A comparison of the taphonomic attributes of quarries VM3 and VM4 of the Early Pleistocene site of Venta Micena (Baza Basin, SE Spain)

The site of Venta Micena (Guadix-Baza Depression, SE Spain), a rich Fossil-Lagerstätten of late Early Pleistocene age (1.6-1.5 Ma), preserves a diverse assemblage of large mammals. Up to date, >24,000 skeletal remains have been unearthed from the surface excavated (~400 m2) in the two main quarries of the site, VM3 and VM4, which represents a density of fossils of >60/m2. Although this density is not homogeneously recorded across the 80-120 cm thick VM stratum, which outcrops over ~2.5 km, it suggests that tens of millions of fossils were preserved in the micritic limestones of this lithological unit. VM3 has been interpreted as a den of the giant hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris in the plain that surrounded the Baza paleolake. Taphonomic analyses showed that the hyenas: (i) scavenged the prey hunted by the hypercarnivores, sabertoothed felids and wild dogs; (ii) transported the remains to their communal den as whole carcasses or selected anatomical parts; and (iii) fractured the skeletal parts according to their marrow contents and mineral density, which resulted in well-defined consumption sequences. In the case of VM4, an excavation quarry ~350 m distant from VM3, preliminary taphonomic analyses of the assemblage showed several differences, including: (i) a higher frequency of elements in anatomical connection than in VM3; (ii) a lower proportion of bones tooth-marked by carnivores (5.5%) compared with their frequency in VM3 (29.4%); (iii) a lower proportion of remains with salivary and gastric alterations (0.06% in both cases) than in VM3 (0.34% and 0.15%, respectively); and (iv) a less advanced degree of weathering (90.8% of bones show weathering stage 0 in VM4 compared to 75.9% in VM3).ICAZ Taphonomy Working Group, CSIC, MNCN Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Experimentation on Emotion Regulation with Single-Colored Images

This paper introduces a series of experiments with the objective of assessing the influence of color in emotion regulation. For this sake, images with one single color or one single dominant color are shown to a set of participants who take part in the experimentation. Firstly, the architecture of the color emotion regulation system is introduced. The methodology for color emotion recognition is based on a novel approach of both direct and indirect emotion evaluation. Then, the experimental setup is discussed together with the testing procedure. The tests are based on questionnaires for emotional state evaluation, color preference and personality. Lastly, the experimental results are described and discussed

Déjà vu: on the use of meat resources by sabretooth cats, hominins, and hyaenas in the Early Pleistocene site of Fuente Nueva 3 (Guadix‑Baza Depression, SE Spain)

The late Early Pleistocene archaeological site of Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Guadix-Baza Depression, SE Spain), dated to ~1.4 Ma, provides evidence on the subsistence strategies of the first hominin population that dispersed in Western Europe. The site preserves Oldowan tool assemblages associated with abundant remains of large mammals. A small proportion of these remains show cut marks and percussion marks resulting from defleshing and bone fracturing, and a small proportion of bones also show tooth marks. Previous taphonomic studies of FN3 suggested that the hominins had secondary access to the prey leftovers abandoned by sabretooth cats and other primary predators. However, a recent analysis by Yravedra et al. (2021) of the frequency of anthropogenic marks and tooth marks has concluded that the hominins had primary access to the carcasses of a wide variety of ungulate prey, even though the frequency of evisceration marks is strikingly low. In this rebuttal, we analyse the patterns of bone preservation in FN3, which show that the exploitation of bone marrow by the hominins after hammerstone breakage was a usual activity at the site. Our study also reviews the evidence available on the lesser abilities of sabretooth cats for carcass processing compared to pantherine felids. This reinforces the hypothesis that primary predators provided the hominins the opportunity to scavenge sizeable chunks of meat and bone marrow of their prey carcasses before the arrival of hyaenas. Finally, we also provide new inferences on resource availability and competition intensity among the members of the carnivore guild in FN3, which reinforce our interpretation that a secondary access by the Oldowan hominins to the prey leftovers of sabretooth cats was an optimal foraging strategy in the Guadix-Baza Depression.Funding for open access publishing: Universidad Málaga/CBUA This work has been granted by projects CGL-2016-78577-P, CGL-2016-80975-P, and PID2019-111185GB-I00 of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and University, “Junta de Andalucía” (FEDER) project UMA18-FEDERJA-188, “Generalitat de Catalunya” grant GENCAT 2017SGR 859, and by Research Group RNM-146 from “Junta de Andalucía.” Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

Deciphering the record of hyaenic activity in the Early Pleistocene site of Fuente Nueva-3 (Baza Basin, SE Spain)

FN3 is an open air site, dated ~1.4 Ma. Their archaeological levels preserve evidences of human presence, consisting in lithic artefacts and cuts and percussion marks on bones. The lithic remains are associated with abundant macromammals bones with a very wide size range, from proboscideans to small mustelids. Carnivores are represented, mainly, by isolated teeth, bellowing to canids, ursids, felids and hyaenids, and their activity is recorded by the presence of different tooth marks types. However, there exists an important difference in the carnivore record between the levels, consisting in the presence of more than 200 coprolites in the Upper Level, whereas in the Lower Level these elements are practically absent. For the identification of the defecating organism, different analyses have been performed. The morphological study evidences the presence of the seven shape-types of pellets, although the most common morphologies are round, oval and disk. The colour of hyena faeces is also very characteristic, colour analysis of FN3 coprolites shows a predominance of whitish and very pale brown tonalities. To determine the composition, the samples were studied by XRD, XRF and SEM. The results have revealed that the coprolites mostly consist of calcium phosphate. These data are consistent with the expected composition of faeces in an organism that ingests a large amount of bones, in addition, macroscopic observation of the coprolites surface evidence the presence of numerous fragments of digested bones within them. All these features allow us to adscribe the FN3 coprolites to the hyaena Pachycrocuta brevirostris, species of which several teeth have been found at this site.This record manifests a great difference between both archaeological levels, showing in the Upper Level a scenario were hominin and hyaenids coexisted and competed for food resources, whereas in the Lower Level hyaenas were practically absent, and the main modifying agent was early Homo.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Hominins, mammoths, saber-tooths and giant hyenas in the Early Pleistocene of the Baza Basin (SE Spain)

The Baza Basin preserves an exceptional Plio-Pleis- tocene palaeontological record, which includes the earliest evidence of human presence in western Eu- rope, dated to ~1.4 Ma, coming from the sites of Barranco León and Fuente Nueva-3, in the vicinity of the town of Orce. In this geographical region, early Homo coexisted and likely competed with the giant, short-faced hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris for the exploitation of prey carcasses abandoned by saber-tooth cats (Megantereon and Homotheri- um). The presence of these hypercarnivorous felids favored the surviving of both scavenging species (Homo and Pachycrocuta), as they exploited their prey to a lesser extent than the living pantherine felids. In this context, proboscideans were an ex- ploited food resource, as evidenced by the presence of a partial skeleton of the mammoth Mammuthus meridionalis in Fuente Nueva-3, which was sur- rounded by lithic artifacts and hyena coprolites. This association suggests that both hominins and hyenas fed on the mammoth carcass. Some paths for elucidating their pattern of access to these re- sources are also discussed.The symposium and the volume "Human-elephant interactions: from past to present" were funded by the Volkswagen Foundation

Sharing food with hyenas: a latrine of Pachycrocuta brevirostris in the Early Pleistocene assemblage of Fuente Nueva-3 (Orce, Baza Basin, SE Spain)

The Early Pleistocene archeological site of Fuente Nueva-3 (FN3) preserves some of the oldest evidence of hominin presence in Western Europe, including a huge assemblage of Oldowan tools and evidence of butchering and marrow processing of large mammal bones. Moreover, there is also evidence of the regular presence of carnivores at the site, including a small proportion of bones that show tooth marks, the majority of which can be attributed to the giant, short-faced hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris, and there are 220 coprolites, most of them from the Upper Archeological Level. In order to identify the defecating agent, we analyze here the coprolites and compare them with other specimens from the literature and with scats from zoo spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). The morphology, color, size, and chemical composition of the FN3 coprolites allow us to attribute them to the hyena P. brevirostris, which is also represented at the site by fossil specimens. In addition, we evaluate the origin of the accumulation of coprolites and discuss on the role played by the scavenging hyenas in the accumulation and modification of the bone remains unearthed at the site, which allows evaluating the contribution of the giant hyena to this Early Pleistocene site. Finally, based on the lithology of layer 5 of the Upper Archeological Level, fine sands and clays deposited in a salt-lake environment, we hypothesize that this layer may have acted as a quicksand where large-sized animals like elephants were trapped and their carcasses lured scavenging carnivores.Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEJunta de AndalucíaGeneralitat de CatalunyaMinisterio de Ciencia e InnovaciónComunidad de Madridpu

High incidence of clinical fragility fractures in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. A case-control study.

Objectives: To estimate the incidence of clinical fragility fractures in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and analyze risk factors for fracture. Methods: Incidence of clinical fragility fractures in 330 postmenopausal women with RA was compared to that of a control population of 660 age-matched postmenopausal Spanish women. Clinical fractures during the previous five years were recorded. We analyzed associations with risk factors for fracture in both populations and with disease-related variables in RA patients. Results: Median age of RA patients was 64 years; median RA duration was eight years. Sixty-nine percent were in remission or on low activity. Eighty-five percent had received glucocorticoids (GCs); 85 %, methotrexate; and 40 %, ≥1 biologic DMARD. Fifty-four patients and 47 controls had ≥1 major osteoporotic fracture (MOF). Incidence of MOFs was 3.55 per 100 patient-year in patients and 0.72 in controls (HR: 2.6). Risk factors for MOFs in RA patients were age, previous fracture, parental hip fracture, years since menopause, BMD, erosions, disease activity and disability, and cumulative dose of GCs. Previous fracture in RA patients was a strong risk for MOFs (HR: 10.37). Conclusion: Of every 100 postmenopausal Spanish women with RA, 3-4 have a MOF per year. This is more than double that of the general population. A previous fracture poses a high risk for a new fracture. Other classic risk factors for fracture, RA disease activity and disability, and the cumulative dose of GCs are associated with fracture development

Measurement of the top quark-pair production cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}=7\TeV

A measurement of the production cross-section for top quark pairs(\ttbar) in $pp$ collisions at \sqrt{s}=7 \TeV is presented using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in two different topologies: single lepton (electron $e$ or muon $\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least four jets, and dilepton ($ee$, $\mu\mu$ or $e\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least two jets. In a data sample of 2.9 pb-1, 37 candidate events are observed in the single-lepton topology and 9 events in the dilepton topology. The corresponding expected backgrounds from non-\ttbar Standard Model processes are estimated using data-driven methods and determined to be $12.2 \pm 3.9$ events and $2.5 \pm 0.6$ events, respectively. The kinematic properties of the selected events are consistent with SM \ttbar production. The inclusive top quark pair production cross-section is measured to be \sigmattbar=145 \pm 31 ^{+42}_{-27} pb where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The measurement agrees with perturbative QCD calculations.Comment: 30 pages plus author list (50 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, CERN-PH number and final journal adde

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson

Measurement of the top quark pair cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV using final states with an electron or a muon and a hadronically decaying τ lepton

A measurement of the cross section of top quark pair production in proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is reported. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.05 fb -1. Events with an isolated electron or muon and a τ lepton decaying hadronically are used. In addition, a large missing transverse momentum and two or more energetic jets are required. At least one of the jets must be identified as originating from a b quark. The measured cross section, σtt-=186±13(stat.)±20(syst.)±7(lumi.) pb, is in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction