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The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been jointly awarded to Harvey Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles Rice for discovering the hepatitis C virus (HCV). In a statement, the Nobel Committee noted that “the discovery of hepatitis C virus revealed the cause of the remaining cases of chronic hepatitis and made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives”. [...]an end sequence of around 100 bases had been missed.

\"There are growing indications that the system of mass consumption that blossomed in the United States and other countries during the decades following World War II is now eroding due to demographic ageing, increasing income inequality, political payalysis, and resource scarcity. At the same time, steady jobs that compensate employess on a salaried or hourly basis are being replaced by freelanding and contingent work. Such circumstances are making perpetuation of consumerist lifestyle difficult. The rise of the so-called sharing economy, the growth of do-it-yourself production, and the speading popularity of economic localization are evidence that people are striving to find new ways to ensure livelihoods for themselves and their families in the face of profound change. Historical experience points to the importance of mutual assistance during periods of transformational upheaval and this book describes the role that worker-consumer cooperatives could play during a period when government-sponsored initiatives are unlikely to be forthcoming.\"--Front flap.

Objective This research proposes a wheelchair design method for the elderly with disabilities based on the combination of QFD theory and TRIZ theory to improve the satisfaction of the needs of elderly users and the feasibility of implementing related product technologies. Methods Starting from the needs of disabled elderly people, this research analyzes the shortcomings of QFD theory and TRIZ theory, and builds a framework model that combines TRIZ and QFD theory. Conclusion Through the redesign of the wheelchair, the various problems encountered by the disabled elderly in the process of using the wheelchair are solved, and their needs in the wheelchair are met. At the same time, through the analysis of the design process and results, the QFD/TRIZ integrated model is proposed and verified The feasibility of functional product design that can be applied to disabled elderly people.

'Testing the Canon of Ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology' invites readers to reconsider the contents and agendas of the art historical and world-culture canons by looking at one of their most historically enduring components : the art and archaeology of the ancient Near East. Ann Shafer, Amy Rebecca Gansell, and other top researchers in the field examine and critique the formation and historical transformation of the ancient Near Eastern canon of art, architecture, and material culture. Contributors flesh out the current boundaries of regional and typological sub-canons, analyze the technologies of canon production (such as museum practices and classroom pedagogies), and voice first-hand heritage perspectives. Each chapter, thereby, critically engages with the historiography behind our approach to the Near East and proposes alternative constructs. Collectively, the essays confront and critique the ancient Near Eastern canon's present configuration and re-imagine its future role in the canon of world art as a whole. This expansive collection of essays covers the Near East's many regions, eras, and types of visual and archaeological materials, offering specific and actionable proposals for its study. 'Testing the Canon of Ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology' stands as a vital benchmark and offers a collective path forward for the study and appreciation of Near Eastern cultural heritage. This book acts as a model for similar inquiries across global art historical and archaeological fields and disciplines.

Viruses are a major threat to human health, and—given that they spread through social interactions—represent a costly externality. This article addresses three main questions: (i) what are the unintended consequences of economic activity on the spread of infections; (ii) how efficient are measures that limit interpersonal contacts; (iii) how do we allocate our scarce resources to limit the spread of infections? To answer these questions, we use novel high frequency data from France on the incidence of a number of viral diseases across space, for different age groups, over a quarter of a century. We use quasi-experimental variation to evaluate the importance of policies reducing interpersonal contacts such as school closures or the closure of public transportation networks. While these policies significantly reduce disease prevalence, we find that they are not cost-effective. We find that expansions of transportation networks have significant health costs in increasing the spread of viruses, and that propagation rates are pro-cyclically sensitive to economic conditions and increase with inter-regional trade.

An archaeological exploration of the ancient inhabitants of the circum-Mediterranean region exploring their migration patterns, health, and diet.

Recent technological advances enabled modern robots to become part of our daily life. In particular, assistive robotics emerged as an exciting research topic that can provide solutions to improve the quality of life of elderly and vulnerable people. This paper introduces the robotic platform developed in the ENRICHME project, with particular focus on its innovative perception and interaction capabilities. The project’s main goal is to enrich the day-to-day experience of elderly people at home with technologies that enable health monitoring, complementary care, and social support. The paper presents several modules created to provide cognitive stimulation services for elderly users with mild cognitive impairments. The ENRICHME robot was tested in three pilot sites around Europe (Poland, Greece, and UK) and proven to be an effective assistant for the elderly at home.

Brain age is a widely used index for quantifying individuals’ brain health as deviation from a normative brain aging trajectory. Higher-than-expected brain age is thought partially to reflect above-average rate of brain aging. Here, we explicitly tested this assumption in two independent large test datasets (UK Biobank [main] and Lifebrain [replication]; longitudinal observations ≈ 2750 and 4200) by assessing the relationship between cross-sectional and longitudinal estimates of brain age. Brain age models were estimated in two different training datasets (n ≈ 38,000 [main] and 1800 individuals [replication]) based on brain structural features. The results showed no association between cross-sectional brain age and the rate of brain change measured longitudinally. Rather, brain age in adulthood was associated with the congenital factors of birth weight and polygenic scores of brain age, assumed to reflect a constant, lifelong influence on brain structure from early life. The results call for nuanced interpretations of cross-sectional indices of the aging brain and question their validity as markers of ongoing within-person changes of the aging brain. Longitudinal imaging data should be preferred whenever the goal is to understand individual change trajectories of brain and cognition in aging. Scientists who study the brain and aging are keen to find an effective way to measure brain health, which could help identify people at risk for dementia or memory problems. One popular marker is ‘brain age’. This measurement uses a brain scan to estimate a person’s chronological age, then compares the estimated brain age to the person’s actual age to determine whether their brain is aging faster or slower than expected for their age. However, since brain age relies on one brain scan taken at one point in time, it is not clear whether it really measures brain aging or if it might capture brain differences that have been present throughout the individual’s life. Studies comparing individual brain scans over several years would be necessary to know for sure. Now, Vidal-Piñeiro et al. show that the brain-age measurement does not reflect faster brain aging. In the experiments, the researchers compared repeated brain scans of thousands of individuals over 40 years of age. The experiments showed that deviations from normative brain age detected in a single scan reflected early life differences more than changes in the brain over time. For example, people with older-looking brains were more likely to have had a low birth weight or to have a combination of genes associated with having an older looking brain. Vidal-Piñeiro et al. show that brain age mostly reflects a pre-existing brain condition rather than brain aging. The experiments also suggest that genetics and early brain development likely have a strong impact on brain health throughout life. Future studies trying to test or develop brain-aging measurements should use serial measurements to track brain changes over time.

Die Betreuung und Pflege älterer Menschen mit geistiger Behinderung oder mit chronisch psychischer Erkrankung erfordert von den Mitarbeitern ein differenziertes berufliches Kompetenzprofil; ihre Ausbildung entspricht nur in Teilen den Anforderungen, die der berufliche Alltag stellt.In zwei praxisbezogenen, sich einander ergänzenden Perspektiven.