Pronounced and prevalent intersexuality does not impede the ‘Demon Shrimp’ invasion

Crustacean intersexuality is widespread and often linked to infection by sex-distorting parasites. However, unlike vertebrate intersexuality, its association with sexual dysfunction is unclear and remains a matter of debate. The ‘Demon Shrimp,’ Dikerogammarus haemobaphes, an amphipod that has invaded continental waterways, has recently become widespread in Britain. Intersexuality has been noted in D. haemobaphes but not investigated further. We hypothesise that a successful invasive population should not display a high prevalence of intersexuality if this condition represents a truly dysfunctional phenotype. In addition, experiments have indicated that particular parasite burdens in amphipods may facilitate invasions. The rapid and ongoing invasion of British waterways represents an opportunity to determine whether these hypotheses are consistent with field observations. This study investigates the parasites and sexual phenotypes of D. haemobaphes in British waterways, characterising parasite burdens using molecular screening, and makes comparisons with the threatened Gammarus pulex natives. We reveal that invasive and native populations have distinct parasitic profiles, suggesting the loss of G. pulex may have parasite-mediated eco-system impacts. Furthermore, the parasite burdens are consistent with those previously proposed to facilitate biological invasions. Our study also indicates that while no intersexuality occurs in the native G. pulex, approximately 50% of D. haemobaphes males present pronounced intersexuality associated with infection by the microsporidian Dictyocoela berillonum. This unambiguously successful invasive population presents, to our knowledge, the highest reported prevalence of male intersexuality. This is the clearest evidence to date that such intersexuality does not represent a form of debilitating sexual dysfunction that negatively impacts amphipod populations

Dog tales: mindful dog interactions evoke similar experiences to dog assisted mindfulness meditations

Stay-at-home regulations in response to COVID-19 have put humans at increased risk of loneliness. Some studies support dog ownership as a protection against loneliness, while other studies have suggested the lockdowns can be used to reflect upon the similar restrictions owners impose on their pets on a daily basis. This study evaluated two novel ways to enrich the lives of pet dogs in the home, while also providing benefits to owners. It was hypothesized that a six-week Dog Assisted Mindfulness (DAM) intervention and a Dog Interactions (DI) intervention would positively impact owner-rated loneliness, mindfulness, and owner–dog emotional attachment, compared to a control group. Seventy-three participants were randomly assigned to each group. Mixed methods ANOVAs found no significant main effects of group, nor any group × time interaction effects. Qualitative analyses revealed common experiences among participants in the two active interventions, including enhanced owner–dog connection, and feelings of relaxation, happiness and engagement both during and after participating in the weekly activities. There was also an added benefit of ‘dog happiness’ in the interactions group. Future studies should investigate this in a more objective manner and in the meantime, regular owner–dog interactions should be encouraged, especially during times of extended lockdown

Review of the evidence base in relation to early childhood approaches to support children in highly disadvantaged communities for the Children’s Ground Project

The Children’s Ground project aims to develop a place-based approach to support children and their families in highly disadvantaged communities. The project approach is informed by research and evidence, recognising the multiple and multi-level influences on children’s development and the need to support the role of communities in improving outcomes for children. The review of the evidence base, undertaken by the Centre for Community Child Health in collaboration with the Royal Children’s Hospital Education Institute, begins by outlining the changing social and environmental conditions and the influence of these changes on vulnerable children and families. The report then discusses actions undertaken to address these challenges and the reasons why these actions have failed. Next, key factors enabling optimal outcomes for children and contemporary Australian and international evidence-based interventions and approaches that support vulnerable children are examined. The review concludes by summarising the research on the financial and social costs of doing nothing to intervene and improve outcomes for children. In summary, the review endorses the development of a place-based approach with a number of key strategies that simultaneously address families’ immediate needs for support (the foreground factors) and the broader conditions under which families are raising young children (the background factors). The approach needs to promote wrap around, integrated services that are responsive to and driven by the community. Focus must also be given to how services are delivered rather than what is delivered. In order to implement the approach, it is critical that a robust governance structure or entity capable of coordinating and supporting the many stakeholders and services involved is established and a long-term financial and policy commitment is made. Key messages encapsulating broad themes from the literature, supported by concluding statements, have been developed to enable clear communication to a variety of audiences.&nbsp

Phenomenology and delusions: Who put the 'alien' in alien control?.

Although current models of delusion converge in proposing that delusions are based on unusual experiences, they differ in the role that they accord experience in the formation of delusions. On some accounts, the experience comprises the very content of the delusion, whereas on other accounts the delusion is adopted in an attempt to explain an unusual experience. We call these the endorsement and explanationist models, respectively. We examine the debate between endorsement and explanationist models with respect to the 'alien control' delusion. People with delusions of alien control believe that their actions and/or thoughts are being controlled by an external agent. Some accounts of alien control (e.g., Frith, Blakemore, & Wolpert, 2000a) are best thought of in explanationist terms; other accounts (e.g., Jeannerod, 1999) seem more suited to an endorsement approach. We argue that recent cognitive and neurophysiological evidence favours an endorsement model of the delusion of alien control

Project Hydra: Designing & Building a Reusable Framework for Multipurpose, Multifunction, Multi-institutional Repository-Powered Solutions

4th International Conference on Open RepositoriesThis presentation was part of the session : Fedora User Group PresentationsDate: 2009-05-20 03:30 PM – 05:00 PMThere is a clear business need in higher education for a flexible, reusable application framework that can support the rapid development of multiple systems tailored to distinct needs, but powered by a common underlying repository. Recognizing this common need, Stanford University, the University of Hull and the University of Virginia are collaborating on "Project Hydra", a three-year effort to create an application and middleware framework that, in combination with an underlying Fedora repository, will create a reusable environment for running multifunction, multipurpose repository-powered solutions. This paper details the collaborators' functional and technical design for such a framework, and will demonstrate the progress made to date on the initiative.JIS

Folklore Collections Database Users' Manual

The users' manual for the Folklore Collections Database developed by the American Folklore Society as one outcome of the National Folklore Archives Initiative, an effort to document and provide access to archival collections held by folklore programs at academic institutions, community-based cultural and ethnic organizations, non-profit organizations, and state government-based arts and cultural agencies in the United States. The NFAI project was funded by a 2011-2013 grant from the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Program of the Division of Preservation and Access of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Folklore Collections Database is hosted and maintained by the Indiana University Bloomington Library at www.folklorecollections.org.National Endowment for the Humanitie