Diamonds are found occasionally in the United States of America. Diamonds from the Prairie Creek lamproite in Arkansas, USA occur within a north to south corridor of Neoproterozoic-to-mid-Cretaceous magmatism that extends across North America. These diamond-bearing lamproites are unusual because they intrude adjacent to sutured and strongly thinned lithosphere rather than stable within-plate settings and the diamonds themselves provide physical evidence of processes related to diamond formation at the cratonic margin. Indeed, A review of previously published geophysical data, isotopic compositions, inclusion suites and inclusion geochemistry suggest most diamonds were formed in subducted and eclogitic rocks within a highly localised diamondiferous lithosphere beneath the cratonic margin.

The morphology and spectroscopic character of 155 diamonds from the Prairie Creek lamproite suggest typical diamond formation conditions in an otherwise thinned continental lithosphere. Most diamonds examined during this investigation have spectroscopic features indicating strong nitrogen aggregation, a history of thermal perturbation and plastic deformation. Nitrogen contents range up to 1882 ppm and the diamonds preserve ∼70% aggregated nitrogen in the B aggregation state. Furthermore, inclusion elastic barometry and time-averaged mantle residence temperatures suggest most Arkansas diamonds formed at 5.2±0.2 GPa and 1205±63°C (1σ). However, a subpopulation of ∼4% of relatively large and inclusion free, colourless, flattened-to-irregular habit Arkansas diamonds are Type IIa with <5 at.ppm nitrogen. Those stones size, morphology, colour and N content might warrant their inclusion in the class of Cullinan-like, Large, Inclusion-Poor, Pure, Irregular and Resorbed or ‘CLIPPIR’ diamonds. Other diamonds examined commonly exhibit physical evidence of plastic deformation, including brown body colour and deformation lamellae.

We define oriented Temperley–Lieb algebras for Hermitian symmetric spaces. This allows us to explain the existence of closed combinatorial formulae for the Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomials for these spaces.

W. V. Quine suggests that meaning derives from the stimulus, the effects of the outside world on the subject’s nerve endings. However, the idiosyncrasy of the stimulus poses challenges to the intersubjectivity of meaning. Gary Kemp proposes the stimulus field approach as a solution. The stimulus field approach focuses on the forces affecting the subject, rather than the effects on the subject. In this article, I critique Kemp’s solution. Furthermore, I argue that the Quinean approach can be refined in a way that two agents may converge on the same meaning even without sharing the same stimuli or forces affecting them.

Philosophers have struggled to explain the mismatch of emotions and their objects across time, as when we stop grieving or feeling angry despite the persistence of the underlying cause. I argue for a sceptical approach that says that these emotional changes often lack rational fit. The key observation is that our emotions must periodically reset for purely functional reasons that have nothing to do with fit. I compare this account to David Hume’s sceptical approach in matters of belief, and conclude that resistance to it rests on a confusion similar to one that he identifies.

Let ${\mathcal {E}}$ be a complex elliptic curve and S be a non-empty finite subset of ${\mathcal {E}}$. We show that the functions $\tilde {\Gamma }$ introduced in [BDDT] out of string theory motivations give rise to a basis (as a vector space) of the minimal algebra $A_{{\mathcal {E}}{\smallsetminus } S}$ of holomorphic multivalued functions on ${\mathcal {E}}{\smallsetminus } S$ which is stable under integration, introduced in [EZ]; this basis is alternative to the basis of $A_{{\mathcal {E}}{\smallsetminus } S}$ constructed in loc. cit. using elliptic analogs of the hyperlogarithm functions.

Few studies examine how often people of color voice their views or shape the discussion in civic or political decision-making groups. Existing studies do not link participants’ private preferences to what they say and lack data on racial inequalities in individuals’ public speech. We analyze a large sample of citizens randomized to groups tasked with deciding on punishment for corporate malfeasance, an issue of consequence for communities of color. We develop systematic measures of racial inequality in voice and uptake during discussion. We find that members of color speak less and are less likely to mention their own preferences. These effects are not explained by racial differences in preferences or by being the lone racial minority. Race also shapes the uptake of preferences during discussion. A seat at the table does not suffice for equal voice.

A new model for the interpretation of radiocarbon (14C) dates of Holocene marine shells is presented. For the Netherlands, the size of reservoir effect is difficult to assess, as these shells often lived in an environment of mixed marine- and river waters. Both stable isotopes 13C and 18O of the shell carbonate give insight in the environmental conditions the shells lived in. River water occurs in two main categories, distinguished by 18O: the Rhine which is dominant, and other rivers. This leads to two estuary mixing lines between the North Sea and rivers. The stable isotopes of the shell carbonate are also indicative for additional processes, such as uptake of secondary carbonate from the soil by shells, and exchange of C isotopes between atmosphere and water. Extensions of the main model deal with special cases such as pools of stagnant water and lakes. The model leads to an assessment of the recent 14C activities of the system the shells lived in, called 14aSYS. The measured 14C activities relative to these 14aSYS values determine the 14C age of the shells and include the reservoir effect. This way we circumvent normalizing to δ13C = –25‰, i.e. the terrestrial timescale and the subsequent correction for reservoir effects. The model is applied to a large legacy dataset of marine shells from the Netherlands, obtained during the last 7 decades. It contains 1116 14C dated shells; for the majority of these, the 3 isotopes 13C, 14C and 18O are measured.

Tri-octahedral clay minerals have the potential to be used as CO2 sorbents at intermediate temperatures (200–400°C) owing to their thermal stability in this temperature range. In this study, Laponite RD®, a commercially synthesized hectorite (with Na+ as the exchangeable cation) was used to investigate its capacity of CO2 adsorption at 200°C and ambient pressure. Various cations such as Co2+, Ni2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ were employed to exchange Na+, with the aim being to study their effects on the capacity for adsorbing CO2. The commercial sample showed an adsorption capacity of 144 µmolCO2 g–1. Most of the other exchanged samples displayed a lower quantity of CO2 adsorbed. An exception was the Ca2+-saturated sample, which exhibited a better performance (163 µmolCO2 g–1) compared with Laponite RD®. Thus, with its greater affinity towards CO2, such a sample could be a good candidate for CO2 capture. For all of the samples, most of the CO2 was desorbed, and the formation of carbonate bonds was not observed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, suggesting that the CO2 was mainly physisorbed.

Financial redress for victims of occupational diseases can be offered through no-fault compensation schemes. No-fault compensation schemes have an explicit mission in promoting perceived fairness and justice. The objective is to offer a quick, fair and just procedure and outcome, while preventing civil court procedures and restoring trust. However, the question is whether applicants of these no-fault schemes indeed experience perceived fairness and justice. This paper discusses the result of an in-depth interview study with fifty-eight victims involved in no-fault schemes for occupational diseases in the Netherlands. We focus on the role of perceived procedural justice, outcome concerns and trust in the (former) employer.

The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) was an important large carnivore of Pleistocene ecosystems in Africa and Eurasia. Like its modern relatives, this obligate carnivore was adapted to crush and digest bones of its prey and absorb organic matter from bones more efficiently than any other carnivore. This difference in the nutrient resource use between hyenas and most other carnivores led to differences in the isotope flux and variation in the carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition. In our paper, we assess the prey-to-hyena collagen-to-collagen Δ13C and Δ15N trophic discrimination factor (TDF), a key parameter needed in mixing models used for quantitative reconstruction of diet. We analyzed a Pleistocene hyena den bone accumulation in Perspektywiczna Cave (Poland), with a preserved assemblage of remains containing both hyenas and a wide spectrum of their prey represented by digested bones. With the use of proteomics-based taxonomic identification (ZooMS), we estimated the proportion of prey species in the hyena diet. The modeled collagen-to-collagen TDFs are around +1.6‰ to +1.7‰ for δ13C and around +3.4‰ to +3.5‰ for δ15N. This study provides new data on the dietary habits of this large carnivore and allows for a more accurate use of isotopic signals in modeling past hyena diets.

The global record of fossil hyenid tracks is sparse—the only formal reports that can be considered reliable are of trackways from Tanzania and a single track from Greece. However, trackway and track patterns of the four extant members of the Hyaenidae are distinctive among the tracks of carnivorans. A Pleistocene trackway comprising five manus–pes pairs has been identified on an aeolianite surface on the Cape south coast of South Africa, and is attributed to a hyena, most likely the brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea). The diagnostic approach followed involves a combination of the knowledge of Indigenous Master Trackers and the methods of modern ichnology.