Horse's hoof motif in the art of ancient nomads (genesis and symbolism)

Among the motives of the ancient nomads’s art, the horse’s hoof attracts special attention of specialists. The sign of hoof is reproduced in the form of a schematic image of a part of a leg (sometimes a pair of hind legs) or an abstract pattern of the hoof’s footprint. Several regional cultural and stylistic areas can be distinguished. The first area is located in the Sayano-Altai region and adjacent territories. The figurative element of the hoof here is presented mainly on ladles and less often on cheek-pieces, and the abstract element of the hoof’s footprint placed on petroglyphs and harness buckles. The second area includes the Dnieper region, the Kuban region, the Caucasus and Iran, where both depicted elements are placed on the cheek-pieces. The South Ural is considered as a buffer zone where European and Asian influences collided. The figurative element here adorns mainly the cheek-pieces, while the abstract element decorates the buckles. The Khakass-Minusinsk Hollow and Kazakhstan are special areas with specific sets of items. The hoof signs in petroglyphs were depicted from the end of the Bronze Age up to the ethnographic time. The hoof signs on items appeared in the second half of the 8th – first half of the 7th century BC. The earliest finds were found in Altai. Probably the Asian territories played the most important role in the development of the hoof’s motive. The disappearance of the horse hoof images from nomadic art occurred in the 3rd century BC. In the second half of the 7th century BC the motive penetrated the Middle East with the carriers of the ancient nomadic culture. The motive of the horse’s hoof transformed into an additional detail of the animal’s figure — a mouth or an ear. The horse hoof was associated with certain ideas among the ancient nomads. The image of a horse’s hoof in petroglyphs served as a pictogram, ethnic or social emblem. The motive depicted on the objects could also serve as a symbol of a certain group of people. Presumably, these were the royal Scythians, known by the «History» of Herodotus, — an association of nomads those played a significant part in the formation of the archaic Scythian culture.

Academic Majors and HEXACO Personality

Self-reports on the HEXACO-PI-R scales were examined in relation to academic majors in post-secondary education ( N > 73,000). Openness to Experience showed the largest mean differences across academic major areas, with the Visual/Performing Arts and Humanities areas averaging higher and Health Sciences and Business/Commerce averaging lower. Emotionality showed the second largest differences, with the Engineering and Physical Sciences/Math areas averaging lower and Visual/Performing Arts averaging higher; these differences in Emotionality became smaller in within-sex analyses. In addition, Extraversion tended to be higher for Business/Commerce and lower for Physical Sciences/Math, while Honesty-Humility was lower for Business/Commerce. The facet-level analyses provided additional detail, as facet scales in the same domain sometimes showed considerably different means within a given academic major area. In one case, Visual/Performing Art majors averaged lower in Prudence, but higher in Perfectionism, even though both facets belong to the Conscientiousness domain.

The Effectiveness of Back-Up Alarms in Preventing Backing Vehicle-Pedestrian Accidents

This paper provides an update to previous articles on the distribution of pedestrian-backing vehicles using the OSHA Accident database, as well as responses to FOIA requests for additional detail on these accidents. The database contains summaries of fatality & catastrophe investigations conducted by OSHA. Two previous articles (Purswell & Purswell, 2001), (Purswell & Purswell, 2010) summarized and categorized the records that were identified as related to whether the vehicle had a backup alarm or not, and if it did, whether it was operating at the time of the accident. FOIA requests were made for the inspection records where the summaries in the database contained insufficient detail to correctly classify accidents. Records were also classified by the employer NAICS code (business type). There was some difficulty in obtaining the records for this article due to pandemic-related restrictions on regional OSHA offices accessing the requested records. Of the 93 records of accidents, we obtained sufficient detail from the summaries or the Inspection Report obtained through the FOIA to completely classify only 33 of the records.

Improving Social Justice in COVID-19 Health Research: Interim Guidelines for Reporting Health Equity in Observational Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the global imperative to address health inequities. Observational studies are a valuable source of evidence for real-world effects and impacts of implementing COVID-19 policies on the redistribution of inequities. We assembled a diverse global multi-disciplinary team to develop interim guidance for improving transparency in reporting health equity in COVID-19 observational studies. We identified 14 areas in the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) checklist that need additional detail to encourage transparent reporting of health equity. We searched for examples of COVID-19 observational studies that analysed and reported health equity analysis across one or more social determinants of health. We engaged with Indigenous stakeholders and others groups experiencing health inequities to co-produce this guidance and to bring an intersectional lens. Taking health equity and social determinants of health into account contributes to the clinical and epidemiological understanding of the disease, identifying specific needs and supporting decision-making processes. Stakeholders are encouraged to consider using this guidance on observational research to help provide evidence to close the inequitable gaps in health outcomes.

Policy Ideology and Local Ideological Representation in Canada

To enable new research on local ideology and representation in Canada, we construct a latent measure of the policy ideology of 37,500 Canadian Election Study respondents using 56 policy-relevant questions and then use multilevel regression and poststratification to estimate the average ideological position of each of Canada's 338 federal electoral districts and 250 largest municipalities. We use these local ideology estimates to examine ideological representation in Canadian municipal politics. Combining our municipal ideology estimates with elite survey data from more than 900 Canadian municipal politicians, we find evidence of a strong relationship between mass and elite ideology. This relationship is consistent across differing municipal population sizes and institutional structures. We conclude with additional detail on our publicly available individual and aggregate measures and describe their potential uses for future research on ideology and representation in Canadian politics at all levels.

Schoenoplectus × flevensis (S. lacustris × S. tabernaemontani, Cyperaceae) – A nomenclatural correction

Additional detail is provided to validate the new combination Schoenoplectus × flevensis (D.Bakker) Lansdown & Rumsey comb. & stat. nov.

Developing data governance standards for using free-text data in research (TexGov)

BackgroundFree-text data represent a vast, untapped source of rich information to guide research and public service delivery. Free-text data contain a wealth of additional detail that, if more accessible, would clarify and supplement information coded in structured data fields. Personal data usually need to be de-identified or anonymised before they can be used for purposes such as audit and research, but there are major challenges in finding effective methods to de-identify free-text that do not damage data utility as a by-product. The main aim of the TexGov project is to work towards data governance standards to enable free-text data to be used safely for public benefit. MethodsWe conducted: a rapid literature review to explore the data governance models used in working with free-text data, plus case studies of systems making de-identified free-text data available for research; we engaged with text mining researchers and the general public to explore barriers and solutions in working with free-text; and we outlined (UK) data protection legislation and regulations for context. ResultsWe reviewed 50 articles and the models of 4 systems providing access to de-identified free-text. The main emerging themes were: i) patient involvement at identifiable and de-identified data stages; ii) questions of consent and notification for the reuse of free-text data; iii) working with identifiable data for Natural Language Processing algorithm development; and iv) de-identification methods and thresholds of reliability. ConclusionWe have proposed a set of recommendations, including: ensuring public transparency in data flows and uses; adhering to the principles of minimal data extraction; treating de-identified blacklisted free-text as potentially identifiable with use limited to accredited data safe-havens; and, the need to commit to a culture of continuous improvement to understand the relationships between accuracy of de-identification and re-identification risk, so this can be communicated to all stakeholders.

Study of Current and Former Vegetarians and Vegans - Companion to the Secondary Findings

This document is a companion to the report, Study of Current and Former Vegetarians and Vegans: Secondary Findings. It provides additional detail about the frequency of consumption of animal products by lapsed vegans/vegetarians and various subgroups. It expands on three sections from the primary report: 1) Animal Product Consumption of Former Vegetarians/Vegans Who Avoid Beef & Pork; 2) Former Vegetarians/Vegans’ Animal Product Consumption Given Strength of Motivations; and 3) Differences Between Vegetarians and Vegans.

Database of Historical Atlases: An Interactive Web Application

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Within the currently solved project of Czech Historical Atlas, an extensive analytic research of existing historical atlases was conducted with the aim of creating a large database of Czech (Czechoslovak) and foreign historical atlases released after 1950. During the analysis, the team collected information about more than 400 items. Beside the standard bibliographic description (title, author, country of origin, language, availability in the library, etc.), the database contains additional detail information on the content of the atlases, such as a chronological or spatial determination of the maps or applied methods of thematic cartography, that cannot be found in any library catalogue. The database is published as a complementary web application to Czech Historical Atlas web portal. Besides the large amount of collected information, the database of historical atlases in the form of an interactive web application provides a user-friendly visual analytic platform that enables the user to analyse information about historical atlases easily and effectively across fully interactive dashboards. The database can be used not only by academics in the field of historical and atlas cartography but also by broad public interested in this topic. The web application exists in Czech and English version to meet both, Czech and international public.</p>

Penguinaut by M. Colleen

Colleen, Marcie. Penguinaut. Scholastic, 2018. In the book Penguinaut, Marcie Colleen uses the story of a hopeful penguin to convey a message about adversity to young children. It is a story about a small penguin named Orville who overcomes challenges in order to achieve his big dream of going to space. Emma Yarlett’s illustrations are creative, entertaining, and fun. They help the reader understand just how small little Orville is in comparison to all of his other animal friends, reinforcing the idea that one should not be afraid of failure when achieving their dreams, despite any challenges they may face. It is evident that Marcie Colleen decided to use the style of text, paired with the illustrations, to help add enthusiasm, detail, and voice. The words “big” and “bigger” are in large capital letters, and sound effects are bolded. Speech bubbles are used for dialogue instead of quotation marks. The sentence “He was all alone” is accompanied by an illustration of stars in the dark outer space. And a picture of a note given to Orville by his friends to show their support is written in handwriting, including a hand-drawn picture. Penguinaut is a heart-warming book that offers lessons about adversity, resiliency, and friendship. Considering the length of the book, I believe there is room to explore these topics by including some additional detail to the story of Orville, the penguin. The messages this book conveys makes Penguinaut a good addition to an elementary school or public library. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Erika Metcalfe Erika is a grade one/two teacher in Edmonton and is currently completing her Master of Education at the University of Alberta. When she is not teaching or studying, Erika is on the hunt for new books to read to her students!