Absolute and relative stability of loss aversion across contexts

Individuals’ decisions under risk tend to be in line with the notion that “losses loom larger than gains”. This loss aversion in decision making is commonly understood as a stable in- dividual preference that is manifested across different contexts. The presumed stability and generality, which underlies the prominence of loss aversion in the literature at large, has been recently questioned by studies reporting how loss aversion can disappear, and even reverse, as a function of the choice context. The present study investigated whether loss aversion reflects a trait-like attitude of avoiding losses or rather individuals’ adaptability to different contexts. We report three experiments investigating the within-subject context sensitivity of loss aversion in a two-alternative forced-choice task. Our results show that the choice context can shift people’s loss aversion, though somewhat inconsistently. Moreover, individual estimates of loss aversion are shown to have a considerable degree of stability. Altogether, these results indicate that even though the absolute value of loss aversion can be affected by external factors such as the choice context, estimates of people’s loss aversion still capture the relative dispositions towards gains and losses across individuals

Multi-Exciton Spectroscopy of a Single Self Assembled Quantum Dot

We apply low temperature confocal optical microscopy to spatially resolve, and spectroscopically study a single self assembled quantum dot. By comparing the emission spectra obtained at various excitation levels to a theoretical many body model, we show that: Single exciton radiative recombination is very weak. Sharp spectral lines are due to optical transitions between confined multiexcitonic states among which excitons thermalize within their lifetime. Once these few states are fully occupied, broad bands appear due to transitions between states which contain continuum electrons.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publication on Jan,28 199

Ferritin is secreted via 2 distinct nonclassical vesicular pathways

Ferritin turnover plays a major role in tissue iron homeostasis, and ferritin malfunction is associated with impaired iron homeostasis and neurodegenerative diseases. In most eukaryotes, ferritin is considered an intracellular protein that stores iron in a nontoxic and bioavailable form. In insects, ferritin is a classically secreted protein and plays a major role in systemic iron distribution. Mammalian ferritin lacks the signal peptide for classical endoplasmic reticulum–Golgi secretion but is found in serum and is secreted via a nonclassical lysosomal secretion pathway. This study applied bioinformatics and biochemical tools, alongside a protein trafficking mouse models, to characterize the mechanisms of ferritin secretion. Ferritin trafficking via the classical secretion pathway was ruled out, and a 2:1 distribution of intracellular ferritin between membrane-bound compartments and the cytosol was observed, suggesting a role for ferritin in the vesicular compartments of the cell. Focusing on nonclassical secretion, we analyzed mouse models of impaired endolysosomal trafficking and found that ferritin secretion was decreased by a BLOC-1 mutation but increased by BLOC-2, BLOC-3, and Rab27A mutations of the cellular trafficking machinery, suggesting multiple export routes. A 13-amino-acid motif unique to ferritins that lack the secretion signal peptide was identified on the BC-loop of both subunits and plays a role in the regulation of ferritin secretion. Finally, we provide evidence that secretion of iron-rich ferritin was mediated via the multivesicular body–exosome pathway. These results enhance our understanding of the mechanism of ferritin secretion, which is an important piece in the puzzle of tissue iron homeostasis

Variability in above- and belowground Carbon Stocks in a Siberian Larch Watershed

Permafrost soils store between 1330 and 1580Pg carbon (C), which is 3 times the amount of C in global vegetation, almost twice the amount of C in the atmosphere, and half of the global soil organic C pool. Despite the massive amount of C in permafrost, estimates of soil C storage in the high-latitude permafrost region are highly uncertain, primarily due to undersampling at all spatial scales; circumpolar soil C estimates lack sufficient continental spatial diversity, regional intensity, and replication at the field-site level. Siberian forests are particularly undersampled, yet the larch forests that dominate this region may store more than twice as much soil C as all other boreal forest types in the continuous permafrost zone combined. Here we present above- and belowground C stocks from 20 sites representing a gradient of stand age and structure in a larch watershed of the Kolyma River, near Chersky, Sakha Republic, Russia. We found that the majority of C stored in the top 1m of the watershed was stored belowground (92%), with 19% in the top 10cm of soil and 40% in the top 30cm. Carbon was more variable in surface soils (10cm; coefficient of variation (CV) = 0.35 between stands) than in the top 30cm (CV = 0.14) or soil profile to 1m (CV = 0.20). Combined active-layer and deep frozen deposits (surface – 15m) contained 205kgCm−2 (yedoma, non-ice wedge) and 331kgCm−2 (alas), which, even when accounting for landscape-level ice content, is an order of magnitude more C than that stored in the top meter of soil and 2 orders of magnitude more C than in aboveground biomass. Aboveground biomass was composed of primarily larch (53%) but also included understory vegetation (30%), woody debris (11%) and snag (6%) biomass. While aboveground biomass contained relatively little (8%) of the C stocks in the watershed, aboveground processes were linked to thaw depth and belowground C storage. Thaw depth was negatively related to stand age, and soil C density (top 10cm) was positively related to soil moisture and negatively related to moss and lichen cover. These results suggest that, as the climate warms, changes in stand age and structure may be as important as direct climate effects on belowground environmental conditions and permafrost C vulnerability

Palliative Radiation Therapy for Vertebral Metastases and Metastatic Cord Compression in Patients Treated With Anti-PD-1 Therapy

Background: There is increasing use of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) across multiple cancer types, including in patients at risk for vertebral metastases and cord compression. These patients are often treated with palliative radiotherapy (PRT); however, data evaluating the combination of PRT and ICB in patients with vertebral metastases is limited. Furthermore, patients with cord compression are generally excluded from prospective clinical trials. Therefore, we retrospectively evaluated outcomes following PRT and PD-1 inhibition in patients with vertebral metastases.Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of 37 consecutive patients (total 57 lesions) treated with radiation for vertebral metastases who also received PD-1 inhibition. Patient, treatment and outcomes data were abstracted from the medical records.Results: Histologies included non-small cell lung cancer (n = 21), renal cell carcinoma (n = 9) and melanoma (n = 7). Out of 57 lesions,18 involved >1 segments of the vertebral column. There were isolated lesions in thoracic (16), lumbar (9), cervical (6), and sacral (8) vertebrae. Presenting symptoms included pain (19), numbness (10), and weakness (3). Eleven patients were asymptomatic. Radiologic cord compression was present in 12, epidural extension in 28 and compression fracture in 14. Eleven patients underwent surgical decompression prior to the onset of RT. Median radiation dose was 24 Gy (range 8–30 Gy). Stereotactic radiation was delivered in 4 patients; 33 patients received conformal RT. 21 patients received PD-1 inhibition after RT, 9 before RT and 7 with RT. Seven patients received concurrent CTLA-4 inhibitors with anti-PD-1 therapy.Treatment was in general well-tolerated. Toxicities included fatigue (6), transient pain flare (1), nausea/vomiting (1) and G1 skin changes (1). All patients reported some degree of pain relief. Numbness/weakness was improved in 6 of 13 patients with baseline symptoms (46%) and this was more likely in patients that received vertebral radiation after starting PD-1 inhibitors (71 vs. 17%, p = 0.04). Most patients (22 of 33 evaluable patients, 67%) had stability of irradiated lesions on subsequent follow up imaging performed at median of 30 days from RT, whereas 3 had a complete local response and 4 had a partial local response.Conclusions: We demonstrate that PRT administered to vertebral metastases was well-tolerated and effective in patients treated with PD-1 inhibitors. There was an encouraging rate of pain reduction and neurological improvement

Cognitive frames in corporate sustainability: managerial sensemaking with paradoxical and business case frames

Corporate sustainability confronts managers with tensions between complex economic, environmental, and social issues. Drawing on the literature on managerial cognition, corporate sustainability, and strategic paradoxes, we develop a cognitive framing perspective on corporate sustainability. We propose two cognitive frames—a business case frame and a paradoxical frame—and explore how differences between them in cognitive content and structure influence the three stages of the sensemaking process—that is, managerial scanning, interpreting, and responding with regard to sustainability issues. We explain how the two frames lead to differences in the breadth and depth of scanning, differences in issue interpretations in terms of sense of control and issue valence, and different types of responses that managers consider with regard to sustainability issues. By considering alternative cognitive frames, our argument contributes to a better understanding of managerial decision making regarding ambiguous sustainability issues, and it develops the underlying cognitive determinants of the stance that managers adopt on sustainability issues. This argument offers a cognitive explanation for why managers rarely push for radical change when faced with complex and ambiguous issues, such as sustainability, that are characterized by conflicting yet interrelated aspects