bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Art. II.—Note on the Sri Jantra and Khat Kon Chakra, (Six-Angled Wheel), or Double Equilateral Triangle
Authors: Ravenshaw E. C.
Published: March 2011

In presenting to the Royal Asiatic Society the accompanying two specimens, in crystal, of the Sri Jantra, it will be proper to offer some explanation of the manner in which they came into my hands; of the use to which they are applied by the Hindus; and of the meaning, and apparently great antiquity, of the mysterious symbol of the Double Equilateral Triangle.
Art. VI.—Opening of the Topes or Buddhist Monuments of Central India
Authors: Cunningham A.
Published: March 2011

Amongst the many interesting monuments of India, the most remarkable, as well as the most ancient, are the cave-temples and topes of the Buddhists. The former have been made known by the pictorial illustrations of Fergusson; but the curious paintings which adorn the interior must be copied, and the numerous inscriptions must be deciphered, before the world will appreciate the full value of these works as illustrations of the religious belief and every-day life of the Indians of Alexander's time. Of the topes, none have yet been described, excepting the largest of the Sanchi group, near Bhilsa. An accurate plan and section of this building, with a short account of the various subjects represented in the sculptured bas-reliefs of the gateways, was published by my brother, Captain J. D. Cunningham, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. On his solicitation and earnest representation of the great value of these bas-reliefs, the Court of Directors were induced to employ Lieutenant Maisey to make drawings of the building and of its sculptured gateways. In January last I joined Lieutenant Maisey at Sánchi, and I am therefore able to speak positively of the value of his drawings, which cannot be surpassed for strict fidelity of outline and minute accuracy of detail. The groups of topes around Bhilsa will now be illustrated in a manner worthy of their value and importance.
Art. XIII.—Two Lectures on the Aboriginal Race of India, as distinguished from the Sanskritic or Hindu Race
Authors: Lieut.-General Briggs
Published: March 2011

The subject on which I propose to address you possesses a certain degree of interest, if it be only for its novelty. We have heard, it is true, for a series of years, of races of Hill-people in different parts of India; and latterly the accounts of them have crowded in upon us from many directions. Some have called them aborigines, without troubling themselves about their origin; while others have considered them Hindus expelled from their caste for some misdemeanour; but no one seems to have entertained the idea that the numerous communities which have been found spread over the surface of India, were the inhabitants of the country before the Hindus, or that those communities had one common origin. This idea appears to have occurred to no one that I am aware of till about six years ago, when I had occasion to refer to several papers on this subject in the Transactions of this Society, and those of the more ancient Society in Calcutta. When I began to compare the various accounts one with another, I did not fail to perceive the very close general analogies of their customs and their institutions. This led to fuller inquiries into their physiological, and eventually, into their philological peculiarities, till at length I arrived at the conclusion that all these various tribes were of one and the same race; and I shall endeavour to lead you to coincide with my sentiments on this interesting question.
Art. XV. —Notes Introductory to Sassanian Mint Monograms and Gems. With a Supplementary Notice on the Arabico-Pehlvi Series of Persian Coins
Authors: Thomas Edward
Published: March 2011

In June, 1839, I submitted to our Society a brief paper on the subject of the Pehlvi Legends occurring on the medals of the early Mohammedan conquerors of Persia. As the memoir in question was avowedly left incomplete, consequent upon my return to my duties in India, I have since uniformly cherished the hope of being able, at some future period, to remedy the defects and supply the deficiencies of my first essay. In this view, on my arrival in this country a few months since, I commenced collecting new materials, and rigidly examining my previous inferences and conclusions, trusting that I might eventually succeed in compiling a treatise more worthy of the pages of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, than that which our Council had already complimented me by printing.
Art. VIII.—Text and Commentary of the Memorial of Sakya Buddha Tathagata
Authors: Puh Wong , Beal S.
Published: March 2011

There is no life of Gótama Buddha, by any native author, yet discovered, that is free from the extravagant pretensions with which his history has been so largely invested; from which we may infer that the records now in existence were all prepared long after his appearance in this world. The Chinese work, of which the following is a translation, was written about the middle of the seventh century after Christ. We learn from “The History of the Sung Dynasty” that there was constant intercourse between China and Ceylon at this time, as well as in much earlier periods. The pilgrims from China were accustomed to take from the island relics, extracts from the sacred books, and models of the most celebrated images of Buddha. We are, therefore, prepared to discover a similarity between the mythical records of India and China, but could scarcely have expected that it would be so complete as is now proved by recent researches. The popular worship of the Queen of Heaven is one of the most striking innovations. Neither in the legends, nor hi the philosophical disquisitions of the Chinese, are there evidences of much originality, so far as their translated works on Buddhism enable us to judge. They seem here to be the same unimaginative copyists that they are in works of art and manufacture.
Art. IX.—On a newly discovered Bactrian Pali Inscription; and on other Inscriptions in the Bactrian Pali Character
Authors: Dowson J.
Published: March 2011

In January, 1862, Mr. A. A. Roberts, of the Bengal Civil Service, presented to the Society two copper plates inscribed with Bactrian Pali characters, said to have been found at Hussun Abdal, near Rawal Pindee, in the Punjab. These plates were submitted to the examination of Mr. Norris, and that gentleman at once picked out the names of Takhaśila nagara (Taxila) and Śákyamuni, proving the inscription to be one of more than ordinary importance. Having made a transcript of the document, he wrote a few notes upon it which were read at one of the Society's meetings, and he then suggested that the plates should be sent to me. The interest I had taken in these Bactrian inscriptions from the time of our joint labours on the Kapur di Giri edicts was well known to him, and was sufficient to ensure a careful if unsuccessful consideration of the newly-discovered inscription. In this recommendation the Society acquiesced and placed the plates at my disposal for examination and report. I now propose to state the results of my investigation.
Art. XIII.—Note on the Réh Efflorescence of North-Western India, and on the Waters of some of the Rivers and Canals
Authors: Medlicott Henry B.
Published: March 2011

The following notes, very nearly as they stand, were forwarded in July, 1861, by post to the late Colonel Baird Smith, for communication to the Eoyal Asiatic Society. The address got defaced in the mail-bags; and the parcel, after lying for several months in the Dead Letter Office, found its way back to Eoorkee. My observations have thus forfeited the advantage of correction and criticism from one so experienced in the subject to which they relate. Meanwhile, I have had some hurried opportunities of seeing and hearing more, and can thus make some alterations and additions.— H. B. M.
Art. XIV.—On the Súrya Siddhánta, and the Hindú Method of Calculating Eclipses
Authors: Spottiswoode William
Published: March 2011

Some years ago it was suggested to me to undertake an edition and translation of the Súrya Siddhánta; but a long and careful study of the work convinced me that it would be impossible satisfactorily to accomplish the object without more assistance than was to be found in Europe. The MSS. were few and insufficient in accuracy; the lexicon was deficient in most of the technical terms; and the only works that threw any light upon the subject were those of Colebrooke, invaluable as far as they went, and the Abbé Guérin's Astronomie Indienne. The other writers who had touched upon the subject merely reproduced what was to be found in Colebrooke.
Art. XV.—On some Fragments of Áryabhaṭṭa
Authors: Kern H.
Published: March 2011

There are few names in the history of Indian science which have acquired a celebrity equalling that of Áryabhaṭṭa. He is—to use the words of Colebrooke—“the earliest author known to have treated of Algebra among the Hindus, and likely to be, if not the inventor, the improver, of that analysis; by whom, too, it was pushed nearly to the whole degree of excellence which it is found to have attained among them.” But, notwithstanding the renown of the Indian algebraist and astronomer, not only among his countrymen, but also among the Arabian scholars, his works seemed to be lost. Neither was Colebrooke successful, nor was Davis more so, in their endeavours to find any work of his. What was known about his doctrine, which in many points deviated from the prevailing opinions among Indian astronomers, was derived from quotations occurring in various mathematical and astronomical writings. Now, it is deserving of notice, that in Southern India there are copies extant of works that most unequivocally lay claim to being the genuine productions of Áryabhaṭṭa. The late Mr. Whish knew an Áryabhaṭṭíyam, a treatise on arithmetic and mathematics, to which I shall have to revert in the course of this paper. Prof. Lassen says, in his Indische Alterthumskunde, that he has received from Southern India copies of two works ascribed to Áryabhaṭṭa, viz., of the above-mentioned Áryabhaṭṭíyam and of the Daṣagítakasútra. In an article on the Ārya-siddhánta in the 6th volume of the Journal of the American Oriental Society, Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall has verified an Ārya-siddhánta, of which he possessed two imperfect copies, by extracts occurring in the writings of various commentators.
Art. XIV.—Notes on the Chinese Game of Chess
Authors: Holt H. F. W.
Published: March 2011

In common with other Oriental nations the Chinese have possessed a knowledge of the game of chess for many centuries. As is well known, the invention of this noble game has in turn been attributed by various writers to many nations and peoples of antiquity, nor have there been wanting champions who have asserted that the knowledge of this deeply interesting game was first derived from the Chinese. The historians of China do not, however, lay claim to any such honour, nor indeed do they appear to be aware that it is known to any other country.
Art. XII—Some Bhoj'pūrī Folk-Songs
Authors: Grierson G. A.
Published: March 2011

Encouraged by the reception of my former paper on Bihārī Folk-Songs, I now lay before the Society a further set of similar ones, in the same dialect of the Bihārī language,— the Bhoj'pūrī.
Art. VIII.—The Ugor Branch of the Ural-Altaic Family of Languages
Authors: Duka Theodore
Published: March 2011

Whether the division and classification of linguistic affinities will always remain such as are propounded at the present day, or whether in due course and as a result of further research, this arrangement will have to make way for other conclusions, is not the question intended to be discussed here. The object of this paper is merely an attempt to bring together some historical, geographical, and literary databased upon more recent investigations, referring chiefly to one single linguistic branch, namely, the Ugor division of the Ural-Altaic family of languages,- to point out the habitat and numbers belonging to the various tribes classified under that head, and to bring down, as far as possible to our own day, the history of linguistic researches in that special field of study.
Mashhad Rāshid al-dīn Sinān: A 13th-century Ismā‘īlī monument in the Syrian Jabal Anṣarīya
Authors: Phillips John
Published: March 2011

Along with a number of commemorative inscriptions adorning various edifices in Maṣyāf, al-Qadmūs and al-Kahf, the principal literary source which records the building activities of the Syrian Ismā‘īlīs in the Jabel Anṣarīya during the 12th and 13th centuries is the anecdotal biography of Rāshid al-dīn Sinān, completed, as its author, Abū Firās b. Jawshan al-Mayniqī states, in Shawwāl 724/Sept.—Oct. 1324. In this work reference is made to the reinforcement, under the instructions of Sinān, of the fortresses of al-'Ullayqa, al-Ruṣāfa and al-Khawābī. Mosques founded at al-Mayniqa and al-Kahf apparently in the period following Sinān's death in 1193 are also mentioned. Finally, the story is told of the building after the Mongol withdrawal from Maṣyāf in late 1260 of a mashhad on a mountain top not far from the town. It was dedicated to the memory of Sinān and marked the spot from which this most famous of the Syrian Ismā‘īlī leaders had observed the siege of Qal‘at Maṣyāf by Saladin in 1176. By the second half of the 13th century the site of Sinān‘s encampment during the siege had become associated in the minds of the Ismā‘īlīs with certain miraculous occurrences brought about through the agency of Sinān and sufficient in their impact to persuade Saladin to desist from further hostility and sue for peace.
Notes on the language of Gurungpe
Authors: Strickland S. S.
Published: March 2011

In the Preface to the first edition of his essayOn the Aborigines of India, B. H. Hodgson set out two main purposes of his research: to show when and why the pre-Aryan aboriginal population (“Tamulians”) were dispersed to their apparently scattered distribution; and to describe their “positive condition, moral and material” so as to show “the point of advancement which the aborigines have reached in thought and action”.
On the TumshuqeseKarmavācanātext
Authors: Skjærvø P. O.
Published: March 2011

Tumshuqese is the name proposed by Emmerick, on the analogy of “Khotan: Khotanese”, for the language spoken in the region of Tumshuq, on the northern edge of the Tarim basin in the Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region of China. It is closely related to — though in many respects more archaic than — Khotanese, a Middle Iranian language (like Sogdian, Bactrian, Khwarezmian, Middle Persian and Parthian), the language of Khotan, a country and city on the southern border of the Tarim basin (see, e.g. Emmerick, 1979, 1–5).
William of Rubruck: a review article
Authors: Jackson Peter
Published: March 2011

The appearance of a new translation of the Itinerarium of William of Rubruck (1253–55) furnishes an opportunity to review the work done on this, possibly the most valuable of Western sources on the Mongols. By comparison with the mission of his fellow-Franciscan John of Plano Carpini some eight years before, that of Rubruck to the court of the Great Khan Möngke has been singularly unfortunate. An account of the earlier mission (the so-called “Tartar Relation”) was being drawn up in Poland even before Carpini had rejoined Innocent IV at Lyons, and at least two other variant recensions are known to exist, over and above the numerous manuscripts of the standard version. Rubruck's report, on the other hand, couched in the form of a long letter to St. Louis, languished for three and a half centuries before it was rescued around 1600 by Hakluyt; and there are only five manuscripts.
Art. XIV.—Notes on Some Antiquities Found in a Mound near Damghan
Authors: Schindler A. H.
Published: March 2011

About a mile and a half from Damghan is a mound called Tepeh i-Hissár, in which, during last autumn, some human bones were found. The people thinking that there had been in ancient times a burial-place, began digging in different parts of the mound, and discovered some black earthenware pots together with silver and copper ornaments. As soon as Government heard of this, a person was ordered to excavate this mound; and, since then, a number of objects, with about seventy or eighty skeletons, have been brought to light. The objects are, most of them, in the Shah's Museum, but the skeletons have unfortunately been thrown away as useless. I visited the mound in March last, and again in September. At my first visit, I saw that most of the objects were damaged or destroyed by unskilful digging, and I recommended a water-course being led to the mound, so that the objects might be washed out. They followed my advice, and a number of earthenware vessels, ornaments, etc., have been got out intact.
Oriental art and the popular fancy: Otto Samson, ethnographer, collector and museum director
Authors: Swallow D. A.
Published: March 2011

I would like to thank the Royal Asiatic Society warmly for allowing me the privilege of giving today's lecture on Dr Otto Samson. It is both an honour and a responsibility to speak of a person whom one has never known and whom others knew so much better, and I should perhaps explain why I of all people should be standing here today.
“Boundless dreams of the Levant”: Paul Wittek, the Geokge-Kreis, and the writing of Ottoman history .
Authors: Heywood Colin
Published: March 2011

That history may be read as literature is an aesthetic judgment, which does not deflect from the essential difference between the two modes. To paraphrase Gibbon, who above all in this context knew what he was talking about, “the end of history is truth … the end of poetry is pleasure”. History, by definition, must fail to attain its ultimate goal of recreating the past “exactly as it happened”: that such is the case, whether because of the fallibility of the human intellect, or the difficulty (but not impossibility) of constructing history in a non-linear mode, or even – that stock excuse of historians – the doubtful, maybe putatively “fictional” quality of “the sources” – does not mean, as is from time to time suggested, that the attempt should not be made, or that history and fiction are indistinguishable. Intent, in this context, is all, nor should one forget that earlier proponents of fictionalised history may on occasion prove to be somewhat uncomfortable intellectual bedfellows.
A note on Ibn Taghrī Birdī's description of Chinese ships in Aden and Jedda
Authors: Chaudhuri K. N.
Published: March 2011

The Ming maritime expeditions organized by Cheng Ho during the reign of Emperor Yung-lo have been studied intensively by Sinologists and the historians of the eastern Indian Ocean. The scattered references in the Islamic sources to the arrival of Chinese ships at the Middle Eastern ports on the other hand have not been properly collated with the evidence from Chinese historical sources. While working on Ibn Taghrī Birdī's history of Mamlūk Egypt, I accidentally came across a passage which graphically describes the possible economic impact of the Ming voyages on the revenue of local rulers. The historian was referring to the last expedition and the arrival of ships during the reign of al-Malik al-Ashraf Barsbay.
The Date of the Galapāta Vihāra Rock Inscription
Authors: Dhammavisuddhixs Yatadolawatte
Published: March 2011

THE GALAPĀTA VIHĀRA rock inscription “is engraved on a rock by the side of the flight of steps leading to the shrines and monastic buildings at the Galāpata Vihāra situated about two miles south-west of the Rest-House at Bentoṭa (Bhīmatittha) in the Valallāviṭa Korale of the Southern Province’.1 The date of this inscription is placed by Müller2 and Bell3 in the reign of Parākramabāhu II (A.D. 1236–70), whereas Paranavitana put it back to the reign of Parākramabāhu I (A.D. 1153–87).4 This paper will examine the dates suggested by these earlier writers and interpret from a new point of view the evidence so far adduced, as well as fresh evidence, attempting thereby to establish with slight modifications the date suggested by Müller and Bell.
Sanskrit Names of Drugs in Kuchean
Authors: Woolner A. C.
Published: March 2011

This study is based on the Weber-Macartney MS., which was edited by Hoernle, with a facsimile reproduction of the MS., transcription of the texts in Roman characters, and an index. (JASB., vol. lxx, pt. i, Extra Number 1, 1901.) Hoernle's text was pioneer work in the decipherment of Kuchean recently known as Tocharian B. Since then a few letters have been proved to have different values.
The Treatment of Indo-European in Armenian
Authors: Atkinson Basil F. C.
Published: March 2011

My lists of examples are taken mainly from Hübschmann's Armenische Grammatik, the lists in which were practically exhaustive in the state of knowledge at the time at which they were composed. Additional examples I have taken from Meillet, whose article in the Mémoires de la Société de Linguistiqtie for 1894 deals with this very problem. His Esquisse de la Grammaire de l'Arménien Classique, produced in 1903, also provides interesting information. What examples are not derived from these sources I have taken from Brugmann's Grundriss, and from certain other scattered articles, references to which appear as they are cited. To the three scholars mentioned the debt of any student of this difficult language is overwhelming.
XX. Notes on a Kurdish Dialect, the Shadi Branch of Kermanji
Authors: Soane E. B.
Published: March 2011

This one of the most northerly of the Kurdish dialects, spoken by a large tribe of Kurds inhabiting the mountains around Erzerum and to the east towards Bayazid, may be reckoned as one of the most important of the Turko-Kurd tongues on account of the regularity of conjugations of its verbs and richness of grammatical form as compared with other Kurdish tongues. With very few differences it may be classed as a companion dialect to that termed by Lerch and others who have studied northern Kurdish dialects, Kermānjī. A very harsh pronunciation is adopted by the Shādī Kurds, which renders their dialect incomprehensible to the southern Kurd. As in the Kermānjī, the influence of the Chaldean (Neo-Syriac) dialects is here and there apparent, and in a few instances Arabic is employed. Turkish, which might be expected to have furnished a proportion of the common words used, has been very sparsely employed. Considered as a whole, and allowing for differences created by corruption of pronunciation, the dialect appears as a well-preserved old Persian tongue. The Shādi Kurds, in common with some other tribes of the south, claim that their dialect is ancient Persian, and have reserved for it the name of Fārisī.
XXII. The Magazine of Mysteries (Makhzanu-L-Asrar) by Nizami of Ganja
Authors: Beveridge H.
Published: March 2011

It was, apparently, Sir William Jones who introduced the to the Western world. Among his works is a translation of the twenty stories which form the illustrations to the twenty sections (maqālat) of the poem. In the advertisement prefixed to his translation Sir William remarks that the warmest admirers of cannot but allow that the sententious brevity of his couplets often renders them obscure, and he warns those who do not know Persian that they have no right to judge from his version of the merits of the original. His renderings are indeed admittedly so literal as to be arid and hardly intelligible, and were intended only to assist the student. Probably he meant to include them in his Grammar. One of the stories, however, namely the tenth, was so interesting and beautiful that it attracted attention in spite of the baldness and incompleteness of the translation, and has often been quoted and admired. Hammer-Purgstall translated it into German, and there is a versified rendering in Alger's Poetry of the East, Boston, 1856. I offer the following prose translation of the story and its moral. I have consulted the Persian commentary on the by Muḥammad b. Qiyām, and several MSS. of the poem, but, in spite of this, one or two lines are to me very obscure.
XXIII. Fragments of Hittite Cuneiform Tablets from Boghaz Keui
Authors: Sayce A. H.
Published: March 2011

The fragments of Hittite cuneiform tablets from Boghaz Keui, copies of which I publish herewith, all contain religious or ritual texts. Many of them must have formed part of the tablets I have published in earlier numbers of this Journal, or at all events of the same series of tablets as that to which the latter belong. No. 1 is in the possession of the Rev. Mr. McNaughten, Nos. 3—5 of the Rev. Dr. G. E. White; the rest are in my own collection. As they were all found before the German excavations were begun at Boghaz Keui, it would seem that the peasants had lighted upon a portion of the library in which the religious texts were kept. This would have been in a temple rather than in the archive-chamber where the political and historical documents discovered by Dr. Winckler were preserved.
XXV. The Talaing Inscription of the Myazedi Pagoda at Pagan, with a few remarks on the other versions
Authors: Blagden C. O.
Published: March 2011

The inscriptions connected with the Myazedi pagoda at Pagan, Burma, are inscribed on two pillars. One of these pillars stands within the walls of the pagoda and is four-sided, having four inscriptions of the same general purport expressed in four different languages, viz., Pali, Burmese, Talaing, and an unidentified language. The other pillar is in the Kubyaukkyi cave, to the west of the pagoda. It has three inscriptions, which are apparently replicas of those that are on the first pillar excepting the Talaing version, which (it seems) is wanting; but they are not in such a good state of preservation as are those on the first pillar.
Emergency, Liberalism, and the State
Authors: Dyzenhaus David
Published: March 2011

Outside the Law: Emergency and Executive Power. By Clement Fatovic. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. 368p. $55.00.

Emergency Politics: Paradox, Law, Democracy. By Bonnie Honig. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009. 218p. $26.95.

States of Emergency in Liberal Democracies. By Nomi Claire Lazar. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 190p. $80.00.

In the wake of 9/11, many political scientists and theorists in the United States of America turned their attention to the topic of emergencies. That required them to confront a fundamental question: Are emergencies to be studied as important in their own right, as altogether exceptional events that threaten the very existence of a society in unforeseeable ways? Or are they important, not because they are radically distinct from the normal situation of politics, but because they bring to the surface otherwise implicit aspects of normal politics?
Science Receives Broad Support in Obama Administration's Proposed Budget
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: March 2011

With the U.S. federal deficit on target to hit $1.5 trillion this year, President Barack Obama's proposed federal budget of $3.73 trillion for fiscal year (FY) 2012, which begins on 1 October, has been greeted with mixed reviews since its release on 14 February. The proposal, which calls for a 5‐year overall freeze on discretionary spending outside of security, generally is favorable for science and science agencies—particularly the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) laboratories. However, some other agencies and bureaus, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), do not fare as well. A number of Republicans in Congress have panned the budget. Rep. Paul Ryan (R‐Wis.), chair of the House of Representatives Committee on the Budget, said the president “has failed to tackle the urgent fiscal and economic threats before us.” Also, with the FY 2011 budget never having been enacted, House Committee on Appropriations chair Hal Rogers (R‐Ky.) introduced a continuing resolution (H.R. 1) on 11 February that would fund the federal government for the remainder of the current fiscal year at a level $100 billion below the administration's request for this year.
On the Correct Use of Statistical Tests: Comment on “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics (in Geology)”
Authors: Sornette D. , Pisarenko V. F.
Published: March 2011

Taking the distribution of global seismicity over weekdays as an illustration, Pieter Vermeesch (Eos, 90(47), 443, doi:10:1029/2009EO470004, 2009) in his Forum presented an argument in which a standard chi‐square test is found to be so sensitively dependent on the sample size that probabilities of earthquake occurrence from these tests are uninterpretable. He suggests that statistical tests used in the geosciences to “make deductions more ‘objective’” are at best useless, if not misleading. In complete contradiction, we affirm that statistical tests, if they are used properly, are always informative. Vermeesch's error is to assume that it is possible to reduce in the chi‐square test simultaneously both the number of earthquakes in each weekday and the sample size by 10. Instead, Vermeesch should have taken 10% of the original data set and then again grouped it into 7 days. Without doing this, it was inevitable that Vermeesch reached his erroneous conclusion.
Careful Construction of Hypothesis Tests: Comment on “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics (in Geology)”
Authors: Taylor Steven R. , Anderson Dale N.
Published: March 2011

In his Forum, P. Vermeesch (Eos, 90(47), 443, doi:10.1029/2009EO470004, 2009) applied Pearson's chi‐square test to a large catalog of earthquakes to test the hypothesis that earthquakes are uniformly distributed across day of week (the formal null hypothesis that an earthquake has equal probability of occurring on any day). In his analysis, this hypothesis is rejected, and he proposes that the statistical test implies that earthquakes are correlated with day of the week (with specifically high seismicity on Sunday), and therefore strong dependence ofp values on sample size makes them uninterpretable. It is a well‐known property of classical hypothesis tests that the power of a statistical test is a function of the degrees of freedom, so that a test with large degrees of freedom will always have the resolution to reject the null. Consideration for practical as well as statistical significance is essential. Selecting bins so that the chi‐square test fails to reject the null hypothesis is essentially formulating a test to agree with a foregone conclusion. To the point, this data set does not exhibit uniform seismicity across time, and the statistical test is summarizing the data correctly. With proper attention to the application setting, and formulation of the null and alternative hypotheses, summarizing with p values is technically sound.
Lies or Misuse?: Comment on “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics (in Geology)”
Authors: Tseng Chih‐Yuan , Chen Chien‐Chih
Published: March 2011

To demonstrate a concern in geological interpretation after statistical hypothesis testing, writing that “geological hypotheses are never ‘true’—they will always be rejected if lots of data are available,” P. Vermeesch (Eos, 90(47), 443, doi:10.1029/2009EO470004, 2009) considers a null hypothesis H0 of earthquake occurrences not depending on the day of the week. He found that his testing result rejects H0, and he argues that the hypothesis testing does not reveal any geological significance. We argue that his conclusion basically demonstrates a Type I statistical error, where the null hypothesis is rejected despite being true. Because the use of hypothesis testing crucially relies on three criteria—the correct null hypothesis, a plausible probability distribution, and an appropriate testing statistic—one will easily obtain an incorrect interpretation of statistical significance if one of these criteria is not met. Vermeesch's argument does not exhaustively address whether the last two criteria are met and is insufficient to claim that statistically the hypothesis should be rejected.
Studying Silicate‐Ice Bodies in the Solar System
Authors: McCord Thomas B. , Castillo‐Rogez Julie C.
Published: March 2011

Evolution of Small Silicate‐Ice Bodies in the Solar System; Winthrop, Washington, 6–8 August 2010; Interest is growing in a class of small bodies in the solar system, some of which are believed to be the building blocks of the terrestrial planets. These include Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, the icy satellites, and some solid objects farther out in the solar system. Many of these objects appear, from their bulk density and shape, to be composed of a mixture of water and silicates, with short‐ and long‐lived radioisotopes as energy sources. These are the ingredients for dynamic thermal evolution, including differentiation and mineral and carbon chemistry, and the potential for internal liquid water layers even today.
Paul F. Hoffman Receives 2010 Walter H. Bucher Medal
Authors: Bowring Samuel A. , Hoffman Paul F.
Published: March 2011

Paul F. Hoffman was awarded the 2010 Walter H. Bucher Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 15 December 2010 in San Francisco, Calif. The medal is for “original contributions to the basic knowledge of the crust and lithosphere.”
James L. Burch Receives 2010 John Adam Fleming Medal
Authors: Fuselier Stephen A. , Burch James L.
Published: March 2011

James L. Burch was awarded the 2010 John Adam Fleming Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 15 December 2010 in San Francisco, Calif. The medal is for “original research and technical leadership in geomagnetism, atmospheric electricity, aeronomy, space physics, and related sciences.”
Testing Earthquake Source Inversion Methodologies
Authors: Page Morgan , Mai P. Martin , Schorlemmer Danijel
Published: March 2011

Source Inversion Validation Workshop; Palm Springs, California, 11–12 September 2010; Nowadays earthquake source inversions are routinely performed after large earthquakes and represent a key connection between recorded seismic and geodetic data and the complex rupture process at depth. The resulting earthquake source models quantify the spatiotemporal evolution of ruptures. They are also used to provide a rapid assessment of the severity of an earthquake and to estimate losses. However, because of uncertainties in the data, assumed fault geometry and velocity structure, and chosen rupture parameterization, it is not clear which features of these source models are robust. Improved understanding of the uncertainty and reliability of earthquake source inversions will allow the scientific community to use the robust features of kinematic inversions to more thoroughly investigate the complexity of the rupture process and to better constrain other earthquake‐related computations, such as ground motion simulations and static stress change calculations.
Exploring the Continental Margin of Israel: “Telepresence” at Work
Authors: Coleman Dwight F. , Austin James A. , Ben‐Avraham Zvi , Ballard Robert D.
Published: March 2011

A multidisciplinary team of American and Israeli scientists conducted ocean exploration with a “telepresence” component offshore Israel in September 2010 on board the new E/V Nautilus, which is a reincarnation of the former East German R/V Alexander von Humboldt. This was the first comprehensive geological and biological exploration of the Israel continental margin using deep submergence vehicle systems. Diverse seafloor environments in water depths between 500 and 1300 meters were sampled and imaged using two remotely operated vehicle (ROV) systems, Hercules and Argus. The ROV dives within three areas (Figure 1) investigated high‐priority acoustic targets representing geological, biological, or archaeological features as identified by the onboard scientific team. During the dives, biological and geological samples and more than 100 kilometers of high‐resolution side‐scan sonar data were collected.
Global Patterns of Phytoplankton Dynamics in Coastal Ecosystems
Authors: Paerl Hans , Yin Kedong , Cloern James
Published: March 2011

Scientific Committee on Ocean Research Working Group 137 Meeting; Hangzhou, China, 17–21 October 2010; Phytoplankton biomass and community structure have undergone dramatic changes in coastal ecosystems over the past several decades in response to climate variability and human disturbance. These changes have short‐ and long‐term impacts on global carbon and nutrient cycling, food web structure and productivity, and coastal ecosystem services. There is a need to identify the underlying processes and measure the rates at which they alter coastal ecosystems on a global scale. Hence, the Scientific Committee on Ocean Research (SCOR) formed Working Group 137 (WG 137), “Global Patterns of Phytoplankton Dynamics in Coastal Ecosystems: A Comparative Analysis of Time Series Observations” (http://wg137.net/). This group evolved from a 2007 AGU‐sponsored Chapman Conference entitled “Long Time‐Series Observations in Coastal Ecosystems: Comparative Analyses of Phytoplankton Dynamics on Regional to Global Scales.”
A drive-free vibratory gyroscope
Authors: Vu Huy , Palacios Antonio , In Visarath , Longhini Patrick , Neff Joseph D.
Published: March 2011

Computational and analytical works have shown that certain coupling schemes can lead to significant enhancements in sensitivity, accuracy, and lower costs for a wide range of sensor devices whose output and performance depends directly on the ability of individual units to generate stable limit cycle oscillations. Vibratory gyroscopes are very good candidates for this new paradigm as their accuracy and sensitivity are directly dependent on the ability of a driving signal to produce and maintain oscillations with stable amplitude, phase, and frequency. To achieve higher accuracy, we show proof of concept of a novel scheme: a drive-free coupled gyroscope system in which the coupling alone can lead to self-regulated limit cycle oscillations in the drive- and sense-axes with stable constant amplitude and phase-locking.
Tuning the crystallographic and electronic properties of chromium oxynitride films
Authors: Castaldi L. , Kurapov D. , Reiter A. , Shklover V. , Patscheider J.
Published: March 2011

Nitrides and oxides of chromium exhibit substantial differences in their crystallographic and electronic structure. The present study shows some of the possibilities for tuning the crystallographic and electronic properties of chromium oxynitride films by progressively increasing the oxygen concentration. We observe that upon oxygen addition the CrOxN1−x films remain in the face centered cubic B1 structure of CrN, up to oxygen contents of x ≤ 0.70. At higher oxygen concentrations they gradually adopt the properties of chromium sesquioxide and crystallize in the corundum Cr2O3 structure. The gradual decrease of the stress-free lattice parameter of the films with the B1 structure indicates that oxygen substitutes progressively for the nitrogen atoms. The (001) preferred orientation of the B1 films becomes more pronounced with the increase of oxygen concentration in the films. This trend is ascribed to the increased energy of the polar (111) planes with the substitution of nitrogen by the more electronegative oxygen anions. Changes in the core-level binding energies (BE) of the Cr 2p3/2 and N 1s observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with increasing x indicate enhanced charge transfer from Cr to O with respect to N. A shift of the valence band edge toward higher BE suggests a decrease of electrical conductivity of the films with increasing oxygen content.
Computations of the optical transitions and absorption spectra in a set of realistic, elongated InAs/GaAs quantum boxes having a Gaussian distribution
Authors: Kabi Sanjib , Panda Siddhartha , Biswas Dipankar
Published: March 2011

InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by various methods do not have the same dimensions in the three axes. This paper reports on expressions for computations of the optical transitions and absorption spectra of InAs/GaAs QDs that have a square base and the variation of the height is Gaussian. The dots were considered to be elongated quantum boxes with square bases having finite potentials at the boundaries. The results are in excellent agreement with reported experimental data of photoluminescence and absorption. The expressions could be successfully applied to short quantum wires.
A two-dimensional model for the subthreshold swing of short-channel double-gate metal–oxide–semiconductor field effect transistors with a vertical Gaussian-like doping profile
Authors: Dubey Sarvesh , Tiwari Pramod Kumar , Jit S.
Published: March 2011

An analytical two-dimensional (2D) model for the subthreshold swing of the short-channel double-gate (DG) MOSFET with a vertical Gaussian-like doping profile is presented in this paper. The 2D potential function obtained by solving the 2D Poisson’s equation by using the evanescent mode analysis has been used to formulate the subthreshold current. The concept of the effective conduction path effect of uniformly doped DG MOSFETs has been extended to the nonuniformly doped DG MOSFETs to obtain the subthreshold swing variations against doping profile parameters as well as device parameters of the present device. The results of the model show excellent matching with the numerical simulation data obtained by using the commercially available ATLASTM, a two-dimensional device simulator from SILVACO.
Optical properties of functionalized GaN nanowires
Authors: Hsu Chih-Wei , Ganguly Abhijit , Chen Chin-Pei , Kuo Chun-Chiang , Paskov Plamen P. , Holtz Per Olof , Chen Li-Chyong , Chen Kuei-Hsien
Published: March 2011

The evolution of the optical properties of GaN nanowires (NWs) with respect to a sequence of surface functionalization processes is reported; from pristine hydroxylated to finally, 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) functionalized GaN NWs. Photoluminescence, Raman, stationary, and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements were applied to investigate the GaN NWs with different surface conditions. A documented surface passivation effect of the GaN NWs induced by the MPTMS functionalization is determined based on our characterization results. A hypothesis associated with the surface band bending and the defect levels near the band edges is proposed to explain the observed experimental results.
Unipolar resistive switching in insulating niobium oxide film and probing electroforming induced metallic components
Authors: Jung Kyooho , Kim Yongmin , Park Young S , Jung Woong , Choi Jungae , Park Baeho , Kim Hyungsang , Kim Wondong , Hong Jinpyo , Im Hyunsik
Published: March 2011

We have observed unipolar-type resistance switching in an ultrathin niobium oxide film. An analysis of the temperature dependence of the resistance switching transport revealed that low-resistance state showed a type of electrical conduction typically observed in metals. The modification in chemical binding states of the film in different resistance states was studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The analysis of XPS showed that metallic suboxides NbOδ (δ ≪ 2), decomposed from some of Nb2O5 and NbO2 components of the film, were created after electroforming process, suggesting that the metallic suboxides are constituting elements of metallic channels in the low resistance state.
Nonuniform dependence for the Cauchy problem of the general b-equation
Authors: Li Yan
Published: March 2011

This paper is concerned with the nonuniform dependence on initial data for the general b-equation. We prove that the solution map of the Cauchy problem of the b-equation is not uniformly continuous in \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\begin{document}$H^s(\mathbb {R})$\end{document}Hs(R), s > 3/2.
Vibrational properties of NixPt1−x alloys: An understanding from ab initio calculations
Authors: Dutta Biswanath , Ghosh Subhradip
Published: March 2011

The experimental phonon dispersion relations in Nix Pt1−x alloys reveal anomalous features in the phonon branches which are dependent upon their composition and phonon propagation directions. We investigate the origin of the anomalous features by computing the lattice dynamics for the alloy system at various compositions with the newly developed first-principles based methodology which takes into account the disorders in the mass, the force-constant, and the environment. The physics behind the anomalous features is discussed using the coherent scattering structure factors, the disorder-induced widths, and the vibrational densities of states. Our results agree well with the experimental observations both qualitatively and quantitatively for most of the compositions. We demonstrate that the anomalous features arise due to the correlated vibrations of the unlike pairs of species. For Ni0.25Pt0.75 alloy, our calculations do not find a resonance like behavior in the phonon branches, as observed in the experiments. We attribute this disagreement partially to the limitations in the identification of the normal modes by the experimental setup and partially to the nonconsideration of the short-range order in the theoretical treatment.
Time resolved metal line profile by near-ultraviolet tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy
Authors: Vitelaru C. , de Poucques L. , Minea T. M. , Popa G.
Published: March 2011

Pulsed systems are extensively used to produce active species such as atoms, radicals, excited states, etc. The tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TD-LAS) is successfully used to quantify the density of absorbing species, but especially for stationary or slow changing systems. The time resolved-direct absorption profile (TR-DAP) measurement method by TD-LAS, with time resolution of μs is proposed here as an extension of the regular use of diode laser absorption spectroscopy. The spectral narrowness of laser diodes, especially in the blue range (∼0.01 pm), combined with the nanosecond fast trigger of the magnetron pulsed plasma and long trace recording on the oscilloscope (period of second scale) permit the detection of the sputtered titanium metal evolution in the afterglow (∼ms). TR-DAP method can follow the time-dependence of the temperature (Doppler profile) and the density (deduced from the absorbance) of any medium and heavy species in a pulsed system.
Photoluminescence properties and energy transfer between Eu3+ and Nd3+ in polyborate BaGdB9O16: Eu3+, Nd3+
Authors: Zhang Huijuan , Wang Yuhua , Han Lili
Published: March 2011

The photoluminescence properties of BaGdB9O16: Eu3+, Nd3+ were investigated under ultraviolet excitation. For the samples BaGdB9O16: xEu3+, yNd3+, the emission spectra include the visible and near infrared region, which correspond to the emission spectra of Eu3+ and Nd3+. Moreover, based on the luminescence spectra and decay lifetimes of BaGdB9O16: 0.01Eu3+, xNd3+, the effective energy transfer was demonstrated from Eu3+ to Nd3+. The energy transfer efficiency was calculated with the measured decay lifetimes of Eu3+. The possible energy transfer mechanism was proposed to rationalize the experimental results.
Mn dimers on graphene nanoribbons: An ab initio study
Authors: Rigo V. A. , Miwa R. H. , da Silva Antonio J. R. , Fazzio A.
Published: March 2011

We show, using ab initio density functional theory calculations, that Mn dimers adsorbed on graphene nanoribbons (Mn2/GNRs) present a magnetic bistability, as does the isolated Mn dimer. Our total energy results indicate that Mn dimers lying along the edge sites of zigzag GNRs represent the most likely configuration. We find that similar to the isolated Mn2 molecule, the antiferromagnetic coupling represents the ground state for Mn2/GNR, and the spin density configuration of the GNR does not play an important role on the net magnetic moment of Mn2, which makes GNRs an ideal substrate for adsorption of these molecules. The ground state and the excited state configuration of the Mn dimer, viz., low-spin (LS) and high-spin (HS), are maintained in the face of changes in the spin density configuration of the substrate. Here we find that the Mn2/GNR systems exhibit a LS ↔ HS binary behavior, which can be considered as a useful property in the development of nanomemories based upon metallic clusters.