Display Of Symbols Research Articles

Contextualiser l’imagerie préhistorique : les figures circulaires et la figure « a bandoliera » des monolithes chalcolithiques centre-alpins

Pour être interprétées, les iconographies préhistoriques doivent être réinsérées dans leur contexte archéologique et culturel. À partir d’une contextualisation à différentes échelles, le présent article propose une relecture de deux images gravées sur les statues-menhirs centre-alpines du IIIe millénaire av. n. è., à savoir les figures circulaires et «a bandoliera » . Les premières sont gravées au sommet des statues-menhirs masculines et ont jusqu’alors été interprétées comme des figurations du soleil. Cette interprétation se base sur le présupposé selon lequel un même ensemble de caractéristiques formelles, un cercle radié notamment, possède une signification universelle, c’est-à-dire indépendante de son contexte de création. Or, plusieurs indices issus à la fois de l’iconographie elle-même et du contexte archéologique des Alpes centrales permettent d’envisager une lecture différente. La première objection que nous opposons à l’interprétation couramment admise est l’extrême variabilité morphologique de ces figures circulaires qui s’accorde mal avec une représentation conventionnelle du soleil. De plus, il s’agit bien de cercles et non de disques au contraire de ce qu’une représentation du soleil requiert en divers contextes culturels. Plus encore, la comparaison de ce que nous interprétons comme des individus de pierre, à partir notamment du contexte social et idéologique qui caractérise les Alpes centrales du IIIe millénaire, et en dépit de leur relative abstraction, aux autres corpus de statues-menhirs alpines suggère une seconde objection. Ces prétendues figures solaires sont absentes des autres secteurs géographiques alpins qui connaissent pourtant un phénomène idéologique semblable aux Alpes centrales. Le sommet des statues-menhirs accueille dans ces régions des figurations de colliers. Finalement, s’agissant de corps de pierre érigés sur des sites cérémoniels où des manipulations d’ossements humains sont attestées, l’interprétation des statues-menhirs requiert de prêter attention aux données funéraires qui permettent alors d’envisager une valorisation sociale importante des cultures de l’apparence dans les groupes chalcolithiques centre-alpins. En effet, sur les sites de tradition dite Civate les ornements corporels, et plus encore les éléments de colliers, prédominent parmi les objets déposés avec les défunts et en constituent la caractéristique essentielle. La contextualisation de l’iconographie permet ainsi la constitution d’un solide faisceau de données en faveur d’une relecture de ces figures. Nous proposons de reconnaître dans les cercles gravés au sommet des statues-menhirs masculines, des éléments de la culture matérielle des groupes chalcolithiques centre-alpins, des ornements corporels, et plus précisément de colliers. La lecture d’une seconde image ambiguë, la figure «a bandoliera » , est ici également révisée. Couramment interprétée comme la représentation en plan d’un enclos mégalithique, par comparaison à des structures d’habitat issues de contextes forts éloignés des Alpes centrales, cette image est associée aux figurations qualifiées de «topographiques » . Pourtant, une telle lecture constitue une réelle erreur méthodologique dans la mesure où elle extrait l’image non-seulement de son support (un corps de pierre) mais également de son contexte culturel. Aucun enclos mégalithique n’a jamais été découvert dans les Alpes centrales. Par conséquent, et en fonction du faisceau de données établi au sujet des figures circulaires, nous proposons de reconnaître dans la figure «a bandoliera » , systématiquement gravée sur deux faces contigües, un ornement corporel propre à l’équipement masculin et porté sur l’épaule. Ainsi, l’interprétation de l’imagerie gravée et plus particulièrement de certaines figures ambiguës, se doit de prendre en considération la nature des blocs érigés et le contexte archéologique. Cette contextualisation à différentes échelles permet d’envisager de nouvelles interprétations de ces images qui apparaissent dès lors comme l’indice d’une valorisation sociale des cultures de l’apparence au sein des groupes humains chalcolithiques.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs: aspects of the one-percenter culture for emergency department personnel to consider.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) are an iconic element of the criminal landscape in the United States, the country of their origin. Members of OMGs may present to the emergency department (ED) as a result of motor vehicle accidents or interpersonal violence. When one member of an OMG is injured, other members and associates are likely to arrive in the ED to support the injured member. The extant literature for ED personnel lacks an overview of the culture of OMGs, a culture that promotes the display of unique symbols and that holds certain paraphernalia as integral to an outlaw biker’s identity and pride. The objective of this manuscript is to discuss various aspects of the culture of OMGs so that ED personnel may better understand the mentality of the outlaw biker. Knowledge of their symbols, values, and hierarchy can be crucial to maintaining order in the ED when an injured outlaw biker presents to the ED. We used standard search engines to obtain reports from law enforcement agencies and studies in academic journals on OMGs. We present the observations of 1 author who has conducted ethnographic research on outlaw bikers since the 1980s.

Communicative interaction between a non-speaking child with cerebral palsy and her mother using an iPadTM

There is a rapidly increasing range of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems available for children who cannot communicate orally. Finding the best system for any one user is a challenge for the professionals and carers involved. As yet the use of portable, tablet forms of communication aid has been little researched, despite the rapid growth in their popularity. This article seeks to establish how a tablet form of AAC is exploited in day-to-day domestic interactions between a parent and a child where the child has a severe physical disability and complex communication needs. The study utilises conversation analysis (CA) as the methodology and looks in detail at sequential components of the interaction and the salience of certain interactional moves to both adult and child participants. The mother chose when and where the iPad or other forms of AAC were utilised within the day. Extracts were selected from the available data to exemplify the types of typical exchange that occurred and some key features of the iPad enhanced interaction. The analysis describes how turns are designed incorporating the iPad and discusses what is added to the communication toolkit. Asymmetries in this mother–child interaction are observed and discussed. The child typically remains a respondent to initiations by the caregiver, who in this scenario necessarily remains in control of the iPad symbol display. However, the child uses eye-gaze strategies to indicate interests that lie both within and external to those on offer on the iPad. The article reflects on the child’s agency in initiating a possible novel topic in this way.

Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Emotion Expressive Humanoid Robotic Head: Recognition of Facial Expressions and Symbols

Emotion display through facial expressions is an important channel of communication. However, between humans there are differences in the way a meaning to facial cues is assigned, depending on the background culture. This leads to a gap in recognition rates of expressions: this problem is present when displaying a robotic face too, as a robot’s facial expression recognition is often hampered by a cultural divide, and poor scores of recognition rate may lead to poor acceptance and interaction. It would be desirable if robots could switch their output facial configuration flexibly, adapting to different cultural backgrounds. To achieve this, we made a generation system that produces facial expressions and applied it to the 24 degrees of freedom head of the humanoid social robot KOBIAN-R, and thanks to the work of illustrators and cartoonists, the system can generate two versions of the same expression, in order to be easily recognisable by both Japanese and Western subjects. As a tool for making recognition easier, the display of Japanese comic symbols on the robotic face has also been introduced and evaluated. In this work, we conducted a cross-cultural study aimed at assessing this gap in recognition and finding solutions for it. The investigation was extended to Egyptian subjects too, as a sample of another different culture. Results confirmed the differences in recognition rates, the effectiveness of customising expressions, and the usefulness of symbols display, thereby suggesting that this approach might be valuable for robots that in the future will interact in a multi-cultural environment.

Education and Religious Symbols in the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain: Uniformity or Subsidiarity?

The argument about the display of religious symbols in schools is ostensibly about the extent to which they might have any detrimental effect on impressionable minors. However, its more fundamental importance is as part of the broader debate about the place of religion in wider society: both the extent to which personal religious preferences should be accommodated and the degree to which liberal democracies may legitimately exhibit any kind of overt religious character - and both are fundamental to the issue of social cohesion.

From the headscarf to the burqa: the role of social theorists in shaping laws against the veil

Opposition to the burqa is widespread in Europe but not in the United States. What explains the difference? Focusing primarily on the French case and its Belgian facsimile, we seek to underscore the role of social theorists in legitimizing bans on the full veil. Ironically, this role has been largely disregarded by Anglophone theorists who write on the veil, and who often oppose its prohibition. This article suggests that Europe tends to be more repressive towards full veils because its political process is more open to multiple theoretical representations of the phenomenon of veiling. Conversely, the United States is more open to the provocative display of religious symbols in public because the political process is pre-structured by legal conventions that tend to filter out social theory. The push to ban the burqa in France principally derives from its brand of republicanism rather than being a product of racism and Islamophobia. Of particular significance in the French case is the emphasis on reciprocity as a political principle, a principle that is elongated into an ideal of sociability by French theorists in different disciplines. The arguments of these theorists are described, their rationale is explained and the impact of their intervention on the policy process is documented. The French case, where the popular press and legislature play a major role in shaping policy towards the burqa, is contrasted with that of the United States, where the judiciary, defending religious freedom, remains the most influential collective actor. Each country has correspondingly different attitudes to democracy. In France, the mission of democracy is to extend political equality to the social realm whereas in the United States it is religion that is prioritized so as to protect that which is deemed most sacred to the individual.

CASE NOTE: WHY APPEARANCES MATTER. STATE ENDORSEMENT OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS IN STATE SCHOOLS IN EUROPE AFTER LAUTSI

In Europe, religion continues to exercise a significant, albeit variable influence over the conformation of national identities.1 Therefore, European states have adopted a panoply of institutional arrangements, ranging from the official recognition of religion to official secularism, in order to reflect the relevance of religion in their particular identity.2 The display of Christian religious symbols in state schools is a common means of affirming the role played by religion within the polity. However, this practice has become exceptionally contested out of concern for the protection of the religious freedom of students and of the parental right to raise their children in conformity with their own religious convictions, in accordance with Article 9 and Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Godsdienstvrijheid onder druk?

The freedom of religion which exists throughout Europe has not led to equal rights nor equal social acceptance of Muslims. This holds especially true for Islamic rituals and symbols such as the public call to prayer which only in the Netherlands has been accepted on national level after discussion in Parliament in the 1980s. That this right has only sporadically been effectuated is probably mainly due to the influence of increasing social pressures related to increasingly negative attitudes of the non-Muslim population since the 1980s and anti-Muslim political parties and a changing view on the public display of religious symbols. The same pressures appear from discussions about mosques in general and minarets in particular. This article discusses the reactions of 21 religious and humanist organisations in the Netherlands on the Swiss ban on minarets and argues that they show an awareness of an increasing pressure on the free exercise of this right. They all see the freedom to build minarets as a core element of freedom of religion on equal footing with the freedom to build other religious buildings (although they do not value minarets in the same way). Most of them denounce the proposal to prohibit or limit the freedom to build them as expressions of anti-Islamic views. However, their reactions show different appreciations and solutions to the pressure, ranging from outright rejection of any concessions to possible adaptation.

Religious Symbols in the Public School Classroom

State education must be provided in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner, free from religious coercion or misplaced proselytism. This host of positive and negative obligations in the combined areas of public education, curriculum-building, and the protection of religious liberty may have different legal ramifications depending on the peculiarities of the case. The best way to come to realize that point is to consider the reverse situation: a state that actually refuses to honour the majority’s wishes to display one particular religious symbol in all public school classrooms. A host of human rights norms is triggered by the public display of religious symbols. A state that imposes a crucifix in a public school classroom suggests that the religion that is thereby symbolized is the exemplary religion. Keywords:classroom; education; proselytism; public school; religious symbols

GECA: a fast tool for gene evolution and conservation analysis in eukaryotic protein families

GECA is a fast, user-friendly and freely-available tool for representing gene exon/intron organization and highlighting changes in gene structure among members of a gene family. It relies on protein alignment, completed with the identification of common introns in the corresponding genes using CIWOG. GECA produces a main graphical representation showing the resulting aligned set of gene structures, where exons are to scale. The important and original feature of GECA is that it combines these gene structures with a symbolic display highlighting sequence similarity between subsequent genes. It is worth noting that this combination of gene structure with the indications of similarities between related genes allows rapid identification of possible events of gain or loss of introns, or points to erroneous structural annotations. The output image is generated in a portable network graphics format which can be used for scientific publications.

Time‐bubbles of nationalism: dynamics of solidarity ritual in lived time

AbstractThe growth of modern nationalism can be attributed to structural causes, especially the growth of the strong bureaucratic state that penetrates society, creating cultural uniformity and national identity. But structurally based nationalism need not be very intense, or constant; even when institutionalised in periodic formal rituals, it can be routine, low in emotion – even boring. We need to explain sudden upsurges in popular nationalism, but also their persistence and fading in medium‐length periods of time. Nationalist surges are connected with geopolitical rises and falls in the power‐prestige of states: strong and expanding states absorb smaller particularistic identities into a prestigious whole; weaker and defeated states suffer delegitimation of the dominant nationality and fragment in sudden upsurges of localising nationalities. Passing from macro‐patterns to micro‐sociological mechanisms, conflict producing solidarity is a key mechanism: dramatic events focus widespread attention and assemble crowds into spontaneous ‘natural rituals’ – mass‐participation interaction rituals, as distinct from formal rituals. Evidence from public assemblies and the display of national symbols following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (9/11) shows an intense period of three months, then gradual return to normal internal divisions by around six months. Spontaneous rituals of national solidarity are produced not only by external conflict but by internal uprisings, where an emotional upsurge of national identity is used to legitimate insurgent crowds and discredit regimes. Although participants experience momentary feelings of historic shifts, conflict‐mobilised national solidarity lives in a 3–6‐month time‐bubble, and needs to institutionalise its successes rapidly to have long‐term effects.

Design on Geographical Multi-Scale 3D Symbol Library

3D Geographic Information System (3D GIS); 3D symbol library; Modeling. Abstract. The 3D symbol is the basic approach to represent geographic themes in 3D GIS. In this paper, a multi-scale data model for 3D symbol library is designed to solve the problems in the organization, storage and display for multi-scale symbols. The particle system and animation technology are utilized in dynamic display of 3D symbols. A multi-scale and dynamic 3D symbol library system prototype is constructed and applied in many 3D visualization systems. The results show that the 3D symbol library based on multi-scale and dynamic technology presents high performance.

Symbolic Equality: Law and National Symbols in Northern Ireland

The way in which the law regulates the display of national symbols has important consequences for minority national groups. If the majority is allowed to monopolise the official display of national symbols, members of the minority may be further alienated and discouraged from participating in public life. In contrast, a more even-handed approach to national symbols has the potential to foster an inclusive and pluri-national public culture. This article evaluates the regulation of national symbols in Northern Ireland. It contrasts the relative success of legislation regulating the display of symbols in the workplace with the latest equality litigation under Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement of 1998 (‘the Agreement’). With respect to the latter, it is argued that the case-law suffers from a general failure to apreciate the implications of the Agreement for the display of national symbols. The article goes on to explain how equality with respect to the display of national symbols – or ‘symbolic equality’ – should be understood as an extension of the Agreement’s commitment to the more general principle of ‘parity of esteem’.

Religious Displays at Public Schools — Courts, Crucifixes and Masters of Identities

This contribution compares the judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Lautsi v. Italy with the decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court in the Classroom Crucifix case. An examination of the way that the courts dealt with the common issues of state neutrality in education, parents' rights to direct the religious education of their children, students' right to religious freedom, as well as of the consistency of the rulings with relevant case law, reveals that the ECtHR's Grand Chamber rendered a judgment open to criticism on a number of grounds. It erroneously conflated state action interfering with the applicant's rights with the exercise of some ‘collective’ rights and liberties. The mis-characterization of the crucifix as a ‘passive symbol’ led the ECtHR to trivialize or disregard the effects of the crucifix on dissenting students and the state neutrality mandate in public education. Finally the judgment is not consistent with the relevant case law of the Court and the application of the doctrine of the margin of appreciation has served to weaken its role as Europe's ‘fundamental rights protector’, seeming to be a means through which the Court has gracefully given in to ‘popular sentiment’. The contribution concludes by offering a ‘pluralist approach’ as a legislative framework for regulating the display of religious symbols in public schools.

Crucifixes, Margin of Appreciation and Consensus: The Grand Chamber Ruling in Lautsi v Italy

In March 2011, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights reversed the decision of the Court's Second Section in Lautsi v Italy. The case clearly demonstrates how controversial the use of religious symbols in the public environment has become. This article sets out the complicated framework of the case, assesses the judgment and concludes that the Grand Chamber's decision is unfortunate and, in many respects, objectionable. It will be shown that this decision has implications regarding the malleable nature of the doctrines of the margin of appreciation and consensus, as well as the development of Strasbourg's application of double standards in its case law regarding the public display of religious symbols.

KEEPING RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM UNDER WRAPS: THE CLOTHING CONTROVERSY IN SELECTED EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

The passage by the French government in March 2004 of a law prohibiting the conspicuous display of religious symbols and the wearing of religious apparel by students enrolled in public schools caused considerable controversy, not only within France, but in other quarters as well, for the law stopped female students affiliated with Islam from wearing religious headscarves. Muslim groups both inside and outside France responded critically. Among the notorious repercussions of this law was the subsequent kidnapping in Iraq of two French journalists.1 Somewhat less publicized (but equally important) events in the past year have been decisions by European courts arising out of human rights challenges to similar bans – made in Turkey and in the U.K. – that apply to students’ attire when attending public schools or universities.2 In this instance, multicultural values that would encourage students to display their religious commitments are subordinated. They must take second place to several European governments’ goal of promoting a strictly secular educational environment.

Lautsi v. Italy: An Initial Appraisal

The Grand Chamber Decision in Lautsi accords the State a considerable margin of appreciation to legitimate the display of religious symbols in classrooms on grounds of tradition. In doing so, however, it opens up new questions concerning the scope of state neutrality which remain to be resolved.

Lautsi v. Italy: The Display of Religious Symbols by the State

In the Lautsi v. Italy (hereinafter ‘ Lautsi’) case, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) upheld the appeal of a mother who sought the removal of the crucifix from the classrooms of the public school attended by her two children. This case has opened a broad debate on the display of religious symbols in public establishments and, more generally, on the role of religion in contemporary society. This paper analyses the debate around the display of crucifixes in public establishments in Italy and in other European countries and examines the potential impact of the decision. The basic thrust is that an increasingly multicultural and multi-religious society needs a secular and neutral state. The decision of the European Court in Lautsi goes in the right direction.

The label-free unambiguous detection and symbolic display of single nucleotide polymorphisms on DNA origami.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most common genetic variation in the human genome. Kinetic methods based on branch migration have proved successful for detecting SNPs because a mispair inhibits the progress of branch migration in the direction of the mispair. We have combined the effectiveness of kinetic methods with atomic force microscopy of DNA origami patterns to produce a direct visual readout of the target nucleotide contained in the probe sequence. The origami contains graphical representations of the four nucleotide alphabetic characters, A, T, G and C, and the symbol containing the test nucleotide identity vanishes in the presence of the probe. The system also works with pairs of probes, corresponding to heterozygous diploid genomes.

Heartland: Symbolic Displays of Aggression and Male Masculinity in Rural America

Working as a bartender/bouncer in a rural tavern, the author examines how male masculinity is symbolically constructed through fighting in rural communities. First, male masculinity is introduced as a social and symbolic construct, and its enactment in relation to economic hardship is specifically examined. Second, the methodology used to conduct this study is described, with particular attention given to concerns associated with conducting research in rural areas and in violent settings. Finally, the construction and maintenance of masculinity through displays of aggression and physical altercations is illustrated by examining pre-fight ritual, victory, and defeat in the tavern.