The Galen Palimpsest and the Modest Ambitions of the Digital Data Set

The digital Syriac Galen Palimpsest (SGP) data set is an archive built on the model of the digital Archimedes Palimpsest. As with Archimedes, the SGP data set is meant to promote the long-term preservation of and access to the digitized palimpsest. The SGP data set follows archiving best practices and uses the Archimedes Palimpsest Metadata Standard for spectral imaging metadata. The data is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY 3.0). The SGP project used custom software to manage its data and metadata from the time of capture to final data set publication. In the years since initial publication, newly discovered leaves of the manuscript have been discovered, imaged, and added to the on-line archive. Since the publication of the SGP data set, subsequent projects have built on and refined the methods established by the SGP team by moving away from content-based file naming, establishing formal quality assurance practices, increasing automation in the creation and management of data and metadata, and including full bit-depth capture images in the digital product

THE NYANGWE DIARY OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE: RESTORING THE TEXT

This project will build on imaging technology pioneered with medieval parchment palimpsests to create a digital image archive and online scholarly edition of the Nyangwe field diary (1871) of the celebrated Victorian explorer David Livingstone. Although in a fragile, nearly illegible state, the paper diary is of immense historical value because it details the circumstances leading up to Livingstone's famous meeting with Henry Stanley in November 1871, and because it records Livingstone's response to a massacre of the local African population by Arab slave traders' an event that would become a rallying point for late-Victorian abolitionists. Our project will seek to develop technology for the preservation of the diary and recovery of its faded text, and create a model for scholar-scientist collaboration. Our work will make Livingstone's diary accessible to scholars and non-specialists worldwide and produce a template for the display of similar records of Victorian travel and exploration

Pulling It All Together: Managing the Syriac Galen Palimpsest Project

During a two-year period, from 2009 to 2010, a multidisciplinary team conducted multispectral imaging, digital processing and data management of the Syriac Galen Palimpsest. This contractor-led team applied the turnkey multispectral imaging techniques developed in earlier advanced imaging projects to this palimpsest. This required new management techniques and work processes to provide useful results efficiently and quickly, while minimizing risk. In the initial risk-mitigation study phase, the team first imaged several leaves of the bound SGP in 2009 to characterize the imaging and processing challenges. Building on the findings from this first phase, they then imaged all the disbound leaves in 2010. Management of the SGP imaging and processing focused on integration of the people, processes and technology into an efficient imaging system. This included planning and managing the data flow, data replication, image processing and production of the image product while avoiding bottlenecks. With over 300 GB of data hosted for open access, this project provided opportunity for further study and collaboration, and multispectral imaging work processes used on subsequent programs. This access to the online images allowed a global team of scholars to conduct independent research, during which they also discovered leaves missing from the bound manuscript

Selective Laser Melting processed Ti6Al4V lattices with graded porosities for dental applications

Dental implants need to support good osseointegration into the surrounding bone for full functionality. Interconnected porous structures have a lower stiffness and larger surface area compared with bulk structures, and therefore are likely to enable better bone-implant fixation. In addition, grading of the porosity may enable large pores for ingrowth on the periphery of an implant and a denser core to maintain mechanical properties. However, given the small diameter of dental implants it is very challenging to achieve gradations in porosity. This paper investigates the use of Selective Laser Melting (SLM) to produce a range of titanium structures with regular and graded porosity using various CAD models. This includes a novel 'Spider Web' design and lattices built on a diamond unit cell. Well-formed interconnecting porous structures were successfully developed in a one-step process. Mechanical testing indicated that the compression stiffness of the samples was within the range for cancellous bone tissue. Characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) indicated the designed porosities were well-replicated. The structures supported bone cell growth and deposition of bone extracellular matrix

Tracing: A Graphical-Digital Method for Restoring Damaged Manuscripts

Different kinds of graphical properties of manuscripts such as layout, marginalia, handwriting or text decorations are crucial for the palaeographic and philological analysis thereof. These properties help to locate the manuscript in time and space, as well as enhance the philological analysis of the text. However, in the case of ancient historical documents, this can be considerably impeded by various kinds of damages such as deterioration, erasure, moulds, fading, staining or overwriting, just to name a few. The aim of this paper is to provide a new and handy method for digital reconstruction referred to as Tracing that allows quite accurate reconstructing of the original graphical appearance of a damaged manuscript without requiring considerable technical expertise. Tracing is a non-invasive method that crucially relies on high-resolution digital images of the manuscript. Its application is illustrated here on the basis of the palimpsested manuscript Vaticanus graecus 73. Tracing was employed in order to restore the earlier, underlying text layer (scriptio inferior) on 12 folios or 24 pages. The results are quality images of the reconstructed manuscript pages that faithfully render the graphical properties of the original. These images may immediately be used for palaeographical and philological analyses

The St. Chad Gospels: Diachronic Manuscript Registration and Visualization

This paper presents a software framework for the registration and visualization of layered image sets. To demonstrate the utility of these tools, we apply them to the St. Chad Gospels manuscript, relying on images of each page of the document as it appeared over time. An automated pipeline is used to perform non-rigid registration on each series of images. To visualize the differences between copies of the same page, a registered image viewer is constructed that enables direct comparisons of registered images. The registration pipeline and viewer for the resulting aligned images are generalized for use with other data sets

Selective Laser Melting processed Ti6Al4V lattices with graded porosities for dental applications

Dental implants need to support good osseointegration into the surrounding bone for full functionality. Interconnected porous structures have a lower stiffness and larger surface area compared with bulk structures, and therefore are likely to enable better bone-implant fixation. In addition, grading of the porosity may enable large pores for ingrowth on the periphery of an implant and a denser core to maintain mechanical properties. However, given the small diameter of dental implants it is very challenging to achieve gradations in porosity. This paper investigates the use of Selective Laser Melting (SLM) to produce a range of titanium structures with regular and graded porosity using various CAD models. This includes a novel 'Spider Web' design and lattices built on a diamond unit cell. Well-formed interconnecting porous structures were successfully developed in a one-step process. Mechanical testing indicated that the compression stiffness of the samples was within the range for cancellous bone tissue. Characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) indicated the designed porosities were well-replicated. The structures supported bone cell growth and deposition of bone extracellular matrix

Multifaceted Mathematicians

This report attempts to provide an overview of some of the mathematicians who have combined their mathematical knowledge with other academic and non-academic specialities. The various examples given, many of them included in the well-known MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, corroborate the fact that although the idea of the typical polymath has receded with the passage of time, until the end of the Renaissance, most well-known mathematicians were also well-versed in a number of different sciences such as philosophy, astronomy, and physics. We also highlight other, less common combinations of knowledge, in famous mathematicians who were experts in other disciplines or activities of a totally disparate nature

Inspiring research, inspiring scholarship: the value and benefit of digital resources for learning, teaching, research and enjoyment

This report is the product of a JISC funded project to investigate the values, benefits and impacts of digitised resources. It performs the task of synthesising information relating to the benefits of digitisation and helps to provide a compelling argument for future digitisation work.The opportunity to engage actively with British content that is educational, entertaining and deeply enlightening is here. Technology exists to drive forward a vision of intelligent environments that supply the right information to the right person at the right time. Paradoxically, what is missing is the depth of digitised content to make such technical developments more significant than mere playthings. To achieve a Digital Britain that is educated and ready to exploit these new technologies, the treasure house of British content has to be digitised much more comprehensively.For the intelligent Digital Britain we need beautiful information, authentic data, validated content and a critical mass that will drive economic impact, research innovation and social benefits