Absolute dating of the European Neolithic using the 5259 BC rapid 14C excursion.

Abrupt radiocarbon (14C) excursions, or Miyake events, in sequences of radiocarbon measurements from calendar-dated tree-rings provide opportunities to assign absolute calendar dates to undated wood samples from contexts across history and prehistory. Here, we report a tree-ring and 14C-dating study of the Neolithic site of Dispilio, Northern Greece, a waterlogged archaeological site on Lake Kastoria. Findings secure an absolute, calendar-dated time using the 5259 BC Miyake event, with the final ring of the 303-year-long juniper tree-ring chronology dating to 5140 BC. While other sites have been absolutely dated to a calendar year through 14C-signature Miyake events, Dispilio is the first European Neolithic site of these and it provides a fixed, calendar-year anchor point for regional chronologies of the Neolithic.

Radiocarbon chronology of Iron Age Jerusalem reveals calibration offsets and architectural developments.

Reconstructing the absolute chronology of Jerusalem during the time it served as the Judahite Kingdom's capital is challenging due to its dense, still inhabited urban nature and the plateau shape of the radiocarbon calibration curve during part of this period. We present 103 radiocarbon dates from reliable archaeological contexts in five excavation areas of Iron Age Jerusalem, which tie between archaeology and biblical history. We exploit Jerusalem's rich past, including textual evidence and vast archaeological remains, to overcome difficult problems in radiocarbon dating, including establishing a detailed chronology within the long-calibrated ranges of the Hallstatt Plateau and recognizing short-lived regional offsets in atmospheric 14C concentrations. The key to resolving these problems is to apply stringent field methodologies using microarchaeological methods, leading to densely radiocarbon-dated stratigraphic sequences. Using these sequences, we identify regional offsets in atmospheric 14C concentrations c. 720 BC, and in the historically secure stratigraphic horizon of the Babylonian destruction in 586 BC. The latter is verified by 100 single-ring measurements between 624 to 572 BC. This application of intense 14C dating sheds light on the reconstruction of Jerusalem in the Iron Age. It provides evidence for settlement in the 12th to 10th centuries BC and that westward expansion had already begun by the 9th century BC, with extensive architectural projects undertaken throughout the city in this period. This was followed by significant damage and rejuvenation of the city subsequent to the mid-eight century BC earthquake, after which the city was heavily fortified and continued to flourish until the Babylonian destruction.

A multifault earthquake threat for the Seattle metropolitan region revealed by mass tree mortality.

Compound earthquakes involving simultaneous ruptures along multiple faults often define a region's upper threshold of maximum magnitude. Yet, the potential for linked faulting remains poorly understood given the infrequency of these events in the historic era. Geological records provide longer perspectives, although temporal uncertainties are too broad to clearly pinpoint single multifault events. Here, we use dendrochronological dating and a cosmogenic radiation pulse to constrain the death dates of earthquake-killed trees along two adjacent fault zones near Seattle, Washington to within a 6-month period between the 923 and 924 CE growing seasons. Our narrow constraints conclusively show linked rupturing that occurred either as a single composite earthquake of estimated magnitude 7.8 or as a closely spaced double earthquake sequence with estimated magnitudes of 7.5 and 7.3. These scenarios, which are not recognized in current hazard models, increase the maximum earthquake size needed for seismic preparedness and engineering design within the Puget Sound region of >4 million residents.

'Do they ever think about people like us?': The experiences of people with learning disabilities in England and Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

People with learning disabilities in England and Scotland have experienced an increased risk of illness and death during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on data of a longitudinal qualitative study with 71 disabled people and 31 disability organisations, this article examines the experiences of 24 people with learning disabilities in England and Scotland during the pandemic, reflecting on what rendered them vulnerable and placed them at risk. Qualitative interviews were conducted with participants and key informants at two timepoints; June-August 2020 and February-April 2021. Findings emerged across four key themes: failure to plan for the needs of people with learning disabilities; the suspension and removal of social care; the impact of the pandemic on people's everyday routines; and lack of vaccine prioritisation. The inequalities experienced by people with learning disabilities in this study are not particular to the pandemic. We explore the findings in the context of theoretical frameworks of vulnerability, including Fineman's conceptualisation of a 'vulnerability paradigm'. We conclude that the structured marginalisation of people with disabilities, entrenched by government action and inaction, have created and exacerbated their vulnerability. Structures, policies and action must change.

Olive shrub buried on Therasia supports a mid-16th century BCE date for the Thera eruption.

The precise date of the 2nd millennium BCE ("Minoan") eruption of Thera (Santorini) has long been a focus of controversy due to a discrepancy between archaeological and radiocarbon-based dating of materials from stratigraphic layers above and below tsunami, ash and pumice deposits resulting from the eruption. A critical, though controversial, piece of evidence has been four segments of a radiocarbon-dated olive tree branch, buried on Thera during the eruption. Here we report new radiocarbon evidence from an olive shrub found carbonized by the same eruption deposits on neighboring Therasia (Santorini). The Therasia olive shrub dates slightly younger than the previous olive branch. Calibrated results and growth increment counts indicate increased probabilities for a mid-16th century BCE date for the eruption, overlapping with multiple volcanic sulfate markers from ice core records.

Epistemic sabotage: The production and disqualification of evidence in disability benefit claims.

Disability benefits function by demarcating categories of need (the administrative category of disability) and determine eligibility using assessments of functioning. In the UK, these assessments are the Work Capability Assessment and PIP assessment. Inherently technical and abstruse processes, these assessments have been opportune sites for welfare reform in recent years. Disability benefits have also been a central point of contention between disability studies and sociology. Sociology has traditionally favoured an 'incomes approach' and called for more adequate financial support from the state. Early figures in the disabled people's movement rejected this position, and aligned with an oppression paradigm, argued for a more radical economic and social inclusion. We contend that this divide, set out in the Fundamental Principles of Disability, remains relevant for researching welfare reform today. This article treats benefits assessments as epistemic practices-interactional processes wherein claimants, their personal health professionals and commercial assessment providers come together in the production of knowledge about disability. Data include 50 in-depth interviews with benefit claimants and a discourse analysis of official texts directed at claimants, personal health professionals and commercial assessment providers. We outline a phenomenon we term 'epistemic sabotage', whereby the knowledge claims of claimants and their health professionals are systemically disqualified.

Alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor mediates chronic nicotine inhalation-induced cardiopulmonary dysfunction.

Cigarette smoking remains the leading modifiable risk factor for cardiopulmonary diseases; however, the effects of nicotine alone on cardiopulmonary function remain largely unknown. Previously, we have shown that chronic nicotine vapor inhalation in mice leads to the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) with right ventricular (RV) remodeling. The present study aims to further examine the cardiopulmonary effects of nicotine and the role of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7-nAChR), which is widely expressed in the cardiovascular system. Wild-type (WT) and α7-nAChR knockout (α7-nAChR-/-) mice were exposed to room air (control) or nicotine vapor daily for 12 weeks. Consistent with our previous study, echocardiography and RV catheterization reveal that male WT mice developed increased RV systolic pressure with RV hypertrophy and dilatation following 12-week nicotine vapor exposure; in contrast, these changes were not observed in male α7-nAChR-/- mice. In addition, chronic nicotine inhalation failed to induce PH and RV remodeling in female mice regardless of genotype. The effects of nicotine on the vasculature were further examined in male mice. Our results show that chronic nicotine inhalation led to impaired acetylcholine-mediated vasodilatory response in both thoracic aortas and pulmonary arteries, and these effects were accompanied by altered endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation (enhanced inhibitory phosphorylation at threonine 495) and reduced plasma nitrite levels in WT but not α7-nAChR-/- mice. Finally, RNA sequencing revealed up-regulation of multiple inflammatory pathways in thoracic aortas from WT but not α7-nAChR-/- mice. We conclude that the α7-nAChR mediates chronic nicotine inhalation-induced PH, RV remodeling and vascular dysfunction.

Tree-rings reveal two strong solar proton events in 7176 and 5259 BCE.

The Sun sporadically produces eruptive events leading to intense fluxes of solar energetic particles (SEPs) that dramatically disrupt the near-Earth radiation environment. Such events have been directly studied for the last decades but little is known about the occurrence and magnitude of rare, extreme SEP events. Presently, a few events that produced measurable signals in cosmogenic radionuclides such as 14C, 10Be and 36Cl have been found. Analyzing annual 14C concentrations in tree-rings from Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Russia, and the USA we discovered two spikes in atmospheric 14C occurring in 7176 and 5259 BCE. The ~2% increases of atmospheric 14C recorded for both events exceed all previously known 14C peaks but after correction for the geomagnetic field, they are comparable to the largest event of this type discovered so far at 775 CE. These strong events serve as accurate time markers for the synchronization with floating tree-ring and ice core records and provide critical information on the previous occurrence of extreme solar events which may threaten modern infrastructure.

Face mask fit hacks: Improving the fit of KN95 masks and surgical masks with fit alteration techniques.

INTRODUCTION: During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been suggestions that various techniques could be employed to improve the fit and, therefore, the effectiveness of face masks. It is well recognized that improving fit tends to improve mask effectiveness, but whether these fit modifiers are reliable remains unexplored. In this study, we assess a range of common "fit hacks" to determine their ability to improve mask performance. METHODS: Between July and September 2020, qualitative fit testing was performed in an indoor living space. We used quantitative fit testing to assess the fit of both surgical masks and KN95 masks, with and without 'fit hacks', on four participants. Seven fit hacks were evaluated to assess impact on fit. Additionally, one participant applied each fit hack multiple times to assess how reliable hacks were when reapplied. A convenience of four participants took part in the study, three females and one male with a head circumference range of 54 to 60 centimetres. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The use of pantyhose, tape, and rubber bands were effective for most participants. A pantyhose overlayer was observed to be the most effective hack. High degrees of variation were noted between participants. However, little variation was noted within participants, with hacks generally showing similar benefit each time they were applied on a single participant. An inspection of the fit hacks once applied showed that individual facial features may have a significant impact on fit, especially the nose bridge. CONCLUSIONS: Fit hacks can be used to effectively improve the fit of surgical and KN95 masks, enhancing the protection provided to the wearer. However, many of the most effective hacks are very uncomfortable and unlikely to be tolerated for extended periods of time. The development of effective fit-improvement solutions remains a critical issue in need of further development.

Performing Qualitative Mask Fit Testing Without a Commercial Kit: Fit Testing Which Can Be Performed at Home and at Work.

OBJECTIVE: Qualitative fit testing is a popular method of ensuring the fit of sealing face masks such as N95 and FFP3 masks. Increased demand due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to shortages in testing equipment and has forced many institutions to abandon fit testing. Three key materials are required for qualitative fit testing: the test solution, nebulizer, and testing hood. Accessible alternatives to the testing solution have been studied. This exploratory qualitative study evaluates alternatives to the nebulizer and hoods for performing qualitative fit testing. METHODS: Four devices were trialed to replace the test kit nebulizer. Two enclosures were tested for their ability to replace the test hood. Three researchers evaluated promising replacements under multiple mask fit conditions to assess functionality and accuracy. RESULTS: The aroma diffuser and smaller enclosures allowed participants to perform qualitative fit tests quickly and with high accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Aroma diffusers show significant promise in their ability to allow individuals to quickly, easily, and inexpensively perform qualitative fit testing. Our findings indicate that aroma diffusers and homemade testing hoods may allow for qualitative fit testing when conventional apparatus is unavailable. Additional research is needed to evaluate the safety and reliability of these devices.

Disabled people in Britain and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper reports on in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with 69 disabled people in England and Scotland, and with 28 key informants from infrastructure organisations in the voluntary and statutory sectors, about the impact of COVID-19, and measures taken to control it. Participants were recruited through voluntary organisations. As with everyone, the Pandemic has had a huge impact: we discuss the dislocations it has caused in everyday life; the failures of social care; the use of new technologies; and participants' view on leadership and communication. We conclude with suggestions for urgent short term and medium term responses, so that the United Kingdom and other countries can respond better to this and other pandemics, and build a more inclusive world.

Geochemical ice-core constraints on the timing and climatic impact of Aniakchak II (1628 BCE) and Thera (Minoan) volcanic eruptions.

Decades of research have focused on establishing the exact year and climatic impact of the Minoan eruption of Thera, Greece (c.1680 to 1500 BCE). Ice cores offer key evidence to resolve this controversy, but attempts have been hampered by a lack of multivolcanic event synchronization between records. In this study, Antarctic and Greenland ice-core records are synchronized using a double bipolar sulfate marker, and calendar dates are assigned to each eruption revealed within the 'Thera period'. From this global-scale sequence of volcanic sulfate loading, we derive indications toward each eruption's latitude and potential to disrupt the climate system. Ultrafine sampling for sulfur isotopes and tephra conclusively demonstrate a colossal eruption of Alaska's Aniakchak II as the source of stratospheric sulfate in the now precisely dated 1628 BCE ice layer. These findings end decades of speculation that Thera was responsible for the 1628 BCE event, and place Aniakchak II (52 ± 17 Tg S) and an unknown volcano at 1654 BCE (50 ± 13 Tg S) as two of the largest Northern Hemisphere sulfur injections in the last 4,000 years. This opens possibilities to explore widespread climatic impacts for contemporary societies and, in pinpointing Aniakchak II, confirms that stratospheric sulfate can be globally distributed from eruptions outside the tropics. Dating options for Thera are reduced to a series of precisely dated, constrained stratospheric sulfur injection events at 1611 BCE, 1561/1558/1555BCE, and c.1538 BCE, which are all below 14 ± 5 Tg S, indicating a climatic forcing potential for Thera well below that of Tambora (1815 CE).

Discovery of a tsunami deposit from the Bronze Age Santorini eruption at Malia (Crete): impact, chronology, extension.

A geomorphological survey immediately west of the Minoan town of Malia (Crete) shows that a tsunami resulting from the Bronze Age Santorini eruption reached the outskirts of the Palatial center. Sediment cores testify a unique erosional event during the Late Minoan period, followed locally by a high energy sand unit comprising marine fauna. This confirms that a tsunami impacted northern Crete and caused an inundation up to 400 m inland at Malia. We obtained a radiocarbon range of 1744-1544 BCE for the secure pre-tsunami context and an interval 1509-1430 BCE for the post-event layer. Examination of tsunami deposits was used to constrain run-up not exceeding 8 m asl. The results open the field for new research on the Bronze Age Santorini tsunami regarding both impact and consequences for the Minoan civilization.

Securing timelines in the ancient Mediterranean using multiproxy annual tree-ring data.

Calendar-dated tree-ring sequences offer an unparalleled resource for high-resolution paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Where such records exist for a few limited geographic regions over the last 8,000 to 12,000 years, they have proved invaluable for creating precise and accurate timelines for past human and environmental interactions. To expand such records across new geographic territory or extend data for certain regions further backward in time, new applications must be developed to secure "floating" (not yet absolutely dated) tree-ring sequences, which cannot be assigned single-calendar year dates by standard dendrochronological techniques. This study develops two approaches to this problem for a critical floating tree-ring chronology from the East Mediterranean Bronze-Iron Age. The chronology is more closely fixed in time using annually resolved patterns of 14C, modulated by cosmic radiation, between 1700 and 1480 BC. This placement is then tested using an anticorrelation between calendar-dated tree-ring growth responses to climatically effective volcanism in North American bristlecone pine and the Mediterranean trees. Examination of the newly dated Mediterranean tree-ring sequence between 1630 and 1500 BC using X-ray fluorescence revealed an unusual calcium anomaly around 1560 BC. While requiring further replication and analysis, this anomaly merits exploration as a potential marker for the eruption of Thera.

Effects of Chronic Nicotine Inhalation on Systemic and Pulmonary Blood Pressure and Right Ventricular Remodeling in Mice.

Cigarette smoking is the single most important risk factor for the development of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases; however, the role of nicotine in the pathogenesis of these diseases is incompletely understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of chronic nicotine inhalation on the development of cardiovascular and pulmonary disease with a focus on blood pressure and cardiac remodeling. Male C57BL6/J mice were exposed to air (control) or nicotine vapor (daily, 12 hour on/12 hour off) for 8 weeks. Systemic blood pressure was recorded weekly by radio-telemetry, and cardiac remodeling was monitored by echocardiography. At the end of the 8 weeks, mice were subjected to right heart catheterization to measure right ventricular systolic pressure. Nicotine-exposed mice exhibited elevated systemic blood pressure from weeks 1 to 3, which then returned to baseline from weeks 4 to 8, indicating development of tolerance to nicotine. At 8 weeks, significantly increased right ventricular systolic pressure was detected in nicotine-exposed mice compared with the air controls. Echocardiography showed that 8-week nicotine inhalation resulted in right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy with increased RV free wall thickness and a trend of increase in RV internal diameter. In contrast, there were no significant structural or functional changes in the left ventricle following nicotine exposure. Mechanistically, we observed increased expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme and enhanced activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways in the RV but not in the left ventricle. We conclude that chronic nicotine inhalation alters both systemic and pulmonary blood pressure with the latter accompanied by RV remodeling, possibly leading to progressive and persistent pulmonary hypertension.

Annual radiocarbon record indicates 16th century BCE date for the Thera eruption.

The mid-second millennium BCE eruption of Thera (Santorini) offers a critically important marker horizon to synchronize archaeological chronologies of the Aegean, Egypt, and the Near East and to anchor paleoenvironmental records from ice cores, speleothems, and lake sediments. Precise and accurate dating for the event has been the subject of many decades of research. Using calendar-dated tree rings, we created an annual resolution radiocarbon time series 1700-1500 BCE to validate, improve, or more clearly define the limitations for radiocarbon calibration of materials from key eruption contexts. Results show an offset from the international radiocarbon calibration curve, which indicates a shift in the calibrated age range for Thera toward the 16th century BCE. This finding sheds new light on the long-running debate focused on a discrepancy between radiocarbon (late 17th-early 16th century BCE) and archaeological (mid 16th-early 15th century BCE) dating evidence for Thera.

Implementing health and social care integration in Scotland: Renegotiating new partnerships in changing cultures of care.

Health and social care integration has been a long-term goal for successive governments in Scotland, culminating in the implementation of the recent Public Bodies (Joint Working) Scotland Act 2014. This laid down the foundations for the delegation of health and social care functions and resources to newly formed Integrated Joint Boards. It put in place demands for new ways of working and partnership planning. In this article, we explore the early implementation of this Act and how health and social care professionals and the third sector have begun to renegotiate their roles. The paper draws on new empirical data collated through focus groups and interviews with over 70 professionals from across Scotland. The data are explored through the following key themes: changing cultures, structural imbalance, governance and partnership and the role of individuals or "boundary spanners" in implementing change. We also draw on evidence from other international systems of care, which have implemented integration policies, documenting what works and what does not. We argue that under the current framework much of the potential for integration is not being fulfilled and that the evidence suggests that at this early stage of roll-out, the structural and cultural policy changes that are required to enable this policy shift have not yet emerged. Rather, integration has been left to individual innovators or "boundary spanners" and these are acting as key drivers of change. Where change is occurring, this is happening despite the system. As it is currently structured, we argue that too much power is in the hands of health and despite the rhetoric of partnership working, there are real structural imbalances that need to be reconciled.

Olive tree-ring problematic dating: a comparative analysis on Santorini (Greece).

Olive trees are a classic component of Mediterranean environments and some of them are known historically to be very old. In order to evaluate the possibility to use olive tree-rings for dendrochronology, we examined by various methods the reliability of olive tree-rings identification. Dendrochronological analyses of olive trees growing on the Aegean island Santorini (Greece) show that the determination of the number of tree-rings is impossible because of intra-annual wood density fluctuations, variability in tree-ring boundary structure, and restriction of its cambial activity to shifting sectors of the circumference, causing the tree-ring sequences along radii of the same cross section to differ.