scholarly journals Pollen analysis: state of the art

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 151-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon J. Ogden
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Pollen Analysis ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Sedimentation Rates ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Surface Pollen ◽  
Pollen Stratigraphy ◽  
Better Than

Although nearly 50 years have passed since P.B. Sears introduced pollen analysis to North America, it remains an occult art. Dramatic improvements in sampling and analytic techniques continue to be limited by intractable problems of differential production, dispersal, ballistics, sedimentation, and preservation. It is a basic tenet of pollen stratigraphy that the data set, consisting primarily of microfossils preserved in sediments, is better than anything we have yet been able to do with it. Basic agreement between late- and postglacial pollen records has been confirmed wherever the method has been applied. Quantitative sampling techniques, sample preparation, and analytic procedures, together with multiple radiocarbon dates, permits calculation of sedimentation rates and absolute pollen influx. Of approximately 300 sediment cores from northeastern North America, fewer than 30 have more than 3 radiocarbon determinations from which least squares power curve regressions can be reliably calculated in the determination of sedimentation rates. Analogy with modern environments represented by surface pollen spectra is limited by an insufficient number of samples of uniform quality to characterize a vegetational mosaic covering 40 degrees of latitude (40-80°N) and longitude (60-100°W). The present surface pollen data bank includes about 700 samples, unevenly spaced and of uneven quality, permitting a grid resolution of no better than 10,000 km2.

The 12 Mile Creek Site: A Reinvestigation

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 757-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Rogers ◽  
Larry D. Martin
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Pollen Analysis ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Scientific Personnel ◽  
Kill Site ◽  
Original Concept

The 12 Mile Creek site in western Kansas was the first site yielding a fluted projectile point to be excavated in North America by scientific personnel. The Bison from this kill site were used in forming the original concept of B. occidentalis. A new study of the site including radiocarbon dates and a pollen analysis suggests the kill took place in a pine parkland about 10,300 years ago. The artifact from this site reported by Williston seems to be a Clovis projectile point.

scholarly journals Atmospheric Radiocarbon at the End of the Last Glacial: An Estimate Based on AMS Radiocarbon Dates on Terrestrial Macrofossils From Lake Sediments

Radiocarbon ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (03) ◽  
pp. 795-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Zbinden ◽  
Michael Andree ◽  
Hans Oeschger ◽  
Brigitta Ammann ◽  
Andre Lotter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectroscopy ◽  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Hard Water ◽  
Sedimentation Rates ◽  
Local Effects ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Pollen Zone ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
The Last Glacial

The main purpose of this work is to reconstruct the atmospheric Δ 14C in the glacial-postglacial transition, 14,000 – 10,000 BP, a range not covered by the tree-ring calibration curve. We measured 14C/12C ratios on series of terrestrial macrofossils from sediments of two Swiss lakes. We selected exclusively plant remains of recognizable terrestrial origin that are not affected by hard water and thus reflect atmospheric 14C concentration. Due to the scarcity of such material, we used accelerator mass spectroscopy. Cores of two lakes were measured to eliminate local effects and to check the reproducibility of results. This required a reliable, 14C-independent correlation of the cores, obtained through local pollen zone boundaries 14C ages were obtained as a function of the depth in the cores. If sedimentation rates are known ages can be converted into Δ 14C values. We also attempted estimating sedimentation rates; calculations are based on the Swedish varve chronology. Results were combined to form an entire data set. The Δ 14C curve shows an increase with time during the Allerød and decreases during Preboreal and Bølling periods. Probabilities for these 14C variations are discussed.

Rates of Sediment Accumulation in Pollen Cores from Small Lakes and Mires of Eastern North America

1988 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Stabler Webb ◽  
Thompson Webb
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Sediment Accumulation ◽  
Linear Interpolation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Small Lakes ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Depositional Processes

Data from 291 small lakes and mires in eastern North America provide information on the natural variability of rates of sediment accumulation in these environments over the last 18,000 yr. Accumulation rates were calculated by linear interpolation between radiocarbon and biostratigraphic dates from sediment cores taken for pollen analysis. Within the data set, the rates were lognormally distributed with a mean accumulation rate of 91 cm/103 yr, and a range from less than 1 to over 3500 cm/103 yr. The accumulation rate data were divided into five subsets that were temporally or spatially distinct and therefore represent different geomorphic and climatic conditions at the time of deposition. Sediments deposited in basins north of 50°N, south of 40°N, and before 10,000 yr B.P. accumulated at much slower rates than sediments accumulating in midlatitude basins (between 40° and 50°N) between 10,000 and 330 yr B.P. Sediment accumulation over the last 330 yr has, on average, been at rates four to five times faster than any time previously. Inorganic sediments that could be radiocarbon-dated have accumulated at significantly lower rates than organic sediments, reflecting differences in depositional processes. For midlatitude basins during the Holocene, the most likely rate of continuous sediment accumulation within our data set is 65 cm/103 yr. Rates below 10 cm/103 yr are likely to be associated with nonconstant processes of sediment accumulation.

A Prehistoric Ford near Rough Castle, Falkirk

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-103
Author(s):  
JAMIE HAMILTON ◽  
CIARA CLARKE ◽  
ANDREW DUNWELL ◽  
RICHARD TIPPING
Keyword(s):  
Coal Mining ◽  
Pollen Analysis ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Small Stream ◽  
Mining Project ◽  
First Millennium

This report presents the results of the excavation of a stone ford laid across the base of a small stream valley near Rough Castle, Falkirk. It was discovered during an opencast coal mining project. Radiocarbon dates and pollen analysis of deposits overlying the ford combine to indicate a date for its construction no later than the early first millennium cal BC. Interpreting this evidence was not straightforward and the report raises significant issues about site formation processes and the interpretation of radiocarbon and pollen evidence. The importance of these issues extends beyond the rarely investigated features such as fords and deserve a larger place in the archaeological literature.

Evaluation for estimating of the PDF and the CDF of Generalized Inverted Exponential Distribution with Application in Industry

2020 ◽  
pp. 507-522
Author(s):  
Parisa Torkaman
Keyword(s):  
Least Squares ◽  
Exponential Distribution ◽  
Mean Squared Error ◽  
Weighted Least Squares ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Minimum Variance ◽  
Cumulative Distribution ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Better Than

The generalized inverted exponential distribution is introduced as a lifetime model with good statistical properties. This paper, the estimation of the probability density function and the cumulative distribution function of with five different estimation methods: uniformly minimum variance unbiased(UMVU), maximum likelihood(ML), least squares(LS), weighted least squares (WLS) and percentile(PC) estimators are considered. The performance of these estimation procedures, based on the mean squared error (MSE) by numerical simulations are compared. Simulation studies express that the UMVU estimator performs better than others and when the sample size is large enough the ML and UMVU estimators are almost equivalent and efficient than LS, WLS and PC. Finally, the result using a real data set are analyzed.

A Computational Method for the Identification of Endolysins and Autolysins

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Xu ◽  
Guangmin Liang ◽  
Baowen Chen ◽  
Xu Tan ◽  
Huaikun Xiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Support Vector Machine ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Lytic Enzyme ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Lytic Enzymes ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Optimal Feature ◽  
Better Than

Background: Cell lytic enzyme is a kind of highly evolved protein, which can destroy the cell structure and kill the bacteria. Compared with antibiotics, cell lytic enzyme will not cause serious problem of drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria. Thus, the study of cell wall lytic enzymes aims at finding an efficient way for curing bacteria infectious. Compared with using antibiotics, the problem of drug resistance becomes more serious. Therefore, it is a good choice for curing bacterial infections by using cell lytic enzymes. Cell lytic enzyme includes endolysin and autolysin and the difference between them is the purpose of the break of cell wall. The identification of the type of cell lytic enzymes is meaningful for the study of cell wall enzymes. Objective: In this article, our motivation is to predict the type of cell lytic enzyme. Cell lytic enzyme is helpful for killing bacteria, so it is meaningful for study the type of cell lytic enzyme. However, it is time consuming to detect the type of cell lytic enzyme by experimental methods. Thus, an efficient computational method for the type of cell lytic enzyme prediction is proposed in our work. Method: We propose a computational method for the prediction of endolysin and autolysin. First, a data set containing 27 endolysins and 41 autolysins is built. Then the protein is represented by tripeptides composition. The features are selected with larger confidence degree. At last, the classifier is trained by the labeled vectors based on support vector machine. The learned classifier is used to predict the type of cell lytic enzyme. Results: Following the proposed method, the experimental results show that the overall accuracy can attain 97.06%, when 44 features are selected. Compared with Ding's method, our method improves the overall accuracy by nearly 4.5% ((97.06-92.9)/92.9%). The performance of our proposed method is stable, when the selected feature number is from 40 to 70. The overall accuracy of tripeptides optimal feature set is 94.12%, and the overall accuracy of Chou's amphiphilic PseAAC method is 76.2%. The experimental results also demonstrate that the overall accuracy is improved by nearly 18% when using the tripeptides optimal feature set. Conclusion: The paper proposed an efficient method for identifying endolysin and autolysin. In this paper, support vector machine is used to predict the type of cell lytic enzyme. The experimental results show that the overall accuracy of the proposed method is 94.12%, which is better than some existing methods. In conclusion, the selected 44 features can improve the overall accuracy for identification of the type of cell lytic enzyme. Support vector machine performs better than other classifiers when using the selected feature set on the benchmark data set.

On the mN, M Relation for Eastern North American Earthquakes

1987 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 119-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail M. Atkinson ◽  
David M. Boore
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Stochastic Model ◽  
Ground Motion ◽  
Seismic Moment ◽  
The Other ◽  
Moment Magnitude ◽  
Scaling Relations ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Meaningful Data

Abstract A stochastic model of ground motion has been used as a basis for comparison of data and theoretically-predicted relations between mN (commonly denoted by mbLg) and moment magnitude for eastern North America (ENA) earthquakes. mN magnitudes are recomputed for several historical ENA earthquakes, to ensure consistency of definition and provide a meaningful data set. We show that by itself the magnitude relation cannot be used as a discriminant between two specific spectral scaling relations, one with constant stress and the other with stress increasing with seismic moment, that have been proposed for ENA earthquakes.

Applying Artificial Neural Networks. I. Estimating Nicotine in Tobacco from near Infrared Data

1995 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hana ◽  
W.F. McClure ◽  
T.B. Whitaker ◽  
M. White ◽  
D.R. Bahler
Keyword(s):  
Linear Regression ◽  
Regression Model ◽  
Linear Regression Model ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Back Propagation ◽  
Linear Network ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Input Layer ◽  
Propagation Network ◽  
Better Than

Two artificial neural network models were used to estimate the nicotine in tobacco: (i) a back-propagation network and (ii) a linear network. The back-propagation network consisted of an input layer, an output layer and one hidden layer. The linear network consisted of an input layer and an output layer. Both networks used the generalised delta rule for learning. Performances of both networks were compared to the multiple linear regression method MLR of calibration. The nicotine content in tobacco samples was estimated for two different data sets. Data set A contained 110 near infrared (NIR) spectra each consisting of reflected energy at eight wavelengths. Data set B consisted of 200 NIR spectra with each spectrum having 840 spectral data points. The Fast Fourier transformation was applied to data set B in order to compress each spectrum into 13 Fourier coefficients. For data set A, the linear regression model gave better results followed by the back-propagation network which was followed by the linear network. The true performance of the linear regression model was better than the back-propagation and the linear networks by 14.0% and 18.1%, respectively. For data set B, the back-propagation network gave the best result followed by MLR and the linear network. Both the linear network and MLR models gave almost the same results. The true performance of the back-propagation network model was better than the MLR and linear network by 35.14%.

scholarly journals Variations in Lake Levels during the Holocene in North America: An Indicator of Changes in Atmospheric Circulation Patterns

2007 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Harrison ◽  
S. E. Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Relative Depth ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Lake Status

ABSTRACT Fluctuations in the extent of closed lakes provide a detailed record of regional and continental variations in mean annual water budget. The temporal sequence of hydrological fluctuations during the Holocene in North America has been reconstructed using information from the Oxford Lake-Level Data Bank. This data base includes 67 basins from the Americas north of the equator. Maps of lake status, an index of relative depth, are presented for the period 10,000 to 0 yr BP. The early Holocene was characterised by increasingly arid conditions, which led to widespread low lake levels in the mid-latitudes by 9,000 yr BP. By 6,000 yr BP this zone of low lakes extended from 32o to 51oN. Many of the features of the present day lake-level pattern, particularly high lake levels north of 46oN and along the eastern seaboard, were established by 3.000 yr BP. Four distinctive regional patterns of lake behaviour through time are apparent. Histograms of lake status from 20,000 to 0 yr BP are presented for each of these regions. They illustrate the temporal patterns of lake-level fluctuations on a time scale of 103 — 104 yr. Changes in lake status over North America are interpreted as indicating displacements in major features of the general circulation, specifically the zonal Westerlies and the Equatorial Trough, as reflected by changes in air mass trajectories and hence the position of air mass boundaries over the continent.

Glandy Cross: A Later Prehistoric Monumental Complex in Carmarthenshire, Wales

2000 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 257-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Kirk ◽  
George Williams ◽  
A. Caseldine ◽  
J. Crowther ◽  
I. Darke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Project Report ◽  
The Social ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
George Williams

Excavations at the Glandy Cross monumental complex during 1991 and 1992 formed part of an integrated programme of evaluation, rescue, and research by Dyfed Archaeological Trust (DAT). Enclosures, pit circles, standing stones, and cairns were excavated and their environs systematically surveyed. Radiocarbon dates show the monumental complex to have been constructed between c. 2190–1530 cal BC. However, the earliest activity at the site may date to c. 4470–4230 cal BC. A defended enclosure was constructed on the peripheries of the complex c. 830–510 cal BC.The 1991–92 excavation results are presented along with a summary of survey, salvage, and research spanning the period 1981 to 1992. This new data set is tentatively interpreted in terms of historical process and the social practice of monumental construction. A brief commentary on heritage management at Glandy Cross is also presented.A note on authorship: one of the authors (George Williams) directed the Glandy Cross excavations during 1991–92 and prepared an initial draft of the project report. Following his retirement from DAT a project editor (Trevor Kirk) was commissioned by Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments to guide the project towards publication. This paper was largely penned by the project editor, though the excavation and survey data were produced by George Williams and his fieldwork team. The excavation and survey archives are held at the offices of DAT.

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