Watermill principle applied to energy harvesting for sensor nodes in underground environments

This paper describes an energy harvesting solution for a wireless sensor node based on the watermill principle. This solution has been conceived to be employed for the realization of monitoring infrastructures to be deployed in underground water lines like aqueducts or drainage systems. In particular, this solution has been developed to be employed in a Wireless Sensor Network for the monitoring of the 'Bottini' (the ancient medieval aqueduct) running under the streets of the Historic Centre of Siena, Italy. Through the proposed harvesting system the sensor nodes are able to operate autonomously for long spans of time, allowing the real time remote monitoring of critical environmental parameters that are crucial for the preservation of this cultural site. The power generation system includes a waterwheel exploiting the water flow of the aqueduct to drive an electric motor, and a power control system, in order to manage the power accumulation and the energy consumption of the sensor node. The operation of the whole architecture has been tested in laboratory in order to prove the effectiveness of the solution and its possible use in the real scenario

Across Space and Time. Papers from the 41st Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Perth, 25-28 March 2013

This volume presents a selection of the best papers presented at the forty-first annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. The theme for the conference was "Across Space and Time", and the papers explore a multitude of topics related to that concept, including databases, the semantic Web, geographical information systems, data collection and management, and more

Across Space and Time Papers from the 41st Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Perth, 25-28 March 2013

The present volume includes 50 selected peer-reviewed papers presented at the 41st Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Across Space and Time (CAA2013) conference held in Perth (Western Australia) in March 2013 at the University Club of Western Australia and hosted by the recently established CAA Australia National Chapter. It also hosts a paper presented at the 40th Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA2012) conference held in Southampton

Life on the watershed

The scarcity of water is a major problem in many parts of the Near East today and has been so in the past. To survive in such a region people should be able to structurally attain more water than rainfall alone can supply. The archaeology of this area should not only identify when people inhabited such a region and what the character of this habitation was, but also how people were able to survive in such a region and why they chose to live there in the first place. In this book these questions have been studied for the Zerqa Triangle; a region in the middle Jordan Valley around Tell Deir ‘Alla (Jordan). By means of a detailed pedestrian archaeological survey the intensity of habitation of the region from the Neolithic to early modern periods is investigated. Efforts have been undertaken to reconstruct the agricultural practices in the various periods and simultaneously the means by which the different communities were able to practice agriculture; in other words, how did they irrigate the land? By focussing on the different social responses of communities conclusions have been drawn on how and why people managed to create a living in this arid, but potentially very fertile region. This book not only contributes to the ongoing discussion of the archaeology of marginal areas, but also provides a huge amount of new data on the archaeology of the Jordan Valley, both in the form of newly discovered settlement sites from several different periods as well as remains from several more inconspicuous types of human activity present in the countryside

Globalistics and globalization studies big history and global history

This yearbook is the fourth in the series with the title Globalistics and Globalization Studies. The subtitle of the present volume is Global History & Big History. The point is that today our global world really demands global knowledge. Thus, there are a few actively developing multidisciplinary approaches and integral disciplines among which one can name Global Studies, Global History and Big History. They all provide a connection between the past, present, and future. Big History with its vast and extremely heterogeneous field of research encompasses all the forms of existence and all timescales and brings together constantly updated information from the scientific disciplines and the humanities. Global History is transnational or world history which examines history from a global perspective, making a wide use of comparative history and of the history of multiple cultures and nations. Global Studies express the view of systemic and epistemological unity of global processes. Thus, one may argue that Global Studies and Globalistics can well be combined with Global History and Big History and such a multidisciplinary approach can open wide horizons for the modern university education as it helps to form a global view of various processes

Globalistics and Globalization Studies: Big History & Global History. Yearbook

This yearbook is the fourth in the series with the title Globalistics and Globalization Studies. The subtitle of the present volume is Global History & Big History. The point is that today our global world really demands global knowledge. Thus, there are a few actively developingmultidisciplinary approaches and integral disciplines among which one can name Global Studies,Global History and Big History. They all provide a connection between the past, present, andfuture. Big History with its vast and extremely heterogeneous field of research encompasses allthe forms of existence and all timescales and brings together constantly updated information fromthe scientific disciplines and the humanities. Global History is transnational or world historywhich examines history from a global perspective, making a wide use of comparative history andof the history of multiple cultures and nations. Global Studies express the view of systemicand epistemological unity of global processes. Thus, one may argue that Global Studies and Globalistics can well be combined with Global History and Big History and such a multidisciplinary approach can open wide horizons for the modern university education as it helps to form a global view of various processes