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In response to scholars' call to examine the impact of social media on intercultural communication, this study specifically explores the impact of social media use motives on psychological and sociocultural adjustment of international students in the United States. One hundred and three international students from 19 countries enrolling in a U.S. college participated in this study. Participants filled out a questionnaire containing 63 questions about Internet use motives, intercultural adjustment, and other related variables. The results from T-test, Pearson productmoment correlations, and multiple regressions show that social media use motives are negatively correlated with one's overall intercultural adjustment level. Results further show the significant impact of gender, age, and satisfaction on Internet use motives and intercultural adjustment. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Price-level, or "price-cap," regulation offers an alluring alternative to the traditional technique of monitoring a regulated firm's profits. This Article contrasts price-level regulation with conventional cost-of-service ratemaking and with Ramsey pricing. Price-level regulation stands as a market-based, incentive-driven "third way" between traditional regulation and complete deregulation. Although some jurisdictions have set price caps according to operating cost and rate-of-return calculations that clearly parallel those steps in conventional ratemaking, this Article will focus on price-level methodologies that combine an economy-wide measure of inflation with an x-factor reflecting total factor productivity within a regulated industry. After addressing the simpler component of price-level regulation, the choice of an inflation index, this Article devotes detailed attention to the treatment of the x-factor by two federal ratemaking agencies, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Closer examination of price cap methodologies adopted by FERC and the FCC suggests that price-level regulation based on inflation and an industry-specific X factor may be further streamlined. This Article concludes by describing how price-level regulation might be accomplished through the application of a single, industry-specific index of input costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redlining was a discriminatory housing policy in the United States that began in 1933 and denoted neighborhoods with high proportions of Black individuals as "undesirable" and a high risk for lending, which therefore excluded people from obtaining traditional insured mortgages to purchase a home. Simultaneously, realtors discouraged Black individuals from purchasing homes in predominantly non-Black neighborhoods. This resulted in decreased home ownership and wealth accumulation among Black individuals and neighborhoods with high proportions of Black individuals. This study investigated rates of visual impairment and blindness (VIB) in neighborhoods that at one time were graded for redlining. Secondary data analysis of American Community Survey data and historical grades for redlining. United States census tracts (CTs) from 2010 with historical grades for redlining. One-way analysis of variance, Kruskal–Wallis test, chi-square test, and logistic regression modeling. The main outcome was CT percentage of residents reporting VIB and the association with historical grades for redlining. Grades were converted to numeric values (1 to 4, with higher values indicating worse grade) and aggregated over a CT based on the distribution of grades within to obtain a redlining score. Logistic regression was used to model the effect of redlining on the probability of having VIB. Eleven thousand six hundred sixty-eight CTs were analyzed. Logistic regression found that a 1-unit increase in average redlining score was associated with a 13.4% increased odds of VIB after controlling for CT measures of age, sex, people of color (any non-White race), state, and population size (odds ratio [OR], 1.134; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.131–1.138; P < 0.001). Similar results were observed for an additional model that adjusted for the estimated percentage of Black residents within a CT (OR, 1.180; 95% CI, 1.177–1.183; P < 0.001). Historical government-sanctioned residential segregation through redlining was found to be associated with higher proportions of people living with VIB in these neighborhoods today. Understanding how neighborhood segregation impacts eye health is important for planning improved mechanisms of eye care delivery to mitigate health disparities. Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 1.6 million patients in the United States are affected by tricuspid valve regurgitation, which occurs when the tricuspid valve does not close properly to prevent backward blood flow into the right atrium. Despite its critical role in proper cardiac function, the tricuspid valve has received limited research attention compared to the mitral and aortic valves on the left side of the heart. As a result, proper valvular function and the pathologies that may cause dysfunction remain poorly understood. To promote further investigations of the biomechanical behavior and response of the tricuspid valve, this work establishes a parameter-based approach that provides a template for tricuspid valve modeling and simulation. The proposed tricuspid valve parameterization presents a comprehensive description of the leaflets and the complex chordae tendineae for capturing the typical three-leaflet structural deformation observed from medical data. This simulation framework develops a practical procedure for modeling tricuspid valves and offers a robust, flexible approach to analyze the performance and effectiveness of various valve configurations using isogeometric analysis. The proposed methods also establish a baseline to examine the tricuspid valve's structural deformation, perform future investigations of native valve configurations under healthy and disease conditions, and optimize prosthetic valve designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Known social risk factors associated with poor visual and systemic health in the US include segregation, income inequality, and persistent poverty., Objective: To investigate the association of vision difficulty, including blindness, in neighborhoods with measures of inequity (Theil H index, Gini index, and persistent poverty)., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used data from the 2012-2016 American Community Survey and 2010 US census tracts as well as Theil H index, Gini index, and persistent poverty measures from PolicyMap. Data analysis was completed in July 2023., Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was the number of census tract residents reporting vision difficulty and blindness (VDB) and the association with the Theil H index, Gini index, or persistent poverty, assessed using logistic regression., Results: In total, 73 198 census tracts were analyzed. For every 0.1-unit increase in Theil H index and Gini index, there was an increased odds of VDB after controlling for census tract-level median age, the percentage of the population that identified as female sex, the percentage of the population that identified as a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, state, and population size (Theil H index: odds ratio [OR], 1.14 [95% CI, 1.14-1.14; P < .001]; Gini index: OR, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.15-1.15; P < .001]). Persistent poverty was associated with an increased odds of VDB after controlling for census tract-level median age, the percentage of the population that identified as female sex, the percentage of the population that identified as a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, state, and population size compared with nonpersistent poverty (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.35-1.36; P < .001)., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, residential measures of inequity through segregation, income inequality, or persistent poverty were associated with a greater number of residents living with VDB. It is essential to understand and address how neighborhood characteristics can impact rates of VDB.

Purpose: There is a need to understand physicians' diagnostic uncertainty in the initial management of microbial keratitis (MK). This study aimed to understand corneal specialists' diagnostic uncertainty by establishing risk thresholds for treatment of MK that could be used to inform a decision curve analysis for prediction modeling., Methods: A cross-sectional survey of corneal specialists with at least 2 years clinical experience was conducted. Clinicians provided the percentage risk at which they would always or never treat MK types (bacterial, fungal, herpetic, and amoebic) based on initial ulcer sizes and locations (<2 mm 2 central, <2 mm 2 peripheral, and >8 mm 2 central)., Results: Seventy-two of 99 ophthalmologists participated who were 50% female with an average of 14.7 (SD = 10.1) years of experience, 60% in academic practices, and 38% outside the United States. Clinicians reported they would "never" and "always" treat a <2 mm 2 central MK infection if the median risk was 0% and 20% for bacterial (interquartile range, IQR = 0-5 and 5-50), 4.5% and 27.5% for herpetic (IQR = 0-10 and 10-50), 5% and 50% for fungal (IQR = 0-10 and 20-75), and 5% and 50.5% for amoebic (IQR = 0-20 and 32-80), respectively. Mixed-effects models showed lower thresholds to treat larger and central infections ( P < 0.001, respectively), and thresholds to always treat differed between MK types for the United States ( P < 0.001) but not international clinicians., Conclusions: Risk thresholds to treat differed by practice locations and MK types, location, and size. Researchers can use these thresholds to understand when a clinician is uncertain and to create decision support tools to guide clinicians' treatment decisions., Competing Interests: Funding for this research was provided by the National Eye Institute (R01EY031033, M.A.W.) (P30 EY005722, S.F.) and a Research to Prevent Blindness Career Advancement Award (M.A.W.). The remaining authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose. The funding support played no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)