bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evolution of the income-related gap in health with old age: evidence from 20 countries in European and Chinese panel datasets
Authors: Cheng Mengling , Sommet Nicolas , Jopp Daniela S. , Spini Dario
Published: August 2023

Some studies show that the protective effect of higher income on health weakens with old age (age-as-leveller pattern), whereas others show that it strengthens with old age (cumulative advantage/disadvantage pattern). Many existing studies are limited in that they use single-country and/or single-timepoint designs. To overcome these limitations and better understand how the income-health gradient evolves in older age, we used cross-national and longitudinal data of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004–2019, N = 73,407) and the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011–2018, N = 10,067). We operationalised health using multimorbidity and three alternative indicators (functional disability, mobility disability, and memory). We performed Poisson growth curve modelling to capture the between-participant effects of age and the within-participant effects of aging. We obtained three consistent and robust findings for Europe (patterns were observed in most countries) and China. First, the protective effect of higher income on multimorbidity, functional disability, and mobility disability was weaker for older than for younger adults (between-participant age-as-leveller pattern). Second, only the protective effect of higher income on mobility disability weakened over the later life course (within-participant age-as-leveller pattern). Third, the protective effect of higher income on memory was stronger for older than for younger adults and strengthened over the later life course (between-participant and within-participant cumulative advantage/disadvantage pattern). Longitudinal data, growth curve modelling distinguishing the between-participant from within-participant effect, and adjustments for potential confounders based on the hypothesised causal structure enabled us to better navigate the landscape of causal inference. Findings suggest that the income-related gap in physical health but not in cognitive health narrows in old age for both Europe and China.
Approximate blocked Gibbs sampling for Bayesian neural networks
Authors: Papamarkou Theodore
Published: August 2023

In this work, minibatch MCMC sampling for feedforward neural networks is made more feasible. To this end, it is proposed to sample subgroups of parameters via a blocked Gibbs sampling scheme. By partitioning the parameter space, sampling is possible irrespective of layer width. It is also possible to alleviate vanishing acceptance rates for increasing depth by reducing the proposal variance in deeper layers. Increasing the length of a non-convergent chain increases the predictive accuracy in classification tasks, so avoiding vanishing acceptance rates and consequently enabling longer chain runs have practical benefits. Moreover, non-convergent chain realizations aid in the quantification of predictive uncertainty. An open problem is how to perform minibatch MCMC sampling for feedforward neural networks in the presence of augmented data.
Deposition and Microbial Analyses from Roof-Top Sediments Within Different Sanitation Environments
Authors: John Chukwuemeka Kingsley , Pu Jaan H. , Moruzzi Rodrigo , Hanmaiahgari Prashanth R. , Pandey Manish , Zang Shuyan , Jamei Mehdi
Published: August 2023

Since the building roof acts as hub for atmospheric sediment deposition, the attached microbes can enter rainwater storage tank with ease to cause health issue for rainwater users. This study aims to explore the trend of roof-top deposited microbes in the different areas of Ikorodu local Government Area at Lagos, Nigeria. This paper also tests the hypothesis that the roof sediment deposition being a significant source to home bacteria. The total deposition rate on the roof for 34 weeks, which include 17 rainy and 17 dry weeks, were investigated. The enumerated bacteria was obtained from the roof deposit samples, where four representative different sites have been analysed to study the solid depositions and microbes within the area thoroughly. The sites were selected judging by their levels of sanitation and vegetation rate. The experimental investigations showed that enumerated microbes and total suspended solid (TSS) depositions in the different areas were higher in the dry season compared to rainy season, and the highest deposition was experienced in the Harmattan period. In addition, the results showed that areas with poor drainage infrastructure and poor sanitation have the roof-top deposition with higher bacterial count than good sanitation areas; while the unpaved and unvegetated areas produced higher deposits than the paved and vegetated areas. In terms of contamination sources, this study has illustrated that the particulate deposition on the roof-top prior to collection has further contaminated the roof-harvested rainwater.
Identification and characterization of Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 1, 2 and 3 in common bean cultivars of East Africa
Authors: Brine Thomas J. , Crawshaw Sam , Murphy Alex M. , Pate Adrienne E. , Carr John P. , Wamonje Francis O.
Published: August 2023

Persistent viruses include members of the family Endornavirus that cause no apparent disease and are transmitted exclusively via seed or pollen. It is speculated that these RNA viruses may be mutualists that enhance plant resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. Using reverse transcription coupled polymerase chain reactions, we investigated if common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) varieties popular in east Africa were hosts for Phaseolusvulgaris endornavirus (PvEV) 1, 2 or 3. Out of 26 bean varieties examined, four were infected with PvEV1, three were infected with both PvEV1 and PvEV2 and three had infections of all three (PvEV) 1, 2 and 3. Notably, this was the first identification of PvEV3 in common bean from Africa. Using high-throughput sequencing of two east African bean varieties (KK022 and KK072), we confirmed the presence of these viruses and generated their genomes. Intra- and inter-species sequence comparisons of these genomes with comparator sequences from GenBank revealed clear species demarcation. In addition, phylogenetic analyses based on sequences generated from the helicase domains showed that geographical distribution does not correlate to genetic relatedness or the occurrence of endornaviruses. These findings are an important first step towards future investigations to determine if these viruses engender positive effects in common bean, a vital crop in east Africa.
A Limit to Accelerated Free-Sintering: Nano-Phase Separation Interferes With Organic Debinding
Authors: Naunheim Yannick , Perrin Alice , Oliver Christian E. , Stone Katherine , Schuh Christopher A.
Published: August 2023

Nano-phase separating Ni–12 at. pct Ag powders are processed via high-energy ball milling and brought into a supersaturated state with a reduction of the grain size to the nanocrystalline scale, a combination that is designed to encourage rapid densification by phase separation upon heating. This unstable powder is then characterized by dilatometry, in-situ x-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry and microstructure analysis for sintering cycles up to 940 °C. However, these powder compacts exhibit excessive pore evolution and significant macroscopic swelling caused by removal of the organic process additives. This competition of organic removal with densification is known in nanocrystalline metals, but the present study adds an additional dimension of phase separation, which shifts the dominant swelling mechanism as the formation of the second phase traps the volatilizing organics and hinders the debinding process. The creep swelling and overall loss in relative density is then dominated by the creep deformation of the second Ag phase. The interference between organic removal and low-temperature onset of consolidation represents a new challenge to efforts aimed at rapid free sintering and should guide the design of rapidly sintering alloys; specifically, the present work emphasizes the need to select alloys that have their sintering-accelerating phase separation temperature above the range where gases are evolved.
A Fuzzy Ensemble-Based Deep learning Model for EEG-Based Emotion Recognition
Authors: Dhara Trishita , Singh Pawan Kumar , Mahmud Mufti
Published: August 2023

Emotion recognition from EEG signals is a major field of research in cognitive computing. The major challenges involved in the task are extracting meaningful features from the signals and building an accurate model. This paper proposes a fuzzy ensemble-based deep learning approach to classify emotions from EEG-based models. Three individual deep learning models have been trained and combined using a fuzzy rank-based approach implemented using the Gompertz function. The model has been tested on two benchmark datasets: DEAP and AMIGOS. Our model has achieved 90.84% and 91.65% accuracies on the valence and arousal dimensions, respectively, for the DEAP dataset. The model also achieved accuracy above 95% on the DEAP dataset for the subject-dependent approach. On the AMIGOS dataset, our model has achieved state-of-the-art accuracies of 98.73% and 98.39% on the valence and arousal dimensions, respectively. The model achieved accuracies of 99.38% and 98.66% for the subject-independent and subject-dependent cases, respectively. The proposed model has provided satisfactory results on both DEAP and AMIGOS datasets and in both subject-dependent and subject-independent setups. Hence, we can conclude that this is a robust model for emotion recognition from EEG signals.
Precision landing comparison between smartphone video guidance sensor and IRLock by hardware-in-the-loop emulation
Authors: Silva Cotta J. Leonardo , Rakoczy John , Gutierrez Hector
Published: August 2023

The Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor (SVGS) is an emerging technology developed by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center that uses a vision-based approach to accurately estimate the six-state position and orientation vectors of an illuminated target of known dimensions with respect to a coordinate frame fixed to the camera. SVGS is a software-based sensor that can be deployed using a host platform’s resources (CPU and camera) for proximity operations and formation flight of drones or spacecraft. The SVGS output is calculated based on photogrammetric analysis of the light blobs in each image; its accuracy in linear and angular motion at different velocities has previously been successfully demonstrated [9]. SVGS has several potential applications in guidance, navigation, motion control, and proximity operations as a reduced-cost, compact, reliable option to competing technologies such as LiDAR or infrared sensing. One of the applications envisioned by NASA for SVGS is planetary/lunar autonomous landing. This paper aims to compare the SVGS performance in autonomous landing with existing technologies: a combination of infrared beacon technology (IRLock) and LiDAR. The comparison is based on a hardware-in-the-loop emulation of a precision landing experiment using a computer-controlled linear motion to emulate the approach motion and the ROS/Gazebo environment to emulate the response of the flight controller to the environment during landing. Results suggest that SVGS performs better than the existing IRLock with LiDAR sensor combination.
Spatiotemporal changes of the aridity index in Xinjiang over the past 60 years
Authors: Wu Xiulan , Zhang Cunjie , Dong Siyan , Hu Jiahui , Tong Xinyi , Zheng Xiannian
Published: August 2023

The Aridity Index (AI), calculated from 99 homogeneous meteorological stations from 1961 to 2020, was used to analyze the variation of dryness/wetness climate change in Xinjiang in the past 60 years. The results show that the annual AI in Xinjiang has demonstrated a significant decreasing trend over the past 60 years; that is, the climate in Xinjiang, especially southern Xinjiang, has shown a relatively wetting trend. The interdecadal variations from the 1960s to 2010s explained that the total station ratio of arid and extremely arid areas showed a decreasing trend. In contrast, the semi-arid, humid, and semi-humid areas showed increasing trends, especially since the beginning of the twenty-first century. The interdecadal spatial evolution characteristics show that Xinjiang’s dryness/wetness climate reversed in the 1990s. An abrupt change in the annual AI occurred in 1986, after which the study region was continuously wetting. The first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition mode is consistent in Xinjiang; that is, the climate in Xinjiang is generally dry or wet, and the intensity of this change varies among different regions. The second mode reflects the opposite spatial distribution characteristics of the dryness/wetness climate in southern and northern Xinjiang with the Tianshan Mountains. Dryness/wetness climate changes in Xinjiang mainly exhibit 2.5-year and 6-year oscillation periods, between which the 6-year period is even more significant.
The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Adapting Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Black American Communities: A Scoping Review
Authors: Haidar Andrea , Nwosisi Ekene , Burnett-Zeigler Inger
Published: August 2023

Objectives

Pilot studies have demonstrated the preliminary effectiveness and acceptability of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) with Black Americans. However, qualitative evidence suggests that some participants perceive discordance between mindfulness and religion/spirituality. This presents a potentially significant barrier to MBI engagement given the centrality of religion/spirituality for many Black Americans. This scoping review examines Black Americans’ perceptions of MBIs and adaptations they have proposed to MBIs in relation to their religion/spirituality.

Method

A scoping review search was conducted using PubMed, PsycInfo, and Scopus databases. Peer-reviewed journal articles utilizing a qualitative methodology to examine perceptions of mindfulness or MBIs with samples comprised of greater than 75% Black American adults were included. Key study characteristics were extracted and mapped onto a literature table, including sample composition, study design, and themes and adaptations related to religion/spirituality.

Results

The literature search yielded 571 studies, 18 of which met inclusion criteria. Although participants across the studies generally perceived mindfulness as culturally acceptable and potentially beneficial, responses varied in how they viewed mindfulness in relation to religion/spirituality. Some participants viewed mindfulness as complementary to religion/spirituality, while other participants viewed it as potentially conflicting. Adaptations related to religion/spirituality proposed by participants included using culturally familiar language, addressing religious/spiritual concerns, implementing MBIs in churches, and spiritually tailoring MBIs for groups in faith-based settings.

Conclusions

Religion and spirituality are important to consider when adapting MBIs for Black Americans. The themes and proposed adaptations identified suggest areas for future research on aligning MBIs with the religious/spiritual contexts of Black Americans.

Preregistration

This study is not pre-registered.
Hepaticojejunostomy with gastric access loop versus conventional hepaticojejunostomy: a randomized trial
Authors: Raafat Mohamad , Morsy Morsy M. , Mohamed Salah I. , Hamad Mostafa A. , Sayed Mostafa M.
Published: August 2023

Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy (RYHJ) with the provision of “gastric access loop” was developed to shorten the distance traveled by the endoscope to reach hepaticojejunostomy (HJ) anastomotic site. The aim of our study was to assess modified RYHJ with gastric access loop (RYHJ-GA) and compare it with conventional RYHJ (RYHJ-C) regarding short- and long-term outcomes and, moreover, to evaluate the feasibility and results of future endoscopic access of the modified bilio-enteric anastomosis. Patients eligible for RYHJ between September 2017 and December 2019 were allocated randomly to receive either RYHJ-C or RYHJ-GA. Fifty-two patients were randomly assigned to RYHJ-C (n = 26) or RYHJ-GA (n = 26). Three cases in RYHJ-C and 4 cases in RYHJ- GA developed HJ anastomotic stricture (HJAS) (P=0.68). 3 cases of RYHJ-GA had successful endoscopic dilation and balloon sweeping of biliary mud (one case) or stones (2 cases). Revisional surgery was needed in 2 cases of RYHJ-C and 1 case in RYHJ-GA (P=0.68). Modified RYHJ with gastric access loop is comparable to the classic hepaticojejunostomy regarding complications. However, gastric access enables easy endoscopic access for the management of future HJAS. This modification should be considered in patients with a high risk of HJAS during long-term follow-up.

The trial registration number (TRN) and date of registration:ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03252379), August 17, 2017.
Engaging in covariational reasoning when modelling a real phenomenon: the case of the psychrometric chart
Authors: Bagossi Sara
Published: August 2023

The mathematical modelling of a real-life phenomenon is an elaborated activity, and it often requires complex forms of covariational reasoning, such as second-order covariation. This study aims to characterize how students use several forms of covariational reasoning when modelling a real-life phenomenon. To achieve this research goal, it is proposed the analysis of a teaching experiment conducted in an 11th-grade classroom and focused on the mathematical modelling of the relationship between three quantities, temperature, absolute humidity, and relative humidity, which is mathematically represented in the psychrometric chart. The qualitative analysis was focused on covariational reasoning and the students’ processes of mathematical modelling of the real-life phenomenon under investigation. Findings from five representative episodes showed an interlacing of several forms of covariational reasoning, the emergence of qualitative, quantitative, and global characterizations of covariational reasoning, and three different roles of covariation throughout the various steps of the modelling activities. From an educational point of view, the modelling activities described here offer practical insights for the design of activities aimed at promoting the modelling of real-life phenomena through a covariational approach.
Landscape Connectivity For Wildlife and Water: The State of the Literature
Authors: DeFries Ruth , Parashar Satvik , Neelakantan Amrita , Clark Benjamin , Krishnaswamy Jagdish
Published: August 2023

Purpose of Review

The science of landscape connectivity is widely applied to identify corridors for wildlife movement through unprotected areas. Where corridors coincide with forested or vegetated headwater catchments, they can contribute to blue water security for downstream users and recycle precipitation through green water flux to the larger region. This review examines the extent to which hydrology is recognized within studies on wildlife corridors. We illustrate the synergy between wildlife corridors and water security in the Central Indian Highlands, a globally important region for tiger (Panthera tigris) conservation and the water tower for five major rivers.

Recent Findings

We find that a growing but still minor component of the literature on landscape connectivity addresses hydrology. Out of 127 publications on landscape connectivity that address both hydrology and wildlife, 50% were published after 2015 and hydrology-related words appear more frequently in abstracts over time (27% in 1993–2003 and 45% in 2014–2023 of most frequently used words) The case study illustrates potential synergies for water security and conservation, with areas for wildlife connectivity twice as rugged, three times more forested, and about 1.8 times denser with small streams than other areas in the landscape. About half of the area identified for landscape connectivity overlaps with catchment areas for five major dams.

Freshwater resources and water security are vital in human-dominated landscapes such as central India. A holistic view of landscape connectivity beyond wildlife provides practitioners with additional rationale for conserving these areas to maintain water resources that are directly relevant to people living in the landscape.
Stakeholder perceptions on climate change impacts and adaptation actions in Greece
Authors: Sebos Ioannis , Nydrioti Ioanna , Katsiardi Pipina , Assimacopoulos Dionysis
Published: August 2023

The scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that human activity plays a significant role in the changes to the world's climate, and it is crucial to take adaptive actions to mitigate the impacts of these changes. Effective climate adaptation requires raising awareness among a variety of key stakeholders, such as executives and staff in the public and private sectors, while assessing the incentives and actions they undertake and allowing them to act at various levels of engagement, ranging from global to local. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of awareness, perceived values, recommendations and expectations regarding climate change among key actors in Greece, focusing on the consequences of climate change in the country and the concurrent adaptation actions taken by stakeholders. A web-based survey was designed and conducted, and responses were systematically collected, categorized and analyzed. The key stakeholders believed that planning and implementing adaptation measures are crucial in addressing and minimizing the impacts of climate change. However, it was also noted that these plans and measures alone are insufficient to counteract the long-term, devastating consequences of climate change in Greece, and more comprehensive and targeted measures must be adopted. It was also concluded that the main obstacle to addressing and adapting to climate change in terms of public policy planning in Greece is the lack of human and financial resources, particularly among public institutions.
Mega-eco projects: a global assessment of large-scale ecological restoration initiatives
Authors: Levinthal Robert , Weller Richard
Published: August 2023

One way to address the crises of climate change and biodiversity loss is the rapid deployment of so-called nature-based solutions (NbS). Coined in 2008, NbS have become exceedingly popular, with many calling to upscale these works. However, many large-scale ecological restoration and construction endeavors already exist. To capture these projects, this paper coins and defines a new term, the “mega-eco project” and identifies roughly 250 examples worldwide as material evidence. This paper explains what constitutes a mega-eco project and organizes the examples into four typological categories: connectivity, anti-desertification, watershed, and metropolitan projects. Although our primary concern is with contemporary and emerging mega-eco projects, we also show that mega-eco projects have a history and not all of it is good. It is important to consider mega-eco projects in this light because one of their distinguishing characteristics is that when set against the backdrop of environmental crises, many view these projects as virtuous, benevolent undertakings. While we agree with this sentiment and believe mega-eco projects have the potential for a profound shift in how industrialized humans treat the environment, this introductory analysis is part of a more extensive study aimed at identifying best practices to distinguish them from cases of greenwashing and exploitation.
The three-dimensional coupling mechanism in scoliosis and its consequences for correction
Authors: Costa Lorenzo , Schlosser Tom P. C. , Seevinck Peter , Kruyt Moyo C. , Castelein René M.
Published: August 2023

Introduction

In idiopathic scoliosis, the anterior spinal column has rotated away from the midline and has become longer through unloading and expansion of the intervertebral discs. Theoretically, extension of the spine in the sagittal plane should provide room for this longer anterior spinal column, allowing it to swing back towards the midline in the coronal and axial plane, thus reducing both the Cobb angle and the apical vertebral rotation.

Methods

In this prospective experimental study, ten patients with primary thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) underwent MRI (BoneMRI and cVISTA sequences) in supine as well as in an extended position by placing a broad bolster, supporting both hemi-thoraces, under the scoliotic apex. Differences in T4–T12 kyphosis angle, coronal Cobb angle, vertebral rotation, as well as shape of the intervertebral disc and shape and position of the nucleus pulposus, were analysed and compared between the two positions.

Results

Extension reduced T4–T12 thoracic kyphosis by 10° (p < 0.001), the coronal Cobb angle decreased by 9° (p < 0.001) and vertebral rotation by 4° (p = 0.036). The coronal wedge shape of the disc significantly normalized and the wedged and lateralized nucleus pulposus partially reduced to a more symmetrical position.

Conclusion

Simple extension of the scoliotic spine leads to a reduction of the deformity in the coronal and axial plane. The shape of the disc normalizes and the eccentric nucleus pulposus partially moves back to the midline.
Use of Rapid Antigen Detection Tests Versus Viral Culture in De-isolation Decision-Making for Critically Ill Patients Infected with Omicron B.1.1.529
Authors: Alshukairi Abeer N. , Dada Ashraf , Aldabbagh Yasser , Saeedi Mohammed F. , El-Kafrawy Sherif A. , Hassan Ahmed M. , Alandijany Thamir A. , Al Hroub Mohammad K. , Alraddadi Basem M. , Khalid Imran , Albishi Ghadeer E. , Qutub Mohammed , El-Saed Aiman , Al-Tawfiq Jaffar A. , Alhamlan Fatimah S. , Azhar Esam I. , Al-Omari Awad
Published: August 2023

Background

COVID-19 vaccination effectively decreased hospitalization and mortality during the surge of infections with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. However, patients infected with the Omicron variant who did not receive a third COVID-19 vaccine booster often required critical care unit (CCU) admission. The CCU bed utilization of COVID-19 posed a worldwide burden. The decision to stop isolation of patients with COVID-19 in CCUs is challenging, given the variable viral shedding in heterogeneous patient populations. Rapid antigen detection tests (RADTs) have been used in communities to determine patients’ infectiousness and need for quarantine. However, the use of RADTs in the de-isolation of CCU patients had not been studied.

Methods

Serial RADTs, RT-PCR and viral culturing were performed in a case series of three critically ill patients infected with Omicron variants.

Results

The duration of infectious viral shedding was 13–46 days post symptom onset (PSO). Concordant negative results were observed between RADTs and viral cultures on D32 PSO in case 1; D13 and D15 PSO in case 2; and D46 and D48 PSO in case 3. In addition, concordant positive results were found between RADTs and viral cultures on D35 PSO in case 2. Significant agreement was observed between RADT and viral culture findings (kappa statistic = 1.0 and p-value = 0.014).

Conclusion

Given their high positive predictive value with respect to positive viral cultures, RADTs may be a promising and practical tool for ending isolation of patients with COVID-19 and decreasing the burden of CCU bed utilization. Future studies are necessary to confirm our findings.
O-GlcNAcylation Modification in Immune Cells: Potential Therapeutic Implications of Sepsis
Authors: Huang ZhenZhen , Qin YuanMei
Published: August 2023

O-GlcNAc modification is a glycosylation modification that is commonly observed in nuclear and organelle proteins of cells. In recent years, several studies have shown that O-GlcNAc modification plays an important regulatory role in immune cells, which regulates their activity and function and inhibits inflammatory responses. It also enhances immune cells recognition and clearance of pathogens, and improves the host´s antibacterial immune response. Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to infection, whose development and progression are regulated by the immune system. Therefore, in the present review, we will discuss the mechanism of O-GlcNAc modification in immune cells and its potential therapeutic value in sepsis, which will be expected to provide new insights and targets for the treatment of sepsis.
Consonantal Sound Change in American English
Authors: Ahlers Wiebke H.
Published: August 2023

Research on sound change often focuses on vowels, yet consonantal sound change also offers fascinating insights into language development and variation. This pioneering book provides a detailed investigation of consonantal sound change in English, by analyzing a large corpus of specifically designed field recordings from Austin, Texas. It offers one of the most in-depth analyses of /str/-retraction to date, drawing comparisons with studies of change in the distinguishing phonetic features of other varieties of English, and with studies of /str/-retraction in other Germanic languages. It further deepens our understanding of sound change by including qualitative data to position the sound change in the social reality of Austin, showing that specific sound changes are universally driven by age, gender and ethnicity. The results provide a testing ground for models of sociolinguistic and sound change, and highlight the importance of the social fabric of language in modeling language change.
Logos
Authors: Tallis Raymond
Published: August 2023

Our sense-making capabilities and the relationship between our individual and collective intelligence and the comprehensibility of the world is both remarkable and deeply mysterious. Our capacity to make sense of the world and the fact that we pass our lives steeped in knowledge and understanding, albeit incomplete, that far exceeds what we are or even experience has challenged our greatest thinkers for centuries.

In Logos, Raymond Tallis steps into the gap between mind and world to explore what is at stake in our attempts to make sense of our world and our lives. With his characteristic combination of scholarly rigour and lively humour he reveals how philosophers, theologians and scientists have sought to demystify our extraordinary capacity to understand the world by collapsing the distance between the mind that does the sense-making and the world that is made sense of. Such strategies - whether by locating the world inside the mind, or making the mind part of the world - are shown to be deeply flawed and of little help in explaining the intelligibility of the world. Indeed, it is the distance that we need, argues Tallis, if knowledge is to count as knowledge and for there to be a distinction between the knower and the known.

 The book showcases Tallis's enviable knack of making tricky philosophical arguments cogent and engaging to the non-specialist and his remarkable ability to help us see humankind more clearly.
Seeing Ourselves
Authors: Tallis Raymond
Published: August 2023

In Seeing Ourselves, philosopher and neuroscientist Raymond Tallis brings together the preoccupations of some fifty years of writing and thinking about the overwhelming mystery of ordinary human life, and goes in search of what kind of beings we are, and where we might find meaning in our lives.

If, asks Tallis, we reject the supernatural belief that we are pure spirits temporarily lodged in bodies, handmade by God, and uniquely related to Him, what should we put in its place? How do we ensure, if we accept the death of God, that something within us does not also die? And if we are simply organisms shaped by the forces of evolution, with no reason to exist and with no objective value, as some scientists claim, where shall we find meaning sufficiently enduring and profound to withstand the knowledge of our own mortality and the certain loss of all that we love or value? How should we think of ourselves if we are neither fallen angels trying to enact the will of God, nor unrisen apes acting out a biological prescription?

Tallis's endeavour in Seeing Ourselves is to turn up the wattage of the light in which we see our everyday world and to think more clearly about who we are. It is only when we have woken from religion and naturalism, that we will find ourselves at the threshold of an unfettered inquiry and then there may be some hope for salvation.
Testing the robustness of a structural model for discerning use and non-use values of ecosystem services
Authors: Kim Hyunjung , Lupi Frank
Published: August 2023

A theoretically consistent structural model facilitates definition and measurement of use and non-use benefits of ecosystem services. Unlike many previous approaches that utilize multiple stated choice situations, we apply this conceptual framework to a travel cost random utility model and a consequential single referendum contingent valuation research design for simultaneously estimating use and non-use willingness to pay for environmental quality improvement. We employ Monte Carlo generated data to evaluate properties of key parameters and examine the robustness of this method of measuring use and non-use values associated with quality change. The simulation study confirms that this new method, combined with simulated revealed and stated preference data can generally, but not always, be applied to successfully identify use and non-use values of various ecosystems while consistency is ensured.
Counting the cost of inequality
Authors: Mayhew Les
Published: August 2023

An ageing population increases pressure on health and social care, welfare payments and pensions in public funded systems. There is no simple measure linking population health to economic disadvantage or the resulting tax burden. We imagine a situation in which local areas are responsible for financing their own public services. We hypothesize a local tax is levied to cover healthcare costs, welfare benefits for those who are sick, and pensions. We partition the costs based on years spent in ill health, disability and pensionable years over the life course using the average costs per person per year for each. We argue that area differences in tax rates provide a summary measure of inequality since a higher tax burden would fall on areas least able to afford it. We show that a one year improvement in healthy life expectancy would add 4.5 months to life expectancy (LE) and 3.4 months to working lives whilst reducing taxes by around 0.5%. We cast doubt on the target to increase health expectancy by five years by 2035; however, were it to be achieved it would add 23 months to LE, 17 months to work expectancy and reduce taxes by 2.4%.
Survival analysis of longitudinal data: the case of English population aged 50 and over
Authors: Qazvini Marjan
Published: August 2023

This study considers data from 5 waves of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). We aim to study the impact of demographic and self-rated health variables including disability and diseases on the survival of the population aged 50+. The disability variables that we consider are mobility impairment, difficulties in performing Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). One of the problems with the survey study is missing observations. This may happen due to different reasons, such as errors, nonresponse and temporary withdrawals. We address this problem by applying single and multiple imputation methods. We then fit a Generalized Linear model (GLM) and Generalized Linear Mixed model (GLMM) to our data and show that a GLMM performs better than a GLM in terms of information criteria. We also look at the predictability of our models in terms of the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and the area of ROC, i.e. AUC. We conclude that among the disability factors, IADL and among the diseases, cancer significantly affect the survival of the English population aged 50 and older.
Resilience in a time of crisis: how COVID-19 pandemic insights are supporting a vibrant longevity risk transfer market
Authors: Kessler Amy
Published: August 2023

Pension risk transfer and longevity risk transfer are now growing secular trends. From North America to Europe, companies are de-risking pension plans in near-record volumes and have continued to boldly do so throughout the pandemic—at or near the most favorable pricing experienced in years. The arrival of funded reinsurance on both sides of the Atlantic is bringing reinsurer capital and private assets to support the steady growth in the pension risk transfer market. Additionally, we have observed that the enduring low-rate environment and quest for uncorrelated risk has the world's largest investors directing billions into life reinsurance sidecars. How have these markets thrived during the worst global outbreak in a century? Key research on the pandemic's impact on pensioner life expectancy allowed prices to be set and transactions to proceed through a time of significant uncertainty.
Accounting for COVID-19-type shocks in mortality modeling: a comparative study
Authors: Schnürch Simon , Kleinow Torsten , Wagner Andreas
Published: August 2023

Mortality shocks such as the one induced by the COVID-19 pandemic have substantial impact on mortality models. We describe how to deal with them in the period effect of the Lee–Carter model. The main idea is to not rely on the usual normal distribution assumption as it is not always justified. We consider a mixture distribution model based on the peaks-over-threshold method, a jump model, and a regime switching model and introduce a modified calibration procedure to account for the fact that varying amounts of data are necessary for calibrating different parts of these models. We perform an extensive empirical study for nine European countries, comparing the models with respect to their parameters, quality of fit, and forecasting performance. Moreover, we define five exemplary scenarios regarding the future development of pandemic-related mortality. As a result of our evaluations, we recommend the peaks-over-threshold approach for applications with a possibility of extreme mortality events.
Persistence of triclopyr, dicamba, and picloram in the environment following aerial spraying for control of dense pine invasion
Authors: Rolando Carol A. , Scott Matthew B. , Baillie Brenda R. , Dean Fiona , Todoroki Christine L. , Paul Thomas S. H.
Published: August 2023

Aerial application of an herbicide mixture of triclopyr, dicamba, picloram, and aminopyralid is used to control dense infestations of exotic conifers, notably lodgepole pine (Pinus contortaDouglas ex Loudon), in New Zealand. The rates of herbicide applied to control these tree weeds has the potential for off-target impacts through persistence in the forest floor, soil, and water. Persistence of three of these herbicides was investigated in cast needles, forest floor (litter, fermented humic layer [LFH]), and soil following their operational aerial application (triclopyr: 18 kg ai ha−1; dicamba: 5 kg ai ha−1; picloram: 2 kg ai ha−1) at three sites across New Zealand (KF, MD, GE) with dense invasions ofP. contorta. Water was collected from a local stream at two sites (KF, MD) in the days/months after spraying. Active ingredients detected across all sites in cast needles, LFH, and mineral soil generally reflected their application rates, with total amounts comprising 81% triclopyr, 14% dicamba, and 5% picloram. Most of the active ingredients were detected in the LFH (59%), a heavy lignin-rich layer of dead needles overlaying the soil. All three herbicides persisted in this layer, at all sites, for up to 2 yr (at study termination). Only triclopyr was detected in mineral soil, where it declined to below detection levels (0.2 mg kg−1) within 1 yr. All three herbicides were detected in stream water on the day of spray application at KF, and during a rainfall event 1 mo later. However, amounts did not exceed New Zealand environmental and drinking water standards, an outcome attributed to a 30-m no-spray buffer zone used at this site. At MD, herbicides were detectable in water up to 4 mo after spraying, with amounts exceeding New Zealand drinking water standards on one occasion, 1 mo after spray application. No spray buffer zones were used at the MD site.
Observations, Experiments, and Arguments for Epistemic Superiority in Scientific Methodology
Authors: Boyd Nora Mills , Matthiessen Dana
Published: August 2023

This article argues against general claims for the epistemic superiority of experiment over observation. It does so by dissociating the benefits traditionally attributed to experiment from physical manipulation. In place of manipulation, we argue that other features of research methods do confer epistemic advantages in comparison to methods in which they are diminished. These features better track the epistemic successes and failures of scientific research, crosscut the observation/experiment distinction, and nevertheless explain why manipulative experiments are successful when they are.
A systematic review of interventions targeting modifiable factors that impact dietary intake in athletes
Authors: Janiczak Amy , Alcock Rebekah , Forsyth Adrienne , Trakman Gina Louise
Published: August 2023

Appropriate dietary intake has been found to positively impact athletes’ performance, body composition and recovery from exercise. Strategies to optimise dietary intake often involve targeting one or more of the many factors that are known to influence dietary intake. This review aims to investigate the types and effectiveness of interventions used to impact modifiable factors of dietary intake in athletes. MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science were searched from inception to May 2022 for intervention studies that measured dietary intake with a quantitative tool and explored at least one factor thought to influence the dietary intake of adult athletes. Study quality was assessed using the ADA Quality Criteria Checklist: Primary Research. Twenty-four studies were included. The most common interventions focused on nutrition education (n 10), macronutrient adjustment (n 7) and physical activity (n 5). The three most common factors thought to influence dietary intake addressed were nutrition knowledge (n 12), hunger and appetite (n 8), and body composition (n 4). Significant changes in dietary intake were found in sixteen studies, with nutrition education interventions returning significant results in the largest proportion of studies (n 8). Study quality within this review was mostly average (n 4 < 50 %, n 19 50–80 %, n 1 > 80 %). As studies included were published between 1992 and 2021, interventions and factors explored in older studies may require up-to-date research to investigate possible differences in results due to time-related confounders.
Art diplomacy: Drawing China-Indonesia relations in the early Cold War, 1949–1956
Authors: Li Yiqing
Published: August 2023

The mid-1950s saw the relationship between China and Indonesia evolve from one of mutual hostility to one of fraternity as a trend of détente emerged out of the Geneva (1954) and the Bandung (1955) conferences. This article explores why and how the two newly independent nations applied art diplomacy to reduce their ideological differences and facilitate their commercial and political rapprochements for the sake of Asian solidarity. Through contextualizing a series of art activities between the two nations, especially China’s reproduction of President Sukarno’s private collection of paintings and Chairman Mao Zedong’s gifts of Chinese ink paintings to President Sukarno, this article argues that interactions in the name of art exemplify how China shaped its modern profile as an independent and industrialized power. It will also show how China deviated from its diplomacy of ‘Leaning to One Side’, formulated in the late 1940s, towards the ‘Peaceful United Front’ of the mid-1950s. More broadly, art relations between China and Indonesia reflect intensive cultural exchanges between the newly independent, yet ideologically clashing, nations of the Third World in the postwar period and offer a multifaceted history of the Cold War beyond the binary paradigm of the two superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union.
Modeling EFL learners’ willingness to communicate: The roles of face-to-face and digital L2 communication anxiety
Authors: Lee Ju Seong , Chiu Ming Ming
Published: August 2023

This study proposes and tests a comprehensive model (with demographics, informal digital learning of English, ideal/ought-to L2 self, L2 enjoyment, and self-perceived communication competence) of face-to-face and digital communication anxiety's relationship to willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) within in-class, out-of-class, and digital contexts. A structural equation model of survey responses from 1,269 Koreans learning English as a foreign language (746 secondary and 523 university students) showed that in all three settings, students with lower anxiety showed greater L2 WTC. Within in-class and out-of-class contexts, students with higher self-perceived English ability had lower face-to-face anxiety, which in turn yielded higher L2 WTC. In digital settings, students with a higher ideal L2 self (i.e., a more positive evaluation of their ability to attain the ideal L2 self) showed less overall anxiety (comprising face-to-face and digital anxieties), which yielded greater L2 WTC. These results suggest that future studies can test whether interventions to lower anxiety can increase L2 WTC across communication venues.
Does reward processing moderate or mediate the link between childhood adversity and psychopathology: A longitudinal study
Authors: Kasparek Steven W. , Gastón-Panthaki Aria , Hanford Lindsay C. , Lengua Liliana J. , Sheridan Margaret A. , McLaughlin Katie A.
Published: August 2023

Childhood adversity is common and associated with elevated risk for transdiagnostic psychopathology. Reward processing has been implicated in the link between adversity and psychopathology, but whether it serves as a mediator or moderator is unclear. This study examined whether alterations in behavioral and neural reward processing function as a mechanism or moderator of psychopathology outcomes following adversity experiences, including threat (i.e., trauma) and deprivation. A longitudinal community sample of 10–15-year-old youths was assessed across two waves (Wave 1: n = 228; Wave 2: n = 206). Wave 1 assessed adverse experiences, psychopathology symptoms, reward processing on a monetary incentive delay task, and resting-state fMRI. At Wave 2, psychopathology symptoms were reassessed. Greater threat experiences were associated with blunted behavioral reward sensitivity, which, in turn, predicted increases in depression symptoms over time and mediated the prospective association between threat and depression symptoms. In contrast, reward sensitivity moderated the association between deprivation experiences and prospective externalizing symptoms such that the positive association of deprivation with increasing externalizing symptoms was absent for children with high levels of reward sensitivity.
As We Like It: Did the UK’s 2016 EU Referendum Reveal the “Will of the People?”
Authors: Ahlstrom-Vij Kristoffer , Allen William L.
Published: August 2023

Rhetoric surrounding the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum on continued European Union (EU) membership frequently has invoked the “will of the people.” Addressing the House of Commons in March 2019, then–Prime Minster Theresa May stated that “my sense of responsibility and duty has meant that I have kept working to ensure that we deliver on the result and the will of the people” (March 27, 2019).1 May’s successor, Boris Johnson, appealed to the same notion when suggesting in the Daily Telegraph (September 15, 2019) that opposition parties were “united in wanting to cancel the referendum result…and overturn the will of the people.” On the other side of the debate, Caroline Lucas (currently the sole Member of Parliament for the UK’s Green Party) stated that “[e]very recent opinion poll shows that the will of the people has changed since [the referendum]” (December 4, 2018).