The origin of the clays of the Roman crucibles from Augusta Raurica (Augst, Switzerland): A study with field and museum work using portable analysis pXRF

The project involved analysing 893 Roman crucibles for non-ferrous alloys from Augus-ta Raurica (Switzerland) using laboratory and portable devices. This resulted in the identification of 5 clay groups, which were compared to 60 reference groups from the surrounding area. Most of the crucible clays came from 2 clay deposits, one of which was located nearby, while the other was situated 50 km away in the Jura region. The metals casted show a large variety of bronze- and brass-alloys, due to scrap-recycling. Brass making by cementation could be proved in many crucibles. The crucibles were composed of two layers: a wheel made core of fired ceramic and a lutum layer made of local materials applied to the exterior (and sometimes a thin engobe applied to the interior). In the casting process, the mechanically stabilising and insulating lutum swelled up and vitrified considerably

AEROSOL MEASUREMENTS IN THE RHINE VALLEY DURING FOEHN – ANOTHER FORM PERSPECTIVE

While the main focus of the MAP subproject FORM (Foehn in the Rhine Valley during MAP) was on atmospheric dynamics, numerous measurements of chemical constituents of the atmosphere have been performed with various instruments on different platforms. Aerosol measurements have been obtained with routinely operated conventional surface stations, in-situ airborne particle counters and a backscatter lidar. For the MAP SOP it was found that near-surface aerosol concentrations are reduced by the foehn, i.e. they are lowest at the day after the foehn event, especially in the late fall when the valley inversion becomes stronger. A case study for 2 Oct 1999 (IOP 5) reveals considerable spatial variability in aerosol concentrations and shows interactions of the aerosols with the humidity field

Management and site effects on carbon balances of European mountain meadows and rangelands

We studied carbon balances and carbon stocks of mountain rangelands and meadows in a network of 8 eddy covariance sites and 14 sites with biomass data in Europe. Net ecosystem exchange of pastures and extensively managed semi-natural rangelands were usually close to zero, while meadows fixed carbon, with the exception of one meadow that was established on a drained peatland. When we accounted for off-site losses and inputs also the carbon budget of meadows approached zero. Soil carbon stocks in these ecosystems were high, comparable to those of forest ecosystems, while carbon stocks in plant biomass were smaller. Since soil carbon stocks of abandoned mountain grasslands are as high as in managed ecosystems, it is likely that the widespread abandonment of mountain rangelands used currently as pastures will not lead to an immediate carbon sink in those ecosystems

Utilidad de la electrocardiografía en la clínica veterinaria de animales de compañía

The electrocardiography is a diagnostic tool for the veterinary clinic of companion animals. In patients with cardiologic signs is the best non invasive means to evaluate the electric activity of the heart. It allows us to evaluate the present of arrhythmias, the pre-surgical state, assess the anaesthetic risk and check the pharmacologic treatments in cardiac patients amongst other. The objective of the present work was to illustrate the advantage of the electrocardiographic assess in canine and felíne patients, and its limitations and contraindications as well.La electrocardiografía es una herramienta diagnóstica de utilidad básica en la clínica veterinaria de animales de compañía. En pacientes con signos clínicos cardiológicos constituye la mejor alternativa diagnóstica para evaluar la actividad eléctrica del corazón de forma no invasiva El electrocardiograma permite demostrar la presencia de arritmias, colabora en la evaluación prequirúrgica y en la valoración del riesgo anestésico, ayuda a monitorear los tratamientos farmacológicos de pacientes cardiópatas, sugiere la presencia de sobrecargas camerales atriales y ventriculares cardíacas y complementa el diagnóstico en patologías de origen metabólico y endócrino. El objetivo del presenta trabajo es mostrar las distintas ventajas que presenta la evaluación electrocardiográfica en pacientes caninos y felinos, así como las límitaciones y contraindicaciones que presenta su estudio

Antike Schmelztiegel Archäologie und Archäometrie der Funde aus Augusta Raurica

Die römische Stadt Augusta Raurica bei Basel erbrachte u. a. zahlreiche archäologische Zeugnisse der frühen Metallverarbeitung, insbesondere Grabungsbefunde von Bronzegiesserwerkstätten und Hunderte von mobilen Zeugnissen ihrer Tätigkeit: Fehlgüsse, Halbfabrikate, Schmelztiegel, Gussformen usw. Die 893 Schmelztiegel bilden den bisher umfangreichsten archäologischen Fundbestand im antiken Europa. Ihnen ist die aktuelle archäologische und naturwissenschaftliche Studie gewidmet. Es handelt sich hierbei um eine einzigartige Untersuchung mit einem originellen und innovativen Forschungsansatz. Sie bildet eine wichtige Grundlage für weitere wirtschaftsgeschichtliche, archäologische und archäometrische Untersuchungen sowie für die experimentelle Archäologie und ist so verständlich geschrieben, dass sie auch für ein nicht-naturwissenschaftliches Publikum geeignet ist. Eine einzigartige Untersuchung mit originellem und innovativem Forschungsansatz. Die vielseitigen, interdisziplinären Untersuchungen verfolgen zwei Schwerpunkte: Einerseits werden die römischen Schmelztiegel von Augusta Raurica archäologisch dokumentiert und bezüglich der Tonherkunft sowie der Metallspuren erfolgreich analysiert. Andererseits werden mit Experimenteller Archäologie neue Wege beschritten, indem das Töpfern von Tiegeln, die Herstellung der äusseren «Verschleissschicht Lutum», das Zementieren von Messing sowie weitere Phänomene der Tiegel-Metallurgie erprobt und rekonstruiert werden

Elemental composition of ambient aerosols measured with high temporal resolution using an online XRF spectrometer

The Xact 625 Ambient Metals Monitor was tested during a 3-week field campaign at the rural, traffic-influenced site Härkingen in Switzerland during the summer of 2015. The field campaign encompassed the Swiss National Day fireworks event, providing increased concentrations and unique chemical signatures compared to non-fireworks (or background) periods. The objective was to evaluate the data quality by intercomparison with other independent measurements and test its applicability for aerosol source quantification. The Xact was configured to measure 24 elements in PM10 with 1g h time resolution. Data quality was evaluated for 10 24g h averages of Xact data by intercomparison with 24g h PM10 filter data analysed with ICP-OES for major elements, ICP-MS for trace elements, and gold amalgamation atomic absorption spectrometry for Hg. Ten elements (S, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ba, Pb) showed excellent correlation between the compared methods, with r2 values ≥ g 0.95. However, the slopes of the regressions between Xact 625 and ICP data varied from 0.97 to 1.8 (average 1.28) and thus indicated generally higher Xact elemental concentrations than ICP for these elements. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed, but further investigations are needed. For the remaining elements no conclusions could be drawn about their quantification for various reasons, mainly detection limit issues. An indirect intercomparison of hourly values was performed for the fireworks peak, which brought good agreement of total masses when the Xact data were corrected with the regressions from the 24g h value intercomparison. The results demonstrate that multi-metal characterization at high-time-resolution capability of Xact is a valuable and practical tool for ambient monitoring. © Author(s) 2017.This study has been partly funded by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). M. C. Minguillón acknowledges the Ramón y Cajal Fellowship awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. We thank René Richter and Roland Scheidegger of PSI for their support during the field campaign. We are grateful to Chris Koch and John Cooper of Cooper Environmental Services for instructions on instrument operation and numerous discussions on the results. Andrés Alastuey, Xavier Querol, and laboratory personnel from IDAEA-CSIC are also acknowledged. We also thank Julie Swift and Randy Mercurio of ERG for the ICP-MS analyses.Peer reviewe

Funding

CARBOMONT is a project within Framework 5 of th