ARTL@ S and BasArt: A loose coupling strategy for digital humanities

The core ARTL@S digital humanitiesstrategy is that of loosely couplingresources, platforms, and use scenarios.A number of sites will feed fromthe same geodatabase (BasArt),which will be enriched by users withnew content. Inspired by the Web 2.0design principles, ARTL@S relies onthe BasArt API, which will enable anecosystem of sites to use primarydata to generate their own maps,charts, and tables. A variety of economicmodels will also be used tosupport the site, from free to paybased.User-generated content will bemonitored by data management andcuration techniques that will ensurethe rigor of the scientific approach

What is affordance theory and how can it be used in communication research?

Affordance theory proposes that the use of an object is intrinsically determined by its physical shape. However, when translated to digital objects, affordance theory loses explanatory power, as the same physical affordances, for example, screens, can have many socially constructed meanings and can be used in many ways. Furthermore, the affordance theory core idea that physical affordances have intrinsic, pre-cognitive meaning cannot be sustained for the highly symbolic nature of digital affordances, which gain meaning through social learning and use. A possible way to solve this issue is to think about on-screen affordances as symbols and affordance research as a semiotic and linguistic enterprise

OPMAPS - Data and Narratives in Military History and Beyond

Opmaps is mapping and analytics toolkit for operational military history. The toolkit employs statistical analysis to create operational datamaps, which present processes, trends, and developments in time and space. It connects quantities, such military forces, firepower, or civilians impacted, statistically with the narratives, which will be used for historical analysis and teaching. Target audiences are scholars and students. The toolkit will include a database, analytic and statistical scripts, and a visualization interface. It will also include four datasets, which can be used in scholarly research and as tutorials for future users of the toolkit. The toolkit provides military historians open-source tools needed for detailed, queryable, and primary source-based study of any operational military history problem. The project is thus transformative and has great potential impact for the discipline

Comparative Antifungal Effect of Lactic Acid Bacteria Strains on Penicillium digitatum

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are natural alternative to chemical preservatives for fruits. The aim of the research was to select LAB strains with high antifungal activity against Penicillium digitatum for the biopreservation of fruits. The antifungal activity of eight lactic acid bacteria strains has been evaluated against Penicilliuum digitatum isolated from orange, by overlay assay method and by optical microscope examination. The reversion of inhibition zone after 96 h was recorded as a fungistatic effect while those with inhibition zone for at least 7 days were recorded as fungicidal. The antifungal effect of efficient LAB strains was assessed by comparing inhibition of fungal biofilm formation in liquid media. The strains Lpl, Lpa, LAB 13, LAB 15, LAB 43 and LAB 58 presented intense antifungal activity with clear inhibition zones diameter over 20 mm. The microscopy evidenced atypical hyphae and delaying of conidial chain formation. The strains Lpa, LAB 13, LAB 15 fully inhibited the mycelia growth, strains LAB 43 and LAB 58 partly with delaying of biofilm formation on the surface of culture medium. The results of comparative antifungal activity of LAB strains evidenced the highest inhibition of fungal biofilm formation and structural damages of hyphae and spores caused by the strains Lpa, LAB 13 and LAB 15. These strains could be efficient biocontrol agents of Penicillium digitatum in fruits

Preliminary study of microbial communities in soil contaminated with oil hydrocarbons from Icoana

Soil contamination with crude oil or petroleum residues is worldwide the major problem occurred consequently to exploitation, transport and processing. The presence of hydrocarbons leads to increased quantities of carbon and imbalances in C:N ratio with consequences on microbial life from soil. A wide variety of edaphic microorganisms including bacterial and fungal species are known as hydrocarbon bio-degraders, contributing to soil decontamination. Research has been carried out to characterize the microbial communities in soil contaminated with oil hydrocarbons by an accidental spill from broken pipes in Icoana, Olt county. The results revealed important decrease in both bacterial and fungal counts under the impact of contaminant hydrocarbons as compared to non-contaminated soil, accompanied by biodiversity loss (SR2 values 1.49 for bacteria and 2.32 for fungi comparatively with 7.02 and respectively 3.27 in non-contaminated soil). Low levels of global physiological activity of microorganisms registered in contaminated soil and 2.34 times higher levels in non-contaminated soil. Changes in species composition of microbial populations indicated moderate similarity between bacterial species lists (SI=67) and important dissimilarity between fungal species lists (SI=16). Hydrocarbon utilizers from microflora included pseudomonads, bacilli and cosmopolitan fungal species from genera Cladosporium, Fusarium, Sporothrix in contaminated soil and Trichoderma, Cladosporium, Aspergillus, Penicillium in non-contaminated soil

Collecting Virtual and Augmented Reality in the Twenty-First Century Library

In this paper, we discuss possible pedagogical applications for virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), within a humanities/social sciences curriculum, articulating a critical need for academic libraries to collect and curate 3D objects. We contend that building infrastructure is critical to keep pace with innovative pedagogies and scholarship. We offer theoretical avenues for libraries to build a repository 3D object files to be used in VR and AR tools and sketch some anticipated challenges. To build an infrastructure to support VR/AR collections, we have collaborated with College of Liberal Arts to pilot a program in which Libraries and CLA faculty work together to bring VR/AR into liberal arts curricula

Communication Channels, Spatial Stereotyping, and Urban Conflict: A Cross-Scale and Spatio-Temporal Perspective

Our research addresses how individuals exposed to various types of communication situations-from face-to-face to Internet environments-are more or less likely to react to urban locations with fear or to find them desirable. The present article summarizes what we have learned from a number of research projects about the effects of communication practices on spatial and ethnic stereotyping in conditions of violent urban conflict and will offer a number of recommendations for mitigating the negative effects of these processes