845 research outputs found
Middle Pleistocene (MIS 14) environmental conditions in the central Mediterranean derived from terrestrial molluscs and carbonate stable isotopes from Sulmona Basin (Italy)
No full textA paleosol from the Middle Pleistocene lacustrine-fluvial succession of Sulmona Basin, central Italy, was analysed for the land snail shell content, and the stable isotope composition of the shells and associated pedogenic carbonates. The paleosol - known as Fiorata Paleosol - is covered by a thick tephra layer dated to ca. 527ka allowing the pedogenetic horizons to be correlated to the marine isotope stage (MIS) 14-early MIS 13 interval. The terrestrial mollusc assemblage contained few individuals and was characterized by a low number of species which predominantly indicate open and dry habitats, thus suggesting that Fiorata Paleosol likely developed during glacial conditions of the MIS 14. The δ13C values of pedogenic carbonates and terrestrial shells indicate prevailing C3-type vegetation, probably marked by some degree of water stress. Calculation of the δ18O precipitation values, derived from pedogenic carbonates and shell δ18O values, indicate that the average temperature was 3-5°C lower than present day. This study highlights how paleosols, despite offering only snapshots of past climate and environments, provide valuable complementary information to paleoclimatic data obtained in the adjacent lacustrine intervals, specifically for the Sulmona successions
Small animal use by Neanderthals
No full textRecent research about Neanderthals has led to an extensive reevaluation of previous perceptions regarding their behaviour and adaptations. Current evidence suggests that Neanderthals were versatile enough to adapt to different ecological conditions and displayed complex cognitive and symbolic behaviours once considered exclusive to modern humans. Through the analyses of animal bone assemblages, taphonomy has contributed to the development of this knowledge. Small prey occupies a special place within this debate and plays a significant role in Palaeolithic diet studies. Recently, the use of sessile, slow, and fast-moving small animals has been identified as a widespread behaviour within certain parts of the Neanderthal range. Although initially interpreted as potentially informative of diet breadth expansions, it is now becoming increasingly clear that the use of small game may have different economic and cultural significance depending on the context. This chapter presents an overview of current knowledge on the consumption of rabbits, birds, tortoises, and aquatic resources and the important implications they have for behavioural complexity in the Middle Palaeolithic
The loess deposits of Buca Dei Corvi section (Central Italy): Revisited
No full textLoess deposits have been described in the past for the upper section of Buca Dei Corvi succession (Central Italy). In this paper the depositswere re-analysed to clarify the depositional environment and to attempt a paleoclimate reconstruction. Two radiocarbon dates on pedogenic carbonate constrain the ages to the Late Glacial, and are consistent with previous OSL dating of the top of the succession. The non-marine mollusc assemblage shows typical character of cold and dry climatic conditions, testified by strong oligotypical composition. Mineralogy and geochemistry of the sediments indicate the abundant presence of exotic quartz mineral which can be explained only by wind transport. Probably,wind transportwas also responsible of deposition of carbonatewhich then dissolved and re-precipitated producing pedogenic concretions. Stable isotopes (13C/12C and 18O/16O ratios) of the concretions are consistent with a climate drier than present conditions, with an environment characterized by sparse vegetation
Henri Matisse Drawing: An Eye-Hand Interaction Study Based on Archival Film.
No full textHenri Matisse (1869-1954) attached fundamental importance to his drawings, in particular to the famous Themes et Variations series. These were accomplished following a precise method, starting with arduous life studies and evolving into brilliant spontaneous drawings. A 1946 archival documentary film showing the artist drawing four portraits of his grandson Gerard was shot in such a way as to allow the present author to undertake a detailed eye-hand interaction analysis of the drawing process.
It was found that Matisse’s temporal working rhythm and use of motor memory resulted in a more direct approach than that used by most painters. Taken together with remarks the artist made throughout his lifetime, these results provide a cognitive interpretation of his drawing method
Arorathrips texanus Andre, comb.n.
No full text<i>Arorathrips texanus</i> (Andre) comb.n. <p> <i>Chirothrips texanus</i> Andre 1939: 200.</p> <p> <i>Chirothrips auriventris</i> Hood 1939a: 469; Andre, in Bailey 1949: 78. <i>Chirothrips spinosus</i> Moulton 1946: 56 <b>syn.n.</b></p> <p> <i>Chirothrips pubescens</i> Hood 1949a: 20; zur Strassen 1975: 78.</p> <p> <b>Distribution</b>: United States (GA, IL, LA, MS, ND, NM, OK, TX); Mexico, Haiti, Brazil, Paraguay (Watts 1972). <b>Comments</b>: <i>Chirothrips auriventris</i> known from NM, OK, TX and Mexico (records based on examined material) appears to be a form of <i>A. texanus</i> with a slightly smaller and slightly different shaped antennal segment II. When three dimensions (length from apex of lateral angulation to inner margin, apex of angulation to base of lateral margin, and apex of angulation to base of inner margin) of segment II were analysed for both taxa, those of <i>A. auriventris</i> were consistantly similar and separable from those of <i>A. texanus</i>. However, the differences in the measurements were small and therefore, the senior author decided to continue treating <i>C. auriventris</i> as a junior synonym. According to the description of <i>spinosus</i> from Haiti, which is represented only by the holotype and a paratype, the fore wings are pale and the outer posteroangular setae are 43 µm long and the inner pair 26 µm long. The paratype examined in this study has similarly longer outer pair (48 µm long) than the inner pair (27 µm long). These specimens were collected in 1929 and described in 1946. Thus the color of the fore wing could have faded during the 17 year interval in alcohol. The fore wings of <i>C. texanus</i> and <i>C. pubescens</i> are light brown with the base pale and, according to Andre (1939), pronotal posteroangular setae of <i>C. texanus</i> are 40–49 µm long. Although <i>C. spinosus</i> has a longer body and antenna, it cannot be distinguished reliably from <i>C. texanus</i>.</p>Published as part of <i>Nakahara, Sueo & Foottit, Robert G., 2012, Review of Chirothrips and related genera (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) of the Americas, with descriptions of one new genus and four new species, pp. 1-29 in Zootaxa 3251</i> on pages 9-10, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/213299">10.5281/zenodo.213299</a>
Cello techniques and performing practices in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
No full textThis thesis comprises a study of cello performance practices throughout the nineteenth century and into the early decades of the twentieth. It is organised in terms of the increasing complexity of the concepts which it examines, as they are to be found in printed and manuscript music, instrumental methods and larger treatises, early recordings, concert reviews and pictures. Basic posture is considered along with different ways of holding the
bow. The development of the tail-pin shows that even when it was widely used, the older posture was still referred to as a model. Some implications for tone quality and tonal
projection are considered in the light of the shape of the arms. Some connections between the cellist's posture and that recommended by etiquette books are explored. The
functionality of the left hand and arm, and the development of modem scale fingerings, show that there was a considerable period of overlap between newer and older practices, with modern scale fingerings evolving over a long period of time. Similarly, views on the function of the right wrist in bowing are shown to change gradually, moving towards a more active upper arm movement with less extreme flexibility of the wrist. Two central expressive techniques especially associated with string playing arc considered in the context of the cello, namely vibrato and portamento. These topics are examined in the light of written indications in music, recommendations in cello treatises, and the practices evidenced in early recordings. The sources for this study can be brought into an overall
framework of a constant dialogue between `theory', as expressed in verbal instructions to the learner, or general a priori reflections about the cello, and `practice', manifested in performing editions and early recordings, or in individual acts of reception. A wide divergence is noted, both between theory and practice in general, and in terms of different styles of playing observable at any one time. It is suggested that tensions between practice
and critical disapproval can be resolved in terms of Lacanian discourse. Several test cases are used in order to compare several different recordings of the same works. The question of the musical character of the cello is discussed in terms of widespread assumptions about its gendered identity. A wide range of sources suggest that this moved from a straightforwardly `masculine' identity expressed through a controlling, elevated eloquence to a less clearly defined one, incorporating the 'feminine', with a greater stress on uninhibited emotional expression. Some performance implications for this change of view are pursued with respect to specific repertoires. Broad conclusions stress the importance of the diversity of performance practices as opposed to unifying generalisations
Late Pleistocene-Holocene coastal adaptation in central Mediterranean: Snapshots from Grotta d’Oriente (NW Sicily)
No full textMarine faunal remains from Grotta d’Oriente (Favignana Island, NW Sicily) offer invaluable snapshots of human-coastal environment interaction in the central Mediterranean from the Late Pleistocene to the Middle Holocene. The long-term shellfish and fish records reflect human exploitation of coastal environments undergoing considerable reorganizations during the postglacial sea level rise and the progressive isolation of Favignana from mainland Sicily. We detected an intensification of marine resource exploitation between ∼9.6 ka and ∼7.8 ka BP, which corresponds with the isolation of Favignana Island and, later on, with the introduction of early agro-pastoral economy in this region. We suggest that a higher investment in marine resource exploitation by late foragers and early farmers in NW Sicily was also supported by an increase in marine productivity in the south Tyrrhenian Sea in the Middle Holocene
A study of l'immoraliste as a novelistic application of les nourritures terrestres by Andre Gide, 1971
No full textHow procyanidin C1 sticks to collagen: The role of proline rings
No full textMolecular interactions between proteins and polyphenols are responsible for many natural phenomena like colloidal turbidity, astringency, denaturation of enzymes and leather tanning. Although these phenomena are well known, there are open questions about the specific interactions involved in the complexation process. In this work, Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulations and the topology of the electron density analysis were used to study the interactions between the flavonoid procyanidin C1 and a collagen fragment solvated in water. Root mean square deviation; root mean square fluctuation and hydrogen bonds occupancy were examined after 50 ns. The interactions were also analyzed by means of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules. Our results show that the main interactions are hydrogen bonds between –OH groups of the polyphenol and C[dbnd]O groups of the peptide bond. Stacking interactions between proline rings and phenol rings, that is C–H⋯π hydrogen bonds, also stabilize the dynamic structure of the complex.Fil: Petelski, Andre Nicolai. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Resistencia. Departamento de Ingeniería Química. Laboratorio de Química Teórica y Experimental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Pamies, Silvana Carina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Resistencia. Departamento de Ingeniería Química. Laboratorio de Química Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Sosa, Gladis Laura. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Resistencia. Departamento de Ingeniería Química. Laboratorio de Química Teórica y Experimental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino; Argentin
Easy ID: A Wireless Sensor Package to Measure Human Interaction Features
No full textThis thesis proposes a low-cost and small size customized data acquisition sensor badge, called Easy ID, which is specially designed for the Vision Lab Group in TU Delft for their on body data capture during social events. Easy ID is designed based on an open source platform, which provides enough space for future upgrade and extension.The innovate infrared communication algorithm and the open source software created to drive the circuits in this thesis can be shared with other similar implementations. Instead of using C/C++ language, this work uses python to enhance the code readability for our clients and realize a high-level programming method to drive hardware. To overcome the delays while modulating the transistors, a 555 oscillator is adapted, for a 38kHz carrier frequency. The performance of Easy ID’s identification is evaluated under both static and dynamic scenarios. With the infrared communication modules, the Easy ID can detect any facing another Easy ID with a range of 120 degree opening angle and 3.5 meters distance. The sampling frequency of motion capture is typically 20Hz with 9 DoFs inertial sensors. A highly accurate global time stamp can be stored combined with the data from sensors as data logs.Biomedical Engineerin
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