“I am here because I wanted to shine”: how poetry can be used to better understand undergraduate students’ first-year chemistry or related course experiences

In this study we investigate how first-year chemistry/biology undergraduate students’ original poetry can be used as a reflective tool for others to understand their course experiences. By inviting students from an integrated first-year chemistry/biology course to write poetry about their experiences, we use poetic content analysis as a qualitative research method to analyze the students’ responses to an open-ended prompt. In analyzing the poetry, four major categories emerged: knowledge, community, emotions, and identity, each of which includes examples that reflect and enhance our understanding of well-documented milestones and ideas in the literature regarding first-year student academic experiences, therefore highlighting the extent to which poetry can be useful in this regard. In presenting these findings we also demonstrate how such an approach might be used by others to better understand student experiences, including those related to learning, belonging, and/or identity in their introductory chemistry or related courses

PolySilicate Porous Organic Polymers (PSiPOPs), a new family of porous, ordered 3D reticular materials with polysilicate nodes and organic linkers

Spherosilicate, consisting of a double 4-ring cyclosilicate core (D4R; Si8O20) with every corner functionalized with a dimethylsilyl chloride group (-SiMe2Cl), was used as node to construct an iso-reticular series of porous expanded network materials. Interconnecting the nodes with linear, aliphatic {\alpha},{\omega}-alkanediol linker molecules yields PolySilicate Porous Organic Polymers (PSiPOPs), a new type of ordered reticular material related to the well-known metal-organic and covalent organic frameworks (MOFs & COFs). In the synthesis, sacrificial hydrogen-bonded Si8O20 cyclosilicate crystals are first converted into silyl chloride terminated spherosilicate. In a second step, these nodes are linked up by alkanediol units via the intermediate formation of a Si-N bond with catalytic amines such as pyridine and dimethylformamide. Overall, the presented synthesis converts D4R cyclosilicate into an ordered reticular framework with [Si8O20]-[Si(CH3)2-]8 nodes and O-(CH2)n-O linkers. Example materials with ethylene glycol, 1,5-pentanediol, and 1,7-heptanediol as linker (n = 2, 5, and 7) were produced and characterized. On a macroscopic level, the synthesis yields porous frameworks exhibiting a thermal stability up to 400{\deg}C and a chemical stability between pH 1 and 12. N2 physisorption revealed a secondary mesopore structure, indicating future options to produce hierarchical materials using soft templates. The molecular level structure of these reticular PSiPOP materials was elucidated using an NMR crystallography approach implementing a combination of 1D and 2D 1H and 29Si solid-state MAS NMR spectroscopy experiments. Previously reported reticular COF/POP materials implementing D4R-based nodes, used Si8 octakis (phenyl) D4R POSS as a node, connecting it to the linker via a Si-C bond instead of a Si-O-C linkage

Climatic Determinants of Shrimp Yields in Tamil Nadu, India: A Transfer Function Analysis

Shrimp aquaculture in Tamil Nadu plays a critical role in supporting livelihoods and contributing to exports but is increasingly vulnerable to climatic variability. This study investigates how seasonal precipitation, extreme temperatures, and lagged production impact shrimp yields in four key districts—Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, and Nagapattinam—over the period 2015–2023. Using statistical models, we identify major trends and district-specific sensitivities. For instance, excessive summer and winter precipitation coupled with high maximum temperatures reduced yields in Tiruvallur, whereas warmer summer nights boosted production. In Cuddalore, yields were hampered by seasonal precipitation, elevated minimum temperatures, and the lingering effects of previous yields. Thanjavur’s production suffered from extreme temperatures and winter rainfall but benefited from milder winter nights. Nagapattinam showed unique dynamics, where winter precipitation and summer maximum temperatures enhanced yields, while summer rainfall and lagged production had adverse effects. These findings highlight the need for tailored, district-specific strategies to manage climate risks and sustain shrimp farming. For example, adaptive measures such as optimizing water management or selecting climate-resilient shrimp varieties could mitigate negative impacts. Future research could integrate factors like water quality and disease outbreaks to strengthen the sector’s resilience further

Resource characteristics and stock assessment of lesser sardines in the Indian waters

The fishery and biology of commercially important species of lesser sardine resources of India were studied. Detailed gearwise, specieswise and monthwise landings for 1984-88 are presented .In Goa-Karnataka region the main gear was purse seine, whereas in the Keralaregion it was gill net. On the east coast, Tamil Nadu- Pondicheny recorded maximum landings through gill nets and Andhra-Orissa through boat seines and gill nets. Surdinellu gibbosa was the imponant species in the west and southeast coasts of India, and S.,fimbriutuin the northeast region. Growth panmeters for different species were estimated. Stock assessment for S. gibbosu showed that the fish is optimally exploited in the Tamil Nadu-Pondicheny region, whereas in the west coast (Kerala and Goa-Kmataka regions) the fishery can be improved with additional effon. In the Andhra-Orissa region. the effon is beyond the MSY level

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Question Decomposition Improves the Faithfulness of Model-Generated Reasoning

As large language models (LLMs) perform more difficult tasks, it becomes harder to verify the correctness and safety of their behavior. One approach to help with this issue is to prompt LLMs to externalize their reasoning, e.g., by having them generate step-by-step reasoning as they answer a question (Chain-of-Thought; CoT). The reasoning may enable us to check the process that models use to perform tasks. However, this approach relies on the stated reasoning faithfully reflecting the model's actual reasoning, which is not always the case. To improve over the faithfulness of CoT reasoning, we have models generate reasoning by decomposing questions into subquestions. Decomposition-based methods achieve strong performance on question-answering tasks, sometimes approaching that of CoT while improving the faithfulness of the model's stated reasoning on several recently-proposed metrics. By forcing the model to answer simpler subquestions in separate contexts, we greatly increase the faithfulness of model-generated reasoning over CoT, while still achieving some of the performance gains of CoT. Our results show it is possible to improve the faithfulness of model-generated reasoning; continued improvements may lead to reasoning that enables us to verify the correctness and safety of LLM behavior.Comment: For few-shot examples and prompts, see https://github.com/anthropics/DecompositionFaithfulnessPape

Clinical Outcomes With a Repositionable Self-Expanding Transcatheter Aortic Valve Prosthesis: The International FORWARD Study

Background Clinical outcomes in large patient populations from real-world clinical practice with a next-generation self-expanding transcatheter aortic valve are lacking. Objectives This study sought to document the clinical and device performance outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with a next-generation, self-expanding transcatheter heart valve (THV) system in patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) in routine clinical practice. Methods The FORWARD (CoreValve Evolut R FORWARD) study is a prospective, single-arm, multinational, multicenter, observational study. An independent clinical events committee adjudicated safety endpoints based on Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 definitions. An independent echocardiographic core laboratory evaluated all echocardiograms. From January 2016 to December 2016, TAVR with the next-generation self-expanding THV was attempted in 1,038 patients with symptomatic, severe AS at 53 centers on 4 continents. Results Mean age was 81.8 ± 6.2 years, 64.9% were women, the mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality was 5.5 ± 4.5%, and 33.9% of patients were deemed frail. The repositioning feature of the THV was applied in 25.8% of patients. A single valve was implanted in the proper anatomic location in 98.9% of patients. The mean aortic valve gradient was 8.5 ± 5.6 mm Hg, and moderate or severe aortic regurgitation was 1.9% at discharge. All-cause mortality was 1.9%, and disabling stroke occurred in 1.8% at 30 days. The expected-to-observed early surgical mortality ratio was 0.35. A pacemaker was implanted in 17.5% of patients. Conclusions TAVR using the next-generation THV is clinically safe and effective for treating older patients with severe AS at increased operative risk. (CoreValve Evolut R FORWARD Study [FORWARD]; NCT02592369