Phantom Porcelains: Zhangzhou and Yoshida Polychrome Dishes with Seal Design

Zhangzhou ceramics, coarsely potted with thick glaze and sandy feet, were mass-produced in southern Fujian during the late Ming and early Qing periods. The rise of the Zhangzhou kiln complex was an outcome of expanding maritime trade since the Jiajing period (1522–1566) and Zhangzhou production reached a climax in the Wanli period (1572–1620). The Fujianese workshops created a whole spectrum of porcelain products, ranging from monochrome pieces to blue-and-white and polychrome ones. Of the decorative vocabulary that is unique to Zhangzhou kilns, the pavilion and seal design (previously known as the “Split Pagoda” motif) is noteworthy for its decorative originality and transnational appeal. Through a close examination of typical Zhangzhou dishes with seal design, the paper points out that the intriguing theme fuses Daoist ideals with Confucian-recluses’ pursuits. The pluralism in the symbolic meanings of the pattern enhances the marketability of this type of Zhangzhou ware. Around the 1650s, Japanese potters in the Yoshida workshops of Ureshino, Hizen province on the Island of Kyushu started to incorporate the Zhangzhou designs into their local decorative repertoire. But instead of faithfully imitating the seal pattern from the Fujianese prototype, Yoshida decorators seamlessly wove Japanese fashion into Chinese-inspired motifs. Popular designs from nearby Arita, the porcelain capital of Japan, further stimulated Yoshida artisans to create affordable fusion-style products for Southeast Asian markets that were yet to be dominated by prestigious Hizen porcelains. However, the efflorescence of Yoshida porcelains with seal design was rather short-lived due to limited native resources and fierce competition in and outside Kyushu.

Hybrid inorganic-organic membranes in the service of clean coal technologies

Clean coal technologies (CCT) are all technological solutions that are designed to increase the efficiency of coal combustion, processing and extraction. They are therefore, all the technologies that will help to reduce its environmental nuisance during the production and use of coal and can be introduced at various stages of coal application. Earlier was stated that none of the energy sources (natural gas, crude oil and renewable energy sources), their native resources, the used technologies and the sources of imports are not able to eliminate hard coal from the energy mix of Poland in the near future. That is why the authors began research to create a new clean-coal technology based on the hybrid inorganic-organic membranes, which can be used for elimination of harmful substances generated during coal combustion, especially CO2. This work concerns the study of the inorganic-organic hybrid membranes based on few modified polymer matrices and various inorganic fillers. It was found that incorporation of zeolite 4A into the polymer matrix had significantly changed the gas transport parameters (D, P, S and α). In turn, the mechanical (Rm and E) parameters have increased with the filler content. The application allows the initial selection of ingredients from which the final membrane will be created. The designed technology does not require high financial expenditures, and it is also highly universal. It can be used both in households, heating plants and, above all, in power plants.

What’s for Dinner? Assessing the Value of an Edible Invasive Species and Outreach Actions to Promote Its Consumption

Promoting the consumption of edible aquatic invasive species has gained popularity to minimize its impacts while easing pressure on native resources. Weakfish Cynoscion regalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) is one of the most recent invasive fish species in the Iberian Peninsula (Europe) which once sustained an important fishery in the native range (Northwest Atlantic Ocean). Portugal ranks third in the list of the world’s top fish consumers, so promoting a weakfish fishery could at least help minimize the impacts upon native species, since weakfish have innate traits that are likely appreciated by Portuguese fish consumers. However, introducing a new species to consumers is challenging owing to consumers’ habits and unfamiliarity with the species. So, we aimed to (i) evaluate the acceptance of weakfish by a panel of Portuguese fish consumers and (ii) create outreach actions – partnerships with local Chefs and press releases – to explain to a broader public what invasive species are and promote the consumption of edible aquatic invasive species. The survey that we conducted to Portuguese fish consumers showed that weakfish has great chances of being well accepted by the public – 90% of consumers would buy weakfish because they appreciated its appearance, flavour, and texture, besides being a wild fish. The outreach actions reached a few million people because 46 online articles were published, and three news pieces broadcasted on national television. Overall, our strategy greatly increased the public’s awareness about invasive species, which can be replicated elsewhere in the world.

A Hybrid Encryption Model to Lower the Complexity of Securing the Data in Cloud

Remote Cloud services are very efficient to overcome the deficiency of native resources. This kind of facility and assets availability which depends on the quality of link to the remote server, and this arrangement may fail due to poor connectivity scenarios. For requests demanding large data trans- fers to the remote host, performing the computation on the device can have well performance than relying on processing by the remote host when the device’s Internet connection is extremely poor. Attaining good performance is conditional and depends on an optimal dividing of the application mechanism among the device and cloud platforms depends on runtime conditions. A cloud structure with dynamic checking on bunch of cloud facility sources for optimum distributing of the submission built on runtime situations is implemented. The framework consists of hybrid encryption (DES and Blowfish) before uploading the customer records to cloud loading in vision to safely distribute data between several clouds.

Catskills Composition by Thomas Cole

The popularity of landscape painting in the United States grew during the 1830s due to the interest in exploration of native resources. American wilderness became a symbol of this country counterposed to the tamed nature of the Old World. Transcendentalist writings propagating the concept of divine presence in the creation supported the fashion for scenery.

Scholarship and Language Revival: Language Ideologies in Corpus Development for Revived Manx

In this article the role of different ideological viewpoints concerning corpus development within the Manx revival movement in the second half of the twentieth century is explored. In particular, the work of two prominent figures is examined: the Celtic scholar Robert L. Thomson, who published extensively especially on Manx language and literature, and also contributed to the revival, particularly as editor of several pedagogical resources and as a member of the translation committee Coonceil ny Gaelgey, and Douglas Fargher, a tireless activist and compiler of an English-Manx Dictionary (1979). Broadly speaking, Thomson was of a more preservationist bent, cautious in adapting the native resources of the language and wary of straying too far from attested usage of the traditional language, while Fargher was more radical and open especially to borrowing from Irish and Scottish sources. Both were concerned, in somewhat different ways, to remove perceived impurities or corruptions from the language, and were influenced by the assumptions of existing scholarship. A close reading of the work of these scholar-activists sheds light on the tensions within the revival movement regarding its response to the trauma of language death and the questions of legitimacy and authenticity in the revived variety. Particular space is devoted to an analysis of the preface of Fargher’s dictionary, as well as certain features of the body of the work itself, since this volume is probably the most widely consulted guide to the use of the language today. Finally, it is argued that the Manx language movement today would benefit from a reassessment and discussion of the ideological currents of the past and present, and a judicious evaluation of both the strengths and weaknesses of existing reference works.

Food Tourism Revisited

Though food is the basic need of human being, it is the best way to express the culture and the tradition of a community. Food as a tangible part of cultural and traditional representation attracts most of tourists around the world. Food is one of the important pulling factors while selecting the destination. Though after information revolutions most of the facilities are at a click distance, food is the only one that needs the distance to be covered in order to discover the majestic taste in the native structure. Food majorly describes the patterns that communities are residing. Most of the native cuisine that attracts most of the foreigners is based on the native resources and way of preparing and presenting foods. In some countries food is not only taken as a means to generate income but also a means to protect their tourism.Journal of Tourism and Hospitality EducationVol. 7, 2017, Page: 83-124

HIV/AIDS in different cultures

Background/aims HIV/AIDS is a disease that is taking many lives in Ghana and other countries in Africa. It is a disease that has infected people in Sweden, though not as many as Africa has reported. The present investigation concerns how HIV/AIDS patients in Ghana, a cultural tropic climate, and patients in Sweden, the Nordic region, experience their pain. Methods With empirical data from both countries, the research will unveil how these patients cope or adapt to their illness with all the attention they receive from the environments and their native resources. Apart from the theoretical considerations where literature/secondary sources on the subject will be analysed, the investigation will administer Coping Experience Questionnaires (CEQ) and The Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF36) to reach a deeper analysis on how they adapt to their illness and wellbeing. The study will also utilise both the Structured Interviewed (SI) and In-depth Interview (IDI) to muster relevant data about their experience with hospital environments, native resources, and human relations. Results and conclusion It is estimated that the results of the investigation will firstly, help doctoral students to comprehend coping strategies and differences in conditions with HIV/AID patients in diverse cultures, and secondly, help to understand psychiatry care of patients from different cultural climates.