325 research outputs found
Building better than we know: The residential built environment, trust, social behaviour, biology, and health
Over the last decade there has been a renewed interest in identifying exactly how aspects of the residential built environment “get under the skin” and affect the physical health of not only of those who dwell within, but reside and commute among, disorderly and deteriorating neighbourhoods.
This thesis is focused on better understanding how aspects of the social environment are crystallised in the residential built environment, and in particular the proximate environmental, behavioural, and perceptual mechanisms that account for how our interaction with the residential built environment modulates both our social behaviour and physical health.
Building on Wilson and O’Brien’s evolutionary construct of Community Perception, Chapter 1 reviews the relevant literature from across the evolutionary human sciences, social psychology, applied social epidemiology, and social neuroscience to propose a biologically plausible pathway from the residential built environment to physical health. The empirical chapters (Chapters 2 to 4), then test this framework through both experimental and observational studies.
Employing an eye tracking paradigm, in Chapter 2 we learn about the perceptual mechanisms that account for how residential maintenance has a significant impact on our assessment of the social environment. In Chapter 3 we find no significant difference in social behaviour, assayed through a behavioural economics paradigm, following affective priming via different levels of residential maintenance. A result which could be a consequence of methodological factors, or a finding due to the absence of task-specific relevance of the maintenance cue in a socially neutral experimental framing.
In Chapter 4, through an analysis of the UK Household Longitudinal Study biomarker data asset, we find that residential maintenance is significantly associated with poor physical health.
Chapter 5 then assesses the validity of the thesis’s proposed framework, the thesis’s contribution to the burgeoning field of inquiry, and considers future work towards generating impactful evidence-based public policy proposals
MemCA: all-memristor design for deterministic and probabilistic cellular automata hardware realization
© 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other worksInspired by the behavior of natural systems, Cellular Automata (CA) tackle the demanding long-distance information transfer of conventional computers by the massive parallel computation performed by a set of locally-coupled dynamical nodes. Although CA are envisioned as powerful deterministic computers, their intrinsic capabilities are expanded after the memristor’s probabilistic switching is introduced into CA cells, resulting in new hybrid deterministic and probabilistic memristor-based CA (MemCA). In the proposed MemCA hardware realization, memristor devices are incorporated in both the cell and rule modules, composing the very first all-memristor CA hardware, designed with mixed CMOS/Memristor circuits. The proposed implementation accomplishes high operating speed and reduced area requirements, exploiting also memristor as an entropy source in every CA cell. MemCA’s functioning is showcased in deterministic and probabilistic operation, which can be externally modified by the selection of programming voltage amplitude, without changing the design. Also, the proposed MemCA system includes a reconfigurable rule module implementation that allows for spatial and temporal rule inhomogeneity.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
An investigation of the chromatin characteristics driving murine RIF1s association with and compartmentalisation of late-replicating chromatin
The mammalian genome is packaged in a highly organised manner to maintain genome integrity over multiple generations. A key aspect of this organisation is the separation of early- and late-replicating chromatin. RIF1 plays a vital role in this by compartmentalising late-replicating chromatin. However, RIF1s role in the mechanisms underlying this chromatin organisation is poorly understood. This study investigates the principles underlying RIF1s association with and compartmentalisation of late-replicating chromatin. Firstly, identifying the chromatin features driving RIF1s association with late-replicating chromatin. Through in vitro investigations of RIF1's affinity for heterochromatin substrates using pull-down and electrophoretic mobility assays, I demonstrate that RIF1 interacts with chromatin through heterochromatin-specific proteins, namely HP1α and Histone H1. Secondly, the study examines the types of molecular interactions that assemble RIF1 foci—revealing that RIF1 and HP1α colocalise in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) during the establishment of the replication-timing programme. Furthermore, biophysical examinations of fluorescently tagged RIF1 and HP1α in mESCs, demonstrate that similar forces maintain RIF1 and HP1α foci. Lastly, this study investigates how RIF1’s interactions change across replication. Analysing changes in the distribution and dynamics of RIF1 across the cell cycle relative to HP1α reveal a loss of heterochromatin-specific RIF1 distribution and an increase in RIF1 mobility following replication. This study furthers the molecular understanding of RIF1’s nuclear distribution, the processes contributing to that distribution and the compartmentalisation of late-replicating chromatin. Importantly, it advances our knowledge of chromatin reorganisation after mitosis and the influence of chromatin compartmentalisation on replication timing
Building resilient wooded landscapes: How can we support saproxylic invertebrates into the future?
Decaying wood hosts a diverse network of saproxylic invertebrates. These play important roles in forest functioning, including pest control, pollination, and nutrient cycling. However, declines in ancient and veteran trees in UK landscapes threaten saproxylic communities. The present research sought to address this through investigating multiple aspects of saproxylic habitat use and creation.
Previous studies of saproxylic invertebrate landscape use have identified scales at which habitat density is most important. However, many of these studies were done in dense woodlands and none have been attempted in the UK. This research sought to fill these knowledge gaps by investigating habitat density scales of importance to invertebrate populations in English open-grown oak landscapes. Flight interception trapping data showed that higher veteran tree densities over a 250 m radius positively correlated with saproxylic community diversity, whilst higher densities over smaller scales support rare species.
The second aspect of this research explored beetle boxes as a deadwood habitat creation method. The present research built upon previous studies by investigating a novel ground-level design to replicate basal tree hollows. It also tested the potential of different construction materials and content variations in improving beetle box function. Results showed that plastic beetle boxes contained similar abundances and diversities of deadwood-associated beetles than those made of wood. However, the wood mould in plastic boxes became significantly drier than that in wooden boxes. The addition of poultry faeces to beetle boxes as a source of nitrogen was associated with higher abundances and diversities of some beetle groups. No evidence of the basal hollow specialist, Limoniscus violaceus, was found in beetle boxes; however, more long-term monitoring is needed to thoroughly investigate this. This research also noted the potential for beetle boxes to function as a public engagement tool to promote a widespread appreciation of the importance of deadwood ecosystems
Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems
Mathematical modeling is a powerful approach supporting the investigation of open problems in natural sciences, in particular physics, biology and medicine. Applied mathematics allows to translate the available information about real-world phenomena into mathematical objects and concepts. Mathematical models are useful descriptive tools that allow to gather the salient aspects of complex biological systems along with their fundamental governing laws, by elucidating the system behavior in time and space, also evidencing symmetry, or symmetry breaking, in geometry and morphology. Additionally, mathematical models are useful predictive tools able to reliably forecast the future system evolution or its response to specific inputs. More importantly, concerning biomedical systems, such models can even become prescriptive tools, allowing effective, sometimes optimal, intervention strategies for the treatment and control of pathological states to be planned. The application of mathematical physics, nonlinear analysis, systems and control theory to the study of biological and medical systems results in the formulation of new challenging problems for the scientific community. This Special Issue includes innovative contributions of experienced researchers in the field of mathematical modelling applied to biology and medicine
V Congreso internacional de investigación en artes visuales: ANIAV 2022. RE/DES Conectar
Después del impacto de la pandemia en nuestras vidas retorna el deseo de encontrarnos y construir conjuntamente.Es probable que las consecuencias de la situación vivida se manifiesten de alguna manera en la producción artística contemporánea. La dificultad de los encuentros en el espacio físico ha sido sustituida en parte por la multiplicación de los contactos a través las redes, así como su posible pérdida nos ha reafirmado en su importancia. La necesidad de conexión con los demás señala la importancia del medio, del canal para hacerlo y de la relación entre lo real, lo físico, lo virtual. Junto a la necesidad de reconectar con los otros aparece la de desconectar de tantas otras cosas. La quinta edición del congreso Congreso Internacional de Investigación en Artes Visuales ANIAV se plantea como un punto de encuentro sobre la posición de la producción artística contemporánea en el momento presente ante todas estas cuestiones.
Como es habitual, el Congreso ANIAV tiene un carácter abierto a todas las disciplinas artísticas y a sus distintos posicionamientos, es un espacio de encuentro y de debate que se celebrará con un formato semipresencial en La Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad Politècnica de València entre el 6 y el 8 de julio.
El congreso ANIAV se estructura en torno a tres grandes ámbitos de investigación que recogen la producción artística, la estética y teoría del arte y la gestión, conservación y comunicación.Pérez García, EM.; Martínez Arroyo, EJ.; Silva Dos Santos, FC. (2022). V Congreso internacional de investigación en artes visuales: ANIAV 2022. RE/DES Conectar. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/ANIAV2022.2022.15795EDITORIA
Phylogeny-wide analysis of G-protein coupled receptors in social amoebas and implications for the evolution of multicellularity:[version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are seven-transmembrane proteins and constitute the largest group of receptors within eukaryotes. The presence of a large set of GPRCs in the unicellular Amoebozoa was surprising and is indicative of the largely undiscovered environmental sensing capabilities in this group. Evolutionary transitions from unicellular to multicellular lifestyles, like we see in social amoebas, have occurred several times independently in the Amoebozoa, and GPCRs may have been co-opted for new functions in cell-cell communication. Methods We have analysed a set of GPCRs from fully sequenced Amoebozoan genomes by Bayesian inference, compared their phylogenetic distribution and domain composition, and analysed their temporal and spatial expression patterns in five species of dictyostelids. Results We found evidence that most GPCRs are conserved deeply in the Amoebozoa and are probably performing roles in general cell functions and complex environmental sensing. All families of GPCRs (apart from the family 4 fungal pheromone receptors) are present in dictyostelids with family 5 being the largest and family 2 the one with the fewest members. For the first time, we identify the presence of family 1 rhodopsin-like GPCRs in dictyostelids. Some GPCRs have been amplified in the dictyostelids and in specific lineages thereof and through changes in expression patterns may have been repurposed for signalling in multicellular development. Discussion Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that GPCR families 1, 2 and 6 already diverged early in the Amoebozoa, whereas families 3 and 5 expanded later within the dictyostelids. The family 6 cAMP receptors that have experimentally supported roles in multicellular development in dictyostelids (
carA-carD;
tasA/B) originated at the root of all dictyostelids and only have weakly associated homologs in
Physarum polycephalum. Our analysis identified candidate GPCRs which have evolved in the dictyostelids and could have been co-opted for multicellular development
Multispecies Storytelling in Intermedial Practices
Multispecies Storytelling in Intermedial Practices is a speculative endeavor asking how we may represent, relay, and read worlds differently by seeing other species as protagonists in their own rights. What other stories are to be invented and told from within those many-tongued chatters of multispecies collectives? Could such stories teach us how to become human otherwise? Often, the human is defined as the sole creature who holds language, and consequently is capable of articulating, representing, and reflecting upon the world. And yet, the world is made and remade by ongoing and many-tongued conversations between various organisms reverberating with sound, movement, gestures, hormones, and electrical signals. Everywhere, life is making itself known, heard, and understood in a wide variety of media and modalities. Some of these registers are available to our human senses, while some are not. Facing a not-so-distant future catastrophe, which in many ways and for many of us is already here, it is becoming painstakingly clear that our imaginaries are in dire need of corrections and replacements. How do we cultivate and share other kinds of stories and visions of the world that may hold promises of modest, yet radical hope? If we keep reproducing the same kind of languages, the same kinds of scientific gatekeeping, the same kinds of stories about “our” place in nature, we remain numb in the face of collapse. Multispecies Storytelling in Intermedial Practices offers steps toward a (self)critical multispecies philosophy which interrogates and qualifies the broad and seemingly neutral concept of humanity utilized in and around conversations grounded within Western science and academia. Artists, activists, writers, and scientists give a myriad of different interpretations of how to tell our worlds using different media – and possibly gives hints as to how to change it, too
Whole-Body Regeneration
This Open Access volume provides a comprehensive overview of the latest tools available to scientists to study the many facets of whole-body regeneration (WBR). The chapters in this book are organized into six parts. Part One provides a historical overview on the study of the WBR phenomena focusing on the primary challenges of this research. Parts Two and Three explore a series of non-vertebrate zoological contexts that provide experimental models for WBR, showing how they can be approached with cellular tools. Parts Four, Five, and Six discuss the future advancements of WBR, reporting about the cutting-edge techniques in genetics and omics used to dissect the underlying mechanisms of WBR, and systems biology approaches to reach a synthetic view of WBR. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and thorough, Whole-Body Regeneration: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for scientists and researchers who want to learn more about this important and developing field
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