The Defender of Kardu Fortress

The life of Grigol Robakidze, his creative works and epistolary legacy are a good example of a persevering fight for the survival of Georgian national spirit. Fighting for the better future and seeking the means for it, turned Grigol Robakidze into the panegyric of a mighty personality. However, the author of “Mussolini” and “Adolf Hitler” had to prove to his contemproraries that there was the third shore as well, that was more “reasonable than ‘left’ or ‘right’.GrigolRobakidze manifested his persevering and unyielding attitude towards Russia’s imperialistic intentions through creating the character of Imam Shamil in a very remarkable manner. The ending of the novella, as the literary critic RostomChkheidze would call it ‘open ending’, in line with the modernism, is nothing but the author’s political belief, expressed in the idea of committed and ceaseless struggle for freedom and independence. Like Shamil, GrigolRobakidze, holds the uncompromising stance in his private correspondence when he has to stand for the interests of his homeland.In the letter addressed to Mikheil Tsereteli, the organization Tetri Giorgi activist, Robakidze wrote: “My fortress is Kardu fortress! Nobody has ever broken into this fortress! The mob of scatter-brains will be powerless against it! My homeland has honored me to be the defender of one corner of the fortress! May our homeland never grow doubtful of my victory! My strong arm will be ever strong and never fail me!”Having been the defender of Kardu fortress for years, having carried his cross and served his nation and country faithfully, the writer who was far away from the dear homeland, took the liberty to be open with his friend:“You contributed a lot to our dear homeland! I believe, I too have served it devotedly...Even as I write it, facing my unhappy lot, I do not consider myself ‘unhappy’…there have been uncountable happy moments in my life”. Obviously, his cherished dream about his name to be remembered and mentioned in Mtskheta would have been one of these uncountable happy moments in his memory. For he regarded this town as the sacred womb of our land and the resting place of Kardu.

Lurching Towards a Canon: Mahāyāna Sūtras in Khotanese Garb

The concept of canon centers around authority. Assertions about canonicity both reflect and reshape the structure and the source of authority. In a Buddhist context, processes of canonization are highly fluid and complex, shedding light on the socio-religious landscapes of different Buddhist cultures. The present essay explores the complexities of canonization by focusing on a specific Buddhist culture on the ancient Silk Routes, where Mahāyāna sūtras, a collection of Buddhist literature of disputed authenticity in India, were accepted as scriptural and canonized in a remarkable manner. Through the lens of an indigenous Buddhist poem, the author argues that the reception and canonization of Mahāyāna sūtras give illuminating clues about a pivotal transition in the history of this Buddhist kingdom named Khotan, where both the removal and the bestowal of authority took place.

Addressing the Legal Dimensionof Quantum Computers

Quantum computers are legal things which are going to affect our lives in a tangible manner. As such, their operation and development must be regulated and supervised. No doubt, the transformational potential of quantum computing is remarkable. But if it goes unchecked the evelopment of quantum computers is also going to impact social and legal power-relations in a remarkable manner. Legal principles that can guide regulatory action must be developed in order to hedge the risks associated with the development of quantum computing. This article contributes to the development of such principles by proposing the quantum imperative. The quantum imperative provides that regulators and developers must ensure that the development of quantum computers: (1) does not create or exacerbate inequalities, (2) does not undermine individual autonomy, and that it (3) does not occur without consulting those whose interests they affect.

Addressing the Legal Dimensionof Quantum Computers

Quantum computers are legal things which are going to affect our lives in a tangible manner. As such, their operation and development must be regulated and supervised. No doubt, the transformational potential of quantum computing is remarkable. But if it goes unchecked the evelopment of quantum computers is also going to impact social and legal power-relations in a remarkable manner. Legal principles that can guide regulatory action must be developed in order to hedge the risks associated with the development of quantum computing. This article contributes to the development of such principles by proposing the quantum imperative. The quantum imperative provides that regulators and developers must ensure that the development of quantum computers: (1) does not create or exacerbate inequalities, (2) does not undermine individual autonomy, and that it (3) does not occur without consulting those whose interests they affect.

Addressing the Legal Dimensionof Quantum Computers

Quantum computers are legal things which are going to affect our lives in a tangible manner. As such, their operation and development must be regulated and supervised. No doubt, the transformational potential of quantum computing is remarkable. But if it goes unchecked the evelopment of quantum computers is also going to impact social and legal power-relations in a remarkable manner. Legal principles that can guide regulatory action must be developed in order to hedge the risks associated with the development of quantum computing. This article contributes to the development of such principles by proposing the quantum imperative. The quantum imperative provides that regulators and developers must ensure that the development of quantum computers: (1) does not create or exacerbate inequalities, (2) does not undermine individual autonomy, and that it (3) does not occur without consulting those whose interests they affect.

Addressing the Legal Dimensionof Quantum Computers

Quantum computers are legal things which are going to affect our lives in a tangible manner. As such, their operation and development must be regulated and supervised. No doubt, the transformational potential of quantum computing is remarkable. But if it goes unchecked the evelopment of quantum computers is also going to impact social and legal power-relations in a remarkable manner. Legal principles that can guide regulatory action must be developed in order to hedge the risks associated with the development of quantum computing. This article contributes to the development of such principles by proposing the quantum imperative. The quantum imperative provides that regulators and developers must ensure that the development of quantum computers: (1) does not create or exacerbate inequalities, (2) does not undermine individual autonomy, and that it (3) does not occur without consulting those whose interests they affect.

From Tangible to Intangible Heritage inside Italian Historical Opera Houses

Historical opera houses in Italy have been the place for the development of a relevant part of the National musical tradition and their design is paired with a peculiar acoustical fingerprint. Due to its relevance this can be regarded as an intangible heritage embedded in the tangible heritage constituted by the theatre building itself. In particular the presence of fairly deep lateral enclosures opened to the main hall volume, called the “boxes,” is of paramount importance for the implications it had on the listening experience perceived by the public. For instance, the positions in the box recess had a much less favourable sound field compared to the frontal ones located at the box opening towards the hall. In this work the need for the box design is briefly recalled from an historical perspective and then the sound field in the boxes is described as the combination of several sound reflections from specific interior surfaces. It is seen how the related listening experience can vary in a remarkable manner while moving from boxes at different tiers. This characteristic greatly differentiates historical opera houses from modern ones, where one of the most valuable attribute is a limited change in acoustics over large audiences. The acoustical environment of historical halls and inside boxes in particular was important in building up the ear of the Italian opera goers, thus a close consideration of the peculiarities of the intangible heritage is necessary in case of restorations and cannot be overlooked.

The Self-Promotion of a Libertine Bad Boy

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam owns one of the most curious portraits ever made in the seventeenth century – the likeness of the Dutch classical scholar and notorious erotomaniac Hadriaan Beverland (1650-1716), who was banished from the Dutch Republic in 1679 because of his scandalous publications. In the portrait – a brunaille – the libertine rake sits at a table with a prostitute; a provocative scene. Why did this young humanist promote such a confrontational image of himself? In this article the author analyses the portrait and explores Beverland’s motives for his remarkable manner of self-promotion, going on to argue that it was the starting point for a calculated campaign of portraits. Over the years Beverland commissioned at least four more portraits of himself, including one in which he is shown drawing the naked back of a statue of Venus. Each of his portraits was conceived with a view to giving his changeable reputation a push in the right direction. They attest to a remarkable and extraordinarily self-assured expression of identity seldom encountered in seventeenth-century portraiture.

Effect of Hydroalcoholic Extract ofCydonia oblongaMiller (Quince) on Sexual Behaviour of Wistar Rats

Cydonia oblongaMiller (quince) is regarded as a potent libido invigorator in Tib-e-Nabvi and Unani System of Medicine. This study was carried out to evaluate the aphrodisiac activity of the hydroalcoholic extract of the fruits ofCydonia oblongaMiller (quince) in Wistar rats. The extract was administered orally by gavage in the dose of 500 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg body weight per day as a single dose for 28 days. The observed parameters were mounting frequency, assessment of mating performance, and orientation activities towards females, towards the environment, and towards self. The results showed that after administration of the extract mounting frequency and the mating performance of the rats increased highly significantlyP<0.01. The extract also influenced the behaviour of treated animals in comparison to nontreated rats in a remarkable manner, making them more attracted to females. These effects were observed in sexually active male Wistar rats.

Religious Networks in Action: The European Expansion of the Cult of St Thomas of Canterbury

‘Wonder not at our coming here, for unto you, Englishmen, God gave such a wondrous martyr, that he filleth nearly all the world with miracles.’ This admiring assertion, attributed to an archbishop and primate from the Nigros Monies – possibly Stephen, archbishop of Tarsus, which lies at the foot of. the Taurus Mountains in Armenia – provides a good introduction to the theme of this book, for it links Iceland, Canterbury and the eastern Mediterranean in a remarkable manner. The quotation comes from a lost life of St Thomas written in Latin by Robert of Cricklade, prior of St Frideswide in Oxford, who died in 1174; but it is known only from its transmission through one of the longest texts in Old Norse, the Thomas Saga Erkibyskups, compiled in Iceland through the thirteenth century from English Latin sources. This Anglo-Icelandic example, however, is only one part of an extraordinary phenomenon which saw the cult of the ‘wondrous martyr’ established, and not only at the official level, across the whole of the West, from Norway to Sicily and from Portugal to Poland, before the end of the twelfth century. The English martyr was probably depicted among the array of saints on the West front of Trondheim cathedral; his mosaic image stands next to that of St Silvester in the apse behind the high altar in Monreale; the headquarters of the Portuguese Templars at Tomar had a chapel with a reliquary containing fragments of his brains and blood; and French monks from Morimond brought the cult to Sulejów in the diocese of Gneisno in 1177.