alternative explanation
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Author(s):  
Michal Křížek ◽  
Vesselin G. Gueorguiev ◽  
André Maeder

Recently it was found from Cassini data that the mean recession speed of Titan from Saturn is v = 11.3 ± 2.0 cm/yr which corresponds to a tidal quality factor of Saturn Q ≈ 100 while the standard estimate yields Q ≥ 6 · 104 . It was assumed that such a large speed v is due to a resonance locking mechanism of five inner mid-sized moons of Saturn. In this paper, we show that an essential part of v may come from a local Hubble expansion, where the Hubble-Lemaˆıtre constant H0 recalculated to the Saturn-Titan distance D is 8.15 cm/(yrD). Our hypothesis is based on many other observations showing a slight expansion of the Solar system and also of our Galaxy at a rate comparable with H0. We demonstrate that the large disproportion in estimating the Q factor can be just caused by the local expansion effect. [Accepted for publication in "Gravitation and Cosmology". The paper is to appear in Vol. 28, Issue 2 (2022) of the journal Gravitation and Cosmology.]


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm Fairbrother ◽  
Gustaf Arrhenius ◽  
Krister Bykvist ◽  
Timothy Campbell

Do people care much about future generations? Moral philosophers argue that we should, but it is not clear that laypeople agree. Humanity’s thus-far inadequate efforts to address climate change, for example, could be taken as a sign that people are unconcerned about the well-being of future generations. An alternative explanation is that the lack of action is due to public scepticism about climate policies’ effectiveness, rather than the discounting of future lives per se. Based on surveys and survey experiments with representative samples of respondents in four countries—Sweden, Spain, South Korea, and China—we find that most people say they care about future generations, and would even be willing to reduce their standard of living so that people can enjoy better lives in the future. Many do not, however, support policies for reducing either global warming or the national debt—both of which would impose a net cost on current generations for the benefit of future generations. We show that a significant part of the public’s apparent lack of concern for future generations is actually due to disbelief or distrust in the likely benefits of government actions.


2022 ◽  
pp. 135406882110679
Author(s):  
Samuel A. T. Johnston ◽  
Stefanie Sprong

Western European politics has experienced considerable change since the 1980s, with the emergence of new parties and immigration’s politicisation. However, no studies have examined Green party discussions of immigration, or their interaction with radical right parties. We hypothesise that increases in the radical right’s vote share, and the saliency they attach to immigration, will incentivise Greens to discuss immigration more. We also examine an alternative explanation that how salient immigration is for left- and right-wing parties will affect immigration’s saliency for Greens. We test this by applying structural topic models to parliamentary speeches in the Dutch Tweede Kamer for 2002–2019. We find that Greens react to the radical right, as the latter’s vote share is positively associated with immigration’s saliency for Greens, although radical right immigration saliency’s effect is not robust. Furthermore, we do not find evidence that Greens react to immigration’s saliency in left- or right-wing party speeches.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor M Rouzine

It remains unclear why HIV persists in most untreated individuals, and why a small minority of individuals can control the virus, either spontaneously or after an early treatment. The present work motivated by the striking differences in the functional avidity of CD4 T cells discovered between patient cohorts in a recent study [1] offers an experimentally–testable mathematical model that explains the diverse outcome of infection. The model predicts an arms race between viral dissemination and the proliferation of HIV-specific CD4 helper cells leading to one of two states: a low-viremia state or a high-viremia state. Helper CD4 cells with a higher avidity favor virus control. The parameter segregating spontaneous and post-treatment controllers is the infectivity asymmetry between activated and resting CD4 T cells. The predictions are found to be consistent with the data from [1] and with data on the avidity CD8 T cells [2]. I also analyze the alternative explanation of T cell exhaustion previously proposed to explain the diverse patient cohorts and demonstrate that it does not explain these and some other experimental data.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
LEO VAN HOVE

Agarwal et al. ( 2019 ). Mobile wallet and entrepreneurial growth. AEA Papers and Proceedings, 109, 48–53 analyze the impact of the introduction of quick response (QR) codes for mobile payments in Singapore. They find that this not only resulted in a significant increase in the use of mobile wallets, but that there was also a positive spillover effect on debit and credit card payments — in particular at small and new businesses. This note argues that the increase in card sales cannot have been driven by the QR code technology. I also proffer an alternative explanation, namely, that Agarwal et al. simply capture the concurrent increase in popularity of contactless cards.


2021 ◽  
Vol 922 (2) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
J. Larsson ◽  
J. Sollerman ◽  
J. D. Lyman ◽  
J. Spyromilio ◽  
L. Tenhu ◽  
...  

Abstract The distribution of ejecta in young supernova remnants offers a powerful observational probe of their explosions and progenitors. Here we present a 3D reconstruction of the ejecta in SNR 0540-69.3, which is an O-rich remnant with a pulsar wind nebula located in the LMC. We use observations from the Very Large Telescope (VLT)/MUSE to study Hβ, [O iii] λ λ4959, 5007, Hα, [S ii] λ λ6717, 6731, [Ar iii] λ7136, and [S iii] λ9069. This is complemented by 2D spectra from VLT/X-shooter, which also cover [O ii] λ λ3726, 3729, and [Fe ii] λ12567. We identify three main emission components: (i) clumpy rings in the inner nebula (≲1000 km s−1) with similar morphologies in all lines; (ii) faint extended [O iii] emission dominated by an irregular ring-like structure with radius ∼1600 km s−1 and inclination ∼40°, but with maximal velocities reaching ∼3000 km s−1; and (iii) a blob of Hα and Hβ located southeast of the pulsar at velocities ∼1500–3500 km s−1. We analyze the geometry using a clump-finding algorithm and use the clumps in the [O iii] ring to estimate an age of 1146 ± 116 yr. The observations favor an interpretation of the [O iii] ring as ejecta, while the origin of the H-blob is more uncertain. An alternative explanation is that it is the blown-off envelope of a binary companion. From the detection of Balmer lines in the innermost ejecta we confirm that SNR 0540 was a Type II supernova and that hydrogen was mixed down to low velocities in the explosion.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cao Nguyen Duong ◽  
Randy Brückner ◽  
Martina Schmitt ◽  
Astrid F. Nottebaum ◽  
Laura Braun ◽  
...  

Cadherin-mediated cell adhesion requires anchoring via the β-catenin-α-catenin complex to the actin cytoskeleton, yet, α-catenin binds F-actin only weakly. A covalent fusion of VE-cadherin to α-catenin enhances actin anchorage in endothelial cells and strongly stabilizes endothelial junctions in vivo, blocking inflammatory responses. Here, we have analyzed the underlying mechanism. We found that VE-cadherin-α-catenin constitutively recruits the actin adaptor vinculin. However, removal of the vinculin binding region of α-catenin did not impair the ability of VE-cadherin-α-catenin to enhance junction integrity. Searching for an alternative explanation for the junction stabilizing mechanism, we found that an antibody-defined epitope, normally buried in a short α1-helix of the actin binding domain (ABD) of α-catenin, is openly displayed in junctional VE-cadherin-α-catenin chimera. This epitope, we found to become exposed in normal α-catenin upon triggering thrombin-induced tension across the VE-cadherin complex. These results suggest, that the VE-cadherin-α-catenin chimera stabilizes endothelial junctions due to conformational changes in the ABD of α-catenin, which support constitutive strong binding to actin.


Author(s):  
Irene P. Kan ◽  
Kendra L. Pizzonia ◽  
Anna B. Drummey ◽  
Eli J. V. Mikkelsen

Abstract Background The term “continued influence effect” (CIE) refers to the phenomenon that discredited and obsolete information continues to affect behavior and beliefs. The practical relevance of this work is particularly apparent as we confront fake news everyday. Thus, an important question becomes, how can we mitigate the continued influence of misinformation? Decades of research have identified several factors that contribute to the CIE reduction, but few have reported successful elimination. Across three studies, we evaluated the relative contribution of three factors (i.e., targeting the misinformation, providing an alternative explanation, and relative importance of the misinformation content) to the reduction of the CIE. Results Across three studies and two different CIE measures, we found that alternative provision consistently resulted in CIE reduction. Furthermore, under certain conditions, the combination of alternative inclusion and direct targeting of misinformation in the correction statement resulted in successful elimination of the CIE, such that individuals who encountered that type of correction behaved similarly to baseline participants who never encountered the (mis)information. In contrast, under one CIE measure, participants who received correction statements that failed to include those elements referenced the (mis)information as frequently as baseline participants who never encountered a correction. Finally, we delineated several component processes involved in misinformation outdating and found that the extent of outdating success varied as a function of the causality of misinformation. Conclusions The damaging effects of fake news are undeniable, and the negative consequences are exacerbated in the digital age. Our results contribute to our understanding of how fake news persists and how we may begin to mitigate their effects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-47
Author(s):  
Stanislav Južnič

Marian Wolfgang Koller used to be considered the very best astronomer from Carniola next to Augustin Hallerstein. Today, his work connected with the Dalton Minimum is again in limelight as the alternative explanation of global warming phenomena. Koller wrote precise notes of six semestrial courses of Josef Stefan to promote Stefan’s talents. By using the international connection of his patron Koller, Stefan published at least twenty articles in the British Philosophical Magazine, some of them also in Paris and Geneva.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nicholas Arnott-Steel

<p>Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy that incorporates the use of saccadic Eye-Movements (EM) to alleviate distress caused by traumatic memories. Although EMDR is recognised as a front-line treatment for individuals suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of the EM component remain a point of contention. The aim of the current research was to investigate first, whether EM reduced ratings of memory vividness and emotionality by taxing Working Memory (WM) capacity, and second, to examine whether EM lowered the number of intrusive thoughts under two opposing suppression conditions. In two experiments, 244 non-clinical participants were asked to recall an unpleasant memory while simultaneously engaging in fast-EM, slow-EM or a no-EM control. Participants then received an instruction to intentionally avoid thinking about the memory, or to think about whatever came to mind. Relative to no-EM, fast-EM and slow-EM had no significant effect on vividness and emotionality ratings, nor did they influence the number of intrusive thoughts. In addition, the level of suppression intent had no impact on memory outcomes. Overall, the results from these two experiments oppose earlier findings in support of WM theory, and a significant body of research that has demonstrated the efficacy of the EM component. Implications for the EM component in EMDR are discussed, and an alternative explanation for EM is offered.</p>


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