Search

Arachis pintoi (Fabaceae) is a common relative of the cultivated peanut, and folds its four leaflets up to look like one at night. The adaptive significance of this behavior (foliar nyctinasty) is unknown. To test the hypothesis that leaflet folding alone can deter herbivores, a leaf preference experiment was performed on Chromacris trogon grasshoppers. Small oval cutouts were made from leaves of the grasshopper’s preferred food source, Iochroma arborescens (Solanaceae), and were combined with small pieces of tape and dry grass to construct artificial leaves resembling the day and night form of A. pintoi. In the experiment, groups of three grasshoppers were starved for 24 hours and then placed in petri dishes containing one closed and one open artificial leaf. After 30 six-hour trials, the average herbivory of open leaves was 12.3%, while closed leaves was 5.2% (p = 0.00145), indicating a significant preference for open leaves. This suggests that the folded configuration of A. pintoi leaves can be a defense against herbivory.

Facial mimicry, known as the tendency to imitate other individuals' facial muscular movements, is key to establishing successful interpersonal relationships. Studies on various cultures have confirmed this tendency, suggesting that facial mimicry is a universal behavioral pattern in interpersonal communication. However, its cross‐cultural variability is expected because of the influence of cultural norms regarding facial expressions. By focusing on unstructured dyadic interactions, we addressed the unexplored cross‐cultural variability of facial mimicry through a secondary analysis of video data obtained in Japan and Spain and a further analysis of newly collected videos in Taiwan. We also explored the association between the Big Five personality traits and facial mimicry cross‐culturally. To measure facial mimicry, the intensity of each facial action unit movement was quantified using OpenFace, which underwent multidimensional dynamic time warping. First, employing the pseudo‐synchrony paradigm of random data shuffling, we confirmed that interactants displayed facial mimicry beyond chance during their conversation. Second, we found that the extent of mimicry was significantly different among the three cultures; that is, interactants from East Asian cultures (Taiwan, Japan) showed a greater extent of mimicry than those from Western cultures (Spain) even after controlling for unbalanced gender composition in the data. Third, conscientiousness was significantly associated with the degree of mimicry. However, the association between personality traits and mimicry was not consistent across cultures. Overall, this study discusses the importance of cross‐cultural research in facial mimicry, as in the study of facial expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite Batesian mimicry often eliciting predator avoidance, many Batesian mimics, such as some species of hoverfly (Syrphidae), are considered to have an "imperfect" resemblance to their model. One possible explanation for the persistence of apparently imperfect mimicry is that human perceptions of mimicry are different from those of natural predators. Natural predators of hoverflies have different visual and cognitive systems from humans, and they may encounter mimics in a different way. For example, whilst humans often encounter hoverflies at rest on vegetation, or in photographs or textbooks, where they are typically viewed from above, natural predators may approach hoverflies from the side or below. To test how viewing angle affects the perception of mimicry, images of mimetic hoverflies and their models (wasps and bees) were shown from different angles in an online survey. Participants were asked to distinguish between the images of models and mimics. The results show that the viewing angle does affect perceived mimicry in some species, although it does not provide a complete explanation for the persistence of imperfect mimicry in nature. The effect is also highly species-specific. This suggests that to understand better how selection has shaped mimetic accuracy in hoverflies and other taxa, further study is required of the viewing angles that predators utilize most commonly in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers tend to abandon or avoid using a product when they become aware that it is being imitated by others. However, little is known about how or why such reactions may vary based on whether the mimicker belongs to the consumers' dissociative group or membership group. This study proposes that consumers respond to mimickers from different social groups through the use of brands: horizontal or vertical differentiation. Across five studies, we show that when consumers are mimicked by a dissociative group (membership group), it results in feelings of self-identity threat (distinctiveness-threat). This, in turn, increases their desire for self-expression (a higher status position among brand users) and subsequently heightens the preference for horizontal (vertical) brands. These effects are mitigated when the mimicry domain has low identity-relevance and when the imitated person feels powerful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infants' nonverbal expressions—a broad smile or a sharp cry—are powerful at eliciting reactions. Although parents' reactions to their own infants' expressions are relatively well understood, here we studied whether adults more generally exhibit behavioral and physiological reactions to unfamiliar infants producing various expressions. We recruited U.S. emerging adults (N = 84) prior to parenthood, 18–25 years old, 68% women, ethnically (20% Hispanic/Latino) and racially (7% Asian, 13% Black, 1% Middle Eastern, 70% White, 8% multiracial) diverse. They observed four 80‐s audio–video clips of unfamiliar 2‐ to 6‐month‐olds crying, smiling, yawning, and sitting calmly (emotionally neutral control). Each compilation video depicted 9 different infants (36 clips total). We found adults mirrored behaviorally and physiologically: more positive facial expressions to infants smiling, and more negative facial expressions and pupil dilation—indicating increases in arousal—to infants crying. Adults also yawned more and had more pupil dilation when observing infants yawning. Together, these findings suggest that even nonparent emerging adults are highly sensitive to unfamiliar infants' expressions, which they naturally "catch" (i.e., behaviorally and physiologically mirror), even without instructions. Such sensitivity may have—over the course of humans' evolutionary history—been selected for, to facilitate adults' processing of preverbal infants' expressions to meet their needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review article provides an overview of papers that have studied body movement mirroring and synchrony within the field of human-robot interaction. The papers included in this review cover system studies, which focus on evaluating the technical aspects of mirroring and synchrony robotic systems, and user studies, which focus on measuring particular interaction outcomes or attitudes towards robots expressing mirroring and synchrony behaviors. We review the papers in terms of the employed robotic platforms and the focus on parts of the body, the techniques used to sense and react to human motion, the evaluation methods, the intended applications of the human-robot interaction systems and the scenarios utilized in user studies. Finally, challenges and possible future directions are considered and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Smiling during conversation occurs interactively between people and is known to build good interpersonal relationships. However, whether and how much the amount that an individual smiles is influenced by the other person's smile has remained unclear. This study aimed to quantify the amount of two individuals' smiles during conversations and investigate the dependency of one's smile amount (i.e., intensity and frequency) on that of the other. Method: Forty participants (20 females) engaged in three-minute face-toface conversations as speakers with a listener (male or female), under three conditions, where the amount of smiling response by listeners was controlled as "less," "moderate," and "greater." The amount of the smiles was quantified based on their facial movements through automated facial expression analysis. Results: The results showed that the amount of smiling by the speaker changed significantly depending on the listener's smile amount; when the listeners smiled to a greater extent, the speakers tended to smile more, especially when they were of the same gender (i.e., male-male and female-female pairs). Further analysis revealed that the smiling intensities of the two individuals changed in a temporally synchronized manner. Discussion: These results provide quantitative evidence for the dependence of one's smile on the other's smile, and the differential effect between gender pairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research history of fossil Phasmatodea is reviewed in this paper, focusing on the current status of taxonomic and phylogenetic studies. The diversity, localities and ages of all reported fossil taxa of Phasmatodea all over the world are overviewed. The mimicry and defense behavior revealed by Phasmatodea fossils are summarized, involving their early evolution of wings and mimicry related body characters. The existing problems in the studies of fossil Phasmatodea are discussed, along with an outlook on future research of Phasmatodea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Philohydor lictor is a Neotropical tyrant flycatcher that belongs to a kiskadee-like mimetic system. This system encompasses seven genera with at least one species with strikingly similar plumage patterns, in which smaller species mimic larger species to deceive predators. The reproduction of P. lictor is poorly known, and misidentification of its nests and eggs with other species with similar plumage may be common, creating confusion between them. Here, we aim to summarise the knowledge about its reproductive biology and highlight the common pitfalls in gathering information on mimetic species in citizen science, literature, and museum databases. We assembled 106 reproductive records from between 1898 and 2023, of which 49 were from citizen science, 37 were from the literature, and 20 were from museum egg collections. Most reproductive records were from Panama (31.3%, N = 26) and Brazil (25.3%, N = 21). Egg-laying mainly occurred in the first half of the year and peaked when monthly total precipitation was between 150 and 300 mm (40%, N = 16). Nests were loose cups placed on vegetation near water and built with dry twigs, roots, and tendrils lined with fine twigs. Eggs from museum collections measured 20.9 × 16.1 mm (N = 23). Misidentified records comprised 21.7% (N = 23) of total breeding records and mainly occurred in <1935 museum egg collections. Misidentifications included records of domed nests, eggs larger than expected for the species' body size, and records from outside the species' range. These results stress that studies of reproductive biology of mimetic species based on citizen science, literature, and museum datasets are not straightforward, and data should be refined by validation procedures. These validations should include verification that records fall inside the species' geographic range, include correct description of nests, and match egg size with adult body size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functions of bright bands in coral and other snakes have long been a puzzle. The most common opinion is that coral snakes display aposematic marks and that other red and black banded snakes in the Americas are mimics of coral snakes. I previously found that this prevailing opinion is weakly supported and unlikely, that red and bands had probably evolved independently or conjointly many times, and that a present selection for bands and red seems to exist in a significant fraction of the world. Here, I review the potential selective forces for red and bands in snakes. I find that snakes as predators are a priori plausible selective agents. I find that ophiophagy appears to be an exceptionally high risk in snakes that are themselves ophiophagous. Testing the working hypothesis that bands and red are protective against snake predators via their association with ophiophagy, as ophiophagous snakes are at higher risk, I find that the consumption of elongate vertebrates predicts band and red coloration with a very high level of confidence: red and bands are probably defensive against snake predators. Noting an apparent correlation of coloration with specific defensive behaviours and ontogenetic colour changes, I review both and find that ophiophagous snakes are remarkable for using stereotypical defences and not being aggressive, while ontogenetic colour changes seem to affect red and bands in snakes disproportionately. Defence against ophidian predators may be an unexpected natural selection shaping the appearance and behaviours of many snakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functions of bright bands in coral and other snakes have long been a puzzle. The most common opinion is that coral snakes display aposematic marks and that other red and black banded snakes in the Americas are mimics of coral snakes. Although supported by some evidence, the notion comes with unresolved difficulties. Here, I review the proposed functions of the colour of coral snakes and similar-coloured snakes, taking a more comprehensive view than usual, from the plausibility of aposematism in coral snakes to the apparent existence of a selective force for red and black banded patterns across the world. Theoretical models of the maintenance of aposematic signals do not seem applicable, hence aposematism has a low a priori plausibility in coral snakes. Evidence of avoidance is weak, field studies rely on unsettled methods and do not reproduce well, and two laboratory studies reporting strong innate fear are questioned. Coral snakes predict the geography and richness of 'mimics' in the Americas, but not in line with expectations. Conversely, polymorphism and evidence of local selection and of a worldwide selective force for patterns similar to coral snakes, including complex banded patterns, contradicts aposematism and mimicry and points to an undefined alternative. In summary, aposematism and mimicry fail on too many fronts to be sustained, existing alternatives also fail to be supported sufficiently, and hypotheses need to be formulated to account for the widespread selection for red and black bands and for complex banded patterns in snakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functions of bright bands in coral and other snakes have long been a puzzle. A common opinion is that coral snakes display aposematic marks and that other red and black banded snakes in the Americas are mimics of coral snakes. In two previous reviews, I challenged this prevailing opinion and showed that red and bands are probably defensive against snake predators. Here, I offer a plausible mechanisms through which red and bands could be protective against ophidian predators: the function of bands is to interfere with the focusing ability of snakes, which eyes, as in fish, rely on a ball lens that moves back and forth, a peculiarity among terrestrial vertebrates. Simulations show how the spherical aberrations created by ball lenses produce local maxima in contrast when out of focus, which would feel in focus. I conjecture that red targets specific visual receptors in snakes active in low light: these receptors would have a slow and saturating response. This conjecture is justified by the lability of vision in snakes and the overabundance of red light in dim light. Those conjectures allow precise and well-respected predictions and credibly explain a wide range of observations, such as the geographical repartition of tricolour snakes, the evolution of triadal patterns, the evolution of specific triadal-like patterns in some Erythrolamprus , and the repeated evolution of black and white banded snakes with a red dorsal line. Fish eyes have similar optics, and the function of the ubiquitous fish bands could likewise be to interfere with the vision of predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-verbal mimicry (i.e., being posturally similar by copying another person's body language) has been shown to increase evaluations of the mimicker. Concurrently, extensive research in social psychology has demonstrated a negative effect on interpersonal evaluations when one perceives others as cognitively dissimilar, often resulting in interpersonal conflicts. Across two experiments (Experiment 1: N = 159, Experiment 2: N = 144), we tested our hypotheses that mimicry, compared with no mimicry, will make mimickers come across as more likable and competent regardless of whether they were perceived as cognitively dissimilar or not (Experiment 1) and regardless of the extent to which they were perceived as cognitively dissimilar (Experiment 2). Broadly, we found support for our hypotheses, and via mediation sensitivity analyses, we found that the effect of mimicry, at least for likability, was mediated by participants' perceived personal similarity to the mimicker. Non-verbal mimicry may thus be one way of alleviating interpersonal conflicts via increasing perceptions of personal similarity regardless of initial cognitive dissimilarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy is a complex, multi‐dimensional capacity that facilitates the sharing and understanding of others' emotions. As our closest living relatives, bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (P. troglodytes) provide an opportunity to explore the origins of hominin social cognition, including empathy. Despite certain assumptions that bonobos and chimpanzees may differ empathically, these species appear to overlap considerably in certain socio‐emotional responses related to empathy. However, few studies have systematically tested for species variation in Pan empathic or socio‐emotional tendencies. To address this, we synthesise the growing literature on Pan empathy to inform our understanding of the selection pressures that may underlie the evolution of hominin empathy, and its expression in our last common ancestor. As bonobos and chimpanzees show overlaps in their expression of complex socio‐emotional phenomena such as empathy, we propose that group comparisons may be as or more meaningful than species comparisons when it comes to understanding the evolutionary pressures for such behaviour. Furthermore, key differences, such as how humans and Pan communicate, appear to distinguish how we experience empathy compared to our closest living relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whiteface is a staged embodiment of whiteness; it is the act of ‘dressing up’ as whiteness/a white person. For the Senegalese artist Samba Sine, this means painting himself white and putting on a French accent. This article examines one of Sine’s whiteface performances, Tajabóon Tubaab (A White/Foreign Tajaboon) (2011), and argues that whiteface, as a form of mimicry, has the power to circumscribe self-censorship and to critique postcolonial whiteness. In doing so, I draw upon Bernard Noël’s concept of sensure, which can be described as a form of self-censorship in which speech/texts are allowed to exist but remain void of meaning. The interview I conducted with Sine, representative of such self-censorship, appears as a clear antithesis to Tajabóon Tubaab and its critique of postcolonial whiteness. Mimicry, as theorized by Homi K. Bhabha, is therefore extended into a reflection on Senegalese whiteface as a means to overcome self-censorship. Whiteface, as performative mimicry, circumvents sensure, therefore replacing meaning into the text. Mimicry can legitimize imperial whiteness, but when performative, can also ensure the voicing of marginalized ideas. It is especially through temporary embodiment of power figures, through the donning of the white mask, that an artist can present a disturbing, displacing gaze. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent to which evolution is repeatable has been a debated topic among evolutionary biologists. Although rewinding the tape of life perhaps would not lead to the same outcome every time, repeated evolution of analogous genes for similar functions has been extensively reported. Wing phenotypes of butterflies and moths have provided a wealth of examples of gene re-use, with certain 'hotspot loci' controlling wing patterns across diverse taxa. Here, we present an example of convergent evolution in the molecular genetic basis of Batesian wing mimicry in two Hypolimnas butterfly species. We show that mimicry is controlled by variation near cortex/ivory/mir-193, a known butterfly hotspot locus. By dissecting the genetic architecture of mimicry in Hypolimnas misippus and Hypolimnas bolina, we present evidence that distinct non-coding regions control the development of white pattern elements in the forewing and hindwing of the two species, suggesting independent evolution, and that no structural variation is found at the locus. Finally, we also show that orange coloration in H. bolina is associated with optix, a well-known patterning gene. Overall, our study once again implicates variation near the hotspot loci cortex/ivory/mir-193 and optix in butterfly wing mimicry and thereby highlights the repeatability of adaptive evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae and the respiratory tract, the entry point of leprosy. A 29-year-old man was diagnosed with a sinonasal tumor based on a history of chronic rhinosinusitis symptoms and planned to undergo surgery. Before surgery, the patient was referred to a dermatologist for complaints of generalized erythematous nodules with pain and was diagnosed with leprosy based on histopathologic examination. After three weeks of treatment, the patient's condition improved significantly in both skin lesions and sinonasal tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mimicry, the superficial resemblance between organisms of two or more species, is considered a textbook example for natural selection, for which it is assumed that predators are important selective agents. Ant mimicking spiders have received considerable attention in studies on mimicry because they include examples with remarkable, species‐specific morphological adaptations. Ant‐like behaviours such as erratic locomotory patterns, abdomen bobbing and vertical movements of the first or second pair of legs to imitate antennal movements, are assumed to have evolved before morphological mimicry and may be considered adaptations to general ant resemblance. Species‐specific behavioural ant mimicry (behaviour that is only observed in specific ants and imitated by their mimics) was very rarely documented and ant resembling behaviour that repels predator attacks has not been confirmed yet. In this study we report and discuss such species‐specific behaviour, a spray display (SD), in the castianeirine spiders Myrmecotypus iguazu (a morphologically accurate mimic of the carpenter ant Camponotus sericeiventris), and M. tahyinandu (a morphologically accurate mimic of C. crassus). The SD consisted of the raising of the cephalothorax and moving of the abdomen ventrally under the cephalothorax, pointing the apex forward, and holding the antennae (ant) or first pair of legs (spiders) at an angle of about 45°–120°. The morphological adaptations that are required to perform the SD and the lack of an alternative explanation for the purpose of this display suggest that the SD has evolved to enhance both general behavioural and morphologically accurate ant resemblance. The two observed Myrmecotypus species may be considered the behaviorally most accurate ant‐resembling spiders known to date, as the SD may provide protection against spider‐ and ant‐eating predators at a point in predator interactions where other myrmecomorph spiders may abandon their ant‐resembling behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer problems are frequently associated with difficulties in recognizing and appraising the emotions of others. It has been argued that facial responsiveness to others' emotions—or motor empathy—is a precursor of emotion processing and affective empathy. Although mimicry impairments have been observed in studies of young people with conduct problems, to our knowledge no study has examined facial responsiveness to others' expressions in young children and examined how this relates to peer relationship problems. Four- to 7-year-old children (n = 91) with or without teacher-reported peer relationship problems (Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire) viewed three dynamic film clips depicting a sad, happy, or scared child, while their spontaneous facial emotional responses were assessed using iMotions software that codes the movement of facial muscles. Children displayed facial expressivity that was congruent with the emotional expressions in the clips. Groups with and without peer problems did not differ in their responses to seeing a happy child. However, children with peer problems exhibited reduced or atypical facial emotional responses to the negative emotional clips. Decreased or atypical facial expressivity to negative emotions was also associated with severity of peer problems; atypical facial responsivity to sadness and reduced facial responsivity to fear predicted peer problems independently of one another. We conclude that reduced or atypical facial expressiveness in response to other children's dynamic facial expressions is associated with problematic peer relations in young children. The implications for early identification and interventions to support prosocial development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether mimicking an interaction partner is universally advantageous or, provided the mimicry is particularly strong, whether it has detrimental impacts on interpersonal and negotiation outcomes. Participants interacted with a confederate who engaged in no, subtle, or strong mimicry and then negotiated. In laboratory Experiment 1 (N = 71) and Experiment 2 (N = 149), subtly (vs. not) mimicked participants liked the confederate more, while strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants liked and trusted less. In Experiment 2, strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants were less susceptible to the first-offer anchor. The online Experiment 3 (N = 180) corroborated the too-much-mimicry effect: When participants became aware of mimicry, it exerted detrimental effects on liking and trust irrespective of the experimental condition. Experiment 1 and Experiment 3 found no too-much-mimicry effect on anchoring susceptibility. These findings show that (a) sufficiently subtle mimicry positively influences interpersonal outcomes and (b) too much mimicry backfires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karma is a short story by Indian author Khushwant Singh. In this short story the writer has deftly mastered the skills of criticizing the Indians who hate or demean their own culture, especially the diaspora ones. Diasporas are the people who migrate from their motherland to other countries for various purposes. (Bill Ashcroft et. al. 2013) Exposure to multiple cultures make them ambivalent. They feel themselves lost in diverse cultural encounters. They suffer in inferiority complex. Being in different high cultural atmosphere they tend to hide their own selffelt low cultural identity. This cultural hegemony leads them to dilemma- a state of ambivalence in them. This identity crisis results in seer mimicry of the western culture. Mimicry is the process of reproducing as the almost same but not the quite. (Homi Bhabha, 1994) Through mimicking they alienate themselves from their own culture. The protagonist Mohan Lal is the exemplary instance of all the matters of discussion. This paper will investigate that the central character Sir Mohan Lal is an anglophile and a mimic man who through showing positive attitude towards British culture drives himself far from his own Indian culture. This cultural hybridity and alienation bring untold miseries and troubles to him at the end. Mohan Lal, a hybrid, lost his identity in the long run and was thrown away for despising his own culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new genus Femotyche gen. nov. is described to accommodate two new species from Western Australia: Femotyche kerryae sp. nov. from Perth area and Femotyche hortorum sp. nov. from York. Illustrations of male and female type specimens and a distribution map are provided. The male terminalia as well as the female terminalia, habitat, host plant and live specimens of the new species are illustrated when available. The tribe Cleotychini now contains two genera, the genus Cleotyche Emeljanov, 1997 with two subgenera and five species and the genus Femotyche gen. nov. with two species. Data are provided on an additional, undescribed genus from the same geographic area, recorded from two species known only from photographs.

This article examines the travel account written by Raden Ajoe Abdoerachman, the wife of a senior native official, the Regent of Meester Cornelis (Jatinegara), Raden Aria Abdoerachman, who, with his family, was sent at the expense of the colonial government to the Netherlands to study agricultural practices in 1928. The account shows the colonial subject’s admiration for and mimicry of European behaviour and practices, but occasional ironic comments show her ambivalence towards some institutions in the Netherlands while at the same time she also criticises unfair representations of Indonesia.

The genus Tricondylomimus Chopard, 1930 (Mantodea, Gonypetidae) is reported for the first time from India with the species T. coomani Chopard, 1930, based on a female specimen collected from Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India. This species was earlier reported only from Vietnam in the Oriental region. This is the third species of the tribe Iridopterigini (Gonypetidae, Iridopteriginae) that occurred in India. The extension in the distribution of the genus points to the high chances of T. coomani being reported from adjacent countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. The geographical distribution of T. coomani and its resemblance with another group of insects is briefly discussed.

Background: Human Herpes Virus 8 (HHV-8) is involved in autoimmunity. However, its association with advanced liver disease has not been fully explained. Herein, the prevalence of HHV-8 viremia was assessed in Iranian liver transplant candidates with a confirmed diagnosis of cirrhosis. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 230 patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis, virus-related cirrhosis, and autoimmune hepatitis, as well as 140 healthy blood donors from April 2022 to September 2023. The HHV-8 IgG antibody concentration and viral load were evaluated via ELISA and RT‒PCR, respectively. Results: Anti-HHV-8 IgG antibodies were detected in 25 cirrhotic patients (10.8 %) and four healthy individuals (2.6 %) (p = 0.022). The majority of the seropositive patients had cryptogenic cirrhosis (20.4 %), followed by autoimmune hepatitis (13.1 %) and virus-related cirrhosis (4.7 %). The seropositivity of HHV-8 IgG antibody was significantly different among the etiologies of liver cirrhosis (p = 0.011). However, HHV-8 genomic DNA was not detected in the sera of the patients or healthy blood donors. Conclusion: The role of HHV-8 infection in the development of posttransplant diseases, together with the higher seroprevalence of HHV-8 antibodies in cirrhotic patients than in healthy individuals, highlights the importance of both primary and latent infections in liver transplantation. Therefore, serological and molecular screening of HHV-8 is highly suggested for liver transplant candidates and organ donors. The possibility of antibody-mediated epitope mimicry in cryptogenic and autoimmune groups with moderate HHV-8 antibody positivity and negative viral loads may account for the development of advanced liver diseases.

The natural process of mimicking the facial expressions of others is well established, as are the deficits in this reflexive behavior for individuals with clinical disorders such as depression. This study examines the extent of this deficit in non-clinical individuals with high transient negative mood, and whether it extends to both automatic and effortful emotion expression behavior. One hundred and thirty-six participants were shown happy, sad, and neutral faces, while electromyography (EMG) recorded facial muscle responses. Automatic (reflexive) mimicry was assessed while participants simply viewed facially expressive photographs, while effortful mimicry was monitored when individuals were told to intentionally copy the expressions in the photographs. Results indicated that high levels of negative mood were primarily associated with deficits in effortful mimicry of happy expressions, although some similar evidence was found in automatic mimicry of happy faces. Surprisingly, there were also ties between negative moods and inaccuracies in effortful mimicry of sad expressions (but not automatic mimicry). Inaccurate automatic and effortful mimicry were also tied with lower self-reported social support and greater loneliness. These results indicate that even in healthy individuals, transient and minor changes in negative mood are tied to deficiencies in facial mimicry at both the automatic and effortful level.

Background/Purpose: To describe a case of bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation (BDUMP) that was mistaken for nivolumab-induced Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease-like syndrome. Methods: We present the case of a 58-year-old white man with metastatic renal clear cell carcinoma for which he was palliatively treated with IV nivolumab immunotherapy. The patient developed subacute onset of blurry vision and gray spots in the visual fields of both eyes, macular subretinal fluid, thickening of the retinal pigment epithelium, and swollen optic nerve heads. Differential diagnosis included nivolumab-induced Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease-like syndrome, and the patient was initially treated with steroids, which gave no improvement. Investigation showed the development of dark-gray patches in the peripheral retina of both eyes and cataract, which prompted reevaluation of the diagnosis, deeming BDUMP most likely. The patient was successfully treated with plasmapheresis. Results: The initial presentation of the case was incorrectly diagnosed as nivolumabinduced Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease-like syndrome. On repeat studies of the patients' symptoms and imaging, we concluded we had missed signs of BDUMP. Conclusion: The diagnosis BDUMP was missed in the first evaluation. We present this case to discuss the similarities and differences between this disease and nivolumabinduced Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease-like syndrome. More importantly, we want to highlight that reevaluation of the diagnosis on worsening of a disease was key in this unusual case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unionoid freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) are free-living apart from a brief, obligately parasitic, larval stage that infects fish hosts, and gravid female mussels have evolved a spectrum of strategies to infect fish hosts with their larvae. In many North American species, this involves displaying a mantle lure: a pigmented fleshy extension that acts as an aggressive mimic of a host fish prey, thereby eliciting a feeding response that results in host infection. The mantle lure of Lampsilis fasciola is of particular interest because it is apparently polymorphic, with two distinct primary lure phenotypes. One, described as "darter-like", has "eyespots", a mottled body coloration, prominent marginal extensions, and a distinct "tail". The other, described as "worm-like", lacks those features and has an orange and black coloration. We investigated this phenomenon using genomics, captive rearing, biogeographic, and behavioral analyses. Within-brood lure variation and within-population phylogenomic (ddRAD-seq) analyses of individuals bearing different lures confirmed that this phenomenon is a true polymorphism. The relative abundance of the two morphs appears stable over ecological timeframes: the ratio of the two lure phenotypes in a River Raisin (MI) population in 2017 was consistent with that of museum samples collected at the same site six decades earlier. Within the River Raisin, four main "darter-like" lure motifs visually approximated four co-occurring darter species (Etheostoma blennioides, E. exile, E. microperca, and Percina maculata), and the "worm-like" lure resembled a widespread common leech, Macrobdella decora. Darters and leeches are typical prey of Micropterus dolomieui (smallmouth bass), the primary fish host of L. fasciola. In situ field recordings of the L. fasciola "darter" and "leech" lure display behaviors, and the lure display of co-occurring congener L. cardium, were captured. Despite having putative models in distinct phyla, both L. fasciola lure morphs have largely similar display behaviors that differ significantly from that of sympatric L. cardium individuals. Some minor differences in the behavior between the two L. fasciola morphs were observed, but we found no clear evidence for a behavioral component of the polymorphism given the criteria measured. Discovery of discrete within-brood inheritance of the lure polymorphism implies potential control by a single genetic locus and identifies L. fasciola as a promising study system to identify regulatory genes controlling a key adaptive trait of freshwater mussels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Mimicry is the phenomenon in which one species (the mimic) closely resembles another (the model), enhancing its own fitness by deceiving a third party into interacting with it as if it were the model. In plants, mimicry is used primarily to gain fitness by withholding rewards from mutualists or deterring herbivores cost‐effectively. While extensive work has been documented on putative defence mimicry, limited investigation has been conducted in the field of chemical mimicry.In this study, we used field experiments, chemical analyses, behavioural assays, and electrophysiology, to test the hypothesis that the birthwort Aristolochia delavayi employs chemical mimicry by releasing leaf scent that closely resembles stink bug defensive compounds and repels vertebrate herbivores.We show that A. delavayi leaf scent is chemically and functionally similar to the generalized defensive volatiles of stink bugs and that the scent effectively deters vertebrate herbivores, likely through the activation of TRPA1 channels via (E)‐2‐alkenal compounds.This study provides an unequivocal example of chemical mimicry in plants, revealing intricate dynamics between plants and vertebrate herbivores. Our study underscores the potency of chemical volatiles in countering vertebrate herbivory, urging further research to uncover their potentially underestimated importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian novelist, Maitreyi Devi's account of her love story with Romanian novelist, Mircea Eliade came out in 1974 as Na Hanyate in the Bengali language and its English version was titled It Does Not Die in 1976 by the author herself. Following Nirmala Menon's critical insights on Bhabha's (post)colonial hybridity discourse, this study aims to reinterpret the novel as an illustrative text of postcolonial "interrogative hybridity." Devi employs hybridity in such a way that it unsettles a linear narrative with constant shifts in focus and style. It is upheld that her ingenious hybridity originates from her position as an off-center postcolonial female writer who critiques colonial stereotypes and mimicry by revisiting/challenging colonial discourse constructed against the colonized by the colonizers. Hence, the study explores how her novel is a postcolonial hybrid counter-narrative text to colonial fantasies. To conclude, postcolonial hybridity can only problematize colonial individuations and representations, if it reverses the seemingly sound effects of colonial discourse in such a way that "other 'denied' knowledges" enter upon the dominant discourse and estrange the basis of its authority--its rules of recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper examines Nadine Gordimer's The Conservationist (1974) in order to present a postcolonial reading of it in light of Homi K. Bhabha's ideas. It firstly discusses the significance of this novel and its narrative style, along with its context (Apartheid and the Zulu culture). Then it examines the central characters (Mehring and Jacobus) with the help of Bhabha's key concepts of hybridity and mimicry. The paper analyzes the relationship between the foreign white master, Mehring, and his native black servants, and underlines that the displaced colonial subjects (such as Jacobus) can, through mimicry, defy the oppression of imperial hegemony from within. In the text of Gordimer's novel we can witness the formation of new cultural hybrids. It is characteristic of Gordimer's fiction to reflect upon interactions between European and indigenous cultures. It is also argued that the funeral at the very end of the novel is in fact a transformation; for one, it brings about a change of focus and the readers shall end the novel bearing the memory of the black man in their minds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predators often use deception to exploit sensory and cognitive biases in prey. In pollinating insects, these include preferences for conspicuous colours associated with flowers, which predators such as orb‐web spiders display as prey lures. Theory predicts that deceptive signal efficacy should covary with both their perceptual similarity and physical proximity to the resources—here, flowers—whose cues they are imitating. Here I used the colour‐polymorphic jewelled spider Gasteracantha fornicata to test this prediction. I first examined spiders' capture success in the field, and found their visual resemblance and physical proximity to flowers interacted to mediate capture rates, with colour‐similarity becoming increasingly important as the distance between spiders and flowers decreased. I then replicated this interaction experimentally. Spiders adjacent to colour‐matched flowers enjoyed heightened capture success relative to those with nearby but colour‐mismatched flowers. While spiders with flowers placed at a distance (irrespective of colour) recorded the fewest captures. These results support 'neighbourhood' effects in aggressive deception as receivers' vulnerability to exploitation is mediated by the local signalling community. More generally, they emphasise the importance of the broader information landscape in the ecology of communication, and suggest misinformation is most effective when physically and perceptually proximate to the truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypolimnas misippus is a Batesian mimic of the toxic African Queen butterfly (Danaus chrysippus). Female H. misippus butterflies use two major wing patterning loci (M and A) to imitate three color morphs of D. chrysippus found in different regions of Africa. In this study, we examine the evolution of the M locus and identify it as an example of adaptive atavism. This phenomenon involves a morphological reversion to an ancestral character that results in an adaptive phenotype. We show that H. misippus has re-evolved an ancestral wing pattern present in other Hypolimnas species, repurposing it for Batesian mimicry of a D. chrysippus morph. Using haplotagging, a linked-read sequencing technology, and our new analytical tool, Wrath, we discover two large transposable element insertions located at the M locus and establish that these insertions are present in the dominant allele responsible for producing mimetic phenotype. By conducting a comparative analysis involving additional Hypolimnas species, we demonstrate that the dominant allele is derived. This suggests that, in the derived allele, the transposable elements disrupt a cis-regulatory element, leading to the reversion to an ancestral phenotype that is then utilized for Batesian mimicry of a distinct model, a different morph of D. chrysippus. Our findings present a compelling instance of convergent evolution and adaptive atavism, in which the same pattern element has independently evolved multiple times in Hypolimnas butterflies, repeatedly playing a role in Batesian mimicry of diverse model species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When making decisions about their commitments to environmental practices and performance, suppliers face heterogenous institutional logics and their diverse prescriptions for action. How do suppliers respond to such institutional complexity? We examine this question in the context of suppliers' voluntary public environmental disclosures (disclosure). Specifically, our study assembles a unique panel data set of global manufacturing suppliers and their annual contractual relationships with buyers. Building on the institutional logics perspective and the sustainable supply network literature, we hypothesize that suppliers selectively mimic the disclosure of their buyers by following market, corporate, and sustainability logics. Our study contributes to the institutional logics perspective and the sustainable supply network literature by indicating that in the context of disclosure, market and sustainability logics both actively shape suppliers' responses to institutional complexity. Furthermore, we find support for mimicry as a mechanism of buyer influence that can lead to disclosure heterogeneity across suppliers even when they follow the same logic, which opens new avenues for research. Our findings can be leveraged by buyers, policymakers, and other stakeholders interested in advancing transparency and sustainability in supply networks. Highlights: Buyers should become aware of how they are embedded in their extended supply network to determine whether they, or their peers, may exert greater influence through a mimetic mechanism.Besides selection, coercion, and collaboration, most profitable buyers and most sustainable buyers can leverage mimicry as an important mechanism of influence, especially in the context of economically ambiguous practices.An informed understanding of institutional logics can help buyers, policymakers, and other interested stakeholders to interpret and leverage the forces shaping the environmental sustainability of supply networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three decades of discourse on rising emerging nations have failed to produce a theory of emerging multinational-led emancipation. This paper draws on the case of Huawei in China and the European Union (1987–2020) to theorize multinationals' role in writing back an emancipating imaginary from the Global South to the Global North. Combining postcolonial theory of the multinational as a hybrid space, and a post-Gramscian lens on the multinational as a counter-hegemonic agent, I theorize the multinational as a "writing-back myth-prince." The lens of a multinational as a writing-back agent and space from the global south radically broadens the emancipatory potential of the key postcolonial concept mimicry. It also affords a view on emancipation beyond the opposites and distincts of very different subject positions in the Global South and North. I identify four writing back phases, each of which involves the political and fantasmatic articulation of an emancipating imaginary from the Global South. I develop critical explanations of the four writing back phases, insofar as they reproduce inequality, disenfranchisement and oppression, and weaken the multinational as a space and agent of hybridity rather than essentialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Woman Warrior and China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston portray abject identity. Kingston’s Chinese American family in the novels seek to establish a superior identity over both the Americans, other Chinese people, and even their children who were born in America. This is apparent from the way the family views the white Americans and other Chinese people as ghosts and peasants respectively, hence displaying an ambivalence in regard to identity. By using the framework of feminist narratology and theories of abjection, mimicry, and identity, this article shows how identity as abject is realized through mimicry and displacement in the two novels. This article argues that Kingston’s Chinese American family disrespects while also reinforces the borders of identity. Because of their partial representation of identity, they are permanently displaced. Moreover, while they abject other identities to establish themselves, their own ambivalence makes them the abject that possesses a flexible identity.

Abstract A new species of Corydoras is described from the Itaya and Nanay river basins, tributaries of the Río Amazonas in Peru. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the following features: (I) branch of the temporal sensory canal at sphenotic, which gives rise to the supraorbital canal, with two pores, (II) upper tooth plate of branchial arch with three series of teeth, (III) area at the corner of the mouth, ventral to the maxillary barbel, with a small, triangular fleshy flap, which may variably present a small prolongation at its posterior tip, forming a short barbel-like structure, (IV) a conspicuous dark brown or black patch transversally crossing the orbit, forming a mask-like blotch, (V) absence of a distinct color pattern along midline of flank, (VI) dorsolateral body plates only with small, irregular, rounded or vertically elongated dark brown or black blotches; ground color of plates typically light yellow or beige, (VII) absence of a relatively large, conspicuous dark blotch on anterior portion of dorsal fin, and (VIII) ossified portion of hypobranchial 2 ranging from moderately developed to well developed.

The paper analyses instances of mimicry as they appear in Danticat’s historiographic fiction, The Farming of Bones. More specifically, it will examine why and how some characters appear accomplices in the brutal Parsley Massacre provoked by the Trujillo regime. Besides its literary dimension, the analysis can be said to be relevant from a cultural and socio-historical perspective as well because it seeks to reveal the emergence of a process which will be called inner colonisation and a new version of the native informant, which will be referred to as the neo-colonial informant.

Scoring the penetrance of heterozygotes in complex phenotypes, like colour pattern, is difficult and complicates the analysis of systems in which dominance is incomplete or evolving. The African Monarch (Danaus chrysippus) represents an example where colour pattern heterozygotes, formed in the contact zone between the different subspecies, show such intermediate dominance. Colour pattern in this aposematic butterfly is controlled by three loci A, B and C. The B and C loci are closely linked in a B/C supergene and significant interaction of B and C phenotypes is therefore expected via linkage alone. The A locus, however, is not linked to B/C and is found on a different chromosome. To study interactions between these loci we generated colour pattern heterozygotes by crossing males and females bearing different A and B/C genotypes, collected from different parts of Africa. We derived a novel scoring system for the expressivity of the heterozygotes and, as predicted, we found significant interactions between the genotypes of the closely linked B and C loci. Surprisingly, however, we also found highly significant interactions between C and the unlinked A locus, modifications that generally increased the resemblance of heterozygotes to homozygous ancestors. In contrast, we found no difference in the penetrance of any of the corresponding heterozygotes from crosses conducted either in allopatry or sympatry, in reciprocal crosses of males and females, or in the presence or absence of endosymbiont mediated male‐killing or its associated neoW mediated sex‐linkage of colour pattern. Together, this data supports the idea that the different colour morphs of the African Monarch meet transiently in the East African contact zone and that genetic modifiers act to mask inappropriate expression of colour patterns in the incorrect environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests that T-cell receptor (TCR) sequences expanded during human immunodeficiency virus and SARS-CoV-2 infections unexpectedly mimic these viruses. The hypothesis tested here is that TCR sequences expanded in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and autoimmune myocarditis (AM) mimic the infectious triggers of these diseases. Indeed, TCR sequences mimicking coxsackieviruses, which are implicated as triggers of both diseases, are statistically significantly increased in both T1DM and AM patients. However, TCRs mimicking Clostridia antigens are significantly expanded in T1DM, whereas TCRs mimicking Streptococcal antigens are expanded in AM. Notably, Clostridia antigens mimic T1DM autoantigens, such as insulin and glutamic acid decarboxylase, whereas Streptococcal antigens mimic cardiac autoantigens, such as myosin and laminins. Thus, T1DM may be triggered by combined infections of coxsackieviruses with Clostridia bacteria, while AM may be triggered by coxsackieviruses with Streptococci. These TCR results are consistent with both epidemiological and clinical data and recent experimental studies of cross-reactivities of coxsackievirus, Clostridial, and Streptococcal antibodies with T1DM and AM antigens. These data provide the basis for developing novel animal models of AM and T1DM and may provide a generalizable method for revealing the etiologies of other autoimmune diseases. Theories to explain these results are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Misophonia is often referred to as a disorder that is characterized by excessive negative emotional responses, including anger and anxiety, to "trigger sounds" which are typically day‐to‐day sounds, such as those generated from people eating, chewing, and breathing. Misophonia (literally "hatred of sounds") has commonly been understood within an auditory processing framework where sounds cause distress due to aberrant processing in the auditory and emotional systems of the brain. However, a recent proposal suggests that it is the perceived action (e.g., mouth movement in eating/chewing sounds as triggers) of the trigger person, and not the sounds per se, that drives the distress in misophonia. Since observation or listening to sounds of actions of others are known to prompt mimicry in perceivers, we hypothesized that mimicking the action of the trigger person may be prevalent in misophonia. Apart from a few case studies and anecdotal information, a relation between mimicking and misophonia has not been systematically evaluated. Method: In this work, we addressed this limitation by collecting data on misophonia symptoms and mimicry behavior using online questionnaires from 676 participants. Results: Analysis of these data shows that (i) more than 45% of individuals with misophonia reported mimicry, indicating its wide prevalence, (ii) the tendency to mimic varies in direct proportion to misophonia severity, (iii) compared to other human and environmental sounds, trigger sounds of eating and chewing are more likely to trigger mimicking, and (iv) the act of mimicking provides some degree of relief from distress to people with misophonia. Conclusion: This study shows prevalence of mimicry and its relation to misophonia severity and trigger types. The theoretical framework of misophonia needs to incorporate the phenomenon of mimicry and its effect on management of misophonia distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]