Too many Scotlands? Place,the SNP,and the future of nationalist mobilization

Scottish nationalism has always had a ‘geographical problem’ in the sense that support for its central goal, the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom, has had much more backing in some regions and localities than it has had in others. In the 1970s and 1980s the geographical pattern to this support, at least as expressed in votes for the Scottish National Party (SNP), seemed very clear. Suddenly the picture changed between 2011 and 2016, to the extent that the whole of Scotland, notwithstanding the overall ‘No’ vote on Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum, seemed to be lining up to some degree or another in the ‘nationalist column.’ As quickly, this proved ephemeral. As of 2017, the future of the central goal of Scottish nationalism is once more in doubt because of a new geography of support and disaffection that seems to reflect a number of recent trends in attitudes towards voting for the SNP. The article maps the course of the older and newer geographies of Scottish nationalism in terms of the overall political economy of the country, given its proponents’ heavy emphasis on economic themes, and the ways this is refracted through place-to-place social and economic differences across the country.     

Ackia and Ogoula Tchetoka: Defining Two Battlefields of the 1736 French and Chickasaw War in Southeastern North America

Investigations into the location of two battles related to the Chickasaw and French Wars of the 1700s in Mississippi, USA, show the value of a multi-pronged strategy for identifying and delineating military sites. We used metal detecting, shovel test pits, surface collections, local informant interviews, historical maps, LiDAR-based topography, and air photographs to locate Ogoula Tchetoka and Ackia, two Chickasaw towns where French forces were defeated in 1736. Despite the ambiguity introduced by overlapping domestic occupations and other complicating factors, the weight of our complementary approaches demonstrates that Ogoula Tchetoka and surrounding battle features have been modestly impacted by modern developments, whereas Ackia has been largely obliterated by the construction of a residential neighborhood. Our ability to identify major landscape features related to the military history of these sites contributes to our understanding of the tactics and consequences of warfare between European powers and Native Americans in the Colonial era.     

Identification of a Deep-water B-29 WWII Aircraft via ROV Telepresence Survey

American-produced B-29 Superfortress bomber aircraft flew missions against Imperial Japan in the Pacific Theater from air bases in the Mariana Islands from November 1944 until the end of WWII. Mechanical failures forced many B-29s into the ocean surrounding Saipan and Tinian. Terrestrial wreckage of these aircraft has been located in the Pacific region, but no losses in deep water were located until 2016, when a NOAA exploration cruise investigated sonar targets in the Saipan Channel, between Saipan and Tinian. Disarticulated wreckage from a B-29 was located at 370 m over a large area of the seabed. Telepresence-enabled, non-invasive exploration from NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer allowed scientists on shore to view live streaming video and to work collaboratively to guide the investigation. Experts in aviation archaeology, corrosion studies, WWII history, forensic studies, marine biology, and oceanography participated in the survey using an ROV, highlighting components which could lead to possible identification of the B-29 in situ, and conducting an environmental characterization of the site. This deep-water aircraft site exemplifies multiple-stakeholder driven research in aviation archaeology and highlights several issues in the value of individual site identification.     

开放参观对莫高窟洞窟微环境的影响

洞窟微环境相对湿度是影响壁画保存的关键因素,为了解开放参观对莫高窟洞窟相对湿度的影响,本研究选择莫高窟南区四个相似洞窟进行长达10年(2004~2013年)的定期监测,对比分析了开放洞窟和关闭洞窟其相对湿度的变化情况。结果表明:开放洞窟相对湿度在开放时段波动频率与游客参观频次正相关,发生降雨时开放洞窟相对湿度迅速上升,关闭洞窟可有效阻隔窟外相对湿度波动的影响。开放洞窟在参观量大的旅游旺季,其相对湿度月极大值、日较差月均值以及日极大值超过60%的频次均明显高于关闭洞窟。将开放洞窟关闭,关闭洞窟开放后,其相对湿度呈相反规律变化。开放参观会导致洞窟相对湿度水平显著升高,日波动幅度明显增大,从而增加壁画劣化风险。这些结论可为洞窟的预防性管理和风险评估提供科学依据。