No abstract

In 2011, one of the authors (DJB) published a report of nine experiments in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology purporting to demonstrate that an individual's cognitive and affective responses can be influenced by randomly selected stimulus events that do not occur until after his or her responses have already been made and recorded, a generalized variant of the phenomenon traditionally denoted by the term precognition. To encourage replications, all materials needed to conduct them were made available on request. We here report a meta-analysis of 90 experiments from 33 laboratories in 14 countries which yielded an overall effect greater than 6 sigma, z = 6.40, p = 1.2 × 10 (-10 ) with an effect size (Hedges' g) of 0.09. A Bayesian analysis yielded a Bayes Factor of 1.4 × 10 (9), greatly exceeding the criterion value of 100 for "decisive evidence" in support of the experimental hypothesis. When DJB's original experiments are excluded, the combined effect size for replications by independent investigators is 0.06, z = 4.16, p = 1.1 × 10 (-5), and the BF value is 3,853, again exceeding the criterion for "decisive evidence." The number of potentially unretrieved experiments required to reduce the overall effect size of the complete database to a trivial value of 0.01 is 544, and seven of eight additional statistical tests support the conclusion that the database is not significantly compromised by either selection bias or by " p-hacking"-the selective suppression of findings or analyses that failed to yield statistical significance. P-curve analysis, a recently introduced statistical technique, estimates the true effect size of our database to be 0.20, virtually identical to the effect size of DJB's original experiments (0.22) and the closely related "presentiment" experiments (0.21). We discuss the controversial status of precognition and other anomalous effects collectively known as psi.

Background: This is an update of the Mossbridge et al’s meta-analysis related to the physiological anticipation preceding seemingly unpredictable stimuli which overall effect size was 0.21; 95% Confidence Intervals: 0.13 - 0.29 Methods: Nineteen new peer and non-peer reviewed studies completed from January 2008 to June 2018 were retrieved describing a total of 27 experiments and 36 associated effect sizes. Results: The overall weighted effect size, estimated with a frequentist multilevel random model, was: 0.28; 95% Confidence Intervals: 0.18-0.38; the overall weighted effect size, estimated with a multilevel Bayesian model, was: 0.28; 95% Credible Intervals: 0.18-0.38. The weighted mean estimate of the effect size of peer reviewed studies was higher than that of non-peer reviewed studies, but with overlapped confidence intervals: Peer reviewed: 0.36; 95% Confidence Intervals: 0.26-0.47; Non-Peer reviewed: 0.22; 95% Confidence Intervals: 0.05-0.39. Similarly, the weighted mean estimate of the effect size of Preregistered studies was higher than that of Non-Preregistered studies: Preregistered: 0.31; 95% Confidence Intervals: 0.18-0.45; No-Preregistered: 0.24; 95% Confidence Intervals: 0.08-0.41. The statistical estimation of the publication bias by using the Copas selection model suggest that the main findings are not contaminated by publication bias. Conclusions: In summary, with this update, the main findings reported in Mossbridge et al’s meta-analysis, are confirmed.

This article questions what “digital ethnography” is and how geographers may use it in an era of ubiquitous and pervasive computing. Unlike scholars from cognate disciplines, including the new subfields of digital anthropology and digital sociology, geographers have yet to adopt this term and associated methods on a significant scale in their own ethnographic studies of spatial practices in the digital age. The article asks what has become of an “analogue” or “conventional” ethnography in the digital age, and queries whether digital ethnography offers something new for geographers, or simply reinforces the problematic virtual/real, online/offline binaries that geographers have strived to pull apart over the past decade. Ultimately, this article aims to provoke a timely discussion about “the digital” and ethnographic research in geography. Surveying recent geographic theorisations of the digital, it suggests ways in which ethnographic research may respond to this work.

In 2011, one of the authors (DJB) published a report of nine experiments in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology purporting to demonstrate that an individual’s cognitive and affective responses can be influenced by randomly selected stimulus events that do not occur until after his or her responses have already been made and recorded, a generalized variant of the phenomenon traditionally denoted by the term precognition. To encourage replications, all materials needed to conduct them were made available on request. We here report a meta-analysis of 90 experiments from 33 laboratories in 14 countries which yielded an overall effect greater than 6 sigma, z = 6.40, p = 1.2 × 10-10  with an effect size (Hedges’ g) of 0.09. A Bayesian analysis yielded a Bayes Factor of 1.4 × 109, greatly exceeding the criterion value of 100 for “decisive evidence” in support of the experimental hypothesis. When DJB’s original experiments are excluded, the combined effect size for replications by independent investigators is 0.06, z = 4.16, p = 1.1 × 10-5, and the BF value is 3,853, again exceeding the criterion for “decisive evidence.” The number of potentially unretrieved experiments required to reduce the overall effect size of the complete database to a trivial value of 0.01 is 544, and seven of eight additional statistical tests support the conclusion that the database is not significantly compromised by either selection bias or by “p-hacking”—the selective suppression of findings or analyses that failed to yield statistical significance. P-curve analysis, a recently introduced statistical technique, estimates the true effect size of our database to be 0.20, virtually identical to the effect size of DJB’s original experiments (0.22) and the closely related “presentiment” experiments (0.21). We discuss the controversial status of precognition and other anomalous effects collectively known as psi.

The maintenance of depletion of antibody (Ab) reactive with Galalpha1-3Gal (Gal) on pig vascular endothelial cells by the intravenous (i.v.) infusion of a synthetic Gal conjugate has been proposed as a means of delaying Ab-mediated rejection of transplanted pig organs in primates. We have therefore studied the effect of the continuous i.v. infusion of bovine serum albumin conjugated to multiple synthetic Gal type 6 oligosaccharides (BSA-Gal) on anti-Gal Ab levels and on graft survival in baboons undergoing pig kidney transplantation. Group 1 baboons (n=3) underwent extracorporeal immunoadsorption of anti-Gal Ab, a cyclophosphamide (CPP)-based immunosuppressive regimen, and a non-transgenic pig kidney transplant. Group 2 (n=2) were treated identically to Group 1 but, in addition, received a continuous i.v. infusion of BSA-Gal. Group 3 (n=2) were treated identically to Group 2, but without CPP. A single baboon (Group 4) underwent extracorporeal immunoadsorption, a CPP-based regimen, and continuous i.v. BSA-Gal therapy for 28 days, but did not receive a pig kidney transplant. Two of the transplanted pig kidneys in Group 1 were excised on post transplant days 7 and 13 for a rejected ureter, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), respectively. The third baboon died of sepsis on day 6. All transplanted ureters and kidneys showed some histopathologic features of acute humoral xenograft rejection. Group 2 baboons were euthanized on days 8 and 11, respectively, for liver failure. At autopsy, there were histopathological features of widespread liver necrosis, but the pig kidneys and ureters showed no features of rejection. The pig kidneys in Group 3 baboons were excised for renal vein thrombosis (day 9) and DIC (day 12); there was no histological signs of rejection in the pig kidneys or ureter, although there were focal areas of modest liver injury in one baboon on biopsy. The single Group 4 baboon showed no biochemical or histological features of liver injury. Anti-Gal Ab levels returned in Group 1, but were maintained at negligible levels in the baboons in Groups 2 to 4 that received BSA-Gal therapy. Continuous i.v. therapy with BSA-Gal is largely successful in maintaining depletion of circulating anti-Gal antibodies and in preventing or delaying Ab deposition and acute humoral xenograft rejection in porcine grafts, but may be associated with liver injury when administered in the presence of a pig kidney transplant and CPP therapy. The mechanism of the hepatic injury remains uncertain.

No abstract

This brief commentary responds to Tania Rossetto and Laura Lo Presti’s (2021) thought-provoking article ‘Reimagining the national map’ by offering three points for reflection. Firstly, it highlights the scholarly value of embracing their notion of the carto-sphere as a mode of enquiry into cartography, maps, and mapping practices. Secondly, it draws attention to the theoretical and empirical questions that arise when we embrace the plurality of cartographic knowledges. Thirdly, it raises some ethical considerations to think through if and when making this shift.