The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in San Antonio and the eighth-largest in the state of Texas. It includes three campuses across the San Antonio metropolitan area that span 725 acres of land. UTSA offers 67 bachelor's, 69 master's, and 24 doctoral degree programs. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".Established in 1969, UTSA has become the third largest institution within the UT System by enrollment. The university has a local economic impact of $1.2 billion and the UTSA Institute for Economic Development generates $2.9 billion in direct economic impact nationwide. The university's restricted research expenditures have grown to $50.8 million while total research expenditures grew to $80.6 million in FY19.Its football team has competed in Conference USA since 2013, previously playing a stint in the WAC and as an FCS independent.
Propensity score (PS) methods are central to estimating treatment effects in observational studies, but conventional approaches such as inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting (IPTW) are vulnerable to extreme PSs. These limitations can lead to unstable estimates and poor generalizability. Stable balancing weighting (SBW) offers an alternative by directly minimizing weight variability while controlling covariate imbalance. However, current practice typically selects a single tuning parameter δ , potentially overlooking valuable information across the range of bias-variance trade-offs. We propose a novel framework that evaluates treatment effects across a continuum of δ values, generating a Stable Balancing Weighted Effect (SBWE) curve. This curve characterizes the trajectory of causal estimates as covariate balance requirements are tightened. To facilitate inference, we developed uniform confidence bands for the SBWE curve, allowing for a comprehensive selection of the optimal δ and a robust test of the null hypothesis of no treatment effect. We validated our method using two real-world datasets. In the first case, the proposed SBWE framework supported the optimal δ chosen by the existing selection method. In the second case, however, the existing method selected a δ near the lower bound of the range, while our method identified an optimal value at the upper bound. Notably, the confidence interval produced by our method was nested within that produced by the existing method. The SBWE curve approach enhances the robustness of SBW by shifting the focus from a single point estimate to a comprehensive curve. This allows researchers to visualize the stability of treatment effects and select tuning parameters that yield more reliable and precise causal estimates.
Portable suction devices are crucial for emergency airway management. Commercially-available units are unsuitable for field use due to size and power needs. A light-weight and multi-orientation operable portable suction device, Battlefield Ready Innovative Suction Kit (BRISK) was developed. The design was informed by feedback from combat medics, paramedics, and EMTs. End-user engagement and feedback defined BRISK’s design. The fabricated prototype used a vacuum pump and hydrophobic syringe filters. Performance tests measured vacuum pressure, air and liquid (water and ISO vomit simulant) flow rates, volume of water suctioned in different orientations (upright, tilted, or inverted), and contamination prevention between BRISK, SSCOR Quickdraw, and Laerdal LCSU4. The BRISK device—weighing 0.97 kg—demonstrated a maximum vacuum pressure of 570 ± 6 mmHg and an air flowrate of 5.20 L/min. Liquid flow rates (L/min) for BRISK, LCSU4, and SSCOR with water were 4.92 ± 0.2, 6.97 ± 0.1, and 5.37 ± 0.1, respectively. With ISO vomit simulant, the rates were 3.23 ± 0.2, 3.06 ± 0.4, and 2.23 ± 0.1. BRISK showed consistent performance across orientations (p = 0.081), while LCSU4 and SSCOR varied significantly (p < 0.0001). The BRISK’s cross-contamination between filters and the pump was 0.01
This study examines associations between low-density zoning and individual health outcomes across 44 large U.S. metro areas. Zoning laws that restrict housing density to low levels can restrict affordable housing, contribute to urban sprawl, and increase segregation. Density zoning is one of the oldest and most common forms of residential zoning in the United States, and conceptual models posit that low-density zoning should be associated with wider health disparities. However, empirical associations between density zoning and health have been largely undocumented. Using data from the National Longitudinal Land Use Survey and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Selected Metropolitan/Micropolitan Area Risk Trends data (N = 87,752), we find that metro areas with a higher proportion of jurisdictions with restrictive low-density zoning have wider race, ethnic, and income disparities in poor self-assessed health. However, we also find suggestive evidence that race disparities in obesity may be narrower in metro areas with more low-density zoning.
Solid oxide fuel cells are promising technologies for renewable energy conversion, yet their practical deployment requires oxygen electrodes that simultaneously support rapid oxygen-ion transport and sustained high-activity oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysis. However, constructing such a microchemical environment remains a persistent challenge for perovskite oxides. Here, it is demonstrated that Cl- incorporation into PrBaCo2O5+delta partially replaces lattice oxygen, inducing localized metal-oxygen electronic states, enhanced lattice distortion, and Pr3+ intermixing into BaO layers, collectively generating 3D fast pathways for oxygen-ion diffusion. More significantly, it is revealed for the first time that Cl- preferentially segregates at the surface, forming an amorphous layer that creates an adaptive ORR interface and effectively overcomes the long-standing issue of surface passivation. As a result, Cl--engineered PrBaCo2O5+delta achieves a 3-5-fold increase in ORR activity relative to the parent oxide and exhibits outstanding durability at 750 degrees C, transforming approximate to 15.1% degradation over 100 h into a approximate to 2.7% performance gain. This work establishes a halogen-mediated mechanism for tailoring perovskite microchemistry, challenges the prevailing view that halogens merely stabilize oxide lattices, demonstrates one of the most pronounced catalytic enhancements reported to date, and offers a broadly applicable strategy for designing advanced oxygen electrodes.
We present the discovery of a superjovian planet around the young A5 star HIP 54515, detected using precision astrometry from the Hipparcos Gaia Catalogue of Accelerations and high-contrast imaging with SCExAO/CHARIS from the recently commenced OASIS program. SCExAO/CHARIS detects HIP 54515 b in five epochs 0 . ″ 145–0 . ″ 192 from the star (∼3–4 λ / D at 1.65 μ m), exhibiting clockwise orbital motion. HIP 54515 b lies near the M/L transition with a luminosity of log( L / L ⊙ ) ∼−3.52 ± 0.03. Dynamical modeling constrains its mass and mass ratio to be 17.7 − 4.9 + 7.6 M Jup and 0.0090 − 0.0024 + 0.0036 and favors a ∼25 au semimajor axis. HIP 54515 b adds to a growing list of superjovian planets with moderate eccentricities ( e ≈ 0.4). Now, the third planet discovered from surveys combining high-contrast extreme adaptive optics imaging with precision astrometry, HIP 54515 b, should help improve empirical constraints on the luminosity evolution and eccentricity distribution of the most massive planets. It may also provide a key technical test of the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument’s performance in the low stellar flux, small angular separation limit, and a demonstration of its ability to yield constrainable planet spectral properties.
