The Exchange of Goods from Italy to India during the Early Roman Empire – The Range of Travelling Times

This paper examines the evidence for the time taken for a circuitous flow of goods between Italy and India to occur. It is argued that the distinct nature of the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean trading spheres meant that it was often not possible for this circuit to be completed within one year. In particular, a comparison of papyrological, epigraphic and literary sources indicates that a variety of natural and manmade factors greatly impacted on these schedules. Consequently the goods which were traded between these two economic zones fluctuated in volume, nature and the prices for which they were sold

Balancing the trade : Roman cargo shipments to India

There has been a continuing debate about the extent to which the Roman Empire suffered an economic imbalance in its trade with India (and more broadly the East), that is to say whether in volume or value the Roman Empire imported more than it exported. This imbalance is often thought to be manifested in the export of Roman gold and silver to India and the connected notion that other goods from the Roman Empire were seen as merely items of ballast. It is the intention of this article to place this debate in a practical context by demonstrating not only the physical need for mixed cargoes on ships sailing to India, but also the negligible amount of space taken up by the gold and silver. It is argued that in terms of volume (if not value) goods in-kind were far more significant

The Decline of Ptolemaic Elephant Hunting: An Analysis of the Contributory Factors

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323, his successors (diadochi) engaged in a series of internecine struggles to take control of the territory he had conquered. One of the most capable of these, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus (later to become Ptolemy I Soter), took control of Egypt, initially as satrap (323–306) and subsequently as king (306–283/282). Over several decades Ptolemy was able to seize Coele-Syria and parts of Asia Minor, and achieved leadership of the League of Islanders in the Aegean. The battles between the successors were fought with sizable infantry and cavalry forces. However, one of the most notable and highly valued components of these military forces were battle elephants.</jats:p

Who discovered messenger RNA?

SummaryThe announcement of the discovery of messenger RNA (mRNA) and the cracking of the genetic code took place within weeks of each other in a climax of scientific excitement during the summer of 1961. Although mRNA is of decisive importance to our understanding of gene function, no Nobel Prize was awarded for its discovery. The large number of people involved, the complex nature of the results, and the tortuous path that was taken over half a century ago, all show that simple claims of priority may not reflect how science works

Recoverable resources calculation using non-linear methods: a comparative study

The prediction of recoverable resources at an operating manganese mine is currently undertaken using univariate ordinary kriging of the target variable manganese, and 5 deleterious variables. Input data densities at the time of this calculation are considerably lower than at the time of final selection (grade control), and the potential for unnacceptable conditional bias to be introduced through the use of linear geostatistical methods when determining grade estimates over a small support has led to assessment of the potential benefit of employing the local change of support methods Localised Uniform Conditioning (LUC) and Conditional Simulation (CS). Allowances for the operating conditions, including time frames for estimation / simulation, and likely software limitations are accounted for by also requiring decorrelation to be used in instances where the data are considered in a multivariate sense. A novel method for decorrelation of geostatistical datasets, Independent Components Analysis (ICA), is compared against the more common method of Minimum-Maximum Autocorrelation Factorisation (MAF). ICA performs comparably against MAF in terms of its ability to diagonalise the variance-covariance matrix of the test dataset over multiple lags, for a variety of input data densities and treatments (log-ratio transformed and raw oxide data). Based on these results, ICA decorrelated data were incorporated into a comparative study of LUC and CS against block ordinary kriging (BOK), using an input dataset of reduced density, treated variously as raw univariate oxide data, decorrelated oxide data, and log-ratio transformed decorrelated data. The use of the log-ratio transform, designed to account for the 100% sum constraint inherent to the input data, proved impractical for LUC due to difficulties associated with the discrete Gaussian model change of support method employed by this technique. Log-ratio data transformation was restricted to use with CS where back transformation to raw oxide space could take place on a pseudo-equivalent support to the input data, prior to change of support. While use of the log-ratio transformation for CS guaranteed adherence to the sum constraint for results (the only method to do so) it resulted in distortion to both the spatial and grade distribution of results. Decorrelation by ICA also posed difficulties, with biases introduced to final back transformed results as a result of the decorrelation algorithm in both log-ratio transformed and oxide data, which in some instances caused impossible negative values to be returned for some variables in the final results. In a comparison of net profit calculations for each method, the distortions introduced from both log-ratio transformation, and decorrelation become evident in either overly optimistic or conservative profit distributions for methods in which they were used. Of the results presented, only BOK, CS and LUC of non-decorrelated oxide data appear to show results similar to those which would be used at the operation during final selection (based on ordinary kriging of a complete dataset). Based on the comparison of spatial grade distributions and both net profit spatial distribution and summary, the decision to employ a non-linear method of recoverable resource calculation at the operation under question would be questionable in terms of its reward for effort, given that the current method of BOK appears to produce equivalent results

Development of a low profile laser Doppler probe for monitoring perfusion at the patient – mattress interface

The clinical importance of pressure ulcers is reviewed confirming the need for continuous monitoring of skin blood perfusion at the patient – mattress interface. The design of a low profile (H≈1mm) laser Doppler probe is then described together with the experimental setup used for evaluation. The results show that the performance of the new sensor does not vary significantly from that of currently available probes over a wide range of operating parameters. The authors conclude that the sensor design provides a low cost perfusion monitoring solution with potential to significantly reduce the risk of bed sores in hospital patients

A Resource Manual for Mainstreaming Students with Behavioral Disabilities in the Middle School

The purpose of this project was to develop a resource manual to facilitate the use of effective components for mainstreamed or included Behavior Disabled (BD) students in the regular classroom. The manual will be used by Wapato Middle School, Wapato, Washington, to enhance the current mainstream/ inclusion program. To accomplish this purpose, current research and literature related to BD student characteristics, legal issues, instructional strategies and policies were reviewed

From Bronzization to “world system”: Globalization and Glocalization across the Globe (2000 BCE-1500 CE)

The present chapter considers the ways in which pre-modern historians and archaeologists have, to date, engaged with glocalization

Black Pepper Consumption in the Roman Empire

During the Roman Imperial period huge quantities of black pepper arrived into the Empire from southern India and were employed in a range of contexts, from the culinary and medicinal, to the religious. This article seeks to examine the popularity of black pepper in the Roman Empire and test the theory that its consumption was not simply restricted to elite circles, but reached a wider spectrum of the population. In particular, price and wage data from the Edict of Maximum Prices is examined to see how feasible it was for those lower down the socio-economic spectrum to make such purchases

Conceptualising the Far West: Early Chinese Notions of Da Qin and the Indian Ocean Trade

This chapter considers a few early Chinese texts which discuss the land and people of Da Qin (principally the Weilüe, Hou Hanshu and Liangshu); a term often understood by Sinologists and Classicists as referring to the Roman Empire (or at least parts of it). In the narratives given, a number of interesting, and often peculiar claims are made about Da Qin, its wealth, the customs of its people, their rulers, and the territory’s location near the mythic western edges of the world. The precise sources of this information is not definitively known. Some have assumed that these accounts were based on the diffusion of genuine (if garbled) information via Indian Ocean merchants or through ambassadors like Gan Ying. Others point to the more imaginative elements in the text. It is argued here that much of the narrative in these texts are better understood within the context of Chinese mythical, religious, cultural and geographical frameworks for viewing the world – especially the more fantastical and utopian claims. Consequently, we should be very wary of using these works to try and reconstruct details about Indian Ocean trading activity, more broadly, and Sino-Roman contact in the early centuries CE, in particular