Absence of elevation‐dependent warming in Antarctica inferred from blue ice paleoclimate records

Reconstructing the past Antarctic climate commonly involves deep drilling of ice cores. However, the ∼1% of the Antarctic ice sheet surface covered with blue ice also provides unique, yet largely unexploited paleoclimatic opportunities. Here, we analyze 444 ice samples collected in blue ice surfaces located around the Sør Rondane Mountains. Isotope measurements (δ18O) on these samples enable us to estimate surface paleotemperatures for both the current interglacial period and the Last Glacial Maximum. Combining these paleotemperatures with the spatially varying source elevation of the sampled blue ice provides new insights on the (lack of) lapse rate evolution (i.e., changes in the elevation‐temperature relationship) outside the 40°N–40°S latitudinal band. This result contrasts with low‐latitude areas that have experienced elevation‐dependent warming (EDW) during this period. Our results hint at a future (lack of) EDW in Antarctica, thereby highlighting the potential of blue ice area paleoclimatic archives to better predict future climatic changes

Multimorbidity patterns and early signals of diabetes in online communities

Lay Summary: This study examines how online communities on Reddit can reveal connections between diabetes and other health conditions, as well as potential early signs of diabetes. We focused on 3 primary diabetes-related subreddits and their links to 88 other health conditions. By tracking user participation across different health-related communities, we mapped a multimorbidity network, highlighting common co-occurring conditions. The results show strong links between diabetes and mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and ADHD, reinforcing the known psychological burden of diabetes. Additionally, users frequently engaged in discussions about weight loss, reproductive health, and autoimmune diseases, such as fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and chronic pain, highlighting potential multimorbidity concerns. We also investigated early signals of diabetes by analyzing the temporal patterns of individual users. We found that many people discussed mental health, obesity, or pregnancy conditions before participating in diabetes-related subreddits, particularly for type 2 diabetes. This suggests that digital behavioral data could help detect individuals at higher risk of developing diabetes, offering opportunities for earlier health interventions and support

Examination of runs of homozygosity distribution patterns and relevant candidate genes of potential economic interest in Russian goat breeds using whole-genome sequencing

Background/Objectives: Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data provide valuable information about the genetic architecture of local livestock but have not yet been applied to Russian native goats, in particular, the Orenburg and Karachay breeds. A preliminary search for selection signatures based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype data in these breeds was not informative. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to address runs of homozygosity (ROHs) patterns and find the respective signatures of selection overlapping candidate genes in Orenburg and Karachay goats using the WGS approach. Methods: Paired-end libraries (150 bp reads) were constructed for each animal. Next-generation sequencing was performed using a NovaSeq 6000 sequencer (Illumina, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA), with ~20X genome coverage. ROHs were identified in sliding windows, and ROH segments shared by at least 50% of the samples were considered as ROH islands. Results: ROH islands were identified on chromosomes CHI3, CHI5, CHI7, CHI12, CHI13, and CHI15 in Karachay goats; and CHI3, CHI11, CHI12, CHI15, and CHI16 in Orenburg goats. Shared ROH islands were found on CHI12 (containing the PARP4 and MPHOSPH8 candidate genes) and on CHI15 (harboring STIM1 and RRM1). The Karachay breed had greater ROH length and higher ROH number compared to the Orenburg breed (134.13 Mb and 695 vs. 78.43 Mb and 438, respectively). The genomic inbreeding coefficient (FROH) varied from 0.032 in the Orenburg breed to 0.054 in the Karachay breed. Candidate genes associated with reproduction, milk production, immunity-related traits, embryogenesis, growth, and development were identified in ROH islands in the studied breeds. Conclusions: Here, we present the first attempt of elucidating the ROH landscape and signatures of selection in Russian local goat breeds using WGS analysis. Our findings will pave the way for further insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying adaption and economically important traits in native goats

Cascading constraint and subsidiary discretion: Perspectives on police discretion from police-led drug diversion and stop and search in England

This article explores how discretion is managed and exercised across senior, middle, and street levels of policing. It uses qualitative data from two studies in England. The first, a study across three police force areas, involved interviews and focus groups with 221 people who were designers, deliverers, and recipients of police-led drug diversion. The second study used 354 hours of ethnographic observation and 21 interviews to examine stop-and-search practices in one other police force. Rather than a simply expanding scope of discretion at lower levels of the hierarchy, the findings reveal a multi-level process of cascading constraints and subsidiary discretion. At each level, we observe the exercise of occupational professionalism and autonomous judgement, but higher-level constraints shape how discretion is applied in pursuit of organizational professionalism

IoT-enabled Spatiotemporal Resilience Analysis for an Unmanned System of Systems

As research on the Internet of Things (IoT) and unmanned equipment continues to advance, the unmanned system of systems (USS) has been developed unprecedentedly. Much of the existing research on USS focuses on the effects of changes of system resilience with respect to time, but little on spatial changes. However, USS missions might involve physical strikes against unmanned systems. Alternatively, they could involve signal jamming of data transmissions at the data layer. Therefore, it is crucial to account for variations in the performance of the data layer. Time plays a key role in determining the mission performance of the USS, while spatial location affects the transmission performance of the data layer. To examine how time and space issues impact the resilience of the USS, this paper introduces a spatiotemporal resilience assessment framework. This framework evaluates the resilience of USS from both time and space perspectives. Additionally, the paper proposes a spatiotemporal resilience optimization scheme for the entire USS mission process. The scheme enhances spatiotemporal resilience and focuses on optimization during the prevention and recovery phases. Finally, the proposed methods are validated using a case study involving a USS with positive hexagonal formation

Rights and support: a conversation

with Fatima Ahdash, Emily Jackson, Dafni Lima, Daniel Monk, Julie McCandless, Beth Tarleton, Rachel Taylor, and Sarah Trotter Note from the editors: in the conversation that follows, which took place on Friday 18 October 2024, members of the project discuss the three reflection pieces that feature in the rights and support section of the special issue: Daniel Monk's paper, 'Elective home education: rights and their limits', Rachel Taylor's paper 'The limits of parental authority', and Beth Tarleton and Nadine Tilbury's paper 'Substituted parenting: assumptions, stigma and parents with learning disabilities'

Leveraging Pretrained Language Models for Maternal Health Monitoring in Online Communities

Digital maternity support communities are growing in popularity, offering valuable peer support throughout pregnancy and postpartum experiences. These platforms also generate rich textual data that can be leveraged for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. This study applies pretrained language models (PLMs) to classify and analyse 270,195 posts collected from the subreddit “BabyBumps” between 2010 and 2022. Focusing on posts that reflect personal experiences related to pregnancy, postpartum, and related events (85.9%), the analysis reveals that the majority (62.6%) centre on physical health concerns, while nearly half (48.9%) express negative sentiment. Notably, both mental health and negative sentiment–related discussions show a marked resurgence during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings underscore the evolving emotional and informational needs of expectant and new mothers in online spaces and highlight the potential of AI-driven tools in supporting digital maternal health monitoring

The anti-spherical Hecke categories for Hermitian symmetric pairs

We calculate the p-Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomials for Hermitian symmetric pairs and prove that the corresponding anti-spherical Hecke categories are standard Koszul. We prove that the combinatorial invariance conjecture can be lifted to the level of graded Morita equivalences between subquotients of these Hecke categories

Gender-Based Hate Crimes: A Contested Socio-Legal Terrain

Across the UK, socio-political debates are ongoing around whether to formally recognise gender-based hate crime. Consultations have determined that gender hostility is on par with bias or prejudice towards race, religion, sexual identity, disability, and transgender identity. Reasons for its continued exclusion include potential overlaps with existing gender-based violence laws, definitional difficulties regarding gender-based hate crimes, and evidential complexities in demonstrating gendered hostility. More recently, hate crime debates have focused more specifically on the potential inclusion of misogyny and misogynistic violence. This chapter explores the separate political paradigms of gender-based violence, hate crime, and misogyny to examine the cultures of prejudice fuelling hatred towards women

Differences in the Early In Vitro Development of Preimplantation Human IVF Embryos Which Go on to Develop Congenital Heart Disease

There is a clinical need for improved antenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD). Increasing numbers of children are born to parents undergoing fertility treatment. We asked whether time-lapse imaging of in vitro preimplantation development provides diagnostic information. We performed a retrospective multicentre analysis of morphokinetic data from patients undergoing fertility treatment. A total of 96/18,799 CHD cases were identified (rate: 0.51%). Thirty-two were included in the analysis and stratified into three cohorts: complex CHD (n = 7), mild CHD (n = 11) and murmur only (n = 14). Comparison to a large unmatched control group (n = 352) revealed no differences in time of preimplantation developmental events but suggested an increase in cleavage synchronicity during the third cell cycle of mild CHD embryos. Pairwise comparison to matched controls revealed a delay in mild CHD embryos relative to controls in reaching the morphokinetic timepoints fading of pronuclei, 2-cell stage and 4-cell stage together with a possible increase in duration of blastulation in complex CHD. Our data raises the possibility that screening of preimplantation embryos at fertility clinics could reduce the rate of CHD. However, these results are preliminary, and further work is required to confirm the findings in a larger study