Species of Oniscidea and Araneae from the Movile Cave dirllings

21 species of Oniscidea and 9 species of Araneae are recorded from two drillings made nearby Movile Cave. Also, the authors present their chorology and variation according to depth and season

Astronomical alignments of paleo-Christian basilicas in Romania

In this paper we present the first comprehensive study of the astronomical alignments of paleo-Christian basilicas located in present day Romania. 20 basilicas from 10 sites have been investigated using a digital compass and tools such as Google Earth, Stellarium, and heywhatsthat.com. Results show that except two all fall within the solar sunrise arc. Of these some point to the rising Sun during the feast days of well-known Christian saints. The two exceptions at Argamum and Dinogeția indicate that the basilicas may be converted. The astronomical analysis in these two cases indicates a possible alignment with the moonrise during the major lunar standstill and the rising of the stars Arcturus, Castor, Mirach, and Algiebe

Invertebrate fauna (Coleoptera, Collembola, Diplopoda, Isopoda) collected in the karst areas of the Aninei - Locvei Mountains

The authors identified 132 species of invertebrates (14 Oniscidea, 25 Diplopoda,31 Collembola and 62 Coleoptera) recently sampled (2001–2006) from the soil and subterranean (MSS and caves) environments from the Banat Mountains. Some new,rare and endemic species are discussed. The seasonal changes of the species diversity in the superficial subterranean environments at 0.5 to 1 m in depth are for the first time presented for the Reşiţa – Moldova Nouă synclinorium. The characteristic and preferential species for the mesovoid shallow substratum (MSS), belonging to the analyzed taxa, are identified

Geological and ecological assessment of the exposure degree of the Zăton-Bulba karst system (Mehedinţi Plateau) to anthropogenic hazards: intrinsic vulnerability and biodiversity study

The Mehedinţi Plateau represents an area highly marked by the intensity of the karst processes and by the diversity of the exokarst and endokarst features. The analyzed area includes two parallel limestone bars, developed on the Carpathian structures direction (NNE-SSW). The geological and geomorphological research, guided by a working protocol similar to that of the EPIK method, highlighted the role played by the lithology, structure, tectonics, epikarst and protective cover, related to the infiltration conditions, flow parameters and impact area of a potential contamination event; also, we carried on microtectonic studies on the Bulba Valley, Peşterii Hill, Podul Natural Cave and Bulba Cave. In addition to the results obtained following the EPIK method protocol, we bring forward data concerning the water quality, performing hydrogeochemical analyses on water samples collected from the main sources in the region. Our research has been focused on TDS, on cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, NH4+) and on anions (HCO3-, Cl-). We conclude by modelling the cumulative abundance and the species richness of the harvestmen (Opiliones) in the studied area, under different degrees of human impact on habitat

COLLEMBOLAN COMMUNITIES (HEXAPODA: COLLEMBOLA) FROM THE BUZĂU LAND GEOPARK (BUZĂU MOUNTAINS, ROMANIA)

The authors present the Collembola species collected from the Buzău Land Geopark (Buzău Mountains, Romania). The uniqueness of the Buzău Land Geopark is illustrated by the presence of very rare collembolan species such as Friesea afurcata (Denis, 1926), Deutonura phlegraea (Caroli, 1910), Xenylla welchi Folsom, 1916, Desoria tigrina Nicolet, 1842, Tetracanthella transylvanica Cassagnau, 1959 and Neanura parva (Stach, 1951). We also mention here Orchesella maculosa Ionescu, 1915, an endemic species for the Carpathian Mountains (Romania and Ukraine)

Bucharest) ♦ 61♦ Nr

Ukrainian museum and monasteries preserve a large number of parchment and leather documents dated from the 14 th to the 19 th centuries. As any organic structure, these materials are subjected to the destructive processes due to physico-chemical (light, humidity, temperature, pollutants, etc

Vegetal bioproducts with antioxidant activity for prophylactic and therapeutic effect

This paper presents the extractive technological process and processing of the selective vegetal extracts from the Rosmarinus officinalis L. species in order to obtain some vegetal bioproducts with proven antioxidant activity. By combining various active fractions, new vegetal bioproducts have been obtained and have been physically and chemically characterised (infrared, ultraviolet visible spectroscopy, chemiluminescence, determination of flavonoids, polyphenols, and polyphenolcarboxilic acids content) and finaly biologically tested. The antioxidant activity of Rosmarinus officinalis extracts have been evaluated by two techniques, in vitro chemiluminescence and ex vivo biological tests, both of them recommending the vegetal bioproducts for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes

NIR Study of Chemically Modified Cellulosic Biopolymers

Near-infrared spectral analysis was useful to quantify the ester content of chemically modified cellulose and lignocellulosics. Two kinds of samples were studied, as long aliphatic-chain cellulose esters and wood sawdust chemically-modified either by anhydrides or by ethylene carbonate. It was possible to determine the degree of substitution (DS) of such samples through a correlation by partial least square (PLS) of second-order derivative of NIR spectra. This technique was efficient even when DS values were low, which is difficult to do by using FTIR. It was also possible to distinguish reagent molecules that were attached to the cellulosic substrate by hydrogen bonding from those linked by covalent bonding

Digitally reconstructing the Great Parchment Book:3D recovery of fire-damaged historical documents

The Great Parchment Book of the Honourable the Irish Society is a major surviving historical record of the estates of the county of Londonderry (in modern day Northern Ireland). It contains key data about landholding and population in the Irish province of Ulster and the city of Londonderry and its environs in the mid-17th century, at a time of social, religious, and political upheaval. Compiled in 1639, it was severely damaged in a fire in 1786, and due to the fragile state of the parchment, its contents have been mostly inaccessible since. We describe here a long-term, interdisciplinary, international partnership involving conservators, archivists, computer scientists, and digital humanists that developed a low-cost pipeline for conserving, digitizing, 3D-reconstructing, and virtually flattening the fire-damaged, buckled parchment, enabling new readings and understanding of the text to be created. For the first time, this article presents a complete overview of the project, detailing the conservation, digital acquisition, and digital reconstruction methods used, resulting in a new transcription and digital edition of the text in time for the 400th anniversary celebrations of the building of Londonderry’s city walls in 2013. We concentrate on the digital reconstruction pipeline that will be of interest to custodians of similarly fire-damaged historical parchment, whilst highlighting how working together on this project has produced an online resource that has focussed community reflection upon an important, but previously inaccessible, historical text

A 2500-yr late holocenemulti-proxy record of vegetation and hydrologic changes from a cave guano-clay sequence in SW Romania

We provide sedimentological, geochemical, mineral magnetic, stable carbon isotope, charcoal, and pollen-based evidence froma guano/clay sequence in Gaura cuMuscă Cave (SWRomania), fromwhichwe deduced that from ~1230 BC to ~AD 1240 climate oscillated betweenwet and dry. From ~1230 BC to AD 1000 the climate was wetter than the present, prompting flooding of the cave, preventing bats fromroosting, and resulting in a slowrate of clay accumulation. The second half of the MedievalWarm Period (MWP) was generally drier; the cave experienced occasional flash flooding in between which maternity bat roosts established in the cave. One extremely wet event occurred around AD 1170, when Fe/Mn and Ti/Zr ratios show the highest values coincident with a substantial increase of sediment load in the underground stream. The mineral magnetic characteristics for the second part of the MWP indicate the partial input of surface-sourced sediments reflecting agricultural development and forest clearance in the area. Pollen and microcharcoal studies confirm that the overall vegetation cover and human land use have not changed much in this region since the medieval times