East Tennessee State University

Abstract Survival of aquatic invertebrates relies on the resistance of dormant stages to environmental stress and the synchronization of dormancy with seasonal changes. We investigated hatching patterns in Daphnia magna from four Mediterranean populations that experience seasonal drying. Ephippial eggs were either transferred directly to hatching-stimulation conditions or first exposed to one of the following storage treatments: wet, dark storage at 20 °C or 1 °C; or dry, dark storage at 20, 40, or 60 °C. Surprisingly, the most successful and synchronous hatching occurred after 2-month dark, cold (1 °C) storage at the temperature that rarely, if ever, occurs in their natural habitats. Dry storage led to more gradual hatching. Early diapause termination was observed in two of the studied populations, with part of the eggs hatching prior to storage and within a few days of ephippium production. Across all populations, ephippial eggs demonstrated high heat resistance and dry storage temperature had no significant effect on hatching rates or egg mortality. Despite similar natural environmental pressures, populations differed significantly in their hatching timing, suggesting fine-scale local or temporal adaptation in dormancy regulation.

ABSTRACT This Teaching and Learning in Practice article describes a six‐week “Wait‐and‐See Identity Project” conducted with multilingual learners ages 9–13. Integrating identity‐based journaling and arts‐based activities, this teacher‐developed, teacher‐led project invited students to explore and negotiate aspects of their identities while engaging in meaning‐making around a shared novel. The project weaves together multimodality, student voice, and authentic literacy engagement.

Connect Four is a two player table. Players alternate dropping checkers into a 6 X 7 vertical grid. The first player to have four of their respective pieces on a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row wins the game. In this paper, we consider playing connect four on trees. We are able to classify all trees on which the first player can win in their first four moves. We also give a construction of an infinite family of trees on which the first player can win. In addition, we consider trees of small diameter and trees in which the maximum degree is large.

The purpose of this study was to investigate voluntary force modulation accuracy during the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) and to investigate biological sex and relative strength as factors relating to error. Strength-trained males (n = 18) and females (n = 18) completed ascending (ASC) (25%, 50%, 75%) or descending (DESC) (75%, 50%, 25%) submaximal testing followed by maximal testing. Subjects rested before completing the opposite submaximal testing sequence. External feedback was not provided during testing. Measured and intended (INT) forces were analyzed with two-way repeated-measures ANOVAs with within- (ASC, DESC, and INT) and between-subject factors (male or female). Independent-samples t-tests analyzed differences in error between males and females. Pearson correlations were calculated to investigate associations between relative strength and error. Statistically significant differences were observed between INT and measured force at every intensity (p < 0.05); however, differences in error were not significant between males and females (p > 0.05). Statistically non-significant small relationships were observed between relative strength and error (p > 0.05). Subjects demonstrate error in force modulation during the IMTP, with the greatest error occurring at lower relative intensity. However, these results indicate that biological sex and relative strength may not influence force modulation accuracy.

Introduction: Recent technological advancements have made telemedicine a potent alternative to in-person hospital care. However, there are limited nationwide population-based estimates of the utilization of telemedicine, and the adoption of these innovative interventions may vary among sociodemographic groups. We conducted a nationally representative study to determine the rate of telemedicine use and to identify the sociodemographic factors associated with usage in the United States.Methods: This study included 7797 respondents aged 20 years and above from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The survey period for the data used was August 2021 to August 2023. Statistical analysis included frequency distribution and the Rao-Scott chi-square test to determine factors associated with telemedicine use. Factors associated with telemedicine use at a statistical significance level of 0.05 were further modeled using bivariate and multivariate survey logistic regression.Results: The use of telemedicine among adults was 2694 (32.46%), with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 31.22% to 33.71%. The factors associated with increased odds of telemedicine use were being female (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.29-1.67), having a college education or associate degree (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.34-1.86), having higher educational attainment (AOR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.70-2.39), and having poor general health (AOR = 1.66, 95% CI: 1.41-1.95). The factors associated with reduced odds of telemedicine use were being uninsured (AOR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.27-0.51) and not having a health facility that an individual usually visits (AOR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.33-0.54).Conclusion: Although telemedicine use appears to have declined slightly since the pandemic peak, the prevalence reported in this study confirms that telemedicine remains a sustained and routine component of healthcare delivery even in the post-pandemic era. The development of public health policies and interventions may focus on promoting usage among males and improving the convenience of use among individuals with low digital literacy.

IntroductionUndernutrition and anemia among children aged 6–59 months are significant public health issues in developing countries like Nepal. The coexistence of these conditions impacts childhood development. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of undernutrition and anemia, assess their coexistence, and identify contributing factors among children aged 6–59 months in Nepal.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis using data from 2022 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS 2022), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey. The outcome variables were undernutrition, anemia, and their coexistence. Undernutrition was defined as the presence of stunting, wasting, underweight, or any combination of these conditions. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin levels <11.0 g/dL (adjusted for altitude). We applied multivariable multinomial logistic regression to determine factors associated with coexistence, and multivariable logistic regression to assess factors associated with undernutrition and anemia separately. We presented the results from the regression analysis using adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsAmong 2,395 children, the weighted prevalence of undernutrition was 33.5%, anemia was 43.4%, and coexistence of undernutrition and anemia was 16.0%. Children from the richest wealth quintile, whose mothers had at least secondary education, and those whose mothers participated in household decision-making had 53% (aOR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.86), 48% (aOR:0.52; 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.86), and 34% (aOR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.47 to 0.94) lower odds of experiencing the coexistence of undernutrition and anemia compared to their counterparts. Children with underweight mothers had 80% (aOR:1.80; 95% CI:1.20 to 2.70) higher odds of coexistence compared to their counterparts.ConclusionThe prevalence of undernutrition, anemia, and their coexistence among children was high in Nepal. Interventions that improve mothers’ education, strengthen their roles in the family, and enhance the household financial condition are essential to reduce these conditions and improve children’s nutritional status.

Abstract Background Environmental respiratory allergies (ERA) have been increasing in recent years, impacting the quality of life of people, especially those with underlying health conditions such as cancer. This study examined the prevalence, association, and racial/ethnic disparities in ERA diagnosis among cancer patients in the United States. Methods We analyzed a retrospective cross-sectional dataset obtained from the National Health Interview Survey (2021) involving weighted samples of 1,879 U.S. adults aged ≥ 18 years. Bivariate Chi-Square tests, multivariable logistic regression analysis, and absolute difference and relative/odds ratio were conducted to examine the disparities in race/ethnicity association with ERA among cancer patients, adjusting for sociodemographic (age, sex, marital status, and region) and socioeconomic (education and health insurance) factors. Results The prevalence rate of ERA among cancer patients was 55.5% and there was a significant difference based on race/ethnicity. Non-Hispanic other/Multiracial had the highest prevalence of ERA (83.1%), followed by non-Hispanic Asians (68.2%), and non-Hispanic Black/African American (65.2%). Non-Hispanic Other/Multiracial cancer patients had significantly higher odds of ERA compared to non-Hispanic Whites in sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and fully adjusted models, respectively. Similarly, Non-Hispanic Blacks/African Americans were more likely to experience ERA compared to non-Hispanic Whites (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.00-2.56) after adjusting for education and health insurance. Additionally, all combined race/ethnic minority cancer patients were 1.22 times more likely to be at risk of ERA than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Conclusion This study demonstrates that racial/ethnic disparities exist in ERA diagnosis among cancer patients. Therefore, targeted interventions aimed at addressing these disparities can help improve the quality of life for cancer patients.

Building on the WIRA image dataset, this work introduces the Symbiote Particle, an enhanced dual stream CNN model architecture designed to detect AI-generated patterns when used to train on distinct image categories. Additionally, a methodology is proposed to find a single hyperparameter configuration that helps the Symbiote Particle generalize well not only on one WIRA image category, but multiple image categories. Across all 62 WIRA image categories, the modelstrategy configurations collectively achieved a mean accuracy of 65%, mean precision of 68%, mean recall of 77%, and mean F1 score of 66%. These configurations collectively achieved a mean accuracy of 73%, mean precision of 73%, mean recall of 88%, and a mean <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$F 1$</tex> of 77% on more than half of the 62 WIRA image categories. Finally, these configurations collectively achieved perfect performance with 100% accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 in 3 WIRA image categories. These results establish the Symbiote Particle as an effective solution to detect hyper realistic AI-generated content.