CHARMed PyMca,Part II: An evaluation of interlaboratory reproducibility for ED‐XRF analysis of copper alloys

CHARMed PyMca is a protocol for researchers using energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (ED‐XRF) who wish to maximize interlaboratory reproducibility of quantitative results from copper alloys found in heritage materials. This paper reports the results of a study evaluating the interlaboratory reproducibility expected when following this protocol. Five institutions participated in this study, using nine tube‐based instruments of seven types. A set of 12 reference materials not used for calibration was analysed according to the protocol. The results show an improvement in reproducibility of between 65% and 83%, depending on the element, in comparison with a similar study carried out in 2010. The protocol allowed the consistent reporting of concentrations for 15 elements, in contrast to only eight elements that were reported in the 2010 study. Finally, the protocol was shown to generate accurate quantitative results with a well‐characterized precision. It is hoped the information presented here can help researchers studying heritage copper alloys to collaborate more effectively and with greater confidence in the reproducibility of their results. It should also aid researchers to make realistic and informed decisions about whether or not the degree of reproducibility that they may expect from ED‐XRF makes the protocol suitable for their specific purposes.     

Pits,mounds, and vernal ponds in a Tasmanian subalpine grassland

Falling trees commonly turbate soils in primary forest, creating characteristic edaphic patterns related to pit and mound topography. Vernal ponds with associated mounds were observed in mineral soils on a treeless plain in subalpine Tasmania, Australia. The hypothesis that paired ponds and mounds on the plain originated as pit and mound features in forests that were later destroyed by fire was tested by comparing the soils and landforms caused by recent tree falls in adjacent forest with those on the plain. The soil characteristics, orientations, and dimensions of the ponds and mounds were consistent with a tree fall origin, although rare secondary ponds on the tops of mounds may derive from the burrowing activities of the medium‐sized marsupial, Vombatus ursinus (common wombat). The characteristics of pond and mound soils suggested that most were hundreds to thousands of years old, with the ponds persisting because of differences in deflation, deposition, and organic matter formation between themselves and adjacent persistently dry land.     

Chemical and Mineralogical Alteration of Ceramics from A Late Bronze Age Kiln At Kommos,Crete: the Effect On the Formation of A Reference Group

The formation of reference groups comprises an important procedure in chemical provenance studies of archaeological pottery. Material from ancient kilns is thought to be especially suitable for reference groups, as it comprises a definite unit of past production. Pottery from the Late Minoan IA kiln excavated at Kommos, Crete was analysed in order to produce a reference group in this important area of Minoan ceramic production. The samples were characterized by a combination of techniques providing information on the chemistry, mineralogy and microstructure of the ceramic body. Initially, the study was unable to establish, in a straightforward manner, a chemical reference group. Different ceramic pastes and a range of selective alterations and contaminations, affected by variable firing temperatures and burial environment, were shown to be responsible for the compositional variability. Procedures are described to compensate for such alterations and the perturbations in the data that they produce.     

What do women want in the 1990s? Feminism and stories of love and desire

Ernaux, A., Passion simple (Gallimard, 1992), 80pp., 60F., ISBN 2 070 72504 9     

The Development of a Scientific Understanding of Synesthesia from Early Case Studies (1849–1873)

The first case of synesthesia was reported in 1812 (Jewanski, Day, & Ward, 2009 Jewanski, J, Day, SA and Ward, J. 2009. A colorful albino: The first documented case of synesthesia, by Georg Tobias Ludwig Sachs in 1812. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 18: 293–303. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, it took almost seven decades before the idea of synesthesia entered the mainstream of science and, subsequently, art. There are no known new cases described between 1812 and 1848, but in the following three decades there are at least 11 reported cases of synesthesia and many reviews of these cases. This comes at an important period in the history of the neurosciences, and for sensory physiology in particular. However, the literature that describes synesthesia during this period is largely unknown to contemporary researchers and historians. The aim of this review is to discuss the reports of synesthesia during this period, providing translations of some key passages, and to place these reports within the contextual framework of nineteenth-century neuroscience.