Sociotemporal Rhythms in E-mail

This study examines sociotemporal rhythms in the volume of e-mail. E-mail is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but we hypothesize that there are non-random patterns in the temporal flow of e-mail. We counted the total number of e-mail messages received per hour by any address at our college for more than eight months. Non-random patterns emerged in our data. The volume of e-mail per hour is above average during traditional working hours and below average during the early morning and evening hours. Also, there are significant differences in the mean number of messages per hour/per day

Vaccination, life expectancy, and trust: Patterns of COVID-19 and measles vaccination rates around the world

We estimate patterns of covariation between COVID-19 and measles vaccination rates and a set of widely used indicators of human, social, and economic capital across 146 countries. About 70% of the variability in COVID-19 vaccination rates in February 2022, worldwide, can be explained by differences in the Human Development Index (HDI) and, specifically, in life expectancy at birth. Trust in doctors and nurses adds predictive value beyond the HDI, clarifying controversial discrepancies between vaccination rates in countries with similar levels of human development and vaccine availability. Cardiovascular disease deaths, an indicator of general health system effectiveness, and infant measles immunization coverage, an indicator of country-level immunization effectiveness, are also significant, though weaker, predictors of COVID-19 vaccination success. The metrics of economic inequality, perceived corruption, poverty, and inputs into the health system have strong bivariate correlations with COVID-19 vaccination but no longer remain statistically significant when controlling for the HDI. Measles vaccination in 2019 is similarly predicted by HDI, trust in doctors and nurses. National poverty rates seem to be a relevant predictor for both types of vaccination, though statistical significance is oscillating. The remaining variability in COVID-19 vaccination success that cannot be pinned down through these sets of metrics points to a considerable scope for collective and individual agency in a time of crisis. The mobilization and coordination in the vaccination campaigns of citizens, medical professionals, scientists, journalists, and politicians, among others, account for at least some of this variability in overcoming vaccine hesitancy and inequity

Vaccination, life expectancy, and trust: Patterns of COVID-19 vaccination rates around the world

We estimate patterns of covariation between COVID-19 vaccination rates and a set of widely used indicators of human, social, and economic capital across 146 countries in July 2021 and February 2022. About 70% of the variability in COVID-19 vaccination rates worldwide can be explained by differences in the Human Development Index (HDI) and, specifically, in life expectancy at birth, one year after the campaign debut. Trust in doctors and nurses adds predictive value beyond the HDI, clarifying controversial discrepancies between vaccination rates in countries with similar levels of human development and vaccine availability. Cardiovascular disease deaths, an indicator of general health system effectiveness, and infant measles immunization coverage, an indicator of country-level immunization effectiveness, are also significant, though weaker, predictors of COVID-19 vaccination success. The metrics of economic inequality, perceived corruption, poverty, and inputs into the health system have strong bivariate correlations with COVID-19 vaccination but no longer remain statistically significant when controlling for the HDI. Our analysis identified the contours of a social structure that sustains life and is reproduced through this process. COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be part of the Matthew effect of accumulating advantages and aggravating disadvantages that the pandemic inflicted on societies and communities across the world. At the same time, the remaining variability in vaccination success that cannot be pinned down through these sets of metrics points to a considerable scope for collective and individual agency in a time of crisis. The mobilization and coordination in the vaccination campaigns of citizens, medical professionals, scientists, journalists, and politicians, amo

IN-SYNC. V. Stellar kinematics and dynamics in the Orion A Molecular Cloud

The kinematics and dynamics of young stellar populations enable us to test theories of star formation. With this aim, we continue our analysis of the SDSS-III/APOGEE IN-SYNC survey, a high resolution near infrared spectroscopic survey of young clusters. We focus on the Orion A star-forming region, for which IN-SYNC obtained spectra of $\sim2700$ stars. In Paper IV we used these data to study the young stellar population. Here we study the kinematic properties through radial velocities ($v_r$). The young stellar population remains kinematically associated with the molecular gas, following a $\sim10\:{\rm{km\:s}}^{-1}$ gradient along filament. However, near the center of the region, the $v_r$ distribution is slightly blueshifted and asymmetric; we suggest that this population, which is older, is slightly in foreground. We find evidence for kinematic subclustering, detecting statistically significant groupings of co-located stars with coherent motions. These are mostly in the lower-density regions of the cloud, while the ONC radial velocities are smoothly distributed, consistent with it being an older, more dynamically evolved cluster. The velocity dispersion $\sigma_v$ varies along the filament. The ONC appears virialized, or just slightly supervirial, consistent with an old dynamical age. Here there is also some evidence for on-going expansion, from a $v_r$--extinction correlation. In the southern filament, $\sigma_v$ is $\sim2$--$3$ times larger than virial in the L1641N region, where we infer a superposition along the line of sight of stellar sub-populations, detached from the gas. On the contrary, $\sigma_v$ decreases towards L1641S, where the population is again in agreement with a virial state.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, ApJ accepte

Interrogating a Hexokinase-Selected Small-Molecule Library for Inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum Hexokinase

This is the published version.Parasites in the genus Plasmodium cause disease throughout the tropic and subtropical regions of the world. P. falciparum, one of the deadliest species of the parasite, relies on glycolysis for the generation of ATP while it inhabits the mammalian red blood cell. The first step in glycolysis is catalyzed by hexokinase (HK). While the 55.3-kDa P. falciparum HK (PfHK) shares several biochemical characteristics with mammalian HKs, including being inhibited by its products, it has limited amino acid identity (∼26%) to the human HKs, suggesting that enzyme-specific therapeutics could be generated. To that end, interrogation of a selected small-molecule library of HK inhibitors has identified a class of PfHK inhibitors, isobenzothiazolinones, some of which have 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) of <1 μM. Inhibition was reversible by dilution but not by treatment with a reducing agent, suggesting that the basis for enzyme inactivation was not covalent association with the inhibitor. Lastly, six of these compounds and the related molecule ebselen inhibited P. falciparum growth in vitro (50% effective concentration [EC50] of ≥0.6 and <6.8 μM). These findings suggest that the chemotypes identified here could represent leads for future development of therapeutics against P. falciparum

IN-SYNC II: Virial Stars from Sub-Virial Cores -- The Velocity Dispersion of Embedded Pre-Main-Sequence Stars in NGC 1333

The initial velocity dispersion of newborn stars is a major unconstrained aspect of star formation theory. Using near-infrared spectra obtained with the APOGEE spectrograph, we show that the velocity dispersion of young (1-2 Myr) stars in NGC 1333 is 0.92+/-0.12 km/s after correcting for measurement uncertainties and the effect of binaries. This velocity dispersion is consistent with the virial velocity of the region and the diffuse gas velocity dispersion, but significantly larger than the velocity dispersion of the dense, star-forming cores, which have a sub-virial velocity dispersion of 0.5 km/s. Since the NGC 1333 cluster is dynamically young and deeply embedded, this measurement provides a strong constraint on the initial velocity dispersion of newly-formed stars. We propose that the difference in velocity dispersion between stars and dense cores may be due to the influence of a 70 micro-Gauss magnetic field acting on the dense cores, or be the signature of a cluster with initial sub-structure undergoing global collapse.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. 23 pages, 9 figures and 3 table

Wnt5a Increases Cardiac Gene Expressions of Cultured Human Circulating Progenitor Cells via a PKC Delta Activation

Background: Wnt signaling controls the balance between stem cell proliferation and differentiation and body patterning throughout development. Previous data demonstrated that non-canonical Wnts (Wnt5a, Wnt11) increased cardiac gene expression of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) and bone marrow-derived stem cells cultured in vitro. Since previous studies suggested a contribution of the protein kinase C (PKC) family to the Wnt5a-induced signalling, we investigated which PKC isoforms are activated by non-canonical Wnt5a in human EPC. Methodology/Principal Findings: Immunoblot experiments demonstrated that Wnt5a selectively activated the novel PKC isoform, PKC delta, as evidenced by phosphorylation and translocation. In contrast, the classical Ca2+-dependent PKC isoforms, PKC alpha and beta2, and one of the other novel PKC isoforms, PKC epsilon, were not activated by Wnt5a. The PKC delta inhibitor rottlerin significantly blocked co-culture-induced cardiac differentiation in vitro, whereas inhibitors directed against the classical Ca2+-dependent PKC isoforms or a PKC epsilon-inhibitory peptide did not block cardiac differentiation. In accordance, EPC derived from PKC delta heterozygous mice exhibited a significant reduction of Wnt5a-induced cardiac gene expression compared to wild type mice derived EPC. Conclusions/Significance: These data indicate that Wnt5a enhances cardiac gene expressions of EPC via an activation of PKC delta