bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Social norm change: drivers and consequences
Authors: Andrighetto Giulia , Gavrilets Sergey , Gelfand Michele , Mace Ruth , Vriens Eva 
Published: January 2024

Social norms research is booming. In recent years, several experts have recommended using social norms (unwritten rules that prescribe what people ought or ought not to do) to confront the societal, environmental and health challenges our societies face. If we are to do so, a better understanding is required of how social norms themselves emerge, evolve and respond to these challenges. Social norms have long been used aspost hocexplanations of behaviour or are seen as stable social constructs. Yet norms evolve dynamically with the changing group processes (e.g. political polarization, kinship structures) and societal challenges (e.g. pandemics, climate change) for which they are presented as solutions. The Theme Issue ‘Social norm change: drivers and consequences' contains 14 contributions that present state-of-the-art approaches to understand what generates social norm change and how this impacts our societies. Contributions give insight into (i) the identification of norms, norm change and their effect on behaviour; (ii) drivers and consequences of spontaneous norm change; and (iii) how norm change can be engineered to promote desired behavioural change.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Social norm change: drivers and consequences’.
Human and nonhuman norms: a dimensional framework
Authors: Andrews Kristin , Fitzpatrick Simon , Westra Evan 
Published: January 2024

Human communities teem with a variety of social norms. In order to change unjust and harmful social norms, it is crucial to identify the psychological processes that give rise to them. Most researchers take it for granted that social norms are uniquely human. By contrast, we approach this matter from a comparative perspective, leveraging recent research on animal social behaviour. While there is currently only suggestive evidence for norms in nonhuman communities, we argue that human social norms are likely produced by a wide range of mechanisms, many of which we share with nonhuman animals. Approaching this variability from a comparative perspective can help norm researchers expand and reframe the range of hypotheses they test when attempting to understand the causes of socially normative behaviours in humans. First, we diagnose some of the theoretical obstacles to developing a comparative science of social norms, and offer a few basic constructs and distinctions to help norm researchers overcome these obstacles. Then we develop a six-dimensional model of the psychological and social factors that contribute to variability in both human and potential nonhuman norms.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Social norm change: drivers and consequences’.
Modelling social norms: an integration of the norm-utility approach with beliefs dynamics
Authors: Gavrilets Sergey , Tverskoi Denis , Sánchez Angel 
Published: January 2024

We review theoretical approaches for modelling the origin, persistence and change of social norms. The most comprehensive models describe the coevolution of behaviours, personal, descriptive and injunctive norms while considering influences of various authorities and accounting for cognitive processes and between-individual differences. Models show that social norms can improve individual and group well-being. Under some conditions though, deleterious norms can persist in the population through conformity, preference falsification and pluralistic ignorance. Polarization in behaviour and beliefs can be maintained, even when societal advantages of particular behaviours or belief systems over alternatives are clear. Attempts to change social norms can backfire through cognitive processes including cognitive dissonance and psychological reactance. Under some conditions social norms can change rapidly via tipping point dynamics. Norms can be highly susceptible to manipulation, and network structure influences their propagation. Future models should incorporate network structure more thoroughly, explicitly study online norms, consider cultural variations and be applied to real-world processes.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Social norm change: drivers and consequences’.
Shaping new norms for AI
Authors: Baronchelli Andrea 
Published: January 2024

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into our lives, the need for new norms is urgent. However, AI evolves at a much faster pace than the characteristic time of norm formation, posing an unprecedented challenge to our societies. This paper examines possible criticalities of the processes of norm formation surrounding AI. It focuses on how new norms can be established, rather than on what these norms should be. It distinguishes different scenarios based on the centralization or decentralization of the norm formation process, analysing the cases where new norms are shaped by formal authorities or informal institutions, or emerge spontaneously in a bottom-up fashion. On the latter point, the paper reports a conversation with ChatGPT in which the LLM discusses some of the emerging norms it has observed. Far from seeking exhaustiveness, this article aims to offer readers interpretive tools to frame society’s response to the growing pervasiveness of AI. An outlook on how AI could influence the formation of future social norms emphasizes the importance for open societies to anchor their formal deliberation process in an open, inclusive and transparent public discourse.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Social norm change: drivers and consequences’.
Signals of belonging: emergence of signalling norms as facilitators of trust and parochial cooperation
Authors: Macanovic Ana , Tsvetkova Milena , Przepiorka Wojtek , Buskens Vincent 
Published: January 2024

Mechanisms of social control reinforce norms that appear harmful or wasteful, such as mutilation practises or extensive body tattoos. We suggest such norms arise to serve as signals that distinguish between ingroup ‘friends' and outgroup ‘foes', facilitating parochial cooperation. Combining insights from research on signalling and parochial cooperation, we incorporate a trust game with signalling in an agent-based model to study the dynamics of signalling norm emergence in groups with conflicting interests. Our results show that costly signalling norms emerge from random acts of signalling in minority groups that benefit most from parochial cooperation. Majority groups are less likely to develop costly signalling norms. Yet, norms that prescribe sending costless group identity signals can easily emerge in groups of all sizes—albeit, at times, at the expense of minority group members. Further, the dynamics of signalling norm emergence differ across signal costs, relative group sizes, and levels of ingroup assortment. Our findings provide theoretical insights into norm evolution in contexts where groups develop identity markers in response to environmental challenges that put their interests at odds with the interests of other groups. Such contexts arise in zones of ethnic conflict or during contestations of existing power relations.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Social norm change: drivers and consequences’.
Jeans and language: kin networks and reproductive success are associated with the adoption of outgroup norms
Authors: He Qiao-Qiao , Yu Jie-Ru , Tang Song-Hua , Wang Ming-Yang , Wu Jia-Jia , Chen Yuan , Tao Yi , Ji Ting , Mace Ruth 
Published: January 2024

Traditional norms of human societies in rural China may have changed owing to population expansion, rapid development of the tourism economy and globalization since the 1990s; people from different ethnic groups might adopt cultural traits from outside their group or lose their own culture at different rates. Human behavioural ecology can help to explain adoption of outgroup cultural values. We compared the adoption of four cultural values, specifically speaking outgroup languages/mother tongue and wearing jeans, in two co-residing ethnic groups, the Mosuo and Han. Both groups are learning outgroup traits, including each other's languages through contact in economic activities, education and kin networks, but only the Mosuo are starting to lose their own language. Males are more likely to adopt outgroup values than females in both groups. Females of the two groups are no different in speaking Mandarin and wearing jeans, whereas males do differ, with Mosuo males being keener to adopt them than Han males. The reason might be that Mosuo men experience more reproductive competition over mates, as Mosuo men have larger reproductive skew than others. Moreover, Mosuo men but not others gain fitness benefits from the adoption of Mandarin (they start reproducing earlier than non-speakers).
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Social norm change: drivers and consequences’.
When norm change hurts
Authors: Efferson Charles , Ehret Sönke , von Flüe Lukas , Vogt Sonja 
Published: January 2024

Applied cultural evolution includes any effort to mobilize social learning and cultural evolution to promote behaviour change. Social tipping is one version of this idea based on conformity and coordination. Conformity and coordination can reinforce a harmful social norm, but they can also accelerate change from a harmful norm to a beneficial alternative. Perhaps unfortunately, the link between the size of an intervention and social tipping is complex in heterogeneous populations. A small intervention targeted at one segment of society can induce tipping better than a large intervention targeted at a different segment. We develop and examine two models showing that the link between social tipping and social welfare is also complex in heterogeneous populations. An intervention strategy that creates persistent miscoordination, exactly the opposite of tipping, can lead to higher social welfare than another strategy that leads to tipping. We show that the potential benefits of miscoordination often hinge specifically on the preferences of people most resistant to behaviour change. Altogether, ordinary forms of heterogeneity complicate applied cultural evolution considerably. Heterogeneity weakens both the link between the size of a social planner’s intervention and behaviour change and the link between behaviour change and the well-being of society.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Social norm change: drivers and consequences’.
Effect of iris pigmentation of blue and brown eyed individuals with European ancestry on ability to see in low light conditions after a short-term dark adaption period
Authors: Cain Faith Erin , Yamaguchi Kyoko 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThe effect of iris depigmentation on ability to see in low light conditions has not been thoroughly investigated as an adaptive advantage that could have contributed to the evolution and persistence of blue eyes in Europe. In this study 40 participants took part in a simple eye test in increasing luminance to examine if there was a difference in capacity to see in low light conditions between blue and brown-eyed individuals after a brief adaptation period. Blue eyed individuals were identified to have significantly better ability to see in lower lighting after a short adaption period than brown eyed individuals making it likely depigmented irises provide an adaptive advantage (p=0.046). Superior ability to see in low light conditions could be the result of increased straylight in depigmented irises, which in light luminance is disadvantageous but in low light conditions may provide an advantage. More research is needed to determine the specific association between melanin content and low-light visual acuity. Furthermore, more research is needed to establish that the improved capacity of blue-eyed individuals to see in low light settings seen in this study is attributable to iris pigmentation rather than corresponding pigmentation elsewhere.
Inhibition of glioblastoma cell proliferation and invasion by the choline-kinase inhibitor JAS239 varies with cell type and hypoxia
Authors: Kelly Claire Louise , Wydrzynska Martyna , Phelan Marie M , Osharovich Sofya , Delikatny Edward J. , Sée Violaine , Poptani Harish 
Published: January 2024

AbstractBackgroundElevated choline kinase alpha (ChoK) is observed in most solid tumours including glioblastomas (GBM), yet until recently, inhibitors of ChoK have demonstrated limited efficacy in GBM models. Given that hypoxia is associated with GBM therapy resistance, we hypothesised that tumour hypoxia could be responsible for such limitations. We therefore evaluated in GBM cells, the effect of hypoxia on the function of JAS239, a potent ChoK inhibitor.MethodsRodent (F98 and 9L) and human (U-87 MG and U-251 MG) GBM cell lines were subjected to 72 hours of hypoxia conditioning and treated with JAS239 for 24 hours. NMR metabolomic measurements and analyses were performed to evaluate the signalling pathways involved. In addition, cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and cell invasion were measured in cell monolayers and 3D spheroids, with or without JAS239 treatment in normoxic or hypoxic cells to assess how hypoxia affects JAS239 function.ResultsHypoxia and JAS239 treatment led to significant changes in the cellular metabolic pathways, specifically the phospholipid and glycolytic pathways associated with a reduction in cell proliferation via induced cell cycle arrest. Interestingly, JAS239 also impaired GBM invasion. However, JAS239 effects were variable depending on the cell line, reflecting the inherent heterogeneity observed in GBMs.ConclusionOur findings indicate that JAS239 and hypoxia can deregulate cellular metabolism, inhibit proliferation and alter cell invasion. These results may be useful for the design of new therapeutic strategies based on ChoK inhibition that can act on multiple pro-tumorigenic features.
Microbial diversity and ecological complexity emerging from environmental variation and horizontal gene transfer in a simple mathematical model
Authors: Babajanyan Sanasar G. , Garushyants Sofya K. , Wolf Yuri I. , Koonin Eugene V. 
Published: January 2024

ABSTRACTMicrobiomes are generally characterized by high diversity of coexisting microbial species and strains that remains stable within a broad range of conditions. However, under fixed conditions, microbial ecology conforms with the exclusion principle under which two populations competing for the same resource within the same niche cannot coexist because the less fit population inevitably goes extinct. To explore the conditions for stabilization of microbial diversity, we developed a simple mathematical model consisting of two competing populations that could exchange a single gene allele via horizontal gene transfer (HGT). We found that, although in a fixed environment, with unbiased HGT, the system obeyed the exclusion principle, in an oscillating environment, within large regions of the phase space bounded by the rates of reproduction and HGT, the two populations coexist. Moreover, depending on the parameter combination, all three major types of symbiosis obtained, namely, pure competition, host-parasite relationship and mutualism. In each of these regimes, certain parameter combinations provided for synergy, that is, a greater total abundance of both populations compared to the abundance of the winning population in the fixed environments. These findings show that basic phenomena that are universal in microbial communities, environmental variation and HGT, provide for stabilization of microbial diversity and ecological complexity.
Genetic modification of the bee parasiteCrithidia bombifor improved visualization and protein localization
Authors: Bieber Blyssalyn V. , Lockett Sarah G. , Glasser Sonja K. , Clair Faith A. St. , Adler Lynn S. , Povelones Megan L. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractCrithidia bombiis a trypanosomatid parasite that infects several species of bumble bees (Bombusspp.), by adhering to their intestinal tract.Crithidia bombiinfection impairs learning and reduces survival of workers and overwintering queens. Although there is extensive research on the ecology of this host-pathogen system, we understand far less about the mechanisms that mediate internal infection dynamics.Crithidia bombiinfects hosts by attaching to the hindgut via the flagellum, and one previous study found that a nectar secondary compound removed the flagellum, preventing attachment. However, approaches that allow more detailed observation of parasite attachment and growth would allow us to better understand factors mediating this host-pathogen relationship. We established techniques for genetic manipulation and visualization of culturedC. bombi. Using constructs established forCrithidia fasciculata, we successfully generatedC. bombicells expressing ectopic fluorescent transgenes using two different selectable markers. To our knowledge, this is the first genetic modification of this species. We also introduced constructs that label the mitochondrion and nucleus of the parasite, showing that subcellular targeting signals can function across parasite species to highlight specific organelles. Finally, we visualized fluorescently tagged parasitesin vitroin both their swimming and attached forms, andin vivoin bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) hosts. Expanding our cell and molecular toolkit forC. bombiwill help us better understand how factors such as host diet, immune system, and physiology mediate outcomes of infection by these common parasites.
Deep learning predicts DNA methylation regulatory variants in specific brain cell types and enhances fine mapping for brain disorders
Authors: Zhou Jiyun , Weinberger Daniel R. , Han Shizhong 
Published: January 2024

AbstractDNA methylation (DNAm) is essential for brain development and function and potentially mediates the effects of genetic risk variants underlying brain disorders. We present INTERACT, a transformer-based deep learning model to predict regulatory variants impacting DNAm levels in specific brain cell types, leveraging existing single-nucleus DNAm data from the human brain. We show that INTERACT accurately predicts cell type-specific DNAm profiles, achieving an average area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve of 0.98 across cell types. Furthermore, INTERACT predicts cell type-specific DNAm regulatory variants, which reflect cellular context and enrich the heritability of brain-related traits in relevant cell types. Importantly, we demonstrate that incorporating predicted variant effects and DNAm levels of CpG sites enhances the fine mapping for three brain disorders—schizophrenia, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease—and facilitates mapping causal genes to particular cell types. Our study highlights the power of deep learning in identifying cell type-specific regulatory variants, which will enhance our understanding of the genetics of complex traits.TeaserDeep learning reveals genetic variations impacting brain cell type-specific DNA methylation and illuminates genetic bases of brain disorders
The FinnBrain Multimodal Neonatal Template and Atlas Collection: T1, T2, and DTI brain templates, and accompanying cortical and subcortical atlases
Authors: Tuulari Jetro J. , Rosberg Aylin , Pulli Elmo P. , Hashempour Niloofar , Ukharova Elena , Lidauer Kristian , Jolly Ashmeet , Luotonen Silja , Audah Hilyatushalihah K. , Vartiainen Elena , Bano Wajiha , Suuronen Ilkka , Mariani Wigley Isabella L.C. , Fonov Vladimir S. , Collins D. Louis , Merisaari Harri , Karlsson Linnea , Karlsson Hasse , Lewis John D. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThe accurate processing of neonatal and infant brain MRI data is crucially important for developmental neuroscience, but presents challenges that child and adult data do not. Tissue segmentation and image coregistration accuracy can be improved by optimizing template images and / or related segmentation procedures. Here, we describe the construction of the FinnBrain Neonate (FBN-125) template; a multi-contrast template with T1- and T2-weighted as well as diffusion tensor imaging derived fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity images. The template is symmetric and aligned to the Talairach-like MNI 152 template and has high spatial resolution (0.5 mm3). In addition, we provide atlas labels, constructed from manual segmentations, for cortical grey matter, white matter, cerebrospinal fluid, brainstem, and cerebellum as well as the bilateral hippocampi, amygdalae, caudate nuclei, putamina, globi pallidi, and thalami. We provide this multi-contrast template along with the labelled atlases for the use of the neuroscience community in the hope that it will prove useful in advancing developmental neuroscience, for example, by helping to achieve reliable means for spatial normalization and measures of neonate brain structure via automated computational methods. Additionally, we provide standard co-registration files that will enable investigators to reliably transform their statistical maps to the adult MNI space, which has the potential to improve the consistency and comparability of neonatal studies or the use of adult MNI space atlases in neonatal neuroimaging.
Drivers of Decision-Making for Adult Tracheostomy for Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Mehta Anuj B , Lockhart Steven , Lange Allison V , Matlock Daniel D , Douglas Ivor S , Morris Megan A 
Published: January 2024

AbstractBackgroundDecision-making about tracheostomy and prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) is emotionally complex. Expectations of surrogate decision-makers and physicians rarely align. Little is known about what surrogates need to make goal-concordant decisions. We sought to identify drivers of tracheostomy and PMV decision-making.MethodsUsing Grounded Theory, we performed a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews with surrogates of patients receiving mechanical ventilation (MV) being considered for tracheostomy and physicians routinely caring for patients receiving MV. Recruitment was stopped when thematic saturation was reached. Separate codebooks were created for surrogate and physician interviews. Themes and factors affecting decision-making were identified and a theoretical model tracheostomy decision-making was developed.Results43 participants (23 surrogates and 20 physicians) completed interviews. A theoretical model of themes and factors driving decision-making emerged for the data. Hope, Lack of Knowledge & Data, and Uncertainty emerged as the three main themes all which were interconnected with one another and, at times, opposed each other. Patient Wishes, Past Activity/Medical History, Short and Long-Term Outcomes, and Meaningful Recovery were key factors upon which surrogates and physicians based decision-making. The themes were the lens through which the factors were viewed and decision-making existed as a balance between surrogate emotions and understanding and physician recommendations.ConclusionsTracheostomy and prolonged MV decision-making is complex. Hope and Uncertainty were conceptual themes that often battled with one another. Lack of Knowledge & Data plagued both surrogates and physicians. Multiple tangible factors were identified that affected surrogate decision-making and physician recommendations.ImplicationsUnderstanding this complex decision-making process has the potential to improve the information provided to surrogates and, potentially, increase the goal concordant care and alignment of surrogate and physician expectations.HighlightsDecision-making for tracheostomy and prolonged mechanical ventilation is a complex interactive process between surrogate decision-makers and providers.Using a Grounded Theory framework, a theoretical model emerged from the data with core themes of Hope, Uncertainty, and Lack of Knowledge & Data that was shared by both providers and surrogates.The core themes were the lenses through which the key decision-making factors of Patient Wishes, Past Activity/Medical History, Short and Long-Term Outcomes, and Meaningful Recovery were viewed.The theoretical model provides a roadmap to design a shared decision-making intervention to improve tracheostomy and prolonged mechanical ventilation decision-making.