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Digital communication produces millions of emails, text messages, movies, images, and much more every day. As with all historical records, digital records are important to preserve because they allow us to study the past. There are, however, several challenges regarding their preservation. Unlike many of their analogue counterparts, digital records rely on a combination of hardware and software to be accessible, but hardware and software eventually degrade and become obsolete. This makes digital records inaccessible because the means to render them are no longer available. In addition to these technological challenges, there are issues surrounding appraisal, copyright, significant properties, and metadata. This thesis studies the challenges of digital preservation and what is being done to address them. I begin by introducing the challenges surrounding this topic and the methods of preservation that are currently available to archivists. I then analyse leading digital preservation standards such as the Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS) and Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) as well as digital preservation systems including Archivematica and Preservica. I also conduct a case study of Archivematica to analyse how well it manages the challenges of digital preservation. I conclude by explaining that there are no perfect solutions to digital preservation problems. The best that can currently be done is to manage the issues rather than solve them. / February 2017

LD2668 .T4 1965 W916 / Master of Science

Persufflation (PSF; gaseous oxygen perfusion) is an organ preservation technique with a potential for use in donor heart preservation. Improved heart preservation with PSF may improve outcomes by maintaining cardiac tissue quality in the setting of longer cold ischemia times and possibly increasing the number of donor hearts available for allotransplant. Published data suggest that PSF is able to extend the cold storage times for porcine hearts up to 14 hours without compromising viability and function, and has been shown to resuscitate porcine hearts following donation after cardiac death. This review summarizes key published work on heart PSF, including prospective implications and future directions for PSF in heart transplantation. We emphasize the potential impact of extending preservation times and expanding donor selection criteria in heart allotransplant. Additionally, the key issues that need to be addressed before PSF were to become a widely utilized preservation strategy prior to clinical heart transplantation are summarized and discussed.

<p>Melanin is a ubiquitous biological pigment found in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. It has a diverse range of ecological and biochemical functions including display, evasion, photoprotection, detoxification, and metal scavenging. Two forms of melanin produced from different molecular precursors are present in nature - eumelanin (dark brown-black in color) and pheomelanin (orange-red in color). Both eumelanin and pheomelanin are complex highly cross-linked biopolymers that are found intertwined with proteins, lipids, and metal ions in nature. </p><p> </p><p>Recent reports have used morphological evidence to suggest the presence of melanin in the fossil record. These studies have been met with criticism due to their lack of chemical evidence to support melanin identification. This dissertation describes chemical approaches to unambiguously verify the presence of melanin in the fossil record and characterize the ancient pigment. It also explores the limitations for the survival of melanin in the fossil record and the possibility that melanin acts as a protective matrix to preserve other biomolecules that are embedded in the pigment. </p><p>Melanin has unique chemical signatures that are commonly used to characterize and compare the pigment of modern organisms. We applied these chemical approaches to the study of fossil pigmentation. Analysis of the black pigmentation of two > 160 million year old (Mya) Jurassic cephalopod ink sacs provided the first conclusive evidence for eumelanin in the fossil record. The preserved fossil eumelanin was then compared to modern cephalopod eumelanin from Sepia officinalis. Using these chemical approaches we found that fossil eumelanin was chemically and morphologically identical to S. officinalis eumelanin. </p><p> Although there is mounting chemical evidence for the presence and preservation of melanin in the fossil record, there is very little data constraining its long-term survival. We applied the analytical approaches designed to study fossil melanins and techniques used to study fossil sediments to compare the fossil inks from three deposits of similar age and lithology, but different maturation histories. Specifically, two ~ 180 Mya fossil ink sacs from a site that has entered the oil window in Holzmaden, Germany were compared to the previously analyzed fossil inks from two less mature sites in southern England. The chemistry of eumelanin was shown to alter at the onset of the oil window regardless of the age of the specimen. The decrease in surviving melanin was accompanied by an increase in the relative abundance of organic macromolecular material (kerogen), but no consistent change in melanin morphology. </p><p> Finally, the role of melanin as a matrix that enhances the preservation of other biomolecules in the fossil record was considered. Proteins, commonly associated with melanin in modern organisms, were discovered in the aforementioned fossil ink sacs during full-scale chemical analysis. The amino acid profile of the protein in each fossil specimen was determined with an amino acid analyzer and compared to the amino acid profile the protein in modern S. officinalis. Statistical analysis of the amino acid distributions indicated that there is no significant difference between the amino acid profile of modern and fossil melanins. In order to verify the ancient origin of the amino acids in the fossil ink sacs, the ratio of D/L amino acid isomers was determined. While the proteins of living organisms consist of only L-amino acids, post-mortem the amino acids slowly convert from L to D form until they reach equilibrium (D/L = 1). This process is called racemization. The amino acids in the fossil ink sacs were racemized, which suggests their ancient origin. This marks the oldest determination of protein in a fossil system and provides evidence that the longevity of proteins may be enhanced when associated with melanin.</p> / Dissertation

The two most successful preservation initiatives in Texas are the Main Street Program (TMSP) and the Historic Courthouse Preservation Program (THCPP). A downtown revitalization strategy and grant fund program respectively, the initiatives are structurally different. However, they inevitably affect the same communities. The two organizations have never combined forces to achieve their goals, but the potential to integrate efforts could lead to reviving many more Texas communities. This study investigates the question: how can the TMSP and THCPP coordinate to create stronger preservation efforts in counties across the state? The program processes were analyzed to better understand the mechanisms used to carry out each initiative at the state and local level. Then, twelve case study cities were evaluated in order to understand the interactions at the local level. Interviews with program professionals, occupancy surveys, and reinvestment statistics were used to discern these effects. Through the interventions of both programs, all twelve cities have seen a decrease in vacancy ratings and an increase in rehabilitation projects. However, no Main Street program had any input into their local courthouse restoration. Alternatively, the courthouse restoration boosts local pride and ownership in the surrounding community, but these results are just “snow ball” effects; the restoration does not consider its impact on the greater community. The investigation also shows that rural communities rely more on the courthouse square to function as a traditional county seat, while suburban communities are transitioning their courthouses into new uses. Coordinating the TMSP and THCPP initiatives and creating preservation efforts at the county level could result in the successful revitalization of more rural communities across Texas, who could not achieve it on their own. / text

The following thesis argues that in order to reach underrepresented communities, preservation efforts must be engaged at the local level. A way to begin to do this is to utilize analytical methods that find value in the ordinary and affirm the dynamic and referential character of buildings and the values we ascribe to them. Applying these methods to increasingly challenging preservation projects can help shape a broader yet more acute representation of our shared heritage. The thesis begins with a review of the American Latino Heritage Initiative within the framework of the Westside neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas. Intended as a large-scale effort to bring attention to the role of “Latinos” in the U.S., the initiative is evaluated for its efficacy at the local level. The interface of national goals and local needs, general characterizations and specific qualities, and standardized processes with particular circumstances brings forth the challenges of preserving places, which the current preservation system was not designed to protect. Mexican and Mexican American communities established an important cultural and physical center in San Antonio at the beginning of the 20th century. While some of the physical remnants of this rich history have been lost, others endure in the people and buildings that inhabit the Westside. Valuable local preservation initiatives have helped record their stories and highlight their significance. Nevertheless, formal preservation organizations have, until recently, failed to recognize the significance of the Mexican American heritage of the Westside. In recent years, the San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation and local groups have collaborated to begin to designate landmarks in the Westside. This thesis examines five of these buildings with the intent of identifying what makes them stand out as important landmarks in the community. Analytical mapping considers the spatial relationships between the buildings and their surrounding areas, and temporal mapping examines the change in use of each case study. A typology of values is generated from this analysis categorizing the distinguishing characteristics of the buildings. Together these exploratory methods start to define a language that goes beyond historical and aesthetic significance to recognize social, cultural and use values.

This research was conducted to seek answers to these questions: 1. To what extent could historic properties in the city represent a place brand image of that city in the early twenty-first century? 2. Could historic preservation be an effective tool for place branding? Contemporary cities in the world fiercely compete with others nowadays, so cities have wanted to distinguish themselves from others. This phenomenon has encouraged cities to use a conventional commercial marketing strategy, branding. When branding is used to promote a place, we call it place branding. If a fundamental aim of place branding is to distinguish one city from another, the notion of place branding would be closely related to the discussion on contemporary historic preservation's role in urban development. The common target market of twenty-first-century cities is talent, who, in turn, will be a magnet for global industry. As the talent tends to seek diverse urban life, cities have actively made efforts to revitalize and market their downtowns. In this regard, historic preservation can help cities retain their unique character and diversity of urban fabric in downtown areas. Consequently, historic preservation can provide cities a foundation upon which they can develop their unique place brands that attract talent. At the same time, historic properties can be used as a marketing resource for place branding. In addition to the theoretical discussion on the potential for historic preservation as a place branding tool, this thesis incorporates an empirical study on relocation guides officially published by Texas cities, including Austin, Houston, Fort Worth, and San Antonio. This study aims to investigate where, how, and to what extent historic properties are represented in the official marketing publications. / text