Flow-Through Portable Antivirus UV-C Optical Enclosures to be Used with Protective Masks

UV-C light is an important disinfection tool against airborne viruses, while also being harmful if the light reaches the human skin. Body-attached reflective flow-through optical enclosures can be used for isolating the UV-C light from the user as well as elevating the irradiance level. In this study, we explain why air-sterilizing light enclosures are more effective than the expectations by introducing a dose multiplication factor of 4. As a result of omnidirectional illumination, air sterilization becomes more effective than surface disinfection if similar irradiance levels are measured from the enclosure wall. The methodology is explained by the design of a portable enclosure device primarily targeting the COVID-19 virus, and disinfection effectiveness better than 99.5% is demonstrated by biological tests.

Excavation of the small animal cemetery at the Roman Red Sea harbor of Berenike in 2018 and 2019

The paper discusses funeral practices with regard to animals in ancient Berenike, investigated in two seasons of exploration, 2018 and 2019 (trenches BE18/19-107, BE01/19-48 and BE19/132). Three groups of animals are represented almost exclusively in the burials. These are cats, dogs and monkeys, buried mainly around the top and on what was the eastern slope of a sand dune. In the mid 1st century AD, an enclosure wall roughly 0.50 m thick was built enclosing a space of about 20 m2 with no apparent floor surface inside it. Outside the wall, a clay pavement surrounded the enclosure on at least three sides. Animal burials accumulated around this enclosure for the next century or so, achieving the greatest density close to the feature. By the 2nd century AD urban rubbish had encroached heavily upon the area taken up by the burials. Most likely in the beginning of the 3rd century AD, the wall was dismantled, perhaps together with the features that had been inside the enclosure (statue, column, tree?). Interestingly, two goats were buried by the two excavated corners (northeastern and northwestern ones) in this period. One of these represented a variant of the species not typical of Northeastern Africa.

Medamud

The excavations of the Madamud (Louqsor) mission on the forecourt of the Montou temple,already cleared by Bisson de la Roque between 1929 and 1931 were carried out between in2017-2018. The latter discovered a ceramic production area and an enclosure wall called the"9m wall". At present, a substantial new supply of archaeological data makes enables us togo back to the question of dating and stratigraphic relationships of these different structures.Thus, the 9m wall can now be associated with the restoration of the temple carried out as ofthe reign of Thutmes III, which was to serve as the entrance pylon to the temenos. Its erectionmarked the discontinuation of the ceramic production district located southwest of theMiddle Kingdom temple, which was in operation during the 17th and early 18th dynasties.However, the 9m wall was in operation until the Ptolemaic period, before it was levelled inthe Augustan period.

Seismic Performance of Enclosure Wall in Postearthquake Temporary Prefabricated Light-Weight Steel Structure

For the postearthquake temporary prefabricated light-weight steel structure, the enclosure walls composed of prefabricated slender columns and prefabricated strip slabs were used in the structure, which were manufactured from construction waste, such as fragments of bricks and tiles, concrete fragments, and chippings of stones. In order to obtain more accurate seismic performance of enclosure walls, a full-scale two-story experimental model was built to be placed on a shake table. In the test, acceleration transducers were fixed to the enclosure walls and steel frame, which were used to obtain the maximum acceleration of the enclosure walls and steel frame as well as natural frequency of the experimental model subjected to the seismic signal including Kobe wave and El-Centro wave. Moreover, pull-on the rope displacement transducers fixed to the exterior walls parallel to the direction of vibration were used to obtain the story drifts. The results of the shake table test show that when the experimental model is subjected to earthquake with maximum acceleration, enclosure walls are not damaged, owing to flexible connection between the steel frame and enclosure walls. Earthquake reduces the stiffness of enclosure walls, and the natural frequency of the experimental model decreases with increasing maximum acceleration of the seismic signal. In addition, based on the acceleration amplification coefficient, the collaborative performance of the steel frame and enclosure wall is better. Besides, when the experimental model is subjected to earthquake with maximum acceleration, the maximum story drift angle is only 1/2615.

Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) Monastic Sites North of Lake Tana - Preliminary Results of an Exploratory Field Trip to Ethiopia in December 2015

This paper presents results of the first field trip aimed at locating and studying the remains of Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) monasteries, as part of an ongoing research project aimed at shedding light on Beta Israel monasticism. Prior to this field trip, no Beta Israel monastery had ever been mapped, and no study focused on these monasteries has ever been conducted. On the trip, two former Beta Israel villages north of Lake Tana were examined: Amba Gwalit and Aṭeyä. At Amba Gwalit, the remains of a Beta Israel holy site, which may have been a monastery containing a synagogue and surrounded by an enclosure wall, were documented. In a nearby Beta Israel cemetery, the tomb of a well-known Beta Israel monk was found. At Aṭeyä, remains of well-preserved Beta Israel dwellings were examined. Both sites demonstrated that Beta Israel material culture in Ethiopia is sufficiently preserved to enable further research aimed at locating and examining Beta Israel monasteries.

Dating Prehistoric Fortified Coastal Sites in the Balearic Islands

A special type of coastal settlement, promontory forts defended by inland-facing walls, appeared in the Balearic Islands in an imprecise time during the Bronze Age. A research project was initiated in 2011 to study one of these sites on each of the two major islands of the archipelago. The first one, Es Coll de Cala Morell (north Menorca), is a walled promontory with a relatively large plateau, with 13 horseshoe-shaped houses (navetes). The second, Sa Ferradura (east Mallorca), is a smaller coastal cape, with a different spatial planning, with only two large built-up areas, both attached to the enclosure wall. Two of the navetes have been excavated at Es Coll de Cala Morell, showing a domestic space with a central hearth in both cases. The occupation has been dated to around 1600–1200 cal BC. At Sa Ferradura seven hearths have been recorded in a large, open-air area. Their chronology falls within the interval of approximately 1200/1100–900 cal BC. From a chronological point of view, fortified settlements in coastal promontories are not, as was expected, a unitary phenomenon in Menorca and Mallorca and have to be related to different cultural periods.