An Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery at Walkington Wold, Yorkshire

This paper presents a re-evaluation of a cemetery excavated over 30 years ago at Walkington Wold in east Yorkshire. The cemetery is characterized by careless burial on diverse alignments, and by the fact that most of the skeletons did not have associated crania. The cemetery has been variously described as being the result of an early post-Roman massacre, as providing evidence for a ‘Celtic’ head cult or as an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery. In order to resolve the matter, radiocarbon dates were acquired and a re-examination of the skeletal remains was undertaken. It was confirmed that the cemetery was an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery, the only known example from northern England, and the site is set into its wider context in the paper

Design of a fuzzy affective agent based on typicality degrees of physiological signals

Conference paper presented at International Conference on Information Processing and Management in July 2014Physiology-based emotionally intelligent paradigms provide an opportunity to enhance human computer interactions by continuously evoking and adapting to the user experiences in real-time. However , there are unresolved questions on how to model real- time emotionally intelligent applications through mapping of physiological patterns to users ' affective states. In ·this study, we consider an approach for design of fuzzy affective agent based on the concept of typicality. We propose the use of typicality degrees of physiological patterns to construct the fuzzy rules representing the continuous transitions of user 's affective states. The approach was tested· on experimental data in which physiological measures were recorded on players involved in an action game to characterize various gaming experiences . We show that , in addition to exploitation of the results to characterize users ' affective states through .typicality degrees, this approach is a systematic way to automatically define fuzzy rules from experimental data for an affective agent to be used in real -time continuous assessment of user's affective states.Physiology-based emotionally intelligent paradigms provide an opportunity to enhance human computer interactions by continuously evoking and adapting to the user experiences in real-time. However , there are unresolved questions on how to model real- time emotionally intelligent applications through mapping of physiological patterns to users ' affective states. In ·this study, we consider an approach for design of fuzzy affective agent based on the concept of typicality. We propose the use of typicality degrees of physiological patterns to construct the fuzzy rules representing the continuous transitions of user 's affective states. The approach was tested· on experimental data in which physiological measures were recorded on players involved in an action game to characterize various gaming experiences . We show that , in addition to exploitation of the results to characterize users ' affective states through .typicality degrees, this approach is a systematic way to automatically define fuzzy rules from experimental data for an affective agent to be used in real -time continuous assessment of user's affective states

MMN and Differential Waveform

A mismatch negativity response (MMN) and a new differential waveform were derived in an effort to evaluate a neural refractory or recovery effect in adult listeners. The MMN was elicited using oddball test runs in which the standard and deviant stimuli differed in frequency. To derive the differential waveform, the same standard and deviant stimuli were presented alone. MMN responses were obtained by subtracting the averaged responses to standards from the deviants. The differential waveforms were obtained by subtracting the averaged responses to standards presented alone from deviants presented alone. Scalp topography for the MMN and differential waveforms were similar. A significant (p < .05) positive and negative correlation was found between the earlier and later components of the bimodal MMN and the N1 and P2 component of the differential waveform, respectively. Further, N1 and P2 of the differential waveform were significant (p < .05) predictor variables of early and late peak amplitudes of the MMN. These results suggest that refractory effects may overlay/modify the morphology of the MMN waveform

Star Formation and Dynamics in the Galactic Centre

The centre of our Galaxy is one of the most studied and yet enigmatic places in the Universe. At a distance of about 8 kpc from our Sun, the Galactic centre (GC) is the ideal environment to study the extreme processes that take place in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). Despite the hostile environment, several tens of early-type stars populate the central parsec of our Galaxy. A fraction of them lie in a thin ring with mild eccentricity and inner radius ~0.04 pc, while the S-stars, i.e. the ~30 stars closest to the SMBH (<0.04 pc), have randomly oriented and highly eccentric orbits. The formation of such early-type stars has been a puzzle for a long time: molecular clouds should be tidally disrupted by the SMBH before they can fragment into stars. We review the main scenarios proposed to explain the formation and the dynamical evolution of the early-type stars in the GC. In particular, we discuss the most popular in situ scenarios (accretion disc fragmentation and molecular cloud disruption) and migration scenarios (star cluster inspiral and Hills mechanism). We focus on the most pressing challenges that must be faced to shed light on the process of star formation in the vicinity of a SMBH.Comment: 68 pages, 35 figures; invited review chapter, to be published in expanded form in Haardt, F., Gorini, V., Moschella, U. and Treves, A., 'Astrophysical Black Holes'. Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer 201

Genetic defects in common variable immunodeficiency

Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is the most frequent clinically manifested primary immunodeficiency. According to clinical and laboratory findings, CVID is a heterogeneous group of diseases. Recently, the defects of molecules regulating activation and terminal differentiation of B lymphocytes have been described in some patients with CVID. In this study, we show the overview of deficiencies of inducible costimulator, transmembrane activator and calcium-modulator and cytophilin ligand interactor, CD19 molecules, their genetic basis, pathogenesis and clinical manifestations

O ler e o escrever na construção do conhecimento matemático no Ensino Médio

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar a utilização de diferentes estratégias de Leitura e Escrita no ensino de Matemática do Ensino Médio, e de instrumentos nos quais os alunos externaram as suas percepções durante o processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Para tanto, realizou-se uma pesquisa qualitativa com análise interpretativa sobre as atividades e os instrumentos propostos, os quais foram organizados em um Portfólio. A formulação e a aplicação da pesquisa, bem como a análise dos resultados e as conclusões foram baseadas no enfoque histórico-cultural de Vigotski e estudos sobre a linguagem matemática e a utilização da Leitura e Escrita nas aulas de Matemática, de diversos pesquisadores. As categorias emergentes da análise dos dados foram: a construção do conhecimento matemático, a semântica dos termos matemáticos, os valores demonstrados pelos alunos e a potencialidade das atividades. Os resultados, considerando-se todas as categorias, indicam que o processo pode tornar a relação professor-aluno e aluno-aluno mais interativa e mais efetiva para a construção do conhecimento matemático

Demonstration of surface electron rejection with interleaved germanium detectors for dark matter searches

The SuperCDMS experiment in the Soudan Underground Laboratory searches for dark matter with a 9-kg array of cryogenic germanium detectors. Symmetric sensors on opposite sides measure both charge and phonons from each particle interaction, providing excellent discrimination between electron and nuclear recoils, and between surface and interior events. Surface event rejection capabilities were tested with two 210 Pb sources producing ∼130 beta decays/hr. In ∼800 live hours, no events leaked into the 8–115 keV signal region, giving upper limit leakage fraction 1.7 × 10−5 at 90% C.L., corresponding to < 0.6 surface event background in the future 200-kg SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment

Effect of event selection on jetlike correlation measurement in d+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV

AbstractDihadron correlations are analyzed in sNN=200 GeV d+Au collisions classified by forward charged particle multiplicity and zero-degree neutral energy in the Au-beam direction. It is found that the jetlike correlated yield increases with the event multiplicity. After taking into account this dependence, the non-jet contribution on the away side is minimal, leaving little room for a back-to-back ridge in these collisions