Perhaps the Dodo should have accounted For Human Beings? : Accounts of humanity and (its) extinction

Purpose: We intend to offer a counter-narrative to those accounts of specific species extinction. Our intention is to offer a counter narrative that places humanity’s ways of organising at the core and recognises that only fundamental re-appraisal of (western) humanity’s current taken-for-granted narratives offers any hope for biodiversity and sustainability. Thus we seek to offer a narrative that might challenge producers of accounts of all sorts to reconsider the context and level of resolution of their accounts. We do this by first arguing that humankind is the root cause of most (if not all) current species extinctions. We then argue that such extinctions represent one reason why humanity might itself be threatened with extinction… or indeed, why human extinction might be a good thing. We need new accounts and utopian possibilities with which to imagine other, better, futures. Design/methodological/approach: The piece is an essay which assembles a wide range of literature in order to support its contentions. Findings: There are many individual accounts of species which explore the (albeit very serious) symptoms of a problem without, we maintain, examining the systematic source of the problem. The source problem is western mankind’s organisation and somewhat taciturn conception of humanity. There is a lack of accounts offering new possibilities. Research Limitations/Implications: The piece is an essay and, consequently limited to the quality of the argument presented. The essay suggests that the principal implications relate to (i) how producers of counter-accounts frame their construction of accounts and (ii) how accounts of species extinction need to be more cognizant of underlying causes. Practical Implications: Without substantial change, planetary ecology, including humanity, is very seriously threatened. Imagining a plausible future is a most practical act of faith. Social Implications: The essay suggests that as accountants we might think to approach our counter-accounts with a lower level of resolution: one that is directed towards a more challenging notion of what it is to be human. Originality/value: Whilst building upon the growing sophistication in our understanding of (new) accounts and responding to the emerging literatures on biodiversity, species extinction and utopian vision we offer what we believe to be a unique suggestion in the accounting literature about the extinction of mankind.PostprintPeer reviewe

Yes, one-day international cricket 'in-play' trading strategies can be profitable!

In this study, we employ a Monte Carlo simulation technique for estimating the conditional probability of victory at any stage in the first or second innings of a one-day international (ODI) cricket match. This model is then used to test market efficiency in the Betfair 'in-play' market for large sample of ODI matches. We find strong evidence of overreaction in the first innings. A trading strategy of betting on the batting team after the fall of a wicket produces a significant profit of 20%. We also find some evidence of underreaction in the second innings although it is less economically and statistically significant than the first innings overreaction. We also implement trades when the discrepancy between the probability of victory implied by current market odds differs substantially from the odds estimated by our Monte Carlo simulation model. We document a number of trading strategies that yield large statistically significant positive returns in both the first and second innings

Efficient Photometric Selection of Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: 100,000 z<3 Quasars from Data Release One

We present a catalog of 100,563 unresolved, UV-excess (UVX) quasar candidates to g=21 from 2099 deg^2 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release One (DR1) imaging data. Existing spectra of 22,737 sources reveals that 22,191 (97.6%) are quasars; accounting for the magnitude dependence of this efficiency, we estimate that 95,502 (95.0%) of the objects in the catalog are quasars. Such a high efficiency is unprecedented in broad-band surveys of quasars. This ``proof-of-concept'' sample is designed to be maximally efficient, but still has 94.7% completeness to unresolved, g<~19.5, UVX quasars from the DR1 quasar catalog. This efficient and complete selection is the result of our application of a probability density type analysis to training sets that describe the 4-D color distribution of stars and spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the SDSS. Specifically, we use a non-parametric Bayesian classification, based on kernel density estimation, to parameterize the color distribution of astronomical sources -- allowing for fast and robust classification. We further supplement the catalog by providing photometric redshifts and matches to FIRST/VLA, ROSAT, and USNO-B sources. Future work needed to extend the this selection algorithm to larger redshifts, fainter magnitudes, and resolved sources is discussed. Finally, we examine some science applications of the catalog, particularly a tentative quasar number counts distribution covering the largest range in magnitude (14.2<g<21.0) ever made within the framework of a single quasar survey.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures (3 color), 2 tables, accepted by ApJS; higher resolution paper and ASCII version of catalog available at http://sdss.ncsa.uiuc.edu/qso/nbckde

The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component

Dissecting how genetic and environmental influences impact on learning is helpful for maximizing numeracy and literacy. Here we show, using twin and genome-wide analysis, that there is a substantial genetic component to children’s ability in reading and mathematics, and estimate that around one half of the observed correlation in these traits is due to shared genetic effects (so-called Generalist Genes). Thus, our results highlight the potential role of the learning environment in contributing to differences in a child’s cognitive abilities at age twelve

Genome-wide association study identifies a variant in HDAC9 associated with large vessel ischemic stroke

Genetic factors have been implicated in stroke risk but few replicated associations have been reported. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in ischemic stroke and its subtypes in 3,548 cases and 5,972 controls, all of European ancestry. Replication of potential signals was performed in 5,859 cases and 6,281 controls. We replicated reported associations between variants close to PITX2 and ZFHX3 with cardioembolic stroke, and a 9p21 locus with large vessel stroke. We identified a novel association for a SNP within the histone deacetylase 9(HDAC9) gene on chromosome 7p21.1 which was associated with large vessel stroke including additional replication in a further 735 cases and 28583 controls (rs11984041, combined P = 1.87×10−11, OR=1.42 (95% CI) 1.28-1.57). All four loci exhibit evidence for heterogeneity of effect across the stroke subtypes, with some, and possibly all, affecting risk for only one subtype. This suggests differing genetic architectures for different stroke subtypes

Evolving norms of protection: China, Libya and the problem of intervention in armed conflict

This article examines the influence of civilian protection norms on China’s response to the 2011 crisis in Libya. It argues that Responsibility to Protect—an emerging norm commonly associated with the Libyan case—did not play a major role in China’s abstention on Resolution 1973 (2011) authorizing international intervention in Libya. For China, Responsibility to Protect is merely a concept and could not serve as the basis for intervention. Instead, Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, as a normative foundation for civilian protection endorsed by China, offers a more appropriate lens for understanding China’s vote. Protection of Civilians, however, does not accommodate China’s unprecedented evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya. This operation proceeded from a third logic of Protection of Nationals Abroad, which poses dilemmas for China’s strict adherence to the principles of sovereignty and non-interference and brings to bear domestic interests and notions of protection

Geometric and algebraic classification of quadratic differential systems with invariant hyperbolas

Let QSH be the whole class of non-degenerate planar quadratic differential systems possessing at least one invariant hyperbola. We classify this family of systems, modulo the action of the group of real affine transformations and time rescaling, according to their geometric properties encoded in the configurations of invariant hyperbolas and invariant straight lines which these systems possess. The classification is given both in terms of algebraic geometric invariants and also in terms of affine invariant polynomials and it yields a total of 205 distinct such configurations. We have 162 configurations for the subclass QSH(η>0) of systems which possess three distinct real singularities at infinity, and 43 configurations for the subclass QSH(η=0) of systems which possess either exactly two distinct real singularities at infinity or the line at infinity filled up with singularities. The algebraic classification, based on the invariant polynomials, is also an algorithm which makes it possible to verify for any given real quadratic differential system if it has invariant hyperbolas or not and to specify its configuration of invariant hyperbolas and straight lines

Cellular heterogeneity of pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte grafts is mechanistically linked to treatable arrhythmias

Preclinical data have confirmed that human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (PSC-CMs) can remuscularize the injured or diseased heart, with several clinical trials now in planning or recruitment stages. However, because ventricular arrhythmias represent a complication following engraftment of intramyocardially injected PSC-CMs, it is necessary to provide treatment strategies to control or prevent engraftment arrhythmias (EAs). Here, we show in a porcine model of myocardial infarction and PSC-CM transplantation that EAs are mechanistically linked to cellular heterogeneity in the input PSC-CM and resultant graft. Specifically, we identify atrial and pacemaker-like cardiomyocytes as culprit arrhythmogenic subpopulations. Two unique surface marker signatures, signal regulatory protein α (SIRPA)+CD90−CD200+ and SIRPA+CD90−CD200−, identify arrhythmogenic and non-arrhythmogenic cardiomyocytes, respectively. Our data suggest that modifications to current PSC-CM-production and/or PSC-CM-selection protocols could potentially prevent EAs. We further show that pharmacologic and interventional anti-arrhythmic strategies can control and potentially abolish these arrhythmias

Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis

MiR-137-derived polygenic risk: effects on cognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia and controls

Variants at microRNA-137 (MIR137), one of the most strongly associated schizophrenia risk loci identified to date, have been associated with poorer cognitive performance. As microRNA-137 is known to regulate the expression of ~1900 other genes, including several that are independently associated with schizophrenia, we tested whether this gene set was also associated with variation in cognitive performance. Our analysis was based on an empirically derived list of genes whose expression was altered by manipulation of MIR137 expression. This list was cross-referenced with genome-wide schizophrenia association data to construct individual polygenic scores. We then tested, in a sample of 808 patients and 192 controls, whether these risk scores were associated with altered performance on cognitive functions known to be affected in schizophrenia. A subgroup of healthy participants also underwent functional imaging during memory (n=108) and face processing tasks (n=83). Increased polygenic risk within the empirically derived miR-137 regulated gene score was associated with significantly lower performance on intelligence quotient, working memory and episodic memory. These effects were observed most clearly at a polygenic threshold of P=0.05, although significant results were observed at all three thresholds analyzed. This association was found independently for the gene set as a whole, excluding the schizophrenia-associated MIR137 SNP itself. Analysis of the spatial working memory fMRI task further suggested that increased risk score (thresholded at P=10−5) was significantly associated with increased activation of the right inferior occipital gyrus. In conclusion, these data are consistent with emerging evidence that MIR137 associated risk for schizophrenia may relate to its broader downstream genetic effects