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The privilege of virtue and the need for reward:An examination of patronage, elites and power relations within civil society
Get PDFThis paper considers the ideological discourses underpinning voluntary action of elites within civil society organisations. Drawing together literatures on elite reproduction, organisational recruitment and volunteer motivations we consider how patterns of patronage play out in Welsh urban and rural localities, and the interrelationships between cultural, social, political, and economic capitals. Findings reveal senior volunteer recruitment to meet resource needs variously referring to meritocratic processes, achieving representation or garnering status, and new insights on rewards as an elite formation mechanism. The study identifies an inverse relationship between privilege and benefits, whereby the most privileged are attributed a stronger moral authority. This masks underlying social and political gains. Our findings have conceptual and practical implications: The research highlights complexity in elite reproduction and the importance of recognising the dual directional advances in symbolic capital. It also draws attention to established organisational cultures and the challenges associated with securing greater equality in practice
Genomic diversity of Cameroonian Gudali and Gudali-cross cattle
Get PDFInformation on population structure and diversity in cattle breeds is critical for understanding environmental adaptation, as well as optimal utilisation of genetic resources and breed improvement. In this study, we investigated at the genomic level the population structure, genetic diversity and admixture of the local Gudali breed and its crossbred with the Italian Simmental (Simgud) in three agroecological zones of Cameroon. A total of 717 Gudali and 139 Simgud were genotyped using the GeneSeek® Genomic ProfilerTM (GGP) Bovine 100K array and analyzed together with reference breed data from public databases. Principal component (PCA) and admixture analysis separated European Bos taurus from Asian Bos indicus, African Bos taurus and African Bos indicus breeds. These analyses showed that, except for recently admixed cattle, all African indigenous breeds are either pure African Bos taurus (N’dama) or admixtures of African Bos taurus and Bos indicus. Analysis revealed an ancient admixture from Asian origin in Gudali and a more recent and ongoing European introgression. Simgud is an unmanaged crossbreed expected to be primarily a 50% admixture of Gudali and Simmental. We show here that Simgud is, in actuality, composed of two genetic groups representing admixture of between ~25% to ~50% Simmental proportion. Diversity analysis revealed high average heterozygosity (Ho=0.34±0.14, He=0.35±0.13) for the Gudali and ( Ho=0.42±0.13, He=0.40±0.11) for Simgud respectively. Inbreeding measures based on the mean FIS coefficient were 0.03 for Gudali and 0.07 for Simgud. A general decline in effective population size was observed in Gudali from a large population (Ne=2475), 959 generations (4797 years ago), back to 13 generations (65 years) (Ne=1404) ago. These results were expected, given the breeding efforts that began in 1952 with the introduction of various exotic (imported taurine) breeds and the Gudali selection initiative. This has affected the effective population size of Gudali, despite the general increase in cattle population in the ranches over that period. These results highlight the need for a structured breeding program in Cameroon for improving productivity, while maintaining a large genetic base of the pure Gudali population
Classification of chest CT scans using convolutional autoencoders and local binary patterns
Get PDFCaused by an uncontrolled growth of cells in the lung, lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death around the world. This study introduces a novel computer-aided diagnosis system to classify chest CT-scans into two classes i.e. malignant and non-malignant. We train a convolutional autoencoder to extract deep features from input images and we combine the result with descriptors generated using local binary patterns. The concatenated vector is fed into a one-dimensional convolutional neural network to perform the classification task. The proposed model outperformed all other models in the literature while being tested on a subset of the IQ-OTHNCCD lung cancer dataset.<br/
A Note on the Relativistic Transformation Properties of Quantum Stochastic Calculus
Get PDFWe present a simple argument to derive the transformation of the quantum stochastic calculus formalism between inertial observers and derive the quantum open system dynamics for a system moving in a vacuum (or, more generally, a coherent) quantum field under the usual Markov approximation. We argue, however, that, for uniformly accelerated open systems, the formalism must break down as we move from a Fock representation over the algebra of field observables over all of Minkowski space to the restriction regarding the algebra of observables over a Rindler wedge. This leads to quantum noise having a unitarily inequivalent non-Fock representation: in particular, the latter is a thermal representation at the Unruh temperature. The unitary inequivalence is ultimately a consequence of the underlying flat noise spectrum approximation for the fundamental quantum stochastic processes. We derive the quantum stochastic limit for a uniformly accelerated (two-level) detector and establish an open system description of the relaxation to thermal equilibrium at the Unruh temperature.<br/
Self-Compassion Around the World:Measurement Invariance of the Short Form of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-SF) Across 65 Nations, 40 Languages, Gender Identities, and Age Groups
Get PDFObjectives: The 12-item Self-Compassion Scale–Short Form (SCS–SF) is a widely used instrument for the assessment of self-compassion. To date, there have been few examinations of this instrument’s psychometric properties, particularly across nations and languages. Therefore, we used data from the Body Image in Nature Survey (BINS) to assess measurement invariance of the SCS–SF across nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups. Methods: Participants (N = 56,968) from 65 nations completed the SCS–SF in 40 languages. Using these data, we tested various hypothesised models of the SCS–SF in the total sample and, using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, tested for invariance of the optimal model across national groups, languages, gender identities, and age groups. Results: In the total dataset, we found that an 11-item, 2-factor model (i.e., SCS-11) provided best fit to the data, with the two factors tapping distinct constructs of compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding. The SCS-11 was found to be partially scalar invariant across national groups and languages, and fully scalar invariant across gender identities and age groups. There was wide variation in latent means for the two factors, particularly across national groups and languages. Further analyses showed negligible associations between the two factors and sociodemographic variables, including marital status, financial security, and urbanicity. Conclusions: Our results suggest that it may be possible to derive a stable 2-factor model of the SCS–SF for use in cross-cultural research, but also highlight the likelihood of cross-national and cross-linguistic variations in the way that self-compassion is understood.</p
An ethogram of facial behaviour in domestic horses:Evolutionary perspectives on form and function
Get PDFUnderstanding cause and function of animal facial behaviour can provide key insights into the animal’s cognitive and emotional state. The Equine Facial Action Coding System (EquiFACS) has characterised a wide range of equine (Equus caballus) facial movements (Action Units (AU) and Descriptors (AD)). However, there is still a lack of systematic documentation of whether and how these AUs and ADs are combined to produce discrete configurations of facial behaviour in horses. The aim of this study was to provide a systematically derived ethogram of equine facial behaviour in the domestic horse across positive, negative and neutral social interactions. Facial behaviour was recorded during horse-horse interactions occurring during affiliative (non-play), play, agonistic and attentional contexts, based on the coding of contextual behaviour. Using EquiFACS, a bank of 805 AU/AD combinations, across 22 distinct behaviours, was created. Network analysis techniques (NetFACS) were used to establish the facial movements significantly associated with each context. Domestic horses use a wide range of distinct facial behaviours, which are defined and described in our ethogram. Interestingly, there were marked similarities between the play faces of horses and the open mouth play faces of primates and carnivores, adding weight to the hypothesis that these facial behaviours are deep rooted in mammalian biology. We also defined a new EquiFACS Action Unit, AUH21, facial tightener (platysma), which makes the underlying facial structures appear more prominent. This AU is found in humans and gibbons, but no other species studied, and its addition to EquiFACS will enhance cross-species comparisons and potentially facilitate the attribution of emotional state and assessment of pain in horses. Our equine facial behaviour ethogram will be invaluable in future work exploring equine emotion, welfare, social behaviour, and perception, as well as having direct applications for those working with and around horses
The pick of the plot:An evidence-based approach for selecting and testing suitable plants to use in annual seed mixes to attract insect pollinators
Get PDFSocietal Impact Statement: Concern regarding wild pollinator declines has increased motivation to plant pollinator-friendly plants in gardens and urban areas, but ‘plants for pollinators’ recommendations are often anecdotal and inaccurate. Here, we use a scientific evidence base to design and test annual flowering seed mixes for bees and hoverflies. Seed mixes combining non-native and native plants had better establishment, flowered for longer, had more pollinator visits and were more aesthetically pleasing to the public. Using a scientific evidence base to design seed mixes has the potential to enhance their societal value, by increasing their attractiveness to insects and enhancing public well-being. Summary: Annual seed mixes are frequently grown in gardens and urban areas because they are considered to be ‘pollinator-friendly’, but choice of which plant species to include is often based on anecdotal evidence. Here, we build an evidence-base for which plants to use in annual seed mixes to attract bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies. We conduct a systematic review of plant–insect interactions and use field trials to assess the attractiveness of different seed mixtures. We determined which annual plant species are attractive to bees and hoverflies using interaction data extracted from 447 peer-reviewed articles. We then carried out field trials using four commercially available seed mixes to assess insect visitation. The plant list compiled from the literature and the results of the commercial trials were used to develop two novel experimental seed mixes that were assessed for insect visitation and aesthetic appeal. We found that seed mixes including non-native, along with native flowering plants, had higher establishment, a longer flowering period, a greater number of pollinator visits and were more aesthetically pleasing to the public. A small number of key plant species were visited frequently in the seed mixes, and these differ between pollinator groups. Our findings can be used to provide evidence-based guidance in the selection of plant species to be used in horticultural areas.</p
The Centrality of ‘Guilt’ in Youth Justice:Conceptualising Child ‘Guilt’ for Child First Justice
Get PDFChildren are extremely vulnerable yet often treated as adults, measured by adult-centric conceptualisations of ‘guilt’ and expected to decide on their own culpability for law infringement. In addition, system agents incentivise children to admit guilt by offering contingent support or implying further consequences for refusal, resulting in a youth justice system that exacerbates this by requiring admissions of guilt throughout the process. We explore difficulties of applying adult-centric understandings of ‘guilt’ to children through our typology of guilt, which examines responses children might give to questions of guilt and asks whether applying adult-centric notions of guilt erodes ‘Child First’ youth justice
Host genetics influences the root microbiome of Pinus radiata
Get PDFBackground and Aims:Root microbiomes can benefit the health and fitness of host plants but manipulating them artificially has challenges. Instead, manipulating the host species through breeding can indirectly promote the development of a beneficial root microbiome. Information to guide root-trait-based breeding approaches in forest trees is, however, severely lacking, especially in non-juvenile trees. We aimed to investigate the relationship between host genotype and both bacterial and fungal root microbiomes in early-mature Pinus radiata D.Don.Methods:We sampled roots from four clonal copies of 11 different genotypes (total of 44 trees) of 8-year-post-establishment P. radiata trees. Using amplicon-based sequencing (MiSeq Illumina) and the DADA2 pipeline, we analysed the root microbiome and tested for host genotype effects on the alpha and beta diversity of bacterial and fungal communities.Results:We found evidence for an association of host genotype with fungal but not bacterial root microbiome community structure, the strength of which varied significantly among host genotypes. Both bacterial and fungal communities were highly diverse, irrespective of host genotype.Conclusion: Our findings suggest there are host genetic influences on the fungal root microbiome in terms of community structure but these are likely masked by environmental effects, which are much more pronounced and variable in field trials than glasshouse experiments. Further exploration of how microbiome-associated root traits vary with host genotype, soil conditions and management regimes is required to understand the potential for microbiome-associated breeding of P. radiata