scholarly journals Risk and Resilience at the Oroville Dam

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucien Hollins ◽  
Daniel Eisenberg ◽  
Thomas Seager
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Catastrophic Failure ◽  
Risk And Resilience ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Engineering Designs ◽  
History Of ◽  
Design Requirements ◽  
Adaptive Decision Making

Existing analyses of the February 2017 Oroville Dam Crisis identify maintenance failures and engineering shortcomings as the root cause of a nearly catastrophic failure of the tallest dam in the United States. However, the focus on technical shortcomings largely overlooks the role of adaptive decision-making that eventually averted the crisis. Understanding the decisions that both created the circumstances leading up to the crisis and saved the dam from collapse requires that risk analysis be complemented by a resilience perspective. This paper presents a case study on the Oroville Dam Crisis to develop a timeline of failures and successes in the resilience processes of sensing, anticipation, adapting, and learning throughout the history of the dam. Three factors that drove poor operational and engineering decisions include: (1) misalignment of technical nomenclature and design requirements for the ungated spillway, (2) overconfidence in original engineering designs, and (3) conflicting pressure from diverse stakeholders. These factors contributed to unrealistic perceptions of dam capabilities and promoted decisions to forgo maintenance and design efforts that may have mitigated the danger.

scholarly journals THE 1951 DIPLOMATIC GIFT: THE ROLE OF A GERMAN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HANUKKAH LAMP IN ISRAELI-AMERICAN RELATIONS

ARTis ON ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 67-77
Author(s):  
Shir Kochavi
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
The Gift ◽  
History Of

A diplomatic gift in the form of a Hanukkah Lamp, given to President Harry Truman by the Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion in 1951 was selected for this occasion by museum personnel from the Bezalel Museum in Jerusalem and the Jewish Museum in New York. Based on primary sources found in archives in Israel and in the United States, this case study investigates the process of objects exchange between two museums, orchestrated on the basis of an existing collegial relationship, and illustrates how the Hanukkah Lamp becomes more than itself and signifies both the history of the Jewish people and the mutual obligations between the two nations. Drawing on the theories of Marcel Mauss, Arjun Appadurai, and Igor Kopytoff on the notion of the gift, the article highlights the layers of meanings attributed to a gifted object.

Performing Prestige

2013 ◽  
pp. 619-638
Author(s):  
Nathan Platte
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Orchestral Music ◽  
Silent Films ◽  
American Cinema ◽  
Short Films ◽  
History Of ◽  
Orchestral Scores

This chaptertraces the history of orchestral music in silent films in the United States during the period from 1910 to 1958. It provides a case study of short films of symphonic performances from the 1950s to illustrate the role of the orchestra not only in the cinema but also more broadly in American culture. It suggests that while orchestral scores continue to play an important role in certain genres of American cinema, they no longer characterize a particular theater’s exhibition style or studio’s soundtrack.

Turning Aliens into Socialists

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-93
Author(s):  
Jessica Moberg
Keyword(s):  
Outer Space ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
Swedish History ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Highly Evolved

Immediately after the Second World War Sweden was struck by a wave of sightings of strange flying objects. In some cases these mass sightings resulted in panic, particularly after authorities failed to identify them. Decades later, these phenomena were interpreted by two members of the Swedish UFO movement, Erland Sandqvist and Gösta Rehn, as alien spaceships, or UFOs. Rehn argued that ‘[t]here is nothing so dramatic in the Swedish history of UFOs as this invasion of alien fly-things’ (Rehn 1969: 50). In this article the interpretation of such sightings proposed by these authors, namely that we are visited by extraterrestrials from outer space, is approached from the perspective of myth theory. According to this mythical theme, not only are we are not alone in the universe, but also the history of humankind has been shaped by encounters with more highly-evolved alien beings. In their modern day form, these kinds of ideas about aliens and UFOs originated in the United States. The reasoning of Sandqvist and Rehn exemplifies the localization process that took place as members of the Swedish UFO movement began to produce their own narratives about aliens and UFOs. The question I will address is: in what ways do these stories change in new contexts? Texts produced by the Swedish UFO movement are analyzed as a case study of this process.

The Setting

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolette D. Manglos-Weber
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evangelical Christianity ◽  
Interracial Relations ◽  
Personal Trust ◽  
Conceptual Background ◽  
History Of ◽  
Role Of Religion

This chapter presents the historical and conceptual background to the book’s argument. It starts with a history of Ghana, followed by an analysis of the trends that have led to high levels of out-migration, and then to a description of Ghanaian populations in Chicago. Next, it addresses the concept of social trust in general and personal trust in particular, developing a theory of personal trust as an imaginative and symbolic activity, and analyzing interracial relations through the lens of racialized distrust. It concludes by describing the role of religion in the integration of immigrant groups into the United States and the particular religious frameworks that characterize Charismatic Evangelical Christianity in Ghana.

Case Study: Rome's House of Memory and History: The Politics of Memory and Public Institutions

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Portelli
Keyword(s):  
Oral History ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Politics Of Memory ◽  
Political Events ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ambitious Program ◽  
The City

This article centers around the case study of Rome's House of Memory and History to understand the politics of memory and public institutions. This case study is about the organization and politics of public memory: the House of Memory and History, established by the city of Rome in 2006, in the framework of an ambitious program of cultural policy. It summarizes the history of the House's conception and founding, describes its activities and the role of oral history in them, and discusses some of the problems it faces. The idea of a House of Memory and History grew in this cultural and political context. This article traces several political events that led to the culmination of the politics of memory and its effect on public institutions. It says that the House of Memory and History can be considered a success. A discussion on a cultural future winds up this article.

scholarly journals Twin-To-Twin Transfusion Syndrome Donor and Recipient and Their Subsequent Cognitive Functioning in Late Childhood as Juvenile Athletes—A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2545
Author(s):  
Ilona Bidzan-Bluma
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Late Childhood ◽  
Semantic Fluency ◽  
Motor Functioning ◽  
Gross Motor Skills ◽  
History Of

Objective: It is estimated that twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) occurs in 10–15% of monochorionic twin pregnancies. One of the fetuses takes on the role of donor and the other of recipient. The treatment administered involves serial amnioreduction and laser photocoagulation of the communicating blood vessels. After TTTS, children may have deficiencies in psychomotor functioning, in particular in cognitive functions, expressive language, and motor skills. Few scientific reports indicate that twins after TTTS do not demonstrate significant differences in tests which measure intellectual functioning. Methods: The cognitive functioning of twins in the late childhood period was compared using the following tools: an analysis of their medical history, an interview with their parents, and neuropsychological tests allowing the evaluation of their whole profile of cognitive functions. Case Study: Cognitive functioning in the late childhood period was analyzed in a pair of 11-year-old male twins (juvenile athletes), a donor and a recipient, who had developed TTTS syndrome in the prenatal period. Results: Comparison of the cognitive functioning profile of the donor and recipient revealed that children with a history of TTTS develop normally in terms of cognitive and motor functioning in late childhood. A comparative analysis of the donor and recipient was more favorable for the recipient, who had a higher level of general intelligence, visual–motor memory, and semantic fluency. Conclusions: The fact that both the donor and the recipient chose to pursue athletics suggests that gross motor skills are their strongest suit. Playing sports as a method of rehabilitation of cognitive function of children born prematurely after TTTS could contribute to the improvement of cognitive functioning.

Friends of Rose Canyon

2018 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 2-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Wiese
Keyword(s):  
Open Space ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
First Century ◽  
Grassroots Politics ◽  
History Of ◽  
University City ◽  
Participant Observer ◽  
The Rose

Place-based activism has played a critical role in the history of urban and environmental politics in California. This article explores the continuing significance of environmental place making to grassroots politics through a case study of Friends of Rose Canyon, an environmental group in San Diego. Based in the fast-growing University City neighborhood, Friends of Rose Canyon waged a long, successful campaign between 2002 and 2018 to prevent construction of a bridge in the Rose Canyon Open Space Park in their community. Using historical and participant observer methodologies, this study reveals how twenty-first-century California urbanites claimed and created meaningful local places and mobilized effective politics around them. It illuminates the critical role of individual activists; suggests practical, replicable strategies for community mobilization; and demonstrates the significant impact of local activism at the urban and metropolitan scales.

Root cause analysis of primary reformer catastrophic failure: A case study

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-65
Author(s):  
Naveed Ramzan ◽  
Shahid Naveed ◽  
Muhammad Rizwan ◽  
Werner Witt
Keyword(s):  
Root Cause Analysis ◽  
Catastrophic Failure ◽  
Cause Analysis ◽  
Root Cause

“The Principal Russian Church in America”: from the History of Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the City of New York

Istoriya ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11 (109)) ◽  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Vladimir Pechatnov
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
The United States ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ministry Of Finance ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Foreign Ministry ◽  
The City

Based on previously unearthed documents from the Russia’s State Historical Archive and the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire the article explores the history of the first Russian Orthodox parish in New York City and construction of Saint-Nickolas Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the city. It was a protracted and complicated interagency process that involved Russian Orthodox mission in the United States, Russia’s Foreign Ministry and its missions in the United States, the Holy Governing Synod, Russia’s Ministry of Finance and the State Council. The principal actors were the bishops Nicholas (Ziorov) and especially Tikhon (Bellavin), Ober-Prosecutor of the Holy Governing Synod Konstantine Pobedonostsev and Reverend Alexander Khotovitsky. This case study of the Cathedral history reveals an interaction of ecclesiastical and civil authorities in which private and civic initiative was combined with strict bureaucratic rules and procedures.

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