‘Doing’ Llama Face Stew: A Late Moche Culinary Assemblage as a Domestic Dedicatory Deposit

Presented here is a meal from a simple cooking vessel, excavated from the Late Moche (AD 600–850) site of Wasi Huachuma on the north coast of Peru. This meal, cooked in a whole, plain vessel and spilled beneath the floor of a domestic structure, was unambiguously marked by a large stone embedded in the floor. It contained diverse plant and animal materials associated with the sea, the coastal plains, the highlands and the jungle. Via its contents and placement, this meal embodies the ways in which the domestic world of exchange and interaction was deeply entangled with the spiritual and political. All at once, this meal was utilitarian, domestic, industrial, ritually charged and politically embedded. Within it, the fruits of communities, geographical regions and ideas were assembled together to be realized as a dedicatory offering within, and potentially to, this domestic structure. I argue that this meal both contains and is contained by a milieu that is eminently local and mundane as well as worldly and supernatural

Buen Suceso: A New Multicomponent Valdivia Site in Santa Elena, Ecuador

New radiocarbon dates and excavations show that Buen Suceso (OSE-M-2M-4) in Santa Elena, Ecuador, was occupied between 3700 and 1425 BC. These dates demonstrate that Buen Suceso is a rare multicomponent Valdivia site and one of the longer-occupied Valdivia sites investigated to date. - Nuevas excavaciones y fechados radiocarbónicos demuestran que Buen Suceso (OSE-M-2M-4; Santa Elena, Ecuador) estuvo habitado entre 3700 y 1425 aC (Valdivia, fase Ib a fase VIIIb). Estas fechas señalan que se trata de un sitio Valdivia multicomponente excepcional y uno de los habitado por más tiempo, entro los sitios Valdivia investigados hasta la fecha. El diseño circular del sitio sugiere procesos sociales muy diferentes a los del sitio contemporáneo Real Alto (OGCh-12). Futuras comparaciones entre ambos sitios podrían revelar de manera fructífera la variación social en esta cultura formativa

A review of raptor and owl monitoring activity across Europe : its implications for capacity building towards pan-European monitoring

ABSTRACT Capsule: A questionnaire identified 1196 raptor monitoring species schemes within 236 monitoring programmes across 37 countries. Aims: To assess the level of monitoring of status/trends of raptors across Europe, to produce a webbased inventory of activities. Methods: A questionnaire promoted by voluntary national coordinators assessed monitoring coverage, focusing on breeding populations. Results: One thousand one hundred and ninety-six species schemes (236 monitoring programmes; 90% active in 2012) were reported from 37 countries. Sixty per cent of schemes were of over 10 years duration and nine countries ran schemes of over 40 years duration. Nineteen species had at least one scheme in 10 or more countries, and 15 species had schemes that ran for over 10 years. Thirteen species had breeding monitoring schemes in over 50% of countries where they breed, including widespread species (e.g. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus) and localized species (e.g. Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus). Lanner Falcon Falco biarmicus, Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes and Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus had the least representative coverage, and four rare species had no coverage. Coverage was more representative in north and west Europe than further south and east. Coverage was more representative for widespread species and those with more favourable conservation status. Conclusions: Large potential exists to enhance reporting on status/trends, ecotoxicology analyses and volunteer-based monitoring at the pan-European scale. National coordinators provide an ideal network to develop and disseminate best practice guidance across Europe.Peer reviewe

A GIS expert system for the delineation of watersheds in low-relief regions with rural infrastructure

vii, 170 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm.Grid-based digital elevation models (DEMs) are used to simulate overland flow paths in hydrological models. The accuracy of these drainage patterns are dependent upon how well the DEM represents the terrain features that control runoff patterns. Often regional DEMs are not produced at scales small enough to represent rural infrastructure. The scale of runoff patterns that can be accurately modeled is, therefore, restricted, particularly when the terrain is relatively flat. The RIDEM (Rural Infrastructure Digital Elevation Model) model is presented that utilizes commonly available ancillary data to downscale grid-based runoff patterns. The resulting drainage patterns reflect drainage modifications imposed by rural infrastructure including: roads, ditches, culverts, and irrigation canals. Downscaling runoff patterns enables the completion of runoff studies at smaller scales. The model was implemented with the Oldman River watershed, Alberta, Canada to determine the spatial patterns of potential runoff contributing areas in three agricultural watersheds regularly contaminated by pathogens

Air Monitoring for Hazardous Gas Detection

The Hazardous Gas Detection Lab (HGDL) at Kennedy Space Center is involved in the design and development of instrumentation that can detect and quantify various hazardous gases. Traditionally these systems are designed for leak detection of the cryogenic gases used for the propulsion of the Shuttle and other vehicles. Mass spectrometers are the basis of these systems, which provide excellent quantitation, sensitivity, selectivity, response times and detection limits. A Table lists common gases monitored for aerospace applications. The first five gases, hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, and argon are historically the focus of the HGDL

Joining the dots Global Challenges and the Valuing Nature Agenda

The Valuing Nature Network aims to improve understanding of the value of nature in both economic and non-economic terms, and improve the use of these valuations in decision making. It funds interdisciplinary research and builds links between researchers and people who make decisions that affect nature in business, policy-making, and in practice. The Global Challenges Research Fund aims to support research that directly contributes to the sustainable development and welfare of people in developing countries. • A review of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (see Annex I) and their targets revealed a number of themes that have links to the Valuing Nature Network research agenda, specifically: the governance of natural resources; conservation of natural capital and sustainable use of ecosystems; environmentally, socially and economically sustainable agro-forestry systems; and knowledge exchange at the science-policy interface. Assessing the extent and depth of existing research in these areas, and identifying networks of current research collaboration, can enable the identification of key opportunities for advancing research into the natural environment that also seeks to address the challenges associated with international development

Handling a messy world: lessons learned when trying to make the ecosystem services concept operational

The concept of ecosystem services is widely used in the scientific literature and increasingly also in policy and practice. Nevertheless, operationalising the concept, i.e. putting it into practice, is still a challenge. We describe the approach of the EU-project OpenNESS (Operationalisation of Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital), which was created in response to this challenge to critically evaluate the concept when applied to real world problems at different scales and in different policy sectors. General requirements for operationalization, the relevance of conceptual frameworks and lessons learnt from 27 case study applications are synthesized in a set of guiding principles. We also briefly describe some integrative tools as developed in OpenNESS which support the implementation of the principles. The guiding principles are grouped under three major headlines: “Defining the problem and opening up the problem space”, “Considering ethical issues” and “Assessing alternative methods, tools and actions”. Real world problems are often “wicked” problems, which at first are seldom clear-cut and well-defined, but often rather complex and subject to differing interpretations and interests. We take account of that complexity and emphasise that there is not one simple and straightforward way to approach real world problems involving ecosystem services. The principles and tools presented are meant to provide some guidance for tackling this complexity by means of a transdisciplinary methodology that facilitates the operationalisation of the ecosystem services concept

Valuing Nature through multiple lenses: highlights from the Valuing Nature PCT Programme (2014–2021)

This is the final report for the Valuing Nature Programme. The aim of the report is less about sharing its achievements, but about discussing what worked and what did not work as well, in the hope that recently initiated and future programmes may benefit from the lessons learned

Clinical disorders affecting mesopic vision

Vision in the mesopic range is affected by a number of inherited and acquired clinical disorders. We review these conditions and summarize the historical background, describing the clinical characteristics alongside the genetic basis and molecular biological mechanisms giving rise to rod and cone dysfunction relevant to twilight vision. The current diagnostic gold standards for each disease are discussed and curative and symptomatic treatment strategies are summarized

A schematic sampling protocol for contaminant monitoring in raptors

Birds of prey, owls and falcons are widely used as sentinel species in raptor biomonitoring programmes. A major current challenge is to facilitate large-scale biomonitoring by coordinating contaminant monitoring activities and by building capacity across countries. This requires sharing, dissemination and adoption of best practices addressed by the Networking Programme Research and Monitoring for and with Raptors in Europe (EURAPMON) and now being advanced by the ongoing international COST Action European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility. The present perspective introduces a schematic sampling protocol for contaminant monitoring in raptors. We provide guidance on sample collection with a view to increasing sampling capacity across countries, ensuring appropriate quality of samples and facilitating harmonization of procedures to maximize the reliability, comparability and interoperability of data. The here presented protocol can be used by professionals and volunteers as a standard guide to ensure harmonised sampling methods for contaminant monitoring in raptors