Data from a national survey of 348 U.S. sports field managers were used to examine the effects of participation in Cooperative Extension events on the adoption of turfgrass weed management practices. Of the respondents, 94% had attended at least one event in the previous 3 yr. Of this 94%, 97% reported adopting at least one practice as a result of knowledge gained at an Extension turfgrass event. Half of the respondents had adopted four or more practices; a third adopted five or more practices. Nonchemical, cultural practices were the most-adopted practices (65% of respondents). Multiple regression analysis was used to examine factors explaining practice adoption and Extension event attendance. Compared to attending one event, attending three events increased total adoption by an average of one practice. Attending four or more events increased total adoption by two practices. Attending four or more events (compared to one event) increased the odds of adopting six individual practices by 3- to 6-fold, depending on the practice. This suggests that practice adoption could be enhanced by encouraging repeat attendance among past Extension event attendees. Manager experience was a statistically significant predictor of the number of Extension events attended but a poor direct predictor of practice adoption. Experience does not appear to increase adoption directly, but indirectly, via its impact on Extension event attendance. In addition to questions about weed management generally, the survey asked questions specifically about annual bluegrass management. Respondents were asked to rank seven sources of information for their helpfulness in managing annual bluegrass. There was no single dominant information source, but Extension was ranked more than any other source as the most helpful (by 22% of the respondents) and was ranked among the top three by 53%, closely behind field representative/local distributor sources at 54%.

Influencer marketing may be amplified on livestreaming platforms (e.g., Twitch) compared with asynchronous social media (e.g., YouTube). However, food and beverage marketing on Twitch has not been evaluated at a user level. The present study aimed to compare users’ self-reported exposure to food marketing and associated attitudes, consumption and purchasing behaviours on Twitch compared with YouTube. A survey administered via social media was completed by 621 Twitch users (90 % male, 64 % white, 69 % under 25 years old). Of respondents, 72 % recalled observing at least one food or beverage advertisement on Twitch. There were significant differences in the recall of specific brands advertised on Twitch (P < 0⋅01). After observing advertised products, 14 % reported craving the product and 8 % reported purchasing one. In chat rooms, 56 % observed conversations related to food and 25 % participated in such conversations. There were significant differences in the number of users who consumed various products while watching Twitch (P < 0⋅01). Of users who frequented YouTube (n 273), 65 % reported negative emotions when encountering advertising on YouTube compared with 40 % on Twitch (P < 0⋅01). A higher proportion felt Twitch's advertising primarily supported content creators (79 v. 54 %, P < 0⋅01), while a higher proportion felt that YouTube's advertising primarily supported the platform (49 v. 66 %, P < 0⋅01). The findings support that food marketing exposures on Twitch are noticeable, less bothersome to users and influence consumption and purchasing behaviours. Future studies are needed to examine how the livestreaming environment may enhance advertising effectiveness relative to asynchronous platforms.

A scalable approach for synthesis of ultra-thin (<10 nm) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) films on stretchable polymeric materials is presented. Specifically, magnetron sputtering from pure TMD targets, such as MoS2 and WS2, was used for growth of amorphous precursor films at room temperature on polydimethylsiloxane substrates. Stacks of different TMD films were grown upon each other and integrated with optically transparent insulating layers such as boron nitride. These precursor films were subsequently laser annealed to form high quality, few-layer crystalline TMDs. This combination of sputtering and laser annealing is commercially scalable and lends itself well to patterning. Analysis by Raman spectroscopy, scanning probe, optical, and transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm our assertions and illustrate annealing mechanisms. Electrical properties of simple devices built on flexible substrates are correlated to annealing processes. This new approach is a significant step toward commercial-scale stretchable 2D heterostructured nanoelectronic devices.