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Pure and complete fractions of neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium and dysprosium were isolated by means of high performance ion chromatography, using a cation exchange column and gradient elution with alpha-hydroxyisobutyric acid solutions (α-HIBA). Intermediate precision and robustness of the isolation method was investigated, identifying eluent pH as the most important parameter. Investigation of the elution behaviour of the most important fission and activation products and actinides indicated that preventing the accumulation of cesium on the cation exchange column required further isocratic elution with a higher concentrated α-HIBA solution after elution of the lanthanides. A sample matrix free of carbon was achieved by means of acid digestion, followed by UV photo-oxidation, resulting in samples suitable for mass spectrometric analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tooth crowding is one of several criteria used to infer the process of domestication in the zooarchaeological record. It has been primarily used to support claims of early animal domestication, perhaps most contentiously in claims for the existence of so-called “proto-domestic” dogs as early as the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic. Tooth crowding studies vary in their methodological approaches, and interpretation of the resulting data is constrained by the limited geographic and temporal scope of reference specimens used to construct an appropriate comparative framework. To address these key problems, we present a standardised landmark-based protocol for the measurement and quantification of mandibular tooth crowding that can be systematically applied in the context of dog domestication research. We then test the assumption that tooth crowding is less frequent in ancient and modern wild wolf populations by examining 750 modern dogs and 205 modern wolves from across the modern geographic range of Canis lupus as well as 66 Late Pleistocene wolves from Alaska. Our results demonstrate that landmark-based metrics provide a reliable approach for recording and analysing tooth crowding. Although it is likely that the relatively low frequency of tooth crowding found in our modern dog dataset (∼6%) in part reflects the ‘modern’ morphology of domestic breeds, the higher frequency of crowding in both modern (∼18%) and ancient (∼36%) wolves strongly suggests that current assumptions linking tooth crowding with the process of early domestication (at least in dogs) should be critically re-evaluated, and that further investigations into the drivers behind these developmental patterns should be pursued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reports a new approach for the determination of 36Cl in radioactive waste samples from nuclear decommissioning, wherein novel plastic scintillator (PS) materials were used for the concentration of 36Cl prior to the detection with scintillation counting. Different plastic scintillator (PS) materials were tested for their selective absorption and detection of 36Cl activity in solid samples. PS microspheres (PSm), cross-linked PSm (CPSm) and PS resin have been investigated. PS resin was identified as the most suitable material for 36Cl analysis. Pyrolysis and subsequent trapping of the volatile elements in a bubbler was used. The trapping solution was finally loaded onto a cartridge of the PS resin. Scintillation counting and ion chromatography were used to determine the activity concentration and the chemical recovery, respectively. • Determination of 36Cl using PS materials in samples from decommissioning activities. • NaHCO 3 used as trapping solution after pyrolysis and then loaded in TK-TcScint resin. • Pyrolysis, TK-TcScint resin and SC was used for 36Cl determination. • 36Cl was determined in real activated graphite samples using PS resin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During March and early April 2014 there was widespread poor air quality across the United Kingdom. Public Health England used existing syndromic surveillance systems to monitor community health during the period. Short lived statistically significant rises in a variety of respiratory conditions, including asthma and wheeze, were detected. This incident has demonstrated the value of real-time syndromic surveillance systems, during an air pollution episode, for helping to explore the impact of poor air quality on community health in real-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occurrence of enamel hypoplasia has been used as a marker of systemic stress during the period of tooth crown formation in various mammalian taxa, especially primates. In some studies, the macroscopically recorded position of hypoplastic enamel defects along the vertical tooth axis has been utilized to reconstruct the timing of stress events. Recently, this approach has been extended to bovid species with high-crowned cheek teeth. Enamel extension rates in these teeth are, however, unknown. This contribution presents results of light and scanning electron microscope studies on enamel hypoplasia in molar teeth of sheep from various locations and illustrates some aspects that must be considered when recording enamel hypoplasia in the teeth. Our findings indicate a significant variation in enamel extension rate, which is markedly reduced in cervical enamel. Therefore, occurrence of enamel hypoplasia is disproportionately high in this area. A general problem was the partial or complete filling of hypoplastic enamel defects with hyperplastic cementum and/or dental calculus, which hampered the identification of these defects on external inspection and precluded assessment of their depth. Only on sections it was possible to identify the accentuated incremental line (Wilson band) at the base of the hypoplastic defect, which marks the position of the enamel growth front at the time of the insult, and thereby to reconstruct the timing of the stress event causing enamel hypoplasia. Reliable assessment of the timing of stress events affecting tooth crown formation therefore requires histological analysis of tooth sections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are ecological and cultural keystone species along the Northwest Coast of North America and are ubiquitous in archaeological sites of the region. The inability to morphologically identify salmonid post-cranial remains to species, however, can limit our understanding of the ecological and cultural role different taxa played in the seasonal subsistence practices of Indigenous groups in the past. Here, we present a rapid, cost-effective ZooMS method to distinguish salmonid species based on collagen peptide mass-fingerprinting. Using modern reference material and an assemblage of 28 DNA-identified salmonid bones from the pre-contact Yup'ik site of Nunalleq, Western Alaska, we apply high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to identify a series of potential collagen peptide markers to distinguish Pacific salmon. We then confirm these peptide markers with a blind ZooMS analysis (MALDI-TOF-MS) of the archaeological remains. We successfully distinguish five species of anadromous salmon with this ZooMS approach, including one specimen that could not be identified through ancient DNA analysis. Our biomolecular identification of chum (43%), sockeye (21%), chinook (18%), coho (11%) and pink (7%), confirm the exploitation of all five available species of salmonid at Nunalleq. • We develop ZooMS to distinguish between Pacific Salmon species. • We validate the method on an assemblage of 28 DNA-identified salmon bones. • We demonstrate the use of all five available salmonid species at Nunalleq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The origins and genetic affinity of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Canary Islands, commonly known as Guanches, are poorly understood. Though radiocarbon dates on archaeological remains such as charcoal, seeds, and domestic animal bones suggest that people have inhabited the islands since the 5 th century BCE [ 1–3 ], it remains unclear how many times, and by whom, the islands were first settled [ 4, 5 ]. Previously published ancient DNA analyses of uniparental genetic markers have shown that the Guanches carried common North African Y chromosome markers (E-M81, E-M78, and J-M267) and mitochondrial lineages such as U6b, in addition to common Eurasian haplogroups [ 6–8 ]. These results are in agreement with some linguistic, archaeological, and anthropological data indicating an origin from a North African Berber-like population [ 1, 4, 9 ]. However, to date there are no published Guanche autosomal genomes to help elucidate and directly test this hypothesis. To resolve this, we generated the first genome-wide sequence data and mitochondrial genomes from eleven archaeological Guanche individuals originating from Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Five of the individuals (directly radiocarbon dated to a time transect spanning the 7 th –11 th centuries CE) yielded sufficient autosomal genome coverage (0.21× to 3.93×) for population genomic analysis. Our results show that the Guanches were genetically similar over time and that they display the greatest genetic affinity to extant Northwest Africans, strongly supporting the hypothesis of a Berber-like origin. We also estimate that the Guanches have contributed 16%–31% autosomal ancestry to modern Canary Islanders, here represented by two individuals from Gran Canaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Syndromic surveillance data were used to estimate the direct impact of air pollution on healthcare-seeking behaviour, between 1 April 2012 and 31 December 2017. A difference-in-differences approach was used to control for spatial and temporal variations that were not due to air pollution and a meta-analysis was conducted to combine estimates from different pollution periods. Significant increases were found in general practitioner (GP) out-of-hours consultations, including a 98% increase (2-386, 95% confidence interval) in acute bronchitis and a 16% (3-30) increase in National Health Service (NHS) 111 calls for eye problems. However, the numbers involved are small; for instance, roughly one extra acute bronchitis consultation in a local authority on a day when air quality is poor. These results provide additional information for healthcare planners on the impacts of localised poor air quality. However, further work is required to identify the separate impact of different pollutants.

Introduction: Poor air quality (AQ) is a global public health issue and AQ events can span across countries. Using emergency department (ED) syndromic surveillance from England and France, we describe changes in human health indicators during periods of particularly poor AQ in London and Paris during 2014., Methods: Using daily AQ data for 2014, we identified three periods of poor AQ affecting both London and Paris. Anonymised near real-time ED attendance syndromic surveillance data from EDs across England and France were used to monitor the health impact of poor AQ.Using the routine English syndromic surveillance detection methods, increases in selected ED syndromic indicators (asthma, difficulty breathing and myocardial ischaemia), in total and by age, were identified and compared with periods of poor AQ in each city. Retrospective Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests were used to identify significant increases in ED attendance data on days with (and up to 3 days following) poor AQ., Results: Almost 1.5 million ED attendances were recorded during the study period (27 February 2014 to 1 October 2014). Significant increases in ED attendances for asthma were identified around periods of poor AQ in both cities, especially in children (aged 0-14 years). Some variation was seen in Paris with a rapid increase during the first AQ period in asthma attendances among children (aged 0-14 years), whereas during the second period the increase was greater in adults., Discussion: This work demonstrates the public health value of syndromic surveillance during air pollution incidents. There is potential for further cross-border harmonisation to provide Europe-wide early alerting to health impacts and improve future public health messaging to healthcare services to provide warning of increases in demand., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Crown copyright 2018. Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office/Queen’s Printer for Scotland and Public Health England.)