Compelling Questions Research Articles

Secularity and Science: What Scientists around the World Really Think about Religion

Secularity and Science: What Scientists around the World Really Think about Religion

Characterization of the DUNE photodetectors and study of the event burst phenomenon

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an upcoming neutrino physics experiment that will answer some of the most compelling questions in particle physics and cosmology. The DUNE far detectors employ silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) to detect light produced by charged particles interacting in a large liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). The SiPMs are photosensors consisting of an array of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPAD) operating in Geiger mode. Their high sensitivity and dynamic range, as well as the possibility to fill large surfaces with high-granularity sensors, makes them an ideal choice for DUNE. An international consortium of research groups is currently engaged in a systematic comparison of the performances of the SiPM models that have been custom developed for DUNE by two manufacturers. Such detailed studies, which include gain measurements and a structure study of the dark count rate at 77 K, are meant to determine the best choice of the photodetection system for DUNE, as well as characterize the response of the chosen detectors for the DUNE simulation. Moreover, an investigation of a newly observed phenomenon, in which quick bursts of tens of events at close range are collected in individual SiPMs, is being carried out, which potentially impacts the design of future models and their implementation in particle physics experiments.

Practice and Theory: The Diffusion of State Legislative Budget Reform

We question why some state legislatures responded to public discourse promptly while other state legislatures resist change. We use the choice of performance-based budgeting (PBB) to set the stage in answering this compelling question. We employ a logit model as a discrete event history analysis (EHA). We use the EHA to determine how and what variables influence the probability of an organization’s qualitative change (or “event”) at a given point in time. In this study, the organizations are states, and the event to be analyzed is the enactment of PBB law. Our data set is a modified panel of 50 states between the years 1993 and 2008. We study the factors that would influence state legislators to pass PBB laws across the nation. While our empirical result shows that political preferences are not statistically significant factors for states to pass PBB law, state legislators seem to favor the factors associated with the financial management explanation to adopt PBB. Also, the factors of path dependence and mimicking influence states to adopt PBB.

Fifteen compelling open questions in plant cell biology.

As scientists, we are at least as excited about the open questions—the things we do not know—as the discoveries. Here, we asked 15 experts to describe the most compelling open questions in plant cell biology. These are their questions: How are organelle identity, domains, and boundaries maintained under the continuous flux of vesicle trafficking and membrane remodeling? Is the plant cortical microtubule cytoskeleton a mechanosensory apparatus? How are the cellular pathways of cell wall synthesis, assembly, modification, and integrity sensing linked in plants? Why do plasmodesmata open and close? Is there retrograde signaling from vacuoles to the nucleus? How do root cells accommodate fungal endosymbionts? What is the role of cell edges in plant morphogenesis? How is the cell division site determined? What are the emergent effects of polyploidy on the biology of the cell, and how are any such “rules” conditioned by cell type? Can mechanical forces trigger new cell fates in plants? How does a single differentiated somatic cell reprogram and gain pluripotency? How does polarity develop de-novo in isolated plant cells? What is the spectrum of cellular functions for membraneless organelles and intrinsically disordered proteins? How do plants deal with internal noise? How does order emerge in cells and propagate to organs and organisms from complex dynamical processes? We hope you find the discussions of these questions thought provoking and inspiring.

The Sprawl: Reconsidering the Weird American Suburbs by Jason Diamond (review)

ENVIRONMENT, SPACE, PLACE / VOLUME 13 / ISSUE 2 / 2021 142 Mathewson, Tom Mels, Theano S. Terkenli, Tim Waterman, Claudio Minca, MichaelJones ,KennethR.Olwig,“TheMeaningsofLandscape:EssaysonPlace,Space, Environment and Justice,” The AAG Review of Books 7, no. 4 (2019): 291–­304. 11. Linde Egberts, Review of The Meanings of Landscape: Essays on Place, Space, Environment and Justice by Kenneth R. Olwig. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie 111, no. 2 (2020): 199–­200. The Sprawl: Reconsidering the Weird American Suburbs BY JASON DIAMOND Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2020 REVIEWED BY JULIE WILHELM JasonDiamond’sTheSprawl:ReconsideringtheWeirdAmericanSuburbs provides an often fascinating and meandering trip through American suburbs of the past and present. Diamond, who lives in Brooklyn but grew up in the suburbs of Florida and Illinois, explores the suburbs through both his own experiences and the experiences of the creative and everyday individuals he profiles. “The Sprawl,” a title drawn from the speculative fiction writer William Gibson, names for Diamond the worst of the suburbs, the thoughtless piling on of chain stores and houses without attention to design or community. The subtitle calls up the best of the suburbs, which is in some ways connected to the sprawl: the creativity and weirdness that crops up without design or in refusal of the rigid designs of suburban communities. In studying the dynamic of creative expression and suburban living, Diamond provides a cultural tour of visual art, literature, music, movies , and other creative artifacts of or about the suburbs. Throughout the genres he explores, Diamond focuses on what he calls “the undercurrent of strangeness” (xvii), the creativity, passion, and possibilities that have come out of places that seem inhospitable to them. Chapters are thoroughly researched and topics are exhaustively covered: most readers will complete the book with at least a short list of music, literature , and other art to track down based on Diamond’s sometimes encyclopedic coverage. The genre of The Sprawl is uniquely hybrid. Diamond blends his- Book Reviews 143 tories of various suburbs, descriptions of art, anecdotes of his explorations of particular suburbs, and memories of his own suburban childhood to explore each chapter topic. As historian/cultural enthusiast /tour guide/friend, Diamond is warm and personable, sharing his own painful experiences as a child moving from house to house in the suburbs and ultimately leaving them for the city. Diamond focuses chapters on themes such as exclusionary practices of the suburbs, suburban “garage rock,” and the “ruin porn” of faded malls, each adding a dimension to readers’ understanding of American suburbia. A striking quality of The Sprawl is Diamond’s attention to the feelings of the suburbs and evocation of those feelings in descriptions of his own and others’ experiences. Several chapters touch on teenage anxiety, boredom, and alienation, often through the perspectives of fictional characters and artists. Chapter seven: “Mousepacks,” for instance ,onculturalportrayalsandexperiencesofsuburbanteens,traces the relationship between teenage alienation and boredom, and spatial and design attributes: the inability of teenagers to get places in many suburbs since they cannot drive, the absence of cultural spaces that bring people together, the homogeny for which the suburbs are infamous , and racism evoked in texts such as Get Out. Nostalgia also pervades the book and the experiences of the author and others relating to the suburbs: the sense that, though there is nothing place-­ specific about a breakfast from IHOP or the cologne-­ scented mall of one’s childhood, it is a place-­ less experience one still longs for. Particularly poignant, chapter nine, titled “Mondo-­ Condo-­ Shopping-­ Mall-­ Hell,” opens with a description of Cecil Robert’s YouTube video “Toto-­Africa (playing in an empty shopping centre).” The video features the glossy tiled floor, lighting, and decorative plants of an empty shopping mall as Toto’s “Africa” plays from a distant mall speaker. Intrigued by Diamond’s description, I watched the video myself, which is mesmerizing in its uneventfulness, and saw that it has over three million views on YouTube. Why is this exploration of suburban banality so moving to so many? What drove Robert, who was a teenager after the heyday of the mall, nostalgic for this “placeless place”? These are some of the most compelling questions that Diamond explores. Chapter three...

Current Epigenetic Insights in Kidney Development.

The kidney is among the best characterized developing tissues, with the genes and signaling pathways that regulate embryonic and adult kidney patterning and development having been extensively identified. It is now widely understood that DNA methylation and histone modification patterns are imprinted during embryonic development and must be maintained in adult cells for appropriate gene transcription and phenotypic stability. A compelling question then is how these epigenetic mechanisms play a role in kidney development. In this review, we describe the major genes and pathways that have been linked to epigenetic mechanisms in kidney development. We also discuss recent applications of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) techniques in the study of kidney development. Additionally, we summarize the techniques of single-cell epigenomics, which can potentially be used to characterize epigenomes at single-cell resolution in embryonic and adult kidneys. The combination of scRNA-seq and single-cell epigenomics will help facilitate the further understanding of early cell lineage specification at the level of epigenetic modifications in embryonic and adult kidney development, which may also be used to investigate epigenetic mechanisms in kidney diseases.

Threading the needle from ‘interoperability’ to ‘gatekeeping’: quest for a layered model

ABSTRACT ‘Interoperability’ means the ability for two different and independent information and communication technology (ICT) systems to exchange information and use that information. Whether or to what extent ICT interoperability needs to be regulated vis-a-vis the new technological challenges, poses a compelling question for the law and policy makers. Given this overarching question, this study first attempts to evaluate the issue from a multidisciplinary legal viewpoint and secondly examines the architectural settings of cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT). It is concluded that a layered regulatory model can respond to the ICT interdependent layers, as peculiarities of both the cloud and the IoT architectures are all-encompassed by such a model. It is also considered that a bottom-up, ex-ante and holistic approach developed under the layered regulatory model could address wide-ranging gatekeeping activities, responding not only competition concerns but also techno-social concerns, which constitute the main thread of ICT interoperability and accompanying problems. Finally, it is proposed this model can be transposed into the EU law, and to that end, it is suggested that the model replace the core measures of the electronic communications regulatory framework, along with a set of principles i.e. transparency, fairness, accountability and corresponding remedies.

Performance beyond the panel: (S)exploitation and trafficking in Ram Devineni’s Priya and the Lost Girls

ABSTRACT Positioned at the intersection of comics studies and gender studies, this article examines the process in which the ‘performance’ of Ram Devineni’s comic Priya and the Lost Girls (2019), with a honing narrative intertwined with Augmented Reality, sensitizes its readers towards the issue of sex/human trafficking in India. Throughout the enigmatic journey, Priya, the superheroine in the narrative comes to rescue several women who have fallen into the trap of the sex trafficking racket either due to economical vulnerabilities or some other issues. Priya, in the leading role of a ‘Messiah’ liberates these victims and provides message at the end. The compelling visual metaphors, designs, speech balloons, and the audio elements in this comic pose compelling questions pertaining to the castrated and unsusceptible position of victims in the society and encourage maintaining healthy social relations among people. Within the postulates of gender studies, comics studies, and visual studies, our reading focuses on how comics medium in Ram Devineni’s Priya and the Lost Girls contributes to the process of social sensitization and extend awareness on the prevention, protection, and prosecution of sex trafficking in South Asian countries, especially in the Indian subcontinent.

Surface excitations relaxation in the Kondo insulator Sm1−xGdxB6

The interplay between non-trivial topological states of matter and strong electronic correlations is one of the most compelling open questions in condensed matter physics. Due to experimental challenges, there is an increasing desire to find more microscopic techniques to complement the results of more traditional experiments. In this work, we locally explore the Kondo insulator Sm$_{1-x}$Gd$_{x}$B$_{6}$ by means of electron spin resonance (ESR) of Gd$^{3+}$ ions at low temperatures. Our analysis reveals that the Gd$^{3+}$ ESR line shape shows an anomalous evolution as a function of temperature, wherein for highly dilute samples (x $\approx$ 0.0002) the Gd$^{3+}$ ESR line shape changes from a localized ESR local moment character to a diffusive-like character. Upon manipulating the sample surface with a focused ion beam we demonstrate, in combination with electrical resistivity measurements, that the localized character of the Gd$^{3+}$ ESR line shape is recovered by increasing the penetration of the microwave in the sample. This provides compelling evidence for the contribution of surface or near-surface excitations to the relaxation mechanism in the Gd$^{3+}$ spin dynamics. Our work brings new insights into the importance of non-trivial surface excitations in ESR, opening new routes to be explored both theoretically and experimentally.

Steps 1 and 2: Asking a Compelling Clinical Question and Searching for the Best Evidence.

A compelling clinical question using the PICOT format sets the stage for a successful search for relevant evidence. This column describes the PICOT format with examples for each component and uses a specific example to demonstrate, through a first-person librarian narrative, how to conduct a literature search for relevant evidence.

Optimizing Green Brand Equity: The Integrated Branding and Behavioral Perspectives

A compelling question that constantly arises in our society today is “How do we build a healthy brand that is closely associated with environmental activities?” Enhancing green brand equity is among the answers. This article integrates consumer environmental values with brand knowledge and brand relationships to arrive at an integrated view of how green brand equity can be maximized. Our research employs a questionnaire-based survey to collect data from consumers of electronics products in Ho Chi Minh City using a cluster sampling method. A structural equation modeling method was used to validate the hypothetical relationships. Our analysis suggests that (a) attitudes toward green products and the environmental concern affect consumer’s associations with the green brand, followed by green brand equity and (b) an eco-friendly image and trust in the brand’s green commitments drive a competent green brand. Our article broadens the current understanding of green consumers’ behavior by providing a theoretical model that investigates the associations between brand relationships and consumers’ personal motives which are closely connected with green brand management. Altogether, this study presents a broad picture of green branding mechanisms.

Magnetoreception: An exciting field of challenges, hopes, wishes and beyond

The ability of animals to sense the geomagnetic field and perceive guidance cues for orientation and navigation has been a subject of lively debate since the beginning. A wealth of behavioral evidences has been accumulated and several sophisticated theoretical models including electromagnetic induction, ferrimagnetism, radical pairs model based on cryptochrome and biocompass model based on MagR and MagR/Cry protein complex have been proposed. However, the mechanism of magnetoreception remains largely unknown up to date, and thus exciting. How do migratory organisms find their way has been listed by Science as one of 125 most compelling scientific questions that cannot currently be answered, but are on the horizon. Here in this historical review, we firstly focused on examining the magnetoreception research throughout the last two centuries emerged in the literatures. We then reviewed the four major hypotheses behind this scientific mystery, and highlighted pros and cons of each hypothesis. We also discussed that if it was possible that a universal mechanism can be applied to explain all questions in animal magnetoreception, from the perspective of biodiversity and evolution. One of the heated controversies in magnetoreception is that can human navigate by sensing the geomagnetic field? We explored the research history of human magnetoreception in this review. The question can be traced back to 1873 when Charles Darwin wrote a letter to Nature , arguing that animals including human have the “instinct” to navigate. Then after almost 100 years, Robin Baker claimed to find a human compass sense of magnetic field in “Manchester Experiments” in Science in 1980, but the replication efforts all failed for more than 30 years by other groups. This controversy topic was then re-visited in 2019 and two groups published results suggesting many humans are able to unconsciously detect changes in Earth-strength magnetic fields, which raised more questions in this field. Putting the research history into perspective, we then discussed the unique features of biological magnetoreception, the approaches currently used in this field, the challenges we were facing and the possible solutions. We listed the contradictions in four current major models to explain the mechanism of biological magnetic sensing, and why the controversies could happen. We proposed that the pattern to perceive magnetic field should be regarded as “massive event”, since all molecules/receptors would respond to the changes of external magnetic field spontaneously, which was fundamentally different than the “single event” pattern when a chemical ligand binding to its receptor. We argue that a better understanding of the differences between magnetoreception and other sensory systems would help us to resolve this scientific mystery in the future.

Freedom of thought at the ethical frontier of law & science

ABSTRACT Some of the most compelling contemporary ethical questions surround 21st Century neuroscientific technologies. Among these, neurocognitive intervention technologies allow an unprecedented ability to alter thought. Concerns exist about their impact on individual freedom, behavior and personhood. They could also distort society, eroding core values of dignity, equality, and diversity. Potent laws are needed to anchor regulation in this rising field. The article explores how the long-neglected human right of Freedom of Thought might protect the integrity of the mind at the legal system’s highest level. Sample cases illustrate how it could be given effect ethically and legally to set boundaries for neurocognitive intervention.

Next frontier in planetary geological reconnaissance: Low-latency telepresence

The most compelling questions about the possibility of life on other planetary bodies will likely be answered only once the human mind can fully engage with the explored alien surface. Current interplanetary science operation models are primarily based on the paradigm of using robotic off-Earth assets for exploration. Conducting field geology research on other planetary bodies requires experts to use data collected from advanced technologies to substitute for their on-site presence to overcome the time delay (e.g., latency) and bandwidth constraints in the transfer of data. To overcome these constraints, astronauts will need to be placed either directly on the surface (e.g., “boots on the ground”) or robotic systems will need to be deployed and directed by humans from Earth with massive time delays. In the next major stage of planetary reconnaissance, as presented here, deployment of teleoperated robotic assets with humans sufficiently proximal to the exploration targets (referred to here as “Low-Latency Telepresence (LLT)”) will greatly enhance scientific return. Humans in orbit can be present electronically/digitally at multiple sites on a planetary surface, and that presence can be sterile, alleviating planetary protection concerns. Crewed astronauts using LLT, in partnership with robotic agents on the surface, will provide scientists the means to explore, for example, the mountains and vast canyon systems on Mars and the submarine environment of Jupiter's moon Europa. Consequently, because LLT does not require humans to be physically present at the exploration site, it is potentially advantageous in terms of schedule and cost, reduces human and planetary risks, while increasing the quantity and quality of the science data that can be returned.

The American Short Story and Me

The American Short Story and Me

Titan: Earth-like on the Outside, Ocean World on the Inside

Abstract Thanks to the Cassini–Huygens mission, Titan, the pale orange dot of Pioneer and Voyager encounters, has been revealed to be a dynamic, hydrologically shaped, organic-rich ocean world offering unparalleled opportunities to explore prebiotic chemistry. And while Cassini–Huygens revolutionized our understanding of each of the three “layers” of Titan—the atmosphere, the surface, and the interior—we are only beginning to hypothesize how these realms interact. In this paper, we summarize the current state of Titan knowledge and discuss how future exploration of Titan would address some of the next decade’s most compelling planetary science questions. We also demonstrate why exploring Titan, both with and beyond the Dragonfly New Frontiers mission, is a necessary and complementary component of an Ocean Worlds Program that seeks to understand whether habitable environments exist elsewhere in our solar system.

SPR Perspectives: scientific opportunities in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program.

Drawing upon extant data from existing pediatric cohorts and new follow-up of a diverse set of pediatric cohorts from across the United States, the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program creates the opportunity for novel and innovative investigations of many previously inaccessible scientific questions in the area of child health. We describe how the large sample size, diversity of participants, emphasis on team science, and infrastructure for improving research methodology make the ECHO Program a major research resource for improving our understanding of early life determinants of childhood health and well-being. Pediatric researchers leverage the unique features of the ECHO Program to address research questions with the potential to yield far-reaching and long-term impacts on child health.Impact The ECHO Program unites pediatric cohorts from across the United States, allowing for investigations of compelling research questions that were previously infeasible due to limited sample sizes or lack of participant diversity.The focus of the ECHO Program on team science, solution-oriented research, and methodological innovation propels novel scientific investigations that are responsive to the needs of a wide range of stakeholders.Features of the ECHO program’s infrastructure poise its investigators to rapidly launch research endeavors that are responsive to time-sensitive and critical needs within the realm of pediatric research.

Biology’s best friend: Bridging disciplinary gaps to advance canine science

Abstract The rich history and global abundance of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) present a unique opportunity and an ideal model for interdisciplinary research. Canine evolutionary history demonstrates unprecedented changes across all levels of biological organization. These include diversification from highly social, pack-dwelling wild carnivores (extant gray wolves, C. lupus), to increased dependence on humans (domestication), to modern in-home colonization featuring close physical proximity to humans (interspecies bonding). The young, emerging field of “canine science” comprises diverse biological disciplines including evolution, genetics, cognition, behavior, physiology, comparative medicine, and ecology, drawing on studies of both natural and experimental systems and scaling across all levels of biological organization, from genomes to ecosystems. However, limited connections bridge the various fields associated with canine science, although in every branch it is recognized that this species is one of the most phenotypically variable mammals. Yet there has been growing interest in integrating the insights from genomic evolution with those from ecophysiology and ecology, thus facilitating a more biologically comprehensive perspective of dogs. In particular, integrative, mechanistic, and/or ecological studies have been generally underrepresented. To address these emerging interests, we have collected the most compelling questions in the field of canine biology and present avenues of current and future research. This paper serves to both orient the reader to this special issue, as well as offer a forward-looking perspective from diverse biological sub-disciplines to highlight current and future goals in canine research.

Where Caciques and Mapmakers Met: Border Making in Eighteenth-Century South America

Where Caciques and Mapmakers Met: Border Making in Eighteenth-Century South America

Advancing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) research: an overview of ATSDR and NCEH activities and recommendations.

The National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) support and conduct research advancing national, state, and local public health response to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals used in industry and consumer products that persist in the environment. Given the growing evidence linking PFAS with adverse health effects in humans, NCEH and ATSDR developed a public health research framework to capture the broad range of PFAS research activities being conducted and supported by the agency to determine future research priorities and identify opportunities for interagency collaboration. The framework was conceptualized via a multidisciplinary visioning process designed to identify compelling questions and research activities that span five scientific domains: toxicology, exposure, human health, public health action, and cross-cutting priorities. This paper presents a framework, compelling questions and research activities to help NCEH and ATSDR advance scientific discovery in partnership with federal, state, and local stakeholders as part of a comprehensive public health response to PFAS contamination.