puddl: Gamifying Water Conservation

As the global population surges, the demand for fresh water will only increase. With no technological breakthrough on the horizon, it is more important than ever to conserve water and not waste this precious resource. Water conservation is a serious issue, and will only become more severe as global warming worsens. As the global temperature increases, and rainfall becomes more sporadic, it will be important for communities to find new ways to save water. This push has already been made in certain areas in the united states, California, where they were forced to reduce their water consumption by 25%. Through our fieldwork and other research, we discovered three important factors that would shape our project. The first was all about flow! The flow in a sewage system is integral to its ability to function. If the flow of a sewage system gets too low, you encounter a number of logistical problems. Additionally, if you use too much water, you could adversely affect the ecosystems from which you took the water. Salmon, and their food chain, are affected the most by the overuse of water. When talking with Catherine Howells, we also learned about water conservation. Certain areas in the world, like Perth, Australia, are very good at conserving water, whereas other areas, like Phoenix, Arizona are not.. However, no matter where you are, it is very hard to conserve more than thirty percent of water usage. The average American family of four uses 400 gallons of water per day. On average, approximately 70 percent of that water is used indoors, with the bathroom being the largest consumer. This leaves a large amount of water to be conserve, especially when you consider the average Australian family of the same size uses on 238 gallons of water per day! Also, certain applications use a huge portion of a person’s daily water usage, for instance the toilet and washer equal forty‐eight percent of a household\u27 water consumption, and by learning new ways to reduce this, families could save a lot of water

Association of HIV-1 Envelope-Specific Breast Milk IgA Responses with Reduced Risk of Postnatal Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV-1

ABSTRACT Infants born to HIV-1-infected mothers in resource-limited areas where replacement feeding is unsafe and impractical are repeatedly exposed to HIV-1 throughout breastfeeding. Despite this, the majority of infants do not contract HIV-1 postnatally, even in the absence of maternal antiretroviral therapy. This suggests that immune factors in breast milk of HIV-1-infected mothers help to limit vertical transmission. We compared the HIV-1 envelope-specific breast milk and plasma antibody responses of clade C HIV-1-infected postnatally transmitting and nontransmitting mothers in the control arm of the Malawi-based Breastfeeding Antiretrovirals and Nutrition Study using multivariable logistic regression modeling. We found no association between milk or plasma neutralization activity, antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, or HIV-1 envelope-specific IgG responses and postnatal transmission risk. While the envelope-specific breast milk and plasma IgA responses also did not reach significance in predicting postnatal transmission risk in the primary model after correction for multiple comparisons, subsequent exploratory analysis using two distinct assay methodologies demonstrated that the magnitudes of breast milk total and secretory IgA responses against a consensus HIV-1 envelope gp140 (B.con env03) were associated with reduced postnatal transmission risk. These results suggest a protective role for mucosal HIV-1 envelope-specific IgA responses in the context of postnatal virus transmission. This finding supports further investigations into the mechanisms by which mucosal IgA reduces risk of HIV-1 transmission via breast milk and into immune interventions aimed at enhancing this response. IMPORTANCE Infants born to HIV-1-infected mothers are repeatedly exposed to the virus in breast milk. Remarkably, the transmission rate is low, suggesting that immune factors in the breast milk of HIV-1-infected mothers help to limit transmission. We compared the antibody responses in plasma and breast milk of HIV-1-transmitting and -nontransmitting mothers to identify responses that correlated with reduced risk of postnatal HIV-1 transmission. We found that neither plasma nor breast milk IgG antibody responses were associated with risk of HIV-1 transmission. In contrast, the magnitudes of the breast milk IgA and secretory IgA responses against HIV-1 envelope proteins were associated with reduced risk of postnatal HIV-1 transmission. The results of this study support further investigations of the mechanisms by which mucosal IgA may reduce the risk of HIV-1 transmission via breastfeeding and the development of strategies to enhance milk envelope-specific IgA responses to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission and promote an HIV-free generation

Uncovering the multifaceted roles played by neutrophils in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) is a life-saving procedure used for the treatment of selected hematological malignancies, inborn errors of metabolism, and bone marrow failures. The role of neutrophils in alloHSCT has been traditionally evaluated only in the context of their ability to act as a first line of defense against infection. However, recent evidence has highlighted neutrophils as key effectors of innate and adaptive immune responses through a wide array of newly discovered functions. Accordingly, neutrophils are emerging as highly versatile cells that are able to acquire different, often opposite, functional capacities depending on the microenvironment and their differentiation status. Herein, we review the current knowledge on the multiple functions that neutrophils exhibit through the different stages of alloHSCT, from the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) mobilization in the donor to the immunological reconstitution that occurs in the recipient following HSC infusion. We also discuss the influence exerted on neutrophils by the immunosuppressive drugs delivered in the course of alloHSCT as part of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. Finally, the potential involvement of neutrophils in alloHSCT-related complications, such as transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA), acute and chronic GVHD, and cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation, is also discussed. Based on the data reviewed herein, the role played by neutrophils in alloHSCT is far greater than a simple antimicrobial role. However, much remains to be investigated in terms of the potential functions that neutrophils might exert during a highly complex procedure such as alloHSCT

Measuring progress and projecting attainment on the basis of past trends of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals in 188 countries: an analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are grounded in the global ambition of “leaving no one behind”. Understanding today’s gains and gaps for the health-related SDGs is essential for decision makers as they aim to improve the health of populations. As part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016), we measured 37 of the 50 health-related SDG indicators over the period 1990–2016 for 188 countries, and then on the basis of these past trends, we projected indicators to 2030

A Glycoprotein in Shells of Conspecifics Induces Larval Settlement of the Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas

Settlement of larvae of Crassostrea gigas on shell chips (SC) prepared from shells of 11 different species of mollusks was investigated. Furthermore, the settlement inducing compound in the shell of C. gigas was extracted and subjected to various treatments to characterize the chemical cue. C. gigas larvae settled on SC of all species tested except on Patinopecten yessoensis and Atrina pinnata. In SC of species that induced C. gigas larvae to settle, settlement was proportionate to the amount of SC supplied to the larvae. When compared to C. gigas SC, all species except Crassostrea nippona showed lower settlement inducing activities, suggesting that the cue may be more abundant or in a more available form to the larvae in shells of conspecific and C. nippona than in other species. The settlement inducing activity of C. gigas SC remained intact after antibiotic treatment. Extraction of C. gigas SC with diethyl ether (Et2O-ex), ethanol (EtOH-ex), and water (Aq-ex) did not induce larval settlement of C. gigas larvae. However, extraction of C. gigas SC with 2N of hydrochloric acid (HCl-ex) induced larval settlement that was at the same level as the SC. The settlement inducing compound in the HCl-ex was stable at 100°C but was destroyed or degraded after pepsin, trypsin, PNGase F and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid treatments. This chemical cue eluted between the molecular mass range of 45 and 150 kDa after gel filtration and revealed a major band at 55 kDa on the SDS-PAGE gel after staining with Stains-all. Thus, a 55 kDa glycoprotein component in the organic matrix of C. gigas shells is hypothesized to be the chemical basis of larval settlement on conspecifics

Formalizing theories of child development: Introduction to the special section

Theories in "soft" areas of psychology lack the cumulative character of scientific knowledge. They tend neither to be refuted nor corroborated, but instead merely fade away as people lose interest. (Meehl, 1978, p. 806) In the wake of the replication crisis, there have been numerous initiatives to increase transparency in empirical research, such as preregistration, sharing materials, data, and code, and Registered Reports (Syed et al., 2023). These initiatives promote more reliable and reproducible findings (Pennington, 2023), which are essential for cumulative developmental science (Roisman, 2021). However, solid bricks are not enough; we need solid theory to build the house (Muthukrishna & Henrich, 2019). At the present time, few theories are clear and precise enough to cement findings into larger wholes. Most theories are stated in natural language, which is ambiguous-open to multiple interpretations-even if carefully crafted (Frankenhuis et al., 202

The source depth of burial experiment at Shagan River, Kazakstan

The seismic field experimentation team at Los Alamos National Laboratory collaborated with Lawrence Livermore, the Defense Special Weapons Agency (DSWA) and the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakstan to record the Source Depth of Burial Experiment during the summer of 1997. A series of three 25 ton explosions at depths of 50, 300 and 550 meters along with associated 50 to 100 kg Green`s function explosions and a 5 ton proof of concept explosion were instrumented at near source (0.1 to 20 km) and regional distances (100 to 1,100 km) using portable seismic data acquisition equipment. The near source data represent the first US recordings of seismic data at the former Soviet Union`s Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. The main objective of the Depth of Burial Experiment was to test whether source depth can help identify underground nuclear explosions from observations at distance ranges of 100--1,000 km. A secondary objective was to help calibrate the Kazakstan seismic network, especially the primary IMS station at Makanchi and the auxiliary IMS stations at Kurchatov and Aktyubinsk. Near-source records show the 50 m deep explosion generated much higher amplitude surface (R{sub g}) waves than did either of the deeper explosions. Impulse P-wave arrivals dominated the traces from the 300 and 550 meter deep explosions. P-wave amplitudes, 10--20 Hz, appeared to be a stronger function of source than of path or site. Apparent P velocity was highly path dependent, with higher velocities parallel to the local, NW-SE fabric of the geologic structure. Empirical Green`s function results for the 25 ton shots show increasing corner frequency with depth, consistent with predictions of the Mueller-Murphy source model