Charge Symmetry Breaking in 500 MeV Nucleon-Trinucleon Scattering

Elastic nucleon scattering from the 3He and 3H mirror nuclei is examined as a test of charge symmetry violation. The differential cross-sections are calculated at 500 MeV using a microsopic, momentum-space optical potential including the full coupling of two spin 1/2 particles and an exact treatment of the Coulomb force. The charge-symmetry-breaking effects investigated arise from a violation within the nuclear structure, from the p-nucleus Coulomb force, and from the mass-differences of the charge symmetric states. Measurements likely to reveal reliable information are noted.Comment: 5 page

Interplay between telecommunications and face-to-face interactions - a study using mobile phone data

In this study we analyze one year of anonymized telecommunications data for over one million customers from a large European cellphone operator, and we investigate the relationship between people's calls and their physical location. We discover that more than 90% of users who have called each other have also shared the same space (cell tower), even if they live far apart. Moreover, we find that close to 70% of users who call each other frequently (at least once per month on average) have shared the same space at the same time - an instance that we call co-location. Co-locations appear indicative of coordination calls, which occur just before face-to-face meetings. Their number is highly predictable based on the amount of calls between two users and the distance between their home locations - suggesting a new way to quantify the interplay between telecommunications and face-to-face interactions

Social Support and Substance Use as Moderators of the Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents

Indexación: Scopus.Literature reports that depressive symptoms may precede suicidal ideation. Several studies have identified social support and substance use as moderators of this relationship. However, no study has evaluated these variables together by testing how substance use can affect the moderating effect of social support in this relationship. The purpose of this article is to individually evaluate dimensions of social support (friends, family, significant others, and school) and substance use (alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs), as moderators of the relationship between depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation, as well as analyze the moderating role of substance use in the moderation exerted by social support in this relationship. This study, quantitative and cross-sectional, considered 775 adolescents [Average age = 15.48 (SD = 0.96), 45.9% women], from 20 randomly selected schools in Santiago de Chile. Simple moderation models were used to analyze possible moderators separately, and double moderation models were used to analyze the moderating role of substance use in the moderating effect of social support. The results show that the four dimensions of social support moderate the relationship between depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation, showing the strongest interaction in the case of family support, followed by support of a significant person, support at school, and support of friends, in that order. On the other hand, alcohol was the only drug that moderated the relationship in question. In addition, the results show that the use of alcohol limits the moderating effect of social support in the fields of family, significant person, and school support, but not in the case of support of friends. The use of marijuana and other illicit drugs did not affect the moderating effects of social support for any of the areas evaluated. The results are discussed according to the different roles that alcohol use can play in adolescence, and how these, together with perceived social support, are related to the emergence of suicidal ideation from depressive symptoms. © Copyright © 2020 Rubio, Oyanedel, Cancino, Benavente, Céspedes, Zisis and Páez.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.539165/ful

P-rex1 cooperates with PDGFRβ to drive cellular migration in 3D microenvironments

Expression of the Rac-guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RacGEF), P-Rex1 is a key determinant of progression to metastasis in a number of human cancers. In accordance with this proposed role in cancer cell invasion and metastasis, we find that ectopic expression of P-Rex1 in an immortalised human fibroblast cell line is sufficient to drive multiple migratory and invasive phenotypes. The invasive phenotype is greatly enhanced by the presence of a gradient of serum or platelet-derived growth factor, and is dependent upon the expression of functional PDGF receptor β. Consistently, the invasiveness of WM852 melanoma cells, which endogenously express P-Rex1 and PDGFRβ, is opposed by siRNA of either of these proteins. Furthermore, the current model of P-Rex1 activation is advanced through demonstration of P-Rex1 and PDGFRβ as components of the same macromolecular complex. These data suggest that P-Rex1 has an influence on physiological migratory processes, such as invasion of cancer cells, both through effects upon classical Rac1-driven motility and a novel association with RTK signalling complexes

Ponatinib Activates an Inflammatory Response in Endothelial Cells via ERK5 SUMOylation

Ponatinib is a multi-targeted third generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) used in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients harboring the Abelson (Abl)-breakpoint cluster region (Bcr) T315I mutation. In spite of having superb clinical efficacy, ponatinib triggers severe vascular adverse events (VAEs) that significantly limit its therapeutic potential. On vascular endothelial cells (ECs), ponatinib promotes EC dysfunction and apoptosis, and inhibits angiogenesis. Furthermore, ponatinib-mediated anti-angiogenic effect has been suggested to play a partial role in systemic and pulmonary hypertension via inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). Even though ponatinib-associated VAEs are well documented, their etiology remains largely unknown, making it difficult to efficiently counteract treatment-related adversities. Therefore, a better understanding of the mechanisms by which ponatinib mediates VAEs is critical. In cultured human aortic ECs (HAECs) treated with ponatinib, we found an increase in nuclear factor NF-kB/p65 phosphorylation and NF-kB activity, inflammatory gene expression, cell permeability, and cell apoptosis. Mechanistically, ponatinib abolished extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5) transcriptional activity even under activation by its upstream kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 5α (CA-MEK5α). Ponatinib also diminished expression of ERK5 responsive genes such as Krüppel-like Factor 2/4 (klf2/4) and eNOS. Because ERK5 SUMOylation counteracts its transcriptional activity, we examined the effect of ponatinib on ERK5 SUMOylation, and found that ERK5 SUMOylation is increased by ponatinib. We also found that ponatibib-mediated increased inflammatory gene expression and decreased anti-inflammatory gene expression were reversed when ERK5 SUMOylation was inhibited endogenously or exogenously. Overall, we propose a novel mechanism by which ponatinib up-regulates endothelial ERK5 SUMOylation and shifts ECs to an inflammatory phenotype, disrupting vascular homeostasis

Lancet Glob Health

BackgroundAs mobile phone access continues to expand globally, opportunities exist to leverage these technologies to support demand for immunisation services and improve vaccine coverage. We aimed to assess whether short message service (SMS) reminders and monetary incentives can improve immunisation uptake in Kenya.MethodsIn this cluster-randomised controlled trial, villages were randomly and evenly allocated to four groups: control, SMS only, SMS plus a 75 Kenya Shilling (KES) incentive, and SMS plus 200 KES (85 KES\u2008=\u2008USD$1). Caregivers were eligible if they had a child younger than 5 weeks who had not yet received a first dose of pentavalent vaccine. Participants in the intervention groups received SMS reminders before scheduled pentavalent and measles immunisation visits. Participants in incentive groups, additionally, received money if their child was timely immunised (immunisation within 2 weeks of the due date). Caregivers and interviewers were not masked. The proportion of fully immunised children (receiving BCG, three doses of polio vaccine, three doses of pentavalent vaccine, and measles vaccine) by 12 months of age constituted the primary outcome and was analysed with log-binomial regression and General Estimating Equations to account for correlation within clusters. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01878435.FindingsBetween Oct 14, 2013, and Oct 17, 2014, we enrolled 2018 caregivers and their infants from 152 villages into the following four groups: control (n=489), SMS only (n=476), SMS plus 75 KES (n=562), and SMS plus 200 KES (n=491). Overall, 1375 (86%) of 1600 children who were successfully followed up achieved the primary outcome, full immunisation by 12 months of age (296 [82%] of 360 control participants, 332 [86%] of 388 SMS only participants, 383 [86%] of 446 SMS plus 75 KES participants, and 364 [90%] of 406 SMS plus 200 KES participants). Children in the SMS plus 200 KES group were significantly more likely to achieve full immunisation at 12 months of age (relative risk 1\ub709, 95% CI 1\ub702\u20131\ub716, p=0\ub7014) than children in the control group.InterpretationIn a setting with high baseline immunisation coverage levels, SMS reminders coupled with incentives significantly improved immunisation coverage and timeliness. Given that global immunisation coverage levels have stagnated around 85%, the use of incentives might be one option to reach the remaining 15%.FundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation.2017-03-11T00:00:00Z28288747PMC5348605789

High-resolution mapping of forest carbon stocks in the Colombian Amazon

High-resolution mapping of tropical forest carbon stocks can assist forest management and improve implementation of large-scale carbon retention and enhancement programs. Previous high-resolution approaches have relied on field plot and/or light detection and ranging (LiDAR) samples of aboveground carbon density, which are typically upscaled to larger geographic areas using stratification maps. Such efforts often rely on detailed vegetation maps to stratify the region for sampling, but existing tropical forest maps are often too coarse and field plots too sparse for high-resolution carbon assessments. We developed a top-down approach for high-resolution carbon mapping in a 16.5 million ha region (> 40%) of the Colombian Amazon – a remote landscape seldom documented. We report on three advances for large-scale carbon mapping: (i) employing a universal approach to airborne LiDAR-calibration with limited field data; (ii) quantifying environmental controls over carbon densities; and (iii) developing stratification- and regression-based approaches for scaling up to regions outside of LiDAR coverage. We found that carbon stocks are predicted by a combination of satellite-derived elevation, fractional canopy cover and terrain ruggedness, allowing upscaling of the LiDAR samples to the full 16.5 million ha region. LiDAR-derived carbon maps have 14% uncertainty at 1 ha resolution, and the regional map based on stratification has 28% uncertainty in any given hectare. High-resolution approaches with quantifiable pixel-scale uncertainties will provide the most confidence for monitoring changes in tropical forest carbon stocks. Improved confidence will allow resource managers and decision makers to more rapidly and effectively implement actions that better conserve and utilize forests in tropical regions

Heroes and villains of world history across cultures

© 2015 Hanke et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedEmergent properties of global political culture were examined using data from the World History Survey (WHS) involving 6,902 university students in 37 countries evaluating 40 figures from world history. Multidimensional scaling and factor analysis techniques found only limited forms of universality in evaluations across Western, Catholic/Orthodox, Muslim, and Asian country clusters. The highest consensus across cultures involved scientific innovators, with Einstein having the most positive evaluation overall. Peaceful humanitarians like Mother Theresa and Gandhi followed. There was much less cross-cultural consistency in the evaluation of negative figures, led by Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein. After more traditional empirical methods (e.g., factor analysis) failed to identify meaningful cross-cultural patterns, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify four global representational profiles: Secular and Religious Idealists were overwhelmingly prevalent in Christian countries, and Political Realists were common in Muslim and Asian countries. We discuss possible consequences and interpretations of these different representational profiles.This research was supported by grant RG016-P-10 from the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (http://www.cckf.org.tw/). Religion Culture Entropy China Democracy Economic histor