Learning from existential experience for the quality of life

Pētījuma aktualitāti nosaka tas, ka, neskatoties uz plašo izglītības virzienu apjomu gan eksaktajās, gan humanitārajās, gan starpnozaru sfērās, ko piedāvā izglītības iestādes Latvijā, lielākoties paliek neatbildēti svarīgi jautājumi par cilvēka eksistenci. Pētījuma mērķis ir apzināt ar eksistenciālo pieredzi saistītos dzīves kvalitātes veidošanās pedagoģiskos nosacījumus un izpētīt tās subjektīvo novērtējumu mācīšanās procesā. Pētījuma rezultātā pamatota eksistenciālisma pieejas būtība un nepieciešamība pedagoģijā, mācīšanās specifika no eksistenciālās pieredzes, formulētas dzīves kvalitātes subjektīvā novērtējuma kategorijas eksistenciālās pieejas skatījumā, pamatota saikne starp dzīves kvalitātes subjektīvo novērtējumu un pašizziņu, kā arī aprakstītas sakarības starp mācīšanās motivāciju un priekšstatiem par savu eksistenci. Atslēgvārdi: mācīšanās, eksistenciālā pieredze, dzīves kvalitāte, subjektīvais novērtējums, eksistenciālā pedagoģijaThe topicality of the research is determined by the fact that despite the extensive scope of education offered by the Latvian education institutions, for most part the important questions about human existence remain largely unanswered. The aim of the research is to identify the pedagogical conditions related to the existential experience in the formation of the life quality and to study its subjective evaluation in the learning process. The research results substantiate the essence and necessity of the existentialist approach in pedagogy and the learning specifics from the existential experience. The categories of the subjective evaluation of life quality in the view of existential approach are formulated, a link between subjective evaluation of life quality and self-knowledge is justified, as well as the relationship between learning motivation and subjective evaluation of one’s own existence is described. Keywords: learning, existential experience, life quality, subjective evaluation, existential pedagog

Cambrian (Furongian) rhynchonelliform brachiopods from the Eastern Alborz Mountains, Iran

The Cambrian (Furongian) shallow water carbonates in the Mila Formation in the Tuyeh-Darvar area (eastern Alborz, northern Iran) contain numerous shell beds, entirely composed of disarticulated valves of the billingsellide brachiopods Billingsella? fortis sp. nov. and Hyrcanostrophia tuyehensis gen. et sp. nov. Higher up in the Mila Formation, the shallow water carbonates are replaced by nodular limestones, deposited in an open marine environment, containing Palaeostrophia tecta Nikitin &amp; Popov, 1983 and the early polytoechioid Darvaretoechia prisca gen. et sp. nov. These two different brachiopod assemblages are assigned to the oligotaxic Billingsella and Palaeostrophia associations, respectively. These associations are considered to represent precursors to the brachiopod-dominated benthic assemblages of the Palaeozoic Evolutionary Fauna. The new brachiopod faunas from the Alborz Terrane are closely similar to contemporaneous Furongian faunas from the Australasian sector of Gondwana, in particular, to those from South China and the Kazakhstanian terranes.Includes figures. Includes references. Includes acknowledgements.</p

Table 3. List of the characters and character sets used in the phylogenetic analysis:

List of the characters and character sets used in the phylogenetic analysis

Stratigraphic and volcanic signatures of Miaolingian-Late Ordovician rift pulses in the Alborz Mountains, northern Iran

Recent reconnaissance geological mapping, identification of unconformities and chronostratigraphic dating of Miaolingian to Ordovician strata in the eastern Alborz Mountains have led to recognition of synsedimentary uplift episodes associated with block tilting and partial erosion of the Cambrian Mila and Ordovician Simeh Kuh, Qumes and Lashkarak formations. A chronostratigraphic revision of the Miaolingian-Late Ordovician fossil content is presented, and the Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotope Excursion (SPICE) chemostratigraphic shift, marking the Miaolingian–Furongian boundary, is constrained close to the Members 2/3 contact of the Mila Formation. Upper Ordovician basaltic lava flows embedded in the Abarsaj Formation and Devonian sills and dykes intruded in the Mila and Simeh-Kuh formations were geochemically analysed and compared with the voluminous lava eruptions recognized in the Katian-Llandovery Soltan-Maidan and Gorgan Schists formations, and in the ?Emsian-Eifelian Mighan Formation. They represent successive magmatic pulses of alkaline to subalkaline activities, separated by background (quiescent) intervals of up to 35 m.y., characterizing an intraplate field (continental rift) affinity compatible with OIB-like (ΔNb greater than 0) mantle sources. Successive Miaolingian-Mid Ordovician (volcanic-free) uplift episodes were related to lithospheric doming preceding the onset of stepwise plume-related rift pulses, which shaped a large igneous province with transects of about 600 km, linking the Damghan and Alestan domains of the eastern Alborz Mountains with South Kopet-Dagh and some blocks of Central Iran

Table 1. Matrix

Matrix of 28 morphological characters recognized in 22 species of the Family Nisusiidae and two species of Kutorginidae listed in the text

Data from: Cambrian rhynchonelliform nisusioid brachiopods: phylogeny and distribution

A comprehensive review and phylogenetic analysis of genera and species presently assigned to the rhynchonelliform superfamily Nisusioidea and family Nisusiidae suggests that this short-lived but important group of brachiopods first appeared in peri-Gondwana during the second half of the Cambrian Series 2, before going extinct by the end of Drumian time. Nisusiides achieved their maximum morphological disparity and geographical distribution during Wuliuan age, and most likely Laurentia was the major center of dispersal. The new phylogenetic analysis suggests an early separation between the lineages of spinose and non-spinose nisusiids. The non-spinose nisusiids probably evolved in Laurentia by the end of Cambrian Series 4. The new nisusiid genus Bellistrophia is described. The new species Nisusia multicostata represents the first documented rhynchonelliform (kutorginide) brachiopod from the Miaolingian (Drumian) of Alborz Mountains

Brachiopods: origin and early history

Despite many major advances in recent years, three key challenges remain in bringing clarity to the early history of the phylum: (1) identifying the origin, morphology and life modes of the first brachiopods; (2) understanding the relationships of the major groups to each other and higher sister taxa; and (3) unravelling the roles of the Cambrian and Ordovician radiations that set the agenda for much of subsequent brachiopod evolution. Since some 95% of all brachiopod taxa are extinct, the fossil record is the primary source of data to frame and test models for the evolution of the phylum. The acquisition of new, and the redescription of existing faunas, in precise spatial and temporal frameworks, using new and well-established analytical and investigative techniques, are as important as eve