An Early Bronze Age 'dagger grave' from Rameldry Farm, near Kingskettle, Fife

In February 2000, ploughing disturbed the capstone of a cist, located on the side of a prominent knowe at Rameldry Farm, near Kingskettle in central Fife. Excavation by Headland Archaeology Ltd on behalf of Historic Scotland revealed a short cist which contained the crouched inhumation of a man aged 40-50, who had suffered from arthritis, some tooth loss and possibly Paget's Disease. He had been buried wearing a garment adorned with six V-pelforated buttons. Five of these are of Whitby jet (including one with unique decoration including inlaid tin); the sixth is of the mineral lizardite, and has an enigmatic coating, possibly a glaze. Behind his shoulder was a dagger, of 'Milston type (East Kennet variant) it had had a fancy horn hilt and a scabbard lined with animal skin. The scabbard yielded two A MS radiocarbon dates, with a mean value of 2280-1970 cal Bc at 2

Highs and lows: patterns of use, positive and negative effects of benzylpiperazine-containing party pills (BZP-party pills) amongst young people in New Zealand

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study aimed to investigate patterns and context of use of BZP-party pills, function of use, and positive and negative effects experienced by a sample of New Zealand young people who had used the products.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A qualitative study comprised of semi-structured interviews and group discussions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The sample included 58 young people aged 17–23 years who had used BZP-party pills in the previous 12 months. Young people were using these substances in a range of settings – primarily during weekend social occasions – particularly as part of the dance party culture. They were mostly used for their stimulant properties and to enhance socialisation, and were often taken in combination with other legal and illicit drugs. Young people had suffered a range of physical and emotional negative effects, although none of these was reported as being life-threatening or long-term. Many participants had reduced the frequency with which they used BZP-party pills due to adverse effects. Potentially risky behaviours identified included taking large doses, mixing BZP-party pills with alcohol and other substances, and driving whilst under the influence of BZP-party pills.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Findings suggest that young people in this study were not suffering excessive or dangerous adverse effects. However, potentially risky use of these products raises the issue of the need for developing harm reduction interventions.</p

Dental Students’ Perceived Value of Peer‐Mentoring Clinical Leadership Experiences

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153637/1/jddj002203372016803tb06086x.pd

MoonLITE – Technological feasibility of the penetrator concept

Introduction: While the surface missions to the Moon of the 1960s and 1970s achieved a great deal, scientifically a great deal was also left unresolved. The recent plethora of lunar missions (flown or proposed) reflects resurgence in interest in the Moon, not only in its own right, but also as a record of the formation of the Earth-Moon System and the interplanetary environment at 1 AU. Results from orbiter missions have indicated the possible presense of ice within permanently shaded craters at the lunar poles [1] – a situation that, if confirmed, will have profound impacts on lunar exploration

Socioeconomic Disparities in Academic Achievement: A Multi-Modal Investigation of Neural Mechanisms in Children and Adolescents

Growing evidence suggests that childhood socioeconomic status (SES) influences neural development, which may contribute to the well-documented SES-related disparities in academic achievement. However, the particular aspects of SES that impact neural structure and function are not well understood. Here, we investigate associations of childhood SES and a potential mechanism—degree of cognitive stimulation in the home environment—with cortical structure, white matter microstructure, and neural function during a working memory (WM) task across development. Analyses included 53 youths (age 6–19 years). Higher SES as reflected in the income-to-needs ratio was associated with higher parent-reported achievement, WM performance, and cognitive stimulation in the home environment. Although SES was not significantly associated with cortical thickness, children raised in more cognitively stimulating environments had thicker cortex in the frontoparietal network and cognitive stimulation mediated the assocation between SES and cortical thickness in the frontoparietal network. Higher family SES was associated with white matter microstructure and neural activation in the frontoparietal network during a WM task, including greater fractional anisotropy (FA) in the right and left superior longitudinal fasciculi (SLF), and greater BOLD activation in multiple regions of the prefrontal cortex during WM encoding and maintenance. Greater FA and activation in these regions was associated higher parent-reported achievement. Together, cognitive stimulation, WM performance, FA in the SLF, and prefrontal activation during WM encoding and maintenance significantly mediated the association between SES and parent-reported achievement. These findings highlight potential neural, cognitive, and environmental mechanisms linking SES with academic achievement and suggest that enhancing cognitive stimulation in the home environment might be one effective strategy for reducing SES-related disparities in academic outcomes

Approximating Fractional Time Quantum Evolution

An algorithm is presented for approximating arbitrary powers of a black box unitary operation, $\mathcal{U}^t$, where $t$ is a real number, and $\mathcal{U}$ is a black box implementing an unknown unitary. The complexity of this algorithm is calculated in terms of the number of calls to the black box, the errors in the approximation, and a certain `gap' parameter. For general $\mathcal{U}$ and large $t$, one should apply $\mathcal{U}$ a total of $\lfloor t \rfloor$ times followed by our procedure for approximating the fractional power $\mathcal{U}^{t-\lfloor t \rfloor}$. An example is also given where for large integers $t$ this method is more efficient than direct application of $t$ copies of $\mathcal{U}$. Further applications and related algorithms are also discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

Developing a serocorrelate of protection against invasive group B streptococcus disease in pregnant women: a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Group B streptococcus is the leading cause of infection in infants. Currently, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis is the major strategy to prevent invasive group B streptococcus disease. However, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis does not prevent maternal sepsis, premature births, stillbirths or late-onset disease. Maternal vaccination may offer an alternative strategy. Multivalent polysaccharide protein conjugate vaccine development is under way and a serocorrelate of protection is needed to expedite vaccine licensure. OBJECTIVES: The ultimate aim of this work is to determine the correlate of protection against the major group B streptococcus disease-causing serotypes in infants in the UK. The aim of this feasibility study is to test key operational aspects of the study design. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of pregnant women and their infants in a 6-month period (1 July to 31 December 2018). SETTING: Five secondary and tertiary hospitals from London and South England. National iGBS disease surveillance was conducted in all trusts in England and Wales. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women aged ≥ 18 years who were delivering at one of the selected hospitals and who provided consent during the study period. There were no exclusion criteria. INTERVENTIONS: No interventions were performed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) To test the feasibility of collecting serum at delivery from a large cohort of pregnant women. (2) To test the key operational aspects for a proposed large serocorrelates study. (3) To test the feasibility of collecting samples from those with invasive group B streptococcus. RESULTS: A total of 1823 women were recruited during the study period. Overall, 85% of serum samples were collected at three sites collecting only cord blood. At the two sites collecting maternal, cord and infant blood samples, the collection rate was 60%. A total of 614 women were screened for group B streptococcus with a colonisation rate of 22% (serotype distribution: 30% III, 25% Ia, 16% II, 14% Ib, 14% V and 1% IV). A blood sample was collected from 34 infants who were born to colonised women. Maternal and infant blood and the bacterial isolates for 15 newborns who developed invasive group B streptococcal disease during the study period were collected (serotype distribution: 29% III, 29% II, 21% Ia, 7% Ib, 7% IV and 7% V). LIMITATIONS: Recruitment and sample collection were dependent on the presence of research midwives rather than the whole clinical team. In addition, individualised consent limited the number of women who could be approached each day, and site set-up for the national surveillance study and the limited time period of this feasibility study limited recruitment of all eligible participants. CONCLUSIONS: We have verified the feasibility of collecting and processing rectovaginal swabs and blood samples in pregnant women, as well as samples from those with invasive group B streptococcal disease. We have made recommendations for the recruitment of cases within the proposed GBS3 study and for controls both within GBS3 and as an extension of this feasibility study. FUTURE WORK: A large case-control study comparing specific immunoglobulin G levels in mothers whose infants develop invasive group B streptococcal disease with those in colonised mothers whose infants do not develop invasive group B streptococcal disease is recommended. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN49326091; IRAS project identification number 246149/REC reference number 18/WM/0147. FUNDING: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 23, No. 67. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information