Microfossil evidence for grinding activities

Functional and technological analyses of grinding stone tools have long played a major role in the characterization of such implements in the archaeological record. Likewise, microfossil studies from grinding stone assemblages have proved to be critical for delineating tool use and tracing processing activities. This paper deals with recent interdisciplinary research conducted at various settlement sites spanning from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Iron Age. Using a selection of archaeological case studies, it examines ways in which plant microremains, primarily phytoliths, together with other archaeobotanical data (i.e. grain starches, pollen, macroremains) and diverse methodological approaches (i.e. use-wear, contextual geoarchaeological analyses) contribute to a better understanding of the functional analyses of grinding tools, as well as to reconstructing plant processing patterns and site activity areas. The contribution of experimental approaches to an improved interpretation of processing behaviors, as well as the fundamental importance of understanding taphonomic and formation processes in archaeological contexts is also discussed

Plant uses in different Bronze and Iron Age settlements from the Nuoro province (Sardinia). The results of phytolith analyses from several ceramic fragments and grinding stones

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Tracing microfossil residues of cereal processing in the archaeobotanical record: an experimental approach

Interdisciplinary methodological approaches are fundamental for studying tool use and crop processing patterns in the archaeological record. Many archaeological studies of plant microfossil evidence, primarily those of phytoliths, starch grains and pollen, are concerned with processing methods which can be replicated through experimentally produced plant residues. However, most of these studies rely on crop identification through the presence or absence of such microfossils while giving little or hardly any weight to taphonomy and formation processes, which are critical for interpreting archaeological contexts. An investigation of experimentally produced phytolith and pollen assemblages provides the opportunity to evaluate the impact of cereal processing on both microfossils. Controlled experiments were conducted at the Museum of Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, for assessing microfossil taphonomy using Iron Age Talayotic tools and Hordeum vulgare (hulled barley) grown nowadays on the island. For dehusking, a sandstone mortar and a wooden pestle were used outdoors, whereas grinding took place indoors using a limestone quern and handstone. The results indicate that the size of multicellular or anatomically connected phytoliths decreases as a result of mechanical degradation suffered through processing activities, whereas the proportion of cereal pollen grains increases through these processes. Additionally, experimental samples from dehusking and sieving provided abundant evidence of floral bracts, and also of other plant parts and even different plant species, such as phytoliths from leaves and stems and non cereal pollen taxa, which were also to be found on the surfaces of the ground stone tools. These findings highlight the importance of integrating different lines of microfossil evidence and taking into account formation and taphonomic aspects, as well as the value of experimentally produced data for a better understanding of tool use and crop processing

Actividades domésticas y molienda en el asentamiento talayótico de Cornia Nou (Menorca, Islas Baleares): resultados del estudio de microfósiles vegetales

Cornia Nou es un yacimiento localizado en el extremo oriental de Menorca (Islas Baleares), con una larga secuencia de ocupaciones. La fase situada entre los siglos iv y iii aC en el talayot del sector este, corresponde a un contexto de hábitat caracterizado por la presencia de abundante material doméstico y utillaje de molienda: molinos manuales y morteros. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del estudio de microfósiles vegetales (fitolitos y polen) en sedimentos asociados a molinos. Las concentraciones de fitolitos de las inflorescencias de gramíneas de tipo Pooideae en las superficies activas de las piezas, indican una funcionalidad relacionada con el procesado del grano. Los espectros polínicos en los sedimentos asociados denotan la presencia de vegetación herbácea de carácter nitrófilo-ruderal, relacionada con actividad ganadera. El estudio integrado de estos microfósiles proporciona evidencias directas de la diversidad de prácticas económicas de las comunidades talayóticas que ocuparon el asentamiento, entre las que se incluyen actividades de forrajeo, procesado de alimentos y molienda

A Study of Checkpointing in Large Scale Training of Deep Neural Networks

Deep learning (DL) applications are increasingly being deployed on HPC systems, to leverage the massive parallelism and computing power of those systems for DL model training. While significant effort has been put to facilitate distributed training by DL frameworks, fault tolerance has been largely ignored. In this work, we evaluate checkpoint-restart, a common fault tolerance technique in HPC workloads. We perform experiments with three state-of-the-art DL frameworks common in HPC Chainer, PyTorch, and TensorFlow). We evaluate the computational cost of checkpointing, file formats and file sizes, the impact of scale, and deterministic checkpointing. Our evaluation shows some critical differences in checkpoint mechanisms and exposes several bottlenecks in existing checkpointing implementations. We provide discussion points that can aid users in selecting a fault-tolerant framework to use in HPC. We also provide takeaway points that framework developers can use to facilitate better checkpointing of DL workloads in HPC

Substantial improvements not seen in health behaviors following corner store conversions in two Latino food swamps.

BackgroundThe effectiveness of food retail interventions is largely undetermined, yet substantial investments have been made to improve access to healthy foods in food deserts and swamps via grocery and corner store interventions. This study evaluated the effects of corner store conversions in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, California on perceived accessibility of healthy foods, perceptions of corner stores, store patronage, food purchasing, and eating behaviors.MethodsHousehold data (n = 1686) were collected at baseline and 12- to 24-months post-intervention among residents surrounding eight stores, three of which implemented a multi-faceted intervention and five of which were comparisons. Bivariate analyses and logistic and linear regressions were employed to assess differences in time, treatment, and the interaction between time and treatment to determine the effectiveness of this intervention.ResultsImprovements were found in perceived healthy food accessibility and perceptions of corner stores. No changes were found, however, in store patronage, purchasing, or consumption of fruits and vegetables.ConclusionsResults suggest limited effectiveness of food retail interventions on improving health behaviors. Future research should focus on other strategies to reduce community-level obesity

Lessons learnt from a norovirus outbreak caused by bottled mineral water

Podeu consultar el III Workshop anual INSA-UB complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/118993Sessió 1. Pòster 1

Facile, fast and green synthesis of a highly porous calcium-syringate bioMOF with intriguing triple bioactivity

A facile, fast and green strategy based on ethanol is utilized to prepare a new bioMOF, namely, CaSyr-1, with particular characteristics of full biocompatibility given by using just calcium and syringic acid, the latter being a phenolic natural product found in fruits and vegetables, permanent porosity with an outstanding surface area >1000 m2 g−1, and a micropore diameter of 1.4 nm close to mesopore values. Collectively, these data establish CaSyr-1 as one of the most porous bioMOFs reported to date, with high molecular adsorption capacity. The CaSyr-1 adsorptive behavior is revised here through the reversible adsorption of CO2 and the encapsulation of bioactive ingredients in the structure. Remarkably, CaSyr-1 enables the development of triple therapeutic entities, involving bioactive Ca2+, syringic acid and an impregnated drug