Search Results (123)

Background: Major geopolitical events and structural shocks are thought to play a significant role in shaping HIV epidemics by influencing individual behaviours, reshaping social networks, and impacting HIV prevention and treatment programs. Here, we describe individual-level measures of estimated time since HIV infection (ETI) from viral next-generation sequencing data among female sex workers and their clients in relation to significant geopolitical events in Ukraine. Methods: The Dynamics Study is a cross-sectional integrated biological and behavioural survey conducted among female sex workers and their clients in Dnipro, Ukraine (December 2017 to March 2018). We were able to successfully sequence a portion of the HIV pol gene on dried blood spot specimens among n = 5/9 clients and n = 5/16 female sex workers who tested positive for HIV (total n = 10/25) using an in-house drug resistance genotyping assay. The “HIV EVO” Intrapatient HIV Evolution web-based tool was used to infer ETI from viral diversity. Results: The median ETIs for female sex workers and their clients were 5.4 years (IQR = 2.9, 6.6) and 6.5 years (IQR = 5.4, 10.8), respectively. Nearly all HIV acquisition events (n = 7/10; 70%) were estimated to have occurred between the Great Recession (2008–2009) and the War in Donbas (May 2014–February 2022). In general, ETI suggests that HIV acquisition occurred earlier among clients (2012 [IQR = 2007, 2013]) compared to sex workers (2013 [IQR = 2012, 2016]). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that most HIV acquisition in this small subset of female sex workers and clients living with HIV occurred during periods of economic decline. Molecular studies on timing of HIV acquisition against timing of major geopolitical events offer a novel way to contextualize how such events may shape transmission patterns. Full article

From the 17th century, European leisure travellers sought novel experiences, places and landscapes; they explored them within the context of contemporary, but temporally changing, social norms. Amongst travellers’ earliest motivations were reportage, curiosity and recuperation in managed landscapes. From the late 18th century, images in art galleries and then guidebooks directed leisure travellers into ‘wild’ places. Supporting and part-driving these developments were travel and antiquarian publications. That normalisation of ‘wild places’ exploration coincided with natural history’s popularisation. From the early 19th century, geosites were recognised, scientifically described, and popularised through a range of publications; this marked the beginning of geotourism. This can be contextualised within the rise in resort-based coastal tourism. These various themes are explored in relation to ‘Coastal Southern England’, an important tourism region from the early-18th century. By the Great War’s (1914–1918) close, its tourism patterns and nature, recognisable in present-day offerings, were established. Its development as a geotourism region can be conceptualised through the ‘travellers’ gaze’ and ‘adapted comfort zone’ models. Early geotourism literature and artistic representations, along with their creators’ biographies, could underpin modern geo-interpretation, of which some exemplars are given. General conclusions are drawn and future research suggested. Full article

The surface of the Great Wall harbors a large number of non-vascular plants dominated by cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses as well as microorganisms, and form biocrusts by cementing with the soils and greatly alters the pore structure of the soil and the ecohydrological processes associated with the soil pore space, and thus influences the soil resistance to erosion. However, the microscopic role of the biocrusts in influencing the pore structure of the surface of the Great Wall is not clear. This study chose the Warring States Qin Great Wall in Weiyuan, Gansu Province, China, as research site to quantify thepore structure characteristics of the three-dimensional of bare soil, cyanobacterial-lichen crusts, and moss crusts at the depth of 0–50 mm, by using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray computed tomography and image analysis, and the precipitation infiltration process. The results showed that the moss crust layer was dominated by large pores with long extension and good connectivity, which provided preferential seepage channels for precipitation infiltration, while the connectivity between the cyanobacterial-lichen crust voids was poor; The porosity of the cyanobacterial-lichen crust and the moss crust was 500% and 903.27% higher than that of the bare soil, respectively. The porosity of the subsurface layer of cyanobacterial-lichen crust and moss crust was significantly lower than that of the biocrusts layer by 92.54% and 97.96%, respectively, and the porosity of the moss crust was significantly higher than that of the cyanobacterial-lichen crust in the same layer; Cyanobacterial-lichen crusts increased the degree of anisotropy, mean tortuosity, moss crust reduced the degree of anisotropy, mean tortuosity. Biocrusts increased the fractal dimension and Euler number of pores. Compared with bare soil, moss crust and cyanobacterial-lichen crust increased the isolated porosity by 2555% and 4085%, respectively; Biocrusts increased the complexity of the pore network models; The initial infiltration rate, stable infiltration rate, average infiltration rate, and the total amount of infiltration of moss crusted soil was 2.26 and 3.12 times, 1.07 and 1.63 times, respectively, higher than that of the cyanobacterial-lichen crusts and the bare soil, by 1.53 and 2.33 times, and 1.13 and 2.08 times, respectively; CT porosity and clay content are significantly positively correlated with initial soil infiltration rate (|r| ≥ 0.85), while soil type and organic matter content are negatively correlated with initial soil infiltration rate. The soil type and bulk density are directly positively and negatively correlated with CT porosity, respectively (|r| ≥ 0.52). There is a significant negative correlation between soil clay content and porosity (|r| = 0.15, p < 0.001). Biocrusts alter the erosion resistance of rammed earth walls by affecting the soil microstructure of the earth’s great wall, altering precipitation infiltration, and promoting vascular plant colonisation, which in turn alters the erosion resistance of the wall. The research results have important reference for the development of disposal plans for biocrusts on the surface of archaeological sites. Full article

This article examines how digital innovation ecosystems have emerged as strategic institutions of power in contemporary world politics. It argues that, unlike Cold War technological rivalries driven by centralized, state-led control, today’s digital competition depends on states’ capacity to orchestrate scalable, multistakeholder ecosystems. Using a cultural–institutional framework, we explain how differences in strategic culture and institutional governance impact the ecosystem’s vitality and performance. A qualitative comparative analysis of the United States, China, and Russia reveals that constructive orchestration, aligning state institutions with generative, commercial-to-national innovation flows, enhances digital leadership, whereas rigid, obstructive governance limits it. This highlights ecosystem governance as a critical dimension of statecraft in the digital age. The findings underscore that the positions of great powers in the global technological hierarchy depend not only on resources or capabilities but also on the effectiveness of ecosystem governance as an evolving instrument of geopolitical power. Full article

The following work is based on the historical–anthropological analysis of 93 skeletal remains belonging to post-war casualties who died in 1946 and remained missing for years. In 2019, 93 metal boxes containing skeletal remains of Slavic origin, belonging to civilians and soldiers who perished in the immediate postwar period following World War II, were found inside the ossuary of the Monumental Cemetery in Bari (Italy). At the beginning of the search, these people were thought to have died in prison camps in Apulia, such as Torre Tresca and Grumo Appula, in the province of Bari. Later, thanks to the discovery of war badges and years of extensive historical research, it was discovered that these remains had been missing for 75 years and belonged to soldiers of the Royal Yugoslav Army and civilians, probably their relatives, who died in 1946 in the refugee camp of Eboli, in the province of Salerno, Campania (Italy). To unveil this truth that remained hidden for over 75 years, a multidisciplinary study divided into two phases was applied. The first phase, grounded in historical research study, aimed to determine the historical and temporal context in which they lived and confirm the life they actually lived in the Eboli refugee camp. The second phase, grounded in anthropological research, aimed to reconstruct the biological profile of each individual, identify the presence of antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem lesions, assess potential pathological conditions, and determine, where possible, the cause of death. Finally, a correlation of the collected data was conducted to ascertain and corroborate, with reasonable certainty, the living conditions to which they were subjected in the refugee camp where they resided. Italy after 1943 became the scene of intense fighting and a dramatic situation for prisoners of war, including many Yugoslav soldiers. This work brought to light a history that had been lost for as many as 75 years, highlighted the importance, specifically, of the role of the Eboli refugee camp, a context little known and forgotten by many, and above all made it possible to remember and restore dignity to the victims of the Great War. Full article

Recent years have been exceptionally turbulent due to various crises such as COVID-19, wars, and natural disasters. We conduct a systematic literature review to address the current state of the regional economic resilience literature, a topic regaining significance amid recent global crises. Considering the findings, we not only conduct the most up-to-date analysis of resilience types but also innovate previous research by collecting and processing data on the spatial and income features of regions, providing statistics about shock coverage, and sharing insights into region types. Additionally, we supplement the systematic literature analysis methodology by experimenting with large language models and defining new search strategies. The results show that most of the literature covers European countries, while that covering all other countries is far behind. Empirical coverage comes from high- and upper-middle-income countries (~97% of research), highlighting the lack of analysis on lower-middle- and low-income countries. This brings into question the applicability of regional resilience policies worldwide. The latest papers still mainly analyze the Great Recession, the most covered shock in the regional economic resilience literature. Not all authors have turned their attention to more recent crises. Finally, we believe future research should focus more on compound resilience—how regional economies cope with cascading or simultaneous shocks. Full article

Jacob Gens, the head of the Vilnius Ghetto Police Force, and eventually the entire Ghetto during the Holocaust, was murdered on 14 September 1943 by the head of the Vilnius Gestapo. Historical documents and Holocaust survivor testimonies indicate that he was killed at a site that became known as the Rasu Street Prison, and not the Gestapo Headquarters, as it is widely believed. In 2016, research was completed at the Rasu Street Prison site using ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to locate subsurface reflection patterns that possibly indicate the location of where Jacob Gens is buried. Intersecting GPR and ERT reflection patterns were discovered and a plan was put in place to excavate that location. The excavation revealed the presence of human remains at 1.45 m below the surface. A skull and upper torso were exposed, and two teeth were collected for DNA and radiocarbon analysis. The DNA from the tooth was compared to Jacob Gens’ daughter’s DNA, and this comparison yielded a negative result, so the human remains were not those of Jacob Gens. The radiocarbon analysis provided a date between 1685 and 1735. In 1705, a plot of land was donated to the Visitation Monastery, which used this plot, and which coincides with the location of the Rasu Street Prison, as a cemetery for the poor. In 1709 and 1710, a plague epidemic was prevalent in Vilnius, as was turmoil and famine associated with the Great Northern War (1700 to 1721). Based on these discoveries, rather than finding the remains of Jacob Gens, it is likely that we found human remains that are part of a forgotten 18th century cemetery associated with the Visitation Monastery. Full article

The ongoing war in Ukraine poses an uncertain future, highlighting the need to prioritize reconstruction efforts even before the war ends. Japan’s recovery mechanisms have developed based on the experiences and lessons learned from natural disasters such as the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and from war damage by World War II. This study aims to draw practical insights and lessons from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake for Ukraine’s postwar recovery and help achieve rapid and high-quality results. This study reviews the literature, policy documents, and reports on recovery from the disaster. It was found that streamlining environmental impact assessments, land use regulations, and land acquisition could accelerate recovery. Engaging the private sector promoted the reconstruction of critical infrastructure and housing projects. This Japanese case study highlights the importance of ensuring sustained commitment and avoiding setbacks in the recovery process by establishing legislative, planning, and institutional frameworks, as well as financial mechanisms. Protecting human health is paramount, even if more resources are needed to manage hazardous materials. Applying these valuable lessons to Ukraine requires careful consideration, including leveraging foreign investments to supplement limited domestic resources and establishing effective governance structures that promote transparency, accountability, and coordination. Full article

Modern high-intensity armed conflicts often lead to extensive damage to urban infrastructure. The use of high-resolution remote sensing images can clearly detect damage to individual buildings which is of great significance for monitoring war crimes and damage assessments that destroy civilian infrastructure indiscriminately. In this paper, we propose SOCA-YOLO (Sampling Optimization and Coordinate Attention–YOLO), an automatic detection method for destroyed buildings in high-resolution remote sensing images based on deep learning techniques. First, based on YOLOv8, Haar wavelet transform and convolutional blocks are used to downsample shallow feature maps to make full use of spatial details in high-resolution remote sensing images. Second, the coordinate attention mechanism is integrated with C2f so that the network can use the spatial information to enhance the feature representation earlier. Finally, in the feature fusion stage, a lightweight dynamic upsampling strategy is used to improve the difference in the spatial boundaries of feature maps. In addition, this paper obtained high-resolution remote sensing images of urban battlefields through Google Earth, constructed a dataset for the detection of objects on buildings, and conducted training and verification. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the detection accuracy of destroyed buildings, and the method is used to map destroyed buildings in cities such as Mariupol and Volnovaja where violent armed conflicts have occurred. The results show that deep learning-based object detection technology has the advantage of fast and accurate detection of destroyed buildings caused by armed conflict, which can provide preliminary reference information for monitoring war crimes and assessing war losses. Full article

Two essential characteristics of railway implementation are the large spaces of land occupied in the city and the need for workers. In Spain, both reasons and the post-war period led to the construction of many homes for employees throughout the country using different typologies, ensembles, dwelling designs, free spaces, mixed uses, and a relationship with the surrounding city. The present work presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of these aspects, concluding on their impact on the current configuration of the urban environment of the cities where they are located and the possibility of urban regeneration that these developments offer. It is a housing stock that is 95% in use and that, in some cases, given the city’s growth, occupies privileged current urban positions that have led to its revaluation despite its construction characteristics. The research carried out provides the analysis of the entire country, accounting for and observing the great variety of existing case studies related to different sizes of populations, typologies, and locations (center–periphery), among others. The main conclusions reflect the total absence of urban or architectural approaches in implementing these homes, the lack of quality of the free or community spaces generated between blocks, and the absolute disinterest in the quality of life beyond providing housing for workers close to the workplace. At the antipodes of current approaches to the design of social housing and living conditions, this situation discourages the regeneration of these homes aligned with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, making their heritage conservation difficult. Full article

The American Civil War has been commemorated with a great variety of monuments, memorials, and markers. These monuments were erected for a variety of reasons, beginning with memorialization of the fallen and later to honor aging veterans, commemoration of significant anniversaries associated with the conflict, memorialization of sites of conflict, and celebration of the actions of military leaders. Sources reveal that during both the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras, many monuments were erected as part of an organized propaganda campaign to terrorize African American communities and distort the past by promoting a “Lost Cause” narrative. Through subsequent decades, to this day, complex and emotional narratives have surrounded interpretive legacies of the Civil War. Instruments of commemoration, through both physical and digital intervention approaches, can be provocative and instructive, as the country deals with a slavery legacy and the commemorated objects and spaces surrounding Confederate inheritances. Today, all of these potential factors and outcomes, with internationally relevance, are surrounded by swirls of social and political contention and controversy, including the remembering/forgetting dichotomies of cultural heritage. In this article, drawing from the testimony of scholars and artists, I address the conceptual landscape of approaches to the presentation and evolving participatory narratives of Confederate monuments that range from absolute expungement and removal to more restrained ideas such as in situ re-contextualization, removal to museums, and preservation-in-place. I stress not so much the academic debate but how the American public is informed about and reacts to the various issues related to Confederate memorialization. My main point, where my premise stands out in the literature, is that, for the sake of posterity, and our ability to connect and engage with a tangible in situ artifact, not all Confederate statues should be taken down. Some of them, or remnants of them, should be preserved as sites of conscience and reflection, with their social and political meanings ongoing and yet to be determined in the future. The modern dilemma turns on the question: In today’s new era of social justice, are these monuments primarily symbols of oppression, or can we see them, in select cases, alternatively as sites of conscience and reflection encompassing more inclusive conversations about commemoration? What we conserve and assign as the ultimate public value of these monuments rests with how we answer this question. Full article

In 1978, the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult released the song “Godzilla” as the first single from the fifth studio album Spectres. Despite not registering on popular charts, it would eventually evolve into an iconic song of its era. “Godzilla” continues to receive airplay on classic rock stations, and it remains a staple of the band’s touring performances. In 2019, a cover of the song, more than forty years after its release, made its film debut in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Though the song is primarily a tribute to the Japanese monster from which it gets its name, “Godzilla” also reflects the nuclear fear and paranoia of the 1970s Cold War era. “Godzilla’s” cultural impact, the song’s lyrics, the Cold War context in which it was written, and its connection to the kaiju films featuring the famous monster are examined. While this is the most popular and well-known song dedicated to Godzilla, it is not the only one. Other compositions have, but they have failed to achieve the iconic status that Blue Öyster Cult’s version has attained. This song has evolved into an unofficial anthem for the great monster. Full article

With Great House (2010), Nicole Krauss offers a choral novel that interweaves the lives of several characters loosely connected by a huge, wooden desk that one of them relentlessly chases around the world. A possible symbol of the memory of the Second World War Jewish genocide transmitted to younger generations, the desk powerfully materializes transmission in its potentially traumatic, obsessional, and violent dimensions. This essay deals with the way first- and second-generation women, in the novel, develop ingenious, creative but also uncompromising responses to the inescapable duty of remembrance. While the dominating male characters freeze memory in timeless, petrified representations, these female writers expose its terrible necessity while hiding nothing of the damages memory causes to witnesses and descendants. They claim a right of inventory and use the desk as an echo-chamber reflecting both the suffering voices of children and the dark presence of defaulting fathers and failing mothers, thus allowing for a new generation to be born with a more bearable heritage. Full article

The war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that Ukraine is strongly integrated with global agricultural markets, is of great importance for the world’s food security, and can effectively compete with Poland in exporting to EU markets. Contrary to Poland, the agri-food sector in Ukraine has not yet been the subject of research using input–output tables. The input–output model has many advantages in studying the structures of individual sectors and their connections with other sectors of the economy and with foreign countries. Therefore, the current study fills the existing research gap. The aim of the article is a comparative analysis of the agri-food sectors in Ukraine and Poland in 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) using the input–output model. The data source is the OECD TiVA database. The main conclusion is that Poland is further along the path of agricultural and food sector development than Ukraine. The study also reveals that in terms of value, the agri-food sector in Ukraine is significantly smaller than in Poland, but it is more important in the Ukrainian economy, with agriculture being its dominant link, while in Poland it is the food industry. The Polish agri-food sector is characterized by a higher import dependency of gross output. Exports play a significant role in the distribution of the gross output of Ukraine’s agriculture and Poland’s food industry. However, the export directions differed significantly. Poland exported mainly to the EU, while Ukraine exported to Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Full article

Zheng Guanying paid close attention to the issue of the spread of Christianity in China since his youth. Over a period of more than three decades, he produced five monographs specifically addressing Christianity, from unequivocally opposing the spread of Christianity in China in the mid-to-late 1870s, to advocating for the adoption of the preaching form of the Christian “gatherings every seven days” to disseminate the village covenants and sacred edicts among the Chinese people in the 1890s. He proposed that the Chinese people should hold the right to spread Christianity. In 1906, he advocated for the establishment of a “common religion” and proposed “one religion for all nations” to eliminate wars around the world. In his later years, he proposed the “Five great wishes” to integrate and govern the various religions of the world with Taoism as the core, attempting to reconstruct global order from the perspective of religious unity. He envisioned the establishment of a sacred Taoist monastery, the dissemination of religious concepts, and the cultivation of talents, which drew on the organizational structure and missionary methods of Christianity, reflecting the thinking and efforts of modern Chinese intellectuals to bridge the Chinese and Western civilizations, seek solutions for modern China, reconcile conflicts between China and the West, and pursue global unity. Full article