Needed Developments in the Understanding of Quasi-Factor Methods

In this response to Evermann and Rönkkö (2023), I acknowledge areas of agreement about applying partial least squares (PLS) path modeling but cite substantial disagreements. The authors encourage researchers to also consider generalized structured component analysis and regression component analysis as procedures built around weighted composites rather than common factors. We can best regard all of these methods as quasi-factor methods, which avoid the uncertainty of factor indeterminacy though they still rely on covariance structures similar to those in factor analysis. They remain useful tools for researchers

Proportional structural effects of formative indicators

Formative constructs must influence two or more distinct outcome variables for meaningful tests of the formative conceptualization. Because the construct mediates the effects of its indicators, the indicators must have effects on the outcomes that are proportional to their effects on the formative construct itself. This constraint has important implications for developing and testing formative models. This study demonstrates the existence of the constraint, shows that researchers must consider proportionality as a criterion for evaluating the formative conceptualization, provides examples of indicators having different effects and interpretations depending on the outcome variables used, discusses the selection of outcomes to provide rigorous rather than trivial tests of the formative conceptualization, and contends that the formative nature of constructs cannot be justified in isolation from the consideration of outcome variables. In addition, the study demonstrates the importance of considering how the scaling of the formative construct influences the significance of the effects in the model

Fabrication of High Performing Pemfc Catalyst-Coated Membranes with a Low Cost Air-Assisted Cylindrical Liquid Jets Spraying System

In this work, a low cost air-assisted cylindrical liquid jets spraying (ACLJS) system was developed to prepare high-performance catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The catalyst ink was flowed from a cylindrical orifice and was atomized by an air stream fed from a coaxial slit and sprayed directly onto the membrane, which was suctioned to a heated aluminum vacuum plate. The CCM pore architecture including size, distribution and volume can be controlled using various flow parameters, and the impact of spraying conditions on electrode structure and PEMFC performance was investigated. CCMs fabricated in the fiber-type break-up regime by ACLJS achieved very high performance during PEMFC testing, with the top-performing cells having a current density greater than 1900 mA/cm2 at 0.7 V under H2/O2 flows and 700 mA/cm2 under H2/Air at 1.5 bar(absolute) pressure and 60% gas RH, and 80°C cell temperature

Non-O157 Shiga Toxin–producing Escherichia coli Associated with Venison

News reports of “E. coli outbreaks” usually refer to Shiga toxin–producing E. coli O157. But there are other types of Shiga toxin–producing E. coli, often called STEC,about which less is known. For these other types of STEC, what is the source? What are the risk factors? An outbreak among 29 high school students in Minnesota provided some answers. The source of this outbreak was a white-tailed deer that had been butchered and eaten at the school. The risk factors for infection were handling raw or eating undercooked venison. To prevent this type of STECinfection, people should handle and cook venison with the same caution recommended for other meats

Novel <i>IRF6 </i>mutations in families with Van Der Woude syndrome and popliteal pterygium syndrome from sub-Saharan Africa

Orofacial clefts (OFC) are complex genetic traits that are often classified as syndromic or nonsyndromic clefts. Currently, there are over 500 types of syndromic clefts in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database, of which Van der Woude syndrome (VWS) is one of the most common (accounting for 2% of all OFC). Popliteal pterygium syndrome (PPS) is considered to be a more severe form of VWS. Mutations in the IRF6 gene have been reported worldwide to cause VWS and PPS. Here, we report studies of families with VWS and PPS in sub-Saharan Africa. We screened the DNA of eight families with VWS and one family with PPS from Nigeria and Ethiopia by Sanger sequencing of the most commonly affected exons in IRF6 (exons 3, 4, 7, and 9). For the VWS families, we found a novel nonsense variant in exon 4 (p.Lys66X), a novel splice-site variant in exon 4 (p.Pro126Pro), a novel missense variant in exon 4 (p.Phe230Leu), a previously reported splice-site variant in exon 7 that changes the acceptor splice site, and a known missense variant in exon 7 (p.Leu251Pro). A previously known missense variant was found in exon 4 (p.Arg84His) in the PPS family. All the mutations segregate in the families. Our data confirm the presence of IRF6-related VWS and PPS in sub-Saharan Africa and highlights the importance of screening for novel mutations in known genes when studying diverse global populations. This is important for counseling and prenatal diagnosis for high-risk families

Images of Eyes Enhance Investments in a Real-Life Public Good

A key issue in cooperation research is to determine the conditions under which individuals invest in a public good. Here, we tested whether cues of being watched increase investments in an anonymous public good situation in real life. We examined whether individuals would invest more by removing experimentally placed garbage (paper and plastic bottles) from bus stop benches in Geneva in the presence of images of eyes compared to controls (images of flowers). We provided separate bins for each of both types of garbage to investigate whether individuals would deposit more items into the appropriate bin in the presence of eyes. The treatment had no effect on the likelihood that individuals present at the bus stop would remove garbage. However, those individuals that engaged in garbage clearing, and were thus likely affected by the treatment, invested more time to do so in the presence of eyes. Images of eyes had a direct effect on behaviour, rather than merely enhancing attention towards a symbolic sign requesting removal of garbage. These findings show that simple images of eyes can trigger reputational effects that significantly enhance on non-monetary investments in anonymous public goods under real life conditions. We discuss our results in the light of previous findings and suggest that human social behaviour may often be shaped by relatively simple and potentially unconscious mechanisms instead of very complex cognitive capacities

Subliminal influence on generosity

We experimentally subliminally prime subjects prior to charity donation decisions by showing words that have connotations of pro-social values for a very brief time (17ms). Our main fnding is that, compared to a baseline condition, the pro-social prime increases donations by approximately 10-17 percent among subjects with strong pro-social preferences (universalism values). We find a similar effect when interacting the prime with the Big 5 personality characteristic of agreeableness. We furthermore introduce a novel method for testing for priming, "subliminity". This method reveals that some subjects are capable of recognizing prime words, and the overall results are weaker when we control for this capacity

Thermomechanical Fatigue Behavior of a Silicon Carbide Fiber-Reinforced Calcium Aluminosilicate Composite

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65874/1/j.1151-2916.1993.tb04022.x.pd