Variable features in the Valles Marineris region of Mars

Transient phenomena on Mars have long been recognized in Mariner and Viking images as well as in decades of Earth based telescopic observations. These events are of interest because of the information they present on currently active meteorological and geological processes. Changes in surface albedo patterns and atmospheric conditions can also affect the analysis and interpretation of data based on spectral or morphological properties of geologic units on the surface. The mechanism responsible for albedo pattern change is currently under investigation. Generation and subsequent transportation and deposition of dark sands has been interpreted in the Valles. However, the removal of a bright dust layer is more consistent with the rapid time period of the change (about two months) and with preliminary multispectral mapping results which suggest that the dark streak south of Eos and Coprates Chasmata is spectrally distinguishable from the dark saltating materials found elsewhere in the canyon system. If a layer of bright dust was removed to affect the albedo change, questions concerning how such micron-sized particles are mobilized by the winds during a normally quiescent season (Southern Hemisphere Autumn) should be addressed

A América Latina na crise mundial

Global commercial and financial integration has strengthened the capitalist class in comparison with the proletariat around the globe as it permitted multinationals to relocate their companies to countries in which the cost of the labor force was lower. The crisis reached Latin America through the flight of capital, disappearance of external credit and a drop in exports, foreign investment and emigrant remittances. The crisis spread due to mass job redundancies, diffusion of panic which negatively affected credit availability and decreased sales of higher added value goods and investments. Developed-countries governments rescued their bankrupt banks acquiring part of their capital or even the entire institution with Treasury resources. In Brazil, the government forced public banks to extend credit to the sectors that had been abandoned by the private market and to decrease their interest rates. Latin-American governments stimulated the domestic market to absorb the production that could no longer find buyers abroad in return for redistribution of income and increase of public investment. In the last six years, emerging economies have grown 50% while industrialized countries have grown only 10%. Such fact has enlarged the number of nations that must be coordinated to tackle the global crisis from seven (G7) to twenty (G20). One of the lessons to be learned from the crisis is that instead of financial globalization, the people of each country must have the right to decide how their social surplus must be managed. Monitoring the use of public money as well as public loans to investors and consumers must be the role of the public authorities and not-for-profit organizations only.A integração comercial e financeira global fortaleceu a classe capitalista em relação ao proletariado em cada país ao permitir às transnacionais deslocar suas empresas para países em que o custo da mão de obra é menor. A crise colheu a América Latina pela fuga das divisas fortes, extinção do crédito externo e queda das exportações, das inversões estrangeiras e das remessas dos emigrados. A crise se generaliza com as demissões em massa, a difusão do pânico que faz o crédito encolher, derrubando as vendas de bens de maior valor e os investimentos. Os governos do Primeiro Mundo trataram de resgatar os seus bancos falidos, comprando parte do seu capital ou sua totalidade com recursos do Tesouro. No Brasil, o governo faz que os bancos públicos estendam o crédito aos setores abandonados pelos bancos privados e baixem os juros que cobram. Os governos latino-americanos estimulam o mercado interno a absorver a produção que não enontra mais compradores no exterior mediante redistribuição da renda e aumento do investimento público. Nos últimos seis anos, os emergentes cresceram 50%, enquanto os industrializados cresceram apenas 10%, o que ampliou o número de nações cuja coordenação é indispensável para que a crise mundial possa ser domada do G-7 para o G-20. Uma das lições da crise é que, em lugar da globalização financeira, o povo de cada país deve ter o direito de decidir como seu excedente social deve ser administrado. A guarda do dinheiro do público e o seu empréstimo a investidores e consumidores devem ser reservados ao poder público e a entidades associativas sem fins de lucro

Personalized medicine : the impact on chemistry

An effective strategy for personalized medicine requires a major conceptual change in the development and application of therapeutics. In this article, we argue that further advances in this field should be made with reference to another conceptual shift, that of network pharmacology. We examine the intersection of personalized medicine and network pharmacology to identify strategies for the development of personalized therapies that are fully informed by network pharmacology concepts. This provides a framework for discussion of the impact personalized medicine will have on chemistry in terms of drug discovery, formulation and delivery, the adaptations and changes in ideology required and the contribution chemistry is already making. New ways of conceptualizing chemistry’s relationship with medicine will lead to new approaches to drug discovery and hold promise of delivering safer and more effective therapies

Summary statement of the Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA molecules

This meeting was organized to review scientific progress in research on recombinant DNA molecules and to discuss appropriate ways to deal with the potential biohazards of this work. Impressive scientific achievements have already been made in this field and these techniques have a remarkable potential for furthering our understanding of fundamental biochemical processes in pro- and eukaryotic cells. The use of recombinant DNA methodology promises to revolutionize the practice of molecular biology. Although there has as yet been no practical application of the new techniques, there is every reason to believe that they will have significant practical utility in the future

Comparing the Effect of Rational and Emotional Appeals on Donation Behavior

We present evidence from a pre-registered experiment indicating that a philosophical argument––a type of rational appeal––can persuade people to make charitable donations. The rational appeal we used follows Singer’s well-known “shallow pond” argument (1972), while incorporating an evolutionary debunking argument (Paxton, Ungar, & Greene 2012) against favoring nearby victims over distant ones. The effectiveness of this rational appeal did not differ significantly from that of a well-tested emotional appeal involving an image of a single child in need (Small, Loewenstein, and Slovic 2007). This is a surprising result, given evidence that emotions are the primary drivers of moral action, a view that has been very influential in the work of development organizations. We did not find support for our pre-registered hypothesis that combining our rational and emotional appeals would have a significantly stronger effect than either appeal in isolation. However, our finding that both kinds of appeal can increase charitable donations is cause for optimism, especially concerning the potential efficacy of well-designed rational appeals. We consider the significance of these findings for moral psychology, ethics, and the work of organizations aiming to alleviate severe poverty

Neuronal and psychological underpinnings of pathological gambling

Like in the case of drugs, gambling hijacks reward circuits in a brain which is not prepared to receive such intense stimulation. Dopamine is normally released in response to reward and uncertainty in order to allow animals to stay alive in their environment – where rewards are relatively unpredictable. In this case, behavior is regulated by environmental feedbacks, leading animals to persevere or to give up. In contrast, drugs provide a direct, intense pharmacological stimulation of the dopamine system that operates independently of environmental feedbacks, and hence causes “motivational runaways”. With respect to gambling, the confined environment experienced by gamblers favors the emergence of excitatory conditioned cues, so that positive feedbacks take over negative feedbacks. Although drugs and gambling may act differently, their abnormal activation of reward circuitry generates an underestimation of negative consequences and promotes the development of addictive/compulsive behavior. In Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, dopamine-related therapies may disrupt these feedbacks on dopamine signalling, potentially leading to various addictions, including pathological gambling. The goal of this Research Topic is to further our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the development of pathological gambling. This eBook contains a cross-disciplinary collection of research and review articles, ranging in scope from animal behavioral models to human imaging studies