bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Humanitarian Machine Dreams
Authors: Fejerskov Adam
Published: June 2022

This chapter shows how new forms of human and technological experimentation transform humanitarian work, and through it, affects the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people around the world. New digital technologies have radically altered how humanitarian actors identify, prevent, and resolve conflicts and disasters. Mobile phones, geodata technologies, and social networks have made it possible to collect data about when crises occur and how to stop them. Digital payment systems and iris scanners are now used to control the delivery of emergency aid, food, and water in refugee camps. Biometric data are collected and employed to identify and follow refugees and migrants as they move across borders. These inventions are made with hopes of success, yet failure is simultaneously seen as a productive force, and the faster the failure the better, allowing the inventers to produce new and better experiments. Inspired by Silicon Valley, this technological turn in essence opens up for an expanse of new experimental types and forms of humanitarian interventions, in some situations making access to technology in itself a form of relief, just as it opens up room for and dependence on new actors—particularly start-ups or other organizations with limited experience in emergencies. With vague boundaries between the technological and ‘real’ world of humanitarian efforts, the new experimental movement has profound implications for the world’s poorest.
Randomistas
Authors: Fejerskov Adam
Published: June 2022

This chapter examines the role of the randomistas—development economists known for their affinity for experimentation and particularly Randomized Controlled Trials—in constructing and bolstering the knowledge and power of the experimental movement. More than a scientific methodology, RCTs have come to function as tools of influence and power, aiming to shift policy-making towards objective and rational problem-solving with an emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness, ultimately thinking it can reduce messy and complex realities to a set of logical causal chains. How is it that the experimentalist affinities of RCTs have managed to become so dominant in the field, despite econometricians persuasively arguing that the evidence these methods provide is not guaranteed to be more soundproof than other forms of evidence? Who are the main personages and actors driving forward this supposed experimental revolution of our understanding of the effectiveness of development and social policy? And how are they connected to and supported by certain political audiences? This chapter opens up the randomista movement that is as bound together by political concerns as it is by scientific or methodical concerns of the necessity of experimentation in the Global South. We examine the rhetorical and political strategies employed by champions of RCTs to recruit allies and convince audiences of their superiority, allowing us to understand its lines of similarity to the practices and ideas of the other actors in the new experimental movement.
Experimental Futures
Authors: Fejerskov Adam
Published: June 2022

The concluding chapter ties together the different strings of the story, bringing the book’s empirical central arguments together, whilst looking ahead to a future of growing experimentation and experimental politics not least in the light of Covid-19, at one point forcing 2.5 billion people into lockdown, massively exacerbating inequalities between groups and countries. Despite ‘scientific’ attempts at constructing narratives of certainty, the aftermath and response to the Covid-19 crisis in reality forms the greatest social, political, and economic experiment witnessed in our lifetime. Emergencies and states of exceptionalism in equal parts justify and incite practices of experimentation. This book vividly demonstrates this to be the case today as much as it has been historically, with every society producing its own vulnerabilities. The pandemic has been a noticeable demonstration of politics as scientific instrumentation, and how mathematics and statistics can control countries and billions of people’s actions based on notions of the mathematical purity of complex models, in theory hiding away the experimental qualities of the interventions. It seems the failure of politicians and governments (and to a certain extent its citizens—all of us) to address global challenges of climate, health, and inequality is catapulting us into a new age of experimentation, with the outlook that follows being one of equal parts uncertainty and inequality. This final chapter treats the question of what a future of experimentation and inequality looks like, but also sets out alternative pathways for democratic and participatory forms of experimentation.
Ireland
Authors: Gill John
Published: June 2022

This chapter concentrates on the legal system of the Republic of Ireland (hereinafter referred to as Ireland)—the common law system. It clarifies that there is no federal system of the law of Ireland and its law is distinct from the law of Northern Ireland. The chapter then jumps to highlight the formalities for different types of will in Ireland. In order to be valid, this chapter reveals that a will must be in writing. It must be signed by the testator/trix in the presence of at least two witnesses who sign in the presence of each other and in the presence of the testator/trix. By examining the order of succession in cases of intestacy, this chapter unfolds that the current rules as to intestate succession apply to all deaths on or after 1 January 1967 with regard to real and personal property. Ultimately, the chapter investigates how the surviving spouse shall be entitled to one-half of the estate where there are no children; and one-third of the estate where there are children. It also looks at the formal provisions in terms of maintenance from an estate and the concept of community property between husband and wife.
Malta
Authors: Borg Clara Galea
Published: June 2022

This chapter looks into the local system of Malta. It argues that Malta is a unitary state with one law applicable across the Maltese islands. The Maltese private law is based on the civil law tradition whereas Maltese public law is based on the common law tradition. The chapter also examines the formalities for different types of will, the amendment, revocation, and revival of wills, and how marriage automatically revokes or in any other way affects wills made prior to marriage. In intestate succession, this chapter reveals that where the deceased is survived by a spouse and descendants, his or her succession devolves as to one half upon the descendants and as to the other half upon the spouse. The surviving spouse is also granted the right of use and habitation over the matrimonial home and its contents. Maltese law also recognizes the right of the surviving spouse and descendants over a portion of the estate of the deceased called the ‘reserved’ portion. As the chapter emphasizes, said right is a credit of the value of the reserved portion against the estate of the deceased. This chapter ultimately reviews the matter of claiming maintenance from the estate as well as the matter of joint ownership.
Asset Management as a Digital Platform Industry
Authors: Haberly Daniel , Wójcik Dariusz
Published: June 2022

While contemporary technological disruption is increasingly conceptualized in terms of the logic and paradoxes of the digital platform economy, discussions of FinTech have only engaged to a limited extent with these debates—particularly from an economic geographic standpoint. This chapter fills this gap by extending the Global Financial Network (GFN) framework to problematize the organizational and geographic logic of the digital platform economy in finance, and applying it to examine the impact of the digital platform model on asset management. It shows that asset management is being profoundly disrupted by what we dub digital asset management platforms—or DAMPs—which encompass services including index fund and ETF provision, robo-advising, and analytics and trading support. Like other digital platforms, DAMPs do not so much leverage technology to enhance their competitiveness within markets, as to radically restructure the market itself. Also, like other platforms, their rise has produced a winner-take-all paradox of centralization through democratization that defies predictions of technology-enabled industry decentralization. However, the logic and implications of the rise of DAMPs diverges, in other respects, from nonfinancial digital platforms, as finance has long possessed an informational intensity and regulatory and organizational fluidity characteristic of the digital platform economy. Consequently, the digital platform model has mostly developed endogenously in asset management through incremental innovation by major financial firms—in a process that has reinforced the position of leading incumbent asset management centers, and above all New York—rather than being introduced from the outside by upstart technology firms and clusters.
Perceptual Constancy: A Central Natural Psychological Kind
Authors: Burge Tyler
Published: June 2022

Chapter 3 distinguishes perceptual constancies from other invariances in perceptual processing by reference to the science’s use of causal explanations. The objective relevance of all invariances in functional explanation contrasts with the role of perceptual constancies and perceptual representation of the environment in causal explanation. Misconstruals of perceptual constancies are criticized. Instances of simple efference copy and path integration are contrasted with perceptual constancies. Retinal contour integration, a pre-perceptual process, is contrasted with perceptual attributions of contours in the environment. This contrast coincides with a watershed between 2-D and 3-D processing. It is central to understanding the advent of spatial perception. Simple color constancies and distance constancies, or location constancies are discussed. Differences among feature constancies, relation constancies, and constancies in perceptual categorization are outlined. Some misunderstandings of temporal constancies are criticized.
Engaging Characters
Authors: Smith Murray
Published: June 2022

Having clarified the concept of character and established a ‘cognitive-anthropological’ model of mind driven by active, imaginative problem-solving, for which emotion figures as a part of its reasoning and problem-solving capacity rather than an impediment to it, the ground is clear for an alternative to the conventional model of ‘character identification’. That is the task of this, the pivotal chapter of the study as a whole, in which the interrelations among the various concepts discussed in other chapters are explicated. It introduces the model of character engagement, which posits three distinct levels of engagement with characters—recognition, alignment, and allegiance—which together comprise the structure of sympathy. The chapter concludes with an examination of the distinct role of empathy (and related types of response, including emotional simulation and affective mimicry) in our responses to fiction, and of the relationship between sympathy and empathy.
Afterword Engaging Characters
Authors: Smith Murray
Published: June 2022

The Afterword revisits the arguments of the first edition of Engaging Characters, the context of its genesis and composition, and some of the responses to it. Echoing one of the book’s key methods, the chapter advances its arguments in relation to a host of fresh examples, historical and contemporary, from a range of national cinemas and filmmaking traditions. The chapter explores further the ‘twofold’ nature of characters, realist and anti-realist accounts of character, character in documentary, the relationship between character and situation, experiments in relation to our recognition of and alignment with characters, complex forms of engagement with anti-heroic and villainous characters, and the political and moral valence of empathy and emotional responses to character. Through these topics, the chapter surveys a wide array of contemporary research, as well as various social and political trends, related to the major themes of the book.
A Model-Free Term Structure of U.S. Dividend Premiums
Authors: Ulrich Maxim , Florig Stephan , Seehuber Ralph
Published: June 2022

We estimate a model-free term structure of the ex ante dividend risk premium by combining two data sets with different information about future dividends. We aggregate survey forecasts about future dividends for single companies over multiple horizons to construct a term structure of expected S&P 500 dividend growth rates. We use European call and put option prices on the S&P 500 to estimate the term structures of options-implied dividend growth rates and risk-free rates. Applying the method to 2004–2021 data offers a new, ex ante perspective on the conditional time variation of the term structure of the dividend risk premium.
Undocumented Again? DACA Rescission, Emotions, and Incorporation Outcomes among Young Adults
Authors: Aranda Elizabeth , Vaquera Elizabeth , Castañeda Heide , Martinez Rosas Girsea
Published: June 2022

Former President Trump’s election and subsequent anti-immigrant policy initiatives brought an unprecedented sense of uncertainty for undocumented immigrants. This is particularly true for those who had experienced expanding opportunities through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive action signed by former President Obama in 2012. We use in-depth interviews with undocumented young adults to explore how the 2016 presidential election and 2017 executive action that rescinded DACA evoked emotions of anticipatory loss—including sadness and grief—and ontological insecurity—including anxiety and uncertainty. We adopt an interpretive and social constructionist approach to explore these emotions and their implications, demonstrating how even the threat of policy change impacts immigrant young adults’ societal incorporation. We illustrate how DACA recipients conceptualized loss and how these experiences manifested in educational attainment, labor market incorporation, feelings of belonging, and civic participation. Our study provides an innovative contribution to interpret in real-time the incorporation trajectories through the emotions of living with precarious legal status.
The Racial Paradigm and Dalit Anti-Caste Activism in the United States
Authors: Kurien Prema A
Published: June 2022

Based on interviews, some field research, and an analysis of online material, this paper focuses on the rights struggles of diasporic Indian caste groups formerly considered “Untouchable” whose self-chosen descriptor is “Dalit.” It examines Dalit activism in the United States around caste discrimination in both India and the U.S. The goal of this study is to demonstrate how Dalit American leaders use racial analogies in their international activism, and why race is a contested frame within the community. It makes clear that “universalistic” frames can obscure crucial particularities, making it harder to address the issue at hand. But it also reveals that dogmatic, particularistic frames can compromise the unity and mission of transnational movements. A 2020 lawsuit against Cisco Systems alleging caste discrimination toward a Dalit employee by Brahmin supervisors has opened the opportunity for anti-caste activists to develop a global norm specifically around how to address caste-based discrimination.
Immunomodulatory potential of black soldier fly larvae: applications beyond nutrition in animal feeding programs
Authors: Koutsos Elizabeth , Modica Bree , Freel Tarra
Published: June 2022

Insect-derived ingredients, including whole larvae, protein-rich meal, and oil, have been extensively studied in recent years and shown to be a sustainable source of quality nutrition for virtually all animal species and life stages. In addition to the ability to use these ingredients as a source of essential nutrition, more recent research has demonstrated the potential for the immunomodulatory activity of various components of insect-derived ingredients. For all insects studied, antimicrobial peptides make up a critical part of the insects’ innate immune system and these peptides have antimicrobial efficacy when purified from hemolymph and tested in vitro. From black soldier fly larvae, in particular, lauric acid is a predominant fatty acid deposited into the insect, and lauric acid also has potential antimicrobial activity in vitro and in vivo. Finally, the chitin and chitosan components of the insect exoskeleton may modulate microbial activity in a variety of ways. In companion animals, poultry, and livestock species, insect-derived ingredients have shown the potential to reduce the impact of actual or simulated disease challenge on several parameters of animal health and well-being. This review describes the current state of knowledge of the immunomodulatory potential of insect-derived ingredients.
Is Antibiotic Prophylaxis Necessary in Small (≤20% TBSA) Burn Excisions? A Retrospective Study
Authors: Puthumana Joseph S. , Khan Iman F. , Tiongco Rafael Felix P. , Akhavan Arya A. , Khoo Kimberly H. , Qiu Cecil S. , Puthumana Joe J. , Cooney Carisa M. , Wright William F. , Caffrey Julie A.
Published: June 2022

Background:

This study investigates the effect of prophylactic perioperative antibiotic use on patients with small burns [≤20% total body surface area (TBSA)] on rates of infection, graft loss, or readmission.

Methods:

A retrospective chart review was conducted on patients admitted to our institution’s burn center between January 2020 and July 2021. Patients were included if they had a 20% or less TBSA burn with 1 or more operating room visit for burn excision and were excluded if a preoperative infection was present. Data were gathered regarding patient demographics, burn mechanism, burn characteristics, and outcome measures including infection, graft loss, and readmission. Statistical analysis was conducted by Mann–Whitney U and Fisher exact tests, and P values reported at two-sided significance of less than 0.05.

Results:

There were no significant differences in age, body mass index, TBSA, percent third-degree burn, or comorbidities between patients who received (n = 29) or did not receive (n = 47) prophylactic perioperative antibiotics. There was a nonsignificant trend toward higher length of stay in the prophylactic antibiotic group, possibly driven by a nonsignificant trend toward higher rates of flame injuries in this group. There was no difference in infection (P = 0.544), graft loss (P = 0.494), or 30-day readmission (P = 0.584) between the two groups.

Conclusion:

This study finds no significant difference in postoperative infection, graft loss, or 30-day readmission in two similar patient cohorts who received or did not receive prophylactic perioperative antibiotics for acute excision of small (≤20% TBSA) burns.
Dual Fluorescent Tracers for Surgical Guidance: Preventing Donor-site Lymphedema in Vascularized Lymph Node Transfer
Authors: Chang Irene A. , Swanson Marco A. , Rajan Meenakshi , Schwarz Graham S.
Published: June 2022

Introduction:

Vascularized lymph node transfer (VLNT) restores physiological lymphatic function. Although effective, postoperative impairment of donor-site lymphatic function and iatrogenic lymphedema following lymph node transfer remains a pressing concern.

Methods:

Prospective analysis of VLNT patients undergoing dual fluorescent tracers-assisted harvest was performed at our institution from September 2013 to April 2022. Reverse lymphatic mapping of the lower extremity was performed with indocyanine green (ICG). Blue dye was utilized in both white light and near-infrared spectra for visualization of donor-site lymphatic structures. Demographics, intraoperative details, and surgical outcomes were recorded.

Results:

Twenty-five patients were included. Median age was 52.9 years with a body mass index of 29.1 kg/m2 and mean follow-up of 44 months (range 24 to 90 months). Lymphedema stage ranged from Campisi 2 to 4. Inguinal VLNT was performed in 13 patients, and 12 patients received combined VLNT and free flap breast reconstruction. No patients required change in lymph node donor site intraoperatively. All ICG stained nodes were preserved in situ. No cases of iatrogenic lower extremity lymphedema were observed. Postoperative bioimpedance spectroscopy, circumferential, and volumetric measurements of the donor-site limb did not show evidence of subclinical or clinical lymphedema. The donor site healed appropriately in 92% of patients; one patient developed methylene blue-induced skin necrosis.

Conclusion:

Reverse lymphatic mapping and surgical guidance with dual ICG and blue dye fluorescent tracers provides surgeons with real-time surgical guidance without radioisotope, improves surgical visualization in both white light and near-infrared spectra, and avoids iatrogenic lymphatic dysfunction in the donor limb.
Emerging Trends in Botulinum Neurotoxin A Resistance: An International Multidisciplinary Review and Consensus
Authors: Ho Wilson W. S. , Albrecht Philipp , Calderon Pacifico E. , Corduff Niamh , Loh David , Martin Michael U. , Park Je-Young , Suseno Lis S. , Tseng Fang-Wen , Vachiramon Vasanop , Wanitphakdeedecha Rungsima , Won Chong-Hyun , Yu Jonathan N. T. , Dingley Mary
Published: June 2022

Background:

Botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT-A) injection is the most widely performed aesthetic procedure and a first-line therapeutic option for various medical conditions. The potential for BoNT-A immunoresistance and secondary nonresponse related to neutralizing antibody (NAb) formation warrants attention as the range of BoNT-A aesthetic applications continues to expand.

Methods:

An international multidisciplinary panel reviewed published evidence on BoNT-A immunoresistance in aesthetic and therapeutic applications and discussed best practices integrating clinical, ethical, and aesthetic considerations. Consensus statements relating to awareness, assessment, and management of the risk of NAb-related secondary nonresponse in aesthetic practice were developed.

Results:

There was a consensus that, as doses used in aesthetic practice become like those in therapeutics, rates of NAb formation may be expected to increase. However, the true extent of NAb formation in aesthetics is likely underestimated due to limitations of published evidence and variability in treatment patterns of aesthetic patients. Since BoNT-A therapy is often lifelong, practitioners need to recognize immunogenicity as a potential complication that might affect future therapeutic use and strive to minimize modifiable risk factors. The selection and use of a BoNT-A product with the least immunogenic potential from the beginning may thus be advantageous, especially when treatment with high doses is planned.

Conclusions:

In view of current trends in BoNT-A aesthetic use, it is essential for practitioners to conduct thorough clinical assessments, inform patients of treatment risks, and develop BoNT-A treatment plans to minimize immunogenicity. This can help preserve the option of continued or future BoNT-A treatment with satisfactory outcomes.
Breast Cancer Among Female Flight Attendants and the Role of the Occupational Exposures
Authors: Weinmann Sandra , Tanaka Luana Fiengo , Schauberger Gunther , Osmani Vanesa , Klug Stefanie J.
Published: June 2022

Objective

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate occupational exposures and their role in breast cancer (BC) risk among female flight attendants (FFAs).

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed and EMBASE and included all observational studies reporting on the outcome BC incidence among FFAs. The exposures of interest were cosmic radiation and circadian rhythm disruption. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.

Results

Nine studies met the inclusion criteria, of which four were included in the meta-analysis for BC incidence (pooled standardized incidence ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.32 to 1.54). Three studies suggested a possible association between BC and cosmic radiation, whereas none found an association with circadian rhythm disruption.

Conclusion

Neither exposure to cosmic radiation nor circadian rhythm disruption seems to explain the elevated risk of BC among flight attendants. Further studies reporting individual information on occupational exposures are needed.
The effect of an HIV preexposure prophylaxis panel management strategy to increase preexposure prophylaxis prescriptions
Authors: Saberi Parya , Stoner Marie C.D. , Ming Kristin , Lisha Nadra E. , Hojilla J. Carlo , Scott Hyman M. , Liu Albert Y. , Steward Wayne T. , Johnson Mallory O. , Neilands Torsten B.
Published: June 2022

Objective:

The HIV preexposure prophylaxis optimization intervention (PrEP-OI) study evaluated the efficacy of a panel management intervention using PrEP coordinators and a web-based panel management tool to support healthcare providers in optimizing PrEP prescription and ongoing PrEP care.

Design:

The PrEP-OI study was a stepped-wedge randomized clinical trial conducted across 10 San Francisco Department of Public Health primary care sites between November 2018 and September 2019. Each month, clinics one-by-one initiated PrEP-OI in random order until all sites received the intervention by the study team.

Methods:

The primary outcome was the number of PrEP prescriptions per month. Secondary outcomes compared pre- and postintervention periods on whether PrEP was discussed and whether PrEP-related counseling (e.g., HIV risk assessment, risk reduction counseling, PrEP initiation/continuation assessment) was conducted. Prescription and clinical data were abstracted from the electronic health records. We calculated incidence rate ratios (IRR) and risk ratios (RR) to estimate the intervention effect on primary and secondary outcomes.

Results:

The number of PrEP prescriptions across clinics increased from 1.85/month (standard deviation [SD] = 2.55) preintervention to 2.44/month (SD = 3.44) postintervention (IRR = 1.34; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05–1.73; P = 0.021). PrEP-related discussions during clinic visits (RR = 1.13; 95% CI = 1.04–1.22; P = 0.004), HIV risk assessment (RR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.14–1.72; P = 0.001), and risk reduction counseling (RR = 1.16; 95% CI = 1.03–1.30; P = 0.011) increased from the pre- to the postintervention period. Assessment of PrEP initiation/continuation increased over time during the postintervention period (RR = 1.05; 95% CI = 0.99–1.11; P = 0.100).

Conclusions:

A panel management intervention using PrEP coordinators and a web-based panel management tool increased PrEP prescribing and improved PrEP-related counseling in safety-net primary care clinics.
Impact of COVID19 on Maxillofacial Fractures in the Province of L’Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy. Review of 296 Patients Treated With Statistical Comparison of the Two-Year Pre-COVID19 and COVID19
Authors: Giovannetti Filippo , Lupi Ettore , Di Giorgio Danilo , Scarsella Secondo , Oliva Antonio , Di Fabio Desiderio , Prata Paolo , Petricca Giada , Valentini Valentino
Published: June 2022

The aim of this study was to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiology of maxillofacial trauma in a regional trauma center in L’Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy, during the first wave of the pandemic and comparted it to an equivalent period from 2015 to 2018. The authorshave retrospectively analyzed personal data, site of trauma, etiology, and mechanism of injury. Statistical analysis has been carried out utilizing IBM SPSS Statistics software (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) and significance was accepted for P values of <0.05. From January 2015 to December 2020, a total of 296 were analyzed. In Pre-COVID era, 195 patients were evaluated, 130 males (66.6%) and 65 females (33.4%). Zygomatic-malar complex fractures were the most common site of trauma in both genders (53%), followed by mandibular fractures (23%) and orbital ones (15%). The highest incidences of injuries were recorded between 15 and 34 years (21%) with the most common etiology attributed to road accidents traumas (49%). In COVID19 era, the authors recorded 101 traumas, 58 males (57.4%), 43 females (42.6%). Zygomatic-malar complex fractures were confirmed as the most common ones in both genders (41%). The most common etiology was related to casual domestic accident and assaults (37% and 30%, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference in terms of incidence in the comparison of Pre-COVID19 and COVID19 periods (P > 0.05) as opposed to the etiology in which the road traffic accidents decreased in favor of domestic accidents and interpersonal assaults (P < 0.05). Our scientific study represents the first epidemiologic study related to the impact of COVID-19 on maxillo-facial trauma in the Province of L’Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy. A decrease in the number of Maxillofacial injuries related to road traffic accidents can be demonstrated as the benefit of lockdown, however, a significant increase in the number of physical assaults shows how isolation and restrictions have had a highly negative psychological impact on society.
Light flashes and the geometry of specular fish schools
Authors: Pertzelan Assaf , Ariel Gil , Kiflawi Moshe
Published: June 2022

The risk of predation presents a difficult challenge in environments that offer no physical shelter, such as the open waters of the world's seas. In the absence of hiding places, many marine fishes turn to two main anti-predator strategies: aggregation and camouflage, which, mostly, have been studied separately. Here, we consider both aspects together and examine the visual imprint of fish schools of different sizes and geometries, given that camouflage is attained by specular (mirror-like) skin texture. To do so, we developed ray-tracing simulations that model the passage of sunbeams as they go through an optically realistic aquatic environment and reflect off the skins of the fish. We find that due to frequent high-intensity specular reflections (light flashes), the marginal increase in detectability with increasing school size is significantly higher than previously estimated under the assumption of diffusive reflection. However, we also find that by increasing density and alignment the fish can mitigate the detectability of individuals, albeit at the expense of the detectability of the school as a whole. Our findings provide a new perspective on documented responses to threat by schooling pelagic fishes and underscore the importance of the optical signature of animals in structuring their behaviour.
Charting the twist-to-bend ratio of plant axes
Authors: Wolff-Vorbeck Steve , Speck Olga , Langer Max , Speck Thomas , Dondl Patrick W.
Published: June 2022

During the evolution of land plants many body plans have been developed. Differences in the cross-sectional geometry and tissue pattern of plant axes influence their flexural rigidity, torsional rigidity and the ratio of both of these rigidities, the so-called twist-to-bend ratio. For comparison, we have designed artificial cross-sections with various cross-sectional geometries and patterns of vascular bundles, collenchyma or sclerenchyma strands, but fixed percentages for these tissues. Our mathematical model allows the calculation of the twist-to-bend ratio by taking both cross-sectional geometry and tissue pattern into account. Each artificial cross-section was placed into a rigidity chart to provide information about its twist-to-bend ratio. In these charts, artificial cross-sections with the same geometry did not form clusters, whereas those with similar tissue patterns formed clusters characterized by vascular bundles, collenchyma or sclerenchyma arranged as one central strand, as a peripheral closed ring or as distributed individual strands. Generally, flexural rigidity increased the more the bundles or fibre strands were placed at the periphery. Torsional rigidity decreased the more the bundles or strands were separated and the less that they were arranged along a peripheral ring. The calculated twist-to-bend ratios ranged between 0.85 (ellipse with central vascular bundles) and 196 (triangle with individual peripheral sclerenchyma strands).
The physical properties of the stick insect pad secretion are independent of body size
Authors: Kaimaki Domna-Maria , Andrew Charlotte N. S. , Attipoe Andrea E. L. , Labonte David
Published: June 2022

Many insects use adhesive organs to climb. The ability to cling to surfaces is advantageous but is increasingly challenged as animals grow, due to the associated reduction in surface-to-volume ratio. Previous work has demonstrated that some climbing animals overcome this scaling problem by systematically altering the maximum force per area that their adhesive pads can sustain; their adhesive organs become more efficient as they grow, an observation which is also of substantial relevance for the design of bioinspired adhesives. What is the origin of this change in efficiency? In insects, adhesive contact is mediated by a thin film of a liquid, thought to increase adhesive performance via capillary and viscous forces. Here, we use interference reflection microscopy and dewetting experiments to measure the contact angle and dewetting speed of the secretion of pre-tarsal adhesive pads of Indian stick insects, varying in mass by over two orders of magnitude. Neither contact angle nor dewetting speed change significantly with body mass, suggesting that the key physical properties of the pad secretion—its surface tension and viscosity—are size-invariant. Thus, the observed change in pad efficiency is unlikely to arise from systematic changes of the physical properties of the pad secretion; the functional role of the secretion remains unclear.
Understanding the relative risks of zoonosis emergence under contrasting approaches to meeting livestock product demand
Authors: Bartlett Harriet , Holmes Mark A. , Petrovan Silviu O. , Williams David R. , Wood James L. N. , Balmford Andrew
Published: June 2022

It has been argued that intensive livestock farming increases the risk of pandemics of zoonotic origin because of long-distance livestock movements, high livestock densities, poor animal health and welfare, low disease resistance and low genetic diversity. However, data on many of these factors are limited, and analyses to date typically ignore how land use affects emerging infectious disease (EID) risks, and how these risks might vary across systems with different yields (production per unit area). Extensive, lower yielding practices typically involve larger livestock populations, poorer biosecurity, more workers and more area under farming, resulting in different, but not necessarily lower, EID risks than higher yielding systems producing the same amount of food. To move this discussion forward, we review the evidence for each of the factors that potentially link livestock production practices to EID risk. We explore how each factor might vary with yield and consider how overall risks might differ across a mix of production systems chosen to reflect in broad terms the current livestock sector at a global level and in hypothetical low- and high-yield systems matched by overall level of production. We identify significant knowledge gaps for all potential risk factors and argue these shortfalls in understanding mean we cannot currently determine whether lower or higher yielding systems would better limit the risk of future pandemics.
The spread of technological innovations: effects of psychology, culture and policy interventions
Authors: Tverskoi Denis , Babu Sudarsanam , Gavrilets Sergey
Published: June 2022

Technological innovations drive the evolution of human societies. The success of innovations depends not only on their actual benefits but also on how potential adopters perceive them and how their beliefs are affected by their social and cultural environment. To deepen our understanding of socio-psychological processes affecting the new technology spread, we model the joint dynamics of three interlinked processes: individual learning and mastering the new technology, changes in individual attitudes towards it, and changes in individual adoption decisions. We assume that the new technology can potentially lead to a higher benefit but achieving it requires learning. We posit that individual decision-making process as well as their attitudes are affected by cognitive dissonance and conformity with peers and an external authority. Individuals vary in different psychological characteristics and in their attitudes. We investigate both transient dynamics and long-term equilibria observed in our model. We show that early adopters are usually individuals who are characterized by low cognitive dissonance and low conformity with peers but are sensitive to the effort of an external authority promoting the innovation. We examine the effectiveness of five different intervention strategies aiming to promote the diffusion of a new technology: training individuals, providing subsidies for early adopters, increasing the visibility of peer actions, simplifying the exchange of opinions between people, and increasing the effort of an external authority. We also discuss the effects of culture on the spread of innovations. Finally, we demonstrate that neglecting the cognitive forces and the dynamic nature of individual attitudes can lead to wrong conclusions about adoption of innovations. Our results can be useful in developing more efficient policies aiming to promote the spread of new technologies in different societies, cultures and countries.
On the earliest Acheulean in Britain: first dates and
in-situ
artefacts from the MIS 15 site of Fordwich (Kent, UK)
Authors: Key Alastair , Lauer Tobias , Skinner Matthew M. , Pope Matthew , Bridgland David R. , Noble Laurie , Proffitt Tomos
Published: June 2022

Northern Europe experienced cycles of hominin habitation and absence during the Middle Pleistocene. Fluvial gravel terrace sites in the east of Britain and north of France provide a majority of the data contributing to this understanding, mostly through the presence or absence of stone-tool artefacts. To date, however, relatively few sites have been radiometrically dated, and many have not been excavated in modern times, leading to an over-reliance on selectively sampled and poorly dated lithic assemblages. This includes Fordwich (Kent, UK), where over 330 bifaces were discovered through industrial quarrying in the 1920s. Here, we present the first excavation and dating of artefacts discovered
in situ
at Fordwich, alongside their technological analysis and relationship to those previously recovered. The site is demonstrated to retain deposits of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts, with 251 flakes, scrapers and cores identified to date. Infrared-radiofluorescence (IR-RF) dating of feldspar reveals 112 artefacts to have come from levels dating to at least 570 ± 36 to 513 ± 30 thousand years ago (ka) and are most plausibly assigned to an MIS 14 deposition, with artefacts produced during MIS 15 (approx. 560–620 ka). Indeed, these IR-RF samples provide minimum ages for artefacts. Combined with evidence from exposures linked to the original quarrying activities, a similar MIS 15 age is suggested for the more than 330 handaxe artefacts discovered in the 1920s. The remaining excavated artefacts come from levels dated to between 347 ± 22 and 385 ± 21 ka (MIS 10 or 11), with this later age interpreted to reflect post-MIS 14 deposition by substrate gullying and solifluction. These data demonstrate Fordwich to be one of the earliest Palaeolithic sites in northwestern Europe, and to retain the only large Acheulean handaxe assemblage directly dated to pre-MIS 13. Thus, Fordwich is determined to be a crucial piece of the pre-Anglian Palaeolithic puzzle in northern Europe.
Plane strain wedge indentation revisited
Authors: Kuroda Mitsutoshi
Published: June 2022

For a plane strain wedge indentation problem, detailed comparisons between slip-line field theory (SLFT) solutions, experimental observations and finite-element analysis results are carried out. Several past remaining questions on this problem are explored. The finite-element computations appear to account for the nature of a modified slip-line field solution (Petryk H. 1980
Journal de Mécanique Appliquée
4
, 255–282) that assumes the existence of an additional fan-shaped slip-line field just above the boundary between yielding and unyielding regions. For obtuse-angled wedges, finite-element computations show that the indentation load could be smaller for a rough wedge than for a smooth wedge. The question that was raised in the literature with respect to the reversed order of required loads for smooth and rough wedges is not necessarily a paradox. It is revealed that with increasing friction coefficient, a distinct deformation mode resembling the dead metal cap solution in the SLFT is established immediately after passing the critical friction coefficient value at which the contact mode theoretically changes from frictional sliding to perfect sticking. The profiles of the bulged-out lip material remain straight in all the finite-element computations for non-hardening materials. Nonlinearity of the lip profiles frequently observed in experiments appears in the presence of strain hardening or strain-rate sensitivity.
Background selection under evolving recombination rates
Authors: Booker Tom R. , Payseur Bret A. , Tigano Anna
Published: June 2022

Background selection (BGS), the effect that purifying selection exerts on sites linked to deleterious alleles, is expected to be ubiquitous across eukaryotic genomes. The effects of BGS reflect the interplay of the rates and fitness effects of deleterious mutations with recombination. A fundamental assumption of BGS models is that recombination rates are invariant over time. However, in some lineages, recombination rates evolve rapidly, violating this central assumption. Here, we investigate how recombination rate evolution affects genetic variation under BGS. We show that recombination rate evolution modifies the effects of BGS in a manner similar to a localized change in the effective population size, potentially leading to underestimation or overestimation of the genome-wide effects of selection. Furthermore, we find evidence that recombination rate evolution in the ancestors of modern house mice may have impacted inferences of the genome-wide effects of selection in that species.
Religious celibacy brings inclusive fitness benefits
Authors: Micheletti Alberto J. C. , Ge Erhao , Zhou Liqiong , Chen Yuan , Zhang Hanzhi , Du Juan , Mace Ruth
Published: June 2022

The influence of inclusive fitness interests on the evolution of human institutions remains unclear. Religious celibacy constitutes an especially puzzling institution, often deemed maladaptive. Here, we present sociodemographic data from an agropastoralist Buddhist population in western China, where parents sometimes sent a son to the monastery. We find that men with a monk brother father more children, and grandparents with a monk son have more grandchildren, suggesting that the practice is adaptive. We develop a model of celibacy to elucidate the inclusive fitness costs and benefits associated with this behaviour. We show that a minority of sons being celibate can be favoured if this increases their brothers' reproductive success, but only if the decision is under parental, rather than individual, control. These conditions apply to monks in our study site. Inclusive fitness considerations appear to play a key role in shaping parental preferences to adopt this cultural practice.
Listeria ilorinensis sp. nov., isolated from cow milk cheese in Nigeria
Authors: Raufu Ibrahim Adisa , Moura Alexandra , Vales Guillaume , Ahmed Olayiwola Akeem , Aremu Abdulfatai , Thouvenot Pierre , Tessaud-Rita Nathalie , Bracq-Dieye Hélène , Krishnamurthy Ramar , Leclercq Alexandre , Lecuit Marc
Published: June 2022

During microbial assessment of cow milk cheese products in the city of Ilorin, Nigeria, a

Listeria

-like isolate was detected that could not be assigned to any known species. Whole-genome sequence analyses against all currently known 26

Listeria

species confirmed that this isolate constitutes a new taxon within the genus

Listeria

, with highest similarity to

Listeria costaricensis

(average nucleotide identity blast of 82.66%, in silico DNA–DNA hybridization of 28.3%). Phenotypically, it differs from

L. costaricensis

by the inability to ferment sucrose, l-fucose and starch. The absence of haemolysis and

Listeria

pathogenic islands suggest that this novel species is not pathogenic for humans and animals. The name Listeria ilorinensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain CLIP 2019/01311T (=CIP 111875T=DSM 111566T).
Performance metrics for models designed to predict treatment effect
Authors: Maas C.C.H.M. , Kent D.M. , Hughes M.C. , Dekker R. , Lingsma H.F. , van Klaveren D.
Published: June 2022

Background

Measuring the performance of models that predict individualized treatment effect is challenging because the outcomes of two alternative treatments are inherently unobservable in one patient. The C-for-benefit was proposed to measure discriminative ability. However, measures of calibration and overall performance are still lacking. We aimed to propose metrics of calibration and overall performance for models predicting treatment effect.

Methods

Similar to the previously proposed C-for-benefit, we defined observed pairwise treatment effect as the difference between outcomes in pairs of matched patients with different treatment assignment. We redefined the E-statistics, the cross-entropy, and the Brier score into metrics for measuring a model’s ability to predict treatment effect. In a simulation study, the metric values of deliberately “perturbed models” were compared to those of the data-generating model, i.e., “optimal model”. To illustrate these performance metrics, different modeling approaches for predicting treatment effect are applied to the data of the Diabetes Prevention Program: 1) a risk modelling approach with restricted cubic splines; 2) an effect modelling approach including penalized treatment interactions; and 3) the causal forest.

Results

As desired, performance metric values of “perturbed models” were consistently worse than those of the “optimal model” (Eavg-for-benefit≥0.070 versus 0.001, E90-for-benefit≥0.115 versus 0.003, cross-entropy-for-benefit≥0.757 versus 0.733, Brier-for-benefit≥0.215 versus 0.212). Calibration, discriminative ability, and overall performance of three different models were similar in the case study. The proposed metrics were implemented in a publicly available R-package “HTEPredictionMetrics”.

Conclusion

The proposed metrics are useful to assess the calibration and overall performance of models predicting treatment effect.