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Fear of snakes is common not only in humans but also in other primates. Consequently, snakes are salient stimuli associated with prioritized attention, early detection and emotional significance. This has been interpreted as an adaptive evolutionary response of the primate brain to a risk of envenoming by a hidden snake. However, the struggle between mammals and snakes is not one-sided. Humans and carnivores regularly kill snakes, and thus snakes develop deterring defensive behaviour that may directly evoke enhanced fear. Here, we show that snakes depicted in threatening posture evoked on average more fear than those in resting posture. Significantly, African (Somali) and European (Czech) respondents considerably agreed on the relative fear elicited by various snakes. Nonetheless, not all defensive postures are equally efficient. Threatening cobras were perceived as top fear-evoking stimuli, even though most of them are not considered very frightening in resting posture. This effect can be attributed to their conspicuous hooding posture which evolved into an efficient warning signal for mammalian predators. Our result demonstrates that cobras are more effective than other snakes in the ability to evoke human fear by a simple behavioural display—hooding. This can be primarily explained by the behavioural evolution of cobras which successfully exploited pre-existing cognitive mechanisms of mammals. Whether human ancestors cohabiting with deadly venomous cobras further improved their fear response to hooding is uncertain, but likely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the optimization of the surface roughness of hybrid additive manufactured Ni superalloys, combining a conventional laser powder bed fusion process with in situ high-speed milling. This remarkable hybrid approach has only recently been applied to different steel types and barely to Ni superalloys which opposite to steel appear to be challenging for milling processes, particularly within the powderbed of laser powder bed fusion. Different influencing factors on the surface roughness are varied in this study, following the Taguchi method. Their effect is evaluated with respect to the average surface roughness and the maximum surface roughness. The signal-to-noise ratio for the varied parameters infeed, z-pitch, feed rate, and spindle speed is calculated, determining their relevance on the surface roughness, and defining an optimal parameter combination. As the surface quality is optimized to R a = 0.47 μ m , the definition of the optimal parameter combination is of the highest relevance for the application of this novel manufacturing approach for Inconel. Using linear regression, the resulting surface roughness of these parameters is predicted, getting validated by the experimental evaluation. Due to a further analysis, including EDX analysis and a quantitative element analysis at different positions of the flank of the milling cutter, wear characteristics as well as the dissipation of the coating of the milling cutter are detected. The flank wear and the resulting breakage of the cutting edge are defined as the main reasons of a rising surface roughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories explain the presence of fears and specific phobias elicited by animals in contemporary WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) populations by their evolutionary past in Africa. Nevertheless, empirical data about fears of animals in the Cradle of Humankind are still fragmentary. To fill this gap, we examined which local animals are perceived as the most frightening by Somali people, who inhabit a markedly similar environment and the region where humans have evolved. We asked 236 raters to rank 42 stimuli according to their elicited fear. The stimuli were standardized pictures of species representing the local fauna. The results showed that the most frightening animals were snakes, scorpions, the centipede, and large carnivores (cheetahs and hyenas). These were followed up by lizards and spiders. Unlike in Europe, spiders represent less salient stimuli than scorpions for Somali respondents in this study. This conforms to the hypothesis suggesting that fear of spiders was extended or redirected from other chelicerates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on decomposer communities has traditionally focused on plant litter or deadwood. Even though carrion forms highly nutrient-rich necromass that enhance ecosystem heterogeneity, the factors influencing saprophytic communities remain largely unknown. For deadwood, experiments have shown that different drivers determine beetles (i.e., decay stage, microclimate, and space), fungi (i.e., decay stage and tree species) and bacteria (decay stage only) assemblages. To test the hypothesis that similar factors also structure carrion communities, we sampled 29 carcasses exposed for 30 days that included Cervus elaphus (N = 6), Capreolus capreolus (N = 18), and Vulpes vulpes (N = 5) in a mountain forest throughout decomposition. Beetles were collected with pitfall traps, while microbial communities were characterized using amplicon sequencing. Assemblages were determined with a focus from rare to dominant species using Hill numbers. With increasing focus on dominant species, the relative importance of carcass identity on beetles and space on bacteria increased, while only succession and microclimate remained relevant for fungi. For beetle and bacteria with focus on dominant species, host identity was more important than microclimate, which is in marked contrast to deadwood. We conclude that factors influencing carrion saprophytic assemblages show some consistency, but also differences from those of deadwood assemblages, suggesting that short-lived carrion and long-lasting deadwood both provide a resource pulse with different adaptions in insects and microbes. As with deadwood, a high diversity of carcass species under multiple decay stages and different microclimates support a diverse decomposer community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore static spherically symmetric black hole solutions allowing a bulk U(1) vector field in the khronometric formulation of Hořava gravity by way of EinsteinÆther. We examine analytic solutions and study numerical results in the limit that the khronon does not backreact on the metric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares internal and external sources of capital in the insurance industry by analyzing reinsurance activity between affiliated and unaffiliated insurers. Tests are performed using data from a large sample of property-liability insurers that are affiliated with at least one other property-liability insurer. Results indicate that while demands for internal and external reinsurance have some factors in common, there are cost-based differences in internal and external capital, as well as structural differences in the use of internal and external reinsurance. Results are consistent with previous theories related to internal versus external capital markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the abilities of some key risk measures to predict property-liability insurer insolvencies. Measures produced by regulators; Improvement on predicting insolvencies; Use of ranks.

Discusses the transfiberscopic removal of esophageal polyps. Cases wherein a fiberscope was used in removing polyps; Advantages of the intraluminal, transendoscopic removal of intestinal lesions.