tag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:/all?page=11Journal of Brief Ideas: Ideas from the last week2021-09-18T17:56:54Ztag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8812021-09-18T17:56:54Z2021-11-01T11:43:11ZThe Paradox of Implicit Logrollinghttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5606090The process of Implicit Logrolling (Buchanan & Tullock,1962) is a form of indirect vote-trading that heavily relies on the bundling of wedge issues. By way of tying specific groupings of policies to attract targeted demographics of voters to a political platform. This political strategy is especially effective in capturing the commitment of single-issue voters. These voters need to tacitly accept the rest of the policies on the political platform to have their one area of interest acknowledged. This is why implicit logrolling is such an effective mechanism in shaping the American political landscape.
Most analysts ignore how voters reconcile selecting programs and political candidates that hold logically inconsistent views. For example, an individual that defends abortion rights on the grounds of a bodily integrity argument concurrently favoring vaccine mandates. Here is where the Paradox of Implicit Logrolling comes in; voters then must rationalize these discrepancies due to the lack of logical consistency. In vote trading, the individual voter expects to make some concessions. However, when these concessions present logical and philosophical contradictions, few people question the conflict. In short, the paradox describes how people are willing to accept contrary political positions if parceled with a party or policy they favor.
Clark, Petertag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8802021-09-13T14:44:32Z2021-11-01T11:48:02ZStage Structured Hybrid Model for Complex Systems Modellinghttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5504398Stochasticity and spatial distribution of pathogens play a critical role in determining the outcome of an infection. 1 in a million immune system cells are specific to a particular pathogen. The serendipitous encounter of rare immune system cells with its fated antigen can determine the mortality of the infected animal. Moreover pathogens may remain initially localized in a small volume of tissue. Hence stochastic and spatial aspects play an important role in pathogenesis, especially early on in the infection. Current efforts at investigating the effect of stochasticity and space in modeling of host immune response and pathogens use agent based models (ABMs). However these are computationally expensive. Population level approaches like ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are computationally tractable. However they make simplifying assumptions that are unlikely to be true early on in the infection. I propose a stage-structured hybrid model that strikes a balance between the detail of representation of an ABM and the computational tractability of an ODE model. It uses a spatially explicit ABM in the initial stage of infection, and a coarse-grained, computationally tractable ODE model in the latter stages of infection. Such an approach might hold promise in modeling of infectious diseases and other complex systems.Banerjee, Soumyatag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8772021-08-23T12:29:54Z2021-09-13T06:00:54ZPsilocybin treatment for cognitive impairment in Long COVID by way of restoring lost dendritic spine densityhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5502228Recent research has revealed a relationship between treatment-resistant depression and micro-structural changes in the brain, including lowered density of dendritic spines in several areas of the brain. Similar structural changes have been detected in the brains of recovered COVID-19 patients, and in-vitro studies have demonstrated that COVID-19 spike proteins can cause functional deficiencies in dendritic spine morphology in cultured neurons, suggesting dendritic spine deformation as possibly playing a causative role in the cognitive impairments associated with long COVID.
Psilocybin has been found to stimulate dendritic spine formation in animal models of depression, resulting in micro-structural changes and prolonged improvement in stress-related behavioural deficits. Human trials with Psilocybin has also had positive results for treatment-resistant depression.
Psilocybin, therefore, merits investigation as a treatment for the cognitive impairment associated with long COVID symptoms, with potential to stimulate recovery from micro-structural changes induced by the virus. Stacey, Neil Thomastag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8762021-08-19T13:47:19Z2021-09-13T06:00:54ZHand sanitation during COVID 19 Could effective to reduce the gastrointestinal infections in Indiahttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5502226We all know that during COVID19 pandemic (1) we followed the safety guidelines and washed our hands properly with soap or any alcohol based sanitizer to prevent COVID 19 viral infection (2). COVID 19 pandemic created more cautiousness in terms of hand hygiene than we were previous. Scholarly articles already discussed the relation between hygiene and infection (3-5). It was reported that hand hygiene is effective in preventing gastrointestinal illnesses both developed and lesser-developed countries (3). Those who had never follows the hand hygiene (for home and street food), they are now maybe habituated and started to keep their hand hygiene. This may have impacted positively also against gastrointestinal infections. Possibility is that it may decreases the Infections (gastrointestinal specifically). But there is lacking of data and good survey based research. So, one can think of it. During statistical analysis researchers have to consider the COVID19 related gastrointestinal complications also.
Declaration: No conflict of Interest. This is not any research or review article. This is a personal view.
References:
1. https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1
2.https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/everything-you-need-know-about-washing-your-hands-protect-against-coronavirus-covid-19
3. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.124610
4. DOI: 10.1016/s1473-3099(02)00184-6
5.https://www.who.int/southeastasia/news/detail/15-10-2020-handwashing-an-effective-tool-to-prevent-covid-19-other-diseases
Chakraborty, Pallabtag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8752021-08-14T17:00:25Z2021-11-17T18:20:09ZPerspectives on coffee culture: Ge’ez conundrumshttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5502215Ethiopia is the cradle of coffee culture, yet early evidence for it is scant. Does the Ge’ez word for coffee reveal clues? I propose an etymological link to the Zorastrian Emperor of Persia, Khosrow I (or II), reflecting contemporaneous Aksumite ‘anti-coffee’ sentiments.
Ge’ez, used in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo liturgy since the fourth century, is traced to the first century emergence of Aksum(1). Ge’ez for coffee is Etse Kusra/Khusra (Etse=plant)(2). Few early manuscripts exist(1). The fifteenth century Dǝrsanä Ṣǝyon probably reflects earlier traditions: coffee is described as ‘a devilish evil tree’; kusra as traded with Moslems but strictly forbidden for Christians(3).
Tadesse(2) links kusra to Asian words, including eunuch. In Persian, kusra can mean ‘the habit of drinking much wine’(4). Semantic shifts from ‘wine’ to ‘coffee’ are noted in other languages. Alternatively, or concomitantly, the origin could be a name. Likely an enemy: kusra shares the Ge’ez consonants of ‘abominable’(3).
Khosrow I ‘Anushirvan’ was a powerful enemy in the sixth century, so was his grandson Khosrow II ‘Parviz’ in the seventh. Transliterations of Khosrow include ‘Khusrau’(5) and ‘Khusra’(6). Furthermore, Anushirvan likely knew of coffee. He ousted Aksum from Yemen, and actively sought out medical knowledge from other cultures(5).
Gonot-Schoupinsky, Freda N. tag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8742021-07-27T13:44:53Z2021-08-08T06:01:39ZPerspectives on coffee culture: Arcimboldo’s bean https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5168485Insight into the early spread of coffee culture is hampered due to limited sources and uncertainty if they refer to coffea, or another plant. A playful source for debate in coffeaology (the study of coffea) is Arcimboldo’s 1590 masterpiece: Vertumnus(1).
The earliest ‘western’ depictions of coffee appear to be in 1574 by Charles de l’Ecluse (Clusius), while botantist of Maximilian II (2), and 1592 by Venetian botanist Prospero Alpini(3). Neither is detailed, but accompanying text enables identification of Alpini’s berry-free coffee tree (observed in Cairo); Clusius mentions the ‘furrow’ in his beans (obtained from the Duke of Ferrara’s physician).
Guiseppe Arcimboldo, the Habsburg court artist and accomplished natural history painter (who co-served with Clusius(4)) may have provided another. The surprising juxtapositions found in Arcimboldo’s work though humorous, and eccentric, appear to accurately represent flora and fauna4. Vertumnus (1590) depicts Emperor Rudolf II (son of Maximilian II, and an avid collector, and naturalist) using fruit and vegetables. A sprig of olives is shown; beneath it, at first glance, is an olive pit, yet its histology is problematic(5).
The endocarp morphology shows a clear longitudinal groove, and its shape suggests possibly a date, but particularly a coffee bean(6). Did Arcimboldo wink at us by ‘hiding’ a coffee bean? Rudolf II knew about coffee from Clusius’ works. Was Arcimboldo’s double entendre intended subterfuge to ally contemporary suspicions of coffee.
Gonot-Schoupinsky, Freda N. tag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8732021-07-23T10:25:11Z2021-09-13T06:00:54ZWhy do we need forest towns with their own local governments?https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5502224Forests are vital to life on Earth. But forests are rapidly disappearing. The concern is that elected officials must answer to voters and even party donors. In terms of economic gain, both voters and funders benefit from forest destruction. Local, provincial, and federal governments will be reluctant to enact strict regulations, causing dissatisfaction or criticism from both groups.
The solution is independent forest local governments, whose main goal is to protect their permanent residents, i.e. animal and plant species. Forested areas should be treated as temporary tourist areas with no permanent resident status for humans. Tourists, wildlife photographers, media and entertainment professionals, and others must pay to stay in these forest towns. During their stay, they are bound by the forest towns' laws, which are designed to protect permanent residents. Infractions result in fines and even deportation from the forest towns. The funds raised can go towards animal and plant welfare projects, as well as forest town survival.
The forest government may include ecologists, lawyers, or citizens. They primarily enact laws and regulations for permanent residents (i.e., animals and plants). Hiring of forest police and other officials And raising funds for the permanent residents' welfare.Sajid, Muhammad Jawadtag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8712021-07-21T14:25:35Z2021-09-13T06:00:54Zemanifest: A Python utility package for accessing the US EPA's hazardous waste tracking systemhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5502222The overarching purpose of e-Manifest is to establish a national information technology system that will enable the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the hazardous waste program’s industry and state stakeholders to transition the manifest system from one that is paper-intensive and burdensome to a system that is much more efficient, because it will rely on information technology to track hazardous waste shipments.
To advance that goal and reduce the difficulty of accessing data, the e-Manifest team has developed the **emanifest** Python package for regulators and industry users of the e-Manifest system. This package allows for the programmatic access of relevant data via the e-Manifest REST API. This package is available to any user with API Manager permissions in RCRAInfo. Additional details about the API are available via the Swagger interface.
The **emanifest** package is distributed via the Python Software Foundation (PSF) Python Package Index (PyPI) at the following link: https://pypi.org/project/emanifest/
The **emanifest** source code is available via GitHub at the following link: https://github.com/usepa/e-manifestNicholas, Williamtag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8682021-07-17T06:03:31Z2021-10-18T16:58:01ZBetting on Conspiracies?https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5502184Was 9/11 an inside job? Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone? Was the U.S. presidential election of 2020 stolen? I propose a Conspiracy Theory Betting Market to resolve these questions. That is, instead of trying to censor social media platforms or otherwise suppress the spread of conspiracy theories, why not allow such theories to flourish and invite people to bet on them? Among other things, an open betting market in "fake news" and conspiracy theories would aggregate disparate sources of information (cf. Hayek), provide financial and reputational incentives to place winning bets (cf. Tetlock), and scale well with the number of people and opinions. How would this "retrodiction" market work? People would buy or sell "conspiracy theory contracts," and each contract would be structured as a simple yes/no question (e.g. Did Oswald act alone?) and would settle to some sum if one's answer turned out to be right; 0 otherwise. To resolve these contracts, this market could fund special-purpose “conspiracy-theory courts,” which could hold open hearings and allow anyone to make arguments or present evidence. Using the preponderance of the evidence standard that is routinely used in civil cases, the court would then decide whether a given conspiracy theory (e.g. JFK, 9/11, 2020 election) satisfies the well-established elements of conspiracy law.Guerra-Pujol, F.E.tag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/8582021-07-04T16:39:26Z2021-09-13T06:00:54Zagricolaeplotr: An R package for visualising experimental designs in science and engineeringhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5502175Experimental designs are widely used in the life sciences to substantiate hypotheses through experiments. In the life sciences, this is an indispensable part of gaining scientific knowledge. In addition, open source software is increasingly used in science and engineering. One important programme is R, which is used as a statistical programme for evaluating experiments. The most important R package for designing experiments is the agricolae package, which creates many common experimental designs. However, apart from simple matrix sketches for selected designs, the package does not contain any visualisations of the experimental designs. This gap will be closed by the planned agricolaeplotr package.
The planned workflow: The user can enter an object as input, which contains an experimental design from the agricolae package and gets a field map output with a few parameters.
This shows the spatial dimensions of the experiment, as well as the location of the individual plots in the experiment. In addition, the plot numbers are output as labels, and the plots are coloured according to the levels of a factor (see attachment). This can be further processed, as pure ggplot2 functions are used. These maps can be used to communicate with project stakeholders in science and education.
Harbers, Jens