Formal Tests for Resistance-Resilience in Archaeological Time Series

The study of resilience is a common pathway for scientific data to inform policy and practice towards impending climate change. Consequently, understanding the mechanisms and features that contribute towards building resilience is a key goal of much research on coupled socio-environmental systems. In parallel, archaeology has developed the ambition to contribute to this agenda through its unique focus on cultural dynamics that occur over the very long term. This paper argues that archaeological studies of resilience are limited in scope and potential impact by incomplete operational definitions of resilience, itself a multifaceted and contested concept. This lack of interdisciplinary engagement fundamentally limits archaeology’s ability to contribute meaningfully to understanding factors behind the emergence and maintenance of long-term societal resilience, a topic of significant interest that the field is in theory ideally positioned to address. Here, we introduce resilience metrics drawn from ecology and develop case studies to illustrate their potential utility for archaeological studies. We achieve this by extending methods for formally measuring resistance, the capacity of a system to absorb disturbances; and resilience, its capacity to recover from disturbances, with a novel significance test for palaeodemographic data. Building on statistical permutation and post-hoc tests available in the rcarbon package in the R statistical environment, we apply our adapted resilience-resistance framework to summed probability distributions of calibrated radiocarbon dates drawn from the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil. We deploy these methods to investigate cross-sectional trends across three recognised biogeographical zones of the Atlantic Forest domain, against the backdrop of prehistoric phases of heightened hydroclimatic variability. Our analysis uncovers novel centennial-scale spatial structure in the resilience of palaeodemographic growth rates. In addition to the case-specific findings, we suggest that adapting formal metrics can help archaeology create impact and engagement beyond relatively narrow disciplinary concerns. To this end, we supply code and data to replicate our palaeodemographic analyses to enable their use and adaptation to other archaeological problems

Quantifying the decay of quantum properties in single-mode states

The dissipative dynamics of Gaussian squeezed states (GSS) and coherent superposition states (CSS) are analytically obtained and compared. Time scales for sustaining different quantum properties such as squeezing, negativity of the Wigner function or photon number distribution are calculated. Some of these characteristic times also depend on initial conditions. For example, in the particular case of squeezing, we find that while the squeezing of CSS is only visible for small enough values of the field intensity, in GSS it is independent of this quantity, which may be experimentally advantageous. The asymptotic dynamics however is quite similar as revealed by the time evolution of the fidelity between states of the two classes.Comment: Accepted versio

The Use of Autoscopy From the Epistemological Perspective of Action Research for Self-Analysis and Reflection of Teacher Practice

The video recording of lessons allows the analysis results to provide data about the teaching practice. Analyzing the pedagogical practice itself allows the teacher an exercise of self-reflection, as they become aware of their behavior in the classroom, leading to the revitalization of their teaching model. This study aims to present the use of autoscopy as a stimulus to reflection, to a new understanding of the pedagogical practice of teachers, in an action research. This is a case study, with a qualitative and descriptive approach, performed with a new nursing teacher. The data were initially collected through a semistructured biographical interview and subsequent video recording of the classes, characterizing nonparticipant observations. The application of autoscopy followed the proposal of action research, with its phases: exploratory phase, in-depth research, action phase, and evaluation phase. The autoscopy was a useful strategy to stimulate teacher reflection because during the projection of the sketches selected for the video of the autoscopy session, the teacher can see himself or herself in action and self-analyze and discuss the selected pedagogical moments, stimulating reflection and generating a new understanding about his or her teaching practice. In this way, the use of autoscopy under the epistemological perspective of action research stimulates the self-analysis and reflection of the teaching practice

Recomendações Para O Tratamento Da Crise Migranosa - Um Consenso Brasileiro

In this article, a group of experts in headache management of the Brazilian Headache Society developed through a consensus strategic measurements to treat a migraine attack in both the child and the adult. Particular emphasis was laid on the treatment of migraine in women, including at pregnancy, lactation and perimenstrual period. © 2016, Associacao Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria. All rights reserved.74326227

Advancing GABA-edited MRS Research through a Reconstruction Challenge

Purpose To create a benchmark for the comparison of machine learning-based Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA)-edited Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) reconstruction models using one quarter of the transients typically acquired during a complete scan.Methods The Edited-MRS reconstruction challenge had three tracks with the purpose of evaluating machine learning models trained to reconstruct simulated (Track 1), homogeneous in vivo (Track 2), and heterogeneous in vivo (Track 3) GABA-edited MRS data. Four quantitative metrics were used to evaluate the results: mean squared error (MSE), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), linewidth, and a shape score metric that we proposed. Challenge participants were given three months to create, train and submit their models. Challenge organizers provided open access to a baseline U-NET model for initial comparison, as well as simulated data, in vivo data, and tutorials and guides for adding synthetic noise to the simulations.Results The most successful approach for Track 1 simulated data was a covariance matrix convolutional neural network model, while for Track 2 and Track 3 in vivo data, a vision transformer model operating on a spectrogram representation of the data achieved the most success. Deep learning (DL) based reconstructions with reduced transients achieved equivalent or better SNR, linewidth and fit error as conventional reconstructions with the full amount of transients. However, some DL models also showed the ability to optimize the linewidth and SNR values without actually improving overall spectral quality, pointing to the need for more robust metrics.Conclusion The edited-MRS reconstruction challenge showed that the top performing DL based edited-MRS reconstruction pipelines can obtain with a reduced number of transients equivalent metrics to conventional reconstruction pipelines using the full amount of transients. The proposed metric shape score was positively correlated with challenge track outcome indicating that it is well-suited to evaluate spectral quality.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest

Pre-M Phase-promoting Factor Associates with Annulate Lamellae in Xenopus Oocytes and Egg Extracts

We have used complementary biochemical and in vivo approaches to study the compartmentalization of M phase-promoting factor (MPF) in prophase Xenopus eggs and oocytes. We first examined the distribution of MPF (Cdc2/CyclinB2) and membranous organelles in high-speed extracts of Xenopus eggs made during mitotic prophase. These extracts were found to lack mitochondria, Golgi membranes, and most endoplasmic reticulum (ER) but to contain the bulk of the pre-MPF pool. This pre-MPF could be pelleted by further centrifugation along with components necessary to activate it. On activation, Cdc2/CyclinB2 moved into the soluble fraction. Electron microscopy and Western blot analysis showed that the pre-MPF pellet contained a specific ER subdomain comprising "annulate lamellae" (AL): stacked ER membranes highly enriched in nuclear pores. Colocalization of pre-MPF with AL was demonstrated by anti-CyclinB2 immunofluorescence in prophase oocytes, in which AL are positioned close to the vegetal surface. Green fluorescent protein-CyclinB2 expressed in oocytes also localized at AL. These data suggest that inactive MPF associates with nuclear envelope components just before activation. This association may explain why nuclei and centrosomes stimulate MPF activation and provide a mechanism for targeting of MPF to some of its key substrates