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Objectives: Information and communication technologies (ICT) are introduced into organisations with the goals of managing resources, increasing efficiency and work productivity and reducing workload. The aim of this study was to identify hospital institutional capacity indicators to provide recommendations to an existing emergency management database system operating in Cape Town, the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Using these indicators, this study seeks to augment and update the existing emergency database system. Methods: A modified Expert Delphi study consisting of two rounds was conducted by email. A panel of 16 experts drawn from the fields of emergency medicine, critical care, trauma surgery and disaster medicine were consulted. Participants were initially asked to propose hospital institutional capacity indicators that warranted inclusion in the emergency management database system currently operating in Cape Town, South Africa. In the second round these proposals were collated and scored using a 7 point Likert scale. Results: Round 1 comprised 237 statements. Consensus was defined a priori to be >80%. A total of 59 of 237 statements had reached consensus upon completion of the Delphi study. This represented 24.5% of the total number of statements. Of these 19 reached consensus at >90% and 40 reached consensus at >80%. Subheadings for proposed indicators included staffing speciality categories, hospital equipment and services and special hazard/circumstance services Examples of accepted indicators include theatre availability, ICU surge and ventilator capacity and the availability of Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN) Decontamination services. Conclusion: The use of a modified Expert Delphi study achieved consensus in aspects of hospital institutional capacity that can be translated into practical recommendations for implementation by the local emergency management database system. Additionally, areas of non-consensus have been identified where further work is required. This purpose of this study is to contribute to and aid in the development of this new system.

A propagação de indivíduos superiores de acácia-negra (Acacia mearnsii De Wild.) visando ao estabelecimento de florestas mais produtivas, homogêneas, resistentes a pragas e doenças é uma necessidade nos dias atuais. Este estudo objetivou determinar o melhor meio de cultura, a concentração dos seus principais sais e a utilização de carvão ativado para multiplicação in vitro de gemas axilares de A. mearnsii. Plântulas germinadas in vitro forneceram explantes que foram inoculados em diferentes meios de cultura B5, MS, SP e WPM. Foram testadas diversas concentrações do meio MS: ¼, ½, ¾ e 1/1 (concentração original), 5/4, 3/ 2, 7/4 e 2/1, com e sem carvão ativado. Utilizou-se o delineamento de blocos casualizados com cinco, sete e quatro repetições, respectivamente, com quatro explantes por parcela. As avaliações foram feitas em intervalos de 30 dias, através da contagem do número de folhas e gemas e da presença de calos e clorose. Entre os meios utilizados em sua composição original, o MS promoveu a maior multiplicação de gemas (3,7 gemas/explante) aos 30 dias. Entre as concentrações de macronutrientes do meio MS, a diluição para 3/4 da concentração original com a adição de carvão ativado apresentou as melhores respostas para a multiplicação de gemas axilares de acácia-negra (7,7 gemas/explante) aos 60 dias.The propagation of some superior black wattle individuals (Acacia mearnsii De Wild.) aiming the establishment of more productive, homogeneous forests, resistant to plagues and diseases, is in great need in our days. The objective of the present report is to find the best culture medium and analyze the use of activated charcoal in the in vitro multiplication of axillary buds of A. mearnsii. Explants of in vitro germinated plants were inoculated in different culture media: B5, MS, SP and WPM. Several concentrations of MS medium were tested: 1/4; 1/2; 3/4; 1/1 (original concentration); 5/4; 3/2; 7/4 and 2/1, with and without activated charcoal. It was used a randomized experimental design, with five, seven and four replicates, with four explants per replicate. The evaluations were performed after 30 days, through the counting of the numbers of leafs and axillary shoots and the presence of callus and chlorosis. Among the media used in the original composition, the MS promoted the best multiplication of axillary shoots (3,7 buds/explants) on the thirtieth day of culture. Among the MS medium macro-nutrient concentrations, the dilution to 3/4 of the original concentration with the addition of activated carbon promoted the best responses for the multiplication of black wattle axillary shoots (7,7 buds/explant) after 60 days of culture.

Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene 1-5 . Here, to investigate the cross-continental effects of these migrations, we shotgun-sequenced 317 genomes-mainly from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods-from across northern and western Eurasia. These were imputed alongside published data to obtain diploid genotypes from more than 1,600 ancient humans. Our analyses revealed a 'great divide' genomic boundary extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were highly genetically differentiated east and west of this zone, and the effect of the neolithization was equally disparate. Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including near-total replacement of hunter-gatherers in many areas, whereas no substantial ancestry shifts happened east of the zone during the same period. Similarly, relatedness decreased in the west from the Neolithic transition onwards, whereas, east of the Urals, relatedness remained high until around 4,000 BP, consistent with the persistence of localized groups of hunter-gatherers. The boundary dissolved when Yamnaya-related ancestry spread across western Eurasia around 5,000 BP, resulting in a second major turnover that reached most parts of Europe within a 1,000-year span. The genetic origin and fate of the Yamnaya have remained elusive, but we show that hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region contributed ancestry to them. Yamnaya groups later admixed with individuals associated with the Globular Amphora culture before expanding into Europe. Similar turnovers occurred in western Siberia, where we report new genomic data from a 'Neolithic steppe' cline spanning the Siberian forest steppe to Lake Baikal. These prehistoric migrations had profound and lasting effects on the genetic diversity of Eurasian populations., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Major migration events in Holocene Eurasia have been characterized genetically at broad regional scales 1-4 . However, insights into the population dynamics in the contact zones are hampered by a lack of ancient genomic data sampled at high spatiotemporal resolution 5-7 . Here, to address this, we analysed shotgun-sequenced genomes from 100 skeletons spanning 7,300 years of the Mesolithic period, Neolithic period and Early Bronze Age in Denmark and integrated these with proxies for diet ( 13 C and 15 N content), mobility ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio) and vegetation cover (pollen). We observe that Danish Mesolithic individuals of the Maglemose, Kongemose and Ertebølle cultures form a distinct genetic cluster related to other Western European hunter-gatherers. Despite shifts in material culture they displayed genetic homogeneity from around 10,500 to 5,900 calibrated years before present, when Neolithic farmers with Anatolian-derived ancestry arrived. Although the Neolithic transition was delayed by more than a millennium relative to Central Europe, it was very abrupt and resulted in a population turnover with limited genetic contribution from local hunter-gatherers. The succeeding Neolithic population, associated with the Funnel Beaker culture, persisted for only about 1,000 years before immigrants with eastern Steppe-derived ancestry arrived. This second and equally rapid population replacement gave rise to the Single Grave culture with an ancestry profile more similar to present-day Danes. In our multiproxy dataset, these major demographic events are manifested as parallel shifts in genotype, phenotype, diet and land use., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The emergence of craft specialisation is a key area of interest for archaeologists investigating the socio-economic history and development of past societies. In southwest Asia, as elsewhere, the origins of craft specialisation have been associated with the emergence of surplus food production, households and social stratification. We present evidence for nascent skilled production of green stone beads at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) site Shubayqa 6, northeast Jordan. Thousands of pieces of debitage, roughouts and finished beads exhibit signs of standardised production that was probably geared towards exchange. This hints towards incipient skilled craft production that was likely part-time and seasonal. We therefore argue that the appearance of specialist artisans in this autonomous and non-hierarchical society has no correlation with surplus food production, households, or social stratification., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Thuesen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN) is a devastating complication of some diseases affecting the peripheral nervous system. Initial subjective and objective presentation of the disease can be variable. Common among all presentations seems to be uncontrolled inflammation yielding dislocations and/or fractures. The exact cause remains the subject of much debate., Methods: Our study retrospectively looks at the function of olfactory function in consecutive patients with CN and compares the findings with a nonaffected population. The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test was used to assess olfaction and document microsomia., Results: Twenty consecutive patients presenting with CN demonstrated significant (P < .0001) microsomia when compared to an unaffected population with diabetes., Conclusions: Microsomia is strongly associated with CN. This finding may be correlated to voltage-gated sodium 1.7 channel impairment and appears to be a candidate precursor for the development of CN.