bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Research on anaerobic digestion of corn stover enhanced by dilute acid pretreatment: Mechanism study and potential utilization in practical application
Authors: Tian Yonglan , Zhang Huayong , Mi Xueyue , Wang Lijun , Zhang Luyi , Ai Yuejie
Published: April 2016

The utilization of lignocelluloses for biogas production is limited for several aspects, and an efficient pre-treatment is essential to increase the enzyme accessibility of cellulose. This research focused on the mechanism of biogas production and biodegradation properties under the treatments with different acid agents, including sulfuric acid (H2SO4), acetic acid (CH3COOH), and phosphoric acid (H3PO4). The H3PO4 pretreated corn stover was then co-digested with cow dung in a pilot test to investigate the performance of acid pretreatment in practice. The results showed that the main compositions of corn stover were cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, and their proportions in the corn stovers were increased after the acid pretreatments. This hence increased the final biogas yields (up to 40.75%), methane content, and promoted the biodegradation process. More significantly, the acid pretreatments delayed the appearance of the peak value of the biogas yield for 3 to 8 days depending on the acid concentrations. This study proposed that the dilute weak acid pretreatment, especially H3PO4 pretreatment, efficiently enhanced the biogas production by increasing the degradation of hemicellulose. Further on, the H3PO4 pretreatment also improved the stability of fermentation, which would benefit the biogas generation in practice. This research contributes to a better understanding of the mechanism of acid influence on enhancing the biogas generation and substrate biodegradation, and provides pratically sound guidance for reclamation of lignocellulosic materials.
Extended hot carrier lifetimes observed in bulk In0.265±0.02Ga0.735N under high-density photoexcitation
Authors: Zhang Yi , Tayebjee Murad J. Y. , Smyth Suntrana , Dvořák Miroslav , Wen Xiaoming , Xia Hongze , Heilmann Martin , Liao Yuanxun , Zhang Zewen , Williamson Todd , Williams Joshua , Bremner Stephen , Shrestha Santosh , Huang Shujuan , Schmidt Timothy W. , Conibeer Gavin J.
Published: April 2016

We have investigated the ultrafast carrier dynamics in a 1 μm bulk In0.265Ga0.735N thin film grown using energetic neutral atom-beam lithography/epitaxy molecular beam epitaxy. Cathodoluminescence and X-ray diffraction experiments are used to observe the existence of indium-rich domains in the sample. These domains give rise to a second carrier population and bi-exponential carrier cooling is observed with characteristic lifetimes of 1.6 and 14 ps at a carrier density of 1.3 × 1016 cm−3. A combination of band-filling, screening, and hot-phonon effects gives rise to a two-fold enhanced mono-exponential cooling rate of 28 ps at a carrier density of 8.4 × 1018 cm−3. This is the longest carrier thermalization time observed in bulk InGaN alloys to date.
What did ancient people eat?
Authors: Remy Ashley J. , Schmidt Christopher W.
Published: April 2016

With the aid of confocal microscopy, bioarchaeologists can quantitatively assess tooth wear and determine diet.
Situation in grammar or in frames?
Authors: Fischer Kerstin
Published: April 2016

This paper addresses the conditions under which knowledge of situation-specific language use should be part of a construction grammatical representation and under which it should, rather, be part of a frame semantic representation. Using child-directed speech as an example, which has been suggested to constitute a good candidate for a register, it is shown that a conventional association between grammatical form and situation is implausible. Instead, the relationship between grammar and situation is mediated by speakers’ understandings of the functional affordances of the respective situation, to which the communication partner may contribute considerably. In the case of the so-called baby talk register, situational knowledge is thus stored best in semantic frames as a set of functions that can be demonstrated to be commonly attended to, whereas construction grammar remains an inventory of general form-function pairs.
Partnership between grammatical construction and interactional frame
Authors: Matsumoto Yoshiko
Published: April 2016

Building on the seminal work on grammar and frames (e.g. Fillmore 1982), in addition to recent studies that apply a construction grammar approach to the description of genres (Antonopoulou & Nikiforidou 2011; Nikiforidou 2010b; Östman 2005) and spoken discourse (Fischer 2011; Fried & Östman 2005), this paper highlights the importance of extending the analytical boundary of grammar to include interactional frames, e.g. genres and social interactions. Using as an illustrative case the stand-alone noun-modifying construction in Japanese, a grammatical construction that is genre-sensitive, this paper suggests that grammatical constructions and interactional frames are in partnership in the construction of meaning. It is argued that this partnership is mediated by the proficient language users’ knowledge, which is socially and culturally inculcated and fostered, and therefore it is important to keep the theoretical model flexible enough to acknowledge fluidity in grammatical understanding.
A lectometric analysis of aggregated lexical variation in written Standard English with Semantic Vector Space models
Authors: Ruette Tom , Ehret Katharina , Szmrecsanyi Benedikt
Published: April 2016

Lectometry is a corpus-based methodology that explores how multiple language-external dimensions shape language usage in an aggregate perspective. The paper combines this methodology with Semantic Vector Space modeling to investigate lexical variability in written Standard English, as sampled in the original Brown family of corpora (Brown, LOB, Frown and F-LOB). Based on a joint analysis of 303 lexical variables, which are semi-automatically extracted by means of a SVS, we find that lexical variation in the Brown family is systematically related to three lectal dimensions: discourse type (informative versus imaginative), standard variety (British English versus American English), and time period (1960s versus 1990s). It turns out that most lexical variables are sensitive to at least one of these three language-external dimensions, yet not every dimension has dedicated lexical variables: in particular, distinctive lexical variables for the real time dimension fail to emerge.
WordSkew
Authors: Barlow Michael
Published: April 2016

In this article, I provide a brief introduction to the operation and motivation behind the text analysis tool WordSkew. This program, currently available for Windows, is a variant of a typical concordance program. The distinguishing feature of the software is that it allows the user to specify the units of discourse and apposite ways of segmenting the discourse. The results of a search query are then given with respect to each segment. For example, sentences might be divided into ten segments (based on word counts) and the frequency of the search term is then provided for each segment. This process is repeated as required for other textual units.
Creating disorder
Authors: Loginova Irina
Published: April 2016

This paper investigates the effect of an upcoming election on disorderly behaviour in two Houses of Representatives: that of the Australian Federal Parliament and that of the New Zealand Parliament. Two hypotheses are tested. The first hypothesis is that, notwithstanding their common origins in the Westminster parliamentary tradition, there are significant genrelectal differences in the way the two Houses respond to the impending election. The second hypothesis is that both will respond by becoming increasingly disorderly. The locus for measuring disorderly conduct is taken from the Wednesday parliamentary Question Time for the year 2007 in the case of Australia and 2008 in the case of New Zealand. All instances of disorderly conduct were tracked and a month-by-month measure was made of each kind of disorder as indicated by Standing Orders. All responses of the Speaker to disorder were also logged. The research shows that both hypotheses are corroborated.
The puzzle of gender effects in L2 phonology
Authors: Moyer Alene
Published: April 2016

Gender has received scant attention in L2 phonology studies, yet evidence for a female advantage in pronunciation has appeared throughout the past several decades. Neurolinguistic research suggests that females process language differently than males. At the same time, female L2 learners may be more concerned about pronunciation accuracy than their male counterparts. No definitive explanation has yet been offered, however, about why this is so, and how it might impact long-term language acquisition. This paper explores the gender construct in terms of such neurolinguistic predispositions, as well as the L2 evidence for socio-psychological and cognitive differences in orientation to accent, including motivation and strategy use. Suggestions for future research include a closer examination of gender differences in: (a) self-concept; (b) approach to task; (c) access to relevant resources and L2 experience. In this way, gender effects may be more clearly understood as extrinsic or intrinsic in nature.
Listening to learners’ voices
Authors: Müller Mareike
Published: April 2016

This article investigates learners’ perceptions on pronunciation learning in study-abroad contexts from a qualitative perspective. While previous research focused mainly on quantitative measurements of pronunciation gains with mixed results, this study takes a more learner-centered approach and examines the impact of socio-psychological factors on learning foreign pronunciation, which appears to be a highly individual and at times conflict-prone process with which sojourners are confronted. The study draws on the cases of five Canadian students who studied abroad at German universities for one or two semesters. The data collection involved a learning history questionnaire; semi-structured interviews pre-, mid-, and post-sojourn; and bi-weekly e-journals. The data was analyzed and interpreted within the framework of narrative analysis. The results show how sojourners’ beliefs about the importance of pronunciation, community participation, identity-related challenges, and obstacles to pronunciation learning influence and help explain individually different learning behaviors and results.
Translating the translingual text
Authors: Hansen Julie
Published: April 2016

This article examines strategies applied in selected passages of Elena Petrova’s Russian translation of Olga Grushin’s anglophone novelThe Dream Life of Sukhanov(2005). The novel is set in Moscow during the late Soviet period and depicts a crisis precipitated by the changes brought by glasnost in the life of a loyal apparatchik. Although the Russian-American writer Grushin composed the novel in her adopted language of English, it reflects a Russian cultural subtext and contains numerous Russian linguistic elements and cultural allusions. It is therefore interesting to analyze how these elements are rendered in the Russian translation, entitledZhizn’ Sukhanova v snovideniiakh(2011). The analysis is followed by a consideration of challenges posed by translingual texts to theoretical understandings of translation. It argues that established concepts within translation studies, such as domestication, foreignization, source language and target language, are not well-suited to cases of literary translingualism.
Developing Recreational Harvest Regulations for an Unexploited Lake Trout Population
Authors: Lenker Melissa A. , Weidel Brian C. , Jensen Olaf P. , Solomon Christopher T.
Published: April 2016

Developing fishing regulations for previously unexploited populations presents numerous challenges, many of which stem from a scarcity of baseline information about abundance, population productivity, and expected angling pressure. We used simulation models to test the effect of six management strategies (catch and release; trophy, minimum, and maximum length limits; and protected and exploited slot length limits) on an unexploited population of Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush in Follensby Pond, a 393-ha lake located in New York State's Adirondack Park. We combined field and literature data and mark–recapture abundance estimates to parameterize an age-structured population model and used the model to assess the effects of each management strategy on abundance, catch per unit effort (CPUE), and harvest over a range of angler effort (0–2,000 angler-days/year). Lake Trout density (3.5 fish/ha for fish ≥ age 13, the estimated age at maturity) was similar to densities observed in other unexploited systems, but growth rate was relatively slow. Maximum harvest occurred at levels of effort ≤ 1,000 angler-days/year in all the scenarios considered. Regulations that permitted harvest of large postmaturation fish, such as New York's standard Lake Trout minimum size limit or a trophy size limit, resulted in low harvest and high angler CPUE. Regulations that permitted harvest of small and sometimes immature fish, such as a protected slot or maximum size limit, allowed high harvest but resulted in low angler CPUE and produced rapid declines in harvest with increases in effort beyond the effort consistent with maximum yield. Management agencies can use these results to match regulations to management goals and to assess the risks of different management options for unexploited Lake Trout populations and other fish species with similar life history traits.

Received May 18, 2015; accepted November 30, 2015 Published online March 31, 2016
Functions, structures, and applications of cellobiose 2-epimerase and glycoside hydrolase family 130 mannoside phosphorylases
Authors: Saburi Wataru
Published: April 2016

Carbohydrate isomerases/epimerases are essential in carbohydrate metabolism, and have great potential in industrial carbohydrate conversion. Cellobiose 2-epimerase (CE) reversibly epimerizes the reducing end d-glucose residue of β-(1→4)-linked disaccharides to d-mannose residue. CE shares catalytic machinery with monosaccharide isomerases and epimerases having an (α/α)6-barrel catalytic domain. Two histidine residues act as general acid and base catalysts in the proton abstraction and addition mechanism. β-Mannoside hydrolase and 4-O-β-d-mannosyl-d-glucose phosphorylase (MGP) were found as neighboring genes of CE, meaning that CE is involved in β-mannan metabolism, where it epimerizes β-d-mannopyranosyl-(1→4)-d-mannose to β-d-mannopyranosyl-(1→4)-d-glucose for further phosphorolysis. MGPs form glycoside hydrolase family 130 (GH130) together with other β-mannoside phosphorylases and hydrolases. Structural analysis of GH130 enzymes revealed an unusual catalytic mechanism involving a proton relay and the molecular basis for substrate and reaction specificities. Epilactose, efficiently produced from lactose using CE, has superior physiological functions as a prebiotic oligosaccharide.
Iraq’s stunted growth: human and economic development in perspective
Authors: Yousif Bassam
Published: April 2016

This article studies Iraq’s recent economic development. It views development as a process mediated by institutions and driven by the attainment of human capabilities and capacities, including state capacity. This approach departs from the two prevalent sets of models that have been used to explain Iraq’s lacklustre economic performance: theories that highlight the negative effects of oil on economic outcomes as well as those that stress the importance of the, often formulaic, application of policies that advocate economic liberalization and marketization. This study posits that many of Iraq’s economic difficulties, including those of the provision of public services and realizing investment, are best comprehended as the result of prolonged institutional decline and decay in human capabilities, especially since 1990. What is more, the article contests some basic maxims concerning Iraq’s recent economic history. For example, the post-2003 era is viewed primarily as a continuation of the sanctions period to the extent that it has been characterized by continued deterioration in both human capabilities and economic institutions, despite radically changed political and economic arrangements.`
baths and bathing
Authors: Yegül Fikret
Published: April 2016

In Homer’s world, bathing in warm water was a reward reserved for heroes. Ordinary Greeks bathed at home or in public baths characterized by circular chambers with hip-baths and rudimentary heating systems. Public bathing as a daily habit, a hygienic, medicinal, recreational, and luxurious experience belonged to the Romans. The origins of Roman baths can be traced in the simpler Greek baths and the bathing facilities of the Greek gymnasium and palaestra, as well as the farm traditions of rural Italy. The earliest Roman baths (balneae), which show the mastery of floor and wall heating, and a planning system based on controlled and graded heating of spaces, emerged in Latium and Campania by the early 2nd century bce. There is little doubt that bathing as an ultimate luxurious experience was epitomized by the imperial thermae first developed in Rome and spread to the provinces. These grand bathing palaces combined exercise, bathing, recreation, and quasi-intellectual activities in vast, park-like precincts, as best exemplified by the Thermae of Caracalla in Rome. The tradition of public bathing and baths passed on to Early Christian, Byzantine, and Medieval Islamic societies across Asia Minor and the eastern Mediterranean.
Aemilius Papinianus
Authors: Jońca Maciej
Published: April 2016

Roman jurist, magister libellorum, and praetorian prefect at the court of Emperor Septimius Severus. A pupil of the famous lawyer Quintus Cervidius Scaevola. Author of opinionated legal works (the most important are Quaestiones and Responsa), of which only fragments have survived into the early 21st century. His views were not only original but also characterized by high dogmatic values. Papinian liked to base his arguments on axiological values like equity (aequitas) and good faith (bona fides). He was assassinated on the orders of Emperor Caracalla for refusing to prepare an expert legal report justifying fratricide. The Law of Citations of 426 ce gave him a unique place in the pantheon of Roman jurists. In the following eras, Papinian’s legend constantly grew. Posterity remembered him not only as a brilliant lawyer but also as a courageous man who gave his life for the values he believed in.
agora
Authors: Donati Jamieson C.
Published: April 2016

In the ancient Greek city, the agora was a multifunctional venue for public administration, the buying and selling of goods, religious affairs, and other social and cultural interests. Most cities whether big or small had a designated agora, oftentimes situated at a prime locale—a sign of its fundamental importance in the community. The etymological use of the term agorē by Homer, particularly in his description of the city of the Phaeacians, shows that within the early Greek polis the agora became a daily gathering venue for citizens, often for political and military meetings, but also for religious events and athletic contests. Excavations reveal that the agora from c. the 7th to the mid-5th century bce was architecturally an unassuming place, and it did not need to be more than an open area with a scattering of administrative, commercial, and sometimes even domestic structures. In addition, its setting was frequently associated with the cult of a poliadic deity (temple) or local hero (heroon). The Athenian Agora is an exceptional case where buildings for political assemblies were erected following democratic reforms c. 500 bce. In most other places, architectural elaboration in the agora did not precede the 4th century bce, when stone structures in canonical Doric and Ionic orders, particularly versatile colonnaded stoas, became normal embellishments. By the Hellenistic period (c. 300–31 bce), as well as in the ensuing centuries of the Roman era, purpose-built administrative buildings and large, even colossal, commercial and cultural venues contributed to the realization of a mature and monumental public space.
agoranomoi, Greek
Authors: Bresson Alain
Published: April 2016

The agoranomoi were the magistrates who, in the Greek cities, were in charge of policing and organizing the market. Their role was to make sure that transactions were conducted according to the laws of market, which primarily meant preventing cheating on the quality of the goods offered for sale and on the weights and measures used by sellers. Their tasks could also include watching over the nature and quality of the coins used as means of exchange. They were in charge of monitoring prices and, in some cases, they set prices of goods—some basic foodstuffs like fish or meat. They also had to make sure that the market supply of essential goods remained adequate. The number of agoranomoi decreased in the late Hellenistic period (in Athens, from ten in the Classical period to only two). Late Hellenistic and Roman period magistrates belonged to the well-to-do stratum of the population in the cities, and the agoranomoi were no exception. This allowed them if necessary to buy grain to supply the market from their own pockets, then to sell it below the market price, thus partly alleviating the food-shortages.
Ennius, Quintus, epic and dramatic poet, 239–169 BCE
Authors: Manuwald Gesine
Published: April 2016

Ennius was the most prolific poet in the early period of Latin literature and is particularly known for his epic and his dramas. He composed plays for public festivals down to the year of his death, a major narrative epic, a large amount of non-dramatic verse, and at least one work in prose. While Ennius’ entire output only survives in fragments, his life and writings are better documented than those of most other early Republican writers, which is partly the result and an indication of his esteem among the Romans.
epic
Authors: Hardie Philip
Published: April 2016

At the summit of the ancient hierarchy of genres, epic narrates in hexameter verse the deeds of gods, heroes, and men The authority of Homer, the name given to the composer of the Iliad and the Odyssey, ensures that the forms and conventions of the Homeric poems are determinative for the whole of the Greco-Roman tradition of epic. From an early date, the production and reading of epic poems was accompanied by intensive scholarly and critical activity. Over the centuries, numerous epics were written on both legendary and historical subjects, as the genre responded to changing aesthetic and ideological conditions. In Rome, Virgil’s Aeneid successfully established for itself an authority comparable to that of the Homeric poems, and all later Latin epics place themselves within a Virgilian tradition. Epic in Greek and Latin continues to flourish in late antiquity, when Christian writers appropriate its forms to propagate their own messages and praise their own heroes.
alchemy
Authors: Martelli Matteo
Published: April 2016

Ancient alchemy can be defined as the “art” (τέχνη) of transforming matter through a specific set of dyeing technologies, which were devised by ancient practitioners in their workshops. This craft is often referred to as a “sacred and divine art” in Byzantine anthologies of alchemical texts transmitted in Greek manuscripts. The earliest textual sources date to the first centuries ce when alchemical writings were produced in Graeco-Roman Egypt by authors such as Pseudo-Democritus (1st century ce) and Zosimus of Panopolis (3rd–4th century ce). Ancient alchemists did not simply record recipes and practical instructions; they also offered theoretical explanations for the properties of the dyeing substances applied to metals, quartz, and wool. Through chromatic transformations, they sought to “transmute” (i.e., transform) base metals like copper or tin into gold and silver or turn quartz into a variety of gemstones.
Hesiod
Authors: Strauss Clay Jenny
Published: April 2016

Hesiod, epic poet from Ascra in Boeotia, usually considered later than Homer, is author of the Theogony and the Works and Days (Erga); other works attributed to him in antiquity include the Catalogue of Women and the Shield of Heracles (Aspis). The Theogony recounts the origins of the cosmos and the genealogy of the gods from the beginning to the establishment of the Olympian order; it is prefaced by a lengthy proem that recounts Hesiod’s meeting with the Muses and a hymn to the goddesses. The genealogical catalogues are interrupted by narratives of the Succession Myth, with antecedents from the Near East. The Works and Days, which also has Near Eastern parallels, is addressed to Hesiod’s brother Perses and advises him how to live in the world Zeus has established for human beings by pursuing justice and practicing agriculture; it also includes advice on sailing, social behavior, and lucky and unlucky days. Famous and influential passages include Hesiod’s encounter with the Muses, the Prometheus-Pandora story, and the Myth of the Five Races.
Iulius Agrippa (2) II, Marcus (53–94/95 CE)
Authors: Jacobson David M.
Published: April 2016

Agrippa II (c. 27/28 ce–94/95 ce) was the last monarch of the Herodian dynasty. He was the son of Agrippa I and his wife and first cousin Cypros, and great-grandson of Herod the Great (PIR 1.132). This inbreeding may have been responsible for his lack of initiative at times when decisive action was needed. On his father’s death, the Emperor Claudius felt that it was inopportune to appoint the young Agrippa to the Judaean throne. Instead, the young Agrippa remained in Rome until his uncle, Herod of Chalcis, died and he was granted his first small realm and royal title. At the behest of Claudius, in 53 ce Chalcis was exchanged for a larger domain, covering areas north, west, and east of Lake Tiberias. For much of his reign, Agrippa’s sister Berenice acted as his de facto consort and was present with him when he interviewed the Apostle Paul in Caesarea. On the outbreak of the First Jewish Revolt, Agrippa II was unable to prevent it spreading to his own kingdom. Although he was curator of the Jerusalem Temple, he failed to save it. Agrippa and Berenice departed for Rome after the revolt had been extinguished, perhaps as late as 75 ce, she to continue her affair with Titus. Agrippa then fades from history but continued to strike autonomous coinage until 94/95 ce, when it is likely that he died. Agrippa II had no heirs.
Praetextatus, Vettius Agorius, Roman senator, c. 320–384 CE
Authors: Kahlos Maijastina
Published: April 2016

Vettius Agorius Praetextatus was a learned Roman senator (c. 320–384 ce). He is usually remembered as the leading proponent of Graeco-Roman religious tradition (paganism) during the late Roman Empire.
Priscian, 5th–6th cent. CE
Authors: Keeline Thomas J.
Published: April 2016

Priscian was the most important Latin grammarian of late antiquity. Probably hailing from North Africa, he worked as a professor of Latin in Constantinople in the early 6th century. There he published his masterpiece, the eighteen-volume Ars grammatica (before 527), which blended the traditional Roman textbook treatment of grammar (books 1–16, containing basic definitions and and an extensive treatment of parts of speech) with Alexandrian Greek scholarship (books 17–18, on syntax). The Ars grammatica revolutionized the theoretical basis of Latin grammar and would prove widely influential on subsequent study.

Priscian also composed various smaller works. At some point before the Ars grammatica, he wrote short treatises: De figuris numerorum quos antiquissimi habent codices, De metris fabularum Terentii et aliorum comicorum, and Praeexercitamina (a Latin version of the Greek Progymnasmata ascribed to Hermogenes). After he had written the Ars grammatica, he also composed a summary of Latin morphology, Institutio de nomine, pronomine, et uerbo, as well as a lengthy discussion of the first line of each book of the Aeneid, Partitiones xii uersuum Aeneidos principalium. Both of these works were intended for novice students of Latin. Finally, he wrote two poems that have survived: a verse panegyric for Anastasius I, De laude Anastasii imperatoris, and a Latin hexameter translation of Dionysius Periegetes’ geographical poem.
processions
Authors: Latham Jacob
Published: April 2016

A procession (πομπή/pompa), at a basic level, is the ritualized escort of someone or something from one place to another by some group before some audience—an ordinary walk transformed by means of performance traditions and customary rules into a more or less spectacular pageant, whose significance derives, in part, from a variable calculus of honoree, cortege, itinerary, audience, and performance. The honoree(s), triumphant generals, the deceased, images of the gods, sacrificial animals, etc., were accompanied by a processional cortege, typically a specific social group (like the worshippers of Isis in a particular city) or a collection of groups imagined as a civic cross-section. The procession then traversed an itinerary, creating a symbolically charged pathway that transformed urban space into significant place. Processions may be produced with varying degrees of theatricality, while the same procession could vary from one performance to the next. Despite such variation, a shared set of production techniques and values, a kind of processional koine, spanned the Mediterranean. Processions were thus constrained by custom and open to innovation—and audiences could be attentive to both. In the end, ritualized walking (one way of understanding a procession) impacted both the urban imaginary, creating community, and urban practices, marking spatial significance.
Antonius, Marcus (2), Roman consul and triumvir, 83–30 BCE
Authors: Welch Kathryn
Published: April 2016

Marcus Antonius lived through three civil wars. He was born in 83 bce during the first, he fought for Gaius Julius Caesar in the second, and his suicide following his final defeat in 30 bce left young Caesar (later Augustus) as the winner of the third. His life story is overshadowed by the greater fame of both friends and enemies, but closer observation reveals how significant he was to Roman politics and society in an age of turmoil. He survived unstable alliances and war during 44 and 43 bce to become triumvir rei publicae constituendae (Board of Three Men to Reconstruct the State), along with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and young Caesar. In that office, he oversaw the proscription of his enemies and defeated the leading assassins of Caesar at Philippi in 42 bce. He was then the virtual ruler of the eastern Roman empire for the next ten years. Military failure in Parthia in 36 led him to depend increasingly on his ally and partner Cleopatra, which in turn enabled young Caesar to depict him as an anti-Roman traitor. War broke out between them in 32 bce. Defeated at sea in Greece at Actium in 31, Antonius survived for another year until he lost again at Alexandria, after which he killed himself on 1 August 30 bce.
Samothrace
Authors: Wescoat Bonna D.
Published: April 2016

A mountainous island in the northern Aegean, with habitation from the early Late Neolithic. The site of Mikro Vouni developed in the Early Bronze Age into a thriving coastal proto-urban settlement with Minoan trading connections; the early Iron Age brought settlers from Thrace, who built fortifications at higher inland elevations. Interaction with Greek traders and possibly settlers from NW Anatolia began in the 7th century bce, with greater numbers of migrants from Ionia evident in the 6th century. Strong Thracian elements persist into the 4th century bce. Important early settlements have been found on the north and south coasts, along with open-air shrines at higher elevations of Mantal’ Panayia and Kerasouda. By virtue of its location and the peraea it controlled on the mainland near the mouth of the Evros River (Hdt. 7.59.2 and 108.2), the island maintained strong contacts with the Thracian littoral and interior. The island and its greatest asset, the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, rose to prominence under Macedonian and Hellenistic royal patronage. Its initiatory cult, the mysteria, promised protection at sea and held out the opportunity for moral improvement. The Sanctuary is renowned for its innovative Hellenistic architecture. Famous dedications in the sanctuary include the statue of Nike alighting on the prow of a warship, now in Paris, and the warship set within a building, the Neorion. Initiate lists indicate that the rites were practiced at least until the end of the 2nd century ce. Although the ancient city is largely unexplored, its well-preserved city wall and the evidence for several marble buildings indicate a thriving community.
Twelve Tables
Authors: Amunátegui Perelló Carlos
Published: April 2016

According to the tradition, during the early Republic (451–450 bce), during the Struggle of the Orders, a commission was set up to make the laws for the Romans. After two years, the results of the commission’s work were published on twelve boards of wood, perhaps bronze. These were known as the “Twelve Tables.” Tradition says they became fundamental to Rome’s institutional frame. Unfortunately, this is not easy to prove, for the text was lost during the early Middle Ages. The reconstructed versions are due to the casual quotes of historians, jurists, and antiquarians from later times, who happened to call upon its authority while discussing other subjects. The Humanists (16th century ce) made several attempts to reconstruct it, and the versions now available are due to their efforts.

Scholarship has debated almost every aspect of the text, from its origin, to its scope, its contents, and its grammar. Only a few conclusions are widely held. Most scholars believe the document was written during the 5th century bce under the influence of Greek models. Its importance seems to lie in the fact that it managed to merge law and legislation in a way that put statutes at the centre of the Roman legal system.
adoption, Greek
Authors: Cobetto Ghiggia Pietro
Published: April 2016

The article examines the institution of adoption in classical Greece. Although it has been a widespread practice since the most archaic times, the most complete sources are related to Athens, thanks to the oratory of the 4th century bce and to Gortyn, where the adoption procedure is preserved in an epigraphic document. In Athens, adoption is the main tool for the citizen to allow, in the absence of natural children, the safeguarding of his household (oikos), which is the basic unit of society. There were three methods of adoption: (a) inter vivos; (b) through a will (testamentary); (c) posthumously (the next of kin could obtain the recognition of the rights to become the heir of the deceased for himself or one of his descendants on the deceased’s oikos by addressing the archon). The procedure envisaged the presentation of the adopting to the phratry: it expressed a vote which, if favourable, then had to be approved at a public level with the enrolment in the deme.

In Gortyn the adoption took place before the people and consisted of a declaration of will by the adopter which was then followed by a sacrifice celebrated in his hetaireia (mess group) without the other formalities foreseen in Athens.
mines and mining, Roman
Authors: Gosner Linda R.
Published: April 2016

Rome came into possession of a wide variety of mineral resources as a result of imperial expansion. Large mines were opened up in many provinces, especially in the Iberian Peninsula, Gaul, Britain, the Danubian provinces, and Asia Minor. Pollution records show that the scale of mining in antiquity peaked during the Roman period and was not matched again until the Industrial Revolution. The main minerals exploited were gold, silver, copper, and tin, which were used to mint coinage. Lead was mined for pipes and other utilitarian purposes, while iron was used often for tools. The techniques and organization of mining varied by period and geological conditions. The most common techniques included opencast (open air) mining, underground (shaft-and-gallery) mining, and placer (alluvial) mining. While individuals and municipalities could own mines, mining districts (metalla) increasingly came under the control of the state. Concessions to work state-owned mines could be leased out to individuals, small associations, or larger societates who worked the mines and turned over a portion of their profit to the state. Mines could also operate under direct state control, as occurred in large-scale gold mining of the imperial period in north-west Spain. The operation of mines often relied on forced labourers, including enslaved workers, prisoners of war, convicts, and tribute workers. The army provided technical expertise and/or surveillance, while, in the imperial period, a procurator metallorum and other imperial officials administered mining districts. There is also ample evidence for free and freed wage labourers in mining districts, who were often economic migrants. Mining was essential to the Roman economy and has much in common with other extractive industries such as quarrying.
Cardinal Carlo Borromeo
Authors: Colombo Emanuele
Published: April 2016

Carlo Borromeo (b. 1538–d. 1584), who was a cardinal archbishop of Milan (1564–1584), represented a model bishop in the post-Tridentine Catholic Church and was a leading figure of early modern Catholicism. Born in Arona (Novara), he was the nephew of Giovanni Angelo de’ Medici, later Pope Pius IV (1559–1565), who made the young Borromeo a cardinal and nominated him Secretary of State (1560). Until 1565 he was in Rome; he served in the Curia during the last period of the Council of Trent (1562–1563) and conducted the papal correspondence with the legates in Trent. In 1563 he was ordained priest and received episcopal consecration. From the beginning of 1566, after the death of Pius IV and until the end of his life, he resided almost continuously in the archdiocese of Milan, where he started an ambitious program of reform. Following the decrees of the Council of Trent, Borromeo introduced systematic pastoral visitations and provincial and diocesan synods. He improved the education of the secular clergy and the control of the religious orders. He supported confraternities for lay people and reinforced the value of penance and confession. His patronage of arts and music and his care for sacred architecture also had a great influence beyond the archdiocese. This plan of reform created frequent conflicts both with the Spanish governor of Milan, since Borromeo refused to allow political authorities to intervene in religious matters, and with the papacy, because of Borromeo’s insistence on episcopal rights. He became the model of the post-Tridentine bishop in Italy and beyond. On 22 October 1569, while he was praying in the chapel of the episcopal palace, Borromeo escaped an assassination attempt. A member of the Brothers of Humility (Humiliati) who was opposed to Borromeo’s reforms fired a shot that grazed Borromeo’s side. His survival was considered a miracle and bolstered his saintly reputation. He died in 1584 and was canonized in 1610. His feast day is 4 November.
Wetlands
Authors: Keddy Paul A.
Published: April 2016

Wetlands have always influenced humans. Early civilizations first arose along the edges of rivers in the fertile soils of floodplains. Wetlands also produce many benefits for humans—along with fertile soils for agriculture, they provide food such as fish and water birds, and, of course, freshwater. Additionally, wetlands have other vital roles that are less obvious. They produce oxygen, store carbon, and process nitrogen. Since wetlands form at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, they possess features of both. They are often overlooked in standard books, since terrestrial ecologists focus on drier habitats, while limnologists focus on deep water. Shallow water, and seasonally flooded areas, fall comfortably into neither category. All wetlands share one causal factor: flooding. While wetlands may be highly variable in appearance and species composition, flooding produces distinctive soil processes and adaptations of the biota. Thus wetlands and water are inseparable. This treatment will first introduce you to some basic overviews that explain what a wetland is, what different kinds of wetlands exist, and some key processes that occur within them (General Guides and Introductions). Then we will turn to causal factors: flooding creates wetlands, so it receives a full section. Then we will consider how nutrient availability modifies wetlands. Other Casual Factors, such as salinity, competition, herbivory, and roads, are combined into a third section. Having provided this foundation, we will look at the global distributions (Geography of Wetlands). By this point, you will know what a wetland is, where they occur, and the main factors that affect their abundance and composition. We will then explore two more specialized topics. First, monographs are identified that apply to particular regions of the Earth (Regional Monographs). Second, we look at aquatic plants; they are a relatively small group with important implications for the understanding of wetlands as a whole (Aquatic Plants). We close with a section on conservation of wetlands. Two general obstacles must be met in coming to grips with the scientific literature in this field. First, much of the work on wetlands is scattered across ecological journals and may not even appear under key word searches for wetland; instead, material may appear under a term such as bog, fen, shoreline, lake, floodplain, pothole, playa, peatland, or mire (or a dozen other terms). Second, this discipline seems to have attracted a large number of conference symposia, the findings of which are recorded often in expensive books with a haphazard collection of papers, written by a haphazard collection of people, with no unifying theme whatsoever except that all deal with wet areas. Hence, the need is pressing for a few general principles to structure one’s knowledge. Here we focus on general causal factors and their relative importance.
Silicosis
Authors: Rosenman Kenneth
Published: April 2016

The element silicon (Si) is the second most common element in the Earth’s crust. Silicon in combination with oxygen is silica (SiO2). Silicosis, an interstitial lung disease, is produced by the inhalation of silica-containing dust. Silicosis is the most common of the pneumoconioses (lung disease caused by inhalation of mineral dusts). Silicosis is an ancient disease, and its pathology was first described in the 1600s. The association of silica exposure with an increased risk of lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, connective tissue disease, renal disease, and tuberculosis was recognized in the 1900s. These conditions can occur after silica exposure in the absence of silicosis. Workers in many types of industry can be at risk of exposure to silica. Given it’s abundance in the Earth’s crust, workers in all parts of the mining industry, including quarry workers, have the potential for exposure to silica, which is commonly used in foundries and the manufacture of brick, cement, glass, pottery, sinks, and toilet bowls. Construction workers such as jackhammer operators, masons, and abrasive blasters are an additional high-risk group for silica exposure. New exposures to silica continue to be reported, such as in the manufacture or installation of artificial stone countertops, abrasive blasting of denim clothes, dental laboratories, and hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Cristobalite is a polymorph of silica—it has the same chemical formula, SiO2, but a different chemical structure. Cristobalite can be found in volcanic rock and when silica is heated, such as in foundries or diatomaceous earth production facilities. In animal models it is more fibrogenic than silica. The occurrence of silica exposure is worldwide. World production is estimated to be 291 million metric tons per year. The largest number of cases of silicosis are currently being recognized in rapidly growing economies such as China and Brazil.
Topic
Authors: Vermeulen Reiko
Published: April 2016

The topic of a sentence is generally described as the item that the sentence is about. It is principally a notion of information structure, but it interacts in significant ways with other grammatical components, such as morphology, syntax, semantics, and phonology as well as other domains such as philosophy and psycholinguistics. Many languages have an overt, grammatical marking for topics. The nature of the marking varies greatly across languages: It can be a special morphology, a particular syntactic construction or intonation, or combination of these. As the literature reveals, it is extremely difficult to provide a formal definition for the notion of topic. First, the meaning expressed by “about” is extremely vague, being highly dependent on the discourse context, and judgements vary between speakers. Second, a difficulty arises from the fact that grammatical marking of topics is not uniform across languages. In other words, an item in a specific discourse context may be grammatically marked as a topic in one language but is not necessarily marked as such in another language. Even within one language, there is not always a one-to-one relation between a pragmatic interpretation and a linguistic marking. Finally, information structure, as an area of research, is rife with theoretical frameworks, each with its own focus and definitions. This has led to the absence of uniformity in the understanding of what a topic, among other information structural notions, is and also to there being other terminologies for the relevant item such as “theme,” “link” and “given” causing much confusion. Nonetheless, many important advances have been made toward our understanding of its properties, its role in information structure, and its interaction with the grammatical aspects of natural language. For instance, there is now a general consensus that (i) sentences are organized into different information structural units, and a topic plays a key role in its organization, along with other units such as focus (or rheme); (ii) there should be a distinction between a sentence topic, (i.e., the constituent that the sentence containing it is about) and a discourse topic (i.e., what the whole discourse is about); and (iii) there are different types of sentence topics, including aboutness topics, contrastive topics, scene-setting topics, and hanging topics, each of which is associated with a distinct set of grammatical properties. Information structure as an area of research attracted much attention in the Prague School of Linguistics, and pragmatics in the latter half of the 20th century, and since the mid-1990s, its interaction with other grammatical components has become one of the central issues in generative syntax and semantics as well as phonology and is still intensely investigated.