Making Bio-Expectations

This paper marks one attempt to open up the boundaries of humanitarianism to the diverse effects of scientific objects, practices and technologies. It follows the frontiers of their effects with one particularly consequential practice of scientific reductionism through its implication with vitamin A deficiency. I open up how the scientific articulation of vitamin A is not simply about reductionism as a process of limiting, but one that unfolds as something more malleable, more multiple; how it is a shifting, distributed reality that speaks of the ongoing effects of reductionism as giving life to, among other things, emotive abstractions, and efforts to widen a distinctly humanitarian promise. I show how this scientific practice puts into play a set of emotive abstractions around the figure of the ‘Third World child’, un/remaking the problem as a morally tense ‘bio-expectation’ that ensures the survival of children across the generalised expanse of the Global South.     

Surface superconductivity in the type II Weyl semimetal TaIrTe4

The search for unconventional superconductivity in Weyl semimetal materials is currently an exciting pursuit, since such superconducting phases could potentially be topologically non-trivial and host exotic Majorana modes. The layered material TaIrTe₄ is a newly predicted time-reversal invariant type II Weyl semimetal with the minimum number of Weyl points. Here, we report the discovery of surface superconductivity in Weyl semimetal TaIrTe₄. Our scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) visualizes Fermi arc surface states of TaIrTe₄ that are consistent with the previous angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy results. By a systematic study based on STS at ultralow temperature, we observe uniform superconducting gaps on the sample surface. The superconductivity is further confirmed by electrical transport measurements at ultralow temperature, with an onset transition temperature (T_c) up to 1.54 K being observed. The normalized upper critical field h*(T/T_c) behavior and the stability of the superconductivity against the ferromagnet indicate that the discovered superconductivity is unconventional with the p-wave pairing. The systematic STS, and thickness- and angular-dependent transport measurements reveal that the detected superconductivity is quasi-1D and occurs in the surface states. The discovery of the surface superconductivity in TaIrTe₄ provides a new novel platform to explore topological superconductivity and Majorana modes.     

Convergent genomic signatures of high-altitude adaptation among domestic mammals

Abundant and diverse domestic mammals living on the Tibetan Plateau provide useful materials for investigating adaptive evolution and genetic convergence. Here, we used 327 genomes from horses, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and dogs living at both high and low altitudes, including 73 genomes generated for this study, to disentangle the genetic mechanisms underlying local adaptation of domestic mammals. Although molecular convergence is comparatively rare at the DNA sequence level, we found convergent signature of positive selection at the gene level, particularly the EPAS1 gene in these Tibetan domestic mammals. We also reported a potential function in response to hypoxia for the gene C10orf67, which underwent positive selection in three of the domestic mammals. Our data provide an insight into adaptive evolution of high-altitude domestic mammals, and should facilitate the search for additional novel genes involved in the hypoxia response pathway.     

Validation of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children with a sample of preschool children

The validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1983) was investigated with a sample of preschool-age children. The sample consisted of 50 subjects aged 21/2 through 4 who were distributed roughly equally by age, sex, and race according to the 1980 census. The validity of the K-ABC was examined using the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) (Slosson, 1982) and the Classroom Behavior Inventory-Preschool Form (CBI) (Schaefer & Edgerton, 1978) as criterion measures. The SIT and CBI-Preschool Form Verbal Intelligence Scale were found to correlate significantly (p<.01) with the global scales of the K-ABC. The K-ABC did not differentiate between age or sex groups, but blacks scored lower than whites. The findings are supportive of previous validity studies (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1983) and two-factor theories of intelligence (e.g., Das, Kirby, & Jarman, 1975).     

The behavioral treatment of school phobia: A critical review

This paper is a critical review of the studies that have applied behavioral techniques in the treatment of school phobia. After a brief theoretical discussion, this work proceeds to note the conspicuous absence of any studies designed to assess either the relative efficacy of behavior therapy in comparison to other types of therapy or the different effects of various behavioral treatments. An in-depth analysis of reported case studies dichotomized into those using classical conditioning elements and those using operant learning ones reveals that both approaches indicate success. However, some blurring between treatment modalities, both theoretically and empirically, is noted, thus bringing into question the precision of estimating the efficacy of treatments of different approaches. Suggestions for future research focus on both large scale studies and the need to apply distinct treatments firmly allied to theoretical models.