The symbolic value of ethnic spaces

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordIn four experiments, students read that their university was creating either an ethnic space (a space geared to people of particular ethnic groups) or a general space for students. In an internal meta-analysis, underrepresented students of color (N = 205), but not White students (N = 760), who read about the ethnic space reported greater belonging, value of underrepresented students by the university, support, and academic engagement compared to those who read about a general space. Ethnic spaces may hold broader psychological significance than that of mere gathering places, improving outcomes even for those who do not frequently use them. Creating ethnic spaces may be one strategy for making university environments more welcoming for underrepresented students of color.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Thymoquinone inhibits growth of human medulloblastoma cells by inducing oxidative stress and caspase-dependent apoptosis while suppressing NF-jB signaling and IL-8 expression

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood. The transcription factor NF-κB is overexpressed in human MB and is a critical factor for MB tumor growth. NF-κB is known to regulate the expression of interleukin-8 (IL-8), the chemokine that enhances cancer cell growth and resistance to chemotherapy. We have recently shown that thymoquinone (TQ) suppresses growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in part by inhibiting NF-κB signaling. Here we sought to extend these studies in MB cells and show that TQ suppresses growth of MB cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, causes G2M cell cycle arrest, and induces apoptosis. TQ significantly increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), while pretreatment of MB cells with the ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine (NAC) abrogated TQ-induced cell death and apoptosis, suggesting that TQ-induced cell death and apoptosis are oxidative stress-mediated. TQ inhibitory effects were associated with inhibition of NF-κB and altered expression of its downstream effectors IL-8 and its receptors, the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, X-IAP, and FLIP, as well as the pro-apoptotic TRAIL-R1, caspase-8, caspase-9, Bcl-xS, and cytochrome c. TQ-triggered apoptosis was substantiated by up-regulation of the executioner caspase-3 and caspase-7, as well as cleavage of the death substrate poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase. Interestingly, pretreatment of MB cells with NAC or the pan-caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk abrogated TQ-induced apoptosis, loss of cyclin B1 and NF-κB activity, suggesting that these TQ-mediated effects are oxidative stress- and caspase-dependent. These findings reveal that TQ induces both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of apoptosis in MB cells, and suggest its potential usefulness in the treatment of MB

How diverse is your team? Investigating gender and nationality diversity in GitHub teams

Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Background Building an effective team of developers is a complex task faced by both software companies and open source communities. The problem of forming a “dream” team involves many variables, including consideration of human factors and it is not a dilemma solvable in a mathematical way. Empirical studies might provide interesting insights to explain which factors need to be taken into account in building a team of developers and which levers act to optimise productivity among developers. Aim In this paper, we present the results of an empirical study aimed at investigating the link between team diversity (i.e., gender, nationality) and productivity (issue fixing time). Method We consider issues solved from the GHTorrent dataset inferring gender and nationality of each team’s members. We also evaluate the politeness of all comments involved in issue resolution. Results Results show that higher gender diversity is linked with a lower team average issue fixing time (higher productivity), that nationality diversity is linked with lower team politeness and that gender diversity is linked with higher sentiment.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Concentration of apricot juice using complex membrane technology

In this study, pressed apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) juice was concentrated using complex membrane technology with different module combinations: UF-RO-OD, UF-RO-MD, UF-NF-OD and UF-NF-MD. In case of the best combination a cross-flow polyethylene ultrafiltration membrane (UF) was applied for clarification, after which preconcentration was done using reverse osmosis (RO) with a polyamide membrane, and the final concentration was completed by osmotic distillation (OD) using a polypropylene module. The UF-RO-OD procedure resulted in a final concentrate with a 65-70 °Brix dry solid content and an excellent quality juice with high polyphenol content and high antioxidant capacity.Nanofiltration (NF) and membrane distillation (MD) were not proper economic solutions.The influence of certain operation parameters was examined experimentally. Temperatures of UF and RO were: 25, 30, and 35 °C, and of OD 25 °C. Recycle flow rates were: UF: 1, 1.5, and 2 m3 h−1; RO: 200, 400, and 600 l h−1; OD: 20, 30 and 40 l h−1. The flow rates in the module were expressed by the Reynolds number, as well. Based on preliminary experiments, the transmembrane pressures of UF and RO filtration were 4 bar and 50 bar, respectively. Each experimental run was performed three times. The following optimal operation parameters provided the lowest total cost: UF: 35 °C, 2 m3 h−1, 4 bar; RO: 35 °C, 600 l h−1, 50 bar; OD: 20, 30 and 40 l h−1; temperature 25 °C.In addition, experiments were performed for apricot juice concentration by evaporation, which technique is widely applied in the industry using vacuum and low temperature.For description the UF filtration, a dynamic model and regression by SPSS 14.0 statistics software were applied

Open science, communal culture, and women’s participation in the movement to improve science

Science is undergoing rapid change with the movement to improve science focused largely on reproducibility/replicability and open science practices. This moment of change—in which science turns inward to examine its methods and practices—provides an opportunity to address its historic lack of diversity and noninclusive culture. Through network modeling and semantic analysis, we provide an initial exploration of the structure, cultural frames, and women’s participation in the open science and reproducibility literatures (n = 2,926 articles and conference proceedings). Network analyses suggest that the open science and reproducibility literatures are emerging relatively independently of each other, sharing few common papers or authors. We next examine whether the literatures differentially incorporate collaborative, prosocial ideals that are known to engage members of underrepresented groups more than independent, winner-takes-all approaches. We find that open science has a more connected, collaborative structure than does reproducibility. Semantic analyses of paper abstracts reveal that these literatures have adopted different cultural frames: open science includes more explicitly communal and prosocial language than does reproducibility. Finally, consistent with literature suggesting the diversity benefits of communal and prosocial purposes, we find that women publish more frequently in high-status author positions (first or last) within open science (vs. reproducibility). Furthermore, this finding is further patterned by team size and time. Women are more represented in larger teams within reproducibility, and women’s participation is increasing in open science over time and decreasing in reproducibility. We conclude with actionable suggestions for cultivating a more prosocial and diverse culture of science

Ultra-Fast Oleophobic-Hydrophilic Switching Surfaces for Anti-Fogging, Self-Cleaning, and Oil-Water Separation

Smooth copolymer–fluorosurfactant complex film surfaces are found to exhibit fast oleophobic–hydrophilic switching behavior. Equilibration of the high oil contact angle (hexadecane = 80°) and low water contact angle (110°), which, when combined with the inherent ultrafast switching speed, yields oil–water mixture separation efficiencies exceeding 98%