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A growing number of states are placing restrictions on whether public universities can increase tuition, and this trend is likely to continue in the future. Yet no research has examined whether tuition caps or freezes have induced more students—particularly from historically underrepresented groups—to enroll in public higher education. In this paper, we constructed an institution-level dataset of tuition controls mandated by state legislatures or higher education agencies to answer these important questions. We found that tuition freezes were associated with increased enrollment of both in-state and out-of-state students, but primarily at less-selective universities that were willing to expand capacity. There is also some evidence that Hispanic enrollment may have increased following tuition freezes.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio transients that serve as unique probes of ionizedextragalactic matter. We report the discovery and localization of two FRBs piercing the Andromeda galaxy (M31) with the realfast transient-detection system at the Very Large Array. These unique sightlines enable constraints on M31’s electron density distribution. We localized FRB 20230930A to a host galaxy at redshift z = 0.0925 and FRB 20230506C to a host galaxy at redshift z = 0.3896. After accounting for the dispersion contributions from the Milky Way, the host galaxies, and the intergalactic medium, we estimate M31’s contribution to be 26–239 pc cm−3 toward FRB 20230930A and 51–366 pc cm−3 toward FRB 20230506C, within the 90% credible interval (CI). By modeling the M31 disk’s contribution, we isolate the halo component and find that M31’s halo contributes 7–169 pc cm−3 along FRB 20230930A (90% CI). The inferred values of DMM31,halo from the FRBs are consistent with predictions from a modified Navarro–Frenk–White profile at the corresponding impact parameter. The cool and warm phase gas is unlikely to account for the DMM31,halo unless the ionization fraction is as high as 90%. While limited to two sightlines, these results offer tentative evidence for the existence of a hot halo surrounding M31. We also discuss the potential contribution of other foreground structures, particularly in explaining the DM excess observed in FRB 20230506C. This work demonstrates how FRBs can be used to probe the circumgalactic medium of intervening galaxies.

Polyclonal metastases frequently arise from clusters of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). CTC clusters metastasize better than single CTCs, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we show that polyclonal metastatic seeds exhibit higher resistance to natural killer (NK) cell killing. Using breast cancer models, we observed higher proportions of polyclonal lung metastasis in immunocompetent mice compared with mice lacking NK cells. Depleting NK cells selectively increased monoclonal but not polyclonal metastases, suggesting that CTC clusters are less sensitive to NK-mediated suppression. Transcriptional analyses revealed that clusters have elevated expression of cell-cell adhesion and epithelial genes, which is associated with decreased expression of NK cell activating ligands. Furthermore, perturbing tumor cell epithelial status altered NK ligand expression and sensitivity to NK-mediated killing. Collectively, our findings show that NK cells can determine the fate of CTCs of different epithelial and mesenchymal states, and impact metastatic clonal evolution by favoring polyclonal seeding.

Purpose In late 2022, a surge of severe S. pyogenes infections was reported in several European countries. This study assessed hospitalizations and disease severity of community-acquired bacterial infections with S. pyogenes, S. pneumoniae, N. meningitidis , and H. influenzae among children in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, during the last quarter of 2022 compared to long-term incidences. Methods Hospital cases due to bacterial infections between October and December 2022 were collected in a multicenter study (MC) from 59/62 (95%) children's hospitals in NRW and combined with surveillance data (2016–2023) from the national reference laboratories for streptococci, N. meningitidis , and H. influenzae . Overall and pathogen-specific incidence rates (IR) from January 2016 to March 2023 were estimated via capture–recapture analyses. Expected annual deaths from the studied pathogens were calculated from national death cause statistics. Results In the MC study, 153 cases with high overall disease severity were reported with pneumonia being most common (59%, n  = 91). IRs of bacterial infections declined at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and massively surged to unprecedented levels in late 2022 and early 2023 (overall hospitalizations 3.5-fold), with S. pyogenes and S. pneumoniae as main drivers (18-fold and threefold). Observed deaths during the study period exceeded the expected number for the entire year in NRW by far (7 vs. 0.9). Discussion The unprecedented peak of bacterial infections and deaths in late 2022 and early 2023 was caused mainly by S. pyogenes and S. pneumoniae . Improved precautionary measures are needed to attenuate future outbreaks.

IntroductionChildren with CHD and acquired heart disease have unique, high-risk physiology. They may have a higher risk of adverse tracheal-intubation-associated events, as compared with children with non-cardiac disease.Materials and methodsWe sought to evaluate the occurrence of adverse tracheal-intubation-associated events in children with cardiac disease compared to children with non-cardiac disease. A retrospective analysis of tracheal intubations from 38 international paediatric ICUs was performed using the National Emergency Airway Registry for Children (NEAR4KIDS) quality improvement registry. The primary outcome was the occurrence of any tracheal-intubation-associated event. Secondary outcomes included the occurrence of severe tracheal-intubation-associated events, multiple intubation attempts, and oxygen desaturation. A total of 8851 intubations were reported between July, 2012 and March, 2016. Cardiac patients were younger, more likely to have haemodynamic instability, and less likely to have respiratory failure as an indication. The overall frequency of tracheal-intubation-associated events was not different (cardiac: 17% versus non-cardiac: 16%, p=0.13), nor was the rate of severe tracheal-intubation-associated events (cardiac: 7% versus non-cardiac: 6%, p=0.11). Tracheal-intubation-associated cardiac arrest occurred more often in cardiac patients (2.80 versus 1.28%; p<0.001), even after adjusting for patient and provider differences (adjusted odds ratio 1.79; p=0.03). Multiple intubation attempts occurred less often in cardiac patients (p=0.04), and oxygen desaturations occurred more often, even after excluding patients with cyanotic heart disease. The overall incidence of adverse tracheal-intubation-associated events in cardiac patients was not different from that in non-cardiac patients. However, the presence of a cardiac diagnosis was associated with a higher occurrence of both tracheal-intubation-associated cardiac arrest and oxygen desaturation.

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio transients that serve as unique probes of ionized extragalactic matter. We report the discovery and localization of two FRBs piercing the Andromeda galaxy (M31) with the realfast transient-detection system at the Very Large Array. These unique sightlines enable constraints on M31's electron density distribution. We localized FRB 20230930A to a host galaxy at redshift \\(z=0.0925\\) and FRB 20230506C to a host galaxy at redshift \\(z=0.3896\\). After accounting for the dispersion contributions from the Milky Way, the host galaxies, and the intergalactic medium, we estimate M31's contribution to be \\(26-239\\) \\( pc~cm^-3\\) toward FRB 20230930A and \\(51-366\\) \\( pc~cm^-3\\) toward FRB 20230506C, within the 90% credible interval (CI). By modeling the M31 disk's contribution, we isolate the halo component and find that M31's halo contributes \\(7-169\\) \\( pc~cm^-3\\) along FRB 20230930A (90% CI). The inferred values of \\( DM_M31,halo\\) from the FRBs are consistent with predictions from a modified Navarro-Frenk-White (mNFW) profile at the corresponding impact parameter. The cool and warm phase gas is unlikely to account for the \\( DM_M31,halo\\) unless the ionization fraction is as high as 90%. While limited to two sightlines, these results offer tentative evidence for the existence of a hot halo surrounding M31. We also discuss the potential contribution of other foreground structures, particularly in explaining the DM excess observed in FRB 20230506C. This work demonstrates how FRBs can be used to probe the circumgalactic medium of intervening galaxies.

We present SAMI-HI, a survey of the atomic hydrogen content of 296 galaxies with integral field spectroscopy available from the SAMI Galaxy Survey. The sample spans nearly 4 dex in stellar mass (\\(M_ = 10^7.4-10^11.1~ M_\\)), redshift \\(z<0.06\\), and includes new Arecibo observations of 153 galaxies, for which we release catalogues and HI spectra. We use these data to compare the rotational velocities obtained from optical and radio observations and to show how systematic differences affect the slope and scatter of the stellar-mass and baryonic Tully-Fisher relations. Specifically, we show that H\\(\\) rotational velocities measured in the inner parts of galaxies (1.3 effective radii in this work) systematically underestimate HI global measurements, with HI/H\\(\\) velocity ratios that increase at low stellar masses, where rotation curves are typically still rising and H\\(\\) measurements do not reach their plateau. As a result, the H\\(\\) stellar mass Tully-Fisher relation is steeper (when \\(M_\\) is the independent variable) and has larger scatter than its HI counterpart. Interestingly, we confirm the presence of a small fraction of low-mass outliers of the H\\(\\) relation that are not present when HI velocity widths are used and are not explained by \"aperture effects\". These appear to be highly disturbed systems for which H\\(\\) widths do not provide a reliable estimate of the rotational velocity. Our analysis reaffirms the importance of taking into account differences in velocity definitions as well as tracers used when interpreting offsets from the Tully-Fisher relation, at both low and high redshifts and when comparing with simulations.