History and influence of the Danube delta lobes on the evolution of the ancient harbour of Orgame (Dobrogea, Romania)

On the coast of Northern Dobrogea, south of the Danube delta, the Greek settlement of Orgame was founded in the mid 7th c. BC, probably by Milesian colonists. The ancient city was located on the Cape Dolojman which today overlooks a large lagoon complex. We undertook a chronostratigraphic study to:(i) understand coastal changes around Cape Dolojman since ca. 5000 years BP in connection with the construction of the Danube delta lobes, and (ii) identify potential sediment impacts related to human occupation of the site. Three cores were extracted from the lagoon area. Sedimentological and biological analyses were undertaken to reconstruct the evolution of the coastal palaeoenvironments. The results show a closure of the marine bay around 3500 cal. BP and its transformation into a lagoon environment. The first major environmental change was due to the construction of the lobe St. George I and the formation of the barrier Lupilor. Around 2000 cal. BP, the formation of an intra-lagoonal lobe, the Dunavatz, led to the gradual transformation of the lagoon into a fluvial-dominated system. Paradoxically, lagoon waters today still wash the ancient Greek harbour environment, which has not been totally infilled by alluvial sediments. To understand this paradox, in a context of coastal progradation, we compared and contrasted the geomorphological data with the nearby city of Istros/Histria, which was already landlocked at this time. The location of these two Greek colonies relative to the coastal sediment cell and barriers partly explains their contrasting palaeoenvironmental evolution. Until 2650 cal. BP, the increase in charcoal and organic matter in sedimentary archives is interpreted as an anthropogenic signal for a more extensive use of the vegetation cover following the foundation of the city of Orgame (e.g. for domestic use and funeral rites)

Medieval coastal Syrian vegetation patterns in the principality of Antioch

The coastal area of Jableh, in the vicinity of the Saladin and Al-Marquab castles, is a fertile alluvial plain located on the northwestern part of Syria, in what was once the crusader Principality of Antioch. In order to detail the coastal environment during the crusader period in the Middle East, palynological analyses have been conducted on the underlying coastal-alluvial deposits. The recovered sediments represent a continuous record of the environmental history of the area spanning a c. AD 850—1850 cal. yr period, from the Muslim Era up to and including the late Ottoman times. During the local crusader period (AD 1100—1270), the area was dominated by an arborescent mattoral mixed with a xerophytic shrub-steppe. The alluvial plain was slightly waterlogged and colonized by a wetland meadow with an open vegetation of steppe-like character on bare surfaces and fresh arable soils. The riparian and open deciduous riverine forests were weakly developed. Signs of agricultural activities are mainly recorded for the High Medieval period (AD 1000—1300), with an increase of vineyards in the coastal area. Since c. AD 1250 cal. yr until the end of the crusader period, agricultural activities never reached the same intensity as during the Mameluke Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

Reconstruction paléoenvironnementale des paysages autour d'Argamum à partir de données polliniques.

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A modern pollen rain study from the Black Sea coast of Romania

International audienceThis paper documents the modern pollen rain in southeast Romania and explores the potential factors influencing vegetation communities. The analysis should help in the interpretation of the region's fossil pollen records. Thirty surface soil samples were collected along a southeast-northwest transect in Dobrogea, in a low plateau region separating the Razelm and Sinoie Lakes, near the Danube Delta. Numerical analysis of the surface samples revealed four palynologically distinct assemblages: coastal steppe, delta-marshland, forest-steppe and forest. A mixture of low rainfall and strong maritime winds, with high inputs of salty spindrifts, explains the steppe-like vegetation of the low coastal areas. Increasing inland moisture along the slopes controls the progressive gradient from wooded to forested areas. Human impact is nowadays of secondary importance in northern Dobrogea, due to a fall in agriculture pressures since the breakup of socialism in Eastern Europe

The medieval climate anomaly and the little Ice Age in coastal Syria inferred from pollen-derived palaeoclimatic patterns

International audienceThe alluvial deposits of a small spring valley near Jableh, in north-western coastal Syria, provides a unique record of environmental history covering the last 1000 years. The pollen-derived climatic proxy inferred from a 315 cm deep core of alluvial deposits suggests that a shift towards wetter climatic conditions occurred from circa (ca.) 1000 to 1250 calibrated (cal) yr AD. This period is situated within the time frame of the Medieval Climate Anomaly. The reconstructed temperature trends show that the warming during this medieval episode was not as high as the modern scores, except for short intervals during the early 12th century AD. The core also recorded a shift towards drier conditions starting during the late 12th century AD, which represents the Eastern Mediterranean expression of the European "Great Famine" climatic event. The main dry and cool interval recorded in coastal Syria occurred from ca. 1520 to 1870 cal yr AD, a time frame encompassing the Little Ice Age. In Mediterranean Syria, the Little Ice Age is not only cooler, but also much drier than the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the present-day climate. Despite a strong human presence in coastal Syria throughout the last millennia, climate rather than anthropogenic activity seems to be the driving force behind the natural vegetation dynamics in this region

Hemorphin 7 Reflects Hemoglobin Proteolysis in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

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La Mission archéologique franco-bulgare à Apollonia du Pont (Sozopol, Bulgarie) : bilan de la campagne 2013

Baralis Alexandre, Panayotova Krastina, Avramova Maria, Bogdanova T., Flaux Clément, Guibal Frédéric, Keenleyside Ann, Kovacheva Mery, Nedev Dimitar, Ninov Lazar, Popova Tsvetana, Riapov Attila, Rouchet Pauline, Rossignol Ingrid. La Mission archéologique franco-bulgare à Apollonia du Pont (Sozopol, Bulgarie) : bilan de la campagne 2013. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 39, n°2, 2013. pp. 265-286

Le programme ANR Pont-Euxin : bilan des campagnes 2012 à Apollonia du Pont (Sozopol, dpt. de Bourgas, Bulgarie) et Orgamè / Argamum (Jurilovca, dpt. de Tulcea, Roumanie)

Cet article multi-auteurs fait le bilan des principaux résultats obtenus lors de la troisième année d'exercice du programme ANR Pont-Euxin en 2012 ainsi que des travaux encore en cours. Y sont développés les travaux de fouilles menés sur les colonies grecques d'Orgamè (Argamum, Roumanie) et Apollonia du Pont (Sozopol, Bulgarie) mais aussi les nombreuses études et recherches de laboratoire visant à la préparation de plusieurs monographies sur chacun de ces deux importants sites du la mer Noire occidentale.Géoarchéologie des cités grecques du sud et de l'ouest de la Mer Noir