bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A pandemic of COVID-19 mis- and disinformation: manual and automatic topic analysis of the literature
Authors: Wakene Abdi D. , Cooper Lauren N. , Hanna John J. , Perl Trish M. , Lehmann Christoph U. , Medford Richard J.
Published: September 2024

Objective:

Social media’s arrival eased the sharing of mis- and disinformation. False information proved challenging throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with many clinicians and researchers analyzing the “infodemic.” We systemically reviewed and synthesized COVID-19 mis- and disinformation literature, identifying the prevalence and content of false information and exploring mitigation and prevention strategies.

Design:

We identified and analyzed publications on COVID-19-related mis- and disinformation published from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022, in PubMed. We performed a manual topic review of the abstracts along with automated topic modeling to organize and compare the different themes. We also conducted sentiment (ranked −3 to +3) and emotion analysis (rated as predominately happy, sad, angry, surprised, or fearful) of the abstracts.

Results:

We reviewed 868 peer-reviewed scientific publications of which 639 (74%) had abstracts available for automatic topic modeling and sentiment analysis. More than a third of publications described mitigation and prevention-related issues. The mean sentiment score for the publications was 0.685, and 56% of studies had a negative sentiment (fear and sadness as the most common emotions).

Conclusions:

Our comprehensive analysis reveals a significant proliferation of dis- and misinformation research during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study illustrates the pivotal role of social media in amplifying false information. Research into the infodemic was characterized by negative sentiments. Combining manual and automated topic modeling provided a nuanced understanding of the complexities of COVID-19-related misinformation, highlighting themes such as the source and effect of misinformation, and strategies for mitigation and prevention.
Development and implementation of a clinical decision support system-based quality initiative to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections
Authors: Spiegel Michelle C. , Goodwin Andrew J.
Published: September 2024

Background:

Central venous lines (CVLs) are frequently utilized in critically ill patients and confer a risk of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). CLABSIs are associated with increased mortality, extended hospitalization, and increased costs. Unnecessary CVL utilization contributes to CLABSIs. This initiative sought to implement a clinical decision support system (CDSS) within an electronic health record (EHR) to quantify the prevalence of potentially unnecessary CVLs and improve their timely removal in six adult intensive care units (ICUs).

Methods:

Intervention components included: (1) evaluating existing CDSS’ effectiveness, (2) clinician education, (3) developing/implementing an EHR-based CDSS to identify potentially unnecessary CVLs, (4) audit/feedback, and (5) reviewing EHR/institutional data to compare rates of removal of potentially unnecessary CVLs, device utilization, and CLABSIs pre- and postimplementation. Data was evaluated with statistical process control charts, chi-square analyses, and incidence rate ratios.

Results:

Preimplementation, 25.2% of CVLs were potentially removable, and the mean weekly proportion of these CVLs that were removed within 24 hours was 20.0%. Postimplementation, a greater proportion of potentially unnecessary CVLs were removed (29%,p< 0.0001), CVL utilization decreased, and days between CLABSIs increased. The intervention was most effective in ICUs staffed by pulmonary/critical care physicians, who received monthly audit/feedback, where timely CVL removal increased from a mean of 18.0% to 30.5% (p< 0.0001) and days between CLABSIs increased from 17.3 to 25.7.

Conclusions:

A significant proportion of active CVLs were potentially unnecessary. CDSS implementation, in conjunction with audit and feedback, correlated with a sustained increase in timely CVL removal and an increase in days between CLABSIs.
A populist desecuritisation? Mélenchon, left-wing populism, and the fight against Islamophobia in France
Authors: Gaudino Ugo
Published: September 2024

While there is literature on ‘populist securitisation’ and on the ‘securitisation of Islam’, the possibility that some populists may desecuritise Islam is not sufficiently explored. Left-wing populist parties have demonstrated solidarity towards Muslim minorities in Europe through a discourse based on inclusionary rhetoric and deconstruction of the securitising narratives promoted by mainstream and populist right-wing parties. However, their attitude towards Islam can be ambiguous. This paper argues that left-wing populists tend to desecuritise Islam. However, desecuritisation happens in ways that do not always accommodate Muslims’ religious freedoms. This happens because the driver of the left-wing populist desecuritisation of Islam lies in the left-wing thick ideology surrounding populism and not in the populist thin core. I illustrate this argument through the case study of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing populist party La France Insoumise. Through a discourse analysis of texts from 2009 to 2022, I show that Mélenchon has predominantly desecuritised Islam. While his desecuritisation is populist, it has not been truly emancipatory for Muslims. Although a more committed fight against Islamophobia has emerged since 2019, Mélenchon’s ideological attachment to laïcité hinders a full rearticulation of French political community based on genuine recognition of Muslims’ religious freedoms.
Flow and coherent structures generated by a circular array of rigid, emerged cylinders in a shallow channel
Authors: Chang Kyoungsik , Jiang Chenyu , Constantinescu George , Jung Yeong-Ki
Published: September 2024

The study investigates the flow structure, dynamics of the large-scale coherent structures, drag forces and sediment entrainment mechanisms generated by a circular array of diameter D containing rigid emerged circular cylinders of diameter d placed in a smooth-bed channel of depth h under strong shallow flow conditions (D/h = 20, d/D = 0.0125 and 0.025). Eddy resolving simulations are conducted with different values of the solid volume fraction 0.025 ≤ SVF ≤ 0.1 and non-dimensional frontal area per unit volume (2.56 ≤ aD ≤ 10.2, where for the present configuration, a = SVF(1/d)4/

${\rm \pi}$

) and a fixed channel Reynolds number (Reh = 10 000). The flow conditions are such that a vortex street (VS)-type of shallow wake is expected to form for a solid cylinder of diameter D. Findings are compared with previous results obtained for cases with moderately shallow conditions 2.5 ≤ D/h ≤ 3.5 and with the limiting case of flow past a solid cylinder with D/h = 20. For moderately shallow conditions, the core of the main horseshoe vortex (HV) forming around the array occupies a small fraction of the water column and its coherence is the largest in front of the array. By contrast, for very shallow conditions, multiple HVs form around the array and their cores occupy a large fraction of the water column. Moreover, the coherence of most of these HVs peaks close to the sides of the array. Only for relatively large aD values, the main HV extends over the whole upstream face of the array, similar to the limiting case of a solid cylinder. For sufficiently high aD, a secondary instability is present inside the near wake that leads to the formation of parallel horizontal vortices in the vicinity of the wake roller vortices. The changes in the wake structure with decreasing SVF and aD are qualitatively similar to those observed for cases with moderately shallow flow conditions, with the antisymmetric wake shedding mode being suppressed for aD ≤ 2.5. However, the Strouhal number associated with the shedding of wake rollers, which is still close to 0.2 for a solid cylinder with D/h = 20, can be as high as 0.4 for aD = 2.5. The paper also discusses how the steady wake and total wake lengths and the strength of the bleeding flow vary with the SVF. Simulation results show that the capacity of the flow to entrain sediment inside and around the array peaks for SVF = 0.05 and aD = 5.2, with sediment entrainment monotonically increasing with the SVF outside the array and monotonically decreasing inside the array. Despite the differences in the flow structure next to and inside the array, the variation of the mean, time-averaged streamwise drag coefficient of the solid cylinders

${\bar{C}_d}$

with aD is close to that observed for arrays with moderately shallow flow conditions. The combined drag coefficient for the array decreases with increasing flow shallowness, with the decay being stronger for relatively large values of aD.
Floating active carpets drive transport and aggregation in aquatic ecosystems
Authors: Aguayo G. , Mathijssen A.J.T.M. , Ulloa H.N. , Soto R. , Guzmán-Lastra F.
Published: September 2024

Communities of swimming microorganisms often thrive near liquid–air interfaces. We study how such ‘active carpets’ shape their aquatic environment by driving biogenic transport in the water column beneath them. The hydrodynamic stirring that active carpets generate leads to diffusive upward fluxes of nutrients from deeper water layers, and downward fluxes of oxygen and carbon. Combining analytical theory and simulations, we examine the biogenic transport by studying fundamental metrics, including the single and pair diffusivity, the first passage time for particle pair encounters and the rate of particle aggregation. Our findings reveal that the hydrodynamic fluctuations driven by active carpets have a region of influence that reaches orders of magnitude further in distance than the size of the organisms. These non-equilibrium fluctuations lead to a strongly enhanced diffusion of particles, which is anisotropic and space dependent. Fluctuations also facilitate encounters of particle pairs, which we quantify by analysing their velocity pair correlation functions as a function of distance between the particles. We found that the size of the particles plays a crucial role in their encounter rates, with larger particles situated near the active carpet being more favourable for aggregation. Overall, this research broadens our comprehension of aquatic systems out of equilibrium and how biologically driven fluctuations contribute to the transport of fundamental elements in biogeochemical cycles.
Family firms’ equity entry modes: Bridging family business and international business
Authors: D’Allura Giorgia M. , Calabrò Andrea , Bannò Mariasole , Pisano Vincenzo
Published: September 2024

In the global economy, the international strategies of family firms, influenced by family ownership and management, remain underexplored. Bridging the family business and international business fields, we use the socioemotional wealth lens to examine 1,236 international expansions from 2007 to 2013. Categorizing firms into pure family, nearly pure family, borderline family, and non-family typologies, we assess the influence of internal (experience, knowledge) and external (country risk) factors on their entry modes. Results indicate that higher family involvement in ownership/management increases the preference for greenfield investments over acquisitions or equity alliances, a relationship further moderated by international experience and country risk. This study provides nuanced insights into the international behaviors of family firms.
Government formation in presidentialism: Disentangling the combined effects of pre-electoral coalitions and legislative polarization
Authors: Couto Lucas
Published: September 2024

Recent research has shed light on the impact of pre-electoral coalitions on government formation in presidential democracies. However, the fact that pre-electoral coalitions are not automatically transformed into coalition cabinets has often gone under the radar. In this article, I argue that the importance of pre-electoral pacts for government formation depends on the degree of legislative polarization. When parties are distant from one another in the ideological spectrum, presidents face more difficulties in breaking away from the pre-electoral pact and rearranging their multiparty alliances. Conversely, when polarization is not pervasive, presidents have more leeway to build coalition cabinets different from the ones prescribed by pre-electoral coalitions. Drawing on a dataset of 13 Latin American countries, the results support my claim and suggest that the relationship between government formation and the concession of office benefits for pre-electoral coalition members is more nuanced than previously assumed.
Between Contestation and Support: Explaining Elites’ Confidence in the International Criminal Court
Authors: Stappert Nora , Verhaegen Soetkin
Published: September 2024

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has come under challenge in recent years as some countries have decided, or considered, to withdraw from it. Against this backdrop, an emerging literature has begun to examine attitudes toward the court among the general public as a key court constituency. However, little is known about how domestic elites perceive the court. This research gap is particularly surprising given that domestic elites have a considerable impact on both public and state support of the court. This article explains why political and societal elites across world regions have confidence or lack confidence in the ICC. We present the results from a unique survey of 722 elite respondents conducted from 2017 to 2019 across six countries: Brazil, Germany, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, and the United States. We furthermore enrich our analysis by using public opinion data to draw comparisons between elites and the general public. The analyses reveal that the views of elites are most consistently related to their perceptions of other, more well-known international organizations and their country’s relationship with the ICC. Our findings indicate both similarities and differences between how elite and public opinion about the ICC are formed, demonstrating the value of further research on elite opinion on international courts.
Converting the ANU 2.3 telescope to fully automated operation
Authors: Price Ian , Nielsen Jon , Lidman Chris , Soon Jamie , Travouillon Tony , Sharp Rob
Published: September 2024

The operation of the ANU 2.3 m telescope transitioned from classically scheduled remote observing to fully autonomous queue scheduled observing in March 2023. The instrument currently supported is WiFeS, a visible-light low-resolution image-slicing integral field spectrograph with a

$25^{\prime\prime}\,\times38^{\prime\prime}$

field of view (offering precision spectrophotometry free from aperture effects). It is highly suitable for rapid spectroscopic follow-up of astronomical transient events and regular cadence observations. The new control system implements flexible queue scheduling and supports rapid response override for target-of-opportunity observations. The ANU 2.3 m is the largest optical telescope to have been retro-fitted for autonomous operation to date, and it remains a national facility servicing a broad range of science cases. We present an overview of the automated control system and report on the first six months of continuous operation.
Protocols of Production: The Absent Factories of Digital Capitalism
Authors: PINHEIRO LUCAS G.
Published: September 2024

Contrary to dominant theories of postindustrial society, this article advances an alternative account of digital capitalism that repositions the factory—so often associated with industrial manufacturing—as a defining yet largely overlooked feature of the internet economy. I pursue this claim by interpreting data centers and microwork platforms as digital embodiments of the factory system through a historical theory of the factory model that reconstructs the consistent mechanisms of control and extraction that have distinguished factories as consolidated infrastructures of production since their inception. I define these “protocols of production” as formal rules deployed by a combination of technological systems, spatial arrangements, and management regimes devised to fragment tasks, discipline workers, and supervise production. By probing the socioeconomic consequences of the factory’s algorithmic redeployment and adaptation to global data production, I contend that these absent factories have amplified alienation and precarity as structural social qualities of the digital labor process.
The Late Cretaceous metamorphic rocks of the Akrotiri and Vari subunits on Tinos and Syros, Cyclades, Greece: field observations, geochemistry and geochronology
Authors: Bröcker Michael , Berndt Jasper
Published: September 2024

The relationship of the Late Cretaceous amphibolite-facies Akrotiri and Vari subunits on the Greek islands of Tinos and Syros to similar occurrences in the Aegean is not fully understood, but a correlation with the Asterousia Crystalline Complex on Crete and corresponding rocks in the Upper Cycladic Unit on other islands of the archipelago is a plausible interpretation. There is currently no clear evidence that the Akrotiri subunit represents a fragment of the metamorphic sole of the nearby Tsiknias ophiolite, as there are differences in field appearance, geochemistry, metamorphic grade and retrograde overprint. Felsic rocks from amphibolite-gneiss sequences of the Akrotiri and Vari subunits are interpreted as reworked igneous rocks with minor admixture of terrigenous material. The Triassic U–Pb zircon age (c. 240 Ma) of such a gneiss from Syros indicates the magmatic crystallization age of the original source rocks. A similar interpretation is suggested for the studied Akrotiri gneiss, but is less clear due to the not fully clarified significance of the presumed Pb loss thought to be responsible for the considerable U–Pb age range of the dated zircons (c. 256–114 Ma). The Vari gneiss sensu strictu is closely associated with metadioritic rocks containing a Triassic zircon population (c. 238 Ma). The protolith is probably plutonic, but a mixture of volcanic and plutonic detritus cannot be excluded. Riebeckitic amphiboles occur in all rock types of the Akrotiri subunit, indicating late overprinting at elevated pressures, which is not known from similar occurrences in the southern Aegean.
John Bale, Imperial Monarchy, and the Reformation in Sixteenth-Century Ireland
Authors: Leduc James
Published: September 2024

The episcopal mission of Englishman John Bale to Ireland in 1553 provides historians with a unique window into the interconnected British and Irish histories of the early English Reformation. Scholarship on Bale has long explored his life and theology in all European theatres of the Reformation in which he was involved. Yet, key features of his mission and theology remain underappreciated. Building on recent work that has contextualized Bale’s Irish mission and ecclesiology within the imperial outlook of the Edwardian regime and Reformation, the article examines Bale’s mission against the worlds of English evangelical and continental Protestant political theology he inhabited, and the mingling of Henrician and Edwardian ‘reformist’ energies in Ireland with which it intersected and clashed. It argues that, under conditions of English colonial rule and empire in Ireland, Bale expressed a political theology that, imperial by circumstance and implication, turned his spiritual vocation modelled on Christ into a receptacle for divine and princely sovereignty that set rival conceptions of royal authority, idolatry, and Anglo-Irish constitutional relations against each other. Evangelical political theology thus acquired different hues on either side of the Irish Sea, with important implications for how we understand the early English Reformation across England and Ireland.
Navigating Labour Shifts: Early Modern Pearl Fishing in the Caribbean (1521–1563)
Authors: Rodríguez Velásquez Fidel
Published: September 2024

Narratives about indigenous labour in the pearl fisheries of the Caribbean, widely disseminated across the Atlantic world since the sixteenth century by Castilian chroniclers, have significantly shaped historiography. These accounts have reinforced a singular narrative about labour within pearl fisheries that overlooks this work's spatial and temporal changes in sea depths. This article examines and reconstructs the labour practices of workers in the pearl fisheries on the islands of Cubagua, Margarita, and Coche, as well as the coast of Cabo de la Vela and Riohacha, highlighting their temporal and spatial transformations. Additionally, it analyses the coexistence of various forms of coerced labour within this context.
Beyond the margins: antenatal health and healthcare behaviours among homeless women in Kolkata Municipal Corporation, India
Authors: Rahaman Margubur , Das Kailash Chandra
Published: September 2024

Despite high childbearing rates among homeless women in India, the antenatal health and healthcare behaviours among such population remain poorly understood. To address this research gap, a mixed-methods approach was employed in the present study, involving interviews with a sample of 400 women aged 15–49 years, utilising time and location sampling techniques. Additionally, a purposeful sample of 52 women from the same age group participated in in-depth interviews. The respondents exhibited rampant socio-economic backwardness, including chronic homelessness (36%), no formal education (54%), engagement in rag picking (31%), and low income levels. About 56% of the women reported poor self-rated health (SRH), notably higher among those aged 35 and above and those living alone (68%). Poor SRH was also prevalent among the ever married (61%), ragpickers (61%), beggars (62%), chronic homeless individuals (62%), tobacco (60%) and alcohol consumers (61%), and those with chronic diseases (61%). Common health issues included depression or anxiety (56%) and iron deficiency anaemia (35%). The level of unmet healthcare needs was 41%, with significant variation across diseases. Lack of reproductive health rights and awareness, socio-cultural beliefs, stigma, socio-economic poverty, poor quality of public healthcare services, irregularity in charity-run healthcare, and time constraints hindered antenatal care visits. The study underscores the urgent need for population-centric programmes and policies aimed at promoting reproductive health to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 of ‘Good health and wellbeing’ by 2030.
Udder health, bacterial isolation and antimicrobial sensitivity of Staphylococcus species from non-dairy goats on smallholder farms in Hong Kong
Authors: Lau Rachel W. H. , Hill Fraser I. , Flay Kate J.
Published: September 2024

This research article describes an investigation into the udder health, bacterial isolation and antimicrobial sensitivity of three staphylococcal species isolated from the milk of non-dairy goats, suckling their kids, on two smallholder farms in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Udder lesions were visually noted in 21 of 34 goats and two goats had palpable abnormalities. Collected milk samples grew a total of 11 bacterial organisms and the most frequently isolated organism was Staphylococcus chromogenes. Selected isolates of S. aureus, caprae and simulans from both farms were tested by antimicrobial sensitivity testing for 23 antimicrobials and all isolates showed antimicrobial resistance to doxycycline and tetracycline. Less common resistance was shown to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, penicillin and rifampicin. This preliminary study confirms the presence of udder lesions and mastitis bacteria in non-dairy goats in Hong Kong, along with the first information on the antimicrobial profile of three common Staphylococcus species bacteria affecting goats.
Pastoral Rules: Pomerius, Gregory the Great and the Making of Patristic Tradition
Authors: CARANDINO MARTINA
Published: September 2024

Scholars have debated how the themes discussed by Pomerius in his De vita contemplativa found ample resonance across Gregory the Great's work, and reflect similar concerns. While it is impossible to determine whether the Roman bishop read the treatise authored by the North African rhetor, their parallel authority on the matter was recognised by Carolingian copyists, who often reported their works alongside each other. The discovery of a glossa sourced from Gregory's literary production in Pomerius’ manuscript tradition might both substantiate this claim and shed some light on the networks of medieval scriptoria.
Meta-learning in active inference
Authors: Penacchio O. , Clemente A.
Published: September 2024

Binz et al. propose meta-learning as a promising avenue for modelling human cognition. They provide an in-depth reflection on the advantages of meta-learning over other computational models of cognition, including a sound discussion on how their proposal can accommodate neuroscientific insights. We argue that active inference presents similar computational advantages while offering greater mechanistic explanatory power and biological plausibility.
Bayes beyond the predictive distribution
Authors: Székely Anna , Orbán Gergő
Published: September 2024

Binz et al. argue that meta-learned models offer a new paradigm to study human cognition. Meta-learned models are proposed as alternatives to Bayesian models based on their capability to learn identical posterior predictive distributions. In our commentary, we highlight several arguments that reach beyond a predictive distribution-based comparison, offering new perspectives to evaluate the advantages of these modeling paradigms.
Challenges of meta-learning and rational analysis in large worlds
Authors: Calderan Margherita , Visalli Antonino
Published: September 2024

We challenge Binz et al.'s claim of meta-learned model superiority over Bayesian inference for large world problems. While comparing Bayesian priors to model-training decisions, we question meta-learning feature exclusivity. We assert no special justification for rational Bayesian solutions to large world problems, advocating exploring diverse theoretical frameworks beyond rational analysis of cognition for research advancement.
Learning and memory are inextricable
Authors: Llewellyn Sue
Published: September 2024

The authors' aim is to build “more biologically plausible learning algorithms” that work in naturalistic environments. Given that, first, human learning and memory are inextricable, and, second, that much human learning is unconscious, can the authors' first research question of how people improve their learning abilities over time be answered without addressing these two issues? I argue that it cannot.
Meta-learned models beyond and beneath the cognitive
Authors: Moldoveanu Mihnea
Published: September 2024

I propose that meta-learned models, and in particular the situation-aware deployment of “learning-to-infer” modules can be advantageously extended to domains commonly thought to lie outside the cognitive, such as motivations and preferences on one hand, and the effectuation of micro- and coping-type behaviors.
Probabilistic programming versus meta-learning as models of cognition
Authors: Ong Desmond C. , Zhi-Xuan Tan , Tenenbaum Joshua B. , Goodman Noah D.
Published: September 2024

We summarize the recent progress made by probabilistic programming as a unifying formalism for the probabilistic, symbolic, and data-driven aspects of human cognition. We highlight differences with meta-learning in flexibility, statistical assumptions and inferences about cogniton. We suggest that the meta-learning approach could be further strengthened by considering Connectionist and Bayesian approaches, rather than exclusively one or the other.
Is human compositionality meta-learned?
Authors: Russin Jacob , McGrath Sam Whitman , Pavlick Ellie , Frank Michael J.
Published: September 2024

Recent studies suggest that meta-learning may provide an original solution to an enduring puzzle about whether neural networks can explain compositionality – in particular, by raising the prospect that compositionality can be understood as an emergent property of an inner-loop learning algorithm. We elaborate on this hypothesis and consider its empirical predictions regarding the neural mechanisms and development of human compositionality.
Quo vadis, planning?
Authors: Pesnot-Lerousseau Jacques , Summerfield Christopher
Published: September 2024

Deep meta-learning is the driving force behind advances in contemporary AI research, and a promising theory of flexible cognition in natural intelligence. We agree with Binz et al. that many supposedly “model-based” behaviours may be better explained by meta-learning than by classical models. We argue that this invites us to revisit our neural theories of problem solving and goal-directed planning.
The reinforcement metalearner as a biologically plausible meta-learning framework
Authors: Vriens Tim , Horan Mattias , Gottlieb Jacqueline , Silvetti Massimo
Published: September 2024

We argue that the type of meta-learning proposed by Binz et al. generates models with low interpretability and falsifiability that have limited usefulness for neuroscience research. An alternative approach to meta-learning based on hyperparameter optimization obviates these concerns and can generate empirically testable hypotheses of biological computations.
Meta-learning: Bayesian or quantum?
Authors: Mastrogiorgio Antonio
Published: September 2024

Abundant experimental evidence illustrates violations of Bayesian models across various cognitive processes. Quantum cognition capitalizes on the limitations of Bayesian models, providing a compelling alternative. We suggest that a generalized quantum approach in meta-learning is simultaneously more robust and flexible, as it retains all the advantages of the Bayesian framework while avoiding its limitations.
Quantum Markov blankets for meta-learned classical inferential paradoxes with suboptimal free energy
Authors: Clark Kevin B.
Published: September 2024

Quantum active Bayesian inference and quantum Markov blankets enable robust modeling and simulation of difficult-to-render natural agent-based classical inferential paradoxes interfaced with task-specific environments. Within a non-realist cognitive completeness regime, quantum Markov blankets ensure meta-learned irrational decision making is fitted to explainable manifolds at optimal free energy, where acceptable incompatible observations or temporal Bell-inequality violations represent important verifiable real-world outcomes.
Meta-learning goes hand-in-hand with metacognition
Authors: Fields Chris , Glazebrook James F.
Published: September 2024

Binz et al. propose a general framework for meta-learning and contrast it with built-by-hand Bayesian models. We comment on some architectural assumptions of the approach, its relation to the active inference framework, its potential applicability to living systems in general, and the advantages of the latter in addressing the explanation problem.
Integrative learning in the lens of meta-learned models of cognition: Impacts on animal and human learning outcomes
Authors: Yin Bin , Xiao Xi-Dan , Wu Xiao-Rui , Lian Rong
Published: September 2024

This commentary examines the synergy between meta-learned models of cognition and integrative learning in enhancing animal and human learning outcomes. It highlights three integrative learning modes – holistic integration of parts, top-down reasoning, and generalization with in-depth analysis – and their alignment with meta-learned models of cognition. This convergence promises significant advances in educational practices, artificial intelligence, and cognitive neuroscience, offering a novel perspective on learning and cognition.
Meta-learned models as tools to test theories of cognitive development
Authors: Nussenbaum Kate , Hartley Catherine A.
Published: September 2024

Binz et al. argue that meta-learned models are essential tools for understanding adult cognition. Here, we propose that these models are particularly useful for testing hypotheses about why learning processes change across development. By leveraging their ability to discover optimal algorithms and account for capacity limitations, researchers can use these models to test competing theories of developmental change in learning.
Meta-learning: Data, architecture, and both
Authors: Binz Marcel , Dasgupta Ishita , Jagadish Akshay , Botvinick Matthew , Wang Jane X. , Schulz Eric
Published: September 2024

We are encouraged by the many positive commentaries on our target article. In this response, we recapitulate some of the points raised and identify synergies between them. We have arranged our response based on the tension between data and architecture that arises in the meta-learning framework. We additionally provide a short discussion that touches upon connections to foundation models.
Linear and nonlinear processing of Hebrew templatic words: the role of metalinguistic awareness
Authors: Laure Yael , Armon-Lotem Sharon
Published: September 2024

While universal linguistic theories advocate linear processing of words across languages, psycholinguistic research of Semitic templatic words supports the nonlinear processing into the root and template, mainly due to semantic specifications related to the root and the morphological awareness needed in the tasks. The present study examined whether the root and template affect the word processing of Hebrew native speakers due to metalinguistic awareness regardless of semantics. We designed an auditory rhyme judgment task, a phonological awareness test that requires linear processing and reduces semantics. The task included Hebrew CVCVC templatic word pairs comprising varying root and template phonemes, transposed-phoneme roots emphasizing phonological cooccurrence restrictions, and identical phoneme roots accentuating lexical-syntactic information pronounced in the vocalic melody templates. Findings revealed low accuracy rates in rhyming pairs, particularly those with accentuated linguistic information, indicating distraction from linear processing. However, the accuracy distributions among participants and between and within the stimulus types showed that linear processing also occurred. These results suggest that both linear and nonlinear processing modes are accessible to native Hebrew speakers. The study aligns with models of the mental lexicon proposing dynamic language processing influenced by both linguistic and non-linguistic factors, highlighting the idiosyncratic nature of word processing strategies.
The Solemnity of Solemnities
Authors: Hardwick Edgar
Published: September 2024

The work of our salvation is a unity. As the creed of the mass
proclaims, it was for us men and for our salvation that Jesus Christ, the
only begotten Son of God, came down from heaven; was made flesh by the Holy
Spirit of the Virgin Mary; and was made man. Within that same context of
‘for us men and for our salvation', the creed goes on to place the other
mysteries of Christ: his passion, death, burial, resurrection, ascension,
and exaltation. The trend of recent study1 of the mystery of Christ's
resurrection is to see this mystery within the unity of the work of
salvation. This does not mean that the apologetical value of the
resurrection is minimized, nor that the necessary distinctions that are made
in soteriology between the various mysteries of Christ, especially between
his passion and resurrection, are to be discarded. But it does mean that we
do not get the full understanding of the resurrection until we see it as a
saving mystery; indeed, as the saving
mystery.
Redemption in the Old Testament
Authors: Potter Roland
Published: September 2024

The gospels and the new testament generally tell of'good tidings of
great joy': but so does the old testament in its own way, for we can read it
as a long-drawn preparation for the gospel, and text after text speaks of
God's joyous plan. It is perhaps in this aspect of the scriptures that we
best realize the fundamental unity of old testament and new. This unity is
well illustrated when we, as we should, explain the term ‘gospel’ by citing
texts of Isaias, e.g.:
St Frances of Rome
Authors: Sharp Mary
Published: September 2024

Near the Arch of Titus and overlooking the Forum is the Church of St
Francesca Romana, or as it is more frequently called, the Basilica di Sta
Maria Nuova. In the confession is a statue of a woman with an attendant
angel, and in the crypt, in a glass case, are the remains of that woman
dressed w a. religious habit. Every hundred years the casket is taken to an
obscure convent under the Capitol Hill in the Tor di Specchi, which is the
house of the order of Oblates founded in 1433. Here the sisters remove the
old habit, rotten with age, and dress the skeleton of their revered and
beloved founder in a new habit, and the body is then returned to its tomb in
the church.

Frances was born in one of the palaces on the outskirts of Rome, in the
square now named Piazza Navona and not far from the church of St Agnes, in
1384. Her parents were of noble birth and the child was brought up in a
pious and prosperous household in the midst of considerable luxury. At a
very early age she announced her wish to enter a convent, but her parents
insisted that she should marry, in 1396 and at the age of twelve, a rich
nobleman, Lorenzo Ponziani.
Shaming the Devil: Or Telling the Truth
Authors: Gilby Thomas
Published: September 2024

‘Of truthfulness it is much less than courage of heart and
holiness'—this adaptation of Belloc might be prompted by some hack moralists
of the day before yesterday, who instead of riding the downs with God's
first gift to man, subtle, eloquent, sure, sweet, more
beautiful than the sun, whose company is without tediousness but with
gladness, land us in a bog of mental restrictions and
verbal circumlocutions. True, they carry some sort of apparatus for
extricating us, but their effect is one of casuistry rather than candour,
and they irked Newman who was formed by another tradition: it was ironical
that he, who in all conscience had a delicate sense of honour, should have
been exposed to Kingsley's bluff. Not that Anglo-Saxons anyhow have cause
for complaint against the slippery Latins, for they themselves, though they
may not go in for suggestio falsi—the
half-lie—are adept at suppressio veri—the
half-truth—and of all nations the frankness on which they pride themselves
seems most baffling to others.
Towards an Objective Spiritual Life
Authors: Deman Thomas
Published: September 2024

Many people have a genuine desire for perfection and consistently strive to become better. Apart from the small failings which are inevitable, they keep up a constant and generous effort with a view to their spiritual progress. Good will is the last thing they lack. It is all the more important, then, that such people should not find that they have made a mistake as to the fundamental direction of their effort. In exhorting them to become increasingly more generous, one has not even begun to tackle the problem, for what they need is not exhortation so touch as direction. We should like to indicate here the main lines along which the spiritual life develops in accordance with prudence, in contradistinction to notions which are perhaps currently admitted, but which, in our opinion, have been insufficiently, examined.
The Sacraments: I—Baptism
Authors: Bright Laurence
Published: September 2024

The sacraments, and baptism first of all, are the means by which Christ unites us to the Church which is his body. Yet we may well wonder how the pouring of a little water, the brief statement of the priest, ‘I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost’, can effect so great a change of course it is possible simply to reply ‘because God wills it to be so’, and perhaps ultimately there is nothing more to be said, but it is still open to us to explore the meaning of such mysteries as far as we can. The truths revealed by God and handed on to us by the Church are indeed mysteries, acceptable only to those who have received the grace of faith, but faith is given to our minds and needs to be thought about.
The Sacrament of Faith
Authors: Conrad Pepler
Published: September 2024

One of the early names for Baptism was the ‘Sacrament of Faith', and those who were baptized became the ‘enlightened'. To think of this Sacrament simply as an fitiation rite, performed once and then left in the background as one would walk through the front door of a house and shut it before settling down in the drawing room to be comfortably at home; to think of it simply as the formal entry into the Church is to miss its constant power to raise the Christian to the heights holiness. The earlier Christian understood that it brought an entirely new light into the newly baptized's life and that light shone and transformed everything so that as his eyes grew accustomed to its power they could eventually perceive the glory of God, and sustained by baptismal grace reach to the heights of the Christian union with God.
Three Short Homilies of St John Chrysostom
Authors: Prince J. F. T.
Published: September 2024

Of being for nothing solicitous.

Christ teacheth that we should work for ourselves and, going without much, become content with little. Thus for Himself, He cut down even of necessities, using no beast to bear Him, but walking such distances that He became weary with His journey Wherefore, said He: ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head:’ and of His days and nights, too, He spent most on the mountains and in the deserts. And of Him did David foretell: ‘He shall drink of the Evangelist in the way.’ So then at the Well of Sychar doth John the Evangelist shew the Lord to be careless of food, treating the matter as of little import; and thus were the disciples taught, taking with them no provisions for the road. Different indeed from us, who rising from our beds are soon calling for provisions, and with earnestness, concerning ourselves with cooks and caterers.
Corpus research on signed languages in the Nordic countries
Authors: Jantunen Tommi , Mesch Johanna , Ferrara Lindsay
Published: September 2024

This semi-systematic literature review examines signed language corpus research in the Nordic countries, with a quantitative and qualitative assessment of corpus research. The article first describes some critical components and functionalities of signed language corpora. It then outlines the evolution of Nordic corpus research, highlighting Sweden’s pioneering role and subsequent developments in Finland and Norway. The findings suggest a progression from method-focused publications to those exploring linguistic phenomena within and across (signed) languages. Although the number of research publications is modest, there is a discernible shift towards comparative studies and applications in signed language teaching and learning.
Investigations on ancient bronze drums from Majiang, Guangxi, P. R. China
Authors: Chao Zeng , Changzhong Liao , Fubin Wan , Wei He
Published: September 2024

Six different types of Majiang bronze drums from Hechi City, Guangxi, China were collected from the Guangxi Museum to characterize the original scheme of polychromy and materials used for the drums. The composition of all the samples were determined by using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. All the bronze drums contain mainly Cu, Sn, Pb, and As. Qualitative analysis of the structure by X-ray powder diffraction indicates that each of the six bronze drums contains four or five phases, namely (Cu, As), Pb, Cu3Sn, and Cu10Sn3 or Cu, Pb, As0.2Cu1.8, Cu3Sn, and Cu10Sn3. The Rietveld structural refinement is performed first time for the quantitative analysis of ancient bronze drums and inorganic cultural relics. This paper reports the result.
Attachment security, environmental adversity, and fast life history behavioral profiles in human adolescents
Authors: Lu Hui Jing , Lansford Jennifer E. , Liu Yuan Yuan , Chen Bin Bin , Bornstein Marc H. , Skinner Ann T. , Dodge Kenneth A. , Steinberg Laurence , Deater-Deckard Kirby , Rothenberg W. Andrew , Bacchini Dario , Pastorelli Concetta , Alampay Liane Peña , Sorbring Emma , Gurdal Sevtap , Al-Hassan Suha M. , Oburu Paul , Yotanyamaneewong Saengduean , Tapanya Sombat , Di Giunta Laura , Uribe Tirado Liliana Maria , Chang Lei
Published: September 2024

One species-general life history (LH) principle posits that challenging childhood environments are coupled with a fast or faster LH strategy and associated behaviors, while secure and stable childhood environments foster behaviors conducive to a slow or slower LH strategy. This coupling between environments and LH strategies is based on the assumption that individuals’ internal traits and states are independent of their external surroundings. In reality, individuals respond to external environmental conditions in alignment with their intrinsic vitality, encompassing both physical and mental states. The present study investigated attachment as an internal mental state, examining its role in mediating and moderating the association between external environmental adversity and fast LH strategies. A sample of 1169 adolescents (51% girls) from 9 countries was tracked over 10 years, starting from age 8. The results confirm both mediation and moderation and, for moderation, secure attachment nullified and insecure attachment maintained the environment-LH coupling. These findings suggest that attachment could act as an internal regulator, disrupting the contingent coupling between environmental adversity and a faster pace of life, consequently decelerating human LH.
Neurotic Anxiety of Submissive Personalities: A Psychoneurotic Analysis of Mary Dedalus in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Authors: Gengming Li , Danling Dong
Published: September 2024

Motivated by the insights of Karen Horney into submissive and compliant personalities, this study delves into the perpetual vulnerability, fear of helplessness, and isolation portrayed in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man through the lens of psychoneurosis theory. Individuals with obsessive appeasement tendencies experience excessive dependency and restlessness, reinforcing their feelings of helplessness and often resulting in manipulative attachments to powerful figures and self-defeating behaviours. Neurosis amplifies these maladaptive responses, intensifying anxiety stemming from individual, familial, social, or religious fears, thereby significantly impacting social functioning. This study aims to analyse the submissive personality of Mary Dedalus in Joyce’s novel from the three distinct perspectives of need for approval, sense of unsupportedness, and fear of the church. An in-depth exploration of these aspects not only enriches our comprehension of Joyce’s work but also offers valuable insights into the portrayal of neurosis and its impact on human behaviour within a competitive societal framework.