Solomon Carter Fuller, M.D. (1872-1953): American pioneer in Alzheimer's disease research

The appointment of Alois Alzheimer to Emil Kraepelin's clinic and laboratory at the Royal Psychiatric Hospital, University of Munich in 1903 offered new opportunities for clinical and pathological studies of the brain. At the opening of the facility in 1904, Alzheimer selected five foreign visiting students as his graduate research assistants, among whom was an American, Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller. A glimpse of Fuller's background as an African-American (born in Liberia) at the turn of the century, his continuing research after leaving Germany in 1906, and his critical view of the Alzheimer dementia entity are recounted. He was held in high esteem as a practicing neuropsychiatrist and teacher in the Boston area.     

The New ‘Coimbra Method’: A Biologically Appropriate Method for Recording Specific Features of Fibrocartilaginous Entheseal Changes

This paper presents a revised version of the Coimbra method for recording fibrocartilaginous entheses. The method itself is the only biologically appropriate recording method for fibrocartilaginous entheses that scores features separately, thereby ensuring that the aetiology of individual features can be studied. The method divides the enthesis into two zones, scoring the relevant features in each zone. These features represent either bone formation or bone destruction and include erosive lesions, fine and macro‐porosity, and cavitations. The revised method includes a new feature, textural change, which is scored as absent or present when it involves 50% or more of the surface. All other features are now scored as zero (absent), one or two with the higher score representing greater expression of the feature. This change in scoring has led to the reduction of inter‐observer error with approximately 80% agreement for overall feature scores for both the common extensor origin and subscapularis insertion. The simplification of the scores and the reduction in inter‐observer error mean that the method is now recommended for widespread use. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electron Microprobe Analysis of 9th–12th Century Islamic Glass from Córdoba,Spain

Twenty‐six samples from domestic assemblages of 9th–12th century Córdoba were subjected to electron microprobe analysis. The results reveal two main compositional types. The first, encountered in 13 of the samples, seems to result from the combination of plant ashes with high‐impurity sand, and has some contemporary parallels from Syria and Egypt. The second type is a lead–soda–silica glass, encountered in a relatively high proportion of the glasses (11 of the 26 sampled), possibly formed by the addition of lead metal to existing glasses and with very few known parallels. These are among a very small number of results available to date on the chemical composition of glasses from medieval Spain, and the presence of a high proportion of lead–soda–silica glasses is particularly interesting, possibly indicating a technological practice unique to, or originating in, the western Muslim world.     

The minimum wage and seasonal employment: Evidence from the US agricultural sector

Nearly 40% of agricultural workers in the United States earn an hourly wage that is within 10% of the prevailing state-level minimum wage. We evaluate the impact of the minimum wage on farm employment using county-level data from the United States Census of Agriculture. We employ long-differences specifications and find evidence of a dynamic, negative effect of the minimum wage on seasonal agricultural employment, but no effect on year-round agricultural employment. We estimate a long-run elasticity of total agricultural employment with respect to the minimum wage of about −0.40, which is both statistically and economically significant. Employers’ total expenditures on hired agricultural workers are not affected by the minimum wage. Finally, our analysis suggests that increases in minimum wages may lead to higher capital investment as well as the consolidation of farming operations in the agricultural sector.     

From Activity Areas to Occupational Histories: New Methods to Document the Formation of Spatial Structure in Hunter-Gatherer Sites

Over the past five decades, archaeologists have proposed a wide range of methods for the study of spatial organization within hunter-gatherer sites. Many of these methods sought to identify the spatial location of activities based on patterns of behavior observed in ethnographic contexts. While this resulted in productive observations at certain sites, many of these methods were tailored to specific situations and thus could not be applied to a wide range of sites. For example, open-air sites rarely contain preserved bone or features, such as hearths, which were central components to identifying characteristics of site structure. In addition, many of these methods often did not take into consideration the temporal dynamics of the occupation, i.e., that many sites were formed through subsequent occupations of differing duration. This paper proposes the use of two related methods that assume many assemblages are the result of more than one occupation. The methods target the distribution of lithic artifacts, the most ubiquitously preserved of archaeological materials, and accounts for the potential that the final resting place of artifacts was the result of both intentional and unintentional movement by humans and a host of biological and geological processes. The main goal of this paper is to use an understanding of how these processes influenced the formation of site structure to estimate the relative number and duration of occupations for each site in the sample. These new methods will be presented and explained through the study of seven open-air Middle Paleolithic sites in France but are applicable to a wide range of hunter-gatherer sites.     

‘Because they can do the work’: women farmers in sustainable agriculture in Pennsylvania,USA

Women throughout the West are up to three times more likely to be the operator of a farm in sustainable agricultural models than in productivist models. When women assume the role of farmer they transgress traditional gender identities on farms, which dictate that women are ‘farmwives’ and men are ‘farmers’; these gender identities intersect with spaces in the agricultural community to imply appropriate behavior for women as farmwives. This research demonstrates that the sustainable agriculture community provides spaces that promote and are compatible with women's identities as farmers. Feminist analyses of space and agriculture suggest that productivist agricultural models marginalize women from spaces of knowledge, while sustainable agriculture provides spaces of empowerment for women farmers. The fieldwork for this project involved a purposive survey, in‐depth interviews and participant observation with twenty women farmers over an 18‐month period in the sustainable agriculture community of Central Pennsylvania.     

The Wreck of the Ex-Slaver James Matthews

This contribution presents the progress of investigations into the wreck of the ex-slave ship James Matthews, wrecked off Western Australia in 1841. The James Matthews wreck site preserves many elements of the vessel’s structure, with the result that the basic architecture of an actual transport vehicle of the Middle Passage has been recorded in detail and can be analyzed in depth by maritime archaeologists working in tandem with naval architects. The discovery of the James Matthews wreck has made possible cross-disciplinary research of a type not previously feasible for the illegal period of slavery in the Atlantic.