Assessing the risk of vaccine-driven virulence evolution in SARS-CoV-2

The evolution of SARS-CoV-2 virulence, or lethality, threatens to exacerbate the burden of COVID-19 on society. How might COVID-19 vaccines alter selection for increased SARS-CoV-2 virulence? Framing current evidence surrounding SARS-CoV-2 biology and COVID-19 vaccines in the context of evolutionary theory indicates that prospects for virulence evolution remain uncertain. However, differential effects of vaccinal immunity on transmission and disease severity between respiratory compartments could select for increased virulence. To bound expectations for this outcome, we analyse an evo-epidemiological model. Synthesizing model predictions with vaccine efficacy data, we conclude that while vaccine-driven virulence remains a theoretical possibility, the risk is low if vaccines provide sustained robust protection against infection. Furthermore, we found that any increases in transmission concomitant with increases in virulence would be unlikely to threaten prospects for herd immunity in a highly immunized population. Given that virulence evolution would nevertheless impact unvaccinated individuals and populations with low vaccination rates, it is important to achieve high vaccination rates worldwide and ensure that vaccinal immunity provides robust protection against both infection and disease, potentially through the use of booster doses.

The Globalization of an Interaction Ritual Chain: “Clapping for Carers” During the Conflict Against COVID-19

Sociologists have long been interested in the theoretical possibility of a universal ritual. Despite a growing number of indicators of world society and globalization, there have not been attempts to observe and analyze the international reach of particular rituals. We propose an extension of the “interaction ritual chain” by theorizing how an interaction ritual might be created and diffused internationally. We look at the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, which created shared conditions of social distancing and emotional distress. We analyze a discontinuous chain of urban and national interaction rituals that focused attention on the efforts of healthcare workers fighting the virus. We count clapping and noise-making in 101 countries and 26 global cities. While we find similar ritual forms and international symbols of solidarity, there was also substantial evidence of conflict and particularism.

Anglo Fears

The rejection of climate change science is organized by a countermovement, a collective effort to oppose a threatening social movement, in this case global environmentalism along with climate mitigation efforts. This chapter shows that, from a comparative perspective, the Anglo group of countries are quite alone in organizing the Climate Change Countermovement (CCCM), even though climate denial manifests in an unorganized way more broadly. This chapter offers the theoretical possibility that this Anglo climate denial emerges as a defense of imperial privilege threatened by the social change required to address a warming world. The theory is then supported by selections from authors of books who reject climate change and that evidence a fear of loss—of US power, of possessive individualism, and of Western progress.

Kelsen’s Idea of a World State (Weltstaat)

This article offers an analysis of the meaning of the term ‘world state’ (Weltstaat) as used by Hans Kelsen in his work on international legal theory. The author argues that Kelsen understands the term solely as a legal concept. Reconstruction of Kelsen’s understanding of the notion of world state begins with a summary of Kelsen’s reductionist doctrine of the state and its identity with law. Secondly, the analysis moves to Kelsen’s radical deconstruction of sovereignty. Thirdly, Kelsen’s doctrine of evolution of legal orders along the axis of centralization is considered. These considerations lead to the assertion that Kelsen’s Weltstaat shows in fact more affinity with the concept of the international community rather than a fully-fledged state. The article concludes that Kelsen’s world state is only a theoretical possibility, a stage in the evolution of legal orders and a common point of imputation rather than a manifestation of any cosmopolitan agenda.

Ecumenical Convergences: Romanian Evangelicals Exploring Orthodoxy

Historically, in Romania, the relations between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the evangelical communities have been characterized by tension and mutual distrust. That is why, unfortunately, there has been no official dialogue between the two communities so far. The present article investigates the theoretical possibility for such an ecumenical dialogue to occur by analysing the contributions of several evangelical theologians who published research studies on theological topics specific to Eastern orthodox theology. Their positions were analysed from the perspective of an inclusive theology which allowed us to identify some common themes for both traditions: the authority in interpreting the Scriptures, salvation as a process, and the Church understood through the application of a perichoretic model. All these convergent themes could constitute the basis for a future official ecumenical dialogue between the evangelicals and the orthodox from Romania.

Gene expression levels tune germline mutation rates through the compound effects of transcription-coupled repair and damage

Of all mammalian organs, the testis has long been observed to have the most diverse gene expression profile. To account for this widespread gene expression, we have proposed a mechanism termed ‘transcriptional scanning’, which reduces germline mutation rates through transcription-coupled repair (TCR). Our hypothesis contrasts with an earlier observation that mutation rates are overall positively correlated with gene expression levels in yeast, implying that transcription is mutagenic due to transcription-coupled damage (TCD). Here we report evidence that the compound effects of both TCR and TCD during spermatogenesis tune germline mutation rates in human, with TCR dominating in most genes, thus supporting the transcriptional scanning hypothesis. Our analyses address potentially confounding factors, distinguish the differential mutagenic effects acting on the highly expressed genes and the low-to-moderately expressed genes, and resolve concerns relating to the validation of the results using a de novo mutation dataset. We also discuss the theoretical possibility of transcriptional scanning hypothesis from an evolutionary perspective. Together, these analyses support a model by which the coupling of transcription-coupled repair and damage establishes the pattern of germline mutation rates and provide an evolutionary explanation for widespread gene expression during spermatogenesis.

There is no Post-focal De-phrasing in English

This paper studies the relationship between prosodic phrasing and prominence by addressing the questions of whether every prosodic phrase must have a head (a most prominent sub-constituent), and if so, how the head is marked. I study these questions by examining the intermediate phrase (iP) in English. If every iP must have a head, and this head must be marked by a pitch accent, then in an environment without any pitch accent, there should be no head/non-head distinction. And if there is no head, there should be no iP in this context either. I conducted a production study in English, and found durational evidence suggesting the presence of iP boundaries in an accent-less context. I also searched for durational evidence for iP-level prominence distinctions in this context, but here my results are mixed. One theoretical possibility that is compatible with my findings is that every phrase must have a head, but the head of an iP can be marked by something other than pitch accent, for example by phrasal stress.

FSR Systems for Detection of Air Objects Using Cosmic Radio Emissions

The paper analyses the possibility of Forward Scatter Radar (FSR) systems to detect airplanes using cosmic emission from pulsars and planets (pulsar, Sun, Moon). A suboptimal multichannel algorithm for joint detection and evaluation of the parameters of the forward scattering signal created by an airplane (duration and velocity) is proposed, with preliminary compensation of the powerful direct signal emitted by cosmic sources (pulsar, Sun and Moon). The expressions for calculation of the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) at the input of the detector and the compensator are obtained. The detection characteristics are also obtained, and the requirements for the suppression coefficient of the compensator are evaluated. A methodology for calculating the maximum distance for detecting an aircraft using a described algorithm is proposed. The obtained results show that due to the Forward Scatter (FS) effect, there is the theoretical possibility to detect airplanes at close ranges by FSRs, which use very weak signals from cosmic sources.