Optimisation of the radiocarbon dating process of mortar samples. A case study in the Colosseum, Rome (Italy)

This project highlights the importance of an integrated planning of field and laboratory procedures for the success of the radiocarbon dating of mortar samples. In this research bulk mortar analysis was complemented with lime lump analysis. The two materials were dated at different laboratories. Results are discussed considering the historic and archaeological information available on the building and on the structure where the sample was collected

Addressing the ocean-climate nexus in the BBNJ agreement : strategic environmental assessments, human rights and equity in ocean science

The Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) opens a new path in international law towards addressing issues at the ocean-climate nexus, as well as considering implications for the protection of human rights and achieving equity among States in the context of ocean knowledge production and environmental management. Based on an interdisciplinary reflection, the new international obligations on strategic environmental assessments (SEAs), and new institutional arrangements, are identified as crucial avenues to addressing climate change mitigation and ensuring fair research partnerships, mutual capacity-building and technology co-development between the Global North and South. SEAs can also support integrated implementation of other parts of the BBNJ Agreement and contribute to the broader effectiveness of the general provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the protection of the marine environment, within and beyond national jurisdiction

Australia\u27s health 1994 : the fourth biennial report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Australia\u27s Health is the most comprehensive and authoritative source of national information on health in Australia. Australia\u27s Health is published mid-year in even-numbered years and provides national statistics and related information that form a record of health status, service provision and expenditure in Australia

Ocean-based climate action and human rights implications under the international climate change regime

After drawing attention to the crucial role of marine biodiversity, including that of deep-sea ecosystems, in current scientific understanding of the ocean-climate nexus, this article highlights the limited extent to which the international climate change regime has so far addressed the ocean. The focus then shifts to how the international climate change regime could contribute to the protection of marine biodiversity as part of mitigation, adaptation and finance, taking into account human rights impacts and standards, drawing a comparison with REDD+. The article concludes with an original proposal, inspired by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, to develop urgent, synergistic approaches to ocean- and human rights-based climate action through a multi-actor coalition, including different international treaties and United Nations bodies, to ‘protect and restore the ocean’s contributions to climate regulation, human well-being and planetary health’

Garotas de loja, história social e teoria social [Shop Girls, Social History and Social Theory]

Shop workers, most of them women, have made up a significant proportion of Britain’s labour force since the 1850s but we still know relatively little about their history. This article argues that there has been a systematic neglect of one of the largest sectors of female employment by historians and investigates why this might be. It suggests that this neglect is connected to framings of work that have overlooked the service sector as a whole as well as to a continuing unease with the consumer society’s transformation of social life. One element of that transformation was the rise of new forms of aesthetic, emotional and sexualised labour. Certain kinds of ‘shop girls’ embodied these in spectacular fashion. As a result, they became enduring icons of mass consumption, simultaneously dismissed as passive cultural dupes or punished as powerful agents of cultural destruction. This article interweaves the social history of everyday shop workers with shifting representations of the ‘shop girl’, from Victorian music hall parodies, through modernist social theory, to the bizarre bombing of the Biba boutique in London by the Angry Brigade on May Day 1971. It concludes that progressive historians have much to gain by reclaiming these workers and the service economy that they helped create

MicroRNA Processing and Binding Site Polymorphisms Are Not Replicated in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium

Background Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in microRNA-related genes have been associated with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk in two reports, yet associated alleles may be inconsistent across studies. Methods We conducted a pooled analysis of previously-identified SNPs by combining genotype data from 3,973 invasive EOC cases and 3,276 controls from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. We also conducted imputation to obtain dense coverage of genes and comparable genotype data for all studies. In total, 226 SNPs within 15 kilobases of 4 miRNA biogenesis genes (DDX20, DROSHA, GEMIN4, and XPO5) and 23 SNPs located within putative miRNA binding sites of 6 genes (CAV1, COL18A1, E2F2, IL1R1, KRAS, and UGT2A3) were genotyped or imputed and analyzed in the entire dataset. Results After adjustment for European ancestry, no overall association was observed between any of the analyzed SNPs and EOC risk. Conclusions Common variants in these evaluated genes do not appear to be strongly associated with EOC risk. Impact This analysis suggests earlier associations between EOC risk and SNPs in these genes may have been chance findings, possibly confounded by population admixture. To more adequately evaluate the relationship between genetic variants and cancer risk, large sample sizes are needed, adjustment for population stratification should be performed, and use of imputed SNP data should be considered

When generations collide: Who they are, why they clash, how to solve the generational puzzle at work

New Yorkxxvii, 355 p.; 20 c

The Role Of Separation Of Concerns In The Formal Specification Of Distributed Multimedia Systems

In previous publications, the authors have proposed an approach to the formal specification of real-time systems based on a principle of maintaining a separation of concerns. More specifically, the authors advocate a separation of concerns between the specification of behaviour and requirements and also between the specification of abstract behaviour and real-time concerns. The aim of this paper is to evaluate this approach by studying the specification of a lip synchronisation algorithm, firstly, using a classical timed LOTOS and, secondly, by using a new technique based on the principle of maintaining a separation of concerns. The paper highlights a number of benefits resulting from maintaining a separation of concerns. Firstly, by separating out the real-time assumptions, the remaining specification of behaviour is totally abstract in the sense that it does not contain any performance or implementation considerations. Secondly, the real-time assumptions are immediately identifiable ..

A principled approach to supporting adaptation in distributed mobile environments

To support multimedia applications in mobile environments, it will be necessary for applications to be aware of the underlying environmental conditions, and also to be able to adapt their behaviour and that of the underlying platform as such conditions change. Many existing distributed systems platforms support such adaptation only in a rather ad hoc manner This paper presents a principled approach to supporting adaptation through the use of reflection. More specifically, the paper introduces a language-independent, component-based reflective architecture featuring a per-component meta-space, the use of meta-models to structure meta-space, and a consistent use of component graphs to represent composite components. The paper also reports on a quality of service management framework, providing sophisticated support for monitoring and adaptation functions. Finally, the paper describes a prototype implementation of this architecture using the object-oriented programming language Python