A Lady of York: migration, ethnicity and identity in Roman Britain

Modern methods of analysis applied to cemeteries have often been used in our pages to suggest generalities about mobility and diet. But these same techniques applied to a single individual, together with the grave goods and burial rite, can open a special kind of personal window on the past. Here, the authors of a multidisciplinary project use a combination of scientific techniques to illuminate Roman York, and later Roman history in general, with their image of a glamorous mixed-race woman, in touch with Africa, Christianity, Rome and Yorkshire.

When smoke gets in our eyes: The multiple impacts of atmospheric black carbon on climate, air quality and health

With both climate change and air quality on political and social agendas from local to global scale, the links between these hitherto separate fields are becoming more apparent. Black carbon, largely from combustion processes, scatters and absorbs incoming solar radiation, contributes to poor air quality and induces respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Uncertainties in the amount, location, size and shape of atmospheric black carbon cause large uncertainty in both climate change estimates and toxicology studies alike. Increased research has led to new effects and areas of uncertainty being uncovered. Here we draw together recent results and explore the increasing opportunities for synergistic research that will lead to improved confidence in the impact of black carbon on climate change, air quality and human health. Topics of mutual interest include better information on spatial distribution, size, mixing state and measuring and monitoring. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

‘We are managing our own lives...’: life transitions and care in sibling-headed households affected by AIDS in Tanzania and Uganda

This paper explores the ways that young people express their agency and negotiate complex lifecourse transitions according to gender, age and inter- and intra-generational norms in sibling-headed households affected by AIDS in East Africa. Based on findings from a qualitative and participatory pilot study in Tanzania and Uganda, I examine young people's socio-spatial and temporal experiences of heading the household and caring for their siblings following their parent's/relative's death. Key dimensions of young people's caring pathways and life transitions are discussed: transitions into sibling care; the ways young people manage changing roles within the family; and the ways that young people are positioned and seek to position themselves within the community. The research reveals the relational and embodied nature of young people's life transitions over time and space. By living together independently, young people constantly reproduce and reconfigure gendered, inter- and intra-generational norms of ‘the family’, transgressing the boundaries of ‘childhood’, ‘youth’ and ‘adulthood’. Although young people take on ‘adult’ responsibilities and demonstrate their competencies in ‘managing their own lives’, this does not necessarily translate into more equal power relations with adults in the community. The research reveals the marginal ‘in-between’ place that young people occupy between local and global discourses of ‘childhood’ and ‘youth’ that construct them as ‘deviant’. Although young people adopt a range of strategies to resist marginalisation and harassment, I argue that constraints of poverty, unequal gender and generational power relations and the emotional impacts of sibling care, stigmatisation and exclusion can undermine their ability to exert agency and control over their sexual relationships, schooling, livelihood strategies and future lifecourse transitions.

Are we wasting our money on food supplements in elder care wards?

Background. It is reported that undernutrition in older hospitalized patients is commonly found, but estimates of its prevalence vary. It is also not clear which treatment approaches are best because poor methodology prevents comparison of outcomes between different studies. Rationale. The rationale of this observational study was to look at typical elder care wards in order to determine what food supplements were being prescribed. We wished to determine whether serum albumin and/or body mass index (BMI) were appropriately related to the prescription of sip feeds and also to determine the palatability of supplements provided. Method. We monitored the wastage of sip feeds over a 24-hour period and extrapolated an estimated cost. Ninety-six patients were studied, including 23 patients with a BMI of less than 20, of whom 30% were on supplementary feeds. Results. Seventy percentage of prescribed sip feeds were being given to people with a BMI of 20 or more. The mean wastage in this 24-hour period was 63% (pound79.56) in four wards containing 96 older patients. Conclusion. We concluded that there was no relationship between the numbers of patients with a low albumin and BMI and the prescription of sip feeds. We found compliance to be low (37%) because of poor palatability, with a large number of patients who appeared to require sip feeds not being prescribed them and those who received them wasting more than they drank.