Cities are sustainability leaders in the U.S. but there is little understanding about how to best administer these local efforts

Despite the often loud rhetoric of those who are opposed to measures to mitigate climate change and sustainability in general, almost 65 percent of America’s large cities have put in place explicit sustainability initiatives. How and where sustainability is administered within a city’s bureaucracy is important as it can affect its functioning and performance. In new research which analyzes data from over 400 cities, Rachel M. Krause finds that sustainability administration and coordination is most often headquartered in public works or environmental services departments. The location of a city’s sustainability administration is not influenced by a city’s form of government or the support of local interest groups, but how city council members are elected can be important

Dealing with Missing Data: A Comparative Exploration of Approaches Using the Integrated City Sustainability Database

Studies of governments and local organizations using survey data have played a critical role in the development of urban studies and related disciplines. However, missing data pose a daunting challenge for this research. This article seeks to raise awareness about the treatment of missing data in urban studies research by comparing and evaluating three commonly used approaches to deal with missing data—listwise deletion, single imputation, and multiple imputation. Comparative analyses illustrate the relative performance of these approaches using the second-generation Integrated City Sustainability Database (ICSD). The results demonstrate the benefit of using an approach to missing data based on multiple imputation, using a theoretically informed and statistically supported set of predictor variables to develop a more complete sample that is free of issues raised by nonresponse in survey data. The results confirm the usefulness of the ICSD in the study of environmental and sustainability and other policy in U.S. cities. We conclude with a discussion of results and provide a set of recommendations for urban researcher scholars

The networked micro-decision context: A new lens on transformative urban governance

Recent large-scale societal disruptions, from the COVID-19 pandemic to intensifying wildfires and weather events, reveal the importance of transforming governance systems so they can address complex, transboundary, and rapidly evolving crises. Yet current knowledge of the decision-making dynamics that yield transformative governance remains scant. Studies typically focus on the aggregate outputs of government decisions, while overlooking their micro-level underpinnings. This is a key oversight because drivers of policy change, such as learning or competition, are prosecuted by people rather than organizations. We respond to this knowledge gap by introducing a new analytical lens for understanding policymaking, aimed at uncovering how characteristics of decision-makers and the structure of their relationships affect their likelihood of effectuating transformative policy responses. This perspective emphasizes the need for a more dynamic and relational view on urban governance in the context of transformation

On the Importance of Strengthening Moderate Beliefs in Climate Science to Foster Support for Immediate Action

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from "http://www.mdpi.com".Whereas many studies focus on climate skeptics to explain the lack of support for immediate action on climate change, this research examines the effect of moderate believers in climate science. Using data from a representative survey of 832 Indiana residents, we find that agreement with basic scientific conclusions about climate change is the strongest predictor of support for immediate action, and the strength of that agreement is an important characteristic of this association. Responses indicate widespread acceptance of climate change, moderate levels of risk perception, and limited support for immediate action. Half of the respondents (50%) preferred “more research” over “immediate action” (38%) and “no action” (12%) as a response to climate change. The probability of preferring immediate action is close to zero for those who strongly or somewhat disbelieve in climate change, but as belief in climate change grows from moderate to strong, the probability of preferring immediate action increases substantially; the strongest believers have a predicted probability of preferring immediate action of 71%. These findings suggest that, instead of simply engaging skeptics, increasing public support for immediate action might entail motivating those with moderate beliefs in climate change to hold their views with greater conviction

Social information changes stress hormone receptor expression in the songbird brain

Social information is used by many vertebrate taxa to inform decision-making, including resource-mediated movements, yet the mechanisms whereby social information is integrated physiologically to affect such decisions remain unknown. Social information is known to influence the physiological response to food reduction in captive songbirds. Red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) that were food reduced for several days showed significant elevations in circulating corticosterone (a “stress” hormone often responsive to food limitation) only if their neighbors were similarly food restricted. Physiological responses to glucocorticoid hormones are enacted through two receptors that may be expressed differentially in target tissues. Therefore, we investigated the influence of social information on the expression of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA in captive red crossbill brains. Although the role of MR and GR in the response to social information may be highly complex, we specifically predicted social information from food-restricted individuals would reduce MR and GR expression in two brain regions known to regulate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity - given that reduced receptor expression may lessen the efficacy of negative feedback and release inhibitory tone on the HPA. Our results support these predictions - offering one potential mechanism whereby social cues could increase or sustain HPA-activity during stress. The data further suggest different mechanisms by which metabolic stress versus social information influence HPA activity and behavioral outcomes

Genomic and protein expression analysis reveals flap endonuclease 1 (FEN1) as a key biomarker in breast and ovarian cancer

FEN1 has key roles in Okazaki fragment maturation during replication, long patch base excision repair, rescue of stalled replication forks, maintenance of telomere stability and apoptosis. FEN1 may be dysregulated in breast and ovarian cancers and have clinicopathological significance in patients. We comprehensively investigated FEN1 mRNA expression in multiple cohorts of breast cancer [training set (128), test set (249), external validation (1952)]. FEN1 protein expression was evaluated in 568 oestrogen receptor (ER) negative breast cancers, 894 ER positive breast cancers and 156 ovarian epithelial cancers. FEN1 mRNA overexpression was highly significantly associated with high grade (p= 4.89 x 10 - 57) , high mitotic index (p= 5.25 x 10 - 28), pleomorphism (p= 6.31 x 10-19), ER negative (p= 9.02 x 10-35 ), PR negative (p= 9.24 x 10-24 ), triple negative phenotype (p= 6.67 x 10-21) , PAM50.Her2 (p=5.19 x 10-13 ), PAM50.Basal (p=2.7 x 10-41), PAM50.LumB (p=1.56 x 10-26), integrative molecular cluster 1 (intClust.1) ( p=7.47 x 10-12), intClust.5 (p=4.05 x 10-12) and intClust. 10 (p=7.59 x 10-38 ) breast cancers. FEN1 mRNA overexpression is associated with poor breast cancer specific survival in univariate (p=4.4 x 10-16) and multivariate analysis (p=9.19 x 10-7). At the protein level, in ER positive tumours , FEN1 overexpression remains significantly linked to high grade, high mitotic index and pleomorphism (ps< 0.01). In ER negative tumours, high FEN1 is significantly associated with pleomorphism, tumour type, lymphovascular invasion, triple negative phenotype, EGFR and HER2 expression (ps<0.05). In ER positive as well as in ER negative tumours, FEN1 protein over expression is associated with poor survival in univariate and multivariate analysis (ps<0.01). In ovarian epithelial cancers , similarly, FEN1 overexpression is associated with high grade, high stage and poor survival (ps<0.05). We conclude that FEN1 is a promising biomarker in breast and ovarian epithelial cancer

The importance of biofilm formation for cultivation of a Micrarchaeon and its interactions with its Thermoplasmatales host

Micrarchaeota is a distinctive lineage assigned to the DPANN archaea, which includes poorly characterised microorganisms with reduced genomes that likely depend on interactions with hosts for growth and survival. Here, we report the enrichment of a stable co-culture of a member of the Micrarchaeota (Ca. Micrarchaeum harzensis) together with its Thermoplasmatales host (Ca. Scheffleriplasma hospitalis), as well as the isolation of the latter. We show that symbiont-host interactions depend on biofilm formation as evidenced by growth experiments, comparative transcriptomic analyses and electron microscopy. In addition, genomic, metabolomic, extracellular polymeric substances and lipid content analyses indicate that the Micrarchaeon symbiont relies on the acquisition of metabolites from its host. Our study of the cell biology and physiology of a Micrarchaeon and its host adds to our limited knowledge of archaeal symbioses

Genetic and seasonal determinants of vitamin D status in Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) participants

Background: Vitamin D is a hormone produced in the skin upon ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. Vitamin D is a crucial regulator of calcium and phosphate levels for bone mineralization and other physiological roles. Vitamin D levels vary globally in human populations due to genetics, geography, and other demographic factors. It is estimated that 20-85 % of the variability in vitamin D levels is driven by genetic variation. To improve our understanding of contributors to vitamin D levels, we conducted a candidate-gene study in partnership with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). Methods: We recruited 472 CSKT study participants on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Demographic factors included age, BMI, and gender (185 male and 287 female; ≥ 18 years old). Genomic DNA and plasma were isolated from whole blood. We sequenced 14 vitamin D regulatory candidate genes: CASR, CUBN, CYP2R1, CYP3A4,CYP24A1, CYP27B1, DHCR7, GC, RXRA, RXRB, RXRG, SULT2A1, UGT1A4, and VDR. We also measured plasma levels of vitamin D and vitamin D metabolites by liquid chromatography/mass-spectrometry (LC/MS), including the clinical marker of vitamin D status, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3]. We tested demographic factors as well as common and rare genetic variants for statistical associations with vitamin D levels using bioinformatics software and R statistical programming language code. Results: We identified 7,370 total genetic variants with 8% (n = 585) of them being novel. We identified 60 genetic variants that may be of clinical significance (disease associated or predicted to influence medication response). Vitamin D levels were below sufficiency [25(OH)D3 + 25(OH)D2 levels \u3c 20 ng/mL] in 56 % of CSKT participants across the year. We observed seasonal vitamin D and metabolite level fluctuations in a seasonal, sinusoidal statistical model with peak concentrations in June – August and trough concentrations in December – February. In linear regression analysis, we found that age, BMI, season, and 5 variants in CUBN and CYP3A4 were significantly associated with 25(OH)D3 concentration (p-value\u3c 0.05). In logistic regression, we found that 4 variants in CUBN, CYP3A4, and UGT1A4 were associated with 25(OH)D sufficiency status [25(OH)D3 + 25(OH)D2 levels of 20 ng/mL] (p-value\u3c 0.05). Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that genetic variation alone explained ~13% of the variability in 25(OH)D3 concentration in CSKT participants. Genetic variation and environmental factors together explained ~23 % of the variability in 25(OH)D3 concentration in CSKT participants. It is likely that genetic variation in additional genes and other environmental factors (e.g., dietary vitamin D intake) that were not included in this study explain the remaining variability in 25(OH)D3 concentration. Conclusion: This research addresses the need for increased inclusion of American Indian and Alaska Natives in precision medicine health research. We are the first to describe the contribution of season and genetics to vitamin D levels in an American Indian population. Our next steps will be to use these findings to perform mechanistic studies and develop interventional strategies for the CSKT people

Effects of Life Cycle Cost Information Disclosure on the Purchase Decision of Hybrid and Plug-In Vehicles

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GNE Is Involved in the Early Development of Skeletal and Cardiac Muscle

UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2 epimerase/N-acetylmannosamime kinase (GNE) is a bifunctional enzyme which catalyzes the two key sequential steps in the biosynthetic pathway of sialic acid, the most abundant terminal monosaccharide on glycoconjugates of eukaryotic cells. GNE knock out (GNE KO) mice are embryonically lethal at day E8.5. Although the role of GNE in the sialic pathway has been well established as well as the importance of sialylation in many diverse biological pathways, less is known about the involvement of GNE in muscle development. To address this issue we have studied the role of GNE during in vitro embryogenesis by comparing the developmental profile in culture of embryonic stem cells (ES) from wild type and from GNE KO E3.5 mice embryos, during 45 days. Neuronal cells appeared rarely in GNE KO ES cultures and did not reach an advanced differentiated stage. Although primary cardiac cells appeared at the same time in both normal and GNE KO ES cultures, GNE KO cardiac cells degraded very soon and their beating capacity decayed rapidly. Furthermore very rare skeletal muscle committed cells were detected in the GNE KO ES cultures at any stage of differentiation, as assessed by analysis of the expression of either Pax7, MyoD and MyHC markers. Beyond the supporting evidence that GNE plays an important role in neuronal cell and brain development, these results show that GNE is strongly involved in cardiac tissue and skeletal muscle early survival and organization. These findings could open new avenues in the understanding of muscle function mechanisms in health and in disease