Relative Influence Research Articles

Cross-correlations in the fluctuation-dissipation relation influence barrier-crossing dynamics.

The Generalized Langevin Equation has been successfully used to model and understand the conformational dynamics of molecules in solution. However, recent works have demonstrated that, in these kinds of applications, the usual fluctuation-dissipation relation connecting the statistics of the random force to the memory kernel could contain a cross-correlation term. In this work, we systematically explore the origins of this cross-correlation term and argue that it plays a role, particularly in the folding dynamics of biopolymers. Finally, we propose an approximation for the cross-correlation term within the usual fluctuation-dissipation relation.

Marketing flexibility of tourism human resources and its impact on enhancing tourist behaviour

The research shows the impact of human resource marketing flexibility in enhancing workers' tourism behaviour in first-class hotels in the holy governorate of Karbala. The research began with a realistic problem, according to which several questions were identified, including clarifying the nature of the correlational and influential relationship between the research variables in the field. The research adopted the scale of (Camisom et al., 2010) (Beraha et al., 2018) in measuring marketing flexibility, which was measured in three dimensions: (flexibility of participation (part), flexibility of interaction (inte), flexibility of implementation (impl)), as for the tourist behaviour measure. The researcher adopted a scale of (Kotler et al., 2012) and (Durmaz et al., 2014), which was measured by four dimensions (Pirs, Lear, Perc, Moti). As for the central administration in collecting research data, the researcher relied on the questionnaire, and the sample was chosen from workers in first-class hotels in the Holy Governorate of Karbala, which numbered (141) workers and were distributed among (10) hotels registered in the Karbala Tourism Directorate, where (103) factors determined the sample size according to the Stephen Thompson equation. For processing and analysing the data statistically, structural equation modelling represented by (confirmatory factor analysis) was used, in addition to a set of descriptive statistical measures such as the Pearson correlation coefficient for ranks, and simple linear regression analysis using several statistical programs, including (Amos, V.24), (Spss, V.26). The results of the analysis proved the existence of a significant correlation and influence of the marketing flexibility of human resources in enhancing tourism behaviour among workers in hotel establishments, first-class hotels, the research sample, as the results indicated progress for the interaction flexibility dimension, which is dependent on the flexibility variable. Marketing, then the flexibility of the implementation dimension, and finally, the flexibility of the participation dimension have an impact in enhancing the tourist behaviour of hotel workers in the research sample. The order of the dimensions of the tourist behaviour variable came according to its importance (personality, perception, learning, and motivation).

Higher risk of carotid plaque among lean individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A retrospective study.

Lean individual with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (L-NAFLD) is a prominent area of research, yet its pathogenesis and association with other diseases such as atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease remain uncertain. A retrospective study, investigate the association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and carotid plaque (CP) in lean [body mass index (BMI) <24Kg/m2] and non-lean (BMI≥24Kg/m2) populations, as well as identify the related influence factors. 3,587 participants were eligible and categorized into 4 groups based on the presence with CP and BMI, binary logistic regression analysis was utilized alongside other statistical methods. L-NAFLD participants had a 1.395-fold higher risk of CP compared to lean individuals without NAFLD. Age, gender, systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, and Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) were identified as independent risk factors with cutoff values lower than the normal upper limits. However, this association was not observed among non-lean participants, regardless of confounding factors adjustment. Moreover, the impact of FIB-4 on the association of NAFLD and CP was more significant in lean CP participants (OR = 1.360 for 1.30 ~ 2.67, and OR = 2.002 for >2.67~<3.48) than in non-lean CP ones. The L-NAFLD population had a higher risk of CP, while lean CP individuals experienced more severe liver fibrosis. Implementing stricter management of risk factors may improve the health status of high-risk populations.

Comparing voluntary and government-mandated management measures for meeting sustainable fishing targets.

Management of natural resources and environmental systems has often involved top-down approaches in which government agencies set and enforce regulations on extractive activities. More recently, market-driven approaches were introduced to incentivise producers to voluntarily engage in practices that align with management objectives and support regulations. For the first time, we compare government and voluntary approaches within fisheries management systems and quantify their relative influences on the sustainability status of fish populations. Voluntary measures include eco-certification against the Marine Stewardship Council's (MSC) Fisheries Standard and Fishery Improvement Projects (FIP). Government-mandated measures are implemented for individual populations, or else at national and international levels. Using a hierarchical time series analysis, we treated each of these measures as independent interventions potentially affecting trends in fishing pressure and biomass of nearly 300 populations. Supporting earlier findings, we confirmed a strong effect of government rebuilding plans in sharply reducing fishing pressure and allowing population biomass to recover. Other government-mandated measures further contributed to reducing fishing pressure. While simultaneously accounting for government measures, we found that biomass increases were associated with stronger incentives generated by voluntary measures. This influence was attributed to the opening of conditions of certification or suspension of certification for MSC fisheries, while no clear influence was attributed to FIPs. MSC certification was rarely observed in the absence of strong government-mandated measures, however, suggesting that sustainability-related incentives associated with voluntary measures can promote more desirable environmental outcomes for target stocks if used in parallel with more conventional approaches to management of natural resources.

A network analysis to explore illness perceptions in Black adults with type 2 diabetes.

This study explores the structure of beliefs about type 2 diabetes among Black adults and informs potential targets to reframe negative beliefs and enhance diabetes self-management. We applied network analysis to investigate the interrelated structure and clusters of beliefs about diabetes and identify specific items that could serve as behavioural targets. We obtained self-reported survey data from 170 Black adults with type 2 diabetes. Regularised partial correlation networks and a Gaussian graphical model were used to explore and visualise the interrelationship among 21 items of a culturally adapted Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised. Overwhelming negative emotions representing the current and long-term effects of diabetes were central to the illness perceptions network among Black adults, with feeling depressed having the highest node strength of centrality indices in the network. Four beliefs had a bridging effect with the central cluster: diabetes taking away the ability to enjoy food, diabetes keeping me away from the job I want, being poor contributed to my having diabetes, and I receive encouragement from friends and family. In addition to highlighting the overwhelming feeling of diabetes, the illness perception network further differentiated the role of racial identity and social determinants of health as discrete, though both are related sociocultural influence constructs. To enhance self-management for Black adults with type 2 diabetes, this network informs promising intervention targets focused on culturally tailored education related to emotional regulation, internalised stigma and healthy food adaptation, and leveraging support to address social determinants of health.

Effects of forest dieback on deadwood patterns: Large scale trends from a cross-analysis of European databases.

Despite its importance as a key element for forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, uncertainties remain on how deadwood may change due to increasing forest dieback and subsequent management. The opportunistic cross-analysis of two large-scale, never-before-crossed forest databases, based on the spatially representative 16×16km European grid, provided a dataset of 1804 plots in 17 countries with 10-year time series of annual measurements of tree defoliation followed by punctual assessment of deadwood volumes. Generalized linear mixed models and magnitude analyses quantified the relative influence of site environmental factors and 16 metrics of the current, recent and mid-term dynamics of local decline severity on plot-level deadwood volumes across European forests. The average level of dieback over the last five years and, to a lesser extent, the time elapsed since the last peak defoliation, were more important for deadwood stocks than were older levels of defoliation, the intensity or the frequency of extreme past declines. In Europe overall, total deadwood volume was 33% higher when the average level of decline over the previous five years increased by 10%. The significance and magnitude of the effects of past defoliation on deadwood were stronger in lowland forests than in upland forests, in coniferous forests than in broadleaf forests, in young stands than in mature stands, and for standing deadwood than for total deadwood, and varied with management. Retaining small, declining patches, excluded from salvage or sanitary logging within managed forests, could be an integrative opportunistic forestry tool for spontaneous restoration of deadwood.

Host selection is not a universal driver of phyllosphere community assembly among ecologically similar native New Zealand plant species.

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that host-associated microbial communities of plant leaf surfaces (i.e. the phyllosphere) can influence host functional traits. However, it remains unclear whether host selection is a universal driver of phyllosphere community assembly. We targeted mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) and three neighbouring non-mānuka plant species along an 1800-m transect in a New Zealand native bush to conduct a hypothesis-driven investigation of the relative influence of host species identity and stochastic dispersal on the composition of natural phyllosphere bacterial communities. We detected significant correlations between host species identity and mānuka phyllosphere communities that are consistent with a dominant role of host selection in the assembly of the mānuka phyllosphere microbiome. In contrast, the phyllosphere community compositions of neighbouring, ecologically similar native plants were highly variable, suggesting that stochastic processes, such as dispersal, had a stronger influence on the phyllosphere microbiomes of those non-mānuka plants compared to the phyllosphere microbiome of mānuka. Furthermore, the distribution of phyllosphere taxa among plant species was congruent with a scenario in which microorganisms had dispersed from mānuka to non-mānuka phyllosphere microbiomes. We conclude that host selection of phyllosphere communities is not and should not be presumed to be a universal trait across plant species. The specificity of the mānuka phyllosphere microbiome suggests the presence of functionally significant bacteria that are under direct, possibly chemically mediated, selection by the host. Furthermore, we propose that phyllosphere microbiomes under strong host selection, such as that of mānuka, may act as a source of microorganisms for the phyllosphere microbiomes of neighbouring plants. Video Abstract.

The Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined Orbits

The Influence of General Relativity on the Spins of Celestial Bodies in Inclined Orbits

What is the Role of Trust in Peer Support Schemes for Underrepresented Students?

The purpose of this study was to explore how peer support schemes can be used to facilitate meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging for underrepresented students. Using three case studies, the study explored and compared peer support leaders’ narratives about their experiences at three universities: one in the United Kingdom (UK), one in the United States (USA), and the other in Singapore. One-to-one interviews and focus groups were completed with 25 students (15 in the UK, four in the USA, and six in Singapore) to explore their perceptions and experiences of being a peer support lead within their institution. These three case studies (one at each institution) explore the multifaceted concept of belonging in order to identify the relative influences of social connection, shared culture/experiences and interpersonal trust. The results demonstrated that the students were aware of the challenges faced by underrepresented students and how peer support schemes can facilitate belonging. Whilst the three settings are diverse, the findings demonstrate that supporting learning transitions and the navigation of liminal spaces through peer support can encourage trust, belonging, and student success. We propose a conceptual model for considering how social connection, shared culture/experiences, and interpersonal trust can contribute to the central goal of belonging. This conceptual model can be used as a resource to support consideration of peer support schemes for underrepresented students that can be developed to support student belonging.

Differentially private explanations for aggregate query answers

Differential privacy (DP) is the state-of-the-art and rigorous notion of privacy for answering aggregate database queries while preserving the privacy of sensitive information in the data. In today’s era of data analysis, however, it poses new challenges for users to understand the trends and anomalies observed in the query results: Is the unexpected answer due to the data itself, or is it due to the extra noise that must be added to preserve DP? In the second case, even the observation made by the users on query results may be wrong. In the first case, can we still mine interesting explanations from the sensitive data while protecting its privacy? To address these challenges, we present a three-phase framework DPXPlain, which is the first system to the best of our knowledge for explaining group-by aggregate query answers with DP. In its three phases, DPXPlain (a) answers a group-by aggregate query with DP, (b) allows users to compare aggregate values of two groups and with high probability assesses whether this comparison holds or is flipped by the DP noise, and (c) eventually provides an explanation table containing the approximately ‘top-k’ explanation predicates along with their relative influences and ranks in the form of confidence intervals, while guaranteeing DP in all steps. We perform an extensive experimental analysis of DPXPlain with multiple use-cases on real and synthetic data showing that DPXPlain efficiently provides insightful explanations with good accuracy and utility.

Spatial variability and relative influence of seasonal rainfall drivers in Ethiopia

Spatial variability and relative influence of seasonal rainfall drivers in Ethiopia

Drivers of amphibian species richness in European ponds

Amphibians are commonly occurring inhabitants of most lentic freshwater ecosystems, yet their global populations are in alarming decline. Ponds in particular play a crucial role in supporting amphibian biodiversity. In this study, we identified the main drivers influencing amphibian species richness by conducting a comprehensive ecological characterization in 201 ponds across seven European countries spanning a large latitudinal and longitudinal gradient. The amphibian species richness in each of these ponds was assessed using environmental DNA metabarcoding on water samples. The relative influence of climatic, local abiotic and biotic, and land use variables on variation in species richness across ponds was quantified using boosted regression trees. Our results suggest that local factors, particularly chlorophyll‐a concentration, but also pond area and depth, are the main drivers of amphibian richness, together with climatic variables such as annual mean precipitation and temperature. The highest richness was observed in low‐nutrient, fishless, intermediate‐sized, shallow ponds, located in warmer regions with higher precipitation rates. These potential drivers of amphibian richness should be considered in the planning and implementation of amphibian conservation and management actions.

Pollination efficiency and theevolution of sex allocation-diminishing returnsmatter.

Immobility of flowering plants requires them to engage pollen vectors to outcross, introducing considerable inefficiency in the conversion of pollen production into sired seeds. Whether inefficiencies influence the evolution of the relative resource allocation to female and male functions has been debated for more than 40 years. Whereas early models suggested no effect, negative interspecific relations of mean pollen production and pollen : ovule ratios to the proportion of removed pollen that is exported to stigmas (pollen-transfer efficiency) indicate otherwise. Here, we consider theoretically a key condition that determines whether the efficiencies of processes (first derivative of process output with respect to input) affect the evolutionarily stable sex (ESS) allocation. No effect arises if all individuals experience the same efficiency. By contrast, a decline in process efficiency with increasing allocation (diminishing returns) generally reduces the ESS male allocation for a population. Furthermore, differences in the allocation dependence of efficiencies (and hence the ESS sex allocation) among populations/species create a negative relation of realised efficiency to male allocation among species, like that observed empirically. Diminishing returns arise for various processes that affect siring (e.g. pollen export and local pollen competition to fertilise ovules), which may differ in their relative influence on sex allocation among species.

Setbacks in the use of a handaxe: lithic investment and seasonality in the Early Acheulean

From their first appearance in the archaeological record, the varying degree of biface presence in individual assemblages has long been a notable aspect of discussions surrounding the nature of the Early Acheulean. These debates have largely focused on the relative influence of random processes, site formation dynamics, raw material constraints, biological and/or cultural groupings, and differences in ecology and activity. Here, we collate published technological information from Early Acheulean assemblages 1.8–1.2 Ma, attempting to document patterns of wider inter-assemblage variability, and focus on the potential role of seasonality in structuring some of this variation. We suggest that there are relationships between a number of lithic variables in the Early Acheulean that are a reflection of consistent activity variants and patterns of landscape use, and that these variables account for discrete clusters of sites according to shared technological bases. While data on seasonality at individual sites in this period are sparse, we hypothesise that there is a likely association between the absence of handaxes and dry season patterns of hominin behaviour, which may reflect a focus on bifaces during the wetter parts of the year. The implications of these findings for the Oldowan-Acheulean transition, seasonal patterns of hominin behaviour, and Early Acheulean landscape use are discussed.

The relative influence of geographic and environmental factors on rare plant translocation outcomes

The relative influence of geographic and environmental factors on rare plant translocation outcomes

Temporal and habitat-specific variations in drivers of aboveground biomass dynamics in a Chinese subtropical forest.

Understanding the mechanisms governing biodiversity-biomass relationships across temporal and spatial scales is essential for elucidating how abiotic and biotic factors influence ecosystem function in natural forests. However, the simultaneous contributions of multiple abiotic (e.g., topography) and biotic factors (e.g., structural diversity) to aboveground biomass dynamics (ΔAGB) over time and across habitat types remain inadequately understood. To address this gap, we evaluated changes in aboveground biomass across a decade and various habitats, disentangling the relative influences of topography and multidimensional diversity on ΔAGB through datasets from forest inventories conducted between 2007 and 2017, along with phylogenetic relatedness, functional traits, and environmental variables from a subtropical forest in China. Our findings indicate that aboveground biomass at community level experienced a significant decline followed by an increase over the decade, predominantly driven by changes in the low-valley habitat. In contrast, no statistically significant alterations were detected in the aboveground biomass of mid-hillside and high-ridge habitats. Furthermore, the determinants of ΔAGB exhibited temporal variation. During the 2007-2012 period, ΔAGB was primarily influenced by functional and structural diversity, accounting for 66.11% and 21.35% of relative importance, respectively. In the subsequent 2012-2017 period, phylogenetic and structural diversity emerged as key factors, explaining 48.46% and 36.43% of relative importance, respectively. Additionally, we observed that the drivers and effects impacting ΔAGB exhibited significant variability across different habitat types. In summary, our study underscores the significant spatiotemporal dependence of abiotic and biotic drivers on biomass dynamics within forest ecosystems, thereby enhancing our understanding of the complex biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships.

Sergey Alexandrovich Tokarev: His Family, Friends, and Students

The article focuses on the genealogy of the distinguished Soviet ethnographer Sergei Alexandrovich Tokarev, which is documented in the family archive. His mother was a descendant of the esteemed Tula clergy families Darsky, Karkadinovsky and Lyapidevsky, his father Alexander Ivanovich Tokarev was an outstanding teacher, state councilor, inspector of the Tula gymnasium, and later a teacher in the city of Aleksin school, who also founded a school for the peasants of the village of Shchukino in the Tula province. The article delineates the influence of parents and other relatives on the formation of personality, habits and beliefs of Sergei Alexandrovich Tokarev. The article also elucidates his role in the lives of his brother and sister, children and grandchildren, as well as numerous Russian and foreign students. The distinctive character traits of S. A. Tokarev, including kindness, remarkable memory, incredible efficiency, broad perspectives, dedication to hard work and an insatiable appetite for knowledge, along with other qualities that distinguish him among his relatives and colleagues, have ensured that he will be remembered not only in the annals of science but also in the hearts of people.

Winter survival of a small predator is determined by the amount of food in hoards.

The hoarding behaviour of animals has evolved to reduce starvation risk when food resources are scarce, but effects of food limitation on survival of hoarding animals is poorly understood. Eurasian pygmy owls (Glaucidium passerinum) hoard small mammals and birds in natural cavities and nest boxes in late autumn for later use in the following winter. We studied the relative influence of the food biomass in hoards of pygmy owls on their over-winter and over-summer apparent survival. We also tested whether this influence is modulated by intrinsic (age, sex) traits or extrinsic factors (winter temperature, snow depth). We measured biomass of prey items in pygmy owl food-hoards during autumns 2003-2023 in west-central Finland. We individually marked and recaptured pygmy owls both at nests in the breeding season and at food-hoards. Our dataset included a total of 407 pygmy owls, which were all captured from a food-hoard at least once during their capture history. The mean biomass of the annual food-hoards associated with one individual was 443 g (SD = 523 g, range from 3.5 to 4505 g) and was markedly higher in autumns of vole abundance than in those of vole scarcity. Hoard size had a positive effect on apparent survival of owls over consecutive winter, whereas it did not affect apparent survival over next summer. Hoard size was a better predictor of apparent survival than vole abundance (main food of pygmy owls) in the field. Male owls had higher overall apparent survival rates than female owls, particularly when food-hoards were small. That hoard size was a better predictor of apparent survival than vole abundance indicates that the hoards are critical for pygmy owls during winter, likely because they are unable to hunt voles below deep snow cover. The positive relationship between apparent survival of owl individuals and their hoard size during winter (when the hoard is being consumed), but not summer, indicates that the hoard size has a true positive effect on survival, and does not only reflect latent inter-individual differences and/or dissimilarities in their environments. We conclude that food limitation during hoarding essentially regulates apparent over-winter survival of pygmy owl individuals.

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in College Students: Differences Between the Subject Group and Comparison Group

In recent years, self-injury attempts have accounted for 46.2% of emergency room visits by teenagers and young adults. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among Korean college students, compare the mean number of NSSI risk factors between those with a history of NSSI and a control group with no history of thoughts or experiences of self-injury, and identify which factors have a greater influence on NSSI. The participants consisted of 403 Korean college students aged 18–29 who were divided into a subject group with a history of NSSI (n = 198) and a comparison group (n = 205) with no history of NSSI. The Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation (FASM), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), Social Experience Questionnaire (SEQ), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale—16 item version (DERS-16), Experiences in Close Relationship Questionnaire-Revised (ECR-R), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Parents as Social Context Questionnaire-Kids (PSCQ-KA), and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11-Revised (BIS-11). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0. Before a regression analysis, a MANOVA was performed to examine the mean difference between groups of each dependent variable, and a multiple regression analysis was performed to confirm the influence. The mean difference in all risk factors in the subject group compared with the comparison group was found to be statistically significant, with an effect size of 0.8 or greater. As a result of examining the relative influence of each variable on NSSI, emotional dysregulation (t = 2.481, p = 0.014), anxiety (t = −2.109, p = 0.036), and adult attachment (t = 2.004, p = 0.046) were found to significantly influence NSSI (p = 0.05). These findings will serve as fundamental data for screening clients at risk of self-injury in counseling and treatment settings, in addition to providing preventive and therapeutic interventions.

COVID-19 Symptoms Only Minutely Influenced by Genes Among Children in a Nationwide Twin Cohort.

The World Health Organization classified coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a pandemic by March 11, 2020. Children had a milder disease than adults, and many were asymptomatic. The pandemic could be seen as a natural experiment with several changes, including time spent at home. The relative influence of genes and environment on the variability of a trait can be studied using twin pairs. We aimed to investigate the occurrence of reported COVID-19 symptoms and to separate the relative influence of genes and environment on these traits by variance decomposition. This was a population-based twin study conducted between November 2020 and March 2023. A survey was sent out to all parents of 9-year-old twins containing questions related to suspected COVID-19, symptoms of cough, fever and rhinorrhea, as well as concerns for their own and others' health. Twin modeling with variance decomposition was used to separate the relative influence of genes and environment. In total, 3094 individuals from 1547 complete twin pairs were included (618 monozygotic and 929 dizygotic twin pairs). Suspected COVID-19 increased over time and concerns for own and others' health decreased. We found variability to be attributed mainly to shared environment in all traits investigated ranging between 63.0% and 86.2%. The rest of the variance of each trait was attributed to genetic factors (11.6%-33.5%) and nonshared environment (2.1%-9.9%). We found results of substantial shared environment in all traits analyzed among 9-year-old twins. Age and timing seem crucial when investigating the possible influence of genes and the environment when a new virus is introduced before herd immunity is reached.