Satire from a far-away land: Psychological distance and satirical news

Satirical news and its effects on outcomes such as appreciation and persuasion have gained considerable currency as a topic of research in mass communication studies. Through the framework of construal level theory, we investigated whether different levels of spatial distance influence these effects. In a between-subjects experiment, participants in the United Kingdom (UK; n = 282) and New Zealand (NZ; n = 370) read a satirical or non-satirical news text summarizing a study reporting on the negative impact of increased digital device screen time on young children. Depending on condition, the texts referred to entities and locations in either the participant’s own country (spatially close) or a foreign country (spatially distant). Results showed significant main effects of satirical news on audience perceptions, emotions, and attitudes. While there were no significant interactions between article type (satirical vs. regular news) and spatial distance (close vs. distant), our results indicated that satirical news was associated with higher perceptions of spatial distance for both the UK and NZ participants as well as higher perceptions of social distance for the NZ participants. Exploratory indirect-effects analyses found several indirect effects of satirical news through increased perceptions of spatial and social psychological distance on audience emotions, text perceptions, and attitudes. We take these results as initial evidence suggesting spatial and social distance are potential variables to consider in future investigations of satirical news

Intrinsic Domain and Loop Dynamics Commensurate with Catalytic Turnover in an Induced-Fit Enzyme

SummaryArginine kinase catalyzes reversible phosphoryl transfer between ATP and arginine, buffering cellular ATP concentrations. Structures of substrate-free and -bound enzyme have highlighted a range of conformational changes thought to occur during the catalytic cycle. Here, NMR is used to characterize the intrinsic backbone dynamics over multiple timescales. Relaxation dispersion indicates rigid-body motion of the N-terminal domain and flexible dynamics in the I182–G209 loop, both at millisecond rates commensurate with kcat, implying that either might be rate limiting upon catalysis. Lipari-Szabo analysis indicates backbone flexibility on the nanosecond timescale in the V308–V322 loop, while the rest of the enzyme is more rigid in this timescale. Thus, intrinsic dynamics are most prominent in regions that have been independently implicated in conformational changes. Substrate-free enzyme may sample an ensemble of different conformations, of which a subset is selected upon substrate binding, with critical active site residues appropriately configured for binding and catalysis

Comparative analysis of structure and properties of Nb-B inoculated direct chill cast AA4032 alloy extruded from as-cast and homogenised conditions

Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Al-Si wrought piston alloys can lack properties due to inefficient grain refining. A novel Al-Nb-B grain refiner was introduced some time ago, but has still not been assessed in industry for wrought alloys. This paper describes the first trial of Al-Ni-B addition and its impact on the full-scale manufacturing, structure, and properties of the AA4032 products extruded with and without billet homogenization. It is shown that Nb-B inoculation gives opportunities not only to have a refined as-cast structure but also a more homogenous distribution of the solute. In contrast, homogenization drives nucleation and coarsening of the Mg2Si phase that is retained during further extrusion and heat treatment also affecting the precipitation and properties. It was observed that non-homogenized specimens perform better during machining and tensile testing compared to homogenized specimens. The results are supported by electron microscopy investigations of microstructure formation during different steps in downstream processing.UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC Grant: The Future Liquid Metal Engineering Research Hub, under grant number EP/N007638/1); Constellium

Yield response, nutritional quality and water productivity of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are influenced by drip irrigation and straw mulch in the coastal saline ecosystem of Ganges Delta, India

In the coastal zone of the Ganges Delta, water shortages due to soil salinity limit the yield of dry season crops. To alleviate water shortage as a consequence of salinity stress in the coastal saline ecosystem, the effect of different water-saving (WS) and water-conserving options was assessed on growth, yield and water use of tomato; two field experiments were carried out at Gosaba, West Bengal, India in consecutive seasons during the winter of 2016–17 and 2017–18. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with five treatments viz., surface irrigation, surface irrigation + straw mulching, drip irrigation at 100% reference evapotranspiration (ET0), drip irrigation at 80% ET0, drip irrigation at 80% ET0 + straw mulching. Application of drip irrigation at 80% ET0 + straw mulching brought about significantly the highest fruit as well as the marketable yield of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The soil reaction (pH), post-harvest organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N, P and K) status and soil microbial population along with the biochemical quality parameters of tomato (juice pH, ascorbic acid, total soluble solids and sugar content of fruits) were significantly influenced by combined application of drip irrigation and straw mulching. Surface irrigation significantly increased the salinity level in surface and sub-surface soil layers while the least salinity development was observed in surface mulched plots receiving irrigation water through drip irrigation. The highest water productivity was also improved from drip irrigation at 80% ET0 + straw mulched plots irrespective of the year of experimentation. Such intervention also helped in reducing salinity stress for the tomato crop. Thus, straw mulching along with drip irrigation at 80% ET0 can be recommended as the most suitable irrigation option for tomato crop in the study area as well as coastal saline regions of South Asia. Finally, it can be concluded that the judicious application of irrigation water not only increased growth, yield and quality tomatoes but also minimized the negative impact of soil salinity on tomatoes grown in the coastal saline ecosystem of Ganges Delta

Effect of ultrasonic melt treatment on the sump profile and microstructure of a direct-chill cast AA6008 Aluminum Alloy

This work focuses on the effects of ultrasonic melt treatment (UST) during direct-chill (DC) casting on the temperature distribution across the billet, sump profile, and the resulting microstructure. Two AA6008 billets were cast; one was treated with UST in the hot top while the other was not. To determine the temperature distribution along the billet, multi-point temperature measurements were made across the radii of both billets. The sump profile was also analyzed through macrostructure analysis, after Zn was poured into the sump, while structure refinement was quantified through grain-size measurements. A numerical model of ultrasound-assisted DC casting is validated using the temperature measurements. As an outcome, this study provides information on the extent to which UST affects the sump profile and the corresponding changes in the microstructure. The knowledge gained from this study paves the way towards optimization of UST parameters in DC casting

Taking the strain? Impact of glaucoma on patients' informal caregivers

Purpose: To estimate informal caregiver (ICG) strain in people from a glaucoma clinic. Methods: Patients with glaucoma were consecutively identified from a single clinic in England for a cross-sectional postal survey. The sample was deliberately enriched with a number of patients designated as having advanced glaucoma (visual field [VF] mean deviation worse than -12 dB in both eyes). Patients were asked to identify an ICG who recorded a Modified Caregiver Strain Index (MCSI), a validated 13 item instrument scored on a scale of 0-26. Previous research has indicated mean MCSI to be >10 in Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. All participants gave a self-reported measure of general health (EQ5D). Results: Responses from 105 patients (43% of those invited) were analysed; only 38 of the 105 named an ICG. Mean (95% confidence interval [CI]) MCSI was 2.4 (1.3, 3.6) and only three ICGs recorded a MCSI > 7. The percentage of patients with an ICG was much higher in patients with advanced VF loss (82%; 9/11) when compared to those with non-advanced VF loss (31%; 29/94; p=0.001). Mean (standard deviation) MCSI was considerably inflated in the advanced patients (5.6 [4.9] vs 1.5 [2.2] for non-advanced; p=0.040). Worsening VF and poorer self-reported general health (EQ5D) of the patient were associated with worsening MCSI. Conclusion: ICG strain, as measured by MCSI, for patients with non-advanced glaucoma is negligible, compared to other chronic disease. ICG strain increases moderately with worsening VFs but this could be partly explained by worse general health in our sample of patients

Genetic and Physiological Analysis of Iron Biofortification in Maize Kernels

BACKGROUND: Maize is a major cereal crop widely consumed in developing countries, which have a high prevalence of iron (Fe) deficiency anemia. The major cause of Fe deficiency in these countries is inadequate intake of bioavailable Fe, where poverty is a major factor. Therefore, biofortification of maize by increasing Fe concentration and or bioavailability has great potential to alleviate this deficiency. Maize is also a model system for genomic research and thus allows the opportunity for gene discovery. Here we describe an integrated genetic and physiological analysis of Fe nutrition in maize kernels, to identify loci that influence grain Fe concentration and bioavailability. METHODOLOGY: Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was used to dissect grain Fe concentration (FeGC) and Fe bioavailability (FeGB) from the Intermated B73 × Mo17 (IBM) recombinant inbred (RI) population. FeGC was determined by ion coupled argon plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP). FeGB was determined by an in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell line bioassay. CONCLUSIONS: Three modest QTL for FeGC were detected, in spite of high heritability. This suggests that FeGC is controlled by many small QTL, which may make it a challenging trait to improve by marker assisted breeding. Ten QTL for FeGB were identified and explained 54% of the variance observed in samples from a single year/location. Three of the largest FeGB QTL were isolated in sister derived lines and their effect was observed in three subsequent seasons in New York. Single season evaluations were also made at six other sites around North America, suggesting the enhancement of FeGB was not specific to our farm site. FeGB was not correlated with FeGC or phytic acid, suggesting that novel regulators of Fe nutrition are responsible for the differences observed. Our results indicate that iron biofortification of maize grain is achievable using specialized phenotyping tools and conventional plant breeding techniques

Local Cooperativity in an Amyloidogenic State of Human Lysozyme Observed at Atomic Resolution

The partial unfolding of human lysozyme underlies its conversion from the soluble state into amyloid fibrils observed in a fatal hereditary form of systemic amyloidosis. To understand the molecular origins of the disease, it is critical to characterize the structural and physicochemical properties of the amyloidogenic states of the protein. Here we provide a high-resolution view of the unfolding process at low pH for three different lysozyme variants, the wild-type protein and the mutants I56T and I59T, which show variable stabilities and propensities to aggregate in vitro. Using a range of biophysical techniques that includes differential scanning calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we demonstrate that thermal unfolding under amyloidogenic solution conditions involves a cooperative loss of native tertiary structure, followed by progressive unfolding of a compact, molten globule-like denatured state ensemble as the temperature is increased. The width of the temperature window over which the denatured ensemble progressively unfolds correlates with the relative amyloidogenicity and stability of these variants, and the region of lysozyme that unfolds first maps to that which forms the core of the amyloid fibrils formed under similar conditions. Together, these results present a coherent picture at atomic resolution of the initial events underlying amyloid formation by a globular protein