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Metabolic reprogramming and signalling cross-talks in tumour–immune interaction: a system-level exploration Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Mudita Shukla, Rupa Bhowmick, Piyali Ganguli, Ram Rup Sarkar
Tumour-immune microenvironment (TIME) is pivotal in tumour progression and immunoediting. Within TIME, immune cells undergo metabolic adjustments impacting nutrient supply and the anti-tumour immune response. Metabolic reprogramming emerges as a promising approach to revert the immune response towards a pro-inflammatory state and conquer tumour dominance. This study proposes immunomodulatory mechanisms
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An approach to assessing subsea pipeline-associated mercury release into the North Sea and its potential environmental and human health impact Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Rebecca von Hellfeld, Astley Hastings
Mercury is a naturally occurring heavy metal that has also been associated with anthropogenic sources such as cement production or hydrocarbon extraction. Mercury is a contaminant of concern as it can have a significant negative impact on organismal health when ingested. In aquatic environments, it bioaccumulates up the foodweb, where it then has the potential to impact human health. With the offshore
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Shrinking Alpine chamois: higher spring temperatures over the last 27 years in Switzerland are linked to a 3 kg reduction in body mass of yearlings Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Giulia Masoero, Kristina Georgieva Gencheva, Noémie Ioset, Louis-Félix Bersier, Federico Tettamanti, Pierre Bize
Although climate change is considered to be partly responsible for the size change observed in numerous species, the relevance of this hypothesis for ungulates remains debated. We used body mass measurements of 5635 yearlings (i.e. 1.5 years old) of Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) harvested in September in the Swiss Alps (Ticino canton) from 1992 to 2018. In our study area, during this period
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Soundscape enrichment increases larval settlement rates for the brooding coral Porites astreoides Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Nadège Aoki, Benjamin Weiss, Youenn Jézéquel, Weifeng Gordon Zhang, Amy Apprill, T. Aran Mooney
Coral reefs, hubs of global biodiversity, are among the world’s most imperilled habitats. Healthy coral reefs are characterized by distinctive soundscapes; these environments are rich with sounds produced by fishes and marine invertebrates. Emerging evidence suggests these sounds can be used as orientation and settlement cues for larvae of reef animals. On degraded reefs, these cues may be reduced
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Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in the UK: carbon storage potential and growth rates Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Ross Holland, Guilherme Castro, Cecilia Chavana-Bryant, Ron Levy, Justin Moat, Thomas Robson, Tim Wilkinson, Phil Wilkes, Wanxin Yang, Mathias Disney
Giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) are some of the UK’s largest trees, despite only being introduced in the mid-nineteenth century. There are an estimated half a million giant sequoias and closely related coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) in the UK. Given the recent interest in planting more trees, partly due to their carbon sequestration potential and also their undoubted public appeal
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Design and optimization of a high-performance multi-barrier IPMS motor for an electric scooter and bicycle Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Halil Gör, Adem Dalcalı
Acknowledging the growing importance of electric vehicles (EVs) in the face of environmental concerns and increasing mobility needs, this study focuses on enhancing the performance of the electric motor, a critical component in EVs. The electric motor of these battery-powered vehicles is expected to have optimal characteristics and efficiency. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation into
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Heritability of cognitive performance in wild Western Australian magpies Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Elizabeth M. Speechley, Benjamin J. Ashton, Alex Thornton, Leigh W. Simmons, Amanda R. Ridley
Individual differences in cognitive performance can have genetic, social and environmental components. Most research on the heritability of cognitive traits comes from humans or captive non-human animals, while less attention has been given to wild populations. Western Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis, hereafter magpies) show phenotypic variation in cognitive performance, which affects
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Caller identification and characterization of individual humpback whale acoustic behaviour Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Julia M. Zeh, Valeria Perez-Marrufo, Dana L. Adcock, Frants H. Jensen, Kaitlyn J. Knapp, Jooke Robbins, Jennifer E. Tackaberry, Mason Weinrich, Ari S. Friedlaender, David N. Wiley, Susan E. Parks
Acoustic recording tags provide fine-scale data linking acoustic signalling with individual behaviour; however, when an animal is in a group, it is challenging to tease apart calls of conspecifics and identify which individuals produce each call. This, in turn, prohibits a robust assessment of individual acoustic behaviour including call rates and silent periods, call bout production within and between
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Synthesis of pyrimido[4,5-b]quinolindiones and formylation: ultrasonically assisted reactions Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-06 Jorge Trilleras, Andrés Charris-Molina, Alfredo Pérez-Gamboa, Paola Acosta-Guzman, Jairo Quiroga
Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of pyrimidoquinolindione derivatives via a multicomponent reaction and subsequent formylation with Vilsmeier–Haack reagent were performed. Compounds were prepared by a one-pot method from aminopyrimidinones, dimedone and aromatic aldehydes through a Mannich-type reaction sequence, and then functionalized under ultrasound irradiation and Vilsmeier–Haack conditions to give
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Himalayan lichen biomass for green synthesis of silver nanocolloids: growth kinetics, effect of pH and metal sensing Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-06 Nirmala Sharma, Surendra Kumar Gautam, Achyut Adhikari, Bhanu Bhakta Neupane
Lichen is one of the most abundant non-vascular biomasses; however, a systematic study on the application of biomass in nanomaterial synthesis is very limited. In this study, an aqueous lichen extract was obtained from Hypotrachyna cirrhata, one of the most abundant Himalayan lichen biomasses, using a simple cold percolation method. The effects of extract-to-silver nitrate mixing ratio, pH and waiting
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Targeting fin whale conservation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea: insights on movements and behaviour from biologging and habitat modelling Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-06 Viola Panigada, Thomas W. Bodey, Ari Friedlaender, Jean-Noël Druon, Luis A. Huckstädt, Nino Pierantonio, Eduard Degollada, Beatriu Tort, Simone Panigada
Biologging and habitat modelling are key tools supporting the development of conservation measures and mitigating the effects of anthropogenic pressures on marine species. Here, we analysed satellite telemetry data and foraging habitat preferences in relation to chlorophyll-a productivity fronts to understand the movements and behaviour of endangered Mediterranean fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus)
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Reduction of wing area affects estimated stress in the primary flight muscles of chickens. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Grace A T Hong,Bret W Tobalske,Nienke van Staaveren,Emily M Leishman,Tina M Widowski,Donald R Powers,Alexandra Harlander-Matauschek
In flying birds, the pectoralis (PECT) and supracoracoideus (SUPRA) generate most of the power required for flight, while the wing feathers create the aerodynamic forces. However, in domestic laying hens, little is known about the architectural properties of these muscles and the forces the wings produce. As housing space increases for commercial laying hens, understanding these properties is important
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Maths anxiety and subjective perception of control, value and success expectancy in mathematics. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Denes Szucs,Enrico Toffalini
Mathematics anxiety (MA) is an academic anxiety related to doing, learning and testing mathematics. MA can negatively affect mathematics performance, motivation and maths-heavy science and technology-related career choices. Previous data suggest that subjective perceptions and interpretations of students are key in the genesis of MA. Here, based on expectancy-value and control-value theory, we aimed
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Regional differences in historical diphtheria and scarlet fever notification rates in The Netherlands, 1905-1925: a spatial-temporal analysis. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Scott A McDonald,Maarten van Wijhe,Hester de Melker,Dimphey van Meijeren,Jacco Wallinga
BACKGROUND We describe how rates of two frequently occurring notifiable diseases-diphtheria and scarlet fever-varied between regions of The Netherlands in the early twentieth century, and identify potential factors underlying this variation. METHODS Digitized weekly mandatory notification data for 1905-1925, municipality level, were aggregated into 27 'spatial units' defined by unique combinations
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A meta-analytic cognitive framework of nudge and sludge. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Yu Luo,Andrew Li,Dilip Soman,Jiaying Zhao
Public and private institutions have gained traction in developing interventions to alter people's behaviours in predictable ways without limiting the freedom of choice or significantly changing the incentive structure. A nudge is designed to facilitate actions by minimizing friction, while a sludge is an intervention that inhibits actions by increasing friction, but the underlying cognitive mechanisms
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Social uncertainty promotes signal complexity during approaches in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and mangabeys (Cercocebus atys atys). Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Mathilde Grampp,Liran Samuni,Cédric Girard-Buttoz,Julián León,Klaus Zuberbühler,Patrick Tkaczynski,Roman M Wittig,Catherine Crockford
The social complexity hypothesis for the evolution of communication posits that complex social environments require greater communication complexity for individuals to effectively manage their relationships. We examined how different socially uncertain contexts, reflecting an increased level of social complexity, relate to variation in signalling within and between two species, which display varying
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ThermoCyte: an inexpensive open-source temperature control system for in vitro live-cell imaging. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Ross O'Carroll,James P Reynolds,Mazen Al-Roqi,Emmanuelle Damilola Aiyegbusi,Dearbhaile Dooley
Live-cell imaging is a common technique in microscopy to investigate dynamic cellular behaviour and permits the accurate and relevant analysis of a wide range of cellular and tissue parameters, such as motility, cell division, wound healing responses and calcium (Ca2+) signalling in cell lines, primary cell cultures and ex vivo preparations. Furthermore, this can occur under many experimental conditions
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Advances in paper-based electrochemical immunosensors: review of fabrication strategies and biomedical applications. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Jarid du Plooy,Nazeem Jahed,Emmanuel Iwuoha,Keagan Pokpas
Cellulose paper-based sensing devices have shown promise in addressing the accuracy, sensitivity, selectivity, analysis time and cost of current disease diagnostic tools owing to their excellent physical and physiochemical properties, high surface-area-to-volume ratio, strong adsorption capabilities, ease of chemical functionalization for immobilization, biodegradability, biocompatibility and liquid
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Deepfake detection with and without content warnings. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-27 Andrew Lewis,Patrick Vu,Raymond M Duch,Areeq Chowdhury
The rapid advancement of 'deepfake' video technology-which uses deep learning artificial intelligence algorithms to create fake videos that look real-has given urgency to the question of how policymakers and technology companies should moderate inauthentic content. We conduct an experiment to measure people's alertness to and ability to detect a high-quality deepfake among a set of videos. First, we
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Conspicuous stripes on prey capture attention and reduce attacks by foraging jumping spiders. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Lauren Gawel,Erin C Powell,Michelle Brock,Lisa A Taylor
Many animals avoid predation using aposematic displays that pair toxic/dangerous defences with conspicuous achromatic warning patterns, such as high-contrast stripes. To understand how these prey defences work, we need to understand the decision-making of visual predators. Here we gave two species of jumping spiders (Phidippus regius and Habronattus trimaculatus) choice tests using live termites that
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Null regions: a unified conceptual framework for statistical inference. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Adam H Smiley,Jessica J Glazier,Yuichi Shoda
Ruling out the possibility that there is absolutely no effect or association between variables may be a good first step, but it is rarely the ultimate goal of science. Yet that is the only inference provided by traditional null hypothesis significance testing (NHST), which has been a mainstay of many scientific fields. Reliance on NHST also makes it difficult to define what it means to replicate a
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Molecular dynamics simulation of the interaction between palmitic acid and high pressure CO2. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Fei Li,Fayu Sun,Zirui Li,Zihao Zheng,Weiqiang Wang
In this study, molecular dynamics simulation was used to explore the interaction characteristics of palmitic acid and CO2, and the effects of temperature and pressure on the solubility of palmitic acid in CO2 were investigated. In the range of 293-353 K and 5-30 MPa, the snapshot of palmitic acid distribution in CO2 shows that the molecular chain of palmitic acid in high-density CO2 system is more
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Effect of the loading condition on the statistics of crackling noise accompanying the failure of porous rocks. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Csanád Szuszik,Ian G Main,Ferenc Kun
We test the hypothesis that loading conditions affect the statistical features of crackling noise accompanying the failure of porous rocks by performing discrete element simulations of the tensile failure of model rocks and comparing the results to those of compressive simulations of the same samples. Cylindrical samples are constructed by sedimenting randomly sized spherical particles connected by
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Global warming intensifies the interference competition by a poleward-expanding invader on a native dragonfly species. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Koki Nagano,Masayoshi K Hiraiwa,Naoto Ishiwaka,Yugo Seko,Koya Hashimoto,Taizo Uchida,Francisco Sánchez-Bayo,Daisuke Hayasaka
Rapid climate warming has boosted biological invasions and the distribution or expansion polewards of many species: this can cause serious impacts on local ecosystems within the invaded areas. Subsequently, native species may be exposed to threats of both interspecific competition with invaders and temperature rises. However, effects of warming on interspecific interactions, especially competition
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Beyond kindness: a proposal for the flourishing of science and scientists alike. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Frank Schumann,Mareike Smolka,Zoltan Dienes,Annika Lübbert,Wolfgang Lukas,Mary Gehring Rees,Enrico Fucci,Marieke van Vugt
We argue that many of the crises currently afflicting science can be associated with a present failure of science to sufficiently embody its own values. Here, we propose a response beyond mere crisis resolution based on the observation that an ethical framework of flourishing derived from the Buddhist tradition aligns surprisingly well with the values of science itself. This alignment, we argue, suggests
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Reconstructing Pleistocene Australian herbivore megafauna diet using calcium and strontium isotopes. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Dafne Koutamanis,Matthew McCurry,Theo Tacail,Anthony Dosseto
Isotopes in fossil tooth enamel provide robust tools for reconstructing food webs, which have been understudied in Australian megafauna. To delineate the isotopic composition of primary consumers and understand dietary behaviour at the base of the food web, we investigate calcium (Ca) and strontium (Sr) isotope compositions of Pleistocene marsupial herbivores from Wellington Caves and Bingara (New
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Sublethal doses of insecticide reduce thermal tolerance of a stingless bee and are not avoided in a resource choice test. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Holly Farnan,Peter Yeeles,Lori Lach
Insecticides and climate change are among the multiple stressors that bees face, but little is known about their synergistic effects, especially for non-Apis bee species. In laboratory experiments, we tested whether the stingless bee Tetragonula hockingsi avoids insecticide in sucrose solutions and how T. hockingsi responds to insecticide and heat stress combined. We found that T. hockingsi neither
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Conserved grasslands support similar pollinator diversity as pollinator-specific practice regardless of proximal cropland and pesticide exposure. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Johanna M Kraus,Kelly L Smalling,Mark W Vandever,Carrie E Givens,Cassandra D Smith,Dana W Kolpin,Michelle L Hladik
Pollinator diversity and abundance are declining globally. Cropland agriculture and the corresponding use of agricultural pesticides may contribute to these declines, while increased pollinator habitat (flowering plants) can help mitigate them. Here we tested whether the relative effect of wildflower plantings on pollinator diversity and counts were modified by proportion of nearby agricultural land
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The effects of communicating uncertainty around statistics, on public trust. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 John Kerr,Anne-Marthe van der Bles,Sarah Dryhurst,Claudia R Schneider,Vivien Chopurian,Alexandra L J Freeman,Sander van der Linden
Uncertainty around statistics is inevitable. However, communicators of uncertain statistics, particularly in high-stakes and potentially political circumstances, may be concerned that presenting uncertainties could undermine the perceived trustworthiness of the information or its source. In a large survey experiment (Study 1; N = 10 519), we report that communicating uncertainty around present COVID-19
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Reconstructing the feeding ecology of Cambrian sponge reefs: the case for active suspension feeding in Archaeocyatha. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Brandt M Gibson,Max Chipman,Paolo Attanasio,Zaid Qureshi,Simon A F Darroch,Imran A Rahman,Marc Laflamme
Sponge-grade Archaeocyatha were early Cambrian biomineralizing metazoans that constructed reefs globally. Despite decades of research, many facets of archaeocyath palaeobiology remain unclear, making it difficult to reconstruct the palaeoecology of Cambrian reef ecosystems. Of specific interest is how these organisms fed; previous experimental studies have suggested that archaeocyaths functioned as
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The name of the game: palaeoproteomics and radiocarbon dates further refine the presence and dispersal of caprines in eastern and southern Africa. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Louise Le Meillour,Antoine Zazzo,Séverine Zirah,Olivier Tombret,Véronique Barriel,Kathryn W Arthur,John W Arthur,Jessie Cauliez,Louis Chaix,Matthew C Curtis,Diane Gifford-Gonzalez,Imogen Gunn,Xavier Gutherz,Elisabeth Hildebrand,Lamya Khalidi,Marie Millet,Peter Mitchell,Jacqueline Studer,Emmanuelle Vila,Frido Welker,David Pleurdeau,Joséphine Lesur
We report the first large-scale palaeoproteomics research on eastern and southern African zooarchaeological samples, thereby refining our understanding of early caprine (sheep and goat) pastoralism in Africa. Assessing caprine introductions is a complicated task because of their skeletal similarity to endemic wild bovid species and the sparse and fragmentary state of relevant archaeological remains
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A new approach to derive productivity of tropical forests using radar remote sensing measurements. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Hans Henniger,Andreas Huth,Friedrich J Bohn
Deriving gross & net primary productivity (GPP & NPP) and carbon turnover time of forests from remote sensing remains challenging. This study presents a novel approach to estimate forest productivity by combining radar remote sensing measurements, machine learning and an individual-based forest model. In this study, we analyse the role of different spatial resolutions on predictions in the context
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Mitigating bycatch in Mediterranean trammel net fisheries using species-specific gear modifications. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Kostas Ganias,Alexandra Karatza,Katerina Charitonidou,Dimitrios Lachouvaris
Small-scale fisheries (SSF) use static gear which are thought to interact with marine ecosystems more benignly than towed gear. Despite this, trammel nets, one of the most extensively used type of fishing gear in the Mediterranean SSF, generate large amounts of discards, which can account for 25% or more of the captured biomass. Discarded organisms may include endangered or threatened species such
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What are patterns of rise and decline? Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Aura Raulo,Alexis Rojas,Björn Kröger,Antti Laaksonen,Carlos Lamuela Orta,Silva Nurmio,Mirva Peltoniemi,Leo Lahti,Indrė Žliobaitė
The notions of change, such as birth, death, growth, evolution and longevity, extend across reality, including biological, cultural and societal phenomena. Patterns of change describe how success and composition of every entity, from species to societies, vary across time. Languages develop into new languages, music and fashion continuously evolve, economies rise and decline, ecological and societal
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An epistemology for democratic citizen science. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Johannes Jaeger,Camille Masselot,Bastian Greshake Tzovaras,Enric Senabre Hidalgo,Mordechai Muki Haklay,Marc Santolini
More than ever, humanity relies on robust scientific knowledge of the world and our place within it. Unfortunately, our contemporary view of science is still suffused with outdated ideas about scientific knowledge production based on a naive kind of realism. These ideas persist among members of the public and scientists alike. They contribute to an ultra-competitive system of academic research, which
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Best of both worlds? Helpers in a cooperative fairy-wren assist most to breeding pairs that comprise a potential mate and a relative. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Niki Teunissen,Marie Fan,Michael J Roast,Nataly Hidalgo Aranzamendi,Sjouke A Kingma,Anne Peters
In cooperative breeders, individuals forego independent reproduction and help others raise offspring. Helping is proposed to be driven by indirect benefits from raising relatives, and/or direct benefits from raising additional recruits or helping itself. We propose that consideration of social context is also important, in particular the characteristics of the breeding pair: helping may also serve
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Food availability leads to more connected contact networks among peridomestic zoonotic reservoir hosts. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Amy J Kuenzi,Angela D Luis
The North American deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) is a reservoir host for many zoonotic pathogens. Deermice have been well studied, but few studies have attempted to understand social interactions within the species despite these interactions being key to understanding disease transmission. We performed an experiment to determine if supplemental food or nesting material affected social interactions
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Repeatability and heritability of inhibitory control performance in wild toutouwai (Petroica longipes). Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Ella McCallum,Rachael C Shaw
Despite increasing interest in the evolution of inhibitory control, few studies have examined the validity of widespread testing paradigms, the long-term repeatability and the heritability of this cognitive ability in the wild. We investigated these aspects in the inhibitory control performance of wild toutouwai (North Island robin; Petroica longipes), using detour and reversal learning tasks. We assessed
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Soil as a transdisciplinary research catalyst: from bioprospecting to biorespecting. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Matthew J Tarnowski,Gilda Varliero,Jim Scown,Emily Phelps,Thomas E Gorochowski
The vast microbial biodiversity of soils is beginning to be observed and understood by applying modern DNA sequencing techniques. However, ensuring this potentially valuable information is used in a fair and equitable way remains a challenge. Here, we present a public engagement project that explores this topic through collaborative research of soil microbiomes at six urban locations using nanopore-based
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Metamagnetism in a coordination polymer built of trimeric cobalt units and melamine. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Ignacio Bernabé Vírseda,Arthur Mantel,Alexander Prado-Roller,Michael Eisterer,Hidetsugu Shiozawa
A coordination polymer of linear trimeric cobalt units and melamine has been synthesized. The magnetic isotherms of violet coloured crystals as long as 400 μm show a field-induced transition in an external field of about 2 T at temperatures approximately below 2 K. It is addressed that by assuming the coexistent positive and negative exchange between the nearest-neighbour spins in the linear trimer
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Novel and flexible parameter estimation methods for data-consistent inversion in mechanistic modelling. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Timothy Rumbell,Jaimit Parikh,James Kozloski,Viatcheslav Gurev
Predictions for physical systems often rely upon knowledge acquired from ensembles of entities, e.g. ensembles of cells in biological sciences. For qualitative and quantitative analysis, these ensembles are simulated with parametric families of mechanistic models (MMs). Two classes of methodologies, based on Bayesian inference and population of models, currently prevail in parameter estimation for
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Human-centred artificial intelligence for mobile health sensing: challenges and opportunities. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Ting Dang,Dimitris Spathis,Abhirup Ghosh,Cecilia Mascolo
Advances in wearable sensing and mobile computing have enabled the collection of health and well-being data outside of traditional laboratory and hospital settings, paving the way for a new era of mobile health. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) has made significant strides in various domains, demonstrating its potential to revolutionize healthcare. Devices can now diagnose diseases, predict
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To glide or to swim? A reinvestigation of the enigmatic Wapitisaurus problematicus (Reptilia) from the Early Triassic of British Columbia, Canada. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Dylan Bastiaans,Valentin Buffa,Torsten M Scheyer
Wapitisaurus problematicus was initially described as a member of the Weigeltisauridae, a clade of Late Permian gliding reptiles from Eurasia and Madagascar. However, the poor preservation of the holotype and only known specimen, from the lower Sulphur Mountain Formation at Ganoid Ridge (British Columbia, Canada), raised doubts about this assignment. Here, we redescribe W. problematicus and reassess
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Intraspecific interference retards growth and development of cane toad tadpoles, but those effects disappear by the time of metamorphosis. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 M R Crossland,R Shine
Competition among larval anurans can occur via interference as well as via a reduction in per-capita food supply. Previous research on intraspecific interference competition in cane toad (Rhinella marina) tadpoles found conflicting results, with one study detecting strong effects on tadpoles and another detecting no effects on metamorphs. A capacity to recover from competitive suppression by the time
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Skewed performance distributions as evidence of motor constraint in sports and animal displays. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 David M Logue,Tyler R Bonnell
Animal displays (i.e. movement-based signals) often involve extreme behaviours that seem to push signallers to the limits of their abilities. If motor constraints limit display performance, signal evolution will be constrained, and displays can function as honest signals of quality. Existing approaches for measuring constraint, however, require multiple kinds of behavioural data. A method that requires
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Long-term female bias in sex ratios across life stages of Harpy Eagle, a large raptor exhibiting reverse sexual size dimorphism. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Aureo Banhos,Tânia Margarete Sanaiotti,Renan Coser,Waleska Gravena,Francisca Helena Aguiar-Silva,Mylena Kaizer,Tomas Hrbek,Izeni Pires Farias
The primary (PSR), secondary (SSR) and adult (ASR) sex ratios of sexually reproducing organisms influence their life histories. Species exhibiting reversed sexual size dimorphism (RSD) may imply a higher cost of female production or lower female survival, thus generating biases in PSR, SSR and/or ASR towards males. The Harpy Eagle is the world's largest eagle exhibiting RSD. This species is found in
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Botanical memory: five centuries of floristic changes revealed by a Renaissance herbarium (Ulisse Aldrovandi, 1551-1586). Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Fabrizio Buldrini,Alessandro Alessandrini,Umberto Mossetti,Enrico Muzzi,Giovanna Pezzi,Adriano Soldano,Juri Nascimbene
We analysed the spatially explicit floristic information available in the herbarium of Ulisse Aldrovandi (1551-1586) to track floristic changes in the surroundings of Bologna across five centuries. Aldrovandi's data were compared with the Flora della Provincia di Bologna by Girolamo Cocconi (1883) and the Floristic Database of Emilia-Romagna (1965-2021). We explored potential variations in native range
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Interaction of gallium, indium and vanadyl diacetylcurcumin complexes with lysozyme: mechanistic aspects and evaluation of antiamyloidogenic activity. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Amin Sahraei,Ahmad Ehsanfar,Fakhrossadat Mohammadi
Diacetylcurcumin as a derivative of curcumin is a strong nitric oxide (NO) and O2-.anion scavenger. One strategy to improve stability of curcumin and its derivatives is complexation with metal. In this study, the binding interactions of gallium diacetylcurcumin (Ga(DAC)3), indium diacetylcurcumin (In(DAC)3), and vanadyl diacetylcurcumin (VO(DAC)2) with hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) have been investigated
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Proteomic differences in seminal fluid of social insects whose sperm differ in heat tolerance. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Baptiste Martinet,Kimberly Przybyla,Corentin Decroo,Ruddy Wattiez,Serge Aron
In the coming years, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and intensity of heatwaves. In many organisms, heat stress provokes physiological perturbations and can lead to decreased male fertility. Bumblebees are endo-heterothermic but display interspecific differences in thermotolerance that could have conservation implications. For the species of concern Bombus magnus, exposure to high
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Detection of antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacterales in insectivorous bats from Chile. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Zulma Esperanza Rojas-Sereno,Daniel G Streicker,Tania Suarez-Yana,Michelle Lineros,Verónica Yung,Sylvain Godreuil,Julio A Benavides
Enterobacterales of clinical importance for humans and domestic animals are now commonly detected among wildlife worldwide. However, few studies have investigated their prevalence among bats, particularly in bat species living near humans. In this study, we assessed the occurrence of Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing (ESBL) and carbapenemase-resistant (CR) Enterobacterales in rectal swabs
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Review: chitosan-based biopolymers for anion-exchange membrane fuel cell application. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Bauyrzhan Myrzakhmetov,Aktilek Akhmetova,Aiman Bissenbay,Mirat Karibayev,Xuemiao Pan,Yanwei Wang,Zhumabay Bakenov,Almagul Mentbayeva
Chitosan (CS)-based anion exchange membranes (AEMs) have gained significant attention in fuel cell applications owing to their numerous benefits, such as environmental friendliness, flexibility for structural alteration, and improved mechanical, thermal and chemical durability. This study aims to enhance the cell performance of CS-based AEMs by addressing key factors including mechanical stability
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Can fish species co-occurrence patterns be predicted by their trait dissimilarities? Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Ruben D Cordero,Donald A Jackson
Trait-based analyses have been successful in determining and predicting species association outcomes in diverse communities. Most studies have limited the scope of this approach to the biotic responses of a small number of species or geographical regions. We focused on determining whether three biologically relevant traits (body size, temperature preference and trophic level) influence the patterns
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Eleven years of student replication projects provide evidence on the correlates of replicability in psychology. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-08 Veronica Boyce,Maya Mathur,Michael C Frank
Cumulative scientific progress requires empirical results that are robust enough to support theory construction and extension. Yet in psychology, some prominent findings have failed to replicate, and large-scale studies suggest replicability issues are widespread. The identification of predictors of replication success is limited by the difficulty of conducting large samples of independent replication
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Space and time on the membrane: modelling Type VI secretion system dynamics as a state-dependent random walk. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-01 Jonathan Miller,Philip J Murray
The type six secretion system (T6SS) is a transmembrane protein complex that mediates bacterial cell killing. The T6SS comprises three main components (transmembrane, baseplate and sheath/tube complexes) that are sequentially assembled in order to enable an attacking cell to transport payloads into neighbouring cells. A T6SS attack disrupts the function of essential cellular components of target cells
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Insights into drivers of mobility and cultural dynamics of African hunter-gatherers over the past 120 000 years. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-01 Johannes Zonker,Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias,Nataša Djurdjevac Conrad
Humans have a unique capacity to innovate, transmit and rely on complex, cumulative culture for survival. While an important body of work has attempted to explore the role of changes in the size and interconnectedness of populations in determining the persistence, diversity and complexity of material culture, results have achieved limited success in explaining the emergence and spatial distribution
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Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-10-25 Coral J Dando,Zacharia Nahouli,Alison Hart,Zoe Pounder
Individuals with aphantasia report an inability to voluntarily visually image and reduced episodic memory, yet episodic accounts provided by witnesses and victims are fundamental for criminal justice. Using the mock-witness paradigm, we investigated eyewitness memory of individuals with aphantasia versus typical imagers. Participants viewed a mock crime and 48 hours later were interviewed about the
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Let's put a smile on that face-A positive facial expression improves aesthetics of portrait photographs. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-10-25 Christian Valuch,Matthew Pelowski,Veli-Tapani Peltoketo,Jussi Hakala,Helmut Leder
In today's age of social media and smartphones, portraits-such as selfies or pictures of friends and family-are very frequently produced, shared and viewed images. Despite their prevalence, the psychological factors that characterize a 'good' photo-one that people will generally like, keep, and think is especially aesthetically pleasing-are not well understood. Here, we studied how a subtle change
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A new archosauriform species from the Panchet Formation of India and the diversification of Proterosuchidae after the end-Permian mass extinction. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-10-25 Martín D Ezcurra,Saswati Bandyopadhyay,Dhurjati P Sengupta,Kasturi Sen,Andrey G Sennikov,Roland B Sookias,Sterling J Nesbitt,Richard J Butler
Proterosuchidae represents the oldest substantial diversification of Archosauromorpha and plays a key role in understanding the biotic recovery after the end-Permian mass extinction. Proterosuchidae was long treated as a wastebasket taxon, but recent revisions have reduced its taxonomic content to five valid species from the latest Permian of Russia and the earliest Triassic (Induan) of South Africa
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Adult neurogenesis does not explain the extensive post-eclosion growth of Heliconius mushroom bodies. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-10-25 Amaia Alcalde Anton,Fletcher J Young,Lina Melo-Flórez,Antoine Couto,Stephen Cross,W Owen McMillan,Stephen H Montgomery
Among butterflies, Heliconius have a unique behavioural profile, being the sole genus to actively feed on pollen. Heliconius learn the location of pollen resources, and have enhanced visual memories and expanded mushroom bodies, an insect learning and memory centre, relative to related genera. These structures also show extensive post-eclosion growth and developmental sensitivity to environmental conditions
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Modelling and simulation of brinicle formation. Royal Soc. Open Sci. (IF 3.5) Pub Date : 2023-10-25 Felipe Gómez-Lozada,Carlos Andrés Del Valle,Julián David Jiménez-Paz,Boyan S Lazarov,Juan Galvis
Below the Arctic sea ice, under the right conditions, a flux of icy brine flows down into the sea. The icy brine has a much lower fusion point and is denser than normal seawater. As a result, it sinks while freezing everything around it, forming an ice channel called a brinicle (also known as ice stalactite). In this paper, we develop a mathematical model for this phenomenon, assuming cylindrical symmetry