Exceptional preservation of a prehistoric human brain from Heslington,Yorkshire, UK

Archaeological work in advance of construction at a site on the edge of York, UK, yielded human remains of prehistoric to Romano-British date. Amongst these was a mandible and cranium, the intra-cranial space of which contained shrunken but macroscopically recognizable remains of a brain. Although the distinctive surface morphology of the organ is preserved, little recognizable brain histology survives. Though rare, the survival of brain tissue in otherwise skeletalised human remains from wet burial environments is not unique. A survey of the literature shows that similar brain masses have been previously reported in diverse circumstances. We argue for a greater awareness of these brain masses and for more attention to be paid to their detection and identification in order to improve the reporting rate and to allow a more comprehensive study of this rare archaeological survival.     

Characteristics of Oman's archaeological resource: a preliminary review of management prospects

This paper is a preliminary overview of the main characteristics of the archaeological resource of Oman from a management perspective. It looks at the resource in terms of form, space and time. It covers a pilot statistical analysis of the archaeological data so far input into the proposed National Archaeological Database of Oman (NADO). The main findings of this analysis show that the management of Omani archaeological resource lacks a well‐defined strategic research plan, and that there are large research gaps in many geographical and chronological areas. It also shows that the governmental organisations responsible for the management of the country's archaeological resource are not taking into consideration the potential benefits of archaeological records in their management practices.     

Games on the seashore of Salalah: the discovery of mancala games in Dhofar,Sultanate of Oman

During the 2013 fieldwork of the French archaeological mission along the shores of the Arabian Sea, mancala games were discovered on the seashore of Salalah at the site of Ad‐Dahariz. They are cup‐hole carvings made directly into rock slabs and distributed in six distinct zones of the site. They usually consist of fourteen cup‐holes aligned in two lines of seven, two supplementary holes being sometimes present on each side. They are the first of their kind in South Arabia and can be compared to similar configurations of carved games elsewhere in Arabia, such as at Jebel al‐Jassasiya, Qatar. This paper presents the potential origins of this game in the region, as well as a plausible dating of their use.     

Factors Influencing Location Selection of Warehouses at the Intra-Urban Level: Istanbul Case

Depending on the worldwide developments in the industry and services sectors, the increased significance of the logistic sector is continuing. In parallel to this tendency, the need for warehousing as one of the basic activities of logistics has increased and the warehouses have returned to the important function areas for urban sites. In recent years, warehouses are demanded in the real estate market just like houses and offices. In the literature, although there are many supply chain studies focused on location selection of warehouses, there is a lack of studies discussing the behaviour of warehouse location at the intra-urban level. The article investigates the factors affecting the location selection of warehouses and their degree of importance in Istanbul as a case area by using a logistic regression model. It was found that location-specific factors are effective on the location selection of warehouses in the Istanbul metropolitan area, and warehouse location follows a certain economic rationality at the intra-urban level.     

A Single-Run Dynamic-Based Approach for Pushover Analysis of Structures Subjected to Near-Fault Pulse-Like Ground Motions

In this paper, a fairly effective procedure called dynamic load pattern (DLP), is proposed to account for the effects of near-fault ground motions in estimating the seismic demands of structures from pushover analyses. The seismic demands are obtained by enveloping the results of single-run conventional first-mode and single-run DLP pushover analyses. Improving the estimation of target displacement is another objective, implemented by performing response-spectrum analysis. Three special steel moment-resisting frames are considered and the seismic demands resulting from DLP are compared to those from the nonlinear time-history analysis as a benchmark solution, as well as to those predicted from modal pushover analysis.     

Seismic Performance Assessment of Non-Compliant SMRF-Reinforced Concrete Frame: Shake-Table Test Study

Seismic performance assessment is carried out for reinforced concrete structure built in low-strength concrete lacking confining ties in beam-column joint. Shake-table tests were performed on 1/3rd scaled two-story frame using design-spectrum-compatible accelerogram, scaled to various target levels. The frame is observed with beam longitudinal bar slip and pullout. Joints with no confining ties experienced extensive damage, observed with cover/core concrete spalling. The frame could resist 70% of the design ground motion to remain within the code-specified drift limit. The code requirement for minimum column depth will not avoid joint damageability in case of low-strength concrete and joints lacking confining ties.     

Predictive Tri-Linear Benchmark Curve for In-Plane Behavior of Adobe Walls

In the present study, numerical simulations are conducted to estimate the in-plane response of adobe walls subjected to pseudo-static cyclic loading based on the finite element code ABAQUS. The simplified micro-modeling approach is adopted and an interface model reported in ABAQUS material library is applied as material model for zero-thickness interface elements. The comparison between obtained results and field test data results in good agreement. Parametric studies are carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of independent parameters changes on response of adobe walls. It is noted that mechanical properties of joints and adobe units play an active role on in-plane behavior of walls. A tri-linear benchmark curve is proposed to predict the response of aforementioned walls. In this regard, a statistical study is performed to derive the predictive tri-linear benchmark curve. The regressive analysis on 59 numerical models resulted in proposing predictive models. Finally, by comparing tri-linear curves obtained from the regressive analysis, numerical analysis, and experimental study, appropriate accuracy of theoretical model can be found.