Independence of Odor Quality and Absolute Sensitivity in a Study of Aging

Young, middle-aged, and senior subjects performed tasks designed to examine whether odor quality discrimination varies independently of sensitivity. One task entailed detection of 2-heptanone and the others AB-X discrimination of quality for sets of 2-heptanone and homologues or 2-heptanone and non-ketones. Subjects sought to discriminate either at intensity-matched concentrations far above threshold, but fixed across subjects, or at levels adjusted to neutralize differences in sensitivity. The young and middle-aged groups manifested the same absolute sensitivity, but the senior group poorer sensitivity. Performance in quality discrimination, however, declined progressively. Performance lacked an association with absolute sensitivity, no matter how examined. These data, in conjunction with converging findings from patients with neurological damage, studies of brain imaging, and the relation between concentration and quality discrimination in younger persons, suggest largely independent processing of odor quality and intensity

Social Mobility and Philosophy in Schools: essentialism improves educational outcomes for school children

Philosophical Enquiry, informed by excellent research to explore the metaphysical core of essentialism, has enabled educational benefits to secondary school children through improved social mobility and supporting the development intellectually enquiring minds. These impacts can be demonstrated through Dr Mark Cain and Dr Stephen Boulter’s use of Philosophical Enquiry within two secondary schools; leading to positive outcomes for students, supported by testimony of their teachers, and influencing educational practices and learning through the inclusion of philosophical enquiry within the curriculum

Simultaneous dynamic electrical and structural measurements of functional materials

A new materials characterization system developed at the XMaS beamline, located at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France, is presented. We show that this new capability allows to measure the atomic structural evolution (crystallography) of piezoelectric materials whilst simultaneously measuring the overall strain characteristics and electrical response to dynamically (ac) applied external stimuli

Inferring Latent Structure From Mixed Real and Categorical Relational Data

We consider analysis of relational data (a matrix), in which the rows correspond to subjects (e.g., people) and the columns correspond to attributes. The elements of the matrix may be a mix of real and categorical. Each subject and attribute is characterized by a latent binary feature vector, and an inferred matrix maps each row-column pair of binary feature vectors to an observed matrix element. The latent binary features of the rows are modeled via a multivariate Gaussian distribution with low-rank covariance matrix, and the Gaussian random variables are mapped to latent binary features via a probit link. The same type construction is applied jointly to the columns. The model infers latent, low-dimensional binary features associated with each row and each column, as well correlation structure between all rows and between all columns

Measuring the Stellar Masses of z~7 Galaxies with Spitzer Ultrafaint Survey Program (SURFS UP)

We present Spitzer/IRAC observations of nine $z'$-band dropouts highly magnified (2<mu<12) by the Bullet Cluster. We combine archival imaging with our Exploratory program (SURFS UP), which results in a total integration time of ~30 hr per IRAC band. We detect (>3sigma) in both IRAC bands the brightest of these high-redshift galaxies, with [3.6]=23.80+-0.28 mag, [4.5]=23.78+-0.25 mag, and (H-[3.6])=1.17+-0.32 mag. The remaining eight galaxies are undetected to [3.6]~26.4 mag and [4.5]~26.0 mag with stellar masses of ~5x10^7 M_sol. The detected galaxy has an estimated magnification of mu=12+-4, which implies this galaxy has an ultraviolet luminosity of L_1500~0.3 L*_{z=7} --- the lowest luminosity individual source detected in IRAC at z>7. By modeling the broadband photometry, we estimate the galaxy has an intrinsic star-formation rate of SFR~1.3 M_sol/yr and stellar mass of M~2x10^9 M_sol, which gives a specific star-formation rate of sSFR~0.7 Gyr^-1. If this galaxy had sustained this star-formation rate since z~20, it could have formed the observed stellar mass (to within a factor of ~2), we also discuss alternate star-formation histories and argue the exponentially-increasing model is unlikely. Finally, based on the intrinsic star-formation rate, we estimate this galaxy has a likely [C II] flux of = 10^{-17} erg/s/cm2.Comment: Accepted to ApJL. 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

Rate-dependent propagation of cardiac action potentials in a one-dimensional fiber

Action potential duration (APD) restitution, which relates APD to the preceding diastolic interval (DI), is a useful tool for predicting the onset of abnormal cardiac rhythms. However, it is known that different pacing protocols lead to different APD restitution curves (RCs). This phenomenon, known as APD rate-dependence, is a consequence of memory in the tissue. In addition to APD restitution, conduction velocity restitution also plays an important role in the spatiotemporal dynamics of cardiac tissue. We present new results concerning rate-dependent restitution in the velocity of propagating action potentials in a one-dimensional fiber. Our numerical simulations show that, independent of the amount of memory in the tissue, waveback velocity exhibits pronounced rate-dependence and the wavefront velocity does not. Moreover, the discrepancy between waveback velocity RCs is most significant for small DI. We provide an analytical explanation of these results, using a system of coupled maps to relate the wavefront and waveback velocities. Our calculations show that waveback velocity rate-dependence is due to APD restitution, not memory.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

On the informational content of wage offers

This article investigates signaling and screening roles of wage offers in a single-play matching model with two-sided unobservable characteristics. It generates the following predictions as matching equilibrium outcomes: (i) “good” jobs offer premia if “high-quality” worker population is large; (ii) “bad” jobs pay compensating differentials if the proportion of “good” jobs to “low-quality” workers is large; (iii) all firms may offer a pooling wage in markets dominated by “high-quality” workers and firms; or (iv) Gresham’s Law prevails: “good” types withdraw if “bad” types dominate the population. The screening/signaling motive thus has the potential of explaining a variety of wage patterns

Playing with the future: social irrealism and the politics of aesthetics

In this paper we wish to explore the political possibilities of video games. Numerous scholars now take seriously the place of popular culture in the remaking of our geographies, but video games still lag behind. For us, this tendency reflects a general response to them as imaginary spaces that are separate from everyday life and 'real' politics. It is this disconnect between abstraction and lived experience that we complicate by defining play as an event of what Brian Massumi calls lived abstraction. We wish to short-circuit the barriers that prevent the aesthetic resonating with the political and argue that through their enactment, video games can animate fantastical futures that require the player to make, and reflect upon, profound ethical decisions that can be antagonistic to prevailing political imaginations. We refer to this as social irrealism to demonstrate that reality can be understood through the impossible and the imagined

Processing/Activation of At Least Four Interleukin-1β Converting Enzyme–like Proteases Occurs during the Execution Phase of Apoptosis in Human Monocytic Tumor Cells

Identification of the processing/activation of multiple interleukin-1β converting enzyme (ICE)–like proteases and their target substrates in the intact cell is critical to our understanding of the apoptotic process. In this study we demonstrate processing/activation of at least four ICE-like proteases during the execution phase of apoptosis in human monocytic tumor THP.1 cells. Apoptosis was accompanied by processing of Ich-1, CPP32, and Mch3α to their catalytically active subunits, and lysates from these cells displayed a proteolytic activity with kinetics, characteristic of CPP32/Mch3α but not of ICE. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting was used to obtain pure populations of normal and apoptotic cells. In apoptotic cells, extensive cleavage of Ich-1, CPP32, and Mch3α was observed together with proteolysis of the ICE-like protease substrates, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), the 70-kD protein component of U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (U170K), and lamins A/B. In contrast, no cleavage of CPP32, Mch3α or the substrates was observed in normal cells. In cells exposed to an apoptotic stimulus, some processing of Ich-1 was detected in morphologically normal cells, suggesting that cleavage of Ich-1 may occur early in the apoptotic process. The ICE-like protease inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp (OMe) fluoromethyl ketone (Z-VAD.FMK), inhibited apoptosis and cleavage of Ich-1, CPP32, Mch3α, Mch2α, PARP, U1-70K, and lamins. These results suggest that Z-VAD.FMK inhibits apoptosis by inhibiting a key effector protease upstream of Ich-1, CPP32, Mch3α, and Mch2α. Together these observations demonstrate that processing/activation of Ich-1, CPP32, Mch3α, and Mch2α accompanies the execution phase of apoptosis in THP.1 cells. This is the first demonstration of the activation of at least four ICE-like proteases in apoptotic cells, providing further evidence for a requirement for the activation of multiple ICE-like proteases during apoptosis