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Assessing seasonal and weather effects on depression and physical activity using mobile health data
No full textSeasonal and weather changes can significantly impact depression severity, yet findings remain inconsistent across populations. This study explored depression variations across the seasons and the interplays between weather changes, physical activity, and depression severity among 428 participants in a real-world longitudinal mobile health study. Clustering analysis identified four participant subgroups with distinct patterns of depression severity variations in one year. While one subgroup showed stable depression levels throughout the year, others peaked at various seasons. The subgroup with stable depression had older participants with lower baseline depression severity. Mediation analysis revealed temperature and day length significantly influenced depression severity, which in turn impacted physical activity levels indirectly. Notably, these indirect influences manifested differently or even oppositely across participants with varying responses to weather. These findings support the hypothesis of heterogeneity in individuals' seasonal depression variations and responses to weather, underscoring the necessity for personalized approaches in depression management and treatment.</p
Investigating the appeal of nicotine pouch packaging, flavour and nicotine descriptors among adults in the UK: an online experiment
No full textIntroduction: Nicotine pouches have the potential to be used for tobacco harm reduction. Pouches can currently be sold in brightly coloured packaging with conceptual flavour and nicotine descriptors, which may appeal to youth. Therefore, the UK government are considering packaging regulations. We examined the impact of standardised packaging, limiting flavour names and standardising nicotine descriptors on appeal and harm perceptions of nicotine pouches among adults.Methods: A 2024 Prolific Academic online experiment among UK Adults (N=2,967) was used. Participants were randomised to one of four packaging conditions: (1) branded, (2) standardised with usual descriptors, (3) standardised with limited flavour descriptors, and (4) standardised with limited flavour and standardised nicotine descriptors. Logistic regressions examined associations between packaging conditions and (a) no interest in trying the products displayed and (b) harm perceptions relative to cigarettes.Results: There were no significant differences in reporting no interest in trying nicotine pouches in branded compared to standardised packaging with usual descriptors, standardised packaging with limited flavour descriptors, and standardised packaging with limited flavour and nicotine descriptors. When stratified by vaping/smoking status, participants who currently vaped had lower odds of reporting no interest in standardised packaging with limited flavour descriptors, compared to branded. There were no significant differences in harm perceptions by packaging condition.Conclusions: Overall, standardising packaging, limiting flavour descriptors, and standardising nicotine descriptors had little effect on adults’ interest in trying nicotine pouches or their perceptions of relative harm. There were, however, some differences by vaping status.Implications: Findings suggest that if a standardised packaging, flavour and nicotine descriptors policy is introduced for nicotine pouches to deter youth use, there might be little impact on appeal or harm perceptions among adults. This is important because nicotine pouches could be a helpful part of the toolkit for tobacco harm reduction.</p
Zoöp futures: towards an organisational framework for ecological cooperation between humans and more-than-humans
No full textThis paper describes the Zoöp model, an organisational framework fostering regenerative relationships between humans and nonhumans. With escalating ecological crises, traditional anthropocentric decision-making requires a shift towards equitable, multispecies collaboration. The Zoöp model translates more-than-human theories into practical organisational strategies for sustainable futures. Using the Het Nieuwe Instituut (HNI) as a case study, this paper examines how the Zoöp model fosters regenerative actions within a European cultural institution. The model constructs participatory futures, embedding multispecies interests directly into organisational processes to address gaps in current sustainability efforts. By bridging organisational theory, environmental sustainability, and futures studies, the Zoöp model advocates for reparative, just systems that prioritise ecological health and multispecies well-being. This paper highlights the model's potential to promote a philosophical shift, recognising the intrinsic value of all living beings in decision-making processes.</p
Assessing the necessity of technical replicates in reverse transcription
No full textReverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is widely used for nucleic acid quantification. The use of technical triplicates in RT-qPCR aims to minimise variability and improve reliability but increases reagent consumption, labour, and time. This study systematically evaluates the necessity of technical replicates by analysing 71,142 cycle threshold (Ct) values from 1,113 RT-qPCR runs across three instruments, two detection chemistries, and 30 operators. Variability within replicates was assessed using metrics such as the coefficient of variation (CV), while the impacts of operator expertise, detection chemistry, instrument calibration, and initial template abundance concentration were explored. The findings challenge the assumption that variability increases at low template concentrations, revealing no correlation between Ct values and CV. While inexperienced operators exhibited slightly higher variability, their replicates were still consistent, with acceptable CVs and low outlier frequencies. Dye-based detection showed greater variability than probe-based. Time since calibration had negligible effects on replicate consistency. Notably, duplicate or single replicates sufficiently approximated triplicate means. These results challenge traditional assumptions about RT-qPCR variability and provide a data-driven framework for optimising experimental design. This study offers potential for resource savings without compromising data quality, particularly in high-throughput applications or laboratories with limited funds. The data underlying this article are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15072870.</p
Effects of community-based rehabilitation on caregivers of people with schizophrenia in Ethiopia in the RISE trial
No full textBackground: Schizophrenia is a severe mental health condition with high impact on those affected and their families. Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is a recommended treatment component for schizophrenia in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), as it seeks to address complex social, health and economic needs. There is little evidence on the effects of CBR on caregivers of people with schizophrenia. RISE, conducted in Ethiopia, was the first randomised controlled trial of CBR for schizophrenia in a low-income country. In this paper, we extend our previous examination of caregiver impact by (1) investigating the impact of CBR on caregiver stigma and burden, (2) assessing effect modification of outcomes, and (3) determining predictors of caregiver outcomes at 12 months. Methods: Data are from the cluster-randomised controlled RISE trial, which investigated CBR and facility-based care versus facility-based care alone among 166 people with schizophrenia and 166 linked caregivers in 48 sub-districts in Ethiopia. We analyse the effect of CBR on caregiver stigma, unemployment and burden measured with the WHO Family Interview Schedule-Impact at 6 and 12 months; and caregiver depression, reduction in work due to caregiving and caregiver burden measured with the Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire at 6 months. Logistic and linear regression models adjusted for clustering by sub-district and health centre were used for binary and continuous outcomes respectively. Effect modification by caregiver sex, age, baseline of the outcome, and baseline disability were assessed. Baseline factors associated with caregiver outcomes across the whole cohort at 12 months were investigated using hierarchal regression modelling. Results: Data were available for 112 caregivers at 6 months (67%), and 149 caregivers at 12 months (90%). There was evidence that CBR was associated with greater tendency to reduce work due to caregiving at 6 months (OR:2.40, 95%CI:1.06–5.45). No evidence of an intervention effect was found on unemployment, depression, stigma or other aspects of caregiver burden. There was no evidence for effect modification. Higher baseline disability was independently associated with greater caregiving burden at 12 months (β:0.26, 95%CI:0.14–0.37). Conclusions: There appeared to be no positive intervention effect of CBR on caregiver stigma, unemployment and burden in this analysis. Improving the outcomes of caregivers of people with schizophrenia in LMIC requires interventions and research addressing the needs of caregivers, for instance by integrating social and livelihoods interventions. Trial registration: Clinical Trials.gov Identifier NCT02160249. Registered on 3 June 2014.</p
Deciphering temporal scales of visual awareness: insights from flicker frequency modulation in continuous flash suppression
No full textEvidence from temporal regularities in perception, temporal phenomenology, and neural dynamics indicate that our awareness evolves and devolves over several timescales. However, most theories of consciousness posit a single timescale of processing at the end of which a percept is rendered conscious. To show evidence for multiple timescales, we utilized continuous flash suppression (CFS). Based on a hierarchical framework of temporal phenomenology, we reasoned that different flicker rates (1, 4, 10, and 25 Hz) of the suppressor should be able to perturb phenomenologically distinct tasks. We designed four experiments that used different perceptual tasks (N = 48). The results showed that entry of contents into conscious awareness, their attentional sampling, perceptual grouping, and exiting from awareness were all maximally perturbed at distinct flicker frequencies of the suppressor in a CFS paradigm. Our demonstration shows that different flicker frequencies perturb different phenomenological aspects of awareness, and these flicker frequencies systematically map onto temporal hierarchies of timing of awareness.</p
Engineering conversation: Understanding the control requirements of language production in monologue and dialogue
No full textBoth artificial and biological systems are faced with the challenge of noisy and uncertain estimation of the state of the world, in contexts where feedback is often delayed. This challenge also applies to the processes of language production and comprehension, both when they take place in isolation (e.g., in monologue or solo reading) and when they are combined as is the case in dialogue. Crucially, we argue, dialogue brings with it some unique challenges. In this paper, we describe three such challenges within the general framework of control theory, drawing analogies to mechanical and biological systems where possible: (1) the need to distinguish between self- and other-generated utterances; (2) the need to adjust the amount of advance planning (i.e., the degree to which planning precedes articulation) flexibly to achieve timely turn-taking; (3) the need to track changing conversational goals. We show that message-to-sound models of language production (i.e., those that cover the whole process from message generation to articulation) tend to implement fairly simple control architectures. However, we argue that more sophisticated control architectures are necessary to build language production models that can account for both monologue and dialogue.</p
Pupil dilation underlies the peripheral drift illusion
No full textA well-known motion illusion can be seen in stationary patterns that contain repeated asymmetrical luminance gradients, which create a sawtooth-like spatial luminance profile. Such patterns can appear to move episodically, triggered by saccadic eye movements and blinks. The illusion has been known since 1979, but its origin remains unclear. Our hypothesis is that episodes of the illusory movement are caused by transitory changes in the retinal luminance of the pattern that accompany reflexive changes in pupil diameter after eye movements, blinks, and pattern onsets. Changes in retinal luminance are already known to cause illusory impressions of motion in patterns that contain asymmetrical luminance gradients. To test the hypothesis, participants viewed static illusion patterns and made controlled blinks or saccades, after which they pressed a button to indicate cessation of any illusion of movement. We measured changes in pupil diameter up to the point at which the illusion ceased. Results showed that both the amplitude and the duration of pupil dilation correlated well with illusion duration, consistent with the role of retinal luminance in generating in the illusions. This new explanation can account for the importance of eye movements and blinks, and for the effects of age and artificial pupils on the strength of the illusion. A simulation of the illusion in which pattern luminance is modulated with the same time-course as that caused by blinks and saccades creates a marked impression of illusory motion, confirming the causal role of temporal luminance change in generating the illusion.</p
Mourning and orienting to the future in a liminal occasion: (re)defining British national identity after Queen Elizabeth II's death.
No full textIn this paper, we conceptualize the days of mourning that followed the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. as constituting a liminal occasion, a moment of in-betweenness through which we can explore sense-making in times of transition. How do people navigate through liminal occasions, and are they always transformative? Through a rapid response ethnography (Ninterviews = 64, Nparticipants = 122), we were able to capture the raw moments within which a collective comes together, as part of a national ritual, to transition from 'here' to 'there'. In our data, liminality prompted participants to strategically define British national identity and its future by positioning the Queen as representative of Britishness, her loss as a national identity loss. No longer taken for granted, participants reasserted the value of the monarchy as an apolitical and unifying feature in an otherwise divided society, characterizing the continuity of the institution as an essential part of British identity and society. The analysis illustrates how liminality offers a useful conceptual tool for addressing how temporality and change are negotiated in relation to a shared identity, and how navigating transitional moments brings with it political implications for the future.</p
The origin of color categories
No full textTo what extent does concept formation require language? Here, we exploit color to address this question and ask whether macaque monkeys have color concepts evident as categories. Macaques have similar cone photoreceptors and central visual circuits to humans, yet they lack language. Whether Old World monkeys such as macaques have consensus color categories is unresolved, but if they do, then language cannot be required. If macaques do not have color categories, then color categories in humans are unlikely to derive from innate properties of visual encoding and likely to depend on cognitive abilities such as language that differ between monkeys and humans. We tested macaques by adapting a match-to-sample paradigm used in humans to uncover color categories from errors in matches, and we analyzed the data using computational simulations that assess the possibility of unrecognized distortions in the perceptual uniformity of color space. The results provide evidence that humans have consensus cognitive color categories and macaques do not. One animal showed evidence for a private color category, demonstrating that monkeys have the capacity to form color categories even if they do not form consensus color categories. Taken together, the results imply that consensus color categories in humans, for which there is ample evidence, must depend upon language or other cognitive abilities.</p