onlinelibrary.wiley.com

This study examines the link between income inequality and political instability, focusing on the moderating role of Internet penetration. Using data from over 120 countries (1996–2020), we find a conditional relationship: in low-Internet countries, higher inequality associates with lower instability, likely due to limited political awareness or collective action. In contrast, in highly connected societies, widespread Internet use amplifies economic disparities, increasing instability. Robustness checks, including conflict-related deaths and dynamic panel GMM, confirm these patterns. The results highlight digital connectivity as a key channel turning inequality into unrest, underscoring the need for policies targeting disparities in connected societies.

Deepl:

Influenza A virus (IAV) can infect a wide range of hosts, including wild and domestic pigs. Swine play an important role in influenza evolution and epidemiology due to their ability to get infected with both avian and human influenza viruses, potentially leading to reassorted virus variants. Interactions at the wild-domestic swine interface have been documented on multiple occasions, raising concern about pathogen transmission and the emergence of novel influenza strains. This study investigates the occurrence and subtypes of IAV infecting invasive wild pigs in Alberta, Canada. A total of 267 wild pigs were captured between 2021–2024. Exposure to IAV was initially detected by cELISA, with further confirmation of exposure to the H5Nx virus by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) and virus neutralization (VN) assays. Although no IAV genetic material was detected by qPCR, the seropositive samples by cELISA (4.17%; 5/120) coincided with the 2022–2024 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) H5N1 epizootic in Alberta, which involved outbreaks in wild species and domestic birds. These findings, combined with the epidemiological context, suggest interspecies transmission of HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b to wild pigs. These results highlight the potential role of wild pigs as a new host in Canada and emphasize the need for continued surveillance of IAV in wild pig populations to assess the risk of spillover events at the wildlife, livestock, and human interfaces.

During 1–3 July 2024 we assessed the detection of the NSW H7N8 HPAI virus by twelve diagnostic assays used by NSW Health Pathology (NSWHP) laboratories. We subsequently also reviewed the 12–25 November 2024 data from the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs (RCPAQAP) Emerging Biological Threats survey, assessing the detection of five other avian influenza viruses: H5N1, H7N3, H7N9, H9N2, and H10N7. These assessments were needed because knowledge of the ability to detect avian influenza virus on human diagnostic platforms is critical for minimising public anxiety in the event of human infections, and facilitates public health response planning.

Abstract

Bill Labov passed away peacefully at home on December 17, 2024, with his wife and fellow Penn linguist Gillian Sankoff by his side. He leaves behind a legacy so large that it is hard to put into words. All three authors were fortunate enough to have had Bill as our PhD supervisor (Laurel: 2012, Meredith: 2014, Betsy: 2018). We feel that the many hours we spent in his presence and with his work have given us a good insight into who and how he was. We also feel deep love and gratitude for him and for his imprint on the field and on us. As such, this piece is our reflection on Bill as a person, an advisor, and a scholar, from our perspective as three of his students from his later years.

Yahya Jammeh's 22-year rule of The Gambia was marked by gross human rights violations, including torture, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances. In 2008–09, Jammeh embarked on a “witch hunt” campaign, mostly targeting poor and elderly men and women. Among the physical and psychological consequences of this activity were significant levels of stigma. In the context of transitional justice, this paper examines the experiences and consequences of stigma associated with witchcraft accusations for victims, their families, and communities.

•This study introduces a noninvasive video-based system to monitor cardiac activity in insects by analyzing subtle body movements.

In conclusion, our study demonstrated increased frequencies of lymphoid tissue-homing type 2 lymphocytes in the blood of SA patients undergoing biologics therapy. This increase was particularly prominent following mepolizumab therapy, affecting ILC2, Th2 and Tc2 cells, while dupilumab also affected ILC2. Reduced expression of lymphocyte homing receptors, and reduced production of tissue chemoattractants may contribute to this enrichment, suggesting that biologics therapy of SA impacts lymphocyte trafficking. This skewing of the lymphocyte compartment of SA patients receiving biologics persisted throughout the study period, indicating that despite effectively reducing exacerbations and enabling OCS-tapering, cells with a high potential to reinitiate type 2 airway inflammation persist in the circulation. Longitudinal studies comparing blood and airway tissues in parallel are needed to fully dissect the mechanistic basis of type 2 lymphocyte enrichment in the blood following biologics therapy in SA. Future studies should address the possibility of therapeutically targeting immune cell tissue migration to treat asthma, as is already done in other chronic inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Published October 2019

Additional links with press coverage: ArcheologyMag, Oxford.

The Xiōng-nú were a tribal confederation who dominated Inner Asia from the third century BC to the second century AD. Xiōng-nú descendants later constituted the ethnic core of the European Huns. It has been argued that the Xiōng-nú spoke an Iranian, Turkic, Mongolic or Yeniseian language, but the linguistic affiliation of the Xiōng-nú and the Huns is still debated.

In the Roman city of Pollentia (Mallorca, Western Mediterranean), an exceptional zooarchaeological assemblage was recovered from a cesspit dated between the first century BC and the first century ad.

ABSTRACT

A new study found that ocean acidification’s “boundary” was reached about five years ago. 60% of global waters have breached the limits for acidification.

ABSTRACT

We found that humpback whales use rings in non–mutually exclusive contexts including feeding (within bubble nets), during inquisitive behavior, and while passively resting.

A ligamentous or muscular identity for the exoparia cannot be determined with the available data, but the size and shape of the zygomatic entheses in many dinosaurs are more consistent with a muscular attachment.

The Iron Age ‘war cemetery’ of Maiden Castle hillfort, Dorset, England, is one of the most internationally celebrated of British archaeological discoveries, levels of trauma recorded on skeletons found there being interpreted as evidence for a Roman massacre. A new radiocarbon dating programme and reanalysis of the burial patterning, presented here for the first time, shows that the inhumations actually fall into temporal clusters of lethal violence, plausibly spanning multiple generations, spread mostly between the early and middle decades of the first century AD. This is suggestive of increasing societal stress in the decades leading up to, rather than as a product of, the Roman invasion of AD 43.

The .pdf linked is very detailed and well-researched. Here's very short summary of it:

We describe a multinational case series of 35 workers from a range of industries with occupational RCS exposure who presented with clinical features of silicosis and sarcoidosis. We utilized a standardized histologic scoring instrument to assess lung and lymph node findings from the majority of cases and found pathologic features of granulomatous inflammation, dust nodules, birefringent particulate matter, and increased birefringent dust density compared to healthy lung tissue. 

We currently lack both macro- and micromorphological descriptions of fire features for this period beyond brief mentions of presence of features or combustion-related residues (such as concentrations of charcoal, ash or indirect proxies of fire use like burned lithics). This scarcity of published data could be attributed to several factors, namely: either lack of preservation of fire remains during cold periods, a publication bias, or a potential lack of widespread fire use by modern humans during this period.

In summary, our analyses show forests harbour many isolated S. cerevisiae populations that are distinct from human-associated lineages. The phylogeographic structure of tree-associated lineages implies that migrants from humans rarely establish in forest niches. Yet even rare events can shape the distribution of a species. The postglacial spread of forest S. cerevisiae out of Asia and into North America and Europe suggests that this substantial impact was driven by people. Consistent with this, we also observe footprints of ongoing human-assisted movement of forest yeast.

First published: 18 March 2022

First published: 10 November 2020

Purpose

Crystalline silica is piezoelectric, that is, it produces opposite electric charges on opposite sides of the physical structure when force is applied. This piezoelectricity contributes to the formation of oxygen‐free radicals produced on the cleaved surfaces of silica molecules.

The use of stone hammers to produce sharp stone flakes—knapping—is thought to represent a significant stage in hominin technological evolution because it facilitated the exploitation of novel resources, including meat obtained from medium-to-large-sized vertebrates.

First published: 13 September 2019

The marker approach is taken as best practice for answering the distribution question: Which animals are conscious? However, the methodology can be used to increase confidence in animals many presume to be unconscious, including C. elegans, leading to a trilemma: accept the worms as conscious; reject the specific markers; or reject the marker methodology for answering the distribution question. I defend the third option and argue that answering the distribution question requires a secure theory of consciousness. Accepting the hypothesis all animals are conscious will promote research leading to secure theory, which is needed to create reliable consciousness tests for animals and AIs. Rather than asking the distribution question, we should shift to the dimensions question: How are animals conscious?

The marker approach is taken as best practice for answering the *distribution question*: Which animals are conscious? However, the methodology can be used to increase confidence in animals many presume to be unconscious, including *C. elegans*, leading to a trilemma: accept the worms as conscious; reject the specific markers; or reject the marker methodology for answering the distribution question. I defend the third option and argue that answering the distribution question requires a secure theory of consciousness. Accepting the hypothesis *all animals are conscious* will promote research leading to secure theory, which is needed to create reliable consciousness tests for animals and AIs. Rather than asking the distribution question, we should shift to the *dimensions question*: How are animals conscious?

Link to the article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.10926

Abstract

Lithium extraction from batteries has so far proven to be notoriously difficult; this recently published paper outlines a novel method of extraction which may have a great impacts on how we manage lithium resources as the demand for power storage continues to surge.

It’s a script attested from 2200~1700 years old inscriptions found in Central Asia, between what’s today Kazakhstan and Afghanistan (both included). Discovered in the 1950s, but now freshly discovered inscriptions from Tajikistan (the Almosi inscriptions) encouraged people to take a further look at the decipherment, alongside older inscriptions (such as the Dašt-i Nāwur trilingual; written in Greek, Bactrian, and the unknown script).