Optimizing the performance of single-cell ICP-MS for Fe and Zn determination in human umbilical vascular endothelial cells

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry operated in a single-cell mode (scICP-MS/MS) has emerged as a technique that allows measurement of metal concentration at the cellular level. The approach is made possible by the high sensitivity of modern instrumentation. However, specific applications may be limited by spectral and non-spectral interference that can occur due to the complexity of the matrix that requires to be analysed. As such, the success of this approach requires adequate sample preparation, allowing the stability of the cells to be preserved before introducing them into the plasma. In this context, a method was developed to measure total Zn and Fe concentrations in individual human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using scICP-MS/MS. As a strategy, the suspension of HUVECs was prefixed with paraformaldehyde aiming to achieve experimental stability and repeatability without significantly affecting the background signal. Moreover, different dwell times (3, 5 and 10 ms) were assessed to optimize the instrumental parameters. As a result, the best performance for Zn and Fe measurement by scICP-MS/MS in terms of sensitivity and accuracy was obtained with the dwell time of 3 ms. To the best of our knowledge, the concentrations of Fe and Zn in fixed single endothelial cells has not been explored previously using scICP-MS. Here an scICP-MS/MS method was developed and used successfully to examine the influence of different culture conditions on Fe and Zn uptake in fixed single HUVEC cells

Logic will get you from A to B, imagination will take you anywhere

There is some consensus on the claim that imagination as suppositional thinking can have epistemic value insofar as it's constrained by a principle of minimal alteration of how we know or believe reality to be – compatibly with the need to accommodate the supposition initiating the imaginative exercise. But in the philosophy of imagination there is no formally precise account of how exactly such minimal alteration is to work. I propose one. I focus on counterfactual imagination, arguing that this can be modeled as simulated belief revision governed by Laplacian imaging. So understood, it can be rationally justified by accuracy considerations: it minimizes expected belief inaccuracy, as measured by the Brier score

Towards more sustainable and inclusive development corridors in Africa

Development corridors are linear programmes of infrastructure and agriculture aiming to facilitate rapid socio-economic development. In Africa, they are a major development activity, with 88 underway or planned corridors. Drawing from extensive literature and insights gleaned from a 4-year research programme, this review scrutinizes the impacts of development corridors on people, wildlife and ecosystems in Kenya and Tanzania, proposing solutions to achieve better outcomes. The overarching goal was to discern the principle challenges emerging from the practical execution of the prevailing corridor model. The holistic approach taken, assessing the development corridors paradigm through an integrated ecological, social, and economic lens, provides novel insights that have not been possible using more traditional – siloed – research approaches. Eight key challenge areas are identified: impact assessments processes; coherence across international, national and local planning; governance; inclusivity; equality; impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services; incorporation of future climate risks; and integrated water resource management. Poorly planned and implemented corridors detrimentally impact livelihoods and ecosystems. They lack a sustainable development vision, detailed social, environmental or climate risk assessments, and develop incrementally in policy and corporate spaces. There is also often a disconnect between investors and recipient governments, with some investors funding what governments request without applying internationally-recognised safeguards, and governments lacking capacity and resources to enforce regulations. We make recommendations for addressing these challenge areas. These aim to enhance impact assessment efficacy; integrate local perspectives into effective and inclusive corridor planning; overcome siloed project development and implementation; anticipate future development projections; and prioritise landscape preservation for enhanced ecosystem services and climate resilience

Two books and a plot:when mathematics meets history

This chapter explores two mathematical books of Spanish origin deposited in the Russell Library within the Salamanca collection, a compendium of administrative documents and books pertaining to the wide network of Irish colleges in the territories of modern-day Spain and Portugal. Through the examination of the two volumes: Juan de Aguilera’s Canones Astrolabii Universalis and Antonio Núñez de Zamora’s Liber de Cometis, written in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, respectively, topics such as the influence of astrological concepts in the treatment of astronomical questions, as well as the increasingly sought-after mathematical precision in the literature of the period, are considered. The chapter focuses mostly on the materiality of these books, in particular in the marks of ownership, the significance of annotations in the margins and of interspersed notes on their pages while discussing the collection's provenance and placing it in context with the relevance of mathematical sciences in the Iberian Peninsula in general and the collection's importance in the background of the Jesuit programme of instruction in particular. The analysis of these books, combined with the description of the Salamanca collection's provenance, provides us with a broad perspective that extends beyond mathematics to the social and political aspects of those centuries, which include not only the territories of the Spanish crown, but also the British Isles

'Not a party to this crime':the reciprocal constitution of identity and morality by signatories of the 'Academics for Peace' petition in Turkey

In this paper, we examine how social identity, moral obligation and the relationship between the two shaped support for the 2016 Academics for Peace petition in Turkey. We examine the pre-trial statements of nine defendants charged for signing the petition and appearing in court on the same day in December 2018. We first conduct an inductive thematic analysis on one statement, and then, using the themes from this analysis, we conducted a deductive thematic analysis on the remaining eight statements. In line with the existing studies, we find considerable evidence that social identity and moral obligation are invoked as key reasons for signing in this highly repressive context. However, rather than these being separate factors, the two are reciprocally constitutive. That is, social identities define moral obligations and, at the same time, enacting moral obligations defines identity (both the position of the individual in the group and the nature of the group in the world). In discussion, we consider the broader implications of a moralized view of social identities for our understanding of both collective action and social identity processes more generally

Return from exile:mythology and heritage in <i>American born Chinese</i> and its Disney adaptation

Though American Born Chinese has received a significant degree of scholarly study, the prevalence of cultural exile in the text has not received sufficient attention. Said's theorization on exile provides a guide to examining the mindset of Jin, who willfully accepts exile from his Chinese-American heritage because of how he feels neither truly Chinese nor truly American. Only through a visceral encounter with Chinese mythology does he return from exile and embrace that heritage. The Disney adaptation, though significant from a “representation” standpoint, removes that threat of exile, diluting the narrative into a reassuring, palatable formula

David J. Kendall, <i>The Music of the Spheres in the Western Imagination</i>

Book reviewo of David J. Kendall, The Music of Spheres in the Western Imagination, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2022. ISBN 9781793650351