Animal penning and open area activity at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey

Over the last few decades a variety of geoarchaeological methods and ethnoarchaeological and experimental approaches have demonstrated the fundamental importance of animal dung deposits for reconstructing past human life-ways. Through simultaneous examination in micromorphological thin-section and integrated phytolith and faecal spherulite analyses, this study provides direct evidence for animal management and organisation of space at Neolithic Çatalhöyük by examining livestock penning deposits across the settlement. The identification of new extensive areas of penning distributed within the boundaries of the early occupation of the site suggests greater proximity to and management of herds immediately prior to a phase of settlement expansion, access to wider networks and resources, and increased exploitation of the wider landscape. Phytolith assemblages from in situ dung accumulations also provide new insights into foddering/grazing practices showing highly variable herbivorous regimes, including both dicotyledonous and grass-based diets with an important proportion of grasses used as fodder and/or grazing during the early occupation of Çatalhöyük. This study provides direct evidence of the proximity of humans and herds, continuity and change in animal management strategies and farming practices, and concepts of space at the site

Optimization of the Strength-Fracture Toughness Relation in Particulate-Reinforced Aluminum Composites via Control of the Matrix Microstructure

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11661-998-0119-9The evolution of the microstructure and mechanical properties of a 17.5 vol. pct SiC particulatereinforced aluminum alloy 6092-matrix composite has been studied as a function of postfabrication processing and heat treatment. It is demonstrated that, by the control of particulate distribution, matrix grain, and substructure and of the matrix precipitate state, the strength-toughness combination in the composite can be optimized over a wide range of properties, without resorting to unstable, underaged (UA) matrix microstructures, which are usually deemed necessary to produce a higher fracture toughness than that displayed in the peak-aged condition. Further, it is demonstrated that, following an appropriate combination of thermomechanical processing and unconventional heat treatment, the composite may possess better stiffness, strength, and fracture toughness than a similar unreinforced alloy. In the high- and low-strength matrix microstructural conditions, the matrix grain and substructure were found to play a substantial role in determining fracture properties. However, in the intermediate- strength regime, properties appeared to be optimizable by the utilization of heat treatments only. These observations are rationalized on the basis of current understanding of the grain size dependence of fracture toughness and the detailed microstructural features resulting from thermomechanical treatments.United States Army Research OfficeArmy Research LabratoryUnited States Air Force Office of Scientific ResearchWright Materials LabratoryDWA Composite

Analysis of the impact of sex and age on the variation in the prevalence of antinuclear autoantibodies in Polish population: a nationwide observational, cross-sectional study

The detection of antinuclear autoantibody (ANA) is dependent on many factors and varies between the populations. The aim of the study was first to assess the prevalence of ANA in the Polish adult population depending on age, sex and the cutoff threshold used for the results obtained. Second, we estimated the occurrence of individual types of ANA-staining patterns. We tested 1731 patient samples using commercially available IIFA using two cutoff thresholds of 1:100 and 1:160. We found ANA in 260 participants (15.0%), but the percentage of positive results strongly depended on the cutoff level. For a cutoff threshold 1:100, the positive population was 19.5% and for the 1:160 cutoff threshold, it was 11.7%. The most prevalent ANA-staining pattern was AC-2 Dense Fine speckled (50%), followed by AC-21 Reticular/AMA (14.38%) ANA more common in women (72%); 64% of ANA-positive patients were over 50 years of age. ANA prevalence in the Polish population is at a level observed in other highly developed countries and is more prevalent in women and elderly individuals. To reduce the number of positive results released, we suggest that Polish laboratories should set 1:160 as the cutoff threshold

Wplyw uzytkowania gleb na zmiany ich wlasciwosci i ewolucje

The studies were conducted in various parts of the Lublin Upland on the soils formed from loess and loess-like formations as well as from limestone. The greatest and the quickest changes in the soil cover and typology are caused by erosion resulting from the changes of forest soils into cultivated soils. Several cycles of soil development in the undulating terrain are presented in relation to the intensity of erosion, mother rock, and original soil. Forest soils are not prone to undergo transformations. Cultivation going on for several hundreds years causes slow changes, mainly in some of the chemical soil properties (e.g., in the fractional humus contents, soil reaction, the contents of available K and P). A probable soil cover that existed 500-600 years ago, and the cover expected in several hundreds years have also been presented.Badania przeprowadzono w różnych regionach Wyżyny Lubelskiej na glebach wytworzonych z lessów i utworów lessowatych oraz ze skał wapiennych. Największe i najszybsze zmiany w pokrywie glebowej i w typologii powoduje erozja w wyniku zamiany gleb leśnych na uprawne. Podano też kilka cyklów rozwojowych gleb w terenie falistym, zależnie od natężenia erozji, skały macierzystej i gleby wyjściowej. Gleby leśne są bardzo mało podatne na zmiany w czasie. Kilkusetletnia uprawa rolna wywołuje zmiany powolne, głównie niektórych właściwości chemicznych gleb (np. w składzie frakcjonarnym próchnicy, odczynie, zawartości przyswajalnego fosforu i potasu). Przedstawiono też prawdopodobną pokrywę glebową przed 500-600 laty a także przewidywaną za kilkaset lat

Phases of gully erosion recorded in alluvial fans (Lublin Upland, E Poland)

The study was focused on the alluvial fans formed in the bottom of the Bystra river valley. A detailed analysis of four fans allowed to distinguish several phases of gully erosion related to human activity. The gullies started to develop in the Neolithis times, the subsequent phases of gully erosion could be dated to: Bronze Age, Middle Ages. In modern times, most of the sediments have been retained within the extensive gully systems