cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Morphology of Latex Particles as Shown by Electron Micrographs

Abstract Morphological features of particles from latices of sixteen plant species were studied by means of electron micrographs, a number of which are reproduced. The smallest particles have about the volume required to contain a very small number of molecules. Evidence is given for both form-retaining and fluid properties of latex particles. Difficulties with the hypothesis that these particles have fluid interiors covered by a surface film of gel rubber are pointed out. A new hypothesis accounting for the observed properties is advanced. According to it, the latex particles contain rubber molecules entwined as if they were odd lengths of string with other latex components held between the meshes.
Women and Modesty in Late Antiquity

Kate Wilkinson, assistant professor and director of the graduate program in Women and Gender Studies at Towson University, explores how the virtue of modesty expresses women's agency, in her book W...
Progressive anomaly detection in medical data using vital sign signals

Vital Sign Signals (VSSs) have been widely used for medical data analysis. One classic approach is to use Logistic Regression Model (LRM) to describe data to be analyzed. There are two challenging issues from this approach. One is how many VSSs needed to be used in the model since there are many VSSs can be used for this purpose. Another is that once the number of VSSs is determined, the follow-up issue what these VSSs are. Up to date these two issues are resolved by empirical selection. This paper addresses these two issues from a hyperspectral imaging perspective. If we view a patient with collected different vital sign signals as a pixel vector in hyperspectral image, then each vital sign signal can be considered as a particular band. In light of this interpretation each VSS can be ranked by band prioritization commonly used by band selection in hyperspectral imaging. In order to resolve the issue of how many VSSs should be used for data analysis we further develop a Progressive Band Processing of Anomaly Detection (PBPAD) which allows users to detect anomalies in medical data using prioritized VSSs one after another so that data changes between bands can be dictated by profiles provided by PBPAD. As a result, there is no need of determining the number of VSSs as well as which VSS should be used because all VSSs are used in their prioritized orders. To demonstrate the utility of PBPAD in medical data analysis anomaly detection is implemented as PBP to find anomalies which correspond to abnormal patients. The data to be used for experiments are data collected in University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Shock Trauma Center (STC). The results will be evaluated by the results obtained by Logistic Regression Model (LRM).
Linguistics and Evolution: A Developmental Approach

Interdisciplinary research is radically changing scholarship by integrating, expanding, and redefining the traditional disciplines. Julie Tetel Andresen’s Linguistics and Evolution impressively ref...
Temporizing as Pyrrhonizing in The Malcontent

Critics often allude to the scepticism of John Marston’s drama. Robert Ornstein calls Marston ‘the first Jacobean to exploit dramatically the skepticism about Stoic self-sufficiency expressed by Erasmus and Montaigne and implicit in the moral philosophy of the age’. Jonathan Dollimore interprets the close of Antonio’s Revenge (1600–1) as ‘a subversion of providentialist orthodoxy’. And Keith Sturgess argues that The Dutch Courtesan (1605) is informed by ‘Montaigne’s skepticism and moral realism’, thereby encouraging Marston ‘to explode any simple moral structures … by engaging with the genuine complexity of human experience’.1 The Malcontent (1603), however, despite its status as Marston’s best-known play, has received virtually no attention along these lines; rather, critics have generally focused on its brilliant exploration of role-play and its closely related doubleness of theme, mood and structure.2 Yet given the intellectual milieu in which the play was composed, not to mention Marston’s evident familiarity with Pyrrhonism, it seems worthwhile to ask what relations may obtain between, on the one hand, The Malcontent’s examination of role-play and duality and, on the other, its participation in the various sceptical paradigms available to an intellectually curious poet or playwright at the outset of the seventeenth century.
Values Mapping with Latino Forest Users: Contributing to the Dialogue on Multiple Land Use Conflict Management

Values mapping that represents how humans associate with natural environments is useful for several purposes, including recognizing and addressing different perceptions of natural resource ownership and management priorities, documenting traditional ecological knowledge, and spatially identifying the public's perception of economic and non-economic services provided by natural resources (McLain et al. 2013). The majority of this work has been conducted in developing countries and with disenfranchised communities, where participatory mapping associated with natural resource management is more widely practiced. As access to GIS technology has expanded, however, several projects have tested the benefits of values mapping for natural resource management decisions in industrialized countries (e.g., Brown 2005; Klain and Chan 2012). This article discusses one such effort: the use of spatial values mapping to incorporate the concerns of Latino forest users into federal and state policies on the Olympic Peninsula...
Early history of Explosive Pulsed Power: 1943–1970

Explosive driven magnetic compression was first proposed by J.L. Fowler and Woodward in late 1943 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) during the Manhattan project. Implosion of a liner immersed in an external magnetic field would generate a signal that could be detected with a pickup coil. The objective was to measure the rate of implosion of the liner. The first flux compression experiment was conducted by J.L. Fowler on January 4, 1944. An analysis of the data from these experiments showed that the fields were compressed from a few gauss to a few hundred gauss. By June 1944, J.L. Fowler and his team were getting reproducible scope traces for imploding cylinders and spheres that were in good agreement with other diagnostic methods. This was the genesis for the work later carried out by C.M. Fowler at Los Alamos. In addition to LANL, there were several other Flux Compression Generator (FCG) programs conducted at various universities and organizations in the 1960s including Davidson Laboratory of the Stevens Institute of Technology for Picatinny Arsenal, Poulter Laboratories of the Stanford Research Institute for the Air Force Systems Command, Illinois Institute of Technology (ITT) for the Army Research Office, and Aerojet Corporation. Other countries including Russia, China, France, Italy, and England had established FCG programs in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1957, F.W. Neilson designed, built, and tested both Ferroelectric Generators (FEGs) and Ferromagnetic Generators (FMGs) at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). This led to programs at Sandia in the 1960s to develop compact single shot power supplies. In addition, explosive driven FEGs were investigated by other others such as M.F. Rose, W.L. Gilbertson, and others at the Naval Surface Weapons Center, P.E. Houser at Picatinny Arsenal, and W.L. Baker at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory. In this paper, we will review FCG and FEG programs that occurred in the U.S. and other countries during the period ranging from 1943 - 1970.
Analysis of Ε-patch antenna performance over various dielectric materials at 2.4 GHz

Antenna detuning can be used for a variety of sensing applications. In this paper, the performance of an E-patch and a conventional patch antenna was evaluated in the presence of dielectric materials. The gain penalty and the reflection coefficient of both the antennas were simulated and measured using a vector network analyzer. The performance of the E-patch antenna was evaluated to be much better than a normal patch antenna over each dielectric material. This analysis is useful for environmental monitoring, rescue, and surveillance applications.
Hyperbolic metamaterials: beyond the effective medium theory

Sub-wavelength layered metal/dielectric structures whose effective permittivities for different polarizations have different signs are known as hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs). It is believed they are unique in their ability to support electromagnetic waves with very large wavevectors and, therefore, large densities of states, leading to a strong Purcell enhancement (PE) of spontaneous radiation. To verify this conventional wisdom, we use an analytic Kronig–Penney (KP) model and discover that hyperbolic isofrequency surfaces exist for all combinations of layer permittivities and thicknesses, and the strongest PE of radiation is achieved away from the nominally hyperbolic region. Furthermore, large wavevectors and PE are always combined with high loss, short propagation distances, and large impedances; hence, PE in HMMs is essentially a direct coupling of the energy into the free electron motion in the metal, or quenching of the radiative lifetime. PE in HMMs is not related to the hyperbolicity, per se, and is simply the consequence of strong dispersion of the permittivity in metals or polar dielectrics, as our conclusions are relevant also for the infrared HMMs that occur in nature. Moreover, detailed comparison of field distributions, dispersion curves, and Purcell factors between the HMM and surface plasmon polariton (SPP) guided modes in metal/dielectric waveguides demonstrates that HMMs are nothing but weakly coupled gap or slab SPP modes. Broadband PE is not specific to the HMMs and can be just as easily attained in single or double thin metallic layers. When it comes to enhancement of radiating processes and field concentrations, HMMs are in no way superior to far simpler plasmonic structures.
Three partial solutions

We recall from Hilbert’s address that he considered it to be a very difficultproblem to prove that the expression α β , for an algebraic base and an irrational algebraic exponent.
Decomposition analysis of soybean in Amravati division

In this study an attempt has been made to study the growth and instability of soybean crop in Amravati division. The study was based on secondary data on area, production and productivity of soybean crop collected from various government publications. The study revealed that compound growth rate for area and production of soybean was recorded very high during period I. The co-efficient of variation with regards to area and production (37.59% and 22.23 %) were lowest in Amravati district. However, Coppock’s instability index with regards to area and productivity (13.01% and 18.84 %) were lowest in Amravati division as a whole. At overall period, the area effect was most stronger factor for increasing production of soybean in all the districts and division as a whole.
The Moderating Effect of Living with a Child Before Incarceration on Postrelease Outcomes Related to a Prison-Based Parent Management Training Program

ABSTRACTWith the rapid growth in incarceration in the United States over the past few decades came dramatic growth in the number of the incarcerated parents with at least one minor child. Parental incarceration places extra stresses and strains on families and children. Almost all of those incarcerated will eventually be released. However, the majority of those released from prison will be rearrested within a year. Finding interventions that can decrease the likelihood of returning to crime and to incarceration are of utmost importance. Using a social bond theory framework, the authors examine the moderating effect of living with a child before incarceration on program outcomes related to a prison-based parent management training program. A significant effect was found. Implications for these findings are discussed for future research and practice.
Thick keratoconic cornea associated with posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy

Summary Introduction We herein report a case of bilateral unusually thick non-edematous keratoconic corneas with associated endothelial features of posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy (PPCD). Case report We report the case of a 27-year-old myopic woman who presented for refractive surgery . Slit lamp exam showed bilateral corneal protrusion with diffuse deep stromal and endothelial vesicular opacities and small paracentral bands. Topography showed generalized advanced corneal steepening in both eyes with increased anterior and posterior central corneal elevations in comparison to the best fit sphere. Ultrasound pachymetry showed central corneal thickness of 605 μm (RE) and 612 μm (LE). On specular biomicroscopy , cell density of 2503 cells/mm 2 RE and 1526 cells/mm2 LE with significant cellular pleomorphism and polymegathism were noted. Discussion Clinical and paraclinical findings together suggest the presence of simultaneous keratoconus and PPCD. The literature has suggested an association between PPCD and steep cornea. Moreover, many reports have also described cases of associated PPCD and keratoconus with characteristic thinning and ectasia , in comparison to the unusual thick corneas noted in our patient, despite the absence of edema. Identification of genetics factors is further needed to clarify this association. Conclusion This case describes a patient whose corneas present features of both keratoconus and PPCD and is unique due to the presence of increased corneal thickness despite the absence of edema.
A molecular modeling based method to predict elution behavior and binding patches of proteins in multimodal chromatography

Multimodal (MM) chromatography provides a powerful means to enhance the selectivity of protein separations by taking advantage of multiple weak interactions that include electrostatic, hydrophobic and van der Waals interactions. In order to increase our understanding of such phenomena, a computationally efficient approach was developed that combines short molecular dynamics simulations and continuum solvent based coarse-grained free energy calculations in order to study the binding of proteins to Self Assembled Monolayers (SAM) presenting MM ligands. Using this method, the free energies of protein-MM SAM binding over a range of incident orientations of the protein can be determined. The resulting free energies were then examined to identify the more "strongly bound" orientations of different proteins with two multimodal surfaces. The overall free energy of protein-MM surface binding was then determined and correlated to retention factors from isocratic chromatography. This correlation, combined with analytical expressions from the literature, was then employed to predict protein gradient elution salt concentrations as well as selectivity reversals with different MM resin systems. Patches on protein surfaces that interacted strongly with MM surfaces were also identified by determining the frequency of heavy atom contacts with the atoms of the MM SAMs. A comparison of these patches to Electrostatic Potential and hydrophobicity maps indicated that while all of these patches contained significant positive charge, only the highest frequency sites also possessed hydrophobicity. The ability to identify key binding patches on proteins may have significant impact on process development for the separation of bioproduct related impurities.
Paracentesis and peritoneovenous shunting were equally effective for refractory ascites in cirrhosis

Source Citation Gines P, Arroyo V, Vargas V, et al. Paracentesis with intravenous infusion of albumin as compared with peritoneovenous shunting in cirrhosis with refractory ascites. N Engl J Med. 1...
Technomoral Civic Virtues: a Critical Appreciation of Shannon Vallor’s Technology and the Virtues

This paper begins by summarizing the chief, original contributions to technology ethics in Shannon Vallor’s recent book, Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting (Vallor 2016), highlighting especially the book’s distinctive inclusion of not only the western virtue ethics tradition but also the analogous traditions in Buddhist and Confucian ethics. But the main point of the paper is to suggest that the theoretical framework developed in the book be extended to include an analysis of the distinctive civic virtues that are crucial to the well functioning of communities of makers, marketers, consumers, and regulators of technology, constituting, as it were, technomoral civic virtue ethics. It is suggested that prominent among these civic virtues is what is dubbed “Socratism,” the habit of regular querying of community aims and practices for the purpose of keeping community action focused on the goods internal to community practice, and the goods of the larger communities in which these local communities are embedded.
Epinephrine stimulates CXCL1 IL-1α, IL-6 secretion in isolated mouse limb muscle.

Abstract Catecholamines stimulate interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) secretion in skeletal muscles. However, whether other cytokines are secreted is currently unknown. Skeletal muscle ex vivo preparations commonly used to study cytokine secretion have dealt with limitations including auto‐oxidation of catecholamines. The use of metal chelators could be an alternative to avoid auto‐oxidation and allow catecholamines to be used at physiological doses. We exposed isolated soleus muscles to 1 or 100 ng/mL epinephrine (EPI) and collected bath samples at 1 and 2 h for multiplex cytokine analysis. Keratinocyte chemoattractant (CXCL1), IL‐6, and IL‐1 α were significantly elevated by 100 ng/mL exposure, but not by 1 ng/mL (median [CXCL1] (2 h) = 83 pg/mL; [IL‐6] = 19 pg/mL; IL‐1 α = 7.5 pg/mL). CXCL1 and IL‐6 were highly correlated in each sample ( P = 0.0001). A second experiment combined the metal chelator, deferoxamine mesylate (DFO), to prevent EPI autoxidation, with 2 ng/mL EPI and 10.5 ng/mL norepinephrine (NOREPI) to mimic peak exercise. Unexpectedly, DFO alone stimulated both IL‐6 and CXCL1 secretion, but together with EPI and NOREPI had no additional effects. Stimulation of cytokine secretory responses from skeletal muscle cells in response to DFO thus precludes its use as a chelating agent in ex vivo models. In conclusion, 100 ng/mL EPI stimulates a robust secretory CXCL1 response, which together with IL‐6 and IL‐1 α , may constitute an adrenal‐muscle endocrine response system.
“My own heart let me have more pity on”: Learning Gracious Self-Talk through a Sonnet by Gerard Manley Hopkins:

This reflection essay examines the poem “My own heart,” one of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ Terrible Sonnets, to inspect Hopkins’ articulation of his changed attitude in how he talks to (and thus treats)...
Image guidance in proton therapy for lung cancer

Proton therapy is a promising but challenging treatment modality for the management of lung cancer. The technical challenges are due to respiratory motion, low dose tolerance of adjacent normal tissue and tissue density heterogeneity. Different imaging modalities are applied at various steps of lung proton therapy to provide information on target definition, target motion, proton range, patient setup and treatment outcome assessment. Imaging data is used to guide treatment design, treatment delivery, and treatment adaptation to ensure the treatment goal is achieved. This review article will summarize and compare various imaging techniques that can be used in every step of lung proton therapy to address these challenges.
Role of coprecipitation and calcination of precursors on phase homogeneity and electrochemical properties of battery active materials

Abstract Coprecipitation has previously been demonstrated to produce diverse compositions of battery precursor particles, frequently under the assumption that the precipitation of transition metals from the solution results in advantages with regards to efficient homogeneous local mixing of transition metal cations within the solid particles. Such mixing is generally considered as an advantage relative to solid state reaction of solid powders with the equivalent starting stoichiometry; however, very few studies have attempted to quantitatively confirm the impact of this local mixing on the resulting final materials. The extent to which local mixing from coprecipitation facilitates the mass transport of transition metals during the calcination process, which would be expected to aid in producing well crystallized single-phase particles, is not clear. Herein, this study will systematically compare the phase purity and crystallinity of oxide powders comprised of a blend of transition metals that were produced from either physical mixture of single transition metal precursors or multicomponent precursors produced via coprecipitation from solution. These experiments provide quantitative support for the role that local mixing, achieved via precipitation, plays in forming high crystallinity final materials with the desired phase. LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 was used as a model multicomponent target final material after calcination.
Combining phenotypic and resting-state fMRI data for autism classification with recurrent neural networks

Accurate identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) is a challenging task due in large part to the heterogeneity of ASD. Recent work has shown better classification accuracy using a recurrent neural network with rsfMRI time-series as inputs. However, phenotypic features, which are often available and likely carry predictive information, are excluded from the model, and combining such data with rsfMRI into the recurrent neural network is not a straightforward task. In this paper, we present several methodologies for incorporating phenotypic data with rsfMRI into a single deep learning framework for classifying ASD. We test the proposed architectures using a cross-validation framework on the large, heterogeneous first cohort from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. Our best model achieved an accuracy of 70.1%, outperforming prior work.
Characterizing Websites That Provide Information About Complementary and Integrative Health: Systematic Search and Evaluation of Five Domains.

Background: In recent years, there has been an increase in the utilization of complementary and integrative health (CIH) care, and an increase in information-seeking behavior focused on CIH. Thus, understanding the quality of CIH information that is available on the internet is imperative. Although there have been a limited number of studies evaluating the quality of websites providing information about specific CIH-related topics, a broad evaluation of CIH websites has not been conducted. Objective: This study was designed to fill that gap. We set out to assess website quality in 5 CIH domains: (1) acupuncture, (2) homeopathy, (3) massage, (4) reiki, and (5) yoga. This study aimed to 1) characterize the websites by type and quality; 2) evaluate website characteristics which may affect readers’ perceptions, specifically message content, structural features, and presentation style, and 3) investigate the extent to which harms, benefits and purposes of use are stated on websites. Methods: This study employed a systematic search strategy to identify websites in each of the target domains to be evaluated. The websites were then classified by type, and a set of checklists focusing on quality, message content, structural features, and presentation style was used to evaluate the websites. Lastly, we performed content analysis to identify harms, benefits, and perceived purposes of use. Results: There were similarities across domains regarding their overall quality and their message content. Across all domains, a high proportion of websites received strong scores in terms of ownership, currency, interactivity and navigability. Scores were more variable concerning authorship, balanced presentation of information and the use of sources of information. However, there were differences regarding their structural features and presentation style. Acupuncture and reiki sites tended to include more external links, and yoga, fewer. There was variation across domains in the extent to which the websites contained domain-specific terminology. Websites tended to provide an extensive list of potential benefits, while reporting of harms was scarce. Conclusions: This is the first study to perform a multidimensional assessment of websites in multiple CIH domains. This review showed that while there are similarities among websites of different CIH domains, there are also differences. The diverse distribution of website types suggests that, regardless of CIH domain, the public encounters information through many different types of media, and it would be useful to consider how the presentation of this content may differ depending on the medium. The characteristics for which variability exist are areas that warrant greater attention from researchers, policy makers, clinicians and patients. There is also a need to better understand how individuals may interact with CIH websites, and to develop tools to assist people to interpret the CIH-related information that they encounter.
The Evolving Structure and Function of Commercial Open Source Software Ecosystems

Commercial open source software firms depend on an ecosystem consisting of individuals and organizations to develop and support the necessary source code, services, and delivery conditions. The structure and function of this ecosystem, as a social system and technological platform, evolves based on its membership composition and the ensuing differentiation and integration of these members’ contributions. Based on an explanatory case study, we conclude that researchers and practitioners can benefit from an increased attention to these composition and interactions within a given software ecosystem.
Profit System Models of the Firm, Industry, and Business Sector

This chapter proposes an integrated profit system model of the firm consisting of dynamic relationships among fundamental business variables. The first part of the chapter derives theoretical profit system models of production, capital stock, profit rate, profit margin, total profit, and employment for firms in the business sector, in addition to related models of employee compensation and other business variables. The second part of the chapter provides empirical profit system models that capture the relationships between these variables as a system of dynamic equations. These empirical models can be applied to individual firms, industries, and the whole business sector.
Vibronic Phenomena At Localized-Itinerant and Mott-Hubbard Transitions

It is argued from the pressure dependence of the transport properties that the Mott-Hubbard transition in the AMO3 perovskites is first-order with a dynamic phase segregation appearing in the metallic phase on the approach to the transition from the itinerant-electron side. A transition with decreasing bandwidth from a strongly enhanced Pauli paramagnetism toward a Curie-Wiess law is observed in the metallic CuO3 array of La1-xNdxCuO3,0 ≤ x ≤ 0.6, and in the metallic phase of the compounds LnNiO3, Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Sm0.5Nd0.5. The LnNiO3 family undergoes an antiferromagnetic-insulator to metal transition at a temperature Tt that is sensitive to 18O/16O isotope exchange and disappears in LaNiO3 and PrNiO3 under 15 kbar hydrostatic pressure. We suggest a bandwidth of the form $$ W = W_b exp( - \lambda \varepsilon _{sc} /h\omega _O ) $$ where λ ∼ ɛSC/Wb, Wb is the tight-binding bandwidth, and a pressure-sensitive ω−1 0 is the period of the locally cooperative oxygen displacements that define strong-correlation fluctuations stabilized by an energy ɛsc. LaMnO3 exhibits an insulator-conductive electronic transition at a cooperative Jahn-Teller orbital ordering below TJT; the magnetic susceptibility obeys a Curie-Weiss law in which ?, but not C, changes discontinuously at TJT. We propose a double-exchange coupling involving vibrons.
Spinal Cord Injury

Traumatic spinal cord injury has been appropriately described as one of the most devastating calamities in human life (Guttman, 1976). It attacks body integrity and threatens life. It rapidly and radically alters the person’s mobility, capacity for self-care, self-image, and social role, and requires unparalleled social and psychological adjustment (Burnham & Werner, 1978–1979).
Second-by-Second Looks at the Television Commercial Audience

ABSTRACT Television audience measurement needs better technology, improved competition, larger samples, granular data by time, and a focus on commercial, not program, ratings. This paper shows how data from set-top boxes in digital cable television systems can address these needs.
Evolution of Instrumentation for Taylor-Couette Flow

The organizers of this meeting discussed with me some time ago just what they would like to hear about. I recognized the wish to provide some long term perspective on our field, and I ventured to suggest an overview of experimental techniques might be of some interest. I would like to make the point that the study of Taylor-Couette flow has almost inevitably brought forth the highest level of experimental technique from the very beginning. I will try to illustrate that fact by showing you examples of a wide variety of instrumentation from the last 100 years of our subject.
Behavioral analysis of NR2C knockout mouse reveals deficit in acquisition of conditioned fear and working memory

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors play an important role in excitatory neurotransmission and mediate synaptic plasticity associated with learning and memory. NMDA receptors are composed of two NR1 and two NR2 subunits and the identity of the NR2 subunit confers unique electrophysiologic and pharmacologic properties to the receptor. The precise role of NR2C-containing receptors in vivo is poorly understood. We have performed a battery of behavioral tests on NR2C knockout/nβ-galactosidase knock-in mice and found no difference in spontaneous activity, basal anxiety, forced-swim immobility, novel object recognition, pain sensitivity and reference memory in comparison to wildtype counterparts. However, NR2C knockout mice were found to exhibit deficits in fear acquisition and working memory compared to wildtype mice. Deficit in fear acquisition correlated with lack of fear conditioning-induced plasticity at the thalamo-amygdala synapse. These findings suggest a unique role of NR2C-containing receptors in associative and executive learning representing a novel therapeutic target for deficits in cognition.
Regular Lecture Quizzes Scores as Predictors of Final Examination Performance: A Test of Hypothesis Using Logistic Regression Analysis

Student academic success in school demands acquisition of specific skill sets that emphasize self-assessment, monitoring, adjustment, self-control, and motivation; the courage and ability to adopt efficient learning strategies; and resiliency in case of academic difficulties. As hypothesized, data from the present study demonstrates that student performance in routine lecture quizzes can predict performance in the final examination and successfully completing a course. Course data accumulated from several courses taught by the same instructor in the last five years (n=1294) were used in this analysis. The results generally indicate that: 1) performance in the quizzes is positively correlated with performance in the final examination; 2) students who attain a score of 70% or more in the quizzes are nine times as likely to pass the final examination with the same or higher score compared to those who do not. However, achieving better grades of a high “B” and above requires lecture quiz scores 80% and above; and 3) students attaining passing grades of 90% and over in the quizzes are three times as likely to pass the final examination with a similar or higher score; while students who attain a failing grade of 59% or less in the quizzes are twenty five times as likely to fail the final examination compared to those who passed. These results emphasize the critical role played by educators in the adoption of frequent course assessments as an integral part of instruction; the importance of educator engagement in providing routine formative feedback to students; the importance of students’ self-evaluation and staying on track with course material as the course progresses; and the need for students to be proactive in seeking help early in the semester to understand course content and improve their test taking skills.
Equilibrium shifts upon freezing

Abstract Upon freezing aqueous solutions, dissolved solutes are forced into small liquid regions within the frozen ice. This phenomenon affects solute concentrations, solution pH and can accelerate reaction kinetics. The ability to predict this behavior quantitatively has significant implications in environmental and biological studies. For a system with rapid reversible reactions like acids and buffers, a liquid volume decrease thermodynamically necessitates multiple equilibrium shifts which heretofore have been largely unaccounted for in freeze chemistry studies. Herein it is shown that multiple equilibrium shifts explain observed concentration changes of ions and pH shifts both qualitatively and quantitatively within the liquid region of ice upon freezing. Apparent charge imbalances upon freezing are often interpreted as being due to ions becoming trapped within the ice matrix. However, the results herein show that multiple equilibrium shifts allow charge balance to be maintained within the liquid regions of ice while solute concentrations and pH vary upon freezing. It is also shown that for species involved in reversible reactions, concentrations can dramatically increase and/or decrease upon freezing, questioning the common “freeze concentration” assertion that freezing only gives rise to increases in solute concentrations in the absence of solute trapping in the solid ice matrix. The combination of in situ spectroscopy and the multiple equilibrium shift model developed herein can be extended to other systems to help elucidate the effects of freezing on solution pH, solute concentrations and reaction kinetics important in environmental chemistry and cryopreservation.
A phase II randomized study: Outcomes after cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with or without carboplatin hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) followed by adjuvant chemotherapy as initial treatment of advanced stage (stage III/IV) ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancer.

e17080Background: Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of gynecologic cancers. Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) is the cornerstone treatment for advanced stage ovarian cancer. Following CRS, hyperthermic int...
Business Meeting and Presidential Address

Jan 05, 2013 5:45 pm, Marriott Marquis & Marina, San Diego Ballroom B American Finance Association.
Validity of Apple Watch Heart Rate Sensor Compared to Polar H10 Heart Rate Monitor [Georgia College and State University]

Introduction: In this day and age, technology is progressing faster than people know how to keep ahead of the advancements. The new era of technology and smartwatches can be a great benefit to healthcare systems around the world. They can be used for weight management, tracking aerobic exercise, and tracking heart rate. However, if smartwatches can be trusted to accurately help people in their everyday lives, then why aren’t doctors and trainers incorporating them into their outpatient instructions? Consequently, the purpose of this study is to observe the accuracy of Apple Watches and to assess if they are as reliable as the Polar Heart Monitors that can be found in exercise testing labs. Methods: Nine college-aged males and six females participated in the YMCA cycle submaximal test while wearing both a Polar Heart Rate Monitor (H10) and a series 3 or 4 Apple Watch to compare the accuracy of the Apple Watch device. Heart rate and rating of perceived exertion were taken during each stage of testing. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare the heart rate readings in each stage. Results: There was no statistical difference between the Apple Watch heart rate reading and the Polar Heart Monitor (p > 0.05).Discussion: Based on the results regarding heart rate through the different stages of the YMCA submaximal test, it appears as though the Apple Watch is comparable to the chest strap monitor during cycling. Previous research has shown similar findings during exercise on a treadmill, indicating that the chest strap and Apple Watch measured similar heart rate values (Gillinov et al., 2017) . Based on the findings of this study, it appears Apple Watch heart rate technology is comparable to chest strap heart rate monitors during various modes of physical activity.
Intrinsic gasification kinetics of coal chars generated in a high-pressure, high-temperature flow reactor

Abstract An understanding of the intrinsic gasification rates of chars generated at high temperatures and elevated pressures is crucial for the design and optimization of gasifiers. Therefore, a widely used Pittsburgh No. 8 coal was partially gasified in a CO2/N2 atmosphere at 1300 °C at a range of pressures (3.4, 6.2, 11.3, 15.5, and 21.7 bar) in a high-pressure, high-temperature flow reactor to generate char. The intrinsic reaction rate of those chars with CO2 was obtained using a high-pressure thermogravimetric analyzer. The kinetic parameters were obtained using an nth-order model. The results show that the intrinsic reaction rate was less affected by the char generation pressure, while the apparent reaction rate was primarily dependent on the surface area evolution during the gasification process. The apparent reactivity reached a maximum for the char generated at 6.2 bar and decreased with further increases in pressure. Among the kinetic parameters, the activation energies were not affected over the range of char generation pressures (3.4–21.7 bar), while the pre-exponential factors were within similar orders of magnitude. The order of reaction was determined by varying the CO2 partial pressure. The order of reaction decreased with increasing char generation pressure and closely followed the surface area at that conversion in most cases.
Prony, Pad\'e, and Linear Prediction for Interpolation and Approximation in the Time and Frequency Domain Design of IIR Digital Filters and in Parameter Identification

Model based signal processing or signal analysis or signal representation has a rather different point of view from the more traditional filtering and algorithm based approaches. However, in all of these, the names of Prony, Pade, and linear prediction come up. This note examines these ideas with the goal of showing they are all based on the same principles and all can be extended and generalized. A particular application is the frequency sampling design of IIR digital filters.
Racial Differences in the Associations Between Food Insecurity and Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study

Objective Food insecurity is associated with consumption of phosphate additive-laden processed food and beverage products, which could result in higher levels of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) to compensate for the increased dietary phosphate load. We sought to determine whether food insecurity is associated with higher levels of FGF23. We stratified analyses by race since differences may occur between food insecurity and diet quality across races. Design and Methods The longitudinal community-based Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study recruited from 4 US centers: Birmingham, AL; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; and Oakland, CA, during the cohort inception in 1985/1986. This analysis included 3,421 black and white participants from Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults follow-up years 20, 25, and 30 who were enrolled in the study between the ages of 18 and 30 years. Econometric fixed effects models stratified by race that adjust by design for all time-invariant covariates were used to model the longitudinal association of food insecurity, defined as the self-reported ability to afford desired quantity and quality of food. The main outcome of interest was changing to the highest quartile of plasma FGF-23 concentrations. Results During follow-up, 29% of blacks and 14% of whites experienced change in food security. Developing food insecurity was associated with a 1.48 greater odds of increasing to the highest quartile of FGF23 (95% confidence interval 1.02-2.15) among blacks; however, there was no significant longitudinal association among whites (odds ratio = 1.14, 95% confidence interval 0.67-1.95). Conclusions Among blacks, food insecurity was associated with an increase in levels of FGF23. Although phosphate consumption was presumed to mediate the association between food insecurity and FGF23 levels, we were unable to directly test this pathway.
Mapping Drosophila insulin receptor structure to the regulation of aging through analysis of amino acid substitutions

Genetic manipulations of the Drosophila insulin/IGF signaling system slow aging, but it remains unknown how the insulin/IGF receptor acts to modulate lifespan or differentiate this control from that of growth, reproduction and metabolism. With homologous recombination we produced an allelic series of single amino acid substitutions in the fly insulin receptor (InR). Based on emerging biochemical and structural data, we map amino acid substitutions to receptor function to longevity and fecundity. We propose InR mutants generate bias in the process of asymmetric transphosphorylation when the receptor is activated. This induces specific kinase subdomains that modulate lifespan by additive processes, one involving survival costs of reproduction and the other involving reproduction-independent systems of longevity assurance. We identify a mutant in the kinase insert domain that robustly extends lifespan without affecting growth or reproduction, suggesting this element controls aging through unique mechanisms of longevity assurance.
Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Specimen Positivity Rate by Polymerase Chain Reaction at a Regional Veteran Affairs Medical Center.

Objective Sexually transmitted infections because of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and/or Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) remain a major public health problem. Although the literature describes the population-based epidemiology of CT/NG, it does not appear to contain reference points for the statistical analyses of specimen positivity rates by nucleic acid testing (NAT) with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that would be collected by a laboratory following best laboratory and regulatory practice. For facilities that diagnose NG and CT by a real-time PCR assay, an understanding of the expected specimen positivity rate of gonorrhea and chlamydia would be helpful for monitoring the assay for quality assurance. Therefore, on behalf of the Michael J. Crescenz Veteran Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), we present this novel quality assurance study on its CT/NG specimen positivity rates conducted by NAT with PCR. Methods Quality assurance/improvement quarterly data from April 1, 2012 to September 30, 2019 were reviewed to obtain both the test volume of PCR for CT/NG and the number of positive test results at the VAMC to collate and perform statistical analyses. Testing had been performed using the Abbott m2000 RealTime System (Abbott Park, IL). Results A total of 22,709 PCR tests for CT/NG had been performed on the veteran population; of these, 502 tests were positive for NG and 744 were positive for CT. Quarterly percentage rates ranged from 1.67% to 5.30% for CT and from 1.00% to 3.25% for NG, with average rates of 3.35% and 2.22% for CT and NG, respectively. Conclusion The establishment of an expected rate of specimen positivity of CT/NG by NAT with PCR at the VAMC is a significant novel reference point in the quality assurance (QA) literature and provides a benchmark that aids tremendously in QA for the microbiology/molecular laboratory.
An Endpoint Weak-Type Estimate for Multilinear Calderón–Zygmund Operators

The purpose of this article is to provide an alternative proof of the weak-type $$\left( 1,\ldots ,1;\frac{1}{m}\right) $$ estimate for m-multilinear Calderon–Zygmund operators on $${\mathbb {R}}^n$$ first proved by Grafakos and Torres. Subsequent proofs in the bilinear setting have been given by Maldonado and Naibo and also by Perez and Torres. The proof given here is motivated by the proof of the weak-type (1, 1) estimate for Calderon–Zygmund operators in the nonhomogeneous setting by Nazarov, Treil, and Volberg.
Systematic review to examine the methods used to adapt evidence-based psychological treatments for adults diagnosed with a mental illness

Question The context for the implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments (EBPTs) often differs from the context in which the treatment was developed, which necessitates adaptations. In this systematic review we build on, and add to, prior approaches by examining the method used to guide such adaptations. In particular, we sought to elucidate the extent to which an empirical process is used. Study selection and analysis We focused on publications describing adaptations made to EBPTs for adults diagnosed with a mental illness. We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase and Web of Science from database inception to July 2018. Two raters independently coded the articles for the method used to conduct the adaptation, the reason for and nature of the adaptation, and who made the adaptation. Findings The search produced 20 194 citations, which yielded 152 articles after screening. The most commonly used methods for planned adaptations were literature review (57.7%), clinical intuition (47.0%) and theory (38.9%). The use of data from stakeholder interviews ranked fourth (21.5%) and the use of other types of data (eg, pilot study, experiment, survey, interview) ranked last at fifth (12.1%). Few publications reporting ad hoc adaptations were identified (n=3). Conclusions This review highlights a need to (a) educate providers and researchers to carefully consider the methods used for the treatment adaptation process, and to use empirical methods where possible and where appropriate, (b) improve the quality of reporting of stakeholder interviews and (c) develop reporting standards that articulate optimal methods for conducting treatment adaptations.
Developing critical thinking skills among Transportation Security officers (TSOs) through sharing tacit knowledge

This paper summarizes results from a research project collaboration between a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) organization responsible for aviation security at a mid-sized airport in the western United States and a local university. The purpose of this project was to explore the potential and utility of a learning tool designed to enhance critical thinking skills among Transportation Security Officers (TSO). Employees of the TSA are provided comprehensive and continuous training from point of hire throughout the duration of a TSO’s employment. However performance problems continue to be identified and while TSOs are annually rated on their ability to think critically no training is provided for this specific skill. During Phase 1 of this two-phased study, a learning tool was developed in the form of a situational judgment test based tacit knowledge inventory comprised of work scenarios that were oriented on developing critical thinking skills common to TSOs. In Phase 2, TSOs organized into an experimental group, participated in structured facilitated discussions that supplemented the traditional training protocol and were based on the critical thinking tacit knowledge inventory; a control group took part in only the traditional training. A significant difference was found between the experimental and control group annual performance ratings for the critical thinking scale.