bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Sayano-Altaic centre of early medieval cultures
Authors: Savinov Dmitri
Published: January 2016

South Siberia – bordered by Lake Baikal, the Irtysh river, the west Siberian forest-steppe zone, and the basin of the Great Lakes of Mongolia – is broadly coextensive with the foothills of the Sayan and Altai ranges. It occupies a special place in the early medieval history of the Eurasian steppe populations. The ethno-cultural processes which operated here over thousands of years have a significance which goes far beyond South Siberia.
Living on the edge: Neolithic herders in the eastern Sahara
Authors: Close Angela E.
Published: January 2016

The Eastern Sahara – an arid waste since Neolithic times – is one of the very few regions where one can find, by simple surface survey, little clusters of stone artefacts lying just where they fell 5000 and more years ago. They offer rather direct and specific information about how stone was moved, used and left behind by mobile pastoralists in a marginal environment.
On concepts expressed in southern African rock art
Authors: Thackeray J. F.
Published: January 2016

Prehistoric rock art in southern Africa has been studied — with remarkable success — in the light of ethnographic data obtained from modern ‘San’ or ‘Bushmen’. Yet examples of rock paintings reflect conceptual associations similar if not identical to those identified among Bantu-speakers. It is recommended that the art be studied in the light of linguistic as well as ethnographic data without adopting a ‘San-centric’ stance.
Maritime archaeology in Southeast and East Asia
Authors: Green Jeremy
Published: January 2016

Maritime archaeology has recently started to make a contribution to the understanding of the history and archaeology of Southeast and East Asia. The first maritime archaeological excavations in this area started in the mid 1970s; a growing body of information is now providing new evidence on the history of ship-building and the mechanisms of trade relations in the region. This paper describes the sites that have been studied in an archaeological manner (FIGURE 1), and draws the reader’s attention to tentative conclusions that can be reached. Each region will be discussed briefly and the general nature of the research outlined.
The parietal art of the Late Magdalenian
Authors: Clottes Jean
Published: January 2016

While lively debate has gone on about the meaning and function of Palaeolithic parietal art, the intractable and essential questions of its dating have been less in the foreground. With Leroi-Gourhan's interpretations goes his identification of styles and their chronology, published in 1965. Now one period, the Late Magdalenian of his Style IV, is looked at closely with chronology in mind
Pont-de-l'Arche or Pîtres? a location and archaeomagnetic dating for Charles the Bald's fortifications on the Seine
Authors: Dearden Brian , Clark Anthony
Published: January 2016

Archaeomagnetic dating has recently come of age. The creation of the British reference curve in 1988 allows the authors plausibly to link a north French site with a well-known historical event
The place of megalithic tomb cemeteries in Ireland
Authors: Cooney Gabriel
Published: January 2016

The megalithic chamber tombs that are the most striking monuments of the Irish Neolithic have long been divided by the shape of their plans. With the shapes there goes a characteristic pattern of distribution and of spacing in the landscape, and from this arise some puzzling questions of sequence as to how ‘cemeteries’ grew up. A fresh view is taken of this old problem
Space-time analysis of raw material utilization for stone implements of the Jomon culture in Japan
Authors: Yamamoto Kaoru
Published: January 2016

Introduction

The materials from which tools are made reflect the intention of tool makers concerning function, use, size and shape of the tools. Even the materials of stone implements in prehistoric times must have reflected the intention of tool makers. Inada (1969: 4) pointed out that the technology of making tools reflects the interacting elements of materials and retouchments. It is a fundamental premise of this paper that understanding patterns of raw material utilization for stone implements is a key to the solution of questions concerning cultural tradition, cultural behaviour, culture areas and trade in the stone age.
Past regained, future lost: the Kow Swamp Pleistocene burials
Authors: Mulvaney D.J.
Published: January 2016

The Kow Swamp collection of Pleistocene human remains from southeast Australia is perhaps the largest skeletal collection ever recovered from a single Pleistocene context. It was ‘returned’ for re-burial last year. John Mulvaney, a senior Australian prehistorian, reports on a situation in which the issues concerning the bones of ancient people are at their most acute.
New evidence for the date of the Nazca lines
Authors: Silverman Helaine , Browne David
Published: January 2016

Surface features that possess no useful stratigraphy and are not, by their own nature, informative about their age, are notoriously hard to date. A study of associations now defines with good confidence the dates of the surface arrangements of stones and of cleared areas that make up some of the celebrated Nazca lines, Peru.
Post-modernism, rhetoric and scholasticism at TAG: the current state of British archaeological theory
Authors: Bintliff John
Published: January 2016

We reported last year on the course of TAG (Theoretical Archaeology Group) and its annual conferences over several years. This further report reads the meaning of the post-modernist agenda which dominated the most recent TAG conference.
On the importance of spatio-temporal differences in the intensity of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic settlement in Central Europe
Authors: Vencl Slavomil
Published: January 2016

Introduction

The well-known fact that the sources of evidence concerning the pre-Neolithic period are seriously incomplete has not yet been analysed sufficiently, being concealed by the intensive interaction of very complex and variable factors. It is obvious, though, that even an imperfect attempt to quantify this problem could contribute to an explanation of the causes for the striking differences between the volume of archaeological source material from adjacent territories, or show the limits of attempts at a historical interpretation of the interrelationships between pre-Neolithic cultures. Unlike the post-Mesolithic period, the sources of the pre-Neolithic foraging societies suffer from reduced field visibility:

1 first of all, they are not usually indicated by colour contrasts in the feature fillings;

2 as a rule, they are reduced only to residues made of the most resistant materials;

3 because of the mobility of small hunter-gatherer groups, only limited accumulations of finds occur in temporary camps, both in extent and in volume, easily escaping attention;

4 Palaeolithic finds lie deeper under the present-day surface and are discovered less frequently than the remains of later periods;

5 the Palaeolithic record was, over tens of thousands of years – this partly under the extreme Pleistocene conditions – subjected to destruction more frequently than the post-Palaeolithic romains;

6 the intensity of the sedimentary and denu-datory processes differs regionally, and in other ways.
The earliest wheel-turned pottery in the Carpathian Basin
Authors: Romsauer Peter
Published: January 2016

The Carpathian Basin and its chronology

The Carpathian Basin (FIGURE 1), irrespective of its peripheral parts, was divided in the Hallstatt period into two major cultural–geographical units, with the river Danube forming the border line. Significant changes occurred in the whole region at the beginning of the 6th century BC. The development of local groups, reaching a climax about the turn of the 7th and 6th centuries BC, was interrupted. In the broader East Alpine region this break is documented by the desertion of the majority of fortified and open settlements, and is marked by the end of burials under barrows and in flat cemeteries (Romsauer in press; Teržan 1990: 120–21). Approximately in the same period objects of Scythian origin come into use in the Great Hungarian Plain, and the Vekerzug group formed with its specific manifestations in material culture, settlement pattern and burial rite. Its traces are distributed practically all over the Plain and reach southwestern Slovakia. The earliest finds are dated to the mid 6th century BC – about 560 BC (Párducz 1974: 330; Dusek 1974: 405). The independent development of the Vekerzug group was terminated by historical Celtic expansion at the beginning of the La Tène B2 phase, dated, in general, to the mid 4th century BC (Bujna 1982: 377f., 397f.). During its 200 years of existence, the Vekerzug group acted as an important cultural link between the regions within the reach of the expanding Classical world.
The salt of Bunyoro: seeking the origins of an African Kingdom
Authors: Connah Graham
Published: January 2016

Excavations at the salt-making village of Kibiro, on the Ugandan shore of Lake Albert in East Africa, suggest that an important part of the economy of the Kingdom of Bunyoro originated early in the present millennium. The predominance of roulette-decorated pottery, in particular the use of carved roulettes, indicates that Kibiro was first occupied by people with northern affinities, possibly from the upper Nile region or further west. Collectively, these findings provide important clues concerning the origins of the Kingdom of Bunyoro.
Images of power and contradiction: feminist theory and post-processual archaeology
Authors: Engelstad Ericka
Published: January 2016

Archaeology, like many of the sciences, works to a masculine metaphor, the (male) archaeologist as hero explores and tames the mysteries of his (female) subject. Feminist theory has made important criticism of positivist science on these grounds, drawing on much the same postmodern theory as ‘post-processual’ archaeology. How do the ‘post-processuals’ appear, seen in the feminist light?
Early Phase of Lusatian Culture barrow burial ground in Lower Silesia at Mikowice, Opole Voivodship site 1
Authors: Kłosińska Elżbieta
Published: January 2016

To the west of the village of Mikowice (which lies 40 krn southeast of Wrocław) inside a large wooded tract on an extensive kame plateau a dozen or so barrow fields were discovered (FIGURE 1) in the 1920s-30s. The two largest burial grounds (the ‘western’ and ‘eastern’ fields) comprise some 3 to 4 score tumuli (FIGURE 2) .

The ‘western’ burial ground has for many years attracted the attention of archaeologists. Following a meticulous recording and preparation of a contour plan of the site between 1926 and 1934 (Hellmich 1938: 226–28), 11 features were excavated under the supervision of L.F. Zotz, G. Raschke, K. Tackenberg and K. Petersen of Breslau (modern Wroclaw) (Zotz 1930: 81–4; 1934: 108–12). The excavations had a rescue character as intensive extraction in adjacent sand pits was seriously damaging the cemetery, having reduced the surviving number of barrows to 24.
Recent excavation and survey at Zduny, Wrząca and Kliczków Mały: earthworks of the modern period
Authors: Kajzer Leszek
Published: January 2016

At a time when the whole of Europe is growing ever more united, the study of cultural phenomena observable all over the continent gains in importance. One such phenomenon is the occurrence of earthworks of both prehistoric and historical date. Initially associated with tribal Europe and with that period of its history when early states began to emerge, these defensive features began to decline with progressing feudalization. Within Latin Europe they were replaced by imperial ‘pfalze’, feudal seats of the motte type, and castles. Built by rulers, ecclesiastical dignitaries and knights all over the area stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to Russia, they were the most outstanding feature of the cultural landscape of medieval Europe. With the decline of the Middle Ages, changes began to affect those castles that were built on an extensive scale as well as smaller defensive features such as the keep on a mound. The picture of European defensive architecture also changed under modern cultural influences from transalpine Italy. One trend led towards ‘military architecture’ in the narrow sense of the word. Modern fortifications became the concern of specialists: engineers and practicians of the battlefield in the period termed by Michael Howard the era ‘of wars of mercenaries, merchants and professionals’ (1976). The other trend was to shape modern civilian architecture, in terms of the development unfortified palaces. The division between architectura civilis and architectura militaris became a fact.
The emergence of cultural complexity on the northern Northwest Coast
Authors: Maschner Herbert D. G.
Published: January 2016

The northern Northwest Coast supported some of the most socially complex hunting and gathering societies on the Pacific Coast. The Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian of this region share a rich ethnographic history that reveals hereditary social ranking, sedentary villages, intensive warfare, part-time craft specialization and dense populations. Models developed to explain the origins of social and political complexity among these groups have covered the gamut of theories presented for the rise of complexity in state level societies. As will be demonstrated, not only have archaeologists failed to present a theory that explains the rangeof variability in the data, but on the northern Northwest Coast, the actual timing of the origins of political complexity is suspect.
Extensification and intensification in central California prehistory
Authors: Beaton J. M.
Published: January 2016

The central portion of the California ‘culture area’ is a microcosm of the larger California province, which is a patchwork of landforms, microclimates and hydraulic régimes. There are large coastal bays, rugged scrubby foothills, broad intermontane valleys with massive river systems and extensive deltaic wetlands (FIGURE 1).
Transformation of a regional economy: sociopolitical evolution and the production of valuables in southern California
Authors: Arnold Jeanne E.
Published: January 2016

Among the most complex and specialized hunter-gatherer-fisher societies in the New World, the peoples of the Santa Barbara Channel region of California were considered exceptional by early explorers because of their intense interest in valuables, beads and trade. During the last several centuries before European contact, sedentary populations on the offshore islands and mainland coast participated in an intensive regional exchange network that emerged from important earlier developments in transportation, craft specialization and labour organization. Especially significant in the sociopolitical evolution of this region were changes in the manipulation of domestic labour by a rising elite, expressed through increasing control over the production and distribution of status-rich valuables and critical resources. At historic contact, the Chumash who occupied the mainland coast and the northern Channel Islands (FIGURE 1) were probably organized into several interlinked small chiefdoms.
Irregular earthworks in N. E. Thailand: new insight
Authors: Higham Charles , Kijngam Amphan
Published: January 2016

Three decades have elapsed since Williams-Hunt (1950) described the results of an aerial survey of archaeological sites in N.E. Thailand. He observed four site-types. The most abundant was a disposition of practically circular earthworks which looked like moats and ramparts. Williams-Hunt described them as small defended towns. There are also four ‘metropolis’ sites with a large gap between inner and outer ramparts, several sites located on rock outcrops, and a number of sites with an irregular layout and possible periods of enlargement. The sites concentrate in the valleys of the Mun and Chi rivers (FIG. I). Williams-Hunt had no clear information on the dates of the sites, although pioneer work by Prince Damrong in I904 and Quaritch-Wales (1936) just before the second war suggested occupation before the Khmer occupation of the Khorat Plateau in the eleventh century AD. ‘Further comment’, he concluded, ‘would be futile. The excavator’s spade alone will provide the final answer.’
Introduction
Authors: Stanton Andrea L. , Woodall G. Carole
Published: January 2016

Over the past decade, historians have finally started listening to the past. Mark M. Smith, an American historian and a leader in this wave of sensory and sound history, has said that historians today are “listening to the past with an intensity, frequency, keenness, and acuity unprecedented in scope and magnitude.” However, scholars of the modern Middle East have yet to join this auditory revolution. Whether working in history, political science, anthropology, or gender studies, they are still largely producing soundproof, devocalized narratives.
“Science” and Literary Soundscapes, Neuroscience and Oral History: Research Notes from Iranian Studies
Authors: Amin Camron Michael
Published: January 2016

We have no shortage of texts to recover representations of sound. There is also an underutilized, renewable—yet, if not recorded, ephemeral—source that can help us recover the sounds of the vanishing past: oral history. The discovery of soundways and historically contextualized soundscapes is a compelling project on its own. By “soundways,” I mean the “paths, trajectories, transformations, mediations, practices, and techniques—in short, the way—that people employ to interpret and express their attitudes or beliefs about sound.” Global culture can be thought of as flowing through technoscapes, ethnoscapes, mediascapes, financescapes, and ideascapes, Arjun Appadurai has argued. The flow of global culture through these “scapes” would be represented in local soundscapes. Oral history interviews are one way to follow the flow to the level of the individual. And while sensory memories—especially echoic, haptic, and iconic—are being investigated in the context of medical and psychological research, they are not often considered in connection with social history.
Effect of changes in lipid classes during wilting and ensiling of red clover using two silage additives onin vitroruminal biohydrogenation
Authors: GADEYNE F. , DE RUYCK K. , VAN RANST G. , DE NEVE N. , VLAEMINCK B. , FIEVEZ V.
Published: January 2016

Although forage lipid is generally rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), recovery of these fatty acids (FA) in milk and meat of ruminant origin is generally low, due to microbial biohydrogenation (BH) taking place in the rumen. Since lipolysis is a prerequisite for BH, the latter process is expected to be enhanced when (conserved) forages contain lower levels of esterified FA (particularly polar lipids; PL). However, this was not observed in former studies with red clover (Trifolium pratenseL.). Furthermore, red clover inclusion in the herbivore's diet was associated with decreased rumen BH as compared with other forages. Differences in plant lipase activity during wilting and ensiling has been attributed to changes in disappearance from the PL fraction, but a potential role of microbial lipasesin silohas not yet been elucidated. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to assess whether BH of red clover FA is linked with PL levels of the (conserved) starting material and to clarify the possible role ofin silomicrobial activity on PL disappearance. In order to obtain sufficient variation in forage PL and microbial activity, laboratory-scale silages were made by wilting and ensiling damaged or undamaged red clover using molasses or formic acid as ensiling additive, while perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenneL.) was used as a control. Distribution of lipids within three lipid fractions (PL, free FA and neutral lipids) in forages was determined and BH calculated after 24 hin vitrorumen incubation. Results indicated microbial lipases in silages did not enhance FA disappearance from the PL fraction. A gradual decrease of FA in the PL fraction upon conservation was found, both in red clover and ryegrass, irrespective of the degree of damage. In red clover PL losses started from the wilting phase, while substantial PL disappearance from ryegrass only started upon ensiling. Proportions of PUFA remaining in the PL fraction after wilting and ensiling of red clover were positively correlated with PUFA BH, while this effect was not observed for ryegrass. Red clover PUFA seemed to be partially protected against ruminal BH, while disappearance of FA from the PL fraction did not seem to be hampered. Results indicated the encapsulation mechanism as a consequence of protein-bound phenol formation induced by polyphenol oxidase is still the most probable hypothesis to explain red clover's increased flow of PUFA across the rumen.
Study of collisionless high-energy charged particle losses for stellarators in presence of resonant perturbations of the magnetic field
Authors: Nemov V. V. , Kasilov S. V. , Kernbichler W. , Kalyuzhnyj V. N.
Published: January 2016

Using a numerical code based on guiding centre drift equations, collisionless high energy particle losses, and in particular ${\it\alpha}$-particle losses, are studied for a number of stellarator configurations in the presence of magnetic islands caused by resonant perturbations of magnetic surfaces. Standard stellarator configurations, as well as an optimized quasi-helically symmetric stellarator, are used in this study. It is found that the role of islands in collisionless ${\it\alpha}$-particle losses is practically negligible for standard stellarators, however, for optimized stellarators, islands can have a negative impact.
Sulzbacheromyces caatingae: notes on its systematics, morphology and distribution based on ITS barcoding sequences
Authors: SULZBACHER Marcelo A. , WARTCHOW Felipe , OVREBO Clark L. , SOUSA Julieth O. , BASEIA Iuri G. , MONCADA Bibiana , LÜCKING Robert
Published: January 2016

Sulzbacheromyces is a recently erected genus in Lepidostromatales, differing from Lepidostroma in the crustose thallus. After the initial discovery of S. caatingae, the only species to be found in Brazil so far, a large quantity of additional data and ITS barcoding sequences for this taxon from a much broader geographical range and different habitats was collected. Phylogenetic analysis under a maximum likelihood framework demonstrated that all specimens are genetically uniform, showing no variation in their ITS, suggesting that S. caatingae has a wide ecological amplitude beyond the Brazilian Caatinga and Atlantic Forest biomes. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of the species are presented, including a map showing the distribution of S. caatingae in the Brazilian semi-arid region and the north-eastern Atlantic rainforest.
Interwar Dictatorships, the Catholic Church and Concordats: The Portuguese New State in a Comparative Perspective
Authors: DE CARVALHO RITA ALMEIDA
Published: January 2016

Established in 1933 by Oliveira Salazar, the Portuguese New State was a civil, nationalist, conservative and corporatist dictatorship. A concordat was established between the New State and the Holy See in 1940, yet the treaty did not favour the Catholic Church to the degree one might expect from a Catholic interwar dictator. The fact that the political legitimacy of the Portuguese regime was not dependent on sanctioning by the Holy See justifies this apparent inconsistency. The distinctive features of the Portuguese concordat were enhanced by the authoritarian, rather than totalitarian, nature of the regime. Salazar, more so than Mussolini or Franco, was constrained by political forces not in favour of Catholic privileges. In addition, the dictator himself defended a strict separation of church and state as prescribed by the Portuguese constitution. Nonetheless, Salazar regarded the concordat as an important propaganda instrument that, in association with the 1940 Exhibition of the Portuguese World, would allow the internal and external prestige of the regime to be increased.
From Neutrality to Membership: Sweden and the United Nations, 1941–1946
Authors: GÖTZ NORBERT
Published: January 2016

Sweden's relationship with the United Nations fluctuated considerably between 1941 and 1946. This article examines how the Nordic country's own security interests were sometimes viewed as compatible and sometimes at odds with membership of the United Nations. The discussions surrounding Sweden's accession to the United Nations and actions of its first delegates to the international organisation are explored at length. So too is the discrepancy between Sweden's reputation for neutrality and its enthusiastic support for the United Nations, on the one hand, and its internal debates and policy decisions during the 1940s, on the other. Finally, the article explores the ways in which Sweden used the United Nations as an arena in which to manifest both its indifference to security alignment and its exceptionalism in world affairs.
Anniversary Issue Editorial
Authors: FRANK MATTHEW , LUDLOW PIERS , REINISCH JESSICA
Published: January 2016

This issue opens the twenty-fifth volume of Contemporary European History. In the journal's inaugural editorial in 1992, Kathleen Burk and Dick Geary noted that they were standing ‘on the brink of a new Europe’ – and what exciting times those were. Just two and a half years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and barely months after the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, CEH came into existence at a time of radical change in Europe and beyond. With the treaties signed at Maastricht in 1992 and in Amsterdam in 1997 European integration accelerated apace. The European Community became a Union. The twelve became fifteen. From March 1995 the Schengen Agreement let people of any nationality travel freely between the seven participating countries without any passport controls at the borders. By the end of the decade, the Single Market was a reality, the Euro was about to be introduced and negotiations for EU membership of ten central and eastern European countries were well underway. The themes of the decade were (re)integration, federation, ever greater union. As Burk and Geary wrote in their 1992 editorial, ‘year by year, the concept of Europe as both a geographical and an historical entity becomes more credible’.
Chancing Your Arm: The Origins and Early Years of Contemporary European History
Authors: BURK KATHLEEN
Published: January 2016

In 1989 I was chatting to Anthony Seldon, then the head of the Institute of Contemporary British History in London, and we agreed that the turmoil and resultant developments in the Eastern bloc gave hope for the rise of a new Europe. We were academics, and we immediately considered how information and ideas about these exciting events might be provided to the academic community. What about a journal? We looked around. There were many journals focusing on what was then termed Western Europe, and some on the bloc then termed Eastern Europe, as well as on the USSR; there was a journal on contemporary history in toto, although it was then in something of a quiescent period. Our conclusion was that there was no general academic journal which stood back and focused on the whole of Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals, as the area was then described. We decided that something should be done about it.
Three-Phase 3D Reconstruction of a LiCoO2 Cathode via FIB-SEM Tomography
Authors: Liu Zhao , Chen-Wiegart Yu-chen K. , Wang Jun , Barnett Scott A. , Faber Katherine T.
Published: January 2016

Three-phase three-dimensional (3D) microstructural reconstructions of lithium-ion battery electrodes are critical input for 3D simulations of electrode lithiation/delithiation, which provide a detailed understanding of battery operation. In this report, 3D images of a LiCoO2 electrode are achieved using focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), with clear contrast among the three phases: LiCoO2 particles, carbonaceous phases (carbon and binder) and the electrolyte space. The good contrast was achieved by utilizing an improved FIB-SEM sample preparation method that combined infiltration of the electrolyte space with a low-viscosity silicone resin and triple ion-beam polishing. Morphological parameters quantified include phase volume fraction, surface area, feature size distribution, connectivity, and tortuosity. Electrolyte tortuosity was determined using two different geometric calculations that were in good agreement. The electrolyte tortuosity distribution versus position within the electrode was found to be highly inhomogeneous; this will lead to inhomogeneous electrode lithiation/delithiation at high C-rates that could potentially cause battery degradation.
Externalities as a basis for regulation: a philosophical view
Authors: CLAASSEN RUTGER
Published: January 2016

Externalities are an important concept in economic theories of market failure, aiming to justify state regulation of the economy. This paper explores the concept of externalities from a philosophical perspective. It criticizes the utilitarian nature of economic analyses of externalities, showing how they cannot take into account values like freedom and justice. It then develops the analogy between the concept of externalities and the ‘harm principle’ in political philosophy. It argues that the harm principle points to the need for a theory of basic interests to judge when a harm is imposed. Similarly, externality analyses should use such a theory of basic interests as the basis for judgments about legitimate state intervention. This proposal is defended against objections, and illustrated with a case study of the US Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act, which shows how the judicial reasoning implicitly interprets externalities in terms of basic interests.
New NOVA TV Show Explores Coevolution of Rocks and Life
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: January 2016

Mineralogist Robert Hazen and other scientists probe connections between living organisms and rocks in "Life's Rocky Start," which premieres tonight on PBS stations around the United States.
Obama Says Combating Climate Change Aids Earth and U.S. Economy
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: January 2016

In his seventh and final State of the Union address, President Obama touts alternative-energy gains during his tenure, urges a quicker shift from fossil fuels, and mocks climate change skeptics.
PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas and other dolphins in European waters
Authors: Jepson Paul D. , Deaville Rob , Barber Jonathan L. , Aguilar Àlex , Borrell Asunción , Murphy Sinéad , Barry Jon , Brownlow Andrew , Barnett James , Berrow Simon , Cunningham Andrew A. , Davison Nicholas J. , ten Doeschate Mariel , Esteban Ruth , Ferreira Marisa , Foote Andrew D. , Genov Tilen , Giménez Joan , Loveridge Jan , Llavona Ángela , Martin Vidal , Maxwell David L. , Papachlimitzou Alexandra , Penrose Rod , Perkins Matthew W. , Smith Brian , de Stephanis Renaud , Tregenza Nick , Verborgh Philippe , Fernandez Antonio , Law Robin J.
Published: January 2016

Organochlorine (OC) pesticides and the more persistent polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have well-established dose-dependent toxicities to birds, fish and mammals in experimental studies, but the actual impact of OC pollutants on European marine top predators remains unknown. Here we show that several cetacean species have very high mean blubber PCB concentrations likely to cause population declines and suppress population recovery. In a large pan-European meta-analysis of stranded (n = 929) or biopsied (n = 152) cetaceans, three out of four species:- striped dolphins (SDs), bottlenose dolphins (BNDs) and killer whales (KWs) had mean PCB levels that markedly exceeded all known marine mammal PCB toxicity thresholds. Some locations (e.g. western Mediterranean Sea, south-west Iberian Peninsula) are global PCB “hotspots” for marine mammals. Blubber PCB concentrations initially declined following a mid-1980s EU ban, but have since stabilised in UK harbour porpoises and SDs in the western Mediterranean Sea. Some small or declining populations of BNDs and KWs in the NE Atlantic were associated with low recruitment, consistent with PCB-induced reproductive toxicity. Despite regulations and mitigation measures to reduce PCB pollution, their biomagnification in marine food webs continues to cause severe impacts among cetacean top predators in European seas.
Generation of attosecond electron packets via conical surface plasmon electron acceleration
Authors: Greig S. R. , Elezzabi A. Y.
Published: January 2016

We present a method for the generation of high kinetic energy attosecond electron packets via magnetostatic and aperture filtering of conical surface plasmon (SP) accelerated electrons. The conical SP waves are excited by coupling an ultrafast radially polarized laser beam to a conical silica lens coated with an Ag film. Electromagnetic and particle tracking models are employed to characterize the ultrafast electron packets.
Application of FDM three-dimensional printing technology in the digital manufacture of custom edentulous mandible trays
Authors: Chen Hu , Yang Xu , Chen Litong , Wang Yong , Sun Yuchun
Published: January 2016

The objective was to establish and evaluate a method for manufacture of custom trays for edentulous jaws using computer aided design and fused deposition modeling (FDM) technologies. A digital method for design the custom trays for edentulous jaws was established. The tissue surface data of ten standard mandibular edentulous plaster models, which was used to design the digital custom tray in a reverse engineering software, were obtained using a 3D scanner. The designed tray was printed by a 3D FDM printing device. Another ten hand-made custom trays were produced as control. The 3-dimentional surface data of models and custom trays was scanned to evaluate the accuracy of reserved impression space, while the difference between digitally made trays and hand-made trays were analyzed. The digitally made custom trays achieved a good matching with the mandibular model, showing higher accuracy than the hand-made ones. There was no significant difference of the reserved space between different models and its matched digitally made trays. With 3D scanning, CAD and FDM technology, an efficient method of custom tray production was established, which achieved a high reproducibility and accuracy.
Radiation-induced alternative transcription and splicing events and their applicability to practical biodosimetry
Authors: Macaeva Ellina , Saeys Yvan , Tabury Kevin , Janssen Ann , Michaux Arlette , Benotmane Mohammed A. , De Vos Winnok H. , Baatout Sarah , Quintens Roel
Published: January 2016

Accurate assessment of the individual exposure dose based on easily accessible samples (e.g. blood) immediately following a radiological accident is crucial. We aimed at developing a robust transcription-based signature for biodosimetry from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells irradiated with different doses of X-rays (0.1 and 1.0 Gy) at a dose rate of 0.26 Gy/min. Genome-wide radiation-induced changes in mRNA expression were evaluated at both gene and exon level. Using exon-specific qRT-PCR, we confirmed that several biomarker genes are alternatively spliced or transcribed after irradiation and that different exons of these genes exhibit significantly different levels of induction. Moreover, a significant number of radiation-responsive genes were found to be genomic neighbors. Using three different classification models we found that gene and exon signatures performed equally well on dose prediction, as long as more than 10 features are included. Together, our results highlight the necessity of evaluating gene expression at the level of single exons for radiation biodosimetry in particular and transcriptional biomarker research in general. This approach is especially advisable for practical gene expression-based biodosimetry, for which primer- or probe-based techniques would be the method of choice.
Antinociceptive effects of vitexin in a mouse model of postoperative pain
Authors: Zhu Qing , Mao Li-Na , Liu Cheng-Peng , Sun Yue-Hua , Jiang Bo , Zhang Wei , Li Jun-Xu
Published: January 2016

Vitexin, a C-glycosylated flavone present in several medicinal herbs, has showed various pharmacological activities including antinociception. The present study investigated the antinociceptive effects of vitexin in a mouse model of postoperative pain. This model was prepared by making a surgical incision on the right hindpaw and von Frey filament test was used to assess mechanical hyperalgesia. Isobolographical analysis method was used to examine the interaction between vitexin and acetaminophen. A reliable mechanical hyperalgesia was observed at 2 h post-surgery and lasted for 4 days. Acute vitexin administration (3–10 mg/kg, i.p.) dose-dependently relieved this hyperalgesia, which was also observed from 1 to 3 days post-surgery during repeated daily treatment. However, repeated vitexin administration prior to surgery had no preventive value. The 10 mg/kg vitexin-induced antinociception was blocked by the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone or the GABAAreceptor antagonist bicuculline. The doses of vitexin used did not significantly suppress the locomotor activity. In addition, the combination of vitexin and acetaminophen produced an infra-additive effect in postoperative pain. Together, though vitexin-acetaminophen combination may not be useful for treating postoperative pain, vitexin exerts behaviorally-specific antinociception against postoperative pain mediated through opioid receptors and GABAAreceptors, suggesting that vitexin may be useful for the control of postoperative pain.
Nanofibril scaffold assisted MEMS artificial hydrogel neuromasts for enhanced sensitivity flow sensing
Authors: Kottapalli Ajay Giri Prakash , Bora Meghali , Asadnia Mohsen , Miao Jianmin , Venkatraman Subbu S. , Triantafyllou Michael
Published: January 2016

We present the development and testing of superficial neuromast-inspired flow sensors that also attain high sensitivity and resolution through a biomimetic hyaulronic acid-based hydrogel cupula dressing. The inspiration comes from the spatially distributed neuromasts of the blind cavefish that live in completely dark undersea caves; the sensors enable the fish to form three-dimensional flow and object maps, enabling them to maneuver efficiently in cluttered environments. A canopy shaped electrospun nanofibril scaffold, inspired by the cupular fibrils, assists the drop-casting process allowing the formation of a prolate spheroid-shaped artificial cupula. Rheological and nanoindentation characterizations showed that the Young’s modulus of the artificial cupula closely matches the biological cupula (10–100 Pa). A comparative experimental study conducted to evaluate the sensitivities of the naked hair cell sensor and the cupula-dressed sensor in sensing steady-state flows demonstrated a sensitivity enhancement by 3.5–5 times due to the presence of hydrogel cupula. The novel strategies of sensor development presented in this report are applicable to the design and fabrication of other biomimetic sensors as well. The developed sensors can be used in the navigation and maneuvering of underwater robots, but can also find applications in biomedical and microfluidic devices.
Comparative transcriptome and metabolome provides new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of accelerated senescence in litchi fruit after cold storage
Authors: Yun Ze , Qu Hongxia , Wang Hui , Zhu Feng , Zhang Zhengke , Duan Xuewu , Yang Bao , Cheng Yunjiang , Jiang Yueming
Published: January 2016

Litchi is a non-climacteric subtropical fruit of high commercial value. The shelf life of litchi fruit under ambient conditions (AC) is approximately 4–6 days. Post-harvest cold storage prolongs the life of litchi fruit for up to 30 days with few changes in pericarp browning and total soluble solids. However, the shelf life of litchi fruits at ambient temperatures after pre-cold storage (PCS) is only 1–2 days. To better understand the mechanisms involved in the rapid fruit senescence induced by pre-cold storage, a transcriptome of litchi pericarp was constructed to assemble the reference genes, followed by comparative transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. Results suggested that the senescence of harvested litchi fruit was likely to be an oxidative process initiated by ABA, including oxidation of lipids, polyphenols and anthocyanins. After cold storage, PCS fruit exhibited energy deficiency and respiratory burst was elicited through aerobic and anaerobic respiration, which was regulated specifically by an up-regulated calcium signal, G-protein-coupled receptor signalling pathway and small GTPase-mediated signal transduction. The respiratory burst was largely associated with increased production of reactive oxygen species, up-regulated peroxidase activity and initiation of the lipoxygenase pathway, which were closely related to the accelerated senescence of PCS fruit.
Fabrication of in-situ grown graphene reinforced Cu matrix composites
Authors: Chen Yakun , Zhang Xiang , Liu Enzuo , He Chunnian , Shi Chunsheng , Li Jiajun , Nash Philip , Zhao Naiqin
Published: January 2016

Graphene/Cu composites were fabricated through a graphene in-situ grown approach, which involved ball-milling of Cu powders with PMMA as solid carbon source, in-situ growth of graphene on flaky Cu powders and vacuum hot-press sintering. SEM and TEM characterization results indicated that graphene in-situ grown on Cu powders guaranteed a homogeneous dispersion and a good combination between graphene and Cu matrix, as well as the intact structure of graphene, which was beneficial to its strengthening effect. The yield strength of 244 MPa and tensile strength of 274 MPa were achieved in the composite with 0.95 wt.% graphene, which were separately 177% and 27.4% enhancement over pure Cu. Strengthening effect of in-situ grown graphene in the matrix was contributed to load transfer and dislocation strengthening.
Enhanced OCT4 transcriptional activity substitutes for exogenous SOX2 in cellular reprogramming
Authors: Marthaler Adele G. , Adachi Kenjiro , Tiemann Ulf , Wu Guangming , Sabour Davood , Velychko Sergiy , Kleiter Ingo , Schöler Hans R. , Tapia Natalia
Published: January 2016

Adenoviral early region 1A (E1A) is a viral gene that can promote cellular proliferation and de-differentiation in mammalian cells, features required for the reprogramming of somatic cells to a pluripotent state. E1A has been shown to interact with OCT4 and as a consequence, to increase OCT4 transcriptional activity. Indeed, E1A and OCT4 are sufficient to revert neuroepithelial hybrids to pluripotency, as demonstrated in previous cell fusion experiments. However, the role that E1A might play in the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has not been investigated yet. In this report, we show that E1A can generate iPSCs in combination with OCT4 and KLF4, thus replacing exogenous SOX2. The generated iPSCs are bona fide pluripotent cells as shown by in vitro and in vivo tests. Overall, our study suggests that E1A might replace SOX2 through enhancing OCT4 transcriptional activity at the early stages of reprogramming.
Evolutionary Footprints of Short Tandem Repeats in Avian Promoters
Authors: Abe Hideaki , Gemmell Neil J.
Published: January 2016

Short tandem repeats (STRs) or microsatellites are well-known sequence elements that may change the spacing between transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) in promoter regions by expansion or contraction of repetitive units. Some of these mutations have the potential to contribute to phenotypic diversity by altering patterns of gene expression. To explore how repetitive sequence motifs within promoters have evolved in avian lineages under mutation-selection balance, more than 400 evolutionary conserved STRs (ecSTRs) were identified in this study by comparing the 2 kb upstream promoter sequences of chicken against those of other birds (turkey, duck, zebra finch and flycatcher). The rate of conservation was significantly higher in AG dinucleotide repeats than in AC or AT repeats, with the expansion of AG motifs being noticeably constrained in passerines. Analysis of the relative distance between ecSTRs and TFBSs revealed a significantly higher rate of conserved TFBSs in the vicinity of ecSTRs in both chicken-duck and chicken-passerine comparisons. Our comparative study provides a novel insight into which intrinsic factors have influenced the degree of constraint on repeat expansion/contraction during avian promoter evolution.
Bonding and Anti-bonding Modes of Plasmon Coupling Effects in TiO2-Ag Core-shell Dimers
Authors: Li Quanshui , Zhang Zhili
Published: January 2016

Bonding and anti-bonding modes of plasmon coupling effects are numerically investigated in TiO2-Ag core-shell nano dimers. First, splitting phenomena of the coupled anti-bonding modes are observed under the longitudinal polarization when the distance between the monomers decreases to a certain level. Second, one of the split resonance modes is identified to be formed by the dipole anti-bonding mode of the monomers from charge density distribution patterns. Those split modes have similar redshift behaviors as the coupled dipole bonding modes in the same situations. Furthermore, the intensities of those anti-bonding modes weaken with decreasing distance between the monomers, because of the interaction of the induced dipole moment in the monomers and the charge distribution variation on the facing surfaces of the gap by the coulomb attraction. Other split bands are the higher-order mode (octupole-like or triakontadipole-like), which do not have obvious peak-shift behavior and the intensities have very little attenuation with decreasing distance. Finally, the coupling of the bonding and anti-bonding modes under the longitudinal polarization is symmetric (bonding).
Simultaneous analysis of antihypertensive drugs and diuretics as adulterants in herbal-based products by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry
Authors: Lançanova Moreira Ana Paula , Gobo Luciana Assis , Viana Carine , Machado de Carvalho Leandro
Published: January 2016

We developed an analytical method using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of 13 antihypertensive drugs.
Aqueous oxidation reaction enabled layer-by-layer corrosion of semiconductor nanoplates into single-crystalline 2D nanocrystals with single layer accuracy and ionic surface capping
Authors: Ji Muwei , Xu Meng , Zhang Jun , Liu Jiajia , Zhang Jiatao
Published: January 2016

A controllable aqueous oxidation reaction enabled layer-by-layer corrosion has been proposed to prepare high-quality two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor nanocrystals with single layer accuracy and well-retained hexagonal shapes.
Threshold-like complexation of conjugated polymers with small molecule acceptors in solution within the neighbor-effect model
Authors: Sosorev Andrey Yu. , Parashchuk Olga D. , Zapunidi Sergey A. , Kashtanov Grigoriy S. , Golovnin Ilya V. , Kommanaboyina Srikanth , Perepichka Igor F. , Paraschuk Dmitry Yu.
Published: January 2016

A pronounced cooperative effect leading to a sharp growth of charge-transfer complexes (CTCs) in the electronic ground state is observed.
Unravelling the role of quantum interference in the weak-field laser phase modulation control of photofragment distributions
Authors: García-Vela Alberto , Henriksen Niels E.
Published: January 2016

The postpulse transient phase modulation effects observed on fragment populations are explained in terms of the mechanism of interference between overlapping resonances.
On the nature of the solvated electron in ice Ih
Authors: de Koning Maurice , Fazzio Adalberto , da Silva Antônio José Roque , Antonelli Alex
Published: January 2016

The water-solvated excess electron (EE) is a key chemical agent whose hallmark signature, its asymmetric optical absorption spectrum, continues to be a topic of debate.