Network Centrality of Metro Systems

Whilst being hailed as the remedy to the world’s ills, cities will need to adapt in the 21st century. In particular, the role of public transport is likely to increase significantly, and new methods and technics to better plan transit systems are in dire need. This paper examines one fundamental aspect of transit: network centrality. By applying the notion of betweenness centrality to 28 worldwide metro systems, the main goal of this paper is to study the emergence of global trends in the evolution of centrality with network size and examine several individual systems in more detail. Betweenness was notably found to consistently become more evenly distributed with size (i.e. no “winner takes all”) unlike other complex network properties. Two distinct regimes were also observed that are representative of their structure. Moreover, the share of betweenness was found to decrease in a power law with size (with exponent 1 for the average node), but the share of most central nodes decreases much slower than least central nodes (0.87 vs. 2.48). Finally the betweenness of individual stations in several systems were examined, which can be useful to locate stations where passengers can be redistributed to relieve pressure from overcrowded stations. Overall, this study offers significant insights that can help planners in their task to design the systems of tomorrow, and similar undertakings can easily be imagined to other urban infrastructure systems (e.g., electricity grid, water/wastewater system, etc.) to develop more sustainable cities

Developmental perspectives on interpersonal affective touch

In the last decade, philosophy, neuroscience and psychology alike have paid increasing attention to the study of interpersonal affective touch, which refers to the emotional and motivational facets of tactile sensation. Some aspects of affective touch have been linked to a neurophysiologically specialised system, namely the C tactile (CT) system. While the role of this sys-tem for affiliation, social bonding and communication of emotions have been widely investigated, only recently researchers have started to focus on the potential role of interpersonal affective touch in acquiring awareness of the body as our own, i.e. as belonging to our psychological ‘self’. We review and discuss recent developmental and adult findings, pointing to the central role of interpersonal affective touch in body awareness and social cognition in health and disorders. We propose that interpersonal affective touch, as an interoceptive modality invested of a social nature, can uniquely contribute to the ongoing debate in philosophy about the primacy of the relational nature of the minimal self

Evidence-based Kernels: Fundamental Units of Behavioral Influence

This paper describes evidence-based kernels, fundamental units of behavioral influence that appear to underlie effective prevention and treatment for children, adults, and families. A kernel is a behavior–influence procedure shown through experimental analysis to affect a specific behavior and that is indivisible in the sense that removing any of its components would render it inert. Existing evidence shows that a variety of kernels can influence behavior in context, and some evidence suggests that frequent use or sufficient use of some kernels may produce longer lasting behavioral shifts. The analysis of kernels could contribute to an empirically based theory of behavioral influence, augment existing prevention or treatment efforts, facilitate the dissemination of effective prevention and treatment practices, clarify the active ingredients in existing interventions, and contribute to efficiently developing interventions that are more effective. Kernels involve one or more of the following mechanisms of behavior influence: reinforcement, altering antecedents, changing verbal relational responding, or changing physiological states directly. The paper describes 52 of these kernels, and details practical, theoretical, and research implications, including calling for a national database of kernels that influence human behavior

Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent assessments hold advantages but also have limitations. This article describes in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro bioassays that are available for the evaluation of angiogenesis and highlights critical aspects that are relevant for their execution and proper interpretation. As such, this collaborative work is the first edition of consensus guidelines on angiogenesis bioassays to serve for current and future reference

FOXO1 couples metabolic activity and growth state in the vascular endothelium

Endothelial cells (ECs) are plastic cells that can switch between growth states with different bioenergetic and biosynthetic requirements(1). Although quiescent in most healthy tissues, ECs divide and migrate rapidly upon proangiogenic stimulation(2,3). Adjusting endothelial metabolism to the growth state is central to normal vessel growth and function(1,4), yet it is poorly understood at the molecular level. Here we report that the forkhead box O (FOXO) transcription factor FOXO1 is an essential regulator of vascular growth that couples metabolic and proliferative activities in ECs. Endothelial-restricted deletion of FOXO1 in mice induces a profound increase in EC proliferation that interferes with coordinated sprouting, thereby causing hyperplasia and vessel enlargement. Conversely, forced expression of FOXO1 restricts vascular expansion and leads to vessel thinning and hypobranching. We find that FOXO1 acts as a gatekeeper of endothelial quiescence, which decelerates metabolic activity by reducing glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration. Mechanistically, FOXO1 suppresses signalling by MYC (also known as c-MYC), a powerful driver of anabolic metabolism and growth(5,6). MYC ablation impairs glycolysis, mitochondrial function and proliferation of ECs while its EC-specific overexpression fuels these processes. Moreover, restoration of MYC signalling in FOXO1-overexpressing endothelium normalizes metabolic activity and branching behaviour. Our findings identify FOXO1 as a critical rheostat of vascular expansion and define the FOXO1-MYC transcriptional network as a novel metabolic checkpoint during endothelial growth and proliferation