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Archaeologists have traditionally framed the impacts of natural disasters in terms of societal collapse versus cultural resilience. The 7.3ka cal BP Kikai-Akahoya (K-Ah) ‘super-eruption’ in south-western Japan was among the largest volcanic events of the Holocene. Here, the authors deploy a multi-proxy approach to examine how K-Ah devastated Tanegashima Island. While local Jōmon populations were annihilated, surrounding communities survived and eventually returned, adjusting their subsistence base to survive in the damaged environment. The article concludes that neither ‘collapse’ nor ‘resilience’ fully capture the complex dynamics of this process and that more research is needed to understand how disasters shape cultural trajectories.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines were authorized in the United States in December 2020. Although vaccine effectiveness (VE) against mild infection declines markedly after several months, limited understanding exists on the long-term durability of protection against COVID-19–associated hospitalization. Methods Case-control analysis of adults (≥18 years) hospitalized at 21 hospitals in 18 states 11 March–15 December 2021, including COVID-19 case patients and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction–negative controls. We included adults who were unvaccinated or vaccinated with 2 doses of a mRNA vaccine before the date of illness onset. VE over time was assessed using logistic regression comparing odds of vaccination in cases versus controls, adjusting for confounders. Models included dichotomous time ( Results A total of 10 078 patients were included, 4906 cases (23% vaccinated) and 5172 controls (62% vaccinated). Median age was 60 years (interquartile range, 46–70), 56% were non-Hispanic White, and 81% had ≥1 medical condition. Among immunocompetent adults, VE Conclusions In a period largely predating Omicron variant circulation, effectiveness of 2 mRNA doses against COVID-19–associated hospitalization was largely sustained through 9 months.

In Southwest Asia, early ceramics are generally associated with sedentary farming communities. This is unlike many other parts of Asia, where ceramics were first manufactured by hunter-gatherers. Radiocarbon evidence indicates that sustained production of ceramic containers (pottery) began at several sites in Anatolia, Upper Mesopotamia and the northern Levant around 7000 BC or slightly later, although there are indications that very small-scale production of pottery sometimes occurred at even earlier dates. In other regions (e.g. the southern Levant, Cyprus) pottery does not become common until centuries later. This paper examines Southwest Asian ceramic production in terms of its timing, technology and use, as well as its social and economic contexts. It also considers the legacy of early archaeological studies of Southwest Asian pottery for our general understanding of the emergence of ceramics. For example, Gordon Childe's concept of a ‘Neolithic package’ promoted a close association between the emergence of farming and pottery, which cannot be supported for many parts of Asia.

Background The benefits of early continuous neuromuscular blockade in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) who are receiving mechanical ventilation remain unclear. Meth...

Importance Data on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are needed. Objective To determine whether hydroxychloroquine is an efficacious treatment for adults hospitalized with COVID-19. Design, Setting, and Participants This was a multicenter, blinded, placebo-controlled randomized trial conducted at 34 hospitals in the US. Adults hospitalized with respiratory symptoms from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection were enrolled between April 2 and June 19, 2020, with the last outcome assessment on July 17, 2020. The planned sample size was 510 patients, with interim analyses planned after every 102 patients were enrolled. The trial was stopped at the fourth interim analysis for futility with a sample size of 479 patients. Interventions Patients were randomly assigned to hydroxychloroquine (400 mg twice daily for 2 doses, then 200 mg twice daily for 8 doses) (n = 242) or placebo (n = 237). Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was clinical status 14 days after randomization as assessed with a 7-category ordinal scale ranging from 1 (death) to 7 (discharged from the hospital and able to perform normal activities). The primary outcome was analyzed with a multivariable proportional odds model, with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) greater than 1.0 indicating more favorable outcomes with hydroxychloroquine than placebo. The trial included 12 secondary outcomes, including 28-day mortality. Results Among 479 patients who were randomized (median age, 57 years; 44.3% female; 37.2% Hispanic/Latinx; 23.4% Black; 20.1% in the intensive care unit; 46.8% receiving supplemental oxygen without positive pressure; 11.5% receiving noninvasive ventilation or nasal high-flow oxygen; and 6.7% receiving invasive mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), 433 (90.4%) completed the primary outcome assessment at 14 days and the remainder had clinical status imputed. The median duration of symptoms prior to randomization was 5 days (interquartile range [IQR], 3 to 7 days). Clinical status on the ordinal outcome scale at 14 days did not significantly differ between the hydroxychloroquine and placebo groups (median [IQR] score, 6 [4-7] vs 6 [4-7]; aOR, 1.02 [95% CI, 0.73 to 1.42]). None of the 12 secondary outcomes were significantly different between groups. At 28 days after randomization, 25 of 241 patients (10.4%) in the hydroxychloroquine group and 25 of 236 (10.6%) in the placebo group had died (absolute difference, −0.2% [95% CI, −5.7% to 5.3%]; aOR, 1.07 [95% CI, 0.54 to 2.09]). Conclusions and Relevance Among adults hospitalized with respiratory illness from COVID-19, treatment with hydroxychloroquine, compared with placebo, did not significantly improve clinical status at day 14. These findings do not support the use of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 among hospitalized adults. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov:NCT04332991

The invention of pottery was a fundamental technological advancement with far-reaching economic and cultural consequences. Pottery containers first emerged in East Asia during the Late Pleistocene in a wide range of environmental settings, but became particularly prominent and much more widely dispersed after climatic warming at the start of the Holocene. Some archaeologists argue that this increasing usage was driven by environmental factors, as warmer climates would have generated a wider range of terrestrial plant and animal resources that required processing in pottery. However, this hypothesis has never been directly tested. Here, in one of the largest studies of its kind, we conducted organic residue analysis of >800 pottery vessels selected from 46 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites located across the Japanese archipelago to identify their contents. Our results demonstrate that pottery had a strong association with the processing of aquatic resources, irrespective of the ecological setting. Contrary to expectations, this association remained stable even after the onset of Holocene warming, including in more southerly areas, where expanding forests provided new opportunities for hunting and gathering. Nevertheless, the results indicate that a broader array of aquatic resources was processed in pottery after the start of the Holocene. We suggest this marks a significant change in the role of pottery of hunter-gatherers, corresponding to an increased volume of production, greater variation in forms and sizes, the rise of intensified fishing, the onset of shellfish exploitation, and reduced residential mobility.

The goal of this contribution is to stimulate a wider reflection on the role of food consumption practices throughout prehistory. We focussed on the Jōmon communities of Hokkaidō Island in Northern Japan since these mobile foragers underwent a process of economic diversification and intensification, eventually leading to higher levels of sedentism across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Moreover, dynamic social settings and expansion of the subsistence base at the start of the Holocene would have provided rich opportunities for novelfood combinations, and potentially, the rise of diverse regional cuisines. We investigated tool kits and resource landscapes, and sampled pottery from a range of sites, phases and regions. We then applied organic residueanalysis to confirm the actual spatiotemporal patterning in cuisine. Although we predicted that ruminants and nuts would have played a major role in local cuisine, especially in inland areas, our results indicate that aquaticresources were central to pottery-based cuisines across the island, and that other food groups had probably been processed in other ways. While organic residue analysis enabled us to reconstruct some major patterns in Jōmoncuisine, we conclude that archaeologists will need to look “beyond the cooking pot” to fully appreciate the full diversity of local foodways.

The Neolithic is a key topic in the study of Old World prehistory but how the Neolithic is defined varies between regions. In East Asia the invention of pottery is often seen as marking the start of the Neolithic. In contrast to this ‘eastern’ perspective, in western parts of Eurasia it is the presence of agriculture that usually defines the onset of a Neolithic way of life. This paper adopts a comparative perspective, examining the origins and development of pottery, agriculture and sedentary life in East Asia and Southwest Asia. We suggest that a comparative perspective indicates that some of the most enduring themes of Neolithic studies need to be reconsidered, namely: (1) the idea of a Neolithic package consisting of a number of associated traits (including, among other things, agriculture, sedentary sites, and pottery) that developed and spread together, (2) the notion of the Neolithic as a revolutionary event marking a sharp break from the preceding Palaeolithic period, and (3) the enduring impact of the Neolithic on later periods.

Copyright © 2016 Antiquity Publications Ltd. Where did pottery first appear in the Old World? Statistical modelling of radiocarbon dates suggests that ceramic vessel technology had independent origins in two different hunter-gatherer societies. Regression models were used to estimate average rates of spread and geographic dispersal of the new technology. The models confirm independent origins in East Asia (c. 16000 cal BP) and North Africa (c. 12000 cal BP). The North African tradition may have later influenced the emergence of Near Eastern pottery, which then flowed west into Mediterranean Europe as part of a Western Neolithic, closely associated with the uptake of farming.

Background The purpose of this study was to see if 3-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could improve our understanding of rotator cuff tendon tear shapes. We believed that 3D MRI would be more accurate than two-dimensional (2D) MRI for classifying tear shapes. Methods We performed a retrospective review of MRI studies of patients with arthroscopically proven full-thickness rotator cuff tears. Two orthopedic surgeons reviewed the information for each case, including scope images, and characterized the shape of the cuff tear into crescent, longitudinal, U- or L-shaped longitudinal, and massive type. Two musculoskeletal radiologists reviewed the corresponding MRI studies independently and blind to the arthroscopic findings and characterized the shape on the basis of the tear's retraction and size using 2D MRI. The 3D reconstructions of each cuff tear were reviewed by each radiologist to characterize the shape. Statistical analysis included 95% confidence intervals and intraclass correlation coefficients. Results The study reviewed 34 patients. The accuracy for differentiating between crescent-shaped, longitudinal, and massive tears using measurements on 2D MRI was 70.6% for reader 1 and 67.6% for reader 2. The accuracy for tear shape characterization into crescent and longitudinal U- or L-shaped using 3D MRI was 97.1% for reader 1 and 82.4% for reader 2. When further characterizing the longitudinal tears as massive or not using 3D MRI, both readers had an accuracy of 76.9% (10 of 13). The overall accuracy of 3D MRI was 82.4% (56 of 68), significantly different (P = .021) from 2D MRI accuracy (64.7%). Conclusion Our study has demonstrated that 3D MR reconstructions of the rotator cuff improve the accuracy of characterizing rotator cuff tear shapes compared with current 2D MRI–based techniques.

The Neolithic in north-east Asia is defined by the presence of ceramic containers, rather than agriculture, among hunter-gatherer communities. The role of pottery in such groups has, however, hitherto been unclear. This article presents the results of organic residue analysis of Neolithic pottery from Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. Results indicate that early pottery on Sakhalin was used for the processing of aquatic species, and that its adoption formed part of a wider Neolithic transition involving the reorientation of local lifeways towards the exploitation of marine resources.

Lipid residue analysis has become a common technique for the identification of the organic residues remaining from resources processed in archaeological ceramic vessels. However, recovery of lipids from the vessels can be problematic in cases of high age and/or very small sample amounts. Here we show that acid-catalyzed direct extraction and methylation offers an efficient way to obtain enough fatty acids for quantification and stable carbon isotope analysis. We compared this technique with the more conventional technique of ultrasonically aided solvent extraction followed by silylation, which gave no measurable yields. Both techniques were applied on the absorbed residues of six extremely small sample amounts of less than 0.1 g of ceramic powder each from the Sankakuyama I site, Kyushu, South Japan (~ 13,900–13,300 cal BP). They belong to one of the oldest so far reported pottery traditions in the world, the Japanese Incipient Jōmon. δ 13 C analysis of the identified target C 16:0 and C 18:0 fatty acids indicated that the examined vessels were used for food-processing purposes, pointing to a significant contribution of terrestrial animal sources in the residues.

The invention of ceramic objects made from fire-hardened clay represents an important and early step in the development of pyrotechnology. This paper examines pottery invention and innovation by hunter-gatherers in East Asia and by farmers in the Near East to examine how prehistoric communities in different socio-economic systems came to rely heavily on fired-clay containers. Drawing on advances in archaeological science, it examines from a comparative perspective early pottery's broader entanglements related to technology and use and argues that early pottery production by farmers in the Near East can be viewed as a process of innovation in a longer tradition of container technology, while the first hunter-gatherer pottery production in East Asia provides a better case for independent invention.

Largely missing from the debate surrounding the use of pottery among arctic and sub-arctic hunter-gatherers are site-based biomolecular studies of vessel contents. This study used lipid-residue analysis to elucidate vessel function at Nunalleq (GDN-248), a late Thule-period coastal village site in the Yup’ik area of Western Alaska. In total, 31 pottery sherds and five soil samples were analyzed using gas chromatography and/or gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The ubiquitous presence of aquatic biomarkers in all the pottery sherds suggests that pottery function at the site was directly linked to the use of aquatic resources. This indication of relatively specialized use of pottery at Nunalleq is particularly interesting when considered within the context of the site’s broader subsistence strategies, which included use of both aquatic and terrestrial resources. These findings appear to support a more general association between higher-latitude pottery traditions and the use of aquatic resources, though this topic requires further research.

Compared to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), evidence for potentially symbolic imagery is rare in the Late Neolithic of the Southern Levant, consisting primarily of figurines and decorated pottery. While the symbolic roles of fi gurines have occasionally been discussed, studies of decorated pottery have usually focused on developing chronologies or defirning the boundaries of archaeological cultures. In an attempt to better understand pottery symbolism this paper suggests that over the course of the Late Neolithic pottery decoration became more varied but also became simpler. These developments may refl ect an increase of symbolic ambiguity. The decline in fi gurine use over the course of the Late Neolithic similarly suggests a focus on ambiguous symbols during the later part of the period. A tentative suggestion is that this shift may be related to a change in community organization. Some early Late Neolithic sites are relatively large and each one may have comprised a single, spatially contiguous community. In the later part of the period, at least in some areas, community groups may have been dispersed across several small sites. A symbolic system emphasizing ambiguity may have facilitated the occasional interactions that were a part of such dispersed communities., Dans la région du Levant Sud, les témoins potentiels d’une imagerie symbolique sont peu nombreux au Néolithique récent, contrairement au Néolithique précéramique B, et se composent principalement de figurines et de poterie décorée. Si le rôle symbolique des figurines a parfois été abordé par les chercheurs, les études portant sur la poterie décorée ont surtout servi à la mise en place de chronologies et à la définition de cultures archéologiques. Afin de mieux comprendre le rôle symbolique joué par la poterie, le présent article suggère que le décor des céramiques s’est non seulement diversifié, mais également simplifié tout au long du Néolithique récent. Ces développements pourraient être le reflet d’une ambiguïté symbolique croissante. Une diminution de l’utilisation des figurines au cours du Néolithique récent pourrait aussi refléter une nouvelle préférence pour les symboles ambigus à la fi n de cette période. Il est possible qu’une telle transformation soit reliée à un changement dans l’organisation sociale des communautés qui est perceptible à la même époque. Au début du Néolithique récent quelques sites très étendus suggèrent l’occupation d’un espace contigu par des communautés entières, tandis que la fi n du Néolithique récent voit une dispersion des communautés entre plusieurs petits sites, au moins dans certaines régions. Un système symbolique mettant l’accent sur l’ambiguïté a pu faciliter les interactions sociales épisodiques que nécessitait une telle dispersion des communautés., Gibbs Kevin. Late Neolithic Pottery and Ambiguous Symbols in the Southern Levant. In: Paléorient, 2013, vol. 39, n°2. pp. 69-84.

This article examines Siberia’s increasingly important role in the study of the emergence of pottery across northern Eurasia. The world’s earliest pottery comes from Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherer sites in East Asia. This material is typically seen as disconnected from later pottery traditions in Europe, which are generally associated with sedentary farmers. However, new evidence suggests that Asian and European pottery traditions may be linked to a Hyperborean stream of hunter-gatherer pottery dispersals that spanned eastern and western Asia, and introduced pottery into the prehistoric societies of northern Europe. As a potential bridge between the eastern and western early pottery traditions, Siberia’s prehistory is therefore set to play an increasingly central role in one of world archaeology’s most important debates.

Lung abscesses are intraparenchymal collections of purulent and necrotic tissue caused by infectious organisms that present with subacute pulmonary symptoms. Primary lung abscess is classically a disease of middle-aged men. Infection and subsequent abscess formation result from large-volume aspiration of oral secretions. Therefore, conditions that predispose to aspiration also predispose to lung abscess. Such conditions include all causes of depressed sensorium as well as both mechanical and neurologic causes of dysphagia. The burden of oral anaerobes also plays an important role in disease pathogenesis. It can be difficult to differentiate a lung abscess from pneumonia. Patients with lung abscess generally appear less acutely ill, and have fewer rigors or shaking chills. These infections are typically polymicrobial and difficult to accurately culture, requiring empiric therapy with antibiotics with broad anaerobic coverage. Most patients respond well to antimicrobials, but mortality remains high in the subset who fails medical therapy.

The earliest pots in the world are from East Asia and date to the Late Pleistocene. However, ceramic vessels were only produced in large numbers during the warmer and more stable climatic conditions of the Holocene. It has long been assumed that the expansion of pottery was linked with increased sedentism and exploitation of new resources that became available with the ameliorated climate, but this hypothesis has never been tested. Through chemical analysis of their contents, we herein investigate the use of pottery across an exceptionally long 9,000-y sequence from the Jomon site of Torihama in western Japan, intermittently occupied from the Late Pleistocene to the mid-Holocene. Molecular and isotopic analyses of lipids from 143 vessels provides clear evidence that pottery across this sequence was predominantly used for cooking marine and freshwater resources, with evidence for diversification in the range of aquatic products processed during the Holocene. Conversely, there is little indication that ruminant animals or plants were processed in pottery, although it is evident from the faunal and macrobotanical remains that these foods were heavily exploited. Supported by other residue analysis data from Japan, our results show that the link between pottery and fishing was established in the Late Paleolithic and lasted well into the Holocene, despite environmental and socio-economic change. Cooking aquatic products in pottery represents an enduring social aspect of East Asian hunter-gatherers, a tradition based on a dependable technology for exploiting a sustainable resource in an uncertain and changing world.

This study examined relationships among individual demographics, environmental features (e.g., fast food outlet density, park land use) of residential neighborhoods and activity spaces, and weight-related behaviors (diet, physical activity). Participants’ movement was tracked for 7 days using global positioning systems (GPS). Two activity space measures (one standard deviation ellipse, daily path area) were derived from the GPS data. Activity spaces were generally larger than residential neighborhoods; environmental features of residential neighborhoods and activity spaces were weakly associated; and some activity space environmental features were related to dietary behaviors. Activity spaces may provide new insights into environmental influences on obesity-related behaviors.

This study used direct field observations with interior assessments of outlets to validate food store and restaurant data from two commercial business lists conditional on classification of outlet type, including supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, full-service restaurants and fast food restaurants. The study used a stratified random sample that included 274 urban census tracts across 9 counties from the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and 46 suburban and 61 rural census tracts across 13 counties from a 50-mile buffer surrounding the MSA. Results showed that agreement between the field observations and the commercial business lists for the food store and restaurant outlets was generally moderate (ranging from fair to good). However, when the listed data were validated based on an exact classification match, agreement was only fair (ranging from poor to moderate) and, in particular, poor for fast food restaurants. The study also found that agreement levels for some outlet types differed by tract characteristics. Commercial databases must be used with caution as substitutes for on the ground data collection.

Excavations at al-Basatin in Wadi Ziqlab, northern Jordan, have recovered evidence for an EB I occupation at the site, in addition to strata dating to the Late Neolithic and Classical periods. Arti...

This paper presents direct evidence of subsistence practices and pottery use at a Late Neolithic site at al-Basatin, northern Jordan. Measurable concentrations of C 16:0 and C 18:0 were recovered from 8 of 10 archaeological pottery fragments through use of a microwave-assisted silica gel and aminopropyl solvent protocol developed for the isolation and concentration of free fatty acids in marine sediments. Subsequent isotopic analysis of the surviving C 16:0 and C 18:0 saturated fatty acids revealed ∂ 13 C ratios consistent with those of adipose fats of ruminant and non-ruminant animals pastured on lands adjacent to the Jordan Valley. The high recovery of diagnostic compounds from the al-Basatin material is discussed in context of a wider examination of the initial development and use of pottery in the Fertile Crescent, and the emerging debate concerning the efficacy of stable carbon isotope values in characterizing organic residues embedded in pottery fragments recovered from the earliest ceramic horizons in the Middle East and Europe.

The spatio‐temporal relationship between unusual sightings of dead birds and human West Nile virus infections has been observed in many studies and has been proposed as an indicator of an intense amplification cycle between birds and mosquitoes. However, to date, no single study has provided quantitative evidence that the amplification cycle occurs at the local level and that it operates within certain temporal parameters. Here, we use a novel geostatistical and spatial analytic methodology and present the first evidence that the localized unusual space–time correspondence of dead birds models the amplification cycle and that this cycle peaks 15–16 days prior to human onset of West Nile virus infections. During the process of establishing this relationship, we extend the traditional Knox space–time interaction measure to overcome pair‐dependency limitations and use a novel implementation of the kappa non‐chance agreement measure to identify the temporal characteristics of the association of bird deaths to...

During the summer and fall of 2002, an epidemic (223 cases) and epizootic of West Nile virus infections occurred in Chicago. Retrospective spatial analysis demonstrated that age-adjusted human case rates were three times higher inside geographic areas with high early-season crow deaths than outside these areas.

We sought to estimate West Nile virus (WNV) activity in mosquito populations weekly at the census tract level in Chicago, IL, and to provide this information graphically. Each week we calculated a vector index (VI) for each mosquito trap then generated tract estimates using geographic information systems. During June 29–September 13, 2008, a median of 527 (60%) of 874 possible tracts per week had a VI value. Overall, 94% of the weekly VI tract estimates were 0; among those with a VI estimate greater than 0, the median was 0.33 (range 0.003–3.5). Officials deemed risk levels and weather conditions appropriate for adulticide treatments on 3 occasions, resulting in the treatment of approximately 252 linear kilometers of residential streets and alleys. Our analysis successfully converted complex, raw surveillance data into a format that highlighted areas of elevated WNV activity and facilitated the determination of appropriate response procedures.

Objective: 1) Compare the outcomes of 2 surgical modalities used to treat hypopharyngeal diverticulum and esophageal stenosis at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and analyze the economic efficiency of each. 2) Compare the MUSC experience with statewide treatment in South Carolina (SC) Medicare patients.Method: Retrospective analysis was conducted of 50 patients treated at MUSC. The 2 approaches utilized were endoscopic laser diverticulotomy and transcervical open diverticulectomy with cricopharyngeal myotomy. SC Medicare data was collected for patients undergoing these procedures. Primary outcomes investigated were intraoperative complications, operative charge, hospital stay, and postoperative complications.Results: Statistically significant differences between the 2 operative groups at MUSC were observed in length of stay (1.08 days endoscopic group and 4.75 days transcervical open group; P > .0001) and operative charge (US $ 2842 endoscopic and US$ 3425 transcervical; P > .0001). The per...

The city of Chicago used ground ultra-low volume treatments of sumithrin (ANVIL 10+10) in areas with high West Nile virus infection rates among Culex mosquitoes. Two sequential treatments in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports wk 31 and 32 decreased mean mosquito density by 54% from 2.5 to 1.1 mosquitoes per trap-day, whereas mosquito density increased by 153% from 1.3 to 3.3 mosquitoes per trap-day at the nonsprayed sites. The difference between these changes in mosquito density was statistically significant (confidence intervals for the difference in change: -4.7 to -1.9). Sequential adulticide treatments in September (wk 34 and 35) had no effect on mosquito density, probably because it was late in the season and the mosquitoes were presumably entering diapause and less active. Overall, there was significant decrease in mosquito density at the trap sites treated in all 4 wk (wk 31, 32, 34, and 35), suggesting that sustained sequential treatments suppressed mosquito density. Maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) of infection rate estimates varied independently of adulticide treatments, suggesting that the adulticide treatments had no direct effect on MLE. Mosquito trap counts were low, which was probably due to large numbers of alternative oviposition sites, especially catch basins competing with the gravid traps.

Head and neck cancer is increasing in incidence in patients without the usual risk factors for the disease. Practitioners need to be aware that young, non-smoking patients are also at risk for certain types of head and neck cancer. Head and neck cancer in this patient group is likely due to infection of the tonsil and tongue with high-risk strains of human papillomavirus (HPV). There is strong epidemiological and laboratory evidence that HPV is a cause of head and neck cancer. Therefore, any patient with persistent lesions, ulcers, swallowing difficulty, change in voice, or neck mass needs prompt referral to an otolaryngologist- head and neck surgeon.

Research in Wadi Ziqlab, Northern Jordan, has focused on the discovery and excavation of Late Neolithic sites in an attempt to understand its regional settlement system in the sixth millennium cal. BC. Previous evidence suggested that small hamlets or farmsteads may have characterized this settlement system, as represented at Tabaqat al-Bûma. Recent excavations at a site downstream, al-Basatîn, have revealed evidence for a settlement that was partly contemporary with Tabaqat al-Bûma and shared much of its material culture, but seems to have been markedly different in character. Whether for seasonal or some other reasons, its architecture as currently understood consisted of stone platforms and possibly tents, rather than the substantial houses found at the other site. Toward the end of the sixth millennium, like Tabaqat al-Bûma, it was abandoned, not to be reoccupied until Early Bronze I., Les recherches dans le Wadi Ziqlab (Jordanie) ont porté sur la découverte et la fouille de sites du Néolithique récent afin de comprendre le système régional d’implantation des sites au sixième millénaire cal. av. J.-C. Si les recherches précédentes ont suggéré que de petits hameaux ou fermes caractérisaient ce système, ainsi que l’illustre l’exemple de Tabaqat al-Bûma, les fouilles récentes du site d’al-Basatîn, localisé en aval, ont mis en évidence une occupation partiellement contemporaine de Tabaqat al-Bûma. Malgré les fortes similitudes de la culture matérielle avec celle de ce dernier site, al-Basatîn semble d’un caractère différent. Que ce soit pour des raisons saisonnières ou autres, son architecture, telle qu’elle est actuellement comprise, était constituée de plateformes en pierre et probablement de tentes, plutôt que de maisons véritables, comme celles connues à Tabaqat al-Bûma. Vers la fin du sixième millénaire, le site, à l’instar de Tabaqat al-Bûma, a été abandonné, puis réoccupé à partir du Bronze Ancien I., Kadowaki Seiji, Gibbs Kevin, Allentuck Adam, Banning Edward B. Late Neolithic Settlement in Wadi Ziqlab, Jordan: al-Basatîn. In: Paléorient, 2008, vol. 34, n°1. pp. 105-129.

We report that two common tumor viruses etiologically associated with head and neck cancer, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and human papillomavirus (HPV) with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, transactivate an endogenous retrovirus (HERV-K18), which encodes a superantigen that activates TCRBV13 T cells. EBV LMP-2 transactivated the HERV-K18 superantigen in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells, and EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinomas expressed the superantigen. HPV type-16 E6 and E7 proteins also transactivated the HERV-K18 superantigen in oropharyngeal epithelial cells, and superantigen expression was significantly increased in HPV16-associated carcinomas. Serum cytokine levels in head and neck carcinoma patients indicated that there were distinct inflammatory profiles associated with exogenous and endogenous viruses. HPV-associated patients had increased levels of serum IL-8, while HPV-negative patients had higher serum IL-6 and G-CSF levels. Interestingly, HERV-K18 superantigen levels correlated independently with serum levels of the Th2 cytokine IL-13. Among HPV+ tumors, gene expression array analyses indicated that B cell specific genes were significantly upregulated in the superantigen high group. Our results suggest that endogenous superantigen expression in HPV+ tumors was associated with a Th2 immune response, demonstrating that chronic and endogenous viruses comprising the virome affect both host and tumor immunity.