Fundamental Changes Research Articles

Evolutionary novelties underlie sound production in baleen whales.

Baleen whales (mysticetes) use vocalizations to mediate their complex social and reproductive behaviours in vast, opaque marine environments1. Adapting to an obligate aquatic lifestyle demanded fundamental physiological changes to efficiently produce sound, including laryngeal specializations2-4. Whereas toothed whales (odontocetes) evolved a nasal vocal organ5, mysticetes have been thought to use the larynx for sound production1,6-8. However, there has been no direct demonstration that the mysticete larynx can phonate, or if it does, how it produces the great diversity of mysticete sounds9. Here we combine experiments on the excised larynx of three mysticete species with detailed anatomy and computational models to show that mysticetes evolved unique laryngeal structures for sound production. These structures allow some of the largest animals that ever lived to efficiently produce frequency-modulated, low-frequency calls. Furthermore, we show that this phonation mechanism is likely to be ancestral to all mysticetes and shares its fundamental physical basis with most terrestrial mammals, including humans10, birds11, and their closest relatives, odontocetes5. However, these laryngeal structures set insurmountable physiological limits to the frequency range and depth of their vocalizations, preventing them from escaping anthropogenic vessel noise12,13 and communicating at great depths14, thereby greatly reducing their active communication range.

Динамика выявления РНК вируса SARS-CoV-2 у пациентов и сотрудников ФГБУ «НМИЦ гематологии» Минздрава России в первые 2 года пандемии новой коронавирусной инфекции COVID-19

Background. COVID-19 required fundamental changes in healthcare management, also in medical care for oncological and hematological patients. Visits to healthcare organizations were minimized, 75 % of doctor appointments were converted to telemedicine consultations. The solutions aimed at preventing further spread of COVID-19 included establishing of observational units, distinguishing between patient and employee flows, regular SARS-CoV-2 RNA testing, reducing hospital stays and transferring patients with positive COVID-19 tests to the remodeled hospitals specializing in the novel coronavirus infection, as well as providing only emergency medical treatment and, as far as feasible, converting systemic chemotherapy to per os treatment, etc.
 Aim. To assess SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection dynamics at the National Research Center for Hematology from April 2020 to January 2022 during the implementation of epidemic control measures.
 Materials & Methods. The study was based on SARS-CoV-2 RNA testing of naso- and oropharyngeal samples obtained from patients and employees of the National Research Center for Hematology (hereafter referred to as Center). Besides, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, lung tissue biopsies, and sputum were examined for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The study was performed at the Center’s Virusology Department with the use of Sintol reagent kit “ПЦР-РВ-2019-nCov”.
 Results. The study was based on 107,470 tests: 58,141 (54 %) of employees and 45,126 (46 %) of patients; 35,508 (33 %) of men and 71,962 (67 %) of women. In 1318 cases SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected which accounted for 1.15 % of total test number. In the groups of employees/patients, virus detection rate was 1.42 %/1.09 % (p < 0.001), and in male/female groups it was 1.3 %/1.2 %, respectively (p = 0.154). The rate of infection in the groups of tumor and non-tumor hematological patients, as proved by SARS-CoV-2 RNA testing, was 1.24 % and 0.92 %, respectively (p = 0.147). In employees and patients of the Center, a wave-like virus detection rate was observed. The largest number of infections was registered in April-June 2020 (79 patients and 170 employees), October-December 2020 (126 patients and 190 employees), and January 2022 (59 patients and 203 employees), which corresponded to the first, second, and fifth COVID-19 waves in Russia.
 Conclusion. The analysis of data obtained at the National Research Center for Hematology demonstrated a wave-like SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection rate in employees and patients of the Center, which corresponded to the general trend in Russia. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection rate did not depend on sex of subjects under study and was not significantly different in the groups of tumor and non-tumor hematological patients. Although the patients in hematological hospital are more exposed to the risk of severe infectious complications, they showed laboratory markers for COVID-19 less frequently than the Center employees.

Landmarks, beacons, or panoramic views: What do pigeons attend to for guidance in familiar environments?

Birds and social insects represent excellent systems for understanding visually guided navigation. Both animal groups use surrounding visual cues for homing and foraging. Ants extract sufficient spatial information from panoramic views, which naturally embed all near and far spatial information, for successful homing. Although egocentric panoramic views allow for parsimonious explanations of navigational behaviors, this potential source of spatial information has been mostly neglected during studies of vertebrates. Here we investigate how distinct landmarks, a beacon, and panoramic views influence the reorientation behavior in pigeons (Columba livia). Pigeons were trained to search for a location characterized by a beacon and several distinct landmarks. Transformation tests manipulated aspects of the landmark configuration, allowing for a dissociation among navigational strategies. Quantitative image and path analyses provided support that the panoramic view was used by the pigeons. Although the results from some individuals support the use of beaconing, overall the pigeons relied predominantly on the panoramic view when spatial cues provided conflicting information regarding the goal location. Reorientation based on vector and bearing information derived from distinct landmarks as well as environmental geometry failed to account fully for the results. Thus, the results of our study support that pigeons can use panoramic views for reorientation in familiar environments. Given that the current model for landmark use by pigeons posits the use of different vectors from an object, a global panorama-matching strategy suggests a fundamental change in the theory of how pigeons use surrounding visual cues for localization.

Risk assessments of virtual interactions on Saudi families

Family relationships are the basis for a stable family atmosphere. Now with the internet, which has become a tangible part of our lives, membership of virtual communities, including social networks, has grown. It has created fundamental changes in the structure of social relationships and human interaction, forming a new framework of virtual interactions that transcend international borders. Due to their significance, unavoidability, availability, confidentiality, ease of use, and intrusive nature through interaction and sharing, virtual communities now extend beyond the individual and related level of risk. This study aimed to assess the cultural and behavioral risks of virtual interactions for Saudi families and their level of incidence and likelihood. It belonged to descriptive studies, using the social survey for a sample (1524) from Hail region families between 15 December 2022 and 31 January 2023, and was based on the list of cultural and behavioral risks of virtual interactions. Results showed that the most dangerous social networking sites for Saudi families were TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram respectively. Matrix results showed that 66.7% of virtual interaction threats have a high severity and likelihood, namely: adopting atheistic ideas, spreading the thought of hate, undermining the values of the Saudi family, and adopting ideas that incite violence from cultural threats, privacy hacks, cyber-bullying, fraud, violence, social isolation and cybercrime from behavioral threats. The study recommends adopting a social risk management (SRM) concept, especially regarding risks to family, because it is a new dimension of social protection.

RF magnetron sputtering of [formula omitted] thin films: Analysis of thermal annealing induced tuning of structural, optical characteristics, and energy band alignments

This correspondence showcases the deposition of ultra-wide bandgap β−Ga2O3 thin films via the utilization of RF magnetron sputtering at an elevated deposition temperature of 400 °C, followed by a comprehensive analysis of their structural, surface and optical properties using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Raman, Ultraviolet–Visible Spectroscopy (UV–Vis), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) at 800 °C, 900 °C, and 1000 °C annealed sample. Annealing up to 1000 °C led to a significant enhancement in the film’s crystallinity by 10%, accompanied by a remarkable decrease in dislocation density of up to 93.5%. The study also observed several key trends upon annealing, including a decreasing lattice constant from 12 to 11.97 Å, and an increase in the bandgap from 4.8 to 5.3 eV. Concurrently, crystallite size was consistently increased from 4.07 to 15.77 nm. The conduction band offset (CBO) decreased with higher annealing temperatures. Additionally, the increase in bandgap led to an enhancement in the critical electric field from 8.9 to 11.2 MV/cm. The Electron Density Mapping (EDM) results depicted a covalent bond between the atoms for different annealing processes along with the fundamental structural change in atomic coordinates and unit cell parameters, which has not been reported yet. These findings underline the remarkable material properties of β−Ga2O3 at 1000 °C temperatures. This establishes it as a compelling substitute for materials like SiC and GaN, showcasing its potential across various high-power applications due to a superior Baliga figure of merit and robust sensitivity even under elevated temperatures, positioning it as a promising candidate for optoelectronic applications.

Doctrinal Approaches to the Problem of the Influence of a Fundamental Change in Circumstances on the Operation of Treaties

The paper is devoted to the study of the views on the problem of the influence of a fundamental change in circumstances on the operation of treaties that existed in the science of international law before the adoption of the Vienna Convention on the Law of International Treaties of 1969. The author analyzes the following approaches, common in international legal science, to the problem of applying the rebus sic stantibus clause in interstate contractual practice: its unconditional support; her denial; recognition of the admissibility of using a clause in the presence of a number of conditions.Based on the study of special scientific literature, conclusions are drawn regarding the validity and acceptability of each of the approaches, which to a certain extent contributes to a proper understanding of the true meaning of the current conventional norm on the impact of a fundamental change in circumstances on international treaties. An analysis of the first approach, which assumes the right of any of the states party to the treaty to refuse to implement it in the event of such a change in circumstances that seriously affects the fundamental rights of this state, leads to the conclusion that in the absence of clear criteria for the use of a clause, it is almost impossible to reliably answer the question of whether after a change in circumstances, the implementation of the contract will threaten the fundamental rights of the state. The denial of the rebus sic stantibus clause was argued either by challenging its legal essence or by stating its inconsistency with the principle of pacta sunt servanda. The third approach, which is the most realistic, won approval at the UN Vienna Conference on the Law of Treaties and was normatively enshrined in the Vienna Convention of 1969, which ultimately made it possible to remove uncertainty regarding the impact of a fundamental change in circumstances on the operation of international treaties.

Enhancement of foaming property of ormosia protein: Insights into the effect of high-intensity ultrasound on physicochemical properties and structure analysis

Ormosia, as one of the consumer's favorite grains, is rich in protein, but its application is limited by the naturally low solubility of its protein. In order to improve its application capability, the Ormosia protein (OSP) is modified by high-intensity ultrasounds (HIUS), and the effect of ultrasound on the secondary and tertiary structure, as well as the improvement of its foaming property due to the alteration in protein structure, were systematically explored. It has been observed that HIUS greatly reduced the particle size of the OSP, and significantly affected the secondary and tertiary structure. These fundamental changes improved the ability of the OSP to stabilize foam at the water-air interface, and thus the HIUS-treated OSP possessed an excellent foaming property. The results of this study are expected to provide a theoretical basis for expanding the application of the OSP in the food industry.

الإحتلال البريطاني للعراق دراسة في تطوره السياسي


 يتناول هذا البحث مرحلة مهمة من تاريخ العراق([i]) الحديث، ألا وهي مرحلة الاحتلال البريطاني للعراق منذ 1917م، عندما دخل البريطانيون بغداد بقيادة الجنرال ستانلي مود وأعلنوا احتلالهم للعراق. ويلاحظ ان تاريخ العراق المعاصر يتوافق مع هذا الحدث المؤثر. لذلك فأن فهم هذا الاحتلال ودوافعه وموقف الشعب العراقي منه مهم جداً لفهم التاريخ العراقي في مراحله اللاحقة. ويبين كذلك فهم الآخرين للعراق وشعبه وكيفية تعاملهم معه. وبعد مرور قرن من الزمن على هذا الحدث فأن اعادة دراسته له أهمية خاصة وبصورة عامة وان كان تحدي الاحتلال كبيراً بالنسبة للعراقيين فان الاستجابة لهذا التحدي كان عظيماً حيث أثبت بأنه لايمكن حكم العراقيين بصورة مباشرة. إن البحث الذي قمت بكتابته وبتوفيق من الله عز وجل يبدأ قبل فترة الاحتلال المباشر فقد تناولت في بدايته وقوع العراق في نفوذ الدولة العثمانية وأوضاعه تحت سيطرة العثمانيين وأهمية العراق الستراتيجية وكذلك المعاهدات التي جرت بين الحكومتين العراقية والبريطانية، وأثر ذلك على كردستان الحلم ويختتم البحث بدور المقاومة وإنهاء الاحتلال البريطاني في ثورة العشرين التي كان للكرد نصيب فيها ضمن حركة التحرر الكردية ولا أجزم بأن البحث قد نال مرحلة الكمال، لأن الكمال لله عز وجل وحده ولكن أدعوا أن يكون قد نال رضا الله ومن يقرأه، والله الموفق.
 
 ([i]) هناك آراء كثيرة حول اصل ومعنى العراق: ينظر: سالم الآلوسي، اسماء العراق وبغداد، بيروت، الوراق للنشر، 2013، ص ص9-174.

Taking the beat of the Arctic: are lemming population cycles changing due to winter climate?

Reports of fading vole and lemming population cycles and persisting low populations in some parts of the Arctic have raised concerns about the spread of these fundamental changes to tundra food web dynamics. By compiling 24 unique time series of lemming population fluctuations across the circumpolar region, we show that virtually all populations displayed alternating periods of cyclic/non-cyclic fluctuations over the past four decades. Cyclic patterns were detected 55% of the time (n = 649 years pooled across sites) with a median periodicity of 3.7 years, and non-cyclic periods were not more frequent in recent years. Overall, there was an indication for a negative effect of warm spells occurring during the snow onset period of the preceding year on lemming abundance. However, winter duration or early winter climatic conditions did not differ on average between cyclic and non-cyclic periods. Analysis of the time series shows that there is presently no Arctic-wide collapse of lemming cycles, even though cycles have been sporadic at most sites during the last decades. Although non-stationary dynamics appears a common feature of lemming populations also in the past, continued warming in early winter may decrease the frequency of periodic irruptions with negative consequences for tundra ecosystems.

Strategic Innovation and Organizational Sustainability in the context of External Changes in Government Plans

Contemporary studies are now documenting that strategic innovation is crucial for increased organizational sustainability, however, few studies have been done on the effect of strategic innovation practices and organizational sustainability on the framework of fundamental changes in government development plans or economic diversity.

Disentangling the intersectional field of education and housing in China: Genesis, strategies and discontents

Drawing on the Bourdieusian concept of ‘field’ and the theorization of ‘intersectionality’, this paper proposes a concept ‘intersectional field’ to disentangle the complex interrelations between housing and education in China, where they mutually constitute and co-produce yet trouble and counteract with each other, whereby exerting simultaneous exclusion in cultural and economic (re)production. Drawing on policy documents and 38 in-depth interviews with various stakeholders in China, we first delineate the genesis and evolvement of this intersectional field. We then demonstrate how middle-class parents rationalize and strategize their heavy investment in cultural and economic reproduction against the most recent policies that seemingly aim to de-intersect/decouple these two fields. We show that the intersectional field of housing and education in China emerges from state-imposed rules while being increasingly self-reinforced. It was also temporarily counteracted and suspended responding to the escalated crises of housing unaffordability and over-competition over quality schooling opportunities, through policies like franchising key schools from the city centre to the suburb and random allotting enrolment. These changes in the ‘rules of the game’ indeed bring uncertainties to the intersectional field. However, while discontent to this intersectional field abound, these actions are self-constrained by the internal logic of the intersectional field and thus unable to bring fundamental changes. Those with limited socio-economic capacities remain extremely disadvantageous in both fields. The policy intervention turns out to be merely a spatial reordering that relocates and expands the fierce competition from the city centre to the suburbs while repositioning the suburbs to be the focal point for strategic investment in the intersectional field.

Reflective Engagement With a Digital Physical Activity Intervention Among People Living With and Beyond Breast Cancer: Mixed Methods Study.

People living with and beyond breast cancer can face internal barriers to physical activity (eg, fatigue and pain). Digital interventions that promote psychological acceptance and motivation may help this population navigate these barriers. The degree to which individuals (1) adhere to intervention protocols and (2) reflect on and internalize intervention content may predict intervention efficacy. The objective of this study was to characterize the nature of reflective processes brought about by an 8-week acceptance- and mindfulness-based physical activity intervention for insufficiently active survivors of breast cancer (n=75). Furthermore, we explored the potential utility of a metric of reflective processes for predicting study outcomes. Of the intervention's 8 weekly modules, 7 (88%) included an item that asked participants to reflect on what they found to be most useful. Two coders conducted directed content analysis on participants' written responses. They assessed each comment's depth of reflection using an existing framework (ranging from 0 to 4, with 0=simple description and 4=fundamental change with consideration of social and ethical issues). The coders identified themes within the various levels of reflection. We fit multiple linear regression models to evaluate whether participants' (1) intervention adherence (ie, number of modules completed) and (2) the mean level of the depth of reflection predicted study outcomes. Participants were aged on average 57.2 (SD 11.2) years, mostly non-Hispanic White (58/75, 77%), and mostly overweight or obese (54/75, 72%). Of the 407 responses to the item prompting personal reflection, 70 (17.2%) were rated as reflection level 0 (ie, description), 247 (60.7%) were level 1 (ie, reflective description), 74 (18.2%) were level 2 (ie, dialogic reflection), 14 (3.4%) were level 3 (ie, transformative reflection), and 2 (0.5%) were level 4 (ie, critical reflection). Lower levels of reflection were characterized by the acquisition of knowledge or expressing intentions. Higher levels were characterized by personal insight, commentary on behavior change processes, and a change of perspective. Intervention adherence was associated with increases in self-reported weekly bouts of muscle-strengthening exercise (B=0.26, SE 0.12, 95% CI 0.02-0.50) and decreases in sleep disturbance (B=-1.04, SE 0.50, 95% CI -0.06 to -2.02). The mean level of reflection was associated with increases in psychological acceptance (B=3.42, SE 1.70, 95% CI 0.09-6.75) and motivation for physical activity (ie, integrated regulation: B=0.55, SE 0.25, 95% CI 0.06-1.04). We identified a useful method for understanding the reflective processes that can occur during digital behavior change interventions serving people living with and beyond breast cancer. Intervention adherence and the depth of reflection each predicted changes in study outcomes. Deeper reflection on intervention content was associated with beneficial changes in the determinants of sustained behavior change. More research is needed to investigate the relations among digital behavior change intervention use, psychological processes, and intervention efficacy.

Entangled Plumwoods: Stewardship as Grassroots Conservation Humanities

Hundreds of thousands of hectares of bushland and accompanying biodiversity were lost over a few short weeks during the Black Summer fires of 2019–2020 along the east coast of Australia. On the night of 19 December 2019, fire swept up the escarpment from the coast, slowed down with the thick understory of temperate rainforest and burnt through the lower dry sclerophyll forest on Plumwood Mountain. The aftermath of the bare, burnt landscape meant a significant change in the structure and diversity of vegetation, while the consequences of the fire also brought about fundamental changes to Plumwood as a conservation and heritage organisation. Plumwood Mountain as a place, the individual plumwood tree as an agentive being, Val Plumwood as a person and Plumwood as an organisation are all an entangled form of natureculture and indicative of a practice-based conservation humanities approach. Conservation as part of the environmental humanities can offer an alternative to mainstream models of conservation with the potential to instigate active participation on the ground, engaging in a different form of stewardship.

PRACTICE-ORIENTED LEARNING AS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THEDUAL FORM OF EDUCATION

The current stage of development of higher vocational education includes a change in the result-oriented basis of training (knowledge, skills, abilities) to a competence-based model of training. The requirements for the results of mastering an educational programme include general and professional competences that are necessary for awarding a graduate with an appropriate qualification. The introduction of a competency-based approach in the national education system requires fundamental changes in all its components, including the development of content, methods and teaching technologies. We consider the active introduction of practice-oriented learning technologies as an important component of the dual form of education to be timely, since this will allow training a specialist aimed at the prompt performance of professional tasks. The article analyses the content, purpose, technologies and conditions for the implementation of practiceoriented learning in dual universities in Germany and Austria. The results of surveys of students and employers on the effectiveness of practice-oriented learning in dual universities are presented. It is established that the prerequisites for the implementation of practice-oriented learning are: the use of real practical tasks in educational activities; modelling of a practical situation should take place in a group form of education; use of interdisciplinary connections. It is stated that the fulfilment of all these requirements will contribute to the creation of a practice-oriented environment in the educational process, which implements educational and professionally oriented functions.

The evolution of the duckweed ionome mirrors losses in structural complexity.

The duckweeds (Lemnaceae) consist of 36 species exhibiting impressive phenotypic variation, including the progressive evolutionary loss of a fundamental plant organ, the root. Loss of roots and reduction of vascular tissues in recently derived taxa occur in concert with genome expansions of ≤14-fold. Given the paired loss of roots and reduction in structural complexity in derived taxa, we focus on the evolution of the ionome (whole-plant elemental contents) in the context of these fundamental changes in body plan. We expect that progressive vestigiality and eventual loss of roots might have both adaptive and maladaptive consequences that are hitherto unknown. We quantified the ionomes of 34 accessions in 21 species across all duckweed genera, spanning 70 Myr in this rapidly cycling plant (doubling times are as rapid as ~24 h). We related both micro- and macroevolutionary ionome contrasts to body plan remodelling and showed nimble microevolutionary shifts in elemental accumulation and exclusion in novel accessions. We observed a robust directional trend in calcium and magnesium levels, decreasing from the ancestral representative Spirodela genus towards the derived rootless Wolffia, with the latter also accumulating cadmium. We also identified abundant within-species variation and hyperaccumulators of specific elements, with this extensive variation at the fine (as opposed to broad) scale. These data underscore the impact of root loss and reveal the very fine scale of microevolutionary variation in hyperaccumulation and exclusion of a wide range of elements. Broadly, they might point to trade-offs not well recognized in ionomes.

Technical aspects and innovations in non-invasive and invasive ventilation

Non-invasive and invasive ventilation have become essential for therapy in acute and chronic respiratory failure. More than one-third of patients in intensive care units receive invasive ventilation, and the number of ventilated patients in out-of-hospital care is also steadily increasing. While normalization of blood gases was considered the most significant goal in past decades, and the idea that mechanical ventilation also poses dangers played little role, the dominant thought at present is the application of ventilation from the most protective point of view possible. Because fundamental change in equipment technology is likely to be difficult, improvement of protective ventilation and further development of understanding of pathophysiologic processes in acute and chronic respiratory failure will continue to be of great importance in the future. This article summarizes different aspects of the technical basis of noninvasive and invasive ventilation and their practical implementation.

Trophic lengthening triggered by filamentous, N2-fixing cyanobacteria disrupts pelagic but not benthic food webs in a large estuarine ecosystem.

Eutrophication, increased temperatures and stratification can lead to massive, filamentous, N2-fixing cyanobacterial (FNC) blooms in coastal ecosystems with largely unresolved consequences for the mass and energy supply in food webs. Mesozooplankton adapt to not top-down controlled FNC blooms by switching diets from phytoplankton to microzooplankton, resulting in a directly quantifiable increase in its trophic position (TP) from 2.0 to as high as 3.0. If this process in mesozooplankton, we call trophic lengthening, was transferred to higher trophic levels of a food web, a loss of energy could result in massive declines of fish biomass. We used compound-specific nitrogen stable isotope data of amino acids (CSIA) to estimate and compare the nitrogen (N) sources and TPs of cod and flounder from FNC bloom influence areas (central Baltic Sea) and areas without it (western Baltic Sea). We tested if FNC-triggered trophic lengthening in mesozooplankton is carried over to fish. The TP of cod from the western Baltic (4.1 ± 0.5), feeding mainly on decapods, was equal to reference values. Only cod from the central Baltic, mainly feeding on zooplanktivorous pelagics, had a significantly higher TP (4.6 ± 0.4), indicating a strong carry-over effect trophic lengthening from mesozooplankton. In contrast, the TP of molluscivorous flounder, associated with the benthic food web, was unaffected by trophic lengthening and quite similar reference values of 3.2 ± 0.2 in both areas. This suggests that FNC blooms lead to a large loss of energy in zooplanktivorous but not in molluscivorous mesopredators. If FNC blooms continue to trigger the detour of energy at the base of the pelagic food web due to a massive heterotrophic microbial system, the TP of cod will not return to lower TP values and the fish stock not recover. Monitoring the TP of key species can identify fundamental changes in ecosystems and provide information for resource management.

European Integration of Kosovo: Analysis of the Kosova Constitutional Provisions that Require Harmonization with EU Law

Abstract This paper investigates the constitutional adjustments Kosovo should make in the EU accession process. Because European integration may necessitate fundamental changes in the constitutional principles, the paper will address them by offering concrete solutions to issues such as the primacy of EU law and the transfer of sovereignty. Issues related to human rights, such as the right to vote and to stand as a candidate at municipal elections and the right to freedom of movement. The path followed by other countries in the process of adapting their constitutions to EU law represents a very rich constitutional experience; therefore, this article clarifies concrete issues presented by the Kosovo Constitution.

Animal welfare as the basis of One Health: A UN convention on animal welfare, health, and protection poses a realistic solution to improved animal welfare and human health

Abstract Animal welfare is closely linked to animal health and human welfare and health, as the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) emphasizes in its Global Animal Welfare Strategy of 2017. As a result of recent pandemics, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the WOAH have created the One Health High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP), committed to animal health and human health in the One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022–2026) and pledged to “[work] together for the Health of Humans, Animals, Plants and the Environment.” Despite these important acknowledgments and efforts from leading world organizations, including the One Health quadripartite, the latter has so far been reluctant to actively pursue the adoption of a legally binding commitment to improve the protection and welfare of animals globally. Animal welfare remains without relevant provisions. In the following, it is argued this must be integrated into the OHHLEP in addition to the creation of an “Animal Think and Do Tank” in the form of a technical working group, which would finalize a UN Convention on the issue, as proposed, e.g., in the drafted UN Convention on Animal Health and Protection (UNCAHP) 2018. The “Animal Think and Do Tank,” within its One Health context, must manifest a transdisciplinary approach, since – unlike globally binding legislation – policies, agreements, and declarations of various world organizations do not suffice to bring about a fundamental change in animal welfare. Acknowledging that animal protection is a complex and multifaceted issue involving ethical, cultural, social, religious, political, economic, and scientific dimensions (GAL Association, 2018 , Preamble), these aspects must be represented within the decision making process regarding the Convention’s content. Besides veterinarians, experts of further disciplines related to One Health must be consulted – such as lawyers and legal academics specializing in animal, international, and UN law, competent representatives of the animal welfare and animal rights movements, and ethicists and economists. Measures must be taken to improve transparency and overall confidence in the dialogue between the actors, including competent and not specifically scientific representatives of the animal protection and animal rights movement as elements of civil society to advocate for the fundamental interests of animals. One Health impact statement This article proposes that a UN Convention on Animal Health and Protection would further the enforceability of a One Health approach to human, environmental, and animal health. Science has proven that these elements are intertwined, but they remain disparate at a legislative level in many jurisdictions. It is suggested that placing animal welfare provisions on a UN-Convention footing by utilizing the positioning of the WOAH and UNEP is the most effective way of rendering One Health policy a global reality. Cooperation between professionals is imperative: scientists, policy makers, and lawyers must work together.

Preface: DIDFYZ 2023

Searching for more effective ways of educating the young generation in physics means not only reforming the content and methods from the point of view of us creators and teachers, but mainly understanding the object of education, i.e. a young person - a student leaving school. At the same time, social changes are reflected in the structure of society’s needs for education, in the needs of young people, their approach to their environment, to fulfilling their needs and their attitude to global issues. The ability of society to respond to these requirements is determined mainly by the state and level of education. The advancement of knowledge, social relations and the economy depends on it. The main task of educational systems is to convey new knowledge in science to young people, but also to shape their personality. In physics, this role is particularly important, because knowledge of physics determines knowledge in other areas as well. We have been dealing with the issue of the transfer of physical knowledge within the framework of physics teaching theory, or in other words physics didactics, for more than half a century. Over the past 50 years, we have marked a qualitative shift in the theory and practice of this young scientific discipline. The organizers of the DIDFYZ conferences aimed not only to participate in these changes, but to be their initiators and creators. Regular biennial meetings became a platform for the creation of new ideas in the theory of teaching physics, which gradually grew into the internationally recognized DIDFYZ conference.The idea of organizing regular international meetings of physicists who deal with education in physics arose in the seventies of the last century. The Department of Physics of the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra took on the organizational role of the aforementioned conference on current problems of education in physics. It first organized a conference called DIDFYZ in 1977 in Bojnice. Other conferences were held in Nitra, in Rackova dolina in the Western Tatras, and since 2019 the venue of conference is held in Terchová (Vrátna dolina) in the beautiful mountain environment of Malá Fatra National Park.The topics of the DIDFYZ conferences over the past 46 years have always had the ambition to deal with the fundamental problems of physics education. They defined urgent problems that need to be solved at a given time (introduction of new teaching technologies, new physical discoveries and the ability to interpret them, problems of worldview, new trends in experiments, personal development, development of skills).The 23rd DIDFYZ 2023 conference entitled “New approaches in physics education for generation Z” set itself the goal of reflecting the characteristics of the educated generation referred to as “Generation Z” and “Alpha” in physics education, in the content, activities and methods used in teaching physics.Our pupils can be understood as consumers of communicated physical knowledge. Our task is to think in more detail about the characteristics of the generation we are addressing when creating physical education. Identifying which generations we are addressing means at the same time knowing how to address them in order to win them over and motivate them to learn about physics. In today’s education, the generations known as “Generation Z” and “Generation Alpha” face us. The correct grasp of their education is the gateway to the successful creation of the future.The organizers and participants of the conference believe that their efforts and the results presented at the conference will not only bring new knowledge about the possibilities of improving the teaching of physics, but will also contribute to a fundamental change in the quality and level of education and, in particular, to an increase in society’s interest in the problems of education and the educational system.Ľubomír Zelenický, Ľubomíra Valovičová, and Anton Trník EditorsList of Committees, International Scientific Committee, Organizing Committee are available in this Pdf.