Egyptian blue and/or atacamite in an ancient egyptian coffin

This work deals with the composition of the blue and green pigments used in the wooden sarcophagus studied by Abdelaal et al. and published in 2014 in this journal. From the published data, a degradation of the originally used Egyptian blue pigment is proposed. The presence of chlorine in the pigment deduced from SEM-EDS analyses and the greenish hue observed point to the formation of a certain amount of atacamite (or one of its polymorphs, paratacamite or clionoatacamite) because of the Egyptian blue degradation process named copper chloride cancer.Postprint (author's final draft

"Asiatic" copper in New Kingdom Egypt

This work presents a combination of Lead Isotope Analysis ( LIA ) and ancient Egyptian texts and depictions in order to describe the history of the ox -hide copper ingots presence in Egypt , which w ere called by the Egyptians “Asiatic copper”. Ox-hide ingots in Egypt represent a particular case where the information given by ancient sources and modern chemical analyses might be combined in order to establish the provenance of archaeological objects and the hist ory of a particular m aterial during the Bronze Age. Ox -hide ingots arrived to Egypt where the first kings of the Egyptian New Kingdom developed an impressive building program through the entire country and needed a supply of copper and other materials. The “Asiatic copper” was depicted in different tombs and temples from the 18 th to the 20 th dynasties in Thebes and Amarna. According to depictions and texts, three different regions supplied copper according to ancient Egyptians: Syria, Cyprus and Crete. Howe ver, the LIA of the lead present in mined copper permits to establish that the ingots were made of copper from Apliki mines, in Central Cyprus. The depictions in Egyptian tombs and temples probably represented not only the actual region of provenance but a lso the peoples involved in the trade, because t he ingots were traded by Syrian merchants following a route that passed Syria, Cyprus, Crete and GreecePostprint (published version

Estudio sobre los individuos de foca común (Phoca vitulina) y foca gris (Halichoerus grypus) admitidos a rehabilitación en el SRRC Pieterburen durante el período 2000-2015

Las especies de foca común (Phoca vitulina) y foca gris (Halichoerus grypus) que habitan el mar de Wadden Holandés se han visto afectadas a lo largo de la historia por el impacto de las diferentes actividades antrópicas. Debido a esto surgió alrededor de los años 80 la necesidad de ayudar y contribuir a la conservación de ambas especies. Así pues se crearon el SRRC Zeehondencreche Pieterburen y diferentes organizaciones dedicadas al estudio y protección de estos mamíferos. En este estudio se han realizado diferentes análisis comprendidos entre los años 2000 y 2015 a partir de la base de datos del SRRC. Se ha comprobado la relación entre los individuos contados en la población cada año y los llegados al centro para ambas especies por separado. También se ha se ha realizado para ambas especies por separado un análisis temporal para los individuos recibidos mensualmente a lo largo de los años del periodo y una predicción del número de individuos que llegarán al centro en los próximos cinco años. Se ha testado la interacción entre ambas especies y sexos para los diagnósticos realizados en el momento de llegada al centro. Por último se ha comprobado la ganancia media de peso por individuo alcanzada durante la rehabilitación cada año por ambas especies. La especie Phoca vitulina guarda una relación positiva con el aumento en el número de individuos de la población, mientras que la especie Halichoerus grypus no sigue ningún patrón claro. Los individuos de la especie Phoca vitulina sufrieron significativamente más las patologías huérfano y neumonía parasitaria que los de la especie Halichoerus grypus. El análisis temporal muestra una tendencia creciente para la especie Phoca vitulina y una predicción ascendente para la llegada de individuos al SRRC en los próximos cinco años. Sin embargo para la especie Halichoerus grypus no se observa ningún patrón claro y el modelo de predicción no fue significativo. La ganancia de peso medio por individuo se ha mantenido constante a lo largo de los años para ambas especies mientras que el resto de factores como el número de días en rehabilitación ha disminuido

Genealogical practice and social legitimation in the early modern Spain. The Macanaz (XVII-XVIII centuries)

En este texto analizamos el uso del discurso genealógico como medio de legitimación social en la España Moderna. Estudiamos el caso de la familia castellana de los Macanaz y las imágenes genealógicas construidas ad hoc por don Melchor Macanaz. Finalmente nos interesamos por las implicaciones del relato genealógico tradicional en las primeras aproximaciones historiográficas sobre la familia.In this paper we analyze the use of genealogy as a practice or means of legitimizing social aspirations in modern society. We study the case of the Castilian family of Macanaz and genealogical images constructed ad hoc by D. Melchor Macanaz. Finally we are interested in the implications of traditional genealogical narrative in the historiographical approaches on Macanaz family

Egyptology in the service of learning chemistry in industrial engineering

Ancient cultures or civilizations carried out different technological improvements without the knowledge of the scientific processes involved. At the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona (ETSEIB), some courses deal with the technological achievements in the antiquity and, in particular, one course deals with the achievements of the Ancient Egyptians, not only to learn what the Ancient Egyptians knew and made but also to look for scientific solutions to modern problems related with the antiquity. In this sense, this work considers the teaching of the chemical basis involved in one technological development of the ancient Egyptians which is taught in one Elective Course entitled: “Questions of technology and civilization in the Ancient Egypt”. The students use their knowledge on Basic Chemistry as well as on Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry in order to understand the chemistry involved in the technological development carried out at the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC) and propose solutions to the variation in the colour of the hieroglyphs painted in papyri. The experience acquired in the lessons taught in the Elective Course together with the feed-back from the students is used to implement a new optional course in the Bachelor’s Degrees in Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering named “Technological and Scientific Developments in Antiquity: Ancient Egypt and Middle East and North Africa”.Peer Reviewe

Integration of foreigners in Egypt: the relief of Amenhotep II shooting arrows at a copper ingot and related scenes

The relief of Amenhotep II shooting arrows at a copper ingot target has often been considered as propaganda of the king’s extraordinary strength and vigour. However, this work proposes that the scene took on additional layers of significance and had different ritual functions such as regenerating the health of the king, and ensuring the eternal victory of Egypt over foreign enemies and the victory of order over chaos. Amenhotep II was shooting arrows at an “Asiatic” ox-hide ingot because the ingot would symbolize the northern enemies of Egypt. The scene belonged to a group of representations carved during the New Kingdom on temples that showed the general image of the king defeating enemies. Moreover, it was linked to scenes painted in private tombs where goods were brought to the deceased, and to offering scenes carved on the walls of Theban temples. The full sequence of scenes would describe, and ritually promote, the process of integration of the foreign element into the Egyptian sphere.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Pint, herramienta de simulación basada en trazas Pin

In the course of this project we have developed a set of programs to improve the correction and execution time of the gem5 simulator. For this, we moved the functional simulation step out of gem5 into an independent instrumented process to ensure correction in the functional stage and to provide a good execution speed (since the code will then be natively executed). This instrumentation is done by Pin. Also, in order to allow efficient communication between the processes despite the limitations imposed by Pin to the available tools, an IPC framework to allow message passing between the processes was developed. This framework uses lockless fifo queues over shared memory so the resulting slowdown is minimal.Izquierdo Riera, FB. (2012). Pint, herramienta de simulación basada en trazas Pin. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/18304.Archivo delegad

La Historia Moderna y Nuevas Tecnologías de la información y las Comunicaciones.

Sin resume

Differential Effects of Increasing Salinity on Germination and Seedling Growth of Native and Exotic Invasive Cordgrasses

Soil salinity is a key environmental factor influencing germination and seedling establishment in salt marshes. Global warming and sea level rise are changing estuarine salinity, and may modify the colonization ability of halophytes. We evaluated the effects of increasing salinity on germination and seedling growth of native Spartina maritima and invasive S. densiflora from wetlands of the Odiel-Tinto Estuary. Responses were assessed following salinity exposure from fresh water to hypersaline conditions and germination recovery of non-germinated seeds when transferred to fresh water. The germination of both species was inhibited and delayed at high salinities, while pre-exposure to salinity accelerated the speed of germination in recovery assays compared to non-pre-exposed seeds. S. densiflora was more tolerant of salinity at germination than S. maritima. S. densiflora was able to germinate at hypersalinity and its germination percentage decreased at higher salinities compared to S. maritima. In contrast, S. maritima showed higher salinity tolerance in relation to seedling growth. Contrasting results were observed with differences in the tidal elevation of populations. Our results suggest S. maritima is a specialist species with respect to salinity, while S. densiflora is a generalist capable of germination of growth under suboptimal conditions. Invasive S. densiflora has greater capacity than native S. maritima to establish from seed with continued climate change and sea level rise.Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (FPU14/06556