A research initiative was launched during the initial coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak by 3 New York metropolitan area institutions. Collaborators recruited community members and patients from previous research studies to examine COVID-19 experiences and mental health symptoms through self-report surveys. The current report descriptively presents findings from the initial survey characterized by both community and clinical cohorts, and discusses challenges encountered with rapid implementation. The clinical cohort exhibited higher rates of symptoms of mental health difficulties (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) as compared to the community cohort. COVID-19 positivity rates were similar among both groups and lower than the national average. While both groups reported low rates of job loss, community members reported higher rates of financial difficulty resulting from the pandemic. Findings indicate the need for further collaborative research on the mental health impact of COVID-19.

A segment of the debate surrounding the commercialization and use of glyphosate-resistant (GR) crops focuses on the theory that the implementation of these traits is an extension of the intensification of agriculture that will further erode the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes. A large field-scale study was initiated in 2006 in the United States on 156 different field sites with a minimum 3-yr history of GR-corn, -cotton or -soybean in the cropping system. The impact of cropping system, crop rotation, frequency of using the GR crop trait, and several categorical variables on seedbank weed population density and diversity was analyzed. The parameters of total weed population density of all species in the seedbank, species richness, Shannon's H′ and evenness were not affected by any management treatment. The similarity between the seedbank and aboveground weed community was more strongly related to location than management; previous year's crops and cropping systems were also important while GR trait rotation was not. The composition of the weed flora was more strongly related to location (geography) than any other parameter. The diversity of weed flora in agricultural sites with a history of GR crop production can be influenced by several factors relating to the specific method in which the GR trait is integrated (cropping system, crop rotation, GR trait rotation), the specific weed species, and the geographical location. Continuous GR crop, compared to fields with other cropping systems, only had greater species diversity (species richness) of some life forms, i.e., biennials, winter annuals, and prostrate weeds. Overall diversity was related to geography and not cropping system. These results justify further research to clarify the complexities of crops grown with herbicide-resistance traits to provide a more complete characterization of their culture and local adaptation to the weed seedbank.

Utilizing a newly released cognitive Polygenic Score (PGS) from Wave IV of Add Health (n = 1,886), structural equation models (SEMs) examining the relationship between PGS and fertility (which is approximately 50% complete in the present sample), employing measures of verbal IQ and educational attainment as potential mediators, were estimated. The results of indirect pathway models revealed that verbal IQ mediates the positive relationship between PGS and educational attainment, and educational attainment in turn mediates the negative relationship between verbal IQ and a latent fertility measure. The direct path from PGS to fertility was non-significant. The model was robust to controlling for age, sex, and race; furthermore, the results of a multigroup SEM revealed no significant differences in the estimated path coeficients across sex. These results indicate that those predisposed towards higher verbal IQ by virtue of higher PGS values are also predisposed towards trading fertility against time spent in education, which contributes to those with higher PGS values producing fewer offspring at this stage in their life course.

The discipline of political science in the United States evolved in tandem with the development of democratic education and the modern university system. Since the early years of the twentieth century, political science has been an academic discipline housed in universities and colleges, and most political scientists earn their living as university or college teachers. And yet as individual academics or as a discipline, we rarely stand back from our institutional environment and ask hard questions about what is happening with higher education and what this means for the practice of political science. Suzanne Mettler does precisely this in Degrees of Inequality: How Higher Education Politics Sabotaged the American Dream. And so we have invited a range of political science scholars, many with extensive experience as university leaders, to comment on her book and its implications for the future of political science.

An impressive literature has revealed that variation in virtually every measurable phenotype is the result of a combination of genetic and environmental influences. Based on these findings, studies that fail to use genetically informed modeling strategies risk model misspecification and biased parameter estimates. Twin- and adoption-based research designs have frequently been used to overcome this limitation. Despite the many advantages of such approaches, many available datasets do not contain samples of twins, siblings or adoptees, making it impossible to utilize these modeling strategies. The current study proposes a measurement strategy for estimating the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior (ASB) within a nationally representative sample of singletons using an extended pedigree risk approach that relies on information from first- and second-degree relatives. An evaluation of this approach revealed a pattern of findings that directly aligned with studies examining ASB using more traditional twin- and adoption-based research designs. While the proposed pedigree risk approach is not capable of effectively isolating genetic and environmental influences, this overall alignment in results provides tentative evidence suggesting that the proposed pedigree risk measure effectively captures genetic influences. Future replication studies are necessary as this observation remains preliminary. Whenever possible, more traditional quantitative genetic methodologies should be favored, but the presented strategy remains a viable alternative for more limited samples.

We report a means of directly controlling DNA dehybridization by radio frequency magnetic field coupling to a nanometer scale antenna covalently linked to the DNA. The method of control relies on induction heating of an Au nanocrystal, which raises the temperature of a biomolecule to which it is covalently bound, while leaving surrounding molecules relatively unaffected. Because heat dissipation in biomolecules in solution is rapid(<50 picoseconds[1]) this switching is reversible. This technique is specific, reversible, and non-optical. Since it can be used in solution, it has the potential to be extended to systems in vivo. The ability to differentially control local temperature forms the basis of control of properties such as hybridization and enzyme activity, and has the potential of controlling many biological processes.

In attempt to ultimately control the characteristics of the PZT films, wehave decided to investigate some of the basic chemistry associated withthese solutions. Frequently, these solutions have been generated from GroupIV metal alkoxides in acetic acid (HOAc). Therefore, studies of the simple reactivity between M(OCHMe2)4 (M = Ti, Zr) and HOAc have beenundertaken. These reactions were monitored by 1H, 13C, 17O NMR, FT-IR, TGA/DTA, and single crystal X‐ray studies.Films were produced from spin‐coat deposition of crystalline material (fromthe titanium reaction) in toluene and aged solutions as well.

The microstructural evolution of lead titanate prepared by a sol-gel method was examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) following treatments in air at progressively higher temperatures. TEM specimens were prepared by spin coating a film or dispersing particles onto specimen grids coated with SiO2 or SiO2 with a barrier layer. The effects of different barrier materials, thermal treatment conditions, and the addition of platinum particles were examined. Lead titanate formed crystalline perovskite at ∼550-600°C on all support materials examined. On SiO2 supports, the pyrochlore phase formed at lower temperatures and converted partially to perovskite at higher temperatures. Barrier layers of TiO2, A12O3 and polyimide prevented pyrochlore formation.