Electrical resistivity tomography methods for archaeological prospection

Two advanced applications of electrical resistivity methods in archaeological prospecting are presented. The approach is based on new inversion techniques, which enable the modelling of the resistivity distribution below any arbitrary topography. The results of 2D and 3D electrical resistivity measurements on Tell Jenderes in Northern Syria show images of subsurface resistivity structures, which were not detectable by geomagnetics or GPR methods. The interpreted resistivity structures are related to different settlement phases from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period. The new 3D-inversion technique is also useful for data sets of complex resistivity. An example, from a slag heap in Morocco, presents the parameter distribution of a 3D-complex resistivity model deriving from Induced Polarisation (IP) measurements

A New Multiantigen Immunoassay for the Quantification of IgG Antibodies to Capsular Polysaccharides of Streptococcus pneumoniae

A new nitrocellulose-based solid-phase multiantigen immunoassay (MAIA) for the detection of serum antibodies to Streptococcus pneumoniae capsular polysaccharides (PPSs) is presented. Evaluation with human sera showed that the MAIA test is reproducible, sensitive, and specific. It correlated well with a conventional ELISA method. The multiantigen strip system allowed quantification of antibodies against several PPS serotypes simultaneously and with a minimal amount of serum specimen. The presented solid-phase immunoassay for the quantification of anti-PPS antibodies seems to be a superior and attractive alternative to currently used ELISA tests and offers possibilities for standardizatio

Methodische Einwände und Kritik an Introspektionsverfahren: Themenschwerpunkt: Introspektion als Forschungsmethode

Introspektion ist nicht erst seit dem Behaviorismus, sondern bereits ab Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts der Kritik ausgesetzt. Die Hauptkritik an der Methode wird im folgenden skizziert und kritisch kommentiert

Estimating Atrazine Leaching in the Midwest

Data from seven Management Systems Evaluation Areas (MSEM) were used to test the sensitivity of a leaching model, PRZM-2, to a variety of hydrologic settings common in the Midwest. Atrazine leaching was simulated because the use of atrazine was prevalent in the MSEA studies and it frequently occurs in the region\u27s groundwater. Results of long-term simulations using regional and generalized input parameters produced ranks of leaching potential similar to those based on measurements. Short-term simulations used site-specific soil and chemical coefficients

The influence of the mass-ratio on the acceleration of particles by filamentation instabilities

Almost all sources of high energy particles and photons are associated with jet phenomena. Prominent sources of such highly relativistic outflows are pulsar winds and Active Galactic Nuclei. The current understanding of these jets assumes diluted plasmas which are best described as kinetic phenomena. In this kinetic description particle acceleration to ultra-relativistic speeds can occur in completely unmagnetized and neutral plasmas through insetting effects of instabilities. Even though the morphology and nature of particle spectra are understood to a certain extent, the composition of the jets is not known yet. While Poynting-flux dominated jets are certainly composed of electron-positron plasmas, the understanding of the governing physics in AGN jets is mostly unclear. In this article we investigate how the constituting elements of an electron-positron-proton plasma behave differently under the variation of the fundamental mass-ratio m_p/m_e. We studied initially unmagnetized counterstreaming plasmas using fully relativistic three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to investigate the influence of the mass-ratio on particle acceleration and magnetic field generation in electron-positron-proton plasmas. We covered a range of mass-ratios m_p/m_e between 1 and 100 with a particle number composition of n_{p^+}/n_{e^+} of 1 in one stream, only protons are injected in the other, whereas electrons are present in both to guarantee charge neutrality in the simulation box. We find that with increasing proton mass the instability takes longer to develop and for mass-ratios > 20 the particles seem to be accelerated in two phases which can be accounted to the individual instabilities of the different species. This means that for high mass ratios the coupling between electrons/positrons and the heavier protons, which occurs in low mass-ratios, disappears.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Gerhard Kleining (1926-2022): ein Nachruf

In einem Nachruf auf Gerhard KLEINING, den Begründer der qualitativen Heuristik, wird nach einem biografischen Abriss zunächst auf seine frühen soziologischen Arbeiten, insbesondere die Bedeutungsanalyse und seine Beiträge zur Diskussion des Schicht- und Klassenbegriffs eingegangen – darunter die Weiterentwicklung des Schichtungsmodells durch ein neues Verfahren der Schichtungseinstufung – das soziale Selbsteinstufungs-Verfahren (SSE-Verfahren). Danach wird die qualitative Heuristik skizziert, in der Sozialforschung nicht als Interpretations- oder Deutungsvorgang, sondern als dialogischer Entdeckungsprozess verstanden wird. Die qualitative Heuristik ist durch Regeln bestimmt, die sich auf die Offenheit der Forschungsperson, die Offenheit des Forschungsgegenstands, die Variation der Perspektiven zur Untersuchung des Forschungsgegenstandes und ferner auf die Analyse der Daten in Richtung Gemeinsamkeit beziehen. Es wird eine Übersicht über wichtige qualitativ-heuristische Arbeiten von KLEINING gegeben, durch die die breite Anwendbarkeit der Methodologie auf unterschiedliche Forschungsfelder verdeutlicht wird. In den beiden letzten Abschnitten werden zwei zur qualitativen Heuristik zählende Forschungsmethoden skizziert, das qualitative Experiment und die dialogische Introspektion

Gating mechanism of elongating β-ketoacyl-ACP synthases.

Carbon-carbon bond forming reactions are essential transformations in natural product biosynthesis. During de novo fatty acid and polyketide biosynthesis, β-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthases (KS), catalyze this process via a decarboxylative Claisen-like condensation reaction. KSs must recognize multiple chemically distinct ACPs and choreograph a ping-pong mechanism, often in an iterative fashion. Here, we report crystal structures of substrate mimetic bearing ACPs in complex with the elongating KSs from Escherichia coli, FabF and FabB, in order to better understand the stereochemical features governing substrate discrimination by KSs. Complemented by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and mutagenesis studies, these structures reveal conformational states accessed during KS catalysis. These data taken together support a gating mechanism that regulates acyl-ACP binding and substrate delivery to the KS active site. Two active site loops undergo large conformational excursions during this dynamic gating mechanism and are likely evolutionarily conserved features in elongating KSs

Common Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) Personality

Increasing evidence suggests that personality structure differs between species, but the evolutionary reasons for this variation are not fully understood. We built on earlier research on New World monkeys to further elucidate the evolution of personality structure in primates. We therefore examined personality in 100 family-reared adult common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) from 3 colonies on a 60-item questionnaire. Principal components analyses revealed 5 domains that were largely similar to those found in a previous study on captive, ex-pet, or formerly laboratory-housed marmosets that were housed in a sanctuary. The interrater reliabilities of domain scores were consistent with the interrater reliabilities of domain scores found in other species, including humans. Four domainsdmdash; conscientiousness, agreeableness, inquisitiveness, and assertiveness-resembled personality domains identified in other nonhuman primates. The remaining domain, patience, was specific to common marmosets. We used linear models to test for sex and age differences in the personality domains. Males were lower than females in patience, and this difference was smaller in older marmosets. Older marmosets were lower in inquisitiveness. Finally, older males and younger females had higher scores in agreeableness than younger males and older females. These findings suggest that cooperative breeding may have promoted the evolution of social cognition and influenced the structure of marmoset prosocial personality characteristics.Peer reviewe

Utilisation de la photogrammétrie pour l’étude de la végétation riveraine

International audienceThis study presents the results of methodological tests in aerial photogrammetry with the objective of a diachronic survey of riparian vegetation in three dimensions, i.e. its spatial distribution and height. The study is undertaken at two complementary scales. The first one corresponds to a 10 km reach of the Allier river floodplain. At this scale, aerial photographs were taken from a small airplane. The second level of analysis corresponds to a wooded point bar located within the 10 km reach. At this scale, the photographs were taken from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Canopy height models (CHM) are produced at two scales of analysis. The accuracy of the CHMs is then analysed by comparison with vegetation height measurements collected during a filed campaign. The results show significant agreement for the models derived from two approaches, with an error of one meter at the floodplain scale and few centimetres at the bar scale. This variation in error is mainly due to different photographic resolutions. The two approaches appeared to be complementary. The first one is adequate for mapping vegetation structure at the floodplain scale, the second for mapping vegetation in smaller areas but at a higher resolution.Cette étude présente les résultats de tests méthodologiques réalisés en photogrammétrie aérienne avec pour objectif le suivi diachronique de la végétation riveraine dans ses trois dimensions, c’est-à-dire sa distribution spatiale et sa hauteur. L’étude est menée à deux échelles d’analyse. La première échelle est celle d’un tronçon longitudinal de 10 km de la plaine alluviale de la rivière Allier. À cette échelle de travail, un avion a été utilisé pour les prises de vue aérienne. La deuxième échelle d’analyse est celle d’un banc boisé, localisé dans la zone de 10 km. À cette échelle, la couverture photographique a été faite à l’aide d’un drone. Pour les deux objets d’étude des modèles de hauteur du couvert végétal (MHC) sont produits. La précision des MHC est ensuite vérifiée à partir de la mesure de la hauteur d’arbres sur le terrain. Les résultats révèlent une très bonne précision des modèles pour les deux approches, de l’ordre du mètre à l’échelle du tronçon de 10 km et de quelques centimètres à l’échelle du banc. Cette inégalité s’explique surtout par des résolutions photographiques différentes pour les deux missions. Il ressort de ce travail que les deux approches sont complémentaires. La première permet de cartographier la structure de la végétation à l’échelle de la plaine alluviale, la deuxième permet une cartographie de la végétation à plus haute résolution mais seulement à une échelle plus réduite