In this wide-ranging and stimulating book, a leading authority on the history of medicine and science presents convincing evidence that Dutch commerce-not religion-inspired the rise of science in the ...sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his conclusions are fresh and exciting. He uncovers direct links between the rise of trade and commerce in the Dutch Empire and the flourishing of scientific investigation.Cook argues that engaging in commerce changed the thinking of Dutch citizens, leading to a new emphasis on such values as objectivity, accumulation, and description. The preference for accurate information that accompanied the rise of commerce also laid the groundwork for the rise of science globally, wherever the Dutch engaged in trade. Medicine and natural history were fundamental aspects of this new science, as reflected in the development of gardens for both pleasure and botanical study, anatomical theaters, curiosity cabinets, and richly illustrated books about nature. Sweeping in scope and original in its insights, this book revises previous understandings of the history of science and ideas.
Identifying cows that are at greater risk for disease prior to calving would be a valuable addition to transition management. Prior to the commercial release of software features in an automated ...behavioral monitoring system, designed to identify cows in the dry period at greater risk of disease postpartum, a retrospective analysis was carried out in five dairy herds to evaluate whether the software could identify prepartum cows that subsequently received health treatments postpartum and whether prepartum alerts (transition alerts) are associated with a reduction in milk production in the subsequent lactation. Herd management and production records were analyzed for cows receiving treatment in the first 21 d of lactation (days in milk, DIM) for clinical mastitis, reproductive tract disease (metritis, retained fetal membranes), metabolic disease (hypocalcemia, ketosis and displaced abomasum) and for cows exiting the herd by 60 DIM. Data was gathered for 986 cows, 382 (38.7%) of which received a transition alert and 604 (61.3%) that did not. During the first 21 DIM 312 (31.6%) cows went on to receive a disease treatment, of these 51.9% (n = 162/312) were transition alert cows and 48.1% (n = 150/312) non-transition alert cows, while 8.6% (n = 33/382) alert cows exited the herd by 60 DIM compared to 4.8% (n = 29/604) of cows that did not receive an alert. A cow receiving a transition alert (OR = 1.76, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.27–2.44) and increasing parity (OR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.44–2.86) were both associated with increased risk of receiving a disease treatment in the first 21 DIM. The occurrence of a transition alert was negatively associated with both week 4 milk yield (daily average yield in fourth week of lactation) and predicted 305 d yield. Transition alerts correctly predicted 62.5% (95% CI: 59.3–65.5) of treatments with a sensitivity of 42.4% (95% CI: 37.4–45.5) and a specificity of 75.2% (95% CI: 71.5–78.6). Associations were identified between postpartum health and production outcomes and prepartum behavioral measures from an automated activity monitoring system.
Single-layer and few-layer transition metal dichalcogenides have been extensively studied for their electronic properties, but their energy-storage potential has not been well explored. This paper ...describes the structural and electrochemical properties of few-layer TiS2 nanocrystals. The two-dimensional morphology leads to very different behavior, compared to corresponding bulk materials. Only small structural changes occur during lithiation/delithiation and charge storage characteristics are consistent with intercalation pseudocapacitance, leading to materials that exhibit both high energy and power density.
Belief polarization is said to occur when two people respond to the same evidence by updating their beliefs in opposite directions. This response is considered to be “irrational” because it involves ...contrary updating, a form of belief updating that appears to violate normatively optimal responding, as for example dictated by Bayes' theorem. In light of much evidence that people are capable of normatively optimal behavior, belief polarization presents a puzzling exception. We show that Bayesian networks, or Bayes nets, can simulate rational belief updating. When fit to experimental data, Bayes nets can help identify the factors that contribute to polarization. We present a study into belief updating concerning the reality of climate change in response to information about the scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming (AGW). The study used representative samples of Australian and U.S. participants. Among Australians, consensus information partially neutralized the influence of worldview, with free‐market supporters showing a greater increase in acceptance of human‐caused global warming relative to free‐market opponents. In contrast, while consensus information overall had a positive effect on perceived consensus among U.S. participants, there was a reduction in perceived consensus and acceptance of human‐caused global warming for strong supporters of unregulated free markets. Fitting a Bayes net model to the data indicated that under a Bayesian framework, free‐market support is a significant driver of beliefs about climate change and trust in climate scientists. Further, active distrust of climate scientists among a small number of U.S. conservatives drives contrary updating in response to consensus information among this particular group.
Interfaces have crucial, but still poorly understood, roles in the performance of secondary solid-state batteries. Here, using crystallographically oriented and highly faceted thick cathodes, we ...directly assess the impact of cathode crystallography and morphology on the long-term performance of solid-state batteries. The controlled interface crystallography, area and microstructure of these cathodes enables an understanding of interface instabilities unknown (hidden) in conventional thin-film and composite solid-state electrodes. A generic and direct correlation between cell performance and interface stability is revealed for a variety of both lithium- and sodium-based cathodes and solid electrolytes. Our findings highlight that minimizing interfacial area, rather than its expansion as is the case in conventional composite cathodes, is key to both understanding the nature of interface instabilities and improving cell performance. Our findings also point to the use of dense and thick cathodes as a way of increasing the energy density and stability of solid-state batteries.
Each spring, migratory herbivores around the world track or ‘surf’ green waves of newly emergent vegetation to distant summer or wet‐season ranges. This foraging tactic may help explain the great ...abundance of migratory herbivores on many seasonal landscapes. However, the underlying fitness benefits of this life‐history strategy remain poorly understood. A fundamental prediction of the green‐wave hypothesis is that migratory herbivores obtain fitness benefits from surfing waves of newly emergent vegetation more closely than their resident counterparts. Here we evaluate whether this behavior increases body‐fat levels – a critically important correlate of reproduction and survival for most ungulates – in elk Cervus elaphus of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Using satellite imagery and GPS tracking data, we found evidence that migrants (n = 23) indeed surfed the green wave, occupying sites 12.7 days closer to peak green‐up than residents (n = 16). Importantly, individual variation in surfing may help account for up to 6 kg of variation in autumn body‐fat levels. Our findings point to a pathway for anthropogenic changes to the green wave (e.g. climate change) or migrants’ ability to surf it (e.g. development) to impact migratory populations. To explore this possibility, we evaluated potential population‐level consequences of constrained surfing with a heuristic model. If green‐wave surfing deteriorates by 5–15 days from observed, our model predicts up to a 20% decrease in pregnancy rates, a 2.5% decrease in population growth, and a 30% decrease in abundance over 50 years. By linking green‐wave surfing to fitness and illustrating potential effects on population growth, our study provides new insights into the evolution of migratory behavior and the prospects for the persistence of migratory ungulate populations in a changing world.
Misinformation can undermine a well-functioning democracy. For example, public misconceptions about climate change can lead to lowered acceptance of the reality of climate change and lowered support ...for mitigation policies. This study experimentally explored the impact of misinformation about climate change and tested several pre-emptive interventions designed to reduce the influence of misinformation. We found that false-balance media coverage (giving contrarian views equal voice with climate scientists) lowered perceived consensus overall, although the effect was greater among free-market supporters. Likewise, misinformation that confuses people about the level of scientific agreement regarding anthropogenic global warming (AGW) had a polarizing effect, with free-market supporters reducing their acceptance of AGW and those with low free-market support increasing their acceptance of AGW. However, we found that inoculating messages that (1) explain the flawed argumentation technique used in the misinformation or that (2) highlight the scientific consensus on climate change were effective in neutralizing those adverse effects of misinformation. We recommend that climate communication messages should take into account ways in which scientific content can be distorted, and include pre-emptive inoculation messages.
Migration is a striking behavioral strategy by which many animals enhance resource acquisition while reducing predation risk. Historically, the demographic benefits of such movements made migration ...common, but in many taxa the phenomenon is considered globally threatened. Here we describe a long-term decline in the productivity of elk (
Cervus elaphus
) that migrate through intact wilderness areas to protected summer ranges inside Yellowstone National Park, USA. We attribute this decline to a long-term reduction in the demographic benefits that ungulates typically gain from migration. Among migratory elk, we observed a 21-year, 70% reduction in recruitment and a 4-year, 19% depression in their pregnancy rate largely caused by infrequent reproduction of females that were young or lactating. In contrast, among resident elk, we have recently observed increasing recruitment and a high rate of pregnancy. Landscape-level changes in habitat quality and predation appear to be responsible for the declining productivity of Yellowstone migrants. From 1989 to 2009, migratory elk experienced an increasing rate and shorter duration of green-up coincident with warmer spring-summer temperatures and reduced spring precipitation, also consistent with observations of an unusually severe drought in the region. Migrants are also now exposed to four times as many grizzly bears (
Ursus arctos
) and wolves (
Canis lupus
) as resident elk. Both of these restored predators consume migratory elk calves at high rates in the Yellowstone wilderness but are maintained at low densities via lethal management and human disturbance in the year-round habitats of resident elk. Our findings suggest that large-carnivore recovery and drought, operating simultaneously along an elevation gradient, have disproportionately influenced the demography of migratory elk. Many migratory animals travel large geographic distances between their seasonal ranges. Changes in land use and climate that disparately influence such seasonal ranges may alter the ecological basis of migratory behavior, representing an important challenge for, and a powerful lens into, the ecology and conservation of migratory taxa.
The short charging times and high power capabilities associated with capacitive energy storage make this approach an attractive alternative to batteries. One limitation of electrochemical capacitors ...is their low energy density and for this reason, there is widespread interest in pseudocapacitive materials that use Faradaic reactions to store charge. One candidate pseudocapacitive material is orthorhombic MoO3 (α-MoO3 ), a layered compound with a high theoretical capacity for lithium (279 mA h g-1 or 1,005 C g-1 ). Here, we report on the properties of reduced α-MoO3-x (R-MoO3-x ) and compare it with fully oxidized α-MoO3 (F-MoO3 ). The introduction of oxygen vacancies leads to a larger interlayer spacing that promotes faster charge storage kinetics and enables the α-MoO3 structure to be retained during the insertion and removal of Li ions. The higher specific capacity of the R-MoO3-x is attributed to the reversible formation of a significant amount of Mo4+ following lithiation. This study underscores the potential importance of incorporating oxygen vacancies into transition metal oxides as a strategy for increasing the charge storage kinetics of redox-active materials.
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