Dielectric and thermal relaxation in the energy landscape

We derive an energy landscape interpretation of dielectric relaxation times in undercooled liquids, comparing it to the traditional Debye and Gemant-DiMarzio-Bishop pictures. The interaction between different local structural rearrangements in the energy landscape explains qualitatively the recently observed splitting of the flow process into an initial and a final stage. The initial mechanical relaxation stage is attributed to hopping processes, the final thermal or structural relaxation stage to the decay of the local double-well potentials. The energy landscape concept provides an explanation for the equality of thermal and dielectric relaxation times. The equality itself is once more demonstrated on the basis of literature data for salol.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 41 references, Workshop Disordered Systems, Molveno 2006, submitted to Philosophical Magazin

A methodological basis for landscape interpretation: the case of the Ljubljana Marsh

Landscape interpretation is one of the best-suited and established forms of informing and raising the awareness of visitors and local residents. The literature contains only rare examples of useful methodology that could help managers with the initial steps of interpretation. A methodological basis for landscape interpretation is presented, using the case of the Ljubljana Marsh. The form consisting of eight thematic categories is a useful tool for identifying suitable topics and selecting the right interpretation tools. Using this form, managers will reach their final interpretation goal more easily: to make people recognize the landscape and protect it against inappropriate changes

Problems in Landscape Interpretation – the Fieldwork Paradox in North Korea

International audienceEncore à l’état de travail en cours, cette communication propose une réflexion de nature épistémologique sur la question du terrain en Corée du Nord à partir de deux voyages d’études effectués en 2007 et en 2013. Partant des riches discussions actuelles sur le terrain en géographie, et s’appuyant sur les matériaux collectés pendant ces deux voyages, la communication discute trois aspects majeurs de ces voyages : la politique de l’organisation, la pratique pendant le voyage et le problème de la restitution scientifique. Ces deux voyages peuvent-ils s’apparenter à du terrain ? Sans doute pas si on considère le terrain sous l’angle phénoménologique d’une découverte à exposer. Certainement oui, si l’on considère le terrain dans sa dimension cognitive, comme un espace et des réseaux construits par le chercheur – et un processus qui permet, non pas le constat des limites habituellement recensées, mais un espace de médiation et de discussion toujours en progrès sur des enjeux posés par les problèmes d’un terrain en « contexte fermé » - ce qui implique de développer une discussion de fond sur la question de l’éthique

Building a Green Community: The Woodlands as an Experiment in Urban Landscape Interpretation

From its origins as an eighteenth-century pleasure ground, to its conversion into a rural cemetery, to its modern day potential as parkland, The Woodlands has raised questions and debates about land use in West Philadelphia. Now consisting of fifty acres of William Hamilton’s 600-acre estate, The Woodlands is the largest and most significant green space in the University City neighborhood. The Woodlands, a National Historic Landmark, Landscape, and District, is managed by The Woodlands Trust for Historic Preservation. The mission of the Trust is “to preserve, enhance and interpret its nationally significant cultural landscape, historic buildings, and cemetery, and to make them available to the public as vital educational, environmental, and civic resources.” I posit that The Woodlands is not fulfilling its educational mission to the greatest extent. Factors contributing to this limitation are lack of attention to user values and community collaboration, and absence of a cohesive interpretive plan to provoke visitors and convey the palimpsest of narratives present at the site. Furthermore, I claim that evolving experiment of urban landscape interpretation comprises the heart of The Woodlands, and contains untapped potential to strengthen a community dedicated to the site’s sustainability. To solve this problem, this thesis creates the framework and recommendations for an interpretive plan for The Woodlands, through a prospectus emphasizing a resource-and-objective-based planning approach. I map efforts that inform and encourage local regular users, strengthen the professional network with fellow organizations, integrate natural and cultural resources, and attract attention of travelers visiting other Philadelphia sites

North American liaisons

Not only are there strong cultural connections between Northern Ireland and North America, but much of the geology of Northern Ireland is related to its shared history with the eastern seaboard of Canada and the USA. Even the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and the parting of North America from Europe left the Giant’s Causeway as a legacy. Events like this over geological time have given Northern Ireland a greater geological diversity than any similar-sized area on Earth and have provided opportunities to explore for minerals, to understand how we can manage groundwater sustainably and to enthuse generations about the mysteries of our landscape

Lilacs, Cellar Holes, and the Courthouse: A Historian’s Reflections on Re-Creating Mount Desert Islanders

In this article Kimberly Sebold outlines the process by which historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary rural people—in this case, fishermen, carpenters, farmers, and farm-wives living on Mount Desert Island. Using a combination of archival research, archaeology, landscape interpretation, and common sense, Sebold and her colleagues paint a surprisingly detailed picture of these seemingly obscure individuals and the community in which they lived and experienced the joys and hardships of nineteenth-century Maine life. Dr. Sebold received her Ph.D. from the University of Maine in 1998. She is currently an Assistant professor of History at the University of Maine at Presque Isle

The Use of AIS Data for Identifying and Mapping Calcareous Soils in Western Nebraska

The identification of calcareous soils, through unique spectral responses of the vegetation to the chemical nature of calcareous soils, can improve the accuracy of delineating the boundaries of soil mapping units over conventional field techniques. The objective of this experiment is to evaluate the use of the Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (AIS) in the identification and delineation of calcareous soils in the western Sandhills of Nebraska. Based upon statistical differences found in separating the spectral curves below 1.3 microns, calcareous and non-calcareous soils may be identified by differences in species of vegetation. Additional work is needed to identify biogeochemical differences between the two soils

Guidelines for the integration of biological and cultural values in a Landscape Interpretation Center: application in southern Portugal

The city of Évora (the Roman Ebora Liberalitas Julia) is the most important town in Alentejo province (Southern Portugal) and is surrounded by a quite rich cultural and biological landscape involving archaeological sites of several epochs, old field networks and farms, as well as specific multifunctional cultural landscapes, the agro-forestry-pastoral systems called montados. Based on previous studies and land surveys, in which where identified the best preserved sectors and marks around Évora concerning the old cadastral systems, ecological corridors networks and the most important montados areas for preservation, it is presented the main guidelines for the development of an interpretation centre for the cultural and biological values in the Évora region. The methodology applies GIS spatial analysis and multilevel approaches and gives the guidelines for the integration of the different cultural and biological values in a holistic approach of landscape. The conceptual model is presented as well as the results obtained for the Évora Region

Tourism Research and Landscape Interpretation - Tourismusforschung und Landschaftsinterpretationen

The central task of tourism research is to advocate for sustainability. In order to do justice to the various components relating to tourism, such as aspects of the natural and cultural landscape as well as the economic, sociocultural and political situation, an integrative approach is necessary. The “landscape” is the foundation of tourism. Landscapes have their own value, a value that visitors and even locals are often not conscious of. “Landscape interpretation” and “heritage interpretation” attempt to remedy this defi cit by defi ning, vividly presenting and “staging” the essential aspects of a landscape. This makes it possible to enhance awareness of the value of a landscape and its need to be protected, thereby achieving a positive change in the behaviour of visitors. The present volume introduces various initiatives, which illustrate the importance of landscape interpretation for tourism research