Roman coloured glass in the Western provinces: the glass cakes and tesserae from West Clacton in England

A collection of tesserae and two fragments from rounded cakes of coloured glass, probably dating to the 2nd century AD, were found at West Clacton Reservoir, Essex, in the UK, by Colchester Archaeological Trust. A selection of the finds were analysed using SEM-EDS and ICP-MS. This paper provides data on the composition of the different glass colours and discusses how each colour was made. Colourants and opacifiers were added to a base glass, most often one of the transparent, naturally coloured (blue-green) natron glass types widely available at the time, but there appear to be preferences in the type of base glass used for certain colours, which affects the type of antimonate opacifier precipitated. Possible reasons for using different types of base glass to make strongly coloured Roman glass are discussed

Экологизация земельного права и перспективы кодификации экологического законодательства

BACKGROUND: The vast majority (>75%) of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory (NT) live in remote or very remote locations. Children in these communities have high attendance rates at local Primary Health Care (PHC) centres but there is a paucity of studies documenting the reason and frequency of attendance. Such data can be used to help guide public health policy and practice. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Clinic presentations during the first year of life were reviewed for 320 children born from 1 January 2001-31 December 2006. Data collected included reason for infectious presentation, antibiotic prescription and referral to hospital. The median number of presentations per child in the first year of life was 21 (IQR 15-29) with multiple reasons for presentation. The most prominent infectious presentations per child during the first year of life were upper respiratory tract infections (median 6, IQR 3-10); diarrhoea (median 3, IQR 1-5); ear disease (median 3, IQR 1-5); lower respiratory tract infection (median 3, IQR 2-5); scabies (median 3, IQR 1-5); and skin sores (median 3, IQR 2-5). CONCLUSIONS: Infectious diseases of childhood are strongly linked with poverty, poor living conditions and overcrowding. The data reported in our study were collected through manual review, however many remote communities now have established electronic health record systems, use the Key Performance Indicator System and are engaged in CQI (continuous quality improvement) processes. Building on these recent initiatives, there is an opportunity to incorporate routine monitoring of a range of infectious conditions (we suggest diarrhoea, LRTI, scabies and skin sores) using both the age at first presentation and the median number of presentations per child during the first year of life as potential indicators of progress in addressing health inequities in remote communities

Median age at first clinic presentation for URTI, LRTI, scabies, skin sores, diarrhoea and ear disease in 5 remote communities in Northern Territory, Jan 01–Jan07.

<p>Median age at first clinic presentation for URTI, LRTI, scabies, skin sores, diarrhoea and ear disease in 5 remote communities in Northern Territory, Jan 01–Jan07.</p

Reasons recorded for presentation at the health centre during the first year of life for a cohort of 320 children born from 1 Jan 2001–31 Dec 2006 and living in one of five remote Aboriginal communities in East Arnhem land.

<p>̂The proportion of children presenting for a specified reason is equivalent to the cumulative incidence of that condition/reason during the first year of life.</p>*<p>IQR = Interquartile range.</p>†<p>Median number of presentations per child, per condition in the first year of life.</p>#<p>% of children with coded as having the same reason for presentation (recurrence) in the first year of life.</p

Presentations to health centre by age in months.

<p>Presentations to health centre by age in months.</p

Impact of an ivermectin mass drug administration on scabies prevalence in a remote Australian Aboriginal community

Background: Scabies is endemic in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, with 69% of infants infected in the first year of life. We report the outcomes against scabies of two oral ivermectin mass drug administrations (MDAs) delivered 12 months apart in a remote Australian Aboriginal community.\ud \ud Methods: Utilizing a before and after study design, we measured scabies prevalence through population census with sequential MDAs at baseline and month 12. Surveys at months 6 and 18 determined disease acquisition and treatment failures. Scabies infestations were diagnosed clinically with additional laboratory investigations for crusted scabies. Non-pregnant participants weighing ≥15 kg were administered a single 200 μg/kg ivermectin dose, repeated\ud after 2–3 weeks if scabies was diagnosed, others followed a standard alternative algorithm.\ud \ud Principal Findings: We saw >1000 participants at each population census. Scabies prevalence fell from 4% at baseline to 1% at month 6. Prevalence rose to 9% at month 12 amongst the baseline cohort in association with an identified exposure to a presumptive crusted scabies case with a higher prevalence of 14% amongst new entries to the cohort. At month 18, scabies prevalence fell to 2%. Scabies acquisitions six months after each MDA were 1% and 2% whilst treatment failures were 6% and 5% respectively.\ud \ud Conclusion: Scabies prevalence reduced in the six months after each MDA with a low risk of acquisition 1–2%). However, in a setting where living conditions are conducive to high scabies transmissibility,exposure to presumptive crusted scabies and population mobility, a sustained reduction in prevalence was not achieved

Participant details for the population census at month 0 and 12.

<p>Participant details for the population census at month 0 and 12.</p

Pyoderma prevalence at baseline & month 12, by age group.

<p>Pyoderma prevalence at baseline & month 12, by age group.</p

Scabies prevalence at baseline & month 12, by age group.

<p>Scabies prevalence at baseline & month 12, by age group.</p