This study assessed postprandial plasma aminoacidemia, glycemia, insulinemia and appetite responses to ingestion of a novel salmon-derived protein peptide (Salmon PP) compared with milk protein isolate (Milk PI). In a randomised, participant-blind crossover design, eleven healthy adults (M = 5, F = 6; mean ± sd age: 22 ± 3 years; BMI: 24 ± 3 kg/m2) ingested 0·3 g/kg/body mass of Salmon PP or Milk PI. Arterialised blood samples were collected whilst fasted and over a 240-min postprandial period. Appetite sensations were measured via visual analogue scales. An ad libitum buffet-style test meal was administered after each trial. The incremental AUC (iAUC) plasma essential amino acid (EAA) response was similar between Salmon PP and Milk PI. The iAUC plasma leucine response was significantly greater following Milk PI ingestion (P < 0·001), whereas temporal and iAUC plasma total amino acid (P = 0·001), non-essential amino acid (P = 0·002), glycine (P = 0·0025) and hydroxyproline (P < 0·001) responses were greater following Salmon PP ingestion. Plasma insulin increased similarly above post-absorptive values following Salmon PP and Milk PI ingestion, whilst plasma glucose was largely unaltered. Indices of appetite were similarly altered following Salmon PP and Milk PI ingestion, and total energy and macronutrient intake during the ad libitum meal was similar between Salmon PP and Milk PI. The postprandial plasma EAA, glycine, proline and hydroxyproline response to Salmon PP ingestion suggest this novel protein source could support muscle and possibly connective tissue adaptive remodelling, which warrants further investigation, particularly as the plasma leucine response to Salmon PP ingestion was inferior to Milk PI.

Ceramic clays are among the most complicated of ceramic systems because of the very intricate relationship between the behavior of minerals during ceramic processing and their modifications during heating. A major challenge is to predict the phase changes in clay ceramics. The aims of this study were to establish reference data of ceramic products that can be formed based on the mineralogical compositions of the local raw materials. These data, in turn, can be compared with archeological ceramics in order to study their origins.

The mineralogical compositions and modifications during firing (550–1100°C under oxidizing conditions) of seven clayey materials sampled from the main clay deposits of northern Morocco were evaluated by X-ray powder diffraction. Two groups of clays were distinguished according to the type of neoformed high-temperature minerals: non-calcareous clays and calcareous clays. For the non-calcareous raw materials, spinel was produced at 950°C. Cristobalite and mullite were formed at temperatures in excess of 1000°C from clays that contain illite, kaolinite, and chlorite. In clays containing vermiculite and large amounts of chlorite, hematite was formed at temperatures in excess of 950°C. Firing of calcareous clays at temperatures >950°C yielded Ca-silicates (diopside, gehlenite and wollastonite), spinel, cristobalite, hematite, and feldspars. Mullite may also form in the calcareous clay products when the carbonate content exceeds 10%.

“Building Blocs” charts a global history of the last great crisis of globalization—the transwar decades from the 1880s through the 1940s—by centering strategic minerals needed to make steel. Little studied, but critically important, alloying minerals like tungsten and manganese were only needed in small amounts, but they were essential to the foundations of both national prosperity and security: steel and military production. Herein lay a fundamental problem: none of the industrial powers possessed adequate domestic deposits of these minerals, which were concentrated in remote locations such as central India, the Caucasus, southern China, Brazilian jungles, the Australian outback, and southern Africa. In a world in which steel was power, “Building Blocs” shows that resource anxieties motivated interwar quests for autarky and autonomy in the form of self-contained blocs. The scramble for strategic minerals escalated tensions and put rivals on the road to war, reshaping the forms and structures of geopolitical entities and international institutions throughout the transwar period.

Clays from the Saïss basin (northern Morocco) used traditionally in the ceramic industry in the Fez area were studied using mineralogical and physicochemical techniques to evaluate their potential suitability as raw materials for ceramics manufacture. X-ray diffraction was used to determine their mineralogical composition. The physical properties determined were particle-size distribution and consistency limits. The chemical composition was determined using X-ray fluorescence analysis and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry. The structural changes of the mineral phases in the raw materials during firing were studied over a temperature range of 500–1000°C. In the pottery site from Fez, generally potters use a mixture of 25% fine clay (ARFS) from the upper part of the Miocene marls and 75% sandy clay (ARFR) from the lower part of the Miocene marls. The ARFS clay yielded very rigid specimens after firing that artisan potters would find difficult to handle so as to produce desired shapes and sizes. However, the specimens obtained from ARFR clay show signs of faltering. The mixture of these two clayey materials from this pottery site is therefore necessary to obtain the optimal paste for ceramics purposes. The chemical compositions indicated that SiO2, Al2O3, CaO and Fe2O3 are the major minerals, with trace amounts of K2O and MgO. Quartz, feldspars and clay minerals prevail in all samples. Kaolinite, illite and smectite are the dominant clay mineral phases, with traces of chlorite and interstratified illite–smectite. The classification of these samples using appropriate ternary diagrams showed that the proportions used in the mixture produce a new material with adequate characteristics for the production of traditional ceramics.

This article presents a comparative study of the arrowheads found in graves dating to between 2500 BC and 1700 bc in north-west France, southern Britain and Denmark. The aim is to characterise their modes of production and functions during a period which successively sees the introduction of copper then bronze metallurgy, the former accompanying the appearance of Bell Beaker pottery and associated practices in these areas. Several modes of production are proposed, from individual manufacture by Bell Beaker-using warriors to specialist production for elite use during the Early Bronze Age. Over and above their function as weapons – arguably associated more with interpersonal combat than with hunting – arrowheads served to portray and emphasise the social status of the individuals. In the case of the Early Bronze Age Armorican arrowheads, they should be regarded as ‘sacred’ objects, made for display and enhancing the power of the chiefs. Lastly, arrows are placed in the broader perspective of major trends affecting Europe during the Bell Beaker period and then the Early Bronze Age, while the distribution of arrowheads with slanted barbs suggests the operation of an Atlantic cultural complex.

Japan’s relations with Germany and Italy during the Second World War were rather limited. Nevertheless, there were some regional nuances and growing cooperation as the war drew to its close. In the Indian Ocean, at least, and especially in the area around the Straits of Malacca and the Java Sea, the Japanese and German empires, and to a lesser extent the Italian empire too, did develop a rather intensive cooperation during the final two years of the war (1943–45). This cooperation encompassed several domains, such as the exchange of vital raw materials and military technology, coordinated naval activity, and even an ideological affinity that materialized in pressures to implement harsher racial policies towards Jewish communities in the region. This article examines the scope of this unique inter-Axis collaboration, the specific reasons for why which came into being in this region in particular, and the lessons we may draw from it.

Concerns for climate change and declining oil reserves lead to a shift of transportationsystems in many industrial countries. However, alternative drive concepts contain to someextent critical raw materials. Since the availability of certain raw materials could bedecisive for the success of emerging technologies, concerns are growing about thepotential limitation of resources. This brought about a growing attention to the subjectsof criticality and resource security of raw materials by science, policy and industry.Four of the resulting surveys are described in terms of their framing of criticality,their indicators for evaluating criticality, and their rankings of potentially criticalraw materials. Critical raw materials are used in alternative drive concepts because oftheir specific properties. The focus of our work lies on batteries for electric vehicleswith special attention to lithium-ion batteries being one of the most promising candidatesfor energy storage there. Lithium-ion batteries use as major cathode materials lithium,manganese and cobalt, all of which are potential critical. A material flow model of theglobal manganese cycle is developed. It could be identified that there is a lack ofrelevant data for processes and flows. The lack of data impedes a comprehensive view andtherefore no final conclusions could be drawn, which advice the need for further research.Using manganese as an example, it could be illustrated how material flow analysis cancontribute to compiling relevant preparatory work that can subsequently serve as a basisfor a prospective support of a criticality evaluation and to inform stakeholders andpolicy makers about the effectiveness of various interventions to reduce the risk or theeffects of supply chain disruptions.

A previous paper portrayed sample preparation by fusion methodology and the XRF analysis conditions for the calibration of cement materials [Bouchard et al., 2009. “Global cement and raw materials fusion/XRF analytical solution,” Adv. X-Ray Anal. 53, 263–279]. The results of two well known cement chemical analysis Standard Methods were also presented. These results proved that this robust analytical method is able to qualify by the ASTM C114 [ASTM C114-08 (2008). “Standard test methods for chemical analysis of hydraulic cement,” Annual Book of ASTM Standards Vol. 04.01 (ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA), pp. 150–157)] and ISO/DIS 29581-2 [Draft Standard, 2007-07 (2007). “Methods of testing cement—Chemical analysis of cement—Part 2: Analysis by X-ray fluorescence” ISO/DIS 29581-2, 2007, pp. 1–30]. This robust analytical method was developed using an automated fusion instrument for the sample preparation and a WDXRF spectrometer for the determination of all elements of interest relating to the cement industry. This method was used to prepare finished products, process materials, as well as a very large range of raw materials. The first part of this second paper examines all the XRF analysis conditions for the calibration of the raw materials using the robust fusion sample preparation methodology as well as the numerous reference materials (RMs) used for this analytical application. All interesting results will be presented. The second part of this paper reveals the rapid analytical method results using sample preparation by fusion on nonignited samples. It will also be proven that this faster method, combined with the WDXRF spectrometer, complies with both cement analysis Standard Methods: ASTM C114 and ISO/DIS 29581-2.

Terrestrial mammals are frequently undervalued in interpretations of prehistoric coastal economies where middens are used to examine seasonality and diet. Using case-studies from the Northwest Coast of North America, and from Arctic Norway, a more integrated approach to subsistence and technology is proposed