Disparities in overall and site-specific cancer mortality among immigrant generations in Sweden: A nationwide follow-up study over three decades.

We examined the overall and site-specific cancer mortality disparities among first-generation - separately in adults (G1) and children (G1.5) at immigration - and second-generation (G2) immigrants and their countries of origin using population-based registries in Sweden, encompassing over 8.5 million individuals aged 20 and above residing in Sweden since 1990, with follow-up until December 31, 2023. Cox proportional hazard models were fitted, stratified by gender, to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals compared to natives. Mortality rates for most cancers transitioned from lower in G1 towards the rate of natives in G2. However, elevated mortality rates were sustained across generations for liver cancer in males and stomach cancer in females. Among G2, mortality from lymphohematopoietic cancers in males, and lung and cervix uteri cancers in females were elevated - by 10%, 9%, and 17% respectively compared to natives. Country of origin analyses revealed substantial disparities. For instance, G2 females with Nordic parental origin had a 13% higher risk of death from lung cancer, while those with non-Western parental origin had a 54% lower risk as compared to natives. These findings suggest a generational and arrival-age dynamics of cancer mortality and highlight target groups for cancer prevention and control among immigrants.

Evolution in the Cycles of Life.

The life cycles of eukaryotes alternate between haploid and diploid phases, which are initiated by meiosis and gamete fusion, respectively. In both ascomycete and basidiomycete fungi and chlorophyte algae, the haploid-to-diploid transition is regulated by a pair of paralogous homeodomain protein encoding genes. That a common genetic program controls the haploid-to-diploid transition in phylogenetically disparate eukaryotic lineages suggests this may be the ancestral function for homeodomain proteins. Multicellularity has evolved independently in many eukaryotic lineages in either one or both phases of the life cycle. Organisms, such as land plants, exhibiting a life cycle whereby multicellular bodies develop in both the haploid and diploid phases are often referred to as possessing an alternation of generations. We review recent progress on understanding the genetic basis for the land plant alternation of generations and highlight the roles that homeodomain-encoding genes may have played in the evolution of complex multicellularity in this lineage.

Evolution of parental care in haploid-diploid plants.

In bryophytes that alternate between haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes through sexual reproduction, sporophytes are often attached to and nurtured on the female gametophyte. A similar phenomenon is seen in Florideophyceae (a group of red algae). These systems in which a gametophyte (mother) invests nutrients in sporophytes (offspring) are ideal for studying the evolution of 'parental care' in non-animal organisms. Here, we propose a model of a haploid-diploid life cycle and examine the evolution of maternal investment in sporophytes focusing on two effects: the degree of paternal or maternal control of investment and the number of sporophytes. We find that when the female dominantly controls the investment, the evolutionarily stable level of investment is that which maximizes the expected reproductive success of the female gametophyte. The genomic conflict between maternal and paternal alleles complicates the evolutionary outcome; however, a greater male allelic effect and a higher number of sporophytes favour a higher energy investment, which may lead to evolutionary branching or run-away escalation of the investment level. This suggests that the selfishness of the paternal gene is the evolutionary driver of parental care and that complex structures such as fusion cells in red algae may have evolved to suppress it.

A stomate by any other name? The open question of hornwort gametophytic pores, their homology, and implications for the evolution of stomates.

Advances in bryophyte genomics and the phylogenetic recovery of hornworts, mosses, and liverworts as a clade have spurred considerable recent interest in character evolution among early embryophytes. Discussion of stomatal evolution, however, has been incomplete; the result of the neglect of certain potential stomate homologues, namely the two-celled epidermal gametophytic pores of hornworts (typically referred to as 'mucilage clefts'). Confusion over the potential homology of these structures is the consequence of a relatively recent consensus that hornwort gametophytic pores ('HGPs' - our term) are not homologous to stomates. We explore the occurrence and diverse functions of stomates throughout the evolutionary history and diversity of extinct and extant embryophytes. We then address arguments for and against homology between known sporophyte- and gametophyte-borne stomates and HGPs and conclude that there is little to no evidence that contradicts the hypothesis of homology. We propose that 'intergenerational heterotopy' might well account for the novel expression of stomates in gametophytes of hornworts, if stomates first evolved in the sporophyte generation of embryophytes. We then explore phylogenetically based hypotheses for the evolution of stomates in both the gametophyte and sporophyte generations of early lineages of embryophytes.

Active around the year: Butterflies and moths adapt their life cycles to a warming world.

Living in a warming world requires adaptations to altered annual temperature regimes. In Europe, spring is starting earlier, and the vegetation period is ending later in the year. These climatic changes are leading not only to shifts in distribution ranges of flora and fauna, but also to phenological shifts. Using long-term observation data of butterflies and moths collected during the past decades across northern Austria, we test for phenological shifts over time and changes in the number of generations. On average, Lepidoptera adults emerged earlier in the year and tended to extend their flight periods in autumn. Many species increased the annual number of generations. These changes were more pronounced at lower altitudes than at higher altitudes, leading to an altered phenological zonation. Our findings indicate that climate change does not only affect community composition but also the life history of insects. Increased activity and reproductive periods might alter Lepidoptera-host plant associations and food webs.

Continuous reproduction of planktonic foraminifera in laboratory culture.

Planktonic foraminifera were long considered obligate sexual outbreeders but recent observations have shown that nonspinose species can reproduce by multiple fission. The frequency of multiple fission appears low but the survival rate of the offspring is high and specimens approaching fission can be distinguished. We made use of this observation and established a culturing protocol aimed at enhancing the detection and frequency of fission. Using this protocol, we selectively cultured specimens of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma and raised the frequency of reproduction by fission in culture from 3% in randomly selected specimens to almost 60%. By feeding the resulting offspring different strains of live diatoms, we obtained a thriving offspring population and during the subsequent 6 months of culturing, we observed two more successive generations produced by fission. This provides evidence that in nonspinose species of planktonic foraminifera, reproduction by multiple fission is likely clonal and corresponds to the schizont phase known from benthic foraminifera. We subsequently tested if a similar culturing strategy could be applied to Globigerinita glutinata, representing a different clade of planktonic foraminifera, and we were indeed able to obtain offspring via multiple fission in this species. This work opens new avenues for laboratory-based experimental work with planktonic foraminifera.

Dynamic continualization of mechanical metamaterials with quasi-periodic microstructure.

This article focuses on characterizing a class of quasi-periodic metamaterials created through the repeated arrangement of an elementary cell in a fixed direction. The elementary cell consists of two building blocks made of elastic materials and arranged according to the generalized Fibonacci sequence, giving rise to a quasi-periodic finite microstructure, also called Fibonacci generation. By exploiting the transfer matrix method, the frequency band structure of selected periodic approximants associated with the Fibonacci superlattice, i.e. the layered quasi-periodic metamaterial, is determined. The self-similarity of the frequency band structure is analysed by means of the invariants of the symplectic transfer matrix as well as the transmission coefficients of the finite clusters of Fibonacci generations. A high-frequency continualization scheme is then proposed to identify integral-type or gradient-type non-local continua. The frequency band structures obtained from the continualization scheme are compared with those derived from the Floquet-Bloch theory to validate the proposed scheme. This article is part of the theme issue 'Current developments in elastic and acoustic metamaterials science (Part 1).'

Hypothesized life cycle of the snow algae Chlainomonas sp. (Chlamydomonadales, Chlorophyta) from the Cascade Mountains, USA.

Chlainomonas (Chlamydomonadales, Chlorophyta) is one of the four genera of snow algae known to produce annual pink or red blooms in alpine snow. No Chlainomonas species have been successfully cultured in the laboratory, but diverse cell types have been observed from many field-collected samples, from multiple species. The diversity of morphologies suggests these algae have complex life cycles with changes in ploidy. Over 7 years (2017-2023), we observed seasonal blooms dominated by a Chlainomonas species from late spring through the summer months on a snow-on-lake habitat in an alpine basin in the North Cascade Mountains of Washington, USA. The Bagley Lake Chlainomonas is distinct from previously reported species based on morphology and sequence data. We observed a similar collection of cell types observed in other Chlainomonas species, with the addition of swarming biflagellate cells that emerged from sporangia. We present a life cycle hypothesis for this species that links cell morphologies observed in the field to seasonally available habitat. The progression of cell types suggests cells are undergoing both meiosis and fertilization in the life cycle. Since the life cycle is the most fundamental biological feature of an organism, with direct consequences for evolutionary processes, it is critical to understand how snow algal life cycles will influence their responses to changes in their habitat driven by climate warming. For microbial taxa that live in extreme environments and are difficult to culture, temporal field studies, such as we report here, may be key to creating testable hypotheses for life cycles.

Shoulder dystocia by severity in families: A nationwide population study.

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have established a history of shoulder dystocia as an important risk factor for shoulder dystocia, but studies on shoulder dystocia by severity are scarce. It is unknown if shoulder dystocia tends to be passed on between generations. We aimed to assess the recurrence risk of shoulder dystocia by severity in the same woman and between generations on both the maternal and paternal side. We also assessed the likelihood of a second delivery and planned cesarean section after shoulder dystocia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a population-based cohort study, using data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. To study recurrence in the same mother, we identified 1 091 067 pairs of first and second, second and third, and third and fourth births in the same mother. To study intergenerational recurrence, we identified an individual both as a newborn and as a mother or father in 824 323 mother-offspring pairs and 614 663 father-offspring pairs. We used Bayesian log-binomial multilevel regression to calculate relative risks (RR) with 95% credible intervals. RESULTS: In subsequent deliveries in the same woman the unadjusted RR of recurrence was 7.05 (95% credible interval 6.39-7.79) and 2.99 (2.71-3.31) after adjusting for possible confounders, including current birthweight. The RRs were higher with severe shoulder dystocia as exposure or outcome. With severe shoulder dystocia as both exposure and outcome, unadjusted and adjusted RR was 20.42 (14.25-29.26) and 6.29 (4.41-8.99), respectively. Women with severe and mild shoulder dystocia and those without had subsequent delivery rates of 71.1, 68.9 and 69.0%, respectively. However, the rates of planned cesarean section in subsequent deliveries for those without shoulder dystocia, mild and severe were 1.3, 5.2 and 16.0%, respectively. On the maternal side the unadjusted inter-generational RR of recurrence was 2.82 (2.25-3.54) and 1.41 (1.05-1.90) on the paternal side. Corresponding adjusted RRs were 1.90 (1.51-2.40) and 1.19 (0.88-1.61), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We found a strong recurrence risk of shoulder dystocia, especially severe, in subsequent deliveries in the same woman. The inter-generational recurrence risk was higher on the maternal than paternal side. Women with a history of shoulder dystocia had more often planned cesarean section.

'Doing culture' in contemporary south-eastern Australia: how Indigenous people are creating and maintaining strong cultural identities for improved health and wellbeing.

BACKGROUND: Indigenous people in Australia experience far poorer health than non-Indigenous Australians. A growing body of research suggests that Indigenous people who are strong in their cultural identity experience better health than those who are not. Yet little is known about how Indigenous people create and maintain strong cultural identities in the contemporary context. This paper explores how Indigenous people in south-eastern Australia create and maintain strong cultural identities to support their health and wellbeing. METHODS: Data were collected from 44 Indigenous people living in the south-eastern Australian state of Victoria via yarning. Yarning is a cultural mode of conversation that privileges Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being. Yarning participants were selected for their prominence within Victorian Indigenous health services and/or their prominence within the Victorian Indigenous community services sector more broadly. Due to the restrictions of COVID-19, yarns were conducted individually online via Zoom. Data were analysed employing constructivist grounded theory, which was the overarching qualitative research methodology. RESULTS: All yarning participants considered maintaining a strong cultural identity as vital to maintaining their health and wellbeing. They did this via four main ways: knowing one's Mob and knowing one's Country; connecting with one's own Mob and with one's own Country; connecting with Community and Country more broadly; and connecting with the more creative and/or expressive elements of Culture. Importantly, these practices are listed in order of priority. Indigenous people who either do not know their Mob or Country, or for whom the connections with their own Mob and their own Country are weak, may therefore be most vulnerable. This includes Stolen Generations survivors, their descendants, and others impacted by historical and contemporary child removal practices. CONCLUSIONS: The yarns reveal some of the myriad practical ways that Indigenous people maintain a strong cultural identity in contemporary south-eastern Australia. While programs designed to foster connections to Community, Country and/or Culture may benefit all Indigenous participants, those most disconnected from their Ancestral roots may benefit most. Further research is required to determine how best to support Indigenous Victorians whose connections to their own Mob and their own Country are unable to be (re)built.

The intensification of parenting and generational fracturing of spontaneous physical activity from childhood play in the United Kingdom.

Despite an increased drive over the past two decades in Western societies to promote children's physically active play to improve their health, there are concerns that childhood has become less physically active. There are also fears that a previously naturally occurring aspect of childhood has become less authentically playful. Both trends highlight changes over time in the amount and type of play practiced by children and are often cited as consequences of generational shifts. Yet, research which analytically employs the concept of generation to connect changes to childhood with relevant social transformations is lacking. Inspired by Mannheim's conceptualisation of generations, this paper draws on life history interviews with 28 United Kingdom residents born between 1950 and 1994 to propose a fracturing of naturally occurring physical activity from childhood play. As shifts in childhood and parenting have become inextricably linked, this argument illustrates the impact of an intensification to parenting upon greater parental surveillance of increasingly organised forms of childhood physical activity at the expense of spontaneous play. Future physical activity policy should be sensitive to the social climate in which recommendations for children are made, as this places expectations upon parents due to how childhood is currently understood within neoliberal contexts.

Efficient Second-Harmonic Generation from Dielectric Inter-subband Polaritonic Metasurfaces Coupled to Lattice Resonance.

Nonlinear optical metasurfaces offer a possibility to perform frequency mixing without the phase-matching constraints of bulk nonlinear crystals and with control of the local nonlinear response at a sub-wavelength scale. Nonlinear inter-subband polaritonic metasurfaces created by combining the semiconductor heterostructures with quantum-engineered inter-subband nonlinear response and electromagnetically engineered metal-clad nanoresonators offer by far the largest second-order nonlinear response of all condensed matter systems reported to date. However, the nonlinear optical response of these metasurfaces is limited by optical intensity saturation in the nanoresonator hot spots that prevented the achievement of power conversion efficiencies over 0.2% in three-wave mixing experiments. In this study, we propose and experimentally demonstrate dielectric inter-subband polaritonic metasurfaces for second-harmonic generation that achieve 0.37% power conversion efficiency. Our structure is created by a new design approach that combines dielectric resonators inducing Mie resonant modes with a lattice resonance to achieve a uniform and high field enhancement throughout the meta-atom volume.

Aesthetic Medicine Across Generations: Evolving Trends and Influences.

Aesthetic medicine has grown exponentially in recent decades, becoming a key part of healthcare and wellness, with distinct generational demands shaping its landscape. Baby Boomers seek youthful rejuvenation, preferring noninvasive treatments like botulinum toxin injections and dermal fillers. Generation X favors natural, minimally invasive enhancements, often influenced by authentic testimonials. Millennials, driven by social media and self-care trends, prioritize preventive and enhancement procedures, sharing their experiences online. Generation Z, influenced by social media and digital beauty standards, focuses on prejuvenation and temporary enhancements. For industry professionals, understanding these generational dynamics and leveraging social media is essential to meet diverse patient expectations and enhance engagement.Level of Evidence V This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Life-Suspending Technologies, Cryonics, and Catastrophic Risks.

I defend the claim that life-suspending technologies can constitute a catastrophic and existential security factor for risks structurally similar to those related to climate change. The gist of the argument is that, under certain conditions, life-suspending technologies such as cryonics can provide self-interested actors with incentives to efficiently tackle such risks-in particular, they provide reasons to overcome certain manifestations of generational egoism, a risk factor of several catastrophic and existential risks. Provided we have reasons to decrease catastrophic and existential risks such as climate change, we also have a (defeasible) reason for investing in developing and making life-suspending technologies (more) widespread.

How are new nurses satisfied with their jobs? From the work value perspective of Generations Y and Z nurses.

BACKGROUND: Job satisfaction has garnered significant interest across multiple disciplines as it plays a vital role in shaping human resource strategies. In the field of nursing, enhancing job satisfaction can help prevent workforce shortages. Work values and job-related characteristics are significant predictors of job satisfaction. However, the influence of factors may change as younger generations join the nursing workforce. Although research on generational commonalities and differences in work values is increasing, there is insufficient information on generational differences in the interplay between work values and job satisfaction. This study investigated the factors associated with job satisfaction of new nurses in each generational group based on a work value perspective. METHODS: A total of 280 new nurses (151 from Generation Y and 129 from Generation Z) were selected from the Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine the factors associated with job satisfaction in both groups. RESULTS: Most participants graduated with a diploma (61.1%), were paid less than the average salary of each group (60.4%), and conducted shift (72.9%) and overtime work (64.3%). Work values and job satisfaction levels were not significantly different between the two groups. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that career growth and task work values were associated with job satisfaction for Generation Z, while task, reputation, and environment work values were associated with job satisfaction for Generation Y. Among the job-related characteristics, nurses' job tenure was associated with job satisfaction in both groups; salary and overtime had varying relationships with job satisfaction between the two generations. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding generational differences is crucial for improving the effective management of new generational nurses. Our study findings support that different work value dimensions and job-related characteristics were associated with job satisfaction in each generation. Accordingly, it is essential to develop distinct initiatives, such as a well-structured program, to support the continued career growth of the new Generation Z nurses, thereby enhancing their job satisfaction. Furthermore, providing a conducive working environment that helps new-generation nurses overcome challenges and ensures personal lives should be considered.

The pathogenicity and immune effects of different generations of Mycoplasma synoviae on chicken embryos.

1. Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) is the primary causative agent of synovitis in avian species. In order to investigate the pathogenicity and immunological responses associated with MS in specific pathogen-free chicken embryos, a series of generations (F1, F95, F120, F160 and F200) of MS were introduced into 7-day-old SPF chicken embryos and subsequent mortality rates were recorded and analysed2. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect expression of heat shock proteins HSP27, HSP40, HSP60, HSP70 and HSP90 and inflammatory factors interleukin (IL)-1ß, caspase-1 and IL-18 in the tracheal tissue.3. The results showed that the mortality rate of SPF chicken embryos decreased with an increase in the number of passages, with the highest being 80% (8/10) for F1 generation and the lowest being 10% (1/10) for F200. The expression of HSP27, IL-1ß, HSP40, caspase-1, HSP70 and HSP90 showed a significant downregulation trend with an increase in the generation (except IL-18; P < 0.05). The HSP60 expression was significantly upregulated with increasing generations (P < 0.05).4. A relationship between pathogenicity and the number of passages was observed and the decrease in pathogenicity appeared to be associated with HSP and genes related to inflammatory factors. The present work offers a scientific foundation for screening potential MS strains that might be employed to develop attenuated vaccines.

Omics technology draws a comprehensive heavy metal resistance strategy in bacteria.

The rapid industrial revolution significantly increased heavy metal pollution, becoming a major global environmental concern. This pollution is considered as one of the most harmful and toxic threats to all environmental components (air, soil, water, animals, and plants until reaching to human). Therefore, scientists try to find a promising and eco-friendly technique to solve this problem i.e., bacterial bioremediation. Various heavy metal resistance mechanisms were reported. Omics technologies can significantly improve our understanding of heavy metal resistant bacteria and their communities. They are a potent tool for investigating the adaptation processes of microbes in severe conditions. These omics methods provide unique benefits for investigating metabolic alterations, microbial diversity, and mechanisms of resistance of individual strains or communities to harsh conditions. Starting with genome sequencing which provides us with complete and comprehensive insight into the resistance mechanism of heavy metal resistant bacteria. Moreover, genome sequencing facilitates the opportunities to identify specific metal resistance genes, operons, and regulatory elements in the genomes of individual bacteria, understand the genetic mechanisms and variations responsible for heavy metal resistance within and between bacterial species in addition to the transcriptome, proteome that obtain the real expressed genes. Moreover, at the community level, metagenome, meta transcriptome and meta proteome participate in understanding the microbial interactive network potentially novel metabolic pathways, enzymes and gene species can all be found using these methods. This review presents the state of the art and anticipated developments in the use of omics technologies in the investigation of microbes used for heavy metal bioremediation.

Generations, events, and social movement legacies: Unpacking social change in English football (1980-2023).

This article critically employs the case of association football in England, from 1980 to 2023, as a social movement timescape, to examine the political consciousness and long-term mobilisations of a generation of football supporter activists, and their capacity to influence politics, and respond to new, emerging, critical junctures, through networks of trust and shared memories of historical events. This is of crucial importance to sociology because it reveals the tensions between what are considered legitimate and illegitimate social practices which characterise contemporary society's moral economy. Focusing on temporal contestations over regulation, policing, governance and cultural rituals, the article deconstructs the role of generations in social movements, and critically synthesises relational-temporal sociology and classic and contemporary work on the sociology of generations, to show how legacy operates as a multifaceted maturing concept of power and time. In English football's neoliberal timescape, the supporters' movement has reached a critical juncture; the future will require a new generation of activists, to negotiate, resist and contest the new hegemonic politics of social control and supporter engagement.

Comparing the health information practices of sapphic people by age group and generation.

This qualitative research examines how sapphic people (i.e., umbrella term inclusive of lesbian, bisexual, and pansexual trans femmes, mascs, nonbinary people, and ciswomen) in South Carolina navigate informational barriers within healthcare systems. An information practices lens that examines how sapphic people create, seek, use, and share information to achieve desired healthcare outcomes describes such navigation. The research focuses on how intersectional identities, with a particular emphasis on age and considerations of race/ethnicity, geography, and gender, mediate these practices and their outcomes. The research uses participant data from semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 34 sapphic people about their health information practices. Participants varied in age and generational representation from 18 through 64. Data analysis utilized qualitative coding to compare how participants experience and circumnavigate health information barriers across age and generation. Data analysis highlighted age-related and generational barriers and facilitators in health information practices within SC sapphic communities. These barriers, shaped by cultural and community dynamics, affected how participants sought and shared health information. Older participants faced barriers rooted in historical experiences, leading to mistrust of healthcare systems, while younger ones encountered challenges imposed by adults. Despite differences, both groups sought sources aligned with their identities and shared frustrations with changing LGBTQIA + language. Across generations, there was a consistent effort to support younger members through protective and defensive health information practices. Implications of these findings identify strategies for healthcare providers and information professionals to dismantle health and healthcare information barriers experienced by those under the LGBTQIA + umbrella who experience less visibility than white gay men from urban areas-additional implications center on strategies for sapphic communities to engender communal care spanning generations.

Some Liked It and Some Did Not: (Re)Circulating Lesbian Culture Among Queer Generations.

Naming oneself, and claiming an identity and a community, depends largely upon how people define and represent themselves, and whether that self-definition and representation is accepted by, or legible to, others who inhabit different social positions based on age, gender, sexuality, and often generation. My aim is neither to rehabilitate the lesbian past or lesbian words for identity, nor to reject the increasingly broad use of the term queer. Rather, as a Generation X lesbian, I contend that lesbian culture, identity, and community continue to have much to offer for other categories of queerness that are similarly "untidy", contested, or less well-understood by the mainstream. Approaching lesbian history, culture, and identity as dynamic and complex broadens possibilities for who might find connection and belonging in a lesbian past and a queer future. I explore an eclectic lesbian archive with an intergenerational Canadian focus that centers lesbian identity, community, and representation. My analysis supports my assertion that lesbian and queer inheritance flow multi-directionally, across and among people of varied generations and different social locations. I further posit that far from being anachronistic, lesbian, as a term for identity and culture, and as a political project, has ongoing productive potential, vitality, and agility that exceeds generational or linear understandings due to its fundamental grounding in self-definition. (Re)circulating lesbian and queer culture, therefore, functions as intergenerational wealth, community building, and cultural memory, bridging past pleasures, knowledge, and affective attachments with present and future possibilities for living.