The history of the revolutions of Russia to the accession of Catharine the First : including a concise review of the manners and customs of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries /

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Long-term community responses to droughts in the early modern period: the case study of Terrassa, Spain

New challenges posed by global environmental change have motivated scholars to pay growing attention to historical long-term strategies to deal with climate extremes. We aim to understand long-term trends in community responses to cope with droughts, to explain how many preindustrial societies coevolved with local hydro-climatic dynamics and coped with climate extremes over time. The specific goals of this work are: (1) to analyze how local communities experienced droughts over long periods of time and (2) to document the spectrum of recorded community responses to drought. Our research covers over one century (1605-1710) of responses to drought in the community of Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain. Data were collected through archival research. We reviewed and coded 2076 village council minutes. Our results show that the local community adopted a mixture of symbolic, institutional, and infrastructural responses to drought and that drought-related decisions varied through time. We discuss adaptation strategies on the basis of the distinct physical signals of drought propagation and the role of nonclimatic historical factors, such as warfare and public debt, in shaping responses. We conclude that long-term perspectives on premodern history and comparable empirical studies are fundamental to advance our understanding of past social responses to hydro-climatic extremes.

Contribution to Early Holocene vegetation and climate history of Eastern Orinoco Llanos, Venezuela, from a paleoecological record of a Mauritia L.f. swamp

A palynological analysis of an organic paleosol found at 150-125 cm depth in a Mauritia swamp from the Eastern Orinoco Llanos is presented. The 25 cm pollen record summarizes the vegetation history during the Early Holocene, from 10,225 to 7,800 calendar yr BP. The vegetation was characterized by a Poaceae marsh, where Asteraceae, Melastomataceae, Schefflera-type and Phyllanthus were the most abundant shrubs and trees. Pollen-types richness was lower than that recorded today in similar environments, and Mauritia pollen was absent. Results suggest that climate was as humid as present during the beginning of the Holocene, with a decreasing trend in humidity from around 8,000-7,000 yr BP, in coincidence with the beginning of the "Early-Mid-Holocene Dryness" that affected deeply the Amazon Basin and neighboring areas. Dry climatic conditions could have existed in the study site until the Mid-Late Holocene when a Mauritia swamp developed, and humid conditions similar to present established. Main climate phases inferred in our study site fit well with regional trends recorded in other places located north Amazon Basin. However, conclusions are still limited by the lack of additional Quaternary records in the Orinoco Llanos area, avoiding regional correlations.

Public Drinking in the Early Modern World: Voices from the Tavern, 1500-1800

Until recently the role of the public drinking house has been approached from elitist, folkloric and anecdotal perspectives. The work of a new generation of social historians, however, has raised the tavern’s profile in the academic consciousness and confirmed its position within the mainstream of social and cultural history. It is now recognized that an understanding of the centrality of public drinking to the development of both elite and popular culture is vital to studies of social behaviour. The study of taverns has also been at the forefront of emerging interest in the history of consumption and material culture, and has contributed to a richer understanding of economic history. Constructions of gender and identity are also visible through research into the patterns of behaviour and discourse in and around the public house. This four-volume reset edition presents a wide-ranging collection of primary sources which uncover the language and behaviour of local and state authorities, of peasants and town-dwellers, and of drinking companions and irate wives. The documents are translated and set in their social and historical context, providing a multidisciplinary collection that will be of great importance to scholars of all areas of social and cultural history of the early modern period. The vast majority of this material is published here for the first time, ensuring that the collection will open up new avenues of research. Volume 1 draws heavily from the Parisian police archives and includes inspectors’ reports, complaints by the general public and details of court cases to build a picture of drinking in early modern France. Volumes 2 and 3 address public drinking in the Holy Roman Empire through a variety of chronicles, civic ordinances, court records, travel reports and surveys of public houses. Volume 4 locates taverns within a broader analysis of America’s public houses, drawing on visual material as well as journal entries, business reports and newspaper articles. Each volume is accompanied by editorial introductions and is annotated to provide readers with a high-quality resource of scholarly material.

Women’s football. Notes for a social history of women’s sport in Spain, 1900-1936

In the context of demands by the European feminist movement at the beginning of the 20th century, in Spain women’s sport flagged up aspirations to what were considered to be male practices. The first experiences of women in football stand out because of their use of the media to appear as a symbol of social transformation to modernity in the 20th century. It was not in vain that women’s football highlighted the demands of the feminist movements, although it did come up against male disapproval from an opposing group. The research sets out from a bibliographical and media review of specialist press and sports news of the time. Other current studies have also been considered in order to place it in a social and historical focus on sport. This has enabled us to highlight that football in Spain was established as an unequivocal space for (re) producing male hegemony where women were relegated to the representation of a symbolic ritual in a scenario of accessory and condescension.

When the virtual influences reality. The conservation project of the toledo gate in ciudad real (Spain)

The Toledo Gate of Ciudad Real, Spain, constructed between the late 13th and early 14th centuries, is the last remaining portion of a once complete medieval city wall. It represents the long history of the city and constitutes its main heritage symbol, dividing the historic city centre from the later 19th and 20th century expansions. In October 2012, the Town Hall and the Montemadrid Foundation started the conservation works to preserve this important monument. The preliminary phase of this project included an in-depth series of scientific studies which were carried out by a multidisciplinary team focusing on archival research, historic investigations, archaeological excavations as well as material composition analysis and main treatment application tests. As a result of these studies a series of virtual 3D models were created to inform, discuss and study the monument. A first digital model permitted visualization of the gate in the 19th century and how the main entrance to the city was integrated as a fundamental part of the city walls. This virtual reconstruction also became an important part of the campaign to raise awareness among the citizens towards a monument that had remained in the shadows for the last century, isolated in a roundabout after the systematic demolition of the city walls in the late 19th century. Over the last three years and as a result of these archaeological and historic investigations and subsequent virtual models, surprisingly new and interesting data were brought to light thus permitting the establishment and corroboration of a new and updated hypothesis of the Toledo Gate that goes beyond the previous ideas. As a result of these studies a new architectural typology with construction techniques of has been suggested. This paper describes how the results of this continuous and interdisciplinary documentation process have benefitted from a computer graphic reconstruction of the gate. It highlights how virtual reconstruction can be a powerful tool for conservation decision making and awareness raising. Furthermore, the interesting results of the final reconstruction hypothesis convinced the technical team responsible for the conservation to alter some aspects of the final project physical interventions in order to focus on some of the features and conclusions discovered through the virtual model study.

Frequency and characteristics of familial melanoma in Spain: the FAM-GEM-1 Study.

INTRODUCTION Familial history of melanoma is a well-known risk factor for the disease, and 7% melanoma patients were reported to have a family history of melanoma. Data relating to the frequency and clinical and pathological characteristics of both familial and non-familial melanoma in Spain have been published, but these only include patients from specific areas of Spain and do not represent the data for the whole of Spain. PATIENTS AND METHODS An observational study conducted by the Spanish Group of Melanoma (GEM) analyzed the family history of patients diagnosed with melanoma between 2011 and 2013 in the dermatology and oncology departments. RESULTS In all, 1047 patients were analyzed, and 69 (6.6%) fulfilled criteria for classical familial melanoma (two or more first-degree relatives diagnosed with melanoma). Taking into account other risk factors for familial melanoma, such as multiple melanoma, pancreatic cancer in the family or second-degree relatives with melanoma, the number of patients fulfilling the criteria increased to 165 (15.8%). Using a univariate analysis, we determined that a Breslow index of less than 1 mm, negative mitosis, multiple melanoma, and a history of sunburns in childhood were more frequent in familial melanoma patients, but a multivariate analysis revealed no differences in any pathological or clinical factor between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Similar to that observed in other countries, familial melanoma accounts for 6.6% of melanoma diagnoses in Spain. Although no differences in the multivariate analysis were found, some better prognosis factors, such as Breslow index, seem more frequent in familial melanoma, which reflect a better early detection marker and/or a different biological behavior.

The Sustainable Debts of Philip II: A Reconstruction of Spain's Fiscal Position, 1560-1598

The defaults of Philip II have attained mythical status as the origin of sovereign debt crises. Four times during his reign the king failed to honor his debts and had to renegotiate borrowing contracts. In this paper, we reassess the fiscal position of Habsburg Spain. New archival evidence allows us to derive comprehensive estimates of debt and revenue. These show that primary surpluses were sufficient to make the king's debt sustainable in most scenarios. Spain's debt burden was manageable up to the 1580s, and its fiscal position only deteriorated for good after the defeat of the "Invincible Armada." We also estimate fiscal policy reaction functions, and show that Spain under the Habsburgs was at least as "responsible" as the US in the 20th century or as Britain in the 18th century. Our results suggest that the outcome of uncertain events such as wars may influence on a history of default more than strict adherence to fiscal rules.

Serial defaults, serial profits: Returns to sovereign lending in Habsburg Spain, 1566-1600

Philip II of Spain accumulated debts equivalent to 60% of GDP. He also defaulted four times onhis short-term loans, thus becoming the first serial defaulter in history. Contrary to a commonview in the literature, we show that lending to the king was profitable even under worst-casescenario assumptions. Lenders maintained long-term relationships with the crown. Lossessustained during defaults were more than compensated by profits in normal times. Defaultswere not catastrophic events. In effect, short-term lending acted as an insurance mechanism,allowing the king to reduce his payments in harsh times in exchange for paying a premium intranquil periods. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unusual concentration of Early Albian arthropod-bearing amber in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (El Soplao, Cantabria, Spain): Palaeoenvironmental and paleobiological implications.

The El Soplao site is a recently-discovered Early Albian locality of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (northern Spain) that has yielded a number of amber pieces with abundant bioinclusions. The amber-bearing deposit occurs in a non-marine to transitional marine siliciclastic unit (Las Peñosas Formation) that is interleaved within a regressive-transgressive, carbonate-dominated Lower Aptian-Upper Albian marine sequence. The Las Peñosas Formation corresponds to the regressive stage of this sequence and in its turn it splits into two smaller regressive-transgressive cycles. The coal and amber-bearing deposits occur in deltaic-estuarine environments developed during the maximum regressive episodes of these smaller regressive-transgressive cycles. The El Soplao amber shows Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy spectra similar to other Spanish Cretaceous ambers and it is characterized by the profusion of sub-aerial, stalactite-like flows. Well-preserved plant cuticles assigned to the conifer genera Frenelopsis and Mirovia are abundant in the beds associated with amber. Leaves of the ginkgoalean genera Nehvizdya and Pseudotorellia also occur occasionally. Bioinclusions mainly consist of fossil insects of the orders Blattaria, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Raphidioptera, Neuroptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera, although some spiders and spider webs have been observed as well. Some insects belong to groups scarce in the fossil record, such as a new morphotype of the wasp Archaeromma (of the family Mymarommatidae) and the biting midge Lebanoculicoides (of the monogeneric subfamily Lebanoculicoidinae). This new amber locality constitutes a very significant finding that will contribute to improving the knowledge and comprehension of the Albian non-marine paleoarthropod fauna.

Documentary material relating to the history of Iowa - Volume 2, 1896.

Benjamin F. Shambaugh edited and compiled documents and publications for this book on the history of Iowa. This volume 2 is concerned with the history of local political organizations and documents illustrative of the development of local government in the Territory of the Northwest from 1787 to 1800, in the Territory of Indiana from 1800 to 1805 and in the Territory of Michigan from 1805 to September 6, 1834.

Snakefly diversity in Early Cretaceous amber from Spain (Neuropterida, Raphidioptera)

The Albian amber from Spain presently harbors the greatest number and diversity of amber adult fossil snakeflies (Raphidioptera). Within Baissopteridae, Baissoptera? cretaceoelectrasp. n., from the Peñacerrada I outcrop (Moraza, Burgos), is the first amber inclusion belonging to the family and described from western Eurasia, thus substantially expanding the paleogeographical range of the family formerly known from the Cretaceous of Brazil and eastern Asia. Within the family Mesoraphidiidae, Necroraphidia arcuatagen. et sp. n. and Amarantoraphidia ventolinagen. et sp. n. are described from the El Soplao outcrop (Rábago, Cantabria), whereas Styporaphidia? hispanicasp. n. and Alavaraphidia imperterritagen. et sp. n. are describedfrom Peñacerrada I. In addition, three morphospecies are recognized from fragmentary remains. The following combinations are restored: Yanoraphidia gaoi Ren, 1995, stat. rest., Mesoraphidia durlstonensis Jepson, Coram and Jarzembowski, 2009, stat. rest., and Mesoraphidia heteroneura Ren, 1997, stat. rest. The singularity of this rich paleodiversity could be due to the paleogeographic isolation of the Iberian territory and also the prevalence of wildfires during the Cretaceous.

Povoações, freguesias e vilas na Paraíba Colonial: Pombal e Sousa, 1697-1800

The towns presently named Pombal and Sousa, located in the hinterland of the State of Paraíba, Brazil, still keep vestiges of the colonization process they went through along the 18th and 19th centuries, when they both emerged as settlement nuclei in the extreme West of the then captaincy of Paraíba and attained the status of freguesia and vila in a later period. This research aims to comprehend the process of urban formation and development of the colonial urban nuclei of Pombal and Sousa as they became povoados (hamlets), freguesias (parishes) and vilas (small urban communities with a local government), according to territorial expansion policies implemented by the Portuguese government from 1697 to 1800. The choice of the two urban settlements for this survey lies in the fact that they were part of the great conquest and colonization program undertaken by the Portuguese Crown. Another aspect that was considered was the fact that those towns are the oldest urban nuclei of Paraíba s hinterland. They came into being as early as in the times of the colony, thus producing a favorable environment to the study of the changes that occurred in the captaincy s hinterland scenery resulting from the process of formation and development of the colonial urban space. Three fundamental categories of analysis were defined since they have a direct bearing upon the urban configuration of the two colonization nuclei: povoado, freguesia and vila. The three of them are related to civil and ecclesiastic jurisdictions. Field, documentation and bibliography surveys were undertaken in order to develop the study. They allowed for the finding of vestiges of the old, colonial urban structures and for the development of theoretical analysis based on present-day studies of issues relating to the colonial urban history. The study purposes were, therefore, to try to understand how the old urban nuclei of Pombal and Sousa fit in the territorial expansion policies undertaken by the Portuguese government; to relate the process of urban formation and development of such nuclei with the categories of analysis povoação-freguesia-vila by discussing the relations and influences they exert over one another and their territory, as well as to unveil, as much as possible, the configuration the urban spaces that were shaped along the 18th century

Early gene expression analysis in 9L orthotopic tumor-bearing rats identifies immune modulation in molecular response to synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy

Synchrotron Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT) relies on the spatial fractionation of the synchrotron photon beam into parallel micro-beams applying several hundred of grays in their paths. Several works have reported the therapeutic interest of the radiotherapy modality at preclinical level, but biological mechanisms responsible for the described efficacy are not fully understood to date. The aim of this study was to identify the early transcriptomic responses of normal brain and glioma tissue in rats after MRT irradiation (400Gy). The transcriptomic analysis of similarly irradiated normal brain and tumor tissues was performed 6 hours after irradiation of 9 L orthotopically tumor-bearing rats. Pangenomic analysis revealed 1012 overexpressed and 497 repressed genes in the irradiated contralateral normal tissue and 344 induced and 210 repressed genes in tumor tissue. These genes were grouped in a total of 135 canonical pathways. More than half were common to both tissues with a predominance for immunity or inflammation (64 and 67% of genes for normal and tumor tissues, respectively). Several pathways involving HMGB1, toll-like receptors, C-type lectins and CD36 may serve as a link between biochemical changes triggered by irradiation and inflammation and immunological challenge. Most immune cell populations were involved: macrophages, dendritic cells, natural killer, T and B lymphocytes. Among them, our results highlighted the involvement of Th17 cell population, recently described in tumor. The immune response was regulated by a large network of mediators comprising growth factors, cytokines, lymphokines. In conclusion, early response to MRT is mainly based on inflammation and immunity which appear therefore as major contributors to MRT efficacy.

Construction History in Spain: the Discipline's Foundation

In the past two decades the History of Construction has started to become an independent discipline. On one hand, the number of articles, theses and books that could be assigned to this field has grown exponentially. Furthermore, there have been numerous and remarkably successful Congresses: 12 National (Spain 8; France 2; United Kingdom 1; Germany 1) and 4 International Congresses (Madrid 2003, Cambridge 2006, Cottbus 2009, Paris 2012), see Table 1 below. However, the situation is far from that corresponding to an already recognized discipline, such as the History of Art or the History of Science. There are no University chairs and departments, and in the reference databases “Construction History” is not listed as a common descriptor. This is not surprising; it reflects the inertia of academia to accept new disciplines. In what follows we will discuss the current state of discipline in Spain. Previous articles have tackled the matter. We will try to avoid unnecessary repetitions and concentrate on: 1) The activities of the Spanish Society of Construction History; 2) Its consequences on teaching and research, taken as a case study the experience in the School of Architecture of Madrid, and 3) We will give a provisional List of dissertations on Construction History read in Spain in the last forty years. First, we will try to define with the least possible ambiguity its field and its objectives. The intention is not to enter into the actual debate on the "definition" of Construction History, but to expose, in as detached as possible way, the ideas behind the actions made.