Entre Vegas y Valdivia: la fase San Pedro en el suroeste del Ecuador

Un tema que ha quedado en suspenso por algún tiempo, es la introducción de la cerámica en la costa del Ecuador. Con su excavación en Valdivia, los autores trataron de comprobar y ampliar las observaciones previas de Emilio Estrada (Estrada, 1961). Sobre un estrato precerámico, se descubrió una nueva fase cerámica — San Pedro —, demostrablemente pre-Valdivia ya que los estratos que la arrojan en forma exclusiva, fueron cortados a su vez por un pozo del Valdivia 1. Se discutirán las opiniones emitidas por otros autores sobre estos hallazgos, a la luz de los datos actuales.Un thème peu traité ces dernières années est celui de l’apparition de la céramique sur la côte de l’Équateur. Grâce aux fouilles de Valdivia les auteurs ont tenté de vérifier les observations faites par E. Estrada (Estrada, 1961) et d’en savoir davantage. Au-dessus d’une couche précéramique, une nouvelle phase céramique —San Pedro— a été découverte ; il est possible de démontrer qu’elle est pré-Valdivia puisque les couches qui contiennent la céramique San Pedro sont perforées par une fosse de l’époque Valdivia 1. Dans cet article les opinions d’autres auteurs sont discutées à la lumière des données actuelles.The introduction of pottery on the coast of Ecuador has attracted little attention for some time. In order to confirm and expand previous results by Emilio Estrada (Estrada, 1961), the authors extended his original cut «J» at the Valdivia site. Above basal preceramic layers, a new pottery fase —San Pedro— was discovered. The strata that only yielded this type of pottery are demonstrably pre-Valdivia because they were cut by a pit containing Valdivia 1 pottery (Hill, 1972-1974). These results have been referred to by several authors whose opinions are discussed here on the basis of present data

The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) on the Herschel Space Observatory

The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) is one of the three science instruments on ESA's far infrared and submillimetre observatory. It employs two Ge:Ga photoconductor arrays (stressed and unstressed) with 16x25 pixels, each, and two filled silicon bolometer arrays with 16x32 and 32x64 pixels, respectively, to perform integral-field spectroscopy and imaging photometry in the 60-210\mu\ m wavelength regime. In photometry mode, it simultaneously images two bands, 60-85\mu\ m or 85-125\mu\m and 125-210\mu\ m, over a field of view of ~1.75'x3.5', with close to Nyquist beam sampling in each band. In spectroscopy mode, it images a field of 47"x47", resolved into 5x5 pixels, with an instantaneous spectral coverage of ~1500km/s and a spectral resolution of ~175km/s. We summarise the design of the instrument, describe observing modes, calibration, and data analysis methods, and present our current assessment of the in-orbit performance of the instrument based on the Performance Verification tests. PACS is fully operational, and the achieved performance is close to or better than the pre-launch predictions

Una investigación estratigráfica en Valdivia (Ecuador): Primeros resultados

Una nueva excavación en el basural de Valdivia (G-31) permitió reconocer dos fases culturales anteriores a la fase Valdivia. La primera, encontrada inmediatamente debajo de los depósitos del Valdivia A (o 1/2), es cerámica y fue denominada San Pedro, mientras que la otra, subyacente, parece ser precerámica. Si se aceptan las fechas publicadas de radiocarbono y sus asociaciones culturales, San Pedro sería contemporáneo con Puerto Hormiga en el norte de Colombia, la más antigua fase cerámica del Nuevo Mundo conocida actualmente

Los orígenes de la civilización centroandina en la obra de Max Uhle

Durante sus investigaciones arqueológicas entre 1896 y 1905, Max Uhle logró desentrañar a grandes líneas, un milenio de historia cultural preincaica en el Perú. En varias ocasiones topó con restos del período "Formativo" antecedente y en algunos casos, incluso los supo fechar con precisión sorprendente. Sin embargo, cautivado por la hipótesis de una difusión cultural transpacífica por vía de Mesoamérica, no llegó a apreciar cabalmente lo que significaban sus descubrimientos para los orígenes de la civilización en los Andes centrales.On the basis of his archaeological fieldwork between 1896 and 1905, Max Uhle was able to outline more than 1,000 years of pre-Inca cultural history in Peru. At several sites he encountered remains of the preceding "Formative" Period and dated them with remarkable precision, in some cases. However, his diffusionist bias in favor of a Mesoamerican, ultimately Chinese derivation did not permit him to recognize the relevance of his finds for the origins of central Andean civilization

Effects of social conditions during adolescence on courtship and aggressive behavior are not abolished by adult social experience

Ruploh T, Henning M, Bischof H-J, von Engelhardt N. Effects of social conditions during adolescence on courtship and aggressive behavior are not abolished by adult social experience. Developmental Psychobiology. 2015;57(1):73-82

Functional interaction between PML and SATB1 regulates chromatin-loop architecture and transcription of the MHC class I locus

International audienceThe function of the subnuclear structure the promyelocytic leukaemia (PML) body is unclear largely because of the functional heterogeneity of its constituents. Here, we provide the evidence for a direct link between PML, higher-order chromatin organization and gene regulation. We show that PML physically and functionally interacts with the matrix attachment region (MAR)-binding protein, special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 (SATB1) to organize the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I locus into distinct higher-order chromatin-loop structures. Interferon gamma (IFNgamma) treatment and silencing of either SATB1 or PML dynamically alter chromatin architecture, thus affecting the expression profile of a subset of MHC class I genes. Our studies identify PML and SATB1 as a regulatory complex that governs transcription by orchestrating dynamic chromatin-loop architecture