Underground Chambers Research Articles

Female Gothic Histories: Gender, History and the Gothic by Diana Wallace

Reviewed by: Female Gothic Histories: Gender, History and the Gothic by Diana Wallace Yael Shapira Diana Wallace, Female Gothic Histories: Gender, History and the Gothic. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2013. viii + 251 pp. In Female Gothic Histories, Diana Wallace aims to retrieve a tradition of women’s historical fiction that, she claims, has been excluded from dominant accounts of the genre’s development. Traditionally traced back to the work of Sir Walter Scott, historical fiction, according to Wallace, has “an alternative female genealogy” (5) that begins decades before Scott in Sophia Lee’s The Recess; or, A Tale of Other Times (1783–1785) and extends all the way to the present. To this assertion she adds a second major claim: women’s historical fiction blurs one of the essential boundaries used by Scott himself, and theorists after him, to define the historical novel — the boundary between history and the Gothic. “To say something is ‘Gothic’ is at once to imply that it is obsessed with the return of the past, and to define it as unhistorical, not ‘proper’ history, fantasy rather than fact,” Wallace writes. By contrast, historical fiction in the tradition of Scott “is defined partly by its eschewing of the fantastic, the supernatural, and (ironically) the ‘fictional’ in the sense of the invented or imaginary” (4). But the line separating Gothic and history, she argues, was never really that clear; moreover, if we include historical fiction by women in the analysis, we find narratives of the past frequently unfolded through Gothic conventions. According to Wallace, the Gothic works as a “mode of history” for women because its signature components — “the obsession with inheritance, lost heirs and illegitimate offspring” (5) as well as ghosts, murder, sexual violence, abduction, and dispossession — help articulate women’s experiences and their problematic status in both history and historiography. The Recess, discussed in Chapter 2, offers a fascinating example. The title of Lee’s novel refers to the underground chambers that serve as home and hiding place for Matilda and Ellinor, the twin daughters of Mary Queen of Scots. Raised in secrecy, the sisters eventually emerge in the England of Elizabeth I to experience a series of romantic-political misadventures that lead to madness and death. The Recess, Wallace shows, has both literary and historiographic inter-texts. It echoes earlier experiments in spinning fictions around historical figures (Madame de La Fayette’s The Princess of Cleves [1678], for example) as well as Walpole’s and Clara Reeve’s Gothic tales; and it also engages with eighteenth-century historians, mirroring their focus on the enmity between Elizabeth and Mary but — Wallace argues — complicating the stereotypical image of historic female rulers as driven by petty “feminine” motivations. Even the novel’s most prominently counterfactual element, the existence of Mary’s daughters, “actually [End Page 189] takes off from historically documented fact: the Queen of Scots was at one point pregnant, potentially with twins.” Then again, Wallace adds, “the alternative history Lee weaves from this fact is so blatantly untrue as to encourage the reader to look for an alternative, possibly symbolic reading” (41). That reading hinges on the metatextual implications of the twins’ contested legitimacy and of the violence that threatens, and eventually vanquishes, them and their mother. Lacking the necessary documents to prove their lineage, Lee’s heroines are “ghost-like traces haunting the edges of mainstream written history” (42) and trying to find their way into it. The fragility of an identity that depends on the protocols of historical verification combines with the novel’s multiple viewpoints to expose the fallibility of historical writing itself, especially where women are concerned. Drawing (here and throughout the book) on Luce Irigaray’s claim that the murder of the feminine, epitomized by the myth of Clytemnestra, underpins Western culture, Wallace reads The Recess as unfolding a double narrative of female disappearance. While following the violent erasure of a female line in its plot, Lee’s book also points to the way stories of women vanish from the records of history, or are distorted and trivialized by gender bias. Chapter 3 discusses Elizabeth Gaskell’s Gothic short stories, which are set in varied historical times and locations...

Analysis of External Water Pressure for a Tunnel in Fractured Rocks

External water pressure around tunnels is a main influential factor in relation to the seepage safety of underground chambers and powerhouses which make managing external water pressure crucial to water conservation and hydropower projects. The equivalent continuous medium model and the discrete fracture network (DFN) model were, respectively, applied to calculate the seepage field of the study domain. Calculations were based on the integrity and permeability of rocks, the extent of fracture development, and the combination of geological and hydrogeological conditions in the Huizhou pump-storage hydropower station. The station generates electricity from the upper reservoir and stores power by pumping water from the lower to the upper reservoir. In this paper, the external water pressure around the cavern and variations in pressure with only one operational and one venting powerhouse were analyzed to build a predictive model. The results showed that the external water pressure was small with the current anti-seepage and drainage system that normal operation of the reservoir can be guaranteed. The results of external water pressure around the tunnels provided sound scientific evidence for the future design of antiseepage systems.

基于弹性力学的圆形隧道岩爆分析

岩爆是高应力条件下一种常见的地质灾害。在地下硐室开挖过程中，开挖面应力释放为零，硐室围岩产生内力重分布和应力集中。聚积在硬脆性岩体中的应变能，在一定条件下会猛烈释放，导致岩石爆裂并弹射出来，严重威胁着现场施工人员、机械设备的安全。本文将采用弹性力学的基本原理分析对长圆形隧道进行分析。 Rock burst is a common geological disaster under high stress condition. During the excavation of underground chamber, the stress of excavation surface is released to zero, and the redistribution of internal force and stress concentration appear in the surrounding rock. In a certain condition, the strain energy accumulation in hard brittle rock mass will be violently released and it will cause rock burst and ejection, which is a serious threat to the construction site personnel and equipment safety. In this paper, I will use the basic principle of elastic mechanic to analyze oblong tunnel.

The Florida Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex badius, Relies on Germination to Consume Large Seeds.

The Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius, is one of many ant species and genera that stores large numbers of seeds in damp, underground chambers for later consumption. A comparison of the sizes of seeds recovered from storage chambers with those of seed husks discarded following consumption revealed that the used seeds are far smaller than stored seeds. This difference in use-rate was confirmed in field and laboratory colonies by offering marked seeds of various sizes and monitoring the appearance of size-specific chaff. Because foragers collect a range of seed sizes but only open small seeds, large seeds accumulate, forming 70% or more of the weight of seed stores. Major workers increase the rates at which small and medium seeds are opened, but do not increase the size range of opened seeds. Experiments limiting ant access to portions of natural seed chambers showed that seeds germinate during storage, but that the ants rapidly remove them. When offered alongside non germinating seeds, germinating seeds were preferentially fed to larvae. The rate of germination during the annual cycle was determined by both burial in artificial chambers at various depths and under four laboratory temperatures. The germination rate depends upon the species of seed, the soil/laboratory temperature and/or the elapsed time. The seasonal soil temperature cycle generated germination patterns that vary with the mix of locally-available seeds. Taken together, exploitation of germination greatly increases the resources available to the ants in space and time. While the largest seeds may have the nutritional value of 15 small seeds, the inability of workers to open large seeds at will precludes them from rapid use during catastrophic events. The harvester ant’s approach to seed harvesting is therefore two-pronged, with both immediate and delayed payoffs arising from the tendency to forage for a wide variety of seeds sizes.

PYTHAGORAS’ NORTHERN CONNECTIONS: ZALMOXIS, ABARIS, ARISTEAS

Apart from his teachings, wonders and scientific discoveries, Pythagoras was also known for his wide-ranging journeys. Ancient authors alleged that he visited many countries and nations from Egypt to India, stayed with the Phoenicians and the Ethiopians and talked to the Persian Magi and Gallic Druids. However, he never went to the North. If, nevertheless, he was eventually associated with the northern inhabitants, it is only because they themselves came into close contact with him. The first of them was Zalmoxis, a deity of a Thracian tribe, the Getae, who guaranteed them immortality after death (Hdt. 4.94). Having described a blood ritual that the Getae practised to become immortal, Herodotus relates a story he heard from the Hellespontine and Pontic Greeks. It goes that Zalmoxis was not adaimōnbut a former slave of Pythagoras on Samos and, having adopted the doctrine of immortality from him, he returned to Thrace and converted his tribesmen to it with a cunning trick. He invited the most prominent of them to a men's hall (ἀνδρείων) for entertainment and told them that neither he nor they or their descendants would die, but would live eternally. Then, having constructed a secret underground chamber, he suddenly disappeared from the eyes of the Getae and hid in his shelter for three full years, being lamented as dead. Then he showed himself again to the Getae, thus persuading them of the truth of his promises (4.95).

Ruangan Bawah Tanah di Sekolah Menengah Pertama 1 Kuningan Analisa Bentuk dan Fungsi

AbstractThe underground chamber as a recent of archaeological remain in West Java was found al SMPNI Kuningan. It occurred when workers digs foun­dation for the new teacher lounge and they accidentally found concrete struc­ture, after they breached the concrete they found a chamber big enough for a man to stand in, and also the other rooms in the chamber. The finding then was reported to BP3 Serang which then sun'eyed it and recommending Balar Band­ung to carryout archaeological research.The paper tries to elaborate about the shape and function of the find. To know its dimension, material, and construction of the chamber as well as what it func­tions when it was used in the last time. Based on data found at the research it's inferential that the underground chamber builds around 1918 when the school was used as HIS.Kata kunci: Kuningan, SMPN 1 Kuningan, ruang bawah tanah, peturasan, septic tank

AMİSOS’DA SIRADIŞI BİR YERALTI OYGU ODA MEZAR

An important type of grave in Amisos and its vicinity has been underground rock-cut burial chambers. In-situ findings from these chambers provide valuable data conceerning the Hellenistic and Roman Period burial traditions in Amisos. Undoubtedly the most important of such graves was encountered in 1995 during the road building work at Cedit neighbourhood, Ebusuud Street. The findings encountered in this chamber grave have been published enormously especially the golden finds attracted interest however no publications regarding the original situation of the grave, the in-situ locations of the grave gifts with a detailed description of the gifts, probable dating of the items and an evaluation of the chamber grave and findings with regard to Hellenistic burial traditions in Amisos were made. A detailed study of such a grave with abundant grave gifts and peculiar architectural characteristics which were not observed in other chamber graves in Amisos is essential as it would provide important clues about the economical structure of Amisos both during and after the Hellenistic Period. Moreover, the existence of similar chamber graves and findings in other Hellenistic colonies in Black Sea Region suggests strong political, social and trade links among the maritime cities in the region. Within the study the discovery of the chamber grave is given in detail. The grave gifts were carefully classified and the in-situ locations of these were 3-D drawn and the findings were dated using their parallels. The findings were catalogued and the building techniques were discussed. Lastly, which traditions were prevalent in Amisos during the Hellenistic Period as illustrated by the chamber grave and the grave gifts were discussed.

La catábasis de Pitágoras

Two peripatetic authors from the 3rd century BC, Hieronymus of Rhodes and Hermippus of Smyrna, each offer testimonies of Pythagoras’ catabasis. The first refers to Pythagoras’ observation of souls punished in Hades, while the second upholds the view that the entire experience was false, and that he in fact remained concealed in an underground chamber. An older version of Hermippus’ story appears to be the source of a similar account on Zalmoxis recorded by Herodotus and of a brief allusion in Sophocles’ Electra. There are several testimonies of Pythagoras’ and Epimenides’ using caves to achieve spiritual experiences and attain a divine knowledge, which could be the starting point of the story of the Samian master’s descent to the Hades, later denounced as a fraud. The stimulus to transform the sojourn in a cave into a catabasis may have been competition between the Pythagoreans and the Orphics, and the desire to attribute to the sect’s founder, Pythagoras, equivalent authority to Orpheus regarding the afterlife.

Herbal Repellents against Agricultural Rodent Pest Species

Author(s): Hansen, Sabine C.; Jacob, Jens | Abstract: Field rodents such as common voles cause significant pre-harvest damage during population outbreaks in European agriculture, and commensal rodents such as house mice are of concern worldwide. Usually, rodenticides are applied to minimize damage by these species. Rodenticides are not species-specific and may cause environmental problems. Plant secondary metabolites (PSM) could be used as a tool for sustainable rodent control, potentially minimizing damage and environmental risk. We screened volatile PSMs in feeding trials and in enclosure trials to identify if the odor of herbal substances repelled the target species. In feeding trials, the odor of two PSMs considerably reduced food intake in both rodent species. The use of underground chambers in enclosures indicated three repellent odors were effective for house mice, based on visitation rates of these rodents. Common voles visited the chambers equally independent of treatment and hence showed no avoiding behaviour. Further PSMs, combinations, and varying concentrations will be screened to support development of products. Effective repellents could be used to treat commodities to be protected from rodents and to develop an “odor barrier” against common voles to reduce migration from refuge areas to crops. Our preliminary findings suggest species-specific effects of some PSMs (impact on common voles but not on house mice, and vice versa); this may offer an option to repel unwanted species. Our results contribute to the development of non-lethal management tools for rodent pest species that are potentially more target-specific than traps or rodenticides.

Particulate Matter in the Air of the Underground Chamber Complex of the Wieliczka Salt Mine Health Resort.

This study evaluates the mass concentration and chemical composition of particulate matter (PM), collected in the chamber complex of the underground health resort located in the Wieliczka Salt Mine in southern Poland. Physical and chemical properties of PM were examined from the standpoint of their possible connection with therapeutic effects of the subterranean air in the mine. We found that in three underground spots we measured the average concentration of PM did not exceed 30μg/m3. Chemical composition of PM was dominated by sodium chloride, making up 88% of its mass, on average. It was shown that the underground ambient concentration of PM and its chemical composition depended mostly on the nature of the rock material present in the ventilation tunnel of the health resort, filtering the incoming air. The presence and effect of external sources of PM, including patients' activity, also had an impact on the underground PM concentration.

The response of soil water and deep percolation under Caragana microphylla to rainfall in the Horqin Sand Land, northern China

In the semi-arid Horqin Sandy Land of northern China, Caragana microphylla, a leguminous shrub, is the dominant plant species widely used in re-vegetation efforts aimed at stabilization of mobile sandy lands. However, the effect of rainfall characteristics on soil water dynamics and deep percolation in C. microphylla shrublands are not well understood. The objective of this study was to examine the responses of volumetric water content (VWC) and deep percolation under the root zone of C. microphylla to different rainfall characteristics.An underground chamber with 23 concrete basins (200×200×230cm3) was constructed to conduct this experiment during the growing seasons from 2010 to 2013. For this study, three of the basins were filled with sandy soil taken from the C. microphylla shrublands near to the station (about 200m) and one C. microphylla shrub was transplanted into each basin in 2009. The corresponding hourly rainfall data were obtained from an automated meteorological station. VWC was recorded hourly using MiniTrase Soil Moisture Monitoring System at 0–20, 20–40, 40–60, 60–80, 80–100, 100–120, 120–140, and 140–160cm soil depths. Deep percolating water was collected in the underground chamber and measured daily.Our results showed that rainfall amount, intensity, duration, and the duration of the dry interval were significantly correlated with VWC in different soil layers. The amount of deep percolation was significantly correlated with rainfall amounts and rainfall duration, but not with rainfall intensity and the duration of the dry interval. Average deep percolation in C. microphylla shrublands was 97.5, 114.3, 66.8, and 15.1mm in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively, and accounted for 62.79%, 49.41%, 27.96%, and 7.36% of rainfall during the growing season. The coefficient of deep percolation was significantly negatively associated with annual mean shrub cover and canopy size, but not with annual mean height of C. microphylla.Our results suggested that re-vegetation with C. microphylla in this region is likely to result in a reduction in potential groundwater recharge and decrease of soil water content relations with an increase in age of the shrub.

Proposal of fault prediction system for underground installations

The absence of intelligent systems for fault prediction in components and equipment in underground installations does not allow a correct structure for maintenance programs to reduce intervening maintenance actions. Thus, it is necessary to devise a computer system that can conjugate potential causes and factors of failure as input data that can correctly inform output data, which represents a component or equipment failure prediction. The aim of this paper is to present a proposal system to support maintenance analyses, where sensors of temperature, water level and vibration, can provide real time data to analyze the isolation condition of transformers and switches within underground chambers. The paper also presents a new use of a neural network to alarm partial discharges (PD) activities. A case is presented where hardware and software are developed and an underground chamber is used as a real test case. In this research, cost, performance, environmental hostility, and the availability of installed equipment in the Brazilian market were considered. After the methodology was verified, the cost was compared with imported equipment, and the result was approximately a 50% cost reduction. Issues of telemetry, hub specification, and sensor installation were also evaluated.

Den umulige hage: Rom og tid i hagemotivet i Livias villa

<p>The article discusses representations of time and space in the frescoes in the garden room of Empress Livia's villa at Prima Porta, near Rome. The frescoes, dated to ca 30–20 B.C., decorates an underground chamber in a vast villa-complex and show an "impossible garden" in that its vegetation is simultaneously and continuously flowering, without any realistic connection to time. Through analysis of the vegetation's spatial organization, the representation of birds and the chamber's placement in the villa-complex, the article examines the significance of the garden, be it real or imaginary, as an arena for instilling and expressing Roman civic values and duties. It addresses the potential relevance of the villa's imperial connection and questions whether the frescoes are to be read as expressions of "art of the state" or "state of the art".</p>

Underground chamber systems excavated by cenozoic ground sloths in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

A regional survey of the caves of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, listed hundreds of caves with varied origins. Among these, we identified two large caves with special characteristics, one located in the city of Santa Cruz do Sul and the other in the municipality of Vale Real. Both evolve in an approximately horizontal plane, extend tens of meters into the interior of the respective elevations, and do not show any signs of present or past underground drainage. Concave surfaces on the walls stand out in their morphologies, which suggest that the caves originally constituted a system of ellipsoidal chambers, each chamber with original height of approximately 1.5 m and diameter between 3.5 and 7 m. The individual chambers were connected by relatively short tunnels.These chambers are best preserved in the cave of Santa Cruz do Sul; the cave of Vale Real appears to have been much disfigured, both because of inorganic processes and anthropogenic action. The general characteristics of these two caves enable us to propose that they originated from the activity of digging ground sloths of the South American Megafauna. Their dimensions suggest that they were excavated and inhabited not by individual animals, but by groups of sloths. The original polished walls suggest that the caves were used for extended periods, possibly in the order of centuries. Their morphology is so different from other tunnel systems that were excavated by the Megafauna and found in southern Brazil, that we suggest that this morphology of chamber systems is associated with a specific species of ground sloth, whose identification will be very difficult.

Transport of fluorobenzoate tracers in a vegetated hydrologic control volume: 1. Experimental results

AbstractThis paper reports about the experimental evidence collected on the transport of five fluorobenzoate tracers injected under controlled conditions in a vegetated hydrologic volume, a large lysimeter (fitted with load cells, sampling ports, and an underground chamber) where two willows prompting large evapotranspiration fluxes had been grown. The relevance of the study lies in the direct and indirect measures of the ways in which hydrologic fluxes, in this case, evapotranspiration from the upper surface and discharge from the bottom drainage, sample water and solutes in storage at different times under variable hydrologic forcings. Methods involve the accurate control of hydrologic inputs and outputs and a large number of suitable chemical analyses of water samples in discharge waters. Mass extraction from biomass has also been performed ex post. The results of the 2 year long experiment established that our initial premises on the tracers’ behavior, known to be sorption‐free under saturated conditions which we verified in column leaching tests, were unsuitable as large differences in mass recovery appeared. Issues on reactivity thus arose and were addressed in the paper, in this case attributed to microbial degradation and solute plant uptake. Our results suggest previously unknown features of fluorobenzoate compounds as hydrologic tracers, potentially interesting for catchment studies owing to their suitability for distinguishable multiple injections, and an outlook on direct experimental closures of mass balance in hydrologic transport volumes involving fluxes that are likely to sample differently stored water and solutes.

Biomantling and bioturbation by colonies of the Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius.

In much of the world, soil-nesting ants are among the leading agents of biomantling and bioturbation, depositing excavated soil on the surface or in underground chambers. Colonies of the Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius excavate a new nest once a year on average, depositing 0.1 to 12 L (3 L average) of soil on the surface. Repeated surveys of a population of about 400 colonies yielded the frequency of moves (approximately once per year), the distance moved (mean 4 m), and the direction moved (random). The area of the soil disc correlated well with the volume and maximum depth of the nest, as determined by excavation and mapping of chambers. The population-wide frequency distribution of disc areas thus yielded the frequency distribution of nest volumes and maximum depths. For each surveyed colony, the volume of soil excavated from six specified depth ranges and deposited on the surface was estimated. These parameters were used in a simulation to estimate the amount of soil mantled over time by the observed population of P. badius colonies. Spread evenly, P. badius mantling would create a soil layer averaging 0.43 cm thick in a millennium, with 10–15% of the soil deriving from depths greater than 1 m. Biomantling by P. badius is discussed in the context of the ant community of which it is a part, and in relation to literature reports of ant biomantling.

Staying high and dry: a unique nesting strategy for an insular iguana

Staying high and dry: a unique nesting strategy for an insular iguana

Reproductive activity of Adenomera aff. hylaedactyla (Anura: Leptodactylidae) in a coastal area of Brazil

We conducted studies on the reproductive ecology of an undescribed species, here referred to asAdenomeraaff.hylaedactyla, in São Gonçalo do Amarante, Ceará, Brazil. Active sampling took place over a whole year, while searches for underground chambers were also made every two weeks during one reproductive season. The reproductive pattern was seasonal, with breeding occurring only in wetter months (January to May) and peak activity in April and mainly at night. Calling activity of males was influenced by air humidity, temperature and rainfall. The species showed a reproductive pattern consistent with that described for the genusAdenomera, whose main features of reproduction are underground chambers and foam nests.Adenomeraaff.hylaedactylahas no aquatic stage of tadpole development, consistent with reproductive mode 32, which encompases foam nest construction in subterranean chambers and complete development of endotrophic tadpoles in the chambers. These natural history data not only contribute to the understanding of reproductive strategies in anurans, but also provide information for developing effective conservation strategies.

Un atelier de potier à la périphérie de la ville de Thapsus aux premiers siècles de l’Empire. Annexe de Claudio Capelli et Siwar Baklouti, Caractérisation pétrographique de céramiques provenant d’un possible dépotoir de potier à Thapsus

This article sheds focuses on the material collected in two underground chambers excavated in the outskirts of the city of Thapsus, following an incidental discovery in 2004. The archaeological material is mainly constituted of a large quantity of ceramic sherds related to amphorae, cooking-and coarse ware, and hand-made pottery. A major proportion of this ceramic could have been locally produced, as demonstrated by the relative homogeneity of the typology and petrography. As a matter of fact, unfired dried clay bars and sherds plead in favour of the preparation area of an underground pottery workshop. The whole material seems to date to the Ist c. AD. This typological horizon completes the ceramic production scheme of Byzacena during an important period of transition between the Punic period and the Roman period.

Characteristics of deep drainage and soil water in the mobile sandy lands of Inner Mongolia, northern China

Quantification of deep drainage and the response of soil water content to rainfall patterns are critical for an effective management strategy of soil water conservation and groundwater utilization. However, there has been little information on how rainfall characteristics influence soil water dynamics and deep drainage in mobile sandy lands. We used an underground chamber to examine the responses of deep drainage and soil water content in mobile sandy lands to rainfall characteristics in Inner Mongolia during the growing seasons of 2010, 2011 and 2012. Results showed that rainfall in this area was dominated by small events (≤5 mm), which increased soil water content in the surface soil layers (0–40 cm), but did not increase soil water content in the deeper soil layers (greater than 40 cm). Soil water content at the 0–100 cm depth increased significantly when the total amount of rain was >20 mm. Rainfall amount, intensity and the duration of dry intervals were significantly related to the soil water content in different soil layers. Deep drainage was significantly correlated with rainfall amount and intensity, but not with the duration of dry intervals. The coefficients of deep drainage in the mobile sandy lands ranged from 61.30% to 67.94% during the growing seasons. Our results suggested that rainfall infiltration in the mobile sandy lands had considerable potential to increase soil water storage while recharging the groundwater in this region.