Table of Contents

Abstract: Previous studies were able to demonstrate different verbally stated affective responses to environments. In the present study we used objective measures of emotion. We examined startle reflex modulation as well as changes in heart rate and skin conductance while subjects virtually walked through six different areas of urban Paris using the StreetView tool of Google maps. Unknown to the subjects, these areas were selected based on their median real estate prices. First, we found that price highly correlated with subjective rating of pleasantness. In addition, relative startle amplitude differed significantly between the area with lowest versus highest median real estate price while no differences in heart rate and skin conductance were found across conditions. We conclude that interaction with environmental scenes does elicit emotional responses which can be objectively measured and quantified. Environments activate motivational and emotional brain circuits, which is in line with the notion of an evolutionary developed system of environmental preference. Results are discussed in the frame of environmental psychology and aesthetics.

Abstract: Applied sciences cover many interdisciplinary fields that put basic sciences to application and make big changes by taking the one not-so-small step from “knowing how” to “knowing how-to”, the serendipity of which is often intriguing. Applied sciences are so deeply entrenched in almost all aspects of our daily lives. To provide an advanced forum for scholars all over the world to discuss and communicate the cutting-edge development in this field, on behalf of the Editorial Board members, I am honored to introduce Applied Sciences, a scholarly, peer-reviewed open access journal. [...]

Abstract: Cellular life is reliant upon rapid and efficient responses to internal and external conditions. The basic molecular events associated with these processes are the structural transitions of the proteins (structural protein allostery) involved. From this view, the human hemoglobin (Hb) molecule (α₂β₂) holds a special position in this field. Hb has two types of αβ interface (i.e., α₁β₁ [and α₂β₂] and α₁β₂ [and α₂β₁]). The latter α₁–β₂ (and α₂–β₁) interface is known to be associated with cooperative O₂ binding, and exhibits principal roles if the molecule goes from its deoxy to oxy quaternary structure. However, the role of the former α₁–β₁ (and α₂–β₂) interface has been unclear for a long time. In this regard, important and intriguing observations have been accumulating. A new role was attributed first as stabilizing the HbO₂ tetramer against acidic autoxidation. That is, the α₁–β₁ (and α₂–β₂) interface produces a conformational constraint in the β chain whereby the distal (E7) histidine (His) residue is tilted slightly away from the bound O₂ so as to prevent proton-catalyzed displacement of O₂^– by a solvent water molecule. The β chains thus acquire pH-dependent delayed autoxidation in the HbO₂ tetramer. The next role was suggested by our studies searching for similar phenomena in normal human erythrocytes under mild heating. Tilting of the distal (E7) His in turn triggered degradation of the Hb molecule to hemichrome, and subsequent clustering of Heinz bodies within the erythrocyte. As Heinz body-containing red cells become trapped in the spleen, it was demonstrated that the α₁–β₁ (and α₂–β₂) interface may exert delicate control of the fate (removal) of its own erythrocyte. Herein we review and summarize the related results and current interpretation of the oxidative behavior of human Hb, emphasizing the correlation between hemichrome emergence and Heinz-body formation, and specifically discuss the new roles assigned to the α₁–β₁ (and α₂–β₂) interface. The α₁–β₁ (and α₂–β₂) interface seems to adequately differentiate between the two types of function (dual roles) from physiological to cellular.