Union College

Suppose voters are asked to submit approval ballots for a certain set of alternatives, with approval voting applied to determine a winning alternative. The same voters are then asked to report rankings over these alternatives, and some voting rule intended for ranked ballots is applied. If voters are sincere, can an approval winner possibly win this second election? Can an approval loser lose that election, or all approval co-winners be co-winners of the election? These questions give rise to three notions of approval compatibility for voting rules: positive, negative, and uniform positive approval compatibility (PAC, NAC, and UPAC). We find that NAC is a very weak notion and UPAC is a very strong one. Moreover, PAC, a stronger variant of it called OPAC, and a weaker variant of UPAC called FUPAC divide usual voting rules into four families: Condorcet-consistent rules satisfy all of them; K-approval rules for $K\ge 2$ satisfy none; plurality, plurality with runoff and STV satisfy OPAC but fail FUPAC; and Borda satisfies FUPAC and PAC but fails OPAC.

Purpose This study examined how weight and race impact mental health stigma, weight stigma, perceived need for treatment, and perceived severity of anorexia nervosa We experimentally manipulated weight and race, replicating and extending Varnado-Sullivan et al. (Eat Weight Disord 25:601–608, 2020). Methods 336 participants were recruited from Prolific. Participants self-reported pre-existing exposure to and attitudes regarding mental illness. Participants were randomly assigned to read an anorexia nervosa vignette that manipulated race (White or Black) and weight (“underweight” or “obese”). Participants self-reported attitudes about the woman in the vignette (mental health stigma), weight stigma, and perceived need for treatment and severity of the condition (mental health literacy). We hypothesized that greater mental health stigma, weight stigma, and lower mental health literacy would be present for Black and higher-weight vignettes, controlling for covariates. Results Analyses found that only vignette weight significantly predicted mental health stigma, mental health literacy, and weight stigma; vignette race did not significantly predict mental health stigma, mental health literacy, or weight stigma. A significant Race x Weight interaction predicted weight stigma and two mental health stigma items. Conclusion Replicating and extending Varnado-Sullivan et al. (Varnado-Sullivan et al. in Eat Weight Disord 25:601–608, 2020), we found weight-based bias for those with eating disorders, with some interactions between weight and race on weight stigma.

Ted Chiang’s “The Merchant and The Alchemist’s Gate”, “What’s Expected of Us”, and “Story of Your Life” beautifully demonstrate that both time travel and infallibly predicting the future are possible. But, if, like me, you’d love to have a time machine or a Predictor, don’t get your hopes up. With just a little philosophy, we can see that these technologies, though possible, are unlikely to ever exist. No engineering or physics required.

Background The tumor microenvironment plays a critical role in cancer progression, with tumor-associated macrophages regulating immune responses. These macrophages can adopt a pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype that suppresses tumor growth or an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype that promotes progression. Reprogramming macrophages toward the M1 phenotype is a therapeutic strategy. Previous studies showed that 4-Fluorophenylacetamide-acetyl coumarin (4-FPAC), a synthetic coumarin derivative, exhibits cytostatic activity in A549 lung carcinoma cells by modulating reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide synthase, and signaling pathways, including PI3K/AKT/NF-κB. This study evaluates the impact of 4-FPAC on macrophage polarization. Hypothesis We hypothesized that 4-FPAC promotes M1 macrophage polarization while suppressing M2 markers through modulation of signaling pathways, thus serving as an immunomodulatory agent. Results Treatment with 4-FPAC induced M1 polarization in THP1-derived macrophages, evident from morphological elongation, elevated ROS and NO production, and increased IL-12 levels. IL-10 levels and M2 markers (CD163, STAT3, AKT1) were downregulated, while M1 markers (CD80, STAT1, AKT2) were upregulated. Gene expression and western blot analyses revealed activation of P38 and NF-κB pathways and reduced phosphorylated AKT1 levels. In silico docking showed strong interactions of 4-FPAC with regulatory proteins like P38, NF-κB, and AKT1, suggesting pathway modulation. Conclusion 4-FPAC facilitates M1 macrophage polarization and inhibits M2 signaling, demonstrating its potential as an immunomodulatory agent. Coupled with its cytostatic effects on A549 cells, these findings position 4-FPAC as a promising candidate for cancer therapy. Further in vivo studies are warranted to validate its therapeutic potential and explore applications in immunotherapy and inflammation-associated diseases. Graphical Abstract . Graphical abstract of the manuscript (created with BioRender.com, agreement number: YS27XUTD4Y)

This article makes the case for political scientists to acknowledge the impact of police violence on citizenship and rights using the enforcement of pandemic restrictions from India as well as other countries as illustrations. With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, exceptional powers granted under health-related emergencies allowed for extensive police violence around the world. Rather than exceptional, we note, police violence under the pandemic added one more deadly layer to the routine experience of what we call ‘violent exclusions from citizenship’. While scholars have looked at spectacular cases of police violence and at the particularities of experience of citizenship separately, they have not looked at the crucial role of police power in determining citizenship. Our main intervention is thus to acknowledge the police as a site of state power and police’s discretionary role in determining whether a person will be recognised in their dignity and accorded rights .

Phenomenon: On the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), required for entry into all medical schools in the U.S. and many in Canada, average scores are typically lower for individuals from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds compared to their more advantaged peers, although individuals from every background score in the lower, middle, and upper ranges of the score scale. This achievement gap is potentially due in part to disparities in resource utilization and effective study strategies. Viewing this challenge through a socioecological systems lens can help identify potential systems-level opportunities to support students from these backgrounds to succeed in medicine. Approach: This investigation was the first large-scale review of MCAT preparation strategies, resource utilization, and challenges for examinees from lower-SES backgrounds, focusing on those who obtained higher versus lower MCAT scores. It aimed to examine differences in students' use of evidence-supported learning/studying strategies and challenges experienced in preparing for the MCAT exam. Survey data from the Association of American Medical Colleges Post-MCAT Questionnaire on MCAT preparation strategies and resources used and challenges experienced by 2021-2023 examinees were analyzed, focusing on the 3,240 survey respondents from lower-SES backgrounds. T-tests and chi-square analyses compared continuous variables and proportions between lower- and higher-scoring examinees from lower-SES backgrounds, using Cohen's h to estimate effect size. Findings: Higher-scoring examinees reported greater use of many evidence-supported effective test preparation and learning strategies, including discussing preparation strategies with advisors/peers, establishing baseline capabilities, practicing applying knowledge to practice questions, and evaluating readiness by taking a practice test. Utilization rates of high-value, free/low-cost MCAT resources were significantly higher among top scorers. Conversely, lower-scoring examinees were more likely to report challenges in obtaining reliable internet access, determining how to begin studying, and accessing concrete information about the MCAT exam. Insights: This study highlights critical differences in preparation approaches and challenges among examinees from lower-SES backgrounds. Identifying these gaps may provide insights regarding interventions to improve access to resources and potential improvement to MCAT performance. We provide systems-level ideas for how to better support students from lower-SES backgrounds. For example, learning specialists and advisors could use the findings from this study to screen and educate examinees about evidence-based MCAT preparation strategies and resources. This study identifies opportunities to inform interventions to help students from lower-SES backgrounds advance toward a career in medicine.

Global change drivers alter multiple components of community composition, with cascading impacts on ecosystem stability. However, it remains largely unknown how interactions among global change drivers will alter community synchrony, especially across successional timescales. We analysed a 22‐year time series of grassland community data from Cedar Creek, USA, to examine the joint effects of pulse soil disturbance and press nitrogen addition on community synchrony, richness, evenness and stability during transient and post‐transient periods of succession. Using multiple regression and structural equation modelling, we found that nitrogen addition and soil disturbance decreased both synchrony and stability, thereby weakening the negative synchrony–stability relationship. We found evidence of the portfolio effect during transience, but once communities settled on a restructured state post‐transience, diversity no longer influenced the synchrony–stability relationship. Differences between transient and post‐transient drivers of synchrony and stability underscore the need for long‐term data to inform ecosystem management under ongoing global change.

A number of citation indices have been proposed for measuring and ranking the research publication records of scholars. Some of the best known indices, such as those proposed by Hirsch and Woeginger, are designed to reward most highly those records that strike some balance between productivity (number of papers published) and impact (frequency with which those papers are cited). A large number of rarely cited publications will not score well, nor will a very small number of heavily cited papers. We discuss three new citation indices, one of which was independently proposed in Fenner et al. (PLOS ONE 13(7): e0200098, 2018). Each rests on the notion of scale invariance, fundamental to John Nash’s solution of the two-person bargaining problem. Our main focus is on one of these—a scale-invariant version of the Hirsch index. We argue that it has advantages over the original; it produces fairer rankings within subdisciplines, is more decisive (discriminates more finely, yielding fewer ties) and more dynamic (growing over time via more frequent, smaller increments), and exhibits enhanced centrality and tail balancedness. Simulations suggest that scale invariance improves robustness under Poisson noise, with increased decisiveness having no cost in terms of the number of “accidental” reversals, wherein random irregularities cause researcher A to receive a lower index value than B, although A’s productivity and impact are both slightly higher than B’s. Moreover, we provide an axiomatic characterization of the scale-invariant Hirsch index, via axioms that bear a close relationship, in discrete analogue, to those used by Nash (Econometrica 18(2):155–162, 1950). This argues for the mathematical naturality of the new index.

Background As a quorum sensing system, LuxS/AI-2 is closely associated with bacterial growth, biofilm formation, and virulence. As yet, it is not known how the luxS is associated with a diverse array of physiological activities in non- carbapenemase producing carbapenem resistant Escherichia coli (non-CP-CREC). The purpose of this study is to explore the characterization of AI-2/LuxS quorum sensing system in antibiotic resistance, pathogenicity of non-CP-CREC. Methods A total of five non-CP-CREC isolates that did not have ompC and ompF deletions were collected from various clinical samples from January 2021 to December 2023. RT-qPCR was used to detect genes expression of luxS, acrA, acrB, tolC, mdtB, mdtC, mdtE, mdtF, ompA, ompX, IL-8, IL-6, and TNF-α. Homologous recombination was used to create the luxS knockout strain. Transcriptome sequencing was utilized to analyze gene expression changes before and after the luxS knockout. Biofilm formation was detected using crystal violet staining. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was used to determine drug resistance. Bacterial growth curves were used to detect the influence of the luxS on bacterial growth. A cell infection assay was used to detect the impact of the luxS on bacterial adhesion and the inflammatory response it induces. Results Our results indicated that the expression of the luxS was significantly elevated in non-CP-CREC strains compared to the carbapenem antibiotics sensitive E. coli (CSEC), with CREC229 exhibiting the most pronounced difference. Consequently, CREC229 was chosen for the development of the luxS knockout strain (CREC229△luxS). The deletion of the luxS did not impact the growth of non-CP-CREC. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that 82 genes were differentially expressed, with notable alterations observed in genes associated with biofilm formation regulation and outer membrane proteins in the ΔluxS strain. Our transcriptomic results show that the expression of bssS associated with biofilm formation is significantly reduced in the ΔluxS strain, which in turn reduces its capacity for biofilm formation. In addition, the luxS deletion increased the expression of adhesion-related genes, such as ompA and ompX, enhanced HCT-8 adherence to CREC229, and promoted the secretion of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6. In terms of bacterial resistance, the deletion of luxS increased the sensitivity of non-CP-CRECs to aminoglycoside antibiotics. Conclusions LuxS/AI-2 quorum sensing systems can alter pathogenicity and resistance in several ways.

AI technologies have shown remarkable capabilities in various scientific fields, such as drug discovery, medicine, climate modeling, and archaeology, primarily through their pattern recognition abilities. They can also generate hypotheses and suggest new research directions. While acknowledging AI’s potential to aid in scientific breakthroughs, the paper shows that current AI models do not meet the criteria for making independent scientific discoveries. Discovery is seen as an epistemic achievement that requires a level of competence and self-awareness that AI does not yet possess.

Recreational beach use is important for coastal economies and is influenced by water clarity, a trait that may be maintained by water purification ecosystem services (ESs). However, few studies have addressed these linkages. In this study, we ask the following questions: (1) Do watershed-scale water purification ecosystem services influence coastal water quality? (2) Does coastal water quality help explain beach visitation rates? To address these questions, we focused on Puerto Rico (PR), where coastal tourism has economic and cultural importance. We estimated water purification ESs using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST), coastal water quality using long-term monitoring data, and beach visitation rates using the InVEST Recreation model. We used Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis to evaluate these linkages accounting for influential anthropogenic factors (amenities, population density, and impervious surfaces). Water purification ESs strongly predicted coastal water quality, which, in turn, significantly explained beach water clarity. However, amenities and impervious surfaces best explained beach visitation. Our study suggests a disconnect between water quality and recreational beach use in PR, which should be explored further.

Purpose This study aims to assess the short- and long-term outcomes of rectal cancer patients undergoing robotic versus laparoscopic surgery after receiving neo-adjuvant therapy. There is a lack of clarity on this topic, necessitating a comprehensive comparison. Method Between January 2017 and December 2021, consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic and robotic rectal resection at a major public medical center were enrolled. All participants received neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) before surgery. The primary objective of this study was to assess the sphincter preservation rate and the rate of conversion to open surgery, using propensity score matching (PSM) analysis. Secondary endpoints included 5-year disease-free survival (DFS), 5-year overall survival (OS), short-term postoperative complications, long-term oncological prognosis, and the occurrence of low anterior resection syndrome (LARS). Result A total of 575 patients diagnosed with rectal cancer participated in the cohort study, with 183 individuals undergoing robotic surgery and 392 undergoing laparoscopic surgery. Patients in the robotic group tended to be younger and had higher ypT, cT, and cN stages, lower tumor locations, and higher rates of extramural vascular invasion (EMVI) and circumferential resection margin (CRM) positivity. PSM resulted in 183 patients in the robotic group and 187 in the laparoscopic group. We found a higher sphincter preservation rate in robotic group compared with laparoscopic group (92.9% vs. 86.1%, P = 0.033), with no significant difference in conversion to open surgery(P > 0.05). The robotic group had a higher incidence of postoperative chylous ascites (4.9% vs. 1.1%, P = 0.029) and potentially lower sepsis occurrence (0% vs. 1.6%, P = 0.085). No significant differences were observed in long-term oncological prognosis or 5-year survival rates (P > 0.05). The median survival time for each group was 34 months. Subgroup analysis of 76 rectal cancer patients who underwent intersphincteric resection (ISR) surgery indicated that those who selected robotic surgery had higher cN and cT stages. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences were observed in short-term and long-term clinical outcomes, LARS, OS time, and DFS time between the two surgical modalities. The primary outcomes of interest, specifically the rate of sphincter preservation and the rate of conversion to open laparotomy, showed no significant differences. Conclusion Robotic surgery for rectal cancer, following preoperative nCRT, demonstrates comparable technical safety and oncological outcomes to laparoscopic surgery. Further comprehensive studies are needed to to confirm the potential advantages of robotic surgical interventions.

Choosing a short-form measure of conspiracist ideation (i.e., the tendency to believe in conspiracy theories) is fraught. Despite there being numerous scales to choose from, little work has been done to compare their psychometric properties. To address this shortcoming, we compared the internal consistency, 2-week test–retest reliability, criterion validity, and construct validity of five short-form conspiracist ideation measures: the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale–5 (GCB-5), the Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire (CMQ), the General Measure of Conspiracism (GMC), the American Conspiracy Thinking Scale (ACTS), and the One-Item Conspiracy Measure (1CM). The results of our investigation indicated that all five scales are reliable and valid measures of conspiracist ideation. That said, the GCB-5 tended to perform the best, while the 1CM tended to perform the worst. We conclude our investigation by discussing trade-offs among the five scales, as well as providing recommendations for future research.

Background: Compared to the role of classmates on students' academic development, less research has focused on the role of peers in students' motivation and developmental outcomes in school-organized Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs). Aims: This study examined how perceived acceptance from CCA peers early in the school year (T1) is associated with changes in CCA outcomes at the end of the school year (T2), with T1 and T2 mastery and performance goals serving as a linking factors. Sample: Participants were 517 Primary-3 to Primary-6 students in Singapore (50.7% female; Mage = 10.58, SDage = 1.08). These students took part in various CCA groups classified into Physical Sports (34%), Visual and Performing Arts (31%), Clubs and Societies (24.2%), and Uniformed Groups (10.8%). Methods: The same survey was administered at two time points within a school year, with an interval of 24-26 weeks between them. Results: Perceived CCA peer acceptance early in the school year was significantly related to changes in both academic and non-academic outcomes later in the year, primarily through mastery goals. Mastery goals were positively associated with gains across all developmental outcomes, including school belonging, educational aspirations, classroom engagement, lifelong learning, teamwork disposition, and leadership skills. In contrast, performance goals were linked to gains in leadership but slight declines in teamwork and lifelong learning. Conclusions: These findings have theoretical implications for researchers studying peer relationships in CCAs and their impact on children's academic and non-academic development, as well as for practitioners optimizing the benefits of school-based CCA involvement.

Background The circadian clock is a central driver of many biological and behavioral processes, regulating the levels of many genes and proteins, termed clock controlled genes and proteins (CCGs/CCPs), to impart biological timing at the molecular level. While transcriptomic and proteomic data has been analyzed to find potential CCGs and CCPs, multi-omic modeling of circadian data, which has the potential to enhance the understanding of circadian control of biological timing, remains relatively rare due to several methodological hurdles. To address this gap, a dual-approach co-expression analysis framework (D-CAF) was created to perform co-expression analysis that is robust to Gaussian noise perturbations on time-series measurements of both transcripts and proteins. Results Applying this D-CAF framework to previously gathered transcriptomic and proteomic data from mouse macrophages gathered over circadian time, we identified small, highly significant clusters of oscillating transcripts and proteins in the unweighted similarity matrices and larger, less significant clusters of of oscillating transcripts and proteins using the weighted similarity network. Functional enrichment analysis of these clusters identified novel immunological response pathways that appear to be under circadian control. Conclusions Overall, our findings suggest that D-CAF is a tool that can be used by the circadian community to integrate multi-omic circadian data to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of circadian regulation of molecular processes.

The criminalization of humanitarianism has become prevalent in the Global North. ¹ Overbroad definitions of the crimes of migrant smuggling and the facilitation of irregular migration are commonplace in Europe and the United States, ² despite their well-known perverse effects on the rights of organizers and civil society at large. The “crimmigration” ³ paradigm is so pervasive that there is little debate across the political spectrum on the legitimacy of a criminal law response to solidarity-based engagements with non-citizens, ⁴ especially those in an irregular situation. Countries of destination have normalized hostility vis-à-vis (irregular) migrants and their allies and firmly entrenched it in the legal regime. By contrast, this essay aims to illustrate how law can paradoxically also serve as a medium to articulate solidaristic action following an egalitarian conception and mobilization of legal norms. Challenging state-centric visions, such forms of action transform law into a space of coming together across power divisions, jointly organizing, and collectively countering injustice.

Chromia-alumina catalytic aerogels are prepared via an epoxide-assisted sol-gel synthesis followed by a patented rapid supercritical extraction (RSCE) method, for potential application in automotive pollution mitigation. As-prepared materials have density 0.21 ± 0.3 g/mL and surface area ~570 m²/g; following heat-treatment to 800 °C, density increases to 0.30 g/mL and surface area decreases to ~150 m²/g. Physical characterization via several methods, including XRD and SEM, reveals that heat-treated chromia-alumina aerogels contain chromium(III) oxide microcrystals within an amorphous alumina backbone. Catalytic efficacy is evaluated using an in-house-constructed testbed in which the heat-treated aerogel materials are exposed to simulated automotive exhaust under temperature conditions that approximate those experienced in an automotive three-way catalytic converter. Chromia-alumina aerogels show significant three-way catalytic activity. They achieve light off (50% conversion) at 330 and 360 °C for hydrocarbon (propene) and CO, respectively, under simulated lean combustion (i.e., excess oxygen) conditions. With respect to NO they achieve light off by 355 °C under simulated rich combustion (i.e., excess fuel) conditions. Graphical Abstract SEM/EDS image of aggregated chromia crystals in a coarsely powdered chromia-alumina aerogel sample

Quantifying inorganic carbon fluxes to and from freshwater environments is essential for the accurate determination of the total amount of carbon exported to both the atmosphere and oceans. However, understanding of how anthropogenic freshwater withdrawals perturb land-freshwater-ocean and freshwater-atmosphere inorganic carbon fluxes is limited. Using the United States (US) as an exemplar, we estimate that fresh surface water withdrawals across the country during the year 2015 resulted in a median gross dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) retention flux of 8.2 (uncertainty range: 6.7–9.9) Tg C yr–1, equivalent to 28.3% of the total export of DIC to the oceans from US rivers. The median gross retention flux due to fresh groundwater withdrawals was 6.9 (uncertainty range: 5.3–8.8) Tg C yr–1, over eight times the magnitude of the DIC flux to the oceans by US subterranean groundwater discharge. The degassing of CO2 supersaturated groundwater following withdrawal emitted 3.6 (uncertainty range: 2.2–5.5) Tg of CO2 yr–1, 112% larger than previous estimates. On a county level, these CO2 emissions exceeded CO2 emissions from major emitting facilities across 45% of US counties. Reported results and a data analysis framework have important implications for the accurate development of carbon budgets across the US and around the world.

Nowadays, most of the chemical recycling approaches for plastic waste aim primarily for the depolymerization of single polymer plastics or the multiple steps depolymerization of a plastic mixture which in both cases is considered time, cost and energy consuming. Herein, we present an optimized, single step approach for non-catalyzed hydrolysis of multiple polyesters in Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) mixed plastics under mild conventional heating. The proposed depolymerization process simultaneously breaks down plastic polyesters (mainly PLA and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)) into their value-added monomers; lactic acid in the form of Ca lactate and terephthalic acid (TPA) which are further separated and purified in a reduced number of steps. Box-Behnken Design was employed to maximize the conversion of plastics and the yields of the produced monomers through optimization of the depolymerization and monomer extraction conditions, all while adhering to the green chemistry principles. Within 30 min, and at 85 ⁰C temperature, the proposed hydrolysis technique facilitated 83–100% conversion of various PLA products (PLA Polymaker fibers (containing PLA, PET and other additives), PLA pellets and postconsumer PLA cups) into 763.8-929.6 mg/gplastic Ca lactate and 51.5 mg/gplastic TPA if PET was present. The proposed non-catalyzed process followed first order reaction kinetics with a small activation energy of 78.92 kJ/mol, resulting in an acceptable total energy consumption of 176.0 kJ/gplastic. The obtained monomers’ identity and purity were confirmed by FTIR analysis. Additionally, the waste reagents produced during the depolymerization and monomer extraction processes were regenerated for reuse in another cycle of depolymerization while maintaining good performance. The developed approach offers an economically attractive and ecologically sustainable solution for energy and cost-efficient recycling and upcycling of post-consumer plastic waste containing PLA combined with other polyesters.