cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Motion(less) in limine.

“When the two come into conflict, democracy takes priority to philosophy.”Richard Rorty “There are some people who use philosophy to lead people astray.”St. Augustine As any seasoned litigator knows, occasionally one interposes an evidentiary objection not simply for the sake of preventing this or that from occurring in court, but also for the purpose of alerting a court to and educating it about the likelihood that it will have to rule on what may prove to be a substantial evidentiary dispute. Instead of waiting until a trial has begun and somebody else’s expert witness is ready, willing, able and - most of all - present to testify, it can be useful to file a motion in limine, a pre-trial motion that seeks to bar or set limits to an expert’s testimony.
Fermentation of Corn for Nigerian Agidi

Agidi, a Nigerian food made from corn, was prepared by the traditional Nigerian method and by a modified procedure in which fermented corn was used. The fermented agidi (with or without pH adjustment of the corn) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in tryptophan and lysine than the nonfermented agidi. Sensory analyses indicated that flavor for the fermented (either pH adjusted or not) had a score greater than average (scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest on the desired scale). However, since total sensory score (total points for color, firmness, acidity and flavor) was less than the traditional agidi, blending of the two is indicated for best acceptance and nutrition.
A Tale of Two Cultures: Cross Cultural Comparison in Learning the Prezi Presentation Software Tool in the US and Norway

Presentation software is an important tool for both student and professorial communicators. PowerPoint has been the standard since it was introduced in 1990. However, new “improved” software platforms are emerging. Prezi is one of these, claiming to remedy the linear thinking that underlies PowerPoint by creating one canvas and permitting the presenter to zoom in and out as each element is introduced. Users can move back and forth to display the separate elements and reflect how they fit into a larger context.As these new tools are introduced, there may be different responses to them depending on the cultural background of the user. In order to understand one such interplay, Prezi was introduced to students in a class in Norway and in the same way to a class in the US. The mixed method study compared the introduction of this new software tool to two undergraduate classes in Spring 2012. The two professors used the same introduction to the tool. The output was the final project presentation for the class done using the Prezi tool. Students evaluated each other’s presentations on 10 attributes and answered two open-ended questions about the presentations. They also completed an 8-question self-evaluation of their or their team’s presentation. The instructor/researchers also used the same questions to evaluate her class. An additional 13 questions were added to the instructor instrument. Each instructor/researcher also viewed videos of the presentations from the other class and evaluated these presentations using the same set of questions.Results showed that both sets of students used the new tool well despite minimal direct instruction. Most made their presentations less linear than they would have been in PowerPoint. They generally used the Prezi technique of grouping elements and constructing a pathway between groups. Most used multimedia such as photos, videos, and links. Some especially appreciated the Prezi feature of more than one user being able to work on a presentation at the same time. Peers liked each other’s presentations and found them engaging. However, open-ended comments were more directed to actual content than use of Prezi. In student feedback the answer to the first attribute, being engaging, appeared to create a halo for most of the other attributes.In evaluating their peers’ presentations, the US students were significantly more positive than the Norwegian ones, reinforcing the belief that the American culture is well above the global norm in optimism. Norwegians were lengthier in their open-ended feedback to their peers and focused more on content and less on style than the Americans. In self-evaluations, Americans had more to say than Norwegians. They stressed the creative aspect of Prezi whereas Norwegians highlighted presentations being tidy and calm.Males were higher raters on average than females. The researchers were less positive than the students, reflecting stricter standards than students.Researcher recommendations for teaching Prezi are included.
Permeation of Eleven Protective Garment Materials By Four Organic Solvents

The resistance of 11 different protective garment materials to permeation by epichlorohydrin, perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and 1,2-dibromoethane were determined. Water was the collection medium in the epichlorohydrin tests with samples taken periodically and analyzed by gas chromatography. Because of the relatively low solubilities of the other three challenge liquids in water, air was used as the collection medium. The concentrations of the permeant vapors in an airstream which passed across the downstream sides of the membranes were determined automatically every 2 min with a flame ionization detector. Butyl rubber offers good protection against epichlorohydrin, with breakthrough occurring after 8 hrs. With the halogenated hydrocarbons, Viton and Vitrile provide protection for at least 12 and 24 hrs, respectively, while PVA showed no breakthrough in 24 hrs with trichloroethylene and dibromoethane. With perchloroethylene, nitrile breakthrough occurred in 5 hrs. The weight and volume changes whic...
Gastric nitric oxide synthase expression during endotoxemia: Implications in mucosal defense in rats

Abstract Background & Aims: This study was performed to examine expression of gastric nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms during endotoxemia in rats and to assess their role(s) in gastric injury from bile and ethanol. Methods: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) enhanced the expression and activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase in gastric mucosa in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Results: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase and neural nitric oxide synthase expression did not significantly change, but constitutive nitric oxide synthase activity decreased over time. LPS alone caused injury to the gastric mucosa and disrupted F-actin filaments in the same cells with enhanced immunostaining for inducible nitric oxide synthase. LPS also exacerbated gastric injury from the mild irritants 5 mmol/L acidified taurocholate and 20% ethanol as did local intra-arterial infusion of the nitric oxide donor S -nitroso- N -acetyl-penicillamine. The selective inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor aminoguanidine negated LPS-induced exacerbation of gastric injury from these irritants. The nonselective NOS inhibitor N G -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester augmented the deleterious effects of LPS, an effect reversed by L-arginine but not D-arginine. Aminoguanidine, but not N G -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, negated LPS-induced accumulation of gastric luminal nitrates. Conclusions: These data suggest that increased inducible NOS activity and decreased constitutive nitric oxide synthase activity are primarily responsible for exacerbating gastric injury from luminal irritants during endotoxemia. Moreover, septic patients may be more susceptible to gastric injury from bile during gastrointestinal ileus. GASTROENTEROLOGY 2002;123:173-186
Regulatory interactions in the recognition of endocytic sorting signals by AP‐2 complexes

Many plasma membrane proteins destined for endocytosis are concentrated into clathrin‐coated pits through the recognition of a tyrosine‐based motif in their cytosolic domains by an adaptor (AP‐2) complex. The μ2 subunit of isolated AP‐2 complexes binds specifically, but rather weakly, to proteins bearing the tyrosine‐based signal. We now demonstrate, using peptides with a photoreactive probe, that this binding is strengthened significantly when the AP‐2 complex is present in clathrin coats, indicating that there is cooperativity between receptor–AP‐2 interactions and coat formation. Phosphoinositides with a phosphate at the D‐3 position of the inositol ring, but not other isomers, also increase the affinity of the AP‐2 complex for the tyrosine‐based motif. AP‐2 is the first protein known (in any context) to interact with phosphatidylinositol 3‐phosphate. Our findings indicate that receptor recruitment can be coupled to clathrin coat assembly and suggest a mechanism for regulation of membrane traffic by lipid products of phosphoinositide 3‐kinases.
Prenatal testing for Tay-Sachs disease in the light of Jewish views regarding abortion.

Tay‐Sachs is a fatal genetic ailment preponderant among Jews. Modern medical techniques can detect carriers of the disease as well as identify affected fetuses, permitting the option of abortion. Abortion, however, is more than a simple medical procedure. It also has ethical and religious implications and these have a long history of discussion within Jewish tradition. While all forms of Judaism permit therapeutic abortion to save a mother's life, Orthodox Judaism is less likely to approve abortion in a case when Tay‐Sachs disease has been diagnosed than are the Conservative and Reform branches of Judaism, which would freely permit it. This Orthodox strictness also has implications concerning who should be included in Tay‐Sachs screening programs; the Orthodox movement believing these should be limited to those who are as yet unmarried. This article discusses current medical approaches to Tay‐Sachs disease and their implications in light of views regarding abortion held by Orthodox, Conservative, and Refo...
What to do with refractory urticaria patients.

A urticaria patient said to be refractory to treatment ordinarily implies inadequate responsiveness to antihistamines. Thus, it is necessary to define at what point antihistamine therapy has failed. Although virtually any first-generation or second-generation antihistamine has efficacy for treatment of urticaria, few studies have compared one agent to the others, and dose-escalation studies are much in need. For the past 40 years, when firstgeneration antihistamines were all we had, I advocated use of hydroxyzine (Atarax; Pfizer, New York, NY) or diphenhydramine (Benadryl; McNeil-PPC, Fort Washington, PA) at doses up to 50 mg four times daily before assuming a patient to be refractory [1]. These agents ware relatively short-acting and were meant to be used in divided doses four times daily when necessary. For patients with physically induced hives such as cold urticaria or cholinergic urticaria, one could readily titrate the antihistamine dose and determine that 3 or 4 doses/d are frequently required where 1 or 2 doses do not provide adequate symptom control. Once the relatively nonsedating, second-generation, long-acting drugs were available, they were commended once daily for urticaria, as was recommended for allergic rhinitis. This turned out to be effective only in the mildest of cases of urticaria. Recently, when loratadine was tested for efficacy in the treatment of cold urticaria, it was clear that 4>3>2>1 tablets/d (ie, more is better, and side effects are minimal). In spite of the evidence of sedation with first-generation antihistamines [2–5], when they are used in high doses, sedation rapidly wears off, and they can still be recommended in countries in which second-generation agents are not available [6, 7]. There are, in fact, very few studies of sedation with use of such agents for more than a week in patients with chronic urticaria rather than in healthy volunteers. Nevertheless, for most purposes, this becomes a moot point, particularly when cost ceases to be an issue. Thus, over-the-counter generic cetirizine can be obtained inexpensively, and 6 tablets/d is roughly equivalent to hydroxyzine, 200 mg/d.
Endothelin and scleroderma lung disease

Scleroderma-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) occurs frequently and for many patients SSc-ILD is a significant complication of their disease. SSc-ILD is now one of the leading causes of death among patients with SSc. SSc-ILD, classified most often as a non-specific interstitial pneumonia, may culminate in interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and end-stage lung disease. Fibrosis in the lung is the net result of fibroblast proliferation and deposition of excessive amounts of extracellular matrix proteins. Among the many cytokines and growth factors involved in the pathogenesis of SSc-ILD, ET-1 may be a central mediator. In vitro and in vivo studies of animals and SSc patients support the notion that ET-1 can enhance the proliferation of pulmonary mesenchymal cells and may also enhance the fibrogenic effects of TGF-beta. Two well-designed randomized controlled trials of the dual ET receptor blocker bosentan were negative in their primary (and for SSc also secondary) endpoints, although there might be explanations for this apparent lack of efficacy.
Peer Support Among Individuals With Severe Mental Illness: A Review of the Evidence

This article reviews the history and potential effectiveness of peer support among persons with severe mental illness. Following a historical overview, we describe the three primary forms of peer support that have been developed to date by and for this population, and examine the existing empirical evidence of the feasibility, effectiveness, and utilization of each of these approaches in contributing to the recovery of individuals with psychiatric disabiliies. These three forms are (1) naturally occumng mutual support groups, (2) consumer-run senices, and (3) the employment of consumers as providers within clinical and rehabilitative settings. Existing studies of mutual support groups suggest that they may improve symptoms, promote larger social networkr, and enhance quality of life. This research is largely from uncontrolled studies, however, and will need to be evaluated further using prospective, controlled designs. Consumer-run services and the use of consumers as providers promise to broaden the access of individuals with psychiatric disabilities to peer support, but research on these more recent developments is only preliminary and largely limited to demonstrations of their feasibility. We discuss issues entailed in participating in peer support for this population, and then close with a discussion of the implications for future policy, research, and practice.
Portfolio Optimization: Applications in Quantum Computing

Portfolio optimization in a quantum computing paradigm is explored. The D-Wave adiabatic quantum computation optimization system is used to determine an optimal portfolio of stocks using binary selection. The stock returns, variances and covariances are modeled in the graph-theoretic maximum independent set (MIS) and weighted maximum independent set (WMIS) structures. These structures are mapped into the Ising model representation of the underlying D-Wave optimizer. The results show different stock selections over a range of predetermined risk thresholds and underlying models. This implementation and following discussion provides a practitioner’s view of what might be accomplished in this framework. The particular models used in the implementations have restricted appeal but do link the financial engineering domain to the quantum computing optimization domain. Further research on model enhancements or different model structures needs to be undertaken to improve its usefulness in comparison to the current industrial domain.
Narrative, Casuistry, and the Function of Conscience in Thomas Aquinas

Both the function of one’s conscience, as Thomas Aquinas understands it, and the work of casuistry in general involve deliberating about which universal moral principles are applicable in particular cases. Thus, understanding how conscience can function better also indicates how casuistry might be done better – both on Thomistic terms, at least. I claim that, given Aquinas’ descriptions of certain parts of prudence ( synesis and gnome ) and the role of moral virtue in practical knowledge, understanding particular cases more as narratives, or parts of narratives, likely will result, all else being equal, in more accurate moral judgments of particular cases. This is especially important in two kinds of cases: first, cases in which Aquinas recognizes universal moral principles do not specify the means by which they are to be followed; second, cases in which the type-identity of an action – and thus the norms applicable to it – can be mistaken.
Body cell mass and lean body mass in the growing beagle.

SummaryThe lean body mass (LBM) was considered equivalent to fat-free wet weight (FFWW), and it decreased from 97% of body weight at birth to 85% when the pups were 1.5 mo old, after which it did n...
Delivery of VMAT modulated arc therapy to moving tumours

The goal of this paper is the formulation of the volumetric modulated arc radiation therapy (VMAT) delivery problem to moving tumors treated on medical linear accelerators. The main aim of the study is to determine and understand the interdependence between several parameters (dose rate, gantry speed and MLC speed) in the delivery of VMAT treatment plan to tumors that move. The secondary aim is to prove local delivery optimality (minimal beam ON time). The problem of VMAT delivery to moving target is formulated as a control problem with constraints. The relationships between parameters of arc therapy delivery are derived under constraint of treatment plan invariance and limitations on delivery parameters. The non-uniqueness of arc therapy irradiation is revealed from these relationships. The most efficient delivery of arc therapy is formulated as optimal control problem and solved by geometrical methods. A computer program is developed to find numerical solutions for delivery of specific VMAT plan. Explicit examples of VMAT delivery plans for 3-dimensional target motion are computed and illustrated with graphical representations of the variability of delivery parameters.
On the use of log-gabor features for subsurface object detection using ground penetrating radar

regions with significant amount of metal debris. The challenge for the handheld GPR is to reduce the false alarm rate and limit the undesirable human operator effect. This paper proposes the use of log-Gabor features to improve the detection performance. In particular, we apply 36 log-Gabor filters to the B-scan of the GPR data in the time domain for the purpose to extract the edge behaviors of a prescreener alarm. The 36 log-Gabor filters cover the entire frequency plane with different bandwidths and orientations. The energy of each filter output forms an element of the feature vector and an SVM is trained to perform target vs non-target classification. Experimental results using the experimental hand held demonstrator data collected at a government site supports the increase in detection performance by using the log-Gabor features.
Comparison of minute distribution frequency for anesthesia start and end times from an anesthesia information management system and paper records

Use of an anesthesia information management system (AIMS) has been reported to improve accuracy of recorded information. We tested the hypothesis that analyzing the distribution of times charted on paper and computerized records could reveal possible rounding errors, and that this effect could be modulated by differences in the user interface for documenting certain event times with an AIMS. We compared the frequency distribution of start and end times for anesthesia cases completed with paper records and an AIMS. Paper anesthesia records had significantly more times ending with "0" and "5" compared to those from the AIMS (p < 0.001). For case start times, AIMS still exhibited end-digit preference, with times whose last digits had significantly higher frequencies of "0" and "5" than other integers. This effect, however, was attenuated compared to that for paper anesthesia records. For case end times, the distribution of minutes recorded with AIMS was almost evenly distributed, unlike those from paper records that still showed significant end-digit preference. The accuracy of anesthesia case start times and case end times, as inferred by statistical analysis of the distribution of the times, is enhanced with the use of an AIMS. Furthermore, the differences in AIMS user interface for documenting case start and case end times likely affects the degree of end-digit preference, and likely accuracy, of those times.
Stability of EEG sleep and sleep quality in healthy seniors

When the electroencephalogram-recorded (EEG) sleep of 19 healthy seniors (9 men, 10 women) aged 60-82 years was restudied after an average interval of 2.2 years, most measures of EEG sleep and sleep quality were stable over time. Both elderly men and women showed more awakenings during the second recording series, but no change in visual or computer-scored delta activity. Furthermore, gender-dependent sleep changes were noted only in phasic rapid eye movement (REM) measures (increasing in men, decreasing in women). Reports of sleep quality were also stable over time despite the increase in awakenings, with women reporting a lower sleep quality than men.
Simulation and measurement of an Internet of Things implementation of a programmable digital inductor

The theory, design, and implementation of a programmable Internet of Things digital inductor circuit is presented. Since the inductor is implemented in digital signal processing, the values for the inductance are easily modifiable through an Internet of Things interface, enabling remote access to the physical hardware. The system was implemented on a commercially-available microcontroller board using a client-server scheme over ethernet connection. A control interface running on a laptop was then used to change the inductance remotely. Simulation and implementation of the design are presented and are shown to match at a sample rate of 100 kilosamples per second. Since the design method constitutes a digital approach, performance is expected to scale with higher-speed hardware.
Search for New Particles at BNL

Should the newly discovered particles J (3.1), ψ (3.7) etc. be explained as particles with some hidden quantum number, e.g. charm, then particles with that explicit quantum number should also exist.
The Inter-Generational Health Effect of Early Malnutrition: Evidence from the 1983-85 Ethiopian Famine

Early malnutrition can have adverse long-term effects, leading to poor health across generations. In this paper, using exposure to the 1983-85 Ethiopian famine as an exogenous shock, I examine the inter-generational health effects of early exposure to famine. Linking the Ethiopian Socioeconomic Survey with the 1984 Ethiopian Census, I show that both in utero and early childhood (age 0-3) exposure to the 1983-85 Ethiopian famine increases the probability of stunting and reduces the height-for-age z score of the next generation. The inter-generational health effects of the famine are severe on the pre-famine and maternal cohort than the famine and paternal cohort. This finding suggests that a policy intervention that aims to reduce childhood malnutrition can have a return that transfer across generations.
Retrospective on a decade of research in visualization for cybersecurity

Over the past decade, the visualization for cybersecurity (VizSec) research community has adapted many information visualization techniques to support the critical work of cyber analysts. While these efforts have yielded many specialized tools and platforms, the community lacks a unified approach to the design and implementation of these systems. In this work, we provide a retrospective analysis of the past decade of VizSec publications, with an eye toward developing a more cohesive understanding of the emerging patterns of design at work in our community. We identify common thematic groupings among existing work, as well as several interesting patterns of design around the utilization of various visual encodings. We also discuss existing gaps in the adaptation of information visualization techniques to cybersecurity applications, and recommend avenues for future exploration.
Environmental Justice for all: Community Perspectives on Health and Research:

Some individuals, groups, and communities are at special risk from environmental threats. This is especially the case for low income persons, the working class, and people of color whose health may be imperiled by lead in their houses, pollution in their neighborhoods, and hazards in their workplace. Moreover, many of their children face potential health threats in the parks where they play. The environmental justice perspective unmasks the ethical and political questions of “who gets what, why, and in what amounts.” An environmental and public health strategy is needed to ensure that all Americans are protected.
Derivative-Free Optimization for Oil Field Operations

A variety of optimization problems associated with oil production involve cost functions and constraints that require calls to a subsurface flow simulator. In many situations gradient information cannot be obtained efficiently, or a global search is required. This motivates the use of derivative-free (non-invasive, blackbox) optimization methods. This chapter describes the use of several derivative-free techniques, including generalized pattern search, Hooke-Jeeves direct search, a genetic algorithm, and particle swarm optimization, for three key problems that arise in oil field management. These problems are the optimization of settings (pressure or flow rate) in existing wells, optimization of the locations of new wells, and data assimilation or history matching. The performance of the derivative-free algorithms is shown to be quite acceptable, especially when they are implemented within a distributed computing environment.
Mass Balance Studies of Mercury and Methyl Mercury in Small Temperate/Boreal Lakes of the Northern Hemisphere

Mass balance studies in Wisconsin, Canada, and Sweden indicate that atmospheric deposition is the principal source of Hg to many lakes, whether delivered directly or indirectly via terrestrial runoff. The reported depositional flux varies 10-fold among these northern regions (3 to 30g Hg/km2/y). Watershed export rates vary from about 1 to 6 g Hg/km2/y, indicating that a substantial fraction of the atmospheric load is retained by terrestrial catchments. Hg residence times vary from 150 to 300 days in small Wisconsin lakes. Losses occur through sedimentation, outflow, and gaseous evasion. Environmental factors such as pH and dissolved humic matter (DHM) effect the budgets, concentrations, and speciation of Hg in lakewaters. Sedimentation is favored by low pH and low DHM, gaseous evasion is favored by high pH, and high MeHg concentrations are favored by high DHM and low pH. Multiple regression models containing DHM and pH explained 85% to 90% of the variability in waterborne Hg (0.2 to 4.8 ng/L) and methyl mercury (MeHg: 0.04 to 2.2 ng/L) among WI lakes ranging in pH from 4.5 to 8 and in organic carbon from 1 to 22 mg/L. It is unclear whether DHM affects MeHg production in lakes or simply reflects co-transport with organic C from riparian wetland. Northern wetlands export 0.1 to 1 g MeHg/km2/y along with 10 to 100 kg C/ha/y (versus <0.05 g MeHg/km2/y from uplands and 0.03 to 0.3 g MeHg/km2/y deposited atmospherically). In Little Rock Lake, WI, pelagic fish are the largest reservoir for MeHg while organic sediments are the largest Hg(II) reservoir. Biotic MeHg concentrations increase 2-fold to 4-fold with increasing trophic level, but MeHg turnover rates are highest at low trophic levels. We estimate turnover rates of 5 g MeHg/km2/y by pelagic microorganisms versus 0. 5 g MeHg/km2/y by pelagic fish. These high turnover rates may indicate that in situ rates of MeHg formation and destruction are correspondingly high.
Why Do International Students Avoid Communicating with Americans

We explore how the communication concerns of non-native English speakers (NNS) and Americans relate to their perceptions of each other and decisions to interact. NNS identified their concerns in communicating with Americans, the perceived causes of their concerns, and the strategies they would employ to address these concerns. Americans noted their perceptions of NNS’ (heavy and mild) accents and identified factors that influence their perceptions of NNS and decisions to communicate with NNS. Results revealed that the more NNS attribute their communication concerns to Americans’ bias, the more likely they would avoid interacting with Americans. Results also suggested that Americans show a more favorable attitude toward mild accent NNS. We discuss the implications these findings have for international education and future research.
Clear cell sarcoma of the nasal soft tissue envelope

Abstract Objective(s) Clear cell sarcoma (CCS) is a rare clinical entity with limited head and neck reports. This is the first known case of primary CCS of the nasal soft tissue envelope. The primary objective is to understand the clinical and histopathologic features of CCS of the head and neck. Secondary measures are to recognize the wide differential diagnosis of nasal soft tissue masses and identify treatment strategies to achieve complete resection of nasal soft tissue tumors while optimizing functional and aesthetic results. Methods Case report. Results A 38-year-old otherwise healthy Caucasian male presented with a 2 cm subcutaneous mass of the nasal soft tissue envelope. Confined to the lateral nasal wall, the painless mass gradually increased in size over two years and contributed to nasal obstruction. The patient underwent complete resection via an open septorhinoplasty approach with concomitant functional nasal airway surgery. Pathology, immunohistochemistry, and cytogenetics were consistent with CCS (melanoma of soft parts). As no definitive or established adjuvant medical therapy exists, further treatment was suspended in favor of serial imaging. The patient remains clinically free of disease 24 months following diagnosis with subjective improvement in nasal airflow and cosmesis. Conclusion The differential diagnosis of soft tissue nasal masses is varied. Surgeons should maintain a high index of suspicion for more insidious pathology in otherwise benign-appearing nasal soft tissue masses. An open rhinoplasty approach may be prudent for larger lesions to achieve complete resection with restoration of form and function.
Investigating Evoked EEG Responses to Targets Presented in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) offers the potential to study brain function in complex, ecologically realistic environments. However, the additional degrees of freedom make analysis more challenging, particularly with respect to evoked neural responses. In this paper we designed a target detection task in VR where we varied the visual angle of targets as subjects moved through a three dimensional maze. We investigated how the latency and shape of the classic P300 evoked response varied as a function of locking the electroencephalogram data to the target image onset, the target-saccade intersection, and the first fixation on the target. We found, as expected, a systematic shift in the timing of the evoked responses as a function of the type of response locking, as well as a difference in the shape of the waveforms. Interestingly, single-trial analysis showed that the peak discriminability of the evoked responses does not differ between image locked and saccade locked analysis, though it decreases significantly when fixation locked. These results suggest that there is a spread in the perception of visual information in VR environments across time and visual space. Our results point to the importance of considering how information may be perceived in naturalistic environments, specifically those that have more complexity and higher degrees of freedom than in traditional laboratory paradigms.
AHAB AS CAPITALIST, AHAB AS COMMUNIST: REVISING MOBY-DICK FOR THE COLD WAR

Contrasting F.O. Matthiessen's and R.W.B. Lewis's interpretations of Moby-Dick and Melville's later novels (in American Renaissance and The American Adam respectively) with Richard Chase's revisionist rebuttal (in Herman Melville: A Critical Study), the author describes literary discourse on Melville as an important site, in American Studies, to exorcise the old left and redefine liberalism in the postwar period.
The Arabidopsis N-terminal Acetyltransferase NAA50 Regulates Plant Growth and Defense

Abstract Stress signaling in plants is carefully regulated to ensure proper development and reproductive fitness. Overactive defense signaling can result in dwarfism as well as developmental defects. In addition to requiring a significant amount of energy, plant stress responses place a burden upon the cellular machinery, which can result in the accumulation of misfolded proteins and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Negative regulators of stress signaling, such as EDR1, ensure that stress responses are properly suspended when they are not needed. Here, we describe the role of an uncharacterized N-terminal acetyltransferase, NAA50, in the regulation of plant development and stress responses. Our results demonstrate that NAA50, an interactor of EDR1, plays an important role in regulating the tradeoff between plant growth and defense. Plants lacking NAA50 display severe developmental defects as well as induced stress responses. Reduction of NAA50 expression results in arrested stem and root growth and senescence. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that EDR1 and NAA50 are required for suppression of ER stress signaling. This work establishes that NAA50 is essential for plant development and the suppression of stress responses, likely through the regulation of ER stress. These experiments demonstrate a role for N-terminal acetylation in the suppression of ER stress, as well as the tradeoff between stress responses and development. One Sentence Summary Knockout in Arabidopsis of the broadly conserved N-terminal acetyl transferase NAA50 induces ER stress, leading to severe dwarfism and induction of defense responses.
Interdigital Photodetector with stabilized α-phase CsPbI3 using polyethylene oxide

Inorganic perovskite photodetector with chromium interdigitated electrodes is investigated. The active material is a solution processed CsPbI3 synthesized by one step deposition. The α-phase of this material is unstable at room temperature and it converts to the δ-phase at temperatures below 320°C. The stabilization of the α-phase was conducted in nitrogen environment by adding 5% weight ratio of polyethylene oxide to the equimolar mixture of PbI2 and CsI in dimethyl sulfoxide. The absorbance spectrum of the CsPbI3 with polyethylene oxide showed the emergence of a second peak at ∼ 690 nm related to the α-phase in addition to the peak at 420 nm of the δ phase. The peak in the visible range was also observed in the μ-photoluminescence spectrum at 690 nm. The interdigital structure was prepared by photolithography method to deposit 80 nm of chromium interdigitated electrodes on glass substrate with 10 μm channel width. The detector's on/off ratio and the detectivity were calculated from the current voltage curve under 100 mW/cm2 to be 9.64×103 and 9.2×109 Jones respectively.
Greening the color line: historicizing water infrastructure redevelopment and environmental justice in the St. Louis metropolitan region

In 2011 the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District developed a geographically bifurcated gray and green approach addressing aging sanitary and stormwater infrastructure in the region. This approach ...
Cleaning Out the Statutory Junk

“Statutory junk” is my term for the mishmash of statutory commands to administrative agencies that have accumulated over the decades and now are having unintended consequences. Enforceable in a court of law, even a few words of statutory junk can thwart a statutory purpose or impose unnecessary burdens on the public. Unfortunately, Congress typically fails to protect us from the statutory junk. I propose a series of solutions to make Legislators discard legislative trash.
Proof-of-principle neural network models for classification, attribution, creation, style-mixing, and morphing of image data for genetic conditions

Abstract Neural networks have shown strong potential to aid the practice of healthcare. Mainly due to the need for large datasets, these applications have focused on common medical conditions, where much more data is typically available. Leveraging publicly available data, we trained a neural network classifier on images of rare genetic conditions with skin findings. We used approximately100 images per condition to classify 6 different genetic conditions. Unlike other work related to these types of images, we analyzed both preprocessed images that were cropped to show only the skin lesions, as well as more complex images showing features such as the entire body segment, patient, and/or the background. The classifier construction process included attribution methods to visualize which pixels were most important for computer-based classification. Our classifier was significantly more accurate than pediatricians or medical geneticists for both types of images. Next, we trained two generative adversarial networks to generate new images. The first involved all of the genetic conditions and was used for style-mixing to demonstrate how the diversity of small datasets can be increased. The second focused on different disease stages for one condition and depicted how morphing can illustrate the disease progression of this condition. Overall, our findings show how computational techniques can be applied in multiple ways to small datasets to enhance the study of rare genetic diseases.
Cross Border Governmental Organizations and Tragedies of the Commons

The four cases of cross-border management of water resource reviewed in this chapter include the Northwest Atlantic ground-fishery, the Columbia River anadromous fishery, the Colorado River Compact water allocation system, and the Great Lakes Commission and Compact. They illustrate the associated problems with cross-border governmental resource management. Among other lessons, they show that effectiveness relies on the “good will” of the negotiators as well as the pursuit of the principles reviewed in previous chapters.
Investigating How Teachers' Formative Assessment Practices Change Across a Year

Teaching chemistry as a practice rather than as a mere collection of facts demands that teachers modify their practices, particularly their approach to formative assessment (FA). In this study, we investigated how teachers’ FA practices changed as a result of their participation in a professional development program designed with a Chemical Thinking perspective. Four FA portfolio chapters were collected from 19 secondary school teachers over the course of a year. The analysis of the FA portfolio chapters gave insight into changes in teachers’ FA practice in the areas of task design, purpose, and focus when evaluating student work. All teachers implemented changes in at least one of these areas of analysis, with about half of them creating FA tasks that demonstrated changes in all three dimensions. Changes in FA design were the most prevalent among participating teachers, shifting from tasks designed to explore the acquisition of knowledge to tasks that explored student reasoning with chemistry. On the other hand, changes in evaluation focus were the least common as most teachers centered their attention on the correctness of students’ answers rather than on the nature of students’ chemistry ideas. The results of our investigation point to areas in which chemistry teachers require substantial support to effectively use FA in their classrooms.
Natural Resource Taxation in Mexico: Some Considerations

Mexico has large extractive industries and it traditionally has raised sizable fiscal revenues from the oil and gas sector. A confluence of factors—elevated commodity prices, financial challenges of the state-owned oil company Pemex, and revenue needs for financing social and public investment spending over the medium term—suggest that a review of Mexico’s taxation regimes for natural resources would be opportune, against the backdrop of a comprehensive approach to tackling Mexico’s challenges. This paper identifies opportunities for redesigning mining taxation to increase somewhat the revenue intake while maintaining the favorable investment profile of the sector. It also discusses recent reforms to the oil and gas fiscal regime and future reform considerations, with attention to the attractiveness of investment on commercial terms—an issue that should be placed in the context of an overall reform of Pemex’s business strategy and possibly of the energy sector more generally.
Examining attendance patterns across integrated therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder.

A substantial body of evidence supports the use of integrated treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Integrated trauma-focused exposure therapies reduce PTSD symptoms more than comparison treatments, including integrated coping skills therapies, but demonstrate lower attendance, raising questions regarding the relationships between attendance, outcomes, and treatment type. We aimed to examine these relationships in a RCT comparing integrated prolonged exposure (Concurrent Treatment for PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Using Prolonged Exposure, COPE; n = 58), to integrated coping skills therapy (Seeking Safety, SS; n = 52) offered in 12 sessions, with an option to extend up to four additional sessions. Participants were categorized based on number of sessions attended (0-4; 5-8; 9-12; 13-16). Multilevel modeling revealed that only when examining therapy attendance segments individually, clinical outcomes were comparable across treatments except in the 9-12 group, with COPE resulting in greater reductions in PTSD symptoms (p < 0.001), but not in alcohol use. Extending past 12 sessions was not associated with additional clinically meaningful symptom improvement for either treatment. These results suggest that attending a complete or near complete course of exposure therapy may enhance PTSD outcomes relative to non-trauma-focused therapies.
Relationships between Endocrine Functions and Substance Abuse Syndromes: Heroin and Related Short-Acting Opiates in Addiction Contrasted with Methadone and Other Long-Acting Opioid Agonists Used in Pharmacotherapy of Addiction

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the relationships between endocrine functions and substance-abuse syndromes. Important possible relationships between endocrine function, substance abuse, and addiction syndromes in general, including the early hypothesis that abnormalities in stress responsivity might contribute to the pathophysiology of these disorders, were first formally recognized in the late 1960s. Research reports that focused on the impact of one of the most devastating illicit drugs of abuse, heroin, on various specific components of endocrine function during cycles of addiction, as well as the very early reports on normalization of the perturbations caused by this short-acting opiate on endocrine function during long-term pharmacotherapy with the long-acting opioid agonist, methadone, first appeared in the early 1970s. Studies of both heroin addicts and former addicts in methadone maintenance treatment have been conducted in various therapeutic settings over the ensuing 30 years.
SCHEDULING IN MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS

In video-on-demand multimedia systems, the data has to be delivered to the consumer at regular intervals to deliver smooth playback of video streams. A video-on-demand server has to schedule the service of individual streams to ensure such a smooth delivery of video data. We will present scheduling solutions for individual components of service in a multiprocessor based video server.
THE PROBLEM OF NODULES IN THE THYROID GLAND

The conclusions suggested by this brief review are that: (1) Nodules in the thyroid are so frequent that removal as a routine procedure is impractical and, if half of clinically normal glands are indeed nodular, impossible. (2) Histologic changes in thyroid tissue frequently suggest a diagnosis of cancer when no life-threatening lesion actually exists. (3) Fatal cancer of the thyroid is rare and operations upon nodular glands will neither cure nor prevent true thyroid carcinoma. (4) Currently the only practical method of treatment for nontoxic thyroid enlargement, nodular or diffuse, is suppression of the gland by the administration of thyroid preparations in adequate doses. Surgical procedures, roentgen irradiation and radioiodine therapy are largely palliative measures in true carcinoma of the thyroid gland.
Neighborhood structure, parenting processes, and the development of youths' externalizing behaviors: a multilevel analysis.

Associations among neighborhood structure, parenting processes, and the development of externalizing behavior problems were investigated in a longitudinal sample of early adolescents (from age 11 to 13). Mothers' reports of parental monitoring (at age 11), mothers' and youths' reports of the amount of youths' unsupervised time (at age 11), and youths' reports of positive parental involvement (at age 12) were used to predict initial levels (at age 11) and growth rates in youths' externalizing behavior as reported by teachers. Census-based measures of neighborhood structural disadvantage, residential instability, and concentrated affluence were expected to moderate the effects of parenting processes (e.g., parental monitoring) on externalizing behavior. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that less parental monitoring was associated with more externalizing behavior problems at age 11, and more unsupervised time spent out in the community (vs. unsupervised time in any context) and less positive parental involvement were associated with increases in externalizing behavior across time. Furthermore, the decrease in externalizing levels associated with more parental monitoring was significantly more pronounced when youths lived in neighborhoods with more residential instability.
Sesquilinear forms in Hilbert spaces and associated operators

In a finite-dimensional unitary space, the notion of a sesquilinear form and that of a linear operator are equivalent, symmetric forms corresponding to symmetric operators. This is true even in an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space as long as one is concerned with bounded forms and bounded operators. When we have to consider unbounded forms and operators, however, there is no such obvious relationship. Nevertheless there exists a closed theory on a relationship between semibounded symmetric forms and semibounded selfadjoint operators1. This theory can be extended to non-symmetric forms and operators within certain restrictions. Since the results are essential in applications to perturbation theory, a detailed exposition of them will be given in this chapter2. Some of the immediate applications are included here, and further results will be found in Chapters VII and VIII.