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A novel integrated water vapor (IWV) product from TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) is validated together with a Global Ozone Monitoring Instrument-2 (GOME-2) standard product. As reference, ground-based Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) IWV data in 235 European stations from May 2018 to May 2019 are used. Under cloud free situations, a general comparison is carried out. It suggests that TROPOMI IWV exhibits less bias than GOME-2 and better results in the dispersion and regression parameters. Moreover, TROPOMI presents more homogeneous results along the different stations. However, TROPOMI is found to be overestimating the IWV uncertainties and being, therefore, too conservative in the confidence interval considered. The dependence of satellite product performance on several variables is also discussed. TROPOMI IWV shows wet bias of 5.7% or less for IWV < 10 mm (TROPOMI) and dry bias of up to −3% (TROPOMI). In contrast, GOME-2 shows wet bias of 30% or less for IWV < 25 mm (GOME-2) and dry bias of −12.3% for IWV > 25 mm. In addition, relative standard deviation (rSD) increases as IWV increases. In addition, the dependence on solar zenith angle (SZA) was also analyzed, as solar radiation bands are used in the retrieval algorithm of both instruments. Relative mean bias error (rMBE) shows positive values for GOME-2, slightly increasing with SZA, while TROPOMI shows more stable values. However, under high SZA, GOME-2 IWV exhibits a steep increase in rMBE (overestimation), while TROPOMI IWV exhibits a moderate decrease (underestimation). rSD is slightly increasing with SZA. The influence of cloudiness on satellite IWV observations is such that TROPOMI tends to overestimate IWV more as cloudiness increases, especially for high IWV. In the case of GOME-2, the rSD slightly increases with cloudiness, but TROPOMI rSD has a marked increase with increasing cloudiness. TROPOMI IWV is an important source of information about moisture, but its algorithm could still benefit from further improvement to respond better to cloudy situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonanastomotic pseudoaneurysm formation after vascular reconstruction is a rarely encountered problem. Covered stent graft constitutes a minimal approach. To our knowledge, the present study constitutes the first case of implantation of Solaris stent graft in Europe. A 69-year-old man with severe cardiac dysfunction presented a pseudoaneurysm of a popliteal to popliteal artery reversed saphenous vein bypass graft. The patient was successfully treated by the percutaneous placement of a Solaris self-expanding covered stent. The postimplantation arteriogram demonstrated exclusion of the pseudoaneurysm, complete apposition of the stent, and adequate runoff. No complications occurred, and the patient was discharged from the hospital one day later receiving 75 mg of clopidogrel. Endovascular exclusion by covered stent deployment offers a safe, rapid, and minimally invasive alternative to open surgical resection in patients with lower limb venous graft pseudoaneurysm. The Solaris covered stent provides a new catheter-based device with adequate navigability and exceptional accurate delivery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christianity is one of the cultural and ethical cornerstones of Europe. In the European Union (EU) there is no overarching policy on religious education (RE) in the school system, although parents are guaranteed that their children will be educated in accordance with their religious beliefs. The authors use a comparative methodology to analyse the constitutions of France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain in relation to different aspects of RE. Whereas the right to religious freedom for all is clearly established in these constitutions, obvious differences are revealed in the legal provisions for and attitudes towards religious education. The general separation between Church and State does not prevent the subject of religion from being taught in state schools in all these countries, with the exception of France. The freedom to choose it, the teaching load, alternative subjects, and so on vary between countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To contribute to have a better understanding of the symbolic or not use of certain items by Neanderthals, this work presents new evidence of the deliberate removal of raptor claws occurred in Mediterranean Europe during the recent phases of the Mousterian. Rio Secco Cave in the north-east of Italy and Mandrin Cave in the Middle Rhône valley have recently produced two golden eagle pedal phalanges from contexts not younger than 49.1–48.0 ky cal BP at Rio Secco and dated around 50.0 ky cal BP at Mandrin. The bones show cut-marks located on the proximal end ascribable to the cutting of the tendons and the incision of the cortical organic tissues. Also supported by an experimental removal of large raptor claws, our reconstruction explains that the deliberate detachment occurred without damaging the claw, in a way comparable at a general level with other Mousterian contexts across Europe. After excluding that these specimens met the nutritional requirements for human subsistence, we discuss the possible implications these findings perform in our current knowledge of the European Middle Palaeolithic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is having negative health, social and economic consequences worldwide. In Europe, the pandemic started to develop strongly at the end of February and beginning of March 2020. Subsequently, it spread over the continent, with special virulence in northern Italy and inland Spain. In this study we show that an unusual persistent anticyclonic situation prevailing in southwestern Europe during February 2020 (i.e. anomalously strong positive phase of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oscillations) could have resulted in favorable conditions, e.g., in terms of air temperature and humidity among other factors, in Italy and Spain for a quicker spread of the virus compared with the rest of the European countries. It seems plausible that the strong atmospheric stability and associated dry conditions that dominated in these regions may have favored the virus propagation, both outdoors and especially indoors, by short-range droplet and aerosol (airborne) transmission, or/and by changing social contact patterns. Later recent atmospheric circulation conditions in Europe (July 2020) and the U.S. (October 2020) seem to support our hypothesis, although further research is needed in order to evaluate other confounding variables. Interestingly, the atmospheric conditions during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 seem to have resembled at some stage with the current COVID-19 pandemic. • First study to explore the effects of large-scale atmospheric patterns on COVID-19. • Anticyclonic conditions could have favored early spread of COVID-19 over Europe. • Transmission by droplets and/or aerosols, and social contact could be enhanced. • Resemblances with spatial and atmospheric conditions during the 1918 Spanish flu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In central Poland, the metamorphic Kampinos Complex underlies a thick sedimentary cover of the East European Craton. Previous K–Ar ages from drill cores of this complex were interpreted as indicative of an early Sveconorwegian (ca. 1.23 Ga) overprint. New laser step-wise 40Ar–39Ar dating of biotite from a 1.8 Ga granitic orthogneiss at the Okuniew borehole provides an age of 1306±16 Ma. This age brackets amphibolite facies deformation and metamorphism in the Kampinos Complex between 1.3 and 1.8 Ga, indicating pre-Sveconorwegian cooling of the complex. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reports on a study which reviewed some of the main issues associated to the Middle and Upper Paleolithic transition and explained the principal role of the concept of complexity in understanding the historical and cultural changes in Europe. Details on the Abric Romani Middle Paleolithic site, which is located in the town of Capellades, in Spain's Barcelona Province; In-depth look at industrial taxonomy and behavioral information; Conclusion of the study.

Background: The aim of international health cooperation projects is to alleviate the deficiencies in the area of health in low resource settings. Hernia surgery is a procedure that is well suited to these missions, due to its low morbidity, the fact that it can be performed on an outpatient basis, and the improvement in quality of life that it provides.Objective: To describe the results of Benefica Chirurgia (BC), a Spanish non-profit humanitarian association in hernia pathology.Methods: Five one-week surgical campaigns were carried out in Ecuador between 2015 and 2019, involving anesthetists, general and pediatric surgeons. Surgical and medical equipment was provided and transported by BC. ASA I/II patients underwent surgery.Results: Surgery was performed on 240 patients with hernia pathology on 27 days. Sixty-three per cent of patients were male and the mean age was 48.2 years (range: 1-83). Hernia location was inguinal in 113 patients, umbilical in 101, and other in 26. The anesthetic technique used was spinal in 185 patients (77.1%), local plus intravenous sedation in 31 (12.9%), and general in 24 (10%). The surgical technique used was hernioplasty in 191 patients, herniorrhaphy in 31, incisional hernia repair in 15 and herniotomy in three. Surgery was performed on an outpatient basis in 98.4% of cases. Morbidity was 2%. Long-term postoperative evaluation is very complex.Conclusion: These campaigns make a significant contribution to health in low resource settings and provide great personal satisfaction for those involved. Standards achieved in the immediate postoperative period were similar to those obtained at the surgeons' centers in Europe. However, it is difficult to establish the rates of recurrence and chronic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The great tumulus of the Mané Lud is more known for its passage grave in secondary addition that finishes the western extremity and that contains a number of carvings among the most famous of the European corpus. Ten steles will be here described and illustrated by photography and drawings whose realization will have demanded more 600 hours of work, undertaken on the terrain as well as in laboratory. Several signs are inescapable and validate by their discovery the simple method of acquisition and numerical image processing that we have developed these last years. The majority of carvings is equally better specified and allowed henceforth a re-interpretation of associations of signs united on a same support, but equally a simultaneous perusal of these steles understood as monuments fully fledged, functioning originally in a whole other special and historical context. The back stele, often considered as the master piece of the mortuary structure, and residing nevertheless one armorican engraving among the most badly interpreted and one of the most cryptic, appears as a representation in fact particularly succeeded of a spermwhale, staggering cetacean that our anterior studies had already sensed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Marine isotope stage 3 (MIS 3) was characterised by marked oscillations of extreme cold episodes with very short warm events during the stadial, and several regional differences have been recorded in the ice cores and marine deposits. The aim of this study is to reconstruct this period by evaluating both terrestrial and regional responses. Cova del Coll Verdaguer, a site located on the Iberian Peninsula, preserves a sedimentary deposit dated to between 34 and 56 ka BP and provides an opportunity for evaluating the impact of climate changes on the regional landmass during a period that coincided with the last Neanderthal population on the Iberian Peninsula. Several dating methods, including U-series, electron spin resonance, amino acid racemization and radiocarbon (14C), were applied to the site and the ages obtained show good agreement. The biotic evidence obtained is substantial, comprising floristic data from palynology and charcoal analysis, and faunal data from large and small mammals, birds and gastropods. Environmental reconstruction points to an initially open meadow landscape at the base of the sequence (∼56 ka) that progressively changes to a woodland environment dominated by conifers (∼34 ka). The presence of few thermophilous taxa, in contrast with lower latitudes of the Iberian Peninsula, is also detected. The environmental conditions of mid-altitude, Mediterranean, limestone mountains for the last Neanderthal populations appear to have been dominated by a forested landscape comprising boreal or mixed coniferous forest, characterised by a low usable biomass with poor comestible plant resources and dispersed herbivore populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Terrasses de la Riera dels Canyars is an Upper Pleistocene fluvial deposit containing the remains of large mammals, principally accumulated in the framework of hyena denning in the area, as well as a few artifacts. Radiocarbon-dated to ∼39.6 ka cal BP, the time of Heinrich Stadial (HS) 4, this site enables us to reconstruct the environmental conditions then prevalent in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula. The concentration in a single locus of finds generated by different agents relates to a flash-flood event, the rapidity of which, combined with the absence of archaeological, ecological or paleontological incongruities in the composition of the assemblage, warrants an assumption of broad contemporaneity for its contents. The ecofactual evidence (fauna, pollen, charcoal, phytoliths) indicates a steppe-dominated environment for the coastal areas between the Pyrenees and the Ebro delta; the dominant elements are cold- and dry-adapted species but a Mediterranean component is present, implying a less rigorous climate than farther north in Europe. The artifacts are clearly Upper Paleolithic, and assignment to the modern human-associated Aurignacian technocomplex is supported by the radiocarbon dates and the typology of a bilaterally retouched blade. This evidence is consistent with the notion that anatomical modernity spread across Europe over open landscape niches. Available pollen data from deep sea cores indicate that, during some of the interstadials of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, a significant vegetation gradient existed at 40°N, broadly coincident with the “Ebro frontier:” temperate and warm temperate trees expanded significantly to the south, while steppe-tundra landscapes remained dominant to the north, a contrast best seen during Greenland Interstadial (GI) 8. Such an environmental boundary must have implied a durable barrier to diffusion and migration during interstadials. Under the cold and arid conditions of HS4, the site of Canyars shows that the Eurasian steppe-tundra extended as far south as the Llobregat delta; however, the environmental reconstructions available for the lower Ebro valley and adjacent mountains of the Iberian Range farther south suggest that they formed at this time a belt of semi-desert or steppe-desert landscapes, thus maintaining the boundary effect despite the climatic reversal. The persistence of such a boundary through HS4 and the interstadials that bracket it must have played a role in the delayed arrival of the Aurignacian (and modern humans) to southern and western Iberia, which continued to be settled by Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals well beyond 40 ka cal BP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]