The Diffusion of Humans and Cultures in the Course of the Spread of Farming

The most profound change in the relationship between humans and their environment was the introduction of agriculture and pastoralism. [....] For an understanding of the expansion process, it appears appropriate to apply a diffusive model. Broadly, these numerical modeling approaches can be catego- rized in correlative, continuous and discrete. Common to all approaches is the comparison to collections of radiocarbon data that show the apparent wave of advance of the transition to farming. However, these data sets differ in entry density and data quality. Often they disregard local and regional specifics and research gaps, or dating uncertainties. Thus, most of these data bases may only be used on a very general, broad scale. One of the pitfalls of using irregularly spaced or irregularly documented radiocarbon data becomes evident from the map generated by Fort (this volume, Chapter 16): while the general east-west and south-north trends become evident, some areas appear as having undergone anomalously early transitions to farming. This may be due to faulty entries into the data base or regional problems with radiocarbon dating, if not unnoticed or undocumented laboratory mistakes.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Diffusive Spreading in Nature, Technology and Society, edited by Armin Bunde, J\"urgen Caro, J\"org K\"arger, Gero Vogl, Chapter 1

Structural and temporal patterns of the first global trading market

Little is known about the structural patterns and dynamics of the first global trading market (FGTM), which emerged during the sixteenth century as a result of the Iberian expansion, let alone how it compares to today's global financial markets. Here we build a representative network of the FGTM using information contained in 8725 (handwritten) Bills of Exchange from that time-which were (human) interpreted and digitalized into an online database. We show that the resulting temporal network exhibits a hierarchical, highly clustered and disassortative structure, with a power-law dependence on the connectivity that remains remarkably robust throughout the entire period investigated. Temporal analysis shows that, despite major turnovers in the number and nature of the links-suggesting fast adaptation in response to the geopolitical and financial turmoil experienced at the time-the overall characteristics of the FGTM remain robust and virtually unchanged. The methodology developed here demonstrates the possibility of building and analysing complex trading and finance networks originating from pre-statistical eras, enabling us to highlight the striking similarities between the structural patterns of financial networks separated by centuries in time.This research was supported by FCT-Portugal through grant nos FCT-TECH/0002/2007 (A.S.R. and A.P.), SFRH/BD/77389/2011 (F.L.P.), SFRH/BPD/76278/2011 (A.S.R.), PTDC/MAT-STA/3358/2014 (F.L.P., F.C.S. and J.M.P.), PTDC/EEI-SII/5081/2014 (F.L.P., F.C.S. and J.M.P.), UID/BIA/04050/2013 (J.M.P.) and UID/CEC/50021/2013 (F.C.S.), and by the European Science Foundation through grant no. DynCoopNet-06-TECT-FP-004 (A.S.R. and A.P.)

Novel route for the preparation of nanosized NiFe2O4 powders

Nanosized NiFe2O4 powders were prepared by a novel sol-gel route. The powders calcined at 1200degreesC and quenched to liquid nitrogen temperature showed a mixed spinet phase, with a saturation magnetization of 49 emu/g, crystallite size of 67 nut and hyperfine magnetic field B-1 = 520 kOe, B-2 = 484 kOe and A = 488 kOe.438A5249525

Leishmania infection in humans, dogs and sandflies in a visceral leishmaniasis endemic area in Maranhão, Brazil

Leishmania infection in humans, dogs and sandflies was examined in the endemic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) municipality of Raposa, state of Maranhão, Brazil. In this study, we examined Leishmania chagasi infection in the blood serum of both humans and Canis familiaris and the natural Leishmania sp. infection rate in the sandfly vector, Lutzomyia longipalpis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, indirect immunofluorescence reaction and polymerase chain reaction were performed to detect Leishmania infections in humans, dogs and sandflies, respectively. Overall, 186 out of 986 studied human beings were infected with L. chagasi parasites, representing an infection prevalence of 18.9%. An even higher infection rate was detected in dogs, where 66 (47.8%) out of 138 were infected. Among all Lu. longipalpis captured (n = 1,881), only 26.7% were females. The Leishmania infection frequency for the vector Lu. longipalpis was 1.56%. Remarkably, all infected sandflies were found in the peridomiciliary area. Furthermore, a high incidence of asymptomatic forms of VL in the human and canine populations was observed. The results of this study suggest autochthonous transmission of L. chagasi in this endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis because infection by Leishmania sp. was identified in all important elements of the transmission chain