Social changes through the lens of language: A big data study of Chinese modal verbs

Leech’s corpus-based comparison of English modal verbs from 1961 to 1992 showed the steep decline of all modal verbs together, which he ascribed to continuing changes towards a more equal and less authority-driven society. This study inspired many diachronic and synchronic studies, mostly on English modal verbs and largely assuming the correlation between the use of modal verbs and power relations. Yet, there are continuing debates on sampling design and the choices of corpora. In addition, this hypothesis has not been attested in any other language with comparable corpus size or examined with longitudinal studies. This study tracks the use of Chinese modal verbs from 1901 to 2009, covering the historical events of the New Culture Movement, the establishment of the PRC, the implementation of simplified characters and the completion and finalization of simplification of the Chinese writing system. We found that the usage of modal verbs did rise and fall during the last century, and for more complex reasons. We also demonstrated that our longitudinal end-to-end approach produces convincing analysis on English modal verbs that reconciles conflicting results in the literature adopting Leech’s point-to-point approach.

Changes in children’s attachment security to mother and father after the birth of a sibling: Risk and resilience in the family

Changes in children’s attachment security to mother and father were examined for 230 firstborn children (M = 31.17 months), their mothers and fathers participating in a longitudinal investigation starting in the last trimester of the mothers’ pregnancy and 1, 4, 8, and 12 months after the birth of an infant sibling. Both parents completed the Attachment Q-set at prenatal, 4, and 12 months. Growth mixture models revealed four latent classes in which children’s attachments were (a) both secure with a modest decline to both parents (68.3%); (b) more secure with father than mother with a steep decline for both (12.6%); (c) both insecure with no change (10%); and (d) more secure with mother than father with a modest increase for both (9.1%). Multi-group latent growth curve analyses revealed that parenting and coparenting differed across families. Children had lower externalizing behavior problems in families with two secure attachments than in families with one secure attachment, either to mother or to father, who, in turn, had fewer problems than children with two insecure attachments. Findings underscore the strengths of a family systems framework to understand attachment relationships with multiple caregivers and the family risks and protective factors that covary with children’s behavioral adjustment after the birth of a sibling.

Catastrophe or Catalyst? Reflections on COVID’s Impact on Community Colleges

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a steep decline in enrollments at community colleges, especially among Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous populations, males, and part-time students. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Acts provided funds for emergency aid and engaging disconnected students, and community colleges moved swiftly to shift services and instruction online. In this essay, we discuss how students and community colleges responded to the pandemic and what their experiences reveal about inequities in higher education. We argue that the crisis was worsened by years of underinvestment in these institutions and by entrenched structures and practices that do not address the needs and aspirations of many students. We review evidence on reforms that aim to remake community colleges in ways that improve student outcomes. While COVID-19 can rightly be viewed as a catastrophe, it may also serve as a catalyst for fundamental and lasting improvements in how community colleges are funded, organized, and operated to help more students achieve their goals.

Association of regional Covid-19 mortality with indicators of indoor ventilation, including temperature and wind: insights into the upcoming winter

BackgroundOutdoor environmental variables, such as cold temperatures and low wind speed, have been correlated with incidence and mortality from Covid-19 (caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus). However, as Covid-19 predominantly spreads indoors, the degree to which outdoor environmental variables might directly cause disease spread is unclear.MethodsWorld regions were considered to have reliable data if the excess mortality did not greatly exceed reported Covid-19 mortality. The relative risk of Covid-19 mortality for 142 regions as a function of median weekly temperature and wind speed was determined. For instance, Covid-19 mortality following warm weeks in a country was compared with mortality following cold weeks in the same country.ResultsCovid-19 mortality increases with cooling from 20 C to close to freezing (0 to 4 C, p<0.001). The relation of Covid-19 mortality with temperature demonstrates a maximum close to freezing. Below -5 C, the decrease in mortality with further cooling was statistically significant (p<0.01). With warming above room temperature (20 to 24 C), there is a nonsignificant trend for mortality to increase again. A literature review demonstrated that window opening and indoor ventilation tend to increase with warming in the range from freezing to room temperature.ConclusionThe steep decline in Covid-19 mortality with warming in the range from freezing to room temperature may relate to window opening and less indoor crowding when it is comfortable outside. Below freezing, all windows are closed, and further cooling increases stack ventilation (secondary to indoor-outdoor temperature differences) and thereby tends to decrease Covid-19 mortality. Opening windows and other tools for improving indoor ventilation may decrease the spread of Covid-19.

Aleutian Tern Onychoprion aleuticus abundance estimates at four globally significant colonies

Summary Aleutian Tern Onychoprion aleuticus numbers have been in steep decline at known Alaskan breeding colonies in recent decades (IUCN recently uplisted to ‘Vulnerable’). Available data suggest that most of the species may currently breed in Russia. Efforts to document global abundance and trends have been hampered by remoteness of colonies, lack of a formal monitoring programme, and the absence of reproducible population estimates with quantifiable errors, especially for large colonies. We surveyed four historically large colonies in Russia (2018) and Alaska (2019), which together may comprise 30–50% of the global breeding population. At each colony we obtained high resolution aerial photographs using a small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS). The large size of the colonies and the minimum altitude required to identify terns made it impractical to collect imagery of the entire colony. Instead, we employed a sampling approach, with sample locations selected based on spatially balanced acceptance sampling. Statistically sampled, low altitude sUAS images provided a fast, reproducible, and rigorous count of abundance for geographically large colonies, with low disturbance, and were generally consistent with concurrent ground-based observations. Concurrence among observers in photo counts indicated high precision in counts of attending birds and unattended nests, although species attribution in mixed tern colonies remains a source of significant uncertainty. Our results indicate that the four colonies surveyed here together supported <2,500 pairs of Aleutian Terns in the survey years. None of the colonies approached their peak size reported previously, likely due to recent predation, long-term decline, cold early season weather, or other factors. If these reduced colony sizes are representative of the current conditions, the implications for the global population would be dire.

Moves to age-restricted housing and functional health trajectories among independent living older adults

Where independent living older adults live has been found to have strong links with disability. For example, older adults living in age-restricted housing contexts (e.g., retirement communities) have been found to have worse functional health compared to those living in non-age-restricted settings. Theories and empirical research demonstrate positive and negative aspects of living in age-restricted housing. Recent availability of population-level longitudinal data with sufficiently large samples has made examination of this heterogeneity possible. In this study we examine whether a move to age-restricted housing is associated with functional health trajectories and whether age at time of move moderates this link. We examine these questions using nine waves of longitudinal data from a representative sample of 8,687 U.S. adults age 65 and older from the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Spline-like growth curve models were estimated to determine the intercept, slope prior to move to age-restricted housing, and slope after the move. We also tested whether these processes are conditional on age at time of move. Results indicate that regardless of age all respondents experienced a decline in functional health following a move to age-restricted housing. However, there is variation in the steepness of this decline by age at time of the move. People who move to age-restricted housing earlier experience a less steep decline in functional health post-move compared to those who move later. Findings suggest moving to age-restricted housing earlier may enable older adults to utilize resources often available in these settings to prevent steep health declines.

The Politics of Legal Abortion: From Direct Action to Dialogue

In her highly influential 1984 study Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood, Kristin Luker speculates that opposition to legal abortion among women was likely to be strongest among those who were full-time homemakers without a college education (Luker 1984, 163). But despite a marked decline in that demographic group and a well-documented rise in public support for gender equality since then, the rate of support for legal abortion has remained stubbornly fixed at between fifty and fifty-five percent (Shields 2012). This tepid support has coincided with a steep decline in abortion services in rural states, and ever more sweeping restrictions on abortion being tested in the courts (Rose 2006, 89). Karissa Haugeberg's Women against Abortion and Katie Watson's Scarlet A both seek to address this state of affairs, albeit in markedly different ways. Haugeberg provides a historical chronicle of the motives and strategies of certain key women activists in the fight against legal abortion, with an eye toward how their concerns “came to serve as blueprints to legislators and judges who continue to craft policies and laws that erode women's right to abortion” (Haugeberg, 8). Katie Watson draws upon her experience as an attorney and bioethicist to write a guide “intended to encourage and equip you to engage in respectful, productive, private conversation about your experience with, and opinion of, abortion” (Watson, 37). Though both authors reveal their support for legal abortion, both are concerned to understand the motives and goals of those who fight against it.

Trilogy Development of Proopiomelanocortin Neurons From Embryonic to Adult Stages in the Mice Retina

Proopiomelanocortin-positive amacrine cells (POMC ACs) were first discovered in adult mouse retinas in 2010; however, the development of POMC-ACs has not been studied. We bred POMC-EGFP mice to label POMC-positive cells and investigated the development of POMC neurons from embryonic to adult stages. We found that POMC neuron development is mainly divided into three stages: the embryonic stage, the closed-eye stage, and the open-eye stage. Each stage has unique characteristics. In the embryonic stage, POMC neurons appeared in the retina at about E13. There was a cell number developmental peak at E15, followed by a steep decline at E16. POMC neurons showed a large soma and increased spine numbers at the closed-eye stage, and two dendritic sublaminas formed in the inner plexiform layer (IPL). The appearance and increased soma size and dendrite numbers did not occur continuously in space. We found that the soma number was asymmetric between the superior and inferior retinas according to the developmental topographic map. Density peaked in the superior retina, which existed persistently in the retinal ganglion cell layer (GCL), but disappeared from the inner nuclear layer (INL) at about P6. At the same time, the soma distribution in the INL was the most regular. At the open-eye stage, the development of POMC neurons was nearly stable only with only an increase in the IPL width, which increased the soma–dendrite distance.

Morphology and Reproductive Biology of Two Hill Stream Cyprinids; Balitora Brucei and Psilorhynchus Balitora, From the Ranganadi River (India), with a Special Note to Their Conservational Threats

The Gray’s stone loach Balitora brucei and balitora minnow Psilorhynchus balitora abound in the torrential water bodies of South East Asia. The current paper redescribes morphology based on the fresh collection. Specific parameters of reproductive biology on both the fishes have been studied for the first time. Both the species were adapted to the same ecological conditions of the river Ranganadi. Fish specimens were collected at fortnightly interval from the river in the Lakhimpur district of Assam, India. The detailed study includes morphological data analysed with Mann Whitney U test and specific reproductive parameters such as condition factor (K), gonado-somatic index (GSI), modified gonado - somatic index (MGSI), and Dobriyal index (DI). Progressive development of the gonads were confirmed with dissection and histological study. Both the species are multiple breeders with prolonged reproductive seasons ranging from four to five months. Both the fishes are found to be migrants from upstream and a good number of individuals were recorded during the monsoon season, reflecting the sampling site as a breeding ground. During winter, the local people use various chemicals, piscicidal plants and electric instruments for fishing resulting in a steep decline in number of individuals for both the species. Moreover, effect of the NEEPCO dam is the evident on the decline of the ichthyofaunal diversity of the river.

Morphometry of the Entire Internal Carotid Artery on CT Angiography

Background and Objectives: Knowledge of the internal carotid artery’s (ICA) morphometric features is influential in outlining surgical and minimally invasive procedures in the neurovascular field. Many studies have shown divisive numbers regarding the ICA’s caliber, with the measuring point of the artery sometimes differing. This study presents ICA dimensions based on computed tomography angiography in each of its seven segments as per Bouthillier’s classification, correlating vascular dimensions with anthropometric parameters. Materials and Methods: A thorough CT angiography analysis was performed on 70 patients with internal carotid vessels unaffected by atherosclerotic disease. The extracranial part of the ICA was measured in four locations—carotid bulb, post-bulbar dilation, at its cervical midpoint, and below its entrance into the carotid foramen. Single landmarks were used for measurements in the intracranial segments. ICA length was assessed in the neck region and also in the cranial cavity. Craniometric measurements were performed on sagittal and coronal CT reconstructions. Patient height was taken into consideration. Results: The largest ICA portion is near its origin in the carotid sinus area (7.59 ± 1.00 mm), with a steep decline in caliber following its extracranial course. Distal ICA presented values somewhat similar to its proximal intracranial segment diameters (4.67 ± 0.47 mm). Dimensions of the ICA in the intracranial segments start from a value of 4.53 ± 0.47 mm and decrease by approximately 40% when reaching the origin of the middle cerebral artery (2.71 ± 0.37 mm), showing a marked decrease in caliber after the emergence of the most critical collateral artery, the ophthalmic branch. The length of the ICA varies between genders, with the male ICA being about 10 mm longer in total length than female ICA; this difference is also correlated with patient height and skull dimensions. Conclusions: Both intra- and extracranial ICA have variable dimensions and length related to gender and anthropometric parameters, with no significant differences obtained concerning side or age.