cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Variance for Percentages Based on Unequal Numbers

(1943). Analysis of Variance for Percentages Based on Unequal Numbers. Journal of the American Statistical Association: Vol. 38, No. 223, pp. 287-301.
Mediated Transfer in Verbal Learning

Summary.-An attempt was made to isolate the effect of mediation from that of general transfer, using an experimental technique wherein mediating stimuli were under experimental control and wherein a sensitive comparison of mediated transfer and general transfer was thought to be possible. Statistical analysis suggested neither evidence for the presence of a mediation effect per se nor evidence for a differential effect attributable to the levels of occurrence of the mediating stimuli. It was concluded that other factors such as relatively low meaningfulness of the learning materials might account, in part, for these disconfirming findings. The use of mediation hypocheses as explanatory constructs in the development of contemporary approaches to learning phenomena has been widespread (Goss, 1955, 1961; Mandler, 1954; Mowrer, 1960; Osgood, 1953). For the most part the approaches accept, in one form or another, and often implicitly, the interpretation that mediation effects occur as a function of generalization produced through common associations. Although this explanation has proved acceptable to many Es, its adequacy in terms of more analytic experimental demonstrability has proved to be somewhat questionable. The need for 3. construct such as mediation, however, is not questionable. The concept of mediation, as with many other hypocheses in theory construction, arose out of a pressing need, in this case the need for dealing with responses thac did not yield to an ordinary stimulus-response analysis of their occurrence (cf. Hull, 1930). The hypothesis of an implicit response, serving as a surrogate for cognitive functions that were anathema to the strict behaviorist, seemed to resolve this dilemma. The problem of the process by which such an event occurs, however, was not resolved adequately and it was toward that end thac the present study was directed. The experimental paradigm used in the presenc srudy, as well as in previous studies by the present author (Barclay, 1960, 1961 ), has been the traditional one of paired-associate learning but with a provision within the experimental method for manipulating mediating stimuli such chat mediators are contingent upon S's correct response and are under experimental control with regard to their availability to S. The present study was an attempt to extend the parameters of the srudy of the effects of such contingent mediating stimuli in order to ascertain whether a differential effect could be observed among experimental groups as a function of differential probability of occurrence of mediating stimuli. In 'The research reported here was supported through grant funds (M-5782A) made available by the U.S. Public Health Service.
Power conservation strategies for MEMS-based storage devices

Power dissipation by storage systems in mobile computers accounts for a large percentage of the power consumed by the entire system. Reducing the power used by the storage device is crucial for reducing overall power consumption. A new class of secondary storage devices based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) promises to consume an order of magnitude less power with 10-20 times shorter latency and 10 times greater storage densities. We describe three strategies to reduce power consumption: aggressive spin-down; sequential request merging; sub-sector accesses. We show that aggressive spin-down can save up to 50% of the total energy consumed by the device at the cost of increased response time. Merging of sequential requests can save up to 18% of the servicing energy and reduce response time by about 20%. Transferring less data for small requests such as those for metadata can save 40% of the servicing energy. Finally, we show that by applying all three power management strategies simultaneously the total power consumption of MEMS-based storage devices can be reduced by about 54% with no impact on I/O performance.
Contact lens-related corneal ulcers in compliant patients.

Abstract Purpose To report a case series of contact lens–related corneal ulcers in compliant patients with no apparent predisposing factors. Design Retrospective case series. Methods Charts of 70 patients with contact lens–related corneal ulcers from July 1999 to June 2002 were reviewed. Lens care hygiene and method of disinfection, as well as frequency of lens replacement, were recorded. Only patients who followed recommended guidelines for contact lens wear were included in the study. Results Of the 70 patients, 21 (30%) developed corneal ulcers despite being compliant with the guidelines for contact lens wear. All patients used multipurpose solutions for cleaning, disinfecting, and storing daily wear soft contact lenses. Conclusion Standard lens care hygiene does not seem to be sufficient in preventing the development of corneal ulcers in patients using conventional and frequent replacement daily wear soft contact lenses.
Clock Boosting Router: Increasing the Performance of an Adaptive Router in Network-on-Chip (NoC)

In this paper, a simple and ecient clock boosting mechanism to increase the performance of an adaptive router in Network-on-Chip (NoC) is proposed. One of the most serious disadvantages of a fully adaptive wormhole router is performance degradation due to the routing decision time. The key idea to overcome this shortcoming is the use of di erent clocks in a head it and body its. The simulation results show that the proposed clock boosting mechanism enhances the performance of the original adaptive router by increasing the accepted load and decreasing the average latency in the region of e ective bandwidth. The enhanced throughput of a router results in power saving by reducing the operating frequency of a router for certain communication bandwidth requirements.
Amending the Minnesota Constitution in Context: The Two Proposals in 2012

Minnesota's Constitution is one of the oldest of the State Constitutions, thanks in part to a comprehensive non-substantive revision amendment in 1974. As of November 2012, there have been 215 proposals since 1857 to amend it. Eighty-three of the 215 have addressed the structure of state or local government, including the judiciary. Slightly more have dealt with revenue or spending or the budget consequences of constitutionally dedicated-fund clauses or limits stemming from the constitutional ban on state involvement in "internal improvements." Some proposals have had to be submitted multiple times before the voters ratified them. But, in general, particularly since the middle of the twentieth century, voters have quickly and clearly ratified the legislature's amendment proposals.Yet, in November 2012, voters did not approve the 214th or 215th proposal. Explanations are varied. The simplest explanation is the procedural one: Each of the proposals would have had to garner a super-majority vote at that election for ratification. Another is that each touched upon constitutional areas in which this state's history has been less than stellar, raising concerns as to whether the proposals were repressive instead of preservative of liberty. This paper sketches some history of the drafting of the Minnesota Constitution relevant to the November 2012 election, particularly as that history is relevant to the Amendment Article and the Franchise Article, each of which this paper covers in detail but begins with the texts of the two 2012 amendment proposals: In the 215th amendment proposal to the electorate in the November 2012 general election, the legislature proposed denominating current section 1 of Article VII as section 1(a) and to add a voter ID provision. The 214th proposed amendment to the Minnesota Constitution would have defined marriage as being solely between one man and one woman. It would have gone into the Miscellaneous Article, along with provisions concerning licenses to peddle and hunting and fishing rights. This paper suggests that the history of the Franchise Article's exclusions and the electorate's failures to revise that article in timely fashion may have contributed to the defeat of the 214th proposal.
Amblyomma americanrun: Control in Oklahoma Parks with Air-Blast Sprayer Applications of Acaricides

Free-living nymphs and adults of Amblyomma americanum (L.), infesting camping and picnicking areas in 4 Oklahoma parks, were treated with air-blast sprayer applications of chlorpyrifos and stirofos. Tick populations were then measured for 6–8 weeks posttreatment with a Dry Ice® sampling method. Chlorpyrifos and stirofos both provided mean controls of 88% when applied at rates of 0.28 and 1.1 kg AI/ha, respectively; stirofos provided only 50% mean control when applied at a rate of 0.55 kg AI/ha. The air-blast sprayer gave adequate coverage at a treatment volume of only 47.3 liter/ha. These applications were integrated with routine vegetative management to reduce and maintain tick densities below an arbitrary one tick/sample tolerance threshold.
The passage of the coal train: the inevitable mosaic in technical systems in global and local organisation

The search for greener pastures during the colonial era led many African youth to leave their homes to seek employment in Southern Africa's goldmines, and commercial farms. Colour-bar prevented them of opportunities to becoming specialist. The immigrant experiences echo sentiments of inequality. They built some of the largest world economies and their efforts remained unrecognised. The rise of the civil rights movement in the sixties coincided with a concerted effort to do away with political oppression in all spheres of social life during the same period in Africa. The construction of useful global organisation demands an understanding of the historical past and the scarcity of talent and competency necessary in triumphant businesses.
Analysis on the Electric Energy Metering and Wiring of Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation Projects

With the rapid development of distributed photovoltaic power generation,how to correctly measure the electrical energy generated,injected into the grid and absorbed from the grid of a distributed photovoltaic power generation project,and bring price incentive mechanisms into full play has become an urgent problem to be solved. Based on the existing relevant policies,this paper summarized the requirements on the electrical energy measurements,put forward the measurement scheme and by analyzing the possible wrong measurement wiring in theory,proposed several countermeasures.
Evaluation of the indirect fluorescent antibody test for detecting Trypanosoma vivax in South American cattle.

The indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) as used in Africa for detecting bovine trypanosomiasis was adapted for use in South America and evaluated. Antigen consisted of Trypanosoma vivax laden bovine blood fixed in a 60 : 40 : : acetone : methanol solution. The test detected initial titres of 1 : 50 and 1 : 100 at an average of 13.1 and 15.9 days post parasitaemia (PP). Maximum titres as high as 1 : 400 developed in eight calves at an average of 23.4 days PP. In another calf, 109 days PP were required. Efficacy in detecting sero-positive calves throughout the course of infection was 81.1 and 96.4 per cent at serum dilutions of 1 : 100 and 1 : 50 respectively. No false positive reactions occurred when sera from 36 haemoparasite-free calves were tested. Cross reactivity did not occur when sera from calves singularly infected with Trypanosoma theileri, T evansi, Anaplasma marginale, Babesia argentina, B bigemina and Eperythrozoon spp were similarly tested in the IFAT. No significant differences were found in IFAT results of surveys in which both conventional serum samples and sera eluted from dried blood samples on filter paper from the same calf were used.
Genome wide predictions of miRNA regulation by transcription factors

Motivation Reconstructing regulatory networks from expression and interaction data is a major goal of systems biology. While much work has focused on trying to experimentally and computationally determine the set of transcription-factors (TFs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate genes in these networks, relatively little work has focused on inferring the regulation of miRNAs by TFs. Such regulation can play an important role in several biological processes including development and disease. The main challenge for predicting such interactions is the very small positive training set currently available. Another challenge is the fact that a large fraction of miRNAs are encoded within genes making it hard to determine the specific way in which they are regulated. Results To enable genome wide predictions of TF-miRNA interactions, we extended semi-supervised machine-learning approaches to integrate a large set of different types of data including sequence, expression, ChIP-seq and epigenetic data. As we show, the methods we develop achieve good performance on both a labeled test set, and when analyzing general co-expression networks. We next analyze mRNA and miRNA cancer expression data, demonstrating the advantage of using the predicted set of interactions for identifying more coherent and relevant modules, genes, and miRNAs. The complete set of predictions is available on the supporting website and can be used by any method that combines miRNAs, genes, and TFs. Availability and implementation Code and full set of predictions are available from the supporting website: http://cs.cmu.edu/~mruffalo/tf-mirna/ Contact zivbj@cs.cmu.edu Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Newman, Katherine S., Cybelle Fox, David Harding, Jal Mehta, and Wendy Roth., RAMPAGE: THE SOCIAL ROOTS OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS

Newman, Katherine S., Cybelle Fox, David Harding, Jal Mehta, and Wendy Roth., RAMPAGE: THE SOCIAL ROOTS OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS. New York: Basic Books, 2004, $27.50 hardcover.Rampage highlights two low-crime, family-centered U.S. communities that spawned and survived rampage school shootings. The 1997 incident at Heath High School on the outskirts of West Paducah, Kentucky, was perpetrated by a lone fourteen-year-old gunman named Michael Carneal. He killed three classmates and injured five others. The second incident occurred the following year at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro, Arkansas, where Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, killed five and injured another ten unsuspecting victims, including a teacher. This study, conducted by Katherine Newman and four of her Harvard doctoral candidates, commenced as part of the National Academy of Sciences study of lethal school violence mandated by Congress as part of the 1999 Missing, Runway, and Exploited Children's Act. One provision of that Act required that the U.S. Department of Education study rampage shootings in schools. Newman was invited to contribute to a comparative study of six communities around the country that had experienced rampage school shootings; her charge was to analyze Heath and Westside in the context of those bloody massacres.First the authors detail in case study fashion the two rampage shootings, including accounts of the massacres, biographies of the shooters, and descriptions of the social structures of the schools and the communities. The study data are derived mostly from interviews with 163 people in Heath and Westside along with neighboring communities, including those from families of the victims; students who were in the schools at the time of the shootings as well as current students who were not; teachers; administrators; lawyers; officials of the court; psychologists; newspaper and television reporters; and friends, family members, and fellow congregation members of the shooters. National and local news coverage was also used as a source of information.Next, Newman and her students conducted an exhaustive review of national and local news coverage of all other rampage school shootings that had occurred over the previous thirty years. With that information they were able to place the Health and Westside cases in comparative context, and they were equipped to test a theoretical model of contributing factors to rampage school shootings.Chapter 10, "Testing the Theory," emphasizes the importance of sociological as well as psychological factors in explaining the tragedies of rampage school shootings. The Newman study focuses on two organizational structures as major contributors to the shootings: (1) the organizational structure of schools, which leads teachers and administrators to overlook the scattered evidence of the building rage characteristic of those who become shooters, and (2) the organizational structures of small towns, which stifles the flow of information about marginal and troubled youth. …
Physical Activity Levels in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder When Playing Active and Sedentary Xbox Kinect Videogames

Abstract Objective: We compare physical activity during bouts of sedentary videogaming (SVG), active videogaming (AVG), and paced walking in children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to determine the effectiveness of AVG in providing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Materials and Method: Participants included nine males (8–11 years old) with ASD and eight age-matched males who were typically developing. Both groups had anthropometric and motor proficiency (Movement Assessment Battery for Children II) measures taken before testing. Participants attended three randomly assigned acquisition sessions: 20 minutes of paced walking at 4.5 metabolic equivalents, AVG, and SVG. Videogaming occurred on an Xbox® Kinect. An Actical accelerometer provided activity counts (AC) and percentage of time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (%MVPA). These were compared using 3 × 2 repeated measures analysis of variance for each measure. Results: Main effects for conditions existed for %MVPA (P < 0....
Optimal dwell times for persistent monitoring of a finite set of targets

This paper considers the design of a periodic schedule for one or more agents moving around a finite number of targets, repeatedly visiting them to collect information and reduce uncertainty about the target. This data collection takes time and thus the design involves both the sequence of targets to be visited by each of the agents and the amount of time each agent should spend at each target. For a given visiting sequence, the problem is translated into a discrete-time dynamic system with the targets' sampled uncertainty level as the state vector and the dwell time at each target as the input vector. In the one-agent case we show that under a mild assumption and with a constant input this discrete-time system converges to an asymptotically stable steady state and that the underlying continuous dynamics converge to a periodic cycle with a fixed period. We show further that the sampled uncertainty, the peak uncertainty, and the period are all minimized under the policy that the agent switches to the next target in its sequence as soon as the uncertainty of the current target is reduced to zero. Finally, we show that if the average uncertainty over the steady state period is taken as a measure of performance, then the same policy is optimal under the additional assumption that the targets are homogeneous.
The Moral Status of Anencephalic Homo sapiens

Is an anencephalic member of the species Homo sapiens a person? The question is more complex than many Catholic discussions on this matter have considered. Catholic doctrine speaks of persons as substances of a rational nature, and though it seems clear that anencephalic fetuses and infants are clearly human organisms, the connection between personhood and the species Homo sapiens is not always clear. Recent bioethical claims from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continue to indicate agnosticism about the personhood of one kind of Homo sapiens organism: the human embryo. Some speak of a “moment” at which living matter from the species Homo sapiens becomes a person, but even if one imagines this to be fertilization, it is much better-described as a “process.” In fact, if something goes wrong in the process of fertilization, a teratoma may form instead of an embryo. This chapter will consider the argument that the failure of the neural tube to close is analogous to the formation of a teratoma during fertilization. Perhaps anencephalic Homo sapiens, like a teratoma, is the result of a failure of the process by which a substance of a rational nature is formed. In responding to this argument, the chapter argue that this it (1) fails to realize that the biological organism serves as the metaphysical indicator of “personhood” and (2) reduces the “rational nature” of the organism to the human brain when such this nature is constituted by the organism herself, holistically considered.
B. subtilis as a Model for Studying the Assembly of Fe–S Clusters in Gram-Positive Bacteria

Abstract Complexes of iron and sulfur (Fe–S clusters) are widely distributed in nature and participate in essential biochemical reactions. The biological formation of Fe–S clusters involves dedicated pathways responsible for the mobilization of sulfur, the assembly of Fe–S clusters, and the transfer of these clusters to target proteins. Genomic analysis of Bacillus subtilis and other Gram-positive bacteria indicated the presence of only one Fe–S cluster biosynthesis pathway, which is distinct in number of components and organization from previously studied systems. B. subtilis has been used as a model system for the characterization of cysteine desulfurases responsible for sulfur mobilization reactions in the biogenesis of Fe–S clusters and other sulfur-containing cofactors. Cysteine desulfurases catalyze the cleavage of the C–S bond from the amino acid cysteine and subsequent transfer of sulfur to acceptor molecules. These reactions can be monitored by the rate of alanine formation, the first product in the reaction, and sulfide formation, a byproduct of reactions performed under reducing conditions. The assembly of Fe–S clusters on protein scaffolds and the transfer of these clusters to target acceptors are determined through a combination of spectroscopic methods probing the rate of cluster assembly and transfer. This chapter provides a description of reactions promoting the assembly of Fe–S clusters in bacteria as well as methods used to study functions of each biosynthetic component and identify mechanistic differences employed by these enzymes across different pathways.
Love on the balcony

An angry crotchety old man does what he can to ruin his oppressively lovey dovey neighbors in order to enjoy his peaceful and quiet days. When he finally succeeded in ruining the couple's relationship, he started to regret his actions and thus decided to make up for his mistakes. Will he get the couple back together again?
Compiling the GCWA in indefinite deductive databases

This paper presents several fundamental results on compiling the GCWA (Generalized Closed World Assumption) in IDDB (Indefinite Deductive Databases). We do not allow function symbols, but we do allow non-Horn clauses. Further, although the GCWA is used to derive negative assumptions, we do allow also negative clauses to occur explicitly. We show a fundamental relationship between indefiniteness and GCWA inference. We consider three representation alternatives to separate the CDB (Clausal DB) from the RDB (Relational DB). We present the basic ideas and some effective ways for compiling GCWA inference on the CDB and evaluating it through the RDB in a non-recursive IDDB. We also present a basic idea on compiling the GCWA in a recursive IDDB by a pattern generation method. Finally, we introduce decomposition and evaluation theorems to evaluate disjunctive and conjunctive ground queries.
Quantitative Evaluation of Drug or Device Effects on Ventricular Remodeling as Predictors of Therapeutic Effects on Mortality in Patients With Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction: A Meta-Analytic Approach

Objectives The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess the relationship between therapy-induced changes in left ventricular (LV) remodeling and longer-term outcomes in patients with left ventricular dysfunction (LVD). Background Whether therapy-induced changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), end-diastolic volume (EDV), and end-systolic volume (ESV) are predictors of mortality in patients with LVD is not established. Methods Searches for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted to identify drug or device therapies for which an effect on mortality in patients with LVD was studied in at least 1 RCT of ≥500 patients (mortality trials). Then, all RCTs involving those therapies were identified in patients with LVD that described changes in LVEF and/or volumes over time (remodeling trials). We examined whether the magnitude of remodeling effects is associated with the odds ratios for death across all therapies or associated with whether the odds ratio for mortality was favorable, neutral, or adverse (i.e., statistically significantly decreased, nonsignificant, or statistically significantly increased odds for mortality, respectively). Results Included were 30 mortality trials of 25 drug/device therapies (n = 69,766 patients; median follow-up 17 months) and 88 remodeling trials of the same therapies (n = 19,921 patients; median follow-up 6 months). The odds ratio for death in the mortality trials was correlated with drug/device effects on LVEF (r = −0.51, p < 0.001), EDV (r = 0.44, p = 0.002), and ESV (r = 0.48, p = 0.002). In (ordinal) logistic regressions, the odds for neutral or favorable effects in the mortality RCTs increased with mean increases in LVEF and with mean decreases in EDV and ESV in the remodeling trials. Conclusions In patients with LVD, short-term trial-level therapeutic effects of a drug or device on LV remodeling are associated with longer-term trial-level effects on mortality.
Shyness and Temperament

One of the profound principles of the sciences that study life processes is that the inherent properties of the unit under study, whether it be cell, organ, or individual, make a contribution to its development through successive encounters with varied surroundings. History tells us that whenever an investigator overemphasizes the influence of the surroundings to the exclusion of the unit, or the unit to the exclusion of the environment, a correction will occur. In the decades immediately following publication of On the Origin of Species,many biologists translated Darwin’s work to mean that the individual organism’s contribution was minimal and natural selection was the important determinant of evolution. This supposition made evolutionary theory vulnerable to a wave of Lamarckianism that reached a crest at the turn of the century. When this perspective was defeated by discoveries in the new field of genetics, the modern synthesis that acknowledged the complementary role of both genes and environment became possible (Bowler, 1983).
Home learning in the new mobile age: parent–child interactions during joint play with educational apps in the US

ABSTRACTThis study described, using observational data, parent–child interactions during joint play with educational apps in 36 families with preschool-aged children in the United States. The study...
A Crisis of Conscience

M y difficulties with psychiatry and law led me to some tough questions. The idea of social control was particularly vexing. I dismissed it for a while because the idea seemed silly at its extreme. Mental illness was socially defined, and too flexible in some ways, although negating the concept was counterintuitive. But that was before I examined myself on a deeper level, along with whom I worked for, and what I represented. The legal system wants yes or no answers to vague questions. Being asked to distill a simple answer from a murky truth leads to enormous variability in interpretation. Some of the differences are theoretical—some psychiatrists have strong opinions that their colleagues don’t share. It is difficult to make it clear that yours is a minority opinion if you think that you are right.
K-12 school employee sexual abuse and misconduct: an examination of policy effectiveness

Despite federal and state laws and policies aimed at preventing sexual misconduct by school employees, one in ten American students will experience sexual abuse or misconduct at the hands of a K-12 school employee. To explore why such sexual misconduct continues to occur, this study examined the effectiveness of education policies by investigating whether and how school employees understand these policies, how they are implemented, and how loopholes may undermine their intent. This qualitative case study was conducted in three Virginia school districts and included 46 semi-structured interviews with school district employees and county, state, and federal government employees associated with cases of school employee sexual misconduct, and extensive document analysis of school policies and procedures, laws, and court records. Analyses revealed an absence of policy implementation, demonstrated most seriously by a lack of awareness and understanding of policies among school employees, underreporting, and ineffective data collection. The study also identified a number of loopholes in the implementation of policies, resulting from a mismanaged intergovernmental system. The analysis suggests that understanding and implementation of policies meant to prevent sexual misconduct by school employees are fragmented; this fragmentation may be contributing to the continued prevalence of sexual misconduct by school employees.
TERT promoter mutations in thyroid cancer: growing evidence for a predictor of poor outcome

In the paper “ TERT promoter mutations identify a high-risk group in metastasis-free advanced thyroid carcinoma” published recently this year in The European Journal of Cancer , authors Bournaud et al . present a novel and interesting study investigating the relationship between telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations and clinical outcomes in intermediate and high-risk differentiated and poorly-differentiated thyroid cancers (1).
Riders on the Storm: NASA InSight Lander and the 2018 Mars Global Dust Storm

On May 5, 2018, NASA's InSight spacecraft, carrying an international scientific payload with which to explore the interior of Mars, launched from Vandenburg AFB, California, and began its six-and-a-half-month voyage to Mars. Four weeks later, on June 3, 2018, a powerful regional Martian dust storm surged through Meridiani Planum and within days had left the 14-year-old Opportunity rover in darkness and generating insufficient solar power to operate. On June 10, Opportunity sent signals including information that the optical depth (“tau”) of the thick dust blanketing the atmosphere was an all-time high ever measured from the Martian surface, at a value of 10.8. Then Opportunity soon afterwards experienced a power fault and ceased communicating with her ground controllers. By June 20, the storm had spread across the entire planet Mars, darkening the skies at Gale Crater where the Curiosity Rover had been ascending the foothills of Mount Sharp, on the opposite side of Mars from Opportunity. Record-setting, high atmospheric dust levels continued to be measured and reported by the Curiosity team, as the storm became global. Among those keeping daily tabs on the enormous storm that swiftly enshrouded the Red Planet were the InSight flight team of engineers and scientists, whose recently-launched spacecraft was functioning quite well in flight and now five and a half months away from an unchangeable landing date at Mars - November 26, 2018. As our spacecraft hurtled through interplanetary space towards its destination, the InSight team took stock of the situation. Would this enormous dust storm still be raging when InSight arrived? What, if anything, had this storm changed in the assumptions made by InSight's design and test engineers about Martian atmospheric conditions for descending to the surface, or generating power there? Would InSight survive and carry out her mission?
Traumatic bile duct neuroma presenting with acute cholangitis: A case report and review of literature

Traumatic neuroma of the biliary tree has been previously reported as isolated case reports. In literature, these typically present following prior liver transplant or cholecystectomy, wherein the bile ducts have been disrupted in some form. Here we report the case of a 41-year old male who initially presented with acute cholangitis ten years after an open cholecystectomy complicated by a bile leak. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography revealed a stricture within the mid distal common hepatic duct. The patient temporarily resolved his initial episode with stent placement, and he was eventually taken to the operating room for bile duct resection and hepaticojejunostomy given a persistent stricture and concern for underlying malignancy. Final pathology demonstrated a traumatic bile duct neuroma. This unusual entity should be considered in patients with benign appearing strictures presenting years after surgery, and awareness may aid in preoperative counseling as well.
Duration of preoperative clear fluid fasting and peripheral intravenous catheterization in children: A single‐center observational cohort study of 9693 patients

BACKGROUND Children routinely undergo inhalational induction of general anesthesia. Intravenous line placement typically occurs after induction of anesthesia and can be challenging, particularly in infants and young children. AIMS We conducted a retrospective observational study to determine whether there was an association between clear liquid fasting time and the number of peripheral intravenous catheter insertion attempts in anesthetized children. The secondary aim was to identify factors associated with multiple attempts to insert intravenous lines. METHODS After institutional research board approval, we retrieved a data set of all children between 0 months and 18 years who received general anesthesia at our hospital between January 1, 2016, and September 30, 2017. Data included age, gender, weight, race, ASA status, gestational age, number of peripheral intravenous catheter insertion attempts, any assistive device for insertion, and insertion site. Inclusion criteria were mask induction, ASA status 1 or 2, nonemergency, ambulatory surgical procedures, and placement of a single intravenous line during the anesthetic. RESULTS A total of 9693 patients were included in the study. Of which 8869 patients required one insertion attempt and 824 underwent multiple insertion attempts. 50% of patients in the single insertion attempt group had clear liquid fasting time <6.9 hours compared to 51.8% of patients requiring multiple attempts. Logistic regression model adjusted for age, ASA status, gender, and BMI did not find an association between duration of clear liquid fasting time and rate of multiple insertion attempts for intravenous catheters (OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98-1.01, P = .47). CONCLUSION Clear liquid fasting time was not associated with multiple insertion attempts for intravenous line insertion in children receiving general anesthesia. Factors such as patient age, ethnicity, time of day of induction of anesthesia, and American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status classification show a greater association with the risk of multiple intravenous line insertion attempts.
The Effect of Improved Access to Family Planning on Postpartum Women: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: The World Health Organization recommends that a woman waits at least 24 months after a live birth before getting pregnant again; however, an estimated 25% of birth intervals in low-income countries do not meet this recommendation for adequate birth spacing, and the unmet need for postpartum family planning (PPFP) services is high. Few randomized controlled trials have assessed the causal impact of access to PPFP services, and even fewer evaluations have investigated how such interventions may affect postpartum contraceptive use, birth spacing, and measures of health and well-being. Objective: This protocol paper aims to describe a randomized controlled trial that is being conducted to identify the causal impact of an intervention to improve access to PPFP services on contraceptive use, pregnancy, and birth spacing in urban Malawi. The causal effect of the intervention will be determined by comparing outcomes for respondents who are randomly assigned to an intervention arm against outcomes for respondents who are randomly assigned to a control arm. Methods: Married women aged 18-35 years who were either pregnant or had recently given birth were randomly assigned to either the intervention arm or control arm. Women assigned to the intervention arm received a package of services over a 2-year intervention period. Services included a brochure and up to 6 home visits from trained family planning counselors; free transportation to a high-quality family planning clinic; and financial reimbursement for family planning services, consultations, and referrals for services. Two follow-up surveys were conducted 1 and 2 years after the baseline survey. Results: A total of 2143 women were randomly assigned to either the intervention arm (n=1026) or the control arm (n=1117). Data collection for the first follow-up survey began in August 2017 and was completed in February 2018. A total of 1773 women, or 82.73% of women who were eligible for follow-up, were successfully contacted and reinterviewed at the first follow-up. Data collection for the second follow-up survey began in August 2018 and was completed in February 2019. A total of 1669 women, or 77.88% of women who were eligible for follow-up, were successfully contacted and reinterviewed at the second follow-up. The analysis of the primary outcomes is ongoing and is expected to be completed in 2021. Conclusions: The results of this trial seek to fill the current knowledge gaps in the effectiveness of family planning interventions on improving fertility and health outcomes. The findings also show that the benefits of improving access to family planning are likely to extend beyond the fertility and health domain by improving other measures of women’s well-being. Trial Registration: American Economics Association Registry Trial Number AEARCTR-0000697; https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/697 Registry for International Development Impact Evaluations (RIDIE) Trial Number RIDIE-STUDY-ID-556784ed86956; https://ridie.3ieimpact.org/index.php?r=search/detailView&id=320
The Structure of Hydrated Electron. Part 1. Magnetic Resonance of Internally Trapping Water Anions: A Density Functional Theory Study

Density functional theory (DFT) is used to rationalize magnetic parameters of hydrated electron trapped in alkaline glasses as observed using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and Electron Spin Echo Envelope Modulation (ESEEM) spectroscopies. To this end, model water cluster anions (n=4-8 and n=20,24) that localize the electron internally are examined. It is shown that EPR parameters of such water anions (such as hyperfine coupling tensors of H/D nuclei in the water molecules) are defined mainly by the cavity size and the coordination number of the electron; the water molecules in the second solvation shell play a relatively minor role. An idealized model of hydrated electron (that is usually attributed to L. Kevan) in which six hydroxyl groups arranged in an octahedral pattern point towards the common center is shown to provide the closest match to the experimental parameters, such as isotropic and anisotropic hyperfine coupling constants for the protons (estimated from ESEEM), the second moment of the EPR spectra, and the radius of gyration. The salient feature of these DFT models is the significant transfer (10-20%) of spin density into the frontal O 2p orbitals of water molecules. Spin bond polarization involving these oxygen orbitals accounts for small, negative hyperfine coupling constants for protons in hydroxyl groups that form the electron-trapping cavity. In Part 2, these results are generalized for more realistic geometries of core anions obtained using a dynamic one-electron mixed qunatum/classical molecular dynamics model.
Semi-parametric survival analysis via Dirichlet process mixtures of the First Hitting Time model.

Time-to-event data often violate the proportional hazards assumption inherent in the popular Cox regression model. Such violations are especially common in the sphere of biological and medical data where latent heterogeneity due to unmeasured covariates or time varying effects are common. A variety of parametric survival models have been proposed in the literature which make more appropriate assumptions on the hazard function, at least for certain applications. One such model is derived from the First Hitting Time (FHT) paradigm which assumes that a subject’s event time is determined by a latent stochastic process reaching a threshold value. Several random effects specifications of the FHT model have also been proposed which allow for better modeling of data with unmeasured covariates. While often appropriate, these methods often display limited flexibility due to their inability to model a wide range of heterogeneities. To address this issue, we propose a Bayesian model which loosens assumptions on the mixing distribution inherent in the random effects FHT models currently in use. We demonstrate via simulation study that the proposed model greatly improves both survival and parameter estimation in the presence of latent heterogeneity. We also apply the proposed methodology to data from a toxicology/carcinogenicity study which exhibits nonproportional hazards and contrast the results with both the Cox model and two popular FHT models.
Collaborating on scholarship: Best practices for team research projects

Collaborating on scholarship has the potential to provide many advantages, including benefiting from others’ expertise, reinforcing accountability, and providing motivation. However, working with o...
Benchmark Study of Melted Track Geometries in Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Inconel 625

In the Air Force Research Laboratory Additive Manufacturing Challenge Series, melted track geometries for a laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process of Inconel 625 were used to challenge and validate computational models predicting melting and solidification behavior. The impact of process parameters upon single-track single-layer, multi-track single-layer, and single-track multi-layer L-PBF processes was studied. To accomplish this, a physics-based thermal-fluid model was developed and calibrated using a proper generalized decomposition surrogate model, then compared against the experimental measurements. The thermal-fluid model was enhanced through the usage of an adaptive mesh and residual heat factor (RHF) model, based on the scanning strategy, for improved efficiency and accuracy. It is found that this calibration approach is not only robust and efficient, but it also enables the thermal-fluid model to make predictions which quantitatively agree well with the experimental measurements. The adaptive mesh provides over a 10-times speedup as compared to a uniform mesh. The RHF model improves predictive accuracy by over 60%, particularly near starting and ending points of the melted tracks, which are greatly affected by the thermal behavior of adjacent tracks. Moreover, the thermal-fluid model is shown to potentially predict lack-of-fusion defects and provide insights into the defect generation process in L-PBF.
Applications of Positive Organizational Scholarship in Institutions of Higher Education

Positive organizational scholarship (POS) is the study of that which is positive, flourishing, and life-giving in organizations. It considers the processes and dynamics that occur in and through organizations, in contrast to a focus on individual attitudes and emotions. Positive organizational scholarship has rarely been investigated in institutions of higher education, and this chapter provides two case studies that illustrate its relevance in that setting. The chapter first provides a discussion of the unique characteristics of POS compared to, for example, positive psychology and other approaches to the positive, and it highlights the importance of positive organizational dynamics in accounting for high levels of performance in organizations. The chapter describes how these dynamics have been successfully applied within two institutions of higher education to benefit not only traditional markers of success such as student achievement and wellbeing, but also the collective performance of the overall institution. The specific practices that led to extraordinarily successful outcomes are discussed, and they provide evidence that, in addition to the effects of positive psychology on individuals—especially students—the outcomes of entire institutions can be substantially affected in positive directions by adopting positive practices.
Quadruple Hydrogen Bond-Containing A-AB-A Triblock Copolymers: Probing the Influence of Hydrogen Bonding in the Central Block

This work reveals the influence of pendant hydrogen bonding strength and distribution on self-assembly and the resulting thermomechanical properties of A-AB-A triblock copolymers. Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization afforded a library of A-AB-A acrylic triblock copolymers, wherein the A unit contained cytosine acrylate (CyA) or post-functionalized ureido cytosine acrylate (UCyA) and the B unit consisted of n-butyl acrylate (nBA). Differential scanning calorimetry revealed two glass transition temperatures, suggesting microphase-separation in the A-AB-A triblock copolymers. Thermomechanical and morphological analysis revealed the effects of hydrogen bonding distribution and strength on the self-assembly and microphase-separated morphology. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed multiple tan delta (δ) transitions that correlated to chain relaxation and hydrogen bonding dissociation, further confirming the microphase-separated structure. In addition, UCyA triblock copolymers possessed an extended modulus plateau versus temperature compared to the CyA analogs due to the stronger association of quadruple hydrogen bonding. CyA triblock copolymers exhibited a cylindrical microphase-separated morphology according to small-angle X-ray scattering. In contrast, UCyA triblock copolymers lacked long-range ordering due to hydrogen bonding induced phase mixing. The incorporation of UCyA into the soft central block resulted in improved tensile strength, extensibility, and toughness compared to the AB random copolymer and A-B-A triblock copolymer comparisons. This study provides insight into the structure-property relationships of A-AB-A supramolecular triblock copolymers that result from tunable association strengths.
Edward Said and the Religious Effects of Culture

1. Cultural criticism as the transfiguration of religious thought 2. The religious effects of culture: nationalism 3. The religious effects of culture: orientalism 4. The religious effects of culture: imperialism 5. The responsibilities of the secular critic 6. Marx, Said and the Jewish question Conclusion Appendix A Appendix B Bibliography.