The adsorption of tris(1,10-phenanthroline)-ruthenium(II) (Ru(phen)32+) by two kinds of colloidally dispersed clays, sodium montmorillonite and synthetic saponite, was studied by spectrophotometric and electron-optical methods. Montmorillonite adsorbed this complex stronger than saponite. The electronic spectrum measurements suggested that the electronic states of the complex were more perturbed on adsorption by montmorillonite than by saponite. High-performance liquid chromatography was attempted on an ion-exchanged adduct of optically active Ru(phen)32+ and these clays. 1,1′-Binaphthol was eluted with a 1:1 (v/v) water-methanol mixture as an eluent. The compound was resolved with a separation factor of 15 and 1.4 on the saponite and montmorillonite columns, respectively. If tris(acetylacetonato)-chromium(III) was eluted with water, the compound was resolved with separation factors of 1.9 and 11 on the saponite and montmorillonite columns, respectively. These separation tendencies were probably due to the difference in the external surface area and the density of the bound chelates.

Infrared spectra of adsorbed pyridine have been used to obtain qualitative information on the nature of the interaction of pyridine with different rhodium catalysts supported on palygorskite and silica. Based on these data, qualitative definitions of the adsorption sites of these catalysts have been deduced. The catalysts were prepared with natural palygorskite, and palygorskite dehydrated in vacuo at 150°C and 400°C. In this way, catalysts were obtained that had different water contents and, therefore, different acidities. Lewis-bound pyridine was detected by infrared spectroscopy from room temperature to 500°C. The greatest acidity was found in a catalyst prepared with the palygorskite support dehydrated at 150°C before preparation of the catalyst. With this catalyst, strongly hydrogen-bound pyridine was observed when evacuation was carried out at temperatures between 150°C and 300°C. Catalysts prepared with the palygorskite support pretreated at 400°C did not exhibit strongly hydrogen-bound pyridine, and Lewis acidity decreased significantly. As expected, hydrogen-bound pyridine was also detected for rhodium supported on silica. However, it was desorbed at temperatures below 150°C. The results of the acidity studies follow the same pattern as those for 1 -hexene double-bond migration under hydrogénation reaction conditions.

An end-member natroalunite of composition (K0.04Na0.96)(Al2.98Fe0.02)(SO4)2(OH)6 occurs in saprolitic clays in a laterite profile developed over Deccan Trap basalts at Matanumad in the Kutch region of Gujarath state, India. Pseudocubic natroalunite crystals, ranging from 0.5 to 1 µm in size, have replaced pseudohexagonal, 2-µm-size platelets of kaolinite. The reverse reaction (kaolinization of natroalunite) has also been observed in the laterites and bauxites immediately adjacent to the saprolite. The kaolinite crystallites that replaced natroalunite occur as a mosaic of anhedral platelets that range in size from 0.1 to 0.3 µm. The formation of natroalunite at Matanumad postdates the laterization of the basalts. It is related to the post-diagenetic formation of sulfuric acid-rich solutions by the oxidation of pyrite in the Eocene-Oligocene black shales of the Matanumad basin. The kaolinitic clays at the top of the saprolite zone have been intensely altered by the acidic solutions, leading to a high concentration of natroalunite.

No one would think of denying that literary texts lend themselves to “plural” readings, as we say today: the studies collected in this issue are one more proof, as is the title of the collection. Tens of thousands of pages have already been written on Shakespeare and on Montaigne, which does not preclude the enjoyment of those that are offered us here; and the idea would not occur to anyone that this process of re-writing could ever come to an end, aside from the apocalyptic end of all human things, written and unwritten.

Traditionally genetics is said to be the science of heredity. At least this was how William Bateson defined it in 1906. Today this is no longer the case. Since about ten years ago. when biologists learned to extract genes from cells, to transfer them from cell to cell, to dissect them, to analyze them biochemically, in short to manipulate them, the term genetics has tended rather to designate the science of the action of genes in cells. (This is what was formerly called physiological genetics). In any case this is the form of genetics which today is in the forefront of biological research. (This is also called molecular genetics). This kind of genetics is also in the forefront in the media, because of its present or potential applications, in the realms of biotechnology, genetic therapy and so on.

On the basis of progressive acid dissolution the Thompson-Hower model states that mixed-layer glauconite/smectite and illite/smectite contain potassium in two structural sites: a mica-type K position (site 1) and a position of uncertain structural status more prone to dissolution (site 2). Site 2 was thought not to retain radiogenic argon (40Ar*). Using extensive progressive acid dissolution and K/Ar studies on a sized illite/smectite (I/S), determining the amount of K in site 2 is shown to be somewhat more complicated than previously thought because the dissolution pattern depends on acid normality. More important, site 2 fully retains 40Ar*, and no age correction is thus necessary as is required by the Thompson-Hower model, further affirming the geochronologic value of illite in mixed-layer clay. These data are also relevant to understanding the crystal and particle structure of I/S. Site 2 is probably a partly filled K interlayer that develops as an intermediate kinematic step on the way to being fully filled during the transformation of smectite to illite.

Polynuclear hydroxy-Al cations were prepared by partially neutralizing dilute solutions of aluminum chloride. These cations were introduced in the interlayer space of montmorillonite by cation exchange, which formed heat-stable pillars between the silicate layers. Polynuclear hydroxy-Al was preferentially adsorbed on montmorillonite compared with monomer-Al; the maximum amount adsorbed was ∼400 meq/100 g of montmorillonite. Of this amount 320 meq was non-exchangeable. The 001 X-ray powder diffraction reflection of the polynuclear hydroxy-Al-montmorillonite complex was at 27 Å, with four additional higher-order basal reflections, giving an average d(001) value of 28.4 Å. This complex was thermally stable to 700°C. An analysis of the basal reflections by the Fourier transform method indicated that the 28-Å complex had a relatively regular interstratified structure of 9.6- and 18.9-Å component layers with a mixing ratio of 0.46:0.54. This ratio implies that the hydroxy-Al pillars occupied every second layer. Considering the relatively small amount of Al adsorbed and the thermally stable nature of the structure, the hydroxy-Al pillars must have been sparsely but homogeneously distributed in the interlayer space.

Science and the humanities share the same kit of working tools, called the world's literature. While the author of this article deals mainly with the scientific and mathematical literature, the reader probably gravitates towards some other branches, but such distinctions were hardly made in the Middle Ages. The American philosopher, Wallace Stevens, in his book The Necessary Angel remarks that at the time of Aristotle, the Greek language had no word to signify literature. The reason is surely that literature had long since been too universal an element in Greece to require a name. We have no name for the smell of air. This all-pervading power of literature is apparent already two generations before Aristotle, when Socrates made his defence against leading the youth of Athens towards atheism. Plato's Apology tells us how Socrates taunted his accuser: “Have you such a low opinion of the judges, that you fancy them so illiterate as not to know these doctrines are found in the books of Anaxagoras which are full of them? And so, my word, the youth are said to be taught them by Socrates, when they can be bought in the book-market for one drachma at most…” (a coin today worth 1.4 pence!).

The morphological characteristics of starch granules preserved on ancient ground stone tools can reveal which plant species were processed and consumed and even infer tool function. Bedrock metates are commonly associated with the processing of localized seasonal resources, providing potential evidence for past human lifeways, including foods collected and processed, social gatherings, settlement patterns, land investment, and territorial behavior. In contrast to ground stone artifacts preserved in a buried context that have been studied extensively, limited starch research has been conducted on the potential for environmental contamination of open-air bedrock mortars and metates exposed to natural erosional elements. This project examines the residue samples of bedrock metates from three archaeological sites in southern Oregon in the United States to compare the starch yields of extraneous material cleaned from the grinding surface to those extracted from interstitial matrices deeper within the bedrock. Significantly greater number of starch granules were recovered from deep within the cracks and crevices than from the surface. Our study suggests that environmental contamination can be managed if separate surface and control samples are collected and analyzed in conjunction with the interstitial samples. Examining the potential for environmental contamination on exposed grinding surfaces is crucial for confidence in starch granule results and improving our understanding of human dietary behavior.

Alteration products of andesite cobbles from wet soils formed in volcanic colluvial material were studied using petrographic, electron microscope, X-ray powder diffraction, and thermal techniques. Augite phenocrysts altered by congruent dissolution leaving voids which were subsequently filled with smectite. Plagioclase also altered to produce micrometer-size spheroidal aggregates of smectite. Halloysite was not observed within the altered cobbles, although it was abundant in the soil matrix. The formation of smectite in the altered cobbles was probably favored by the restrictive drainage of the microenvironment in combination with wet soil conditions.

This introduction to the special issue ‘Gender and Work in Twentieth-Century Italy’ draws on key strands of historical scholarship on gender and work, including women workers’ experiences, labour market discrimination, domestic work, the impact of gender norms, and ideas of masculinity and femininity on work identities. It traces the development of feminist influence within this scholarship, from making women workers’ experiences visible to challenging essentialist notions of gender identities. Drawing on post-structuralist and intersectional perspectives, particularly influenced by Joan Wallach Scott and Judith Butler, the scholarship on which this special issue is based understands gender as a system of power signified through language and social constructions, and builds on the critique of the dichotomies and essentialisations of traditional labour history, proposing a systemic and structural approach to understanding gendered experiences of work. By exploring the intersections of gender, work and power, this collection offers insights into wider European developments and challenges established historical concepts and narratives. It highlights the importance of understanding gender dynamics in shaping labour relations and social structures, ultimately contributing to a more nuanced understanding of labour and power dynamics in twentieth-century Italy and beyond.

The phenomenological term “imaginal” was coined and introduced into the French language by Henry Corbin (1903-1978). Throughout his work, Corbin used the “imaginal” as his fundamental concept, as the very foundation of a Weltanschauung. Etymolo-gically, this new term was derived from the Latin phrase mundus imaginalis. As for its meaning, it is synonymous with several Persian and Arabic technical terms, such as alam al-mithal (the world of images, archetypical ideas), malakut (the subtle world of the souls), barzakh (interworld), hurqalya (the world of the celestial Earth, of celestial corporeality), na-koja-abad (the land of nowhere). These technical terms taken from theosophical literature have a meaning very close to that of the term “imaginal.” They translate contemplative experience arising from the theophanic imagination or agent imagination (imaginatio vera). From the point of view of location, they designate the qualitative space of this imagination (mundus imaginalis).

If anilinium ions are intercalated into Llano vermiculite, the stacking order of adjacent silicate layers is increased, resulting in a relatively sharp single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. The packing of intercalated organic members forms a superstructure and produces bonding from layer to layer which favors the stacking order. Superlattice reflections occur which, although sharp in the a*b* plane, are streaked along c*. Apparently there is little coherence between adjacent layers of ordered organic units.

A three-dimensional set of XRD reflections for a triclinic sub-cell having the following lattice parameters was measured: a = 5.326(3), b = 9.264(4), c = 14.82(5) Å, α = 90.31(7), β = 96.70(6), and γ = 89.55(5)°. In this unit cell (symmetry Cl), ditrigonal cavities in adjacent silicate layers are approximately opposite. Differential Fourier analyses and least-squares refinements showed that the principal axes of the anilinium ions, i.e., N-C(1)-C(4), are nearly perpendicular to the silicate layers. The planes of the aromatic rings, however, are about ±30° to X, neither parallel nor perpendicular to that direction, as indicated by earlier studies.

Inorganic cations and water molecules are also present in the interlayer; the former and some of the latter occupy sites near the middle of the layer. Anilinium-rich and anilinium-poor domains coexist. In the latter, the cation-water system predominates and apparently conforms to the superstructure. Although the cation-water structure could not be uniquely established from the reflections produced by the sub-cell, possible positional coordinates were obtained. From structural data for the silicate layers, no evidence was found for long-range Si/Al ordering in the tetrahedral sites.

Reactions between hydroxy-Al ions and orthosilicic acid as influenced by citric acid were studied at an initial Si concentration of 1.6 × 10−3 M, Si/Al molar ratios of 0.5 and 1.0, OH/Al molar ratios of 1.0-3.0, and citric acid/Al molar ratios of 0-0.3. In the absence of citric acid and at OH/A1 ratios of 1.0-2.8, imogolite (>0.01 μm) was dominant in the precipitates. At citric acid/Al ratios of 0.01-0.1, imogolite and/or pseudoboehmite were dominant in the precipitates at OH/Al ratios of 1.0 and 2.0, and imogolite and/or ill-defined aluminosilicate complexes at OH/Al ratio of 2.8. Instead of allophane or “proto-imogolite” allophane being the predominant species in the precipitates, the formation of ill-defined aluminosilicate complexes at OH/Al ratio of 3.0 was steadily promoted by increasing the solution citric acid/Al ratios from 0 to 0.3. The freeze-dried soluble products (<0.01 μ) ranged from silica gel to “proto-imogolite,” depending upon the basicity of Al and the level of citric acid of the parent solution. The amount of “proto-imogolite” increased with increasing citric acid/Al ratios from 0 to 0.1 in solution. Complexing low molecular weight organic acids, such as citric acid, impeded the formation of the short-range ordered aluminosilicates, allophanes and imogolite.