With great computing power must come responsible computing

World’s largest computing society publishes inaugural issue of Journal on Responsible Computing

ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTING MACHINERY

 

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AN IMPORTANT GOAL OF THE JRC IS TO ENCOURAGE SUBMISSIONS FROM AUTHORS WHO LIVE IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH, AUTHORS WHO HAIL FROM GROUPS CURRENTLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN COMPUTING AND INFORMATION, AND/OR AUTHORS WHO LIVE IN COMMUNITIES ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY INEQUITIES IN COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY.

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CREDIT: ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTING MACHINERY

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has announced the publication of the first issue of the ACM Journal on Responsible Computing (JRC). The new journal publishes high-quality original research at the intersection of computing, ethics, information, law, policy, responsible innovation, and social responsibility from a wide range of convergent, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary perspectives.

Topics addressed in JRC include values and ethics in the design and evaluation of computing and information technology; ethical and societal implications of computing and information technology; public interest technology (information technology that serves the public interest); fairness, accountability, and transparency in computing and information technology; computing, information, health, and wellbeing; approaches to addressing threats such as adversarial machine learning, misinformation, and disinformation; and examples of how computing and information can be leveraged to achieve outcomes that benefit humanity.

“Computing now impacts so many areas of our lives that a journal devoted to exploring its ethical and societal implications is essential,” explained JRC EIC Kenneth R. Fleishmann, Professor, University of Texas at Austin. “Computing professionals must be at the forefront of raising questions and conducting research about how the technologies we help develop can best serve humanity in a responsible way. Our vision for JRC is that it will be a home for outstanding research and a valued resource for everyone working in our field.”

Articles in the inaugural issues include:

• “Data Statements: From Technical Concept to Community Practice,” by Angelina McMillan-Major, Emily M. Bender, and Batya Friedman
• “Algorithmic Harms in Child Welfare: Uncertainties in Practice, Organization, and Street-level Decision-making,” by Devansh Saxena and Shion Guha
• “Between Privacy and Utility: On Differential Privacy in Theory and Practice,” by Jeremy Seeman and Daniel Susser
• “Tragedy of the Commons in Crowd Work-Based Research,” by Huichuan Xia
• “‘It’s Everybody’s Role to Speak Up...But Not Everyone Will’: Understanding AI Professionals’ Perceptions of Accountability for AI Bias Mitigation,” by Caitlin M. Lancaster, Kelsea Schulenberg, Christopher Flathmann, Nathan J. McNeese, and Guo Freeman
• “Measuring and Mitigating Group Inequalities In Resource Allocation,” by Arya Farahi, Angela Ting, and Yingchen Ma
• “Which Skin Tone Measures Are the Most Inclusive? An Investigation of Skin Tone Measures for Artificial Intelligence,” by Courtney M. Heldreth, Ellis P. Monk, Alan T. Clark, Candice Schumann, Xango Eyee, and Susanna Ricco
• “Transparency-Check: An Instrument for the Study and Design of Transparency in AI-based Personalization Systems,” by Laura Schelenz, Avi Segal, Oduma Adelio, and Kobi Gal
• “Against Predictive Optimization: On the Legitimacy of Decision-making Algorithms That Optimize Predictive Accuracy,” by Angelina Wang, Sayash Kapoor, Solon Barocas, and Arvind Narayanan
• “Data Refusal from Below: A Framework for Understanding, Evaluating, and Envisioning Refusal as Design,” by Jonathan Zong and J. Nathan Matias

An important goal of the JRC is to encourage submissions from authors who live in the Global South, authors who hail from groups currently underrepresented in computing and information, and/or authors who live in communities adversely affected by inequities in computing technology.

In addition to EiC Kenneth R. Fleischmann, the JRC editorial board consists of a 10-member advisory board, five Senior Associate Editors and 28 Associate Editors from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Senegal, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

ACM publishes more than 70 scholarly peer-reviewed journals in dozens of computing and information technology disciplines. Available online through the ACM Digital Library, ACM’s high-impact journals constitute a vast and comprehensive archive of computing innovation, covering emerging and established computing research for both practical and theoretical applications.

About ACM
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession’s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.

Warning from the scientific community: Beware of AI-based deception detection

UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG

Oh, if only it were as easy as with Pinocchio. Here it was simple to see when he was telling a lie: after all, his nose grew a little longer each time. In reality, it is much more difficult to recognize lies and it is only understandable that scientist have already for a long time been trying to develop valid deception detection methods.

Now, much hope has been placed in artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve this goal, for example in the attempt to identity travelers with criminal intentions at the EU borders of Hungary, Greece and Lithuania.

A Valuable Tool for Basic Research

Researchers at the Universities of Marburg and Würzburg are now warning against the premature use of AI to detect lies. In their opinion, the technology is a potentially valuable tool for basic research to gain a better insight into the psychological mechanisms that underlie deception. However, they are more than skeptical about its application in real-life contexts.

Kristina Suchotzki and Matthias Gamer are responsible for the study, which has now been published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Kristina Suchotzki is a professor at the University of Marburg; her research focuses on lies and how to detect them. Matthias Gamer is a professor at the University of Würzburg. One of his main areas of research is credibility diagnostics.

Three Central Problems for an Applied Use

Suchotzki and Gamer identify three main problems in current research on AI-based deception detection in their publication: a lack of explainability and transparency of the tested algorithms, the risk of biased results and deficits in the theoretical foundation. The reason for this is clear: "Unfortunately, current approaches have focused primarily on technical aspects at the expense of a solid methodological and theoretical foundation," they write.

In their article, they explain that many AI algorithms suffer from a "lack of explainability and transparency".  It is often unclear how the algorithm arrives at its result. With some AI applications, at a certain point even the developers can no longer clearly understand how a judgment is reached. This makes it impossible to critically evaluate the decisions and discuss the reasons for incorrect classifications.

Another problem they describe is the occurrence of "biases" in the decision-making process. The original hope was that machines would be able to overcome human biases such as stereotypes or prejudices. In reality, however, this assumption often fails due to an incorrect selection of variables that humans feed into the model, as well as the small size and lack of representativeness of the data used. Not to mention the fact that the data used to create such systems is often already biased.

The third problem is of a fundamental nature: "The use of artificial intelligence in lie detection is based on the assumption that it is possible to identify a valid cue or a combination of cues that are unique for deception," explains Kristina Suchotzki. However, not even decades of research have been able to identify such unique cues. There is also no theory that can convincingly predict their existence.

High Susceptibility to Errors in Mass Screenings

However, Suchotzki and Gamer do not want to advise against working on AI-based deception detection. Ultimately, it is an empirical question as to whether this technology has the potential to deliver sufficiently valid results. However, in their opinion, several conditions must be met before it should be even considered to use in real life.

"We strongly recommend that decision-makers carefully check whether basic quality standards have been met in the development of algorithms," they say. Prerequisites include controlled laboratory experiments, large and diverse data sets without systematic bias and the validation of algorithms and their accuracy on a large and independent data set.

The aim must be to avoid unnecessary false positives - i.e. cases in which the algorithm mistakenly believes it has detected a lie. There is a big difference between the use of AI as a mass screening tool, for example at airports, and the use of AI for specific incidents, such as the interrogation of a suspect in a criminal case. "Mass screening applications often involve very unstructured and uncontrolled assessments. This drastically increases the number of false positive results," explains Matthias Gamer.

Warning to Politicians

Finally, the two researchers advise that AI-based deception detection should only be used in highly structured and controlled situations. Although there are no clear indicators of lies, it may be possible to minimize the number of alternative explanations in such situations. This increases the probability that differences in behavior or in the content of statements can be attributed to an attempt to deceive.

Kristina Suchotzki and Matthias Gamer supplement their recommendations with a warning to politicians: "History teaches us what happens if we do not adhere to strict research standards before methods for detecting deception are introduced in real life." The example of the polygraph shows very clearly how difficult it is to get rid of such methods, even if evidence of low validity and the systematic discrimination against innocent suspects accumulates later.

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JOURNAL

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

DOI

10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.002 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Detecting deception with artificial intelligence: promises and perils

 

New climate study: Size matters to sensitive clouds

Cloud cover, one of the biggest regulators of Earth’s climate, is easier to affect than previously thought.

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK

Cloud cover, one of the biggest regulators of Earth’s climate, is easier to affect than previously thought.

A new analysis of cloud measurements from outside the coast of California, combined with global satellite measurements, reveals that even aerosol particles as small as 25-30 nanometers may contribute to cloud formation. Hence, the climate impact of small aerosols may be underestimated.

Clouds are among the least understood entities in the climate system and the largest source of uncertainty in predicting future climate change. To describe clouds, you need to understand weather systems on the scale of up to hundreds of kilometres and microphysics down to the scale of molecules. 

The new study sheds new light on what happens at the molecular scale, focusing on cloud condensation nuclei in marine stratus clouds – low-level, horizontally layered clouds. The study Supersaturation and Critical Size of Cloud Condensation Nuclei in Marine Stratus Clouds is published in Geophysical Research Letters. 

It is well-known that cloud formation depends on two basic conditions: 1. The atmosphere is supersaturated with water, meaning there is so much water in the air that it can turn liquid, and 2. A seed particle called a cloud condensation nucleus is present, which the water can condense onto. 

These seeds must be larger than a critical size for water to condense and form drops, and it is commonly assumed that the critical size is about 60 nanometers or larger. Scientists from The Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have investigated this critical size of tiny aerosol particles, or proto seeds. It turns out that a size of 25-30 may be sufficient for them to grow into cloud condensation nuclei.

“Since the proto seeds can be much smaller than previously thought, cloud formation is more sensitive to changes in aerosols than previously thought, especially in pristine areas where marine stratus clouds are dominant”, says Henrik Svensmark, a Senior Researcher at DTU Space and lead author of the paper. 

Due to a higher supersaturation of water inside the clouds, smaller aerosols are activated into cloud droplets. In simple terms, the more water there is, the easier it can condense and the smaller the seed needs to be.

The study’s basis was measurements of marine stratus clouds performed in 2014 by Nevada researchers. These measurements reveal a relationship between the amount of cloud drops and the supersaturation of water in the atmosphere. The measurements, combined with global satellite measurements from the MODIS instrument, allowed the scientists to calculate the cloud drop amount, from which a global map of supersaturation can be found. 

Here is the surprise – the supersaturation is generally higher than previously assumed. Since supersaturation determines the critical size of the seed, even tiny seeds can serve as cloud condensation nuclei. Instead of aerosols growing to 60 nm or more, a size of 25-30 nm is sufficient. 

“It doesn’t look like much, but the implications may be big,” says Henrik Svensmark.

“About half of all cloud condensation nuclei are formed by tens of thousands of molecules clumping together one by one, forming an aerosol particle. That takes time; the longer it takes, the larger the risk of getting lost. Current models show that due to the growth time, most of the small aerosols are lost before they grow to the critical size, and thus, cloud formation is rather insensitive to changes in the production of small aerosols. Our results change this understanding as aerosols must grow much less, which is important for modelling clouds and climate predictions.”

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JOURNAL

Geophysical Research Letters

DOI

10.1029/2024GL108140 

ARTICLE TITLE

Supersaturation and Critical Size of Cloud Condensation Nuclei in Marine Stratus Clouds

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Apr-2024

 

Science advisors unite in a call for greater variety of evidence in developing policy

Global South’s Expertise in Championing Diverse & Inclusive Approaches to more Transformative Policy-making Spotlighted during a two-day Global Gathering in Rwanda

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR GOVERNMENT SCIENCE ADVICE

 

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INGSA2024-THE TRANSFORMATION IMPERATIVE

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CREDIT: INGSA

What?    5th International Conference on Governmental Science Advice, INGSA2024, marking the 10th Anniversary of the creation of the International Network for Governmental Science Advice (INGSA) & first meeting held in the global south.

Where?   Kigali Convention Center, Rwanda: https://www.ingsa2024.com/

When?    1 – 2 May, 2024.

Context: One of the largest independent gatherings of thought- and practice-leaders in governmental science advice, research funding, multi-lateral institutions, academia, science communication and diplomacy is taking place in Kigali, Rwanda. Organised by Prof Rémi Quirion, Chief Scientist of Québec and President of the International Network for Governmental Science Advice (INGSA), speakers from 39 countries[1] from Brazil to Burkina Faso and from Ireland to Indonesia, plus over 300 delegates from 65 countries, will spotlight what is really at stake in the relationship between science, societies and policy-making, during times of crisis and routine.

From the air we breathe, the cars we drive, and the Artificial Intelligence we use, to the medical treatments or the vaccines we take, and the education we provide to children, this relationship, and the decisions it can influence, matter immensely. In our post-Covid, climate-shifted, and digitally-evolving world, the importance of robust knowledge in policy-making is more pronounced than ever. This imperative is accompanied by growing complexities that demand attention. INGSA’s two-day gathering strives to both examine and empower inclusion and diversity as keystones in how we approach all-things Science Advice and Science Diplomacy to meet these local-to-global challenges.

Held previously in Auckland 2014, Brussels 2016, Tokyo 2018 and Montréal 2021, Kigali 2024 organisers have made it a priority to involve more diverse speakers from developing countries and to broaden the thematic scope. Examining the complex interactions between scientists, public policy and diplomatic relations at local, national, regional and international levels, especially in times of crisis, the overarching theme is: “The Transformation Imperative”.

The main conference programme (see link below) will scrutinise everything from case-studies outlining STI funding tips, successes and failures in our advisory systems, plus regional to global initiatives to better connect them, to how digital technologies and A.I. are reshaping the profession itself.

INGSA2024 is also initiating and hosting a range of independent side-events that, in themselves, act as major meeting and rallying points that partners and attending delegates are encouraged to maximise. These include, amongst others, events organised by the Foreign Ministries Science & Technology Advice Network (FMSTAN); the International Public Policy Observatory Roundtable (IPPO); the High-Level Dialogue on the Future of Science Diplomacy (co-organised by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the European Commission, the Geneva Science & Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), and The Royal Society); the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC) meeting on ‘Bridging Worlds of Knowledge – Promoting Endogenous Knowledge Development;’ the Science for Africa Foundation, University of Oxford Pandemic Sciences Institute’s meeting on ‘Translating Research Into Policy and Practice’; and the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) ‘World Build Simulation Training on Quantum Technology’ with INGSA and GESDA. INGSA will also host its own internal strategy Global Chapter & Division Meetings.    

Prof Rémi Quirion, Conference Co-Chair, Chief Scientist of Québec and President of INGSA, has said that:

“For those of us who believe wholeheartedly in evidence and the integrity of science, recent years have been challenging. Mis- and disinformation can spread like a virus. So positive developments like our gathering here in Rwanda are even more critical. The importance of open science and access to data to better inform scientific integration and the collective action we now need, has never been more pressing. Our shared UN sustainable development goals play out at national and local levels. Cities and municipalities bear the brunt of climate change, but also can drive the solutions. I am excited to see and hear first-hand how the global south is increasingly at the forefront of these efforts, and to help catalyse new ways to support this. I have no doubt that INGSA’s efforts and the Kigali conference, which is co-led with the Rwandan Ministry of Education and the University of Rwanda, will act as a carrier-wave for greater engagement. I hope we will see new global collaborations and actions that will be remembered as having first taken root at INGSA2024”.

Hon. Gaspard Twagirayezu, Minister of Education of Rwanda has lent his support to the INGSA conference, saying:

“We are proud to see the INSGA conference come to Rwanda, as we are at a turning point in our management of longer-term challenges that affect us all. Issues that were considered marginal even five or ten years ago are today rightly seen as central to our social, environmental, and economic wellbeing. We are aware of how rapid scientific advances are generating enormous public interest, but we also must build the capabilities to absorb, generate and critically consider new knowledge and technologies. Overcoming current crisis and future challenges requires global coordination in science advice, and INGSA is well positioned to carry out this important work. It makes me particularly proud that INGSA’s Africa Chapter has chosen our capital Kigali as it’s pan-African base. Rwanda and Africa can benefit greatly from this collaboration.”

Ass. Prof.  Didas Kayihura Muganga, Vice-Chancellor, University of Rwanda, stated:

“What this conference shows is that grass-roots citizens in Rwanda, across Africa and Worldwide can no longer be treated as simple statistics or passive bystanders. Citizens and communities are rightfully demanding greater transparency and accountability especially about science and technology. Ensuring, and demonstrating, that decisions are informed by robust evidence is an important step.  But we must also ensure that the evidence is meaningful to our context and our population. Complex problems arise from a multiplicity of factors, so we need greater diversity of perspectives to help address them.   This is what is changing before our very eyes. For some it is climate, biodiversity or energy supply that matters most, for others it remains access to basic education and public health. Regardless, all exemplify humanity’s interdependence.”

Daan du Toit, acting Director-General of the Department of Science & Innovation of the Government of South Africa and Programme Committee Member commented:

“INGSA has long helped build and elevate open and ongoing public and policy dialogue about the role of robust evidence in sound policy making. But now, the conversation is deepening to critically consider the scope and breadth of evidence, what evidence, whose evidence and who has access to the evidence? Operating on all continents, INGSA demonstrates the value of a well-networked community of emerging and experienced practitioners and academics working at the interfaces between science, societies and public policy. We were involved in its creation in Auckland in 2014, and have stayed close and applaud the decision to bring this 5th International Biennial Meeting to Africa. Learning from each other, we can help bring a wider variety of robust knowledge more centrally into policy-making. That is why in 2022 we supported a start-up initiative based in Pretoria called the Science Diplomacy Capital for Africa (SDCfA). The energy shown in the set-up of this meeting demonstrates our potential as Africans to do so much more together”. 

 

INGSA-Africa’s Regional Chapter

INGSA2024 is very much ‘coming home’ and represents the first time that this biennial event is being co-hosted by a Regional Chapter. In February 2016, INGSA announced the creation of the INGSA-Africa Regional Chapter, which held its first workshop in Hermanus, South Africa. The Chapter has since made great strides in engaging francophone Africa, organising INGSA’s first French-language workshop in Dakar, Senegal in 2017 and a bi-lingual meeting as a side-event of the World Science Forum 2022, Cape Town.  The Chapter’s decentralised virtual governance structure means that it embraces the continent, but new initiatives, like the Kigali Training Hub are set to become a pivotal player in the development of evidence-to-policy ecosystems across Africa.

Dr M. Oladoyin Odubanjo, Conference Co-Chair and Chair of INGSA-Africa, outlined that:

“As a public health physician and current Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences (NAS), responsible for providing scientific advice to policy-makers, I have learnt that science and politics share common features. Both operate at the boundaries of knowledge and uncertainty, but they approach problems differently. Scientists question and challenge our assumptions, constantly searching for empiric evidence to determine the best options. In contrast, politicians are most often guided by the needs or demands of voters and constituencies, and by ideology. Our INGSA-Africa Chapter is working at the nexus of both communities and we encourage everybody to get involved. Hosting this conference in Kigali is like a shot in the arm that can only lead us on to even bigger and brighter things.”

 

Sir Peter Gluckman, President of the International Science Council, and founding chair of INGSA mentioned: “Good science advice is critical to decision making at any level from local to global. It helps decision makers understand the evidence for or against, and the implications of any choice they make. In that way science advice makes it more likely that decision makers will make better decisions. INGSA as the global capacity building platform has a critical role to play in ensuring the quality of science policy interface.”

 

Strength in numbers

What makes the 5th edition of this biennial event stand out is the perhaps the novel range of speakers from all continents working at the boundary between science, society and policy willing to make their voices heard. More information on Parallel Sessions organisers as well as speakers can be found on the website.

About INGSA

Founded in 2014 with regional chapters in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, and key partnerships in Europe and North America, INGSA has quicky established an important reputation as a collaborative platform for policy exchange, capacity building and operational research across diverse global science advisory organisations and national systems. INGSA is a free community of peer support and practice with over 6,000 members globally. Science communicators and members of the media are warmly welcomed to join for free.

Through workshops, conferences and a growing catalogue of tools and guidance, the network aims to enhance the global science-policy interface to improve the potential for evidence-informed policy formation at sub-national, national and transnational levels. INGSA operates as an affiliated body of the International Science Council. INGSA’s secretariat is based at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, while the office of the President is hosted at the Fonds de Recherche de Quebec in Montreal, which has also launched the Réseau francophone international en conseil scientifique (RFICS), which mandate is towards capacity reinforcement in science advice in the Francophonie.

INGSA2024 Sponsors

As always, INGSA organized a highly accessible and inclusive conference by not charging a registration fee. Philanthropic support from many sponsors made the conference possible. Special recognition is made to the Fonds de recherche du Québec, the Rwanda Ministry of Education as well as the University of Rwanda. The full list of donors is available on the INGSA2024 website (link below).

 

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[1] Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Uganda, UK, USA, Zimbabwe

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Time zones and tiredness strongly influence NBA results, study of 25,000 matches shows

Data shows vastly better win ratio for home teams from the Western Time Zone Area (PDT) when playing an EDT team, compared to vice versa

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

 

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CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (EDT, GMT -4) VERSUS PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (PDT, GMT -7). PHOTO BY ERIK DROS

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CREDIT: ERIK DROS

The body clock has a significant impact on the performance of NBA players, according to study published in the peer-reviewed journal Chronobiology International.

The authors say their findings, from more than 25,000 matches, show elite basketball coaches and teams should consider the physical and mental effects of time zone travel when planning games and preparing for games.

A first of its kind, the research is based on the achievements at home and away of NBA (National Basketball Association) league players across 21 consecutive seasons. Considered the most competitive in the world, NBA athletes frequently travel to matches across the five US time zones used by NBA teams.

The findings show that there is a near 10% better win ratio difference for home teams from the western time zone area (PDT) when playing against a team from the eastern EDT time zone, compared to when an EDT team hosts a PDT team.

• When PDT teams play at home against EDT teams the winning percentage is 63.5%.
• When EDT teams host a PDT team, the winning percentage drops to 55.0%.

In addition, the findings also show that teams win more home games when players’ sleep-wake cycles – linked to their circadian rhythm (CR) – are ‘ahead’ of the local time. This is after they have returned west from competing in a city further east where the local time is earlier.

For example, if the LA Lakers play an away match at Miami (EDT) and then return to Los Angeles (PDT) to play a home game without much CR adaptation time (CR is ahead of the local time), the Lakers play the next home game with a CR advantage against whomever their opponents are.

Teams do not have the same success when players’ internal body clocks are either behind or synchronized with the local time where their home arena or stadium is based, according to the results.

Experts from Dokuz Eylül University and Yildiz Technical University, in Turkey, led the study. Dr Firat Özdalyan, a Sport Physiology expert from Dokuz Eylül, explains that they found NBA teams need to become used to the local time when they play away games to perform well.

“One of the most important results of this research for the home games of the NBA teams is that while traveling to the west increases the performance, traveling to the east decreases the performance,” he states.

“Another notable finding is that the success of NBA teams increases when they are fully adapted to the local time for away games.

“Home teams who will be exposed to such a CR phase shift (traveling from west to east) should be mindful of these potential performance detriments when constructing game plans.

“It can be suggested that coaches (of away teams) should bear this (the low shooting success) in mind during the game preparation period.”

A circadian rhythm (CR) is the body’s sleep-wake pattern over a 24-hour day. A CR phase shift means bedtime and wake-up times move earlier or later in the day.

This means the body clock gets out of sync with the environment which can lead to sleeplessness, daytime tiredness and other issues. The body clock needs 24 hours to adapt for every one-hour time zone change.

The study investigated the effect of a CR shift on the performance of professional NBA athletes.

Data was analyzed from 25,016 regular games across 21 consecutive seasons between 2000 to 2021. Information included the date, location, game result and home or away team. Time zones of the cities where all games were played were identified to calculate the CR phase shifts of the teams.

The expert team say teams in the Pacific time zone may have an advantage in regular season home games such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Seattle Supersonics.

Anaerobic performance could explain why home teams who travel from east to west do better, say the authors. This type of activity which is crucial for scoring, defending and other feats peaks later in the day.  

The authors add that the body clock adapts more easily to a long rather than a short day. The day becomes longer traveling east to west and a natural circadian rhythm is slightly longer than 24 hours. So this means basketball players are traveling in the direction their bodies want to go.

As for away teams, the authors say that travel fatigue is more likely to blame for poor performance than phase shifts in CR.

Players who have rest time between games or have not traveled across time zones for an away match are more able to synchronize their body with the local time. As such, they are not as tired and play better.

A limitation of this research is that the traveling schedules of the teams are not known. Since this information was not available, it was not possible to determine how long the teams stayed in which city/time zone; how much they adapted to the local UTC; and what extent they were exposed to a CR phase shift with real data.
Therefore, the team used a predictive model for the traveling plans and CR adaptations of the teams by following the rules determined by previous research.

Another limitation is that the games were not separated according to teams’ ability differences.

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JOURNAL

Chronobiology International

DOI

10.1080/07420528.2024.2325641 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Investigation of the effect of circadian rhythm on the performances of NBA teams

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-May-2024

 

Climate change lengthens and intensifies the blooming of the holm oak and other Quercus species

UNIVERSITY OF CÓRDOBA

 

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RESEARCHERS CARMEN TORRES, PURA ALCÁZAR AND CARMEN GALÁN 

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CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF CORDOBA

 

A study by the University of Cordoba analyzes trends in the blooming patterns of the genus Quercus in Andalusia, using pollen concentrations in the air and  confirming their effects on allergies

How does climate change affect pollen allergy? Relating the effects of global warming to variations in the blooming patterns of species of the genus Quercus in Andalusia was the objective of one of the latest efforts by the Systemic and Applied Botany research group at the University of Cordoba.

"We chose Quercus  because it is the most representative tree in Andalusia in the natural environment, and it is an anemophilic tree (pollinated by the wind) found where there are very high concentrations of pollen in the atmosphere, so it is a good bioindicator to study the impact of climate change on blooming," said researcher Pura Alcázar, who co-authored the work with fellow researcher Carmen Torres and Professor Carmen Galán, in collaboration with the universities of Seville, Jaén, Granada, and Malaga.

After analyzing data on the concentrations of pollen in the air in the eight Andalusian capitals, and studying their relationships with meteorological parameters for decades, the study shows a trend towards a longer and more intense pollen season for species of the genus Quercus, which includes a range of oaks: holm, cork, common, Portuguese and kermes.

"Fundamentally, there has been an increase in the blooming of these species, and in their intensity, because there is a higher concentration of pollen in Andalusia," Alcázar explained. The pollen season has also been protracted. "We have to take into account that we are studying different species," observes Professor Carmen Galán, "and species that bloom earlier, such as the holm oak, are more affected by the temperature, so an increase in that temperature means that they bloom earlier." Although the earlier onset of the season is general, in Granada it was not observed, probably owing to the rains that occurred prior to the spring during several years of the study, according to the researchers.

Thus, the effects of climate change, such as increases in temperature, and higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, are directly related to these pollen seasons, with a tendency to prolong them and increase their intensity. On the one hand, the rise in temperature means that blooming begins earlier, lengthening the season, while the increase in C02 leads to more intense blooming and higher levels of pollen. "Plants need CO2 to photosynthesize; if more is available, they are more active."

Although it is not among the allergens that affect the population the most, there are more and more studies that cite this type of pollen as an important one, and with a cross-reaction with grass pollen and other species," such that these changes will have an impact on the sensitive population, as, if there are longer and more intense seasons, they will be more exposed to pollen," said Alcázar. "If we are increasingly exposed and our immune system is more sensitive, the same thing can happen with other species, such as the cypress, which years ago featured a harmless pollen, and now represents the main problem in terms of winter allergy," Galán explained.

The methodology matters

To obtain the series of data on pollen concentrations used for the study, "we have volumetric devices that suck in air, which hits an adhesive surface on which the pollen is deposited and, thus, we can gauge the daily concentrations of pollen per cubic meter in the air," said Pura Alcázar. These stations belong to the Spanish Aerobiology Network (REA) and the Andalusian Aerobiology Network (RAA).

This study, part of the CLIMAQUER project, also highlights the importance of choosing a proper system to calculate the pollen season, and being able to compare results with other studies. To establish the start of the pollen season there are several methods; for example, considering the start when a certain amount of pollen grains in the air is reached, or when there is a specific amount of grains in the air for several consecutive days. Various methods were used in this study and, in all cases, the trend was towards an increase in the duration and intensity of the pollen season. However, the researchers stress the importance of having a clear definition of the start of the season when comparing different studies.

Reference

Alcázar, P., Torres, C., De Linares, C. et al. Impacts of climate change on airborne Quercus pollen trends in Andalusia region(southern Spain). RegEnviron Change 24, 50 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-023-02181-5

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JOURNAL

Regional Environmental Change

DOI

10.1007/s10113-023-02181-5 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Impacts of climate change on airborne Quercus pollen trends in Andalusia region (southern Spain).

 

Unveiling nature's custodians: groundbreaking study highlights crucial role of scavengers in wetlands

Researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis of over 200 scientific articles spanning six decades, elucidating the role of scavengers in wetland ecosystems across the globe

UNIVERSIDAD MIGUEL HERNANDEZ DE ELCHE

 

IMAGE: 

THE GHARIAL (GAVIALIS GANGETICUS) IS A SPECIES OF ASIAN CROCODILE THAT, ALTHOUGH IT PRIMARILY FEEDS ON FISH, CAN ALSO CONSUME CARRION.

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CREDIT: JM PÉREZ-GARCÍA

A pioneering study highlights the importance of carrion and scavengers in wetlands on a global scale. A study by researchers from the Ecology area of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and the Ecology department of the University of Alicante (UA) reveals the fundamental importance of scavengers and carrion in wetlands. The article, published in Biological Reviews, emphasizes that the benefits provided by scavengers far outweigh the potential drawbacks. Among their essential functions are the recycling and transportation of nutrients and the regulation of water quality, benefiting the entire ecosystem, from soil and plants to birds and mammals. 

Historically, animals that feed on other dead animals have received less attention from society, and they have even been assigned a secondary role in ecosystems. However, recent studies have shown that scavengers play a crucial ecological role in eliminating organic matter and rapidly recycling nutrients into the ecosystem. But despite the increased knowledge and interest in this group of animals in recent decades, most scientific attention has focused on the role of scavengers in terrestrial ecosystems, ignoring their function in ecosystems as important as wetlands.

Wetlands are vital ecosystems because they regulate the water cycle and prevent floods. They are critical habitats for diverse species, from migratory birds to fish and aquatic plants. At the same time, they provide essential ecosystem services such as water purification and carbon sequestration, significantly contributing to global environmental health. However, despite these critical functions, they are one of the most threatened habitats by human activities: it is estimated that between 64% and 71% of the planet's wetlands have disappeared in the last century.

To understand the role of scavengers in wetlands, researchers from the Ecology area of the UMH and the UA analyzed more than 200 scientific articles conducted over the past 60 years worldwide. One conclusion of this analysis is that scientific knowledge is not spatially homogeneous. North America - with 70% of scientific papers - and Europe - with 14% - concentrated most of the research. This highlights a significant need for studies in other parts of the world. However, geographic differences are not the only ones found. Some wetlands, such as rivers and streams, receive much more scientific attention than lakes, ponds, or marshes. Both results indicate the need to refocus new research to fully understand the role of scavengers in aquatic ecosystems globally, diversifying research both geographically and in habitat types.

Contrary to the generally extended idea that only a small group of species consume dead animals, researchers found significant species diversity. There are 176 families of scavengers among small invertebrates, such as flies and beetles. Also, 114 species of vertebrates distributed in 40 families of birds and mammals scavenge. By analyzing each study in detail, researchers found that during the carrion consumption process, these organisms performed up to five different functions in the ecosystem, including nutrient recycling, water quality regulation, and pathogen control. This diversity of species and functions underscores the critical importance of scavengers in the health and balance of wetlands worldwide.

Most (85%) of the analyzed publications conclude that carrion positively affects all ecosystem components, from soil to large vertebrates. Therefore, according to the study conducted by researchers from UMH and UA, improving our understanding of scavengers and carrion in wetlands is crucial to assessing their current and future functions amidst global change. In particular, it would be helpful to understand the movement of essential nutrients for life, such as phosphorus or nitrogen, which are limiting in some ecosystems. They also recommend making more efforts to understand their influence on disease control, as an increase in the occurrence and magnitude of mass mortality events is expected. This knowledge will enable more effective management of wetlands and contribute to their long-term conservation.

This study has been published in the journal Biological Reviews and was carried out by a multidisciplinary team composed of researchers Adrian Orihuela Torres and Esther Sebastián González from UA and researchers from the Ecology area of UMH, José Antonio Sánchez Zapata, Francisco Botella, and Juan Manuel Pérez-García; in collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Advanced Social Studies (IESA-CSIC), the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), the University of Granada, and the University of Murcia.

Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis)

The African marabou (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a scavenger bird that frequents wetlands in South Africa.

The African marabou (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a scavenger bird that frequents wetlands in South Africa. 

CREDIT

JM Pérez-Gracía

Red fox (Vulpes vulpes).

CREDIT

UMH, Ecology Department.

Carrion types and locations (inside versus outside water) in the articles identified in the systematic literature review. Articles that used carrion both inside and outside water are included in both categories.

CREDIT

Orihuela‐Torres, A. et al., (Biological Reviews, 2024)

Carrion ecology in inland aqua [VIDEO] | 

Unveiling Nature's Custodians: Groundbreaking Study Highlights Crucial Role of Scavengers in Wetlands

Researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis of over 200 scientific articles spanning six decades, elucidating the role of scavengers in wetland ecosystems across the globe.

The study reveals the diverse species and multifaceted functions of scavengers, emphasizing their critical role in nutrient recycling, water quality regulation, and overall ecosystem health in wetland environments.

CREDIT

UMH Sapiens

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JOURNAL

Biological Reviews

DOI

10.1111/brv.13075 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Systematic review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Carrion ecology in inland aquatic ecosystems: a systematic review