Millar (United States)

This article examined how social media content has shaped the representation of countries for publics around the world. Based on world system theory, the study investigated the underlying predictors of country mentions on X (formerly Twitter) in 2018. It confirmed that countries with greater economic power – or higher status in the world system – received more mentions. Furthermore, countries with larger populations were mentioned more frequently as were countries that experienced major conflicts. The findings from structural equation modeling shed new light on the interrelationships that drive the social media representation of individual countries and delineated an integrated Model of Country Mentions on X. These findings have implications for global leaders, policymakers, and social media firms.

Miniaturized pressure sensors attached to catheters have numerous applications in the biomedical and life science fields including the monitoring of arterial, ventricular, intracranial and intraocular pressures. Recent advances in MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology and its associated fabrication processes, such as DRIE (deep reactive ion etching), have allowed for further miniaturization of these devices, expanding the application landscape to include small animal models and new human applications. One such human application is the wireless measurement of radial arterial blood pressure (BP). The goal of this research program is to produce a truly portable wireless radial arterial monitoring system using a custom-designed ultra-miniature pressure sensor appropriately sized to fit within the tip of a 1-French catheter (333 micron), so that convenient in-vivo measurements of BP are possible. The proposed system consists of two assemblies. The sensor, catheter, and wristband containing the battery and telemetry circuit form one assembly and the portable wireless PDA-sized transceiver module forms the other. This paper reports on the custom miniature MEMS pressure sensor developed for this application.

This study determined the reliability of walking economy in children with(MR) and without mental retardation (NMR). Twenty-eight children (14 MR, age = 14±3.0; 14 NMR, age=11±2.5) completed two discontinuous walking tests, with several days rest between tests, on a motorized treadmill, at speeds of 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 mph with 0% grade for 5 minutes each, with equal rest periods between speeds. Expired gases were measured throughout the exercise periods and VO2, as well as VE, were calculated for the last minute of each speed. Test-retest reliability of VO2 (l.min-1) ranged from r=.91 at 2.0mph to r=.97 for 3.0 and 3.5 mph. Ventilation reliability coefficients ranged from r=.84 to r=.95. There were no significant differences for reliability measures between groups. Ventilation was significantly higher at all speeds for the MR group as compared to the NMR group. Values at 2.0mph were 25.7±11.5l.min-1 vs. 16.8±3.11.min-1; at 2.5mph - 25.2±9.6 vs. 19.1±4.7; at 3.0mph - 27.4±7.7 vs. 21.6; and at 3.5mph - 35.9±12.8 vs. 25.1±4.5. Although there was no difference between the VO2 at each speed, the MR group had significantly higher economies, ranging from 6 to 10% higher, at each speed. These data suggest that walking economy is a reliable measure in both MR and NMR individuals. The economy of walking is worse in the MR, especially when considering the age difference between the MR and NMR groups.