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500 years of ancient Near Eastern history from the earlier second millennium BCE, including such pivotal figures as Hammurabi of Babylon, Šamši-Adad I (who conquered Aššur) and Zimrilim of Mari, has long floated in calendar time subject to rival chronological schemes up to 150+ years apart. Texts preserved on clay tablets provide much information, including some astronomical references, but despite 100+ years of scholarly effort, chronological resolution has proved impossible. Documents linked with specific Assyrian officials and rulers have been found and associated with archaeological wood samples at Kültepe and Acemhöyük in Turkey, and offer the potential to resolve this long-running problem. Here we show that previous work using tree-ring dating to place these timbers in absolute time has fundamental problems with key dendrochronological crossdates due to small sample numbers in overlapping years and insufficient critical assessment. To address, we have integrated secure dendrochronological sequences directly with radiocarbon (14C) measurements to achieve tightly resolved absolute (calendar) chronological associations and identify the secure links of this tree-ring chronology with the archaeological-historical evidence. The revised tree-ring-sequenced 14C time-series for Kültepe and Acemhöyük is compatible only with the so-called Middle Chronology and not with the rival High, Low or New Chronologies. This finding provides a robust resolution to a century of uncertainty in Mesopotamian chronology and scholarship, and a secure basis for construction of a coherent timeframe and history across the Near East and East Mediterranean in the earlier second millennium BCE. Our re-dating also affects an unusual tree-ring growth anomaly in wood from Porsuk, Turkey, previously tentatively associated with the Minoan eruption of the Santorini volcano. This tree-ring growth anomaly is now directly dated ~1681-1673 BCE (68.2% highest posterior density range), ~20 years earlier than previous assessments, indicating that it likely has no association with the subsequent Santorini volcanic eruption.

A unique regional climate progression, ca 14.2–11.5 cal ka BP, in the eastern Great Lakes region of North America is suggested by subfossil logs, high-resolution 14C dates, and established proxy records in New York, USA. The progression began with a northern boreal-type climate ca. 14.2–13.1 ka coeval with the expansion of Lake Iroquois, a transition to a southern boreal-type climate ~13.1–12.9 ka that coincided with the transition of Lake Iroquois into progressively lower lake levels, and a continuation of the southern boreal-type climate ~12.9–11.5 ka. These conditions and changes are evident in the tree rings and relative dominance of tamarack (Larix laricina) and spruce species (Picea spp.) plus the presence of black ash (Fraxinus nigra) as the only thermophilous species. Together they suggest variations in atmospheric moisture levels, surface winds, temperature extremes, and/or an enhanced seasonality over time. Here we propose that the evolution of the glacial Great Lakes and their interactions with ice sheets, meltwater, winds, and regional topography created a regional glacial lake-effect climate, 14.2–11.5 cal ka BP, that was opposite to the established warming Bølling-Allerød–cold Younger Dryas climate progression.

The Noceto ‘Vasca Votiva’ (votive tank), discovered in excavations on a terrace at the southern edge of the Po Plain, northern Italy, is a unique well-preserved wooden (primarily oak) structure dated to the advanced through late Middle Bronze Age (~1600–1300 BCE). This complex monument, comprising two super-imposed tanks, is generally linked with an important but uncertain ritual role involving water. The context provides extraordinary preservation of both wooden, other organic, and cultural finds. The key question until now, hindering further interpretation of this remarkable structure, has been the precise date of the tanks. Initial work pointed to use of the two tanks over about a century. Using dendrochronology and radiocarbon ‘wiggle-matching’ we report near-absolute construction dates for both of the tanks. The lower (older) tank is dated ~1444±4 BCE and the upper (more recent) tank is dated 12 years later at ~1432±4 BCE. This dating of the construction of the Noceto tanks in the 3 rd quarter of the 15 th century BCE further enables us to reassess the overall period of activity of this wooden complex and its association with a major period of societal change in the Bronze Age of northern Italy starting in the later 15 th century BCE.

Background University students commonly received COVID-19 vaccinations before returning to U.S. campuses in the Fall of 2021. Given likely immunologic variation among students based on differences in type of primary series and/or booster dose vaccine received, we conducted serologic investigations in September and December 2021 on a large university campus in Wisconsin to assess anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels. Methods We collected blood samples, demographic information, and COVID-19 illness and vaccination history from a convenience sample of students. Sera were analyzed for both anti-spike (anti-S) and anti-nucleocapsid (anti-N) antibody levels using World Health Organization standardized binding antibody units per milliliter (BAU/mL). Levels were compared across categorical primary COVID-19 vaccine series received and binary COVID-19 mRNA booster status. The association between anti-S levels and time since most recent vaccination dose was estimated by mixed-effects linear regression. Results In total, 356 students participated, of whom 219 (61.5%) had received a primary vaccine series of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines and 85 (23.9%) had received vaccines from Sinovac or Sinopharm. Median anti-S levels were significantly higher for mRNA primary vaccine series recipients (2.90 and 2.86 log [BAU/mL], respectively), compared with those who received Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines (1.63 and 1.95 log [BAU/mL], respectively). Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccine recipients were associated with a significantly faster anti-S decline over time, compared with mRNA vaccine recipients ( P <.001). By December, 48/172 (27.9%) participants reported receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine booster, which reduced the anti-S antibody discrepancies between primary series vaccine types. Conclusions Our work supports the benefit of heterologous boosting against COVID-19. COVID-19 mRNA vaccine booster doses were associated with increases in anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels; following an mRNA booster dose, students with both mRNA and non-mRNA primary series receipt were associated with comparable levels of anti-S IgG.

Considerable work has gone into developing high-precision radiocarbon (14C) chronologies for the southern Levant region during the Late Bronze to Iron Age/early Biblical periods (∼1200–600 BC), but there has been little consideration whether the current standard Northern Hemisphere 14C calibration curve (IntCal13) is appropriate for this region. We measured 14C ages of calendar-dated tree rings from AD 1610 to 1940 from southern Jordan to investigate contemporary 14C levels and to compare these with IntCal13. Our data reveal an average offset of ∼19 14C years, but, more interestingly, this offset seems to vary in importance through time. While relatively small, such an offset has substantial relevance to high-resolution 14C chronologies for the southern Levant, both archaeological and paleoenvironmental. For example, reconsidering two published studies, we find differences, on average, of 60% between the 95.4% probability ranges determined from IntCal13 versus those approximately allowing for the observed offset pattern. Such differences affect, and even potentially undermine, several current archaeological and historical positions and controversies.

Wellness and wellbeing have been a national priority in the United States of American for many years. Since 1961, wellbeing models have been created and reconstructed to define our understanding of what wellbeing is as well as what it should or could potentially be. These endeavors have contributed to a body of research that serve as a foundation for this study. The aim of this study was to review current theory and design a qualitative study to determine if current theory could be expanded upon utilizing religion, spirituality, faith and centeredness as central grounding principles for the model. This was a grounded theory study focused specifically in a higher education setting. The goal was to understand wellbeing in higher education and determine if a new model could be developed to offer a better understanding as well as a new approach to wellbeing in higher education. A purposeful sample of 14 individuals (13 female and 1 male) were recruited within a higher education setting in central Alabama. This sample included 2 faculty members, 5 staff members, and 7 graduate students. There were 4 religious groups or centering spiritual practices represented in the study (i.e. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism/Eastern Contemplative). Questionnaire and interview data were collected from participants and thematic analysis was utilized to understand individual experience of how religion, spirituality, faith (R/S/F) and the idea of centeredness impact overall wellbeing. The findings support the assumption that R/S/F and centeredness have an impact on overall wellbeing. The themes that emerged supported the development of a new theory coined in this work as The Theory of Centrality. The proposed theory includes a central grounding principle, three internal impact areas, and three external impact areas. The model also includes mental health and life satisfaction. The conclusion of this study provides new insight into the experience of wellbeing. It puts forth a model that identifies R/S/F as a grounding feature resulting in centeredness which enhances overall wellbeing. The model also allows for other grounding principles to serve as essential, though more research is needed to establish the impact of this on overall wellbeing.

Radiocarbon dating is rarely used in historical or contact-era North American archaeology because of idiosyncrasies of the calibration curve that result in ambiguous calendar dates for this period. We explore the potential and requirements for radiocarbon dating and Bayesian analysis to create a time frame for early contact-era sites in northeast North America independent of the assumptions and approximations involved in temporal constructs based on trade goods and other archaeological correlates. To illustrate, we use Bayesian chronological modeling to analyze radiocarbon dates on short-lived samples and a post from four Huron-Wendat Arendarhonon sites (Benson, Sopher, Ball, and Warminster) to establish an independent chronology. We find that Warminster was likely occupied in 1615–1616, and so is the most likely candidate for the site of Cahiagué visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1615–1616, versus the other main suggested alternative, Ball, which dates earlier, as do the Sopher and Benson sites. In fact, the Benson site seems likely to date ~50 years earlier than currently thought. We present the methods employed to arrive at these new, independent age estimates and argue that absolute redating of historic-era sites is necessary to accurately assess existing interpretations based on relative dating and associated regional narratives. La datation par le radiocarbone est rarement utilisée dans l'archéologie de l'Amérique du Nord, historique ou de l’époque des contacts, en raison des particularités de la courbe de calibration qui donnent lieu aux dates ambiguës pour le calendrier. Nous explorons le potentiel et les exigences pour les datations radiocarbone et d'analyses Bayésienne afin de créer un calendrier pour les sites de début de la période contact dans le nord-est de l'Amérique du Nord séparent des hypothèses et approximations impliquées dans les constructions temporelles basées sur les marchandises commerciales et d'autres corrélats archéologiques. Comme démonstration, nous utilisons la modélisation chronologique Bayésienne pour analyser les dates par le radiocarbone sur des échantillons éphémères et un poteau de quatre sites Huron-Wendat Arendarhonon (Benson, Sopher, Ball et Warminster) afin d’établir une chronologie indépendante. Nous trouvons que Warminster était probablement occupé pendant 1615–1616, ce qui en fait le candidat le plus probable pour le site de Cahiagué visité par Samuel de Champlain en 1615–1616, par rapport à l'autre alternative principale suggérée, Ball, qui est plus ancien, comme les sites Sopher et Benson. En fait, le site Benson semble dater d'environ cinquante ans (~50) plus tôt que prévu. Nous présentons les méthodes employées pour arriver à ces nouvelles estimations d’âge indépendant et affirmons qu'une re-datation absolue des sites de l'époque historique est nécessaire pour évaluer avec précision les interprétations existantes basées sur la datation relative et les récits régionaux associés.

University settings have demonstrated potential for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks; they combine congregate living, substantial social activity, and a young population predisposed to mild illness. Using genomic and epidemiologic data, we describe a COVID-19 outbreak at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. During August-October 2020, a total of 3,485 students, including 856/6,162 students living in dormitories, tested positive. Case counts began rising during move-in week, August 25-31, 2020, then rose rapidly during September 1-11, 2020. The university initiated multiple prevention efforts, including quarantining 2 dormitories; a subsequent decline in cases was observed. Genomic surveillance of cases from Dane County, in which the university is located, did not find evidence of transmission from a large cluster of cases in the 2 quarantined dorms during the outbreak. Coordinated implementation of prevention measures can reduce COVID-19 spread in university settings and may limit spillover to the surrounding community.

Although dendrochronological methods have the potential to provide precise calendar dates, they are virtually absent in Mesoamerican archaeological research. This absence is due to several long-standing, but erroneous, assumptions: that tree rings in this region do not reflect annual growth and environmental variability, that an adequate number of samples do not exist, and that tree-ring measurements cannot be useful without modern trees to link prehispanic chronologies. In this article we present data from the sites of La Quemada and Los Pilarillos, located in the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, to demonstrate that suitable archaeologically derived samples of dendrochronologically useful species do exist, that the samples from these sites are measurable and cross-datable, and that the tree rings can yield precise calendar dates using a method that “wiggle-matches” radiocarbon dates on tree-ring sequences. The work demonstrates the potential of these methods to address chronological, and, in the future, climatic questions, which have so far eluded archaeological work in the region. Los métodos dendrocronológicos tienen el potencial de proporcionar fechas de calendario precisas, sin embargo son escasamente utilizados en las investigaciones arqueológicas Mesoamericanas. Esto se debe a la existencia de varios supuestos de larga permanencia, pero erróneos tales como: que los anillos de los árboles en esta región no reflejan el crecimiento anual y la variabilidad medioambiental, que no existe un número adecuado de muestras, y que las mediciones de los anillos de los árboles no pueden ser útiles sin la existencia de árboles modernos para vincular las curvas prehispánico. En este artículo, se presentan datos de los sitios de La Quemada y Los Pilarillos, localizados en el Valle de Malpaso, Zacatecas, para demostrar que existen muestras arqueológicas dendrocronológicamente adecuadas, medibles, que se pueden “cross-date”, y que se pueden obtener fechas precisas usando un método llamado “calibración de radiocarbono de secuencias definidas” (radiocarbon wiggle-matching). El trabajo pone en evidencia el potencial de estos métodos para abordar cuestiones cronológicas, y en el futuro, también climáticas, las cuales hasta la fecha han eludido el trabajo arqueológico en la región.

This article presents a multidisciplinary case study of The Armorer's Shop (North Carolina Museum of Art), a seventeenth-century panel painting attributed to David Teniers the Younger of Flanders. The study was motivated, first, by visual and X-ray radiographic observations suggesting an atypical construction, and second, by the discovery that the depiction of armor in this painting is nearly identical to that in several other works. All but one of these paintings are attributed to Jan Brueghel the Younger, a contemporary Flemish painter related to Teniers by marriage. Stylistic analysis strongly supports the hypothesis that Brueghel completed the armor, whereas Teniers painted the background, figures and objects depicted around the armor. A broad range of materials analysis techniques, particularly cross-sectional analysis, dendrochronology and confocal X-ray fluorescence microscopy (CXRF), were used to establish whether the panel construction and palette composition are consistent with this hypothesis. Dendrochronology shows that the panel was fabricated from three distinct wood planks, and suggests that the smallest of these, the armor plank, was painted approximately 20 years before the other two. CXRF provides direct evidence that this plank was painted before the three planks were combined. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first evidence of the work of a seventeenth-century Flemish painter being re-used in this fashion by a second contemporary painter. Cet article présente une étude pluridisciplinaire du tableau The Armorer's Shop (North Carolina Museum of Art), un panneau peint du XVII e siècle attribué à David Teniers le Jeune, des Flandres. L'étude était motivée, premièrement, par des observations faites à partir de l'examen visuel et de celui des radiographies qui suggéraient une construction atypique, et deuxièmement par la découverte du fait que la représentation de l'armure dans ce tableau est presque identique à celles de plusieurs autres oeuvres. Toutes les peintures, sauf une, sont attribuées à Jan Breughel le Jeune, un peintre flamand contemporain parent de Teniers par alliance. L'analyse stylistique soutient fortement l'hypothèse que Breughel a peint l'armure, alors que Teniers peignait l'arrière-plan, les personnages et les objets dépeints autour de l'armure. Un large éventail de techniques d'analyse, notamment l'analyse de coupes stratigraphiques, la dendrochronologie et la microscopie confocale de fluorescence des rayons X, a été utilisé pour déterminer si la construction du panneau et la palette sont compatibles avec cette hypothèse. La dendrochronologie a montré que le panneau a été fabriqué avec trois planches et suggère que la plus petite de celles-ci, la planche de l'armure, aurait été peinte environ 20 ans avant les autres. De plus, la microscopie confocale de fluorescence des rayons X a démontré que cette planche a été peinte avant que les trois planches soient assemblées. Pour autant que le sachent les auteurs, ceci est le premier témoignage du travail d'un peintre flamand du XVIIe siècle réutilisé de cette façon par un autre peintre contemporain. In diesem Artikel wird eine multidisziplinäre Studie zu dem flämischen Gemälde The Armorer's Shop (North Carolina Museum of Art) von David Teniers dem Jüngeren präsentiert. Die Studie wurde durch die bei der Betrachtung unter dem Mikroskop und bei Radiographischen Untersuchungen sichtbar werdende, ungewöhnliche Konstruktion motiviert sowie dadurch, dass die Darstellung der Waffen nahezu identisch mit zahlreichen anderen Werken ist. Mit Ausnahme eines sind alle diese Werke Jan Brueghel dem Jüngeren zugeschrieben, einem zeitgenössischen flämischen Maler, der mit Teniers durch Heirat verwandt war. Eine stilistische Analyse unterstützt die Hypothese, dass die Waffen von Breughel gemalt worden sind, während Teniers Hintergrund, Figuren und andere Objekte gemalt hat. Die Ganze Breite materialanlytischer Techniken wie Dendrochronologie oder Confocale Röntgenfluoreszenzmikroskopie (CXRF) wurden insbesondere an Querschliffen durchgeführt, um die Frage zu klären, ob die Konstruktion der Tafel und die verwendete Palette mit dieser Hypothese in Übereinstimmung gebracht werden kann. Die Holzuntersuchungen zeigen, dass die Tafel aus drei Brettern besteht, deren kleinstes, das Waffen- Brett, etwa. 20 Jahre älter ist als die anderen. CXRF zeigte dementsprechend, daß dieses Brett bemalt wurde, bevor die Tafel zusammengefügt wurde. Nach Wissen des Autors ist dies der erste Beleg einer Wiederverwendung eines Flämischen Werkes des 17. Jahrhunderts in dieser Art. Este artículo presenta el caso del estudio multidisciplinar de La tienda del armero(North Carolina Museum of Art), una pintura sobre tabla del siglo XVII atribuida al artista flamenco David Teniers el Joven. El comienzo de estudio estuvo motivado, en primer lugar, por observaciones visuales y radiográficas que sugerían una construcción atípica, y, en segundo lugar, por el descubrimiento de que la representación de la armadura en este cuadro es casi idéntica a la existente en muchas otras obras. Todas, con una única excepción, son atribuidas a Jan Brueghel el Joven, un pintor contemporáneo, también flamenco, vinculado a Teniers por matrimonio. El estudio estilístico mantiene con seguridad la hipótesis de que Brueghel terminó la armadura, mientras que Teniers realizó el fondo, las figuras y los objetos representados alrededor de la armadura. Un amplio abanico de técnicas analíticas, especialmente estratigrafías, dendrocronología y microscopía confocal de fluorescencia de rayos X (CXRF), fueron empleadas para el análisis de esta obra con el fin de confirmar si la construcción del panel y la paleta usada pueden ser relacionados con la mencionada hipótesis. La dendrocronología muestra que el panel se fabricó a partir de tres planchas distintas, y sugiere que la más pequeña de ellas, la que corresponde a la armadura es, aproximadamente, veinte años más antigua que las otras dos. La CXRF, además, demuestra que este panel fue pintado antes de que se uniesen las tres piezas. Para los autores esta es la primera evidencia de la reutilización de una obra pictórica flamenca del siglo XVII por un segundo artista contemporáneo.