An evaluation of parchments' degradation a hybrid approach

Parchment stands for a multifaceted material made from animal skin, which has been used for centuries as a writing support or as bookbinding. Due to the historic value of objects made of parchment, understanding their degradation and their condition is of utmost importance to archives, libraries and museums, i.e., the assessment of parchment degradation is mandatory, although it is hard to do with traditional methodologies and tools for problem solving. Hence, in this work we will focus on the development of a hybrid decision support system, in terms of its knowledge representation and reasoning procedures, under a formal framework based on Logic Programming, complemented with an approach to computing centered on Artificial Neural Networks, to evaluate Parchment Degradation and the respective Degree-of-Confidence that one has on such a happening.(undefined

Genetic Diversity Analysis of Some Ethiopian Specialty Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Accessions for Cup Quality Attributing Traits

knowledge of nature and extent of genetic variation and diversity available in the germplam or breeding materials helps breeder for planning sound breeding program. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to evaluate 47 coffee germplam accessions, which were collected from Gomma wereda of Jimma zone and two standard check varieties. The experiment  was conducted in simple lattice design with two replications during 2011/12 cropping season. Data on eight organoleptic traits were recorded and the analysis revealed that all organoleptic quality traits showed significant variation among the accessions at (P<0.05). High phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation was observed for bitterness and astringency. Organoleptic traits such as flavor, overall standard, acidity and aromatic quality had high heritability. Bitterness and astringency showed moderate heritability coupled with high genetic advance. Similarly, flavor had high heritability and moderate genetic advance as percent of mean. Hence, bitterness, astringency and flavor can be improved through selection. Cluster analysis based on organoleptic traits grouped the accessions into three groups which make them also moderately divergent. Besides, inter-cluster distances were significantly different and crossing coffee accession from these divergent clusters will result in heterosis and recombinant in segregating generation. The principal component analysis showed the variation in first principal component, 63.7%, had been attributed to overall standard, flavor, acidity and aromatic quality. Hence, these traits should be given importance during hybridization and selection in the segregating population. In general , the present study indicated the presence of variability for organoleptic traits among the accessions. Therefore, the observed variability should be exploited in order to improve the quality of Gomma wereda coffee. However, since high quality variation between accessions is not a guarantee for a high genetic variation, biochemical studies need to be considered as complementary to organoleptic studies. Keywords: Genetic variability, principal component, organoleptic traits, genetic diversity, heritabilit

TECHNART 2017. Non-destructive and microanalytical techniques in art and cultural heritage. Book of abstracts

440 p.TECHNART2017 is the international biannual congress on the application of Analytical Techniques in Art and Cultural Heritage. The aim of this European conference is to provide a scientific forum to present and promote the use of analytical spectroscopic techniques in cultural heritage on a worldwide scale to stimulate contacts and exchange experiences, making a bridge between science and art. This conference builds on the momentum of the previous TECHNART editions of Lisbon, Athens, Berlin, Amsterdam and Catania, offering an outstanding and unique opportunity for exchanging knowledge on leading edge developments. Cultural heritage studies are interpreted in a broad sense, including pigments, stones, metal, glass, ceramics, chemometrics on artwork studies, resins, fibers, forensic applications in art, history, archaeology and conservation science. The meeting is focused in different aspects: - X-ray analysis (XRF, PIXE, XRD, SEM-EDX). - Confocal X-ray microscopy (3D Micro-XRF, 3D Micro-PIXE). - Synchrotron, ion beam and neutron based techniques/instrumentation. - FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. - UV-Vis and NIR absorption/reflectance and fluorescence. - Laser-based analytical techniques (LIBS, etc.). - Magnetic resonance techniques. - Chromatography (GC, HPLC) and mass spectrometry. - Optical imaging and coherence techniques. - Mobile spectrometry and remote sensing

Paleogenomics of Animal Domestication

Starting with dogs, over 15,000 years ago, the domestication of animals has been central in the development of modern societies. Because of its importance for a range of disciplines—including archaeology, biology, and the humanities—domestication has been studied extensively. This chapter reviews how the field of paleogenomics, has, and will continue to, revolutionise our understanding of animal domestication. We discuss how the recovery of ancient DNA from archaeological remains is allowing researchers to overcome inherent shortcomings arising from the analysis of modern DNA alone. In particular, we show how DNA, extracted from ancient substrates, has proven to be a crucial source of information to reconstruct the geographic and temporal origin of domestic species. We also discuss how ancient DNA is being used by geneticists and archaeologists to directly observe evolutionary changes linked to artificial and natural selection to generate a richer understanding of this fascinating process

Obtaining and Characterization of New Materials

At present, more and more procedures and technologies used to discover and characterize new materials are available, including advanced characterization techniques.This Special Issue covers a wide range of topics about obtaining and characterizing new materials, from the nano to macro scales, including for new alloys, ceramics, composites, biomaterials, and polymers and the procedures and technologies used to enhance their structure, properties, and functions. To select new materials for future use, we must first understand their structure and their characteristics using modern techniques such as microscopy (SEM, TEM, AFM, STM, etc.), spectroscopy (EDX, XRD, XRF, FTIR, XPS, etc.), and mechanical tests (tensile, hardness, elastic modulus, toughness, etc.) and their behaviors (in vitro and in vivo; corrosion; and thermal—DSC, STA, DMA, magnetic properties, and biocompatibility), among many others

Significance of designing the filling of an open rapid sand filter when removing impurities from water

Filtration is a mechanical process of squeezing, during which the passage of liquid occurs, in this paper, specifically water, through a porous layer of material. During that flow, the impurities are retained within that layer, which is called the filter, and the water is desired quality comes out of the filtering device. The goal of this work is to demonstrate the importance of dimensioning the filter itself, so reliably that during the actual filling of the filter, almost all impurities remain in that layer. There are different types of filters, and also different dimensions for each type. Which type will be specifically used depends on several factors such as the desired quality of the water coming out of the filter, the initial state of the water (pollution) coming into the filter, the amount of water reaching the filter, the speed of the filtration process itself, etc. In this paper, the importance of dimensioning sand filters, as well as the selection of the filter filling method, is highlighted

Significance of designing the filling of an open rapid sand filter when removing impurities from water

Filtration is a mechanical process of squeezing, during which the passage of liquid occurs, in this paper, specifically water, through a porous layer of material. During that flow, the impurities are retained within that layer, which is called the filter, and the water is desired quality comes out of the filtering device. The goal of this work is to demonstrate the importance of dimensioning the filter itself, so reliably that during the actual filling of the filter, almost all impurities remain in that layer. There are different types of filters, and also different dimensions for each type. Which type will be specifically used depends on several factors such as the desired quality of the water coming out of the filter, the initial state of the water (pollution) coming into the filter, the amount of water reaching the filter, the speed of the filtration process itself, etc. In this paper, the importance of dimensioning sand filters, as well as the selection of the filter filling method, is highlighted

Hyperspectral image analysis for questioned historical documents.

This thesis describes the application of spectroscopy and hyperspectral image processing to examine historical manuscripts and text. Major activities in palaeographic and manuscript studies include the recovery of illegible or deleted text, the minute analyses of scribal hands, the identification of inks and the segmentation and dating of text. This thesis describes how Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI), applied in a novel manner, can be used to perform quality text recovery, segmentation and dating of historical documents. The non-destructive optical imaging process of Spectroscopy is described in detail and how it can be used to assist historians and document experts in the exemption of aged manuscripts. This non-destructive optical method of analysis can distinguish subtle differences in the reflectance properties of the materials under study. Many historically significant documents from libraries such as the Royal Irish Academy and the Russell Library at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, have been the selected for study using the hyperspectral imaging technique. Processing techniques have are described for the applications to the study of manuscripts in a poor state of conservation. The research provides a comprehensive overview of Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) and associated statistical and analytical methods, and also an in-depth investigation of the practical implementation of such methods to aid document analysts. Specifically, we provide results from employing statistical analytical methods including principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis (ICA) and both supervised and automatic clustering methods to historically significant manuscripts and text VIII such as Leabhar na hUidhre, a 12th century Irish text which was subject to part-erasure and rewriting, a 16th Century pastedown cover, and a multi-ink example typical of that found in, for example, late medieval administrative texts such as Gttingen’s kundige bok. The purpose of which is to achieve an overall greater insight into the historical context of the document, which includes the recovery or enhancement of faded or illegible text or text lost through fading, staining, overwriting or other forms of erasure. In addition, we demonstrate prospect of distinguishing different ink-types, and furnishing us with details of the manuscript’s composition, all of which are refinements, which can be used to answer questions about date and provenance. This process marks a new departure for the study of manuscripts and may provide answer many long-standing questions posed by palaeographers and by scholars in a variety of disciplines. Furthermore, through text retrieval, it holds out the prospect of adding considerably to the existing corpus of texts and to providing very many new research opportunities for coming generations of scholars