This study considers why public abattoirs of the Republican era failed to function effectively and were unpopular with contemporaneous Chinese people. In the early twentieth century, Chinese officials began to rely on biomedical parameters to define safe food, a critical step in the modernization of social control strategies. Tianjin was among the first Chinese cities to launch government-run slaughterhouses that combined safety inspection with monopolized animal slaughtering. However, how such slaughterhouses operated has received little academic attention. The municipal authorities introduced a series of laws covering slaughterhouses’ construction and operations to ensure meat safety. However, Tianjin’s public slaughterhouses failed to uphold their new duties toward public health and even became menaces to urban sanitation. City officials lacked the ethics of modern public servants, and the slaughterhouses provided them new opportunities for rent-seeking practices. The collection of slaughter tax superseded meat safety inspection as the municipality’s primary concern, which undermined the effectiveness of food hygiene regulation. Therefore, city residents regarded the public slaughterhouses as predatory tax collectors. Taking Tianjin as an example, this article demonstrates the gap between the modernization of governmental agencies modeled on Western countries and the persistence of traditional, exploitive governing practices in Republican China.

The Convention on Biological Diversity, ratified by 196 countries including South Korea, aims to protect at least 30% of the world’s land, inland waters and marine areas by 2030 as part of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Beyond increasing protected areas (PAs), promoting biodiversity by protecting different ecosystem types is crucial. We investigated whether South Korea’s PAs evenly cover various ecosystem types. We examined overlaps between the Korean Database of Protected Areas (KDPA) and the Korean adapted Ecosystem Typology (KET) map, which modified the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Ecosystem Typology (GET) three-level ecosystem functional group map based on South Korea’s land cover. Compared to the biogeographical ecoregion map, the KET map provides finer ecological detail on representation within PAs and reveals the under-representation of human-influenced ecosystems; eight human-influenced ecosystem functional groups, including rice paddies and urban and industrial ecosystems that may contribute to biodiversity or cultural value, had <10% protection. The T2.2 deciduous temperate forest type dominates, covering 54.79% of PA area across 18 of 27 PA categories. This concentrated protection has led to up to 24 overlapping PA designations in certain locations. Expanding protection for under-represented ecosystems and diversifying governance could help South Korea align with global biodiversity goals.

The population changes in waterbirds are recognised as a global issue. Many waterbird species, especially migratory ones, are undergoing population changes. Monitoring these changes is crucial for waterbird conservation. However, the lack of data to quantify these populations hinders comprehension of the factors responsible for these changes. Although a few studies have investigated the long-term trends of waterbirds in the Republic of Korea (ROK), most have concentrated on a limited number of species and groups. Understanding these changes enables us to identify which species are vulnerable and develop more effective conservation measures accordingly. This study aimed to investigate the population dynamics of waterbirds in the ROK from 2000 to 2024. Data from the Winter Waterbird Census of Korea were used to analyse trends across various waterbird groups and species. The results showed diverse population trajectories, with some species experiencing notable increases while others underwent severe declines. Among the observed trends, several globally threatened species, such as the White-naped Crane Grus vipio and Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana, exhibited significant population growth. This is largely a testament to the effectiveness of conservation interventions aimed at these species. However, the study also identified population declines of some species, such as the Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus and Common Pochard Aythya ferina, indicating pervasive threats due to habitat loss and degradation. Lastly, several recommendations are made regarding the identified population trends that should be used to guide future conservation efforts in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. This study, with its comprehensive and detailed findings, reiterates the importance of long-term monitoring data for developing effective conservation measures.

The current study aims to assess associations between trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) levels and mortality, and to investigate modification effects of genetics. A total of 500 participants from a family-based cohort study were enrolled from 2005 to 2017 and followed up until 2020 in Fangshan District, Beijing, China. Serum TMAO levels were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. The primary outcomes were all-cause mortality, and deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke. During a median follow-up time of 7.38 years, 38 deaths were recorded, including 20 deaths due to CVD and 19 deaths due to stroke. Compared with the lowest TMAO quartile group, the hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality was 1.35 (95% CI: 0.44,4.15), 1.65 (95% CI: 0.58,4.64), and 2.45 (95% CI: 0.91,6.57), respectively in higher groups. No association was observed between TMAO and CVD mortality. However, compared with the lowest TMAO concentration group, the HRs for stroke mortality was 1.93 (95% CI: 0.40,9.39), 1.91 (95% CI: 0.41,8.96), and 4.16 (95% CI: 0.94,18.52), respectively in higher groups (P for trend=0.046). Furthermore, polygenic risk score (PRS) for longevity modified the association of TMAO with all-cause mortality (P for interaction=0.008). The risk of mortality (HR=2.20, 95% CI: 1.06,4.57) was higher among participants with lower PRS compared with higher PRS (HR=1.00, 95% CI: 0.71,1.40). The study indicates that elevated serum TMAO levels are potentially associated with long-term mortality risk in rural areas of Northern China, especially for stroke deaths. Additionally, it provides novel evidence that genetic variations might modify the association.

While most Conditional Cash Transfer programs in Latin America expanded from rural to national coverage, Peru’s Juntos program maintained a strict rural focus for 15 years, systematically excluding poor urban households. This article examines the Peruvian paradox: why, despite regional trends and internal efforts to broaden coverage, Juntos remained territorially constrained. Using process tracing and semi-structured interviews with policymakers, senior bureaucrats, former congress members, and policy experts, the study identifies two institutional legacies rooted in the neoliberal reforms of the Fujimori era. First, the institutional consolidation of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) as a powerful veto player with control over public spending; and second, the diffusion of an ideational framework centered on fiscal austerity, efficiency, and aversion to clientelism. These legacies gave rise to two policy locks, a persistent rural bias and a regime of horizontal and fiscal control, that have limited the program’s adaptability to shifting poverty dynamics and urban demands.

This article concerns opportunities for improving systems for processing public finds through digital technology and citizen science, taking England, Estonia, and Finland as case studies. These three countries have differing legislation, but all face a significant growth in hobby metal detecting and consequent increase in archaeological finds being reported, which places pressure on existing resources for recording them. While archaeologists in the different countries all value public finds as items that add to public collections, provide information about sites at risk, and can advance research, their priorities vary. This has an impact on approaches to processing finds, but offers the chance to embrace digital technology and involve the public. This article shows how digital technology and public involvement in archaeology have already facilitated change in all three countries and highlights further opportunities these might provide, given a growing desire to democratize archaeology and share public finds data as widely as possible.

I provide an analysis of incel ideology which contributes to philosophical reflection on this distinctive form of online misogyny. The analysis complements extant feminist interpretations by illustrating some moral psychological limitations of popular objectification and entitlement frameworks. After emphasizing the central role of self-loathing in the incel worldview, I offer a partial explanation of the roots of this self-loathing by appealing to the underappreciated significance of masculine warrior ideals.

Maritime piracy represents a significant international challenge, impacting both economic stability and political dynamics. Researchers from diverse disciplines have been drawn to this multifaceted issue, each aiming to understand and address different aspects of piracy’s impact and implications. This study offers a comprehensive overview of maritime piracy research based on bibliographic analysis. Its objective is threefold. First, to delineate the key domains of inquiry within maritime piracy research. These domains encompass a wide range of topics, including the socio-economic drivers of piracy, the legal frameworks governing maritime security, and computer science to analyse piracy acts. Second, to identify major contributions in the field, recognising seminal works, influential authors and significant findings related to maritime piracy. Lastly, to discern emerging research trends within maritime piracy, and to identify novel areas of inquiry, innovative methodologies and promising avenues for future exploration. Furthermore, the most popular datasets from these studies that include relevant information are presented in this work.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence indicates that the error-related negativity (ERN) increases across adolescence. However, there are no longitudinal studies of ERN development which traverse all of adolescence. In addition, anxiety (e.g., generalized and social anxiety) and depression have been associated with a larger and smaller ERN, respectively, but it is unknown whether childhood psychopathology is associated with adolescent development of the ERN. In the present study, 317 8 to 14-year-old girls completed a flanker task at baseline and approximately 2-year and 5-year follow-ups. Multilevel growth modeling was used to examine ERN trajectory across adolescence and test whether self-reported childhood generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and depression symptoms at baseline predicted ERN trajectory. On average, the ERN demonstrated a linear increase from late childhood to early adulthood. Additionally, participants with high baseline anxiety (generalized anxiety, social anxiety) and low depression symptoms had the steepest ERN trajectory across adolescence. The present study provides longitudinal support for an increase in the ERN spanning adolescence and demonstrates that childhood psychopathology is associated with error-related neural development into early adulthood.

Gammaridean amphipods are a major component of macrobenthic communities, but information on their distribution and ecology in subtidal habitats of northern Japan is limited. We present the species composition and community structure of benthic amphipods in the subtidal bottoms (5–32 m deep) of Akkeshi Bay, eastern Hokkaido, Japan, and examine whether spatial variability of amphipod assemblage is related to local environmental gradients and biogeographic affinities of the component species. Amphipods were collected at nine sites in 2020 and identified to 40 species consisting of 21 families. Similarity analyses showed that the amphipod community differed among the three habitats: (1) marine soft-bottom substrate, (2) gravelly estuarine substrate, and (3) marine hard-bottom substrate. Distance-based redundancy analysis revealed that variation in the soft-bottom community was related to that of depth and sediment composition. The biogeographic affinities of 15 identified species were categorized as two groups, “Arctic and surroundings” and “Northwestern Pacific,” by similarity analysis with global occurrence records in marine ecoregions. Differences in species composition were related to the biogeographic affinities of the component species, with species grouped as Arctic and surroundings occurring at deeper sites than the Northwestern Pacific species. Changes in community structure along the depth gradient reflected variations in environmental factors, such as temperature, as well as differences in the suitable temperature ranges of the species as determined by their biogeographic history. This study highlights the importance of considering both environmental gradients and macroecological features of component species in interpreting variations in amphipod community structure on the local scale.