Hasil untuk "Ancient history"

Haifeng Zhu, Hao Tang, Yang Li et al.

Formerly considered nonfunctional “junk DNA,” pseudogenes have been re-evaluated in light of technological advances in bioinformatics and high-throughput sequencing. The limited research to date on pseudogenes in hexaploid common wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) is largely confined to individual gene families, thus hindering our understanding of the long-term evolutionary dynamics among the A, B, and D subgenomes. Using the IWGSC RefSeq v2.1 genome assembly, we performed genome-wide identification, classification, and analysis of pseudogenes in wheat, including their distribution, evolutionary history, and parental gene functions. Marked asymmetries in pseudogene abundance, distribution, evolutionary dynamics, and constraints were detected among the subgenomes. The B subgenome harbored significantly more pseudogenes and showed distinct evolutionary patterns compared with the A and D subgenomes. Pseudogenes were strongly associated with transposable elements and peaks in their formation were incongruent with ancient genomic upheavals of wheat ancestral lineages. The parent genes were predominantly enriched in non-core functions and showed tissue-specific expression. The findings provide direct evidence for long-term asymmetric, post-polyploidization evolution in wheat, enhance our understanding of polyploid genome evolution, and offer a methodological framework for research on other genetically complex polyploid crops.

Seowung Leem, Lin Gu, Ruogu Fang

Humans readily recognize objects from sparse line drawings, a capacity that appears early in development and persists across cultures, suggesting neural rather than purely learned origins. Yet the computational mechanism by which the brain transforms high-level semantic knowledge into low-level visual symbols remains poorly understood. Here we propose that ancient pictographic writing emerged from the brain's intrinsic tendency to compress visual input into stable, boundary-based abstractions. We construct a biologically inspired digital twin of the visual hierarchy that encodes an image into low-level features, generates a contour sketch, and iteratively refines it through top-down feedback guided by semantic representations, mirroring the feedforward and recurrent architecture of the human visual cortex. The resulting symbols bear striking structural resemblance to early pictographs across culturally distant writing systems, including Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese oracle bone characters, and proto-cuneiform, and offer candidate interpretations for undeciphered scripts. Our findings support a neuro-computational origin of pictographic writing and establish a framework in which AI can recapitulate the cognitive processes by which humans first externalized perception into symbols.

F. Lomoc, N. Canosa, A. P. Boette et al.

We present a method for analyzing general time series by employing the history state formalism of quantum mechanics. This formalism allows us to describe a complete evolution based on a single quantum state, the history state, which simultaneously includes -also as a quantum system- the reference clock. It naturally leads to the concept of system-time entanglement, with the ensuing entanglement entropy constituting a measure of the effective number of distinguishable states visited in the history. Through a quantum coherent state embedding of the time series data, it is then possible to associate a quantum history state to the series. The gaussian overlap between these coherent states provides thus a smooth measure of distinguishability between the series data. The eigenvalues of the corresponding overlap matrix determine in fact the entanglement spectrum and entropy of the history state, which provide a rigorous characterization of the evolution. As illustration, the formalism is applied to typical financial time-series data. Through the entanglement entropy and spectrum, different evolution regimes can be identified. Entanglement based volatility indicators are also derived, and compared with standard volatility measures.

Patrik Smolak

Aleksandrova iznenadna smrt u Babilonu 323. g. pr. Kr. uzrokovala je tešku nasljednu krizu zbog manjka legitimnih nasljednika argeadske loze. Pri Babilonskoj nagodbi (323. pr. Kr.), Aleksandrovi su vojskovođe odlučili uspostaviti novu upravu s dva kralja. Među utjecajnim vojskovođama bio je Leonat, ugledni član plemstva iz Linkestije, koji se borio da se nametne na vrh političke hijerarhije. Iako prvotno imenovan za namjesnika zajedno s Perdikom, nakon Meleagrova ubojstva dobio je satrapiju Helespontsku Frigiju. Ubrzo nakon toga sklopio je tajni savez s Aleksandrovom sestrom Kleopatrom, koja mu je ponudila brak u zamjenu za svrgavanje Antipatra. Pri pokušaju provođenja svojih ciljeva, bio je ubijen u bitci protiv grčkog saveza u Lamijskom ratu. Ovaj rad pokušava objasniti Leonatovu poziciju u odnosu na druge makedonske vojskovođe jer se u izvorima uglavnom tretira kao sporedni lik. Cilj je i analizirati ključne događaje u njegovom životu od Aleksandrove smrti do vlastite smrti 322. g. pr. Kr.

Melanie Wasmuth, Tero Alstola , Rotem Avneri Meir et al.

Empires and kingship are long-standing topics of research in ancient Near Eastern studies; the study of queenship has gradually received more attention over recent decades. However, discussions of the social implications of kingship and queenship, comparisons of the gender roles, and their study across several empires remain rare. The paper at hand takes the unprecedented step of such a comparative analysis by tracing a specific detail of royal ideology, namely the presentation of the king and queen to the public as builders, across seven major Near Eastern empires following and/or interacting with each other throughout the first millennium BCE: the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Teispid-Achaemenid, Seleucid, Ptolemaic, Parthian, and Roman empires. Drawing on the available textual, material, and visual sources from the ancient contemporary contexts of each empire and from Classical reception history, we showcase the potential of a longue-durée comparison for the social institutions of kingship and of queenship, giving full attention and space also to the lesser known empires and the queens’ roles. To achieve this, we present first a synopsis of the key findings per empire and role, followed by a diachronic study of three aspects of gender comparison: concerning the empire-internal portfolios of king and queen, the joint presentation as a couple, and the question of how far the roles of king and queen mirror or complement each other. We conclude with some pertinent (albeit tentative) results on the features shared by some or all of the empires as well as their outstanding idiosyncracies.

Alessia Arcangeli

A un’attenta analisi epigrafica delle ἐπῳδαί con Ephesia Grammata, sembra oggi possibile proporre alcune riletture, anche grazie all’evidenza offerta dal nuovo testimone del corpus: una laminetta frammentaria proveniente dal Parco Archeologico di Kamarina e Cava d’Ispica, edita nel 2022. L’evidenza epigrafica delle iscrizioni incoraggia non solo a una riconsiderazione delle varianti testuali, ma anche a un confronto più approfondito con il patrimonio letterario greco e, in particolare, omerico.   Upon a careful epigraphic analysis of ἐπῳδαί containing Ephesia Grammata, it now seems possible to propose some new readings, also thanks to the evidence offered by the new witness of the corpus: a fragmentary lamella from the Archaeological Park of Kamarina, edited and published in 2022. The epigraphic evidence of the inscriptions encourages not only a reconsideration of textual variants, but also a deeper comparison with the Greek and, particularly, Homeric literary heritage.

Meysam Soltani Nejad, Neda Samandari Najafabadi, Sonia Aghighi et al.

Asia has a rich history of cultivating sweet cherries, a practice that has been carried out since ancient times. However, the effective management of Alternaria disease in sweet cherry crops has presented a formidable challenge, resulting in notable decreases in yield. Various attempts have been made to employ both chemical and biological treatments; however, their effectiveness has been restricted. In order to tackle this problem, an investigation was carried out, with the primary objective of isolating and identifying Alternaria isolates that are accountable for the occurrence of sweet cherry soft spot rot. Out of the twelve isolates examined, the CHM-4 isolate was found to be the most pathogenic. Its identification was achieved through the use of the ITS genomic region (ITS1 and ITS4), and the BLAST results revealed a 95 % similarity with Alternaria alternata (MG744381.1). The objective of the research was to explore the potential of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) synthesized by phytosynthesis as a novel antifungal agent to combat sweet cherry soft spot pathogenicity. The biosynthesis of SNPs was carried out using sweet cherry fruits kernel exudate, which served as an environmentally friendly source. The exudates exhibited the ability to produce nanoparticles with an average size of 24.97 nm. Analysis conducted using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) revealed the multifaceted structure of these nanoparticles. Furthermore, when tested at concentrations of 5, 10, 20, and 40 μg/ml, these biosynthetic nanoparticles demonstrated the capability to inhibit the growth of Alternaria fungi and effectively destroy fungal hyphae. It is advisable to utilize diverse components of sweet cherry for the synthesis of various nanoparticles owing to their compatibility with the surrounding environment.

Hasnul Insani Djohar, Willy Oktaviano, Mira Utami

This paper investigates how Kahf’s poetry collection, Hagar Poems (2016), discovers Muslim women or Muslimah leadership by exploring Muslimah leaders, such as Hagar (Hajar), Khadija, and Aisha to undermine reductionist views of Muslim women both in Orientalism and Anglo-American feminism. In doing so, Kahf uses the strategies of juxtaposition, humor, and irreverence by connecting Muslimah ancient leaders to her contemporary speakers who are crisscrossing Islamic traditions and American popular culture. By engaging with postcolonial and gender studies with the frameworks of leadership and Islamic studies, this paper investigates how Kahf’s women juxtapose ancient folkloric tales and American popular cultures, both to establish their multiple identities and leadership and to illuminate contemporary resonances of ancient Muslimah leaders in the eyes of subsequent generations. Indeed, the patterns of Muslimah leadership in Kahf’s poems are represented as engaging with the ideas of creativity, piety, and solidarity; and these patterns work to question the exclusion of Muslimah leadership in both gender and orientalist debates. Thus, Kahf’s Hagar Poems explores the representation of Muslim women from Islamic history who serve as role models, having displayed heroic characteristics through their leadership.

Francisco Calderón

Algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT) puts forward three "causal axioms" that aim to characterize the theory as one that implements relativistic causation: the spectrum condition, microcausality, and primitive causality. In this paper, I aim to show, in a minimally technical way, that none of them fully explains the notion of causation appropriate for AQFT because they only capture some of the desiderata for relativistic causation I state or because it is often unclear how each axiom implements its respective desideratum. After this diagnostic, I will show that a fourth condition, local primitive causality (LPC), fully characterizes relativistic causation in the sense of fulfilling all the relevant desiderata. However, it only encompasses the virtues of the other axioms because it is implied by them, as I will show from a construction by Haag and Schroer (1962). Since the conjunction of the three causal axioms implies LPC and other important results in QFT that LPC does not imply, and since LPC helps clarify some of the shortcomings of the three axioms, I advocate for a holistic interpretation of how the axioms characterize the causal structure of AQFT against the strategy in the literature to rivalize the axioms and privilege one among them.

Annie Yang

Extended reality can weave together the fabric of the past, present, and future. A two-day design hackathon was held to bring the community together through a love for history and a common goal to use technology for good. Through interviewing an influential community elder, Emile Pitre, and referencing his book Revolution to Evolution, my team developed an augmented reality artifact to tell his story and preserve on revolutionary's legacy that impacted the University of Washington's history forever.

Gargi Bakshi, Rushikesh K. Joshi

Dynamic changes in processes necessitate the notion of state equivalence between the old and new workflows. In several cases, the history of the workflow to be migrated provides sufficient context for a meaningful migration. In this paper, we present an algorithm to find the equivalence mapping for states from the old workflow to the new one using a trail-based consistency model called history equivalence. The algorithm finds history equivalent mappings for all migratable states in the reachability graph of the process under migration. It also reports all non-migratable states that fall in the change region for a given pair of old and new Petri Nets. The paper presents the algorithm, its working, and an intuitive proof. The working is demonstrated through a couple of illustrations.

Jarmila Bíšková, Veronika Brychová, Peter Demján et al.

Radiouhlíkové datování je etablovanou metodou, která pomáhá určit absolutní stáří archeologických nálezů. Tento tematický přehled prezentuje základní principy radiouhlíkové metody, předpoklady pro výběr vzorků z archeologických situací, způsob zacházení se vzorky před zasláním do radiouhlíkové laboratoře, laboratorní postupy úpravy vzorků, průběh AMS měření a kalibraci výsledků. Dále jsou vysvětleny faktory, které omezují výsledky radiouhlíkového datování, zejména radiouhlíková plata a rezervoárový efekt, a jak lze jejich vliv rozpoznat a případně eliminovat. Hlavním cílem článku je kriticky zhodnonit aplikaci radiouhlíkové metody na méně obvyklé archeologické vzorky (lipidy uchované v pórech keramiky, spálené kosti, zubní kámen, železné předměty a železné strusky, malta, pylové a fytolitové koncentráty vyextrahované ze sedimentů či půd), jejichž datace otevírá nové možnosti pro chronologické ukotvení přírodních i kulturních procesů a událostí v minulosti.

María del Pilar Fernández Deagustini

El estudio propone revisar la articulación entre miedo y género (gender) en Siete contra Tebas. Para ello,considero necesario observar el contexto emocional integral de la tragedia, que presenta un contrapunto con la emoción contraria (Rét. 2.5, 1382bss.): el coraje. En el proceso dramático, constituido por la puesta en escena de emociones dinámicas (Konstan 2006), observo el contexto en el que surgen y se manifiestan, para reflexionar sobre qué propone el dramaturgo a través del juego con el par antagónico phóbos- thársos. Según el enfoque constructivista, las emociones son producto de las interacciones sociales, que emergen y evolucionan de un contexto particular (Konstan 2011). Dicho enfoque invita a superar el estudio de las relaciones entre hombres y mujeres adoptando una visión mayor, que involucra el estatus cívico de la emoción (Allard-Montlahuc 2018). Analizar contextos, más que estados de ánimo, permite subrayar la fluidez en la forma en que las emociones se distribuyen entre los géneros. Sostengo que no se puede simplificar el antagonismo coro/ rey como una mera oposición de géneros; tampoco como una simple contraposición entre miedo y coraje. En el contexto integral de la obra, el miedo, que aparece inicialmente presentado como una emoción negativa que “daña desde dentro” (vv. 191-194) se propone en la segunda parte como la única salida posible ante la maldición familiar. La exhibición de ambas emociones constituye un recurso dinámico y programático para involucrar y orientar a la audiencia en relación con la acción que se desarrolla, en un proceso que depende de la capacidad única del teatro como espectáculo.

Xiucai Li, Manlan Niu, Zhen Yan et al.

AbstractThe North Qaidam tectonic belt is characterized by the development of high-pressure to ultrahigh-pressure eclogite formed during deep subduction of the continental lithosphere. However, the tectonic processes that occurred prior to continental collision/subduction are relatively poorly studied and this leads to controversy over the evolutionary history of the North Qaidam tectonic belt. In this contribution, we present an integrated study of field observations, petrography, geochronology, and geochemistry (whole-rock major elements, trace elements, and Sr–Nd isotopes as well as zircon Lu–Hf isotopes) of continental arc mafic rocks in the North Wulan metamorphic complex to track Proto-Tethyan oceanic subduction and the nature of metasomatism of the mantle wedge. Zircon U–Pb geochronology demonstrates that continental arc mafic rocks crystallized at ca. 483–472 Ma. Mafic intrusions are enriched in light rare earth elements and large ion lithophile elements but are depleted in high field strength elements; these are typical features of arc-related magmatic rocks. They have relatively radiogenic Sr–Nd–Hf isotope compositions, with relatively high initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.710363 to 0.719404, low εNdt values of -7.77 to -2.30, variable zircon εHft values ranging from -8 to +2.8, and the single-stage Hf model ages of ca. 1.4–1.0 Ga. These features suggest that the mafic intrusions were sourced from ancient subcontinental mantle that was modified by subducted oceanic slab-derived components. The modified mantle source was generated by the interaction between subcontinental lithospheric mantle peridotite in the overlying mantle wedge and hydrous fluid and felsic melt that were derived from a subducted oceanic slab and seafloor sediments with ancient terrestrial origin in the rutile stability field. Crust-mantle interaction transferred the subducted crustal geochemical signatures to the mantle source during subduction of the Proto-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere. Retreat and rollback of the Proto-Tethyan oceanic slab triggered asthenosphere upwelling and the partial melting of metasomatized and enriched fertile lithospheric mantle to form continental arc mafic magmas in the North Qaidam tectonic belt. Combined with the coeval LP-HT metamorphism, the North Wulan metamorphic complex records the early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of a continental arc-back-arc system, and these continental arc mafic rocks record the subduction of the Proto-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere.

Leonard A. Curchin

Funerary commemorations from Mauretania Tingitana are an important source of information on family relations in a Roman province. As in other provinces, nuclear relationships (93% of the total) predominate over those of the extended family (7%). Among nuclear family commemorations, 44% are dedicated by parents, 11% by children of the deceased, 30% by spouses and 15% by siblings. Compared with other provinces, Mauretania Tingitana has an unusually high proportion of descending (parent-child) and lateral (sibling) relations; this may reflect strong familial bonds that already existed in the pre-Roman culture. The inscriptions also allow observations about inheritance, identity, marital age, affection, and gender differences.

Claudio Maccone

In this paper we propose a new mathematical model capable of merging Darwinian Evolution, Human History and SETI into a single mathematical scheme: 1) Darwinian Evolution over the last 3.5 billion years is defined as one particular realization of a certain stochastic process called Geometric Brownian Motion (GBM). This GBM yields the fluctuations in time of the number of species living on Earth. Its mean value curve is an increasing exponential curve, i.e. the exponential growth of Evolution. 2) In 2008 this author provided the statistical generalization of the Drake equation yielding the number N of communicating ET civilizations in the Galaxy. N was shown to follow the lognormal probability distribution. 3) We call "b-lognormals" those lognormals starting at any positive time b ("birth") larger than zero. Then the exponential growth curve becomes the geometric locus of the peaks of a one-parameter family of b-lognormals: this is our way to re-define Cladistics. 4) b-lognormals may be also be interpreted as the lifespan of any living being (a cell, or an animal, a plant, a human, or even the historic lifetime of any civilization). Applying this new mathematical apparatus to Human History, leads to the discovery of the exponential progress between Ancient Greece and the current USA as the envelope of all b-lognormals of Western Civilizations over a period of 2500 years. 5) We then invoke Shannon's Information Theory. The b-lognormals' entropy turns out to be the index of "development level" reached by each historic civilization. We thus get a numerical estimate of the entropy difference between any two civilizations, like the Aztec-Spaniard difference in 1519. 6) In conclusion, we have derived a mathematical scheme capable of estimating how much more advanced than Humans an Alien Civilization will be when the SETI scientists will detect the first hints about ETs.

Zhiping Liang

Traditionally, civil law has been viewed as remaining a mere outline or even totally absent in early Chinese law. In this view, civil law constitutes a specifically modern and Western product inappropriate for analyzing the law of ancient Chinese dynasties. This point of view lives on in most contemporary legal history textbooks. However, already at the turn to the 20th century, some late Imperial and early Republican scholars and practitioners drew on the civil–criminal distinction in order to propose legal reforms, thus initiating the vernacularization of civil law in China. Recently, excavated bamboo slips containing ancient Chinese legal texts cast even more doubt on the supposed lack and scarcity of early Chinese civil law. Zhang Chaoyang’s book The Construction of Early Chinese Civil Law offers methodical tools to theorize these insights and to overcome the flaws of contemporary descriptions of early Chinese civil law: Zhang’s new method of localization analyzes the Chinese vernacularization of civil law by situating this civil law in China’s own ancient legal history, identifying both the substantive principles and formal features of the early legal system. This essay critically discusses Zhang’s thesis and investigates in what respect the ‘early Chinese civil law’ can indeed be called civil and law. It thereby arrives at some methodological guidelines and caveats for the modern researcher of early Chinese civil law.

Ivo Topalilov

The present article deals with the short-term coinage with ΜΕΛΣΑ on its reverse that seems to have been issued in the fourth – beginning of third century BC. The author accepts that it is about an individual name and links it with the deeds of an unknown yet Thracian dynast in whose territory the Messambrian <em>polichnion</em> Bizone was established. At this very time a specific Messambrian coinage appeared revealing the creation of a new cult to the oikist whose name in the sources of 1^st century BC is Melsas. The establishment of the <em>polichnion</em> in his territory and his potential support allowed this Thracian dynast to be honoured as an <em>oikist</em> whose cult received an impetus when the Dorian <em>politeia</em> joined the Thracian province of the Roman empire.

Kuan Wang, Yao-Yuan Mao, Andrew R. Zentner et al.

The concentration parameter is a key characteristic of a dark matter halo that conveniently connects the halo's present-day structure with its assembly history. Using 'Dark Sky', a suite of cosmological $N$-body simulations, we investigate how halo concentration evolves with time and emerges from the mass assembly history. We also explore the origin of the scatter in the relation between concentration and assembly history. We show that the evolution of halo concentration has two primary modes: (1) smooth increase due to pseudo-evolution; and (2) intense responses to physical merger events. Merger events induce lasting and substantial changes in halo structures, and we observe a universal response in the concentration parameter. We argue that merger events are a major contributor to the uncertainty in halo concentration at fixed halo mass and formation time. In fact, even haloes that are typically classified as having quiescent formation histories experience multiple minor mergers. These minor mergers drive small deviations from pseudo-evolution, which cause fluctuations in the concentration parameters and result in effectively irreducible scatter in the relation between concentration and assembly history. Hence, caution should be taken when using present-day halo concentration parameter as a proxy for the halo assembly history, especially if the recent merger history is unknown.

Alexander Kozlov

The presented research opens features of the maintenance and the form of the compilation made in IX century known as Excerpta Sangallensia and duplicating fragments from a number of consular lists of Roman Empire and Ostrogoths Kingdom of Ostrogoths 5th – to 6th centuries. Is shown that this source has kept all signs of the chronicle of late antiquity. The document maintenance, however, finds out medieval signs: an abundance tragically, disturbing (with an eschatological charge) information, fixation only especially significant (for concrete year) events, aspiration to chronological definiteness of the fixed facts. The distinctions between Roman and Ravennas by origin with in-formation streams in Excerpta concern especially local events. The data of this document, however, is equivalent, without dependence from Roman or Ravennas origins of the facts shined with it, dates and estimations.