cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Theory of Shot Noise in Junction Diodes and Junction Transistors

A theory of shot noise in junction diodes and transistors is presented, based upon a transmission line analogy. The noise is caused by the randomness in the diffusion of the minority carriers and the randomness in the recombination of minority and majority carriers. In transmission line analogy, first process corresponds to distributed noise emf's in series with transmission line, and second process corresponds to distributed noise current generators in parallel to transmission line. After magnitude of these equivalent distributed noise sources has been determined, noise problem is solved by standard methods. It is found that theoretical results for a junction diode agree with experimental work published earlier. An equivalent circuit describing the noise in transistors is presented. It contains two partially correlated noise current generators ip1 and ip2, ip1, connected across the emitter junction and ip2 connected across the collector junction. (ipi2)av, (ip22)av and (ip1*ip2)av are calculated. At low frequencies emitter and collector current show full shot effect and ip1 and ip2 are almost completely correlated; at higher frequencies the correlation becomes less complete. The noise can also be described by an emf e8 in series with the emitter and a current generator ip in parallel to the collector junction. (e82)av, (ip2)av and (e8*ip)av are calculated. At low frequencies e8 and ip are uncorrelated, but some correlation is expected at higher frequencies. Low-frequency results resemble earlier equivalent circuits of Montgomery, Clark, and van der Ziel, and of Giacoletto.
THE RÔLE OF CERTAIN METALLIC IONS AS OXIDATION CATALYSTS

1. When iron and copper are allowed to act on hydrogen peroxide and pyrogallol, enough carbon dioxide is produced to be readily measured. 2. The curve of the production of carbon dioxide may be fitted by an empirical equation, by the use of which the initial rate and the total amount of the oxidation may be determined. 3. The effect of the concentration of the reagents is different in each case, the effect varying as a fractional power of the copper and pyrogallol concentrations and as a logarithmic function of the hydrogen peroxide concentration. 4. When gold or silver is used the rate changes suddenly during the course of the reaction due to the precipitation of colloidal metal. 5. Mercury, cadmium, zinc, tin, and some other metals have no effect. 6. A theoretical set of equations is assumed to account for the action of the metals. 7. The metals are assumed to act by means of the formation of intermediate peroxides. 8. Experiments on the action of gold indicate that the metals are active in the ionic and not in the colloidal state.
The Co-Occurrence of Substance Use and Bullying Behaviors among U.S. Adolescents: Understanding Demographic Characteristics and Social Influences.

This study examined the co-occurrence of subtypes of substance use and bullying behaviors using latent class analysis and evaluated latent class differences in demographic characteristics, peer and parental influences. Self-reported questionnaire data were collected from a nationally representative sample (N = 7508) of 6–10th grade adolescents in the United States. Four latent classes were identified: the non-involved (57.7%), substance users (19.4%), bullies (17.5%), and substance-using bullies (5.4%). Older and Hispanic adolescents were more likely to be substance users and substance-using bullies, whereas younger and African American adolescents were more likely to be bullies. Females were more likely to be substance users, whereas males were more likely to be bullies and substance-using bullies. Spending more evenings with peers posed greater risks for substance use, bullying, and the co-occurrence of both problem behaviors. Paternal knowledge exerted protective effects over-and-above the effects of maternal knowledge. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.
TITRATION OF ANTIBODIES TO LUTEINIZING HORMONE BY MEANS OF OVARIAN ASCORBIC ACID DEPLETION TEST.

Rabbit antisera to purified preparations of sheep luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone were prepared and tested immunologically for specific and cross-reacting antibodies. Utilizing the ovarian ascorbic acid depletion response to LH in the immature, pseudopregnant rat, the capacity of these antisera to biologically inactivate purified LH was determined. It was shown by incubation studies in vitro that a titration of the level of antibodies against LH could be achieved with a small amount of antiserum. In addition, it was found that the antiserum to LH, when given as a single intraperitoneal injection prior to the injection of LH by tail vein, would effectively block the ovarian ascorbic acid depleting activity of purified LH. (Endocrinology 74: 290, 1964)
Strain Silicon Optimization for Memory and Logic in Nano-Scale CMOS

Straining of silicon improves mobility of carriers resulting in speed enhancement for transistors in CMOS technology. Traditionally, silicon straining is applied in a similar ad-hoc manner to the whole die including logic and memory. Speed enhancement achieved for both NMOS and PMOS devices is desirable in logic circuits for performance enhancement because both PMOS and NMOS devices lie in critical delay paths. In SRAM cells however PMOS devices are not in the delay path and hence made small to minimize cell area and improve the write stability of the cell. Hence, speed enhancement of PMOS does not result in any reduction in cell access time and in fact it degrades the cell write ability. Hence, optimal method and amount of silicon straining for logic and memory should be different. In this paper, we propose an optimal straining solution for both logic and memory. Based on simulation results in a predictive 45nm process technology, the proposed straining solution enhances circuit performance by 15.6% in SRAM and 39.3% in Logic while satisfying stability requirements. We also propose a co-design optimization methodology that allows optimizing circuit parameters (such as transistor sizing and supply voltage) and process parameters (in this case amount of silicon straining) at the same time for both low power and high performance targets. We found that co-design of supply voltage and silicon straining is very helpful for both low power and high performance targets, whereas co-design of sizing and silicon straining dose not provide any considerable improvements. Our results show that by co-design of supply voltage and silicon straining, power reduction of 38% and 49% is achieved in SRAM and logic, respectively. We also expanded our co-design approach for joint optimization of various circuit and device parameters such as supply voltage, straining, and threshold voltage. The results show that the co-design can reduce leakage by 80% and improve performance by 50%. The developed optimization methodology thus provides a device and circuit co-design framework which is essential as the technology continues to scale to nano-scale regimes
Thermal-aware phase-based tuning of embedded systems

Due to embedded systems' stringent design constraints, much prior work focused on optimizing energy consumption and/or performance. However, since embedded systems have fewer cooling options, rising temperature, and thus temperature optimization, is an emergent concern. We present thermal-aware phase-based tuning--TaPT--that determines Pareto optimal configurations for fine-grained execution time, energy, and temperature tradeoffs. Results show that TaPT reduces execution time, energy, and temperature by as much as 5%, 30%, and 25%, respectively, while adhering to designer-specified design constraints.
A quasi-two dimensional model for fully depleted single gate SOI MOSFETS including temperature effects

A quasi-two dimensional model for single gate silicon on insulator (SOI) Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) is presented. Major small geometry effects such as carrier velocity saturation, mobility degradation due to normal field, channel length modulation, and drain induced barrier lowering are included. The effects of parasitic bipolar transistor, impact ionization, and device self heating due to low thermal conductivity of buried oxide layer is also included. The device carrier mobility and threshold voltage are modeled as function of temperature. The effects of source, drain, and channel resistances are considered. Modeled results are then compared to measured data and are shown to be in good agreement over a wide range of operating voltages.
The Lyn tyrosine kinase negatively regulates neutrophil integrin signaling.

The Src family kinase Lyn has been shown to play both stimulatory and inhibitory roles within several hemopoietic cell types. In this study, we investigated the role played by Lyn in neutrophil integrin signaling. Loss of Lyn resulted in a hyperresponsive phenotype on engagement of surface integrins at low valency. Lyn −/− neutrophils displayed enhanced respiratory burst, secondary granule release, and a hyperadhesive phenotype when adherent to surfaces coated with either cellular counterreceptors or extracellular matrix proteins. In contrast, Lyn-deficient and wild-type cells expressed similar levels of surface integrins and responded equivalently to activating agents in suspension, indicating that the enhanced responses of lyn −/− cells was specific to the integrin signaling pathways. Lyn -deficient macrophages also displayed a hyperadhesive phenotype. Biochemical analysis of macrophages from lyn −/− mice revealed that Lyn plays an essential role in the adhesion-dependent phosphorylation of the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif of the inhibitory receptors SIRP1α and PIR-B, which in turn recruit the phosphatase SHP-1. These observations suggest that reduced mobilization of SHP-1 to the membrane in lyn −/− neutrophils results in a hyperadhesive and hyperactive phenotype. This hypothesis is further supported by the fact that neutrophils from me v / me v mice, which have significantly reduced SHP-1 activity, are also hyperresponsive following integrin engagement. This is the first direct evidence using primary leukocytes from lyn −/− mice that this kinase functions as a negative regulator in integrin signaling.
The Rationality of Belief in a Superior Being

In this chapter I shall consider the question of whether it is rational to believe in a Superior Being (SB), who may be thought of as God, or some other religious figure, or a secular force. I shall not stress the religiosity of SB, but I shall allude to religious works, particularly the Bible, to try to ferret out and understand what the goals of SB might be in games I postulate he plays with Person (P), the human player who must decide whether or not to believe in SB’s existence. A few technical terms will be introduced in this chapter, but all will be illustrated in the games and decisions that are analyzed.
Tales of the tape: cassette culture, community radio, and the birth of rap music in Boston

Recent scholarship on peer-oriented production and participatory culture tends to emphasize how the digital turn, especially the Internet and the advent of the so-called ‘social web’, has enabled new forms of bottom-up, networked creative production, much of which takes place outside of the commercial media. While remarkable examples of collaboration and democratized cultural production abound in the online era, a longer view situates such practices in histories of media culture where other convergences of production and distribution technologies enabled peer-level exchanges of various sorts and scales. This essay contributes to this project by examining the emergence of a local rap scene in Boston, Massachusetts in the mid-late 1980s via the most accessible ‘mass’ media of the day: the compact cassette and community radio.
Abscisic acid promotes proteasome-mediated degradation of the transcription coactivator NPR1 in Arabidopsis thaliana

Summary Proteasome-mediated turnover of the transcription coactivator NPR1 is pivotal for efficient activation of the broad-spectrum plant immune responses known as localized acquired resistance (LAR) and systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in adjacent and systemic tissues, respectively, and requires the CUL3-based E3 ligase and its adaptor proteins, NPR3 and NPR4, which are receptors for the signaling molecule salicylic acid (SA). It has been shown that SA prevents NPR1 turnover under non-inducing and LAR/SAR-inducing conditions, but how cellular NPR1 homeostasis is maintained remains unclear. Here, we show that the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) and SA antagonistically influence cellular NPR1 protein levels. ABA promotes NPR1 degradation via the CUL3NPR3/NPR4 complex-mediated proteasome pathway, whereas SA may protect NPR1 from ABA-promoted degradation through phosphorylation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the timing and strength of SA and ABA signaling are critical in modulating NPR1 accumulation and target gene expression. Perturbing ABA or SA signaling in adjacent tissues alters the temporal dynamic pattern of NPR1 accumulation and target gene transcription. Finally, we show that sequential SA and ABA treatment leads to dynamic changes in NPR1 protein levels and target gene expression. Our results revealed a tight correlation between sequential SA and ABA signaling and dynamic changes in NPR1 protein levels and NPR1-dependent transcription in plant immune responses.
Motivation Interventions in Education: A Meta-Analytic Review

This meta-analysis provides an extensive and organized summary of intervention studies in education that are grounded in motivation theory. We identified 74 published and unpublished papers that experimentally manipulated an independent variable and measured an authentic educational outcome within an ecologically valid educational context. Our analyses included 92 independent effect sizes with 38,377 participants. Our results indicated that interventions were generally effective, with an average mean effect size of d = 0.49 (95% confidence interval = [0.43, 0.56]). Although there were descriptive differences in the effect sizes across several moderator variables considered in our analyses, the only significant difference found was for the type of experimental design, with randomized designs having smaller effect sizes than quasi-experimental designs. This work illustrates the extent to which interventions and accompanying theories have been tested via experimental methods and provides information about ap...
EARLY HOLOCENE CONDITIONS AT THE WESTERN MARGIN OF CAPE COD BAY

A paleoenvironmental model is proposed for the western shoreline of Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, from about 9,000 through 5,500 years B.P. Central to this reconstruction is the integration and correlation of the glacial sediments, radiometric chronology and pollen stratigraphy of an exposed peat deposit located near Nameloc Heights, Plymouth, Massachusetts. Four Carbon-14 dates provide a chronology and suggest an average rate of peat accumulation of about 6 cm/100 years from 8,800 through 7,400 years B.P., decreasing to 3 cm/100 years from 7,400 to 5,500 years B.P. This sequence of radiometric dates provides a temporal framework within which the pollen taxa of the peat deposit can be correlated to the established floristic zones of the southern New England region.
“We Must be Still and Still Moving:” Reimaging and Reimagining the Past in Adam Thorpe’s Still

This essay focuses on the role analog still and moving images play in the reconstruction of the past in theBritish author Adam Thorpe’s ekphrastic novel, Still (1995). The interdependence of these two modes ofimages for remembering will serve as a metaphor for the ways in which the twentieth century relies on visualrepresentations of both memory and history for reimagining and recalling the past. Of particular concern tothis essay is the self-proclaimed historians of the postmemory generation, who search for the past not only inplaces of memory, but in what Alison Landsberg calls “tranferential spaces” such as the movies.
Effect of Underhead Design Configuration on Bolt Behavior Under Shear Loads

This study uses nonlinear 3-D finite element simulation to investigate the effect of bolt underhead design on its mechanical behavior under cyclic transverse shear loads. The effect of bolt underhead fillet radius and / or under-cut on bolt deformation as well as bolted joint behavior is studied in order to optimize the bolted flange performance under externally applied loads. Two levels of bolt preload and two transverse shear load cycles are studied. Bolt tensile and bending stiffnesses for various underhead designs are also evaluated and discussed.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Deceptive and Nondeceptive Consequences of Evaluative Advertising

Evaluative verbal content represents those advertising claims which refer to intangible product attributes or benefits. Theoretical arguments and empirical evidence indicate that such advertising m...
Evaluation of a New Needle Guidance System for Ultrasound: Results of a Prospective, Randomized, Blinded Study

Background and Objectives Accurate needle control during ultrasound (US)-guided nerve blocks may be an elusive goal for the anesthesiologist. Despite modifications to increase echogenicity, needle visibility still requires precise alignment within the transducer beam. In this study, we evaluated a magnetically guided ultrasound (MGU) system that produces a real-time, graphic display of the needle position and trajectory that is independent of the US beam. Methods The MGU system was compared with echogenic needles and conventional ultrasound (CU) by anesthesiologists with and without prior experience performing US-guided nerve blocks. Participants were asked to perform tasks to quantify accuracy with respect to needle direction (directional accuracy) and needle tip position (positional accuracy). These evaluations were performed in a porcine tissue model. Results Regarding directional accuracy, inexperienced subjects were able to contact a target capsule with a single needle pass during both in-plane (IP) and out-of-plane (OOP) approaches using the magnetic guidance system. By contrast, using CU, subjects required redirection 3.8 ± 2.4 (P = 0.02), and 4.5 ± 3.9 (P = 0.04) times, respectively, for IP and OOP approaches. Experienced subjects contacted the target capsule with a single pass for both IP and OOP approaches when using the magnetic guidance system. With CU, experienced subjects were able to contact the target with a single pass using an IP approach but required redirection 3.4 ± 2.8 (P = 0.046) times during OOP approaches. Positional accuracy was also superior for both inexperienced (P = 0.04) and experienced (P = 0.02) users during an OOP approach. Conclusions In a tissue model, the MGU system improved control of needle trajectory and needle tip position for both inexperienced and experienced subjects.
A New Uncertainty Evolution Inference Model for Classified Evaluation of Information System

To evaluate reasonably the ability of protection system,the requirements of evaluation standard GB/T 22239-2008 and information security events have to be considered and analyzed comprehensively.The fault tree is applied to decomposition of security incidents and the minimal cut set of fault tree can be translated into inference rules.Then,the uncertain reasoning technique is used to derive security incidents caused probably by system vulnerability.The loss and risk are taken into account,which could be regarded as the basis to assess the capacity of protection system.Experimental results show that the performance of proposed model is corresponding to the system vulnerability and the judgment of classified assessment is reasonable.Above work provides a possible route to synthesize the search of classified protection and risk analysis.
The adolescent athlete.

Qualifications for participation in athletics must be carefully considered in the pre-season medical evaluation. Some disqualifying conditions for specific activities are discussed. Physical maturity and “matching” are important considerations, as are personality and emotional health.
18 – Flavonoids in Foods

Publisher Summary Many commonly consumed fruits, vegetables, and beverages contain various classes of flavonoids in varying quantities. Most fruits that are red or purple, such as red grapes, cherries, and blueberries, have substantial quantities of several anthocynanidins. Many of these same foods also contain flavonols, primarily quercetin. Catechins (flavan-3-ols) are present in red grapes and their processed product, red wine, as well as in other red fruits, such as apples. Citrus foods and juices have a unique class of flavonoids, flavanones (hesperetin and naringenin), as well as quercetin. Onions have the highest concentration of quercetin (about 300 mg/kg) of any common food analyzed. Other vegetables that contain quercetin or kaempferol, but at much lower quantities, include broccoli and kale. Tea provides high concentrations of catechins and small amounts of flavonol quercetin. Most flavonoids in foods are conjugated to a carbohydrate moiety; the type of carbohydrate and its linkage to flavonoids is varied, which leads to many different molecular structures. A variety of dimers, trimers, oligomers, and polymers of flavonoids are present in many foods. There is a dearth of comprehensive data on the flavonoid content of foods. This is due primarily to the lack of a single, robust analytical system that measures all of the prominent food flavonoids, as aglycones, in a single run. Development of such a system, comprehensive analysis of foods, and subsequent summarization of food-flavonoid data into a convenient database will provide the appropriate tools to ascertain the impact of dietary flavonoids on health maintenance and disease prevention.
Interactions of adenosylmethionine with methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase

Commercial preparations of AdoMet are isolated from yeast, and the AdoMet has the configuration of the natural diastereoisomer at both the sulfonium pole and the methionyl substituent. However, such preparations are not only contaminated with ninhydrin-positive impurities but also with impurities which absorb light at 260 nm and do not react with ninhydrin, such as methylthioadenosine. Such UV-absorbing impurities interfere with determinations of AdoMet concentration. Synthetic methods yield AdoMet of high purity, but which is racemic at the sulfonium pole. Use of racemic preparations is undesirable for enzymatic studies because of the possibility that the unnatural diastereoisomer might interact with the enzyme. We have thus attempted to develop a method for purification of µmole quantities of AdoMet from commercial sources.
The use of natural language processing on narrative medication schedules to compute average weekly dose.

Purpose Medications with non-standard dosing and unstandardized units of measurement make the estimation of prescribed dose difficult from pharmacy dispensing data. A natural language processing tool named the SIG extractor was developed to identify and extract elements from narrative medication instructions to compute average weekly doses (AWDs) for disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the performance of the SIG extractor. Method This agreement study utilized Veterans Health Affairs pharmacy data from 2008 to 2012. The SIG extractor was designed to extract key elements from narrative medication schedules (SIGs) for 17 select medications to calculate AWD, and these medications were categorized by generic name and route of administration. The SIG extractor was evaluated against an annotator-derived reference standard for accuracy, which is the fraction of AWDs accurately computed. Results The overall accuracy was 89% [95% confidence interval (CI) 88%, 90%]. The accuracy was ≥85% for all medications and route combinations, except for cyclophosphamide (oral) and cyclosporine (oral), which were 79% (95%CI 72%, 85%) and 66% (95%CI 58%, 73%), respectively. Conclusions The SIG extractor performed well on the majority of medications, indicating that AWD calculated by the SIG extractor can be used to improve estimation of AWD when dispensed quantity or days' supply is questionable or improbable. The working model for annotating SIGs and the SIG extractor are generalized and can easily be applied to other medications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Field Computing: Wearable Devices for Citizen Science

"Field Computing", is an ongoing interdisciplinary research project to design and build wearable devices for use in citizen science applications. The works from this project is derived from the fields of wearable electronics, citizen science and environmental biomonitoring through a critical design perspective. Background and prior research is shared that discusses considerations for technology and design, along with documentation and description of Portable Workspace, an initial project for "Field Computing". Portable Workspace is a wearable that unfolds into a physical computing studio for building hardware in outdoor environments. The current work in progress, Data HarVest, is a wearable tool that collects physical artifacts and contextual data about fungi for scientific surveys. Early prototypes for this tool are then discussed along with design considerations.
Pathologic Diagnosis of Thyroid Cancer

Pathologic examination of the thyroid gland consists of two distinctly different types of procedures. The purpose of the first, biopsy, is for diagnosis of a nodule or mass in effort to determine the nature of the process. Although open biopsy (with or without intraoperative consultation (frozen section)) followed by excision may be used, a more common approach is a fine-needle aspiration (FNA) procedure.
Prevalence and predictors of US medical graduates' federal F32, mentored-K, and R01 awards: a national cohort study.

The size and diversity of the physician-scientist workforce are issues of national concern. In this retrospective, national cohort study of US medical school matriculants who graduated in 1997–2004, we describe the prevalence and predictors of federal F32, mentored-K, and R01 awards among physicians. In multivariable logistic regression models, we identified demographic, educational, and professional development variables independently associated with each award through August 2014, reporting adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (AOR (95% CI)). Among 117,119 graduates with complete data (97.7% of 119,906 graduates in 1997–2004), 509 (0.4%) received F32, 1740 (1.5%) received mentored-K, and 597 (0.5%) received R01 awards. Adjusting for all variables except US Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 scores, black (vs white) graduates were less likely to receive F32 (0.48 (0.28–0.82)), mentored-K (0.56 (0.43–0.72)), and R01 (0.48 (0.28–0.82)) awards; Hispanic graduates were less likely to receive mentored-K awards (0.68 (0.52–0.88)), and women less likely to receive F32 (0.81 (0.67–0.98)) and R01 (0.59 (0.49–0.71)) awards. After adding Step 1 scores, these race/ethnicity effects were not significant, but women (0.62 (0.51–0.75)) were still less likely to receive R01 awards. Graduates reporting both (vs neither) medical school research elective and authorship were more likely to receive F32 (1.89 (1.45–2.48)), mentored-K (2.48 (2.13–2.88)), and R01 (2.00 (1.54–2.60)) awards. Prior F32 (2.17 (1.46–3.21)) and mentored-K (28.08 (22.94–34.38)) awardees more likely received R01 awards. Findings highlight the need for research-experiential interventions along the medical education continuum to promote greater participation and diversity of US medical graduates in the federally funded, biomedical research workforce.
The role of IEC 60034-27-5 for IEC 60034-18-41: Offline PD test methods with repetitive impulse voltage

This paper reviews relevant published IEC standards on converter-fed motor insulation and discusses some technical issues on offline PD tests methods with repetitive impulse voltage of IEC60034-27-5. In order to qualify PD-free insulation system for IEC 60034-18-41, the detail of PD testing method should be fixed as possible in IEC 60034-27-5, while there are still arbitrary factors in PD measurements: how to select impulse generator, tolerance against deformation and so-called ringing of impulse waveform, how to decide thresholds values for PD detection against disturbance from impulse generator and selection of RPDIV or PDIV for pass criteria judgements of IEC 60034-18-41.
Self–Non-self Discrimination: How the Immune System Avoids Self-Destruction

One of the hallmarks of the adaptive immune response is the ability of the immune system to differentiate self from non-self. In 1901, Paul Ehrlich and Julius Morgenroth showed that goats, when injected with their own red blood cells, failed to produce antibodies to these cells. They proposed the concept of “horror autotoxicus”—literally the fear of self-toxicity. Investigators soon demonstrated that in other model systems animals could be stimulated to produce antibodies to self-components and that these autoantibodies could cause disease. These observations were made in the early decades of the twentieth century, but it was not until the 1950s that studies from Ernest Witebsky's laboratory demonstrated that normal individuals could be induced to produce autoantibodies against their own tissue and that these autoantibodies caused pathology. In 1945, Ray Owens observed that some dizygotic cattle twins that shared blood group antigens during fetal development failed to respond immunologically to each other. F. Macfarlane Burnet proposed that lymphocytes learn to differentiate self from non-self during development. Demonstration of this mechanism was presented by Peter Medawar's group using the rejection of skin grafts in mice and by Milan Hasek using antibody formation in chickens. These studies opened a new field of investigation focused on the phenomenon of immunological tolerance.
The geochemistry of loess: Asian and North American deposits compared

Abstract Loess is widely distributed over Asia and North America and constitutes one of the most important surficial deposits that serve as terrestrial records of the Quaternary. The oldest Pleistocene loess in China is likely ∼2.6 Ma, thus spanning much or all of the Pleistocene. In North America, most loess is no older than the penultimate glacial period, with the exception of Alaska, where the record may go back to ∼3.0 Ma. On both continents, loess deposits date primarily to glacial periods, and interglacial or interstadial periods are represented by paleosols. Both glacial and non-glacial sources of silts that comprise the bulk of loess deposits are found on both continents. Although loess has been considered to be representative of the average upper continental crust, there are regionally distinctive compositions of loess in both Asia and North America. Loess deposits in Asia from Yakutia, Tajikistan, and China have compositionally distinct major element compositions, due to varying abundances of silicate minerals, carbonate minerals, and clay minerals. In North America, loess in the Mississippi River valley, the Great Plains, and Alaska are also distinguishable with regard to major element composition that reflects highly diverse source sediments. Trace element geochemistry (Sc-Th-Zr and the rare earth elements) also shows regional diversity of loess bodies, in both Asia and North America. On both continents, most loess bodies show significant contributions from later-cycle, altered sedimentary rocks, as opposed to direct derivation from igneous rocks. Further, some loess bodies have detectable contributions from mafic igneous rocks as well as major contributions from average, upper-crustal, felsic rocks. Intercalated paleosols in loess sections show geochemical compositions that differ significantly from the underlying loess parent materials. Ratios of soluble-to-insoluble elements show depletions in paleosols due to chemical weathering losses of calcite, dolomite, plagioclase, mica, apatite, and smectite. In Asia and North America, the last interglacial paleosol is more weathered than equivalent modern soils, which could be due either to a climate that was warmer and more humid, a longer period of pedogenesis, or both. In Asia, early Pleistocene loess and paleosols are both more weathered than those from the middle and late Pleistocene, forming prior to a mid-Pleistocene aridification of Asia from uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Understanding the geochemistry of loess and paleosols can tell us much about past atmospheric circulation, past temperature and moisture regimes, and even tectonic processes.
Promoting Valid Assessment of Students with Disabilities and English Learners

In this chapter, we (a) review validity issues relevant to the assessment of students with disabilities (SWDs) and English learners (ELs), (b) discuss current and emerging practices in test accommodations, and (c) describe methods for evaluating the degree to which test accommodations may facilitate or hinder valid interpretations of students’ performance. We highlight actions test developers, and researchers can take to make tests more accessible and to evaluate the impact of their testing procedures on SWDs and ELs. We also describe new developments in assessing students with severe cognitive disabilities. Given that these developments have a common goal of increasing fairness and accessibility in educational assessment, we also discuss fairness issues in educational testing related to assessing SWDs and ELs.
Pneumatosis of the intestines, colon and liver in a young cat.

To describe a case of naturally occurring pneumatosis intestinalis, pneumatosis coli and emphysematous hepatitis in a cat. A 9-month-old, indoors-only, female spayed, domestic medium hair cat presented for vomiting, open-mouth breathing and acute collapse. The initial physical examination identified moderate to severe hypothermia [35°C (95°F)], obtunded mentation, weak femoral pulses, tachycardia (heart rate 240 beats per min), pale pink mucous membranes and significant splenomegaly on abdominal palpation. Immediate diagnostics performed [packed cell volume and total solids (PCV, TS), venous blood gas and electrolytes] revealed severe anaemia (PCV 12%), hypoproteinaemia (TS = 2.2 g/dl), and severe metabolic acidosis (pH 6.956). Additional diagnostics performed included Feline Leukaemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus testing (FeLV/FIV), complete blood count (CBC) with pathology review, serum biochemistry profile, prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT), urinalysis, and abdominal radiographs. Abdominal radiographs were consistent with gas within hepatic and splenic veins and parenchyma, small intestinal walls and colonic wall. Due to the guarded prognosis, euthanasia was elected. Necropsy was performed and the most significant gross and histopathological findings included intra-luminal and intra-mural intestinal haemorrhage and vascular congestion with mild neutrophilic hepatitis, and marked hepatic periportal emphysema. Clostridium perfrigens and Escherichia coli were cultured from the bowel wall; no bacterial growth from the liver or spleen was identified. This case report describes idiopathic emphysematous hepatitis, with concurrent emphysema of the spleen and intestinal wall and intestinal haemorrhage. To the authors' knowledge, this type of pathology in a feline patient has not been previously described.
The Case Study Method in Risk Communication: Case Studies of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS)

This report presents the findings of a study conducted by the Subcommittee on Risk Communication and Education of the Environmental Health Policy Committee on how the U.S. Public Health Service agencies are communicating information about health risk, how effective these communications have been, and what specific principles, strategies, and practices best promote more effective health risk communication outcomes. The purpose of the subcommittee’s study was to develop specific recommendations aimed at assisting Public Health Service decision makers and health risk communication practitioners in improving their effectiveness in communicating health risk messages and information.
Laser damage of silica optical windows with random antireflective structured surfaces

High intensity nanosecond laser pulses induce damage on uncoated optics and antireflection (AR) coated optics with thin film boundaries. Structured surfaces with AR performance have shown higher damage resistance than conventional AR coatings. This work explores laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of random antireflective surface structures (rARSS), covering interfaces of planar fused silica substrates, using a 7 ± 1 nanosecond duration, single damaging pulse at 1064-nm wavelength. The rARSS treated windows were optimized for AR at 1064 nm, and transmittance of each treated interface was increased by 3.2% per ISO 13697. Incident fluence was controlled near LIDT for both entry and exit sides. Multiple locations were tested for each fluence setting in accordance with ISO 21254 1-on-1 LIDT testing. Double-sided and single-sided rARSS, orientation with both entrance-side and exit-side treatments, were tested to determine effects random structures have in damage induced by field enhancement on the exit side. Results show that rARSS on a single side of an optic have higher resistance to onset of laser damage when located at entry (structured) side. All tests resulting in damage of polished and single-sided rARSS oriented on exit side were ballistic on beam exit facet, showing surface cracks. Results from rARSS located on beam entry side (both single- and double-side treated) showed nonballistic damage and densification of rARSS features from localized melting or reflow, capping the rARSS but still preserving effective-gradient index and rARSS transmission enhancement. This suggests that the localized melting of the rARSS optic surface does not constitute damage optically, or at least not catastrophically within the prebulk damage regime. Therefore, it is possible to foresee the onset of true damage within an optical system via tracking transmission drop, and swap optics out before catastrophic system failure. The drop in transmission acts as an early warning system, making these rARSS optics an invaluable tool in high-energy laser development.
Sex Differences in Responses to Emotional and Sexual Infidelity in Dating Relationships

Abstract. This study examined the influence of the type of partner infidelity (sexual vs. emotional) and sex of participant on actual mate abandonment and mate retention behaviors. It was predicted...
Plea Bargaining: The Influence of Counsel

For the criminal defendant, his attorney acts as his loyal and zealous advocate before the court (American Bar Association, 2015), and due process protections of the U.S. adversarial system have afforded this relationship special privilege. In this chapter, we explore the influence and role of the attorney in plea decision-making. We first explore the legal context of the attorney’s role in plea bargaining, reviewing several cases that address a defendant’s right to effective assistance of counsel. We then review the shadow of trial theory and other theoretical perspectives as they relate to the attorney’s role in the plea bargaining process, providing a theoretical background to understand how the attorney’s advice and role likely influence a defendant’s decision to accept a guilty plea offer. Then, we discuss the research examining legal and extra-legal factors that influence the type of advice an attorney gives a client contemplating a guilty plea offer, considering the implications of this research for the current standards used to define effective assistance of counsel. Last, we explore future research possibilities that could contribute to the understanding of the role the attorney plays in the plea bargaining process.
Plasmonics-active gold nanostars for chemical and biological sensing using SERS detection

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) provides a non-destructive sensing method with high sensitivity and multiplex detection capability since SERS takes advantage of high enhancement from surface plasmon resonance and unique “fingerprint” spectral signature using Raman spectroscopy. Our group has developed a unique plasmonics-active nanoparticle, gold nanostars, with tunable plasmonics in near-infrared (NIR) “tissue optical window” without using toxic surfactant. We present their applications for chemical and biological sensing with SERS method as well as theoretical studies to investigate and confirm experimentally measured SERS results.
Differences in breast cancer outcomes amongst Black US-born and Caribbean-born immigrants.

There are few studies that directly investigate disparities in outcome within the African diaspora in the US. We investigated the association between nativity of Black women diagnosed with breast cancer (Caribbean or USA place of birth) and ethnicity, age at diagnosis, treatment, tumor characteristics and outcome. The data were obtained from the University of Miami Health System, and Jackson Health System. Individual-level data from 1132 cases was used to estimate hazard rations (HRs) of women born in the Caribbean (Caribbean Blacks, CB) or in the USA (US Black, USB) using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis for overall survival. The cohort contains data from 624 (54.9%) USB women and 507 (45%) CB women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2006 and 2017. Compared to CB patients, USB patients had more Estrogen Receptor negative (31.4% vs. 39.1%, P = 0.018) and triple negative breast cancers (19.6% vs. 27.9%, P = 0.003). CB women presented at more advanced stages III/IV (44.2% vs. 35.2%; P = 0.016). CB patients showed a better overall survival (hazard ratio, HR = 0.75; 95% CI 0.59–0.96; P = 0.024). Overall Black Hispanic patients had a better overall survival (HR = 0.51; 95% CI 0.28–0.93; P = 0.028) compared to non-Hispanic Black patients. In conclusion the study found that CB immigrants diagnosed with breast cancer have an improved overall survival when compared with USB patients. This finding suggests that within the African diaspora in the USA, additional factors beyond race contribute to worse outcomes in African Americans.
On the Spatial Evolution of Traffic State Transitions: Empirical Observations and General Features:

Features of transitions between stationary traffic states for both congestion onset and dissipation were evaluated through empirical observations at two freeway sites. Results reveal that transitio...
The development of a universal substrate technology for the growth of light emitting diodes

This paper reviews the use of alternative substrate technologies, ZnO and Si, for III-Nitride materials and devices grown by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD). ZnO offers many advantages for the III-Nitrides due to its closely matched lattice constant and similar thermal expansion coefficients. Si is a readily available material and can be chemically removed to provide a thin III-Nitride device structure. However, when using ZnO, H 2 etching of the ZnO substrate at high temperatures and Zn diffusion out of the ZnO substrate have limited its use. Moreover, a tensile stress can occur between III-Nitrides and Si, and a potential reaction between Ga and Si can cause many issues during MOCVD growth. In this work we have used a transition layer on these substrates to promote the crystallinity of the III-Nitride materials and resulting device structures. We show that thin layers (5–200 nm) of Atomic Layer Deposited (ALD) Al 2 O 3 can be used for this function. Wurtzite III-Nitrides were obtained for thin Al 2 O 3 /ZnO and Al 2 O 3 /Si with a mirror-like surface, no etch pits, and no peeling. In addition, light emitting diodes on ALD Al 2 O 3 /Si have shown a similar device performance to those grown on sapphire. This transition layer technology could provide a universal substrate technology for III-Nitride LEDs crystal growth.
The Performance Gap in Sport Can Help Determine Which Movements Were Most Essential to Human Evolution

Men outperform women in sports that require muscular strength and endurance, but the magnitude of this performance gap (PG) does not appear to be constant; that is, the PG between men and women is greater in some sports than it is in others. Here, we examine the size of this gap within the realm of track and field by comparing the top 50 world-record performances of men to the top 50 records set by women in a number of long-distance running, medium-distance running, short-distance running, and jumping events. While women do not perform at the level of men in any track and field event, the magnitude of the PG trends up or down depending on the type of event. Jumping events exhibit a larger gap between the sexes than do running events, and short-distance running events show a smaller disparity between the sexes than do medium- or long-distance running events. This difference suggests that general sexual dimorphism does not explain why female performance is relatively closer to male performance at some track and field events than others. We hypothesize that this trend can be explained by the presence of sex-blind musculoskeletal adaptations (SBMA's), which accumulate over generations to reduce the size of the PG in certain movements. We conclude that the selection trend favoring in humans should be explored further to determine whether the PG in sport can indeed be used to determine movements to which the human body is adapted.
The Learning Sciences Framework in Educational Leadership

Abstract The learning sciences clarify how people learn best under which conditions and how human variability influences outcomes. Despite great advancements in some learning sciences over the past 30 years, there has been relatively little change in educational science, a sub-field of the learning sciences. To determine why knowledge from the learning sciences has not had a greater impact on educational policy, this study considered evidence from the learning sciences through a previously published systematic review of the literature followed by a Delphi panel of experts on the learning science (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2017). This was compared with a literature review of the trends in leadership decision-making models (data-based; context; distributed; transformative; goal-orientated, results-oriented) (Appendix A). This review found 30 current educational policies that contradict evidence from the learning sciences, suggesting a disconnect between educational science and other learning sciences. While there are some initiatives underway in a small number of educational leadership sectors to incorporate more learning science data into decision-making, it is not a norm. The current business-oriented model in educational policy design may explain this divide. The analysis of these results considers how switching from a business to a learning science model may result in different educational priorities. Such a vision offers a distinct and possibly more universally acceptable measure of “quality” education, detached from the immediate social and political goals and independent of the historical times in which they are taken. This paper suggests further research into this new learning sciences evidence-based framework on which educators base policy decisions.