Conceptualizing the Interaction of Buddhism and Daoism in the Tang Dynasty: Inner Cultivation and Outer Authority in the Daode Jing Commentaries of Cheng Xuanying and Li Rong

This paper takes the different interpretations of one and the same sentences in the Daode jing as “inner cultivation” or “worldly power” respectively, in the commentaries of two closely related early Tang Daoist authors, Cheng Xuanying 成玄英 and Li Rong 李荣, as a starting point to approach the question of interaction of Buddhism and Daoism from a new angle. Instead of trying to pinpoint influences, origins, and derivatives, I propose to delineate philosophical discourses that cross the boundaries of the three teachings. Parallel excerpts from both commentaries show how Cheng reads the Daode jing as a guidebook for cultivation, and how Li Rong reads it as a guideline for governing. I argue that the differences could be read as the authors’ participation in different philosophical discourses, and I will show, for the case of Cheng Xuanying, how terminological overlap with contemporary Buddhist authors indicates that Buddhists and Daoists both participated in the discourse on inner cultivation with commentaries to their respective sacred scriptures

On the calibration of the relation between geometric albedo and polarimetric properties for the asteroids

We present a new extensive analysis of the old problem of finding a satisfactory calibration of the relation between the geometric albedo and some measurable polarization properties of the asteroids. To achieve our goals, we use all polarimetric data at our disposal. For the purposes of calibration, we use a limited sample of objects for which we can be confident to know the albedo with good accuracy, according to previous investigations of other authors. We find a new set of updated calibration coefficients for the classical slope - albedo relation, but we generalize our analysis and we consider also alternative possibilities, including the use of other polarimetric parameters, one being proposed here for the first time, and the possibility to exclude from best-fit analyzes the asteroids having low albedos. We also consider a possible parabolic fit of the whole set of data.Comment: Accepted by MNRA

The first confirmation of V-type asteroids among the Mars crosser population

The Mars crossing region constitutes a path to deliver asteroids from the Inner Main Belt to the Earth crossing space. While both the Inner Main Belt and the population of Earth crossing asteroids contains a significant fraction of asteroids belonging to the V taxonomic class, only two of such V-type asteroids has been detected in the Mars crossing region up to now. In this work, we searched for asteroids belonging to the V class among the population of Mars crossing asteroids, in order to support alternative paths to the delivery of this bodies into the Earth crossing region. We selected 18 candidate V-type asteroids in the Mars crossing region using observations contained in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Objects Catalog. Then, we observed 4 of these candidates to take their visible spectra using the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR). We also performed the numerical simulation of the orbital evolution of the observed asteroids. We confirmed that 3 of the observed asteroids belong to the V class, and one of these may follow a path that drives it to an Earth collision in some tens of million years

AVAST Survey 0.4-1.0 {\mu}m Spectroscopy of Igneous Asteroids in the Inner and Middle Main Belt

We present the spectra of 60 asteroids, including 47 V-types observed during the first phase of the Adler V-Type Asteroid (AVAST) Survey. SDSS photometry was used to select candidate V-type asteroids for follow up by nature of their very blue $i-z$ color. 47 of the 61 observed candidates were positively classified as V-type asteroids, while an additional six show indications of a 0.9 $\mu$m feature consistent with V-type spectra, but not sufficient for formal classification. Four asteroids were found to be S-type, all of which had $i-z$ values very near the adopted AVAST selection criteria of $i-z \le -0.2$, including one candidate observed well outside the cut (at a mean $i-z$ of -0.11). Three A-type asteroids were also identified. Six V-type asteroids were observed beyond the 3:1 mean motion resonance with Jupiter, including the identification of two new V-type asteroids (63085 and 105041) at this distance. Six V-type asteroids were observed with low ($<5\deg$) orbital inclination, outside of the normal dynamical range of classic Vestoids, and are suggestive of a non-Vesta origin for at least some of the population.Comment: 1 table, 3 figures, To appear to Icaru

Examples of Buddho–Daoist interaction: conceptions of the afterlife in early medieval epigraphic sources

oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/726This paper is based on a larger study of conceptions of the afterlife in the engraved texts of 496 entombed epigraphs (muzhi 墓誌) and 494 votive stele inscriptions (zaoxiangji 造像記) from northern China from the fifth and sixth century CE, using the database of Wei Jin Nanbeichao Stone inscriptions 魏晉南北朝石刻語料庫, part of the larger database of excavated documents from the Wei Jin Nanbeichao 魏晉南北朝實物語料庫 at the Center for the Study and Application of Chinese Characters at ECNU Shanghai

A critical review of the odonate fauna of Trentino: annotated check-list and new relevant data for Italy (Insecta: Odonata)

By the first half of the Twentieth Century, the Odonate fauna of Trentino (Oriental Alps, Italy) was quite well known; subsequently, few surveys on dragonflies were carried out, resulting in a limited update of the knowledge on this taxon. The aim of this study is to provide a critical and annotated check-list of the Odonata of this province for the period from 1851 to 2018. This synthesis is based on a total of 3814 records obtained from the literature (955 records), revision of collections (1048 records), and unpublished recent data (1811 records). An updated and comprehensive Odonatological bibliography of the region is also provided. Overall, sixty-one species were confirmed to occur (or have occurred) in Trentino. These represent the 64% of the species recorded in Italy and the 43% of the species recorded in Europe. Presence of five additional species (Ceriagrion tenellum, Coenagrion lunulatum, C. ornatum, Ophiogomphus cecilia, and Epitheca bimaculata) should be considered doubtful for Trentino. Further two species (Platycnemis latipes and Onychogomphus uncatus) have to be excluded from the fauna of the study area. Fifty-four species were recorded also after 2000, whereas seven species were not confirmed after this year (Lestes dryas, L. virens, L. barbarus, Sympecma paedisca, Coenagrion scitulum, Brachytron pratense, and Sympetrum flaveolum). Several new records resulting from this study (referred to: Erythromma najas, Aeshna subarctica, Aeshna caerulea, Aeshna grandis, Leucorrhinia pectoralis) have a conservation or biogeographical relevance which transcends the borders of the study area, being noteworthy from an Italian or Alpine perspective and are thus commented in detail. Taxonomic notes on subspecies are also given when relevant

First record of the migrant dragonfly Pantala flavescens for mainland Italy (Insecta: Odonata)

In this contribution we report the observation of an individual of the migrant dragonfly Pantala flavescens (Fabricius, 1798) found at Montanaro (Piemonte, Italy) on 14 Aug 2019. This represents the first record of the species for mainland Italy and one of the very few available for Western and Central Europe before 2019. We discuss two hypotheses on the origin of this individual integrating available literature with very recent records retrieved from citizen science faunistic platforms

Coming back home: recolonisation of abandoned dens by crested porcupines Hystrix cristata and European badgers Meles meles after wood-cutting and riparian vegetation mowing events

Semifossorial species excavate dens and are considered as landscape engineers, often responsible for soil oxygenation, shuffling, landslides and floods. The crested porcupine and the European badger are semifossorial mammals sharing dens in central Italy. Both species localise their setts mainly in densely vegetated areas, providing them with cover and protection from local predators and poachers. This is particularly evident for the porcupine, widely poached in central and southern Italy, whereas badgers may locally exploit burrows also in open and periurban areas. Wood-cutting and mowing of riparian vegetation surrounding den setts force both porcupines and badgers to leave their burrows. We evaluated the probability of den re-occupancy in the years following the vegetation removal, through intensive camera-trapping at 14 den setts monitored for 9 years. We performed GLMMs to test the annual probability of sett occupancy by the two species after vegetation disturbance events. The probability of re-occupying the burrow by porcupines increased with increasing time from the disturbance cessation. A similar pattern was also observed for the badger, which probability of den occupancy was also negatively correlated with the porcupine presence at the same den, confirming the aggressive behavior of this rodent. We also tested whether, since the first year after vegetation removal, the proportion of years of occupation by porcupines on the total of years has been affected by the disturbance repetition. This effect was found to be significant only for the badger. The crested porcupine, protected by international and national laws, is more sensitive than the badger, protected according to the Italian national law, to vegetation removal. A single disturbance event is sufficient to force it to abandon the den sett, followed by a slow recolonisation with growing vegetation. Conversely, the badger is sensitive to continuous vegetation removal whereas it can colonise porcupine dens abandoned after single disturbances