bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Validity and Clinically Meaningful Changes in the Psychosexual Daily Questionnaire and Derogatis Interview for Sexual Function Assessment: Results From the Testosterone Trials
Authors: Wang Christina , Stephens-Shields Alisa J. , DeRogatis Leonard R. , Cunningham Glenn R. , Swerdloff Ronald S. , Preston Peter , Cella David , Snyder Peter J. , Gill Thomas M. , Bhasin Shalender , Matsumoto Alvin M. , Rosen Raymond C.
Published: June 2018

Background

Limited information is available on the performance characteristics of 2 questionnaires commonly used in clinical research, the Psychosexual Daily Questionnaire (PDQ) and the Derogatis Interview for Sexual Function (DISF)-II Assessment, especially in older men with low testosterone (T) and impaired sexual function.

Aim

To determine reliability of PDQ and DISF-II by assessing the correlation within and between domains in the questionnaires and to define clinically meaningful changes in sexual activity (PDQ question 4 [Q4]) and desire (DISF-II sexual desire domain [SDD]) domains.

Methods

Data from 470 men participating in the T Trials were used to calculate Spearman correlation coefficients of individual items and total score among questionnaires to determine convergent and construct validity. Clinically meaningful changes for sexual desire and activity were determined by randomly dividing the sample into training and validation sets. Anchor- and distribution-based clinically meaningful change criteria were defined in the training set, and selected changes were evaluated in the validation set.

Outcomes

Validity of the PDQ and DISF-II and clinically meaningful changes in sexual desire and activity were determined in older men in T Trials.

Results

Moderate to strong correlations were shown within and between domains from different questionnaires. Using Patient Global Impression of Change as an anchor, clinically meaningful change in PDQ sexual activity was ≥0.6, and in DISF-SDD was ≥5.0. Applying these change cut-points to the validation set, a greater proportion of T-treated men achieved clinically meaningful improvement in their sexual desire and activity compared to placebo-treated men.

Clinical Implications

The PDQ-Q4 and DISF-II-SDD can be used to reliably assess clinically meaningful changes in sexual activity and sexual desire in hypogonadal men treated with T.

Strengths & Limitations

Strengths of this study include a large sample size, long trial duration, and inclusion of men with low libido and unequivocally low T levels. Limitations include using data from a single study that enrolled only older hypogonadal men, and only 1 anchor for both sexual desire and activity.

Conclusion

Moderate to strong correlations were demonstrated within and between different sexual domains of the PDQ and DISF-II confirming construct and convergent validity. Clinically meaningful improvement in elderly hypogonadal men was change of ≥0.6 score in the PDQ-Q4 and ≥5.0 in the DISF-SDD. Improvements in sexual activity and desire in the T Trials were modest but clinically meaningful.
Biomechanical Comparison of Inflatable Penile Implants: A Cadaveric Pilot Study
Authors: Wallen Jared J. , Barrera Enrique V. , Ge Liehui , Pastuszak Alexander W. , Carrion Rafael E. , Perito Paul E. , Hakky Tariq S.
Published: June 2018

Background

Throughout the last decade there has been a growing interest in the biomechanical differences between inflatable penile prostheses (IPPs) and their significance with regard to the patient experience.

Aim

To present our findings assessing the biomechanical properties of IPPs with and without rear tip extenders (RTEs).

Methods

This is a biomechanical study of the 3 most commonly used IPPs (AMS CX, AMS LGX, and Coloplast Titan) as assessed by column compression, modified cantilever deflection, and 3-point bending methods. The IPPs were surgically placed into 3 fresh cadavers via an infrapubic technique by a single large-volume implanter. A biomechanical evaluation of the properties of each IPP inside the fibroelastic tunica albuginea was assessed in blinded testing, and analyses were based on industry standard methods for assessment.

Outcomes

Maximum axial load; kink formation; horizontal stiffness; and resistance to 3-point flexure testing were measured.

Results

At maximum inflation, all 3 implants had similar performance. Differences appear to be most affected by fill pressures. In fact, only the AMS LGX at less than maximum inflation (LTMI) was unable to consistently withstand the roughly 0.9 kg (2 lbs) of pressure for column load testing mimicking vaginal intromission. The Coloplast Titan showed slightly better rigidity than the AMS LGX and CX devices in horizontal load testing, and, with 3-point flexure testing, the CX showed the best rigidity in the shortest phallus (A). Overall, the Titan showed slightly better rigidity in the longest phallus (C) and the phallus with mild Peyronie's disease (B).

Clinical Translations

Penile implants with circumferential expansion had higher rigidity on biomechanical testing and should be considered in a patient's decision during selection of a penile implant.

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths include blinding of the biomechanical testing and analyses, surgical procedures performed by a highly experienced surgeon, and that this is the “closest to” in vivo evaluation (inside the tunica albuginea) of penile implant function and properties to date. Weaknesses are that this study was performed in cadavers and not in live patients. It also has a small sample size, including the use of only 3 cadavers, and there was no correlation of performance to patient satisfaction.

Conclusion

The results of this study support the conclusion that all devices are capable of functionally restoring erectile capacity. However, we observed that, in general, the 2 circumferentially expanding penile prosthesis showed greater resistance in biomechanical testing when compared with longitudinal and circumferential expanding devices. This should be considered as a guide during device selection for a patient undergoing penile prosthesis.
Measurement of chemosensory function
Authors: Doty Richard L.
Published: June 2018

Although hundreds of thousands of patients seek medical help annually for disorders of taste and smell, relatively few medical practitioners quantitatively test their patients' chemosensory function, taking their complaints at face value. This is clearly not the approach paid to patients complaining of visual, hearing, or balance problems. Accurate chemosensory testing is essential to establish the nature, degree, and veracity of a patient's complaint, as well as to aid in counseling and in monitoring the effectiveness of treatment strategies and decisions. In many cases, patients perseverate on chemosensory loss that objective assessment demonstrates has resolved. In other cases, patients are malingering. Olfactory testing is critical for not only establishing the validity and degree of the chemosensory dysfunction, but for helping patients place their dysfunction into perspective relative to the function of their peer group. It is well established, for example, that olfactory dysfunction is the rule, rather than the exception, in members of the older population. Moreover, it is now apparent that such dysfunction can be an early sign of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Importantly, older anosmics are three times more likely to die over the course of an ensuring five‐year period than their normosmic peers, a situation that may be averted in some cases by appropriate nutritional and safety counseling. This review provides the clinician, as well as the academic and industrial researcher, with an overview of the available means for accurately assessing smell and taste function, including up‐to‐date information and normative data for advances in this field.
Legislative Policy and Effectiveness: A (Small) Contribution from Legal Theory
Authors: ZAMBONI Mauro
Published: June 2018

The purpose of this paper is to use legal theory to clarify the nature and the components of effectiveness in legislation, in particular when it comes to choosing legislative policy, ie the legislative model used to tackle a certain issue via legislation. Part II is devoted to revealing the true meaning of the idea of effectiveness, ie as a functional link helping legislative drafters to move among three elements (ideals, situation, results) rather than as an absolute value that drafters should pursue in their work. Part III continues by investigating the problems that such confusion has produced within legislative discourse and practice, in particular by focusing upon two types of effectiveness as external and internal to the legislative process. Finally, Part IV proposes how this idea of effectiveness as a functional element of legislative work (and the consequent distinction between an external and an internal version) can (and should) affect the work of legislative drafters. This idea becomes particularly relevant in relation to the optimal location of the non-legal experts in the legislative process as a means of increasing the effectiveness of legislative policy.
ON BINARY CORRELATIONS OF MULTIPLICATIVE FUNCTIONS
Authors: TERÄVÄINEN JONI
Published: June 2018

We study logarithmically averaged binary correlations of bounded multiplicative functions $g_{1}$ and $g_{2}$. A breakthrough on these correlations was made by Tao, who showed that the correlation average is negligibly small whenever $g_{1}$ or $g_{2}$ does not pretend to be any twisted Dirichlet character, in the sense of the pretentious distance for multiplicative functions. We consider a wider class of real-valued multiplicative functions $g_{j}$, namely those that are uniformly distributed in arithmetic progressions to fixed moduli. Under this assumption, we obtain a discorrelation estimate, showing that the correlation of $g_{1}$ and $g_{2}$ is asymptotic to the product of their mean values. We derive several applications, first showing that the numbers of large prime factors of $n$ and $n+1$ are independent of each other with respect to logarithmic density. Secondly, we prove a logarithmic version of the conjecture of Erdős and Pomerance on two consecutive smooth numbers. Thirdly, we show that if $Q$ is cube-free and belongs to the Burgess regime $Q\leqslant x^{4-\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}}$, the logarithmic average around $x$ of the real character $\unicode[STIX]{x1D712}\hspace{0.6em}({\rm mod}\hspace{0.2em}Q)$ over the values of a reducible quadratic polynomial is small.
Wastewater drains: epidemiology and interventions in 23 carbapenem-resistant organism outbreaks
Authors: Carling Philip C.
Published: June 2018

For many years, patient-area wastewater drains (ie, sink and shower drains) have been considered a potential source of bacterial pathogens that can be transmitted to patients. Recently, evolving genomic epidemiology tools combined with new insights into the ecology of wastewater drain (WWD) biofilm have provided new perspectives on the clinical relevance and hospital-associated infection (HAI) transmission risks related to these fixtures. To further clarify the clinical relevance of WWD-associated pathogen transmission, reports of outbreaks attributed to WWDs were selected for review that (1) investigated the outbreak epidemiology of WWD-associated transmission of bacterial pathogens, (2) utilized advanced microbiologic methods to establish clonality of outbreak pathogens and/or resistance genes, or (3) described interventions implemented to mitigate transmission of the outbreak pathogens from WWDs. These reports were collated, compared, and analyzed, and the results are presented here.
Do Couple-Focused Cessation Messages Increase Motivation to Quit Among Dual-Smoker Couples?
Authors: vanDellen Michelle R. , Lewis Megan A. , Toll Benjamin A. , Lipkus Isaac M.
Published: June 2018

Introduction: Dual-smoker couples are a highly prevalent group who report low motivation to quit smoking.

Aims: This study tested the effect of a messaging intervention (couples- vs. individual-focused smoking outcomes) on motivation to quit among dual-smoker couples and examined the moderating effect of perceived support.

Methods: A total of 202 individuals in 101 dual-smoker couples were randomized by dyad using a 2 (frame: gain/loss) by 2 (outcome focus: individual/couple) factorial design. Participants reviewed scenarios of either positive or negative outcomes of quitting versus not quitting as they applied to either the individual or the couple. Participants then reported their own motivation to quit and motivation for their partner to quit. The main outcome was motivation to quit smoking.

Results: No main effects of framing or message focus emerged. Significant interactions between message focus and negative support predicted motivation for self and partner to quit. Individuals who reported lower negative support reported greater motivation for self to quit and less motivation for partner to quit after reviewing couple- (vs. individual-) focused messages.

Conclusions: Individuals in dual-smoker couples typically report low motivation to quit smoking. Couple-focused messages may increase motivation to quit among individuals who are not receiving negative support from their partners.
CULTURAL ENCOUNTER IN THE MORTUARY LANDSCAPE OF A TIWANAKU COLONY, MOQUEGUA, PERU (AD 650–1100)
Authors: Baitzel Sarah I.
Published: June 2018

Archaeological studies of culture contact often presuppose culture change. Contact that did not result in culture change is difficult to identify archaeologically, but it merits our attention for understanding how and why change failed to materialize in the wake of cultural encounter. In this paper, I examine the occurrence of contact without change on the frontier of the south-central Andean Tiwanaku state (AD 400–1100). Tiwanaku settlers who colonized the uninhabited middle Moquegua valley in the seventh century AD shared a mortuary landscape with coastal sojourners at the site of Omo M10, even though their interactions were otherwise limited. Complex regional histories and divergent economic interests explain why contact between highland and coastal groups was confined to mortuary rituals during the initial stage of contact, following a Tiwanaku pattern in Moquegua of ritualizing culture contact. Later generations of Tiwanaku colonists may have reinitiated contact with coastal communities for access to marine resources, and accepting foreigners into their community. This case study presents a framework for identifying culture contact without culture change. It demonstrates the utility of regional histories and careful contextual analysis for hypothesizing the nature and consequences of cultural encounters that did not follow expected trajectories of change.
In Memory of the “Two Helmuts”: The Lives, Legacies, and Historical Impact of Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl
Authors: Port Andrew I.
Published: June 2018

Between them, the chancellorships of the “two Helmuts” span nearly a quarter-century of German history. Helmut Schmidt led the country from 1974 to 1982; his successor, Helmut Kohl, served until 1998. But the verdict on their respective tenures has been very different. Kohl was seen as a bumbling provincial when he came to office in 1982 but, by the end of his second term, he had won a place in the history books as the “Chancellor of Unity” (Einheitskanzler). By the time he lost the election for what would have been his fifth term, he was hailed as the “master-builder” (Baumeister) of Europe for his decisive role in furthering the European Community's political and economic integration through the Maastricht Treaty and the introduction of the Euro. Schmidt, by contrast, came to office with a reputation for high administrative competence and intellectual prowess, but left the chancellery under a cloud.Der Spiegelspoke for many commentators when it dismissed him as a “good chancellor with a bad record”; few features of his period in office stood out as “proof of success.” Schmidt, it was said, had been a mere crisis manager and “problem-solver” (Macher) who lacked broader vision, so that “little endured of historical significance.” This has also been the verdict of many historians.
Who Was “Hitler” Before Hitler? Historical Analogies and the Struggle to Understand Nazism, 1930–1945
Authors: Rosenfeld Gavriel D.
Published: June 2018

Since the turn of the millennium, major political figures around the world have been routinely compared to Adolf Hitler. These comparisons have increasingly been investigated by scholars, who have sought to explain their origins and assess their legitimacy. This article sheds light on this ongoing debate by examining an earlier, but strikingly similar, discussion that transpired during the Nazi era itself. Whereas commentators today argue about whether Hitler should be used as a historical analogy, observers in the 1930s and 1940s debated which historical analogies should be used to explain Hitler. During this period, Anglophone and German writers identified a diverse group of historical villains who, they believed, explained the Nazi threat. The figures spanned a wide range of tyrants, revolutionaries, and conquerors. But, by the end of World War II, the revelation of the Nazis' unprecedented crimes exposed these analogies as insufficient and led many commentators to flee from secular history to religious mythology. In the process, they identified Hitler as Western civilization's new archetype of evil and turned him into a hegemonic analogy for the postwar period. By explaining how earlier analogies struggled to make sense of Hitler, we can better understand whether Hitler analogies today are helping or hindering our effort to understand contemporary political challenges.
CICERO'SLIBERATORES: A REASSESSMENT
Authors: Leber Nathan
Published: June 2018

One of the simplest methods used by Cicero for depicting a personality or characteristic of an individual within his correspondence was to use a nickname. When describing groups, the natural progression was to use collective nouns that helped to define some essential quality of this collective. The enormity of Caesar's assassination provided an opportunity to use a plethora of terms for the conspirators, most conspicuously seen in Cicero's treatment of Cassius and Brutus following the death of Caesar. The act itself had a polarizing effect. On one side were the invective terms for assassins, murderers and parricides (sicarii,homicidae,interfectores,parricidae). On the other side were the favourable terms, such as liberators (liberatores), heroes (heroes) and tyrannicides (tyrannoctoni). Cicero also included in his correspondence Greek words, as well as their transliterations into Latin. Each word would seem to have its own subtle characteristics, focussing on different aspects and interpretations of the conspirators and their act of tyrannicide or political murder. The collective nouns themselves and the context in which they are used not only will provide the first indication of how Cicero felt about the conspirators but may also give an insight into Cicero's perception of the general feeling about the political situation in Rome at this time.
Performance of the commercially available SERION ELISA classic Echinococcus IgG test for the detection of cystic echinococcosis in clinical practice
Authors: Sarink M.J. , Koelewijn R. , Slingerland B.C.G.C. , Tielens A.G.M. , van Genderen P.J.J. , van Hellemond J.J.
Published: June 2018

Diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis (CE) is at present mainly based on imaging techniques. Serology has a complementary role, partly due to the small number of standardized and commercially available assays. Therefore we examined the clinical performance of the SERION ELISA classic Echinococcus IgG test. Using 10 U/ml as a cut-off point, and serum samples from 50 CE patients and 105 healthy controls, the sensitivity and specificity were 98.0% and 96.2%, respectively. If patients with other infectious diseases were used as negative controls, the specificity decreased to 76.9%, which causes poor positive predictive values. However, if results between 10 and 15 U/ml are classified as indecisive, the specificity of positive results (≥15 U/ml) increased to 92.5% without greatly affecting the sensitivity (92.0%). Using this approach in combination with imaging studies, the SERION ELISA classic Echinococcosis IgG test can be a useful aid in the diagnosis of CE.
A predictive model for conversion to psychosis in clinical high-risk patients
Authors: Ciarleglio Adam J. , Brucato Gary , Masucci Michael D. , Altschuler Rebecca , Colibazzi Tiziano , Corcoran Cheryl M. , Crump Francesca M. , Horga Guillermo , Lehembre-Shiah Eugénie , Leong Wei , Schobel Scott A. , Wall Melanie M. , Yang Lawrence H. , Lieberman Jeffrey A. , Girgis Ragy R.
Published: June 2018

Background

The authors developed a practical and clinically useful model to predict the risk of psychosis that utilizes clinical characteristics empirically demonstrated to be strong predictors of conversion to psychosis in clinical high-risk (CHR) individuals. The model is based upon the Structured Interview for Psychosis Risk Syndromes (SIPS) and accompanying clinical interview, and yields scores indicating one's risk of conversion.

Methods

Baseline data, including demographic and clinical characteristics measured by the SIPS, were obtained on 199 CHR individuals seeking evaluation in the early detection and intervention for mental disorders program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University Medical Center. Each patient was followed for up to 2 years or until they developed a syndromal DSM-4 disorder. A LASSO logistic fitting procedure was used to construct a model for conversion specifically to a psychotic disorder.

Results

At 2 years, 64 patients (32.2%) converted to a psychotic disorder. The top five variables with relatively large standardized effect sizes included SIPS subscales of visual perceptual abnormalities, dysphoric mood, unusual thought content, disorganized communication, and violent ideation. The concordance index (c-index) was 0.73, indicating a moderately strong ability to discriminate between converters and non-converters.

Conclusions

The prediction model performed well in classifying converters and non-converters and revealed SIPS measures that are relatively strong predictors of conversion, comparable with the risk calculator published by NAPLS (c-index = 0.71), but requiring only a structured clinical interview. Future work will seek to externally validate the model and enhance its performance with the incorporation of relevant biomarkers.
III Tchefuncte Period Burials
Authors: Ford James A. , Quimby George I.
Published: June 2018

It appears that in the original excavations of the Little Woods site Czajkowski found skeletons in the middens at different points. The following is taken from his article in the Louisiana Conservation Review:

Most of the burials on the shell ridge were solitary and no funeral furniture or artifacts were found with them, with two exceptions: (1) On March 20th, two skeletons were found in a semi-flexed, east-west position. The following day, five more skeletons were uncovered, making a total of seven, all lying in the same position, parallel to each other about four feet apart, at a depth of about five feet …(2) On June 1st at a depth of six feet, a single skull impaled on a tree stump was found. Underneath the skull was a single fragment of decorated pottery.

Burial Ground: Seven skeletons found on March 20th, 950 feet northwest from the location. Adults, in fairly good condition; all skulls crushed except one…. Six in semi-flexed position on their backs … (the illustration to which Czajkowski here refers shows a fully flexed skeleton). All lying parallel in an east-west position with their heads west. The seventh at full length on its face. They were lying at a depth of about four feet from the surface and overlain with a shell bed from two to twelve inches in thickness. The distance between the skeletons was from three to four feet (Czajkowski, 1934, pp. 14-15).
V Pottery
Authors: Ford James A. , Quimby George I.
Published: June 2018

The pottery from the sites of the Tchefuncte period has been classified into a number of different types. As used by us, the type is a kind of average of an arbitrarily limited range of overlapping traits which have been abstracted from whole vessels and sherds that appear to be similar. Typology is checked against stratigraphy and stratigraphy against typology, to determine the utility of the type as an indicator of cultural change in time and space. Following are descriptions of the pottery types found in sites of the Tchefuncte period.

Paste.—Method of Manufacture: Coiled. Sherds break readily along coil junctions. Flattened coils average 3-4 cm. wide.

Tempering: Angular particles of clay. Small amount of fine sand. There are occasionally small particles of carbonized vegetal material and rarely bits of red ochre.

Texture: Clay of paste is very fine. Clay was very poorly wedged, and this feature, added to the large angular tempering particles, gives a laminated and contorted appearance to cross sections of sherds. Surfaces have been floated and are soft and chalky.
VI Ceramic Stratigraphy
Authors: Ford James A. , Quimby George I.
Published: June 2018

The only excavations of Tchefuncte sites which produced materials suitable for laboratory analyses of the temporal behavior of the pottery types characteristic of the period were those undertaken at the Tchefuncte middens and Big Oak Island. In Tchefuncte midden A, five hundred five-foot squares were dug to the bottom of the midden by six-inch levels. For purposes of analysis, adjoining squares of uniform total depth were grouped together in order to provide large units suitable for stratigraphic studies. These units were selected in the parts of the midden where the strata were most nearly horizontal. Areas on the periphery, or in which burials occurred, were not used for stratigraphic analysis. The various units, their size, and depth are as follows:

By means of these analysis units, not only are the trends of popularity of the pottery types of the Tchefuncte period made apparent, but also the relative temporal position of the Tchefuncte complex is conclusively shown.
General Considerations and Conclusions
Authors: King Arden R.
Published: June 2018

All the evidence gained from the excavations . at Cattle Point points to the conclusion that this was not a permanently occupied site. Apparently, it was always a place of temporary habitation, attracting its population because of its natural resources in food supplies. The economic activities were concentrated on the rich supply of fish which the nearby salmon banks offered. Throughout the culture sequence at Cattle Point the remains of fish in the form of vertebrae and cheek bones are an important part of the animal inventory. In addition, the area abounded in Columbian black-tailed deer, which were greatly utilized by occupants of the sites during all phases. The use of shellfish probably did not enter into the culture pattern at the beginning. Whether this was due to the lack of behavior patterns involving the use of shellfish as food, or to the lack of a beach structure which would support a shellfish population, cannot be determined at present with certainty.
The Paleoeskimo in Northern Baffinland
Authors: Mary-Rousselière Guy
Published: June 2018

Paleoeskimo artifacts from the Pond Inlet region have been known since Mathiassen carried out archaeological excavations in 1923, although for some time they were not recognized as such by their discoverer. A short description of the main sites known at the present time and of the most characteristic artifacts will be given here. Some conclusions will then be drawn concerning the local aspects of the Pre-Dorset and Dorset cultures, and their implications.

By a strange coincidence, the oldest dated remains of the whole region come from a point only 6 m distant from the Thule house excavated by Mathiassen at Mittimatalik (in which he found a few Dorset and perhaps Pre-Dorset artifacts) (Fig. 1). The site is situated on the west bank of a stream, in the middle of the present village of Pond Inlet, and is now covered in part by new houses and roads. In 1969, a pre-Dorset layer was found at 8 m above sea level, under modern, Thule, and Dorset remains. Underlaid by gravel and sand, it does not seem to have been too much disturbed by solifluxion, but the stratigraphy is confused by numerous crevices cutting through the sod and peat. Besides a few flint artifacts, mostly burins and burin spalls, a complete barbed harpoon head and a similar one with the point cut off were found. Seal bones from the same layer have provided a date of 4385±155 radiocarbon years (S-589), or 2435 B.C. (adjusted date: 2035 B.C.). Local conditions have made it impossible to carry out investigation of the site during the last four years.
The Archaeological Evidence of Cultivated Wheat and Barley in Near Eastern Prehistory
Authors: Dyson Robert H.
Published: June 2018

The data for this paper are taken from a larger manuscript study (Dyson, ms.) aimed at the collation of the specific evidence available at the present time on the first occurrences of the major traits of material culture in each sub-area of the Near East for the period from 5000 to 2500 B.C. Such a survey has not previously existed and it provides a solid reference work for checking on the exact locations of key items in the fields of agriculture, husbandry, textiles, metallurgy, transportation, and so on.

In making a survey of this nature the problem of chronology is paramount, for it is upon this basis that priority in discovery must be accredited to any one area, and that directions of diffusion must be determined. In this region, as in other parts of the world, the correlation of cultural events with Christian chronology has yet to be satisfactorily completed. We cannot, therefore, deal with any degree of accuracy in terms of particular years. The presence of stratigraphic deposits, however, does allow us to deal with periods of relative cultural time.
The Current Status of Aleutian Archaeology
Authors: Spaulding Albert C.
Published: June 2018

The Geographical situation and ecological character of the Aleutian Islands are of such nature as to give the archaeological record there special significance with regard to certain problems of Eskimo prehistory. From the point of origin, Unimak Island, the islands extend to the west in a thousand mile long chain which is essentially a broken extension of the Alaska Peninsula. Water gaps are relatively short in the eastern section, although the inter-island passes are often perilous because of currents and tide rips, not to speak of frequent fogs and strong winds. In the west the water gaps tend to become longer, culminating in the 40 miles or more of stormy open water involved in the passage from the Rat Islands to the Near Islands. Between the westernmost of the Aleutians, Attu Island, and the Russian Commander Islands is a still more formidable gap of about 250 statute miles, and 138 statute miles intervene between the Commander Islands and the coast of Kamchatka. Since there is no reason to think that these geographical conditions were significantly different in the appreciably recent past, the inference clearly seems to be that the Aleutian Islands were peopled from the Alaska Peninsula by competent boatmen.
Possibilities of Genetic Relationship in Northern Pacific Moiety Structures
Authors: Garfield Viola E.
Published: June 2018

Moieties and/or SIBS occur in all the major culture areas of North and South America with the exception of Eskimo and Patagonia. In North America they are also lacking on the Pacific Coast from Vancouver Island to California and in all but the northern part of the Plateau. Data are incomplete for much of Argentina and Brazil and for parts of Meso-America.

Many Siberian nomads are organized into patrilineal sibs or into extended families stressing the male line. The Koryak, Kamchadal and Chukchi are sibless, forming a continuous bilateral area with the Aleut and Eskimo on both sides of Bering Sea. Moieties and sibs are not characteristic of China, Japan, and Mongolia, but there is consistent stressing of the paternal line, whatever the kinship system. Patri-sibs occur in Manchuria.
Plants Across the Pacific
Authors: Carter George F.
Published: June 2018

The Value of plant evidence has been pointed out. Man does not invent plants. The identical plant in cultivation in pre-Columbian times in the Old World and the New World virtually proves that voyages were made between these two cultural worlds. “Virtually proves” because the domestic plants in question have at best only remote possibilities of being carried to or from America by natural means and even less possibility of parallel evolution to botanical identity.

To establish a case only two things must be done. First, the pre-Columbian presence in both the Old and the New World of a given plant must be established. Second, the question of its possible natural dispersal must be examined. The homeland of the plant in question need not be determined, for our interest is only in its transfer. When the identical plant occurs in both hemispheres in pre-Columbian times and when natural means of dispersal are improbable, human carriage is the only probable alternative.
A Possible Focus of Asiatic Influence in the Late Classic Cultures of Mesoamerica
Authors: Ekholm Gordon F.
Published: June 2018

There is a Growing trend, I believe, for American archaeologists to look beyond the limits of their specialized and local areas of research and to take more interest in some of the basic problems of culture history — of the processes of origin and growth of cultures and civilizations. The Americanist looks at these problems in terms of the American Indian cultures, but in doing so, to be logically consistent, he must make some judgment on the old question as to whether or not influences from the civilizations of Asia had anything to do with the growth of those in America.

This problem, or what turns out to be a great series of problems when one looks into it at all, is of great practical and theoretical interest, and will, I am convinced, receive much attention in future years. Such attention is somewhat slow in coming, however, because of the uncompromisingly isolationist point of view held up to now by most Americanists and reflected in the almost complete lack of research on the problems of Asiatic-American cultural relationships.
An Archaeological Classification of Culture Contact Situations
Authors: Willey Gordon R. , Di Peso Charles C. , Ritchie William A. , Rouse Irving , Rowe John H. , Lathrap Donald W.
Published: June 2018

The authors of this paper met at Harvard University in July, 1955, to discuss the theoretical problems which arise in the study of culture contact situations in archaeology. The subject of contacts between cultures is one in which ethnologists have long been interested, and there is a substantial body of literature, both descriptive and theoretical, on contemporary and recent historic situations of this kind. Archaeological interest in the subject is somewhat more recent, but a few excellent reports on specific examples have appeared which we could use as a basis for our discussions. We believe that this paper is only the second attempt to contribute something to this field by generalization from archaeological data (Willeyl953).
An Archaeological Approach to the Study of Cultural Stability
Authors: Haury Emil W. , Rands Robert L. , Spaulding Albert C. , Taylor Walter W. , Thompson Raymond H. , Wauchope Robert , White Marian E.
Published: June 2018

The study of cultural stability requires a knowledge of cultural development over a reasonably long span of time. The definition of this time perspective is one of the major contributions of archaeology to the study of culture. The archaeologist therefore should be in a position to make a significant contribution to the appraisal of the stability problem itself. However, the lack of a commonly accepted anthropological definition of the concept of cultural stability imposes semantic difficulties which hinder the determination of practical limits for the stability- instability problem area. Moreover, the nature of the data available to the archaeologist conditions the kind of contribution he can make.
The American Southwest: A Problem in Cultural Isolation
Authors: Jennings Jesse D. , Reed Erik K. , Griffin James B. , Kelley J. Charles , Meighan Clement W. , Stubbs Stanley , Wheat Joe Ben , Taylor Dee C.
Published: June 2018

One of the seminar topics scheduled for the summer of 1955 by the Society for American Archaeology was “The American Southwest: A Problem in Cultural Isolation.” The assignment was to “… examine the assumption that these Southwestern cultures resulted from local acceptance and development of generalized and/or specific traits which can be isolated in distant cultural contexts at earlier times than their climactic developments can be observed in the Southwest.”
Functional and Evolutionary Implications of Community Patterning
Authors: Beardsley Richard K. , Holder Preston , Krieger Alex D. , Meggers Betty J. , Rinaldo John B. , Kutsche Paul
Published: June 2018

The classification of cultures into a workable number of types for descriptive or interpretative ends has occupied anthropologists since the science was born. Many kinds of data have been selected. Within the last decade Coon's (1948) subdivision of human societies into six levels on the basis of complexity of institutions, and the attempts by Strong (1948), Armillas (1948), Steward (1949), Willey and Phillips (1955) to distinguish developmental periods in the Mesoamerican and Andean archaeological sequences may be cited. Our excuse for attempting yet another formulation is that the current schemes emphasize either ethnographic criteria that are difficult or impossible to detect archaeologically, or unique features of particular cultural configurations rather than general criteria defining more universal patterns. Starting from a point of view different from those heretofore employed, we have tried to develop a classification of cultures that is usable with both ethnographical and archaeological data and that has functional and evolutionary as well as historical and descriptive significance.
3. Objectives of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to the Galápagos
Authors: Heyerdahl Thor , Skjölsvold Arne
Published: June 2018

The first scientific expedition to the Galápagos took place, as stated, when Malaspina made his brief call in 1790. In the 19th century a series of other and more important scientific expeditions followed, among them notably H.M.S. Beagle which arrived in 1835 with Charles Darwin as naturalist on board. Right up to the present time naturalists have been drawn to the Galápagos due to its unique fauna and flora, and biologically and geologically the group has been carefully surveyed. The many visiting expeditions have, however, never assumed the special task of searching for archaeological remains, and no signs of early occupation have been reported, other than man-made caves in the local tuff and broken Spanish jars and porcelain, all properly ascribed to the late 17th century buccaneers and the 18th century whalers.
5. Preceramic Evidence
Authors: Strong William Duncan
Published: June 2018

Concerning the first 2 postulated cultural epochs (Table 2) the Pre-Agricultural and the epoch of Incipient Agriculture, our evidence is limited, sometimes contradictory, and generally hypothetical. However, in the ease of the San Nicolás site there is positive proof of an hitherto undescribed lithic culture which is seemingly preceramic and pre-agricultural. For present purposes we will briefly present this evidence under the more noncommittal heading of preceramic evidence.
2 The Types of Evidence for Prehistoric Southwestern Agriculture
Authors: Woodbury Richard B.
Published: June 2018

Over the past decade many authors have briefly cited or discussed several kinds of evidence for the prehistoric agriculture of the Southwest. Most of this evidence, however, has not received careful scrutiny, nor has it been given major emphasis in any but a few archaeological studies. The importance of agriculture has been more often assumed than demonstrated, and a critical reading of Southwestern archaeological literature reveals that all too often reference to “agriculture” (or “horticulture“) is unaccompanied by any consideration of the many different types of activity that are subsumed by such a term.

From the earliest days of exploration among the “cliff-dwellings” and other ruins the presence of stored corn made it clear that the occupants had been farmers. Other evidence seemed superfluous, since the surviving Pueblo Indians were also farmers, and it could be assumed that farming methods had changed but little over the centuries. Therefore, none of the earlier archaeologists in the Southwest gave serious attention to the agricultural evidence.
3 Lesser Structures
Authors: Roys Lawrence , Shook Edwin M.
Published: June 2018

At This stage of our knowledge of Aké it is premature to classify many mounds and platforms as “minor structures” even though our use of the designation “major structures” for the most conspicuous mounds makes such a classification logical. We designate these less spectacular mounds as “lesser structures” in an effort to avoid making judgments that we could not support with field data. Our visit to Aké was too brief to do more than record a few notes on many platforms and buildings. We assigned numbers to 26 structures, ten of which have been described as “major structures.” There are 15 or 20 additional mounds or platforms with little or no masonry showing. Fully double that number of low platforms may be counted. These are often auxiliary to the larger pyramids and platforms. Data for 18 “lesser structures” are presented in this brief summary.
Chapter 5: Model Mortality Schedules
Authors: Weiss Kenneth M.
Published: June 2018

Chapter 4, and particularly Table 4, indicate a relatively narrow range of values for E(15), the life expectancy at age 15. This range, 12.3 to 34.6, just overlaps the lowest life expectancies in national censuses of the past 2 centuries (Arriaga 1968; Keyfitz and Flieger 1968). Even in the model life tables of Coale and Demeny (1966), “West” series, which are most applicable to pre-industrial populations, the lowest E(15) is 31.16. This particular value is found in a table which is an extrapolation of their regression lines well beyond the range of data on which the regressions were based.
Archaeological Implications of Social Stratification at the Etowah Site, Georgia
Authors: Larson Lewis H.
Published: June 2018

The excavation of Mound C, at the Etowah site, near Cartersville, Georgia, revealed a series of burials which suggests social stratification within the resident population. The differences between burials in the mound and those within the village cemeteries is to be seen not only in the more elaborate goods which accompany the mound burials, but also in the fact that the mound burials are accompanied by goods made of exotic and rare materials. The duplication of certain kinds of materials with individuals who represent different age groups suggests that the costume and paraphernalia is symbolic of an office and does not reflect individual taste in ornamentation.
Moundville and Surrounding Sites: Some Structural Considerations of Mortuary Practices II
Authors: Peebles Christopher S.
Published: June 2018

Analysis of differential distribution of mortuary artifacts from the major site units at Moundville and the Pickwick Reservoir in northern Alabama has yielded structural similarities and differences. The occurrence of certain classes of artifacts, symbolic of high status positions, is limited to a restricted number of individuals interred in platform mounds. These artifacts are not found with individuals buried in the cemeteries either at Moundville or in surrounding sites. In turn, within the cemeteries and platform mounds there is observed differentiation and regularity in and between classes of individuals in terms of skeletal orientation and mortuary treatment. The model suggested from the archaeological remains is one of a complexly ranked and functionally specialized politico-religious organization as part of this cultural system.
2. The Source Materials
Authors: Thompson Raymond H.
Published: June 2018

This study is an analysis of inference as the product of archaeological subject matter. So far very little has been said about the data of archaeology except that they belong to the context of culture. According to Osgood's (1940) system for ordering data within this context, they are classified as material percepta and considered under the heading of techniculture. But this is a heading which covers all of the objects made and used by the “aggregate of human beings.” Even on the limited level of archaeology this means a tremendous coverage, far greater than is necessary for a case study. For practical purposes, therefore, some criteria of relevance are needed to define a small unit of techniculture which is appropriate for illustrating the nature of archaeological inference.
4. The Archaeological Description
Authors: Thompson Raymond H.
Published: June 2018

This presentation of the material percepta is intended to be no more than the starting point for an exercise in inferential method. It is therefore somewhat different from the description found in the usual archaeological report. Ordinarily the archaeologist can enrich his presentation of the descriptive data or material percepta by including some of the inferential findings which these data make possible. Assigning the name of “cooking pot” to a vessel type is a common example. But the present study is an analysis of these very inferences. The resemblance between it and the usual archaeological description must stop just short of these inferential increments. In describing the modes and types which follow I try to avoid the use of words and phrases which might prejudice the outcome of the experiment.
6. The Ethnographic Description
Authors: Thompson Raymond H.
Published: June 2018

Name: kat, potter's clay. There are a number of Maya words meaning clay, but all sources agree that kat is the specific term for the kind of clay used for pottery making. Both the Motel and Vienna dictionaries define kat as the day used by the olleros or pot makers. E. H. Thompson, writing about 1900 (and probably overstating the situation) claims that all potter's clay was further subdivided into 2 classes: xahkat (zac-kat, white/clay) and xkatkan (kart Icot, yellow/clay). Gaumer gives kan kan kat (yellow/clay) for the sample he collected in 1895 at Izamal. My Mama informants, like those from the other villages, always refer to their clay as kat. However, they do differentiate between the zahkat which they ordinarily use and the equally good but much less used kankat. I did not find this distinction at any other village.
Chapter 12: Confronting Field Data: Fitting Data to Model
Authors: Weiss Kenneth M.
Published: June 2018

The model life tables are constructed for field data which are fragmentary, incomplete, or lacking in detail. If a few gross measures can be determined which reflect the pooled experience of many elements of the population and hence are freer of stochastic variation, and if the stationary population assumptions are at all justified, a reasonable fit to a model can be expected with a minimum of work.
Chapter 13: Confronting Field Data: Adapting the Models to Other Fertility or Growth Patterns
Authors: Weiss Kenneth M.
Published: June 2018

This work deals almost exclusively with stationary populations whose fertility function is assumed to be approximated by the K(X) values developed in Chapter 6. It is appropriate to consider how the shape of the fertility function may be adjusted to fit unusual field situations. Then we can show how the models can be adapted for populations with nonzero growth rates.