published_or_final_version / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Master / Master of Philosophy

The Laramide Rocky Mountains in western U.S.A is an important topographic feature in the continental interior, yet its formation and evolution are poorly constrained. This study uses the oxygen and strontium isotope geochemistry of freshwater bivalve fossils from six Laramide basins in order to reconstruct the spatial evolution of the paleotopography and Precambrian basement erosion in late Cretaceous-early Eocene. In addition it uses the sedimentology, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, and isotope paleoaltimetry of early Eocene sedimentary strata to constrain the tectonic setting, paleogeography and paleoclimate of the Wind River basin. Annual and seasonal variation in ancient riverwater δ¹⁸O reconstructed from shell fossils shows that the Canadian Rocky Mountains was 4.5±1.0 km high in late Cretaceous-early Paleocene, and the Laramide ranges in eastern Wyoming reached 4.5±1.3 km high, while the ranges in western Wyoming were 1-2 km high in late Paleocene. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of riverwaters reconstructed from the same fossils show that Proterozoic metamorphic carbonates in the Belt-Purcell Supergroup were not exposed in the Canadian Rocky Mountains during Late Cretaceous-early Paleocene, but that Precambrian silicate basement rock was exposed and eroded in the Laramide ranges during late Paleocene-early Eocene. The sedimentary environment of the early Eocene Wind River basin changed from gravelly fluvial and/or stream-dominated alluvial fan to low-sinuosity fluvial systems. Tectonic uplift of the Washakie and Wind River Range in early Eocene formed the modern paleodrainage system, although the elevation of the basin floor was only ~500 m high at that time, and early Eocene paleoclimate is more humid than modern climate.

Applications of lead and strontium isotope analysis were made on archaeological materials from three different contexts in both the Old and New Worlds. These materials comprised pre-Hispanic glaze painted ceramics from Arizona, U.S.A., glass beads from late first millennium AD Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria, and copper-based metals from early first millennium AD Kissi, Burkina Faso. All materials contain lead at major, minor, or trace concentrations, and lead isotope analysis was employed to determine a provenance for that lead. Strontium isotope analysis also was applied to glass beads from Igbo-Ukwu to determine provenance(s) for strontium found in the glass. Furthermore, application of elemental composition analysis was or had been employed on all samples for additional data comparisons within assemblages and with comparable archaeological materials.Results of these analyses determined, in most cases, regional provenance with high degrees of confidence for lead contained in the analyzed samples. Strontium and elemental composition analysis data also proved valuable in confirming the regional provenance of the raw glass used to produce the glass beads. Leads in the glaze paints from Arizona, which demonstrated a range of resources exploitation, were confidently restricted to a few regions for their procurement. Likewise leads in most glass beads from Igbo-Ukwu were confidently restricted to two main source regions, with a third strong contender also being identified. The elemental composition and strontium isotope data determined with confidence the production regions for the primary raw glasses used to make the glass beads. Finally, leads in copper-based metals from Burkina Faso also were restricted to a few regions, although some inconclusiveness in provenance determination was attributed to mixing of metals from difference sources.These results confirm the utility of heavy isotope analysis of archaeological materials for provenance determination. The combination of these data with elemental composition analyses further confirm the interpretive strength of combining independent but related sets of analytical data for exploring questions of archaeological provenance. With improvements in instrument technology and application in the past two decades, very high precision and high accuracy analyses can be made which eliminate some earlier concerns of heavy isotope applications in archaeology.

Lead and strontium isotopes are two powerful tracers that can be used to identify or constrain the provenance of a wide range of archaeological materials, but these two isotopic tracers have been rarely employed to infer the sources of artifacts in the southwestern USA. This dissertation contains four studies that demonstrate how these isotopic systems can address questions about the sources of three types of archaeological materials found in this region: turquoise, lead-based glaze-paints, and metals. The analysis of 116 samples of turquoise from 17 deposits in the southwestern USA reveals that lead and strontium isotopes are robust and sensitive tracers of turquoise at multiple scales. Isotopic variation among turquoise deposits correlates with broad regional differences in the geologic and tectonic setting of the rocks and mineral deposits which host turquoise mineralization. Many turquoise deposits also have unique isotopic signatures that will enable insights into ancient patterns of turquoise acquisition at regional and local levels. To show the utility of these tracers when applied to archaeological turquoise, I use lead and strontium isotopic measurements to establish that the Silver Bell Mountains are the likely source turquoise found at the Redtail site in the Tucson Basin, Arizona, USA. This dissertation also contains new, high-precision isotopic ratios of lead ores (galena and cerrusite) from four mining districts in New Mexico, including the Cerrillos Hills. All districts studied are possible sources of lead used by Pueblo IV communities to produce glaze paints. These new measurements, made by multiple-collector ICP-MS, define the isotopic composition of the ore deposits with greater precision and accuracy than achieved in previous studies, indicating an opportunity to improve interpretations about the provenance of lead in glaze paints. Lead isotopes are also found to be useful tools for identifying lead and copper metal associated with the 1540-1542 Vázquez de Coronado expedition. Lead shot and copper crossbow boltheads from two sites with archaeological evidence for the expedition's presence were determined to share similar or identical lead isotopic ratios. I propose this specific isotopic "fingerprint" can be used to identify other artifacts belonging to the expedition in the Southwest.

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This thesis undertakes a complete reinvestigation of the archaeology of a large Early Bronze Age cemetery at İkiztepe in northern Turkey, by utilizing oxygen and strontium isotope analysis of human remains in combination with spatial and biodistance analysis and various dating techniques to identify potential immigrants to the site and to examine larger issues of residential mobility and social organization. The occupation of the Northern Anatolian site of İkiztepe is traditionally assigned to the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages. However, the site’s chronological framework has been challenged in recent years. These chronological issues have been addressed by applying fluoride and AMS radiocarbon dating to the skeletal remains from the İkiztepe cemetery, to develop an absolute and relative chronology for the burials. These results have shown that the cemetery dates at least a millennium earlier than previously supposed. Oxygen and strontium isotope analyses allowed the identification of individuals whose bone chemistry suggests that they were possible long distance immigrants to the site of İkiztepe, as well as suggesting the existence of a group of mobile individuals who may represent a transhumant segment of the İkiztepe population. Spatial and biodistance analyses suggest that principles of cemetery organization in this period were highly complex. Immigrant individuals and nomadic or semi-nomadic segments of the population do not appear to have been distinguished in any observable way from their sedentary local counterparts, displaying similar burial types, grave goods and spatial locations. Furthermore, burial within the İkiztepe cemetery does not appear to have been kin structured. These results suggest that assumptions about funerary practices as important indicators of cultural identity and lineage affiliation may represent an over-simplification of complex patterns of interaction and integration among and within populations and cultural groups.

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The importance of gamma-ray spectroscopy – the science of determining the distribution of energy in a gamma field – can rarely be overstated. High performance scintillators for gamma-ray spectroscopy in Nuclear Nonproliferation applications and homeland security require excellent energy resolution to distinguish neighboring element and isotope lines while minimizing the time and exposure to do so. Semiconductor detectors operate by converting incident photons directly into electrical pulses, but often have problems of high costs due to constituent segregation and surface states as is the case for Cadmium Zinc Telluride. The ideal scintillator material for gamma spectrometer will therefore requires high light yield, excellent proportionality between light yield and gamma photon energy, and material uniformity. A scintillator should possess the following properties; it should convert the kinetic energy of the generated charged particles (typically K-shell electrons) into detectable visible light. This conversion should be linear-the light yield should be proportional to deposited energy over as wide a range as possible. For good light collection, the medium should be transparent to the wavelength of its own emission. The decay time of the induced luminescence should be short so that fast signal pulses can be generated. The medium should be of good optical quality and subject to manufacture in sizes large enough to be of interest as a practical detector. Its index of refraction should be near that of glass (~1.5) to permit efficient coupling of scintillation light to a photomultiplier tube or other photo-sensor. In the past decade, inorganic scintillator research has focused less on improving the characteristics of known scintillators, but rather on the search for new hosts capable of fast response and high energy resolution. Extensive searches have been made for hosts doped with lanthanide activators utilizing the allowed 5d-4f transition. These 5d-4f transitions are dipole-allowed and thus are about 106 times stronger than the more frequently observed 4f-4f transition in the trivalent rare earth ions. Ce3+, Nd3+ and Pr3+ have been investigated for fast response applications while Ce3+, Eu2+ and Yb2+ stand out as the most promising activators offering high light yield, and high energy resolution. Using a modified Bridgman growth technique we have grown crystals with a low energy resolution of 2.6% at 662 keV, which is lower than the previous 2.8% reported for SrI2:Eu2+. The modified technique (called so for its vertical crystal growth orientation) is necessary due to the anisotropic thermal expansion coefficient of Strontium Iodide. The problem plaguing the growth of the crystal is spontaneous cracking, which usually appear during cooling in the bulk. With the use of a zone separating shield, one can achieve more control of the temperature gradient between the two zones without compromising the actual temperature of the two zones. Additionally the use of codopants, in particular divalent magnesium improved the crystalline quality by acting as a gathering for iodine ions, which led to reduction of defect density.

QUALITATIVE ASPECTS OF ADHERENCE TO ANTIRESORPTIVE TREATMENT IN WOMEN WITH POSTMENOPAUSAL OSTEOPOROSIS Author: Aneta Ravingerová Supervisor: Magda Vytřísalová Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy INTRODUCTION: Compliance is using of medication in accordance with a prescription drug regimen. Qualitative aspect of compliance represents use of drugs in correct way. significantly affects treatment outcomes.Suboptimal compliance The study aim was to assess qualitative compliance with bisphosphonates (BIS)AIMS: among Czech women with osteoporosis in common clinical practice. METHODS: Data collection was performed using anonymous questionnaire in five outpatient Compliance with fivecentres in the Czech Republic from November 2012 to March 2013. dosing instructions for safe use and adequate absorption of BIS was evaluated. : A total of 363 patients were involved in the analysisRESULTS (mean age 68.9 years). once a week dosing forms ofPatients were treated with BIS - alendronate, alendronate + once a month dosing formvitamine D in a fixed combination, risedronate (N = 36.6 %) or - Only 46.6 % of respondents from weekly subgroup were compliantibandronate (N = 63.4 %). with all five dosing recommendations in monthly subgroup....