First evidence for interpersonal violence in Ukraine's Trypillian farming culture : Individual 3 from Verteba Cave, Bilche Zolote

This paper presents the initial stages of an interdisciplinary study of human skeletal remains interred at Verteba Cave, western Ukraine. This site has been described previously as a “ritual site of the Trypillian culture complex” by Nikitin et al. in Comprehensive site chronology and ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis from Verteba Cave – a Trypillian culture site of Eneolithic Ukraine, Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica: Natural Sciences in Archaeology 1, 9–18., and the material considered here is one of seven crania recovered during excavations at Verteba between 2008 and 2010. Palaeopathological analysis of the individual considered here indicates that this is a young adult female with evidence for peri-mortem injury, cranial surgery and into early stage Trypillia culture inter-personal interactions and burial ritual in this region of Ukraine. Paper published in Proceedings of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology 13th and 14th Annual Conferences in Edinburgh (2nd-4th September 2011) and Bournemouth (14th–16th September 2012)

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of eneolithic trypillians from Ukraine reveals neolithic farming genetic roots

The agricultural revolution in Eastern Europe began in the Eneolithic with the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture complex. In Ukraine, the Trypillian culture (TC) existed for over two millennia (ca. 5,400–2,700 BCE) and left a wealth of artifacts. Yet, their burial rituals remain a mystery and to date almost nothing is known about the genetic composition of the TC population. One of the very few TC sites where human remains can be found is a cave called Verteba in western Ukraine. This report presents four partial and four complete mitochondrial genomes from nine TC individuals uncovered in the cave. The results of this analysis, combined with the data from previous reports, indicate that the Trypillian population at Verteba carried, for the most part, a typical Neolithic farmer package of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages traced to Anatolian farmers and Neolithic farming groups of central Europe. At the same time, the find of two specimens belonging to haplogroup U8b1 at Verteba can be viewed as a connection of TC with the Upper Paleolithic European populations. At the level of mtDNA haplogroup frequencies, the TC population from Verteba demonstrates a close genetic relationship with population groups of the Funnel Beaker/ Trichterbecker cultural complex from central and northern Europe (ca. 3,950–2,500 BCE)

Effects of Country of Origin and Cognitive Development on Psychological Adjustment and Family Cohesion of Latino Youth Witnesses of Domestic Violence

Latino children living in the context of domestic violence (DV) often lack access to cultural-specific services. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among Latino children’s level of cognitive development (age), country of origin and psychological adjustment as well as styles of coping with domestic violence . Analysis of data collected from an interview conducted with Latino children at a local DV intervention program suggests that Latino children utilize a range of coping responses when confronted with violence in their homes. In a regression analysis using psychological adjustment as the dependent variable, developmental age was not related to adjustment in children. However, country of origin was a significant predictor of psychological adjustment. That is, immigrant children reported lower levels of psychological adjustment compared to children born in the U.S. This remained true while controlling for age, coping strategy, and family cohesion. The growing number of immigrant Latino children in the United States increases the need for culturally relevant research with racial and ethnic minority groups in regard to DV. These findings suggest immigrant Latino children have unique needs in the context of DV

Charged Lepton Flavor Physics and Extra Dimensions

We estimate the charged lepton electric dipole moments and the branching ratios of radiative lepton flavor violating decays in the framework of the two Higgs doublet model with the inclusion two extra dimensions. Here, we consider that the new Higgs doublet is accessible to one of the extra dimensions with a Gaussian profile and the fermions are accessible to the other extra dimension with uniform zero mode profile. We observe that the numerical values of the physical quantities studied enhance with the additional effects due to the extra dimensions and they are sensitive to the new Higgs localization.Comment: 23 pages, 13 page

Spin properties of dense near-surface ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond

We present a study of the spin properties of dense layers of near-surface nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres in diamond created by nitrogen ion implantation. The optically detected magnetic resonance contrast and linewidth, spin coherence time, and spin relaxation time, are measured as a function of implantation energy, dose, annealing temperature and surface treatment. To track the presence of damage and surface-related spin defects, we perform in situ electron spin resonance spectroscopy through both double electron-electron resonance and cross-relaxation spectroscopy on the NV centres. We find that, for the energy ($4-30$~keV) and dose ($5\times10^{11}-10^{13}$~ions/cm$^2$) ranges considered, the NV spin properties are mainly governed by the dose via residual implantation-induced paramagnetic defects, but that the resulting magnetic sensitivity is essentially independent of both dose and energy. We then show that the magnetic sensitivity is significantly improved by high-temperature annealing at $\geq1100^\circ$C. Moreover, the spin properties are not significantly affected by oxygen annealing, apart from the spin relaxation time, which is dramatically decreased. Finally, the average NV depth is determined by nuclear magnetic resonance measurements, giving $\approx10$-17~nm at 4-6 keV implantation energy. This study sheds light on the optimal conditions to create dense layers of near-surface NV centres for high-sensitivity sensing and imaging applications.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Access to Care among Children: How Does Medicaid Do in Closing the Gaps?

While Medicaid and the Children\u27s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have become increasingly important sources of health coverage for low-income children in all racial and ethnic groups, the program plays an especially large role for children of color, who are more likely than white children to be low-income. In 2007, Medicaid and CHIP covered nearly one in five white children, but roughly two in five African American and Hispanic children. As policymakers engaged in health reform consider the merits of public and private approaches to expanding coverage, this report provides an assessment of Medicaid\u27s relative impact on racial and ethnic disparities in access. The analysis compared health care access for white, African American and Hispanic children who were privately insured, uninsured, or enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP. Key findings include: Racial and ethnic disparities in access to care were no more likely among children enrolled in Medicaid than among privately insured children. Insurance coverage – both private and Medicaid – often improved access for children in each racial and ethnic group, but generally did not significantly narrow racial and ethnic disparities in their access to health care. This report analyzes data for more than 15,000 children from the 2003 and 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative household survey conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Observing Ultra High Energy Cosmic Particles from Space: SEUSO, the Super Extreme Universe Space Observatory Mission

The experimental search for ultra high energy cosmic messengers, from $E\sim 10^{19}$ eV to beyond $E\sim 10^{20}$ eV, at the very end of the known energy spectrum, constitutes an extraordinary opportunity to explore a largely unknown aspect of our universe. Key scientific goals are the identification of the sources of ultra high energy particles, the measurement of their spectra and the study of galactic and local intergalactic magnetic fields. Ultra high energy particles might, also, carry evidence of unknown physics or of exotic particles relics of the early universe. To meet this challenge a significant increase in the integrated exposure is required. This implies a new class of experiments with larger acceptances and good understanding of the systematic uncertainties. Space based observatories can reach the instantaneous aperture and the integrated exposure necessary to systematically explore the ultra high energy universe. In this paper, after briefly summarising the science case of the mission, we describe the scientific goals and requirements of the SEUSO concept. We then introduce the SEUSO observational approach and describe the main instrument and mission features. We conclude discussing the expected performance of the mission

Spatial mapping of band bending in semiconductor devices using in-situ quantum sensors

Band bending is a central concept in solid-state physics that arises from local variations in charge distribution especially near semiconductor interfaces and surfaces. Its precision measurement is vital in a variety of contexts from the optimisation of field effect transistors to the engineering of qubit devices with enhanced stability and coherence. Existing methods are surface sensitive and are unable to probe band bending at depth from surface or bulk charges related to crystal defects. Here we propose an in-situ method for probing band bending in a semiconductor device by imaging an array of atomic-sized quantum sensing defects to report on the local electric field. We implement the concept using the nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond, and map the electric field at different depths under various surface terminations. We then fabricate a two-terminal device based on the conductive two-dimensional hole gas formed at a hydrogen-terminated diamond surface, and observe an unexpected spatial modulation of the electric field attributed to a complex interplay between charge injection and photo-ionisation effects. Our method opens the way to three-dimensional mapping of band bending in diamond and other semiconductors hosting suitable quantum sensors, combined with simultaneous imaging of charge transport in complex operating devices.Comment: This is a pre-print of an article published in Nature Electronics. The final authenticated version is available online at https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41928-018-0130-