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ObjectiveTo explore trends in blood pressure (BP) control before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Patients and methodsHealth systems participating in the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet) Blood Pressure Control Laboratory Surveillance System responded to data queries, producing 9 BP control metrics. Averages of the BP control metrics (weighted by numbers of observations in each health system) were calculated and compared between two 1-year measurement periods (January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019, and January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020).ResultsAmong 1,770,547 hypertensive persons in 2019, BP control to

Why do creative ideas and solutions to unresolved problems benefit from taking a break? The idea of unconscious work as an explanation is so appealing that even after reading this paper, which states clearly that unconscious work is a fantasy based on no clear theory and no clear empirical evidence, some readers will claim that we are saying the opposite. Here, we explain why the imaginary meme of unconscious work is so difficult to eradicate from the scientific literature, including the fact that there is no clearly testable theory of unconscious work. Because the lack of a truly testable theory is one of the things that makes this meme so slippery, we propose a testable theory of unconscious work, the Autonomous Unconscious Thought Operations (AUTO) theory, which states that autonomous unconscious operations continuing over time is an essential feature of unconscious work. We describe some requirements of such a theory, and we propose empirical tests of the AUTO theory. We predict that autonomy of unconscious operations will be empirically falsified. The mechanism of unconscious work is not needed to explain so-called "incubation" effects, because there are several testable (and tested) explanations of what happens as a function of breaks from fixated problems, such as multiple bouts of forgotten conscious work, forgetting fixating responses, mind wandering, or set-shifting.

SARS-CoV-2 accesses host cells via angiotensin-converting enzyme-2, which is also affected by commonly used angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), raising concerns that ACEI or ARB exposure may portend differential COVID-19 outcomes. In parallel cohort studies of outpatient and inpatient COVID-19-diagnosed adults with hypertension, we assessed associations between antihypertensive exposure (ACEI/ARB vs. non-ACEI/ARB antihypertensives, as well as between ACEI- vs. ARB) at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis, using electronic health record data from PCORnet health systems. The primary outcomes were all-cause hospitalization or death (outpatient cohort) or all-cause death (inpatient), analyzed via Cox regression weighted by inverse probability of treatment weights. From February 2020 through December 9, 2020, 11,246 patients (3477 person-years) and 2200 patients (777 person-years) were included from 17 health systems in outpatient and inpatient cohorts, respectively. There were 1015 all-cause hospitalization or deaths in the outpatient cohort (incidence, 29.2 events per 100 person-years), with no significant difference by ACEI/ARB use (adjusted HR 1.01; 95% CI 0.88, 1.15). In the inpatient cohort, there were 218 all-cause deaths (incidence, 28.1 per 100 person-years) and ACEI/ARB exposure was associated with reduced death (adjusted HR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.57, 0.99). ACEI, versus ARB exposure, was associated with higher risk of hospitalization in the outpatient cohort, but no difference in all-cause death in either cohort. There was no evidence of effect modification across pre-specified baseline characteristics. Our results suggest ACEI and ARB exposure have no detrimental effect on hospitalizations and may reduce death among hypertensive patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

Food systems are particularly sensitive to changing precipitation patterns. Resilience via irrigation will depend on baseline conditions, water source, and institutional constraints which have not been studied jointly. We draw on over 100 years of agricultural production and weather data across the United States to identify the extent to which access to stored water - distinguished by its source and location - affects drought resiliency. Arid regions with access to stored water avoided the 13% losses in crop value experienced in irrigated areas with more limited storage during droughts. Humid regions are also beginning to adopt irrigation, but with less aggregate impact during drought. The incomplete governance of groundwater withdrawals in many areas allow resiliency in the near-term, but potentially at the expense of future water availability. Conversely, surface water rights allow for the widespread application of irrigation water, but with less resiliency during significant periods of drought.

We argue that time management training can help develop students' self-control, which helps students spend less time on leisure activities and more time on activities that are associated with student success. The imposition of measures meant to reduce or stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus provided an opportunity where the impact of time management training on student behavior could be assessed when there was a significant change in the learning environment, from in person learning to online learning. The transition to online learning was associated with an increase in unstructured time and the removal of time norms for students. Using an experimental study design, we find that students that receive time management training spend more time on activities associated with student success. Interestingly, when there was a transition to online learning, students increased the amount of time they spent on leisure activities. However, when compared to the control group, students that received time management training spent more time on activities associated with student success, such as studying and eating, and less time on activities that hinder success, such as video gaming and running errands. Our results suggest that time management training helps students work more effectively in online learning environments.

Summary: The phytohormone strigolactone (SL) inhibits shoot branching, whereas the signalling metabolite trehalose 6‐phosphate (Tre6P) promotes branching. How Tre6P and SL signalling may interact and which molecular mechanisms might be involved remains largely unknown.Transcript profiling of Arabidopsis SL mutants revealed a cluster of differentially expressed genes highly enriched in the Tre6P pathway compared with wild‐type (WT) plants or brc1 mutants. Tre6P‐related genes were also differentially expressed in axillary buds of garden pea (Pisum sativum) SL mutants.Tre6P levels were elevated in the SL signalling mutant more axillary (max) growth 2 compared with other SL mutants or WT plants indicating a role of MAX2‐dependent SL signalling in regulating Tre6P levels.A transgenic approach to increase Tre6P levels demonstrated that all SL mutant lines and brc1 flowered earlier, showing all of these mutants were responsive to Tre6P. Elevated Tre6P led to increased branching in WT plants but not in max2 and max4 mutants, indicating some dependency between the SL pathway and Tre6P regulation of shoot branching. By contrast, elevated Tre6P led to an enhanced branching phenotype in brc1 mutants indicating independence between BRC1 and Tre6P. A model is proposed whereby SL signalling represses branching via Tre6P and independently of the BRC1 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, the thermal and electrical properties of three‐phase ceramics containing a boride phase, silicon carbide, and boron carbide have not been studied in detail. Further, the effect of the source of the boride powder has also not been investigated. This study produced three‐phase ceramics containing titanium diboride, silicon carbide, and boron carbide using three different TiB2 sources: commercial powder, TiB2 synthesized by boro/carbothermal reduction, or (Ti,Cr)B2 synthesized by boro/carbothermal reduction to address the effect of the TiB2 source. Ceramics containing synthesized TiB2 or (Ti,Cr)B2 reached >99% relative density, while the ceramic produced from commercial powder reached ∼93% relative density. The addition of Cr reduced both the thermal and electrical conductivities, but had little effect on the Vickers hardness. The (Ti,Cr)B2–SiC–B4C ceramic had a thermal conductivity of ∼33 W/m K, an electrical conductivity of ∼105 S/m, and a hardness of ∼61 GPa at 0.49 N. The highest hardness of ∼66 GPa at a load of 0.49 N was for the TiB2–SiC–B4C ceramic made with synthesized TiB2 powder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has often been shown that intentional recollection is influenced by context manipulations, such as context reinstatement (e.g., Smith, 2013; Smith & Vela, 2001), but whether or not automatic retrieval (e.g., Jacoby, 1991) is likewise context dependent remains an open question. Here, we present two experiments that examined effects of context manipulations on indirect measures of memory. The first experiment tested anagram completion, and the second experiment used word fragment completion to test effects of context reinstatement; both experiments found reinstatement effects. To address potential problems of explicit contamination, we also asked participants if they were aware of the priming manipulations. Separating participants according to their test awareness showed effects of context manipulations for both aware and unaware participants. A greater effect size was found for aware participants only in Experiment 1, in which participants had enough time on each test trial for recollection to be used. We conclude that context reinstatement does affect automatic retrieval.