We model linear, inviscid, internal tides generated by the interaction of a barotropic tide with one-dimensional topography. Starting from the body-forcing formulation of the hydrodynamic problem, we derive a coupled-mode system (CMS) using a local eigenfunction expansion of the stream function. For infinitesimal topography, we solve this CMS analytically, recovering the classical weak topography approximation (WTA) formula for the barotropic-to-baroclinic energy conversion rate. For arbitrary topographies, we solve this CMS numerically. The CMS enjoys faster convergence with respect to existing modal solutions and can be applied in the subcritical and supercritical regimes for both ridges and shelf profiles. We show that the non-uniform barotropic tide affects the baroclinic field locally over topographies with large slopes and we study the dependence of the radiated energy conversion rate on the criticality. We show that non-radiating or weakly radiating topographies are common in the subcritical regime. We also assess the region of validity of the WTA approximation for the commonly used Gaussian ridge and a compactly supported bump ridge studied here for the first time. Finally, we provide numerical evidence showing that in the strongly supercritical regime, the energy conversion rate for a ridge (respectively shelf) approaches the value obtained by the knife-edge (respectively step) topography.

A prominent and publicly influential literature challenges the quality of democratic decision making, drawing on political science findings with specific claims about the ubiquity of cognitive bias to lament citizens’ incompetence. A competing literature in democratic theory defends the wisdom of crowds, drawing on a cluster of models in support of the capacity of ordinary citizens to produce correct outcomes. In this Letter, we draw on recent findings in psychology to demonstrate that the former literature is based on outdated and erroneous claims and that the latter is overly sanguine about the circumstances that yield reliable collective decision making. By contrast, “interactionist” scholarship shows how individual-level biases are not devastating for group problem solving, given appropriate conditions. This provides possible microfoundations for a broader research agenda similar to that implemented by Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues on common-good provision, investigating how different group structures are associated with both success and failure in democratic decision making. This agenda would have implications for both democratic theory and democratic practice.

Background: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable morbidity worldwide and therefore developing effective smoking cessation strategies is a public health priority. However, what brain networks support maintenance of smoking cessation in the long term remains unexplored. Methods: We analyzed the baseline resting-state fMRI data acquired in 23 smokers (Mage = 61.52 ± 3.7) who were followed longitudinally in a cohort of cognitively normal older adults. Self-reported smoking status and amount were recorded at baseline and repeated after 4 years. We investigated the effect of smoking behaviour change on functional brain connectivity using seed-to-voxel approach. We examined a-priori regions of interest (ROIs) including the reward network (ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) and ventral striatum) and the right insula. These ROIs are promising target mechanisms given prior behavioural research linking it to smoking cessation. Results: Our results revealed that reduced smoking was associated with reduced connectivity between ventral striatum and middle frontal gyrus and enhanced connectivity between right insula and middle temporal gyrus (voxel p <0.001, cluster p<0.05 FDR corrected). However, change in smoking did not reveal any significant effects in the vMPFC. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that successful smoking behaviour change is associated with altered reward network and insular functional connectivity in the long term.

Aging workers represent an emerging, growing, and essential population for the contemporary labour market. Considering their unique characteristics, these individuals are at risk of experiencing periods of disability at work due to different reasons (e.g., chronic diseases, occupational injuries) and a different return-to-work experience compared to younger workers. The scoping review presented in this article aimed to identify facilitators and barriers to returning to work in aging people who suffered a health impairment. Information from 34 manuscripts was extracted and analyzed, enabling the identification of factors hindering and facilitating the return to work of aging individuals, with regard to four systems: the individual, work, health, and compensation. The results suggest levers accessible to the various stakeholders involved in the process of returning to work for aging individuals to promote their healthy, safe, and satisfactory participation in work after a period of disability.

This paper presents the first records of the brittle star Ophiactis abyssicola in Canadian waters and range extensions of up to 1900 km in the Northwest Atlantic from previously known locations. Samples were collected off northern Labrador and the northern portion of insular Newfoundland (eastern Canada) at 433 and 1097 m depths, respectively. This newly recorded species of brittle star from the bathyal zone off Newfoundland and Labrador adds to the marine biodiversity of Canada and to the general distribution knowledge of O. abyssicola.

An absolute masterpiece of linear perspective as well as a true icon of the Renaissance, Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation of Christ (conserved at the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino) is one of the greatest enigmas of the Italian Quattrocento. Uncertainty surrounds not only the date and the original intended location of the painting, but also the subject matter itself. Despite long-running disputes about the overall significance of the picture, and in particular about the identification of the three figures in the right foreground, the Flagellation remains an unsolved puzzle. Continuing in a rich and varied hermeneutic tradition, this article proposes a new interpretation of this famous painting, diverging both from a political reading (based on the supposed links with the Byzantine Empire) and from the other traditional solution which argues for the ordinary nature of Piero’s iconography. The analysis of the geometrical pictorial space and its potential theological significance leads to a reconsideration of the painting as a visual meditation on temporality inspired by Saint Augustine, as well as a singular spiritual exercise.

Are we gullible? Can we be easily influenced by what others tell us, even if they do not deserve our trust? Many strands of research, from social psychology to cultural evolution suggest that humans are by nature conformist and eager to follow prestigious leaders. By contrast, an evolutionary perspective suggests that humans should be vigilant towards communicated information, so as not to be misled too often. Work in experimental psychology shows that humans are equipped with sophisticated mechanisms that allow them to carefully evaluate communicated information. These open vigilance mechanisms lead us to reject messages that clash with our prior beliefs, unless the source of the message has earned our trust, or provides good arguments, in which case we can adaptively change our minds. These mechanisms make us largely immune to mass persuasion, explaining why propaganda, political campaigns, advertising, and other attempts at persuading large groups nearly always fall in deaf ears. However, some false beliefs manage to spread through communication. I argue that most popular false beliefs are held reflectively, which means that they have little effect on our thoughts and behaviors, and that many false beliefs can be socially beneficial. Accepting such beliefs thus reflects a much weaker failure in our evaluation of communicated information than might at first appear.

Extended gamma processes have been seen as a flexible extension of standard gamma processes in the recent reliability literature, for the purpose of cumulative deterioration modeling. The probabilistic properties of the standard gamma process have been well explored since the 1970s, whereas those of its extension remain largely unexplored. In particular, stochastic comparisons between degradation levels modeled by standard gamma processes and ageing properties for the corresponding level-crossing times are now well understood. The aim of this paper is to explore similar properties for extended gamma processes and see which ones can be broadened to this new context. As a by-product, new stochastic comparisons for convolutions of gamma random variables are also obtained.

Our study concerns the propagation of acoustic waves through a thin screen made of a periodic arrangement of air bubbles in water. The bubbles are oscillators of the Minnaert type whose dynamics is modified by the containment. This nonlinear dynamics is obtained in the time domain using asymptotic analysis and a homogenization technique involving three scales, those being the scale of a bubble, that of the array and eventually that of the wavelength. The resulting effective model is set in the water (the screen has disappeared) and it encapsulates the effect of the screen in a jump of the normal acoustic velocity. The jump is linked to the continuous version of the bubble radius which satisfies an equation of the Rayleigh–Plesset type. This allows us to highlight two important effects. Firstly, a bubble within the array has a much larger radiative damping than an isolated bubble. Secondly it perceives a pressure which differs from the acoustic pressure imposed by the source due to bubble–bubble interactions; it results in a term of mass correction deduced from the Green's function for a Laplace problem which accounts for the bubble arrangement. Our findings are exemplified by numerical experiments of the scattering of a short pulse in the linear and nonlinear regimes.

People often attribute rumours to an individual in a knowledgeable position two steps removed from them (a credible friend of a friend), such as ‘my friend's father, who's a cop, told me about a serial killer in town’. Little is known about the influence of such attributions on rumour propagation, or how they are maintained when the rumour is transmitted. In four studies (N = 1824) participants exposed to a rumour and asked to transmit it overwhelmingly attributed it either to a credible friend of a friend, or to a generic friend (e.g. ‘a friend told me about a serial killer in town’). In both cases, participants engaged in source shortening: e.g. when told by a friend that ‘a friend told me …’ they shared the rumour as coming from ‘a friend’ instead of ‘a friend of friend’. Source shortening and reliance on credible sources boosted rumour propagation by increasing the rumours’ perceived plausibility and participants’ willingness to share them. Models show that, in linear transmission chains, the generic friend attribution dominates, but that allowing each individual to be exposed to the rumour from several sources enables the maintenance of the credible friend of a friend attribution.

Food matrix is known to interact with some dietary constituents and microconstituents during digestion. These interactions may potentially affect the metabolism and bioavailability of some compounds, and as a consequence modulate their biological effects. In this context, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of apple food matrix on the bioavailability of flavan-3-ols and on the ability of these compounds to modulate the nutrigenomic response to a high fat challenge in minipigs.

Adult male Yucatan minipigs (n = 5) were assigned to a random treatment sequence of high-fat meals non supplemented or supplemented with 250 g of raw apple, 250 g of apple puree or 1.4 g of apple polyphenols extract, with a 7-days washout period between each treatment. Each supplementation provided 155 mg flavan-3-ol monomers. At each treatment period, fasting- and 1h-, 2h-, 3h-postprandial blood samples were collected, and the concentration in flavan-3-ol monomers was measured on hydrolyzed serum, using UPLC-Q-TOF MS. The ability of apple-derived products to modulate the postprandial gene expression profile was assessed and compared in circulating PBMCs collected at 3 h after consumption of the four tested meals using a microarray analysis.

Results show that the apple matrix did not affect the kinetic of the postprandial absorption of flavan-3-ol monomers. The total flavan-3-ols concentrations measured at peak were significantly higher in the extract (x1.75), suggesting an impact of the apple matrix on flavan-3-ols absorption. However, no significant difference in total flavanols was observed between raw apple and apple puree.

Principal Component Analysis of the microarray data from PBMCs identified three distinct clusters of gene expression patterns: one corresponding to gene expression profiles after the high-fat meal, one for meal supplemented with raw apples or apple puree, and a third cluster for meal supplemented with polyphenol extract. A set of 309 genes was identified as differentially expressed by apple-derived products compared to high-fat meal alone, including 93 modulated with the three apple products. The variations in gene expression were similar for only 75% of the 93 genes, suggesting that the apple matrix affects the nutrigenomic response to flavan-3-ols. A bioinformatics analysis revealed that genes affected by apple-derived products are involved in inflammation and leukocyte transendothelial migration, suggesting a beneficial impact of apple-derived products.

In conclusion, these results raise awareness for considering the impact of food matrix on the biological responsiveness of polyphenols in future nutritional studies.

Introduction: It is unclear whether anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications increase the risk for intracranial bleeding in older adults after a fall. Our aim was to report the incidence of intracranial bleeding among older adults presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a fall, among patients taking anticoagulants, antiplatelet medications, both medications and neither medication. Methods: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis, PROSPERO reference CRD42019122626. Medline, EMBASE (via OVID 1946 - July 2019), Cochrane, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects databases and the grey literature were searched for studies reporting on older adults who were evaluated after a fall. We included prospective studies conducted in the ED where more than 80% of the cohort were 65 years or older and had fallen. We contacted study authors for aggregate data on intracranial bleeding in patients prescribed anticoagulant medication, antiplatelet medication and neither medication. Incidences of intracranial bleeding were pooled using random effect models, and I2 index was used to assess heterogeneity. Results: From 7,240 publication titles, 10 studies met inclusion criteria. The authors of 8 of these 10 studies provided data (on 9,489 patients). All studies scored low or moderate risk of bias. The pooled incidence of intracranial bleeding among patients taking an anticoagulant medication was 5.1% (n = 5,016, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 4.1 to 6.3%) I2 = 42%, a single antiplatelet 6.4% (n = 2,148, 95% CI: 5.4 to 7.6%) I2 = 75%, both anticoagulant and antiplatelet medications 5.9% (n = 212, 95% CI: 1.3 to 13.5%) I2 = 72%, and neither of these medications 4.8% (n = 1,927, 95% CI: 3.5 to 6.2%) I2 = 50%. A sensitivity analysis restricted to patients who had a head CT in the ED reported incidences of 6.1% (n = 3,561, 95% CI: 3 to 8.3%), 8.4% (n = 1,781, 95% CI: 5.5 to 11.8%), 6.7% (n = 206, 95% CI 1.5 to 15.2%) and 6.6% (n = 1,310, 95% CI: 5.0 to 8.4%) respectively. Conclusion: The incidence of fall-related intracranial bleeding in older ED patients was similar among patients who take anticoagulant medication, antiplatelet medication, both and neither medication, although there was heterogeneity between study findings.

Introduction: Selecting appropriate patients for hospitalization following emergency department (ED) evaluation of syncope is critical for serious adverse event (SAE) identification. The primary objective of this study is to determine the association of hospitalization and SAE detection using propensity score (PS) matching. The secondary objective was to determine if SAE identification with hospitalization varied by the Canadian Syncope Risk Score (CSRS) risk-category. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of two large prospective cohort studies that enrolled adults (age ≥ 16 years) with syncope at 11 Canadian EDs. Patients with a serious condition identified during index ED evaluation were excluded. Outcome was a 30-day SAE identified either in-hospital for hospitalized patients or after ED disposition for discharged patients and included death, ventricular arrhythmia, non-lethal arrhythmia and non-arrhythmic SAE (myocardial infarction, structural heart disease, pulmonary embolism, hemorrhage). Patients were propensity matched using age, sex, blood pressure, prodrome, presumed ED diagnosis, ECG abnormalities, troponin, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, arrival by ambulance and hospital site. Multivariable logistic regression assessed the interaction between CSRS and SAE detection and we report odds ratios (OR). Results: Of the 8183 patients enrolled, 743 (9.0%) patients were hospitalized and 658 (88.6%) were PS matched. The OR for SAE detection for hospitalized patients in comparison to those discharged from the ED was 5.0 (95%CI 3.3, 7.4), non-lethal arrhythmia 5.4 (95%CI 3.1, 9.6) and non-arrhythmic SAE 6.3 (95%CI 2.9, 13.5). Overall, the odds of any SAE identification, and specifically non-lethal arrhythmia and non-arrhythmia was significantly higher in-hospital among hospitalized patients than those discharged from the ED (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in 30-day mortality (p = 1.00) or ventricular arrhythmia detection (p = 0.21). The interaction between ED disposition and CSRS was significant (p = 0.04) and the probability of 30-day SAEs while in-hospital was greater for medium and high risk CSRS patients. Conclusion: In this multicenter prospective cohort, 30-day SAE detection was greater for hospitalized compared with discharged patients. CSRS low-risk patients are least likely to have SAEs identified in-hospital; out-patient monitoring for moderate risk patients requires further study.

Introduction: This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of the Échelle québécoise de triage préhospitalier en traumatologie (EQTPT) to identify patients who will need urgent and specialized trauma care in the La Capitale-Nationale region, province of Quebec. Methods: A detailed review of prehospital and in-hospital medical charts was conducted for a sample of patients transported following a trauma by ambulance to one of the five CHU de Quebec's emergency departments (ED) between November 2016 and March 2017. Data related to the trauma mechanism, population, injuries sustained, diagnosis, intervention and patient outcomes were extracted. The study primary outcome was the use of at least one urgent and specialized trauma care defined as: admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), urgent surgery within less than 24 hours after arrival (excluding orthopedic surgery for one limb only), intubation in ED, angioembolization within 24 hours after ED arrival, activation of a massive transfusion protocol in the ED. Also, patients who died secondary to their trauma were also considered as requiring urgent care. Results: 902 patients were included. The mean age (SD) was 59 (28.5) years old, 494 (54.8%) were female. The main trauma mechanisms were falls (592 (65.6%)) followed by motor vehicle accident (201 (22%)). 367 (40.7%) patients were transported directly to the tertiary trauma centre from the field. 231 (25.6%) patients had at least one criteria included in the steps 1, 2 or 3 of the EQTPT. Subsequently, most patients (649 (71.9%) were discharged home from the ED while 177 (19.6%) patients were admitted to the hospital. 82 (9.1%) patients required urgent and specialized trauma care. Of these 82 patients, 27 patients (32%) were identified in step 1 of the protocol, 12 patients (14.6%) in step 2, 5 patients (6.1%) in step 3, 13 patients (15.9%) in step 4 and 2 patients (2.4%) in step 5 while 23 (28.0%) patients were not identified by any steps of the EQTPT protocol. Therefore, 44 (53.6%) of the patients requiring urgent and specialized trauma care were identified by the criteria proposed in the steps 1, 2 or 3. Conclusion: In this retrospective cohort study, the EQTPT was insensitive to identify trauma patients who will need prompt and complex trauma management. Studies are required to determine the factors that could help improve its accuracy.