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Into the purple ocean: The formation and dynamics of a transcultural fandom as a result of cultural diffusion through K-pop
No full textWithin the context of cultural exchange, research into the impact of Korean pop (K-pop) music and its idols largely focuses on their marketability rather than the psychological effects this exchange may have on their fandom. The aim of this research, therefore, is to investigate the formation and dynamics of a transcultural fandom as a result of cultural diffusion through K-pop through the relationship between Bangtan Sonyeondan (a K-pop group) and their fandom, Adorable Representative Master of Ceremonies for Youth (ARMY). Through this research we hope to examine the formation of a new transcultural fandom “in-group” as a function of cultural diffusion, as well as the role of the idol in this process. A quantitative design was employed, consisting of a cross-sectional survey with 116 participants completing measures of identification with all of humanity, universal values, online group identification, knowledge of in-group norms, and remote acculturation levels. Results revealed that stronger identification with the in-group, ARMY, was a significant predictor of ability to detect and use in-group cues to predict target identities successfully, increased remote acculturation, and increased identification with all of humanity. Overall, the research provides insights into the relationships between idol and fan, the levels of remote acculturation experienced by ARMY, and the subsequent identities that are constructed within the new transcultural context of their global community
A comparison of different methods to maximise signal extraction when using central venous pressure to optimise atrioventricular delay after cardiac surgery
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Our group has shown that central venous pressure (CVP) can optimise atrioventricular (AV) delay in temporary pacing (TP) after cardiac surgery. However, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is influenced both by the methods used to mitigate the pressure effects of respiration and the number of heartbeats analysed. This paper systematically studies the effect of different analysis methods on SNR to maximise the accuracy of this technique.
Methods:
We optimised AV delay in 16 patients with TP after cardiac surgery. Transitioning rapidly and repeatedly from a reference AV delay to different tested AV delays, we measured pressure differences before and after each transition. We analysed the resultant signals in different ways with the aim of maximising the SNR: (1) adjusting averaging window location (around versus after transition), (2) modifying window length (heartbeats analysed), and (3) applying different signal filtering methods to correct respiratory artefact.
Results:
(1) The SNR was 27 % higher for averaging windows around the transition versus post-transition windows. (2) The optimal window length for CVP analysis was two respiratory cycle lengths versus one respiratory cycle length for optimising SNR for arterial blood pressure (ABP) signals. (3) Filtering with discrete wavelet transform improved SNR by 62 % for CVP measurements. When applying the optimal window length and filtering techniques, the correlation between ABP and CVP peak optima exceeded that of a single cycle length (R = 0.71 vs. R = 0.50, p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
We demonstrated that utilising a specific set of techniques maximises the signal-to-noise ratio and hence the utility of this technique.British Heart Foundation (No. FS/19/73/34690)
Graphene oxide activates canonical TGFβ signalling in a human chondrocyte cell line <i>via</i> increased plasma membrane tension
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No new data. Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.Footnote: Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See doi: https://doi.org/10.1039/d3nr06033k .Graphene Oxide (GO) has been shown to increase the expression of key cartilage genes and matrix components within 3D scaffolds. Understanding the mechanisms behind the chondroinductive ability of GO is critical for developing articular cartilage regeneration therapies but remains poorly understood. The objectives of this work were to elucidate the effects of GO on the key chondrogenic signalling pathway – TGFβ and identify the mechanism through which signal activation is achieved in human chondrocytes. Activation of canonical signalling was validated through GO-induced SMAD-2 phosphorylation and upregulation of known TGFβ response genes, while the use of a TGFβ signalling reporter assay allowed us to identify the onset of GO-induced signal activation which has not been previously reported. Importantly, we investigate the cell–material interactions and molecular mechanisms behind these effects, establishing a novel link between GO, the plasma membrane and intracellular signalling. By leveraging fluorescent lifetime imaging (FLIM) and a membrane tension probe, we reveal GO-mediated increases in plasma membrane tension, in real-time for the first time. Furthermore, we report the activation of mechanosensory pathways which are known to be regulated by changes in plasma membrane tension and reveal the activation of endogenous latent TGFβ in the presence of GO, providing a mechanism for signal activation. The data presented here are critical to understanding the chondroinductive properties of GO and are important for the implementation of GO in regenerative medicine.The authors acknowledge financial support to LO from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Advanced Biomedical Materials (EP/S022201/1). Additional support to SW from Medical Research Council (Grant MR/S002553/1). A. K. acknowledges the studentship from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Doctoral Training programme (Graphene NOWNANO CDT; EP/L01548X/1). The authors acknowledge the Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research (MCCIR) as the funding source for the FACSVerse. The ICN2 has been supported by the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence programme [SEV-2017-0706] and is currently supported by the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence programme, Grant CEX2021-001214-S, both funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039.501100011033
Changes in social norms during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic across 43 countries
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The data generated in this study have been deposited in the Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/STKFR). Non-experimental data included in our datasets (i.e., intensity of government response to COVID-19 is the Stringency Index, COVID-19 deaths and cases per million) are taken from the Oxford COVID−19 Government Response Tracker [22 Hale, T. et al. A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID−19 Government Response Tracker). Nat. Human Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01079-8 (2021).] and Our World in Data [38 Ritchie, H. et al. Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19). Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus (2020).] (downloaded November 2020). Wave 0 data are from [3 Gelfand, M. J. et al. Differences between tight and loose cultures: a 33-nation study. Science 332, 1100–1104 (2011).[ and Wave 1 data are from [5 Eriksson, K. et al. Perceptions of the appropriate response to norm violation in 57 societies. Nat. Commun. 12, 1481 (2021).].Code availability:
The survey and analysis code are available at the Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/STKFR).Supplementary information is available online at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-44999-5#Sec40 .The emergence of COVID-19 dramatically changed social behavior across societies and contexts. Here we study whether social norms also changed. Specifically, we study this question for cultural tightness (the degree to which societies generally have strong norms), specific social norms (e.g. stealing, hand washing), and norms about enforcement, using survey data from 30,431 respondents in 43 countries recorded before and in the early stages following the emergence of COVID-19. Using variation in disease intensity, we shed light on the mechanisms predicting changes in social norm measures. We find evidence that, after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, hand washing norms increased while tightness and punishing frequency slightly decreased but observe no evidence for a robust change in most other norms. Thus, at least in the short term, our findings suggest that cultures are largely stable to pandemic threats except in those norms, hand washing in this case, that are perceived to be directly relevant to dealing with the collective threat.Knut and Wallenberg Grant “How do human norms form and change?” 2016.0167. (G.An.). The Swedish Research Council grant “Norms & Risk: Do social norms help dealing with collective threats” 2021-06271 (G.An.). Ministero dell’Istruzione dell’Università e della Ricerca, PRIN 2017, prot. 20178TRM3F (D.B.). Universidad de Los Andes, Fondo Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones (J.-C.C.). Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary, National Research, Development and Innovation Fund NKFIH-OTKA K135963 (M.F.). Grant 23-061770 S of the Czech Science Foundation (M.H. and S.G.). RVO: 68081740 of the Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences (M.H. and S.G.). RA Science Committee, research project N.20TTSH-070 (A.Gr. and N.Khac.). Open University of Israel, 511687 (R.N.). HSE University Basic Research Program (E.O.). Project BASIC (PID2022-141802NB-I00) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe” (A.Sá.). US Army Research Office Grant W911NF-19-1-910281 (B.S.). Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, 019.183SG.001 (E.S.). Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, VI.Veni.201 G.013 (E.S.). European Commission, Horizon 2020-ID 870827 (E.S.). UKRI Grant “Secret Power” No. EP/X02170X/1 awarded under the European Commission’s “European Research Council - STG” Scheme (G.A.T.)
Addressing the Black Box of AI – A Model and Research Agenda on the Co-Constitution of Aging and Artificial Intelligence
Get PDFAlgorithmic technologies and (large) data infrastructures, often referred to as Artificial Intelligence (AI), have received increasing attention from gerontological research in the last decade. While there is much literature that dissects and explores the development, application, and evaluation of AI relevant for gerontology, this article makes a novel contribution by critically engaging with the theorizing in this growing field of research. We observe that gerontology’s engagement with AI is shaped by an interventionist logic that situates AI as a black box for gerontological research. We demonstrate how this black box logic has neglected many aspects of AI as a research topic for gerontology and discuss three classical concepts in gerontology to show how they can be used to open various black boxes of aging and AI in the areas: a) the datafication of aging, b) the political economy of AI and aging, and c) everyday engagements and embodiments of AI in later life. In the final chapter, we propose a model of the co-constitution of aging and AI that makes theoretical propositions to study the relational terrain between aging and AI and hence aims to open the black box of AI in gerontology beyond an interventionist logic.Vera Gallistl’s work on this paper has been funded by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) and by the State of Lower Austria through project ICT20-055 (Grant-ID: 10.47379/ICT20055). Barbara Marshall’s work on this paper has been funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (435-2017-1343) and the Canadian Institute for Health Research (155188). We acknowledge support by Open Access Publishing Fund of Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Krems, Austria
Destructive fishing: An expert-driven definition and exploration of this quasi-concept
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Data that breaches the anonymity of responses in this study cannot be made available. Some anonymised and summary data can be found in the Supplementary Information.Data Availability Statement: Data that breaches the anonymity of responses in this study cannot be made available. Some anonymized and summary data can be found in the Supplementary Information.Code Availability Statement: Code for the figures and certain analyses used in this manuscript can be found at https://github.com/arlie-m/destructive_fishing_defintion_delphi.Supporting Information is available online at: https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.13015#support-information-section .Numerous policy and international frameworks consider that “destructive fishing” hampers efforts to reach sustainability goals. Though ubiquitous, “destructive fishing” is undefined and therefore currently immeasurable. Here we propose a definition developed through expert consultation: “Destructive fishing is any fishing practice that causes irrecoverable habitat degradation, or which causes significant adverse environmental impacts, results in long-term declines in target or nontarget species beyond biologically safe limits and has negative livelihood impacts.” We show strong stakeholder support for a definition, consensus on many biological and ecological dimensions, and no clustering of respondents from different sectors. Our consensus definition is a significant step toward defining sustainable fisheries goals and will help interpret and implement global political commitments which utilize the term “destructive fishing.” Our definition and results will help reinforce the Food and Agricultural Organization's Code of Conduct and meaningfully support member countries to prohibit destructive fishing practices.Cambridge Conservation Initiative. Grant Number: CCI-05-20-009;
Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) at the University of Oldenburg;
Brunel University London;
Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research;
Arcadia;
Rothschild Foundation;
A.G. Leventis Foundation;
Isaac Newton Trust;
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
Reliable Cost Prediction and Control for Intelligent Manufacture: A Key Performance Indicator Perspective
Get PDFData Availability Statement: Not applicable. Acknowledgments: We would like to thank Primal Electro for providing the industrial data.Intelligent manufacturing is facing significant challenges in adapting to the ever-changing equipment, instrumentation, process and economics. Such a trend together with the pressure to reliably control and contain production costs means that frequent adjusting decisions are required to adapt to incessant volatility imposed on manufacturing systems. Under this circumstance, cost-effective and quality-guaranteed manufacturing strategies would be the most logical route to reducing production costs. In this paper, a novel dynamical cost prediction and control (CPC) model is proposed to support collective decision-making in intelligent manufacturing, where the model output is the real-time prediction of possible manufacturing costs, while the inputs are generic manufacturing key performance indicators covering inventory, product quality, production efficiency, resource utilisation and environmental impact. This proposed CPC model distinguishes itself from existing ones for its capability to translate manufacturing data (at both the physical level and operation management level) into financial metrics that contribute to forming a common language between engineering, financial and administrative departments of an enterprise. The case study about the assembly line of optoelectronic devices demonstrates that, although different enterprise departments have different priorities, our CPC model helps them to achieve certain consensus on intended production that finally creates satisfactory profitability for the company at controlled manufacturing costs.Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province of China under Grant 23NSFSC1427; National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants U2330206, U2230206, 62173068l European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant 820677 (IQONIC)
The role of religion and COVID-19 vaccine uptake in England
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Full replication data and code are available through the Harvard Dataverse, at: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/VGA0BK.ICMJE statement:
All authors attest they meet the ICMJE criteria for authorship.Background:
While many countries have successfully deployed COVID-19 vaccination programmes, there are disparities in their uptake. One factor influencing vaccine coverage is religion. Existing research has found a link between religious beliefs and vaccine hesitancy. This study looks at religion in England to examine its relationship with public health.
Methods:
This analysis used data from a survey of over 12,000 respondents in England, conducted through the YouGov Online Panel. Respondents were asked whether they identified with a religion, and if so which, and the number of COVID-19 vaccinations they had received. We employed logistic regressions to analyse the data, accounting for age, gender, education, generalised trust, trust in government, and political ideology.
Results:
We find that respondents who identify as part of the Church of England have had significantly more COVID-19 vaccinations. Conversely, adherents to the Pentecostal Evangelical and Islamic faiths have had significantly fewer COVID-19 vaccinations. These relationships hold even when adjusting for age, education, level of trust, and political affiliation.
Conclusion:
This research indicates a potential influence of religious affiliation on vaccine uptake, highlighting the need for more carefully-tailored public health programmes. Recognizing the diverse associations of different religious affiliations on health behaviour is important for shaping future vaccination campaigns and policy interventions. Engaging with religious communities and leaders may be one method through which to deal with vaccine hesitancy and improve public health.UKRI/ ESRC (grant number ES/W011913/1) and the JSPS (grant number JPJSJRP 20211704)
Assessment of human dermal absorption of flame retardant additives in polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics using 3D human skin equivalent models
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Data will be made available on request.Supplementary material is available online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024002216#:~:text=Appendix%20A.-,Supplementary%20material,-Data%20availability .To overcome ethical and technical challenges impeding the study of human dermal uptake of chemical additives present in microplastics (MPs), we employed 3D human skin equivalent (3D-HSE) models to provide first insights into the dermal bioavailability of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs) present in MPs; and evaluated different factors influencing human percutaneous absorption of PBDEs under real-life exposure scenario. PBDEs were bioavailable to varying degrees (up to 8 % of the exposure dose) and percutaneous permeation was evident, albeit at low levels (≤0.1 % of the exposure dose). While the polymer type influenced the release of PBDEs from the studied MPs to the skin, the polymer type was less important in driving the percutaneous absorption of PBDEs. The absorbed fraction of PBDEs was strongly correlated (r2 = 0.88) with their water solubility, while the dermal permeation coefficient Papp of PBDEs showed strong association with their molecular weight and logKOW. More sweaty skin resulted in higher bioavailability of PBDEs from dermal contact with MPs than dry skin. Overall, percutaneous absorption of PBDEs upon skin contact with MPs was evident, highlighting, for the first time, the potential significance of the dermal pathway as an important route of human exposure to toxic additive chemicals in MPs.European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska - Curie Individual Fellowship Grant Agreement Number 101026229
The Right of the Child to Play: From Conception to Implementation : Naomi Lott, The Right of the Child to Play: From Conception to Implementation (Routledge, 2023, xv + 251pp, £130) ISBN 9781032394220 (hb)
No full textIn her 2005 book, Exuberance: The Passion for Life, American psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison said: ‘Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury; the time spent engaged in it is not time that could be better spent in more formal educational pursuits. Play is a necessity.' [Jamison, Exuberance: The Passion for Life (2005) at 62.]. This message is at the heart of Naomi Lott’s significant new monograph, The Right of the Child to Play: From Conception to Implementation, published by Routledge in 2023. ..
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