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Humanity has a shrinking window to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, yet climate action is still lacking on both individual and policy levels. We argue that this is because behavioral interventions have largely neglected the basic principles of operant conditioning as one set of tools to promote collective climate action. In this perspective, we propose an operant conditioning framework that uses rewards and punishments to shape transportation, food, waste, housing, and civic actions. This framework highlights the value of reinforcement in encouraging the switch to low-emission behavior, while also considering the benefit of decreasing high-emission behavior to expedite the transition. This approach also helps explain positive and negative spillovers from behavioral interventions. This paper provides a recipe to design individual-level and system-level interventions to generate and sustain low-emission behavior to help achieve net zero emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The slow decline in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and the stagnant or increasing hypertension prevalence in low- and middle-income countries necessitate investigation. Evolving gender disparities suggested that male cardiovascular health disadvantage may be preventable, offering potential for enhancing population cardiovascular health. Despite global body mass index (BMI) increases, its role in shaping the gender disparities remains underexplored. Objective: This study investigated the birth cohort dynamics of gender disparities in systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) in China, one of the world's largest low- and middle-income countries, and explored the potential role of BMI in explaining the changing gender disparities. Methods: Data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1991–2015) were analyzed using multilevel growth-curve models to estimate gender- and cohort-specific SBP/DBP trajectories among individuals born between 1950 and 1975. Results: Men had higher SBP and DBP than women at the sample's mean age of 41.7 years. The gender disparities in SBP and DBP increased with each successive one-year cohort from 1950 to 1975 by 0.14 mm Hg and 0.09 mm Hg, respectively. Adjusting for BMI reduced the increasing gender disparities in SBP and DBP by 31.9% and 34.4%, respectively. Conclusion: Chinese men experienced a greater increase in SBP/DBP across successive cohorts compared to women. The increasing gender disparities in SBP/DBP were partially attributable to a greater BMI increase across cohorts among men. Given these findings, prioritizing interventions that aim to reduce BMI, particularly among men, could potentially alleviate the burden of CVD in China through lowering SBP/DBP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract—The microbial diversity and community structure of activated sludge in the biological treatment units of five municipal WWTPs and two industrial WWTPs were studied. The results showed that industrial WWTPs had the lowest diversity and abundance of activated sludge microbial communities, indicating that industrial wastewater inhibited the growth of microbial communities. In the correlation analysis between environmental factors and microbial diversity indices, pH and COD showed a significant negative correlation with the number of OTUs and microbial diversity. The main dominant microbial genus were Hyphomicrobium, Acinetobacter, Novosphingobium, Acinetobacter, and Meiothermus. Both principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and phylogenetic analysis showed large differences in the structure of municipal and industrial microbial community structure, indicating the uniqueness of the activated sludge community structure in industrial WWTPs. Gene function predictions indicated that LJ had higher metabolic function associated with inorganic salt and lipid metabolism. Further co-occurrence network analysis showed that many of the key industrial WWTPs belonged in the same module, suggesting that they had strong interspecific interactions but were relatively independent from other microorganisms in the municipal WWTPs. This study broadens our understanding of microbial community differences between municipal WWTPs and industrial WWTPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at Baliao point on short-term complications, such as anal pain and swelling, after procedure for prolapse and hemorrhoids (PPH) in patients with mixed hemorrhoids. Methods: A total of 124 eligible patients undergoing PPH surgery were included in this study and randomly divided into a control group (n = 67) and an EA group (n = 57), with patients in the control group receiving only PPH surgery and patients in the EA group receiving PPH surgery and EA at Baliao point. Results: The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of EA group at 8, 24, 48, and 72 h after operation were significantly lower than those of control group. The anal distension scores at 8, 48, and 72 h after operation were also significantly lower than those of control group. The number of postoperative analgesic drug administration per patient was also significantly lower in the EA group. The incidence of urinary retention and tenesmus in EA group was significantly lower than that in control group within the first day after surgery. Conclusion: EA treatment at the Baliao point can alleviate short-term anal pain and anal swelling after the procedure for prolapse and hemorrhoids, reduce the incidence of urinary retention, and decrease the use of postoperative analgesic drugs. Trial registration: This study was approved and registered by the Chinese Clinical Trial Center, Registration number: ChiCTR2100043519, Registration time: February 21, 2021 (https://www.chictr.org.cn/). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two aspects of real-world visual search are typically studied in parallel: category knowledge (e.g., searching for food) and visual patterns (e.g., predicting an upcoming street sign from prior street signs). Previous visual search studies have shown that prior category knowledge hinders search when targets and distractors are from the same category. Other studies have shown that task-irrelevant patterns of non-target objects can enhance search when targets appear in locations that previously contained these irrelevant patterns. Combining EEG (N2pc ERP component, a neural marker of target selection) and behavioral measures, the present study investigated how search efficiency is simultaneously affected by prior knowledge of real-world objects (food and toys) and irrelevant visual patterns (sequences of runic symbols) within the same paradigm. We did not observe behavioral differences between locating items in patterned versus random locations. However, the N2pc components emerged sooner when search items appeared in the patterned location, compared to the random location, with a stronger effect when search items were targets, as opposed to non-targets categorically related to the target. A multivariate pattern analysis revealed that neural responses during search trials in the same time window reflected where the visual patterns appeared. Our finding contributes to our understanding of how knowledge acquired prior to the search task (e.g., category knowledge) interacts with new content within the search task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve a sustainable future, it is imperative to transform human actions collectively and underlying social structures. Decades of research in social sciences have offered complementary insights into how such transformations might occur. However, these insights largely remain disjunct and of limited scope, such that strategies for solving global environmental challenges remain elusive. There is a need to integrate approaches focusing on individuals and social structures to understand how individual actions influence and are in turn influenced by social structures and norms. In this paper, we synthesize a range of insights across different schools of thought and integrate them in a novel framework for transformative social change. Our framework explains the relationships among individual behaviors, collective actions, and social structures and helps change agents guide societal transitions toward environmental sustainability. We apply this framework to the global wildlife trade—which presents several distinct challenges of human actions, especially amidst the Covid-19 pandemic—and identify pathways toward transformative change. One key distinction we make is between different individual actions that comprise the practice itself (e.g., buying wildlife products; private action) and those that push for a broader system change in practice (e.g., signaling (dis)approval for wildlife consumption; social-signaling action, and campaigning for policies that end unsustainable wildlife trade; system-changing action). In general, transformative change will require an integrative approach that includes both structural reforms and all three classes of individual action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simple and reliable detection of microRNAs is of great significance for studying the biological functions, molecular diagnosis, disease treatment and targeted drug therapy of microRNA. In this study, we introduced a novel Ti3C2Tx (MXene) aerogels (denoted as MXA) composite gold nano-particles (AuNPs)-modified disposable carbon fiber paper (CFP) electrode for the label-free and sensitive detection of miRNA-155. Firstly, in the presence of MXene, graphene oxide (GO) and ethylenediamine (EDA), the 3D MXene hydrogel was formed by self-assembly method, and then adding the freeze-dried 3D MXA dropwise to CFP. Subsequently, electrodepositing AuNPs on the CFP/MXA was done to construct a 3D disposable DNA-circuit test strip with excellent interface. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the detection limit of 3D disposable DNA circuit strip for miRNA-155 was 136 aM (S/N = 3). The CFP/MXA/AuNPs (CMA) electrode also has a wide dynamic range (20 fM to 0.4 μM), with a span of 4 orders of magnitude. Notably, we also tested the practicality of the sensor in 8 clinical samples. The technological innovations in the detection and quantification of microRNA in this work may be helpful to the study new aspects of microRNA biology and the development of diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sandwich electrochemical biosensing strategy for ultrasensitive detection of miRNA-21 was developed by using graphene oxide incorporated 3D-flower-like MoS2 (3D MoS2-rGO) nanocomposites as the substrate and horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-functionalized DNA strand 1 (S1)-gold nanoparticles (S1-AuNPs-HRP) as signal amplification probes. Herein, 3D MoS2-rGO nanocomposites not only had a large specific surface area and excellent conductivity, but also provided more attachment sites for electrodepositing AuNPs. In the presence of target miRNA, a sandwich structure was formed, and the determination of the miRNA-21 was carried out by measuring the DPV response of H2O2 mediated by hydroquinone (HQ) at a potential of + 0.052 V (vs AgCl reference electrode). Under the optimal experimental conditions, the as-prepared biosensor enabled the ultrasensitive detection of miRNA-21 from 5 fM to 0.5 μM with the low detection limit of 0.54 fM (S/N = 3), comparable or lower than previous reported methods for miRNA-21 detection, which benefited from the synergistic amplification of 3D MoS2-rGO and AuNPs-HRP. The prepared biosensor showed satisfactory selectivity, reproducibility, and stability towards miRNA-21 detection. The biosensor was feasible for accurate and quantitative detection of miRNA-21 in normal human serum samples with RSD below 5.86%, which showed a great potential in clinical analysis and disease diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cognitive system readily detects statistical relationships where a cue predicts a specific outcome. What is less known is how the mind generates predictions when multiple cues are presented simultaneously that predict different outcomes. Here, we examine the nature of such predictions. Specifically, we examine whether the presence of joint cues leads to conjunctive predictions that represent the overlap between the outcomes associated with the cues, or disjunctive predictions that represent the total possible outcomes. To test this, we used a visual search paradigm where participants first viewed a cue and then searched for a target in an array. Each cue predicted where the target would appear in one of the four quadrants in the array. After learning the cue–location associations, two cues were presented simultaneously, and participants searched for the target where the target now appeared in each quadrant with equal probability. We found that participants were faster to find the target in conjunctive locations over disjunctive ones upon seeing two cues (Experiment 1). This attentional prioritization was not solely driven by the smaller spatial scope of conjunctive locations (Experiment 2), and was present when two cues were presented in two feature dimensions in a single object (Experiment 3). These results were consistent with a conjunctive account, where the presence of joint cues led to a conjunctive prediction that represented the overlap of the different outcomes associated with each cue. The study sheds a new light on how the mind makes predictions in novel contexts based on existing knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misunderstandings in the relative efficacy of pro-environmental behaviors may have important consequences for climate mitigation efforts. In this study, we evaluate the ability to perceive the carbon footprint associated with individual actions, known as "carbon numeracy," in 965 members of the North American public using ranking and tradeoff questions. The questions are designed to independently assess the role of knowledge, ability to do tradeoffs, and basic numeracy skills in determining carbon numeracy. We report multiple lines of evidence suggesting that people underestimate greenhouse gas emissions associated with air travel and, to a lesser extent, meat consumption. They are also largely incapable of making tradeoffs between different actions (e.g., the number of hamburgers that would be equivalent to a trans-Atlantic flight in terms of climate impact). Concern for climate change, political orientation, and education were not significant predictors of accuracy in making tradeoffs, but basic numeracy was linked with increased accuracy. The results suggest that further education may be necessary to improve carbon numeracy by providing the public with a basic hierarchy of actions according to carbon reduction efficacy. Consumers seeking to balance their carbon budgets may benefit from external aids (e.g., carbon labels associated with actions) to guide emission-related decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activation of inflammatory responses regulates the transmission of pain pathways through an integrated network in the peripheral and central nervous systems. The immunopotentiator thymosin alpha-1 (Tα1) has recently been reported to have anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective functions in rodents. However, how Tα1 affects inflammatory pain remains unclear. In the present study, intraperitoneal injection of Tα1 attenuated complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced pain hypersensitivity, and decreased the up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) in inflamed skin and the spinal cord. We found that CFA-induced peripheral inflammation evoked strong microglial activation, but the effect was reversed by Tα1. Notably, Tα1 reversed the CFA-induced up-regulation of vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT) and down-regulated the vesicular γ-aminobutyric acid transporter (VGAT) in the spinal cord. Taken together, these results suggest that Tα1 plays a therapeutic role in inflammatory pain and in the modulation of microglia-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine production in addition to mediation of VGLUT and VGAT expression in the spinal cord. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A challenge for the visual system is to detect regularities from multiple dimensions of the environment. Here we examine how regularities in multiple feature dimensions are distinguished from randomness. Participants viewed a matrix containing a structured half and a random half, and judged whether the boundary between the two halves was horizontal or vertical. In Experiments 1 and 2, the cells in the matrix varied independently in the color dimension (red or blue), the shape dimension (circle or square), or both. We found that boundary discrimination accuracy was higher when regularities were present in the color dimension than in the shape dimension, but the accuracy was the same when regularities were present in the color dimension alone or in both dimensions. By adding a third surface dimension (hollow or filled) in Experiments 3 and 4, we found that discrimination accuracy was higher when regularities were present in the surface dimension than in the color dimension, but was the same when regularities were present in the surface dimension alone or in all three dimensions. Moreover, when there were two conflicting boundaries, participants chose the boundary defined by the surface dimension, followed by the color dimension as more visible than the shape dimension (Experiments 5 and 6). Finally, participants were faster at detecting differences in the surface dimension, followed by the color and the shape dimensions (Experiments 7 and 8). These results suggest that perception of regularities in multiple feature dimensions is driven by the presence of regularities in the most salient feature dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The visual system is remarkably efficient at extracting summary statistics from the environment. Yet at any given time, the environment consists of many groups of objects distributed over space. Thus, the challenge for the visual system is to summarize over multiple groups. The current study investigates the capacity and computational efficiency of ensemble perception, in the context of perceiving mean sizes of multiple spatially intermixed groups of circles. In a series of experiments, participants viewed an array of one to eight sets of circles. Each set contained four circles in the same colors, but with different sizes. Participants estimated the mean size of a probed set. The set that would be probed was either known before onset of the array (pre-cue condition) or afterwards (post-cue condition). By comparing estimation error in the pre-cue and post-cue conditions, we found that participants could reliably estimate mean sizes for approximately two sets (Experiment 1). Importantly, this capacity was robust against attention bias toward individual objects in the sets (Experiment 2). Varying the exposure time to stimulus arrays did not increase the capacity limit, suggesting that ensemble perception could be limited by an internal resource constraint, rather than the speed of information encoding (Experiment 3). Moreover, we found that the visual system could not encode and hold more individual items than ensemble representations (Experiment 4). Taken together, these results suggest that ensemble perception provides an efficient way of information processing but with constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Principles of behavioral economics have been used to change human behavior effectively in a variety of disciplines. For the field of transportation, however, there have only been a few cases where behavioral economics was applied to change behavior in randomized field experiments. In our current study, we aimed to increase vehicle inspection behavior among carsharing users, as an example to apply behavioral principles to transportation. Specifically, we developed a simple nudge in the form of a reminder card to visually remind users to inspect the vehicle prior to their trip. The effects of the card were tested in a randomized field experiment by observing and interviewing users of a carsharing service. We found that significantly more users inspected the vehicle in the presence of the reminder card, compared to a control group where no card was used. Over 4 weeks, the improvement in inspection behavior was constant. Critically, the inspection increased even in the absence of the reminder card in the last 2 weeks of the experiment in one of the two observation sites, revealing a persistence effect of the reminder card. The current study not only demonstrates the effectiveness of a simple reminder based on the behavioral principle of salience, but also offers the potential to apply behavioral economics to the field of transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interfacial energies of MC/γ-Fe and formation energies of MC carbides have been investigated using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). Results show that the replacement of Nb by Mo in the NbC lattice is unfavorable with respect to the formation energy. However, it reduces the lattice parameter of MC and decreases the $$\sigma_{\text{chemical}}$$ (interfacial chemical energy) of MC/γ-Fe, thus favoring the formation of complex (Nb, Mo)C carbide. The substitution of Nb by Mo at the interface of MC/γ-Fe system promotes the hybridizations of Mo-1NNFe and C-1NNFe (or 2NNFe) (the first or second nearest neighboring Fe atoms), which leads to a decrease in $$\sigma_{\text{chemical}}$$ . The influence of bond energy is estimated using the discrete lattice plane/nearest neighbor broken bond (DLP/NNBB) model. It is found that the reduced $$\sigma_{\text{chemical}}$$ is attributed to the much smaller value of $$e_{{{\rm{Fe-C}}}} - e_{{{\rm{Mo-C}}}}$$ (the difference between Fe-C and Mo-C interactions) compared to $$e_{{{\rm{Fe-C}}}} - e_{{{\rm{Nb-C}}}}$$ (the difference between Fe-C and Nb-C interactions). The results obtained from the analysis of the precipitates in Nb- and Nb-Mo-bearing steels are in a good agreement with the calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual scenes contain information on both a local scale (e.g., a tree) and a global scale (e.g., a forest). The question of whether the visual system prioritizes local or global elements has been debated for over a century. Given that visual scenes often contain distinct individual objects, here we examine how regularities between individual objects prioritize local or global processing. Participants viewed Navon-like figures consisting of small local objects making up a global object, and were asked to identify either the shape of the local objects or the shape of the global object, as fast and accurately as possible. Unbeknown to the participants, local regularities (i.e., triplets) or global regularities (i.e., quadruples) were embedded among the objects. We found that the identification of the local shape was faster when individual objects reliably co-occurred immediately next to each other as triplets (local regularities, Experiment 1). This result suggested that local regularities draw attention to the local scale. Moreover, the identification of the global shape was faster when objects co-occurred at the global scale as quadruples (global regularities, Experiment 2). This result suggested that global regularities draw attention to the global scale. No participant was explicitly aware of the regularities in the experiments. The results suggest that statistical regularities can determine whether attention is directed to the individual objects or to the entire scene. The findings provide evidence that regularities guide the spatial scale of attention in the absence of explicit awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environment often is stable, but some aspects may change over time. The challenge for the visual system is to discover and flexibly adapt to the changes. We examined how attention is shifted in the presence of changes in the underlying structure of the environment. In six experiments, observers viewed four simultaneous streams of objects while performing a visual search task. In the first half of each experiment, the stream in the structured location contained regularities, the shapes in the random location were randomized, and gray squares appeared in two neutral locations. In the second half, the stream in the structured or the random location may change. In the first half of all experiments, visual search was facilitated in the structured location, suggesting that attention was consistently biased toward regularities. In the second half, this bias persisted in the structured location when no change occurred (Experiment 1), when the regularities were removed (Experiment 2), or when new regularities embedded in the original or novel stimuli emerged in the previously random location (Experiments 3 and 6). However, visual search was numerically but no longer reliably faster in the structured location when the initial regularities were removed and new regularities were introduced in the previously random location (Experiment 4), or when novel random stimuli appeared in the random location (Experiment 5). This suggests that the attentional bias was weakened. Overall, the results demonstrate that the attentional bias to regularities was persistent but also sensitive to changes in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phthalic acid ester (PAE) pollution to soil can lead to phytotoxicity in plants and potential health risks to human being. Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as a kind of PAE has a large usage amount and large residues in soil. To analyze antioxidant responses of plants to DBP stress, effects of varying DBP concentrations on cucumber seedlings growth had been investigated. Malonaldehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (HO), chlorophyll, proline, glutathione (GSH), and oxidized glutathione (GSSH) contents and activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and peroxidase (POD) were studied. The results showed that HO content increased in cucumber seedlings with the increase of DBP concentration. The chlorophyll content in the higher DBP significantly declined compared to the control. In the present study, a disturbance of the GSH redox balance was evidenced by a marked decrease in GSH/GSSG ratio in cucumber seedlings subjected DBP stress. Our results indicated that DBP treatment not only inhibited antioxidant capacity and antioxidant enzyme activity in seedlings' leaves but might also induce chlorophyll degradation or reduce the synthesis of chlorophyll. Moreover, it could also enhance the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which induced membrane lipid peroxidation. DBP also altered the ultrastructure of mesophyll cells, damaged membrane structure of chloroplast and mitochondrion, and increased the number and size of starch grains in chloroplasts reducing the photosynthetic capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a computational model which predicts people’s switching behaviour in repeated gambling scenarios such as the Iowa Gambling Task. This Utility-Caution model suggests that people’s tendency to switch away from an option is due to a utility factor which reflects the probability and the amount of losses experienced compared to gains, and a caution factor which describes the number of choices made consecutively in that option. Using a novel next-choice-prediction method, the Utility-Caution model was tested using two sets of data on the performance of participants in the Iowa Gambling Task. The model produced significantly more accurate predictions of people’s choices than the previous Bayesian expected-utility model and expectancy-valence model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broader realization of both increasing biodiversity loss and pressures on ecosystems worldwide has highlighted the importance of public perceptions of species and the subsequent motivations towards improving the status of natural systems. Several new proposals have arisen in reference to environmental learning, including mimicking popular gaming media. Inspired by the popular game Pokémon, the Phylo Trading Card Game (Phylo game) is one such emerging possibility. It was invented as an open-source, competitive, and interactive game to inform players' knowledge of species, ecosystems, and negative environmental events (e.g., climate change, oil spills, wildfires). The game has now achieved global reach, yet the impact of this game on conservation behavior has never been tested. This study used a randomized control trial to evaluate the Phylo game's impact on conservation behavior (i.e., Phylo condition). This was compared to an information control condition with a more traditional learning method using a slideshow (i.e., Slideshow condition). A second card game was used to control for the act of playing a game (i.e., Projects condition). We found that ecological perceptions (i.e., the perceived relationship of species to their ecosystems) and species knowledge increased after both the game and the slideshow, but the Phylo Game had the added benefit of promoting more positive affect and more species name recall. It also motivated donation behavior in the direction of preventing negative environmental events instead of directly aiding an individual species or ecosystem. Our findings highlight the potential value of this game as a novel engagement tool for enhancing ecological literacy, motivations, and actions necessary to meet ecological challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]