Latitudinal Orientation Research Articles

Implication of the Geographical Axis for international scale language research

The research of the article is based on theories that analyse the links between geography and linguistics. A core theory in the analysis is Diamond's (1999, Chapter 7) idea of the different population histories of continental areas, Güldemann (2008, 2010) speculatively proposed that macro-areal aggregations of linguistic features might be influenced by large-scale geographical factors. In line with Diamond’s geographical axis hypothesis, it is assumed that the way linguistic features assemble periods time spans and large geographical space is determined among other things by two factors which potentially are the “latitude spread potential” and the “longitude spread the constraint.” This paper reports on first results of evaluating this concerning the first factor, we argue that contact-induced feature distributions as well as genealogically defined language groups that have a sufficient geographical extension tend to have a latitudinal orientation. Regarding the second factor, provide the first results suggesting that linguistic diversity within language families tends to be higher along the longitude axis. If these findings can be replicated by more extensive and diverse testing, they promise to become important ingredients for a comprehensive theory of human history across space and time within linguistics and beyond.

Stream Interaction Regions in the Minimum of Solar Cycles 23 and 24

AbstractStream interaction regions (SIRs) dominate the large‐scale solar wind dynamics during the minimum of the solar cycle. The interaction of SIRs with the magnetosphere causes most of geomagnetic storms during this epoch. We used in‐situ solar wind observations at 1 AU to study 62 SIRs detected in the interval 2007–2008 (minimum of cycle 23) and 61 SIRs in the interval 2018–2019 (minimum of cycle 24). We compared distinct characteristics of SIRs, such as the solar wind streams velocities, the presence of forward and/or reverse shocks (RS), SIR radial widths, the relative position of the stream interface within the SIRs, SIR latitudinal orientation, and the geoeffectiveness. There were more geomagnetic storms driven by SIRs in cycle 23 than in cycle 24. The pattern of fast solar wind streams in cycle 23 tended to be faster than in cycle 24. We found more SIRs with RS in cycle 23 than in cycle 24. For the geoeffective SIRs, the momentum flows from the fast solar wind to the slow solar wind, as well as their stream interface is closer to the SIR front. Coronal holes associated with SIRs registered in cycle 23 tended to be wider in longitude near the solar equator and/or at midlatitudes. We did not find a clear relation between the geoeffectiveness of the SIRs and their latitudinal inclinations.

NEOSTRUCTURAL ZONING OF THE RUSSIAN PART OF THE KAZBEK SEGMENT OF THE GREATER CAUCASUS MEGAVAULT

The Kazbek segment differs from the adjacent Central and Eastern segments of the Greater Caucasus megavault by the relative narrowing of the main zones and their latitudinal orientation. The main units of the segment comprise the zones of central elevations and northern and southern flanks. The application of orotectonic method allowed us to subdivide these zones into a number of regional and local late-stage structures separated by active faults. There are three suture zones. The pattern block structures are separated mainly by downthrows. The original data obtained, which are not presented in standard materials on geological survey, are useful for construction design and in solving geoecological tasks.

The myth of the journey of the soul and Bronze Age funerary sites of the Sintashta and Petrovka type in the Southern Trans-Urals

The article presents an attempt to interpret the semantics of one of the brightest examples of the burial rite among the pastoral population with high level of metal production, which left the sites of the Sintashta and Pet-rovka type, localized in the Southern Trans-Urals (Trans-Ural peneplain). They are presently dated to the period between the 21st and 18th c. BC (transitional time from the Middle to Late Bronze Age). Materials from the burial sites (cemeteries of Sintashta and Krivoye Ozero) have been analysed, with direct involvement of the author. The problem appears as follows. The vast majority of researchers believe that within the burial chamber of some Sin-thashta and later Petrovka socially significant persons, the chariots were placed, in an assembled or disassem-bled form, yet chariots. The main purpose of the chariots, in their opinion, was participation in military activities, with a caveat about the possibility of their use in rituals, and that the buried themselves should be recognised as chariot drivers-warriors who ruled the life of communities (clans). The article substantiates the hypothesis of the apparent existence of a tradition in the Sintashta, Petrovka and other synchronous Eastern European steppe cul-tural formations, of placing in the burial chamber the very parts of a chariot, especially the wheels, and not the whole chariots. The author suggests considering the funeral rite of the chosen members of the Bronze Age Sin-tashta and Petrovka communities (clans) of the Southern Trans-Urals, which involved the use of chariot parts (wheels), as a kind of symbolic text, as a modelled realization of the funeral myth, which tells the story of the jour-ney of the soul to the afterlife on the burial chariot of the Vedic twin gods — Ashwins. The detailed parameters of such models should not be literally correlated with the real transportation means. According to the author, the individuals buried in such tombs were not necessarily chariot drivers-warriors. The paper discusses another im-portant aspect — the localization of the other world for the Bronze Age Sintashta and Petrovka population of the Southern Trans-Urals. According to our observations, the ideas about the localization of the world of the dead were not permanent and could change over several centuries, from the Sintashta period to the time of the classi-cal stage of the history of the Alakul Culture (pottery with a ledge shoulder, with ornamentation spread across two or three zones). The majority of adults in the Sintashta burials with wheel hollows, were orientated with their heads to the northwest sector. Similar was the orientation of symbolic wagons and equally symbolic horses. For alike Petrovka burial sites, the latitudinal orientation already prevailed. These changes, as it appears to the author, reflect modifications of the funeral myth.

Anisotropic fracture resistance of avian eggshell

In order to understand the fracture toughness anisotropy of avian eggshells, we have investigated eggshells of the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) whereby the large size (~13 cm × 9.5 cm) enabled the fabrication of beam samples in various orientations. The emu eggshell was found to have a hierarchical microstructure similar to chicken eggshell, with the only significant difference being the absence of a continuous cuticle layer. Emu eggshell was found to have significantly lower strength when samples were tested in the outwards direction (i.e., a crack initiates on the inside of the shell and propagates towards the outer surface) as compared to the inwards testing direction. Furthermore, samples that were oriented parallel to the egg axis (i.e., the longitudinal direction) and tested inwards showed higher strength, ~24 MPa, compared to the samples that were made from the latitudinal orientation, ~20 MPa. Independent of orientation, the outwards testing direction resulted in strength values of ~15 MPa. The fracture toughness of the emu eggshell for cracking in the circumferential direction was ~0.3 MPa√m, independent of sample orientation, and this value was comparable to the fracture toughness of chicken eggshell tested in the same orientation. In the radial outwards direction, however, the fracture toughness was ~80% lower (~0.06 MPa√m) than in the circumferential direction. The low fracture toughness for this orientation was associated with the separation of the highly oriented calcite crystals in the mammillary cone layer of the eggshell structure which is easier compared to calcite crystal fracture. The large anisotropy in fracture toughness is thought to allow for easy escape of the chick while simultaneously protecting the embryo during development.

The exploitation of western and southern deserts in Iraq for the production of solar energy

<span>We have, an overview is presented of the potential future demands and possible supply of solar energy to Iraq. Solar energy, which is clean, unlimited, and environmentally friendly, is presented as a renewable energy resource. Many problems such as CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, industry, human activities, and electricity distribution grids have attracted much attention because of the current state of crude oil production and its prices. Moreover, estimations of solar radiation levels and of the efficiencies of photovoltaics (PVs), concentrated solar power (CSP), and solar chimney towers, have all been investigated. Those systems that combine various sources of energy are called hybrids and they have received much attention in recent decades. The basic features of solar radiation in Iraq are outlined, and the selection of those sites with potential for development of solar plants is based on the local largest solar radiation. Moreover, longitudinal and latitudinal orientation, wind, solar intensity, dust, temperature, rain, humidity, and pollution factors are all considered in the calculation of PV/CSP efficiencies. We know there is an abundance of fossil fuels in Iraq, energy shortages began in 1991 because of the perturbation caused by the full ruin of the country. The obvious renewable energy resource available in Iraq is the solar energy, and its exploitation would provide a means to reduce CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and to achieve self-sufficiency of electric energy and export the rest to neighboring countries. Solar energy is becoming increasingly important because of the climatic change in the form of global warming.</span>

Transmission of Solar Radiation by Semicylindrical and Segmented Transparent Protections

Transparent protection (TP) is one of the basic elements of low-potential solar installations. The problem of determining the flux coefficients that allow one to calculate the solar flux entering through the TP is considered. An algorithm and program are developed for determining the flux coefficients for film semicylindrical and segmented TP. It is shown that the meridional orientation of a semicylindrical TP is more efficient than latitudinal, while for a segmented TP, the latitudinal orientation is more favorable.

Relationships between ecological niche and expected shifts in elevation and latitude due to climate change in South American temperate forest plants

AbstractAimNiche properties, such as breadth and position along environmental gradients, are hypothesized to determine plant responses to climate change. We explored the properties of different plant niches in a biodiversity hotspot, over a wide span of elevational and latitudinal ranges, to assess the relationship between niche characteristics and the modelled distributional shifts due to climate change.LocationSouth American temperate forests.MethodsWe assessed the niche breadth and position of 118 plant species of South American temperate forests, using an Outlying Mean Index (OMI). Bioclimatic information was gathered for each species from WorldClim, and both present and future distributions were modelled using BIOMOD, considering migration constraints with MIGCLIM. The relationships between niche properties and shifts in elevational and latitudinal distributions were explored using linear regressions.ResultsNiche differences among species were related to two bioclimatic dimensions: the first one correlated with the mean diurnal temperature range and precipitation seasonality following the mediterranean—temperate—sub‐Antarctic climatic gradient; the second one correlated with minimum winter temperature along a gradient from oceanic‐influenced habitats to cold tree line habitats. The projected elevational shifts were inversely related to niche breadth and the forecast latitudinal shifts were directly related to niche breadth. The shifts in elevation and latitude for understorey plants were not consistent with the shifts of dominant trees.Main conclusionsThe plant niches were successfully discerned by OMI analyses and they were associated with specific morphological or physiological traits. South American temperate forest plants showed an inverse relationship between niche breadth and elevational shifts, but a positive relationship regarding expected latitudinal shifts. This may be related to the fact that niche drivers followed a latitudinal orientation and the species showed the Rapoport's effect. Thus, the niche breadth and latitudinal position of the species should be considered in climatic change studies.

Multiscale structure and damage tolerance of coconut shells.

We investigated the endocarp of the fruit of Cocos nucifera (i.e., the inner coconut shell), examining the structure across multiple lengthscales through advanced characterization techniques and in situ testing of mechanical properties. Like many biological materials, the coconut shell possesses a hierarchical structure with distinct features at different lengthscales that depend on orientation and age. Aged coconut was found to have a significantly stronger (ultimate tensile strength, UTS = 48.5MPa), stiffer (Young's modulus, E = 1.92GPa), and tougher (fracture resistance (R-curve) peak of KJ = 3.2MPa m1/2) endocarp than the younger fruit for loading in the latitudinal orientation. While the mechanical properties of coconut shell were observed to improve with age, they also become more anisotropic: the young coconut shell had the same strength (17MPa) and modulus (0.64GPa) values and similar R-curves for both longitudinal and latitudinal loading configurations, whereas the old coconut had 82% higher strength for loading in the latitudinal orientation, and >50% higher crack growth toughness for cracking on the latitudinal plane. Structural aspects affecting the mechanical properties across multiple lengthscales with aging were identified as improved load transfer to the cellulose crystalline nanostructure (identified by synchrotron x-ray diffraction) and sclerification of the endocarp, the latter of which included closing of the cell lumens and lignification of the cell walls. The structural changes gave a denser and mechanically superior micro and nanostructure to the old coconut shell. Additionally, the development of anisotropy was attributed to the formation of an anisotropic open channel structure throughout the shell of the old coconut that affected both crack initiation during uniaxial tensile tests and the toughening mechanisms of crack trapping and deflection during crack propagation.

EOLIAN MORPHOGENESIS AND RECENT CLIMATE OF EURASIA (Paper 1. ATMOSPHERE DYNAMICS, BLOCKING AND EOLIAN PROCESSES

Emergence and distribution of the eolian processes in the arid and semiarid zones of Eurasia depends on the location of the polar front dividing temperate (polar) and tropic air masses. It has in general latitudinal orientation between 30° and 50° N. From time to time a blocking anticyclones are formed which brake dominating west winds. In the result the main stream is divided into two branches: the northeastern and southeastern ones of approximately even intensity. The zonal process is changed to meridional ones, which lead to increase in the temperature contrasts and conduces to cyclogenesis along the anticyclone periphery. In Eurasia there are several areas of present intensive eolean processes, their location being determined by the position of blocking Asian anticyclone and convergent zones at its periphery: 1) steppes of the East Europe, 2) steppes of the West Siberia and the Northern Kazakhstan in the moderate zone, 3) the East Asian zone, 4) The Middle Asian zone (subtropics).

Tectonic provinces of the Atlantic Ocean

The tectonic structure of the floor of the Atlantic Ocean beyond the continental margins is insufficiently studied. This is also true of its tectonic demarcation. The segmentation of the floor into regional-scale tectonic provinces of several orders proposed in this paper is primarily based on structural and historical geological features. It is shown that deep oceanic basins and fault tectonics are of particular importance in this respect. Tectonic provinces of two orders are distinguished by a set of attributes. The first-order provinces are the North, Central, South, and Antarctic domains of the Atlantic Ocean. They are separated by wide demarcation fracture zones into Transatlantic (transverse) second-order tectonic provinces. Ten such provinces are recognized (from the north southward): Greenland-Lofoten, Greenland-Scandinavia, Greenland-Ireland, Newfoundland-European, North American-African, Antilles-African, Angola-Brazil, Cape-Argentine, North Antarctic, and South Antarctic. This subdivision demonstrates significant differentiation in the geodynamic state of the oceanic lithosphere that determines nonuniform ocean formation and the tectonic features of the ocean floor. The latitudinal orientation of the second-order provinces inherits the past tectonic pattern, though newly formed structural units cannot be ruled out. The Earth rotation exerts a crucial effect on the crust and the mantle.

Phylogeographic Analyses and Paleodistribution Modeling Indicate Pleistocene In Situ Survival of Hordeum Species (Poaceae) in Southern Patagonia without Genetic or Spatial Restriction

Although many phylogeographic studies have been conducted to analyze the impact of the ice age on species history of Northern Hemisphere mountain plants, such studies are nearly absent for plants of the Southern Hemisphere, particularly for lowland vegetation units. These species should have been primarily influenced by climate cooling and changes in precipitation regime instead of glaciers covering their distribution areas. It is thought that New World lowland species generally evaded climate changes by equatorial migration during Pleistocene cold cycles and recolonized their habitats at higher latitudes when climate warmed up again. In contrast to Eurasia, latitudinal orientation of the major mountain ranges in the Americas made these migrations easily possible. In the huge steppe of the Patagonian plains and adjacent Andes of southern South America thrives a group of three sympatrically distributed diploid species of the barley genus Hordeum, which originated during the last 1.3 million years (My) from a common progenitor. To get insights into the speciation mode of the taxa and to test the hypothesis of longitudinal migration of steppe vegetation during the Pleistocene, we conducted population genetic and phylogeographic analyses based on sequences of the chloroplast trnL-F region from 922 individuals. We found a high number of chloroplast haplotypes shared among species, which indicate speciation through vicariance events. Analysis of the distribution of genetic diversity within and among species inferred an origin of Hordeum comosum in the Central Argentine Andes, whereas Hordeum patagonicum and Hordeum pubiflorum originated in southern Patagonia. The extant occurrence of H. comosum in southern Patagonia and H. pubiflorum northward along the Argentine Andes was caused by reciprocal migration after the origin of the species. Surprisingly, molecular data provided no evidence for range shifts toward the north during the last glacial maximum and recolonization of southerly habitats afterward, but indicated in situ survival of large populations of Hordeum species within their extant distribution ranges even in southernmost Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Ecoclimatic niche modeling used to reconstruct the potential paleodistribution areas of the species during the last glacial maximum shows that climate conditions were sufficient for the species to survive Pleistocene cold cycles in Patagonia without significant geographic restrictions. Molecular data together with ecological niche modeling indicate stable geographic distribution areas in two of the three species for at least the Holocene. As the Hordeum species are characteristic taxa of different steppe habitats, we speculate that the Patagonian steppe might be an old vegetation unit occurring for up to 4.5 My in southern South America.

PATTERNS OF ENDEMISM FOR NEARSHORE GASTROPOD MOLLUSCS: A NEW VIEW OF THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA

The Gulf of California, Mexico, is often viewed as an insular environment for marine faunas. Moreover, its geographical history, geomorphology, latitudinal orientation and a convergence of three different water masses at the mouth of the Gulf make it an ideal setting for isolation, and probably contribute to the expectations of high endemism. However, rigorous analyses of biogeographic patterns are an essential prerequisite to an understanding of evolutionary processes in the Gulf and other biogeographic realms. A new 'sliding window' technique is presented here to test whether the Gulf of California is an isolated habitat. Endemism in the Gulf of California is evaluated by comparing the number of endemic gastropods for the Gulf of California with the number of endemic gastropods found in neighbouring coastlines of the same coastal length by using 'sliding window' analysis. Range sizes and diversity within the Gulf are compared with regions outside of the Gulf using variations of'sliding window' analysis. In addition, examining range endpoints and the percentage of ranges that lie across the mouth of the Gulf of California tests the hypothesis that the mouth acts as a barrier to migration into and out of the Gulf. The results of these analyses do not support the hypothesis that the nearshore Gulf of California faunas are structured by this supposed isolated body of water.

Model of interaction of polar lipids, cholesterol, and proteins in biological membranes.

AbstractMembranes are proposed to consist of a hydrophobic core, two hydrogen belts, and two polar zones. The hydrogen belts consist of hydrogen bond acceptors, i.e. the carbonyl groups of phospholipids and sphingolipids, and hydrogen bond donors, i.e. the labile hydrogens of cholesterol, sphingosine, proteins, and water. The density of anhydrous hydrogen bonding and the impermeability of the membrane increase with increasing concentrations of cholesterol, sphingolipids, α‐hydroxy acyl residues, plasmalogens, and ether phospholipids. Cholesterol owes its membrane‐closing properties to its rigid longitudinal orientation in the membrane combined with the latitudinal orientation of the O−H bond. It is suggested that the intrinsic proteins of membranes are held in position by hydrogen bonding, as well as by hydrophobic and electrostatic forces, and that hydrogen bonding also mediates the penetration of membranes by proteins.