Intentional facial disfigurement is documented in archaeological contexts around the world. Here, the authors present the first archaeological evidence for intentional facial mutilation from Anglo-Saxon England—comprising the removal of the nose, upper lip and possible scalping—inflicted upon a young adult female. The injuries are consistent with documented punishments for female offenders. Although such mutilations do not appear in the written record until the tenth century AD, the instance reported here suggests that the practice may have emerged a century earlier. This case is examined in the context of a wider consideration of the motivations and significance of facial disfigurement in past societies.

We describe 14 yr of public data from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA), an ongoing project that is producing precise measurements of pulse times of arrival from 26 millisecond pulsars using the 64-m Parkes radio telescope with a cadence of approximately 3 weeks in three observing bands. A comprehensive description of the pulsar observing systems employed at the telescope since 2004 is provided, including the calibration methodology and an analysis of the stability of system components. We attempt to provide full accounting of the reduction from the raw measured Stokes parameters to pulse times of arrival to aid third parties in reproducing our results. This conversion is encapsulated in a processing pipeline designed to track provenance. Our data products include pulse times of arrival for each of the pulsars along with an initial set of pulsar parameters and noise models. The calibrated pulse profiles and timing template profiles are also available. These data represent almost 21 000 h of recorded data spanning over 14 yr. After accounting for processes that induce time-correlated noise, 22 of the pulsars have weighted root-mean-square timing residuals of $<\!\!1\,\mu\text{s}$ in at least one radio band. The data should allow end users to quickly undertake their own gravitational wave analyses, for example, without having to understand the intricacies of pulsar polarisation calibration or attain a mastery of radio frequency interference mitigation as is required when analysing raw data files.

Since its 1960s origins, the Haddon matrix has served as a tool to understand and prevent diverse mechanisms of injuries and promote safety. Potential remains for broadened application and innovation of the matrix for disaster preparedness. Hospital functionality and efficiency are particularly important components of community vulnerability in developed and developing nations alike. Given the Haddon matrixʼs user-friendly approach to integrating current engineering concepts, behavioral sciences, and policy dimensions, we seek to apply it in the context of hospital earthquake preparedness and response. The matrixʼs framework lends itself to interdisciplinary planning and collaboration between social and physical sciences, paving the way for a systems-oriented reduction in vulnerabilities. Here, using an associative approach to integrate seemingly disparate social and physical science disciplines yields innovative insights about hospital disaster preparedness for earthquakes. We illustrate detailed examples of pre-event, event, and post-event engineering, behavioral science, and policy factors that hospital planners should evaluate given the complex nature, rapid onset, and broad variation in impact and outcomes of earthquakes. This novel contextual examination of the Haddon matrix can enhance critical infrastructure disaster preparedness across the epidemiologic triad, by integrating essential principles of behavioral sciences, policy, law, and engineering to earthquake preparedness.

Timing of weed emergence and seed persistence in the soil influence the ability to implement timely and effective control practices. Emergence patterns and seed persistence of kochia populations were monitored in 2010 and 2011 at sites in Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Weekly observations of emergence were initiated in March and continued until no new emergence occurred. Seed was harvested from each site, placed into 100-seed mesh packets, and buried at depths of 0, 2.5, and 10 cm in fall of 2010 and 2011. Packets were exhumed at 6-mo intervals over 2 yr. Viability of exhumed seeds was evaluated. Nonlinear mixed-effects Weibull models were fit to cumulative emergence (%) across growing degree days (GDD) and to viable seed (%) across burial time to describe their fixed and random effects across site-years. Final emergence densities varied among site-years and ranged from as few as 4 to almost 380,000 seedlings m−2. Across 11 site-years in Kansas, cumulative GDD needed for 10% emergence were 168, while across 6 site-years in Wyoming and Nebraska, only 90 GDD were needed; on the calendar, this date shifted from early to late March. The majority (>95%) of kochia seed did not persist for more than 2 yr. Remaining seed viability was generally >80% when seeds were exhumed within 6 mo after burial in March, and declined to <5% by October of the first year after burial. Burial did not appear to increase or decrease seed viability over time but placed seed in a position from which seedling emergence would not be possible. High seedling emergence that occurs very early in the spring emphasizes the need for fall or early spring PRE weed control such as tillage, herbicides, and cover crops, while continued emergence into midsummer emphasizes the need for extended periods of kochia management.

The benefits of fetoscopic laser photocoagulation (FLP) for treatment of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) have been recognized for over a decade, yet access to FLP remains limited in many settings. This means at a population level, the potential benefits of FLP for TTTS are far from being fully realized. In part, this is because there are many centers where the case volume is relatively low. This creates an inevitable tension; on one hand, wanting FLP to be readily accessible to all women who may need it, yet on the other, needing to ensure that a high degree of procedural competence is maintained. Some of the solutions to these apparently competing priorities may be found in novel training solutions to achieve, and maintain, procedural proficiency, and with the increased utilization of ‘competence based’ assessment and credentialing frameworks. We suggest an under-utilized approach is the development of collaborative surgical services, where pooling of personnel and resources can improve timely access to surgery, improve standardized assessment and management of TTTS, minimize the impact of the surgical learning curve, and facilitate audit, education, and research. When deciding which centers should offer laser for TTTS and how we decide, we propose some solutions from a collaborative model.

A 27-year-old woman presented to the emergency room after having witnessed generalized tonic clonic seizure while asleep. Birth and development were normal. She had suffered a single febrile seizure at 13 months of age, but had no other seizure risk factors. She was otherwise well except for a history of depression for which she was taking sertraline. Depressive symptoms had been well controlled over the past 3 months, but she had been under increased stress working to finish a doctoral thesis. Neurological examination was normal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed modest asymmetry of the hippocampi, slightly smaller on the right, but no abnormal signal and well-preserved laminar anatomy. An electroencephalogram was negative. She was discharged from the emergency room with no treatment. Three weeks later, the patient's boyfriend witnessed an episode of behavioral arrest with lip smacking and swallowing automatisms lasting 45 seconds, after which the patient was confused for 20–30 minutes. The next morning she and her boyfriend kept a previously scheduled appointment with a neurologist.

A 64-year-old man had a first generalized seizure. He was seen in an emergency room where magnetic resonance imaging revealed a right parietal meningioma with a diameter of 2.5 cm. He was seen by the neurosurgery team and a craniotomy was performed. He was discharged from the hospital on phenytoin. Three weeks later he reported drowsiness and unsteadiness to his neurologist. In addition, he described episodes of transient sensory disturbance in his left arm, sometimes with twitching movements of the left hand and wrist. These episodes could last ≤3 minutes, and his hand and arm would be weak afterward for several hours. A phenytoin level was measured at 17. Lamotrigine was added to his regimen, and on 400 mg/day the lamotrigine level was 3.8. The dose was increased gradually to 400 mg BID and seizures stopped. Two hours after each dose, however, the patient would become dizzy, nauseated, and encephalopathic for a period of 60–90 minutes.

The patient presented with a convulsive seizure due to a meningioma and developed simple partial sensorymotor seizures arising in the region of the meningioma after its resection. The seizures persisted with phenytoin at a moderately high serum level but responded to lamotrigine as a second agent at just above the maximum tolerated dose. This case illustrates a common course of events for otherwise healthy adults who have seizures due to structural brain disease and are placed on phenytoin and lamotrigine.

The potential to instrumentalize drug use based upon the detection of very many different drug states undoubtedly exists, and such states may play a role in psychiatric and many other drug uses. Nevertheless, nonaddictive drug use is potentially more parsimoniously explained in terms of sensation seeking/impulsivity and drug expectations. Cultural factors also play a major role in nonaddictive drug use.

Objectives: Europe has many health technology assessment (HTA) agencies, each producing their own HTA reports. Adapting HTA reports for different contexts could reduce the need for multiple reports on the same health technology with resultant saving of time and resources. This study aims to examine and understand the process of adaptation, and to develop a toolkit that would help the adaptation of reports produced by other countries.

Methods: The methods used were a review of the literature; a survey of twenty-nine European HTA organizations, two rounds of a Delphi survey, a face-to-face meeting of twenty-one European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) representatives, iterative rounds of review, and two rounds of quality assurance testing (termed applicability testing).

Results: Descriptions of previous examples of adaptation in the literature are sparse. Most respondents had previous experience in adapting reports, and all believed that adaptation was useful, and there was the ability to benefit from the use of a toolkit to aid in the process. EUnetHTA Partners developed and tested an adaptation toolkit. The toolkit is composed of a series of checklists and resources that identify or clarify the relevance, reliability, and transferability of data and information from existing reports.

Conclusions: Consensus of opinion from twenty-nine European organizations/networks has indicated that the adaptation of HTA reports would be desirable and beneficial. A toolkit was developed to help with the adaptation of HTA reports produced in other settings. This collection of resources is available for use by all HTA agencies and can be accessed at: http://www.eunethta.net/upload/WP5/EUnetHTA_HTA_Adaptation_Toolkit_October08.pdf.

Objectives: Adapting health technology assessment (HTA) reports for different contexts could reduce the need for multiple reports on the same health technology with resultant saving of time and resources. This article describes an instrument, the adaptation toolkit, which has been developed to aid in the process of adaptation of HTA reports.

Methods: The toolkit was developed by a partnership of HTA agencies and networks from across Europe. The role of the toolkit is to guide the user through the process of selecting possible relevant material from these report(s), assessing the relevance, reliability, and transferability of the material, and adapting it for the desired context.

Results: The adaptation toolkit has been developed, it comprises a collection of resources that help the user assess whether data and information in existing HTA reports should and could be adapted for their own setting. The toolkit contains two sections: a preliminary speedy sifting section and the main toolkit. The main toolkit includes five domains: (i) technology use and development, (ii) safety, (iii) effectiveness (including efficacy), (iv) economic evaluation, and (v) organizational aspects. Legal, ethical, and social aspects are beyond the scope of the toolkit. The toolkit is designed for the adaptation of evidence synthesis rather than primary research.

Conclusions: The completed current version of the toolkit contains checklists and resources to aid in the adaptation of HTA reports. This collection of resources is available for use by all HTA agencies and can be accessed at: http://www.eunethta.net/upload/WP5/EUnetHTA_HTA_Adaptation_Toolkit_October08.pdf..

The marooning of populations on offshore islands can be used as a conservation technique for species threatened by introduced predators, but post-release breeding success is not always as high as expected. Following the release of Mauritius Fodies onto a partially restored islet of regenerating forest, supplementary food and control of nest parasites through the application of insecticide were used as precautionary measures to aid the establishment of a population. Nests were continuously monitored in the first three breeding seasons to inform future management decisions. The fodies built nests in taller, more mature vegetation and younger females were more likely to abandon nests before incubation started. Eggs were laid between July and February and nests made earlier in the season were more likely to fledge young. Treating nests with the insecticide carbaryl increased the probability of success, but the distance of the nest from the supplementary feeding aviaries had no effect. The number of young per female decreased each breeding season and nesting success was similar to that of fodies using exotic plantation trees on the mainland between 2002 and 2006. Future research using population models and adaptive management could lead to the withdrawal or reduction of support measures for the released population and/or the harvest of individuals to establish populations on other offshore islands.