Cajal's Views on the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine (October 1904)

In this report we present and discuss an unpublished letter written by Santiago Ramón y Cajal in October 1904 in relation to his possible nomination for the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine. This letter shows that Cajal was aware of his previous nominations for the Prize. He was convinced that these nominations had not been successful because neither anatomy nor histology were among the sciences included in the Nobel Statutes' definition of Physiology or Medicine. He gives a list of the merits he thought might be used for a new nomination, which included only works concluded during the previous five years.     

The impact of the Roman Empire on animal husbandry practices: study of the changes in cattle morphology in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula through osteometric and ancient DNA analyses

The change in cattle size during the late Iron Age and the Early Roman period is a widely known phenomenon. However, hardly any information is available about this change and its causes in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula. In order to shed more light on this issue, variations of cattle size and shape through the analysis of Bos taurus remains from ten archaeological sites located in the north-east Iberia and occupied from the middle fifth century bc to the third century ad are examined in this paper. Osteometric postcranial and teeth analyses show a clear change in cattle size and shape during the Romanization period at newly founded sites. This change is documented at all the sites from the Early Roman period. Genetically, authenticated results from a short fragment of the mitochondrial d-loop were obtained from 6 cattle metacarpals out of 33 tested. They affiliate to the main European taurine haplogroup T/T3. The integration of the available data including the archaeological background suggests that the presence of these morphologically different cattle, introduced during the Romanization period, was more pronounced at sites interpreted as villas and trading posts, rather than at cities during the Early Roman period.     

An Ancient and Common Tradition: Funerary Rituals and Society in Equatorial Guinea (First–Twelfth Centuries ad)

In this article, we present the results of the 2011 field season at the Iron Age burial site of Nandá, on the Island of Corisco, located between Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The excavations followed a survey conducted in 2009, which evinced the extraordinary interest of the site and suggested its funerary nature. The excavations documented three levels of occupation belonging to two different phases, which are known in the region as Oveng (ad 1–600) and Group II (ad 600–1100). The first phase was characterized by secondary burials with rich metallic offerings, which were sealed by a settlement at the end of the period; the second phase witnessed the establishment of a large burial site with primary interments. Similar burials are known from Cameroon and Gabon, but the number of features identified at Nandá and the funerary sequence are quite unique in the region. Here, the evidence will be interpreted in light of Jan Vansina’s theories, where he postulates a common political tradition in Equatorial Africa from which later developments stem.     

A Basque Shipyard Design Method of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries,and its Relationship to Non‐graphic Hull Design of the 15th Century

The aim of the article is to show that the Mutiozabal shipyard in Orio, Gipuzkoa, Spain, was using the tools and procedures of non‐graphic hull‐design methods into the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. These procedures allow a hull to be designed with a very simple set of tools: a template of the master‐frame and some simple graduated gauges or graminhos. The plan of a 65‐Burgos‐foot ¹ (18.11 m) trading boat is used as the basis of the study. The nature of the templates and graminhos is shown in detail, as well as their use.     

How Risk Perceptions Influence Evacuations from Hurricanes and Compliance with Government Directives

In this study we present evidence supporting the view that people's perceived risk of hurricane‐related hazards can be reduced to a single seriousness score that spans different hurricane‐induced risk types and that compliant behavior with official advisories is strongly dependent on whether one perceives a high risk with respect to any type of hurricane‐related hazards. Our analysis suggests that people are less sensitive to risk type than they are to the general seriousness of the risks. Using this single seriousness score, representing a composite risk measure, emergency managers can be informed about the severity of the public's risk perceptions to impending hurricane hazards and might better craft their public directives in ways that minimize disruptive evacuations and achieve greater compliance with government directives.     

Shooting out the slate: working with flaked arrowheads made on thin-layered rocks

Although there are many archaeological and ethnographic evidences for the use of slate and similar rocks for flaking purpose, they raised little interest among specialists, leading to a general ignorance of specific problems associated with these raw materials. Starting from the study of several Neolithic and Chalcolithic slate collections of the Western Iberia, the mechanical properties of slate and its impact on knapping process has been defined; subsequently, manufacturing and use of slate and phyllite projectiles have been undertaken. The results show that the ease with which these materials break into sheets of uniform thickness and morphology would provide an ideal basis for a fast and easy manufacture of arrowheads. In addition, these projectiles have shown a penetration capability and resistance statistically equivalent to those made on more standard materials (i.e. chalcedony or rock crystal). Therefore, slate and other rocks with a high degree of fissility would have been very attractive to prehistoric knappers endeavouring to make arrowheads.