Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by neuronal loss, extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, and intracellular neurofibrillary tau tangles. A diagnosis is currently made from the presenting symptoms, and the only definitive diagnosis can be done post-mortem. Over recent years, significant advances have been made in using ocular biomarkers to diagnose various neurodegenerative diseases, including AD. As the eye is an extension of the central nervous system (CNS), reviewing changes in the eye’s biology could lead to developing a series of non-invasive, differential diagnostic tests for AD that could be further applied to other diseases. Significant changes have been identified in the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), cornea, ocular vasculature, and retina. In the present paper, we review current research and assess some ocular biomarkers’ accuracy and reliability that could potentially be used for diagnostic purposes. Additionally, we review the various imaging techniques used in the measurement of these biomarkers.

Stone artefact archaeology in mainland Southeast Asia has not enjoyed the same level of interest and productivity as studies of stone artefacts in other parts of the world. Although there are a number of reasons for this, a significant one is the use of essentialism as the underlying philosophy of lithic classification. Essentialism is a flawed approach to classifying stone artefacts because of the continuous nature of artefact reduction. Case studies are presented that show essentialism has additional problems, such as inefficiency, compression of variation and inability to explain historical change. An alternative approach, nominalism, is better suited to lithic classification and analysis. Existing nominalist approaches can easily be adapted for Southeast Asia assemblages and promises to liven-up stone artefact archaeology in mainland Southeast Asia.

Previously it has been argued that midden analysis from three geographically distinct coastal regions of tropical northern Australia (Hope Inlet, Blyth River, Blue Mud Bay) demonstrates that changes through time in Aboriginal mollusc exploitation reflect broader coastal environmental transformations associated with late Holocene climatic variability (Bourke et al. 2007). It was suggested that, while a direct link between environmental change and significant cultural change in the archaeological record has yet to be demonstrated unambiguously, midden analysis has the potential to provide the as-yet missing link between changes in climate, environment and human responses over past millennia. We test this hypothesis with a preliminary sclerochronological analysis (i.e. of sequential stable isotopes of oxygen) of archaeological shell samples from all three regions. Our findings suggest the existence of variations in temperature and rainfall indicative of an increasing trend to aridity from 2000 to 500 cal. BP, consistent with previous palaeoenvironmental work across northern Australia.

R is a scientific programming language that is widely used by archaeologists. This entry briefly describes the history and distinctive characteristics of the language, and how archaeologists have used it. The importance of R for reproducible research in archaeology is outlined, and future directions for the language in archaeology are indicated.

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Data collected from the Hamersley Plateau over the last four decades are examined for patterns in the archaeological record. Data relating to the timing of the archaeological appearance of backed artefacts, seed-grinding technology and rock art are currently too few to indicate major cultural changes with certainty. Increases in numbers of radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites on the Hamersley Plateau are evident in the late Holocene. This can be interpreted as a pattern of cultural change or natural decay in datable material. I conclude that taphonomic bias is the most important variable in the distribution of the radiocarbon date sample from the Hamersley Plateau. That said, further accumulation of dates and data may show archaeological changes in the Hamersley Plateau that represent local expressions of broader trends in the Australian semi-arid and arid zones.

The Rocker Project provides widely used Docker images for R across different application scenarios. This article surveys downstream projects that build upon the Rocker Project images and presents the current state of R packages for managing Docker images and controlling containers. These use cases cover diverse topics such as package development, reproducible research, collaborative work, cloud-based data processing, and production deployment of services. The variety of applications demonstrates the power of the Rocker Project specifically and containerisation in general. Across the diverse ways to use containers, we identified common themes: reproducible environments, scalability and efficiency, and portability across clouds. We conclude that the current growth and diversification of use cases is likely to continue its positive impact, but see the need for consolidating the Rockerverse ecosystem of packages, developing common practices for applications, and exploring alternative containerisation software.

Abstract.  The  Lithic  Technology  at  Talimbue  Site,  Southeast  Sulawesi:  Continuing  Technology from Late Pleistocene up to Holocene Periods. The Talimbue site at Southeast Sulawesi is packed with  lithic  and  these  offer  a  new  perspective  on  the  lithic  technology  of  Sulawesi.  The  absence  of information  on  the  prehistoric  lithic  technology  of  Southeast  Sulawesi  is  a  factor  of  interest  that makes  research  on  knowledge  of  the  Talimbue  site  necessary.  Lithic  artefacts  were  manufactured from  the  terminal  Pleistocene  to  the  Late  Holocene.  This  research  will  disentangle  the  details  of the lithic technology at the Talimbue Site. The analyzed flaked stone artefacts fall into 3 categories, which are retouched flakes, debitage and cores. For its part, debitage was classified into 3 categories, which are complete flakes, broken flakes and debris. The retouch index was also measured so as to provide a quantitative estimate of the level of retouch intensity of the retouched flakes. The results of  the  analysis  indicate  changes  in  the  stone  flake  technology  during  the  period  of  occupation  of the Talimbue Site. The change of technology occurs because the process of adaptation caused by a change of environment. Abstrak. Temuan  litik  yang  sangat  padat  di  Situs  Talimbue  di  Sulawesi  Tenggara  menunjukkan sebuah persepektif baru dalam kajian teknologi litik di Sulawesi. Kekosongan informasi teknologi litik masa prasejarah di wilayah Sulawesi Tenggara adalah hal yang menarik dikaji dalam penelitian di Situs Talimbue. Artefak litik digunakan dari masa Pleistosen Akhir hingga masa Holosen Akhir. Penelitian ini akan menguraikan secara detail bagaimana teknologi litik di Situs Talimbue. Artefak batu diserpih yang dianalisis menjadi 3 kategori, yaitu serpih diretus, serpihan dan batu inti. Serpihan kemudian  diklasifikasi  menjadi  3  kategori,  yaitu  serpih  utuh,  serpih  rusak  dan  tatal.  Pengukuran indeks retus juga dilakukan bertujuan untuk mengestimasi secara kuantitatif tingkat intensitas retus terhadap serpih yang telah diretus. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan perubahan teknologi artefak batu diserpih terjadi selama masa hunian di Situs Talimbue. Perubahan teknologi terjadi karena adanya proses adaptasi yang disebabkan oleh perubahan lingkungan.