Collaborative model development increases trust in and use of scientific information in environmental decision-making

While science matters for environmental management, creating science that is credible, salient to decision-makers, and deemed legitimate by stakeholders is challenging. Collaborative modeling is an increasingly-used approach to enable effective science-based decision-making. This work evaluates the modeling process conducted for two hydropower dam licensing negotiations, to explore how differences in the collaborative development of hydrological models affected differences in their use in subsequent decision-making. In one case, the model was developed iteratively through deliberation with stakeholders. Consequently, stakeholders understood the model and its limitations and trusted the model and modelers; the model itself was also better designed to evaluate resource managers’ questions. The collaboratively-developed model became the focal point for subsequent negotiations and enabled creative group problem-solving. Conversely, in the case with less engagement during model development, the model was not used subsequently by decision-makers. These differences are argued to result from trust built during the modeling process, applicability of the model to test real management scenarios, and the broader social context in which the models were used

Laser writable high-K dielectric for van der Waals nano-electronics

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Association for the Advancement of Science via the DOI in this record.Like silicon-based semiconductor devices, van der Waals heterostructures will require integration with high-K oxides. This is needed to achieve suitable voltage scaling, improved performance as well as allowing for added functionalities. Unfortunately, commonly used high-k oxide deposition methods are not directly compatible with 2D materials. Here we demonstrate a method to embed a multi-functional few nm thick high-k oxide within van der Waals devices without degrading the properties of the neighbouring 2D materials. This is achieved by in-situ laser oxidation of embedded few layer HfS2 crystals. The resultant oxide is found to be in the amorphous phase with a dielectric constant of k~15 and break-down electric fields in the range of 0.5-0.6 V/nm. This transformation allows for the creation of a variety of fundamental nano-electronic and opto-electronic devices including, flexible Schottky barrier field effect transistors, dual gated graphene transistors as well as vertical light emitting and detecting tunnelling transistors. Furthermore, upon dielectric break-down, electrically conductive filaments are formed. This filamentation process can be used to electrically contact encapsulated conductive materials. Careful control of the filamentation process also allows for reversible switching between two resistance states. This allows for the creation of resistive switching random access memories (ReRAMs). We believe that this method of embedding a high-k oxide within complex van der Waals heterostructures could play an important role in future flexible multi-functional van der Waals devices.F.W acknowledges support from the Royal Academy of Engineering. J.D.M. acknowledges financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the United Kingdom, via the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Metamaterials (Grant No. EP/L015331/1). S.R. and M.F.C. acknowledge financial support from EPSRC (Grant no. EP/K010050/1, EP/M001024/1, EP/M002438/1), from Royal Society international Exchanges Scheme 2016/R1, from The Leverhulme trust (grant title “Quantum Revolution” and "Quantum Drums"). A.P Rooney and S.J Haigh acknowledge support from the EPSRC postdoctoral fellowship and from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement ERC-2016-STG-EvoluTEM-715502) and the Defence Threat Reduction Agency (HDTRA1-12-1-0013). I.A. acknowledges financial support from The European Commission Marie Curie Individual Fellowships (Grant number 701704)

Diacylglycerol is required for the formation of COPI vesicles in the Golgi-to-ER transport pathway

Diacylglycerol is necessary for trans-Golgi network (TGN) to cell surface transport, but its functional relevance in the early secretory pathway is unclear. Although depletion of diacylglycerol did not affect ER-to-Golgi transport, it led to a redistribution of the KDEL receptor to the Golgi, indicating that Golgi-to-ER transport was perturbed. Electron microscopy revealed an accumulation of COPI-coated membrane profiles close to the Golgi cisternae. Electron tomography showed that the majority of these membrane profiles originate from coated buds, indicating a block in membrane fission. Under these conditions the Golgi-associated pool of ARFGAP1 was reduced, but there was no effect on the binding of coatomer or the membrane fission protein CtBP3/BARS to the Golgi. The addition of 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol or the diacylglycerol analogue phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate reversed the effects of endogenous diacylglycerol depletion. Our findings implicate diacylglycerol in the retrograde transport of proteins from Golgi to the ER and suggest that it plays a critical role at a late stage of COPI vesicle formation

Social and Structural Factors Associated with HIV Infection among Female Sex Workers Who Inject Drugs in the Mexico-US Border Region

BACKGROUND: FSWs who inject drugs (FSW-IDUs) can acquire HIV through high risk sexual and injection behaviors. We studied correlates of HIV infection among FSW-IDUs in northern Mexico, where sex work is quasi-legal and syringes can be legally obtained without a prescription. METHODS: FSW-IDUs>18 years old who reported injecting drugs and recent unprotected sex with clients in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez underwent surveys and HIV/STI testing. Logistic regression identified correlates of HIV infection. RESULTS: Of 620 FSW-IDUs, prevalence of HIV, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, trichomonas, syphilis titers ≥1:8, or any of these infections was 5.3%, 4%, 13%, 35%, 10% and 72%, respectively. Compared to other FSW-IDUs, HIV-positive women were more likely to: have syphilis titers ≥1:8 (36% vs. 9%, p<0.001), often/always inject drugs with clients (55% vs. 32%, p = 0.01), and experience confiscation of syringes by police (49% vs. 28%, p = 0.02). Factors independently associated with HIV infection were syphilis titers ≥1:8, often/always injecting with clients and police confiscation of syringes. Women who obtained syringes from NEPs (needle exchange programs) within the last month had lower odds of HIV infection associated with active syphilis, but among non-NEP attenders, the odds of HIV infection associated with active syphilis was significantly elevated. CONCLUSIONS: Factors operating in both the micro-social environment (i.e., injecting drugs with clients) and policy environment (i.e., having syringes confiscated by police, attending NEPs) predominated as factors associated with risk of HIV infection, rather than individual-level risk behaviors. Interventions should target unjustified policing practices, clients' risk behaviors and HIV/STI prevention through NEPs

Injection Drug Use as a Mediator Between Client-perpetrated Abuse and HIV Status Among Female Sex Workers in Two Mexico-US Border Cities

We examined relationships between client-perpetrated emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, injection drug use, and HIV-serostatus among 924 female sex workers (FSWs) in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, two large Mexico-US border cities. We hypothesized that FSWs’ injection drug use would mediate the relationship between client-perpetrated abuse and HIV-seropositivity. The prevalence of client-perpetrated emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in the past 6 months was 26, 18, and 10% respectively; prevalence of current injection drug use and HIV was 12 and 6%, respectively. Logistic regression analyses revealed that client-perpetrated sexual abuse was significantly associated with HIV-seropositivity and injection drug use, and that injection drug use was positively associated with HIV-seropositivity. Injection drug use partially mediated the relationship between client-perpetrated sexual abuse and HIV-seropositivity. Results suggest the need to address client-perpetrated violence and injection drug use when assessing HIV risk among FSWs

Sex Differences in the Brain: A Whole Body Perspective

Most writing on sexual differentiation of the mammalian brain (including our own) considers just two organs: the gonads and the brain. This perspective, which leaves out all other body parts, misleads us in several ways. First, there is accumulating evidence that all organs are sexually differentiated, and that sex differences in peripheral organs affect the brain. We demonstrate this by reviewing examples involving sex differences in muscles, adipose tissue, the liver, immune system, gut, kidneys, bladder, and placenta that affect the nervous system and behavior. The second consequence of ignoring other organs when considering neural sex differences is that we are likely to miss the fact that some brain sex differences develop to compensate for differences in the internal environment (i.e., because male and female brains operate in different bodies, sex differences are required to make output/function more similar in the two sexes). We also consider evidence that sex differences in sensory systems cause male and female brains to perceive different information about the world; the two sexes are also perceived by the world differently and therefore exposed to differences in experience via treatment by others. Although the topic of sex differences in the brain is often seen as much more emotionally charged than studies of sex differences in other organs, the dichotomy is largely false. By putting the brain firmly back in the body, sex differences in the brain are predictable and can be more completely understood