In at least 400 European caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet and Altamira, Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens groups drew, painted and engraved non-figurative signs from at least ~42,000 bp and figurative images (notably animals) from at least 37,000 bp. Since their discovery ~150 years ago, the purpose or meaning of European Upper Palaeolithic non-figurative signs has eluded researchers. Despite this, specialists assume that they were notational in some way. Using a database of images spanning the European Upper Palaeolithic, we suggest how three of the most frequently occurring signs—the line <|>, the dot <•>, and the <Y>—functioned as units of communication. We demonstrate that when found in close association with images of animals the line <|> and dot <•> constitute numbers denoting months, and form constituent parts of a local phenological/meteorological calendar beginning in spring and recording time from this point in lunar months. We also demonstrate that the <Y> sign, one of the most frequently occurring signs in Palaeolithic non-figurative art, has the meaning <To Give Birth>. The position of the <Y> within a sequence of marks denotes month of parturition, an ordinal representation of number in contrast to the cardinal representation used in tallies. Our data indicate that the purpose of this system of associating animals with calendar information was to record and convey seasonal behavioural information about specific prey taxa in the geographical regions of concern. We suggest a specific way in which the pairing of numbers with animal subjects constituted a complete unit of meaning—a notational system combined with its subject—that provides us with a specific insight into what one set of notational marks means. It gives us our first specific reading of European Upper Palaeolithic communication, the first known writing in the history of Homo sapiens.

Background: Face masks are a major tool for reducing the spread of COVID-19 has been the use of face masks because (1) they protect the wearer from aerosol laden virus in the environment and (2) they reduce aerosol emissions to the environment from infected individuals. Methods that quantify the fitted mask filtration efficiency for protection of the wearer are well established (eg, Sickbert-Bennett et al, JAMA Intern Med 2020;180:1607). In contrast, current methods for assessing face-mask containment efficiency are generally semiquantitative and rely on measurement of a very low concentration of aerosols emitted from a healthy or infected human, or the use of mannequins in which a high concentration of surrogate aerosols can be introduced inside the mask. Methods: Expanding on our standard methods used for fitted face-mask filtration efficiency, we designed a small-volume, low-ventilation chamber to accommodate a seated study participant. The study participant wore a ported face mask to allow introduction of a stream of 0.05 μm NaCl particles at a constant concentration (TSI 8026 particle generator) into the mask space. The ambient chamber concentration was continuously measured by a TSI 3775 condensation particle counter sampling 2 feet (~2 m) in front of the participant’s head over a series of three 3-minute periods: (1) resting, (2) reading out loud, and (3) repeated forceful coughing (2 × 10 coughs) (~450 L/min peak flows). Figure 1 shows a raw data sample for the coughing procedure. Containment efficiency (%) for each mask and procedure were determined as 100 × (1 – the average of all 1 − second ambient concentration values between 30 and 180 seconds divided by the same for the “no mask” condition). Results: Table 1 shows the average % containment efficiency for 2 study days with each mask or procedure in an adult male. The 2-ear-loop masks (KN95 and procedure) tested during coughing had the greatest reduction in % containment efficiency compared to that during resting breathing, likely owing to a decreased mask fit with transient pressure increase inside the mask associated with the coughs. The N95 was least affected by the introduction of reading and/or coughing, maintaining near 95% containment efficiency throughout. Conclusions: Our preliminary data on fitted containment efficiency of masks under different conditions suggest that the fitted containment efficiency closely mimics their performance for personal protection. This information that may aid in providing optimum source control in indoor environments.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

This article presents empirical findings about the distinctiveness of smaller voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) involved in welfare service provision, based on in-depth, qualitative case study research. We identify a series of organisational features and practices which can mean that smaller VSOs are distinctive from larger organisations. These include how they are governed and managed, their approach to their work, and their position relative to other providers. To explain our findings, we draw on the concept of stakeholder ambiguity. This idea was posited by Billis and Glennerster (1998) and is commonly cited in relation to distinctiveness. We identified several manifestations of stakeholder ambiguity and confirm the concept’s explanatory importance, although we argue that our understanding of distinctiveness is enhanced when stakeholder ambiguity is considered alongside other closely related features, such as being embedded in a local geographic community and informal familial care-based organisational cultures. Our findings also highlight the fragility of smaller VSOs. We argue that this combination of distinctiveness and fragility creates a tension for social policy makers, many of whom recognise the value of smaller VSOs and the risks that they face but must weigh this against a requirement to allocate resources for statutory services as effectively as possible.

Liben Lark Heteromirafra archeri is a ‘Critically Endangered’ species threatened by the loss and degradation of grassland at the Liben Plain, southern Ethiopia, one of only two known sites for the species. We use field data from nine visits between 2007 and 2019 and satellite imagery to quantify changes over time in the species’ abundance and in the extent and quality of its habitat. We estimate that the population fell from around 279 singing males (95% CL: 182–436) in 2007 to around 51 (14–144) in 2013, after which too few birds were recorded to estimate population size. Arable cultivation first appeared on the plain in the early 1990s and by 2019 more than a third of the plain had been converted to crops. Cultivation was initially confined to the fertile black soils but from 2008 began to spread into the less fertile red soils that cover most of the plain. Liben Larks strongly avoided areas with extensive bare ground or trees and bushes, but the extent of these did not change significantly over the survey period. A plausible explanation for the species’ decline is that grassland degradation, caused before 2007 by continuous high-pressure grazing by livestock, reduced its rates of reproduction or survival to a level that could not support its previous population. Since 2015, communal kalos (grazing exclosures) have been established to generate forage and other resources in the hope of also providing breeding habitat for Liben Larks. Grass height and density within four grassland kalos in 2018 greatly exceeded that in the surrounding grassland, indicating that the plain retains the potential to recover rapidly if appropriately managed. Improvement of grassland structure through the restitution of traditional and sustainable rangeland management regimes and the reversion of cereal agriculture to grassland are urgently needed to avert the species’ extinction.

Mental health problems are prevalent among therapists and may have a negative impact on therapist effectiveness. To counteract such problems, therapist self-care (for example, striking a balance between personal and professional demands and seeking personal therapy), has received increased attention. Conceptually, self-care can be considered as part of a personal practice model, focusing on techniques that therapists engage with self-experientially with a focus on their personal and/or professional development. However, studies of the self-application of specific treatment techniques are lacking. We aimed to explore the use, and perceived usefulness, of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques for self-care to prevent or treat own mental health problems among practising therapists. Participants were therapists (n = 228) of various professional backgrounds in Sweden. Data were collected using a web-based survey. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and non-parametric analyses conducted to investigate associations of 13 CBT techniques with therapist characteristics. Use of CBT techniques for self-care was highly prevalent among participants, and they perceived the techniques as useful, irrespective of characteristics such as gender, age, profession, years since graduation, clinical experience, level of training in CBT, and previous experience of personal CBT. The high prevalence among therapists of the use of treatment techniques for self-care is very encouraging. Therapist self-care, including the self-application of treatment techniques, may be an important factor for therapist effectiveness, which calls for further development of personal practice models with respect to self-care, and future studies investigating associations between therapist mental health, self-care, effectiveness and patient outcome.

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are increasingly common in the United States and have the potential to spread widely across healthcare networks. Only a fraction of patients with CRE carriage (ie, infection or colonization) are identified by clinical cultures. Interventions to reduce CRE transmission can be explored with agent-based models (ABMs) comprised of unique agents (eg, patients) represented by a synthetic population or model-generated representation of the population. We used electronic health record data to determine CRE carriage risk, and we discuss how these results can inform CRE transmission parameters for hospitalized agents in a regional healthcare network ABM. Methods: We reviewed the laboratory data of patients admitted during July 1, 2016−June 30, 2017, to any of 7 short-term acute-care hospitals of a regional healthcare network in North Carolina (N = 118,022 admissions) to find clinically detected cases of CRE carriage. A case was defined as the first occurrence of Enterobacter spp, Escherichia coli, or Klebsiella spp resistant to any carbapenem isolated from a clinical specimen in an admitted patient. We used Poisson regression to estimate clinically detected CRE carriage risk according to variables common to data from both the electronic health records and the ABM synthetic population, including patient demographics, systemic antibiotic administration, intensive care unit stay, comorbidities, length of stay, and admitting hospital size. Results: We identified 58 (0.05%) cases of CRE carriage among all admissions. Among these cases, 30 (52%) were ≥65 years of age and 37 (64%) were female. During their admission, 47 cases (81%) were administered systemic antibiotics and 18 cases (31%) had an intensive care unit stay. Patients administered systemic antibiotics and those with an intensive care unit stay had CRE carriage risk 6.5 times (95% CI, 3.4–12.5) and 4.9 times (95% CI, 2.8–8.5) higher, respectively, than patients without these exposures (Fig. 1). Patients ≥50 years of age and those with a higher Elixhauser comorbidity index score and with longer length of stay also had increased CRE carriage risk. Conclusions: Among admissions in our dataset, CRE carriage risk was associated with systemic antibiotic exposure, intensive care unit stay, higher Elixhauser comorbidity index score, and longer length of stay. We will use these risk estimates in the ABM to inform agents’ CRE carriage status upon hospital admission and the CRE transmission parameters for short-term acute-care hospitals. We will explore CRE transmission interventions in the parameterized regional healthcare network ABM and assess the impact of CRE carriage underestimation.

Funding: This work was supported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Cooperative Agreement number U01CK000527. The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the official position of CDC.

Disclosures: None

Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan became an iconic Palaeolithic site following Ralph Solecki's mid twentieth-century discovery of Neanderthal remains. Solecki argued that some of these individuals had died in rockfalls and—controversially—that others were interred with formal burial rites, including one with flowers. Recent excavations have revealed the articulated upper body of an adult Neanderthal located close to the ‘flower burial’ location—the first articulated Neanderthal discovered in over 25 years. Stratigraphic evidence suggests that the individual was intentionally buried. This new find offers the rare opportunity to investigate Neanderthal mortuary practices utilising modern archaeological techniques.

One trend in contemporary discussions of the topic, ‘the meaning of life.’ is to emphasize what might be termed its subjective dimension. That is, it is widely recognized that ‘the meaning of life’ is not something that simply could be presented to an individual, regardless of how he/she felt about it. Thus, for example, Karl Britton has written that we could imagine ‘a featureless god who set before men some goal and somehow drove them to pursue it'; while this would constitute a purpose for human life, it would hardly be sufficient to render life meaningful. ‘The goal would seem arbitrary, senseless: and its pursuit burdensome, souldestroying.’ Similarly, R. W. Hepburn has stated that meaningfulness must indispensably involve value judgment. Any set of conditions presented to us, whether by God, nature, or our fellow humans, constitutes a fact about how the world is; what provides meaningfulness to our lives, on the other hand, must be something which we affirm - something we feel ought to be the case.

Coral reefs have experienced extensive degradation across the world over the last 50 years as a result of a variety of stressors operating at a range of spatial and temporal scales. In order to assess whether declines are continuing, or if reefs are recovering, detailed baseline information is required from across wide spatial scales. Unfortunately, for some regions this information is not readily available, making future reef trajectories difficult to determine. Here we characterized the current benthic community state for coral reefs in the Wakatobi region of Indonesia, one of the most biodiverse marine regions in the world. We surveyed 10 reef sites (5, 10 and 15 m depth) to explore spatial variation in coral reef benthic communities and provide a detailed baseline. Previous data (2002–2011) were available for coral, sponges, algae and soft coral at six of our study sites. Using this information, we determined if any changes had occurred in dominance of these benthic groups. We found that benthic assemblage composition differed significantly over relatively small spatial scales (2–10 km) and hard coral cover was highly variable, ranging from 7–48% (average 19.5% ± 1.5 SE). While coral cover appears to have declined at all sites where data were available since 2002, we found little evidence for widespread increases in other benthic groups or regime shifts. Our study provides a comprehensive baseline dataset for the region that can be used in the future to determine rates of change in benthic communities.