A bioinspired approach for adaptive solid-solid phase change material coatings with optimized surface features for passive thermal regulation

The necessity to reduce global energy consumption calls for innovative strategies in building thermal management. Passive thermal regulation, particularly through bio-inspired designs, offers a promising avenue by mimicking nature\u27s efficient control of optical properties. This research introduces a novel, climate-responsive coating that integrates optimized bio-inspired surface features with a solid-solid phase change material (SS-PCM) to dynamically manage solar absorptivity without adding additional thickness, enabling both heating and cooling as needed. Drawing on the photonic architectures of the Saharan silver ant and Morpho Didius butterfly, we employed a modeling and multi-objective optimization framework to tailor these surface features. Simulations reveal that surface texture, rather than the intrinsic phase transition of the SS PCM, dominates optical control. Relative to a flat SS PCM coating, optimized isotropic random roughness and broader range features yielded the highest passive heating power increase of about 144 % and 319 % respectively suitable for cold climates. Saharan ant-inspired features enhanced passive cooling for hot climates, achieving a 21.8 % improvement. For moderate climates, Butterfly-wing-inspired surface features provided a balanced enhancement of 19 % for heating and 7 % for cooling. Across all cases, the optimized surface features reduced combined heating and cooling energy demand more effectively than the baseline coating, while preserving material thickness. These findings demonstrate that climate-adaptive, optimized bio-inspired surface features can unlock the full potential of SS PCM coatings, providing a versatile pathway to significant energy savings in buildings and other applications. The methodology establishes a framework for designing next-generation adaptive envelopes that leverage natural photonic principles for high-impact, low-cost thermal regulation. © 2025 The Author(s)

Economic priorities shape protected area placement: The role of land competition in Argentina

Protected areas (PAs) are a cornerstone of global conservation efforts, and their coverage is expected to increase. However, many PAs are less effective than envisioned because they have historically been established in landscapes with low human pressure (e.g., remote areas). While a growing emphasis on effectiveness and additionality in conservation planning could reduce this location bias over time, intensifying land competition may make it more difficult to place PAs in the most valuable conservation areas. As a result, it remains unclear how the residuality of PA networks has evolved in many regions. Here, we assess changes in Argentina\u27s PA network residuality from 1934 to 2022 by modeling the suitability of intensive agriculture—Argentina\u27s main competitor for conservation land—and analyzing how agricultural suitability varied in newly designated PAs. We found a pronounced and persistent bias toward less suitable areas, with no changes during the study period. This bias was evident at both local and regional levels, highlighting the persistence of this pattern across scales. Moreover, it was particularly pronounced in the most agriculturally productive regions and the most restrictive PA categories. Overall, our results suggest that competition for land has historically shaped, and continues to shape, the allocation of PAs to less contested areas. A stronger focus on increasing the representativeness and effectiveness of PA networks should be a priority when expanding these networks—particularly toward the 30 × 30 target—in Argentina and elsewhere. © 2025 Elsevier Lt

Enhanced Breast Cancer Classification Using Attention-Augmented CNN and Multi-View Learning on the Inbreast Dataset

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of mortality among women worldwide, emphasizing the critical need for accurate and early diagnosis. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have demonstrated remarkable performance in medical image analysis, particularly in mammographic classification tasks. Building upon prior work that employed a fine-tuned VGG-16 model combined with a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier on the INbreast dataset, this study proposes a novel extension to enhance both accuracy and interpretability. The proposed framework integrates Convolutional Block Attention Modules (CBAM) into the CNN architecture to enable adaptive feature refinement by focusing on salient spatial and channelwise information. Additionally, a dual-stream multi-view learning approach is introduced to leverage bilateral mammographic images, capturing cross-view contextual dependencies often overlooked in single-view analysis. To further improve classification performance, a lightweight Vision Transformer (ViT-lite) replaces the traditional SVM, facilitating effective global feature modeling through self-attention. Experimental results on the INbreast dataset demonstrate a significant improvement in classification accuracy, achieving 98.4%, along with enhanced precision, recall, and AUC scores. The proposed model not only advances the state-of-the-art in breast cancer classification but also provides a more interpretable and scalable solution, thereby contributing to the development of reliable computer-aided diagnostic tools in clinical settings. © 2025 IEEE

Do “say-on-pay” votes affect M&A decisions?

This paper demonstrates that firms receiving above-industry-average support in their “say-on-pay” (SoP) votes engage in more M&A transactions in the subsequent year. Our empirical findings suggest that high levels of SoP voting support may boost managerial confidence, thereby stimulating increased pursuit of acquisitions. Moreover, we observe that managers garnering higher SoP vote support are more likely to secure shareholders\u27 backing in M&A votes, receive higher compensation in successful deals, and face a reduced likelihood of forced turnover following unsuccessful deals. Additionally, we find that both short-term and long-term M&A performance significantly improves in deals announced by managers receiving higher SoP voting support. These findings contribute to our understanding of the relation between shareholder support for CEOs and firm investment

Differential Effects of Aβ Peptides on the Plasmin-Dependent Degradation of ApoE3 and ApoE4

The ApoE4 allele of apolipoprotein E (ApoE4) is the strongest hereditary predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease, even though ApoE4 only differs from the more common ApoE3 by a single amino acid substitution. Previous studies have shown that ApoE4 is more susceptible to proteolytic degradation than ApoE3. This is an important finding because of ApoE’s role in cholesterol homeostasis and lipid transport in the brain. The molecular determinants of the increased susceptibility of ApoE4 to proteolysis are unknown. Here, we apply a combination of spectrometric and spectroscopic methods to show that amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, including Aβ(1-40) and Aβ(pyroE3-42), differentially modulate the plasmin-dependent degradation of ApoE3 and ApoE4. In particular, our data reveal that while the Aβ peptides do not affect the proteolysis of ApoE3, the peptides enhance the degradation of ApoE4 significantly. Overall, this work motivates therapeutic development that targets the Aβ-induced dysregulation of ApoE4 homeostasis in individuals carrying the ApoE4 allele. © 2025 American Chemical Society

Women’s basketball team group photo [3], circa 1949-1950

Group photograph of the Clark University women’s basketball team, 1949-1950. All photographs in this collection were digitized between 2022 and 2023. The photographs in this collection are part of the Photographs and Media record group of Clark University’s Archives & Special Collections.https://commons.clarku.edu/basketball/1211/thumbnail.jp

Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Teachers: The Impact of Race and Years of Teaching Experiences

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) can impact teachers who are supporting students exposed to trauma. STS is associated with teacher burnout, but little research is available about certain demographic factors among teachers that can make some more susceptible than others, such as race and years of teaching. The purpose of this study was to examine racial differences and years of teaching among educators working in a majority Black student school system. Findings suggested there was no relationship between years of teaching and STS. However, the results indicated that White teachers reported higher levels of STS than reports by Black teachers

Men\u27s basketball team group photo [12], circa 1980-1981

Group photograph of the Clark University men\u27s basketball team circa 1980-1981, led by Coach Wally Halas. All photographs in this collection were digitized between 2022 and 2023. The photographs in this collection are part of the Photographs and Media record group of Clark University’s Archives & Special Collections.https://commons.clarku.edu/basketball/1034/thumbnail.jp

Mixed teff (Eragrostis tef, Poaceae) cultivation and consumption among smallholder farmers in South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia

Background: Indigenous cropping systems were often developed with a focus on resilience. For example, farmers in many parts of the world have traditionally grown crop varietal mixtures to mitigate risks of crop failure due to drought, pests, and disease. However, crop varietal mixtures are threatened by policies encouraging farmers to plant homogenous, single-variety cropping systems, which are more vulnerable to increasing climate variability. Teff is one of the indigenous staple crops of Ethiopian origin cultivated throughout the country for multiple purposes. Farmers continue to cultivate diverse varieties of teff, as well as a varietal mixture known as sergegna teff. We assessed farmers’ knowledge and practices related to sergegna teff in the northern highlands of Ethiopia to understand its advantages as well as threats to its continued use. Methods: Research was conducted in six kebeles (sub-districts) of Kalu and Tehuledere districts of South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia, situated in warm moist lowlands and tepid and cool mid-highlands. Data were collected through structured surveys with 304 randomly sampled interviewees, semi-structured interviews with 36 purposively sampled key informants, six focus group discussions, guided field tours and market surveys. Varieties of teff in standing crop fields were assessed within 5 m × 5 m random plots at the seed-setting stage. Data analysis included cross-tabulation of survey and interview data, descriptive statistics, and hierarchical clustering. Results: Teff dominates the farm fields in the six study kebeles. Altogether, 13 distinct varieties, including farmers’ varieties (landraces) and breeders’ varieties, were recorded. Fifty-three percent of survey respondents reported active cultivation of sergegna teff variety mixtures. The same proportion asserted preference for varietal mixtures over pure brown or white varieties on account of nutritional benefits and non-food domestic functions. The varietal mixture was also top-ranked by key informants for drought and disease resistance, resilience, and ecological elasticity. Households reported utilizing the varietal mixture in various types of food and selling at local markets. Most respondents (53% of those who reported cultivating sergegna teff in 2023) indicated using sergegna teff to prepare leavened and unleavened foods, including injera, dimeso, kita, anebabero, serebat, porridge and gruel. Conclusion: Farmers express that the ongoing cultivation and use of sergegna teff boost production and enhance resilience and economic returns. These perspectives should be considered in initiatives promoting single breeder’s varieties, which risk supplanting traditional crop varietal mixtures. Further study, alongside proactive conservation, and scaled-up efforts of institutions concerned with food security, biodiversity conservation, and inclusion of ILK are needed. © The Author(s) 2025

Men\u27s basketball team group photo [21], circa 1984-1986

Group photograph of Clark University men\u27s basketball team led by Coach Wally Halas, circa 1984-1986. All photographs in this collection were digitized between 2022 and 2023. The photographs in this collection are part of the Photographs and Media record group of Clark University’s Archives & Special Collections.https://commons.clarku.edu/basketball/1030/thumbnail.jp