Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ancient Trees'

The purpose of the Roman Argei ceremony, during which the Vestal Virgins harvested made and paraded rush puppets only to throw them into the Tiber, is widely debated. Modern historians supply three main reasons for the purpose of the Argei: an agrarian act, a scapegoat, and finally as an offering averting deceased spirits or Lares. I suggest that the ceremony also related to war and the spectacle of displaying war casualties. I compare the ancient Near East and Rome and connect the element of war and husbandry and claim that the Argei paralleled the sacred marriage. in addition to an agricultural and purification rite, these rituals may have served as sympathetic magic for pre- and inter-war periods. As of yet, no author has proposed the Argei as a ceremony related to war. By looking at the Argei holistically I open the door for a new direction of inquiry on the Argei ceremony, fertility cults in the Near East and in Rome, and on the execution of war criminals.The Argei and new year’s sacred marriage both occurred during the initiation of campaign and spring planting and harvest season. Both in the ancient Near East and in Rome, animal victims were sacrificed and displayed through impaling, crucifixion, and hanging for fertility and in war. for both Rome and the Near East war casualties were displayed on sacred trees. Through the Near East cultures a strong correlation existed between impaling, hanging, and crucifixion in war and Sacred Tree fertility worship. By examining Roman tree worship, military rituals, and agricultural ceremonies a similar correlation becomes apparent. on the same day of the Argei, Mars was married to the anthropomorphized new year and within the month became a scapegoat expelled from the city. Additionally, on the first day of the Argei boys became soldiers.

Le motif du palmier, qui apparaît dès la fin du IVe millénaire av. J.-C. en Égypte et en Mésopotamie, connaît une très large diffusion dans la Méditerranée antique, durant les second et premier millénaires av. J.-C. Il s’inscrit dans la tradition artistique, culturelle et religieuse d’un grand nombre de régions : le Levant, l’île de Chypre, la Grèce, la Méditerranée occidentale. Bâtie sur ce champ d’étude, géographiquement et chronologiquement très large, cette thèse examine la répartition du motif résultant de contacts et d’échanges entre les différentes civilisations et met en lumière l’élaboration d’une iconographie spécifique, propre à chacune d’entre elles. Certains développements symboliques – tels l’aspect cultuel du palmier et le rapprochement ou l’assimilation de l’arbre avec l’être humain, et plus particulièrement avec la femme –, apparaissent récurrents et permettent d’examiner la question de la continuité, ou non, du motif dans les différents groupes d’images étudiées et la façon dont la vision de l’arbre se manifeste dans chacune des civilisations
The pattern of the palm-tree, which appears as soon as the end of the IVth millennium BC in both Egypt and Mesopotamia, experiences a vast diffusion across the Ancient Mediterranean world during the IInd and Ist millennium BC. Its style situates it in the artistic, cultural, and religious tradition of a large number of regions: the Levant, Cyprus island, Ancient Greece, and the Western Mediterranean. This thesis, built on wide geographical and chronological fields of study, investigates the geographical distribution of the pattern arising from contacts and exchanges between various civilizations and highlights how a specific iconography, proper to each civilization, has been elaborated. Some symbolic developments, such as the religious aspect of the palm-tree and the connection or assimilation of the tree to humans, in particular to women, appear recurrent and allow one to address the question of the continuity of the pattern in various picture samples and the way the view of the tree manifests itself in each of these civilizations

This thesis introduces a " new " international relations theorist who is also, in fact, one of the oldest of international relations theorists. Mencius (Meng Zi 371-289 BCE) is well known to students of Chinese culture as a key figure in the history of Confucianism and in the history of China: the second sage no less. Yet modern scholars usually study him, if he is studied at all, for an idea of how " Chinese" think rather than as a thinker worth studying for his own sake. I decided to study Mencius as an international relations theorist in response to the common criticism that international relations, the academic discipline, is too "e; eurocentric". This criticism has been made many times. My goal however was not to repeat the criticism but to find a major thinker outside the euro-centric world. Such a thinker could be presented as an international relations theorist and thus demonstrate that we should indeed heed the critics of euro-centrism and make studies outside the euro-centric framework rather than simply announce that international relations is euro-centric and proceed to make another euro-centric study. This study of Mencius, qua international relations theorist, illustrates that point. Mencius lived in a world of warring states and tried to bring peace and order to that world. In the course of doing so he developed a sophisticated international relations theory which can be used to analyse events in the contemporary world. In this thesis I offer a comparison of Mencius and Kenneth N Waltz, a famous contemporary international relations theorist, to show the strength of Mencius’ theory. Mencius argues that an anarchical system of states can become an ordered one if the order is legitimised by what he calls " benevolence" , an ethic based on universal values. Waltz argues that values can never underpin an order that runs contrary to states’ interests. Once an anarchical international system has commenced balance of power formations will rise to stop it moving towards order. The disagreement between Mencius and Waltz is profound; it is not simply about the patterns of international relations ii systems but whether a policy of reform based on values can succeed in the international arena. Waltz, and the vast majority of international relations theorists, answer that question in the negative. This " ruling out" of progress distinguishes the study of international politics from the study of domestic politics. Mencius does not rule it out; he offers hope for progress and reform in the international arena. Thus the attempt to address one problem, euro-centrism, led me to approach the greatest problem, the denial of a role for values in the international world. The thesis sets out to show that Mencius’ international relations theory has greater explanatory power than the theory of Waltz, the arch positivist. The thesis also seeks to demonstrate that it is a mistake to rule values out of international politics.

Tilia L. is a temperate-forest tree genus with a wide northern hemisphere distribution. Several species within the genus are affected by forest fragmentation. Three species were the focus of this study, T. cordata Mill. (small-leaved lime) and T. platyphyllos Scop. (large-leaved lime) from the UK, Austria, Poland, and western Siberia and T. sibirica Bayer (Siberian lime) from southern Siberia. Tilia specific microsatellite markers were used to assess various population genetics indices. Genetic diversity and structure of UK T. cordata and T. platyphyllos populations were estimated. To determine the genetic and demographic history of T. sibirica and T. cordata, Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) analyses were used. An investigation into the clonal architecture of the three species was carried out to assess the level of clonality and the impact of clonal reproduction on genetic diversity. In addition, Next Generation Sequencing of the Tilia leaf transcriptome was carried out using direct RNA sequencing Results confirm that the three species are diploid and outcrossing. Although hybridisation occurs among T. cordata and T. platyphyllos, the two are distinct biological units with high genetic diversity and intra-specific population structure. Significant genetic differentiation was observed between T. sibirica and T. cordata and low genetic diversity in the Siberian lime was revealed. ABC analysis suggests a relatively recent (Early Holocene) divergence between the Siberian lime and the small-leaved lime. The Holocene split coincided with a westerly migration of Tilia genotypes that may have contributed to the recolonization of T. cordata in Europe. Fewer clones were observed in T. platyphyllos than the other two species and range-edge populations experience greater clonality than central European populations. Clonal occurrence does not appear to have had a negative effect on genetic diversity. A method for the de novo assembly and annotation of the leaf transcriptome from T. cordata and T. platyphyllos is provided. Potentially thousands of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) from each species have been identified.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2002.
Title from title screen (viewed 15 April 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Discipline of Government and International Relations. Degree awarded 2002; thesis submitted 2001. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Objectiu: Analitzar i comparar les escales MNA-SF, DETERMINE i MUST per tal de poder identificar la més adequada com a eina de cribratge per a detectar risc de desnutrició a la població de 75 anys o més que viu al seu domicili.Metodologia: Estudi descriptiu, longitudinal i prospectiu, obtingut a partir de les dades de l’Enquesta FRALLE. La mostra va ser de 640 individus. Les variables utilitzades a la fase transversal van ser: el risc de desnutrició mesurat amb les escales MNA-SF, DETERMINE i MUST i els factors associats a risc de desnutrició (variables sociodemogràfiques, d’estat de salut i paràmetres antropomètrics). A la fase longitudinal es van recollir els efectes adversos de la desnutrició (mortalitat, ingressos hospitalaris, caigudes i aparició de discapacitat). La fiabilitat de les escales es va mesurar mitjançant l’alfa de Cronbach. Per a analitzar la validesa concurrent, es van seleccionar les escales CES-D, Lawton&Brody i MNA per a emprar-les com a criteris realitzant, posteriorment, els càlculs de sensibilitat i especificitat, valors predictius i corbes ROC. Per a l’avaluació de la validesa predictiva, es van dur a terme anàlisis de regressió logística per veure quines escales de cribratge nutricional s’associaven de manera independent als efectes adversos de desnutrició, després d’ajustar-les per les variables sociodemogràfiques, d’estat de salut i paràmetres antropomètrics. Finalment, es van utilitzar corbes de supervivència i es van construir models de riscos proporcionals de Cox per observar la capacitat predictiva del risc de mortalitat de les tres escales als dos anys. Per a l’anàlisi de les dades es va emprar el programa SPSS, el nivell de significació acceptat per a totes les anàlisis va ser de p < 0,05.Resultats: Les prevalences de risc de desnutrició segons el MNA-SF, DETERMINE i MUST van ser del 21,7%, 36,1% i del 12,2 respectivament. La consistència interna de les escales era de 0,51 al MNA-SF, 0,50 al DETERMINE i 0,05 al MUST. La validesa concurrent va mostrar alts valors d’especificitat i de valors predictius negatius, en canvi, les sensibilitats i els valors predictius positius van ser baixos, a excepció de quan es va emprar com a criteri l’escala MNA, les quals van obtenir millors resultats. La capacitat predictiva dels ingressos hospitalaris, les caigudes i l’aparició de discapacitat no va manifestar-se en cap de les tres escales. No obstant, el MNA-SF va ser l’única escala capaç de predir mortalitat, mostrant que: els individus que presentaven risc de desnutrició obtenien una mitjana de supervivència inferior als que tenien un bon estat nutricional i el risc de desnutrició mesurat mitjançant l’escala MNA-SF era un factor pronòstic de mortalitat als dos anys.Conclusions: A la comparació de les tres escales avaluades, la que va obtenir millors resultats va ser el MNA-SF, tant per la seva validesa concurrent com per la seva capacitat predictiva de la mortalitat. Per tant, segons els resultats d’aquest estudi, es podia constatar que el MNA-SF era l’escala més adequada per al cribratge nutricional de la gent gran a l’àmbit comunitari.
Objetivo: Analizar y comparar las escalas MNA-SF, DETERMINE y MUST para poder identificar la más adecuada como herramienta de cribado para detectar riesgo de desnutrición en la población de 75 años o más que vive en su domicilio.Metodología: Estudio descriptivo, longitudinal y prospectivo, obtenido a partir de los datos de la Encuesta FRALLE. La muestra fue de 640 individuos. Las variables utilizadas en la fase transversal fueron: el riesgo de desnutrición medido con las escalas MNA-SF, DETERMINE y MUST y los factores asociados con riesgo de desnutrición (variables sociodemográficas, de estado de salud y parámetros antropométricos). En la fase longitudinal se recogieron los efectos adversos de la desnutrición (mortalidad, ingresos hospitalarios, caídas y aparición de discapacidad). La fiabilidad de las escalas se midió mediante el alfa de Cronbach. Para analizar la validez concurrente, se seleccionaron las escalas CES-D, Lawton&Brody y MNA para usarlas como criterios realizando, posteriormente, los cálculos de sensibilidad y especificidad, valores predictivos y curvas ROC. Para la evaluación de la validez predictiva, se llevaron a cabo análisis de regresión logística para ver qué escalas de cribado nutricional se asociaban de manera independiente a los efectos adversos de desnutrición, después de ajustarlas por las variables sociodemográficas, de estado de salud y parámetros antropométricos. Finalmente, se utilizaron curvas de supervivencia y se construyeron modelos de riesgos proporcionales de Cox para observar la capacidad predictiva del riesgo de mortalidad de las tres escalas a los dos años. Para el análisis de los datos se empleó el programa SPSS. El nivel de significación aceptado para todos los análisis fue de p <0,05.Resultados: Las prevalencias de riesgo de desnutrición según el MNA-SF, DETERMINE y MUST fueron del 21,7%, 36,1% y del 12,2% respectivamente. La consistencia interna de las escalas fue de 0,51 en el MNA-SF, 0,50 en el DETERMINE y 0,05 en el MUST. La validez concurrente mostró valores elevados de especificidad y valores predictivos negativos. En cambio, las sensibilidades y los valores predictivos positivos fueron bajos, excepto cuando se empleó como criterio la escala MNA, la cual obtuvo mejores resultados. La capacidad predictiva de los ingresos hospitalarios, las caídas y la aparición de discapacidad no se manifestó en ninguna de las tres escalas. Sin embargo, el MNA-SF fue la única escala capaz de predecir mortalidad, mostrando que: los individuos que presentaban riesgo de desnutrición obtenían una media de supervivencia inferior a los que tenían un buen estado nutricional y el riesgo de desnutrición medido mediante la escala MNA-SF fue un factor pronóstico de mortalidad a los dos años.Conclusiones: En la comparación de las tres escalas evaluadas, la que obtuvo mejores resultados fue el MNA-SF, tanto por su validez concurrente como por su capacidad predictiva de la mortalidad. Por lo tanto, según los resultados de este estudio, se pudo constatar que el MNA-SF fue la escala más adecuada para el cribado nutricional de las personas mayores en el ámbito comunitario.
Aim: To analyze and compare the MNA-SF, DETERMINE and MUST scales to identify the most suitable screening tool to detect nutritional risk in the population aged 75 and over living at home.Methods: A descriptive, longitudinal and prospective study, based on data from the Survey FRALLE, was conducted, using a sample of 640 individuals. The variables used in the transverse phase were nutritional risk, measured by the MNA-SF, DETERMINE and MUST, and the factors associated with nutritional risk (sociodemographic variables, health status and anthropometric parameters). In the longitudinal phase the data associated with the adverse effects of malnutrition were collected (mortality, hospital admissions, falls and disability). The reliability of the scales was measured by Cronbach's alpha. To analyze the concurrent validity the CES-D, Lawton & Brody and MNA scales were selected and used as criteria, later to make calculations of sensitivity and specificity, predictive values ​​and ROC curves. To evaluate the predictive validity logistic regression analyzes were conducted to see what nutritional screening tools were independently associated with the adverse effects of malnutrition, after adjustment for the sociodemographic variables, health status and anthropometric parameters were made. Finally, we used survival curves and constructed Cox proportional hazards models to observe the predictive ability of the nutritional tools of mortality risk for two years. For the analysis of the data SPSS was used with the accepted level of significance for all analyzes of p <0.05.Results: The prevalence of risk of malnutrition according to the MNA-SF, DETERMINE and MUST was 21,7%, 36,1% and 12,2% respectively. Internal consistency of the MNA-SF was 0,51, DETERMINE was 0,50 and MUST was 0,05. The concurrent validity showed high values ​​of specificity and negative predictive values, however, the sensitivity and positive predictive values ​​were low, except when MNA was used as a criterion, which had better results. The predictive ability of hospital admissions, falls and disability was not evident in any of the three scales. However, the MNA-SF was the only scale that could predict mortality, showing that: individuals at risk of malnutrition obtained a lower median survival than those who had good nutritional status. Nutritional risk, which was measured by the MNA-SF scale, was a prognostic factor for mortality in two years.Conclusions: In the comparison of the three scales evaluated, the MNA-SF obtained the best results, for its concurrent validity and its predictive capacity of mortality. Therefore, given the results of this study, the MNA-SF was the most appropriate nutritional screening tool of older people in the community.

La plupart de la diversité biologique est en réalité microbienne. L'arbre phylogénétique des eucaryotes comprend plusieurs grands supergroupes monophylétiques, dont les Opisthokonta. Ce groupe comprend deux branches, les Holozoa, qui inclut les animaux, et les Holomycota, qui regroupe les champignons et leurs parents unicellulaires. Bien que les champignons multicellulaires soient bien connus, nos connaissances sur la diversité des champignons unicellulaires et de leurs parents phylogénétiques restent limitées. Cette fraction unicellulaire comprend plusieurs lignées zoosporiques (par exemple chytrids) au sein des champignons, mais aussi une variété de lignées liées aux champignons classiques : les nucleariids, les rozellids, les aphelids et les microsporidies. Cependant, les relations phylogénétiques de ces lignées entre elles et avec les champignons restent à établir solidement. Les arbres phylogénétiques des gènes d'ARNr 18S environnementaux montrent une grande diversité d'Holomycota unicellulaires dans la plupart des écosystèmes terrestres. Cependant, le signal phylogénétique de ce gène est limité et ne permet pas de résoudre la plupart des relations phylogénétiques profondes. Au cours des dernières années, les techniques à haut débit ont permis de séquencer des centaines de nouveaux génomes et transcriptomes. Cela a permis de réaliser des études phylogénomiques multi-gènes, qui augmentent le signal disponible pour résoudre les relations évolutives. Néanmoins, la plupart de ces génomes correspondent à des espèces fongiques faciles à cultiver, souvent avec un intérêt particulier pour l'homme. Actuellement, les approches de type « omique » à partir des cellules uniques se révèlent comme potentiellement utiles pour étudier les eucaryotes unicellulaires non cultivés, en permettant de reconstruire des analyses phylogénétiques robustes d'une grande diversité environnementale à l'aide de données génomiques et transcriptomiques. Au cours de mon travail de doctorat, j'ai appliqué des approches de « cellule unique » pour obtenir des informations phylogénétiques à partir de lignées Holomycota divergentes, clarifier les relations phylogénétiques entre les champignons et ses proches parents et inférer l'évolution de leurs traits. Plus précisément, j'ai utilisé cette approche pour :1) Générer des données génomiques et transcriptomiques pour les nucleariids et mieux reconstruire les relations internes dans le clade et les caractères présents dans leur ancêtre. Nos résultats confirment que les genres de protistes à thèque Pompholyxophrys et Lithocolla sont en effet des nucleariids et branchent avec Nuclearia, Parvularia et Fonticula. La reconstruction d'une phylogénie robuste de ce groupe nous a permis d’inférer les traits (par exemple pas de flagelle) ancestraux du groupe. 2) Séquencer et analyser de manière comparative le génome de Metchnikovella incurvata, pour confirmer sa position relativement basale dans Microsporidia et déterminer les synapomorphies du clade. L'analyse phylogénomique du metchnikovellid Metchnikovella incurvata a confirmé que des Metchnikovellidae branchent à la base des Core-Microsporidia. Nous avons également confirmé que leur profil métabolique était plus similaire à celui des Core-microsporidia, tous deux ayant réduit de manière similaire leurs gènes / fonctions. 3) Générer des données génomiques pour Amoeboradix gromovi et Sanchytrium tribonematis, qui forment le clade des sanchytrides, une nouvelle lignée de champignons zoosporiques identifiée récemment, et résoudre leur position phylogénétique. L'étude des deux génomes de sanchytrids a clarifié leur placement au sein des Fungi en tant que nouvelle groupe frère des Blastocladiomycota. Des analyses génomiques comparatives montrent que leur métabolisme est réduit par rapport aux lignées apparentées. En particulier, le système flagellaire est fortement réduit par rapport à d'autres Holomycota, avec 4 événements indépendants de perte de flagelle dans le clade
Despite the astonishing diversity of plants, animals and macroscopic fungi, most eukaryotic diversity is actually microbial. The eukaryotic tree comprises several large monophyletic supergroups. One of these groups is the Opisthokonta, which encompasses two branches, Holozoa, including animals, and Holomycota, grouping Fungi and their unicellular relatives. While multicellular fungi are well known, knowledge on the diversity of unicellular Fungi and their phylogenetic relatives is still poor. This unicellular fraction includes several zoosporic lineages (e.g. Chytridiomycota and Blastocladiomycota) within Fungi, but also a variety of lineages related to the classical core Fungi: nucleariids, rozellids, aphelids and Microsporidia. However, the phylogenetic relationships of these lineages among them and with classical Fungi remain to be solidly established. Molecular phylogenetic trees of 18S rRNA genes retrieved from environmental studies have showed a wide diversity of unicellular holomycotans in almost all environments on Earth. However, the phylogenetic signal of this gene is limited and does not allow robustly resolving most deep phylogenetic relationships. During past years, high-throughput techniques have allowed sequencing hundreds of new genomes and transcriptomes. This has made possible to carry out multi-gene phylogenomic studies, which increase the available signal to resolve evolutionary relationships. Nevertheless, most sequenced genomes correspond to easy-to-culture fungal species, often with particular interest for humans (e.g. parasites, plant symbionts, yeast). Recently, single-cell omics has become a potential useful approach to study uncultured unicellular eukaryotes, making it possible to reconstruct robust phylogenetic analyses of a wide environmental diversity using genomic and transcriptomic data. During my PhD work, I have applied single-cell techniques to get phylogenetic information from divergent holomycotan lineages, clarify phylogenetic relationships among fungi and their close relatives and infer trait evolution. More specifically, I have used this approach to: 1) Generate genomic and transcriptomic data for nucleariids and better reconstruct inner relationships in the clade and the characters present in the nucleariid ancestor. Our results confirm that the cover-bearing unicellular genera Pompholyxophrys and Lithocolla are indeed nucleariids and branch together with Nuclearia, Parvularia and Fonticula. The reconstruction of a robust phylogeny for the group allowed us to infer the traits (e.g. no flagellum, glycocalyx, no cover) already present in their ancestor. 2) Sequence and comparatively analyze the genome of Metchnikovella incurvata, to confirm its relatively basal position within Microsporidia, and determine synapomorphies for the clade. Phylogenomic analysis of the metchnikovellid Metchnikovella incurvata confirmed that Metchnikovellidae branch at the base of Core-Microsporidia. We also confirmed their metabolic profile to be more similar to Core-microsporidia, being both similarly reduced in genes/functions. 3) Generate genomic data for Amoeboradix gromovi and Sanchytrium tribonematis, which form the newly described zoosporic fungal clade of sanchytrids, and resolve their phylogenetic position. The study of the two sanchytrid genomes clarified their placement within Fungi as a new clade sister to Blastocladiomycota. Comparative genomics showed that their metabolic composition was reduced in comparison with related lineages. This reduction was especially important in their flagellar toolkit when compared with other Holomycota, confirming 4 independent flagellum loss events in the clade

Le sujet de cette étude est le commerce et l’utilisation de divers produits issus d’arbres et d’arbustes dans le royaume d’Ougarit, situé sur la côte de la Syrie et dont la documentation écrite nous renseigne sur l’époque du Bronze récent, principalement les XIVe et XIIIe siècles avant J.-C. Ce royaume est particulièrement bien connu grâce aux milliers de tablettes trouvées depuis 82 ans sur le site de Ras Shamra et plus récemment sur celui de Ras Ibn Hani. Ces tablettes sont écrites très majoritairement dans deux langues et deux systèmes d’écriture cunéiforme : d’une part, la langue locale, baptisée « ougaritique », notée grâce à un système alphabétique, d’autre part, l’akkadien babylonien, noté selon un système logo-syllabique. A cheval entre la côte et la montagne, ce royaume était situé entre les deux grandes régions pourvoyeuses de bois dans la plus haute antiquité, comme en atteste la documentation égyptienne et mésopotamienne, ainsi que la Bible, la montagne libanaise et l’Amanus. Le lieu est donc particulièrement important pour ce sujet. Après un aperçu géographique, démographique, linguistique, historique et économique sur le royaume d'Ougarit, nous avons étudié successivement l'ébène, le pin et le sapin, le cèdre, le genévrier, le cyprès, le buis, le ¶rgz, le palmier, l’olivier et le bois-¶lmg, ainsi que le vignoble, la vigne et ses produits.Nous avons commencé chaque chapitre par une identification botanique et linguistique. Puis nous avons tenté de situer quelles étaient les régions qui étaient les sources principales de ces richesses naturelles. Ensuite, nous avons établi un aperçu historique sur le commerce des produits d'arbres et d’arbustes et sur les moyens de transport. Nous avons tenté de préciser leur nature, leur quantité, leur qualité, leur poids et leur prix à Ougarit et à l'extérieur. A la fin, nous avons étudié les diverses utilisations et leur rôle dans l'artisanat, la médecine, la religion et la magie dans l'antiquité. Ce faisant, il nous a été donné aussi d’approcher la valeur symbolique de ces arbres et de ces bois
The subject of our dissertation is the trade and use of various products derived from trees and shrubs in the Kingdom of Ugarit, located on the coast of Syria and whose written documentation informs us about the Late Bronze Age, mainly fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BC. The kingdom is well known thanks to the thousands of tablets found in the last 82 years on the site of Ras Shamra and more recently that of Ras Ibn Hani. These tablets are written overwhelmingly in two languages and two systems of cuneiform writing: first, the local language, called “Ugaritic”, noted in an alphabetic system, on the other hand, the Babylonian Akkadian, noted by a logo-syllabic script. Situated between the coast and mountains, this kingdom was located between two major regions suppliers of timber in the most remote antiquity, as evidenced by Egyptian and Mesopotamian literature and the Bible, the Lebanese mountains and the Amanus mountain. The place is thus particularly important for this topic. Following an overview of geographical, demographic, linguistic, historical and economic on the kingdom of Ugarit, we studied successively ebony, pine and fir, cedar, juniper, cypress, boxwood, ¶Rgz, palm-tree, olive-tree, ñlmg-wood and vineyard, the vine and its products .We started each chapter with a botanical and linguistical identification. We tried to locate what were the areas that were the main sources of these natural resources. Then, we established a historical overview on the trade in products from trees and transportation. We tried to clarify their nature, quantity, quality, weight and price in Ugarit and outside. Finally, we examined the various uses and their role in craft, medicine, religion and magic. In doing so, we could also approach the symbolic value of these trees and woods

Cette thèse porte sur les armes et les combattants représentés dans la peinture funéraire vasculaire et pariétale de Campanie et de Lucanie, dont la production commence dans la seconde partie du Ve siècle et s’éteint au début du IIIe siècle avant J.-C. Nous entendons montrer ici l’existence d’une idéologie élitaire particulière, dont les représentations permettent de discerner la trame et qui se situe à l’articulation des sphères religieuse (eschatologique), militaire et sociale. Cette idéologie militaire est construite autour de l’exploit militaire individuel, porté aux nues par la composition du « retour du guerrier », figurant un cavalier rapportant les dépouilles (spolia) de son ennemi vaincu, élément-clé permettant au combattant défunt d’accéder à l’immortalité. Les techniques de combat représentées dans ce contexte sont principalement celles du duel, qui constitue le mode d’affrontement le plus à même de permettre au vainqueur de se saisir des dépouilles de son adversaire. Les peintures étudiées révèlent ainsi une structure particulière de la bataille, qui relève d’un mode de guerre archaïque où les enjeux diffèrent de ceux de la guerre moderne de type clausewitzienne. L’examen des peintures permet également de confirmer les bouleversements militaires, sociaux et institutionnels connus par les textes qui ont lieu en Italie centrale et méridionale au cours du dernier tiers du IVe siècle, comme le rapprochement romano-campanien, la réforme d’Appius Claudius et les guerres samnites
This thesis investigates the weapons and combatants depicted in the vascular and parietal funerary paintings of Campania and Lucania, whose production began in the second half of the fifth century and died out at the beginning of the third century BC. We intend to show that we can identify a particular military ideology visible through the paintings, which is situated at the confluence of the religious (eschatological), military and social spheres. The individual military exploit is celebrated through the composition called the "Return of the Warrior", depicting a horseman bringing back the spoils (spolia) of his defeated enemy, a key element allowing the deceased combatant to attain immortality. We will also see that the fighting techniques are focused on dueling. Single combat is the most likely to allow the victor to seize the spoils of his defeated opponent. The specifics of the battle as it is represented is characteristic of archaic warfare, which differs in substance from modern warfare. The paintings studied thus reveal a particular structure of the battle, characteristic of archaic warfare, which differs in substance from modern warfare. We will also be able to confirm the military, social and institutional upheavals known from ancient sources that took place in central and southern Italy during the last third of the fourth century, such as the Roman-Campanian rapprochement, the reform of Appius Claudius and the Samnite wars

碩士
長榮大學
美術學系碩士班
106
Ancient trees are the most common theme for painters and at the same time, various beautiful legends and stories are told about these ancient trees. The author since her childhood often went to scenic parks for mountain hiking with her parents and ancient trees, thus, have strong sentiments to her. Along with time, small tress now have grown into big and tall trees and once large trees are now ancient trees. There have been many changes and different manners are now presented to us because of changes. The author would like to study stories of ancient trees so as to have profound understanding and observation on ancient tress and through painting, she can portray good impression of ancient trees from her perspective. This paper consists of five chapters below: Chapter 1 Introduction describes research motivation and purpose, methodology and research limitations and scope, definition of terminologies and research structure. Through methods including action research and field study, data of trees were collected to present ink painting of trees. Chapter 2 introduces portrait paintings of trees done by Chinese painters in different generations. First, relevant works by famous ancient and contemporary painters after the establishment of the Republic of China were analyzed and after creation methods were understood, applications from different perspective to paintings were adopted. Chapter 3 discusses creation conceptualization and realization about observation and theme finding respectively to convey thoughts of creators and portrait methods and applications of ancient trees. Chapter 4 presents work analyses. Among 20 pieces of works created for this study, seven were selected as representative ones according to creation concepts, format contents, technique presentation for the basis of description and expression. Chapter 5 is conclusion that indicates reviews and reflection about the topic of study, ancient trees, and meanings and values of this series of creative study. In the end, the author’s future prospects for herself is presented. The author uses ancient trees as the topic to attempt to observe and define the theme from different perspectives and learn and master ink painting skills with the purpose to show thoughts and emotions towards ancient trees. Although due to limited literacies and experiences of the author, life ink paintings created for this study may not be perfect, yet the author would like to bring better works to share with viewers in the future.

Tree-ring records from long-lived trees are instrumental for understanding climate variability during the Common Era. Some of the oldest and most valuable conifers used to reconstruct past climate exhibit strip-bark morphology, in which vertical segments of the tree have died in response to environmental stress. This form of localized stem mortality, also referred to as partial cambial dieback, is particularly common on conifers growing in xeric, cold, or exposed environments. Some studies note that strip-bark trees have increasing ring-width trends relative to trees with a fully living stem circumference, but there is substantial uncertainty as to what extent partial cambial dieback can influence tree-ring records and subsequent climate reconstructions. This dissertation explores the environmental drivers of partial cambial dieback on Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) from Mongolia, the effect of cambial dieback on the radial growth and physiology of affected trees, and methods for reducing strip-bark biases in tree-ring records. Chapter 1 assesses the causes and radial growth impacts of partial cambial dieback on Siberian pine trees growing on an ancient lava flow in central Mongolia. Using a combination of field observations and dendrochronological methods, this chapter demonstrates that strip-bark trees from this site exhibit dieback primarily on the southern side of stems, and that dieback was most common during a cold and dry period in the mid-19th century. Given the directionality and timing of dieback on these strip-bark trees, it is hypothesized that localized mortality events are linked to physiological injuries spurred from solar heating combined with unfavorable climatic conditions. This chapter also reveals that strip-bark trees from this site have increasing radial growth trends relative to trees with a full circular morphology (“whole-bark” trees). Strip-bark trees showed an especially rapid increase in ring widths following the cambial dieback period in the mid-19th century, providing initial evidence that dieback events can lead to increasing ring widths in strip-bark Siberian pine. Chapter 2 seeks to discern the physiological mechanisms of increasing radial growth trends in the Siberian pine strip-bark trees using stable carbon and oxygen isotopes from tree rings. One simple hypothesis is that strip-bark trees show increasing ring-width trends because radial growth is restricted to a smaller stem area after cambial dieback events. Conversely, some studies have hypothesized that increasing ring widths in strip-bark trees reflect a CO2 fertilization effect on growth that is not readily apparent in whole-bark trees. This chapter finds that strip-bark and whole-bark trees responded similarly to increasing atmospheric CO2 and climate variability in their radial growth and leaf-level gas exchange inferred from tree-ring stable isotopes. However, strip-bark and whole-bark trees showed notably different behavior following documented cambial dieback events. After dieback events, strip-bark trees exhibited an increase in ring widths and an enrichment in stable carbon and oxygen isotopes that was not apparent in whole-bark trees. These results further support the notion that partial cambial dieback leads directly to increasing ring widths in strip-bark trees, and that this response could reflect an increase in the ratio of leaf to live stem area after dieback occurs. Chapters 1 and 2 demonstrate that partial cambial dieback events and morphological changes impact the radial growth and physiology of strip-bark trees. Therefore, prior to developing climate reconstructions, it is necessary to remove variance associated with these non-climatic, morphological changes in tree-ring series. Chapter 3 outlines two chronology development methods for reducing strip-bark biases in tree-ring records. These methods, applied to Siberian pine and Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva Bailey), successfully reduce a strip-bark bias without removing low-to-medium frequency climate variance inferred from whole-bark trees, which were not impacted by dieback activity. While one approach directly corrects the bias in strip-bark series using a whole-bark chronology as a target, another method is based on the development of a low-percentile chronology, which can be applied to a site collection where the stem morphology of individual trees is unknown. Some limitations and caveats of these methods are discussed in context of the analyzed tree species. The findings from this dissertation have significantly contributed to our understanding of the radial growth and physiological responses of Siberian pine to partial cambial dieback and environmental changes. This dissertation also provides new methods for removing strip-bark biases in tree-ring chronologies. The conclusions presented here have important implications regarding the potential effects of partial cambial dieback on tree-ring records from other tree species and climate reconstructions derived from them. Continued and detailed study of the causes and impacts of partial cambial dieback on other tree species will be critical for understanding the interactions between ancient trees and their environment, and for improving the reliability of climate reconstructions based fully or partly on strip-bark trees.

Matěj Novotný - Impiety in Classical Athens Abstract The thesis discusses the definition and prosecution of impiety in democratic Athens during the Classical period, i.e. in 5th-4th centuries BCE. The question of "impiety" in the narrower sense, i.e. of what was denoted by the Greek word ἀσέβεια (literally, "the absence/negation of respect"), is set into larger context of other crimes of religious character, covered by special laws: "sacrilege" (ἱεροσυλία), digging out sacred olive-trees, offences against festivals and other delicts which were not subsumed under any more general term in the laws, pragmatically formulated as they were. The dissertation builds on the work of the researchers who show considerable scepticism towards the reliability of later sources, for example Plutarch or Diogenes Laertius - this is connected with doubts concerning processes against philosophers before Socrates. At the same time, the thesis follows the scholars who doubt the authenticity of the documents inserted in the speeches of the Attic Orators. For these reasons, a considerable part of the thesis is devoted to the rebuttal of late reports and inserted documents. A particular attention is given to the Decree of Diopeithes, which is mentioned in Plutarch's Life of Pericles and is usually interpreted as criminalising...

碩士
康寧大學
休閒管理研究所
105
The purpose of this thesis was to apply a new marketing method to promote Pu-Erh tea in Taiwan. The head of this study ran a business for selling watches and jewelry. These years, he expanded his career to tea beverage. Since the tea industry in Taiwan had been quite mature and the head was also very interested in it, he devoted himself to an in-depth study of the origin of the ancient tree tea through commercial network. Currently the head himself had been to Yunnan province, China, to study ancient tree tea and the planting environment of the wild tea. He cooperated with the local farmers and tea business to produce various tea products and attempted to develop all kinds of tea packaging. In the future, the head will put more efforts to supply leisure activities related to Pu-Erh tea for people to participate in and make his enterprises to sustainable development. In view of this, this research uses the data by doing Literature Review and Field Research Methods to do Michael Porter’s Five Forces Analysis and Competitive Profile Matrix（CPM）in order to build a new business model of leisure management. The study findings may serve as a guide for further research on promotion of Pu-Erh tea industry. The research results are summarized as follows: (a) Regardless of the against strength of market players, the bargaining capacity of buyers, the bargaining capacity of dealers, the threats of potential entrants, and the threat of alternative products, Pu-Erh tea industry in Taiwan doesn’t feel much pressure from them; (b) As far as the competition is concerned, Pu-Erh ripe tea has gone beyond Pu-Erh unfermented tea. The head hopes that in the very near future he will be able to do cross industry cooperation with large enterprises and develop experience tourism; (c) The head of this study has always upheld the enthusiasm to serve his customers since he started his watches and jewelry industry. Except for the sale of tea, the head will continuously incorporate the concept of leisure agriculture and the cultural experience tourism to enhance operational efficiency.

The creative thesis 'New (Old) Fairy Tales for New Children‘ makes a contribution to the field of creative writing research. It comprises creative work in the form of four fairy tales and a novel for upper primary/early high school readers (70%) and a short exegesis (30%). The creative work uses key fairy tale elements to tell new stories for contemporary children. The four fairy tales are intended to sit within the Western European tradition, drawing on the repetitions, cadence and storytelling voice of the tales collected by the Brothers Grimm.

Die Bybel is die boek wat die meeste gelees word en tog is dit moeilik om die leefwêreld van daardie era te verstaan. My doel is om ’n nuwe blik te gee op ’n paar Ou-Testamentiese simbole. Die ontdekking van ivoorobjekte in die middel negentiende eeu in Nimrud se paleise het tot groot opwinding gelei, aangesien dit met die literatuur ooreenstem. Die ivoorstukke het ’n “verhaal” kom vertel. Deur die streke se kuns te bestudeer kan ons ’n prentjie vorm van die kuns wat in die Ystertydperk in Mesopotamië en Palestina se paleise en welaf huise voorgekom het. Die ikonografie word ontrafel deur ’n paar ivoorstukke te “lees.” Ikonografie is die beskrywing en verklaring van beelde wat op bepaalde onderwerpe betrekking het. Sekere beelde kom herhaaldelik voor in Mesopotamië. In dié studie word hoofsaaklik die Gevleuelde Wesens, die Boom van Lewe, die Gevleuelde Sonskyf asook Rosette beskryf.
The Bible is widely read but it is difficult to understand the world and culture of the era that it is set in. It is my aim to provide new insight into a few Old Testament verses with their symbolic meaning. When ivory was discovered at Nimrud the discovery elicited huge excitement. The ivory pieces came to tell a story. Through studying the art of the different cultures a picture begins to appear of the palaces and homes of the wealthy in the Levant. The iconography could be “read.” Iconography is the science of interpreting the message the art wants to convey to the viewer. A few images are repeatedly showing up in the Levant during the Iron Age. In this study I am focusing mainly on The Tree of Life, the Winged Disc, the Rosette and Winged Spiritual Beings. I am attempting to discern the meaning behind these images.
Biblical & Ancient Studies
M.A. (Ou Nabye-Oosterse Studies)