Energy Dispersive X-Ray Microanalysis in conjunction with Scanning Electron Micrography to establish nematodes as bioindicators in marine fish environment

Energy Dispersive X-Ray Microanalysis (EDXMA) has been used as the non-invasive technique on Indian helminthes to explore the role of nematode parasites as bioindicators in the marine ecosystem of Central West coast of India for the first time. The investigation incorporates assertions on the possible benefit of such technology to elucidate bioremediating prospects that could be helpful to establish helminth parasites as a tool representing Bioindicators. The accumulation of Sulphur and Iron were analysed from a raphidascaridoid roundworm, Rostellascaris spinicaudatum (Malhotra and Anas) parasitizing marine catfish, Arius maculatus from the Central west coast of India at Goa. Quantitatively, the cuticle on oral armature comprised as much as ten times more Sulphur than iron content in the roundworm under study. However, only Carbon and Oxygen were detected over caudal papillae, where no metals or other elements were recorded.

Human Resilience in the Face of Mid-Holocene Climate Change on the Central West Coast of South Africa

After the Last Glacial Maximum, important yet milder climatic trends continued to characterise the Holocene. None of them was more challenging to forager groups in the central west coast of South Africa than the mid-Holocene Altithermal (8200–4200 cal BP). Hot and dry weather and 1–3 m higher sea levels were thought once to have barred local foragers from this region because of a lack of sites dating to this period. Instead, this initial scenario reflected largely a sampling problem. Steenbokfontein Cave is one of a few sites with some of the largest mid-Holocene deposits, allowing insights into forager adaptations during this period. Results show high mobility over large distances and a terrestrial diet mostly dependant on small bovids, complemented with fewer coastal resources. Stone tool kits and lithic raw materials among various sites suggest that much evidence for mid-Holocene occupation is actually found near the local riparian systems.

Viticulture, opus doliare, and the patrimonium Caesaris at the Roman imperial estate at Vagnari (Puglia)

This article focuses on the establishment of a winery on the Roman imperial estate at Vagnari in southeast Italy in the 2nd c. CE and the ceramic vats (dolia defossa) needed to mature and store the estate's vintages. A scientific analysis of the clay used to make the dolia has revealed their likely place of manufacture to have been in Latium or on the border between Latium and Campania on the Tyrrhenian (west) coast of Italy. With these analytical results in hand, it is now possible to inquire into the historical and economic significance for the imperial fiscus of importing dolia for wine making in the vicus at Vagnari, the route and mechanisms by which they might have traveled to the other side of the Italian peninsula, and the connectivity between this Apulian imperial estate and other potential imperial properties in western Italy. This places the present study at the intersection of agriculture, manufacturing, and property transfer within the patrimonium Caesaris.

Time difference between the 1854 CE Ansei–Tokai and Ansei–Nankai earthquakes estimated from distant tsunami waveforms on the west coast of North America

We estimated the time difference between the 1854 CE Ansei–Tokai and Ansei–Nankai earthquakes from tidal records of two tide gauge stations (San Francisco and San Diego) on the west coast of North America. The first signals of the Ansei–Tokai tsunami were apparent, whereas those of the Ansei–Nankai tsunami were obscured by the later waves of the Ansei–Tokai tsunami. Waveforms of the Ansei–Nankai tsunami simulated with nonlinear dispersive wave theory by assuming an origin time of 07:00 GMT on 24 December arrived earlier than in the observations. The normalized root mean square and the misfit between the simulated and observed waveforms of the Ansei–Nankai tsunami showed a time difference between them of approximately 0.4 h. This finding suggests that the actual origin time of the Ansei–Nankai tsunami was approximately 07:24 GMT on 24 December. A previous study estimated the origin time of the Ansei–Tokai tsunami to be about 00:30 GMT on 23 December. Thus, we concluded that the time difference between the 1854 CE Ansei–Tokai and Ansei–Nankai tsunamis was 30.9 h. Despite the significant difference in the time resolution between the seasonal timekeeping system used in Japan in 1854 and waveform digitization, our result is roughly in agreement with historical descriptions of the tsunamis, suggesting that such information can be effectively used to determine the origin times of historical earthquakes.