Transfer Entropy Granger Causality between News Indices and Stock Markets in U.S. and Latin America during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The relationship between three different groups of COVID-19 news series and stock market volatility for several Latin American countries and the U.S. are analyzed.

Impact of the Global Fear Index (COVID-19 Panic) on the S&P Global Indices Associated with Natural Resources, Agribusiness, Energy, Metals, and Mining: Granger Causality and Shannon and Rényi Transfer Entropy.

The Global Fear Index (GFI) is a measure of fear/panic based on the number of people infected and deaths due to COVID-19. This paper aims to examine the interconnection or interdependencies between the GFI and a set of global indexes related to the financial and economic activities associated with natural resources, raw materials, agribusiness, energy, metals, and mining, such as: the S&P Global Resource Index, the S&P Global Agribusiness Equity Index, the S&P Global Metals and Mining Index, and the S&P Global 1200 Energy Index. To this end, we first apply several common tests: Wald exponential, Wald mean, Nyblom, and Quandt Likelihood Ratio.

Genome of a novel Sediminibacterium discovered in association with two species of freshwater cyanobacteria from streams in Southern California.

Here, we report the discovery of a novel Sediminibacterium sequenced from laboratory cultures of freshwater stream cyanobacteria from sites in Southern California, grown in BG11 medium. Our genome-wide analyses reveal a highly contiguous and complete genome (97% BUSCO) that is placed within sediminibacterial clades in phylogenomic analyses. Functional annotation indicates the presence of genes that could be involved in mutualistic/commensal relationship with associated cyanobacterial hosts.

Development of a culturally and linguistically sensitive virtual reality educational platform to improve vaccine acceptance within a refugee population: the SHIFA community engagement-public health innovation programme.

Objectives: To combat misinformation, engender trust and increase health literacy, we developed a culturally and linguistically appropriate virtual reality (VR) vaccination education platform using community-engaged approaches within a Somali refugee community.

Design: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods including focus group discussions, interviews, and surveys were conducted with Somali community members and expert advisors to design the educational content. Co-design approaches with community input were employed in a phased approach to develop the VR storyline.

Searching for fat tails in CRISPR-Cas systems: Data analysis and mathematical modeling.

Understanding CRISPR-Cas systems-the adaptive defence mechanism that about half of bacterial species and most of archaea use to neutralise viral attacks-is important for explaining the biodiversity observed in the microbial world as well as for editing animal and plant genomes effectively. The CRISPR-Cas system learns from previous viral infections and integrates small pieces from phage genomes called spacers into the microbial genome. The resulting library of spacers collected in CRISPR arrays is then compared with the DNA of potential invaders.

How Oxygen Availability Affects the Antimicrobial Efficacy of Host Defense Peptides: Lessons Learned from Studying the Copper-Binding Peptides Piscidins 1 and 3.

The development of new therapeutic options against () infection is a critical public health concern, as the causative bacterium is highly resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics. Antimicrobial host-defense peptides (HDPs) are highly effective at simultaneously modulating the immune system function and directly killing bacteria through membrane disruption and oxidative damage. The copper-binding HDPs piscidin 1 and piscidin 3 have previously shown potent antimicrobial activity against a number of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial species but have never been investigated in an anaerobic environment.

Investigating Instructor Talk in Novel Contexts: Widespread Use, Unexpected Categories, and an Emergent Sampling Strategy.

Instructor Talk-noncontent language used by instructors in classrooms-is a recently defined and promising variable for better understanding classroom dynamics. Having previously characterized the Instructor Talk framework within the context of a single course, we present here our results surrounding the applicability of the Instructor Talk framework to noncontent language used by instructors in novel course contexts. We analyzed Instructor Talk in eight additional biology courses in their entirety and in 61 biology courses using an emergent sampling strategy.

A heterodyne dispersion interferometer for wide bandwidth density measurements on DIII-D.

In order to improve both the density and particularly the temporal resolution beyond previous dispersion interferometers (DIs), a heterodyne technique based on an acousto-optic (AO) cell has been added to the DI. A 40 MHz drive frequency for the AO cell allows density fluctuation measurements into the MHz range. A CO laser-based heterodyne DI (HDI) installed on DIII-D has demonstrated that the HDI is capable of tracking the density evolution throughout DIII-D discharges, including disruption events and other rapid transient phenomena.

Classroom sound can be used to classify teaching practices in college science courses.

Active-learning pedagogies have been repeatedly demonstrated to produce superior learning gains with large effect sizes compared with lecture-based pedagogies. Shifting large numbers of college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty to include any active learning in their teaching may retain and more effectively educate far more students than having a few faculty completely transform their teaching, but the extent to which STEM faculty are changing their teaching methods is unclear. Here, we describe the development and application of the machine-learning-derived algorithm Decibel Analysis for Research in Teaching (DART), which can analyze thousands of hours of STEM course audio recordings quickly, with minimal costs, and without need for human observers.

Bench testing of a heterodyne CO laser dispersion interferometer for high temporal resolution plasma density measurements.

A heterodyne detection scheme is combined with a 10.59 μm CO laser dispersion interferometer for the first time to allow large bandwidth measurements in the 10-100 MHz range. The approach employed utilizes a 40 MHz acousto-optic cell operating on the frequency doubled CO beam which is obtained using a high 2nd harmonic conversion efficiency orientation patterned gallium arsenide crystal.

Orca Behavior and Subsequent Aggression Associated with Oceanarium Confinement.

Based on neuroanatomical indices such as brain size and encephalization quotient, orcas are among the most intelligent animals on Earth. They display a range of complex behaviors indicative of social intelligence, but these are difficult to study in the open ocean where protective laws may apply, or in captivity, where access is constrained for commercial and safety reasons. From 1979 to 1980, however, we were able to interact with juvenile orcas in an unstructured way at San Diego's SeaWorld facility.