#what are the different methods of data collection in research

[keferon]

Why’d monster hunter brainstorm timetravel to the specific era the story takes place?

Will the others ever see his alt mode?

The reason is the same as in canon - he wanted to save Quark.

Okay, I'll try and keep this short and sweet.

Brainstorm lives in the far future and is happy with Quark, until one day it turns out that Quark has a fatal spark disease that will kill him if nothing is done about it. They of course go to the hospital, but it turns out that only certain types of the disease are treatable and modern science still can't do anything about it.

Long story short, no one knows how to cure Quark's spark.

Brainstorm, as a true scientist and a good conjunx, naturally begins to research the subject himself and stumbles upon some strange information. All the sources, studies and records on the study of this disease go back a long fucking way. All that modern scientists have been doing for the last million years is just improving and refining the method of treatment, which was invented in absolute antiquity.

Brainstorm investigates further.

He discovers, all the original research records belonged to a mech named Perseptor, who amongst many other things was studying sparks. And it's when Brainstorm manages to get his hands on copies of these very original records that he finally realises why no one has been able to take this research any further. The records are very well structured, detailed and accurate, but half of the information is taken out of nowhere. The Perseptor specifies the types of sparks that certain substances affect in certain ways, but nowhere does he mention where he got this information from. He might, for example, write that certain types of sparks tend to develop internal micro-cracks when exposed to certain factors for long periods of time. And Brainstorm, having read that, can only stare blankly into space, because yes, micro-cracks in sparks is something that exists. But even in his time, there's no equipment that can detect them if they're INSIDE. So how the hell did an ancient mech with his primitive tools figure all this out???

His curiosity isn't satisfied. The research just cuts off in the middle, as if the mech that did it just abandoned it or died suddenly.

Brainstorm, like many scientists before him, tries to start his own research based on the information pointed out by Perseptor, but finds himself at the same dead end as all the medicine of his time. He just doesn't have the same mysterious way of collecting data that this...Perseptor had.

And Quark isn't getting any better

Eventually, Brainstorm comes up with a brilliant idea. What if, instead of trying to find a cure, he just (ha! Just.) went back in time and saved the dude who was definitely going to invent the cure but didn't have time? He decides it's genius and creates a time machine.

He goes back in time to find Perseptor and well, he gets a surprise. Turns out the dude who researched spark disease was a spark eater. And also on the verge of starvation, but Brainstorm finds a way to help him, it's all good:) It turns out that all this time, Perseptor didn't have any mysterious equipment to analyse the sparks, he was the equipment himself. In fact, he didn't specify the sources of his findings for the research, because the phrase ‘I figured it out because it tasted different’ sounds incredibly compromising and would have signed Percy's death warrant if his notes had fallen into the wrong hands.

Next, I'm not sure how it would have developed. I think as the story progresses, Perseptor and Brainstorm work together to invent a cure for Quark. And then, if you like to cry, Brainstorm goes back to the future and cures him, and Perseptor stays in the past.

If you want adventure, Brainstorm could take Percy back to the future with him. Quark would be really fucking scared and confused at first, but they'd figure it out quickly and conjunx Percy into their futuristic fluffy pairing. (Also, I have a lot of fun thinking about Brainstorm and Quark showing Percy the advances of future science, and the future world in general.

Also, I think Brainstorm would do a good job of hiding his alt mode while he was in the past, but a couple of times would use it to escape from someone. One time he'd also give Percy a ride, and I know Percy would be incredibly freaked out by the breakneck speed that jets can achieve ahahaha

——

That…wasn’t as short as I wanted…..my inner fic writer took control

[soul-collectors]

SOUL Collectors 101 - #1 : Anomaly SOULs

Presented by Edu! a Science!Sans variant specializing in studying these anomalies!

(next lesson)

-What are Anomaly SOULs?

Put it simply; They’re SOULs affected by a timeline glitch that gives the concealed human SOULs shape and matter, virtually reviving them!

it usually happens after an “ending” has registered into the timeline Where the SOULs are supposed to just- disappear.

Every time the file save of that timeline is loaded or reset without properly handling the Anomaly SOULs, they’re reformed.

-Stages of reformation

Beginning with a simplified Vistage, they eventually develop to a more accurate shape of the departed human, even recovering their memories at a certain point- until uhm...I haven’t gotten enough data to know haha..!

Their memories may develop in different ways with each reset! Some might only remember their fall and some might recall everything to their last breath..oof...

Anomaly Souls cannot be absorbed nor shattered! They simply “refuse” to. Literally.

Only SOUL Collectors can properly contain Anomaly SOULs. Other methods have been used, but they usually yield less favorable results. We’re still discovering more about them, though!

If a SOUL Collector frees an Anomaly SOUL after containing them, it usually takes from a few hours to days or even weeks for their Vistage to reform depending on what phase they were collected in.

-How do you tell the difference?

You can’t- at least not your normal, everyday person. By themself, SOUL Anomalies look almost indistinguishable from a normal SOUL. You won’t know unless you try shattering or absorbing it-!

Some Monsters and humans from other universes have trained themselves to tell the difference! And some are just “born” to it- like SOUL Collectors-!

-Are they dangerous?

ehhh…Not really- I mean Yes!! *some* are! But for the first few phases that ARE harmless, down the line, they may pose a threat to the timeline and its inhabitants, especially if agitated…

-Monsters affected by Anomaly SOULs.

If an Anomaly SOUL attacks and kills a monster and the save file is loaded/reset, the Monster will return somewhat physically similar to an amalgamate.

Their SOUL reforms their body in the same way as a SOUL Anomaly’s “but it refused” mentality.

Except- unlike a human’s, the Monster’s SOUL isn’t capable of properly reforming itself…thus they come out...misshapen.

I haven’t seen many cases, thankfully. But, from the data I collected from SOUL collectors themselves; this is one of the main reasons they collect anomaly SOULs: to protect the inhabitants of timelines and the multiverse from collapsing into itself in chaos.

That's probably the gist of it- We're still researching Anomaly SOULs especially Whenever Soul visits this timeline-

.

[This is just the basic info about Anomaly SOULs, More information and examples will be posted throughout the account/story!]

[nefelegies]

IMPORTANT ROUNDUP: asks, statistics, "good science", and "the follow up video". i would really appreciate if you gave me your attention span for this one.

an update i gave on youtube that i don't know if people here saw: i may be doing a follow up after all now that i'm slightly less freaked, because my data was way too much of a mess and i would feel guilty if people began taking it and running with it while unaware of the informality and weakness of my study. i am potentially working with some people on discord to do a pedantically objective demographic study that will help clear the air but it will take some time to come out. the sampling methods and the questions being asked are very different, but/as such, the percentages that are coming out of that one are admittedly less bleak; this is of course a good thing! i am not a defeatist i am not blackpill or whatever i WANT things to not suck. i very badly want them to not suck. this new study (at least in its current stage) is more about objective demographic measures and not necessarily the far more subjective or qualitative or "investment gauging" measures i considered in my original; although i believe strongly that these measures matter, i don't know if any metrics i originally considered can give an accurate picture. i guess in a way i wish i had either taken way more time on the data gathered, engaged with it differently, or presented the video solely as a matter of opinion, but i felt that no amount of talk piece would get me taken seriously. to be clear: all the data presented is the data i collected. the data i collected was collected in the exact way described by the video. i just am not sure that my methods produced results i may "responsibly" draw conclusions about, especially when people start taking them as gospel (guys please i tried to disclaimer not to do this....).

regardless of whether you agree with my rhetoric (and i of course agree with my own rhetoric), the truth of science is that research conducted with the intent of proving a truth the author is already convinced of (see: anything published by BYU about you know. lol.) is not good research. again, even if intentions are pure and that truth was held to be objective, setting out to prove it would be contrary to the philosophy of science and "good practice". even if these things are abstract to you, they do matter greatly to me, as this is my career path, and if i knew when i started that i'd hit 100k and not like. 500 people total, i wouldn't have taken the tongue-in-cheek approach i did.

i worried about whether or not it is irresponsible to leave the video up in its current form but i am also worried that with its current spread, any move on my part to take it down would see it reuploaded by someone else, at which point i would be powerless to provide disclaimers such as these. so it remains up, but with some added context like this in the description, and comments are still disabled to try and .... slow down the spread. i guess.

all that being said: as i will likely mention in my follow up, the inability to objectively measure "who cares about what characters" does not change the reality so many people have come to me to talk about. i don't know yet if i'll compile for the video the legitimately HUNDREDS of testimonies of people telling me they've been noticing this attitude in artist circles for years, but it will be trivial to do so if i want. even if these things resist the clear quantification i would like to be able to provide (i've always been a literal thinker), the impact on countless artists' and creatives' lived experiences is undeniable. there is also something ironic about the fact that, in making a video claiming the community secretly harbored misogyny, i have been targeted by all manner of explicitly misogynistic and homophobic harassment. i wonder if the video may have been received differently if i had clarified that i am dysphoric, or that i use any pronouns, or if i had made my cishet brother do my voiceover.

i don't really know where i'm going, this got meandering. i guess what i mean to say with all of this is: i am grateful to everyone who has felt touched or even vindicated by my video; i am grateful to everyone who has approached the topic with deep self reflection; i am grateful to everyone that has reached out with a newfound commitment to be the change. i stand by every opinion presented in my video and maybe one day i will make a pure opinion piece on this same topic where i really try and grapple with "why". i just wish i had been more careful to shove messy numbers into the world i suppose.

also, about asks:

good lord there is Many Asks. um. like Many A Lot. i don't know if i should reply to them individually publicly because this is meant to be an art account and presumably none of you want your dashboards flooded with them but i also don't know if people would be underwhelmed to receive private replies????? i considered grouping at least all the positive asks into one big post but i didn't want that to come off as dismissive(?). i hope everyone knows i have been reading them as they arrive but i just. it's a weird time for me right now mentally and i somehow picked the busiest irl period of my life to instigate all of this and the idea of how long it will take to actually reply to everyone is becoming a looming threat.

thank you to everyone that actually read all this. p.s. someone made a really thoughtful response that you should watch--it's in spanish but has english subs.

[drdemonprince]

By now, a majority of Autism researchers and clinicians are aware that the existing assessments for Autism are profoundly flawed. 

They know the standard evaluation of Autism is sexist, with assessors excluding women for reasons like wearing makeup, having a boyfriend, being superficially polite, or not being fixated on suitably ‘masculine’ topics like ancient Roman history or barometric pressure. 

They know Autism evaluations are racist, deeming Black Autistics “oppositionally defiant” or even “borderline” rather than acknowledging any social alienation or sensory pain they’re experiencing, and believing they must be overstating the difficulty they face in moving through the world.

And they certainly know that conventional Autism measures weren’t designed with adult Autistics in mind. Many of us are still asked to make up stories based on paintings of frogs in a toddler’s picture book, when we sit down for assessments at age 20, or 30, or 45 — because all the evaluation methods were written for young kids. 

The data has already proven the far-reaching consequences of using such shoddy measures of Autism. People of color, gender minorities, older adults, and women are diagnosed at later ages, and also go undiagnosed at massive rates. 

A growing population of scientists are admittedly interested in fostering a new literature of what they call “patient-driven” Autism research, but they never stop thinking of us as mere patients, the passive receivers of care rather than the leaders of communities and political movements who are the ought to be the primary authors of the studies about us, and the sole determinants of what our desired outcomes should be. Even when they observe that their work could benefit from a greater Autistic perspective, researchers do so from closed rooms, filled with other professionals who are largely not Autistic, wondering amongst themselves what it is that we want instead of learning to quiet their voices and follow our lead. 

Though many basically well-intentioned Autism researchers believe that Autism assessments need reform, what neurodiversity really needs is to abandon the diagnostic process altogether. If Autism is a benign, neutral, naturally occurring form of human difference that requires acceptance rather than a cure, then there’s no need to diagnose it as if it were a sickness. And if hundreds of thousands of Autistic women, people of color, queer people, and older people have been able to give a voice to ourselves and find one another without having ever been given a label by a professional, then improved professional labeling is not what we need. 

Autistic self-realization is the future of Autism assessment. We hold the collective wisdom, organizing ability, insight, and political power to define who we are. No authority figure should have to sign off on our identities. 

Because psychiatrists fail to diagnose such a large percentage of the Autistic population, many Autism researchers now accept self-identified Autistic adults within their subject pool. Within the peer-reviewed journal Autism in Adulthood, self-realized Autistics often make up the bulk of the participant sample, and they have repeatedly been found to be indistinguishable from their formally diagnosed peers. 

A growing body of research now also considers the presence of Autism-spectrum traits as qualifying for inclusion in many Autism studies. The data makes it quite obvious that Autistic people exist within all human groups, spread all throughout the world, and that a great many people have experiences in common with us who have not been formally diagnosed. This itself reveals that a formal diagnosis is hardly necessary, and that a psychiatric paradigm of accepting self-identification is inevitable. The researchers are increasingly already doing it.

You can read the full essay for free (or have it narrated to you!) at this link.

[azen13]

So sadly I didn't get the chance to write today because I had a bunch of stuff going on. But! I had a lot of time to think so I have ideas (for once!).

CW: Yandere Themes, Stalking

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

Yandere!Alhaitham x Reader, but both of you are reincarnates of King Deshret and the God/dess of Flowers respectively. All those centuries ago, you drove each other mad. Deshret drove you mad by encaging you in gardens built upon honeyed words and sweet lies, and you drove him mad by fleeing from him and dying soon after.

Let's fast forward to Sumeru's Archon Quest. Let's say something goes horribly wrong, and when Alhaitham uses the Divine Knowledge Capsule, it turns out it's the real one.

He is flooded with memories of the past. Of flowers in eternal bloom. Of love, pure and unbounded. You are its focal point. You, a normal Amurta scholar working part-time at the House of Daena, are the missing variable he has sought all his life. He doesn't know how he knows it, but something in the depths of his heart has clicked like the opening of something long hidden away.

While he does care about this discovery of a past life, its importance is superseded by you. Almost immediately, he begins doing...data collection. Your hobbies. Your favorites books. Your sleep schedule. Where you live. Friends. Family. All of it. Alhaitham records every piece of information in his mind with an almost zealous focus.

His plan to bring you back in his arms is flawless; slowly, almost painfully so, he worms his way into your life, latching onto any possible connection he can find between the two of you. You like this book? Alhaitham has read the entire series. If you'd like, you can borrow the next one from him. You're studying the impact of Ley Line abnormalities on the forest floor of Sumeru's rainforests? Alhaitham knows quite a bit on Sumeru's ecology from all the papers and the theses he's read. After all, as the Scribe, he's aware of many of the inner workings of the Akademiya, including many different research projects. Including yours. Do let him in, otherwise he might have to resort to...more unsavory methods, like cutting your funding.

After all, in the end, he's doing this for your benefit, right? He failed to give you paradise once. With all this new knowledge under his belt, he will succeed. No matter what.

[yuurei20]

Updated Ortho Facts Part 17: Ortho's Abilities (pt3)

Ortho will reference the various forms of analysis that he can perform, though his attempts at scanning his Tsum fail to identify what it is made out of.

After asking Leona about his vital signs during Playfulland Leona says that he has a bad feeling. Ortho responds, “That's too subjective for me to properly comprehend…”

He collects data for shopping pattern analysis during the New Year’s event and Epel says that he can analyze food for its makeup and nutritional content.

Azul comments on possibly approaching Ortho about using his sensor to authenticate paintings, if such an opportunity happens to arise.

While a talented hacker Ortho fails to hack into Playfulland’s network, and he guesses that there is a powerful jammer set up on the grounds, so it seems his hacking is not infallible.

Ortho was programmed to lie even pre-book-6, and this is an ability that came with him when he was reborn: Vil encourages him to showcase the acting skills he has been cultivating in the film research club by giving a “wholeheartedly tearful performance” that will convince Idia to go to Playfulland with him.

This is possibly a method that has been worked in the past: Vil compliments Ortho on the fake crying that convinced Idia to allow him to participate in Fairy Gala IF and Ortho responds, “Hearing you say that makes me feel better about my acting.”

Ortho will often reference the various maps that he has access to, such as a detailed map of the school (“Which includes all secret doors and underground passages”), of Playfulland and of a museum. When he is in gear without any GPS and becomes lost during the White Rabbit Fes event he describes the experience as “refreshing.”

Ortho plays pool for the first time during the Playfulland event and is extraordinarily adept at it, with Vil saying that he never misses a single shot and clears obstacles with jump shots: “Those aren't moves someone playing the game for the very first time could pull off.”

While Ortho struggled during a different game with slingshots (“Imperfect tools made things hard during target practice”) he is able to simulate optimal routes for the billiard balls and calculate perfect shots without fail.

He does miss at one point (Vil: “You'd better not have missed on purpose.” - Ortho: “I would never pull my punches in a game!”), but this is due to a cricket jumping out in front of the ball.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

A new Cleveland Clinic-led study published in The EMBO Journal shows that mild and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections can trigger immune responses in a pregnant individual that may cause serious inflammatory responses in the developing fetus. The study's findings also suggest that vertical transmission of the virus from a pregnant individual to the fetus is more common than previously estimated; and that even without this transmission, a pregnant individual's immunological response to infection may impact the fetus.

Typically, healthcare providers test for SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a newborn through a nasal swab after birth. For this study, Cleveland Clinic researchers collected samples from the placenta and the fetal compartment (tissues that surround a fetus while still in utero), and then analyzed them for the presence of inflammatory markers and virus. They found higher instances of the virus in those tissues than what could be found in a traditional nasal swab, and even in the absence of a full infection they found small proteins from the virus had passed through the placenta. The researchers hope their study will help ensure pregnant individuals can rapidly and reliably receive evidence-based medical care needed during novel outbreaks and public health crises.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first began, OB/GYN Ruth Farrell, MD, and colleagues at Cleveland Clinic and other major medical centers wanted to determine the best way to prevent and manage the infection in their pregnant patients. Pregnant individuals required different medical considerations during the pandemic compared to their nonpregnant counterparts; Dr. Farrell notes that many of the prevention and treatment approaches used in non-pregnant patients either did not have enough data to use in pregnant patients or were not feasible to perform.

"During the early stages of the pandemic, there were significant delays in determining how best to prevent and treat pregnant patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection," explains Dr. Farrell, who also serves as the Vice Chair of Research for Cleveland Clinic's Obstetrics & Gynecology Institute.

Dr. Farrell worked with clinical colleagues across the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) of Northern Ohio to develop methods for examining the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on pregnant patients, including researchers from University Hospitals of Cleveland and MetroHealth Medical Center.

She then teamed up with Cleveland Clinic maternal-fetal virologists Jolin (Suan Sin) Foo, PhD and Javier (Weiqiang) Chen, PhD from the Infection Biology Program to determine how the virus impacted the immune systems of both mother and child.

When the standard-of-care COVID-19 test is used to detect the virus in newborns (nasal swabs upon birth) they only detect infections in about 2% of children whose mothers tested positive for the virus during pregnancy. However, when Drs. Chen and Foo looked at tissues that surrounded the newborns when they were still in utero-; including the amniotic fluid, chorion and umbilical cord plasma -; they detected high levels of the virus in over a quarter (26%) of study participants.

The team also found elevated immune and inflammatory responses affecting the pregnancies of about 66% of study participants. Dr. Foo had previously shown elevated levels of fetal inflammation in pregnant individuals who experience severe SARS-CoV-2 infections during pregnancy, but few had asked whether asymptomatic or mild infections had the same effect. Now that they have their answer, however, the team were faced with even more questions.

"Even though we only saw vertical transmission of the full virus infection a quarter of the time, we saw strong immune and inflammatory responses in over two thirds of the cases," Dr. Foo says. "It was clear that even when the fetuses were not technically infected, they were still being impacted by their mothers' viral infection. But we weren't quite sure how."

Elevated levels of inflammation during pregnancy, in COVID and other conditions, can have negative impacts on the offspring long after birth. Further research can define how inflammation affects children in the long term.

Dr. Chen noted that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has a protein called ORF8 that physically resembles a human immune protein called immunoglobulin G that passes through the placenta from mother-to-fetus during development. He wondered whether the viral protein could also pass through the placenta's defenses to cause inflammation in the fetal compartment.

Drs. Foo and Chen, alongside co-first authors Tamiris Azamor, PhD and Débora Familiar-Macedo, PhD (a former and current postdoctoral researcher, respectively, in Dr. Foo's lab), were able to prove that the virus-made ORF8 did indeed pass through the placenta into the fetus. ORF8 then bound to immune proteins and "turned on" a process called the complementary immune response.

At normal levels, the complement system is a good thing during pregnancy and helps the fetus develop properly, Dr. Familiar-Macedo explains. At higher levels, the complement system can cause dangerous inflammation in a developing fetus. Lab studies supported that this immune response directly led to the elevated levels of inflammation seen in the fetuses of pregnant patients infected with the SARS CoV-2 virus.

"Our findings challenge the currently accepted definition of vertical transmission, or what it means to transmit an infection from mother-to-fetus," Dr. Chen says. "We have shown that it is indeed possible for only a small part of a virus to slip through and affect a pregnancy."

Dr. Foo adds that she hopes her team's findings will serve as guidance for healthcare practitioners, researchers and policymakers alike on further research into vertical transmission and long-term care.

"We've shown that the misconception that uninfected babies born from infected mothers are fine, is sometimes just that: a misconception," she says. "Pregnancy is such a vulnerable nine-month period where any change from the norm can cause long-term impacts on the baby, so we need to work more closely with these individuals to understand their unique healthcare needs during public health crises. It's the only way to make sure they receive the care they need."

Source: Cleveland Clinic

Journal reference: Azamor, T., et al. (2024). Transplacental SARS-CoV-2 protein ORF8 binds to complement C1q to trigger fetal inflammation. The EMBO Journal. doi.org/10.1038/s44318-024-00260-9. www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44318-024-00260-9

[sysmedsaresexist]

What's the dead salmon study, and what does it tell us about fMRIs?

fMRIs generate roughly 130,000 voxels in every set of scans.

A voxel is a very small cube. Remember the ones you played with in school?

Like that.

Put together, they form a 3-D picture.

In the background of fMRIs is static and interference.

Through completely random chance, with over 160,000 voxels of data to comb through, the area around a dead fish's brain showed "activity".

The activity was natural interference, which coincidentally "lit up" in a way that set off sensors. It's not actual activity, but what does this tell us? What can we learn from this?

What was the point?

According to the lead researcher, "In fMRI, you have 160,000 darts, and so just by random chance, by the noise that's inherent in the fMRI data, you're going to have some of those darts hit a bull's-eye by accident."

Like adjusting the contrast on a photo, researchers can filter data to see through the noise, but in doing so, you have to ADD additional checks to maintain data integrity.

You can set the filter too high and eliminate false positives, but you'll miss things under the threshold. Set the filter too low, and you get active voxels in a dead fish's brain.

The point of the study isn't to prove that fMRI shouldn't be used or are worthless. It's to show that there's a fine line in that filter level, and that additional verifications MUST be made.

The answer is multiple comparison corrections.

Data collection and interpretation can seem very simple at first glance. Orange around a fish's brain? Clearly it's examining the photos and trying to determine the emotion of the people in the photos, as requested.

No, seriously, they put a fish in a machine and asked it to do the same tests as any other person in the scanner. They talked to it.

I think that's neat :)

But the point of the study was that it's not that simple. That orange could be nothing or it could be something. You HAVE to take the additional steps.

According to Oxford academic,

'The dead salmon study was not bashing functional MRI, it was about people who refuse to use multiple comparisons correction in functional MRI analysis … the salmon is important because it drew attention to the problem, but it’s not a problem with functional MRI as such’.

Yes, the problem is with the researchers.

So what about current fMRI research into DID?

Well, any paper that's been published has had its methods scrutinized. Considering:

1) the number of papers from THE MANY different organizations all showing the same things

2) the repeatability of the findings, over all these studies

3) the decades upon decades of repeated findings, and the additional scans and research in other areas of interest connected to it

4) the mentioned and approved comparisons within the studies

6) the rigorous data sorting involved in ALL of the studies combined, and the noted methods of sorting and interpretation, and the acceptance of sorting methods by MANY various journals

5) and what we are actually seeing on scans, AFTER multiple comparisons...

I think the DID studies are just fine when we're talking about the dead fish study and fMRIs.

[sunscreenstudies]

Twenty things I wish I’d known when I started my PhD

- according to Nature.com

Maintain a healthy work–life balance by finding a routine that works for you. It’s better to develop a good balance and work steadily throughout your programme than to work intensively and burn out. Looking after yourself is key to success.

Discuss expectations with your supervisor. Everyone works differently. Make sure you know your needs and communicate them to your supervisor early on, so you can work productively together.

Invest time in literature reviews. These reviews, both before and after data collection, help you to develop your research aims and conclusions.

Decide on your goals early. Look at your departmental guidelines and then establish clear PhD aims or questions on the basis of your thesis requirements. Goals can change later, but a clear plan will help you to maintain focus.

“I don’t need to write that down, I’ll remember it” is the biggest lie you can tell yourself! Write down everything you do — even if it doesn’t work. This includes meeting notes, method details, code annotations, among other things.

Organize your work and workspace. In particular, make sure to use meaningful labels, so you know what and where things are. Organizing early will save you time later on.

It’s never too early to start writing your thesis. Write and show your work to your supervisor as you go — even if you don’t end up using your early work, it’s good practice and a way to get ideas organized in your head.

Break your thesis down into SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely) goals. You will be more productive if your to-do list reads “draft first paragraph of the results” rather than “write chapter 1”. Many small actions lead to one complete thesis.

The best thesis is a finished thesis. No matter how much time you spend perfecting your first draft, your work will come back covered in corrections, and you will go through more drafts before you submit your final version. Send your drafts to your supervisor sooner rather than later.

Be honest with your supervisor. Let them know if you don’t understand something, if you’ve messed up an experiment or if they forgot to give you feedback. The more honest you are, the better your relationship will be. Helping your supervisor to help you is key.

Back up your work! You can avoid many tears by doing this at least weekly.

Socialize with your lab group and other students. It’s a great way to discuss PhD experiences, get advice and help, improve your research and make friends.

Attend departmental seminars and lab-group meetings, even (or especially) when the topic is not your area of expertise. What you learn could change the direction of your research and career. Regular attendance will also be noticed.

Present your research. This can be at lab-group meetings, conferences and so on. Presenting can be scary, but it gets easier as you practise, and it’s a fantastic way to network and get feedback at the same time.

Aim to publish your research. It might not work out, but drafting articles and submitting them to journals is a great way to learn new skills and enhance your CV.

Have a life outside work. Although your lab group is like your work family, it’s great for your mental health to be able to escape work. This could be through sport, clubs, hobbies, holidays or spending time with friends.

Don’t compare yourself with others. Your PhD is an opportunity to conduct original research that reveals new information. As such, all PhD programmes are different. You just need to do what works for you and your project.

The nature of research means that things will not always go according to plan. This does not mean you are a bad student. Keep calm, take a break and then carry on. Experiments that fail can still be written up as part of a successful PhD.

Never struggle on your own. Talk to other students and have frank discussions with your supervisor. There’s no shame in asking for help. You are not alone.

Enjoy your PhD! It can be tough, and there will be days when you wish you had a ‘normal’ job, but PhDs are full of wonderful experiences and give you the opportunity to work on something that fascinates you. Celebrate your successes and enjoy yourself.

This was part of my required readings this week and I have never related to an academic text more so I had to share.

Full article by Lucy Taylor here!

[the-twilight-sword]

Diluc & The Power in Nod-Krai

The Fatui's rulers, the Harbingers, monitored Diluc's progress from the shadows. The prowess with which he laid waste to numerous Fatui strongholds caught their attention and forced them to take action. Diluc narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Harbingers thanks to a third-party observer from the north, who was part of a vast underground intelligence network. The observer claimed to have been watching Diluc for some time, and approved of his methods. After his close encounter with death, Diluc took a long hard look at his past and the anger he had harbored for so long. Acknowledging his shortcomings, he decided to join the underground intelligence network. Just like when he first joined the Knights of Favonius, Diluc committed himself fully to his work. His talents and skills saw him rise steadily through the ranks into the upper echelons of the network. The network was made up of volunteers, and many of its members had willingly given up their prior positions and reputations to join. Some had even abandoned their names. Diluc - Character Story Four

I've long wondered what this third-party intelligence network in the north could be. For a while, I considered the Treasure Hoarders the most likely group, because of the way Kaeya uses them for intelligence. But after the On The Trails of Behemoths event, I'm convinced this group is one in the same as the "organization whose details may not be disclosed" the Traveler gets commissioned to collect data for in the event.

[This could be the Voynich Guild- Paimon's line about Helka's practice of note-taking certainly matches the famed Voynich Manuscript. "Speaking of, you were taking all those photos and drawing in your notebook while (Traveler) was fighting. It all looked pretty professional!" But for the sake of the post, it doesn't matter.]

Mavuika acquires 'intel' about the phenomenon in the sky seen above the Stadium of Sacred Flame.

"Such fragments are known as 'Ancient Moon's Remnants,' relics of Secret Source technology from the era of the Ancient Dragons. Coincidentally, a small squad of Fatui infiltrated our borders around the same time it appeared. Our investigation revealed them to be the subordinates of The Doctor. Their stronghold is in Nod-Krai, a land with a long history not far from Snezhnaya. The people there can use a very special power. It is said that this mysterious power predates even the seven elements of Teyvat."

Now, I want you to recall what phlogiston is. Yohualtecuhtin, Lord of the Night says, "Phlogiston is Teyvat's primordial form of energy. The Heavenly Principles used phlogiston as a basis for the creation of Elemental energy... to develop a power to better counter the Abyss." She continues, relating to the Light Realm and Human Realm, "Light refracts into seven different colors, which we collectively refer to as a rainbow. Elemental energy is a similar concept. It's essentially the modern counterpart of Phlogiston…"

We know from the AQ that the Fatui have been covertly researching phlogiston when we raid the Phlogiston Extraction Research Center, and it doesn't seem likely to be Capitano at the head of this. It might be Pantalone- Citlali's SQ shows that Fatui under him are active in Natlan- but I think it's Dottore, matching what Mavuika mentioned regarding the Ancient Moon's Remnants.

What's the primordial sea then? The Lethe to our Phlegesthon? The "cosmic ocean" mythological motif is known to frequently feature the struggle between fire and water, so primordial seawater may only be half-made of our water equivalent. In the "Diary of a Soldier Abroad" we find in the Phlogiston Extraction Research Center, we see our soldier contrast boring phlogiston with Fire-Water; clearly, this is meant to be vodka, but it might make an interesting allusion.

Dottore & Phlogiston are connected. Dottore & Nod Krai are connected. Diluc and Nod Krai are connected. Before I string these all together, let's talk about Divine Nails.

Divine Nails are dropped by Celestia to purify Abyssal corruption, as evidenced in the lore of the Staff of the Scarlet Sands, the Amethyst Crown, and in Nahida's SQ. She says they have "the ability to purify and stabilize powers that shouldn't exist in Teyvat." and speaking on the Oozing Filth, says "Forbidden knowledge that its light has shone upon is kept here forever in a different form…"

Let's keep track of our motifs here- this is Dvalin's tear before and after the Traveler purifies it.

There's the Statue of the Seven before and after activation

We have Deshret's Primal Embers and Primal Torches

Then there's the Lumenstone, and the Oozing Concretion.

"What flows within this nameless, voiceless azure crystal? The secrets of the heavens? Or the whispers of the abyss?" - Lumens: Stone of Light

The Chinese name for the Lumenstone shares the name of Pyroxene, a real-life groups of minerals whose name means "fire-stranger", named for their tendency to appear as impurities within lava.

(the Lumenstones, while purifying, also drive miners insane. Remind anyone of a certain mad someone?)

When it comes to the Canned Knowledge Capsules, which vary in colour based on their amount of elemental energy, the purple ones give off no such elemental signature. We also see that the Court of Desolation contains the same mud as the Chasm.

"The Abyss manifests its power in a manner that is most devastating to the place in question. In Sumeru, it was forbidden knowledge. In Natlan, it was monstrous creatures." —Nahida: About Haborym

I believe that there exists a delicate balance of the "red" substance, phlogiston, and the "blue" substance we see in Divine Nails. When they're out of balance, the "red" and "blue" give us a corrupted "purple". Think the defiled statue, or the tainted blood on Dvalin's back.

And then think of Elynas' heart; Elynas' brother, Durin, also has a warm, red heart, and it's possible that other corrupted, Abyssal-adjacent dragons like Ursa the Drake have it too.

Dottore and the Delusion

Krupp, adjutant of Dottore in his posthumous robot form

Il Dottore has two major motifs; the plague doctor's mask, and the vial.

I would focus on the blue vials, which are present in both the manga and the current game. I contrast them with the red eyes he and Krupp share.

His goal in Mondstadt at the time of the manga is still being theorised on. On the surface, he seems to be only vaguely interested in using Mondstadt as a source of human test subjects, before turning his attention to the strange power displayed by Diluc. He has his subordinates attempt to capture Diluc, but they fail, and that's that.

The subtext is deeper.

He's likely the one who orchestrated the death of Crepus Ragnvindr, using his birdlike devices to draw the ire of Ursa the Drake, forcing Crepus to use his Delusion (which then backfired on him). He may have made one of his segments take the place of Eroch at the Knights of Favonius, a traitorous figure who contributed to Diluc's radicalisation against the knights. (We know Il Dottore can change his appearance from The Night-Bird Falls at the Curtain's Call)

[I think it's possible that Il Dottore is using Ursa the commit the sin of influencing human evolution, just as Jakob Ingold and Rene de Petrichor used Elynas.]

Now let's talk about Crepus' Delusion

It's different from every Delusion seen thus far. The case is unique- perhaps being the Nod-Krai-specific case- and the symbol it shows is not the Fatui insignia. In fact, it resembles the alchemy crafting bench's possible representation of the planet Teyvat lies on and its three moons.

Alice even uses a red version

And it doesn't seem to utilise the elements, but a purple-black fire reminiscent of the Oozing Mud.

This power could relate to the Frostmoon Scions of Nod-Krai

The inspirations are important here- Genshin's phlogiston is based on the real-life theory of phlogiston developed by 18th-century scientist Georg Ernst Stahl to explain combustion. In his time, oxidization were not understood and chemistry operated on an alchemical model. Similar to Genshin's phlogiston, Stahl's theory gives a solid and liquid form to the earthy substance phlogiston is paired with- terra lapidea (stony / rocky earth) and terra fluida (liquid earth), with terra pinguis (oily / fatty earth) being the combustible fire element that escapes into the air, visible to us as flame.

But as chemistry advanced, this theory was supplanted by oxygen theory.

In 1766, Englishman Henry Cavendish isolated a gas that he called "inflammable air" because it burned readily. Priestley noted that when inflammable air and common air were ignited with a spark in a closed vessel, a small amount of "dew" formed on the glass walls. When Cavendish repeated the experiment, he found that the dew was actually water. Cavendish explained the results in terms of phlogiston and assumed the water was present in each of the two airs before ignition. For Lavoisier, combustion meant combining with oxygen; however, until he could explain the combustion of inflammable air, some would still doubt his new chemistry. In June 1783, Lavoisier reacted oxygen with inflammable air, obtaining "water in a very pure state." He correctly concluded that water was not an element but a compound of oxygen and inflammable air, or hydrogen as it is now known. To support his claim, Lavoisier decomposed water into oxygen and inflammable air. Now that the composition of water was known, the last objection to discarding phlogiston could be eliminated. - The Chemical Revolution of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier

The disproving of phlogiston theory is tied directly to the discovery of the composition of water; of oxygen, and hydrogen. The fiery, reactive element and the watery, inert element. In fact, our real-world understanding of hydrogen as the "first" of the elements mirrors Genshin's phlogiston which refracts into the seven elements of Teyvat. The simple structure of the hydrogen atom and the spectrum of light produced from it or absorbed by it helped us understand the atomic structure of our world's elements.

I think the blue substance that constitutes the Lumenstone and the Divine Nails are a sort of opposite to phlogiston, and that these two substances balance and neutralise one another, coming together to form the water of the primordial sea.

[slightlydiabolicalfudge]

okay i need to know your thesis

Ok well I had a whole thing written out and then it didn't save to drafts - so here's my ramble 2.0. It took me like a month to get back to you, but this has turned out to be many paragraphs. So enjoy!

I'm an anthropology major, and my focus has been on linguistic and cultural anthropology (as opposed to like, biological or medical or archeological). Something that I find really neat in this area is the way that people online use tools like punctuation, spacing, grammar, capitalization, even images to substitute for the communication lost with the lack of in-person tools like gestures, body language, rhythm or speed, facial expressions, and tone. Obviously this is a phenomenon that has always existed in writing - that's why punctuation exists - but there's something fascinating to me about the way that standards for how to read these unique forms of expression are created, especially when comparing social media platforms, because the functions and limitations of each one lead to slightly different "cultures" of communication.

So for my thesis I decided to look more into this - there is a lot of research about the internet and social media, but at least I haven't seen any that does it through the lens of internet behavior and expression as like a form of linguistic translation. On a bigger picture scale, I'm interested in looking at social media and internet communities through the lens of in-person ones. How are more traditional methods of studying and analyzing groups and group behavior successful or unsuccessful on accurately portraying our social behavior on the internet? I also decided to use Tumblr, because I know how to navigate it best and it's more archival nature lends itself better to the collection of internet posts as data points for someone who has no experience in collecting that sort of thing lol. I got lucky too, they updated their search function just as I was starting to more formally put what I wanted to do together!

I am now putting a read more for politeness - a Tumblr social etiquette behavior!!!

I'm still in the "putting together the proposal" stage, so right now my research questions are as follows:

How is culture/are cultural norms developed in online contexts?  

How do Tumblr users utilize the platform’s features to perpetuate a set of norms and behaviors?  

How do Tumblr users employ platform-specific entextualization to signal their belonging to the culture of the platform?  

How do Tumblr users apply metaphors of territory to their relationship to the platform?  

How do Tumblr users relate their sense of belonging to their online communities to forms of belonging and space that they experience outside of the digital world? 

My plan is to look at a couple different things. First, just general popular posts, as examples of what is self-referenced on the platform and how perpetuating the history of the site contributes to its culture and is itself a cultural behavior. Second, posts that talk about Tumblr or Tumblr culture themselves - so not only, what is user behavior like, but what do users think user behavior is like? What is classified as good or bad user behavior? And to find a good sample of all of these, my plan right now is to look at posts from what I'm calling "site-wide events"; so, Goncharov, the Porn Ban, the big Twitter Migration when Elon Musk bought the platform (perhaps in comparison to how we reacted to Reddit Refugees). And then I've been tagging posts as "thesis relevant" just in case I want to use them.

Things I've also started looking at are like, the way users sometimes "play" at doing Tumblr (like during Goncharov) and what that says about their conceptions of Standard Tumblr Behavior, or they way we (and also internet users in general in my experience) use "territorial" language to think about platforms ("Refugees", "migration", etc).

"Rent-lowering gunshots" is actually a pretty good springboard to talk about all of this. First of all, the actual language of it is referring to the platform as a dwelling, or in context of the original I think Tweet, a neighborhood. Also brings with it comparisons of like, the fear of the platform being corporatized (like, become unmarketable) and the process of gentrification. Second, it's a reference to a popular post that has transformed to refer to a specific behavior or phenomenon, which is a very social media form of entextualization, and especially a very Tumblr form of it. Third, the behavior itself falls into the category of what I would call "playing" at doing Tumblr - people reveal what their conception of standard Tumblr behavior is by making posts that use those behaviors and forms of expression and references to the maximum extent, AND, specifically as a way of signaling belonging to this specific platform and not another one (ie Twitter), and reinforcing in-group/out-group behavior and conceptions (not in like a horrible way, just in a human behavior way lol) - if you can't handle this behavior then you don't belong in this space and with this culture.

So yeah anyway next steps are over the summer I want to organize the posts I've tagged into a spreadsheet, actually read and take notes on a bunch of relevant papers I have pulled up (did you know there's a whole book about Tumblr research???), and decide on a minimum number of notes I want a post to have in order to consider it a data point, so I actually have some parameters lol.

If you've read all this, thanks! Also thanks for asking me, this has been good practice at actually communicating and putting together all my thoughts about this before I submit my proposal to a bunch of adulty adults ^-^

PS ok I got so scared my computer died just as I finished this but it's all still here yay!! Thanks for giving me the chance to ramble, ask again if you have any follow-up questions!!

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Uncovering the chemistry of interstellar space

Many people imagine the space between the stars as an empty, cold infinity. In reality, it is teeming with extraordinary molecules: More than 300 different types have already been discovered. For her Ph.D. thesis, chemist Kim Steenbakkers studied a number of molecules here on Earth and contributed to proving the existence of at least one of them in space. She will defend her research at Radboud University on 3 June.

"The conditions in space are completely different from those here on Earth," says Steenbakkers. "It is very cold, around -240°C, and the pressure is very low. There are far fewer collisions between molecules than on Earth: here, there are a billion collisions per second, while in space there is one every 10 days."

This means that certain molecules that occur in space cannot survive here on Earth. There are too many other molecules here that they would collide with immediately, causing them to ignite in the air or form new molecules. But how do you study those molecules?

Steenbakkers says, "At the HFML-FELIX laser and magnet lab, they have an enormous refrigerator that can cool down to -270°C and in which you can reduce the pressure. This creates conditions similar to those in space." The chemist then sent a powerful infrared laser through the molecule to see how it would react.

She did this with the charged molecules C2H+ and HC2H+, which are thought to occur in space. "We don't have these molecules on Earth because they react immediately with other molecules here. But we do have laser gas, which is used for welding. That's C2H2 and is very similar to HC2H+ and C2H+."

Welding gas is highly flammable and reacts immediately with air during welding. But if you take that welding gas, put it in a machine and fire a lot of electrons at it, it breaks down and you can extract HC2H+ and C2H+.

By then firing an infrared laser at these charged molecules, Steenbakkers was able to obtain a kind of "fingerprint" of these molecules. To do this, she had to set up entirely new experimental methods and develop advanced theoretical models to understand the data. "Once you have such a fingerprint and understand it, you can see if we can find it in the data collected by telescopes."

The method used by Steenbakkers has already helped find another of these exotic ions: CH3+, which is methane (CH4) with one less H. This molecule was observed in the Orion Nebula with the James Webb Space Telescope, in an area where stars are born. "But we expect this molecule, and the others I investigated in my thesis, to occur in many more places in space."

Steenbakkers states, "If we know exactly what the chemistry of space looks like, we can deduce how stars and planets are formed and how far a nebula is in its life cycle. Ultimately, it could also tell us something about how life on Earth originated and whether life can arise on other planets."

[whencyclopedia]

The Scientific Revolution

Before class, students will be asked to read two World History Encyclopedia articles.

Introduction (10-15 minutes)

Hook: Start with a thought-provoking question: "How would you determine whether something is true or not? What process would you use?"

Write students’ responses on the board to highlight different approaches, such as personal experience, advice from others, intuition, or logical reasoning.

Explain that before the Scientific Revolution, people often relied on methods like tradition, philosophical reasoning, or religious teachings to determine the truth.

Introduce the idea that the Scientific Method emerged as a new approach to discovering truth, emphasizing that this method is based on observation, experimentation, and evidence rather than solely on abstract reasoning or accepted beliefs.

Hands-On Activity (25-30 minutes)

Present the following scenario to the class: "A farmer notices that some crops in his field are growing poorly while others are thriving. He wants to understand why this is happening."

Divide the class into an even number of small groups. Half of the groups will receive Handout 1: Philosophical Approach and the other half will receive Handout 2: Scientific Method Approach.

Instruct each group to brainstorm solutions to the farmer's problem based on their assigned approach.

Philosophical Approach: Groups might suggest reasons based on general principles, such as the alignment of the stars, the will of the gods, or moral interpretations of natural events.

Scientific Method Approach: Groups should focus on making specific observations, forming testable hypotheses, designing experiments, and collecting data.

Pair each Philosophical Approach group with a Scientific Method Approach group. Have the paired groups present their ideas to each other. Encourage them to discuss and debate the differences between the philosophical reasoning and the scientific method.

Class Discussion and Reflection (15-20 minutes)

Reflect on the activity, highlighting the strengths and limitations of each approach and the importance of the Scientific Method in advancing knowledge and solving problems.

Summarize key takeaways from the lesson, emphasizing how the Scientific Method has led to a more systematic and evidence-based approach to knowledge.

Reflect on how the Scientific Method has shaped modern knowledge and technology and ask students how they might use the Scientific Method in their own lives or future careers.

Homework/Extension

Students will pick one scientist from the collection of 12 Great Scientists of the Scientific Revolution, read their biography, and answer questions on the worksheet (see below). If needed, further research can be done to complete the worksheet.

Continue reading...

[bigfootbeat]

What Would Definitive Evidence Look Like?

Scientific, cryptozoological, and enthusiast debates on Bigfoot span decades. The existence of the creature remains unproven despite multiple anecdotes, fuzzy photos, and reported footprints. To prove Bigfoot's existence scientifically, a robust and complex collection of evidence must meet repeatability, empirical validation, and peer review standards. This proof must be strong enough to convince scientists and doubters that Bigfoot exists. First, we need a definitive biological specimen. This might be a living or deceased Bigfoot or a significant and unambiguous portion of one, such as a bone, tooth, or preserved tissue sample. The specimen would allow scientists to do extensive morphological, genetic, and anatomical analyses to establish if it is a new or known species. A DNA analysis could reveal distinct genetic markers that distinguish Bigfoot from other primates, humans, and bears, which people often confuse with the creature. To eliminate contamination and error, DNA evidence must be reproducible and validated by numerous labs.

Scientists must combine ecological and behavioral data with physical evidence to understand the organism. Scientists must determine Bigfoot's habitat, nutrition, and ecosystem role. Scientists must consistently find and investigate nests, scats, hair samples, and distinctive footprints to determine whether Bigfoot lives in remote forests or mountains. These findings must show patterns that match a huge, undiscovered primate. For instance, Bigfoot's footprints must have dermal ridges or wear patterns and not be hoaxes or misinterpreted animal tracks. Bigfoot's existence also requires observational evidence. Quality movies or photos from trusted sources may be crucial. However, the ease with which modern technology creates hoaxes necessitates the accompaniment of corroborating data, such as multiple sightings from independent witnesses, taken simultaneously from different angles, or captured using thermal cameras. Controlled and scientifically rigorous observations are necessary to prevent misinterpretation. Fossil evidence may also support Bigfoot. Large, bipedal ape fossils near Bigfoot hotspots would support the claim that such a monster exists today. Bigfoot may have descended from Gigantopithecus, an extinct Asian giant ape found in fossils. To connect ancient fossils to recent sightings, scientists must find a clear evolutionary lineage that explains how such a creature survived and remained hidden for millennia. Science must address counterarguments and alternative explanations. Scientists have debunked Bigfoot sightings, hair samples, and footprints as hoaxes or misidentifications of known species. We must rigorously examine the evidence and eliminate all other hypotheses to prove Bigfoot's existence. This requires rigorous documentation and process transparency to allow other researchers to verify the findings. Finally, we must contextualize Bigfoot within the fields of biology and anthropology. This requires answering how a massive, intelligent creature could go undetected for so long, especially in an age of satellite surveillance, drones, and ubiquitous human activity. Scientists need to elucidate Bigfoot's population size, reproductive strategies, and survival tactics to comprehend why no conclusive evidence has surfaced. In conclusion, Bigfoot's presence would require indisputable physical evidence, consistent ecological data, and a trustworthy observational record that could survive the highest scientific scrutiny. Evidence for a new species, especially Bigfoot, must be strong. Anecdotes and circumstantial evidence are not adequate. Only a rigorous and interdisciplinary method can determine the existence or debunking of Bigfoot.

[whenimpresident]

Hello, everyone who is freaking about the CDC censorship in news and press reports. I would like to make clear a specific portion or claims HAVE actually been exaggerated- which is good news! It means that not everything is bad. But, to keep straight what is currently being censored is important, as well as other happenings of the CDC that affect the release of information.

1- The CDC is not allowed to speak to the public.

Despite being a public health awareness agency, the CDC is currently banned from speaking to the press, or utilizing their own public speakers to release information on health concerns. This is dangerous because it limits the intervention that officials can provide on public health emergencies and alerts, such as disease outbreaks.

2- The CDC website is under construction, not down.

This is an important distinction, but equally as dangerous. The site is still accessible to visual readers, though actual accessibility such as screen readers, large font, and other features is not on most pages. These pages are being revamped visually everywhere on the site, but so far, I cannot find any actual missing data on the web pages I have visited. There are thousands of web pages, I cannot visit them all to confirm, and the Internet Archive does not save every single page. Even worse, science is an ever changing field, and pages even a year old are not useful when comparing to the current pages. There are so many web pages, I doubt they could be removed methodically in the way the pages have been modified on the site. This is optimistic, but optimism with more evidence then the alternative. The alternative seems true upon first glance, but with further digging, I have found only surface level proof to the panic.

3- Other sources are available.

Scientists use other websites to gain information, usually NIH's systems for research papers. This is not useful to the public, because these papers can be painful to read. But with that in mind, the primary source material is FAR more powerful than any transliterated report, because it contains minute details that are essential in science but unhelpful to the public. They contain data, collection methods, other referenced sources, and so much more information that the friendly-to-read versions cannot provide. The best part? Getting rid of these are close to impossible. I, personally, have hundreds of these papers downloaded on 6 different topics and 48 different specifications on my 1 TB hard drive, and that takes up less than 7% of the entire drive. I am not even a professional researcher, just a nerd who works in applied science. Can you imagine how much the researchers hold? Imagine the back ups in the cloud, the forgotten paper files in the library, the teachers and professors in colleges? The more understandable information can be given from the complex later, if they choose to remove data on the CDC.

Download more, please. This isn't perfect, and every page lost is a tragedy to humanity. Freely available information is the greatest feat humanity has achieved, along side the Tropical Neglected Disease project and the obliteration of Smallpox. Every page saved, is likewise, a boon to society. If papers are truly being removed, or worse, destroyed by our current suspected regime, let them know backlash, and let them know that nothing is ever lost on the internet. Put it on the dark web for all I care, next to hacker forums and suspicious ads, so long as that informative stays in the world, I can have hope.

Finally, for those who threaten this modern burning of Alexandra. Count your happy days. Count your blessed moments. Every page you ruin, every second you waste burying information that ultimately benefits lives you deem lower, will be counted on your death toll. When the bell finally stops ringing, you won't even be able to enjoy the blessed silence before I cut you down. Your actions threaten lives outside of what you target. You target gender care, you risk patients with chromosomal abnormalities. You target sexuality studies, you threaten mental health research and psychology as a whole. You target medical papers that threaten your pathetic understanding of the world, and you will watch hundreds of children die from disease forgotten long before your miserable exsistence.

I have a personal claim in this. I have siblings, I have friends, I have lives threatened by your actions. You so much as step in that direction? Well, thank God for the actions of our forefathers, who gave us the right to bear arms. I have the right to self defense, and in defense of those who you forced to be legally classified as 'other' and unworthy of rights, I will knock you down.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive (Thousands of news, science, and opinion articles on top of links to helpful resources and explainers! Daily updates!)

A new Cleveland Clinic-led study published in The EMBO Journal shows that mild and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections can trigger immune responses in a pregnant individual that may cause serious inflammatory responses in the developing fetus.

The study's findings also suggest that vertical transmission of the virus from a pregnant individual to the fetus is more common than previously estimated—and that even without this transmission, a pregnant individual's immunological response to infection may impact the fetus.

Typically, health care providers test for SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a newborn through a nasal swab after birth. For this study, Cleveland Clinic researchers collected samples from the placenta and the fetal compartment (tissues that surround a fetus while still in utero), and then analyzed them for the presence of inflammatory markers and the virus.

They found higher instances of the virus in those tissues than what could be found in a traditional nasal swab, and even in the absence of a full infection they found small proteins from the virus had passed through the placenta.

The researchers hope their study will help ensure pregnant individuals can rapidly and reliably receive evidence-based medical care needed during novel outbreaks and public health crises.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first began, OB/GYN Ruth Farrell, MD, and colleagues at Cleveland Clinic and other major medical centers wanted to determine the best way to prevent and manage the infection in their pregnant patients. Pregnant individuals required different medical considerations during the pandemic compared to their nonpregnant counterparts; Dr. Farrell notes that many of the prevention and treatment approaches used in non-pregnant patients either did not have enough data to use in pregnant patients or were not feasible to perform.

"During the early stages of the pandemic, there were significant delays in determining how best to prevent and treat pregnant patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection," explains Dr. Farrell, who also serves as the Vice Chair of Research for Cleveland Clinic's Obstetrics & Gynecology Institute

"These delays lead to gaps in our understandings of the COVID pandemic for pregnant persons. These gaps also contribute to disparities that prevented pregnant individuals from accessing the best possible treatment as quickly as possible during the pandemic."

Dr. Farrell worked with clinical colleagues across the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) of Northern Ohio to develop methods for examining the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on pregnant patients, including researchers from University Hospitals of Cleveland and MetroHealth Medical Center.

She then teamed up with Cleveland Clinic maternal-fetal virologists Jolin (Suan Sin) Foo, Ph.D. and Javier (Weiqiang) Chen, Ph.D. from the Infection Biology Program to determine how the virus impacted the immune systems of both mother and child.

When the standard-of-care COVID-19 test is used to detect the virus in newborns (nasal swabs upon birth), they only detect infections in about 2% of children whose mothers tested positive for the virus during pregnancy. However, when Drs. Chen and Foo looked at tissues that surrounded the newborns when they were still in utero—including the amniotic fluid, chorion and umbilical cord plasma—they detected high levels of the virus in over a quarter (26%) of study participants.

The team also found elevated immune and inflammatory responses affecting the pregnancies of about 66% of study participants. Dr. Foo had previously shown elevated levels of fetal inflammation in pregnant individuals who experience severe SARS-CoV-2 infections during pregnancy, but few had asked whether asymptomatic or mild infections had the same effect. Now that they had their answer, however, the team was faced with even more questions.

"Even though we only saw vertical transmission of the full virus infection a quarter of the time, we saw strong immune and inflammatory responses in over two thirds of the cases," Dr. Foo says. "It was clear that even when the fetuses were not technically infected, they were still being impacted by their mothers' viral infection. But we weren't quite sure how."

Elevated levels of inflammation during pregnancy, in COVID and other conditions, can have negative impacts on the offspring long after birth. Further research can define how inflammation affects children in the long term.

Dr. Chen noted that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has a protein called ORF8 that physically resembles a human immune protein called immunoglobulin G that passes through the placenta from mother-to-fetus during development. He wondered whether the viral protein could also pass through the placenta's defenses to cause inflammation in the fetal compartment.

Drs. Foo and Chen, alongside co-first authors Tamiris Azamor, Ph.D. and Débora Familiar-Macedo, Ph.D. (a former and current postdoctoral researcher, respectively, in Dr. Foo's lab), were able to prove that the virus-made ORF8 did indeed pass through the placenta into the fetus. ORF8 then bound to immune proteins and "turned on" a process called the complementary immune response.

At normal levels, the complement system is a good thing during pregnancy and helps the fetus develop properly, Dr. Familiar-Macedo explains. At higher levels, the complement system can cause dangerous inflammation in a developing fetus. Lab studies supported that this immune response directly led to the elevated levels of inflammation seen in the fetuses of pregnant patients infected with the SARS CoV-2 virus.

"Our findings challenge the currently accepted definition of vertical transmission, or what it means to transmit an infection from mother-to-fetus," Dr. Chen says. "We have shown that it is indeed possible for only a small part of a virus to slip through and affect a pregnancy."

Dr. Foo adds that she hopes her team's findings will serve as guidance for health care practitioners, researchers and policymakers alike on further research into vertical transmission and long-term care.

"We've shown that the misconception that uninfected babies born from infected mothers are fine, is sometimes just that: a misconception," she says. "Pregnancy is such a vulnerable nine-month period where any change from the norm can cause long-term impacts on the baby, so we need to work more closely with these individuals to understand their unique health care needs during public health crises. It's the only way to make sure they receive the care they need."

More information: Tamiris Azamor et al, Transplacental SARS-CoV-2 protein ORF8 binds to complement C1q to trigger fetal inflammation, The EMBO Journal (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00260-9 www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44318-024-00260-9