Search results for: historical restoration

Authors: Abdullah Alsaeed

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Virtualized computing and cloud computing infrastructures are no longer fuzz or marketing term. They are a core reality in today’s corporate Information Technology (IT) organizations. Hence, developing an effective and efficient methodologies for data backup and data recovery is required more than any time. The purpose of data backup and recovery techniques are to assist the organizations to strategize the business continuity and disaster recovery approaches. In order to accomplish this strategic objective, a variety of mechanism were proposed in the recent years. This research paper will explore and examine the latest techniques and solutions to provide data backup and restoration for the cloud computing platforms.

Keywords: data backup, data recovery, cloud computing, business continuity, disaster recovery, cost-effective, data encryption.

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Authors: Cory Callahan

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Here the author synthesizes findings and implications from two research studies that comprise a continuing line of inquiry into the potential of an innovative professional development program to help in-service teachers understand and implement a complex model of social studies instruction. The paper specifically explores the question: To what degree can a collaborative professional development program centered around innovative curriculum materials help social studies teachers understand and implement a powerful social studies approach? Findings suggest the teachers increasingly incorporated substantive thinking (i.e., second-order historical domain knowledge) into their respective practice and they facilitated students’ use of historical photographs as evidence to begin to answer a compelling question. The teachers also began to effectively support students’ abilities to make claims about the past. Implications include the foregrounding of high-quality questions during planning and the need for explicit guidance in the form of structures and procedures (i.e., scaffolds) to help teachers systematically review students’ work products. The work shared here may contribute to scholarship that posits explanations for why teacher-support is routinely ineffectual and suggests ways to provide substantive collaborative support for in-service social studies teachers.

Keywords: educative curriculum, social studies, professional development, lesson study

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Authors: Mariana Volpini, Volker Bartenbach, Marcos Pinotti, Robert Riener

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Restoration of gait ability is an important task in the rehabilitation of people with neurological disorders presenting a great impact in the quality of life of an individual. Based on the motor learning concept, robotic assisted treadmill training has been introduced and found to be a feasible and promising therapeutic option in neurological rehabilitation but unfortunately it is not available for most patients in developing countries due to the high cost. This paper presents the concept of a low cost rehabilitation robot to help consolidate the robotic-assisted gait training as a reality in clinical practice in most countries. This work indicates that it is possible to build a simpler rehabilitation device respecting the physiological trajectory of the ankle.

Keywords: bioengineering, gait therapy, low cost rehabilitation robot, rehabilitation robotics

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Authors: Susanna Menis

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The context of this study revolves around the theme of consent and the construction of unlawfulness in judicial decisions. It aims to explore the formation of societal perceptions of unlawfulness within the context of consensual sexual acts leading to harmful consequences. This study investigates how judges create legal rules that reflect social solidarity and protect against violence. Specifically, the research aims to understand the justification behind criminalising consensual sexual activity when categorised under different offences. The main question addressed in this study will evaluate the way judges create legal rules that they believe reflect social solidarity and protect against violence. The study employs a historical genealogy approach as its methodology. This approach allows for tracing back the original formation of societal perspectives on unlawfulness, thus highlighting the socially constructed nature of the present understanding. The data for this study will be collected through an extensive literature review, examining historical legal cases and documents that shape the understanding of unlawfulness. This will provide a comprehensive view of how social attitudes toward private sexual relations influenced the creation of legal rules. The theoretical importance of this research lies in its contribution to socio-legal scholarship. This study adds to the existing knowledge on the topic by exploring questions of unconscious bias and its origins. The findings shed light on how and why individuals possess unconscious biases, particularly within the judicial system. In conclusion, this study investigates judicial decisions concerning consensual sexual acts and the construction of unlawfulness. By employing a historical genealogy approach, the research sheds light on how judges create legal rules that reflect social solidarity and aim to protect against violence. The theoretical importance of this study lies in its contribution to understanding unconscious bias and its origins within the judicial system. Through data collection and analysis procedures, this study aims to provide valuable insights into the formation of social attitudes towards private sexual relations and its impact on legal rulings.

Keywords: consent, sexual offences, offences against the person, legal genealogy, social construct

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Authors: Seung Ho Park, Young Su Moon, Nam Ik Cho

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We propose a convolution neural network (CNN) for quality adaptive compression artifact reduction named QCARNet. The proposed method is different from the existing discriminative models that learn a specific model at a certain quality level. The method is composed of a quality estimation CNN (QECNN) and a compression artifact reduction CNN (CARCNN), which are two functionally separate CNNs. By connecting the QECNN and CARCNN, each CARCNN layer is able to adaptively reduce compression artifacts and preserve details depending on the estimated quality level map generated by the QECNN. We experimentally demonstrate that the proposed method achieves better performance compared to other state-of-the-art blind compression artifact reduction methods.

Keywords: compression artifact reduction, deblocking, image denoising, image restoration

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Authors: Barbara Polo Martin

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During the 18th century, the border between Spain and France underwent various changes, primarily due to territorial agreements, wars, and treaties between the two nations and other European powers. For studying these changes, the Cassini maps remain valuable historical documents, offering a glimpse into the landscape and geography of 18th-century France and its neighboring regions, including the border between Spain and France. However, it's essential to recognize that these maps may not reflect modern political boundaries or territorial changes that have occurred since their creation. The project was initiated by King Louis XV in 1744 and continued by his successor, Louis XVI. The primary objective was to produce accurate maps of France, which would serve various purposes, including military, administrative, and scientific. The Cassini maps were groundbreaking for their time, as they were among the earliest attempts to create topographic maps on a national scale. They covered the entirety of France and were based on meticulous surveying and cartographic techniques. The maps featured precise geographic details, including elevation contours, rivers, roads, forests, and settlements. This study aims to analyze this rich and unknown cartography of France, study the rich place names it offers, as well as the accuracy of delimitations created over time between both empires in a historical way but also through a Geographical Information System. This study will offer a deeper knowledge about the cartography that supposes the beginning of topography in Europe.

Keywords: cartography, engineering, borders, Spain, France, Cassini

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Authors: Min Ho Kwon, Woo Young Jung, Hyun Su Seo

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A Polymer Cement Mortar (PCM) has been widely used as the material of repair and restoration work for concrete structure; however a PCM usually induces an environmental pollutant. Therefore, there is a need to develop PCM which is less impact to environments. Usually, UM resin is known to be harmless to the environment. Accordingly, in this paper, the properties of the PCM using UM resin were studied. The general cement mortar and UM resin was mixed in the specified ratio. A certain percentage of PVA fibers, steel fibers and mixed fibers (PVA fiber and steel fiber) were added to enhance the flexural strength. The flexural tests were performed in order to investigate the flexural strength of each PCM. Experimental results showed that the strength of proposed PCM using UM resin is improved when they are compared with general cement mortar.

Keywords: polymer cement mortar, UM resin, compressive strength, PVA fiber, steel fiber

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Authors: Flavia Kroetz

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From 1964 to 1985, Brazil was ruled by a dictatorial regime that, under the discourse of fight against terrorism and subversion, implemented cruel and atrocious practices against anyone who opposed the State ideology. At the same time, several Latin American countries faced dictatorial periods and experienced State repression through apparatuses of violence institutionalized in the very governmental structure. Despite the correspondence between repressive methods adopted by authoritarian regimes in States such as Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Peru and Uruguay, the mechanisms of democratic transition adopted with the end of each dictatorship were significantly different. While some States have found ways to deal with past atrocities through serious and transparent investigations of the crimes perpetrated in the name of repression, in others, as in Brazil, a culture of impunity remains rooted in society, manifesting itself in the widespread disbelief of the population in governmental and democratic institutions. While Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay are convincing examples of the possibility and importance of the prosecution of crimes such as torture, forced disappearance and murder committed by the State, El Salvador demonstrates the complete failure to punish or at least remove from power the perpetrators of serious crimes against civilians and political opponents. In a scenario of widespread violations of human rights, State violence becomes entrenched within society as a daily and even necessary practice. In Brazil, a lack of political and judicial will withstands the impunity of those who, during the military regime, committed serious crimes against human rights under the authority of the State. If the reproduction of violence is a direct consequence of the culture of denial and the rejection of everyone considered to be different, ‘the other’, then the adoption of transitional mechanisms that underpin the historical and political contexts of the time seems essential. Such mechanisms must strengthen democracy through the effective implementation of the rights to memory and to truth, the right to justice and reparations for victims and their families, as well as institutional changes in order to remove from power those who, when in power, could not distinguish between legality and authoritarianism. Against this background, this research analyses the importance of transitional justice for the restoration of democracy, considering the adoption of amnesty laws as a strategy to preclude criminal prosecution of offenses committed during dictatorial regimes. The study investigates the scope of Law No 6.683/79, the Brazilian amnesty law, which, according to a 2010 decision of the Brazilian Constitutional Supreme Court, granted amnesty to those responsible for political crimes and related crimes, committed between September 2, 1961 and August 15, 1979. Was the purpose of this Law to grant amnesty to violent crimes committed by the State? If so, is it possible to recognize the legitimacy of a Congress composed of indirectly elected politicians controlled by the dictatorship?

Keywords: amnesty law, criminal justice, dictatorship, state violence

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Authors: Wai-Ming Ng

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Nowadays Umeya Shokichi has been commonly regarded as the symbol of Sino-Japanese friendship and a close friend of Sun Yatsen. The images of Umeya have been largely built on contemporary political needs rather than historical sources. Based on Japanese and Chinese primary sources, this paper will challenge existing views of Umeya Shokichi in regard to his role in the 1911 Revolution and his relationship with Sun Yatsen. The study of Umeya Shokichi is handicapped by the accessibility and creditability of primary sources. Records of Umeya are largely kept in his family collection. Scholars are relatively difficult to get access to these materials. In addition, Umeya’s records can hardly be cross-checked as he is seldom mentioned in the writings of Sun Yatsen, Miyazaki Toten, James Cantlie and others. Heretofore, studies about Umeya are few and most are not critical enough to provide a balanced historical account of Umeya. This article will reexamine the role of Umeya Shokichi in the 1911 Revolution by highlighting his relationship with Sun Yatsen in Hong Kong from 1886 to 1911. It demonstrates that the role of Umeya in the 1911 Revolution and his relationship with Sun Yatsen are exaggerated by Chinese and Japanese officials as well as Umeya’s family members. The fact is that Sun did not play a direct role in the 1911 Revolution, not to mention his sponsors. To Sun, Umeya was perhaps merely one of his many sponsors rather than an intimate friend. This study will be a thought-provoking and iconoclast piece of scholarship based on critical reading of primary sources.

Keywords: Umeya Shokichi, Sun Yatsen, 1911 Revolution, Sino-Japanese friendship

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Authors: Olumuyiwa Ojo, Masengo Ilunga

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Artificial neural network (ANN) has broken the bounds of the convention programming, which is actually a function of garbage in garbage out by its ability to mimic the human brain. Its ability to adopt, adapt, adjust, evaluate, learn and recognize the relationship, behavior, and pattern of a series of data set administered to it, is tailored after the human reasoning and learning mechanism. Thus, the study aimed at modeling wastewater treatment process in order to accurately diagnose water control problems for effective treatment. For this study, a stage ANN model development and evaluation methodology were employed. The source data analysis stage involved a statistical analysis of the data used in modeling in the model development stage, candidate ANN architecture development and then evaluated using a historical data set. The model was developed using historical data obtained from Daspoort Wastewater Treatment plant South Africa. The resultant designed dimensions and model for wastewater treatment plant provided good results. Parameters considered were temperature, pH value, colour, turbidity, amount of solids and acidity. Others are total hardness, Ca hardness, Mg hardness, and chloride. This enables the ANN to handle and represent more complex problems that conventional programming is incapable of performing.

Keywords: ANN, artificial neural network, wastewater treatment, model, development

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Authors: Erica Lima

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In Brazil, considering the (little) age of translation studies, it can be argued that the University of Campinas is traditionally an important place for graduate studies in translation. The story is told from the accreditation for the Masters, in 1987, and the Doctoral program, in 1993, within the Graduate Program in Applied Linguistics. Since the beginning, the program boasted cutting-edge research, with theoretical reflections on various aspects, and with different methodological trends. However, on the one hand, the graduate studies development was continuously growing, but on the other, it is not what was observed in the undergraduate degree program. Currently, there are only a few disciplines of Translation Theory and Practice, which does not seem to respond to student aspirations. The objective of this paper is to present the characteristics of the university’s graduate program as something profitable, considering the concern in relating the research to the historical moment in which we are living, with research conducted in a socially compromised environment and committed to the impact that it will cause ethically and socially, as well as to question the undergraduate program paths. The objective is also to discuss and propose changes, considering the limited scope currently achieved. In light of the information age, in which we have an avalanche of information, we believe that the training of translators in the undergraduate degree should be reviewed, with the goal of retracing current paths and following others that are consistent with our historical period, marked by virtual and real, by the shuffling of borders and languages, the need for new language policies, greater inclusion, and more acceptance of others. We conclude that we need new proposals for the development of the translator in an undergraduate program, and also present suggestions to be implemented in the graduate program.

Keywords: graduate Brazilian program, undergraduate Brazilian program, translator’s education, Unicamp

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Authors: Tsung-Han Lin, Chia-Han Yang

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Recently, it’s obvious that many hotels not only provide customized service, but offer local culture to give customers different experiences. Luxury decoration and fancy equipment are not enough anymore. Customers expect that hotels not just as an accommodation, but connecting to their trips. Therefore, culture becomes significant when developing marketing strategy for hotels. Tainan, located in south of Taiwan, is the city full of culture that some hospitality industries promote their hotels exactly base on culture. Historic Tainan (台南; táinán), is a city of ancient monuments, delicious food and, above all, temples: there are more gods worshipped and more festivals and rituals observed in Tainan than in any other place in Taiwan. The oldest and most absorbing parts of Tainan are historic Anping, on the west side of town by the sea, and the cultural zones in the heart of the old city; the latter were created specifically to make things easier for visitors, with city information, signs and maps tailored to each zone and well-marked in English. The Chihkan, Dong-an Fang, Five Canals and Confucius Temple cultural zones contain the richest concentration of sights – reckon on spending at least two days to do them justice. As a result, the study aims to analyze the significance of culture on marketing strategies and C and H two hotels in Tainan city as case studies conducting the comparison of cultural marketing and experience marketing to provide a framework for hotels to develop their marketing strategies.

Keywords: cultural marketing, hospitality, historical city, Tainan city

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Authors: Yechan Kim, Bonhyuk Ku, Minkyung Jung, Hyoungku Kang

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This study presents the remanufacturing of a 25kV gas insulated switchgear (GIS) that operated indoors for 27 years before being decommissioned due to aging. The research involved a detailed process of dismantling, visual inspection, component-wise examination, and various testing methodologies to assess the equipment's condition. The focus was on evaluating the GIS's integrity and feasibility for remanufacturing. The results highlight the potential of remanufacturing in extending the life of electrical power equipment, offering insights into the best practices, challenges, and technical considerations of such an undertaking. This contributes to a sustainable approach in the power industry, emphasizing the reuse and restoration of aging equipment.

Keywords: remanufacturing, dismantling, gas insulated switchgear, sustainability, life extension

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Authors: Drew Fockler

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This research examines how to improve an employee’s experience when transferring between departments within an organization. This research includes a historical review of a Canadian retail organization. Based on this historical review, gaps are identified between current and future visions to show where problems with existing training and development practices need to be resolved to reduce front-line employee turnover within an organization. The strategies within this paper support leaders through the LEAD: Listen, Explore, Act and Develop, Change Management Model. The LEAD Change Management Model supports the change process. This research proposes three possible solutions to improve an employee who is transferring between departments. The best solution to resolve the problem of improving an employee moving between departments experience is creating a Training Manager position within the retail store. A Training Manager position could support both employees and leadership with training and development of staff who are moving between departments. Within this research, an implementation plan using the TransX Model was created. The TransX Model is a hybrid of Leader-Member Exchange Theory and Transformational Leadership Theory to facilitate this organizational change within an organization by creating a common vision. Finally, this research provides the next steps as well as future considerations to enhance the training manager role within an organization.

Keywords: employee transfers, employee engagement, human resources, employee induction, TransX model, lead change management model

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Authors: Ju Peng Poh, Jun Yu Charles Lee, Jonathan Chew Hoe Khoo

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The emergence of digital twin technology, a digital replica of physical world, has improved the real-time access to data from sensors about the performance of buildings. This digital transformation has opened up many opportunities to improve the management of the building by using the data collected to help monitor consumption patterns and energy leakages. One example is the integration of predictive models for anomaly detection. In this paper, we use the GAM (Generalised Additive Model) for the anomaly detection of Air Handling Units (AHU) power consumption pattern. There is ample research work on the use of GAM for the prediction of power consumption at the office building and nation-wide level. However, there is limited illustration of its anomaly detection capabilities, prescriptive analytics case study, and its integration with the latest development of digital twin technology. In this paper, we applied the general GAM modelling framework on the historical data of the AHU power consumption and cooling load of the building between Jan 2018 to Aug 2019 from an education campus in Singapore to train prediction models that, in turn, yield predicted values and ranges. The historical data are seamlessly extracted from the digital twin for modelling purposes. We enhanced the utility of the GAM model by using it to power a real-time anomaly detection system based on the forward predicted ranges. The magnitude of deviation from the upper and lower bounds of the uncertainty intervals is used to inform and identify anomalous data points, all based on historical data, without explicit intervention from domain experts. Notwithstanding, the domain expert fits in through an optional feedback loop through which iterative data cleansing is performed. After an anomalously high or low level of power consumption detected, a set of rule-based conditions are evaluated in real-time to help determine the next course of action for the facilities manager. The performance of GAM is then compared with other approaches to evaluate its effectiveness. Lastly, we discuss the successfully deployment of this approach for the detection of anomalous power consumption pattern and illustrated with real-world use cases.

Keywords: anomaly detection, digital twin, generalised additive model, GAM, power consumption, supervised learning

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Authors: Louis Botha

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Since the presentation of South Africa’s inclusive education strategy in Education White Paper 6 in 2001, very little has been accomplished in terms of its implementation. The failure to achieve the goals set by this policy document is related to teachers lacking confidence and knowledge about how to enact inclusive education, as well as challenges of inflexible curricula, limited resources in overcrowded classrooms, and so forth. This paper presents a socio-cultural approach to addressing these challenges of implementing inclusive education in the South African context. It takes its departure from the view that inclusive education has been adequately theorized and conceptualized in terms of its philosophical and ethical principles, especially in South African policy and debates. What is missing, however, are carefully theorized, practically implementable research interventions which can address the concerns mentioned above. Drawing on socio-cultural principles of learning and development and on cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) in particular, this paper argues for the use of formative interventions which introduce appropriately constructed mediational artifacts that have the potential to initiate inclusive practices and pedagogies within South African schools and classrooms. It makes use of Vygotsky’s concept of double stimulation to show how the proposed artifacts could instigate forms of transformative agency which promote the adoption of inclusive cultures of learning and teaching.

Keywords: cultural-historical activity theory, double stimulation, formative interventions, transformative agency

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Authors: Mohammad Nazri Mustafa, Sh Norliza Sy Salim, Pedram Hatami Abdullah

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Civil and structural assets normally have an average of more than 30 years of design life. Adding to this advantage, the assets are normally subjected to slow degradation process. Due to the fact that repair and strengthening work for these assets are normally not dependent on plant shut down, the maintenance and integrity restoration of these assets are mostly done based on “as required” and “run to failure” basis. However unlike other industries, the exposure in oil and gas environment is harsher as the result of corrosive soil and groundwater, chemical spill, frequent wetting and drying, icing and de-icing, steam and heat, etc. Due to this type of exposure and the increasing level of structural defects and rectification in line with the increasing age of plants, assets integrity assessment requires a more defined scope and procedures that needs to be based on risk and assets criticality. This leads to the establishment of risk based inspection and proactive maintenance procedure for civil and structural assets. To date there is hardly any procedure and guideline as far as integrity assessment and systematic inspection and maintenance of civil and structural assets (onshore) are concerned. Group Technical Solutions has developed a procedure and guideline that takes into consideration credible failure scenario, assets risk and criticality from process safety and structural engineering perspective, structural importance, modeling and analysis among others. Detailed inspection that includes destructive and non-destructive tests (DT & NDT) and structural monitoring is also being performed to quantify defects, assess severity and impact on integrity as well as identify the timeline for integrity restoration. Each defect and its credible failure scenario is assessed against the risk on people, environment, reputation and production loss. This technical paper is intended to share on the established procedure and guideline and their execution in oil & gas plants. In line with the overall roadmap, the procedure and guideline will form part of specialized solutions to increase production and to meet the “Operational Excellence” target while extending service life of civil and structural assets. As the result of implementation, the management of civil and structural assets is now more systematically done and the “fire-fighting” mode of maintenance is being gradually phased out and replaced by a proactive and preventive approach. This technical paper will also set the criteria and pose the challenge to the industry for innovative repair and strengthening methods for civil & structural assets in oil & gas environment, in line with safety, constructability and continuous modification and revamp of plant facilities to meet production demand.

Keywords: assets criticality, credible failure scenario, proactive and preventive maintenance, risk based inspection

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Authors: Geetanjali Sharma

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There are always provincial variations which deserve more detailed treatment. Before the arrival of modern era, geography and cultural homogeneity were determining factors of human habitat and migration. Boundaries as if we see them, did not exist earlier. The connectivity of the world was also different as of now. The reinforcement of the old silk route will improve economic cooperation and connectivity between Asian, European and African countries, but obviously, it is designed to improve China’s geopolitical and geostrategic position in the world. The paper is based on the secondary sources of data. Analytical and historical approach has been used to clarify the ties between the old silk routes and new One-Belt-One-Road initiative China. The paper begins with an explanation of the historical background of the old Silk Route, its origin and development, trailed by an analysis of latest declarations by the Chinese leaders to revive it. It also discusses the impacts of this initiative on India’s economy and cultural exchange between associated regions. Lastly, the paper sums up the findings and suggestions for keeping a balance between the security and economic relationship between the countries. It concludes that the silk route is an effort in commencing a ‘grand strategy’ for global trade and cooperation with hidden objectives of China to increase the investment of China in other continents as well. The revival of silk route may prove to be a very helpful in reinforcing cooperation and raising it to a new level of economic establishments. However, China has yet to promote the much-needed political and strategic trust.

Keywords: OBOR (One-Belt-One-Road), geopolitics, economic relation, security concerns

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Authors: Lorand Ujhazi

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The vast majority of existing canonical studies about migration are focused on examining the general pastoral and legal regulations of the Catholic Church. The weakness of this approach is that it ignores a number of important factors; like the financial, legal and personal circumstances of a particular church or the canonical position of certain organizations which actually look after the immigrants. This paper is a case study, which analyses the current and historical migration related policies and activities of the Catholic Church in Hungary. To achieve this goal the study uses canon law, historical publications, various instructions and communications issued by church superiors, Hungarian and foreign media reports and the relevant Hungarian legislation. The paper first examines how the Hungarian Catholic Church assisted migrants like Armenians fleeing from the Ottoman Empire, Poles escaping during the Second World War, East German and Romanian citizens in the 1980s and refugees from the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. These events underline the importance of past historical experience in the development of contemporary pastoral and humanitarian policy of the Catholic Church in Hungary. Then the paper turns to the events of the ongoing crisis by describing the unique challenges faced by churches in transit countries like Hungary. Then the research contrasts these findings with the typical responsibilities of churches in countries which are popular destinations for immigrants. The next part of the case study focuses on the changes to the pre-crisis legal and canonical framework which influenced the actions of hierarchical and charity organizations in Hungary. Afterwards, the paper illustrates the dangers of operating in an unclear legal environment, where some charitable activities of the church like a fundraising campaign may be interpreted as a national security risk by state authorities. Then the paper presents the reactions of Hungarian academics to the current migration crisis and finally it offers some proposals how to improve parts of Canon Law which govern immigration. The conclusion of the paper is that during the formulation of the central refugee policy of the Catholic Church decision makers must take into consideration the peculiar circumstances of its particular churches. This approach may prevent disharmony between the existing central regulations, the policy of the Vatican and the operations of the local church organizations.

Keywords: canon law, Catholic Church, civil law, Hungary, immigration, national security

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Authors: Nalinee Sophatsathit

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The objectives of memorabilia of Suan Sunandha are to develop a general knowledge presentation about the historical royal garden through interactive graphic simulation technique and to employ high-functionality context in enhancing interactive user navigation. The approach infers non-intrusive display of relevant history in response to situational context. User’s navigation runs through the virtual reality campus, consisting of new and restored buildings. A flash back presentation of information pertaining to the history in the form of photos, paintings, and textual descriptions are displayed along each passing-by building. To keep the presentation lively, graphical simulation is created in a serendipity game play so that the user can both learn and enjoy the educational tour. The benefits of this human-computer interaction development are two folds. First, lively presentation technique and situational context modeling are developed that entail a usable paradigm of knowledge and information presentation combinations. Second, cost effective training and promotion for both internal personnel and public visitors to learn and keep informed of this historical royal garden can be furnished without the need for a dedicated public relations service. Future improvement on graphic simulation and ability based display can extend this work to be more realistic, user-friendly, and informative for all.

Keywords: interactive user navigation, high-functionality context, situational context, human-computer interaction

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Authors: Lucian Vasile Bagiu, Paraschiva Bagiu

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The novel written in Italian and published in Italy in 1992 by the Romanian scholar Marin Mincu is meant for the foreign reader, aiming apparently at a better knowledge of the historical character of Vlad the Empalor (Vlad Dracul), within the European cultural, political and historical context of 1463. Throughout the very well written tome, one comes to realize that one of the underlining levels of the fiction is the exposing of various fundamental features of the Romanian culture and civilization. The author of the diary, Dracula, makes mention of Corpus Hermeticum no less than fifteen times, suggesting his own diary is some sort of a philosophical counterpart. The essay focuses on several ‘truths’ and ‘wisdom’ revealed in the fictional teachings of Dracula. The boycott of History by the Romanians is identified as an echo of the philosophical approach of the famous Romanian scholar and writer Lucian Blaga. The orality of the Romanian culture is a landmark opposed to written culture of the Western Europe. The religion of the ancient Dacian God Zalmoxis is seen as the basis for the Romanian existential and/or metaphysical ethnic philosophy (a feature tackled by the famous Romanian historian of religion Mircea Eliade), with a suggestion that Hermes Trismegistus may have written his Corpus Hermeticum being influenced by Zalmoxis. The historical figure of the last Dacian king Decebalus (death 106 AD) is a good pretext for a tantalizing Indo-European suggestion that the prehistoric Thraco-Dacian people may have been the ancestors of the first Romans settled in Latium. The lost diary of the Emperor Trajan The Bello Dacico may have proved that the unknown language of the Dacians was very much alike Latin language (a secret well hidden by the Vatican). The attitude towards death of the Dacians, as described by Herodotus, may have later inspired Pitagora, Socrates, the Eleusinian and Orphic Mysteries, etc. All of these within the Humanistic and Renascentist European context of the epoch, Dracula having a close relationship with scholars such as Nicolaus Cusanus, Cosimo de Medici, Marsilio Ficino, Pope Pius II, etc. Thus The Diary of Dracula turns out as exciting and stupefying as Corpus Hermeticum, a book impossible to assimilate entirely, yet a reference not wise to be ignored.

Keywords: Corpus Hermeticum, Dacians, Dracula, Zalmoxis

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Authors: Chien Yang Erdem

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This paper takes up the proliferating historical dramas and children’s programs featuring the Ottoman-Islamic legacy on Turkish television as a locus where the processes of subjectification take place. A critical analysis of this emergent cultural phenomenon reveals an alliance of neoliberal and neoconservative political rationalities based on which the Turkish media is restructured to transform society. The existing debates have focused on how the Ottoman historical dramas manifest the Justice and Development Party’s (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) neo-Ottomanist ideology and foreign policy. However, this approach tends to overlook the more complex relationship between the media, government, and society. Employing Michel Foucault’s notion of 'technologies of the self,' this paper aims to examine the governing practices that are deployed to regulate the media and to transform individual citizens into governable subjects in contemporary Turkey. First, through a brief discussion of recent development of the Turkish media towards an authoritarian model, the paper suggests that the relation between the Ottoman television drama and the political subject in question cannot be adequately examined without taking into account the force of the market. Second, by focusing on the managerial restructuring of the Turkish Television and Radio Corporation (Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu), the paper aims to illustrate the rationale and process through which the Turkish media sector is transformed into an integral part of the free market where the government becomes a key actor. The paper contends that this new sphere of free market is organized in a way that enables direct interference of the government and divides media practitioners and consumers into opposing categories through their own participation in the media market. On the one hand, a 'free subject' is constituted based on the premise that the market is a sphere where individuals are obliged to exercise their right to freedom (of choice, lifestyle, and expression). On the other hand, this 'free subject' is increasingly subjugated to such disciplinary practices as censorship for being on the wrong side of the government. Finally, the paper examines the relation between the restructured Turkish media market and the proliferation of Ottoman television drama in the 2010s. The study maintains that the reorganization of the media market has produced a condition where private sector is encouraged to take an active role in reviving Turkey’s Ottoman-Islamic cultural heritage and promulgating moral-religious values. Paying specific attention to the controversial case of Magnificent Century (Muhteşem Yüzyıl) in contrast with TRT’s Ottoman historical drama and children’s programs, the paper aims to identify the ways in which individual citizens are directed to conduct themselves as a virtuous citizenry. It is through the double movement between the governing practices associated with the media market and those concerning the making of a 'conservative generation' that a subject of citizenry of new Turkey is constituted.

Keywords: neoconservatism, neoliberalism, ottoman historical drama, technologies of the self, Turkish television

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Authors: Gintaras Mitrulevičius

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This text, which is based on the conference report, seeks to briefly examine the relationship between the concepts of social democracy and democratic socialism, drawing attention to the essential aspects of its development and, in particular, discussing the contradictions in the relationship between these concepts in the modern period. In the preparation of this text, such research methods as historical, historical-comparative methods were used, as well as methods of analyzing, synthesizing, and generalizing texts. The history of the use of terms in social democracy and democratic socialism shows that these terms were used alternately and almost synonymously. At the end of the 20th century, traditional social democracy was transformed into the so-called "new social democracy." Many of the new social democrats do not consider themselves democratic socialists and avoid the historically characteristic identification of social democracy with democratic socialism. It has become quite popular to believe that social democracy is a separate ideology from democratic socialism. Or that it has become a variant of the ideology of liberalism. This is a testimony to the crisis of ideological self-awareness of social democracy. Since the beginning of the 21st century, social democracy has also experienced a growing crisis of electoral support. This, among other things, led to her slight shift to the left. In this context, some social democrats are once again talking about democratic socialism. The rise of the ideas of democratic socialism in the United States was catalyzed by Bernie Sanders. But the proponents of democratic socialism in the United States have different concepts of democratic socialism. In modern Europe, democratic socialism is also spoken of by leftists of non-social democratic origin, whose understanding is different from that of democratic socialism inherent in classical social democracy. Some political scientists also single out the concepts in question. Analysis of the problem shows that there are currently several concepts of democratic socialism on the spectrum of the political left, both social-democratic and non-social-democratic.

Keywords: democratic socializm, socializm, social democracy, new social democracy, political ideologies

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Authors: G. Ghamrawi, Y. Abunnasr, M. Fawaz, S. Yazigi

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Coastal cities are constantly exposed to environmental degradation and economic regression fueled by rapid and uncontrolled urban growth as well as continuous resource depletion. This is the case of the City of Mina in Tripoli (Lebanon), where lack of awareness to preserve social, ecological, and historical assets, coupled with the increasing development pressures, are threatening the socioeconomic status of the city residents, the quality of life and accessibility to the coast. To address these challenges, a holistic coastal urban design and planning approach was developed to analyze the environmental, political, legal, and socioeconomic context of the city. This approach aims to investigate the potential of balancing urban development with the protection and enhancement of cultural, ecological, and environmental assets under an integrated coastal zone management approach (ICZM). The analysis of Mina's different sectors adopted several tools that include direct field observation, interviews with stakeholders, analysis of available data, historical maps, and previously proposed projects. The findings from the analysis were mapped and graphically represented, allowing the recognition of character zones that become the design intervention units. Consequently, the thesis proposes an urban, city-scale intervention that identifies 6 different character zones (the historical fishing port, Abdul Wahab island, the abandoned Port Said, Hammam el Makloub, the sand beach, and the new developable area) and proposes context-specific design interventions that capitalize on the main characteristics of each zone. Moreover, the intervention builds on the institutional framework of ICZM as well as other studies previously conducted for the coast and adopts nature-based solutions with hybrid systems for providing better environmental design solutions for developing the coast. This enables the realization of an all-inclusive, well-connected shoreline with easy and free access towards the sea; a developed shoreline with an active local economy, and an improved urban environment.

Keywords: blue green infrastructure, coastal cities, hybrid solutions, integrated coastal zone management, sustainable development, urban planning

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Authors: Guangtong Xu, Yi He

Abstract:

Like most historic and cultural cities in China, the historic urban area of Jingmen city is facing a typical spatial problem of fragmentation and fuzzification. This study focuses on exploring a method for evaluating the existing values of historic urban area based on spatial prototype, a concept introduced into urban morphology from 'Archetype' in architectural typology. As the spatial elements and built-up relationship of historic city, spatial prototype has habitual structural characteristics and formal modulus. It is the inherent logic and order rules behind the scattered historic environment, providing a clue to understand the spatial characteristics and a basis for guiding the construction and conservation in historic urban areas. Three criteria, the resolution of historical elements, the completeness of historical structure and the renewal potential of associated land, were selected to construct the integrated assessment system. These three dimensions are linked to the spatial prototype and its constituent elements, as well as the transformation relationship in ancient and present day. The results showed that historic urban areas have changed from a holistic city to different existing types dominated by their historic structure elements. It is necessary to improve the pertinence of planning strategies and develop diversified management measures in the conservation scope of historic urban area. Moreover, a constructive-conservation strategy should be put forward to enhance the integrity of historic urban area based on the trace of spatial prototype and evaluation results.

Keywords: constructive conservation, existing value, historic urban area, spatial prototype

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Authors: Abdelaziz Moujane, Abedelali Boulli, Abdellah Ouigmane

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The present work focuses on the assessment of forestlandscape changes in the region of ZaouitAhansal, usingmultitemporal satellite images at high spatial resolution.Severalremotesensingmethodswereappliednamely: The supervised classification algorithm and NDVI whichwerecombined in a GIS environment to quantify the extent and change in density of forest stands (holmoak, juniper, thya, Aleppo pine, crops, and others).The resultsobtainedshowedthat the forest of ZaouitAhansal has undergonesignificantdegradationresulting in a decrease in the area of juniper, cedar, and zeenoak, as well as an increase in the area of baresoil and agricultural land. The remotesensing data providedsatisfactoryresults for identifying and quantifying changes in forestcover. In addition, thisstudycould serve as a reference for the development of management strategies and restoration programs.

Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, satellite image, NDVI, deforestation, zaouit ahansal

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Authors: Elissandro Voigt Beier, Cristiano Poleto

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The main objective of the research is to assess the loss through the quantification of material culture (archaeological fragments) in rural areas, sites explored economically by machining on seasonal crops, and also permanent, in a hydrographic subsystem Camaquã River in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The study area consists of different micro basins and differs in area, ranging between 1,000 m² and 10,000 m², respectively the largest and the smallest, all with a large number of occurrences and outcrop locations of archaeological material and high density in intense farm environment. In the first stage of the research aimed to identify the dispersion of points of archaeological material through field survey through plot points by the Global Positioning System (GPS), within each river basin, was made use of concise bibliography on the topic in the region, helping theoretically in understanding the old landscaping with preferences of occupation for reasons of ancient historical people through the settlements relating to the practice observed in the field. The mapping was followed by the cartographic development in the region through the development of cartographic products of the land elevation, consequently were created cartographic products were to contribute to the understanding of the distribution of the absolute materials; the definition and scope of the material dispersed; and as a result of human activities the development of revolving letter by mechanization of in situ material, it was also necessary for the preparation of materials found density maps, linking natural environments conducive to ancient historical occupation with the current human occupation. The third stage of the project it is for the systematic collection of archaeological material without alteration or interference in the subsurface of the indigenous settlements, thus, the material was prepared and treated in the laboratory to remove soil excesses, cleaning through previous communication methodology, measurement and quantification. Approximately 15,000 were identified archaeological fragments belonging to different periods of ancient history of the region, all collected outside of its environmental and historical context and it also has quite changed and modified. The material was identified and cataloged considering features such as object weight, size, type of material (lithic, ceramic, bone, Historical porcelain and their true association with the ancient history) and it was disregarded its principles as individual lithology of the object and functionality same. As observed preliminary results, we can point out the change of materials by heavy mechanization and consequent soil disturbance processes, and these processes generate loading of archaeological materials. Therefore, as a next step will be sought, an estimate of potential losses through a mathematical model. It is expected by this process, to reach a reliable model of high accuracy which can be applied to an archeological site of lower density without encountering a significant error.

Keywords: degradation of heritage, quantification in archaeology, watershed, use and occupation of land

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Authors: Ashiqul Amin Khan, Mohsin Ul Amin Khan

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The aim of this research is to find the relationship between good governance and shareholder wealth maximisation. The concept of good governance has become more objective in nature over time through various regulations, professionalisation, and practices. This has led to a number of methods for scoring and ranking corporate governance practices. Since shareholder wealth maximisation remains the key corporate goal for managers and governors alike, the effect of good governance in increasing the value of corporations is commented to be an important aspect. In measuring the value relevance of good governance, statistical measures of various yields of listed companies in the UK have been used in this research. Yields reflect required returns on investments from different investment tenets. Historical yields, calculated using historical fundamental data of such companies, reflect expected yields to a great extent. These yields, in turn, reflect the expected risk premium and growth associated with the stocks of the companies. Using fundamental data, the yields have been adjusted to reflect the risk premium required by the investors along various value paradigms. Good governance should naturally lead to lower required risk premium since good corporate governance provided assurance to the investors in terms of sustainability of future performance and desired financial conduct. This, in turn, increases the wealth of stockholders. The findings of this research confirm such nature of the relationship between good governance and value of the company in the long run.

Keywords: corporate governance, good governance practices, short-termism, shareholder value relevance, wealth maximisation, yield

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Authors: Pooja Booluck

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This project seeks to translate a chapter in Le Silence des Chagos by Shenaz Patel a Mauritian author whose work has never been translated before. The chapter discusses the attempt of the protagonist to return to her home country Diego Garcia after her deportation. The English translation will offer an historical account to the target audience of the deportation of Chagossians to Mauritius during the 1970s. The target audience comprises of English-speaking translation scholars translation students and African literature scholars. In light of making the cultural elements of Mauritian culture accessible the translation will maintain the cultural items such as food and oral discourses in Creole so as to preserve the authenticity of the source culture. In order to better comprehend the cultural elements mentioned the target reader will be provided with detailed footnotes explaining the cultural and historical references. This translation will also address the importance of folkloric songs in Mauritius and its intergenerational function in Mauritian communities which will also remain in Creole. While such an approach will help to preserve the meaning of the source text the borrowing technique and the foreignizing method will be employed which will in turn help the reader in becoming more familiar with the Mauritian community. Translating a text from French to English while maintaining certain words or discourses in a minority language such as Creole bears certain challenges: How does the translator ensure the comprehensibility of the reader? Are there any translation losses? What are the choices of the translator?

Keywords: Chagos archipelagos in Exile, English translation, Le Silence des Chagos, Mauritian culture and history

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Authors: Chandranath Chatterjee, Amina Khatun, Bhabagrahi Sahoo

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With the changing climate, precipitation events are intensified in the tropical river basins. Since these river basins are significantly influenced by the monsoonal rainfall pattern, critical impacts are observed on the agricultural practices in the downstream river reaches. This study analyses the crop damage and associated flood risk in terms of net benefit in the paddy-dominated tropical Indian delta of the Mahanadi River. The Mahanadi River basin lies in eastern part of the Indian sub-continent and is greatly affected by the southwest monsoon rainfall extending from the month of June to September. This river delta is highly flood-prone and has suffered from recurring high floods, especially after the 2000s. In this study, the lumped conceptual model, Nedbør Afstrømnings Model (NAM) from the suite of MIKE models, is used for rainfall-runoff modeling. The NAM model is laterally integrated with the MIKE11-Hydrodynamic (HD) model to route the runoffs up to the head of the delta region. To obtain the precipitation-derived future projected discharges at the head of the delta, nine Global Climate Models (GCMs), namely, BCC-CSM1.1(m), GFDL-CM3, GFDL-ESM2G, HadGEM2-AO, IPSL-CM5A-LR, IPSL-CM5A-MR, MIROC5, MIROC-ESM-CHEM and NorESM1-M, available in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project-Phase 5 (CMIP5) archive are considered. These nine GCMs are previously found to best-capture the Indian Summer Monsoon rainfall. Based on the performance of the nine GCMs in reproducing the historical discharge pattern, three GCMs (HadGEM2-AO, IPSL-CM5A-MR and MIROC-ESM-CHEM) are selected. A higher Taylor Skill Score is considered as the GCM selection criteria. Thereafter, the 10-year return period design flood is estimated using L-moments based flood frequency analysis for the historical and three future projected periods (2010-2039, 2040-2069 and 2070-2099) under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5. A non-dimensional hydrograph analysis is performed to obtain the hydrographs for the historical/projected 10-year return period design floods. These hydrographs are forced into the calibrated and validated coupled 1D-2D hydrodynamic model, MIKE FLOOD, to simulate the flood inundation in the delta region. Historical and projected flood risk is defined based on the information about the flood inundation simulated by the MIKE FLOOD model and the inundation depth-damage-duration relationship of a normal rice variety cultivated in the river delta. In general, flood risk is expected to increase in all the future projected time periods as compared to the historical episode. Further, in comparison to the 2010s (2010-2039), an increased flood risk in the 2040s (2040-2069) is shown by all the three selected GCMs. However, the flood risk then declines in the 2070s as we move towards the end of the century (2070-2099). The methodology adopted herein for flood risk assessment is one of its kind and may be implemented in any world-river basin. The results obtained from this study can help in future flood preparedness by implementing suitable flood adaptation strategies.

Keywords: flood frequency analysis, flood risk, global climate models (GCMs), paddy cultivation

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