Independent Action Research Articles

Two missense variants of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene are associated with non small cell lung carcinoma in the subjects from Iraq.

Lung carcinoma is a foremost cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Variable genetic factors are associated with the development of lung cancer. This study was performed to evaluate the possible association of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene polymorphisms with non small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) in Iraqi population. DNA samples were extracted from 100 patients and 100 controls. Four PCR fragments were designed to amplify four high-frequency variants within EGFR, namely rs1050171, rs2072454, rs2227984, and rs2227983. The PCR fragments were genotyped by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) method, and each genotype was subjected to direct sequencing. Genotyping experiments confirmed the variability of three targeted variants, and logistic regression analysis showed that two of these variants (rs1050171 and rs2227983) tend to exhibit a significant association with NSCLC. Individuals with rs1050171:GA genotype showed a possible association with the increased risk of NSCLC (P = 0.0110; OD 5.2636; Cl95% 1.4630 to 18.9371). Individuals with rs2227983:GG genotype exhibited a potential association with NSCLC (P = 0.0037; OD 5.2683; Cl95% 1.7141to16.1919). Linkage disequilibrium analysis showed that the effects of the investigated variants seem to take independent actions, and no haplotype was found to be associated with the high prevalence of NSCLC. Our collective data indicated that EGFR-rs1050171G/A and EGFR-rs2227983G/G SNPs tend to exert significant and separate associations with the increased risk of NSCLC. However, this study recommends using a broader spectrum of the investigated samples to get further details of both SNPs in terms of their association with the susceptibility to NSCLC.

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Re-Entry Spacecraft via Radau Pseudospectral Method

The design and optimization of re-entry spacecraft or its subsystems is a multidisciplinary or multiobjective optimization problem by nature. Multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) focuses on using numerical optimization in designing systems with several subsystems or disciplines that have interactions and independent actions. In the present paper, the system-level optimizer, trajectory, geometry and shape, aerodynamics, and aerothermodynamics differential equations, are converted to algebraic equations using the Radau pseudospectral method (RPM) since a spacecraft is a nonlinear, extensive, and sparse system. The solution to the problem with the help of MDO is reached by iterating all the disciplines together; one can simultaneously enhance the design, decrease the time and cost of the entire design cycle, and minimize the structural mass of a re-entry spacecraft. Considering various methods presented in earlier research works, a combined and innovative all-at-once (AAO), RPM-based MDO method, including the key subsystems in the design process of a re-entry capsule-shape spacecraft with a low lift-to-drag ratio (L/D), is presented. Considering the applicable state and control variables, various constraints, and parameters applied to several geometric shapes of a blunt capsule and using Apollo’s aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic coefficients, the optimized dimensions for a re-entry spacecraft are presented. The introduced optimization scheme led to a 17% mass reduction compared to the original mass of the Apollo vehicle. Fast computing and simplified models are used together in this method to analyze a wide range of vehicle shapes and entry types during conceptual design.

Metabolism and Signaling of Plant Mitochondria in Adaptation to Environmental Stresses.

The interaction of mitochondria with cellular components evolved differently in plants and mammals; in plants, the organelle contains proteins such as ALTERNATIVE OXIDASES (AOXs), which, in conjunction with internal and external ALTERNATIVE NAD(P)H DEHYDROGENASES, allow canonical oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to be bypassed. Plant mitochondria also contain UNCOUPLING PROTEINS (UCPs) that bypass OXPHOS. Recent work revealed that OXPHOS bypass performed by AOXs and UCPs is linked with new mechanisms of mitochondrial retrograde signaling. AOX is functionally associated with the NO APICAL MERISTEM transcription factors, which mediate mitochondrial retrograde signaling, while UCP1 can regulate the plant oxygen-sensing mechanism via the PRT6 N-Degron. Here, we discuss the crosstalk or the independent action of AOXs and UCPs on mitochondrial retrograde signaling associated with abiotic stress responses. We also discuss how mitochondrial function and retrograde signaling mechanisms affect chloroplast function. Additionally, we discuss how mitochondrial inner membrane transporters can mediate mitochondrial communication with other organelles. Lastly, we review how mitochondrial metabolism can be used to improve crop resilience to environmental stresses. In this respect, we particularly focus on the contribution of Brazilian research groups to advances in the topic of mitochondrial metabolism and signaling.

PEDAGOGICAL CONDITIONS OF FORMATION OF READINESS OF FUTURE CHOREOGRAPHERS FOR APPLICATION OF PROJECT TECHNOLOGIES IN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY

The process of revival of spiritual and national culture puts forward new requirements for the professional training of artistic and pedagogical staff, including choreographers, the development of their professional competencies, creative abilities and the use of new technologies in teaching children and youth the art of dance. The use of project technologies as a form of organization of the educational art process helps to create conditions for self-knowledge, self-realization and reflection of students, providing opportunities to find themselves, to stand on the path of independent productive action, which improves the quality of self-education. thinking, enrichment of the empathic-sensory sphere of the student, independence of students in solving creative tasks, intellectualization of the educational artistic process.The special course “Project technologies in the professional activity of a choreographer” is aimed at the ability to think in choreographic images and create countless different dance compositions, to feel and reproduce various movements, gestures, poses, people of different characters, to have excellent memory and keen eyesight. errors in the mass of dancers. In the process of the special course each direction of choreography, its features, inherent in the national environment and nationality of the performer are considered.The requirements for the work of the future choreographer based on the use of project technologies in professional activities are outlined. Examining the experience of using a practice-oriented approach to the formation of pedagogical competencies in the future choreographer in the process of professional training, we found that this approach is associated with the creative nature of professional and pedagogical activities of the choreographer.We consider the application of project technologies in the professional activity of future choreographers as one of the optimal components of forming an independent creative position of students in the process of working with educational choreographic groups.

Reform of Anglo-American Complicity Law: Conduct, Connectivity and Comparative Solutions

The challenge presented by extant Anglo-American complicity law is that it intractably homogenises different participatory modalities across a broad landscape of culpability, and ultimately the controller/instigatory actor may be treated alike with the ethereal shadow marionette. It is essential to effect change, not only as a concern of appropriate legal substantive reformulation, but also to avoid capricious practical unfairness. It should not be reforms predicated on the illusory distillation of causality requirements, between assistance and encouragement provided by the accessory and direct commission of harm(s), but rather on an imputed-normative-proportionality standardisation, reviewable via evidentiary perspectives in terms of actual intercessory conduct. A critique of alternative legal system approaches to complicitous behaviour, notably the Germanic Criminal Code, provides further significant insights towards the adaptation of a new accessorial liability framework. This broadened template promulgates a synchronous and complementary original review of withdrawal precepts. A redemptive change of heart aligned with appropriate reductive criminal depredation may exculpate via reverse conduct prophylaxis. Only an individual actor who has manifestly interceded in criminal harm(s), adjudged by the jurors as moral arbiters within prescribed gradations of culpability, as addressed herein, should rank imputably in equiparated blameworthiness with the principal offender. If this equiparation is lacking, or if the criminal wrongdoing is characterised as a wholly independent action by another party, then alternative forms of potential secondary party liability must be sought – a de novo facilitation offence as propounded subsequently, and consideration of reverse burden of proof.

Teamwork Makes the String Work: A Pilot Test of the Loose String Task with African Crested Porcupines (Hystrix cristata)

Comparative researchers have heavily focused their studies of social cognition on species that live in large social groups, while neglecting other potential predictors of social cognition. African crested porcupines (Hystrix cristata) are relatively rare among mammals in that they are cooperative breeders that pair for life. Little is known about their social cognition, but they are good candidates for exploring cooperative behavior due to the need to coordinate behavior to cooperatively raise young. Cooperation, as defined in this study, is the process by which two or more participants perform independent actions on an object to obtain a reward for all parties. Humans are thought to outperform all other species in the frequency and magnitude of cooperative behaviors. Yet, only by studying a variety of species can researchers fully understand the likely selection pressures for cooperation, such as cooperative breeding. Here, we pilot tested the feasibility of the popular loose-string task with a mated pair of African crested porcupines, a task that required the porcupines to cooperatively pull ropes to access an out of reach platform baited with food rewards. Other species presented with this task were able to work together to receive rewards but did not always demonstrate understanding of the role of their partner. The porcupines achieved success but did not appear to coordinate their actions or solicit behavior from their partner. Thus, similar to other species, they may achieve success in this task without taking their partner’s role into account. This study demonstrates that the loose string task can be used to assess cooperation in porcupines. However, further experiments are needed to assess the porcupine’s understanding of their partner’s role under this paradigm.

TAAR1 dependent and independent actions of the potential antipsychotic and dual TAAR1/5-HT1A receptor agonist SEP-363856

SEP-363856 (SEP-856) is a novel antipsychotic under clinical development. It displays a unique pattern of receptor interaction, with only weak (partial agonist) activity at dopamine D2 receptors, yet more potent agonist activity at the trace amine associated receptor (TAAR1) and 5-hydroxytryptamine 1 A receptor (5-HT1A). Nonetheless, these observations await independent confirmation and more detailed characterization of the in vitro and in vivo actions of SEP-856 at TAAR1 and 5-HT1A receptors would be instructive. Herein, we employed luminescence complementation technology in heterologous live cell systems, confocal microscopy, voltage clamp electrophysiology, behavioral readouts and TAAR1 knockout (KO) mice to study SEP-856 in further detail. We provide evidence for the ability of SEP-856 to activate TAAR1 at the surface plasma membrane, and show that this interaction results in Gαs recruitment (pEC50: 6.08 ± 0.22 EMAX: 96.41% ± 15.26) and by extension, to G-protein inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) channel activation. Using TAAR1-KO mice, we find TAAR1 to be indispensable for SEP-856 control of body temperature, baseline locomotion reduction and for “antipsychotic-like” efficacy as characterized by a reversal of dizocilipine (MK-801) mediated disruption of pre-pulse inhibition. Conversely, the inhibition by SEP-856 of MK-801 induced locomotion was unaffected in TAAR1 KO mice. SEP-856 behaved as a low-potency, partial agonist at the 5-HT1A receptor, while it partially inhibited recruitment of D2 receptor-coupled Gα and GIRK by DA and acted as a weak partial agonist with low potency at the same receptor when applied alone. Our findings corroborate and extend previous observations on the molecular substrates engaged by this unique, dual TAAR1/5-HT1A receptor agonist and potential antipsychotic that could prove to have major advantages in the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

Searching for New Human Behavior Model in the Climate Change Age: Analyzing the Impact of Risk Perception and Government Factors on Intention-Action Consistency in Particulate Matter Mitigation.

This study aims to analyze factors influencing citizens’ intentions to take protective action against particulate matter (PM) and their actual actions in response to PM. There were few research on the role of government factors and the issue of intention–action inconsistency in the context of PM mitigation action. Therefore, this study set not only variables in the risk perception paradigm but also ones in government factors as independent variables, while intention and action in response to PM were set as dependent variables. This study’s analysis was based on survey data collected from Korean people. For representativeness of the samples, this study adopted the quota sampling method, considering region, gender, and age. Five hundred respondents finished the survey. To verify the hypotheses, this study used regression and binomial logistic analysis. Analysis showed that (1) negative emotions, trust, knowledge, government competency, policy satisfaction, and policy awareness had significant effects on intention and action in response to PM, and (2) perceived benefits only affected intention, whereas government accountability only affected action. Logistic analysis showed that there were groups in which intentions and actions did not match. Negative emotions and government competence induce intention–action consistency, whereas the perceived benefits and trust in government tend to encourage inconsistency. Knowledge is a variable that induces both consistency and inconsistency in the intention–action relationship. The determinant structures of independent variables affecting the likelihood of belonging to the four groups differed.

Considerations on the EU and NATO Security Responsibilities

"Since its establishment, the two organisations, NATO and the European Union (EU) have acted to find the most effective ways, adapted to the constantly changing international environment, to carry out their basic missions and to maintain a strong transatlantic relationship. The EU, especially after the end of the Cold War, has made significant progress in the direction of building and strengthening a common defence policy as well as the necessary means for its implementation in accordance with its security interests.During the resolution of certain security crises in Europe, but also outside it, there were certain differences between the USA and certain allies, some of them members of both NATO and the EU, regarding the necessary actions to perform the security responsibilities. The differences between the two organisations were mainly represented by the assessment of the threats, the institutions involved in the decision-making to trigger military actions, the requirements for military capabilities, the optimal ratio between political and military means in resolving crises and the share of military expenses in the gross domestic product. Moreover, the steps taken at the EU level have not always been the most appropriate for the development of credible military capabilities and for independent military actions, in crises where NATO as a whole is not involved."

Prioritization of micropollutants in municipal wastewater and the joint inhibitory effects of priority organic pollutants on Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67

Treatment of wastewater in municipal wastewater treatment plants has become a major barrier to organic pollutants entering the aquatic environment. In this study, qualitative screening of organic micropollutants was conducted in a typical municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWWTP) using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The identified compounds were prioritized according to their comprehensive scores ranked by detection frequency, semi-quantitative concentration, bioaccumulation, ecotoxicity, and biodegradability. The results showed dibutyl phthalate, antioxidant 2246, methyl stearate, 2,4,6-tri‑tert-butylphenol, and dioctyl phthalate had the top five scores and were ranked as priority organic pollutants in the municipal wastewater. The individual and joint toxicity determinations of the five compounds were carried out by a bioluminescence inhibition assay using Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67 (V. qinghaiensis). The individual toxicity assay results of these pollutants on V. qinghaiensis demonstrated that the order of the acute toxicity of the five priority organic pollutants was as follows: dioctyl phthalate> dibutyl phthalate> methyl stearate> antioxidant 2246> 2,4,6-tri‑tert-butylphenol. The joint toxicity showed partial addition or antagonism among these pollutants. The prediction results of the mixed toxicity were compared between the concentration addition model and the independent action model, indicating that a single traditional prediction model could not accurately predict the mixed toxicity of different types of organic pollutants, and that a comprehensive application of model prediction could improve the accuracy of mixed toxicity prediction. This method could provide a theoretical basis for systematic screening and toxicity prediction of pollutants in wastewater.

Expending the power of artificial intelligence in preclinical research: an overview

Artificial intelligence (AI) is described as the joint set of data entry, able to receive inputs, interpret and learn from such feedbacks, and display related and flexible independent actions that help the entity reach a specific aim over a period of time. By extending its health-care applications continuously, the ultimate AI target is to use machine simulation of human intelligence processes such as learning, reasoning, and self-correction, to mimic human behaviour. AI is extensively used in diverse sectors of medicine, including clinical trials, drug discovery and development, understanding of target-disease associations, disease prediction, imaging, and precision medicine. In this review, we firstly describe the limitations and challenges of the AI tools and techniques utilized in medicine, followed by current uses and applications of AI in the translational field, highlighting the cardio-renal preclinical models with potential to contribute to future clinical research.

Individual and combined toxicity of microplastics and diuron differs between freshwater and marine diatoms

Microplastics are considered as the emerging pollutants, which not only directly affect aquatic organisms, but also causes combined pollution by adsorbing other pollutants. Diuron, as one of the most widely used herbicides, is frequently monitored in the aquatic environment for its adverse effects on aquatic organisms. However, little is known about the combined toxicity of microplastics and diuron to aquatic organisms, especially diatoms. In this study, freshwater diatom (Cyclotella meneghiniana) and marine diatom (Skeletonema costatum) were selected to study the individual and combined toxicity of microplastics (polystyrene, 0.6– 1.0 μm) and diuron. Experimental concentrations of microplastics and diuron were set at 50 mg/L and 100 μg/L, respectively, which have been shown to significantly inhibit the growth of aquatic organisms. Results suggested that both single microplastics and single diuron significantly inhibited the growth of the two diatoms, while significant SOD and MDA increase were only found in single diuron exposure. For diatoms exposed to individual microplastics, the microplastic particles adsorbed inside Cyclotella sp. and those aggregated around Skeletonema sp. were the major factor inhibiting the growth of diatom, respectively. According to the independent action model, the combined toxicity for both diatoms were all antagonistic. The adsorption behavior of microplastics to diuron alleviated the intracellular damage to diatoms caused by diuron, and the oxidative stress induced by diuron mitigated the physical damage to diatoms caused by microplastics. Collectively, our findings suggest that the co-existence of microplastics and diuron may affect their respective toxicity to diatoms. The mechanism of this “cross-phenomenon” between microplastics and diuron and their combined toxicity to different aquatic organisms need to be further studied.

Automatic index selection with learned cost estimator

Choosing useful indexes for a relational database is important for efficient query optimization. However, current methods tend to use the cost estimated by the optimizer in the database management system (DBMS) to measure the benefits of the index and, due to inaccurate cost estimates, do not bring to the most optimal solution. In addition, existing reinforcement learning methods treat the creation of different indexes as independent actions, ignoring the relationships among indexes, which may bring to unnecessary training costs. To address these problems, we propose DeepIndex, an automatic index selector with a learning-based cost estimator to improve the quality of index selection. To accurately estimate the benefit of an index, we design a learning-based cost estimator to predict the execution time of queries on certain indexes. In particular, we treat query plans as graphs and develop a model based on graph convolutional network (GCN) to learn features from queries and indexes. After that, we design a reinforcement-learning-based index selection model considering the relationships among indexes and combine our cost estimator to select indexes. Extensive experiments on two benchmark workloads JOB and TPC-DS show that our model performs better than state-of-the-art models with the lowest storage costs, and our lowest relative execution cost outperforms the baselines by 38.59% on JOB and 10.42% on TPC-DS.

Cross-Curricular Topics of Contemporary Curricula in the Lower Grades of Primary School in the Republic of Croatia

Cross-curricular topics are topics that will instil in students from an early age universal values ​​and competencies for action in modern society. There are seven cross-curricular topics in the Republic of Croatia: personal and social development, learning how to learn, civic education, health, entrepreneurship, the use of information and communication technology and sustainable development. The fundamental meaning of introducing cross-curricular topics into the teaching process is the adoption of topics of general human values ​​and competencies for a dignified life in the 21st century. The methodology consists of analysis matrix of different cross-curriculum topics and outcomes that students in individual classes should achieve. The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the importance of education for active and independent action within the community. Outcomes of interdisciplinary topics are realized in the teaching hours of all subjects. Regardless of the importance they carry within themselves, modern teachers often neglect cross-curricular topics, depriving students of knowledge and skills that would be useful to them in everyday life, in relation to themselves, their work and others.

The right of independent involvement of an expert by the defense: reality or declaration

The article analyzes the contradictions in the current Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the independent involvement of defense experts for the examination. The granted right is assessed in terms of the possibility of its implementation in the current legal regulation. The proposals presented in scientific publications of recent years on ways to solve problematic issues of independent involvement of the defense expert for the examination, providing him with the object, comparative samples for expert research and other materials are analyzed.
 It is noted that the defense has the right to independently involve an expert in the absence of a legal mechanism in the CPC of Ukraine for its implementation during the pre-trial investigation. It is believed that the proposals in the literature to establish such a mechanism in fact provide for the right of the defense to conduct investigative actions necessary to provide the expert with the objects of study and relevant materials. However, the proposals to grant such a right to lawyers contradict other provisions of the CPC of Ukraine, the revision of which will actually lead to the emergence of several subjects of pre-trial investigation. Such a solution to the problem will inevitably have a negative impact on the ability to solve the problems of criminal proceedings set out in Art. 2 of the CPC of Ukraine. Giving the parties with opposing goals equal rights in the conduct of investigative actions will inevitably lead to an imbalance in the pre-trial investigation.
 The thesis is substantiated that the performance of the function of protection (providing legal assistance to the client) does not require the right to conduct independent investigative actions, including examination. To do this, it is sufficient to initiate their conduct in the exercise of legal supervision. The importance of not ensuring the full equality of rights of the parties to criminal proceedings for examinations, but balancing the rights taking into account the tasks to be solved by the parties during the pre-trial investigation.
 It is concluded that determining the scope of the rights of the defense to conduct an examination should be based on the function of providing legal assistance to the suspect (accused), the exercise of legal control over the collection of evidence by examination.

Preoperative patient activation predicts minimum clinically important difference for PROMIS pain and physical function in patients undergoing elective spine surgery

Patient activation is a patient's willingness to take independent actions to manage their own health care. The goal of this study is to determine whether preoperative patient activation measure (PAM) predicts minimum clinically important difference (MCID) for Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pain, physical function, depression, and anxiety for patients undergoing elective spine surgery. Retrospective review. A single-institution, academic database of patients undergoing elective spine surgery. MCID at 1-year follow-up for PROMIS pain, physical function, depression and anxiety. We retrospectively reviewed a single-institution, academic database of patients undergoing elective spine surgery. Preoperative patient activation was evaluated using the PAM-13 survey, which was used to stratify patients into four activation stages. Primary outcome variable was achieving MCID at 1-year follow-up for PROMIS pain and physical function. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine impact of patient activation on PROMIS pain and the physical function. Of the 430 patients, 220 (51%) were female with a mean age of 58.2±16.8. Preoperatively, 34 (8%) were in activation stage 1, 45 (10%) in stage 2, 98 (23%) in stage 3, and 253 (59%) in stage 4. At 1-year follow up, 248 (58%) achieved MCID for PROMIS physical function, 256 (60%) achieved MCID for PROMIS pain, 151 (35.28%) achieved MCID for PROMIS depression, and 197 (46%) achieved MCID for PROMIS anxiety. For PROMIS physical function, when compared to patients at stage 1 activation, patients at stage 2 (aOR:3.49, 95% CI:1.27, 9.59), stage 3 (aOR:3.54, 95% CI:1.40, 8.98) and stage 4 (aOR:7.88, 95% CI:3.29, 18.9) were more likely to achieve MCID. For PROMIS pain, when compared against patients at stage 1, patients at stage 3 (aOR:2.82, 95% CI:1.18, 6.76) and stage 4 (aOR:5.44, 95% CI:2.41, 12.3) were more likely to achieve MCID. For PROMIS depression, when compared against patients at stage 1, patients at stage 4 were more likely to achieve MCID (Adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR):2.59, 95% CI:1.08-6.19). For PROMIS anxiety, when compared against patients at stage 1, stage 3 (Adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR):3.21, 95% CI:1.20-8.57), and stage 4 (aOR:5.56, 95% CI:2.20-14.01) were more likely to achieve MCID. Patients at higher stages of activation were more likely to achieve MCID for PROMIS pain, physical function, depression, and anxiety at 1-year follow-up. Routine preoperative assessment of patient activation may help identify patients at risk of poor outcomes.

Independent actions by HIV-1 Tat and morphine to increase recruitment of monocyte-derived macrophages into the brain in a region-specific manner

Despite advances in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), approximately one-half of people infected with HIV (PWH) experience neurocognitive impairment. Opioid use disorder (OUD) can exacerbate the cognitive and pathological changes seen in PWH. HIV increases inflammation and immune cell trafficking into the brain; however, less is known about how opioid use disorder affects the recruitment of immune cells. Accordingly, we examined the temporal consequences of HIV-1 Tat and/or morphine on the recruitment of endocytic cells (predominantly perivascular macrophages and microglia) in the dorsal striatum and hippocampus by infusing multi-colored, fluorescently labeled dextrans before and after exposure. To address this question, transgenic mice that conditionally expressed HIV-1 Tat (Tat+), or their control counterparts (Tat−), received three sequential intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) infusions of Cascade Blue-, Alexa Fluor 488-, and Alexa Fluor 594-labeled dextrans, respectively infused 1 day before, 1-day after, or 13-days after morphine and/or Tat exposure. At the end of the study, the number of cells labeled with each fluorescent dextran were counted. The data demonstrated a significantly higher influx of newly-labeled cells into the perivascular space than into the parenchyma. In the striatum, Tat or morphine exposure increased the number of endocytic cells in the perivascular space, while only morphine increased the recruitment of endocytic cells into the parenchyma. In the hippocampus, morphine (but not Tat) increased the influx of dextran-labeled cells into the perivascular space, but there were too few labeled cells within the hippocampal parenchyma to analyze. Collectively, these data suggest that HIV-1 Tat and morphine act independently to increase the recruitment of endocytic cells into the brain in a region-specific manner.

The state of municipal energy transitions: Multi-scalar constraints and enablers of Europe’s post-carbon energy ambitions

There is increasing enthusiasm at urban and municipal scales for leading sustainability transitions, amid higher level endorsement and even expectation of such leadership. Yet this downscaling of responsibility for transition requires a greater critical focus. It raises questions of how evenly spread the capacity to lead on this is, and how it relates to the complex and differentiated multi-scalar governance structures and political landscapes within which municipal actors are situated. This article draws upon evidence from a mixed methods comparative and multi-scalar analysis across Europe exploring the different pressures and potential that exist for municipalities. Our central aim is to critically interrogate what municipalities are doing to achieve a post-carbon energy transition beyond lofty aspirations. Departing from the tendency to focus on paradigmatic success stories, our research on the different conditions affecting municipalities across the continent suggests that the focus so far on case studies and techno-social solutions is insufficient for considering the broader geographical patterns and multi-scalar tensions of transition. Our findings suggest that while municipalities are alive to the opportunities to lead on sustainability transitions, we need a clearer understanding of the ways that policy and politics at national and international scales shape political capacities for action. There are clear limits to independent municipal action, particularly without more supportive interventions at higher scales. The increased urgency for sustainability transitions requires far more multi-scalar and trans-local coordination than that exists at present, although the building blocks of such work may be beginning to emerge.

Unraveling the physiologic paradoxes that underlie exercise prescription for stress fracture prevention.

The effects of exercise on stress fracture risk are paradoxical. Exercise can promote both bone formation and resorption, which in turn, can reduce and increase risk of stress fractures, respectively. We review classic and current literature that suggests that the processes that underlie these responses to exercise are distinct. Bone remodeling involves osteoclastic resorption of fatigue-damaged bone, coupled with subsequent bone deposition to replace the damaged tissue. Bone modeling involves the independent action of osteoblasts and osteoclasts forming or resorbing bone, respectively, on a surface. In the formation mode, modeling results in increased bone stiffness, strength, and resistance to fatigue. Both the remodeling and modeling responses to exercise require significant time for newly deposited bone to fully mineralize. We propose that recognizing these two distinct physiologic pathways and their related time courses reveals the theoretical basis to guide exercise prescription to promote bone health during periods of heightened stress fracture risk. Such guidance may include minimizing rapid increases in the duration of repetitive exercises that may cause fatigue damage accrual, such as long-distance running and marching. Rather, limiting initial exercise characteristics to those known to stimulate bone formation, such as short-duration, moderate-to-high impact, dynamic, and multidirectional activities with rest insertion, may increase the fatigue resistance of bone and consequently minimize stress fracture risk.

The role of motion in the neural representation of social interactions in the posterior temporal cortex

Humans are an inherently social species, with multiple focal brain regions sensitive to various visual social cues such as faces, bodies, and biological motion. More recently, research has begun to investigate how the brain responds to more complex, naturalistic social scenes, identifying a region in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (SI-pSTS; i.e., social interaction pSTS), amongst others, as an important region for processing social interaction. This research, however, has presented images or videos, and thus the contribution of motion to social interaction perception in these brain regions is not yet understood. In the current study, 22 participants viewed videos, image sequences, scrambled image sequences and static images of either social interactions or non-social independent actions. Combining univariate and multivariate analyses, we confirm that bilateral SI-pSTS plays a central role in dynamic social interaction perception but is much less involved when ‘interactiveness’ is conveyed solely with static cues. Regions in the social brain, including SI-pSTS and extrastriate body area (EBA), showed sensitivity to both motion and interactive content. While SI-pSTS is somewhat more tuned to video interactions than is EBA, both bilateral SI-pSTS and EBA showed a greater response to social interactions compared to non-interactions and both regions responded more strongly to videos than static images. Indeed, both regions showed higher responses to interactions than independent actions in videos and intact sequences, but not in other conditions. Exploratory multivariate regression analyses suggest that selectivity for simple visual motion does not in itself drive interactive sensitivity in either SI-pSTS or EBA. Rather, selectivity for interactions expressed in point-light animations, and selectivity for static images of bodies, make positive and independent contributions to this effect across the LOTC region. Our results strongly suggest that EBA and SI-pSTS work together during dynamic interaction perception, at least when interactive information is conveyed primarily via body information. As such, our results are also in line with proposals of a third visual stream supporting dynamic social scene perception.