Multiple approaches to predicting flake mass

Predicting original flake mass is a major goal of lithic analysis. Predicting original flake mass allows for researchers to make estimations of remaining mass, lost mass, and other features. All these measures relate to the organization of lithic technology by past societies. The present work tests three different models to predict log of flake mass: multiple linear regression, random forest regression, and artificial neural networks (ANN). Estimations of flake mass were performed using the remaining features of flakes from an experimental assemblage. This assemblage was obtained by the expansion of a previous dataset through the inclusion of bigger flakes, allowing the analysis to account for the effects of sample size and value distribution. Correlation results show a large/ strong relation between predictions and real outcome (r 2 = 0.78 in the best case). Comparison of the models affords insights into variable importance for predicting flake mass. Results show that (for the present dataset) multiple linear regression still stands as the best method for predicting log of flake weight. Additionally, transformation of predicted values from the multiple linear regression and true values to the linear scale reinforces the linear correlation above the 0.8 threshold. This article is the result of the research projects “Como, Quien Y Donde?: Variabilidad De Comportamientos En La Captacion ´ Y Transformacion ´ De Los Recursos Liticos Dentro De Grupos Neandertales 2” (HAR2016-76760-C3-2-P) financed by Agencia Estatal de Investigacion ´ (AEI), Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER); and “En Los Limites De La Diversidad: Comportamiento Neandertal En El Centro Y Sur De La Penisula Iberica” (ID2019- 103987 GB-C33) financed by the Programa Estatal de Generacion ´ de Conocimiento y Fortalecimiento Científico y Tecnologico ´ del Sistema de I + D + i y de I + D + i Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad, del Plan Estatal de Investigacion ´ Científica y T´ecnica y de Innovacion ´ (2017–2020). Development of the experimentation and analysis of the materials were undertaken at the Laboratory of Experimental Archaeology (Universidad Autonoma ´ de Madrid). This work has been carried out with the financial support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agency (2017SGR1040 Research Group), the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (2021PFR-URV-126), and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN/FEDER project PID2021-122355NB-C32).The Institut Catala ` de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolucio ´ Social (IPHES-CERCA) has received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “María de Maeztu” program for Units of Excellence (CEX2019-000945-M

Agarrar o no agarrar: Una aproximación experimental para comprender el uso de áreas prensiles en útiles Musterienses

The existence of a more or less complex handling technology with the lithic tools during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic is an interesting topic for understanding aspects of the human behavior during these periods. In this work we present a preliminary experimental evaluation of the possible functionality of prehensile area in some of the most representative lithic types of the Mousterian assemblages (dorsal elements and levallois chapeau de gendarme proximal area), in which the morphological comparative analysis of imprints and prehensile tool areas, is compared by 3D analysis procedures. Preliminary results indicate that there is a close relationship between the digital grasp morphologie and the prehensile area of some Mousterian techno-types. We also discussed the relevance and significance of these provisional conclusions in the context of hunter gather communitiesLa existencia de una tecnología más o menos compleja en el manejo de los útiles líticos durante el Paleolítico Inferior y Medio es una clave interesante para conocer, en todas sus facetas, a los grupos humanos de estos periodos. En este trabajos presentamos una evaluación experimental de carácter preliminar sobre el posible funcionamiento de las áreas prensiles de algunos de los tipos líticos más representativos de los conjuntos musterienses (elementos de dorso y talones Levallois de chapeau de gendarme) en la que el análisis morfológico de improntas en masillas y en útiles líticos se compara mediante procedimientos de análisis 3D. Los resultados preliminares indican que existe una estrecha relación entre las morfologías de prensión digital y las áreas prensiles de algunos tecno-tipos musterienses. Igualmente discutimos qué significado pueden tener estas conclusiones provisionale

Smart release of antimicrobial ZnO nanoplates from a pH-responsive keratin hydrogel

A smart antibacterial biomaterial based on a keratin hydrogel with pH-dependent behavior and Zinc Oxide nanoplates as biocide agent has been developed. The pH of a chronic wound is basic due to bacterial metabolism. Originally shrank at acid pH, keratin hydrogels swell upon contact with a bacterial contaminated media leading to the release of the nanoparticles. The material has been thoroughly characterized by infrared spectroscopy, Raman, scanning electron microscope, swelling behavior, Differential scanning calorimetry, Small-angle X-ray scattering, rheology, antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity. The results show that 5% of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles concentration is the optimum for wound dressing applications.Fil: Villanueva, María Emilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco; ArgentinaFil: Cuestas, María Luján. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Pérez, Claudio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Campodallorto, Viviana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco; ArgentinaFil: Copello, Guillermo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco; Argentin

Un país alemán tras la guerra de los Treinta Años: Prusia

RESUMEN La aplicación de los tratados de Westfalia, en 1648, garantizó algo más que la paz o las libertades dentro del Sacro Imperio Romano. La aplicación de sus artículos dotaron a los príncipes territoriales del respaldo necesario para iniciar políticas absolutistas que culminaron en la formación de estados más centralizados. Entre estos, el territorio alemán que más éxito tuvo en la aplicación de estas prerrogativas para la creación de un estado absoluto fue el Electorado de Brandemburgo-Prusia. A partir del reinado del Gran Elector, durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVII y principios del XVIII, la dinastía Hohenzollern lideró un proyecto político que cohesionó los territorios patrimoniales, y aquellos que se irán adquiriendo con el paso del tiempo, hasta la creación de un estado, el reino de Prusia. Este territorio y la cultura política que desarrolle será la base sobre la que, posteriormente, se edifique la nación alemana en el siglo XIX. Palabras clave: paces de Westfalia, Brandemburgo-Prusia, Estado, políticas absolutistas, tolerancia. ABSTRACT The implementation of the Westphalia treaties, in 1648, guaranteed something more than the peace or the liberties inside the Holy Roman Empire. The implementation of their articles gave to the territorial princes the necessary backup to start the absolutist politics that will necessary culminate in more centralized states. Between them, the German territory that most succeeded in the application of those privileges, in order to form an absolute state was the Electorate of Brandenburg-Prussia. Since the rule of the Great Elector, during the second half of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, the Hohenzollern dynasty leaded a politic project that united the inherited territories, and those that will be acquire in the future, until the creation of a state, the Kingdom of Prussia. That territory and its politic culture will be the base above which, on the future, will be built the German nation in the 19th. Key words: peaces of Westphalia, Brandenbourg-Prussia, State, absolutist politics, tolerance

Preliminary experimental insights into differential heat impact among lithic artifacts

The presence of thermally altered and broken flint artifacts is common at archaeological sites. Most studies focus their attention on the effects of heat treatment on flint to improve knapping qualities, disregarding the effects of fire over flint under uncontrolled conditions. This paper aims to show how under uncontrolled heating processes flint artifacts develop different heat alterations (such as levels of breakage, presence of scales, etc.) as a result of vertical distribution, volume or raw material and to establish a gradient of rock changes and behavior. Artifacts where macroscopically analyzed and a series of uncontrolled heating experiments through the distribution of flint blanks under two hearths were carried out, allowing a comparison of the before and after of the blanks. Preliminary results show how levels of breakage, surface alteration or development of heat alteration features can be differentiated according to artifact volume, vertical distribution and level of surface alteration. Results also show how two different raw materials react differently to similar thermal impact, and how surface alteration reacts at different rhythm in the case of recycled artifacts. We conclude that levels of thermal alteration can be differentiated through macroscopic analysis of flint surface

Improvement of Remote Sensing-Based Assessment of Defoliation of Pinus spp. Caused by Thaumetopoea pityocampa Denis and Schiffermüller and Related Environmental Drivers in Southeastern Spain

This study used Landsat temporal series to describe defoliation levels due to the Pine Processionary Moth (PPM) in Pinus forests of southeastern Andalusia (Spain), utilizing Google Earth Engine. A combination of remotely sensed data and field survey data was used to detect the defoliation levels of different Pinus spp. and the main environmental drivers of the defoliation due to the PPM. Four vegetation indexes were also calculated for remote sensing defoliation assessment, both inside the stand and in a 60-m buffer area. In the area of study, all Pinus species are affected by defoliation due to the PPM, with a cyclic behavior that has been increasing in frequency in recent years. Defoliation levels were practically equal for all species, with a high increase in defoliation levels 2 and 3 since 2014. The Moisture Stress Index (MSI) and Normalized Difference Infrared Index (NDII) exhibited similar overall (p < 0.001) accuracy in the assessment of defoliation due to the PPM. The synchronization of NDII-defoliation data had a similar pattern for all together and individual Pinus species, showing the ability of this index to adjust the model parameters based on the characteristics of specific defoliation levels. Using Landsat-based NDII-defoliation maps and interpolated environmental data, we have shown that the PPM defoliation in southeastern Spain is driven by the minimum temperature in February and the precipitation in June, March, September, and October. Therefore, the NDII-defoliation assessment seems to be a general index that can be applied to forests in other areas. The trends of NDII-defoliation related to environmental variables showed the importance of summer drought stress in the expansion of the PPM on Mediterranean Pinus species. Our results confirm the potential of Landsat time-series data in the assessment of PPM defoliation and the spatiotemporal patterns of the PPM; hence, these data are a powerful tool that can be used to develop a fully operational system for the monitoring of insect damage

Meat and fat quality of gilts intended for Spanish dry-cured ham: effect of immunocastration and feeding

Abstract PSXIII-27: Currently, gilts intended for Spanish high quality drycured ham are characterized by lack of fatness detected at backfat depth covering the ham and also in the intramuscular fat content, necessary for an optimum dry-curing process and for the consumer acceptability, respectively..

Greening the post crisis. Collectivity in private and public community gardens in València (Spain)

[EN] Unlike other Western European countries, community gardens have appeared very recently in Spain, and they have rapidly increased during the last decade. Community gardens have adopted different forms -rental, municipal and associative- with contrasted managerial practices. This paper analyzes collectivity of community gardens in Valencia (Spain), including private initiatives, through semi-structured interviews conducted in different gardens of the Valencia Metropolitan Area. Results show how the financial crisis has acted as a catalyst for urban greening latent demands, causing the expansion of community gardens. Despite the different structure, practices and rules of private and public gardens, all of them share aims and actions related to urban greening, food sovereignty, organic farming and community building, and show similar benefits to those observed in other countries. Moreover, the rental gardens allow farmers to expand their services and to engage directly with consumers.Palau-Salvador, G.; De Luis, A.; Juan Pérez, J.; Sanchis Ibor, C. (2019). Greening the post crisis. Collectivity in private and public community gardens in València (Spain). Cities. 92:292-302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.04.005S2923029

Meat and fat quality of gilts intended for Spanish dry-cured ham: effect of immunocastration and feeding

Abstract PSXIII-27: Currently, gilts intended for Spanish high quality drycured ham are characterized by lack of fatness detected at backfat depth covering the ham and also in the intramuscular fat content, necessary for an optimum dry-curing process and for the consumer acceptability, respectively..

What lies in between: Levallois, discoid and intermediate methods

Lithic artefacts are usually associated with the different knapping methods used in their production. Flakes exhibit metric and technological features representative of the flaking method used to detach them. However, lithic production is a dynamic process in which discrete methods can be blurred, and in which features can vary throughout the process. An intermediate knapping method between the discoid and Levallois is commonly referred to under an umbrella of terms (the present research uses the term hierarchical discoid), and is associated with a broad geographical and chronological distribution throughout the Early and Middle Palaeolithic. This intermediate knapping strategy exhibits features of both the discoid and Levallois knapping methods, raising the question of the extent to which flakes from the three knapping methods can be differentiated and, when one is mistaken for another, the direction of confusion. An experimental assemblage of flakes detached by means of the three methods was used along with an attribute analysis and machine learning models in an effort to identify the knapping methods employed. In general, our results were able to very effectively differentiate between the three knapping methods when a support vector machine with polynomial kernel was used. Our results also underscored the singularity of flakes detached by means of Levallois reduction sequences, which yielded outstanding identification values, and were rarely erroneously attributed to either of the other two knapping methods studied. Mistaking the products of the discoid and hierarchical discoid methods was the most common direction of confusion, although a good identification value was achieved for discoid flakes and an acceptable value for hierarchical discoid flakes. This shows the potential applicability of machine learning models in combination with attribute analysis for the identification of these knapping methods among flakes