Several years ago, the world was stunned when the cute robot HitchBOT was destroyed. Does empathy for robots—sharing experiences and feeling compassion—make sense for humans? How do people empathize with robots, and what are the ethical and practical implications of doing so? How do people react when robots seem to be empathizing with them? In this review, we detail empirical work on empathy for robots, discuss the ethics of extending empathy toward robots, and consider how to engineer robots that elicit empathy. We then review empirical work on empathy received from robots to explore psychological, philosophical, and engineering implications. In our final section, we suggest how interactions with robots might cultivate human empathy. Can interactions with a robot build human empathy and help it to become more resilient and reliable?

ABSTRACT Background and Objectives The use of various coping strategies has important impacts on individuals’ health and well-being. However, most of the coping literature continues to use variable-centred approaches that ignore unique within-person interactions among coping strategies, as well as change in these interactions over time. The present study sought to address these gaps by identifying coping profiles representing distinct interactions between a set of coping strategies and examining the stability of these profiles over time. Design and Methods The study used data from a large community sample of Canadians (N = 1,372) who completed the short form for the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS-SF) scale at three time-points or waves over 5 years. Latent profile transition analysis (LPTA) was used to identify latent profiles and then examine the stability of the profiles over time. Results LPTA revealed three distinct coping profiles: Engaged, Avoidance-Oriented, and Disengaged. All coping profiles showed relatively strong stability across the three waves, with Engaged coping being the most stable over time. Conclusions These findings have important implications for future coping research using a person-centred approach, including for the identification of individuals at risk for poor life outcomes due to reliance on these coping profiles.

ABSTRACTRuns of homozygosity (ROH) are increasingly being analysed using whole genome sequences in non‐model species as a measure of inbreeding and to assess demographic history, thus providing useful information for conservation. However, most studies have used Plink for ROH inference which performs poorly when sequencing depth is below 10×, often underestimating ROH. This can lead to erroneous status assessment and poor management decisions. We assessed the performance of ROHan, a program developed for ROH and heterozygosity estimation using lower coverage sequences that have so far only been optimised for human data. Using high coverage whole genomes from 22 caribou, a non‐model species at risk presenting varying levels of inbreeding, we assessed the effects of sequencing depth (1–15×), the input parameter ‘rohmu’ that determines the heterozygosity rate that is tolerated within ROH regions, and demographic history on the ROH inference and heterozygosity. Accurate estimation of the percentage of the genome and lengths of ROH could be achieved at depths as low as 3–5×. However, the rohmu parameter and individual demographic history had a significant effect on the results. Heterozygosity was also overestimated at low depth. Using our optimised rohmu parameter, we re‐analysed low coverage sequences from a small and isolated caribou population and demonstrated high inbreeding levels that had previously been missed. We provide recommendations for optimisation of the rohmu parameter and demonstrate the need for careful interpretation of outputs to enable robust ROH inference using low coverage whole genome sequences in wildlife species.

As mpox spread continues across several endemic and non-endemic countries around the world, vaccination has become an integral part of the global response to control the epidemic. Some vaccines have been recommended for use against mpox by the World Health Organization (WHO). As the roll-out of mpox vaccines continue across the globe, it is imperative to develop mathematical models to support public health officials and governments agencies in optimizing vaccination strategies to curtail the resurgence of mpox. In this article, we develop a compartmental mathematical model to investigate the impact of vaccination in controlling a potential mpox resurgence in Canada. The model categorizes individuals into high- and low-risk groups and incorporates pre-exposure vaccination in the high-risk group and post-exposure vaccination in the high- and low-risk groups. The vaccine-free version of the model was calibrated to the daily reported cases of mpox in Canada from April to October 2022, from which we estimated key model parameters, including the sexual and non-sexual transmission rates. Furthermore, we calibrated the full model to the daily reported cases of mpox in Canada in 2024, to estimate the current mpox vaccination rates in Canada. Our results highlight the importance of pre-exposure vaccination in the high-risk group on controlling a potential resurgence of mpox in Canada, and the minimal effects of post-exposure vaccination in the high- and low-risk groups on the outbreak. In addition, our model predicts the possibility of mpox becoming endemic in Canada, in the absence of pre-exposure vaccination in the high-risk group. Overall, our modeling result suggests that pre-exposure vaccination in the high-risk group is crucial in controlling mpox outbreak in Canada. Stepping up this vaccination is sufficient to avert a potential mpox resurgence in Canada.Clinical trial number Not applicable.

ABSTRACT Models describing associations between fish distribution and environmental or spatial gradients at the population level have the potential to be transferrable if model parameters are stationary among populations and over years. Further, population‐level habitat association models represent the scale of effect—habitat relevant to within‐population distribution and processes. Here we show that for a widely recognised warm water fish species (smallmouth bass; Micropterus dolomieu Lacepède, 1802), habitat use extends into the metalimnion and hypolimnion of lakes. Lake depth at net sites and temperature at capture depth were used to model habitat use in a multi‐lake set ( n = 11 lakes) and for a large lake with three surveys over a decade. In the multi‐lake set, a depth model was top ranked with little difference among lakes. In the lake with multiple surveys over a decade, a quadratic temperature model was top ranked but resulted in among‐year differences in occupancy levels at any given temperature. The second ranked depth model produced consistent occupancy patterns with depth and matched parameter values from the multi‐lake model. This consistency points to a general habitat association model based on depth for smallmouth bass during the summer season. We provide guidance for habitat managers based on this stationarity.