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Contemporary U.S. politics is characterized by a high degree of political polarization and conflict. Consequently, scholars have become increasingly interested in understanding how political factors and events impact different dimensions of health, such as anxiety. Using data from a nationally-representative, two-wave panel survey conducted before and after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, we develop a measure of political anxiety and examine how levels of political anxiety changed following the election. In general, we find that levels of political anxiety decreased following the presidential election. We then examine individual-level factors that influence post-election levels of political anxiety. Those who are highly politically engaged, interested in politics, and who score highly on negative emotionality felt more political anxiety than their counterparts after the election. Those who voted for Donald Trump, conservatives, and African Americans reported feeling less political anxiety than their counterparts following the election. Our findings regarding vote choice and ideology are somewhat surprising in light of previous research on the impact of electoral loss. We conclude with a discussion of what might be driving some of our counterintuitive results and provide ideas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancing the seismic resilience of building systems is an active area of research in earthquake engineering. Ensuring safe egress in and out of buildings during extreme events, such as an earthquake, is essential to supporting this effort. To this end, understanding the seismic response of stairs facilitates the robust design of egress systems to ensure they can remain operable after an earthquake. From prior earthquake events and physical experiments, it is understood that stairs with a flight to landing fixed connection at multiple levels within a building are prone to damage. In addition, the stair system with flight to landing fixed attachments may affect the dynamic behavior of the building. To accommodate seismic inter‐story drifts, a kinematically free connection between the stairs and landing has been proposed. Herein this connection is referred to as a drift‐compatible stair connection. To investigate and aid in the design of such a connection, a unique set of shake table experiments were conducted at the University of Nevada, Reno. In this paper, an overview of these tests is presented, and a high‐fidelity finite element model of the tested stair system is used to predict the responses measured during these experiments. Developed in Abaqus, the robustness of the modeled stair unit is investigated considering a variety of contrasting connections, namely, drift‐compatible connections, fixed ends and one end fixed and the other free. Results from these numerical simulations offer guidance towards development of simplified models of multi‐level stair subsystems. Such models are needed when investigating seismic resilience of building systems across a wider range of hazard levels. Furthermore, best practices observed utilizing the models developed and evaluated herein against experimental data will be useful for subsequent analysis of larger stair tower models, such as the 10‐story stair system implemented in the NHERI Tall Wood mass timber building with post‐tensioned rocking walls, conducted in 2023 at the UC San Diego Large High‐Performance Outdoor Shake Table. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critiques the restrictive criteria for germline genome editing recently proposed by Chin, Nguma, and Ahmad in this journal. While praising the authors for resisting fervent calls for an outright ban on clinical applications of the technology, this paper argues that their approach is nevertheless unduly restrictive, and may thus hinder technological progress. This response advocates for weighing potential benefits against risks without succumbing to excessive caution, proposing that ethical oversight combined with genetic scrutiny at the embryo stage post-editing can enable responsible use of the technology, ultimately reducing the burden of genetic diseases and enhancing human health, akin to how IVF transformed reproductive medicine despite strong initial opposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lack of reliable winter hardiness has impeded the adoption of winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in much of the northern United States. Direct selection for winter survival is time consuming and often unreliable. In addition, because survival is a binary trait, selection towards small quantitative gains can be difficult. One solution to these challenges is to identify indirect selection traits: anatomical or physiological characteristics which can be measured in the absence of winter stress, but which contribute to improved winter survival. Here, we survey a range of winter and spring barley, as well as winter wheat, winter rye, and perennial species of the genus Hordeum, all of which are more winter hardy than barley, to identify traits associated with winter survival. We identified several traits as promising candidates for selection. These included crown depth and leaf metaxylem diameter, which previous studies have identified as indirect selection traits. New candidates identified by our study include crown diameter and leaf midvein and blade thickness, as well as a suite of traits which suggest a pattern of reduced and efficient investment in above-ground structures. The effect of these traits on winter survival need to be validated and quantified by further experiments, but they represent a promising early step in a potentially valuable breeding strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Embodied cognition' suggests that our bodily experiences broadly shape our cognitive capabilities. We study how embodied experience affects the abstract physical problem-solving styles people use in a virtual task where embodiment does not affect action capabilities. We compare how groups with different embodied experience – 25 children and 35 adults with congenital limb differences versus 45 children and 40 adults born with two hands – perform this task, and find that while there is no difference in overall competence, the groups use different cognitive styles to find solutions. People born with limb differences think more before acting but take fewer attempts to reach solutions. Conversely, development affects the particular actions children use, as well as their persistence with their current strategy. Our findings suggest that while development alters action choices and persistence, differences in embodied experience drive changes in the acquisition of cognitive styles for balancing acting with thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autoimmunity, allergy, and transplant rejection are a collection of chronic diseases that are currently incurable, drastically decrease patient quality of life, and consume considerable health care resources. Underlying each of these diseases is a dysregulated immune system that results in the mounting of an inflammatory response against self or an innocuous antigen. As a consequence, afflicted patients are required to adhere to lifelong regimens of multiple immunomodulatory drugs to control disease and reclaim agency. Unfortunately, current immunomodulatory drugs are associated with a myriad of side effects and adverse events, such as increased risk of cancer and increased risk of serious infection, which negatively impacts patient adherence rates and quality of life. The field of immunoengineering is a new discipline that aims to harness endogenous biological pathways to thwart disease and minimize side effects using novel biomaterial-based strategies. We highlight and discuss polymeric micro/nanoparticles with inherent immunomodulatory properties that are currently under investigation in biomaterial-based therapies for treatment of autoimmunity, allergy, and transplant rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a poorly understood yet recurring phenomenon, communities occupying diverse settings within a region may undertake large-scale migrations that cannot be easily attributed to single variables such as climate change. As a result, the study of these movements has increasingly focused on the distinct histories of localities to address how they may have articulated as large-scale abandonments. We adopt this micro-history perspective on the fourteenth to fifteenth century depopulation of a large portion of the North American Midwest and Southeast, popularly referred to as the Vacant Quarter. Our research on the Middle Cumberland drainage within the Vacant Quarter suggests that a significant exodus began slowly ca. 1300 CE; then, it accelerated extremely rapidly in the first half of the fifteenth century CE. This genesis of this trajectory seems to be related to a pattern of severe droughts, but it was brought to a close by social and demographic challenges such as endemic conflict and adverse health conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mepolizumab is a therapy for severe asthma. We have little knowledge of the characteristics of people in the US that discontinue mepolizumab in clinical care. To investigate the real-world efficacy and time to clinical discontinuation of mepolizumab, we evaluated individuals with asthma started on mepolizumab at the Cleveland Clinic. We hypothesized that individuals that discontinue mepolizumab have more severe and uncontrolled asthma at baseline. Between 2016 and 2022, patients who started on mepolizumab consented to be assessed over 18 months. At baseline, a questionnaire including demographic and medical history was collected. Laboratory findings such as ACT score, FENO (Fractional Excretion of Nitric Oxide), and spirometry were recorded. At the conclusion of the observation period, the participants were divided into two categories: Group A and Group B. Group B [N = 28] discontinued mepolizumab (p < 0.05) at an average of 5.8 months (SD 4.2 months). Group A [N = 129] stayed on the therapy for at least 1 year. A participant with an ACT score less than 13 has an odds ratio of 6.64 (95% CI, 2.1 − 26.0) of discontinuing mepolizumab therapy. For a male, the odds of discontinuing mepolizumab therapy is 3.39 (95% CI, 1.1–11.2). In this real-world study, we find that high eosinophil count may not be adequate in screening which individuals will benefit from mepolizumab. Up to 17% of patients fail therapy within 6 months, with male sex and low ACT score increasing risk of mepolizumab discontinuation at Cleveland Clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat loss is rarely truly random and often occurs selectively with respect to the plant species comprising the habitat. Such selective habitat removal that decreases plant species diversity, that is, habitat simplification or homogenization, may have two negative effects on other species. First, the reduction in plant community size (number of individuals) represents habitat loss for species at higher trophic levels who use plants as habitat. Second, when plants are removed selectively, the resulting habitat simplification decreases the diversity of resources available to species at higher trophic levels. It follows that habitat loss combined with simplification will reduce biodiversity more than habitat loss without simplification. To test this, we experimentally implemented two types of habitat loss at the plant community level and compared biodiversity of resident arthropods between habitat loss types. In the first type of habitat loss, we reduced habitats by 50% nonselectively, maintaining original relative abundance and diversity of plant species and therefore habitat and resource diversity for arthropods. In the second type of habitat loss, we reduced habitats by 50% selectively, removing all but one common plant species, dramatically simplifying habitat and resources for arthropods. We replicated this experiment across three common plant species: Asclepias tuberosa, Solidago altissima, and Baptisia alba. While habitat loss with simplification reduced arthropod species richness compared with habitat loss without simplification, neither type of habitat loss affected diversity, measured as effective number of species (ENS), or species evenness as compared with controls. Instead, differences in ENS and evenness were explained by the identity of the common plant species. Our results indicate that the quality of remaining habitat, in our case plant species identity, may be more important for multi‐trophic diversity than habitat diversity per se. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Arterial calcification due to deficiency of CD73 (ACDC; OMIM 211800) is a rare genetic disease resulting in calcium deposits in arteries and small joints causing claudication, resting pain, severe joint pain, and deformities. Currently, there are no standard treatments for ACDC. Our previous work identified etidronate as a potential targeted ACDC treatment, using in vitro and in vivo disease models with patient-derived cells. In this study, we test the safety and effectiveness of etidronate in attenuating the progression of lower-extremity arterial calcification and vascular blood flow based on the computed tomography (CT) calcium score and ankle–brachial index (ABI). Methods: Seven adult patients with a confirmed genetic diagnosis of ACDC were enrolled in an open-label, nonrandomized, single-arm pilot study for etidronate treatment. They took etidronate daily for 14 days every 3 months and were examined at the NIH Clinical Center bi-annually for 3 years. They received a baseline evaluation as well as yearly follow up after treatment. Study visits included imaging studies, exercise tolerance tests with ABIs, clinical blood and urine testing, and full dental exams. Results: Etidronate treatment appeared to have slowed the progression of further vascular calcification in lower extremities as measured by CT but did not have an effect in reversing vascular and/or periarticular joint calcifications in our small ACDC cohort. Conclusions: Etidronate was found to be safe and well tolerated by our patients and, despite the small sample size, appeared to show an effect in slowing the progression of calcification in our ACDC patient cohort. (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01585402) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coach–athlete dyad is complex where both parties can often have contrasting perceptions of each other. The purpose of this research was to examine coaching behaviors and perceptions of the coach–athlete relationship across different age grades of rugby football union. Coaches (n = 5) and athletes (n = 78) from three separate rugby union teams (Child, Adolescent, and Adult) had their training sessions (n = 3) analyzed using the Coach Analysis and Intervention System. Athlete perceptions of their coaches' behaviors were measured via the Coaching Behavior Scale for Sport, while coach perceptions of their relationship with their athletes were measured using the Coach–Athlete Relationship Questionnaire. Prescriptive coaching styles were observed in all coaches as Coach Analysis and Intervention System results showed high levels of explicit behaviors: "instruction," "direct management," and "feedback." All coaches utilized similar time proportions within sessions for Coach Analysis and Intervention System "Practice," "Playing," and "Management" states, respectively. Questionnaire results revealed positive perceptions between coaches and athletes for all teams. Despite positive bidirectional relationships, the prescriptive coaching style displayed by all coaches may not align to best coaching practice. Development of a coach's behaviors, training content, and perceptions through coach education has the potential to enhance their athletes' sporting experience, athletic development, and sport-specific competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Long-term multi-environment trials (METs) could improve genomic prediction models for plant breeding programs by better representing the target population of environments (TPE). However, METs are generally highly unbalanced because genotypes are routinely dropped from trials after a few years. Furthermore, in the presence of genotype × environment interaction (GEI), selection of the environments to include in a prediction set becomes critical to represent specific TPEs. Aims: The goals of this study were to compare strategies for modelling GEI in genomic prediction, using large METs from oat (Avena sativa L.) breeding programs in the Midwest United States, and to develop a variety decision tool for farmers and plant breeders. Methods: The performance of genotypes in TPEs was predicted by using different strategies for handling GEI in genomic prediction models including systematic and/or random GEI components. These strategies were also used to build the variety decision tool for farmers. Key results: Genomic prediction for unknown genotypes, locations and years within TPEs had moderate to high predictive ability, accuracy and reliability. Modelling GEI was beneficial in small, but not in large, mega-environments. The latest 3 years were highly predictive of performance in an upcoming year for most years but not for years with unusual weather patterns. High predictive ability, accuracy and reliability were obtained when large datasets were used in TPEs. Conclusions: Deployment of historical datasets can be accomplished through meaningful delineation and prediction for TPEs. Implications: We have shown the performance of a simple modelling strategy for handling prediction for TPEs when deploying large historical datasets. Rankings of genotypic performance may change from one environment to the next, creating genotype × environment interaction (GEI), which can impact genomic prediction and complicate identification of superior genotypes. We compared strategies for predicting the performance of individuals in the presence of GEI. The results provide useful tools for the optimisation of training populations and testing environments for the prediction of individuals in the targeted populations of environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Immunoglobulin (IG) therapy is widely used to treat primary and secondary immune deficiencies and as immunomodulatory agent for various disorders. There is great concern that shortages of IG may rise, potentially affecting medical treatment options. Study Design and Methods: An international survey was developed to study how intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIGs) are used and managed within hospitals in case of shortages. Study data were collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tools hosted by the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative. The survey was directed to hospital pharmacists and blood bank transfusion professionals and disseminated through members of the BEST Collaborative network. Results: Survey respondents from institutions in the USA, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia (n = 13) confirmed that the primary specialties utilizing IG are neurology, hematology, and immunology. More than 60% of respondents reported IG supply shortages, but mitigation strategies were not well developed. Discussion: As IG is the leading driver in plasma demand, more studies are needed to understand current and future demand for IG from the clinical perspective. Necessity lies in establishing clinical guidance to address shortages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2022 mpox (formerly monkeypox) outbreak affected predominantly men who have sex with men (MSM), likely through sexual transmission, which resulted in institutions specializing in sexual health being at the frontlines of the mpox outbreak. Fenway Health in Boston serves close to 10 000 MSM annually, which includes more than 2400 MSM who are living with HIV and 3320 MSM with active HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) prescriptions. We report on the programs implemented and changes to clinical practice at Fenway Health during the mpox outbreak. Fenway Health diagnosed its first case of mpox in June 2022 and treated this patient with tecovirimat. In early July 2022, Fenway Health administered its first dose of the Jynneos vaccine under the Emergency Use Authorization for protection against mpox. As of October 6, 2022, 69 people had tested positive for the mpox virus at Fenway Health. Among the 69 people who tested positive, 43 (62.3%) self-identified as male, with the remaining not reporting a sex or gender identity, and 40 (58.0%) reported their sexual orientation as gay or bisexual. Twenty-five people (36.2%) were treated with tecovirimat. As of October 30, 2022, Fenway Health had administered 6376 doses of the Jynneos vaccine. The programmatic changes involved in rollout and scale-up of vaccination, treatment, and community outreach services at Fenway Health during the 2022 mpox outbreak that we describe here could inform strategies to address subsequent outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In current building design practices, the operation and performance of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are rarely documented in detail. This is mainly caused by the manual burden of generating detailed HVAC simulation models. To lower the barrier for detailed HVAC simulations, this paper presents an automated toolchain that generates and simulates models in Modelica language utilizing building information structured in a web-based common data environment. This approach differs from previous approaches by its focus on HVAC systems and integration with a common data environment over file-based BIM, which increases interoperability and allows users to run simulation studies in the cloud. The tool successfully generated and simulated a model of the HVAC systems in a small building under ideal and faulty operation of the heating system and thus demonstrated a fully interoperable data exchange between a common data environment and a simulation environment while showcasing the potential of analyzing HVAC systems with Modelica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oat (Avena sativa L.) production worldwide is constrained by crown rust (caused by Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae), which can cause significant yield losses. The disease is often controlled by spraying fungicides or planting resistant cultivars. Developing host resistance, however, is a challenge due to the high genetic variability of the pathogen. Race‐specific resistance usually succumbs to new races in just a few years. As such, the USDA‐ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory developed mapping populations to identify adult plant resistance (APR) loci from Avena sativa donors. Resistant lines from the mapping populations were selected and crossed with buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica L.) nursery selection lines BT1020‐1‐1 and BT1021‐1‐1, which possess a different gene for crown rust resistance derived from Avena strigosa. From the crosses, CDL‐111 (Reg. no. GP‐122, PI 702639) and CDL‐167 (Reg. no. GP‐123, PI 702640), both containing three APR quantitative trait loci, were selected as germplasm for resistance breeding. High‐throughput markers for selection were developed and implemented in pyramiding the APR loci. Core Ideas: Oat crown rust is a devastating disease worldwide.Breeding for host resistance is economical and environmentally friendly.Race‐specific crown rust resistance is short lived in the field.Pyramiding APR loci may provide durable resistance to crown rust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a model in which a firm's manager can voluntarily disclose to privately informed investors. In equilibrium, the manager only discloses sufficiently favorable news. If the manager is known to be informed but disclosure is costly, the probability of disclosure increases with market liquidity and the stock trades at a discount relative to expected cash flows. However, when investors are uncertain about whether the manager is informed, disclosure can decrease with market liquidity and the stock can trade at a premium relative to expected cash flows. Moreover, contrary to common intuition, public information can crowd in more voluntary disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find out what role intermediaries have in facilitating communication with victims and prisoners at Parole Board (PB) oral hearings. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was designed and administered to 39 PB members to find out their perceptions of, and experiences with, the use of intermediaries. Frequency tables and verbatim quotations are used to report the results. Findings: Overall, participants had not experienced any use of intermediaries with victims or family members presenting victim personal statements at an oral hearing. Further, there had been limited use of intermediaries for prisoners attending oral hearings. Nevertheless, there was a good recognition of a range of communication needs that a prisoner might present with at a hearing. There was also general support for the use of intermediaries with some caution about possible delays to procedural fairness. Practical implications: The early identification of communication support needs for prisoners and victims attending an oral hearing is essential. The PB should raise awareness with the PB Membership about the role of intermediaries. The PB should continue to develop guidance and policy surrounding intermediaries. Prison lawyers and HM Prison and Probation Service may require specialist training in identifying communication needs in vulnerable prisoners and identifying when a communication specialist might be required for an oral hearing. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first published paper examining the role of intermediaries at PB oral hearings. It builds on the evidence base of the use of intermediaries in other criminal justice contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic-Boreal zone (ABZ) covers over 26 million km2 and is home to numerous duck species; however, understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of their populations across this vast landscape is challenging, in part due to extent and data scarcity. Species abundance models for ducks in the ABZ commonly use static (time invariant) habitat covariates to inform predictions, such as wetland type and extent maps. For the first time in this region, we developed species abundance models using high-resolution, time-varying wetland inundation data produced using satellite remote sensing methods. This data captured metrics of surface water extent and inundated vegetation in the Peace Athabasca Delta, Canada, which is within the NASA Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment core domain. We used generalized additive mixed models to demonstrate the improved predictive value of this novel data set over time-invariant data. Our findings highlight both the potential complementarity and efficacy of dynamic wetland inundation information for improving estimation of duck abundance and distribution at high latitudes. Further, these data can be an asset to spatial targeting of biodiversity conservation efforts and developing model-based metrics of their success under rapidly changing climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying active compounds for a target is a time- and resource-intensive task in early drug discovery. Accurate bioactivity prediction using morphological profiles could streamline the process, enabling smaller, more focused compound screens. We investigate the potential of deep learning on unrefined single-concentration activity readouts and Cell Painting data, to predict compound activity across 140 diverse assays. We observe an average ROC-AUC of 0.744 ± 0.108 with 62% of assays achieving ≥0.7, 30% ≥0.8, and 7% ≥0.9. In many cases, the high prediction performance can be achieved using only brightfield images instead of multichannel fluorescence images. A comprehensive analysis shows that Cell Painting-based bioactivity prediction is robust across assay types, technologies, and target classes, with cell-based assays and kinase targets being particularly well-suited for prediction. Experimental validation confirms the enrichment of active compounds. Our findings indicate that models trained on Cell Painting data, combined with a small set of single-concentration data points, can reliably predict the activity of a compound library across diverse targets and assays while maintaining high hit rates and scaffold diversity. This approach has the potential to reduce the size of screening campaigns, saving time and resources, and enabling primary screening with more complex assays.Identifying active compounds for a target is time- and resource-intensive. Here, the authors show that deep learning models trained on Cell Painting and single-point activity data, can reliably predict compound activity across diverse targets while maintaining high hit rates and scaffold diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the continuity equation of La Nave–Tian, extended to the Hermitian setting by Sherman–Weinkove, on Hopf and Inoue surfaces. We prove a priori estimates for solutions in both cases and Gromov–Hausdorff convergence of Inoue surfaces to a circle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modeling of genotype × environment interactions (GEI) is important to understand how new crops perform in different environments and management systems. Naked barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a type of barley where the hull threshes freely from the grain and can be used for multiple end uses, including food, malt, and animal feed. We examined the performance of a winter naked barley trial grown in organic conditions across three regions and 3 years in northern latitude regions of the United States. We recorded yield, test weight, heading date, plant height, threshability, winter survival, barley stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. hordei Westend), barley scald (Rhynchosporium commune Zaffarano, McDonald and Linde sp. nov), and spot blotch (Cochliobolus sativus, anamorph Bipolaris sorokiniana (S. Ito & Kurib.). Barley stripe rust, plant height, heading date, preharvest sprouting, and threshability had high heritability and low GEI. Grain yield, test weight, scald, and winter survival had high GEI and were analyzed using the additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model, genotype plus GEI biplot (GGE), and Finlay–Wilkinson (FW) stability analysis. The environmental patterns explained by the AMMI and GGE models indicated that selection for high GEI traits should occur within target environments and across multiple years within the target environments. Environmental groups were separated by Oregon as the first group and Wisconsin and New York as the second group. Core Ideas: Barley stripe rust, plant height, heading date, preharvest sprouting, and threshability had high heritability and low genotype × environment interactions.Grain yield, test weight, scald, and winter survival had high genotype × environment interaction effects.Environmental groupings were separated into OR as the first group and NY and WI as the second group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove local Calabi and higher order estimates for solutions to the continuity equation introduced by La Nave–Tian and extended to Hermitian metrics by Sherman–Weinkove. We apply the estimates to show that on a compact complex manifold, the Chern scalar curvature of a solution must blow up at a finite‐time singularity. Additionally, starting from certain classes of initial data on Oeljeklaus–Toma manifolds, we prove Gromov–Hausdorff and smooth convergence of the metric to a particular nonnegative (1,1)‐form as t→∞$t\rightarrow \infty$. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how public information regarding a firm's riskiness affects investors' incentives to acquire information about the firm and the firm's ability to learn decision-useful information from its price. I find that risk information complements investor learning by informing investors of when it is most lucrative to investigate the firm, thereby reducing liquidity. Furthermore, risk information causes the firm's price to contain more information when the firm's investment decisions have the greatest impact on its value, thereby improving real efficiency. Extensions of the model suggest that the impact of risk information on real efficiency may deteriorate when the firm's manager is excessively exposed to idiosyncratic risk, when the firm's shareholders are excessively averse to such risk, or when the disclosure concerns a "downside risk." In sum, my analysis suggests that information regarding firms' expected values and information regarding firms' risks significantly differ in their effects on the capital market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the prevalence of mental health disorders rising worldwide, physio-therapists' perceptions of their role and ability to holistically treat people with anxiety and depression remain unclear. This research aimed to understand the physiotherapists' perception of their role in treating and managing people with anxiety and depression while revealing barriers and facilitators in practice. PubMed, PsycInfo, CINAHL, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched systematically for mixed-method, quantitative, or qualitative designs. Using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Methodology for Systematic Reviews, data was extracted, critically appraised, assigned quality grades, and synthesized through meta-aggregation. A total of 2991 records were initially sourced, with eleven studies included in the systematic review. The studies were published worldwide between 2016 and 2021, with the majority (n = 8) published in 2020–2021. Participating physiotherapists most frequently had a Bachelor's degree (35.7–62.6%), followed by a Master's degree (28.4–37.4%). Meta-aggregation revealed the synthesized finding that physiotherapists perceived their role to include treating people with anxiety and depression despite feeling underprepared. Physiotherapists perceive many barriers and facilitators, such as education, when treating people with anxiety and depression. Physiotherapists have positive perceptions toward anxiety and depression, despite feeling underprepared in their ability to implement psychosocial strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab is a devastating disease of barley that severely reduces the yield and quality of the grain. Additionally, mycotoxins produced by the causal Fusarium species can contaminate harvested grain, resulting in food safety concerns and further economic losses. In the Upper Midwest region of the United States, Fusarium graminearum is the primary causal agent, and deoxynivalenol (DON) is the main mycotoxin associated with Fusarium infection. Deployment of resistant cultivars is an important component of an integrated strategy to manage this disease. Unfortunately, few good sources of FHB resistance have been identified from the evaluation of large collections of Hordeum germplasm. Over the past 25 years, many barley mapping populations have been developed with selected resistance sources to identify the number, chromosomal position and allelic effect of quantitative trait loci (QTL) contributing to FHB resistance and DON accumulation. To consolidate the genetic data generated from 14 mapping studies that included 22 bi‐ or tri‐parental mapping populations and three genome‐wide association (GWAS) mapping panels, a consensus map was constructed that includes 4145 SNP, SSR, RFLP and AFLP markers. A meta‐analysis based on this consensus map revealed 96 QTL for FHB resistance and 57 for DON accumulation scattered across the barley genome. Many of the QTL explained a low percentage (<10%) of variation for the traits and were often found significant in only one or a few environments in multi‐year/multi‐location field trials. Moreover, many of the FHB/DON QTL mapped to chromosomal positions coincided with various agro‐morphological traits that could influence the level of disease (e.g. heading date, height, spike density, and spike angle), raising the important question of whether the former are true resistance factors or are simply the result of pleiotropy with the latter. Considering the magnitude of effect, consistency of detection across environments and independence from agro‐morphological traits, only three of 96 QTL for FHB and five of 57 QTL for DON were considered priority targets for marker‐assisted selection (MAS). In spite of the challenge for having a limited number of useful QTL for breeding, genomic selection holds promise for increasing the efficiency of developing FHB‐resistant barley cultivars, an essential component of the overall management strategy for the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a secondary analysis of the evaluations of 22 sites participating in four primary care redesign initiatives funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Our objectives were to determine the overall impact of the initiatives on Medicare expenditures and whether specific site-level program features influenced expenditure findings. Averaged over sites, the mean intervention effect was a statistically insignificant US$26 per beneficiary per year. Policy implications from meta-regression results suggest that funders should consider supporting technical assistance efforts and pay for performance incentives to increase savings. There was no evidence that paying for medical home transformation produced savings in total cost of care. We estimate that in future evaluations, data from 35 sites would be needed to detect feature effects of US$300 per beneficiary per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Systematic reviews of observational studies can be affected by biases that lead to under- or over-estimates of true intervention effects. Several tools have been reported in the literature that attempt to characterize potential bias. Our objective in this study was to determine the extent to which study-specific bias may have influenced intervention impacts on total costs of care (TCOC) in round 1 of the Health Care Innovation Awards. Methods: We reviewed 82 statistical evaluations of innovation impacts on Medicare TCOC. We developed five risk-of-bias measures and assessed their influence on TCOC impacts using meta-regression. Results: The majority of evaluations used propensity score matching to create their comparison groups. One third of the non-randomized interventions were judged to have some risk of biased effects due largely to the way they recruited their treatment groups, and 35% had some degree of covariate imbalance remaining after propensity score adjustments. However, in the multivariable analysis of TCOC effects, none of the bias threats we examined (comparison group construction method, risk of bias, or degree of covariate imbalance) had a major impact on the magnitude of HCIA1 innovation effects. Evaluations using propensity score weighting produced larger but imprecise savings effects compared to propensity score matching. Discussion: Our results suggest that it is unlikely that HCIA1 TCOC effect sizes were systematically affected by the types of bias we considered. Assessing the risk of bias based on specific study design features is likely to be more useful for identifying problematic characteristics than the subjective quality ratings used by existing risk tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reaction of Zn ions with β-octaalkylcorroles leads to the air oxidation of the macrocycle, with the formation of a mixture of 5- and 10-oxocorroles. Spectroscopic characterization confirms the antiaromatic character of these macrocycles. A simple synthetic protocol opens the way for more detailed studies of oxocorrole chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of degree apprenticeships in England in 2015 has not resulted in a significant increase in mature students accessing higher education provision overall. While there are likely to be a complex number of reasons contributing to this, the extent to which employers understand and value degree apprenticeship provision may be an influencing factor, the terminology may be another. As employers are pivotal in the decision-making process for degree apprenticeship recruitment, their comprehension of the impact that degree apprenticeship graduates have upon business outcomes is essential in developing this aspect of higher education. Success measures within education have usually focused on quantifiable outcomes, such as retention and achievement. Within higher education, undergraduate success is often measured by retention on programme and degree classification. These measures have merit in traditional undergraduate provision, however, the introduction of degree apprenticeships and the influence that employers have on these programmes suggests that new success metrics may be required. This would help to make the measurement of the success of this provision more meaningful to the key stakeholders, and to support employer engagement in recruiting employees on to degree apprenticeships. Having delivered degree apprenticeships since 2016, University Centre Quayside (UCQ) has undertaken a single-institution case study investigation with initial findings suggesting that the use of work-related measures, based on the impact that vocational learning has within the workplace, is a more effective and accurate reflection of graduate effectiveness and could generate more meaning for employers. The other finding suggests that, rather than the degree apprenticeship raising the perception of all apprenticeships, the term 'apprenticeship' may be preventing more degree apprenticeship recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Self-regulated learning (SRL), or learners' ability to monitor and change their own cognitive, affective, metacognitive, and motivational processes, encompasses several operations that should be deployed during learning including Searching, Monitoring, Assembling, Rehearsing, and Translating (SMART). Scaffolds are needed within GBLEs to both increase learning outcomes and promote the accurate and efficient use of SRL SMART operations. This study aims to examine how restricted agency (i.e., control over one's actions) can be used to scaffold learners' SMART operations as they learn about microbiology with Crystal Island, a game-based learning environment. Methods: Undergraduate students (N=94) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) Full Agency, where participants were able to make their own decisions about which actions they could take; and (2) Partial Agency, where participants were required to follow a pre-defined path that dictated the order in which buildings were visited, restricting one's control. As participants played Crystal Island, participants' multimodal data (i.e., log files, eye tracking) were collected to identify instances where participants deployed SMART operations. Results: Results from this study support restricted agency as a successful scaffold of both learning outcomes and SRL SMART operations, where learners who were scaffolded demonstrated more efficient and accurate use of SMART operations. Discussion: This study provides implications for future scaffolds to better support SRL SMART operations during learning and discussions for future directions for future studies scaffolding SRL during game-based learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkylation of one of the inner‐core nitrogen atoms is one possible approach to obtain dianionic corrole ligands, suitable for the coordination of divalent metal ions, such as PdII. Inner‐core N‐methylation can be obtained by treating the corrole with CH3I, but the reaction conditions should be optimized to limit the formation of the dimethylated derivative. Two regioisomers, the N‐21 and the N‐22 methyl derivatives are obtained from the reaction, with the first product achieved in a higher amount. Structural characterization of the reaction products evidenced the distortion induced by the introduction of the methyl groups; the N‐methylcorroles are chiral compounds, and the enantiomers were separated by chromatography, with their absolute configuration assigned by ECD computation. Palladium insertion was achieved in the case of monosubstituted corroles, but not with the dimethylated macrocycle; X‐ray characterization of the complexes showed the distortion of the macrocycles. The Pd complexes do not show luminescence emission, but are able to produce singlet oxygen upon irradiation. The PdII complexes were also inserted in human serum albumin (HSA) and dispersed in water; in this case, the protein protects the corroles from photobleaching, and a switch from the type II to the type I mechanism in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GaN has been demonstrated as an important wide-bandgap semiconductor in many applications, especially in optoelectronic and high-power electronics. Two-dimensional (2D) GaN, with increased bandgap compared to the bulk counterpart, not only amplifies existing functionalities but also opens up fresh possibilities for compact electronics. Although several methods have recently been developed to synthesize 2D GaN, their practical application is hampered by either harsh growth conditions (e.g., high temperature and ultrahigh vacuum) or unsatisfactory performance due to grain boundaries. Here, we report the realization of few-nanometer-thick GaN crystals via in situ atomic substitution of layered GaS flakes at a relatively low temperature (590°C). GaN with tunable thickness from 50 nm down to 0.9 nm (~2 atomic layers) is achieved by applying the atomic substitution reaction to GaS with different numbers of layers. The obtained ultrathin GaN flakes retain the morphology inherited from the GaS flakes and show high crystallinity by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization, while the thickness of GaN decreases to about 72% of the corresponding GaS flakes from the atomic force microscopy characterization. A time-dependent mechanism study reveals both horizontal and vertical conversion paths, with Ga2S3 as intermediate. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy measurements show that the band edge PL of 2D ultrathin GaN is blue-shifted as compared with bulk GaN, suggesting that the bandgap increases with the decrease in thickness. This study provides a promising method for obtaining ultrathin, high-crystallinity GaN with tunable thicknesses, utilizing a minimal thermal budget. This breakthrough lays a solid foundation for future investigations into fundamental physics and potential device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kagomé metals are widely recognized, versatile platforms for exploring topological properties, unconventional electronic correlations, magnetic frustration, and superconductivity. In the RV6Sn6 family of materials (R = Sc, Y, Lu), ScV6Sn6 hosts an unusual charge density wave ground state as well as structural similarities with the AV3Sb5 system (A = K, Cs, Rb). In this work, we combine Raman scattering spectroscopy with first-principles lattice dynamics calculations to reveal phonon mixing processes in the charge density wave state of ScV6Sn6. In the low temperature phase, we find at least four new peaks in the vicinity of the V-containing totally symmetric mode near 240 cm−1 suggesting that the density wave acts to mix modes of P6/mmm and R 3 ¯ m symmetry - a result that we quantify by projecting phonons of the high symmetry state onto those of the lower symmetry structure. We also test the stability of the short-range ordered density wave state under compression and propose that both physical and chemical pressure quench the effect. We discuss these findings in terms of symmetry and the structure-property trends that can be unraveled in this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has mandated a re-imagination of how healthcare is administered and delivered, with a view towards focusing on person-centred care and advancing population health while increasing capacity, access and equity in the healthcare system. These goals can be achieved through healthcare integration. In 2019, the University Health Network (UHN), a consortium of four quaternary care hospitals in Ontario, Canada, established the first stage of a pilot program to increase healthcare integration at the institutional level and vertically with other primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the Ontario healthcare system. Implementation of the program was accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrated how healthcare integration improves person-centred care and population health; therefore serving as the foundation for a health system response for the COVID-19 pandemic recovery and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing demand for fertility treatments has led to the rise of private clinics offering complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments. The most frequently offered CAM infertility treatment is acupuncture. However, there is no good evidence to support the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating infertility. This study evaluates the scope of information provided by CAM fertility clinics in the UK. A content analysis was conducted on 200 websites of CAM fertility clinics in the UK that offer acupuncture as a treatment for infertility. Of the 48 clinics that met the eligibility criteria, the majority of the websites did not provide sufficient information on the efficacy, risks and success rates of acupuncture for infertility. This has the potential to infringe on patient autonomy, provide false hope and reduce the chances of pregnancy ever being achieved as fertility declines during the time course of ineffective acupuncture treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the impact of asymmetric (i.e., conservative or aggressive) disclosure on a firm's price in the classic setting in which its stock is traded by risk-averse investors and noise or liquidity traders. We show that asymmetric accounting policies alter the relative risk faced by investors when they short versus long, which causes market liquidity to differ for positive versus negative demand shocks. As a result, accounting conservatism raises firms' valuations and lowers their expected returns. We further demonstrate that the relationship between accounting informativeness and expected returns depends upon the skewness of investors' prior beliefs. Finally, we find that a firm that can commit to an accounting policy can tailor this policy to benefit from noise trade and foster overvaluation. JEL Classifications: D72; D82; D83; G20; M41. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present here the life and the work of Paul A. Castelfranco (1921–2021), a very special person who was not only a top chemist of chlorophyll biosynthesis, but also made major contributions on fatty acid oxidation, acetate metabolism and cellular organization. He led an extraordinary and exemplary life as a human being. We present here both his personal life as well as his scientific life, which is followed by reminiscences by William Breidenbach, Kevin Smith, Alan Stemler, Ann Castelfranco, and John Castelfranco. As the subtitle of this Tribute implies, till the end Paul was a scientist par excellence, an intellectual with unlimited curiosity, a humanist, and a man of enduring religious faith. We all miss him dearly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is a commonly grown pasture species in temperate agriculture, mainly serving as a primary energy source for dairy cows. However, its limited persistence often leads to missed production potential and early resowing, especially in countries that experience summer drought, e.g., Australia and New Zealand. Therefore, understanding the factors influencing perennial ryegrass pasture persistence is crucial for sustainable land management and climate resilience in pasture-based animal production systems. Significant gaps in knowledge exist regarding the factors influencing pasture persistence, as the number of conducted studies in this area remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the expression of persistence in perennial ryegrass populations using airborne and ground-based sensors. A field experiment was conducted in the southwest region of Victoria, Australia, involving ten commercial perennial ryegrass cultivar–endophyte combinations in two different populations. Persistence was evaluated using sensor-based and conventional pasture measurements over two consecutive autumns. The results revealed significant fixed effects of cultivar, endophyte, and environment and their interactions on persistence traits of perennial ryegrass. Cultivars Alto, Samson, and One50 exhibited high levels of persistence when infected with novel endophyte strains. Furthermore, prolonged environmental stresses were found to drive directional selection within pasture populations. The findings emphasise the importance of selecting appropriate cultivar–endophyte combinations and early detection of signs of poor persistence to optimise sward longevity and financial returns from pasture-based animal production systems. This study fills a knowledge gap regarding the factors influencing pasture persistence and provides valuable insights for sustainable pasture management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This pilot study compared non‐medically trained surf lifesavers' (SLS) ability, after infographic training, to occlude the femoral artery using a pressure point (PP) versus an arterial tourniquet (AT). Methods: Using a crossover design, eight SLS applied PP and AT to a participant's leg to occlude the femoral artery. Arterial flow, application time and perceived difficulty were recorded. Results: PP achieved 89.7% and 50.8% blood flow reduction for PP and AT, respectively. Average application time was 50.63 and 113.5 s for PP and AT, respectively. Perceived difficulty using a Likert scale from 0 to 10 (0 being no difficulty and 10 being maximal difficulty) was 2.75 and 3.50 for PP and AT, respectively. Conclusion: Infographic‐trained SLS showed superior blood flow occlusion using PP. This pilot study will inform a larger trial for untrained beachgoers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airtight energy-efficient buildings of today need efficient ventilation to secure high indoor air quality. There is a need for affordable and reliable sensors to make demand control available in a broad range of ventilation systems. Low-cost metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) volatile organic compound (VOC) sensors offer such a possibility, but they are usually non-selective and react to broad range of compounds. The objective of the present paper was to use cluster analysis to assess the ability of five commercially available MOS VOC sensors to detect pollutants in a residential setting. We studied three scenarios: emissions from people (human bioeffluents), furnishing materials (linoleum), and human activity (surface cleaning with spray detergent). We monitored each scenario with five MOS VOC sensors and a proton-transfer-reaction–time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS). We applied an agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm to evaluate the dissimilarity between clusters. Four of the five tested sensors produced signals in agreement with the concentration patterns measured with the PTR-ToF-MS; one sensor underperformed in all cases. Three sensors showed a very similar performance under all emission scenarios. The results showed that the clustering could help in understanding whether a particular sensor matched the intended emission scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activity trends for 22 metals and metal alloys are reported for the conversion of CO2 and CH4 to 2 : 1 H2 : CO syngas and carbon. A correlation is observed between CO2 conversion and the free energy of oxidation by CO2 on pure metal catalysts. Indium and indium alloys activate CO2 at the highest rates. We identify a new bifunctional 20 : 80 mol% Sn–In alloy that activates both CO2 and CH4 while catalyzing both reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Many boron-containing compounds have been synthesized and proposed as boron-delivery agents for boron neutron capture therapy for cancers, including brain tumors and melanomas. However, only a few have been investigated in clinical studies, leaving their potential efficacy for cancer treatment unknown. With the recent availability of accelerator-based neutron sources, clinical trials are underway using the boronated amino acid (L)-4-hydroxyboryl phenylalanine. Simultaneously, there is renewed interest in the development of multi-functional boron-delivery agents for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Promising agents can deliver therapeutic amounts of boron into tumor cells with high specificity and low toxicity. Among the different classes of boron-containing compounds, peptide-, porphyrin-, liposome-, and nanoparticle-based-delivery agents are the most promising due to their tumor-targeting and concurrent imaging abilities. A systematic and comparative evaluation of these agents in clinical trials would allow the determination of their full potential for cancer treatment. Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a binary cancer treatment that involves the irradiation of 10B-containing tumors with low-energy neutrons (thermal or epithermal). The alpha particles and recoiling Li nuclei that are produced in the 10B-capture nuclear reaction are high-linear-energy transfer particles that destroy boron-loaded tumor cells; therefore, BNCT has the potential to be a localized therapeutic modality. Two boron-delivery agents have been used in clinical trials of BNCT in patients with malignant brain tumors, cutaneous melanoma, or recurrent tumors of the head and neck region, demonstrating the potential of BNCT in the treatment of difficult cancers. A variety of potentially highly effective boron-delivery agents have been synthesized in the past four decades and tested in cells and animal models. These include boron-containing nucleosides, peptides, proteins, polyamines, porphyrins, liposomes, monoclonal antibodies, and nanoparticles of various types. The most promising agents are multi-functional boronated molecules and nanoparticles functionalized with tumor cell-targeting moieties that increase their tumor selectivity and contain a radiolabel or fluorophore to allow quantification of 10B-biodistribution and treatment planning. This review discusses multi-functional boron agents reported in the last decade, but their full potential can only be ascertained after their evaluation in BNCT clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]