Lateral and vertical heterogeneity in the lithospheric mantle at the northern margin of the Pannonian Basin reconstructed from peridotite xenolith microstructures

International audienceThis study analyzes the microstructures and deformational characteristics of spinel peridotite xenoliths from the Nógrád‐Gömör Volcanic Field (NGVF), located on the northern margin of a young extensional basin presently affected by compression. The xenoliths show a wide range of microstructures, bearing the imprints of heterogeneous deformation and variable degrees of subsequent annealing. Olivine crystal preferred orientations (CPOs) have dominantly [010]‐fiber and orthorhombic patterns. Orthopyroxene CPOs indicate coeval deformation with olivine. Olivine J indices correlate positively with equilibration temperatures, suggesting that the CPO strength increases with depth. In contrast, the intensity of intragranular deformation in olivine varies as a function of the sampling locality. We interpret the microstructures and CPO patterns as recording deformation by dislocation creep in a transpressional regime, which is consistent with recent tectonic evolution in the Carpathian‐Pannonian region due to the convergence between the Adria microplate and the European platform. Postkinematic annealing is probably linked to percolation of metasomatism by mafic melts through the upper mantle of the NGVF prior to the eruption of the host alkali basalt. Elevated equilibration temperatures in xenoliths from the central part of the volcanic field are interpreted to be associated with the last metasomatic event, which only shortly preceded the ascent of the host magma. Despite well‐developed olivine CPOs in the xenoliths, which imply a strong seismic anisotropy, the lithospheric mantle alone cannot account for the shear wave splitting delay times measured in the NGVF, indicating that deformation in both the lithosphere and the asthenosphere contributes to the observed shear wave splitting

Waist circumference as a vital sign in clinical practice: a Consensus Statement from the IAS and ICCR Working Group on Visceral Obesity

Despite decades of unequivocal evidence that waist circumference provides both independent and additive information to BMI for predicting morbidity and risk of death, this measurement is not routinely obtained in clinical practice. This Consensus Statement proposes that measurements of waist circumference afford practitioners with an important opportunity to improve the management and health of patients. We argue that BMI alone is not sufficient to properly assess or manage the cardiometabolic risk associated with increased adiposity in adults and provide a thorough review of the evidence that will empower health practitioners and professional societies to routinely include waist circumference in the evaluation and management of patients with overweight or obesity. We recommend that decreases in waist circumference are a critically important treatment target for reducing adverse health risks for both men and women. Moreover, we describe evidence that clinically relevant reductions in waist circumference can be achieved by routine, moderate-intensity exercise and/or dietary interventions. We identify gaps in the knowledge, including the refinement of waist circumference threshold values for a given BMI category, to optimize obesity risk stratification across age, sex and ethnicity. We recommend that health professionals are trained to properly perform this simple measurement and consider it as an important 'vital sign' in clinical practice

Opinion dynamics: models, extensions and external effects

Recently, social phenomena have received a lot of attention not only from social scientists, but also from physicists, mathematicians and computer scientists, in the emerging interdisciplinary field of complex system science. Opinion dynamics is one of the processes studied, since opinions are the drivers of human behaviour, and play a crucial role in many global challenges that our complex world and societies are facing: global financial crises, global pandemics, growth of cities, urbanisation and migration patterns, and last but not least important, climate change and environmental sustainability and protection. Opinion formation is a complex process affected by the interplay of different elements, including the individual predisposition, the influence of positive and negative peer interaction (social networks playing a crucial role in this respect), the information each individual is exposed to, and many others. Several models inspired from those in use in physics have been developed to encompass many of these elements, and to allow for the identification of the mechanisms involved in the opinion formation process and the understanding of their role, with the practical aim of simulating opinion formation and spreading under various conditions. These modelling schemes range from binary simple models such as the voter model, to multi-dimensional continuous approaches. Here, we provide a review of recent methods, focusing on models employing both peer interaction and external information, and emphasising the role that less studied mechanisms, such as disagreement, has in driving the opinion dynamics. [...]Comment: 42 pages, 6 figure

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution-individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic.Published versio