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Changes to virus taxonomy and the ICTV Statutes ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (2024)
Get PDFThis article reports changes to virus taxonomy and taxon nomenclature that were approved and ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) in April 2024. The entire ICTV membership was invited to vote on 203 taxonomic proposals that had been approved by the ICTV Executive Committee (EC) in July 2023 at the 55th EC meeting in Jena, Germany, or in the second EC vote in November 2023. All proposals were ratified by online vote. Taxonomic additions include one new phylum (Ambiviricota), one new class, nine new orders, three new suborders, 51 new families, 18 new subfamilies, 820 new genera, and 3547 new species (excluding taxa that have been abolished). Proposals to complete the process of species name replacement to the binomial (genus + species epithet) format were ratified. Currently, a total of 14,690 virus species have been established
Editorial: Human-centered solutions and synergies across robotic and digital systems for rehabilitation
Get PDFEditorial on the Research Topic Human-centered solutions and synergies across robotic and digital systems for rehabilitation s The growing need for effective, personalized, clinically compliant, and engaging rehabilitation-based on methodologies for the progressive restoration of lost functions-can leverage the step-changes offered by interaction technologies to obtain optimal results matching the initial requests of the users (patients and clinicians). Human-Centered Design approaches may disclose the full potential of such solutions, especially considering the impact of smart systems powered by robotic devices and digital settings. In particular, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) constitute a broad sub-class of digital settings, often intertwined with serious games (including exergames devised to promote training activities) and gamification (introducing game features in non-leisure solutions) for sustaining the users' effort over time in repetitive exercises. Furthermore, they can be connected to smart mechatronic systems (especially through their artificial intelligence-AI-features) for achieving higher versatility and efficiency (making rehabilitation more sustainable for the individual and for the healthcare system Frontiers in Robotics and AI 01 frontiersin.or
Citizenship in the context of European values: Recommendations for teaching in higher education
No full textThis publication reflects the work of CitEdEV (Citizenship Education in the Context of European Values), a Jean Monnet Network funded by the European Commission and Charles University, Prague. It aims to provide guidance to those teaching in higher education with respect to ‘European values’. These values ‘underpin the nature of civic society in Europe’ (Ross, Chapter 1). They are enshrined in treaties and in law and apply to all in Europe, regardless of their formal citizenship status. However, these values are not monolithically set in stone, but are, in a formal sense, dynamically reviewed by judgements made by The European Court of HumanRights, and informally, are negotiated through everyday lived-experiences. This negotiation is an on-going process from early childhood, where cries of ‘it’s not fair’ are commonplace, through to youth and adulthood, with more sophisticated deliberations around issues of social justice.We may say that children and young people are on a ‘civic journey’ and that social institutions have a responsibility to help guide them on this journey. We believe that to maintain and develop a healthy democracy in Europe, it is important for all children and young people to have an understanding of European Values, and that all educational institutions have a role to play in developing this understanding with their students. It is with this view that recommendations for teaching in higher education are made, not as aprescribed set of do’s and do not’s, but as considerations to be made within the context of their own academic discipline, institution, and country. Whilst this guidance has applicability across university courses, particular emphasis is placed on Teacher Education, and that of education for allied professions in early years and social pedagogy settings
Spike trains in PANI-proteinoid nanomaterials with different light pulse rates
Get PDFBio-inspired computing emulates the brain's information processing power in artificial architectures. We investigate the modification of emergent spike train dynamics in hybrid networks of polyaniline (PANI) nanomaterials hybridised with proteinoids under different optical stimulation frequencies. Hierarchical clustering of photoelectrochemical response data categorises activity patterns for 1 Hz, 5 Hz, and 20 Hz pulsed yellow light inputs. Importantly, the driving frequency controls nanofiber excitability and temporal coordination, with 1 Hz causing erratic spike bursts, 5 Hz rhythmic oscillations, and 20 Hz fast but unsustained responses. Raster plots and peristimulus time histograms show a development from stochastic to deterministic to complicated nonlinear dynamics like neuromorphic systems. Modelling the network as a forest-fire automaton quantifies spatiotemporal activity propagation, where illumination frequency modulates node ignition and recovery probability, shaping spike clusters and coherence. Photonic stimulation can modify information encoding regimes in these PANI-proteinoid composites, suggesting they can be synthetic neural networks. Our findings provide insights for constructing adaptive, brain-inspired computer systems by showing extrinsic control over the network's self-organized dynamics. The ability to delicately tune nanofiber excitation–relaxation cycles using optical pulse trains creates a prototype for biophysically-motivated perception, learning, and cognitive models in empirically accessible material frameworks
Understanding, defining, engaging and evaluating secondary child sexual abuse prevention interventions
No full textThe first 2PS (Prevent & protect through support) Knowledge Transfer Workshop (KTW) was held with stakeholders on 22nd January 2024 at UWE in Bristol bringing together professionals, practitioners, academics, and policy makers from across Europe who work to prevent child sexual abuse. The KTW was the first of three that are spread across the three years of this Horizon Europe funded project and are the core dissemination and engagement activity for the project. As part of the 2PS project work package 2 (WP2) the KTW aims to create links with appropriate stakeholders and develop a stakeholder community consisting of experts and first-line responders to engage in knowledge exchange, raise awareness of prevention initiatives, and discuss best practice
The pillars of power and policy of social policymaking in authoritarian regimes
Get PDFThis article addresses the puzzle of the politics of social policy formation by two post-communist authoritarian regimes in China and Russia. It argues that two interrelated dimensions-which we term the pillars of power and policy-shape social policymaking and change in authoritarian regimes and support authoritarian regime stability. The pillar of power involves autocrats' bargains with the public and elites, while the policy pillar includes bureaucratic and ideational processes. The latter are understood as the way policy actors perceive problems, choose solutions, and frame their policy choices. To demonstrate this empirically, the article analyzes and compares Chinese and Russian housing policies between 1990 and 2020. We find that despite bureaucratic competition within the policy pillar, neoliberal policy beliefs have guided policy while statist measures served to support-in China-and deepen-in Russia-the neoliberal approach focused on private homeownership. Yet, neoliberal measures have been channeled in ways that underpinned and adjusted the authoritarian regime bargains with different segments of the public and the elite within the pillar of power. Policy framing to match social cultural ideas was used in both countries to support public acceptance of the neoliberal measures while underlining the state's care for people's housing needs
The Torchbearers
Get PDFSarah Bodman talks to Natalie Renganeschi at Women’s Studio Workshop about the upcoming anniversary and travelling exhibition
Efficient market hypothesis on the blockchain: A social‐media‐based index for cryptocurrency efficiency
No full textThis paper proposes the use of social media as a proxy for financial information. Using an extended sample of 53,580,759 tweets and employing text analysis tools (Latent Dirichlet Allocation and Term Frequency–Inverse Document Frequency), we determine the information being exchanged on any given day. We train machine-learning classifiers and forecast crypto price movements for more than 8000 cryptocurrencies and gauge market efficiency through successful forecasts based on public information. We propose various metrics of market efficiency for cryptocurrency assets and demonstrate that market efficiency is higher during the first 6 months after the Initial Coin Offering. We also examine the efficiency behavior of individual currencies during crisis periods
Exploring the association between growth mindsets and climate action with young people
Get PDFDecades of research has demonstrated the power of growth mindsets (i.e. belief in the malleability of the qualities of humans) to shape people’s ways of making sense of their socio-cultural reality and influence their ways of thinking about and acting towards change. Yet, research which connects mindsets with climate action or sustainability behavior remains scarce. This study explores the association between mindsets and climate action among European young people. Our findings, based on statistical analyses of survey data from Tampere (Finland), Genoa (Italy), Galway (Ireland) and Bristol (United Kingdom) (N = 1,814), indicate that growth mindsets about persons and groups are associated with some dimensions of climate action.1 However, the results also showed that the dimensions of climate actions are understood in slightly different ways in different countries, possibly because of contextual differences. Developing and researching locally adapted approaches to cultivate growth mindsets in climate change education is recommended
School Health Assistant delivery of an extended brief intervention for parents and carers of verweight children aged 4-5 years: Evaluation report
Get PDFThis is a report on the RE-AIM evaluation of a healthy weight extended brief intervention (EBI), a pilot project developed by Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council, and South Gloucestershire Council, with Sirona care and health, which ran from January to August 2023. The aim of the evaluation was to assess the impact of the pilot and to provide recommendations to guide its future development across Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire local authority areas