32151 research outputs found
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Mixing patterns in graphs with higher-order structure : the role of inter-subgraph correlations
No full textFunding: This work was partially supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council under grant number EP/N007565/1 (Science of Sensor Systems Software).In this paper, the percolation properties of higher-order networks that have non-trivial clustering and subgraph-based assortative mixing (the tendency of vertices to connect to other vertices based on subgraph joint degree) are examined. Our analytical method is based on generating functions and is exact for the networks we model. We also propose a Monte Carlo graph generation algorithm to draw random networks from the ensemble of graphs with fixed statistics. The proposed model is used to understand the effect that network microstructure has, through the arrangement of inter-subgraph clustering, on the global connective properties of the network. We find that even in k-regular networks, with fixed joint degree distributions and clustering coefficients, the arrangement of clustering has a non-trivial influence on the percolation properties of the network. We find that subgraph disassortativity increases the percolation threshold, whilst assortativity among subgraphs decreases and broadens the transition. Finally, we use an edge disjoint clique cover to represent empirical networks using our formulation, finding the resultant model offers a significant improvement over edge-based theory.Peer reviewe
Sexual segregation and stable pregnancy rates in the Gulf of St. Lawrence’s minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata amidst environmental changes
No full textFunding: The authors thank the Leverhulme Trust (grant RPG-2022-079) for funding part of this work.Evaluating the health of baleen whale populations is crucial for understanding how environmental changes impact these top predators. Methodological advances, particularly in endocrine profiling, have enabled us to measure reproductive rates of populations as a proxy for population health. The Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL), Canada, is an important summer feeding ground for various North Atlantic baleen whale species and has undergone major ecosystem changes in recent decades. To explore the potential impacts on population health of minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata, we combined genetic analyses, endocrine profiling, and environmental data on prey availability to investigate population demographics and possible drivers of pregnancy rates between 2007 and 2015. Biopsy samples collected between May and October were sexed (n = 187) using PCR, revealing a strong female bias (88.2%). Pregnancy status was determined through blubber progesterone quantification, with progesterone concentrations of 0.061-8.04 ng g-1 for non-pregnant individuals and 10.02-359.73 ng g-1 for pregnant individuals. High annual pregnancy rates were observed, ranging from 60 to 89% (mean: 74 ± 10%), with no consistent trend detected over the study period. Generalised linear model results suggested species-specific prey availability in the year prior to pregnancy did not explain annual variation in pregnancy rates. We posit that this is due to the generalist feeding behaviour of minke whales. The results presented here indicate minke whales in the GSL exhibit sex-specific and reproductive spatial segregation. These pregnant females are likely using the area as a feeding ground prior to giving birth, with sufficient behavioural plasticity to withstand fluctuating food availability.Peer reviewe
Social science contributions to the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance
No full textFunding: This work is supported by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council [#895-2022-1015] and the Wellcome Trust [222422/Z/21/Z]. This work was also supported, in part, by a Novo Nordisk Foundation Grant for a scientifically independent International-Collaborative Bioscience Innovation & Law Programme (Inter-CeBIL) programme (#NNF23SA0087056 & #NNF17SA0027784).Peer reviewe
Towards understanding financial decisions in informal microbusinesses : evidence from a developing country
No full textThrough an integrative perspective, we extend the literature on capital structure of informal microbusinesses. Our approach considers the financing decision and the various financial decisions and their impact on cash generation for personal purposes. A dataset of 892 Colombian informal microbusinesses were explored to identify various business configurations using Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Hierarchical Clustering Method. Through a logistic regression, we regressed the probability of early cash generation for personal purposes on business configurations and initial financing. Four microbusiness configurations emerged: Typical informal, owner-oriented, over-indebted, and informal lenders. Results show that informal microbusinesses are distinctive in terms of their financial decisions. Initial financing provided by formal lenders and payday lenders delay early cash generation. The contrary occurs when initial financing is provided by private informal lenders and to typical informal microbusinesses. Results indicate that different configurations require customized initiatives rather than a “one-size fits all” approach for informal microbusinesses.Peer reviewe
Clinical standards for antimicrobial stewardship in TB care
No full textFunding: SHG reports support from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) for the SimpliciTB clinical trial.BACKGROUND: While antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is essential for combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR), TB-specific AMS strategies remain poorly defined. METHODS: An international panel of 62 experts participated in a Delphi process. Using a 5-point Likert scale (5 = strong agreement; 1 = strong disagreement), participants evaluated 10 draft clinical standards developed by a core coordination team. A standard was adopted if ≥90% of respondents rated it three or higher, according to a predefined consensus threshold. RESULTS: All 10 standards reached the consensus threshold and were adopted: Standard 1, integration of TB into national AMR action plans; Standard 2, implementation of TB surveillance systems; Standard 3, education of health care providers, individuals affected by TB, and the public; Standard 4, integration of TB into AMS activities; Standard 5, establishment of expert consultation services; Standard 6, targeted testing and preventive treatment for individuals at risk for TB; Standard 7, access to timely and comprehensive drug susceptibility testing; Standard 8, prioritisation of efficacy, safety, and resistance prevention in TB treatment regimens; Standard 9, clinical and microbiological monitoring of treatment response; and Standard 10, assessment of adherence, drug exposure, and resistance in treatment failure. CONCLUSION: These clinical standards aim to support clinicians, programme managers, and public health authorities in implementing effective, TB-specific AMS strategies.Peer reviewe
Testimony revisited : Annick Kayitesi-Jozan’s reassertion of identity and authorship through Rwandan song in Même Dieu ne veut pas s’en mêler (2017)
No full textSong plays an integral part in our formation of memories as well as modes of their recollection through association. The cultural values and language affiliated with songs also mean that they perform a key function in shaping our sense of identity. This article examines the use of song in Annick Kayitesi-Jozan’s testimony Même Dieu ne veut pas s’en mêler [‘Even God Doesn’t Want to Get Involved’], which was published thirteen years after her first collaborative testimony with Albertine Gentou. Comparative analysis between Kayitesi-Jozan’s first co-authored work and her self-authored second testimony reveals extensive differences in terms of chronology and incorporation of Kinyarwanda and Rwandan cultural references. Central to these changes is the inclusion of songs in Kinyarwanda. Examination of their lyrics in the source language and in translation uncovers Kayitesi-Jozan’s volition to retell her story as she remembers it that, by extension, redresses the epistemic imbalances present in her first work.Peer reviewe
Social adaptation across domains of evolution
No full textAdaptation is rarely for the good of an individual alone, but for the good of an individual and all her relatives—i.e., maximising inclusive rather than personal fitness. In this thesis, I use kin selection theory to consider how social adaptation has driven the evolution of new domains of life—such as cells, multicellularity, and eusociality—and how it can operate across multiple dimensions, including space and time. First, I examine the evolution of cooperation among early replicators housed within protocells. Using an evolutionary invasion analysis, I show that cooperative mutants can invade when protocell permeability is low, and that protocells containing larger populations of replicators achieve the greatest system-level growth. These results raise the question as to whether there may be a selective advantage for cells with low permeability and larger genomes. Second, I consider the evolution of division of labour during the emergence of organismality in the transition to multicellularity. I recover Michod’s ‘group covariance effect’, but propose an alternative interpretation that does not treat it as an emergent property of the group. In doing so, I also identify a ‘clonality window’ that allows for the evolution of obligate multicellularity. Third, I extend an existing formalism of group-level adaptation to incorporate class structure, explicitly modelling reproductive and non-reproductive classes to capture the original superorganisms: obligately eusocial colonies. Finally, I investigate the social evolutionary causes and consequences of dormancy. I derive dormancy analogues of several classic results for dispersal, demonstrating that dormancy—conceptualised as dispersal through time—plays a similar role in social evolution as dispersal in space
More than dutifulness : pietas as a social and political concept in the Roman Republic (509–27 BCE)
No full textThis thesis investigates the meaning of the abstract concept pietas in the Roman Republican period (509-27 BCE). Building on the frameworks of recent conceptual studies and methodologies of cognitive semantics, this study combines semantic and script-based approaches to evidence of pietas across literary, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence. Chapter One surveys all instances of the lexeme in Latin literature before 100 BCE and considers the different relationships governed by pietas, the intratextual social contexts of each usage, and the extratextual cultural and political contexts of the usage, to develop a prototypical model of how pietas was conceptualised by contemporary Roman audiences. Chapter Two examines the multiplicity of pietas’ active performance across different agents, objects, and relationship structures. It concentrates on the underlying thread across the actions and obligations that manifest pietas and the exponential emphasis placed upon the concept’s performance in periods of individual or civic tension. Chapter Three explores the relationships between the concept of pietas and the divine personification of Pietas. In situating the foundation of the Temple of Pietas within its Hellenistic and Roman contexts, I argue that the monument was a cultural resource for making claims on the meaning, manifestation, and importance of pietas to individuals and to Rome. Chapter Four investigates the social value of being pius through analysis of pietas scripts in political competition. It argues that both aristocratic gentes and noui homines harnessed similar behaviours, actions, and motifs to develop a personal reputation for pietas. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that pietas is a polysemous moral category that cannot be encapsulated in a single term such as ‘dutifulness’ but serves a broad social function in defining the roles and actions that individuals must perform to ensure the cohesion and structure of their community."This work was supported by the Handsel Tuition Fee
Scholarship and the School of Classics Scholarship"--Fundin
Piraeus' becoming-hub as a process of logistical production : spaces, subjectivities, environments
Get PDFFollowing its partial concession and whole privatisation, the port of Piraeus in Greece has emerged as a logistics hub and a critical node within the Belt & Road Initiative. This thesis examines the transformation of the port into a global space as a process of logistical production, tracing how spatial arrangements, labouring subjectivities, and port-city socio-ecologies are reconfigured through this shift. Moving beyond narrowly economic or institutional analyses, it explores logistics as a techno-political apparatus that produces space, organises life, and shapes environments. Through an ethnographic engagement with the port’s container terminal and its surrounding urban fabric, the thesis approaches Piraeus as a site where global logistical operations intersect with local interests, situated struggles, and material infrastructures.
Building and expanding on insights from the “critical logistics” literature, the study unfolds along three interwoven trajectories. It begins with an investigation of logistical spaces, focusing on the introduction of digital logistical media and advancing the concept of the information space to probe the ways that information reproblematises the production and governance of global spaces. It then turns to subjectivities, examining how logistics reshapes labour through technological mediation and managerial practices, while exploring the processes of antagonistic subjectivation in the port. Finally, it investigates logistical environments as terrains of circulation and infrastructural failure, tracing the entanglement of fossil logistics and urban life and reflecting on how pollution is registered, monitored, and experienced in and around the port.
Combining contributions from critical and political geography, infrastructure studies, political ecology, and media/software studies, the thesis offers a situated study of logistics not as a background process but as a productive force in contemporary global and planetary transformations. It contributes to ongoing debates on logistics, infrastructure, power, and the politics of circulation by proposing new concepts and tools drawn from the specificity of the Piraeus context."This work was supported by the St Leonard's Postgraduate College and School of Geography and Sustainable Development PhD Scholarship [2020]; the RSE Saltire Early Career Fellowships [1993]"--Fundin
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