Mainland Europe Research Articles

P174 Psoriatic arthritis patients in the UK have a lower quality of life than patients in mainland Europe - an analysis from the ASSIST study

Abstract Background/Aims Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a heterogeneous, multi-dimensional disease. Treatment pathways are not well defined and have to be tailored to the individual; however, little is known about the factors underpinning a decision to intensify treatment. By comparing treatment data between countries, we can understand more about factors influencing patient outcomes and establish international benchmarks in practice. Methods ASSIST was a cross sectional study of patients (18 years and older) diagnosed with PsA. Participants were selected from 24 centres across 5 countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain). Patients were selected from face to face (F2F) appointments using systematic sampling with random starting numbers generated for each site. Participants were treated as usual in their routine clinical practice. The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and the EQ-5D-5L QoL survey were provided to all participants as patient-reported outcome tools. The perceived confidence on patient-physician interaction score (PEPPI) and the CollaboRATE measure were used to assess patient satisfaction with a consultation. Results 503 patients from 24 centres across five countries in Europe (49.1% F, 50.9% M) (mean age 53) participated in the survey between 12/07/2021-22/03/2022. Despite similar rates of treatment escalation and similar satisfaction with consultations, QoL was poorer in the UK. Comparing EQ-5D-5L scores, participants in the UK (107) reported worse outcomes across all domains except pain/discomfort versus participants in mainland Europe (396). 52.3% in the UK reported some problems with self-care versus 33.9% in mainland Europe. 72.9% of patients in the UK reported issues with mobility (mainland Europe: 61.6%). The UK had the highest percentage of participants reporting issues with anxiety (66.4%). The UK had the most severe HAQ scores, (mean= 0.936) compared to means of 0.62 or below in other countries. Physician-reported severity of disease was higher in the UK; however, patients in the UK reported the second highest PEPPI scores, the second highest collaboRATE scores and comparable methods of treatment escalation (dose adjustment or addition of another medication) to mainland Europe. Moreover, data on co-morbidities (including FCI categorical breakdown) does not demonstrate obvious variation between the UK and Europe. Conclusion Overall, patients with PsA in the UK reported lower quality of life (QoL) compared to patients in mainland Europe. It is not clear from our data why the UK performs less well on the majority of EQ-5D-5L domains and HAQ scoring compared to Europe. This may relate to variation in disease activity; however, there is potential selection bias in the higher disease activity reported by physicians in the UK as patients with more severe disease could have been selected for F2F appointments compared to mainland Europe. There may also be additional factors outside of the consultation impacting these scores, which could be identified with future research. Disclosure C. Coyle: None. L. Watson: None. M. Brooke: None. U. Kiltz: None. E. Lubrano: None. R. Queiro: None. D. Trigos: None. J. Brandt-Jürgens: None. S. D'Angelo: None. A. Delle Sedie: None. E. Dernis: None. P. Helliwell: None. P. Ho: None. A. Hueber: None. B. Joven Ibáñez: None. M. Köhm: None. C. Montilla Morales: None. J. Packham: None. J. Antonio Pinto Tasende: None. F. Ramíez García: None. A. Ruyssen-witrand: None. R. Scrivo: None. S. Twigg: None. M. Welcker: None. M. Soubrier: None. T. Wirth: None. L. Gossec: None. L. Coates: None.

Indigenous war captives and mobility-oriented punishments: An Atlantic-Mediterranean world perspective

ABSTRACT This study explores two well-known case studies involving the removal of Indigenous war captives from their places of origin to fortifications or to Mediterranean galley ships to do forced labor. I draw on known scholarship on Indigenous war captives in New England and New France during the seventeenth century to consider the local conditions in Europe and North America that created the possibility for the dispersal of captives. Europeans moved Indigenous captives for various reasons and responded to the actions and demands of Indigenous polities, particularly during times of warfare or raiding. Rather than placing Indigenous history into European power frameworks, I focus on how mobility-oriented punishments are simultaneously connected to events in interior continental Indigenous and the European mainland. By doing so, I offer a critique of the settler colonial paradigm.

Perbandingan Prestasi Belajar Siswa di SMAN 4 Kota Jambi dan SMAN 3 Muaro Jambi

Learning achievement is a measure of the success or failure of an educational process. Learning achievement can also be interpreted as something that is produced or the result of an activity that is done, created both individually and in groups. Student achievement is influenced by internal factors and external factors. Learning achievement of students can be measured from the results that have been achieved by students both from internal and external factors because the evaluation results can reflect the ability of students to master the material that has been taught. These results show in the learning achievement of students at SMAN 4 Kota Jambi and SMAN 3 Muaro Jambi that each school has its own advantages, especially in the learning achievement of its students. The two schools show a significant comparison in the management of school activities. At SMAN 4 Jambi City, the non-academic achievement obtained was that one of the students had won the rank of the Indonesian under 17 national football team which would be held in mainland Europe, Turkey. This is certainly something to be proud of for the school, parents and students themselves. Meanwhile, at SMAN 3 Muaro Jambi, one of the students was selected to become PASKIBRAKA in Jambi Province

The Ries impact and its distal effects in sediments of Central Europe—A review

AbstractThe Ries impact is the most important cosmic event in the younger geological history of Europe. Its effects reach far beyond the area considered so far and are documented in manifold evidence. In this paper, the widely scattered reports in the literature are compiled and supported with investigations by the authors. Besides well‐known ejecta features like the Brockhorizont, Reuter's blocks, and moldavites, little known or forgotten indications, like a lechatelierite and β‐cristobalite occurrence in Bavaria and unusual sedimentation phenomena in northern Germany, are presented. The paleogeographic reconstruction shows that the Ries impact occurred on the southern side of the Neogene Central European mainland. Large parts of this erosional area were devastated by the impact. Pressure waves and thermal radiation had a lasting effect on the landscape within hundreds of kilometers around the impact site. Destruction of the vegetation cover by impact‐induced storms, wildfires, and heavy rainfall generated intense erosion. The adjacent sedimentation area to the north (Paleo‐North Sea) experienced an increased and short‐term supply of terrestrial debris to the marine environment. The stratigraphic coincidence of these exceptional sediments with the Ries event leads us to conclude that the distal effects of the impact are present here, which have so far received little or no attention in this context. The paper considers the different indications and sets them in a large‐scale context.

The Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland, by Brian James Stone

The Rhetorical Arts in Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland, by Brian James Stone

Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530–1700: Suppression, Migration, and Reintegration by Bronagh Ann McShane (review)

Reviewed by: Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530–1700: Suppression, Migration, and Reintegration by Bronagh Ann McShane James E. Kelly Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530–1700: Suppression, Migration, and Reintegration. By Bronagh Ann McShane. (Woodbridge: Boydell Press 2022. Pp. xv, 324. $115.00. ISBN: 9781783277308.) Long considered nearly impossible due to the disparate nature of the sources, Bronagh Ann McShane has produced the first overarching study of Irish women associated with religious orders in the early modern period. Gathering evidence from mentions scattered throughout a range of materials, McShane successfully traces various forms of Irish female religious commitment from the dissolution of religious houses in the 1530s and 1540s to the end of the seventeenth century, including both those at home and in mainland Europe. Her opening two chapters consider the suppression and survival of female religious life during the Henrician dissolution of the monasteries. McShane judges the reformation in Ireland to have been far less systematic than that in England, though, unlike their male equivalents, it did manage to crush institutional expressions of female religious life. Having to rely on some conjecture to draw conclusions about what happened to the women after their convents were dissolved, McShane uncovers evidence of different types of religious life being adopted, including as tertiaries affiliated to male mendicant orders, and the short-lived but pioneering Catholic Reformation experiment that was the Mná Bochta (Poor Women), who worked alongside the small Jesuit mission in an active apostolate. Fairly heavy on detailed financial records and Irish family history, these two chapters are followed by a shift in focus to look at migration, and those women who went abroad to pursue their vocations. Really hitting her stride, McShane tracks several Irish women who made the journey to mainland Europe. Some entered local convents, though a number headed to English houses established in exile, especially the Poor Clares at Gravelines. Nevertheless, a Dominican convent was [End Page 405] founded for the Irish nation at Lisbon. Intriguingly, it seems to have been markedly different from the exile English convents; both enjoyed local support, though the Irish Dominican convent appears to have been wealthier than the majority of English ones, and was a popular destination for Portuguese nun recruits as much as it was for Irish women. The final section examines the return of professed female religious life to Ireland. The slightly more tolerant 1630s witnessed a cautious return, which flourished under the Catholic confederacy of the 1640s before being crushed during the Cromwellian wars. Following the restoration of the monarchy with Charles II in 1660, McShane outlines attempts at again fostering female religious life in the country that reached greater heights under the Catholic toleration that followed the accession of James II. However, the Glorious Revolution and the Williamite wars halted official advancement, McShane judging, though, that it was nowhere near as traumatic as the Cromwellian period, and female religious life continued in Ireland into the eighteenth century. Tracing down these stories across a variety of sources is an impressive achievement that should not be underestimated. At times, the book's shifting focus affects its wider definitive positioning, whether to go all out for Irish national history, the history of the Catholic Reformation, or gender history. There is also a question at the book's heart: as McShane acknowledges, the formation of Irish women religious in exile English convents was "pivotal" (p. 249); yet the question of why there was not an equivalent exile movement for Irish women religious is not answered. With far greater numbers of Catholic women in Ireland, why was it that the English conventual movement was so much bigger? That this book raises such a question is testament to McShane's convincing achievement. Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530–1700, fills an obvious gap in the scholarship and, proving that it can be done, should encourage others to work on early modern Irish women religious. James E. Kelly Durham University James E. Kelly Durham University Copyright © 2023 The Catholic University of America Press

Biogeographical Patterns of Earwigs in Italy

Placed in the center of the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot, Italy plays a central role for the study of Europe's biogeography. In this paper, the influence of climatic, spatial, and historical factors on current patterns of variation in earwig species richness and composition is investigated. The Italian earwig fauna is mainly composed of species which are either widely distributed in Europe and the Palearctic region or that are endemic to the Alps and the Apennines. Variation in species richness does not follow any obvious geographical patterns, but a positive influence of precipitation on richness is consistent with earwig preferences for humid climates. European mainland territories did not contribute substantially to the current biodiversity of Italian earwigs, which explains the lack of a distinct peninsula effect, although a southward decrease in similarity with the central European fauna was observed. However, southern areas did not exert a pivotal role during Pleistocene glaciations in determining current patterns of species richness. Variation in species composition among Italian regions can be mostly explained by geographical proximity, while climatic differences and historical (paleogeographical and paleoecological) events seem to have played a minor role. However, the isolation of ancient earwig stocks on Italian mountains led to the origin of a relatively large number of endemics, which makes the Italian earwig fauna one of the richest in Europe.

Faded landscape: unravelling peat initiation and lateral expansion at one of northwest Europe's largest bog remnants

Abstract. On the mainland of northwest Europe generally only remnants of former peat landscapes subsist. Due to the poor preservation of these landscapes, alternative approaches to reconstruct peat initiation and lateral expansion are needed compared to regions with intact peat cover. Here we aim (1) to find explanatory variables within a digital soil mapping approach that allow us to reconstruct the pattern of peat initiation and lateral expansion within (and potentially beyond) peat remnants, and (2) to reconstruct peat initiation ages and lateral expansion for one of the largest bog remnants of the northwest European mainland, Fochteloërveen. Basal radiocarbon dates were obtained from the peat remnant, which formed the basis for subsequent analyses. We investigated the relationship between peat initiation age and three potential covariates: (1) total thickness of organic deposits, (2) elevation of the Pleistocene mineral surface that underlies the organic deposits, and (3) a constructed variable representing groundwater-fed wetness based on elevation of the mineral surface and current hydraulic head. Significant relationships were found with covariates (1) and (3), which were then used for subsequent modelling. Our results indicate simultaneous peat initiation at several loci in Fochteloërveen during the Early Holocene and continuous lateral expansion until 900 cal BP. Lateral expansion accelerated between 5500–3500 cal BP. Our approach is spatially explicit (i.e. results in a map of peat initiation ages), and it allows for a quantitative evaluation of the prediction using the standard deviation and comparison of predictions with validation points. The applied method based on covariate (1) is only useful where remnant peat survived, whereas covariate (3) may ultimately be applied to reconstruct peat initiation ages and lateral peatland expansion beyond the limits of peat remnants.

A reappraisal of the lost suids from the Late Miocene of Gravitelli (Sicily, Italy) and paleobiogeographical implications

The long-lost mammal fauna from Gravitelli (Messina, Sicily, Italy) represents one of the most important records for investigating faunal dynamics during the Late Miocene of the Mediterranean, although it is unfortunately only known from descriptions carried out in the early 1900s, as the original collection was lost during the Messina Earthquake of 1908. Gravitelli suids have been referred to Propotamochoerus sp. after the redescription of the casts of two specimens that survived to the present day. However, there is further material that has not been considered, which makes that of Gravitelli one of the most abundant samples of Late Miocene suids from Italy, with a minimum number of four individuals represented. A reappraisal of all Gravitelli suids allows to ascribe them to Propotamochoerus provincialis (Suinae, Dicoryphochoerini), following a comparison with related Late Miocene to Pliocene species from Eurasia. Moreover, the re-examination of the geological setting of the locality reveals that the mammal fauna of Gravitelli occurred well below the pre-evaporitic deposits of the Tripoli Formation, whose base is dated in Sicily at ∼7 Ma. Therefore, Gravitelli fauna either dates to the late Tortonian or, at most, to the earliest pre-evaporitic Messinian, corresponding to MN 11 or MN 12 in terms of mammal biochronology. This implies that the occurrence of P. provincialis at Gravitelli is the earliest in Italy and that emerged land masses connected Sicily with the European mainland earlier than 7 Ma. Available dates support a diachronous dispersal of Propotamochoerus in western Europe during the Turolian, being first known from the Balkans ∼8.3 Ma, then from Gravitelli prior to 7 Ma, and then from the Iberian Peninsula since ∼6.2 Ma. A similar pattern is known for Mesopithecus (Cercopithecidae). Although often discussed in light of its potential significance for Afro-Eurasian dispersals, only a fraction of the mammal fauna of Gravitelli has been reconsidered systematically. Notwithstanding the necessity of such dedicated studies, the faunal elements identified so far have an almost entirely European character and no species is shared with Cessaniti (Calabria), despite the two faunas have often been considered part of a paleobioprovince documenting a connection between southern Italy and northern Africa. At Gravitelli, the only species of African origin is the endemic hippo Hexaprotodon? siculus, but the extensive fossil record of insular hippopotamids testifies to their ability to colonize islands even in the absence of land bridges. Gravitelli hippos are nonetheless noteworthy, as the revised age of the site implies that they represent the earliest hippopotamids known outside Africa.

Spore dispersal patterns of the ascomycete fungus Ramulariacollo-cygni and their influence on disease epidemics

Ramularia leaf spot is a major economic disease of barley caused by the dothidiomycete fungus Ramulariacollo-cygni. The fungus has a complex life cycle which includes extensive late season spore release events and a seed-borne phase. Predicting disease epidemics during the growing season remains a difficult challenge. To better understand the interaction between spore movement and disease epidemics, spore samplers were set up in Germany (two sites over 4 years), Poland (seven sites over 2 years) and the UK (two sites over 9 years), where the disease has been observed. Spore concentrations were determined using a real time PCR assay, and meteorological data were obtained from co-located automatic stations. Spore release events were seen to peak in June on mainland Europe and July in the UK. The pattern of spore release was broadly similar across countries with earlier peaks in mainland Europe. A relationship was observed in the UK between July spore levels and disease in following winter barley crops. Rainfall and temperature were proposed as significant drivers of spore release in these months. The major environmental parameter associated with spore release across the two UK sites was crop surface wetness, although some site-specific interactions were noted for rainfall and wind movement. Regression analysis of spore patterns and disease epidemics indicates a relationship between spore levels 75–105 days pre harvest and final disease levels in UK winter barley crops. This relationship was not observed in spring barley. The implications on risk forecasts are discussed.

Simacauda dicommatias (Meyrick, 1931) (Lepidoptera: Incurvariidae), a South American species established in Cornwall, new to the British Isles and unknown in mainland Europe, with first details of its biology

An account is provided of the discovery of Simacauda dicommatias (Meyrick, 1931) (Incurvariidae) at 26 sites in Cornwall, England, all in the larval stage, being initially leafminers then case-bearers on South American members of the Myrtaceae, mainly Luma apiculata (DC.) Burret, with moths being reared, and species identification confirmed by genitalic examination. This is the first time that the species has been found in the British Isles and it is unknown in mainland Europe. S. dicommatias is native to Argentina and Chile where it occurs in Andean (Valdivian) temperate rainforests. The biology appears to be unknown there, although adults have been collected around stands of L. apiculata. The generic identity is additionally confirmed by a DNA barcode (658 base pairs) obtained from the abdomen of one specimen from Cornwall. This matches (within 1.69% divergence for 296 comparable nucleotides) a COI fragment on BOLD from a specimen collected in Parque Nacional Puyehue, Chile, which is there misidentified as Simacauda virescens Nielsen & Davis, 1981, but is 8.75% divergent from another two short sequences (correctly) so identified. It is known that William Lobb, whilst employed by James Veitch & Son, imported L. apiculata (now an invasive species in the British Isles), with one or more other Chilean Myrtaceae in the mid-1840s. It remains to be tested if S. dicommatias may prove to be the earliest known example of an established adventive insect accidentally introduced from South America to the British Isles.

Environmental Dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 in a University Hospital during the COVID-19 5th Wave Delta Variant Peak in Castile-León, Spain.

The dominant SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) became the main circulating variant among countries by mid 2021. Attention was raised to the increased risk of airborne transmission, leading to nosocomial outbreaks even among vaccinated individuals. Considering the increased number of COVID-19 hospital admissions fueled by the spread of the variant, with Spain showing the highest COVID-19 rates in mainland Europe by July 2021, the aim of this study was to assess SARS-CoV-2 environmental contamination in different areas of a University Hospital in the region of Castile-León, Spain, during the peak of the 5th wave of COVID-19 in the country (July 2021). Air samples were collected from sixteen different areas of the Hospital using a Coriolis® μ air sampler. Surface samples were collected in these same areas using sterile flocked plastic swabs. RNA extraction followed by a one-step RT-qPCR were performed for detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Of the 21 air samples, only one was positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, from the emergency waiting room. Of the 40 surface samples, 2 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, both from the microbiology laboratory. These results may be relevant for risk assessment of nosocomial infection within healthcare facilities, thus helping prevent and minimize healthcare staff's exposure to SARS-CoV-2, reinforcing the importance of always wearing appropriate and well-fit masks at all times and proper PPE when in contact with infected patients.

A comprehensive assessment of COVID-19 mobility management measures: An evidence-based worldwide review

In this study we reviewed a wide array of databases to categorize the mobility management measures in more than 40 countries worldwide during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixteen types of measures were identified and associated with certain features (transport modes, stringency index, application scale, socioeconomic benefits etc.). Europe highly promoted cycling-friendly measures while the USA and Canada favored measures with mutual benefits to pedestrians, public transport, and outdoor-space businesses. Oceania and Asia followed stricter containment policies with a less diverse bundle of mobility measures. The gradual application of few mobility measures was highlighted as a successful pandemic suppression strategy in mainland Europe. Our findings enable a deeper understanding of mobility measures’ purpose and impact and support optimal strategies for addressing epidemics.

Using DNA metabarcoding to explore spatial variation in diet across European Hawfinch populations

The investigation of diet in avian species is essential for understanding their ecology and local adaptations, as well as long-term conservation. This can be particularly challenging because of the wide distribution and high ecological plasticity of many bird species. Here, we focused on the Hawfinch (<em>Coccothraustes coccothraustes</em>), which has shown variation in population trends. Across Europe, central and eastern European populations are moderately declining while western European populations are moderately increasing. Ecological drivers behind these differing trends are still unknown; one possibility is differences in diet, yet little research has been conducted into Hawfinch diet in mainland Europe or elsewhere. Dietary richness and variation are under-studied in woodland bird species, due primarily to challenges in accurately identifying plant and invertebrate taxa consumed. This study presents the first molecular dietary analysis of Hawfinch populations across two European countries. Faecal samples were collected between January and July of 2019 from Hawfinch caught at six artificial feed sites: two in Denmark and four in Germany. We successfully extracted DNA from 80 samples by amplifying plant Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) and invertebrate Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit 1 (COI) barcodes. A total of 35 plant and 37 invertebrate taxa were found, with plant and insect orders Fagales and Lepidoptera, respectively, the most frequently detected. Hawfinch dietary composition differed significantly between European countries, suggesting Hawfinch can make use of available food resources that are likely to differ spatially. Our study shows how DNA metabarcoding can be used to provide novel ecological information associated with under-studied bird species, thus providing essential information for future management and conservation of Hawfinch and their habitats.

Climate impact storylines for assessing socio-economic responses to remote events

Quote: “What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand.” (Xunzi, ∼300 BCE).Modelling complex interactions involving climatic features, socio-economic vulnerability or responses, and long impact transmissions is associated with substantial uncertainty. Physical climate storylines are proposed as an approach to explore complex impact transmission pathways and possible alternative unfoldings of event cascades under future climate conditions. These storylines are particularly useful for climate risk assessment for complex domains, including event cascades crossing multiple disciplinary or geographical borders. For an effective role in climate risks assessments, development guidelines are needed to consistently develop and interpret the storyline event analyses.This paper elaborates on the suitability of physical climate storyline approaches involving climate event induced shocks propagating into societal impacts. It proposes a set of common elements to construct the event storylines. In addition, criteria for their application for climate risk assessment are given, referring to the need for storylines to be physically plausible, relevant for the specific context, and risk-informative.Apart from an illustrative gallery of storyline examples found in literature, three examples of varying scope and complexity are presented in detail, all involving the potential impact on European socio-economic sectors induced by remote climate change features occurring far outside the geographical domain of the European mainland. The storyline examples illustrate the application of the proposed storyline components and evaluate the suitability of the criteria defined in this paper. It thereby contributes to a rigorous design and application of event-based climate storyline approaches.

Tracking westerly wind directions over Europe since the middle Holocene

The variability of the northern westerlies has been considered as one of the key elements for modern and past climate evolution. Their multiscale behavior and underlying control mechanisms, however, are incompletely understood, owing to the complex dynamics of Atlantic sea-level pressures. Here, we present a multi-annually resolved record of the westerly drift over the past 6,500 years from northern Italy. In combination with more than 20 other westerly-sensitive records, our results depict the non-stationary westerly-affected regions over mainland Europe on multi-decadal to multi-centennial time scales, showing that the direction of the westerlies has changed with respect to the migrations of the North Atlantic centers of action since the middle Holocene. Our findings suggest the crucial role of the migrations of the North Atlantic dipole in modulating the westerly-affected domain over Europe, possibly modulated by Atlantic Ocean variability.

KONTRIBUSI SISTEM CIVIL LAW (EROPA KONTINENTAL) TERHADAP PERKEMBANGAN SISTEM HUKUM DI INDONESIA

The legal system is a set of regulations, including commands, restrictions, and permissibility. The Civil Law System and the Anglo-Saxon System are the two legal systems now in use in the world. As a legacy of the Dutch colonial authority, Indonesia follows the Civil Law system, or Continental Europe. A normative legal research methodology using secondary data types was used. The Civil Law system, which emerged in countries in Mainland Europe and was codified from Ancient Roman Law, is the subject of this study's findings and discussion. The 13th century saw the beginning of the movement of this system, which has a lengthy history and is inextricably linked to economic, political, and intellectual forces in Western Europe. This system of laws acknowledges the division between public and private law. The Civil Law system is characterized by the existence of a codification or legal record that preserves the law and serves as a foundation or mechanism for judges to act and uphold the legal system documented in the law. The three dimensions of the national legal order, which is based on the Civil Law legal order, are the maintenance dimension, the renewal dimension, and the creative dimension. Along with these features, the Civil Law system also strengthens Indonesia's legal framework by, among other things, creating new laws, discovering new laws, and using judges as law's mouthpieces to enforce laws that affect people's daily lives.

About the age and depositional depth of the sediments with reported bipedal footprints at Trachilos (NW Crete, Greece)

New data on the foraminifers and the regional geological setting of the Trachilos sediments (NW Crete, Greece) from which Gierlinski et al. (Proc Geol Assoc 128: 697–710, 2017) described hominin-like footprints show that the published 6.05 Ma-shallow marine interpretation is incorrect. In our new interpretation, the Trachilos succession is Late Pliocene and part of a shallowing marine series that became subaerially exposed some 3 millions of years ago. Placed in a larger geological context, Crete was an island during the Late Pliocene and separated by ~ 100 km of open sea from the nearest European mainland, and therefore out of reach of Late Pliocene hominins.

Ozone pollution in London and Edinburgh: spatiotemporal characteristics, trends, transport and the impact of COVID-19 control measures

Air pollution remains the most serious environmental health issue in the United Kingdom while also carrying non-trivial economic costs. The COVID-19 lockdown periods reduced anthropogenic emissions and offered unique conditions for air pollution research. This study sources fine-granularity geo-spatial air quality and meteorological data for the capital cities of two UK countries (i.e. England's capital London and Scotland's capital Edinburgh) from the UK Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) spanning 2016–2022 to assess long-term trends in several criteria pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, O3, and CO) and the changes in ozone pollution during the pandemic period. Unlike other studies conducted thus far, this research integrates several tools in trend estimation, including the Mann-Kendall test, the Theil-Sen estimator with bootstrap resampling, and the generalized additive model (GAM). Moreover, several investigations, including cluster trajectory analysis, pollution rose plots, and potential source contribution function (PSCF), are also employed to identify potential origin sources for air masses carrying precursors and estimate their contributions to ozone concentrations at receptor sites and downwind areas. The main findings reveal that most of the criteria pollutants show a decreasing trend in both geographies over the seven-year period, except for O3, which presents a significant ascending trend in London and a milder ascending trend in Edinburgh. However, O3 concentrations have significantly decreased during the year 2020 in both urban areas, despite registering sharp increases during the first lockdown period. In turn, these findings indicate on one hand that the O3 generation process is in the VOC-limited regime in both UK urban areas and, on the other hand, confirm previous findings that, when stretching the analysis period, diminishing ozone levels can lead to NOx reduction even in VOC-controlled geographies. Trajectory analysis reveals that northern Europe, particularly Norway and Sweden, is a principal ozone pollution source for Edinburgh, whereas, for London, mainland Europe (i.e., the Benelux countries) is another significant source. The results have important policy implications, revealing that effective and efficient NOx abatement measures spur ozone pollution in the short-term, but the increase can be transient. Moreover, policymakers in London and Edinburgh should consider that both local and transboundary sources contribute to local ozone pollution.

Archaeology and History: A Late Antiquity for Britain

Archaeology and History: A Late Antiquity for Britain