Twenty questions about design behavior for sustainability, report of the International Expert Panel on behavioral science for design

How behavioral scientists, engineers, and architects can work together to advance how we all understand and practice design—in order to enhance sustainability in the built environment, and beyond.https://www.nature.com/documents/design_behavior_for_sustainability.pdfPublished versio

Distributional effects of climate change taxation:The case of the UK

Current economic instruments aimed at climate change mitigation focus mainly on CO2 emissions, but efficient climate mitigation needs to focus on other greenhouse gases as well as CO2. This study investigates the distributional effects of climate change taxes on households belonging to different income and lifestyle groups; and it compares the effects of a CO2 tax with a multiple GHG tax in the UK in terms of cost efficiency and distributional effects. Results show that a multi GHG tax is more efficient than a CO2 tax due to lower marginal abatement costs, and that both taxes are regressive, with lower income households paying a relatively larger share of their income for the taxes than higher income households. A shift from a CO2 tax to a GHG tax will reduce and shift the tax burden between consumption categories such as from energy-intensive products to food products. Consumers have different abilities to respond to the tax and change their behavior due to their own socio-economic attributes as well as the physical environment such as the age of the housing stock, location, and the availability of infrastructure. The housing-related carbon emissions are the largest component of the CO2 tax payments for low income groups and arguments could be made for compensation of income losses and reduction of fuel poverty through further government intervention

Cortical cultures coupled to Micro-Electrode Arrays: a novel approach to perform in vitro excitotoxicity testing.

reserved9In vitro neuronal cultures exhibit spontaneous electrophysiological activity that can be modulated by chemical stimulation and can be monitored over time by using Micro-Electrode Arrays (MEAs), devices composed by a glass substrate and metal electrodes. Dissociated networks respond to transmitters, their blockers and many other pharmacological substances, including neurotoxic compounds. In this paper we present results related to the effects, both acute (i.e. 1 hour after the treatment) and chronic (3 days after the treatment), of increasing glutamatergic transmission induced by the application of rising concentrations of glutamate and its agonists (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid — AMPA, N-methyl-D-aspartate — NMDA and AMPA together with cyclothiazide — CTZ). Increase of available glutamate was obtained in two ways: 1) by direct application of exogenous glutamate and 2) by inhibiting the clearance of the endogenously released glutamate through DL-threo-β-benzyloxyaspartate (TBOA). Our findings show that fine modulations (i.e. low concentrations of drug) of the excitatory synaptic transmission are reflected in the electrophysiological activation of the network, while intervention leading to excessive direct stimulation of glutamatergic pathways (i.e. medium and high concentrations of drug) results in the abolishment of the electrophysiological activity and eventually cell death. The results obtained by means of the MEA recordings have been compared to the analysis of cell viability to confirm the excitotoxic effect of the applied drug. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that MEA-coupled cortical networks are very sensitive to pharmacological manipulation of the excitatory ionotropic glutamatergic transmission and might provide sensitive endpoints to detect acute and chronic neurotoxic effects of chemicals and drugs for predictive toxicity testing.mixedFrega, M; Pasquale, V; Tedesco, M; Marcoli, M; Contestabile, A; Nanni, M; Bonzano, L; Maura, G; Chiappalone, MFrega, Monica; Pasquale, Valentina; Tedesco, Mariateresa; Marcoli, Manuela; Contestabile, A; Nanni, M; Bonzano, Laura; Maura, Guido; Chiappalone, Michel

Mechano-sensitization of mammalian neuronal networks through expression of the bacterial mechanosensitive MscL channel

Development of remote stimulation techniques for neuronal tissues represents a challenging goal. Among the potential methods, mechanical stimuli are the most promising vector to convey information non-invasively into intact brain tissue. In this context, selective mechano-sensitization of neuronal circuits would pave the way to develop a new cell-type specific stimulation approach. We report here for the first time the development and characterization of mechano-sensitized neuronal networks through the heterologous expression of an engineered bacterial large conductance mechanosensitive ion channel (MscL). The neuronal functional expression of the MscL channel was validated through patch-clamp recordings upon application of calibrated suction pressures. Moreover, we verified the effective development of in-vitro neuronal networks expressing the engineered MscL channel in terms of cell survival, number of synaptic puncta, and spontaneous network activity. The pure mechanosensitivity of the engineered MscL channel, with its wide genetic modification library, may represent a versatile tool to further develop a mechano-genetic approach

A light-gated potassium channel for sustained neuronal inhibition

Currently available inhibitory optogenetic tools provide short and transient silencing of neurons, but they cannot provide long-lasting inhibition because of the requirement for high light intensities. Here we present an optimized blue-light-sensitive synthetic potassium channel, BLINK2, which showed good expression in neurons in three species. The channel is activated by illumination with low doses of blue light, and in our experiments it remained active over (tens of) minutes in the dark after the illumination was stopped. This activation caused long periods of inhibition of neuronal firing in ex vivo recordings of mouse neurons and impaired motor neuron response in zebrafish in vivo. As a proof-of-concept application, we demonstrated that in a freely moving rat model of neuropathic pain, the activation of a small number of BLINK2 channels caused a long-lasting (>30 min) reduction in pain sensation.status: publishe

A light-gated potassium channel for sustained neuronal inhibition.

Currently available inhibitory optogenetic tools provide short and transient silencing of neurons, but they cannot provide long-lasting inhibition because of the requirement for high light intensities. Here we present an optimized blue-light-sensitive synthetic potassium channel, BLINK2, which showed good expression in neurons in three species. The channel is activated by illumination with low doses of blue light, and in our experiments it remained active over (tens of) minutes in the dark after the illumination was stopped. This activation caused long periods of inhibition of neuronal firing in ex vivo recordings of mouse neurons and impaired motor neuron response in zebrafish in vivo. As a proof-of-concept application, we demonstrated that in a freely moving rat model of neuropathic pain, the activation of a small number of BLINK2 channels caused a long-lasting (>30 min) reduction in pain sensation

Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines

The Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Committee met in November 2014 to address one important element of the incentive systems - journals’ procedures and policies for publication. The outcome of the effort is the TOP Guidelines. There are eight standards in the TOP guidelines; each move scientific communication toward greater openness. These standards are modular, facilitating adoption in whole or in part. However, they also complement each other, in that commitment to one standard may facilitate adoption of others. Moreover, the guidelines are sensitive to barriers to openness by articulating, for example, a process for exceptions to sharing because of ethical issues, intellectual property concerns, or availability of necessary resources

Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines

The Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Committee met in November 2014 to address one important element of the incentive systems - journals’ procedures and policies for publication. The outcome of the effort is the TOP Guidelines. There are eight standards in the TOP guidelines; each move scientific communication toward greater openness. These standards are modular, facilitating adoption in whole or in part. However, they also complement each other, in that commitment to one standard may facilitate adoption of others. Moreover, the guidelines are sensitive to barriers to openness by articulating, for example, a process for exceptions to sharing because of ethical issues, intellectual property concerns, or availability of necessary resources

A light-gated potassium channel for sustained neuronal inhibition

Currently available inhibitory optogenetic tools provide short and transient silencing of neurons, but they cannot provide long-lasting inhibition because of the requirement for high light intensities. Here we present an optimized blue-light-sensitive synthetic potassium channel, BLINK2, which showed good expression in neurons in three species. The channel is activated by illumination with low doses of blue light, and in our experiments it remained active over (tens of) minutes in the dark after the illumination was stopped. This activation caused long periods of inhibition of neuronal firing in ex vivo recordings of mouse neurons and impaired motor neuron response in zebrafish in vivo. As a proof-of-concept application, we demonstrated that in a freely moving rat model of neuropathic pain, the activation of a small number of BLINK2 channels caused a long-lasting (>30 min) reduction in pain sensation