Air temperature changes in Żagań (Poland) in the period from 1781 to 1792

The temperature measurements in Żagań were made within the Mannheim network of stations established for Europe and North America by the Palatine Meteorological Society in 1780. The meteorological observations made there in the period 1781–1792 were taken according to the rules for observers (‘Monitum ad observatores’) written by Johann Hemmer (Director of the Palatine Meteorological Society), using calibrated instruments sent by the Society. Source raw data from three measurements a day, taken at morning, noon and evening and available in the publication Ephemerides Societatis Meteorologicae Palatinae have been used for the analysis. Daily means originally calculated using Mannheim’s formula have been corrected to the true daily mean based on statistical analysis using hourly temperature data from modern meteorological station in Wrocław, located near Żagań. The mean annual air temperature for the study period (7.9°C) was about 0.8°C lower than its value for the period 1981–2010, calculated from Grabik data (the nearest station to Żagań). The coldest year was 1785 (6.3°C), while the warmest was 1781 (9.6°C). The clearly colder sub-period 1784–1788 was probably significantly influenced by the eruption of the Laki volcano in Iceland in 1783/1784. Warmer temperatures than we have today (by +0.4°C) occurred only in summer. However, the greatest cooling was observed in autumn and winter (temperatures lower than today in both seasons by 1.1°C). Summer and in particular winter were markedly longer in historical times in comparison to our present-day climate, while other seasons were shorter. Investigations confirm the correctness of the view based on multiproxy data that the continentality of the climate in Poland in the 18th century was greater than today. Both daily and monthly temperature series from Żagań are strongly correlated with other 18th-century temperature series from Poland and Central Europe (with a correlation coefficient mostly higher than 0.90)

Socio-Linguistic Characteristics of Coordinated Inauthentic Accounts

Online manipulation is a pressing concern for democracies, but the actions and strategies of coordinated inauthentic accounts, which have been used to interfere in elections, are not well understood. We analyze a five million-tweet multilingual dataset related to the 2017 French presidential election, when a major information campaign led by Russia called "#MacronLeaks" took place. We utilize heuristics to identify coordinated inauthentic accounts and detect attitudes, concerns and emotions within their tweets, collectively known as socio-linguistic characteristics. We find that coordinated accounts retweet other coordinated accounts far more than expected by chance, while being exceptionally active just before the second round of voting. Concurrently, socio-linguistic characteristics reveal that coordinated accounts share tweets promoting a candidate at three times the rate of non-coordinated accounts. Coordinated account tactics also varied in time to reflect news events and rounds of voting. Our analysis highlights the utility of socio-linguistic characteristics to inform researchers about tactics of coordinated accounts and how these may feed into online social manipulation.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Increase Staff Utilization of Occlusive Interface in Micro-Preemie Babies on BCPAP

Premature neonates born before 26 weeks gestation present many care challenges as they need special precautions to be taken to overcome their fragility. Intubation is often needed for this patient population as their lungs are not fully developed. However, due to their high susceptibility for skin breakdown invasive ventilation often can create subsequent problems. A respiratory therapist team in an academic tertiary medical center wanted to explore the use of an occlusive interface for intubation while providing various forms of non-invasive ventilation in their NICU with the hopes for fewer complications. The objective of this project was to reduce the incidence of skin breakdown by increasing the use of the new interface (F&P). A root cause analysis was initiated and a number of concerns were identified related to current practice and that of proposed practice. These included that of environment, neonate skin integrity, staff education, communication, and assessment requirements. Several countermeasures were implemented such as surveys for NICU staff to identify barriers to the use of an occlusive interface as well as development of educational tools to address concerns raised by the survey. A mandatory competency was also developed. Data was collected 4 months prior to project start and was compared to data 4 months after project start. This comparison demonstrated an outcome of increased use in F&P. Next steps include continued monitoring of compliance and education via several avenues

Integrating the dark side of competition into explanations of business failures: Evidence from a developing economy

In spite of the growing body of literature on the bright side of inter-firm relationships, limited attention has been paid to the dark side of inter-firm relationships. Using insights of serial entrepreneurs in a developing economy, we articulate the mechanisms through which adverse rumours and misinformation perpetrated by rivals' firms undermine small businesses and lead to decline and eventual collapse. We uncovered that the rumours were made more potent when combined with other factors such as prior history of poor and faulty products, sensitivity of industry and intense competition from rival firms in reducing the life chance of firms. Our study also uncovered that inter-firm backstabbing leads former business owners to form a negative perception of former competitors and their organizations even after their business collapsed. We conclude by articulating the theoretical and practical implications

Trumpism and the American Politics of Insecurity

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