Dimensional versus conceptual incommensurability in the social and behavioral sciences.

This commentary analyzes the extent to which the incommensurability problem can be resolved through the proposed alternative method of integrative experiment design. We suggest that, although one aspect of incommensurability is successfully addressed (dimensional incommensurability), the proposed design space method does not yet alleviate another major source of discontinuity, which we call conceptual incommensurability.

A funding mosaic for loss and damage.

In the context of climate policy, "loss and damage" refers to unavoided climate change impacts, including those from extreme weather events and slow-onset events such as sea-level rise, increasing temperatures, and loss of biodiversity. Some argue that focusing on loss and damage distracts industrialized countries from attempts to avoid losses and damages in the first place through decarbonization and adaptation. Others argue that insufficient mitigation by industrialized countries has unleashed an unfair burden on developing countries, so developed countries alone must address loss and damage financially. The impasse was broken at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27)-the international climate negotiations-in November 2022, through a decision on new funding arrangements for loss and damage, including a new fund. Reflecting on the funding needs, Maldives' Environment Minister Aminath Shauna argued at COP27 that the world requires a "mosaic of solutions." As a transitional committee begins to assemble recommendations to operationalize this mosaic of funding arrangements, several critical questions require insights from the scientific community.

A comparative study of the acceptance and understanding of evolution between China and the US.

Prior work has found that Americans' views on evolution are significantly and positively related to their understanding of this theory. However, whether this relationship is cross-culturally robust is unknown. This article extends earlier work by measuring and comparing the acceptance and understanding of evolution among highly educated individuals in China and the United States. We find a significantly higher evolution acceptance level in the Chinese sample than in the US sample, but no significant difference in their average levels of evolution knowledge. Our analysis also shows that accepting evolutionary theory is related to understanding in both the US and the Chinese samples. These results provide evidence for the robustness of the relationship between understanding and acceptance of evolution across different cultural contexts. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to comprehensively test understanding of evolutionary theory within a Chinese sample and to compare these results with the US sample.

Knowledge about the nature of science increases public acceptance of science regardless of identity factors.

While people's views about science are related to identity factors (e.g. political orientation) and to knowledge of scientific theories, knowledge about how science works in general also plays an important role. To test this claim, we administered two detailed assessments about the practices of science to a demographically representative sample of the US public (N = 1500), along with questions about the acceptance of evolution, climate change, and vaccines. Participants' political and religious views predicted their acceptance of scientific claims, as in prior work. But a greater knowledge of the nature of science and a more mature view of how to mitigate scientific disagreements each related positively to acceptance. Importantly, the positive effect of scientific thinking on acceptance held regardless of participants' political ideology or religiosity. Increased attention to developing people's knowledge of how science works could thus help to combat resistance to scientific claims across the political and religious spectrum.

Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Physician-Dietitian Collaboration.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects 10%-15% of adults in the United States and 12% of the worldwide population. Gastroenterologists as well as primary care practitioners are likely to be the first resource for patients with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. IBS is difficult to diagnose, as it is a functional GI disorder, determined after ruling out a myriad of other diagnoses. The 2016 Rome IV criteria define IBS as "a functional bowel disorder in which recurrent abdominal pain is associated with defecation or a change in bowel habits. Disordered bowel habits are typically present (ie, constipation, diarrhea, or a mix of constipation and diarrhea), as are symptoms of abdominal bloating/distension occurring over at least 6 months and not less than 3 months." Treatment of IBS historically has been through medical management; however, nutrition management of IBS using the FODMAP (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) elimination diet is now a recommended, first-line therapy. FODMAPs are short-chain, poorly absorbed carbohydrates that are associated with symptoms in people with IBS. This diet intervention can be quite challenging, and therefore, patients should meet with a qualified dietitian who can provide the complex diet information in a practicable form. Physician-dietitian collaboration is invaluable for IBS patients to achieve a successful outcome.

Why does the Chinese public accept evolution?

A substantial proportion of Chinese nationals seem to accept evolution, and the country is sometimes held up to show that the sorry state of evolution acceptance in the United States is not inevitable. Attempts to improve evolution acceptance generally focus on improving communication, curricular reform, and even identifying cognitive mechanisms that bias people against evolution. What is it that the Chinese scientific community did so well, and can it be generalized? This paper argues that evolution acceptance in China has a very specific history, one that other countries are very unlikely to emulate. We show that the interactions among science, education, mass media, social and political movements, and ideological arguments about evolution greatly influenced the Chinese public's understanding and acceptance of evolution. We find that it was not just formal education, but many more ideologically motivated methods of evolution exposure that contributed to the high rate of acceptance. But since the purpose of evolution dissemination has moved beyond merely teaching biology, the Chinese public persists with substantial misunderstandings of the theory. Thus, bottom line percentage of acceptance figures can be misleading; the details and the history really matter.

Extended chondrule formation intervals in distinct physicochemical environments: Evidence from Al-Mg isotope systematics of CR chondrite chondrules with unaltered plagioclase.

Al-Mg isotope systematics of twelve FeO-poor (type I) chondrules from CR chondrites Queen Alexandra Range 99177 and Meteorite Hills 00426 were investigated by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Five chondrules with Mg#'s of 99.0 to 99.2 and Δ17O of -4.2‰ to -5.3‰ have resolvable excess 26Mg. Their inferred (26Al/27Al)0 values range from (3.5 ± 1.3) × 10‒6 to (6.0 ± 3.9) × 10‒6. This corresponds to formation times of 2.2 (-0.5/+1.1) Myr to 2.8 (‒0.3/+0.5) Myr after CAIs, using a canonical (26Al/27Al)0 of 5.23 × 10-5, and assuming homogeneously distributed 26Al that yielded a uniform initial 26Al/27Al in the Solar System. Seven chondrules lack resolvable excess 26Mg. They have lower Mg#'s (94.2 to 98.7) and generally higher Δ17O (-0.9‰ to -4.9‰) than chondrules with resolvable excess 26Mg. Their inferred (26Al/27Al)0 upper limits range from 1.3 × 10‒6 to 3.2 × 10‒6, corresponding to formation >2.9 to >3.7 Myr after CAIs. Al-Mg isochrons depend critically on chondrule plagioclase, and several characteristics indicate the chondrule plagioclase is unaltered: (1) SIMS 27Al/24Mg depth profile patterns match those from anorthite standards, and SEM/EDS of chondrule SIMS pits show no foreign inclusions; (2) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals no nanometer-scale micro-inclusions and no alteration due to thermal metamorphism; (3) oxygen isotopes of chondrule plagioclase match those of coexisting olivine and pyroxene, indicating a low extent of thermal metamorphism; and (4) electron microprobe data show chondrule plagioclase is anorthite-rich, with excess structural silica and high MgO, consistent with such plagioclase from other petrologic type 3.00-3.05 chondrites. We conclude that the resolvable (26Al/27Al)0 variabilities among chondrules studied are robust, corresponding to a formation interval of at least 1.1 Myr. Using relationships between chondrule (26Al/27Al)0, Mg#, and Δ17O, we interpret spatial and temporal features of dust, gas, and H2O ice in the FeO-poor chondrule-forming environment. Mg# ≥ 99, Δ17O ~-5‰ chondrules with resolvable excess 26Mg initially formed in an environment that was relatively anhydrous, with a dust-to-gas ratio of ~100×. After these chondrules formed, we interpret a later influx of 16O-poor H2O ice into the environment, and that dust-to-gas ratios expanded (100× to 300×). This led to the later formation of more oxidized Mg# 94-99 chondrules with higher Δ17O (-5‰ to -1‰), with low (26Al/27Al)0, and hence no resolvable excess 26Mg. We refine the mean CR chondrite chondrule formation age via mass balance, by considering that Mg# ≥ 99 chondrules generally have resolved positive (26Al/27Al)0 and that Mg# < 99 chondrules generally have no resolvable excess 26Mg, implying lower (26Al/27Al)0. We obtain a mean chondrule formation age of 3.8 ± 0.3 Myr after CAIs, which is consistent with Pb-Pb and Hf-W model ages of CR chondrite chondrule aggregates. Overall, this suggests most CR chondrite chondrules formed immediately before parent body accretion.

Non-Scientific Criteria for Belief Sustain Counter-Scientific Beliefs.

Why is evolutionary theory controversial among members of the American public? We propose a novel explanation: allegiance to different criteria for belief. In one interview study, two online surveys, and one nationally representative phone poll, we found that evolutionists and creationists take different justifications for belief as legitimate. Those who accept evolution emphasize empirical evidence and scientific consensus. Creationists emphasize not only the Bible and religious authority, but also knowledge of the heart. These criteria for belief remain predictive of views about evolution even when taking into account other related factors like religion, political affiliation, and education. Each view is supported by its own internally specified criteria for what constitutes a justified belief. Changing minds may thus require changing epistemic norms.

Agriculture increases individual fitness.

We question the need to explain the onset of agriculture by appealing to the second type of multilevel selection (MLS2). Unlike eusocial insect colonies, human societies do not exhibit key features of evolutionary individuals. If we avoid the mistake of equating Darwinian fitness with health and quality of life, the adoption of agriculture is almost certainly explicable in terms of individual-level selection and individual rationality.

When is the spread of a cultural trait due to cultural group selection? The case of religious syncretism.

The reproduction of cultural systems in cases where cultural group selection may occur is typically incomplete, with only certain cultural traits being adopted by less successful cultural groups. Why a particular trait and not another is transmitted might not be explained by cultural group selection. We explore this issue through the case of religious syncretism.

Opiate refractory pain from an intestinal obstruction responsive to an intravenous lidocaine infusion.

A 24-year-old female patient presented to our community emergency department (ED) for abdominal pain that had progressively worsened over the last 28 hours. Of note, 1 month prior to her presentation, the patient had a colostomy due to a rectal abscess and required stoma revision 5 days prior to her visit to our ED. The patient's pain was refractory to opiate analgesia in our ED, but experienced significant relief after an intravenous lidocaine infusion. Computer tomography of the abdomen and pelvis ultimately revealed a large bowel obstruction just proximal to the colostomy site. Historically, options for ED management of severe pain have been limited beyond narcotic analgesia. For patients whom are refractory to opiates in the ED, or for whom opiates are contraindicated, lidocaine infusions have shown promise for a variety of both acute and chronic painful conditions.

Group-level traits are not units of selection.

We argue that Smaldino has not established that group-level traits constitute a unit of selection distinct from selection on individuals, as group-level traits are neither replicators nor interactors. Moreover, we argue that Wimsatt's analysis of emergence and aggregativity supports an understanding of group-level and other emergent traits as explanatorily reducible to the individual level.

Remeasuring man.

Samuel George Morton (1799-1851) was the most highly regarded American scientist of the early and middle 19th century. Thanks largely to Stephen Jay Gould's book The Mismeasure of Man, Morton's cranial capacity measurements of different races is now held up as a prime example of and cautionary tale against scientific racism. A team of anthropologists recently reevaluated Morton's work and argued that it was Gould, not Morton, who was biased in his analysis. This article is a reexamination of the Morton and Gould controversy. It argues that most of Gould's arguments against Morton are sound. Although Gould made some errors and overstated his case in a number of places, he provided prima facia evidence, as yet unrefuted, that Morton did indeed mismeasure his skulls in ways that conformed to 19th century racial biases. Gould's critique of Morton ought to remain as an illustration of implicit bias in science.

Do simple models lead to generality in ecology?

Modellers of biological, ecological, and environmental systems cannot take for granted the maxim 'simple means general means good'. We argue here that viewing simple models as the main way to achieve generality may be an obstacle to the progress of ecological research. We show how complex models can be both desirable and general, and how simple and complex models can be linked together to produce broad-scale and predictive understanding of biological systems.

Incidence and effects of genetic factors on canine impaction in an isolated Jewish population.

INTRODUCTION: The etiology of palatal canine impaction is multifactorial and includes a genetic contribution. The aim of this study was to find the incidence and effects of genetic factors on palatally impacted canines in a genetically isolated community of ultraorthodox Hassidic Jews of Ashkenazi decent. METHODS: For this study, we retrospectively evaluated 1000 charts of Hassidic Jewish patients. Their distribution was 58% female and 42% male, with a mean age of 14 years. RESULTS: From those patients, 49 (4.9%) were determined to have canine impaction. Of these 49, 69.4% had unilateral palatal impaction, 26.5% had bilateral palatal impaction, and 4.1% had unilateral labial impaction. The z-test of proportion showed that female patients have a greater percentage than males for unilateral palatal impaction (P <0.01) with left-side dominance (P <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our results imply that genetics plays a significant role in maxillary canine palatal impaction. A genetically isolated Hassidic Jewish community can be a useful group to study the effects of genetic factors on various dental anomalies, including palatally displaced canines.

Surface ablation techniques.

The ongoing quest for a safe, simple, effective, minimally invasive, and stable refractive surgical procedure to correct refractive errors has stimulated the development of surface ablation techniques and laser in situ keratomileusis. In this review, we describe the history, patient assessment, techniques, outcomes, and complications of surface ablation (photorefractive keratectomy, laser-assisted sub-epithelial keratectomy, epithelial laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) and compare the results of various surface techniques. Surface ablation procedures will continue to evolve, with potential improvements in outcomes accompanying future sophisticated ablation profiles and laser technology.