The global population is aging, and with this development, frailty prevalence is increasing as well. Age-related preparation activities could benefit the prevention or delay of frailty. Local stakeholders such as municipalities, welfare organizations, and community health services should understand how to support (future) older adults in old-age preparations in their local context. This study aims to describe and understand middle-aged and older adults' focus points, needs, and wishes in preparation for older age. A mixed-methods study was conducted in the Oosterpark neighborhood in Groningen, a city in northern Netherlands, in 2023. Questionnaires regarding age-related preparations were collected both digitally and on paper. The questionnaire addressed nine themes: financial situation, emergencies, mental and physical fitness, housing, looks and appearance, personal relationships, health, leisure activities, professional activities. Additionally, focus group discussions were organized in the community center. Data were analyzed separately in SPSS and ATLAS.ti, and integrated analysis was conducted following the Pillar Integration Process. In total, 134 questionnaires were completed (mean age 59 ± 12 years), six focus groups and two individual interviews were conducted. While respondents scored high on preparation for themes as physical and mental fitness or personal relationships, scores for themes as housing and leisure activities were lower. Participants identified a tenth theme, neighborhood, and several subthemes were added to existing themes of health and personal relationships. Although many were concerned with age-related preparation, few engaged in active preparation. People also indicated not knowing how to prepare or where to request help. The study identified that middle-aged and older adults think about age-related preparation often, but hardly prepare actively for themes such as housing or financial situation. Local stakeholders, e.g., municipalities, social welfare organizations and community health organizations, should stimulate, facilitate and support citizens to prepare for later life by offering practical support, e.g. easily accessible information points. Taking into account the physical and social living environment of older adults is crucial. Better age-related preparedness could help to prevent or delay frailty, prolong independence and increase quality of life.

The brain is wired to drive behavior towards foods that are high in sugar and fat. Yet, individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) prefer low-sugar and low-fat foods to the point of starvation and even death. Here, we aimed to understand how alterations in decision-making processes and associated neural activity contribute to the pattern of maladaptive food-related decisions observed in AN. We combined decision-making tasks with computational modeling of behavior and fMRI to examine food-specific and general (nonfood)-related decisions in female individuals with AN and healthy controls (HC). Results from this pre-registered study suggest that patients with AN, like HC, employ a decision-making process that relies on sampling and evaluating evidence, regardless of the type of decision. However, neural activity patterns differed between groups when deliberating about what to eat: food choice-related activation among HC was localized to the hippocampus, whereas individuals with AN engaged both the hippocampus and the striatum, regions apparently serving as sources of evidence in the decision process. These findings suggest that the maladaptive reversal of food preferences in AN may be attributable to reliance on different inputs to the process that leads to restrictive food choice, rather than a maladaptive decision process per se Significance Statement Disordered eating often involves maladaptive choices about what to eat. The present research shows that the decision-making process unfolds similarly in healthy individuals and patients with anorexia nervosa but the brain regions that support deliberation about what to eat differ. Together, the findings suggest that the inputs to the decision process, rather than the decision process per se should be a point of focus in the search for novel treatments of eating disorders.

Herpesvirus infections belong to major pathogens in the human population. This study aimed at evaluating diagnostic data for eight human herpesviruses, based on datasets derived from a large European tertiary care center. Specifically, we analyzed 118,692 herpesvirus submittals to the Diagnostic Division of the Virological Institute, University Hospital Erlangen (UKER), Germany, between July 2014 and June 2024. Our points of focus were the following: (i) the frequencies of herpesvirus diagnostic results with positivity rates, (ii) departments representing main sample submitters, (iii) the specific importance of intensive care units (ICUs), (iv) the COVID-19 pandemic period, and (v) distinct properties of sample types. Overall, we are stating the highest frequencies of diagnostic assessment for herpes simplex virus (HSV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections, pointing to their dominant relevance for clinical practice. Notably, HCMV submittals (46.6% of total), together with EBV (26.2%) and HSV (15.7), accounted for almost 90% of all herpesviral diagnostic samples during this period. Within these key groups, HCMV, EBV and HSV showed positivity rates of 14.5%, 35.0%, and 18.5%, respectively. Concerning a main input of sample submittals, two departments were predominant in our center, i.e., the Departments of Haematology-Oncology and Anaesthesiology. These included patients under multifold types of treatment associated with an increased risk of herpesvirus reactivation or primary infection. Furthermore, another high portion of submittals was noted for ICUs and external sources. In addition, a numerical, transient increase in herpesvirus diagnostic submittals, from various sources, was shown for the COVID-19 pandemic years (mostly 2021) as compared to other periods. Combined, these data underlined the importance of clinical monitoring of herpesvirus infections, particularly for high-risk patients, and the steady need of improvements in preventive measures, therapeutic options, and safe diagnostic tools.

Mental illnesses are on the rise both internationally and in Switzerland, pushing psychiatric care facilities to the limit of their capacity. As a result, there is a growing need for low-threshold psychosocial support that accompanies, stabilizes and supports those affected in their everyday lives. This is precisely where the "Psycho-Social Services" (PSD) project of the GLEICH UND ANDERS Schweiz foundation comes in. The aim of this study was to provide a descriptive, empirical analysis of the PSD project. A descriptive analysis of the project was carried out for quality assurance purposes. The socio-demographic data of the participants and the concerns and stressful situations supported by peers were systematically recorded. In addition, the forms, content and focus of the peer support and the number of hours provided were quantitatively evaluated. In the period from 2023 to the end of 2024, 102 people were supported (71.6% of whom were women). The age of the clients was between 16 and 75 years with a median of 44.0 years. The places of residence of the people receiving support were spread across the cantons of German-speaking Switzerland, with most people coming from the cantons of Lucerne (47 people) and Bern (21 people). The most common reasons for seeking support were depression (45.1%), followed by schizophrenia (11.8%), burnout (9.8%), eating disorders (8.8%) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (8.8%). A total of 473.23 hours of peer work were carried out, with an average of 4.64 hours per person supported. The majority of people (57.8%) were supported for between 1 and 5 hours. The results show that peer support in the PSD project is primarily used by middle-aged women with depressive symptoms from the cantons of Lucerne and Bern, with short and targeted support sessions predominating. This underlines the need for low-threshold, time-limited support services and shows the potential of peer work and psychosocial services. At the same time, the regional focus points to the importance of further disseminating and publicizing such services in other cantons.

ABSTRACT Tackling is the most common mechanism of head injury in junior Australian football (AF) and often a deterrent for participation. Instrumented mouthguards (iMG) have been previously used to assess head safety by measuring head acceleration, with no research in junior AF. Game iMG data was collected from 30 under (U)-13 boys and 30 U13/14 girls across 5 teams during one season. Footage of tackles involving players wearing iMG were reviewed using an established framework, divided into pre-contact, contact, post-contact, and event description phases. Tackles registering a suspected impact event on the iMG were labelled ‘Hit’ (n = 29), while tackles not registering a suspected impact were labelled ‘No Hit’ (n = 320). A random forest investigated if suspected impacts were influenced by tackle mechanics and player sex, which classified 78.1% of ‘Hit’ and 86.2% of ‘No Hit’ events. The most influential variables on random forest classification were: tackler head hit, tackle type, and speed of the tackler and ball-carrier (mean importance score >7). Our findings suggest tacklers may be more susceptible to substantial head acceleration than ball-carriers, given that tackler head contact (importance score = 7.98) was more influential than ball-carrier head contact (importance score = 4.67). Stationary or running tackles and bear-hug tackles most frequently resulted in ‘Hit’ events, indicating these should be a focus point for future tackle education. Finally, sex was not influential on suspected impact events. This study extends our understanding of how tackle mechanics influence head acceleration in junior AF, providing a foundation for further exploration.

Morphological sciences in a forensic context: The importance of recognizing osteoblastic lesions found in an osteological collection.

Blockchain technology has a significant impact on smart contracts. In practice, they reflect the redistribution and organization of the rights and obligations of the contract parties, but the existing legal regulations regarding their functioning are still underdeveloped. With this regard, it is highly important to consider the legal effect of smart contracts in commercial transactions. The current research uses the methods of text-mining such as Chinese word segmentation, keyword extraction, co-occurrence network analysis, and LDA topic clustering to derive the factors that contribute to the legal effect of smart contracts in commercial transactions and then explores the relationships between those factors using association-rule mining in order to reveal the particularities of their legal effect. The experimental outcomes demonstrate that there are four critical areas of concern related to smart contracts: validity determination, transaction security, responsibility definition, and risk prevention and control. There are altogether 11 LDA topics and 33 dispute focus points of the legal effect of smart contracts in business transactions. Of them, the most significant share belongs to the disputes based on professional ethics and responsibility boundaries, which amount to 52.83 percent. The obtained result indicates that the professional ethics and the demarcation of responsibilities are very important aspects of the development of the legal effect of smart contracts.

Currently, oral health field in our country faces numerous challenges, such as the persistently high prevalence of oral diseases, the heavy burden on medical insurance payments and there are significant regional differences in the level of dental care, so far the full medical equity across society has not yet been achieved. Health management is a key strategy to cope with these challenges. Health management consists of four components: information collection, risk factor assessment, health education and health intervention.The collection of information is the foundation of health education and health interventions. Effective health education and interventions, in turn, promote the conduct of information collection. Health management and medical care overlap in terms of service recipient, practitioner, location, and means of service, but there are different goal, focus point, service model and time span between them. The real rise of health management in our country has appeared since the year 2000. The oral health management is just beginning in our country. It is of significant realistic importance to set up an oral health system in China. It is recommended to carry out top-level design for oral health management and promote its progress from four aspects: changing concepts, cultivating talent, strengthening policy intervention and developing appropriate technique.

ABSTRACT Assessing support for political violence in the United States remains a major point of focus. However, generating reliable population-level estimates of support for political violence has proven difficult. In this study, we fielded a split-ballot survey experiment comparing two measures of support for political violence. Specifically, we examine support for abstract and unspecified forms of political violence, as well as the willingness to engage in concrete actions, such as damaging property, to support political goals. As expected, we find greater support for abstract political violence than for a personal willingness to engage in political violence. In our multivariable analyses, we found that younger people were more likely to endorse both expressions of political violence. Regarding political ideology and party identification, we found a complex set of results. While the results related to ideology suggest people who identify as “very liberal” were more likely to endorse both expressions of political violence, party identification showed that independents, not Democrats or Republicans, were more likely to endorse both expressions of political violence. As such, we argue that alienation from conventional political parties is an important feature that deserves more attention.

Machine-learned interatomic potentials (MLIPs) based on quantum-mechanical data are often used as a means to combine the performance of classical force-fields with the accuracy of electronic structure methods. In this work, MLIPs based on the MACE architecture were trained, starting from two publicly available data sets: one based on periodic structures, and the other based on molecular cluster data. Two rather challenging liquid properties are in focus, density and diffusivity, here for the battery-relevant ethylene carbonate and ethyl methyl carbonate solvents and mixtures thereof. The focus of our study is the uncertainties in the generated MLIP models themselves (calculated for committees of models with different regression seeds and different training set sizes) and how these uncertainties reflect on the MD-simulated target properties. The second focus point is whether these uncertainties are small enough to allow the comparison and assessment of different density functional theory (DFT) functionals; here, only a small number of them are compared, but the workflow opens up for a more extensive assessment of many DFT functionals. We find that all our MACE-MLIPs, both cluster-trained ones and the periodic-structure-trained ones, produce stable 1 ns NPT trajectories, regardless of training set size and cluster composition, but the MACE-MLIPs trained on cluster data (labeled with the hybrid ωB97X-D3 functional) are found to be sensitive to both the random training seed and the data selection, resulting in large uncertainties on the simulated diffusivity and density values.

IntroductionImmunisation coverage varies across Papua New Guinea (PNG), with 40% of children in East New Britain Province (ENBP) classified as zero-dose (children missing diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine first dose (DTP1)) and 55% as under-immunised (missing DTP3) in 2023. This study aimed to understand routine childhood immunisation enablers and barriers in areas of ENBP reported to have highly variable DTP1, DTP3 and measles-rubella first-dose (MR1) coverage.MethodsQualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with caregivers of children aged 9–23 months and healthcare professionals in Gazelle and Kokopo districts. Local research officers conducted interviews in Tok Pisin and English. Data were thematically analysed and mapped across the six UNICEF Journey to Health and Immunisation framework stages.Results33 caregivers and 28 healthcare professionals were interviewed. Despite finding that a high proportion of caregivers’ children had received DTP, DTP3 and MR1, participants identified a myriad of contextual caregiver and healthcare professional enablers and barriers to routine immunisation. Caregiver enablers included support provided by families and community-based services; barriers included limited immunisation knowledge, financial and travel challenges, and limited availability of healthcare professionals. Healthcare professional enablers included increased operational funds and working with community leaders, while barriers were focused on service delivery including costs, non-functioning aid posts and vaccine stockouts. Strategies suggested by participants for improving vaccine uptake included developing tailored immunisation communication materials, engaging community members to support routine immunisation promotion activities, and strengthening coordination between communities and healthcare professionals.ConclusionsThis study highlights the challenge of identifying and including zero-dose children and their caregivers in research but still provides useful contextual focus points to enhance and inform tailored strategies to strengthen immunisation service delivery. These include strategies that improve bidirectional coordination and communication between healthcare professionals, community and religious leaders about routine immunisation, increase immunisation knowledge and strengthen community-based services for vaccine delivery.

With the gradual migration of banking to online platforms, the drivers of customer loyalty now represent the point of focus by managers and researchers. This study explores how the customer ratings on the quality of e-banking services affect their loyalty intentions, the mediating effect of perceived value, and trust. Using the Cognitive-Motivational-Relational (CMR) theory, the study conceptualizes loyalty as the result of a process of a psychological appraisal by customers who examine the performance of service, appraise the value of the performance and develop confidence in the provider. The results obtained using the data on active e-banking users underwent structural equation modelling, which disclosed that the perception of reliability, security and efficiency of e-banking services make the customers more prone to realize the value addition and build stronger trust in the bank. Both perceived value and e-trust are strong contributors to loyalty and important mediating variables between the quality of service and the intentions to use it further. The results of this study suggest that digital loyalty is not only determined by technical performance, but also by larger cognitive and relational evaluations of customers regarding their banking experience.

In the Spring of 1961, the last train of the Pacific Electric Railway left from the Huntington Building on the Pacific Electric Long Beach Line. The former railway has since become the point of focus for transportation planners, historians, and commuters. The Pacific Electric Railway in the 21st century has been the subject of significant romanticization and mythologizing by Californians. In an era where the challenges of daily commutes are becoming increasingly prescient, the Pacific Electric is a reflection of modern desires for modern regional public transit. This story map, maps the former lines of the Pacific Electric and compares them with existing modern public transit connections to visualize the continuity of services between modern transit and the former regional PE. From these comparisons, we can reevaulate the value of the Pacific Electric as a regional connectro and contextualize transit planning in the 21st century.

Energy poverty remains a persistent challenge in many developing economies, constraining socioeconomic development and diminishing quality of life. This study examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness (TO) on energy poverty reduction in seven Latin American countries—Belize, Bolivia, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru—over the period 1992–2024. Employing a Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) framework, the analysis reveals that both FDI and trade openness significantly enhance electricity access, which serves as a key proxy for energy poverty. Specifically, a 1% increase in trade openness leads to a 0.083% improvement in electricity access, while FDI exerts a substantially stronger effect, increasing access by 2.325%. Economic growth also contributes to energy poverty alleviation, albeit with a more modest elasticity of 0.195%. Granger causality tests indicate bidirectional causal relationships between trade openness and energy poverty, as well as between energy poverty and FDI inflows, suggesting the presence of a virtuous cycle whereby improved energy access fosters deeper economic integration. Additional feedback effects are identified between trade openness and economic growth, and between FDI and economic growth. Moreover, trade openness is found to directly stimulate FDI inflows, while economic growth unidirectionally reduces energy poverty. The robustness of these findings is confirmed through FMOLS and DOLS estimations. Overall, the results highlight the critical role of globalization in alleviating energy poverty in Latin America. Policy implications emphasize the need to reduce trade barriers for renewable energy technologies, promote green-oriented FDI, and channel economic growth toward expanding rural electrification. Nonetheless, the study’s reliance on electricity access as a single proxy for energy poverty and its regional focus point to avenues for future research, including the use of multidimensional energy poverty indices and cross-regional comparative analyses. Keywords: Energy poverty; electricity access; trade openness; foreign direct investment; globalization; Latin America.

This paper develops a region-specific technological transformation strategy for the automotive and mobility sector in Southeast Lower Saxony (SON) under conditions of high uncertainty driven by electrification, digitalization, and automation. The study integrates three analytical components: (i) a SWOT-based baseline assessment of SON’s current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; (ii) a scenario-technique framework describing alternative German mobility futures toward 2035; and (iii) a two-round Delphi survey with experts from the Institutes of Automotive Engineering and Engineering Design to evaluate actionable transformation measures. SWOT factors are mapped to scenario key-factor projections and assessed using a trinary impact scale (−1/0/+1), followed by aggregation and normalization to derive scenario-specific change factors. Delphi-rated measures are then prioritized using scenario-overarching performance and SWOT relevance, yielding a tiered strategy concept. The resulting strategy is organized around five interdependent pillars: strengthening industry–research cooperation, advancing research in modern mobility, developing key mobility-support technologies (battery technology, AI, circular economy), expanding digital infrastructure, and upgrading R&D infrastructure and talent capacity, supported by enabling regulatory and workforce measures. The paper provides focus points from regional diagnosis to prioritized action, supporting robust strategic decision-making and adaptive capability building in SON.

The article discusses a problem of analysis of a polycode (multimodal) text as a hybrid phenomenon. Complex semiotic systems, which imply simultaneous use of codes on the levels of graphics, sound and traditional text format, present a problem for analysis on the basis of standard, traditional methods typical for linguistics, text analysis and literary criticism. The article is focused on the genre of the cartoon. We made an attempt to trace and analyse the ways of transformation, adherent to the cartoon as a genre, and to define this phenomenon in terms of genre theory. The theoretical grounds were formed on the basis of foundational research and findings in the theory and typology of speech genres contributed by M. Bakhtin, V. Dementyev, V. Karasik, G. Molchanova, E. Sheigal as well as the research of multimodal or polycode text. All this served as the ground to formulate typologically universal and specific criteria of such a text. As the basic criteria, which can serve to define cartoon as a genre, we dwell upon the criteria of primary and secondary genres, theme or topic, style (stylistically marked and stylistically neutral), plot structure (including conflict and position of objects in space), aim and conditions of communication. All these factors depend on specific means of cartoon execution and technique, linguoculture, predominance of verbal or iconic components, event, public order, and data channel. We also discuss point of view and focus, tone of narration, type of explication, cultural and/or ideological coding, pragmatic and axiological criteria. A separate group of features typical of this genre is constituted by its folding and compression, ability to become viral. As some additional criteria we may rely on genre composition, conceptual density, presence or absence in linguoculture, historical dynamics, being native or borrowed, inner and outer attitude to this genre, realisation of it in the world outlook, key phrases and other codes, ways of manifestation.

Facial features significantly influence peoples’ perception, with different features and expressions drawing attention depending on context. Previous research emphasizes the importance of the age of the target group since age-related differences in recognizing emotions have been observed between younger and older adults. As virtual characters become more integrated into daily life, it is crucial to understand their impact on viewers’ perceptions of likeability, trustworthiness, and naturalness. This study investigated the impact of virtual characters’ facial features and specific parameters on young user perception. Twelve characters were rated by 300 respondents using survey methods and eye-tracking technology. Results revealed that the eyes were the primary focus point, attracting the most attention and observation time, followed by the forehead and nose. Further statistical analysis focused on three critical areas of interest: eyes, forehead, and nose. Two primary measures — total viewing time and time to first view — were analyzed using three statistical tests: a two-way between-groups ANOVA, a one-way between-groups ANOVA, and a one-way repeated measures ANOVA. Findings emphasize the importance of eyes, forehead, and nose in shaping perception, emphasizing eyes as a crucial factor for designing appealing and realistic virtual characters, particularly for younger users as the target audience.

Water environment governance (WEG) plays an important role in absorbing pollutants and reducing carbon emissions. This study focuses on the synergistic pollution reduction and carbon mitigation effect achieved by implementing water environmental governance through process mechanisms and policy measures, and explores the focus point aimed at achieving the co-benefits of pollution reduction and carbon mitigation effectively at a local level within the basin. After selecting synergy indicators of comprehensive environmental pollution and carbon emissions and conducting modeling tests, the synergistic pollution reduction and carbon mitigation effect of WEG in the Yellow River Basin is examined. The analysis results show that WEG is characterized by the “Matthew effect” (i.e., the phenomenon of ‘the stronger get stronger’), and it can generate a synergistic pollution reduction and carbon mitigation effect with a lag, though the extent of reduction differs between pollutants and carbon emissions. The process mechanisms of source decarbonization (i.e., industrial structure transformation) and process emission reduction (i.e., green technology innovation) can achieve overall co-benefits, while end sink enhancement (i.e., environmental regulation) is only effective in reducing the pollution. The mixed nature of policy measures influences the overall co-benefits: homogeneous policy measures (e.g., river chief system policy and water ecological civilization construction pilot) contribute positively, while the opposite is true for heterogeneous policy measures (e.g., integrating WEG and energy utilization policies). These findings provide useful operational recommendations for decision-makers to efficiently reduce pollutants and carbon emissions and promote low-carbon sustainability in China’s watersheds.

Focus point on nuclear microprobe technology and applications

Scent detection dogs (SDDs) require certain behavioral characteristics for successful professional deployment. We aimed to provide insight into these characteristics by tapping into professional SDD handlers’ knowledge and experience. We conducted a first round of informal interviews with Dutch professional SDD handlers, which led to the derivation of a list of 24 characteristics. We subsequently used this list in structured interviews and had participants (N = 110) indicate how their ‘ideal SDD’ would score on a scale from 0 to 100 (ideal scores) and how reluctant they would be to see an actual dog deviate from their ideal image for each characteristic (allowed deviation scores). We compared the allowed deviation scores to the variation in the ideal scores. Additionally, we compared ideal dog characteristics for professional deployment versus recreational deployment by civilians to assess how these characteristics are relevant to professional deployment of SDDs. Professional participants were the most reluctant to make concessions for these SDD characteristics: neurotic, insecure, imperturbable (environment), scent-oriented, independent, confident, persistent, and resilient. Seven of these eight characteristics were also among those with the least variation in ideal scores between professionals. Four ‘ideal SDD’ characteristics differed significantly between civilians and professionals: civilians desired lower scores for unreserved, impulsive, excited and possessive. Three allowed deviation scores differed significantly: professionals were more reluctant to make concessions for unreserved, while civilians were more reluctant to make concessions for precise and possessive. Focusing future on the characteristics that professional handlers are reluctant to see deviate from their ideal image could enhance SDD selection and training for professional deployment and provide a basis for the development of behavioral tests or specific observations for professional SDD selection in the future. We pinpoint the characteristics of neurotic, insecure, imperturbable (environment), scent-oriented, independent, confident, persistent and resilient as possible focus points in such research.