The influence of short-term firefighting activity on information processing performance

This study examined the following: effects of simulated firefighting (FF) activities under heat stress on sustained attention; whether incident rehabilitation (IR) influences performance; and relationships between performance, affect and personality. Firefighters performed ～18 min of FF. Attention, physiological, perceptual and psychological assessments were made before and after FF, IR and recovery. IR had no effects. Self-rated Energy increased, Tiredness decreased and Anxiety increased immediately post-FF; all returned to baseline 120 min post. The immediate effect of FF was faster reaction time (RT) followed by slowing after recovery. Perceived Energy at baseline was associated (p-values < 0.05) with faster and Tiredness with slower post-FF RTs; Accuracy was unaffected. Conscientiousness was negatively associated with RT before and 120 min following FF. RTs were faster following FF, accuracy was unchanged. Higher baseline Energy/lower Tiredness were associated with faster, less variable RTs at baseline and post-FF. Those with higher Conscientiousness had faster RTs. Research should further investigate higher-level cognitive processing following, or ideally during, FF.     

Translation practice in the workplace: contextual analysis and implications for machine translation

This paper reports the results of a qualitative study which investigated localisation activities performed by translators working in two Language Service Providers. It argues that maintaining the appropriate quality level in this setting is a collaborative task which involves several translators. This perspective entails taking a broader view of the translation process than usually found in the Machine Translation (MT) literature and detailing the various knowledge sources which are deployed in this collaborative effort. The impact of collaboration on trust is examined, and a comparison is made between the relatively seamless flow of work between translators and the more strained relationships with remote contributors. In support of this view, the paper contrasts the flexibility of the analysed work practices with the rigid ways which tend to be followed when introducing MT into this setting. We identify the need to support collaboration and communication more actively as a broader issue in translation settings. While current strategies for introducing MT tend to further isolate translators from remote contributors, we propose that MT can serve as the catalyst for establishing a more dynamic and collaborative relationship between them.     

A.I.K.E.F.: Adaptive hybrid model for space plasma simulations

The interaction between magnetized space plasmas and obstacles like comets, asteroids or planets is determined by a variety of physical processes that occur simultaneously on significantly different length and time scales. Frequently the dynamics of individual ions play a key role for the shape of the interaction region: strong velocity shear between light and heavy plasma constituents, non-Maxwellian particle distributions due to pick up and asymmetries in the magnetic field topology are crucial in determining this type of interaction. Covering these processes is beyond the scope of any Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. In order to account for these effects we have developed a new adaptive hybrid code A.I.K.E.F. (Adaptive Ion-Kinetic Electron-Fluid). The code operates on Cartesian meshes that can adapt to the physical structures in both, space and time. To the authors' knowledge, there is no other adaptive hybrid simulation code in space plasma physics to the present day. Adaptivity is implemented by means of Hybrid-Block-AMR, that is individual octs are refined rather than entire blocks, where an oct is one eighth of a block. In order to account for a reasonable number of particles in each cell, particles are refined via splitting and merging. Both procedures conserve mass, momentum and kinetic energy. The code is implemented in C++ and efficiently parallelized for distributed systems by means of the Message Passing Interface (MPI). In order to demonstrate the validity of our newly developed code we have applied it to a series of fundamental test scenarios. On the one hand we demonstrate that the dispersion relation as well as the propagation characteristics of MHD and whistler mode waves are quantitatively reproduced by our simulation code. Wave propagation remains unaffected when traveling through regions that include different refinement levels. On the other hand we verify that the results obtained on high resolution uniform meshes are identical to the results from adaptive simulations that use coarse base meshes but include various levels of refinement. A remarkable speedup could be observed: the adaptive simulations required 71 times less CPU-hours than the uniform mesh simulations. Finally, we present a first series of global, three-dimensional simulations for the interaction of Mercury with the solar wind and a real time study of Titan's plasma interaction during a magnetosheath excursion.     

Physical vapor deposition of metal nanoparticles on chemically modified graphene: observations on metal-graphene interactions

The growth of metallic nanoparticles formed on chemically modified graphene (CMG) by physical vapor deposition is investigated. Fine control over the size (down to ～1.5 nm for Au) and coverage (up to 5 × 10(4) μm(-2) for Au) of nanoparticles can be achieved. Analysis of the particle size distributions gives evidence for Au nanocluster diffusion at room temperature, while particle size statistics differ clearly between metal deposited on single- and multilayer regions. The morphology of the nanoparticles varies markedly for different metals (Ag, Au, Fe, Pd, Pt, Ti), from a uniform thin film for Ti to a droplet-like growth for Ag. A simple model explains these morphologies, based only on consideration of 1) the different energy barriers to surface diffusion of metal adatoms on graphene, and 2) the ratio of the bulk cohesive energy of the metal to the metal-graphene binding energy. Understanding these interactions is important for controlling nanoparticle and thin-film growth on graphene, and for understanding the resultant charge transfer between metal and graphene.     

Channels from Housing Wealth to Consumption

This paper uses micro-data from two national panel surveys to analyze the flow of wealth from residential property onto households' balance sheets, where it is available for discretionary spending. The examples are Australia and the UK—two of the world's most entrenched nations of owner occupation, both with relatively complete mortgage markets. We focus on the early 2000s, which set the scene for an unprecedented wave of housing equity withdrawal. We consider equity released through sales and through additional borrowing. The findings show that equity extraction overall is not only (or even) a function of higher incomes, greater wealth, and older age; rather it occurs across the life course and is linked to pressing spending needs. We draw attention in particular to the growing social and economic significance of in situ equity borrowing—a practice whose financial buffering effects may form a short-lived prelude, rather than a sustainable alternative, to trading on or selling up.     

Single drop behaviour in a high shear granulator

The wet granulation process starts when a liquid drop makes contact with the powder bed. In a powder bed, drops are subjected to centripetal and gravitational forces. These forces may affect the size and shape of the drop as it is incorporated into the bed. The majority of experiments studying droplet behaviour have been performed on static bed surfaces. This paper seeks to demonstrate droplet behaviour during the initial contact stage with a dynamic powder bed representative of that occurring during high shear granulation. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to determine droplet and powder bed surface velocities. Due to inclination of powder bed part of drop de-accelerate slowly moved downward while other parts remain attached to powder bed this result in their deformation and breakage. Amount of deformation of drop and span of area where it occurred was increased as drop was added farther from the outer edge of the mixer. This paper shows that the binder drop may deform or break in high shear granulator depending on its initial impact position. This will affect size distribution and other properties of nuclei.     

System among the corticosteroids: specificity and molecular dynamics

Understanding how structural features determine specific biological activities has often proved elusive. With over 161 000 steroid structures described, an algorithm able to predict activity from structural attributes would provide manifest benefits. Molecular simulations of a range of 35 corticosteroids show striking correlations between conformational mobility and biological specificity. Thus steroid ring A is important for glucocorticoid action, and is rigid in the most specific (and potent) examples, such as dexamethasone. By contrast, ring C conformation is important for the mineralocorticoids, and is rigid in aldosterone. Other steroids that are less specific, or have mixed functions, or none at all, are more flexible. One unexpected example is 11-deoxycorticosterone, which the methods predict (and our activity studies confirm) is not only a specific mineralocorticoid, but also has significant glucocorticoid activity. These methods may guide the design of new corticosteroid agonists and antagonists. They will also have application in other examples of ligand–receptor interactions.     

Contactless Stimulation and Control of Biomimetic Nanotubes by Calcium Ion Gradients

Membrane tubular structures are important communication pathways between cells and cellular compartments. Studying these structures in their native environment is challenging, due to the complexity of membranes and varying chemical conditions within and outside of the cells. This work demonstrates that a calcium ion gradient, applied to a synthetic lipid nanotube, triggers lipid flow directed toward the application site, resulting in the formation of a bulge aggregate. This bulge can be translated in a contactless manner by moving a calcium ion source along the lipid nanotube. Furthermore, entrapment of polystyrene nanobeads within the bulge does not tamper the bulge movement and allows transporting of the nanoparticle cargo along the lipid nanotube. In addition to the synthetic lipid nanotubes, the response of cell plasma membrane tethers to local calcium ion stimulation is investigated. The directed membrane transport in these tethers is observed, but with slower kinetics in comparison to the synthetic lipid nanotubes. The findings of this work demonstrate a novel and contactless mode of transport in lipid nanotubes, guided by local exposure to calcium ions. The observed lipid nanotube behavior can advance the current understanding of the cell membrane tubular structures, which are constantly reshaped during dynamic cellular processes.     

Minor Changes for a Major Impact: A Review of Epigenetic Modifications in Cell-Based Therapies for Stroke

Epigenetic changes in stroke may revolutionize cell-based therapies aimed at reducing ischemic stroke risk and damage. Epigenetic changes are a novel therapeutic target due to their specificity and potential for reversal. Possible targets for epigenetic modification include DNA methylation and demethylation, post-translational histone modification, and the actions of non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs. Many of these epigenetic modifications have been reported to modulate atherosclerosis development and progression, ultimately contributing to stroke pathogenesis. Furthermore, epigenetics may play a major role in inflammatory responses following stroke. Stem cells for stroke have demonstrated safety in clinical trials for stroke and show therapeutic benefit in pre-clinical studies. The efficacy of these cell-based interventions may be amplified with adjunctive epigenetic modifications. This review advances the role of epigenetics in atherosclerosis and inflammation in the context of stroke, followed by a discussion on current stem cell studies modulating epigenetics to ameliorate stroke damage.