New experiments and a model-driven approach for interpreting Middle Stone Age Lithic Point Function using the Edge Damage Distribution Method

The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is associated with early evidence for symbolic material culture and complex technological innovations. However, one of the most visible aspects of MSA technologies are unretouched triangular stone points that appear in the archaeological record as early as 500,000 years ago in Africa and persist throughout the MSA. How these tools were being used and discarded across a changing Pleistocene landscape can provide insight into how MSA populations prioritized technological and foraging decisions. Creating inferential links between experimental and archaeological tool use helps to establish prehistoric tool function, but is complicated by the overlaying of post-depositional damage onto behaviorally worn tools. Taphonomic damage patterning can provide insight into site formation history, but may preclude behavioral interpretations of tool function. Here, multiple experimental processes that form edge damage on unretouched lithic points from taphonomic and behavioral processes are presented. These provide experimental distributions of wear on tool edges from known processes that are then quantitatively compared to the archaeological patterning of stone point edge damage from three MSA lithic assemblages--Kathu Pan 1, Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, and Die Kelders Cave 1. By using a model-fitting approach, the results presented here provide evidence for variable MSA behavioral strategies of stone point utilization on the landscape consistent with armature tips at KP1, and cutting tools at PP13B and DK1, as well as damage contributions from post-depositional sources across assemblages. This study provides a method with which landscape-scale questions of early modern human tool-use and site-use can be addressed

Fiber optic cone penetrometer raman probe for in situ chemical characterization of the Hanford underground waste tanks

A field hardened fiber optic Raman probe has been developed for cone penetrometer deployment in the Hanford underground chemical waste storage tanks. The corrosive chemical environment of the tanks, as well as Hanford specific deployment parameters, provide unique challenges for the design of an optical probe

Comparing lithic assemblage edge damage distributions: examples from the late Pleistocene and preliminary experimental results

Drawing behavioral inferences from macroscopic edge damage observations on lithic assemblages relies on linking observed damage patterns to behavioral processes identified during experimentation. Such methods have proven useful. However, critics frequently cite equifinality between different processes and wear traces on individual artifacts as well as inconsistent inter-observer agreement as problems with a ‘low-powered approach’ to lithic use-wear. One potential source of information that has received less attention is the patterns of edge damage detectable at the assemblage scale. Such patterns are only discernable by quantification of the collective distribution and frequency of edge damage on individual specimens. Here we use GIS to digitize and spatially reference artifacts to standardize and quantify edge damage. We applied this method to an assemblage of Middle Stone Age convergent flakes from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, South Africa (165 - 90 ka) and a series of experimental flakes recreated for several tasks including use in a calibrated crossbow experiment. Assemblage results indicate that archaeological patterns of edge damage are unlikely to have a taphonomic origin. Moreover, the patterning does not appear to result from use as hafted spear armatures. Our results demonstrate the statistical and interpretive power gained by assemblage analyses compared to individual artifacts. The additional benefit of including microwear and residue analysis using a single cohesive GIS recording framework will enable rapid dissemination of results between analysts and create a record of experimental and archaeological wear-traces available to other researchers

Examining Affect in Psychometric Schizotypy Using Behavioral Experience Sampling Methodology

poster abstractIn schizophrenia, patients often experience more negative emotions in the form of anger, sadness, and anxiety when compared to the general population. One unique way of measuring affect outside of the laboratory has been to use Experience Sampling Methods (ESM) to assess how individuals perceive current emotions in their daily life. However, these methods are still subject to self-report bias. In this study, we examined affect using traditional ESM methods while also implementing the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), a behaviorally-based ESM measure that provides real-world assessments of speech. To examine the EAR, we evaluated affect in schizotypy and non-schizotypy groups. Research shows that schizophrenia-like experiences, like increased negative affect, run along a continuum. Schizotypy is a category on the healthier end of the schizophrenia-spectrum; it applies to individuals who are thought to have a putative genetic liability for schizophrenia. Using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), we compared affective word usage among schizotypy and non-schizotypy groups to provide a real-world, behavioral ESM measure. When traditional ESM measures were used, we found individuals with schizotypy reported less negative emotions compared to the non-schizotypy group, but results did not reach the level of significance. We also observed that non-schizotypy individuals reported slightly higher positive emotions, and the schizotypy group reported slightly higher negative emotions. A similar pattern was observed when examining EAR data. Overall, results suggested that traditional and behavioral ESM measures of affect had significant overlap. In general, those with schizotypy demonstrated slightly more negative emotion and slightly less positive emotion than the non-schizotypy group. Findings did not reach the level of significance. This study demonstrates that the EAR provides behavioral ratings of affect that are on par with traditional ESM ratings. Future work should examine the EAR at different points on the schizophrenia-spectrum

Constraints on Type Ia Supernova Progenitor Companions from Early Ultraviolet Observations with Swift

We compare early ultraviolet (UV) observations of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) with theoretical predictions for the brightness of the shock associated with the collision between SN ejecta and a companion star. Our simple method is independent of the intrinsic flux from the SN and treats the flux observed with the Swift/Ultra-Violet Optical Telescope (UVOT) as conservative upper limits on the shock brightness. Comparing this limit with the predicted flux for various shock models, we constrain the geometry of the SN progenitor-companion system. We find the model of a 1 M_sun red supergiant companion in Roche lobe overflow to be excluded at a 95% confidence level for most individual SNe for all but the most unfavorable viewing angles. For the sample of 12 SNe taken together, the upper limits on the viewing angle are inconsistent with the expected distribution of viewing angles for RG stars as the majority of companions with high confidence. The separation distance constraints do allow MS companions. A better understanding of the UV flux arising from the SN itself as well as continued UV observations of young SNe Ia will further constrain the possible progenitors of SNe Ia.Comment: accepted versio

Patterns of genomic and phenomic diversity in wine and table grapes.

Grapes are one of the most economically and culturally important crops worldwide, and they have been bred for both winemaking and fresh consumption. Here we evaluate patterns of diversity across 33 phenotypes collected over a 17-year period from 580 table and wine grape accessions that belong to one of the world's largest grape gene banks, the grape germplasm collection of the United States Department of Agriculture. We find that phenological events throughout the growing season are correlated, and quantify the marked difference in size between table and wine grapes. By pairing publicly available historical phenotype data with genome-wide polymorphism data, we identify large effect loci controlling traits that have been targeted during domestication and breeding, including hermaphroditism, lighter skin pigmentation and muscat aroma. Breeding for larger berries in table grapes was traditionally concentrated in geographic regions where Islam predominates and alcohol was prohibited, whereas wine grapes retained the ancestral smaller size that is more desirable for winemaking in predominantly Christian regions. We uncover a novel locus with a suggestive association with berry size that harbors a signature of positive selection for larger berries. Our results suggest that religious rules concerning alcohol consumption have had a marked impact on patterns of phenomic and genomic diversity in grapes

Contrasting approaches to 'doing' family meals: a qualitative study of how parents frame children's food preferences

Family meals, as acts of domestic food provisioning, are shaped by the competing influences of household resources, food preferences and broader cultural norms around dietary practices. The place of children's food tastes in family meal practices is particularly complex. Food tastes stand in a reciprocal relationship with family food practices: being both an influence on and a product of them. This paper explores how parents think about and respond to their children's food preferences in relation to family meal practices. A qualitative study was conducted with residents of Sandwell, UK. The results presented here are based on the responses of nine key participants and their families. Photo elicitation methods generated participant food photo diaries that were used to inform subsequent interviews. A thematic analysis revealed two contrasting ways of incorporating children's tastes into family meal routines: (1) 'what we fancy' and (2) 'regulated'. The former entails repeatedly consulting and negotiating with children over what to cook for each meal. It is supported by the practical strategies of multiple and individually modified meals. The latter relies upon parents developing a repertoire of meals that 'work' for the family. This repertoire is performed as a series of 'set meals' in which any requests for variation are strongly resisted. Our findings add to the small body of literature on household food provisioning and suggest that achieving the idealised ritual of the family meal is underpinned by a range of values and strategies, some of which may run counter to health messages about nutrition

Developing young people's sense of self and place through sport

Previous research has recognized positive health implications, both physical and mental, as an outcome of participation in leisure pursuits. They provide opportunities for self-expression and stress reduction, as well as an environment in which people can socialize. Leisure activities, specifically sport activities, can play a significant role in young people's identity development. This paper explores the leisure activities in which young people in Adelaide, Australia participate. It examines the role of leisure activities in terms of young people's identity and feelings towards their hometown. This study consisted of semi-structured focus groups conducted with 24 senior high school students, followed by a survey resulting in 226 useable responses. Respondents were aged between 16 and 18 years of age. From the range of activities identified and explored, the results revealed sports activities to have the greatest impact on young people's lives. The results demonstrated that frequency of participation has a significant effect on young people's involvement levels and how they identify with the activity

A Survey of UV Bright Sources Behind the Halo of M31

We have performed a wide-area ultraviolet (UV) imaging survey using the GALaxy Evolution eXplorer (GALEX) to search for bright, point-like UV sources behind M31's extended halo. Our survey consisted of 46 pointings covering an effective area of ~50 deg^2, in both the far-UV and near-UV channels. We combined these data with optical R-band observations acquired with the WIYN Mosaic-1 imager on the Kitt Peak National Observatory 0.9m WIYN telescope. An analysis of the brightness and colors of sources matched between our photometric catalogs yielded ~100 UV-bright quasar candidates. We have obtained discovery spectra for 76 of these targets with the Kast spectrometer on the Lick 3m telescope and confirm 30 active galactic nuclei and quasars, 29 galaxies at z > 0.02 including several early-type systems, 16 Galactic stars (hot main-sequence stars), and one featureless source previously identified as a BL Lac object. Future UV spectroscopy of the brightest targets with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope will enable a systematic search for diffuse gas in the extended halo of M31.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures. Accepted to MNRA

Comparison of Factorization-Based Filtering for Landing Navigation

No abstract availabl