From manuscript catalogues to a handbook of Syriac literature: Modeling an infrastructure for Syriaca.org

Despite increasing interest in Syriac studies and growing digital availability of Syriac texts, there is currently no up-to-date infrastructure for discovering, identifying, classifying, and referencing works of Syriac literature. The standard reference work (Baumstark's Geschichte) is over ninety years old, and the perhaps 20,000 Syriac manuscripts extant worldwide can be accessed only through disparate catalogues and databases. The present article proposes a tentative data model for Syriaca.org's New Handbook of Syriac Literature, an open-access digital publication that will serve as both an authority file for Syriac works and a guide to accessing their manuscript representations, editions, and translations. The authors hope that by publishing a draft data model they can receive feedback and incorporate suggestions into the next stage of the project.Comment: Part of special issue: Computer-Aided Processing of Intertextuality in Ancient Languages. 15 pages, 4 figure

Guidelines and Methods for Conducting Porperty Transfer Site Histories

HWRIC Project 90-077NTIS PB91-10508

Parks for All: Building a More Inclusive System of Parks and Public Lands for the National Park Service's Centennial

In the 100th year of the National Park Service, or NPS, America's parks and public lands are more popular than ever. Visits to national parks have reached record-breaking levels, with more than 307 million visitors in 2015. That number is expected to grow substantially this year, as NPS puts its centennial celebration at the forefront of an aggressive advertising and outreach campaign. But the national parks are not alone—nearly all public lands, including national forests and lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management—have also seen their visitation numbers reach new highs in recent years.Parks and public lands are also incredibly popular even among those who do not visit regularly. A poll conducted in January 2016 by Hart Research Associates for the Center for American Progress found that 77 percent of Americans believe that the United States benefits a great deal or fair amount from national parks. This number is consistent regardless of political affiliation. Furthermore, 55 percent of voters believe they personally benefit a great deal or fair amount from the country's parks and public lands. These levels of public support for a federal government program are remarkable at a time when only 19 percent of Americans say they trust the government.With U.S. demographics rapidly changing, it is more important than ever to develop and advance a forward-thinking and inclusive centennial policy agenda for the nation's public lands. The viability and relevance of America's national parks depend on the ability to connect more Americans to their public lands. Land management agencies have not kept pace in reflecting America's diverse population or in engaging new generations to visit and explore the historic, cultural, and environmental resources available through public lands. The parks need the buy-in of all Americans to continue to grow and stay relevant

Colonial independence and economic backwardness in Latin America.

This paper explores the connections between independence from Spain and Portugal and economic backwardness in Latin America. The release of the fiscal burden was offset by higher costs of self-government, while opening up to the international economy represented a handmaiden of growth. Independence had a very different impact across regions and widened regional disparities. The commitment to the colonial mercantilism conditioned the new republics' performance but, on the whole, GDP per head increased in the half a century after emancipation. It appears that inherited Iberian institutions cannot be blamed for Latin America's poor performance relative to the US, especially if the scope is widened to include the post-independence performance of former European colonies in Africa and Asia. It is suggested that before jumping to the usual negative assessment of nineteenth century Latin America, a comparison of post-independence performance in other world regions will be required

COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE AND ECONOMIC BACKWARDNESS IN LATIN AMERICA

This paper explores the connections between independence from Spain and Portugal and economic backwardness in Latin America. The release of the fiscal burden was offset by higher costs of self-government, while opening up to the international economy represented a handmaiden of growth. Independence had a very different impact across regions and widened regional disparities. The commitment to the colonial mercantilism conditioned the new republics’ performance but, on the whole, GDP per head increased in the half a century after emancipation. It appears that inherited Iberian institutions cannot be blamed for Latin America’s poor performance relative to the US, especially if the scope is widened to include the post-independence performance of former European colonies in Africa and Asia. It is suggested that before jumping to the usual negative assessment of nineteenth century Latin America, a comparison of post-independence performance in other world regions will be required.

Sex in the city: the rise of soft-erotic film culture in Cinema Leopold, Ghent, 1945-1954

Since the 1990s, film studies saw a disciplinary shift from approaches favoring a textual and ideological analysis of films to a broader understanding of the socio-cultural history of cinema under the banner of new cinema history. This turn not only allowed for ‘niche’ research domains to flourish such as film economics or cinema memory research, or for new empirical and critical methodologies to be applied to film and cinema history. This change in researching and writing film/cinema history also shed light on previously marginalized, neglected or uncharted film cultures and histories, burgeoning scholarship in for instance (s)exploitation cinema. This contribution examines a peculiar part of post-war local film culture in the Belgian city of Ghent, more precisely the one around the city-center soft-erotic cinema Cinema Leopold (1945-54). The research is based on a programming and box-office database compiled from archival sources and contextualized by other data (internal and external correspondence, posters,…) coming from the business archive of Octave Bonnevalle, Cinema Leopold’s founding pater familias (material kept in the State Archives of Belgium; RAB/B70/1928-1977). The database now contains information on 625 film titles shown between 1945 and 1954, out of which 233 were unidentified (due to lack of information). Although the database is at times crippled by source inconsistencies, it is extremely rich in documenting the everyday practices of a cinema that gradually turned into a soft-erotic movie theater. The database allows for some remarkable findings concerning shifts in the origin of films, their production years, genres, censorship and popularity. The key finding is that Cinema Leopold started out after the Second World War with a child-friendly, mainstream Hollywood-oriented film program, as did most cinemas in Ghent, but its profile slowly tilted towards more mature audiences and provocative film genres. These included French ‘risqué’ feature films containing some forms of nudity like Perfectionist/Un Grand Patron (Ciampi, 1951) and documentaries on venereal diseases like the successful Austrian Creeping Poison/Schleichendes Gift (Wallbrück, 1946), but also auteur movies such as Bergman’s Port of Call/Hamnstad (1948) were shown. It is interesting how Leopold walked a fine line between innovative, bold European art-house cinema, soft-erotic ‘didactic’ movies and flat-out commercial soft-porn. By 1954, Leopold had gathered a loyal crowd, which kept the cinema alive until 1981 despite the several law suits and trials. This micro-history offers a remarkable example of the post-war flourishing of alternative, yet profit-driven cinema circuits, riddled with media controversies and censorship

earthquakes + tsunamis (a poetic diptych)

What follows is pair of found poems created by the practice of mining the writings of other authors to form a new work, a piece of language art. This process shares similarities with postmodern artistic practices including collage, appropriation, sampling, remixing, and repurposing. Source materials for found poems can include other poems, novels, newspaper articles, magazine stories, obituaries, letters—almost anything. For these particular poems, the source materials are academic educational research articles about geological fault zones and earthquakes. The majority of the text in these poems is taken ver- batim from their original articles and used in the order of appear- ance, with a few additions and alterations

Regularities of hydromechanical amber extraction from sandy deposits

Purpose is to analyze the efficiency of hydromechanical amber extraction from sandy deposits relying upon the determined regularities concerning the effect of parameters while carrying out a series of laboratory tests and full-scale experiments. Methods. Laboratory tests and full-scale experiments (Volodymyrets amber-bearing deposit, village of Berezhnytsia) were carried out to analyze effect of the parameters of a hydromechanical technique on the velocity of amber extraction. The experiments also involved studies of occurrence medium; in this context, boiling process was modeled; and factors and parameters effecting suspense medium formation were researched. Methods of mathematical statistics were applied to obtain dependences describing mining parameters effect on amber extraction velocity. Findings. Basic parameters of hydromechanical technique, effecting amber extraction velocity, have been determined. Efficient values of air supply to provide maximum velocity of amber floating have been identified. Mathematical dependences, determining amber floating velocity depending upon air supply and mechanical effect frequency, have been obtained. In this context, amber production capacity is 90 to 95%. Basic parameters effecting amber mining (i.e. environmental density; amplitude of oscillations and their frequency; and water and air supply to sandy deposit of amber-bearing sand) have been defined. Originality. It has been first proved that amber floating velocity is of polynomial nature dependence upon environmental density where extremum is with 0.004 – 0.006 m3/h air supply value; amber extraction experiences 2 – 3 times intensification, if environmental density (ρc) is 1670 – 1750 kg/m3, oscillation frequency is 26 – 36 Hz, amplitude is A = 1.0 – 2.4 mm, and air supply is qa = 0.004 – 0.006 m3/h. In this context, amber floating (v) is 0.09 – 0.12 m/s. If air supply is more than qa = 0.020 m3/h, amber extraction process stops. It has been first obtained polynomial dependence of amber flotation on oscillation frequency of operating device as well as on air supply to rock mass. Practical implications. The determined regularities of hydromechanical amber extraction from amber-bearing sand help make calculations, and select facilities for hydromechanical amber mining.Мета. Дослідження ефективності процесу гідромеханічного вилучення бурштину з піщаних покладів на основі встановлених закономірностей впливу параметрів шляхом проведення серії лабораторних та натурних експериментів. Методика. Експериментальним шляхом в лабораторних та польових умовах (Володимирецьке бурштино-вмісне родовище, с. Бережниця) проведено дослідження впливу параметрів гідромеханічного способу вилучення на швидкість підняття бурштину. При проведенні експериментальних досліджень вивчалось середовище залягання, при цьому проводилось моделювання процесу кипіння й дослідження факторів і параметрів, що впливають на створення суспензного середовища. Із використанням методів математичної статистики отримано залежності, що описують вплив параметрів вилучення на швидкість підняття бурштину. Результати. Визначено основні параметри гідромеханічного методу, що впливають на швидкість вилучення бурштину. Встановлено раціональні значення величини подачі повітря для забезпечення максимальної швидкості спливання бурштину. Отримано математичні залежності, що визначають швидкість спливання залежно від по-дачі повітря та частоти механічного впливу, при цьому рівень видобутку бурштину сягає 90 – 95%. Визначені основні параметри, які впливають на інтенсивність підняття бурштину на денну поверхню, – густина середовища, амплітуда та частота коливань, подача води й повітря у піщане родовище бурштиновмісного піску. Наукова новизна. Вперше доведено, що швидкість спливання бурштину має поліноміальний характер залежності від густини середовища з екстремумом при величині подачі повітря 0.004 – 0.006 м3/год, а вилучення бурштину інтенсифікується у 2 – 3 рази при густині робочого середовища (ρc) 1670 – 1750 кг/м3, частоті коливання 26 – 36 Гц, амплітуді А = 1.0 – 2.4 мм, подачі повітря qa = 0.004 – 0.006 м3/год, при цьому швидкість спливання бурштину (v) рівна 0.09 – 0.12 м/с, а при збільшенні подачі повітря понад 0.020 м3/год процес вилучення бурштину припиняється. Вперше отримано поліноміальну залежність швидкості спливання бурштину від частоти коливань робочого органу та подачі повітря в масив. Практична значимість. Визначені закономірності гідромеханічного вилучення бурштину із бурштиновмісних пісків дозволяють проводити розрахунок та обирати обладнання для проведення гідромеханічного видобутку бурштину.Цель. Исследование эффективности процесса гидромеханического извлечения янтаря из песчаных залежей на основе установленных закономерностей влияния параметров путем проведения серии лабораторных и натурных экспериментов. Методика. Экспериментальным путем в лабораторных и полевых условиях (Владимирецкое янтарное месторождение, с. Бережница) проведено исследование влияния параметров гидромеханического способа извлечения на скорость всплытия янтаря. При проведении экспериментальных исследований изучалась среда залегания, при этом проводилось моделирование процесса кипения и исследование факторов и параметров, влияющих на создание суспензионной среды. С использованием методов математической статистики получены зависимости, описывающие влияние параметров извлечения на скорость всплытия янтаря. Результаты. Определены основные параметры гидромеханического способа, влияющие на скорость извлечения янтаря. Установлены рациональные значения величины подачи воздуха для обеспечения максимальной скорости всплытия янтаря. Получены математические зависимости, определяющие скорость всплытия в зависимости от подачи воздуха и частоты механического воздействия, при этом уровень добычи янтаря достигает 90 – 95%. Определены основные параметры, влияющие на интенсивность всплытия янтаря на дневную поверхность, – плотность среды, амплитуда и частота колебаний, подача воды и воздуха в песчаное месторождение янтарного песка. Научная новизна. Впервые доказано, что скорость всплытия янтаря имеет полиномиальный характер зависимости от плотности среды с экстремумом при величине подачи воздуха 0.004 – 0.006 м3/ч, а извлечение янтаря интенсифицируется в 2 – 3 раза при плотности рабочей среды (ρc) 1670 – 1750 кг/м3, частоте колебания 26 – 36 Гц, амплитуде А = 1.0 – 2.4 мм, подачи воздуха qa = 0.004 – 0.006 м3/ч, при этом скорость всплытия янтаря (v) равна 0.09 – 0.12 м/с, а при увеличении подачи воздуха более 0.020 м3/час процесс извлечения янтаря завершается. Впервые получена полиномиальная зависимость скорости всплытия янтаря от частоты колебаний рабочего органа и от подачи воздуха в массив. Практическая значимость. Установленные закономерности гидромеханического извлечения янтаря с янтарных песков позволяют производить расчет и выбирать оборудование для проведения гидромеханической добычи янтаря.The studies have been carried out on the basis of the National University of Water and Environmental Engineering (town of Rivne), and with the participation of the experts from “Ukrainska Heolohichna Kompania” SE (Volyn Surveying Company, town of Kovel). The authors express thanks to a Vice-Rector for Research of the National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Doctor of Ecological Sciences N.B. Savina for the opportunity to perform the research using laboratory equipment of the University, and to the authorities of “Ukrainska Heolohichna Kompania” SE for joint research within Volodymyrets amber-bearing deposit (a village of Bereznytsia)

New cinema history and the computational turn

This paper outlines how the digitisation of both the film industry and contemporary research practices bear on the work of the new cinema historian. How might the opportunities presented by an unprecedented proliferation of data for example, also challenge the unspoken assumptions and ordinary practices of conventional film studies research? And how might the \u27computational turn\u27 present opportunities (and challenges) for a revisionist cinema history at the intersection of qualitative historiographies (focussed on the social experience of the cinema) and quantitative research approaches such as data mining, empirical analysis and digital visualisations