Exploring the Effects of Working for Endowments on Behaviour in Standard Economic Games

In recent years, significant advances have been made in understanding the adaptive (ultimate) and mechanistic (proximate) explanations for the evolution and maintenance of cooperation. Studies of cooperative behaviour in humans invariably use economic games. These games have provided important insights into the mechanisms that maintain economic and social cooperation in our species. However, they usually rely on the division of monetary tokens which are given to participants by the investigator. The extent to which behaviour in such games may reflect behaviour in the real world of biological markets – where money must be earned and behavioural strategies incur real costs and benefits – is unclear. To provide new data on the potential scale of this problem, we investigated whether people behaved differently in two standard economic games (public goods game and dictator game) when they had to earn their monetary endowments through the completion of dull or physically demanding tasks, as compared with simply being given the endowment. The requirement for endowments to be ‘earned’ through labour did not affect behaviour in the dictator game. However, the requirement to complete a dull task reduced cooperation in the public goods game among the subset of participants who were not familiar with game theory. There has been some effort to test whether the conclusions drawn from standard, token-based cooperation games adequately reflect cooperative behaviour ‘in the wild.’ However, given the almost total reliance on such games to study cooperation, more exploration of this issue would be welcome. Our data are not unduly worrying, but they do suggest that further exploration is needed if we are to make general inferences about human behaviour from the results of structured economic games

Application of ¹⁴C analyses to source apportionment of carbonaceous PM_2.5 in the UK

Determination of the radiocarbon (<sup>14</sup>C) content of airborne particulate matter yields insight into the proportion of the carbonaceous material derived from fossil and contemporary carbon sources. Daily samples of PM<sub>2.5</sub> were collected by high-volume sampler at an urban background site in Birmingham, UK, and the fraction of <sup>14</sup>C in both the total carbon, and in the organic and elemental carbon fractions, determined by two-stage combustion to CO<sub>2</sub>, graphitisation and quantification by accelerator mass spectrometry. OC and EC content was also determined by Sunset Analyzer. The mean fraction contemporary TC in the PM<sub>2.5</sub> samples was 0.50 (range 0.27–0.66, n = 26). There was no seasonality to the data, but there was a positive trend between fraction contemporary TC and magnitude of SOC/TC ratio and for the high values of these two parameters to be associated with air-mass back trajectories arriving in Birmingham from over land. Using a five-compartment mass balance model on fraction contemporary carbon in OC and EC, the following average source apportionment for the TC in these PM<sub>2.5</sub> samples was derived: 27% fossil EC; 20% fossil OC; 2% biomass EC; 10% biomass OC; and 41% biogenic OC. The latter category will comprise, in addition to BVOC-derived SOC, other non-combustion contemporary carbon sources such as biological particles, vegetative detritus, humic material and tyre wear. The proportion of total PM<sub>2.5</sub> at this location estimated to derive from BVOC-derived secondary organic aerosol was 9–29%. The findings from this work are consistent with those from elsewhere in Europe and support the conclusion of a significant and ubiquitous contribution from non-fossil biogenic sources to the carbon in terrestrial aerosol

Reanalysis and reclassification of rare genetic variants associated with inherited arrhythmogenic syndromes

Background: Accurate interpretation of rare genetic variants is a challenge for clinical translation. Updates in recommendations for rare variant classification require the reanalysis and reclassification. We aim to perform an exhaustive re-analysis of rare variants associated with inherited arrhythmogenic syndromes, which were classified ten years ago, to determine whether their classification aligns with current standards and research findings. Methods: In 2010, the rare variants identified through genetic analysis were classified following recommendations available at that time. Nowadays, the same variants have been reclassified following current American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics recommendations. Findings: Our cohort included 104 cases diagnosed with inherited arrhythmogenic syndromes and 17 post-mortem cases in which inherited arrhythmogenic syndromes was cause of death. 71.87% of variants change their classification. While 65.62% of variants were classified as likely pathogenic in 2010, after reanalysis, only 17.96% remain as likely pathogenic. In 2010, 18.75% of variants were classified as uncertain role but nowadays 60.15% of variants are classified of unknown significance. Interpretation: Reclassification occurred in more than 70% of rare variants associated with inherited arrhythmogenic syndromes. Our results support the periodical reclassification and personalized clinical translation of rare variants to improve diagnosis and adjust treatment

Crystal structure of 4-azidomethyl-6-tert-butyl-2H-chromen-2-one

MM would like to thank UGC, New Delhi, Government of India, for the award of a project under the head F. No. 41–920/2012(SR) (dated: 25-07-2012). In addition, SD is thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India, for financial assistance [grant No. 02 (0172)/13/EMRII].Peer reviewedPublisher PD

NuSTAR Observations of the Black Hole GS 1354-645: Evidence of Rapid Black Hole Spin

We present the results of a NuSTAR study of the dynamically confirmed stellar-mass black hole GS 1354-645. The source was observed during its 2015 "hard" state outburst; we concentrate on spectra from two relatively bright phases. In the higher-flux observation, the broadband NuSTAR spectra reveal a clear, strong disk reflection spectrum, blurred by a degree that requires a black hole spin of a = cJ/GM^2 > 0.98 (1 sigma statistical limits only). The fits also require a high inclination: theta = 75(2) degrees. Strong "dips" are sometimes observed in the X-ray light curves of sources viewed at such an angle; these are absent, perhaps indicating that dips correspond to flared disk structures that only manifest at higher accretion rates. In the lower-flux observation, there is evidence of radial truncation of the thin accretion disk. We discuss these results in the context of spin in stellar-mass black holes, and inner accretion flow geometries at moderate accretion rates.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Development and validation of broad-spectrum magnetic particle labelling processes for cell therapy manufacturing

Background Stem cells are increasingly seen as a solution for many health challenges for an ageing population. However, their potential benefits in the clinic are currently curtailed by technical challenges such as high cell dose requirements and point of care delivery, which pose sourcing and logistics challenges. Cell manufacturing solutions are currently in development to address the supply issue, and ancillary technologies such as nanoparticle-based labelling are being developed to improve stem cell delivery and enable post-treatment follow-up. Methods The application of magnetic particle (MP) labelling to potentially scalable cell manufacturing processes was investigated in a range of therapeutically relevant cells, including mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), cardiomyocytes (CMC) and neural progenitor cells (ReN). The efficiency and the biological effect of particle labelling were analysed using fluorescent imaging and cellular assays. Results Flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy confirmed efficient labelling of monolayer cultures. Viability was shown to be retained post labelling for all three cell types. MSC and CMC demonstrated higher tolerance to MP doses up to 100× the standard concentration. This approach was also successful for MP labelling of suspension cultures, demonstrating efficient MP uptake within 3 h, while cell viability was unaffected by this suspension labelling process. Furthermore, a procedure to enable the storing of MP-labelled cell populations to facilitate cold chain transport to the site of clinical use was investigated. When MP-labelled cells were stored in hypothermic conditions using HypoThermosol solution for 24 h, cell viability and differentiation potential were retained post storage for ReN, MSC and beating CMC. Conclusions Our results show that a generic MP labelling strategy was successfully developed for a range of clinically relevant cell populations, in both monolayer and suspension cultures. MP-labelled cell populations were able to undergo transient low-temperature storage whilst maintaining functional capacity in vitro. These results suggest that this MP labelling approach can be integrated into cell manufacturing and cold chain transport processes required for future cell therapy approaches

Dicobalt copper bis­[orthophosphate(V)] monohydrate, Co2.39Cu0.61(PO4)2·H2O

In an attempt to hydro­thermally synthesize a phase with composition Co2Cu(PO4)2·H2O, we obtained the title compound, Co2.39Cu0.61(PO4)2·H2O instead. Chemical analysis confirmed the presence of copper in the crystal. The crystal structure of the title compound can be described as a three- dimensional network constructed from the stacking of two types of layers extending parallel to (010). These layers are made up from more or less deformed polyhedra: CoO6 octa­hedra, (Cu/Co)O5 square pyramids and PO4 tetra­hedra. The first layer is formed by pairs of edge-sharing (Cu/Co)O5 square pyramids linked via a common edge of each end of the (Cu/Co)2O8 dimer to PO4 tetra­hedra. The second layer is undulating and is built up from edge-sharing CoO6 octa­hedra. The linkage between the two layers is accomplished by PO4 tetra­hedra. The presence of water mol­ecules in the CoO4(H2O)2 octa­hedron also contributes to the cohesion of the layers through O—H⋯O hydrogen bonding