Which Origin for Charcoal in Soils? Case-Studies of Environmental Resources Archaeology (ERA) From the Ligurian Apennines, Seventh to the Twentieth Century

Usually, soils types such as Amerindian "Terra Preta" or "charcoal earth" are considered as archaeological/anthropogenic soils, where explicit human impacts have transformed the patterns, the chemistry and the shape of the soil. There are several woodmanship practices, poorly visible in archaeological features, that have modified the characteristics of these soils and sediments. Today, these activities are difficult to identify, especially those relating to the multiple management of environmental resources (e.g., agro-sylvo-pastoral systems) due to their abandonment and disappearance in southern Europe during the nineteenth and Twentieth centuries. Describing a selection of researches conducted by the Laboratory of Archaeology and Environmental History (LASA) team in the Ligurian Apennines, this article explores the potential role of Environmental Resources Archaeology (ERA) and site(s)-level historical ecology approaches to past land use and woodmanship practices characterisation. In particular, focus is given to the practices derived from analysis of microcharcoal in the soils and sediments. Such an approach involves and combines the use of multiple sources (documentary, oral, observational and bio-stratigraphic sources), a regressive analysis method and a strong spatial and social contextualization

GPU-powered Simulation Methodologies for Biological Systems

The study of biological systems witnessed a pervasive cross-fertilization between experimental investigation and computational methods. This gave rise to the development of new methodologies, able to tackle the complexity of biological systems in a quantitative manner. Computer algorithms allow to faithfully reproduce the dynamics of the corresponding biological system, and, at the price of a large number of simulations, it is possible to extensively investigate the system functioning across a wide spectrum of natural conditions. To enable multiple analysis in parallel, using cheap, diffused and highly efficient multi-core devices we developed GPU-powered simulation algorithms for stochastic, deterministic and hybrid modeling approaches, so that also users with no knowledge of GPUs hardware and programming can easily access the computing power of graphics engines.Comment: In Proceedings Wivace 2013, arXiv:1309.712

Nanomechanical resonators operating as charge detectors in the nonlinear regime

We present measurements on nanomechanical resonators machined from Silicon-on-Insulator substrates. The resonators are designed as freely suspended Au/Si beams of lengths on the order of 1 - 4 um and a thickness of 200 nm. The beams are driven into nonlinear response by an applied modulation at radio frequencies and a magnetic field in plane. The strong hysteresis of the magnetomotive response allows sensitive charge detection by varying the electrostatic potential of a gate electrode.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

On the ecology of ancient and recent woodlands: the role of historical approach

This chapter presents several Italian case studies to interpret and discuss the concept of ancient forests by means of methods and sources used by historical ecology. The historical approach adopted by the Laboratory of Environmental Archaeology and History (LASA) of the University of Genoa involves the use of multiple sources (textual, geographic, archaeological, ethnologic, oral, environmental), a regressive method and strong spatial and social contextualization. In fact, the methods of British historical ecology have been developed by reworking and comparing contents of British local history with those proposed by the Italian microhistory. The sedimentary and observational sources generally related to woodland environmental archaeology are now more generally produced and analysed as part of an archaeology of environmental resources. The strengths and weaknesses of this approach is illustrated through two selected case studies concerning the history of Mediterranean multi-use systems of woodland resources (agrosilvopastoral). The first case study pertains to a mountain area (Upper Trebbia-Aveto Basin) while the second is on the coast of western Liguria (Merula Valley, north-west Italy

Dynamical Probabilistic P Systems: Definitions and Applications

We introduce dynamical probabilistic P systems, a variant where probabilities associated to the rules change during the evolution of the system, as a new approach to the analysis and simulation of the behavior of complex systems. We define the notions for the analysis of the dynamics and we show some applications for the investigation of the properties of the Brusselator (a simple scheme for the Belousov-Zabothinskii reaction), the Lotka-Volterra system and the decay process

The Archeology of Woodland Ecology: Reconstructing Past Woodmanship Practices of Wooded Pasture Systems in Italy

Recently, the woodmanship practices and localized naturalistic knowledge have been acquired as indispensable for the European forest heritage conservation as well as for restoration of individual woodland landscapes. Minor importance has been given to the historical approach, both in the study of the local resources ecology and of the local societal context. Using the results of a series of case studies—applied to the knowledge and planning of sites that host present (or have hosted in past) wooded pasture systems and their environmental legacy—the chapter shows the interest of the environmental resource archeology (ERA): a “multisource approach” in reconstructing past management systems practices and underpinned lore. ERA is inspired by the method and sources of the English historical ecology and topographical history employing both archives and field evidences (palynology, anthracology, etc.)

Motivational Factors Underlying Problem Solving: Comparing Wolf and Dog Puppies' Explorative and Neophobic Behaviors at 5, 6, and 8 Weeks of Age

Background: Wolves have been shown to be better in independent problem-solving tasks than dogs, however it is unclear whether cognitive or motivational factors underlie such differences. In a number of species problem solving has been linked to both persistence in exploration and neophobia, suggesting both these aspects may underlie dog-wolf differences in problem solving. Indeed adult wolves have been shown to be more likely to approach a novel object and more persistent in their investigation of it, but also slower in making contact with it and more fearful of it than dogs. Methods: In the current study we investigated potential differences in equally-raised dogs' and wolves' explorative and neophobic behaviors in a novel environment and with novel objects at 5, 6, and 8 weeks of age. Results: Results showed that wolves were more persistent in exploring both the environment and the objects than dogs, and this was the case at all ages. There were no differences in the frequency of fear-related behaviors and time spent in proximity to humans. Stress-related behaviors were similarly expressed at 5 and 6 weeks, although wolves showed a higher frequency of such behaviors at 8 weeks. Discussion: Overall, results with puppies confirm those with adult animals: wolves appear to be more explorative than dogs. Such motivational differences need to be taken into account when comparing dogs and wolves in cognitive tasks

Response to comments on "Differential Sensitivity to Human Communication in Dogs, Wolves, and Human Infants."

The comments by Fiset and Marshall-Pescini et al. raise important methodological issues and propose alternative accounts for our finding of perseverative search errors in dogs. Not denying that attentional processes and local enhancement are involved in such object search tasks, we provide here new evidence and argue that dogs’ behavior is affected by a combination of factors, including specific susceptibility to human communicative signals