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The vividness of visualisations and autistic trait expression are not strongly associated
No full textA minority of people (Aphantasics) report an inability to visualise. Aphantasia has been linked to Autism - a neurodevelopmental condition affecting social interactions. There is a risk of a circular logic informing proposed links, as the most popular metric of autistic traits, the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), has an Imagination subscale with items relating directly and indirectly to imagery. We tested for inter-relationships between imagery vividness ratings and the expression of autistic traits, using metrics that do and do not encompass an Imagination subscale. We also conducted hierarchical linear regression analyses to assess the contributions of different AQ subscale scores to imagery inter-relationships. Only in our highest-powered study (N = 308) were we able to detect a weak inter-relationship between AQ scores and imagery, independent of the Imagination subscale. We suggest that only a weak inter-relationship should exist, as many autistic people describe themselves as visual thinkers who have strong imagery
Machine learning using genotype and gene-expression data identifies alterations of genes involved in infection susceptibility, antigen presentation and cytokine signalling as key contributors to JIA risk prediction
No full textBackgroundPrevious genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous genetic loci associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). However, the functional impact of these variants-particularly on tissue-specific gene expression-and which regulatory interactions make the greatest relative contribution to JIA risk remain unclear. Identifying these key single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-gene-tissue combinations can help prioritise targets for future functional studies and therapeutic interventions.MethodWe performed two-sample Mendelian randomisation (2SMR) using spatial expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) from nine tissue-specific gene-regulatory networks as instrumental variables (IVs). We also identified JIA-associated SNPs from previous GWAS and mapped their spatial eQTL effects across 49 human tissues. These SNP sets were then used as features in a Lasso-regularised logistic regression model to predict JIA disease status. The model weight magnitudes served as proxies for each SNP's contribution to JIA risk. We evaluated the robustness of our model's feature ranking across 50 cross-validation runs.ResultsThe top-ranked SNPs included rs7775055, which tags the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II haplotype DRB1*0801-DQA1*0401-DQB1*0402, and rs6679677, a non-coding variant that is in 100% linkage with with a coding variant in PTPN22. IVs for genes implicated in infection-related immune processes (eg, MSH5, MICA and LINC01149) also made significant contributions to JIA risk. We additionally identified a spatial eQTL (rs10849448) that upregulated the cytokine signalling gene LTBR across all 49 tissues. Overall, our model highlighted the roles of genes involved in antigen presentation, infection susceptibility and cytokine signalling.ConclusionBy applying a machine learning approach to rank SNP-gene-tissue contributions to JIA risk, our findings offer insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying JIA pathogenesis. Future experimental validation could facilitate new therapeutic targets for the treatment or prevention of JIA
Leveraging AI for sustainable public procurement: opportunities and challenges
No full textEven though sustainable public procurement is critical to achieving global climate goals, most public organizations struggle to implement it. While artificial intelligence holds promise for addressing these challenges, its use in the public sector remains limited and often confined to discrete stages of the procurement lifecycle. This paper critically examines artificial intelligence’s potential to support sustainable public procurement across the full procurement lifecycle—from defining needs and assessing markets to issuing tenders, evaluating suppliers, and refining practices. Further, we examine the limitations and challenges posed by artificial intelligence technology for public procurement managers, recognizing concerns related to transparency, fairness, governance, and the impacts of artificial intelligence-driven decisions on market competition. Drawing on numerous examples in the practice, our findings show that artificial intelligence can be a powerful bridge between high-level sustainability aspirations and practical implementation, offering procurement officials the ability to access, interpret, and apply vast amounts of sustainability information across the entire procurement lifecycle. Our results provide understanding necessary to leverage artificial intelligence toward advancing sustainability across the entire procurement lifecycle, while highlighting the need for transparent, data-rich systems and collaborative engagement among technical experts, procurement professionals, and compliance and sustainability specialists. This analysis offers actionable insights into how AI can transform sustainable public procurement from aspiration to operational reality, enabling the public sector to use its considerable purchasing power to contribute meaningfully to global climate action
Accuracy of a Cascade Network for Semi‐Supervised Maxillary Sinus Detection and Sinus Cyst Classification
No full textObjective: Maxillary sinus mucosal cysts represent prevalent oral and maxillofacial diseases, and their precise diagnosis is
essential for surgical planning in maxillary sinus floor elevation. This study aimed to develop a deep learning-based pipeline for
the classification of maxillary sinus lesions in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images to provide auxiliary support for
clinical diagnosis.
Methods: This study utilized 45 136 maxillary sinus images from CBCT scans of 541 patients. A cascade network was designed,
comprising a semi-supervised maxillary sinus area object detection module and a maxillary sinus lesions classification module.
The object detection module employed a semi-supervised pseudo-labelling training strategy to expand the maxillary sinus annotation dataset. In the classification module, the performance of Convolutional Neural Network and Transformer architectures
was compared for maxillary sinus mucosal lesion classification. The object detection and classification modules were evaluated
using metrics including Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1 score, and Average Precision, with the object detection module additionally assessed using Precision-Recall Curve.
Results: The fully supervised pseudo-label generation model achieved an average accuracy of 0.9433, while the semi-supervised
maxillary sinus detection model attained 0.9403. ResNet-50 outperformed in classification, with accuracies of 0.9836 (sagittal)
and 0.9797 (coronal). Grad-CAM visualization confirmed accurate focus on clinically relevant lesion features.
Conclusion: The proposed pipeline achieves high-precision detection and classification of maxillary sinus mucosal lesions,
reducing manual annotation while maintaining accuracy
Correction to: Improving National and International Surveillance of Movement Behaviours in Childhood and Adolescence: An International Modified Delphi Study
No full textIn this article the Co-author’s name José Francisco López-Gil was incorrectly written as Jose Francisco Lopez Gil. José Francisco López-Gil’s affiliation One Health Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador was incorrectly written as Centro de Investigacion Biomedica, Unidad de Actividad Fisica Infanto-Juvenil, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. The original article has been updated accordingly
Ecological impacts of phosphite treatments on Phytophthora communities associated with declining Agathis australis (kauri)
No full textFinding multiple Phytophthora species causing disease in forests and often within the same foundation tree host has become increasingly common. The chemical phosphite is one of the only treatments consistently shown to provide some protection to natural ecosystems from Phytophthora diseases. In New Zealand, kauri (Agathis australis) is under threat from P. agathidicida, and phosphite injections are used to manage the disease. The principal aim of this research was to understand the extent of the Phytophthora community in the kauri rhizosphere and the impacts of phosphite treatments on that community.
I explored global Phytophthora surveys (n = 187) in a review that informed my methodology for subsequent Phytophthora surveys within kauri forests. The Phytophthora community associated with kauri was relatively small compared to published studies from other forest systems. Four species were detected with soil baiting (P. agathidicida, P. cinnamomi, P. multivora, and P. pseudocryptogea/P. cryptogea) and an additional three species with eDNA metabarcoding (P. kernoviae, P. cactorum/P. aleatoria and a P. europaea-like species). Phytophthora agathidicida presence was strongly correlated with declining canopy health, confirming its role as the main driver of kauri dieback.
Despite phosphite being a key management tool to protect kauri, it was unclear if phosphite affects the Phytophthora species assemblages or abundance in the rhizosphere. I quantified P. agathidicida inoculum changes using qPCR of soil DNA following a field phosphite treatment and showed a reduction in inoculum abundance 18 months after treatment. This has a direct impact on the epidemiology of the disease by reducing inoculum load around treated trees, indicating phosphite treatments should be an effective way to protect uninfected areas and minimise the spread of inoculum from infested zones.
Phosphite trunk injections are systemically translocated and can inhibit colonisation and reduce sporulation of Phytophthora; however, they have no effect on the external inoculum present in the environment. Due to compliance restraints of working with P. agathidicida, I tested the ability of P. multivora to survive in and be dispersed from soil substrates when introduced as zoospores. Zoospore cysts of P. multivora were dispersed for 49 days and survived for 76 days in potting mix, raising concerns about cryptic dispersal from infected soil. I also explored the concept of preventative treatments to create a phosphite barrier with Eucalyptus sieberi and P. multivora, but under the glasshouse conditions, it was not a suitable model system. More work is needed to quantitatively test the barrier hypothesis though I did show that a preventative foliar phosphite treatment applied to kauri protected the plants from P. agathidicida more effectively than a curative treatment.
The final aspect of my thesis was to test the efficacy of phosphite when applied as a foliar spray to kauri because phosphite trunk injections can be time-consuming and labour-intensive and present the risk of spreading soilborne Phytophthora inoculum. Glasshouse trials showed foliar-applied phosphite prevented the colonisation of P. agathidicida and was translocated to the roots with minimal phytotoxicity impacts.
Overall, the findings of this research suggest that phosphite is an effective tool to aid in the management of Phytophthora diseases in forests. There does not appear to be a large population of native Phytophthora associated with kauri, though a wider sampling of co-habiting plants is necessary to conclude this for kauri forests. Further investigation trialling foliar phosphite sprays in field trials, testing the phosphite barrier approach along a disease front and temporal co-inoculation studies to better understand the roles of P. cinnamomi and P. multivora in kauri forest health is needed
Character Development in Suzuki Music Lessons
No full textDr Shin'ichi Suzuki was a Japanese pedagogue who created a method of teaching the violin to
young children using the same steps that one would use to learn a new language - exposure,
imitation, building on repertoire, memorisation, repetition, refinement, and positive reinforcement.
Suzuki developed his method in part to teach children music, but with an underlying aim to create
children of fine character. This character development through Suzuki music lessons is the key
focus of this research.
Suzuki developed his method in Japan in the mid-1900s and it has since spread around the world.
This study’s purpose was to investigate ‘What is character?’ ‘What part does good character play
in Dr Suzuki’s vision for his students?’ and ‘What is the connection between Dr Suzuki’s philosophy
and his pedagogical methods?’ By examining one Suzuki “triangle" - a student, their parent, and
their teacher, this research is focussed on this Suzuki triangle as a bounded case to address these
questions.
Three key explanatory concepts are used to discuss and explain the findings: Nodding's ‘pedagogy
of care,’ Bowlby and Ainsworth’s Theory of Attachment, and Yan’s summary of concepts of the
means of character development and the results suggest that in this case study Suzuki method
lessons did indeed develop the student's character positively. Attributes such as perseverance,
time-management, and friendliness were encouraged through the student's Suzuki cello lessons.
Using the theories and explanatory concepts from Noddings, Bowlby and Ainsworth, and Yan, four
themes were identified which developed the student’s character - environment, relationships,
sensitivity, and diligence. Immersion in a community or environment of support and care, the longterm
relationships created between student and teacher and friends within the music studio as well
as the time spent with the parent practising music, the sensitivity to others and to music itself which
developed, and the skills of diligence such as perseverance, slow-gratification, time-management,
and hard work, all came together to develop the student's character in this case study
Advising Parents on Heritage Language Maintenance
No full textMigrant-heritage parents may lack confidence in their skills and knowledge related to bilingual child raising. This qualitative study explores the communicative act of advice giving to caregivers (14 mothers) of young children in New Zealand, following the integrated model of advice giving. Participants had expressed interest in improving their ability to raise their children bilingually (Mandarin Chinese and English) and had solicited advice on their challenges. We provide a set of research-based audiovisuals that advise parents on these challenges, and we later elicit information on parents’ experience implementing the advice through surveys and interviews.
We identify and discuss particular difficulties parents experience in providing extensive home language exposure, parents’ growing metalinguistic knowledge, and their awareness of the need to integrate opportunities for enriched parent-child language use during everyday tasks. We discuss the need for advice to be aligned with established family routines, and our adaptations to the advice-giving model
The potential of using two predatory mites to control the six-spotted mite, Eotetranychus sexmaculatus in avocados
No full textAvocado is one of New Zealand's key export crops. The six-spotted spider mite,
Eotetranychus sexmaculatus (Riley), is an important pest of economic crops in the
Tetranychidae family, causing severe avocado yield losses by infesting and damaging
avocado leaves, which negatively impacts New Zealand's export crop economy.
Members of the family Phytoseiidae have been reported as important biological control
agents for herbivorous spider mites. In previous orchard surveys, two species of family
Phytoseiidae, Amblydromalus limonicus (Garman & McGregor) and Amblyseius
herbicolus (Chant), were found to be sympatric with E. sexmaculatus in avocado
orchards. Therefore, this study conducted four experiments to gradually investigate the
biological control effects of A. limonicus and A. herbicolus on E. sexmaculatus on
avocado leaves. The first laboratory experiment was a simple predation test aimed at
quantifying the predation rates of A. limonicus and A. herbicolus on different life stages
of E. sexmaculatus, and their predation preferences in mixed-stage E. sexmaculatus
arenas. It was observed that A. limonicus exhibited higher predation rates on all life
stages of E. sexmaculatus, while A. herbicolus showed a particular predilection for
preying on the E. sexmaculatus eggs. The second laboratory experiment, through
functional response tests, examined the hindrance of E. sexmaculatus webbing on the
predatory behaviour of these two predators. The results showed that the webbing
significantly reduced the predation rates of both predators on prey and even altered their
functional response types. The third greenhouse experiment was conducted on avocado seedlings, with a treatment group where these two predators coexisted to simulate a
more realistic natural environment. The results showed that A. herbicolus was involved
in the 'predator-prey' dynamics between A. limonicus and E. sexmaculatus. The final
laboratory experiment tested the potential intraspecific competition and cannibalism
within E. sexmaculatus population. The results indicated that the probability of
cannibalism occurring in E. sexmaculatus was low, but it was indeed present. The
findings of this study can provide a theoretical foundation for refining current biological
control strategies for E. sexmaculatus in New Zealand’s avocado orchards
Resisting Zombification: The Writer as a ‘Composer’ of Text
No full textThis work embodies an invitation to dare to write differently, to write as a human being engaged in the challenging, frustrating, exhilarating work of academia rather than as a zombie trapped in the banality [and yes, often the nonsense] of formal academic writing. Resisting zombification involves recognising the opportunities and the constraints of academic writing, the possibilities available to writers to explore the most fitting ways of communicating their knowledge, their values and their research within the confines of their ‘textual environments.’ It also involves differentiating between the skills and standards internal to the discussion of what constitutes ‘academic’ writing and those external to that discussion and thus negotiable or expendable if necessary. Finally, it involves the acknowledgement that we have both an ethical duty and a practical incentive to enable writers to be ‘composers of text,’ so ‘academic’ writing can fulfil its transformative imperative of enabling change for social justice as opposed to fulfilling the ‘performativity’ of a hollowed-out semblance of an academic text. Building on the scholarship of Molinari (2022) and other ‘composers of text,’ I use the lens of critical realism to invite you, dear reader, to explore the structures and mechanisms that lie beneath our current practices of ‘academic’ writing practices to understand and potentially change them