Stratigraphic analysis of lake level fluctuations in Lake Ohrid: an integration of high resolution hydro-acoustic data and sediment cores

Ancient Lake Ohrid is a steep-sided, oligotrophic, karst lake that was tectonically formed most likely within the Pliocene and often referred to as a hotspot of endemic biodiversity. This study aims on tracing significant lake level fluctuations at Lake Ohrid using high-resolution acoustic data in combination with lithological, geochemical, and chronological information from two sediment cores recovered from sub-aquatic terrace levels at ca. 32 and 60m water depth. According to our data, significant lake level fluctuations with prominent lowstands of ca. 60 and 35m below the present water level occurred during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 and MIS 5, respectively. The effect of these lowstands on biodiversity in most coastal parts of the lake is negligible, due to only small changes in lake surface area, coastline, and habitat. In contrast, biodiversity in shallower areas was more severely affected due to disconnection of today sublacustrine springs from the main water body. Multichannel seismic data from deeper parts of the lake clearly image several clinoform structures stacked on top of each other. These stacked clinoforms indicate significantly lower lake levels prior to MIS 6 and a stepwise rise of water level with intermittent stillstands since its existence as water-filled body, which might have caused enhanced expansion of endemic species within Lake Ohrid

Possible earthquake trigger for 6th century mass wasting deposit at Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania)

Lake Ohrid shared by the Republics of Albania and Macedonia is formed by a tectonically active graben within the south Balkans and suggested to be the oldest lake in Europe. Several studies have shown that the lake provides a valuable record of climatic and environmental changes and a distal tephrostratigraphic record of volcanic eruptions from Italy. Fault structures identified in seismic data demonstrate that sediments have also the potential to record tectonic activity in the region. Here, we provide an example of linking seismic and sedimentological information with tectonic activity and historical documents. Historical documents indicate that a major earthquake destroyed the city of Lychnidus (today: city of Ohrid) in the early 6th century AD. Multichannel seismic profiles, parametric sediment echosounder profiles, and a 10.08m long sediment record from the western part of the lake indicate a 2m thick mass wasting deposit, which is tentatively correlated with this earthquake. The mass wasting deposit is chronologically well constrained, as it directly overlays the AD472/AD 512 tephra. Moreover, radiocarbon dates and cross correlation with other sediment sequences with similar geochemical characteristics of the Holocene indicate that the mass wasting event took place prior to the onset of the Medieval Warm Period, and is attributed it to one of the known earthquakes in the region in the early 6th century AD

Toward A Multi-Level, Ecological Approach To The Primary Prevention Of Sexual Assault: Prevention In Peer And Community Contexts

Although sexual assault prevention programs have been increasingly successful at improving knowledge about sexual violence and decreasing rape-supportive attitudes and beliefs among participants, reducing sexually assaultive conduct itself remains an elusive outcome. This review considers efforts to support change for individuals by creating prevention strategies that target peer network and community-level factors that support sexual violence. To this end, the article examines successful ecological prevention models from other prevention fields, identifies the components of multilevel prevention that appear critical to efficacy and discusses their application to existing and emerging sexual violence prevention strategies

Frontline Worker Responses To Domestic Violence Disclosure In Public Welfare Offices

Although substantial numbers of women seeking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) report domestic violence, few receive mandated services through the Family Violence Option (FVO). This study used transcripts ofinterviews between welfare caseworkers and their clients to identify and classify the responses made by workers to client disclosures of abuse and to assess the match or mismatch of these responses with FVO policy requirements. Only 22 of 782 client interviews involved the disclosure of abuse to the welfare caseworker. A typology of worker responses was created, from least to most engaged. This typology shows that only half of those who disclosed abuse received assistance from the welfare worker, despite policy mandates that clients receive information on TANF waivers and community resources. This study suggests that problems with implementation of the FVO reflect a systemic reluctance to address issues of violence with women rather than problems of individual workers

Challenging cisgenderism through trans people's narratives of domestic violence and abuse

By drawing on empirical research that explored trans people’s experiences of domestic violence and abuse (DVA), this paper problematises the ‘gender asymmetry debate' in DVA discourse. It does so by highlighting cisgenderism and a heteronormative bias which have led to the invisibility of a trans perspective. Qualitative data was collected via narrative interviews and this was examined using a voice-centred relational technique. A total of twenty four interviews were undertaken with trans people (n = 15) and domestic abuse practitioners (n = 9). In relation to the presentation and impact of DVA, and in the context of trans and cisgender people's abuse experiences, the research findings report both similarities and differences. Four narratives are presented here to illuminate both. This paper adds new insight and challenges normative and dominant discourses by promoting the need for further theorising about the gendered nature of domestic violence and abuse

The Situational-Cognitive Model of Adolescent Bystander Behavior: Modeling Bystander Decision-Making in the Context of Bullying and Teen Dating Violence.

Objective: Despite the proliferation of bystander approaches to prevent aggression among youth, theoretical models of violence-related bystander decision making are underdeveloped, particularly among adolescents. The purpose of this research was to examine the utility of 2 theories, the Situational Model of Bystander behavior (SMB) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), for identifying mechanisms underlying adolescent bystander behavior in the context of bullying and teen dating violence (TDV). Method: Data were collected via face to face (local) and online (national) focus groups with 113 U.S. adolescents aged 14-18 and were subsequently analyzed using deductive and inductive coding methods. Results: Youth endorsed beliefs consistent with both the SMB and TPB and with additional constructs not captured by either theory. Adolescents reported a higher proportion of barriers relative to facilitators to taking action, with perceptions of peer norms and social consequences foremost among their concerns. Many influences on bystander behavior were similar across TDV and bullying. Implications: Findings are organized into the proposed Situational-Cognitive Model of Adolescent Bystander Behavior, which synthesizes the SMB and TPB, and supports the tailoring of bystander interventions. For teens, intervening is a decision about whether and how to navigate potential social consequences of taking action that unfold over time; intervention approaches must assess and acknowledge these concerns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

Switching first contact: photocontrol of E. coli adhesion to human cells

We have shown previously that carbohydrate-specific bacterial adhesion to a non-physiological surface can be photocontrolled by reversible E/Z isomerisation using azobenzene-functionalised sugars. Here, this approach is applied to the surface of human cells. We show not only that bacterial adhesion to the azobenzene glycoside-modified cell surface is higher in the E than in the Z state, but add data about the specific modulation of the effect

The environmental and evolutionary history of Lake Ohrid (FYROM/Albania). Interim results from the SCOPSCO deep drilling project

This study reviews and synthesises existing information generated within the SCOPSCO (Scientific Collaboration on Past Speciation Conditions in Lake Ohrid) deep drilling project. The four main aims of the project are to infer (i) the age and origin of Lake Ohrid (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/Republic of Albania), (ii) its regional seismotectonic history, (iii) volcanic activity and climate change in the central northern Mediterranean region, and (iv) the influence of major geological events on the evolution of its endemic species. The Ohrid basin formed by transtension during the Miocene, opened during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, and the lake established de novo in the still relatively narrow valley between 1.9 and 1.3 Ma. The lake history is recorded in a 584 m long sediment sequence, which was recovered within the framework of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) from the central part (DEEP site) of the lake in spring 2013. To date, 54 tephra and cryptotephra horizons have been found in the upper 460 m of this sequence. Tephrochronology and tuning biogeochemical proxy data to orbital parameters revealed that the upper 247.8 m represent the last 637 kyr. The multi-proxy data set covering these 637 kyr indicates long- term variability. Some proxies show a change from generally cooler and wetter to drier and warmer glacial and interglacial periods around 300 ka. Short-term environmental change caused, for example, by tephra deposition or the climatic impact of millennial-scale Dansgaard–Oeschger and Heinrich events are superimposed on the long-term trends. Evolutionary studies on the extant fauna indicate that Lake Ohrid was not a refugial area for regional freshwater animals. This differs from the surrounding catchment, where the mountainous setting with relatively high water availability provided a refuge for temperate and montane trees during the relatively cold and dry glacial periods. Although Lake Ohrid experienced significant environmental change over the last 637 kyr, preliminary molecular data from extant microgastropod species do not indicate significant changes in diversification rate during this period. The reasons for this constant rate remain largely unknown, but a possible lack of environ- mentally induced extinction events in Lake Ohrid and/or the high resilience of the ecosystems may have played a role

Colorectal tumors with complete obstruction – Endoscopic recovery of passage replacing emergency surgery? A report of two cases

BACKGROUND: Incomplete or complete obstructive ileus due to colorectal cancer is generally treated by emergency surgery that has higher morbidity and mortality than elective surgery. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we describe an endoscopic technique by which a safe bowel decompression was performed instead of emergency surgery in two patients with complete tumorous obstruction of the colon. By means of a polypectomy snare, a soft wire, an ERCP catheter, a set of endoscopes with different diameters (baby endoscope, gastroscope) and of argon plasma coagulation the tumor mass was reduced and the tumor stenosis was passed. The patients recovered from symptoms of colon obstruction, no procedure-associated complications were observed. One patient had surgery of the sigmoid tumor one week later (UICC-stage III), the other patient (UICC-stage IV) received systemic chemotherapy starting one week after endoscopic decompression. CONCLUSION: Complete tumorous obstruction of the colon may be managed by endoscopic tumor debulking avoiding high risk emergency surgery and allowing immediate medical treatment of the primary tumor and of metastases