Elephant Head Research Articles

Ethnomathematics on Pandan Mat Weaving Art at Kolej PERMATA Insan

Kelarai is defined as a damdam-shaped pattern mat that comes from the word “dam” which is known in Malay as a chess board that refers to a rectangular pattern. Designing the kelarai pattern is not as easy and requires mathematical skills to ensure a consistent design. In Mathematics, rotation, reflection, translation, and enlargement are types of transformation concept to make some changes on any given geometric shape. Besides, tessellation is generalized to higher dimensions and various geometries that is covering a surface using geometric shapes with no overlaps and no gaps. In this research, a pattern of kelarai named kepala gajah was determined and compared between combined transformation and a single transformation with enlargement. Besides, the concept of tessellation was analyzed on this pattern. The main objective is to determine whether its pattern is compatible with the concept of transformation and tessellation. The uniqueness of this pattern can be seen when the final image under combined transformation and single transformation with enlargement remains the same result. Meanwhile, the shape of an elephant's head woven in a square shape without any overlays and gaps proved the tessellation concept was applied on the pattern.

Active microbiota persist in dry permafrost and active layer from Elephant Head, Antarctica.

Dry permafrost is a challenging environment for microbial life due to cold, dry, and often oligotrophic conditions. In 2016, Elephant Head, Antarctica, was confirmed as the second site on Earth to contain dry permafrost. It is geographically distinct from the McMurdo Dry Valleys where dry permafrost has been studied previously. Here, we present the first study of the microbial activity, diversity, and functional potential of Elephant Head dry permafrost. Microbial activity was measured using radiorespiration assays with radiolabeled acetate as a carbon source at 5, 0, and -5°C. Low, but detectable, rates of microbial activity were measured in some samples at 0 and -5°C. This is distinct from previous studies of McMurdo Dry Valley dry permafrost which concluded that dry permafrost represents a cold-arid limit to life on the planet. The isolation of cold-adapted organisms from these soils, including one capable of subzero growth, further supports that the Elephant Head dry active layer and dry permafrost harbor viable microbial life, which may be active in situ. Metagenomic, 16S rRNA gene, and internal transcribed spacer and amplicon sequencing identified similar microbial communities to other Antarctic and cold environments. The Elephant Head microbial community appears to be adapted for survival in cold, dry, and oligotrophic conditions based on the presence of cold adaptation and stress response genes in the metagenomes. Together, our results show that dry permafrost environments do not exclude active microbial life at subzero temperatures, suggesting that the cold, dry soils of Mars may also not be as inhospitable as previously thought.

Sedimentary evidence of glacial entrainment at Patriot Hills and Union Glacier moraines, Ellsworth Mountains, West Antarctica.

This work aims to analyze and compare the sedimentological data of Ellsworth Mountains, West Antarctica: Patriot/Independence Hills and Union Glacier, and how sedimentological data can be used to infer sediment entrainment. Particular attention was concentrated on morainic deposits. Remote sensing data was used in the identification of deposits and the ice flow; granulometric, morphoscopic, and geochemical analyses were applied to investigate the sedimentary origin and transport history. Sediment rich in Si Al, Fe, and Ca predominate in Independence Hills and Rossman Cove but Ca prevails in Elephant Head. CIA indicated low values, which depict low chemical weathering processes. X-ray diffraction reveals the presence of minerals that constitute the local rocks in the Union Glacier area, and from the unexposed basement rocks in Independence Hills. Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis results suggest the sediment is related to the local rocks in the Union Glacier and distinct exotic sources in Independence Hills, associated with far-traveled sediment. It is also observed the influence of distinct processes of entrainment sediment on its granulometric and morphoscopic characteristics.

Right transradial coronary angiography in the setting of tortuous brachiocephalic/thoracic aorta ("elephant head"): Impact on fluoroscopy time and contrast use.

Assess the impact on fluoroscopy time and contrast use in patients with tortuous brachiocephalic/thoracic aortas undergoing right transradial coronary angiography (RTCA) and provide strategies to manage. Unfavorable anatomy with severe brachiocephalic/thoracic tortuosity, referred to as an "elephant head," remains a significant obstacle for RTCA. We reviewed the coronary angiograms of patients who underwent RTCA and had tortuous aortas. Angiography was attempted first using a universal catheter (Tiger) and switched to a left coronary specific catheter (Judkins Left [JL]) if challenging. Fluoroscopy time, contrast volume, and greatest distance from the patient's midline to the catheter in the aorta were recorded. Forty-nine patients (62.6 ± 12.0 years, 69.4% male) were included. Fifteen (30.6%) patients underwent successful angiography with a Tiger catheter; 34 (69.4%) patients required switching to JL catheter. The average distance of Tiger catheters to the midline of the spine was 0.78 ± 0.41 cm versus 1.28 ± 0.44 cm (p = .001) in JL catheters. Tiger catheter use resulted in less fluoroscopy time (6.48 ± 4.73 min) and contrast use (58.87 ± 43.53 ml) than in cases switched to JL (13.26 ± 10.76 min [p = .026]; 86.5 ± 69.95 ml [(p = .017]). For patients undergoing RTCA with significant brachiocephalic/thoracic aorta tortuosity, "elephant head," a Tiger catheter can be used efficiently for curvatures <1 cm from the middle of the spine. We propose that for curvatures >1 cm, operators should consider immediately switching to a JL catheter.

Gajah Purba Sebagai Ide Pengembangan Motif Batik Sragen

ABSTRACT Sragen Regency is the biggest batik producer in the Solo Raya region. Batik is one of Sragen's superior products, but the existing batik motifs do not yet reflect regional identity. For this reason, it is necessary to develop batik motifs that take the icon of the Sragen region, namely the ancient Sangiran site, specifically the shape of the elephant pubes and bones. The purpose of this study is to make batik motifs that have visual characteristics, so that they can become Sragen regional icons. This research was carried out in the Jalidin batik handicraft business, using the participatory action review method and the creativity development of the craftsmen. The objects of elephants and ancient bones studied were used as a source of ideas in developing batik motif designs by developing the creativity of craftsmen. The results of the study there are two batik motif designs that have the uniqueness and characteristics of the Sragen region, namely the rojo elephant motif and the balung elephant motif. Both of these motifs are the result of exploration and development of the shape of an ancient elephant's head, an ancient elephant consisting of bones, and stylized bone shapes. The design motif includes a design motif for clothes and a fabric motif that can also be made for clothing. The application of motif design development is done by the process of written batik with synthetic dyes and natural dyes. Keywords : motif, batik, elephant, bones

Reconstruction of the Functional Ecosystem in the High Light, Low Temperature Union Glacier Region, Antarctica.

Antarctica is covered by multiple larger glaciers with diverse extreme conditions. Microorganisms in Antarctic regions are primarily responsible for diverse biogeochemical processes. The identity and functionality of microorganisms from polar glaciers are defined. However, little is known about microbial communities from the high elevation glaciers. The Union Glacier, located in the inland of West Antarctica at 79°S, is a challenging environment for life to survive due to the high irradiance and low temperatures. Here, soil and rock samples were obtained from three high mountains (Rossman Cove, Charles Peak, and Elephant Head) adjacent to the Union Glacier. Using metagenomic analyses, the functional microbial ecosystem was analyzed through the reconstruction of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur metabolic pathways. A low biomass but diverse microbial community was found. Although archaea were detected, bacteria were dominant. Taxa responsible for carbon fixation were comprised of photoautotrophs (Cyanobacteria) and chemoautotrophs (mainly Alphaproteobacterial clades: Bradyrhizobium, Sphingopyxis, and Nitrobacter). The main nitrogen fixation taxa were Halothece (Cyanobacteria), Methyloversatilis, and Leptothrix (Betaproteobacteria). Diverse sulfide-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria, fermenters, denitrifying microbes, methanogens, and methane oxidizers were also found. Putative producers provide organic carbon and nitrogen for the growth of other heterotrophic microbes. In the biogeochemical pathways, assimilation and mineralization of organic compounds were the dominant processes. Besides, a range of metabolic pathways and genes related to high irradiance, low temperature and other stress adaptations were detected, which indicate that the microbial communities had adapted to and could survive in this harsh environment. These results provide a detailed perspective of the microbial functional ecology of the Union Glacier area and improve our understanding of linkages between microbial communities and biogeochemical cycling in high Antarctic ecosystems.

Dry permafrost over ice-cemented ground at Elephant Head, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica

AbstractDry permafrost - ground with temperature always below 0°C and containing negligible ice - overlying ice-cemented ground has been reported in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica and on Mars. Here we report on a new site (79°49.213'S, 83°18.860'W, 718 m elevation) located on the side of Mount Dolence in Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. Year-round temperature and humidity measurements indicate that dry permafrost is present between depths of 13.5 and 49.0 cm - the location of ice-cemented ground. The mean annual frost point of the ice-cemented ground is -17.0 ± 0.2°C and the mean annual frost point of the atmosphere is -22.7 ± 1°C. The corresponding mean annual temperatures are -19.2°C and -20.3°C. Neither the temperature of the ice-cemented ground nor the air rise above freezing. Both the dry permafrost and the ice table may be habitable. In the dry soil at 3 cm depth there are 80 hours in the summer when temperature exceeds -5°C and water activity exceeds 0.8. At the ice table, temperature exceeds -10°C and water activity exceeds 0.8 for 35 hours in the year. The ice table and the dry permafrost above it would be considered a ‘Special Region’ on Mars. Further microbial investigation of this site is indicated.

Letters to Lord Ganesha

Letters to Lord Ganesha

The Smokestack

The Smokestack Joshua Mehigan (bio) The town had a smokestack. It had a church spire. The church was prettier, but the smokestack was higher. It was a lone ruined column, a single snuffed taper, a field gun fired at heaven, a tube making vapor. The smoke thinned the attention. Its aspect kept transforming. It could look like a cloud, or like mosquitoes swarming. The smokestack’s bricks were yellow, and its mouth twenty feet wide. Its smoke was usually pale, but there was a rust color on its side. The smoke was yellow coral, a bouquet of yellow roses, a yellow beard, a yellow eye, and sometimes runny noses. Often it looked heavy like junipers under snow. At dawn it was limpidly pink and shaped like an embryo. It could look like Cuba as seen from outer space. It could look like a pedestal stone. It could look like Jesus’ face. [End Page 53] The busy residents tended to ignore it, though no one alive remembered a time before it. Sometimes it looked like ermine, sometimes like elderflower. Sometimes it looked like a Persian cat, and sometimes like power. It came before Lincoln Steffens. It survived Eric Blair. It was older than stop signs. It would always be there, resembling a tuxedo ruffle, or an elephant head, or a balled-up blanket on a hospital bed. It stopped three times a year, but only for one day. Once, in the ’30s, it seemed to die. Many families went away. But it stayed dead a week, and when it was resurrected, the sky turned black, and then white, as if a new pope were elected. To labor it looked like a witness, to management a snitch, to both victim and perpetrator it looked like getting rich. At the Chamber of Commerce, on a postcard of the square, you’d find it in the background, diminutive but there. [End Page 54] On cool summer evenings, it billowed like azure silk. On cold winter mornings, it spread like spilled milk. [End Page 55] Joshua Mehigan joshua mehigan’s first book, The Optimist, was a finalist for the 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry and winner of the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize. In 2014, Farrar, Straus & Giroux published his second book, Accepting the Disaster, cited in the Times Literary Supplement, the New York Times Book Review, and elsewhere as a best book of the year. He was the Alan Collins Fellow at the 2015 Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and has received writing fellowships in recent years from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. Copyright © 2017 University of North Carolina Wilmington

Cultural deliberations: tackling the white elephant head on

Editor ‐ Pratt and Schrewe1 eloquently capture the complexity and challenges associated with understanding the effervescent seven‐letter word ‘culture’. Their paper1 articulates an attack on essentialism and thoughtfully invokes a call for further debate inviting plural perspectives, within the light of one's own frame of reference.

The Journey Home

The Journey Home Shuchi Saraswat (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution © Sundaram Ramaswamy, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr [End Page 16] At the center of a temple, a dark room. The blinds are half open, and dust floats in the slats of light. The room is a library in name—glass-doored bookcases line the walls—but it is mostly a closet in function. In here are the objects belonging to a life forever in transit: two metal lockers, a doctor’s scale used to weigh luggage, and stacks of not-yet-unpacked cardboard boxes, old and soft, the weathered flaps not sealed with tape but tucked into each other for easy access. Among these objects, on gray folding tables, occupying most of the room, stand row upon row of statues of the Hindu god Ganesha. Some are nearly a foot tall; others, no larger than a thumb. Hundreds of crescent-crowned elephant heads with sleepy trunks resting on swollen boy bellies, hundreds of painted eyes looking forward, hundreds of right palms up, asking you to stop for a second. To be still. I stood among those statues, or murtis, on a late afternoon in September [End Page 17] 2012, trying to photograph the feeling of being in that room: the eerie company of all those copies of a single deity, each one believed to actually be the god himself. Each had been brought to life by a pran pratishtha, a ceremony whose name literally translates to “enlivening the resting.” In four days, these statues would no longer exist—at least, not in this state. I was here, with the heavy, semiprofessional Cannon DSLR that I’d borrowed from a generous uncle, to document their end, when the statues’ owners would drop them over a ship’s railing and into the San Francisco Bay. In the bay, their clay bodies would dissolve, releasing the god from his earthly shackles. Ganesha is a benign god; he is a hopeful god. He is known for being an exemplary son, the god of beginnings, the god of the arts. The stories of Ganesha—of how he won a race around the world by sitting on his mouse and circling his parents, his universe; how, when he was tasked with transcribing the Mahabarata, he broke off the tip of his tusk so that he could finish—are symbolized by the mouse at his feet and his jagged half-tusk. These stories are what make him the most beloved of all the Hindu gods. But the best-known story, the one that brought me to the temple in California, is of how his father, Lord Shiva, the destroyer, decapitated him in a rage and then brought him back to life with an elephant head. This is the story of Ganesha’s birth, of his rebirth, and of his rebirthday, which his followers celebrate every year. They invite the god, temporarily embodied as a statue, to their homes, where, for ten days, they treat him like an out-of-town guest. They hold dinner parties in his honor. They offer him sweets on a silver platter at the end of each meal. When the celebration, the Ganesha Chaturthi, ends, his devotees return him to his home on Mount Kailasha, in Tibet—the path to which is the water. But because Ganesha is the god of good luck, the god of auspicious beginnings, this ceremony of immersion, or visarjan, also serves as a cleansing for his devotees. Into the ocean he goes, carrying with him all of his worshippers’ misfortunes. The photos I’d seen of visarjans were surreal. A Ganesha murti three stories tall, photographed from up high and so far away that the thousands of bodies carrying him down the streets of Mumbai turn into one body, a thick river of people carrying the statue down to the sea. The enormous murti being escorted into the water on the shoulders of men, each individual now clearly visible—some capped, all fully clothed and soaked. Now you see their faces, pained and joyous, and all the people behind them, watching from the beach against the backdrop of lush trees and South Mumbai’s...

Not the brain alone: The nutritional potential of elephant heads in Paleolithic sites

The presence of elephants, and specifically of elephant head remains, is well demonstrated in many Paleolithic sites in Europe, Africa, and Asia. However, the possible mechanisms for the exploitation of this enormous body part are rarely discussed, and it is often suggested that elephants' heads were exploited specifically for the extraction and consumption of the brain. In this paper, we discuss the nutritional potential that lies within elephants' heads as implied by ethnographic and zoological literature, and present archaeological evidence from Paleolithic sites for the exploitation of proboscideans' heads. The data show that the prevailing view should be re-evaluated, and that the nutritional potential within the elephant's head extends far beyond the brain. We suggest that organs such as the temporal gland, the trunk, the tongue, the mandible and the skull itself were exploited routinely as an integral part of early humans' diet. The nutritional potential of the elephant head provides a parsimonious explanation for the investment early humans put into transporting and exploiting this specific body part at open-air sites but particularly at cave sites, and serves as a significant beacon in understanding Paleolithic human behavior in relation to proboscidean remains.

Pictures First: A Journey through Øyvind Torseter’s Universe

Pictures First:A Journey through Øyvind Torseter’s Universe Ingrid Urberg (bio) Since his debut in 1999, Øyvind Torseter has garnered a reputation as one of the most innovative and versatile illustrators in the rich field of Norwegian children’s literature. In addition to writing and illustrating seven books, Torseter has partnered with an impressive array of authors, including Jon Fosse, Tore Renberg and Bjørn Sortland, on over a dozen book projects, and his list of collaborators and awards continues to grow. While the array of techniques he employs and experiments with range from traditional line drawings to three-dimensional paper clippings, graphic effects, digital picture techniques and ink drawing collages, there is critical consensus that Torseter retains his own distinct style and voice. Nowhere is this clearer or more colorful than in his solo ventures, and a look at some of the stylistic and thematic threads that run throughout these books not only provides an introduction to Torseter’s often surrealistic universe, it also illuminates the ways in which he engages and challenges his readers to be creative, and opens the door to lively discussions about intended audiences. Elephant men, cat women, menacing octopuses, cowboys and superhero figures fill the pages of Torseter’s first solo work, Mister Random (2002), and many of these characters reappear in various forms in its unofficial sequels Detours (2007) and Connections (2013) as well as in Gravenstein (2009) and The Hole (2012). While some [End Page 129] members of this colorful menagerie, such as the leopard lady and Mr. Random, are humans in costumes or disguises, others, most notably the elephant man, appear to be human-animal hybrids or monsters, and can be viewed as both playful and unsettling. The diminutive book Gravenstein fittingly features a leopard girl and an elephant boy to match its petite physical format, and The Hole introduces a camel-faced man who reappears with the feline and elephantine figures in Connections. Masks, disguises and dressing-up are a central visual theme in Mister Random, and just as the leopard lady puts on a cowboy hat, and an octopus hides under a large elephant head, Torseter invites us to dress up and enter his surrealistic world in a playful and imaginative spirit. The inquisitive reader may ask what is real and what is imaginary? Does it matter? Where are we, and what is taking place? He further facilitates this creative play by keeping text to a minimum and maximizing the number of story lines. Many of Torseter’s solo works can be read as one narrative or as individual stories, and it isn’t clear, for example, in Mister Random, where the stories begin or where they end. With only very minimal text, this decision is left up to the audience. Gravenstein contains two distinct, yet interconnected story lines related to the rather esoteric topic of heirloom apples, and each tiny page frames just one scene. Detours, with its five titled but un-texted chapters, and Connections, which is divided into thirteen wordless vignettes, also encourage the viewer to experiment and play with order and meaning. While The Hole, the story of a man who tries to figure out the origins of a hole in his new apartment, A Handful of Oats (2005), about a cowboy who steals a sack of money, and Click (2004), the story of the panic that ensues when a young boy accidentally locks himself in his grandparents’ bathroom, have fairly linear plots, there is very little text, requiring audiences to engage with the illustrations throughout. Torseter has said that he does not sketch before drawing, and he never alters or erases his original drawings. Rather than discarding work that doesn’t seem to fit with what he is doing, he puts it aside for future projects and consideration (Madsen 2). In a 2011 interview in Nynorskopplæring, a Norwegian pedagogy publication, Torseter also revealed that when he works alone, “the picture (not text) always comes first” (Helgesen 13). While this method, in the opinions of most critics, is generally highly successful, it has led to some mixed reviews. Ola A. Hegdal, for example, finds Gravenstein to be problematic in its juxtaposition of text...

Efficacy of chilli Capsicum oleoresin guns usage by local hunters as African elephant repellent from crop raiding in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia

Chilli Capsicum oleoresin guns have been utilised by local hunters in Luangwa Valley, Zambia in the recent years as Community Based Conflict Mitigation (CBCM) for human-elephant conflict (HEC) situations. Through use of C. oleoresin guns, transformation of local hunters from elephant poachers to sustainable agriculturalists has been a milestone for conservation efforts. In this study, authors systematically evaluated efficacy of C. oleoresin guns usage by the local hunters as African elephant repellent from crop raiding in the Luangwa, Zambia using statistical multivariate regression modelling approaches. Out of nine potential factors influencing effectiveness of C. oleoresin guns, two factors were significantly associated with impacts of C. oleoresin aerosols: rain conditions and elephant head size. These factors were, in addition to wind direction, determinants of effectiveness of C. oleoresinaerosols on target elephants. CBCM innovations are encouraged and we suggest building capacity in training, access to materials and implementation monitoring by local hunters and wildlife managers to enhance local participation in non-lethal preventive and mitigation interventions, especially those which are robust to elephant habituation. Key words: Luangwa Valley, Zambia, Capsicum oleoresin, counter-measures, human-elephant conflicts, biodiversity conservation.

Lord Ganesha: the idol neurosurgeon

Ganesha (also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh) is one of the bestknown and most-worshipped divinities in Hinduism. Although there are many descriptions, Ganesha’s elephant head makes him easy to identify (see cover illustration). There are many mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and life history. Ganesha is worshipped as the lord of beginnings, of obstacles, patron of arts and sciences, and of intellect and wisdom. Ganesha appears as a distinct deity in clearly recognizable form beginning in the fourth to fifth centuries, during the Gupta Period. The name Ganesha is a Sanskrit compound, joining the words gana meaning a group, multitude, or categorical system and isha, meaning lord or master. The translation “Lord of Hosts” may convey a familiar sense to Western readers. Unlike some deities, representations of Ganesha show wide variation with distinct patterns changing over time. Ganesha images were prevalent in many parts of India by the sixth century. A statue of Lord Ganesha has been dated between 973 and 1200 by Martin-Dubost [2]. He has the head of an elephant and a big belly. While some texts say that Ganesha was born with an elephant head, in most stories he acquires the head later, with several accounts given. The most common motif in these stories is that Ganesha was born with a human head and body and that Shiva beheaded him when Ganesha came between Shiva and Parvati. Shiva then replaced Ganesha’s original head with that of an elephant [2]. Details of the battle and where the replacement head came from vary according to different sources. It is widely believed that Lord Shiva wanted his son to have divine attributes and hence he performed the first documented and successful transplant surgery of the brain, which the neurosurgical fraternity still strives to achieve [1]. Lord Ganesha hence became the recipient of the first brain transplant. The Lord had many attributes, which could be a neurosurgeons’ delight. Ganesha is considered to be the Lord of Intelligence. In Sanskrit, the word buddhi is a feminine noun that is variously translated as intelligence, wisdom, or intellect. The concept of buddhi is closely associated with the personality of Ganesha, especially in the Puranic period, where many stories showcase his cleverness and love of intelligence. On a symbolic level, Ganesha was blessed with wide ears and a small mouth so as to listen more clearly and at all decibels and speak less, with a very active eight-nerve function system that every neurosurgeon must desire for all his patients, irrespective of his caste, creed and socioeconomic status. He possessed a large head, meant to think big and have large memory, which easily are the qualities every neurosurgeon aspires for. The small eyes gave him power to concentrate and have focus, which in a microscopic era would be desired by all neurosurgeons. This may be likened to the neuronavigational systems, which we want to emulate. The number of Ganesha’s arms varies; his bestknown forms have between two and 16 arms. The Robotic arms, which we utilize and wish to have, were possessed by the Lord Ganesha. One tusk, which he had, represented the ability to retain the good and discard the poor. Is it not the essence of what neurosurgery is all about? The trunk represented high efficiency and adaptability, which we feel is the bottomline of neurosurgical practice, taking instant and stable decisions. Ganesha’s protruding belly appears as Childs Nerv Syst (2008) 24:287–288 DOI 10.1007/s00381-007-0507-2

Mexico City's Spring 2007 Theatre Season

FALL2007 135 Mexico City’s Spring 2007 Theatre Season TimothyG.Compton In accordance with José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi’s philosophy that good literature should both teach and entertain, the best of Mexican theatre continues to do just that, as evidenced in Mexico City’s Spring 2007 season. And excellence was apparent in both adult and children’s theatre. Unfortunately, spectators had to be rather dedicated to seeing theatre, as they had to put up with last-minute schedule changes, poorly or inaccurately advertised offerings, and worst of all, a nasty dispute between the Instituto Cultural Helénico and the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, which kept spectators on the street until just before curtain time (crippling cafeteria and lobby snack bar business) at the several theaters of the Centro Cultural Helénico. Fortunately, dealing with the hassles was well worth it, as Mexico City’s abundant theatre offerings yielded numerous gems. One of the season’s finest plays was Historias de animales, performed in the diminutive Sala Rosario Castellanos in the Casa del Lago Juan José Arreola. Based on a story by Jaime Goded and adapted to theatre and directed by Edurne Goded, it was a stinging four-part farce which pummeled four different major aspects of Mexican society: government, the school system, the news media and commercialism. Those major categories, nevertheless , were merely the beginning, as within one hour it managed to skewer not just corrupt politicians, stupid teachers, self-interested reporters and hypermaterialist consumers, but also corrupt police officers and judges, bodyguards lacking brains but overly anxious for action, brutally incompetent medical doctors, outlandish sales sharks, dangerously incompetent drivers and gringo tourists toting monstrously large containers of beer, to mention a few of the most outstanding caricatures from the play. Several aspects of the play’s technique were brilliant, starting with the fact that the cast consisted of only four actors who obviously played numerous roles. Their wardrobe changed 136 LATINAMERICAN THEATRE REVIEW Historias de animales. Photo by Timothy G. Compton. as they sped from role to role, but more importantly, their body language, facial expressions , voices, rhythms and attitudes transformed them convincingly and hilariously. All four actors gave outstanding performances, but Héctor Dávila and Oscar Leonardo Yoldi shined brightest, perhaps because their roles allowed it of them. Unlike other plays I have seen in the same space, Historias de animales was oriented lengthwise, creating a very shallow stage, room for only three rows of spectators, and remarkable proximity to the audience. On each end of the actors’ space was a pair of coat trees laden with clothes at the beginning of the performance. Each change of character took place in full audience view, as actors discarded costumes and exchanged them for new ones. By the end of the play, the coat trees were bare. The costumes were sometimes realistic, as in the case of the reporters and police officers, but sometimes farcical, as in the cases of the gringo in Bermuda shorts and the politician who wore an elephant head. All props for the play were also at stage ends, ranging from multi-purpose boxes with inner lights on wheels which served as cars and other things, noise-makers, oversized money, cameras, mirrors, saw handles (for plastic surgery), guns and suitcases. Between the coat trees, the stage seemed to be split into thirds, signaled with rectangles of light which often illuminated a third of the stage at a time. At times the actors worked alone, while other times monologues yielded to dialogue. The language of the play was fast, tongue-in-cheek and dense, leaving at least one spectator with the desire to see the play again to process more of it. Language echoing conventions from the mass media was among the richest, having great fun at the expense of news programs and television commercials . One such commercial was for an “Air-Brain Damage Kit,” hawked by a woman who cheerfully declared: “Yo era una gorda, pero ahora soy popu- FALL2007 137 lar.” The TV-watcher immediately called for the ridiculous product, which led to a string of disasters for her. The use of lights, constant flow of characters...

Thailand

Thailand, the land of smiles, is about the size of France but with the population of the UK (65 million), located in the middle of South-East Asia. The northern part...

Remagnetization of Jurassic volcanic rocks in the Santa Rita and Patagonia Mountains, Arizona: Implications for North American apparent polar wander

Paleomagnetic poles for the Jurassic Corral Canyon sequence and Glance Conglomerate in southern Arizona have been used to construct apparent polar wander (APW) paths for the North American plate, but they are controversial and conflict with higher‐latitude poles from New England. Lower Jurassic dacites and ash flow tuffs of the Mount Wrightson Formation in the Santa Rita Mountains were initially sampled to provide an additional paleopole for southern Arizona. These rocks, however, have a predominantly reversed‐polarity characteristic magnetization (in situ, I = −47°, D = 154°, α95 = 9°) which is statistically indistinguishable from that for the nearby latest Cretaceous Elephant Head pluton (I = −48°, D = 165°, α95 = 8°). Although magnetizations of both polarities are observed in the ash flow tuffs, they are mostly carried by hematite, and dual polarity components are observed within some specimens. Moreover, widespread mineralization and a K‐Ar age of ∼67 Ma for altered rocks of the Mount Wrightson Formation imply that these rocks were subjected to a prolonged episode (greater than one polarity interval) of low‐temperature alteration and remagnetization. Middle Jurassic ash flow tuffs of the Corral Canyon sequence in the Patagonia Mountains to the south have a similar geologic setting: They are exposed along strike amid mineralized rocks on the eastern flank of a mountain range cored by Paleocene intrusions. Hematite is also the dominant remanence carrier in most of the Corral Canyon sequence, and its predominantly normal‐polarity direction (in situ, I = 51°, D = 326°, α95 = 9°) is indistinguishable from that for the nearby Patagonia Granodiorite (I = 49°, D = 342°, α95 = 8°). Rocks of the Corral Canyon sequence therefore are likely remagnetized as well. Problems also exist with the Glance Conglomerate pole. These rocks are situated within a caldera structure and have been potassium metasomatized. This potassic alteration could have occurred shortly after emplacement or at a later time, postdeformation. The low‐latitude Jurassic APW path for North America and J‐2 cusp therefore are not well supported and may need revision.

Contrasted trace-element variations in two Karroo Cumulus complexes

The plotting of Ti, P, Sr, Y and Zr against MgO yields linear relationships in the case of the layered Elephant's Head intrusion, and the calculated regression lines converge on the MgO values characteristic of the cumulus olivine. Levels of incompatible elements therefore lie along mixing lines linking pure olivine with the parental magma. The distribution of Ni and Co shows similar features, although the high distribution coefficient for Ni causes the later cumulates in the exposed section to leave the mixing line. Both major- and trace-element data for the large Insizwa layered complex indicate retention of 20% parental Karroo magma as an intercumulus liquid within cumulus picrites, but attention is focussed on a further class of cumulates which are strongly enriched in incompatible elements and depleted in Sr, but “normal” with respect to major elements, Co, Cr, Ni and Zn. It is probable that displacement of interstitial liquid by heteradcumulus growth of plagioclase in adjacent layers is responsible for this anomalous geochemistry.

Chromiferous spinels of the elephant's head dike

Analysis by optical, X-ray diffraction and microprobe methods, of essentially unzoned, disseminated spinels within cumulus picrites and olivine gabbros reveals an unbroken range of compositions from aluminian chromite (34% Cr2O3) to chromian magnetite (4% Cr2O3). TiO2 contents vary between 0.5 and 7.7%. Exsolution of ilmenite indicates originally higher TiO2 contents. Quenched contact-facies rocks with abundant olivine phenocrysts contain strongly zoned spinels in which a titaniferous chromian magnetite rim (16% Cr2O3, 10% TiO2) encloses cores of weakly titanian chromite (40% Cr2O3). Platy dendrites of exsolved spinel occur in abundance within cumulus olivines. The evidence suggests that crystallization of the disseminated spinels occurred under the influence of an increase in oxygen fugacity towards the interior of the intrusion, and that the compositional diversity has stemmed from the homogenization of originally zoned grains mantled to varying degrees by high-Ti, low-Cr rims.