•People face self-driving cars with both fascination and reservation.•Openness towards self-driving cars correlates with both demographics and car use.•People are willing to ride in a self-driving ...car but are not yet ready to buy one.•Drivers do not trust self-drive technology to be safe and sophisticated enough.•Results suggest launching the technology gradually to increase both safety and trust.
In this paper we unpack and examine attitudes and potential barriers of end-users towards the self-driving car. We explore whether drivers have (mental) barriers and/or show resistance towards the self-driving car and, given such barriers and resistance are identified, investigate the main underlying reasons. Further, we suggest potential strategic implications for automotive companies and avenues to overcome, or at least mitigate, drivers’ barriers. The paper contributes to a better understanding of end-users’ opinions on radical innovations such as the self-driving car and strives to add value by linking scientific insights from both psychology as well as innovation literature. Only a limited number of studies so far have dealt with the potential barriers of users towards the self-driving car; therefore, it is our intent to provide first empirical evidence to trigger further research and foster a broader discussion on this relevant topic.
This work presents a study on a new uranium iron arsenide UFe5As3. By implementing Bi-flux synthesis, we were able to grow mm-sized single crystals of this compound, which show twinning. UFe5As3 is ...one of only two known uranium iron arsenides. It adopts a monoclinic, UCr5P3-type crystal structure (space group P21/m, Pearson symbol mP18, a = 7.050(2) Å, b = 3.8582(9) Å, c = 9.634(1) Å, β = 100.25(1)°). The magnetic susceptibility of UFe5As3 indicates it to be an antiferromagnet with T N = 47 K and μeff = 4.94 μB per formula unit, signaling that both U and Fe are likely magnetic in this material. The material appears to be anisotropic, with a small (likely ferromagnetic) spin reorientation transition around T = 29 K. The Sommerfeld coefficient γ0 = 135 mJ mol–1 K–2 suggests enhanced effective electron mass in UFe5As3, while electrical resistivity indicates metallic, Kondo-like behavior.
Cuprates exhibit antiferromagnetic, charge density wave (CDW), and high-temperature superconducting ground states that can be tuned by means of doping and external magnetic fields. However, disorder ...generated by these tuning methods complicates the interpretation of such experiments. Here, we report a high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering study of the high-temperature superconductor YBa
Cu
O
under uniaxial stress, and we show that a three-dimensional long-range-ordered CDW state can be induced through pressure along the
axis, in the absence of magnetic fields. A pronounced softening of an optical phonon mode is associated with the CDW transition. The amplitude of the CDW is suppressed below the superconducting transition temperature, indicating competition with superconductivity. The results provide insights into the normal-state properties of cuprates and illustrate the potential of uniaxial-pressure control of competing orders in quantum materials.
We present a multi-temporal digital inventory of Svalbard glaciers with the most recent from the late 2000s containing 33 775 km2 of glaciers covering 57% of the total land area of the archipelago. ...At present, 68% of the glacierized area of Svalbard drains through tidewater glaciers that have a total terminus width of ~ 740 km. The glacierized area over the entire archipelago has decreased by an average of 80 km2 a−1 over the past ~ 30 yr, representing a reduction of 7%. For a sample of ~ 400 glaciers (10 000 km2) in the south and west of Spitsbergen, three digital inventories are available from the 1930/60s, 1990 and 2007 from which we calculate average changes during 2 epochs. In the more recent epoch, the terminus retreat was larger than in the earlier epoch, while area shrinkage was smaller. The contrasting pattern may be explained by the decreased lateral wastage of the glacier tongues. Retreat rates for individual glaciers show a mix of accelerating and decelerating trends, reflecting the large spatial variability of glacier types and climatic/dynamic response times in Svalbard. Lastly, retreat rates estimated by dividing glacier area changes by the tongue width are larger than centerline retreat due to a more encompassing frontal change estimate with inclusion of lateral area loss.
Dietary guidelines typically specify rather complex goals and indicators for healthy food choices, such as nutrient and energy content patterns. However, translating these complex goals into practice ...in real life is often a major obstacle for many people. The present studies propose an intervention strategy for boosting healthy food choices by prompting consumers at a meaningful moment with a simple behavioural trigger, that is to eat a colourful lunch. Effectivity and feasibility of this intervention strategy were tested in two laboratory experiments and one real-life, smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Intervention.
In Studies 1 and 2, 83 / 42 participants self-served four meals (colourful, typical, healthy, and low-calorie) / three meals (colourful, typical, and varied) from a Fake Food Buffet. In Study 3, 80 participants recorded images of 1,210 lunch meals over a period of 3 weeks using mobile visual food recording. In the second week, participants additionally received a daily smartphone prompt to eat a colourful lunch. In all studies, participants were asked to rate the prompts' feasibility.
Prompting participants to eat a colourful meal increased the proportion of healthy foods consumed compared to typical meals in all three studies. In Studies 1 and 2, colourful meals contained more fruit and vegetables, while in Study 3 the prompt increased vegetable consumption. Furthermore, participants evaluated colourful meals to be the tastiest (Study 1) and most pleasant, and reported that the prompt was easy to follow and act upon.
Results suggest that prompting individuals to eat colourful meals is a promising strategy to facilitate healthy food choices in daily life.
German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00017552 (Study 3; retrospectively registered on 24
June 2019).
G protein-independent, arrestin-dependent signaling is a paradigm that broadens the signaling scope of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) beyond G proteins for numerous biological processes. ...However, arrestin signaling in the collective absence of functional G proteins has never been demonstrated. Here we achieve a state of "zero functional G" at the cellular level using HEK293 cells depleted by CRISPR/Cas9 technology of the Gs/q/12 families of Gα proteins, along with pertussis toxin-mediated inactivation of Gi/o. Together with HEK293 cells lacking β-arrestins ("zero arrestin"), we systematically dissect G protein- from arrestin-driven signaling outcomes for a broad set of GPCRs. We use biochemical, biophysical, label-free whole-cell biosensing and ERK phosphorylation to identify four salient features for all receptors at "zero functional G": arrestin recruitment and internalization, but-unexpectedly-complete failure to activate ERK and whole-cell responses. These findings change our understanding of how GPCRs function and in particular of how they activate ERK1/2.
Abstract
The quantum Hall effect (QHE) is traditionally considered to be a purely two-dimensional (2D) phenomenon. Recently, however, a three-dimensional (3D) version of the QHE was reported in the ...Dirac semimetal ZrTe
5
. It was proposed to arise from a magnetic-field-driven Fermi surface instability, transforming the original 3D electron system into a stack of 2D sheets. Here, we report thermodynamic, spectroscopic, thermoelectric and charge transport measurements on such ZrTe
5
samples. The measured properties: magnetization, ultrasound propagation, scanning tunneling spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, show no signatures of a Fermi surface instability, consistent with in-field single crystal X-ray diffraction. Instead, a direct comparison of the experimental data with linear response calculations based on an effective 3D Dirac Hamiltonian suggests that the quasi-quantization of the observed Hall response emerges from the interplay of the intrinsic properties of the ZrTe
5
electronic structure and its Dirac-type semi-metallic character.
Halogenated natural products are widely distributed in nature, some of them showing potent biological activities. Incorporation of halogen atoms in drug leads is a common strategy to modify molecules ...in order to vary their bioactivities and specificities. Chemical halogenation, however, often requires harsh reaction conditions and results in unwanted byproduct formation. It is thus of great interest to investigate the biosynthesis of halogenated natural products and the biotechnological potential of halogenating enzymes. This review aims to give a comprehensive overview on the current knowledge concerning biological halogenations.
The direct, asymmetric α-amination of aldehydes has been accomplished via a combination of photoredox and organocatalysis. Photon-generated N-centered radicals undergo enantioselective α-addition to ...catalytically formed chiral enamines to directly produce stable α-amino aldehyde adducts bearing synthetically useful amine substitution patterns. Incorporation of a photolabile group on the amine precursor obviates the need to employ a photoredox catalyst in this transformation. Importantly, this photoinduced transformation allows direct and enantioselective access to α-amino aldehyde products that do not require postreaction manipulation.
Covering: up to April 2021The bacterial cyclic depsipeptides FR900359 (FR) and YM-254890 (YM) were shown to selectively inhibit Gαq proteins with high potency and selectivity and have recently ...emerged as valuable pharmacological tools due to their effective mechanism of action. Here, we summarize important aspects of this small and specialized natural product family, for which we propose the name chromodepsins, starting from their discovery, producing organisms and structural variety. We then review biosynthesis, structure-activity relationships and ecological and evolutionary aspects of the chromodepsins. Lastly, we discuss their mechanism of action, potential medicinal applications and future opportunities and challenges for further use and development of these complex inhibitor molecules from nature.
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