Historical Investigation Research Articles

Principles and technologies of historical structures consolidation, case study of Banloc castle complex

Historical monuments (palaces, churches, protected urban areas, so on) are integral part of the national cultural heritage which need activities and measures to protect them. The Banloc complex, located in the west of Romania, encompasses five buildings: the castle, the hunting pavilion, the kitchen, housekeeper house, and the stall. This study involves historical, architectural, structural and physical-chemical investigations with the aim of finding the correct restoration solutions, in good agreement with the Venice Charter, respectively the Nara Charter. Being affected by time and by the seismic sequence (Mw 5.6), the restoration of the building is absolutely necessary for recovering the functionality, structural solution and highlighting the artistic elements. Some analytical techniques, as: X-ray diffraction (XRD), Wavelength Dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF), optical microscopy (OM), and zoom microscopy, Infrared spectroscopy Fourier Transformed (FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy, have been used in this paper in order to clarify the main aspects about the structure, composition and morphological of the samples collected from Pavilion building. The oxides composition, and the possible organic impurities has been identified by WDXRF amd FTIR/Raman spectra, respectively. The microscopy images revealed the colours, fissures, cracks and even holes due to the time weathering processes, and damages they suffered in time.

Critical Analysis of Restoration Practices Against Rising Damp

The restoration of architectural heritage from rising damp is a complex technical and scientific challenge. The paper illustrates a comprehensive approach to address this issue. It highlights critical information gaps and specific topics that need further investigation in the state of the art and current practices. The research methodology adopts a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to the restoration process with the integration of historical investigation, knowledge of building elements and materials, non-invasive diagnostics for identifying degradation phenomena, methods and materials for restoration, and long-term monitoring. The research activity is part of a broader project aimed at establishing operational protocols with advanced technologies for the planned and preventive maintenance of architectural heritage. The outcome will be a digital platform, an open-access tool to support integrated building design and conservation, ensuring sustainable conservation practices to managing rising damp and related issues. The paper focuses on the restoration processes of two significant case studies: the Church of San Gennaro in Capannori (Lucca) and the Church of San Giuseppe in Rosate (Milano). The research results provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and durability of different intervention methods. Moreover, the critical analysis facilitates the choice of best practices for sustainable building heritage conservation.

CASTLE OF CASIMIR III THE GREAT IN ZŁOTORIA

The ruins of the castle in Złotoria were not the subject of interest for a long time after the Second World War. The first architectural and construction inventory was prepared in 1966. At that time, a description of the castle ruins was also made. These were preliminary architectural studies of the monument. Special actions were recommended to save the fragments of walls that were sliding into the Vistula at that time. The next construction and conservation inventory was prepared by researchers from Toruń in 1967. The area of the castle in Złotoria had never been the subject of methodical archaeological excavations, nor detailed historical studies. Situated on the waters of the Vistula and Drwęca, the picturesque ruins of the castle gradually underwent further gradual degradation. The results of archaeological research would probably allow for a more precise reconstruction of the original spatial layout of the castle and for determining any spatial transformations that took place from the 14th to the 20th century. To this day, fragments of the castle in ruins have survived: the foundations and lower parts of the angular tower, significant fragments of the southern and south-eastern defensive walls, the foundations of the gate building standing on the southern side, as well as traces of a wide moat separating the promontory built with the stronghold from the mainland. The aim of the article is to present the results of detailed historical studies and to develop guidelines for organizing a methodical cycle of archaeological and architectural research, related to historical investigation.

Ports, Cities, and Hinterlands: Historical Investigation of the Economic Relationship between Karachi and the Indus River Basin

Ports, Cities, and Hinterlands: Historical Investigation of the Economic Relationship between Karachi and the Indus River Basin

Frederick John Lamp (2024) – Python Spirit on the Baga Coast–A Scientific and Art Historical Investigation

Frederick John Lamp (2024) – Python Spirit on the Baga Coast–A Scientific and Art Historical Investigation

Social and Historical Investigation of China’s Ethnic Minorities in 50s-60s of the 20th Century

Social and Historical Investigation of China’s Ethnic Minorities in 50s-60s of the 20th Century

The presence of the “internationality” of international criminal justice

Justice is a perpetual topic for mankind. International criminal justice is generally regarded as criminal justice or global justice in academia, but neither of them can provide comprehensive content for international criminal justice alone. In order to make international criminal justice be correctly understood, both theories must be integrated. But there is tension between the two propositions. In order to bridge the gap between the two theories, it is necessary to build a bridge for the integration of the two theories ― international criminal justice must incorporate the “international” element. “Internationality” is an indispensable element of international criminal justice. Through the historical investigation of the concepts of “global justice” and “criminal justice”, this paper believes that the International Criminal Court must fully consider the “international” characteristics of “individual” embedded in “state” when allocating “negative evaluation” between different cases. The authority of the International Criminal Court can be maintained only when the “internationality” of international criminal justice is fully considered by the International Criminal Court.

Considering species functional and phylogenetic rarity in the conservation of fish biodiversity

AbstractAimRare species make substantial contributions to coastal ecosystem functions. Functional rarity (FR) and phylogenetic rarity (PR) are important features for biodiversity conservation. This work aimed to discuss the necessity and reasonableness of conserving fish FR and PR in coastal seas.LocationChina.MethodsBy compiling historical fish investigation data, joint species distribution modelling (JSDM) was applied to model fish communities in coastal China Seas. Biogeographic patterns of FR and PR were explored, and the effectiveness of current MPA networks in terms of match/mismatch with the hotspots of rarity was assessed.ResultsA total of 44 functionally rare species and 22 phylogenetically rare species were identified. Six of these species were both functionally and phylogenetically rare, and only one was listed as endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Functional rarity hotspots covered 10.27% of the coastal areas, which geographically converged in the southern and eastern coast of Taiwan, the Yangtze River Estuary and the Yellow River Estuary. Phylogenetic rarity hotspots only covered 3.06% of the coastal areas, which were sporadically distributed in the coastal East China Sea, the Bohai Sea and the northern Yellow Sea. Current marine‐protected areas (MPAs) only represented 16.16% of the FR hotspots and 20.48% of the PR hotspots, indicating substantial mismatched areas between the MPAs and the hotspots of FR and PR.Main ConclusionsOnly considering threatened species in conservation practices will omit functionally and phylogenetically rare species because FR and PR are not necessarily correlated with species threat status on the IUCN Red List. Functional rarity hotspots do not necessarily overlap with PR hotspots, and current MPAs mismatch the majority of these areas. We therefore advocate that conservation prioritization and expansion of MPA networks should account for FR and PR both at the species and site levels.

Christian-Muslim Relations in the Second Half of 19th Century India in View of Syed Nāṣir-ul-Dīn Muḥammad Abūlmanṣūr Dehlvī (d. 1903)

The current study examined the nature of Christian-Muslim relationships in 19th-century India. It is argued that their relationships were largely shaped in the context of the polemical debates that were developed to defend the teachings and tenets of their respective religions. Syed Nāṣir-ul-Dīn Muḥammad Abūlmanṣūr Dehlvī (d. 1903) was a polemical Muslim writer who wrote approximately 25 books in the refutation of Christianity. He also defended the religion of Islam; however, his work remains in oblivion. The primary objective of the current research was to analyse Dehlvī's major works dedicated to refute Christianity and to assess their significance. This research holds importance under two key reasons. Firstly, it sheds light on the nature of Christian-Muslim relationships during the 19th century and secondly, it highlights the significance of Muslim writings about other religions, particularly Christianity, in the modern world. The research concluded that while the polemical technique, due to its confrontational aspect, may no longer be the primary method of religious studies. The texts, however, generated through this approach can still be significant resources for students and academics since they offer opportunities for critical thinking, historical investigation, and a better understanding of intricate relationships that exist between religious traditions. Therefore, polemical writings play a significant role in advancing the academic knowledge in the field of religious studies.

Phase transitions between tropical, subtropical, and extratropical cyclones: A review from IWTC-10

This review, which was adapted from a Tenth International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones (IWTC-10) report, discusses research findings and operational practices relevant to cyclone types and phase transitions (extratropical, subtropical, and tropical). The cyclone phase space (CPS) method is widely used in both historical investigations and real-time evaluation of cyclone type and transition; however, CPS parameter values depend on input data resolution, and universal thresholds do not currently exist to delineate when a cyclone transitions from one type to another. Assessments of phase transitions in a changing climate highlight potential latitude shifts in extratropical transition and increased potential for tropical transition, but realistic projections of future trends likely require high-resolution simulations that can capture the cyclone warm core.Operational meteorological centers apply varied approaches to cyclone classification via CPS parameters and other criteria, some of which depend on the tropical basin, yet these approaches cannot fully address challenges in operational classification and subsequently in communicating risks associated with these phase transitions. We recommend a multivariate historical assessment of tropical and subtropical cyclones across all basins in which they occur, including the South Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, to identify the potential for a more universal cyclone classification approach that meets operational needs.

Naples: a city away from water

ABSTRACT Over time, a large number of stakeholders have affected the Italian port city of Naples. The millenary history of Naples reveals a port that has been strongly intertwined with the city. Yet, recent history shows a different story. The historical investigation analysed in this article points out a conflict between several different authorities that led the port. As these developed into separate entities they detached people from the water. This article offers an institutional history. Using the concept of path dependence it argues that a past system of decision-making concerning the development of the port city reinforced the separation of land from water in Naples. Path dependence is understood as a resistance by institutions (rules) and actors (decision makers) to changes in patterns of behaviour and a tendency to repeat previous decisions and practices. This article analyses a series of critical junctures so as to analyse the constellation of actors and decisions which have prevented the city from living with water. The article concludes by arguing that understanding the articulated system of past decision-making is a key to (re)conceptualizing the current state of the city and (re)imagining ways by which the city might be reunited with its waters.

Is Eriocnemis luciani meridae (Aves: Trochilidae) a diagnosable taxon and does it come from Venezuela, with remarks on the collectors Salomn Briceo and Walther Frederick Henninger.

Eriocnemis luciani meridae was originally described from a single specimen collected in the late 19th century in western Venezuela. Subsequently a second specimen of E. luciani, also labelled Venezuela, has been taken as additional proof for a highly disjunct population of this hummingbird, which otherwise ranges from southwest Colombia to southern Peru (taxonomy-dependent). Eriocnemis l. meridae has been accepted by all of the global checklists of birds, but has been routinely ignored by Venezuelan sources. In an effort to resolve this dichotomy of treatment, we re-examined the specimens plumage in comparison with relevant material in two major European bird collections. We found that the characters used to erect E. l. meridae are only doubtfully or weakly expressed in the holotype and appear invisible in the Ohio specimen, but both are clearly referrable to the species E. luciani. Evidence that the second specimen was definitely collected in Venezuela is weak and its overall provenance is unclear. In contrast, an extensive historical investigation of the relevant collectors indicates that the holotype does appear to have been taken in Venezuela, although perhaps not in the precise locality indicated for it. This leaves an unusual situation whereby we consider the case for a separate Venezuelan endemic taxon to be unproven, but there is no incontrovertible reason to exclude the species from the countrys avifauna; according to recent niche modelling data it is best searched for in the Sierra Nevada of Mrida state. In contrast, a second subspecies of E. luciani, E. l. baptistae, described by the same authors as endemic to part of western Ecuador is, according to our reappraisal, clearly diagnosable and is upheld.

A Heritage Digital Twin ontology-based description of Giovanni Baronzio's “Crucifixion of Christ” analytical investigation

The methodologies of Cultural Heritage research and in particular those related to conservation and the analytical study of heritage assets and works of art, recently grouped under the term Heritage Sciences, engage a broad range of disciplines, each with its own characteristic workflows for generating data. Consequently, an emerging challenge is the need to define a digital framework for multi-source data integration, associated with a single heritage asset, but generated by various tools and methods which are often pursued by different research groups and at different times. This digital framework is discussed in this essay as the digital twin of a heritage asset, comprising of the documentation data associated with a heritage asset and its virtual representation. To best describe and define a Heritage Digital Twin ontology and its associated knowledge graph, we use a specific example drawing from art historical and analytical investigation of a 13th century Italian painting masterpiece, the Crucifixion of Christ, by Giovanni Baronzio, one of the leaders of the so-called Rimini School of painting which was greatly influenced by the work of the famous Renaissance master Giotto di Bondone.

‘Selective historians’: The construction of cisness in Byzantine and Byzantinist texts

AbstractFar from being a natural, prelapsarian state, cisness is a hegemonic ideal of gender performance demanded of all people. This article explores the construction of cisness in the field of Byzantine studies, and the historiographical tropes through which it is maintained, naturalised and made invisible. It uses analysis of hegemonic cisness in Byzantine studies to suggest new avenues of investigation for Byzantine gender history. It proposes ‘cisness’ as method; a focal point for historical and historiographical investigation. It asks, was there cisness in Byzantium? If so, did it resemble ours?

In pursuit of excellence: a historical investigation of scientific production in Indonesia’s higher education system, 1990–2020

In pursuit of excellence: a historical investigation of scientific production in Indonesia’s higher education system, 1990–2020

Pathways for Naturalistic Looking Behavior in Primate I: Behavioral Characteristics and Brainstem Circuits.

Organisms control their visual worlds by moving their eyes, heads, and bodies. This control of "gaze" or "looking" is key to survival and intelligence, but our investigation of the underlying neural mechanisms in natural conditions is hindered by technical limitations. Recent advances have enabled measurement of both brain and behavior in freely moving animals in complex environments, expanding on historical head-fixed laboratory investigations. We juxtapose looking behavior as traditionally measured in the laboratory against looking behavior in naturalistic conditions, finding that behavior changes when animals are free to move or when stimuli have depth or sound. We specifically focus on the brainstem circuits driving gaze shifts and gaze stabilization. The overarching goal of this review is to reconcile historical understanding of the differential neural circuits for different "classes" of gaze shift with two inconvenient truths. (1) "classes" of gaze behavior are artificial. (2) The neural circuits historically identified to control each "class" of behavior do not operate in isolation during natural behavior. Instead, multiple pathways combine adaptively and non-linearly depending on individual experience. While the neural circuits for reflexive and voluntary gaze behaviors traverse somewhat independent brainstem and spinal cord circuits, both can be modulated by feedback, meaning that most gaze behaviors are learned rather than hardcoded. Despite this flexibility, there are broadly enumerable neural pathways commonly adopted among primate gaze systems. Parallel pathways which carry simultaneous evolutionary and homeostatic drives converge in superior colliculus, a layered midbrain structure which integrates and relays these volitional signals to brainstem gaze-control circuits.

The Historical Development and Characteristics of the Architectural Formation of Ancient Academies in Northern Fujian

With the development of Chinese traditional ideology and culture and the changes in history, whether it is from the contention of a hundred schools of thought to the unique branch of Confucianism to the development of Neo-Confucianism, the architecture of the academy always carries and shows the context of its development. At the same time, traces of regional culture and cultural and historical development are imprinted. Research on the origin and diversity of academic architectural forms can protect and inherit the historical context of the academy. Through field investigation and literature research, the article takes several representative academies in northern Fujian as examples. Carry out historical construction investigations, analyze and compare the characteristics and background of the architectural forms of Northern Fujian Academy in different periods of history. Supplementary to the research on the architecture of folk academies in northern Fujian.

Sin and Synodality: The Struggles of the Third Mexican Council

This paper is a historical and contextual investigation of the practice of synods and synodality in the historical moment of the colonial Church of New Spain. Bishops, clergy, and religious orders vied for ecclesial and spiritual power against civil and royal authorities, and often even against themselves. The bishops of New Spain did not use the language of “enlarging the space of one’s tent”, but they were deeply and genuinely disturbed by the evils present concretely before the eyes of the Church. The Third Mexican Provincial Council of 1585 will be examined as a case study of how the Church has listened to and responded synodally to large-scale abuse of human dignity perpetuated and legitimized by the social order. The paper will then explore how the Council’s decrees anticipate modern notions of synodality. The historical perspective of the bishops of New Spain and contemporary documents of the Synod on Synodality will help form the basis for questions about how Christ is made central in synodal gatherings.

Helical chromonema coiling is conserved in eukaryotes.

Efficient chromatin condensation is required to transport chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis, forming daughter cells. While it is well accepted that these processes follow fundamental rules, there has been a controversial debate for more than 140 years on whether the higher-order chromatin organization in chromosomes is evolutionarily conserved. Here, we summarize historical and recent investigations based on classical and modern methods. In particular, classical light microscopy observations based on living, fixed, and treated chromosomes covering a wide range of plant and animal species, and even in single-cell eukaryotes suggest that the chromatids of large chromosomes are formed by a coiled chromatin thread, named the chromonema. More recently, these findings were confirmed by electron and super-resolution microscopy, oligo-FISH, molecular interaction data, and polymer simulation. Altogether, we describe common and divergent features of coiled chromonemata in different species. We hypothesize that chromonema coiling in large chromosomes is a fundamental feature established early during the evolution of eukaryotes to handle increasing genome sizes.

Erskine Nicol and the representation of national and religious identities in nineteenth-century Ireland

Abstract This article investigates the visual representation of Irish Catholicism in mid-nineteenth century genre painting through a close analysis of St Patrick’s Day (1856), a picturesque genre painting by the Scottish artist Erskine Nicol. In doing so, it will explore why artists like Nicol, Frederic William Burton and others chose to equate Irish rural Catholicism with romantic ideas of nature and outdoor ‘primitive’ worship. This tradition of representation will be examined in the context of contemporary Catholic institutional expansion across Ireland following the removal of the legal disabilities known as the ‘penal laws’ in 1829, and the parallel emphasis on the church building as the location of worship, the sacraments, and Catholic devotional life. To date, scholars of Nicol’s oeuvre have tended to focus on Nicol’s representation of an Irish national ‘type’ or ‘character’. My reading of Nicol’s St Patrick’s Day, however, aims to extend the art historical investigation of the signification of the Irish stereotype in Victorian painting, and to examine Nicol’s painting within the interwoven frameworks of national identity and religious identity. This analysis of St Patrick’s Day is rooted in a consideration of both genre and historical context, facilitating new insights into ideas of ‘peasant’ or ‘primitive’ Catholicism as central to mid-Victorian representations of the Irish ‘national character’.