Gettysburg College

This contribution will outline some important aspects of Sophie Bọsẹdé Olúwọlés groundbreaking work on Yorùbá oral philosophy. Using the Yorùbá story ‘The Toothless Queen’ as a vehicle, we will outline her understanding of oral philosophy as philosophy proper and investigate her radically inclusive, non-absolutist, anti-nihilist conception of philosophy as well as the fundamental onto-epistemological axioms of Yorùbá thought. We will especially focus on Olúwọlés radical and revolutionary philosophical approach to rationality and rational conjectures. We will finish our paper with Olúwọlés’ reflections on some of the obstacles that must be overcome to make her revolution a reality in the global philosophical community, that is, the pain of letting theories, ideas, and principles dear to us go.

Course‐based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) can be a powerful tool in broadening participation in undergraduate research. In this paper, we review the benefits of and barriers to undergraduate research experiences and explore how CUREs can mitigate some of those issues. As a part of the NSF‐supported Biological Collections in Ecology and Evolution Network (BCEENET) activities, a series of network meetings produced a set of recommendations to increase the accessibility of CUREs for all students at all institution types. We use BCEENET CUREs that focus on digitized natural history collections data to illustrate how leveraging adaptable open educational resources that use freely available data and analysis tools can increase accessibility of undergraduate research. We also discuss how inclusive networks of educators and research collaborators can support broadening CURE implementation.

Policy specialization in the U.S. Congress benefits the institution collectively and members individually. Yet members of Congress (MCs) are insufficiently specialized to optimize lawmaking success (Volden and Wiseman 2020). In this paper, we demonstrate the increasing propensity of MCs to generalize legislatively is driven largely by an expansion of MC legislative agendas in business domains. We then offer and test an explanation for this trend whereby business’s increasing demand for congressional attention (Drutman 2015) has outpaced the supply of congressional capacity to serve business needs (Crossen, Furnas, LaPira, and Burgat 2020; McKay 2022). This unmet demand incentivizes MCs to expand their business portfolio, which results in increased campaign contributions from business political action committees (PACs). We provide evidence consistent with this theory, showing that under conditions of access scarcity, MCs benefit financially (in terms of increased business PAC contributions) by broadening the number of business domains they are active in legislatively.

Conventional columnar liquid crystals are almost invariably functionalized with multiple long aliphatic tails. In contrast, the molecule 1,2,3,4-tetrafluoro-6,7,10,11-tetramethoxytriphenylene is unusual as it has a broad columnar mesophase despite the fact that it has only four minimal-length methoxy tails distributed equally in two rings. Here, the full set of analogous tetramethoxytriphenylene molecules with zero to four fluorine atoms in the remaining ring are synthesized using photocyclodehydrofluorination (PCDHF) or a modified Scholl process for the final ring closure reaction, and their mesogenic properties are examined. Six out of the ten target molecules were found to be mesogenic. We found that a minimum of two fluorine substituents are required to form the mesophase, and one of them must be at the 1-position. These extremely short-tailed columnar liquid crystals possess a relatively simple molecular structure and can serve as model systems for understanding the interactions that are fundamental to the formation of a columnar mesophase, its properties and potential applications.

Ruch et al. (1993. Toward an empirical verification of the general theory of verbal humor. Humor 6(2). 123–36.) found that ordinary college students perceived joke similarity in a pattern that largely but not completely matched the pattern predicted by the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH, Attardo and Raskin. 1991. Script theory revis(it)ed: joke similarity and joke representation model. Humor 4(3–4). 293–47.). Stand-up comedians must not only perform jokes in front of audiences, but must write the jokes they deliver. Joke theft, the telling of a joke written and performed by another comedian without express permission, is a serious violation of community norms. A stolen joke need not have the same precise wording, hence it may be hypothesized that stand-up comedians would develop an increased sensitivity to joke synonymy. In the present study, working comedians rated joke similarity using a similar procedure to that of Ruch et al. (1993. Toward an empirical verification of the general theory of verbal humor. Humor 6(2). 123–36.). While the comedians’ responses did not differ dramatically from those of non-comedians in Ruch et al. (1993. Toward an empirical verification of the general theory of verbal humor. Humor 6(2). 123–36.), their perceived similarity followed the pattern predicted in the GTVH more closely. These findings suggest slightly but not markedly greater sensitivity to joke synonymy among working comedians and offer further empirical support for the GTVH.

Two phages belonging to Arthrobacter phage cluster AK were isolated from soil samples collected in Newburgh, NY in 2021. Both are lytic with a genome organization typical of siphoviruses except for two genes encoding minor tail proteins with pyocin-knob domains found early in the genome, before the terminase gene.

BACKGROUND AND AIM[|]Household air pollution (HAP) from the use of inefficient domestic energy sources is a driver of morbidity and mortality globally. Cleaner cooking solutions, such as improved biomass stoves, have been promoted to address the burden of HAP. Despite the reported reductions in HAP levels in intervention studies, it is unclear whether this benefit translates into improved health. We explored the impact of an improved Justa biomass stove, previously shown to reduce HAP concentrations, on inflammatory marker levels (C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukins 1beta, 6, 8 [IL-1ꞵ, IL-8, and IL-6] and tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α]). We examined the exposure-response associations between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC) on inflammatory markers among rural Honduran women.[¤]METHOD[|]We recruited 230 female cooks for a 3-year randomized stepped-wedge trial that included 6 repeated measures of exposure and health every ~6 months. We measured 24-hour personal and kitchen PM2.5 and BC concentrations and estimated long-term average exposures. Inflammatory biomarkers were measured via dried blood spots. Linear mixed models for log-transformed biomarker values were used in intent-to-treat and exposure-response analyses.[¤]RESULTS[|]Inconsistent associations between the Justa intervention and biomarker levels were observed (e.g. CRP [N=884]: -4.9%, 95% CI: -16.9, 8.9; IL-8 [N=966]: 5.3%, 95% CI: -2.5, 13.8). In exposure-response analyses, higher HAP exposures (per 25% increase) were associated with higher levels of IL-8 and TNF-α (e.g., IL-8 [N= 1212]: long-term personal PM2.5: 2.3%, 95% CI: 1.0, 3.6) but not levels of CRP, IL-1ꞵ, and IL-6 (e.g., CRP [N= 1095]: long-term personal PM2.5: -0.4%, 95% CI: -2.6, 1.9).[¤]CONCLUSIONS[|]We did not observe evidence that the intervention impacted inflammation levels. However, HAP exposure was associated with IL8 and TNF-α but not CRP, IL-1, and IL-6. Funding: US NIH (ES022269)[¤]

American scientists are notably unrepresentative of the population. The disproportionately small number of scientists who are women, Black, Hispanic or Latino, from rural areas, religious, and from lower socioeconomic backgrounds has consequences. Specifically, it means that, relative to their counterparts, individuals who identify as such are more dissimilar and more socially distant from scientists. These individuals, in turn, have less trust in scientists, which has palpable implications for health decisions and, potentially, mortality. Increasing the presence of underrepresented groups among scientists can increase trust, highlighting a vital benefit of diversifying science. This means expanding representation across several divides—not just gender and race but also rurality and socioeconomic circumstances.