Robo-Bureaucrat and the Administrative Separation of Powers

This Essay argues that the administrative state\u27s use of artificial intelligence (AI) creates concentrated, unchecked power at the agency leadership level. The Essay draws from Professor Jon Michaels\u27 theory of the administrative separation of powers, and it describes how AI in government disrupts this separation. To alleviate this concern, the Essay puts forward one modest proposal: Congress should amend federal public sector labor law to require collective bargaining over an agency’s decision to use AI

Supporting the well-being of student veterans and service members: Contextual factors and self-determination

The present study investigated the well-being of student veterans and service members (SVSMs), a rapidly-growing subpopulation of college students in the U.S. with unique needs and lived experiences, through the lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT). SDT posits that contextual factors relate to well-being via perceived satisfaction of three basic psychological needs (i.e., competence, autonomy, and relatedness) and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation. A path model tested these SDT-stipulated relations in a sample of 182 SVSMs from the three Regent universities in Iowa, incorporating four SVSM-specific contextual factors (i.e., Office of veterans and military services (OVMS) support, veteran-friendly campus perception, veteran identity centrality, and positive regard for veteran identity). The model yielded a good fit; however, not all of the hypothesized relations were significant. Veteran-friendly campus perception and positive regard for veteran identity emerged as robust direct predictors of psychological need satisfaction and indirect predictors of well-being (i.e., globally and specific to the academic domain). OVMS support had a significant relationship only with perceived relatedness, and veteran identity centrality did not have significant direct or indirect relations with any of the psychological needs or well-being. Perceived competence was a robust mediator of multiple relations between contextual factors and well-being, and perceived relatedness also mediated some of the relations between contextual factors and well-being. The predictive utility of volitional autonomy and academic intrinsic motivation was not supported in the present study. Conclusions, implications, and future directions for research are discussed

Assessment of the In Vivo

The objective of tailoring medicines for cancer patients according to the molecular profile of their disease holds great promise for the improvement of cancer therapy. Nevertheless, this approach has been limited, in part, due to the lack of predictive and informative preclinical studies. Herein, we describe an assessment of the therapeutic potential of targeting PI3K/mTOR and MAPK signaling in genetically defined mouse models of colorectal cancer mirroring disease subtypes targeted for novel therapy in the FOCUS4 trial. Our studies demonstrate that dual PI3K/mTOR inhibition is highly effective in invasive adenocarcinoma models characterized by combinatorial mutations in Apc and Pten; Apc and Kras; and Apc, Pten and Kras. MEK inhibition was effective in the combinatorial Apc and Kras setting, but had no impact in either Apc Pten mutants or in Apc Pten Kras triple mutants. Furthermore, we describe the importance of scheduling for combination studies and show that although no additional benefit is gained in Apc Pten mice, combination of PI3K/mTOR and MAPK inhibition leads to an additive benefit in survival in Apc Kras mice and a synergistic increase in survival in Apc Pten Kras mice. This is the first study using robust colorectal cancer genetically engineered mouse models to support the validity of PI3K/mTOR and MEK inhibitors as tailored therapies for colorectal cancer and highlight the potential importance of drug scheduling in the clinic

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world\u27s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (−0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km² resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e., offset) between in-situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km² pixels (summarized from 8500 unique temperature sensors) across all the world’s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in-situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Global maps of soil temperature.

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0-5 and 5-15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world's major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Robo-Bureaucrat and the Administrative Separation of Powers

This Essay argues that the administrative state\u27s use of artificial intelligence (AI) creates concentrated, unchecked power at the agency leadership level. The Essay draws from Professor Jon Michaels\u27 theory of the administrative separation of powers, and it describes how AI in government disrupts this separation. To alleviate this concern, the Essay puts forward one modest proposal: Congress should amend federal public sector labor law to require collective bargaining over an agency’s decision to use AI

Supporting the well-being of student veterans and service members: Contextual factors and self-determination

The present study investigated the well-being of student veterans and service members (SVSMs), a rapidly-growing subpopulation of college students in the U.S. with unique needs and lived experiences, through the lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT). SDT posits that contextual factors relate to well-being via perceived satisfaction of three basic psychological needs (i.e., competence, autonomy, and relatedness) and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation. A path model tested these SDT-stipulated relations in a sample of 182 SVSMs from the three Regent universities in Iowa, incorporating four SVSM-specific contextual factors (i.e., Office of veterans and military services (OVMS) support, veteran-friendly campus perception, veteran identity centrality, and positive regard for veteran identity). The model yielded a good fit; however, not all of the hypothesized relations were significant. Veteran-friendly campus perception and positive regard for veteran identity emerged as robust direct predictors of psychological need satisfaction and indirect predictors of well-being (i.e., globally and specific to the academic domain). OVMS support had a significant relationship only with perceived relatedness, and veteran identity centrality did not have significant direct or indirect relations with any of the psychological needs or well-being. Perceived competence was a robust mediator of multiple relations between contextual factors and well-being, and perceived relatedness also mediated some of the relations between contextual factors and well-being. The predictive utility of volitional autonomy and academic intrinsic motivation was not supported in the present study. Conclusions, implications, and future directions for research are discussed.</p

The Loyal Matchmaker Dilemma: When Staffing Firms Should Pay for the Sins of Their Client

This Article recognizes the “loyal matchmaker” dilemma in employment discrimination law. This dilemma exists when a staffing firm complies with or otherwise acquiesces to its client’s unlawful discrimination against its temporary employee not because of that employee’s race, sex, national origin, disability, etc. Rather, it does so because it sees itself as a loyal matchmaker to the client or because of another lawful reason. In these situations, when should the staffing firm be liable? Employment discrimination law has failed to give a practical, consistent, and flexible liability standard in this context. Generally, courts hold the staffing firm liable only if it is a joint employer with the client and it had constructive knowledge of the discrimination and failed to take corrective action. Other potential liability standards include forms of strict liability or no liability whatsoever for its client’s unlawful discrimination. Drawing from Professor Jeremias Prassl’s work on a functional conception of the employer, this Article proposes a liability standard to apply here—the functional liability standard. This standard holds the staffing firm strictly liable for its client’s discrimination that directly implicates one of the staffing firm’s employer functions. A staffing firm’s employer functions may include paying wages, providing work, controlling the internal work processes, and beginning and ending the employment relationship. A staffing firm can escape liability if it shows that it reasonably accommodated the employee’s harm. This standard provides the flexibility, ease, consistency, and fairness lacking in other potential liability standards. With this proposal, the Article expands upon existing scholarship on employer responsibility, membership causation, and theories of the employment relationship in U.S. employment discrimination law