Journal articles on the topic 'Cybertype'

Abstract The origin and diversification of the arthropod head is one of the major topics in the field of evolutionary morphology of Arthropoda. Among the major arthropod groups, Myriapoda and, more precisely Diplopoda, are generally poorly studied regarding their head anatomy. However, this group is of pivotal importance to understand the evolutionary functional morphology of the arthropod head. In this study, we investigate the complete musculoskeletal system of the diplopod head with a detailed description of the cephalic anatomy of the recently described species Ommatoiulus avatar. The comparison of our data with the literature on the few other species available show that the morphology of the musculoskeletal system within Juliformia, a subgroup of the Diplopoda, is relatively conservative. Using video recordings of the feeding movements in addition to the anatomical data, we revise the mechanism of the mandibular movements in Juliformia. There was a controversy whether mandibular abduction is an active process, facilitated by contraction of an abductor muscle, or if it is a passive process, mediated by tentorial and gnathochilarial movements not involving a direct abduction by muscular contraction. We show that mandibular abduction in Ommatoiulus is an active movement involving the contraction of an abductor muscle. This is similar to the mandibular abduction in other arthropod groups.

Traditionally, entomologists have used destructive methods especially dissection in order to investigate the important taxonomic characters of specimens. New technologies for imaging and analyzing in taxonomy, offer opportunities to deposit three-dimensional (3D) data to proposed for rare and valuable type materials in museums and collections. Micro-computed tomography, as a non-destructive imaging technique, has become an emerging and progressive technology in insect science. However, this technology is rarely used in entomology compared to in medical and industrial applications. In this study, MicroCT imaging protocols are explained in detail using three species of braconid wasps: Aleiodes arnoldii Tobias, 1976 (Braconidae: Rogadinae), Hormius moniliatus Nee, 1811 (Braconidae: Hormiinae) and Macrocentrus bicolor Curtis, 1833 (Braconidae: Macrocentrinae). MicroCT scan data of three braconid wasp species from Iran, depicted main identification of skeletal body parts. A brief step-by-step is provided on image acquisition, 3D reconstruction and mesh editing to create a virtual model of the species utilized for morphological and morphometric studies. As a result, the use of micro-computed tomography as a non-invasive virtual examination tool was explored. The complete datasets containing the raw TIFF MicroCT data, 3D models and 3D rotation videos available for download at http://www.morphosource.org/Detail/ProjectDetail/Show/project_id/822

The genusProceratiumRoger, 1863 contains cryptic, subterranean ants that are seldom sampled and rare in natural history collections. Furthermore, mostProceratiumspecimens are extremely hairy and, due to their enlarged and curved gaster, often mounted suboptimally. As a consequence, the poorly observable physical characteristics of the material and its scarcity result in a rather challenging alpha taxonomy of this group. In this study, the taxonomy of the ChineseProceratiumfauna is reviewed and updated by combining examinations of traditional light microscopy with x-ray microtomography (micro-CT). Based on micro-CT scans of seven out of eight species, virtual 3D surface models were generated that permit in-depth comparative analyses of specimen morphology in order to overcome the difficulties to examine physical material ofProceratium. Eight Chinese species are recognized, of which three are newly described:ProceratiumbruelheideiStaab, Xu & Hita Garcia,sp. n.andP.kepingmaisp. n.belong to theP.itoiclade and have been collected in the subtropical forests of southeast China, whereasP.shoheisp. n.belongs to theP.stictumclade and it is only known from a tropical forest of Yunnan Province.ProceratiumnujiangenseXu, 2006syn. n.is proposed as a junior synonym ofP.zhaoiXu, 2000. These taxonomic acts raise the number of known ChineseProceratiumspecies to eight. In order to integrate the new species into the existing taxonomic system and to facilitate identifications, an illustrated key to the worker caste of all Chinese species is provided, supplemented by species accounts with high-resolution montage images and still images of volume renderings of 3D models based on micro-CT. Moreover, cybertype datasets are provided for the new species, as well as digital datasets for the remaining species that include the raw micro-CT scan data, 3D surface models, 3D rotation videos, and all light photography and micro-CT still images. These datasets are available online (Dryad, Staab et al. 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h6j0g4p).

PurposeOnline production and transmission of child abuse material (CAM) is a complex and growing global problem. The exponential increase in the volume of CyberTips of CAM offending is placing information processing and decision-making strains on law enforcement. This paper presents the outcomes of a project that reviewed an existing risk assessment tool and then developed a new tool for CAM triaging and investigative prioritisation.Design/methodology/approachUsing a mixed method approach, the authors first explored the capacity of an existing risk assessment tool for predicting a police action. The authors then used these findings to design and implement a replacement CAM decision support tool. Using a random sample of CyberTip alert cases from 2018, the authors then tested the efficiency of the new tool.FindingsThe existing risk assessment tool was not fit for CAM triaging purposes. Just six questions from the old tool were found to be statistically and significantly associated with law enforcement agents achieving a police action. The authors found that an immediate threat of abuse/endangering a child, potential case solvability, CAM image assessment, chat assessment, criticality and some weighting for professional judgement were significant in being associated with a police action. The new decision support tool is more efficient to complete and achieved a 93.6% convergence of risk ratings with the old tool using 2018 case data.Originality/valueThis research is unique in its development of an evidence-based decision support tool that enhances the ability of law enforcement agents to objectively and efficiently triage and prioritise increasing numbers of CyberTip alerts.

The ant genus <i>Zasphinctus</i> are fascinating ants due to their distinctive morphology, ecology, and rarity. In this study, a comprehensive revision of <i>Zasphinctus</i> in the Afrotropical region is presented, through a combination of morphological examination under the light microscope and three-dimensional (3D) cyber-taxonomy based on microtomography (micro-CT). Micro-CT based 3D surface models of all species were used for virtual morphological visualisation and examination. The 3D models were virtually visualised, rotated, scaled, and dissected in order to obtain the best shape data for whole specimens or individual body parts. This approach offered a greatly improved character evaluation, allowing the development of an updated taxonomic species delimitation system for the genus. Our revision recognises eight worker-based species, of which three were previously known and five are newly described in this study. Furthermore, based on distinctive morphological differences, two species groups are also proposed. The <i>Z. obamai</i> group includes the species <i>Z. obamai</i> Hita Garcia, 2017 (Kenya), <i>Z. lumumbai</i> Hita Garcia &amp; Gómez, sp. nov. (Democratic Republic of Congo), and <i>Z. wilsoni</i> Hita Garcia, 2017 (Mozambique) while the <i>Z. sarowiwai</i> group contains <i>Z. aprilia</i> Hita Garcia &amp; Gómez, sp. nov. (Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda), <i>Z. kouakoui</i> Hita Garcia &amp; Gómez, sp. nov. (Ivory Coast), <i>Z. lolae</i> Hita Garcia &amp; Gómez sp. nov. (Ghana), <i>Z. ndouri</i> Hita Garcia &amp; Gómez, sp. nov. (Senegal), and <i>Z. sarowiwai</i> Hita Garcia, 2017 (Cameroon). All species are easily distinguishable through a comprehensive character matrix illustrated by numerous diagnostic illustrations, as well as a traditional dichotomous identification key.

The genus Proceratium Roger, 1863 contains cryptic, subterranean ants that are seldom sampled and rare in natural history collections. Furthermore, most Proceratium specimens are extremely hairy and, due to their enlarged and curved gaster, often mounted suboptimally. As a consequence, the poorly observable physical characteristics of the material and its scarcity result in a rather challenging alpha taxonomy of this group. In this study, the taxonomy of the Chinese Proceratium fauna is reviewed and updated by combining examinations of traditional light microscopy with x-ray microtomography (micro-CT). Based on micro-CT scans of seven out of eight species, virtual 3D surface models were generated that permit in-depth comparative analyses of specimen morphology in order to overcome the difficulties to examine physical material of Proceratium. Eight Chinese species are recognized, of which three are newly described: Proceratium bruelheidei Staab, Xu &amp; Hita Garcia, sp. n. and P. kepingmai sp. n. belong to the P. itoi clade and have been collected in the subtropical forests of southeast China, whereas P. shohei sp. n. belongs to the P. stictum clade and it is only known from a tropical forest of Yunnan Province. Proceratium nujiangense Xu, 2006 syn. n. is proposed as a junior synonym of P. zhaoi Xu, 2000. These taxonomic acts raise the number of known Chinese Proceratium species to eight. In order to integrate the new species into the existing taxonomic system and to facilitate identifications, an illustrated key to the worker caste of all Chinese species is provided, supplemented by species accounts with high-resolution montage images and still images of volume renderings of 3D models based on micro-CT. Moreover, cybertype datasets are provided for the new species, as well as digital datasets for the remaining species that include the raw micro-CT scan data, 3D surface models, 3D rotation videos, and all light photography and micro-CT still images. These datasets are available online (Dryad, Staab et al. 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h6j0g4p).

A new genus and species of the millipede tribe Pachyiulini, Bellatoiulus golovatchigen. et sp. nov., is described from the Lesser Caucasus, Azerbaijan. Cybertypes of the new species are created from the physical holotype male and from a paratype female. The distribution and ecological features of the new species, and the position of the new genus within Pachyiulini are discussed.

Continuous improvements in the resolution of three-dimensional imaging have led to an increased application of these techniques in conventional taxonomic research in recent years. Coupled with an ever increasing research effort in cybertaxonomy, three-dimensional imaging could give a boost to the development of virtual specimen collections, allowing rapid and simultaneous access to accurate virtual representations of type material. This paper explores the potential of micro-computed tomography (X-ray micro-tomography), a non-destructive three-dimensional imaging technique based on mapping X-ray attenuation in the scanned object, for supporting research in systematics and taxonomy. The subsequent use of these data as virtual type material, so-called “cybertypes”, and the creation of virtual collections lie at the core of this potential. Sample preparation, image acquisition, data processing and presentation of results are demonstrated using polychaetes (bristle worms), a representative taxon of macro-invertebrates, as a study object. Effects of the technique on the morphological, anatomical and molecular identity of the specimens are investigated. The paper evaluates the results and discusses the potential and the limitations of the technique for creating cybertypes. It also discusses the challenges that the community might face to establish virtual collections. Potential future applications of three-dimensional information in taxonomic research are outlined, including an outlook to new ways of producing, disseminating and publishing taxonomic information.

Drawing on a social constructionist paradigm, this article critically examines mass-mediated framing of the issue of child sexual exploitation online and via mobile communications technology. The Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P),1 a non-profit charity located in Winnipeg, Canada, is used as a case study of claims-making and the social construction of the social problem of child sexual exploitation online. The present study focuses on media engagement by C3P and its subsidiary CyberTip—Canada’s national internet tip line—between 2000 and 2011, just prior to CyberTip receiving legislative designation as Canada’s official reporting agency. The analysis draws on news media accounts of claims-making activities of C3P in three local and national Canadian newspapers. By focusing on the rhetoric of claims forwarded by the organization, I argue that C3P has been successful in gaining symbolic ownership of the issue and has been instrumental in defining the nature, extent, and appropriate responses to the problem of online child sexual exploitation in Canada. I conclude by considering the broader implications for criminal justice policy and practice.

With 600 described species, the ant genusTetramoriumrepresents one of the most species-rich ant radiations. However, much work remains to fully document the hyperdiversity of this remarkable group.Tetramorium, while globally distributed, is thought to have originated in the Afrotropics and is particularly diverse in the Old World. Here, we focus attention on theTetramoriumfauna of India, a region of high biodiversity value and interest for conservation. We overviewTetramoriumdiversity in India by providing a species list, accounts of all species groups present, an illustrated identification key to IndianTetramoriumspecies groups and notes on the IndianTetramoriumfauna. Further, we describe two new species,Tetramorium krishnanisp. n. andTetramorium jarawasp. n. from the Andaman Islands archipelago and embed them into currently recognizedTetramorium tonganumandTetramorium inglebyispecies groups. We also provide illustrated species level keys for these groups. Along with detailed species descriptions and high-resolution montage images of types, we provide 3D cybertypes of the new species derived from X-ray micro-computed tomography.

New technologies for imaging and analysis of morphological characters offer opportunities to enhance revisionary taxonomy and better integrate it with the rest of biology. In this study, we revise the Afrotropical fauna of the ant genus Zasphinctus Wheeler, and use high-resolution X-ray microtomography (micro-CT) to analyse a number of morphological characters of taxonomic and biological interest. We recognise and describe three new species: Z. obamai sp. n., Z. sarowiwai sp. n., and Z. wilsoni sp. n. The species delimitations are based on the morphological examination of all physical specimens in combination with 3D scans and volume reconstructions. Based on this approach, we present a new taxonomic discrimination system for the regional fauna that consists of a combination of easily observable morphological characters visible at magnifications of around 80–100 ×, less observable characters that require higher magnifications, as well as characters made visible through virtual dissections that would otherwise require destructive treatment. Zasphinctus are rarely collected ants and the material available to us is comparatively scarce. Consequently, we explore the use of micro-CT as a non-invasive tool for the virtual examination, manipulation, and dissection of such rare material. Furthermore, we delineate the treated species by providing a diagnostic character matrix illustrated by numerous images and supplement that with additional evidence in the form of stacked montage images, 3D PDFs and 3D rotation videos of scans of major body parts and full body (in total we provide 16 stacked montage photographs, 116 images of 3D reconstructions, 15 3D rotation videos, and 13 3D PDFs). In addition to the comparative morphology analyses used for species delimitations, we also apply micro-CT data to examine certain traits, such as mouthparts, cuticle thickness, and thoracic and abdominal muscles in order to assess their taxonomic usefulness or gain insights into the natural history of the genus. The complete datasets comprising the raw micro-CT data, 3D PDFs, 3D rotation videos, still images of 3D models, and coloured montage photos have been made available online as cybertypes (Dryad, http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4s3v1).

The extraction of museum DNA from a unique collection of samples of the “Crocidura pergrisea” species complex, which comprises local endemics of Central and West Asia, allowed us to determine their inter- and intragroup relationships. The first step of this study was the re-evaluation of heavily damaged type specimens of C. armenica via a microcomputed-tomography-based cybertaxonomic approach (CTtax), which enabled a precise description of the species’ morphology; three-dimensional models of the cybertypes were made available through the MorphoBank Repository. We developed the “AProMaDesU” pipeline on the basis of five requirements for micro-CT-based cyber-datasets in relation to mammalian collections. Our second step was a combination of several meticulous approaches to morphological investigation against a background of a cytb-based phylogeny, which helped us to make a taxonomic decision about the status of species of the “pergrisea” group, e.g., C. arispa, C. armenica, and C. serezkyensis, when the morphological results were partly incongruent with the molecular phylogeny. Nevertheless, under two assumptions, our findings preserved a separate species-level status of C. serezkyensis and C. arispa. In addition, we restored the species-level status of C. armenica. This taxonomic decision is based on our morphospace analysis, which revealed unique craniomandibular shape transformations within the rocky shrews that helped them with the transition to a new area of morphospace/trophic niches and consequently separated them from the other analyzed Crocidura groups.

Three new species of giant pill-millipedes, Sphaerobelum meridionalis Bhansali &amp; Wesener sp. nov., Zephronia chrysomallos Bhansali &amp; Wesener sp. nov. and Zephronia erawani Bhansali &amp; Wesener sp. nov. are described based on museum samples from Thailand. All three species are described in an integrative manner, combining light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, CT scans and genetic barcoding. Genetic barcoding was successfully conducted for all holotypes of the new species. In addition, genetic barcoding data of four recently described Thai Zephronia species, Zephronia lannaensis Likhitrakarn &amp; Golovatch, 2021 in Likhitrakarn et al. 2021, Z. phrain Likhitrakarn &amp; Golovatch, 2021, Z. panhai Srisonchai et al. 2021 and Z. golovatchi Srisonchai et al. 2021, together with new locality records, were added to the dataset. Our dataset includes all published sequences of the family Zephroniidae, including all but one (Z. enghoffi Srisonchai et al., 2021) of the described species from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. All new species are genetically distant from other Zephroniidae from Thailand and surrounding countries showing uncorrected p-distances of &gt;10 %. S. meridionalis sp. nov. is genetically and morphologically close to a recently described aberrant Sphaerobelum, S. aesculus Rosenmejer &amp; Wesener, 2021, as well as an unspecified specimen from Malaysia, and might represent a genus different from Sphaerobelum Verhoeff, 1924. Both new Zephronia species are geographically, morphologically and genetically close to Z. panhai, but differ from the latter by &gt;10% p-distance in the COI gene and numerous morphological characters. Virtual cybertypes of the holotype of Zephronia erawani sp. nov. and of a paratype of Z. chrysomallos sp. nov. were created and made publicly accessible.&#x0D;

A new giant sauropod, Australotitan cooperensis gen. et sp. nov., represents the first record of dinosaurs from the southern-central Winton Formation of the Eromanga Basin, Australia. We estimate the type locality to be 270–300 m from the base of the Winton Formation and compare this to the semi-contemporaneous sauropod taxa, Diamantinasaurus matildae Hocknull et al., 2009, Wintonotitan wattsi Hocknull et al., 2009 and Savannasaurus elliottorum Poropat et al., 2016. The new titanosaurian is the largest dinosaur from Australia as represented by osteological remains and based on limb-size comparisons it reached a size similar to that of the giant titanosaurians from South America. Using 3-D surface scan models we compare features of the appendicular skeleton that differentiate Australotitan cooperensis gen. et sp. nov. as a new taxon. A key limitation to the study of sauropods is the inability to easily and directly compare specimens. Therefore, 3-D cybertypes have become a more standard way to undertake direct comparative assessments. Uncoloured, low resolution, and uncharacterized 3-D surface models can lead to misinterpretations, in particular identification of pre-, syn- and post-depositional distortion. We propose a method for identifying, documenting and illustrating these distortions directly onto the 3-D geometric surface of the models using a colour reference scheme. This new method is repeatable for researchers when observing and documenting specimens including taphonomic alterations and geometric differences. A detailed comparative and preliminary computational phylogenetic assessment supports a shared ancestry for all four Winton Formation taxa, albeit with limited statistical support. Palaeobiogeographical interpretations from these resultant phylogenetic hypotheses remain equivocal due to contrary Asian and South American relationships with the Australian taxa. Temporal and palaeoenvironmental differences between the northern and southern-central sauropod locations are considered to explain the taxonomic and morphological diversity of sauropods from the Winton Formation. Interpretations for this diversity are explored, including an eco-morphocline and/or chronocline across newly developed terrestrial environments as the basin fills.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the digital revolution has become global. Digitalization has overcome the boundaries of the field of information technology and began to provoke the metamorphosis of sociocultural reality. Gradually, society itself and, as a consequence, social sciences are changing. African studies, despite the fact that digital transformations in the region have been slow, is no exception. New plots and sources started to appear; new practices and methods began to develop and apply. This article is devoted to the evolution of the oral tradition of the Africans and representatives of the global African diaspora in terms of the “digital turn”. It emphasizes the importance of oral history as one of the main directions in the study of the history and culture of Africa, introduces and analyzes the terms of “orature” and “cyberture”. The author focuses on the transformation of the form and content of African narratives in the post-colonial era. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that it is the first time an African podcast is considered as an oral historical digital source. The article provides a brief overview of podcasts created by people from Sub-Saharan and Southern Africa in the 2010s, describes the prerequisites for creating these projects, their thematic field, and analyzes their features. Particular emphasis is placed on issues of representations and interpretations of the cultural and historical experience of Africans and members of the African diaspora. The main dilemmas of placing podcasts into the context of oral history are articulated at the end of the article. The author also concludes that African podcasts are in line with the metamodern discourse.

As the only direct records of the history of evolution, it is critical to determine the geological source of biota-bearing fossils. Through the application of synchrotron-radiation micro-computed tomography (SR-µ-CT), Fourier-transformed infrared-spectroscopy (FT-IR), visual evaluation of ultraviolet fluorescence (UV-VS), radiocarbon dating (14C quantification), and historical sleuthing, we were able to identify and sort 161 (83 Baltic amber, 71 Copal and 7 Kauri gum pieces) individually numbered and largely mislabeled pieces of East African Defaunation resin (~145 years old) and copal (~390 years old), as well as Baltic amber (~35 million years old) from the Phyletisches Museum collection. Based on this collection, we define two new species: ‡Amphientomum knorrei Weingardt, Bock &amp; Boudinot, sp. nov. (Psocodea: Amphientomidae, copal) and †Baltistena nigrispinata Batelka, Tröger &amp; Bock, sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Mordellidae, Baltic amber). For selected taxa, we provide systematic reviews of the fossil record, including: Amphientomidae, for which we provide a key to all species of Amphientomum, extant and extinct, and recognize the junior synonymy of Am. ectostriolatum Li, 2002 (an unjustified emendation) under Am. ectostriolate Li, 1999 (syn. nov.); the fossil ant genus †Yantaromyrmex and the clades Dorylinae, Plagiolepidini, Camponotus, Crematogaster, and Pheidole (Formicidae); the Nevrorthidae (Neuroptera); and Doliopygus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae). We synonymize Palaeoseopsis Enderlein, 1925 with Amphientomum Pictet, 1854, syn. nov. and transfer one species from Amphientomum, forming Lithoseopsis indentatum (Turner, 1975), comb. nov. To prevent the uncritical usage of unidentifiable fossils attributed to Camponotus for macroevolutionary analysis, we transfer 29 species to the form genus †Camponotites Steinbach, 1967, which we consider to be most useful as incertae sedis in the Formicinae. We treat †Ctt. ullrichi (Bachmayer, 1960), comb. nov. as unidentifiable hence invalid stat. nov. We also transfer †Ca. mengei Mayr, 1868 and its junior synonym †Ca. igneus Mayr, 1868 to a new genus, †Eocamponotus Boudinot, gen. nov., which is incertae sedis in the Camponotini. Concluding our revision of Camponotus fossils, we transfer †Ca. palaeopterus (Zhang, 1989) to Liometopum (Dolichoderinae), resulting in †L. palaeopterumcomb. nov. and the junior synonymy of †Shanwangella Zhang, 1989, syn. nov. under Liometopum Mayr, 1861. Because the type specimens of the genera †Palaeosminthurus Pierce &amp; Gibron, 1962, stat. rev. and †Pseudocamponotus Carpenter, 1930 are unidentifiable due to poor preservation, we consider these taxa unidentifiable hence invalid stat. nov. To avoid unsupported use of the available fossils names attributed to Crematogaster for divergence dating calibration points, we transfer three species to a new collective taxon that is incertae sedis in Myrmicinae, †Incertogaster Boudinot, gen. nov., forming †In. aurora (LaPolla &amp; Greenwalt, 2015), †In. praecursor (Emery, 1891), comb. nov., and †In. primitiva (Radchenko &amp; Dlussky, 2019), comb. nov. Finally, we transfer †Ph. cordata (Holl, 1829) back to Pheidole, and designate a neotype from our copal collection based on all available evidence. All new species plus the neotype of ‡Ph. cordata are depicted with 3D cybertypes from our µ-CT scan data. We introduce the convention of a double dagger symbol (‡) to indicate fossils in copal or Defaunation resin, as these may yet be extant. To further contextualize our results, we provide a discussion of amber history and classification, as well as the Kleinkuhren locality, to which multiple specimens were attributed. We conclude with conspecti on key biological problems and increasing potential of µ-CT for phylogenetic paleontology.

As the only direct records of the history of evolution, it is critical to determine the geological source of biota-bearing fossils. Through the application of synchrotron-radiation micro-computed tomography (SR-µ-CT), Fourier-transformed infrared-spectroscopy (FT-IR), visual evaluation of ultraviolet fluorescence (UV-VS), radiocarbon dating (14C quantification), and historical sleuthing, we were able to identify and sort 161 (83 Baltic amber, 71 Copal and 7 Kauri gum pieces) individually numbered and largely mislabeled pieces of East African Defaunation resin (~145 years old) and copal (~390 years old), as well as Baltic amber (~35 million years old) from the Phyletisches Museum collection. Based on this collection, we define two new species: ‡<i>Amphientomum knorrei</i> Weingardt, Bock &amp; Boudinot, sp. nov. (Psocodea: Amphientomidae, copal) and †<i>Baltistena nigrispinata</i> Batelka, Tröger &amp; Bock, sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Mordellidae, Baltic amber). For selected taxa, we provide systematic reviews of the fossil record, including: Amphientomidae, for which we provide a key to all species of <i>Amphientomum</i>, extant and extinct, and recognize the junior synonymy of <i>Am. ectostriolatum</i> Li, 2002 (an unjustified emendation) under <i>Am. ectostriolate</i> Li, 1999 (syn. nov.); the fossil ant genus †<i>Yantaromyrmex</i> and the clades Dorylinae, Plagiolepidini, <i>Camponotus</i>, <i>Crematogaster</i>, and <i>Pheidole</i> (Formicidae); the Nevrorthidae (Neuroptera); and <i>Doliopygus</i> (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae). We synonymize <i>Palaeoseopsis</i> Enderlein, 1925 with <i>Amphientomum</i> Pictet, 1854, syn. nov. and transfer one species from <i>Amphientomum</i>, forming <i>Lithoseopsis indentatum</i> (Turner, 1975), comb. nov. To prevent the uncritical usage of unidentifiable fossils attributed to <i>Camponotus</i> for macroevolutionary analysis, we transfer 29 species to the form genus †<i>Camponotites</i> Steinbach, 1967, which we consider to be most useful as <i>incertae sedis</i> in the Formicinae. We treat †<i>Ctt. ullrichi</i> (Bachmayer, 1960), comb. nov. as unidentifiable hence invalid stat. nov. We also transfer †<i>Ca. mengei</i> Mayr, 1868 and its junior synonym †<i>Ca. igneus</i> Mayr, 1868 to a new genus, †<i>Eocamponotus</i> Boudinot, gen. nov., which is <i>incertae sedis</i> in the Camponotini. Concluding our revision of <i>Camponotus</i> fossils, we transfer †<i>Ca. palaeopterus</i> (Zhang, 1989) to <i>Liometopum</i> (Dolichoderinae), resulting in †<i>L. palaeopterum</i> comb. nov. and the junior synonymy of †<i>Shanwangella</i> Zhang, 1989, syn. nov. under <i>Liometopum</i> Mayr, 1861. Because the type specimens of the genera †<i>Palaeosminthurus</i> Pierce &amp; Gibron, 1962, stat. rev. and †<i>Pseudocamponotus</i> Carpenter, 1930 are unidentifiable due to poor preservation, we consider these taxa unidentifiable hence invalid stat. nov. To avoid unsupported use of the available fossils names attributed to <i>Crematogaster</i> for divergence dating calibration points, we transfer three species to a new collective taxon that is <i>incertae sedis</i> in Myrmicinae, †<i>Incertogaster</i> Boudinot, gen. nov., forming †<i>In. aurora</i> (LaPolla &amp; Greenwalt, 2015), †<i>In. praecursor</i> (Emery, 1891), comb. nov., and †<i>In. primitiva</i> (Radchenko &amp; Dlussky, 2019), comb. nov. Finally, we transfer †<i>Ph. cordata</i> (Holl, 1829) back to <i>Pheidole</i>, and designate a neotype from our copal collection based on all available evidence. All new species plus the neotype of ‡<i>Ph. cordata</i> are depicted with 3D cybertypes from our µ-CT scan data. We introduce the convention of a double dagger symbol (‡) to indicate fossils in copal or Defaunation resin, as these may yet be extant. To further contextualize our results, we provide a discussion of amber history and classification, as well as the Kleinkuhren locality, to which multiple specimens were attributed. We conclude with conspecti on key biological problems and increasing potential of µ-CT for phylogenetic paleontology.

We describe a long-unnamed Chaetopterus Cuvier, 1830 species from southern California, using a combination of DNA barcoding and detailed morphological investigation employing high-resolution X-ray microtomography (micro-CT). Chaetopterus dewysee sp. nov. is not only one of the most dominant annelids in the benthic communities of the shallow end of the La Jolla submarine canyon, but also a well-established model for studying bioluminescence and has a published transcriptome. The description and naming of this southern Californian Chaetopterus is a step towards the much-needed revision of the group’s taxonomy and towards resolving the confusion over the ʻcosmopolitanʼ Chaetopterus variopedatus species complex. Micro-CT data showing details of both internal and external anatomy has been made freely available as the first annelid cybertype.

A new deepsea slipper lobster Bathyarctus andamanicus sp. nov. was discovered from the Andaman Sea during a recent “Nansen” survey cruise, a collaboration between the FAO and the Myanmar government. The new species closely resembles Bathyarctus formosanus (Chan and Yu, 1992) but with a distinctly higher dorsal hump at the abdominal somite IV and a much larger blue patch on the abdominal tergite I. The status of the new species is supported by molecular genetic data and B. formosanus is also recorded for the first time from the Philippines. Micro-CT scanned method was used to illustrate the characteristics of B. andamanicus sp. nov. and B. formosanus, with the first construction of a cybertype for the infraorder Achelata Scholtz and Richter, 1995.

Two new species of giant pill-millipedes, Zephronia viridisoma Rosenmejer &amp; Wesener sp. nov. and Sphaerobelum aesculus Rosenmejer &amp; Wesener sp. nov., are described based on museum samples from southern Thailand. Zephronia viridisoma sp. nov. comes from Khao Lak, while the type locality of S. aesculus sp. nov. is on Phuket Island. Both species are described integratively, combining light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, multi-layer photography, micro-CT scans and genetic barcoding. Genetic barcoding was successfully conducted for holotypes of both new species, which could be added to a dataset of all published sequences of the family Zephroniidae, including all described species from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia up to 2020. Genetic barcoding of the COI gene revealed another female of S. aesculus sp. nov., 160 km east of the type locality. Both new species are genetically distant from all other Zephroniidae from Thailand and surrounding countries, showing uncorrected p-distances of 16.8–23.1%. A virtual cybertype of a paratype of Z. viridisoma sp. nov. was created and made publically accessible.

Abstract Discothyrea Roger, 1863 is a small genus of proceratiine ants with remarkable morphology and biology. However, due to cryptic lifestyle, Discothyrea are poorly represented in museum collections and their taxonomy has been severely neglected. We perform the first comprehensive revision of Discothyrea in the Afrotropical region through a combination of traditional and three-dimensional (3D) cybertaxonomy based on microtomography (micro-CT). Species diagnostics and morphological character evaluations are based on examinations of all physical specimens and virtual analyses of 3D surface models generated from micro-CT data. Additionally, we applied virtual dissections for detailed examinations of cephalic structures to establish terminology based on homology for the first time in Discothyrea. The complete datasets comprising micro-CT data, 3D surface models and videos, still images of volume renderings, and colored stacked images are available online as cybertype datasets (Hita Garcia et al. 2019, http://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3qm4183). We define two species complexes (D. oculata and D. traegaordhi complexes) and revise the taxonomy of all species through detailed illustrated diagnostic character plates, a newly developed identification key, species descriptions, and distribution maps. In total, we recognize 20 species; of which, 15 are described as new. We also propose D. hewitti Arnold, 1916 as junior synonym of D. traegaordhi Santschi, 1914 and D. sculptior Santschi, 1913 as junior synonym of D. oculata Emery, 1901. Also, we designate a neotype for D. traegaordhi to stabilize its status and identity, and we designate a lectotype for D. oculata. The observed diversity and endemism are discussed within the context of Afrotropical biogeography and the oophagous lifestyle.

Music style transfer, a concept originating in image processing, has gained traction in the audio domain as an emerging area of research. This study explores the application of advanced machine learning models to genre transformation tasks, focusing on preserving the underlying structure of musical compositions while adapting stylistic elements like rhythm, harmony, timbre, and instrumentation. Generative models, including Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), form the backbone of these methods, supported by novel architectures like StarGAN, CycleGAN, and Transformer-VAE hybrids. The integration of advanced feature extraction techniques, such as spectrogram-based analysis and chroma representations, enhances genre-specific adaptability. Despite their potential, challenges remain in disentangling content from style, improving training stability, and achieving computational efficiency. To address these, the study also examines techniques like spectral normalization and timbre disentanglement through supervised and self-supervised learning approaches. The outcomes of this research contribute to enhancing automated music production tools, advancing audio processing methodologies, and fostering creative applications in the entertainment industry. By analyzing existing methods and proposing innovative solutions, this study aims to further the intersection of artificial intelligence and music, paving the way for personalized and dynamic musical experiences. The research focuses on bridging the gap between music consumption and creation and the rise of the AI in tech to democratize music production.

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; I&#x0D; &#x0D; There is a new whiteness in South Africa. The Vryheidsfront Plus is critical to this whiteness. A predominantly Afrikaner political party with few seats in the national parliament, the Vryheidsfront Plus (“Freedom Front Plus” or “VF+”) uses technology—in particular, the Internet and the Front’s website—to construct a particular brand of post-apartheid whiteness. It must be pointed out, however, that this power to harness new technology in formal politics is limited to major political parties and organisations—black and white—but not to a populist organisation like the radically redistributionist Landless People Movement. After all, South Africa is, in 2006, a nation where only five percent of the population—”harnessing” that fifteenth century technology, “movable type”—can afford to regularly purchase books for anything more than academic study.&#x0D; &#x0D; VF+ politicos, using new technology available to some but not to others, actually create a politics centred around racial “cyborgs”—“cybernetic organisms”. Technologies giving rise to the VF+’s racial cyborgs bring about a race and racism dynamic and hybrid enough to make race and racism appear to nimbly change form. Technologies, like the Internet, not only allow the Vryheidsfront Plus to construct a post-apartheid whiteness in which whites are a beleaguered minority, technology enables the VF+ to construct a post-apartheid state led by black supremacists. So, as the VF+ uses technology, whiteness looks like the new blackness, privilege comes across as the new disadvantage, and multiracial democracy seems to be the new apartheid. &#x0D; &#x0D; Cyborg qualities marking the Vryheidsfront Plus’ race and racism can be interestingly situated next to Donna Haraway’s “cyborg”. Haraway imagines a cyborg freeing human bodies from modern supremacies. This freedom arrives, according to Haraway, because cyborg existence deconstructs binaries (e. g., white-black, masculine-feminine, heterosexual-homosexual) fundamental to the old racism, patriarchy, and heterosexism, as well as old strategies deployed to fight these supremacies. Or, as Haraway’s post-embodiment manifesto reads, the cyborg replacing the old modernist body “is about transgressed boundaries, potent fusions and dangerous possibilities which progressive people might explore as one part of political work” (154). The VF+ cyborgs, though, are not quite Haraway’s superheroes. Unlike Haraway’s cyborg forging socialist transformation, VF+ cyborgs facilitate the “freeing” of an “oppressed” minority still enjoying apartheid privileges. Critiques of Haraway, as offered by Lisa Nakamura, for example, seem apt. Specifically, according to Nakamura, “cybertypes” emerge online, not anything like freedom, not anything “which progressive people might explore”. Nakamura’s “cybertypes”—a technologically inflected version of “stereotypes”—exist as new modernist tools used by whites in order to make sense of and to rewrite post-conditions (e. g., post-apartheid) in which the preeminence of whiteness and white privilege are questioned (3-4). &#x0D; &#x0D; II&#x0D; &#x0D; The Vryheidsfront Plus’s arrival on the South African political scene materialised as the Front “cybertyped” itself, and others. The party—online for users to access worldwide—traced Afrikaner whiteness to the arrival of South Africa’s first Dutch settlers in 1652 making Afrikaners “Africans”, not “settlers”. “The struggle over the past centuries was a struggle for freedom, liberty, self-determination and independence in our own Republic”, as the Front constructed Afrikaners and their history, 1652 to the present. This was a struggle against British colonial “conquest”. Afrikaners fleetingly won their struggle, according to the Front’s online history, with the declaration of two Afrikaner republics in the mid-nineteenth century, only to see freedom disappear after the South African War, 1899-1902, also known as the Anglo-Boer War. Afrikaners suffered during the War; according to the Front’s website, nearly 28,000 (22,000 children under 16) Afrikaners died in concentration camps run by the British (“Historical Background” 1-3).&#x0D; &#x0D; Apartheid as state policy was intended to reestablish Afrikaner autonomy, and freedom. In its e-newsletters as well as in other online documents, an Afrikaner political party like the VF+ had to reinvent itself as a racial minority in a multiracial and democratic South Africa. So, VF+ members declared their desire “to establish a fair and legitimate dispensation for Afrikaners in South Africa” in which language and cultural rights would be guaranteed. The electronically-posted manifesto of the VF+ culminated when the authors stated the ultimate desire of the VF+: “To attain freedom for the Afrikaner in a territory of his own”. Articulating their desire, Front leaders called for an Afrikaner “homeland” (their term) which would be more than the pseudo-states created during apartheid. VF+ leaders went so far as to present a hypertext link to a map demarcating boundaries of an Afrikaner “homeland” which, unlike the black “homelands” chiseled out by the apartheid state, would include prime coastline, fertile farmland, and significant mineral wealth (“Policy of the Freedom Front”).&#x0D; &#x0D; VF+’s construction of Afrikaners as multicultural advocates of a new apartness was intriguing, given the transnational history of whiteness, and the history of Afrikaner whiteness in particular. Accessing VF+ multiculturalism proved as easy as pointing and clicking through the multilingual VF+ website. (The site is in Afrikaans with, after a click of a mouse on the VF+ homepage, English, French, Russian, Setswana, Spanish, Zulu and German translations.) The current leader of the VF+, Pieter Mulder, used the text of a 2003 parliamentary speech posted on the VF+ website to brandish VF+ multiculturalism. Mulder pointedly asked whether or not diversity is a “curse” or a “blessing”. He concluded that it is a “blessing”. But the VF+ “blessing”, as understood by Mulder, went beyond the “Westminster and British political models” also advocated, according to Mulder, by the post-apartheid state. Mulder contended that British citizenship ideals “tend to simplify politics to individual citizens that must be moulded into a nation”. “I am not only an individual but I am also part of a community”, said Mulder. Against British ideals, Mulder presented a position that, he argued, dismissed Britain’s “simplistic solutions” because British ideals “always ignore diversity, ignore communities and try to assimilate instead of to accommodate” (Mulder, “President’s Budget Vote Debate”).&#x0D; &#x0D; In this vein, Pieter Mulder, made use of technology to post a passionate 2005 speech—downloadable and streamable to MP3—on freedom and hate after apartheid. Mulder, echoing a sentiment made potent during the anti-apartheid struggle, rhetorically asked whether South Africa belonged to all who live in it. Mulder’s answer was “no” because whites do not equally share in post-apartheid freedoms. Black racist hate directed at whites caused this inequality to foment, according to Mulder. Black racist hate, especially in the form of hate speech but also in the form of affirmative action, preceded the normalisation of black threats towards Afrikaners as well as the murders of Afrikaner farmers and their families, according to Mulder. Hate persisted, according to Mulder, because of the racist speech of some ANC leaders. Yet, Mulder asserted, “Whites are accused of racism while blacks can do no wrong”. Quoting an ANC Youth League official, Mulder said, ‘“When a black person says he does not like white people, that is not racism; that is prejudice. Blacks have no capacity to be racist; they can only respond to it”’. Mulder pointedly asked whether threats to South African Indians and the murder of rural whites was “prejudice, or racism” (Mulder, “Listen to Pieter Mulder”). &#x0D; &#x0D; III&#x0D; &#x0D; VF+ politicking, here, is problematic. On the one hand, Front leaders use their webbed discourse to express an outlook underestimating social and economic disparities underlying black-on-white violence in rural areas. Specifically, VF+ representatives deny material disparities separating blacks and whites, blame negative black perceptions of whites largely on the rhetoric of the ANC leadership, fail to acknowledge that there is white-on-black violence in rural areas and misrepresent the relationship between the pace of land redistribution and rural violence. On the other hand, though, the murder of whites in rural areas and on farms in particular is not a myth, and it impinges on the right of a minority to be free.&#x0D; &#x0D; This makes it possible, and necessary, to make some observations about freedom, hate, and fronts after apartheid.&#x0D; &#x0D; Freedom is constructed just as its meaning is contested. And technology doesn’t make freedom inevitable; technology makes freedom even less clear and certain.&#x0D; &#x0D; Like freedom, whiteness and Nakamura’s “cybertypes”, after apartheid, are neither clear, certain, nor guaranteed.&#x0D; &#x0D; References&#x0D; &#x0D; Campbell, John Edward. Getting It On Online: Cyberspace, Gay Male Sexuality, and Embodied Identity. New York: Harrington Park Press, 2004. Featherstone, Michael, and Roger Burrows, eds. Cyberspace/Cyberbodies/Cyberpunk: Cultures of Technological Embodiment. London: Sage, 1995. Gunkel, David J. “Virtually Transcendent: Cyberculture and the Body”. Journal of Mass Media Ethics 13.2 (1998): 111-23. Haraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century”. Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York: Routledge, 1991. 149-81. Hardey, Michael. “Life beyond the Screen: Embodiment and Identity through the Internet”. Sociological Review 50.4 (2002): 570-85. “Historical Background”. http://www.vryheidsfront.co.za/index.asp&gt;. Click “History”. Click “Afrikaner History”. Kolko, Beth E., et al., eds. Race in Cyberspace. New York: Routledge, 2000. Mulder, Pieter. “President’s Budget Vote Debate.” 18 June 2003. http://www.vryheidsfront.co.za/index.asp&gt;. Click “Speeches”. ———. 16 February 2005. “Listen to Pieter Mulder.” http://www.vryheidsfront.co.za/index.asp&gt;. Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet. New York: Routledge, 1991. Lin, Dennis C. “Sissies Online: Taiwanese Male Queers Performing Sissinesses in Cyberspaces 1.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 7.2 (2006): 270-88. O’Farrell, Mary Ann, and Lynne Vallone, eds. Virtual Gender: Fantasies of Subjectivity and Embodiment. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1999. “Policy of the Freedom Front”. http://www.vryheidsfront.co.za/index.asp&gt;. Click “FF-Policy”. Sandoval, Chela. “New Science: Cyborg Feminism and the Methodology of the Oppressed”. The Cyborg Handbook. Ed. Chris Habels Grey. London: Routledge, 1995. 407-22. Sundén, Jenny. Material Virtualities: Approaching Online Textual Embodiment. New York: Peter Lang, 2003.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Citation reference for this article&#x0D; &#x0D; MLA Style&#x0D; &#x0D; Rivers, Patrick Lynn. "Freedom, Hate, Fronts: Whiteness and Internet Politics in Post-Apartheid South Africa." M/C Journal 9.4 (2006). echo date('d M. Y'); ?&gt; &lt;http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0609/2-rivers.php&gt;. APA Style&#x0D; Rivers, P. (Sep. 2006) "Freedom, Hate, Fronts: Whiteness and Internet Politics in Post-Apartheid South Africa," M/C Journal, 9(4). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?&gt; from &lt;http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0609/2-rivers.php&gt;. &#x0D;

The taxonomy of ribbon worms (Nemertea) is particularly challenging due to the sparsity of distinct morphological characters, causing a significant underestimation of the group’s true diversity. The number of named deep-sea species is very limited and there is a vast number of undescribed deep-sea nemerteans still to be discovered. In this paper we figuratively ‘cut the ribbon’ and name seven new species of monostiliferous hoplonemerteans from seeps and seamounts along the Costa Rican margin, one from seeps along the Oregon margin, and one from vents of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, USA. The species Chernyshevia escarpiaphila gen. et sp. nov. and five species of the genus Alvinonemertes gen. nov. (Alvinonemertes dariae gen. et sp. nov., Alvinonemertes dagmarae gen. et sp. nov., Alvinonemertes christianeae gen. et sp. nov., Alvinonemertes claudiae gen. et sp. nov., Alvinonemertes tatjanae gen. et sp. nov.) represent Oerstediina, whereas the three species Tetrastemma sundbergi sp. nov., Tetrastemma polyakovae sp. nov., and Tetrastemma strandae sp. nov. represent Amphiporina. One species of tubulanid palaeonemerteans is described but not provided with a species name due to lacking sequence data for comparison. Additionally, we provide sequence data for one lineid heteronemertean, one reptant hoplonemertean, and two further eumonostiliferan hoplonemertean species. We use an integrative, turbotaxonomic approach combining DNA sequence data with concise morphological descriptions and fully digitized serial histological sections made available as cybertypes.

Background. Building on previous studies on racism and whiteness in video games, this article investigates how deck building games provide platforms for identity tourism, the symbolic appropriation of marginalised experiences, through their coupling of mechanics and racial stereotypes. Aims. The aim is to contribute to our understanding how dominant ideologies are expressed through simulation and gaming in a deck building context and how games similar to ASCENSION: DAWN OF CHAMPIONS (henceforth A: DOC) perpetuate racism and coloniality through gameplay design. This is part of an ongoing game studies effort to critique white supremacist and imperial structures in games. Method. In this article, I conduct a first-person close reading of A: DOC as an emblematic case study for contemporary deck building design. Using critical whiteness theory, I pay special attention to the gameplay design of the four Champion characters Nairi, Kor, Sadranis, and Dhartha in order to demonstrate the interplay of ludic, racial, and social performative elements in the construction of playful identities. Analysis. The deck building principles of A: DOC provides a racial pedagogical arena which creates affective links between gameplay and white supremacist values. In coupling digital deck building mechanics with stereotypical fantasy characters, the game invites players to take the roles of fantasy tourists and thereby become implicit in white supremacist play. Even though the characters Nairi, Kor, Sadranis and Dhartha are leaders of different genders and races, their “diversity” is established via popular racial cybertypes like the white female diversity advocate, the technologically advanced white male emperor, the aggressive Black male, and the Asian male exotic Oriental.

 Background: In 130 years, there have been five pandemics related to coronavirus (Maital, 2020). An epidemic of mysterious pneumonia was characterized by dry cough, fever, and body fatigue in late December 2019(Wu et al., 2020). The situation posed additional risks and challenges to the populace, increasing physical illness (Kmetty, 2020). The spread of COVID-19 across Africa created a considerable impact ranging from economic cybertage, starvation, and educational setbacks (Webmaster, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic occurred in Liberia five years after ebola and during the Resilient and Responsive Health Systems (RRHS) designed to support Liberia's national health workforce to improve health outcomes (Marsh et al., 2021).  Methodology: The research used a descriptive case study design to explain concepts, policies, and tools related to identified problems. Since the impact of COVID-19 reflects not only on survival but also on relatives, the research considered the population of Monrovia. Monrovia's current metro area population in 2023 is 1,678,000(Macrotrends, 2023). The study considered Liberia the main case, with Monrovia and Montserrado County as specific Sub-cases. The purposive sampling technique was used to ensure the representation of various socio-economic groups, including urban and rural areas and different regions within Monrovia. The research used a 95% CI and Slovins's formula to derive a sample size of 400. Questionnaires were used to collect field data. The data herein includes documentary analysis, interviews/surveys, and observations. The data was analyzed using SPSS and narratives of qualitative findings.  Findings: This data suggests that a large portion of the population has been affected by job loss or reduced employment opportunities due to the pandemic. Overall, the data reflects the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment status of individuals in Liberia.  Recommendations: The study proposes improvements to Liberia's public health sector, including better risk-benefit policies, salary increments, and training/deployment of healthcare professionals.

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Images of grids are employed in a number of areas of contemporary critical and cultural theory. One usage features throughout the fields of gender and sexuality studies, especially as inspired by the work of Judith Butler. Following Foucault’s formulation that disciplinary power operates as a “grid of intelligibility of the social order” (93), Butler theorises that normative modes of gender and sexuality constitute a regulatory structure through which subjectivity is rendered intelligible or not. Being off the grid – beyond its normalising mechanism – fundamentally challenges the social subject’s viability:&#x0D; &#x0D; The norm governs intelligibility, allows for certain kinds of practices and action to become recognizable as such, imposing a grid of legibility on the social and defining the parameters of what will and will not appear within the domain of the social. The question of what it is to be outside the norm poses a paradox for thinking, for if the norm renders the social field intelligible and normalizes that field for us, then being outside the norm is in some sense being defined still in relation to it. (Butler 42) &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; During a similar period in a quite different theoretical field, media and cyberstudies scholars have reminded us of the electronic basis of contemporary media forms by referring to grids through which information and texts are transmitted. In the case of the pervasive computational matrix of the Internet, the ease, instantaneity and virtuality of transmission have often been taken to produce not rigid structure but flow – a revolutionary fluidity of global interaction but also of personal identity. The performativity of gender, sexuality and race is emphasised by the effective absence of bodies in material form from online social interaction. But as more recent cyberstudies work has shown, a disembodied inscription of identity may still operate normatively, that is with necessary recourse to the normative conceptions that make bodies legible as such.&#x0D; &#x0D; Butler’s work has not often been closely applied to cyberstudies, despite what appear to be a number of productive possibilities, such as those roughly sketched above. In this essay, I do not aim to elaborate on those possibilities in any comprehensive sense. Rather, I want to take some first steps towards seeing whether the two broad images of grid summarised above can usefully be read alongside one another. If transmission is a condition of existence in the contemporary mediascape where online interactions and connections are not supplemental to the social but are the social, is transmission possible off the grid? If the regulatory structure of the grid determines recognisability of being, can the non-normative be recognised? In thinking through the possibilities of being-as-transmission, I want to avoid the simple conclusion that digital identities are causally defined by the structural actuality of electronic grids. While the grid makes online identities possible in this literal, computational sense, I’m more interested in the figurative: are electronic grids themselves normatively produced, therefore allowing only normative conceptions of identity, despite their apparent generation of categorically fluid modes of identity?&#x0D; &#x0D; Peter Lunenfeld considers the figurative implications of the grid as it is conceived by new media. He adopts the digital design command “snap to grid” as “a metaphor for how we manipulate and think through the electronic culture that enfolds us” (Lunenfeld xvi). “Snap to grid” commands the computer to map hand-drawn images to the precise standards of digital geometry, as Lunenfeld explains:&#x0D; &#x0D; Snap a freehand sketch of a rectangular shape to a grid and it immediately becomes a flawless, Euclidean rectangle. Artists regularly disable the snap to grid function the moment they open an application because the gains in predictability and accuracy are balanced against the losses of ambiguity and expressiveness. (xvi-xvii)&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; The question for me remains, in this metaphor, whether the freehand sketch purposely not snapped to grid is still legible within the application, itself designed by grid logic. If we unpack the metaphor in terms of online identity, which cybertheoretical orthodoxy has claimed to be ambiguous and expressive (the self as freehand sketch), a Butlerian perspective would remind us of the omnipresence of the normative frame against which non-normative identity must partly be measured. To sketch oneself as an “I” and to be recognised socially as such requires some sense of acquiescence to what has been established as within the possibility of being an “I”, even if this frame works to exclude or attempts to erase the lines of one’s sketch. Butler argues:&#x0D; &#x0D; To say that the desire to persist in one’s own being depends on norms of recognition is to say that the basis of one’s autonomy, one’s persistence as an “I” through time, depends fundamentally on a social norm that exceeds that “I”… In effect, our lives, our very persistence, depend upon such norms or, at least, on the possibility that we will be able to negotiate within them, derive our agency from the field of their operation. (32)&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; It needs to be acknowledged here that many cybertheorists (from Haraway to Stone and Turkle, among others) have argued digital spaces including the Internet have reconceived the very ontological terms of being an “I” – of subjectivity, autonomy and agency.. In particular, questions of interactivity, collaborative practice and disembodiment force rethinking of exactly who or what the “I” might claim to include and on whose ideological terms the concept of “I” has been received. Some key aspects of the Internet do allow me to be who or what I want to be, but perhaps especially if I already act from a sociocultural and/or economic position that entails prior privilege. &#x0D; &#x0D; With this point in mind, Lisa Nakamura’s work on race destabilises “utopian” claims for the potential of Internet identity. She argues that many cyberspace practices re-establish stereotypes and normative representations of race exactly because they are conceived in a realm that seems to dispense with familiar privileges: “Bodies get tricky in cyberspace; that sense of disembodiment that is both freeing and disorienting creates a profound malaise in the user that stable images of race work to fix in place” (Nakamura 6). Similar counter-arguments can be made of the supposed liberation of the online “I” from material constraints of gender and sexuality, as if all genders and sexualities may be discursively performed online with equal facility, as if chosen from a menu. While the convincing role play of identities in online gaming and chat spaces, for instance, may be celebrated for confirming the postmodern fragmentation of the unitary subject, a significant proportion of everyday online interactions are more practically linked to the often mundane materialities of knowable selves. Moreover, invoking Butlerian performativity in relation to online gender and sexual identity must still take into account the regulatory frameworks that structure and constrain the identity discourses that iteration brings into being.&#x0D; &#x0D; In their discussion of participation in a queer female online forum, Sally Munt et al. identify ways in which new users achieve “membership” of the forum and by extension of lesbian communities offline through the peer-mentored rehearsal of what amount to normative sexuality codes. They conclude that at the same time as promising a “utopic” space for identity experimentation, the forum is also “dystopic” in that its interactions work to “compact desire into identity categories that impose disciplinary formations antithetical to liberatory ideals” (Munt et al. 136). Here the double-edged sword of queer recognition is clear. As Rob Cover puts it, “in fulfilling both the imperative of coherent sexual subjectivity and the practical needs of sexual minority community ritual and contact, the citation of the stereotype is the more intelligible process” (87). So we must ask, how can one’s various freehand sketches of gender and sexuality be recognised as a coherent “I” unless they have already been snapped to grid, that is already rendered recognisable? How can that “I” be transmitted effectively unless via a grid of legibility that regulates what is transmissible?&#x0D; &#x0D; Rather than concluding with gridlock, a successful marriage of the two broad conceptions of grid this essay is working with must move towards the productive and freeing potential of each. Just as Butler’s understanding of heteronormative social structures emphasises the emergence of “improvisational possibility [from] within a field of constraints” (15), so too digital identities must not merely relocate old norms to new media and squander the opportunities that being-as-transmission permits. As Mark Hansen proposes,&#x0D; &#x0D; our guiding question must henceforth be: can and how can we use the new media and the internet to move beyond interpellation, or more exactly, to liberate the body from its socially-imposed dependence on interpellation through preconstituted social categories of identity, subjectivity, and particularity? (114)&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; If online identity transmission can fulfil its promise of fluidity in this ethical sense, it might serve to erase its believed distinction from the offline and guide us towards the productive uncertainty of being off the grid. We might learn “to encounter the difference that calls our grids of intelligibility into question without trying to foreclose the challenge that the difference delivers” (Butler 35).&#x0D; &#x0D; References&#x0D; &#x0D; Butler, Judith. Undoing Gender. New York: Routledge, 2004. Cover, Rob. “Bodies, Movements and Desires: Lesbian/Gay Subjectivity and the Stereotype.” Continuum 18.1 (2004): 81-97. Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality: Volume One. Trans. Robert Hurley. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978. Hansen, Mark B. N. “Digitizing the Racialized Body or The Politics of Universal Address.” SubStance 33.2 (2004): 107-133. Lunenfeld, Peter. Snap to Grid: A User’s Guide to Digital Arts, Media and Cultures. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000. Munt, Sally R. et al. “Virtually Belonging: Risk, Connectivity, and Coming Out On-Line.” International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies 7.2/3 (2002): 125-137. Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity and Identity on the Internet. New York: Routledge, 2002.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Citation reference for this article&#x0D; &#x0D; MLA Style&#x0D; Payne, Robert. "Grid: On Being-as-Transmission and Normativity." M/C Journal 9.1 (2006). echo date('d M. Y'); ?&gt; &lt;http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0603/06-payne.php&gt;. APA Style&#x0D; Payne, R. (Mar. 2006) "Grid: On Being-as-Transmission and Normativity," M/C Journal, 9(1). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?&gt; from &lt;http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0603/06-payne.php&gt;. &#x0D;

In August 2017, a white supremacist rally marketed as “Unite the Right” was held in Charlottesville, Virginia. In participation were members of the alt-right, including neo-nazis, white nationalists, neo-confederates, and other hate groups (Atkinson). The rally swiftly erupted in violence between white supremacists and counter protestors, culminating in the death of a counter-protester named Heather Heyer, who was struck by a car driven by white supremacist James Alex Fields, and leaving dozens injured. Terry McQuliffe, the Governor of Virginia, declared a state of emergency on August 12, and the world watched while white supremacists boldly marched in clothing emblazoned with symbols ranging from swastikas to a cartoon frog (Pepe), with flags featuring the nation of “Kekistan”, and carrying tiki torches chanting, “You Will Not Replace Us... Jews Will Not Replace Us”.The purpose of this essay is not, however, to examine the Internet symbols that circulated during the Unite the Right rally but rather to hone in on a specific moment that illustrates a key part of Internet culture that was often overlooked during analysis of the events that occurred during the riots: a documentary filmmaker, C. J. Hunt, was at the rally to record footage for a project on the removal of Confederate monuments. While there, he saw a rally-goer dressed in the white polo t-shirt and khaki pants uniform of the white nationalist group Vanguard America. The rally-goer, a young white man, was being chased by a counter-protester. He began to scream and beg for mercy, and even went as far as stripping off his clothing and denying that he really believed in any of the group’s ideology. In the recording by Hunt, who asks why he was there and why he was undressing, the young white man responded that shouting white power is “fun”, and that he was participating in the event because he, quote, “likes to be offensive” (Hunt).As Hunt notes in a piece for GQ reflecting on his experience at the rally, as soon as the man was cut off from his group and confronted, the runaway racist’s demeanor immediately changed when he had to face the consequences of his actions. Trolls often rely on the safety and anonymity of online forums and digital spaces where they are often free from having to face the consequences of their actions, and for the runaway racist, things became real very quickly when he was forced to own up to his hateful actions. In a way, many members of these movements seem to want politics without consequence for themselves, but with significant repercussions for others. Milo Yiannopoulos, a self-professed “master troll”, built an entire empire worth millions of dollars off of what the far-right defends as ironic hate speech and a form of politics without consequences reserved only for the privileged white men that gleefully engage in it. The runaway racist and Yiannopoulos are borne out of an Internet culture that is built on being offensive, on trolling, and “troll” itself being an aspirational label and identity, but also more importantly, a political aesthetic.In this essay, I argue that trolling itself has become a kind of political aesthetic and identity, and provide evidence via examples like hoaxes, harassment campaigns, and the use of memes to signal to certain online populations and extremist groups in violent attacks. First coined by Walter Benjamin in order to explain a fundamental component of using art to foster consent and compliance in fascist regimes, the term since then has evolved to encompass far more than just works of art. Benjamin’s original conception of the term is in regard to a creation of a spectacle that prevents the masses from recognizing their rights – in short, the aestheticization of politics is not just about the strategies of the fascist regimes themselves but says more about the subjects within them. In the time of Benjamin’s writing, the specific medium was mass propaganda through the newly emerging film industry and other forms of art (W. Benjamin). To Benjamin, these aesthetics served as tools of distracting to make fascism more palatable to the masses. Aesthetic tools of distraction serve an affective purpose, revealing the unhappy consciousness of neoreactionaries (Hui), and provide an outlet for their resentment.Since political aesthetics are concerned with how cultural products like art, film, and even clothing reflect political ideologies and beliefs (Sartwell; McManus; Miller-Idriss), the objects of analysis in this essay are part of the larger visual culture of the alt-right (Bogerts and Fielitz; Stanovsky). Indeed, aesthetic aspects of political systems shift their meaning over time, or are changed and redeployed with transformed effect (Sartwell). In this essay, I am applying the concept of the aestheticization of politics by analyzing how alt-right visual cultures deploy distraction and dissimulation to advance their political agenda through things like trolling campaigns and hoaxes. By analyzing these events, their use of memes, trolling techniques, and their influence on mainstream culture, what is revealed is the influence of trolling on political culture for the alt-right and how the alt-right then distracts the rest of the public (McManus).Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Troll?Large scale analyses of disinformation and extremist content online tends to examine how certain actors are connected, what topics emerge and how these are connected across platforms, and the ways that disinformation campaigns operate in digital environments (Marwick and Lewis; Starbird; Benkler et al.). Masculine and white-coded technology gave rise to male-dominated digital spaces (R. Benjamin), with trolling often being an issue faced by non-normative users of the Internet and their communities (Benjamin; Lumsden and Morgan; Nakamura; Phillips, Oxygen). Creating a kind of unreality where it is difficult to parse out truth from lies, fiction from non-fiction, the troll creates cultural products, and by hiding behind irony and humor confuses onlookers and is removed from any kind of reasonable blame for their actions. Irony has long been a rhetorical strategy used in politics, and the alt right has been no exception (Weatherby), but for our current sociopolitical landscape, trolling is a political strategy that infuses irony into politics and identity.In the digital era, political memes and internet culture are pervasive components of the spread of hate speech and extremist ideology on digital platforms. Trolling is not an issue that exists in a vacuum – rather, trolls are a product of greater mainstream culture that encourages and allows their behaviors (Phillips, This Is Why; Fichman and Sanfilippo; Marwick and Lewis). Trolls, and meme culture in general, have often been pointed to as being part of the reason for the rise of Trump and fascist politics across the world in recent years (Greene; Lamerichs et al.; Hodge and Hallgrimsdottir; Glitsos and Hall). Although criticism has been expressed about how impactful memes were in the election of Donald Trump, political memes have had an impact on the ways that trolling went from anonymous jerks on forums to figures like Yiannapoulos who built entire careers off of trolling, creating empires of hate (Lang). These memes that are often absurd and incomprehensible to those who are not a part of the community that they come from aim to cheapen, trivialize, and mock social justice movements like Black Lives Matter, feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and others.But the history of trolling online goes as far back as the Internet itself. “Trolling” is just a catch all term to describe online behaviors meant to antagonize, to disrupt online conversations, and to silence other users (Cole; Fichman and Sanfilippo). As more and more people started moving online and engaging in participatory culture, trolling continued to evolve from seemingly harmless jokes like the “Rick Roll” to targeted campaigns meant to harass women off of social media platforms (Lumsden and Morgan; Graham). Trolling behaviors are more than just an ugly part of the online experience, but are also a way for users to maintain the borders of their online community - it’s meant to drive away those who are perceived to be outsiders not just from the specific forum, but the Internet itself (Graham). With the rise of modern social media platforms, trolling itself is also a part of the political landscape, creating a “toxic counterpublic” that combines irony with a kind of earnestness to spread and inject their beliefs into mainstream political discourse (Greene). As a mode of information warfare, these subversive rhetorical strategies meant to contradict or reverse existing political and value systems have been used throughout history as a political tactic (Blackstock).The goal of trolling is not just to disrupt conversations, but to lead to chaos via confusion about the sincerity and meaning of messages and visuals, and rather than functioning as a politics of outrage (on the part of the adherents), it is a politics of being as outrageous as possible. As a part of larger meme culture, the aesthetics of trolls and their outrageous content manage to operate under the radar by being able to excuse their behaviors and rhetoric as just “trolling” or “joking”. This ambiguity points to trolling on the far right as a political strategy and identity to absolve them of blame or accusations of what their real intentions are. Calling them “trolls” hides the level of sophistication and vast levels of influence that they had on public opinion and discourse in the United States (Geltzer; Starks et al.; Marwick and Lewis). We no longer live in a world apart from the troll’s influence and immune from their toxic discourse – rather, we have long been under the bridge with them.Co-Opted SymbolsOne of the most well-known examples of trolling as a political aesthetic and tactic may be the OK hand sign used by the Christchurch shooter. The idea that the OK hand sign was a secretly white supremacist symbol started as a hoax on 4chan. The initial 2017 hoax purported that the hand sign was meant to stand for “White Power”, with the three fingers representing the W and the circle made with the index finger and thumb as the P (Anti-Defamation League, “Okay Hand Gesture”). The purpose of perpetuating the hoax was to demonstrate that (a) they were being watched and (b) that the mainstream media is stupid and gullible enough to believe this hoax. Meant to incite confusion and to act as a subversive strategy, the OK hand sign was then actually adopted by the alt-right as a sort of meme to not just perpetuate the hoax, but to signal belonging to the larger group (Allyn). Even though the Anti-Defamation League initially listed it as not being a hate symbol and pointed out the origins of the hoax (Anti-Defamation League, “No, the ‘OK’ Gesture Is Not a Hate Symbol”), they then switched their opinion when the OK hand sign was being flashed by white supremacists, showing up in photographs at political events, and other social media content. In fact, the OK hand sign is also a common element in pictures of Pepe the Frog, who is a sort of “alt right mascot” (Tait; Glitsos and Hall), but like the OK hand sign, Pepe the Frog did not start as an alt-right mascot and was co-opted by the alt-right as a mode of representation.The confusion around the actual meaning behind the hand symbol points to how the alt-right uses these modes of representation in ways that are simultaneously an inside joke and a real expression of their beliefs. For instance, the Christchurch shooter referenced a number of memes and other rhetoric typical of 4chan and 8chan communities in his video and manifesto (Quek). In the shooter’s manifesto and video, the vast amounts of content that point to the trolling and visual culture of the alt-right are striking – demonstrating how alt-right memes not only make this violent ideology accessible, but are cultural products meant to be disseminated and ultimately, result in some kind of action (DeCook).The creation and co-optation of symbols by the alt-right like the OK hand sign are not just memes, but a form of language created by extremists for extremists (Greene; Hodge and Hallgrimsdottir). The shooter’s choice of including this type of content in his manifesto as well as certain phrases in his live-streamed video indicate his level of knowledge of what needed to be done for his attack to get as much attention as possible – the 4chan troll is the modern-day bogeyman, and parts of the manifesto have been identified as intentional traps for the mainstream media (Lorenz).Thus, the Christchurch shooter and trolling culture are linked, but referring to the symbols in the manifesto as being a part of “trolling” culture misses the deeper purpose – chaos, through the outrage spectacle, is the intended goal, particularly by creating arguments about the nature and utility of online trolling behavior. The shooter encouraged other 8chan users to disseminate his posted manifesto as well as to share the video of the attack – and users responded by immortalizing the event in meme format. The memes created celebrated the shooter as a hero, and although Facebook did remove the initial livestream video, it was reuploaded to the platform 1.2 million times in the first 24 hours, attempting to saturate the online platform with so many uploads that it would cause confusion and be difficult to remove (Gramenz). Some users even created gifs or set the video to music from the Doom video game soundtrack – a video game where the player is a demon slayer in an apocalyptic world, further adding another layer of symbolism to the attack.These political aesthetics – spread through memes, gifs, and “fan videos” – are the perfect vehicles for disseminating extremist ideology because of what they allow the alt-right to do with them: hide behind them, covering up their intentions, all the while adopting them as signifiers for their movement. With the number of memes, symbols, and phrases posted in his manifesto and spoken aloud in his mainstream, perhaps the Christchurch shooter wanted the onus of the blame to fall on these message board communities and the video games and celebrities referenced – in effect, it was “designed to troll” (Lorenz). But, there is a kernel of truth in every meme, post, image, and comment – their memes are a part of their political aesthetic, thus implicit and explicit allusions to the inner workings of their ideology are present. Hiding behind hoaxes, irony, edginess, and trolling, members of the alt-right and other extremist Internet cultures then engage in a kind of subversion that allows them to avoid taking any responsibility for real and violent attacks that occur as a result of their discourse. Antagonizing the left, being offensive, and participating in this outrage spectacle to garner a response from news outlets, activists, and outsiders are all a part of the same package.Trolls and the Outrage SpectacleThe confusion and the chaos left behind by these kinds of trolling campaigns and hoaxes leave many to ask: How disingenuous is it? Is it meant for mere shock value or is it really reflective of the person’s beliefs? In terms of the theme of dissimulation for this special issue, what is the real intent, and under what pretenses should these kinds of trolling behaviors be understood? Returning to the protestor who claimed “I just like to be offensive”, the skepticism from onlookers still exists: why go so far as to join an alt-right rally, wearing the uniform of Identity Evropa (now the American Identity Movement), as a “joke”?Extremists hide behind humor and irony to cloud judgments from others, begging the question of can we have practice without belief? But, ultimately, practice and belief are intertwined – the regret of the Runaway Racist is not because he suddenly realized he did not “believe”, but rather was forced to face the consequences of his belief, something that he as a white man perhaps never really had to confront. The cultural reach of dissimulation, in particular hiding true intent behind the claim of “irony”, is vast - YouTuber Pewdiepie claimed his use of racial and anti-Semitic slurs and putting on an entire Ku Klux Klan uniform in the middle of a video were “accidental” only after considerable backlash (Picheta). It has to be noted, however, that Pewdiepie is referenced in the manifesto of the Christchurch shooter – specifically, the shooter yelled during his livestream “subscribe to Pewdiepie”, (Lorenz). Pewdiepie and many other trolls, once called out for their behavior, and regardless of their actual intent, double down on their claims of irony to distract from the reality of their behaviors and actions.The normalization of this kind of content in mainstream platforms like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and even Instagram show how 4chan and alt-right Internet culture has seeped out of its borders and exists everywhere online. This “coded irony” is not only enabled rhetorically due to irony’s slippery definition, but also digitally via these online media (Weatherby). The aesthetics of the troll are present in every single platform and are disseminated everywhere – memes are small cultural units meant to be passed on (Shifman), and although one can argue it was not memes alone that resulted in the rise of the alt-right and the election of Donald Trump, memes are a part of the larger puzzle of the political radicalization process. The role of the Internet in radicalization is so powerful and insidious because of the presentation of content – it is funny, edgy, ironic, offensive, and outrageous. But these behaviors and attitudes are not just appealing to some kind of adolescent-like desire to push boundaries of what is and is not socially acceptable and/or politically incorrect (Marwick and Lewis), and calling it such clouds people’s perceptions of their level of sophistication in shaping political discourse.Memes and the alt-right are a noted phenomenon, and these visual cultures created by trolls on message boards have aided in the rise of the current political situation worldwide (Hodge and Hallgrimsdottir). We are well in the midst of a type of warfare based on not weapons and bodies, but information and data - in which memes and other elements of the far right’s political aesthetic play an important role (Molander et al.; Prier; Bogerts and Fielitz). The rise of the online troll as a political player and the alt-right are merely the logical outcomes of these systems.ConclusionThe alt-right’s spread was possible because of the trolling cultures and aesthetics of dissimulation created in message boards that predate 4chan (Kitada). The memes and inflammatory statements made by them serve multiple purposes, ranging from an intention to incite outrage among non-members of the group to signal group belonging and identity. In some odd way, if people do not understand the content, the content actually speaks louder and, in more volumes, that it would if its intent was more straightforward – in their confusion, people give these trolling techniques more attention and amplification in their attempt to make sense of them. Through creating confusion, distraction, and uncertainty around the legitimacy of messages, hand signs, and even memes, the alt-right has elevated the aestheticization of politics to a degree that Walter Benjamin could perhaps not have predicted in his initial lament about the distracted masses of fascist regimes (McManus). The political dimensions of trolling and the cognitive uncertainty that it creates is a part of its goal. Dismissing trolls is no longer an option, but also regarding them as sinister political operatives may be overblowing their significance. In the end, “ironic hate speech” is still hate speech, and by couching their extremist ideology in meme format they make their extremist beliefs more palatable -- and nobody is completely immune to their strategies.ReferencesAllyn, Bobby. “The ‘OK’ Hand Gesture Is Now Listed as a Symbol of Hate.” NPR 2019. &lt;https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764728163/the-ok-hand-gesture-is-now-listed-as-a-symbol-of-hate&gt;.Anti-Defamation League. “No, the ‘OK’ Gesture Is Not a Hate Symbol.” Anti-Defamation League. 10 Dec. 2017 &lt;https://www.adl.org/blog/no-the-ok-gesture-is-not-a-hate-symbol&gt;.———. “Okay Hand Gesture.” Anti-Defamation League. 28 Feb. 2020 &lt;https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/okay-hand-gesture&gt;.Atkinson, David C. “Charlottesville and the Alt-Right: A Turning Point?” Politics, Groups, and Identities 6.2 (2018): 309-15.Benjamin, Ruha. Race after Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Polity, 2019.Benjamin, Walter. 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