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Learning traps are false beliefs that entrench themselves by discouraging the exploration required to correct them. In previous lab experiments, these learning traps have proven remarkably difficult to prevent. Here, we investigate whether learning traps remain stable in contexts in which both individual and social learning are possible. In two of our three experiments, we found that learners trapped by a false belief were significantly more likely to escape a learning trap when they were able to observe another decision-maker's choices (without observing their outcomes). However, social learning was not a panacea. Social learning was constrained by the challenge of inferring others' beliefs, and trapped learners struggled to learn from partners with sub-optimal decision rules, even when their partner's choices were informative. Collectively, these results suggest that while social learning can help overcome the limits of individual learning, learning from others comes with its own challenges and limitations.

Implicit mentalising involves the automatic awareness others' perspectives. The Joint Simon task demonstrates this as a Joint Simon Effect (JSE): A spatial compatibility effect is elicited more strongly in a Joint Simon versus an Individual go/no-go task. The JSE may stem from spontaneous action co-representation of a social partner's frame-of-reference, which creates a spatial overlap between stimulus-response location in the Joint (but not Individual) task. However, JSE's domain-specificity is debated. We investigated the potential content of co-representation during task-sharing—typical geometric stimuli were replaced with two coloured sets of animal silhouettes. Each set was assigned to either the participant themselves or their partner. Critically, a surprise image recognition task followed, aiming to identify any partner-driven effects in incidental memory exclusive to the Joint task-sharing condition, versus the Individual condition. Bayesian statistics indicated a robust absence of the key JSE, limiting interpretations of incidental memory findings, with implications regarding JSE's replicability.

The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not routine home visiting (by the Philani Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Project) influences the prevalence of stunted, wasted and underweight children in Cape Town peri-urban settlements. The study was a cross-sectional cohort in which weight and height measurements were collected for all children from 24 matched neighbourhoods; three years earlier 12 of these neighbourhoods were randomized to receive the home visiting intervention and 12 did not. The research took place at all households located within the 24 neighbourhoods in Khayelitsha and Mfuleni peri-urban settlements. Participants included 8715 children aged 0–6 years old (4694 intervention; 4021 control). A total of 41.3% of children were stunted, 3.1% were underweight and 1.4% were wasted. Children in the intervention group were significantly less likely to be underweight or severely underweight for age than children in the control group. While the rates of stunting were also significantly lower in intervention areas, the effect was not clinically significant, and no significant differences were found between the study arms on the prevalence of wasting. The Philani model is effective in the prevention and rehabilitation of underweight children. Philani could strengthen their intervention by focussing specifically on screening for child stunting in addition to underweight children. The results also suggests that efforts to address the long-term adverse effects of undernutrition require structural and economic transformation, in addition to socio-medical interventions.

Abstract There are millions of river barriers worldwide, ranging from wooden locks to concrete dams, many of which form associated impoundments to store water in small ponds or large reservoirs. Besides their benefits, there is growing recognition of important environmental and social trade-offs related to these artificial structures. However, global datasets describing their characteristics and geographical distribution are often biased towards particular regions or specific applications, such as hydropower dams affecting fish migration, and are thus not globally consistent. Here, we present a new river barrier and reservoir database developed by the Global Dam Watch (GDW) consortium that integrates, harmonizes, and augments existing global datasets to support large-scale analyses. Data curation involved extensive quality control processes to create a single, globally consistent data repository of instream barriers and reservoirs that are co-registered to a digital river network. Version 1.0 of the GDW database contains 41,145 barrier locations and 35,295 associated reservoir polygons representing a cumulative storage capacity of 7,420 km3 and an artificial terrestrial surface water area of 304,600 km2.

Abstract Plasma turbulence plays a key role in space and astrophysical plasma systems, enabling the energy of magnetic fields and plasma flows to be transported to particle kinetic scales at which the turbulence dissipates and heats the plasma. Identifying the physical mechanisms responsible for the dissipation of the turbulent energy is a critical step in developing the predictive capability for the turbulent heating needed by global models. In this work, spacecraft measurements of the electromagnetic fields and ion velocity distributions by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission are used to generate velocity-space signatures that identify ion cyclotron damping in Earth’s turbulent magnetosheath, in agreement with analytical modeling. Furthermore, the rate of ion energization is directly quantified and combined with a previous analysis of the electron energization to identify the dominant channels of turbulent dissipation and determine the partitioning of energy among species in this interval.

Abstract Distributed collaborative learning is a promising approach for building predictive models for privacy-sensitive biomedical images. Here, several data owners (clients) train a joint model without sharing their original data. However, concealed systematic biases can compromise model performance and fairness. This study presents MyThisYourThat (MyTH) approach, which adapts an interpretable prototypical part learning network to a distributed setting, enabling each client to visualize feature differences learned by others on their own image: comparing one client’s 'This’ with others’ 'That’. Our setting demonstrates four clients collaboratively training two diagnostic classifiers on a benchmark X-ray dataset. Without data bias, the global model reaches 74.14% balanced accuracy for cardiomegaly and 74.08% for pleural effusion. We show that with systematic visual bias in one client, the performance of global models drops to near-random. We demonstrate how differences between local and global prototypes reveal biases and allow their visualization on each client’s data without compromising privacy.

Abstract Background The incidence of Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is believed to be on the rise and is associated with poor outcomes. Methods We extracted age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) for decedents ≥ 18 years of age from the World Health Organization Mortality Database, using International Classification of Diseases 10th edition codes for PH and PAH, covering the period from 2001 to 2019. The UK and European Union countries with at least 1,000,000 inhabitants and at least 75% of available data points over the study period were included. Results Between 2001 and 2019, in countries with available data, the median ASMR for PH increased by + 1.19 per 1,000,000 (+ 22.51%) in females and + 0.36 per 1,000,000 (+ 6.06%) in males. Out of 19 countries, 13 demonstrate an increase in female PH ASMR, and 12 reported an increase in male PH ASMR. In contrast, median PAH ASMR decreased by -0.29 per 1,000,000 (-28.74%) in females and remained relatively unchanged in males, with a minor increase of + 0.01 per 1,000,000 (+ 1.07%). Notably, there was significant inter-country heterogeneity, with countries such as Hungary, Romania, and Poland displaying results incongruous with the rest of Europe. Conclusions While publicly available mortality statistics for PH may be unreliable, these data suggest an overall increase in mortality across Europe from 2001 to 2019. However, mortality from PAH has shown a decrease in females and a modest increase in males. This underscores the urgent need for robust and high-quality mortality reporting, including international registries, for both PH and PAH.

Abstract Background Objective assessment of skills after training is essential for safe implementation of lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). In low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) there is a need for assessment tools without onsite experts to scale up POCUS access. Our objective is to develop a web-based assessment tool and evaluate trainees across different countries and at different time points after initial lung POCUS training. Methods We adapted the objective and validated lung ultrasound score (LUS-OSAUS) to a web-based tool with quiz and practical skills test. Trainees were evaluated after a short (4-day) standardized lung POCUS training and were classified in distinct groups according to (i) their geographical location (Benin vs. South-Africa) and (ii) time elapsed since training (Benin 0 months vs. Benin 6 months). The Benin 6 months group had minimal continuous education. Skills test images were read by two blinded experts. We report the overall success rates and then compare these rates based on location and timing since training, using the Fischer’s exact test. Results A total of 35 out of 43 participants completed the online LUS-OSAUS quiz and skills test. The overall success rate was 0.84 (95%CI 0.80–0.88), with lower success rates for “correct depth” 0.54 (0.37–0.71), “correct assessment of pleura” 0.63 (0.45–0.79) and “conclusion” 0.71 (0.54–0.85). There were no differences based on location, with respective rates of 0.86 (0.80–0.92) and 0.83 (0.75–0.91) (p-value = 0.125) for Benin and South Africa at 0 months, respectively. Similarly, there were no differences according to timing with success rates of 0.86 (0.80–0.92) and 0.82 (0.72–0.93) (p-value = 0.563) for Benin at 0 months and 6 months, respectively. Conclusion Web-based objective and structured assessment of lung POCUS skills in LMIC following a short-standardized training is feasible and has a good overall success rate with consistent results across regions and up to 6 months after training given minimal continuous education. Overall, technical and POCUS-based clinical conclusion skills are the most difficult to acquire.

Climate change contributes to the increased frequency and intensity of wildfires globally, with significant impacts on society and the environment. However, our understanding of the global distribution of extreme fires remains skewed, primarily influenced by media coverage and regionalised research efforts. This inaugural State of Wildfires report systematically analyses fire activity worldwide, identifying extreme events from the March 2023–February 2024 fire season. We assess the causes, predictability, and attribution of these events to climate change and land use and forecast future risks under different climate scenarios. During the 2023–2024 fire season, 3.9×106 km2 burned globally, slightly below the average of previous seasons, but fire carbon (C) emissions were 16 % above average, totalling 2.4 Pg C. Global fire C emissions were increased by record emissions in Canadian boreal forests (over 9 times the average) and reduced by low emissions from African savannahs. Notable events included record-breaking fire extent and emissions in Canada, the largest recorded wildfire in the European Union (Greece), drought-driven fires in western Amazonia and northern parts of South America, and deadly fires in Hawaii (100 deaths) and Chile (131 deaths). Over 232 000 people were evacuated in Canada alone, highlighting the severity of human impact. Our analyses revealed that multiple drivers were needed to cause areas of extreme fire activity. In Canada and Greece, a combination of high fire weather and an abundance of dry fuels increased the probability of fires, whereas burned area anomalies were weaker in regions with lower fuel loads and higher direct suppression, particularly in Canada. Fire weather prediction in Canada showed a mild anomalous signal 1 to 2 months in advance, whereas events in Greece and Amazonia had shorter predictability horizons. Attribution analyses indicated that modelled anomalies in burned area were up to 40 %, 18 %, and 50 % higher due to climate change in Canada, Greece, and western Amazonia during the 2023–2024 fire season, respectively. Meanwhile, the probability of extreme fire seasons of these magnitudes has increased significantly due to anthropogenic climate change, with a 2.9–3.6-fold increase in likelihood of high fire weather in Canada and a 20.0–28.5-fold increase in Amazonia. By the end of the century, events of similar magnitude to 2023 in Canada are projected to occur 6.3–10.8 times more frequently under a medium–high emission scenario (SSP370). This report represents our first annual effort to catalogue extreme wildfire events, explain their occurrence, and predict future risks. By consolidating state-of-the-art wildfire science and delivering key insights relevant to policymakers, disaster management services, firefighting agencies, and land managers, we aim to enhance society's resilience to wildfires and promote advances in preparedness, mitigation, and adaptation. New datasets presented in this work are available from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11400539 (Jones et al., 2024) and https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11420742 (Kelley et al., 2024a).

The COVID-19 pandemic brought abrupt changes and disruption to the lives of children and young people. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to explore how participants navigated national lockdowns (including school closures), social restrictions, and the reintegration back into pre-pandemic routines. Twenty children, young people and parents were purposively sampled from the Mental Health of Children and Young People's Survey, 2020. We identified three major themes through thematic analysis, with participants discussing (1) learning experiences, (2) emotions and coping, and (3) decompression and discovery. Experiences during the pandemic were highly variable. Participants emphasised the importance of social and familial connections, access to engaging learning environments, and structure/routine in promoting health and well-being.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine relevant demographic and socio-economic factors as they relate to progress towards intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and intercultural sensitivity for ethnic-minority Latinx middle school English learners (ELs) using a mobile-assisted funds-of-knowledge-featured writing practice. Design/methodology/approach: Through the theoretical lens of funds of knowledge, this three-year study implemented a survey-based quasi-experimental design centered on the Latinx ELs' ICC development with the implementation of an intercultural sensitivity questionnaire (Chen and Starosta, 2000). The authors first investigated the relationship between ELs' intercultural sensitivity and associated demographic and socio-economic factors. The authors then examined the changes of ELs' intercultural sensitivity. Over ten weeks, the intervention group completed five funds-of-knowledge-featured narrative essays using pen and paper and mobile-based writing tools alternatively. Findings: Findings indicated that ELs' intercultural sensitivity increased as they advanced to a higher-level grade from sixth to eighth. The embedded mobile-assisted funds-of-knowledge writing practice as intervention promoted ELs' intercultural sensitivity in interaction engagement, respect of cultural differences, interaction enjoyment and interaction attentiveness. Among the variables, interaction enjoyment was portrayed the most. ELs who reported not speaking English at home were statistically significant in this experiment. Originality/value: This study acknowledges the robust and variance of funds of knowledge as a niche to address the interculturality and hybridity of ELs' cultural practices accumulated through Latinx ELs' family socialization and social development using mobile-assisted writing practice. This study could provide implications for optimizing inclusive experience to promote computer-assisted language learning in a contemporary, postcolonial global world.

Physical therapy education has significantly evolved over the past few decades. While gross anatomy is integral to physical therapy education curricula, the current state of anatomy education within these programs is not well understood. The primary purpose of this report was to provide an update on the current state of anatomy education across United States (US) Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs. A survey was disseminated to all 261 accredited US physical therapy programs. The survey was deployed in November 2020 with a deadline to respond by January 15, 2021. The response rate was 32.6% (85/261). When teaching anatomy, 90.5% of the responding programs used dissection, 71.4% used didactic lectures, 60.7% used computer-assisted technology, 58% used prosections, 23.8% used plastinated models, and 31% reported using other methods. DPT programs have experienced declines in PhD faculty (15.7%) and Master of Physical Therapy faculty (15.3%) and notable increases in DPT (16.5%) and physician faculty (8.2%) teaching anatomy within DPT programs. Despite greater use of computer-assisted technologies, these technologies have not replaced donor-based dissection in DPT programs.

Human-driven environmental changes shape ecological communities from local to global scales. Within cities, landscape-scale patterns and processes and species characteristics generally drive local-scale wildlife diversity. However, cities differ in their structure, species pools, geographies and histories, calling into question the extent to which these drivers of wildlife diversity are predictive at continental scales. In partnership with the Urban Wildlife Information Network, we used occurrence data from 725 sites located across 20 North American cities and a multi-city, multi-species occupancy modelling approach to evaluate the effects of ecoregional characteristics and mammal species traits on the urbanization-diversity relationship. Among 37 native terrestrial mammal species, regional environmental characteristics and species traits influenced within-city effects of urbanization on species occupancy and community composition. Species occupancy and diversity were most negatively related to urbanization in the warmer, less vegetated cities. Additionally, larger-bodied species were most negatively impacted by urbanization across North America. Our results suggest that shifting climate conditions could worsen the effects of urbanization on native wildlife communities, such that conservation strategies should seek to mitigate the combined effects of a warming and urbanizing world.

The fiducial cosmological analyses of imaging surveys like DES typically probe the Universe at redshifts z < 1. We present the selection and characterization of high-redshift galaxy samples using DES Year 3 data, and the analysis of their galaxy clustering measurements. In particular, we use galaxies that are fainter than those used in the previous DES Year 3 analyses and a Bayesian redshift scheme to define three tomographic bins with mean redshifts around z ∼0.9, 1.2, and 1.5, which extend the redshift coverage of the fiducial DES Year 3 analysis. These samples contain a total of about 9 million galaxies, and their galaxy density is more than 2 times higher than those in the DES Year 3 fiducial case. We characterize the redshift uncertainties of the samples, including the usage of various spectroscopic and high-quality redshift samples, and we develop a machine-learning method to correct for correlations between galaxy density and survey observing conditions. The analysis of galaxy clustering measurements, with a total signal to noise S/N ∼70 after scale cuts, yields robust cosmological constraints on a combination of the fraction of matter in the Universe

BackgroundHip minimum joint space width (mJSW) provides a proxy for cartilage thickness. This study aimed to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of mJSW to (i) identify new genetic determinants of mJSW and (ii) identify which mJSW loci convey hip osteoarthritis (HOA) risk and would therefore be of therapeutic interest.MethodsGWAS meta-analysis of hip mJSW derived from plain X-rays and DXA was performed, stratified by sex and adjusted for age and ancestry principal components. Mendelian randomisation (MR) and cluster analyses were used to examine causal effect of mJSW on HOA.Findings50,745 individuals were included in the meta-analysis. 42 SNPs, which mapped to 39 loci, were identified. Mendelian randomisation (MR) revealed little evidence of a causal effect of mJSW on HOA (ORIVW 0.98 [95% CI 0.82-1.18]). However, MR-Clust analysis suggested the null MR estimates reflected the net effect of two distinct causal mechanisms cancelling each other out, one of which was protective, whereas the other increased HOA susceptibility. For the latter mechanism, all loci were positively associated with height, suggesting mechanisms leading to greater height and mJSW increase the risk of HOA in later life.InterpretationsOne group of mJSW loci reduce HOA risk via increased mJSW, suggesting possible utility as targets for chondroprotective therapies. The second group of mJSW loci increased HOA risk, despite increasing mJSW, but were also positively related to height, suggesting they contribute to HOA risk via a growth-related mechanism.FundingPrimarily funded by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust.