59,667 research outputs found
The ‘Lost’ Church of Bix Gibwyn: The Human Bone
Recent research for the Victoria County History (VCH) highlighted the presence of a ‘lost’ medieval
church in Bix, a Chilterns parish north-west of Henley-on-Thames. The building, formerly the
parish church of Bix Gibwyn, was abandoned in the late sixteenth or seventeenth century and has
left no standing remains. Archaeological investigation by the South Oxfordshire Archaeological Group
(SOAG) and Reading University has confirmed its location in a close called ‘Old Chapel’ in Bix
Bottom, in the north of the parish. The rediscovery of the site – which contains the foundations of a
hitherto unknown Romano-British stone building – sheds new light on long-term changes in local
communications, settlement, and economic conditions.
In the Middle Ages Bix Gibwyn church was a focus of religious and social life for a small
rural community in the south Oxfordshire Chilterns. After the Reformation it was neglected,
demolished, and finally all but forgotten. Its location has been a matter of speculation for over a
hundred years,1 but in 2007–10 its churchyard was identified through a combination of historical
research and archaeological fieldwork. Confirmation of the church’s location in the remote Bix
Bottom valley provides important evidence about the medieval settlement pattern in Bix, which
was very different from the modern one, and offers an opportunity to reassess the development
of settlement in the southern Chilterns more generally. The archaeological findings also supply
new evidence about Roman activity in the area
Solvent coarsening around colloids driven by temperature gradients
Using mesoscopic numerical simulations and analytical theory we investigate
the coarsening of the solvent structure around a colloidal particle emerging
after a temperature quench of the colloid surface. Qualitative differences in
the coarsening mechanisms are found, depending on the composition of the binary
liquid mixture forming the solvent and on the adsorption preferences of the
colloid. For an adsorptionwise neutral colloid, as function of time the phase
being next to its surface alternates. This behavior sets in on the scale of the
relaxation time of the solvent and is absent for colloids with strong
adsorption preferences. A Janus colloid, with a small temperature difference
between its two hemispheres, reveals an asymmetric structure formation and
surface enrichment around it, even if the solvent is within its one-phase
region and if the temperature of the colloid is above the critical demixing
temperature of the solvent. Our phenomenological model turns out to
capture recent experimental findings according to which, upon laser
illumination of a Janus colloid and due to the ensuing temperature gradient
between its two hemispheres, the surrounding binary liquid mixture develops a
concentration gradient.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Innovations and Trends in Pension Plan Coverage, Pension Type and Plan Design
In this paper, we outline recent trends in employer pension pIan structure in the United States, focusing on plan coverage, plan type and pension plan design. We then identify the key factors that we believe will shape company-sponsored pension design in the future, drawing conclusions from a review of recent research and practice. Finally, we offer a cautious prognosis about the future of pension pIan coverage, pIan type and pIan design, focusing on the role of labor force aging, as well as anticipated developments in the business environment and anticipated changes in public policy
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