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Spatial social networks (SSNs) are node-link structures that evidence interpersonal or inter-organizational relationships, where nodes and edges have a defined geographic location. To model SSNs, users need both geographic and social network metrics. However, there are few GUI-based analytic tools that enable simultaneous spatial and social network exploration. In this paper, following the research framework of Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) and design principles of social network analysis tools, we derived three design goals of exploratory spatial social network analysis (SSNA). Guided by these design goals, we provide a visual analytic tool, SNoMaN, which links network and geographical layouts and helps users conduct SSNA by interactively computing and visualizing SSN metrics, describing spatial distributions, exploring associations, and detecting anomalies. We introduce new types of visual diagrams, including Cluster–Cluster Plots, Centralization Plots, on-the-fly mapping of geometrically bounded network modules, and Route Factor Diagrams. We illustrate these new approaches using use case studies of a 1960s network of Mafia members, a global flight network, and a food donation-sharing network in southwestern Virginia. We find that SNoMaN can be used to generate data insights that fuse a system’s spatial and social dimensions that are hard to obtain otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate photoinduced phenomena in various materials and molecules, ultrashort pulsed x-ray and electron sources with high brightness and high repetition rates are required. The x-ray and electron's typical and de Broglie wavelengths are shorter than lattice constants of materials and molecules. Therefore, photoinduced structural dynamics on the femtosecond to picosecond timescales can be directly observed in a diffraction manner by using these pulses. This research created a tabletop ultrashort pulsed electron diffraction setup that used a femtosecond laser and electron pulse compression cavity that was directly synchronized to the microwave master oscillator (∼3 GHz). A compressed electron pulse with a 1 kHz repetition rate contained 228 000 electrons. The electron pulse duration was estimated to be less than 100 fs at the sample position by using photoinduced immediate lattice changes in an ultrathin silicon film (50 nm). The newly developed time-resolved electron diffraction setup has a pulse duration that is comparable to femtosecond laser pulse widths (35–100 fs). The pulse duration, in particular, fits within the timescale of photoinduced phenomena in quantum materials. Our developed ultrafast time-resolved electron diffraction setup with a sub-100 fs temporal resolution would be a powerful tool in material science with a combination of optical pump–probe, time-resolved photoemission spectroscopic, and pulsed x-ray measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclear receptors dax1 and SF-1 play important and antagonistic roles in gonad differentiation in mammals. To study their potential functions in teleost fish, the full-length cDNAs of dax1 and SF-1 were cloned and characterized from spotted scat. Their expression patterns in adult tissues and juveniles treated with 17α-methyltestosterone ( MT) and their gonadal histological changes were investigated, respectively. The tissue-specific expression results showed that dax1 was abundantly expressed in the gonads, spleen, brain, and intestine. SF-1 was preferentially expressed in the gonad and spleen. Histological results showed that sex reversal could be induced by MT, and the degenerating oocytes and proliferations of spermatogonia were observed in gonad. At the beginning of sex reversal (40 d after treatment), the mRNA level of dax1 significantly increased, and the transcript level of SF-1 mRNA was inhibited at the point of 20 d following treatment with MT. Our results suggested that masculinization could be induced by MT treatment in spotted scat, and MT could upregulate the dax1 expression, whereas it downregulates the expression of SF-1, which implied that dax1 and SF-1 might be involved in the gonad development from female to male and there was an antagonistic effect between dax1 and SF-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]