Effects of Neonatal Oxidative Stress on the Social Affinity and Survival in Larval Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Background Exposure to oxidative stress (OS) incurs various consequences in animals’ life from molecular to organismic level. Survival and social affinity are the two representative fitness components of animals that can be impacted by early exposure to OS during the developmental process. However, the effect of early OS exposure on survival and social affinity has not been well addressed. Results In this study, we treated 0, 1, and 5 mM of hydrogen peroxide solution to four-days post fertilization (dpf) larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) for 30 mins, and examined their survival until 19 dpf and social affinity at 28 dpf. There were no significant differences in survival among the treatment groups. On the other hand, social affinity was reduced in the individuals exposed to 5 mM hydrogen peroxide solution. All the groups demonstrated a similar level of locomotion. Conclusions These findings indicate that mild neonatal OS exposure did not affect the survival but partially hampered social affinity. Whether and how partially hampered social affinity in larval zebrafish persists to adulthood need to be investigated.

Acknowledged authenticity. Or did the origin of rock matter in the Mesolithic?

This article explores the concept of authenticity of rock, place and stone tools in the Mesolithic. It uses results from a recent pXRF analysis on a selection of greenstone adzes predominantly originating from a delimited area on the western coast of south Norway as its point of departure. The results show that, although the majority of the 80 analysed adzes were made of greenstone from one specific source, eight clearly stemmed from local outcrops away from this one source area. The quantitative geochemical data are not presented in detail. Instead, the focus is on the social significance of these stone objects and their sources as indicated by the results. I argue that the anomalies demonstrate an acknowledged social value placed on stone from a dedicated source area; they represent deliberate attempts to manipulate perception and thus replicate a specific social affinity. Emphasizing perception and appearance, I consider adzes of green stone as assemblages of knowledge, skill, place and social memory – as desirable objects that enhanced a feeling of belonging and social identity – and I question whether this means that people in the Mesolithic recognized and acknowledged something as authentic.

Religion as a Pillar for Establishing a Civilization: Al-Māwardī’s Perspective

This study examines religion in terms of establishing and maintaining a civilization based on Abū al-Ḥasan al-Māwardī’s (d. 1058) contribution, “Kitāb adab al-dunyā wa-al-dīn.” In this paper, the central argument is that religion is a pillar for establishing and maintaining civilization. There are no possibilities for a civilization to be constituted and maintained without a central role for religion. I will elaborate on the meaning of religion from al-Māwardī’s perspective and its role in constructing a civilization. This paper considers several religious notions and concepts proposed by al-Māwardī for this purpose. For instance, ‘al-Targhīb wa al-Tarhīb’ (persuasion and intimidation) and al-ulfah (social affinity) indicate how religion can affect individual behaviors and actions and helps create and maintain civilization. As a methodology, this paper analyses al-Māwardī’s contribution and compares it with significant contributions to civilization Studies. It concludes that a profound understanding of religion's role in any civilization gives a proper direction for understanding civilization and how religion can enhance and improve people's behavior and manners, which reflects positively on religion’s role in establishing and preserving a civilization.

Social attraction in Drosophila is regulated by the mushroom body and serotonergic system

Sociality is among the most important motivators of human behaviour. However, the neural mechanisms determining levels of sociality are largely unknown, primarily due to a lack of suitable animal models. Here, we report the presence of a surprising degree of general sociality in Drosophila. A newly-developed paradigm to study social approach behaviour in flies reveal that social cues perceive through both vision and olfaction converged in a central brain region, the γ lobe of the mushroom body, which exhibite activation in response to social experience. The activity of these γ neurons control the motivational drive for social interaction. At the molecular level, the serotonergic system is critical for social affinity. These results demonstrate that Drosophila are highly sociable, providing a suitable model system for elucidating the mechanisms underlying the motivation for sociality.

Pipe dreams? Practices of everyday governance of heterogeneous configurations of water supply in Baruipur, a small town in India

This article compares a networked and a non-networked artefact and the diverse practices of everyday governance around these localised configurations of water infrastructure in Baruipur, a peripheral and rapidly urbanising small town in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area. Plagued by arsenic contamination, the state has been pushing to expand and consolidate a networked piped infrastructure bringing in treated surface water. This shift threatens to reconfigure the existing diverse infrastructure configurations that are fragmented, incremental in nature. We examine the scholarship on the situated and embodied forms of Urban Political Ecology to understand how everyday social relations and plural practices at the level of the town, the ‘para’ (roughly neighbourhood), and the household shape socio-material artefacts. The shift in the socio-technical configurations, in turn, lead to new forms of power coalitions, network conflicts, and collaborations. Through an in-depth qualitative examination, we conclude that heterogeneous infrastructure configurations and everyday practices are not only gendered but also intricately embedded within intersections of social affinity, intimate geographies, and embodied class power relations in the ‘para’.

All in this together: deservingness of government aid during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure on governments to engage in widespread cash transfers directly to citizens to help mitigate economic losses. These programs are major redistribution efforts aimed at a variety of sub-groups within society (the unemployed, those with children, those with pre-existing health conditions, etc.) and there has been remarkably little resistance to these government outlays. We employ a novel and pre-registered paired vignette experiment to assess support for government aid during the pandemic in a large, nationally representative sample. We evaluate whether the “normal” deservingness hierarchy and considerations of social affinity or material self-interest continue to drive preferences of Canadians regarding redistribution. We find only small deservingness considerations and little evidence that redistribution preferences are informed by similarity considerations. Instead, we find broad, generous, and non-discriminatory support for direct cash transfers during this period of crisis.

Social Affinity Flow Theory

This article presents a new theoretical construct, Social Affinity Flow Theory (SAFT), which both describes and predicts fl ow phenomena across a diversity of human social systems and is founded upon constructal law. Constructal law and its associated s-curves describe many phenomena, both in nature and in human societies. Extrapolated from the work of Bejan and Zane and integrating social science research, it provides a foundational explanation of social rifts prevalent in many societies today as well as constructive efforts of social change, whether secular or religiously based. A primary example of constructive change explained by SAFT is the community-building work of the Bahá’í Faith, as reflected in both its teachings and its training institute process.

Consumer purchasing behaviour for “biodiversity-friendly” vegetable products: increasing importance of informal relationships

The consumer’s central role within biodiversity conservation networks may be connected to the process of reconnecting models of production and proven local consumption within “alternative food networks” that have the ability to conserve biodiversity and create sustainable production. This research focuses of the indirect relationships between consumers of biodiversity-friendly vegetable crops surveyed at the main farmers’ markets in Sicily, revealing details of purchasing behaviour and the factors related to product choice using social network analysis (SNA) to analyse the social relationships. The research highlights the consumer preferences for local produce or areas with an identity connection or an ethical-social affinity, as shown by the convergence of themes such as “territorial promotion” and “Sicilian quality”. This result confirms the role of low-volume producers and local communities in protecting biodiversity-friendly farming and renewing their importance in policy-making. Different consumers highlighted how important it is to design more effective measures to maintain and increase ecosystem resilience. Future development in this area will need to include empirical research on defining the motivations that induce consumers to collaborate with producers in the co-creation of values and anticipating the willingness of consumers to be more pro-active and participatory with biodiversity-friendly farmers in managing their relationships.

Analysis of Customers Acquisition Behaviour of Multiple SIM Networks Among University Lecturers in Southeast Nigeria

As the voice-service-market of mobile telecommunication providers fast reaches its saturation amidst increasing competition, its revenue potential to telecom providers continue to decline. Therefore, understanding consumers use behavior portends important strategic consideration for customer acquisition and retention for telecom operators. This study seeks to empirically determine the factors that influence the acquisition of multiple GSM networks by university lecturers in Southeastern universities in Nigeria. Data were generated from a sample of 301 respondents. Three hypotheses were stated and tested using Analysis of variance (ANOVA). The result shows positive relationships between income, social affinity networks, and brand image and consumer acquisition of multi SIM networks. It is therefore, recommended that income, social affinity, and brand image be used as strategic marketing tools to attract customers to acquire a particular network.