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Editorial: Introducing the special issue on the role of positive psychological factors in health.
No full textCrossmodal interaction of flashes and beeps across time and number follows Bayesian causal inference
No full textMultisensory perception requires the brain to dynamically infer causal relationships between sensory inputs across various dimensions, such as temporal and spatial attributes. Traditionally, Bayesian Causal Inference (BCI) models have generally provided a robust framework for understanding sensory processing in unidimensional settings where stimuli across sensory modalities vary along one dimension such as spatial location, or numerosity (Samad et al., PloS one, 10 (2), e0117178, 2015). However, real-world sensory processing involves multidimensional cues, where the alignment of information across multiple dimensions influences whether the brain perceives a unified or segregated source. In an effort to investigate sensory processing in more realistic conditions, this study introduces an expanded BCI model that incorporates multidimensional information, specifically numerosity and temporal discrepancies. Using a modified sound-induced flash illusion (SiFI) paradigm with manipulated audiovisual disparities, we tested the performance of the enhanced BCI model. Results showed that integration probability decreased with increasing temporal discrepancies, and our proposed multidimensional BCI model accurately predicts multisensory perception outcomes under the entire range of stimulus conditions. This multidimensional framework extends the BCI model’s applicability, providing deeper insights into the computational mechanisms underlying multisensory processing and offering a foundation for future quantitative studies on naturalistic sensory processing
Ocean heat forced West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat after the Last Glacial Maximum
No full textThe West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is thinning at an accelerating rate, driven by melting at its margins by warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW). However, this understanding is largely based on observations from recent decades, leaving the long-term influence of ocean temperature on WAIS stability uncertain. Here we reconstruct bottom water temperatures and water mass properties over the past 18 kyr using benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca and δ¹³C records from sediment cores in the Amundsen Sea. Our data indicate that warm CDW occupied the continental shelf between ~ 18.0 and 10.1 kyr BP, coincident with major WAIS retreat from the shelf break to near its present-day grounding-line position along the Marie Byrd Land coast. Bottom waters cooled after ~ 10.1 kyr BP and remained relatively stable thereafter, with no evidence for substantial grounding-line migration. Continued atmospheric warming across West Antarctica until a mid-Holocene thermal maximum (~6–3 kyr BP) without further retreat indicates that ocean heat was the primary driver of WAIS variability since the Last Glacial Maximum
A Case-Based Complexity Approach to Health Inequality: Understanding and Tracing Place-Based Differences to enhance policy calibration
No full textHealth inequalities are not static gradients of deprivation but emergent properties of complex, place-based social systems. This study applied a case-based complexity (CBC) approach, via the COMPLEX-IT platform, to analyse healthy life expectancy (HLE) in 141 English local authorities. The power of CBC lies in moving beyond aggregate-level conclusions to a trajectory-based analysis that captures the configurational dynamics of health inequality. Rather than treating disparities as linear outcomes of deprivation, CBC identifies cluster-specific patterns, offering a more precise policy intervention framework. These clusters are interpreted as traces of complex systems (Byrne, 2002), offering a basis for investigating how socio-spatial processes shape health inequalities over time. We argue that reducing health inequalities requires a shift away from narrowly targeted interventions toward configurational-informed, multi-level governance. This includes recognising the interdependence of places, anticipating cross-cluster effects, and embedding adaptive feedback mechanisms in policy design. The paper also develops a CBC rubric to build on and enhance the analysis provided here. In so doing, our framework also supports a proportionate universalism that is locally calibrated while systemically coherent. By combining a complexity-informed, configurational-based, machine learning set of methods, this paper demonstrates how CBC is a conceptual and methodological advance on policy-relevant approaches for addressing persistent and health inequalities across place
Global trends in clozapine utilisation between 2014 and 2024: a longitudinal epidemiological study with data from 75 countries
No full textBackground Clozapine underutilisation in treatment-resistant schizophrenia represents a global public health challenge. We aimed to investigate contemporary trends of clozapine utilisation internationally. Methods National estimates of clozapine utilisation were obtained for 75 countries through analysis of national prescribing databases and global pharmaceutical sales data from the IQVIA Multinational Integrated Data Analysis System. The annual national prevalence of clozapine utilisation was calculated between 2014 and 2024 via the number of defined daily doses (DDD) utilised per 1000 inhabitants per day (DDD/1000 inhabitants/day). Time trends in the annual prevalence of utilisation were tested using linear regression. Haematological monitoring stringency and the number of psychiatrists were explored as predictors of clozapine utilisation. Findings In 2024, the global average clozapine utilisation was estimated as 0.46 DDD/1000 inhabitants/day, being greatest in New Zealand (2.99 DDD/1000 inhabitants/day), and Finland (2.61 DDD/1000 inhabitants/day) and lowest in Singapore (0.0007 DDD/1000 inhabitants/day). Over the period analysed, worldwide clozapine use increased by 0.13 DDD/1000 inhabitants/day. In 45 (60.0%) countries clozapine utilisation increased significantly, in 19 (25.3%) use remained similar, but in 11 (14.7%) use decreased significantly. Higher clozapine utilisation was associated with a higher number of psychiatrists (B = 0.11 [95% CI 0.05, 0.17]), but was unrelated to haematological monitoring stringency (B = 0.007 [95% CI −0.02, 0.03]). Interpretation Whilst global utilisation appears increasing, substantial intercountry variation in clozapine use continues. The absence of an association between haematological monitoring stringency and rate of clozapine utilisation suggests the need for measures beyond monitoring relaxation within policy and practice to systematically increase use. Funding Provided by St Patrick’s Mental Health Services
Auriga Streams III: the mass–metallicity relation does not rule out tidal mass-loss in Local Group satellites
No full textThe mass–metallicity relation is a fundamental galaxy scaling law that has been extended to the faintest systems in the Local Group. We show that the small scatter in this relation, which has been used to argue against tidal mass-loss in Local Group satellites, is consistent with the level of disruption in the Auriga simulations. For every accreted system in Auriga, we compute stellar masses and metallicities two ways: considering the total system (bound + lost material) and only considering the progenitor. Accreted systems in Auriga have a tight relation between total stellar mass and metallicity, with scatter at a fixed stellar mass driven by age. When only considering the progenitor, the tidally evolved mass–metallicity relation has similar scatter (0.27 dex) as observed for the Local Group satellites (0.23 dex). Satellites that lie above the evolved relation have experienced substantial mass-loss and typically have low metallicity for their total stellar mass. Even satellites that fall exactly on the evolved relation can lose over half of their stellar mass. Only satellites substantially below the evolved relation are reliably intact. Based on their offset from the observed relation, we predict which Milky Way and M31 satellites have tidal tails waiting to be discovered
A Meta-Analysis of Music Emotion Recognition Studies
No full textThis meta-analysis examines music emotion recognition (MER) models published between 2014 and 2024, focusing on predictions of valence, arousal, and categorical emotions. A total of 553 studies were identified, of which 96 full-text articles were assessed, resulting in a final review of 34 studies. These studies reported 290 models, including 86 for emotion classification and 204 for regression. Using the best-performing model from each study, we found that valence and arousal were predicted with reasonable accuracy (r = 0.67 and r = 0.81, respectively), while classification models achieved an accuracy of 0.87 as measured with Matthews correlation coefficient. Across modelling approaches, linear and tree-based methods generally outperformed neural networks in regression tasks, whereas neural networks and support vector machines (SVMs) showed highest performance in classification tasks. We highlight key recommendations for future MER research, emphasizing the need for greater transparency, feature validation, and standardized reporting to improve comparability across studies
Stability and precision in chronostratigraphic definition: The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) is the solution
No full textThe concept of the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) to define the bases of chronostratigraphic units, indicated by a spike in rock, has endured for over half a century. Each boundary is defined by a spike in a rock succession, coincident with available biological and or other markers and represents a unique point in time to serve as the standard (yardstick) against which other successions can be correlated. The GSSPs are geological standards, referred to as stratotypes and are key reference points in time. The methodology has brought precision and stability to the definition of geological time, providing a global language for Earth science and Earth scientists. It is the largest cooperative venture in the history of the Earth sciences. In recent years, some challenges to this practice have been voiced questioning the validity of the GSSP concept. It is thus opportune to address misconceptions and misunderstandings and clearly reiterate the necessity of this approach and its success
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