Vivants puis morts : des victimes de violence intégrées au cimetière néolithique de Kadruka 23, Haute- Nubie (Soudan, 1re moitié du 5e millénaire av. J.-C.)

La butte funéraire de Kadruka 23 (Soudan, Northern State, Haute-Nubie), dans la zone multi-sites de Kadruka, à une dizaine de km à l’est du Nil (un peu au nord de Dongola, la capitale de l’état), est fouillée depuis 2014 par une équipe franco-soudanaise et a livré, au fil des campagnes de fouille, un véritable cimetière, daté de la première moitié du 5e millénaire av. J.-C. (par le matériel funéraire). Jusqu’à présent, 140 individus, inhumés de façon organisée sur moins de 110 m2, ont pu être..

Provins – Église et cimetière Saint-Ayoul

La campagne de fouille de l’église Saint-Ayoul et de son cimetière, dans la ville basse de Provins, s’est déroulée du 27 juillet au 5 septembre 1997 ; il s’agit de la première campagne de fouille programmée, après un diagnostic-évaluation, en août 1996, qui avait permis de préciser nos objectifs principaux et de confirmer les potentialités archéologiques du site. Notre intervention poursuit une double perspective, scientifique (archéo-anthropologie plaçant au premier plan l’interprétation de..

beDNA : un projet visant à la collection systématique d’échantillons humains archéologiques à vocation paléogénétique – une première expérimentation

La paléogénétique occupe désormais une place importante dans les problématiques archéologiques. Toutefois, les analyses d’ADN ancien peuvent être desservies, voire empêchées, par l’état de préservation des échantillons en raison de contamination par de l’ADN moderne ou de mauvaises conditions de stockage. Le projet beDNA, "banque d’échantillons et de Données Nationale Archéogénétique", souhaite donner les moyens d’analyses paléogénétiques futures, en proposant le stockage systématique d’échantillons des squelettes humains tenant compte des contraintes inhérentes à la préservation de l’ADN ancien. Le projet implique (1) un protocole systématique d’échantillonnage "propre" des restes humains sur le terrain commun à toutes les opérations archéologiques, (2) un espace de stockage dédié à ces échantillons adapté à la conservation de l’ADN ancien, (3) une base de données faisant le lien entre les sites et les échantillons conservés dans la banque, (4) l’approbation par l’État des demandes d’analyse d’échantillons après expertise. La phase de test du projet, initiée en septembre 2020 sur la région Île-de-France, nous a permis d’évaluer et d’ajuster le protocole d’échantillonnage sur le terrain et les dispositifs de transfert vers la banque. Cette note présente les étapes envisagées pour chaque échantillon, depuis les terrains jusqu’aux laboratoires d’analyse génétique, ainsi que le déroulement de sa phase test, en cours, et les premiers retours d’expérience.Palaeogenetics is becoming increasingly important in tackling archaeological issues. However, analyses of ancient DNA can be hampered or even prevented by the state of preservation of samples due to poor storage conditions, and because of contamination by modern DNA. The beDNA project for a national archaeological genetic data and sample bank (banque d’échantillons et de Données Nationale Archéogénétique) is developing the means to enable future palaeogenetic analyses by systematically storing human skeletal samples, with the constraints inherent to the preservation of ancient DNA taken into account. This project comprises (1) a systematic protocol for "clean" sampling of human remains to be common to all archaeological operations, (2) a dedicated storage space for samples, suited to aDNA preservation, (3) a database linking sites with the samples stored in the bank, (4) approval of sample analysis requests by authorities, after expert review. The test phase of the project, which began in September 2020 in the Île-de-France region, enabled us to evaluate and adjust both the sampling protocol in the field and the transfer process to the beDNA bank. This note describes the different stages envisaged for each sample, from the archaeological field to the genetics laboratory, as well as the development of the experimental phase and initial feedback from it

Training attention control of very preterm infants: protocol for a feasibility study of the Attention Control Training (ACT)

Background Children born preterm may display cognitive, learning, and behaviour difficulties as they grow up. In particular, very premature birth (gestation age between 28 and less than 32 weeks) may put infants at increased risk of intellectual deficits and attention deficit disorder. Evidence suggests that the basis of these problems may lie in difficulties in the development of executive functions. One of the earliest executive functions to emerge around 1 year of age is the ability to control attention. An eye-tracking-based cognitive training programme to support this emerging ability, the Attention Control Training (ACT), has been developed and tested with typically developing infants. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using the ACT with healthy very preterm (VP) infants when they are 12 months of age (corrected age). The ACT has the potential to address the need for supporting emerging cognitive abilities of VP infants with an early intervention, which may capitalise on infants’ neural plasticity. Methods/design The feasibility study is designed to investigate whether it is possible to recruit and retain VP infants and their families in a randomised trial that compares attention and social attention of trained infants against those that are exposed to a control procedure. Feasibility issues include the referral/recruitment pathway, attendance, and engagement with testing and training sessions, completion of tasks, retention in the study, acceptability of outcome measures, quality of data collected (particularly, eye-tracking data). The results of the study will inform the development of a larger randomised trial. Discussion Several lines of evidence emphasise the need to support emerging cognitive and learning abilities of preterm infants using early interventions. However, early interventions with preterm infants, and particularly very preterm ones, face difficulties in recruiting and retaining participants. These problems are also augmented by the health vulnerability of this population. This feasibility study will provide the basis for informing the implementation of an early cognitive intervention for very preterm infants. Trial registration Registered Registration ID: NCT03896490. Retrospectively registered at Clinical Trials Protocol Registration and Results System (clinicaltrials.gov)

Rapid response to the M_w 4.9 earthquake of November 11, 2019 in Le Teil, Lower Rhône Valley, France

On November 11, 2019, a Mw 4.9 earthquake hit the region close to Montelimar (lower Rhône Valley, France), on the eastern margin of the Massif Central close to the external part of the Alps. Occuring in a moderate seismicity area, this earthquake is remarkable for its very shallow focal depth (between 1 and 3 km), its magnitude, and the moderate to large damages it produced in several villages. InSAR interferograms indicated a shallow rupture about 4 km long reaching the surface and the reactivation of the ancient NE-SW La Rouviere normal fault in reverse faulting in agreement with the present-day E-W compressional tectonics. The peculiarity of this earthquake together with a poor coverage of the epicentral region by permanent seismological and geodetic stations triggered the mobilisation of the French post-seismic unit and the broad French scientific community from various institutions, with the deployment of geophysical instruments (seismological and geodesic stations), geological field surveys, and field evaluation of the intensity of the earthquake. Within 7 days after the mainshock, 47 seismological stations were deployed in the epicentral area to improve the Le Teil aftershocks locations relative to the French permanent seismological network (RESIF), monitor the temporal and spatial evolution of microearthquakes close to the fault plane and temporal evolution of the seismic response of 3 damaged historical buildings, and to study suspected site effects and their influence in the distribution of seismic damage. This seismological dataset, completed by data owned by different institutions, was integrated in a homogeneous archive and distributed through FDSN web services by the RESIF data center. This dataset, together with observations of surface rupture evidences, geologic, geodetic and satellite data, will help to unravel the causes and rupture mechanism of this earthquake, and contribute to account in seismic hazard assessment for earthquakes along the major regional Cévenne fault system in a context of present-day compressional tectonics

BMJ Med

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of covid-19 convalescent plasma to treat patients admitted to hospital for moderate covid-19 disease with or without underlying immunodeficiency (CORIPLASM trial). DESIGN: Open label, randomised clinical trial. SETTING: CORIMUNO-19 cohort (publicly supported platform of open label, randomised controlled trials of immune modulatory drugs in patients admitted to hospital with moderate or severe covid-19 disease) based on 19 university and general hospitals across France, from 16 April 2020 to 21 April 2021. PARTICIPANTS: 120 adults (n=60 in the covid-19 convalescent plasma group, n=60 in the usual care group) admitted to hospital with a positive SARS-CoV2 test result, duration of symptoms 40. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcomes were proportion of patients with a WHO Clinical Progression Scale score of ≥6 on the 10 point scale on day 4 (higher values indicate a worse outcome), and survival without assisted ventilation or additional immunomodulatory treatment by day 14. Secondary outcomes were changes in WHO Clinical Progression Scale scores, overall survival, time to discharge, and time to end of dependence on oxygen supply. Predefined subgroups analyses included immunosuppression status, duration of symptoms before randomisation, and use of steroids. RESULTS: 120 patients were recruited and assigned to covid-19 convalescent plasma (n=60) or usual care (n=60), including 22 (covid-19 convalescent plasma) and 27 (usual care) patients who were immunocompromised. 13 (22%) patients who received convalescent plasma had a WHO Clinical Progression Scale score of ≥6 at day 4 versus eight (13%) patients who received usual care (adjusted odds ratio 1.88, 95% credible interval 0.71 to 5.24). By day 14, 19 (31.6%) patients in the convalescent plasma group and 20 (33.3%) patients in the usual care group needed ventilation, additional immunomodulatory treatment, or had died. For cumulative incidence of death, three (5%) patients in the convalescent plasma group and eight (13%) in the usual care group died by day 14 (adjusted hazard ratio 0.40, 95% confidence interval 0.10 to 1.53), and seven (12%) patients in the convalescent plasma group and 12 (20%) in the usual care group by day 28 (adjusted hazard ratio 0.51, 0.20 to 1.32). In a subgroup analysis performed in patients who were immunocompromised, transfusion of covid-19 convalescent plasma was associated with mortality (hazard ratio 0.39, 95% confidence interval 0.14 to 1.10). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, covid-19 convalescent plasma did not improve early outcomes in patients with moderate covid-19 disease. The efficacy of convalescent plasma in patients who are immunocompromised should be investigated further. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04345991

Sediment source fingerprinting: benchmarking recent outputs, remaining challenges and emerging themes

Abstract: Purpose: This review of sediment source fingerprinting assesses the current state-of-the-art, remaining challenges and emerging themes. It combines inputs from international scientists either with track records in the approach or with expertise relevant to progressing the science. Methods: Web of Science and Google Scholar were used to review published papers spanning the period 2013–2019, inclusive, to confirm publication trends in quantities of papers by study area country and the types of tracers used. The most recent (2018–2019, inclusive) papers were also benchmarked using a methodological decision-tree published in 2017. Scope: Areas requiring further research and international consensus on methodological detail are reviewed, and these comprise spatial variability in tracers and corresponding sampling implications for end-members, temporal variability in tracers and sampling implications for end-members and target sediment, tracer conservation and knowledge-based pre-selection, the physico-chemical basis for source discrimination and dissemination of fingerprinting results to stakeholders. Emerging themes are also discussed: novel tracers, concentration-dependence for biomarkers, combining sediment fingerprinting and age-dating, applications to sediment-bound pollutants, incorporation of supportive spatial information to augment discrimination and modelling, aeolian sediment source fingerprinting, integration with process-based models and development of open-access software tools for data processing. Conclusions: The popularity of sediment source fingerprinting continues on an upward trend globally, but with this growth comes issues surrounding lack of standardisation and procedural diversity. Nonetheless, the last 2 years have also evidenced growing uptake of critical requirements for robust applications and this review is intended to signpost investigators, both old and new, towards these benchmarks and remaining research challenges for, and emerging options for different applications of, the fingerprinting approach

Pathologie et archéologie de la lèpre : une maladie infectieuse chronique

La lèpre dont les agents pathogènes sont deux bacilles, Mycobacterium leprae et Mycobacterium lepromatosis, affecte l’humanité depuis le ive millénaire av. J.-C. C’est une maladie infectieuse à incubation lente qui évolue sur un mode chronique et qui offre ainsi un modèle pratiquement opposé à celui d’une maladie pandémique aiguë comme la peste : détériorations osseuses visibles et étendues, évolution lente, contagion modérée, faible létalité. Après avoir rappelé la physiopathologie, la génétique, les formes cliniques et les signes paléopathologiques de cette affection, on montrera comment l’archéologie peut contribuer à reconstituer l’histoire et la diffusion de la maladie.Leprosy is an infectious disease due to the bacilli Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis and it has affected mankind since the 4th millennium BC. It has a long incubation period and its evolution is that of a chronic infection. Its distinctive features are just the opposite of well-known pandemics as plague: osseous damages are obvious and easy to observe, its development is slow, the degree of disability can be high but its contagious and lethal power are low. We shall review the physiopathology, genetics, pathological aspects and paleopathological diagnosis in order to indicate what can be the contribution of archaeology for reconstructing the history and the past diffusion of such an illness