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DataForAssessingSeasonalEffectsOnElectricityAndWaterForRepositoryThis Excel file contains data used to conduct a seasonal analysis to assess whether seasonal patterns exist in electricity use in dorms and whether these patterns differ by latitude. The first worksheet contains metadata.Fall 2010 Campus Conservation Nationals surveyThis online survey was administered to students attending colleges who participated in the Fall 2010 Campus Conservation Nationals competition. Not all schools who participated in the competition administered the survey.CCN_F10_survey.pdfSpring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals surveyThis online survey was administered to students attending colleges who participated in the Spring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals competition. Not all schools who participated in the competition administered the survey.CCN_Spring12_survey.pdfFall 10 Campus Conservation Nationals electricity, water, webhit, and commitment dataThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected by Lucid before, during, and after the Fall 2010 CCN competition. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Fall10_CCN_elec_water_webhits_commitments.xlsxSpring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals electricity, water, and commitment dataThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected by Lucid before, during, and after the Spring 2012 CCN competition. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Spring12_CCN_elec_water_commitments_no.xlsxFall 10 CCN data aggregated at dorm level with psychological variablesThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected from our online survey and merged with the resource use data. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Fall10_CCN_dormagg_with_psych_variables.xlsxSpring 2012 CCN data with psychological variablesThis data file contains data at the dorm level collected from our online survey and merged with the resource use data. The first sheet contains metadata defining all variable names.Spring12__CCN_dormagg_with_psych_variables.xlsx “Campus Conservation Nationals” (CCN) is a recurring, nation-wide electricity and water-use reduction competition among dormitories on college campuses. We conducted a two year empirical study of the competition’s effects on resource consumption and the relationship between conservation, use of web technology and various psychological measures. Significant reductions in electricity and water use occurred during the two CCN competitions examined (n = 105,000 and 197,000 participating dorm residents respectively). In 2010, overall reductions during the competition were 4% for electricity and 6% for water. The top 10% of dorms achieved 28% and 36% reductions in electricity and water respectively. Participation was larger in 2012 and reductions were slightly smaller (i.e. 3% electricity). The fact that no seasonal pattern in electricity use was evident during non-competition periods suggests that results are attributable to the competition. Post competition resource use data collected in 2012 indicates that conservation behavior was sustained beyond the competition. Surveys were used to assess psychological and behavioral responses (n = 2,900 and 2,600 in 2010 and 2012 respectively). Electricity reductions were significantly correlated with: web visitation, specific conservation behaviors, awareness of the competition, motivation and sense of empowerment. However, participants were significantly more motivated than empowered. Perceived benefits of conservation were skewed towards global and future concerns while perceived barriers tended to be local. Results also suggest that competitions may be useful for “preaching beyond the choir” – engaging those who might lack prior intrinsic or political motivation. Although college life is distinct, certain conclusions related to competitions, self-efficacy, and motivation and social norms likely extend to other residential settings.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of increasing sulfate concentrations on chromium removal, to evaluate the effect of the presence of Cr(VI) on sulfate removal by Streptomyces sp. MC1 and to analyze the differential protein expression profile in the presence of this metal for the identification of proteins repressed or overexpressed. In the presence of Cr(VI) but in the absence of sulfate ions, bacterial growth was negligible, showing the Cr(VI) toxicity for this bacterium. However, the sulfate presence stimulated bacterium growth and Cr(VI) removal, regardless of its concentrations. Streptomyces sp. MC1 showed ability to remove chromium and sulfate simultaneously. Also, the sulfate presence favored the decrease of total chromium concentration from supernatants reaching a decrease of 50% at 48 h. In presence of chromium, seven proteins were down‐expressed and showed homology to proteins involved in protein biosynthesis, energy production and free radicals detoxification while two proteins involved in oxidation‐reduction processes identified as dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase and S‐adenosyl‐l‐methionine synthase were overexpressed.

Effective access control techniques are in demand, as electronically assisted healthcare services require the patient’s sensitive health records. In emergency situations, where the patient’s well-being is jeopardized, different healthcare actors associated with emergency cases should be granted permission to access Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of patients. The research objective of our study is to develop machine learning techniques based on patients’ time sequential health metrics and integrate them with an Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) mechanism. We propose an ABAC mechanism that can yield access to sensitive EHRs systems by applying prognostic context handlers where contextual information, is used to identify emergency conditions and permit access to medical records. Specifically, we use patients’ recent health history to predict the health metrics for the next two hours by leveraging Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) Neural Networks (NNs). These predicted health metrics values are evaluated by our personalized fuzzy context handlers, to predict the criticality of patients’ status. The developed access control method provides secure access for emergency clinicians to sensitive information and simultaneously safeguards the patient’s well-being. Integrating this predictive mechanism with personalized context handlers proved to be a robust tool to enhance the performance of the access control mechanism to modern EHRs System.

OBJECTIVE: First-time-in-college (FTIC) students, or college freshmen, are at a heightened risk of experiencing alcohol-related consequences, as these individuals are relatively inexperienced with alcohol and have tremendous pressure to assimilate to new norms. The current study investigates the use of a Deviance Regulation Theory (DRT) intervention, presented in a web-based format, to increase the use of Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) among FTIC students. METHOD: FTIC students (n = 157) completed weekly surveys for six weeks, which examined alcohol use and consequences, PBS use, and perceived PBS norms. Participants were randomly assigned one of three conditions: 1) a positive-framed message about individuals who do use PBS, 2) a negative-framed message about individuals who do not use PBS, or 3) a control group that received no messaging. RESULTS: Results suggest the negative-framed message increases PBS use across time for individuals high PBS norms, consistent with DRT. The positive-frame message did not change PBS use across time. However, the positive message was associated with more PBS use at the weekly-level when an individual had low PBS norms, consistent with DRT. Results also suggest PBS norms grew across time. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide initial support for the use of a DRT prevention program for FTIC students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has tremendously affected the whole of human society worldwide. Travel patterns have greatly changed due to the increased risk perception and the governmental interventions regarding COVID-19. This study aimed to identify contributing factors to the changes in public and private transportation mode choice behavior in China after COVID-19 based on an online questionnaire survey. In the survey, travel behaviors in three periods were studied: before the outbreak (before 27 December 2019), the peak (from 20 January to 17 March 2020), and after the peak (from 18 March to the date of the survey). A series of random-parameter bivariate Probit models was developed to quantify the relationship between individual characteristics and the changes in travel mode choice. The key findings indicated that individual sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., gender, age, ownership, occupation, residence) have significant effects on the changes in mode choice behavior. Other key findings included (1) a higher propensity to use a taxi after the peak compared to urban public transportation (i.e., bus and subway); (2) a significant impact of age on the switch from public transit to private car and two-wheelers; (3) more obvious changes in private car and public transportation modes in more developed cities. The findings from this study are expected to be useful for establishing partial and resilient policies and ensuring sustainable mobility and travel equality in the post-pandemic era.

Higher education is incorporating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at a fast rate for different purposes. Scientific papers include within the concept of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) the myriad applications of information and communication technology, e-resources, and pedagogical approaches to the development of education. TEL’s specific application to higher education is especially relevant for countries under rapid development for providing quick and sustainable access to quality education (UN sustainable development goal 4). This paper presents the research results of an online pedagogical experience in collaborative academic research for analyzing good practice in TEL-supported higher education development. The results are obtained through a pilot implementation providing curated data on TEL competency’s development of faculty skills and analysis of developing sustainable higher education degrees through TEL cooperation, for capacity building. Given the increased volume and complexity of the knowledge to be delivered, and the exponential growth of the need for skilled workers in emerging economies, online training is the most effective way of delivering a sustainable higher education. The results of the PETRA Erasmus+ capacity-building project provides evidence of a successful implementation of a TEL-supported methodology for collaborative faculty development focused on future online degrees built collaboratively and applied locally.

Hepatic steatosis is a key initiating event in the pathogenesis of alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), the most detrimental organ damage resulting from alcohol use disorder. However, the mechanisms by which alcohol induces steatosis remain incompletely understood. We have previously found that alcohol binging impairs brain insulin action, resulting in increased adipose tissue lipolysis by unrestraining sympathetic nervous system (SNS) outflow. Here, we examined whether an impaired brain-SNS-adipose tissue axis drives hepatic steatosis through unrestrained adipose tissue lipolysis and increased lipid flux to the liver.We examined the role of lipolysis, and the brain-SNS-adipose tissue axis and stress in alcohol induced hepatic triglyceride accumulation in a series of rodent models: pharmacological inhibition of the negative regulator of insulin signaling protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1β (PTP1b) in the rat brain, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) knockout mice as a pharmacogenetic model of sympathectomy, adipocyte specific adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) knockout mice, wildtype (WT) mice treated with β3 adrenergic agonist or undergoing restraint stress.Intracerebral administration of a PTP1b inhibitor, inhibition of adipose tissue lipolysis and reduction of sympathetic outflow ameliorated alcohol induced steatosis. Conversely, induction of adipose tissue lipolysis through β3 adrenergic agonism or by restraint stress worsened alcohol induced steatosis.Brain insulin resistance through upregulation of PTP1b, increased sympathetic activity, and unrestrained adipose tissue lipolysis are key drivers of alcoholic steatosis. Targeting these drivers of steatosis may provide effective therapeutic strategies to ameliorate ALD.

The social confinement resulting from the COVID-19 crisis temporarily reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Although experts contend that the decrease in pollution rates was not drastic, some surveys detect growth in social concern about the climate. In this new climate-conscious environment, municipalities and local governments are promoting a new way of living and caring for cities, even before they can regain national and international freedom of movement. This work analyzes the connections between new climate awareness arising from the COVID-19 crisis, proposals of sustainable citizenship around the world, and its communication on Twitter to educate the new eco-conscious audience. The methodology mixes quantitative and qualitative analysis, using the Twitonomy Premium tool and the Twitter research tool with data extracted at the end of December 2020. Among the top ten most influential and active accounts, the results show educational institutions, local institutions, companies, neighborhoods, associations, and influencers. The impossibility of living in the city has not prevented citizen education and commitment to make real change for when that city and its citizens return to normality. However, this new normality must be different: more ecological, more responsible, more sustainable, and practiced from early childhood.