Most theoretical models of arousal/regulatory function emphasise the maintenance of homeostasis; consistent with this, most previous research into arousal has concentrated on examining individuals’ ...recovery following the administration of experimentally administered stressors. Here, we take a different approach: we recorded day‐long spontaneous fluctuations in autonomic arousal (indexed via electrocardiogram, heart rate variability and actigraphy) in a cohort of 82 typically developing 12‐month‐old infants while they were at home and awake. Based on the aforementioned models, we hypothesised that extreme high or low arousal states might be more short‐lived than intermediate arousal states. Our results suggested that, contrary to this, both low‐ and high‐arousal states were more persistent than intermediate arousal states. The same pattern was present when the data were viewed over multiple epoch sizes from 1 s to 5 min; over 10–15‐minute time‐scales, high‐arousal states were more persistent than low‐ and intermediate states. One possible explanation for these findings is that extreme arousal states have intrinsically greater hysteresis; another is that, through ‘metastatic’ processes, small initial increases and decreases in arousal can become progressively amplified over time. Rather than exclusively using experimental paradigms to study recovery, we argue that future research should also use naturalistic data to study the mechanisms through which states can be maintained or amplified over time.
We recorded naturalistic fluctuations in autonomic arousal in 12‐month‐olds while they were at home. We found that, across multiple time‐scales, extreme high‐ or low‐arousal states were more persistent than intermediate arousal states. One explanation for this is that extreme arousal states may have intrinsically greater hysteresis; another is that, through ‘metastatic’ processes, small initial increases and decreases in arousal can become progressively amplified over time.
The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation Tang, Yi-Yuan; Hölzel, Britta K; Posner, Michael I
Nature reviews. Neuroscience,
04/2015, Letnik:
16, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Research over the past two decades broadly supports the claim that mindfulness meditation - practiced widely for the reduction of stress and promotion of health - exerts beneficial effects on ...physical and mental health, and cognitive performance. Recent neuroimaging studies have begun to uncover the brain areas and networks that mediate these positive effects. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear, and it is apparent that more methodologically rigorous studies are required if we are to gain a full understanding of the neuronal and molecular bases of the changes in the brain that accompany mindfulness meditation.
Numerous microRNAs and their target mRNAs are coexpressed across diverse cell types. However, it is unknown whether they are regulated in a manner independent of or dependent on cellular context. ...Here, we explored transcriptome-wide targeting and gene regulation by miR-155, whose activation-induced expression plays important roles in innate and adaptive immunity. Through mapping of miR-155 targets through differential iCLIP, mRNA quantification with RNA-seq, and 3' untranslated region (UTR)-usage analysis with poly(A)-seq in macrophages, dendritic cells, and T and B lymphocytes either sufficient or deficient in activated miR-155, we identified numerous targets differentially bound by miR-155. Whereas alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (ApA) contributed to differential miR-155 binding to some transcripts, in most cases, identical 3'-UTR isoforms were differentially regulated across cell types, thus suggesting ApA-independent and cellular-context-dependent miR-155-mediated gene regulation. Our study provides comprehensive maps of miR-155 regulatory networks and offers a valuable resource for dissecting context-dependent and context-independent miRNA-mediated gene regulation in key immune cell types.
We develop a model of oligopolistic firms that produce partially differentiated products and generate pollution as a byproduct. We analyze and compare two types of pollution regulation: Cap-and-Trade ...and Taxes. Firms can respond to regulation by any combination of pollution abatement, output reduction, emissions trading (under Cap-and-Trade), or payment of pollution taxes (under Taxes). We prove that well-chosen regulation can, besides reducing pollution, actually improve firms’ profits relative to laissez-faire (unregulated markets), and simultaneously improve consumer surplus and welfare. Thus, regulation Pareto-dominates laissez-faire under a wide range of plausible conditions. These results are driven by an unintended consequence of pollution regulation: Competing firms can use the regulation to
tacitly
(and credibly) collude to reduce production and improve their profits. We show that the degree of competition plays a critical role in determining the economic consequences of pollution regulation. Our results suggest that the regulator’s primary consideration should be the impact of regulation on consumers rather than producers.
This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.
The neural bases of emotion regulation Etkin, Amit; Büchel, Christian; Gross, James J
Nature reviews. Neuroscience,
11/2015, Letnik:
16, Številka:
11
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Emotions are powerful determinants of behaviour, thought and experience, and they may be regulated in various ways. Neuroimaging studies have implicated several brain regions in emotion regulation, ...including the ventral anterior cingulate and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, as well as the lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices. Drawing on computational approaches to value-based decision-making and reinforcement learning, we propose a unifying conceptual framework for understanding the neural bases of diverse forms of emotion regulation.
Fuel economy regulation is a powerful instrument to reduce CO2 emissions of vehicles and has recently been extended to heavy-duty vehicles. In Europe, truck manufacturers are required to reduce the ...CO2 emissions of newly sold vehicles by 30% until 2030 compared to 2019/2020. Accordingly, several manufacturers have announced the introduction of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) such as battery electric or fuel cell trucks. However, the sales shares of zero emission trucks to meet the targets have not been analyzed in the literature yet. Here, we derive sales share scenarios for zero emission trucks in Europe based on emissions reduction options and their associated costs. We find that manufacturers will require at least 4–22% of their newly sold heavy-duty vehicles to be zero emission in 2030, depending on their strategy to improve their diesel trucks. This implies a stock share of 2–11% for ZEV trucks in Europe in 2030. Yet, high sales shares for ZEVs and the super credits granted by the regulation allow manufacturers to meet their target with little CO2 reduction in the conventional fleet leading to low actual emission reduction.
•We analyze the impact of truck CO2 regulation on zero emission truck sales.•We use disaggregated sales data for regulated truck size classes in Europe.•We summarize CO2 reduction cost potential estimates for trucks.•Three scenarios capture the uncertainty of OEM strategies.•We obtain 4–22% zero emission trucks in sales and 2–11% in stock in 2030.
•A framework to assess the effects of time-dependent regulations was established.•Special period regulation (SPR) effectively reduced the air pollution level.•There are heterogeneous impacts of the ...SPR across cities.•The effects of SPR are negative across 24 h and weak from 12 pm to 2–3 pm.•SPR achieves a “win-win” status about environmental protection and economic growth.
This study examines the impacts of time-dependent environmental regulations on air pollution during the autumn and winter. This was done by exploiting a quasi-experimental setting where a special period regulation was implemented in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan region (CZT, located within Hunan Province in southern China), but not in cities surrounding CZT over the same period. Using hourly level data from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2017, and by employing a difference-in-differences model, we found that the special period regulation significantly reduced PM2.5 concentrations, the Air Quality Index, and the probability of the occurrence of severely polluted days in CZT. Furthermore, we found that while this regulation had significant negative impacts on air pollution in Changsha, the impacts were not robust in Zhuzhou and Xiangtan. Our results further revealed that the regulatory effects were significantly negative over a 24-hour time period, but the effects temporarily weakened from 12 pm to 2–3 pm. We also confirmed that such regulations can be used to achieve a “win-win” situation in terms of environmental protection and economic growth. Thus, the results suggest that time-dependent environmental regulations will be valuable in combination with existing policies to improve air quality during specific periods.
Background
In the stage of sustainable development, enterprises should not only focus on economic efficiency, but also on ecological protection, for which the governments of various countries has ...adopted various environmental regulation methods to promote green investment by enterprises. However, there are many types of environmental regulations, and the relationship between policy formulation and implementation effects is complicated. Heavily polluting enterprises as the main carrier of resource consumption and pollutant emissions is the main target of environmental regulation. Based on this, we took China's heavily polluting listed companies as examples to explore the impact of different types of environmental regulations on green investment in heavily polluting enterprises.
Results
In this paper, environmental regulations were divided into formal and informal types, of which formal environmental regulations (FER) were subdivided into command-control and market-incentive types. The empirical results showed that the relationship between command-control environmental regulations and green investment by heavily polluting enterprises presents an inverted “U” shape, and market-incentive environmental regulations first have no effect on and then promote green investment by heavily polluting enterprises. Besides, informal environmental regulations (IER) have maintained a positive effect on green investment by heavily polluting enterprises.
Conclusions
Heavily polluting enterprises, respectively, employ passive, active and voluntary green investment strategies under the three types of environmental regulations, providing a reference for the government to promote green investment by enterprises by environmental regulations more effectively.
Countries enact environmental regulations to achieve sustainable development and ecological sustainability. However, environmental regulations do not guarantee environmental sustainability unless ...implemented efficiently. Furthermore, political institutions play a key role in the formulation and management of environmental regulations. This research examines the relationship between democracy, environmental regulations, economic growth, and ecological footprint (EF) in the panel of G7 nations from 1985 to 2017. Second generation econometric techniques are used to analyze the data. The empirical evidence indicates that economic growth enhances EF while democracy and environmental regulations positively contribute to ecological sustainability by reducing EF. The causal outcomes reveal that democracy Granger causes EF and renewable energy indicating that democracy curbs environmental degradation and stimulates the share of renewables. Further, democracy and environmental regulations Granger cause each other. Lastly, the implication of these findings for sustainable development and ecological sustainability are discussed.
By focusing on the case study of the City of Turin, the article investigates the relationship between the regulatory system and urban form through the "window" element, providing suggestions for ...acting on building planning and regulation tools. In particular, the object of the research is the set of rules relating to the performance of buildings with respect to the supply of daylight and its implementation with the environmental regulation system. The paper proposes an integration to the Building Regulations, with the aim of reorienting the use of rules both as control tools during the project (and not exclusively as ex post verification), and as devices capable of enabling ordinary transformations of the city. Keyword: Urban rules; Building Regulations; Urban morphology; Urban transformation; Turin; Environmental Performance.
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