#High impact factor journals

[arda-conference-publications]

List Of High Impact Factor Journals 2024

Dreaming of publishing your hard work in the most exciting phase or high impact factor journals. But for that dream to come true, we need to pay more attention to certain aspects of the process such as the impact factor. Basically, the impact factor plays a major role in the reputation and ranking of the journal. Here is a list of a few high-impact factor journals for 2024.

Read more here https://www.ardaconference.com/blog/list-of-high-impact-factor-journals/

[lupine-publishers-sjo]

Classification, Pathophysiology, Genetics, And Role of Lifestyle Medicine in Presbycusis

Abstract

Presbycusis, which is age-related hearing loss is hearing loss usually seen in the elderly due to advancing in age, marked by a higher hearing threshold usually worse at higher frequencies, which impairs speech discrimination in noise. Genetic predisposition is an important factor in the aetiology of presbycusis. Presbycusis was previously classified into 4 different types, and recently into 6 types with the addition of mixed, and indeterminate types of presbycusis, with each type reflecting a peculiar audiometric configuration and speech discrimination percentage. Artificial intelligence has utilized this peculiar audiometric feature in diagnosis of genetic hearing loss. and recently, lifestyle medicine is being employed to highlight the benefit of preventive medicine in the management of hearing loss. Human studies have remained the trend of genetic hearing loss research in recent years. There is an overwhelming interest, with reasonable insight gained into the pathophysiology and genetics of ARHL, but the interaction of genetics, lifestyle, and environment certainly complicates our ability to separate their individual contributions to this pathology. There is need to improve research in the role of lifestyle medicine in curbing presbycusis.

Keywords: Presbycusis; age-related hearing loss; audiometry; genetics; lifestyle medicine

Read More About This Article Click on Below Link: https://lupinepublishers.com/otolaryngology-journal/fulltext/classification-pathophysiology-genetics-and-role-of-lifestyle-medicine-in-presbycusis.ID.000238.php Read More about Lupine Publishers Google Scholar Articles: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=dMOUw-wAAAAJ&cstart=80&citation_for_view=dMOUw-wAAAAJ:DIubQTN3OvUC

[jacevelaryonswife]

You Really Got Me | Professor!Michael Gavey x student!fem reader

summary: With a perfect CV, Michael Gavey was on top of the fucking world and mediocrity has never seemed so inherent to you before. The new Professor of Number Theory awakened inappropriate feelings that could become risky if they were reciprocal.

a/n: well, it was quite difficult to write this because I’m not familiar with the Oxford environment and I hope that my research has made this story as credible as possible.

tags: slight slow burn, smut, p in v sex, power imbalance, swearing.

word count: 5.7k

ewanverse masterlist | next part

Michael Gavey was... many things.

A lot of things, definitely.

Michael, or rather, Professor Gavey now, aroused conflicting feelings in you.

Admiration, fear, fascination and another whirlwind was felt when it was the new and brilliant Professor of Numbers Theory. He took over the discipline of a dear veteran and great name of mathematics in Oxford, his advisor in the master’s and PhD. Obviously great expectation formed around it, around him, wondering if he would be able to overcome the grandeur of his predecessor.

And apparently he was causing a certain commotion with his above-average intelligence and his eccentric personality.

Obviously you started a search for the CV of your next professor and the finding was surprisingly extraordinary. Speaker of the 2010 class, several projects carried out, postgraduate (also in Oxford), articles published in journals with high impact factor and experience at McKinsey & Company for 2 years.

Michael Gavey was on top of the fucking world and mediocrity had never seemed so inherent to you before.

Saying that you were intimidated by the first contact with him was an understatement- you were fucking terrified. The rumors of an alleged above-average intelligence proved to be untrue. Above average? No shit, he was far beyond everything you experienced. Your eyes didn’t dare to move away from him and the painting during the following hours, too fascinated by what was happening in your fucking front. You felt a current of pure mathematics run through your body and camp in your brain, illuminating all the neurons.

What the fuck had just happened?

You learned that every class he taught was a learning experience rarely experienced before. The passion he conveyed when teaching overflowed in all his expressions so intensely that it made you orbit around him slowly.

And that was the beginning of a problem.

A big problem.

But you hadn’t noticed yet.

“If I ever thought I was smart, forget it! Michael Gavey is the epitome of everything I want to be,” your good friend Miranda said before taking a sip of her latte.

“I know right? Every class I feel that my brain will explode,” you said while leaning your head against the table, “but I can understand what it teaches, at least a good part of things. I know I already have an advisor and our work is almost published, but I think I’m thinking of getting out of Algebra and trying something with Gavey,” you looked at her.

“Woah, are you fucking sure? I mean- if that’s what you really want, that’s fine, but I think it’s too mind blowing for me,” she said.

“For me too, but it’s fucking interesting, I really want to do at least one research in this area.”

“... hmm,” Miranda smirked, humming.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she superficially drank her coffee, “hmm.”

“Cut the bullshit,” you complained as you looked at her impatiently.

“It’s nothing, it’s just that from a certain angle he’s quite cute,” she said in a thin voice.

“Who? Gavey?”

“Yeah. He’s... different from the guys you usually date or are interested in but he’s not bad looking,” she explained.

“Come on, do you really think I’m interested in him? He's our professor and a big nerd to boot!” The last thing wasn’t totally the end of the world.

“And? It’s not like students and professors have never fucked before, although I don’t think he’d risk that much, he seems to be quite methodical,” she said calmly, “and most importantly, he’s clever as fuck and that automatically makes him sexy, if he’s not an idiot.”

That was absurd, you weren’t interested in Michael Gavey!

... right?

You thought about it for the rest of the day.

Was Michael Gavey, in addition to his bestial intellect, physically attractive?

Suddenly, you began to notice how his lips were perfectly drawn and pink as he explained the most beautiful things you had ever heard in those years at Oxford. Damn it. It was Miranda’s fault, obviously. You tried to convince yourself of that while elaborating a way to approach you about the possibility of a research project without embarrassing yourself. Obviously you tried to impress him before that, answering questions whenever possible and redoing all the examples and notes he passed around. When your own mind couldn’t assimilate some details, you looked for him to ask questions and oh Lord, he was more than attentive.

The proximity also made you realize how blue his eyes were under the glasses, and how his hands were- no, wait, what were those veins? Those long and thin fingers? You know what they say about guys with big hands... And his fluffy dirty blonde hair and those soft and ugly sweaters, his height, his waist-

DAMN IT MIRANDA!

That afternoon you gathered the courage to introduce the subject after your classmates left, using your best words to make a good impression.

“I have some interesting ideas that would yield good research, but before recruiting someone, I evaluate performance throughout the term; grades, posture, commitment, everything is observed.”

“Oh... sure, professor.”

“You’re doing well so far, you have good chances, keep it up.”

You wanted to scream. You’ve been recognized.

If your previous efforts were continuous to make a good impression, they would now be compulsive to stand out from the others. You needed to have him as an advisor. And all the eagerness to please him, all the competitive desire to excel, all that fervor triggered a fire that consumed every stretch of your body silently.

And that was a problem.

It shouldn’t be, but it became without you noticing.

“Do you know how many people would sacrifice everything to sit on these chairs? Walking through these corridors? Breathe this air? All of you have an obligation to achieve more than perfection, especially if you are here because of mommy and daddy’s money.”

You knew that very well. Gavey was very demanding about the quality of his students, always reinforcing the privilege of being in this environment, which in itself would make his discipline one of the most important of that term, but your current disposition made you demand almost all attention for him, for the test that was coming, for what you aspired to in the future.

And the result couldn’t be better.

You had a 100% performance in the first test. Excellent, handwritten next to the note. “Good work, keep it up,” he said with a subtle smile.

“Thank you, professor.”

So that’s what the butterflies in your stomach were from.

You smiled, satisfied as you reaped the fruit of weeks of hard work, too numb in your own pride to feel a close eye to follow your steps to the exit, although you had not gone unnoticed by Miranda.

“I think someone caught Gavey’s attention,” she hummed low, approaching on your side to lightly nudge your body with her hip.

“I know right? I need this opportunity,” you celebrated, oblivious to the implicit tone of her voice.

“I didn’t mean that way, babe. It's just he’s keeping an eye on you constantly, literally checking you every- I don’t know, three minutes?” She said it as if it were obvious.

“What? No, I don’t think it’s in this sense, he uses everything as a parameter of choice, he’s just observing my posture.” What? To believe that Gavey had ulterior motives? Too unreal.

“No, sweetheart, he was staring at you when no one paid attention, or almost no one, and he spent most of his time looking at you,” she insisted.

“You don't really thi-“

“I totally think so!”

Oh fuck.

“I’m not saying he’s in love with you, but he's interested, hell yeah,” she explained as you slowly processed her words.

“Fuck,” you said, “do you really, really think so? I mean- he doesn’t look like the type who stays with students.”

Definitely not, he seemed too methodical for that, methodical enough to separate the spectra of his life into compartments.

But what if there was the possibility? You couldn’t reproduce that question audibly, but in the comfort of your bed, you allowed yourself to daydream.

If there was some possibility?

Well, there were pros and cons that needed to be analyzed meticulously, of course.

In the event that Michael was a systematic monster, there wouldn’t be problems in a relationship since he wouldn’t mix romance with studies, theoretically. On the other hand, if he didn’t know how to differentiate the staff from the professional... well, you’d be fucked up if something went wrong. And that was the main point: the mistake.

The consequences would be drastic if something bad happened, especially to you, whose life was still under construction and a scholarship in Oxford could not be negotiated. The cost was too high.

However, over the weeks, you could only think about how attractive your professor was.

And now you know it’s a problem.

And with that, the end of year 2 was near when you received an email from Michael Gavey requesting to send your notes and certificates of everything you had done and participated in so far. Jesus, that man wasn’t kidding.

Neither were you.

That same morning you attached the documents to the e-mail and forwarded a response, as a result, your presence was requested at his office as soon as possible. I’m available in the afternoon, you send to him.

It was complicated to make your legs stop shaking along the way, practically jumping through the corridors while trying to stay calm. It was your chance, one where nothing could go wrong. You wore your best clothes, put on accessories that you used to wear daily and a subtle makeup to make a good impression, nothing that drew too much attention.

Stopping in front of his door, you took a deep breath and announced your presence with a light knock against the old wood, receiving immediate permission to enter the space. You would've liked the time and the absence of an observer to analyze all the details, but instead your eyes locked with his as he walked back to his chair.

“Good afternoon,” he said, a polite smile illuminating his beautiful face as he pointed to the chair in front of you, “have a seat. Please.”

“Good afternoon, professor, thank you,” you greeted him back, shaking your hands anxiously as you sat down.

With no time to allow your eyes to wander through the objects on the table, Michael cut straight to the point. "So, what aroused your interest in Number Theory?" You, to begin with.

"Well, I chose Maths at the age of 17, but things were difficult when I started the course. I was disenchanted considerably, but I always remained active. When your classes started I felt the same thing that motivated me to join here, it was as if everything had made sense again and I really fell in love with it."

“I see,” he said, crossing his hands over the table with a soft smile and a slight pink to his cheeks. Did you make him blush? No way. "I’m happy to have contributed positively to your training. I really appreciated your performance during classes and the analysis of your CV. The activities you have developed are also good but they can improve, I believe you also aspire to it. I seek a high level of quality in my students, after all we are in one of the best universities in the world and excellence is the least expected, I believe we agree on that. Have you already decided where you would like to specialise within Number Theory?"

"To be honest, no, but I would like to find out in-"

"I have some ideas that I’d like to be executed, I can show you now, if you don't have something in mind," he interrupted you with enthusiasm.

"... yes, I’d love to," you said, "but first, thank you for the opportunity you’re giving me, I admire you so much from the first classes and I feel really happy to receive this chance, I know there are many successful veteran professors, but I believe that a current view of a person as impressive as you can bring interesting results."

And if he had blushed with your previous statement, now he was red as a tomato and all disconcerted as he looked down with a shyness never witnessed before by you. It was deadly cute.

Gosh, you were really fucked.

═════════════════════

Working with Michael was exciting.

Terrifying too.

You felt constantly intimidated by his intellect, which caused a mix of sensations that varied according to the day. There was the pride of collaborating with him, the fear of failing, the paranoia of not being good enough and the satisfaction of achieving good results. It was a real roller coaster.

The passing of the months dissipated the initial strangeness and made living more comfortable. On the other hand, the proximity made you watch him for longer. It was pathetic.

Michael spent most of his time in front of his computer, correcting things, creating things and participating in events. You weren’t the only one under his guidance, there was Paul, a recent entry in Maths who was too inert in his own world to notice any non-standard deviation. Paul was a reminder and a barrier for nothing to come out of your daydreams, although he didn't seem very interested in what you were doing.

Still, you couldn't feed those thoughts, your relationship should be strictly professional.

It didn't matter how discreetly he approached you to help, or how close he leaned towards you- more than what was considered respectful. Or how good he smelled and looked so comfortable with his cheesy sweaters and old shoes. Or when you looked at him closely while he explained something.

How it was happening at that very moment.

“You're wasting time trying to demonstrate this equation, it's not so important for the project,” he said when analysing your latest advances.

"I know, but I'd like to understand better and I'm not getting it, it seems too abstract," you said with a frustrated pout, bothered by being stuck in something so simple.

"You've already solved more difficult things," he stressed, looking at you consciously, "can I?" he asked, referring to your notebook and the pen next to your laptop.

“Sure.”

Your attention focused on the numbers and symbols scribbled on the paper, trying to keep up with the speed of his thought. Watching it has always been fascinating.

“Some things are more difficult when we make them like this,” he said as he sketched on the paper.

"It's easy to say that being you," you replied, lamenting the failed attempt to absorb some of his knowledge.

"But it's true."

Unconsciously, you leaned your shoulder against his arm. "Some things are naturally difficult, not everyone can visualise like you."

"I know, it's a natural advantage," he smirked, looking at you over his shoulder, face closer than usual. "But you have a good brain, you shouldn't make it harder than it is."

So close.

"And how should I make it easier?" You held your breath, not daring to look beyond his beautiful blue irises.

"Find in the problem points that are favourable to you, try to demystify them, make them palpable," he replied slowly, taking a deep breath.

Really close.

"And if there's nothing to be explored?"

"You can always call me."

"… I know."

So close.

═════════════════════

After that, you don't know what or why, but something has changed in your relationship with Michael.

His looks became more persistent, his presence seemed closer, almost palpable. Maybe it was a daydream of your own mind, but it looked different, inexplicably different. The air seemed heavier when there was proximity. He seemed comfortable when he touched your shoulder while you read your results. It was nothing, you thought.

There was something not said and that was enough to bring out fears and expectations.

Why not? You thought repeatedly, knowing the reasons very well.

But, maybe...

Maybe you needed to get him out of your head for a few hours, meet some nice guys, drink a little, it was a good idea.

That's why that Friday night you decided to go to one of the nearby pubs with Miranda. It was a good plan, you would leave the lab at 5 PM and get ready to meet her at 7 PM. It was in fact a good plan... until the data analysis program decided to crash in the middle of your work and a malaise affected your friend, in addition to a grotesque rain that started to fall recently. Well, at least you tried.

After collecting the material from the bench, you stretched your arms above your head to ward off the hours of agonizing stress and got up from the chair. It was already late and your view was tired, more than your own body when Michael showed up with his keys in his hand after closing his own office. He spent the afternoon by your side trying to solve the damn problem in addition to his chores as a teacher.

"Everything worked out?" He asked.

"Yeah, at least that," you grumbled, picking up your backpack, "thank you for the help," you looked at him before going to the switches to turn off the equipment.

"You’re welcome," he said simply, in a softer tone than usual. Thunder echoed when you turned off the lights and made you retreat briefly in fright, making himhim laugh softly. "So, what does your generation do to have fun Friday night?" He asked casually after leaving the laboratory.

"Considering that these pubs are older than you and me, I think the same thing your generation did," you replied humorously, looking at him with a small smile, "Unfortunately not with this rain."

"Did you have plans?" He asked.

"Yes, my friend and I’d go to MacLaren's pub, but she's sick and the world decided to fall suddenly and I didn't bring my umbrella," you said faster than you intended, a brief irritation about how your night was totally destroyed. “And you?”

“No plans,” he said, adjusting his sweater. His car was close, but the rain prevented him from advancing a lot. "Are you walking?" He asked.

"Yes- I mean as soon as the rain passes," you crossed your arms and hugged yourself.

"I can take you," he said, his words beginning to make your heart beat faster.

It's no big deal, it's just a polite gesture.

"Oh no, you don't have to, honestly. I can wait," you said, although the twinge in your heart meant the opposite. Why the fuck did I deny it? Damn it.

"It's no big deal, besides we don't know when it will pass," he said, "we can wait in my car, I'm fucking freezing here."

"Sure." You tried not to freak out at the idea of being in such a restricted and warm environment with him, but Michael didn't seem to share the concern, since he basically ran in the middle of the fine rain to reach his car. Okay then. You went right behind, putting the backpack above your head to protect yourself from the water and closing the door harder than you intended. “Sorry, I wasn't expecting that,” you said with a light laugh.

"I just needed this heater," he said with a small smile on his lips, messing with things on the panel, "I also didn't bring an umbrella."

Avoiding making him uncomfortable when analyzing his every movement, you took your cell phone to try to distract yourself, relaxing when the hot air became present. It was almost 6:45 when You Really Got Me filled your ears and made you look at him.

"Do you like The Kinks?" You asked.

"I'm a fan, what about you?"

"My friend is a big fan."

“And you?”

"I like some songs."

"My grandfather was a great vinyl collector, he left everything to my father but he was never into rock in general," he said as he adjusted his glasses, looking at you with soft eyes.

You looked at him with interest. "I started listening to rock to get the attention of a guy I liked. It didn't work but I really liked the songs, although I don't listen to the same bands as I did when I was younger."

Michael laughed. The sound was carefree, almost relaxed even, a facet you didn't see often. He looked soft, cozy, in that burnt orange sweater he wore. "And what do you listen to?"

“I listen to a lot of Oasis, but that's not really 60's stuff. But I also like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Strokes...”

“Big fan of Oasis,” he said.

“Really?”

"I have all the vinyls and I went to a concert in Manchester before the separation." He paused, "Would you like to see them?"

There was an intensity in his look that made your breathing fail, making the air heavy. The casualness of the situation did not seem so natural all of a sudden. He meant-

“In my home.”

Shit shit shit shit

You couldn't, you shouldn't.

“Yes.”

═════════════════════

And so, contrary to all the possibilities of the night, you were in Michael fucking Gavey's house.

A veiled restlessness endured in the air and in the way your heart beat as you were taken by the unknown path. You couldn't believe you had agreed to that, but here you were, looking at every detail of his flat with curiosity. It was large, clean and almost minimalist in design, some thematic objects of mathematics scattered around on the shelves, walls and table. Nerd.

A short silence was maintained while your eyes eagerly explored his place. "Do you want to drink something?"

"Water would be great," you tried to keep the modesty, while watching him go to the kitchen and approach with your request with his gaze locked on yours.

You couldn't be imagining things, there was something there, a different glow, an unspoken truth that caused chills to run through your body.

"You can sit down, I'll get the vinyls."

Your heart was almost exploding since the invitation. You couldn't believe he brought you here, much less that you agreed to come. What the fuck should you do? Let him show you the records and then go? That was stupid.

You forced a conscious smile when he appeared with the records in his hand, watching with a certain curiosity.

“Here,” he said with what you assumed to be a nervous smile, “This is definitely my favourite, although What's the Story? Morning Glory introduced me to the band-“

Your brain wandered when he started digging non-stop about the albums, not giving a damn about Noel and Liam Gallagher's drama, all that mattered was that you were next to Michael Gavey, on his couch, at his house. Michael, the man who took away your sleep and made you constantly daydream. The man who fascinated and intimidated you to the same extent, who made your body warm up when it was close and imagined what it would be like if he got closer.

With his beautiful eyes, nose and lips, big hands and long fingers, soft and beautiful dirty blond hair.

You've wanted it for a long time.

You wanted him.

Wanted to fuck him.

You wanted to fuck your own professor.

And you're tired of denying it.

"I know I shouldn't do that, but it's all I've been thinking about for months."

You interrupted him, touching his cheek as you slowly leaned against him. He froze in place, not preventing your advances as your faces grew closer and closer. Your lips gently brushed against his before pressing harder, starting a fearful and shy, almost chaste kiss.

He didn't reciprocate.

Your heart sank, panic blooming in your stomach.

What did I do?

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"

His lips silenced any doubts that dared to emerge, holding the back of your head while kissing you experimentally. You didn't waste time in moving your lips at the pace he set, holding the back of his neck and smoothing his beautiful face, tasting the taste of his lips.

You couldn't believe it, you couldn't! He was kissing you!

Michael Gavey was kissing you!

"I'm sorry, we shouldn't-" he said as he walked away abruptly, but you didn't care.

You attacked his hungry lips and made him move the discs away when he leaned against his body, climbing on his lap and holding both sides of his neck. His hand went down your back and held your ass firmly while the other grasped on the back of your neck, pulling your body closer and asking for access to your mouth with his tongue. You kissed, sucked, and bit his pink lips, taking advantage of everything you could before moving away to look into his eyes, looking for any sign of reluctance.

“I've wanted to do this for a long time,” he confessed.

“Me too,” you said.

And then you were kissing him again, and again, and again until your lips were red, wet and swollen. Your body warmed up when a bulge emerged below your thighs, instinctively grinding against it.

“Fuck- I can't, we can't do that, I'm your fucking professor,” he said out of breath, holding your arms and briefly pushing your body away. "This can ruin everything- fuck up our relationship-"

He was red, dilated pupils and heavy breathing, a fucking vision.

“I know, I know. But... just this time, we can forget just this time... what do you think?"

He held firmly one side of your face and looked into your eyes. “Are you fucking sure about this?”

“I'm fucking sure.”

Just this time.

"... just this time."

He leaned over to kiss you quickly, moving his hands under your blouse to take it over his head, groping the exposed skin of your arms, waist and belly with his big hands while drinking from your body with lascivious eyes. "Beautiful," he whispered.

His lips traveled to spice up moist kisses on your neck, sucking the conjuncture with his shoulder, licking your throat, making you melt and close your eyes when he found your sweet spot. Who knew he had that fire? He nibbled and sucked the sensitive skin, holding your waist firmly when he raised you and put you on the floor, leaving you stunned as he guided you by the hand to the room.

Michael didn't have time for your reasoning to come back when he gently pushed you against the door with both hands next to your head. “You're fucking gorgeous.”

“And you're handsome,” you removed his orange sweater, touching the skin of his torso.

"... you don't have to reciprocate the compliment."

Your chest hurt when you heard that, which made you touch his cheek instinctively. "I'm not saying out of courtesy, Michael, you're fucking attractive," you traced his lips with your thumb, looking at him firmly. “Fucking handsome.”

A slight blush took over his cheeks and he captured your lips with passion, holding your waist while kissing life outside of you. Your head was spinning and your stomach warmed up by intimacy, straightening his soft hair. You were in the damn clouds.

His hands moved to unbutton your pants and lower them, kneeling before you to remove your shoes and jeans, kissing the stomach trail to the top of your panties and shamelessly touching your drenched pussy.

"Mmm," you shuddered and closed your eyes when he started rubbing your clitoris, increasing the moisture between your thighs. Fuck. Your goddamn professor was kneeling in front of you. If you weren't wet before, now a river has accumulated in your center.

"Is that good?" He asked.

“Yeah,” you whispered, holding onto him for better support, watching him continue to massage your clit now directly into the skin while leaving kisses on your belly. You leaned dramatically against the door when he stuck a finger in your entrance, pumping slowly, feeling you, teasing. “Fuck.”

Michael removed his finger and stood up, unbuttoning his belt quickly and taking off his pants and shoes, leaving you warm and needy and following him like a puppy when he went to the headboard near the bed and opened the upper drawer to take off a condom. Damn it, he was so fine. Before his hands were on your body, you slowly pushed him on the bed and took control, removing the bra and discarding the panties. You couldn't believe what was about to happen.

Your body trembled when he pulled you by the waist and clapped your breasts as you sat on his covered cock and ground over it.

"Fuck," he grunted, sucking one nipple.

"Michael," you moaned, panting. 'Professor,' that's what you wanted to shout, pulling the hair from the back of his neck. He moaned when you kept grinding against his erection and hoisted your hips to lay you on the sheets.

Your mouth opened when he discarded his underwear - not even in the wettest dreams did you imagine that size. He was fucking fine. Tall, thin, defined and with a beautiful cock. Fuck-

Michael Gavey was really a box full of surprises. He barely had time to adjust his glasses and put on the condom before he was pulled by you to take over the top, caged by your legs.

He captured your lips in a sweet kiss, leaning on his elbow as he adjusted between your thighs. The next thing you felt was the welcome intrusion into your folds, stretching you open deliciously. The initial stretch was a little painful, it's been a while since you've been with someone, but he was slow and careful when sinking into your core, making your toes curl up and a relieved moan come out of your throat when he was totally inside.

"Are you alright?" He asked with his face above yours.

"Yes," you held his back, "just wait a minute, please."

“Okay,” he said with a red face, hoarse voice and almost breathless.

Your walls were pulsating when you finally received it, relaxing when the slight discomfort passed. “Move.”

His thrusts were soft, but firm, looking at you closely. You couldn't believe that, yes, Michael was fucking you. Finally.

You leaned up to kiss him while holding your back, groping his wrinkles around your eyes. He was fucking handsome. His hips went further and faster when your body was totally receptive, the moisture and heat surrounding him and making him slip without hindrance. He leaned his forehead against yours and held your hips when you dug your feet on the bed, hitting deeper than before, making you moan loudly and your pussy squeeze instinctively.

A hoarse moan was his response, almost a whining that was swallowed by your lips.

You were in the fucking clouds with the intimacy of the moment, tracing patterns on his back and pulling the blonde strands from the back of the neck when the thrusts became more intense, deliberately repeating his name. Michael attacked the conjuncture of your neck and lifted your thigh even more to go deeper, deliciously hitting your core.

"Michael- fuck-" You could only think of how good he felt, how big his cock was and how his bulbous head brushed your sweet spot whenever he moved. You needed it too much. Holding his shoulders and pushing him away a little, you looked at him panting, making his eyes widen.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked with a tense body.

"No, no, It's just-" and then you moved to take control, resting your hands on his chest, "this." You wanted to ride him since the time you called me in your office. You rubbed your hips against his groin in an addictive rhythm, loving the friction against your clitoris and the feeling of being totally filled.

"Fuck," he grunted, squeezing your ass, groping your hip, holding your breasts, covering every piece of skin available.

You started moving on his cock, touching his chest gently. You felt it all over your core and that burned your whole body, especially when your spongy spot was being brushed rhythmically. Michael pulled you to a scorching kiss full of tongue and teeth, leaving your movements sloppy, but constant, almost frantic, your moans and whining became higher and higher, your velvety walls squeezing his thick axis more and more.

"So fucking good," he moaned against your mouth and leaned his feet on the bed, holding your buttocks and hitting his hips against yours.

“Fuck-“ you almost screamed, resting your head against his chest when he started pushing quickly into your hot pussy, creating lascivious sounds that echoed all over the room.

“You're squeezing me so fucking hard - you're close, aren't you?” He asked, almost breathless.

“Y-yes,” your eyes closed when the family tingling intensified and your juices lubricated it even more.

"Come for me baby," he grunted when your folds pulsed around him, "cum in my fucking cock."

Shit.

Your orgasm hit you hard; hot and sudden as lightning, making your body tremble and a flash blind your vision as the air disappeared from your lungs and your mind went blank.

"Fuck," you heard him moan far away, feeling his cock pulsate and the squeeze on your ass increase when his erratic movements stopped, leaving only a few slow pushes on your sensitive pussy.

You melted completely when the orgasmic euphoria spared, coming out of it unwillingly so as not to deprive you of the air and stabilize your own breathing. Your mind was tired although very aware of the fact that you had just fucked your professor.

You can't fucking believe it.

Fucking finally.

"Are you okay?" He asked, all red and sweaty as he looked at you with crooked glasses.

“Absofuckinglutely,” you looked at him tired, panting, attracted by how cozy he looked. “And you?”

He smiled softly, pushing away some strands of hair that had stuck to your forehead, fingering your face with his thumb. “I'm fucking great.”

Michael pulled you to rest on his chest when a comfortable mist hovered between you as you recovered. None of you said anything for the next few minutes, just enjoying the calm silence before reality starts to come back. You fucked your professor.

You fucked your professor.

What did you have in your head?

You tried to convince yourself that nothing would change after that, that your relationship would not be affected, but you were not sure of that

Just this time.

═════════════════════

taglist: @venmondiese @re-per @anukulee @slytherincursebreaker @tulips2715 @rhaenyslay @angelinap09 @cupidelocke @aegonswife @fan-goddess @thenightmistress @deliaseastar @scarletbedlam @delightfulbluebirdstarlight @arcielee @aemonds-holy-milk

my lovely beta reader: @moris-auri 💙💙

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

Clean air and masking makes us all healthier.

By Hugo Francisco de Souza

In a recent study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers evaluated the relative risks of Long COVID following human exposure to several types of environmental pollutants. Their study leveraged data from the Catalonian COVICAT cohort (n = 2,853 Catalonian adults aged 40–65) and found that while air pollutant exposure (particularly particulate matter) increased Long COVID risk (PM2.5 RR = 1.14 [95% CI: 0.97–1.37], PM10 RR = 1.15 [95% CI: 0.98–1.39]), these associations were not statistically significant. Other environmental pollutants (noise, light, and green spaces) showed no such association.

Notably, study findings validate previous research suggesting the role of suspended particulate matter in COVID-19 severity and its indirect link to Long COVID risk through heightened initial infection severity, while highlighting subtle differences in Long COVID risk across sex, age, and education levels. It helps inform clinicians and policymakers of priorities when tackling this growing global public health concern.

Background Long COVID, also called ‘post-COVID-19 syndrome’ and ‘post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC)’ is an umbrella term for a group of symptoms that develop or persist for weeks, months, or even years following recovery from a coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Its symptoms vary substantially between patients and may include post-exertional malaise, fatigue, chest or muscle pain, and ‘brain fog’ (cognitive dysfunctions).

The duration and severity of Long COVID impart significant debilitation and socioeconomic stress to patients and their families, highlighting the need for identifying its risk factors and high-risk populations. Previous research has suggested that air pollution significantly contributes to COVID-19 infection severity and, in turn, Long COVID risk. However, such findings have often been limited by short study durations, reliance on self-reported data, and insufficient sample sizes. Furthermore, the impacts of other environmental pollutants remain unknown.

About the Study The present study aims to address present knowledge gaps by investigating the associations between urban environmental pollutant exposure and subsequent Long COVID risk. It leverages detailed, longitudinal self-reported online questionnaire data from the COVICAT cohort, a long-term prospective population-based cohort of Catalonian adults (40-65 years), supplemented with baseline medical data from the GCAT study (2019).

Study data was collected via three online questionnaires administered during the pandemic (2020, 2021, and 2023). Relevant data included sociodemographics (sex, age, education level) and clinical data (COVID-19 infection severity, body mass index [BMI], general health status, and vaccination details). Participants who remained unresponsive or provided incomplete data were excluded from statistical analyses.

The study further defined and investigated the prevalence and risk associations of ‘persistent Long COVID,’ symptoms which were reported in 2021 and persisted through 2023. Urban environmental pollutant exposure was assessed based on annual averages at participants' residential addresses. These included air (suspended particulate matter [PM2.5, PM10], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], and ozone [O3]), green space availability (including normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]), nighttime road-traffic noise, and outdoor melanopic illuminance (blue light artificial light at night [ALAN]).

The association between each individual exposure and participant outcomes was evaluated using three mixed-effect robust Poisson regression models adjusted for sociodemographic, clinical, and infection severity factors. Statistical analyses included participants reporting COVID-19 infections but no subsequent Long COVID symptoms as controls.

Study Findings Out of the 2,853 participants included in the final dataset, 700 (24.5%) reported Long COVID symptoms, of which 153 (5%) reported persistent Long COVID. Women (n = 1,788, 27.6%) reported higher Long COVID prevalence than their male counterparts (n = 1,065, 19.4%). Education was found to be a significant determinant of Long COVID incidence, with university-educated participants (n = 1,557, 22.2%) demonstrating lower prevalence than those with only primary/lower education (n = 219, 29.2%).

Prior chronic disease substantially increased Long COVID risk (n = 1,013, 33.3%). COVID-19-associated clinical data revealed that infection severity and pre-infection vaccination administration were significant determinants, with the latter reducing Long COVID risk.

Notably, apart from suspended particulate matter exposure (PM2.5 RR = 1.14 [95% CI: 0.97–1.37], PM10 RR = 1.15 [95% CI: 0.98–1.39]), no other urban environmental pollutants were found to be associated with the heightened prevalence of Long COVID. These findings align with previous reports, albeit in a Catalonian-restricted sample cohort. Researchers speculate that particulate matter may influence Long COVID risk indirectly by increasing the severity of the initial infection.

Conclusions The present study investigates the impacts of several urban environmental pollutants (air, noise, green spaces, and light) on Long COVID or persistent Long COVID risk. Study findings reveal that suspended particulate matter increased the risk of Long COVID by exacerbating the severity of the initial COVID-19 infection. Women, participants with limited education, and those with pre-existing chronic diseases were found to demonstrate substantially higher Long COVID risk than their respective counterparts. Surprisingly, other evaluated environmental pollutants were not found to impact Long COVID incidence or prevalence.

“Further research focusing on Long COVID subtypes, symptom clusters, and potential mechanisms underlying observed associations will be crucial for enhancing our understanding of this complex condition,” the researchers concluded.

Journal reference: Saucy, A., Espinosa, A., Iraola-Guzmán, S., Castaño-Vinyals, G., Harding, B. N., Karachaliou, M., Ranzani, O., De Cid, R., Garcia-Aymerich, J., & Kogevinas, M. (2024). Environmental Exposures and Long COVID in a Prospective Population-Based Study in Catalonia (COVICAT Study). In Environmental Health Perspectives (Vol. 132, Issue 11). Environmental Health Perspectives, DOI – 10.1289/ehp15377, ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP15377

[bullshit-tqia]

A list of side effects and risks for mtf estrogen:

This is thanks to a friend, she gets full credit for this post.

"Some takeaways: almost none of the studies report that estrogen does anything positive to male bodies, except lowering blood pressure in young people and stopping balding

Essentially most of the articles were freaking out about how we need more high quality data to determine if estrogen is safe or not, but of the studies I went through:"

Risks associated with estrogen use by men found:

Heart Risks: Venous Thromboembolism (VTE): 9 articles

Myocardial Infarction (MI): 5 articles

Ischemic Stroke: 5 articles

Other Cardiovascular Events: 6 articles

Fertility Risks: 6 articles

Cancer Risks: 8 articles

Key Dangers that evidence found in MTF people:

Dangers to the Heart:

Venous Thromboembolism (VTE): Increased risk reported across multiple studies.

Myocardial Infarction (MI): Elevated risk associated with estrogen therapy.

Ischemic Stroke: Increased incidence observed in studies.

Other Cardiovascular Events: General cardiovascular disease risks

Dangers to Fertility: Impacts on spermatogenesis and testicular health, with some studies noting fertility preservation in a portion of trans women.

Dangers to Cancer Risk: Potential increased risk for breast cancer and other hormone-sensitive malignancies. Dangers that are suspected based on know qualities of estrogen:

Cancer Risks: Potential increased risk for specific cancers beyond breast cancer, such as papillary thyroid cancer and other hormone-sensitive malignancies.

Liver Toxicity: Concerns regarding hepatotoxic effects and liver integrity due to long-term estrogen use.

Cardiac Arrhythmias: Suggested increase in the rates of cardiac arrhythmias in some studies, although direct causation remains unclear.

Gallbladder Issues: Potential association with gallstones and pancreatitis, but more research is needed for conclusive evidence.

Long-term Bone Health: Uncertainty about how long-term estrogen use affects bone density and overall bone health.

Psychiatric Effects: Speculation about possible mood changes or psychiatric effects, though this is often individualized and not well documented.

Metabolic Changes: Concerns about changes in metabolism and body composition, including the risk of obesity, but conclusive links remain to be established.

On regaining fertility after estrogen:

After an average of three years on estrogen, ony 40% of trans women will still be fertile. After discontinuation of hormones, 66% will get their fertility back (with the span of the study), and most of the people observed had impaired semen quality after stopping. The contributing factor may be the age when hormones were started, with older people being more protected.

But hey, I'm just an alarmist.

Sources:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0090429519306302 https://www.cell.com/cell-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(22)00422-0 [1:12 PM] Bock, M. E., et al. "Incidence of Venous Thromboembolism in Transgender Women Prescribed Estrogen." Clinical Chemistry, vol. 65, no. 1, 2019, pp. 57-66. https://academic.oup.com/clinchem/article/65/1/57/5607952.

Keshavarz, M., et al. "Spermatogenesis in Transgender Women." Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2020. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0090429519306302.

Bhasin, S., et al. "Estrogens and Tumorigenesis." Prostate, vol. 79, no. 9, 2019, pp. 1027-1033. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pros.23322.

Kearney, T., et al. "Prostate Cancer in Transgender Women." JAMA Network Open, vol. 2, no. 7, 2019. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2820386.

Kley, M. A., et al. "Estrogen and Testicular Health." BMC Urology, vol. 18, 2018, p. 68. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13256-018-1894-6.

Chen, C. L., et al. "Cardiovascular Risks in Transgender Patients." American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, vol. 324, no. 4, 2023, pp. H674-H688. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpheart.00299.2022.

Lee, D. L., et al. "Hematologic Complications of Estrogen Therapy." Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 167, no. 1, 2017, pp. 46-55. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/M17-2785.

Van Kesteren, P. J., et al. "Long-term Cardiovascular Risks of Hormone Therapy." Circulation Reports, vol. 5, no. 4, 2023. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/circrep/5/4/5_CR-23-0021/_article/-char/ja/.

Naderi, H., et al. "Risks of Cardiovascular Disease in Transgender Women." The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 104, no. 8, 2019, pp. 3505-3514. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890623820301295.

Mehta, A., et al. "Estrogen and the Liver." American Journal of Gastroenterology, vol. 115, no. 1, 2020, pp. 15-23. https://journals.lww.com/ajg/fulltext/2020/10001/S2417_The_Skinny_on_Estrogen_and_Liver_Fat.2417.aspx.

Miller, L. J., et al. "Venous Thromboembolism in Transgender Women." American Journal of Health Promotion, vol. 78, no. 18, 2022, pp. 1674-1680. https://academic.oup.com/ajhp/article-abstract/78/18/1674/6264946. Smith, C. R., et al. "Bone Density in Transgender Patients." Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, vol. 37, no. 4, 2022, pp. 643-650. https://academic.oup.com/jbmr/article/37/4/643/7516770.

Tam, D. Y., et al. "Implications of Estrogen on Cancer Risk." Frontiers in Endocrinology, vol. 12, 2021. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2021.718200/full.

Gupta, A., et al. "Estrogen Therapy and Pancreatitis." The American Journal of Cardiology, vol. 125, no. 12, 2020, pp. 1836-1842. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890623820301295.

Johnson, J. E., et al. "Long-term Effects of Estrogen on Metabolism." Cell Medicine, vol. 9, no. 4, 2022. https://www.cell.com/cell-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(22)00422-0.

[pierrotdoesnteat]

NUTRITION JOURNALS: FIBER

WHAT IS FIBER?

- fiber is a nutrient known as a carbohydrate. fiber includes the parts of plant foods that the body can't digest or absorb.this makes it different from nutrients such as fats, proteins, and other carbohydrates including starches and sugars. the body breaks down these nutrients and absorbs them. instead, fiber passes somewhat intact through the stomach, small intestine and colon and out of the body. - soluble fiber dissolves in water. it forms a gel-like material in the stomach that slows down digestion. it can help lower cholesterol and blood sugar. soluble fiber is found in oats, peas, beans, apples, bananas, avocados, citrus fruits, carrots, barley and psyllium. - insoluble fiber doesn't dissolve in water. tt supports the movement of material through the digestive system and adds bulk to stool. so it can be helpful for people who have constipation or don't regularly pass stool. some good sources of insoluble fiber are whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, nuts, beans, and vegetables such as cauliflower, green beans and potatoes.

HOW DOES FIBER HELP WITH WEIGHT LOSS?

- eating soluble fiber may help promote weight loss and have other health benefits, but fiber from whole plant foods is better for weight loss than fiber supplements. - for most individuals aiming to lose weight, the target is 23-38 grams of fiber per day. factors that impact your fiber needs include age, gender, activity level, and overall health goals. it’s important to consume both soluble and insoluble fiber from a variety of sources, including fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

WHAT ELSE DOES FIBER DO?

- fiber increases the weight and size of stool and softens it. In general, bulky stool is easier to pass, and this lowers the chance of constipation. - soluble fiber found in beans, oats, flaxseed and oat bran may keep the body from absorbing some of the cholesterol in other foods. as a result, that may lower low-density lipoprotein, also called "bad," cholesterol levels in the blood. high fiber foods may have other effects on heart health, such as lowering blood pressure and lessening swelling in the body called inflammation. - for people with diabetes, fiber may slow the absorption of sugar and help improve blood sugar levels. that's especially true of soluble fiber. a healthy diet that includes both soluble and insoluble fiber also may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.

[marezablr]

when it comes to explaining gohan's weird quirks in relation to trauma (disclaimer), i think we are sleeping on the most obvious thing to accuse of being a trauma response: becoming an academic.

and i don't mean doing it because trauma made him hate fighting, or like bugs, or even anything about being a Good Son for his mother. i see these readings and i understand them, but i think we're looking at this the wrong way around.

i think we have to ask ourselves: what does becoming an academic mean?

here are just a few things that may have happened to gohan as an academic

comprehensive examination: he is left practically on his own to completely master a field of study in a span of roughly six months to a year. at the end of this period, he is put through an excruciating test of his abilities, with the stakes being that the world ends if he fails (he can't advance in his degree)

thesis writing: he is made to pour blood, sweat, and tears into his work. his supervisor tears the results to pieces and calls this mauling 'feedback.' he thanks his supervisor for this learning experience and rewrites until at last his supervisor begrudgingly admit that his efforts might be passable.

thesis defense: he stands before a group of people who are more experienced and powerful than him. they spend roughly three hours attacking him relentlessly. he has to endure it without flinching, or else the world ends (he doesn't get his degree)

publish or perish: he can never relax or take a break. he has to do research to get grant money. he has to get grant money to do research. he has to publish papers. is the Journal Impact Factor high enough? he has to keep going. he can't relax. if he slacks off, it's all over (he won't be able to get/keep an academic position)

tenure: one day, it'll be over. one day, he can slow down and relax. one day, it won't be life-or-death all the time. right?

goodyear-brown (2009) discusses a phenomenon where children removed from traumatic situations then develop anxiety because they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. they attempt to replicate the cycle of trauma->relief->trauma that they're used to and will drop the other shoe themselves if they can't get it.

so maybe gohan isn't an academic because he wants a peaceful life. maybe he's an academic because it's the best place to get that familiar, toxic combination of prolonged stress, extremely harsh mentorship, and sudden high-stakes trials he's comfortable with from growing up on the battlefield, but this time with no one's life actually on the line.

also because bugs are neat!

[evidence-based-activism]

This has been on my mind a lot lately, but I couldn't find anything about this. I saw a data that says young people regardless of gender feel more lonely especially after covid. But articles everywhere describe the phenomenon as male loneliness epidemic. Is it true that loneliness affect men more than women?

Yes, I've noticed this as well! (It's definitely frustrating!)

In short, no, women and men experience similar amounts of loneliness. (Therefore, it should simply be a "loneliness epidemic" not a "male loneliness epidemic".)

First:

A pre-covid meta-analysis [1] concluded that "across the lifespan mean levels of loneliness are similar for males and females". This is a robust finding because a meta-analysis synthesizes the results from many different studies; this one covered 39 years, 45 countries, and a wide range of other demographic factors from a total of 575 reports (751 effect sizes).

An interesting longitudinal study [2] used both indirect and direct measures of loneliness and (essentially) found no significant effect of sex. (But there were some interesting interaction effects between sex and age or sex and loneliness measure, if you want to look at the study!)

This literature review [3] states that "sex differences in loneliness are dependent on what type of loneliness is measured and how" and it's possible sex only "correlates with other factors that then impact loneliness directly". The first quote here is referring to similar sex-age/sex-measurement interactions found in [2].

During/after the COVID-19 pandemic however:

The earlier review [3] stated that "most studies found that women were lonelier or experienced higher increases in loneliness than men with both direct and indirect measures", but this may be a result of participant selection bias during the pandemic.

That being said, both a rapid review [4] and a systematic review and meta-analysis [5] found that women were either more or equally likely to report loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, the Pew Research Center has collected some relevant data:

Prior to the pandemic, 10% of both men and women in the USA reported feeling lonely all or most of the time [6].

And while this doesn't measure loneliness directly, 48% of women and 32% of men in the USA reported high levels of psychological distress at least once during the pandemic [7].

References below the cut:

Maes, M., Qualter, P., Vanhalst, J., Van Den Noortgate, W., & Goossens, L. (2019). Gender differences in loneliness across the lifespan: A meta–analysis. European Journal of Personality, 33(6), 642–654. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2220

Von Soest, T., Luhmann, M., Hansen, T., & Gerstorf, D. (2020). Development of loneliness in midlife and old age: Its nature and correlates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(2), 388–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000219

Barjaková, M., Garnero, A., & d’Hombres, B. (2023). Risk factors for loneliness: A literature review. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 334, 116163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116163

Pai, N., & Vella, S.-L. (2021). COVID-19 and loneliness: A rapid systematic review. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 55(12), 1144–1156. https://doi.org/10.1177/00048674211031489

Ernst, M., Niederer, D., Werner, A. M., Czaja, S. J., Mikton, C., Ong, A. D., Rosen, T., Brähler, E., & Beutel, M. E. (2022). Loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review with meta-analysis. American Psychologist, 77(5), 660–677. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001005

Bialik, K. (2018, December 3). Americans unhappy with family, social or financial life are more likely to say they feel lonely. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/12/03/americans-unhappy-with-family-social-or-financial-life-are-more-likely-to-say-they-feel-lonely/

Gramlich, J. (2023, March 2). Mental health and the pandemic: What U.S. surveys have found. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/03/02/mental-health-and-the-pandemic-what-u-s-surveys-have-found/

[beemovieerotica]

oh god ok I just caught up on this and WOW

so, thought #1: yeah these are awful lol

thought #2: I don't think AI is going to create a uniquely bad atmosphere for fraud in academic articles, because we've already established the incentives and conditions for fraud to be a substantial problem in the first place

most people heard about the foundational Alzheimer's research that was found to be fabricated, and that was probably the most high profile case in recent years

institutions basically lock PI's in an eternal grant-writing grind where they have to produce interesting, relevant, and novel research continually in order for them and everyone under them to keep their jobs. it de-incentivizes any type of research that seeks to verify or reproduce previous studies (journals generally won't publish this) and if you end up NOT finding something ground-breaking, then it's seen as a scientitic failure rather than a naturally possible outcome of investigating the world, in which things sometimes aren't interesting

this obviously lays incentives for fudging data in the whole field of science itself, but there's been high amount of fraud coming from institutions in china which is why I was disappointed but not especially surprised by this

I'm prefacing this by saying that scientists based in china have been asking for solutions to this and rightly pointing the blame to the uniquely weird government funding scheme as the cause. I'm not going to get too much into it, but there have been issues with fake paper mills for years, and "citation circles" (iirc you can get a cash kickback for how many times you're cited) of people agreeing to cite each other's irrelevant papers.

it's gotten to the point where, and this is really bad, PI's over here will ignore papers that come from china-based institutions under the presumption that the data is unreliable.

excerpt from the article:

For example, in 2017, Tumor Biology published by Springer retracted 107 papers, all of which are by Chinese authors, because authors provided made-up contact information of potential reviewers, and the review processes ended up being manipulated by third-party agencies that make profit from “faking” the review processes (Chen, 2017). Also, certain journals have in recent years witnessed a concentration of works by authors from China. We suspect that this is because of closely knit networks of editors, reviewers and authors, which results in superficial peer-review, easy acceptance, and deliberate self-citing from the same journals to boost impact factors (see Guglielmi, 2019 for similar patterns of behaviors occurring to Italian scientists).

re: the last sentence, it does happen to a lesser degree elsewhere, which is why this is a field-wide problem

the chinese government has I think in recent years realized that the way everything is structured is de-legitimizing their research, and there have been huge efforts to crack down on fraud and basically place sanctions on these scientists. but that's sort of just handling the symptoms and not the cause - I'm not sure how far along they are on rectifying the index by which they ascribe merit and funding potential to PI's (we do this in other ways too) but yeah, the whole system of academia itself has to change.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New evidence of organic material identified on Ceres, the inner solar system's most water-rich object after Earth

Six years ago, NASA's Dawn mission communicated with Earth for the last time, ending its exploration of Ceres and Vesta, the two largest bodies in the asteroid belt. Since then, Ceres —a water-rich dwarf planet showing signs of geological activity— has been at the center of intense debates about its origin and evolution.

Now, a study led by IAA-CSIC, using Dawn data and an innovative methodology, has identified 11 new regions suggesting the existence of an internal reservoir of organic materials in the dwarf planet. The results, published in The Planetary Science Journal, provide critical insights into the potential nature of this celestial body.

In 2017, the Dawn spacecraft detected organic compounds near the Ernutet crater in Ceres' northern hemisphere, sparking discussions about their origin. One leading hypothesis proposed an exogenous origin, suggesting these materials were delivered by recent impacts of organic-rich comets or asteroids.

This new research, however, focuses on a second possibility: that the organic material formed within Ceres and has been stored in a reservoir shielded from solar radiation.

"The significance of this discovery lies in the fact that, if these are endogenous materials, it would confirm the existence of internal energy sources that could support biological processes," explains Juan Luis Rizos, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) and the lead author of the study.

A potential witness to the dawn of the solar system

With a diameter exceeding 930 kilometers, Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt. This dwarf planet—which shares some characteristics with planets but doesn't meet all the criteria for planetary classification—is recognized as the most water-rich body in the inner solar system after Earth, placing it among the ocean worlds with potential astrobiological significance.

Additionally, due to its physical and chemical properties, Ceres is linked to a type of meteorite rich in carbon compounds: carbonaceous chondrites. These meteorites are considered remnants of the material that formed the solar system approximately 4.6 billion years ago.

"Ceres will play a key role in future space exploration. Its water, present as ice and possibly as liquid beneath the surface, makes it an intriguing location for resource exploration," says Rizos (IAA-CSIC). "In the context of space colonization, Ceres could serve as a stopover or resource base for future missions to Mars or beyond."

The ideal combination of high-quality resolutions

To explore the nature of these organic compounds, the study employed a novel approach, allowing for the detailed examination of Ceres' surface and the analysis of the distribution of organic materials at the highest possible resolution.

First, the team applied a Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) method—a technique used to interpret complex spectral data—to characterize the compounds in the Ernutet crater.

Using these results, they systematically scanned the rest of Ceres' surface with high spatial resolution images from the Dawn spacecraft's Framing Camera 2 (FC2). This instrument provided high-resolution spatial images but low spectral resolution. This approach led to the identification of eleven new regions with characteristics suggesting the presence of organic compounds.

Most of these areas are near the equatorial region of Ernutet, where they have been more exposed to solar radiation than the organic materials previously identified in the crater. Prolonged exposure to solar radiation and the solar wind likely explains the weaker signals detected, as these factors degrade the spectral features of organic materials over time.

Next, the researchers conducted an in-depth spectral analysis of the candidate regions using the Dawn spacecraft's VIR imaging spectrometer, which offers high spectral resolution, though at lower spatial resolution than the FC2 camera. The combination of data from both instruments was crucial for this discovery.

Among the candidates, a region between the Urvara and Yalode basins stood out with the strongest evidence for organic materials. In this area, the organic compounds are distributed within a geological unit formed by the ejection of material during the impacts that created these basins.

"These impacts were the most violent Ceres has experienced, so the material must originate from deeper regions than the material ejected from other basins or craters," clarifies Rizos (IAA-CSIC). "If the presence of organics is confirmed, their origin leaves little doubt that these compounds are endogenous materials."

TOP IMAGE: Data from the Dawn spacecraft show the areas around Ernutet crater where organic material has been discovered (labeled 'a' through 'f'). The intensity of the organic absorption band is represented by colors, where warmer colors indicate higher concentrations. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/ASI/INAF/MPS/DLR/IDA

CENTRE IMAGE: This color composite image, made with data from the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the area around Ernutet crater. The bright red parts appear redder than the rest of Ceres. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

LOWER IMAGE: BS1,2 and 3 are images with the FC2 camera filter in the areas of highest abundance of these possible organic compounds. Credit: Juan Luis Rizos

BOTTOM IMAGE: This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows the large craters Urvara (top) and Yalode (bottom) on the dwarf planet Ceres. The two giant craters formed at different times. Urvara is about 120-140 million years old and Yalode is almost a billion years old. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

[spectrometrie]

i'm getting increasingly frustrated with academia and its little closed off world pretending to reach outside of its bounds. presenting your data over and over again to more or less the same people, so what? you can add a "public speaking" line to your resume? so you can get (max) one question about it? you can add "transdisciplinary" and "collective" and "inclusive" or other pr science buzzwords to your research but where does it lead? what the fuck is my impact except the gross CO2 emissions i generate because of flights i have to take to present in "international" conferences for niche ass subdisciplines that brag about being eco-conscious with its bamboo forks and costs 500$ to attend so you can end up published in a "high impact factor" journal praising open-science behind a paywall

[self-loving-vampire]

23 an ending that really stuck with you?

54 favorite game developers?

57 ask anything you like; if someone is trying to make an extremely immersive world where the player really feels like they're having an impact on the setting, characters, and story, what are some aspects/mechanics that would really make you feel like you're a part of the world? what's something you wish you could do in the games you play?

23. an ending that really stuck with you?

I could copy my girlfriend's answer and point towards Mary Skelter 2 but for the sake of variety I'll say that I liked the ending of Wizardry 8 in that your quest is to acquire this reality-rewriting artifact and not only can you actually accomplish this but you can successfully use it to make the universe a better place as its new pantheon.

Not a lot of of games let you set your ambitions as high as "ascend to godhood and correct the inherent misery of reality". A lot of the time the people trying to do that are in the villain role and get branded as overly full of hubris for not just accepting that everything sucks forever.

So that stood out to me as unusual. I feel like a more normal RPG would have had the protagonists trying to stop someone working towards the goal you're pursuing to maintain the status quo.

54. favorite game developers?

As a rule I don't really do consumer loyalty or anything. I also know very well that even series I liked previously can change into something I no longer enjoy that much.

With that said, I think it's kind of miraculous in itself that Touhou is now on 19 mainline games and is seemingly (I still need to play the ones after 14) still good. A lot of other series jump the shark by game 3.

57 ask anything you like; if someone is trying to make an extremely immersive world where the player really feels like they're having an impact on the setting, characters, and story, what are some aspects/mechanics that would really make you feel like you're a part of the world?

One common factor in a lot of the games I consider immersive is that the world just keeps going on its own even when you're not interacting with it. You can see time pass and NPCs going on about their daily lives.

This type of world simulation is one of the things I aim for when running TTRPGs too. I found it enchanting since I first saw it in Ultima 7 (released back in 1992!) as a small child but Gothic 2 also did it really well.

This kind of thing is not so rare now but it really stood out to me when I first saw it, especially since I was too young and inexperienced with games to realize how limited it actually was.

Anyway, I think this bit may be very nearly mandatory for me to get truly immersed. I need the shopkeepers and such to do at least a little bit more than just stand in the same place at all times.

Other things that definitely seem to help:

1- A minimal UI that doesn't give you omniscient quest markers and the like. It should still have a journal or something to keep track of quests and information but no markers.

2- Rougher mapping, you can still have a GPS tracker if you must but making use of landmarks, signs, and directions to navigate rather than map markers helps you pay more attention to your surroundings.

If I can be sure I have fully explored an area and found everything there is to be found there by looking at the map and checking off markers we're in a bad place.

3- A high level of interactivity with the environment. For example, if you see a bed you should be able to lie down on it. If you see a stove you should be able to cook, and etc. This can end up feeling a lot more tactile and immersive than doing things like resting and crafting through abstracted menus.

4- The world itself needs to demand your attention. Part of this is just interesting worldbuilding, but game design that makes you watch what you do or say rather than just exhausting every dialogue option in every conversation can also make you be more cognizant of your position, your environment, and your goals. It should be possible to fail conversations if you are imprudent.

5- The less linear the better. If a game is highly linear then you are probably going to hit a point where you want to do something that isn't permitted much, much sooner than if you had a handful of reasonable options to pursue.

It's worst when the game forces you to do things you really don't want to do (such as working with a character you would rather kill) and gives you no way out through pure removal of agency, like preventing you from attacking the offending NPC or making them invulnerable. That kind of stuff highlights the artificiality of what you're being forced to do.

6- Ideally some emphasis on things that are not combat, such as dialogue trees and non-combat skills. It's also not enough to just slap a fishing minigame and some combat-centric crafting on it.

what's something you wish you could do in the games you play?

I think it would be really cool if there were more DRPGs that fully took advantage of their genre and introduced more mechanics for long-term dungeon delves rather than just following the (admittedly fun) Wizardry formula where you balance pushing deeper into the dungeon with returning to town to resupply and recover.

What I'm thinking is more like Ultima Underworld or Legend of Grimrock. Something without a safe starting town you can return to, forcing you to instead make use of your skills in order to survive in the dungeon, which should ideally be a dynamic place with multiple different factions controlling territory and possibly being in conflict with other another, with you having the option to interact peacefully with them and maybe even join or ally yourself with a faction.

I think that would really elevate a dungeon crawl and give it more character and thought compared to just filling in the map and going down to the next floor.

[rjzimmerman]

I just posted a story from the LA Times about a new lithium mining project at the Salton Sea, which has its own controversies. That is just one of the stories that have emerged as the Salton Sea dries up and the Colorado River drought reduces the water that would otherwise feed the Salton Sea. The mining story is about a new mining technique that shouldn't add to the pollution. The story here from Inside Climate News tells us that a proposal to reduce the volume of water from the Colorado River used for agricultural purposes downplays the air pollution that happens as the Salton Sea dries up. Two different stories, two different developments, but the same worry: public health, particularly in a disadvantaged community.

Excerpt from this Inside Climate News story:

As the Salton Sea shrinks, a crisis deepens. The water levels of the 345-square-mile lake, located in an arid swath of agricultural land in Southern California’s Imperial County, have been receding for years, exposing the lakebed to strong winds that dry it, churn it to dust and drive the particles into surrounding communities. According to a recent academic study, the communities most impacted by the dust pollution are among the most socioeconomically disadvantaged in the state.

Yet some environmental researchers and advocates believe a draft environmental assessment from the federal government, released last month as part of a process for finalizing a new Colorado River water transfer deal, downplays the deal’s potential adverse health impacts on those communities. According to them, it would worsen dust pollution because it would continue a policy to divert water away from agricultural lands that drain into the Salton Sea, accelerating exposure of the dust-emitting lakebed.

Eric Edwards, an environmental economist at the University of California, Davis who co-authored the academic study published in May in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, said the policy would exacerbate the conditions that have led to dust pollution around the Salton Sea. “They acknowledge as much in the environmental assessment. They basically say that this is going to accelerate the trajectory that the [water] depletion was already on,” he said. “All the same concerns are present with this policy.”

Edwards and his co-authors, in their analysis of the Salton Sea’s dust emissions, used a physics model to trace the likeliest paths of dust particles blown from the lakebed that was exposed when water levels receded between 1998 and 2018. They cross-referenced the projected paths of dust with air quality monitors to verify that the dust coincided with increased particulate pollution. They also traced which communities lay in the pollution’s path.

Using state health screening data, the researchers found that the Salton Sea’s dust pollution disproportionately fell on local areas that met California’s definition of a “Disadvantaged Community”—areas that are burdened by high exposure to pollution, poor health and low socioeconomic status, among other factors. (There is overlap between the census tracts that California identifies as disadvantaged, and those identified on the federal government’s environmental justice screening tool.) Much of the pollution likely fell on the eastern side of the state’s southern border, they found, including in the Imperial Valley, which is largely populated by Latino agricultural workers.

The Latino agricultural community consists of both monolingual speakers of Spanish and Purépecha (an Indigenous language from the Mexican state of Michoacán), according to previous studies that point to high rates of asthma in the region. According to the California Department of Public Health, children in Imperial County seek emergency-room care for asthma at twice the rate of the rest of California.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Long COVID symptom severity varies widely by age, gender, and socioeconomic status - Published Sept 2, 2024

By Dr. Sushama R. Chaphalkar, PhD.

In a recent study published in the journal JRSM Open, researchers analyze self-reported symptoms of long coronavirus disease 2019 (LC) from individuals using a healthcare app to examine the potential impact of demographic factors on the severity of symptoms. The researchers found that LC symptom severity varied significantly by age, gender, race, education, and socioeconomic status.

Research highlights the urgent need for targeted interventions as age, gender, and social factors play a crucial role in the intensity of long COVID symptoms. What factors increase the risk of long COVID? Several months after recovering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), patients with LC may continue to suffer from numerous symptoms, some of which include fatigue, brain fog, and chest pain. The prevalence of LC varies, with estimates ranging from 10-30% in non-hospitalized cases to 50-70% in hospitalized patients.

Although several digital health interventions (DHIs) and applications have been developed to monitor acute symptoms of COVID-19, few have been designed to track long-term symptoms of the disease. One DHI called "Living With COVID Recovery" (LWCR) was initiated to help individuals manage LC by self-reporting symptoms and tracking their intensity. However, there remains a lack of evidence on the risk factors, characteristics, and predictors of LC, thereby limiting the accurate identification of high-risk patients to target preventive strategies.

About the study In the present study, researchers investigate the prevalence and intensity of self-reported LC symptoms to analyze their potential relationship with demographic factors to inform targeted interventions and management strategies. To this end, LWCR was used to monitor and analyze self-reported LC symptoms from individuals in 31 LC clinics throughout England and Wales.

The study included 1,008 participants who reported 1,604 unique symptoms. All patients provided informed consent for the use of their anonymized data for research.

Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between symptom intensity and factors such as time since registration, age, ethnicity, education, gender, and socioeconomic status through indices of multiple deprivation (IMD) on a scale of one to 10.

Education was classified into four levels denoted as NVQ 1-2, NVQ 3, NVQ 4, and NVQ 5, which reflected those who were least educated at A level, degree level, and postgraduate level, respectively. The intensity of symptoms was measured on a scale from zero to 10, with zero being the lowest and 10 the highest intensity. Descriptive statistics identified variations in symptom intensity across different demographic groups.

Study findings Although 23% of patients experienced symptoms only once, 77% experienced symptoms multiple times. Corroborating with existing literature, the most prevalent symptoms included pain, neuropsychological issues, fatigue, and dyspnea, which affected 26.5%, 18.4%, 14.3%, and 7.4% of the cohort, respectively. Symptoms such as palpitations, light-headedness, insomnia, cough, diarrhea, and tinnitus were less prevalent.

Fifteen most prevalent LC symptoms. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that symptom intensity was significantly associated with age, gender, ethnicity, education, and IMD decile. More specifically, individuals 68 years of age and older reported higher symptom intensity by 32.5% and 86%, respectively. These findings align with existing literature that highlights the increased risk of LC symptoms with age, which may be due to weakened immunity or the presence of comorbidities. Thus, they emphasize the need for targeted interventions for this population.

Females also reported higher symptom intensity than males, by 9.2%. Non-White individuals experienced higher symptom intensity by 23.5% as compared to White individuals.

Individuals with higher education levels reported up to 47% reduced symptom intensity as compared to those with lower education levels. Higher IMD deciles, which reflect less deprived areas, were associated with lower symptom intensity; however, no significant association was observed between the number of symptoms reported and the IMD decile.

Regression results with 95% confidence interval. Note: For age, the base group is people in the age category 18–27. For IMD, the base group is people from IMD decile 1. For education, the base group is people who left school before A-level (NVQ 1–2). A significant positive association was observed between symptom intensity and the duration between registration on the app and initial symptom reporting. This finding suggests individuals may become more aware of their symptoms or that worsening symptoms prompt reporting.

Some limitations of the current study include the lack of data on comorbidities, hospitalization, and vaccine status. There is also a potential for bias against individuals lacking technological proficiency or access, which may affect the sample's representativeness, particularly for older, socioeconomically disadvantaged, or non-English-speaking individuals. Excluding patients with severe symptoms or those who were ineligible for the app may also skew the findings.

Conclusions There remains an urgent need to develop targeted interventions to address the severity of LC in relation to age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic factors. LC treatment should prioritize prevalent symptoms like pain, neuropsychological issues, fatigue, and dyspnea while also considering other possible symptoms. Furthermore, sustained support for LC clinics is essential to effectively manage the wide range of symptoms and complexities associated with LC and improve public health outcomes in the post-pandemic era.

Journal reference:

Sunkersing, D., Goodfellow, H., Mu, Y., et al. (2024). Long COVID symptoms and demographic associations: A retrospective case series study using healthcare application data. JRSM Open 15(7). doi:10.1177/20542704241274292.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20542704241274292

[800silentpod]

How Does Noise Pollution Affect Productivity and Why Are Quiet Spaces Essential?

Have you ever found yourself distracted by the constant buzz of conversations, ringing phones, or office equipment noise while trying to focus on a critical task? You’re not alone. Noise pollution is one of the most underrated productivity killers in today’s fast-paced work environments. But how exactly does it affect productivity, and why are quiet spaces becoming increasingly essential for modern workplaces?

The Silent Enemy: How Noise Pollution Impacts Work Performance

The modern office space, with its open layouts and shared areas, was designed to foster collaboration and communication. But in many cases, it’s had the unintended consequence of introducing noise-related distractions. Studies show that even brief interruptions caused by noise can significantly reduce productivity. According to a study published in The Journal of Applied Psychology, workers in noisy environments have a 66% decline in productivity compared to those in quieter settings. The effects go beyond mere distractions; they lead to increased stress, reduced cognitive function, and a negative impact on job satisfaction.

For professionals in industries that require high levels of concentration, such as finance, law, and technology, the impact of noise pollution can be even more detrimental. These environments demand the utmost focus, and constant interruptions can lead to costly mistakes or delays in work delivery.

That’s why businesses in Dubai and across the globe are increasingly recognizing the importance of soundproof solutions. As the top Silent Pod and booth supplier company in Dubai, we’ve seen firsthand how providing quiet, dedicated spaces can dramatically enhance workplace productivity and employee well-being.

The Cognitive Load of Noise

Noise isn’t just an irritant—it actively hampers our brain’s ability to process information. According to research by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), continuous exposure to noise over 85 decibels can cause fatigue and even hearing impairment over time. In an office setting, prolonged exposure to lower levels of noise, like the hum of air conditioners or background chatter, can still lead to cognitive overload.

When our brains have to process both work-related tasks and filter out surrounding noise, it puts additional cognitive strain on us. This not only slows down our thinking processes but can also cause mental fatigue more quickly. For employees expected to meet tight deadlines or perform tasks that require critical thinking, the impact of noise pollution can severely hamper performance.

The Stress Factor: Noise and Its Link to Well-Being

Noise pollution doesn’t just hurt productivity—it also significantly affects our mental and physical well-being. Studies have shown that noise-induced stress can lead to higher levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), which contributes to a variety of health problems including high blood pressure, insomnia, and heart disease.

In a 2018 survey by Workplace Insight, 69% of employees cited noise as the top source of stress in their work environment. This can result in more sick days and decreased overall job satisfaction. For businesses, this means reduced employee retention and higher turnover rates.

Given these statistics, the need for creating quieter, more controlled environments is clearer than ever. This is where soundproof pods and meeting booths come into play. As the leading Silent office booth installers in Dubai, we offer a wide range of acoustic solutions that mitigate noise and enhance productivity.

Quiet Spaces: The Key to Unlocking Productivity

Quiet, soundproof spaces are no longer just an option—they are essential for boosting productivity and employee satisfaction. But why exactly are these spaces so effective?

Noise Control: Soundproof booths are designed to block out external noise, allowing workers to focus on their tasks without interruptions. This is particularly important for industries like finance, law, and healthcare, where attention to detail is critical.

Increased Focus: By providing employees with access to quiet spaces, businesses can ensure that their workforce can maintain concentration on high-priority tasks. Employees working in soundproof environments are more likely to enter “flow states”—the optimal zone of peak productivity.

Confidentiality and Privacy: For sensitive conversations, such as client meetings, interviews, or confidential calls, soundproof booths offer an added layer of privacy. Traditional open-plan offices lack this privacy, which can compromise the confidentiality of sensitive discussions.

Mental Well-being: Quiet spaces allow employees to recharge mentally. Having access to a noise-free zone can significantly reduce stress and contribute to a healthier, more balanced work life. The calming nature of soundproof booths can even improve creativity and decision-making abilities.

Real-Life Data: The Impact of Soundproof Solutions

In a 2019 study by Steelcase, it was found that employees in offices equipped with soundproof pods or rooms experienced a 32% increase in overall productivity. Additionally, they reported feeling less stressed and more engaged with their work.

This shift toward quieter workspaces is not just a trend—it’s becoming a necessity. Companies that fail to address the issue of noise pollution are finding themselves with disengaged employees and lower productivity. They are also experiencing higher absenteeism rates. On the flip side, businesses that invest in quiet, soundproof spaces are seeing the benefits almost immediately. This is reflected in higher employee output and satisfaction.

The Silent-Pod Solution

As leading provider of soundproof office Pods and Meeting Booths in Dubai, 800SilentPod has been at the forefront of transforming noisy workspaces into quiet, productive havens. Our wide range of silent pods and meeting booths can be custom-designed to fit any business’s needs. This ensures optimal use of space without sacrificing design or comfort.

Whether it’s single pods for private calls or larger meeting booths for team discussions, our solutions are tailored to meet your needs. We provide the highest level of soundproofing and comfort. We collaborate with industries across Dubai and the UAE. Our goal is to ensure that their employees have access to the quiet spaces they need to thrive.

Conclusion: Investing in Quiet Spaces for a Productive Future

In the battle against noise pollution, quiet spaces like Silent Pods and booths are essential. They are important for maintaining productivity and employee well-being. Whether you’re running a bustling office, a co-working space, or a home office, the need for quiet, distraction-free zones has never been more critical. Creating these spaces is essential for enhancing focus and productivity.

If your business is struggling with noise pollution and its impact on productivity, now is the time to invest in soundproof solutions. This investment can improve your work environment significantly. As the top Silent office Pod company in Dubai, 800SilentPod provides innovative, cost-effective, and customizable pods that transform noisy environments into productive workspaces.

Ready to transform your office into a productivity powerhouse? Contact 800SilentPod today at+971-56-392-5955 and discover the ultimate solution to noise pollution in your workplace!

OFFICE Address –

Office #60, M. Floor, Al Fajer Building, Airport Road, Al Garhoud, Dubai- United Arab Emirates

Mobile: 056 392 5955 / 055 380 5148

Email: inquiry@800silentpod.com

Website - https://800silentpod.com/

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Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/people/800Silent-Pod/61556803461662/

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[ygodmyy20]

Hello, I hear you have many thoughts on open access publishing? 👀

Okdoki Texas I have had enough time to gather my thoughts!

BIG caveat. I haven't worked in academic publishing sphere in over a year. Things change often and there likely are things I just (not being in the industry any more) don't know because I am not in the thick of it. I also am not an academic, I have never published in a journal. I just worked in the industry.

another also (so many I just, want to make sure I am super clear) anything with academia is complex, and there is no one perfect answer. There are a myriad of things that academic publishing is grappling with that isn't just OA publishing. But I'll just touch on OA publishing here!

Useful links that can probably give better definitions on things than I ever could:

^ DORA is related to publishing but i won't talk much about it here. Another issue with academic publishing is how journals are ranked. Which.....i am not gonna go into but if you search Journal Impact Factor you can find more info. (legit its like, academic publishing is a big iceberg hahahah)

First off, a brief def of what Open Access Publishing is:

OA Publishing is "A publication is defined 'open access' when there are no financial, legal or technical barriers to accessing it (source)." That is the best definition that exists. But OA journals are also characterized by funding models which do not require the reader to pay to read the journal's contents, relying instead on author fees or on public funding, subsidies and sponsorships. 

Within that are many types of OA publishing. Gold, Green, Diamond and more. You can find those definitions in the source link above on OA publishing.

Now, non-open access journals cover publishing costs through access tolls such as subscriptions, site licenses or pay-per-view charges. These are paywalled journals.

Open Access Publishing was created because research and knowledge was and is getting locked behind paywalls. For example, if I want to look up research on say....ADHD medication.

I do a search. I find this:

Paywall. Luckily I can gleam a good bit from the abstract they provide and they share some key highlights. But I cannot read the full text.

So now where do I go? I can try and dig around and find reddit or other articles on other sites, but what if I really wanted to read the research? What if i don't want to read an opinion piece on it? I can't. I have to pay for it (cuz I am not affiliated with a university) or find it somewhere else.

Open access reduces those paywalls so I can read that research if I want to.

However, worth noting, it isn't always a perfect model, as certain side effects have come up like an increase in predatory journals, incredibly high author costs, "double dipping" by large publishers (i.e., a journal charging an author fee and still charging libraries and institutions a subscription cost to the journal) and others.

At the same time, I fully back OA publishing over the old model because the locking of knowledge behind paywalls is too big an issue to ignore. Everyone deserves to be able to access research. And publishers are making so much fucking money off of research they didn't DO. (IN some cases an author is PAYING a journal to publish their journal and then the journal charges others to access and its like I AM SORRY????)

Reminder: You can always email an author and ask for their paper. They likely will send the PDF to you. They WANT their research to be read (bc my god the time it takes to publish a paper is insane.)

I am not the right person to give recommendations on how to publish. It is so dependent on your field of study, the journals in your discipline, etc. Most often, a professor or advisor will help with those decisions, but I think more younger academics should ask questions. Understand what OA is, and see if there are any OA journals in their field that would be a good fit for their research.

Anyway I hope that was helpful or interesting, Texas!! Again I am not sure I have any hot takes, I still just feel strongly about the dissemination of research to the public.