Archaeologists use sophisticated software to practise 'digital deforestation' - scrubbing away the vegetation data to visualize theunderlying surface of the landscape (its topography) and thereby ...reveal archaeological finds that would otherwise remain hidden under a dense forest canopy. Two of these, Cotoca (Fig. 1) and Landívar, were substantially larger than their surrounding settlements, and from this work a four-tiered settlement hierarchy, ranging from hamlets to large centres, can be deduced that points to a dense and continuous occupation throughout the region studied. Settlement hierarchies have long been used asan archaeological shorthand for inferring social complexity, but beforelidardata became readily available, information on settlements had been laborious to gather, restricting our knowledge of such systems to limited examples of well-documented case studies9.
The application of light detection and ranging (LiDAR), a laser-based remote-sensing technology that is capable of penetrating overlying vegetation and forest canopies, is generating a fundamental ...shift in Mesoamerican archaeology and has the potential to transform research in forested areas world-wide. Much as radiocarbon dating that half a century ago moved archaeology forward by grounding archaeological remains in time, LiDAR is proving to be a catalyst for an improved spatial understanding of the past. With LiDAR, ancient societies can be contextualized within a fully defined landscape. Interpretations about the scale and organization of densely forested sites no longer are constrained by sample size, as they were when mapping required laborious on-ground survey. The ability to articulate ancient landscapes fully permits a better understanding of the complexity of ancient Mesoamerican urbanism and also aids in modern conservation efforts. The importance of this geospatial innovation is demonstrated with newly acquired LiDAR data from the archaeological sites of Caracol, Cayo, Belize and Angamuco, Michoacán, Mexico. These data illustrate the potential of technology to act as a catalytic enabler of rapid transformational change in archaeological research and interpretation and also underscore the value of on-the-ground archaeological investigation in validating and contextualizing results.
This article examines the reach of Black Internationalism, a dialogue on race, politics, and modernity nurtured by Black nationalists in the United States, between 1971 and 1974. It focuses on ...Israel’s encounter with the topic and how Israeli political leaders neutralize its effects. Israel, one of America’s closes Cold War allies, faced three explosive movements with ties to the discourse and politics of Black Internationalism—the Israeli Black Panthers, the Black Hebrews, and the Jewish Defense League. Each group challenged the narrative of inclusion the nation cultivated since its inception. Israel’s ability to manage the crisis of Black Internationalism demonstrates the topic’s global reach in the final stages of the Cold War, but also its limitations.
We present a compact 1.3 × 4 μm2 Germanium waveguide photodiode, integrated in a CMOS compatible silicon photonics process flow. This photodiode has a best-in-class 3 dB cutoff frequency of 45 GHz, ...responsivity of 0.8 A/W and dark current of 3 nA. The low intrinsic capacitance of this device may enable the elimination of transimpedance amplifiers in future optical data communication receivers, creating ultra low power consumption optical communications.
Abstract
Background
This observational study, paired with National Health Service (NHS) workforce population data, examined gender differences in surgical workforce members’ experiences with sexual ...misconduct (sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape) among colleagues in the past 5 years, and their views of the adequacy of accountable organizations in dealing with this issue.
Methods
This was a survey of UK surgical workforce members, recruited via surgical organizations.
Results
Some 1704 individuals participated, with 1434 (51.5 per cent women) eligible for primary unweighted analyses. Weighted analyses, grounded in NHS England surgical workforce population data, used 756 NHS England participants. Weighted and unweighted analyses showed that, compared with men, women were significantly more likely to report witnessing, and be a target of, sexual misconduct. Among women, 63.3 per cent reported being the target of sexual harassment versus 23.7 per cent of men (89.5 per cent witnessing versus 81.0 per cent of men). Additionally, 29.9 per cent of women had been sexually assaulted versus 6.9 per cent of men (35.9 per cent witnessing versus 17.1 per cent of men), with 10.9 per cent of women experiencing forced physical contact for career opportunities (a form of sexual assault) versus 0.7 per cent of men. Being raped by a colleague was reported by 0.8 per cent of women versus 0.1 per cent of men (1.9 per cent witnessing versus 0.6 per cent of men). Evaluations of organizations’ adequacy in handling sexual misconduct were significantly lower among women than men, ranging from a low of 15.1 per cent for the General Medical Council to a high of 31.1 per cent for the Royal Colleges (men’s evaluations: 48.6 and 60.2 per cent respectively).
Conclusion
Sexual misconduct in the past 5 years has been experienced widely, with women affected disproportionately. Accountable organizations are not regarded as dealing adequately with this issue.
This observational study paired with National Health Service (NHS) workforce population data examined gender differences in surgical workforce members’ experiences with sexual misconduct among colleagues over the past 5 years, and their views of the adequacy of the General Medical Council (GMC), NHS Trusts and other accountable organizations’ handling of this issue. Results of weighted and unweighted analyses showed that women and men in the surgical workforce are living different realities—women are both experiencing and witnessing sexual misconduct more often than men. Women also have significantly lower evaluations of organizations’ handling of sexual misconduct, ranging from a low of 15.1 per cent for the GMC to a high of 31.1 per cent for the Royal Colleges.
Lay Summary
This research examined sexual misconduct occurring in surgery in the UK, so that more informed and targeted actions can be taken to make healthcare safer for staff and patients. A survey assessed individuals’ experiences with being sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, and raped by work colleagues. Individuals were also asked whether they had seen this happen to others at work. Compared with men, women were much more likely to have seen sexual misconduct happening to others, and to have it happen to them. For example, most women (63.3 per cent) experienced being sexually harassed by colleagues, as did some men (23.7 per cent). Women also experienced being sexual assaulted by colleagues far more often than men (29.9 per cent of women, 6.9 per cent of men). These findings show that women and men in the surgical workforce are living different realities. For women, being around colleagues is more often going to mean witnessing, and being a target of, sexual misconduct.
Individuals were also asked whether they thought healthcare-related organizations were handling issues of sexual misconduct adequately; most did not think they were. The General Medical Council (GMC) received the lowest evaluations. Only 15.1 per cent of women regarded the GMC as adequate in their handling of sexual misconduct. Men’s evaluations were higher, although the GMC was still regarded as adequate by less than half of men (48.6 per cent). Evaluations of National Health Service Trusts were rated similarly low. Only 15.8 per cent of women evaluated them as adequate (44.9 per cent of men). The results of this study have implications for all stakeholders, including patients. Sexual misconduct was commonly experienced by respondents, representing a serious issue for the profession. There is a widespread lack of faith in the UK organizations responsible for dealing with this issue. Those organizations have a duty to protect the workforce, and to protect patients.
Complex human–environmental processes form identifiable, lasting features on the landscape that can illuminate past human behavior and human–environment interactions. We examine the anthropogenic ...landscape of the ancient port of Macurany, located along the middle Amazon River in Parintins, Brazil, and identify four classes of anthropogenic landscape features at the site: wharfs, middens, terra preta (dark or black earths), and cultural forests. Middens, terra preta, and cultural forests have been found at archaeological sites in regions surrounding Macurany, but wharfs have not previously been reported in Amazonian contexts predating European contact. Taken together, these features are clearly the result of anthropogenesis and represent a range of subsistence, settlement, and infrastructure-building activities pointing to an ancient society that was actively engaged in modifying the surrounding landscape for purposes beyond settlement and subsistence. Evidence for a permanent, extensive, continuously settled society practicing intensive landscape engineering in this region of Amazonia reinforces findings of dense habitation, infrastructure, and early urbanization in Amazonia prior to European contact. This research helps expand our understanding of human–environment interactions, landscape formation processes, and settlement organization in ancient Amazonia.
The establishment of protected areas (PAs) is a central strategy for global biodiversity conservation. While the role of PAs in protecting habitat has been highlighted, their effectiveness at ...protecting mammal communities remains unclear. We analyzed a global dataset from over 8671 camera traps in 23 countries on four continents that detected 321 medium‐ to large‐bodied mammal species. We found a strong positive correlation between mammal taxonomic diversity and the proportion of a surveyed area covered by PAs at a global scale (β = 0.39, 95% confidence interval CI = 0.19–0.60) and in Indomalaya (β = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.19–1.2), as well as between functional diversity and PA coverage in the Nearctic (β = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.09–0.85), after controlling for human disturbances and environmental variation. Functional diversity was only weakly (and insignificantly) correlated with PA coverage at the global scale (β = 0.22, 95% CI = −0.02–0.46), pointing to a need to better understand the functional response of mammal communities to protection. Our study provides important evidence of the global effectiveness of PAs in conserving terrestrial mammals and emphasizes the critical role of area‐based conservation in a post‐2020 biodiversity framework.
It is a conundrum of the 21st Century that there is much left to discover and yet never before has our cultural and ecological patrimony been so threatened. This is especially true in tropical ...regions where heavy vegetation, inaccessibility, and rugged topography hamper investigation. Here we present two case studies that add to a growing body of literature demonstrating the utility of airborne mapping LiDAR (a.k.a. Airborne Laser Scanning) for rapid archaeological assessments in poorly documented regions. The first outlines a program of LiDAR scanning to better understand the urban center of Angamuco in the Mexican State of Michoacán. This work shows that (1) large urban centers with complex spatial organization were present centuries prior to the formation of the Purépecha Empire; (2) the settlement incorporates gardens and other landscape features within and around the settlement demonstrating a high degree of human environmental modification; and (3) current models for the evolution of social complexity in the region cannot account for the presence of Angamuco. The second presents the results of a LiDAR survey of a remote valley in the Mosquitia tropical wilderness of Honduras which has seen little archaeological research. Here we demonstrate that (1) though today the valley is a wilderness it was densely inhabited in the past; (2) this population was organized into a three-tiered system composed of 19 settlements dominated by a city; and (3) this occupation was embedded within a human engineered landscape. For both, LiDAR data fundamentally changed the understanding of coupled human/natural systems in these areas while providing critical baseline data for conservation and management.
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