scholarly journals Mid-Holocene Palaeoenvironment, Plant Resources and Human Interaction in Northeast Iberia: An Archaeobotanical Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 5056
Author(s):  
Raquel Piqué ◽  
Marta Alcolea ◽  
Ferran Antolín ◽  
Marian Berihuete-Azorín ◽  
Anna Berrocal ◽  
...  

The role of the adoption of farming economies in the transformation of mid-Holocene landscapes in Northeast Iberia is under discussion given that the Neolithization coincides with the cold climatic phase dated ca. 7500–7000 cal BP. The main aim of this paper is to assess whether human activities or climate were the main driver of vegetation changes during the Middle Holocene through the study of the archaeobotanical data from three case studies: Cova del Sardo, La Draga, and Coves del Fem. The application of diverse archaeobotanical techniques to the different plant remains provides a complete picture of the vegetation composition and plant uses. During the early Neolithic, settlement surroundings were intensively exploited for firewood, wood raw material, timber, and plant fibers. The resources were obtained mainly from deciduous and pine forests, depending on the site localization, but also from riparian zones. The diversity of plants exploited was high, not only trees but shrubs and herbs. Evidence of deforestation has been identified in the settlement surroundings in La Draga and Cova del Sardo. The combination of plant exploitation with other agropastoral activities favored the expansion of colonizing species and enhanced biodiversity at a local scale.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Wykowska ◽  
Jairo Pérez-Osorio ◽  
Stefan Kopp

This booklet is a collection of the position statements accepted for the HRI’20 conference workshop “Social Cognition for HRI: Exploring the relationship between mindreading and social attunement in human-robot interaction” (Wykowska, Perez-Osorio & Kopp, 2020). Unfortunately, due to the rapid unfolding of the novel coronavirus at the beginning of the present year, the conference and consequently our workshop, were canceled. On the light of these events, we decided to put together the positions statements accepted for the workshop. The contributions collected in these pages highlight the role of attribution of mental states to artificial agents in human-robot interaction, and precisely the quality and presence of social attunement mechanisms that are known to make human interaction smooth, efficient, and robust. These papers also accentuate the importance of the multidisciplinary approach to advance the understanding of the factors and the consequences of social interactions with artificial agents.


Author(s):  
Jessica Jewell ◽  
Elina Brutschin

Energy security has long been a main driver of energy policies, but its meaning has been contested by policy makers and scholars. The concept incorporates both material and intersubjective aspects, finding different expressions in different contexts and attracting the interest of diverse social actors and academic communities. This chapter identifies, compares, and contrasts five major approaches for analyzing energy security rooted in different scholarly traditions. It argues that in order to facilitate a dialogue among these approaches as well as policy comparison and learning, it is useful to conceptualize energy security as “low vulnerability of vital energy systems.” This definition opens avenues for productive research, unpacking the interplay between material and intersubjective aspects of “vulnerability” and “vitality” of energy systems. Future research should investigate the role of material factors alongside power, values, and trust in defining energy security; explain the gap between energy securitization and action; and explore the interaction between energy security and other energy policy goals.


Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 178
Author(s):  
Souhail Maazioui ◽  
Abderrahim Maazouz ◽  
Fayssal Benkhaldoun ◽  
Driss Ouazar ◽  
Khalid Lamnawar

Phosphate ore slurry is a suspension of insoluble particles of phosphate rock, the primary raw material for fertilizer and phosphoric acid, in a continuous phase of water. This suspension has a non-Newtonian flow behavior and exhibits yield stress as the shear rate tends toward zero. The suspended particles in the present study were assumed to be noncolloidal. Various grades and phosphate ore concentrations were chosen for this rheological investigation. We created some experimental protocols to determine the main characteristics of these complex fluids and established relevant rheological models with a view to simulate the numerical flow in a cylindrical pipeline. Rheograms of these slurries were obtained using a rotational rheometer and were accurately modeled with commonly used yield-pseudoplastic models. The results show that the concentration of solids in a solid–liquid mixture could be increased while maintaining a desired apparent viscosity. Finally, the design equations for the laminar pipe flow of yield pseudoplastics were investigated to highlight the role of rheological studies in this context.


Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 321
Author(s):  
Dobri Ivanov ◽  
Galina Yaneva ◽  
Irina Potoroko ◽  
Diana G. Ivanova

The fascinating world of lichens draws the attention of the researchers because of the numerous properties of lichens used traditionally and, in modern times, as a raw material for medicines and in the perfumery industry, for food and spices, for fodder, as dyes, and for other various purposes all over the world. However, lichens being widespread symbiotic entities between fungi and photosynthetic partners may acquire toxic features due to either the fungi, algae, or cyano-procaryotes producing toxins. By this way, several common lichens acquire toxic features. In this survey, recent data about the ecology, phytogenetics, and biology of some lichens with respect to the associated toxin-producing cyanoprokaryotes in different habitats around the world are discussed. Special attention is paid to the common toxins, called microcystin and nodularin, produced mainly by the Nostoc species. The effective application of a series of modern research methods to approach the issue of lichen toxicity as contributed by the cyanophotobiont partner is emphasized.


2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
António Carlos Valera ◽  
Thomas Xaver Schuhmacher ◽  
Arun Banerjee

2011 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan Carter

AbstractThis paper reviews 50 years of obsidian studies at Neolithic Çatalhöyük in the Konya plain, central Anatolia. A number of key issues are addressed: (1) the source of the site's raw materials, the means and forms by which the obsidian was introduced to the site and the role of Çatalhöyük in the supra-regional dissemination of these raw materials; (2) the alleged gender associations of certain obsidian goods in the burial record and beyond; (3) a more general consideration of the social significance of the circulation and consumption of obsidian at the site, including the phenomena of hoarding and gifting, plus the important role of projectiles in the creation of social identities and various forms of ritual behaviour, not least the termination of the life of a building/individual; (4) the technotypological and raw material variability through time; (5) the use of obsidian in daily practice and craft-working.


Author(s):  
Raffi Kamalian ◽  
Alice M. Agogino ◽  
Hideyuki Takagi

In this paper we review the current state of automated MEMS synthesis with a focus on generative methods. We use the design of a MEMS resonator as a case study and explore the role that geometric constraints and human interaction play in a computer-aided MEMS design system based on genetic algorithms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-68
Author(s):  
Sam Adelman ◽  

Business as usual is widely acknowledged as the main driver of ecological collapse and climate breakdown, but less attention is paid to the role of law as usual as an impediment to climate justice. This article analyses how domestic and international environmental law facilitate injustices against living entities and nature. It calls for a paradigm shift in legal theory, practice and teaching to reflect the scale and urgency of the unfolding ecological catastrophe. Section 2 outlines the links between climatic harms and climate injustices. This is followed by discussions of unsustainable law and economic development in sections 3 and 4. Section 5 examines the potential contribution of new materialist legal theory in bringing about a legal paradigm shift that reflects the jurisgenerative role of nature in promoting climate justice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-137
Author(s):  
César Castellvi

    FR. En partant de l’analyse des clubs de presse japonais, cet article porte sur le rôle joué par les entreprises médiatiques dans les relations des journalistes aux sources institutionnelles. En tant que principale forme d’accès aux sources, les clubs de presse (kisha kurabu) sont des rassemblements de reporters accrédités aux institutions majeures de la société (ministères, administrations, grandes entreprises, commissariats). Ils se distinguent d’autres formes d’associations de journalistes par leur présence systématique à l’ensemble du pays ainsi que par leur modalité d’accès. Seuls les reporters salariés d’une entreprise de la presse quotidienne ou d’une chaîne de télévision peuvent y adhérer. Cela écarte les autres segments de la profession et impose une division du travail où les reporters salariés disposent seuls de l’exclusivité sur la production d’informations institutionnelles. Ce système, souvent critiqué, mais toujours en place, s’explique également par l’organisation des carrières des journalistes. Les parcours des reporters salariés se déroulent en interne des entreprises et sont soumis à une forte mobilité thématique et géographique. Cette mobilité rend difficile l’entretien d’un carnet d’adresses pour beaucoup d’entre eux. L’accréditation aux clubs joue le rôle de facilitateur de mise en relation avec les sources. En contrepartie, il renforce la dépendance des journalistes vis-à-vis des entreprises qui sont les véritables propriétaires de l’accès à la matière première de l’information.   ***   EN. Based on an analysis of Japanese press clubs, this paper examines the role of media companies in journalists' relations with institutional sources. Press clubs (kisha kurabu) consist of reporters accredited by the major institutions of society (ministries, administrations, large companies, police stations) and are the main avenue of access to these sources. They differ from other journalists' associations in their systematic presence throughout the country and how one becomes a member. Only reporters employed by a daily press company or television channel can join. This bars access by other segments of the profession and imposes a division of labor in which staff reporters have the exclusive right to produce institutional news. This system is often criticized, and yet it persists, at least in part because of the career path of journalists, which takes place within companies and are subject to high thematic and geographical mobility. This mobility makes it difficult for many of them to maintain a roster of sources. Club membership facilitates connection with sources. In return, it reinforces journalists' dependence on companies that are the true gatekeepers of access to the raw material of news.   ***   PT. Partindo da análise dos clubes de imprensa japoneses, este artigo enfoca o papel desempenhado pelas empresas de mídia nas relações dos jornalistas com as fontes institucionais. Como principal forma de acesso às fontes, os clubes de imprensa (kisha kurabu) são reuniões de repórteres credenciados em grandes instituições da sociedade (ministérios, administrações, grandes empresas, delegacias de polícia). Distinguem-se de outras formas de associação de jornalistas por sua presença sistemática em todo o país e por sua modalidade de acesso. Somente repórteres que são funcionários de uma empresa de jornais diários ou de um canal de televisão podem participar. Isso exclui outros segmentos da profissão e impõe uma divisão do trabalho em que apenas os repórteres assalariados têm direitos exclusivos sobre a produção de informações institucionais. Esse sistema, frequentemente criticado, mas ainda em vigor, também é explicado pela organização de carreiras de jornalistas. As jornadas dos repórteres assalariados são realizadas internamente pelas empresas e estão sujeitas a uma alta mobilidade temática e geográfica. Essa mobilidade dificulta a manutenção de um catálogo de endereços para muitos deles. O credenciamento de clubes atua como um facilitador para o vínculo com as fontes. Em contrapartida, reforça a dependência dos jornalistas de empresas que são os verdadeiros proprietários do acesso à matéria-prima da informação.   ***


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Pavel Burgert

The article focuses on the chronological status of the distribution of ‘chocolate’ silicite originating from the area of south-east Poland in the prehistory of the Czech lands. The flow of ‘chocolate’ silicite across the Carpathian Mountains culminated in the period of the Stroke-Ornamented Ware culture (5100/5000–4500/4400 cal BC) in the area studied. Based on the analysis of the contexts of finds and the classification of the artefacts, the raw material is interpreted as an indicator of the presence of individuals or groups with an exclusive social status. Both the pattern of distribution and the status are common to other ‘exotic’ raw materials, especially for Carpathian obsidian, in the studied area in that same period. By comparing the spatial and chronological image expansion of both materials can lead to similar conclusions in their assessment


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