Infant mortality, a reflection of socioeconomic and health conditions of a population, is shaped by diverse factors. This study delves into a pre-industrial population, scrutinizing neonatal and post-neonatal deaths separately. Family factors such as mortality crises, religion, and legitimacy are also explored. Data of 9,086 people obtained through multigenerational information from ecclesiastic records from 1603 to 1908 were analysed by means of a joinpoint regression analysis. Death risk was assessed with univariate and multivariate Cox Proportional Hazard models. Early neonatal mortality was 5.6% of births and showed a gradual and steady increase from 1630 to 1908, with no substantial improvement over the three centuries analysed. Late neonatal (4.3% of births) and post-neonatal mortality (18.7% of births) shared a different pattern, showing a decline between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries, and an increase by the 20th century that could be caused by socioeconomic factors and the impact of several epidemics. In the historical population of Hallstatt, infant survival was influenced by the sex of the newborn, the death of the mother and the precedent sibling, and by the birth interval. Environmental and cultural factors, such as mortality crises and religion, influenced late neonatal and post-neonatal mortality, but not early neonatal mortality. The results highlight the need to independently assess early neonatal mortality in studies of infant mortality in historical populations, and to use as complete time periods as possible to capture differences in mortality patterns.

We conducted a pilot study of implementing community health workers (CHWs) to assist patients with hypertension and social needs. As part of clinical care, patients identified as having an unmet need were referred to a CHW. We evaluated changes in blood pressure and needs among 35 patients and conducted interviews to understand participants’ experiences. Participants had a mean age of 54.1 years and 29 were Black. Twenty-six completed follow-up. Blood pressure and social needs improved from baseline to 6 months. Participants reported being accepting of CHWs, but also challenges with establishing a relationship with a CHW and being unclear about their role.

This paper examines the impact of financially constrained intermediate inputs on within-industry total factor productivity loss. Utilizing exogenous tax reforms in China as a natural experiment, our difference-in-difference analysis reveals that reduced tax burdens lead to increased firm-level intermediate inputs, particularly among financially constrained firms. We incorporate financially constrained intermediate inputs into a partial equilibrium model of firm dynamics. Our calibration suggests that financially constrained intermediate inputs play a quantitatively more important role in accounting for misallocation than financially constrained capital. The presence of financially constrained intermediate inputs introduces a downward bias in the measurement of value-added productivity, especially for firms in the top decile of gross-output productivity. As a result, the average “efficient” levels of capital and labor for the top decile firms in the standard Hsieh and Klenow (2009) exercise are lower than what is truly efficient.

Post COVID-19 condition (PCC) refers to persistent symptoms occurring ≥12 weeks after COVID-19. This living systematic review (SR) assessed the impact of vaccination on PCC and vaccine safety among those with PCC, and was previously published with data up to December 2022. Searches were updated to 31 January 2024 and standard SR methodology was followed. Seventy-eight observational studies were included (47 new). There is moderate confidence that two doses pre-infection reduces the odds of PCC (pooled OR (pOR) 0.69, 95% CI 0.64–0.74, I2 = 35.16%). There is low confidence for remaining outcomes of one dose and three or more doses. A booster dose may further reduce the odds of PCC compared to only a primary series (pOR 0.85, 95% CI 0.74–0.98, I2 = 16.85%). Among children ≤18 years old, vaccination may not reduce the odds (pOR 0.79, 95% CI 0.56–1.11, I2 = 37.2%) of PCC. One study suggests that vaccination within 12 weeks post-infection may reduce the odds of PCC. For those with PCC, vaccination appears safe (four studies) and may reduce the odds of PCC persistence (pOR 0.73, 95% CI 0.57–0.92, I2 = 15.5%).

Combine modifications for harvest weed seed control like the Redekop Seed Control Unit (SCU) and the integrated Harrington Seed Destructor (iHSD) have been successfully used to kill problematic weed seeds in small grain production in Australia. These seed impact mills could have a fit in U.S. soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] production. Testing the seed kill rate of problematic weed species in soybean is important for confirming the efficacy of the mills. Additionally, the mills may be affected by changes in crop yield and harvest residue moisture, which can have an impact on chaff flow rate and chaff moisture, respectively. This research aimed at determining the seed kill percent for problematic weeds and how varying chaff flow rates and chaff moisture content in soybean chaff affect the seed kill rate and horsepower draw of two different impact mills, the Redekop SCU and the iHSD. All testing was conducted using stationary test stands. Chaff flow rate and chaff moisture levels tested ranged from 0.5× to 2× standard combine throughput and 11.7% to 28.6% moisture, respectively. All tested species were killed at >98% by both mills. Increasing chaff flow rate resulted in a decrease in seed kill for all tested species with the iHSD and only common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) with the Redekop SCU. Increasing chaff moisture only resulted in a decrease in seed kill for Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Watson) with the iHSD. Data evaluating the horsepower needed to power the mills also indicated that chaff flow rate and chaff moisture resulted in a significant increase in horsepower draw. With generally high kill rates (>98%) and the ability to kill weed seeds at >98% in less than ideal harvest conditions (i.e., high-moisture chaff), seed impact mills could be used in soybean production to reduce weed seed inputs into the soil seedbank during harvest.

Different participatory mechanisms for the representation of Indigenous peoples have been proposed across states. Since their creation in 1867, the Māori electorates in the national Parliament have led to dedicated representation for Māori (Indigenous peoples of New Zealand). However, only half of Māori choose to vote on the Māori roll, the remainder choosing to vote on the General roll, illustrating that roll choice is not based simply on group representation. This survey aimed to ask Māori (N = 1,958) in their own words why they made their roll choice. Through a deductive codebook thematic analysis, a range of codes were constructed around the reasoning behind roll choice. Māori on the Māori roll made their choice because they valued Māori representation; as an expression of their identity; to support the electorates; as a strategic choice; or they had been influenced by others or through education. Those on the General roll felt their roll was the default or a more familiar option; the Māori roll had less of an impact; it was a strategic choice, or they appreciated greater candidate variety; or they valued the smaller geographic electorate size. Some felt Māori no longer needed separate representation or felt less connected to their identity as Māori. The results have implications for both Māori and Indigenous representation through dedicated representational mechanisms.

The first compilations of Proterozoic eukaryote diversity, published in the 1980s showed a dramatic peak in the Tonian Period (1000–720 Ma), interpreted as the initial radiation of eukaryotes in the marine realm. Over the decades, new discoveries filled in the older part of the record and the peak diminished, but the idea of a Tonian radiation of eukaryotes has remained strong, and is now widely accepted as fact. We present a new diversity compilation based on 181 species and 713 species occurrences from 145 formations ranging in age from 1890 Ma to 720 Ma and find a significant increase in diversity in the Tonian. However, we also find that the number of eukaryotic species through time is highly correlated with the number of formations in our dataset (i.e. eukaryote-bearing formations) through time. This correlation is robust to interpretations of eukaryote affinity, bin size, and bin boundaries. We also find that within-assemblage diversity—a measure thought to circumvent sampling bias—is related to the number of eukaryote-bearing formations through time. Biomarkers show a similar pattern to body fossils, where the rise of eukaryotic biosignatures correlates with increased sampling. We find no evidence that the proportion of eukaryote-bearing versus all fossiliferous formations changed through the Proterozoic, as might be expected if the correlation reflected an increase in eukaryote diversity driving an increase in the number of eukaryote-bearing formations. Although the correlation could reflect a common cause such as changes in sea level driving both diversification and an increase in sedimentary rock volume, we favor the explanation that the pattern of early eukaryote diversity is driven by variations in paleontological sampling.

Through the colonial period in Sāmoa, Christian morality was embedded into Samoan culture. This transformed gender relations, introducing a new, well-disciplined figure of the Samoan woman. Because of this shift, we argue for the need to develop Samoan feminist thought, which is as much a development of new thinking as it is a return to and restoration of Samoan feminist thought already in existence within Indigenous Samoan cosmologies. We contextualize this thinking within a coalition of Pacific, Indigenous, Black, and women of color feminist thinkers. As feminist scholars have established, feminism doesn’t resonate or work with a simple copy and paste to culture and context. Rather, feminisms are contextual and subjective. It is thus imperative that those from within various contexts continue to broaden understandings and conceptualizations of feminism/s, which work toward demarcating spaces for feminist thought that illuminates multiple, diverse, and intersecting subjectivities and positionalities. As such, the task for us as Samoan women, people, and communities is to develop a feminist space that encompasses and fosters a by-us, for-us, with-us approach that challenges coloniality in Sāmoa and articulates feminist possibilities and futures.

The governance of farm animal welfare is led, in certain countries and sectors, by industry organisations. The aim of this study was to analyse the legitimacy of industry-led farm animal welfare governance focusing on two examples: the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle and the Animal Care module of the proAction programme in Canada, and the Animal Care module of the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) programme in the United States (US). Both are dairy cattle welfare governance programmes led by industry actors who create the standards and audit farms for compliance. We described the normative legitimacy of these systems, based on an input, throughput, and output framework, by performing a document analysis on publicly available information from these organisations’ websites and found that the legitimacy of both systems was enhanced by their commitment to science, the presence of accountability systems to enforce standards, and wide participation by dairy farms. The Canadian system featured more balanced representation, and their standard development process uses a consensus-based model, which bolsters legitimacy compared to the US system. However, the US system was more transparent regarding audit outcomes than the Canadian system. Both systems face challenges to their legitimacy due to heavy industry representation and limited transparency as to how public feedback is addressed in the standards. These Canadian and US dairy industry standards illustrate strengths and weakness of industry-led farm animal welfare governance.

Introductions of new crops can provide alternate market opportunities, but also may pose ecological risks. New crops lack established management, have uncertain performance issues, and may become weedy in their introduced region. The introduction of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) into southern Florida poses a unique introduction scenario because of the subtropical climate and no commercial production on record, unlike in other eastern and midwestern U.S. states. We assessed the escape from cultivation for hemp by tracking establishment and reproduction of volunteer plants from the earliest modern hemp planting in Florida. Hemp is a weed across much of the United States matching its historical distribution and has been assessed to be of high invasion risk for Florida because of its biological attributes, history of escape, and colonization in other states and countries. We conducted monitoring of volunteer plants and a seed establishment experiment in southern Florida finding that hemp volunteer plants occurred in pulses over time, with variable and declining germination. Volunteer plants persisted for up to 2 yr and appeared in areas that were disked and mowed according to USDA-approved hemp crop termination procedures. In the seed establishment experiment, we found that hemp established in disturbed soils (∼9% of seeds planted) and that mean plant heights and seed counts were positively related to soil disturbance and nutrient addition. These findings showed that hemp plantings should be monitored for volunteer establishment, and containment plans should be in place to control the establishment of volunteer hemp plants in agricultural fields. Our study further illustrates the need for multiyear monitoring and repeat termination procedures to ensure containment of hemp volunteers. There was limited evidence of volunteer establishment in surrounding areas and on undisturbed land. However, seed containment, equipment cleaning, and the monitoring of nearby fields and seed transportation routes remains warranted.