Solitary and Social Object Play in the Bottlenose Dolphin (\u3ci\u3eTursiops truncatus\u3c/i\u3e)

Many comparative studies have focused on the emergence of solitary and social play in early development. However, few consider observer and parallel forms of solitary play. In this study, use of video analysis revealed that there is a significant difference between the frequency of solitary, observer, parallel, and social object play states, in calf, juvenile, subadult, and adult bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). While juveniles engaged in solitary play significantly more than any other age group, both juveniles and calves engaged in observer and social play significantly more than adults and subadults. Within their own age group, calves, juveniles, and subadults all showed a significant preference for solitary play. Preferences for play partners spanned across related or unrelated calves, juveniles, subadults, and adults. Calves preferred to play with juveniles, while juveniles preferred to play with both calves and juveniles. Juveniles preferred to play with calves during social play and with other juveniles during observer play. Calves and juveniles preferred unrelated partners. Similarly, calves and juveniles preferred to play with unrelated partners during observer play. Together, these results have implications for social learning and the transmission of behavior through observational play. With this knowledge, we can provide the appropriate social environment to captive individuals with limited or constrained social availability, increasing learning opportunities, so that individuals may develop more diverse behavioral repertoires while decreasing behavioral deficits

Form factor in K+ --> pi+ pi0 gamma: interference versus direct emission

We analyze the effect of a form factor in the magnetic contribution to K+ --> pi+ pi0 gamma. We emphasize how this can show up experimentally: in particular we try to explore the difference between a possible interference contribution and a form factor in the magnetic part. The form factor used for K+ --> pi+ pi0 gamma is analogous to the one for KL --> pi+ pi- gamma, experimentally well established.Comment: 9 pages revtex, 10 eps figures; improved presentation of theoretical and experimental status; refs. adde

The hadronic light by light contribution to the (g−2)μ(g-2)_{\mu} with holographic models of QCD

We study the anomalous electromagnetic pion form factor $F_{\pi^0\gamma^*\gamma^*}$ with a set of holographic models. By comparing with the measured value of the linear slope, some of these models can be ruled out. From the remaining models we obtain predictions for the low-energy quadratic slope parameters of $F_{\pi^0\gamma^*\gamma^*}$, currently out of experimental reach but testable in the near future. We find it particularly useful to encode this low-energy information in a form factor able to satisfy also QCD short-distance constraints. We choose the form factor introduced by D'Ambrosio, Isidori and Portoles in kaon decays, which has the right short distance for a particular value of the quadratic slope, which is later shown to be compatible with our holographic predictions. We then turn to a determination of the (dominant) pion exchange diagram in the hadronic light by light scattering contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment. We quantify the theoretical uncertainty in $(g-2)_{\mu}$ coming from the different input we use: QCD short distances, experimental input and low-energy holographic predictions. We also test the pion-pole approximation. Our final result is $a_{\mu}^{\pi^0}=6.54(25)\cdot 10^{-10}$, where the error is driven by the linear slope of $F_{\pi^0\gamma^*\gamma^*}$, soon to be measured with precision at KLOE-2. Our numerical analysis also indicates that large values of the magnetic susceptibility $\chi_0$ are disfavored, therefore pointing at a mild effect from the pion off-shellness. However, in the absence of stronger bounds on $\chi_0$, an additional $(10-15)$ systematic uncertainty on the previous value for $a_\mu^{\pi^0}$ cannot be excluded.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. Substantial improvements throughout the text to match the published version. Enhanced discussion of the analysis in Section IV with the addition of two appendices. Conclusions unchange

Quality-aware mashup composition: issues, techniques and tools

Web mashups are a new generation of applications based on the composition of ready-to-use, heterogeneous components. In different contexts, ranging from the consumer Web to Enterprise systems, the potential of this new technology is to make users evolve from passive receivers of applications to actors actively involved in the creation of their artifacts, thus accommodating the inherent variability of the users’ needs. Current advances in mashup technologies are good candidates to satisfy this requirement. However, some issues are still largely unexplored. In particular, quality issues specific for this class of applications, and the way they can guide the users in the identification of adequate components and composition patterns, are neglected. This paper discusses quality dimensions that can capture the intrinsic quality of mashup components, as well as the components’ capacity to maximize the quality and the userperceived value of the overall composition. It also proposes an assisted composition process in which quality becomes the driver for recommending to the users how to complete mashups, based on the integration of quality assessment and recommendation techniques within a tool for mashup development

Determinants of insurance companies' enviromental, social, and governance awareness

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are increasingly important in all fields of economics. However, despite increasing interest from policy makers and financial regulators, literature relating to the insurance industry is still scarce. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the interaction between a set of financial ratios and environmental social governance scores of 107 large, listed US insurance companies for the period 2010–2018 for the purpose of identifying the determinants of ESG awareness. Larger, more profitable, and more solvent insurance companies show the highest level of ESG awareness. Our model contributes to shed light on the unfolding of ESG practices in the insurance industry

Antipseudomonal and immunomodulatory properties of esc peptides: Promising features for treatment of chronic infectious diseases and inflammation

Persistent infections, such as those provoked by the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, can induce inflammation with lung tissue damage and progressive alteration of respiratory function. Therefore, compounds having both an-timicrobial and immunomodulatory activities are certainly of great advantage in fighting infectious diseases and chronic inflammation. We recently demonstrated the potent antipseudomonal efficacy of the antimicrobial peptide (AMP) Esc(1-21) and its diastereomer Esc(1-21)-1c, namely Esc peptides. Here, we confirmed this antimicrobial activity by reporting on the peptides’ ability to kill P. aeruginosa once internalized into alveolar epithelial cells. Furthermore, by means of enzyme-linked immunosor-bent assay and Western blot analyses, we investigated the peptides’ ability to detoxify the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by studying their effects on the secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 as well as on the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 from macrophages activated by P. aeruginosa LPS. In addition, by a modified scratch assay we showed that both AMPs are able to stimulate the closure of a gap produced in alveolar epithelial cells when cell migration is inhibited by concentrations of Pseudomonas LPS that mimic lung infection conditions, suggesting a peptide-induced airway wound repair. Overall, these results have highlighted the two Esc peptides as valuable candidates for the development of new multifunctional therapeutics for treatment of chronic infectious disease and inflammation, as found in CF patients

Conormal distributions in the Shubin calculus of pseudodifferential operators

We characterize the Schwartz kernels of pseudodifferential operators of Shubin type by means of an FBI transform. Based on this we introduce as a generalization a new class of tempered distributions called Shubin conormal distributions. We study their transformation behavior, normal forms and microlocal properties.Comment: 23 page

In Search of Differential Inhibitors of Aldose Reductase

Aldose reductase, classified within the aldo-keto reductase family as AKR1B1, is an NADPH dependent enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of hydrophilic as well as hydrophobic aldehydes. AKR1B1 is the first enzyme of the so-called polyol pathway that allows the conversion of glucose into sorbitol, which in turn is oxidized to fructose by sorbitol dehydrogenase. The activation of the polyol pathway in hyperglycemic conditions is generally accepted as the event that is responsible for a series of long-term complications of diabetes such as retinopathy, cataract, nephropathy and neuropathy. The role of AKR1B1 in the onset of diabetic complications has made this enzyme the target for the development of molecules capable of inhibiting its activity. Virtually all synthesized compounds have so far failed as drugs for the treatment of diabetic complications. This failure may be partly due to the ability of AKR1B1 to reduce alkenals and alkanals, produced in oxidative stress conditions, thus acting as a detoxifying agent. In recent years we have proposed an alternative approach to the inhibition of AKR1B1, suggesting the possibility of a differential inhibition of the enzyme through molecules able to preferentially inhibit the reduction of either hydrophilic or hydrophobic substrates. The rationale and examples of this new generation of aldose reductase differential inhibitors (ARDIs) are presented

A holographic approach to low-energy weak interactions of hadrons

We apply the double-trace formalism to incorporate nonleptonic weak interactions of hadrons into holographic models of the strong interactions. We focus our attention upon $\Delta S=1$ nonleptonic kaon decays. By working with a Yang-Mills--Chern-Simons 5-dimensional action, we explicitly show how, at low energies, one recovers the $\Delta S=1$ weak chiral Lagrangian for both the anomalous and nonanomalous sectors. We provide definite predictions for the low energy coefficients in terms of the AdS metric and argue that the double-trace formalism is a 5-dimensional avatar of the Weak Deformation Model introduced long ago by Ecker et al. As a significant phenomenological application, we reassess the $K\to 3\pi$ decays in the light of the holographic model. Previous models found a fine-tuned cancellation of resonance exchange in these decays, which was both conceptually puzzling and quantitatively in disagreement with experimental results. The holographic model we build is an illustrative counterexample showing that the cancellation encountered in the literature is not generic but a model-dependent statement and that agreement with experiment can be obtained.Comment: 20 page

The antimicrobial peptide temporin G: Anti-biofilm, anti-persister activities, and potentiator effect of tobramycin efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus

Bacterial biofilms are a serious threat for human health, and the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is one of the microorganisms that can easily switch from a planktonic to a sessile lifestyle, providing protection from a large variety of adverse environmental conditions. Dormant non-dividing cells with low metabolic activity, named persisters, are tolerant to antibiotic treatment and are the principal cause of recalcitrant and resistant infections, including skin infections. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) hold promise as new anti-infective agents to treat such infections. Here for the first time, we investigated the activity of the frog-skin AMP temporin G (TG) against preformed S. aureus biofilm including persisters, as well as its efficacy in combination with tobramycin, in inhibiting S. aureus growth. TG was found to provoke ~50 to 100% reduction of biofilm viability in the concentration range from 12.5 to 100 µM vs ATCC and clinical isolates and to be active against persister cells (about 70–80% killing at 50–100 µM). Notably, sub-inhibitory concentrations of TG in combination with tobramycin were able to significantly reduce S. aureus growth, potentiating the antibiotic power. No critical cytotoxicity was detected when TG was tested in vitro up to 100 µM against human keratinocytes, confirming its safety profile for the development of a new potential anti-infective drug, especially for treatment of bacterial skin infections