cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The current state of citizen science as a tool for ecological research and public engagement

Approaches to citizen science – an indispensable means of combining ecological research with environmental education and natural history observation – range from community-based monitoring to the use of the internet to “crowd-source” various scientific tasks, from data collection to discovery. With new tools and mechanisms for engaging learners, citizen science pushes the envelope of what ecologists can achieve, both in expanding the potential for spatial ecology research and in supplementing existing, but localized, research programs. The primary impacts of citizen science are seen in biological studies of global climate change, including analyses of phenology, landscape ecology, and macro-ecology, as well as in sub-disciplines focused on species (rare and invasive), disease, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Citizen science and the resulting ecological data can be viewed as a public good that is generated through increasingly collaborative tools and resources, while supporting public participation in science and Earth stewardship.
Amyloid-first and neurodegeneration-first profiles characterize incident amyloid PET positivity

Objective: To estimate the incidence of and to characterize cognitive and imaging findings associated with incident amyloid PET positivity. Methods: Cognitively normal (CN) participants in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging who had 2 or more serial imaging assessments, which included amyloid PET, FDG-PET, and MRI at each time point, were eligible for analysis (n = 207). Twelve subjects with Alzheimer disease dementia were included for comparison. Results: Of the 123 CN participants who were amyloid-negative at baseline, 26 met criteria for incident amyloid PET positivity. Compared to the 69 subjects who remained stable amyloid-negative, on average these 26 did not differ on any imaging, demographic, or cognitive variables except amyloid PET (by definition) and task-free functional connectivity, which at baseline was greater in the incident amyloid-positive group. Eleven of the 26 incident amyloid-positive subjects had abnormal hippocampal volume, FDG-PET, or both at baseline. Conclusions: The incidence of amyloid PET positivity is approximately 13% per year among CN participants over age 70 sampled from a population-based cohort. In 15/26 (58%), incident amyloid positivity occurred prior to abnormalities in FDG-PET and hippocampal volume. However, 11/26 (42%) incident amyloid-positive subjects had evidence of neurodegeneration prior to incident amyloid positivity. These 11 could be subjects with combinations of preexisting non-Alzheimer pathophysiologies and tau-mediated neurodegeneration who newly entered the amyloid pathway. Our findings suggest that both “amyloid-first” and “neurodegeneration-first” biomarker profile pathways to preclinical AD exist.
Experimental design considerations for pulsed holographic particle-tracking velocimetry

ABSTRACT Holographic imaging represents one method for particle imaging velocimetry, and has the advantage of tracking particles in three dimensions without the use of stereoscopic methods. Far-field holographic imaging has been applied to thestudy of particle sizing in sprays and other two-phase flows. There have also been attempts to use this imaging method todetermine velocity fields, but there has been little systematic development of the method to understand its limitations relativeto velocity dynamic range and other three-dimensional flow analysis issues.This study examines some of the advantages and disadvantages of using far-field holographic recording to studyvelocity fields. Several important experimental design features are discussed and resolution and inherent signal-to-noise ratioproblems are presented. Seeding requirements for determining velocity scales down to the Kolmogorov range are presentedbased on a Poisson distribution of seed particles. The source density, a measure of the seeding density, is restricted to valuesmuch less than one to achieve adequate holographic imaging. The limitations of particle motion during exposure required 1oradequate imaging are also assessed. The seeding density is limited by the desired measurable velocity range, according toparticle tracking requirements. Experimental measurements of a velocity and vorticity field are presented, and the effects ofseed density, particle motion, and tracking sequence on the velocity range are included.
A Puzzle about Consent in Research and in Practice

In this paper, I will examine a puzzling discrepancy between the way clinicians are allowed to treat their patients and the way researchers are allowed to treat their subjects: in certain cases, researchers are legally required to disclose quite a bit more information when obtaining consent from prospective subjects than clinicians are when obtaining consent from prospective patients. I will argue that the proper resolution of this puzzling discrepancy must appeal to a pragmatic criterion of disclosure for informed consent: that what needs to be disclosed in order for consent to be valid depends on what the patient/subject needs to know in order to make a decision. I will then use this pragmatic criterion of disclosure to argue that when obtaining consent researchers should be permitted to omit the same information clinicians are, given certain qualifications. I will also examine how this puzzle forces us to confront some perhaps surprising truths about valid consent. My broader aim in this paper is to examine, not so much the puzzle itself, but rather what this particular puzzle can teach us about more theoretical issues surrounding informed consent.
Vertical profiling: understanding the behavior of object-priented applications

Object-oriented programming languages provide a rich set of features that provide significant software engineering benefits. The increased productivity provided by these features comes at a justifiable cost in a more sophisticated runtime system whose responsibility is to implement these features efficiently. However, the virtualization introduced by this sophistication provides a significant challenge to understanding complete system performance, not found in traditionally compiled languages, such as C or C++. Thus, understanding system performance of such a system requires profiling that spans all levels of the execution stack, such as the hardware, operating system, virtual machine, and application. In this work, we suggest an approach, called vertical profiling, that enables this level of understanding. We illustrate the efficacy of this approach by providing deep understandings of performance problems of Java applications run on a VM with vertical profiling support. By incorporating vertical profiling into a programming environment, the programmer will be able to understand how their program interacts with the underlying abstraction levels, such as application server, VM, operating system, and hardware.
Phased-array sources based on nonlinear metamaterial nanocavities

Coherent superposition of light from subwavelength sources is an attractive prospect for the manipulation of the direction, shape and polarization of optical beams. This phenomenon constitutes the basis of phased arrays, commonly used at microwave and radio frequencies. Here we propose a new concept for phased-array sources at infrared frequencies based on metamaterial nanocavities coupled to a highly nonlinear semiconductor heterostructure. Optical pumping of the nanocavity induces a localized, phase-locked, nonlinear resonant polarization that acts as a source feed for a higher-order resonance of the nanocavity. Varying the nanocavity design enables the production of beams with arbitrary shape and polarization. As an example, we demonstrate two second harmonic phased-array sources that perform two optical functions at the second harmonic wavelength (∼5 μm): a beam splitter and a polarizing beam splitter. Proper design of the nanocavity and nonlinear heterostructure will enable such phased arrays to span most of the infrared spectrum.
Cultivating Connections in 140 Characters: A Case Study of Twitter Relationship Building

Social media use is ubiquitous in the United States. Not surprisingly, an academic debate has emerged about whether or not computer-mediated communication facilitates or hurts interpersonal relationships. This exploratory case study adds to the conversation by assessing how Twitter users in the Wichita, Kansas community view the impact of Twitter on their social lives, specifically, communication and relationships. Using a grounded theory approach and inductive thematic analysis, this paper analyzed data from a two-phase study involving key informant interviews (N=15) and six focus groups (N = 32). Three themes emerged: Twitter and professional relationships; Twitter and personal relationships, and Twitter and community. Analysis indicated that Twitter is a robust tool used to build and maintain interpersonal and community relationships that range from shallow and impersonal to deep and meaningful, depending on the desires of users, all in 140 characters or less.
Examination of copper electrowinning smoothing agents. Part II: Fundamental electrochemical examination of DXG-F7

Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and galvanodynamic and chronopotentiometric techniques were used to characterize the effects of DXG-F7®, a commercial smoothing agent, on copper electrodeposition onto 316L stainless steel from a synthetic electrolyte containing 40 g/L copper (Cu2+), 160 g/L sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and 20 mg/L chloride (Cl-) at 40oC. The findings were compared against results using HydroStar® 4208, a modified polysaccharide. The nucleation overpotential and plating potential observed in cyclic voltammetry and galvanodynamic testing showed that neither DXG-F7 nor HydroStar significantly polarized acidic copper electrodeposition. Subtle differences between the additives were found during EIS testing and modeling, but more research will be needed to fully understand these differences. Surface-roughness measurements of two-hour deposits indicate that DXG-F7 and HydroStar produced smoother deposits as their concentrations in the electrolyte increased. No difference in the surface roughness of deposits was detected between the additives. Based on the experimental evidence resulting from the laboratory testing, no significant difference was found between DXG-F7 and HydroStar at 20mg/L Cl- concentration, with the exception that DXG-F7 dissolves more easily in water than HydroStar.
Stochastic Model for BOD and DO in Streams

A stochastic model for pollution and dissolved oxygen in streams is obtained. Given the stream parameters and the initial conditions, the model predicts not only the mean amounts of pollution and d...
Initial Development of Statistically Based Validation Process for Computational Simulation

The initial development of a statistically-based process for validation of computational experiments is presented. The focus of this newer methodology is Uncertainty Quantification (UQ), Sensitivity Analysis (SA), and variance reduction. The two types of uncertainty (aleatory and epistemic) are incorporated into the methodology. For this investigation, the behavior of the simulation inputs is presumed unknown (aleatory due to lack-of-knowledge) and is therefore modeled using equally-probable uniform distributions. These distributions have known and quantifiable uncertainties that are used to determine the sampling residuals that are expected to follow a random normal distribution (epistemic with known mean and variance). Statisticallybased sample sizes and uncertainty propagation limits are determined based upon a priori tolerance specifications as well as Type I and Type II risks. Newer quasi-random sampling procedures are demonstrated to be superior to classical pseudo-random sampling procedures. A simple example is presented that outlines the methodology that is extensible to all validation processes.
Studies concerning the significance of Streptococcus hemolyticus in scarlet fever.

The more or less constant presence of Streptococcus hemolyticus in the throats of individuals suffering from scarlet fever has been generally recognized for many years. This organism is also the preponderant causative agent of such septic complications of the disease as otitis media, adenitis, interstital nephritis, arthritis, and septicemia. Such widespread and general relationship of streptococcus to scarlet fever naturally gave rise to the view, supported by a number of investigators, that streptococcus might be the etiological agent of the disease. Belief in the validity of this conception led to the preparation and trial of antistreptococcic sera for therapeutic purposes. For some of these efficacious results have been claimed. On the other hand another group of investigators has asserted that streptococcus bears only a secondary relationship to scarlet fever and cannot be assigned the principal causative role. Discussion of this question was carried on for many years and became part of the larger co...
Partially observable Markov decision processes for risk-based screening

A long-term goal for checked baggage screening in airports has been to include passenger information, or at least a predetermined passenger risk level, in the screening process. One method for including that information could be treating the checked baggage screening process as a system-of-systems. This would allow for an optimized policy builder, such as one trained using the methodology of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDP), to navigate the diﬀerent sensors available for screening. In this paper we describe the necessary steps to tailor a POMDP for baggage screening, as well as results of simulations for speciﬁc screening scenarios.
Fast Newton methods for the group fused lasso

We present a new algorithmic approach to the group fused lasso, a convex model that approximates a multi-dimensional signal via an approximately piecewise-constant signal. This model has found many applications in multiple change point detection, signal compression, and total variation denoising, though existing algorithms typically using first-order or alternating minimization schemes. In this paper we instead develop a specialized projected Newton method, combined with a primal active set approach, which we show to be substantially faster that existing methods. Furthermore, we present two applications that use this algorithm as a fast subroutine for a more complex outer loop: segmenting linear regression models for time series data, and color image denoising. We show that on these problems the proposed method performs very well, solving the problems faster than state-of-the-art methods and to higher accuracy.
The Framing of Portion Sizes: It's Not the Size that Counts, But the Name

The food industry often uses normative labels such as “Large,” “Super-size,” or “Family-size” to describe their portion size offerings. Are these superficial labels evidence of firms using framing effects or loss aversion to impact choice behavior? A first field experiment shows consumer willingness-to-pay was inconsistent with loss aversion. Even though the food was clearly visible, individuals appeared to use the labels as objective information about their size. To further examine this, a second experiment measured plate waste, showing people leave more food uneaten when a constant-sized portion is labeled as being larger. If labels are used as objective size information, policies governing normative names could help reduce food consumption.
Quine's “Two Dogmas”: argument or imagination?

TWO SORTS OF KNOWLEDGE? A lot of our knowledge derives from sense experience: from what we see, hear, touch, etc. Other things we know – about mathematics and logic, for example – seem quite independent of sense experience; we know them simply by thinking – about, for example, the definition of a triangle or the meaning of the term “implies.” Philosophers have long recognized this fact by a distinction between knowledge that is a posteriori (derived from sense experience) and knowledge that is a priori (derived from mere thinking, independent of sense experience). This distinction concerns the ways in which we know. Two further distinctions suggest themselves, one concerning what our knowledge is about (its content) and the other concerning its stability (or, to use the standard logical term, its modality). First, there is a distinction between knowledge about the world we encounter through our experience and knowledge derived from the meanings of the concepts (or words) we use to think. Philosophers, at least since Kant, have called knowledge about the world synthetic , and knowledge about meanings analytic . Second, there is a distinction between knowledge that is contingent (about what can change, such as the color of a leaf) and knowledge that is necessary (about what cannot change, such as the fact that blue is a color). Philosophers have focused intensely on these distinctions, not only because they seem important for understanding knowledge in general but also because they seem crucial for understanding the nature of philosophical knowledge itself.
Carbon-Coated, Diatomite-Derived Nanosilicon as a High Rate Capable Li-ion Battery Anode

Silicon is produced in a variety of ways as an ultra-high capacity lithium-ion battery (LIB) anode material. The traditional carbothermic reduction process required is expensive and energy-intensive; in this work, we use an efficient magnesiothermic reduction to convert the silica-based frustules within diatomaceous earth (diatomite, DE) to nanosilicon (nanoSi) for use as LIB anodes. Polyacrylic acid (PAA) was used as a binder for the DE-based nanoSi anodes for the first time, being attributed for the high silicon utilization under high current densities (up to 4C). The resulting nanoSi exhibited a high BET specific surface area of 162.6 cm2 g-1, compared to a value of 7.3 cm2 g-1 for the original DE. DE contains SiO2 architectures that make ideal bio-derived templates for nanoscaled silicon. The DE-based nanoSi anodes exhibit good cyclability, with a specific discharge capacity of 1102.1 mAh g-1 after 50 cycles at a C-rate of C/5 (0.7 A gSi-1) and high areal loading (2 mg cm-2). This work also demonstrates the fist rate capability testing for a DE-based Si anode; C-rates of C/30 - 4C were tested. At 4C (14.3 A gSi-1), the anode maintained a specific capacity of 654.3 mAh g-1 - nearly 2x higher than graphite's theoretical value (372 mAh g-1).
Changes in atmospheric carbonyl sulfide over the last 54,000 years inferred from measurements in Antarctic ice cores

We measured carbonyl sulfide (COS) in air extracted from ice core samples from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide, Antarctica, with the deepest sample dated to 54,300 years before present. These are the first ice core COS measurements spanning the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the last glacial/interglacial transition, and the early Holocene. The WAIS Divide measurements from the LGM and the last transition are the first COS measurements in air extracted from full clathrate (bubble-free) ice. This study also includes new COS measurements from Taylor Dome, Antarctica, including some in bubbly glacial ice that are concurrent with the WAIS Divide data from clathrate glacial ice. COS hydrolyzes in ice core air bubbles, and the recovery of an atmospheric record requires correcting for this loss. The data presented here suggest that the in situ hydrolysis of COS is significantly slower in clathrate ice than in bubbly ice. The clathrate ice measurements are corrected for the hydrolysis loss during the time spent as bubbly ice only. The corrected WAIS Divide record indicates that atmospheric COS was 250–300 parts per trillion (ppt) during the LGM and declined by 80–100 ppt during the last glacial/interglacial transition to a minimum of 160–210 ppt at the beginning of the Holocene. This decline was likely caused by an increase in the gross primary productivity of terrestrial plants, with a possible contribution from a reduction in ocean sources. COS levels were above 300 ppt in the late Holocene, indicating that large changes in the COS biogeochemical cycle occurred during the Holocene.
Solitary waves in shallow water magnetohydrodynamics

We consider a perfect electrically conducting rotating fluid in the presence of an ambient toroidal magnetic field, governed by the shallow water magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in a modified equatorial beta plane approximation. Using a multiple scale asymptotic technique, previously developed by Boyd (1980) for equatorial solitary hydrodynamic waves, we look for solitary MHD waves. In the case of a weak ambient magnetic field, the leading order equations governing the poleward velocities can be solved using associated Legendre functions. These functions are multiplied by an amplitude function of slow length and time variables. They are solved for at second order via a compatibility condition and have the form of equatorial Rossby solitary waves. When the ambient magnetic field is moderately strong, the equations governing the poleward velocities cannot be solved using special functions. Instead, we are able to apply a WKB type approximation to solve this problem using a large parameter, α=2ΩL2/agH, w...
Interrupted Trajectory: The Experiences of Disability and Homeschooling in Post-Soviet Russia

This paper provides a personal account of school experiences in Russia from a disability perspective to illuminate a complex nature of disability in post-Soviet Russia. It seeks to foreground the context of homeschooling by problematizing transition as a linear and uninterrupted path. Through discussion of the education system for children with disabilities, the author positions herself in a broader sociocultural context. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the issues around negotiation of access and engages with theoretical constructs of overcoming, staring, and internalizing ableism to demonstrate the ambiguities of personal experiences and the role of structures in shaping these experiences. Finally, the paper emphasizes the relational aspect of disability and schooling to recognize possibilities and creative ways of being within structural constraints.
Hypoxemia in patients with idiopathic or heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background The prevalence and prognostic implications of hypoxemia either at rest or during six-minute walk test (6MWT) in patients with idiopathic or heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH or HPAH) have not been systemically studied. Objectives We sought to determine the prevalence, phenotypic and prognostic implications of hypoxemia in patients with IPAH and HPAH. Methods Patients with IPAH or HPAH were identified from the Cleveland Clinic Pulmonary Hypertension Registry. Pulse oximetry (SpO2) at rest and during 6MWT was used to define hypoxemia at rest or during activities when measurements were lower than 90%, respectively. Results A total of 292 patients (age 50.6 ± 18.0 years, 73% females) with IPAH (88%) and HPAH (12%) were included. Of them, 143 (49%) had SpO2 >90% at rest and during 6MWT, 89 (31%) subjects had hypoxemia during 6MWT and 60 (20%) had hypoxemia at rest. Patients with hypoxemia had older age, greater body mass index, higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, worse functional capacity and pulmonary function tests but less severe pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension. Individuals with hypoxemia either at rest or during the initial 6MWT had worse long-term survival when compared to subjects without hypoxemia, even when adjusting for a great number of potential confounders. (HR: 2.5 (95% CI: 1.54–3.98)) Conclusions Hypoxemia in patients with IPAH and HPAH is associated with more comorbidities, less severe pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension and worse survival.
Relationship between Religious Orientation and Love Styles, Sexual Attitudes, and Sexual Behaviors:

This research had two objectives: (a) to extend our understanding of the sexual behavior, attitudes, and love styles of religiously mature and immature individuals using recent measures of love sty...
The Role of Public Education in Place-Remaking: From a Retrospective Walk Through my Hometown to a Call to Action

This essay examines the role of public education in the process of place-remaking that relies on a false separation between teaching and issues of race, politics, and power. I construct a historical case study of my hometown that presents a counter narrative, presented by students, of race and legacy in the context of a public school and the surrounding community. Building upon a walk-as-method approach, I illustrate the confluence of historical, racialized narratives that are discoverable at the scale of the city but invisible within the walls of the school. I conclude with an in-progress professional code of ethical teaching and research practice for the learning sciences. These commitments are intended to support and protect students (and all young people in our communities) from bearing sole responsibility for critical stances based on their identities and histories-in-place.
Seeing As and Seeing That

We have been dealing with the concept of “seeing as.…” It has been argued that in most of the cases where we speak of what we see, as when we see boxes, ducks, rabbits, bears, bicycles, and x-ray tubes, we are speaking of having visual impressions which we see as boxes, ducks, rabbits, etc. This seeing as is a central component of what we ordinarily call “seeing.” Several cases were noted of people having roughly the same retinal reactions to a visual stimulus X, and perhaps having the same visual impressions, or sense-data, of it as well, but where the parties concerned did not see X in the same way. One sees X as a Y, the other sees it as a Z, etc. And besides considering slightly bizarre examples of this, things like reversible figures and shifting-aspect figures, we saw that in certain important respects the seeing of airfoils, x-ray tubes, bicycles—indeed, the seeing of most of our familiar material objects—consists in part of this element I have been calling “seeing as …” When our seeing of physical objects lacks this “seeing as …” quality, e.g., in the oculist’s office or when in research we encounter a visual phenomenon wholly new to our experience, we are up against the unusual cases, the non-typical cases. That is my contention. These cases are outstanding and important only when contrasted with our more usual varieties of seeing things. The “phenomenal” description of what the research microscopist sees is only instrumental to his goal of one day describing what is before him on the slide in physical object terms, in terms of what the thing before his eyes is seen as.
Abstract 17722: Ventricular-Vascular Coupling Predicts Cardiotoxicity in Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Doxorubicin or Trastuzumab

Background: Doxorubicin and trastuzumab (Herceptin®) are used widely in the treatment of many cancers and have led to important survival gains, but carry a significant risk of cardiovascular (CV) m...
γ-Machines and δ-Machines

It would seem therefore, that a human player resembles more a γ-machine which is programmed to employ logic, both deductive and inductive and on the basis of empirical evidence figure out which choice will maximize its gain and make that choice. How will such a machine act? Assuming that our argument from the perfect judge is correct it should reason that taking both boxes will result in the highest amount of money to be gained and thus take both boxes. The predictor may know all this and hence predict correctly that the γ-machine is going to take both boxes and thus leave box II empty. But does not a contradiction arise here as well? Is there no argument for also saying that the machine would gain more by picking box II only? The answer is that there is no evidential support for the truth of the counter-factual ‘If this γ-machine would have taken box II only it would have found $M in it’, since no γ-machine has ever taken box II only and gained $M simply because no γ-machine has ever taken box II only. The very reason why the predictor is infallible, with respect to the choices of a γ-machine, is because the γ-machine can be relied upon to take both boxes.
An Estimate of the Yield of Photoneutrons from Beryllium Using a LINAC as the X-Ray Source

A procedure is described for calculating approximate photoneutron yields from thick beryllium targets exposed to the x radiation produced in thick tungsten targets bombarded with 2- ..-->.. 8-MeV electrons. It is based on empirical relations developed for predicting the average thick tungsten target radiation yield and the average beryllium photoneutron cross section for the selected incident electron energy.
Spatial imaging of charge transport in silicon at low temperature

We present direct imaging measurements of charge transport across a 1 cm × 1 cm × 4 mm crystal of high purity silicon (∼20 kΩ cm) at temperatures between 500 mK and 5 K. We use these data to determine the intervalley scattering rate of electrons as a function of the electric field applied along the ⟨111⟩ crystal axis, and we present a phenomenological model of intervalley scattering which explains the constant scattering rate seen at low-voltage for cryogenic temperatures. We also demonstrate direct imaging measurements of effective hole mass anisotropy, which is strongly dependent on both temperature and electric field strength. The observed effects can be explained by a warping of the valence bands for carrier energies near the spin-orbit splitting energy in silicon.
Impact of Participation in School-to-Work Programs on Postsecondary Outcomes for Youth With Disabilities From Low-Income Families:

Individuals with disabilities who also live in poverty face a double jeopardy. Disability and poverty are each separately associated with poorer education and employment outcomes. One approach to a...
Examining the Relationship between Familiarity and Reliability of Automation in the Cockpit

This study sought to determine the correlation between familiarity and perceptions of reliability, as associated to specific aviation-related automated devices. Participants’ experience levels ranged from non-pilots to novice pilots to certified flight instructors. It was hypothesized that familiarity has a direct correlation with ratings of reliability for various aviation-related automated devices and that the correlation across devices for each participant would be positive. The researchers expected to find a difference in the familiarity-reliability relationship as a function of experience. Findings showed that there was a significant positive correlation between familiarity and reliability for every single automated device. A positive correlation across automated devices for 87% of the participants was also found. Interestingly, the study did not find any relationship between experience and the familiarity-reliability relationship.
Methodological Approaches to Understanding Causes of Health Disparities

Understanding health disparity causes is an important first step toward developing policies or interventions to eliminate disparities, but their nature makes identifying and addressing their causes challenging. Potential causal factors are often correlated, making it difficult to distinguish their effects. These factors may exist at different organizational levels (e.g., individual, family, neighborhood), each of which needs to be appropriately conceptualized and measured. The processes that generate health disparities may include complex relationships with feedback loops and dynamic properties that traditional statistical models represent poorly. Because of this complexity, identifying disparities' causes and remedies requires integrating findings from multiple methodologies. We highlight analytic methods and designs, multilevel approaches, complex systems modeling techniques, and qualitative methods that should be more broadly employed and adapted to advance health disparities research and identify approaches to mitigate them.
Spiritually Responsive SBIRT in Social Work Education

This article reports the results of a multisite, interprofessional training initiative for social work students focused on using Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) cul...
A surface with stress, extensional elasticity, and bending stiffness.

We demonstrate that the surface of a commonly used polydimethylsiloxane formulation (PDMS, Sylgard 184) treated by ultraviolet ozonolysis (UVO) has significant surface stress, considerable extensional elasticity (the “Shuttleworth Effect”), and surface bending elasticity. For soft solids, phenomena such as wetting, contact, surface flattening, and stiffening by liquid inclusions are often governed by their surface, which is usually represented by a liquid-like constant surface stress. Whether the surfaces of soft solids can have more complex constitutive response is actively debated. We studied the deformation of three surface-patterned materials systems: untreated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), an organogel, and patterned PDMS with surface treatment by UVO. The last of these three, we found, has complex surface elasticity. This is analogous to the situation for liquids in which the presence of a second phase at the interface yields Gibbs elasticity. Our finding is of broad applicability because in soft solids the behavior of the surface can often dominate bulk deformation.
Reliability of peer assessment of patient education simulations

Abstract Background At Belmont University College of Pharmacy, the final introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) course in the IPPE series, IPPE V, is designed to assess readiness for advanced pharmacy practice experiences and includes three patient counseling simulations. These simulations have required greater resources. The objective of our study was to determine if student performance on patient counseling simulations can be accurately assessed by peers. Educational activity Students were required to participate in patient counseling simulations throughout the semester. For each simulation, students were assigned one role: pharmacist, patient, or peer-evaluator. Each pharmacist counseled the patient on a specific product while the peer-evaluator assessed the accuracy and completeness of the counseling using a detailed checklist. The patient used a checklist to assess the pharmacist's communication skills. Faculty assessed the student evaluators and the patients by counting the number of discrepancies between the student evaluator's and the live faculty checklists. Students were surveyed at the end of the semester regarding their beliefs and perceptions of peer assessment for the communication simulations. Critical analysis of the educational activity Of 65 students enrolled in the spring 2018 course, complete recordings and checklists were available for 54 simulations (83.1%). Interrater reliability was high with all correlation coefficients exceeding 0.86. Students agreed that they were comfortable assessing patient education content (82.14%) and communication skills (82.14%). Our results indicate that peer evaluation during patient education simulation is reliable and acceptable to students.
Efferent Connections of the Dentate Nucleus

The literature on the connections of the cerebellar nuclei with the rest of the brain is extensive. The anatomical studies have been reviewed in an excellent chapter by Larsell and Jansen (1972) and both anatomical and physiologic studies were covered by Evarts and Thach (1969). The present chapter will be concerned particularly with the course and terminal projections of the fibers from the dentate nucleus, and when necessary with the projections from both the dentate and interpositus nuclei. (For specific connections of the interpositus and fastigial nuclei, see Angaut, 1969, 1970; Angaut and Bowsher, 1970; reviewed in Larsell and Jansen, 1972, and Martin et al., 1974). Since the earlier literature on cerebellofugal projections has been so adequately reviewed in the works mentioned above, the following sections will cover only a small number of pertinent recent studies.
A stochastic programming model with endogenous and exogenous uncertainty for reliable network design under random disruption

Abstract Designing and maintaining a reliable and efficient transportation network is an important industrial problem. Integrating infrastructure protection with the network design model is efficient as these models provide strategic decisions to make a transportation network simultaneously efficient and reliable. We studied a combined network design and infrastructure protection problem subject to random disruptions where the protection is imperfect and multi-level and the effect of disruption is imperfect. In this research, we modeled a resource-constrained decision maker seeking to optimally allocate protection resources to the facilities, and construct links in the network to minimize the expected post-disruption transportation cost (PDTC). We modeled the problem as a two-stage stochastic program with both endogenous and exogenous uncertainty: a facility’s post-disruption capacity depends probabilistically on the protection decision, making the uncertainty endogenous, while the link construction decision directly affects the transportation decision. We implemented an accelerated L-shaped algorithm to solve the model and predictive modeling techniques to estimate the probability of a facility’s post-disruption capacity for a given protection and disruption intensity. Numerical results show that solution quality is sensitive to the number of protection levels modeled; average reduction in the expected PDTC is 18.7% as the number of protection levels increases from 2 to 5. Results demonstrate that the mean value model performs very poorly as the uncertainty increases. Results also indicate that the stochastic programming model is sensitive to the estimation error of the predictive modeling techniques; on average the expected PDTC becomes 6.38% higher for using the least accurate prediction model.
Geospatial analyses to determine academic success factors in California’s K-12 education

Standardized test scores are often used to measure students’ academic success. Although factors that affect student success involve teaching techniques, classroom dynamics, and study skills, there ...
Information, science and democracy, for an ethics of scientific knowledge

The modern theories of information opened to way to extraordinary new tools for communication and knowledge construction. When identified instead with the world (DNA is a complete information carrier and a program for ontogenesis, atomic particles and planets exchange information …), a new form of scientism affects knowledge and trust in science. Vague and implicit assumptions, with no precise references to the sciences of information, force strong consequences, in biology in particular. Similarly, the powerful optimization methods that make intelligible the dynamics of inert matter are expected or used to direct also human activities and replace human government by automatic governance. We are then meant to follow the formal, mechanical rule or the unique optimal path, instead of inventing new forms of sense in human interactions. Yet another fantastic tool, the newly available Big Data, is being considered to substitute scientific invention by correlations among numbers: fortunately, mathematics a priori shows that a deluge of spurious correlations may be found in any very large set of numbers. An ethics of knowledge may then be proposed in order to reconstruct the trust in science, as critical thinking at the heart of democracy.
Liver Fibrosis and Inflammation under the Control of ERK2.

Chronic liver injury could lead the formation of liver fibrosis, eventually some would develop to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the leading malignancies worldwide. The aim of the study is to dissect the role of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) signaling in liver fibrosis and inflammation. The choline-deficient, ethionine-supplemented (CDE) diet could lead to fatty livers and generate oval cells, activate hepatocyte stellate cell (HSC) and recruit immune cells as the liver fibrosis model mice. WT and ERK2 deficient (ERK2−/−) mice were compared in terms of liver weight/body weight, liver function, liver fibrosis markers and the differential gene expression in hepatotoxicity. ERK2−/− mice display the less degree of liver fibrosis when compared to WT mice. The protein level of alpha smooth muscle (α-SMA) was reduced and several hepatocellular carcinoma-related genes such as MMP9, FoxM1 were down-regulated. In addition, the cell proliferation and the percentages of activated T cells were reduced in ERK2−/− mice upon liver injury. Therefore, ERK2 plays an important role in regulating liver cirrhosis and inflammation.
Generation of highly selective monoclonal antibodies inhibiting a recalcitrant protease using decoy designs.

Matrix metalloproteinase-12 (MMP-12), also known as macrophage elastase, is a potent inflammatory mediator and therefore an important pharmacological target. Clinical trial failures of broad-spectrum compound MMP inhibitors suggested that specificity is the key for a successful therapy. To provide the required selectivity, monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based inhibitors are on the rise. However, poor production of active recombinant human MMP-12 catalytic domain (cdMMP-12) presented a technical hurdle for its inhibitory mAb development. We hypothesized that this problem could be solved by designing an expression-optimized cdMMP-12 mutant without structural disruptions at its reaction cleft and surrounding area, and thus isolated active-site inhibitory mAbs could maintain their binding and inhibition functions toward wild-type MMP-12. We combined three advances in the field-PROSS algorithm for cdMMP-12 mutant design, convex paratope antibody library construction, and functional selection for inhibitory mAbs. As a result, isolated Fab inhibitors showed nanomolar affinity and potency toward cdMMP-12 with high selectivity and high proteolytic stability. Particularly, Fab LH11 targeted the reaction cleft of wild-type cdMMP-12 with 75 nM binding KD and 23 nM inhibition IC50 . We expect that our methods can promote the development of mAbs inhibiting important proteases, many of which are recalcitrant to functional production.
E-173 Assessing age related discrepancies of total cerebral blood flow and cerebral venous outflow using 4D flow MRI

Purpose The cerebral arterial inflow, venous outflow, and Cerebrospinal fluid volume and flow are highly regulated in an equilibrium to maintain adequate cerebral perfusion as governed by the Monro-Kellie doctrine. Multiple neurological conditions had been associated with abnormalities in the cerebral venous system including multiple sclerosis and idiopathic intracranial hypertension, among others. We aim to quantitatively study the relationship and discrepancy between total cerebral blood flow (TCBF) and cerebral venous outflow (CVO), as well as the TCBF as a proportion of the cardiac output in adults and how it compares to the pediatric patients, and highlight the discrepancies. Materials and Methods 31 healthy volunteers (24 adults and 7 children) underwent 4D flow MR imaging for arterial evaluation and 2D CINE PC-MRI for venous evaluation in an IRB approved study. 3D volumetric ECG-gated PC-MRI data with 3-directional velocity encoding (4D flow MRI) was acquired for the arterial system. 2D CINE PC MRI was acquired for the venous system at both transverse sinuses. 4D flow MRI data was processed using in-house software tools in Matlab. We calculated the cumulative TCBF in ml/sec as the sum of inflow in the bilateral ICAs and basilar artery. The CVO was calculated as the sum of the flow in the bilateral transverse sinuses. The ratio of CVO to TCBF was calculated. Also, the TCBF as a percentage of cardiac output was calculated. Results A significant positive correlation between TCBF and CVO (r=0.81 and P Conclusions Both TCBF and CVO decrease with age, however unlike TCBF, there is no correlation between the decrease in CVO through the Transverse sinuses and age, which could suggest the early development of alternative venous drainage pathways through the emissary and extracranial veins. This could also explain the differential ratio of CVO to TCBF, which suggests that more than 20% of cerebral venous outflow in adults and more than 35% of outflow in Children are not through the Transverse sinuses in the supine position. Understanding the quantitative differences between TCBF and CVO in healthy volunteers could help identify and manage changes related to venous outflow abnormalities. Disclosures R. Abdalla: None. S. Schnell: None. M. Aristova: None. M. Hurley: None. S. Ansari: None. A. Shaibani: None.
Maximal Concentration of Electromagnetic Waves

We derive general bounds to optical superresolution, i.e., maximum intensity for electromagnetic waves from arbitrary wavefront-shaping devices that break the diffraction “limit.” We use inverse design to discover metasurfaces operating close to our bounds.
Energy-Based Devices for Functional Vaginal Problems: Issues and Answers

Vaginal rejuvenation is a marketing term that encompasses surgical and medical treatments for functional vaginal/vulvar problems including but not limited to genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), sexual dysfunction, vaginal laxity, and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and for esthetic concerns including dissatisfaction with vulvovaginal appearance. Multiple treatment options have become available for indications of functional vaginal problems. Noninvasive management options including the use of more novel treatments such as energy-based devices have gained interest. Previously, studies regarding the efficacy and safety of the energy-based devices for functional vaginal problems were mostly limited to cohort studies without sham treatment, control groups, randomization, or double blinding. As a result of this insufficient data in 2018, the FDA released a statement of warning against the use of energy-based devices in the treatment of functional vaginal problems or vaginal cosmetic procedures ( Https://Www.Fda.Gov/Medical-Devices/Safety-Communications/Fda-Warns-Against-Use-Energy-Based-Devices-Perform-Vaginal-Rejuvenation-or-Vaginal-Cosmetic . 1–4, 2018). This article reviews the most current treatment modalities in the realm of vaginal rejuvenation therapy with an emphasis on the efficacy and safety of the energy-based devices. In the most recent literature, there have been studies with improvements in study design that support the efficacy and the short-term safety of the energy-based devices. More recent studies with improved study design evidence that the use of energy-based devices results in improvements in functional vaginal problems and that serious adverse events appear to be rare. The availability of these devices as treatment options for functional vaginal problems has the potential to impact patient by improving their symptoms and quality of life. Caution still remains however regarding their safety following a longer period of time after their use.