Writing and Pre-Writing in Early Archaic Methone and Eretria

2021 ◽  
pp. 58-73
Author(s):  
Rosalind Thomas

This chapter concentrates on the important collections of early graffiti and non-alphabetic marks recently published from Methone and Eretria, and dating to the late eighth and early seventh centuries. It picks up Jeffery's emphasis on the materiality of writing, examining their placing on the whole pot or sherd, and it asks what these new graffiti contribute to our views about the spread of the early alphabet. It makes particular use of the graffiti which are not alphabetic, but which seem from placing and appearance to be engaged in a similar form of marking and communication to the obviously alphabetic marks. It argues that these early graffiti do not show the alphabet as necessarily trying to recreate sound or speech, but do show why there was such an impetus to take over the alphabet. In Methone and Eretria we see the 'seed bed' for the rapid spread of the alphabet.

Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvana Mirella Aliberti ◽  
Francesco De Caro ◽  
Giovanni Boccia ◽  
Rosario Caruso ◽  
Mario Capunzo

: Italy was the first western nation affected by the pandemic and was observed as a pilot case in the management of the new coronavirus epidemic. The outbreak of COVID-19 disease has been very difficult in Italy, on June 25, 2020 there are 239,821 total cases of which 33,592 deaths nationwide. Three lessons emerged from this experience that can serve as a blueprint to improve future plans for the outbreak of viruses. First, early reports on the spread of COVID-19 can help inform public health officials and medical practitioners in effort to combat its progression; second, inadequate risk assessment related to the urgency of the situation and limited reporting to the virus has led the rapid spread of COVID-19; third, an effective response to the virus had to be undertaken with coherent system of actions and simultaneously.


1970 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Goossens ◽  
J. De Schuyter

In  this article, we tried to perform the drawing of forest maps, together with  the calculations involved, automatically by means of relatively simple aids.      The computer unit used is an office computer Olivetti P203. As an example  the growing stock (in m3/ha) was mapped out. The proper inventory in the field is done  according to the classical method by means of a previously fixed network of  squares (70,7 m x 70,7 m), which corresponds to two plots a ha.     The quantity which is measured and mapped out (in this case the growing  stock) is in a similar form not very useful in mapping. Therefore a division  in classes (Ku) numbered from 0 to 9, is set up. An appropriate program  calculates for a certain number of points within this elementary square, to which  class they have to be assigned, whereas the typewriter prints the  corresponding code number on the right place.     Fig. 1 and the formulas (1), (2) and (3) represent the principle o[ the  calculations while fig. 2A and B reproduce the results printed by the  typewriter for a elementary square of respective 1” X 1” and 2” X 2”. The  whole of similar network of squares eventually results in a basical document,  on which the existing forest map with an adapted scale is laid (see appendix  3) and the class limits are drawn.     If desirable, the scale may be adapted when the forest map under discussion  is definitely reproduced.


Author(s):  
David M. Lewis

The orthodox view of ancient Mediterranean slavery holds that Greece and Rome were the only ‘genuine slave societies’ of the ancient world, that is, societies in which slave labour contributed significantly to the economy and underpinned the wealth of elites. Other societies, labelled as ‘societies with slaves’, apparently made little use of slave labour, and have therefore been largely ignored in recent work. Greek Slave Systems in their Eastern Mediterranean Context, c.800–146 BC presents a radically different view. Slavery was indeed particularly highly developed in Greece and Rome; but it was also highly developed in Carthage and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean, and played a not insignificant role in the affairs of elites in Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia. This new study portrays the Eastern Mediterranean world as a patchwork of regional slave systems. In Greece, diversity was the rule: from the early archaic period onwards, differing historical trajectories in various regions shaped the institution of slavery in manifold ways, producing very different slave systems in regions such as Sparta, Crete, and Attica. In the wider Eastern Mediterranean world, we find a similar level of diversity. Slavery was exploited to different degrees across all of these regions, and was the outcome of a complex interplay between cultural, economic, political, geographic, and demographic variables.


1977 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia J. Hallam

Following several discussions in recent numbers of Quaternary Research on the peopling of the Americas, this paper suggests that movements into the New World should be viewed in the wider context of subsistence, technology, and movement around the western littorals of the Pacific, resulting in the colonization not of one but of two new continents by men out of Asia. Specific points which have been raised by these recent papers are reviewed in the light of Australian, Wallacian, and East Asian data.(1) The earliness of watercraft is evidenced by chronology of the human diaspora through Wallacia and Greater Australia.(2) The simplistic nomenclature of chopper-flake traditions masks considerable complexity and technological potential, revealed in detailed Antipodean studies.(3) These traditions also have great potential for adapting to differing ecological zones, evidenced within Greater Australia; and for technological and economic innovation there, through Southeast Asia, and to Japan and the north Asian littoral.(4) The history of discovery and the nature of the evidence from Australia cannot validly be used to controvert early dates in the Americas.(5) Demographic data from Australia suggest that total commitment to a rapid-spread “bowwave” model for the peopling of new continents may be unwise.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1370
Author(s):  
Igor Vuković ◽  
Kristijan Kuk ◽  
Petar Čisar ◽  
Miloš Banđur ◽  
Đoko Banđur ◽  
...  

Moodle is a widely deployed distance learning platform that provides numerous opportunities to enhance the learning process. Moodle’s importance in maintaining the continuity of education in states of emergency and other circumstances has been particularly demonstrated in the context of the COVID-19 virus’ rapid spread. However, there is a problem with personalizing the learning and monitoring of students’ work. There is room for upgrading the system by applying data mining and different machine-learning methods. The multi-agent Observer system proposed in our paper supports students engaged in learning by monitoring their work and making suggestions based on the prediction of their final course success, using indicators of engagement and machine-learning algorithms. A novelty is that Observer collects data independently of the Moodle database, autonomously creates a training set, and learns from gathered data. Since the data are anonymized, researchers and lecturers can freely use them for purposes broader than that specified for Observer. The paper shows how the methodology, technologies, and techniques used in Observer provide an autonomous system of personalized assistance for students within Moodle platforms.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Abdellatif Bouazzaoui ◽  
Ahmed A. H. Abdellatif ◽  
Faisal A. Al-Allaf ◽  
Neda M. Bogari ◽  
Saied Al-Dehlawi ◽  
...  

The current COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has raised significant economic, social, and psychological concerns. The rapid spread of the virus, coupled with the absence of vaccines and antiviral treatments for SARS-CoV-2, has galvanized a major global endeavor to develop effective vaccines. Within a matter of just a few months of the initial outbreak, research teams worldwide, adopting a range of different strategies, embarked on a quest to develop effective vaccine that could be effectively used to suppress this virulent pathogen. In this review, we describe conventional approaches to vaccine development, including strategies employing proteins, peptides, and attenuated or inactivated pathogens in combination with adjuvants (including genetic adjuvants). We also present details of the novel strategies that were adopted by different research groups to successfully transfer recombinantly expressed antigens while using viral vectors (adenoviral and retroviral) and non-viral delivery systems, and how recently developed methods have been applied in order to produce vaccines that are based on mRNA, self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), and trans-amplifying RNA (taRNA). Moreover, we discuss the methods that are being used to enhance mRNA stability and protein production, the advantages and disadvantages of different methods, and the challenges that are encountered during the development of effective vaccines.


Author(s):  
M. John Plodinec

Abstract Over the last decade, communities have become increasingly aware of the risks they face. They are threatened by natural disasters, which may be exacerbated by climate change and the movement of land masses. Growing globalization has made a pandemic due to the rapid spread of highly infectious diseases ever more likely. Societal discord breeds its own threats, not the least of which is the spread of radical ideologies giving rise to terrorism. The accelerating rate of technological change has bred its own social and economic risks. This widening spectrum of risk poses a difficult question to every community – how resilient will the community be to the extreme events it faces. In this paper, we present a new approach to answering that question. It is based on the stress testing of financial institutions required by regulators in the United States and elsewhere. It generalizes stress testing by expanding the concept of “capital” beyond finance to include the other “capitals” (e.g., human, social) possessed by a community. Through use of this approach, communities can determine which investments of its capitals are most likely to improve its resilience. We provide an example of using the approach, and discuss its potential benefits.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Alicja Buczek ◽  
Weronika Buczek

Increased human mobility elevates the risk of exposure of companion animals travelling with their owners or imported from other regions to tick attacks. In this study, we highlight the potential role of dogs and cats taken for tourist trips or imported animals in the spread of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. The Rhipicephalus sanguineus tick, which is a vector of numerous pathogens causing diseases in animals and humans, is imported most frequently from endemic areas to many European countries. Additionally, alien tick species with high epizootic and epidemiological importance can be imported on dogs from other continents. Companion animals play an even greater role in the spread of autochthonous tick species and transmission of tick pathogens to other animals and humans. Although the veterinary and medical effects of the parasitism of ticks carried by companion animals travelling with owners or imported animals are poorly assessed, these animals seem to play a role in the rapid spread of tick-borne diseases. Development of strategies for protection of the health of companion animals in different geographic regions should take into account the potential emergence of unknown animal tick-borne diseases that can be transmitted by imported ticks.


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