scholarly journals Concepts and Facts of Late Ottoman Jaffa: Cartographic Records and Archaeological Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Yoav Arbel ◽  
Baruch Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
Road Paving ◽  
Public Construction ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Late Ottoman ◽  
Material Evidence

Abstract. The ancient city of Jaffa experienced considerable changes during the 19th century. The effects of warfare, extensive reconstruction and urban expansion turned the Jaffa of 1900 into a markedly different place than the town Napoleon besieged in 1799. Although textual, artistic and photographic records reflect these long-term changes, it is maps drawn by military and civilian European engineers that provide the most comprehensive illustrative testimony.Recent archaeological efforts have, moreover, added yet another perspective to this mosaic of sources. Among the material evidence providing valuable insight into Jaffa's 4000 years of history, data on the later phases of Ottoman rule is particularly intriguing. We now have previously unavailable material confirmation and more detailed records in a higher resolution for urban expansion over farmland and cemeteries, road paving, public construction and the dismantling of fortifications.The joint cartographic and archaeological testimonies offer a more realistic outlook on a period, which, until recently, had been subjectively perceived through military and religious filters, or the critical and often derogatory perspectives of explorers, adventurers and tourists. The challenges the Ottoman authorities faced were numerous and complex; cartographic and archaeological evidence has increased our understanding of the means, investment and planning they employed to maintain control over a thriving and heterogeneous harbor town during a period of profound transformation.

Monitoring long-term annual urban expansion (1986–2017) in the largest archipelago of China

2021 ◽  
Vol 776 ◽  
pp. 146015
Author(s):  
Wenting Cao ◽  
Yuyu Zhou ◽  
Rui Li ◽  
Xuecao Li ◽  
Huaguo Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Urban Expansion

scholarly journals Dietary nitrate and population health: a narrative review of the translational potential of existing laboratory studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver M. Shannon ◽  
Chris Easton ◽  
Anthony I. Shepherd ◽  
Mario Siervo ◽  
Stephen J. Bailey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Health ◽  
Leafy Vegetables ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Health Promoting

Abstract Background Dietary inorganic nitrate (NO3−) is a polyatomic ion, which is present in large quantities in green leafy vegetables and beetroot, and has attracted considerable attention in recent years as a potential health-promoting dietary compound. Numerous small, well-controlled laboratory studies have reported beneficial health effects of inorganic NO3− consumption on blood pressure, endothelial function, cerebrovascular blood flow, cognitive function, and exercise performance. Translating the findings from small laboratory studies into ‘real-world’ applications requires careful consideration. Main body This article provides a brief overview of the existing empirical evidence basis for the purported health-promoting effects of dietary NO3− consumption. Key areas for future research are then proposed to evaluate whether promising findings observed in small animal and human laboratory studies can effectively translate into clinically relevant improvements in population health. These proposals include: 1) conducting large-scale, longer duration trials with hard clinical endpoints (e.g. cardiovascular disease incidence); 2) exploring the feasibility and acceptability of different strategies to facilitate a prolonged increase in dietary NO3− intake; 3) exploitation of existing cohort studies to explore associations between NO3− intake and health outcomes, a research approach allowing larger samples sizes and longer duration follow up than is feasible in randomised controlled trials; 4) identifying factors which might account for individual differences in the response to inorganic NO3− (e.g. sex, genetics, habitual diet) and could assist with targeted/personalised nutritional interventions; 5) exploring the influence of oral health and medication on the therapeutic potential of NO3− supplementation; and 6) examining potential risk of adverse events with long term high- NO3− diets. Conclusion The salutary effects of dietary NO3− are well established in small, well-controlled laboratory studies. Much less is known about the feasibility and efficacy of long-term dietary NO3− enrichment for promoting health, and the factors which might explain the variable responsiveness to dietary NO3− supplementation between individuals. Future research focussing on the translation of laboratory data will provide valuable insight into the potential applications of dietary NO3− supplementation to improve population health.

scholarly journals Most Frequent Problems of Building Structures of Urban Apartment Buildings from 2nd Half of 19th Century and the Start of 20th Century

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Klara Kroftova
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Structural Safety ◽  
Horizontal Load ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Basic Prerequisite

An urban residential building from the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century, the so-called tenement house, is a significant representative of the architecture of the developing urban fabric in Central Europe. The vertical and horizontal load-bearing structures of these houses currently tend to show characteristic, repeated defects and failures. Their knowledge may, in many cases, facilitate and speed up the design of the historic building’s restoration without compromising its heritage value in this process. The article presents the summary of the most frequently occurring defects and failures of these buildings. The summary, however, is not an absolute one, and, in the case of major damage to the building, it still applies that, first of all, a detailed analysis of the causes and consequences of defects and failures must be made as a basic prerequisite for the reliability and long-term durability of the building’s restoration and rehabilitation. An integral part of the rehabilitation of buildings must be the elimination of the causes of the appearance of their failures and remediation of all defects impairing their structural safety, health safety and energy efficiency.

Promoting astronomy in developing countries: an historical perspective

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (SPS5) ◽  
pp. 21-24
Author(s):  
Rajesh Kochhar
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Area ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Deficiency Syndrome ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Astronomical Instrument

AbstractAny international effort to promote astronomy world wide today must necessarily take into account its cultural and historical component. The past few decades have ushered in an age, which we may call the Age of Cultural Copernicanism. In analogy with the cosmological principle that the universe has no preferred location or direction, Cultural Copernicanism would imply that no cultural or geographical area, or ethnic or social group, can be deemed to constitute a superior entity or a benchmark for judging or evaluating others.In this framework, astronomy (as well as science in general) is perceived as a multi-stage civilizational cumulus where each stage builds on the knowledge gained in the previous stages and in turn leads to the next. This framework however is a recent development. The 19th century historiography consciously projected modern science as a characteristic product of the Western civilization decoupled from and superior to its antecedents, with the implication that all material and ideological benefits arising from modern science were reserved for the West.As a reaction to this, the orientalized East has often tended to view modern science as “their” science, distance itself from its intellectual aspects, and seek to defend, protect and reinvent “our” science and the alleged (anti-science) Eastern mode of thought. This defensive mind-set works against the propagation of modern astronomy in most of the non-Western countries. There is thus a need to construct a history of world astronomy that is truly universal and unselfconscious.Similarly, the planetarium programs, for use the world over, should be culturally sensitive. The IAU can help produce cultural-specific modules. Equipped with this paradigmatic background, we can now address the question of actual means to be adopted for the task at hand. Astronomical activity requires a certain minimum level of industrial activity support. Long-term maintenance of astronomical equipment is not a trivial task. There are any number of examples of an expensive facility falling victim to AIDS: Astronomical Instrument Deficiency Syndrome. The facilities planned in different parts of the world should be commensurate with the absorbing power of the acceptor rather than the level of the gifter.

Heinrich Gross of Würtemberg: A Diplomat on Elizabeth Petrovna's Service

2021 ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Maksim Anisimov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The 19Th Century

Heinrich Gross was a diplomat of the Empress of Russia Elizabeth Petrovna, a foreigner on the Russian service who held some of the most important diplomatic posts of her reign. As the head of Russian diplomatic missions in European countries, he was an immediate participant in the rupture of both Franco-Russian and Russo-Prussian diplomatic relations and witnessed the beginning of the Seven Years' War, while in the capital of Saxony, besieged by Prussian troops. After that H. Gross was one of the members of the collective leadership of the Russian Collegium of Foreign Affairs. So far there is only one biographic essay about him written in the 19th century. The aims of this article are threefold. Using both published foreign affairs-related documentation and diplomatic documents stored in the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, it attempts to systematize the materials of the biography of this important participant in international events. It also seeks to assess his professional qualities and get valuable insight into his role both in the major events of European politics and in the implementation of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire in the mid-18th century. Moreover, the account of the diplomatic career of H. Gross presented in this essay aims to generate genuine interest among researchers in the personality and professional activities of one of the most brilliant Russian diplomats of the Enlightenment Era.

scholarly journals Food resources in the economy and ritual practices of the Northern Mesopotamia population during the transition to the Neolithic

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 167-177
Author(s):  
Tatiana Vladimirovna Kornienko
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
Central Zone ◽  
Plant Cultivation ◽  
Economic Strategies ◽  
Fertile Crescent ◽  
Material Evidence ◽  
Ritual Practices

The ultimate establishment of the agricultural economy in the central zone of the Fertile Crescent took place in the late Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPNB), while the heyday of symbolism, establishing complex social relations among the population of Northern Mesopotamia occur in the era of the early Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPNA). In this period, the domestication of any plant species is not yet registered in South-Eastern Anatolia (an area where the long-term intertribal cult center of Gbekli Tepe was found) unlike the neighboring Levant. The paper discusses possible models for the producing economy establishment in the region, analyzes materials suggesting that the ritual practices of the transition period to the Neolithic in some cases could contribute to the emergence and new economic strategies spread on the territory of Northern Mesopotamia. At the same time, the comparison of the climatic changes scientific studies results, archeobotanical and archaeozoological collections and material evidence of the development of social and spiritual life from Epipaleolithic and early Neolithic monuments of Northern Mesopotamia shows the coevolution/mutual influence of people and the surrounding natural environment. In our opinion, on the basis of the available data it is impossible to assert the primacy of the symbol revolution in the process of Neolithization in relation to early attempts at plant cultivation.

scholarly journals Microarchaeology, Materiality and Social Practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-38
Author(s):  
Per Cornell ◽  
Fredrik Fahlander
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Social System ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Social Totality ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Social Entities ◽  
Material Evidence

In this paper we propose an operative social theory that eliminates the need for a pre-defined regional context or spatio-temporal social entities like social system, culture, society or ethnic group. The archaeological object in a microarchaeological approach is not a closed and homogeneous social totality, but rather the structurating practices, the regulative actions operating in a field ofhumans and things. In order to address these issues more systematically, we discuss social action, materialities and the constitution of archaeological evidence. Sartre's concept of serial action implies that materialities and social agency are integrated elements in the structuration process. We suggest that such patterns of action can be partially retrieved from the fragmented material evidence studied by the archaeologist.

scholarly journals Understanding Urban Growth in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region over the Past 100 Years Using Old Maps and Landsat Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 3264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuang Li ◽  
Zhongqiu Sun ◽  
Yafei Wang ◽  
Yuxia Wang
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Remote Sensing Images ◽  
The Past ◽  
Old Maps ◽  
The World ◽  
The City

Studying urban expansion from a longer-term perspective is of great significance to obtain an in-depth understanding of the process of urbanization. Remote sensing data are mostly selected to investigate the long-term expansion of cities. In this study, we selected the world-class urban agglomeration of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) as the study area, and then discussed how to make full use of multi-source, multi-category, and multi-temporal spatial data (old maps and remote sensing images) to study long-term urbanization. Through this study, we addressed three questions: (1) How much has the urban area in BTH expanded in the past 100 years? (2) How did the urban area expand in the past century? (3) What factors or important historical events have changed the development of cities with different functions? By comprehensively using urban spatial data, such as old maps and remote sensing images, geo-referencing them, and extracting built-up area information, a long-term series of urban built-up areas in the BTH region can be obtained. Results show the following: (1) There was clear evidence of dramatic urban expansion in this area, and the total built-up area had increased by 55.585 times, from 126.181 km2 to 7013.832 km2. (2) Continuous outward expansion has always been the main trend, while the compactness of the built-up land within the city is constantly decreasing and the complexity of the city boundary is increasing. (3) Cities in BTH were mostly formed through the construction of city walls during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the expansion process was mostly highly related to important political events, traffic development, and other factors. In summary, the BTH area, similarly to China and most regions of the world, has experienced rapid urbanization and the history of such ancient cities should be further preserved with the combined use of old maps.

scholarly journals Survivable hypothermia or torpor in a wild-living rat: rare insights broaden our understanding of endothermic physiology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Nowack ◽  
Christopher Turbill
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
Probability Of Survival ◽  
Reduced Body ◽  
Rattus Fuscipes ◽  
Evolutionary Pathways ◽  
Term Data

AbstractMaintaining a high and stable body temperature as observed in endothermic mammals and birds is energetically costly. Thus, it is not surprising that we discover more and more heterothermic species that can reduce their energetic needs during energetic bottlenecks through the use of torpor. However, not all heterothermic animals use torpor on a regular basis. Torpor may also be important to an individual’s probability of survival, and hence fitness, when used infrequently. We here report the observation of a single, ~ 5.5 h long hypothermic bout with a decrease in body temperature by 12 °C in the native Australian bush rat (Rattus fuscipes). Our data suggest that bush rats are able to rewarm from a body temperature of 24 °C, albeit with a rewarming rate lower than that expected on the basis of their body mass. Heterothermy, i.e. the ability to withstand and overcome periods of reduced body temperature, is assumed to be an evolutionarily ancestral (plesiomorphic) trait. We thus argue that such rare hypothermic events in species that otherwise appear to be strictly homeothermic could be heterothermic rudiments, i.e. a less derived form of torpor with limited capacity for rewarming. Importantly, observations of rare and extreme thermoregulatory responses by wild animals are more likely to be discovered with long-term data sets and may not only provide valuable insight about the physiological capability of a population, but can also help us to understand the constraints and evolutionary pathways of different phenologies.

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