No Origin, No Problem for Yeast DNA Replication

Eukaryotic DNA replication initiates from multiple sites on each chromosome called replication origins (origins). In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, origins are defined at discrete sites. Regular spacing and diverse firing characteristics of origins are thought to be required for efficient completion of replication, especially in the presence of replication stress. However, a S. cerevisiae chromosome III harboring multiple origin deletions has been reported to replicate relatively normally, and yet how an origin-deficient chromosome could accomplish successful replication remains unknown. To address this issue, we deleted seven well-characterized origins from chromosome VI, and found that these deletions do not cause gross growth defects even in the presence of replication inhibitors. We demonstrated that the origin deletions do cause a strong decrease in the binding of the origin recognition complex. Unexpectedly, replication profiling of this chromosome showed that DNA replication initiates from non-canonical loci around deleted origins in yeast. These results suggest that replication initiation can be unexpectedly flexible in this organism

Augmenting virtual spaces: affective feedback in computer games

Computer games can be considered a form of art insomuch as they are critiqued, revered and collected for their aesthetics in addition to their ludic qualities. Perhaps most significantly, computer games incite a plethora of emotional responses in their players as a deliberate and defining mechanism. However, unlike other forms of traditional media and art, another key feature of games is their intrinsic interactivity, reliance upon technology and non-linearity. These traits make them particularly noteworthy if one wishes to consider how art forms might respond and adapt to their audience’s emotions. The field of affective computing has been developing for several decades and many of its applications have been in the analysis and modelling of emotional responses to forms of media, such as music and film. In gaming, recent developments have led to an increasing number of consumer-grade biofeedback devices which are available on the market, some of which are explicitly sold as ‘gaming controllers’, giving rise to greater opportunity for affective feedback to be incorporated. In this chapter, a review is provided of the affective gaming field. Specifically, it is proposed that these developments give rise to interesting opportunities whereby virtual environments can be augmented with player affective and contextual information. An overview is provided of affective computing fundamentals and their manifestation in developments relating specifically to games. The chapter considers the impact this biometric information has upon games players, in terms of their experience of the game and the social connections between competitors. A number of associated practical and technological challenges are highlighted along with areas for future research and development activities. It is hoped that by exploring these developments in gaming that the longer established forms of art and media might be inspired to further embrace the possibilities offered by utilising affective feedback

Increased density and periosteal expansion of the tibia in young adult men following short-term arduous training

Purpose: Few human studies have reported early structural adaptations of bone to weight-bearing exercise, which provide a greater contribution to improved bone strength than increased density. This prospective study examined site- and regional-specific adaptations of the tibia during arduous training in a cohort of male military (infantry) recruits to better understand how bone responds in vivo to mechanical loading. Methods: Tibial bone density and geometry were measured in 90 British Army male recruits (ages 21 + 3 y, height 1.78 ± 0.06 m, body mass 73.9 + 9.8 kg) in weeks 1 (Baseline) and 10 of initial military training. Scans were performed at the 4%, 14%, 38% and 66% sites, measured from the distal end plate, using pQCT (XCT2000L, Stratec Pforzheim, Germany). Customised software (BAMPack, L-3 ATI) was used to examine whole bone cross-section and regional sectors. T-tests determined significant differences between time points (P<0.05). Results: Bone density of trabecular and cortical compartments increased significantly at all measured sites. Bone geometry (cortical area and thickness) and bone strength (i, MMi and BSI) at the diaphyseal sites (38 and 66%) were also significantly higher in week 10. Regional changes in density and geometry were largely observed in the anterior, medial-anterior and anterior-posterior sectors. Calf muscle density and area (66% site) increased significantly at week 10 (P<0.01). Conclusions: In vivo mechanical loading improves bone strength of the human tibia by increased density and periosteal expansion, which varies by site and region of the bone. These changes may occur in response to the nature and distribution of forces originating from bending, torsional and shear stresses of military training. These improvements are observed early in training when the osteogenic stimulus is sufficient, which may be close to the fracture threshold in some individuals

LSD Acutely Impairs Fear Recognition and Enhances Emotional Empathy and Sociality

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is used recreationally and has been evaluated as an adjunct to psychotherapy to treat anxiety in patients with life-threatening illness. LSD is well-known to induce perceptual alterations, but unknown is whether LSD alters emotional processing in ways that can support psychotherapy. We investigated the acute effects of LSD on emotional processing using the Face Emotion Recognition Task (FERT) and Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET). The effects of LSD on social behavior were tested using the Social Value Orientation (SVO) test. Two similar placebo-controlled, double-blind, random-order, crossover studies were conducted using 100 μg LSD in 24 subjects and 200 μg LSD in 16 subjects. All of the subjects were healthy and mostly hallucinogen-naive 25- to 65-year-old volunteers (20 men, 20 women). LSD produced feelings of happiness, trust, closeness to others, enhanced explicit and implicit emotional empathy on the MET, and impaired the recognition of sad and fearful faces on the FERT. LSD enhanced the participants' desire to be with other people and increased their prosocial behavior on the SVO test. These effects of LSD on emotion processing and sociality may be useful for LSD-assisted psychotherapy

Modern Clinical Research on LSD

All modern clinical studies using the classic hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in healthy subjects or patients in the last 25 years are reviewed herein. There were five recent studies in healthy participants and one in patients. In a controlled setting, LSD acutely induced bliss, audiovisual synesthesia, altered meaning of perceptions, derealization, depersonalization, and mystical experiences. These subjective effects of LSD were mediated by the 5-HT2A receptor. LSD increased feelings of closeness to others, openness, trust, and suggestibility. LSD impaired the recognition of sad and fearful faces, reduced left amygdala reactivity to fearful faces, and enhanced emotional empathy. LSD increased the emotional response to music and the meaning of music. LSD acutely produced deficits in sensorimotor gating, similar to observations in schizophrenia. LSD had weak autonomic stimulant effects and elevated plasma cortisol, prolactin, and oxytocin levels. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance studies showed that LSD acutely reduced the integrity of functional brain networks and increased connectivity between networks that normally are more dissociated. LSD increased functional thalamocortical connectivity and functional connectivity of the primary visual cortex with other brain areas. The latter effect was correlated with subjective hallucinations. LSD acutely induced global increases in brain entropy that were associated with greater trait openness 14 days later. In patients with anxiety associated with life-threatening disease, anxiety was reduced for 2 months after two doses of LSD. In medical settings, no complications of LSD administration were observed. These data should contribute to further investigations of the therapeutic potential of LSD in psychiatry

The DOE E3SM Coupled Model Version 1: Overview and Evaluation at Standard Resolution

This work documents the first version of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) new Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SMv1). We focus on the standard resolution of the fully coupled physical model designed to address DOE mission-relevant water cycle questions. Its components include atmosphere and land (110-km grid spacing), ocean and sea ice (60 km in the midlatitudes and 30 km at the equator and poles), and river transport (55 km) models. This base configuration will also serve as a foundation for additional configurations exploring higher horizontal resolution as well as augmented capabilities in the form of biogeochemistry and cryosphere configurations. The performance of E3SMv1 is evaluated by means of a standard set of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Characterization of Klima simulations consisting of a long preindustrial control, historical simulations (ensembles of fully coupled and prescribed SSTs) as well as idealized CO2 forcing simulations. The model performs well overall with biases typical of other CMIP-class models, although the simulated Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is weaker than many CMIP-class models. While the E3SMv1 historical ensemble captures the bulk of the observed warming between preindustrial (1850) and present day, the trajectory of the warming diverges from observations in the second half of the twentieth century with a period of delayed warming followed by an excessive warming trend. Using a two-layer energy balance model, we attribute this divergence to the model’s strong aerosol-related effective radiative forcing (ERFari+aci = -1.65 W/m2) and high equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS = 5.3 K).Plain Language SummaryThe U.S. Department of Energy funded the development of a new state-of-the-art Earth system model for research and applications relevant to its mission. The Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 1 (E3SMv1) consists of five interacting components for the global atmosphere, land surface, ocean, sea ice, and rivers. Three of these components (ocean, sea ice, and river) are new and have not been coupled into an Earth system model previously. The atmosphere and land surface components were created by extending existing components part of the Community Earth System Model, Version 1. E3SMv1’s capabilities are demonstrated by performing a set of standardized simulation experiments described by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Characterization of Klima protocol at standard horizontal spatial resolution of approximately 1° latitude and longitude. The model reproduces global and regional climate features well compared to observations. Simulated warming between 1850 and 2015 matches observations, but the model is too cold by about 0.5 °C between 1960 and 1990 and later warms at a rate greater than observed. A thermodynamic analysis of the model’s response to greenhouse gas and aerosol radiative affects may explain the reasons for the discrepancy.Key PointsThis work documents E3SMv1, the first version of the U.S. DOE Energy Exascale Earth System ModelThe performance of E3SMv1 is documented with a set of standard CMIP6 DECK and historical simulations comprising nearly 3,000 yearsE3SMv1 has a high equilibrium climate sensitivity (5.3 K) and strong aerosol-related effective radiative forcing (-1.65 W/m2)Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151288/1/jame20860_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151288/2/jame20860.pd

Interview of Margaret Bogenschutz by Alex Jania

Interview conducted at The Ohio State University Archives, Columbus, Ohio.Margaret Bogenschutz describes her career as a graduate student and staff member at The Ohio State University. She received her Master’s in College Student Personnel in 1978, and her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration in 1987, both from OSU. Bogenschutz discusses her work as an academic advisor in OSU’s College of Nursing, in 1986, prior to taking a job in the Fisher College of Business, Office of Career Services. Along with her colleagues, she spearheaded OSU’s Take Your Daughter to Work Day, overseeing the annual event for 10 years. Bogenschutz also has served as chairwoman of the University Career Services Committee, advisor to the Undergraduate Business Women’s Association, and as a staff representative on the President’s Council for Women. She also discusses the role of women in the prestigious Fisher Futures Investment Banking Program at OSU, which she initiated

Étude de l’échange électronique à l’interface semiconducteur — Solutions électrolytiques non aqueuses

Un traitement théorique du problème de l’échange électronique à la surface d’un semi-conducteur, basé sur la connaissance des propriétés intrinsèques du semiconducteur et la position du niveau de FERMI, permet de prévoir le comportement des différents types de semiconducteurs en face de solutions redox non aqueuses. La mesure de la variation de la surtension en fonction de la densité du courant pour les systèmes redox Ti3+/Ti4+ et I’3/I' sont en très bon accord avec les prévisions théoriques. L’effet de la lumière consiste en une variation instantanée du potentiel qui peut être expliquée par la création de porteurs libres, et ensuite une variation progressive en fonction du temps qui serait liée au processus de piégeage et de recombinaison sur les états de surface