Jointly they edit: examining the impact of community identification on political interaction in Wikipedia

In their 2005 study, Adamic and Glance coined the memorable phrase "divided they blog", referring to a trend of cyberbalkanization in the political blogosphere, with liberal and conservative blogs tending to link to other blogs with a similar political slant, and not to one another. As political discussion and activity increasingly moves online, the power of framing political discourses is shifting from mass media to social media. Continued examination of political interactions online is critical, and we extend this line of research by examining the activities of political users within the Wikipedia community. First, we examined how users in Wikipedia choose to display (or not to display) their political affiliation. Next, we more closely examined the patterns of cross-party interaction and community participation among those users proclaiming a political affiliation. In contrast to previous analyses of other social media, we did not find strong trends indicating a preference to interact with members of the same political party within the Wikipedia community. Our results indicate that users who proclaim their political affiliation within the community tend to proclaim their identity as a "Wikipedian" even more loudly. It seems that the shared identity of "being Wikipedian" may be strong enough to triumph over other potentially divisive facets of personal identity, such as political affiliation.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figure

Oregon Land Trusts and Collaboration: Issues, Recommendations, and Tools for Improving Current Collaborative Efforts

Examining committee: Robert Parker (chair), Jean Stockard, Don HoltgrieveOregon land trusts have long worked with other organizations and agencies in order to better fulfill its missions of protecting special lands—land for natural habitat of flora and fauna—from development. But, many barriers exist regarding the ease and understanding of the collaborative process that ultimately hinder the ability for land trusts to protect more land and fulfill its missions. This research investigates Oregon land trusts’ reasons for or against collaborating with other organizations and agencies, to what extent land trusts are collaborating, and how effective those collaborative efforts are perceived to be. This reseach is based on the hypothesis that land trusts choose to collaborate with other agencies and organizations only when it benefits the land trust organization (i.e., by increasing its funds and/or by increasing the number of acres protected). This hypothesis is supported by the results. The study led to a number of practical recommendations and tools land trusts can use in order to improve its current collaboration and partnership processes

Use of an Observational Coding System with Families of Adolescents: Psychometric Properties among Pediatric and Healthy Populations

Objective: To examine reliability and validity data for the Family Interaction Macro-coding System (FIMS) with adolescents with spina bifida (SB), adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), and healthy adolescents and their families.Methods: Sixty-eight families of children with SB, 58 families of adolescents with T1DM, and 68 families in a healthy comparison group completed family interaction tasks and self-report questionnaires. Trained coders rated family interactions using the FIMS.Results: Acceptable interrater and scale reliabilities were obtained for FIMS items and subscales. Observed FIMS parental acceptance, parental behavioral control, parental psychological control, family cohesion, and family conflict scores demonstrated convergent validity with conceptually similar self-report measures.Conclusions: Preliminary evidence supports the use of the FIMS with families of youths with SB and T1DM and healthy youths. Future research on overall family functioning may be enhanced by use of the FIMS

Identifying differential predictors for treatment response to amisulpride and olanzapine combination treatment versus each monotherapy in acutely ill patients with schizophrenia: results of the COMBINE-study

Background Extensive research has been undertaken to predict treatment response (TR) to antipsychotics. Most studies address TR to antipsychotics in general and as monotherapy, however, it is unknown whether patients might respond favourably to a combination of antipsychotics. Aims This study aimed to identify differential predictors for TR to monotherapy with amisulpride or olanzapine compared to a combination of antipsychotics. Methods Post-hoc analysis was conducted of data collected from the COMBINE-study, a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial. Demographic and disease-related measures were gathered at baseline to predict TR after eight weeks defined by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Missing values were accounted for by a random replacement procedure. Attrition effects and multicollinearity were analysed and sets of logistic regression models were calculated for different treatment groups. Results Of the 321 randomized patients, 201 completed procedures until week eight and 197 were included in the analyses. For all treatment groups, early TR after two weeks and high subjective well-being under antipsychotics at baseline were robust predictors for TR. The propensity for early side effects also indicated a higher risk of later non-response. Specific parameter estimates were rather similar between treatment groups. Conclusion Early TR, drug-related subjective well-being, and early side effect propensity evolved as predictors for later TR whether to monotherapy or combination strategy. Accordingly, due to a lack of differential predictors, early and close monitoring of targeted and unwanted effects is indicated to guide respective treatment decisions

When increasing vegetable production may worsen food availability gaps: A simulation model in India

Translating agricultural productivity into food availability depends on food supply chains. Agricultural policy and research efforts promote increased horticultural crop production and yields, but the ability of low-resource food supply chains to handle increased volumes of perishable crops is not well understood. This study developed and used a discrete event simulation model to assess the impact of increased production of potato, onion, tomato, brinjal (eggplant), and cabbage on vegetable supply chains in Odisha, India. Odisha serves as an exemplar of vegetable supply chain challenges in many low-resource settings

Roquin Paralogs 1 and 2 Redundantly Repress the Icos and Ox40 Costimulator mRNAs and Control Follicular Helper T Cell Differentiation

SummaryThe Roquin-1 protein binds to messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and regulates gene expression posttranscriptionally. A single point mutation in Roquin-1, but not gene ablation, increases follicular helper T (Tfh) cell numbers and causes lupus-like autoimmune disease in mice. In T cells, we did not identify a unique role for the much lower expressed paralog Roquin-2. However, combined ablation of both genes induced accumulation of T cells with an effector and follicular helper phenotype. We showed that Roquin-1 and Roquin-2 proteins redundantly repressed the mRNA of inducible costimulator (Icos) and identified the Ox40 costimulatory receptor as another shared mRNA target. Combined acute deletion increased Ox40 signaling, as well as Irf4 expression, and imposed Tfh differentiation on CD4+ T cells. These data imply that both proteins maintain tolerance by preventing inappropriate T cell activation and Tfh cell differentiation, and that Roquin-2 compensates in the absence of Roquin-1, but not in the presence of its mutated form

Lives saved with vaccination for 10 pathogens across 112 countries in a pre-COVID-19 world.

BackgroundVaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions. We investigate the impact of vaccination activities for Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B, human papillomavirus, Japanese encephalitis, measles, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A, rotavirus, rubella, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and yellow fever over the years 2000-2030 across 112 countries.MethodsTwenty-one mathematical models estimated disease burden using standardised demographic and immunisation data. Impact was attributed to the year of vaccination through vaccine-activity-stratified impact ratios.ResultsWe estimate 97 (95%CrI[80, 120]) million deaths would be averted due to vaccination activities over 2000-2030, with 50 (95%CrI[41, 62]) million deaths averted by activities between 2000 and 2019. For children under-5 born between 2000 and 2030, we estimate 52 (95%CrI[41, 69]) million more deaths would occur over their lifetimes without vaccination against these diseases.ConclusionsThis study represents the largest assessment of vaccine impact before COVID-19-related disruptions and provides motivation for sustaining and improving global vaccination coverage in the future.FundingVIMC is jointly funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) (BMGF grant number: OPP1157270 / INV-009125). Funding from Gavi is channelled via VIMC to the Consortium's modelling groups (VIMC-funded institutions represented in this paper: Imperial College London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Public Health England, Johns Hopkins University, The Pennsylvania State University, Center for Disease Analysis Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Washington, University of Cambridge, University of Notre Dame, Harvard University, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Emory University, National University of Singapore). Funding from BMGF was used for salaries of the Consortium secretariat (authors represented here: TBH, MJ, XL, SE-L, JT, KW, NMF, KAMG); and channelled via VIMC for travel and subsistence costs of all Consortium members (all authors). We also acknowledge funding from the UK Medical Research Council and Department for International Development, which supported aspects of VIMC's work (MRC grant number: MR/R015600/1).JHH acknowledges funding from National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship; Richard and Peggy Notebaert Premier Fellowship from the University of Notre Dame. BAL acknowledges funding from NIH/NIGMS (grant number R01 GM124280) and NIH/NIAID (grant number R01 AI112970). The Lives Saved Tool (LiST) receives funding support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.This paper was compiled by all coauthors, including two coauthors from Gavi. Other funders had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. All authors had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication

Food Insecurity Prevalence Across Diverse Sites During COVID-19: A Year of Comprehensive Data

Key Findings NFACT includes 18 study sites in 15 states as well as a national poll, collectively representing a sample size of more than 26,000 people. Some sites have implemented multiple survey rounds, here we report results from 22 separate surveys conducted during the year since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. 18 out of 19 surveys in 14 sites with data for before and since the pandemic began found an increase in food insecurity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to before the pandemic. In nearly all surveys (18/19) that measured food insecurity both before and during the pandemic, more Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) were classified as food insecure during the pandemic as compared to before it began. Prevalence of food insecurity for BIPOC respondents was higher than the overall population in the majority of surveys (19/20) sampling a general population. In almost all surveys (21/22), the prevalence of food insecurity for households with children was higher than the overall prevalence of food insecurity. Food insecurity prevalence was higher for households experiencing a negative job impact during the pandemic (i.e. job loss, furlough, reduction in hours) in nearly all surveys and study sites (21/22). Food insecurity prevalence in most sites was significantly higher before COVID-19 than estimates from that time period. Reporting a percent change between pre and during COVID-19 prevalence may provide additional information about the rate of change in food insecurity since the start of the pandemic, which absolute prevalence of food insecurity may not capture. Results highlight consistent trends in food insecurity outcomes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, across diverse study sites, methodological approaches, and time