bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of metronidazole in equine plasma using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry and high‐resolution accurate mass spectrometry
Authors: Ilomuanya Margaret , Uboh Cornelius , Ciallella John , Li Xiaoging , Liu Ying , Ifudu Ndu , Azubuike Chukwuemeka , Igwilo Cecilia
Published: March 2015

Rationale

Treatment of racehorses with bicarbonate solutions to manage acidosis and muscle cramps prior to competition is banned in Pennsylvania (PA). Use of excess bicarbonate in horses causes diarrhea, requiring treatment with an antibiotic such as metronidazole (MTNZ). At present no method exists for detecting MTNZ in equine plasma. Thus, a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method for the detection, quantification and confirmation of MTNZ was developed.

Methods

The analyte was recovered from plasma by liquid–liquid extraction using methyl tert‐butyl ether and separated on an ACE® C18 column with its guard column. The mobile phase comprised a mixture of 5 mM ammonium formate (pH 3.5) and acetonitrile (60:40; v/v). Mass analysis was performed on an LTQ XL linear ion trap mass spectrometer in positive electrospray ionization mode while accurate mass determination was also performed in positive electrospray ionization mode using high‐resolution accurate mass spectrometry (HRAMS).

Results

The limit of detection (LOD), limit of confirmation (LOC) and lower limit of quantification (LLOD) were 1, 2 and 50 ng/mL, respectively. The analyte in plasma was stable at −20 and −70°C for 28 days, as well as for 24 h at 20°C in the autosampler. The percentage coefficients of variation (% CV) for the intra‐day and inter‐day precision for the LLOQ were 5.1:3.68 and 13.21:9.95, respectively, while the intra‐day accuracy was from 98.71 to 101.57% and that of the inter‐day was from 88.64 to 96.6%. The matrix effect was between 9 and 24%. The precursor → product ion transition m/z 172 → 128, a retention time of 2.92 min and the accurate mass of the [M+H]+ ion of the analyte (m/z 172.0173) were used as criteria for confirmation of the presence of MTNZ in equine plasma.

Conclusions

The method is highly sensitive and selective for the detection, identification and confirmation of MTNZ in equine plasma. Thus, illegal use of MTNZ in racehorses can be routinely monitored within the US State of Pennsylvania. The method is fast, sensitive, reproducible, and reliable. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Appropriability and the retrieval of knowledge after spillovers
Authors: Alnuaimi Tufool , George Gerard
Published: March 2015

Research summary:Firms create and capture value through innovation. In technology‐driven firms, there has been an explicit emphasis on appropriability through imitation deterrence and cumulative inventions that build on prior firm innovation. We introduce systematic empirical evidence for a third mechanism of appropriability namely, knowledge retrieval, which is defined as the re‐absorption of previously spilled knowledge. We extend previous studies which consider technological complexity and organizational coupling as predictors of appropriability by examining their impact on knowledge retrieval. We find that technological complexity has a curvilinear relationship with retrieval while organizational coupling has a negative relationship. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of absorptive capacity, organizational design and appropriability of innovation.

Managerial summary:It is a widely held assumption that knowledge should be protected and held tightly within the firm to ensure value creation and value capture. The implicit recognition is that knowledge spillovers, or knowledge leakage, is detrimental to performance. By examining the patterns of citations among patents of 142 semiconductor firms, we study how organizational structure and technological complexity play a role. We find that moderate technological complexity improves appropriability. If imitation deterrence is paramount, then the optimal structure would be a tightly‐coupled organization. In other instances, loosely‐coupled organizations may be superior because they foster internal cumulative innovations and, if spillovers were to occur, they also maximize knowledge retrieval. Our findings suggest that all is not lost when spillovers occur and that firms can continue to benefit in downstream innovations.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Functional and nutritional characterization of native and modified starches from bananas hybrids
Authors: Alemán Shelly E. , Ramírez Alejandra O. , Manzanilla Edward E. , Guzmán Romel E. , Pérez Elevina E.
Published: March 2015

Unripe fruits from bananas are rich in starch, which can be isolated and used in the development of different products. The purpose of the research was to evaluate native, and modified starches obtained from unripe banana (triploid and tetraploid). The starches were modified by phosphatation‐acetylation and gelatinization, and then were characterized by their: purity, yield, functional properties, and the degree of substitution. In the study, high purity starches (97–98%), with yields varying from 11 to 15% were obtained, and purity was more dependent on the purification procedure, than from their chromosomes set. The ploidy, and modification procedures invariably affect some of their functional and nutritional properties. It was observed that the physical modifications have more effect on functional and nutritional profiles, granular structure of the starches, than the chemical modification; while the hybridization have effect on the granular distribution size, and the gelatinization, and amylolysis profiles.
Collapse behavior evaluation of asymmetric buildings subjected to bi‐directional ground motion
Authors: Manie Salar , Moghadam Abdoreza S. , Ghafory‐Ashtiany Mohsen
Published: March 2015

This paper discusses the collapse behavior of low‐rise plan‐asymmetric buildings under bi‐directional horizontal ground motions and utilizing strength and stiffness degrading nonlinear models. For this purpose, three‐dimensional three‐story and six‐story reinforced concrete frame buildings with uni‐directional mass eccentricities equal to 0% (symmetrical), 10%, 20% and 30% are subjected to nonlinear static (pushover) as well as incremental dynamic analyses using a set of far‐field two‐component ground motions and their performance are assessed on the basis of the safety margin against collapse and its probability of occurrence. Comparison of the collapse margin ratios as well as the fragility curves demonstrates significant reduction of the collapse‐level ground motion intensity with increasing eccentricity in plan. Results also indicate that current seismic design parameters including the response modification (R), overstrength (Ω) and ductility (μ) factors are not appropriate for buildings with high levels of plan eccentricity. Buildings with high values of plan eccentricity do not meet the design target life safety performance level on the basis of the calculated probability of collapse and safety margin against collapse. It appears that re‐evaluation of their design parameters is necessary. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Presentism without Presentness
Authors: Correia Fabrice , Rosenkranz Sven ,   Philosophy Documentation Center
Published: March 2015

We argue that presentism, understood as a view about time and existence, can perspicuously be defined in opposition to all other familiar contenderswithout appeal to any notion of presentness or cognate notions such as concreteness. Given recent worries about the suitability of such notions to cut much metaphysical ice, this should be welcomed by presentism’s defenders. We also show that, irrespective of its sparse ideology, the proposed formulation forestalls any deviant interpretation at odds with the view it aims to capture.
The Impact of Strategic Market Entry Considerations on the Financial Performance of Chinese Investment in the Australian Mining Industry
Authors: Huang Xueli
Published: March 2015

While anecdotal evidence exists that many Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) have failed due to a range of factors, it is also clear that some ChineseOFDIhas been very successful. There is little empirical research so far on the financial performance of ChineseOFDIand its influencing factors. This study seeks to fill these research gaps. Using a sample of companies that have received major ChineseOFDIand are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, we examine the financial performance of ChineseOFDI. The study found that performance varied substantially and depended on the influences of several entry factors, including entry timing, developmental stage of the target companies, and ownership level. Using multiple theoretical frameworks, including the institutional perspective, resource‐based view, and transactional cost theory, we discuss the causes of these influencing factors and outline their consequences. Several practical implications are proposed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Synthesis of a novel polyester plasticizer based on glyceryl monooleate and its application in poly(vinyl chloride)
Authors: Jia Puyou , Bo Caiying , Hu Lihong , Zhang Meng , Zhou Yonghong
Published: March 2015

The use of bio‐based polymeric plasticizers could expand the application range of plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) materials. In this study, a novel bio‐based polyester plasticizer, poly(glutaric acid‐glyceryl monooleate) (PGAGMO), was synthesized from glutaric acid and glyceryl monooleate via a direct esterification and polycondensation route. The polyester plasticizer was characterized by gel permeation chromatography, 1H‐nuclear magnetic resonance, and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy. The plasticizing effect of PGAGMO on PVC was investigated. The melting behavior, thermal properties, and mechanical properties of PVC blends were studied. The results showed that the PGAGMO could improve the thermal stability and reduce the glass transition temperature of PVC blends; when phthalates were substituted by PGAGMO in PVC blends, the thermal degradation temperature of PVC blends increased from 251.1°C to 262.7°C, the glass transaction temperature decreased from 49.1°C to 40.2°C, the plasticized PVC blends demonstrated good compatibility, and the decrement of the torque and the melt viscosity of PVC blends were conducive to processing. All results demonstrated that the PGAGMO could partially substitute for phthalates as a potential plasticizer of PVC. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 22:514–519, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers
Learning and cognition in insects
Authors: Giurfa Martin
Published: March 2015

Insects possess small brains but exhibit sophisticated behavioral performances. Recent works have reported the existence of unsuspected cognitive capabilities in various insect species, which go beyond the traditional studied framework of simple associative learning. In this study, I focus on capabilities such as attention, social learning, individual recognition, concept learning, and metacognition, and discuss their presence and mechanistic bases in insects. I analyze whether these behaviors can be explained on the basis of elemental associative learning or, on the contrary, require higher‐order explanations. In doing this, I highlight experimental challenges and suggest future directions for investigating the neurobiology of higher‐order learning in insects, with the goal of uncovering l architectures underlying cognitive processing. WIREs Cogn Sci 2015, 6:383–395. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1348

This article is categorized under:

Psychology > Learning

Neuroscience > Behavior

Neuroscience > Cognition
Anomaly detection in dynamic networks: a survey
Authors: Ranshous Stephen , Shen Shitian , Koutra Danai , Harenberg Steve , Faloutsos Christos , Samatova Nagiza F.
Published: March 2015

Anomaly detection is an important problem with multiple applications, and thus has been studied for decades in various research domains. In the past decade there has been a growing interest in anomaly detection in data represented as networks, or graphs, largely because of their robust expressiveness and their natural ability to represent complex relationships. Originally, techniques focused on anomaly detection in static graphs, which do not change and are capable of representing only a single snapshot of data. As real‐world networks are constantly changing, there has been a shift in focus to dynamic graphs, which evolve over time.

In this survey, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of anomaly detection in dynamic networks, concentrating on the state‐of‐the‐art methods. We first describe four types of anomalies that arise in dynamic networks, providing an intuitive explanation, applications, and a concrete example for each. Having established an idea for what constitutes an anomaly, a general two‐stage approach to anomaly detection in dynamic networks that is common among the methods is presented. We then construct a two‐tiered taxonomy, first partitioning the methods based on the intuition behind their approach, and subsequently subdividing them based on the types of anomalies they detect. Within each of the tier one categories—community, compression, decomposition, distance, and probabilistic model based—we highlight the major similarities and differences, showing the wealth of techniques derived from similar conceptual approaches. WIREs Comput Stat 2015, 7:223–247. doi: 10.1002/wics.1347

This article is categorized under:

Algorithms and Computational Methods > Algorithms

Data: Types and Structure > Graph and Network Data

Statistical Learning and Exploratory Methods of the Data Sciences > Pattern Recognition
Reasonable Diffraction Data from “Bad” Crystals: Structure Elucidation of Ge3Sb2Te5Se and (GeTe)2.38(Sb2Te3)(Sb2)1.23 Using Microfocused Synchrotron Beams
Authors: Urban Philipp , Rosenthal Tobias , Schenk Ludwig , Vaughan Gavin B. M. , Oeckler Oliver
Published: March 2015

Both Ge3Sb2Te5Se and (GeTe)2.38(Sb2Te3)(Sb2)1.23 crystallize in the trigonal space group R$\bar{3}$m and exhibit layered structures with 33R stacking sequences. Whereas Ge3Sb2Te5Se (Z = 3, a = 4.1278(12) Å, c = 61.06(2) Å, R1(obs) = 0.0427) exhibits atom sites with mixed occupancies in an otherwise long‐range ordered structure isostructural to that of Ge3Sb2Te6, (GeTe)2.38(Sb2Te3)(Sb2)1.23 (a = 4.2437(5) Å, c = 63.090(6) Å, R1(obs) = 0.0385) is characterized by stacking disorder. Its average structure formally corresponds to a superposition of Ge3Sb2Te6 and (GeTe)(Sb2Te3)(Sb2)2 whereas the real structure may contain various building blocks. A microfocused synchrotron beam enabled the structure elucidation using fragmented crystals with overall very pronounced mosaicity and probably inhomogeneities present. Selecting very small well crystallized parts of low‐quality macroscopic crystals yielded datasets that were suitable for precise structure refinements.
Physicochemical Properties and Phase Behavior of Didecyldimethylammonium Chloride/Alkyl Polyglycoside Surfactant Mixtures
Authors: Han Zhiguo , Yang Xiuquan , Liu Yong , Wang Jiajia , Gao Yuyang
Published: March 2015

Mixed surfactant systems, used in many formulations, have aroused great attention and interest from researchers and industry due to the possibility of synergism. Alkyl polyglycoside (APG) and didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) mixtures combine the excellent properties of pure surfactants and play an important role in the development of multi‐functional washing products. To study the synergism between APG and DDAC, the physicochemical properties of different mixed systems have been investigated. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) is about 180 mg·L−1 and the surface tension at the CMC is about 26.0 mN·m−1 at a mass fraction of 40 % DDAC (ωDDAC40 %). The values are significantly lower than pure surfactants. The foaming property shows the best performance at ωDDAC20 %. When the mass fraction of DDAC is 80 %, the mixture exhibits better wetting and emulsifying properties. Synergism was observed in surface tension, foaming and emulsifying properties, while the wetting ability and detergency exhibited no such effects. Phase behavior of the APG/DDAC/water ternary system has also been carried out by polarized optical microscope. The phase diagram is characterized by a micellar phase, a region where lamellar and micellar phases coexist and a lamellar phase.
Synthesis of Succinic Gemini Surfactants and the Effect of Stereochemistry on Their Monolayer Behaviors
Authors: Kawase Tokuzo , Kagawa-Ohara Maiko , Aisaka Tsunetomo , Oida Tatsuo
Published: March 2015

In this work, succinic gemini surfactants, dl‐ and meso‐2,3‐bis(alkyl)succinic acids (alkyl: C6H13–C13H27), were successfully synthesized by oxidative coupling of enolates of fatty acid tert‐butyl esters with copper(II) bromide followed by treatment with CF3COOH. Focusing on the influence of stereochemistry (dl‐ and meso‐) of succinic geminis, their monolayer behaviors at the air–water interface were explored using surface pressure–area (Π–A) isotherms, the compression modulus of monolayers (εs), and Brewster angle microscope (BAM) analysis. meso‐2,3‐Bis(undecyl)succinic acid showed a unique isotherm where the surface pressure drastically decreased at A = ~0.56 nm2 (Π = 21.9 mN m−1) regardless of compression rates and subphase temperatures, while dl‐isomer showed the common isotherm of gas → liquid‐expanded → liquid‐condensed phase transitions. BAM analysis on meso‐2,3‐bis(undecyl)succinic acid films at the air–water interface showed that small islands of aggregates appear just after the maximum pressure (A = ~0.56 nm2), and on further compression needle‐shaped assemblies appear that can grow in size. It was reasonably concluded that hydrophobic interactions can operate more effectively in meso‐isomers than in dl‐isomers, and that meso‐molecules can “jump up” to cause a transition from monolayer to bilayer. This is the first finding of the “jumping‐up” phenomenon of gemini surfactants having meso‐stereochemistry.
Effectiveness and safety of a prehospital program of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in an urban setting
Authors: Willmore Andrew , Dionne Richard , Maloney Justin , Ouston Ed , Stiell Ian
Published: March 2015

Background

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is commonly used in the treatment of acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE) and acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). In-hospital evidence is robust: CPAP has been shown to improve respiratory status and to reduce intubation rates. There is less evidence on prehospital CPAP, although the emergency medical services (EMS) adoption of this modality is increasing. The objectives of this study were to 1) measure the effectiveness of prehospital CPAP on morbidity, mortality, and transport times; and 2) audit the selection of patients by medics for appropriateness and safety.

Methods

We conducted a before-and-after study from August 1 to October 31 in 2010 and 2011, before and after the implementation of prehospital CPAP in a city of one million people with large rural areas. Medics were trained to apply CPAP to patients with respiratory distress and a presumed diagnosis of ACPE or AECOPD. Charts were selected using the search criteria of the chief complaint of shortness of breath, emergent transport to hospital, and any patients receiving CPAP in the field. Data extracted from ambulance call reports and hospital records were analysed with appropriate univariate statistics.

Results

A total of 373 patients enrolled (186 pre-non-invasive ventilation [NIV] and 187 post-NIV), mean age 71.5 years, female 51.4%, and final diagnoses of ACPE 18.9%, AECOPD 21.9%. In the post group of 84 patients meeting NIV criteria, 41.6% received NIV; and of 102 patients not meeting the criteria, 5.2% received NIV. There were 12 minor adverse events in 36 applications (33.3%) as per protocol. Comparing post versus pre, there were higher rates of emergency department (ED) NIV (20.0% v. 13.4%, p<0.0001) and higher overall mortality (18.8% v. 14.9%, p<0.0001). There were no differences in ED intubation (2.1% v. 2.3%, p<0.001) and length of stay (6.8 v. 8.7 days, p=0.24).

Conclusion

Despite the robust in-hospital data supporting its use, we could not find benefit from CPAP in our prehospital setting with respect to morbidity, mortality, and length of stay. EMS must exercise caution in making the decision to invest in the equipment and training required to implement prehospital CPAP.
GARY BECKER’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ECONOMICS OF MATCHING AND MARRIAGE
Authors: Chiappori Pierre-André
Published: March 2015

In his seminal, 1973 paper, published in the Journal of Political Economy, Gary Becker emphasizes marriage as a crucial, yet understudied issue to which economic analysis could, therefore should, be applied. In his words:

“Yet, one type of behavior has been almost completely ignored by economists, although scarce resources are used and it has been followed in some form by practically all adults in every recorded society. I refer to marriage.” (p. 814)
GARY BECKER ON HUMAN CAPITAL
Authors: Weiss Yoram
Published: March 2015

Gary Becker’s work on “human capital” started around 1960. It was motivated by the rising interest in economic growth at the time. As stated in the introduction to the first edition of his book, Human Capital, “The origin of this study can be traced to the finding that a substantial growth in incomes in the US remains after the growth of physical capital and labor has been accounted for”. This unexplained residual suggested to several researchers that unmeasured features of the quality of the labor force must also be brought into consideration. While econometricians such as Edward Denison, Dale Jorgenson, and Zvi Griliches turned to seek better data that would reduce the scope of the unexplained residual, Becker constructed a detailed and original theory regarding the possible effects of a major unobserved and all inclusive factor, termed, human capital, would have on observed outcomes such as wages and education and their variation over time and among individual types. Most of the theoretical results reported in the three editions of Human Capital, 1964, 1975, and 1995 are already anticipated in a single early paper that was published in the Journal of Political Economy in 1962.
WHY ARE MARRIED WOMEN WORKING SO MUCH?
Authors: Jones Larry E. , Manuelli Rodolfo E. , McGrattan Ellen R.
Published: March 2015

We study the large observed changes in labor supply by married women in the United States over the post-World War II period, a period that saw little change in the labor supply by single women. We investigate the effects of changes in the gender wage gap, the quantitative impact of technological improvements in the production of nonmarket goods, and the potential inferiority of nonmarket goods in explaining the dramatic change in labor supply. We find that small decreases in the gender wage gap can simultaneously explain the significant increases in the average hours worked by married women and the relative constancy in the hours worked by single women and by single and married men. We also find that the impact of technological improvements in the household on married female hours and on the relative wage of females to males is too small for realistic values. Some specifications of the inferiority of home goods match the hours patterns, but they have counterfactual predictions for wages and expenditure patterns.
Outcomes of Clostridium difficile Infection in Hospitalized Leukemia Patients: A Nationwide Analysis
Authors: Luo Ruihong , Greenberg Alan , Stone Christian D.
Published: March 2015

BACKGROUND

The incidence of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has increased among hospitalized patients and is a common complication of leukemia. We investigated the risks for and outcomes of CDI in hospitalized leukemia patients.

METHODS

Adults with a primary diagnosis of leukemia were extracted from the United States Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, 2005–2011. The primary outcomes of interest were CDI incidence, CDI-associated mortality, length of stay (LOS), and charges. In a secondary analysis, we sought to identify independent risk factors for CDI in leukemia patients. Logistic regression was used to derive odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for potential confounders.

RESULTS

A total of 1,243,107 leukemia hospitalizations were identified. Overall CDI incidence was 3.4% and increased from 3.0% to 3.5% during the 7-year study period. Leukemia patients had 2.6-fold higher risk for CDI than non-leukemia patients, adjusted for LOS. CDI was associated with a 20% increase in mortality of leukemia patients, as well as 2.6 times prolonged LOS and higher hospital charges. Multivariate analysis revealed that age >65 years (OR, 1.13), male gender (OR, 1.14), prolonged LOS, admission to teaching hospital (OR, 1.16), complications of sepsis (OR, 1.83), neutropenia (OR, 1.35), renal failure (OR, 1.18), and bone marrow or stem cell transplantation (OR, 1.27) were significantly associated with CDI occurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

Hospitalized leukemia patients have greater than twice the risk of CDI than non-leukemia patients. The incidence of CDI in this population increased 16.7% from 2005 to 2011. Development of CDI in leukemia patients was associated with increased mortality, longer LOS, and higher hospital charges.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2015;36(7):794–801
A Cross-Sectional Study of Happiness and Smoking Cessation Among Parents
Authors: Drehmer Jeremy E. , Hipple Bethany , Ossip Deborah J. , Nabi-Burza Emara , Winickoff Jonathan P.
Published: March 2015

Introduction:Smoking cessation among adults is associated with increased happiness. This association has not been measured in parents, a subset of adults who face uniquely stressful and challenging circumstances that can affect happiness.

Aims:The aim of this study was to determine if parental smoking cessation is associated with increased happiness and to identify characteristics of parental quitters who experience increased happiness.

Methods:A total of 1,355 parents completed a 12-month follow-up interview from a U.S. national trial, Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure (CEASE). Multivariable logistic regression examined if level of happiness was independently associated with quitting smoking and identified characteristics associated with feeling happier after quitting smoking.

Results/Findings:Parents’ level of happiness was independently associated with quitting smoking (aOR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.42–1.79). Factors associated with increased happiness among quitters include engaging in evidence-based cessation assistance (aOR = 2.69, 95% CI = 1.16–6.26), and adopting strictly enforced smoke-free home (aOR = 2.55, 95% CI = 1.19–5.48) and car (aOR = 3.85, 95% CI = 1.94–7.63) policies. Additionally, parents who believed that being a smoker got in the way of being a parent (aOR = 5.37, 95% CI = 2.61–11.07) and who believed that thirdhand smoke is harmful to children (aOR = 3.28, 95% CI = 1.16–9.28) were more likely to report feeling happier after quitting.

Conclusions:Parents who quit smoking reported being happier than parents who did not quit. Though prospective studies can clarify what factors cause an increase in happiness, letting paediatricians know that most parents who smoke report being happier when quitting may facilitate communication with parents around cessation.
New views on old hands: the context of stencils in El Castillo and La Garma caves (Cantabria, Spain)
Authors: Pettitt Paul , Castillejo Alfredo Maximiano , Arias Pablo , Peredo Roberto Ontañón , Harrison Rebecca
Published: March 2015

Hand stencils are an intriguing feature of prehistoric imagery in caves and rockshelters in several parts of the world, and the recent demonstration that the oldest of those in Western Europe date back to 37 000 years or earlier further enhances their significance. Their positioning within the painted caves of France and Spain is far from random, but responds to the shapes and fissures in the cave walls. Made under conditions of low and flickering light, the authors suggest that touch—‘palpation’—as much as vision, would have driven and directed the locations chosen for these stencils. Detailed study of the images in two Cantabrian caves also allows different individuals to be distinguished, most of whom appear to have been female. Finally, the project reveals deliberate associations between the stencils and features on the cave walls.
Defining Magdalenian cultural groups in Franco-Cantabria by the formal analysis of portable artworks
Authors: Rivero Olivia , Sauvet Georges
Published: March 2015

The motifs, techniques and stylistic features of Upper Palaeolithic art offer enormous potential for the investigation of social and cultural interactions in south-western France and northern Spain during the later stages of the last ice age. The key regions of Aquitaine, Cantabria and the Pyrenees clearly share an overall family resemblance, but detailed analysis of horse heads on portable objects of bone, antler and stone from Magdalenian contexts reveal that particular features can be attributed to different regions at different periods. Furthermore, the patterns of interconnection are structured very differently in the Upper Magdalenian than in the Middle Magdalenian, perhaps as rising temperatures in the latter period led to territorial expansion and social realignment.
The human face and the origins of the Neolithic: the carved bone wand from Tell Qarassa North, Syria
Authors: Ibáñez Juan José , González-Urquijo Jesús E. , Braemer Frank
Published: March 2015

The origins of the Neolithic in the Near East were accompanied by significant ritual and symbolic innovations. New light is thrown on the social context of these changes by the discovery of a bone wand displaying two engraved human faces from the Early Neolithic site of Tell Qarassa in Syria, dating from the late ninth millennium BC. This small bone object from a funerary layer can be related to monumental statuary of the same period in the southern Levant and south-east Anatolia that probably depicted powerful supernatural beings. It may also betoken a new way of perceiving human identity and of facing the inevitability of death. By representing the deceased in visual form the living and the dead were brought closer together.
From Middle Horizon cord-keeping to the rise of Inka khipus in the central Andes
Authors: Urton Gary
Published: March 2015

Recording devices formed of knotted cords, known askhipus, are a well-known feature of imperial administration among the Inka of Andean South America. The origins and antecedents of this recording system are, however, much less clearly documented. Important insights into that ancestry are offered by a group of eight khipus dating from the later part of the Middle Horizon period (AD 600–1000), probably used by the pre-Inka Wari culture of the central Andes. This article reports the AMS dating of four of these early khipus. A feature of the Middle Horizon khipus is the clustering of knots in groups of five, suggesting that they were produced by a people with a base five number system. Later, Inka khipus were organised instead around a decimal place-value system. Hence the Inka appear to have encountered the base five khipus among Wari descendant communities late in the Middle Horizon or early in the Late Intermediate period (AD 1000–1450), subsequently adapting them to a decimal system.
Imaginary creatures in Palaeolithic art: prehistoric dreams or prehistorians' dreams?
Authors: Palacio-Pérez Eduardo , Redondo Aitor Ruiz
Published: March 2015

In the course of research currently being carried out at Santimamine (Bizkaia, Spain) (Gonz’alez S’ainz & Idarraga 2010) and Altxerri (Gipuzkoa, Spain) a series of zoomorphic figures have been identified (four in total between the two sites) that represent creatures that do not exist in nature (Figure 1). They are examples of the so-called ‘imaginary creatures’, unreal or fantastic beings that appear in Palaeolithic art ensembles. Despite their rarity—fewer than 50 are known in Palaeolithic parietal art—they have been the subject of debate and controversy since the first of them were discovered.
The olive-branch dating of the Santorini eruption
Authors: Cherubini Paolo , Humbel Turi , Beeckman Hans , Gärtner Holger , Mannes David , Pearson Charlotte , Schoch Werner , Tognetti Roberto , Lev-Yadun Simcha
Published: March 2015

The date of the volcanic eruption of Santorini that caused extensive damage toMinoan Crete has been controversial since the 1980s. Some have placed the event in the late seventeenth century BC. Others have made the case for a younger date of around 1500 BC. A recent contribution to that controversy has been the dating of an olive tree branch preserved within the volcanic ash fall on Santorini. In this debate feature Paolo Cherubini and colleagues argue that the olive tree dating (which supports the older chronology) is unreliable on a number of grounds. There follows a response from the authors of that dating, and comments from other specialists, with a closing reply from Cherubini and his team.
The olive branch chronology stands irrespective of tree-ring counting
Authors: Friedrich Walter L. , Kromer Bernd , Friedrich Michael , Heinemeier Jan , Pfeiffer Tom , Talamo Sahra
Published: March 2015

Cherubini et al. (above) question the reliability of identifying annual growth increments in olive trees, and therefore voice caution against the result of the wiggle-match of the four sections of a branch of an olive tree to the 14C calibration curve. Friedrich et al. (2006) were well aware of the problematic density structure of olive trees, and therefore assigned rather wide error margins of up to 50 per cent to the ring count. This still resulted in a late seventeenth century BC youngest date for the modelled age range of the outermost section of wood (95.4% probability). One can even remove any constraint from ring counting altogether and model the four radial sections as a simple ordered sequence, in which only the relative position is used as prior information, in other words that outer sections are younger than inner ones in a radial section.
The Thera olive branch, Akrotiri (Thera) and Palaikastro (Crete): comparing radiocarbon results of the Santorini eruption
Authors: Bruins Hendrik J. , van der Plicht Johannes
Published: March 2015

An olive branch is traditionally a symbol of peace, but not necessarily in the context of chronological problems in the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Near East during the second millennium BC. Cherubini et al. (above) strongly attack the radiocarbon dating by Friedrich et al. (2006) of an ancient olive branch, buried by volcanic tephra during the Minoan Santorini eruption. The criticism stems from their investigation of growth rings in modern olive trees on Santorini. The authors attempt with additional arguments, beyond their botanical investigation, to defend the traditional low chronology of the Santorini eruption of around 1500 BC. However, they ignore other crucial publications with radiocarbon dates concerning the Santorini eruption. In this response, we evaluate and negate their main arguments, and present our own conclusions.
A disastrous date
Authors: MacGillivray J. Alexander
Published: March 2015

Paolo Cherubini and colleagues have demonstrated convincingly that the identification of olive wood tree-rings from Santorini is ‘practically impossible’. Thus, the single piece of evidence that might have persuaded some archaeologists to support the ‘high’ 1613±13 BC date for the Theran eruption is hors de combat. The Theran olive-tree branch has gone the way of the Greenland Ice Core results of similar date and which enjoyed a similar devoted following until shown to be from a different eruption. Taken with Malcolm Wiener's explicit exposé of the myriad shortcomings of 14C dating, especially for this time period and event, these results take us back to where we were before the ‘radiocarbon revolution‘, when the largest Holocene eruption in the ancient world happened as Minoan Crete enjoyed wideranging influence, perhaps even control, over the Aegean, when Late Minoan IA pottery styles proliferated, and Egypt was in the early stages of its New Kingdom period (Wiener 2012, 2013).
Highland fortress-polities and their settlement systems in the southern Caucasus
Authors: Hammer Emily
Published: March 2015

Recent survey work in western Azerbaijan has revealed that hilltop fortresses of the Bronze Age and Iron Age may have been parts of larger walled complexes and could have functioned as the urban centres of small independent polities. On the Şərur Plain long lengths of stone wall link the major fortress Oğlanqala it to its smaller neighbour Qızqala 1, with evidence of a substantial settlement on the lower ground between the two. The southern Caucasus lies beyond the core area of Near Eastern states but these new discoveries suggest that major centres of power arose here, controlling both the fertile plains and strategic trade routes through mountainous terrain.
The Hasanlu (Iran) Gold Bowl in context: all that glitters…
Authors: Danti Michael D.
Published: March 2015

The discovery of a crushed golden bowl in the remains of the Iron Age citadel of Hasanlu in 1958 attracted considerable media attention at the time. The circumstances of its loss have long remained unclear, but were clearly associated with the violent destruction of the site inc. 800 BC. Detailed review of the find context and the skeletons found nearby now suggests that the bowl was being looted during the sack of the citadel by Urartian soldiers from an upper room where weapons, armour and fine metal vessels were stored. The enemy soldiers carrying off the Gold Bowl died in the attempt when the upper floors of the building collapsed, plunging them to their deaths.
Transformations in ritual practice and social interaction on the Tiwanaku periphery
Authors: Albarracin-Jordan Juan , Capriles José M. , Miller Melanie J.
Published: March 2015

Ritual practices and their associated material paraphernalia played a key role in extending the reach and ideological impact of early states. The discovery of a leather bag containing snuffing tablets and traces of psychoactive substances at Cueva del Chileno in the southern Andes testifies to the adoption of Tiwanaku practices by emergent local elites. Tiwanaku control spread over the whole of the south-central Andes during the Middle Horizon (AD 500–1100) but by the end of the period it had begun to fragment into a series of smaller polities. The bag had been buried by an emergent local elite who chose at this time to relinquish the former Tiwanaku ritual practices that its contents represent.
Re-examining stone ‘wrist-guards’ as evidence for falconry in later prehistoric Britain
Authors: Wallis Robert J.
Published: March 2015

The polished stone objects known as ‘wrist-guards’ found in Early Bronze Age graves in Britain and Continental Europe have proved difficult to interpret. Are they connected with archery, as has long been supposed, or were they instead associated with falconry? Using trained birds of prey for hunting is an elite practice in many historical and ethnographic contexts, and would be consistent with the appearance of exotic materials in these graves. Detailed consideration of the wrist-guards and associated objects from a falconer's perspective, however, demonstrates that the argument is unconvincing.
A potter's workshop from Middle Bronze Age Cyprus: new light on production context, scale and variability
Authors: Frankel David , Webb Jennifer M.
Published: March 2015

When fire swept through a workshop at Ambelikou Aletri on Cyprus in the nineteenth or twentieth century BC it brought a sudden halt to pottery production, leaving the latest batch of recently fired vessels. The remains of the kiln and its immediate surroundings provide a rare opportunity to gain direct insight into the technology and organisation of a Middle Bronze Age pottery workshop in the eastern Mediterranean. Analysis of the batch of cutaway-mouthed jugs adjacent to the kiln reveals a level of standardisation focused more on vessel shape than capacity, and shows that at a detailed level, no two jugs were alike. This pottery production site provides vital background for the study of contemporary pottery assemblages on Cyprus and elsewhere in the broader region.
Prehistory by Bayesian phylogenetics? The state of the art on Indo-European origins
Authors: Heggarty Paul
Published: March 2015

Bayesian analysis has come to be widely used in archaeological chronologies and has been a regular feature of recent articles inAntiquity. Its application to linguistic prehistory, however, has proved controversial, in particular on the issue of Indo-European origins. Dating and mapping language distributions back into prehistory has an inevitable fascination, but has remained fraught with difficulty. This review of recent studies highlights the potential of increasingly sophisticated Bayesian phylogenetic models, while also identifying areas of concern, and ways in which the models might be refined to address them. Notwithstanding these remaining limitations, in the Indo-European case the results from Bayesian phylogenetics continue to reinforce the argument for an Anatolian rather than a Steppe origin.
Near Eastern archaeology and the Arab Spring: avoiding the ostrich effect
Authors: Danti Michael D.
Published: March 2015

As an American archaeologist who has worked in Syria, living in a rural village in Raqqa Province off and on for decades, I am frequently asked:did you see it coming?Were there early signs of the Arab Spring and the Syrian civil war? The answer is both yes and no. In retrospect, the signs were there, but foreign archaeologists did not always identify them. More often we simply chose to ignore them. Regardless, we have come to many important realisations. Foremost, Near Eastern archaeology has reached a major turning point, which raises a more pressing question:what now?Our answers will profoundly shape the future of our field. As archetypal students of history, we must learn from the lessons of the past and act. Playing the part of the metaphorical ostrich and burying our heads in the sand would be far easier, perhaps even customary, but this cannot be our course. A strong and engaged field is needed now more than ever—my primary intent here is to dissect what this means.
Revolting Peasants: Southern Italy, Ireland, and Cartoons in Comparative Perspective, 1860–1882
Authors: Whelehan Niall
Published: March 2015

Peasants in general, and rural rebels in particular, were mercilessly ridiculed in the satirical cartoons that proliferated in European cities from the mid-nineteenth century. There was more to these images than the age-old hostility of the townspeople for the peasant, and this article comparatively explores how cartoons of southern Italian brigands and rural Irish agitators helped shape a liberal version of what was modern by identifying what was not: the revolting peasant who engaged in “unmanly” violence, lacked self-reliance, and was in thrall to Catholic clergymen. During periods of unrest, distinctions between brigands, rebels, and the rural populations as a whole were not always clear in cartoons. Comparison suggests that derogatory images of peasants from southern Italy and Ireland held local peculiarities, but they also drew from transnational stereotypes of rural poverty that circulated widely due to the rapidly expanding European publishing industry. While scholarly debates inspired by postcolonial perspectives have previously emphasized processes of othering between the West and East, between the metropole and colony, it is argued here that there is also an internal European context to these relationships based on ingrained class and gendered prejudices, and perceptions of what constituted the centre and the periphery.
Amplitude saturation effect of a laser-driven plasma beat-wave on electron accelerations
Authors: Gupta D. N. , Singh Mamta , Suk H.
Published: March 2015

A large-amplitude plasma beat-wave driven by two lasers (differing in frequencies equal to the plasma frequency) can accelerate the plasma electrons to a higher energy level. As the plasma beat-wave grows, it becomes susceptible to oscillating two-stream instability. The decayed sideband plasma wave couples with the pump wave to divert its energy by the instability, and saturates it. The saturated amplitude of the plasma beat-wave traps the electrons more effectively to accelerate them to higher energy. The saturation of plasma beat-wave amplitude is shown to have a significant effect in an electron energy gain.
Prising apart geodesics by length in hyperbolic manifolds
Authors: ANDERSON JAMES W.
Published: March 2015

We develop a condition on a closed curve on a surface or in a 3-manifold that implies that the length function associated to the curve on the space of all hyperbolic structures on the surface or in the 3-manifold (respectively) completely determines the curve. Specifically, for an orientable surfaceSof negative Euler characteristic, we extend the known result that simple curves have this property to curves with self-intersection number one (with one exceptional case arising from hyperellipticity that we describe completely). For a large class of hyperbolizable 3-manifolds, we show that curves freely homotopic to simple curves on ∂Mhave this property.
Property Law as Labor Control in the Postbellum South
Authors: Sawers Brian
Published: March 2015

In 1860, unfenced land across the South was open to the public. No state criminalized trespass, and the range was closed in only part of one county. Elsewhere, some states had closed the range, but most unfenced land in the United States was open to the wanderer. In the former Confederacy, fresh elections were held in 1865, and legislatures moved quickly to criminalize trespass, restrict hunting and fishing, and close the range.
Closed-form solution of a thermocapillary free-film problem due to Pukhnachev
Authors: DUFFY BRIAN R. , LANGER MATTHIAS , WILSON STEPHEN K.
Published: March 2015

We consider the steady two-dimensional thin-film version of a problem concerning a weightless non-isothermal free fluid film subject to thermocapillarity, proposed and analysed by Pukhnachev and co-workers. Specifically, we extend and correct the paper by Karabut and Pukhnachev (J. Appl. Mech. Tech. Phys. 49, 568–579, 2008), in which the problem is solved numerically, and in which it is claimed that there exists a unique solution for any value of a prescribed heat-flux parameter in the model. We present a closed-form (parametric) solution of the problem, and from this show that, on the contrary, solutions exist only when the heat-flux parameter is less than a critical value found numerically by Karabut and Pukhnachev, and that when this condition is satisfied there are in fact two solutions, one of which recovers that obtained numerically by Karabut and Pukhnachev, the other being new.