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Connections between northern Iberia and western France around the Bay of Biscay during the Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age, and Middle Bronze Age are addressed in this article through a multivariate cluster analysis of a dataset of 1273 metal finds, comprising 4554 metal artefacts grouped into five multiregional clusters with distinctive distributions, chronologies, content, and contexts. Changes in distribution and chronology show that metalwork from faraway regions was deposited in similar ways, reflecting changing patterns of interregional connectivity. Changes in context and content suggest social transformations. The clustering method known as Latent Class Analysis is presented here in the hope that it will be applicable to other datasets elsewhere in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, the government of Canada legalized cannabis for non-medical use. In addition to safeguarding public health, the main objective was to divert profits from the illicit market and restricting its availability to youth. This dramatic shift in policy direction introduces new challenges for the criminal justice system due to the persistence of unlawful distribution among persons who refuse to abide by the new law. Continuing unlawful distribution is foreseeable, in part, because of stringent measures to reduce availability by targeting participants in the illegal market. Recognizing that the most heavy, frequent, users account for the majority of cannabis consumed—and are the group most likely to keep purchasing from dealers because of lower costs and easy access—the illegal market will continue to provide a substantial (albeit unknown) proportion of the total volume. The recent change in policy in Canada provides new opportunities for research to assess how legalization of cannabis affects its use and distribution patterns. The National Cannabis Survey (NCS), administered at three-month intervals, allows for multi-wave comparison of prevalence statistics and point of purchase information before and after legalization. Drawing on the NCS, this article examines the extent to which the primary supply source has changed across the provinces, controlling for other factors and consumer characteristics. Findings are interpreted with reference to studies of cannabis law reform in North America informing research and policy observers in these and other jurisdictions, undergoing or considering, similar reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although morphology is always used to distinguish wild Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) populations, whether morphology could be used to identify the pond-reared offspring of wild E. sinensis populations has remained unclear. This study was undertaken to examine the morphological difference of wild E. sinensis (G0) from the Yangtze River (YR), Huang River (HR) and Liao River (LR) as well as their pond-reared offspring (G1). The results showed that: (1) The amount of significantly different parameters of three G1 populations was evidently less than that of three G0 populations; (2) G0 and G1 individuals of each population were clearly separated by principal component analysis, furthermore, three G0 populations were clearly separated while three G1 populations were not well distinguished from each other; (3) discrimination accuracy of G1 individuals in stepwise discriminant analysis was obviously lower than that of G1 populations; (4) G0 and G1 populations were clustered into two separate clusters in the cluster analysis. In conclusion, morphological differences between wild E. sinensis populations had disappeared after one generation of artificial culture, and morphology thus probably cannot be used to distinguish the pond-reared offspring originated from three wild E. sinensis populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Territorial planning and game management. A Model of hunting regions in Mallorca Hunting has a great social and territorial importance in Mallorca (Balearic Islands - Spain) hence, it should be managed according to sustainable criteria. Technical hunting plans are instruments aimed at resource exploitation regulation, even though they have certain territorial limitations, especially when are limited just to reduced particular hunting spaces. This paper pretends to design a model of hunting regionalization in Mallorca to facilitate the full and effective implementation of the hunting management and planning tools. In this sense, it has been developed a complex multivariate matrix that includes 30 physiographic units of the island linked with 26 variables related to physical environment, human factors and game indicators. Following a multivariate statistical treatment with SPSS program, by means of principal components and cluster analysis method, it was obtained the information necessary to perform territorial grouping. The proposed model consists of 7 hunting regions: Plains, marines and minor mountain ranges (1), Northern Basin (2), Marine (3), Scrublands and mountains (4), Mountain (5), Palma (6) and Lagoon (7) . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various food crops are produced in the rural commune of Fani. They constitute, according to the practices of soil allocation observed by the producers, a category of principal farming on the one hand, and a category of secondary farming on the other hand. Both categories are concerned with the high and weak production levels. This study used the method of logistical regression analysis in order to explain the determinants of production levels. These are as follows: the type of soil, the variety of food crops, the quality of equipment level, the quality of seed, the quality of fertilizers, the amount of human work, the distance between the fields and houses. It emerged from the data that the small size of the farms and their long term exposure to the sun are the determinants of high productions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods, as extreme hydrological phenomena, can be described by more than one correlated characteristic, such as peak, volume and duration. These characteristics should be jointly considered since they are generally not independent. For an ungauged site, univariate regional flood frequency analysis (FA) provides a limited assessment of flood events. A recent study proposed a procedure for regional FA in a multivariate framework. This procedure represents a multivariate version of the index-flood model and is based on copulas and multivariate quantiles. The performance of the proposed procedure was evaluated by simulation. However, the model was not tested on a real-world case study data. In the present paper, practical aspects are investigated jointly for flood peak (Q) and volume (V) of a dataset from the Côte-Nord region in the province of Quebec, Canada. The application of the proposed procedure requires the identification of the appropriate marginal distribution, the estimation of the index flood and the selection of an appropriate copula. The results of the case study show that the regional bivariate FA procedure performed well. This performance depends strongly on the performance of the two univariate models and, more specifically, the univariate model ofQ. The results show also the impact of the homogeneity of the region on the performance of the univariate and bivariate models.Editor D. Koutsoyiannis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 347 adult female sheep from the Sétif area (Algeria), were investigated for thirteen qualitative morphological traits and eighteen body measurements. Sampling included populations from each of three environmental areas: Northern, Central and Southern. Coefficients of variation of the 18 body measurements ranged from 4.4 % to 34.3 %, showing high heterogeneity. Canonical analyses showed that differences in body measurements between the three populations were large (p<0.0001). Only nine traits were significant at the stepwise discriminant and the others were removed from the final model. Mahalanobis distances were found to be very large: 10.53 between North and South, 9.23 between Centre and South and 7.59 between North and Centre. Discriminant analysis showed that most of the populations were classified into their environmental-area: North (74.59 %), Center (84.0 %) and South ( 97.14 %). Correspondence analysis indicated large differences between populations and uniformity within populations. The information produced will constitute the basis for further characterization and will facilitate the development of conservation strategies for Algerian sheep-populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand the alterations in cardiorespiratory variability during exercise, the present study characterized the patterns of change in heart rate variability (HRV), respiratory rate variability (RRV), and combined cardiorespiratory variability (HRV-RRV) during an intermittent incremental submaximal exercise model. Six males and six females completed a submaximal exercise protocol consisting of an initial baseline resting period followed by three 10-min bouts of exercise at 20%, 40%, and 60% of maximal aerobic capacity ( V̇O2max). The R-R interval and interbreath interval variability were measured at baseline rest and throughout the submaximal exercise. A group of 93 HRV, 83 RRV, and 28 HRV-RRV measures of variability were tracked over time through a windowed analysis using a 5-min window size and 30-s window step. A total of 91 HRV measures were able to detect the presence of exercise, whereas only 46 RRV and 3 HRV-RRV measures were able to detect the same stimulus. Moreover, there was a loss of overall HRV and RRV, loss of complexity of HRV and RRV, and loss of parasympathetic modulation of HRV (up to 40% V̇O2max) with exercise. Conflicting changes in scale-invariant structure of HRV and RRV with increases in exercise intensity were also observed. In summary, in this simultaneous evaluation of HRV and RRV, we found more consistent changes across HRV metrics compared with RRV and HRV-RRV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate assessment of groundwater is important to ensure sustainable and safe use of this natural resource. However, evaluating overall groundwater quality is difficult due to the spatial variability of multiple contaminants. This research proposes a geographical information system (GIS)-based groundwater quality pollution mapping technique, which synthesizes different available water quality data, normalized with the World Health Organization (WHO) standards. The normalized difference index (NDI) is used to perform the normalization process. This study utilizes a multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) script (MATLAB 10.0), developed to assign weights to each of the analysed water quality parameters. The consistency of judgments of weight assignment is further analysed using the consistency ratio (CR) and consistency index (CI) techniques. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) C-band radar and Landsat TM satellite image data are used to derive a digital elevation model (DEM) and land-use/land-cover map of the area. A new sensitivity analysis method is introduced to estimate the responsible factors associated with the proposed groundwater pollution zone model (GPZM). Multivariate analysis methods, such as factor analysis (FA), cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA), are used to uncover the latent structure of the data, to understand the correlations across hierarchical levels, and for dimensionality reduction, respectively. Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor Chong-yu Xu Citation Srivastava, P. K., Han, D., Gupta, M., and Mukherjee, S., 2012. Integrated framework for monitoring groundwater pollution using a geographical information system and multivariate analysis. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (7), 1453–1472. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A large set of South American fossils belonging to the genus Tapirus has been described on the basis of differences in size and proportions of lower molariform teeth. Nevertheless, the reliability of dental proportions for the diagnosis of fossil tapir species is controversial. In this paper, we describe new fossil material of Tapirus from the Quaternary of Serra da Bodoquena, Southwestern Brazil, comparing it to other fossil and extant specimens of the genus by means of multivariate morphometric analyses of lower molariform teeth linear dimensions. The results of Principal Component Analyses indicate that some of the extant and extinct material attributed to Tapirus fall within the range of variation in size and proportions of lower molariform teeth exhibited by recent species of the genus. Therefore, part of the fossil material attributed to new species or to Tapirus sp. may be referable to the extant species Tapirus terrestris. We conclude that the sole use of lower molariform teeth size and proportions to erect new species of Tapirus may not be reliable, and therefore we advocate caution when describing fossil tapirs exclusively based on these criteria. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

People who see themselves as and feel citizens of the world are often regarded as cosmopolitans. Sociology further distinguishes cosmopolitans by a set of particular orientations to the greater world. According to major normative claims of cosmopolitan theory, cosmopolitans hold attitudes and beliefs recognizing diversity. They are also expected to be more open-minded, self-critical and future-oriented. Using data from the European Values Study (EVS), the article discusses the possibilities to operationalize two measurement approaches to cosmopolitanism. The first one, termed the 'identity approach', is based on self-views as a world citizen and feelings of belonging. The second, labelled 'cosmopolitan orientation', relates to particular attitudes towards difference. Analyses show that EVS data on the 'identity approach' are problematic. In a comparative cross-national study covering 31 European countries, it is found that individual-level characteristics (gender, age, social class, citizenship, etc.) and structural conditions (GDP, sociopolitical regime) impact on the objective measurement of 'cosmopolitan orientation'. The results of a multilevel regression on this measure support the usefulness of approaching cosmopolitanism from a more 'objective' point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: The beneficial effect of corticosteroids has been well established, particularly in patients free of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. In intensive care units, the high risks of infection to which patients are exposed specifically could offset the neurological benefit of corticosteroids. The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of corticosteroids in adult patients with tuberculous meningitis admitted to intensive care unit. Methods: Retrospective cohort study including all adult patients admitted to intensive care unit for tuberculous meningitis between January 1993 and December 2005. A propensity score case matching was performed using a multivariable logistic regression model, and matched pairs were examined for baseline characteristics and outcome by using conditional regression model. A multivariate Cox''s proportional hazard model was used to assess the effects of corticosteroids in all patients adjusting for propensity score. The primary outcome was mortality at 60 days and the secondary outcome was the density of incidence of nosocomial infections. Results: Two hundred and seventy patients were included. The mean age was 38±17 years, and the Glasgow coma scale was 12±3. The overall mortality was 43.3%. Ninety-four patients who had received corticosteroids were matched to 94 patients untreated with corticosteroids by the propensity score. The baseline characteristics were similar in the two groups except for hydrocephalus, which was more frequent in the group corticosteroids. The mortality rate was 47.9% in group Corticosteroids and 52.1% in group No corticosteroids (P =0.77). The case fatality rate in stage III patients, according to the British Medical Research Council criteria, was 61.5% in the group Corticosteroids versus 74.1% in the group No corticosteroids (P =0.33). Nosocomial infections were observed in 19.1 by 1000 days patient in group Corticosteroids versus 16.1 by 1000 days patient in group No corticosteroids (P =0.4). The outcome in all patients after adjusting for propensity score showed the same results. Conclusion: This study found no significant improvement in survival in adult patients with tuberculous meningitis admitted to intensive care who received dexamethasone. However, the confidence interval was in accordance with the 0.78 relative risk estimated by the meta-analysis Cochrane version 2008. There was no significant difference for nosocomial infections between the group Corticosteroids and the group No corticosteroids. A probable lack of statistical power may explain these results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The study of sympatric populations of closely related plant species often reveals evidence of hybridization. Mechanisms that reduce outcrossing (e.g., selfing, apomixis) may allow co-occurrence without gene flow. In this study, we describe patterns of genetic variation in two contact zones, each comprising three closely related morphological types, that key to three distinct species in the North American Crepis agamic (apomictic) complex. We used RAPD markers to characterize individuals from two sites: one in northern California (Sardine Lookout) and another in northwestern Oregon (Summit Road). At Sardine Lookout, we discerned a total of four multilocus genotypes, two in one species, and one each in the other two species. Our findings suggest that distinct morphological types are maintained by absolute barriers to gene flow at this site. At Summit Road, we found greater genotypic diversity, with a total of 24 genotypes across 30 individuals. One of the morphological types was clearly genetically differentiated from the other two, with no variable markers shared with other species at this site. The two remaining species showed evidence of gene flow, with no unique markers discerning them. Morphological data tend to support this conclusion, with univariate and multivariate analyses indicating a pattern of variation spanning the two species. Taken together, these patterns suggest that contact zones need not represent hybrid zones, and that apomixis can serve as an effective barrier to gene flow that may allow for stable coexistence of close relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon (C) modeling and carbon dioxide (CO2) flux measurements in peatlands are dependent on the distribution and productivity of vegetation in a system with a high degree of spatial variability, often linked to the position of the water table. We tested the hypothesis that at a fine-scale (tens of metres) water table position exerts a strong control on species abundance, plant biomass, particularly photosynthetically active tissues, leaf area index (LAI), and areal foliar N and chlorophyll at Mer Bleue, a cool temperate peatland in eastern Canada. Total aboveground biomass ranged from 147 to 1011 g·m–2, with shrubs contributing between 42% and 72% of the total in the transects. We found significant (P < 0.05) positive relationships between foliar and total vascular plant biomass and mean water table position, and significant decreases in the shrub foliar:woody biomass ratio and moss biomass with a lower water table. However, there was no significant relationship between water table position and photosynthetically active tissues (vascular plant leaves and moss capitulum), ranging from 114 to 672 g·m–2) and the areal mass of N in these tissues, ranging from 1.5 to 6.7 g·m–2. Multivariate analyses of vegetation and environmental data showed that species distribution could be explained by both water table and chemistry gradients and that unimodal rather than linear responses best described the species and water table relationships. LAI ranged from 0.1 to over 3 and was correlated with both water table position and with vascular foliar biomass. Percent cover of shrubs was correlated with foliar biomass and LAI. Our results suggest that the less labour-intensive estimates of percent cover can be used to predict the vascular plant foliar biomass and LAI measurements. The lack of relationship between photosynthetically active tissues, tissue N concentrations, and water table may also explain the surprising lack of spatial variability in peak growing season eddy flux net ecosystem CO2 exchange in three different areas of the peatland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author attempts to further the current understanding of the role of group identification among white Americans by reassessing Herbert Gans's theory of symbolic ethnicity and religiosity. I focus on Jews, a small yet deeply integrated group in the social mainstream, using data from the 1970-1971 and 1990 National Jewish Population Surveys. A cohort follow-up over the 20- year period shows that intermittent and home-centered practices have sustained a fair amount of stability, but those requiring persistent religious behavior or participation declined significantly. Likewise, the importance attached to being Jewish has declined. Multivariate analysis reveals that when Jewish background and socio-demographic characteristics are held constant, the sense of group belonging is strongly and positively associated with religious behavior and affiliation; these relationships have strengthened between 1970 and 1990. Other factors, on the macro-level of the American scene, deter everyday behaviors while they maintain, and often increase, the levels of the intermittent ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. – To determine on a national level the factors associated with the use of laparoscopy for digestive surgery.Study design. – Nation wide study using a large representative sample (3 days of anaesthesia in France).Methods. – Univariate followed by multivariate analyses of data gathered in 1996 during the survey led by the French Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive care (« SFAR ») including 2847 surgical procedures for cholecystectomy, appendicectomy or inguinal herniorraphy.Results. – Independent factors associated with the use of laparoscopy were: for cholecystectomy: age (less frequent when ≥71 years: adjusted Odds ratio [AOR] 0.4), sex (more frequent in female: AOR 1.7), ASA physical status (less frequent when ≥3: AOR 0.5), private hospital (AOR 2.0), procedure scheduled at least the night before (AOR 2.1), and use of closed circuit general anaesthesia (AOR 1.6); for appendicetomy: age >15 years (AOR 1.9–2.2), female (AOR 2.1), private hospital (AOR 2.7), scheduled procedure (AOR 2.1), prolonged procedure (AOR 8.4), endotracheal intubation (AOR 16.7), and closed circuit (AOR 2.7); for inguinal herniorraphy: ASA physical status (less frequent when ≥3: AOR 0.4), private hospital (AOR 3.4), prolonged procedure (AOR 5.6), and endotracheal intubation (AOR 21.6). Association with a closed circuit was confirmed for general anaesthesia using a volatile agent (AOR 1.5). Overall, ambulatory surgery was rarely performed and used only for open procedures. Regional anaesthesia was used only for inguinal open herniorraphy.Conclusion. – These data obtained from a large national survey confirmed the higher frequency of laparoscopy in middle aged patients, female (except for inguinal herniorraphy), without important comorbidity, in private hospitals. Laparoscopy was associated with prolonged procedures and with a change in the anaesthetic technique for appendicectomy and inguinal herniorraphy: tracheal intubation was almost constantly used. Whatever the procedure, closed circuit anaesthesia was more frequently used when surgery was performed under laparoscopy, reflecting newer equipment of the hospital, private or public. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Evolutionary Anatomy of the Primate Cerebral Cortex, 2001 and S.J. Gould: crossed paths. The book Evolutionary Anatomy of the Primate Cerebral Cortex (Falk and Gibson, 2001) is a report of the congress in honor of H.J. Jerison held in USA (1998). Gould wrote the foreword of that book and Jerison its epilogue. For some participants, Gould’s successive works on organisms'' evolution have given an important background to their own research. Jerison and Gould met for the first time something like 40 years ago and all along they have shared common scientific interests. In this article, we shall attempt an overview of Evolutionary Anatomy of the Primate Cerebral Cortex, one of the themes close to an ‘influential’ (fide Gould) book entitled: Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence (Jerison 1973). Tendencies in the organization of the brain volume of Vertebrates, and especially in still-living or fossils mammals, is a major question (cf. recent publications and the debate in Nature). If Jerison was a leader for the encephalization concept (sensu 1D, 2D), Gould clearly introduced modern research (nD) on encephalization. From him, the representation through hyperspace could describe the complexity of the paths followed by Vertebrate brain evolution. From this, the new concept of neurotaxonomy (see Thireau et al., Bull. Soc. Zool. France 122 (4) (1997) 393–411) relates encephalic organisation to species taxonomy. So, in the future, paleoneurologists should be using some results from the neurotaxonomy of existing species, for help in completing interpretation of endocranian casts. Throughout this article, special attention is given to Gould’s arguments, proposed in his foreword to Falk et Gibson, 2001. Each of these deserves to be discussed, thus benefiting evolutive neurobiology, and should be completed by the reading of his major contribution to modern biology: The structure of Evolutionary Theory (Gould 2002). To cite this article: L. Thireau, J.-C. Doré, C. R. Palevol 2 (2003). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]