The development of “modern” palaeontological laboratory methods: a century of progress

Author(s):  
Matthew A. Brown

ABSTRACTVertebrate fossils have been converted from natural history objects into research specimens through the act of preparation for over 200 years. All of the basic techniques applied to specimens in the 21st Century were already in use in palaeontological laboratories by the first decade of the 1900s. It behoves any worker in the field to be intimately familiar with processes for treatment of specimens, as these procedures almost always permanently alter material available for interpretation. Historic treatments also complicate attempts to re-treat or re-prepare specimens. Sometimes this results in damage to fossils and loss of information, and often in wasted resources. Most palaeontologists are unaware of the historical evolution of laboratory methods through this time; much of the documentation of this process is considered to be obscure. However, there is in fact a robust body of literature that chronicles the development of procedures for the preparation of fossils. Awareness of the past development of methods is crucial to guiding future directions in the palaeontological laboratory. Regular reporting of laboratory methods in the technical literature at a pace matching that of other analytical methods is integral to the function of palaeontology as a science.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Salguero Andujar ◽  
Inmaculada Rodriguez-Cunill ◽  
Jose M. Cabeza-Lainez

Lighting in heritage is complex because of the forms intervening in it. The historical evolution of cultures has not been analytical and therefore, the shapes involved differ greatly from the cuboids typically found in 21st century architecture. As a vector, light inevitably attaches to surface sources. In this research, we focused on 3D curved geometries. Following a different trail to radiative transfer by virtue of detailed knowledge of the spatiality of volumes, we present new expressions, previously undefined in the literature, that are derived from a combination of surfaces that we have found in many archaeological sites around Asia. In the discussion, we start from the particularities of spherical surfaces where a normal vector has to pass through the center. By means of easy calculations, we deducted innovative laws. These in turn, allowed us to formulate several new expressions for configuration factors based on the adroit use of spherical fragments. The method easily extends to organic shapes that are often contained in the sustainable architecture of the past. The method finishes with suitable algorithms to assess the reflections in such curved forms. Finally, we implemented the results in our creative software. In this way, we enhanced the sustainable paradigms for heritage structures in Asia that we present as a conclusion of the article.


Author(s):  
Benjamin F. Trump ◽  
Irene K. Berezesky ◽  
Raymond T. Jones

The role of electron microscopy and associated techniques is assured in diagnostic pathology. At the present time, most of the progress has been made on tissues examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and correlated with light microscopy (LM) and by cytochemistry using both plastic and paraffin-embedded materials. As mentioned elsewhere in this symposium, this has revolutionized many fields of pathology including diagnostic, anatomic and clinical pathology. It began with the kidney; however, it has now been extended to most other organ systems and to tumor diagnosis in general. The results of the past few years tend to indicate the future directions and needs of this expanding field. Now, in addition to routine EM, pathologists have access to the many newly developed methods and instruments mentioned below which should aid considerably not only in diagnostic pathology but in investigative pathology as well.


Author(s):  
E.L. Benedetti ◽  
I. Dunia ◽  
Do Ngoc Lien ◽  
O. Vallon ◽  
D. Louvard ◽  
...  

In the eye lens emerging molecular and structural patterns apparently cohabit with the remnants of the past. The lens in a rather puzzling fashion sums up its own natural history and even transient steps of the differentiation are memorized. A prototype of this situation is well outlined by the study of the lenticular intercellular junctions. These membrane domains exhibit structural, biochemical and perhaps functional polymorphism reflecting throughout life the multiple steps of the differentiation of the epithelium into fibers and of the ageing process of the lenticular cells.The most striking biochemical difference between the membrane derived from the epithelium and from the fibers respectively, concerns the presence of the 26,000 molecular weight polypeptide (MP26) in the latter membranes.


Author(s):  
James J. Coleman

At a time when the Union between Scotland and England is once again under the spotlight, Remembering the Past in Nineteenth-Century Scotland examines the way in which Scotland’s national heroes were once remembered as champions of both Scottish and British patriotism. Whereas 19th-century Scotland is popularly depicted as a mire of sentimental Jacobitism and kow-towing unionism, this book shows how Scotland’s national heroes were once the embodiment of a consistent, expressive and robust view of Scottish nationality. Whether celebrating the legacy of William Wallace and Robert Bruce, the reformer John Knox, the Covenanters, 19th-century Scots rooted their national heroes in a Presbyterian and unionist view of Scotland’s past. Examined through the prism of commemoration, this book uncovers collective memories of Scotland’s past entirely opposed to 21st-century assumptions of medieval proto-nationalism and Calvinist misery. Detailed studies of 19th-century commemoration of Scotland’s national heroes Uncovers an all but forgotten interpretation of these ‘great Scots’ Shines a new light on the mindset of nineteenth-century Scottish national identity as being comfortably Scottish and British Overturns the prevailing view of Victorian Scottishness as parochial, sentimental tartanry


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengmian Feng ◽  
Lijing Feng ◽  
Chaohui Tang

Background and Purpose: N 6 -methyladenosine (m6A) plays critical roles in a broad set of biological processes. Knowledge about the precise location of m6A site in the transcriptome is vital for deciphering its biological functions. Although experimental techniques have made substantial contributions to identify m6A, they are still labor intensive and time consuming. As good complements to experimental methods, in the past few years, a series of computational approaches have been proposed to identify m6A sites. Methods: In order to facilitate researchers to select appropriate methods for identifying m6A sites, it is necessary to give a comprehensive review and comparison on existing methods. Results: Since researches on m6A in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are relatively clear, in this review, we summarized recent progresses on computational prediction of m6A sites in S. cerevisiae and assessed the performance of existing computational methods. Finally, future directions of computationally identifying m6A sites were presented. Conclusion: Taken together, we anticipate that this review will provide important guides for computational analysis of m 6A modifications.


1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry E. Cushing

Distinct parallels exist between the historical evolution of scientific disciplines, as explained in Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and the historical evolution of the accounting discipline. These parallels become apparent when accounting's dominant paradigm is interpreted to be the double-entry bookkeeping model. Following this interpretation, the extensive articulation of the double-entry model over the past four centuries may be seen to closely resemble the “normal science” of Kuhn's theory. Further parallels become apparent when Kuhn's concept of the disciplinary crises that precede scientific revolutions is compared to developments in the accounting discipline over the past 25 years. This portrayal of accounting's evolution suggests an uncertain future for the accounting discipline.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1853
Author(s):  
João Cenicante ◽  
João Botelho ◽  
Vanessa Machado ◽  
José João Mendes ◽  
Paulo Mascarenhas ◽  
...  

Alveolar ridge resorption is a natural consequence of teeth extraction, with unpleasant aesthetic and functional consequences that might compromise a future oral rehabilitation. To minimize the biological consequences of alveolar ridge resorption, several surgical procedures have been designed, the so-called alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) techniques. One important characteristic is the concomitant use of biomaterial in ARP. In the past decade, autogenous teeth as a bone graft material in post-extraction sockets have been proposed with very interesting outcomes, yet with different protocols of preparation. Here we summarize the available evidence on autogenous teeth as a biomaterial in ARP, its different protocols and future directions.


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