Hearing the voices of Ukrainian refugee women in Italy to enhance empowerment interventions

Abstract The 2022 Russian invasion displaced millions of Ukrainians, many of whom sought refuge in Italy. War refugees face heightened mental‐health risks but can also activate resilience and empowerment. This study employed the Transtheoretical Model of Empowerment and Resilience (Brodsky & Cattaneo, 2013) to explore resilience and empowerment processes implemented by Ukrainian refugee women in Italy to cope with war‐related challenges and living in a new country. Twenty Ukrainian refugee women completed questionnaires and participated in semi‐structured interviews. Results indicated perceived psychological distress following traumatic war experiences. Utilizing individual and shared resources, respondents enacted resilience processes stemming from the context of risk in their home country and the receiving country but not empowerment actions. However, some mentioned empowerment goals, such as changes in the formal support system for refugees and creating a network of Ukrainian refugees for mutual support. Results highlighted how some participants held individual characteristics of relative privilege, which could be crucial for transitioning from resilience to empowerment. The study suggests that facilitating this transition may require tailored interventions for the specific needs of Ukrainian refugee women and community‐based interventions for promoting access to shared opportunities with the local community and other migrants.

Clonal Hematopoiesis in Gulf War Veterans

The Effects of War‐Related Stress on Human Development: Differences in Body Proportions of Polish Women Born Before and During World War II

ABSTRACT Objectives This study aims to explore the lasting effects of stress experienced by pregnant women during World War II (WWII) on body and head measurements of their adult daughters. Methods The research sample consists of 336 female university students born in Poland between 1925 and 1951. The data include body measurements and socioeconomic information (parental occupation and number of siblings) acquired from questionnaires collected between the 1950s and 1970s. Student's t ‐test, Mann–Whitney test and Analysis of Variance were used to analyze differences in body measurements between groups of women born before and during the war, as well as the possible influences of socioeconomic variables. Results The mean measurements of body height, symphysion height, and waist circumference were lower in women conceived and born during the war compared to those born in the pre‐war period. In contrast, the mean measurements of biacromial (shoulder) width, trunk length, and three head dimensions were higher in women conceived and born during the war. Additionally, the number of siblings appeared to be a significant factor that may have influenced the body measurements of women in both groups. For instance, a higher number of living siblings, particularly sisters, was associated with reduced body dimensions, such as body height and waist circumference, while a greater number of deceased siblings was linked to an increase in certain body dimensions. Conclusion The results suggest that war‐related prenatal conditions may have influenced the postnatal growth and development of women conceived and born during the war. Notably, the direction of these changes varied, which indicates that the growth response to the war‐related conditions was a complex adaptation, reflecting both positive and negative changes in different body parts, rather than a uniform pattern of growth suppression.

The Maternal Capital Hypothesis: Giving Mothers Central Place in Evolutionary Perspectives on Developmental Plasticity and Health

ABSTRACT The “developmental origins of health and disease” paradigm has revolutionized biomedical research and raised new questions in the public domain. Not only individual disease risk, but also population health inequalities, may be profoundly shaped by experience early in life. The maternal capital hypothesis, published in 2010, is an evolutionary conceptual framework for understanding developmental plasticity on an intergenerational time‐scale. The central proposition is that societal adversities can become embodied in maternal phenotype, and hence undermine the health and life opportunities of their offspring. The offspring calibrates its early developmental trajectory to maternal phenotype, not to the external environment. The framework emphasizes societal stresses from which individual mothers cannot opt out, such as malnutrition, poverty, gender inequality, colonialism, racism, war, and interpersonal violence. Conversely, mothers with greater capital can better defend themselves against these stresses and buffer their offspring. In this commentary, I revisit why the hypothesis was developed and summarize how it has stimulated further work. I review evidence for the role of maternal phenotype in the intergenerational basis of health inequalities; theoretical issues that the hypothesis can help clarify; implications for policy and intergenerational justice; and experimental studies that show that promoting maternal capital can have health benefits for both mothers and offspring. There is no intention to blame mothers when arguing that maternal phenotype plays a unique role in intergenerational cycles of disadvantage. Rather, promoting maternal capital may not only improve maternal and child health, but also combat gender and racial inequality.

Doing Science With Our Grandmother's WISDOM : A Worldview Integrating Sociality, Diversity, and Observant Meaning‐Making

ABSTRACT The contemporary moment is defined and marred by geopolitical sorrow‐with genocide in Gaza, and wars in Sudan and Ukraine to mention some‐devastating the lives of millions of people. The resulting geopolitical, ecological, communal, and personal devastation will last for generations in concrete and substantive ways, as the legacy of war and genocide stays with those who survive. In this perspective, we highlight an example of this by discussing new lines of evidence for intergenerational epigenetic transmission of sustained, war‐related trauma. Here we articulate a novel frame labeled WISDOM: a Worldview Integrating Sociality, Diversity, and Observant Meaning‐making. This framing aims to facilitate rigorous science in the relatively uncharted domains of biocultural approaches to intergenerational trauma, survival, and resilience. WISDOM is a perspective with practical components, focused primarily on trauma but applicable to other foci at the confluence of biological and social sciences.

Minoritized and Poorly Understood: A Scoping Review of Mental and Physical Health Among Arab Adolescents in Canada and the United States

ABSTRACT Arab adolescents are both racialized and invisible minorities in Canada and the United States (US), following the war on terror, incomplete ethnic categorization, Islamophobia, and anti‐Arab racism. We conducted a scoping review of physical and psychological health in Arab adolescent populations living in the US and Canada. Inclusion criteria encompassed adolescents and emerging adults aged 10–24 who identified as Arab or having Arab identity and Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) origins. Included scholarly literature reported at least one physical or psychological health outcome and was published in English or Arabic up until 2025. We identified over 200 relevant studies using PubMed, Web of Science, ResearchRabbit.ai, Google Scholar, and Undermind AI. We reviewed 50 total studies that met our inclusion criteria, highlighting the paucity of research on health and biopsychosocial variation among Arab adolescents in North America over a 30‐year period. Despite heterogeneity in the health outcomes reported across studies, many focused on acculturative stress, ethnic identity formation, mental health, and discrimination. Few studies examined physical health and sexual and reproductive health; none examined pubertal, immunological, or linear growth outcomes. We discuss how biocultural and human biological research approaches can contribute to advancing a needed and more holistic understanding of health variation among Arab adolescent populations.

Assessing Variance in Male Reproductive Skew Based on Long‐Term Data in Free‐Ranging Rhesus Macaques

ABSTRACT The unequal share in male reproduction (male reproductive skew) has been reported across primate species. To explain the distribution of male reproduction within groups various skew models have been applied to primates, however the “dynamic tug‐of‐war” model first accounted for the specifics of primate sociality. This model assumes that an increase in the number of competing males, a high degree of female cycle synchrony and their interaction will result in a lower degree of male reproductive skew. Here, we first tested the predictors of this model in rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ) using long‐term demographic and genetic data (up to 9 groups over 22 seasons) of the Cayo Santiago population (Puerto Rico). We also tested an extended version including group size and sex ratio and their interaction with female cycle synchrony. Finally, we investigated which male attributes determine the probability to become a top sire (highest paternity share per group and season). Confirming studies, male rhesus macaques exhibited low to medium degrees of reproductive skew based on the multinomial index, M. Unlike predicted, reproductive skew was higher in groups with more males. The extended analysis suggested that reproductive skew increased with group size in more male‐biased groups, but decreased with group size in female‐biased groups indicating that the numbers of male and female group members matter. We detected no effect of female cycle synchrony on the variance of reproductive skew. Finally, only maternal rank predicted the probability to become a top sire as long as males resided in their natal group. Together, our results did not support predictions by the dynamic skew model in rhesus macaques, but strengthen studies suggesting that other factors in addition to male‐male competition predict male reproductive output in rhesus macaques. Future skew studies should consider female choice and alternative male mating strategies.

The Incidence and Prevalence of Dementia over the Life Course of Men ‐ The Manitoba Follow Up Study

Abstract Background There are few long term cohort studies over the life course of a closed population. The cumulative lifetime risk of dementia is therefore unknown. The aims of these analyses are to report: 1. The age specific incidence of dementia in a cohort study of aging men; 2. The age specific prevalence of dementia; and 3. The life course cumulative risk of dementia considering the competing risk of mortality. Method The Manitoba Follow Up Study is a prospective cohort study of men who qualified for air crew training in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War who have been followed to the present day. The cohort was sealed in July 1948, with a mean age of 31 years old. We analyze the risk of dementia to July 2024. Dementia was determined by diagnostic reports from physicians, hospital records and long term care records, and death reviews. We calculated the incidence of dementia and 95% confidence interval (CI) in five year age groups, and calculated the point prevalence and 95% CI of dementia from age 30 to age 100. We graphically present the status of the cohort from 1948 to 2024 to visualize the risk of dementia and the competing risk of death. Results Of the 3983 participants, 3960 died, 7 were lost to follow up, and 570 were diagnosed with dementia. The incidence of dementia was low prior to the age of 80, increasing to 20 cases per 1000 person‐years at age 80‐84 and 53 cases per 1000 person‐years at age 90‐94 (Figure 1). The point prevalence of dementia was also very closely related to age (Figure 2). Figure 3 shows the risk of dementia in the face of the competing risk of death. Conclusion The risk of dementia is highly concentrated in older adults, and there is a high competing risk of death.

Intergenerational Discrimination, Dispossession, and Political Persecution: Associations with Memory in Older Adults from Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract Background Discrimination and persecution can have lasting effects on socioeconomic status (SES) and health, including cognitive function. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has a history of war, political repression, and systemic discrimination, contributing to historical adversity across generations. However, the long‐term effects of these experiences on memory performance in older adults remain largely unexplored. Aim To examine the association between an intergenerational index of discrimination, persecution, and dispossession and memory performance in older adults from CEE countries. Methods Respondents from 11 CEE countries were interviewed in wave 7 of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe ( n  = 21,989; 59% female; 67.1 mean age). We constructed a categorical index for intergenerational experiences of discrimination, persecution, and dispossession: (0) no personal or parental exposure, (1) parental experience only (e.g., forced displacement, labor camp, or injury), (2) personal experience only (e.g., job‐related consequences of discrimination, or property dispossession), and (3) both personal and parental exposure. The memory performance z‐score was created by standardizing and combining immediate and delayed recall scores. First linear regression model adjusted for age, sex, CEE region, birth cohort and included country‐fixed effects. Second model additionally included self‐reported math and language abilities at age 10, childhood SES, and educational attainment; potential confounders depending on the timing of discrimination. Result 36.7% had some experience of discrimination or persecution, with 23.2% reporting parental exposure, 6% reporting only personal exposure and 7.5% reporting both. Respondents whose parents experienced discrimination or persecution had ‐0.03 lower memory scores (95%CI: ‐0.05; 0.00), whereas those reporting personal or both experiences had higher memory scores (β=0.08 95%CI: 0.03;0.12 & β=0.10 95%CI 0.06; 0.15). However, after adjusting for early life factors and educational attainment only the negative association between parental experiences of persecution and memory persisted (β=‐0.04, 95%CI: ‐0.06; ‐0.01). Conclusion Having parents who were exposed to discrimination or persecution was associated with lower memory performance in older age. These findings suggest that adversity may have a lasting negative impact on cognitive function across generations. Support: PRIMUS research program (PRIMUS/22/MED; PI Seblova)

Hydroxylierte Aryl‐Tetrazine als bioorthogonale Scheren zur systematischen Spaltung von trans ‐Cyclooctenen

Abstract Bioorthogonale Bindungsspaltungsreaktionen haben sich als leistungsstarke Werkzeuge für die präzise zeitliche und räumliche Kontrolle (bio)molekularer Funktionen in biologischen Systemen etabliert. Unter diesen sticht die durch Click‐Reaktion mit Tetrazinen ausgelöste Eliminierung spaltbarer trans ‐Cyclooctene (Click‐Spaltung, engl. Click‐to‐Release) aufgrund hoher Reaktionsraten sowie ihrer Vielseitigkeit und Selektivität hervor. Trotz des zunehmenden Verständnisses der zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen ist die Anwendung dieser Reaktion aufgrund unzureichender Eigenschaften (Click‐Kinetik, Spaltungskinetik, Spaltungseffizienz) der bestehenden Reagenzien eingeschränkt. Eine effiziente Spaltung war bisher auf Tetrazine mit vergleichsweise niedriger Click‐Reaktivität beschränkt, während hochreaktive Aryl‐Tetrazine nur eine minimale Spaltung erzielen. Durch die Einführung von Hydroxylgruppen an Phenyl‐ und Pyridyl‐Tetrazinen ist es uns gelungen, eine neue Klasse von ′bioorthogonalen Scheren′ mit hoher chemischer Leistungsfähigkeit zu entwickeln. Diese Hydroxyaryl‐Tetrazine erreichen eine nahezu quantitative Spaltung nach beschleunigter Click‐Reaktion mit unterschiedlichen spaltbaren trans ‐Cyclooctenen, was durch die Click‐ausgelöste Aktivierung einer Wirkstoffvorstufe (engl. Prodrug), die intramitochondriale Spaltung einer fluorogenen Sonde in lebenden Zellen und die schnelle intrazelluläre bioorthogonale Spaltung eines Ligand‐Farbstoff‐Konjugats demonstriert wird.