As human impacts to the environment accelerate, disparities in the distribution of damages between rich and poor nations mount. Globally, environmental change is dramatically affecting the flow of ...ecosystem services, but the distribution of ecological damages and their driving forces has not been estimated. Here, we conservatively estimate the environmental costs of human activities over 1961-2000 in six major categories (climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, agricultural intensification and expansion, deforestation, overfishing, and mangrove conversion), quantitatively connecting costs borne by poor, middle-income, and rich nations to specific activities by each of these groups. Adjusting impact valuations for different standards of living across the groups as commonly practiced, we find striking imbalances. Climate change and ozone depletion impacts predicted for low-income nations have been overwhelmingly driven by emissions from the other two groups, a pattern also observed for overfishing damages indirectly driven by the consumption of fishery products. Indeed, through disproportionate emissions of greenhouse gases alone, the rich group may have imposed climate damages on the poor group greater than the latter's current foreign debt. Our analysis provides prima facie evidence for an uneven distribution pattern of damages across income groups. Moreover, our estimates of each group's share in various damaging activities are independent from controversies in environmental valuation methods. In a world increasingly connected ecologically and economically, our analysis is thus an early step toward reframing issues of environmental responsibility, development, and globalization in accordance with ecological costs.
Iron (Fe) homeostasis in plants is governed by a complex network of regulatory elements and transcription factors (TFs), as both Fe toxicity and deficiency negatively impact plant growth and ...physiology. The Fe homeostasis network is well characterized in
and remains poorly understood in monocotyledon species such as rice (
L.). Recent investigation of the rice Fe homeostasis network revealed OsIRO3, a basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) TF as a putative negative regulator of genes involved in Fe uptake, transport, and storage. We employed CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to target the
coding sequence and generate two independent T-DNA-free, loss-of-function
mutants in rice cv. Nipponbare. The
mutant plants had similar phenotype under nutrient-sufficient conditions and had stunted growth under Fe-deficient conditions, relative to a T-DNA free, wild-type control (WT). Under Fe deficiency,
mutant shoots had reduced expression of Fe chelator biosynthetic genes (
and
) and upregulated expression of an Fe transporter gene (
), relative to WT shoots. We place our results in the context of the existing literature and generate a model describing the role of OsIRO3 in rice Fe homeostasis and reinforce the essential function of OsIRO3 in the rice Fe deficiency response.
The growth of graphene on Ni using a photo-thermal chemical vapor deposition (PT-CVD) technique is reported. The non-thermal equilibrium nature of PT-CVD process resulted in a much shorter duration ...in both heating up and cooling down stages, thus allowing for a reduction in the overall growth time. Despite the reduced time for synthesis compared to standard thermal chemical vapor deposition (T-CVD), there was no decrease in the quality of the graphene film produced. Furthermore, the graphene formation under PT-CVD is much less sensitive to cooling rate than that observed for T-CVD process. Growth on Ni also allows for the alleviation of hydrogen blister damage that is commonly encountered during growth on Cu substrates and a lower processing temperature. To characterize the film’s electrical and optical properties, we further report the use of pristine PT-CVD grown graphene as the transparent electrode material in an organic photovoltaic device (OPV) with poly(3-hexyl)thiophene (P3HT)/phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the active layer where the power conversion efficiency of the OPV cell is found to be comparable to that reported using pristine graphene prepared by conventional CVD.
Sleep disturbances are common, affecting over half of adults with a mental disorder. For those admitted to a psychiatric ward, difficulties with sleep, particularly insomnia, are compounded by ...factors relating to the inpatient setting. We conducted a scoping review of sleep intervention studies involving adults admitted to psychiatric settings. We categorised the different types of sleep interventions and identified the effects on sleep and other mental and physical health outcomes. Instruments used to measure sleep were also examined. The search strategy yielded 4780 studies, of which 28 met the inclusion criteria. There was evidence of more non-pharmacological than pharmacological interventions having been tested in inpatient settings. Results indicated that non-pharmacological interventions based on cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia improve sleep and may improve mental and physical health. Several distinct sleep measures were used in the studies. Gaps in the literature were identified, highlighting the importance of research into a wider range of sleep interventions tested against robust controls, using validated measures of sleep with evaluation of additional mental and physical health outcomes among a large sample size of adults in the psychiatric inpatient settings.
We present a new measurement of the positive muon magnetic anomaly, a_{μ}≡(g_{μ}-2)/2, from the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment using data collected in 2019 and 2020. We have analyzed more than 4 times ...the number of positrons from muon decay than in our previous result from 2018 data. The systematic error is reduced by more than a factor of 2 due to better running conditions, a more stable beam, and improved knowledge of the magnetic field weighted by the muon distribution, ωover ˜_{p}^{'}, and of the anomalous precession frequency corrected for beam dynamics effects, ω_{a}. From the ratio ω_{a}/ωover ˜_{p}^{'}, together with precisely determined external parameters, we determine a_{μ}=116 592 057(25)×10^{-11} (0.21 ppm). Combining this result with our previous result from the 2018 data, we obtain a_{μ}(FNAL)=116 592 055(24)×10^{-11} (0.20 ppm). The new experimental world average is a_{μ}(exp)=116 592 059(22)×10^{-11} (0.19 ppm), which represents a factor of 2 improvement in precision.
The Muon g − 2 Experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) has measured the muon anomalous precession frequency ωam to an uncertainty of 434 parts per billion (ppb), statistical, and ...56 ppb, systematic, with data collected in four storage ring configurations during its first physics run in 2018. When combined with a precision measurement of the magnetic field of the experiment's muon storage ring, the precession frequency measurement determines a muon magnetic anomaly of aμ ( FNAL ) = 116 592 040 ( 54 ) × 10−11 (0.46 ppm). This article describes the multiple techniques employed in the reconstruction, analysis, and fitting of the data to measure the precession frequency. It also presents the averaging of the results from the 11 separate determinations of ωam, and the systematic uncertainties on the result.
MIPSGAL is a278 deg2
278
deg
2
survey of the inner Galactic plane using the Multiband Infrared Photometer forSpitzeraboard theSpitzer Space Telescope. The survey field was imaged in two ...passbands, 24 and 70 μm with resolutions of 6″ and 18″, respectively. The survey was designed to provide a uniform, well-calibrated and well-characterized data set for general inquiry of the inner Galactic plane and as a longer-wavelength complement to the shorter-wavelengthSpitzersurvey of the Galactic plane: Galactic Plane Infrared Mapping Survey Extraordinaire. The primary science drivers of the current survey are to identify all high-mass (
M > 5 M
⊙
M
>
5
M
⊙
) protostars in the inner Galactic disk and to probe the distribution, energetics, and properties of interstellar dust in the Galactic disk. The observations were planned to minimize data artifacts due to image latents at 24 μm and to provide full coverage at 70 μm. Observations at ecliptic latitudes within 15° of the ecliptic plane were taken at multiple epochs to help reject asteroids. The data for the survey were collected in three epochs, 2005 September–October, 2006 April, and 2006 October with all of the data available to the public. The estimated point-source sensitivities of the survey are 2 and 75 mJy (3 σ) at 24 and 70 μm, respectively. Additional data processing was needed to mitigate image artifacts due to bright sources at 24 μm and detector responsivity variations at 70 μm due to the large dynamic range of the Galactic plane. Enhanced data products including artifact-mitigated mosaics and point-source catalogs are being produced with the 24 μm mosaics already publicly available from the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive. Some preliminary results using the enhanced data products are described.
The field of neuromodulation encompasses a wide spectrum of interventional technologies that modify pathological activity within the nervous system to achieve a therapeutic effect. Therapies ...including deep brain stimulation, intracranial cortical stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation have all shown promising results across a range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. While the mechanisms of therapeutic action are invariably different among these approaches, there are several fundamental neuroengineering challenges that are commonly applicable to improving neuromodulation efficacy. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of neuromodulation for brain disorders and discusses the challenges and opportunities available for clinicians and researchers interested in advancing neuromodulation therapies.
The YSOVAR (Young Stellar Object VARiability) Spitzer Space Telescope observing program obtained the first extensive mid-infrared time series photometry of the Orion Nebula Cluster plus smaller ...footprints in 11 other star-forming cores. We present the data collection and reduction for the Spitzer and ancillary data, and define the "standard sample" on which we calculate statistics, consisting of fast cadence data, with epochs roughly twice per day for ~40 days. We also define a "standard sample of members" consisting of all the IR-selected members and X-ray-selected members. We characterize the standard sample in terms of other properties, such as spectral energy distribution shape. We use three mechanisms to identify variables in the fast cadence data - the Stetson index, a xsup 2 fit to a flat light curve, and significant periodicity. We do not find any evidence for variability that causes excesses to appear or vanish within our data set; out of members and field objects combined, at most 0.02% may have transient IR excesses.
PDF
