cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Breaking bread and breaking boundaries: A case study on increasing organizational learning opportunities and fostering communities of practice through sharing meals in an academic program

Organizations are increasingly interested in creating learning opportunities for their employees. This article explores and describes how a university planned to increase employee interactions and organizational learning opportunities by fostering emergence of communities of practice. In this case study, Saint Xavier University offered an academic program for Chicago police officers at a Chicago Police Department training facility. More than a hundred officers enrolled in a master's of business administration (MBA) program participated in this study. The study gathered data through a combination of surveys, interviews, and direct observations to investigate the program participants' interactions and the potential impact of their interactions on the host organization. The primary academic program design factors included leveraging class break times by providing meals for program participants to share. Comparisons are drawn from research on the benefits of family meal sharing; the potential of similar benefits to organizations are explored. Results indicate that academic program design factors may increase interaction and organizational learning opportunities, and that shared meal times play an essential role.
Increased risk of preterm delivery with elevated maternal alpha-fetoprotein and plasma zinc levels in African-American women.

Background. This study evaluated the relationship of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) and plasma zinc levels (PZn) to pregnancy outcome. Methods. The subjects for this investigation consisted of 917 African-American women, who on registration for prenatal care between 7-22 weeks gestational age (GA), had PZn levels determined and also had MSAFP recorded in their charts. Results. MSAFP levels greater than the 90th percentile significantly increased the risk of PTD (adjusted odds ratio or AOR=2.5, 95% C.I.=1.5−4.2) but not of IUGR. There was no significant relationship between maternal PZn level and PTD or IUGR. When subjects were stratified by MSAFP levels, in women with MSAFP greater than the 90th percentile, the AOR for PTD was 4.0 (95% C.I.=1.2−13.5) for women with PZn levels greater than the median vs. those with PZn equal to or less than the median. In women with MSAFP equal to or less than the 90th percentile, there was no such difference. Multiple regression analyses, using GA at birth as th...
EFFECT OF ETHAMBUTOL ON CYTOLOGY OF MYCOBACTERIUM SMEGMATIS.

Gale, Glen R. (Veterans Administration Hospital, Durham, N.C.) and Helen H. McLain. Effect of ethambutol on cytology of Mycobacterium smegmatis . J. Bacteriol. 86: 749–756. 1963.—Electron microscopy showed the effects of the antimycobacterial drug, ethambutol [d-2,2′-(ethylenediimino)-di-1-butanol], on the cytology of Mycobacterium smegmatis . After 10 hr of exposure to the drug, cells no longer contained material which, in control cells, was closely associated with cellular division, possibly genetic substance. No marked changes were observed in other cellular structures. It was concluded that the drug may block one or more steps in the synthesis of pentose nucleic acid or deoxypentose nucleic acid, ultimately causing cessation of cellular division and loss of viability. These cytological findings were compatible with results of other investigators on the mode of action of this drug. Images
Complications of Urological Laparoscopy: A Standardized 1 Institution Experience

AbstractPurpose: Urological laparoscopy has a significant and steep learning curve plus its own unique set of complications. Our retrospective study documents the success at 1 institution of maintaining a low number of complications during urological laparoscopy using a standardized approach plus clinicians with significant laparoscopic experience.Materials and Methods: We evaluated 282 consecutive adults who underwent urological laparoscopic procedures at our institution. Of the procedures 241 (85 percent) were performed for pelvic lymph node dissection, and 41 (15 percent) for renal and other miscellaneous conditions. The common factor in all of these laparoscopic procedures was a single team approach, thus standardization for the entire series of procedures.Results: Of 12 complications (4.2 percent) 5 were noted intraoperatively and 7 were discovered in the postoperative period. Five patients (1.8 percent) required open surgical intervention, including 3 intraoperative repairs of vascular (1), ureteral...
Distinct Susceptibilities of Corneal Pseudomonas aeruginosa Clinical Isolates to Neutrophil Extracellular Trap-Mediated Immunity

Ocular bacterial keratitis, often associated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial infection, commonly occurs in contact lens wearers and may lead to vision impairment. In this study, we analyzed the contribution of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to the mediation of protection during ocular keratitis. Both invasive and cytotoxic P. aeruginosa clinical isolates induced NET release by neutrophils. NETs carried the characteristic histone proteins, elastase, lysozyme, myeloperoxidase, and metabolic enzymes. While the invasive P. aeruginosa strains PAO1 (serogroup O5) and 6294 (serogroup O6) were trapped by NETs, the cytotoxic P. aeruginosa strains 6077, 6206 (serogroup O11), and PA14 (serogroup 010) were less sensitive to NET capture. The mechanism of escape by the cytotoxic strains from adhesion to NETs involved the shedding of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) that outcompeted the cytotoxic P. aeruginosa strains for NET binding. When ocular infection was caused by an invasive strain in vivo, NETs were released at the ocular surface to capture bacteria, limiting their spread. Treatment with MNase I had a dose-dependent effect, with low doses of MNase speeding up bacterial clearance and high doses of MNase having toxic consequences. Cumulatively, our data suggest that NET-mediated immunity is a two-step process. Initially, pathogens attach to NET fragments; subsequently, upon nuclease activity, active serine proteases, which proteolytically degrade NET-associated proteins and promote DNase activity, are released. Therefore, a balance between NET production and NET degradation is needed to achieve maximal NET immunity.
β-TrCP-Mediated Ubiquitination and Degradation of PHLPP1 Are Negatively Regulated by Akt

PHLPP1 belongs to a novel family of Ser/Thr protein phosphatases that serve as tumor suppressors by negatively regulating Akt signaling. Our recent studies have demonstrated that loss of PHLPP expression occurs at high frequency in colorectal cancer. In this study, we identified PHLPP1 as a proteolytic target of a beta-TrCP-containing Skp-Cullin 1-F-box protein (SCF) complex (SCF(beta-TrCP)) E3 ubiquitin ligase in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. Overexpression of wild-type but not DeltaF-box mutant beta-TrCP leads to decreased expression and increased ubiquitination of PHLPP1, whereas knockdown of endogenous beta-TrCP has the opposite effect. In addition, we show that the beta-TrCP-mediated degradation requires phosphorylation of PHLPP1 by casein kinase I and glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK-3beta), and activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway suppresses the degradation of PHLPP1 by inhibiting the GSK-3beta activity. Furthermore, expression of a degradation-deficient PHLPP1 mutant in colon cancer cells results in a more effective dephosphorylation of Akt and inhibition of cell growth. Taken together, our findings demonstrate a key role for beta-TrCP in controlling the level of PHLPP1, and activation of Akt negatively regulates this degradation process.
The Case Conference as Social Ritual: Constructing a Mother of a Sexually Abused Child

This article reports a case study of social workers’ constructions of mothers of sexually abused children, which revealed that, although they no longer constructed mothers as collusive, these socia...
Stable Symplectic Integrators for Power Systems

The paper illustrates the application of symplectic integrators obtained by composition for solving power system consisting of several machines. The multi-machine angular swings during and following fault conditions and clearing are investigated. Numerical results obtained using symplectic integrators were found to be comparable to those obtained using the traditional trapezoid integrator. Symplectic integrators give globally stable results and save computational time, necessary for multi-machine power systems.
Nitric Oxide Synthase Stabilizes the Tetrahydrobiopterin Cofactor Radical by Controlling Its Protonation State

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS), a homodimeric enzyme with a flavin reductase domain and a P450-type heme-containing oxygenase domain, catalyzes the formation of NO from l-arginine, NADPH, and O2 in a two-step reaction sequence. In the first step, a tetrahydrobiopterin (H4B) cofactor bound near one of the heme propionate groups acts as an electron donor to the P450-type heme active site, yielding a one-electron oxidized radical that is subsequently re-reduced. In solution, H4B undergoes two-electron oxidation, showing that the enzyme significantly alters the proton- and electron-transfer properties of the cofactor. Multifrequency EPR and ENDOR spectroscopy were used to determine magnetic parameters, and from them the (de)protonation state of the H4B radical in the oxygenase domain dimer of inducible NO synthase that was trapped by rapid freeze quench. From 9.5 and 330−416 GHz EPR and from 34 GHz 1H ENDOR spectroscopy, the g tensor of the radical and the hyperfine tensors of several N and H nuclei in the radic...
Development of a Porous Silicon Based Biosensor

In this paper we demonstrate that porous silicon (PS) can be used as an immobilization matrix and a transducer for biosensor applications. Thin layers of PS were fabricated showing fine structure in their reflection spectra, characteristic of longitudinal optical cavity modes, or Fabry-Perot interference fringes. The PS surface was modified by covalently bonding streptavidin to a heterobifunctional linker immobilized to the surface using common silane chemistry. The mode spacing and wavelength in the interference spectrum was modified, by displacing buffer and introducing proteins into the PS layer. Protein-protein interactions between immobilized Streptavidin and biotinylated Protein A followed by Protein A and IgG were detected. The surface was regenerated during the course of the experiment showing reversibility of the sensor at the third layer.
Consumer-directed health plans.

A physician outlines the RAND Health Insurance Experiment and its conclusion that the deductible feature of consumer-directed health plans can reduce health care spending significantly. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Acetazolamide and insulin alter choroid plexus epithelial cell [Na+], pH, and volume.

Agents that inhibit or stimulate Na+ transport were tested for their effects on the ionic composition and volume of the in vivo choroid plexus (CP) epithelium. Ketamine-anesthetized adult Sprague-D...
Is a fully wrapped SSB–DNA complex essential for Escherichia coli survival?

Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) is an essential homotetramer that binds ssDNA and recruits multiple proteins to their sites of action during genomic maintenance. Each SSB subunit contains an N-terminal globular oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide binding fold (OB-fold) and an intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain. SSB binds ssDNA in multiple modes in vitro, including the fully wrapped (SSB)65 and (SSB)56 modes, in which ssDNA contacts all four OB-folds, and the highly cooperative (SSB)35 mode, in which ssDNA contacts an average of only two OB-folds. These modes can both be populated under physiological conditions. While these different modes might be used for different functions, this has been difficult to assess. Here we used a dimeric SSB construct with two covalently linked OB-folds to disable ssDNA binding in two of the four OB-folds thus preventing formation of fully wrapped DNA complexes in vitro, although they retain a wild-type-like, salt-dependent shift in cooperative binding to ssDNA. These variants complement wild-type SSB in vivo indicating that a fully wrapped mode is not essential for function. These results do not preclude a normal function for a fully wrapped mode, but do indicate that E. coli tolerates some flexibility with regards to its SSB binding modes.
Finishing lamb performance responses to bovine and porcine somatotropins administered by Alzet pumps.

Daily injection of ovine and bovine somatotropin (oST and bST, respectively) has been shown to improve performance and carcass quality of finishing lambs. To evaluate responses to continuously released bST and porcine ST (pST), which have 99 and 91% sequence homology with oST, respectively, finishing lambs were implanted with 2-wk Alzet pumps containing bST or pST, which was released at rates of 2 or 4 mg/d. Six-week growth rate and feed efficiency responses to bST were greater than those to pST (P less than .05). Overall feed efficiency was improved 15% and growth rate was increased 16% in lambs treated with 4 mg/d of bST compared with control lambs and neither trait was affected in pST-treated lambs. Performance responses were reflected by changes in circulating glucose, blood urea nitrogen, and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentrations. Scatchard analysis of sera with relative binding of greater than 30% revealed that average binding capacities and affinities of pST-treated lambs were 7.0 mg/liter and 6.0 x 10(9) liters/mol, respectively, and of bST-treated lambs were .8 mg/liter and 1.3 x 10(9) liters/mol, respectively. In addition, lambs with high-capacity pST antibodies had lower 6-wk IGF-I concentrations than those of controls, suggesting that these antibodies may have been attenuating responsiveness to pST. It is concluded that continuously released bST, but not pST, improves performance of finishing lambs.
Layered Spatial Modulation for Multiuser Communications

A layered spatial modulation (LSM) scheme is proposed for the downlink of multiuser wireless communication systems. The proposed scheme falls in the class of the well-known point-to-point SM as it employs only one antenna in each transmission interval. However, it is designed based on assigning different sets of transmit antennas, rather than single antenna elements, to transmit different symbols of each user. We first study the error performance of the proposed LSM. In order to improve the overall error performance of the system, we employ a graphical approach to adaptively allocate antennas to different users. We also propose some techniques to increase the spectral efficiency of LSM. Extending the proposed method to the generalized LSM, we also compare the maximum transmission rate of the proposed scheme with that of the existing SM-based multiuser schemes, and show that this technique can significantly improve the spectral efficiency of the SM-based multiuser communications.
The Right Answer

When men have looked to philosophy for wisdom, or when they have sought it in the works of great philosophers, what is it that they have been seeking?
HEAT TRANSFER TO WATER IN THIN RECTANGULAR CHANNELS

ABS>Heat-transfcr coefficients are presented for water flowing vcrtieally in thin rectangular channels (0.1 x 2.5 in.) 18 and 36 in. long and heated electrically around the entire periphery. Thc range of variables covered is: 65 to 200 psia pressures 90 to 200 F subcoolings and 4 to 50 fps water velocity. Heat-transfer correlations are given for data along the narrow and wide faces of the rectangular test section. Burnout data also are reported with steam blanketing occurring first at the corner of the test section. The proposed correlating equations valid at the narrow face of the test sections gives values considerably lower than those obtained in a circular pipe. (auth)
Radicalizing the Phenomenology of Basic Minds with Levinas and Merleau-Ponty

The issue of minimal cognition or basic mentality concerns the elementary ingredients of cognitive processes. Within the larger discourse of enactive and embodied cognition, a current of research has emerged endorsing the radical proposal that basic minds neither represent nor compute, and, moreover, that the cognitive processes peculiar to them tend heavily (if not constitutively) to be both world-involving and to incorporate extra-neural bodily factors. Such a stance removes certain obstacles to a naturalistic view of basic minds and, at the same time, is more consistent with the idea of there being a deep continuity between life and mind. Here I suggest that the phenomenological tradition has resources for bolstering the case for radicalism about basic minds. Although the classical phenomenology of Husserl and Heidegger may be amenable to some form of representationalism, I propose a phenomenological corrective by appealing to the work of Levinas and Merleau-Ponty. Levinas ardently criticizes the representationalism of early phenomenology and places in its stead a non-representational account of “sensibility.” Merleau-Ponty, in addition, with his theory of (non-semantic) sense gives us a way of understanding basic minds synergistically, in terms of the perceiving organism’s embodied interactions with its surroundings, in a way supportive of the radical idea that basic minds are self-organizing dynamical systems.
Deteriorating Infrastructure in the Aged Muscle Stem Cell Niche

Following an injury, the extracellular matrix (ECM) undergoes dramatic remodeling to facilitate tissue repair. In a new study, Lukjanenko and colleagues show how an age-associated change in this process affects the regenerative ability of muscle stem cells (MuSCs).
Basal cell carcinoma in Ptch1 exposed to ionizing radiation - effects of genetic background

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005 1062 Exposure to cesium137 radiation (IR) at age 8 weeks reliably induces microscopic and macroscopic basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) in the skin of Ptch1+/− mice. Because the response of human skin to environmental insults such as ultraviolet light varies markedly even among individuals with similar pigmentation, we are using this mouse model to investigate the effects of genetic background on the susceptibility to BCC carcinogenesis. To initiate these studies, we have transferred the Ptch1 mutant allele onto several mus strains - FVB/NJ, C3H/HeOuJ, DBA/2, and CBA/CaJ. Ptch1+/− mice at backcross 5 (N6) or greater were given IR, and a standardized biopsy was taken at age 9 months and assessed for BCC number, cross-sectional size, and burden. The FVB/NJ and CBA/CaJ strains had fewer BCCs than did the C3H and DBA strains (23 and 27 vs. 36 and 39 respectively) but the tumors in the FVB mice were considerably smaller than those in the CBA mice. Similarly the C3H mice had an average tumor size 1.5 times greater than that of the DBA mice. Thus these strains appear to contain polymorphisms that differentially control the size and number of microscopic BCCs resulting from a given environmental insult. We also assessed BCC carcinogenesis in interspecific FVB/NJ X M.Spretus F1 mice. The microscopic tumor number, size, and burden were greater in these hybrids (greater than 2 fold more tumors, 2.5 fold bigger size, and 5 times greater burden) than in the parental FVB mice, a finding that contrasts markedly with past experience with other tumor models, in which M.Spretus mice on balance contribute marked resistance rather than susceptibility. These results in the interspecific cross and the finding of relative resistance of FVB/NJ mice to BCC carcinogenesis in contrast to their relative sensitivity to skin squamous cell (SCC) carcinogenesis suggest that genetic control of susceptibility vs. resistance to BCC carcinogenesis differs markedly from that controlling SCC carcinogenesis, and they will serve as a foundation for identification of the molecular basis controlling these differences.
“A Collision between Beauty and Ugliness”: An Interview with Richard Misrach

For two days in August 2010, the author conducted an oral history interview with photographer Richard Misrach in his Emeryville, California, studio. One of the most influential photographers working today, Misrach has produced an impressive body of work that spans nearly five decades and consistently garners critical, international attention. His meticulously rendered, large-scale color photographs focus on the relationship between humans and their environments. Sponsored by the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, the interview, edited for brevity and clarity, reveals a photographer highly cognizant of both the long history of photography that proceeds him as well as the changing nature of the art world and the market that sustains it. He reflects on the larger national myths that specific places—most notably, the American West, but also the Deep South, and the Southwest borderlands—are asked to carry, and the often toxic results that ensue. A nuanced, progressive sense of place becomes evident as Mis...
Psp Stress Response Proteins Form a Complex with Mislocalized Secretins in the Yersinia enterocolitica Cytoplasmic Membrane.

ABSTRACT The bacterial phage shock protein system (Psp) is a conserved extracytoplasmic stress response that is essential for the virulence of some pathogens, including Yersinia enterocolitica. It is induced by events that can compromise inner membrane (IM) integrity, including the mislocalization of outer membrane pore-forming proteins called secretins. In the absence of the Psp system, secretin mislocalization permeabilizes the IM and causes rapid cell death. The Psp proteins PspB and PspC form an integral IM complex with two independent roles. First, the PspBC complex is required to activate the Psp response in response to some inducing triggers, including a mislocalized secretin. Second, PspBC are sufficient to counteract mislocalized secretin toxicity. Remarkably, secretin mislocalization into the IM induces psp gene expression without significantly affecting the expression of any other genes. Furthermore, psp null strains are killed by mislocalized secretins, whereas no other null mutants have been found to share this specific secretin sensitivity. This suggests an exquisitely specific relationship between secretins and the Psp system, but there has been no mechanism described to explain this. In this study, we addressed this deficiency by using a coimmunoprecipitation approach to show that the Psp proteins form a specific complex with mislocalized secretins in the Y. enterocolitica IM. Importantly, analysis of different secretin mutant proteins also revealed that this interaction is absolutely dependent on a secretin adopting a multimeric state. Therefore, the Psp system has evolved with the ability to detect and detoxify dangerous secretin multimers while ignoring the presence of innocuous monomers. IMPORTANCE The phage shock protein (Psp) response has been linked to important phenotypes in diverse bacteria, including those related to antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation, and virulence. This has generated widespread interest in understanding various aspects of its function. Outer membrane secretin proteins are essential components of export systems required for the virulence of many bacterial pathogens. However, secretins can mislocalize into the inner membrane, and this induces the Psp response in a highly specific manner and kills Psp-defective strains with similar specificity. There has been no mechanism described to explain this exquisitely specific relationship between secretins and the Psp system. Therefore, this study provides a critical advance by discovering that Psp effector proteins form a complex with secretins in the Yersinia enterocolitica inner membrane. Remarkably, this interaction is absolutely dependent on a secretin adopting its multimeric state. Therefore, the Psp system detects and detoxifies dangerous secretin multimers, while ignoring the presence of innocuous secretin monomers.
532 nm Laser Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate

Abstract There is a long history of advancement in minimally invasive therapies for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The gold standard in the treatment of BPH has long been transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), performed using an electrocautery loop under direct visualization with a cystoscope. Over the past two decades, however, the use of lasers for photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) has become more common in treatment of BPH, with concomitant advances in the efficacy and utility of this technology. In this chapter, we review the history of this procedure and relevant technical details of the lasers used in PVP. We then discuss surgical technique, outcomes, including comparison to other modalities, and relative cost of the procedure.
NON-VON's applicability to three AI task area

NON-VON is a massively parallel machine constructed using custom VLSI chips, each containing a number of simple processing elements. A preliminary prototype is now operational at Columbia University The machine is intended to provide highly efficient support for a wide range of artificial intelligence and other symbolic applications. This paper briefly describes the current version of the NONVON machine and presents evidence for its applicability to the execution of OPS5 production systems, a number of low- and intermediate-level computer vision tasks, and certain "difficult" relational algebraic operations relevant to knowledge base management. Analytic and simulation results are presented for a number of algorithms. The data suggest that NON-VON could provide a performance improvement of as much as two to three orders of magnitude over a conventional sequential machine for a wide range of AI tasks.
Clinical and Laboratory Evaluation

Early detection of the occurrence of acute kidney injury (AKI) and delineation of the cause(s) of this disorder are important to implement early therapy and perhaps reduce morbidity and mortality. The current reliance on measurements of serum creatinine to define and classify severity of AKI (RIFLE criteria) ensures that AKI will be diagnosed relatively late. Newer biomarkers offer promise to detect AKI in earlier stages than currently available tests but remain to be fully evaluated. A systematic approach to each patient with AKI is necessary to ensure that all causal events are identified and addressed.
Improving mental health care for children and adolescents: a role for prevention science.

Among all the topics raised by Remschmidt and Belfer, the most crucial might be their call to identify etiological factors to inform prevention programs. Modern prevention science is based on the concept of targeting or altering known risk factors or enhancing known protective factors that occur early in the chain of developmental events leading to disorder (1).
The ethics of research with children.

Using children as research subjects is only ethical in very specific situations where the risk to the child is minimal. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
On the structure of high-density water at constant temperature

Calculations of the site-site correlation functions for a model of water were performed as a function of density (or pressure) at fixed temperature. These calculations are discussed and compared to neutron-scattering data. The structure of liquid water at high pressure is consistent with a substantially distorted hydrogen-bonding network. It is found that, unlike MeOH, water cannot easily accommodate structures associated with directional attractive forces in the region of several kilobars of pressure.
A Collaborative Student Led Model for Civic Engagement in Human Rights

Faculty members can experience the organizational and planning aspects of civic engagement as barriers to its use. At small rural colleges, institutional resources are less formalized and can add to the perception of difficulty in undertaking community based action. Previously, at the University of Denver, a larger urban campus with a community action office and a multitude of my own connections, I led a professor-centered community engagement course in human rights. Upon arriving at Marlboro College, I had to rethink the course due to location, my weak community connections as a newcomer, and research that showed the value of dynamic learner-centered approaches in civic education. In response, I designed a collaborative student led model that placed student teams as researchers and central actors in the planning, organization and implementation of their own community action projects. The model included: 1) facilitated democratic group decision making and a collaborative process for choosing projects; 2) in class "work days" to support students’ independent action and scaffolding the skills they needed to engage community organizations responsibly; 3) regular “theory-to-practice challenges;” 4) written work emphasizing theory connections in community life, including reflection papers, a theory paper, and a final paper integrating course texts and the action project; and 5) comparative case studies for context and empirical grounding in human rights issue areas. The course, Comparing Outsiders, took a comparative look at current and emerging issues in human rights with an overarching theoretical exploration of self and other. The pedagogical goals included analyzing how community groups surpass or reinforce insider vs. outsider in their help. The projects ranged from volunteerism with reflection, to civic action research on issues ranging from prisoner re-entry and homelessness to gay community building and perceptions of in- or out-groups on campus. Student action projects considered both practical and theoretical strategies for transcending hierarchies of exclusion. The student-led model yielded better reviews and a higher quality of work than the professor-driven model. The student-led collaborative group did significantly more work in the process, and most importantly, showed sustained pleasure in the work and learning. There was a eudemonistic experience that emerged from elements of choice and self-direction that was profound, as individual interests intersected and built towards the whole. To be sure, the process had challenges and moments of uncertainty as well. As the relationship was not pre-formed and institutional, it was not definitively sustainable to the community organizations beyond the few ad-hoc student-to-organization connections that developed. This weakness reflects needs to be addressed.
Outreach to Define a Public Safety Communications Model For Broadband Cellular Video

Video applications and analytics are routinely projected as a stressing and significant service of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network. As part of a NIST PSCR funded effort, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and MIT Lincoln Laboratory have been developing a body worn camera dataset that will be made publically available, along with identifying and recommending a set of feasible potential video analytics that can be built using the dataset or others. The development of this dataset was informed by outreach and feedback from the public safety community. We overview the outreach process and proposed capabilities that could be developed with a video dataset tailored for public safety.
Flame, icons and healing: a colonial Maya ontology

The Ritual of the Bacabs is an eighteenth-century Yucatec Maya language manuscript containing over forty healing chants and numerous remedies for a variety of illnesses. In this paper, I reconstruc...
A process for establishing and maintaining inter-rater reliability for two observation instruments as a fidelity of implementation measure: A large-scale randomized controlled trial perspective

Abstract In this study, we presented a practical framework to establish and monitor inter-rater reliability (IRR) of classroom observation instruments as a measure of fidelity of implementation (FOI) in the context of a large-scale, federally-funded, yearly-long randomized study targeting English learners and their teachers’ instruction. We utilized two different instruments and demonstrated the following steps: (a) establishing initial IRR, (b) continuously monitoring IRR, and (c) re-establishing IRR when it fell below the pre-determined cut-off value at each FOI checkpoint from 116 bilingual classrooms across seven school districts in Texas. The on-going training, coding procedures, and calculations of IRR across both treatment and control conditions were closely examined. While this project was equipped with extensive resources and a sophisticated study design, we have also addressed guidelines for establishing and maintaining IRR that can be applied across various designs in under-resourced programs to measure FOI through classroom observation.
Definition and Assessment of Coronary-Prone Behavior

Any consideration of assessment issues regarding coronary-prone behavior must begin with a review and evaluation of the evidence that certain psychological/behavioral constructs are “coronary-prone,” i. e., that certain psychological/behavioral characteristics are associated with and/or predictive of such manifestations of coronary heart disease (CHD) as myocardial infarction, cardiac death, angina, and coronary atherosclerosis (coronary artery disease, CAD). On the basis of such evidence it will be possible to draw conclusions regarding the best available means of assessing coronary-prone characteristics, as well as what further research is needed to improve our ability to assess such characteristics.
Maps for a Prince

This article takes up what and how maps might have taught a Crown Prince in the century before maps became a part of classrooms and Mercator’s system of projection engendered those collective perceptions of space and person that have become a part of a modern shared spatial imagination. The focus of this article is a single codex, utterly unique, which scholars have posited was compiled in 1570 to accompany the Crown Prince of Julich-Cleves-Berg on his Italian trip. This article argues that this codex was designed to teach him practices of spatial imagination, a concept this article introduces.
Synthesizing Credit Card Transactions.

Two elements have been essential to AI's recent boom: (1) deep neural nets and the theory and practice behind them; and (2) cloud computing with its abundant labeled data and large computing resources. Abundant labeled data is available for key domains such as images, speech, natural language processing, and recommendation engines. However, there are many other domains where such data is not available, or access to it is highly restricted for privacy reasons, as with health and financial data. Even when abundant data is available, it is often not labeled. Doing such labeling is labor-intensive and non-scalable. As a result, to the best of our knowledge, key domains still lack labeled data or have at most toy data; or the synthetic data must have access to real data from which it can mimic new data. This paper outlines work to generate realistic synthetic data for an important domain: credit card transactions. Some challenges: there are many patterns and correlations in real purchases. There are millions of merchants and innumerable locations. Those merchants offer a wide variety of goods. Who shops where and when? How much do people pay? What is a realistic fraudulent transaction? We use a mixture of technical approaches and domain knowledge including mechanics of credit card processing, a broad set of consumer domains: electronics, clothing, hair styling, etc. Connecting everything is a virtual world. This paper outlines some of our key techniques and provides evidence that the data generated is indeed realistic. Beyond the scope of this paper: (1) use of our data to develop and train models to predict fraud; (2) coupling models and the synthetic dataset to assess performance in designing accelerators such as GPUs and TPUs.
Free Movement Agreements & Climate-Induced Migration: A Caribbean Case Study

Climate-induced migration is a global challenge. Climate change intensifies the frequency and severity of disasters, thereby increasing the number of people displaced by extreme weather events. Adverse climate change impacts are already exacerbating patterns of human mobility, and will do so in greater magnitude in the future. Yet no comprehensive framework governs climate-induced migration, and international law guarantees no protection to climate migrants who fall outside the definition of international refugee law. Given this protection gap, policy solutions that address climate-induced migration are critical. This paper proposes Free Movement Agreements (FMAs) as a protection framework for climate-induced migration in the absence of a governing legal framework and guaranteed legal rights. FMAs are provisions within (sub-)regional trade agreements that liberalize the movement of people between participating states. Two Caribbean FMAs within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Organisation for Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) provided people displaced during the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season rights of entry, work, and resettlement. Given that 120 countries worldwide participate in FMAs, FMAs could be useful in other regional contexts. FMAs are particularly well-suited to address the climate-induced migration protection gap because they grant access to territory and safety regardless of the drivers of movement, which are often difficult to disaggregate. FMAs also provide a regional response to a regional challenge, build economic resilience at the structural and individual level, and are more easily amended than global multilateral agreements.
Charges for sealants and one-surface, posterior permanent restorations: three years of insurance claims data.

Sealants have become an important vehicle for preventing pit and fissure caries. 1 Dentists have increased their use of sealants, 2-4 yet the percentage of children who receive this service is still rather small. 5, 6 This study explores the charges for dental sealants and onesurface, permanent posterior restorations for each state over a three-year period. This information will be useful for cost-effectiveness analyses of preventive and corrective dental procedures, especially in an era of declining dental caries.
Legal Services Fraud in Immigrant Communities and the U Visa's Potential to Help Victimized Communities Help Themselves

This article outlines the scope of the problem of immigration services fraud and its threat to human rights here in the United States. It explores possibilities for using the U visa, a nonimmigrant visa for crime victims, as a tool to fight immigration services fraud. As part of this exploration, it will examine pending attempts to utilize this mechanism, roadblocks in the path to its success, and recommendations to improve its chances for viability in the future.
Between Rights on Paper and Capabilities on the Ground: Policy-Based Barriers to Marginalized Women’s Sexual Rights

New York State makes explicit policy provisions to protect the sexual rights of minor-aged women, women labeled with intellectual disability, and immigrant women. In this qualitative policy analysis, we used the principles of Nussbaum’s (2000) Capabilities Approach to examine whether marginalized women are actually able to exercise these rights. In Fall 2019 and Spring 2020, we interviewed 39 service providers in Buffalo, New York, to learn about the policies affecting diverse marginalized women’s sexual rights and sexual health resources. After verifying the accuracy of providers’ perceptions by triangulating these with the policies’ texts, we thematically analyzed providers’ comments to identify patterns in how policies shaped women’s sexual rights. We identified three categories of policy-based barriers: those that regulate women’s sexual rights by design; those that interfered with sexual rights by accident; and policies that obstructed sexual rights by default, largely because marginalized women and/or sexuality were not considered. We provide examples of how each policy-based barrier affects each group of marginalized women. Despite living in a state that formally recognizes their sexual rights, the actual sexual capabilities of minor girls, women labeled with ID, and immigrant women are attenuated by social policies. We consider the broad implications of the three types of policy-based barriers and offer specific recommendations for reducing these such that marginalized women are actually able to exercise their sexual rights.
IDEAL: Institutions Developing Excellence in Academic Leadership

The goal of this project is to contribute to the development of a national science and engineering academic workforce that includes the full participation of women at all levels of faculty and academic leadership, particularly at the senior academic ranks, through the transformation of institutional practices, policies, climate, and culture. Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) proposes a multifaceted project called Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (ACES) to increase the number of women faculty in science and engineering at all academic ranks. The ACES project will operate on 3 levels: (1) At the highest levels of leadership of the University, including the President, Provost, and Deputy Provost. This leadership is committed to fundraising for 5 endowed chairs to attract senior women scientists and engineers and to annual evaluation of deans' progress toward transformational change. (2) At the school and departmental level with intensive coaching, mentoring, networking, and training and development of deans, chairs, faculty, and students in 4 test departments in Phase 1, and extension of the best practices to all science and engineering departments in Phase 2. (3) At the campus-wide level with distinguished lectureships for senior women in science and engineering, mentoring opportunities, a spousal hiring network, and a unique minority pipeline initiative including faculty exchanges with Fisk University and summer research internships. The outcome of the proposed institutional transformation will be increased transparency and accountability as well as more equitable practices, procedures, and structures. Throughout the ACES project, CWRU will self-study, evaluate, and disseminate the findings so that other private institutions can benefit from their work, building on a resource equity study begun two years ago. Case Western Reserve University is at a pivotal time in its history, and is poised to make transformational change at every level of the university.
BRD in preweaned calves

Surveys of cow-calf producers indicate that undifferentiated bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in preweaned beef calves is recognized on approximately 20% of operations. In the US, BRD is reported to be the leading cause of death in preweaning calves 3 weeks of age and older. As compared to feedlot BRD or dairy calf BRD, relatively little information has been published regarding the epidemiology of preweaning beef calf BRD, or risk factors for the problem. However, the available information indicates that the annual incidence of preweaning calf BRD varies significantly between herds, and between years in herds that experience the problem. Calves identified with preweaning BRD have been found to weigh less at weaning than calves not identified with preweaning BRD. While more research is needed, evidence available to date indicates that at the calf level, male calves, calves born with a twin, calves born to a heifer, and calves that experience dystocia requiring major assistance are at increased risk for preweaning BRD. At the herd level, factors that have been associated with pre weaning calf BRD include those that may 1) increase the opportunity for introduction of pathogens new to the herd; 2) increase susceptibility of calves to infection; and/or 3) increase opportunity for close contact among cows and calves within the herd. Because risk factors to date have been identified in cross-sectional surveys and thus are not necessarily causative, more research is needed to confirm the factors that cause preweaning calf BRD, and to identify practices that can mitigate the disease in herds where it is a problem.
The transcription factor IscR promotes Yersinia type III secretion system activity by antagonizing the repressive H-NS-YmoA histone-like protein complex

The type III secretion system (T3SS) is a appendage used by many bacterial pathogens, such as pathogenic Yersinia, to subvert host defenses. However, because the T3SS is energetically costly and immunogenic, it must be tightly regulated in response to environmental cues to enable survival in the host. Here we show that expression of the Yersinia Ysc T3SS master regulator, LcrF, is orchestrated by the opposing activities of the repressive YmoA/H-NS histone-like protein complex and induction by the iron and oxygen-regulated IscR transcription factor. Although IscR has been shown to bind the lcrF promoter and is required for in vivo expression of lcrF, in this study we show IscR alone fails to enhance lcrF transcription in vitro. Rather, we find that in a ymoA mutant, IscR is no longer required for LcrF expression or T3SS activity. Additionally, a mutation in YmoA that prevents H-NS binding (ymoAD43N) rescues the T3SS defect of a ∆iscR mutant, suggesting that a YmoA/H-NS complex is needed for this repressive activity. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that H-NS is enriched at the lcrF promoter at environmental temperatures, while IscR is enriched at this promoter at mammalian body temperature under aerobic conditions. Importantly, CRISPRi knockdown of H-NS leads to increased lcrF transcription. Collectively, our data suggest that as IscR levels rise with iron limitation and oxidative stress, conditions Yersinia experiences during extraintestinal infection, IscR antagonizes YmoA/H-NS-mediated repression of lcrF transcription to drive T3SS activity and manipulate host defense mechanisms.
Valuing the incremental benefits of groundwater protection when exposure levels are known

Both economic theory and psychological research indicate that benefit functions for reductions in health risk exposures may be conditional on current exposures. Using nitrates found in household wells, it is demonstrated that perceptions of health risks across exposure levels are affected by the individual's current exposure level, thus providing support for a conditional benefits function approach. Functions of conditional incremental benefits are estimated from a contingent valuation study of households that had been informed of their water test results. Incremental benefits reach a peak at an intermediate level of nitrates and then decline. Possible explanations for this non-convexity are provided.