Recent History Research Articles

Constitutive modeling of anisotropic small-strain stiffness behavior of Shanghai soft clay

Small strain stiffness plays an important role in determining the deformation of geotechnical engineering in soft soils. To model the anisotropic small strain stiffness behavior of soft clay, an enhancement to the bounding surface plasticity model is proposed. This enhancement involves incorporating the anisotropy in soil stiffness at very small strains and its non-linear degradation. Small strains are considered via cross-anisotropy elasticity, while the concept of intergranular strain is used to reflect the non-linear degradation of stiffness with strains and the effect of recent stress history. Using the proposed model, the triaxial test results on K0 consolidated Shanghai clay specimens are simulated to investigate the model’s performance. In the simulation, three typical shear stress paths are adopted. The comparison of the model simulations against experimental evidence is discussed, where the effects of anisotropy in initial soil stiffness and stress-induced anisotropy on the variation of small-strain stiffness, pore pressure, and shear-volume coupling response are highlighted.

Sweetened Beverage Tax Implementation and Change in Body Mass Index Among Children in Seattle.

Sweetened beverage taxes have been associated with reduced purchasing of taxed beverages. However, few studies have assessed the association between sweetened beverage taxes and health outcomes. To evaluate the association between the Seattle sweetened beverage tax and change in body mass index (BMI) among children. In this longitudinal cohort study, anthropometric data were obtained from electronic medical records of 2 health care systems (Kaiser Permanente Washington [KP] and Seattle Children's Hospital Odessa Brown Children's Clinic [OBCC]). Children were included in the study if they were aged 2 to 18 years (between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2019); had at least 1 weight measurement every year between 2015 and 2019; lived in Seattle or in urban areas of 3 surrounding counties (King, Pierce, and Snohomish); had not moved between taxed (Seattle) and nontaxed areas; received primary health care from KP or OBCC; did not have a recent history of cancer, bariatric surgery, or pregnancy; and had biologically plausible height and BMI (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared). Data analysis was conducted between August 5, 2022, and March 4, 2024. Seattle sweetened beverage tax (1.75 cents per ounce on sweetened beverages), implemented on January 1, 2018. The primary outcome was BMIp95 (BMI expressed as a percentage of the 95th percentile; a newly recommended metric for assessing BMI change) of the reference population for age and sex, using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. In the primary (synthetic difference-in-differences [SDID]) model used, a comparison sample was created by reweighting the comparison sample to optimize on matching to pretax trends in outcome among 6313 children in Seattle. Secondary models were within-person change models using 1 pretax measurement and 1 posttax measurement in 22 779 children and fine stratification weights to balance baseline individual and neighborhood-level confounders. The primary SDID analysis included 6313 children (3041 female [48%] and 3272 male [52%]). More than a third of children (2383 [38%]) were aged 2 to 5 years); their mean (SE) age was 7.7 (0.6) years. With regard to race and ethnicity, 789 children (13%) were Asian, 631 (10%) were Black, 649 (10%) were Hispanic, and 3158 (50%) were White. The primary model results suggested that the Seattle tax was associated with a larger decrease in BMIp95 for children living in Seattle compared with those living in the comparison area (SDID: -0.90 percentage points [95% CI, -1.20 to -0.60]; P < .001). Results from secondary models were similar. The findings of this cohort study suggest that the Seattle sweetened beverage tax was associated with a modest decrease in BMIp95 among children living in Seattle compared with children living in nearby nontaxed areas who were receiving care within the same health care systems. Taken together with existing studies in the US, these results suggest that sweetened beverage taxes may be an effective policy for improving children's BMI. Future research should test this association using longitudinal data in other US cities with sweetened beverage taxes.

Pharmacist intervention is associated with fewer serious falls over 3 months among older fallers at a day hospital: A quasi-experimental study

ObjectivesSome drugs increase the risk of falls, including serious falls. The objective of this quasi-experimental study was to determine whether the intervention of a clinical pharmacist among older outpatients receiving a multifactorial fall prevention program at a geriatric day hospital dedicated to older patients with a recent history of falls was effective in preventing serious falls over a 3-month follow-up, compared with usual care. Study designQuasi-experimental study in 296 consecutive older outpatients, including 85 with pharmacist intervention (the intervention group) and 148 without (the control group). Main outcome measuresThe main outcome was the occurrence of at least one serious fall within 3 months of follow-up. Covariates included age, sex, body mass index, grip strength, history of falls, Mini-Mental State Examination score, use of ≥3 drugs associated with risk of falls, frailty, and disability. ResultsFewer participants in the intervention group experienced at least one serious fall than in the control group (5 (5.9 %) versus 23 (15.5 %), P = 0.029), which persisted after adjustment for potential confounding factors (OR = 0.30 [95CI:0.11–0.84], P = 0.022). No significant effect was found on the indicence of all falls. Pharmacist intervention allowed more frequent therapeutic optimizations of antithrombotics (OR = 3.69 [95CI: 1.66–8.20]), proton pump inhibitors (OR = 3.34 [95CI: 1.31–8.50]), benzodiazepines (OR = 3.15 [95CI: 1.06–9.36]) and antidepressants (OR = 3.87 [95CI: 1.21–12.35]). ConclusionsAmong older fallers receiving a multifactorial fall prevention program at a day hospital, a clinical pharmacist intervention was associated with fewer incident serious falls over 3 months of follow-up.

The Impact of Covid-19 on the Aviation Industry in Air Transportation

The Impact of Covid-19 on the Aviation Industry in Air Transportation

Coexistence of microfilaria and chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis: a rare case report

Filariasis is a common health problem in tropical countries of Southeast Asia. The commonest site of involvement is the lymphatic system where the adult worms can remain viable for long periods. Though the patients can remain asymptomatic, the clinical presentation with hydrocele, fever, localised swelling and/or lymphedema are commonly seen. Localization of the parasite at various other sites like breast, lungs, and thyroid have been uncommonly described. We report a case of an elderly female who presented with a large anterior neck mass associated with a recent history of change in voice. Radiological investigations revealed a soft tissue mass in the neck along with multiple lesions in the thyroid which were suspicious of malignancy. Fine needle aspiration cytology, however, revealed microfilariae coexisting with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. This case highlights the importance of critical screening of cytology smears to identify the parasites at unusual locations. A correct diagnosis on a simple and inexpensive investigation like fine needle aspiration cytology can help in administering appropriate therapy at the earliest and avoiding unnecessary interventions.

Resilience of Terraced Landscapes to Human and Natural Impacts: A GIS-Based Reconstruction of Land Use Evolution in a Mediterranean Mountain Valley

Terraced historical landscapes have multiple functions in mountain land, limiting erosion, enabling agricultural production and constituting cultural heritage. Currently, they are largely abandoned in Mediterranean regions and facing the ongoing impacts of climate change. Our aim is to reconstruct the evolution of land use on the terraces in order to test the hypothesis of the resilience of these landscapes and their age in recent history (17th–21st century). To achieve this, we used various current and archive spatial datasets and GIS knowledge to detect and map terraces and the changes in land use. We tested this hypothesis in a territory impacted by a recent extreme event, facing the challenge of its reconstruction. Our main outcome showed that the optimal use of the terraces corresponded to the demographic optimum of the mid-19th century, and they were gradually abandoned after the Second World War, with significant differences between Mediterranean and mountain lands. Despite this evolution, the terraces persisted and withstood an extreme event, validating our resilience hypothesis and opening avenues for the revitalization of this territory based on this heritage. These findings are drawing perspectives for the future of terraced landscapes in Mediterranean mountains in the context of climate change.

Memory activism in the Republic of Moldova: Last address and Stolpersteine projects

Drawing on the threefold categorisation of memory as antagonistic, cosmopolitan and agonistic, proposed by Anna Cento Bull and Hans Hansen, the article examines contemporary memory activism in the Republic of Moldova and how it contributes to creating historical narratives. Through an analysis of two memory initiatives, namely ‘The Last Address’ and ‘Stolpersteine’, designed to memorialise victims of Soviet repression and atrocities committed by the Romanian and Nazi German forces, respectively, the article uncovers the many challenges facing memory activists in Moldova where there is limited openness about these periods in recent history. Instead, different versions of the past and suppression of painful truths are subservient to contemporary political agendas.

Using Portuguese BRCA pathogenic variation as a model to study the impact of human admixture on human health

BackgroundAdmixture occurs between different ethnic human populations. The global colonization in recent centuries by Europeans led to the most significant admixture in human history. While admixture may enhance genetic diversity for better fitness, it may also impact on human health by transmitting genetic variants for disease susceptibility in the admixture population. The admixture by Portuguese global exploration initiated in the 15th century has reached over 20 million of Portuguese-heritage population worldwide. It provides a valuable model to study the impact of admixture on human health. BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA) are two of the important tumor suppressor genes. The pathogenic variation (PV) in BRCA is well determined to cause high risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Tracing the distribution of Portuguese BRCA PV in Portuguese-heritage population will help to understand the impact of admixture on cancer susceptibility in modern humans. In this study, we analyzed the distribution of the Portuguese-originated BRCA variation in Brazilian population, which has high degree Portuguese-heritage.MethodsBy comprehensive data mining, standardization and annotation, we generated a Portuguese-derived BRCA variation dataset and a Brazilian-derived BRCA variation dataset. We compared the two BRCA variation datasets to identify the BRCA variants shared between the two populations.ResultsThe Portuguese-derived BRCA variation dataset consists of 220 BRCA variants including 78 PVs from 11,482 Portuguese cancer patients, 93 (42.2%) in BRCA1 and 127 (57.7%) in BRCA2. Of the 556 Portuguese BRCA PV carriers carrying the 78 PVs, 331 (59.5%) carried the three Portuguese-BRCA founder PVs of BRCA1 c.2037delinsCC, BRCA1 c.3331_3334del and BRCA2 c.156_157insAlu. The Brazilian-derived BRCA variation dataset consists of 255 BRCA PVs from 7,711 cancer patients, 136 (53.3%) in BRCA1 and 119 (46.6%) in BRCA2. We developed an open database named dbBRCA-Portuguese (https://genemutation.fhs.um.edu.mo/dbbrca-portuguese/) and an open database named dbBRCA-Brazilian (https://genemutation.fhs.um.edu.mo/dbbrca-brazilian) to host the BRCA variation data from Portuguese and Brazilian populations. We compared the BRCA PV datasets between Portuguese and Brazilian populations, and identified 29 Portuguese-specific BRCA PVs shared between Portuguese and Brazilian populations, 14 in BRCA1 including the Portuguese founder BRCA1 c.3331_3334del and BRCA1 c.2037delinsCC, and 15 in BRCA2 including the Portuguese founder BRCA2 c.156_157insAlu. Searching the 78 Portuguese BRCA PVs in over 5,000 ancient human genomes identified evolution origin for only 8 PVs in Europeans dated between 37,470 and 3,818 years before present, confirming the Portuguese-specificity of Portuguese BRCA PVs; comparing the 78 Portuguese BRCA PVs Portuguese, 255 Brazilian BRCA PVs, and 134 African BRCA PVs showed little overlapping, ruling out the possibility that the BRCA PVs shared between Portuguese and Brazilian may also be contributed by African.ConclusionOur study provides evidence that the admixture in recent human history contributed to cancer susceptibility in modern humans.

Recent history and future trends in the study of insect behavior in North America

Abstract We examine the recent history and future trends in the field of insect behavior in North America. This project stemmed from participation in a section symposium at a Joint Meeting of the Entomological Societies of America (ESA), Canada (ESC), and British Columbia (ESBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 2022. Each participating team in the symposium was asked to address 3 questions about their subdiscipline: (i) How has your subdiscipline changed in the last 15 yr? (ii) How will your subdiscipline change as a discipline over the next 15 yr? (iii) What can ESA and the Plant-Insect Ecosystem section (P-IE) do to help members who study your subdiscipline and improve the understanding of the subdiscipline? To address the first question, we used data from 2008 to 2022 on presentations given at ESA meetings, literature searches, and funding databases. To predict changes in the discipline of insect behavior in the future, we examined data pertaining to student participation in the field and educational opportunities in insect behavior. Our main findings are that insect behavior is an integral part of entomological research with an important future role to play in understanding insect biology under climate change. We provide multiple lines of evidence illustrating the importance of insect behavior in multidisciplinary research across a variety of scientific fields. We conclude by answering the third question with suggestions for the promotion of insect behavior research at annual ESA meetings and for gathering more information to further understand the importance of the subdiscipline of insect behavior.

E-WASTE FACILITY LOCATOR

Integrated mobile application and website offer a holistic e-waste management solution with multilingual, chatbot-driven assistance. Users can efficiently locate the nearest e-waste facility using path optimization and, upon device input, instantly view the rewards they'll receive post-disposal, which may include cryptocurrency, vouchers, NFTs, or cashback points, based on valuable materials recovered. To enhance user awareness, our platform delivers educational pop-ups related to users' recent search history, educating them about harmful and valuable components in their old devices. Furthermore, users can utilize AI and ML for quick assessments by uploading device pictures. In the spirit of sustainability, the platform allows users to not only dispose of their old devices but also purchase materials recovered from e-waste disposal. We are committed to cost-effective development, ensuring an economical yet environmentally conscious service that encompasses both a mobile app and website.

Race, Ethnicity, and Other Barriers to Access Dental Care During Pregnancy.

Historically, women of color showed poorer oral health and lower dental service utilization in the USA. These barriers to dental care during pregnancy included dental coverage, primary language, dental provider availability, safety concerns, affordability of dental care, and perceived oral health benefits during pregnancy. The purpose of this study is to examine whether race/ethnicity modified the associations between barriers to accessing dental care and dental service utilization during pregnancy. This cross-sectional study sample included 62,189 women aged 20 and older with a recent birth history in 21 states from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data from 2016 to 2019. We introduced a race/ethnicity by barrier interaction term to our multiple logistic regression models. After adjusting for other confounders, dental insurance during pregnancy and perceived oral health benefits were associated with 4.0- and 5.6-fold higher odds, respectively, of dental service utilization during pregnancy. Statistically significant effect modification by race/ethnicity was observed in crude and adjusted analyses of the relationship between dental service utilization for all barriers included in the interaction analyses with all adjusted p-values < 0.001. The interaction analysis found that racial/ethnic disparity in visiting dentists during pregnancy was significant among women who reported these dental barriers. In contrast, such racial/ethnic disparity was substantially attenuated among women who did not report such barriers. The observed racial/ethnic disparities could be mitigated by such supporting mechanisms: dental coverage, provider availability and willingness to treat pregnant women, oral health education on the safety of dental care during pregnancy, and affordable dental care costs.

Tunisian and US journalism students: A comparison of journalism degree motivations and role conceptions

This study assesses journalism student motivations and role conceptions among Tunisian and US students to compare aspiring journalists in a country with well-established free-press norms to those in a transitional democracy with a recent history of authoritarianism. Results suggest that Tunisian journalism students are more interested than US journalism students in covering public affairs and using their work to fight social injustice. A Tunisian drive toward public-service journalism is consistent with these socially conscious inclinations.

Dating Apps and Shifting Sexual Subjectivities of Men Seeking Men Online

AbstractLeading theories of the recent history of sexuality have pointed to trends toward detraditionalization and precarity in intimate relations, but also to democratization and innovation. This study grounded in 79 qualitative interviews with men seeking men online considers their experiences in light of these theories. The rise of dating apps has generated sexual fields that have shaped the sexual subjectivities of the current era in multiple ways. The narratives of study participants show much more than the hook-up culture that dating apps are best known for. They speak to experiences of superficiality, unmet expectations, and sometimes bruising intersections with hierarchies defined by age, race, body type, gender expression, and serostatus. Yet at the same time, they show a strong aspiration to sociability, social network building, and reach for a language of affiliation beyond the kin and friendship terms of the larger society. Generational comparisons indicate the shifting sexual subjectivities that dating apps have shaped by constituting virtual sexual fields.

Motivation of Volunteers during Great Patriotic War (Case Study of Rostov Region)

This article explores the motivations behind citizens joining volunteer formations during the Great Patriotic War. The study relies on archival and published sources on the history of volunteer movements in the Rostov region. The research is based on a military-anthropological approach, aiming to understand the worldview of volunteers and the qualitative and quantitative parameters of volunteer movements in the Don region. The relevance of the study lies in the necessity of attracting more attention from researchers to understand what drove individuals to act during wartime. A detailed analysis of the archives at the Center for Documentation of Recent History of Rostov Region revealed characteristic models of voluntarism. The author concludes that the mechanism of agitation and propaganda intertwines with deeply personal motives of resistance against the enemy. A classification of tools influencing participants’ motives is proposed, including visual imagery, state symbolism, the work of agitators and propagandists, and oath-taking. The novelty of the research lies in the author’s exploration of the mechanism influencing public consciousness in a specific region with limited time to prepare the population for resistance against the adversary.

Brain abscess, the path to diagnosis. Case report

Brain abscess is a focal infection of the central nervous system (CNS), in which there are areas of localized cerebritis and central necrosis, surrounded by a well vascularized capsule. We present a 19-year-old case, with orobuccal and more recent cutaneous history, which starts with neurological symptoms. He is evaluated with laboratory tests and lumbar puncture without elucidating the etiology. Complementary neuroimaging tests were performed showing supratentorial lesions compatible with brain abscess. A sample was taken and the histopathological result determined infection by Staphylococcus Aureus. The patient was treated with antibiotic therapy, steroids and anticonvulsants with an immediate favorable evolution. He remains in controls. Brain abscess is a life-threatening disease that requires multidisciplinary management to achieve a timely diagnosis and management. Clinical manifestations are usually nonspecific, so the identification of the entity depends on neuroimaging studies and in case of infection, the diagnosis may require biopsy. Finally, treatment associates medical management with antibiotic therapy and neurosurgical intervention for drainage.

The Portuguese mertolenga cattle breed: a review.

This review summarizes the state of the art regarding the phylogenetic origins, recent history and present-day main traits and uses of the Mertolenga cattle breed from Southern Portugal, particularly those related to production performances and product quality. Named after the historical city of Mértola, in southern Portugal, the Mertolenga is one of the fifteen autochthonous bovine breeds of Portugal. It is a cattle breed thoroughly adapted to the poor Mediterranean pastures of the southern regions of the Iberian Peninsula. It is used predominantly in an extensive to semi-intensive sylvopastoral production system called montado, where pastures are combined with helm and cork trees. Its productive traits allow for a good adaptation to the intense dry heat and pasture shortage during the summer, and compensatory growth in autumn and spring, when pastures regenerate. They are small to medium sized animals, with well-balanced bodies, roan, red, or, less often, red-spotted coats, and known for their nervous temperament. Although this breed experienced a severe decline in numbers in the 1970s and classified as endangered in the 1990s, the work of a few breeders led to the establishment of larger Mertolenga breed inventories, starting from a limited base. For this reason, the entire breed has today a strong influence from a very few herds and sires. Reproduction is still mostly achieved using natural mating, and the males are often kept with the breeding females all year long. It is a heterogeneous breed both phenotypically and genetically. Recent phylogenetic studies have revealed the Mertolenga as a one of the most genetically diverse breeds in the country and in the Iberian Peninsula and helped classify this breed, once believed to be a variety of the Alentejana breed. These studies also showed genetic relations with other breeds in the Iberian Peninsula. Mertolenga beef currently benefits from several certifications, the most important one being the PDO - Protected Denomination of Origin.

Encoding surprise by retinal ganglion cells.

The efficient coding hypothesis posits that early sensory neurons transmit maximal information about sensory stimuli, given internal constraints. A central prediction of this theory is that neurons should preferentially encode stimuli that are most surprising. Previous studies suggest this may be the case in early visual areas, where many neurons respond strongly to rare or surprising stimuli. For example, previous research showed that when presented with a rhythmic sequence of full-field flashes, many retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) respond strongly at the instance the flash sequence stops, and when another flash would be expected. This phenomenon is called the 'omitted stimulus response'. However, it is not known whether the responses of these cells varies in a graded way depending on the level of stimulus surprise. To investigate this, we presented retinal neurons with extended sequences of stochastic flashes. With this stimulus, the surprise associated with a particular flash/silence, could be quantified analytically, and varied in a graded manner depending on the previous sequences of flashes and silences. Interestingly, we found that RGC responses could be well explained by a simple normative model, which described how they optimally combined their prior expectations and recent stimulus history, so as to encode surprise. Further, much of the diversity in RGC responses could be explained by the model, due to the different prior expectations that different neurons had about the stimulus statistics. These results suggest that even as early as the retina many cells encode surprise, relative to their own, internally generated expectations.

More Than 200 Years Later: Gluvia brunnea sp. nov. (Solifugae, Daesiidae), a Second Species of Camel Spider from the Iberian Peninsula.

We present the description of a new species of Solifugae from the Iberian Peninsula, Gluvia brunnea sp. nov., which has been found so far in southeast Spain. The morphological description is accompanied by molecular and multiple factor analyses, jointly giving full support to the specific status of the taxon. Finally, we discuss the intraspecific variability of both species, G. dorsalis and G. brunnea sp. nov., and the recent history of the genus. We also discuss the usefulness of multiple factor analysis for quantitatively separating species, and we stress that some specimens of this new species were found in Mesovoid Shallow Substratum stations, representing the very first time that Solifugae have been captured in this type of trap.

Can 2D Semiconductors Be Game-Changers for Nanoelectronics and Photonics?

2D semiconductors have interesting physical and chemical attributes that have led them to become one of the most intensely investigated semiconductor families in recent history. They may play a crucial role in the next technological revolution in electronics as well as optoelectronics or photonics. In this Perspective, we explore the fundamental principles and significant advancements in electronic and photonic devices comprising 2D semiconductors. We focus on strategies aimed at enhancing the performance of conventional devices and exploiting important properties of 2D semiconductors that allow fundamentally interesting device functionalities for future applications. Approaches for the realization of emerging logic transistors and memory devices as well as photovoltaics, photodetectors, electro-optical modulators, and nonlinear optics based on 2D semiconductors are discussed. We also provide a forward-looking perspective on critical remaining challenges and opportunities for basic science and technology level applications of 2D semiconductors.

Missing History of a Modern Domesticate: Historical Demographics and Genetic Diversity in Farm-bred Red Fox Populations.

The first record of captive bred red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) dates to 1896, when a breeding enterprise emerged in the provinces of Atlantic Canada. Because its domestication happened during recent history, the red fox offers a unique opportunity to examine the genetic diversity of an emerging domesticated species in the context of documented historical and economic influences. In particular, the historical record suggests that North American and Eurasian farm-bred populations likely experienced different demographic trajectories. Here, we focus on the likely impacts of founder effects and genetic drift given historical trends in fox farming on North American and Eurasian farms. A total of 15 mitochondrial haplotypes were identified in 369 foxes from 10 farm populations that we genotyped (n=161) or that were previously published. All haplotypes are endemic to North America. Although most haplotypes were consistent with eastern Canadian ancestry, a small number of foxes carried haplotypes typically found in Alaska and other regions of western North America. The presence of these haplotypes supports historical reports of wild foxes outside of Atlantic Canada being introduced into the breeding stock. These putative Alaskan and Western haplotypes were more frequently identified in Eurasian farms compared to North American farms, consistent with historical documentation suggesting that Eurasian economic and breeding practices were likely to maintain low-frequency haplotypes more effectively than in North America. Contextualizing inter- versus intra-farm genetic diversity alongside the historical record is critical to understanding of the origins of this emerging domesticate and the relationships between wild and farm-bred fox populations.