bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Two new genera of Lumbriculidae (Annelida, Clitellata) from North Carolina, USA
Authors: FEND STEVEN V. , LENAT DAVID R.
Published: March 2024

Recent benthic macroinvertebrate collections from North Carolina contained many undescribed oligochaete taxa, mostly belonging to the family Lumbriculidae. Three of the new species had arrangements of spermathecae and atria previously unreported for the family, and were assigned to new two genera. Pilaridrilus is distinguished by the location of spermathecal pores five segments behind the male pores. The single species, Pilaridrilus uliginosus, also has unusually complex penes and spermathecae. Martinidrilus is distinguished by spermathecae beginning more than two segments anterior to the atrial segment, and also by the the vasa deferentia, which join a common duct before joining the atria. The two Martinidrilus species also have unusual digitiform blood vessels in posterior segments. Martinidrilus carolinensis has lateral spermathecae in VI, and Martinidrilus arenosus has dorsolateral spermathecae in VII and VIII. Because arrangement and morphology of reproductive organs do not resemble those of described lumbriculids, the phylogenetic affinities of the new species are not clear. These new genera and species were generally collected from areas of high water quality, suggesting that lumbriculids can be useful in water quality monitoring and conservation evaluation.
Coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) of amphibians of the world
Authors: DUSZYNSKI DONALD W. , BOLEK MATTHEW G. , UPTON STEVE J.
Published: March 2024

The coccidia are protists (phylum Apicomplexa) that, likely, are both the most abundant (numbers of individual zoites) and most speciose of all the kinds of parasites found in, or on vertebrate animals. They also are among the least studied and understood, with the exception of those species that cause pathology in domesticated hosts. Here we review and evaluate all published descriptions of coccidians within the largest family of the phylum, Eimeriidae Minchin 1903, because there has never been a detailed taxonomic summation for those species that infect amphibians. About 35 of the named species are invalid, either because rules concerning the naming of new species (International Code of Zoological Nomenclature) were not followed and/or the original description was so incomplete as to be of little use; such names have been relegated to species inquirendae, incertae sedis, or nomen nuda. The class Amphibia has three orders, 56 families, 464 genera and 6009 species (Frost et al. 2006). There are no coccidia known from 41 of the 56 (73%) families, 436 of the 464 (94%) genera and 5964 of the 6009 (>99%) species. In the Anura (frogs), only 14 of the 44 (32%) families (Bombinatoridae, Bufonidae, Dicroglossidae, Hylidae, Hyperoliidae, Leptodactyllidae, Limnodynastidae, Megophyridae, Microhylidae, Pipidae, Ptychadenidae, Pyxicephalidae, Ranidae, Rhacophoridae), 30 of the 388 (8.8%) genera, and 67 of the 5283 (1.2%) species have been examined for coccidia and 30 coccidia are known (18 Eimeria, 9 Isospora, 2 Goussia, and 1 Hyaloklossia species). In the Urodela (salamanders), 7 of the 9 (78%) families (Ambystomatidae, Amphiumidae, Cryptobranchidae, Plethodontidae, Proteidae, Salamandridae, Sirenidae), 18 of the 64 (28%) genera and 45 of the 553 (8%) species have been examined and 21 coccidia are known (19 Eimeria and 2 Isospora species). In the Gymnophiona (caecilians), only 1 of 3 (33%) families, 1 of 12 (8%) genera, and only 1 of the 173 (0.6%) species, Dermophis mexicanus (family Caeciliidae), have been examined and 1 Eimeria species is known. Also in the Amphibia, there are 10 species inquirendae (a species of doubtful identity), 22 incertae sedis (uncertain taxonomic position), and 5 names are considered nomen nuda. In general, herpetologists are encouraged to be more receptive to working with parasitologists to use comparative parasite data that might provide insights into amphibian evolution and habitat use. The eimeriid coccidia are ideal parasites for such cooperative efforts because they can be collected easily by noninvasive fecal collections.
Phylogenetic relationships, systematics, and biology of the species of Amorbia Clemens (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Sparganothini)
Authors: PHILLIPS-RODRÍGUEZ EUGENIE , POWELL JERRY A.
Published: March 2024

The systematics of the New World genus Amorbia Clemens, 1860, is revised. The genus ranges from Brazil through Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, southeast and western United States and northeastern and southwestern Canada. Greatest species richness is found in middle elevations (500-1500 m) in Central and South America. Twenty-nine species are treated, 13 of which are described as new: A. monteverde (Puntarenas, Costa Rica), A. rhombobasis (Guanacaste, Costa Rica), A. cordobana (Veracruz, Mexico), A. cocori (Puntarenas, Costa Rica), A. cacao (Guanacaste, Costa Rica), A. catarina (Santa Catarina, Brazil), A. dominica (Dominica), A. knudsoni (Texas, U.S.A.), A. potosiana (Nuevo León, Mexico), A. chiapas (Chiapas, Mexico), A. santamaria (Quetzaltenango, Guatemala), A. curitiba (Paraná, Brazil), and A. stenovalvae (Tamaulipas, Mexico). Based on a phylogenetic analysis, five species previously included in Amorbia are excluded and assigned to incertae sedis: “Amorbia” depicta Walsingham, “Amorbia” elaeopetra Meyrick, “Amorbia” leptophracta (Meyrick), “Amorbia” rectilineana (Zeller), and “Amorbia” teratana (Zeller). One species, Amorbia revolutana (Zeller), is raised from synonymy, and three new synonymies are proposed: A. synneurana Barnes & Busck with A. cuneana (Walsingham); A. aequiflexa (Meyrick) with A. productana (Walker); and A. spylocriptis Meyrick with A. revolutana (Zeller). Eight informal species groups are proposed for purposes of discussing character states and their evolution: Curitiba (2 species), Productana (4 species), Humerosana (3 especies), Chiapas (2 species), Colubrana (8 species), Exsectana (1 species), Rectangularis (3 species), and Decerptana (6 species). A redescription of the genus is provided; all the species treated are illustrated (including male and female genitalia where known). Data on localities are listed, and maps showing species distribution are presented. Data on biology is provided for 12 species where inmatures stages are known; host plants for the species are listed. Additionally, a key to the species is provided based on male features.
Two New Species of Chrysopathes (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Antipatharia) from the Western Atlantic
Authors: OPRESKO D. M. , DE LAIA LOIOLA L.
Published: March 2024

Two new species of Chrysopathes are described, C. oligocrada from Yucatan and Brazil, and C. micracantha from the southeastern coast of the U.S. and Brazil. Chrysopathes oligocrada is characterized by lateral pinnules mostly 7–8 mm long (to 2 cm); 18–21 primary pinnules per cm; anterior-most primary pinnules with no more than one secondary pinnule (absent on some); some posterior primaries with a single secondary pinnule; lateral primary pinnules usually simple, rarely with a single subpinnule; tertiary pinnules absent; pinnular spines to 0.07 mm. This species is similar to C. formosa Opresko 2003 from the Pacific; the latter species differing in density of pinnulation (15–18 per cm) and size of the spines (to 0.16 mm). Chrysopathes micracantha is characterized by lateral pinnules mostly 5–6 mm long (to 2 cm); 24– 33 primary pinnules per cm; anterior and posterior primary pinnules with as many as two subopposite secondary pinnules; lateral primary pinnules usually simple but with subpinnules on the thicker branches and stem; tertiary pinnules rarely present; pinnular spines to 0.1 mm. Chrysopathes micracantha is similar to C. speciosa Opresko 2003 from the Pacific, the latter species differing in a greater number of secondary pinnules per primary (three or more) and in size of the spines (to 0.18 mm).
Revision of the Myopa testacea Species-Group in the Palaearctic Region (Diptera: Conopidae)
Authors: STUKE JENS-HERMANN , CLEMENTS DAVID K.
Published: March 2024

The Myopa testacea Species-Group is revised. Seven valid species are considered to belong to this group, and an identification key to these is presented. The known distribution information is evaluated, and the sparse information available on the biology is summarised. Myopa clausseni sp. nov. and Myopa hirsuta sp. nov. (= Myopa strandi auct., nec Duda 1940) are described; Myopa arabica Macquart, 1850 is reinterpreted as a valid species (stat. rev.) and Myopa strandi Duda, 1940 is placed as a junior synonym of Myopa vicaria Walker, 1849 (syn. nov.).
New species and new records of Manota Williston (Diptera, Mycetophilidae) from the Oriental region
Authors: HIPPA HEIKKI
Published: March 2024

The following 19 new species are described: Manota aconcinna (Thailand), M. ancylochaeta (Thailand and Malaysia), M. auriculata (Thailand), M. clavulosa (Thailand), M. collina (Thailand), M. confixa (Malaysia), M. crinita (Malaysia), M. cristata (Thailand), M. fimbriata (Malaysia), M. index (Malaysia), M. inflata (Thailand), M. juncta (Malaysia), M. oblonga (Thailand), M. parvistylata (Malaysia), M. pellii (Thailand), M. perlobata (Thailand and Burma), M. planilobata (Thailand), M. subdentata (Malaysia), and M. submirifica (Thailand). New records are given for the following species: M. acutangula Hippa (Thailand), M. cerciflex Hippa (Malaysia), M. curvata Hippa (Malaysia), M. globigera Hippa (Thailand), M. heptacantha Hippa (Malaysia), M. ferrata Hippa (Malaysia), M. oligochaeta Hippa (Thailand), M. ovata Hippa (Thailand), M. pappi Hippa (Malaysia), M. pectinata Hippa (Thailand), M. perpusilla Hippa (Thailand), M. pollex Hippa (Malaysia), M. plusiochaeta Hippa (Malaysia), M. procera Hippa (Sarawak), M. roslii Hippa (Thailand, Malaysia), and M. simplex Hippa (Thailand).
A proposed higher taxonomy of anomodont therapsids
Authors: KAMMERER CHRISTIAN F. , ANGIELCZYK KENNETH D.
Published: March 2024

A higher-level taxonomic framework for the Permo-Triassic anomodont therapsids (dicynodonts and their relatives) is presented in order to bring concordance between reconstructions of anomodont phylogeny and nomenclature. Taxonomic histories, remarks on current usage, and phylogenetic definitions are provided for twenty-two higher level (i.e., suprageneric) anomodont taxa: Anomodontia, Bidentalia, Chainosauria, Cistecephalidae, Cryptodontia, Dicynodontia, Dicynodontoidea, Emydopidae, Emydopoidea, Endothiodontia, Eumantelliidae, Geikiidae, Geikiinae, Kingoriidae, Kistecephalia, Lystrosauridae, Myosauridae, Oudenodontidae, Pylaecephalidae, Rhachiocephalidae, Therochelonia, and Venyukovioidea. Additionally, lists of diagnostic characters supporting each of these higher taxa are given, utilizing the results of several recent phylogenetic analyses of anomodont relationships.
A reassessment of Cuora cyclornata Blanck, McCord and Le, 2006 (Testudines, Geoemydidae) and a plea for taxonomic stability
Authors: SPINKS PHILLIP Q. , THOMSON ROBERT C. , SHAFFER H. BRADLEY
Published: March 2024

We analyze the phylogenetic variation present in the Cuora trifasciata species complex using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. We use this information to evaluate the recent description of Cuora cyclornata Blanck, McCord, and Le (2006), and reinterpret this proposed species in light of likely mitochondrial introgression. Our results indicate that the pattern of variation within the Cuora trifasciata species complex is better explained by mitochondrial introgression coupled with hybridization and/or clinal variation, than it is by the presence of a previously unrecognized species. We also use our phylogeny as a framework for discussion of additional proposed changes to generic level taxonomy in this critically imperiled clade. Our results highlight the importance of appropriate data sampling in taxonomic revisions and suggest that Cuora cyclornata be treated as a junior synonym of Cuora trifasciata.
Tsudaea, a new genus of Brachycentridae (Trichoptera) from Japan
Authors: NOZAKI TAKAO
Published: March 2024

The species, previously known as "Eobrachycentrus kitayamanus (Tsuda 1942)" originally described based on a male specimen, is here associated with the larval stage described by Akagi (1962) as "Micrasema sp. MD". Because both the adult and larva of this species have many unique characters within the family Brachycentridae, a new genus, Tsudaea, is erected for this species. Descriptions and illustrations of the adult and immature stages of Tsudaea kitayamana are provided. The larvae of T. kitayamana are unique among the Brachycentridae in having lateral humps present on the first abdominal segment.
Voragonema tatsunoko (Trachymedusae: Rhopalonematidae), a new species of benthopelagic medusa, host to the hyperiid amphipod Mimonectes spandli (Physosomata: Mimonectidae)
Authors: LINDSAY DHUGAL , PAGÈS FRANCESC
Published: March 2024

Large numbers of a distinctive trachymedusa were observed at 1967 m depth just above the bottom in Suruga Bay, Japan, during a dive by the crewed submersible Shinkai 2000 in April 2002. Two individuals were collected and proved to be an undescribed species, herein described as Voragonema tatsunoko sp. nov. This species is characterised by the number (9) and shape of the centripetal canals. An immature male hyperiid amphipod, Mimonectes spandli Stephensen and Pirlot, 1931, was observed attached to the subumbrella of one of the individuals adjacent to a gonad. This is the first record identifying an association between another organism and M. spandli and is the first record of this amphipod species outside of the Atlantic Ocean.
A diagnostic character revisited: is there a fifth toe in the forefoot of Dasypus novemcinctus (Xenarthra: Dasypodidae)?
Authors: COSTA FABIANA R. , VIZCAÍNO SERGIO F.
Published: March 2024

Armadillos (Xenarthra: Dasypodidae) are among the most conspicuous and peculiar groups of mammals, and are characterized by an armor of osteoderms covered by keratinized scutes. They are widespread in South America, with one species (Dasypus novemcinctus Linnaeus) also reaching southern North America (Wetzel 1985, Aguiar & Fonseca 2008; Gardner 2008). Following the latest revision of the subfamily Dasypodinae (Wetzel & Mondolfi 1979), the single genus Dasypus is partitioned into three subgenera: Dasypus, Cryptophractus and Hyperoambon. Cryptophractus comprises the single species D. pilosus Fitzinger, and Hyperoambon was proposed for D. kappleri Krauss (Gardner 2008). Dasypus(Dasypus) contains five species (Wetzel & Mondolfi 1979; Vizcaíno 1995): D septemcinctus Linnaeus, D. hybridusDesmarest, D. novemcinctus, D. sabanicola Mondolfi and D. yepesi Vizcaíno. Only D. (H.) kappleri is reported to retain five toes in the forefoot (Wetzel & Mondolfi 1979), while D. (Dasypus) and D. (C.) pilosus are described as having only four toes on the forefoot (Hamlett 1939; Wetzel & Mondolfi 1979), the middle pair being the largest. D. (C.) pilosus is an enigmatic species because little is known about most aspects of its biology and morphology (see Vizcaíno & Loughry 2008). Much more has been published on the species of D. (Dasypus), particularly D. novemcinctus. Despite the substantial literature on this species (see Vizcaíno & Loughry 2008 for an extensive compilation), little is known about several aspects of the descriptive (e.g. Taylor 1976; Windle & Parsons 1899) and functional (e.g. Vizcaíno & Milne 2002) morphology of its limbs. Detailed studies on its fore and hindfeet morphology are not available.
On the identity of Chunra gigantea Distant (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), the largest member of the arboreal leafhopper subfamily Idiocerinae
Authors: WEI CONG , WEBB M. D. , ZHANG YALIN
Published: March 2024

Kuchingella Wei & Webb, gen. n. is established in the leafhopper tribe Megipocerini of the subfamily Idiocerinae, with Chunra gigantea Distant as its type species, based on the description of the male of this species for the first time. The similarity of the new genus to the related genus, Megipocerus Zachvatkin, is discussed. The rostrum of both genera is sexually dimorphic.
A new species of Parachironomus Lenz, 1921 (Diptera: Chironomidae: Chironominae), and description of immature stages of two other species from the Neotropical Region
Authors: TRIVINHO-STRIXINO SUSANA , Da Silva Fabio Laurindo , ROQUE FABIO OLIVEIRA
Published: March 2024

Parachironomus lupus is described and figured as adult male, pupa and larva, and the immatures of P. cayapo Spies et al. and P. tirio Spies et al. are described for the first time based on specimens collected from different water systems in southeast Brazil. Generic diagnoses for the adult male, pupa and larva are emended, and keys to pupae and larvae of four Parachironomus known from Brazil are presented.
Description of the larva and pupa and redescription of the adults of Isostomyia paranensis (Brèthes) (Diptera: Culicidae)
Authors: CAMPOS RAÚL E. , ZAVORTINK THOMAS J.
Published: March 2024

The present study includes descriptions of the larva and pupa and a redescription of the adults of Isostomyia paranensis (Culicidae: Sabethini), comparison of the species to Is. lunata, and discussion of its taxonomic position.
The larva of Palaemnema mutans Calvert, 1931 (Odonata: Platystictidae)
Authors: AMAYA-VALLEJO VANESSA , NOVELO-GUTIÉRREZ RODOLFO
Published: March 2024

The larva of Palaemnema mutans is described, illustrated, and compared with larvae of the genus described to date. P. mutans differs from the other species in having a shorter body length, a larger number of teeth in the internal molar lobe of the left mandible and shorter caudal lamellae, as well as an apical filament proportionally longer than in any other species. The hypopharynx is described for the first time for the genus. This is the first record of P. mutans for Colombia.
Smicridea (Trichoptera, Hydropsychidae) from 3 Brazilian Amazonian States: New species, larval taxonomy and bionomics
Authors: ALBINO JEYSON LAZARO DUQUE , PES ANA MARIA , HAMADA NEUSA
Published: March 2024

Seven new species of Smicridea (Rhyacophylax) are described from the states of Amazonas, Roraima and Mato Grosso, Brazil: S. araguaiense sp. nov., S. bicornuta sp. nov., S. bifasciata sp. nov, S. dentisserrata sp. nov., S. helenae sp. nov., S. flinti sp. nov., S. roraimense sp. nov. Larvae and pupae of S. helenae sp. nov., S. (Smicridea) palifera Flint, S. (S.) obliqua Flint and S. (R.) appendiculata Flint are described and illustrated. Morphological variation observed in S. (R.) coronata Flint and S. appendiculata is presented. Species bionomics are presented and new species are recorded for Brazil and for the states of Amazonas, Roraima and Mato Grosso.
A new species of Anolis (Squamata: Iguania: Dactyloidae) formerly referred to as A. pachypus from the Cordillera de Talamanca of western Panama and adjacent Costa Rica
Authors: LOTZKAT SEBASTIAN , BIENENTREU JOE-FELIX , HERTZ ANDREAS , KÖHLER GUNTHER
Published: March 2024

We describe Anolis benedikti sp. nov. from lower montane elevations of the Cordillera de Talamanca in Bocas del Toro and Chiriquí provinces of western Panama, and adjacent Puntarenas province of eastern Costa Rica. The new species is very similar to A. magnaphallus, A. pachypus, A. pseudopachypus, and A. tropidolepis, which inhabit the same mountain range. It differs from these species in the coloration of the male dewlap, which is red with a yellow anterior margin (versus male dewlap solid purplish red in A. magnaphallus and A. tropidolepis, red with a central yellow blotch in A. pachypus, and solid yellow in A. pseudopachypus), and in pholidotic characters.
Chewing lice of the genus Myrsidea (Phthiraptera: Amblycera: Menoponidae) from passerines (Aves: Passeriformes) in South Africa, with descriptions of three new species
Authors: HALAJIAN ALI , SYCHRA OLDRICH , Luus-Powell Wilmien , ENGELBRECHT DEREK
Published: March 2024

A total of 144 individuals of 46 bird species belonging to the 20 families were examined for chewing lice in SouthAfrica. Considering only the genus Myrsidea, a total of 19 birds of 8 species were parasitised with 8 species ofMyrsidea. Descriptions and illustrations are given for three new species of Myrsidea. The new species and their typehosts are: Myrsidea aynazae ex Phyllastrephus flavostriatus (Sharpe) (Pycnonotidae), Myrsidea eslamii ex Zootheragurneyi (Hartlaub) (Turdidae) and Myrsidea mariquensis ex Bradornis mariquensis Smith (Muscicapidae). Records ofnew host-louse associations are: Phyllastrephus terrestris Swainson (Pycnonotidae) for Myrsidea sp., Ploceus intermedius Ruppell (Ploceidae) for Myrsidea sp., and Turdus libonyanus (Smith) (Turdidae) for Myrsidea sp.
New synonymy and redescription of Mastigus deustus (Thunberg) (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae)
Authors: JAŁOSZYŃSKI PAWEŁ
Published: March 2024

Basing on examination of type specimens and original descriptions, the status of primary types of two South African Mastigini is clarified: i) the type specimen of Mastigus deustus (Thunberg) (originally described in Notoxus), previously incorrectly treated as a holotype, was found to be a syntype; ii) the type specimen of Mastigus glabratus Klug previously treated as a holotype is in fact a syntype; iii) the specimen previously treated as a paratype of M. glabratus is not a primary type. Lectotypes for Notoxus deustus and Mastigus glabratus are designated, and M. glabratus is placed as a junior objective synonym of M. deustus. Mastigus deustus is redescribed, and its diagnostic characters, including the aedeagus, are illustrated.
Review of the Nearctic species of Bryotropha Heinemann (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)
Authors: RUTTEN TWAN , KARSHOLT OLE
Published: March 2024

The Nearctic species of the genus Bryotropha Heinemann 1870 are reviewed. Seven species are recognized as valid, three of which are described as new: B. gemella sp. n., B. hodgesi sp. n., and B. altitudophila sp. n. Two other species, B. plantariella (Tengstr m, 1848) and B. galbanella (Zeller, 1939), are reported from the Nearctic for the first time. B. pullifimbriella (Clemens, 1863), B. tahavusella (Forbes, 1922) and B. clandestina (Meyrick, 1923) are synonymized with B. similis. A lectotype of Gelechia branella Busck, 1908 is designated. Adults and genitalia are illustrated, and keys to the species are provided.
Integrating Farmers’ Perspectives into Earth System Model Development: Interviews with End Users in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, to Guide Actionable Science
Authors: Emard Kelsey , Cameron Olivia , Wieder William R. , Lombardozzi Danica L. , Morss Rebecca , Sobhani Negin
Published: March 2024

This paper analyzes findings from semistructured interviews and focus groups with 31 farmers in the Willamette Valley in which farmers were asked about their needs for climate data and about the usability of a range of outputs from the Community Earth System Model, version 2 (CESM2), for their soil management practices. Findings indicate that climate and soils data generated from CESM and other Earth system models (ESMs), despite their coarse spatial scale resolutions, can inform farmers’ long-term decisions, but that the data would be more usable if the outputs were provided in a format that allowed farmers to choose the variables and thresholds relevant to their particular needs and if ESMs incorporated farmer practices including residue removal, cover cropping, and tillage levels into the model operations so that farmers could better understand the impacts of their decisions. Findings also suggest that although there is a significant gap in the spatial resolution at which these global ESMs generate data and the spatial resolution needed by farmers to make most decisions, farmers are adept at making scalar adjustments to apply coarse-resolution data to the specifics of their own farm’s microclimate. Thus, our findings suggest that, to support agricultural decision-making, development priorities for ESMs should include developing better representations of agricultural management practices within the models and creating interactive data dashboards or platforms.
Tangential velocity tracking-based cross-coupled control method with variable feedrate for biaxial parametric curve following
Authors: Ke Runji , Wang Taiyong , Cao Libo
Published: March 2024

To address the inaccurate contour error calculation problem in traditional cross-coupled control (CCC) methods for biaxial motion systems, this paper presents a novel CCC method based on a recently developed tangential velocity tracking (TVT) strategy. It has the advantage that existing high-precision algorithms for searching the foot point can be directly integrated to obtain the excellent estimation accuracy of contour error. The cumbersome parameter tuning for position controllers of each axis is unnecessary. Moreover, a velocity interpolator for parametric curves is developed to extend the TVT strategy to the variable feedrate case. The stability of the TVT-based CCC system is proved using a quadratic Lyapunov function. Comparative experiments are carried out, and the results indicate that the estimation deviation of contour error in the TVT-based CCC method can be constrained within 1 μm. The maximum contour error is significantly reduced by 65.32% and 50.10% compared with the traditional CCC methods based on tangential and circular approximations, respectively.
Beyond general elections: How could foreign actors influence the prime ministership?
Authors: Au-Yeung Ronaldo , Tagirova Alsu
Published: March 2024

Recent reports of election interference ring alarm bells about the vulnerability of the Canadian political process. We examine a different but potentially more perilous loophole in the electoral process beyond general elections to demonstrate how foreign actors could directly influence the prime ministership through the manipulation of party membership. We suggest that foreign actors could influence the selection process of party leadership and, consequently, the prime ministership, simply by purchasing party memberships that distribute ballots in leadership elections without identity verification. After introducing China and Russia's strategies to influence Canadian politics, we offer a few recommendations to address the party membership loophole. These include identity verification at the time of membership registration and ballot mail-in, flagging membership irregularities, additional and dedicated funding to political parties to build robust cybersecurity practices, and creating additional content in languages other than English or French to mitigate the influence of state–controlled or sponsored media on immigrant and diaspora communities.
An Exploration of Participatory Communication Practices in Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation: A Case Study of Lifajaneng Village
Authors: Letsie Hlompho , Osunkule Oluyinka
Published: March 2024

Rural communities rely on donor-funded support projects on poverty alleviation. The study explored the participatory communication practices in sustainable development and poverty alleviation in Lifajaneng. A mixed-method approach was employed, purposive sampling was used, and 30 participants responded to questionnaires. Three focus groups discussions were used and 2 managers interviewed. Ethics were adhered to and consent forms were signed by participants. The results indicated that sustainability was affected by top-down communication because beneficiaries were excluded in decision-making. The study recommends that training should emphasise the principles of participation and the supportive role of communication for communities’ true participation.
Errorless Training Benefits Motor Learning and Kinematic Outcomes in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Arsham Saeed , Razeghi Rahil , Movahedi Ahmadreza
Published: March 2024

Most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have some form of motor deficits. Additionally, based on executive dysfunction, working memory is often atypical in these children. Errorless learning reduces demands on working memory. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of errorless training on these children’s ability to learn golf putting. Participants ( N = 20), aged 9–13 years ( M = 10.15, SD = 1.4), were randomly assigned to either: (a) an errorless (ER) training group ( n = 10) or (b) an explicit instruction (EI) group ( n = 10). The ER group practiced putting from different distances without any instruction, while the EI group practiced putting at a particular distance with instruction. We measured motor performance (e.g., putting accuracy) and kinematic variables (e.g., putter face angle). One-way analyses of variance showed that motor performance significantly improved in both groups, but that the ER group showed significantly better accuracy retention ( p < .028) and transfer learning ( p < .047) than the instructional group. Kinematic variables were also significantly different between the two groups on the transfer test. These findings supported the benefits of errorless training compared to explicit instruction to teach motor skills to children with ASD.
Legitimising displacement: Academic discourse, territorial stigmatisation and gentrification
Authors: Kirk Richard
Published: March 2024

This article explores the territorial stigmatisation–gentrification nexus and how it is advanced by an intellectual pipeline between academics and policymakers in the USA. Despite much research revealing the pathologising narratives latent within displacement-inducing urban policies, little work has explicitly sought to underscore the influence of academic discourses in promoting these policies. Centring a triad of discourses surrounding concentrated disadvantage, social mix and neighbourhood effects – emergent namely from the academic fields of urban sociology, criminology, urban planning and urban economics – I provide an evidential linkage between academic discourse and displacement-causing US policymaking by conducting a document analysis of official reports related to two major US government programmes: the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing (MTO) Demonstration programme and the Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE) VI programme. I suggest that these academic discourses operate to legitimise displacement via neighbourhood-centric framings which advance territorial stigmatisation and related gentrification. These discourses, I argue, reinforce the real estate state and the destructive capitalist force of uneven geographical development while working to facilitate the disregard of propositions that would effect structural change. I conclude with an explanation for the present configuration of the academy-to-policy pipeline and why it has failed to onboard critical, macro-structurally orientated scholarship, and issue a call for a direction forward.
From laboratory to mountaintop: Creating an artificial aurora in the late nineteenth century
Authors: Amery Fiona
Published: March 2024

There existed a tradition of mimetic experimentation in the late nineteenth century, whereby morphologists sought to scale down sublime natural phenomena to tabletop devices in the laboratory. Experimenters constructed analogs of the aurora, attempting to replicate the colors and forms of the phenomenon with discharge tube experiments and electrical displays, which became popular spectacles at London’s public galleries. This paper analyses a closely allied but different kind of imitation. Between 1872 and 1884, Professor Karl Selim Lemström (1838–1904) attempted to reproduce the aurora borealis in all of its complexity atop four mountains in northern Finland. Crucially, his “artificial aurora” was to materialize at the same scale as the original phenomenon and in its natural habitat in the polar atmosphere. With his experiment Lemström hoped to uncover the workings of the aurora and the electrical currents that he believed were always present within the atmosphere; his epistemological framework was one of learning by making. This paper sheds light on the broader problem of what it meant to authentically replicate a phenomenon that remained largely enigmatic, and, most importantly, how this replication could be verified. This prompts a discussion as to whether model experiments needed only to appear visually similar to the objects they purported to imitate, were required to preserve their form, or needed to be materially identical in order to the original to be identified as legitimate “reproductions” in the late nineteenth century.
Research on adaptive practical prescribed-time consensus of multiple mechanical systems with full-state constraints
Authors: Xu Shaoqi , Cai Mingjie , Wang Baofang
Published: March 2024

In this paper, an adaptive practical prescribed-time consensus (PPTC) for multiple mechanical systems with full-state constraints is discussed. We first propose a new nonlinear mapping (NM). By transforming the full state–constrained system with the NM, we can obtain an unconstrained system. Then combined with neural networks, graph theory, and practical prescribed-time control theory, a distributed adaptive PPTC protocol is proposed for the unconstrained system, which can ensure that position errors and speed errors reach a certain region within a prescribed-time and full-state constraints are satisfied. Finally, an example is given to demonstrate that this method can be implemented.
To Toe the Party Line? The Impact of Firm and CEO Partisanship on Corporate Mass-Media Normative Legitimacy
Authors: Hadani Michael
Published: March 2024

Corporate political activity (CPA) research has traditionally focused on instrumental and strategic value, explicitly ignoring how external stakeholders, specifically the public, view the legitimacy implications of CPA, in particular with regard to partisan forms of CPA. Yet, recent research has begun introducing normative considerations into CPA, highlighting the impact of public evaluations on CPA, and partisan CPA, in particular. Focusing on normative affective legitimacy, as proxied by the tone of mass-media reporting rhetoric, this study explores the effect of firm and CEO partisan political contributions on corporate affective legitimacy. Utilizing three types of dynamic panel data analyses on S&P 500 firms over 20 years, the study provides consistent evidence that both firm-level and CEO-level partisan political action committee contributions are negatively associated with affective-based corporate legitimacy. Post hoc analyses reveal that in response to affective-legitimacy evaluations, firms reduce firm-level partisan political contributions and lobbying expenditures, but not other forms of CPA or partisan CPA. The study also finds that state-level public political polarization moderates the association between CEO partisan contributions and firms’ affective-legitimacy evaluations. This study is the first to systematically document the negative normative impact of CPA and partisan CPA. It strongly informs CPA theory and has practical implications for executives’ use of partisan CPA.
Reliability and validity of the responsive care tool for children 0–3 years old in a rural, South Asian setting
Authors: Hentschel Elizabeth , Siyal Saima , McCoy Dana C. , Tiemeier Henning , Yousafzai Aisha K.
Published: March 2024

Research has shown the importance of responsive caregiving for fostering positive development early in life; however, tools measuring these interactions are often impractical for larger scale intervention trials and in settings with resource constraints. The present study provides reliability and validity evidence from Sindh, Pakistan for a tool developed to quantify responsive caregiving. Data were collected from 200 randomly selected households on responsive caregiving, sociodemographic characteristics, early learning, and early child development. The results indicated that the responsive care tool can be feasibly administered in less than 5 min in a low-resource setting. An exploratory factor analysis found that the tool’s indicators reliably loaded onto two distinct factors, responsive interactions and caregiver-initiated interactions, accounting for 96.01% of the underlying variation in scores. A confirmatory factor analysis reflecting input from modification indices showed satisfactory fit statistics and adequate factor loadings (all above .70). Internal consistencies of the two factors were also high, with alphas of .93 and .83, respectively. Convergent validity of the responsive interactions factor was demonstrated by a strong and positive correlation with measures of psychosocial stimulation, early learning, maternal education, and household wealth. Predictive validity of the responsive interactions factor was demonstrated by a strong and positive association with child development. The caregiver-initiated interactions factor was significantly and negatively associated with psychosocial stimulation and child development. The resulting evidence provides programs with an open access, observational, reliable, and valid measure to quantify responsive caregiving at the program level in low-resource settings.
Translational Relevance of Rodent Models to Predict Human Liver Disease
Authors: Mahapatra Debabrata , Maronpot Robert
Published: March 2024

Animals models are essential to understand the complex pathobiology of human diseases. George Box’s aphorism based on statistics “All models are wrong, but some are useful” certainly applies to animal models of disease. In this session, the translational relevance of various animal models applicable to human liver disease was explored starting with a historic overview of the rodent cancer bioassay with emphasis on hepatocarcinogenesis from early work at the National Cancer Institute, refinement by the National Toxicology Program and contemporary efforts to identify potential mechanisms and their relevance to human cancer risk. Subsequently, recently elucidated understanding of the molecular drivers and signaling mechanisms of liver pathophysiology and liver cancer, including factors associated with liver regeneration, metabolic hepatocellular zonation, and the role of macrophages and their crosstalk with stellate cells in understanding human liver disease was discussed. Next, our contemporary understanding of the role of nuclear receptors in hepatic homeostasis and drug response highlighting nuclear receptor activation and crosstalk in modulating biological responses associated with liver damage and neoplastic response were discussed. Finally, an overview and translational relevance of different drug-induced liver injury (DILI) rodent model systems focused on pathology and mechanisms with commentary on current relevant Food and Drug Administration (FDA) perspective were summarized with closing remarks.
Encountering the hostile environment: Recently arrived Afghan migrants in London
Authors: RYAN LOUISE , LÓPEZ MARÍA , DALCEGGIO ALESSIA
Published: March 2024

Following the dramatic evacuation from Kabul airport in August 2021, the UK government proclaimed its commitment to a ‘warm welcome’ for Afghans. In this paper we draw on original qualitative research to explore the emerging experiences of evacuees, and other recent arrivals, during their first year in London. Using the narratives of our Afghans participants, as well as insights from key stakeholders, we show how they navigated slow, opaque bureaucratic processes and lack of communication with official agencies. As a result of these lengthy processes, many thousands of evacuees remained in temporary hotel accommodation for protracted periods. Drawing on the concept of ‘everyday bordering’, we explore the extent to which Afghan resettlement policies are achieving their objectives. We consider how such policies are birthed within a punitive immigration system, which is designed to ‘wear down’ migrants in the UK, regardless of their reason for migration. Moreover, we argue that the ad hoc response of the Home Office and the Foreign Office has created ‘false distinctions’ between categories of Afghan refugees, reinforcing notions of ‘deserving’ versus ‘underserving’ migrants. This distinction allows the government to present itself as humanitarian, ‘rescuing’ people from Afghanistan, while simultaneously maintaining its commitment to the ‘hostile immigration environment’.
Editorial introduction: Racialised migrants navigating the UK's hostile environment policies
Authors: REYNOLDS TRACEY , EREL UMUT , O’NEILL MAGGIE
Published: March 2024

This themed issue explores how the British Government are trying to embed immigration control in every aspect of life in the UK for racialised migrants. The articles study the ideological underpinnings of hostile environment policies, to highlight the multiple ways in which racialised migrants are specifically targeted, positioned as ‘unworthy' citizens'. Hostile environment policies create a climate of fear, and as several articles in the volume will show, a knock-on effect is that policies discourage racialised women from accessing important care, specialist health services including maternal care, and from reporting domestic abuse, because of the justifiable concern that the NHS acts as a ‘border police' institution by the government to document and report patients' immigration status Articles in this issue explore how hostile environment policies from the government increased racialised migrants’ vulnerability to poverty, destitution and homelessness. Each of the articles centre the lived experience of the hostile environment for racialised migrants to appraise its impact on public health, mortality rates, the public purse and wider social relations in the UK.
The exceptions to child exceptionalism: Racialised migrant ‘deservingness’ and the UK's free school meal debates
Authors: ROSEN RACHEL , DICKSON EVE
Published: March 2024

Free School Meals (FSM) have been the site of renewed contestation and extensive campaigning in the last half-decade. Until recently, children in families with ‘no recourse to public funds’ because of their immigration status were excluded from accessing FSMs, despite being some of the most destitute in Britain. Through an analysis of campaign materials and interviews with advocates, we consider this dynamic policy terrain in light of the UK's ‘hostile environment’ and consider lessons for campaigners. By exploring imaginaries of childhood, poverty, and nation shaping FSM policies, we offer a warning that campaigns can end up justifying exclusions at the same time as aiming for more expansive support. How campaigns represent their causes has implications, which, in this case, is often through the exceptionalism and hyper-deservingness of childhood. We argue these representations reduce discussion to technical questions about who is ‘deserving’, thereby risking shoring up an exclusionary and hostile state.
Forum theatre practice as lived activism
Authors: KAPTANI ERENE , ISMAIL SURAIYA , RIFKIN FRANCES , O’NEILL MAGGIE
Published: March 2024

This article seeks to show that activism for racialised, black and migrant women stems from their embodied lived experiences and the need for creating practices and spaces for these to manifest, be validated and expand on. Forum Theatre practice that includes the racialised body, collective reflection and reparative action can address the neo-colonial and patriarchal encounters, and places of oppression within mainstream activism. This article was discussed, written, and based on the workshops and reflexive conversations regarding the racialised women's experiences of the hostile environment policies. It reflects on the necessity to address and combat these policies through empowering the mind, body and spirit of the women activists in North East of England, part of an AHRC funded knowledge transfer project of using arts based interventions for civic engagement.
Mothering in hostile environments: Migrant families negotiating the welfare and immigration regime nexus
Authors: BENCHEKROUN RACHEL , HUMPHRIS RACHEL , SIGONA NANDO
Published: March 2024

This article examines the production, working and impact of the UK's hostile environment on migrant families with precarious legal status. Our approach is informed by two bodies of scholarly work: critical border studies and research on migrant families. We bridge these literatures to show how the hostile environment is neither a singular, neatly bounded space, nor limited to a set of interactions between immigration enforcement and a clear-cut group of people (so-called ‘illegal immigrants’). It affects the lives of a wider segment of the UK population, in particular racialised migrants and citizens, by making their legal status more insecure and precarious, and percolates in multiple and intersecting domains in the lives of families, such as education, housing and welfare, making them ambivalent sites of protection and safety as well as control and enforcement. Drawing on ethnographic engagement with families with insecure immigration statuses, we explore how the hostile environment manifests in the everyday lives of families; how the hostile environment circulates and is re-enacted within the micro-politics of families; and how families negotiate the continuous work of protecting children from the effects of the hostile environment. In conclusion we argue that dramatic and rapid shifts in immigration rules and regulations undermine the capacity of mothers to navigate the policy environment and welfare for their children and to shield them from the consequences of state-driven hostility towards immigrants.
Common pitfalls, and how to avoid them, in child and adolescent psychopharmacology: Part II
Authors: Cortese Samuele , Besag Frank MC , Clark Bruce , Hollis Chris , Kilgariff Joe , Moreno Carmen , Nicholls Dasha , Wilkinson Paul , Woodbury-Smith Marc , Sharma Aditya
Published: March 2024

As Faculty of the British Association for Psychopharmacology course on child and adolescent psychopharmacology, we present here what we deem are the most common pitfalls, and how to avoid them, in child and adolescent psychopharmacology. In this paper, we specifically addressed common pitfalls in the pharmacological treatment of autism and intellectual disability, eating disorders, neuropsychiatric correlates of epilepsy, and psychosis. Pitfalls in relation to the treatment of other disorders are addressed in a separate paper (Part I).
Transient changes in the ST-T waveform mimicking myocardial infarction in a child with near-drowning: a case report
Authors: Zhang Jianmin , Lv Haitao , Jiang Xue , Tang Yunjia , Hou Miao
Published: March 2024

Drowning is a common cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide. Anoxia, hypothermia, and metabolic acidosis are mainly responsible for this morbidity. Drowning may lead to multiple organ damage, especially cardiac damage, in cases in which severe hypothermia and hypoxemia occur. We report a case of a 4-year-old girl who was admitted to our hospital’s Emergency Department because of drowning. She had elevated troponin I concentrations and ST-segment elevation with T wave inversion. However, cardiovascular computed tomography showed no obvious abnormalities in the coronary arteries. We suggest that cardiac damage in this situation is caused by coronary artery spasms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of cardiac damage with electrocardiographic changes after drowning in a preschool child.