113 research outputs found
Drinking Water in Northwestern Alaska: Using or Not Using Centralized Water Systems in Two Rural Communities
Over the last 100 years, there have been major changes in the way Iñupiaq villages in Alaska have procured fresh water for drinking and other human uses. Since the 1960s, major funding has been provided by local, state, and federal agencies to install centralized water systems in these villages. These systems have arrived with great expectations, and yet many of them have a myriad of problems due to harsh weather conditions, low winter temperatures, and permafrost. Other obstacles to success of the water systems arise from local preference for traditional water resources. On the Seward Peninsula, some villages rely heavily on centralized water systems, while others continue to rely more heavily on traditional water sources. We demonstrate in this paper that local variables, including different environmental factors and a sense of agency in the modernization process, affect local choices about whether or not to use the centralized water systems. We conclude that local, culturally specific ideas about health and acceptable drinking water quality must be taken into account for these projects to be successful.Ces cent derniĂšres annĂ©es, la façon dont les villages iñupiaqs, en Alaska, se sont procurĂ© lâeau douce nĂ©cessaire Ă la consommation et Ă dâautres usages humains a changĂ© considĂ©rablement. Depuis les annĂ©es 1960, des organismes fĂ©dĂ©raux, locaux et dâĂtat ont consacrĂ© beaucoup de financement Ă lâinstallation de rĂ©seaux centralisĂ©s dâalimentation en eau dans ces villages. Bien que les attentes Ă©taient grandes Ă lâĂ©gard de ces rĂ©seaux, grand nombre dâentre eux ont connu une myriade de problĂšmes attribuables aux conditions climatiques difficiles de lâhiver, aux basses tempĂ©ratures hivernales et au pergĂ©lisol. Parmi les autres obstacles Ă lâimplantation rĂ©ussie des rĂ©seaux dâalimentation en eau, notons la prĂ©fĂ©rence quâont les gens de la rĂ©gion pour les sources dâeau traditionnelles. Dans la pĂ©ninsule de Seward, certains villages dĂ©pendent fortement de rĂ©seaux centralisĂ©s dâalimentation en eau, tandis que dâautres villages continuent de dĂ©pendre surtout de sources dâeau traditionnelles. Nous dĂ©montrons dans cette communication que les variables locales, ce qui comprend divers facteurs environnementaux et la prĂ©sence dâorganismes se vouant au processus de modernisation, ont des incidences sur les choix faits dans la rĂ©gion, Ă savoir si les peuples dĂ©cident de recourir aux rĂ©seaux centralisĂ©s dâalimentation en eau ou non. Nous en concluons que pour que ces projets rĂ©ussissent, il faut tenir compte des idĂ©es des gens de la rĂ©gion en matiĂšre de culture, plus prĂ©cisĂ©ment en ce qui a trait Ă la santĂ© et Ă une qualitĂ© acceptable dâeau potable
Too Tired to Tell the Truth: Self-Control Resource Depletion and Dishonesty
The opportunity to profit from dishonesty evokes a motivational conflict between the temptation to cheat for selfish gain and the desire to act in a socially appropriate manner. Honesty may depend on self-control given that self-control is the capacity that enables people to override antisocial selfish responses in favor of socially desirable responses. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that dishonesty would increase when people\u27s self-control resources were depleted by an initial act of self-control. Depleted participants misrepresented their performance for monetary gain to a greater extent than did non-depleted participants (Experiment 1). Perhaps more troubling, depleted participants were more likely than non-depleted participants to expose themselves to the temptation to cheat, thereby aggravating the effects of depletion on cheating (Experiment 2). Results indicate that dishonesty increases when people\u27s capacity to exert self-control is impaired, and that people may be particularly vulnerable to this effect because they do not predict it
Too tired to tell the truth: Self-control resource depletion and dishonesty
The opportunity to profit from dishonesty evokes a motivational conflict between the temptation to cheat for selfish gain and the desire to act in a socially appropriate manner. Honesty may depend on self-control given that self-control is the capacity that enables people to override antisocial selfish responses in favor of socially desirable responses. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that dishonesty would increase when peopleâs self-control resources were depleted by an initial act of self-control. Depleted participants misrepresented their performance for monetary gain to a greater extent than did non-depleted participants (Experiment 1). Perhaps more troubling, depleted participants were more likely than non-depleted participants to expose themselves to the temptation to cheat, thereby aggravating the effects of depletion on cheating (Experiment 2). Results indicate that dishonesty increases when peopleâs capacity to exert self-control is impaired, and that people may be particularly vulnerable to this effect because they do not predict it
Time-resolved Neutron-gamma-ray Data Acquisition for in Situ Subsurface Planetary Geochemistry
The current gamma-ray/neutron instrumentation development effort at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center aims to extend the use of active pulsed neutron interrogation techniques to probe the subsurface elemental composition of planetary bodies in situ. Previous NASA planetary science missions, that used neutron and/or gamma-ray spectroscopy instruments, have relied on neutrons produced from galactic cosmic rays. One of the distinguishing features of this effort is the inclusion of a high intensity 14.1 MeV pulsed neutron generator synchronized with a custom data acquisition system to time each event relative to the pulse. With usually only one opportunity to collect data, it is difficult to set a priori time-gating windows to obtain the best possible results. Acquiring time-tagged, event-by-event data from nuclear induced reactions provides raw data sets containing channel/energy, and event time for each gamma ray or neutron detected. The resulting data set can be plotted as a function of time or energy using optimized analysis windows after the data are acquired. Time windows can now be chosen to produce energy spectra that yield the most statistically significant and accurate elemental composition results that can be derived from the complete data set. The advantages of post-processing gamma-ray time-tagged event-by-event data in experimental tests using our prototype instrument will be demonstrated
Aptamer-based multiplexed proteomic technology for biomarker discovery
Interrogation of the human proteome in a highly multiplexed and efficient manner remains a coveted and challenging goal in biology. We present a new aptamer-based proteomic technology for biomarker discovery capable of simultaneously measuring thousands of proteins from small sample volumes (15 [mu]L of serum or plasma). Our current assay allows us to measure ~800 proteins with very low limits of detection (1 pM average), 7 logs of overall dynamic range, and 5% average coefficient of variation. This technology is enabled by a new generation of aptamers that contain chemically modified nucleotides, which greatly expand the physicochemical diversity of the large randomized nucleic acid libraries from which the aptamers are selected. Proteins in complex matrices such as plasma are measured with a process that transforms a signature of protein concentrations into a corresponding DNA aptamer concentration signature, which is then quantified with a DNA microarray. In essence, our assay takes advantage of the dual nature of aptamers as both folded binding entities with defined shapes and unique sequences recognizable by specific hybridization probes. To demonstrate the utility of our proteomics biomarker discovery technology, we applied it to a clinical study of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We identified two well known CKD biomarkers as well as an additional 58 potential CKD biomarkers. These results demonstrate the potential utility of our technology to discover unique protein signatures characteristic of various disease states. More generally, we describe a versatile and powerful tool that allows large-scale comparison of proteome profiles among discrete populations. This unbiased and highly multiplexed search engine will enable the discovery of novel biomarkers in a manner that is unencumbered by our incomplete knowledge of biology, thereby helping to advance the next generation of evidence-based medicine
Effect of alloying elements on the electronic properties of thin passive films formed on carbon steel, ferritic and austenitic stainless steels in a highly concentrated LiBr solution
The influence of alloying elements on the electrochemical and semiconducting properties of thin passive films formed on several steels (carbon steel, ferritic and austenitic stainless steels) has been studied in a highly concentrated lithium bromide (LiBr) solution at 25 °C, by means of potentiodynamic tests and Mott-Schottky analysis. The addition of Cr to carbon steel promoted the formation of a p-type semiconducting region in the passive film. A high Ni content modified the electronic behaviour of highly alloyed austenitic stainless steels. Mo did not modify the electronic structure of the passive films, but reduced the concentration of defects
Membrane-mediated interactions
Interactions mediated by the cell membrane between inclusions, such as
membrane proteins or antimicrobial peptides, play important roles in their
biological activity. They also constitute a fascinating challenge for
physicists, since they test the boundaries of our understanding of
self-assembled lipid membranes, which are remarkable examples of
two-dimensional complex fluids. Inclusions can couple to various degrees of
freedom of the membrane, resulting in different types of interactions. In this
chapter, we review the membrane-mediated interactions that arise from direct
constraints imposed by inclusions on the shape of the membrane. These effects
are generic and do not depend on specific chemical interactions. Hence, they
can be studied using coarse-grained soft matter descriptions. We deal with
long-range membrane-mediated interactions due to the constraints imposed by
inclusions on membrane curvature and on its fluctuations. We also discuss the
shorter-range interactions that arise from the constraints on membrane
thickness imposed by inclusions presenting a hydrophobic mismatch with the
membrane.Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures, pre-submission version. In: Bassereau P., Sens
P. (eds) Physics of Biological Membranes. Springer, Cha
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