Exploring Roman Caerleon: new excavations at the legionary fortress of Isca

The Roman legionary fortress at Caerleon in south Wales, has been subject to archaeological investigation for more than 150 years, including the well-known amphitheatre excavations conducted by Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler in the 1920s. This retrospective link with the Institute of Archaeology has now been reinforced by a new project, organized jointly by UCL and Cardiff University, starting in 2007. Here the Directors of the project discuss their aims and the results of the first two seasons of work

Inaudibility criteria and alternative methods for controlling music noise levels from late night entertainment

The methods and criteria for controlling music noise levels from late night entertainment has always been a controversial and highly debated topic. Since the early 1980s a subjective criterion of inaudibility has been commonly used in many parts of the UK. It has faced fierce criticism in many respects, such as in legal proceedings where it has been argued to not be compliant with the Licensing Act 2003. However, as no mainstream alternative has been adopted, the requirement for inaudibility continues to be used in many premises’ licences that are either for fixed or temporary sites, and for both indoor and outdoor events. This paper aims to evaluate recently proposed alternative methods and to start an open discussion on the topic of music and entertainment noise levels, particularly during late-night hours

The Use of Sideline Video Review to Facilitate Management Decisions Following Head Trauma in Super Rugby

Background Sideline video review has been increasingly used to evaluate risk of concussive injury during match play of a number of collision sports, with the view to reducing the incidence of match play concussion injuries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sideline video review for identifying and evaluating head impact events in Rugby Union. Methods All Australian teams’ 2015 Super Rugby season matches were studied. Meaningful head impact events (HIEs) were identified, comprising events identified and acted upon during matches and events identified through a post-season retrospective review. Video footage of each HIE was coded by two experienced independent sports medicine clinicians to evaluate management decisions made by match-day (MDD) and team doctors (TD). HIE incidences for matches with and without sideline video were compared, and the agreement between game-day video interpretation and the independent clinician opinion calculated. Results Seventy HIEs were identified in 83 matches (47 identified during matches and 23 identified post-season), equating to 42.5 HIEs per 1000 player match hours. When video review was available, an unnoticed HIE occurred once every 4.3 matches, compared to once every 2.3 matches when the sideline video review was unavailable. Of the 47 identified in-match HIEs evaluated by TD and MDD during the season, 18 resulted in an immediate and permanent removal, 28 resulted in temporary removal for an off-field assessment, and one resulted in the player continuing the game. Game-day head injury assessment process video decisions agreed with the independent clinician view in 72% of cases, κ = 0.49 (95% CI 0.38–0.59, weak agreement). Conclusions These findings suggest that access to sideline video review is an important supplementary component to identify potential concussions; however, there is a critical need for improved systems and processes to reduce the likelihood of missing an incident

Moving to human trials for argon neuroprotection in neurological injury: a narrative review.

Despite the global burden of brain injury, neuroprotective agents remain elusive. There are no clinically effective therapies which reduce mortality or improve long-term cognitive outcome. Ventilation could be an easily modifiable variable in resuscitation; gases are relatively simple to administer. Xenon is the prototypic agent of a new generation of experimental treatments which show promise. However, use is hindered by its prohibitive cost and anaesthetic properties. Argon is an attractive option, being cheaper, easy to transport, non-sedating, and mechanistically distinct from xenon. In vitro and in vivo models provide evidence of argon reducing brain injury, with improvements in neurocognitive, histological, and biomarker metrics, as well as improved survival. Current data suggest that the effect of argon is mediated via the toll-like receptors 2 and 4, the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, and phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI-3K)-AKT pathways. Ventilation with argon appears to be safe in pigs and preliminary human trials. Given recent evidence that arterial hyperoxia may be harmful, the supplementation of high-concentration argon may not necessitate changes to clinical practice. Given the logistic benefits, and the evidence for argon neuroprotection summarized in this manuscript, we believe that the time has come to consider developing Phase II clinical trials to assess its benefit in acute neurological injury

In-Situ Li-Ion Pouch Cell Diagnostics Utilising Plasmonic Based Optical Fibre Sensors

As the drive to improve the cost, performance characteristics and safety of lithium-ion batteries increases with adoption, one area where significant value could be added is that of battery diagnostics. This paper documents an investigation into the use of plasmonic-based optical fibre sensors, inserted internally into 1.4 Ah lithium-ion pouch cells, as a real time and in-situ diagnostic technique. The successful implementation of the fibres inside pouch cells is detailed and promising correlation with battery state is reported, while having negligible impact on cell performance in terms of capacity and columbic efficiency. The testing carried out includes standard cycling and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) tests, and the use of a reference electrode to correlate with the anode and cathode readings separately. Further observations are made around the sensor and analyte interaction mechanisms, robustness of sensors and suggested further developments. These finding show that a plasmonic-based optical fibre sensor may have potential as an opto-electrochemical diagnostic technique for lithium-ion batteries, offering an unprecedented view into internal cell phenomena

Cone opsins, colour blindness and cone dystrophy: Genotype-phenotype correlations

X-linked cone photoreceptor disorders caused by mutations in the OPN1LW (L) and OPN1MW (M) cone opsin genes on chromosome Xq28 include a range of conditions from mild stable red-green colour vision deficiencies to severe cone dystrophies causing progressive loss of vision and blindness. Advances in molecular genotyping and functional analyses of causative variants, combined with deep retinal phenotyping, are unravelling genetic mechanisms underlying the variability of cone opsin disorders

Turnip mosaic potyvirus probably first spread to Eurasian brassica crops from wild orchids about 1000 years ago

Turnip mosaic potyvirus (TuMV) is probably the most widespread and damaging virus that infects cultivated brassicas worldwide. Previous work has indicated that the virus originated in western Eurasia, with all of its closest relatives being viruses of monocotyledonous plants. Here we report that we have identified a sister lineage of TuMV-like potyviruses (TuMV-OM) from European orchids. The isolates of TuMV-OM form a monophyletic sister lineage to the brassica-infecting TuMVs (TuMV-BIs), and are nested within a clade of monocotyledon-infecting viruses. Extensive host-range tests showed that all of the TuMV-OMs are biologically similar to, but distinct from, TuMV-BIs and do not readily infect brassicas. We conclude that it is more likely that TuMV evolved from a TuMV-OM-like ancestor than the reverse. We did Bayesian coalescent analyses using a combination of novel and published sequence data from four TuMV genes [helper component-proteinase protein (HC-Pro), protein 3(P3), nuclear inclusion b protein (NIb), and coat protein (CP)]. Three genes (HC-Pro, P3, and NIb), but not the CP gene, gave results indicating that the TuMV-BI viruses diverged from TuMV-OMs around 1000 years ago. Only 150 years later, the four lineages of the present global population of TuMV-BIs diverged from one another. These dates are congruent with historical records of the spread of agriculture in Western Europe. From about 1200 years ago, there was a warming of the climate, and agriculture and the human population of the region greatly increased. Farming replaced woodlands, fostering viruses and aphid vectors that could invade the crops, which included several brassica cultivars and weeds. Later, starting 500 years ago, inter-continental maritime trade probably spread the TuMV-BIs to the remainder of the world

An association between the acute phase response and patterns of antigen induced T cell proliferation in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

The aim of this research was to determine whether all memory T cells have the same propensity to migrate to the joint in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Paired synovial fluid and peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferative responses to a panel of antigens were measured and the results correlated with a detailed set of laboratory and clinical data from 39 patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Two distinct patterns of proliferative response were found in the majority of patients: a diverse pattern, in which synovial fluid responses were greater than peripheral blood responses for all antigens tested; and a restricted pattern, in which peripheral blood responses to some antigens were more vigorous than those in the synovial fluid compartment. The diverse pattern was generally found in patients with a high acute phase response, whereas patients without elevated acute phase proteins were more likely to demonstrate a restricted pattern. We propose that an association between the synovial fluid T cell repertoire and the acute phase response suggests that proinflammatory cytokines may influence recruitment of memory T cells to an inflammatory site, independent of their antigen specificity. Additionally, increased responses to enteric bacteria and the presence of αEβ7 T cells in synovial fluid may reflect accumulation of gut associated T cells in the synovial compartment, even in the absence of an elevated acute phase response. This is the first report of an association between the acute phase response and the T cell population recruited to an inflammatory site