Consuming whole grains (processed cereal grains containing all the bran, germ and endosperm), and whole-grain foods such as bread, porridge and pasta made from them, is universally recognised as beneficial for health. This is consistently shown through reduced risk and incidence of chronic diseases such as CVD, type 2 diabetes and some cancers with higher whole grain and whole-grain food intakes. Despite this, and the promotion of whole-grain foods in many food-based dietary guidelines, their consumption by the majority of global populations remains below levels predicted to improve health, particularly in the UK and Ireland. This paper (a) describes how whole grains and whole-grain foods can be better identified by consumers and food manufacturers through adoption of standard definitions and food-labelling processes, (b) summarises predicted benefits associated with higher whole-grain consumption and (c) discusses how developing population-based strategies to increase whole-grain consumption can beneficially affect dietary fibre intake, using the Danish Whole-Grain Campaign as a model for success. We suggest that the forthcoming ISO definition of whole grains as a food ingredient together with conditions of use should be adopted as soon as possible in the UK and Ireland. The health benefits of consuming more whole grain are unequivocal and should be recognised by including whole grains in dietary guidance, preferably with a minimum intake level for improved health. Public Health Agencies in the UK and Ireland should work in partnership with academics, industry and retailers to raise the profile of whole grains and whole-grain foods to improve population health.

It is well established that childhood adversity is associated with both negative physical and mental health outcomes. Recent research posits that 1) there may be developmental periods for which the effects of adversity are most influential on brain development and 2) abuse and neglect may be associated with different developmental mechanisms linking psychopathology. This study used seven years of longitudinal data to investigate how abuse and neglect during three developmental periods (early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence), as well as chronicity of maltreatment across these developmental periods, are associated with young adult mental health outcomes (ages 20–21), and how changes in adolescent task-based functional connectivity during cognitive control (between ages 14–15 and 18–20 years) may mediate these associations. Hypothesized mediation models were tested via structural equation modeling (SEM). Significant indirect effects indicated that chronic abuse predicted higher depressive symptoms and higher substance use through stronger dACC–insula connectivity. In contrast, significant indirect effects revealed that neglect during adolescence predicted lower substance use and lower depressive symptoms through weaker dACC–insula connectivity. These results suggest that differential patterns of connectivity changes within the salience network during cognitive control may be associated with risk and resilience for future depression and substance use in young adulthood.

Precambrian organic-walled microfossils preserved in fine-grained sedimentary rocks constitute the earliest fossil record of eukaryotic life. The Mesoproterozoic–Neoproterozoic transition coincided with major innovations in the evolution of early eukaryotes, including the radiation of crown-group lineages, represented in these rocks by candidate red algae, green algae, and fungi. However, the diversity of these early eukaryotes is yet to be fully explored. Here, we present a systematic description of the microfossil assemblage preserved in exceptional detail within sedimentary phosphatic nodules and bands in the Diabaig Formation of the ca. 1-Ga Torridon Group of northwest Scotland. Recent work has highlighted the lacustrine or estuarine nature of its depositional environment and confirmed that these fossils may include the oldest known non-marine eukaryotes. We identified 11 morphotaxa from newly collected material, including the new genus and species Minimarmilla multicatenaria, two undoubted eukaryotes, and two probable eukaryotes. The latter include Pterospermopsimorpha sp., and a new network-forming unnamed taxon. These microfossils present an important window on eukaryotic diversification in non-marine aquatic environments during the Mesoproterozoic–Neoproterozoic.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/5829c401-04fc-4229-9136-3963275826c6

This research explores concertinaing past, present and future interventional creative and pedagogical practices to address the challenges of the Post-Anthropocene era. We argue that the Post-Anthropocene is marked by biotechnological entanglements, environmental violence and digital overstimulation. The discussions herein critique a hyperattentive achievement society characterised by a scattering of attention, a near-constant screen-mediated stream of digital material and tasks and the commodification of leisure time. Enlisting Byung-Chul Han’s concept of hyperattention and themes and motifs from David Cronenberg’s films, the authors propose “FUTURE PROOF re(image)ining” as a collaborative Cli-Fi narrative concept. The project reimagines objects from an initial art installation with a diffusion-based machine learning model. By drawing on a constellation of Taoist philosophical practices, Zen garden design, scholars’ rocks and Cronenbergian themes, the authors propose an exhibition featuring reimagined cave-like gongshi rock structures and objects. A triangulation of spaces for FUTURE PROOF participants to inhabit facilitates an unfolding contemplative-creative trajectory. The concept includes a sensory deprivation cave, a View-Master cave for focused stereoscopic image viewing and a haiku/soundscape cave to initiate experiences. FUTURE PROOF aims to promote deep contemplation, challenging some of the deleterious aspects of Western digital-algorithmic screen culture and cultivating relationality with an always more-than-human world.

The presence of the zebrette goby (Tigrigobius zebrellus) is reported for the first time in the Canary Islands, as well as in the eastern Atlantic. A new established colony around the floating docks of the Marina Santa Cruz de Tenerife harbour has been studied. Over two hundred individuals at different developmental stages have been counted. Its restricted distribution and population characteristic show that it has an established population but with no evidence of expansion to its vicinity. Our study indicates that the population of this exotic species could be easily eradicated to avoid any possible negative impact on local benthic communities. However, if such measures are not soon implemented by the local government this study can also be used as the early invasion stage of an exotic fish species across the Canary Islands.

Two books came out in this review period that set out to investigate monuments that were once considered amongst the wonders of the ancient world but of which no trace remains today: the Pharos of Alexandria is reconstructed by Andrew Michael Chugg and the Colossus at Rhodes explored by Nathan Badoud.1 These monuments were initiated within a few years of each other and both were completed around 283 bc. The Colossus was short lived, destroyed by earthquake in the 220s bc; the lighthouse lasted much longer, perhaps surviving several earthquakes in an increasingly depleted state, the initial, most damaging one occurring in the late eighth century ce. Their complete absence from the physical landscape since then has always fuelled imaginative and academic speculation as to their form. Both authors spend considerable time on the legacy of these speculations and the way that subsequent fantasies have shaped our imagination, particular in terms of the Colossus of Rhodes straddling the harbour, a foot on each promontory. Maerten van Heemskerck’s 1570 illustrations of the Octo mundi miracula was key to the creation of this fantasy, one that Badoud traces not only in European tradition but also to early nineteenth-century Japan and of course to the Statue of Liberty with her rayed head. Heemskerck’s image of the Pharos was equally influential. It shows the Pharos as a spiral tower springing from a wide cylindrical base leading up to a colonnaded rotunda from which spews smoke, omitting the sculpture that is so prominent on ancient coins.

Older adults commonly experience declines in cognitive control, which significantly impacts their well-being. Although intensive language training, particularly interpreting, holds potential for mitigating these declines, its efficacy remains largely unexplored. Based on previous findings in the literature (especially our theoretical framework on interpreting), we designed a 24-hour programme of Between-Dialect Interpreting Training (BIT). Using a pretest-intervention-posttest design, we evaluated the efficacy of the BIT (over 8 weeks) against a control group on general cognitive ability (MoCA) and core cognitive control functions – working memory (via listening span and digit backward tasks), interference control (via Stroop and Flanker tasks) and cognitive flexibility (via colour-shape task and WCST). Results demonstrated notable between-group differences favouring the BIT, with significant improvements in listening span, Stroop effect and Stroop global RT, colour-shape switch cost and marginal improvements in digit backward score and MoCA. The implications of how language training promotes cognitive health during ageing are discussed.

At least some people want to be loved simply for being the particular individuals they are, as distinct from any properties they might possess. However, the most prominent theories in contemporary philosophical work on love are framed so as to exclude that possibility. In this article, I argue that Christians have the resources to say that one can be loved for oneself if they appeal to the love God has for his creatures in making them from nothing. This article comprises four sections. In the first two sections, I introduce and characterize the desire to be loved for oneself, distinguishing the relevant desideratum from other, similar phenomena. In the third section, I note that the appraisal and bestowal views exclude the possibility that one could be loved for oneself in the relevant sense and note some other possible, initial objections. Finally, in the fourth section, I attempt to show one way in which God can be said to love his creatures in creating them – despite the fact that they do not exist before their own creation. I do so by attempting to show that, plausibly, there is a sense in which, if God engages in the creative act for its own sake and the creature itself is that act seen under a certain aspect, God can plausibly be said to create the creature for its own sake – and so, plausibly, to create it in love.

It is perhaps a sign of the times we live in that there is an increased academic interest in weirdness, hybridity, and monstrosity. Just recently a colleague of mine from the English Department here at the University of Virginia mentioned in a casual conversation that he’s been drafting a syllabus for his new course entitled ‘Weird’. Noticing my surprise, he patiently introduced me to the world of Weirdcore literature (‘Think Lovecraft on steroids minus racism and xenophobia’), and aesthetics (‘Norm violating hybridity is the key, representations of human-mushroom bodies, rainbows with eyes, fish with human feet, surrealism meets low resolution anime and 80s video games graphics, basically’). The reason why Weirdcore is popular among Zoomers (the generation born between 1997 and 2012) became clearer to me after a while. What more suitable recourse does this brilliant (judging by my UVa students) generation of digital natives have, having been raised in a politically, environmentally. and economically volatile world, but to embrace the incongruity and celebrate the absurd?

While migration can provide economic opportunities and remittances for rural households, it may also lead to loss of skilled labor and disrupt farm operations. This study examines the impact of rural-urban migration on technical efficiency in Ghana, using robust methodology that combines propensity score matching with a difference-in-differences, selectivity-corrected stochastic frontier model. Analysis is based on panel data from 1,056 farm maize households. Results show that migration significantly improves technical efficiency and maize output. Migration history, farm characteristics, and education shape this relationship. Strengthening extension services and promoting the best farming practices are vital for improving smallholder productivity and efficiency.

Using ICESat-2 and ArcticDEM strips we track height change in a glacial basin in northern Ellesmere Island Canada. The surface topography dips towards the middle of the basin and ArcticDEM differences show a 1–3 m increase in 2020 summer surface height over an area of 8–10 km2. ICESat-2 heights confirm that each melt season (2019–2024), the height change of melt water at the basin edge matches that over ice in the basin middle. The summer height increase happens at the same time as an upstream drop in surface elevation suggesting yearly episodic subglacial water movement from upstream to a downstream subglacial lake. Melt water drainage occurs in the fall to a particular elevation and apparently follows a path at the northern edge of the basin. These data illustrate subglacial melt water movement both spatially and temporally in rarely obtained detail and are consistent with data from two NASA IceBridge passes.

The bispectrum, being sensitive to non-Gaussianity and mode coupling of cosmological fields induced by non-linear gravitational evolution, serves as a powerful probe for detecting deviations from general relativity (GR). The signatures of modified gravity in the bispectrum are even more pronounced in redshift space, where anisotropies from peculiar velocities provide unbiased information on higher-order properties of gravity. We investigate the potential of all non-zero angular multipoles $B_l^m$ of redshift space bispectrum across all possible triangle configurations to probe degenerate higher-order scalar tensor (DHOST) theory. We show that the higher-order multipoles of the bispectrum with $l=2,4,6$ are more sensitive to the modifications in gravity than the spherically averaged monopole moment $l=0$. These multipoles demonstrate remarkable sensitivity to the higher-order growth history, which varies across triangle configurations, with acute triangles generally being the most sensitive to modification in GR. The values of various multipoles exhibit opposite signs in modified gravity compared to those predicted in GR, which serves as a robust indicator of the deviation from GR. We demonstrate that, unlike $l=2$ and 4 multipoles, the $l=6$ multipoles with $m\leq 4$ are not affected by the quadratic bias and second-order tidal bias parameters, emphasising the need to leverage their capabilities in analyses. The $(l=6, m \gt 4)$ multipoles fail to capture the second-order growth, while all $l=8$ multipoles lack any independent information regarding modified gravity in both linear and nonlinear regimes.

Inscribed Greek verse epitaphs were produced in relatively high numbers in the city of Rome under the Principate. Although many were made for slaves and freedmen, their use was not confined to them. The individuals who opted to use them made a deliberate choice to emphasize their Greek cultural identity. They may have had several motives, but often the deceased or their (grand)parents had migrated from the eastern parts of the Roman empire to Rome, voluntarily or involuntarily. By presenting themselves as Greek in their language and use of mythological exempla, they claimed the paideia (‘education’) and culture associated with the Greek literary past. Yet despite the heavy emphasis on Greekness, the epigrams also display an awareness of the Roman context in which they were set up. Greek epigrams formed excellent vehicles to navigate the cultural ambiguities of ‘being Greek’ in Rome, and this explains why Rome became a major production centre of Greek funerary epigram.

New, well-preserved specimens of the paracrinoids Wellerocystis and Implicaticystis provide new morphological data. All specimens originate from reef facies in the Kimmswick Limestone (Upper Ordovician, Sandbian–Katian) at a single locality near St Louis, Missouri, USA. Wellerocystis is characterized by an ovoid theca largely composed of imperforate plates arranged in vertical columns lacking pore-structures but with fine granular sculpture; four recumbent branched uniserial ambulacra with up to seven branches in total; a mouth frame of four plates, one of which also contributes to the periproct frame; a sinuous hydropore; and circular gonopore. The stem is unknown; its facet is small and circular, similar to that of Platycystites. Implicaticystis is characterized by a circular, heteromorphic stem, ovoid theca composed of externally concave, perforate plates with foerstepores, internal pararhombs, and a mouth frame of three plates plus two lateral plates each bearing two facets for erect, uniserial, hemipinnate pseudoarms. Foerstepores connect to tubes that pass through the theca near plate sutures. Internal lamellae of pararhombs support thecal plates much as A-frames support ridged rooves. Erect versus recumbent and branched ambulacra evolved repeatedly in pelmatozoans so both are less useful in classifying paracrinoids than presence or absence of unique pore-structures. The sister group of paracrinoids could have included Columbocystis, rhipidocystids, and cryptocrinitids. Columbocystis is commonly mentioned in discussions in this context, but its asymmetrical facets suggest it had biserial feeding appendages, unlike uniserial paracrinoid appendages.

This paper argues that the problem of unconceived alternatives (PUA), originally formulated as a much-noted intervention in the realist/antirealist debate about scientific theories, has notable implications for discussions of hypotheses concerning ultimate reality – particularly for the debate about so-called (alternative) concepts of God in both philosophy of religion and theology. Despite the substantial differences between scientific theories and concepts of God, or other hypotheses concerning ultimate reality, certain common strategies for establishing their central claims as true show surprising similarities in their vulnerability to the PUA. The main thesis advanced is that inferences that the central claims of a given concept of God are (probably or approximately) true are unreliable if, and to the extent to which, that concept of God is accepted on the basis of, and its central claims are arrived at and justified through, inferences to the best explanation or eliminative inferences. If the argument is successful, then if theological realism in the form of realist theism is to be maintained, the central claims of concepts of God must be based also on other epistemic grounds.