Isotopic dietary analysis and molecular sex identification of adults and juveniles from medieval Great Moravia

Like many complex agricultural societies, medieval European society was strongly patriarchal, with men favored in terms of property rights, political status, and household authority. However, it is unclear whether male dominance in medieval society was manifested in unequal access to food resources between the sexes. In this pilot study, we examine the pattern of sex-related differences in diet through biomolecular analyses of skeletal remains from Kostelisko, a suburban area within the early medieval Great Moravian site of Mikulčice. Mikulčice was a prominent center of Great Moravia, an early Slavic state that existed in the 9th and early 10th centuries AD, and was situated on the lower Morava River valley in the south-eastern corner of what is today the Czech Republic . Previous bioarchaeological studies of skeletal material from Mikulčice have revealed activity differences between males and females (Havelková et al., 2010), as well as health differences according to socioeconomic status (Velemínský et al., 2009). Here we present dietary reconstructions based on bone collagen carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses, and we evaluate a new method of molecular sex identification using high resolution melting analysis of ancient DNA

When Fearful Ghosts are Married in Tulunadu

In Tulunadu those who meet a violent death fighting for a just cause may become demi-gods, or bhūtas. Here, death is a kind of apotheosis, where those who fought against injustice become divine figures after death, receiving a cult in a shrine. Quite different is the story of those who simply experienced a violent death before they even managed to get married. They return as ghosts, pretas, and their kin suffer from their absence, but still fear the pretas and try to appease them by all available means. The paradox is that when pretas manifest themselves their unwanted presence is frightening, while at the same time their absence is experienced as grief. This creates a kind of double bind, which villagers may try to resolve by celebrating the marriage of ghosts, enabling their deceased siblings to marry. This marriage induces the families of bride and bridegroom to unite in their grief, while trying to appease the young ghosts who torment them. This ritual, often held secretly, was documented by a photographer from the fisherman caste who had himself experienced similar fear when his brother-in-law, still a bachelor, committed suicide. The paper reflects on the fear he experienced, wondering if the ritual could really appease the kin

Ultrafiltration Fibers like Bioreactors

A polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane with pectinase physically immobilized on it by a dynamic formation method was used to examine the potential of these reactive membranes in applications involving solutions containing pectin. The effect of various operational parameters such as: pH of enzyme and pectin solutions, NaCl, retentate flow rate, and enzyme (Ce) and substrate (Cp) concentrations on the production of reducing compounds expressed as galacturonic acid (Ca), was investigated. It was found that the maximum Ca values were obtained when: (i) enzyme solution to immobilize, without NaCl, had pH values between 4.2 and 4.6 and enzyme concentration from 5.0 to 7.5 mg/mL; (ii) pectin solution had initial pH values between 4.2 and 5.0 and a concentration of 3 mg/mL; and (iii) retentate flow rate was 0.025 L/minFil: Carrin, Maria Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Ceci, Liliana Noemí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Lozano, Jorge Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentin

Bone As A Biomarker Of Mercury Exposure In Prehistoric Arctic Human Populations: Initial Method Validation Using Animal Models

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2009Marine mammals are dietary staples among many indigenous peoples of the Arctic, but these foods sometimes contain high levels of mercury, a toxic heavy metal that can cause nerve and brain damage. Because mercury can be released into the environment by both industrial and natural processes, prehistoric marine mammal consumers may have been exposed to this toxicant, but little is known about preindustrial mercury levels. This research examined the potential for using the mercury concentration of archaeological bone as a biomarker of mercury exposure. Two requirements of valid biomarkers of exposure were explored: (1) measurement accuracy (trueness and precision) and (2) correspondence with the extent of exposure. Measurement accuracy was evaluated using repeated determinations of mercury concentration in a sample of modern seal bones. Correspondence with exposure was examined by comparing bone mercury concentration to controlled exposure level in laboratory rats, and to the stable nitrogen isotope ratio (delta15N) (a proxy measure of exposure) in prehistoric ringed seals from Thule-period archaeological sites in Alaska. Results show that mercury measurements have acceptable accuracy and that bone mercury is strongly related to exposure. These promising results suggest that, with further validation on human subjects, bone mercury may provide a reliable archive of mercury exposure in preindustrial archaeological populations

Game Play in Education: An Exploration of the What, How, and Why

This study explored whether teachers utilize games in the classroom, known as gamification and, if so, whether they used games according to game theory that exists in the field of gaming and game design. In higher education and secondary environments, educators report that problems exist as far as student behavior and engagement. Many students do not want to learn. The literature review conducted as part of this study indicated that when teachers gamified their classrooms few empirical investigations were conducted in the K-12 setting; another shortcoming was a lack of a uniform classification system for game elements among the literature, causing confusion in the research as to the approaches applied during each study and how conclusions were reached. The lack of practical application was important in this study because in order for game elements to engage and motivate students to trigger desired behavior, gamification should draw from the motivational qualities of good games as outlined by game designer McGonigal. Therefore, when a teacher opts to use gamification, a standard classification of game elements should be developed as part of educational game theory so that the what, how, and why is evident. In other words, teachers can benefit from this study by gaining an understanding of what constitutes a game element, how each element should be utilized, and for what purpose

IDEA 2004 : a mandate for social work services : are these services included in the IEPs of students with nonverbal learning disorder?

This study was undertaken to investigate the extent to which social work services are incorporated into Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of students with Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD), who performs these services when they are incorporated into the IEP and are the services provided in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), (Public Law PL 108-446) and the mandate for related services defining Social Work services Sec.300.34. It was hypothesized, that implementing social work services in accordance with the mandate for related service as stated IDEA 2004, would improve the ability of students with Nonverbal Learning Disorder to perform in school. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the use of an online survey. Completed surveys from 49 Masters level Special Education public school teachers regarding their perceptions of the degree to which Social Workers play a role in the Special Education process related to students with NLD and the extent to which social work services are implemented consistent with guidelines for IEP management were analyzed. The findings of this study indicated a significant, positive strong correlation related to the frequency with which Social Workers attend IEP meetings for students with Nonverbal Learning Disorder and how often social work services are identified for this population of students

The impact of cultural diversity and globalization in developing a Santal peer culture in Middle India

Este texto se presentó como comunicación al II Congreso Internacional de Etnografía y Educación: Migraciones y Ciudadanías. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, 5-8 Septiembre 2008.How it is to be an adolescent among the Santals, in a world still shaped by tradition but where local knowledge has been pervaded by political awareness and modernity.? The Santals, who number more than five millions, consider themselves as a «tribal» people speaking a different language (austro-asiatic) and sharing a way of life which implies values different from those of the Hindus. A central question , here, concerns the transmission of knowledge. In a tribal context, traditional knowledge is to a large extent endogenously determined. Differences in knowledge are no longer controlled by the elders, but still provide much of the momentum for social interaction. Since the colonial period schooling has been important but it has not succeeded to bring an equal opportunity of chances for all children. In brief, I will analyze how the traditional model of transmission is influenced by exogenous factors, such as schooling or politics, and events which allow children to emerge as new agents, developing a peer culture (W. Corsaro & D. Eder 1990). In the context of tribal India, where educational rights are granted by the Constitution, schooling often implies the dominance of Hindu culture on tribal children who feel stigmatized. Discussing the system of education, we shall se how teaching in the mother tongue or using a Santal script have been a crucial issue. The high percentage of dropout at the primary level shows that the system of education is not well adapted to tribal children who, however, are often pushed into the labour market to help their families. Consequently, other social factors such as religious movements or, migrations towards the town provide children and youth with new arenas to develop a peer culture which formerly was institutionalized in the village. We shall see that social mobility, as well as the emergence of a tribal elite, are exogenous factors which impinge on the structuration of a tribal peer culture. I shall finally examine how Santal youth participate to the reinvention of Tradition through village theatre and militant activities I argue that Santal youth peer culture develops its shared meaning towards two opposite directions: the assertion of ethnic identity and the development of a Santal literacy outside «official schooling» as well as the opening towards globalization through education, social mobility and elite formation

Failure of Mineralized Collagen Microfibrils Using Finite Element Simulation Coupled to Mechanical Quasi-brittle Damage

Bone is a multiscale heterogeneous materiel of which principal function is to support the body structure and to resist mechanical loading and fractures. Bone strength does not depend only on the quantity and quality of bone which is characterized by the geometry and the shape of bones but also on the mechanical proprieties of its compounds, which have a significant influence on its deformation and failure. This work aim to use a 3D nano-scale finite element model coupled to the concept of quasi-brittle damage with the behaviour law isotropic elasticity to investigate the fracture behaviour of composite materiel collagen-mineral (mineralized collagen microfibril). Fracture stress-number of cross-links and damping capacity-number of cross-links curves were obtained under tensile loading conditions at different densities of the mineral phase. The obtained results show that number of cross-links as well as the density of mineral has an important influence on the strength of microfibrils which in turn clarify the bone fracture at macro-scale.Comment: 6; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187770581100714

Guía práctica para profesionales de ciencias económicas sobre fideicomisos

Este trabajo es una guía práctica para profesionales sobre los aspectos jurídicos, tributarios y contables que tiene la figura del fideicomiso.Fil: Aldunate, Emmanuel. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Carrin, Iván. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Juri, Ramón. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas.Fil: Ríos, Mauricio. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas

Gérard Colas & Gilles Tarabout, eds, Rites hindous, transferts et transformationsParis, Éd. de l’Ehess, 2006, 500 p., bibl., ill., carte (« Purushartha »)

Gérard Colas et Gilles Tarabout proposent, dans ce volume bilingue, l’étude des changements que les rites hindous ont subis dans l’histoire, ainsi que les transformations qui les caractérisent aujourd’hui en Asie du Sud et dans le monde hindou de la diaspora. L’ouvrage est divisé en trois parties : la première met en évidence des cas exemplaires de modification des rites ; la deuxième montre comment certains rites hindous servent de modèles pour structurer le phénomène religieux ; la troisièm..