can only benefit from a discussion of how the body is objectified through mortuary practices. This paper offers just such a discussion with respect to a selection of two contrasting mortuary practices, in the context of the prehistoric past and the Classical Era respectively. At the most general level, we are motivated by the same intellectual impulse that has stimulated expositions on corporeality, materiality, and incarnation in areas like phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty 77–234), Marxism (Adorno 112–119), gender studies (Grosz vii–xvi), history (Laqueur 193–244), and theology (Henry 33–53). That is to say, our goal is to show that the body, far from being a transparent frame through which we encounter the world, is in fact a locus where historical, social, cultural, and psychological forces intersect. On this view, “the body vanishes as a biological entity and becomes an infinitely malleable and highly unstable culturally constructed product” (Shilling 78). However, for all that the cited paradigms offer culturally situated appreciations of corporeality; our particular intellectual framework will be provided by cognitive science. Two reasons impel us towards this methodological choice.In the first instance, the study of ritual has, after several decades of stagnation, been rewarded—even revolutionised—by the application of insights from the new sciences of the mind (Whitehouse 1–12; McCauley and Lawson 1–37). Thus, there are good reasons to think that ritual treatments of the body will refract historical and social forces through empirically attested tendencies in human cognition. In the present connection, this means that knowledge of these tendencies will reward any attempt to theorise the objectification of the body in mortuary rituals.In the second instance, because beliefs concerning the afterlife can never be definitively judged to be true or false, they give free expression to tendencies in cognition that are otherwise constrained by the need to reflect external realities accurately. To this extent, they grant direct access to the intuitive ideas and biases that shape how we think about the world. Already, this idea has been exploited to good effect in areas like the cognitive anthropology of religion, which explores how counterfactual beings like ghosts, spirits, and gods conform to (and deviate from) pre-reflective cognitive patterns (Atran 83–112; Barrett and Keil 219–224; Barrett and Reed 252–255; Boyer 876–886). Necessarily, this implies that targeting post-mortem treatments of the body will offer unmediated access to some of the conceptual schemes that inform thinking about human corporeality.At a more detailed level, the specific methodology we propose to use will be provided by conceptual blending theory—a framework developed by Gilles Fauconnier, Mark Turner, and others to describe how structures from different areas of experience are creatively blended to form a new conceptual frame. In this system, a generic space provides the ground for coordinating two or more input spaces into a blended space that synthesises them into a single output. Here this would entail using natural or technological processes to structure mortuary practices in a way that satisfies various psychological needs.Take, for instance, W.B. Yeats’s famous claim that “Too long a sacrifice / Can make a stone of the heart” (“Easter 1916” in Yeats 57-8). Here, the poet exploits a generic space—that of everyday objects and the effort involved in manipulating them—to coordinate an organic input from that taxonomy (the heart) with an inorganic input (a stone) to create the blended idea that too energetic a pursuit of an abstract ideal turns a person into an unfeeling object (the heart-as-stone). Although this particular example corresponds to a familiar rhetorical figure (the metaphor), the value of conceptual blending theory is that it cuts across distinctions of genre, media, language, and discourse level to provide a versatile framework for expressing how one area of human experience is related to another.As indicated, we will exploit this versatility to investigate two ways of objectifying the body through the examination of two contrasting mortuary practices—cremation and inhumation—against different cultural horizons. The first of these is the conceptualisation of the body as an object of a technical process, where the post-mortem cremation of the corpse is analogically correlated with the metallurgical refining of ore into base metal. Our area of focus here will be Bronze Age cremation practices. The second conceptual scheme we will investigate focuses on treatments of the body as a vegetable object; here, the relevant analogy likens the inhumation of the corpse to the planting of a seed in the soil from which future growth will come. This discussion will centre on the Classical Era. Burning: The Body as Manufactured ObjectThe Early and Middle Bronze Age in Western Europe (2500-1200 BCE) represented a period of change in funerary practices relative to the preceding Neolithic, exemplified by a move away from the use of Megalithic monuments, a proliferation of grave goods, and an increase in the use of cremation (Barrett 38-9; Cooney and Grogan 105-121; Brück, Material Metaphors 308; Waddell, Bronze Age 141-149). Moreover, the Western European Bronze Age is characterised by a shift away from communal burial towards single interment (Barrett 32; Bradley 158-168). Equally, the Bronze Age in Western Europe provides us with evidence of an increased use of cist and pit cremation burials concentrated in low-lying areas (Woodman 254; Waddell, Prehistoric 16; Cooney and Grogan 105-121; Bettencourt 103). This greater preference for lower-lying location appears to reflect a distinctive change in comparison to the distribution patterns of the Neolithic burials; these are often located on prominent, visible aspects of a landscape (Cooney and Grogan 53-61). These new Bronze Age burial practices appear to reflect a distancing in relation to the territories of the “old ancestors” typified by Megalithic monuments (Bettencourt 101-103). Crucially, the Bronze Age archaeological record provides us with evidence that indicates that cremation was becoming the dominant form of deposition of human remains throughout Central and Western Europe (Sørensen and Rebay 59-60).The activities associated with Bronze Age cremations such as the burning of the body and the fragmentation of the remains have often been considered as corporeal equivalents (or expressions) of the activities involved in metal (bronze) production (Brück, Death 84-86; Sørensen and Rebay 60–1; Rebay-Salisbury, Cremations 66-67). There are unequivocal similarities between the practices of cremation and contemporary bronze production technologies—particularly as both processes involve the transformation of material through the application of fire at temperatures between 700 ºC to 1000 ºC (Musgrove 272-276; Walker et al. 132; de Becdelievre et al. 222-223).We assert that the technologies that define the European Bronze Age—those involved in alloying copper and tin to produce bronze—offered a new conceptual frame that enabled the body to be objectified in new ways. The fundamental idea explored here is that the displacement of inhumation by cremation in the European Bronze Age was motivated by a cognitive shift, where new smelting technologies provided novel conceptual metaphors for thinking about age-old problems concerning human mortality and post-mortem survival. The increased use of cremation in the European Bronze Age contrasts with the archaeological record of the Near Eastern—where, despite the earlier emergence of metallurgy (3300–3000 BCE), we do not see a notable proliferation in the use of cremation in this region. Thus, mortuary practices (i.e. cremation) provide us with an insight into how Western European Bronze Age cultures mediated the body through changes in technological objects and processes.In the terminology of conceptual blending, the generic space in question centres on the technical manipulation of the material world. The first input space is associated with the anxiety attending mortality—specifically, the cessation of personal identity and the extinction of interpersonal relationships. The second input space represents the technical knowledge associated with bronze production; in particular, the extraction of ore from source material and its mixing with other metals to form an alloy. The blended space coordinates these inputs to objectify the human body as an object that is ritually transformed into a new but more durable substance via the cremation process. In this contention we use the archaeological record to draw a conceptual parallel between the emergence of bronze production technology—centring on transition of naturally occurring material to a new subsistence (bronze)—and the transitional nature of the cremation process.In this theoretical framework, treating the body as a mixture of substances that can be reduced to its constituents and transformed through technologies of cremation enabled Western European Bronze Age society to intervene in the natural process of putrefaction and transform the organic matter into something more permanent. This transformative aspect of the cremation is seen in the evidence we have for secondary burial practices involving the curation and circulation of cremated bones of deceased members of a group (Brück, Death 87-93). This evidence allows us to assert that cremated human remains and objects were considered products of the same transformation into a more permanent state via burning, fragmentation, dispersal, and curation. Sofaer (62-69) states that the living body is regarded as a person, but as soon as the transition to death is made, the body becomes an object; this is an “ontological shift in the perception of the body that assumes a sudden change in its qualities” (62).Moreover, some authors have proposed that the exchange of fragmented human remains was central to mortuary practices and was central in establishing and maintaining social relations (Brück, Death 76-88). It is suggested that in the Early Bronze Age the perceptions of the human body mirrored the perceptions of objects associated with the arrival of the new bronze technology (Brück, Death 88-92). This idea is more pronounced if we consider the emergence of bronze technology as the beginning of a period of capital intensification of natural resources. Through this connection, the Bronze Age can be regarded as the point at which a particular natural resource—in this case, copper—went through myriad intensive manufacturing stages, which are still present today (intensive extraction, production/manufacturing, and distribution). Unlike stone tool production, bronze production had the addition of fire as the explicit method of transformation (Brück, Death 88-92). Thus, such views maintain that the transition achieved by cremation—i.e. reducing the human remains to objects or tokens that could be exchanged and curated relatively soon after the death of the individual—is equivalent to the framework of commodification connected with bronze production.A sample of cremated remains from Castlehyde in County Cork, Ireland, provides us with an example of a Bronze Age cremation burial in a Western European context (McCarthy). This is chosen because it is a typical example of a Bronze Age cremation burial in the context of Western Europe; also, one of the authors (MG) has first-hand experience in the analysis of its associated remains. The Castlehyde cremation burial consisted of a rectangular, stone-lined cist (McCarthy). The cist contained cremated, calcined human remains, with the fragments generally ranging from a greyish white to white in colour; this indicates that the bones were subject to a temperature range of 700-900ºC. The organic content of bone was destroyed during the cremation process, leaving only the inorganic matrix (brittle bone which is, often, described as metallic in consistency—e.g. Gejvall 470-475). There is evidence that remains may have been circulated in a manner akin to valuable metal objects. First of all, the absence of long bones indicates that there may have been a practice of removing salient remains as curatable records of ancestral ties. Secondly, remains show traces of metal staining from objects that are no longer extant, which suggests that graves were subject to secondary burial practices involving the removal of metal objects and/or human bone. To this extent, we can discern that human remains were being processed, curated, and circulated in a similar manner to metal objects.Thus, there are remarkable similarities between the treatment of the human body in cremation and bronze metal production technologies in the European Bronze Age. On the one hand, the parallel between smelting and cremation allowed death to be understood as a process of transformation in which the individual was removed from processes of organic decay. On the other hand, the circulation of the transformed remains conferred a type of post-mortem survival on the deceased. In this way, cremation practices may have enabled Bronze Age society to symbolically overcome the existential anxiety concerning the loss of personhood and the breaking of human relationships through death. In relation to the former point, the resurgence of cremation in nineteenth century Europe provides us with an example of how the disposal of a human body can be contextualised in relation to socio-technological advancements. The (re)emergence of cremation in this period reflects the post-Enlightenment shift from an understanding of the world through religious beliefs to the use of rational, scientific approaches to examine the natural world, including the human body (and death). The controlled use of fire in the cremation process, as well as the architecture of crematories, reflected the industrial context of the period (Rebay-Salisbury, Inhumation 16).With respect to the circulation of cremated remains, Smith suggests that Early Medieval Christian relics of individual bones or bone fragments reflect a reconceptualised continuation of pre-Christian practices (beginning in Christian areas of the Roman Empire). In this context, it is claimed, firstly, that the curation of bone relics and the use of mobile bone relics of important, saintly individuals provided an embodied connection between the sacred sphere and the earthly world; and secondly, that the use of individual bones or fragments of bone made the Christian message something portable, which could be used to reinforce individual or collective adherence to Christianity (Smith 143-167). Using the example of the Christian bone relics, we can thus propose that the curation and circulation of Bronze Age cremated material may have served a role similar to tools for focusing religiously oriented cognition. Burying: The Body as a Vegetable ObjectGiven that the designation “the Classical Era” nominates the entirety of the Graeco-Roman world (including the Near East and North Africa) from about 800 BCE to 600 CE, there were obviously no mortuary practices common to all cultures. Nevertheless, in both classical Greece and Rome, we have examples of periods when either cremation or inhumation was the principal funerary custom (Rebay-Salisbury, Inhumation 19-21).For instance, the ancient Homeric texts inform us that the ancient Greeks believed that “the spirit of the departed was sentient and still in the world of the living as long as the flesh was in existence […] and would rather have the body devoured by purifying fire than by dogs or worms” (Mylonas 484). However, the primary sources and archaeological record indicate that cremation practices declined in Athens circa 400 BCE (Rebay-Salisbury, Inhumation 20). With respect to the Roman Empire, scholarly opinion argues that inhumation was the dominant funerary rite in the eastern part of the Empire (Rebay-Salisbury, Inhumation 17-21; Morris 52). Complementing this, the archaeological and historical record indicates that inhumation became the primary rite throughout the Roman Empire in the first century CE. Inhumation was considered to be an essential rite in the context of an emerging belief that a peaceful afterlife was reflected by a peaceful burial in which bodily integrity was maintained (Rebay-Salisbury, Inhumation 19-21; Morris 52; Toynbee 41). The question that this poses is how these beliefs were framed in the broader discourses of Classical culture.In this regard, our claim is that the growth in inhumation was driven (at least in part) by the spread of a conceptual scheme, implicit in Greek fertility myths that objectify the body as a seed. The conceptual logic here is that the post-mortem continuation of personal identity is (symbolically) achieved by objectifying the body as a vegetable object that will re-grow from its own physical remains. Although the dominant metaphor here is vegetable, there is no doubt that the motivating concern of this mythological fabulation is human mortality. As Jon Davies notes, “the myths of Hades, Persephone and Demeter, of Orpheus and Eurydice, of Adonis and Aphrodite, of Selene and Endymion, of Herakles and Dionysus, are myths of death and rebirth, of journeys into and out of the underworld, of transactions and transformations between gods and humans” (128). Thus, such myths reveal important patterns in how the post-mortem fate of the body was conceptualised.In the terminology of mental mapping, the generic space relevant to inhumation contains knowledge pertaining to folk biology—specifically, pre-theoretical ideas concerning regeneration, survival, and mortality. The first input space attaches to human mortality; it departs from the anxiety associated with the seeming cessation of personal identity and dissolution of kin relationships subsequent to death. The second input space is the subset of knowledge concerning vegetable life, and how the immersion of seeds in the soil produces a new generation of plants with the passage of time. The blended space combines the two input spaces by way of the funerary script, which involves depositing the body in the soil with a view to securing its eventual rebirth by analogy with the sprouting of a planted seed.As indicated, the most important illustration of this conceptual pattern can be found in the fertility myths of ancient Greece. The Homeric Hymns, in particular, provide a number of narratives that trace out correspondences between vegetation cycles, human mortality, and inhumation, which inform ritual practice (Frazer 223–404; Carney 355–65; Sowa 121–44). The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, for instance, charts how Persephone is abducted by Hades, god of the dead, and taken to his underground kingdom. While searching for her missing daughter, Demeter, goddess of fertility, neglects the earth, causing widespread devastation. Matters are resolved when Zeus intervenes to restore Persephone to Demeter. However, having ingested part of Hades’s kingdom (a pomegranate seed), Persephone is obliged to spend half the year below ground with her captor and the other half above ground with her mother.The objectification of Persephone as both a seed and a corpse in this narrative is clearly signalled by her seasonal inhumation in Hades’ chthonic realm, which is at once both the soil and the grave. And, just as the planting of seeds in autumn ensures rebirth in spring, Persephone’s seasonal passage from the Kingdom of the Dead nominates the individual human life as just one season in an endless cycle of death and rebirth. A further signifying element is added by the ingestion of the pomegranate seed. This is evocative of her being inseminated by Hades; thus, the coordination of vegetation cycles with life and death is correlated with secondary transition—that from childhood to adulthood (Kerényi 119–183).In the examples given, we can see how the Homeric Hymn objectifies both the mortal and sexual destiny of the body in terms of thresholds derived from the vegetable world. Moreover, this mapping is not merely an intellectual exercise. Its emotional and social appeal is visible in the fact that the Eleusinian mysteries—which offered the ritual homologue to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter—persisted from the Mycenaean period to 396 CE, one of the longest recorded durations for any ritual (Ferguson 254–9; Cosmopoulos 1–24). In sum, then, classical myth provided a precedent for treating the body as a vegetable object—most often, a seed—that would, in turn, have driven the move towards inhumation as an important mortuary practice. The result is to create a ritual form that makes key aspects of human experience intelligible by connecting them with cyclical processes like the seasons of the year, the harvesting of crops, and the intergenerational oscillation between the roles of parent and child. Indeed, this pattern remains visible in the germination metaphors and burial practices of contemporary religions such as Christianity, which draw heavily on the symbolism associated with mystery cults like that at Eleusis (Nock 177–213).ConclusionWe acknowledge that our examples offer a limited reflection of the ethnographic and archaeological data, and that they need to be expanded to a much greater degree if they are to be more than merely suggestive. Nevertheless, suggestiveness has its value, too, and we submit that the speculations explored here may well offer a useful starting point for a larger survey. In particular, they showcase how a recurring existential anxiety concerning death—involving the fear of loss of personal identity and kinship relations—is addressed by different ways of objectifying the body. Given that the body is not reducible to the objects with which it is identified, these objectifications can never be entirely successful in negotiating the boundary between life and death. In the words of Jon Davies, “there is simply no let-up in the efforts by human beings to transcend this boundary, no matter how poignantly each failure seemed to reinforce it” (128). For this reason, we can expect that the record will be replete with conceptual and cognitive schemes that mediate the experience of death.At a more general level, it should also be clear that our understanding of human corporeality is rewarded by the study of mortuary practices. 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