Classes Of Artifacts Research Articles

Towards mitigating the effect of sine-Gaussian noise transients on searches for gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences

Gravitational wave (GW) signals were recently detected directly by LIGO from the coalescences of two black hole pairs. These detections have strengthened our belief that compact binary coalescences (CBCs) are the most promising GW detection prospects accessible to ground-based interferometric detectors. For detecting CBC signals it is of vital importance to characterize and identify non-Gaussian and non-stationary noise in these detectors. In this work we model two important classes of transient artifacts that contribute to this noise and adversely affect the detector sensitivity to CBC signals. One of them is the sine-Gaussian glitch, characterized by a central frequency $f_0$ and a quality factor $Q$ and the other is the chirping sine-Gaussian glitch, which is characterized by $f_0$, $Q$ as well as a chirp parameter. We study the response a bank of compact binary inspiral templates has to these two families of glitches when they are used to match-filter data containing any of these glitches. Two important characteristics of this response are the distributions of the signal-to-noise ratio and the timelag of individual templates. We show how these distributions differ from those when the detector data has a real CBC signal instead of a glitch. We argue that these distinctions can be utilized to develop useful signal-artifact vetos that add negligibly to the computational cost of a CBC search. Specifically, we show how $f_0$ of a glitch can be used to set adaptive time-windows around it so that any template trigger occurring in that window can be quarantined for further vetting of its supposed astrophysical nature. Second, we recommend focusing efforts on reducing the incidence of glitches with low $f_0$ values because they create CBC triggers with the longest timelags. This work allows us to associate such triggers with the glitches which otherwise would have escaped attention.

Fishhook variability and cultural transmission in East Polynesia

ABSTRACTThe colonisation of East Polynesia unfolded as a rapid dispersal by culturally related groups on a massive geographical scale. In settling distant oceanic islands, populations developed new technology in response to local environments, but also shared selectively neutral aspects of artefact design. Building on the work of Sinoto and Allen, we examine proximal endpoint line‐attachment‐devices (LADs) in fishhook assemblages from East Polynesia to address issues of interaction and cultural sharing among island communities. We construct relational networks using artefact classes and employ a series of non‐parametric randomisation tests to directly evaluate the influence of geographical distribution on assemblage similarity in a time‐averaged dataset. The results support a model of cultural transmission through social interaction largely irrespective of geographical distance. Our results show the degree of cultural relatedness among various fishhook assemblages, and we consider some implications for human migrations in East Polynesia.

A Design Science Research Methodology for Expert Systems Development

The knowledge of design science research (DSR) can have applications for improving expert systems (ES) development research. Although significant progress of utilising DSR has been observed in particular information systems design – such as decision support systems (DSS) studies – only rare attempts can be found in the ES design literature. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the use of DSR for ES design. First, we explore the ES development literature to reveal the presence of DSR as a research methodology. For this, we select relevant literature criteria and apply a qualitative content analysis in order to generate themes inductively to match the DSR components. Second, utilising the findings of the comparison, we determine a new DSR approach for designing a specific ES that is guided by another result – the findings of a content analysis of examination scripts in Mathematics. The specific ES artefact for a case demonstration is designed for addressing the requirement of a ‘wicked’ problem in that the key purpose is to assist human assessors when evaluating multi-step question (MSQ) solutions. It is anticipated that the proposed design knowledge, in terms of both problem class and functions of ES artefacts, will help ES designers and researchers to address similar issues for designing information system solutions.

Spindle Whorls from El Purgatorio, Peru, and Their Socioeconomic Implications

In the Andean region, spindle whorls have been the subject of archaeological analysis less often than other artifact classes, such as pottery. Nevertheless, spindle whorls may have much more to contribute to archaeological interpretations of production, status, and exchange patterns than previously acknowledged. The case study presented here examines the spindle whorl collection from the site of El Purgatorio, Peru, the capital city of the Casma polity (ca. A.D. 700–1400). Spindle whorls were not only expertly crafted utilitarian tools for spinning yarn, but also items of personal adornment, symbols of wealth or status, and possible indicators of intra-polity exchange patterns. The analysis of spindle whorls in regard to form and function provides insight into Casma social and economic organization. The spindle whorls discovered at El Purgatorio also reflect varying degrees of standardization and technical knowledge, suggesting that at least some may have been manufactured by specialists in metallurgical and ceramic workshops.

Can I get chips with that? Sourcing small obsidian artifacts down to microdebitage scales with portable XRF

Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) instruments can source obsidian artifacts once beyond analytical reach, expanding the range of artifact classes included in sourcing research. It is now more straightforward to analyze a “museum quality” tool on display in a gallery than the flaking chips and resharpening debitage recovered with it. That is because a minimum specimen size for artifacts is often mentioned as a drawback of pXRF-based sourcing. Many recent studies reject artifacts smaller than 1 cm and thinner than 3mm for pXRF analysis. This study concerns whether such guidelines are too restrictive. After examining data from previous research into this issue, this study uses an experimental assemblage of 650 flakes from five obsidian sources to demonstrate two data handling techniques that enable valid and reliable source identifications for artifacts as small as microdebitage. The first involves ratios between quantitative concentrations of well-measured elements with similar X-ray energies, while the second one involves multivariate analysis of elemental data for obsidian flakes across a variety of size classes. As an example, 200 small blades are matched to two chemically similar obsidian sources on the Aegean island of Melos. Distinguishing between them has been treated as a “benchmark” or “litmus test” for evaluating obsidian sourcing techniques. Ultimately, it is demonstrated that debitage, as small as ∼1–2mm and <10mg, can be sourced using pXRF. Including small lithic size classes has important consequences. Obsidian tools were continuously resharpened and rejuvenated as they were transported across the landscape. Sourcing microdebitage, not only large artifacts, enables insights into tool maintenance and curation behaviors that would otherwise be invisible.

Exchange economies of late prehistoric eastern Sonora, Mexico: A re-evaluation based on provenance data analyses

This paper presents provenance data on mundane and rare artifact classes from eastern Sonora in order to revise interpretations of the political economy of late prehistoric Northwest Mexico. Previous researchers have argued that long-distance exchange was a predominantly elite activity utilized to generate economic wealth as a means to political ascendance. Data presented in this analysis contradict these previous models and indicate that all segments of society employed exchange to forge relationships for diverse reasons. Aspiring leaders rarely utilized unequal access to regionally acquired goods to attract local supporters. There is no evidence that foreign objects or symbolism imported from Mesoamerica were a component of aspirant leader strategies. Commoner households exchanged mundane artifacts to bank social capital with groups unlikely to undergo simultaneous social depredations. Overall, exchange and other data indicate a fairly balkanized landscape with few signs of elite offices.

2D geometric morphometric analysis casts doubt on the validity of large tanged points as cultural markers in the European Final Palaeolithic

Large tanged points are known from several Final Palaeolithic technocomplexes in Europe. In different regions, they are known by different labels (e.g. Bromme points, Lyngby points, and Teyjat points) and are often given culturally and hence chronologically diagnostic status as important fossiles directeurs, especially in northern Europe. The vast majority of these finds are from the surface or derive from less-than-secure contexts. Several recent papers have cast doubt on the validity of this artefact class as a taxonomically sensitive marker. Here, we further investigate this issue using 2D geometric morphometric techniques on a sample of published large tanged points from several key sites in northern Europe. This analysis reveals a substantial amount of shape variation within this artefact class and finds no support for distinctions between large tanged points derived from different cultural and/or chronological contexts. Our analysis thus strongly supports the notion that large tanged points do not function as useful culturally diagnostic marker artefacts. The earliest occurrences of Final Palaeolithic large tanged points date to late GS-2 or GI-1e (~15,000–14,000calBP), alongside arch-backed points. Their presence in later assemblages and technocomplexes such as the Brommean cannot therefore be considered as a derived or diagnostic feature. We suggest that this artefact class should rather be linked to weapon systems function (dart-points) different from the coeval arch-backed points (arrowheads) and that definitions of cultures based on these should thus be taken up for critical revision.

An Android Communication App Forensic Taxonomy.

Due to the popularity of Android devices and applications (apps), Android forensics is one of the most studied topics within mobile forensics. Communication apps, such as instant messaging and Voice over IP (VoIP), are one popular app category used by mobile device users, including criminals. Therefore, a taxonomy outlining artifacts of forensic interest involving the use of Android communication apps will facilitate the timely collection and analysis of evidentiary materials from such apps. In this paper, 30 popular Android communication apps were examined, where a logical extraction of the Android phone images was collected using XRY, a widely used mobile forensic tool. Various information of forensic interest, such as contact lists and chronology of messages, was recovered. Based on the findings, a two-dimensional taxonomy of the forensic artifacts of the communication apps is proposed, with the app categories in one dimension and the classes of artifacts in the other dimension. Finally, the artifacts identified in the study of the 30 communication apps are summarized using the taxonomy. It is expected that the proposed taxonomy and the forensic findings in this paper will assist forensic investigations involving Android communication apps.

Forensic taxonomy of android productivity apps

Android productivity apps have provided the facility of having a constantly accessible and productive workforce to the information and work capabilities needed by the users. With hundreds of productivity apps available in the Android app market, it is necessary to develop a taxonomy for the forensic investigators and the end users to allow them to know what personal data remnants are available from the productivity apps. In this paper, 30 popular Android productivity apps were examined. A logical extraction of the Android phone was collected by using a well-known mobile forensic tool- XRY to extract various information of forensic interest such as user email ID and list of tasks. Based on the findings, a two-dimensional taxonomy of the forensic artefacts of the productivity apps is proposed with the app categories in one dimension and the classes of artefacts in the other dimension. The artefacts identified in the study of the apps are summarised using the taxonomy. In addition, a comparison with the existing forensic taxonomies of different categories of Android apps is provided to facilitate timely collection and analysis of evidentiary materials from mobile devices.

Getting Beyond the Point: Textiles of the Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene in the Northwestern Great Basin

Although the Great Basin of North America has produced some of the most robust and ancient fiber artifact assemblages in the world, many were recovered with poor chronological controls. Consequently, this class of artifacts has seldom been effectively incorporated into general discussions of early chronological and cultural patterns. In recent years, the Great Basin Textile Dating Project has accumulated direct AMS dates on textiles (bags, sandals, mats, cordage, and basketry) from dry caves in the Great Basin, particularly in the northern and western areas. We focus here on the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene, to identify chronological patterns in this class of artifacts and to evaluate Adovasio’s characterization of the region’s earliest basketry as simple and undecorated. New AMS dates now suggest that the region’s earliest people had sophisticated textile traditions that incorporated numerous decorative elaborations. Some distinctive structures, including Fort Rock sandals and weft-faced plaited textiles, have limited early temporal ranges and may serve as diagnostic indicators for terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene times. Other basketry forms and structures that appear by about 9000 cal B.P. persist into the historic period, suggesting a stronger thread of continuity (especially in the north) from this time than is apparent in lithic traditions

Getting Beyond the Point: Textiles of the Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene in the Northwestern Great Basin

Although the Great Basin of North America has produced some of the most robust and ancient fiber artifact assemblages in the world, many were recovered with poor chronological controls. Consequently, this class of artifacts has seldom been effectively incorporated into general discussions of early chronological and cultural patterns. In recent years, the Great Basin Textile Dating Project has accumulated direct AMS dates on textiles (bags, sandals, mats, cordage, and basketry) from dry caves in the Great Basin, particularly in the northern and western areas. We focus here on the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene, to identify chronological patterns in this class of artifacts and to evaluate Adovasio’s characterization of the region’s earliest basketry as simple and undecorated. New AMS dates now suggest that the region’s earliest people had sophisticated textile traditions that incorporated numerous decorative elaborations. Some distinctive structures, including Fort Rock sandals and weft-faced plaited textiles, have limited early temporal ranges and may serve as diagnostic indicators for terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene times. Other basketry forms and structures that appear by about 9000 cal B.P. persist into the historic period, suggesting a stronger thread of continuity (especially in the north) from this time than is apparent in lithic traditions

Detecting early tattooing in the Pacific region through experimental usewear and residue analyses of obsidian tools

Although tattoos have been observed on mummies dated to over 5000years old, the generally poor preservation of human remains makes it difficult to use this type of adornment to understand how inscriptions on the body have been used to define self and social ascriptions. A potential method for detecting tattooing is to identify the tools used to make the markings. To assist recognition of tattooing tools, an extensive set of experiments was conducted in which retouched obsidian flakes bearing various pigments were used to pierce pig skin. Diagnostic use wear and residues associated with tattooing were identified. To illustrate the value of these results, traces preserved on a highly recognizable class of obsidian retouched artefacts from the Nanggu site (SE-SZ-8) in the Solomon Islands were analysed. Results indicate that these tools were used to pierce skin and may therefore have been tattooing implements involved in social, ritual and/or medical practices.

A diachronic perspective on Great Basin projectile point morphology from Veratic Rockshelter, Idaho

Veratic Rockshelter (10CL3), located in the Birch Creek Valley on the northern border of the Snake River Plain, has long been considered among the most significant prehistoric sites in southeastern Idaho. Initially excavated by Earl Swanson in 1961, this site produced over a thousand stone tools from stratified contexts, including hundreds of diagnostic projectile points ranging from the late Paleoindian to the late prehistoric period from 13 cultural horizons. This paper provides a new evaluation of the geochronology of the site using 18 new AMS radiocarbon dates acquired from charcoal features sampled during the original excavation. These new ages are then compared with metric analyses of diagnostic projectile points from the existing assemblage to examine diachronic variability and morphological discreteness in this artifact class to tie them to existing Snake River Plain and Intermountain West projectile-point typologies as well as answer questions about late Paleoindian and Archaic spear- and dart-point variability. Results indicate that: 1) Western Stemmed Tradition points at Veratic date to significantly later than previously thought (9500–10,000 cal B.P.) and have a relatively broad spectrum of morphological variability, 2) Elko and Northern Side Notched points found in a middle-Holocene horizon (∼6000 cal B.P.) are morphologically distinct from each other, supporting the concept of an Elko “long chronology.” 3) Elko Corner Notched and Eared, Northern Side Notched, Stemmed Indented Base (including Gatecliff and possibly Pinto forms), Humboldt, and Salmon River points were found together in multiple middle-Holocene components at Veratic, indicating a period of greater variability that ended with the onset of the late Holocene by 3200 cal B.P., after which only Elko Corner Notched forms continued.

Fast, high-resolution surface potential measurements in air with heterodyne Kelvin probe force microscopy

Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) adapts an atomic force microscope to measure electric potential on surfaces at nanometer length scales. Here we demonstrate that Heterodyne-KPFM enables scan rates of several frames per minute in air, and concurrently maintains spatial resolution and voltage sensitivity comparable to frequency-modulation KPFM, the current spatial resolution standard. Two common classes of topography-coupled artifacts are shown to be avoidable with H-KPFM. A second implementation of H-KPFM is also introduced, in which the voltage signal is amplified by the first cantilever resonance for enhanced sensitivity. The enhanced temporal resolution of H-KPFM can enable the imaging of many dynamic processes, such as such as electrochromic switching, phase transitions, and device degredation (battery, solar, etc), which take place over seconds to minutes and involve changes in electric potential at nanometer lengths.

A comparative assessment of texture analysis techniques applied to bone tool use-wear

The study of bone tools, a specific class of artifacts often essential to perishable craft production, provides insight into industries otherwise largely invisible archaeologically. Building on recent breakthroughs in the analysis of microwear, this research applies confocal laser scanning microscopy and texture analysis techniques drawn from the field of surface metrology to identify use-wear patterns on experimental and archaeological bone artifacts. Our approach utilizes both conventional parameters and multi-scale geometric characterizations of the areas of worn surfaces to identify statistical similarities as a function of scale. The introduction of this quantitative approach to the study of microtopography holds significant potential for advancement in use-wear studies by reducing inter-observer variability and identifying new parameters useful in the detection of differential wear-patterns.

The user multifaceted expertise: Divergent effects of the website versus e-commerce expertise

Expertise is a key factor in user’s adaptation and evaluation of the IT artifact. To date however, research has widely disregarded the notion that expertise is multifaceted and, consequently, its effects should vary according to the facet measured. To address this gap, the present research shows the effects of a facet of expertise rarely studied – expertise with the artifact such as an e-commerce site (website expertise) – besides the effects of expertise with the artifact class (e-commerce expertise). It is stipulated that site expertise shapes the site use and acceptance differently and more profoundly than e-commerce expertise. The results show that users with low (vs. high) site expertise perceived the site as less easy to use, and their site acceptance was more (less) strongly influenced by the site information quality. Alternatively, e-commerce expertise played a different moderating role in the acceptance process, and users with low e-commerce expertise did not perceive the site as less easy to use. The results were replicated in a second study conducted in a different culture. The findings support the research main thesis that expertise is multifaceted and, therefore, considering the different facets is necessary to understand the process of user acceptance of the IT artifact.

The Bloomfield Throwing Knife. Analyzing an Improvised Shuriken to Appreciate the Derived Artifact

Once armed with only tooth and nail, humankind has displayed great ingenuity in creating weapons. One class of such artifacts, ‘improvised weapons’, once consisted of such items as a rock or bottle, but in an era of readily available manufactured weapons, now includes items created from spare parts in various environments. Using such a weapon as a case study, this article seeks to explore and analyze the derived artifact and understand it not as a piece of junk, but as a credible design product that provides insight into the designer and the motivations of artifact creation.

Artefact-centric business process configuration

Currently, there are two mainstream process modelling paradigms: the traditional activity-centric approach and the recent artefact-centric approach. Several approaches have been proposed for configuration of traditional activity-centric business processes; however, to the best of our knowledge, few approaches have been developed for artefact-centric business processes. This paper fills this gap by proposing a novel configuration approach for artefact-centric business processes. The configuration of artefact-centric process modelling is achieved by the configuration of artefact lifecycle models for all the involved artefact classes. First, we apply deterministic finite automaton to formalise an artefact lifecycle model ALM. To derive configurable ALM, we propose merger operation for ALMs. Also, an artefact lifecycle graph ALG is proposed to describe ALM as a state diagram, and the structural soundness of ALG is also presented. Then, we propose configurable artefact lifecycle graph C-ALG to describe the configurable artefact lifecycle model, in which arcs and sets of business rules can be defined to be configurable points. Finally, by configuring C-ALGs for each artefact class with our individualisation algorithm, structurally sound artefact lifecycle models are derived including data models of artefacts, associated services and business rules, thus resulting a complete configured artefact-centric process model.

Consistency Analysis of Genome-Scale Models of Bacterial Metabolism: A Metamodel Approach.

Genome-scale metabolic models usually contain inconsistencies that manifest as blocked reactions and gap metabolites. With the purpose to detect recurrent inconsistencies in metabolic models, a large-scale analysis was performed using a previously published dataset of 130 genome-scale models. The results showed that a large number of reactions (~22%) are blocked in all the models where they are present. To unravel the nature of such inconsistencies a metamodel was construed by joining the 130 models in a single network. This metamodel was manually curated using the unconnected modules approach, and then, it was used as a reference network to perform a gap-filling on each individual genome-scale model. Finally, a set of 36 models that had not been considered during the construction of the metamodel was used, as a proof of concept, to extend the metamodel with new biochemical information, and to assess its impact on gap-filling results. The analysis performed on the metamodel allowed to conclude: 1) the recurrent inconsistencies found in the models were already present in the metabolic database used during the reconstructions process; 2) the presence of inconsistencies in a metabolic database can be propagated to the reconstructed models; 3) there are reactions not manifested as blocked which are active as a consequence of some classes of artifacts, and; 4) the results of an automatic gap-filling are highly dependent on the consistency and completeness of the metamodel or metabolic database used as the reference network. In conclusion the consistency analysis should be applied to metabolic databases in order to detect and fill gaps as well as to detect and remove artifacts and redundant information.

Tankards of the British Iron Age

Iron Age tankards are stave-built wooden vessels completely covered or bound in copper-alloy sheet. The distinctive copper-alloy handles of these vessels frequently display intricate ‘Celtic’ or La Tène art styles. They are characterised by their often highly original designs, complex manufacturing processes, and variety of find contexts. No systematic analysis of this artefact class has been undertaken since Corcoran’s (1952a) original study was published in Volume 18 of these Proceedings. New evidence from the Portable Antiquities Scheme for England and Wales and recent excavations have more than quadrupled the number of known examples (139 currently). It is therefore necessary and timely to re-examine tankards, and to reintegrate them into current debates surrounding material culture in later prehistory. Tankards originate in the later Iron Age and their use continued throughout much of the Roman period. As such, their design was subject to varying influences over time, both social and aesthetic. Their often highly individual form and decoration is testament to this fact and has created challenges in developing a workable typology (Corcoran 1952a; 1952b; 1957; Spratling 1972; Jackson 1990). A full examination of the decoration, construction, wear and repair, dating, and deposition contexts will allow for a reassessment of the role of tankards within the social and cultural milieu of later prehistoric and early Roman Britain.