The Introduction and Spread of Kudzu in Georgia

Kudzu’s popularity in Georgia was born of necessity; the economic ravages of the Great Depression together with persistent soil erosion and depletion had left Georgia’s farmers in need of a thrifty solution. Kudzu’s nitrogen-enriching leguminous properties, along with its success as an inexpensive grazing crop, made it an attractive solution to Georgia’s agricultural woes. Channing Cope, through his radio program and regular contributions to the Atlanta Constitution, was among kudzu’s most ardent defenders. Cope’s charisma and enthusiasm helped to popularize the vine among farmers and laymen alike. At the federal level, the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) financially incentivized farmers to plant kudzu, and in doing so further popularized the plant. The personal and governmental forces in favor of kudzu’s use (represented by Cope and the SCS, respectively) are then responsible for the vine’s wild success—and ultimate downfall—in the state of Georgia

Wavelets on the Interval and Fast Wavelet Transforms

International audienceWe discuss several constructions of orthonormal wavelet bases on the interval, and we introduce a new construction that avoids some of the disadvantages of earlier constructions

Previous hospital admissions and disease severity predict the use of antipsychotic combination treatment in patients with schizophrenia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although not recommended in treatment guidelines, previous studies have shown a frequent use of more than one antipsychotic agent among patients with schizophrenia. The main aims of the present study were to explore the antipsychotic treatment regimen among patients with schizophrenia in a catchment area-based sample and to investigate clinical characteristics associated with antipsychotic combination treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study included 329 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia using antipsychotic medication. Patients were recruited from all psychiatric hospitals in Oslo. Diagnoses were obtained by use of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders (SCID-I). Additionally, Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and number of hospitalisations and pharmacological treatment were assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Multiple hospital admissions, low GAF scores and high PANSS scores, were significantly associated with the prescription of combination treatment with two or more antipsychotics. The use of combination treatment increased significantly from the second hospital admission. Combination therapy was not significantly associated with age or gender. Regression models confirmed that an increasing number of hospital admission was the strongest predictor of the use of two or more antipsychotics.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Previous hospital admissions and disease severity measured by high PANSS scores and low GAF scores, predict the use of antipsychotic combination treatment in patients with schizophrenia. Future studies should further explore the use of antipsychotic drug treatment in clinical practice and partly based on such data establish more robust treatment guidelines for patients with persistently high symptom load.</p

Dental Teacher Feedback and Student Learning: A Qualitative Study

Feedback is essential to improve student learning and motivation and to encourage curriculum development by teachers. This study looked at feedback to and from dental students from a qualitative perspective. Methods: Dental teachers were recruited exclusively to this study from the membership of the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE). Delegates from each of the four annual ADEE conferences were invited to attend focus groups to discuss aspects of feedback. Focus groups established an individual theme for the respective conferences: (i) the role of the teacher in delivering feedback; (ii) feedback from the students’ perspective; (iii) changes to feedback due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and (iv) integrating feedback with assessments. Results: Qualitative data collected from the conference delegates were diverse and thought provoking. Delegates reported different styles of feedback varying from individual, personal feedback to no feedback at all. An enforced and mostly positive adaptation to online delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic was reported. A partial return to pre-pandemic practices was described. Conclusions: Feedback is well recognized by students and teachers as contributing to learning. A universal approach to delivering feedback as part of the student learning process can be challenging due to a multitude of variables. Many aspects of changes in dental education, teaching, and feedback practices adopted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have been retained post-pandemic, thereby accelerating the anticipated progression to online teaching

Absence of strong skew scattering in crystals with multi-sheeted Fermi surfaces

We consider an extrinsic contribution to the anomalous and spin Hall effect in dilute alloys based on Fe, Co, Ni, and Pt hosts with different substitutional impurities. It is shown that a strong skew-scattering mechanism is absent in such crystals with multi-sheeted Fermi surfaces. Based on this finding, we conclude on the mutual exclusion of strong intrinsic and skew-scattering contributions to the considered transport phenomena. It also allows us to draw general conditions for materials where the anomalous Hall effect caused by the skew scattering can be achieved giant

Aging study of plastics to be used as Radiative cooling wind-shields for night-time radiative cooling - Polypropylene as an alternative to polyethylene.

Polyethylene has widely been used in radiative cooling applications because of high transmittance values in the atmospheric window. However, it presents optical and mechanical degradation when exposed to environmental conditions and must be replaced every few months. This paper aims to find an alternative to polyethylene to be used in a unique device, the Radiative Collector and Emitter (RCE), that combines solar collection and night-time radiative cooling. The aging evolution analysis of five cheap and market available plastic films (two low density polyethylene, one high density polyethylene, one polypropylene, and one fluorinated ethylene propylene) exposed to environmental conditions was performed. FT-IR spectra and mechanical traction tests were performed before and after 90 days of exposure to the environment. Results confirm that polyethylene undergoes a degradation process both when it is covered by a glass and when it is uncovered. However, it maintains high average transmittance values in the atmospheric window. Polypropylene has average transmittance values slightly lower than polyethylene, but its aging behaviour is better since no oxidative processes are detected when the material is covered with glass. For all this, PP-35 is an interesting candidate for night-time radiative cooling wind-shields.This publication is part of the grant RTI2018-097669-A-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033/ and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”. This publication is part of the grant PID2021- 126643OB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”. The authors would like to thank Generalitat de Catalunya for the project grant given to their research group (2017 SGR 659)