Getting Real: A Naturalistic Methodology for Using Smartphones to Collect Mediated Communications

This paper contributes an intentionally naturalistic methodology using smartphone logging technology to study communications in the wild. Smartphone logging can provide tremendous access to communications data from real environments. However, researchers must consider how it is employed to preserve naturalistic behaviors. Nine considerations are presented to this end. We also provide a description of a naturalistic logging approach that has been applied successfully to collecting mediated communications from iPhones. The methodology was designed to intentionally decrease reactivity and resulted in data that were more accurate than self-reports. Example analyses are also provided to show how data collected can be analyzed to establish empirical patterns and identify user differences. Smartphone logging technologies offer flexible capabilities to enhance access to real communications data, but methodologies employing these techniques must be designed appropriately to avoid provoking naturally occurring behaviors. Functionally, this methodology can be applied to establish empirical patterns and test specific hypotheses within the field of HCI research. Topically, this methodology can be applied to domains interested in understanding mediated communications such as mobile content and systems design, teamwork, and social networks

Trusting the Moral Judgments of a Robot: Perceived Moral Competence and Humanlikeness of a GPT-3 Enabled AI

Advancements in computing power and foundational modeling have enabled artificial intelligence (AI) to respond to moral queries with surprising accuracy. This raises the question of whether we trust AI to influence human moral decision-making, so far, a uniquely human activity. We explored how a machine agent trained to respond to moral queries (Delphi, Jiang et al., 2021) is perceived by human questioners. Participants were tasked with querying the agent with the goal of figuring out whether the agent, presented as a humanlike robot or a web client, was morally competent and could be trusted. Participants rated the moral competence and perceived morality of both agents as high yet found it lacking because it could not provide justifications for its moral judgments. While both agents were also rated highly on trustworthiness, participants had little intention to rely on such an agent in the future. This work presents an important first evaluation of a morally competent algorithm integrated with a human-like platform that could advance the development of moral robot advisors

DFT investigation of 3d transition metal NMR shielding tensors in diamagnetic systems using the gauge-including projector augmented-wave method

We present a density functional theory based method for calculating NMR shielding tensors for 3d transition metal nuclei using periodic boundary conditions. Calculations employ the gauge-including projector augmented-wave pseudopotentials method. The effects of ultrasoft pseudopotential and induced approximations on the second-order magnetic response are intensively examined. The reliability and the strength of the approach for 49Ti and 51V nuclei is shown by comparison with traditional quantum chemical methods, using benchmarks of finite organometallic systems. Application to infinite systems is validated through comparison to experimental data for the 51V nucleus in various vanadium oxide based compounds. The successful agreement obtained for isotropic chemical shifts contrasts with full estimation of the shielding tensor eigenvalues, revealing the limitation of pure exchange-correlation functionals compared to their exact-exchange corrected analogues.Comment: 56 page

Group trust dynamics during a risky driving experience in a Tesla Model X

The growing concern about the risk and safety of autonomous vehicles (AVs) has made it vital to understand driver trust and behavior when operating AVs. While research has uncovered human factors and design issues based on individual driver performance, there remains a lack of insight into how trust in automation evolves in groups of people who face risk and uncertainty while traveling in AVs. To this end, we conducted a naturalistic experiment with groups of participants who were encouraged to engage in conversation while riding a Tesla Model X on campus roads. Our methodology was uniquely suited to uncover these issues through naturalistic interaction by groups in the face of a risky driving context. Conversations were analyzed, revealing several themes pertaining to trust in automation: (1) collective risk perception, (2) experimenting with automation, (3) group sense-making, (4) human-automation interaction issues, and (5) benefits of automation. Our findings highlight the untested and experimental nature of AVs and confirm serious concerns about the safety and readiness of this technology for on-road use. The process of determining appropriate trust and reliance in AVs will therefore be essential for drivers and passengers to ensure the safe use of this experimental and continuously changing technology. Revealing insights into social group–vehicle interaction, our results speak to the potential dangers and ethical challenges with AVs as well as provide theoretical insights on group trust processes with advanced technology

Computational Modeling of Silicate Glasses: A Quantitative Structure-Property Relationship Perspective

This article reviews the present state of Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships (QSPR) in glass design and gives an outlook into future developments. First an overview is given of the statistical methodology, with particular emphasis to the integration of QSPR with molecular dynamics simulations to derive informative structural descriptors. Then, the potentiality of this approach as a tool for interpretative and predictive purposes is highlighted by a number of recent inspiring applications

Cohesin-dependence of neuronal gene expression relates to chromatin loop length

Cohesin and CTCF are major drivers of 3D genome organization, but their role in neurons is still emerging. Here, we show a prominent role for cohesin in the expression of genes that facilitate neuronal maturation and homeostasis. Unexpectedly, we observed two major classes of activity-regulated genes with distinct reliance on cohesin in mouse primary cortical neurons. Immediate early genes (IEGs) remained fully inducible by KCl and BDNF, and short-range enhancer-promoter contacts at the IEGs Fos formed robustly in the absence of cohesin. In contrast, cohesin was required for full expression of a subset of secondary response genes characterized by long-range chromatin contacts. Cohesin-dependence of constitutive neuronal genes with key functions in synaptic transmission and neurotransmitter signaling also scaled with chromatin loop length. Our data demonstrate that key genes required for the maturation and activation of primary cortical neurons depend on cohesin for their full expression, and that the degree to which these genes rely on cohesin scales with the genomic distance traversed by their chromatin contacts. Editor'

A Raman spectroscopic study of arsenite and thioarsenite species in aqueous solution at 25°C

The Raman spectra of thioarsenite and arsenite species in aqueous solution were obtained at room temperature. Solutions at constant ΣAs + ΣS of 0.1 and 0.5 mol kg(-1 )were prepared with various ΣS/ΣAs ratios (0.1–9.0) and pH values (~7–13.2). Our data suggest that the speciation of As under the conditions investigated is more complicated than previously thought. The Raman measurements offer evidence for at least six separate S-bearing As species whose principal bands are centered near 365, 385, 390, 400, 415 and 420 cm(-1). The data suggest that at least two different species may give rise to bands at 385 cm(-1), bringing the probable minimum number of species to seven. Several additional species are possible but could not be resolved definitively. In general, the relative proportions of these species are dependent on total As concentration, ΣS/ΣAs ratio and pH. At very low ΣS/ΣAs ratios we also observe Raman bands attributable to the dissociation products of H(3)AsO(3)(aq). Although we were unable to assign precise stoichiometries for the various thioarsenite species, we were able to map out general pH and ΣS/ΣAs conditions under which the various thioarsenite and arsenite species are predominant. This study provides a basis for more detailed Raman spectroscopic and other types of investigations of the nature of thioarsenite species

Tumour compartment transcriptomics demonstrates the activation of inflammatory and odontogenic programmes in human adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma and identifies the MAPK/ERK pathway as a novel therapeutic target

Adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas (ACPs) are clinically challenging tumours, the majority of which have activating mutations in CTNNB1. They are histologically complex, showing cystic and solid components, the latter comprised of different morphological cell types (e.g. β-catenin-accumulating cluster cells and palisading epithelium), surrounded by a florid glial reaction with immune cells. Here, we have carried out RNA sequencing on 18 ACP samples and integrated these data with an existing ACP transcriptomic dataset. No studies so far have examined the patterns of gene expression within the different cellular compartments of the tumour. To achieve this goal, we have combined laser capture microdissection with computational analyses to reveal groups of genes that are associated with either epithelial tumour cells (clusters and palisading epithelium), glial tissue or immune infiltrate. We use these human ACP molecular signatures and RNA-Seq data from two ACP mouse models to reveal that cell clusters are molecularly analogous to the enamel knot, a critical signalling centre controlling normal tooth morphogenesis. Supporting this finding, we show that human cluster cells express high levels of several members of the FGF, TGFB and BMP families of secreted factors, which signal to neighbouring cells as evidenced by immunostaining against the phosphorylated proteins pERK1/2, pSMAD3 and pSMAD1/5/9 in both human and mouse ACP. We reveal that inhibiting the MAPK/ERK pathway with trametinib, a clinically approved MEK inhibitor, results in reduced proliferation and increased apoptosis in explant cultures of human and mouse ACP. Finally, we analyse a prominent molecular signature in the glial reactive tissue to characterise the inflammatory microenvironment and uncover the activation of inflammasomes in human ACP. We validate these results by immunostaining against immune cell markers, cytokine ELISA and proteome analysis in both solid tumour and cystic fluid from ACP patients. Our data support a new molecular paradigm for understanding ACP tumorigenesis as an aberrant mimic of natural tooth development and opens new therapeutic opportunities by revealing the activation of the MAPK/ERK and inflammasome pathways in human ACP. KEYWORDS: Craniopharyngioma; IL1-β; Inflammasome; MAPK/ERK pathway; Odontogenesis; Paracrine signalling; Trametini