Non-avian theropod dinosaurs from the early late cretaceous of central Europe

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of isolated teeth and postcranial elements of non-avian theropod dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya Formation, Iharkút (western Hungary) indicate that these remains represent multiple dinosaur groups. Based on comparative and statistical analyses, 58 teeth and tooth fragments are identified as belonging to medium-sized basal tetanuran theropods that may have represented the top-predator of the terrestrial Iharkút ecosystem. These teeth are almost identical with the two '. Megalosaurus pannoniensis' teeth from the lower Campanian of Muthmannsdorf (Austria) and show a notable similarity to teeth of the Middle Jurassic M. bucklandii and the Lower Cretaceous '. M. dunkeri' from England. A single pedal ungual phalanx is interpreted as the oldest European occurrence of Late Cretaceous abelisaurids, as suggested by a ventral groove and bifurcated grooves laterally bordering a convex, triangular area. Small-bodied paravian theropods are found to be the best represented group in Iharkút, including teeth, caudal vertebrae, a metacarpal III, manual phalanges, and a fragmentary left tibia. A particularly notable paravian remain is a complete left scapulocoracoid possessing a unique pneumatic foramen ventral to the coracoid foramen. This specimen is assigned to Pneumatoraptor fodori n. g. et sp. Finally, numerous postcranial elements of Theropoda indet. were recovered, including a fragmentary sacrum that offers new insights into the sacral pneumaticity of theropods. The presence of these theropods in the Santonian Iharkút ecosystem provides the first evidence that during the early Late Cretaceous the Mediterranean archipelago was inhabited by both Gondwanan and Euramerican members of theropod dinosaurs. Consistent with data available for other archosaurian taxa, the close relationship of the basal tetanuran teeth with much older forms suggests that the Iharkút area may have functioned as a refugium in the early Late Cretaceous Mediterranean archipelago.Fil: Odouble acutesi, Attila. Hungarian Natural History Museum; HungríaFil: Apesteguía, Sebastián. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Kowalewski, Michal. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Estados Unido

Improvement of the fast impedance spectroscopy method using square pulse excitation

Published in: Proceedings of the 14th Joint International IMEKO TC1 + TC7 + TC 13 Symposium : "Intelligent quality measurements - theory, education and training" ; in conjunction with the 56th IWK, Ilmenau University of Technology and the 11th SpectroNet Collaboration Forum ; 31. August - 2. September 2011, JenTower Jena, Germany. - Ilmenau : Univ.-Bibliothek, ilmedia, 2011. URN: urn:nbn:de:gbv:ilm1-2011imeko:

Freshwater Mussel Shells as Environmental Chronicles: Geochemical and Taphonomic Signatures of Mercury-Related Extirpations in the North Fork Holston River, Virginia

This study utilized freshwater mussel shells to assess mercury (Hg) contamination in the North Fork Holston River that extirpated (caused local extinctions of) a diverse mussel fauna. Shells (n = 366) were collected from five sites situated upstream (two sites), just below (one site), and downstream (two sites) of the town of Saltville, Virginia, where Hg was used to produce chlorine and caustic soda from 1950 to 1972. Shell samples were used to test the (1) utility of geochemical signatures of shells for assessing the spatial variation in Hg levels in the river relative to the contamination source and (2) value of taphonomy (post-mortem shell alteration) for distinguishing sites that differ in extirpation histories. Geochemical signatures of 40 shells, analyzed using atomic absorption spectroscopy, indicated a strong longitudinal pattern. All shells from the two upstream sites had low Hg concentrations (<5−31 μg/kg), shells directly below Saltville had variable, but dramatically higher concentrations (23−4637 μg/kg), and shells from the two downstream sites displayed intermediate Hg levels (<5−115 μg/kg) that declined with distance from Saltville. Two pre-industrial shells, collected at Saltville in 1917, yielded very low Hg estimates (5−6 μg/kg). Hg signatures were consistent among mussel species, suggesting that Hg concentrations were invariant to species type; most likely, highly variable Hg levels, both across sites and through time, overwhelmed any interspecific differences in Hg acquisition. Also, a notable post-mortem incorporation of Hg in mussel shells seemed unlikely, as the Hg content was not correlated with shell taphonomy (r = 0.18; p = 0.28). The taphonomic analysis (n = 366) showed that the degree of shell alteration reliably distinguished sites with different extirpation histories. At Saltville, where live mussels have been absent for at least 30 years, shells were most heavily altered and fragmented. Conversely, fresh-looking shells abounded upstream, where reproducing mussel populations are still present. In summary, relic shells offered valuable spatio-temporal data on Hg concentrations in a polluted ecosystem, and shell taphonomic signatures discriminated sites with different extirpation histories. The shell-based strategies exemplified here do not require sampling live specimens and may augment more standard strategies applied to environmental monitoring. The approach should prove especially useful in areas with unknown extirpation and pollution histories

Effects of slow- and fast-acting compression on hearing impaired listeners’ consonant-vowel identification in interrupted noise

There is conflicting evidence about the relative benefit of slow- and fast-acting compression for speech intelligibility. It has been hypothesized that fast-acting compression improves audibility at low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) but may distort the speech envelope at higher SNRs. The present study investigated the effects of compression with a nearly instantaneous attack time but either fast (10 ms) or slow (500 ms) release times on consonant identification in hearing-impaired listeners. Consonant–vowel speech tokens were presented at a range of presentation levels in two conditions: in the presence of interrupted noise and in quiet (with the compressor “shadow-controlled” by the corresponding mixture of speech and noise). These conditions were chosen to disentangle the effects of consonant audibility and noise-induced forward masking on speech intelligibility. A small but systematic intelligibility benefit of fast-acting compression was found in both the quiet and the noisy conditions for the lower speech levels. No detrimental effects of fast-acting compression were observed when the speech level exceeded the level of the noise. These findings suggest that fast-acting compression provides an audibility benefit in fluctuating interferers when compared with slow-acting compression while not substantially affecting the perception of consonants at higher SNRs

What Determines State Capture in Poland?

In this paper we examine the determinants of ex-ante state capture analyzing all the legal acts that have been passed in the period 1990-2011 in Poland. We find that during this the majority of legal acts were passed with the aim to satisfy the interest of particular groups. Furthermore, the regression analysis shows that the likelihood of state capture increases during the period of economic growth and local elections. The likelihood of state capture, however, declines during presidential elections. The results we attribute to different interests of political parties in the period of local and presidential election. Finally, we find that the state capture increased over the years in Poland. Additionally, we show that the EU accession did not prevent state capture in Poland. In contrast, the financial crisis of 2007 resulted in a wake-up effect and the likelihood of state capture declined in Poland

Towards Auditory Profile-Based Hearing-Aid Fittings:BEAR Rationale and Clinical Implementation

(1) Background: To improve hearing-aid rehabilitation, the Danish ‘Better hEAring Rehabilitation’ (BEAR) project recently developed methods for individual hearing loss characterization and hearing-aid fitting. Four auditory profiles differing in terms of audiometric hearing loss and supra-threshold hearing abilities were identified. To enable auditory profile-based hearing-aid treatment, a fitting rationale leveraging differences in gain prescription and signal-to-noise (SNR) improvement was developed. This report describes the translation of this rationale to clinical devices supplied by three industrial partners. (2) Methods: Regarding the SNR improvement, advanced feature settings were proposed and verified based on free-field measurements made with an acoustic mannikin fitted with the different hearing aids. Regarding the gain prescription, a clinically feasible fitting tool and procedure based on real-ear gain adjustments were developed. (3) Results: Analyses of the collected real-ear gain and SNR improvement data confirmed the feasibility of the clinical implementation. Differences between the auditory profile-based fitting strategy and a current ‘best practice’ procedure based on the NAL-NL2 fitting rule were verified and are discussed in terms of limitations and future perspectives. (4) Conclusion: Based on a joint effort from academic and industrial partners, the BEAR fitting rationale was transferred to commercially available hearing aids