Living in turbulent times

Spoken metaphors such as “unstable situation” document a conceptual association between physical instability and difficult situations. Drawing on research in embodied cognition and conceptual metaphor, the present research examined whether people’s somatic experience can influence their attitudes toward the current COVID-19 pandemic. The hypothesis is that inducing a sensorimotor state such as physical instability can activate the associated abstract concepts such as the feelings of instability during a public health crisis. In Experiment 1, participants who sat at a wobbly table and chair believed more in and had greater concern about the coronavirus disease than participants in a stable workstation. Using a different manipulation of physical instability and a more diverse sample, Experiment 2 found that participants who stood on one foot rather than two were more likely to worry about the pandemic. Experiment 3 examined consequential behavior that might follow from respondents’ COVID-19-related attitudes. The results showed that participants who adopted a single-leg stance rather than a double-leg stance donated more money to the coronavirus treatment acceleration program aiming to stabilize the virus situation. Taken together, these findings indicate that seemingly irrelevant physical experiences can skew people’s opinions on the COVID-19 pandemic, exerting potential downstream effects on their actual behavior.

EXPLORING TIRUMULAR'S LOVE OF THE BODY IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

The principles of the Siddharthas are instructive of the ideas of instability. In particular, it is advisable to go beyond the stages of yak (physical) instability, youth instability, and wealth instability and ignore worldly attachments as everything is unstable. Furthermore, it is possible that the songs sound like a body that depicts the body as an erotic state and regrets the depravity of the body. However, some Siddhas refer to the body as the state of the Lord. Notable among them is Tirumular. He loves the body as Shiva. His songs transform the ordinary human body into a body of devotion. Kayasitthi's lifestyle is revealed in the package "Udale Sivam". When songs about Tirumular's health are studied with psychological factors, the intuitional stimuli of his life experience resonate in the songs.

Smart Stimuli-Responsive Liposomal Nanohybrid Systems: A Critical Review of Theranostic Behavior in Cancer

The epoch of nanotechnology has authorized novel investigation strategies in the area of drug delivery. Liposomes are attractive biomimetic nanocarriers characterized by their biocompatibility, high loading capacity, and their ability to reduce encapsulated drug toxicity. Nevertheless, various limitations including physical instability, lack of site specificity, and low targeting abilities have impeded the use of solo liposomes. Metal nanocarriers are emerging moieties that can enhance the therapeutic activity of many drugs with improved release and targeted potential, yet numerous barriers, such as colloidal instability, cellular toxicity, and poor cellular uptake, restrain their applicability in vivo. The empire of nanohybrid systems has shelled to overcome these curbs and to combine the criteria of liposomes and metal nanocarriers for successful theranostic delivery. Metallic moieties can be embedded or functionalized on the liposomal systems. The current review sheds light on different liposomal-metal nanohybrid systems that were designed as cellular bearers for therapeutic agents, delivering them to their targeted terminus to combat one of the most widely recognized diseases, cancer.

Analysis of the risks generated by the tailings ponds near the city of Borşa

The paper presents the risks regarding the physical and chemical stability of the tailings ponds grouped under the name of Ds (D1, D2, D3, D4) located on the right bank of the river Cisla near the residential area of Baia Borşa and Colbu tailings pond upstream of the residential area of Borşa. The closure of these tailings ponds was done in a defective manner, without complying with the design and execution rules provided in the Technical Regulation on waste storage. The are two types of risks: first type, due to chemical instability that produces continuous acid drainage and the second type, regarding physical instability, due to erosion and extreme weather conditions which could lead to failure of the dams, with very serious consequences, causing material damages and loss of life. The risk of breaking the dams is even higher as it is located in the vicinity or upstream of residential areas located in a geographical structure of valley type containing the river Cisla with high debit.

Evidence that more than a third of Paleozoic articulate brachiopod genera (Strophomenata) lived infaunally

The Strophomenata, which includes two large orders, the Strophomenida and Productida, is the largest group of Paleozoic brachiopods. Nearly all uncemented strophomenatans possessed an unusual concave brachial valve. Most of these have been considered to have lived epifaunally, but had they rested on the seafloor, not only would they have faced intense predation, but their physical instability would have been fatal. I conclude that nearly all strophomenatans, like similar concavo-convex pectinid bivalves, lived infaunally by ejecting water to create a pit into which they descended, to be protected by sediment covering the concave valve. Strophomenatans have been discovered with this sediment preserved in place. If exhumed and turned upside down, a strophomenatan could have righted itself by squirting water. Many productides had anchoring spines, and some had hinge areas with stabilizing flanges. Small spines on the brachial valves of some productides served to trap disguising sediment. Evolutionary loss of hinge teeth within both the Strophomenida and Productida reduced the friction of valve clapping. Partly because of their slender shape, strophomenides were typically more vulnerable to exhumation than productides. Strophomenides also ejected water less effectively than productides and would have been less adept at righting themselves. The virtual disappearance of the strophomenides during the Devonian can be attributed to their vulnerability to intensifying benthic bulldozing and predation. The success of the productides during the late Paleozoic can be attributed to their relatively deep sequestration in the sediment and ability to right themselves and reburrow effectively when exhumed and overturned.

Technological Prospection of Oil Nanoparticles: Primary Characteristics and Profiles

Background: The search for technological applications for oils has been growing, largely due to their potential nutritional and economic applications. Encapsulation makes it possible to reduce the disadvantages of oils, such as physical instability or thermodynamics, or to improve their technological properties, enabling their use in various industrial areas. Nanoencapsulated oils have the potential to improve oil bioavailability and achieve controlled release and are able to target bioactive compounds with greater precision than microencapsulated oils. Objective: The present study aims to evaluate the primary characteristics and profiles of the technological prospection of oil nanoparticles. Results: Exponential growth in patent filing was noted with a peak in 2017, with China filing the highest numbers of patents. Regarding the area of application, the food industry was most common followed by the pharmaceutical industry. The most commonly used terms in patent documents on the subject were nanoemulsion and nanoparticle. The most commonly used oil, technique, wall materials and emulsifiers were soybean oil; emulsification; chitosan and lecithin; and Span 80, Tween 80 and Tween 40, respectively. The obtained articles were typically patent documents. The main depositor was Jiangnan University, and most inventors filed the same number of patent documents. Conclusion: Nanoencapsulation of oils has many known advantages that have been widely published in the literature and used by industry. There is a trend in the growth of patent document deposits and related scientific publications, indicating that many innovations have been made and highlighting the importance of oil nanoencapsulation.

Challenging the Formulator: Biocontrol and Conventional Crop Protection

Whether it is a synthetic or a biological material, the journey of an active ingredient (AI) from manufacture to its target site is a perilous one. Along the way there are numerous opportunities for the AI to be degraded, destroyed or removed. Following production of the AI, it may be vulnerable to chemical and thermal instability. Again, during formulation and on storage after manufacture, possible physical and chemical instability will need to be considered. Compatibility of the AI and co-formulants with packaging materials will also need to be taken into account. During application there are further opportunities for the AI to be lost. In a spray tank there is a risk of physical instability (e.g. particle agglomeration and settling) and of incompatibilities with other products added to the tank such as adjuvants and other AIs. Once sprayed, the droplets may drift and miss the target area or, even if they reach the leaf, not adhere there. Then, it may not persist on the leaf (or pest) surface or (in the case of systemic AIs) be taken up by the target. Finally, even once taken up by the target, there can be further chemical incompatibilities which degrade the AI. Many of these problems can be tackled by good use of formulation during product development. Formulation can address the following challenges: the challenge of stability; the challenge of compatibility; the challenge of protection; the challenge of delivery; and the challenge of sustainability and new crop protection practices.