A historical review of select diisocyanates: MDI and TDI production, usage, and occupational health hazards.

Functional recovery and neuroplasticity post-hemispherectomy in humans.

An unknown historic herbarium of Johann Ludwig Buxtorf (1736–1804) from Basel, Switzerland. The rediscovery of an unknown, historic herbarium in 10 fascicles in the Herbarium of the University of Basel (BAS), Switzerland, prompted an investigation to ascribe its contents and assess its significance. An early 20th century effort was unsuccessful, dismissing the collection as "of little scientific value, because collection localities are frequently missing". The herbarium contains 1217 folio-sized, folded sheets, unbound, each with unmounted plants and one or multiple labels, plus ca. 472 loose labels from discarded specimens. Identification of the scientific interaction network of the assembler via provenances of plants indicated on labels,confirmed with handwriting and water mark comparisons, allowed me to identify the assembler as Johann Ludwig Buxtorf (1736–1804), Basel’s chief physician from 1768 to 1804. Labels from surviving herbarium specimens indicate four major components: (1) personal collections, including specimens from Swiss, French, and Dutch botanical gardens, and gifts from "friends", mostly Swiss fellow students from his time in Leiden (Netherlands) around 1759–1760 (ca. 525 labels); (2) older specimens from his family, which include his father, the physician Johann Buxtorf (1702–1768), his maternal grandfather Johann Rudolf Zwinger (1692–1777) and great-grandfather Theodor Zwinger (1658–1724), both Professors of Anatomy and Botany with broad networks themselves (ca. 389 labels); (3) specimens of the important naturalist Swiss Abraham Gagnebin (La Ferrière, 1707–1800; ca. 245 labels); (4) mounted specimens of astounding craftmanship and beauty of an unknown maker (ca. 465 labels); plus 48 illustrations, 460 labels in Buxtorf's handwriting without provenance, and ca. 174 labels of unknown origin. Thus, the Buxtorf herbarium has diverse origins spanning four generations of botanists, jointly revealing a complex 18th-century scientific interaction network, making it an invaluable resource for natural scientific and historical research. This paper is largely the German translation of Jurriaan M. de Vos (2024) Ascribing an unknown historic herbarium to Johann Ludwig Buxtorf (1736–1804). Bull Soc Neuchâteloise Sci Nat 144: 253–274, with minor additions.

Importance. An analysis of Canadian foreign policy formation in the first third of the 20th century in the context of the impact of the First World War on the further evolution of the status of dominions. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to study the historical experience of the foreign policy traditions’ formation of individual countries in the context of the constant transformation of the world order. Materials and Methods. The research is based on official published documents on Canadian foreign policy, memoirs, and archival materials from the personal collections of Canadian political figures. The methodological framework of the study is grounded in the principles of historicism and scientific objectivity. Comparative, historical and genetic methods, system analysis, problemchronological and personological approaches are also used. Results and Discussion. This study traces the evolution of Canada’s foreign policy independence from its status as a British dominion in the early 20th century to its acquisition of international sovereignty. It analyzes the key role of Canadian-American relations as a catalyst for independent foreign policy and examines the key stages in the institutionalization of autonomy. Particular attention is paid to demonstrating the evolutionary, progressive nature of this process, which precluded a revolutionary break with the mother country. Conclusion. Based on the results of the study, itias concluded that the formation of Canada’s foreign policy independence is evolutionary, not revolutionary. This process was not a break with the metropolis, but a gradual transformation of imperial relations, during which the dominion expanded its autonomy step by step. The actions of Canadian leaders, often in defiance of outside pressure and established traditions, have played an important role in the country’s foreign policy independence. The key catalyst for the changes was the factor of Canadian-American relations. Having gone from participating in the Imperial War Cabinet to signing the Treaty of Versailles and membership in the League of Nations, Canada came to sovereignty by adopting the Statute of Westminster in 1931 as a natural result of many years of progressive development.

Background and Aims: Halimedaceae are a group of tropical and subtropical coenocytic green marine macroalgae, notable for their role in carbon fixation and production of calcareous sediments. In Mexico, knowledge of their diversity has been based mainly on non-specialised floristic records, highlighting the need for an updated inventory. Therefore, our objective was to produce a comprehensive review of the Halimedaceae along the Mexican coasts. In addition, we include a preliminary phylogenetic analysis that highlights the need for molecular studies to clarify the diversity of the group Mexico.Methods: A review of specialized literature and herbarium specimens was conducted to compile an updated taxonomic checklist, from which species richness was obtained for each coastal state. Additionally, GenBank was consulted to obtain available molecular sequences, and a preliminary phylogenetic analysis based on the rbcL marker was carried out. Finally, a species accumulation curve by decade, since the first record to the present, was generated.Key results: A total of 46 species, 11 forms and two varieties were recorded, representing approximately 19% of global diversity in the family. In the Atlantic, 41 species, 11 forms and two varieties were documented across five states, and in the Pacific, 10 species were found across nine states, while five species were shared in between both regions. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that Halimedaceae is monophyletic and resolved into several polyphyletic clades within different genera. Records of Halimedaceae in Mexico started in the early 20th century, with few studies in the Pacific and a progressive increase in the Atlantic.Conclusions: Knowledge of Halimedaceae diversity in Mexico is limited and based primarily on floristic lists, with few studies integrating morphological and molecular analyses. This study underscores the need for comprehensive and updated research to better understand the taxonomy and phylogeny of this group in Mexico.

Abstract A richly furnished Sarmatian period grave from the second half of the 4th or early-5th centuries in Szolnok-Helikopterbázis revealed a young woman that thanks to its greater depth, managed to avoid the looters' attention. The most striking finds were her silver earrings adorned with two Sarmatian coin imitations. She was laid to rest silver three brooches and a silver torque with a lock mechanism with parallels to the north and east. The coin imitations, copying early 4th-century Roman originals, are also unique as is the way of subsequently combining them with the earrings. The grave's artefacts highlight high status and innovative ornamentation, offering new insights into Sarmatian cultural expressions.

The analysis is addressed to the little-known side of A.S. Arensky's creative work — the only ballet he wrote, "Egyptian Nights" ("Night in Egypt"). The timeliness of the stated topic is due to the special interest in the composer's personality and works, as the 165th anniversary of his birth is to be celebrated in 2026. One-act ballets with oriental themes, which were staged at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, attract the attention of specialists in their own right. However, the musical and choreographic work "Egyptian Nights" is rarely considered by art historians. The purpose of this work is to identify the features of A.S. Arensky's ballet "Night in Egypt" with a focus on the composer's interpretation of the plot of the novella by J.P.T. Gautier, which served as the basis for the libretto. Using methods of analysis, synthesis, and comparison, the differences in the key characteristics of the main characters, Cleopatra and the young man Amun, are revealed. A.S. Arensky endows the Egyptian queen with the features of a demigoddess, while in the novel by the French writer, her figure is more realistic. The article provides information about the new characters included by the composer. One of these characters is Verenika, Amun's bride. The article suggests that during the preparation of the production of "Night in Egypt," A.S. Arensky drew inspiration from the unfinished work of A.S. Pushkin with the same title. The article provides evidence of the thematic parallels that exist in both the ballet and the poet's literary work, but are absent in the novella by P.J.T. Gautier. Attention is paid to the content of the final scene of the musical and choreographic work, which was altered by A.S. Arensky. Following the trends of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the composer chose to replace Amun's death with his "resurrection" after drinking a poisoned beverage.

The city of Kazan in the early 20th century was an important center of women's education for the Volga-Ural region, where the population was mixed (Orthodox, Muslims, and others). Almost a dozen private girls' schools in Kazan were equivalent in status to gymnasiums. These aspects of regional and ethnic history require analysis through the lens of cultural interaction in a borderland context, because Kazan, as a frontier city, gave rise to new socio-cultural models. The purpose of the study is to examine the historical experience of Kazan in the field of women's education, the ethno-confessional diversity of students in private schools and alternative educational practices, as well as patterns of cultural influence. The first private educational institutions for girls opened in Kazan at the beginning of the 19th century; their founders were foreigners. A hundred years later, gymnasiums were most often opened by Orthodox women who held a teacher’s license. Muslim Tatar women were a significant part of the population of the Kazan province and the Volga region; they formally had access to imperial-type girls’ schools, but remained a minority in them. For them, the Fatiha Aitova Gymnasium, with Tatar as the language of instruction, became an alternative educational option. However, this school was influenced by other girls' educational institutions in Kazan. The article also presents an account of the cooperation of the schools of Fatiha Aitova and Lidiya Shumkova. The article is intended for historians and anyone interested in the history of the Russian Empire.

The state of places of detention reflects the civilizational characteristics of the state, and the reform of the prison system under the influence of legal concepts that are not characteristic of society leads to the emergence of syncretic types of penitentiary institutions. The evolution of the Khiva zindans under the influence of the Russian Empire has not yet been studied, including with due regard for the alternative of the British protectorate, the voluntary establishment of which was planned by the Khan of Khiva in 1872. The purpose of this study is, using the example of the zindan-pit located on the territory of the historical and architectural complex of Ichan-Kala (Khiva, Republic of Uzbekistan), to consider the cultural and legal contradictions between the Russian Empire and Khorezm in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, as well as to analyze the process of transformation of the places of detention of the Khanate of Khiva under the influence of the Russian prison reform of 1879, in a comparative context with the Western European legal tradition and British colonial policy. The results of the study showed the similarity of the Khiva zindan-pit to the European oubliettes; however, the medieval inquisitorial practices of Western Europe were not typical of Khorezm. Under the protectorate, the spread of the Prison Reform of 1879 to the Khanate of Khiva led to a combination of Russian and Central Asian penitentiary traditions, with the gradual abandonment of cruel punishments, which led to the transition to a continental legal system that replaced Sharia law during the Soviet period. This happened in a short time, unlike the penal reforms in the colonies of Great Britain, where numerous, sometimes contradictory, acts were created within the framework of the Anglo-Saxon legal system, and the British authorities used the local tradition of cruel punishments to strengthen their influence

ABSTRACT We introduce a new source for the study of the kin networks, qualifications, and careers of officials in China in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: a dataset constructed from Tongguanlu rosters of officials that include their resumes, degree or other qualifications and rosters of their kin. In contrast with other sources that have been used to study the social origins of holders of high examination degrees including national Jinshi, provincial Juren and exam Gongsheng, Tongguanlu include holders of less prestigious purchased degrees and prefectural Shengyuan exam degrees who accounted for a large share of officials, especially local ones, in the nineteenth century. Information about kin includes not only the names and degrees held by patrilineal father, grandfather, and great-grandfather commonly recorded for national or provincial examination degree holders that have been studied previously, but detailed information about uncles, great-uncles, male cousins, sons, and nephews, and basic information about female kin including mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers, daughters. We provide background on the Tongguanlu as a source, describe how we constructed the dataset, summarize its contents, and then present results on the posts, qualifications, and kin networks of local officials. We show that officials who held purchased degrees and low-level Shengyuan examination degrees were less likely than holders of higher degrees to have other kin who held degrees and that officials with regular and expectant appointments were more likely to have kin with degrees than officials with acting appointments.

Abstract Nearly all the Latin ceremonial music that survives from the mid-15th to early 16th centuries is preserved in three great manuscripts: the Eton, Lambeth and Caius Choirbooks. The first two of these have been the subject of recent recording projects, thus bringing the discography of all three manuscripts close to completion.

ABSTRACT Drawn to Berlin: Comic Workshops in Refugee Shelters and other Stories from a New Europe (2018) by American cartoonist Ali Fitzgerald is a series of interviews with refugees who participate in drawing workshops facilitated by Fitzgerald beginning in the summer of 2015 in the so-called Bubble, a temporary refugee centre in Berlin. The book consists of faithful reproductions of some of the drawings left behind at the Bubble and conversations both during their time there and after they depart, as well as temporal and spatial shifts to interwar Berlin (with a focus on the influx of Jewish refugees), Cold War Berlin (with references to the climate of suspicion caused by state surveillance), but also New York (to briefly revisit the author’s childhood). Fitzgerald engages in a profound meditation on the precarious status of migrants in Berlin (and Germany) in the early 20th and 21st centuries, while also pondering cross-cultural connections and the potential of visual storytelling to produce new and important conversations around migration. This article, thus, considers Drawn to Berlin from the perspective of Michael Rothberg’s argument from Multidirectional Memory (2009), where he pleads for the creation of a space of memory that does not rely on a global competition among traumas and in favour of cultural products that seek to dismantle the current hierarchy of suffering that dominates Western representation and discourse. In doing so, the article also explores Fitzgerald’s aesthetic choices as she ponders the role of comics in the representation of violence, a subject which is well-covered by the critical literature on comics, but also the way cartooning/drawing works as a conduit for the creation of a wider collective memory space with the potential to reposition current hierarchies of representation.

Alexandru Marghiloman (1854–1925) was one of the most prominent figures on the Romanian political stage during the transitional period between the 19th and early 20th centuries. Contemporary perceptions of him were deeply polariz ed, ranging from laudatory praise – which portrayed him as a homo regius and a “providential man” – to vehement criticism, branding him with serious accusations such as being an “agent of German interests” or a “traitor to his people and country”. Modern historiography offers a more nuanced reassessment of his role, depicting him as a statesman who acted with responsi bility and discernment. He is seen as someone who prioritized the national interest over personal gain, making high -risk decisions to ensure the continuity of the Romanian state and the fulfillment of the national ideal. This study aims to investigate the representations and impressions associated with the “Wallachian lord” in the political discourse and public sphere of his time, focus ing on how this figure was received and interpreted by both ideological supporters and opponents, as well as by the general public.

We typify nine orchid names described by Michele Lojacono-Pojero, Filippo Parlatore, Agostino Todaro, Vincenzo Tineo, Giuseppe Bianca and Constantine Rafinesque-Schmaltz, who were active in Sicily between the early 19th and the early 20th centuries. These names refer to seven taxa and two hybrids. An updated taxonomic prospect, protologues, taxonomically relevant characters, ecology and global and regional distribution based on both relevant literature and authors’ personal data are presented.

The article is devoted to the consideration of the problem of the cultural significance of the hunia as a traditional outerwear of Transcarpathia. The idea that the hunia is a multi-level cultural phenomenon that includes utilitarian, aesthetic, social, ethno-identification and sacred dimensions is substantiated. The historical development of the hunia in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a universal garment among the Dolinians, Boykos, and Lemkos is traced, with an indication of local variations and specific features that reflected the cultural identity of ethnographic groups. The text examines the symbolic and sacred functions of the hunia, its role in calendar holidays, wedding, baptism and funeral rites, as well as magical and protective practices. Special attention is paid to the folklore and poetic interpretation of the hunia as a sign of family warmth, maternal care and local pride. The article elucidates the technological and craft aspect of making a hunia, which includes steaming, combing, weaving and felting wool, as well as the modern reconstruction of these processes in educational and cultural projects. The process of transforming a hunia from everyday clothing to a factor of cultural revival, local identity, tourism and design interpretations is revealed. Based on the study of museum exhibitions, festivals, educational programs and modern design projects, it is established that the hunia retains its relevance as a symbol of cultural continuity, spirituality and adaptability of tradition. The article summarizes the results of a comprehensive analysis of the functions of the hunia and its significance in the cultural context of Transcarpathia and the Ukrainian Carpathians, and also provides a generalized characteristic of modern practices for preserving and popularizing traditional crafts. This direction is supplemented by a consideration of the prospects for further research, in particular digital mapping of local types of hunia, comparative studies in adjacent Carpathian regions, semiotic and gender analysis, modern design interpretations. The author concludes that the hunia acts not only as a material object of traditional life, but as a complex cultural symbol that combines historical heritage with modern socio-cultural processes and serves as a marker of local and national identity.

The late 14th and early 15th centuries were a time of profound trials for the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire, driven not only by external threats but also by a severe systemic crisis within the ruling Luxembourg dynasty. On August 20, 1400, four Rhenish electors deposed Wenceslaus IV of Luxembourg from the German throne. The following day, they elected Rupert III of the Palatinate as the King of Germany. This article focuses on the events occurring in Bohemia during this period, which also influenced the relationship between Wenceslaus IV and the German princes. It can be argued that the deterioration of these relations ultimately played a significant role in Wenceslaus IV's removal from the German throne. Crucial to this process was the intertwining of interests among members of the Luxembourg dynasty, who relied on the lands of the Bohemian Crown as their power base to satisfy their own political ambitions. The events of this turbulent period (1396 – 1404), centered on the confrontation between Wenceslaus IV and his brother, King Sigismund of Hungary, were substantially influenced by the broader European context: the Western Schism within the Church and the catastrophic defeat of the crusaders at the Battle of Nicopolis, which shifted the balance of power in the Balkans. The ambitions of the high Bohemian aristocracy also played a significant role. While Wenceslaus IV attempted to maintain control over the state by forming alliances with favorites and resorting to diplomatic maneuvers across Europe, Sigismund – exploiting his brother’s weakness and the support of the Bohemian League of Lords – consistently pursued a strategy to seize power. This article is devoted to a systemic analysis of the forms and methods of political struggle between these two representatives of the Luxembourg dynasty – Wenceslaus IV and Sigismund – within the chronological framework of 1396 – 1404. The chosen topic remains understudied and requires further research.

ABSTRACT Urban bushland fragments have important natural and social values. Their management is challenging because they typically have experienced complex historical disturbances, making it difficult to settle on the most appropriate restoration targets. We illustrate these issues by chronicling vegetation and fire regime changes in the Queens Domain, a 230‐ha bushland fragment adjacent to central Hobart, Tasmania. This area is at the southernmost end of the grassy woodlands occupying a rift valley that divides western and eastern Tasmania. The establishment of Hobart in 1804 by the British disrupted millennia of Tasmanian Aboriginal management, which had maintained a balance between grass, trees, fire and marsupial herbivores in these grassy woodlands. In the early 19th century, the Domain was used for grazing by sheep and cattle, and there was ongoing removal of trees for timber and firewood. By the late 1800s, the natural values of the Domain were increasingly appreciated, leading to provision of public amenities and restrictions on grazing and tree clearing. The exclusion of domestic herbivores led to an increase in grass biomass and more frequent uncontrolled fires. By the late 20th century, dense understories of casuarina ( Allocasuarina verticillata ) established. Ecological surveys, which ran from the 1970s to the 2020s, highlighted the need for targeted management of several endangered grassland herb species, and led to a major programme to reverse casuarina encroachment using mechanical clearing and poisoning. Additionally, concerns about increasing fire risk underpinned a programme of prescribed burning in grassy eucalypt woodland. These interventions have been effective in returning the Domain to a more open woodland state. However, there remains uncertainty as to their costs and benefits for biodiversity as well as their effectiveness in reducing fire hazard. To resolve this uncertainty, targeted experimentation is needed. We briefly describe such an experiment we have established to test the effects of thinning and prescribed fire on fire hazard, floristic diversity and wildlife assemblages in a nearby reserve invaded by casuarina. The findings of this experiment are designed to be generalised to other grassy woodlands in southern Australia, especially urban bushland fragments.

Although Renaissance art often favoured classical architecture as the setting for sacred events and characters, several works from the period, from different European regions, placed religious narratives within rural landscapes that included vernacular architecture. Far from serving as neutral scenery, these rustic settings conveyed symbolic meaning shaped by theological discourse. Christian humanism and Platonic thought converged, prompting many Renaissance paintings to articulate the harmony between the humble life of the countryside and the divine order inscribed in the natural world. Drawing from contemporary humanist thought, pastoral literature, and the iconographic analysis of five case studies, this article argues that vernacular imagery provided a culturally resonant language for divine presence to be more easily experienced. The artistic choice of vernacular architecture, rather than revealing a rejection of Renaissance classicism, suggests a parallel mode of revival, grounded in classical heritage, just as much as Greco-Roman architecture would. This article explores how such architectural choices impacted the audience’s performative construction of sacred meaning, allowing spiritual experience to be mediated through recognisable and symbolically resonant landscapes.

The study of ethnocultural and everyday contacts of the Middle Volga multi-ethnic agrarian societies imposes a special responsibility on humanitarian researchers. The named topic belongs to the category of complex and delicate ones, and, due to its emotional perception by society, like no other, requires carefully thought-out, balanced assessments. The Middle Volga village is distinguished by a multinational and poly-confessional composition of the population. Neighboring for centuries, ethnic and confessional groups of the peasantry found their niche in its socio-cultural space and learned to find a common language with each other in various spheres of everyday life. In the era of capitalist modernization, their interaction became even more intensive. The author of the article directly links the success in developing these issues with the identification and extraction of the necessary information from a large array of historical sources and the conduct of a critical evaluation of the information. Finding this circumstance extremely important, he focuses his attention on the source study aspect of the study of the topic, shares his own search experience with the scientific audience, and analyzes the information potential of the documentary base available to researchers. For citation: Nikolaev G.A. Ethnocultural and Everyday Contacts of the Rural Population of the Kazan and Simbirsk Governorates in the Second Half of the 19th – early 20th Centuries: Source Study Aspect. From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 2026, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 54–72. https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2026-16-1.54-72 (In Russian)

One of the current issues of military-historical science in the Russian Federation at the present stage is the search for data about participants of the First World War. As is known, in Soviet historiography this military campaign was considered “imperialistic”. Accordingly, it was not among the topical themes for study. In the Soviet Union, veterans of the First World War, even true heroes, did not enjoy any benefits. Due to ideology, they did not consider this war a subject of pride; even vice versa, they tried in every way to disguise and level their participation and combat feats, and the memory of those who died during the battles was almost forgotten. The purpose of the study is to investigate the biography of Nabiulla Akhmetgareevich Vakhitov (1886–1940) – a participant of the First World and Civil Wars. Special attention in the article is paid to his military service: first as a lower rank of the Russian Imperial Army, and later as an officer of an infantry reserve regiment. The actualization of interest in this persona is also due to the fact that he was a prominent figure in the socialist movement among the Tatars, as well as an associate and relative of the revolutionary Mullanur Vakhitov. The leading method in studying the biography of N.A. Vakhitov was an integrated approach based on the research of various types of sources. Special historical studies (monographs and research articles), published and unpublished historical sources of the early 20th century are involved in the work. Thanks to the service record of Praporshchik N.A. Vakhitov found in the archive, new facts from his biography were revealed; important aspects related to his military service in various units of the Imperial Army were detailed; the time, place, and exact name of the military educational institution he graduated from during the First World War, which was previously unknown, were clarified. For citation: Abdullin Kh.M. Officer Nabiulla Akhmetgareevich Vakhitov (1886–1940) – a Participant of the First World War. From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 2026, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 73–82. https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2026-16-1.73-82 (In Russian)