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Utilizing a large-scale human mobility dataset, this study explores the influence of income inequality on status-seeking behaviour. Existing research suggests that income disparity, typically measured using the Gini coefficient, leads to increased status enhancement tendencies. Our study advocates the use of alternative multi-parameter metrics that capture inequality concentrated within specific income distribution segments. The findings of this analysis, based on foot traffic information from approximately 24,000 clothing stores, suggest that income inequality at both the lower and top ends of the income distribution promotes people's status-seeking behaviour, with lower-concentrated inequality exhibiting a larger effect. Furthermore, our data reveal a negative correlation between visits to “high-status” brands and an important element of social capital – civic engagement, indicating community participation could potentially counterbalance the need for status enhancement through consumption. Thus, this research provides a nuanced lens on the complex dynamics between income inequality, status-seeking behaviour, and social capital.

The C-type lectin receptor-Syk (spleen tyrosine kinase) adaptor CARD9 facilitates protective antifungal immunity within the central nervous system (CNS), as human deficiency in CARD9 causes susceptibility to fungus-specific, CNS-targeted infection. CARD9 promotes the recruitment of neutrophils to the fungus-infected CNS, which mediates fungal clearance. In the present study we investigated host and pathogen factors that promote protective neutrophil recruitment during invasion of the CNS by Candida albicans. The cytokine IL-1β served an essential function in CNS antifungal immunity by driving production of the chemokine CXCL1, which recruited neutrophils expressing the chemokine receptor CXCR2. Neutrophil-recruiting production of IL-1β and CXCL1 was induced in microglia by the fungus-secreted toxin Candidalysin, in a manner dependent on the kinase p38 and the transcription factor c-Fos. Notably, microglia relied on CARD9 for production of IL-1β, via both transcriptional regulation of Il1b and inflammasome activation, and of CXCL1 in the fungus-infected CNS. Microglia-specific Card9 deletion impaired the production of IL-1β and CXCL1 and neutrophil recruitment, and increased fungal proliferation in the CNS. Thus, an intricate network of host-pathogen interactions promotes antifungal immunity in the CNS; this is impaired in human deficiency in CARD9, which leads to fungal disease of the CNS.

BackgroundVisualisation techniques are used in a range of healthcare interventions. However, these frequently lack a coherent rationale or clear theoretical basis. This lack of definition and explicit targeting of the underlying mechanisms may impede the success of and evaluation of the intervention. We describe the theoretical development, deployment, and pilot evaluation, of a complex visually mediated behavioural intervention. The exemplar intervention focused on increasing physical activity among young people with asthma. We employed an explicit five-stage development model, which was actively supported by a consultative user group. The developmental stages involved establishing the theoretical basis, establishing a narrative structure, visual rendering, checking interpretation, and pilot testing. We conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups during early development and checking, followed by an online experiment for pilot testing. A total of 91 individuals, including young people with asthma, parents, teachers, and health professionals, were involved in development and testing.ResultsOur final intervention consisted of two components: (1) an interactive 3D computer animation to create intentions and (2) an action plan and volitional help sheet to promote the translation of intentions to behaviour. Theory was mediated throughout by visual and audio forms. The intervention was regarded as highly acceptable, engaging, and meaningful by all stakeholders. The perceived impact on asthma understanding and intentions was reported positively, with most individuals saying that the 3D computer animation had either clarified a range of issues or made them more real. Our five-stage model underpinned by extensive consultation worked well and is presented as a framework to support explicit decision-making for others developing theory informed visually mediated interventions.ConclusionsWe have demonstrated the ability to develop theory-based visually mediated behavioural interventions. However, attention needs to be paid to the potential ambiguity associated with images and thus the concept of visual literacy among patients. Our revised model may be helpful as a guide to aid development, acceptability, and ultimately effectiveness.

This article attempts to describe the creation and implementation of the first Professional Development School (PDS) model of teacher education in Panama. The authors set the context within brief histories of international education and PDSs and provide operational definitions of the critical terminology. To be sure, the scope and scale of the project was small, and although the implementation met some criteria for PDS models, it exhibited deficiencies in others. Nonetheless, the narrative reveals distinct local impacts, and suggests possibilities for international collaboration for the purpose of developing and implementing teacher education programs.

The development of complex alteration layers on silicate mineral surfaces undergoing dissolution is a widely observed phenomenon. Given the complexity of these layers, most kinetic models used to predict rates of mineral-fluid interactions do not explicitly consider their formation. As a result, the relationship between the development of the altered layers and the final dissolution rate is poorly understood. To improve our understanding of the relationship between the alteration layer and the dissolution rate, we developed a spatially resolved surface kinetic model for olivine dissolution and applied it to a series of closed-system experiments consisting of three-phases (water (±NaCl), olivine, and supercritical CO2) at conditions relevant to in situ mineral carbonation (i.e. 60°C, 100bar CO2). We also measured the corresponding δ26/24Mg of the dissolved Mg during early stages of dissolution. Analysis of the solid reaction products indicates the formation of Mg-depleted layers on the olivine surface as quickly as 2days after the experiment was started and before the bulk solution reached saturation with respect to amorphous silica. The δ26/24Mg of the dissolved Mg decreased by approximately 0.4‰ in the first stages of the experiment and then approached the value of the initial olivine (-0.35‰) as the steady-state dissolution rate was approached. We attribute the preferential release of 24Mg to a kinetic effect associated with the formation of a Mg-depleted layer that develops as protons exchange for Mg2+.We used experimental data to calibrate a surface kinetic model for olivine dissolution that includes crystalline olivine, a distinct "active layer" from which Mg can be preferentially removed, and secondary amorphous silica precipitation. By coupling the spatial arrangement of ions with the kinetics, this model is able to reproduce both the early and steady-state long-term dissolution rates, and the kinetic isotope fractionation. In the early stages of olivine dissolution the overall dissolution rate is controlled by exchange of protons for Mg, while the steady-state dissolution rate is controlled by the net removal of both Mg and Si from the active layer. Modeling results further indicate the importance of the spatial coupling of individual reactions that occur during olivine dissolution. The inclusion of Mg isotopes in this study demonstrates the utility of using isotopic variations to constrain interfacial mass transfer processes. Alternative kinetic frameworks, such as the one presented here, may provide new approaches for modeling fluid-rock interactions.