The Milky Way:Mobility and Economy at the Turn of the 3rd Millennium in Southern Central Europe

In the light of discussions surrounding the social changes attributed to the arrival of the Corded Ware culture in central Europe, here we investigate the economic strategies of one of the cultural complexes of the immediately preceding Late Neolithic. The Cham culture of southern Bavaria is characterised by a variety of economic choices but problems remain in synthesising and combining archaeozoological and archaeobotanical evidence. Using lipid residue analysis from Cham culture pottery excavated at the unenclosed settlement of Riedling, Lower Bavaria, we succeed in identifying a dairying economy at this time. Compound-specific lipid radiocarbon dates are then combined with other samples to provide a formal estimate for the duration of activity at Riedling and the first Bayesian chronological model for the Cham culture as a whole. Although data are currently not fine-grained enough to distinguish between competing models for site permanence, we suggest that the Cham culture pattern fits into a wider central European trend of greater mobility and economic flexibility in the pre-Corded Ware horizon, concluding that key economic strategies previously associated with ‘steppe invasions’ were already present in the preceding centuries. Finally, the demonstrated use of cups for milk-based products, as opposed to alcoholic drinks as previously suggested, leads us to propose possible alternative uses and users for these items

The relationship between organisational characteristics and the effects of clinical guidelines on medical performance in hospitals, a meta-analysis

We are grateful to our colleagues involved in the systematic review of guideline dissemination and implementation strategies across all settings especially Cynthia Fraser, Graeme MacLennan, Craig Ramsay, Paula Whitty, Martin Eccles, Lloyd Matowe, Liz Shirran. The systematic review of guideline dissemination and implementation strategies across all settings was funded by the UK NHS Health Technology Assessment Program. Dr Ruth Thomas is funded by a Wellcome Training Fellowship in Health Services Research. (Grant number GR063790MA). The Health Services Research Unit is funded by the Chief Scientists Office of the Scottish Executive Department of Health. Dr Jeremy Grimshaw holds a Canada Research Chair in Health Knowledge Transfer and Uptake. However the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the funders.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Lactose intolerance and other related food sensitivities

Milk and dairy food consumption can lead to a range of adverse clinical symptoms, the best known of which is lactose intolerance (LI). LI is defined as experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms following the ingestion of lactose. While LI is often caused by a genetically determined reduction of lactase production in adulthood, it is important to note that other causes exist. In addition, adverse gastrointestinal and other symptoms following milk and dairy food consumption may not necessarily be the result of LI. Despite our deeper understanding of food sensitivities and their overlap with irritable bowel syndrome, misattribution of gastrointestinal symptoms to lactose ingestion in self-reporting lactose-intolerant individuals remains common. In this chapter we discuss the complexities of lactose-related and lactose-independent adverse gastrointestinal and other symptoms associated with milk and dairy food consumption as well as the nutritional consequences of dairy food avoidance