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Topological defects play a central role in the physics of many materials, including magnets, superconductors, and liquid crystals. In active fluids, defects become autonomous particles that spontaneously propel from internal active stresses and drive chaotic flows stirring the fluid. The intimate connection between defect textures and active flow suggests that properties of active materials can be engineered by controlling defects, but design principles for their spatiotemporal control remain elusive. Here, we propose a symmetry-based additive strategy for using elementary activity patterns, as active topological tweezers, to create, move, and braid such defects. By combining theory and simulations, we demonstrate how, at the collective level, spatial activity gradients act like electric fields which, when strong enough, induce an inverted topological polarization of defects, akin to a negative susceptibility dielectric. We harness this feature in a dynamic setting to collectively pattern and transport interacting active defects. Our work establishes an additive framework to sculpt flows and manipulate active defects in both space and time, paving the way to design programmable active and living materials for transport, memory, and logic.

This study experimentally explores the energetics for the formation of boron-imidazolate frameworks (BIFs), which are synthesized by mechanochemistry. The topologically similar frameworks employ the same tetratopic linker based on tetrakis(imidazolyl)boric acid but differ in the monovalent cation metal nodes. This permits assessment of the stabilizing effect of metal nodes in frameworks with sodalite (SOD) and diamondoid (dia) topologies. The enthalpy of formation from endmembers (metal oxide and linker), which define thermodynamic stability of the structures, has been determined by use of acid solution calorimetry. The results show that heavier metal atoms in the node promote greater energetic stabilization of denser structures. Overall, in BIFs the relation between cation descriptors (ionic radius and electronegativity) and thermodynamic stability depends on framework topology. Thermodynamic stability increases with the metallic character of the cation employed as the metal node, independent of the framework topology. The results suggest unifying aspects for thermodynamic stabilization across MOF systems.

Abstract Background Fasciitis ossificans is a rare subtype of nodular fasciitis, a benign soft tissue tumor with reactive characteristics. Due to its rapid growth, it is often misdiagnosed as a malignant tumor. While fasciitis ossificans commonly originates from the subcutaneous tissue and can appear throughout the body, it may also arise from extraordinary sites. Case presentation We report the first-ever documented case of fasciitis ossificans arising from the penis in a male patient who presented with a tumor on the glans penis. The tumor was surgically resected due to suspicion of penile cancer. Initial histopathological analysis led to a misdiagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma. However, pathological consultation ultimately confirmed the diagnosis of fasciitis ossificans of the penis originating from the glans penis by demonstrating ossification. Conclusion This case underscores the importance of considering fasciitis ossificans in the differential diagnosis of soft tissue tumors, even in unusual locations such as penile soft tissue.

Research shows that young people are likely to encounter considerable amounts of violence in the media they use. Some of those depictions trivialize the severity of violence. Past studies show that media literacy education can spur critical thinking regarding violent portrayals in media texts. But rarely do prior studies employ qualitative methods to understand how young media audience members reason through the key question of whether media violence is either surprising or concerning. In the current study, an in-school media literacy program is offered to 48 6th graders who provide data in the form of written responses to a number of critical thinking prompts applied to media texts containing violence. The findings suggest that although most members of the sample readily noticed violent depictions in media texts and could critique the manner in which violence is depicted, relatively few expressed either surprise or concern about those depictions.

Abstract In this rejoinder we argue, based on the papers of this commentary series, that ‘race’ is such a tricky notion because it can be used in (at least) two very different and contradictory ways—as a concept to disentangle racism and racialisation (what M’charek calls the ‘work race actually does’) and as a way of categorization and social classification, in which case it might create the very essentialised hierarchies ‘race’ as a critical concept tries to disentangle. We wonder if it is indeed possible to use ‘race’ as a concept without evoking ‘race’ as a social classification. At first, we give a short summary of the four discussion papers and then delve into two aspects the papers share, namely the need for spatial and temporal contextualization and comparison, as well as their choice not to take up our invitation to compare race as a category with gender. In a second step we will discuss two points arising from the papers, (1) ‘race’ as category, not as lens, often resulting in essentialism and (2) ‘race’ as potentially obscuring racism and racialisation. We conclude by proposing to give more space to complexity.

Research has shown that laypeople tend to rely on their own evaluations when encountering scientific text information that is easy to comprehend. This easiness effect of science popularization leaves them vulnerable to uncritically accepting misinformation presented in a simplified manner. The present study investigated whether warnings of misinformation frequently used in social networks and other online services mitigate or even prevent the persuasive advantage of information easiness. Forty-one medical laypeople read brief argumentative online texts proposing fictitious health claims. Texts were either easy or difficult to comprehend, and they either were or were not labeled with a warning that independent fact-checkers dispute the information. Results showed that warnings effectively increased laypeople's skepticism toward scientific misinformation. However, findings also suggested that warnings do not reduce the persuasive advantage of misinformation presented in an easily understandable manner, pointing to the limits of this communicative tool.

Bent-core liquid crystals, a class of mesogenic compounds with non-linear molecular structures, are well known for their unconventional mesophases, characterized by complex molecular (and supramolecular) ordering and often featuring biaxial and polar properties. In the nematic phase, their unique behavior is manifested in the formation of nano-sized biaxial clusters of layered molecules (cybotactic groups). While this prompted their consideration in the quest for nematic biaxiality, experimental evidence indicates that the cybotactic order is only short-ranged and that the nematic phase is macroscopically uniaxial. By combining atomic force microscopy, neutron reflectivity and wide-angle grazing-incidence X-ray scattering, here, we demonstrate that multilayer films of a bent-core nematic, deposited on silicon by a combined Langmuir–Blodgett and Langmuir–Schaefer approach, exhibit macroscopic in-plane ordering, with the long molecular axis tilted with respect to the sample surface and the short molecular axis (i.e., the apex bisector) aligned along the film compression direction. We thus propose the use of Langmuir films as an effective way to study and control the complex anchoring properties of bent-core liquid crystals.

Abstract While at the moment the world seems to be divided along racial lines and ‘race’ appears to be a central axe of social inclusion and exclusion, in this article we ask whether it is thinkable to go ‘beyond race’. We want to explore the idea of going ‘beyond race’ in four different ways: (1) ‘Beyond race’ as a demographic reality when people of mixed origin form the majority of population; (2) ‘Beyond race’ in regard to policies that aim at combatting inequalities also along color lines, yet are no longer dependent on a notion of race. (3) ‘Beyond race’ in terms of political mobilizations, e.g. the possibility or desirability of anti-racist movements not grounded in identity politics and (4) ‘Beyond race’ as a conceptualization of race that is decoupling biology and culture, or even to stop thinking in racial categories altogether, yet without de-politicizing any marginalised group’s, history and experience. We are aware that this questioning of race, and by implication of ethnicity, may be a typical hang-up of two authors based in Europe. We have invited authors from different parts of the world, and with different academic backgrounds to reflect in a commentary on the issues we raise and to explain their position.

The intent of this prospective study aimed to identify the influence of hypothyroid metabolic status on the coagulation and fibrinolytic system and association with the acquired von Willebrand syndrome (VWS-ac). We compared 54 patients without substitution therapy after radical thyroidectomy with 58 control subjects without pathological thyroid-stimulating-hormone (TSH)-values. Patients with TSH > 17.5 mU/L over a period of >4 weeks were included. The control-collective was selected based on age and sex to match the patient-collective. The data were collected using laboratory coagulation tests and patient questionnaires; a bleeding score was determined. There were significant differences in the measurement of activated-partial-thromboplastin-time (aPTT/p = 0.009), coagulation-factor VIII (p < 0.001) and von-Willebrand-activity (VWF-ac/p = 0.004) between the patient and control groups. The patient cohort showed an increased aPTT and decreased factor VIII and VWF-ac. 29.7% of the patient-collective compared to 17.2% of the control subjects met the definition of VWS-Ac (p = 0.12). The bleeding score showed significantly more bleeding symptoms in patients with a laboratory constellation of VWS-ac (no family history; p = 0.04). Our results suggest hypocoagulability in hypothyroid patients. Hypothyroidism appears to have a higher incidence of VWS-ac. The increased risk of bleeding complications in hypothyroid patients may be of relevant importance for the outcome, especially in the context of invasive interventions.

The authors examined how information relevance affects readers' understanding of conflicting information in multiple documents and how relevance affects the processing of conflicting information on a moment-by-moment level. Sixty-four undergraduate students read a set of documents about a medical topic containing three intertextual conflicts addressing subtopics that were either highly relevant or irrelevant to the readers' task. Eye movements were recorded during reading, and afterward, readers' memory for conflicting information and their ability to apply their knowledge about the conflicting information was assessed. Relevance had a powerful influence on readers' understanding of conflicts between multiple documents: Readers for whom the intertextual conflicts were relevant remembered conflicting information better and reported conflicts more frequently than readers for whom the conflicts were irrelevant. The time course of this effect revealed that relevance exerts its influence only during a later stage of processing. Readers appear to initially detect conflicts regardless of their relevance, but only readers for whom conflicts are relevant invest the additional regulatory effort needed to include them in their mental representation.

Abstract The effect of timing of hospital admission for stillbirth delivery following late intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) has not yet been described. By this study, we aimed to gain an understanding of the impact of “immediate” (i.e., on the same day of IUFD diagnosis) versus “delayed” hospital admission (i.e., on the subsequent day or two days after IUFD diagnosis) on maternal and delivery outcome parameters. This retrospective cohort study comprised all women who suffered a singleton IUFD ≥ 21 gestational weeks and delivered the stillborn at our tertiary referral center between 2003 and 2019. We excluded all terminations of pregnancy and women presenting with acute symptoms on the day of IUFD diagnosis. In total, 183 women were included of whom 69.4% (n = 127) were immediately admitted and 30.6% (n = 56) had delayed admission. Median gestational age of IUFD was 30+3 (21+0–41+3) weeks. Whilst women with early signs of labor were more frequently admitted immediately (87.5%; 14/16), neither maternal demographic and obstetric parameters, nor day of the week or presenting symptoms influenced the timing of hospital admission. 77.6% (142/183) of women after IUFD diagnosis delivered within the first 3 days after admission. Women after immediate admission equally often delivered on admission day and the day after (26.0%; 33/127 each), women after delayed admission most commonly delivered the day after admission (39.3%; 22/56). Stillbirth delivery on the day of diagnosis was more common upon immediate admission (p = 0.006), especially in early gestational weeks (p = 0.003) and with small fetal weight (p

Abstract Evidence suggests that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) reorganize neural networks via a transient window of neuroplasticity. While previous findings support an effect of SSRIs on intrinsic functional connectivity, little is known regarding the influence of SSRI-administration on connectivity during sequence motor learning. To investigate this, we administered 20 mg escitalopram or placebo for 1-week to 60 healthy female participants undergoing concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging and sequence motor training in a double-blind randomized controlled design. We assessed task-modulated functional connectivity with a psycho-physiological interaction (PPI) analysis in the thalamus, putamen, cerebellum, dorsal premotor, primary motor, supplementary motor, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. Comparing an implicit sequence learning condition to a control learning condition, we observed decreased connectivity between the thalamus and bilateral motor regions after 7 days of escitalopram intake. Additionally, we observed a negative correlation between plasma escitalopram levels and PPI connectivity changes, with higher escitalopram levels being associated with greater thalamo-cortico decreases. Our results suggest that escitalopram enhances network-level processing efficiency during sequence motor learning, despite no changes in behaviour. Future studies in more diverse samples, however, with quantitative imaging of neurochemical markers of excitation and inhibition, are necessary to further assess neural responses to escitalopram.

This study investigated the following research question: How do sixth-graders respond to a media literacy lesson that was designed to, among other goals, introduce the concept of the presence of commercial interest in media production, particularly regarding the prevalence of media violence? Forty-seven responses were analyzed thematically using constant comparison. Students' responses illustrate their critical thinking and understanding about producers' intent in including violence in media, although recognizing the commercial interest behind media violence still seems to be a challenge. Findings also suggest the task of striking a balance between instilling critical thinking skills and acknowledging children's personal media experiences.

Previous findings in healthy humans suggest that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) modulate emotional processing via earlier changes in attention. However, many previous studies have provided inconsistent findings. One possible reason for such inconsistencies is that these studies did not control for the influence of either sex or sex hormone fluctuations. To address this inconsistency, we administered 20 mg escitalopram or placebo for seven consecutive days in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design to sixty healthy female participants with a minimum of 3 months oral contraceptive (OC) intake. Participants performed a modified version of an emotional flanker task before drug administration, after a single dose, after 1 week of SSRI intake, and after a 1-month wash-out period. Supported by Bayesian analyses, our results do not suggest a modulatory effect of escitalopram on behavioral measures of early attentional-emotional interaction in female individuals with regular OC use. While the specific conditions of our task may be a contributing factor, it is also possible that a practice effect in a healthy sample may mask the effects of escitalopram on the attentional-emotional interplay. Consequently, 1 week of escitalopram administration may not modulate attention toward negative emotional distractors outside the focus of attention in healthy female participants taking OCs. While further research in naturally cycling females and patient samples is needed, our results represent a valuable contribution toward the preclinical investigation of antidepressant treatment.

Flerovium (Fl, element 114) is the heaviest element chemically studied so far. To date, its interaction with gold was investigated in two gas-solid chromatography experiments, which reported two different types of interaction, however, each based on the level of a few registered atoms only. Whereas noble-gas-like properties were suggested from the first experiment, the second one pointed at a volatile-metal-like character. Here, we present further experimental data on adsorption studies of Fl on silicon oxide and gold surfaces, accounting for the inhomogeneous nature of the surface, as it was used in the experiment and analyzed as part of the reported studies. We confirm that Fl is highly volatile and the least reactive member of group 14. Our experimental observations suggest that Fl exhibits lower reactivity towards Au than the volatile metal Hg, but higher reactivity than the noble gas Rn.

The authors examined adolescents' detection of features that affect the quality of web information. In experiment 1, participants (12-16 years old) rated the goodness/usefulness of four web-like documents for a simulated study assignment. Each document came with an issue that potentially undermined its quality. Two documents had source-related issues (i.e., noncompetent author, outdated), and the other two documents had content-related issues (i.e., topic mismatch, poor readability). Most students failed to notice the issues, including topic mismatch. The participants also produced inconsistent evaluations of topic match, readability, author competence, and currency. In experiment 2, students were prompted to assess each criterion separately. The participants distinguished poorer from better documents in relation to each criterion, except for author competence. The authors discuss these results in light of previous research on adolescents' evaluation behavior, propose further avenues for reading research, and articulate recommendations for educational practice.

Scientific claims that are connected to ethical concerns are frequently brought forward by communicators who are not ethically neutral. This study investigated how far recipients' evaluation of such claims is guided by vigilance toward a potential ethical source bias rather than their own ethical bias. One hundred ten individuals opposed to capital punishment read a topic-related text by an ethically positioned source. A scientific claim in the text either supported or did not support the recipient's ethical stance; in addition, the source either shared or opposed their stance. Results showed that recipients are guided to some extent by their own ethically motivated reasoning: They agree more consistently with sources sharing their ethical stance and consider these sources to be more credible. Recipients appear to be principally aware that a source's ethical stance may bias its scientific message, but this vigilance seems to depend on their own ethical disagreement with the source.