Sedimentation, re-sedimentation and chronologies in archaeologically-important caves: problems and prospects

Excavations in the photic zones of caves have provided cornerstone archaeological sequences in many parts of the world. Before the appearance of modern dating techniques, cave deposits provided clear evidence for the antiquity, relative ages and co-occurrence of ancient human remains, material culture and fauna. Earlier generations of archaeologists had generally rather limited understanding of taphonomic and depositional processes, but the twentieth century saw considerable improvement in excavation and analytical techniques. The advent of modern dating and chronological methodologies offers very powerful tools for the analysis of cave fill deposits and this has resulted in the recognition of chronological incoherence in parts of some sites, with consequent re-evaluation of previous archaeological disputes. Obtaining multiple dates per context provides a means to assess the integrity and coherence of the archaeological and environmental records from cave fills. In the case of the Haua Fteah (Libya), this technique allowed the recognition of chronological coherence in low-energy depositional environments and limited recycling in high-energy contexts. We provide a conceptual model of the relationship between recycling, sedimentation rate and process energy. High-resolution investigation enables recognition of the complexity of the formation of cave sequences, thus an increasingly sophisticated understanding of human behaviour and environmental relationships in the past, and potentially gives a new life to old data

Sedimentation, re-sedimentation and chronologies in archaeologically-important caves: problems and prospects

Excavations in the photic zones of caves have provided cornerstone archaeological sequences in many parts of the world. Before the appearance of modern dating techniques, cave deposits provided clear evidence for the antiquity, relative ages and co-occurrence of ancient human remains, material culture and fauna. Earlier generations of archaeologists had generally rather limited understanding of taphonomic and depositional processes, but the twentieth century saw considerable improvement in excavation and analytical techniques. The advent of modern dating and chronological methodologies offers very powerful tools for the analysis of cave fill deposits and this has resulted in the recognition of chronological incoherence in parts of some sites, with consequent re-evaluation of previous archaeological disputes. Obtaining multiple dates per context provides a means to assess the integrity and coherence of the archaeological and environmental records from cave fills. In the case of the Haua Fteah (Libya), this technique allowed the recognition of chronological coherence in low-energy depositional environments and limited recycling in high-energy contexts. We provide a conceptual model of the relationship between recycling, sedimentation rate and process energy. High-resolution investigation enables recognition of the complexity of the formation of cave sequences, thus an increasingly sophisticated understanding of human behaviour and environmental relationships in the past, and potentially gives a new life to old data

Monitoring Cognitive and Emotional Processes Through Pupil and Cardiac Response During Dynamic Versus Logical Task

The paper deals with the links between physiological measurements and cognitive and emotional functioning. As long as the operator is a key agent in charge of complex systems, the definition of metrics able to predict his performance is a great challenge. The measurement of the physiological state is a very promising way but a very acute comprehension is required; in particular few studies compare autonomous nervous system reactivity according to specific cognitive processes during task performance and task related psychological stress is often ignored. We compared physiological parameters recorded on 24 healthy subjects facing two neuropsychological tasks: a dynamic task that require problem solving in a world that continually evolves over time and a logical task representative of cognitive processes performed by operators facing everyday problem solving. Results showed that the mean pupil diameter change was higher during the dynamic task; conversely, the heart rate was more elevated during the logical task. Finally, the systolic blood pressure seemed to be strongly sensitive to psychological stress. A better taking into account of the precise influence of a given cognitive activity and both workload and related task-induced psychological stress during task performance is a promising way to better monitor operators in complex working situations to detect mental overload or pejorative stress factor of error

Can mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin (MR-proADM) increase the prognostic accuracy of NEWS in predicting deterioration in patients admitted to hospital with mild to moderately severe illness? A prospective single-centre observational study

Objective: To assess the value added to the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) by mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin (MR-proADM) blood level in predicting deterioration in mild to moderately ill people. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: The Medical Admissions Suite of the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle. Participants: 300 adults with NEWS between 2 and 5 on admission. Exclusion criteria included receiving palliative care, or admitted for social reasons or self-harming. Patients were enrolled between September and December 2015, and followed up for 30 days after discharge. Outcome measure: The primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients who, within 72 hours, had an acuity increase, defined as any combination of an increase of at least 2 in the NEWS; transfer to a higher-dependency bed or monitored area; death; or for those discharged from hospital, readmission for medical reasons. Results: NEWS and MR-proADM together predicted acuity increase more accurately than NEWS alone, increasing the area under the curve (AUC) to 0.61 (95% CI 0.54 to 0.69) from 0.55 (95% CI 0.48 to 0.62). When the confounding effects of presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heart failure and interaction with MR-proADM were included, the prognostic accuracy further increased the AUC to 0.69 (95% CI 0.63 to 0.76). Conclusions: MR-proADM is potentially a clinically useful biomarker for deterioration in patients admitted to hospital with a mild to moderately severe acute illness, that is, with NEWS between 2 and 5. As a growing number of National Health Service hospitals are routinely recording the NEWS on their clinical information systems, further research should assess the practicality and use of developing a decision aid based on admission NEWS, MR-proADM level, and possibly other clinical data and other biomarkers that could further improve prognostic accuracy

Factors associated with concurrent illicit use of opiates and crack/cocaine among opiate-users in Treatment: Implications for treatment services in England.

Background: The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with concurrent illicit drug use of opiates and crack/cocaine use among individuals receiving of opioid medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in one English rural/urban County Council area. Methods: 776 opiate users in treatment were assessed using the Addiction Dimensions for Assessment and Personalised Treatment (ADAPT) assessment tool. The tool encompasses three domains and 14 subdomains covering addiction severity, recovery strengths and coexisting health and social needs. Data were opportunistically matched to the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) and the Treatment Outcome Profile (TOP). Two backward stepwise logistic regression models were run to discern the nature of concurrent illicit drug use. Results: Addiction severity (Odds Ratio [OR] 12.55, Confidence interval [CI] 6.49–24.27), low recovery strengths (OR 2.30, CI 1.30–4.07) and no ‘urge/control’ (OR 27.45, 13.18–57.16) were strongly associated with concurrent use. Individuals with moderate psychological needs were more likely to be abstinent (OR 2.97, CI 1.67–5.29) compared to those with no need. Abstaining from injecting (OR 2.38, CI 1.15–4.93), alcohol consumption (OR 1.55, CI 1.05–2.30), increasing age (OR 1.03, CI 1.01-1.06) and increased quality-of-life (OR 1.05, CI 1.00–1.10) were associated with abstinence from concurrent use. Conclusion: Practitioner assessments with self-report data offer unique perspectives on service users’ holistic needs. Interventions addressing concurrent use during MAT should consider managing urges and control of illicit Class A use, injecting and alcohol consumption within a stepped-care approach. Packages for developing recovery strengths supporting psychological need and enhancing quality-of-life is recommended

Investigating local policy drivers for alcohol harm prevention: a comparative case study of two local authorities in England

Background: The considerable challenges associated with implementing national level alcohol policies have encouraged a renewed focus on the prospects for local-level policies in the UK and elsewhere. We adopted a case study approach to identify the major characteristics and drivers of differences in the patterns of local alcohol policies and services in two contrasting local authority (LA) areas in England. Methods: Data were collected via thirteen semi-structured interviews with key informants (including public health, licensing and trading standards) and documentary analysis, including harm reduction strategies and statements of licensing policy. A two-stage thematic analysis was used to categorize all relevant statements into seven over-arching themes, by which document sources were then also analysed. Results: Three of the seven over-arching themes (drink environment, treatment services and barriers and facilitators), provided for the most explanatory detail informing the contrasting policy responses of the two LAs: LA1 pursued a risk-informed strategy via a specialist police team working proactively with problem premises and screening systematically to identify riskier drinking. LA2 adopted a more upstream regulatory approach around restrictions on availability with less emphasis on co-ordinated screening and treatment measures. Conclusion: New powers over alcohol policy for LAs in England can produce markedly different policies for reducing alcohol-related harm. These difference are rooted in economic, opportunistic, organisational and personnel factors particular to the LAs themselves and may lead to closely tailored solutions in some policy areas and poorer co-ordination and attention in others

Anti-prion drug mPPIg5 inhibits PrP(C) conversion to PrP(Sc).

Prion diseases, also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases that include scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. The 'protein only hypothesis' advocates that PrP(Sc), an abnormal isoform of the cellular protein PrP(C), is the main and possibly sole component of prion infectious agents. Currently, no effective therapy exists for these diseases at the symptomatic phase for either humans or animals, though a number of compounds have demonstrated the ability to eliminate PrPSc in cell culture models. Of particular interest are synthetic polymers known as dendrimers which possess the unique ability to eliminate PrP(Sc) in both an intracellular and in vitro setting. The efficacy and mode of action of the novel anti-prion dendrimer mPPIg5 was investigated through the creation of a number of innovative bio-assays based upon the scrapie cell assay. These assays were used to demonstrate that mPPIg5 is a highly effective anti-prion drug which acts, at least in part, through the inhibition of PrP(C) to PrP(Sc) conversion. Understanding how a drug works is a vital component in maximising its performance. By establishing the efficacy and method of action of mPPIg5, this study will help determine which drugs are most likely to enhance this effect and also aid the design of dendrimers with anti-prion capabilities for the future

Impact of comorbid psychiatric disorders on the outcome of substance abusers: a six year prospective follow-up in two Norwegian counties

BACKGROUND: Most help-seeking substance abusers have comorbid psychiatric disorders. The importance of such disorders for the long-term course of substance abuse is, however, still unclear. The aim of this paper is to describe six-year outcomes regarding death and relapse among alcoholics and poly-substance abusers and to analyse the predictive value of lifetime psychiatric disorders on relapse. METHODS: A consecutive sample of substance-dependent patients who received treatment in two counties in Norway (n = 287) was followed up after approximately six years. Information on socio-demographics, Axis I (CIDI) and II disorders (MCMI-II) and mental distress (HSCL-25) was gathered at baseline. At follow-up, detailed information regarding socio-demographics, use of substances (AUDIT and DUDIT) and mental distress (HSCL-25) was recorded (response rate: 63%). RESULTS: At six-year follow-up, 11% had died, most often male alcoholics (18%). Among the surviving patients, 70% had drug or alcohol related problems the year prior to follow-up. These patients were, classified as "relapsers". There were no significant differences in the relapse rate between women and men and among poly-substance abusers and alcoholics. The relapsers had an earlier onset of a substance use disorder, and more frequently major depression and agoraphobia. Multivariate analysis indicated that both psychiatric disorders (major depression) and substance use factors (early onset of a substance use disorder) were independent predictors of relapse. CONCLUSION: For reducing the risk of long-term relapse, assessment and treatment of major depression (and agoraphobia) are important. In addition, we are in need of a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation program that also focuses on the addictive behaviour

Source apportionment of ambient volatile organic compounds in major cities in Australia by positive matrix factorisation.

Source apportionment of the 6-daily, 24 h volatile organic compound (VOC) samples collected during 2003–2004 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane was carried out using the Positive Matrix Factorisation software (PMF2). Fourteen C4-C10 VOCs were chosen for source apportionment. Biogenic emissions were not covered in this study because tracer VOCs such as isoprene were not measured. Five VOC source factors were identified, including the ‘evaporative / fuel distribution’ factor (contribute to 37% of the total mass of the 14 VOCs on average), the ‘vehicle exhaust / petrochemical industry’ factor (24%), the ‘biomass burning’ factor (13%), the ‘architectural surface coatings’ factor (5%) and the ‘other sources’ factor (14%). The relative contributions of the source factors to the ambient VOC concentration at the sampling sites were comparable to the relative emission loads of the local sources in Australian air emission inventories. The high contribution from evaporative emissions indicates that introduction of reduction measures for evaporative emissions could substantially reduce the VOC emissions in Australian cities. The total VOC mass and the contributions from vehicle related sources and biomass burning were higher in winter and autumn, while the contributions from surface coatings were higher in summer. © 2008, Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealan

Substance use outcomes following treatment : findings from the Australian Patient Pathways Study

Background and Aims: Our understanding of patient pathways through specialist Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) treatment and broader health/welfare systems in Australia remains limited. This study examined how treatment outcomes are influenced by continuity in specialist AOD treatment, engagement with non-AOD community services, and mutual aid, as well as exploring differences between clients who present with a primary alcohol problem compared to those presenting with a primary drug issue. Method: In a prospective, multi-site treatment outcome study, 796 clients from 21 AOD services in Victoria and Western Australia completed a baseline interview between January 2012 and January 2013. 555 (70%) completed follow-up assessment of subsequent service use and AOD use outcomes 12-months later. Results: Just over half of the participants (52.0%) showed reliable reductions in use of, or abstinence from, their primary drug of concern. This was highest among clients who reported meth/amphetamine (66%) as their primary drug of concern and lowest among those who reported alcohol (47%), with 31% achieving abstinence from all drugs of concern. Continuity of specialist AOD care was associated with higher rates of abstinence than fragmented AOD care. Different predictors of treatment success emerged for clients with a primary drug problem as compared to those with a primary alcohol problem; mutual aid attendance (OR=2.5) and community service engagement (OR=2.0) for clients with alcohol as PDOC, and completion of the index treatment (OR=2.8) and continuity in AOD care (OR=1.8) for those with primary drug issues. Conclusion: This is the first multi-site Australian study to include treatment outcomes for alcohol and cannabis users, who represent 70% of treatment seekers in AOD services. The results suggest a substantial proportion of clients respond positively to treatment, but that clients with alcohol as their primary drug problem may require different treatment pathways, compared to those with illicit drug issues, to achieve desirable outcomes