Famous cultural monuments are often regarded as unique icons, making them an attractive target for terrorists. Despite huge military and police outlays, terrorist attacks on important monuments can hardly be avoided. We argue that an effective strategy for discouraging terrorist attacks on iconic monuments is for the government to show a firm commitment to swift reconstruction. Using a simple g...

The conservation of World Heritage is critical to the cultural and social sustainability of regions and nations. Risk monitoring and preventive diagnosis of threats to heritage sites in any given ecosystem are a complex and challenging task. Taking advantage of the performance of Earth Observation technologies, we measured the impacts of hitherto imperceptible and poorly understood factors of g...

Title of dissertation: MONUMENTS AS A NATIONAL PRACTICE: THE DILEMMAS OF LIBERAL NATIONALISM Avital Shein, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation directed by: Professor Ronald Terchek Department of Government and Politics Professor Vladimir Tismaneanu Department of Government and Politics At first glance, the very idea of liberal nationalism appears to be an oxymoron. It is dedicated to univer...

Historical monuments as architectural heritage are, economically and culturally, considered one of the key aspects for modern communities. Cultural heritage represents a country’s national identity and pride and maintains and enriches that country’s culture. Therefore, conservation of the monuments remained from our ancestors requires everybody’s serious and unremitting effort. Conservation, re...

The royal Chinese mausoleums of the Tang, Ming and Qing Chinese dynasties are astounding ensables of monuments, conceived and built to assure to the Emperors immortality in the afterlife and perennial fame on earth. To this aim, a series of cognitive elements were embodied in the funerary landscapes selected for such monuments, including astronomy, general topography, and traditional Chinese “g...

In 1942, Katherine Frost Bruner published an article titled ‘‘Of psychological writing: Being some valedictory remarks on style.’’ It was published in Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, the journal for which she served as editorial assistant between 1937 and 1941. Her collection of advice to writing scholars has been widely quoted, including by several editions of The Publication Manual...

The aim of the Scanning of the Pyramids Project 2004 was to apply and test latest state-of-the-art terrestrial laser scanners combined with a calibrated digital camera for high accuracy, high resolution and long distance topographic scanning in archaeology. The monuments selected for the first campaign are the Cheops Pyramid and the Sphinx. The data form the basis for a detailed threedimensiona...

In situ microscopy consists of simultaneously applying several microscopy techniques without separating the biological component from its habitat. Over the past few years, this strategy has allowed characterization of the biofilms involved in biodeterioration processes affecting stone monuments and has revealed the biogeophysical and biogeochemical impact of the microbiota present. In addition,...

Stone monuments (statues, fountains, tombs, memorials, buildings, etc.) are apparently indestructible artefacts that were built to last. Depending on the chemical composition and structure, stones may be friendly or hostile to colonization by eukaryotic and/or prokaryotic communities. Among various lithotypes, porous rocks (limestone, sandstone) have highest bioreceptivity. Abiotic factors have...

the increasing availability of massive amounts of quantitative data is fundamentally changing our perspective and research. Understanding impressive amounts of data – including bibliographies, inventory and research databases, Flickr images of historic sites, scanned books, click-streams of literature downloads, and other linked data is just as transformative for humanities, as the ideas of qua...