Chapter 50 - Folklore, myth, and legend, caves in

A number of researches has taken place related to cognitive robotics along with a merger of the two subjects taken individually. However, a gap is found in the researches with a respective to comparison of the technology used in earlier times and present times. This paper explains the scarcity in the literature in the relevant field. The authors have made an attempt to introduce the emergence of the subject called 'Cognitive Robotics'. An effort has been made to analyze the path Cognitive Robotics has given to the emerging technology. The paper encompasses the significant theories along with the augmenting computational techniques that compensate the drawbacks of the technology found in earlier times. Using the concept of Robotics Cognition the authors are developing an algorithm for Route finding in enemy terrain through Soft Computing Techniques.

1. The paper describes about ten species of the Aceraceae five of which are completely determined; the remaining include four leaf species, which do not match any modern species of the Himalayas; one species,viz.,A. Caesium is based on a few fragments of fruits, the other bits of samaras could not be specifically determined by comparison with any modern species. 2. The modern distribution of the Aceraceae brings to light the absence from the Kashmir Valley of three species(A. oblongum, A. pentapomicum andA. villosum) which occur in the fossil state in the Karewa beds. However, the other two species, namelyA. Caesium andA. pictnm are important constituents of the broad-leaved forests of the Valley as well as the northern slopes of the Pir Panjal Range. The modern distribution of the fossil species in the Himalayan regions is given together with their different associates in different types of forests. 3. A comparison of the modern maple forests of the Kashmir Valley with those of the Pleistocene period shows that the oaks and laurels, which must have occurred during the Pleistocene in association with maples, are altogether absent from the valley at the present time. This fact shows that the climate of the valley has changed since the early Pleistocene times. 4. The inclusion in the fossil flora of the Aceraceae does not alter the general conclusions already expressed by the author regarding the changes of climate and altitude of the Valley since the early Pleistocene times.

METALLIC mirrors have been known from very early times, and references to them are scattered through ancient literature. They were frequently elaborately decorated, and many of them possess the greatest interest as objects of art. Looking-glasses coated with an amalgam of quicksilver and tin came into use about the middle of the fifteenth century, but it is not known by whom they were originally invented. The details of their manufacture were, for long”, carefully guarded as trade secrets, and were not made public until about a hundred years later. The process then described is in all essentials that still employed, wherever it has not been abandoned on account of the danger to workers from mercurial poisoning. Tin amalgam mirrors were most extensively used during the latter half of last century, but at the present time in England and Germany they are no longer made, as mirrors obtained by the actual deposition of metallic silver upon glass have displaced them.

We present updated chemical evolution models of two dwarf spheroidal galaxies (Sculptor and Carina) and the first detailed chemical evolution models of two ultra-faint dwarfs (Hercules and Boötes I). Our results suggest that the dwarf spheroidals evolve with a low efficiency of star formation, confirming previous results, and the ultra-faint dwarfs with an even lower one. Under these assumptions, we can reproduce the stellar metallicity distribution function, the [α/Fe] versus [Fe/H] abundance patterns and the total stellar and gas masses observed at the present time in these objects. In particular, for the ultra-faint dwarfs we assume a strong initial burst of star formation, with the mass of the system being already in place at early times. On the other hand, for the classical dwarf spheroidals the agreement with the data is found by assuming the star formation histories suggested by the colour–magnitude diagrams and a longer time-scale of formation via gas infall. We find that all these galaxies should experience galactic winds, starting in all cases before 1 Gyr from the beginning of their evolution. From comparison with Galaxy data, we conclude that it is unlikely that the ultra-faint dwarfs have been the building blocks of the whole Galactic halo, although more data are necessary before drawing firm conclusions.

In this communication we have investigated Bianchi type-II dark energy (DE) cosmological models with and without presence of magnetic field in modified f(R, T) gravity theory as proposed by Harko et al. (Phys. Rev. D, 84, 024020, 2011). The exact solution of the field equations is obtained by setting the deceleration parameter q as a time function along with suitable assumption the scale factor $a(t)= [sinh(\alpha t)]^{\frac {1}{n}}$ , α and n are positive constant. We have obtained a class of accelerating and decelerating DE cosmological models for different values of n and α. The present study believes that the mysterious dark energy is the main responsible force for accelerating expansion of the universe. For our constructed models the DE candidates cosmological constant (Λ) and the EoS parameter (ω) both are found to be time varying quantities. The cosmological constant Λ is very large at early time and approaches to a small positive value at late time whereas the EoS parameters is found small negative at present time. Physical and kinematical properties of the models are discussed with the help of pictorial representations of the parameters. We have observed that our constructed models are compatible with recent cosmological observations.

COUVADE was a custom among Balkan peoples from early times. Its basic elements, however, were lost long ago, and it survived only in fragmentary and, as it were, petrified form. In the following pages, traces of the custom among Balkan peoples are recorded, as these were collected from time to time by the author between 1935 and 1957. It is hoped that this may be of some value to students of Ethnology, Folklore, and the History of Religions, since on the one hand, it gives information concerning the extent and the geographic surroundings of this archaic and interesting rite, and on the other hand, it gives certain hitherto unrecorded details of the kinds and types of Couvade in general. It should be mentioned that the late Professor Tih. R. Djordjevik1 has already discussed Couvade with great erudition in Yugoslav scientific literature, and that at the present time, M. Gluscevid a young Serbian ethnologist from Belgrade, is working on examples of Couvade in the Balkans for his doctor's degree. The custom among Albanians has been discussed by the late Professor R. Yokl, of Vienna, and by Professor E. Cabej, of Tirana. It would take too long to attempt to list the many authors from various parts of the world who, in the nearer or more distant historical past, have written on this subject in general or regional terms. Such an analysis would be outside the scope of this paper, which is intended as a record of source information drawn directly from the people, and as an illustration of Couvade in general. In addition, some quotations from Serbian scientific literature, hitherto unnoticed in discussions of the subject, are included.

Because of the uniqueness of the universe, philosophical issues arise at all times in the study of cosmology. As one considers the earliest times and issues of origins (and what happened `before the beginning'), theory is diverging into producing a multiplicity of options to choose from, rather than converging to one overwhelming powerful position at the present time. It is going to become ever more important to pay serious attention to the philosophical argumentation underlying the different choices. This paper gives a framework for analysis of such questions, based on fifteen Theses which can be strongly defended. We will exit the `dark ages' by taking these themes seriously while we develop the observational and physical side of the analysis. Far from undermining the scientific understandings arrived at, such philosophical explorations will give them the best grounding they can attain.

THE red pigment used by the Egyptians from the earliest times is a native oxide of iron, a hæmatite. Most of the large pieces found by Mr. Petrie are an oolitic hæmatite. One specimen, on analysis, gave 79.11 per cent, and another 81.34 per cent, of ferric oxide. The pieces to be used as pigments were no doubt carefully selected, and the samples that I have examined, mostly from Gurob and Kahun, are very good in colour. All the large pieces were of a singular shape, having one side smooth and curved; and in all cases this side was strongly grooved with striæ, giving somewhat the appearance to the mass of its having been melted, and allowed to cool in a circular vessel. No doubt the explanation of this smooth-curved surface is, that these pieces had actually been in part used to furnish pigments, and having been rubbed with a little water in a large circular vessel, had been ground to this shape. By experiment it was found that these pieces of the native hæmatite yielded, without any further addition by way of medium, a paint which could readily be applied with a brush, as it possesses remarkable adhesive properties, and it resembles exactly, in every particular, the red used in the different kinds of Egyptian paintings. In addition to these samples of the pigments, all of which are native minerals and in their natural conditions, there are other reds, finer in colour and smoother in texture, evidently a superior pigment; these apparently have been made from carefully selected pieces of hæmatite, which have been ground and washed, and dried by exposure to the air. Some of these pieces are very fine in colour, and it would be difficult to match them with any native oxide of iron that is used as a pigment at the present day. There is every reason to believe that this is the earliest red pigment which was used, and it remains to this day the commonest and most important one; it is a body unattacked by acids, unchangeable by heat, and even moisture and sunlight are unable to alter its colour. At the present time many artificial products are used to take the place of this natural pigment.

Aromatic plants have played an important role in traditional medicine from the earliest times. The aromatic medicinal plants can be classified into those (I) where the attractive odorous principle is reponsible for the pharmacological activity of the drug (or at least one of its activities). There are three chief groups of these: (a) antiseptics, (b) digestive agents (antispasmodics, secretion stimulants, carminatives, etc.); and (c) psychotropics. The second large group are (2) those plants in which the odorous principle is not responsible for the medicinal values. These can be subclassified into (a) plants either entire or odorous portions which are no longer used in pharmacy or have no activity recognized at the present time (such as Dianthus gallicus); and (b) plants whose drug form owes its activity to inodorous principles (for instance, quinine, sterols) even though the plant may be itself odorous (as Convallaria majalis).

CANCER was recognized clinically many centuries ago, and from earliest times the only known cure has been total eradication of the disease. Anything less spelled failure. Until comparatively recent years surgical methods were the only means by which the destruction of the malignant disease was possible. Soon after the discovery of the X-rays it was noticed that they had a distinctly stimulating action on the skin, causing an erythema, epilation, the formation of blebs, and even of extensive sloughs, according to the quantity of radiation received by the tissues. These observations led to the use of the rays as a therapeutic measure and, among other conditions, to their employment as a destructive agent against superficial cancers. More or less success in this, and the evolution of powerful apparatus supplying more penetrating rays, led ambitious investigators to attempt to destroy, in a similar manner, malignant tissues lying at a considerable distance from the surface. The Germans were particularly active in this development and, in conjunction with a “cross-fire” technic, worked out an elaborate scheme whereby malignant cells of different types, and lying at different depths below the surface, could be given prescribed radiation doses sufficient to kill the malignant cells without actually destroying the overlying normal tissues. This they called the “lethal dose” technic. Again, following the discovery of radium, Curie noted that marked biological effects resulted, when it was left in contact with living tissues, very similar to those produced by X-rays. Destructive effects on deep-lying malignant cells were obtained by burying the radium temporarily, or permanently (emanation), in such tissues, or by using it on the surface by the “cross-fire” technic. Our object in thus restating what is already so well known is simply to call attention to the fact that cancer therapy has, in the past, meant nothing more nor less than destruction. True enough, efforts have been made to induce retrogression of the disease by means of drugs, diets, serums, etc., but these unfortunately have, heretofore, been so unsuccessful as not to warrant further discussion at the present time. Ought we to be satisfied with this campaign of destruction? No indeed, and but few of us are! The more moderate trend of present-day radiation therapy amply proves this. We cannot lessen the destructiveness of surgical methods nor increase their action on the remaining normal body tissues, but with radiation therapy both of these factors are more or less under our control. The aims of roentgenology have, in the past, been to completely destroy malignant cells without injury to the normal tissues. It is now generally recognized that neither of these aims is altogether possible. No matter how heavily radiated, not all cells in a cancer are killed, and it is impossible to destroy cancer cells by heavy radiation without at least seriously affecting the surrounding normal cells.

INTRODUCTION Groundwater quality issues now assume major importance in semi-arid and arid zones, since scarce reserves of groundwater (both renewable and non-renewable) are under threat due to accelerated development as well as a range of direct human impacts. In earlier times, settlement and human migration in Africa and the Middle East regions were strictly controlled by the locations and access to fresh water mainly close to the few major perennial rivers such as the Nile, or to springs and oases, representing key discharge points of large aquifers that had been replenished during wetter periods of the Holocene and the Pleistocene. This is a recurring theme in writings of all the early civilisations where water is valued and revered (Issar,1990). The memory of the Holocene sea-level rise and pluvial periods is indicated in the story of the Flood (Genesis 7:10) and groundwater quality is referred to in the book of Exodus (15:20). More recent climate change may also be referred to in the Koran (Sura 34:16). In present times, groundwater forms the primary source of drinking water in arid and semi-arid regions, since river flows are unreliable and large freshwater lakes are either ephemeral (e.g. Lake Chad) or no longer exist. The rules of use and exploitation have changed dramatically over the past few decades by the introduction of advanced drilling technology for groundwater (often available alongside oil exploitation), as well as the introduction of mechanised pumps.

Six different genotypes (designated lineages SHL1-6) of human respiratory syncytial (RS) virus have been defined by partial nucleotide sequence analysis of the variable SH and the hypervariable G membrane protein genes, and by restriction fragment analysis of the conserved N protein gene of viruses isolated in south Birmingham. Viruses of very similar genotype appear to be present worldwide at the present time. We have determined the nucleotide sequences of the fusion protein genes of five viruses isolated in south Birmingham in the same year, but belonging to different lineages, and have compared them with the sequences of four subgroup A viruses isolated at earlier times from diverse localities. The sequence diversity of the F genes of these five viruses, as measured by nucleotide (94.5-98.5%) and inferred amino acid (97.0-99.3%) identifies, is comparable with that of the nine subgroup A viruses considered as a whole. No sequence changes occur in any of the sites of known epitopes. Comparison of the nine subgroup A sequences with the published sequences of a subgroup B strain and three bovine RS viruses confirms that the F protein sequences are most divergent in the F2 region.

MOSAICISM IN CHORIONIC VILLUS SAMPLING

I have tried to offer a historical account of a success story, as I saw it develop from the early times when it interested only a few aficionados to the present times when it has pervaded most of cell biochemistry and physiology. It is of course the story of calcium signaling. It became my topic of work when I was a young postdoctoral fellow at The Johns Hopkins University. I entered it through a side door, that of mitochondria, which had been my area of work during my earlier days in Italy. The 1960s and 1970s were glorious times for mitochondrial calcium signaling, but the golden period was not going to last. As I have discussed below, mitochondrial calcium gradually lost appeal, entering a long period of oblivion. Its fading happened as the general area of calcium signaling was instead experiencing a phase of explosive growth, with landmark discoveries at the molecular and cellular levels. These discoveries established that calcium signaling was one of the most important areas of cell biology. However, mitochondria as calcium partners were not dead; they were only dormant. In the 1990s, they were rescued from their state of neglect to the central position of the regulation of cellular calcium signaling, which they had once rightly occupied. Meanwhile, it had also become clear that calcium is an ambivalent messenger. Hardly anything important occurs in cells without the participation of the calcium message, but calcium must be controlled with absolute precision. This is an imperative necessity, which becomes unfortunately impaired in a number of disease conditions that transform calcium into a messenger of death.

The variation of temperature and density in the hot, X-ray emitting gas around massive, group dominant elliptical galaxies can be understood as a combination of gas ejected from evolving galactic stars and gas that accumulates in the outer halo by secondary cosmic infall. Beginning with an overdensity perturbation in a simple flat cosmology, we can duplicate observed properties of the hot gas. At some early time we form the stellar galaxy and release supernova energy, conserving dark and baryonic matter. Using a potential appropriate to the large elliptical NGC 4472, we follow the evolution of intergalactic and interstellar gas to the present time when the computed gas density and temperature agree with X-ray observations of NGC 4472. If the hot gas and dark matter halos are subject to differential tidal truncations or mass exchanges between group members, then the correlation between $L_x/L_B$ and the relative sizes of galactic X-ray images can be generated. The physical properties of hot interstellar gas observed in bright ellipticals today are sensitive to the cosmic baryon fraction, the time of maximum star formation and the amount of ``feedback'' energy delivered to the gas by Type II supernovae at the epoch of galaxy formation.