Letter
Virology
Liyang Zhao, Yusi Li, Wenjuan Yi, Kuo Yan, Chao Yang, Sridhar Radhakrishnan, Rui Li, Ruirong Tan, Gang Fan, Mengyuan Dai, Miao Liu, Ning-Yi Shao
Summary: Although smoking might increase the risk of severe COVID-19, our previous study did not find strong evidence to support this conclusion. We also acknowledged that patients with diabetes or other chronic diseases could have worse outcomes in COVID-19, but this aspect was not investigated in our study as we had published separate research on diabetes. Due to limited sample size and medical records, our study could not encompass multiple factors. Nonetheless, we hope our study serves as a useful and meaningful pilot study for future research.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY
(2023)
Letter
Nutrition & Dietetics
Weili Hu, Pavitra Shankar, Yuanhang Yao, Xinyi Su, Jung Eun Kim
Summary: Pesticides can harm eye health through various exposures. Organic diets have the potential to reduce pesticide exposure, but further studies comparing organic and nonorganic diets are needed to better understand their impact on eye health.
Article
Economics
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Ronald Richman, Marcos Carreira, James Sharpe
Summary: This article responds to Tetlock et al. (2022) by showing that expert judgment is not effective in capturing tail risk and that forecasting tournaments are not compatible with tail-risk assessment methods such as extreme value theory. Additionally, it presents a new finding demonstrating a significant gap between the properties of tail expectation and the corresponding probability.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FORECASTING
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
James Wintrup
Summary: This article responds to the commentary by Ashraf et al., defending the argument that their conducted RCT has caused harm in Zambia. It engages with their central points while also discussing the broader issue of the politics and ethics of conducting RCTs in countries in the Global South and the political vision of economists who see RCTs as a solution to poverty and global health problems.
SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Yuen Yee Liu, Henry Kin Shing Ng
Summary: Van der Werff et al. (2014b) proposed that recalling diverse types of pro-environmental behavior strengthens environmental self-identity by invoking internal attribution. We attempted to replicate the study with improved statistical power and found that heterogeneous recall had a weak but significant effect on strengthening environmental self-identity. By using structural equation modeling, we discovered that this effect was driven by normative social influence rather than internal attribution, which has implications for promoting sustainable consumption.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
J. Dong, T. E. Ochsner
Summary: The authors acknowledge and correct the calculation mistakes pointed out by Jakobi et al. They found that soil texture often exerts a stronger influence on soil moisture patterns than precipitation, as demonstrated by the correlation coefficients between volumetric water content, sand content, and antecedent precipitation index.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Anthropology
Kristina Penezic, Marko Porcic, Petra Kathrin Urban, Ursula Wittwer-Backofen, Sofija Stefanovic
Summary: This work responds to a comment on the accuracy and precision of TCA analysis, the reflection of pregnancies in tooth cementum, and the interpretation of results. It argues for the reliability of TCA analysis, provides evidence for pregnancies leaving traces in tooth cementum, and clarifies that the hypothesis of increased fertility causing physiological stress in the Neolithic period needs further testing.
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Editorial Material
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Arjun Datta
Summary: The errors in the surface wave Green's tensor shown by Malkoti et al. have been acknowledged, as pointed out in the comment by Haney and Nakahara. The H/V amplitude ratio calculations were recomputed using expressions for Love and Rayleigh wave Green's tensors valid in the near-field provided by Haney and Nakahara. The differences due to the use of corrected Green's tensors only appear when the receivers are placed close to the edges of the modeling domain.
GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Katherine Griffiths, Neal Michelutti, Marianne S. V. Douglas, John P. Smol
Summary: Gajewski offers criticisms on the study by Griffiths et al. (2017), especially regarding the classification scheme of microclimates used and the value of observational evidence. The study sites were visited multiple times via aerial surveys and ground observations, supporting the microclimate classification scheme. Gajewski's claims on climate, catchment characteristics, and ice melting properties were refuted by veteran Arctic scientists with long-term field experience.
Letter
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Patrick K. Durkee, Aaron W. Lukaszewski, David M. Buss
Summary: The study suggests that the primary foundation of human status allocation psychology is benefit generation rather than cost infliction. While there are strong correlations among predictors, it does not necessarily indicate severe collinearity. The thorough examination of the study is valuable, but further research is required to understand the impact of VIF threshold on the results.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Phillip L. Ackerman
Summary: This reply focuses on addressing the challenges to the development of assessments of knowledge and skills beyond traditional ability assessments and providing clarification on the differences between the proposed approach to assessing intellect and adaptive intelligence.
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST
(2023)
Editorial Material
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Aidan G. C. Wright, Whitney R. Ringwald, Christopher J. Hopwood, Aaron L. Pincus
Summary: The reply argues against the use of personality trait models as the preferred way to redefine personality disorders. While personality trait models are descriptive tools, they lack the ability to define and explain, making them unable to accurately define and differentiate personality disorders. In contrast, a specific interpersonal model is proposed and adopted in psychiatric classification.
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST
(2023)
Article
Anthropology
Kari A. Prassack, Josephine DuBois, Martina Laznickova-Galetova, Mietje Germonpre, Peter S. Ungar
Summary: The study suggests that canids from the Upper Paleolithic site of Predmosti represent ecologically distinct populations, potentially including Pleistocene wolves and dogs. The two groups show differences in diet and ecology, consistent with interpretations of dog domestication.
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Peter Petrik, Ina Zavadilova, Ladislav Sigut, Natalia Kowalska, Anja Petek-Petrik, Justyna Szatniewska, Georg Jocher, Marian Pavelka
Summary: This study investigates the partitioning of ET in a pure European beech forest and finds that the T/ET ratio is relatively low and varies significantly across different seasons. Temperature, vapor pressure deficit, and photosynthetically active radiation are found to affect the daily dynamics of T, ET, and T/ET, while soil water content has no significant effect. Mature European beech trees exhibit more anisohydric behavior.
Editorial Material
Virology
Antonio Manna, Davide De Forni, Marco Bartocci, Nicola Pasculli, Barbara Poddesu, Florigio Lista, Riccardo De Santis, Donatella Amatore, Giorgia Grilli, Filippo Molinari, Alberto Sangiovanni Vincentelli, Franco Lori
Summary: SARS-CoV-2 can be inactivated in aerosol form, which is its primary mode of transmission, through the use of radiated microwaves. The frequencies required for this inactivation have been determined experimentally and align with the mathematical model proposed by Taylor, Margueritat, and Saviot. This alignment strengthens the efficacy of radiated microwave technology in reducing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in its airborne state.
Article
Plant Sciences
Anna Rawlings, Eoin O'Connor, Suzy C. Moody, Ed Dudley, Lynne Boddy, Mike S. Fowler, David A. Fitzpatrick, Sean Doyle, Dan C. Eastwood
Summary: The decomposition of lignin-rich wood by fungi plays a crucial role in nutrient recycling in woodland ecosystems, with fluctuating temperatures affecting ecosystem functioning. Metabolomics and proteomics can provide insights into the metabolic processes influenced by fluctuating abiotic conditions.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Shane L. Hogle, Iina Hepolehto, Lasse Ruokolainen, Johannes Cairns, Teppo Hiltunen, Jonathan Chase
Summary: Modifying intraspecific trait diversity can alter competitive hierarchies between different species, leading to competitive exclusion. This competitive outcome is driven by foraging traits and has significant impacts on prey community assembly.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Katja Pulkkinen, Tarmo Ketola, Jouni Laakso, Johanna Mappes, Lotta-Riina Sundberg
Summary: This study found that the intensive farming environment induces higher phenotypic variation in fish pathogens compared to the natural environment. The study also observed that phenotypic variation is driven by the exploitation of increased outside-host resources at farms. Furthermore, the study suggests that environmental conditions at fish farms could select isolates with high phenotypic variation in bacterial population and thus affect the evolution of F. columnare at fish farms.
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Letter
Ecology
Stefanie Muff, Erlend B. Nilsen, Chloe R. Nater, Robert B. O'Hara
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Stefanie Muff, Erlend B. Nilsen, Robert B. O'Hara, Chloe R. Nater
Summary: Despite criticism, the black-or-white null-hypothesis significance testing with an arbitrary P-value cutoff remains the standard way to report scientific findings. However, a lack of knowledge about suitable alternatives hampers progress. This study suggests using a language of evidence as a simpler and more intuitive alternative, which allows for a more nuanced approach in communicating scientific findings.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Editorial Material
Ecology
Aaron M. Ellison, Robert B. O'Hara, Natalie Cooper, Nicolas Lecomte
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Bert van der Veen, Francis K. C. Hui, Knut A. Hovstad, Robert B. O'Hara
Summary: In community ecology, unconstrained ordination and constrained ordination are used to explore drivers of community composition indirectly and directly, respectively. However, existing constrained ordination methods do not explicitly account for community composition that cannot be explained by the predictors, potentially leading to misrepresentation. This article proposes and develops new methods that incorporate predictors directly into an ordination, and evaluates their performance against popular methods in community ecology.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wouter Koch, Laurens Hogeweg, Erlend B. Nilsen, Robert B. O'Hara, Anders G. Finstad
Summary: Citizen science and automated collection methods rely on image recognition for observational data, but recognition models also require large amounts of data, creating a feedback loop. Harder-to-recognize species tend to be under-reported and less prevalent in training data, hampering training for challenging species. This study found a 'recognizability bias' across multiple taxa, where species easily identified by humans and models are more prevalent in available image data, regardless of picture quality or biological traits. This has implications for training future models with more data.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Emily G. Simmonds, Kwaku Peprah Adjei, Christoffer Wold Andersen, Janne Cathrin Hetle Aspheim, Claudia Battistin, Nicola Bulso, Hannah M. Christensen, Benjamin Cretois, Ryan Cubero, Ivan A. Davidovich, Lisa Dickel, Benjamin Dunn, Etienne Dunn-Sigouin, Karin Dyrstad, Sigurd Einum, Donata Giglio, Haakon Gjerlow, Amelie Godefroidt, Ricardo Gonzalez-Gil, Soledad Gonzalo Cogno, Fabian Grosse, Paul Halloran, Mari F. Jensen, John James Kennedy, Peter Egge Langsaether, Jack H. Laverick, Debora Lederberger, Camille Li, Elizabeth G. Mandeville, Caitlin Mandeville, Espen Moe, Tobias Navarro Schroeder, David Nunan, Jorge Sicacha-Parada, Melanie Rae Simpson, Emma Sofie Skarstein, Clemens Spensberger, Richard Stevens, Aneesh C. Subramanian, Lea Svendsen, Ole Magnus Theisen, Connor Watret, Robert B. O'Hara
Summary: Quantifying and reporting the uncertainty associated with models is crucial in different scientific fields, and there is still limited knowledge about how different fields approach this issue.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lea I. Dambly, Nick J. B. Isaac, Kate E. Jones, Katherine L. Boughey, Robert B. O'Hara
Summary: The ever-growing popularity of citizen science and technological developments allow for rapid data collection on species' distributions. Point process models fitted using Bayesian INLA with SPDEs provide an elegant way to integrate this data. However, the setting of mesh parameters in these models and their effect on prediction accuracy and covariate effects remains poorly understood. This study assesses the impact of mesh parameters on the distribution estimation of the serotine bat in Great Britain and highlights the importance of careful mesh parameterization in model inference.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Steven I. Higgins, Timo Conradi, Laurence M. Kruger, Robert B. O. 'Hara, Jasper A. Slingsby
Summary: One of the foundational premises of ecology is the influence of climate on ecosystems, but alternative ecosystem state models have challenged this notion. However, using a novel phytoclimatic transform, it has been found that climatic suitability can effectively discriminate between forest and savanna ecosystems in Africa.
Article
Ecology
Philip S. S. Mostert, Robert B. B. O'Hara
Summary: Ecological data from various sources are being collected in large scale, but there is a lack of tools and software to integrate these datasets into a unified framework. This paper presents PointedSDMs, an easy-to-use R package for constructing integrated species distribution models, which simplifies the modeling process and facilitates further analysis. A case study using the package is also presented.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hanna Sinkko, Jenni Lehtimaki, Hannes Lohi, Lasse Ruokolainen, Anna Hielm-Bjorkman
Summary: The rising trend in non-communicable chronic inflammatory diseases coincides with changes in Western lifestyle. While changes in the human microbiota may play a central role in the development of chronic diseases, estimating the contribution of associated lifestyle factors remains challenging. We studied the influence of lifestyle factors, such as diet, antibiotic use, and residential environment, on the gut microbiota of healthy and atopic pet dogs. The results showed that diet was the most significant factor associated with gut microbiota, while antibiotic use was associated with the severity of symptoms in atopic dogs.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Allergy
Tari Haahtela, Harri Alenius, Petri Auvinen, Nanna Fyhrquist, Leena von Hertzen, Pekka Jousilahti, Piia Karisola, Tiina Laatikainen, Jenni Lehtimaki, Laura Paalanen, Lasse Ruokolainen, Kimmo Saarinen, Erkka Valovirta, Tuula Vasankari, Tiina Vlasoff, Marina Erhola, Jean Bousquet, Erkki Vartiainen, Mika J. J. Makela
Summary: Contact with natural environments enriches the human microbiome, promotes immune balance, and protects against allergies and inflammatory disorders. The Karelia Allergy Study 2002-2022 showed that allergic conditions were more common on the Finnish side due to environmental and lifestyle changes. The Finnish Allergy Programme 2008-2018 and Nature Step to Health 2022-2032 have implemented measures to improve immune tolerance, nature contacts, and allergy health.
FRONTIERS IN ALLERGY
(2023)
Letter
Ecology
Stefanie Muff, Erlend B. Nilsen, Robert B. O'Hara, Chloe R. Nater
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
