dplyr: A Grammar of Data Manipulation
... Além da página inicial (figura 4), o dashboard compreende dez páginas temáticas, cada uma abordando um aspecto específico do setor: (2023). Dados extraídos de Brasil (2023). ...
... Fonte: Universidade Federal do Maranhão (2023). Dados extraídos de Brasil (2023). ...
... Gráfico 7 -Quantidade de cargas embarcadas no Maranhão por tipo de navegação (em milhões de toneladas, 2010-2022).Fonte: Universidade Federal do Maranhão(2023). Dados extraídosde Brasil (2023). ...
Este estudo apresenta uma plataforma para análise e visualização de dados do setor portuário e aquaviário do Maranhão através de dashboard. A pesquisa foi motivada pela carência de ferramentas acessíveis para stakeholders e a população em geral, que possibilitem a compreensão e análise das tendências do setor. Os dados foram extraídos do Estatístico Aquaviário da Agência Nacional de Transportes Aquaviários (ANTAQ), abrangendo o período de 2010 a 2022. A linguagem de programação R foi utilizada para coletar, organizar e analisar os dados. O dashboard foi elaborado com a ferramenta Power BI e o Sistema de gestão de banco de dados relacional, PostgreSQL foi utilizado para armazenar os dados. A plataforma busca democratizar a informação e a promover o desenvolvimento do setor portuário e aquaviário no Maranhão.
... All analyses and data visualizations were performed in R version 4.4.0 (R Core Team 2024) using the packages tidyverse, ggplot2, readr, stringr, lubridate, RColorBrewer, rstatix, dplyr, ggpubr, and gridExtra (Grolemund and Wickham 2011;Wickham 2016Wickham , 2023Auguie 2017;Wickham et al. 2019Wickham et al. , 2023Wickham et al. , 2024Neuwirth 2022;Kassambara 2023a, b). We used Gaussian generalized linear regression models to investigate the relationship of log 10 (susceptible frog viral load) against log 10 (exposure period), log 10 (paired infective frog viral load), and cohort. ...
... All analyses and data visualizations were performed in R version 4.4.0 (R Core Team 2024) using the packages tidyverse, ggplot2, readr, stringr, lubridate, RColorBrewer, rstatix, dplyr, ggpubr, and gridExtra (Grolemund and Wickham 2011;Wickham 2016Wickham , 2023Auguie 2017;Wickham et al. 2019Wickham et al. , 2023Wickham et al. , 2024Neuwirth 2022;Kassambara 2023a, b). We used Gaussian generalized linear regression models to investigate the relationship of log 10 (susceptible frog viral load) against log 10 (exposure period), log 10 (paired infective frog viral load), and cohort. ...
Ranaviruses are responsible for mass die offs of wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) tadpoles. What happens in between epidemics is less clear, but juvenile (metamorphosed) stages are hypothesized to move Ranaviruses among wetlands and introduce or reintroduce these viruses into wetlands, initiating new outbreaks. A key question is under what circumstances can juvenile L. sylvaticus infect susceptible conspecifics. We examined Ranavirus transmission between juvenile L. sylvaticus in two settings: first, we measured transmission from a Ranavirus-infected frog to a co-housed susceptible frog via cohabitation over a range of exposure periods. Second, we measured indirect transmission to susceptible frogs from a contaminated environment after a range of waiting times (i.e., from when the infected frog was removed to when the susceptible frog was exposed to the environment). We present evidence that juvenile frogs directly transmitted Ranavirus to susceptible frogs in all exposure periods (99.2% infected), with as little as 1 h of co-housing resulting in 95.8% of susceptibles infected. Indirectly, 96.8% of susceptible frogs became infected after as long as 48 h waiting times. Neither exposure period nor wait times influenced the probability of infection, because these probabilities are already high. In our linear regression models, susceptible frog viral load was significantly correlated with exposure period and cohort for the cohabitation experiment, while wait time was significantly correlated with viral load for the sequential habitation experiment. Collectively, our results suggest that Ranavirus transmission readily occurs between recently metamorphosed wood frogs and via terrestrial environmental exposure.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00442-025-05682-8.
... io/ Spati alCNS_ PBPK_ V1/ . The app is programmed in R using Shiny as the web framework and integrates key R packages (e.g., tidyverse, deSolve, ggplot2, and dplyr) to enable efficient data handling, differential equation solving, and interactive visualization [13][14][15][16][17]. This tutorial presents the development and validation of the SpatialCNS-PBPK app, highlights its key features and functionalities, and provides a step-by-step user guide for practical applications in predicting spatial pharmacokinetics in the human CNS and brain tumors. ...
Quantitative understanding of drug penetration and exposure in the human central nervous system (CNS) and brain tumors is essential for the rational development of new drugs and optimal use of existing drugs for brain cancer. To address this need, we developed and validated a novel 9‐compartment permeability‐limited CNS (9‐CNS) physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model, enabling mechanistic and quantitative prediction of spatial pharmacokinetics for systemically administered small‐molecule drugs across different regions of the human brain, cerebrospinal fluid, and brain tumors. To make the 9‐CNS model accessible to a broad range of users, we developed the SpatialCNS‐PBPK app, a user‐friendly, web‐based R/Shiny platform built with R and Shiny programming. The app provides key functionalities for model simulation, sensitivity analysis, and pharmacokinetic parameter calculation. This tutorial introduces the development and evaluation of the SpatialCNS‐PBPK app, highlights its key features and functions, and provides a step‐by‐step user guide for practical applications. By enhancing our ability to predict the spatial pharmacokinetics of anticancer drugs in the human CNS and brain tumors, the SpatialCNS‐PBPK app serves as an invaluable computational tool and data‐driven approach for advancing drug development and optimizing treatment strategies for more effective treatment of brain cancer.
... The pelvimetry and craniometry measurements (described in Tables 3 and 4) were the Euclidean distance between landmarks (in millimeters) given by 3D Slicer. Normality tests were performed for all measurements via the Shapiro-Wilk test before being compared between sexes via t-test or Mann-Whitney, depending on the normality, using dplyr R package (Wickham et al. 2015). ...
Cranial and pelvic bones could have evolved in response to each other during human evolutionary history due to the increasingly tight fit between the baby's head and the mother's pelvis during delivery. A recently identified covariation pattern between these sets of bones and stature has shown important evidence of such an evolutionary trade‐off, alleviating the chances of obstructed labor. Here, we tested the validity of this covariation pattern in a different sample, from a population with known high rates of C‐section. 98 computed tomographies were used to perform statistical covariation tests (two‐block partial least squares and ANOVA Procrustes) between pelvic and cranial shape, as well as other anthropometric variables, like stature, body mass, and BMI. Additionally, measurements were taken from cranial and pelvic bones for classic morphometric analyses. The results have shown an important sexual dimorphism in pelvic bones' shape but no correlation between them and stature or cranial size or shape. In terms of size, the sexual dimorphism on the true pelvis was also noticeable. The fact that the results obtained from this sample do not corroborate previous findings suggests the absence of this pattern in some populations. It also suggests that the current ideal rates of C‐sections proposed by the World Health Organization might not be considering the existing diversity among human populations that may account for variable levels of difficulties in birth.
... Further analysis and visualizations were performed with R version 4.3.2 (2024-04-01) using RStudio version 2024.04.2+764 (Posit Software, PBC), using ggplot2, nnet, rstatix and dplyr packages [20][21][22][23][24]. A complete list of packages and versions is available in the supplementary materials. ...
Objective: To evaluate the repeatability of corneal tomographic parameters in keratoconus patients across different body mass index (BMI) categories. Methods: This prospective study was conducted at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, from June 2021 to June 2022. A total of 243 eyes from keratoconus patients aged 18-45 years were categorized into normal (BMI ≤24.9; n=55), overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9; n=58), and obese (BMI ≥30.0; n=130) groups. Patients underwent three consecutive scans using the Pentacam AXL. The repeatability of flat simulated keratometry (K1A), steep simulated keratometry (K2A), maximum keratometry (Kmax), central corneal thickness (CCT), and thinnest corneal thickness (TCT) was assessed using within-subject standard deviation (Sw), repeatability limits, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). A subgroup analysis was performed by matching patients for keratoconus severity to assess the influence of disease stage on repeatability. Results: Repeatability decreased significantly with higher BMI across all parameters. K1A and K2A had the highest repeatability (ICC 0.992-0.998), while TCT had the lowest (ICC 0.983-0.988). Notably, the obese group showed greater variability in CCT and TCT compared to the normal and overweight groups. After adjusting for keratoconus severity, these differences were no longer statistically significant between BMI groups. Conclusions: Tomographic parameter repeatability in keratoconus patients is excellent across BMI categories. Although repeatability decreases with increasing BMI, this effect is not significant after accounting for disease severity. These findings underscore the importance of using the most reliable tomographic parameters for monitoring keratoconus progression, particularly in patients with higher BMI and advanced stages of the disease.
... We conducted data processing, analyses, and visualization using R v.4.3.1 (R Core Team 2023). For data parsing and wrangling we used the packages stringr (Wickham and RStudio 2019), stringi (Gagolewski 2022), lubridate (Grolemund and Wickham 2011) and dplyr (Wickham et al. 2021). Statistical tests were computed using exactRankTests (Hothorn and Hornik 2022). ...
Roosts are a crucial resource for bats, which choose them based on many factors, including the surrounding habitat, microclimate, and space available for communal roosting. The latter is important because many bat species benefit from social thermoregulation by forming colonies in their roosts. However, it remains unclear whether bats can base their roost choice directly on the space available for roosting when other characteristics, such as roost microclimate do not vary. We present results from a field experiment in which RFID-tagged Bechstein’s bats (Myotis bechsteinii) in a maternity colony were given paired bat boxes with identical external dimensions but differing internal roosting space. This allowed us to control for other factors that might influence roost choice and to record the bats’ nightly visits to the boxes prior to their occupation as day roosts. To assess whether roost temperature influenced roost choice in our setup, we measured the internal temperature of the boxes. Female Bechstein’s bats showed a clear preference for boxes with more roosting space, as evidenced by a higher frequency of nightly visits and more frequent use as day roosts. As there was no significant difference in temperature between boxes with different internal volumes, roost temperature cannot explain the bats’ preference for spacious roosts in our experiment. Our data provide evidence that bats can directly assess the volume of their roosts. Our results are consistent with the argument that small volume roosts may limit roosting group size potentially reducing social thermoregulation benefits.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00442-025-05700-9.
... Subsequently, we conducted a quantitative analysis using R to analyze and visualize the frequency, co-occurrence, and potential trends among these categories. The main R packages used were the "dplyr" [80] and the "ggplot2" package [81]. Moreover, the "treemap" package [82] was employed to produce all the tree maps included in this paper, the "UpSetR" R package [83] to produce upset charts, and the "map" package [84] for the illustration of the world map. ...
Urban green spaces (UGS) are increasingly appraised as critical elements of contemporary urban landscapes, offering multiple benefits that directly and indirectly influence residents’ subjective well-being (SWB). In recent years, particularly in the context of climate change challenges and the societal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, research on the UGS-SWB nexus has surged, reflecting a growing interest in understanding the nuances of this relationship for informed urban planning. Despite the mounting scientific evidence, the topic continues to be marked by interpretative complexity and ambiguity. The article aims to establish a cohesive framework that could serve as a platform to move from general findings and simple deterministic associations to a more integrated approach for planning UGS that enhances SWB. To achieve this, we conducted a systematic review of 63 empirical studies published between 2013 and 2023, mapping the research landscape, identifying trends, and exploring methodological aspects. Drawing on this analysis, we developed a comprehensive framework for studying the associations of urban green spaces with subjective well-being. The proposed framework identifies three core components –individuals, UGS attributes, and the broader spatial context– that interact through two sets of processes – exposure mechanisms and pathways of influence– highlighting the dynamic and reciprocal ways that UGSs affect SWB. This structured approach acknowledges the complex nature of the UGS-SWB relationship, facilitates cross-disciplinary research, and supports evidence-based urban planning and policy development.
... Additionally, low abundant species were filtered with a threshold of 0.08, based on the positive controls. Further packages used for data visualisation included ggplot2 (Wickham 2016), ggrepel (Kamil Slowikowski 2022), dplyr (Wickham et al. 2022), vegan (Oksanen et al. 2007;v2.6-2) as well as tidyverse (Wickham et al. 2019), viridis (Garnier et al. 2021) and hrbrthemes (Bob Rudis 2020). ...
Animal pollination, the transfer of pollen by animal agents, is essential for plant reproduction. Methods like microscopy and DNA metabarcoding have been used to investigate pollen transport and plant–pollinator interactions. DNA metabarcoding, in particular, is a reliable method to identify the origins of mixed pollen samples. Although it has mainly been used to study pollinators' dietary patterns, it does not provide insights from the plant's perspective, such as the type of viable pollen received. We aimed to explore the potential of DNA metabarcoding to analyse heterospecific pollen transfer to plants in semi‐natural and agricultural landscapes along a land‐use intensity gradient. We collected stigmas of three closely related Ranunculus species (R. acris, R. bulbosus and R. repens) from 20 grassland plots in Germany with varying land‐use intensities and flowering plant diversity and subjected them to internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) metabarcoding. Our results revealed a nonlinear relationship between flowering plant species richness and heterospecific pollen richness on Ranunculus stigmas. The lowest heterospecific pollen diversity occurred in landscapes with intermediate plant species richness, whereas plots with low or high richness showed greater heterospecific pollen diversity. Reduced plant species richness, found mostly on intermediate and high LUI plots, forces pollinators to visit multiple plant species and thus increases heterospecific pollen transfer. Plots with intermediate plant species richness, on the contrary, likely provide a balanced mix of resources for pollinators, visiting multiple plant species within a foraging round and thus decreasing the amount of heterospecific pollen. Increased heterospecific pollen at high‐richness plots may result from competition in pollinator‐rich communities. Our results show that DNA metabarcoding is a powerful tool for assessing heterospecific pollen diversity, revealing that pollen transfer is heavily influenced by plant community composition. This approach provides novel insights into pollinator fidelity and potential pollination outcomes across diverse environments.
... for Windows was used for all analyses [21]. The packages dplyr [22] and officer [23] were used. ...
Background
Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by the loss of skeletal muscle associated with reduced physical strength/performance and could be correlated with depression, that is the most frequent cause of emotional distress in old age and can reduce the quality of life of the older adults.
Aim
The aim of the present study is to evaluate the association between probable sarcopenia and depressive symptoms in older adults, and the impact of comorbidity and frailty on this association.
Methods
This cross-sectional study included community-dwelling older adults at their first geriatric evaluation. Probable sarcopenia was screened according to SARC-F. Clinically significant depressive symptoms (CSDS) were assessed according to the 5-items geriatric depression scale (GDS.) Frailty was determined through the CHSA-clinical frailty scale (CFS). Comorbidity burden was scored through the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale-Geriatric (CIRS-CI).
Results
We included 238 participants with a mean age of 82.4 (± 6.9) years of age, 152 (63.6%) participants were females. Probable sarcopenia was diagnosed in 131 (55.0%) participants, while CSDS were present in 186 (78.2%) participants. In the multiadjusted model, probable sarcopenia was associated with a higher likelihood of CSDS (OR 2.70, 95% CI 1.03–6.12). No significant interaction of frailty and CIRS were found on the association between probable sarcopenia and CSDS.
Conclusions
Sarcopenia and depressive symptomatology are highly co-occurring in geriatric patients, and this association may be independent of frailty and comordibity burden.
... [23]), dplyr (version 7.3.60 [24]), effectsize (version 7.3.60 [25]), ggplot2 (version 7.3.60 ...
Background
Serum symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) is abnormally increased in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Changes in dogs with gastrointestinal disease, such as protein‐losing enteropathy (PLE), have not been assessed.
Objectives
Evaluate SDMA concentration in non‐azotemic dogs with PLE.
Animals
A total of 127 client‐owned dogs, 17 with PLE, 34 controls matched for age, breed, sex, and neuter status, and 76 additional controls for multiple linear regression modeling.
Methods
Retrospective case–control study. The clinical records of a United Kingdom referral hospital were reviewed. Dogs with azotemia or prior glucocorticoid or immunosuppressive treatment were excluded. Dogs diagnosed with PLE that had serum symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) concentrations measured were compared with the matched controls. Signalment, clinical presentation, clinicopathological abnormalities, treatment, and SDMA concentration pre‐ (PLE‐T0) and post‐ (PLE‐T1) treatment were recorded.
Results
At baseline, SDMA concentration was higher in PLE (T0, 15.2 ± 2.02 μg/dL) than in control (11.0 ± 3.13 μg/dL) dogs (p < 0.001; Hedge's G, 1.48), but decreased with treatment (PLE‐T1: 10.3 ± 2.78 μg/dL; T0 vs. T1: p = 0.01, Hedge's G, 1.31). Serum creatinine concentration was similar in PLE (T0, 0.81 ± 0.24 μg/dL) and control (0.85 ± 0.26 μg/dL) dogs at baseline (p = 0.57; Hedge's G, 0.18). Serum albumin concentration was lower in PLE (1.60 ± 0.51 g/dL) than in control (2.96 ± 0.49 g/dL) dogs (p < 0.001; Hedge's G, 2.68) before treatment, but increased with treatment (PLE‐T1: 2.29 ± 0.65 g/dL; T0 vs. T1: p = 0.003; Hedge's G, 1.14), although it remained lower than the concentration in controls (p = 0.002; Hedge's G, 1.23). No other clinicopathological differences were evident.
Conclusions and Clinical Importance
Serum SDMA concentration is increased in dogs with PLE; the clinical relevance of this finding requires further investigation.
... Case Study with significant changes in per capita water consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic are detailed. The analyses were carried out using the R software [27] with the packages "ggplot2" [28], "sf" [29], "magrittr" [30], "dplyr" [31], "geobr" [32], "zoo" [33], "seastests" [34] and lm.beta [35]. The significance level adopted was 5%. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic caused several impacts on the daily lives of city residents. Considering this context, this study aimed to analyze per capita monthly water consumption in 142 municipalities in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, to identify the water consumption patterns in the periods before (from April to December 2019) and during (April to December 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. Student’s t-test and Wilcoxon-Mann–Whitney statistical tests were used in the analyses, in addition to multiple linear regression models. The results showed that urban water consumption was affected by the pandemic. The hypothesis tests revealed that 60 (42%) municipalities presented significant changes in water consumption, with 18 (13%) showing an increase and 42 (29%) a reduction. The linear regression analysis showed a significant increase in six municipalities (4%) and a reduction in 34 (24%). Some municipalities such as Águas de Chapecó and São João do Itaperiú had a significant raise in water consumption related to local economic factors, such as the resilience of the agribusiness industry. In contrast, significant reductions occurred in municipalities with industrial or commercial and service activities, such as Armazém and Canoinhas, respectively. Local characteristics, drought episodes, and the specificities of the municipality’s economy may influence water consumption patterns in different ways. This analysis can be useful to support the implementation of administrative measures during quarantine or restriction periods, as occurred in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the variations in water consumption at unusual times can help develop strategies to improve water security.
... The entirety of these analyses was performed using R studio version 4.4.1 14 with attached packages. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] Ethics In Denmark, ethical approval and individual patient consent are not required for registry-based studies. Permission to access and use the data for research purposes was granted by the dataresponsible institute in the Capitol of Region Denmark, in compliance with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation. ...
... The traditional statistical models were developed in R (version 4.4.0) 47 , using the ggplot2 48 , dplyr 49 , and mice packages 50 . ...
Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) is a type of stroke with high mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to identify novel aSAH risk factors by combining machine learning (ML) and traditional statistical methods. Using the UK Biobank, we identified aSAH cases via hospital-based ICD codes and analysed 618 baseline variables covering demographics, lifestyle, medical history, and physical measurements. The CatBoost ML algorithm and Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) identified the top 25 variables most influential in predicting aSAH. Logistic regression further described these variables while adjusting for established aSAH risk factors. Among 501,847 participants, 893 aSAH cases were identified. ML identified 214 variables with non-zero SHAP values. Logistic regression of the top 25 variables revealed four potential novel aSAH risk factors. Increased aSAH risk was associated with mean sphered cell volume (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.00-1.03) and tea intake (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05). Decreased aSAH risk was associated with peak expiratory flow (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.66–0.96), and haematocrit percentage (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.95-1.00). Future research should validate these findings and explore the potential non-linear relationships and interactions indicated by the ML models.
... 64 dplyr (v. 1.1.4),65 and psych (v. ...
... Before testing for the significance of the differences among samples, we carried out data exploration following the protocol provided by Zuur et al. (2010). Statistical analysis and figure creation were performed using R v.4.3.0 (R Core Team 2023) and the functions provided by the following packages: 'devtools' (Wickham et al. 2023a), 'dplyr' (Wickham et al. 2023b), 'ggplot2' (Wickham 2016), 'mass' (Venables and Ripley 2002), 'multcomp' (Hothorn et al. 2008), and 'Rmisc' (Hope 2013). The normal distribution of data was tested using the 'shapiro.test' ...
Woody species encroachment of grasslands is occurring worldwide with contrasting consequences for ecosystem processes. This work aims to describe the changes in soil and litter decomposition following the early stages of colonization in a subalpine grassland located in the Alps. We investigated soil properties onto O and A horizons, and carried out a 1-year decomposition experiment to quantify the decomposition rate and describe the qualitative features of the process through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy methodology. All the analyses were carried out in an encroached area and the adjacent grassland. Shrubland soil showed higher temperature and moisture compared to grassland, whereas no significant differences were found for pH, ammonium, nitrate, available P, total organic carbon, and total nitrogen, neither in the O nor in the A soil horizon. A significantly higher dissolved organic carbon content was observed in the shrubland A horizon, as well as a higher content of microbial C and N. The decomposition rate was significantly higher in the shrubland soil with no relevant differences about the qualitative aspects of the process. Our results showed that, even in the early stage of the process, when soil chemistry has not changed yet, woody encroachment caused an increase of soil moisture and microbial biomass, which favoured decomposition rate.
... All analyses were performed in R V.4.3.1 15 and additional packages. [16][17][18][19][20] We used the 'MASS' package to fit the negative binomial models. 21 The R code is available at https://github.com/drexler-virus-epidemiology/Covid_ ...
Objectives
To analyse the relationships between SARS-CoV-2 laboratory testing capacity (TC) and socioeconomic factors (wealth, governance and social inequality) across 109 countries in 2020–2021, to identify potential determinants of global disparities in TC during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design
An ecological study using regression analyses to explore the associations between TC and socioeconomic determinants within and across global regions.
Setting/participants
Data from 109 countries from Our World in Data, the WHO, the United Nations and others grouped into six geographic and sociodemographic regions (global burden of disease regions), were analysed separately for the years 2020–2021 based on differential vaccine availability and country-level responses throughout the pandemic.
Outcome measures
Relationships between SARS-CoV-2 TC and factors such as vaccination rates, wealth, vulnerable employment (VE), gender and income inequality within and across world regions in 2020–2021.
Results
TC increased a minimum of 2.1-fold for ‘Sub-Sahara’ (median TC 1800–3700 tests) to a maximum of 4.9-fold for ‘Asia and Oceania’ (4500–22 000) between 2020 and 2021. Factors associated with TC among the socioeconomic variables included VE that was associated with reduced TC both in 2020 (relative change (RC) −43%; 95% CI −57% to –25%) and 2021 (RC −46%; 95% CI −62% to –24%) and employment-to-population ratio that had a positive effect on TC in 2021 (RC 27%; 95% CI 44% to 55%). Socioeconomic variables showed similar patterns for both the established measles–mumps–rubella and the new COVID-19 vaccines. Region-level analyses revealed stark heterogeneity in the associations between socioeconomic variables and TC between the analysed years (2020 vs 2021) and across regions. Region-specific trends showed that in Latin America and Asia/Oceania, TC was linked to health expenditure in both analysed years (RC 2020 : 199%; 95% CI 74% to 405%; RC 2021 : 142%; 95% CI 67% to 24%). VE was associated with decreased TC in the ‘high-income’, ‘Central Europe’ and ‘Sub-Saharan’ regions.
Conclusions
Socioeconomic and gender inequalities play a significant role in determining SARS-CoV-2 TC. These inequalities underscore the necessity of ensuring equitable access to health services and targeted public health interventions, particularly in resource-limited settings, to improve health outcomes and pandemic preparedness. Socioeconomic and gender disparities can exacerbate health inequalities and hinder the effectiveness of public health policies in a globally interconnected world.
... All data cleaning, organisation, and linear regression analyses were conducted using the 'dplyr' and 'ggplot2' packages in R (Wickham 2009;Wickham and François 2014). The non-linear relationship between algal blooms and SST was modelled using a Generalised Additive Model (GAM) (Hastie 2017;Lima et al. 2022;Miller et al. 2011). ...
Climate change has significantly altered the spatiotemporal distribution and phenology of marine organisms, yet the long-term trends and mechanisms driving these changes remain insufficiently understood. In this study, we analysed historical Noctiluca scintillans bloom data from coastal China (1933, 1952, 1981–2023), sea surface temperature (SST) records from the past 40 years, and 509 field samples using Single Molecule Real-Time (SMRT) sequencing (2019–2024). Our results indicate that SST is the primary driver of N. scintillans blooms, exhibiting a nonlinear unimodal correlation. Long-term SST warming has caused a northward shift in bloom locations, aligning with the 21.9°C–22.7°C isotherms, as reflected by the increasing average latitudes of bloom occurrences. Over the past 4 decades, bloom frequency and duration have followed an overall increasing trend, displaying an approximate 10-year cyclical pattern. Ocean warming has also contributed to earlier bloom initiation, extended peak bloom periods and delayed bloom termination, shaping the long-term dynamics of N. scintillans blooms. SMRT sequencing confirmed that local N. scintillans populations persist year-round, serving as latent seed sources that can rapidly bloom when environmental conditions become favourable. These findings provide critical insights into the dynamics of harmful algal blooms in the context of climate change and lay a foundation for future ecological and environmental research.
... All analyses were performed in R Program (Core Team, 2013) with RStudio (RS Team, 2015) using the following packages (alphabetical order): corrplot (Wei et al., 2017), dplyr (Wickham et al., 2019), lavaan (Rosseel, 2012), psych (Revelle, 2011(Revelle, , 2016, RSA (Schönbrodt & Humberg, 2023). ...
In research on flow as a constitutive trait, alongside appropriate levels of attention and motivation, the balance between task challenges and individual skills is emphasized. However, accurately determining the optimal balance to maximize the intensity of the flow state remains a complex task. It is evident that both variables, task challenge and individual skills, are interrelated. Nevertheless, how to precisely express the degree of matching between these variables in explaining the flow state remains an open question. One of the recent proposals for analyzing the (mis)matching of predictor variables explaining outcomes is Response Surface Analysis (RSA). In this study, we employed RSA to verify whether the skill-challenge balance could indeed occur in a configuration that best explains the flow state. We measured flow using the Flow Short Scale, which consists of two subscales: fluency and absorption. The study included 528 participants who were online board game players and were asked to assess their perceived skill levels and the current challenge of the game. RSA revealed two intriguing phenomena concerning both the fluency scale and absorption: firstly, flow is higher when the perceived level of skills exceeds task challenge compared to situations where perceived skills are lower than task challenge; secondly, flow is higher when both perceived skill levels and task challenge are higher compared to when they are at low levels. These findings shed light on a crucial aspect of the occurrence of flow, related to perceived skill levels and subjective task challenge.
... We performed a full factor analysis (ANOVA) of type II on each model using the 'car' package (Fox and Weisberg, 2018). For the graphs we used the 'ggplot2' (Kassambara and Kosinski, 2018) and 'dplyr' (Hadley et al., 2023) packages, in the graphs comparing the number of cases and deaths of SARS-CoV-2 between Uberlândia, São Paulo and Brazil, there was a logarithmic transformation to the values for better visual adjustment. ...
This epidemiological-ecological study is justified by the need to understand the evolution of Covid-19 in Uberlândia and the deliberations of the Municipal Committee to Combat the Disease between March 2020 and December 2021. The objectives include analyzing the reported cases and deaths during the period, as well as the preventive measures implemented by the committee. The study methodology was based on secondary data of public use, specifically OpenDataSUS records. Reported cases and deaths that occurred from March 21, 2020 to December 31, 2021 were analyzed. Statistical analysis and graphs were performed using the R software, with Kruskal-Wallis tests for comparisons between the number of cases and deaths, and the Wilcoxon test with Bonferroni adjustment for pairwise comparisons. A complete factor analysis (ANOVA) of type II was also performed for each model, using the 'car', 'ggplot2' and 'dplyr' packages. The results indicate that social isolation measures were essential to avoid overloading the Unified Health System (SUS) and ensure adequate access to ventilation and support care in Intensive Care Units (ICU). The creation of the Municipal Committee to Combat Covid-19 allowed the implementation of significant preventive actions. The analysis of the data revealed the rapid progression of the virus and the effectiveness of social interventions to contain the spread of the disease
Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a promising strategy for CO 2 removal via promoting inorganic carbon (IC) sequestration. However, knowledge gaps persist regarding its influence on the largest terrestrial carbon pool, soil organic carbon (SOC) and how these effects evolve as weathering progresses. This study investigated how basalt weathering influences soil carbon fluxes and organic matter (OM) turnover. Over a 6th‐month incubation, we applied fresh basalt (fine‐sized, olivine‐rich) and weathered basalt (coarse‐ and fine‐sized, olivine‐depleted) to temperate cropland topsoil, incorporating with ¹³ C‐labelled straw. Fresh basalt increases soil pH via rapid H ⁺ neutralization during olivine dissolution, releasing soluble Mg ²⁺ and increasing bicarbonate alkalinity. Combined with continuous carbonic acid dissociation for olivine dissolution, they synergistically enhance dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) accumulation in soil solution and effluent (~0.4%), promoting soil inorganic carbon (SIC) accrual via carbonate precipitation (~4%). However, rising pH concurrently induces significant SOC losses (~17%), resulting in net C losses of ~13%. As basalt weathering progresses (olivine‐depleted), slower H ⁺ neutralization and carbonic acid dissociation during less‐reactive Ca‐bearing mineral dissolution stabilize soil pH, limiting DIC formation. The released Ca ²⁺ prioritizes SIC accrual via Ca‐carbonate precipitation (~4%). Meanwhile, higher specific surface area (SSA) and exchangeable Ca ²⁺ enhance retention and stabilization of both native and straw‐derived OC, reducing net C losses (~6%). At both weathering stages, over 95% of total C remaining in soils and effluent exists in organic form. Straw inputs acidify soils by releasing additional free H ⁺ during decomposition, competing with carbonic acid for olivine dissolution and reducing bicarbonate alkalinity, which limits the DIC and SIC accrual at both weathering stages. Since soils continuously receive OM input, understanding the balance between these interactive processes is crucial for optimizing long‐term carbon sequestration strategies. Therefore, sustaining SOC by minimizing SOC losses should be prioritized for long‐term carbon sequestration, besides IC accrual for ERW, particularly as weathering progresses.
This study characterizes anthropogenic particles (AP) and microplastics (MP) in treated wastewater, sea surface, water column and intertidal sediments from the Arcachon Bay (France) at four seasons. Their morphometric characteristics, polymer types and concentrations were described. Concentrations showed some seasonal variations that may be related to anthropogenic factors like tourism or fishing. Overall, 2687.4 ± 1335.2 AP.m⁻³ (614.7 ± 481.4 MP.m⁻³) were found in wastewater and we estimated that 127.4 ± 41.6 million of AP (30.0 ± 25.2 million of MP) could enter the Atlantic Ocean each day via the wastewater system. Mean concentrations at sea surface, in water column and intertidal sediments were respectively 0.79 ± 1.64 AP.m⁻³ (0.62 ± 1.30 MP.m⁻³), 778.90 ± 370.95 AP.m⁻³ (319.2 ± 214.6 MP.m⁻³) and 86.93 ± 67.77 AP.kg⁻¹ (16.1 ± 19.1 MP.kg⁻¹ dry weight). Finally, we proposed insights about sources of AP and MP based on their characteristics (e.g. textiles, tyres, fishing).
As the availability of big biomedical data advances, there is a growing need of university students trained professionally on analyzing these data and correctly interpreting their results. We propose here a study plan for a master’s degree course on biomedical data science, by describing our experience during the last academic year. In our university course, we explained how to find an open biomedical dataset, how to correctly clean it and how to prepare it for a computational statistics or machine learning phase. By doing so, we introduce common health data science terms and explained how to avoid common mistakes in the process. Moreover, we clarified how to perform an exploratory data analysis (EDA) and how to reasonably interpret its results. We also described how to properly execute a supervised or unsupervised machine learning analysis, and now to understand and interpret its outcomes. Eventually, we explained how to validate the findings obtained. We illustrated all these steps in the context of open science principles, by suggesting to the students to use only open source programming languages (R or Python in particular), open biomedical data (if available), and open access scientific articles (if possible). We believe our teaching proposal can be useful and of interest for anyone wanting to start to prepare a course on biomedical data science.
Mosquito-borne diseases have caused more than 1 million deaths each year. There is an urgent need to develop an effective way to reduce mosquito–host interaction to mitigate disease transmission. Sugar diets have long been linked to abnormal physiology in animals, making them potential candidates for mosquito control. Here, we show the impact of sugar diets on humidity preference and survival in Aedes aegypti (Gainesville) and Culex pipiens (Buckeye). Two-choice assays with high and low relative humidity (80% and 50% RH) show that the impact of sugar diets on humidity preference is species-specific. In comparison to Cx. pipiens, various sugar diets resulted in marked reductions in humidity avidity and preference in Ae. aegypti, which exhibited significant differences. Among the sugar diets, arabinose significantly reduced the survival rate of mosquitoes at low concentrations. Moreover, we found that host landing was not impacted by feeding on different sugar types. Our study suggests that specific sugar treatments could be applied to mosquito control by dampening their humidity preference and reducing their lifespan, thus reducing mosquito-borne disease transmission.
Oak dieback affecting Quercus robur L. (pedunculate oak) in Northern Europe, is driven by a complex interaction of abiotic and biotic factors, such as pests, diseases, and environmental stress, including drought. To better understand the role of the soil microbiome in oak dieback, we analysed the diversity and composition of the microbial communities in the rhizospheres of declining and visibly healthy trees. We used metabarcoding to describe the microbiome and baiting (i.e., the use of plant tissues to act as baits) to isolate species of Phytophthora, a protist genus known for its contribution to the decline of oak trees. Our findings revealed significant differences in bacterial alpha diversity and fungal beta diversity between the rhizospheres of healthy and declining trees. Viable isolates of several species of Phytophthora, such as Phytophthora plurivora, P. cactorum, and P. gonapodyides were obtained using the baiting technique. The results underscore the stand level diversity of rhizosphere soil microbiota and support our initial idea that microbial communities vary with tree health conditions.
Coastal wetlands provide critical ecological services but are threatened by the human, climatic, and hydrological changes impacting these ecosystems. Several key ecosystem services and functions rely on aquatic macrophyte plant species. We integrate 10 years of seasonal monitoring data (2014–2024) and climatic and hydrological datasets to assess how environmental variability influences two dominant aquatic macrophytes—the invasive and non-indigenous Elodea densa Planch. Casp. (Hydrocharitaceae) and the native Schoenoplectus californicus (C.A.Mey.) Soják—in Chile’s first Ramsar site, Carlos Anwandter, and a Nature Sanctuary. We modeled suitable habitat areas using MaxEnt software with Landsat 8 spectral bands and indices as predictive layers. We found significant recent decreases in temperature, river flow, and water level, with a nonsignificant shift in precipitation. We also observed marked spatial and temporal fluctuations in areas with suitable habitat areas for both macrophytes. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that Elodea densa expanded with increasing temperature over time but declined with water level variability. Schoenoplectus californicus showed contrasting effects, declining with rising temperature and water levels but expanding with higher precipitation. These findings emphasize the complexity of coastal wetland ecosystems under environmental stress and climate change and the need for further research for the conservation and management of coastal wetlands along migratory flyways such as the Southeastern Pacific Flyway.
Using data from the third intestinal infectious disease survey (IID3), the FSA aims to estimate the number of cases, general practice presentations, and hospitalisations caused by foodborne transmission of selected pathogens in the UK. To achieve this, estimates of the percentage of disease attributable to food for each pathogen are required. A systematic literature review was conducted to provide attribution estimates for four pathogens of interest: enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), sapovirus, hepatitis A virus (HAV), and Toxoplasma gondii . This project pilots the review methodology and makes recommendations for its extension to other IID3 pathogens.
Search results from SCOPUS, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases were compiled into separate libraries for each pathogen. Articles published after 2012 in English, containing data on percentages of disease attributable to transmission pathways, were screened for inclusion. Thirteen studies were included in total.
The studies estimated foodborne disease percentages as follows: EPEC, 64%; HAV, 10%-42%; sapovirus, 13%-16.3%; and T. gondii , 28%-61%. Fresh produce was identified as the primary foodborne transmission pathway for HAV, with estimates ranging from 45%-95.4%, and for sapovirus, 58.3%. Pork was implicated as a significant transmission pathway for T. gondii , with estimates between 20% and 41%.
Variability in findings was noted, potentially due to differences in study design, data sources, or geographic and temporal factors. Despite this, the results offer valuable insights for the FSA in calculating the burden of foodborne infectious intestinal disease in the UK.
This paper presents a Generalized Sentiment Analytics Framework (GSAF) for understanding public sentiments on different key societal issues in real time. The framework uses natural language processing techniques for computing sentiments and displays them in different emotions leveraging publicly available social media data (i.e., X threads (formally Twitter)). As a case study of our developed framework, we have leveraged over 3 million tweets to map, analyze, and visualize public sentiment state-wise across the United States on different societal issues. With X as a key social media platform, this study harnesses its vast user base to provide real-time insights into emotional responses surrounding key societal and political events. Built using R and the Shiny web framework, the platform offers users interactive visualizations of emotion-specific sentiments, such as anger, joy, and trust, displayed on a U.S. state-level choropleth map. The platform allows keyword-based searches and employs advanced text-processing techniques to filter and clean tweet data for robust analysis. Furthermore, it implements efficient caching mechanisms to enhance performance, comparing various strategies like LRU and Size-Based Eviction. This research highlights the potential of sentiment analysis for policymaking, marketing, and public discourse, providing a valuable tool for understanding and predicting public sentiment trends.
This study focuses on using spectral data recorded with two different Near-Infrared (NIR) instruments (a benchtop and a portable device) to differentiate between Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) and Grana Padano (GP) Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheeses and their ripening times. Key findings showed that NIR spectroscopy effectively discriminated between PR and GP, with spectral range differences linked to their chemical composition, including fat, protein, and carbohydrate content. Specifically, certain wavelength ranges (1,375-1,400 nm, 1,205-1,250 nm, and 1,410-1,440 nm) were identified as significant in distinguishing PDO labels, highlighting the roles of fat and protein content in the cheese classification. Spectral features are also distinguished between ripening times, with specific wavelength bands tied to biochemical modifications during maturation, such as changes in moisture, protein, and fat content. In terms of instrument performance, the benchtop device achieved high accuracy in PDO classification (up to 0.97 F1 score), particularly when using a first derivative pre-treatment. The portable device performances showed higher variability but performed flawlessly for PDO classification. While both instruments effectively classified cheeses of distinct ripening ages, they were less successful at detecting samples containing mixtures of different aged cheeses. The portable instrument showed better results when combining the visible spectrum (350-950 nm) with the NIR spectrum (950-1,650 nm), capturing surface color changes alongside internal structural transformations related to aging. Overall, the study validates the potential of NIR spectroscopy, especially when combined with established preprocessing techniques, as a powerful non-destructive tool to authenticate specific cheese PDO and assess ripening stages.
Nitrogen (N) sources critically influence both agronomic performance and secondary metabolism in medicinal plants. Understanding how different forms of nitrogen affect plant growth and the biosynthesis of valuable secondary metabolites is essential for optimizing cultivation practices and enhancing crop medicinal quality. In this study, Erigeron breviscapus (Vant.) Hand.–Mazz., a medicinal herb renowned in traditional Chinese medicine for its bioactive flavonoids such as scutellarin with neuroprotective and cardiovascular therapeutic effects, was cultivated under various N treatments—nitrate (NO3⁻–N), ammonium (NH4⁺–N), and urea [CO(NH2)2]—and compared to an N-free control. All N treatments significantly enhanced plant height, leaf area, biomass, and overall yield, with nitrate-N providing the most pronounced growth benefits. Metabolomic profiling identified 387 known metabolites, primarily flavonoids, exhibiting distinct accumulation patterns under each N form. Transcriptomic analyses revealed substantial differences in gene expression, with nitrate-N inducing the greatest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Integration of metabolomic and transcriptomic data uncovered co-expression modules linking candidate regulatory genes, such as cytochrome P450s, MYB transcription factors, and glycosyltransferases, to specific flavonoids, including quercetin-3-O-glucoside and apigenin. These findings elucidate how different N sources modulate flavonoid biosynthesis in E. breviscapus, revealing molecular mechanisms underlying N-mediated flavonoid biosynthesis, which can contribute to optimized fertilizer strategies. This research enhances both the medicinal quality and yield of this important medicinal plant by revealing key gene–metabolite networks, thereby offering valuable insights for metabolic engineering and sustainable cultivation practices.
Background
Seagrass meadows are distributed globally and provide critical ecological functions and ecosystem services, but seagrasses are still poorly studied compared with other coastal and marine foundation species. Species taxonomy is uncertain in various seagrass genera, such as the genus Halodule . Until recently, the morphological characteristics of leaves were the major criteria for species identification. In Brazil, three species of Halodule are recognized and separated solely using leaf morphology criteria by some authors; however, the leaves present high variability and plasticity, resulting in great uncertainty about species diversity. A review of seagrass species validation using both morphological and phylogenetic methods is needed. This includes examining the genus Halodule with the aim of better understanding its diversity and spatial distribution and consequently supporting management and conservation goals.
Methods
Plant samples with the morphological forms of H . beaudettei and H. wrightii were collected at five sites across three Brazilian marine ecoregions. Leaf tip format and leaf width and length were compared among all the sites and between the two populations with different leaf tip forms. Molecular diversity and divergence indices and analyses were used to estimate the genetic distance between H. wrightii and H. beaudettei populations. To determine the phylogenetic relationship between the two morphologies, we sequenced two molecular markers, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) fragment and the rbcL gene, to construct phylogenetic trees using Bayesian inference.
Results
We identified H. beaudettei morphology at two sites in Northeast Brazil, while H. wrightii was found in all the ecoregions in the remaining areas, distinguished by the leaf tip shape that occurred at each site. Leaf width and length varied across the five sites, and leaf length differed between H. wrightii and H. beaudettei , with higher values observed in H. beaudettei . Variations in morphological measurements may be related to habitat conditions at each site studied. No divergence was observed for the DNA sequences of two molecular markers, except for a single base in the ITS region, resulting in the Brazilian specimens merging at a single node in the phylogenetic trees. AMOVA and genetic distance analysis revealed low genetic variation but high structuring within populations. The ITS marker showed insufficient genetic variance to delineate the two morphologies as different species which indicating H. wrightii and H. beaudettei are closely related. A genomic approach is needed to fully resolve this issue. This study represents the first step toward the complete determination of the Halodule genus on the Brazilian coast.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common postoperative complication of paediatric congenital heart disease (CHD) surgery, associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Current diagnostic approaches are unreliable in the early postoperative period, delaying diagnosis and treatment. This study investigates the efficacy of inflammatory and renal biomarkers in the early detection of postoperative AKI in paediatric CHD surgery patients. Biomarkers were assessed in urine and serum samples collected pre- and 24 h postoperatively from paediatric patients (median age 27 weeks) undergoing corrective CHD surgery (n = 76). Univariate and subsequent multivariate regression analysis with least absolute shrinkage and selected operator (LASSO) regularisation was performed to identify key predictors stratified by AKI diagnosis at 48 h. Significant biomarkers were included in a compound regression model which was evaluated through receiver operator curve analysis. Internal validation of the models was carried out through bootstrapping. Postoperative urine concentrations of interleukin-18 were significantly higher in those with postoperative AKI (p = 0.015), whereas uromodulin concentrations were lower (p = 0.010). Uromodulin, interleukin-18, and serum Fatty Acid Binding Protein 3 were associated with AKI (p = 0.011, 0.040, 0.042 respectively), with uromodulin and interleukin-18 performing strongly in a compound model withstanding LASSO regularisation, demonstrating an area under the curve of 0.899, sensitivity of 0.741, and specificity of 0.913. Urine uromodulin and interleukin-18 can be used to accurately predict postoperative AKI when measured at 24 h after surgery. Prompt recognition of postoperative AKI would facilitate early intervention, potentially mitigating the most severe consequences of renal injury.
This paper introduces a novel and potentially essential financial well‐being variable—worldview conviction—for financial professionals, researchers, and policymakers to more accurately predict an individual's financial well‐being. Using the results from a sample of 492 participants, this paper finds evidence that having convictions about how life works (i.e., personal worldview) predicts financial well‐being indirectly through an individual's aspirational life goals (i.e., values). More specifically, evidence was found that higher levels of conviction in a personal worldview predicted more intrinsic values. Intrinsic value types (goals related to personal growth, deeper relationships, or community contribution) were found to be associated with higher financial well‐being, while extrinsic value types (goals related to acquiring wealth, fame, or image) were found to be associated with lower financial well‐being.
Scedosporium and Lomentospora species are emerging fungal pathogens capable of causing severe infections in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals. Previous environmental surveys have suggested potential associations between these fungi and various soil chemical parameters, though the relative influence of human activity versus environmental factors has not been systematically evaluated. Here, we conducted a comprehensive survey of 406 soil samples from 132 locations across Taiwan, analyzing fungal abundance alongside soil physicochemical parameters and the Human Footprint Index (HFI). We recovered 236 fungal isolates comprising 10 species, with S. boydii (32.2%), S. apiospermum (30.9%), and S. dehoogii (14.4%) being the most prevalent. The highest fungal burdens were observed in urban environments (up to 1293 CFU/g), particularly in public spaces and healthcare facilities. Statistical analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between fungal abundance and HFI (r = 0.143, P = 0.005), while soil chemical parameters including nitrogen, carbon, pH, electrical conductivity, and various base cations showed no significant associations despite their wide ranges. These findings indicate that anthropogenic disturbance of environments, rather than soil chemistry, is the primary driver of Scedosporium and Lomentospora distribution in Taiwan. This understanding holds important implications for predicting infection risks and developing targeted public health strategies, particularly in rapidly urbanizing regions. Future studies incorporating more specific indicators of human impact may further elucidate the mechanisms underlying these distribution patterns.
Global warming is intensifying heatwaves worldwide, leading to more frequent and severe temperature extremes. This study investigates the impact of the unprecedented 2022 Mediterranean heatwaves on the coral eukaryome, which has received little attention despite its known importance to coral holobiont functioning. Fifty-six colonies of the iconic red coral Corallium rubrum from the Mediterranean Sea were collected at different sites, depths and health states. The microeukaryotic communities were analyzed using an 18S rRNA gene metabarcoding approach. Primers were designed to reduce amplification of the 18S rRNA gene sequences of the red coral while being universal for amplification of microeukaryotes. Our results showed that the red coral eukaryome was dominated by Dino-Group I, Licnophoridae and Labyrinthulomycetes in the control sites that were not affected by the heat waves. In the heat-affected colonies, the composition of the coral eukaryome changed, with the relative abundances of Ephelotidae, Exobasidiomycetes, Corallicolidae, Labyrinthulomycetes and/or the epibionts Phaeophyceae increasing depending on the intensity of heat stress experienced by the colonies. It was thus possible to link colony health to changes in the eukaryome. Finally, we illustrated putative interactions (competition, predator–prey relationship and parasitism) occurring within C. rubrum eukaryome that could explain the compositional changes observed in the microeukaryotic communities under heat stress. Our findings improve our understanding of the ecological effects of heatwaves on marine ecosystems.
In the 1968 local elections the Liverpool Conservatives won 62 percent of the vote and 78 percent of the seats on Liverpool City Council. By 1972 the party had held a majority on Liverpool’s municipal government for 85 of the previous 100 years. But in 1983 they lost their last two MPs, and in 1998 they lost their final councillor. The Conservatives have not won an electoral contest in the city since.
Whatever happened to Tory Liverpool? Success, decline and irrelevance since 1945 explores the history of Conservative electoral performance in Liverpool from the end of the Second World War to the present day, and challenges a number of myths regarding the city’s political history: Conservative post-war success was not due to sectarian tensions or false consciousness, and neither was Conservative decline due to Margaret Thatcher.
The book takes a multi-method approach to the study of Conservative Party history in Liverpool. It proposes a tripartite framework, which separates the periods of success (1945–1972), decline (1973–1986), and irrelevance (1987 onwards), and argues that each period should be explained by recourse to different phenomena. Only in this way can the complex post-war history of the Conservative Party in Liverpool truly be understood.
This paper traces the diachronic development of prepositional phrases (PPs) with bare institutional/location nouns (e.g. go to church , stay in bed, die in prison ) from Middle English to Late Modern English. Based on a dataset of 2,249 instances extracted from the Penn Parsed Corpora of Historical English (PPCME2, PPCEME, PPCMBE2), we investigate changes in the usage of these constructions (i.e. formal and functional features). One question addressed is why a definite determiner is apparently ‘missing’ in these constructions ( died in prison rather than died in the prison ) and what kind of semantic interpretation this lack of overt definiteness marking triggers. Moreover, we assess whether there is evidence of these PPs becoming increasingly integrated into the extended verb phrase, by zooming in on the patterns’ semantic functions and formal features. By using collostructional analyses as well as by fitting a conditional random forest model, we show that different constructional types can be identified, which differ regarding the association strength between the elements involved as well as regarding their preferred semantic function, among other things. These results are then discussed from a usage-based, cognitive constructional perspective, indicating that the constructions at hand force us to revisit traditional assumptions about phrase structure boundaries and compositionality.
This paper aims to demonstrate how the interconnection between Medieval History and Data Science can contribute to advancing historical studies. To this end, we will present the resulting products of the post-doctoral research entitled “O pobre e a pobreza na Alta Idade Média (séculos VI-IX): estudo linguístico e histórico”, made under the supervision of Marcelo Cândido da Silva, with a scholarship by FAPESP (process no. 2018/11355-8) on poverty between the 6th and 9th centuries in the Western Medieval world: i) a database on the lexicon of poverty in the Early Middle Ages, available for the public at https://thirisi.github.io/Projeto-PaupeR/; ii) the PaupeR program, a new tool developed in the R language, for generating and consolidating data in a way that makes it possible to explore it from different statistical perspectives; and iii) a public repository with all the information generated by this research, where visitors can access, download and copy it, available at the following web address: https://github.com/thirisi/Projeto-PaupeR. With this, we hope to contribute not only to understanding the issue of poverty in the period in question, but also to lay foundations for new explorations of historical data, as well as new interpretations and new methodologies for historical studies analysis.
digital methods; poverty; database
Childhood adversity is a strong predictor of developing psychopathological conditions. Multiple theories on the mechanisms underlying this association have been suggested which, however, differ in the operationalization of ‘exposure.’ Altered (threat) learning mechanisms represent central mechanisms by which environmental inputs shape emotional and cognitive processes and ultimately behavior. 1402 healthy participants underwent a fear conditioning paradigm (acquisition training, generalization), while acquiring skin conductance responses (SCRs) and ratings (arousal, valence, and contingency). Childhood adversity was operationalized as (1) dichotomization, and following (2) the specificity model, (3) the cumulative risk model, and (4) the dimensional model. Individuals exposed to childhood adversity showed blunted physiological reactivity in SCRs, but not ratings, and reduced CS+/CS- discrimination during both phases, mainly driven by attenuated CS+ responding. The latter was evident across different operationalizations of ‘exposure’ following the different theories. None of the theories tested showed clear explanatory superiority. Notably, a remarkably different pattern of increased responding to the CS- is reported in the literature for anxiety patients, suggesting that individuals exposed to childhood adversity may represent a specific sub-sample. We highlight that theories linking childhood adversity to (vulnerability to) psychopathology need refinement.
The evolutionary transition to multicellularity requires shifting the primary unit of selection from cells to multicellular collectives. How this occurs in aggregative organisms remains poorly understood. Clonal development provides a direct path to multicellular adaptation through genetic identity between cells, but aggregative organisms face a constraint: selection on collective-level traits cannot drive adaptation without positive genetic assortment. We leveraged experimental evolution of flocculating Saccharomyces cerevisiae to examine the evolution and role of genetic assortment in multicellular adaptation. After 840 generations of selection for rapid settling, 13 of 19 lineages evolved increased positive assortment relative to their ancestor. However, assortment provided no competitive advantage during settling selection, suggesting it arose as an indirect effect of selection on cell-level traits rather than through direct selection on collective-level properties. Genetic reconstruction experiments and protein structure modeling revealed two distinct pathways to assortment: kin recognition mediated by mutations in the FLO1 adhesion gene and generally enhanced cellular adhesion that improved flocculation efficiency independent of partner genotype. The evolution of assortment without immediate adaptive benefit suggests that key innovations enabling multicellular adaptation may arise indirectly through cell-level selection. Our results demonstrate fundamental constraints on aggregative multicellularity and help explain why aggregative lineages have remained simple.
Background
Lucidotini is a diverse tribe of lampyrine fireflies present throughout the New World, Europe, and Asia. Most of the over 30 genera have overlapping diagnoses, largely due to a lack of revisionary and phylogenetic studies. Widespread convergence in sensory morphology, traditionally used in genus-level diagnoses, further compounds the taxonomic issues surrounding the Lucidotini. Recent work has cast light on the value of terminalia and genitalic traits for Lucidotini taxonomy and called for a more thorough screening of morphological characters. Of special interest are basal outgrowths of the phallus ( i.e ., ventrobasal processes)—currently only known in Alychnus Kirsch and Photinus Laporte–that can be quite informative at the species level, but its variation within Lucidotini remains poorly studied. Most Lucidotini species remain only superficially described, while internal characters—including those of terminalia and genitalia—which could inform species identification and phylogenetic relatedness, remain unknown. Upon studying eight Lucidotini species superficially looking like Photinus and Photinoides McDermott—all of which bearing long ventrobasal processes–we raised the hypothesis that they belonged to a genus yet to be recognized.
Methods
Here, we analyzed 97 morphological characters of 32 lampyrid species spanning 17 of 30 Lucidotini genera under Bayesian Inference.
Results
We found evidence for the recognition and description of Saguassu gen. nov. to include seven new species ( Saguassu acutum sp. nov., Saguassu grossii sp. nov., Saguassu manauara sp. nov., Saguassu rebellum sp nov., Saguassu roura sp. nov., Saguassu serratum sp. nov. and Saguassu sinuosum sp. nov. ), in addition to Photinus dissidens Olivier ((transferred herein, thus generating Saguassu dissidens comb. nov. ), for which we also designate a lectotype and two paralectotypes). This previously neglected lineage of Lucidotini spans four South American biomes: Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, Cerrado, and Pampa. Interestingly, Saguassu species span a gradient of morphologies related to signaling: from Lampyris -style ventrally bulging eyes, tiny antennae and no lanterns; intermediate eyes and antennae, with complete lanterns as in Photinus ; to small eyes and long antennae and small lanterns as in many Lucidota Laporte. Saguassu gen. nov. was consistently found closely related to the three other Lucidotini taxa with ventrobasal processes ( i.e ., Alychnus , Photinoides , and Photinus ). We provide an occurrence map of and a dichotomous key to Saguassu species, thoroughly compare this genus with co-occurring Lucidotini genera, and suggest steps towards a revision of the Lucidotini tribe.
Despite increasing regulations on their production and use, organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), continue to pose a threat to marine life. Odontocete cetaceans are highly susceptible to the accumulation and biomagnification of PCBs due to their role as predators and long life expectancy. Therefore, assessing the levels of PCBs in cetaceans is important to evaluate their health status at the individual and population levels, as well as to provide an indicator of ecosystem health. In the present study, concentrations of PCBs were analysed in the blubber of the three most frequently stranded odontocete species in NW Spain (NE Atlantic): common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) (n = 42), bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) (n = 17) and harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) (n = 19). Individual concentrations ranged from 0.32 to 160.74 μg/g lipid weight (l.w., Σ14PCBs), with the highest levels observed, by far, in bottlenose dolphins (the median concentration was three times higher than that of other species). Many observed values exceed the agreed threshold value for these species (17 μg/g l.w., when expressed as the Aroclor 1254 equivalent concentrations). This suggests that a high percentage of the individuals analysed are at risk from PCBs despite an apparent global decrease in environmental levels. The three species analysed are representative of a key area of the NE Atlantic and represent different trophic and habitat niches. Regular monitoring of pollutant levels in cetacean species is necessary for compliance with legislative requirements and to allow the assessment of these populations and their ecosystems.
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