This article presents the preliminary results of investigations at the site of Qach Rresh on the Erbil Plain of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, conducted by the Rural Landscapes of Iron Age Imperial Mesopotamia project (RLIIM). The site of Qach Rresh is estimated to have been founded in the mid–eighth century B.C.E., at the height of the Assyrian Empire, and continued to be utilised in varying capacity until the onset of the Hellenistic period (c. 320 B.C.E.). Magnetic gradiometry survey and excavations currently suggest that Qach Rresh served as a rural administrative/storage center during the Assyrian Empire, which fell into disrepair following the empire’s collapse. The following post-Assyrian/Iron Age III period then saw several of its large buildings repurposed as refuse areas containing debris from largely domestic contexts. Qach Rresh is the first rural settlement investigated within the Assyrian imperial heartland. The results from this project seem to indicate a high degree of Assyrian state or elite involvement in the countryside, serving as a critical first foray into assessing the relationship between urban governing centers and their “hinterlands”.

Uganda has received praise for its success in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. This opinion piece uses publically available data from Johns Hopkins University to suggest that it is far from clear whether the Public Health and Social Measures (PHSM) introduced in Uganda influenced the course of the first outbreak. In addition, the analysis of data from the second and third waves in Uganda suggest that government action had little or no effect on these outbreaks. The dominant narrative of successful PHSM, therefore, needs to be reconsidered, and alternative explanations for the low rates of COVID-19-related mortality in the country need to be further understood.

Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarctica Boulenger) are a keystone species in the Ross Sea. Silverfish eggs and larvae are abundant during spring amongst the sub-surface platelet ice in Terra Nova Bay. It is not known whether the eggs are spawned elsewhere and accumulate under the ice or whether there is mass migration of silverfish to coastal spawning sites in winter. To test the latter hypothesis, an upward-looking 67 kHz echo sounder was moored in Terra Nova Bay to observe potential silverfish migration. The echo sounder was deployed at 380 m in a seabed depth of 550 m and ran for 210 days from 15 May until 11 December 2015. Acoustic reflections consistent with silverfish were observed at depths of 230–380 m during 9–22 September. This timing is consistent with the presence of eggs typically observed in October. Adult silverfish were also detected with an echo sounder and camera deployed through the ice in McMurdo Sound on 10 November 2015. Juvenile silverfish, but not adults, were observed through the ice in Terra Nova Bay during 11–16 November 2017. This paper provides a proof of concept, showing that innovative use of acoustics may help fill important observation gaps in the life history of silverfish.

As Europeans colonized California, they introduced annual grasses from the Mediterranean Basin. These exotic annual grasses eventually invaded grasslands throughout the state, some of which were once dominated by native perennial grass species. Annual grasses differ from perennials in their phenology, longevity, rooting depth, litter chemistry, and interaction with the microbial community. As these traits may influence plant nitrogen (N) use, it is likely that the invasion by annual species resulted in changes in the availability and cycling of N in California grassland systems. We addressed the question of how invasive annual grasses influence rates of N cycling by measuring N pool sizes and rates of net and gross mineralization and nitrification, gross immobilization, and the denitrification potential of soils from experimentally planted annual and perennial-dominated grasslands. With an increase in annual grass cover, we saw increases in ammonium (NH4+) pool sizes and rates of N mineralization, nitrification, and denitrification in soils. These differences in N status suggest that N cycling in California grasslands was altered at sites where native perennial bunchgrasses were invaded by nonnative annual grasses. One consequence of annual grass invasion may be a legacy of NH4+-enriched soils that hinder the reestablishment of native perennial grass species.

A dramatic reduction in catch rates of Antarctic toothfish in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, has led to conclusions that the commercial bottom longline fishery for toothfish in the Ross Sea has drastically altered the toothfish population with cascading effects on the McMurdo Sound ecosystem. However, results from a new monitoring programme for Antarctic toothfish and other top predators carried out in McMurdo Sound in 2014 have shown toothfish catch rate, fish size and fish age similar to those observed prior to 2002. These results suggest that either large and old fish have returned to McMurdo Sound following a temporary environmentally driven absence or that they remained locally present but were not detected in the areas sampled. These findings highlight the importance of continued standardized monitoring for detecting the potential effects of fishing on the Ross Sea ecosystem.

Background: Research suggests that core schemas are important in both the development and maintenance of psychosis. Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate and compare core schemas in four groups along the continuum of psychosis and examine the relationships between schemas and positive psychotic symptomatology. Method: A measure of core schemas was distributed to 20 individuals experiencing first-episode psychosis (FEP), 113 individuals with “at risk mental states” (ARMS), 28 participants forming a help-seeking clinical group (HSC), and 30 non-help-seeking individuals who endorse some psychotic-like experiences (NH). Results: The clinical groups scored significantly higher than the NH group for negative beliefs about self and about others. No significant effects of group on positive beliefs about others were found. For positive beliefs about the self, the NH group scored significantly higher than the clinical groups. Furthermore, negative beliefs about self and others were related to positive psychotic symptomatology and to distress related to those experiences. Conclusions: Negative evaluations of the self and others appear to be characteristic of the appraisals of people seeking help for psychosis and psychosis-like experiences. The results support the literature that suggests that self-esteem should be a target for intervention. Future research would benefit from including comparison groups of people experiencing chronic psychosis and people who do not have any psychotic-like experiences.

Background: A cognitive model of psychosis suggests that appraisals of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), and the subsequent responses adopted, are responsible for the maintenance of distress and disability associated with psychosis. Aims: This study aimed to investigate whether it is possible to manipulate appraisals of an anomalous experience in people at risk of psychosis and whether this affects levels of distress. Method: Participants who had experienced an “at risk mental state” (ARMS) within the past year, were randomized to one of two groups and received either negative or neutral information pertaining to an anomalous experience (a card trick). Participants completed a questionnaire measuring PLEs, then completed pre and post measures of distress and anxiety in relation to the card trick. Participants were also asked to rate a series of psychotic or non-psychotic appraisals regarding how they thought the card trick worked. Results: Data analysis revealed that distress and anxiety were not related to the information group assigned (our experimental manipulation was unsuccessful). However, when analyzed as one group, higher conviction in non-psychotic appraisals was found to be related to lower levels of distress and state anxiety. Conclusions: The findings provide some validation for a relationship between appraisals and distress. Clinical implications, methodological limitations and possible future research directions are discussed.

Background. There have been recent advances in the ability to identify people at high risk of developing psychosis. This has led to interest in the possibility of preventing the development of psychosis and provides the opportunity to investigate psychological mechanisms that may confer vulnerability to psychosis.

Method. Fifty-eight patients at ultra-high risk of developing a first episode of psychosis were compared with 56 non-patients matched for age and occupational status on measures of meta-cognition, schizotypal traits, dysfunctional attitudes and distress.

Results. Analyses of covariance revealed that people at high risk of developing psychosis scored higher on measures of cognitive vulnerability, including negative meta-cognitive beliefs, beliefs about rejection and criticism from others, and discrepancies in self-perception, schizotypal traits and general mental distress. Correlational analyses revealed that negative meta-cognitive beliefs, dysfunctional attitudes and beliefs about rejection and criticism from others were positively associated with several dimensions of symptomatology in at-risk mental states (ARMS) patients.

Conclusions. Cognitive and personality factors appear to characterize people at high-risk of developing psychosis and are associated with their distressing experiences. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Operational criteria for detecting prodromal, or at-risk, mental states have been developed largely on the basis of individuals seeking help for attenuated or brief, self-limiting symptoms that do not meet threshold criteria for psychotic disorder. These individuals present largely to primary care and other non-specialist mental health settings. Follow-up studies have confirmed that 15–40% will make the transition to full psychosis within 12 months. Cognitive therapy alone or in combination with low-dose atypical antipsychotics has been shown to be efficacious in reducing or delaying the transition to psychosis, as well as in ameliorating the severity of non-psychotic symptoms and distress. Antipsychotic medication alone has not shown significant efficacy, but results are suggestive of some advantage from drug treatment. Further work is needed to clarify the relative merits of these interventions.

Studies conducted in the last 20 years have led to the identification of small dense LDL as an important risk factor for CVD. Consumption of plant sterols, soyabean proteins, viscous fibre and nuts are known to modulate the risk of CVD favourably through their cholesterol (Chol)-lowering properties, both independently and more recently in combination. Nevertheless, their combined impact on the LDL particle size phenotype has never been tested. In the present study, we assessed the effect of incorporating concurrently plant sterols (1 g/4·2 MJ), soyabean protein (23 g/4·2 MJ), viscous fibre (9 g/4·2 MJ) and almonds (15 g/4·2 MJ) into a diet very low in saturated fat in twelve patients with mildly elevated plasma LDL-Chol levels. Fasting blood lipids were obtained at the start of the study and at 2-week intervals during the 4-week study. The diet-induced reduction in plasma LDL-Chol of 30·0 (SE 3·0) % (P<0·0001) was attributed to concurrent reductions in the serum Chol concentrations of large (>26.0 nm−30 (SE 8) %, P<0·001), medium (25·5–26·0 nm−29 (SE 3) %, P<0·001) and small (<25·5 nm − 21 (SD 6) %, P<0·01) LDL particles, with near maximal reductions seen by week 2. These results indicate that foods and dietary components advocated for their potential to reduce the risk of CVD are effective in reducing serum concentrations of all LDL fractions including small dense LDL, thus potentially further contributing to an overall lower risk of CVD.

This paper discusses ways in which empirical research investigating sexual networks can further understanding of the transmission of HIV in London, using information from a 24-month period of participant observation and 53 open-ended, in-depth interviews with eighteen men and one woman who have direct and indirect sexual links with each other. These interviews enabled the identification of a wider sexual network between 154 participants and contacts during the year August 1994-July 1995. The linked network data help to identify pathways of transmission between individuals who are HIV+ and those who are HIV−, as well as sexual links between ‘older’ and ‘younger’ men, and with male prostitutes. There appears to be considerable on-going transmission of HIV in London. The majority of participants reported having had unprotected anal and/or vaginal sex within a variety of relationships. The implications of these findings for policies designed to prevent the transmission of HIV are discussed.