Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

Abstract In eastern North America, cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana) is a widely distributed perennial forest herb that has been used as an ecological indicator of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginiana) browsing due to its predictable responses to deer exclusion (i.e., increased height, abundance). However, cucumber-root is less likely to occupy sites with high concentrations of soil manganese (Mn), which may limit its utility as an indicator under limiting soil conditions. We examined responses of cucumber-root total counts and flowering abundance to deer exclusion, competitive release from surrounding vegetation, and soil application of dolomitic limestone to determine the relative effects of these treatments over 7 years (2014–2021). Prior to treatment, initial total and flowering abundance were best explained by soil extractable Mn concentration. Post-treatment, fencing best explained increases in total counts, but flowering abundance was most affected by soil extractable Mn and pH. Initial soil Mn concentrations determined the effectiveness of dolomitic limestone application; microplots with moderate to high soil Mn (> 6 cmolc kg–1) had increased flowering with increased pH, while flowering decreased on microplots with initially low soil Mn concentrations (< 6 cmolc kg–1). We suspect changes to soil chemistry from liming affected plant stress, but that stress was either alleviated or intensified depending on initial soil Mn concentrations. Herbivory is an important driver of plant abundance across our study area but flowering response, a critical component of plant demography, seems to be driven by soil Mn. Cucumber-root may have limited utility as an indicator because soil chemistry mediates flowering responses to deer exclusion.

Abstract This article analyzes Pennsylvania’s Sentencing Risk Assessment Instrument through the lens of legitimacy theory, focusing on issues of procedural transparency, bias and discrimination, and the ongoing tensions between algorithmic risk prediction and individualized justice. Spanning a decade (2010–20), the instrument’s development included multiple public hearings and reports aimed at crafting a tool to assess the recidivism risk of offenders. This tool is intended to guide judges on which cases require further evaluation and potential intervention. During the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing’s extensive and public development process, the instrument faced significant public skepticism due to concerns about procedural fairness, racial bias, gender discrimination, and due process. This article discusses these themes using public testimony about the tool. It concludes with recommendations for policymakers, urging thoughtful engagement with public input, transparent methodology, and rigorous procedural checks to balance fairness and utility. This case study underscores the inherent complexities and challenges in implementing predictive algorithms in criminal justice and suggests that legitimacy theory can help navigate the public’s concerns and build trust in these systems.

Archaeology in South Asia was a colonial import, superimposed on multiple existing forms of knowledge about and orientations toward the past. Substantive research on prehistory was initiated by colonial scholar-administrators, and the institutions, chronological frameworks, field methods, and dominant approaches to archaeological work all emerged out of British colonial rule. Here, I highlight three orientations toward the past that are especially important for understanding archaeological coloniality: ( a ) the priority of textual evidence; ( b ) the focus on continuity and singular narratives of change, especially progressive or civilizational change; and ( c ) a tendency to use essentialist identity formations such as community, caste, and culture as explanatory. These basic orientations interact with the systematics and practices of archaeology, shaping research questions, field practices, and analysis. Decolonial reorientation will require attention to these broad habits of thought as well as to more concrete issues such as resources and opportunities.

Анотація. Мета дослідження. У статті розглянуто процес формування світогляду Петра Бубели – державного, військового та громадсько-політичного діяча періоду національно-визвольних змагань 1917–1921 рр. Проаналізовано фактор впливу поліетнічних середовищ різних місцевостей України на формування світогляду П. Бубели – родинного села Лисинич, специфіку взаємовідносин між польською та українською громадами села, римо-католиками і греко-католиками, Станіславова – тимчасової столиці Західної Української Народної Республіки (ЗУНР) у 1919 р., де П. Бубела як член уряду та заступник державного секретаря (міністра) військових справ, займався вирішенням не тільки військових справ, а й сприяв задоволенню потреб національних громад, зокрема, єврейської, якій допоміг організувати власне періодичне видання, Одеси та півдня України, де П. Бубела намагався продовжувати боротьбу з режимом. Стверджено, що авторитет і впливовість П. Бубели як серед українців, так і серед представників інших національностей Одеси, не могли залишатися поза увагою радянського карально-репресивного органу – Державного політичного управління (ДПУ). На початку 1931 р. його заарештовано. Після кількамісячних допитів, П. Бубела у 1932 р. засуджений до трьох років концтаборів. Методологія дослідження спирається на принципи історизму, системності і об՚єктивності. У ході дослідження застосовано такі конкретно-історичні методи, як проблемно-хронологічний та історико-біографічний. Висновки. Поліетнічні, багатокультурні середовища Лисинич, Станіславова, Одеси, багато у чому вплинули на формування світогляду і визначили життєвий шлях цього державного, військового, громадсько-політичного діяча. Контактуючи з представниками різних національностей, він, залишаючись на українських національних позиціях, намагався залучити до спільної боротьби з антинародною радянською владою на півдні України не тільки українців, а й представників інших етнічних груп.

ABSTRACT Pennsylvania's legislature ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on June 24, 1919, making it the seventh state to ratify the amendment to grant women voting rights. Pertinent documents regarding the commonwealth's ratification from the Pennsylvania State Archives are examined in this article.

Abstract The article pertains to the pan‐ethnic and transnational dimensions of contemporary political and cultural interaction and orientations between diverse ethnically/culturally and linguistically kindred ethnic groups such as Tamils. It explores the transnational dimensions and dynamics of habitats of meaning, identity formations, political cosmology/world view among kindred ethnic groups and their relation to historical processes, events of violence and trauma, and transnational communication, information, and travel technologies. The dynamics between kindred ethnic groups, facilitated by the technological advances and accessibility in the period of accelerated globalization, enhance engagement and attachment centred on primordial loyalties, cultural and ethnic/linguistic sentiments, and identity. The subsequent social interaction constitutes pan‐ethnic or trans/supra‐national political cosmologies/imagery and moral community. Beside the central role of cultural similarity and meaning, historical connectivity, or transnational technology and processes, it is historical events/moments of state violence and injustice which prove a central condition in enabling transnational political solidarity and engagement between people who would otherwise have imagined their linkages differently.

Blade/bladelet technology has been described as a highly efficient manner by which to produce stone tools, both tool blanks and finished forms. It was practiced during the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic (or Epipaleolithic) over vast portions of Europe, Asia, and Africa and it has also been ascribed to the Paleoindian Period for both Pre-Clovis and Clovis assemblages. However, the authors believe that in North America blade technology was relatively rare when compared to Old World settings and almost absent in some areas such as northeastern North America. Eastern Clovis lithic reduction systems supported a high degree of mobility, extremely low population densities, and an adaptation to a highly variable and changing Allerød and Younger Dryas environment. At roughly the same time, Old World Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic peoples used relatively structured and standardized blade/bladelet manufacturing systems that best suited higher population densities with lower levels of mobility. This paper examines the characteristics of these different lithic reduction strategies and outlies the benefits of the bifacial core and tool technologies employed by early Paleoindians.

While many earlier (and not a few contemporary) treatments of the Paleoindian-Early Archaic Transition in the Northeast (of North America) often stress clear-cut macro or quantum changes in climate with resultant dramatic shifts in techno-adaptive strategies, the actual situation is far more opaque. Using data from several key sites in the Northeast, a different view of this moment in time is offered. In this perspective, the “transition” is seen as a series of micro-adjustments in which sociotechnic and subsistence packages are gradationally and almost imperceptibly altered with some elements—like the fluting of projectile points—deleted and others added. Overall, however, there is no profound “signature” to the Paleoindian-Early Archaic Transition in this region.