Early History Research Articles

2.08 Ga andesitic gneisses in the southwestern Yangtze Block: Unveiling new insights into its geological evolution

The early geological history of the Yangtze Block has been difficult to unravel due to limited exposure of Archean to Paleoproterozoic rocks. Through detailed geological investigations and mapping in the southwestern (SW) Yangtze Block, this study identified Paleoproterozoic andesitic and granitic gneisses, as well as associated sedimentary rocks, within the Xinanchang (XAC) Complex. Zircon U-Pb dating yields a concordant age of 2078 ± 11 Ma for the andesitic gneiss, and a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 1835 ± 12 Ma for the granitic gneiss. The zircon grains from these gneisses exhibit oscillatory zoning and Th/U ratios of 0.40–0.94, corroborating their magmatic origins. Additionally, U-Pb age spectra of concordant zircon grains from the XAC strata range from 1.80 to 2.69 Ga. Together with the intrusive relationship between the 1.84 Ga granitic gneiss and the strata, this implies a depositional age of ca. 1.84 Ga for the XAC strata. The andesitic gneiss exhibits enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and light rare earth elements (LREEs), but shows depletion in Nb, Ta, and Ti. These geochemical signatures are consistent with those of contemporaneous andesitic magmatic rocks in the northern Yangtze Block, suggesting that they were derived from subduction-related sources. In contrast, the granitic gneiss in the XAC Complex shows A-type granite affinities, similar to contemporaneous granitoids widely found across the Yangtze Block. This indicates that these granitoids were formed in a post-orogenic extensional tectonic setting. The northern and SW Yangtze blocks both show records of a transition from subduction to post-orogenic extensional environments between 2.10 Ga and 1.85 Ga, suggesting that the proto-Yangtze Block likely aggregated before 2.10 Ga.

The Relationships Between Jews and Muslims in the Past and Present—Pedagogical Implications from an Islamic Religious Education Perspective in a German Context

This article explores the historical and contemporary relationships between Jews and Muslims, with a focus on the implications for Islamic religious education. It highlights the complexity of Jewish–Muslim relations, characterized by periods of coexistence and conflict. Early Islamic history reveals an inclusive community of believers encompassing pious Jews and Christians, challenging modern perceptions of inherent antagonism. The article examines the evolution of these relationships, noting significant changes influenced by political dynamics. In Germany, political discourses further shape mutual perceptions, often exacerbating tensions between Jewish and Muslim communities. Educationally, the article advocates for addressing distorted perspectives and emphasizes the value of intertextual analysis of the Quran and the Torah.

Study on Type IV Cracking Behavior of T92/Super304H Dissimilar Steel Welded Joints in Long-Term Service

The microstructure and residual mechanical properties of several groups of T92/Super304H dissimilar steel welded joints (hereinafter referred to as welded joints) in service for 70,000~85,000 h were analyzed. The results show that the early service history of the welded joint results in the polygonization of the martensite lath and the coarsening of the precipitated phase on the side of T92 steel. In the further creep process, the cavities nucleate along the precipitated phase interface and the triple junction grain boundary. Under the same load, the creep life of the joint decreases rapidly with the increase in service time and, finally, type IV cracking occurs. Type IV cracking needs to meet two conditions: 1. a large degree of precipitated phase coarsening and cavity nucleation in the fine grain heat-affected zone (FGHAZ) and 2. a much lower loading stress than the yield strength.

The Laboratory of Brain and Cognition: A Lab Is Born.

The Laboratory of Brain and Cognition: A Lab Is Born.

Interannual early life history variation and larval dispersal of three tropical anguillid eel species recruiting in French Polynesia

Interannual early life history variation and larval dispersal of three tropical anguillid eel species recruiting in French Polynesia

BD+44°493: Chemo-dynamical Analysis and Constraints on Companion Planetary Masses from WIYN/NEID Spectroscopy* *The WIYN Observatory is a joint facility of the University of Wisconsin Madison, Indiana University, NSF NOIRLab, the Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, and Princeton University. Based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Based on observations made

In this work, we present high-resolution (R ∼ 100,000), high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ∼ 800) spectroscopic observations for the well-known, bright, extremely metal-poor, carbon-enhanced star BD+44°493. We determined chemical abundances and upper limits for 17 elements from WIYN/NEID data, complemented with 11 abundances redetermined from Subaru and Hubble data, using the new, more accurate, stellar atmospheric parameters calculated in this work. Our analysis suggests that BD+44°493 is a low-mass (0.83 M ⊙), old (12.1–13.2 Gyr) second-generation star likely formed from a gas cloud enriched by a single metal-free 20.5 M ⊙ Population III star in the early Universe. With a disk-like orbit, BD+44°493 does not appear to be associated with any major merger event in the early history of the Milky Way. From the precision radial-velocity NEID measurements (median absolute deviation = 16 m s−1), we were able to constrain companion planetary masses around BD+44°493 and rule out the presence of planets as small as msini=2 M J out to periods of 100 days. This study opens a new avenue of exploration for the intersection between stellar archaeology and exoplanet science using NEID.

Supplemental Oxygen on the Annie Smith Peck Expedition of 1903 to 6,367 m (20,892 ft) Mount Sorata (Illampu).

Lankford, Harvey V, Hannah Kimberley. Supplemental Oxygen on the Annie Smith Peck Expedition of 1903 to 6,367 m (20,892 ft) Mount Sorata (Illampu). High Alt Med Biol. 00:00-00, 2024. The 1903 expedition to 6,367 m (20,892 ft) Mount Sorata (Illampu) in Bolivia that was conceived, organized, and led by American mountaineer Annie Smith Peck appears to have been the first to take a supplemental oxygen apparatus to a great mountain. The expedition did not have heavy cylinders of compressed oxygen or closed-circuit rebreathers with chemically generated oxygen but took an apparatus to produce oxygen on the mountain apparently by a 19th century heated chlorate chemical method. Oxygen was to be manufactured in camp, stored in rubber bags, and used with an open-circuit breathing set while climbing. The equipment was taken, but once in Bolivia, a late change in plans resulted in a summit attempt on 6,427 m (21,086 ft) Ancohuma rather than Illampu on the twin-peaked Sorata massif. The summit attempt ended prematurely at 4,700 m (15,350 ft), and the oxygen system was not used. The present paper reviews some of the supplemental oxygen options that were available in 1903 and examines the Sorata expedition, a little-known part of the early history of mountaineering oxygen use.

Diagenetic impacts on calcium isotopes and Mg/Ca ratios of Globigerinoides ruber shells in the eastern Mediterranean

The presence of Mg-rich calcite in foraminifera shells has impeded traditional calcite-based paleothermometry in the eastern Mediterranean, complicating our understanding of the region's past climate. This study analysed the calcium isotopic composition ( δ 44/40 Ca) in the shells of the planktonic foraminifera species Globigerinoides ruber (white), collected from 12 core top sediment samples spanning the Aegean and Levantine Seas in the eastern Mediterranean. The shells exhibited varying degrees of early diagenetic Mg-rich authigenic calcite coatings, which complicates traditional calcite-based paleothermometry in the region. Our findings demonstrate a significant correlation between the δ 44/40 Ca data and the Mg/Ca ratios of the shells and suggest that the inorganic calcite overgrowth originates from seawater. Moreover, the calcium isotopic composition increases with the amount of calcite overgrowth. This relationship allowed us to quantify the maximum potential inorganic endmember. The highest amount of post-depositional calcite precipitation was observed in the warm, shallow basins of the South Aegean Sea. The diagenetic alteration of the primary biogenic δ 44/40 Ca geochemical signal is linked to the quantity of secondary calcite present. By combining Ca isotope and Mg/Ca measurements on isolated foraminifera tests, we provide novel insights into the early diagenetic history of carbonate-bound geochemical proxies.

Sociodemographic Scenario of Female Patients with Breast Cancer: Bangladesh Perspective

Background: Breast cancer is the leading malignancy among women worldwide, and in Bangladesh, it presents a significant public health concern. The sociodemographic factors such as age, marital status, contraceptive use, and reproductive history have a profound impact on breast cancer incidence, diagnosis, and outcomes. This study examines these characteristics among Bangladeshi female breast cancer patients to provide insights into the unique epidemiological trends in this region. Objective: To analyze the sociodemographic characteristics of Bangladeshi female breast cancer patients and compare the findings with other global and regional studies. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with 50 female breast cancer patients diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. The patients were selected from the National Institute of Cancer Research & Hospital in Dhaka, and their sociodemographic data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires. Data on age, marital status, contraceptive use, and reproductive history were analyzed and compared with findings from other studies. Results: Among the 50 patients, the majority (64%) were aged 31-50 years, while 28% were between 51-70 years. Only 8% of the patients were aged 18-30, and there were no patients in the 71-90 age group. The majority of the patients (96%) were married, while only 4% were single. History of contraceptive use was reported by 68% of the patients. The study revealed a pattern of early menarche, high parity, and extended breastfeeding, aligning with other LMICs' trends but differing from patterns seen in high-income countries. Conclusion: The sociodemographic profile of breast cancer patients in Bangladesh mirrors patterns seen in other low- and middle-income countries, with younger women comprising the majority of cases. Factors such as early marriage, contraceptive use, and reproductive history play a significant role in the risk of developing breast cancer. These findings ...........

Praying with Moses Cordovero: Adopting and Adapting Spanish Kabbalah in Italy and East-Central Europe

Abstract This article explores Moses Cordovero’s (1522–1570) commentary on the Rosh Hashanah liturgy and its reception among Italian and East-Central European Jews, highlighting its intersections with broader issues in early modern Jewish history, such as manuscript and print cultures, individual mobility, and the dissemination of knowledge. Through an in-depth analysis of three documents—an annotated printed Mahzor and two manuscripts written in Ashkenazi script—the article demonstrates how individuals enhanced and adapted Cordovero’s kabbalistic intentions for their own liturgical practices. The study traces the journey of Cordovero’s commentary from manuscript to print and back into manuscript, emphasizing the personal stories and material transformations that made this text a practical tool for prayer. Ultimately, the article provides insights into the dynamic interplay between Cordoverean kabbalah and local liturgical rites, illustrating how early modern Jews actively engaged with and reshaped their devotional texts.

SOME COMMENTS ON THE NATURE OF GLASSES

ABSTRACT I undertake a brief presentation of the early history of the development of our modern understanding of glass-forming liquids that provides a look at how the scientific and technological communities were viewing the state of the art and how the knowledge in the field developed. I discuss aspects of our understanding from how the Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann (VFT) equation became known to questions about the development of the concept of the “ideal” glass transition. The framework for this history leads us to ask whether some of the cautions that the pioneering researchers provided should have been taken more seriously by the community. I discuss, in particular, the view presented by Tammann and Hesse [Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 156, 245 (1926)] cautioning that the apparent singularity of the viscosity at a finite temperature was not physical and how the, now famous, VFT equation is accurate for interpolation rather than for extrapolation. The other point is the strong sense by much of the glass community that the so-called Kauzmann paradox [Chem. Rev. 43, 219 (1948)] is fundamental to glass-formation despite the comment by Kauzmann himself that the extrapolation of the entropy to negative values is “operationally meaningless.” I build on these ideas through a presentation of my own data and that of others that addresses the Tammann and Hesse comment through experiments that show that there is not a viscosity (or relaxation time) divergence near to the Kauzmann or VFT temperatures, and I show that the equilibrium entropy of a polymer that cannot crystallize shows no evidence of an ideal glass transition that is often invoked as a means of avoiding the Kauzmann paradox. In addition to providing some sense of the history of time (or a brief history of time and temperature in glass-forming liquids, with apologies to Stephen Hawking) and viscosity, I think that the data presented lead to the conclusion that much of our understanding of the problem of glass-formation is based on misleading interpretations of the original works as well as being inconsistent with the newer data that have been published over that past 25 yr or so. On an optimistic note, there are newer models that do not rely on the VFT divergence or the Kauzmann paradox to account for glass-formation in supercooled or equilibrium liquids. In addition, the experimental situation clearly leads to the possibility of deeper investigations into the “deep glassy state” through “finessing” the geological timescale issue of creating equilibrium glasses. Such investigations are ultimately important to understanding behavior of glassy materials, especially polymers, that are used deep in the glassy state, but still close enough to the glass temperature that models able to reliably predict their behavior require better representations of glass-formation to engineer their performance.

A Chinese Doctor in Eighteenth-Century Naples and the Practice of Pulse Diagnosis

Abstract Diagnosing a patient on the basis of their pulse alone is an impressive demonstration of medical ability for which early modern Chinese doctors were famous. This article looks at the early history of Chinese medicine in Europe by examining the encounter between Xu Shizhi, who travelled to Naples to study for the Catholic priesthood but became a sensation as a doctor, and Domenico Cirillo, a prominent physician who met him through a patient and became interested in Chinese medicine. Although Chinese pulse manuals had been translated into European languages, the sense of touch is impossible to convey in words, but when Xu met Cirillo, he was able to demonstrate how to feel the pulse. Cirillo then combined elements of Chinese medicine and new vitalist theories of the nervous system to produce a system of his own, published as the Tractatus de pulsibus, which he taught to his students and which became widespread across southern Italy. Recent work on the global circulation of medical ideas in the early modern period has focused on texts and pharmaceuticals, and on encounters in colonial spaces. Xu and Cirillo’s story suggests the importance of personal interactions in conveying tacit knowledge as a key part of this circulation.

Utilitarians, Educators, Poets: The Beginnings of the <em>Westminster Review</em> and the London Mechanics’ Institution

The Westminster Review and the London Mechanics’ Institution were established within months of each other in 1823–24. The prestige periodical, founded on faith in the power of print media to improve lives by the diffusion of knowledge through the social body, and the institution undertaking a more direct and practical route to the same end, were evidently of the same political spirit and historical moment. This article seeks to add texture to the early history of these two initiatives and the radical London milieu that produced them by delving beneath the official documented accounts into the subterranean networks that connected the Westminster and the London Mechanics’ Institution in the mid-1820s. In so doing it complicates a too easy identification of the relationship between them as simply one of shared utilitarian and party political ideology. It looks beyond public manifestos to consider other sources, such as Anna Birkbeck’s album (begun in 1825), which brings familiar figures into different relation, and introduces new names, such as Mary Shelley, into the interwoven threads that represented radical London at this time. Other stories, like that of the Greek Committee, whose secretary John Bowring, also editor of the Westminster, contributed a poem on George Birkbeck to the album, cut across the histories of the journal Bowring edited and the mechanics’ institution he supported. Other actors, such as Lord Byron, and other forms — poems, cartoons — help us to view these years more fully, and resist the binaried accounts of utilitarianism and Romanticism that run through early commentaries and subsequent scholarship. In fact, things were much less clearly defined. Such an approach reminds us that the imaginative arts were an integral part of the conception and practice of both the Westminster Review and Dr Birkbeck’s London Mechanics’ (later Literary and Scientific) Institution.

The Conundrum of Similarity: Tsubouchi Shōyō and H. M. Posnett on the Meaning of Cross-Textual Resemblance

ABSTRACT How can a critic account for a perceived resemblance between texts that are not related by influence? The present article examines how this question was answered by Tsubouchi Shōyō, a key figure in the early history of the academic discipline of comparative literature in Japan. In 1890 or 1891, Shōyō lectured on a then-new field of inquiry: hishō (or hikaku) bungaku. His lectures were avowedly a free adaptation of Hutcheson Macaulay Posnett’s Comparative Literature (1886). Shōyō was among the first generation of Japanese to receive an education in European literatures and undertook pioneering work in what might be called “east-west” criticism, uncovering many similarities between works in Japanese and English. But since there had been almost no exchange between Japanese literature and European literatures for centuries, accounting for those similarities posed a challenge. This might explain why Shōyō found Posnett’s methodology valuable: Posnett applied social science to the study of literature as a way to supersede criticism based on identifiable literary influence. Shōyō’s own comparative criticism, however, differed from Posnett’s: while Posnett maintained that resemblances, even between notionally unrelated texts, must be referable to some commonality of context, Shōyō maintained that cross-textual similarity could arise purely by accident.

Comprehensive phylogenomic analysis of Zika virus: Insights into its origin, past evolutionary dynamics, and global spread

BackgroundZika virus (ZIKV), a Flaviviridae family member, has been linked to severe neurological disorders. Despite detailed studies on recent outbreaks, the early evolutionary history of ZIKV remains partially unclear. This study elucidates ZIKV origin and evolutionary dynamics, focusing on recombination events, early lineage diversification, and virus spread across continents. MethodsWe assessed recombination using multiple methods. We conducted Bayesian phylogenetic analyses to understand the evolutionary relationships and timing of key diversification events. Model selection was carried out to determine the most appropriate evolutionary model for our dataset. ResultsOur phylogenies revealed recent recombination between Singaporean and African lineages, indicating the co-circulation of diverse lineages during outbreaks. Thailand was identified as a crucial hub in the spread across Asia. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that the ZIKV lineage dates back to the eleventh century, with the first significant diversification occurring in the nineteenth century. The timing of the re-introduction of the Asian lineage into Africa and the delay between probable introduction and outbreak onset were also determined. ConclusionsThis study provides novel insights into ZIKV's origin and early evolutionary dynamics, highlighting Thailand's role in the spread of the virus in Asia and recent recombination events between distant lineages. These findings emphasize the need for continuous surveillance and a better understanding of ZIKV biology to forecast and mitigate future outbreaks.

Media Arts Suspensions and Deviations - Paz dos Reis between Cinema and Photography

Media have non-linear evolutions. This means that new media failures or retractions can highlight overlooked features of old media. The very early history of Portuguese Cinema is one of those moments: the new and promising cinema technologies were first experimented and then discarded by Aurélio da Paz dos Reis, the pioneer of Portuguese cinema. Instead, he intensely explored in photography a solution for covering current affairs. The creation of the ‘Portuguese Stereoscope’, a commercial stereoscopic card series that depicted political events such as the agitated republic rallies, the social life of the bourgeoisie and the daily life in the streets of Porto, was an international innovation: it consisted of the very first photojournalism in 3D. This research project will investigate this historical fact by checking in the press the events covered by Paz dos Reis and by creating an online media art installation that will allow the matching of these materials with his stereos to understand how these 3D news materials relate to current VR 360º new videos. This digital curation will be developed as an artistic research method which will also allow to experiment with film materials: photograph the original Aurelio’s camera kept by the Portuguese Cinematheque (ANIM) to create a 3d object, and a documentary film focused on some of his most symbolic photographs. It is expected that this research project will lead to a new approach towards the work of Paz dos Reis.

Reconstruction of ancient sulfate‒methane transition depths using the concentrations and sulfur isotopic compositions of authigenic sulfide minerals in marine sediments

On the basis of a one-dimensional transport-reaction model, we propose a novel approach to identify the relationship between the depth of the sulfate‒methane transition (SMT) and the stratigraphic distribution of authigenic sulfide minerals in terms of both concentration and sulfur isotopic composition. We apply this approach to Ocean Drilling Program Sites 994 and 995 at the Blake Ridge, offshore southeastern North America. Within the present-day sulfate reduction zone, our numerical simulation suggests that sulfide mineralization is basically at a steady state, the concentrations of which depend largely on the reactivity of sedimentary organic carbon. The observed extreme 34S-depletion of sulfide minerals (e.g., δ34S values as low as −45‰ VCDT) can occur without the process of sulfur disproportionation. We then derive a series of theoretical profiles by changing the SMT depth from 4 m to 30 m below the seafloor and construct a contour plot of the theoretical SMT depth as a function of the concentration and sulfur isotopic composition of solid-phase sulfides after complete mineralization under steady-state conditions. Below the present-day SMT, six stratigraphic locations of the ancient SMT are identified and their depths below each contemporaneous seafloor are interpolated. Theoretical estimates suggest that the SMT gradually subsided from 8.4 to ca. 24 m below the contemporaneous seafloor (mbcsf) over the past 643 to 6.6 ka. At present, the SMT has been occurring steadily at depths of ca. 21 to 22 mbcsf for at least 2.9 kyr. This is the first time that the evolution of the ancient SMT depth has been quantitatively reconstructed, by which the attainment of knowledge can be used to research the early diagenetic evolution history of the pore water sulfur species and will arouse much interest and concern from other researchers.

Impacts of river flow and thermal regimes on fish growth dynamics during early life history

Growth during early life stages is critical to fish population persistence. Few studies explore how river discharge and thermal regimes impact growth dynamics of young-of-the-year (YOY) fishes. We used otolith biochronologies and generalised additive mixed models to partition the effects of age, individual, river, temperature, discharge, and variance in discharge on daily growth rates of YOY fishes with an opportunistic life-history strategy: Galaxias vulgaris and Gobiomorphus breviceps. Growth of both species increased with temperature. Galaxias growth decreased with discharge, while Gobiomorphus growth increased with lowered discharge but only to a point (ca. 1/3 of median discharge), after which growth plateaued. Floods had a strong negative effect on YOY growth. Our study systems and species had different characteristics to those that formed the basis of the Riverscape Recruitment Synthesis Model (RRSM) and may explain why our results were only partially consistent with flow predictions for opportunistic species of the RRSM. Further, Galaxias growth was a negative function of high-frequency, daily variation in flow, and we present testable hypotheses to explain this result.

The Advaita Vedānta Monastic Tradition of Nampūtiri Brahmins in Kerala: Tracing the Order’s History in the Inscriptional Evidence

Abstract This article attempts to reconstruct the origins of the Nampūtiri Advaita Vedānta maṭhas in Kerala, which constitute an independent vernacular variant of Śaṅkaran monasticism. The early history of the Nampūtiri monastic centres of Kerala still remains very much obscure. This article aims to fill the lacuna and propose a working hypothesis of order in question, tracing its sources to the local institution of a ‘temple saṃnyāsin’, referred to in the Keralan epigraphs as bhaṭāra-tiruvaṭi or paḻāra-tiruvaṭi. In order to reconstruct the early history of the local monastic tradition, I focus primarily on the available inscriptional material, which I discuss at length in the latter part of the article, that follows the elaborate description of the vernacular sampradāya based on the ethnographic material, constituting foundation for integrating the epigraphic evidence.

Embryonic and Pre-Larval Developmental Patterns in Cryptocentroides arabicus (Teleostei, Gobiidae).

The Arabian goby, Cryptocentroides arabicus (Gobiidae: Gobiinae), is a significant species in marine and brackish water ecosystems. However, limited information is available about the reproductive biology and the early life history of this species. This study aimed to understand the embryonic and pre-larval development of C. arabicus under controlled laboratory conditions using light microscopy. Ten fish pairs were placed in five 70-L glass aquaria, and environmental parameters were carefully monitored. After 4 months, spawning began, with each event yielding between 700 and 1500 eggs, totaling 10 spawning events. The elliptical-shaped eggs, measuring 3.9 ± 0.1 mm in length and 1.6 mm in maximum width, hatched after 7 days and 4 h at a water temperature of 28°C. This process resulted in the identification of eight distinct larval developmental stages. Parental care by both the male and female was observed during the incubation period. Documenting the morphological changes during incubation contributes to a better understanding of the reproductive behaviour and early life history of C. arabicus. This is essential for the conservation management of marine and brackish water environments.