On 28 August 2023, Canada amended and substantially narrowed its unilateral declaration accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The combined effects of its various reservations — notably, Canada’s new requirement that states must have provided at least six-month advance written notice before instituting ICJ proceedings against it, coupled with its ongoing rights to amend or terminate its declaration with immediate effect — have now rendered Canadian acceptance of Optional Clause jurisdiction compulsory in name only. Canada now appears to control whether any future ICJ cases can ever be brought against it in this way.

The unanticipated spillover effects of economic policies on residents’ political trust have seldom been discussed in the literature. This paper examines the impact of the rapid increase in housing prices, triggered by the economic stimulus policies implemented by the Chinese government in response to the 2008 financial crisis, on residents’ political trust. Empirical research based on data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) indicates that the rapid rise in housing prices had differentiated effects on political trust among different age groups: it weakened the political trust of the younger and middle-aged groups but enhanced the political trust felt by elderly groups. Mechanism analysis reveals that the sudden and rapid rise in housing prices exacerbated younger people’s housing difficulties, suppressed their wealth accumulation and undermined their sense of self-efficacy, thus eroding their political trust. The findings of this paper not only extend the research on the formation mechanism of political trust but also broaden the research perspective of housing politics and provide new empirical evidence for understanding the complex dynamic relationship between economic development and political stability.

No existing dietary metric simultaneously captures key dimensions of sustainable healthy diets: dietary variety; intake of animal products; and extent of food processing. This methods and construct development study aimed to identify indicators of a sustainable healthy diet that can be used to inform a multidimensional diet quality score. A modified Delphi was used to gain expert consensus regarding development of a sustainable healthy diet score. Three iterative surveys were conducted between November 2022 and May 2023. Surveys asked participants’ opinion regarding measurement of the three dimensions of sustainable healthy diets (Dimension 1: variety of unprocessed and minimally processed foods; Dimension 2: intake of animal products and; Dimension 3: intake of ultra-processed foods (UPF)) and weighting and aggregation of a score that assesses these three dimensions. Thirteen international experts completed all three surveys. Consensus from experts led to the identification of food-based indicators of sustainable healthy diets. Experts agreed that Dimension 1 should be comprised of 12 food groups, with food groups and scoring ranges informed by the Global Diet Quality Score; Dimension 2 comprised of five food groups with scoring ranges informed by the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet; and Dimension 3 as one food group measured as a cut-off value of ≤10% energy from UPF. There was consensus that each dimension should be equally weighted. Outcomes from this work have been used to inform the development and validation of a multidimensional diet quality score to assess the healthfulness and environmental sustainability of diets among healthy adult populations.

The bestselling book, If Christ Came to Chicago, was published in 1894. It was a work of sensationalist, exposé journalism, documenting with titillating details the city’s rampant vice, dire social problems such as unemployment and homelessness, and corrupt officials and politicians. The book was, among other things, a contribution to the Social Gospel movement. It even inspired Charles M. Sheldon’s bestselling novel, In His Steps (1896), with its refrain, “What would Jesus do?” The author of If Christ Came to Chicago, W. T. Stead (1849–1912), however, was an Englishman. Stead’s earlier efforts at the New Journalism had been focused upon London, including his “Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon” articles and ghostwriting In Darkest England and the Way Out (1890) for the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth. When he turned to the Windy City, however, Stead was attacked for being an interloper, a foreigner who should not have presumed to pronounce a harsh judgment upon an American city. One of his responses to this charge was to try to recast himself as an insider through evoking the category of “our common English-speaking race.” This article explores transatlantic crossings, collaborations, and condemnations. Stead himself died in one of the greatest failed transatlantic crossings of the twentieth century, the sinking of the Titanic.

Macella, specialized market structures built in various urban centers in Roman Italy and the provinces between the Middle Republic and the Late Antique period, have been interpreted widely as urban symbols of elite prestige and conspicuous consumption. While it is true that elites often acted as benefactors of these buildings and written sources emphasize the sale of luxury foods, documentary and archaeological evidence suggest that bureaucratic incentives played a crucial role in their initial establishment. This article presents a new interpretation of the development of macella and argues, in contrast to traditional views, that these markets were not primarily designed as spaces of luxury consumption catering exclusively to elite customers. Rather, they were conceived as physical and permanent institutional control mechanisms over urban food trade in an increasingly complex and integrated Roman economy.

It has already been three years since millions of Ukrainians found refuge in other countries. In our longitudinal research, we examine in what way the main news websites in Poland and Czechia portray Ukrainian refugees and through that how they contribute to their social construction as a group deserving or undeserving of societal and public policy support. Data were collected from platform X, focusing on the accounts of the five most popular news websites in each country. In 2022, we expanded CARIN to CARIN+A, highlighting assistance as a booster (Zogata-Kusz, Öbrink Hobzová, and Cekiera, 2023). Now, examining the period between February 24, 2023, and July 31, 2024, we formulate a hypothesis of dimension content modification, i.e. the meaning of deservingness dimensions change over time for the same target group. Both countries exhibited similar themes and narratives. This was most visible in the attitude and reciprocity, although identity was also important. While at the beginning of the invasion the question of deservingness tied to who they are, later how they behave became crucial. Additionally, we observed normalisation of the situation, without compassion fatigue. Longitudinal media analysis is rare but crucial for countering xenophobia and nationalism.

This study examines overlooked or underexplored fragments from Rufus of Ephesus’ On Melancholy, as cited in Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī’s seminal medical work, The Comprehensive Book (Kitāb al-Ḥāwī fī al-Ṭibb). Through an analysis of Arabic texts and Latin translations, we present two previously unexamined fragments and one of doubtful authenticity which reference Rufus’ understanding of melancholy. Preserved across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts, these fragments illuminate the transmission of ancient Graeco-Roman medical knowledge into the Islamic Golden Age and Renaissance Europe. Arabic texts are compared with corresponding Latin editions to verify their authenticity and trace their historical transmission.

The prenatal period, childhood, and adolescence are critical periods of development characterized by high plasticity. As an extension of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) paradigm, known as Origins of Paternal Health and Disease (POHaD), recent studies in rodents provide evidence that paternal obesity is associated not only with infertility but also with an increased risk of metabolic disorders in the offspring. In rodents, litter size reduction is used to induce lactational overfeeding by increasing the amount of breast milk to pups, which causes metabolic and reproductive disorders in adulthood. This work evaluated the metabolic and reproductive alterations in the offspring of males raised in normal or small litter (SL) in the prepubertal period and in adult life. The results show that paternal obesity due to early overfeeding affects the offspring in a sex-specific manner. During the prepubertal period, male offspring of SL fathers showed decreased Lee index, tibia length, and HDL plasma levels, and increased weight of gastrocnemius muscle, while female offspring of SL fathers only showed reduced HDL plasma levels. In adulthood, male offspring of overfed males showed glucose intolerance and reduced food intake and triglycerides plasma levels, signs of metabolic dysfunction. Female offspring of overfed males showed delayed puberty onset and higher prevalence of infertile periods in the estrous cycles, indicating a potential susceptibility to reproductive dysfunction. The results of the current study show that paternal obesity due to early overfeeding affects energy balance and reproduction of their offspring in a sex-specific manner.

Taiwanese politics is often characterized as being dominated by two camps: the “blue” camp, which supports the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and the “green” camp, which supports the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). However, a substantial portion of the electorate identifies as independent, representing one of the largest but least studied groups in Taiwan’s political landscape. This study examines how independent voters differed from partisan voters in their responses to one of the most defining political moments in recent years, the legislative reform, and the subsequent Bluebird movement, one of the largest social protests in Taiwan since 2014. Drawing on two waves of original survey data, we find that independents were more likely to adopt the KMT’s framing of the protests and related legislative reforms. However, independent voters had greater support than blue camp supporters for democratic practices, despite their alignment over the Bluebird movement. These findings advance understanding of Taiwan’s electoral blocs, the dynamics of movement–party relations and the contours of democratic support among its citizens.

Maintenance procedures are critically important for preserving the structural integrity, maintaining the functionality and ensuring the operational safety of aircraft. Traditional inspection techniques used in aircraft are often costly, time-consuming and prone to human mistake. Today, the opportunities provided by digitalisation and automation in aircraft maintenance and inspection processes are paving the way for innovative approaches. In this context, the use of inspection systems supported by image processing technologies has the potential to bring about a significant transformation in aircraft maintenance. Visual inspection methods integrated with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) enable the rapid, accurate and repeatable detection of defects such as corrosion and cracks on the external surfaces of aircraft. This study focuses on the automatic detection and classification of defects on the external surfaces of aircraft, based on tests and analyses carried out by artificial intelligence algorithms using high-resolution data. The model developed in this study was implemented in Python in the Google Colab environment and supported by AI algorithms trained on visual data. The main objective is to investigate the feasibility of UAV-based systems for aircraft visual inspection and to provide concrete evidence of their practical applicability. In this regard, the UAV platform selected for image acquisition is intended to comprehensively scan the target areas and capture images with sufficient resolution for processing by artificial intelligence algorithms. A review of the literature reveals that UAV- and AI-based integrated approaches have been explored in only a limited number of studies related to aircraft maintenance. In this context, the present study proposes a system that enables the rapid and accurate detection of structural defects such as corrosion and cracks on the external surfaces of aircraft.