The Cannon of the Medieval City of Rhodes, based on the Manuscript and Illustrations of Johannes Hedenborg (1854).

Johannes Hedenborg (1800–1870), a doctor and historian, after extensive travel in Europe, Asia and Africa chose to settle on the island of Rhodes. He tirelessly collected material for a five-volume work in German entitled "History of the Island of Rhodes, from antiquity until today, with a historical review of the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Franks and Turks who ruled the island, with a collection of many inscriptions and illustrations especially of medieval monuments (1854)". In the fifth volume of the work of Hedenborg we can find the illustrations of cannon which were in use during the period of the Knights of St John, in certain positions in the walls of the medieval city of Rhodes. Through the combination of the manuscript and these illustrations we can learn about their positions and what they looked like

(Un)Doing the Anatolian Smile: War and Redemption in Elia Kazan’s Fiction

Elia Kazan’s stage and film work is primarily related to American society while his novels mostly deal with cultures and histories with which many American critics and readers are not familiar. Kazan often felt at war with the Anatolian culture he was raised in, but was just as critical of the American practices and ideologies he had to interact with. The lack of critical interest in Kazan’s fictional work does a disservice to his overall creative achievement. The essay discusses Kazan’s novels America America (1961), The Anatolian (1982), and Beyond the Aegean (1994), which draw on Kazan’s family history of subservience and persecution under the Ottoman rule in Asia Minor and their subsequent psychological and cultural traumas in America at the beginning of the twentieth century. With the complex view of both participant and observer, I argue that, in these novels, Kazan questions the unlimited opportunities that the dream of America offers and envisions new spaces of sociocultural resistance and alternative forms of happiness, which, however, usually come with the inevitable loss of one’s personal integrity and free will, and which leave the individual stranded within a world where redemption and belonging seem to be always postponed

The Greek bandit Fotios Giagoulas: An introduction to his mummified head and future conservation aims

This investigation presents the level of preservation and examination plan for a mummified head from the early 20th century. The head belongs to a legendary Greek bandit displayed at the Museum of Criminology, Athens. This investigation aimed to understand the mummification process employed, the conservation history of the head, record the current preservation status using photography, and to recognise evidence of biological deterioration. The suggested techniques include examination using X-ray radiography, CT scanning and the analysis of samples using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The photographic documentation showed the head has recently started to deteriorate. The examination formed the basis for conservation, preservation and the ongoing study of the head

Use of Oils for the Protection of Clay Mortars

In this study an effort has been made to find innovative and sustainable ways of increasing the hydrophobicity of clay-based mortars used in restoration by applying natural oils on the surface of selected samples. The concept was to find a new way of protecting the surface of these materials, but also to promote the idea of sustainability by using natural and recycled cooking oils. Thus, the oils applied for the surface protec­tion of the mortars were hemp oil, borage oil (natural) and recycled spent cooking oil. The tests conducted on the treated specimens were, a capillary absorption test, drying test, porosity, Karsten tube test, stereoscopic observation, color alteration using Mun­sell charts, water vapor test and absorption of water droplet test. The results indicate the protective role of all the oils, since they reduce porosity and water uptake. Borage and hemp oil tend to alter the color of the specimens, but offer increased hydropho­bicity, while the latter allowed the faster drying of the samples. The water vapor test indicates again the low level of water loss from the surface of the treated specimens, while for the specific test a sample with an admixture of recycled cooking oil inside the clay mass was created.Lo studio riguarda modi innovativi e sostenibili per aumentare l’idrofobicità delle malte a base di argilla utilizzate nel restauro, applicando oli naturali sulla superficie di campioni selezionati. Il fine è trovare un nuovo modo per proteggere la superficie di questi materiali, ma anche di promuovere l’idea di sostenibilità utilizzando oli da cucina naturali e riciclati. Pertanto, gli oli applicati per la protezione superficiale delle malte erano olio di canapa, olio di borragine (naturale) e olio di cottura esausto riciclato. I test condotti sui campioni trattati sono stati: test di assorbimento capillare, test di essic­cazione, porosità, test del tubo di Karsten, osservazione stereoscopica, alterazione del colore con cartografia Munsell, test del vapore acqueo e assorbimento del test delle gocce d’acqua. I risultati indicano il ruolo protettivo di tutti gli oli poiché riducono la po­rosità e l’assorbimento di acqua. La borragine e l’olio di canapa tendono ad alterare il colore dei campioni ma offrono una maggiore idrofobicità. L’olio di canapa ha permes­so l’essiccazione più rapida dei campioni. Il test del vapore acqueo indica nuovamente il basso livello di perdita d’acqua dalla superficie dei campioni trattati, mentre per il test specifico è stato creato un campione con una miscela di olio di cottura riciclato all’interno della massa argillosa

On a generalized cyclic-type system of difference equations with maximum

In this paper we investigate the behaviour of the solutions of the following k-dimensional cyclic system of difference equations with maximum: xi(n + 1) = max ( Ai x p i (n) x q i+1 (n − 1) , i = 1, 2, . . . , k − 1, xk (n + 1) = max ( Ak x p k (n) x q 1 (n − 1) where n = 0, 1, . . . , Ai > 1, for i = 1, 2, . . . , k, whereas the exponents p, q and the initial values xi(−1), xi(0), i = 1, 2, . . . , k are positive real numbers

Methodology for the development of bridge-specific fragility curves

A new methodology for the development of bridge-specific fragility curves is proposed with a view to improving the reliability of loss assessment in road networks and prioritising retrofit of the bridge stock. The key features of the proposed methodology are the explicit definition of critical limit state thresholds for individual bridge components, with consideration of the effect of varying geometry, material properties, reinforcement and loading patterns on the component capacity; the methodology also includes the quantification of uncertainty in capacity, demand and damage state definition. Advanced analysis methods and tools (nonlinear static analysis and incremental dynamic response history analysis) are used for bridge component capacity and demand estimation, while reduced sampling techniques are used for uncertainty treatment. Whereas uncertainty in both capacity and demand is estimated from nonlinear analysis of detailed inelastic models, in practical application to bridge stocks, the demand is estimated through a standard response spectrum analysis of a simplified elastic model of the bridge. The simplified methodology can be efficiently applied to a large number of bridges (with different characteristics) within a road network, by means of an ad hoc developed software involving the use of a generic (elastic) bridge model, which derives bridge-specific fragility curves

On a modification of a discrete epidemic model

AbstractIn this paper under some conditions on the constants A,B∈(0,∞) we study the existence of positive solutions, the existence of a unique nonnegative equilibrium and the convergence of the positive solutions to the nonnegative equilibrium of the system of difference equations xn+1=(1−yn−yn−1)(1−e−Ayn),yn+1=(1−xn−xn−1)(1−e−Bxn) where A,B∈(0,∞) and the initial values x−1,x0,y−1,y0 are positive numbers which satisfy the relations x0+x−1<1,y0+y−1<1,1−y0>(1−x0−x−1)(1−e−Bx0),1−x0>(1−y0−y−1)(1−e−Ay0)

Atypical speech versus non-speech detection and discrimination in 4-to 6-yr old children with autism spectrum disorder: An ERP study

This work was supported by Autistica (https://www.autistica.org.uk)

Bridge-specific fragility analysis: when is it really necessary?

In seismic assessment of bridges the research focus has recently shifted on the derivation of bridge-specific fragility curves that account for the effect of different geometry, structural system, component and soil properties, on the seismic behaviour. In this context, a new, component-based methodology for the derivation of bridge-specific fragility curves has been recently proposed by the authors, with a view to overcoming the inherent difficulties in assessing all bridges of a road network and the drawbacks of existing methodologies, which use the same group of fragility curves for bridges within the same typological class. The main objective of this paper is to critically assess the necessity of bridge-specific fragility analysis, starting from the effect of structure-specific parameters on component capacity (limit state thresholds), seismic demand, and fragility curves. The aforementioned methodology is used to derive fragility curves for all bridges within an actual road network, with a view to investigating the consistency of adopting generic fragility curves for bridges that fall within the same class and quantifying the degree of over- or under-estimation of the probability of damage when generic bridge classes are considered. Moreover, fragility curves for all representative bridges of the analysed concrete bridge classes are presented to illustrate the differentiation in bridge fragility for varying structural systems, bridge geometry, total bridge length and maximum pier height. Based on the above, the relevance of bridge-specific fragility analysis is assessed, and pertinent conclusions are drawn