An introductory view on archaeoastronomy

Archaeoastronomy is still a marginalised topic in academia and is described by the Sophia Centre, the only UK institution offering a broader MA containing this field, as ‘the study of the incorporation of celestial orientation, alignments or symbolism in human monuments and architecture’. By many it is associated with investigating prehistoric monuments such as Stonehenge and combining astronomy and archaeology. The following will show that archaeoastronomy is far more than just an interdisciplinary field linking archaeology and astronomy. It merges aspects of anthropology, ethno-astronomy and even educational research, and is possibly better described as cultural astronomy. In the past decades it has stepped away from its quite speculative beginnings that have led to its complete rejection by the archaeology community. Overcoming these challenges it embraced full heartedly solid scientific and statistical methodology and achieved more credibility. However, in recent times the humanistic influences of a cultural context motivate a new generation of archaeoastronomers that are modernising this subject; and humanists might find it better described as post-modern archaeoastronomy embracing the pluralism of today’s academic approach to landscape and ancient people

Ambient particulate pollution and the world-wide prevalence of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema in children: Phase One of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)

Objectives: To investigate the effect of ambient particulate matter on variation in childhood prevalence of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema. Methods: Prevalences of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema obtained in Phase One of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) were matched with city-level estimates of residential PM10 obtained from a World Bank model. Associations were investigated using binomial regression adjusting for GNP per capita and for clustering within country. For countries with more than one centre, a two stage meta-analysis was carried out. The results were compared with a meta-analysis of published multi-centre studies. Results: Annual concentrations of PM₁₀ at city level were obtained for 105 ISAAC centres in 51 countries. After controlling for GNP per capita, there was a weak negative association between PM₁₀ and various outcomes. For severe wheeze in 13-14-year-olds, the OR for a 10 μg/m³ increase in PM₁₀ was 0.92 (95 CI 0.84 to 1.00). In 24 countries with more than one centre, most summary estimates for within-country associations were weakly positive. For severe wheeze in 13-14-year-olds, the summary OR for a 10 μg/m³ increase in PM₁₀ was 1.01 (0.92 to 1.10). This result was close to a summary OR of 0.99 (0.91 to 1.06) obtained from published multi-centre studies. Conclusions: Modelled estimates of particulate matter at city level are imprecise and incomplete estimates of personal exposure to ambient air pollutants. Nevertheless, our results together with those of previous multi-centre studies, suggest that urban background PM₁₀ has little or no association with the prevalence of childhood asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis or eczema either within or between countries

The age of Stonehenge

Stonehenge is the icon of British prehistory, and continues to inspire ingenious investigations and interpretations. A current campaign of research, being waged by probably the strongest archaeological team ever assembled, is focused not just on the monument, but on its landscape, its hinterland and the monuments within it. The campaign is still in progress, but the story so far is well worth reporting. Revisiting records of 100 years ago the authors demonstrate that the ambiguous dating of the trilithons, the grand centrepiece of Stonehenge, was based on samples taken from the wrong context, and can now be settled at 2600-2400 cal BC. This means that the trilithons are contemporary with Durrington Walls, near neighbour and Britain's largest henge monument. These two monuments, different but complementary, now predate the earliest Beaker burials in Britain – including the famous Amesbury Archer and Boscombe Bowmen, but may already have been receiving Beaker pottery. All this contributes to a new vision of massive monumental development in a period of high European intellectual mobility…

Run 2 Upgrades to the CMS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

The CMS Level-1 calorimeter trigger is being upgraded in two stages to maintain performance as the LHC increases pile-up and instantaneous luminosity in its second run. In the first stage, improved algorithms including event-by-event pile-up corrections are used. New algorithms for heavy ion running have also been developed. In the second stage, higher granularity inputs and a time-multiplexed approach allow for improved position and energy resolution. Data processing in both stages of the upgrade is performed with new, Xilinx Virtex-7 based AMC cards.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure