Words make people think, ... but pictures make people feel: The effect negative vs. positive images on charitable behavior

We ran an experiment where the subjects initially played a four-round dictator game, after which each subject was shown either a set of positive images or a set of negative images. Finally the subjects played another four-round dictator game.
The effect of the sign of images shown is clear on the players’ behaviors: positive images have moderate effects on charitable behavior while negative images dramatically increase charity.
We could therefore infer from our experimental results that showing negative images of the Haitian and Chilean catastrophes to the international public would have significant positive impacts on international donations to the victims and the rebuilding programs in both countries

Los claroscuros de la sincronización internacional de los ciclos económicos: evidencia sobre la manufactura de México

Se analiza la sincronización de las fluctuaciones cíclicas de la división manufacturera de México con el ciclo estadounidense. Se utiliza el enfoque tradicional de los ciclos de crecimiento para el periodo 1980-2004 en submuestras de cinco años que se desplazan en el tiempo, lo cual permite estudiar la evolución temporal del proceso. Los resultados sugieren que la sincronización se ha incrementado sustancialmente en el marco del TLCAN, pero ha sido heterogénea, pues el comercio exterior puede haber sido un mecanismo de transmisión fundamental en el proceso. También se muestra que las actividades más integradas al exterior son más vulnerables a los choques externos, lo cual puede constituir una debilidad de la nueva estrategia de desarrollo

Defensive plats responses induced by Nesidiocoris tenuis (Hemiptera:Miridae) on tomato plants

In the last decade, biological control programs for greenhouse tomatoes and other crops have been successfully implemented using zoophytophagous plant bugs (Miridae), which can feed on both plant tissues and insect prey. It is well known that plants respond to herbivore attacks by releasing volatile compounds through diverse pathways triggered by phytohormones. These herbivore-induced plant volatiles can alert neighboring plants, repel or attract herbivores, and attract natural enemies of these herbivores. Nevertheless, the possible benefits of induced plant responses by zoophytophagous predators that could add to their usefulness as biocontrol agents have not been studied until now. Here we show that the zoophytophagous predator Nesidiocoris tenuis activated abscisic acid and jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathways in tomato plants, which made them less attractive to the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, a major tomato pest worldwide, and more attractive to the whitefly parasitoid, Encarsia formosa. We also found that intact tomato plants exposed to volatiles from N. tenuis-punctured plants activated the JA pathway, and as a consequence, E. formosa was also attracted to these intact plants with activated defense systems. Thus, our results demonstrate that N. tenuis not only benefits tomato plants directly by entomophagy but also indirectly by phytophagy, which induces a physiological response in the tomato plant.The research leading to these results was funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 265865, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AGL2011-30538-C03) and the Conselleria d’Agricultura, Pesca i Alimentació de la Generalitat Valenciana. The authors thank Virginia Pedroche (IVIA) and Blas Agut (UJI) for their technical assistance, Javier Calvo (KOPPERT BS) for the supply of insects, Universitat Jaume I-SCIC for technical support and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on a previous version of this manuscript

Ethylene is involved in pistil fate by modulating the onset of ovule senescence and the GA-mediated fruit set in Arabidopsis

Background: Ovule lifespan is an important factor in determining the ability to set fruits and produce seeds. Once ovule senescence is established, fruit set capacity in response to gibberellins (GAs) is lost. We aimed to elucidate whether ethylene plays a role in controlling ovule senescence and the fruit set response in Arabidopsis. Results: Ethylene response inhibitors, silver thiosulphate (STS) and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), were able to delay the loss of pistil response to GA3 . In addition, ethylene insensitive mutants ein2-5 and ein3-1 showed delayed loss of pistil response, as in plants treated with STS and 1-MCP, while constitutive mutant ctr1-1 displayed premature loss of response. The analysis of the expression of ethylene biosynthesis genes suggests that ethylene is synthesised in ovules at the onset of ovule senescence, while a transcriptional meta-analysis also supports an activated ethylene-dependent senescence upon the establishment of ovule senescence. Finally, a SAG12:GUS reporter line proved useful to monitor ovule senescence and to directly demonstrate that ethylene specifically modulates ovule senescence. Conclusions: We have shown that ethylene is involved in both the control of the ovule lifespan and the determination of the pistil/fruit fate. Our data support a role of the ovule in modulating the GA response during fruit set in Arabidopsis. A possible mechanism that links the ethylene modulation of the ovule senescence and the GA3 -induced fruit set response is discussed.The authors wish to thank Drs. Alonso and Amasino for their gifts of seeds; Drs. Alonso, Alabadi, and Blazquez for critically reading the manuscript, and Ms. Argomaniz and Ms. Fuster for technical assistance in the lab. This work has been supported by grants BIO2005-07156-C02-01 and BIO2008-01039 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Plan Nacional de I+D. PCB received a PhD fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Carbonell Bejerano, P.; Urbez Lagunas, C.; Granell Richart, A.; Carbonell Gisbert, J.; Perez Amador, MA. (2011). Ethylene is involved in pistil fate by modulating the onset of ovule senescence and the GA-mediated fruit set in Arabidopsis. BMC Plant Biology. 11:84-84. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2229-11-84S84841

Toward wide-spectrum antivirals against coronaviruses: Molecular characterization of SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 helicase inhibitors

To date, effective therapeutic treatments that confer strong attenuation against coronaviruses (CoVs) remain elusive. Among potential drug targets, the helicase of CoVs is attractive due to its sequence conservation and indispensability. We rely on atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to explore the structural coordination and dynamics associated with the SARS-CoV-2 Nsp13 apo enzyme, as well as their complexes with natural ligands. A complex communication network is revealed among the five domains of Nsp13, which is differentially activated because of the presence of the ligands, as shown by shear strain analysis, principal components analysis, dynamical cross-correlation matrix analysis, and water transport analysis. The binding free energy and the corresponding mechanism of action are presented for three small molecules that were shown to be efficient inhibitors of the previous SARS-CoV Nsp13 enzyme. Together, our findings provide critical fresh insights for rational design of broad-spectrum antivirals against CoVs

Using Energy Interventions to Drive Down Energy Consumption

Paper from The Ninth International Conference on Construction in the 21st Century (CITC-9)The reduction of carbon emissions to the atmosphere is widely accepted as a measure to mitigate one of the greatest challenges facing the world, global warming. One of the major contributors identified as contributing to this phenomenon is the domestic market. The domestic buildings are considered to play a significant role as they represent 30 percent of the UK’s energy use and produce 15 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions. As part of a UK intervention, studies have suggested behavioural change among housing occupants could be one of the key measures in the drive to reduce the use of energy. This is also expected to decrease the levels of fuel poverty. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of the energy advice programme delivered by a UK housing association: Wolverhampton Homes, to tenants interested in energy saving and thereby reducing their fuel expenditure. The methodology incorporated a series of qualitative semi-structured interviews to three different householder groups: a control non-assisted group, a regularly assisted group and the last group supported by energy saving monitoring devices. It was determined that occupants receiving assistance are more likely to realign their behaviour and reduce energy usage within their property if presented with clear a non-technical guidance. Furthermore, the use of monitoring devices as an easy way to visualise energy consumption aided the programme in enhancing the engagement of the tenants in energy saving behaviour patterns. The findings confirm a positive approach that UK local authorities and Housing Associations can adopt in order to reduce energy consumption through influencing occupants behavioural change, promoting energy saving within domestic properties and reducing fuel expenditure

Adverse birth outcomes in the vicinity of industrial installations in Spain 2004-2008

Industrial activity is one of the main sources of ambient pollution in developed countries. However, research analyzing its effect on birth outcomes is inconclusive. We analyzed the association between proximity of mother's municipality of residence to industries from 24 different activity groups and risk of very (VPTB) and moderate (MPTB) preterm birth, very (VLBW) and moderate (MLBW) low birth weight, and small for gestational age (SGA) in Spain, 2004-2008. An ecological study was defined, and a "near vs. far" analysis (3.5 km threshold) was carried out using Hierarchical Bayesian models implemented via Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation. VPTB risk was higher for mothers living near pharmaceutical companies. Proximity to galvanization and hazardous waste management industries increased the risk of MPTB. Risk of VLBW was higher for mothers residing near pharmaceutical and non-hazardous or animal waste management industries. For MLBW many associations were found, being notable the proximity to mining, biocides and animal waste management plants. The strongest association for SGA was found with proximity to management animal waste plants. These results highlight the importance of further research on the relationship between proximity to industrial sites and the occurrence of adverse birth outcomes especially for the case of pharmaceutical and animal waste management activities.We would like to acknowledge the support of the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (PI081330), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SEJ 2005/07679 and CD11/00018), and the CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain.S