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Background: Surgical handover is associated with a significant risk of care failures. Existing research displays methodological deficiencies and little consensus on the outcomes that should be used to evaluate interventions in this area. This paper reports a protocol to develop a core outcome set (COS) to support standardisation, comparability, and evidence synthesis in future studies of surgical handover between doctors. Methods: This study adheres to the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) initiative guidance for COS development, including the COS-Standards for Development (COS-STAD) and Reporting (COS-STAR) recommendations. It has been registered prospectively on the COMET database and will be led by an international steering group that includes surgical healthcare professionals, researchers, and patient and public partners. An initial list of reported outcomes was generated through a systematic review of interventions to improve surgical handover (PROSPERO: CRD42022363198). Findings of a qualitative evidence synthesis of patient and public perspectives on handover will augment this list, followed by a real-time Delphi survey involving all stakeholder groups. Each Delphi participant will then be invited to take part in at least one online consensus meeting to finalise the COS. Ethics and dissemination: This study was approved by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Research Ethics Committee (202309015, 7th November 2023). Results will be presented at surgical scientific meetings and submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. A plain English summary will be disseminated through national websites and social media. The authors aim to integrate the COS into the handover curriculum of the Irish national surgical training body and ensure it is shared internationally with other postgraduate surgical training programmes. Collaborators will be encouraged to share the findings with relevant national health service functions and national bodies. Discussion: This study will represent the first published COS for interventions to improve surgical handover, the first use of a real-time Delphi survey in a surgical context, and will support the generation of better-quality evidence to inform best practice. Trial registration: Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) initiative 2675. http://www.comet-initiative.org/Studies/Details/2675. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In recent years, the idea has flourished that plants emit and perceive sound and could even be capable of exchanging information through the acoustic channel. While research into plant bioacoustics is still in its infancy, with potentially fascinating discoveries awaiting ahead, here we show that the current knowledge is not conclusive. While plants do emit sounds under biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought, these sounds are high‐pitched, of low intensity, and propagate only to a short distance. Most studies suggesting plant sensitivity to airborne sound actually concern the perception of substrate vibrations from the soil or plant part. In short, while low‐frequency, high‐intensity sounds emitted by a loudspeaker close to the plant seem to have tangible effects on various plant processes such as growth – a finding with possible applications in agriculture – it is unlikely that plants can perceive the sounds they produce, at least over long distances. So far, there is no evidence of plants communicating with each other via the acoustic channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the simulation of two-phase flow dominated by surface tension, accurate surface tension modeling is beneficial to better reproduce and understand the mechanism of interphase flow. In this paper, based on an ISPH-FVM coupling framework, three different surface tension models are implemented and tested respectively, including the generally used continuum surface force (CSF) model, the continuous surface stress (CSS) model and the height function (HF) model. In the present ISPH-FVM coupling framework, the ISPH particle approximate interpolation technique combined with a volume fraction correction scheme is employed to ensure the volume conservation in the computational domain during the information transfer between particles and grids. Meanwhile, the three surface tension models are discretized and calculated by the volume fraction defined on the FVM grid. The volume fraction of the FVM grid is obtained by approximate interpolation of ISPH particles within the grid support domain. Several benchmark cases are tested to verify the performance of three surface tension models in the ISPH-FVM coupling method. The results show that the CSF model and CSS model have less spurious currents and better robustness than HF model under the present coupling method. In addition, the CSF model and CSS model can simulate the flow regime involving complex interface topology changes more accurately than HF model. • An ISPH-FVM coupling method is developed to simulate two-phase flows. • The volume conservation is guaranteed during the information transfer. • Three surface tension models are implemented and compared under the present coupling method. • The CSF and CSS model can get relatively small spurious currents than HF model. • The CSF and CSS model perform well in predicting the complex interface topological changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animals that feed socially can sometimes better locate prey, often by transferring information about food that is patchy, dense, and temporally and spatially unpredictable. Information transfer is a potential benefit of living in breeding colonies where unsuccessful foragers can more readily locate successful ones and thereby improve feeding efficiency. Most studies on social foraging have been short term, and how long‐term environmental change affects both foraging strategies and the associated benefits of coloniality is generally unknown. In the colonial Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), we examined how social foraging, information transfer, and feeding ecology changed over a 40‐year period in western Nebraska. Relative to the 1980s, Cliff Swallows in 2016–2022 were more likely to forage solitarily or in smaller groups, spent less time foraging, were more successful as solitaries, fed in more variable locations, and engaged less in information transfer at the colony site. The total mass of insects brought back to nestlings per parental visit declined over the study. The diversity of insect families captured increased over time, and some insect taxa dropped out of the diet, although the three most common insect families remained the same over the decades. Nestling Cliff Swallow body mass at 10 days of age and the number of nestlings surviving per nest declined more sharply with colony size in 2015–2022 than in 1984–1991 at sites where the confounding effects of ectoparasites were removed. Adult body mass during the provisioning of nestlings was lower in more recent years, but the change did not vary with colony size. The reason(s) for the reduction in social foraging and information transfer over time is unclear, but the consequence is that colonial nesting may no longer offer the same fitness advantages for Cliff Swallows as in the 1980s. The results illustrate the flexibility of foraging behavior and dynamic shifts in the potential selective pressures for group living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definition: Director interlocks occur when a board member or an executive of a firm sits on the board of directors of another firm. As an essential social network application in the business world, interlocking directorates are documented to be non-trivial from the 1930s and continue to gain popularity thereafter. Corporate information and business practices can be transferred to another firm through an interlocking director sitting on both companies' boards. Such information dissemination leads to changes in an interlocking firm's decision-making processes. Existing business research attempts to decipher the underlying reasons why board interlocks become prevalent, how and what information is being transferred through this channel, and the intended or unintended consequences to firm strategic, governance, financing, and accounting practices. We first introduce theoretical research on board interlocks in management and then follow up with empirical evidence in finance and accounting. Since extant studies have not reached a consensus on various consequences of board interlocks, we contribute to the literature by summarizing the findings from multi-business disciplines, discussing their advantages and disadvantages, and calling for more research on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the sexual selection framework, nuptial gifts are materials a donor provides to a receiver that can increase the donor's fitness. In specific cases, sharing crucial information may be a nonmaterial nuptial gift. To investigate this hypothesis, we focused on the common cuckoo, Cuculus canorus , an obligate avian brood parasite whose reproduction costs of females are mainly related to finding host nests needed to lay their eggs. Nest searching is assumed to be conducted only by females. We hypothesized that males could contribute by transferring information on nest locations to females as a nonmaterial nuptial gift. Here, we show the results of a first step in this direction, in which we identified any behaviour potentially conveying information on nest abundance in the surrounding area, that is, behaviours whose frequency varied with host nest density. We conducted our investigation in a marshland area within the Po Plain (Italy), where we recorded both visual displays of cuckoos at perching sites, by using camera traps, and nest abundance of two of the most parasitized cuckoo host species, the reed warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus , and great reed warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus , by systematic nest monitoring. We found that male cuckoos adopted a certain posture, wing drooping, and tended to keep their tails up more frequently in areas with the highest versus lowest host nest densities. This is consistent with these behaviours acting as potential signals codifying information on nest abundance in the area. We finally discuss the implications of our findings for the mating choices of female cuckoos and the study directions warranted to reveal whether these displays and information transfer may be included as new elements of the sexual selection framework. • Cuckoo males may help females in nest searching by sharing information on nests. • We identified some behaviours preferentially performed in areas rich in host nests. • Under specific circumstances, information may act as a nuptial gift. • Further studies are needed to assess if these behaviours affect female mate choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problems of poor performance and slow convergence of existing symbiotic organisms search（SOS） algorithm in solving discrete optimization problems such as path planning, this paper proposed the virtual multitask SOS（VMTSOS）. Firstly, according to the bidirectional mapping decoding strategy, the transformation between individual continuous spatial position and discrete city sequence was realized; secondly, the idea of multi-task optimization was introduced to construct a virtual multi-task environment, designed multiple populations to optimize the same task simultaneously, and the stagnation threshold controlled the frequency of information transfer between populations. Once the main population reached the stagnation threshold, some excellent individuals in the auxiliary population were replaced with inferior individuals in the main population; finally, the time and space complexity of VMTSOS was analyzed. Experiment results show that VMTSOS converges rapidly to the current optimal solution of each test case when solving most TSP problems, while VMTSOS with multiple groups assistance mechanisms can greatly reduce the optimal total cost when solving cold chain logistics distribution problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the impact of nonequilibrium conditions on the transmission and recovery of information through noisy channels. By measuring the recoverability of messages from an information source, we demonstrate that the ability to recover information is connected to the nonequilibrium behavior of the information flow, particularly in terms of sequential information transfer. We discovered that the mathematical equivalence of information recoverability and entropy production characterizes the dissipative nature of information transfer. Our findings show that both entropy production (or recoverability) and mutual information increase monotonically with the nonequilibrium strength of information dynamics. These results suggest that the nonequilibrium dissipation cost can enhance the recoverability of noise messages and improve the quality of information transfer. Finally, we propose a simple model to test our conclusions and found that the numerical results support our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore general practitioners' perspectives on the discharge summaries they receive about their patients who have been discharged from hospital. Methods: A survey of general practitioners in the catchment of a major metropolitan South Australian health service consisting of three teaching hospitals was undertaken. Surveys were disseminated electronically and via hardcopy mailout to general practitioners. The 36-question survey focused on five constructs of discharge summaries: accessibility, length and clarity, format, transparency, and medicines content. Results: A total of 150 general practitioners responded (response rate, 27.6%). Respondents were vocationally registered (96%), predominately from metropolitan practices (90.2%), and 65.8% were female. Overwhelmingly, 86.7% of general practitioners stated that the optimal time for receipt of discharge summaries was <48 h post-discharge, and 96.6% considered that late arrival of discharge summaries adversely impacts patient care. The ideal length of discharge summaries was reported as <4 pages by 64% of respondents. A large proportion of respondents (84.6%) would like to be notified when their patients are admitted and discharged from hospital, and 82.7% were supportive of patients receiving their own copy of the discharge summary. A total of 76.7% general practitioners reported that they had detected omissions or discrepancies in the discharge summaries. Provision of rationale for medication changes was viewed as important by 86.7%, however, only 29.3% reported that it is always or often communicated. Conclusions: General practitioners supported timely receipt, concise length of discharge summary and format refinement to improve the utility and communication of this important clinical handover from hospital to community care. What is known about the topic? Discharge summaries are an important handover document when transitioning care from hospital to general practice. Delays, omissions and inaccuracies in discharge summaries can contribute to adverse patient outcomes. What does this paper add? This paper provides contemporary perspectives of general practitioners about discharge summaries and scope for improvements. What are the implications for practitioners? General practitioners value receiving discharge summaries that are timely, follow a format, provide clear details for ongoing care, and are an appropriate length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honey bees are social insects that form colonies (hives), which often consist of more than 10,000 individuals. In a colony, bees allocate jobs (division of labor) and work cooperatively and intelligently to maintain the colony's activity, such as nursing broods, cleaning, and guarding against enemies. Among worker bees, only forager bees collect food, and success in finding food directly influences colony survival. For more efficient foraging, honey bees share location information pertaining to profitable food sources through specific behavior called "waggle dances." During such dances, the direction and distance from the hive to the food source are encoded as body movements. Other foragers follow the dancing bees and receive location information. Some of these bees then fly to the advertised location to find the food source. Some of these "recruited bees" subsequently dance to recruit new bees. This process is then repeated. Consequently, many foragers visit the food source, and a colony can rapidly and flexibly collect large amounts of food even in foraging environment that can suddenly change (e.g., flowers disappear or nectar flux increases/decreases). To achieve effective food collection through the waggle dance, the behavior of both the dancers and followers probably contains information for an implementation of "swarm intelligence." In this review, we introduce the properties of dance behavior at the levels of dancers, followers, and colonies. We found that errors in waggle dance information play an important role in adaptive foraging in dynamically changing environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video person re-identification(re-ID) plays an important role in intelligent video surveillance, which can automatically match the same person across video clips under non-overlapping cameras. Despite great progress in re-ID, the performance of most existing methods still is corrupted severely under partial occlusion. Although some multi-granularity methods have alleviated this dilemma, these methods still suffer from weak diversity of features and conflict between rigid horizontal partition and vertical occlusion. In this paper, we propose a novel video person re-ID framework, called Multi-Granularity Occlusion Aware (MGOA), which extracts multi-granularity features by precisely erasing the occlusion. Different from previous works based on multiple granularities, the proposed MGOA predicts the partial occlusion in a coarse-to-fine manner instead of erasing the occlusion in video clips by one step. Specifically, we first propose the multi-granularity feature extraction to obtain diverse features at different levels of feature maps, which is beneficial for the fine erasure of the occlusion. Moreover, to avoid the limitation of horizontal stripes that cannot handle vertical occlusion, we design Attention-Aware Occlusion Erasure (AA-OE) that can obtain the attention maps with coarse occlusion erasure in the coarse-grained branch and the attention maps with fine occlusion erasure in the fine-grained branch. It is worth noting that each granularity in our network is not independent but relevant through the top-down information transmission between granularities, which transfers the erased occlusion feature maps of the current branch to the next finer-grained branch for guiding AA-OE to obtain more discriminative features. Extensive experiments on three challenging public benchmarks show that our MGOA can deal well with occlusion and achieves state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a quantum system with a d-dimensional Hilbert space, suppose a pure state | ψ 〉 is subjected to a complete orthogonal measurement. The measurement effectively maps | ψ 〉 to a point (p 1 , ... , p d) in the appropriate probability simplex. It is a known fact—which depends crucially on the complex nature of the system's Hilbert space—that if | ψ 〉 is distributed uniformly over the unit sphere, then the resulting ordered set (p 1 , ... , p d) is distributed uniformly over the probability simplex; that is, the resulting measure on the simplex is proportional to d p 1 ⋯ d p d − 1 . In this paper we ask whether there is some foundational significance to this uniform measure. In particular, we ask whether it is the optimal measure for the transmission of information from a preparation to a measurement in some suitably defined scenario. We identify a scenario in which this is indeed the case, but our results suggest that an underlying real-Hilbert-space structure would be needed to realize the optimization in a natural way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-cell omics data are growing at an unprecedented rate, whereas effective integration of them remains challenging due to different sequencing methods, quality, and expression pattern of each omics data. In this study, we propose a universal framework for the integration of single-cell multi-omics data based on graph convolutional network (GCN-SC). Among the multiple single-cell data, GCN-SC usually selects one data with the largest number of cells as the reference and the rest as the query dataset. It utilizes mutual nearest neighbor algorithm to identify cell-pairs, which provide connections between cells both within and across the reference and query datasets. A GCN algorithm further takes the mixed graph constructed from these cell-pairs to adjust count matrices from the query datasets. Finally, dimension reduction is performed by using non-negative matrix factorization before visualization. By applying GCN-SC on six datasets, we show that GCN-SC can effectively integrate sequencing data from multiple single-cell sequencing technologies, species or different omics, which outperforms the state-of-the-art methods, including Seurat, LIGER, GLUER and Pamona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored how individual and age-related differences in working memory (WM) capacity affected subsequent long-term memory (LTM) retrieval. Unlike past studies, we tested WM and LTM not only for items, but also for item–color bindings. Our sample included 82 elementary school children and 42 young adults. The participants performed a WM task with images of unique everyday items presented sequentially at varying set sizes in different colors. Later, we tested LTM for items and item–color bindings from the WM task. The WM load during encoding constrained LTM, and participants with a higher WM capacity retrieved more items in the LTM test. Even when accounting for young children's poor item memory by considering only the items that they did remember, they exhibited an exacerbated difficulty with remembering item–color bindings in WM. Their LTM binding performance, however, as a proportion of remembered objects, was comparable to that of older children and adults. The WM binding performance was better during sub-span encoding loads, but with no clear transfer of this benefit to LTM. Overall, LTM item memory performance was constrained by individual and age-related WM limitations, but with mixed consequences for binding. We discuss the theoretical, practical, and developmental implications of this WM-to-LTM bottleneck. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we analyzed the chemical reaction, CH 4 + H - ⟶ CH 4 + H - , using the concept of information channel, which consists in to quantify the amount of information that the system can transfer and receive, to carry out such measures, we used Shannon's entropy defined in position and momentum spaces, the interpretation of the results obtained was also completed by the analysis of Fisher's entropy in position and momentum spaces; our results, permitted to analyze with certain detail how are carried out the process of bond-forming and bond-breaking of the reaction CH 4 + H - . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial cargo transportation is a popular field of logistics. When assembling a cargo truck, you need accurate information about the partial load. It is crucial to evaluate measurements, weights, and occupied space. Having such information determines the quality of services and high customer trust. With partial cargo transport we can transfer small cargo units, which enables faster flow with better quality of goods saving customers' time. As each year companies transport more cargo, technologies and ways of transferring information should improve accordingly. Quantitatively, the aim was to find out the shortcomings of information transfer in partial cargo transportation companies. By improving the transmission of information, the work would be carried out more efficiently, and cargo units would be loaded much faster. Companies must improve the information systems used, discover and test the most convenient way of transmitting the information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early detection of predators greatly improves prey escape and survival chances. By investigating cues predators leave behind, such as fur, urine, faeces or feathers (secondary predator cues), prey may gain vital information about predators in the vicinity. Meerkats, Suricata suricatta , display an unusual mobbing-like response upon encountering secondary predator cues, not reported in any other species. The function of this behaviour is unclear because, unlike mobbing of a live predator, it cannot yield the primary benefit of driving the threat away. Here we examine two potential functions. First, we hypothesized that older group members may exhibit exaggerated mobbing-like responses towards secondary predator cues as a form of teaching to promote learning in naïve pups. Meerkats are known to teach pups hunting skills, but there is no evidence that any nonhuman species teaches across multiple contexts. Mobbing-like responses could also function to facilitate group member recruitment, stimulating information gathering and collective decision making by the group. Using experimental presentations of secondary predator cues in the presence and absence of pups, in combination with 20 years of data on natural encounters with secondary predator cues, we found that older group members' response frequency was lower when pups were present and that response intensity declined as the proportion of pups to total group member number increased. Conversely, the intensity of responses increased when a greater proportion of group members interacted with the cue and varied with predator cue type. The response frequency to natural encounters with secondary predator cues was greater in larger groups, and the distance travelled by the group decreased following an encounter with secondary predator cues. These results suggest that meerkats do not show exaggerated responses to secondary predator cues as a form of teaching. Mobbing-like responses more likely serve to increase recruitment of others to investigate the cue and inform defensive group behaviour. • Meerkats show an unusual mobbing-like response to secondary predator cues (SPCs). • We examined potential functions using cue presentations and long-term observations. • No evidence to support teaching via increased mobbing-like response in pup presence. • Large groups responded to SPCs more often; distance travelled fell after encounters. • Mobbing-like response facilitates recruitment and informs group defensive behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research allows to have a better understanding of how ICT services are applied in the Provincial Municipality of Rodriguez de Mendoza (hereinafter MPRM), specifically from the perspective of workers. In order to analyze, implement and determine the type of virtual or remote attention that is needed to meet the needs of end users, several categories have been examined for their approach such as municipal resources, specifically its technological platform, the indicator of staff training in terms of knowledge and use of digital services, the indicator of initiation to the end user, taking into account the degree of acculturation. A documentary review, in-depth interviews with workers, end users and experts in the field were used in the research. With the data collected and analyzed, it was possible to conclude that, while the MPRM implemented software and hardware to support the use of Tics services in its internal and external processes during the pandemic in the period 2020-2021, a low level of use and satisfaction among the citizens of the province was identified due to the lack of training programs for staff and end-user caused by lack of inductive training programs for staff and end-user. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal communication, including the transmission of risk-related information, has long been recognized as occurring in a network, rather than being limited to signaller–receiver dyadic interactions. However, it is rare for studies on communication to explicitly incorporate a network approach and for network studies to focus on communication interactions and information transmission in nongrouping species. Consequently, the properties of communication networks and the extent to which risk-related information can spread through populations of territorial animals remain largely unexplored. Here, I examined the structure and spatial extent of eavesdropping networks by studying alarm calls in wood warblers, Phylloscopus sibilatrix, small, territorial songbirds inhabiting temperate European forests. Using a playback experiment, I first established the active space of wood warblers' alarm signals, that is, how the strength of antipredator responses to conspecific alarm calls varies as a function of distance between signallers and receivers. Next, I combined social network analysis and fine-scale, long-term data on wood warblers' territory distribution to delineate spatially explicit alarm call eavesdropping networks and to explore the potential for risk-related information transmission at the population level. Response strength of wood warblers to conspecific calls decreased with increasing distance to callers, suggesting distance-dependent eavesdropping. However, each year the majority of individuals occupied territories within the active space of alarm signals of multiple neighbours and could reach information from even more of them via indirect links. Moreover, the patterns of connections between individuals were generally similar across years, suggesting that basic network properties remain stable over time. This study shows that during the spring breeding season, individual birds are interlinked with conspecifics across territory borders into population-wide information webs, in which risk-related information can readily spread across large spatial scales. In turn, this highlights the social environment as an important dimension of individuals' niches even in otherwise territorial animals. • I examined the structure and extent of eavesdropping networks in wood warblers. • Eavesdropping on conspecific alarm calls was distance dependent. • Birds held territories within the active space of alarm signals of many neighbours. • Basic properties of alarm call eavesdropping networks remained stable over time. • Territorial birds during the breeding season form population-wide information webs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the 90% unemployment rate for job-seeking individuals with high-functioning autism, by presenting a theoretical model of positive behavioral support (PBS) adapted from the work of E.G. Carr and the information theory of Roger Greer, and considered within the context of library employment. The information transfer based model of PBS emphasizes the role of metalinguistic awareness and lexical-semantic processing in the design of traditional four-stage PBS intervention. This design may promote the successful employment of individuals with autism spectrum disorders within libraries and other settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we analyze a simple chemical reaction, H 2 + H - ⟶ H 2 + H - , employing several entropies definitions which were written using several probability distributions, such as joint probability, mutual probability, and conditional probability. We show, that the equations obtained permit the introduction of the concept of information transfer in a chemical process, in this regard, we also show that such information transfer is related to the bond-forming and bond-breaking process and to the electron correlation phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing simultaneous wireless power and information transmission (SWPIT) technology used for wireless power transfer (WPT) systems is seriously plagued by the interference between the power and information transmission and the complex design of the information transmission and receiving circuits. To combat these problems, this article proposes a novel SWPIT method, which does not need additional information transmitting or receiving coils. The stroboscopic mapping model of the WPT system is established first, and the soft-switching points of the dc–ac inverter are derived and compared for better utilizing deviation frequency enlargement effect (DFEE) to transfer power and information simultaneously. Subsequently, the information detection circuit is designed based on DFEE. The impacts caused by the detection circuit on the power and information transmission are analyzed in detail. Then, the parameters of the detection circuit are optimized for minimizing the mutual interference between the power and information transmission. Finally, a 50 W experimental platform is established to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed SWPIT strategy. The experimental results show that the information transmission rate can reach up to 16 kbps, the load voltage fluctuation can be controlled below 3%, and the efficiency of the whole system can be maintained at 90%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crop of avocado is growing in the world by the increased consumption of this fruit. For this reason, research in this production chain has increased, in technical issues, seeking to improve yield, reducing losses due to pest and diseases and about process that allow maintaining the quality of the fruit over time. However, research and development, as studies of current trends in other areas of the chain, are unknown. The objective of this article was known the trends in research and technological development in the avocado production chain. For this, a technological scanning exercise was carried out, it using bibliometrics and patentometrics techniques with information from the Scopus and Lens.org databases, the information collected was refined and analyzed. The countries with the highest number of scientific publications were United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, with weaknesses in the collaborative job into countries. The authors more productive are people linked with academy, the journal Acta Horticulturae had the greatest number of publications. The topics about cosmetics and pharmaceutics were outstanding for patents and they are considered relevant for this production chain, due to the market dynamics. In research the topics were more diverse, since topics in sowing until postharvest. In this article it was not found scientific production in topics organizational or about management. This research shown opportunities of technological innovation in the avocado sector. Networks between science, academy and guilds were observed. This networks are oriented the strengthening the sector and increase yield through to diversification of market segments. It is considered important to give greater attention to organizational and management aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctic sea ice has substantially changed over the past four decades, with a large decrease in sea‐ice area and volume. The exact causes of these changes are not entirely known. In our study, we make use of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute Large Ensemble. This ensemble consists of 50 members realized with the EC‐Earth3 global climate model and covers the period 1970‐2100. We apply for the first time the Liang‐Kleeman information flow method to analyze the cause‐effect relationships between Arctic sea ice and its potential drivers. We show that recent and future changes in Arctic sea ice are mainly driven by air and sea‐surface temperatures and ocean heat transport. Conversely, changes in Arctic sea ice also considerably impact temperature and ocean heat transport. Finally, we find a progressive decrease in the influence of sea‐ice area and volume on air temperature and ocean heat transport through the twenty‐first century. Plain Language Summary: The Arctic has been warming at a larger rate than the rest of the world, resulting in a substantial loss of sea ice since the late 1970s. This has had and will continue to have an impact on our climate and societies. The exact causes of the ongoing sea‐ice loss are not entirely known, and understanding them is important in order to better prepare our societies for future climate changes. In our study, we apply a relatively novel approach that quantifies the cause‐effect relationships between Arctic sea ice and its potential drivers. We make use of a large range of model simulations performed with the EC‐Earth3 global climate model covering the period 1970‐2100. We find that air temperature, sea‐surface temperature, and the transport of heat by the ocean are important drivers of the ongoing and future retreat of Arctic sea ice. Conversely, changes in Arctic sea ice also affect the three former quantities. Our study demonstrates the performance of causal inference methods in the quest for a better understanding of relationships between climate variables. The geophysical and climate communities could greatly benefit from using these methods more intensively. Key Points: The Liang‐Kleeman rate of information transfer allows quantification of the directional dependence between Arctic sea ice and its driversRecent and future changes in Arctic sea ice are mainly driven by air and sea‐surface temperatures and ocean heat transportThe influence of Arctic sea ice on air temperature and ocean heat transport progressively decreases through the twenty‐first century [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increased empirical attention, theory on bots and how they act to disseminate information on social media remains poorly understood. Our study leverages the conduit brokerage perspective and the findings of a multiple case study to develop a novel framework of algorithmic conduit brokerage for understanding information dissemination by bots and the design choices that may influence their actions. Algorithmic conduit brokerage encompasses two intertwined processes. The first process, algorithmic social alertness, relies on bot activity to curate and reconfigure information. Algorithmic social alertness is significant because it involves action triggers that dictate the kinds of information being searched, discovered, and retrieved by bots. The second process, algorithmic social transmission, relies on bot activity to embellish and distribute the information curated. Algorithmic social transmission is important because it can broaden the reach of information disseminated by bots through increased discoverability and directed targeting. The two algorithmic conduit brokerage processes we offer are unique to bots and distinct from the original conceptualization of conduit brokerage, which is rooted in human activity. First, since bots lack the human ability of sensemaking and are instead fueled by automation and action triggers rather than by emotions, algorithmic conduit brokerage is more invariant and reliable than human conduit brokerage. Second, automation increases the speed and scale of information curation and transfer, making algorithmic conduit brokerage not only more consistent but also faster and more extensive. Third, algorithmic conduit brokerage includes a set of new concepts (e.g., action triggers and rapid scaling) that are specific to bots and therefore not applicable to human conduit brokerage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored the causal role of individual and age‐related differences in working memory (WM) capacity in long‐term memory (LTM) retrieval. Our sample of 160 participants included 120 children (6–13‐years old) and 40 young adults (18–24 years). Participants performed a WM task with images of unique everyday items, presented at varying set sizes. Subsequently, we tested participants' LTM for items from the WM task. Using these measures, we estimated the ratio at which items successfully held in WM were recognized in LTM. While WM and LTM generally improved with age, the ability to transfer information from WM to LTM appeared consistent between age groups. Moreover, individual differences in WM capacity appeared to predict LTM encoding. Overall, these results suggested that LTM performance was constrained by experimental, individual, and age‐related WM limitations. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this WM‐to‐LTM bottleneck. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on our recently developed method to quantify Gunderson and Holling's adaptive cycle, we provide a holistic analysis of a vascular plant community on the volcanic island of Surtsey between 2000 and 2018. We identify one complete adaptive cycle during the study period, which reflects the system's transition from a classic pioneer to a grassland community. Our results support the hypothesis that nutrients brought to the island by breeding gulls are the main driver of this development. The study period includes the beginning of a second cycle, which deviates from the pattern described in the metaphor. Indeed, the cycle's exploitation phase is interrupted by a simultaneous decline of all three systemic variables. We can trace this phenomenon back to a severe drought in 2012. Furthermore, the method allows us to establish the systemic role of individual species during the maturation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Functional coupling between the motor cortex and muscle activity is commonly detected and quantified by cortico-muscular coherence (CMC) or Granger causality (GC) analysis, which are applicable only to linear couplings and are not sufficiently sensitive: some healthy subjects show no significant CMC and GC, and yet have good motor skills. The objective of this work is to develop measures of functional cortico-muscular coupling that have improved sensitivity and are capable of detecting both linear and non-linear interactions. Methods: A multiscale wavelet transfer entropy (TE) methodology is proposed. The methodology relies on a dyadic stationary wavelet transform to decompose electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) signals into functional bands of neural oscillations. Then, it applies TE analysis based on a range of embedding delay vectors to detect and quantify intra- and cross-frequency band cortico-muscular coupling at different time scales. Results: Our experiments with neurophysiological signals substantiate the potential of the developed methodologies for detecting and quantifying information flow between EEG and EMG signals for subjects with and without significant CMC or GC, including non-linear cross-frequency interactions, and interactions across different temporal scales. The obtained results are in agreement with the underlying sensorimotor neurophysiology. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the concept of multiscale wavelet TE provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing cortex-muscle interactions. Significance: The proposed methodologies will enable developing novel insights into movement control and neurophysiological processes more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing evidence of social information transfer about predation risk in foraging animal groups. However, little is known about whether individuals also acquire such information from non-members of their own group. We experimentally manipulated the perceived threat and heterospecific cues about low predation risk in the house sparrow, Passer domesticus, by presenting stuffed dummies of the Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, and the Eurasian tree sparrow, Passer montanus, at the feeder. Data were collected during winter 2016/2017 in two private yards in south-west and north Slovakia, where 1677 individuals in 83 flocks were observed at two feeders. We found no evidence for heterospecific information use in foraging single-species flocks of house sparrows. We suggest that strong bonds created among flock members may explain the observed pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Approximately two-thirds of the patients admitted to the hospital with an ischemic stroke are discharged directly home. Discontinuity of care may result in avoidable patient harm, re-admissions and even death. We hypothesized that the transfer of information is most essential in this patient group since any future care for these patients relies solely on the information that is available to the care provider responsible at that time.Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the continuity of transmural care in ischemic stroke patients by assessing 1) the transfer of clinical information through discharge letters to general practitioners (GPs), 2) subsequent documentation of this information and early follow-up by GPs and 3) the documentation of medication-related information in discharge letters, at GPs and community pharmacies (CPs).Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted from September 2019 through March 2020 in OLVG, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in patients with a first stroke discharged directly home. Outcome measures were derived from national guidelines and regional agreements. Results were analyzed using descriptive analysis.Results: A total of 33 patients were included. Discharge letters (n = 33) and outpatient clinic letters (n = 24) to GPs contained most of the essential items, but 16% (n = 9) of the letters were sent in time. GPs (n = 31) infrequently adhered to guidelines since 10% (n = 3) of the diagnoses were registered using the correct code and 55% (n = 17) of the patients received follow-up shortly after discharge. Medication overviews were inaccurately communicated to GPs since 62% (n = 150) of all prescriptions (n = 243) were correctly noted in the discharge letter. Further loss of information was seen as only 39% (n = 95) of all prescriptions were documented correctly in GP overviews. We found that 59% (n = 144) of the prescriptions were documented correctly in CP overviews.Conclusion: In this study, we found that discontinuity of care occurred to a varying extent throughout transmural care in patients with a first stroke who were discharged home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The function of brain circuits relies on high-fidelity information transfer within neurons. Synaptic inputs arrive primarily at dendrites, where they undergo integration and summation throughout the somatodendritic domain, ultimately leading to the generation of precise patterns of action potentials. Emerging evidence suggests that the ability of neurons to transfer synaptic information and modulate their output is impaired in a number of neurodevelopmental disorders including Fragile X Syndrome. In this review we summarise recent findings that have revealed the pathophysiological and plasticity mechanisms that alter the ability of neurons in sensory and limbic circuits to reliably code information in the absence of FMRP. We examine which aspects of this transform may result directly from the loss of FMRP and those that a result from compensatory or homeostatic alterations to neuronal function. Dissection of the mechanisms leading to altered input-output function of neurons in the absence of FMRP and their effects on regulating neuronal plasticity throughout development could have important implications for potential therapies for Fragile X Syndrome, including directing the timing and duration of different treatment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication is generally assumed to be the domain of conspecific signallers and receivers that produce reliable signals and respond adaptively. However, interactions between coexisting species can be surprisingly complex, suggesting that animals not only perceive but also selectively respond to signals produced by other species. Many species respond to the vocalisations of heterospecifics, but it is usually difficult to separate actual vocal recognition from the response resulting from misidentification. We controlled this bias in a playback experiment with two sympatric Rallidae species, the water rail (Rallus aquaticus) and little crake (Zapornia parva). Both focal species produced more calls and little crake additionally approached the speaker more often in response to calls of each other than to calls of closely related but non‐sympatric spotted crakes (Porzana porzana) or the sympatric but non‐competing little grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis). By contrast, when responding to each other's calls water rails produced fewer loud calls than during the conspecific treatment suggesting that focal birds were merely announcing their presence, whereas little crakes produced mainly alarms suggesting that they communicated with the mated partner to warn it rather than with the heterospecific intruder. We conclude that focal Rallidae species could distinguish not only their calls from those of conspecifics, but also each other's calls from those of other sympatric and phylogenetically related species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study takes a novel quantitative approach to examine whether the change mechanisms hypothesized by conceptual change theories are involved in reconceptualizing teaching from a teacher-centred to a student-centred approach. We assessed changes in approaches to teaching, measured with the Approaches to Teaching Inventory-Revised (ATI-R), in emerging higher education faculty (N = 99) after a professional learning seminar. Latent variable analyses revealed coherent and interpretable changes in the underlying factor structure of the ATI-R, with students demonstrating more differentiated teacher-centred and student-centred concepts after the intervention. These changes are interpreted as a structural revision of approaches to teaching, consistent with conceptual change theories. Our observations not only support the importance of conceptual change in approaches to teaching but point to change mechanisms so that professional learning programmes may explicitly target them mechanisms to effect these desired changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of Neural Machine Translation (NMT), the multi-layer neural network model structure can significantly improve the translation performance. However, the structure of multi-layer neural network has an inherent problem with information transfer degeneracy. To alleviate this problem, this paper proposes an information transfer enhancement method by fusing layers information and sublayers information. By introducing a "retention gate " mechanism to control the fused information transfer weight, which is aggregated wit h the output of the current layer and then serves as the input of the next layer, thus making fuller information transfer between layers. Experiments were carried out on the most advanced NMT model Transformer. Experimental results on the Chinese-English and German English tasks show that our method improves BLEU score by 0. 66, and 0. 42 in comparison to the baseline system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally, the shape memory polymers (SMP)-based information carriers are strongly dependent on the integrity of their bodies, and once the information carriers are damages, their information is lost. In this study, the carbon nanotubes/ethylene-co-vinyl acetate (CNTs/EVA) SMP composite based information carriers with electric- and light-driven modes were prepared by hot-pressing and swelling ultrasonic method. The embedded CNTs layer on the surface of the composites provided condition for Joule effect, which enabled the composites to achieve electric-driven recovery at 50 % pre-strain and could lift 857 times their weight. Since the composites had crystallization-induced elongation and melt-induced contraction performance, the strain range could be accurately controlled by the programmed control of the power supply to achieve information transmission. Combined with the function of strain sensing, the strain signals were generated by the electric-driven and the resistance signals were generated by the light-driven were used as the communication symbol, which are not limited by their physical integrity. This study provides an experimental reference for SMP with multiple driving modes and driving-sensing integration functions, enriches the SMP-based information carrier's processing and transmission modes, and expands the function and application field of SMP. [Display omitted] • The CNT/EVA composites were prepared by hot pressing and swelling-ultrasonic method. • The composites have high sensitivity, large strain detection range, stable and fast response speed. • The composites can generate strain and resistance signal, driven by electricity or light. • The encrypted information can be transmitted through different light and electricity signals. • The composites can be designed into two modes of information transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To capture inter‐shift handoff changes over a 6‐year interval and to verify whether the handoff supporting system and aids (e.g., guidelines, training, and protocols) and environment really affect handoff performance. Design: A non‐experimental cross‐sectional research design. Data from the 2017 and 2011 surveys were used for comparisons. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among nursing staff in 31 general hospitals in 2017 and 4,282 staff responses were collected from inpatient wards such as internal medicine and surgery, the intensive care unit, emergency department and operating room. These were compared with the 1,182 responses collected in the previous 2011 survey. Results: Changes in the 6‐year interval included the introduction of handoff guidelines and increased provision of training. The handoff approach changed significantly and relied more on electronic systems, especially in inpatient wards. However, there was no significant improvement in interruptions. Information transfer improvement was limited and only observed in the surgery wards. Significant correlations verified that in hospitals where nursing staff more positively evaluated the effectiveness of the guidelines, faced fewer interruptions and had more time, handoff performance was better overall, and a higher frequency of sufficient information transfer was evident. Conclusion: Although the inter‐shift handoff supporting system had great changes, improvement of information transfer occurred only in the surgery wards and was limited. It was verified that more effective handoff guidelines and a better handoff environment contributed significantly to improving inter‐shift handoff performance. Impact: This study addressed the question as to whether inter‐shift handoffs have really improved. The answer is yes, but in a limited way. Based on the survey results and handoff practices in Japanese hospitals, a mixed approach (verbal, written, technological) is suggested for inter‐shift handoffs. In addition, it is important to improve the current handoff procedures, guidelines and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new analytic and numerical analysis of signalling games that give rise to informational bottlenecks – that is to say, signalling games with more state/act pairs than available signals to communicate information about the world. I show via simulation that agents learning to coordinate tend to favour partitions of nature which provide maximal information transfer. This is true despite the fact that nothing from an initial analysis of the stability properties of the underlying signalling game suggests that this should be the case. As a first pass to explain this, I note that the underlying structure of our model favours maximal information transfer in regard to the simple combinatorial properties of how the agents might partition nature into kinds. However, I suggest that this does not perfectly capture the empirical results; thus, several open questions remain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective monofunctionalization of substrates with distant, yet equally reactive functional groups is difficult to achieve, as it requires the second functional group to selectively modulate its reactivity once the first functional group has reacted. We now show that mechanically interlocked catalytic rings can effectively regulate the reactivity of stoppering groups in rotaxanes over a distance of about 2 nm. Our mechanism of communication is enabled by a unique interlocked design, which effectively removes the catalytic rings from the substrates by fast dethreading as soon as the first reaction has taken place. Our method not only led to a rare example of selective monofunctionalization, but also to a "molecular if function". Overall, the study presents a way to get distant functional groups to communicate with each other in a reaction‐history‐dependent manner by creating linkers that can ultimately perform logical operations at the molecular level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective monofunctionalization of substrates with distant, yet equally reactive functional groups is difficult to achieve, as it requires the second functional group to selectively modulate its reactivity once the first functional group has reacted. We now show that mechanically interlocked catalytic rings can effectively regulate the reactivity of stoppering groups in rotaxanes over a distance of about 2 nm. Our mechanism of communication is enabled by a unique interlocked design, which effectively removes the catalytic rings from the substrates by fast dethreading as soon as the first reaction has taken place. Our method not only led to a rare example of selective monofunctionalization, but also to a "molecular if function". Overall, the study presents a way to get distant functional groups to communicate with each other in a reaction‐history‐dependent manner by creating linkers that can ultimately perform logical operations at the molecular level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial patterns in moving fish shoals originate from social interactions and are driven by factors that benefit individuals, such as predator avoidance or reduced energy expenditure. How shoaling is influenced by the presence and absence of a flow field is only partially understood. Adopting a reductionist approach, time spent shoaling, shoal structure and information transfer between pairs (the smallest subsystem of a shoal) of Eurasian minnows, Phoxinus phoxinus , were investigated in a recirculating flume in the absence (control) and presence of flow (low and high). Minnows spent more time shoaling under high-flow conditions. The pairs tended to swim in a tandem and side-by-side configuration under static and high flow, respectively, while under low flow, the neighbour's position was more uniformly distributed around the focal fish. Our approach involved analysis of fish accelerations and velocity correlations and indicated that, with the potential for hydrodynamic masking in flowing water, the relative positions adopted reflect the individual's propensity to increase information transfer with its neighbour by visual means so that an energy-efficient configuration can be maintained. Conversely, when the energetic benefits of a side-by-side configuration are lost in the absence of flow, fish limit the costs of the partial visual impediment (on one side) imposed by the presence of a close neighbour by employing a 'follow-the-leader' tactic. • Swimming minnow pairs were recorded in static and flowing water. • Minnow pairs adopted a side-by-side configuration in flowing water. • A side-by-side configuration led to effective bidirectional information transfer. • Shoaling was reduced in the absence of flow and fish adopted positions in tandem. • Information transfer was unidirectional (front-to-back) in tandem configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The current study seeks to present and examine the strategies, management and dissemination of information on social media platforms by Israeli government organizations and agencies. Design/methodology/approach: The article uses the "Case Study" approach, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with directors in charge of the use of social media in government departments. Findings: The findings indicate that government agencies tend to favor Facebook over other social network platforms, in order to reach the widest possible audience. They do this by adhering to the platform's limitations, such as regularly using sponsored advertising to increase reach and visibility, and also by publishing visual content, such as videos and images, at the expense of text. In addition, the impact of respondents to adopt social media outweighs the use and importance awarded to traditional government websites. A clear preference is evident toward cultivating and strengthening existing information on social media at the expense of further developing official websites. Originality/value: Findings and conclusions from this type of research can help digital media directors and content editors in government agencies, to improve the quality of their content and improve the accessibility of the information they share online. In addition, the findings of the study strengthen the growing body of knowledge focused on the relationship between government ministries and social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Missions were established in California in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to convert Native Americans to Christianity and enculturate them into a class of laborers for Californios (Spanish/Mexican settler). The concentration of large numbers of Native Americans at the Missions, along with the introduction of European diseases, led to serious disease problems. Medicinal supplies brought to California by the missionaries were limited in quantity. This situation resulted in an opportunity for the sharing of knowledge of medicinal plants between the Native Americans and the Mission priests. The purpose of this study is to examine the degree to which such sharing of knowledge took place and to understand factors that may have influenced the sharing of medicinal knowledge. The study also examines the sharing of medicinal knowledge between the Native Americans and the Californios following the demise of the California Missions. Methods: Two methods were employed in the study: (1) a comparison of lists of medicinal plants used by various groups (e.g., Native American, Mission priests, Californios) prior to, during, and after the Mission period and (2) a close reading of diaries, reports, and books written by first-hand observers and modern authorities to find accounts of and identify factors influencing the exchange of medicinal information. Results: A comparison of the lists of medicinal plants use by various groups indicated that only a small percentage of medicinal plants were shared by two or more groups. For example, none of the 265 taxa of species used by the Native Americans in pre-Mission times were imported into Spain for medicinal use and only 16 taxa were reported to have been used at the Missions. A larger sharing of information of medicinal plants took place in the post-Mission period when Native Americans were dispersed from the Missions and worked as laborers on the ranches of the Californios. Conclusions: Sharing of information concerning medicinal plants did occur during the Mission period, but the number of documented species was limited. A number of possible factors discouraged this exchange. These include (1) imbalance of power between the priests and the Native Americans, (2) suppression of indigenous knowledge and medical practices by the Mission priests, (3) language barriers, (4) reduction of availability of medicinal herbs around the Mission due to introduced agricultural practices, (5) desire to protect knowledge of medicinal herbs by Native American shaman, (6) administrative structure at the Missions which left little time for direct interaction between the priests and individual Native Americans, (7) loss of knowledge of herbal medicine by the Native Americans over time at the Missions, and (8) limited transportation opportunities for reciprocal the shipment of medicinal plants between California and Spain. Three possible factors were identified that contributed to a greater sharing of information between the Native Americans and the Californios in the post-Mission period. These were (1) more one-to-one interactions between the Californios and the Native Americans, (2) many of the Californios were mestizos whose mothers or grandmothers were Native Americans, and (3) lack of pressure on the part of the Californios to suppress Native American beliefs and medicinal practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More often than not, action potentials fail to trigger neurotransmitter release. And even when neurotransmitter is released, the resulting change in synaptic conductance is highly variable. Given the energetic cost of generating and propagating action potentials, and the importance of information transmission across synapses, this seems both wasteful and inefficient. However, synaptic noise arising from variable transmission can improve, in certain restricted conditions, information transmission. Under broader conditions, it can improve information transmission per release, a quantity that is relevant given the energetic constraints on computing in the brain. Here we discuss the role, both positive and negative, synaptic noise plays in information transmission and computation in the brain. Synaptic transmission is noisy, partially because neurotransmitter release is unreliable but also because synaptic receptor current varies stochastically. When synaptic input is below the cell spike threshold, adding noise may push it above the threshold, thus improving information transmission. Synaptic noise can widen the dynamic range of transmission. Synaptic noise allows synapses to communicate their degree of uncertainty. Noise is a ubiquitous feature of brain activity and is likely to be a critical element in any theory of how the brain works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a way to transfer quantum information of a photonic cat-state qubit (cqubit) between two cavities coupled to an artificial atom. The two logic states of the photonic cqubit here are encoded by two orthogonal cat states (i.e. superpositions of coherent states) of photons. We show that quantum information of one photonic cqubit can be deterministically transferred between two cavities, with a single-step operation only. As a specific example, we numerically analyse the experimental implementation of this proposal, by considering a set-up of two microwave cavities coupled to a superconducting artificial atom. This proposal can also be applied to transfer one-cqubit quantum information between two modes of a quantum field coupled by a natural or artificial atom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic chemistry has drastically progressed during the last few decades. Like in DNA, it is now possible to synthesize abiotic macromolecules with precisely‐controlled sequences of monomers. Artificial systems allowing hybridization and information transfer have been described. Simple metabolism models have also been prepared and investigated. Thus, the creation of minimal artificial life forms appears as a (still relatively far) but possibly reachable objective. In this context, the aim of the present essay is to discuss recent achievement and future challenges towards man‐induced abiogenesis. In terms of polymer design, a synthetic macromolecule that would support Life as DNA do would require at least all the following properties: (i) information‐storage capacity, (ii) information‐transfer ability and (iii) the possibility to evolve through molecular mutations. Recent advances in that direction are summarized herein. However, Life is not only a matter of macromolecular design. In order to operate, a self‐replicator shall co‐exist with other molecules in non‐equilibrium conditions. Hence, systems chemistry aspects are also discussed in this essay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to identify in the literature how the relationships between information flow and informational behavior of users in formal organizations occur. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was performed in order to answer two defined research questions, through a rigorous protocol, which included the identification of the research, the selection of studies, evaluation of study quality, extraction and synthesis of data. The method enables process replication and subsequent peer verification. A total of 608 studies were identified in the Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar databases, which after applying the selection criteria resulted in six approved studies that relate the concepts of information flow and informational behavior in organizations. Of these approved studies, four have direct interference between flow and behavior. Although no approved study cites the concept of formal organization, it has been inferred that some studies dealing with companies and their respective sectors are implicitly addressing formal organizations. It is concluded that of the six publications that met the proposed objective, four address the flow of information as an element that can influence or be influenced by informational behavior in organizations. The relationships between flow and informational behavior in formal organizations are under explored in the literature. Analyzing the details of these relationships is relevant to the field that aims to propose solutions involving these two phenomena in organizational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In urbanized societies that are increasingly disconnected from nature, communicating ecological and species awareness is crucial to revert the global environmental crisis. However, our understanding of the effectiveness of this process is limited. We present a framework for describing how such awareness may be transferred and test it on the popular BBC show Planet Earth 2 by analyzing Twitter and Wikipedia big data activity. Despite lacking explicit conservation themes, this show generated species awareness, stimulating audience engagement for information at magnitudes comparable to those achieved by other conservation‐focused campaigns. Results suggest that natural history films can provide vicarious connections to nature and can generate durable shifts in audience awareness beyond the broadcast of the show—key factors for changing environmental attitudes. More broadly, this study underscores how open‐source big data analysis can inform effective dissemination of ecological awareness and provides a framework for future research for investigating behavioral change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex systems such as the human brain or the Earth's climate consist of many subsystems interacting in intricate, nonlinear ways. Moreover, variability of such systems extends over broad ranges of spatial and temporal scales and dynamical phenomena on different scales also influence each other. In order to explain how to detect cross-scale causal interactions, we review information-theoretic formulation of the Granger causality in combination with computational statistics (surrogate data method) and demonstrate how this method can be used to infer driverresponse relations from amplitudes and phases of coupled nonlinear dynamical systems. Considering complex systems evolving on multiple time scales, the reviewed methodology starts with a wavelet decomposition of a multi-scale signal into quasioscillatory modes of a limited bandwidth, described using their instantaneous phases and amplitudes. Then statistical associations, in particular, causality relations between phases or between phases and amplitudes on different time scales are tested using the conditional mutual information. As an application, we present the analysis of cross-scale interactions and information transfer in the dynamics of the El Niño Southern Oscillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information transfer in generalized probabilistic theories (GPT) is an important problem. We have dealt with the problem based on repeatability postulate, which generalizes Zurek's result to the GPT framework (Wu et al., Phys. Lett. A 379, 2694, 2015). A natural question arises: can we deduce the information transfer result under weaker assumptions? In this paper, we generalize Zurek's result to the framework of GPT using weak repeatability postulate. We show that if distinguishable information can be transferred from a physical system to a series of apparatuses under the weak repeatability postulate in GPT, then the initial states of the physical system must be completely distinguishable. Moreover, after each step of invertible transformation, the composite states of the composite system composed of the physical systems and the apparatuses must also be completely distinguishable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animals can use inadvertent social information to improve fitness‐relevant decisions, for instance about where to forage or with whom to interact. Since bats emit high‐amplitude species‐specific echolocation calls when flying, they provide a constant flow of inadvertent social information to others who can decode that acoustic information. Of particular interest is the rate of feeding buzzes—characteristic call sequences preceding any prey capture—which correlates with insect abundance.Previous studies investigating eavesdropping in bats yielded very different and in part contradictory results likely because they commonly focused on single species only, differed substantially in playback buzz rate and did usually not account for (baseline) conspecific activity. Our goal was to overcome these limitations and systematically test which inadvertent social information bats integrate when eavesdropping on others and how this integration affects space use and both intra‐ and interspecific interactions, respectively.We used a community‐wide approach and investigated the effects of a broad range of playback feeding buzz rates and conspecific activity on eavesdropping responses in 24 bat species combinations in the wild.For the first time, we reveal that finely graded and density‐dependent eavesdropping responses are not limited to particular foraging styles or call types, but instead are ubiquitous among insectivorous bats. All bats integrated social information about calling species identity, prey abundance and conspecific activity to estimate the cost–benefit ratio of prospective interactions, yet in a species‐specific manner. The effect of buzz rate was multifaceted, as bats responded differently to different buzz rates, and responses were additionally modulated by heterospecific recognition. Conspecific activity, in contrast, had a negative effect on the eavesdropping responses of all bats.These findings can explain the inconsistent results of previous studies and advance our understanding of the complex nature of conspecific and heterospecific interactions within bat communities. A comprehensive understanding of how bats incorporate social information into their decision‐making will help researchers to explain species distribution patterns and eventually to unravel mechanisms of species coexistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]