Recent publications
The aim of the present study was to develop and validate the Immigration‐Related Political Ideology Scale (IRPIS), designed to measure diverse political perspectives on immigration among US voters. The IRPIS was developed following a series of focus groups and refined through a systematic item‐generation process involving expert panels. The scale was validated using a two‐step factor analysis with a nationally representative sample of 1292 US voters, divided into exploratory ( n = 632) and confirmatory ( n = 660) sub‐samples. The exploratory factor analysis identified seven distinct factors: conservative views, welcoming attitudes, world regions, flexibility, assimilationist expectations, multicultural expectations, and undocumented immigrant rights. Confirmatory factor analysis provided an acceptable fit (CFI = .901; RMSEA = .050), and the scale demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas ranging from .89 to .97). Inter‐factor correlations varied, with strong links observed among welcoming attitudes, flexibility, and multicultural expectations ( r ’s > .80), confirming a polarization between liberal and conservative stances on immigration. These findings suggest that the IRPIS is the first scale specifically designed to assess immigration‐related political orientations in a polarized US context. This tool has important implications for political strategy and policymaking, especially in the context of rising immigration rates and political polarization.
Public Significance Statement
The present study validates the Immigration‐Related Political Ideology Scale (IRPIS) using a nationally representative sample of 1292 US voters. Immigration remains a highly polarizing issue, with deeply entrenched ideological differences influencing policy preferences and public discourse. Exploratory factor analysis identified seven distinct factors and confirmed a clear polarization between liberal and conservative views on immigration. The IRPIS represents a critical tool for research, political strategy, and policymaking.
This study examined the association between perceived weight, actual weight, and suicidal ideation among adolescents. Data for this study were obtained from a nationally representative sample from the Youth Behavior Risk Survey (YRBS) between 2015 and 2021. A total of n = 61,298 adolescents ages 12 to 18 were included in the final analytic sample. A series of logistic regressions was conducted to examine perceived weight, BMI, and suicidal ideation, while adjusting for other demographic and control variables. Approximately one in five adolescents reported suicidal ideation. In the multivariable analyses, adolescents who perceived themselves as overweight and had BMI ≥ 85th percentile had 1.48 times higher odds of reporting suicidal ideation (95 % CI=1.35–1.62) and adolescents who perceived themselves as overweight but had BMI <85th percentile had 1.47 times higher odds of experiencing suicidal ideation than their peers who did not perceive themselves as overweight and had BMI <85th percentile. The findings from this study suggest that both perceived and actual BMI may be associated with suicidal ideation among adolescents. Future research could examine differences in perceived and actual BMI and identify potential interventions to proactively address mental health issues that may stem from stigma related to being overweight or obese.
The rapid urbanization of the Global South has intensified the challenges faced by urban slum communities, leaving them particularly vulnerable to socioeconomic shocks. Despite growing attention to urban poverty in these regions, limited research explores how such challenges intertwined with socioeconomic shocks during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the experiences of slum residents in Bangladesh during the pandemic through the lens of social exclusion theory and urban resilience, focusing on the role of governmental responses. The research employed a qualitative research approach, incorporating in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, observation methods, and thematic analysis to achieve its objectives. The findings reveal that the pandemic critically threatened the income and food security of the urban poor. Moreover, the study found that many slum residents had to leave the cities, faced social exclusion, and experienced a digital divide. Findings highlight significant shortcomings in government measures, emphasizing the need for stronger social safety net programs, public–private partnerships, and economic resilience strategies. The study emphasizes the importance of building urban resilience and fostering sustainable urban development by addressing the multi-dimensional vulnerabilities of slum communities. The study provides insights into crisis management and resilience building, offering evidence-based recommendations for mitigating the effects of urban poverty and enhancing urban sustainability.
We study stability issues for a dynamical system consisting of a wave equation and a quasilinear parabolic equation. The nonlinearity involves the p-Laplacian, and the coupling involves a fractional Laplacian with exponent that lies in the interval [0, 1]. First, we revisit the corresponding linear system, which, in the three-dimensional space setting, describes the longitudinal motion of a thermoelastic material when . For this linear model, which corresponds to p=2, we improve an earlier stability result for the associated semigroup when lies in the interval [0, 1); in particular, we show that the semigroup decays with rate when the time variable goes to infinity. We also prove that this decay rate is optimal. We prove those results using frequency domain tools and suitable interpolation inequalities. Next, we tackle the nonlinear system for . After discussing the wellposedness of this system, we prove that its energy decays at a rate, which for some space dimensions, specializes to as t goes to infinity. For this proof, we use the perturbed energy method combined with a Gagliardo-Nirenberg interpolation inequality.
Conjugated polymers (CPs) with rigid hydrophobic backbones and polar side chains are known for their efficient cellular entry using various endocytic pathways. Here, the efficient delivery of ribonuclease A (RNase A) into the cytosol of a model cancer cell using a charge‐neutral CP with phenyl carbamoylated guanidine (Ph‐CG) group at the end of a short ethylene oxide side chain is described. This unique combination of the hydrophobic backbone and the polar nonionic side chain facilitates efficient protein complex formation and subsequent cellular entry through a non‐lysosomal pathway, leading to concentration‐dependent cell viability inhibition at a half‐maximal effective concentration of 0.07 µg mL ⁻¹ (or 5 n m ). This work demonstrates the potential of CPs as carriers for intracellular protein delivery and the importance of the end functional group of protein carriers.
Educating more students about ecology and its beneficial applications to societal issues is urgent yet challenging. To address this challenge, diversifying ecology education is a key way to make ecology more inclusive, accessible, and interdisciplinary for more people than ever. Advancing this goal requires ecology educators to develop a more expansive view of (1) how to engage more diverse undergraduate students in ecology courses, especially those from historically underrepresented groups and non‐majors, (2) the interdisciplinarity of content in those courses, and (3) the learner‐centered pedagogies used to engage students. We suggest ways that ecologists can advance “ecology education for everyone” including focusing on connecting ecology to students' everyday lives and local (urbanized) places; applying ecology to solving problems in social–ecological systems; introducing students to the diversity of worldviews about science and nature; and adopting authentic teaching practices such as course‐based undergraduate research, service learning, and reflective practices. Through such efforts, ecology education can become more positivistic and pluralistic and help students better appreciate the value of ecology for society and use their ecological literacy to engage in improving local communities and ecosystems. Successful diversification of ecology education should also benefit the discipline of ecology as more diverse students decide to take more ecology courses, potentially pursue ecology‐related careers, and support ecologically based decision‐making for a more sustainable and environmentally just future for all people.
The chapter provides a historical analysis of the impact of petroleum on the economic and political landscape of Venezuela. The authors begin by examining the period from 1910 to 1922, during which time petroleum was not a significant contributor to the Venezuelan economy. From 1923 to 1929, the oil sector contributed to the country’s growth, as well as to the construction of infrastructure. However, during the depression from 1930 to 1936, the oil industry played a crucial role in protecting Venezuela from major economic impact. From 1937 to 1942, the oil sector expanded considerably, though this growth began to decline towards the end of the period.
The authors then look at the government’s takeover of the oil industry through PDVSA in 1958 and the impact of petroleum on the Venezuelan economy from 1974 to 1985. Despite a positive impact at the beginning of this period, the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s took its toll on the Venezuelan economy. The authors contrast the Venezuelan experience with that of other petro-states, such as Norway, which managed its oil wealth effectively to avoid the “resource curse.”
The final period covered, 1991–2000, saw the start of inflationary growth and the collapse of oil production, as the government established a socialist dictatorship that led to the world’s highest inflation rate. The authors argue that while petroleum has played a role in the economic and political landscape of Venezuela, it has not necessarily contributed to the country’s actual economic growth.
The waters around Nosy Be in northwest Madagascar are well-known for the occurrence of large planktivores, such as whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and Omura’s whales (Balaenoptera omurai). Between 2016 and 2022, sighting data on mobulid rays were opportunistically collected during tourism activities. Additional sources, including citizen science submissions, tourism operator reports, and social media records, were used to compile sightings of three mobulid ray species. A total of 255 encounters were documented, with Mobula mobular (n = 165) being the most common, followed by M. birostris (n = 60) and M. kuhlii (n = 30). Notably, the absence of confirmed M. alfredi records since 2015 suggests a potential local decline. This study highlights Nosy Be as a habitat for mobulid rays and emphasises the necessity for further species monitoring, ongoing identification of potential threats, and management initiatives aiming at reducing mortality from gillnet fishing.
Euterpe edulis Martius is a Brazilian palm tree with ecological, cultural and economic importance. However, it is currently threatened with extinction, and its reproduction and conservation efforts remain limited. Propagation by seeds is the only natural form of reproduction of the species; challenged by the recalcitrant nature of the seeds. In search of alternative methods for reproduction, particularly for adult individuals essential for the conservation of genetic resources, this study aimed to develop a cloning protocol for adult specimens of E. edulis via somatic embryogenesis, using the thin cell layer technique in immature inflorescences. For the induction of embryogenic callus, treatments with the auxin herbicide 4-amino-3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinecarboxylic acid (300 and 450 µM) were effective, leading to the formation of embryogenic callus indirectly. The 4-amino-3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinecarboxylic acid treatment at 300 µM was the most efficient, producing the highest number of somatic embryos (SEs; ~2100). Both 4-amino-3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinecarboxylic acid concentrations (300 and 450 µM) formed plants at the end of the cycle. During maturation, the combination 2-isopentenyladenine + α-naphthaleneacetic acid, 36 + 1.8 µM resulted in the highest number of coleoptilar embryos at the end of histodifferentiation and achieved the highest germination rate (52.5%) among the treatments tested. The SEs selected for encapsulation produced a plants yield of 97.5%. The study validated cloning via in vitro somatic embryogenesis from adult E. edulis donor plants as an effective method for genetic improvement and conservation programs.
Background
Understanding the mechanisms of change and between‐family differences in behavioural parenting interventions for children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may help personalise interventions. Therefore, we examined whether improvements in parenting are associated with changes in child behaviour and functional outcomes, and how these associations vary based on parents' baseline parenting levels.
Methods
We collected individual participant data including 19 randomised controlled trials focusing on children with ADHD (n = 1,720). Immediate post‐intervention measures of child ADHD and oppositional behaviour severity, reported by parents and functional impairment reported by either the parent or probably masked clinicians, were treated as outcomes. We estimated pathways from intervention (vs. control) to child outcomes, via immediate post‐intervention parent reports of constructive parenting (e.g. praise), non‐constructive parenting (e.g. physical punishment) and parent–child affection (e.g. warmth), while controlling for baseline values of both child outcomes and parenting levels. Baseline values of each parenting variable were used as moderators of the mediated pathways.
Results
Improvements in parenting behaviours and parent–child affection immediately following the intervention jointly explained concurrent improvements in children's ADHD severity, oppositional behaviour and functional impairment. Furthermore, when reversing the direction of the pathways, improvements in all child outcomes jointly explained improvements in each aspect of parenting. Improvements in non‐constructive parenting and parent–child affection uniquely accounted for intervention effects on functional impairment, especially for families with higher baseline levels of non‐constructive parenting.
Conclusions
Our findings might indicate that improvements in both the behavioural and affective aspects of parenting are associated with concurrent reductions in child behaviour problems and functional impairment. However, more research is necessary to explore the potential causal directionality between parenting and child outcomes. Nonetheless, supporting families with poorer parenting skills may be especially important, as reductions in non‐constructive parenting in these families are linked to stronger treatment effects on child functional impairment.
The ridge regression estimator (RRE) is widely used as an improved estimator for estimating regression parameters in multicollinear linear regression models. However, an argument exists that in the presence of outliers, the dataset may adversely affect these improved estimators (Australian J. Stat. 33(3), 319–333, 1991). This paper proposes several improved estimators and their robust versions to address the multicollinearity problem, regardless of the presence of outliers. To evaluate these estimators, both Monte Carlo simulations and two real-life datasets were utilized, considering various outlier scenarios. We consider the smaller Mean Squared Error (MSE) value as a performance criterion. The simulation study demonstrates that when the dataset contains no outliers, the improved estimators generally outperform most of the robust versions, except for (RRE and RKL). However, in the presence of outliers, all the robust versions of these improved estimators perform better than all conventional improved estimators.
Institution pages aggregate content on ResearchGate related to an institution. The members listed on this page have self-identified as being affiliated with this institution. Publications listed on this page were identified by our algorithms as relating to this institution. This page was not created or approved by the institution. If you represent an institution and have questions about these pages or wish to report inaccurate content, you can contact us here.
Information