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Studies of early fourth-millennium BC Britain have typically focused on the Early Neolithic sites of Wessex and Orkney; what can the investigation of sites located in areas beyond these core regions add? The authors report on excavations (2011-2019) at Dorstone Hill in Herefordshire, which have revealed a remarkable complex of Early Neolithic monuments: three long barrows constructed on the footprints of three timber buildings that had been deliberately burned, plus a nearby causewayed enclosure. A Bayesian chronological model demonstrates the precocious character of many of the site's elements and strengthens the evidence for the role of tombs and houses/halls in the creation and commemoration of foundational social groups in Neolithic Britain. Keywords: Britain, Neolithic, long mounds, causewayed enclosure, Bayesian modelling, social organisation, Introduction Recent years have seen lively discussions of the earliest centuries of the Neolithic period in Britain. The movement of new populations into these islands from the end of the [...]

For some professionally, vocationally, or technically oriented careers, curricula delivered in higher education establishments may focus on teaching material related to a single discipline. By contrast, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary teaching(MITT) results in improved affective and cognitive learning and critical thinking, offering learners/students the opportunity to obtain a broad general knowledge base. Chemistry is a discipline that sits at the interface of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine(STEMM) subjects (and those aligned with or informed by STEMM subjects). This article discusses the significant potential of inclusion of chemistry in MITT activities in higher education and the real-world importance in personal, organizational, national, and global contexts. It outlines the development and implementation challenges attributed to legacy higher education infrastructures (that call for creative visionary leadership with strong and supportive management and administrative functions), and curriculum design that ensures inclusivity and collaboration and is pitched and balanced appropriately. It concludes with future possibilities, notably highlighting that chemistry, as a discipline, underpins industries that have multibillion dollar turnovers and employ millions of people across the world.

Background The incidence of esophageal and gastric carcinoma (GEC) in elderly patients is increasing, yet patients ≥75 years have historically been underrepresented in clinical trials. We sought to investigate palliative chemotherapy administration patterns and survival outcomes in older adults. Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis identified patients aged 65-74 (young-old) and ≥75 years (older-old) diagnosed with advanced GEC. Patient and tumor characteristics were recorded, with descriptive analysis, time-to-event data analysis using Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis performed. Results One hundred and ninety-eight "young-old" and 109 'older-old' patients were identified. Patient characteristics were similar between groups except for Charlson Co-morbidity Index (CCI), with lower co-morbidities in the "young-old" compared to "older-old" cohort (P  < .001; CCI = 0 in 103 (52%) "young-old" vs 31 (28%) "older-old"). The primary diagnosis in both groups was adenocarcinoma. 119 (60%) "young-old" and 25 (23%) "older-old" patients received chemotherapy (P  < .001). Performance status was the primary explanation for chemotherapy non-receipt in both cohorts; age was the explanation in 21 (25%) "older-old" patients and none in the "young-old" patients. PFS for first-line systemic therapy in "young-old" patients was 6.4 (95% CI 5.9-7.6) versus 7.5 months (95% CI 5.1-11.3) in "older-old" patients (P  = .69) whilst respective OS was 12.3 (95% CI 10.1-15.5) and 10.4 months (95% CI 9.0-14.6) (P  = .0816). Toxicity prompted chemotherapy cessation in 17 (15%) "young-old" and 3 (13%) "older-old" patients (P  = .97). Multivariate analysis identified CCI and ECOG performance status as predictive for PFS and OS, respectively. No causative relationship was identified with other variables. Conclusion Our study of real-world older-adults show that significant number of "older-old" patients with GEC do not receive chemotherapy. Among "older-old" adults who do receive systemic therapy, outcomes are comparable; this underscores the importance of geriatric assessment-guided care and suggests that age alone should not be a barrier to receipt of chemotherapy in patients with advanced GEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barrows are a prominent feature of Britain's Bronze Age landscape. While they originated as burial monuments, they also appear to have acquired other roles in prehistory. British prehistorians, however, have been hampered in their interpretations of these monuments, as they are wary of speculating about how Bronze Age people might have conceptualised their dead. Here, the authors suggest that a recurring pattern of inversion is significant. They use Conceptual Metaphor Theory to argue that Bronze Age people in Britain saw their dead inhabiting an inverted underworld directly beneath the surface of the earth. This interpretation would explain not only burial practices, but also some of the barrows' other apparent functions, such as guarding boundaries and controlling routeways. Keywords: Bronze Age, barrows, archaeology of death, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Introduction At the 'Landscapes of the Dead: Exploring Bronze Age Barrowscapes' conference held in London in 2019, it was suggested that archaeologists would make more progress towards understanding barrows if [...]