Bicarbonate or Carbonate Processes for Coupling Carbon Dioxide Capture and Electrochemical Conversion

Designing a scalable system to capture CO₂ from the air and convert it into valuable chemicals, fuels, and materials could be transformational for mitigating climate change. Climate models predict that negative greenhouse gas emissions will be required by the year 2050 in order to stay below a 2 °C change in global temperature. The processes of CO₂ capture, CO₂ conversion, and finally product separation all require significant energy inputs; devising a system that simultaneously minimizes the energy required for all steps is an important challenge. To date, a variety of prototype or pilot-level CO₂ capture and/or conversion systems have been designed and built targeting the individual objectives of either capture or conversion. One approach has focused on CO₂ removal from the atmosphere and storage of pure pressurized CO₂. Other efforts have concentrated on CO₂ conversion processes, such as electrochemical reduction or fermentation. Only a few concepts or analyses have been developed for complete end-to-end processes that perform both CO₂ capture and transformation

The Sound of Bone: The Initial Testing and Analysis of Sound as a Species Identification Method for Osteological Remains

This paper represents a preliminary test to an alternative method of species remains identification, namely bone acoustics. It is hypothesized that human and non-human long bone remains of similar diameter produce different amplitudes of sound from one another, resulting in the ability to distinguish human remains from non-human remains

Bicarbonate or Carbonate Processes for Coupling Carbon Dioxide Capture and Electrochemical Conversion

Designing a scalable system to capture CO₂ from the air and convert it into valuable chemicals, fuels, and materials could be transformational for mitigating climate change. Climate models predict that negative greenhouse gas emissions will be required by the year 2050 in order to stay below a 2 °C change in global temperature. The processes of CO₂ capture, CO₂ conversion, and finally product separation all require significant energy inputs; devising a system that simultaneously minimizes the energy required for all steps is an important challenge. To date, a variety of prototype or pilot-level CO₂ capture and/or conversion systems have been designed and built targeting the individual objectives of either capture or conversion. One approach has focused on CO₂ removal from the atmosphere and storage of pure pressurized CO₂. Other efforts have concentrated on CO₂ conversion processes, such as electrochemical reduction or fermentation. Only a few concepts or analyses have been developed for complete end-to-end processes that perform both CO₂ capture and transformation

Who trusts Twitter? Openness to ideas as a predictor of trust and interest in news of an international disaster presented in Twitter and traditional on-line journalism formats

Twitter is an increasingly utilized tool for communication during major events including natural disasters; however, there is little research investigating this topic and how individual differences might predict reactions to information in this medium. The current study seeks to understand how the personality trait of openness to ideas predicts perceptions of a Twitter source\u27s trustworthiness and interest relative to a journalistic source. Participants were randomly assigned to read a simulated account of a flood presented either as a Twitter account or a journalistic account and then rated perceptions of the sources. Results indicate that Twitter is trusted less than a journalistic account; however, moderator effects revealed that openness to ideas was positively correlated with trust in the Twitter condition but negatively correlated with trust in the journalistic format. The present study helps to clarify the role of personality in the process of consuming information on-line

Are gonadal steroids linked with orgasm perceptions and sexual assertiveness in women and men?

Past findings suggest links between orgasms and testosterone (T), as well as sexuality and estradiol (E), and we examined hormone–orgasm links in this study via two hypotheses (below). Participants were 86 women and 91 men who provided a saliva sample and completed a demographics questionnaire, the Orgasm Checklist (Mah and Binik, 2002), the Hurlbert (1991) Index of Sexual Assertiveness, and the Sexual Desire Inventory (Spector and Fremeth, 1996). Results supported the first hypothesis of correlations between T and positive orgasm experience in women, specifically with the relaxation, soothing, and peaceful items in both partnered and solitary orgasm contexts. Results also indicated correlations between E and flooding and spreading items in a solitary orgasm context. There were no associations between hormones and men's perceptions of their orgasm experiences. There was no support for the second hypothesis of associations between higher T and more sexual assertiveness. Post hoc analyses showed associations between E and women's sexual desire, and T and men's sexual desire. We discuss implications of these findings including that solitary vs. partnered orgasm experiences may differ, and suggest that T might be associated with perceptions of psychological experiences of orgasms, and E might be associated with perceptions of physical experiences of orgasms.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83876/1/are_gonadal_steroids.pd

An augmented reality sign-reading assistant for users with reduced vision

People typically rely heavily on visual information when finding their way to unfamiliar locations. For individuals with reduced vision, there are a variety of navigational tools available to assist with this task if needed. However, for wayfinding in unfamiliar indoor environments the applicability of existing tools is limited. One potential approach to assist with this task is to enhance visual information about the location and content of existing signage in the environment. With this aim, we developed a prototype software application, which runs on a consumer head-mounted augmented reality (AR) device, to assist visually impaired users with sign-reading. The sign-reading assistant identifies real-world text (e.g., signs and room numbers) on command, highlights the text location, converts it to high contrast AR lettering, and optionally reads the content aloud via text-to-speech. We assessed the usability of this application in a behavioral experiment. Participants with simulated visual impairment were asked to locate a particular office within a hallway, either with or without AR assistance (referred to as the AR group and control group, respectively). Subjective assessments indicated that participants in the AR group found the application helpful for this task, and an analysis of walking paths indicated that these participants took more direct routes compared to the control group. However, participants in the AR group also walked more slowly and took more time to complete the task than the control group. The results point to several specific future goals for usability and system performance in AR-based assistive tools.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea

We report on three decades of repeat surveys of beached marine debris at two locations in the Scotia Sea, in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Between October 1989 and March 2019 10,112 items of beached debris were recovered from Main Bay, Bird Island, South Georgia in the northern Scotia Sea. The total mass of items (data from 1996 onwards) was 101 kg. Plastic was the most commonly recovered item (97.5% by number; 89% by mass) with the remainder made up of fabric, glass, metal, paper and rubber. Mean mass per item was 0.01 kg and the rate of accumulation was 100 items km−1 month−1. Analyses showed an increase in the number of debris items recovered (5.7 per year) but a decline in mean mass per item, suggesting a trend towards more, smaller items of debris at Bird Island. At Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, located in the southern Scotia Sea and within the Antarctic Treaty area, debris items were collected from three beaches, during the austral summer only, between 1991 and 2019. In total 1304 items with a mass of 268 kg were recovered. Plastic items contributed 84% by number and 80% by mass, with the remainder made up of metal (6% by number; 14% by mass), rubber (4% by number; 3% by mass), fabric, glass and paper (<1% by number; 3% by mass). Mean mass per item was 0.2 kg and rate of accumulation was 3 items km−1 month−1. Accumulation rates were an order of magnitude higher on the western (windward) side of the island (13–17 items km−1 month−1) than the eastern side (1.5 items km−1 month−1). Analyses showed a slight decline in number and slight increase in mean mass of debris items over time at Signy Island. This study highlights the prevalence of anthropogenic marine debris (particularly plastic) in the Southern Ocean. It shows the importance of long-term monitoring efforts in attempting to catalogue marine debris and identify trends, and serves warning of the urgent need for a wider understanding of the extent of marine debris across the whole of the Southern Ocean

Assessing Speech Perception in Children With Hearing Loss: What Conventional Clinical Tools May Miss

This study tested the hypothesis that word recognition in a complex, two-talker masker is more closely related to real-world speech perception for children with hearing loss than testing performed in quiet or steady-state noise

Covid-19 Vaccine Confidence, Concerns, and Uptake in Children Aged 5 and Older in Calgary, Alberta: a Longitudinal Cohort Study

OBJECTIVES: Beginning early in the pandemic, there was a worldwide effort to develop effective vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Before and after the approval and implementation of vaccines, there were concerns about their need as well as their safety and rapid development. We explored child demographic characteristics and parental concerns to identify factors associated with the decision to vaccinate. METHODS: A cohort of 1035 children from Calgary was assembled in 2020 to participate in 5 visits every 6 months for survey completion and blood sampling for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Visits 1 to 2 occurred before approval of vaccines for children; Visits 3 to 5 occurred after vaccine approval for different age groups. We described vaccine concerns and utilized logistic regression to examine factors associated with the decision to vaccinate in children ≥5 years of age. RESULTS: Children ≥12 years of age, of non-white or non-black ethnicity, and who had received previous influenza vaccines had higher odds of being vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. Children with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection had lower odds of being vaccinated. The most common concerns in early 2021 were about vaccine safety. By summer 2022, the most common concern was a belief that vaccines were not necessary. Through the study 88% of children were vaccinated. CONCLUSIONS: Age, ethnicity, previous infections, and vaccine attitudes were associated with parental decision to vaccinate against SARS-CoV-2. For children who remained unvaccinated, parents continued to have safety concerns and questioned the necessity of the vaccine. Complacency about the need for vaccination may be more challenging to address and overcome than concerns about safety alone

Integrin-mediated traction force enhances paxillin molecular associations and adhesion dynamics that increase the invasiveness of tumor cells into a three-dimensional extracellular matrix.

Metastasis requires tumor cells to navigate through a stiff stroma and squeeze through confined microenvironments. Whether tumors exploit unique biophysical properties to metastasize remains unclear. Data show that invading mammary tumor cells, when cultured in a stiffened three-dimensional extracellular matrix that recapitulates the primary tumor stroma, adopt a basal-like phenotype. Metastatic tumor cells and basal-like tumor cells exert higher integrin-mediated traction forces at the bulk and molecular levels, consistent with a motor-clutch model in which motors and clutches are both increased. Basal-like nonmalignant mammary epithelial cells also display an altered integrin adhesion molecular organization at the nanoscale and recruit a suite of paxillin-associated proteins implicated in invasion and metastasis. Phosphorylation of paxillin by Src family kinases, which regulates adhesion turnover, is similarly enhanced in the metastatic and basal-like tumor cells, fostered by a stiff matrix, and critical for tumor cell invasion in our assays. Bioinformatics reveals an unappreciated relationship between Src kinases, paxillin, and survival of breast cancer patients. Thus adoption of the basal-like adhesion phenotype may favor the recruitment of molecules that facilitate tumor metastasis to integrin-based adhesions. Analysis of the physical properties of tumor cells and integrin adhesion composition in biopsies may be predictive of patient outcome