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Flourishing Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study of School and Peer Support, Social Brain Development, and Positive Affect
No full textAdolescence involves substantial neurodevelopmental and psychosocial changes that shape well-being. This study examined early positive contextual factors that support positive affect, a central indicator of well-being, focusing on school and peer relationships as key adolescent social contexts. Using a large U.S.-based sample (N = 7,879, 47% female) and bivariate latent change score models, we examined longitudinal associations between self-reported school/peer support and MRI-based measures of cortical thickness of social brain regions (medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), supramarginal gyrus (SMG), banks of the superior temporal sulcus (banks of STS), and temporal pole (TP)) from age ~12 to ~14; and how these associations related to positive affect at age ~15. School and peer support were differentially associated with cortical thickness changes and demonstrated sex-specific patterns. We observed correlated change between school support and thickness of the SMG (β = 0.04, p = .01) and TP (β = 0.04, p = .02), as well as female-specific correlated change between peer support and TP thickness (β = 0.05, p < .01), with less steep declines in support associated with less cortical thinning. Although school support at age ~12 was not associated with subsequent cortical thickness change, greater peer support at this age was associated with greater cortical thinning in the SMG (β = -0.05, p < .01) and with a female- specific effect in the mOFC (β = -0.05, p = .02). Additionally, less steep declines in school and peer support were associated with greater positive affect at age ~15 (school: βs = 0.20, ps < .001; peer: βs = 0.07, ps < .001), and less cortical thinning in the SMG was related to greater positive affect (βs = 0.05-0.06, ps < .01). These findings highlight nuanced links between social support, structural cortical development, and positive affect, and underscore the importance of supportive peer relationships and school environments in promoting adolescent socio-emotional development
Pluralism within limits: How to make the idea of multiple NCC kinds useful
No full textRecently, several authors have argued that the current impasse in consciousness science supports a pluralistic interpretation: the view that seemingly contradictory findings may both be valid because consciousness can be brought about in different ways, each sufficient to generate conscious experience. We analyze different versions of pluralism to determine under what conditions it offers a viable interpretation of consciousness science. We argue that viable pluralism requires a two-factor framework distinguishing general consciousness factors (mechanisms rendering contents conscious) from content encoding itself. Moreover, NCC kinds must be finite in number and systematically ordered to enable a unified scientific model. While pluralism enables testable hypotheses, significant ontological tensions arise: how can consciousness constitute a unified natural kind if realized by fundamentally distinct NCC kinds? Drawing on philosophy of science, we propose an alternative interpretation in terms of scientific rather than natural kinds. Our goal is not to advocate for pluralism, but rather, to critically examine its viability and implications. Based on this, we urge the field to engage more explicitly with the foundational assumptions that shape consciousness research
Psychiatric Comorbidities in Pediatric Patients with Atopic Dermatitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
No full textEvaluating Large Language Models for Automated ICD Coding: A Scoping Review of Comorbidity and Secondary Diagnosis Capture
No full textThis scoping review aims to map and synthesise the existing evidence on the use of large language models (LLMs) in automated ICD clinical coding. Focus is on the identification and capture of comorbidities and secondary diagnoses. While automated coding research often emphasises primary diagnosis accuracy, less attention has been given to how LLM-based systems perform in capturing clinically relevant comorbid conditions that influence risk adjustment, reimbursement, quality metrics, and patient outcomes.
The review will systematically search, and chart published literature evaluating LLM applications in clinical coding across healthcare settings. It will examine reported performance metrics (e.g., accuracy, recall, precision, F1-score), methodological approaches, validation strategies, and comparisons with human clinical coders where available. In addition, it will identify gaps in the literature related to secondary diagnosis capture, coding granularity, and governance considerations.
The findings will inform the design of a subsequent empirical study comparing LLM-based ICD coding with human coders, with specific emphasis on comorbidity capture and coding quality
HUSL Phase II: Resonant Kinetic Scaling and Stability Matrix
No full textThis project establishes the Phase II technical framework of the Heuristic Universal Scaling Law (HUSL). It documents the transition from macro-scale celestial plasma observations to micro-scale magnetic confinement stability in fusion research.
The report provides formal verification of the 19.41 Hz resonance frequency and the 0.049 kinetic yield constant. These constants were utilized to predict the northward trajectory drift of asteroid 2024 YR4, which was subsequently verified via James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Visit 9441.
By scaling these celestial plasma-sheath interactions to the laboratory level, this work introduces a Stability Matrix for Edge Localized Modes (ELMs). This provides a mathematical basis for passive-control algorithms intended to increase confinement time in Tokamak and Z-Pinch architectures.
This registration serves as a time-stamped record of prior art for the derived HUSL Stability Matrix. All content is protected under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Commercial licensing is required for industrial or proprietary applications
C10 - D5v5 - Prüfsteine der Invariantenkerntheorie
No full textStructural Tests and Falsification Criteria of the Invariant Core Theory (ICT)
This component documents the systematic examination of structural vulnerability points of the Invariant Core Theory (ICT).
D5 does not introduce new axioms, physical laws, or representational extensions.
Its purpose is to clarify the internal testability of the theory by:
identifying potential conceptual attack surfaces,
analyzing classical physical paradoxes within the structural framework of ICT,
formulating explicit structural no-go statements,
and specifying concrete falsification directions.
The document examines, among others:
the status of closure as a consistency relation,
Boltzmann Brain arguments,
the problem of low initial gravitational entropy,
black hole information and factorization assumptions,
Maxwell’s demon and structural entropy,
time-reversal and recurrence paradoxes.
D5 explicitly states conditions under which the Invariant Core Theory would be structurally undermined.
Its function is not defensive, but methodological: it delineates the boundaries of structural admissibility and the points at which the core assumptions of finite closure capacity and invariant core formation would fail.
Normative authority remains exclusively with the Canonical Core (D1) and the Formal Structure document (D4).
D5 serves as a systematic stress test of those foundations.
Methodological note:
Parts of the structural analysis and iterative consistency examination were developed in a dialogical working process using a large language model (LLM) as an algorithmic analysis tool.
All conceptual responsibility and normative decisions remain exclusively with the author.
Version: D5 v5 (Hybrid Format)
Status: structured test document within the ICT project
Unlocking Urban Democracy: Voter Engagement in Local Level Zambian Politics
No full textSee attached PAP
Alumni-Reported Employability Competency Development in a Higher-Education Enterprise Programme: Young Enterprise Start Up (2021)
No full textEnterprise education in higher education is often justified through claims about employability and transferable competency development; however, programme evidence is commonly based on small evaluations and post-participation self-reports. This article reports indicative findings from a small, self-selected alumni survey (n = 40) examining the perceived competency development associated with participation in the Young Enterprise Start Up Programme. Alumni rated the perceived programme impact across 11 competencies using a four-point scale (not at all, minor extent, moderate extent, and great extent) and identified the single competency they felt was most impacted. Across most competencies, responses clustered in the upper bands, with the strongest perceived impacts being organisational competence, communication, problem solving, confidence, teamwork, and working responsibly. Financial capability was the clear outlier, with responses concentrated to a minor extent and with zero selections as the single greatest impact competency. A brief free-text component (positive and negative aspects) helps interpret the quantitative profile, highlighting confidence gains linked to public-facing tasks, alongside pressures associated with time compression and uneven contribution in teams. The findings are framed as perceived developmental contributions rather than measured skill changes and are used to derive practical implications for programme design and evidence-aligned claims-making. The findings should be read as cohort-specific perceptions rather than generalisable effects