An Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery at Walkington Wold, Yorkshire

This paper presents a re-evaluation of a cemetery excavated over 30 years ago at Walkington Wold in east Yorkshire. The cemetery is characterized by careless burial on diverse alignments, and by the fact that most of the skeletons did not have associated crania. The cemetery has been variously described as being the result of an early post-Roman massacre, as providing evidence for a ‘Celtic’ head cult or as an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery. In order to resolve the matter, radiocarbon dates were acquired and a re-examination of the skeletal remains was undertaken. It was confirmed that the cemetery was an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery, the only known example from northern England, and the site is set into its wider context in the paper

Current Knowledge Attitudes, and Practices of Healthcare Providers about Leprosy in Assam, India

Background: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that is associated with serious morbidity and is a disease of public health concern because of the case load and the social stigma attached to the disease. Aim: To understand the knowledge of, and attitudes towards, leprosy amongst healthcare providers in Assam, India. Settings and Design: This cross-sectional study was conducted during March to June 2007 in different health institutions of the Kamrup district of Assam. Results: Among the program managers interviewed, only half were organizing training sessions, and 37.5% were involved in supervision of the program activities at the periphery level. Among the program managers who were involved with leprosy elimination, only half were organizing training session and 37.5% were involved in supervision of the program activities at the periphery level. Medical officers consistently demonstrated higher knowledge about leprosy, followed by health supervisors and multipurpose workers (MPWs), including nursing staff. Regarding training status with regard to leprosy, 90% of medical officers, 80% of health supervisors and around 87% of MPWs (83% of male MPWs and 89% of female MPWs) had attended training programs on leprosy. Regarding WHO MDT, 80% of health supervisors, 84.8% of male MPWs and 86.2% of female MPWs had an idea of MDT and treatment duration of various categories of patients. Conclusions: These observations suggest that there appear to be adequate knowledge and positive behavior among healthcare providers with regard to leprosy in this part of India. However, there is still a need to organize training programs at regular intervals to train new recruits, as well as reinforce and update the knowledge of those already trained

Timing, origin and emplacement dynamics of mass flows offshore of SE Montserrat in the last 110 ka: implications for landslide and tsunami hazards, eruption history, and volcanic island evolution

Mass flows on volcanic islands generated by volcanic lava dome collapse and by larger volume flank collapse, can be highly dangerous locally and may generate tsunamis that threaten a wider area. It is therefore important to understand their frequency, emplacement dynamics and relationship to volcanic eruption cycles. The best record of mass flow on volcanic islands may be found offshore, where most material is deposited, and where intervening hemipelagic sediment aids dating. Here we analyse what is arguably the most comprehensive sediment core data set collected offshore from a volcanic island. The cores are located southeast of Montserrat, on which the Soufriere Hills volcano has been erupting since 1995. The cores provide a record of mass flow events during the last 110?ka. Older mass flow deposits differ significantly from those generated by the repeated lava dome collapses observed since 1995. The oldest mass flow deposit originated through collapse of the basaltic South Soufriere Hills at 103-110?ka, some 20-30?ka after eruptions formed this volcanic centre. A ~1.8?km3 blocky debris avalanche deposit that extends from a chute in the island shelf records a particularly deep-seated failure. It likely formed from a collapse of almost equal amounts of volcanic edifice and coeval carbonate shelf, emplacing a mixed bioclastic-andesitic turbidite in a complex series of stages. This study illustrates how volcanic island growth and collapse involved extensive, large-volume submarine mass flows with highly variable composition. Run-out turbidites indicate that mass flows are emplaced either in multiple stages or as single events