70 research outputs found
Eco-Political Film Histories: Land Cinema in Japan and beyond - with Becca Voelcker
No full textIn this lecture, author Dr Becca Voelcker will discuss Japan's centrality in a genre she calls 'land cinema', offering examples ranging from downtown Tokyo to rural rice paddies in Yamagata. Diving into little-known archives to explore films that resonate across geographies, Becca's research spans Japan, Mali, Colombia, the USA, Orkney, the Navajo Nation and more, to map a global history of eco-political filmmaking. Made half a century ago, land cinema films resonate with our own era of social and environmental crises, offering audiences alternatives for the future. This talk coincides with the publication of Becca's first book, Land Cinema in an Age of Extraction, by the University of California Press.
Dr Becca Voelcker is a writer and historian of art, film, and visual culture. Much of her work considers land and senses of place. She is a Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London and earned her PhD at Harvard University. In 2024 Becca was named a BBC New Generation Thinker. Her book, Land Cinema in an Age of Extraction (University of California Press, 2025) is accompanied by a BBC Radio programme and a curated film season at the Barbican (5-26 November 2025). Originally from Wales, Becca has lived and researched in Japan for extended periods since 2013 when she first moved to Tokyo as a Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Scholar. www.beccavoelcker.co
New Writings at the BFI: Land Cinema
No full textLand Cinema with Becca Voelcker
A discussion exploring film’s political urgency in times of environmental crisis, coinciding with the launch of a new history of eco-political cinema.
Total running time 90min
Join us for a discussion of film’s political urgency in times of environmental crisis, coinciding with the publication of Land Cinema in an Age of Extraction (University of California Press). From filmed garden diaries to indigenous documentaries on farmers’ rights, author Becca Voelcker explores how images and ideas produced half a century ago resonate with climate justice movements today
Kinetic Characterization of an Indicating Indigotetrasulfonate Ink
No full textThe faculty mentor for this session did not approve digital archiving of the abstract. Attend the presentation at SOURCE 2015 or contact the author or faculty mentor for more information
Kinetic Decay of a Polymer/Ink Complex as an O2 Indicator
No full textIndicator inks are an important part of the continued consumption of packaged goods. This thesis is focused on understanding the kinetics and reaction mechanism for a unique indicator ink that is based upon the oxidation of indigotetrasulfonate (ITS) encapsulated in the polyelectrolyte poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (polyDADMAC). Sodium bisulfite (NaHSO3) was used as the initial oxygen scavenger and to drive the reduction of the ITS. Studies were predominantly done in solution phase through the dilution of the ink systems. Fluorescence spectroscopy was the primary method used to determine the kinetic decay rates and interaction between the ITS dye molecules and the polyDADMAC. The reduced form of the ITS displayed a significant fluorescence output compared to the oxidized form, making fluorescent studies a very selective and sensitive method for characterization. Inks with different concentrations of polyDADMAC or NaHSO3, and constant concentrations of ITS, were studied at various temperatures in order to gain an understanding of the rate and activation energy of the reaction. Ink solutions consisted of either 4.9%, 9.8% or 14.7% polyDADMAC iv concentrations and 2.04x10-3 mol, 4.08x10-3 mol or 6.13x10-3 mol NaHSO3 amounts. Results indicate that two separate kinetic regimens exist for the oxidation of the dye. The initial decay occurs over a 6 minute time scale while the slower decay take place after the initial oxidation has been completed. The initial oxidation has been attributed to ITS molecules on the outside of the macromolecular complex, and longtime oxidation has been attributed to ITS molecules encapsulated inside the complex. It was found that the energy barriers for the reaction were consistent across dilution factors, indicating that the complex was not breaking apart over the time period of the experiments. When the amount of NaHSO3 was varied, the highest activation energy was seen in the lowest concentration. This suggests that the removal of competing charges for the positively charged polyDADMAC induced stronger electrostatic interaction between the remaining ITS and NaHSO3 molecules. When NaCl was introduced to the system, the energy barrier decreased significantly, indicating that the Na+ and Cl- ions were breaking apart the macromolecular complex
Optical studies of the solution phase reduction and stabilization of indigo tetrasulfonate in polyelectrolyte complexes
No full textUltraviolet-visible (UV-vis) and fluorescence spectroscopy have been used to characterize the polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) formed when potassium indigo tetrasulfonate (ITS) interacts with poly diallydimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) through columbic attraction in the presence of the reducing agent sodium bisulfite, NaHSO3. The PDADMAC facilitates both the reduction of the ITS and the stabilization of the reduced state of the ITS in an atmospheric oxygen environment. Dilutions of the dye solution show that the PEC is stable to dilutions of at least 1 to 1000. UV–vis studies indicate that the reduced ITS (ITSred) forms what is likely a J-aggregate in the presence of PDADMAC with an absorbance band red shifted from the normal absorbance band of reduced ITS by roughly 130 nm, 390 nm to 520 nm. Excitation of the PEC solution at either 390 nm or 520 nm produces an emission spectrum of the aggregated complex with an emission maximum near 534 nm. Monomer emission at 480 nm of ITSred represents only 3.0 ± 0.5% of the emission signal of the aggregated complex. Kinetic studies using fluorescence spectroscopy over a temperature range of 30 to 70 °C and dilutions of dye solutions ranging from 1:10 to 1:1000 yield data for the oxidation of ITSred that is best fit by a first order rate constant. Kinetic data displays two distinctive regimes, a short time rate and a long time rate. These two distinct kinetic regimes are likely due to the reduced ITS interacting with an outer PEC environment and an inner PEC environment. First order rate constants could be used to estimate Δ‡H and Δ‡S of the oxidation reaction. Fluorescence data was used to calculate the partitioning of reduced ITS molecules between the outer and inner PEC environments. Partitioning from the inner to outer PEC environment was found to be entropically driven. Addition of NaCl to the diluted dye solutions could alter the kinetics of the oxidation but the significance of the effect depended on the initial dye solution preparation
The Jack Sprat Low-Fat Diet: A 28-Day Heart-Healthy Plan You Can Follow the Rest of Your Life
No full textThis exciting work by a nationally known fitness and health expert is a realistic and practical guide to a healthier and happier lifestyle. Dr. Bryant Stamford, author of the highly acclaimed Fitness Without Exercise and a syndicated health columnist, and co-author Becca Coffin, a registered nurse, show how making the right choices in diet can improve health and reduce fat while allowing people to enjoy a fuller and more varied diet than other weight-loss plans permit.
Americans are obsessed with diets and dieting, and yet we grow fatter every year. Traditional diets offer only temporary weight loss through loss of water and muscle and do not address the real problems of dietary fat and poor eating habits. Fat is sinister, wreaking havoc on every system of the body. Eating fat results in fat people, but it also clogs the arteries, raises blood pressure, overloads the bowels, and causes diabetes. To avoid the dangers of dietary fat, we need to change our eating habits. Happily, we don\u27t have to eat less; we just need to make smarter choices about what we eat.
The Jack Sprat diet plan uses a guided day-by-day approach geared to gender, size, and physical activity level. Each of the four weeks in the plan starts with a complete grocery list, including daily menus that have been analyzed to show how many calories and grams of fat will be consumed. All menus have been analyzed also to assure fulfillment of RDA guidelines. Recipes are provided for all home-prepared items in the plan, and specially designed On-Your-Own tables help with substitutions in the daily menus. There are even sections for including fast foods and a system of controlled cheating.
To help ensure success, Stamford and Coffin provide not only day-by-day and meal-by-meal details of what to eat but also insightful scientific background that explains why. These chapters include information on how much fat one should eat, how to make smart choices when choosing a menu, and the benefits of light exercise. The authors also present a wealth of more specific information on physiology and metabolism, hormones, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, as well as on frauds such as cellulite-reducing creams and diet pills.
Stamford and Coffin do not offer miracles or magic, but they do provide sound advice and practical guides that will be invaluable to anyone interested in losing weight and making positive lifestyle changes.
Bryant A. Stamford is a nationally recognized expert in the field of health and fitness. He is director of the Health Promotion Center at the University of Louisville and the author of Fitness Without Exercise as well as a nationally syndicated column called Body Shop. His column titled Exercise Adviser runs in the journal The Physician and Sports Medicine, and he is an editorial advisor to a number of popular publications, including Prevention and Men\u27s Health.
Becca Coffin is a registered nurse at the Health Promotion Center who has worked with Dr. Stamford for many years to develop the Jack Sprat low-fat diet plan. She writes a monthly health and fitness column for Today\u27s Woman.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_medicine_and_health_sciences/1009/thumbnail.jp
The Edge of the Water
No full textA mysterious girl who won’t speak; a coal black seal named Nera that returns to the same place every year; a bitter feud of unknown origin—strange things are happening on Whidbey Island, and Becca King, is drawn into the maelstrom of events. But Becca has her own secrets to hide. Still on the run from her criminal stepfather, Becca is living in a secret location. Even Derric, the Ugandan orphan with whom Becca shares a close, romantic relationship, can’t be allowed to know her whereabouts. As secrets of past and present are revealed, Becca becomes aware of her growing paranormal powers, and events build to a shocking climax anticipated by no one.
Acclaimed author Elizabeth George brings her extraordinary talents to this intriguing story that blends mystery and myth
Hydro-meteorological trigger conditions of debris flows in Austria
No full textDifferent factors influence the disposition of a watershed for initiation of debris flows, including meteorological trigger conditions as well as the hydrologic and geomorphic disposition. The latter includes slowly changing factors like relief energy or sediment availability, whereas the hydrologic state of a watershed may vary over short time scales. This contribution summarizes the outcomes of a long term project to quantify meteorological and hydrological trigger conditions leading to debris flows at different temporal and spatial scales in the Austrian Alps. The analysis employs a database of more than 4,500 debris flows over the last 100+ years, which is the period for which systematic rainfall data is available. A Bayesian analysis was carried out for determining occurrence probabilities for all Austria. For selected regions, hydrological trigger conditions were assessed using a semi-distributed, conceptual rainfall-runoff model, which was calibrated to measured runoff data. As expected we find increasing trigger probabilities with increasing rainfall amounts and intensities. However, the additional information of regional hydrological parameters as well as their temporal evolution over days prior to a debris-flow event, enables to capture different trigger conditions, including short duration rainstorms, long lasting rainfall events, and snow melt. We also find that a trigger-type resolved prediction of debris-flow susceptibility based on the hydro-meteorological catchment information is superior to simple rainfall-only approaches. The results of this analysis shall improve our understanding of long-term trigger conditions and trends of extreme mass wasting processes in the Alps and aim to become a valuable tool in engineering hazard assessment.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Water Resource
Reproducing Walter Benjamin's the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction
No full textAR 515.8 December 1999
Social environment and individual differences in feeding behavior are associated with risk of endometritis in Dairy Cows
No full textOur aim was to determine whether individual differences in feeding and social behavior in different social environments affect health outcomes in dairy cows. We used eight groups of four animals per treatment assigned to either a ‘predictable’ or an ‘unpredictable’ and competitive social environment. Predictable cows were given free access to six feed bins with no change in feed delivery times; whereas, the unpredictable cows were required to share one feed bin with one resident cow and morning feed was delayed 0, 1, 2, or 3 h every other day. On alternate days, the unpredictable cows were also re-assigned to a new bin and a new resident partner. Low daily dry matter intake (DMI) was a risk factor for cytological endometritis in predictable cows (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval): 0.17 (0.02, 0.53)), but low daily DMI was protective for unpredictable cows (OR: 1.93 (1.09, 4.14)). Although low rate of DMI (kg/min) was a risk factor for cytological endometritis for predictable cows (OR: 4.2 × 10−101 (8.6 × 10−206, 4.8 × 10−30)) it was unrelated to disease for unpredictable cows. There were no associations between feed bin visits or percentage of non-nutritive visits with the likelihood of cytological endometritis. This is the first evidence that individual differences in feeding behavior influence cytological endometritis risk in dairy cows, but the direction and magnitude of these effects is dependent on the social environment
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