scholarly journals Botanic Gardens in the Arabian Peninsula

Author(s):  
Ahmed H. Al Farhan ◽  
Ibrahim M.N. Aldjain ◽  
Jacob Thomas ◽  
Anthony G. Miller ◽  
Sabina G. Knees ◽  
...  

Botanic gardens in the Arabian Peninsula and adjacent countries, along with institutions such as museums, universities and research centres, have long played a major role in the exploration, identification and conservation of this region’s flora and vegetation. The primary aim of botanic gardens in the past was to study the plant world from the horticultural point of view and to cultivate plants of economic or medicinal importance. However, at present, particularly in arid regions such as the Arabian Peninsula, the activities of botanic gardens are focused primarily on (i) the study and exploration of the region’s rapidly vanishing flora, thereby safeguarding gene pools of wild species, and (ii) the assessment and preservation of species that may be of importance to humans and animals for food, medicines, fibre and amenity. Recently established botanic gardens in the region, including the proposed King Abdullah International Gardens in Riyadh and Oman Botanic Garden near Muscat, will enhance existing conservation activities concerning the ailing and rapidly vanishing floristic components of the Arabian Peninsula.

Author(s):  
Siti Roosita Ariati ◽  
Didik Widyatmoko

Bogor Botanic Gardens (BBG) was established in 1817 and is the oldest botanic garden in South East Asia. The garden has long been a centre for scientific research and has been the founding institution of a number of other research centres in Indonesia, particularly in the life sciences. The garden initially covered 47 ha but has expanded over the years and is now 87 ha. It has evolved over its 200-year history from a collection of economically valuable plants to the multi-faceted institute it is today, undertaking activities in plant conservation, research, education, ecotourism and environmental services. In recent years, it has strengthened its role in plant conservation through the establishment of 32 new botanic gardens across Indonesia. These new gardens are managed by local government and universities and supervised by BBG. In its bicentenary year, 2017, BBG organised a number of activities, programmes and celebrations and these are highlighted in thisarticle.


2001 ◽  
Vol 178 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Emsley

South Africa is a country of great fascination to those interested in the origins, development and behaviour of humankind. For example, recent fossil discoveries appear to confirm Darwin's hunch that Africa – and perhaps southern Africa – was the cradle of humankind. Caves in the Sterkfontein Valley near Johannesburg have produced abundant scientific information on the evolution of modern man over the past 3.5 million years. This is of interest not only from a historical point of view but also in terms of modern science. With the significant advances in medical genetics in general, and psychiatric genetics in particular, there has been a growing interest in homogeneous populations with novel gene pools. South Africa is a rich source of homogeneous populations with an apparently common ancestry.


Chelovek RU ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 18-53
Author(s):  
Sergei Avanesov ◽  

Abstract. The article analyzes the autobiography of the famous Russian philosopher, theologian and scientist Pavel Florensky, as well as those of his texts that retain traces of memories. According to Florensky, the personal biography is based on family history and continues in children. He addresses his own biography to his children. Memories based on diary entries are designed as a memory diary, that is, as material for future memories. The past becomes actual in autobiography, turns into a kind of present. The past, from the point of view of its realization in the present, gains meaning and significance. The au-thor is active in relation to his own past, transforming it from a collection of disparate facts into a se-quence of events. A person can only see the true meaning of such events from a great distance. Therefore, the philosopher remembers not so much the circumstances of his life as the inner impressions of the en-counter with reality. The most powerful personality-forming experiences are associated with childhood. Even the moment of birth can decisively affect the character of a person and the range of his interests. The foundations of a person's worldview are laid precisely in childhood. Florensky not only writes mem-oirs about himself, but also tries to analyze the problems of time and memory. A person is immersed in time, but he is able to move into the past through memory and into the future through faith. An autobi-ography can never be written to the end because its author lives on. However, reaching the depths of life, he is able to build his path in such a way that at the end of this path he will unite with the fullness of time, with eternity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-120
Author(s):  
Cecília Avelino Barbosa

Place branding is a network of associations in the consumer’s mind, based on the visual, verbal, and behavioral expression of a place. Food can be an important tool to summarize it as it is part of the culture of a city and its symbolic capital. Food is imaginary, a ritual and a social construction. This paper aims to explore a ritual that has turned into one of the brands of Lisbon in the past few years. The fresh sardines barbecued out of doors, during Saint Anthony’s festival, has become a symbol that can be found on t-shirts, magnets and all kinds of souvenirs. Over the year, tourists can buy sardine shaped objects in very cheap stores to luxurious shops. There is even a whole boutique dedicated to the fish: “The Fantastic World of Portuguese Sardines” and an annual competition promoted by the city council to choose the five most emblematic designs of sardines. In order to analyze the Sardine phenomenon from a city branding point of view, the objective of this paper is to comprehend what associations are made by foreigners when they are outside of Lisbon. As a methodological procedure five design sardines, were used of last year to questioning to which city they relate them in interviews carried in Madrid, Lyon, Rome and London. Upon completion of the analysis, the results of the city branding strategy adopted by the city council to promote the sardines as the official symbol of Lisbon is seen as a Folkmarketing action. The effects are positive, but still quite local. On the other hand, significant participation of the Lisbon´s dwellers in the Sardine Contest was observed, which seems to be a good way to promote the city identity and pride in their best ambassador: the citizens.


2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 255-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimír Bačík ◽  
Michal Klobučník

Abstract The Tour de France, a three week bicycle race has a unique place in the world of sports. The 100th edition of the event took place in 2013. In the past of 110 years of its history, people noticed unique stories and duels in particular periods, celebrities that became legends that the world of sports will never forget. Also many places where the races unfolded made history in the Tour de France. In this article we tried to point out the spatial context of this event using advanced technologies for distribution of historical facts over the Internet. The Introduction briefly displays the attendance of a particular stage based on a regional point of view. The main topic deals with selected historical aspects of difficult ascents which every year decide the winner of Tour de France, and also attract fans from all over the world. In the final stage of the research, the distribution of results on the website available to a wide circle of fans of this sports event played a very significant part (www.tdfrance.eu). Using advanced methods and procedures we have tried to capture the historical and spatial dimensions of Tour de France in its general form and thus offering a new view of this unique sports event not only to the expert community, but for the general public as well.


Author(s):  
Natacha Frachon ◽  
Martin Gardner ◽  
David Rae

Botanic gardens, with their large holdings of living plants collected from around the world, are important guardians of plant biodiversity, but acquiring and curating these genetic resources is enormously expensive. For these reasons it is crucial that botanic gardens document and curate their collections in order to gain the greatest benefit from the plants in their care. Great priority is given to making detailed field notes and the process of documentation is often continued during the plants formative years when being propagated. However, for the large majority of plants this process often stops once the material is planted in its final garden location. The Data Capture Project at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is an attempt to document specific aspects of the plant collections so that the information captured can be of use to the research community even after the plants have died.


Author(s):  
Суусар Искендерова

Аннотация: Исследование проблемы фольклоризма является наиболее актуальной в современной науке о фольклоре. На разных этапах развития художественной литературы для формирования индивидуального творчества писателя особенно значимым становятся фольклорные жанры, сюжетные мотивы и художественные средства. В статье рассматривается связь письменной литературы и фольклора, особенно точка зрения проблеме фольклоризма в прошлом и их анализ. Термин «фольклоризм» начал использоваться советскими исследователями учеными как научный термин еще в 1930-х гг. Термин «фольклоризм» используется в различных сферах культуры, а в этой статье мы будем рассматривать в литературе. Несмотря на то, что на протяжении многих лет этот вопрос изучается литературоведами, фольклористами, все -таки нет единого теоретического определения понятия. Ключевые слова: фольклор, фольклоризм, литература, культура, письменная литература, художественная литература, оседлый народ, пословицы и поговорки, фольклорные песни. Аннотация: Көркөм адабияттын өнүгүүсүнүн ар кайсы баскычтарында сүрөткердин жеке чыгармачылыгынын калыптанышы үчүн фольклордук жанрлар, сюжеттер, мотивдер жана көркөм каражаттар айрыкча мааниге ээ. Макалада жазма адабият менен фольклордук карым-катышы, айрыкча фольклоризм маселеси жөнүндө мурдагы көз караштарга кайрылып, аларга талдоо жүргүзүү менен бирге автор өз байкоолорунда келтирет. “Фольклоризм” деген илимий термин 1930-жылы баштап колдонула баштаган. “Фольклоризм” термини маданияттын түрдүү сфераларында кеңири колдо- нулат, бул жерде адабияттагы колдонулушун каралат. Макалада адабий материал менен фольклордук байланышын терең түшүнүү үчүн адабий фольклоризм маселесинин талаштуу жактары каралат. Түйүндүү сөздөр: фольклор, фольклоризм, адабият, маданият, жазма адабият, көркөм адабият, көчмөн калк, макал-лакап, фольклордук ырлар. Annotation: The study of the problem of folklore is the most relevant in the modern science of folklore. At various stages in the development of fiction, folklore genres, plot motifs, and artistic means become especially significant for the formation of the writer's individual creativity. The article examines the relationship between written literature and folklore, especially the point of view of the problem of folklorism in the past and their analysis. The term "folklorism" began to be used by Soviet scholars as a scientific term back in the 1930s. The term "folklorism" is used in various fields of culture, and in this article we will consider in the literature. Despite the fact that for many years this issue has been studied by literary scholars, folklorists, all the same there is no single theoretical definition of the concept. Keywords: folklore, folklorism, literature, culture, written literature, fiction, settled people, proverbs and sayings, folk songs.


Author(s):  
Magdalena Saryusz-Wolska

The article focuses on advertisements as visual and historical sources. The material comes from the German press that appeared immediately after the end of the Second World War. During this time, all kinds of products were scarce. In comparison to this, colorful advertisements of luxury products are more than noteworthy. What do these images tell us about the early post-war years in Germany? The author argues that advertisements are a medium that shapes social norms. Rather than reflecting the historical realities, advertisements construct them. From an aesthetical and cultural point of view, advertisements gave thus a sense of continuity between the pre- and post-war years. The author suggests, therefore, that the advertisements should not be treated as a source for economic history. They are, however, important for studying social developments that occurred in the past.


Author(s):  
Olivier Asselin

“Canadian cinema.” The term may appear self-evident but is problematic. First, one may question the value of national approaches to culture, especially here, in Quebec and Canada, where the debates over the Nation seem interminable, and especially now, in an era of globalization. Next, one may question the value of media-centered approaches to culture, especially when the successive waves of the “digital revolution” have blurred the boundaries between technologies and among artistic practices. Rather than try to survey “important” fiction films for theatres in Quebec or Canada, this essay adopts another point of view to examine the presence of cinema in Montreal museums over the past few years by focusing on three singular exhibitions. It may well be symptomatic of the current state of film in Quebec and Canada—but also, paradoxically, everywhere else—and says much about the relationship between medium and nation, the expansion of cinema beyond the movie theatre, and the internationalization of culture.


Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 583
Author(s):  
Giulia Furfaro ◽  
Paolo Mariottini

Integrative taxonomy is an evolving field of multidisciplinary studies often utilised to elucidate phylogenetic reconstructions that were poorly understood in the past. The systematics of many taxa have been resolved by combining data from different research approaches, i.e., molecular, ecological, behavioural, morphological and chemical. Regarding molecular analysis, there is currently a search for new genetic markers that could be diagnostic at different taxonomic levels and that can be added to the canonical ones. In marine Heterobranchia, the most widely used mitochondrial markers, COI and 16S, are usually analysed by comparing the primary sequence. The 16S rRNA molecule can be folded into a 2D secondary structure that has been poorly exploited in the past study of heterobranchs, despite 2D molecular analyses being sources of possible diagnostic characters. Comparison of the results from the phylogenetic analyses of a concatenated (the nuclear H3 and the mitochondrial COI and 16S markers) dataset (including 30 species belonging to eight accepted genera) and from the 2D folding structure analyses of the 16S rRNA from the type species of the genera investigated demonstrated the diagnostic power of this RNA molecule to reveal the systematics of four genera belonging to the family Myrrhinidae (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia). The “molecular morphological” approach to the 16S rRNA revealed to be a powerful tool to delimit at both species and genus taxonomic levels and to be a useful way of recovering information that is usually lost in phylogenetic analyses. While the validity of the genera Godiva, Hermissenda and Phyllodesmium are confirmed, a new genus is necessary and introduced for Dondice banyulensis, Nemesis gen. nov. and the monospecific genus Nanuca is here synonymised with Dondice, with Nanuca sebastiani transferred into Dondice as Dondice sebastiani comb. nov.


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