Emphasizing the predictive success and practical utility of psychological science is an admirable goal but it will require a substantive shift in how we design research. Applied research often assumes that findings are transferable to all practices, insensitive to variation between implementations. We describe efforts to quantify and close this practice-to-practice gap in education research.

There is mounting evidence that microbiome composition is intimately and dynamically connected with host energy balance and metabolism. The gut microbiome is emerging as a novel target for counteracting the chronically positive energy balance in obesity, a disease of pandemic scale which contributes to >70 % of premature deaths. This scoping review explores the potential for therapeutic modulation of gut microbiota as a means of prevention and/or treatment of obesity and obesity-associated metabolic disorders. The evidence base for interventional approaches which have been shown to affect the composition and function of the intestinal microbiome is summarised, including dietary strategies, oral probiotic treatment, faecal microbiota transplantation and bariatric surgery. Evidence in this field is still largely derived from preclinical rodent models, but interventional studies in obese populations have demonstrated metabolic improvements effected by microbiome-modulating treatments such as faecal microbiota transplantation, as well as drawing attention to the unappreciated role of microbiome modulation in well-established anti-obesity interventions, such as dietary change or bariatric surgery. The complex relationship between microbiome composition and host metabolism will take time to unravel, but microbiome modulation is likely to provide a novel strategy in the limited armamentarium of effective treatments for obesity.

New technological methods, such as rapidly developing molecular approaches, often provide new tools for scientific advances. However, these new tools are often not utilized equally across different research areas, possibly leading to disparities in progress between these areas. Here, we use empirical evidence from the scientific literature to test for potential discrepancies in the use of genetic tools to study parasitic vs non-parasitic organisms across three distinguishable molecular periods, the allozyme, nucleotide and genomics periods. Publications on parasites constitute only a fraction (<5%) of the total research output across all molecular periods and are dominated by medically relevant parasites (especially protists), particularly during the early phase of each period. Our analysis suggests an increasing complexity of topics and research questions being addressed with the development of more sophisticated molecular tools, with the research focus between the periods shifting from predominantly species discovery to broader theory-focused questions. We conclude that both new and older molecular methods offer powerful tools for research on parasites, including their diverse roles in ecosystems and their relevance as human pathogens. While older methods, such as barcoding approaches, will continue to feature in the molecular toolbox of parasitologists for years to come, we encourage parasitologists to be more responsive to new approaches that provide the tools to address broader questions.

The widespread occurrence of Palmer amaranth resistant to acetolactate synthase inhibitors and/or glyphosate led to the increased use of protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO)-inhibiting herbicides. This research aimed to: (1) evaluate the efficacy of foliar-applied fomesafen to Palmer amaranth, (2) evaluate cross-resistance to foliar PPO inhibitors and efficacy of foliar herbicides with different mechanisms of action, (3) survey the occurrence of the PPO Gly-210 deletion mutation among PPO inhibitor–resistant Palmer amaranth, (4) identify other PPO target-site mutations in resistant individuals, and (5) determine the resistance level in resistant accessions with or without the PPO Gly-210 deletion. Seedlings were sprayed with fomesafen (263 gaiha−1), dicamba (280 gaiha−1), glyphosate (870 gaiha−1), glufosinate (549 g ai ha−1), and trifloxysulfuron (7.84 gaiha−1). Selected fomesafen-resistant accessions were sprayed with other foliar-applied PPO herbicides. Mortality and injury were evaluated 21 d after treatment (DAT). The PPX2L gene of resistant and susceptible plants from a selected accession was sequenced. The majority (70%) of samples from putative PPO-resistant populations in 2015 were confirmed resistant to foliar-applied fomesafen. The efficacy of other foliar PPO herbicides on fomesafen-resistant accessions was saflufenacil>acifluorfen=flumioxazin>carfentrazone=lactofen>pyraflufen-ethyl>fomesafen>fluthiacet-methyl. With small seedlings, cross-resistance occurred with all foliar-applied PPO herbicides except saflufenacil (i.e., 25% with acifluorfen, 42% with flumioxazin). Thirty-two percent of PPO-resistant accessions were multiple resistant to glyphosate and trifloxysulfuron. Resistance to PPO herbicides in Palmer amaranth occurred in at least 13 counties in Arkansas. Of 316 fomesafen survivors tested, 55% carried the PPO Gly-210 deletion reported previously in common waterhemp. The PPO gene (PPX2L) in one accession (15CRI-B), which did not encode the Gly-210 deletion, encoded an Arg-128-Gly substitution. The 50% growth reduction values for fomesafen in accessions with Gly-210 deletion were 8- to 15-fold higher than that of a susceptible population, and 3- to 10-fold higher in accessions without the Gly-210 deletion.

We extend the ${\cal M}$ class of unit root tests introduced by Stock (1999, Cointegration, Causality and Forecasting. A Festschrift in Honour of Clive W.J. Granger. Oxford University Press), Perron and Ng (1996, Review of Economic Studies 63, 435–463) and Ng and Perron (2001, Econometrica 69, 1519–1554) to the seasonal case, thereby developing semi-parametric alternatives to the regression-based augmented seasonal unit root tests of Hylleberg, Engle, Granger, and Yoo (1990, Journal of Econometrics 44, 215–238). The success of this class of unit root tests to deliver good finite sample size control even in the most problematic (near-cancellation) case where the shocks contain a strong negative moving average component is shown to carry over to the seasonal case as is the superior size/power trade-off offered by these tests relative to other available tests.

Skin schistosomula can be prepared by collecting them after isolated mouse skin have been penetrated by cercariae in vitro. The schistosomula can also migrate out of isolated mouse skin penetrated by cercariae in vitro and from mouse skin penetrated by cercariae in vivo. Schistosomula can also be produced from cercariae applied through a syringe or in a vortex. When certain surface properties of the different forms of schistosomula were compared, those migrating from mouse skin penetrated by cercariae in vivo or in vitro had greatly increased permeability to membrane impermeant molecules such as Lucifer yellow and high molecular weight dextrans. These migrating forms also possessed surfaces which showed greatly enhanced uptake into internal membrane vesicles of the dye FM 143, a marker for endocytosis. This greatly enhanced activity and permeability of the surfaces of tissue migrating schistosomula is likely to be of great importance in the adaptation to the new host.

In this paper we investigate the impact of persistent (nonstationary or near nonstationary) cycles on the asymptotic and finite-sample properties of standard unit root tests. Results are presented for the augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) normalized bias and t-ratio-based tests (Dickey and Fuller, 1979, Journal of the American Statistical Association 745, 427–431; Said and Dickey, 1984; Biometrika 71, 599–607). the variance ratio unit root test of Breitung (2002, Journal of Econometrics 108, 343–363), and the M class of unit-root tests introduced by Stock (1999, in Engle and White (eds.), A Festschrift in Honour of Clive W.J. Granger) and Perron and Ng (1996, Review of Economic Studies 63, 435–463). We show that although the ADF statistics remain asymptotically pivotal (provided the test regression is properly augmented) in the presence of persistent cycles, this is not the case for the other statistics considered and show numerically that the size properties of the tests based on these statistics are too unreliable to be used in practice. We also show that the t-ratios associated with lags of the dependent variable of order greater than two in the ADF regression are asymptotically normally distributed. This is an important result as it implies that extant sequential methods (see Hall, 1994, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics 17, 461–470; Ng and Perron, 1995, Journal of the American Statistical Association 90, 268–281) used to determine the order of augmentation in the ADF regression remain valid in the presence of persistent cycles.

An overview about the German cluster project Cool Silicon aiming at increasing the energy efficiency for semiconductors, communications, sensors and software is presented. Examples for achievements are: 1000 times reduced gate leakage in transistors using high-fc (HKMG) materials compared to conventional poly-gate (SiON) devices at the same technology node; 700 V transistors integrated in standard 0.35 μm CMOS; solar cell efficiencies above 19% at < 200 W/m2 irradiation; 0.99 power factor, 87% efficiency and 0.088 distortion factor for dc supplies; 1 ns synchronization resolution via Ethernet; database accelerators allowing 85% energy savings for servers; adaptive software yielding energy reduction of 73% for e-Commerce applications; processors and corresponding data links with 40% and 70% energy savings, respectively, by adaption of clock frequency and supply voltage in less than 20 ns; clock generator chip with tunable frequency from 83-666 MHz and 0.62-1.6 mW dc power; 90 Gb/s on-chip link over 6 mm and efficiency of 174 fJ/mm; dynamic biasing system doubling efficiency in power amplifiers; 60 GHz BiCMOS frontends with dc power to bandwidth ratio of 0.17 mW/MHz; driver assistance systems reducing energy consumption by 10% in cars

We use new neutron scattering instrumentation to follow in a single quantitative time-resolving experiment, the three key scales of structural development which accompany the crystallisation of synthetic polymers. These length scales span 3 orders of magnitude of the scattering vector. The study of polymer crystallisation dates back to the pioneering experiments of Keller and others who discovered the chain-folded nature of the thin lamellae crystals which are normally found in synthetic polymers. The inherent connectivity of polymers makes their crystallisation a multiscale transformation. Much understanding has developed over the intervening fifty years but the process has remained something of a mystery. There are three key length scales. The chain folded lamellar thickness is ∼ 10nm, the crystal unit cell is ∼ 1nm and the detail of the chain conformation is ∼ 0.1nm. In previous work these length scales have been addressed using different instrumention or were coupled using compromised geometries. More recently researchers have attempted to exploit coupled time-resolved small-angle and wide-angle x-ray experiments. These turned out to be challenging experiments much related to the challenge of placing the scattering intensity on an absolute scale. However, they did stimulate the possibility of new phenomena in the very early stages of crystallisation. Although there is now considerable doubt on such experiments, they drew attention to the basic question as to the process of crystallisation in long chain molecules. We have used NIMROD on the second target station at ISIS to follow all three length scales in a time-resolving manner for poly(e-caprolactone). The technique can provide a single set of data from 0.01 to 100Å-1 on the same vertical scale. We present the results using a multiple scale model of the crystallisation process in polymers to analyse the results.

The spatial resolution of the transmission electron microscope makes it an ideal environment in which to continuously track the real-time response of a system to an external stimulus and to discover and quantify the rate-limiting fundamental microscopic processes and mechanisms governing the macroscopic properties. Advances in instrumentation, stage design, recording media, computational power, and image manipulation software are providing new opportunities for not only observing the microscopic mechanisms but also measuring concurrently the macroscopic response. In this article, the capability of this technique as applied to mechanical properties of materials is highlighted.

The organization of vortex clusters above the buffer layer of turbulent channels is analysed using direct numerical simulations at friction Reynolds numbers up to $\hbox{\it Re}_{\tau}\,{=}\,1900$. Especial attention is paid to a family of clusters that reach from the logarithmic layer to the near-wall region below $y^+\,{=}\,20$. These tall attached clusters are markers of structures of the turbulent fluctuating velocity that are more intense than their background. Their lengths and widths are proportional to their heights $\Delta_y$ and grow self-similarly with time after originating at different wall-normal positions in the logarithmic layer. Their influence on the outer region is measured by the variation of their volume density with $\Delta_y$. That influence depends on the vortex identification threshold, and becomes independent of the Reynolds number if the threshold is low enough. The clusters are parts of larger structures of the streamwise velocity fluctuations whose average geometry is consistent with a cone tangent to the wall along the streamwise axis. They form groups of a few members within each cone, with the larger individuals in front of the smaller ones. This behaviour is explained considering that the streamwise velocity cones are ‘wakes’ left behind by the clusters, while the clusters themselves are triggered by the wakes left by yet larger clusters in front of them. The whole process repeats self-similarly in a disorganized version of the vortex-streak regeneration cycle of the buffer layer, in which the clusters and the wakes spread linearly under the effect of the background turbulence. These results characterize for the first time the structural organization of the self-similar range of the turbulent logarithmic region.

In this paper we derive representations for the limiting distributions of the regression-based seasonal unit root test statistics of Hylleberg, Engle, Granger, and Yoo (1990, Journal of Econometrics 44, 215–238) and Beaulieu and Miron (1993, Journal of Econometrics 55, 305–328), inter alia, when the underlying process displays near seasonal integration. Our results generalize those presented in previous studies by allowing for an arbitrary seasonal periodicity (including the nonseasonal case), a wide range of possible assumptions on the initial conditions, a range of (seasonal) deterministic mean effects, and finite autoregressive behavior in the driving shocks. We use these representations to simulate the asymptotic local power functions of the seasonal unit root tests, demonstrating a significant dependence on serial correlation nuisance parameters in the case of the pairs of t-statistics, but not the associated F-statistic, for unit roots at the seasonal harmonic frequencies. Monte Carlo simulation results are presented that suggest that the local limiting distribution theory provides a good approximation to the finite-sample behavior of the statistics. Our results lend further weight to the advice of previous authors that inference on the unit root hypothesis at the seasonal harmonic frequencies should be based on the F-statistic, rather than on the associated pairs of t-ratios.We are grateful to Bruce Hansen and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this paper.