Resilience in Pre-Columbian Caribbean House-Building: Dialogue Between Archaeology and Humanitarian Shelter.

This paper responds to questions posed by archaeologists and engineers in the humanitarian sector about relationships between shelter, disasters and resilience. Enabled by an increase in horizontal excavations combined with high-resolution settlement data from excavations in the Dominican Republic, the paper presents a synthesis of Caribbean house data spanning a millennium (1400 BP- 450 BP). An analysis of architectural traits identify the house as an institution that constitutes and catalyses change in an emergent and resilient pathway. The "Caribbean architectural mode" emerged in a period of demographic expansion and cultural transition, was geographically widespread, different from earlier and mainland traditions and endured the hazards of island and coastal ecologies. We use archaeological analysis at the house level to consider the historical, ecological and regional dimensions of resilience in humanitarian action.Thank you to the Museo del Hombre Dominicano for collaboration on the site of El Cabo, to the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University for supporting the archaeological research. Kate Crawford’s post-doctoral post at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at University College London was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10745-015-9741-

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): end of survey report and data release 2

The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey is one of the largest contemporary spectroscopic surveys of low redshift galaxies. Covering an area of ˜286 deg2 (split among five survey regions) down to a limiting magnitude of r < 19.8 mag, we have collected spectra and reliable redshifts for 238 000 objects using the AAOmega spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. In addition, we have assembled imaging data from a number of independent surveys in order to generate photometry spanning the wavelength range 1 nm-1 m. Here, we report on the recently completed spectroscopic survey and present a series of diagnostics to assess its final state and the quality of the redshift data. We also describe a number of survey aspects and procedures, or updates thereof, including changes to the input catalogue, redshifting and re-redshifting, and the derivation of ultraviolet, optical and near-infrared photometry. Finally, we present the second public release of GAMA data. In this release, we provide input catalogue and targeting information, spectra, redshifts, ultraviolet, optical and near-infrared photometry, single-component Sérsic fits, stellar masses, Hα-derived star formation rates, environment information, and group properties for all galaxies with r < 19.0 mag in two of our survey regions, and for all galaxies with r < 19.4 mag in a third region (72 225 objects in total). The data base serving these data is available at http://www.gama-survey.org/

Estudo da formação de aderências e da cicatrização de anastomoses colônicas em ratos com sepse peritoneal induzida

OBJETIVO: Avaliar os efeitos da sepse abdominal sobre a formação de aderências e a cicatrização de anastomoses colônicas em ratos. MÉTODOS: 40 ratos distribuídos em dois grupos contendo 20 animais, para anastomose do cólon esquerdo na presença (grupo S) ou ausência (grupo N) de indução de sepse por ligadura e punção do ceco (CLP). Cada grupo foi dividido em subgrupos para eutanásia no terceiro (N3 e S3) ou sétimo (N7 e S7) dia de pós-operatório (DPO). Foi avaliada a quantidade de aderências e removido um segmento colônico contendo a anastomose para análise histopatológica, força de ruptura, hidroxiprolina e conteúdo de colágeno tecidual. RESULTADOS: Os animais submetidos à CLP apresentaram maior quantidade de aderências intra-abdominais tanto no 3° DPO (p=0,00) quanto no 7° DPO (p=0,00). Tiveram menores valores de força de ruptura no 3° DPO (p=0,00), porém maiores valores no 7° DPO (p=0,00). Não houve diferença na variação da concentração de hidroxiprolina, conteúdo de colágeno e histopatologia. CONCLUSÕES: A infecção peritoneal desencadeada por CLP aumentou a quantidade de aderências intra-cavitárias. Houve diminuição da resistência de anastomoses cólicas no 3° DPO, com posterior aumento no 7° DPO, sem efeito sobre os outros parâmetros da cicatrização. ________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTPURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of abdominal sepsis on adhesion formation and colon anastomosis healing in rats. METHODS: Forty rats were distributed in two groups containing 20 rats each for left colon anastomosis in the presence (Group S) or absence (Group N) of induced sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture. Each group was divided into subgroups for euthanasia on the third (N3 and S3) or seventh (N7 or S7) post-operative day. The amount of adhesions was evaluated and a segment of the colon was removed for histopathologic analysis, bursting strength assessment, hydroxyproline and the determination of tissue collagen. RESULTS: The subjects which underwent cecal ligation and puncture presented a higher amount of intra-abdominal adherences in both third (p=0,00) and seventh (p=0,00) post-operatory days. Smaller bursting strengths were found in the S3 subgroup, and greater bursting strengths were found in the S7 subgroup. There was no difference in the variations on the concentrations of hydroxyproline, tissue collagen and histopathology. CONCLUSIONS: The peritoneal infection which was developed by cecal ligation and puncture raised the amount of intra-cavitary adhesions. There was a decrease in the amount of colonic anastomosis on the third post-operatory day with a following raise on the seventh without any effects on other healing parameters

GAMA/H-ATLAS: Common star-formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameter

We compare common star-formation rate (SFR) indicators in the local Universe in the GAMA equatorial fields (∼ 160 deg2), using ultraviolet (UV) photometry from GALEX, far-infrared (FIR) and sub-millimetre (sub-mm) photometry from H-ATLAS, and Hα spectroscopy from the GAMA survey. With a high-quality sample of 745 galaxies (median redshift (z) = 0.08), we consider three SFR tracers: UV luminosity corrected for dust attenuation using the UV spectral slope β (SFRUV,corr), Hα line luminosity corrected for dust using the Balmer decrement (BD) (SFRHα,corr), and the combination of UV and IR emission (SFRUV+IR). We demonstrate that SFRUV,corr can be reconciled with the other two tracers after applying attenuation corrections by calibrating IRX (i.e. the IR to UV luminosity ratio) and attenuation in the Hα (derived from BD) against β. However, β on its own is very unlikely to be a reliable attenuation indicator. We find that attenuation correction factors depend on parameters such as stellar mass (M∗), z and dust temperature (Tdust), but not on Hα equivalent width (EW) or Sersic index. Due to the large scatter in the IRX vs β correlation, when compared to SFRUV+IR, the β-corrected SFRUV,corr exhibits systematic deviations as a function of IRX, BD and Tdust

A systematic variation of the stellar initial mass function in early-type galaxies

Much of our knowledge of galaxies comes from analysing the radiation emitted by their stars. It depends on the stellar initial mass function (IMF) describing the distribution of stellar masses when the population formed. Consequently knowledge of the IMF is critical to virtually every aspect of galaxy evolution. More than half a century after the first IMF determination, no consensus has emerged on whether it is universal in different galaxies. Previous studies indicated that the IMF and the dark matter fraction in galaxy centres cannot be both universal, but they could not break the degeneracy between the two effects. Only recently indications were found that massive elliptical galaxies may not have the same IMF as our Milky Way. Here we report unambiguous evidence for a strong systematic variation of the IMF in early-type galaxies as a function of their stellar mass-to-light ratio, producing differences up to a factor of three in mass. This was inferred from detailed dynamical models of the two-dimensional stellar kinematics for the large Atlas3D representative sample of nearby early-type galaxies spanning two orders of magnitude in stellar mass. Our finding indicates that the IMF depends intimately on a galaxy's formation history.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX. Accepted for publication as a Nature Letter. More information about our Atlas3D project is available at http://purl.org/atlas3

GAMA/H-ATLAS: Common star-formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameters

We compare common star-formation rate (SFR) indicators in the local Universe in the GAMA equatorial fields (around 160 sq. deg.), using ultraviolet (UV) photometry from GALEX, far-infrared (FIR) and sub-millimetre (sub-mm) photometry from H-ATLAS, and Halpha spectroscopy from the GAMA survey. With a high-quality sample of 745 galaxies (median redshift 0.08), we consider three SFR tracers: UV luminosity corrected for dust attenuation using the UV spectral slope beta (SFRUV,corr), Halpha line luminosity corrected for dust using the Balmer decrement (BD) (SFRHalpha,corr), and the combination of UV and IR emission (SFRUV+IR). We demonstrate that SFRUV,corr can be reconciled with the other two tracers after applying attenuation corrections by calibrating IRX (i.e. the IR to UV luminosity ratio) and attenuation in the Halpha (derived from BD) against beta. However, beta on its own is very unlikely to be a reliable attenuation indicator. We find that attenuation correction factors depend on parameters such as stellar mass, z and dust temperature (Tdust), but not on Halpha equivalent width (EW) or Sersic index. Due to the large scatter in the IRX vs beta correlation, when compared to SFRUV+IR, the beta-corrected SFRUV,corr exhibits systematic deviations as a function of IRX, BD and Tdust

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Early Data Release

We present the Early Data Release of the Sydney–AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey. The SAMI Galaxy Survey is an ongoing integral field spectroscopic survey of _3400 low-redshift (z < 0:12) galaxies, covering galaxies in the field and in groups within the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey regions, and a sample of galaxies in clusters. In the Early Data Release, we publicly release the fully calibrated datacubes for a representative selection of 107 galaxies drawn from the GAMA regions, along with information about these galaxies from the GAMA catalogues. All datacubes for the Early Data Release galaxies can be downloaded individually or as a set from the SAMI Galaxy Survey website. In this paper we also assess the quality of the pipeline used to reduce the SAMI data, giving metrics that quantify its performance at all stages in processing the raw data into calibrated datacubes. The pipeline gives excellent results throughout, with typical sky subtraction residuals in the continuum of 0.9–1.2 per cent, a relative flux calibration uncertainty of 4.1 per cent (systematic) plus 4.3 per cent (statistical), and atmospheric dispersion removed with an accuracy of 0:0009, less than a fifth of a spaxel

Mineral nutrient status, some quality and morphological characteristics changes in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars under salt stress

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is considered to be one of the most important crops which thrive in newly reclaimed sandy soils as a leguminous crop of high nutritive value and a source of edible oil. Our study tested the effects of different salt levels on mineral nutrient partitioning (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, P and N) and some quality (dry weight and leaf relative water content) and morphological (plant height, number of leaves) characteristics of peanut commercial cultivars. Four peanut cultivars (Mbiah, Ngondo, Pyrieur and Vanda) were used in this experiment. Three concentrations of salt solution including 50, 100 and 200 mM NaCl and the control (Wacquant nutrient solution) were used in irrigation. The pot experiment was arranged in completely randomized design with four replicates. The leaf relative water content (LRWC) provoked by the salinity in nutrient solution decreased from 85.08 to 83.43%, 87.82 to 85.30%, 85.81 to 78.20% and 85.90 to 79.70% in Mbiah, Ngondo, Pyrieur and Vanda cultivars respectively. The results showed that the salt stress reduced significantly (p&lt;0.05) the plant height in Pyrieur cultivar from 40.49 to 21.45 cm, the number of leaves from 11.2 to 7.0, the dry weight of roots from 0.15 to 0.11 g Plant-1, the dry weight of stems from 0.37 to 0.15 g Plant-1 and the dry weight of leaves from 0.46 to 0.19 g Plant-1. Similar results were obtained in Vanda cultivar where the supply of nutrient solution with salinity reduced significantly (p&lt;0.05) the plant height from 38.26 to 26.30 cm, the number of leaves from 12.5 to 7.5, the dry weight of roots from 0.14 to 0.03 g Plant-1, the dry weight of stems from 0.36 to 0.12 g Plant-1 and the dry weight oh leaves from 0.46 to 0.19 g Plant-1. The results also revealed that K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, P, N, K+/Na+ and Ca2+/Na+ uptake of peanut plant organs were significantly (p&lt;0.05) reduced with increasing salinity in Pyrieur, Vanda and Mbiah except for total N accumulation in plant organs of Mbiah. The plant height, the number of leaves, the dry weight and the mineral nutrient uptake were not significantly (p&gt;0.05) reduced under salt stress in Ngondo plant organs except at high salt-treated (200 mM NaCl). The Ngondo cultivar was observed to have relatively higher tolerance on average of all growth parameters and mineral nutrient status than others. This finding suggested that the Ngondo cultivar could be used to highlight the newly salt cultivated sandy soils in arid, semi-arid regions and similar environments across Cameroon.Key words: Arachis hypogaea, growth parameters, mineral nutrient, plant organs, salt stress

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Early Data Release

We present the Early Data Release of the Sydney–AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey. The SAMI Galaxy Survey is an ongoing integral field spectroscopic survey of _3400 low-redshift (z < 0:12) galaxies, covering galaxies in the field and in groups within the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey regions, and a sample of galaxies in clusters. In the Early Data Release, we publicly release the fully calibrated datacubes for a representative selection of 107 galaxies drawn from the GAMA regions, along with information about these galaxies from the GAMA catalogues. All datacubes for the Early Data Release galaxies can be downloaded individually or as a set from the SAMI Galaxy Survey website. In this paper we also assess the quality of the pipeline used to reduce the SAMI data, giving metrics that quantify its performance at all stages in processing the raw data into calibrated datacubes. The pipeline gives excellent results throughout, with typical sky subtraction residuals in the continuum of 0.9–1.2 per cent, a relative flux calibration uncertainty of 4.1 per cent (systematic) plus 4.3 per cent (statistical), and atmospheric dispersion removed with an accuracy of 0:0009, less than a fifth of a spaxel

Effects of Cucumis metuliferus (Cucurbitaceae) fruits on enzymes and haematological parameters in albino rats

The effects of the powdered fruits of Cucumis metuliferus on enzymes and haematological indices were evaluated in adult albino rats. The study revealed a significant (