Cultural Variation in Causal Attribution as an Adaptive Strategy: the Role of Relational Mobility

Previous research has shown cultural differences between Japan and the United States stem from differences in holistic vs. analytic cognition. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the socio-ecological factor relational mobility on social cognition in the form of causal attribution. Study 1 confirms previous research on differences across Western and East Asian causal attribution styles by finding higher perceptions of relational mobility and greater tendency toward dispositional attribution in the American participants, and lower relational mobility perception and more consistent situational attribution in Japanese participants. In Study 2, we prime American participants with high vs. low relational mobility and test for changes in causal attribution. Consistent with the predictions, high relational mobility was related to increased dispositional attribution and low relational mobility was related to increased situational attribution. Collectively, these studies show relational mobility is a socio-ecological factor of culture that correlates with causal attribution and can be manipulated to change perceptions of a social situation. Keywords: Relational Mobility, Causal Attributio

Imipramine blue sensitively and selectively targets FLT3-ITD positive acute myeloid leukemia cells.

Aberrant cytokine signaling initiated from mutant receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) provides critical growth and survival signals in high risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Inhibitors to FLT3 have already been tested in clinical trials, however, drug resistance limits clinical efficacy. Mutant receptor tyrosine kinases are mislocalized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of AML and play an important role in the non-canonical activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5). Here, we have tested a potent new drug called imipramine blue (IB), which is a chimeric molecule with a dual mechanism of action. At 200-300 nM concentrations, IB is a potent inhibitor of STAT5 through liberation of endogenous phosphatase activity following NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibition. However, at 75-150 nM concentrations, IB was highly effective at killing mutant FLT3-driven AML cells through a similar mechanism as thapsigargin (TG), involving increased cytosolic calcium. IB also potently inhibited survival of primary human FLT3/ITD+ AML cells compared to FLT3/ITDneg cells and spared normal umbilical cord blood cells. Therefore, IB functions through a mechanism involving vulnerability to dysregulated calcium metabolism and the combination of fusing a lipophilic amine to a NOX inhibiting dye shows promise for further pre-clinical development for targeting high risk AML

Marriage by Force? Contestation over Consent and Coercion in Africa

With forced marriage, as with so many human rights issues, the sensationalized hides the mundane, and oversimplified popular discourses miss the range of experiences. In sub-Saharan Africa, the relationship between coercion and consent in marriage is a complex one that has changed over time and place, rendering impossible any single interpretation or explanation. The legal experts, anthropologists, historians, and development workers contributing to Marriage by Force? focus on the role that marriage plays in the mobilization of labor, the accumulation of wealth, and domination versus dependency. They also address the crucial slippage between marriages and other forms of gendered violence, bondage, slavery, and servile status. Only by examining variations in practices from a multitude of perspectives can we properly contextualize the problem and its consequences. And while early and forced marriages have been on the human rights agenda for decades, there is today an unprecedented level of international attention to the issue, thus making the coherent, multifaceted approach of Marriage by Force? even more necessary.https://ohioopen.library.ohio.edu/oupress/1003/thumbnail.jp

Fusion approach for remotely sensed mapping of agriculture (FARMA):A scalable open source method for land cover monitoring using data fusion

The increasing availability of very-high resolution (VHR; &lt;2 m) imagery has the potential to enable agricultural monitoring at increased resolution and cadence, particularly when used in combination with widely available moderate-resolution imagery. However, scaling limitations exist at the regional level due to big data volumes and processing constraints. Here, we demonstrate the Fusion Approach for Remotely Sensed Mapping of Agriculture (FARMA), using a suite of open source software capable of efficiently characterizing time-series field-scale statistics across large geographical areas at VHR resolution. We provide distinct implementation examples in Vietnam and Senegal to demonstrate the approach using WorldView VHR optical, Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar, and Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 optical imagery. This distributed software is open source and entirely scalable, enabling large area mapping even with modest computing power. FARMA provides the ability to extract and monitor sub-hectare fields with multisensor raster signals, which previously could only be achieved at scale with large computational resources. Implementing FARMA could enhance predictive yield models by delineating boundaries and tracking productivity of smallholder fields, enabling more precise food security observations in low and lower-middle income countries.</p

Using existing infrastructure as ground control points to support citizen science coastal UAS monitoring programs

Recent publications have described the ability of citizen scientists to conduct unoccupied aerial system (UAS) flights to collect data for coastal management. Ground control points (GCPs) can be collected to georeference these data, however collecting ground control points require expensive surveying equipment not accessible to citizen scientists. Instead, existing infrastructure can be used as naturally occurring ground control points (NGCPs), although availably of naturally occurring ground control point placement on such infrastructure differs from published best practices of ground control point placement. This study therefore evaluates the achievable accuracy of sites georeferenced with naturally occurring ground control points through an analysis of 20 diverse coastal sites. At most sites naturally occurring ground control points produced horizontal and vertical root mean square errors (RMSE) less than 0.060 m which are similar to those obtained using traditional ground control points. To support future unoccupied aerial system citizen science coastal monitoring programs, an assessment to determine the optimal naturally occurring ground control point quantity and distribution was conducted for six coastal sites. Results revealed that generally at least seven naturally occurring ground control points collected in the broadest distribution across the site will result in a horizontal and vertical root mean square errors less than 0.030 m and 0.075 m respectively. However, the relationship between these placement characteristics and root mean square errors was poor, indicating that georeferencing accuracy using naturally occurring ground control points cannot be optimized solely through ideal quantity and distribution. The results of these studies highlight the value of naturally occurring ground control points to support unoccupied aerial system citizen science coastal monitoring programs, however they also indicate a need for an initial accuracy assessment of sites surveyed with naturally occurring ground control points at the onset of such programs

Geology of part of the central Damara belt around the Tumas River, South West Africa

The investigation covering 1500 square kilometres within the central granite zone of the Damara belt, South West Africa, revealed Pre - Damara (Abbabis) basement unconformably overlain by metasediments of the Damara Supergroup. The term Leeukop member is proposed for basal metaconglomerates of the Nosib Group that immediately overlie the basement augen-gneisses. Augen-gneiss clasts are present within the Leeukop metaconglomerates. The Damara orogeny has only partly affected the Abbabis rocks of the Tumas River Inlier but further to the west the Husab suite of red granites and granite-gneisses, as field and geochemical evidence suggest, were derived syntectonically during the Damara orogeny by reactivation of the pre- Damara basement. Rõssing alaskitic granites represent late stage melts, that were also derived from Pre- Damara basement rocks during orogenesis, which accumulated post-tectonically in structural traps at the base of the Khomas Subgroup. Salem granitoids are present in synclinal structures associated with metasediments of the Khomas Subgroup and syntectonic derivation by anatexis during the Damara orogeny is suggested. In the east the differentiated Gawib granitoid stock was emplaced post- tectonically through basement rocks into the Damara metasediments. A deep seated origin is indicated by high crystallisation temperatures (>8500°) obtained from quarternary Qz-An-Ab-Or- H₂0 plots. The metamorphic grade increases westwards from medium grade to high grade. In the east, the metapelites contain andalusite, and coexisting muscovite and quartz. This indicates that temperatures of 6000° at 3,5- 4 kb pressure were attained. In the west, coexisting wollastonite and anorthite in the Khan gneisses indicate pressure- temperature conditions of 720° at 4,5-5 kb. Two tectonic events were responsible for the regional structure. An early F₁ episode produced east- west oriented overturned folds and was followed by an intense F₂ episode of isoclinal folding which is responsible for the dominant northeast - southwest regional fabric. The interference of these folds in the proximity of the underlying basement produced the complex dome and basin structures seen in the central and western parts of the area. An F₃ episode of minor importance was also recognized. The presence of continental basement rocks in this central part of the Damara belt is evidence for formation of the orogen by in-situ deformation rather than continental collision