Saturated simplicial complexes

AbstractAmong shellable complexes a certain class has maximal modular homology, and these are the so-called saturated complexes. We extend the notion of saturation to arbitrary pure complexes and give a survey of their properties. It is shown that saturated complexes can be characterized via the p-rank of incidence matrices and via the structure of links. We show that rank-selected subcomplexes of saturated complexes are also saturated, and that order complexes of geometric lattices are saturated

High salt recruits aversive taste pathways

In the tongue, distinct classes of taste receptor cells detect the five basic tastes; sweet, sour, bitter, sodium salt and umami. Among these qualities, bitter and sour stimuli are innately aversive, whereas sweet and umami are appetitive and generally attractive to animals. By contrast, salty taste is unique in that increasing salt concentration fundamentally transforms an innately appetitive stimulus into a powerfully aversive one. This appetitive–aversive balance helps to maintain appropriate salt consumption, and represents an important part of fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. We have shown previously that the appetitive responses to NaCl are mediated by taste receptor cells expressing the epithelial sodium channel, ENaC, but the cellular substrate for salt aversion was unknown. Here we examine the cellular and molecular basis for the rejection of high concentrations of salts. We show that high salt recruits the two primary aversive taste pathways by activating the sour- and bitter-taste-sensing cells. We also demonstrate that genetic silencing of these pathways abolishes behavioural aversion to concentrated salt, without impairing salt attraction. Notably, mice devoid of salt-aversion pathways show unimpeded, continuous attraction even to very high concentrations of NaCl. We propose that the ‘co-opting’ of sour and bitter neural pathways evolved as a means to ensure that high levels of salt reliably trigger robust behavioural rejection, thus preventing its potentially detrimental effects on health

Embeddings of U 3 (8), Sz (8) and the Rudvalis group in algebraic groups of type E 7

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46579/1/222_2005_Article_BF01231561.pd

Climate Donations Inspired by Evidence-Based Fundraising

Everyone has an opportunity to contribute to climate solutions. To help people engage with this opportunity, it is critical to understand how climate organizations and fundraisers can best communicate with people and win their financial support. In particular, fundraisers often rely on practical skills and anecdotal beliefs at the expense of scientific knowledge. Fundraisers could be motivated to achieve a substantial boost in funding for climate solutions, if there is evidence of the financial gains that science-based fundraising makes available. In this Perspective, we provide a preliminary foray into such evidence. We bring together findings from philanthropic research and climate psychology to identify what factors can help captivate donors. Then, through an experimental study of a charitable appeal for a climate charity, we show how putting these factors into practice may contribute toward an increase in donated money. This provides optimism that evidence-based fundraising can inspire donors to contribute much-needed resources toward climate solutions

Fuel cell applications for novel metalloporphyrin catalysts

This project utilized Computer-Aided Molecular Design (CAMD) to develop a new class of metalloporphyrin materials for use as catalysts for two fuel cell reactions. The first reaction is the reduction of oxygen at the fuel cell cathode, and this reaction was the main focus of the research. The second reaction we attempted to catalyze was the oxidation of methanol at the anode. Two classes of novel metalloporphyrins were developed. The first class comprised the dodecaphenylporphyrins whose steric bulk forces them into a non-planar geometry having a pocket where oxygen or methanol is more tightly bound to the porphyrin than it is in the case of planar porphyrins. Significant improvements in the catalytic reduction of oxygen by the dodecaphenyl porphyrins were measured in electrochemical cells. The dodecaphenylporphyrins were further modified by fluorinating the peripheral phenyl groups to varying degrees. The fluorination strongly affected their redox potential, but no effect on their catalytic activity towards oxygen was observed. The second class of porphyrin catalysts was a series of hydrogen-bonding porphyrins whose interaction with oxygen is enhanced. Enhancements in the interaction of oxygen with the porphyrins having hydrogen bonding groups were observed spectroscopically. Computer modeling was performed using Molecular Simulations new CERIUS2 Version 1.6 and a research version of POLYGRAF from Bill Goddard`s research group at the California Institute of Technology. We reoptimized the force field because of an error that was in POLYGRAF and corrected a problem in treatment of the metal in early versions of the program. This improved force field was reported in a J. Am. Chem. Soc. manuscript. Experimental measurements made on the newly developed catalysts included the electrochemical testing in a fuel cell configuration and spectroscopic measurements (UV-Vis, Raman and XPS) to characterize the catalysts

The Taste of Carbonation

Carbonated beverages are commonly available and immensely popular, but little is known about the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the perception of carbonation in the mouth. In mammals, carbonation elicits both somatosensory and chemosensory responses, including activation of taste neurons. We have identified the cellular and molecular substrates for the taste of carbonation. By targeted genetic ablation and the silencing of synapses in defined populations of taste receptor cells, we demonstrated that the sour-sensing cells act as the taste sensors for carbonation, and showed that carbonic anhydrase 4, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored enzyme, functions as the principal CO_2 taste sensor. Together, these studies reveal the basis of the taste of carbonation as well as the contribution of taste cells in the orosensory response to CO_2

‘School, family and then hockey!’ Coaches’ views on dual career in ice hockey

Despite the extensive research into coaches’ roles in supporting athletic development and motivation for sport, few studies have examined coaches’ attitudes and practices towards athletes’ dual careers. The present study extends European research into athletes’ dual careers by examining Finnish ice hockey coaches’ attitudes and practices surrounding players’ education. Ten male coaches aged 27–52 participated in semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed with an existential-narrative theoretical framework and with thematic and structural narrative analysis. Three composite vignettes were created entitled ‘supporting athletic development and players in reaching their own goals’, ‘enjoyment and physically active lifestyle’ and ‘developing good persons’. The analysis revealed that although all coaches embraced the official rhetoric where school is a priority over ice hockey, most of them had few practical examples of how this view had informed their coaching practice. It is concluded that young players may be easily lured into dreams of professionalism, whereas coaches’ dominant narrative of education as a back-up may be ineffective to spark athletes’ interest and engagement with education. © 2017, © The Author(s) 2017

POSSIBILITIES OF OPEN ERUPTION ELIMINATION BY DRILLING TOOLS

The most important raw materials for different industries are oil and natural gas. With increasing consumption, the demand for drilling and the quality of production increases. Therefore, the exploration and production of hydrocarbons requires not only first-class machinery and technological equipment, but also qualified personnel. Exploration and drilling, production of hydrocarbons, like any other industry, cannot avoid accidents, emergencies and catastrophes. The worst type of well accident is undoubtedly an open eruption of the extracted crude oil. Open eruption can lead to serious injuries to the rig personnel, damage and destruction of equipment, negative environmental impact and loss of crude oil. Exploratory drilling can cause the rise of pressure and its subsequent manifestations. During the first deep drilling, there may not be enough information about the drilled horizons. If the reservoir pressure in the production horizon is higher than the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid in the well (for example, drilling mud), the formation fluids flow into the well and move towards the surface, which causes open eruption. The rig personnel must be properly trained to be able to recognize the occurrence of rising pressure by various signs and to respond effectively to the situation. Sometimes, under the influence of the human factor or equipment failure, open eruption still occurs. The article discusses the possibilities of eliminating open eruptions with drilling tools

Cashing Out the Great Cannon? On Browser-Based DDoS Attacks and Economics

The Great Cannon DDoS attack has shown that HTML/JavaScript can be used to launch HTTP-based DoS attacks. In this paper, we identify options that could allow the implementation of the general idea of browser-based DDoS botnets and review ways how attackers can acquire bots (e.g., typosquatting and malicious ads). We then assess the DoS impact of browser features and show that at least three JavaScript-based techniques can orchestrate clients to send thousands of HTTP requests per second. Seeing the vats potential, we evaluate the economics of browser-based botnets and show that their cost are about as high as traditional DDoS botnets—while giving far less flexibility in terms of attack features and control over the bots. Finally, we discuss victim- and browser-side countermeasures