Reminders of Mortality Alter Pain-Evoked Potentials in a Chinese Sample

Pain is of evolutionary importance to human survival. However, the perception of pain could be changed when death-related thoughts are accessible. Although the influence of mortality salience (MS) on pain processing has been investigated in Westerners recently, it is unclear whether this effect is constrained by specific culture context since humans may employ cultural worldviews to defend the existence problem. The current study tested whether and how MS affected pain processing in a Chinese male sample. We primed participants with sentences indicating MS or negative affect (NA) on either of two days. Both before and after the priming, event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by painful and non-painful electrical stimulations were recorded. Results showed that pain-evoked potentials were identified as an early negative complex N60-P90-N130 and a late positivity P260. Pain-evoked N130 after MS priming was larger than that after NA priming. Meanwhile, pain-evoked P260 decreased after MS priming but not after NA priming. These findings indicate that reminders of mortality affect both early sensory and late cognitive neural responses related to physical pain. Although previous studies reporting an increased effect of MS on perceived pain intensity in Westerners, we found an unchanged or possibly reduced effect in Chinese. Thus, the current work provides insight into a culture-sensitive perspective on how pain processing would be modulated when existential problem occurs

Leveraging Data-driven Approaches to Explore the Effect of Various Disaster Policies on Post-earthquake Household Relocation Decision-making

Earthquake events can cause affected households to relocate. Post-earthquake relocation disrupts displaced households’ social ties as well as their access to affordable services. Simulation models that capture post-earthquake relocation decision-making can be useful tools for supporting the development of related disaster risk reduction policies that aim at mitigating disaster-induced relocation. Yet, existing versions of these models focus particularly on housing-related factors (e.g., housing repair costs), which are not the sole driver of post-earthquake relocation. In this paper, we integrate data-driven approaches and local perspectives into an existing simulation-based framework to holistically capture various context-specific factors perceived as being important to household relocation decision-making. The enhanced framework is used to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of various disaster risk reduction policies - both ‘soft’ (e.g., post-earthquake livelihood assistance funds) and ‘hard’ (e.g., upgrading existing infrastructure facilities to higher building codes) - in reducing post-earthquake household relocation, with an explicit focus on low-income households. We demonstrate it using a possible future (50-year) projection of “Tomorrowville”, a synthetic expanding urban extent that imitates a Global South setting. Our analyses suggest that livelihood assistance funds are more successful and pro-poor when it comes to mitigating positive post-earthquake relocation decision-making than hard policies focused on strengthening buildings (at least in the context of the examined case study)

A Contradiction to the Law of Energy Conservation by Waves Interference in Symmetric/Asymmetric mode

It can be agreed that the linear superposition and energy conservation are two independent physics laws in general. The former allows the energy to be re-distributed over space and the latter restricts the energy in the total amount. However, Levine shows the contradiction of the two laws mentioned above by creating a cleaver model that demonstrates the energy "doubling"- and "missing" phenomenon with the constrictive- and destructive interference at every point of whole space, respectively. While, he presented a wrong explanation by using one of the radiating sources to compare with an isolated source by the compensation of the impedance, where the mistake is simply analyzed in this paper. By setting up a spatial symmetric- and asymmetric-mode, we work upon Poynting theorem from the sources to the waves with the considerations of the superposition. The theoretical results reveal the invalidity of the energy conservation. Moreover, the experiments performed in the microwave anechoic chamber confirm the theoretical conclusion

Leveraging data-driven approaches to explore the effect of various disaster policies on post-earthquake household relocation decision-making

Earthquake events can cause affected households to relocate. Post-earthquake relocation disrupts displaced households’ social ties as well as their access to affordable services. Simulation models that capture post-earthquake relocation decision-making can be useful tools for supporting the development of related disaster risk reduction policies that aim at mitigating disaster-induced relocation. Yet, existing versions of these models focus particularly on housingrelated factors (e.g., housing repair costs), which are not the sole driver of post-earthquake relocation. In this paper, we integrate data-driven approaches and local perspectives into an existing simulation-based framework to holistically capture various context-specific factors perceived as being important to household relocation decision-making. The enhanced framework is used to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of various disaster risk reduction policies - both ‘soft’ (e.g., post-earthquake livelihood assistance funds) and ‘hard’ (e.g., upgrading existing infrastructure facilities to higher building codes) - in reducing post-earthquake household relocation, with an explicit focus on low-income households. We demonstrate it using a possible future (50-year) projection of “Tomorrowville”, a synthetic expanding urban extent that imitates a Global South setting. Our analyses suggest that livelihood assistance funds are more successful and pro-poor when it comes to mitigating positive post-earthquake relocation decision-making than hard policies focused on strengthening buildings (at least in the context of the examined case study)

Synthetic Studies on Haouamine A and Other Biologically Active Heterocycles

The first section of this dissertation describes the synthesis of a tethered macrocyclic ring system based on the natural product westiellamide. As expected, this system was shown to increase the affinity and ease of complexation to Ag(I) ions as confirmed by NMR and fluorescence Ag(I) titration studies.The second section describes the synthesis of a new series of heterocyclic inhibitors of the BoNT serotype A metalloprotease based on the therapeutic lead NSC 240898. Preliminary structure-activity relationship studies afford detailed insights into the steric and lectrostaticproperties of the pharmacophore of this molecular scaffold. Four of the newly synthesized inhibitors exhibited elevated inhibition against BoNT/A LC when compared to the lead agent.The third section describes an approach towards the total synthesis of haouamine A. A promising route to the marine alkaloid was established, including a highly efficient Suzuki crosscouplingreaction, aldol condensation and aromatization reaction. Several late-stage intermediates were analyzed by X-ray diffraction to provide valuable information about the relationships between conformation and reactivity

Assessing Post-earthquake Housing Needs to Inform Recovery Planning

Residential damage from major disasters often displaces residents out of their homes and into temporary housing. Communities tend to rely on out-of-town contractors for post-disaster housing recovery, and these contractors also need temporary housing. The conflicting housing needs from the displaced residents and out-of-town contractors create pressure on the local available housing stock. Communities that prepare for temporary housing demand can minimize the impact on residents and expedite housing recovery efforts. This study uses simulation models to investigate the housing recovery of San Francisco after a hypothetical M7.2 earthquake. The earthquake is expected to significantly damage about 17,000 homes and displace their occupants. A peak demand for 4,000 out-of-town contractor crews following the earthquake is identified. The total temporary housing demand of 20,000 units can stress the local housing market and expose the displaced population to longer periods of housing instability. These results highlight the need to plan for a surge of out-of-town contractors and a shortage of temporary housing during the recovery phase

Development and assessment of pro-poor financial soft policies for earthquake-prone urban communities

Recent earthquake events have highlighted the effectiveness of financial ‘soft’ policies (e.g., earthquake insurance) in transferring seismic risk away from those directly impacted and complementing ‘hard’ disaster risk mitigation measures, such as seismic retrofitting. However, the benefits of existing financial soft policies are often not guaranteed. Among other factors, this may be attributed to their low penetration rate (e.g., in the case of earthquake insurance) and the fact that they typically neglect the explicit needs of low-income populations. We facilitate a way to address such shortcomings by proposing a framework for designing and assessing bespoke, people-centred, household-level, compulsory financial soft policies related to earthquake risk (including conventional earthquake insurance, income-based tax relief schemes, or a combination of these) across urban areas. The proposed framework leverages the Tomorrow's Cities Decision Support Environment, which aims to promote pro-poor risk-sensitive urban planning through strong local engagement. The framework specifically enables decision makers to design and assess the pro-poorness of mandatory financial soft policies, using financial impact metrics that discriminate earthquake-disaster losses on the basis of income. We showcase the framework using “Tomorrowville”, a hypothetical city that reflects a global-south urban setting in terms of its socioeconomic and physical aspects