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This paper explores what is understood by the phrase 'spontaneous movement'. We discern five different understandings of spontaneity in the usage of the phrase: 1) spontaneous movement as automatic machine-like mechanistic, 2) spontaneous movement as free, 3) spontaneous movement as primal animateness of the body, 4) spontaneous movement as embodied responsive dealing in the world, 5) spontaneous movement as a force of nature. The first two understandings are rooted in a dualistic view, with the dichotomies of voluntary/involuntary and mind/body in the Western philosophical tradition. The next two arise from a phenomenological reflection on the body, drawn from Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, while the last comes from a holistic Eastern view of the body, human beings and nature. We argue that the latter three understandings of spontaneity demonstrate three aspects of a more comprehensive picture of the spontaneity of human movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers and marketers often post photos of experiential consumption online. While prior research has studied how human presence in social media images impacts viewers' responses, the findings are mixed. The present research advances the current understanding by incorporating viewers' need for self-identity into their response model. Six studies, including an analysis of field data (14,725 Instagram photos by a top travel influencer) and five controlled experiments, find that the presence (vs. absence) of another human in the photo of an identity-relevant experience (e.g. a vacation, a wedding) can lower viewers' liking and preference for the venue (i.e. the vacation destination, the wedding venue) in the photo. This effect is mediated by viewers' feelings of others' ownership of the venue and moderated by the relevance of the experience to the viewer's self-identity as well as the distinctiveness of the human in the photo. This research is the first to investigate the impact of human presence in shared photos through the lens of psychological ownership and the identity-signaling function of ownership. The findings offer practical insights into when marketers should avoid human presence in advertisements and how to mitigate the negative impact of human presence in online photos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a two-layer Mueller matrix model of polarized light propagation through layered human skin. Our model is based on single scattering approximation and the fact that the main scatterers in the top layer are various types of cells and the scatterers beneath it consist of fibers. By modeling the first layer mainly with spherical particles inducing the characteristics represented by Mueller matrices of depolarization and diattenuation, the second layer mainly with cylindrical scatterers inducing the retardance caused by scattering and birefringence, and considering the effects of the first layer to the second one, and the equal weight of contributions from both layers to a scatterer, it is possible to separate polarization properties of the medium induced by light propagation and scattering processes. One advantage of our model is that its extension to multi-layer tissues is straightforward. Polarization effects of human nail fold are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assistance systems have been widely adopted in the manufacturing sector to facilitate various processes and tasks in production environments. However, existing systems are mostly equipped with rigid functional logic and do not provide individual user experiences or adapt to their capabilities. This work integrates human factors in assistance systems by adjusting the hardware and instruction presented to the workers' cognitive and physical demands. A modular system architecture is designed accordingly, which allows a flexible component exchange according to the user and the work task. Gamification, the use of game elements in non-gaming contexts, has been further adopted in this work to provide level-based instructions and personalised feedback. The developed framework is validated by applying it to a manual workstation for industrial assembly routines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans experience unanticipated external postural perturbations and recover their posture faster via involuntary responses than voluntary responses. Previous cross-sectional comparisons between athletes and untrained populations have suggested that daily motor experiences can lead to adaptations in the reftex system, but the temporal aspect of this adaptation has been unclear. Here we show that judokas have an earlier muscle activation response to even non-judo-specific external perturbations compared with an untrained population. The response latency to a backward push-and-release type postural perturbation was compared between male judokas (n = 7. career >13 years. ranging from world champions to prefectural competitors) and untrained nonjudokas (n = 7). Latency was defined as the instant of tibialis anterior muscle activity onset. Judokas exhibited shorter latency (20.6 ± 7.1 ms) than nonjudokas (28.3 ± 8.9 ms). The rank order of latency in judokas did not correlate with their competition performance. We suggest that daily training in responding to perturbations might improve some parts of the sensorimotor pathway relating to postural response latency, and that this excellence in involuntary response is independent of athletic performance. The findings provide a novel perspective for understanding postural control ability in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been an ongoing source of violence in the Middle East, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of people. As of late violence has escalated, with this year being one of the deadliest years in the conflict in decades. Therefore, now more than ever finding ways to bridge divides is essential to reduce the human suffering associated with the conflict. In this study we evaluated the impact of an important element of communication: accent. We demonstrate that the accent through which trust-building initiatives are communicated can inadvertently sway public opinion regarding their benefits. Jewish-Israelis listened to the same trust-building proposal communicated by a Palestinian delegate with varying degrees of Palestinian Arabic-accented Hebrew. When the same proposal came from a Palestinian delegate with a heavier accent, Jewish-Israelis thought this proposal was significantly worse for Israel than when it was offered by a Palestinian delegate who spoke Hebrew with no detectable, non-native accent. This effect was explained by differences in how the Palestinian delegate was judged depending on his accent. When the delegate spoke with heavier, Arabic-accented Hebrew, he was judged more harshly than when he spoke Hebrew with no such accent, which in turn reduced how favorably Jewish-Israelis evaluated the proposed measures. Our findings show that the way in which trust-building measures are communicated can shape how they are received and thus has direct implications for diplomatic efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The musculoskeletal network is a complex system of different types of nodes and edges interacting with each other. Although there is a wealth of knowledge about the anatomical components of the human body and the connections between them, the interdependence of these components as a system remains largely unexplored. This study aims to understand the structure of musculoskeletal networks by using hypergraphs as a model of the musculoskeletal system with many-to-many connections. We used both pairwise and hypergraph-based embedding methods to learn the connectivity of muscles. Experiments demonstrated the superiority of the proposed hypergraph-based method over pairwise methods in distinguishing the specific roles of the muscles connecting different body parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The global population's aging has led to an increasing demand for long-term care (LTC), especially in developing countries like China. Comprehensive assessment of LTC service demands by including the time and cost analysis is crucial to inform the planning and financing of LTC resources, yet such research is lacking in China. Our research team has developed a quantitative index system of the medical and nursing services needs of older adults (QISMNSNE) based on the framework of Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC), providing a valuable tool for measuring LTC service needs. This study aimed to assess the LTC service needs of older adults in China and the factors associated with such needs. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Changsha City, Hunan Province, China, from June 2021 to December 2022. A stratified multistage cluster sampling method was used to recruit 1,270 older adults from five nursing homes and three communities/streets in three regions of Changsha City. The LTC service needs were assessed by calculating the service time required from caregivers, nurses, and doctors and the total service time (min/d) using the QISMNSNE. Participants' disability, activities of daily living (ADLs), mental status and social involvement (MSSI), and sensory and communication (SC) were assessed using standard scales. Generalized linear regression models were used to analyze factors associated with LTC service needs. Results: The participants had an average age of 76.41 ± 8.38 years, with 43.7% being female. The median service time required from caregivers, nurses, and doctors was 53.34 min/d, 3.66 min/d, and 0.33 min/d, respectively, and the total service time was 83.31 min/d. The generalized linear regression model identified the following factors that were associated with higher total service time: aged 75–84 years, living in nursing homes, income over 5000 per month, ADLs, MSSI (9 ~ 40), SC, and having 3 ~ 4 kinds of geriatric comorbidity (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Older adults have a high need for LTC services, especially those provided by caregivers, indicating an urgent need to expand and improve LTC systems. The LTC service time needed is associated with multilevel factors encompassing socio-demographic, functional, and psychological aspects. This study offers preliminary insights into the needs, demands, and costs of LTC services for older adults and provides essential guidance for future planning and financing of LTC resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large language models (LLM) have been a catalyst for the public interest in artificial intelligence (AI). These technologies perform some knowledge-based tasks better and faster than human beings. However, whether AIs can correctly assess social situations and devise socially appropriate behavior, is still unclear. We conducted an established Situational Judgment Test (SJT) with five different chatbots and compared their results with responses of human participants (N = 276). Claude, Copilot and you.com's smart assistant performed significantly better than humans in proposing suitable behaviors in social situations. Moreover, their effectiveness rating of different behavior options aligned well with expert ratings. These results indicate that LLMs are capable of producing adept social judgments. While this constitutes an important requirement for the use as virtual social assistants, challenges and risks are still associated with their wide-spread use in social contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a vaccination education module to improve vaccine expectations and behaviors among college freshmen. Participants: The participants were 177 college freshmen at one private Utah university. Participants were eligible for this study if admitted as new freshmen during the 2019–2020 school year. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional pre- and post-education evaluation assessing vaccine expectations and behaviors using Likert-type and open-ended questions. Results: After completing the vaccination education module, participants' vaccine expectations and behavioral intentions improved. Participants reported they were more likely to be up-to-date on personal vaccines and more likely to expect other students to be up-to-date on their vaccinations. Participants were more likely to ask other students to vaccinate and were also more likely to ask their family members to be vaccinated. Conclusions: This online vaccination education module effectively improved participants' vaccine expectations and behavioral intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the early years (2020–2021) of the COVID‐19 pandemic, relatively little attention focused on experiences of people with long‐lasting symptoms, particularly young adults who were commonly understood to be invulnerable to serious effects of the virus. Drawing on narrative interviews with 15 adults in their twenties and living in the UK when they became ill with long COVID, we explore contextual factors which made their long COVID illness experience, and the wholescale disruption to their lives, challenging. We propose that existing adaptations of the concept of biographical disruption are problematic for this group, and instead suggest that 'biographical retrogression' may more accurately reflect these young adults' experiences. For many of these young adults, their illness occurred at a crucial stage in forming or solidifying (presumed) adult trajectories. Secondly, the recency of long COVID did not allow for comparison with an existing 'grand narrative' of recovery, so the future course of their illness was not just unknown for them as individuals; there was no prognostic map against which to assess their symptoms. Thirdly, the lives of people with long COVID have been disrupted in the context of global societal disruption by the same virus, rendering their experiences both topical yet invisible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare the surgical outcomes of open appendectomy (OA) and laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) for pediatric acute appendicitis in order to guide its future management. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study including all children under the age of 14 years, who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis, during a period of 6 years (2013-2018). We divided our patients in two groups based on the surgical modality: the laparoscopic and open group. P values of less than .05 were considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 690 appendectomies were identified: 151 (22%) were performed laparoscopically and 539 (78%) via laparotomy. The demographic data were comparable between the 2 groups. There was no statistical difference regarding the age, sex. However the frequency of obese patients was higher in laparoscopic approach (P < .001).The mean operative time was significantly longer in the Laparoscopic group (77 ± 39, 6 minutes) compared with Open group (57 ± 27 minutes) (P < .001). Prophylactic drain placement was significantly more common in the open appendectomy group (P = .034). Patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy experienced a quicker recovery to apyrexia, reduced use of postoperative analgesics, and postoperative antibiotic compared to those undergoing open appendectomy (P < .05). The mean length of hospital stay was respectively 4 ± 1 day in LA group and 4 ± 2 days in the OA group. No significant difference was observed. The results showed no significant difference between the 2 groups regarding the incidence of wound infection, intra abdominal abscess, intestinal obstruction and umbilical hernia (P > .05).There was no death in this study. Conclusion: Laparoscopic appendectomy is safe and feasible for the management of appendicitis without significant influence on the complications rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his later work, such as "The Question Concerning Technology", Martin Heidegger puts forward a critique of modern technology. Alongside this critique, Heidegger presents a kind of positive alternative through his discussion of "dwelling". I put forward a reading of Heidegger's critique of modern technology and his embrace of "dwelling". On my reading, Heidegger's thinking centers on the idea that modern technology's form of "world-disclosure" prevents human beings from encountering (and then living in light of) our own essence. In contrast, he takes "dwelling" to allow us to do that. When humans dwell, they also live in such a way as to (purportedly) allow other things (e.g. rivers) to exist in accordance with their own essence. I argue that, for Heidegger, the (purported) truth that humans should live in accord with our own essence is explanatorily prior to the (purported) truth that humans should let other things exist in accordance with their own essence. Following this interpretative argument, I reflect on some of the promises of this position that I attribute to Heidegger, along with some of the most pressing challenges facing those who might want to further develop it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flicker and stroboscopic effects caused by a temporally modulated light source may be harmful for the human visual system. Standardized measurement methods have been developed for the related temporal light artefacts of LED luminaires. It was found out that the performance of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) recommended flickermeter implementation is highly dependent on sampling frequency. Novel digital implementations for the flickermeter and stroboscopic effect visibility measure (SVM) were created to remove any inaccuracies. The performance of the novel Aalto implementations does not depend on the sampling frequency when running the test waveforms of the IEC standard through the implementations. As compared with the IEC recommended digital implementations, Aalto flickermeter decreases the average error related to the test waveforms from −0.05 to +0.003, and Aalto SVM meter also decreases the average error by almost two orders of magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: While early diagnosis is fundamental to the development of children with developmental disabilities (DD), limited attention has been paid to immigrant parents' experience of early encounters with systems when they begin seeking supports for their children with DD. This study aimed to contribute to better understanding of immigrant parents' experiences of early encounters with services for families and children with suspected or diagnosed DD. Design: A longitudinal, qualitative approach was adopted. Over 12 months, multiple interviews were conducted with four immigrant families with children aged between two and four years who were attending a mobile playgroup offering early learning supports for children with suspected or diagnosed DD in communities with low access to formal supports. During the first three months of the study, families were accompanied by the first author on weekly visits to the playgroup. Participant observations and informal discussions with staff delivering early intervention supports via the playgroup provided further insight into families' initial and on-going encounters with services and supports. During the remaining nine months, multiple interviews were conducted with participating families, to document their on-going experiences and encounters with medical practitioners and therapists. Results: Thematic analysis of data generated four key themes: Initial encounters with medical professionals, Confusion and 'missed' diagnosis, Gaps in understanding, collaboration and communication, and Families' desire to learn and implement strategies. Conclusion: Families made concerted efforts to locate appropriate supports. They also faced barriers including a lack of openness and genuine consultation, particularly in their encounters with health professionals. These barriers resulted in a level of mistrust and detachment from formalised supports. Results highlight the critical importance for health professionals of 'tuning into' family concerns through relationship-based approaches, in order to establish shared understanding and mutual respect between professionals and families, particularly for immigrant families seeking support for their young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The increased demand on healthcare professionals (HCPs) during the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) pandemic reduces opportunities for HCPs to deliver compassionate care to patients and to maintain self-care. This study explored how HCPs understand and experience compassionate working practices during the Covid-19 pandemic to better support HCPs' wellbeing and to sustain quality of care. Design: All nineteen participants worked as an HCP during the Covid-19 pandemic, resided in the United Kingdom (UK) and took part in individual semi-structured interviews. Main outcome measures: Using a thematic analysis approach, we developed three themes: (a) The art of compassionate care: Feeling and action, (b) The impact of Covid-19 on compassionate care and (c) Suffering during Covid-19: The importance of self-compassion and self-care. Results: Overall, the analysis illustrated the strong and negative impact that Covid-19 had on the ability to deliver compassionate care, resulting in moral injury and psychological and behavioural difficulties for HCPs, particularly in terms of self-care. Conclusions: This research demonstrates an imperative need for organisations to better support HCPs' health and wellbeing, through a self-care system that promotes self-compassionate and self-care practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High and low daily ambient temperatures are associated with higher mortality in the general population. People experiencing homelessness (PEH) are thought to be particularly vulnerable, but there is almost no direct evidence available. We examined the temperature-mortality association among PEH in 2 populous, urban counties in hot-climate regions of the United States, focusing on heat effects. Study setting was Los Angeles County, CA, and Clark County, NV, which encompass the cities of Los Angeles and Las Vegas, respectively. Outcomes were 2015-2022 deaths among decedents categorized as homeless in county administrative records. We used quasi-Poisson distributed lag nonlinear models to estimate the association of mortality with daily temperatures and with 7-day lagged temperatures, adjusting for day of week, seasonality, and long-term trends. We estimated the minimum mortality temperature and fraction of mortality attributable to temperatures above and below minimum mortality temperature. The association between daily temperature and PEH mortality was skewed towards greater risk at higher temperatures, especially in Clark County. Temperature-attributable mortality equaled 50.1% of deaths in Clark County (95% CI, 29.0-62.8) and 7.0% in Los Angeles County (95% CI, 1.4-12.1). In both counties, most temperature-attributable deaths were attributable to heat rather than cold. In these hot-climate urban counties, our estimates of heat-attributable mortality among PEH were orders of magnitude greater than those reported in prior research on the general population. These results indicate that temperature vulnerability, particularly heat vulnerability, requires stronger public health and policy responses. This article is part of a Special Collection on Environmental Epidemiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives The impact of autoantibody profiles on the prognosis for idiopathic inflammatory myositis–associated interstitial lung disease (IIM-ILD) and myositis spectrum ILD with myositis-specific antibodies (MSAs) remains unclear. This retrospective cohort study examined whether serological profiles were associated with mortality or longitudinal lung function change. Methods The baseline clinical/demographic characteristics and follow-up lung function data of consecutive adult patients with IIM-ILD or interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF) positive for MSAs (IPAF-MSA) were extracted from three hospitals. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to compare mortality between groups of patients with different autoantibodies. Regression models were used to analyse their lung function trends. Results Of the 430 included patients, 81% met the IIM criteria, and the remaining 19% were diagnosed with IPAF-MSA. On univariate analysis, the risk factors associated with mortality included higher age, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and CRP; and lower BMI, baseline TLCO% and FEV1%. Compared with anti-MDA5 negativity, anti-MDA5 positivity (MDA5+) was associated with higher mortality in the first 3 months [hazard ratio (HR) 65.2, 95% CI 14.1, 302.0], while no significant difference was seen thereafter (HR 0.55, 95% CI 0.14, 2.28). On multivariate analysis, combined anti-synthetase antibodies were associated with a reduced risk of mortality (HR 0.63), although individually, mortality was reduced in patients with anti-Jo1+ (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.4–0.87) and increased in patients with anti-PL7+ (HR 2.07, 95% CI 1.44–2.99). Anti-MDA5+ was associated with slow improvement in %FVC over the first 3 years, while anti-PL7+ was linked with a slow decline from 12 months onwards. Conclusion Among the autoantibody profiles in myositis spectrum disorders, anti-MDA5+ and anti-PL7+ conferred higher mortality risks in patients with IIM-ILD. Survivors of an early peak of mortality in anti-MDA5+ disease appeared to have a favourable prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Human Readiness Level (HRL) scale is a simple nine‐level scale that brings structure and consistency to the real‐world application of user‐centered design. It enables multidisciplinary consideration of human‐focused elements during the system development process. Use of the standardized set of questions comprising the HRL scale results in a single human readiness number that communicates system readiness for human use. The Human Views (HVs) are part of an architecture framework that provides a repository for human‐focused system information that can be used during system development to support the evaluation of HRL levels. This paper illustrates how HRLs and HVs can be used in combination to support user‐centered design processes. A real‐world example for a U.S. Army software modernization program is described to demonstrate application of HRLs and HVs in the context of user‐centered design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body representations (BR) for action are critical to perform accurate movements. Yet, behavioral measures suggest that BR are distorted even in healthy people. However, the upper limb has mostly been used as a probe so far, making difficult to decide whether BR are truly distorted or whether this depends on the effector used as a readout. Here, we aimed to assess in healthy humans the accuracy of the eye and hand effectors in localizing somatosensory targets, to determine whether they may probe BR similarly. Twenty-six participants completed two localization tasks in which they had to localize an unseen target (proprioceptive or tactile) with either their eyes or hand. Linear mixed model revealed in both tasks a larger horizontal (but not vertical) localization error for the ocular than for the manual localization performance. However, despite better hand mean accuracy, manual and ocular localization performance positively correlated to each other in both tasks. Moreover, target position also affected localization performance for both eye and hand responses: accuracy was higher for the more flexed position of the elbow in the proprioceptive task and for the thumb than for the index finger in the tactile task, thus confirming previous results of better performance for the thumb. These findings indicate that the hand seems to beat the eyes along the horizontal axis when localizing somatosensory targets, but the localization patterns revealed by the two effectors seemed to be related and characterized by the same target effect, opening the way to assess BR with the eyes when upper limb motor control is disturbed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Endoscopic Purse-string Suture (EPSS) technique has gained attention for its potential in closing large defects following gastrointestinal procedures. However, its application in fistula closure is not as widely reported. This study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of EPSS and naso-jejunal tube feeding in the closure of duodenal cutaneous fistulas and gastric cutaneous fistulas. Methods: This single-center retrospective study, conducted from September 2020 to September 2023 at Tongji University in Shanghai, China, examined the outcomes of EPPS and nasojejunal feeding for patients with gastric and duodenal cutaneous fistulas (n = 10). Demographic data, fistula characteristics, procedure technique and outcomes were evaluated. Results: In this study, the average size of a fistula opening was 7.9 ± 4.6 mm. The operations took an average of 25.8 ± 5.6 min. Patients typically needed naso-jejunal tube feeding for a median of 14.0 days, with an interquartile range (IQR) of 7.7–19.0 days. The median duration of hospital stay post-operation was 16.5 days, with an IQR of 7.0–25.0 days. Nine patients were successful in their initial fistula closure using the EPSS technique. The other patient underwent a second EPSS and, ultimately, all patients experienced complete healing and fully recovered. There were no major adverse events reported. Conclusions: EPSS and naso-jejunal tube feeding are a safe and effective treatment option for duodenal and gastric cutaneous fistulas. Larger, prospective studies are needed to validate these findings and establish the long-term safety and efficacy of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For over 50 years, music therapy and breathing exercises have been widely utilized as interventions to help individuals cope with fatigue, stress and pain globally. Aim: To analyse the effects of music and breathing exercises on anxiety and pain in patients undergoing coronary angiography. Study Design: This is a single‐blind, randomized controlled trial. The sample comprised 165 patients: 55 in the control group, 55 in the breathing exercise group and 55 in the music therapy group. Patients in the music group listened to music during angiography, those in the breathing exercise group practised exercises 30 min before the procedure and the control group received standard treatment. Anxiety levels were assessed before and after the procedure, and pain levels were measured post‐procedure. The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist for reporting randomized trials was used to guide reporting. Results: Anxiety scores rose significantly in the control group from 33.9 ± 4.2 pre‐angiography to 37.7 ± 4.9 post‐angiography. Conversely, the breathing group's anxiety scores decreased from 34.3 ± 3.5 before angiography to 31.7 ± 1.5 after angiography, and the music group exhibited a reduction from 32.3 ± 3.6 to 30.8 ± 1.6. Post‐angiography, the control group reported a mean pain score of 64 ± 0.8 mm, while the breathing and music groups had significantly lower scores of 35 ± 0.6 and 29 ± 0.8 mm, respectively. Statistical analysis showed a highly significant difference in pain scores between the intervention and control groups. Conclusions: This study provides support for the beneficial effects of employing breathing exercises and music in alleviating pain and anxiety during coronary angiography procedures. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Integrating these findings into clinical practice could be significant for improving patients' pain experiences and anxiety, enhancing the tolerance of invasive medical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bourbon virus is a tickborne virus that can cause human disease. Cases have been reported in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, USA. We identified Bourbon virus-specific neutralizing antibodies in patients from North Carolina. Bourbon virus infections are likely more common than previously thought, highlighting the need for improved diagnostics and surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2013, a total of 167 human infections with swine-origin (variant) influenza A viruses of A(H1N1)v, A(H1N2)v, and A(H3N2)v subtypes have been reported in the United States. Analysis of 147 genome sequences revealed that nearly all had S31N substitution, an M2 channel blocker-resistance marker, whereas neuraminidase inhibitor-resistance markers were not found. Two viruses had a polymerase acidic substitution (I38M or E199G) associated with decreased susceptibility to baloxavir, an inhibitor of viral cap-dependent endonuclease (CEN). Using phenotypic assays, we established subtype-specific susceptibility baselines for neuraminidase and CEN inhibitors. When compared with either baseline or CEN-sequence-matched controls, only the I38M substitution decreased baloxavir susceptibility, by 27-fold. Human monoclonal antibodies FI6v3 and CR9114 targeting the hemagglutinin's stem showed variable (0.03 to >10 µg/mL) neutralizing activity toward variant viruses, even within the same clade. Methodology and interpretation of laboratory data described in this study provide information for risk assessment and decision-making on therapeutic control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this manuscript, we explore the potential therapeutic use of helminths. After analyzing helminths' role in connection with human health from the perspective of their symbiotic and evolutionary relationship, we critically examine some studies on their therapeutic applications. In doing so, we focus on some prominent mechanisms of action and potential benefits, but also on the exaggerations and theoretical and methodological difficulties of such proposals. We conclude that further studies are needed to fully explore the potential benefits of this perspective, and we encourage the scientific community in doing so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects on the proliferation of novel forms of private urban security governance assemblages, specifically the roles of private auspices and providers in responding to contemporary climate-related socio-material harmscapes. The authors use the lens of climatic harms and associated discursive shifts in understandings of the relationship between humans and 'nature' to draw attention to gating adaptations, assemblages of powers and capacities being mobilised in response to emerging harmscapes, the logics and technologies underpinning these developments, the roles of established security agents and novel security professionals and the use of resilience as a conceptual framing. These security governance ventures are conceived of as mutating private urban security governance vestiges from PUSG 1.0 to PUSG 2.0 and in this regard, 'climate gating' is used as an emblematic example in exploring PUSG 2.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial gaps exist in the theoretical conceptualization and practical development of entertainment-education, as studies often fail to account for the ways in which intrinsic message characteristics influence subsequent behavior. These gaps served as the impetus for an international collaborative project that evaluated Vencer el Miedo ("Overcome the Fear"), a Spanish-language program that aired in Mexico from January to March 2020. The telenovela was produced with the aim of improving sexual and reproductive health knowledge and behaviors by modeling effective ways to discuss and negotiate safer sex practices. The show was accompanied by a telephone hotline called OrientaSEX operated by professional counselors from MEXFAM, Planned Parenthood's Mexican affiliate. Utilizing an interrupted time series analysis of calls made to OrientaSEX (N = 11,878) and focusing on changes in the volume of calls and the identity of callers following key moments in the storyline, the findings support the central role played by transitional characters and their similarity to audience members. Implications of these results for the theory and practice of entertainment-education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High turnover rate has been a challenge in social work practice and the predictive roles and mechanisms of career choice motivation on turnover intention have not been examined in China. This study examined the relationship between career choice motivation and turnover intention mediated by job self-efficacy and job satisfaction. A sample of 5485 participants was obtained from China Social Work Longitudinal Study (CSWLS) 2019. Results illustrate that internal motivation was negatively associated with turnover intention, whereas job efficacy and job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship. However, external motivation was positively related to enhance turnover intention and partially mediated by job efficacy and job satisfaction. The findings suggest that social work educators should develop students' internal motivation and that social work agencies need to screen practitioners with higher internal motivation and to enhance their job self-efficacy and job satisfaction. PRACTICE POINTS: Different career choice motivations have different effects on Chinese social workers' turnover intention, with internal motivation reducing turnover intention while external motivation increasing it. There is a deeper mechanism by which career choice motivation affects turnover intention, with two career choice motivations affecting turnover intention through job efficacy and job satisfaction. Social work agencies need to establish mechanisms to screen practitioners with internal motivation and to enhance job efficacy and job satisfaction of social workers. Social work education needs to foster internal motivation in students, not just constant enrollment expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of existential vulnerability in the experience of personal identity and how identity is found and created. Existential vulnerabilities mark a boundary between what humans can bring about willfully or manipulate to their advantage and what is resistant to such actions. These vulnerabilities have their origin, on an ontological level, in fundamental conditions of human existence. At the same time, they have implications on a psychological level when it comes to self-experience and identity formation. Narrative and value-based identity depend on how a person relates to finitude and the ambiguous side of lived experience. Relational identity depends on how a person relates to existential aloneness and the fact that the meaning and value of our actions are partly out of our control; they are always also dependent on other people's responses to us. Bodily identity makes us feel continuous and real, but at the same time vulnerable to death and the gaze and actions of others. Being 'thrown' into an arbitrary life context is also a form of existential vulnerability. Authentic psychological identities can develop by giving meaning to these circumstances and balancing acceptance of existential vulnerability with the courage to make choices and act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay challenges moral exemplarist interpretations of the Analects by focusing on exclusivist attitudes and actions exhibited by Confucius as he is portrayed in the Analects. Attention is drawn to what may be plausibly interpreted as culturalism and speciesism in the Analects. The case for culturalism in the Analects turns on a recurrent distinction therein between the Huá (Chinese) and Yí (non-Chinese; peoples outside of China proper), the latter commonly cast as barbarians—a term deployed similarly to yí being mán (rough; reckless). The case for speciesism in the Analects turns on a number of passages of the Analects recommending a privileging of human interests over those of non-human animals. Acknowledgement of forms of Confucian exclusivism ought to provoke contemporary audiences to critically examine the text and to consider carefully that which ought to be regarded as exemplary and worthy of admiration and emulation in their own lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What underlies Zhuangzi's thought is the fundamental finitude of the self, meaning that we cannot and should not alter or control things around us at whim or solely in our favour. Consequently, Zhuangzi recommends that we remain open to things instead of going against them, leading to a fulfilled life. This article discusses Zhuangzi's underlying philosophy of openness, noting that he proposes two different strategies to do so with a distinction between the natural and the human. The former primarily appears in Zhuangzi's discussions of life and death. To overcome the fear of death, Zhuangzi calls on us to see it in the light of the 'heavenly patterns' or processes that can be grasped through the circularity of life and death. Yet, this picture reveals only half of Zhuangzi's thoughts—he also shares his wisdom on how to address human affairs that are barely discernable or absent in such patterns. Here, Zhuangzi urges us to apply a different strategy: closely and attentively sensing the situations and their vicissitudes and preparing our actions as per such (shifting) data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our environment contains temporal information unfolding simultaneously at multiple timescales. How do we learn and represent these dynamic and overlapping information streams? We investigated these processes in a statistical learning paradigm with simultaneous short and long timescale contingencies. Human participants (n = 96) played a game where they learned to quickly click on a target image when it appeared in one of nine locations, in eight different contexts. Across contexts, we manipulated the order of target locations: at a short timescale, the order of pairs of sequential locations in which the target appeared; at a longer timescale, the set of locations that appeared in the first versus the second half of the game. Participants periodically predicted the upcoming target location, and later performed similarity judgments comparing the games based on their order properties. Participants showed context-dependent sensitivity to order information at both short and long timescales, with evidence of stronger learning for short timescales. We modeled the learning paradigm using a gated recurrent network trained to make immediate predictions, which demonstrated multilevel learning timecourses and patterns of sensitivity to the similarity structure of the games that mirrored human participants. The model grouped games with matching rule structure and dissociated games based on low-level order information more so than high-level order information. The work shows how humans and models can rapidly and concurrently acquire order information at different timescales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper reconstructs the population dynamics within the Hyllie Mosse region (Scania, Sweden) from 2400 to 1600 BC. South‐western Scania is particularly well‐known thanks to extensive archaeological work in the past decades, making it one of the most thoroughly investigated areas in Sweden. The Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods are of paramount importance in understanding the socio‐cultural transformations within the Baltic region. By integrating a comprehensive database of longhouses from Scania with the available archaeological data from the Hyllie Mosse area, this study provides absolute demographic estimates through a transparent and replicable methodology. It highlights that the region experienced a significant peak in human occupation between 2000 and 1800 BC, followed by a decline. In prehistoric times, the area was covered by a relatively large bog, and was therefore not uniformly settled. At its peak, it is estimated that the region, approximately 9.7 km2 in size – 4 km2 of which have been archaeologically investigated – could have supported 75 to 150 inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1985, Dutch businessman Frans Lurvink created the Alerdinck Foundation and its Centre for East-West Communications. A private venture, Alerdinck set out to achieve greater understanding between Eastern and Western media to reduce Cold War tensions. An example of citizen diplomacy aimed at promoting peace, Alerdinck's story illustrates the strengths of a private initiative in creating spaces for dialogue and relationship-building, and the limitations of a non-state actor aiming to alter international relations. The article chronicles the formation, ambitions and obstacles faced by Alerdinck as it endeavoured to improve cross-bloc dialogue through its conferences, bilingual newspaper, and journalist exchange programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We aimed to develop and evaluate a population PK model of mycophenolic acid (MPA) in pediatric kidney transplant patients to aid MPA dose optimization. Methods: Data were collected from pediatric kidney transplant recipients from a Dutch academic hospital (Radboudumc, the Netherlands). Pharmacokinetic model-building and model-validation analyses were performed using NONMEM. Subsequently, we externally evaluated the final model using data from another academic hospital. The final model was used to develop an optimized dosing regimen. Results: Thirty pediatric patients were included of whom 266 measured MPA plasma concentrations, including 20 full pharmacokinetic (PK) curves and 24 limited sampling curves, were available. A two-compartment model with a transition compartment for Erlang-type absorption best described the data. The final population PK parameter estimates were Ktr (1.48 h−1; 95% CI, 1.15–1.84), CL/F (16.0 L h−1; 95% CI, 10.3–20.4), Vc/F (24.9 L; 95% CI, 93.0–6.71E25), Vp/F (1590 L; 95% CI, 651–2994), and Q/F (36.2 L h−1; 95% CI, 9.63–74.7). The performance of the PK model in the external population was adequate. An optimized initial dose scheme based on bodyweight was developed. With the licensed initial dose, 35% of patients were predicted to achieve the target AUC, compared to 42% using the optimized scheme. Conclusion: We have successfully developed a pharmacokinetic model for MPA in pediatric renal transplant patients. The optimized dosing regimen is expected to result in better target attainment early in treatment. It can be used in combination with model-informed follow-up dosing to further individualize the dose when PK samples become available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of 'reliability' and 'validity' are not only essential but also complex in quantitative research. They serve as crucial tools to assess the quality of the study. However, when it comes to qualitative research, these two concepts, although widely accepted, present a myriad of challenges. This article delves into the intricacies of these two concepts in the context of qualitative research, highlighting the difficulties researchers face in their application. Reliability and validity are important factors determining whether a research project stands or falls. These two concepts are widely discussed and accepted in quantitative research. However, they are often viewed differently in qualitative research. In qualitative research, reliability and validity are seen as competing factors. On one side, reliability and validity have no place in the qualitative research discourse. This discourse assumes that subjectivity and integrity are essential factors in research to understand human beings in real social contexts. On the other side, reliability and validity are helpful in qualitative research. However, they need to be redefined or replaced by other concepts to enhance the strength of the research design and its significance. For example, some researchers argue for the use of 'trustworthiness' as a replacement for reliability and validity in qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on environmental animations have explored the politics of world-making and the interdependence of humans and animals. Taking as a case study the short Hungarian animation A Légy (Ferenc Rófusz, 1980), this article explores ways that animation can foster an ecological disposition in the viewer by presenting the worldview of a housefly from a first-person perspective. A Légy focuses on altersubjectivity, a term that Vinciane Despret ('Ethology between empathy, standpoint and perspectivism', 2010) uses to describe Jakob von Uexküll's practice of adopting the animals' perspectives. Because each species is attuned to its particular dwelling-world, Von Uexküll (A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans with a Theory of Meaning, 2010) suggests, we must study animals by examining the features available to them by erecting 'a bubble' around them. A Légy gestures toward this idea by facilitating a becoming-animal that highlights perceptual similarities and differences between the viewer and the animated insect. The animation machine enables a 'cross-species perception', a form of perception that extends the spectator's perceptual awareness of the nonhuman worldview. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal grounding involves identifying the target moment based on the provided sentence in an untrimmed video. In weakly supervised temporal grounding studies, existing temporal sentence grounding methods face challenges in (1) learning semantic alignment between the candidate window and language query and (2) identifying accurate temporal boundaries during the grounding process. In this work, we propose a reinforcement learning (RL)-based multi-policy movement framework (MMF) for weakly supervised temporal sentence grounding. We imitate the behavior of human beings when grounding specified content in a video, starting from a coarse location and then identifying fine-grained temporal boundaries. The RL-based framework initially sets a series of candidate windows and learns to adjust them step-by-step by maximizing the rewards, indicating the semantic alignment between the current window and the query. To better learn the alignment, we propose a Gaussian-based Dual-Alignment Module (GDAM) which combines the strengths of both scoring-based and reconstruction-based alignment methods, addressing the issues of negative sample bias and language bias. We also employ the multi-policy movement strategy (MMS) which grounds the temporal position in a coarse-to-fine manner. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms existing weakly supervised algorithms, achieving state-of-the-art performance on the Charades-STA and ActivityNet Captions datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited research exists examining self-perceived vision and driving ability among individuals with glaucoma, and this study assessed the relationship between glaucoma, visual field, and visual acuity with driving capability. 137 individuals with glaucoma and 75 healthy controls were asked to evaluate self-rated vision, self-perceived driving ability, and self-perceived distracted driving. Visual acuity and visual field measurements were also obtained. Multivariable linear regressions were run to test each visual measure with driving outcomes. The average age was 72.2 years, 57.3% were male, and 72.5% were White. There were significant associations for a one-point increase in visual field and quality of corrected vision (RR = 1.06; 95% CI = 1.03–1.10), day vision (RR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.03–1.08), night vision (RR = 1.08; 95% CI = 1.05–1.13), visual acuity score and higher quality of corrected of vision (RR =.41; 95% CI =.22-.77), day vision (RR =.39; 95% CI=.22–.71), and night vision (RR =.41; 95% CI =.18–.94); visual acuity score and ability to drive safely compared to other drivers your age (RR =.53; 95% CI =.29–.96). Individuals with poorer visual acuity and visual fields rate their vision and ability to drive lower than those with better vision, and this information will allow clinicians to understand where to target interventions to enhance safe driving practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality among adolescents. While traditional interventions have targeted specific health-risk behaviors (e.g., substance use, initiation of sexual intercourse, truancy, etc.), the evidence suggests that using a positive youth development (PYD) framework may have positive impacts across a number of domains. Friday Night Live Mentoring (FNLM) is a PYD-based, cross-age peer mentoring program that engages teams of older high school-aged youth to mentor teams of middle school-aged youth in a structured, ongoing, one-on-one relationship. While studies have demonstrated significant but small effect sizes of intergenerational youth mentoring programs in which an adult mentor is paired with the youth mentee, research on cross-age mentoring programs is limited. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate FNLM on its ability to improve participants' knowledge, attitudes, skills, opportunities to develop caring relationships, school engagement, and academic performance. Methods: A retrospective, pre–post survey was administered online to FNLM participants across 13 California counties. Participants rated their knowledge and attitudes about ATOD, skills, relationships with peers and adults, and academic indicators. Open-ended questions gathered information about participants' experiences in FNLM. Non-parametric related-samples Wilcoxon signed rank tests (an alternative to paired t-test) were used to compare pre–post differences. Participants were also asked two open-ended questions: "What are the best parts of FNLM?" and "What, if anything, would you change?". The responses to each question were reviewed, coded, and analyzed according to key themes. Results: A total of 512 participants completed the survey (287 mentors and 225 protégés). There were small but statistically significant improvements across all items for both mentors and protégés. Qualitative analyses showed that most mentors and protégés especially enjoyed getting to know and spend time with one another. Several mentors added that it was rewarding to be a positive influence on or to make a positive difference in the protégé's life. Many youth stated that the relationships formed, especially with their partner, and the activities were the best part of FNLM. The overwhelming majority would not change anything about the program. Those who provided recommendations for program improvement suggested more activities or more hands-on and engaging activities and more or longer meetings. Conclusion: FNLM actively engages youth and provides them with support and opportunities that promote knowledge, skill development, positive relationships, academic engagement, and success and raise awareness of the harms that the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) can cause. While ATOD use was low prior to program participation, it was significantly lower after participating in the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of an intensive, group-based pediatric constraint-induced movement therapy (pCIMT) program for young children. Methods: Thirty-five children aged 21 months to 6 years, with unilateral hemiparesis (HP), or weakness on one side of the body from varying etiologies, participated in a 4-week intensive, interprofessional, theme- and group-based pCIMT clinic program in the Midwest, United States. The program ran for 4 weeks with 3 h of therapy per day, 5 days per week with 3 weeks of 24 h casting for the unaffected arm, followed by 1 week of bimanual focus. Outcome measures included the Quality Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST), Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA), Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), and Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI). Results: The participants statistically significantly improved the unilateral function of the HP arm in four of five QUEST variables (p < 0.009), bimanual coordination as measured by the AHA (p < 0.001), and some areas of occupational performance as measured by the COPM (p < 0.001) and PEDI (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study revealed the intensive, group-based pCIMT clinic model was effective and feasible to implement with the support from various stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are sustainability goals so hard to achieve? In a recent Note & Comment, Santos et al. (Sustain Sci 19:1097–1105, 2024) call for an examination of 'human critical determinants' as barriers to the achievement of sustainability goals. We fully support this call. However, we argue that the vital role played by 'inner worlds' cannot be understood if abstracted away from the context in which cognition is situated., i.e., it is not just 'inner worlds' that must be accounted for, but also their place within their broader situational and social contexts. We recommend future research in sustainability science consider the evidence and frameworks accumulated by psychologists on what humans, as socially and culturally situated organisms, need to thrive, and we explain why this interdisciplinarity could be transformative towards achieving the goals of sustainability science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and hypothesis Breast cancer is more prevalent in women with severe mental illness than in the general population, and use of prolactin-increasing antipsychotics may be a contributing factor. Study design A nested case–control study was conducted using the Swedish nationwide registers (inpatient/outpatient care, sickness absence, disability pension, prescribed drugs, cancers). All women aged 18–85 years with schizophrenia/schizoaffective/other nonaffective psychotic disorder/bipolar disorder and breast cancer (cases) were matched for age, primary psychiatric diagnosis, and disease duration with five women without cancer (controls). The association between cumulative exposure to prolactin-increasing/prolactin-sparing antipsychotics and breast cancer was analyzed using conditional logistic regression, adjusted for comorbidities and co-medications. Study results Among 132 061 women, 1642 (1.24%) developed breast cancer between 2010 and 2021, at a mean age of 63.3 ± 11.8 years. Compared with 8173 matched controls, the odds of breast cancer increased in women with prior exposure to prolactin-increasing antipsychotics for 1–4 years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03–1.41), and for ≥ 5 years (aOR = 1.47, 95%CI = 1.26–1.71). There were no increased or decreased odds of breast cancer with exposure to prolactin-sparing antipsychotics of either 1–4 years (aOR = 1.17, 95%CI = 0.98–1.40) or ≥5 years (aOR = 0.99, 95%CI = 0.78–1.26). The results were consistent across all sensitivity analyses (ie, according to different age groups, cancer types, and primary psychiatric diagnosis). Conclusions Although causality remains uncertain, exposure to prolactin-elevating antipsychotics for ≥ 1 year was associated with increased odds of breast cancer in women with severe mental illness. When prescribing antipsychotics, a shared decision-making process should consider individual risk factors for breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Hypothesis There is a paucity of research on treatment outcomes of patients with psychosis and cannabis use disorder (CUD). We aimed to compare the effectiveness of antipsychotics in reducing the risk of hospitalization in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and co-occurring CUD. Study Design We utilized a nationwide Swedish cohort of patients with longitudinal register data from the year 2006 to 2021. Participants were patients with FEP and co-occurring CUD (n  = 1820, 84.73% men, mean age 26.80 years, SD 8.25 years). The main outcome was hospitalization due to psychotic relapse. Hospitalization due to any psychiatric disorder or substance use disorder (SUD) were examined as secondary outcomes. Within-individual Cox regression models were used to study these associations. Study Results Use of any antipsychotic was associated with a 33% risk reduction of psychotic relapse (aHR = 0.67; 95% CI 0.60–0.75). Clozapine (0.43; 0.29–0.64), long-acting injectable (LAI) formulations of risperidone (0.40; 0.22–0.71), aripiprazole (0.42; 0.27–0.65), and paliperidone (0.46; 0.30–0.69) were associated with the lowest risk of relapse. The association between the LAI formulation of olanzapine and hospitalization due to psychosis was statistically non-significant (0.61; 0.35–1.05). Clozapine was associated with an 86% risk reduction of hospitalization due to SUD (0.14; 0.05–0.44). Of oral non-clozapine antipsychotics, aripiprazole was associated with the lowest risk of hospitalization due to psychotic relapse (0.61; 0.45–0.83). Conclusions These findings support the use of clozapine, LAI formulations of second-generation antipsychotics other than olanzapine, or oral aripiprazole to prevent hospitalization in FEP and co-occurring CUD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several clinical and individual factors may play a role in the survival rate of dental restorations, such as characteristics related to the child's age and oral hygiene, and factors associated with the tooth, such as the type of material and number of surfaces to be restored. Aim: To analyse the survival rate of adhesive restorations on primary teeth and factors associated with restoration survival. Design: The study included dental records of children aged 3–12 years having received adhesive restorations on primary teeth at a Brazilian dental school between 2009 and 2019. A Kaplan–Meier survival curve was used to plot survival rates using the log‐rank test. A multivariate Cox regression model was run to identify individual and dental factors associated with restoration failure. Result s : The sample comprised 269 restored teeth in 111 children. Survival curves were similar for all materials (p =.20) and types of isolation (p =.05). The annual failure rate was 3.60% for glass ionomer cement, 1.23% for resin‐modified glass ionomer cement and 0.40% for composite resin. The following variables were associated with more failures: Class II restoration compared with Class I (HR = 1.96; 95%CI: 1.28–2.99, p <.001), proportion of decayed teeth (HR = 11.89; 95%CI: 2.80–50.57, p <.001) and child's age (HR = 1.17; 95%CI: 1.06–1.29, p <.001). Conclusion: The different materials and types of isolation had similar survival rates. Children with more decayed teeth have an increased risk of restoration failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rivers and people are tightly coupled. How people relate to rivers dictates their understanding of rivers and approaches to river management. The numerous ways people interact with rivers create complex patterns of social–ecological relationships and interdependencies. Despite this tight coupling, rivers and humans are often studied and managed as separate entities, to the detriment of river environments. Conceptual pluralism is required to move beyond existing practice to avoid irretrievable loss of ways of framing and working with our river environments. The articles in this special issue approach human–river relationships from three perspectives. First, there is a subset that enters the discussions via the human aspects of relationships with rivers, particularly the human frames, metaphors, definitions, or concepts used to reflect on human activities related to rivers. The second subset approaches relationships via the river dimensions, with particular focus on the impacts of human modifications to river ecosystems. Finally, the third subset more fully emphasizes the relationships between humans and rivers. The wide‐ranging dialogue provided in these articles highlights the need for a wider research agenda for rivers that embraces social–ecological systems and other integrative, inclusive ways of understanding. As a collective, these articles advocate the value of creating new river knowledge embedded within a social–ecological context, action, and advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]