Sheathing and Pay Techniques in the Boa Vista 1 Ship (Lisbon, Portugal)

Between September 2012 and February 2013, archaeological excavations carried out in the riverside area of Lisbon (Portugal) revealed the remains of two wooden ships: Boa Vista 1 (BV1) and Boa Vista 2 (BV2), both dating from the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. BV1 ship consists of scattered hull timbers which were damaged and out of their original positions. Some of the ship’s hull features are common in the Mediterranean like a composite keel with butt joints and hook scarfs in the connection between floors and futtocks, while others are well-known Iberian shipbuilding features like the transition between the keel and the sternpost being made through a single piece, the heel. A unique feature was a layer of animal hair between the sheathing and the hull planking. This paper focuses mainly on the study of wooden sheathing, including but not limited to the analysis of its conventional “architectural signatures”. The latest results concerning animal hair identification will also be presented and discussed, showing the added value of multidisciplinary approaches in archaeology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estudo arqueozoológico dos carnívoros do povoado pré-histórico de Leceia (Oeiras)

Na tentativa de integração das duas componentes subjacentes à prática da arqueozoologia, avaliou-se a amostra de carnívoros reunida em Leceia à luz do seu significado arqueológico/antropológico e biológico. Direccionou-se a análise nesse sentido não só por a amostra deste grupo ter sido recuperada em contexto estritamente arqueológico, representando este facto por si só o peso da directa relação com a população ocupante do povoado, como por ser em grande parte constituída por um conjunto de restos referentes à espécie doméstica Canis familiaris, desde sempre com o homem relacionada. Só olhando de uma forma integrada e interdisciplinar para a amostra em estudo será possível obter uma justificação para a sua própria presença, no contexto arqueológico em apreço. Os restos encontrados em sítios arqueológicos não são mais que as “sobras” da alimentação humana ou o resultado das suas associações sociais e culturais. Isto significa que a maioria dos restos osteológicos não se conservou, ou foram, na própria época, objecto de evacuação intencional do espaço habitado.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diet of the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) in a heterogeneous Mediterranean landscape: the importance of the invasive Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)

Limited quantitative data are available on food habits of the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) in Mediterranean environments, particularly in ricefields where a relatively new food resource, the invasive Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), is abundant. We studied the diet of the White Stork in a heterogeneous landscape (Central Portugal) in order to compare the importance of the Red Swamp Crayfish as a food resource in a dominant agricultural/ricefield area in rela - tion to a predominant woodland/agricultural area. White Storks´ diet was analysed spatially (two sites) and seasonally (winter, spring, summer) using pellets (n = 122) collected between December 2012 and July 2013. Overall, from 1570 prey items identified, crayfish was the second most frequent and abundant prey in the diet (frequency of occurrence, FO = 79.5%; numerical fre- quency, NF = 22.9%, respectively), only surpassed by coleopterans (FO = 94.3%; NF = 57.7%). However, in terms of consumed biomass (global PB) crayfish dominated the diet (PB = 44.0%),representing 1.8 times the consumed biomass of coleopterans (PB = 24.2%). Consumption of crayfish was higher in the site with highest abundance of ricefields (NF: 32.0% vs. 17.7%; PB: 51.3% vs. 38.4%). Although no significant seasonal variations were detected in terms of the number of crayfish consumed by storks, consumed crayfish biomass was significantly higher in summer in relation to other seasons. Our findings suggest that in Mediterranean heterogeneous areas the White Stork feeds upon a wide range of prey taxa though, when available, coleopterans along with Red Swamp Crayfish dominate the diet

Dental pathology of the wild Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus): The study of a 20th century Portuguese museum collection

For some wild canids, such as the Iberian wolf, there is a lack of in-depth knowledge about dental pathology. We aimed to evaluate it, in a standardized manner, in specimens from a Portuguese museum collection. Sixty-five deceased specimens of wild Iberian wolves, 61 complete skulls and 4 mandibles, collected in Portugal between 1977 and 1995, were analyzed. Sample comprised 18 females, 24 males and 23 individuals of undetermined sex. Teeth were evaluated by visual observation and dental radiography for tooth wear, periodontitis, fractures and other dental lesions. We have found several causes for teeth absence: artefactual, secondary to periodontitis and agenesia. About 30% of the teeth showed signs of wear. Only a small (<13%) fraction of maxillary and mandibular teeth did not show periodontitis. The tooth 308 showed periodontitis in all males (p = 0.017) and the tooth 104 was significantly affected by this condition in females (p = 0.020). A significant relationship was found between females and tooth wear in three teeth. Periodontitis showed a significant association with tooth wear (p < 0.001) and fractures (p = 0.027). Tooth fractures were more frequent in the maxilla than in the mandible. Seven periapical lesions, seven root fusions and three specimens with malocclusion were identified in the collection. Results are discussed integrating information from diet, habitat, genetic and spatial behavior. Dental radiography is here proposed as an approach for the age estimation in archaeological canids. This research contributes to the knowledge of the dental disease in the largest wolf population in Western Europe, a target subspecies of multiple conservation measures.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Unveiling patterns of viral pathogen infection in free-ranging carnivores of northern Portugal using a complementary methodological approach

Pathogen surveillance in free-ranging carnivores presents challenges due to their low densitie and secretive nature. We combined molecular and serological assays to investigate infections by viral pathogens (Canine parvovirus (CPV), Canine distemper virus (CDV) and Canine coronavirus (CCoV)) in Portuguese carnivores (Canis lupus, Vulpes vulpes, Lutra lutra, Martes foina, M. martes, Meles meles, and Genetta genetta) over a period of 16 years. Additionally we explored spatio-temporal patterns of virus occurrence in Canis lupus. Our study identified CPV DNA in all carnivore species with an overall prevalence of 91.9 %. CPV was detected in all sampled years and seasons in Canis lupus, supporting its enzootic nature. CDV RNA was mainly detected in the Canidae family, with viral nucleic acid recorded between 2005 and 2008 with a peak prevalence of 67 % among the wolf population, followed by a sharp decline, suggesting an epizootic behaviour of the virus. Antibodies show that mustelids and viverrids were often exposed to CDV. CCoV was first recorded by molecular methods in wolf samples in 2002, remaining in the wolf populations with marked fluctuations over time. The dual serological and molecular approach provided important epidemiological data on pathogens of wild carnivores in Portugal. These programmes should also include monitoring of other potential reservoir hosts such as domestic cats and dogs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hematology and serum biochemistry values of free-ranging Iberian wolves (Canis lupus) trapped by leg-hold snares

Hematology and serum biochemistry are important tools in assessing the health and physiological status of wildlife populations. Nevertheless, studies on free-ranging wolves (Canis lupus) are scarce, and no reference values are available neither for Iberian wolves nor for wolves captured with leghold snares. We report 37 hematology and serum biochemistry variables obtained from 26 free-ranging Iberian wolves captured with leg-hold snares between 2007 and 2014, including variables previously not reported in the literature. The values obtained are similar to the published reference intervals for Scandinavian wolves captured by darting from a helicopter, except for higher values for mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), red blood cell distribution width (RDW), leukocyte count, creatinine kinase (CK), ?-globulins, and total bilirubin (TBIL) and lower values for alkaline phosphatase (ALP). We propose that differences in leukocyte count, CK, and TBIL are related to the method of capture, while differences in RDW, MCHC, ALP, and ?-globulins could reflect physiological adaptations to environmental conditions, sampling, or pre-analytical artifacts. Lymphocyte count was lower and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was significantly higher in older, reproductive females, while ALP and phosphorus were higher in juvenile wolves. For the first time, we describe hematology and serum biochemistry values of free-ranging Iberian wolves captured with leg-hold snares. The data reported here is the first published reference for wolves captured with similar methods and for monitoring Iberian wolves populations’ physiological and health status.We thank Nuria Fandos and Carla Ferreira, rangers from Xunta de Galicia and Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa, and volunteers who helped during the trapping sessions. The wolves were captured under projects financed by Associacao de Conservacao do Habitat do Lobo Iberico (ACHLI) in Portugal and by Picos de Europa National Park, Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentacion y Medio Ambiente, and Xunta de Galicia in Spain. Sara Roque benefited from grant SFRH/BD/12291/2003 from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia. Jose V. Lopez-Bao was supported by a postdoctoral contract from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. This is the paper no. 5 from the Iberian Wolf Research Team

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011