The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on every individual in the United States. The launch of the COVID-19 vaccines is estimated to have averted millions of deaths and reduced over 18 million COVID-19 related hospitalizations. In September 2023, the updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine that include a monovalent component that corresponding to the omicron variant XBB.1.5 reflecting the predominant circulating variant at the time of strain selection, was approved and was recommended for use in all people ≥ 6 months of age. Despite this recommendation, the US uptake of the updated COVID vaccines over the 2023-2024 season has been far from optimal, placing many people at unnecessary risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. This paper provides an overview of the current state of COVID-19 in 2023-2024, and barriers to vaccine uptake. With the continued evolution of the virus, the potential for more virulent variants and the lower public acceptance of vaccination, the potential barriers that contributed to low vaccine uptake are explored, as well as to provide solutions for improving COVID-19 protection for future seasons.

The upper ocean heat content in the equatorial Pacific usually serves as a primary precursor for an upcoming El Niño, while the strong atmospheric perturbations such as westerly wind burst and easterly wind surge sometimes play a decisive role in determining the final intensity of the event. The tropical Pacific Ocean has just experienced a rare 3-year La Niña, which accumulated a huge amount of warm water in the western basin by the winter of 2022. Using a state-of-the-art climate prediction system, here we show that the restored warm water is sufficient to boost a strong El Niño toward the end of 2023, and that an extreme event could take place if a few sizable westerly wind bursts would occur in spring and early summer. This prediction is not sensitive to initial errors within the tropical Pacific, but may be subject to some uncertainties brought about by influences from elsewhere.

Fastener holes are among the most common natural stress concentrators in metal structures. The life cycles of various structural elements, such as those in aircraft structures, automobiles, and rail-end bolt joints are limited by fatigue damage around the holes. An effective approach to delay the formation and growth of fatigue macrocracks is to introduce residual hoop compressive stresses around the holes. Two methods have become established in the prestressing of fastener holes in aircraft components: split sleeve and split mandrel, which implement one-sided processes. The common disadvantage of both methods is the complex procedure due to the need for high accuracy of the initial holes. This article presents a new modified split mandrel method providing the same tightness (interference fit) with a wide tolerance of the pre-drilled hole diameters reducing the number of technological cycle steps and production costs. То implement the new method, a functionally connected tool and a device with a hydraulic drive were developed. An extensive experimental study of 2024-T3 AA specimens was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the method under a high scattering of the pre-drilled holes. The new method provided a deep zone of residual hoop compressive stresses on both faces of the specimens after cold working and after hole final reaming. The removal of a plastically deformed layer around the hole of suitable thickness during the final reaming decreased the axial gradient of residual hoop stress distribution. Fatigue tests on a tensile pulsating cycle verified the effectiveness of the modified split mandrel method to significantly increase the fatigue life by 6.6 times based on cycle fatigue strength compared to the conventional case of machining the holes. The obtained S-N curves for three groups of samples with initial hole diameters of 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2 mm which were cold worked with the same tightness of 0.32 mm and final reamed, aligned well indicating that the new method can provide constant fatigue strength for a given stress amplitude.

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a vital tool for assessing and understanding the state of hunger and food security across the world. In this review article, we examine the GHI scores of various countries in the years 2000, 2008, 2015, and 2023. We aim to explore the changes in GHI scores over this period, identify trends, and discuss the implications for global food security. The GHI provides a comprehensive snapshot of the world's progress in reducing hunger, and this analysis sheds light on the successes and challenges faced by different countries.

Similarly to a phoenix, SARS-CoV-2 has appeared periodically in waves. The new variants that appeared through mutations have during the 4 years of the pandemic suppressed earlier variants, causing new waves of the pandemic. The Omicron BA.2.86 Pirola variant is the latest in the sequence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, which appeared in 2023. The BA.2.86 variant has started to spread rapidly and we are witnesses of a new epidemic wave. In this short period, an increased infectivity was noticed, which results in rapid spreading and decreased pathogenicity, which results in a lower number of severe cases. However, in the public there is a fear of further development of the epidemic. This analysis was made with the goal to assess the risks in the period of late 2023. Mutations that were developed by the BA.2.86 variant have led to a change in empirical formula and thermodynamic properties. It seems that there is no ground for fear of an extensive spreading of severe forms, but there are reasons for caution and monitoring of the spreading of the epidemic and potential appearance of new mutations.

The Easternmost Mediterranean is a junction zone between the largest Earth's lithospheric segments – Eurasian and African-Arabian, and a transition area from the ocean to the continent. The latest catastrophic earthquakes in eastern Turkey require their geodynamic understanding. The two most decisive events (with magnitude (M) = 7.8 and 7.7) were observed with an interval of 9 hours on February 06, 2023, followed by a whole series of about 10,000 significative aftershocks. These tragic events led to the death of more than 60 thousand people. The above values indicate the colossal tension created in the Earth's crust. The region where these strongest earthquakes occurred is a tectonically very complex junction zone of four tectonic plates: Eurasian, Arabian, African, and Anatolian. The joint movement of these plates (consisting, in turn, of tectonic elements of different ages) occurs at an average rate of 6–15 mm per year. However, after two marked powerful shocks and a series of aftershocks, some sectors of the Anatolian plate shifted to the southwest by more than 11 meters. What happened in eastern Turkey? The interaction of numerous factors complicates the tectonic–geodynamic characteristics of the region. Let us analyze what is the most influencing component. Our recent publications (Eppelbaum et al., 2020, 2021) indicated the presence of a giant, rotating quasi-ring structure below the Easternmost Mediterranean. The GPS vector map coinciding with the gravitational trend displays the counterclockwise rotation of this structure. A review of paleomagnetic data on the projection of the discovered structure into the Earth's surface confirms its mainly counterclockwise rotation. Analysis of the magnetic field ΔZ, geoid anomalies map, and seismic tomography data commonly prove the presence of this deep anomaly. The geodynamic and structural characteristics of the region and paleobiogeographic data are consistent with the proposed physical–geological model. A widespread analysis of tectonic, petrological, and mineralogical data implies a connection between the discovered deep structure and near-surface processes. An examination of numerous publications by different authors confirms the above phenomenon’s existence. A crucial for understanding the nature of the considered seismic stress is its location near the expressed bend of the Mesozoic terrane belt, where the Arabian Plate is deeply intruded into the Alpine-Himalayan belt. Thus, the rotation of this giant deep structure may accumulate the stress effect and be one of the causative reasons for the last catastrophic geodynamic events in Eastern Turkey.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the differences in using agricultural entrepreneurship support and in how it relates to characteristics such as the agrarian structure, socioeconomic de-velopment level and land use across the Polish territory. The analyses were carried out at district (poviat) level which is an intermediate administrative unit. The study found that the decisions on co-financing the measures dedicated to non-agricultural economic activity heavily depend on the agrarian structure. The highest levels of activity were witnessed in districts where the agrar-ian structure is particularly fragmented.