Exploring site formation and building local contexts through wiggle-match radiocarbon dating: re-dating of the Firth of Clyde Crannogs, Scotland

There are at least four wooden intertidal platforms, also known as marine crannogs, in the Firth of Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The interpretation of these sites partly depends on their dating and, if coeval, they could point to the presence of a native maritime hub. Furthermore, the spatial coincidence with the terminus of the Antonine Wall has led to speculation about the role they may have played in Roman-native interaction during the occupation of southern Scotland in the early first millennium cal ad. Hence, a better absolute chronology is essential to evaluate whether the marine crannogs were contemporary with one another and whether they related to any known historic events. This article presents results of a wiggle-match dating project aimed at resolving these uncertainties at two of the sites in question, Dumbuck and Erskine Bridge crannogs. The results show that the construction of these sites pre-date direct Roman influence in Scotland. Furthermore, the results indicate that the two sites were built at least 300 years apart, forcing us to consider the possibility that they may have functioned in very different historical contexts. Other findings include technical observations on the fine shape of the radiocarbon calibration curve near the turn of the first millennia bc/ad and potential evidence for persistent contamination in decayed and exposed sections of waterlogged alder

Dinah : Be My Little Dinah True

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/5254/thumbnail.jp

Estimation of force of infection based on different epidemiological proxies: 2009/2010 Influenza epidemic in Malta

Information about infectious disease outbreaks is often gathered indirectly, from doctor's reports and health board records. It also typically underestimates the actual number of cases, but the relationship between the observed proxies and the numbers that drive the diseases is complicated, nonlinear and potentially time- and state-dependent. We use a combination of data collection from the 2009-2010 H1N1 outbreak in Malta, compartmental modelling and Bayesian inference to explore the effect of using various sources of information (consultations, doctor's diagnose, swabbing and molecular testing) on estimation of the effective basic reproduction ratio, Rt. Different proxies and different sampling rates (daily and weekly) lead to similar behaviour of Rt as the epidemic unfolds, although individual parameters (force of infection, length of latent and infectious period) vary. We also demonstrate that the relationship between different proxies varies as epidemic progresses, with the first period characterised by high ratio of consultations and influenza diagnoses to actual confirmed cases of H1N1. This has important consequences for modelling that is based on reconstructing influenza cases from doctor's reports

Radiocarbon wiggle-match dating in the intertidal zone

Radiocarbon wiggle-match dating is a technique that can combine the versatility of radiocarbon dating with chronological information from tree-rings. This makes it useful in contexts where timbers are preserved, but dendrochronological dating is impossible. As intertidal and marine timbers are waterlogged, this can favor their preservation and hence allow wiggle-match 14C dating, which can be of significant help in deriving relatively precise chronologies for a range of coastal structures. As the technique depends on making multiple radiocarbon measurements towards a single date, efficiency in application is the key and hence a number of practical considerations need to be taken into account in advance of conducting a dating program. This paper discusses some of these practical concerns and reviews them in the context of the intertidal crannogs in the Firth of Clyde on the west coast of Scotland

Is Beauty Only Skin Deep? Mate Selection in Guppies

Our experiment sought to understand mate preference in female guppies, Poecilia reticulata. We observed behavioral differences between wild-type males caught from a local indoor pond and vibrant pet store males, who exhibited higher stress levels, likely due in part to being shipped long distances. Observing these behavioral differences, we hypothesized that females would prefer the less stressed males regardless of color. When a female guppy was presented with both a wild type and a pet store male, we predicted that she would prefer the wild-type male on account of their lower stress

The design and implementation of Object Grammars

An Object Grammar is a variation on traditional BNF grammars, where the notation is extended to support declarative bidirectional mappings between text and object graphs. The two directions for interpreting Object Grammars are parsing and formatting. Parsing transforms text into an object graph by recognizing syntactic features and creating the corresponding object structure. In the reverse direction, formatting recognizes object graph features and generates an appropriate textual presentation. The key to Object Grammars is the expressive power of the mapping, which decouples the syntactic structure from the graph structure. To handle graphs, Object Grammars support declarative annotations for resolving textual names that refer to arbitrary objects in the graph structure. Predicates on the semantic structure provide additional control over the mapping. Furthermore, Object Grammars are compositional so that languages may be defined in a modular fashion. We have implemented our approach to Object Grammars as one of the foundations of the Ens (o) over bar system and illustrate the utility of our approach by showing how it enables definition and composition of domain-specific languages (DSLs). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</p

Predictors and outcomes of sustained, intermittent or never achieving remission in patients with recent onset inflammatory polyarthritis:Results from the Norfolk Arthritis Register

Objectives: Early remission is the current treatment strategy for patients with inflammatory polyarthritis (IP) and RA. Our objective was to identify baseline factors associated with achieving remission: sustained (SR), intermittent (IR) or never (NR) over a 5-year period in patients with early IP.  Methods: Clinical and demographic data of patients with IP recruited to the Norfolk Arthritis Register (NOAR) were obtained at baseline and years 1, 2, 3 and 5. Remission was defined as no tender or swollen joints (out of 51). Patients were classified as NR or PR, respectively, if they were in remission at: no assessment or ⩾3 consecutive assessments after baseline, and IR otherwise. Ordinal regression and a random effects model, respectively, were used to examine the association between baseline factors, remission group and HAQ scores over time.  Results: A total of 868 patients (66% female) were included. Of these, 54%, 34% and 12% achieved NR, IR and SR, respectively. In multivariate analysis, female sex (odds ratio, OR 0.47, 95% CI: 0.35, 0.63), higher tender joint count (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.93, 0.96), higher HAQ (OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.48, 0.74), being obese (OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.50, 0.99), hypertensive (OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.50, 0.90) or depressed (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.55, 1.00) at baseline were independent predictors of being in a lower remission group. IR and SR were associated with lower HAQ scores over time and lower DAS28 at year 5.  Conclusion: Women with higher tender joint count and disability at baseline, depression, obesity and hypertension were less likely to achieve remission. This information could help when stratifying patients for more aggressive therapy

Toward Theoretical Techniques for Measuring the Use of Human Effort in Visual Analytic Systems

Visual analytic systems have long relied on user studies and standard datasets to demonstrate advances to the state of the art, as well as to illustrate the efficiency of solutions to domain-specific challenges. This approach has enabled some important comparisons between systems, but unfortunately the narrow scope required to facilitate these comparisons has prevented many of these lessons from being generalized to new areas. At the same time, advanced visual analytic systems have made increasing use of human-machine collaboration to solve problems not tractable by machine computation alone. To continue to make progress in modeling user tasks in these hybrid visual analytic systems, we must strive to gain insight into what makes certain tasks more complex than others. This will require the development of mechanisms for describing the balance to be struck between machine and human strengths with respect to analytical tasks and workload. In this paper, we argue for the necessity of theoretical tools for reasoning about such balance in visual analytic systems and demonstrate the utility of the Human Oracle Model for this purpose in the context of sensemaking in visual analytics. Additionally, we make use of the Human Oracle Model to guide the development of a new system through a case study in the domain of cybersecurity

Haitians in Miami: An Assessment of Their Background and Potential (Dialogue #12)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Our research on Haitians in Miami reveals the common stereotypes to be wrong in virtually every respect. Miami Haitians are not a significant drain on community resources. They did not come to the U.S. anticipating benefits from the welfare system. They are not uneducated nor are they unskilled. To the contrary, Miami Haitians have a tremendous potential for productively contributing to U.S. society. They are well educated by Haitian standards and many come with readily employable skills. Their motivations for leaving Haiti are inseparably both political and economic. They possess a sound work ethic and are striving to improve themselves. Economic problems are severe, yet they confront and surmount them with virtually no help from the state welfare system. They rely largely upon opportunities and resources within Miami\u27s own Haitian community. Yet, they do not isolate themselves from the large community around them. They work with, buy from, and live in the same neighborhoods as Cubans, Anglos, and American Blacks. In spite of the many personal difficulties they have encountered since arriving in the U.S., they maintain a positive view both of themselves and their experiences in U.S. society. If given sufficient opportunities, they are likely to adapt quickly and succeed economically. These findings stem from a recently completed survey of 129 Haitians enrolled in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes in Miami administered by the Haitian Adult Development Education Program (HADEP) of the Phelps Stokes Fund. The U.S. Department of Education funded the project to provide instruction in English communication and literacy skills, acculturation support and vocational training. The classes were free and open without restrictions to all Haitians. The Haitians neither paid nor received money to attend the classes. The classes were offered both during the day and evening and drew from all levels of the Haitian population in Miami. The survey was administered in June and July of this year and consisted of 146 questions in Creole on a broad range of subjects from background and experiences in Haiti to migration and employment history and perceptions of U.S. society