bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The evolutionary stability of plant antagonistic facilitation across environmental gradients and its ecological consequences: soil resource engineering as a case study
Authors: Cabal Ciro , Maciel Gabriel A. , Martinez-Garcia Ricardo
Published: February 2023

Plant interactions, understood as the net effect of an individual on the fitness of a neighbor, vary in strength and can shift from negative to positive as the environmental conditions change in time and space. Evolutionary theory questions the stability of non-reciprocal interactions in which one plant has a positive net effect on a neighbor, which in return has a negative net impact on its benefactor. This type of interaction is known as antagonistic facilitation.

We develop a spatially explicit consumer-resource model for below-ground plant competition, including plants able to mine resources and make them available for any other plant in the community, termed ecosystem engineers. We use the model to assess whether and under which environmental conditions antagonistic facilitation via soil resource engineering is evolutionarily stable.

We find that antagonistic facilitation is stable in highly stressful conditions, which supports the theory of ecosystem engineers as drivers of primary succession and provides a theoretical ground to investigate facilitation mechanistically in the context of the stress gradient hypothesis.

Among all potential causes of stress considered in the model, the key environmental parameter driving changes in the interaction between plants is the proportion of the limiting resource available to plants without mining. This finding represents a challenge for empirical studies, which usually measure the resource input or loss in the system as a proxy for stress. We also find that the total root biomass and its spatial allocation through the root system, often used to measure the nature of the interaction between plants, do not predict facilitation reliably.

Synthesis.Antagonistic facilitation established between an ecosystem engineer nurse plant and neighbor opportunistic individuals can be evolutionarily stable in stressful environments where ecosystem engineers’ self-benefits from mining resources outweigh the competition with opportunistic neighbors. These results align with theories of primary succession and the stress gradient hypothesis as they show that antagonistic facilitation is stable under environmental stress, but it evolves into mutual interference in milder environments. However, using inaccurate parameters to measure facilitation and stress gradients in empirical studies might mask these patterns.
Host-specific subtelomere: structural variation and horizontal transfer in asexual filamentous fungal pathogens
Authors: Huang Xiaoqiu
Published: February 2023

Several asexual filamentous fungal pathogens contain supernumerary chromosomes carrying secondary metabolite (SM) or pathogenicity genes as well as transposons. Supernumerary chromosomes have been shown inin vitroexperiments to transfer from pathogenic isolates to non-pathogenic ones and between isolates whose fusion can result in vegetative or heterokaryon incompatibility (HET). However, much is still unknown about the extent of horizontal transfer of supernumerary chromosomes within and between asexual pathogenic populations in adaptation to their hosts. We investigated several asexual fungal pathogens for genomic elements involved in maintaining telomeres for supernumerary and core chromosomes during vegetative reproduction. We found that in vegetative populations or lineages with a nearly complete telomere-to-telomere genome assembly (e.g.Fusarium equisetiand fiveformae specialesof theF. oxysporumspecies complex), core and supernumerary chromosomes were flanked by highly similar subtelomeric sequences on the 3’ side and by their reverse complements on the 5’ side. This subtelomere sequence structure was specific to the host. We detected instances of recent horizontal transfer of regions of a supernumerary chromosome between distant populations in theF. oxysporumspecies complex, and we also found field isolates with two structurally different copies of a supernumerary chromosome in a young asexual population, raising the possibility that those copies originated from different lineages by intrastrain anastomosis. A large number of HET domain genes were located in SM/pathogenicity gene clusters, with a potential role in marking these gene clusters during vegetative reproduction. The emergence of novel asexual pathogenic populations by horizontal transfer of transposon-rich supernumerary chromosomes within and between populations poses challenges to the control and management of these pathogens.
Molecular evidence of anteroposterior patterning in adult echinoderms
Authors: Formery L. , Peluso P. , Kohnle I. , Malnick J. , Pitel M. , Uhlinger K. R. , Rokhsar D. S. , Rank D. R. , Lowe C. J.
Published: February 2023

The origin of the pentaradial body plan of echinoderms from a bilateral ancestor is one of the most enduring zoological puzzles. Since echinoderms are defined by morphological novelty, even the most basic axial comparisons with their bilaterian relatives are problematic. Here, we used conserved antero-posterior (AP) axial molecular markers to determine whether the highly derived adult body plan of echinoderms masks underlying patterning similarities with other deuterostomes. To revisit this classical question, we used RNA tomography andin situhybridizations in the sea starPatiria miniatato investigate the expression of a suite of conserved transcription factors with well-established roles in the establishment of AP polarity in bilaterians. We find that the relative spatial expression of these markers inP. miniataambulacral ectoderm shows similarity with other deuterostomes, with the midline of each ray representing the most anterior territory and the most lateral parts exhibiting a more posterior identity. Interestingly, there is no ectodermal territory in the sea star that expresses the characteristic bilaterian trunk genetic patterning program. This suggests that from the perspective of ectoderm patterning, echinoderms are mostly head-like animals, and prompts a reinterpretation of the evolutionary trends that made echinoderms the most derived animal group.
Distinct Aurora B pools at the inner centromere and kinetochore have different contributions to meiotic and mitotic chromosome segregation
Authors: Cairo Gisela , Greiwe Cora , Jung Gyu Ik , Blengini Cecilia , Schindler Karen , Lacefield Soni
Published: February 2023

Proper chromosome segregation depends on establishment of bioriented kinetochore-microtubule attachments, which often requires multiple rounds of release and reattachment. Aurora B and C kinases phosphorylate kinetochore proteins to release tensionless attachments. Multiple pathways recruit Aurora B/C to the centromere and kinetochore. We studied how these pathways contribute to anaphase onset timing and correction of kinetochore-microtubule attachments in budding yeast meiosis and mitosis. We find that the pool localized by the Bub1/Bub3 pathway sets the normal duration of meiosis and mitosis, in differing ways. Our meiosis data suggests that disruption of this pathway leads to PP1 kinetochore localization, which dephosphorylates Cdc20 for premature anaphase onset. For error correction, the Bub1/Bub3 and COMA pathways are individually important in meiosis but compensatory in mitosis. Finally, we find that the haspin and Bub1/3 pathways function together to ensure error correction in mouse oogenesis. Our results suggest that each recruitment pathway localizes spatially distinct kinetochore-localized Aurora B/C pools that function differently between meiosis and mitosis.
Foreign Ribosome Inactivating Proteins as immune effectors in insects
Authors: Lapadula Walter J. , Ayub Maximiliano Juri
Published: February 2023

Ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs) are RNAN-glycosidases that depurinate an adenine residue in the conserved alpha-sarcin/ricin loop (SRL) of rRNA. This ribosomal modification inhibits protein synthesis. During the last years, we have reported the existence of these toxins in insects, where their presence is restricted to mosquitoes from the Culicinae subfamily (e.g. Aedes aegypti) and whiteflies from Aleyrodidae family (e.g. Bemisia tabaci). Combination of phylogeny and synteny analyses showed that both groups of genes are derived from two independent horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events. Interestingly, we found that RIP encoding genes have been evolving under purifying selection, indicating that they have a positive impact on fitness of host organisms. We also demonstrated thatA. aegyptiRIP genes are transcribed and their transcripts are polyadenylated. Although the biological roles of these toxins remain open to speculation, defense activities have been postulated for plant and bacterial RIPs. Based on these pieces of evidence, we hypothesize that RIPs play a similar protective role in insects. In this work, we report the occurrence of a third HGT event in Sciaroidea superfamily, supporting that RIP genes fulfill an important functional niche in insects. Analysis on transcriptomic experiments from the three groups of insects indicate a convergence in expression profiles which are compatible with immune effectors. Finally, we show the induction in RIP expression after infection with pathogens. Moreover, we show transcriptomic evidence of parasite SRL depurination. Altogether, our results strongly support the role of these foreign genes as immune effectors that confer fitness advantage to host insects.
Benchmarking Molecular Dynamics Force Fields for All-Atom Simulations of Biological Condensates
Authors: Sarthak Kumar , Winogradoff David , Ge Yingda , Myong Sua , Aksimentiev Aleksei
Published: February 2023

Proteins containing intrinsically disordered regions are integral components of the cellular signaling pathways and common components of biological condensates. Point mutations in the protein sequence, genetic at birth or acquired through aging, can alter the properties of the condensates, marking the onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and dementia. While the all-atom molecular dynamics method can, in principle, elucidate the conformational changes that arise from point mutations, the applications of this method to protein condensate systems is conditioned upon the availability of molecular force fields that can accurately describe both structured and disordered regions of such proteins. Using the special-purpose Anton 2 supercomputer, we benchmarked the efficacy of nine presently available molecular force fields in describing the structure and dynamics of a Fused in sarcoma (FUS) protein. Five-microsecond simulations of the full-length FUS protein characterized the effect of the force field on the global conformation of the protein, self-interactions among its side chains, solvent accessible surface area and the diffusion constant. Using the results of dynamic light scattering as a benchmark for the FUS radius of gyration, we identified several force fields that produced FUS conformations within the experimental range. Next, we used these force fields to perform ten-microsecond simulations of two structured RNA binding domains of FUS bound to their respective RNA targets, finding the choice of the force field to affect stability of the RNA–FUS complex. Taken together, our data suggest that a combination of protein and RNA force fields sharing a common four-point water model provides an optimal description of proteins containing both disordered and structured regions and RNA–protein interactions. To make simulations of such systems available beyond the Anton 2 machines, we describe and validate implementation of the best performing force fields in a publicly available molecular dynamics program NAMD. Our NAMD implementation enables simulations of large (tens of millions of atoms) biological condensate systems and makes such simulations accessible to a broader scientific community.
Experiencing defects: the moderating role of severity and warranty coverage on quality perceptions
Authors: Catenazzo Giuseppe , Paulssen Marcel
Published: February 2023

Purpose

This study investigates two moderators of the effects of manufacturers' recovery efforts following a product defect on customers' perceptions of product quality: the severity of the product defect and whether the recovery efforts were covered under warranty or not.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 478 USA customers who purchased a new car from a cooperating manufacturer participated in a survey. Customers reported the most important product defect (if any) the customers had experienced with the customers' vehicle during the past year. Three linear regressions (OLS) were used to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

Defect severity moderates the effects of recovery efforts on quality perceptions. The well-known recovery effect occurs only for product defects of minor severity. Experiencing a severe product defect damages the customers' perceptions of product quality even if the product defect is completely fixed. Double deviations (failed recovery of a product defect) do not damage quality perceptions for defects of minor severity. Finally, warranty coverage of repairs can attenuate the adverse effects of a failed recovery of severe defects on customers' quality perceptions. Additionally, only non-complainers who have experienced a severe product defect correspond to the prevailing conceptualization of an at-risk customer group.

Originality/value

Despite the pervasiveness of product defects, research on the effects of experiencing product defects on customers' product quality perceptions is scarce. Furthermore, the authors' findings reconcile inconsistent results and provide a more nuanced understanding of the well-known recovery and double-deviation effects. Finally, the role of warranty coverage in the recovery process as a buffer for customers' perceptions of product quality is novel.
Firm performance as a mediator of the relationship between CEO narcissism and positive rhetorical tone
Authors: Tailab Mohamed M. , BenYoussef Nourhene , Al-Okaily Jihad
Published: February 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how chief executive officers’ (CEOs) narcissism impacts firm performance and how this, in turn, affects a CEO’s positive rhetorical tone.

Design/methodology/approach

The narcissism score is measured by using an analytical composite score for each CEO based on eight factors. The paper uses textual analysis on a sample of 848 CEO letters of US firms over the period 2010–2019. WarpPLS software, version 7.0 was used to conduct structural equation modeling through the partial least squares because a non-linear algorithm exists between CEO narcissism, firm performance and positive tone, and the values of path coefficients moved from non-significant to significant.

Findings

The results suggest that performance partially mediates the relationship between CEO narcissism and positive tone. This indicates that not all the positivity expressed by narcissistic CEOs is opportunism; some of it is indeed driven by better performance. The reported findings indicate that firm performance explains one-quarter of a CEO’s positive words, whereas some three-quarters of the positivity is driven by a narcissistic CEO (i.e. opportunism). A comparison of letters signed by highly narcissistic and less narcissistic leaders reveals that among those letters signed by highly narcissistic leaders, firm performance plays a significant mediating role between narcissistic tendencies and positive tone. However, among those with less narcissistic score, there is no evidence that performance mediates the tone and narcissism. Interestingly, both highly narcissistic and less narcissistic CEOs use positive words and optimistic expressions even when their firms perform poorly or negatively.

Research limitations/implications

The results help shareholders be aware that CEOs may opportunistically use their personal characteristics and language to manipulate them. Data limitations about women CEOs were one of the reasons behind the small proportion of women CEOs in this study, making it low in generalizability.

Originality value

A comprehensive review showed that none of previous studies examined the more ambiguous relationship between a CEO’s narcissist tendency, the firm’s performance, and CEO rhetorical tone. As one set of studies focused on Narcissism → Performance, and the other one on Performance → Tone, this current study completes the picture with Narcissism → Performance → Tone.
An empirical study on customers’ gambling intention in AI-supported casinos
Authors: Wong IpKin Anthony , Chau Keng Fong , Chan Heng U.
Published: February 2023

Purpose

This study aims to synthesize a research model based on artificial intelligence (AI) applications in the casino setting. The model incorporates the technology acceptance model (TAM) along with three external drivers, including factors pertinent to personal traits (i.e. openness), AI technology (i.e. visibility, security and social influence) and context (i.e. monetary motivation).

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study was conducted with 354 casino patrons. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed relationships.

Findings

The results reveal that openness, security and monetary motivation are significant antecedents of perceived usefulness. Visibility and social influence have significant direct effects on the intention to gamble in AI-supported casinos.

Originality/value

This study reinvestigates the TAM model from the casino customers’ AI decision support perspective to illustrate both the direct and mediating effects of perceived usefulness and ease of use on such a system. It highlights the salience of social influence, personality traits and monetary motivation on the propensity to adopt AI. It also contributes to the casino literature by showcasing the role of technology in directing patrons’ decisions.
How does IT capability affect knowledge acquisition in the presence of a dominant supplier?
Authors: Ma Shuang , Li Dahui , Wang Yonggui , Han Myat Su
Published: February 2023

Purpose

This study aims to examine how three types of information technology (IT) capability (supplier technological capability, customer technology-sensing capability and relatedness of IT infrastructure) facilitate knowledge acquisition by the customer when the supplier is dominant in the supplier-customer relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The unit of analysis was project. The authors designed two different questionnaires that were responded by the project manager of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software supplier and the contact person of the customer organization in the same project, respectively. The two questionnaires were matched by means of project name. The final sample included a total of 136 projects. The authors used ordinary least squares to test the research hypotheses.

Findings

The authors found that supplier power advantage negatively influenced knowledge acquisition by the customer. The three types of IT capability did not have direct impacts on knowledge acquisition. The moderating effect of customer technology-sensing capability was not significant either. However, supplier technological capability and relatedness of IT infrastructure attenuated the negative effect of supplier power advantage on knowledge acquisition, indicating that both factors promoted knowledge acquisition.

Originality/value

Knowledge acquisition is important for the success of software implementation in the supplier-customer relationship. There is limited evidence in the literature on how to apply externally oriented IT capability to enhance knowledge management, improve knowledge acquisition and manage the business relationship that is typically dominated by the software supplier. The authors provide evidence to examine related issues.
Commercial Bombus impatiens colonies function as ecological traps for wild queens
Authors: Miller Olivia , Hale Casey , Richardson Leeah , Sossa David , Iverson Aaron , McArt Scott , Poveda Katja , Grab Heather
Published: February 2023

In response to anthropogenic environmental change, the cues that animals use throughout their lifecycle to optimize fitness may become unreliable, resulting in an ecological trap.

Here we investigated whether commercial bumble bee Bombus impatiens colonies managed for early spring crop pollination act as ecological traps for wild nest‐searching Bombus queens by subverting their natural nest usurpation behaviour.

An average of 10 dead wild queens were recovered from each standard colony during the 2‐week period of the experiment, but colonies with queen excluders were successful in preventing wild queen deaths. The use of queen excluders did not impact colony performance in terms of resident queen survival, colony reproduction, colony weight gain or worker body size.

Sites where wild nest‐searching queens were small had higher rates of failed usurpation, suggesting smaller‐sized queens are disproportionately at risk from failed usurpation. Furthermore, sites where commercial colonies without queen excluders were introduced for spring crop pollination had fewer bumble bee visits to a later‐blooming crop compared to sites without commercial colonies.

Synthesis and applications. Our findings reveal a novel mechanism by which commercial colonies can negatively impact wild bumble bee populations and their pollination services. At the same time, we demonstrate a simple and inexpensive risk mitigation tool—a queen excluder—was 100% effective at eliminating this risk without compromising colony performance. Commercial colonies used outdoors during the bumble bee nest‐searching period should be fit with queen excluders to prevent negative impacts on wild pollinator communities and their services.
National Identity in the British Volunteer Sermons, 1794–1802*
Authors: Coltharp Duane
Published: February 2023

From 1794, when the British volunteer movement began in earnest, to 1802, when the French Revolutionary Wars came to an end, the established clergy preached numerous sermons to volunteer military units throughout England and in parts of Scotland. These sermons sought to articulate a sense of Britishness in such a way as to command more or less universal assent, meaning assent both to the ongoing war effort and to the national enterprise more broadly considered. Volunteers across the country were taught to see Great Britain as a nation chosen by God to stand alone against the onslaught of French principles, and they were encouraged to derive a sense of purpose and meaning from their local contributions to the national struggle. The volunteer sermons bridged the gap between local attachments and national commitments, and in so doing they played a significant role in the formation of a national consciousness.
Perceived school support as a predictor of Singapore preschool teachers' inclusion of children with developmental needs
Authors: Tan Peng Chian , Poon Kenneth
Published: February 2023

Teachers are more likely to include children with developmental needs (DN) in their classroom when they perceive that important people around them, such as principals, colleagues, and parents of children with and without DN, endorse inclusive education. Adequacy of resources and availability of training opportunities may also affect how teachers perceived being supported. This study examines Singapore preschool teachers' perception of support received from their working environment to include children with DN and how this predicts their intention to practice inclusive education and self‐reported implementation of inclusive practices in the classroom. The original Perceived School Support for Inclusive Education (PSSIE) scale, developed in Bangladesh, was reviewed for relevance and clarity by a panel of six experts familiar with Singapore preschool inclusion. 211 preschool teachers in Singapore completed the new 11‐item revised PSSIE – Singapore Version online. Perceived school support was found to be a single construct that significantly and reliably predicts both intention and self‐reported practices (alpha = 0.929). Stakeholders in Singapore can now use this newly validated instrument to reliably understand the support received by teachers and to re‐examine the strategies provided to support preschool teachers in this journey towards quality inclusive education.
Impact investment deal flow and Sustainable Development Goals: “Mind the gap?”
Authors: Islam Syrus M. , Rahman Asheq
Published: February 2023

We examine the linkage between the available impact investment deals and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ascertain to what extent those deals are likely to achieve the aims of the SDGs, that of a sustainable and prosperous world. Drawing on 292 available deals, we find that most deals are directly or indirectly linked to only four of the 17 SDGs and are concentrated in two regions of the world. Accordingly, we conclude that impact investing has a significant imbalance in the SDG–deal flow–region nexus. Without addressing such an imbalance, impact investing will have only a limited impact on overall SDG attainment. Therefore, we also share some thoughts on addressing the imbalance.
Casino accessibility and suicide: A county‐level study of 50 US states, 2000 to 2016
Authors: Markham Francis , Gobaud Ariana N. , Mehranbod Christina A. , Morrison Christopher N.
Published: February 2023

Background and Aims

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States (US). Research over many decades identifies that its etiology is complex, with risk factors operating in multiple domains. One such risk factor is gambling. Over the past three decades, exposure to gambling has increased dramatically in the United States. The aim of this study was to measure the magnitude of the association between casino density and absolute risk of suicide in US counties.

Design, Setting, Cases

This spatial panel analysis used data for 3131 counties from 50 US states from 2000 to 2016, for an overall sample of 53 227 county‐year units. Using Bayesian conditional autoregressive Poisson models, we measured incidence rate ratios and credible intervals for the association between the density per population of casinos and other gambling outlets and the incidence of suicide.

Measurements

The outcome of interest was counts of suicides. The main exposures of interest were casinos and other gambling outlets.

Findings

A total of 527 401 suicides occurred during the study period. On average, there was a mean of 1.3 casinos (SD = 9.1) and 1.4 other gambling venues (SD = 5.9) in each county‐year. After controlling for confounding, the incidence rate ratio for casinos was 1.016, and the credible interval was between 1.010 and 1.023.

Conclusions

The density of casinos and other gambling venues is positively associated with suicide mortality in the United States.
The efficacy of an internet‐based cognitive behavioral program added to treatment‐as‐usual for alcohol‐dependent patients in primary care: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Hyland Karin , Hammarberg Anders , Hedman‐Lagerlöf Erik , Johansson Magnus , Lindner Philip , Andreasson Sven
Published: February 2023

Background and Aims

Most alcohol‐dependent people have a moderate level of dependence. General practitioners (GPs) hesitate to engage in this area, and need to have access to treatment they find applicable and feasible to use. The aim of this present study was to test if an open‐ended internet‐based cognitive–behavioral therapy (iCBT) program added to treatment‐as‐usual (TAU) is more effective than TAU‐only for alcohol‐dependent patients in primary care.

Design, Setting and Participants

The present study was a two‐group, parallel, randomized controlled superiority trial comparing iCBT+TAU versus TAU‐only at 3‐ and 12‐month follow‐ups. TAU was delivered at 14 primary care centers in Stockholm, Sweden. A total of 264 patients (mean age 51 years, of whom 148 were female and 116 were male) with alcohol dependence and hazardous alcohol consumption were enrolled between September 2017 and November 2019.

Measurements

Participants were randomized at a ratio of 1:1 to iCBT, as a self‐help intervention added to TAU (n = 132) or to TAU‐only (n = 132). The GPs gave participants in both treatment arms feedback on the assessments and biomarkers and offered TAU at the primary care center. Primary outcome was weekly alcohol consumption in g/week at 12‐month follow‐up, analyzed according to intention‐to‐treat (n = 132 + 132). The per‐protocol analysis included participants who completed at least one module of iCBT (n = 102 + 132).

Findings

There was no significant difference in weekly alcohol consumption between iCBT+TAU and TAU in the intention‐to‐treat (ITT) analysis at 12‐month follow‐up [iCBT+TAU = 133.56 (95% confidence interval, CI = 100.94–166.19) and TAU = 176.20 (95% CI = 144.04–208.35), P = 0.068, d = 0.23]. In the per‐protocol analysis, including only those who initiated iCBT, the iCBT+TAU group showed lower mean weekly alcohol consumption compared with TAU [iCBT+TAU = 107.46 (95% CI = 71.17–143.74), TAU = 176.00 (95% CI = 144.21–207.80), P = 0.010, d = 0.42].

Conclusions

In Sweden, an internet‐based cognitive–behavioral program added to treatment‐as‐usual to reduce alcohol consumption showed weak evidence of a benefit at 12 months in the intention‐to‐treat analysis and good evidence of a benefit in the per‐protocol analysis.
Media Coverage and Labor Investment Efficiency: Evidence from China*
Authors: Liu Jin , Li Tingwei , Wang Lei
Published: February 2023

Using 2.09 million pieces of media coverage associated with Chinese firms during 2006–2019, we find a significantly positive relationship between media coverage and labor investment efficiency. Both newspaper and online media coverage can effectively reduce firms' labor over‐investment and under‐investment. Our results are robust after addressing a range of endogeneity concerns. Further analyses show that the positive relationship between media coverage and labor investment efficiency is more pronounced for firms with higher labor cost stickiness or when human capital is more important to the firm's business model. Mechanism analyses reveal that media coverage improves labor investment efficiency through the compensation incentive mechanism, supervision mechanism, and information disclosure mechanism.
Born of fire: The pursuit of the ‘white gold’
Authors: Heimann Robert B.
Published: February 2023

For more than 300 years, scores of historians and researchers have vigorously argued about the question who might have been the genuine inventor of European porcelain of Meissen fame: Johann Friedrich Böttger or Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. Although the story of the invention of porcelain has been told countless times, the exact circumstances of its discovery are still shrouded in mystery. For a very long time the palm has been awarded to Böttger, but today, the scale is increasingly tilting toward Tschirnhaus. In this contribution, ancient letters and laboratory notes, and modern phase diagrams and microstructural investigation are being used to paint a picture of royal desire, efficient research organization, arduous labor, ingenious reasoning, but also treason, camouflage, bald lies, and perfidy.
First results of metallographic analysis and absolute dating of iron finds from Nowe Brzesko, site 26, Proszowice District
Authors: Hüls C. Matthias , Bulas Jan , Kasiński Michał , Okońska‐Bulas Magdalena
Published: February 2023

This paper presents the results of analyses of metal artefacts discovered at a multiphase site in Nowe Brzesko, Małopolskie Voivodeship, Poland. Fieldwalking prospection led to the discovery of steely iron objects, ploughed out on the site among other numerous archeological finds. A prospecting sondage yielded more corroded metal artefacts, identified mainly as agricultural tools (e.g. sickles, scythes). These chronologically nondistinctive artefacts could be assigned to the third to fourth century AD using radiocarbon dating, complemented by metallurgical analysis. The results open up new research perspectives on the economy and society of the Przeworsk culture in the Late Roman period.
A Multi‐layered Approach to Patient Agency: Applying the Listening Guide to a Patient's Narratives
Authors: Acke Emma , Dulsster Dries , Taels Liesbeth , Notaerts Liza , Meganck Reitkse
Published: February 2023

The current study empirically investigates patient agency as a multi‐layered and dynamic construct. We explored how agency appears before, during and after 20 sessions of psychodynamic therapy. Building on the Listening Guide, we examined interviews with a woman who had depressive complaints, paying attention to the main plot lines, associative logic and musicality in speech. As a result, we constructed four voices (i.e., ‘the caregiver's voice’, ‘the silent dictator’, ‘the inexplicable’, and ‘encouragement and doubt, fright and relief’) that shifted dynamically throughout the interviews. Each voice follows an idiosyncratic logic when it comes to agency. We interpreted the results building on psychoanalytic theory and the postmodern story notion and nuanced the concept of agency as implying both a subjective component that creates room for change and an egoic component that has a certain inertia and sustains the illusion of mastery.
Impact of international trade under dual labor markets
Authors: Zhou Haiwen
Published: February 2023

A country's unemployment rate can be affected by technology choice and the opening of international trade. This general equilibrium model examines the impact of international trade with the presence of dual labor markets in which manufacturing firms engage in oligopolistic competition and choose technologies with different marginal and fixed costs to maximize profits. In a closed economy, it is shown that an increase in labor market efficiency or a population increase induces manufacturing firms to adopt more advanced technologies and the wage rate in the manufacturing sector increases. With the existence of a continuum of technologies, technology choice is not a source of firm heterogeneity. The opening of international trade leads to an increase in the wage rate in the manufacturing sector and the price of the agricultural good. When countries are identical, international trade always increases national welfare.
Cloud forests of the Orinoco River Basin (Colombia): Variation in vegetation and soil macrofauna composition along the hydrometeorological gradient
Authors: Ramírez Beatriz H. , Cortés‐B Rocío , Pinzón Olga Patricia , Gómez Laura , Jacquin Santiago , Hernández Eduardo , Quimbayo Luz Angélica , Bogotá‐A Raúl Giovanni
Published: February 2023

Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) in the Orinoco River Basin are vulnerable to climate and regional land‐use changes. These changes will force TMCF to migrate upwards, affecting biodiversity conservation and water flow regulation. Here, we evaluate how vegetation and soil macrofauna composition vary along the hydrometeorological gradient driven by an increase in fog incidence with elevation. Vegetation data were collected for all individuals with a diameter at breast height (DBH) > 5 cm in four vegetation plots (5 × 50 m; total: 0.1 ha) every 100 m in altitude between 1700 and 2200 m a.s.l. From each plot, we obtained three soil monoliths from the organic layer and three from the mineral horizon, and manually extracted their soil macrofauna. For these groups, we describe: (1) their compositional changes along the hydrometeorological gradient employing ordination analyses techniques and (2) the relation of the composition changes between vegetation and soil macrofauna communities using a symmetrical co‐correspondence analysis. Our results show that the vegetation morphospecies composition and soil macrofauna‐order composition vary significantly with the hydrometeorological gradient along elevation. The co‐correspondence between vegetation and soil macrofauna reveals a shared breakpoint above the 2000 m a.s.l., where fog is more persistent. Furthermore, we identified eight indicator vegetation species and two soil macrofauna orders associated with specific elevations. These results suggest that under a climate‐change‐driven fog lift, the TMCF of the Orinoco River Basin will be displaced. Moreover, this study provides a baseline to monitor such displacement.

Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.
Scalar Implicature is Sensitive to Contextual Alternatives
Authors: Zhang Zheng , Bergen Leon , Paunov Alexander , Ryskin Rachel , Gibson Edward
Published: February 2023

The quantifier “some” often elicits a scalar implicature during comprehension: “Some of today's letters have checks inside” is often interpreted to mean that not all of today's letters have checks inside. In previous work, Goodman and Stuhlmüller (G&S) proposed a model that predicts that this implicature should depend on the speaker's knowledgeability: If the speaker has only examined some of the available letters (e.g., two of three letters), people are less likely to infer that “some” implies “not all” than if the speaker has examined all of the available letters. G&S also provided behavioral evidence in support of their model. In this paper, we first show that a simple extension of G&S's model (1) predicts G&S's knowledgeability effects, and in addition, (2) predicts that the knowledgeability effect will be reduced when the speaker's usage indicates numeral alternatives are available. We tested the new model's predictions in four preregistered experiments. All experiments supported the first model prediction, replicating G&S's finding of a main effect of the speaker's knowledge. Further, Experiments 2 and 4 supported the second model prediction showing that the words that a speaker tends to use affect the strength of scalar implicature that comprehenders make. In particular, when the speaker has partial knowledge (e.g., has only examined two of three letters), comprehenders think that “some” is more likely to mean “not all” when the speaker also tends to produce number words in similar sentences (e.g., “2 of today's rooms have working smoke detectors.”). These results have important ramifications for theories of meaning: the context beyond the sentence (e.g., the speaker's tendency to use particular words) affects the set of alternatives that comprehenders consider when inferring meaning.
Semantic Adaptation to the Interpretation of Gradable Adjectives via Active Linguistic Interaction
Authors: Pezzelle Sandro , Fernández Raquel
Published: February 2023

When communicating, people adapt their linguistic representations to those of their interlocutors. Previous studies have shown that this also occurs at the semantic level for vague and context‐dependent terms such as quantifiers and uncertainty expressions. However, work to date has mostly focused on passive exposure to a given speaker's interpretation, without considering the possible role of active linguistic interaction. In this study, we focus on gradable adjectives big and small and develop a novel experimental paradigm that allows participants to ask clarification questions to figure out their interlocutor's interpretation. We find that, when in doubt, speakers do resort to this strategy, despite its inherent cognitive cost, and that doing so results in higher semantic alignment measured in terms of communicative success. While not all question–answer pairs are equally informative, we show that speakers become better questioners as the interaction progresses. Yet, the higher semantic alignment observed when speakers are able to ask questions does not increase over time. This suggests that conversational interaction's key advantage may be to boost coordination without committing to long‐term semantic updates. Our findings shed new light on the mechanisms used by speakers to achieve semantic alignment and on how language is shaped by communication.
Copredication and Complexity Revisited: Reply to Murphy's Reply
Authors: Michel Christian , Löhr Guido
Published: February 2023

In Löhr and Michel (2022), we proposed a neurocognitive model within the predictive processing paradigm for acceptability intuitions about copredication sentences. We also addressed “predicate order effects,” the phenomenon that the acceptability of copredication sentences can vary with the order in which the predicates occur. We discussed Murphy's interpretation of order preferences based on a hierarchy of semantic complexity and tried to motivate that other interpretations are worthwhile pursuing. In a reply letter, Murphy (2022) takes issue with our approach, putting forward several purported methodological and conceptual issues with our paper. In this reply, we first clarify where exactly we agree and disagree. Second, we focus on a crucial equivocation and some misrepresentations of our proposal by Murphy.
Origins of Hierarchical Logical Reasoning
Authors: Dedhe Abhishek M. , Clatterbuck Hayley , Piantadosi Steven T. , Cantlon Jessica F.
Published: February 2023

Hierarchical cognitive mechanisms underlie sophisticated behaviors, including language, music, mathematics, tool‐use, and theory of mind. The origins of hierarchical logical reasoning have long been, and continue to be, an important puzzle for cognitive science. Prior approaches to hierarchical logical reasoning have often failed to distinguish between observable hierarchical behavior and unobservable hierarchical cognitive mechanisms. Furthermore, past research has been largely methodologically restricted to passive recognition tasks as compared to active generation tasks that are stronger tests of hierarchical rules. We argue that it is necessary to implement learning studies in humans, non‐human species, and machines that are analyzed with formal models comparing the contribution of different cognitive mechanisms implicated in the generation of hierarchical behavior. These studies are critical to advance theories in the domains of recursion, rule‐learning, symbolic reasoning, and the potentially uniquely human cognitive origins of hierarchical logical reasoning.
Fatigue failure investigation of thick plate butt‐welded joints with incomplete penetration effect
Authors: Song Wei , Xia Xiaolei , Wei Shoupan , Shi Xiaojian , Cui Muchun , Li Zhutie , Berto Filippo
Published: February 2023

The objective of this paper was to investigate the fatigue performance of the thick plate structural steel butt‐welded joints influenced by its geometrical factors, such as the notch angles, incomplete penetration length, and plate thickness. Utilizing experimental tests, finite element calculations, and analytical models, the fatigue behavior of various weld joint shapes and dimensions was analyzed, and the discrepancy of fatigue strength for different incomplete penetration lengths was evaluated using the nominal stress method. Meanwhile, the local approaches, including notch stress intensity factor (NSIF), averaged strain energy density (SED), effective notch stress (ENS) method, peak stress method (PSM), and implicit gradient effective stress (IGES) method, are employed to assess the fatigue life of thick plate welded joints. According to the results, incomplete penetration ratios in butt‐welded joints led to a decrease in fatigue strength. The analytical solutions of butt‐welded joints in high cycle regime based on SED results were obtained to estimate the fatigue characteristic values for different plate thickness and incomplete penetration ratios. The proposed equations could illustrate the relationship between the nominal stress and local SED dealing with the variations of incomplete penetration length and geometrical dimensions. Moreover, the results obtained by the analysis of ENS, PSM, and IGES could be deduced by the analytical models to determine the fatigue life of welded joints.
Electrical and conductivity performances of secondary phase in 0–3 type bismuth ferrate–based composite ceramics
Authors: Kang Wenshuo , Guo Xiaojie , Hao Yanshuang , Zhou Zhiyong , Liang Ruihong
Published: February 2023

The composite design strategy for ferro‐piezoelectric ceramics has been successfully used to get excellent performances, whereas few studies focus on the electrochemical characteristics of the second phase in the composite. In this work, MgO, due to its high resistance insulation and high breakdown strength, was selected to be compounded with 0.7BiFeO3–0.3BaTiO3 (BFBT) ceramics. Intriguingly, an unreported second phase was derived from the solid‐state reaction and identifying its chemical composition as about Mg13Ti3Fe24O55. AC impedance technique was applied to clarify the electrical contribution of the second phase in composites. The results show that it has higher resistivity at the high‐temperature stage and more stable capacitance with temperature. Moreover, the second phase can improve the overall dielectric‐temperature stability. Ultimately, it indicates composite strategy can bring some beneficial effects on BFBT ceramics, and this present work may provide an alternative route for separating the electrical contribution of different regions for composite ceramics.
Metabolomic markers mediate erythrocyte anisocytosis in older adults: Results from three independent aging cohorts
Authors: Tian Qu , Mitchell Brendan A. , Moaddel Ruin , Zoccali Carmine , Bandinelli Stefania , Ferrucci Luigi
Published: February 2023

Background

Anisocytosis reflects unequal‐sized red blood cells and is quantified using red blood cell distribution width (RDW). RDW increases with age and has been consistently associated with adverse health outcomes, such as cardiovascular disease and mortality. Why RDW increases with age is not understood. We aimed to identify plasma metabolomic markers mediating anisocytosis with aging.

Methods

We performed mediation analyses of plasma metabolomics on the association between age and RDW using resampling techniques after covariate adjustment. We analyzed data from adults aged 70 or older from the main discovery cohort of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA, n = 477, 46% women) and validation cohorts of the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study (Health ABC, n = 620, 52% women) and Invecchiare in Chianti, Aging in the Chianti Area (InCHIANTI) study (n = 735, 57% women). Plasma metabolomics was assayed using the Biocrates MxP Quant 500 kit in BLSA and Health ABC and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry in InCHIANTI.

Results

In all three cohorts, symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) significantly mediated the association between age and RDW. Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and 1‐methylhistidine were also significant mediators in the discovery cohort and one validation cohort. In the discovery cohort, we also found choline, homoarginine, and several long‐chain triglycerides significantly mediated the association between age and RDW.

Conclusions and relevance

This metabolomics study of three independent aging cohorts identified a specific set of metabolites mediating anisocytosis with aging. Whether SDMA, ADMA, and 1‐methylhistidine are released by the damaged erythrocytes with high RDW or they affect the physiology of erythrocytes causing high RDW should be further investigated.