Early dispersal of modern humans in Europe and implications for Neanderthal behaviour

The appearance of anatomically modern humans in Europe and the nature of the transition from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic are matters of intense debate. Most researchers accept that before the arrival of anatomically modern humans, Neanderthals had adopted several 'transitional' technocomplexes. Two of these, the Uluzzian of southern Europe and the Chatelperronian of western Europe, are key to current interpretations regarding the timing of arrival of anatomically modern humans in the region and their potential interaction with Neanderthal populations. They are also central to current debates regarding the cognitive abilities of Neanderthals and the reasons behind their extinction. However, the actual fossil evidence associated with these assemblages is scant and fragmentary, and recent work has questioned the attribution of the Chatelperronian to Neanderthals on the basis of taphonomic mixing and lithic analysis. Here we reanalyse the deciduous molars from the Grotta del Cavallo (southern Italy), associated with the Uluzzian and originally classified as Neanderthal. Using two independent morphometric methods based on microtomographic data, we show that the Cavallo specimens can be attributed to anatomically modern humans. The secure context of the teeth provides crucial evidence that the makers of the Uluzzian technocomplex were therefore not Neanderthals. In addition, new chronometric data for the Uluzzian layers of Grotta del Cavallo obtained from associated shell beads and included within a Bayesian age model show that the teeth must date to ~45,000-43,000 calendar years before present. The Cavallo human remains are therefore the oldest known European anatomically modern humans, confirming a rapid dispersal of modern humans across the continent before the Aurignacian and the disappearance of Neanderthals.     

兰州地区晚新生代沉积的岩石磁学记录及其古环境意义

位于黄土高原和西北干旱区过渡带的兰州地区,在晚新生代发育了一套风成红黏土和冲积—河湖相沉积.这套地层详细的岩石磁学研究结果表明,磁化率等一些磁学参数在细节上可能反映成壤作用强弱,但在大的趋势上大致反映干旱化,在长尺度研究中可作为干旱化的指标.S-300mT等另一些磁学参数主要反映赤铁矿质量分数,与红度值明显相关,因此同红度一样可作为温度的指标.底部冲积一河湖相沉积中黏土的主要载磁矿物是磁铁矿和赤铁矿;中下部红黏土沉积的主要载磁矿物是磁赤铁矿和赤铁矿,可能含针铁矿;中上部红黏土主要的载磁矿物是磁赤铁矿、磁铁矿和赤铁矿,可能含针铁矿.利用岩石磁学恢复的古环境表明,兰州地区在8.35～7.2 Ma是一个较为温暖的以冲洪积和河湖相为主的沉积环境;7.2～3.5 Ma主要为干陆地环境,同主体黄土高原一样接受粉尘沉积;6.3 Ma风尘沉积在沉积物中开始占主导地位;5.2 Ma兰州及其周边地区发生了急剧干旱化,可能伴随着快速降温;3.5 Ma开始的青藏高原运动A幕使兰州盆地瓦解,并于1.4 Ma开始接受黄土沉积,成为了黄土高原的西缘部分.     

组织公民行为及其对管理人员的启示

组织公民行为是员工自愿表现出来的超越正式职务要求的行为。章在分析论述组织公民行为的基本概念和基本维度的基础上,讨论了组织公民行为产生的动机．指出了组织公民行为对管理人员的启示。     

An exceptional adult-clutch-embryo association and its implications for dinosaur reproduction

Dinosaur egg clutches represent remarkable specimens in being both body fossils (the anatomical remains of an ancient animal) as well as a trace fossil (the dir...     

世界电子政务的发展进程对中国的启示

文章阐述了世界电子政务在现阶段的定义与发展阶段模式。通过对在该领域领先的美国及新加坡电子政务发展特点及最新趋势,总结我国电子政务发展存在的问题,并提出推动我国电子政务发展的政策和建议。     

Cranial anatomy and implications of Dolichocebus, a late Oligocene ceboid primate

THE very scarce fossil record of Cainozoic New World monkeys(1,2) has contributed little to knowledge of the history of platyrrhine primates, an important element of both the neotropical mammal fauna(3) and the pantropical primates, as a whole. Only the affinities of the Middle Miocene Colombian fossils Neosaimiri, Stirtonia and Cebupithecia seem reasonably well established(4), though not without dissent(5), and these are clearly linked with the modern squirrel, howler and sakiuakari monkeys, respectively. After completion of a survey of the morphology and interrelationships of the platyrrhines, to be detailed elsewhere (A. L. R., in preparation), it is now possible to discuss the evolutionary implications of the terminal Oligocene Dolichocebus gaimanesis of Patagonia, represented by a nearly complete cranium only recently prepared fully, although first described in 1942 (ref. 6). This specimen strongly suggests that Dolichocebus is a member of the Saimiri lineage, which thus becomes the oldest generic lineage known for the primates, dating from about 25 Myr ago(7). Its affinities also imply that the two major monophyletic divisions of Ceboidea were already established by late Oligocene times, as were the marmosets and tamarins.     

Fractal stream chemistry and its implications for contaminant transport in catchments

The time it takes for rainfall to travel through a catchment and reach the stream is a fundamental hydraulic parameter that controls the retention of soluble contaminants and thus the downstream consequences of pollution episodes. Catchments with short flushing times will deliver brief, intense contaminant pulses to downstream waters, whereas catchments with longer flushing times will deliver less intense but more sustained contaminant fluxes. Here we analyse detailed time series of chloride, a natural tracer, in both rainfall and runoff from headwater catchments at Plynlimon, Wales. We show that, although the chloride concentrations in rainfall have a white noise spectrum, the chloride concentrations in streamflow exhibit fractal 1/f scaling over three orders of magnitude. The fractal fluctuations in tracer concentrations indicate that these catchments do not have characteristic flushing times. Instead, their travel times follow an approximate power-law distribution implying that they will retain a long chemical memory of past inputs. Contaminants will initially be flushed rapidly, but then low-level contamination will be delivered to streams for a surprisingly long time.     

The long-term strength of Europe and its implications for plate-forming processes

Field-based geological studies show that continental deformation preferentially occurs in young tectonic provinces rather than in old cratons. This partitioning of deformation suggests that the cratons are stronger than surrounding younger Phanerozoic provinces. However, although Archaean and Phanerozoic lithosphere differ in their thickness and composition, their relative strength is a matter of much debate. One proxy of strength is the effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere, Te. Unfortunately, spatial variations in Te are not well understood, as different methods yield different results. The differences are most apparent in cratons, where the 'Bouguer coherence' method yields large Te values (> 60 km) whereas the 'free-air admittance' method yields low values (< 25 km). Here we present estimates of the variability of Te in Europe using both methods. We show that when they are consistently formulated, both methods yield comparable Te values that correlate with geology, and that the strength of old lithosphere (> or = 1.5 Gyr old) is much larger (mean Te > 60 km) than that of younger lithosphere (mean Te < 30 km). We propose that this strength difference reflects changes in lithospheric plate structure (thickness, geothermal gradient and composition) that result from mantle temperature and volatile content decrease through Earth's history.     

Early stone technology on Flores and its implications for Homo floresiensis

In the Soa Basin of central Flores, eastern Indonesia, stratified archaeological sites, including Mata Menge, Boa Lesa and Kobatuwa (Fig. 1), contain stone artefacts associated with the fossilized remains of Stegodon florensis, Komodo dragon, rat and various other taxa. These sites have been dated to 840-700 kyr bp (thousand years before present). The authenticity of the Soa Basin artefacts and their provenance have been demonstrated by previous work, but to quell lingering doubts, here we describe the context, attributes and production modes of 507 artefacts excavated at Mata Menge. We also note specific similarities, and apparent technological continuity, between the Mata Menge stone artefacts and those excavated from Late Pleistocene levels at Liang Bua cave, 50 km to the west. The latter artefacts, dated to between 95-74 and 12 kyr ago, are associated with the remains of a dwarfed descendent of S. florensis, Komodo dragon, rat and a small-bodied hominin species, Homo floresiensis, which had a brain size of about 400 cubic centimetres. The Mata Menge evidence negates claims that stone artefacts associated with H. floresiensis are so complex that they must have been made by modern humans (Homo sapiens).     

FDTD后时间步信号的外推与实现

根据一小段FDTD计算的时域信号,利用GPOF方法提取出组成该信号的各个复指数函数,通过将这些复指数函数相加构造出时域的信号函数,并利用它进行外推计算,以求得信号在后时间步的响应,这样比完全采用FDTD方法计算节省了大量的处理问题的时间。采用Visual Basic与MATLAB的MatrixVB联合编程的方法,编写了外推计算的程序,并将该程序应用到U形双频天线进一步优化设计中,使天线的模拟效率提高了3~6倍。     

迦诺的《基础物理学》及其在晚清的译介

19世纪下半叶,法国著名教育家阿道夫·迦诺的《基础物理学》作为世界范围内最重要的物理学教科书之一,曾被翻译成多种语言。目前,中译本就发现有3种之多。通过梳理和分析文献,首先考察了《基础物理学》原著的风格和特点。其次介绍了李杕《形性学要》和伍光健《最新中学教科书》使用的底本及在晚清的编辑出版情况。最后以热学为例,分析中译本与底本在内容和翻译方面的差异,并以此为基础,对晚清科学翻译的特征做了进一步评价。     

美国认知教练研究综述与启示

知教练作为一种视导模式由柯斯塔和甘斯顿开创,在世界范围内尤其是在美国的中小学教师专业发展中得到的广泛的应用并取得了不错的效果。然而,该模式却没有引起我国学者和教师的重视。因此,对认知教练的理论与实践进行了概述,无疑对教师专业与教学的发展具有重要的指导意义。     

Low variability in a Y-linked plant gene and its implications for Y-chromosome evolution

Sex chromosomes have evolved independently in several different groups of organisms, but they share common features, including genetic degeneration of the Y chromosome. Suppression of recombination between ancestral proto-X and proto-Y chromosomes is thought to have led to their gradual divergence, and to degeneration of the Y chromosome, but the evolutionary forces responsible are unknown. In non-recombining Y chromosomes, deleterious mutations may be carried to fixation by linked advantageous mutations ("selective sweeps"). Occurrence of deleterious mutations may drive "Muller's ratchet" (stochastic loss of chromosomes with the fewest mutations). Selective elimination of deleterious mutations, causing "background selection" may accelerate stochastic fixation of mildly detrimental mutations. All these processes lower effective population sizes, and therefore reduce variability of genes in evolving Y chromosomes. We have studied DNA diversity and divergence in a recently described X- and Y-linked gene pair (SLX-1 and SLY-1) of the plant Silene latifolia to obtain evidence about the early stages of Y degeneration. Here we show that DNA polymorphism in SLY-1 is 20-fold lower than in SLX-1, but the pattern of polymorphism does not suggest a selective sweep.     

The molecular heterogeneity of protein kinase C and its implications for cellular regulation

Protein kinase C is now known to be a large family of proteins, with multiple subspecies that have subtle individual enzymological characteristics. Some members of the family exhibit distinct patterns of tissue expression and intracellular localization; different kinases probably have distinct functions in the processing and modulation of a variety of physiological and pathological responses to external signals.     

五峰—龙马溪组页岩有机质赋存特征及其对孔隙结构的影响

有机质是页岩气富集成藏的物质基础,是选区评价的重要参数。选择上扬子地台东南缘的YY-1井五峰-龙马溪组为研究对象,基于岩心观察、扫描电镜观测(自然断面及氩离子剖光面)、低温氮气吸附等测试手段,研究了五峰—龙马溪组有机质赋存特征(显微组分、形态、孔隙)及其对页岩气储层储集能力(孔隙度、孔隙结构参数)的影响。结果表明：五峰—龙马溪组有机质以菌藻体和固体沥青为主,呈现四种形态,发育四种类型的有机质孔隙。有机质丰度是影响页岩储层储集能力的关键因素。在适宜的有机质丰度范围内,孔隙度随着有机碳含量的增加而逐渐增大,孔隙结构的非均质性逐渐增强。     

武夷礼俗文化的多元特征及其文化生态价值

以武夷山为代表的闽北地区,因其独特的自然地理环境和历史文化背景,存在着多元的闽越礼俗、中原礼俗以及地域独特的生产性礼俗文化,它们构成了相对独特的区域文化生态环境,具有一定的文化生态价值,反映着多元的文化精神、理念和文化思维.探讨这一地区的文化多元性和文化生态价值,有一定的文化反思和建设意义.     

食菌甲虫物种多样性及其与菌物的关系

食菌甲虫依赖大型真菌而生存,形成了紧密的协同进化关系和丰富的物种多样性.迄今全球已知食菌甲虫的种类多达3亚目16总科82科1 386属8 000余种,构成了复杂昆虫多样性的一个重要分支.食菌甲虫因取食而与自然界广泛的菌类建立起了复杂的依存关系,一些种类因危及蘑菇农业生产而与人类经济利益十分密切.为此,本文主要基于掌握的文献信息对该类甲虫国内外研究状况做一初步概述,以引起我国学术界对丰富食菌甲虫资源的关注.