Power Grid Politics: Winter Storm Uri and Texas Governor Greg Abbott\u27s Image Repair Discourse

Winter storm Uri hit the state of Texas on February 14, 2021. Bringing record amounts of snow, ice, and prolonged sub-zero temperatures, the storm caused widespread power outages which led to hundreds of deaths, and created a complex rhetorical situation for Governor Greg Abbott. This article examines the image repair discourse engaged in by Abbott, and ultimately concludes that his use of blame-shifting, corrective action, and defeasibility strategies were ultimately effective, but to varying degrees based on each respective strategy. We argue herein that Abbott’s strategy of shifting the blame for the debacle to ERCOT was his most effective tactic, while his reliance on corrective action approaches (while necessary and expected by the audience) were only marginally persuasive. Abbott’s defeasibility strategy was undercut both by conflicting statements, and by the recent reality that Texas does, in fact, experience extreme weather events however rare. We also argue that severe weather events are likely to become more frequent in the future, and that Texas in particular will be uniquely impacted by these storms due to climate change. We conclude that the political fortunes of elected officials will increasingly depend on how they justify their response to these cataclysmic storms

Temperate phages both mediate and drive adaptive evolution in pathogen biofilms

Temperate phages drive genomic diversification in bacterial pathogens. Phage-derived sequences are more common in pathogenic than non-pathogenic taxa, and are associated with changes in pathogen virulence. High abundance and mobilisation of temperate phages within hosts suggests that temperate phages could promote within-host evolution of bacterial pathogens. However,their role in pathogen evolution has not been experimentally tested. We experimentally evolved replicate populations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with or without a community of three temperate phages active in cystic fibrosis (CF) lung infections, including the transposable phage, ɸ4, which is closely related to phage D3112. Populations grew as free-floating biofilms in artificial sputum medium, mimicking sputum of CF lungs where P. aeruginosa is an important pathogen and undergoes evolutionary adaptation and diversification during chronic infection. While bacterial populations adapted to the biofilm environment in both treatments, population genomic analysis revealed that phages altered both the trajectory and mode of evolution. Populations evolving with phages exhibited a greater degree of parallel evolution and faster selective sweeps than populations without phages. Phage ɸ4, integrated randomly into the bacterial chromosome but integrations into motility-associated genes and regulators of quorum sensing systems essential for virulence were selected in parallel, strongly suggesting that these insertional inactivation mutations were adaptive. Temperate phages, and in particular transposable phages, are therefore likely to facilitate adaptive evolution of bacterial pathogens within hosts

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three genomic nomenclature systems to all sequence data from the World Health Organization European Region available until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation, compare the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e. a controlling message) compared to no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly-internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared to the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly-internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing: Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

YANTA

En la actualidad, el consumo de dispositivos móviles aumentó a un 67%, crece a la par que se incrementa el uso de smartphones, Internet y redes sociales. Según un estudio realizado por ComScore, entre las principales características de dicho incremento está el consumo de páginas vistas a través de móviles, el cual se ha ido incrementado en los últimos años, y es el sistema operativo Android el más usado por los peruanos. La gran mayoría de personas navegan por internet desde dispositivos móviles, lo cual trae mayor comodidad y rapidez a los usuarios. Asimismo, en la actualidad, se presenta un escenario positivo en cuanto el incremento del parque automotor, lo cual ha llevado al crecimiento de los CarWash en Lima Metropolitana. El presente proyecto se ha basado en la problemática de personas que cuentan con auto y requieren del servicio de lavado del mismo, pero no cuentan con tiempo suficiente. Por ello, se ha planteado brindar una alternativa de solución rápida, eficiente y con valor agregado para los usuarios. Gracias a esta información nació la idea de crear YANTA, un aplicativo móvil en donde el usuario podrá descargarlo desde su celular para poder seleccionar los mejores CarWash de su distrito con tal solo un clic. La inversión requerida aproximada es de s/. 62,000 soles, los cuales se utilizarán para la puesta en marcha del proyecto, y sobre todo la elaboración del aplicativo móvil y publicidad del servicio.Currently, the consumption of mobile devices by 67%, increases the use of smartphones, the Internet and social networks. According to a study conducted by ComScore, among the main features of such use, the consumption of pages, images through mobile devices, which has increased in recent years, and is the Android operating system. Most of the people are surfing the internet from our cell phones, which provides greater convenience and speed to users. Also, at present, we present a positive scenario regarding the growth of the automotive fleet, which has led to the growth of car washes in Metropolitan Lima. This project has been based on the problem of people who have cars and require a car wash, but do not have enough time. Therefore, it has been proposed to provide a quick, efficient and value-added solution alternative for users. Thanks to this information was born the idea of creating YANTA, a mobile device where the user can download the application from their cell phone to select the best CarWash in their district with just one click. The required investment is of s/. 62,000 pen, which will be used for the implementation of our project, and especially the development of the mobile application and advertising of the service.Trabajo de investigació