After dispensing major precedents affecting the public’s health in each of its prior three terms, the 2024-2025 term of the US Supreme Court was arguably less impactful amid several unanimous decisions preserving existing jurisprudence (at least in part). However, this is an understatement. While the Court issued key decisions arguably favorable to communal health this prior year it also denied minors access to medical procedures sought by their doctors, diminished diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in employment, allowed states to deny health providers access to Medicaid because they also provided abortions, disallowed rural hospitals from collecting specific costs for treating low-income patients, and provided a “script” of sorts for executive control of federal health advisory committees.

Airborne particles, such as dust and volcanic ash, pose a serious hazard to aircraft in flight due to their potential to cause erosion damage to engine components. It is crucial to anticipate and address the impact of erosion wear on engine performance and safety. This study aims to enhance our understanding of how volcanic ash particles behave when ingested through a high bypass turbofan engine (HBTFE) and assess the development of erosion wear in the front components. The effects of four different ash samples are assessed in various scenarios of encountering volcanic ash during cruise flight conditions. First, the flow solution is obtained for all front components, including the Pitot intake, spinner, fan, inlet guide vanes (IGVs), outlet guide vanes (OGVs), and connecting ducts. Based on the flow data, the particle motion equations are solved step by step using an in-house trajectory and erosion code. This latter adopts the Lagrangian approach, which incorporates a particle-eddy interaction model and includes probabilistic descriptions for the release positions of particles, sizes, and restitution factors. The finite element method (FEM) is used to track particles through the computational cells and determine impact positions and conditions. As a result, the Pitot intake design seems to prevent many ash particles from reaching the fan blade beyond 80% of the span. The fan blade leading edge (LE) exhibits extreme erosion on both sides. The blade’s pressure side (PS) displays erosion spreading practically on the entirety of the surface, especially near the trailing edge (TE). In contrast, the suction side (SS) has scattered erosion at lower rates. Furthermore, the rotor’s hub presents almost uniform erosion patterns, whereas the shroud depicts scattered erosion. This large fan appears to function as a separator, expelling a significant amount of ash particles through the secondary duct, thereby reducing the engine core’s susceptibility to erosion. Out of the four volcanic ash samples, those from the Kelud and Etna volcanoes appear to cause the highest hourly eroded mass, about twice as much as the samples from the Chaiten and Eyjafjallajokull volcanoes.

Axial fans are vital accessories in aircraft ventilation systems, but, they may experience erosion from particulate flows, causing a decline in effectiveness over time. This study investigated the trajectories of two types of sand particles and erosion in an axial fan stage, considering the relative position of the blades facing the inlet guide vanes.

The movement of particles was simulated using an in-house code that implements a Lagrangian approach along with a stochastic particle-eddy interaction model. The flow field was solved separately and the flow data was transferred to the particle trajectory code. The finite element method allowed for the tracking of particles through the computational cells and accurate determination of their impact positions. A semi-empirical erosion correlation was used to evaluate the local erosion rates, mass removal, and geometry deterioration.

As a result, the rotor exhibits a high frequency of impacts and significant erosion on the leading edge of the blade, extending to the upper corner of the pressure side and blade tip, as well as the front of the suction side. In the inlet guide vane, the erosion is spread out along the entire pressure side but at lower erosion rates compared to the rotor blade. The erosion patterns obtained at different pitch-wise positions were cumulated to get better representation of erosion patterns. After being exposed to MIL-E5007E sand (0–1000 $\unicode{x03BC}$m) at the highest concentration for 10 hours, the blade experienced a reduction of a 0.29% in mass, a 0.45% decrease in tip chord, and a 0.23% increase in tip clearance. On the other hand, AC-coarse sand (0–200 μm) resulted in a 0.23% decrease in blade mass, a 0.4% reduction in tip chord, and a 0.16% increase in tip clearance.

The data that is available can be used to monitor the lifespan of axial fans of similar design and select appropriate coatings to protect against erosion.

The generation of organic compounds relevant to the origin of living beings is easily achieved if reducing conditions exist in the environment; however, proposed models of primitive atmospheres do not favour these conditions. This work considers the quantity and possible size of the cosmic bodies that could have impacted the Earth between 4.2 and 3.8 Ga. Different atmospheres (with gases such as CO2, CO, N2, CH4) were experimentally irradiated by an Nd-YAG laser (used to simulate the energy of a shock wave produced by the interaction of a cosmic body with the atmosphere). Although the main products are short-chain, saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is the most abundant in some atmospheres. HCN is an important precursor of the organic molecules relevant to chemical evolution. According to our calculations, between 1023 and 1025 g of HCN could have been produced by the energy released to the atmosphere from the entry of cosmic objects between 4.2 and 3.8 Ga. Therefore, this shock wave energy could play an important role in the processes of chemical evolution.

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing restrictions/lockdowns have caused significant physical and psychological consequences for people with cognitive impairment who are heavily dependent on their care-givers. However, little is known about the impact on care-givers, the factors that exacerbate their situation and what supports they need. The aims of this paper are threefold: (a) to examine the impact of COVID-19 physical restrictions on both formal and informal care-givers of people with cognitive impairment; (b) to identify attributing factors influencing this impact; and (c) to recognise their support needs. Further, this paper informs future research, policy and practice. Guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute framework, a systematic review was conducted using a mixed-methods convergent integrated approach. Eight databases were searched using keywords related to COVID-19 restriction, dementia care-givers, impacts and care settings, followed by a manual search. The study was limited to primary research published in English between January 2020 and December 2021. Of the 840 records identified, 30 met the inclusion criteria. Service withdrawal and social distancing has effectively led to the reprivatisation of care to the family, particularly women. Care-givers experienced negative impacts including reduced psychological wellbeing and physical health, increased care burden and financial difficulties. A number of clinical attributes and socio-demographic factors influenced the COVID-19 impact on care-givers. Consequently, counselling services, assistance with care and financial support were identified as support needs. Implementation of new support and the strengthening of existing services are recommended to enhance resilience, build capacity to support care-givers in any given situation and mitigate the effects of future outbreaks.

Didemnum vexillum is an aggressive, rapidly growing colonial ascidian and regarded as a global alien invasive species in temperate waters. It has recently become established in the western Mediterranean and the vectors of its introduction were assumed to be shipping or oyster trade. A dense settlement of it was encountered on nets of the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) cages placed at 60–65 m depths off the İzmir Peninsula (eastern Aegean Sea, eastern Mediterranean) in December 2022. It had considerably clogged net's eye openings, hindering water circulations inside cages. It had a vertical distributional pattern on 35 m long-nets, occurring solely on depths from surface down to 15 m, around where a summer thermocline develops. It has entirely replaced the native black mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis on nets. This colonial ascidian changed the routine cleaning procedure of nets in the farming. Three possible ways of its introduction to the eastern Mediterranean were proposed, but the most reasonable one is its secondary transfer via nets or ships from Malta. Mechanisms of its invasion biology and behaviour should be studied and monitored in the region.

Biological invasions are a threat to protected areas globally; however, the relative lack of studies quantifying the ecological impacts impairs informed decision-making. We selected three annual alien plants, widespread in the riparian habitats of the Kruger National Park, South Africa: Datura innoxia, Parthenium hysterophorus, and Xanthium strumarium, to examine their potential impacts on riparian plant communities. We identified 12–13 populations for each and placed a pair of invaded and uninvaded plots in each population. Species richness, Shannon diversity, and Pielou evenness were compared between the invaded and uninvaded plots using LMM models, and species composition was compared using ordination. The invaded vegetation showed lower species richness compared to the uninvaded, with the strongest effect observed for P. hysterophorus. The invaded plots also showed lower Shannon diversity and Pielou evenness due to the presence of alien dominants. For all three invaders, the invasion resulted in changes in the composition of native vegetation. Some native plants were more frequent and abundant in the invaded vegetation, possibly due to the habitats created in sandy river beds. The native species richness decreased with increasing invader cover, but the species richness of aliens accompanying the invasive dominants was not negatively affected by their cover. Our results confirmed the negative impact of invasive aliens on native plant diversity, with the most pronounced effect by Parthenium hysterophorus invasions.

Life on Earth can be (has been) affected by various phenomena of non-biological or extraterrestrial origin, such as worldwide volcanic eruptions, the impacts of asteroids and comets, solar storms, the evolution of the Sun, supernova explosion, cosmic ray showers, …

These phenomena and the associated catastrophes can be grouped into different categories depending on its origin: terrestrial, solar system, galactic, and extragalactic, and the final destiny of the Universe. We will shortly described many of the identified risks and compare them by the degree of affectation for Life and Humanity.

The time scales and the area on Earth affected by each phenomenon vary considerably among them. We list the phenomena that can affect a region the size of a country, a continent, or a global catastrophe. However, we note that, given humanity’s degree of global economic and social interdependence, a local-scale phenomenon can even have global consequences.

The risks can be further classified in random and deterministic. Random threats are those associated with an event that has a certain probability of occurrence on a time scale, but we do not the exact date in the future, i.e.: an asteroid impact or a supernova explosion. Deterministic threats are those that will surely occur in a range of time in the future, i.e.: the evolution of the Sun into a red giant.

This comparative study will analyze what the “certainties” are (in statistical terms) about the different phenomena of extraterrestrial origin that will affect life on Earth on different geographical and temporal scales.

From its inception, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a disruptive force on U.S. health care and public health systems. President Biden’s announced termination of the national public health emergency on May 11, 2023 portends a return to normalcy and relief for Americans from the greatest infectious disease scourge the nation has ever faced. In reality, closing out this pandemic presents a tempest of legal and practical complications.