bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perancangan Sistem Informasi Toko Pak Kusno Sidorukun Untuk Mempermudah Jual Beli Barang
Authors: Putri Jossie Mutiarani , Azery Althaf Naufal , Frandipa Sobri , Reyan Irfandra Muhammad , Maulana Akbar Riski , Fajar Surya Rizky
Published: October 2024

Modern digital life relies heavily on information systems (IS) to manage data efficiently, make better decisions, and increase productivity. Mr. Kusno's shop faces problems of goods management, finance, and product promotion. This research designs a customized information system to solve those problems, such as easier digital transaction recording, more optimized goods management, and better financial management. The implementation of this system is expected to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of Toko Pak Kusno. The development method used is the waterfall method, which ensures each step is carried out sequentially from analysis, design, implementation, to system testing. The results showed efforts in designing an information system that can improve the operational efficiency and service quality of Toko Pak Kusno in buying and selling goods and store management.
COMBATING ISLAMOPHOBIA AFTER THE AL-AQSA FLOOD
Authors: DR. MAYA KHATER  , DR. MOHAMAD ALBAKJAJI  , Dr. JINANE EL BAROUDY
Published: October 2024

The present study aims to examine the increasingly widespread phenomenon of Islamophobia linked to the Al-Aqsa Flood in 2023. National practices worldwide convincingly demonstrate that Islamophobia has increased since Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip, breaking international laws egregiously and depriving Palestinians of their rights. In addition to this, cases of hate crimes directed at Muslims have now hit peak levels. Therefore, the current study aims to discuss the origin, motivation, and consequences of Islamophobia, probing international efforts to stop it and analytically examining the impact of the war in Gaza on the worldwide diffusion process of Islamophobia. In other words, a critical reading of Islamophobia is presented in line with a descriptive-analytical and historical approach, asserting that incidents of attack, hatred, and incitement against Muslims related to Islamophobia have risen abruptly since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, heating the anti-Muslim sentiment and raising transnational Islamophobia. Ultimately, the study found that effectively combating Islamophobia associated with the recent war in Gaza requires taking all necessary steps to end the war and shielding Palestinian people from Israeli strikes. Accordingly, the study recommends suggestions for effective strategies to deal with, counter, and lessen Islamophobia’s negative consequences in a manner that complies with international law standards.
Ordering Time and Space at Yaxnohcah
Authors: Reese-Taylor Kathryn , Vázquez López Verónica A. , Morton Shawn G. , Peuramaki-Brown Meaghan M. , Bednar Sarah E. , Atasta Flores Esquivel , F. C. , Walker Debra S. , Hernández Armando Anaya , Dunning Nicholas P.
Published: October 2024

The site of Yaxnohcah has a very large Preclassic center that was planned and designed with the cardinal and intercardinal directions of calendar time and centered on a cosmographic creation hearth in order to guide the establishment of an enduring social and political landscape, a kingdom. The authors review the substantial iconographic and historical information showing that the patterns at Yaxnohcah materialized calendar time and its ritual performances in procession. They detail the settlement patterns and the civic-religious center design that support their working hypothesis that this place materialized spatial-temporal designs of a kind termed landesque cosmography. Revered and revisited on pilgrimage in Late Classic times, the Yaxnohcah Preclassic city documents the early inception and enduring power of materialized time in lowland Maya culture.
Stelae, Spirits, Desecration, and Devotion
Authors: Freidel David A. , Navarro-Farr Olivia
Published: October 2024

Classic Maya rulers of the southern lowlands commissioned carved stone monuments that embodied them and placed their lives in historical time. They were, as Stuart declares, Time Lords. The practice also rendered rulers visible, shifting public focus from the buildings with images of gods on them to the rulers who conjured those gods. The animate nature of stelae explains their sometimes-extraordinary manipulation: defacement, erasure, shattering, scattering, reaggregating, and replanting. The stelae of El Peru-Waka’ were all manipulated following formal planting. This chapter discusses in detail the manipulation of stelae in association with the principal city temple, which we identify as a Wiinte’ Naah, a Teotihuacan-affiliated temple form described as a Foundation House, a Mirror House, and a Dart House by scholars working on this subject.
Balamkú’s History House
Authors: Dowd Anne S. , Vail Gabrielle
Published: October 2024

Classic Maya Books-on-Walls, painted calculations, texts, and images are rare but sufficiently numerous to show that literate specialists, calendar priests, diviners, and scribes, used the walls of their houses of history for learning, teaching, and practicing their crafts. Balamkú in Campeche has a famously preserved Early Classic example of this kind of priestly abode and this chapter describes the traces of writing on its room walls. Expanding out from that subject, the authors consider the larger class of buildings that have evidence of being used in this fashion. The materialization of time on the walls of temples and palaces was a significant extension of the role of rulers and courtiers as embodiments of time in their persons. The fragments of microtexts in the Balamkú building reveal clues of performances (e.g., “singing”) and settings (e.g., “litters”), affirming what is known from other Maya history houses that materialize the witnessing of Time Lords’ work.
Imagery of the Yearbearers in Maya Culture and Beyond
Authors: Milbrath Susan
Published: October 2024

The yearbearers were four-day signs evenly spaced in the 20-day signs of the 260-day divinatory almanac (a permutation of those signs and thirteen numerals) that could begin, and name, the intercalated 365-day Haab calendar, a year that approximated the solar year. Here the author presents and discusses the yearbearers as depicted in three Maya codices and one highland Mexican codex. She reviews and interprets the evidence for the deep antiquity of the yearbearers, with evidence that the Late Preclassic Pinturas Shrine murals of San Bartolo depict yearbearer rituals resonate with the rituals of the codices. She suggests that the 260-day almanac was already in existence when the Long Count calendar was devised. Significantly, the 260-day almanac divides the solar year into 260- and 105-day seasons that are compatible with the growing season of staple maize and also resonates with the span of human gestation. She concludes with a discussion of the ornate effigy censers of deities at Mayapan, their depiction of yearbearers and the ritual contexts of use and disposal that archaeology has revealed. These affirm archaeological discussions of Diane Chase at Postclassic Santa Rita Corozal regarding yearbearer rituals and echo the time-based Katun rituals of Classic Caracol.
Lived Experience and Monumental Time in the Classic Maya Lowlands
Authors: McAnany Patricia A.
Published: October 2024

Differing temporalities are invoked by monumental time—specifically, the Long Count—and temporal framing that is coincident with lived experience—as exemplified by the Calendar Round). Authority structures buttressed by monumental time and inherited rulership are more frequent at southern lowland royal courts as opposed to northern courts. At the former, the Long Count was used to create deep-time narratives for patron deities in addition to and perhaps prior to its use in promoting royal distinction. Southern rulers projected themselves as master cultivators of monumental time. In contrast, northern rulers emphasized large-scale construction projects over hieroglyphic monuments with the important exception of Ek’ Balam. The fragility of authority based upon monumental time and an impulse toward dynastic succession is explored for the southern lowlands.
Materializing Time on Wax
Authors: Batún-Alpuche Adolfo Iván , Freidel David A.
Published: October 2024

The Maya of Cozumel Island were famous for the production of honey and wax. The honey was used for fermented drink important to rituals. We propose that the wax was used not only to create votive figures, as among the Chan Santa Cruz Maya, but also to create a surface on tablets of wood and stone on which to write and calculate with a sharp stylus. Writing on soft surfaces is demonstrable in examples of leather hard ceramic and fresh stucco and styluses, often termed needles, are well represented in the archaeological record. Maya materialization of time on waxed surfaces through provisional calculation would have saved more expensive media like fig-leaf paper and erasure of plastered walls, as found at Xultun in the Sabios complex. We survey the evidence for bee keeping and product storage at Buenavista on Cozumel and the sacred nature of bees as the source of writing surfaces as well as honey.
Temporal Fusion
Authors: Doyle James A.
Published: October 2024

In their quest to represent founding deities from deep time or personified natural phenomena, Maya painters and sculptors created an intimate relationship between human time and divine time that endured for centuries. This chapter focuses on case studies in which Maya artists demonstrated exceptional brilliance in marking time, especially painters of codex-style vessels, who, in the late seventh or eighth century, fused historical time with mythic time in order to connect their patrons with divine inspiration. These vessels, as codified depictions of what would have been widely known historical and mythical narratives, served as bearers of temporal meaning, mnemonics for performance, and symbols of artistic capital as diplomatic gifts. A reexamination of individual hands in the codex style provides a window into different scribal schools’ approaches to bringing time to art.
Sterne and the Narrative of Determinateness
Authors: New Melvyn
Published: October 2024

During a decade or so when literary critics insisted that every work of literature since Homer was indeterminate because language had no way of fixing reality, this essay suggests the nonsense of that argument. Literature and textual analysis have numerous ways of projecting determinate meanings, and in fact our civilization is filled with the documents that all suggest the human urge (and need) to establish truths even while acknowledging the difficulties of doing so—the flawed instruments of language being human beings and their predilections. To struggle to find the truth is not the same thing as saying truth cannot be found in literary meaning. This is the lesson of Tristram Shandy, and indeed all art.
“The Unknown World”
Authors: New Melvyn
Published: October 2024

In 1852, a poem said to have been written by Laurence Sterne was first brought to public attention and “The Unknown World” has been considered Sterne’s work ever since. In this essay Melvyn New demonstrates that the poem was in fact written by the Reverend Hubert Stogdon (1692–1728), a Baptist minister, probably shortly before his death in 1728, when he sent a copy to Elizabeth Rowe (1674–1737).
Reading Sterne through Proust and Levinas
Authors: New Melvyn
Published: October 2024

This essay revisits a subject the author had previously written about, Marcel Proust’s influence on Laurence Sterne. Now the idea is expanded to include the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas and the work Sterne was writing alongside A Sentimental Journey, his Bramine’s Journal. Levinas’s own analysis of The Captive helps us to see the pathos of Sterne’s attempt to possess the absent Eliza, a figment not of his imagination but of his strong desire to love someone as he faces death.
Dancing Out of the Bay Area
Authors: Osumare Halifu
Published: October 2024

This chapter details Osumare’s preparation for leaving home in Bay Area to move to Hawaii. Career-wise, she prepared by advancing her career in education, beginning her transition from artist to scholar. Recognizing her positionality as a triple minority (Black, woman, dancer), she explains the background of her mission and she got to it. Her approach to scholarship blends focuses in dance and cultural activism, and following the Dunham legacy in her own way. With her newfound academic journey, Osumare details her first scholarly experiences with her publication of “’An Aesthetic of the Cool’ Revisited: The Ancestral Dance Link in the African Diaspora,” as well as teaching at Stanford as a lecturer. She also describes her personal preparations, as she said her goodbyes to her family, helped her mother foster her own growth, and came to understand family sources to her own life choices with visitations to her father and grandmother in Texas. She also made a deep spiritual commitment within the Yoruba spiritual tradition before leaving. She concludes chapter with a synopsis of their farewell, reflecting on the impact of leaving their homes and the legacy they built as well as acknowledging the people they had become artistically and culturally.
The Sankofa Process
Authors: Osumare Halifu
Published: October 2024

As she continues detailing her journey growing as a public intellectual, pursuing her mission to acknowledge and illuminate the “soul power” of Black people within the realms of music and dance, as well as Black people’s impact on American culture in general. All the while, as she continued advancing as an academic at the University of California, Davis, Osumare explains her introduction to a graduate student, who she grows into a mother-daughter relationship with. She also describes her trip to Brazil where she is able to present her research and also connect with the city of Salvador, Bahia in a way that invokes ancestral memory. As she finishes and publishes her book, The Hiplife in Ghana: West African Indigenization of Hip-Hop, she becomes a full professor, embarks on an international book tour and investigates her concept of the Sankofa process as well as the entire Afrofuture.
Southern History Remixed
Authors: Bertrand Michael T.
Published: October 2024

Southern History Remixed spotlights the key role of popular music in the shaping of the United States South from the late nineteenth century to the era of rock ’n’ roll in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s. While musical activities are often sidelined in historical narratives of the region, Michael Bertrand shows that they can reveal much about social history and culture change as he connects the rise of rock ’n’ roll to the civil rights movement for racial equality. In this book, Bertrand traces a long-term culture war in which white southerners struggled over the region’s cultural complexion with music serving as an engine that both sustained and challenged white supremacy. He shows how rock ’n’ roll emerged as a working-class genre with biracial sources that stoked white racial anxieties and engaged the region’s color and culture lines. This book discusses the conflict over southern identity that played out in responses to jazz, barn dance radio, Pentecostal and gospel music, Black radio programming, and rhythm and blues, concluding with a close look at the popularity of Elvis Presley within a racially segregated society. Southern History Remixed suggests that both Black and white southerners have used music as a tool to resist or negotiate a rigid regional hierarchy. Urging readers and scholars to take the study of popular music seriously, Bertrand argues that what occurs in the music world affects and reflects what happens in politics and history.
How Can the Codex Borgia Be Decoded?
Authors: Milbrath Susan
Published: October 2024

Chapter 8 summarizes the main points in the volume and suggests specific iconographic patterns that could be studied in the future. The Codex Borgia narrative is especially important because it holds keys to enhancing our understanding of a range of visual imagery in the codices. Discussion of seasonal patterns represented in the narrative highlight the importance of interdisciplinary studies in understanding imagery in the narrative. In 1909, the eminent historian William H. Prescott lamented that the Codex Borgia could not be deciphered. Since then, more than a century of scholarship involving art history, ethnohistory, natural history, and cultural astronomy has made it possible to develop an innovative analysis to “decode” this ancient Mexican masterpiece. The resulting interpretations indicate that astronomy is indeed important in understanding the narrative, although the patterns represented are quite different from those originally proposed by Eduard Seler more than hundred years ago.
Who Is the Pyramid?
Authors: Rich Michelle , Eppich Keith
Published: October 2024

This chapter presents the funerary archaeology of the largest excavated pyramid at El Perú-Waka’, Structure O14-04. Inside the pyramid, archaeologists documented three large funerary deposits containing a total of six individuals. The chapter explores their interment within the pyramid and the means by which the Classic Maya transformed the honored dead into “living ancestors.” With Classic Maya funerary practice, the souls of the deceased moved from the body into the architecture itself. This begs the question of how the Classic Maya personified their architecture and makes an odd question critical to the study of Classic funerary buildings: who was the pyramid? The individuals interred within Structure O14-04 to some extent became the pyramid. The study of their osteology argues that these individuals included an aged stranger-queen, two young royal women, an unborn infant, the aged and infirm royal, and a young, sacrificed boy together with his fox and opossum.
The Royal Palace of Waka’
Authors: Robles Griselda Pérez , Pérez Juan Carlos , Freidel David , Menéndez Elsa Damaris
Published: October 2024

This chapter describes the archaeology of the royal palace of El Perú-Waka’. This structure, only partially explored, reflects the royal history of Classic Maya kingship in its architecture. The architecture served royal authority as an effective tool to spread messages that affirmed the ruler’s ability to achieving economic prosperity and social order. It also served as the functional space for the direct exercise of royal authority. Built into the literal foundation for such claims were the remains of previous rituals and deposits associated with architectural expansion. Some of these deposits included royal burials, including Burial 80, the interment of one of the earliest kings of Waka’. The efforts of these founder-kings, figuratively and literally, became the foundation of royal authority, as exercised at the royal palace. Even when royal authority apparently failed in the ninth century, the ever-changing architecture seems to reflect the position of the royal family within the ancient cityscape.
Introduction
Authors: McRae Joan E.
Published: October 2024

In the literary debates over the very popular works of Le Roman de la Rose and La Belle Dame sans Mercy, leading intellectuals matched wits over different ways of reading the texts. The debate, in other words, was primarily concerned with the interpretation of literature. Participants would explore and quarrel over different points of social, theological, and political importance. Underlying issues at stake for the main participants, Christine de Pizan and Alain Chartier, included gender, power, reputation, and love. Ultimately these debates evolved into what was called the Querelle des femmes (The Woman Question) which itself has evolved into modern feminism.
Early-Fifteenth-Century France
Authors: McRae Joan E.
Published: October 2024

The early fifteenth century saw a chaotic climate of politics and civil war. Charles VI was suffering bouts of insanity. During these times his brother and uncles vied for influence over Queen Isabeau who served as regent. Cultural power was a means of influence as powerful as the political. The founding of the Cour Amoureuse was one effort to control members of a wide spectrum of the court, the chancellery, and the bourgeoisie through the making of poetry to praise ladies. Jean the Fearless, the son of Philip of Burgundy, arranged the murder of the king’s brother Louis d’Orléans and the country sank into civil war between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs (Orléanists). When Jean the Fearless invaded Paris, the dauphin Charles and his supporters fled to Bourges. In a meeting to negotiate peace on the bridge of Montereau, Jean the Fearless was slain by supporters of the dauphin. In response, Charles VI disinherited the dauphin and in the Treaty of Troyes signed inheritance over to Henry V.
The Archaeology of Contemporary America
Authors: Caraher William R.
Published: October 2024

This book is the first survey of contemporary archaeology, a field that focuses on the study of the past 50 years, in the United States. William Caraher demonstrates the plurality of theoretical and methodological approaches that make this discipline in the US unique, including the application of anthropological methods such as ethnography and oral history and the contributions of collaborative and community-based research. Opening with a case study of the excavation of Atari games from a municipal landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico, Caraher invites readers into discussions of the archaeology of garbage, consumer objects, and digital music and video devices. He then synthesizes research on migrant camps, homelessness, military bases, residential school campuses, and urbanism, and offers a second case study: an examination of temporary workforce housing in North Dakota’s Bakken oil boom. The Archaeology of Contemporary America explores how American historical archaeology, with its emphasis on consumer culture, race, and social class, provided a foundation for early efforts to apply archaeology to the contemporary world. Caraher also situates US contemporary archaeology in a global context that traces networks of extractive industries, manufacturing, and discard practices that make the American experience possible.
Extractive Industries and Global Change
Authors: Caraher William R.
Published: October 2024

With this chapter, the book finally arrives in North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch. It provides a summary of the research of the North Dakota Map Camp Project. The chapter then considers how the study of workforce housing during an oil boom in Western North Dakota can provide insights into changing attitudes toward domesticity, labor, and global climate change. This chapter serves as a provisional conclusion to the book but also acknowledges that the contemporary is a dynamic, complex, and continuous experience that resists reduction to specific circumstances.
The Function of Prehistoric Agricultural Systems in Sāmoa
Authors: Shapiro Craig H. , Field Julie S.
Published: October 2024

This chapter is focused on preliminary survey of a LiDAR dataset—digital imagery that results from airborne survey that reveals elevation changes in the ground surface. This research, which is a GIS analysis, reveals the Sāmoan Islands as an extensively human-modified environment consisting of hydrological systems of ditches and terraces that extend from the coast to the remote interior. Our research tests the hypothesis that these ditches and terraces served as a landscape modification and flood mitigation system to drain saturated soils and control flooding in the past, thereby assisting with ecosystem management. Through the examination of the similarities and differences between three study areas in the eastern Atua province of ‘Upolu Island, our research suggests that prehistoric peoples of Sāmoa not only knew how to target specific soils for agriculture and food production, but also recognized the importance of drainage in order to maximize agricultural production.
Tidal Stone-Walled Fish Weirs across Asia-Pacific
Authors: Jeffery Bill
Published: October 2024

Tidal stone-walled fish weirs and traps are extensive throughout the Asia-Pacific region. They are placed in the intertidal region and are used to catch various species of fish—their size, placement, style, and shape are determined with this in mind. In this chapter, I use a Cultural Heritage Management (CHM) approach to compare the fish weirs of Yap with those in Taiwan, the Philippines, and Kiribati. I consider whether fish weir cultural landscapes (and related cultural practices) reflect a cultural identity of people in these localities, and particularly an Austronesian cultural identity. I argue that fish weirs can be recognized in the same way other cultural materials and practices have become an accepted part of Austronesian cultural identity. There is a need for similar proactive preservation of fish weir heritage, not just as a static reminder of past lifeways but as a way forward at this critical time of declining fish stocks, climate change, and ocean degradation. Fish weirs and related cultural practices have relevance as Living Heritage and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, both of which can inform and provide benefits to contemporary marine ecology conservation and sustainable fishing management.
Jean Bodel and His World
Authors: Ramey Lynn T.
Published: October 2024

This chapter gives an overview of the life of Bodel. Twelfth-century author Jean Bodel, originating from the vibrant cultural hub of Arras, is known for his works like "The Penis Dream" and "Song of the Saxons." Bodel started as a minstrel, and his works often mirror a criticism for inferior counterparts in his field. While biographical details are scant, his work offers a view into his self-perception. Bodel's poem "Farewell" depicts the plight of those with leprosy, a disease he contracted, thus reflecting on societal stigma and isolation. The thriving economy of Arras during Bodel's lifetime, marked by peace and prosperity, provided him with opportunities for education and travel. His experiences, combined with local dynamics and global contexts, deeply influenced his writing themes. Arras's diverse society, housing religious institutions, secular government, and merchants, influenced Bodel's grappling with concepts of pilgrimage, conflict, sin, redemption, and divine punishment in his era. Bodel's work was also impacted by leprosy. This personal suffering, along with societal response, provided him with a unique perspective on human conditions, reflected in his work.
Lyric Poetry
Authors: Ramey Lynn T.
Published: October 2024

This chapter focuses on the pastourelles of Jean Bodel, a type of Old French lyric poetry that often involves sexual themes depicted in natural settings. Pastourelles typically present encounters between shepherdesses and knights and were first developed in Provençal before Jean Bodel began writing them in French. While many pastourelles end with non-consensual sex, some variations exist, including those from the perspective of the shepherdess or those that do not include sexual assault or rape. Bodel's pastourelles are notable for their implicit challenges to feudal authority, particularly when a female character questions the authority of the knight over her. Old French and English versions of the poems are presented to allow the reader to experience Bodel's poetic language.
Epic Poetry
Authors: Ramey Lynn T.
Published: October 2024

The Song of the Saxons, written 400 years after the historical events and 100 years after the Song of Roland, features a nuanced view of the Wendish Crusades and kingship. The epic showcases the struggles of Charlemagne's empire, its expansion, and his struggles in maintaining it. The central narrative is almost a replica of the Song of Roland but set in the north. Baudouin, Charlemagne's nephew, and his lover, the Saxon queen Sébile, emerge as the story's heroes. Unlike the Song of Roland, Charlemagne's portrayal in the Song of the Saxons is less divine and more human, revealing his challenges and mistakes in handling his empire and troops. Baudouin repeatedly disobeys Charlemagne, adding a layer of internal conflict. Despite this, he wins Sébile's heart and is rewarded with the conquered Muslim lands, symbolically creating a Crusader kingdom in Saxony. The Song of the Saxons raises questions about the legitimacy of kingship, internal conflict, disillusionment, empire, skepticism, and war. The chapter includes an English summary of each laisse of the epic poem.
The Race for Space
Authors: Swope Caroline T.
Published: October 2024

As Huntsville, Alabama grew over the 1960s, thanks in part to the construction of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the development of Apollo, the architectural styles that defined the city changed drastically as well. Huntsvillians wanted modern buildings for their space-age city, and many viewed the construction of the International Style Madison County Courthouse and the Neo-Formalist First Baptist Church pivotal in forming Huntsville’s new identity. The prior Madison County Courthouse, a 1914 example of Classical Revival Architecture, was demolished in 1964, specifically to create a towering government building that would reflect Huntsville’s pivotal role as a modern, space age capital. First Baptist Church grew exponentially in size along with Huntsville, with membership more than doubling between 1953 and 1963, when it reached 2,626 members. The stained-glass window designs were selected to show cosmic symbolism, while the massive exterior mosaic shows galaxies orbiting Christ, perhaps even representing an atomic structure. The rocket shaped bell tower continues the unusual pace age theme. This chapter explores the development of these two buildings both in terms of their local significance and any wider part they played in the development of Post-WWII era architecture and religion.
Conclusion
Authors: Waring Stephen P.
Published: October 2024

To assist this possible work, this essay will explore three overlapping conceptual classifications. Since the proposed research would explore regional topics, these categories primarily follow approaches to the history of the American South and regionalism rather than that of NASA studies. Admittedly the classifications overlap and obviously these classifications do not intend to end conversations but to foster more. The first classification is “the South as a geographic region” where national and international events occur, including the economic impacts had by The Tennessee Valley Authority, the military, and NASA itself. The second is where Southern culture and NASA organizational culture interact or are said to interact. The last category is how NASA fits into the diversity of the region as one aspect of the “many Souths.”
Digital Humor as Cultural Globalization in Latin America
Authors: Alonso Paul
Published: October 2024

The new wave of Latin American digital humor has become an increasingly relevant scene to discursively negotiate local and regional identities and question sociocultural values while developing a postmodern re-appropriation of transnational media languages and entertainment formats. This chapter analyzes two cases of political satire: El Pulso de La República, an independent Mexican online satiric news show à la The Daily Show created in 2012 by comedian Chumel Torres, who, after four years of producing his show independently on YouTube, transitioned as the host of a late-night show on HBO with a regional projection; and Cualca, an Argentinean satiric sketch show focused on gender issues created by Malena Pichot, a feminist YouTube star that became famous for La Loca de Mierda, a series of her homemade online videos about a break-up with her boyfriend that made it to MTV. These cases not only reveal successful models for the development of Mexican media, Argentinian media, and feminist humor but they also exemplify how cultural globalization and social media operate in today’s transnational entertainment and commercial critical humor.
Barbie Votes for Bolsonaro
Authors: Sawczuk da Silva Ulisses A. , Sommier Mélodine
Published: October 2024

Created during Brazil’s 2018 presidential election with the goal of satirizing far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters, Instagram account Barbie Fascionista published memetic images of the Barbie doll in which the character expressed racist, classist, homophobic, and sexist views, as well as her endorsement of Bolsonaro. This study explores how the memetic images and texts of Barbie Fascionista portray the Brazilian middle and upper classes, which the profile suggests formed the bulk of Bolsonaro’s voters. Semiotic analysis (Van Leeuwen, 2004) and Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2013) were used to analyze the 45 posts published by Instagram account Barbie Fascionista between October 11 and December 24, 2018. The results show that the profile depicts the members of the middle and upper classes of Brazil as privileged, prejudiced, and conservative, thereby echoing scholarly interpretations that denounce the widespread presence of classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic discourses in Brazilian society.
Congress and Space Policy
Authors: Whitman Cobb Wendy N. , Frazier Derrick V.
Published: October 2024

Though the president may not have the people or the time to get into the weeds of space policy, Congress as an institution does. Chapter 5 examines how and why members of Congress get involved in space policy, focusing on the role of reelection as a motivating factor. The chapter begins with a discussion of Congress as an institution including the differences between the House and Senate and how they can impact space policy. It then highlights David Mayhew’s theory of reelection and how localized constituencies can condition (or not) their elected officials to get involved in space policy. It then takes up the various tools Congress can use to make policy including legislation, budgets, congressional oversight, congressional hearings, and other informal tools including a description of how these have been used in the context of space. It ends with a discussion of the importance of Congress in making space policy as well as an exploration of how modern dynamics such as party polarization have impacted space policy.
Bodies, Bones, and the Dead
Authors: Jackson Sarah E.
Published: October 2024

This chapter explores emic ideas and ontologies related to the body for the Classic Maya (ca. 250–900CE, in southern Mexico and Central America). Complementing the bioarchaeologically focused chapters in this volume, this chapter focuses on differential representations of bodies, bone, and the dead in Maya iconography to address two questions: based on iconographic evidence, what can we observe about bodies after death? And, if we decenter modern, Western analytical categories for interpreting deceased bodies, what associations or overlaps emerge that reveal Maya conceptual ideas related to the dead? Visual representations on media ranging from painted ceramic vessels to large-scale carved stone stelae show an intriguing variety in how corporeal remains were represented by the Maya. Attention to these categories and the contexts in which they appear provide clues to underlying meanings of representations of the dead. Methodologically, such observations provide locally rooted analytical categories for bioarchaeological investigations and interpretations. Additionally, this chapter contributes to understanding how ancient Maya bodies were conceived as transitioning after biological death into a variety of other states and materials, providing an opportunity for meaningful and respectful bioarchaeological engagement.
Isotopes and the Body Politic
Authors: Turner Bethany L.
Published: October 2024

In just under a century, the Inka subjugated millions of people across the Central Andes. As part of their governing strategies, Inka administrators relocated individuals and even entire communities throughout the empire for myriad purposes. This practice often produced constructed communities defined by individuals’ social status and socioeconomic roles in the state. Reconstructing the demographic composition of populations at Inka sites is therefore critical to better understanding how different subjects were affected by Inka imperialism. Residential origin and mobility can provide insights into how individual bodies were transformed by imperial mandates. This chapter discusses previously published oxygen (δ‎18O), strontium (87Sr/86Sr), and lead (20nPb/204Pb) isotopes in tooth enamel and bone from human remains (N=81) interred at the imperial sites of Patallaqta and Machu Picchu (N=40) in the Sacred Valley of the southern Peruvian highlands. Results suggest that most of the Patallaqta sample were local to the southern Peruvian highlands; however, some individuals appear to have been from the coast, and one individual was likely from the highland altiplano. These results differ significantly from those at Machu Picchu, underscoring the complex nature of Inka subject communities and the important contribution of isotope bioarchaeology to elucidating lived experiences within ancient empires.
Para Permanencia
Authors: Burrows Geoff G.
Published: October 2024

Chapter 3 argues that the construction of the island’s first cement plant was one of the most significant public works projects of the Puerto Rican New Deal. Built by PRRA engineers between 1936 and 1938, ownership of the Cataño cement plant was transferred to the local government and run by an independent public authority. This chapter examines how locally produced cement was central to the PRRA’s urbanization plans, including its controversial “swamp drainage” and “slum clearance” programs, through which PRRA engineers sought to remove residents from improvised houses in the island’s peripheral working-class neighborhoods and resettle them into newly constructed houses and apartments. Door-to-door surveys of barriada residents conducted in Spanish by PRRA social workers offered public health officials and urban planners in Puerto Rico insight into daily life among the island’s most vulnerable citizens.
Rural Electrification
Authors: Burrows Geoff G.
Published: October 2024

Chapter 5 examines the capital- and labor-intensive rural electrification project to bring hydroelectricity, indoor plumbing, and clean drinking water to small landowners and landless workers who lived in the Cordillera Central, interior mountains, of the island. This chapter also considers the political fight for rural hydro-power and the extended struggle to break up utility power monopolies on the island. As with the cement plant, all property, constructions, and lands of the rural electrification program were transferred in perpetuity to the local government, which established a public authority to administer the water and electric resources of the island. While this local control of natural resources represented a break from previous colonial policy, it should not be viewed as a lessening of U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico, which was in many ways strengthened during this era.
Coda
Authors: García Christina M.
Published: October 2024

This brief coda takes a photographic series by Carlos Garaicoa to repose the main theoretical interventions of the book and uses the series as a point of departure for future scholarship. The coda establishes connections between the Cuban writers and artists discussed in the book and contemporary Caribbean artistic trends, specifically the reanimation of trash. The coda suggests that by exploring Caribbean artistic practices that very purposefully challenge the logic of instrumentality, alternative paths might be imagined and forged to current economic, political, and ontological orders imposed by the global north. Such a study might also contribute to current debates regarding the value of artistic production in relation to our planetary crisis. Overall, this chapter merges Cuban photography with Caribbean studies and the environmental humanities to reconceptualize theories of art.
An extension to Kendall’s Tau metric to evaluate dissimilarities between data series
Authors: Erbisti Bruno , Marzagão David Kohan , Braganholo Vanessa
Published: October 2024

Data analysis is performed to examine, interpret, and extract information from data series, and it includes applying various methods and techniques to understand patterns and compare data. An approach to compare data is to use rank metrics that help identify how distinct two data series are when compared to each other according to patterns, formats, criteria, and dimensions in both data series. Among these metrics, Kendall’s Tau metric stands out, as it is robust and inexpensive, widely used in analyzing sequences and genomes, to detect errors in flash memories, and to compare distributions and top-k ranked values. However, a challenge arises when comparing lists with different lengths or when lists do not share the same elements. This happens, for example, when lists are defined by top-k elements, commonly called k-list. In this case, there is no guarantee that two k-lists share the same set of elements. Traditional metrics like Kendall’s Tau are designed to quantify differences only between shared elements in lists. Recognizing this limitation, a possible solution is to apply the metric to the shared elements of the lists. Another solution, named the generalization of Kendall’s Tau, proposed by Fagin et al., considers all elements in two lists. However, this generalization of Kendall Tau is a semi-metric, as it does not satisfy the triangular inequality. To solve this problem, we propose the Extended Kendall Tau (EKT) metric that meets all the conditions of a metric and simultaneously considers the distinct elements of the compared lists. The proposed metric was evaluated by applying conventional Kendall’s Tau and the extended Kendall’s Tau over 40 text files divided into five different languages (eight files per language). We compared KT and EKT measures within the ”same language” and across ”other language” files for the two scenarios. The results revealed that both methods could accurately identify the differences between the groups of texts of the ”same language” and ”other language”. However, the numerical results show that EKT is able to more significantly highlight the difference between groups of texts of different languages.
CANCEL: A feature engineering method for churn prediction in a privacy-preserving context
Authors: Coimbra Gabriel T. , Santos Victor Hugo R. , Maia Pedro A. , Silva Letícia O. , Souza Rayanne P. , Silva Fabrício A. , Silva Thais R. M. Braga
Published: October 2024

This paper proposes a solution for predicting churn with privacy preservation by using edge computing. With the increasing popularity of smartphones, users are becoming more demanding regarding mobile app usage. Installing and removing an app are frequent routines and the ease of uninstallation can facilitate churn, which is customer abandonment. Companies seek to minimize churn since the cost of acquiring new customers is much higher than retaining current ones. To predict possible abandonment, organizations are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. Nevertheless, customers are becoming more concerned about their data privacy. In this context, we propose a technique called CANCEL, which creates attributes based on users' temporal behavior, with edge computing to predict churn locally, without transmitting users' data. The paper presents the evaluation of CANCEL in comparison to baseline solutions, the development of a mobile app integrated with the proposed method and deployed as an edge computing solution.
When the Yellow River Floods
Authors: Hsu Hui-Lin
Published: October 2024

Departing from the common scholarly focus on human agents in early 20th-century Chinese literature, this book elevates the crucial role of the environment—specifically water—in shaping national consciousness and identity. Employing the late Qing novelist Liu E’s The Travels of Lao Can as the focal point, When the Yellow River Floods introduces a new framework that delves into the simultaneous challenges of national identity and ecological crisis faced in the late 19th century. The book brings Liu E’s expertise in hydraulic engineering into dialogue with his multifaceted sensibilities, which span from his grounding in traditional Chinese medicine to his political vision, national sentiment, philosophical underpinnings, and his literary techniques in writing landscape. The book argues that Liu E’s seminal work is not merely a literary response to the socio-political turmoil but also a commentary on the devastating Yellow River floods that plagued northern China since the 1850s. Through an ecologically attuned lens, the book presents the first book-length case study of how environmental realities are deeply woven into the fabric of national identity construction and reinvention during a pivotal moment in Chinese history.
Governance, Hydraulics, and the Vice of the Incorruptible
Authors: Hsu Hui-Lin
Published: October 2024

Chapter 2 discusses the relationship between the novel’s criticism of the incorruptible officials, which the novel has been most famous for, with Liu E’s concept of river engineering. The chapter first explores how the novel’s criticism implicates the Qing government’s methods for addressing the public security challenges caused by the frequent Yellow River floods. The chapter further analyzes the solutions for public security suggested in the novel as an alternative to the mode of governance adopted by incorruptible officials. Chapter 2 then shows how Liu E’s designs for hydraulic infrastructure served as conceptual resources for his challenge to the Qing government’s defensive and rigid bureaucracy and in his blueprint for nation-building. Chapter 2 argues that the novel directly links its criticism of incorruptible officials to state governance and to the environmental collapse of the late nineteenth century. The Yellow River floods and his innovations in hydraulic engineering molded Liu E’s sociopolitical critique and his agenda of governance and statecraft.
Water, Landscape, and the Appearance of a New National Literature
Authors: Hsu Hui-Lin
Published: October 2024

Chapter 4 explains the emergence of a new type of landscape description from the hydraulics perspective.
It argues that Liu E’s landscape description was premised on a new perceptual mode informed by his profession as a hydraulic engineer. The chapter starts by showing that due to his engagement with hydraulic engineering, Liu E considered natural landscapes as enigmatic and unable to be depicted through conventional literary and artistic forms. The chapter then discusses how the technical problems Liu E encountered in flood control and the optical knowledge
required to solve them shaped his writing on water landscapes. It further explores how Liu E’s landscape writing relates to his concern for visual illusions and the mechanisms that shape visual experience. The chapter concludes by demonstrating how Liu E’s landscape writing embodies his interest in the perception of light, his critical understanding of philosophy, and his contemplation of Chinese political prospects. Chapter 4 ends by showing that the novel’s innovation in landscape description is an innovation that incorporates flood control, visual perception, and philosophy into literary nation-building—one that we can appreciate only by understanding his identity as a river engineer.