To unravel how video-narratives can support reflection in Responsible Research and Innovation contexts, this study evaluates four video-narratives designed for citizen-reflection on synthetic biology. Each video narrative comprised separate clips about three subtopics in which actors represented different views of synthetic biology. The video-clips were presented to Dutch citizens in two different setups: per narrator and per subtopic. Both setups appeared to trigger three reflection processes and three reflection outcomes. Our findings suggest that video-narratives shown per subtopic support reflection more extensively, provided that workshop setups pay considerable attention to reflection on values and assumptions. Responsible research and innovation (RRI) stands for “the integration and institutionalization of established mechanisms of reflection, anticipation, and inclusive deliberation in and around the processes of research and innovation” , p. 755.During such RRI reflection processes, participants practice and employ their scientific citizenship . WhereasParticipants of RRI reflection processes need certain guidance. Emerging R&I fields, which call for upstream, continuous, inclusive reflection processes the most , are oftVarious studies into informal learning emphasize the power of science narratives and video-narratives about science or technology to stimulate reflection on R&I. The various scientific narrative formats that Various scholars designed, implemented, and evaluated reflection on R&I by means of narratives , video , and vidThis study investigates the presentation of video-narratives, designed to support reflection on synthetic biology (SB), in relation to reflection processes and outcomes. SB is an emerging field in which R&I practitioners use biotechnology to design and build new biological products and systems, with specific preconceived functionalities cf. . “[SB] aWe designed and recorded video-narratives in which four actors, specialized in improvisation, performed a monologue representing citizen narratives of science. The narratives, each portraying a distinct perspective on SB, were constructed based on central assumptions in science and technology studies  and a seResearch Question 1: What reflection processes and outcomes are triggered by the video-narratives?Research Question 2: How do these triggered reflection processes and outcomes differ across presentation setups?When people encounter a new situation, like R&I in SB, they tend to engage in a process of inquiry to analyze the situation and make sense of it, with first and second order reflection . First oIn this study, we consider that first and second order reflection are crucial for reflection on R&I. 1Several scholars developed typologies to categorize the ways in which human beings make sense of technology and biotechnology e.g., . The tecThe left side of the horizontal axis refers to the externalization of technology : TechnolWe created narratives for each quadrant of Each narrative has an introductory clip about two first order questions, in which narrators problematize SB’s dilemmas and possibilities: (1a) “What is SB to you?” and (1b) “What is the role of SB in our future society?”The second set of clips addresses second order notions: values and assumptions underlying the various views of SB see  and 3. TThe final clips address first order notions again, referring to solution finding, by means of the questions (3a) “What is an adequate ethical approach to SB?” and (3b) “What is the role of citizens in the future development of SB?”After having designed this structure, we recorded the video-narratives by means of scripted reality: We asked improvisation actors to represent one quadrant of During appointments with individual actors, the video director presented http://waag.org/en/lab/open-wetlab) in Amsterdam with two groups of seven and four adult participants, respectively. These participants were visiting an Introduction to Do-It-Yourself Synthetic Biology event, so they were novices but they were probably more interested in SB than average citizens. The individual test sessions took place in Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Nijmegen, with citizens who were unacquainted with the field. In these sessions we aimed for a spread in gender and in knowledge of R&I. The individual participants were indirect acquaintances of the researchers and research assistant. Participants of the group test sessions did not participate in individual test sessions, and vice versa.To investigate how the video-narratives evoked reflection on SB, and under which conditions this differed, we organized two group and seven individual test sessions in which a total of nine men and nine women voluntarily took part as participants. Their ages ranged from 17 to 67 years. With the group sessions, we aimed to identify basic reflection processes and outcomes evoked by the presenting of and reflecting on the video-narratives. The individual test sessions were organized to complement the group session data cf. , with thWe presented video-narratives in a narrator presentation setup in one group session and four individual test sessions, and a subtopic presentation setup in the other sessions see . In the We gave an explanation about the study, emphasizing the neutrality of the facilitator to prevent bias; all different viewpoints were welcomed.We asked informed consent for audio recording for anonymous data analysis.The presenting of a short video introducing SB, plus conversing with individual participants on their initial view of the field. We derived this video from a presentation used in Several rounds of watching video-narratives  about the videos: “What do you think about Christine/Karin/Walter/Marlous?” (in the narrator setup) or “What do you think about these viewpoints?” (in the subtopic setup). The interviewer limited its role to one “deepening” question per round , to gain insights into the extent to which first and second order reflection would spontaneously happen after participants had seen the videos.An end-reflection, in which we conversed with the participant(s) about what had happened during the test session.The test sessions were anonymously transcribed verbatim, including the interviewer’s texts. For the labeling, we chose to reduce the data to the level of sentences . To makeWe coded the transcripts, including the LR answers, by using a combination of deductive and inductive coding , comprisThird, we compared these identified themes to the perceptions of participants on what had happened during the session, as expressed in their LRs or during conversations with the interviewer. These perceptions were used to verify the themes as identified by the authors and inductively yielded three reflection processes and three reflection outcomes.We identified three reflection outcomes and three reflection processes that were dominantly triggered by reflection on the video-narratives. The various processes and outcomes were demonstrated simultaneously during conversations: The reflection outcomes and processes did not exclude one another and even reinforced one another. (. . .) I’ve not really changed my opinion but it might lead me to be more wary of dismissing other people’s viewpoints.Comparing participants’ final and initial discourses at the beginning and end of test sessions, respectively, we identified three common reflection outcomes: (1) participants slightly modified their initial views by hearing and reflecting on the viewpoints represented in the video-narratives; (2) participants developed more analytical understanding of narrators’ perspectives, even when they were totally different from their own; and (3) participants started to value the existence of a multiplicity of perspectives as represented in the video-narratives. The following quote of group session participant GP11 summarizes these findings:We provide details of each outcome in further detail below. Quotes were translated from Dutch and adjusted for readability purposes.In the beginning, I only thought of risks. (. . .). But later on I saw more possibilities too. (. . .) As you are always influenced. (. . .). The more things are being told, the more it starts to work in your mind; it starts to live.During test sessions, video-narratives increased participants’ vocabulary and knowledge of SB, but their general tone of language about the field remained. When participants’ initial view of SB was enthusiastic or hesitant, they continued to hold this view until the end of the session. We traced minor changes in views during conversation (15 instances among 10 participants). Four participants reported in LRs and reflective conversations that they had slightly changed their views, illustrated by the following quote of individual test session participant IP4:Karin does hit a nerve there by [noting that] (. . .) if everybody could decide the gender of their child in the future (. . .), the consequences could be enormous. Although I don’t agree with her way of looking at it, she makes you realize that this is how far it could go.Throughout the process of watching video-narratives and conversing about the content, participants developed an enlarged analytical understanding of other views (16 instances among nine participants). At the beginning of test sessions, participants could be critical and sometimes even become slightly annoyed by narrators with views different to their own. As the sessions progressed, participants started expressing certain understanding of these different views. Test session participants who initially identified themselves with the opinions expressed by Karin (critic) seemed to gain understanding later in the session for the viewpoints of Christine (mechanic) or Walter (inventor). Alternatively, participants who observably resembled and identified the most with Christine, Walter, or Marlous seemed to develop certain understanding for Karin’s arguments too. The following quote of individual test session participant IP1 illustrates the growth of analytical understanding. Throughout the session, the participant had repetitively expressed disagreement with Karin’s critical stance toward SB. However, almost at the end of the session, the participant said the following:After this, the participant began to consider the need for thinking about regulations on SB, like Karin, although not agreeing with Karin’s views in many respects. To summarize this identified reflection outcome, the viewing and considering of video-narratives seemed to increase participants’ understanding of other views of SB.Perhaps it could be said that the first and last viewpoints represent ‘society’ [Karin], ‘humanism’ [Walter], while the other viewpoints are focused on practicalities, process, technology [Christine & Marlous]. All viewpoints are needed.Often coupled, but representing a more generic outcome than increased analytical understanding, participants started to value the existence of a multitude of views of SB as represented in the video-narratives (11 instances among 10 participants). For example, group session participant GP10 wrote, after seeing video-narratives about “What is SB?” and “What is its potential impact on our future society?” in the LR:Several times in conversations during this session, this participant again shared her appreciation of diverse perspectives. It seemed that the video-narratives with various perspectives on the topic helped participants to discover a value in multiple perspectives. Given that the LRs showed 18 additional instances of this reflection outcome see , it coulLooking at the ways in which participants reflected on the views represented in the video-narratives and their own view, respectively, we identified three dominant processes. We identified two processes of reflection at the level of first order notions: shopping and demarcation. One less common process had a deepening character in which second order reflection also took place.Well, it seems good in itself (. . .). I saw that people are already creating new limbs (. . .). Things like that would be really useful. (. . .). [I] think that they’re going to do it especially in the medical field or something. (. . .) But I don’t know, maybe they can do bad things with it. Not that I know what. (. . .) If [this technology] gets into the wrong hands (. . .) Yes, that might just happen. Of course I don’t know exactly what people can do but if it did that would not be good.The video-narratives had the effect of encouraging participants to combine and jump back and forth between the four narratives to articulate their own view (41 instances among 17 participants). The conversation fragments below, from individual test session participant IP7, illustrate this shopping process. After seeing the introductory video, the participant cautiously shared an initial view of SB:Yes, I would say we should not mess about with nature too much. It would make the ecosystem fall apart. But do I think we can give nature a little push, steering it in the right direction.Subsequently, after seeing the full video-narratives of Walter and Karin, the participant commented,Well it [seeing Karin and Walter] helped me a bit to form an opinion because they show a little bit about two sides.In this quote, IP7 emphasized the cautious arguments of narrator Karin combined with the optimistic arguments of narrator Walter. Incorporating the views of these narrators helped this participant enrich the initial pro and contra arguments as cautiously opted before viewing the videos. IP7 reflected on the following during the process:(. . .) These people show you angles that you would not have thought about otherwise. So that’s the nice thing about it. It helps you to form your opinion.Another participant of an individual test session confirmed this process as well, while reflecting on the session at the end:The 41 instances of shopping show that this process made participants develop a more precise view.(. . .) I’m worried about the governance of the innovations in synbio. (. . .) I was wondering how funding is applied and how that steers in some way. What type of research is going to be done and how is it going to be applied?Participants of our test sessions also defined their own view by highlighting aspects of video-narratives with which they disagreed (38 instances among 15 participants). This reflection process generally occurred when participants were less hesitant to develop their own view, and when they were confronted with narratives that they perceived as different from their own. An illustration of this demarcation comes from a group session. After the facilitator asked participants to respond to the content of the introductory video, participant GP6 noted:After seeing the film clips, I know that I feel I am caught between both clips. I can understand the rhetoric of both [Karin & Christine], and yet I do not agree fully with them.These immediate concerns slightly resemble the narrator Karin in terms of having concerns but also the narrator Christine in terms of minimizing the risks of innovation. However, after having seen two full video-narratives of Christine and Karin, the GP6 mentioned in the LR:I was surprised by that conversation on the relationship between humans and technology in Clip 2. [Karin] places technology as an ‘other,’ something outside ourselves, when in fact it is part of us.In the LR, GP6 also explained her disagreement with Karin:Christine mentioned that the debate should not be led by fear. But is fear not just always present in making decisions for choosing how to implement synbio? For instance, if people say, “For health reasons it’s okay, but for other reasons it’s not okay,” isn’t that also driven by fear? The fear of death. Is that a rational decision? You can’t really say it’s a rational debate. It is never a rational debate.During the plenary conversation, the participant commented about her further disagreement with the video characters:This inquiry into the video-narratives that were initially comparable with the participant’s own initial view created further boundaries on the participant’s views.Well, I agree the most with what Christine said. I think this is also why I felt so hesitant in my reaction to Karin in the previous video; she really pretended as if the development stands by itself and that [humans] have no control over it. [Christine] articulated that it is ultimately humans who decide. Developments may come unexpectedly but ultimately it is humanity who makes the reasonable choice about what happens with it. And I agree the most with that. And that whole story of Walter about that film he refers to in which humans and technology coalesce, really sounds like a nasty nightmare. [Laughing] (. . .) He may think this but technology is a sort of utensil and thus we ultimately decide what happens. Something that makes life easier and makes it better, and not something that sort of merges with us . . . like in that film.Although the above quotes show certain second order discourse, deeper reflection on, for example, why one should have concerns regarding SB or why is it important to be optimistic about SB, was generally absent in most of the shopping or demarcation instances. We could identify only 21 instances of second order reflection in conversations  that revealed analysis of values and assumptions underlying their own or other views of SB. Ten of these 21 instances could be clustered as a pattern see , namely,IP2 discovered that his own position was closer to Christine’s because he disagreed with the underlying assumptions of Karin and Walter.Although the test scale was small, several differences could be observed between the narrator and subtopic setups. Overall, if corrected by the number of participants per session see , the subI thought there was some surprising imagery used. In particular, the DNA feeding into this kind of like iconic factory with DNA coming out of the other side (. . .) I think a lot of people are concerned about the industrialization of human life. So Uhm, yeah to me that [video] kind of triggered this thought.We also noted several setup overarching effects. First, the introductory video triggered the initial reflection process. It was designed to be neutral, namely, explanatory about the technologies used in SB and indicative with regard to possibilities and risks, without promoting or overcriticizing the field in content or tone of voice. The content was derived from an SB introduction presentation as tested in Indeed the introductory made use of several schematic illustrations, which could have framed SB in particular ways. However, participants did not articulate extreme resistance or extreme enthusiasm toward SB after the introductory video with references to its visualizations. Most participants moderately emphasized potentially positive and negative aspects of SB in response to the introductory video, although at that time they could not always articulate their precise views.(. . .) The DJ reminds me of like people of my generation that just know little bit about the technology and are, like, ‘yaaay technology!’Second, we noted eight instances in which participants were annoyed by particular characters as the following quote of a group session participant illustrates:However, just as frequently, participants were inspired by particular narrators. This annoyance and inspiration was particularly generated by Walter, the innovator, who had many ideas about what people should be able to do with SB.Third, we ensured that each video clip lasted less than 3 minutes. However, our participants could not always remember the narratives; three participants mentioned this explicitly during conversations. This memory issue might have had an impact on the depth of participants’ reflections with regard to the content of the video-narratives.Fourth, explicit deepening questions from the facilitator  seemed to trigger more extensive, deeper reflections. Most discoveries of fundamental differences arose after explicit questioning of the facilitator. Last, the participants’ answers to the unfinished sentences in the LRs, such as “After seeing this video narrative I know that . . .” and “I was surprised/pleased/unpleased that . . .,” seemed to encourage participants to analyze each of the narratives during conversations in more depth—“I agree with (name), but I don’t agree with (name).” In particular, the unfinished sentences “I liked . . .” and “I didn’t like . . .” appeared to trigger participants to engage in shopping and demarcation.In this exploratory study, we found that reflection on video-narratives of four different views of SB induced several valuable reflection processes and outcomes. The video-narratives facilitated development of understanding of other views among our test session participants. As a result of the video-narratives, participants appeared to appreciate the diversity of perspectives on SB without completely abandoning or disrupting their own initial views. These reflection outcomes emerged from a second order and two first order reflection processes. The latter concerned shopping, in which participants carefully collected aspects of various videos to construct and express their own view, as well as demarcation in which participants defined what they thought of SB by disagreeing with particular aspects of the videos. On the rare instances of second order reflection, participants became more aware of their reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with particular aspects of the video-narratives.Our findings demonstrate differences between the impacts of the two setups in which we tested the video-narratives. A setup in which videos were presented on the basis of subtopics resulted in relatively more instances of reflection processes and outcomes, when corrected for the greater number of participants. Moreover, almost all instances of second order reflection occurred in the subtopic setup, particularly after viewing video-narratives on the subtopic “What is the relationship between human beings and technology?” In addition, the facilitator and LRs played an important role in triggering reflection outcomes and processes.These findings suggest that the presentation of video-narratives can be useful for inclusive reflection in RRI contexts. We have identified not only several ideas on how to present video-narratives for the stimulation of different reflection processes and outcomes but also several challenges in making the video-narratives recognizable, immersive, and contextually qualitative to actually achieve the occurrence of these reflection processes and outcomes. In the next section, we therefore share insights into the design of video-narratives for reflection on R&I. After this, we reflect on the value of video narrative–based reflection in RRI contexts.First, our findings indicate that video narrative–based reflection does require complementary tools and exercises to deepen the reflection. Our findings showed that video-narratives did not trigger much second order reflection on their own. LR questions cf.  and faciSecond, previous research on video-based learning has shown that videos benefit from a strong topical focus to guide the learning and reflection . Our finLast, video narrative–based reflection requires videos with narrators with seemingly equal knowledgeability, importance, seriousness, and humor. One of our narrators, Walter, appeared to annoy our test session participants more than the other characters. Although this can be a matter of taste, this narrator had a more indifferent, informal attitude when compared to the other narrators, possibly triggering participants’ tendency to abandon his viewpoints. Reflection on first and second order notions is important if dialogues are to result in mutual understanding . In reflAdditionally, we used a new format for science narratives. We did not present an action story that shows a major problem to which SB delivers a solution, neither did we present a movie in which a “visually attractive researcher” excitingly explains the promises and risks of SB. In contrast, we made improvisation actors narrate monologues to represent citizen views of SB as identified in Deliberative reflection processes constitute a crucial element of the responsible embedding of science and technology in society . Such de


Researchers have argued that simultaneous lineups should follow the principle of propitious heterogeneity, based on the idea that if the fillers are too similar to the perpetrator even an eyewitness with a good memory could fail to correctly identify him. A similar prediction can be derived from the diagnostic feature-detection (DFD) hypothesis, such that discriminability will decrease if too few features are present that can distinguish between innocent and guilty suspects. Our first experiment tested these predictions by controlling similarity with artificial faces, and our second experiment utilized a more ecologically valid eyewitness identification paradigm. Our results support propitious heterogeneity and the DFD hypothesis by showing that: 1) as the facial features in lineups become increasingly homogenous, empirical discriminability decreases; and 2) lineups with description-matched fillers generally yield higher empirical discriminability than those with suspect-matched fillers.The online version of this article (10.1186/s41235-019-0172-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Mistaken eyewitness identification is one of the primary factors involved in wrongful convictions, and the simultaneous lineup is a common procedure for testing eyewitness memory. It is critical to present a fair lineup to an eyewitness, such that the suspect does not stand out from the fillers . However, it is also theoretically possible to have a lineup with fillers that are too similar to the suspect, such that even an eyewitness with a good memory for the perpetrator may struggle to identify him. Our first experiment tested undergraduate participants with a series of lineups containing computer-generated faces so that we could control for very high levels of similarity by manipulating the homogeneity of facial features. In support of two theories of eyewitness identification (propitious heterogeneity and diagnostic feature-detection), the overall accuracy of identifications was worst at the highest level of similarity. Our second and final experiment investigated two common methods of creating fair lineups: selecting fillers based on matching the description of the perpetrator provided by eyewitnesses, or matching a suspect who has already been apprehended. A nationwide sample of participants from a wide variety of backgrounds watched a mock crime video and later made a decision for a simultaneous lineup. We found that description-matched lineups produced higher eyewitness identification accuracy than suspect-matched lineups, which could be due in part to the higher similarity between fillers and suspect for suspect-matched lineups. These results have theoretical importance for researchers and also practical importance for the police when constructing lineups.Mistaken eyewitness identification (ID) remains the primary contributing factor to the over 350 false convictions revealed by DNA exonerations  on correct ID rates separately from false ID rates. Usually the recommended procedure is the one that reduces the false ID rate without significantly reducing the correct ID rate  analysisE’ . Our first experiment will add to this literature by evaluating high levels of similarity between fillers and target faces as a test of propitious heterogeneity and the diagnostic feature detection hypothesis (described below). Our second experiment will contribute at a more practical level as the first comparison of suspect-matched and description-matched lineups with ROC analysis.Four recent studies also applied ROC analysis to manipulations of lineup fairness. Wetmore et al. , 2016 weTredoux, , which rWells, Rydell, and Seelau  argued tPropitious heterogeneity is a concept with testable predictions , but it is not a quantitatively specified theory. In contrast, the diagnostic feature-detection (DFD) hypothesis , and has also been used successfully by eyewitness researchers . This, of course, is the case regardless of the fillers, so this remains constant for every lineup type and feature manipulated in a lineup . These three features (f1–3) are the only source of variance  in the lineup. If only one feature varies, this means that all fillers (for both target-present and target-absent lineups) are identical to the target except for one feature . If two features vary, then all fillers are identical to the target except for two features; if three features vary, then all fillers are identical to the target except for three features.The theoretical rationale is presented in Table M = 0 and SD = 1  and guilty suspect. Finally, the bottom rows represent lineups in which all three features vary , which decreases the overlap between innocent and guilty suspects even further . As can be seen in the far-right column, underlying psychological discriminability is expected to increase as more features are diagnostic of suspect guilt in the lineup, based on the unequal variance signal detection model:Critically, the Innocent Suspect rows change across these levels of similarity, reflecting featural overlap with the guilty suspect. When only one feature varies in the lineup, only f3 differs between fillers and guilty suspect, and f1 and f2 are identical. For example, this occurs when the participant in this condition sees that the lineup is entirely composed of clones except that all lineup members have a different mouth. This is the case for target-present (TP) and target-absent (TA) lineups, making the mouth diagnostic of suspect guilt (only one lineup member serves as the target with the correct mouth). This is represented by the top rows of Table We assessed whether empirical discriminability would increase as more facial features in each of the fillers differ from the target . In other words, as the fillers look less and less like the target , participants should be better able to identify the target and reject fillers.N = 100). Based on the within-subjects design described below, this sample size allowed us to obtain 300 data points per cell. Although some more recent eyewitness studies applying ROC analysis to lineup data have included around 500 or more participants or data points per cell , which is what ROC analysis is designed to accomplish /s, where s is the standard error of the difference between the two pAUCs after bootstrapping 10,000 times . However, having multiple diagnostic features boosted empirical discriminability beyond just one feature (pAUC = .061 [.050–.072]): (a) two features were better than one, D = 3.98, p < .001, and (b) three features were better than one, D = 4.58, p < .001. This pattern largely supports both the concept of propitious heterogeneity and the DFD hypothesis.As seen in Fig. p = .009. Chi-square analyses revealed that, though there was no difference between two and three diagnostic features  = 0.72, ns), we did confirm that having just one diagnostic feature yielded fewer correct IDs compared with both two features  = 8.79, p = .002, ϕ = .12) and marginally fewer compared with three features  = 4.52, p = .02, ϕ = .09).The number of diagnostic features in each lineup significantly impacted correct IDs, Wald (2) = 9.48, p < .001. Participants were much more likely to choose lineup members from TA lineups when only one feature varied compared with two features  = 81.10, p < .001, ϕ = .37) or three features  = 167.69, p < .001, ϕ = .53). There were also more false alarms when two features varied compared with three, χ2  = 19.33, p < .001, ϕ = .18. In summary, unsurprisingly, the more the lineup members matched the target , the more participants chose these faces.False IDs (of any lineup member from TA lineups) were affected even more so by the number of diagnostic features, Wald (2) = 159.59, In support of other research investigating lineups of high filler similarity  in the United States. We dropped 194 participants for providing incomplete data or failing to answer our attention check question correctly, leaving 1965 for analysis  with each lineup and they chose the member that best matched the perpetrator’s modal description. We used these data to calculate Tredoux’s E’  rated for similarity to each of the innocent suspects using a 1 (least similar) to 7 (most similar) Likert scale. The five most similar faces to each innocent suspect served as fillers in their respective suspect-matched TA lineup. We therefore had a total of three suspect-matched lineups: one for the perpetrator and one for each innocent suspect . The same group of 28 participants who reviewed the description-matched lineups also evaluated these lineups for fairness, resulting in Tredoux’s E’  to create a pool of 80 suspect-matched fillers. We randomly selected five mugshots from this pool to serve as fillers in the suspect-matched TP lineup. We then randomly selected 49 mugshots from the description-matched pool, which an independent group of undergraduates  compared with description-matched lineups , t (49) = 9.05, p < .001. This pattern is consistent across both TP  = 9.31, p < .001) and TA lineups  = 5.91, p < .001). These patterns, as well as the overall low similarity ratings  are consistent with results from earlier studies  × 2 (TP or TA lineup) between-subjects factorial design. After informed consent, participants watched the mock crime video followed by another video (about protecting the environment) serving as a distractor for 3 min. After answering a question about the distractor video to confirm that they watched it, each participant was randomly assigned to view a six-person TP or TA simultaneous lineup, containing either suspect-matched or description-matched fillers. All lineups were formatted in a 2 × 3 array, and the position of the suspect was randomized. Each lineup was accompanied with instructions that stated that the perpetrator may or may not be present. Immediately following their lineup decision, participants rated their confidence on a 0%–100% scale (in 10% increments). Finally, they answered an attention check question (“What crime did the man in the video commit?”) as well as demographic questions pertaining to age, sex, and race.p values are two-tailed. See Table As with our earlier experiment, we will first present the results of ROC analysis to determine differences in empirical discriminability, followed by logistic regression and chi-square analyses to the TP data separately from the TA data. All reported D = 2.61, p = .009. As for the bias toward choosing any suspect, description-matched lineups overall induced more liberal suspect choosing  Description-Matched TP1, χ2  = 15.03, p < .001, ϕ = .19; and (b) Description-Matched TP2, χ2  = 17.79, p < .001, ϕ = .21. As for filler IDs from TP lineups, the full logistic regression model was again significant, Wald (2) = 46.82, p < .001. The filler ID rate was higher for the suspect-matched lineup compared with both Description-Matched TP1, χ2  = 24.41, p < .001, ϕ = .24, and Description-Matched TP2, χ2  = 42.52, p < .001, ϕ = .32. Lastly, the model for TP lineup rejections was not significant, Wald (2) = 4.89, p = .087.We begin with the correct IDs. As a reminder, there was one suspect-matched TP lineup and two description-matched TP lineups, so Bonferroni-corrected α = .05/2 = .025. The full logistic regression model was significant, showing that there were more correct IDs for the description-matched lineups compared with the suspect-matched lineup, Wald (2) = 21.57, p < .001. A follow-up chi-square found that the false ID rate was lower for the suspect-matched lineups compared with the description-matched lineups overall, χ2  = 4.12, p = .042, ϕ = .06. There was no difference in filler IDs or correct rejections. The next step was to compare each suspect-matched lineup with each description-matched lineup to determine the consistency of the pattern of false IDs (Bonferroni-corrected α = .05/8 = .006). Of the eight comparisons, only two were significant: (a) Suspect-Matched TA1 yielded fewer false IDs than Description-Matched TA1.2, χ2  = 15.74, p < .001, ϕ = .20; and (b) Suspect-Matched TA2 yielded fewer false IDs than Description-Matched TA1.2, χ2  = 16.89, p < .001, ϕ = .20. As can be seen in Table E’ = 5.09) compared with the other description-matched TA lineups . This indicates that Tredoux’s E’, and likely other lineup fairness measures that are based on a perpetrator’s description, could inaccurately diagnose a lineup’s level of fairness. This point has recently been supported by a large study comparing several methods of evaluating lineup fairness  and four description-matched (the same two innocent suspects × 2 sets of fillers each). The full model comparing false IDs across all six lineups was significant, Wald (5) = 36.47, Discriminability is an important consideration when it comes to system variables, such as filler selection method, but the reliability of an eyewitness’s suspect identification, given their confidence, is also critical. Whereas ROC analysis is ideal for revealing differences in discriminability, some kind of confidence-accuracy characteristic (CAC) analysis is needed to investigate reliability Mickes, . In othex axis represents three levels of confidence , which is typically broken down in this way for CAC analysis : given a suspect ID, what is the likelihood that the suspect was guilty, represented as guilty suspect IDs/(guilty suspect IDs + innocent suspect IDs). Two results are of note from Fig. As can be seen in Fig. This is the first experiment (to our knowledge) to address which method of filler selection, description- versus suspect-match, yields the highest empirical discriminability. We found that matching fillers to description appears to be the preferred approach, as it increased the ability of our participant eyewitnesses to sort innocent and guilty suspects into their proper categories. This was the case when collapsing over all individual lineups and, when making all pairwise comparisons between description- and suspect-matched lineups, we found that no suspect-matched lineup ever increased discriminability beyond a description-matched lineup. Rather, description-matched lineups were either better than, or equivalent to, suspect-matched lineups. We discuss the potential reasons for the overall advantage for description-matched lineups below.We supported two theories from the eyewitness identification literature: propitious heterogeneity  on the development of lineups and resulting empirical discriminability. Based on our findings, we would predict an inverted U-shaped function on empirical discriminability, such that eyewitnesses would perform best on description-matched lineups with fillers matched to a description that is not too vague


Our results show that C4 grasses have been a dominant grassland component since ~11.0 Ma. A subsequent marked decrease in warm- and humid-adapted C4 grasses and an increase in cool- and dry-adapted C3 grasses occurred in the Pliocene, ~4.0 Ma; the phytolith-based quantitative reconstruction of mean annual precipitation marked a decrease from 800~1673 mm to 443~900 mm, indicating a reduction in Asian monsoon rainfall in the Pliocene. Our newly obtained records conflict with the hypothesis that the growth of the Tibetan Plateau strengthened the Asian monsoon rainfall. Nevertheless, they emphasize the importance of global temperature as a determinant of Pliocene Asian monsoon variations.The Asian monsoon variations under global temperature changes during the Pliocene are still debated. Here we use a sedimentary record of phytoliths (plant silica) from the Weihe Basin, central China, to explore the history of C Asian summer monsoons and their links to global temperature changes have been the subject of intense debate. Here the authors reconstruct the Asian monsoon climate since the late Miocene, using plant silica records of C4 and C3 grasses in central China, and find that global cooling caused Asian monsoon rainfall to decrease markedly in the late Pliocene. However, one of the objections to increased WSP as an explanation, comes from evidence in the western Arabian Sea, in the form of reduced summer precipitation and/or increased winter precipitation, which are required to explain the increased δD values of leaf wax3. A similar debate exists for the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), where δ13C profiles of pedogenic carbonate suggest that an expansion of C4 grasses occurred at ~4.0 Ma5, which has been interpreted as increased WSP in East Asia5. However, an integrated study of the δ13C records of pedogenic carbonate and tooth enamel suggested a reduction in WSP in East Asia at ~4.0 Ma6.The Asian monsoon system, which controls precipitation over mainland Asia, is characterized by abundant summer precipitation brought by warm, moisture-bearing winds of maritime origin. The variability in Asian monsoon precipitation since the late Miocene has been widely investigated, but the findings remain controversial. A marked shift in the stable carbon isotopic composition  tend to be warm-adapted, irrespective of whether they are C4 grasses, whereas the C3 Pooideae tend to be cold-adapted9. Thus, cold tolerance may be as important as C3 and C4 differences in determining the distribution of grasses along temperature gradients9. On the other hand, environmental niches tend to vary within the different C4 lineages, reflecting responses to precipitation9 and elevated CO2 levels10. For a C4-dominated grass community, the environmental niches of specific clades of grasses that dominate grasslands are the key to determining the environmental niches of the entire grass community8. If it was possible to evaluate the ecological role (from non-dominant to dominant) played by each clade of grasses during the expansion of C4 grasses, the corresponding environmental controls and driving mechanisms could be identified, which would eventually lead to a better understanding of the linkages between C4 grasses and late Neogene climate change. For this reason, the study of phytolith assemblages as a direct record of late Neogene plant communities has attracted increasing interest for understanding the origin of C4 expansion11. As an alternative to stable carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis, fossil phytoliths can provide detailed information on C3 (forests/shrubs/C3 grasslands) and C4 (Chloridoideae-dominated/Panicoideae-dominated grasslands) vegetation12, thus providing detailed information on climate change.When comparing the environmental niches between grasses and trees, onset of a dry season and/or an increase in aridity, combined with increased fire frequency, could favour the growth of C4 grasses. Finally, we integrate these two datasets to quantitatively reconstruct the Asian monsoon climate since the late Miocene. Our results show that the percentage of C4 grasses markedly decreases by ~4.0 Myr ago, which reveals a distinct decrease in monsoon precipitation during the Pliocene in East Asia.Here we explore the history of vegetation and the monsoon climate in East Asia using a continuous record of phytolith assemblages since the late Miocene from Lantian  in Weihe Basin, central China , whereas grasslands dominated by Panicoideae grasses were distributed in southeastern China with a MAT > 11 °C (Bothriochloa ischaemum with a minimum MAT = 11.2 °C). These data provide a solid foundation for the quantitative reconstruction of temperature and precipitation based on phytolith assemblages  and PACMAD (C3 and C4) grasses. Rather than an unchanging vegetation structure, the grass community exhibited significant variations over time  and the maximum estimate was 75% (range 48~89%). Pooideae grasses began to dominate the grass community  during 4.2~2.6 Ma and the percentage of C4 grasses decreased to a minimum of ~7% (range 1~11%) and a maximum of ~26% (range 8~42%). In the interval from 2.6 to ~0 Ma, our samples span only the last glacial–interglacial cycle and the Holocene (130~0 ka), when Pooideae grasses continued to dominate the grassland community  and the percentage of C4 grasses reached to a minimum .Most of the 38 samples used for quantitative analysis did not contain palm or other forest indicator morphotypes  to very abundant (maximum estimate) in the study area at ~11.0 Ma, which is most likely the earliest fossil record of C4 grassland in East Asia. The record of C4 grasses prior to this time is very sparse. Phytolith assemblages from Lower Miocene sediments in Shanwang in northern China indicate that potential C4 grasses were present at very low frequencies, growing beneath the tree canopy or in a forest mosaic13. Stable carbon isotopic composition records from the South China Sea indicate that C4 plants gradually appeared as a component of land vegetation beginning in the early Miocene14. C4 plants were also a vegetation component in the arid Asian interior in the middle Miocene, as evidenced by n-alkane carbon isotopic data from the North Pacific15.Our results reveal that C3 and C4 grasses during 11.0~4.2 Ma. A grass-dominated ecosystem was distributed across a vast area of northern China since the late Miocene (~11.0 Ma), as evidenced by the synthesis of Neogene pollen records16. Fossil mammals and their distribution in the late Miocene also document this vegetation pattern17. There is evidence that C4 grasses subsequently became abundant. For example, the stable carbon isotopic composition of tooth enamel reveals that herbivores fed largely on C4 grasses in Chinese Loess Plateau at ~7.0 Ma6 and in Inner Mongolia at ~7.5 Ma18. Although there are large discrepancies in the timing of the C4 expansion, all the data suggest that, prior to the expansion of C4 grasses in the late Miocene and Pliocene, the vegetation consisted of open grassland rather than closed forest, and a similar vegetation pattern was discovered in North America using a phytolith-based vegetation reconstruction19.Our direct fossil phytolith evidence indicates that grasses dominated the vegetation, and that there was a mixture of C4 grasses (both maximum and minimum estimates) occurred at ~4.2 Ma, which is consistent with the general decreasing trend in C4 grasses suggested by the δ13C values of tooth enamel  from the estimate derived from δ13C data of soil carbonates22. To test the validity of our estimate, we used modern soil phytolith assemblages from China23 to calculate the percentage of C4 grasses (maximum estimate); the result shows a pattern similar to the distribution of modern C4 grasses  underestimates the biomass of C4 grasses (10~40%). Several researchers compared phytolith data and δ13C values of soil organic matter in the Miocene and found a general consistency25. The possibility of differences in the production of C3 phytoliths and C4 phytoliths, which could potentially bias the estimates, has been excluded11. Thus, it appears that phytolith analysis is a robust approach for the reconstruction of past C4 biomass.A controversial issue is that our phytolith data provide a different estimate of C13C records. The first is that some studies22 interpret the δ13CSC values of approximately −8 to −9‰ in the Bahe Formation as indicative of pure C3 vegetation under high water stress. However, our phytolith data suggest that this area was a grass-dominated ecosystem, specifically a C3/C4 mixed grassland under a relatively humid climate. In addition to the atmospheric CO2 level and C4 vegetation, the δ13C of soil carbonate is also sensitive to the soil respiration flux26, which is affected by primary productivity and MAP27. Thus, in the Lantian Formation (Red Clay), the δ13CSC values most likely responded to precipitation and productivity variations rather than to the C3/C4 composition, as indicated by our phytolith and pollen data. The northward increase in δ13CSC values suggested by Passey et al.6 could also reflect the northward decrease in precipitation and productivity, which resulted in a decreased soil respiration flux. The effects of these climatic gradients on δ13CSC values in Asia are well documented and may date back to the early Miocene28. The second explanation is that phytoliths overestimate the signal of grasses in some ecosystems29, which could lead to an underestimation of C3 vegetation, such as trees, shrubs and forbs . Pollen data from the Chinese Loess Plateau suggest that the percentage of trees was ~15% during the late Miocene31  exhibit minor increasing trends starting ~7.0 Ma, with a marked decrease at ~4.2 Ma Fig. . These re31 Fig. . An intence Fig.  suggest 39. Our phytolith-based quantitative reconstruction in the Weihe Basin also suggests higher MAT and MAP as well as higher monsoon precipitation during the late Miocene to early Pliocene  than at present , among which the WMMP and the WSP are direct indicators of the monsoon precipitation. Pollen-based quantitative reconstruction during the late Pliocene is very rare in northern China, except for one study in Yushe Basin with median values of MAT = 11.8 °C and MAP = 948 mm40, which were lower than those at all late Miocene sites in the eastern region of northern China39  and higher than the present values .Pollen-based quantitative reconstruction of the palaeoclimate in northern China suggests that the MAT and MAP during the late Miocene were higher than those at present42 or Eocene43. Several possible drivers have been proposed to explain Asian climate change since the late Miocene, such as the growth of the Tibetan Plateau2 and global cooling38. A decrease in atmospheric CO2 levels during the late Pliocene has also been suggested as the trigger for Northern Hemisphere glaciation44 as well as the East Asia monsoon climate45. However, pCO2 had been below the threshold for Northern Hemisphere glaciation46 since before the Pliocene . The monsoon precipitation belt is associated with the location of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and global cooling controls monsoon precipitation by pushing the ITCZ towards the tropical region, resulting in a change in the location of the monsoon precipitation belt and a reduction in the monsoon precipitation in East Asia51. Inconsistencies also exist between global cooling and the East Asian monsoon climate; our phytoliths and other records  was probably influenced by a decrease in Asian monsoon rainfall because most of the precipitation in East Asia is caused by the monsoon circulation and the history of the Asian monsoon could be dated back to Mioceneene Fig. . Modellirds Fig.  suggest  52 Fig. . Other tIn summary, our study provides a new direct record of vegetation since the late Miocene. The vegetation shifts in the late Pliocene revealed marked decreases in temperature and precipitation, which coincide with other evidence of cooling and a decrease in monsoon rainfall in East Asia. We suggest that this decrease in Asian monsoon rainfall was most likely driven by global cooling, which shifted the location of the ITCZ and associated monsoon precipitation belt.53. In this study, we focus on the late Neogene sediments of the Bahe Formation , the Lantian Formation (aeolian Red Clay) and the Quaternary loess-palaeosol sequence. The chronology of these sequences is well established  and then treatment with 30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and cold 15% hydrochloric acid (HCl), followed by heavy liquid separation using zinc bromide  and mounting on a microscope slide with Canada balsam. From each extracted sample, at least one microscope slide was prepared for phytolith counts and analysis using a compound microscope at ×400 magnification. The preservation status of each assemblage was determined using the semi-quantitative scheme of Strömberg and McInerney11. In the case of 38 samples, phytolith preservation ranged from fair to very good and these data were selected for the quantitative palaeoclimatic reconstruction  and diagnostic grass phytoliths (GSSC). To examine spatiotemporal changes in tree cover, we used the ratio of the sum of forest indicator phytoliths to the sum of forest indicator phytoliths and GSSCs, i.e., FI TOT/ (FI TOT + GSSC), and confidence intervals  were calculated for the FI-t ratio  with GSSCs that are produced by grasses belonging to the BOP clade (Bambusoideae–Oryzoideae–Pooideae), which are purely C3, by comparison with modern vegetation data9. The relative abundance of C4 grasses in the entire vegetation was similarly inferred as the relative abundance of C4 grass phytoliths vs. all other diagnostic phytoliths. For quantitative reconstruction of C4 biomass, we examined the relative abundance of panicoid + chloridoid GSSCs (PAN + CHLOR), which provided a rough minimum estimate of C4 biomass, and examined the relative abundance of all PACMAD GSSCs (PACMAD TOT), which provided a rough maximum estimate of C4 biomass:We analysed the grass community composition in terms of open-habitat vs. closed-habitat grasses (OH TOT vs. CH TOT) and potential C3 grasses (bilobates and crenates) and C4 grasses (bilobates and polylobates) are difficult to identify if they are broken or partially obscured on the microscope slide; this type of phytolith was classified as OTHGs to increase the accuracy of the C4 biomass estimation.We excluded non-diagnostic, unknown and unidentifiable GSSCs , which consisted of 247 genera and 1960 species. After matching with the global species and purging invasive species or introduced species, the dataset of China included 177 genera and 598 species with corresponding climate parameters. The classification follows the most recent phylogenetic studies56. For ecosystem data, we extracted all ecosystem types and their distributions in China (http://www.ecosystem.csdb.cn); the database consists of 866 types, including 586 formations and 280 sub-formations in which 105 ecosystem types are dominated by Poaceae species. After matching with climate data, the dataset consisted of 64 Poaceae species with corresponding distribution and climate parameters  species-climate database, we first built a new global species-climate database (Supplementary Note Supplementary InformationPeer Review File


Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a type of tingling, static-like sensation that is triggered by special audiovisual stimulation. The sensation passes through the scalp and the back of the neck, sometimes even spreading to the ends of the extremities. In recent years, research on ASMR has been gradually increasing. However, few collections of ASMR video material have been evaluated so far. In the present study, 807 Chinese participants  were asked to evaluate two types of ASMR videos and one control video, assessing the intensity and duration of tingling sensations triggered by these videos. A total of 60 ASMR videos were screened. The subjective assessment of the experimental group on ASMR intensity and duration, as triggered by the ASMR video material, demonstrated that the library contains 60 ASMR videos that can effectively trigger ASMR in participants who are able to experience ASMR. This video library was then subjected to a test which revealed that Cronbach’s α = 0.933. This proves that the library has good reliability, that it can effectively trigger ASMR in participants who are able to experience ASMR, and that it can be used as experimental material in future ASMR research. What ASMR evokes is the ability to pay attention to daily noise production and create an emotional response for the audience: these sounds are intimate because the listener has to be close enough to hear them.”  is a sensory phenomenon in which individuals, in response to specific triggering audio and visual stimuli, experience a tingling, static-like sensation across the scalp and the back of the neck, sometimes spreading to further areas .Many scientists have focused their attention on ASMR triggers, conducting research on their characteristics. They found that while there are great differences in ASMR triggers among individuals , particiHowever, It was not until 2018 that a physiological correlate of ASMR was measured. Experiment results indicated that ASMR is a pleasant, calm, but activatable sensory experience unique to people who can experience it . In addiAlthough ASMR research has become increasingly in-depth, there is a lack of research into ASMR videos. Videos are among the few materials currently available for ASMR research, as ASMR shows strong individual differences. Besides video material, only the ASMR Checklist compiled by N = 807, 75.1% were female, Mage = 19.4 years, SD = 1.108, Range = ). The detailed results are shown in The experiment was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Department of Psychology of Wenzhou Medical University. The participants were randomly recruited undergraduate students at Wenzhou Medical University. A total of 821 participants were gathered. The experiment was conducted in a quiet laboratory. Each time approximately 30 participants sat in front of a computer with the same configuration for about half an hour (HP ProOne 400G3 20.0-in Non-Touch AiO), 0.5 m from the screen, wearing the same headset (Rovers K800). Due to, among other things, errors in the software used in the experiment, 14 participants had to be excluded, so 807 samples were retained  reported being “unsure” about the intensity of the video, indicating that they had difficulty judging ASMR intensity triggered by the stimulus. In cases where the corresponding frequency was not zero, the average intensity reported by participants in the group  for this specific video would be assigned as the value. In all other cases, the value assigned was zero. Participant reports on the intensity and the frequency of the tingling sensation triggered by the videos are shown in The intensity of arousal of ASMR experience by videos in the library was measured for each video through the self-reported ASMR intensity measurement. Participants were required to score each video on a 9-point scale (0–8) after watching it. During the final result analysis, some participants .Spearman correlation analysis was performed on ASMR two-dimensional scores given for the ASMR videos by participants in the experimental group. The intensity of arousal and frequency of sustained sensation were significantly correlated  = 16.584, p < 0.01, η2p = 0.020). Compared with the control group, the participants in the experimental group had more intense feeling about the control videos , ASMR videos without semantic dialogues , and ASMR videos with semantic dialogues . The main effect of video type was significant  = 6.781, p = 0.001, η2p = 0.017). The intensity of the tingling, static-like sensation induced by control videos was stronger than that induced by ASMR videos with semantic dialogues , and the tingling and static-like sensation induced by control videos was stronger than that induced by ASMR videos without semantic dialogues , as shown in The evaluation of intensity was carried out among both groups (ASMR participant and non-ASMR participant) for three types of videos  through ANOVA with a hybrid design and repeated measurements. The results show that the main effect on participant types was significant  = 73.102, p < 0.01, η2p = 0.24). The experimental group experienced more frequent tingling sensations for control videos , ASMR videos without semantic dialogues  and ASMR videos with semantic dialogues (Mdiff = 0.378) , p = 0.035) than the control group. No other effects were significant.ANOVA of repeated measurements revealed that the main effect of participant type was significant (t (380) = 1.982, p = 0.048. The ASMR intensity of female in ASMR participant after watching the ASMR VOICE VIDEO is significantly stronger than that of male in ASMR participant, t (360) = 1.959, p = 0.051. The ASMR intensity of female in ASMR participant after watching the control video is not significant compared with that of male in ASMR participant, t (370) = −0.033, p = 0.974.Chi–square test was performed on gender given for videos of different type by participants in the experimental group. After watching the non-voice VIDEO of ASMR, the ASMR intensity of female in ASMR participant is significantly stronger than that of male in ASMR participant, N = 32, 65.6% female, Mage = 19.34, SD = 0.937, Range ) were re-recruited to evaluate the 12 videos. The internal consistency reliability of the first recommended ASMR digital video library was evaluated with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, which revealed that α = 0.933. In this video collection, “electronic cigarette” and “b-box”; “different triggers,” “eating caviar and sea grape,” and “archeological dig”; “roleplay of energy healing” and “sound of mouse”; “roleplay of energy healing” and “electronic cigarette”; “whispering and personal attention,” “massage your temples,” and “eating caviar and sea grape” showed higher consistency, while “massage your temples” and “ear licking” showed lower consistency.Considering that, in this experiment and in future experiments, participants were not and will not be able to assess all stimuli , the average intensity and frequency of the 60 stimuli were arranged in order of strong to weak intensity, thus strong, medium and weak. For greater convenience of use in future research, the first recommended ASMR digital video library includes the following: four videos with the highest average intensity and frequency ; four videos with medium triggering intensity  and four videos with low triggering intensity . The participants who were able to experience ASMR , the stronger the induced effect. In subsequent ASMR related research, the level of ASMR stimulation can be chosen according to the research purpose to effectively trigger different ASMR experiences. This will provide the foundation for future ASMR related brain research.Based on this, the first recommended video collection  was established with good reliability (α = 0.933). Future researchers can select the corresponding ASMR video to effectively trigger an ASMR in the participant.First, considering that the ages of the participants in this study were fairly uniform, and that they had little exposure to ASMR and limited understanding of the stimuli given in the experiment, the level of ASMR could not be tested. In the future, a scale to help screen participants and to describe ASMR experience may be necessary to further assist in the selection of participants for future research. Participants could watch a triggering video and report the tingling frequencies/intensities at different periods of time . With the passage of time, consistent reporting of ASMR responses to the same stimulus will aid in determining if the self-reported ASMR experiences are real, as well as to distinguish between the experimental group and the control group.Second, the sequential and interactive influence among ASMR videos are difficult to avoid, that is, whether the ASMR experienced by the participant is triggered only by the current stimulus. Research on the encephalic region related to the ASMR experience may provide a solution to this issue in the future.In the above results, we found that the participants’ tingling and numbing sensation after watching the control video was unexpectedly higher than that of ASMR voice video. Given that there were two videos cutting frozen fruit with knives in the control group video, it was possible that the participants had pain synesthesia when watching the video. Although we did not ask subjects to report synesthesia, interestingly, In addition, taking into account that the participants were Chinese and that the videos in the library were taken from YouTube channels in other countries, certain cross-cultural differences might exist. In the ASMR videos with semantic dialogues, we prepared Chinese subtitles so that the participants could understand the conversation. To better present experimental results, in future research, experimenters could set a prompt before each video, to allow participants to understand the content of the next video.Finally, the ASMR video library in this study has expanded the number and types of videos. However, the selection of materials was mainly based on the subscription numbers of video creators on YouTube and the number of playbacks. There may be triggers to which fewer people are sensitive and through which they can experience ASMR. In the future, with an increase in empirical research on ASMR and the continuous improvement on the part of video creators, the material library should be revised and improved.First, this study established an ASMR triggering video library with a total of 60 videos, with an average arousal intensity of 3.96 and a trigger frequency of 3.74 on a 0–8 scale.lmj39270@gmail.com).Second, for greater convenience of future researchers, we have established the first recommended digital video library with a total of 12 videos, divided into three levels of arousal: strong, medium and weak. Cronbach alpha test showed good reliability and the experiment proved that the videos in the library can effectively trigger ASMR experiences .ML and QZ conceived and designed the work, collected, analyzed, and interpreted the data, critically revised the manuscript, and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published. QZ drafted the manuscript.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


Video games have grown in popularity since the 1970s, and tobacco imagery is present in a substantial subset of games, including those oriented to youth. Much like exposure to tobacco content in films, exposure to tobacco content in video games may influence smoking uptake and use; however, the tobacco industry’s role in facilitating or promoting the use of tobacco imagery in video games is unclear. We explored the industry’s interest in and use of video games to market their products to youth and young adults.We retrieved and analyzed archival tobacco industry documents. We supplemented information from the documents with current and archived versions of several brand and corporate websites and one website containing user-supplied information on video games.Tobacco companies recognized the youth appeal and marketing potential of video games as early as 1980. Initial marketing ideas included incorporating video game themes into product packaging and design. More fully realized plans focused on incorporating video games into product promotions in bars, as a high visibility way to attract younger patrons and increase long-term marketing opportunities by generating names for tobacco company direct-marketing databases. Tobacco companies also incorporated video games into in-home product promotions, primarily as components of brand websites, in order to enhance brand image and generate repeat website traffic. A similar desire to attract and keep visitors led to discussions about the inclusion of video games on corporate youth smoking prevention websites, although only one company, Lorillard, followed through.Video game players are an attractive target market for tobacco companies. Video games, as used by these companies, facilitate consumer engagement with particular tobacco brands or particular corporate messages. Eliminating the use of video games as a promotional vehicle may require limiting tobacco marketing in both physical and online environments. Since the 1970s, video games have grown in popularity, such that the video game industry now generates three times the revenue of the film industry , 3. SincThe tobacco industry has long been a marketing innovator, inventing marketing media  and overThere are several reasons to expect an association between exposure to tobacco imagery in video games and smoking initiation. Exposure to smoking scenes in movies is causally related to youth smoking behaviors, with the relationship explained through theories of media influence : smokingTobacco companies have been known to create their own video games  and to inot incorporate a video game component). We located additional relevant documents using a search feature that allows for the identification of documents with adjacent reference (Bates) numbers . We stopped searching when additional searches yielded no new documents.As a result of litigation, nearly 15 million previously undisclosed industry documents , 28 are We identified 293 documents that were relevant to our focus on tobacco companies’ interest in video games as a marketing tool; their dates ranged from 1980 to 2008. These included marketing and promotion documents, contracts between tobacco companies and video game makers, tobacco company requests for proposals for video game designs, internal research on consumer behavior related to playing video games, and youth smoking prevention materials. For additional contextual information, we examined current and archived versions of several brand and corporate websites , and the website Mobygames.com, an online database with user-supplied information on video games, including, for example, promotional and user screenshots.We analyzed documents using a hermeneutic approach. Broadly, the term “hermeneutic” means interpretation of text, in which one tries to appraise the meaning of the material within the context of the time and place in which it was produced –35. ThisConsistent with this hermeneutic approach, we did not seek to test specific hypotheses about the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool –39. InstIn the 1980s, tobacco companies explored ways to capitalize on the “widespread video game craze” . For exawe could be the first to exploit” (emphasis added)  motion” . Among tKOOL had a “Play on the House/Spades Slam” promotion at retail and in bars in 2002; in 2003, it added an online component that allowed website visitors to play spades against the computer or other online players . ConsultAs tobacco companies began creating youth smoking prevention (YSP) programs in the late 1990s , severalvisible manner” [Lorillard, by contrast, moved forward with a website for teens in December 1999, buttoutnow.com, to complement its “Tobacco is Whacko if You’re a Teen” YSP program. The goal of the YSP program was to “address the youth smoking issue in a responsible and  manner”   to provide personal information for tobacco company marketing databases in order to play the games. Inclusion in these databases put participating bargoers at risk: the receipt of direct mail coupons from tobacco companies is associated with smoking initiation among nonsmokers and continued smoking among smokers , 138.Video games remain a feature of tobacco company bar nights and traveling “lounges” , 140. ItTobacco companies incorporated video games into in-home brand marketing and promotion efforts as well. Video games (both branded and unbranded) were an appealing component of these promotions because they promised to attract a younger audience—an appeal recognized by the attorneys general who brought legal action against BW for its “KOOL Mix” promotion. Branded video games also offered the potential for recurring brand exposures to players of all ages through repeat playing, a feature absent from video games played at bar nights, and one with direct implications for smoking behavior. Although research exploring the relationship between viewing tobacco imagery in video games and subsequent tobacco-related behavior is still in its infancy , there iTobacco companies also relied on the popularity of video games to draw visitors to brand and corporate websites. As others have noted, websites offer tobacco companies distinct advantages over traditional media in terms of interactivity, length of exposure, and avoidance of marketing restrictions , 142. ViIn the US, the Master Settlement Agreement places limits on paid tobacco product placement in video games. Our study found no evidence that tobacco companies paid for product placement; instead, the documents we uncovered point to more direct relationships, with tobacco companies commissioning branded games that promoted a particular brand (or corporate) image. Addressing these relationships and eliminating the use of video games as a promotional vehicle may require an approach that focuses on limiting tobacco marketing in both physical and online environments. Indeed, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recommends prohibiting “any form of commercial communication … with the aim, effect or likely effect of promoting a tobacco product or tobacco use either directly or indirectly” . In the Our study provides only a partial understanding of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool. Due to the size of the document databases, we may not have retrieved every relevant document. Some may have been destroyed or concealed by tobacco companies, including, for example, any documents concerning payments for tobacco product placement in video games; others may have never been obtained in the legal discovery process.Since the activities outlined here, video games have become more sophisticated, ubiquitous, and global, and tobacco content in games has become commonplace . Video gS1 Bibliography(DOCX)Click here for additional data file.


Otoscopy is a simple, yet fundamental tool for medical practitioners of all levels to diagnose common otologic conditions. Otoscopy is traditionally performed by a handheld light with a lens. This technique has several disadvantages, especially during teaching sessions since only a first-person view is available. Video otoscopy has the ability to project the view of the scope onto a screen that can be displayed for medical or patient education. Recently, handheld video otoscopy has advanced to display compatibility with personal devices such as cell phones or tablets. In this technical report, we demonstrate components, setup, and use of video otoscopy for otologic examination that can be easily used on a personal electronic device. Otitis media (OM) is an inflammation of the middle ear and can be subdivided into acute otitis media (AOM), chronic suppurative OM, and otitis media with effusion (OME). OM remains one of the most common causes of hearing loss worldwide and requires otoscopic examination for diagnosis . DependiThe video otoscope is easy to use and provides high-quality diagnostic evidence. It is relatively inexpensive ($25.99-$49.99) and is a handheld tool that plugs into any “smart” device. The video otoscope is about the size and width of a pencil with a camera at the end (see Figure For otoscopic examination, the otoscopic specula are then attached to the end of the camera in the same way they are attached to a normal otoscope. The camera is then inserted into the auditory canal for examination of the external auditory canal. The video otoscope also has attachable curettes. The curettes can be used to remove impacted wax and foreign objects from the auditory canal with a decreased risk of tympanic membrane perforation because the curettes are video guided. The otoscope also provides a clear view of the tympanic membrane and ossicles which may be recorded for medical record or research purposes (see Figure The potential scope of video otoscopy is vast, including as an educational tool, global health resource, and telehealth device. Video otoscopy can be a great educational resource for both clinicians and patients. Educationally, the ability to record or experience a patient’s examination with student and professor will improve clarity, provide immediate feedback, and provide a new avenue for teaching. Currently, medical students are not satisfied with their otoscopic training, with decreased confidence in diagnosing common conditions . As a reGlobal health efforts have their own unique barriers including limited resources, access to consultation and equipment, and, as seen in this case, barriers to effective communication. The intent of a global health effort is to bring the best medical care to those without access to that level of care, and a crucial aspect of healthcare access is availability of instrumentation. The video otoscopy provides an avenue for cerumen and foreign object removal, leading to improvement in hearing and balance. While this application is useful in otoscopic examinations, it can be expanded to nasal, eye, mouth, and even vaginal examinations. The light at the end of the camera could also be a useful tool in evaluating pupillary reflexes. With the ability to turn a light on or off and record the pupillary response in real time, the video can be replayed to establish the true response. For oral examinations, most video otoscopic devices are about the length of a tongue depressor but are more slender and have the potential to increase the visibility in the posterior oropharynx, for improved diagnostic capability. Similarly, if a clinician would like to consult another clinician, the recorded examination can be shared for consultation. The video recording is downloaded to the owner’s smart device without the use of Wi-Fi and after can be shared with colleagues. Lastly, it has implications in the booming field of telehealth. With the emergence of telehealth consultations and virtual appointments, the ability of the patient to have an in-home otoscope to record or live stream their own otological examination to share with the clinician for diagnosis is revolutionary. In-home video otoscopic devices will lead to more accurate diagnosis, leading to more effective treatment, and increased beneficial outcomes, thereby saving time, money, and energy for the patient and provider. The use of video otoscopy is beneficial to clinicians, students, and patients. By utilizing readily available and cost-effective technology, education and skill of medical trainees can be maximized in a global setting.


Plasmodium falciparum. Additionally, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale spp. are also present and clinical manifestations caused by these infections are not well described. Clinical episodes caused by P. malariae infections are often characterized by a relatively mild illness with a low number of parasites, which can persist for long periods. In this report, two cases of P. malariae infections that were identified during a clinical trial evaluating the P. falciparum malaria vaccine candidate, PfSPZ Vaccine are described. The two participants were followed up and monitored for clinical and laboratory parameters to assess vaccine safety providing the opportunity to study clinical manifestations of P. malariae over 4 months.Malaria is endemic in Tanzania with majority of clinical cases caused by P. malariae diagnosed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) are described. Retrospective analysis of collected and stored blood samples revealed that the two volunteers had constant asexual blood stage parasitaemia for more than 4 months. During the 132 days of infection, the volunteers’ vital signs, body temperature and serum biochemistry all remained within normal ranges. Haematological abnormalities, which were transiently outside normal ranges, were regarded as not clinically significant. During this time period, four consecutive evaluations of blood samples by thick blood smear microscopy conducted by an experienced microscopist were all negative, indicating the presence of low-density sub-microscopic infections.Two young, healthy Tanzanian men infected with low density asexual blood stage P. malariae infections presented here confirm the ability of this Plasmodium species to persist at low density in the human host for extended time periods without causing clinical symptoms. The presented data also demonstrate that clinical study sites in malaria endemic regions need to have a strong malaria diagnostic infrastructure, including the ability of capturing sub-microscopic parasitaemia and differentiation of Plasmodium species.The two cases of Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02613520, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02613520, Registered: November 24th 2015, Enrolment of the first participant to the trial: December 15th 2015, Trial was registered before the first participant was enrolled Plasmodium falciparum is the dominant malaria species responsible for majority of infections and deaths, other Plasmodium species are also endemic in Tanzania. David Clyde, who served as the director of the Malaria Service of the East African Malaria Institute at Amani, described the occurrence of four human malaria species, including P. falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale spp. and Plasmodium malariae in his 1967 book “Malaria in Tanzania” [Plasmodium vivax was attributed to importation by Indian immigrants during the first world war and since 1917 this influx has virtually ceased. Plasmodium malariae was observed in 10–20% of malaria infections, mainly as co-infections with P. falciparum and during childhood [P. malariae (0.3%) or P. ovale spp. (0.1%) [P. falciparum Plasmodium infections. Diagnosis by qPCR revealed low prevalence for P. malariae (0.7–5.8%) and P. ovale spp. (0.9–1.1%) among asymptomatic school children . Since microscopic diagnosis of P. malariae asexual blood stage parasites is hampered by the low parasitaemia and morphological similarities to P. falciparum, molecular based, highly sensitive diagnostic methods are needed to establish the true prevalence of this parasite in the population [P. malariae diagnosis methods applicable in the field and the research focus on P. falciparum has resulted in significant knowledge gaps regarding spectrum of potential clinical manifestations and burden of P. malariae infections [Malaria is endemic in Tanzania with more than 90% of the population at risk and 5.6 million cases reported by the public health sector in 2017 [lariae 0.% or P. opulation . Lack ofP. malariae is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and Latin America and the biology of P. malariae was reviewed by Collins et al. [P. malariae provided valuable insight into human-parasite interactions. The red blood cell cycle lasts 72 h with an average of 8 merozoites released per schizont and the parasite prefers to infect and develop in older erythrocytes. So far, no evidence for a dormant liver stage as described in P. vivax and P. ovale spp. has been observed. Faster acquisition of immunity against P. malariae compared to immune responses against P. falciparum has been described [It is well established that s et al. . Treatmeescribed .P. malariae infections are characterized by a mild illness caused by low numbers of parasites which can persist for extremely long periods, often for years or even decades [P. malariae caused illness from Greece [P. malariae infections have been considered a major cause of the nephrotic syndrome in the past, although the incidence of P. malaria-associated nephrotic syndrome has been dramatically reduced in recent decades [P. malariae-infected erythrocytes was well tolerated and no severe or serious adverse effect, or biochemical abnormalities were observed [Clinical episodes of  decades . There am Greece  and Trinm Greece  decades  decades –9. Recenobserved .Plasmodium spp. parasites in blood using thick blood smear microscopy as well as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The volunteers described in this report participated in a study evaluating the safety and efficacy of immunization with Sanaria® PfSPZ Vaccine composed of radiation attenuated, aseptic, purified, cryopreserved P. falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ) [P. malariae as diagnosed by qPCR are described. These volunteers were followed closely for 4 months during the clinical trial.The clinical research facility of the Ifakara Health Institute in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, conducts clinical trials evaluating efficacy of experimental malaria vaccines in the target population –13. A co (PfSPZ) , 15–19 w (PfSPZ) . The cliSchistosoma haematobium eggs were detected in urine. No blood biochemistry abnormalities were detected, which included alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (BIL), and creatinine (CRE). The urine analysis using a 13-parameter dipstick  was negative at enrolment. A complete blood count (CBC) was conducted at screening and showed normal haematological parameters for volunteer 1, while volunteer 2 had elevated eosinophil counts . During the 16 weeks of immunization , the volunteers’ health status was closely monitored. Every 8 weeks at pre-defined visits blood was drawn and any deviations from reference laboratory values were reported. Vital signs, body temperature and biochemistry remained within normal ranges when assessed four times during the follow up period. Haematological parameters which were transiently outside normal ranges in both volunteers were regarded as not clinically significant , and ECG did not reveal any abnormalities. At screening, the volunteers had negative serologies for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). A single stool sample collected at study enrolment was negative for intestinal helminths and no Plasmodium spp. parasites [P. malariae species-specific qPCR [P. malariae infections were confirmed. The presence of P. falciparum [P. ovale spp. [P. vivax [After concluding three PfSPZ Vaccine immunizations, and before vaccine efficacy was assessed by CHMI, the study protocol required screening of whole blood by qPCR to detect sub-microscopic malaria parasitaemia, so that these volunteers could be treated accordingly before participation in CHMI. During this routine visit, qPCR was conducted with fresh blood samples and it was discovered that two volunteers were infected with arasites . Based ofic qPCR  and convfic qPCR , P. malalciparum , 25, P. ale spp. , and P. P. vivax .P. malariae parasitaemia was observed. Both volunteers were negative for P. falciparum after the first CHMI, and both became positive for P. falciparum after a second CHMI at 40 weeks after the last immunization and were successfully treated with artemether/lumefantrine.Treatment with 3 doses of artesunate/amodiaquine (200/540 mg) daily for 3 days was initiated, and complete parasite clearance was confirmed by qPCR 4 days later. Both volunteers then underwent CHMI and remained in the clinical trial until study completion. Within the following 296 days until the completion of the clinical trial, no recurrent (recrudescence or new infection) P. malariae infection. It turned out that both volunteers had P. malariae parasitaemia at enrolment into the clinical trial. Both volunteers remained positive throughout the vaccination period. Plasmodium malariae parasites were detectable at four out of four clinical visits, namely at day 0, 53, 113 and 128 of study and malaria treatment took place 132 days after the first detection of the P. malariae infections (Fig. Plasmodium spp. qPCR assay indicate that the parasitaemia levels were low. When compared to qPCR based detection of P. falciparum 18S gene, these Cq values would correspond to a parasitaemia between 1 and 10 P. malariae parasites per µL blood [Blood samples collected during the clinical trial and stored frozen were analysed retrospectively by qPCR to determine the time point of µL blood .Fig. 2qPP. malariae cases presented here confirm the ability of this Plasmodium species to persist at low density in the human host for extended time periods without causing clinical symptoms or signs. Both were detected in clinically healthy, young men participating in a clinical trial of PfSPZ Vaccine. No abnormalities in vital signs, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, and creatinine serum levels were detected. Except for a one-time low-level proteinuria, urine analysis parameters measured by dipstick remained within physiological ranges and there was no indication of impaired renal function in these two volunteers. Volunteer 2 did have mildly elevated eosinophil counts throughout the entire course of the clinical trial. These levels were not affected by the treatment of the P. malariae infection and may have reflected an ongoing intestinal helminth infection that was too low to be detected by a single stool examination. All other haematological abnormalities were of temporary nature and considered to be not clinically significant. Interestingly, the P. malariae parasitaemia levels were not affected by the three rounds of PfSPZ Vaccine immunizations. This might be due the mode-of-action of the vaccine which is thought to act against the liver-stage of the parasite.The two Plasmodium species. Eventually, if the goal of malaria elimination is pursued vigorously, the implementation of highly sensitive diagnostic methods to detect asymptomatic, low-density P. malariae infections need to be included into the malaria elimination agenda.The data presented in this report demonstrates that study sites in malaria endemic regions conducting clinical trials should develop on site malaria diagnostic infrastructure, which includes the detection of low-density asexual blood stage parasitaemia and identification of different