The purpose of the article is to clarify the time and circumstances of the founding of the Hraniv Monastery, the features of its functioning, the establishment of the staff of its members in the 18th century, as well as the reconstruction of its architecture and economy with the involvement of new archival sources. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, systematicity, analytical and synthetic criticism of sources. The author also used the historical-biographical method, which allowed reconstructing the biographies of the brethren of the Hraniv Monastery. The scientific novelty lies in the attempt to systematize materials on the history of the Hraniv Monastery, as well as highlighting its development and researching of members of its staff in the 18th century using new archival materials. Conclusions. The Hraniv Monastery arose around the late 1840s – the late 1850s of the 17th century, as a skete of Orthodox monks. When the monastic community grew, the monks turned to the local landowner Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski, who provided an oral order on the ownership of the lands on which the monastery was located, later this oral order was confirmed by Prince August Aleksander Czartoryski. In the late 20s – early 30s of the 18th century, the Hraniv Monastery entered the structure of the Union Church. This process was quite painful for the monastic community. The monastery probably once again underwent a process of changing its denominational affiliation against the background of social and religious movements in the Bratslav region in the 30s – 60s of the18th century. Throughout the 18th century, the monastery remained a small monastic center: in 1745 it was administratively subordinated to the Sharhorod Basilian Monastery and subsequently mainly five or six monks lived here, which reflects the modest financial situation of the monastery. The inventory of 1764 allows us to get an idea of the architecture of the monastery, the dominant of which was the three-domed wooden church of the Transfiguration of the Lord with a bell tower, as well as the monastery wooden building, which in the 60s of the 18th century replaced the cells made of clay. The document also provides detailed information about the monastery's land holdings, agricultural implements, testifying to the importance of the monastery in the religious and economic life of the local community and the region.

This study investigates the mechanisms for organizing medical care within mining enterprises on the Urals region during the first half of the eighteenth century, as well as the regulatory framework governing workers' behavior through medical practices. An analysis is conducted using archival materials such as regulations issued by the Berg-Kollegium, reports from factory administrations, and medical journals. It demonstrates that the establishment of hospitals, mandatory medical examinations, and activities led primarily by professional physicians like Johann I. Sprinzel ensured a stable model of healthcare provision while simultaneously fulfilling disciplinary roles. The findings reveal how medical inspections became instruments to detect malingering, monitor workloads, and regulate legal statuses among employees. Illnesses were not merely seen as physical afflictions but also integral components of administrative practice. Additionally, measures such as funding medicine via deductions from wages, additional collections (“one kopeck per ruble”), and fines for breaches of labor discipline contributed to an economically sustainable system supporting hospital operations aligned with the administrative goals of the mining authority. Ultimately, it concludes that medical assistance in the Ural mining industry combined European therapeutic standards with social control functions, serving as a mechanism akin to “medical policing” aimed at safeguarding state interests in workforce management.

This article examines the positioning of social issues within Russian public discourse during the First World War. By analyzing the public deliberation surrounding war-related social problems, the authors trace the impact of this discourse on the nascent configuration of Russia’s social welfare institutions. The study draws upon archival materials from the State Duma and State Council, sessions of the Supreme Council for the Relief of Mobilized Families, congresses and conferences of public organizations, as well as records from the Zemstvo Union and the Union of Cities. Methodologically, the research is grounded in deliberative democracy theory, which frames governance as the outcome of dialogue between state authorities and civil society. The analysis reveals that politically engaged segments of Russian society repeatedly addressed the issue of social support for war victims, advocating for modifications to the existing system of relief in order to expand social guarantees. Crucially, the public sphere witnessed the formation of a demand for the recognition of assistance to those affected by the war as a state obligation. The model that emerged envisioned direct relief efforts being administered by local self-governance bodies, supported by state funding. The authors conclude that the procedural formality of this dialogue, and the organizational involvement of state authorities in addressing social problems, indicate a discernible degree of democratization within the political sphere.

Abstract The establishment of the Department of Chinese Studies at the University of Malaya in Singapore (later renamed the University of Singapore) was not merely an academic initiative but a calculated strategic response by British colonial authorities to contain communist influence in postwar Malaya. Drawing on previously underutilized archival materials and historical press accounts, this article demonstrates how the department’s creation and curriculum were deliberately designed as instruments in Britain’s broader “hearts and minds” campaign during the Malayan Emergency. The department’s hasty establishment in 1953 was directly prompted by Tan Lark Sye’s announcement of Nanyang University, transforming what had been years of bureaucratic deliberation into urgent action. Modeled in part on the University of Hong Kong’s integrated approach to Chinese Studies, the department served dual functions: acknowledging Chinese cultural aspirations while simultaneously channeling students toward traditional scholarship and away from politicized engagement with contemporary ideologies. The appointment of Ho Kuang-chung, who highlighted his anti-communist credentials from Hong Kong, exemplified this political orientation. This institutional arrangement was not unique to Malaya but part of a wider pattern of colonial strategies across Southeast Asia, where rising demands for Chinese-language higher education forced authorities to respond with ideologically aligned but locally adapted policies. The article argues that such efforts formed part of a regional containment logic under Cold War imperatives – balancing symbolic inclusion with strategic depoliticization. By examining the Department of Chinese Studies as a site of containment strategy, this research illuminates the complex entanglements between academic institutions, Cold War geopolitics, and colonial governance in Southeast Asia during the 1950s, offering new perspectives on how educational institutions functioned as critical battlegrounds in Britain’s regional anti-communist efforts.

This study examines the integration of educational historical methodology as a scientific instrument in reconstructing Islamic education narratives in an objective and contextual manner grounded in authoritative primary and secondary sources. The research is motivated by the tendency within Islamic educational historiography to remain normative, descriptive, and insufficiently critical in examining the validity and reliability of historical sources. This research employs a qualitative approach through library research, involving a systematic exploration and analysis of manuscripts, archival materials, classical documents, and relevant contemporary academic literature. The analytical process follows the stages of heuristics, external and internal source criticism, interpretation, and systematic as well as argumentative historiographical writing. The findings indicate that integrating educational historical methodology enables the reconstruction of narratives that are more objective, analytical, and contextually grounded by taking into account the social, political, intellectual, and cultural dimensions present in each phase of Islamic educational development. The critical verification of primary sources, combined with scholarly engagement with reputable secondary literature, enhances the scientific validity of the study. Thus, educational historical methodology functions not merely as a tool for reconstructing the past, but also as a reflective framework for formulating the future direction of Islamic education that is relevant, adaptive, and sustainable in the contemporary era.

During moments of institutional change, advocates and critics of reform are forced to publicly and privately articulate why their city should consider or avoid a proposed change. These arguments for and against reform rely on assumptions about the character and purpose of municipal politics—the relevant cleavages, the proper purposes to which municipal politics is directed, and the character of municipal political representation. Moments of reform thus reveal the “implicit theories” of urban politics held by the individuals involved—an opportunity to peer behind quotidian policy debates and explore how local political elites think about the character and purposes of municipal politics. To this end, this article explores implicit theories of urban politics in Calgary, Alberta, during the early post-war period in which the city abandoned its proportional representation, partisan, and at-large electoral system and adopted single-member majoritarian ward-based politics. Combining quantitative electoral data with qualitative archival and newspaper material, the author describes how long-term shifts in electoral competition combined with changing conceptions about the purposes of local politics—especially among the labour movement and urban left in Calgary—to produce a period of major reform. The author shows how these changes reflect changing theories of urban politics, originating in particular configurations of local institutions, in Canadian cities in the early post-war era.

Abstract This article expands the historiography of nineteenth-century architecture by centering the logistics of information and money, people, and materials. Beginning with the 1857–58 uprising in India, it examines both buildings and infrastructure through previously unexplored archival material at the British Library and the British National Archives, alongside unpublished clerks’ memoirs and a range of gray literature. These sources and the methodological approach taken foreground previously unexplored aspects of the building’s interiors and equipment related to bureaucracy and political economy, addressing the India Office not as a singular object but as part of a system that enabled military, financial, and colonial operations. Through transregional analysis, the article situates the monumental India Office headquarters in London within a broader network of British imperialism that includes an off-site warehouse (the India Store Depot), a hostel for migrant workers (the Strangers’ Home), telegraph offices across India, and global financial markets.

Design and adsorption mechanism analysis of a customized deacidification system for paper literature.

This article examines This Is Korea, a film lecture performed by Henry Chung DeYoung from 1953 to 1954, to understand how the live performance of translation attempted to shape American perceptions of Korea in the early Cold War. Drawing on archival materials including DeYoung’s lecture script, correspondence with Korean Pacific Press, and promotional materials, the article analyses the film lecture’s mechanisms of knowledge production through mediated dynamics of image, speech, and embodied performance. Analysis shows that the film lecture relied on visual tropes of a timeless and precarious Korea, while DeYoung’s embodied narration domesticated cultural difference and invoked American authority to frame Korea’s wartime destruction as a geopolitical obligation for the United States. Embedded in South Korean propaganda efforts, DeYoung mobilised his native expertise and racialised body to translate Korea for American audiences, positioning himself strategically between Korean insider and American authority. By situating this ephemeral performance within a longer genealogy of image-speech practices from stereographs and travelogues to wartime state-sponsored films, this article demonstrates how such mediating practice participated in constructing US public knowledge of Korea and attempted to sustain the ideological urgency of the Korean War even after the armistice.

Recognizing historical documents is vital in protecting cultural heritage by facilitating access, search, and analysis of important archival materials. Nonetheless, current techniques face difficulties due to factors like poor image quality, diverse handwriting styles, erased or missing words, damaged documents, and intricate page designs. These challenges affect precise text extraction and reduce the overall efficiency of automated recognition systems. In this work, a Pine Makeup Optimization enabled Convolutional Generative Transformer Network (PMO_CGTN) is proposed for missing character recognition in historical documents. Firstly, an input historical document image is applied for image enhancement using the Multi-scale Gray World Algorithm. Then, segmentation of each text line and segmentation of each word within the lines is performed using the Semantic Text Segmentation Network (STSN). Finally, missing character recognition and filling of missed characters are accomplished using CGTN. Here, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model is modified by incorporating a Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT) layer to form CGTN, which is trained using a Pine Makeup Optimization (PMO), and is a merging of Pine Cone Optimization Algorithm (PCOA) and Makeup Artist Optimization Algorithm (MAOA). Lastly, an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) document is obtained as the output.

ABSTRACT Although the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935–1941 has received some attention in Ethiopian academic historiography, the existing studies exhibit several limitations. These include issues related to limited spatial coverage, focus on a limited range of issues and the deployment of the problematic ‘collaborator-resistor’ framework in examining people's varied responses to Italian rule. This article seeks to redress some of these shortcomings by focusing on developments in Ethiopia’s southern province of Borana. In particular, the article examines how Borana’s predominantly pastoralist population was impacted by Italian colonial rule and how pastoralists used the resources available to them in advancing personal, family and group interests. I argue that rather than being mere pawns of the colonial state and its representatives, Borana’s pastoralists were active agents who sought to advance their interests within the limits of colonial rule. The article is based on oral interviews in Borana and archival materials drawn from the British Foreign Office and the Kenyan National Archives.

In the year of the 90th Anniversary of TsNIGRI, the institute that made a significant contribution to researching the gold-bearing potential of the Patom Highlands in Eastern Siberia, we present archival materials on the commencement of field studies in the Lena region, on the work of the institute's geological-geomorphological parties and the petrographical one in the basins of the Kadali, Bodaibo, Aunakit, Anangra, Vacha, and Nygri rivers, conducted in 1939. The documents cited include, in particular, critical reviews of the geological reports of NIGRIZoloto specialists, presented by Academician V. A. Obruchev and Professor D. I. Shcherbakov, as well as the personal diaries of writerP.N. Luknitsky, who was then a Senior Collector of one of the parties and who recorded the objective difficulties of the fieldwork. The published materials allow us to reconstruct the historical context of the geological exploration at the turn of the 1930s and 1940s and to analyze the prerequisit for the rapid growth of professional skills of the first generation of geologists at NIGRIZoloto-TsNIGRI.

This article examines the UK position on the status of Taiwan. Some scholars have pointed to the fact that the United Kingdom only expressed its acknowledgment of Beijing’s position in the 1972 Communiqué on the Exchange of Ambassadors. Other scholars have pointed to statements by UK officials to suggest that the United Kingdom agreed to recognise Taiwan as part of China. This paper draws on the competing evidence and concludes that the first interpretation is correct. Although some British statements would seem to suggest that London agreed to recognise Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan in the 1972 Communiqué, a closer analysis of the exact phrasing of those statements, viewed in light of archival materials, reveals that London never changed its position that Taiwan’s status was undetermined. In 1972, British officials subtly altered the English translation of a statement in Mandarin Chinese to convince Beijing to accept a Communiqué that, unbeknownst to their Chinese interlocutors, would not entail British recognition of Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan. At a time of heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait and renewed debate over Britain’s role in the Indo-Pacific, the history of these negotiations continues to have important ramifications for British foreign policy.

Summary This article is the first in-depth examination of the Swedish artist Gudrun Åhlberg’s early career in the 1940s and 50s. Drawing on archival materials and the critical reception of the artist, the article details her approach to surrealism and her participation in the surrealist-oriented Imaginist Group alongside Max Walter Svanberg and other artists. Åhlberg’s art during these years was characterized by a figurative surrealism with frequent depictions of nature, often coupled with references to mediumism. The article situates these works in the context of surrealist art, poetics, and theory. More specifically, it places her paintings and gouaches in relation to her visit to the exhibition Le Surréalisme en 1947 in Paris and her concurrent discovery of the art of Victor Brauner. As a member of the Imaginist Group and a participant in the 1949 exhibition Surrealist Manifestation in Stockholm, Åhlberg was an important force in the renewal of surrealism that was taking place in Sweden at the time. But when she and her artist husband Gösta Kriland, a fellow imaginist, divorced in 1950, she was excluded from the continued activities of the group. The article discusses this exclusion in terms of a patriarchal dynamic.

ABSTRACT This is the revised version of the abstract: This article revisits a 2009–2011 ethnography at Paraná's Department of Education, Brazil, to examine how deaf education was resignified through Portuguese–Libras bilingualism. Treating policy texts and casework as organisational artefacts, we analyse how documents and discretionary routines enact inclusion and define categories of deafness. We examine archival materials and vignettes to reveal how linguistic responsibilization and capacity bottlenecks mediated access. These dynamics are then contrasted with federal policy oscillations (2019–2025), including the legal recognition of bilingual education and judicial guardrails against segregation. By attending to institutional silences and archival closures, this historical state ethnography demonstrates how past administrative enactments continue to configure present struggles over access, legitimacy and participation in deaf education.

The paper provides a comprehensive legal analysis of the evolution of the legal status of individuals who fought for the independence of Ukraine in the 20th century, specifically focusing on the members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Guided by the constitutional principles of Ukraine as a sovereign, social, and law-governed state, the author examines the transition from a «legal vacuum» to a structured system of state recognition. The study highlights that until 2015, the legal status of these individuals was characterized by fragmentation and legal collisions, creating a significant asymmetry compared to the status of former Soviet military and security personnel. The paper analyzes the pivotal role of the «decommunization laws» of 2015, which officially recognized the legitimacy of various forms of struggle for independence. A central focus is placed on the 2018 legislative amendments to the Law «On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection». The author argues that these changes corrected historical and factual inaccuracies regarding the periods of UPA activity (previously limited to 1941-1944) and expanded the criteria to include the entire period of the armed resistance. Furthermore, the paper details the administrative procedure established by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 604 (2019). It examines the evidentiary requirements for obtaining combatant status, including the use of archival materials, photographs, and the unique legal mechanism of using witness testimonies in cases where official documents were destroyed or classified by Soviet repressive organs. The author concludes that the institutionalization of respect and the granting of combatant status to OUN and UPA members are not merely acts of social welfare but essential components of the state policy of national memory and historical justice. This process serves as a vital tool for national consolidation and a defensive measure against foreign ideological propaganda that seeks to delegitimize Ukrainian statehood.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of the interplay between formal control mechanisms, silence and trust in controlling challenging financial accounting outsourcing (FAO) initiatives in the municipal sector. Specifically, it examines the role of silence and trust through the lens of behavior and outcome controls in established inter-organizational relationships. Design/methodology/approach The article adopts a case study approach to investigate the control of FAO using data from semi-structured interviews and extensive archival materials. Findings The results show that challenges around progressing FAO result in the use of different forms of silence between various organizational levels, thus hampering the use of control mechanisms and the development of trust. The forms of silence used are opportunistic, acquiescent and technical silence. When accounting systems malfunction, it becomes impossible to exercise formal control, which, in turn, increases organizational silence, decreases trust across all levels and fosters managerial frustration regarding the monitoring of the FAO process. Research limitations/implications This study adds to the interorganizational control literature by linking different forms of silence and trust to formal control mechanisms. Practical implications The recommendation is to use management control mechanisms at both strategic and operational management levels and to establish open communication channels to improve coordination and control to support FAO in the public-sector context. Originality/value Considering the limited prior research on challenging accounting outsourcing, this study contributes by analyzing two challenging accounting outsourcing cases and the role of silence/silencing and trust therein.

Abstract This article re-evaluates the late seventeenth-century operatic culture of the Savoy court in Turin through the lens of newly examined archival material, the Avvisi di Torino preserved in the Medici archive in Florence. These handwritten newsletters, covering the years 1688–99, offer unprecedented insights into the musical and theatrical life of the Savoy capital, a court that stood at the crossroads of the Italian and French traditions. Previous scholarship has often overlooked this period or has relied primarily on printed librettos that provide only a partial view of operatic production. By integrating the avvisi with other sources, this study reconstructs the repertory, organization, and sociopolitical function of operatic spectacles under Victor Amadeus II of Savoy.

The story of John Elmer Weeks (1853-1949) is as impressive as it is inspiring. Based on a New Year's resolution with a friend, Weeks decided to pursue a career in medicine and worked as a full-time mechanic to fund his medical school preparation and admissions process. The field of ophthalmology, and the study of medicine at large, has much to thank for that fateful New Year's resolution. From culturing the Koch-Weeks bacillus, the causative agent of a form of infectious conjunctivitis, to publishing a landmark textbook titled "A Treatise on Diseases of the Eye," Weeks has left his mark on the study of ophthalmology and medicine. Despite all these accomplishments, what may be most impressive is Weeks' admirable sense of humility. Dr David W. E. Baird, the Dean of the University of Oregon Medical School, wrote about Dr Weeks: "It would be well for every medical student and every young doctor to learn as much as possible about Dr Weeks and to emulate his high qualities." This biography, based on Weeks' autobiography and archival materials at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), aims to accomplish Dr Baird's wish.

This study develops a reproducible regional screening workflow to assess geothermal potential in the Cambrian reservoir system of Western Lithuania under conditions of sparse and heterogeneous legacy subsurface data. The approach integrates data compilation, cleaning, and harmonization from archival well materials, ordinary kriging spatialization of key reservoir properties with uncertainty multipliers, standardized doublet simulations to derive comparative thermal performance indicators, and a neural network surrogate to accelerate regional inference. The workflow integrates 12 compiled reservoir control points into a gridded regional representation (25 × 30 cells; ~6750 km2) and evaluates uncertainty through low, mid and high scenarios (±10%). Physics-based simulations were executed for 303 representative grid locations per scenario, yielding cumulative extracted-energy indicators on the order of 105–107 MWh across cases (reported as comparative indicators). The neural network surrogate reproduced simulation outputs with a high predictive agreement (test R2 = 0.996; cross-validation mean R2 ≈ 0.99), enabling swift prediction across the remaining grid cells after training. Relative potential maps highlight spatially coherent zones of higher prospectivity and provide a transparent basis for prioritizing follow-up investigations and data acquisition. The proposed framework is modular and can be refined as improved geological constraints, thermophysical properties, and operational assumptions become available.