cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors Influencing Federal and State Probation Officer Turnover Intention

ABSTRACTStress among criminal justice professionals is generally associated with turnover intention. This study uses survey data from over 700 state and federal probation officers from the same southern jurisdiction to explore factors significantly related to turnover intention. Pearson correlation and a structural model reveal significant relationships between a variety of variables such as the agency where a probation officer works, perceptions of participation in workplace decision making, job satisfaction, and physical stress as predictors of turnover intention. The results support the importance of job satisfaction, participatory management, positive work environment and physical stress as factors related to turnover intention.
Responses to Predictable versus Random Temporally Complex Stimuli from Single Units in Auditory Thalamus: Impact of Aging and Anesthesia

Human aging studies suggest that an increased use of top-down knowledge-based resources would compensate for degraded upstream acoustic information to accurately identify important temporally rich signals. Sinusoidal amplitude-modulated (SAM) stimuli have been used to mimic the fast-changing temporal features in speech and species-specific vocalizations. Single units were recorded from auditory thalamus [medial geniculate body (MGB)] of young awake, aged awake, young anesthetized, and aged anesthetized rats. SAM stimuli were modulated between 2 and 1024 Hz with the modulation frequency ( f m) changed randomly (RAN) across trials or sequentially (SEQ) after several repeated trials. Units were found to be RAN-preferring, SEQ-preferring, or nonselective based on total firing rate. Significant anesthesia and age effects were found. The majority (86%) of young anesthetized units preferred RAN SAM stimuli; significantly fewer young awake units (51%, p < 0.0001) preferred RAN SAM signals with 16% preferring SEQ SAM. Compared with young awake units, there was a significant increase of aged awake units preferring SEQ SAM (30%, p < 0.05). We examined RAN versus SEQ differences across f ms by measuring selective f m areas under the rate modulation transfer function curve. The largest age-related differences from awake animals were found for mid-to-high f ms in MGB units, with young units preferring RAN SAM while aged units showed a greater preference for SEQ-presented SAM. Together, these findings suggest that aged MGB units/animals employ increased top-down mediated stimulus context to enhance processing of “expected” temporally rich stimuli, especially at more challenging higher f ms. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Older individuals compensate for impaired ascending acoustic information by increasing use of cortical cognitive and attentional resources. The interplay between ascending and descending influences in the thalamus may serve to enhance the salience of speech signals that are degraded as they ascend to the cortex. The present findings demonstrate that medial geniculate body units from awake rats show an age-related preference for predictable modulated signals relative to randomly presented signals, especially at higher, more challenging modulation frequencies. Conversely, units from anesthetized animals, with little top-down influences, strongly preferred randomly presented modulated sequences. These results suggest a neuronal substrate for an age-related increase in experience/attentional-based influences in processing temporally complex auditory information in the auditory thalamus.
Corporate Culture: A positive correlate with marketing effectiveness

This study tests the relationship between the Peters and Waterman cultural criteria of customer closeness and corporate values and the scales of marketing effectiveness as developed by Kotler. Anal...
Side Channel Spillways: Hydraulic Theory, Economic Factors, and Experimental Determination of Losses

The design of a side channel spillway involves certain special hydraulic and economic factors which, it is thought, have not been previously discussed. On account of the disturbed conditions of flo...
Bulk and Molecular-Level Characterization of Laboratory-Aged Biomass Burning Organic Aerosol from Oak Leaf and Heartwood Fuels

Abstract. The chemical complexity of biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) greatly increases with photochemical aging in the atmosphere, necessitating controlled laboratory studies to inform field observations. In these experiments, BBOA from American white oak (Quercus alba) leaf and heartwood samples was generated in a custom-built emissions and combustion chamber and photochemically aged in a potential aerosol mass (PAM) flow reactor. A thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatograph (TAG) was used in parallel with a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) to analyze BBOA chemical composition at different levels of photochemical aging. Individual compounds were identified and integrated to obtain relative decay rates for key molecules. A recently developed chromatogram binning positive matrix factorization (PMF) technique was used to obtain mass spectral profiles for factors in TAG BBOA chromatograms, improving analysis efficiency and providing a more complete determination of unresolved complex mixture (UCM) components. Additionally, the recently characterized TAG decomposition window was used to track molecular fragments created by the decomposition of thermally labile BBOA during sample desorption. We demonstrate that although most primary (freshly emitted) BBOA compounds deplete with photochemical aging, certain components eluting within the TAG thermal decomposition window are instead enhanced. Specifically, the increasing trend in the decomposition m∕z 44 signal (CO 2 + ) indicates formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in the PAM reactor. Sources of m∕z 60 (C 2 H 4 O 2 + ), typically attributed to freshly emitted BBOA in AMS field measurements, were also investigated. From the TAG chemical speciation and decomposition window data, we observed a decrease in m∕z 60 with photochemical aging due to the decay of anhydrosugars (including levoglucosan) and other compounds, as well as an increase in m∕z 60 due to the formation of thermally labile organic acids within the PAM reactor, which decompose during TAG sample desorption. When aging both types of BBOA (leaf and heartwood), the AMS data exhibit a combination of these two contributing effects, causing limited change to the overall m∕z 60 signal. Our observations demonstrate the importance of chemically speciated data in fully understanding bulk aerosol measurements provided by the AMS in both laboratory and field studies.
A new contactless magneto-LC resonance technology for real-time respiratory motion monitoring

Abstract Monitoring the rate of respiration and its pattern is crucial to assessing an individual’s health or progression of an illness, creating a pressing need for fast, reliable and cost-effective monitors. We present here a novel respiratory monitoring technology based on a magnetic microwire coil (MMC) magneto-LC resonance sensor. The 3 mm diameter coil is wound from a melt-extracted amorphous Co 69.25 Fe 4.25 Si 13 B 12.5 Nb 1 microwire. Unlike typical solenoids, the MMC is sensitive to small magnetic fields due to a significant change in an impedance attributed to the high-frequency giant magneto-impedance (GMI) effect. We propose an application of the MMC sensor to detect a position-varying source of a small magnetic field (∼0.01–10 Oe) for real-time respiratory monitoring of a human patient. We simulate this application by mounting a small permanent magnet to a mechanical vibrator and vibrating the magnet at different frequencies, amplitudes, and waveforms ∼3–15 cm above the MMC. This newly developed MMC magneto-LC resonance technology is highly promising for active respiratory motion monitoring and other biomedical field sensing applications.
Online Peer Review Using Turnitin in First-Year Writing Classes

Abstract With the development of PeerMark functions, Turnitin begins to capture researchers’ and instructors’ attention as a novel peer review tool. This article reports an empirical study that examines students’ peer feedback using Turnitin and their perceptions in two First-Year Writing classes, one for mainstream students and the other for ESL students. The participants conducted peer review activities using multiple Turnitin features (e.g., Commenting tools, Composition marks, and PeerMark questions) for two writing assignments–summary & response paper and argumentative paper. Analyses of archived Turnitin peer review records revealed that students provided a majority of revision-oriented feedback, in both global areas (e.g., content, organization, and citation) and local areas (e.g., vocabulary, grammar, mechanics, and format), although variations were identified across both classes and both tasks. Questionnaire survey and interviews indicated that students unanimously reported positive perceptions of Turnitin-based peer feedback. They appreciated distinctive features of Turnitin that facilitated their peer review activities; they also shared the perceived constraints and constructive suggestions. This study further informs affordances of new technologies for online peer review.
Inflammatory Precursors of Mycosis Fungoides

Evidence for and against the hypothesis that inflammatory dermatoses may progress to mycosis fungoides or Sezary syndrome is reviewed, and two cases which may represent examples of such a progression are presented. Arguments for and against the hypothesis that large plaque parapsoriasis, retiform parapsoriasis, or both, should be classified as mycosis fungoides are discussed. It is the author’s opinion that large plaque parapsoriasis should not be classified as mycosis fungoides, because it may only represent one of several inflammatory dermatoses that may progress to MF, because cell marker studies show these lymphocyte populations to be different, because this would be inconsistent with other dermatologic nomenclature, in which other potentially pre-cancerous conditions are not diagnosed as cancer, and because further investigations may provide information which allows us to distinguish between those cases of large plaque parapsoriasis which are progressing to mycosis fungoides and those which are not.
SOURCES OF AIR-BORNE MICROORGANISMS IN FOOD PROCESSING AREAS–DRAINS1,2

Summary The extent to which food plant air may be contaminated with microorganisms from flooding floor drains has been investigated. Results indicate that bacteria counts obtained during flooding m...
Deficits in frontoparietal activation and anterior insula functional connectivity during regulation of cognitive‐affective interference in bipolar disorder

Objectives Bipolar disorders (BD) are characterized by emotion and cognitive dysregulation. Mapping deficits in the neurocircuitry of cognitive-affective regulation allows for potential identification of intervention targets. This study used functional MRI data in BD patients and healthy controls during performance on a task requiring cognitive and inhibitory control superimposed on affective images, assessing cognitive and affective interference. Methods Functional MRI data were collected from 39 BD patients and 36 healthy controls during performance on the Multi-Source Interference Task overlaid on images from the International Affective Picture System (MSIT-IAPS). Analyses examined patterns of activation in a priori regions implicated in cognitive and emotional processing. Functional connectivity to the anterior insula during task performance was also examined, given this region's role in emotion-cognition integration. Results BD patients showed significantly less activation during cognitive interference trials in inferior parietal lobule, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, mid-cingulate, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex regardless of affective valence. BD patients showed deviations in functional connectivity with anterior insula in regions of the default mode and frontoparietal control networks during negatively valenced cognitive interference trials. Conclusions Our findings show disruptions in cognitive regulation and inhibitory control in BD patients in the presence of irrelevant affective distractors. Results of this study suggest one pathway to dysregulation in BD is through inefficient integration of affective and cognitive information, and highlight the importance of developing interventions that target emotion-cognition integration in BD.
Paradox of Redistribution: Legislative Overrepresentation and Regional Development in Brazil

This article examines the relationship between legislative malapportionment, redistribution, and regional economic development. One of the primary justifications for legislative malapportionment—the disparity between the share of legislative seats and the share of the national population—is interregional income equalization by means of favorable allocations of resources to rural areas through overrepresentation. By analyzing the case of Brazil using instrumental variables, this study evaluates the theoretical argument and the empirical validity of the presumed mechanism linking unequal representation to regional development and national economic convergence. It argues that in contexts of undeveloped democracies, rather than convergence, disproportionate resource transfers via overrepresentation hinder the development of beneficiary regions. The empirical analyses of Brazilian states indicate that while overrepresented jurisdictions do receive disproportionate shares of resources from the federal government, disproportionate resource transfers, and dependence on resource transfers attributable to overrepresentation hamper the development potential of those regions.
Interaction space of Müller-Lyer with filled-unfilled illusion: An explanation of Müller-Lyer asymmetry

The filled-unfilled space illusion was investigated as a possible explanation for the asymmetry (difference in strength) between tails-out and tails-in versions of the Muller -Lyer illusion. Previous work has shown that removal of the horizontal shaft makes both configurations look shorter, but affects them unequally and only partially reduces the asymmetry. In two experiments, illusion strength was varied by use of either different tail lengths or single- vs. double-ended figures. Subjects used method of adjustment with stimuli presented by computer. When the Muller -Lyer was sufficiently weak, shaft removal had equal effects on both tails-in and tails-out configurations, but less effect on plain lines. This produced a reversal of the usual asymmetry, that is, tails-in was stronger than tails-out. It is concluded that the asymmetry is caused by the filled-unfilled illusion. This may require reassessment of the view that the two Muller -Lyer versions are different illusions.
Gain-of-Function ADAMTS13 Variants Resistant to Anti-ADAMTS13 Autoantibody Inhibition: A Potential Novel Therapy for Acquired Autoimmune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Abstract Abstract 1188 Spacer domain of ADAMTS13 is essential for recognition and proteolytic cleavage of von Willebrand factor. It also contains major antigenic epitope targeted by anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibodies in patients with acquired (idiopathic) thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Through site-directed mutagenesis and recombinant protein strategy, we identified two novel ADAMTS13 variants, which exhibited enhanced specific activity, but reduced inhibition by anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibodies. Among twenty-three ADAMTS13 variants tested, ADAMTS13-M4 (R660K/F592Y/R568K /Y661F) and ADAMTS13-M5 (R660K/F592Y/R568K /Y661F/Y665F) exhibited increased specific activity by 4∼5 fold and 12∼16 fold in cleavage of FRETS-VWF73 and plasma-derived multimeric VWF under denaturing conditions, respectively. Moreover, these two novel ADAMTS13 variants (i.e. M4 and M5) were resistant to inhibition by anti-ADAMTS13 IgG autoantibodies from 10 out of 12 acquired TTP patients tested. In contrast, proteolytic activity of wild-type ADAMTS13 and several other mutants (i.e. M1: R660K, M2: R660K/F592Y, and M3: R660K/F592Y/R568K) were significantly inhibited by same amount of anti-ADAMTS13 IgGs in all 12 patients’ plasmas. The resistance to inhibition of these variants was the result of reduced binding interaction between the ADAMTS13 variants (M4 and M5) and the anti-ADAMTS13 IgGs. These findings demonstrate for the first time that an exosite modification in the spacer domain may be a viable strategy for identification of novel ADAMTS13 variants with more desirable enzymatic properties. The results provide a potential tool for treatment of acquired (autoimmune) TTP and perhaps other arterial thrombotic disorders. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
“A Ditcher and a Scholar”: Figuring College-Going Identities in an Urban Magnet High School:

Background/ContextTo enhance postsecondary completion and minimize equity gaps, researchers have focused on defining, measuring, and developing students’ college readiness, or the preparation requi...
Marx, Anderson and the Critique of Indian Political Economy and the Caste System:

AbstractThis article will deconstruct the assumptions of the famous British Western Marxist, Anderson (2012), and his recent critique of the Indian political economy in his controversial The Indian...
Model Error Propagation in Coupled Multiphysics Systems

This paper presents a methodology to estimate the discrepancy in the model output of untested coupled multiphysics systems, based on tests on related systems. Model predictions often exhibit discre...
INTRAVASCULAR ACTIVATION OF THE CLOTTING SYSTEM WITH PHOSPHOLIPIDS. PRODUCTION OF THE GENERALIZED SHWARTZMAN REACTION WITH PLATELET FACTOR 3.

Shwartzman reaction (GSR )-is observed in rabbits after two properly spaced intravenous injections of endotoxin derived from gram-negative bacteria and is characterized by profound collapse and hemorrhagic diathesis. Marked changes in the blood clotting mechanism in animals undergoing GSR have been described’6’30’35 and resemble those observed when blood clots in vitro. The platelets which remain in the circulation of these animals are altered both in number and in their specific procoagulant effects; the activities of both platelet factor 1 (adsorbed Ac-G) and of platelet factor 3 (phospholipid) are greatly impaired.�’36 Morphologically, the reaction is characterized by a generalized intravascular deposition of fibnin. Bilateral renal cortical necrosis with fibnin-thrombi in the glomerular capillaries is observed in animals that survive long enough to develop this lesion. The present work deals with the morphologic and coagulative changes produced by infusing phospholipid having platelet factor 3 activity, or soya bean phospholipid (Inosithin), in rabbits previously given intravenous thorotrast with the intent of blocking the reticuloendothelial system. The alterations described were indistinguishable from those observed in the classical GSR produced in rabbits with two intravenous injections of endotoxin.
Multiplexed Component Analysis to Identify Genes Contributing to the Immune Response during Acute SIV Infection

Immune response genes play an important role during acute HIV and SIV infection. Using an SIV macaque model of AIDS and CNS disease, our overall goal was to assess how the expression of genes associated with immune and inflammatory responses are longitudinally changed in different organs or cells during SIV infection. To compare RNA expression of a panel of 88 immune-related genes across time points and among three tissues – spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) – we designed a set of Nanostring probes. To identify significant genes during acute SIV infection and to investigate whether these genes are tissue-specific or have global roles, we introduce a novel multiplexed component analysis (MCA) method. This combines multivariate analysis methods with multiple preprocessing methods to create a set of 12 “judges”; each judge emphasizes particular types of change in gene expression to which cells could respond, for example, the absolute or relative size of expression change from baseline. Compared to bivariate analysis methods, our MCA method improved classification rates. This analysis allows us to identify three categories of genes: (a) consensus genes likely to contribute highly to the immune response; (b) genes that would contribute highly to the immune response only if certain assumptions are met – e.g. that the cell responds to relative expression change rather than absolute expression change; and (c) genes whose contribution to immune response appears to be modest. We then compared the results across the three tissues of interest; some genes are consistently highly-contributing in all tissues, while others are specific for certain tissues. Our analysis identified CCL8, CXCL10, CXCL11, MxA, OAS2, and OAS1 as top contributing genes, all of which are stimulated by type I interferon. This suggests that the cytokine storm during acute SIV infection is a systemic innate immune response against viral replication. Furthermore, these genes have approximately equal contributions to all tissues, making them possible candidates to be used as non-invasive biomarkers in studying PBMCs instead of MLN and spleen during acute SIV infection experiments. We identified clusters of genes that co-vary together and studied their correlation with regard to other gene clusters. We also developed novel methods to faithfully visualize multi-gene correlations on two-dimensional polar plots, and to visualize tissue specificity of gene expression responses.
Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma

The incidence of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) has risen significantly in both the immunocompetent and immunosuppressed populations in the past two decades. PCNSL usually is restricted to (but disseminated within) the central nervous system, including the leptomeninges and eyes. The addition of chemotherapy to radiation therapy has improved patient survival significantly over radiation therapy alone, but the prognosis of PCNSL is not as good as that for comparable systemic non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. The behavior of PCNSL in the immunosuppressed population differs from that in immunocompetent patients, creating specific diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.
Ibuprofen use is associated with reduced C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 levels in chronic spinal cord injury

Objective: To assess the association between ibuprofen use and the systemic inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in chronic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).Study desig...
The value of discretion: Price-caps and public service delivery

Abstract It is often argued that price-caps on monopolistic suppliers are necessary to redistribute surplus and make services affordable. I explore whether price-caps lead to welfare improvements through a field experiment with extension agents in Tanzania. Imposing price-caps has three effects. First, conditional on being served, the treatment reduces average prices by 17%. Second, the intervention increases the share of previously unserved customers in the beneficiary pool by 15%. Third, the price-cap reduces the geographic coverage of services by decreasing the likelihood that agents will serve remote villages by 25%. This suggests that price-cap regulation creates a tension between making services affordable and providing incentives for agents to serve remote recipients. I show that the marginal welfare effect of reducing discretion over prices can be expressed as a function of two sufficient statistics. Calculating the welfare effects shows that any reduction of agents' discretion reduces social welfare.
Julian Wolpert (1932– ): Pioneering Quantitative and Behavioral Geographer

In this chapter, the late Roger Stough describes how geographer Julian Wolpert’s career unfolded parallel to, and as a part of, the quantitative and behavioral revolutions in the social sciences, geography, and regional science. Wolpert’s contributions—heavily influenced by Herbert Simon’s critique of the foundations of the normative science of microeconomics—lent new behavioral perspectives on understanding microeconomic behavior. He brought appreciation to geography and regional science of new quantitative approaches, such as mathematical simulation and optimization modeling. In Wolpert’s view, scholarship is not solely for the benefit of intellectuals: it should also contribute to society. A champion of the poor and disempowered, he made contributions to our understandings of philanthropy and social welfare, as well as to the location of noxious facilities.
Ensemble Control on Lie Groups

Problems involving control of large ensmebles of structurally identical dynamical systems, called \emph{ensemble control}, arise in numerous scientific areas from quantum control and robotics to brain medicine. In many of such applications, control can only be implemented at the population level, i.e., through broadcasting an input signal to all the systems in the population, and this new control paradigm challenges the classical systems theory. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to investigate controllability properties of ensemble systems, and most works emphasized on linear and some forms of bilinear and nonlinear ensemble systems. In this paper, we study controllability of a broad class of bilinear ensemble systems defined on semisimple Lie groups, for which we define the notion of ensemble controllability through a Riemannian structure of the state space Lie group. Leveraging the Cartan decomposition of semisimple Lie algebras in representation theory, we develop a \emph{covering method} that decomposes the state space Lie group into a collection of Lie subgroups generating the Lie group, which enables the determination of ensemble controllability by controllability of the subsystems evolving on these Lie subgroups. Using the covering method, we show the equivalence between ensemble and classical controllability, i.e., controllability of each individual system in the ensemble implies ensemble controllability, for bilinear ensemble systems evolving on semisimple Lie groups. This equivalence makes the examination of controllability for infinite-dimensional ensemble systems as tractable as for a finite-dimensional single system.
Nonlethal Plasmodium yoelii Infection Drives Complex Patterns of Th2-Type Host Immunity and Mast Cell-Dependent Bacteremia.

Malaria strongly predisposes to bacteremia, which is associated with sequestration of parasitized red blood cells and increased gastrointestinal permeability. The mechanisms underlying this disruption are poorly understood. Here, we evaluated the expression of factors associated with mast cell activation and malaria-associated bacteremia in a rodent model. C57BL/6J mice were infected with Plasmodium yoelii yoelli 17XNL, and blood and tissues were collected over time to assay for circulating levels of bacterial 16S DNA, IgE, mast cell protease 1 (Mcpt-1) and Mcpt-4, Th1 and Th2 cytokines, and patterns of ileal mastocytosis and intestinal permeability. The anti-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-4 [IL-4], IL-6, and IL-10) and MCP-1/CCL2 were detected early after P. yoelii yoelii 17XNL infection. This was followed by the appearance of IL-9 and IL-13, cytokines known for their roles in mast cell activation and growth-enhancing activity as well as IgE production. Later increases in circulating IgE, which can induce mast cell degranulation, as well as Mcpt-1 and Mcpt-4, were observed concurrently with bacteremia and increased intestinal permeability. These results suggest that P. yoelii yoelii 17XNL infection induces the production of early cytokines that activate mast cells and drive IgE production, followed by elevated IgE, IL-9, and IL-13 that maintain and enhance mast cell activation while disrupting the protease/antiprotease balance in the intestine, contributing to epithelial damage and increased permeability.
The IT Challenges in Disaster Relief: What We Learned From Hurricane Harvey

This article explores the information systems involved in disaster relief supply chain for Hurricane Harvey survivors. We interviewed three organizations, the United Way, the BakerRipley, and the American Red Cross, on how information systems were used in this concerted effort of long-term recovery. We found that data sharing is the major challenge, and it is further constrained and complicated by legal concerns. We also observed that organizations used ad hoc technology solutions to accommodate different relief project needs; an integrated open-source system would not only save cost but also improve the overall productivity.
Social Support During COVID-19: Perspectives of Breastfeeding Mothers.

Introduction: Effective social support can have a critical influence on a mother's ability to initiate and continue breastfeeding. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has created unprecedented barriers for breastfeeding mothers to obtain various types of support: emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal. However, no research has evaluated the influence the pandemic has had on breastfeeding supports. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of social support among breastfeeding mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional phenomenological approach was taken utilizing semistructured interviews (March-June 2020) with currently breastfeeding mothers (n = 29). Data were analyzed through a process of immersion and crystallization. Results: Mothers are still able to obtain each type of support, however, support has been negatively influenced by the pandemic. Mothers reported experiencing increased stress and isolation and had an immense desire to receive in-person support from peers, family, childcare providers, and lactation specialists. Furthermore, mothers of multiple children felt if they did not already have breastfeeding knowledge from previous experiences they would be unsuccessful in breastfeeding due to their current lack of support. Conversely, a majority of mothers felt the pandemic had positively influenced their breastfeeding journeys due to concerns of formula shortages and extended maternity leaves. Finally, mothers were concerned about safely expressing breast milk on their return to work. Conclusion: Mother's ability to obtain breastfeeding support has been negatively impacted by the pandemic due to the inability to engage with individuals in-person and the lack of access to childcare. First-time mothers may be at higher risk of early breastfeeding cessation due to lack of support. However, breastfeeding journeys have also been positively influenced by allowing mothers more time at home with their child. Resources are needed to support expressing breast milk in the workplace during COVID-19.
Evolutionary History Impacts Phyllosphere Community Assembly on Forage Grasses

Benefits leaf bacterial communities provide to plant hosts are reduced by external stress. Understanding how plant hosts impact phyllosphere community assembly, how microbes influence plant traits, and how this interaction changes under stress will advance our insight into the evolutionary relationship between plants and their microbial communities. We investigated phyllosphere community assembly change over time, between host species, and under drought stress on three native temperate grasses and three non-native tropical grasses. By growing them together, effects of host geography and differences in environmental variables were eliminated allowing us to test evolutionary history on community assembly. We found evidence of phylosymbiosis which increased significantly under drought stress, indicating phyllosphere communities and their response to stress relate to grass species phylogeny. We also show native temperate grasses displayed stronger cophylogenetic relationships between grass hosts and their microbial communities and had increased selection by host species over time compared to non-native tropical hosts. Interestingly, the functional marker gene nifH, though differentially present on all host species was not susceptible to drought. The evidence of shared evolutionary history, presence of functionally important bacteria, and responses to drought suggest that microbial communities are important plant traits that coevolve alongside their plant hosts.
The associations of medical marijuana policies with opioid-related health care utilization.

Objective To examine the associations between medical marijuana policies and opioid-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits. Data sources We utilized quarterly rates of hospital discharge data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's (HCUP) Fast Stats Database from 2005 to 2016 along with state-level sociodemographic data from US Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics and opioid-related state health policy data from publicly available sources for the analysis. Study design Analyses were carried out using a difference-in-differences regression approach. We estimate heterogeneous effects of medical marijuana policies such as initial policy, presence of active dispensary, and home cultivation on opioid-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits related to opioids. Data collection/extraction methods Publicly available secondary data were collected, linked, and analyzed. Observations with missing values for explanatory variables were excluded from the analysis. Principal findings Regression results indicate that type of medical marijuana policy has varying effects on opioid-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits. States that allow home cultivation of medical marijuana experienced significant positive associations with opioid-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits, while no effect was observed with medical marijuana dispensaries. Moreover, recreational marijuana policies were positively associated with opioid-related hospitalizations. Conclusions The findings indicate that the effects of medical marijuana policies on opioid-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits vary depending on the type of medical marijuana policy. Our findings indicate that the implementation of home cultivation of marijuana is positively associated with hospitalizations and emergency department visits related to opioids, suggesting that easier access to marijuana among opioid users may result in adverse health conditions that need treatment.
Cognitive Workload Quantified by Physiological Sensors in Realistic Immersive Settings.

Cognitive workload changes have been studied and utilized as a means of assessment for engagement and learner’s performance during training. Yet, it is unclear how varying levels of simulator immersion affect learner cognitive workload. Wearable sensors allow us to monitor direct physiological changes associated with cognitive workload in real time. This study seeks to utilize multiple physiological and neurological measures: functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), eye-tracking, electrodermal activity (EDA), heart rate, and respiratory rate; in order to assess cognitive workload changes during different training conditions. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Task Load Index (TLX) and flow state scale questionnaires were additionally used to record self-reported cognitive workload and subjective experience. Nine law enforcement trainees participated in different immersions conditions in a law enforcement use-of-force (UOF) simulator. Results from a low immersion condition were compared to results from a high immersion condition. Preliminary comparison between these two conditions suggests that the Index of Cognitive Activity (ICA) and respiration rate were greater in the low immersion condition. However, a notable increase in the oxygenated hemoglobin of the right anterior medial prefrontal cortex was detected via fNIRS. Heart rate also increased between the two conditions. Traditional questionnaires used to measure cognitive load showed no significance between conditions. Compared to self-report subjective metrics, biometrics such as fNIRS were operationally more effective at smaller sample sizes. Not only do these results show that features associated with trainees’ workload can viably be collected in realistic simulator settings, but they also suggest that increased immersion in law enforcement simulators may have a measurable effect on biometrics associated with cognitive workload.
Democratization and Research Methods

Democratization and Research Methods is a coherent survey and critique of both democratization research and the methodology of comparative politics. The two themes enhance each other: the democratization literature illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of various methodological approaches, and the critique of methods makes sense of the vast and bewildering democratization field. Michael Coppedge argues that each of the three main approaches in comparative politics - case studies and comparative histories, formal modeling and large-sample statistical analysis - accomplishes one fundamental research goal relatively well: 'thickness', integration and generalization, respectively. Throughout the book, comprehensive surveys of democratization research demonstrate that each approach accomplishes one of these goals well but the other two poorly. Chapters cover conceptualization and measurement, case studies and comparative histories, formal models and theories, political culture and survey research, and quantitative testing. The final chapter summarizes the state of knowledge about democratization and lays out an agenda for multi-method research.
Gender Preferences in Classroom Aesthetics

Male and female students on the Robert Morris University campus were asked to complete a survey to analyze aesthetics in classrooms. Their answers helped determine what each gender found the most important in his or her learning environment, and whether female students were or were not the most aware of their aesthetic environment.
Growth Curve Modeling

Growth curve modeling is a statistical analysis technique for longitudinal data that captures both intra-individual (“within person”) change over time and inter-individual (“between person”) variability in such change. Such models are more flexible and powerful than traditional ANOVA and MANOVA approaches to repeated measures. Growth models are extremely valuable for describing or making inferences about the shape, direction, and rate of change that best characterize a population trajectory as well as uncovering and predicting individual differences between growth trajectories for members of a population. This encyclopedia entry describes the fundamentals of growth modeling in both multilevel modeling and structural equation modeling frameworks, including fitting linear and nonlinear growth trajectories and testing effects of individual and time-varying predictors. Extensions of the basic growth model, including clustering of individuals within groups, examining interrelationships among trajectories of multiple outcome variables, and incorporating measurement models of outcome constructs, are also discussed. Keywords: abnormal; acculturation; addiction; change over time; growth curve model; growth trajectory; latent change; longitudinal analysis
Process resurrection: a fast recovery mechanism for real-time embedded systems

This paper describes a fast recovery mechanism that meets the requirements of embedded real-time systems. In general purpose computing, restart is an established technology for achieving high availability. Restart has also been used in soft real-time systems where the temporary interruption of service is undesirable but acceptable. However, it has not been widely used in small embedded real-time systems with hard deadlines, mainly because the traditional approaches do not meet their requirements of low memory and processor overhead, and fast response times with little variations. We have developed process resurrection, a novel restart mechanism for recovering from crash failures to meet these requirements. The experiments on an inverted pendulum control system shows that it can recover the control process in time after a crash (eg. segmentation fault). Another experiment conducted on an MP3 audio player shows that this technique is also applicable to some multimedia applications.
On the Difference in Statistical Behavior Between Astrometric and Radial-Velocity Planet Detections

Astrometric and radial-velocity planet detections track very similar motions, and one generally expects that the statistical properties of the detections would also be similar after they are scaled to the signal-to-noise ratio of the underlying observations. I show that this expectation is realized for periods small compared to the duration of the experiment P/T ~ 1. At longer periods, the fact that models of astrometric observations must take account of an extra nuisance parameter causes the mass error to begin deteriorating at P/T ~ 0.8, as compared to P/T ~ 1.0 for RV. Moreover, the deterioration is much less graceful. This qualitative difference carries over to the more complicated case in which the planet is being monitored in the presence of a distant companion that generates an approximately uniform acceleration. The period errors begin deteriorating somewhat earlier in all cases, but the situation is qualitatively similar to that of the mass errors. These results imply that to preserve astrometric discovery space at the longest accessible orbits (which nominally have the lowest-mass sensitivity) requires supplementary observations to identify or rule out distant companions that could contribute quasi-uniform acceleration.
Automation at Federal Express

Electronic and computer systems are utilized to handle cost-effectively and efficiently customer requests for service or information. The use of electronic systems continues as a courier is dispatched to pick-up the package, and, as the package changes hands, tracking information is gathered by scanning the bar code on the air bill. The author discusses the tracking and other systems which Federal Express uses to rapidly respond to a customer's request for information about his package and for delivery of the package itself. It is shown that the systems available to the administrator are currently being upgraded to provide easier access to the many sources of information. Also being designed into the new systems are job aids to help identify alternative solutions to the current problem and to identify likely impact of a solution on the future status of the system. This system will be heavily dependent on artificial intelligence techniques, most specifically, expert system technology. >
Large-Scale Fracture Toughness Tests of Thick 5083-0 Plate and 5183 Welded Panels at Room Temperature, -260 and -320°F

The exceptionally high toughness of thick 5083-0 plate and 5183 welded panels at room temperature, -260 and -320°F has been demonstrated by large-scale fracture toughness testing. No evidence of a fracture instability at elastic stresses was observed, even in K I c tests of 7.7-in.-thick notched bend specimens and in a K c test of a 4-in.-thick and 44-in.-square edge-notched tension panel. Ductile tearing was observed in all cases with panels as thick as or thicker than those used in critical structures such as liquefied natural gas tanks. The toughness at -260 and -320° F was as high as or higher than at room temperature by all available indexes. While these conclusions indicate that the application of fracture mechanics to the design of 5083-0 tanks is not very appropriate and may be unduly conservative, some engineering estimates of K I c and K c were made from the results of the fracture tests.
Pattern recognition and protein structure prediction

Postulates that the the biophysical principles which describe protein structure can be translated by an individual, acting as a knowledge engineer, into a pattern based formalism for the purpose of structure prediction. Building on previous work that used regular expression patterns to aid in the identification of sequence-structure correlates, the paper describes a specification language for the expression of meta level patterns, and a computer interface to aid the development of patterns for secondary structure prediction. Application of predictive patterns to protein sequences are provided in the context of this software tool. >
RESPONDING TO COMMUNITY NEEDS THROUGH LINKING ACADEMIC AND PRACTICING ANTHROPOLOGY: AN ENGAGED SCHOLARLY FRAMEWORK

We argue in this article that applied anthropology offers a compelling model for conducting engaged scholarship in higher education and developing an engaged scholarship platform. As colleges and universities increasingly endorse meaningful ways to address critical needs of their wider communities, anthropology faculty, students, and alumni can lead the way in forging successful and effective partnerships and grappling with crucial community needs. With the growth of participatory action research—and its theoretical and methodological perspective—anthropologists have tackled challenging societal issues in collaboration with community partners (Schensul 2005). Typically this entails involving multiple stakeholders in the articulation of solutions. Anthropology is in a prime position to take the lead in advancing the “engaged university” model. This article builds upon Baba's thesis (2009) that the survival of the discipline of anthropology is linked to its relevance in addressing critical societal issues and its ability to integrate the work of academic and practicing anthropologists. Many approaches from anthropology can be drawn upon as promising models for community connectedness. We offer an example from the University of Memphis that has been particularly effective: through their research and practical experience as students of anthropological study, alumni cycle back into collaborative ties with faculty and other alumni and nonanthropological colleagues, connecting the community with the university in a dynamic and productive system. In addition, long-term commitment to addressing relevant local issues such as poverty and health disparities through analysis and reflection of outcomes is critical to developing a meaningful engaged scholarly tradition.
Effect of Weight Loss on the ECG of Normotensive Morbidly Obese Patients

Background Morbid obesity produces a variety of ECGalterations, including leftward shifts of the P-wave, QRS, and T-waveaxes; disproportionately high frequencies of low QRS voltage; leftventricular hypertrophy and left atrial abnormality; and a highfrequency of T-wave flattening in the inferior and lateral leads. Thisstudy was designed to assess the effects of substantial weight loss onthe ECG in morbid obesity. Methods We performed aresting 12-lead ECG on 60 normotensive patients (48 women and 12 men; mean ± SD age, 37 ± 7 years), whose body weight was twice theirideal body weight prior to and at the time of maximum weight loss afterbariatric surgery. Results Mean weight decreased from136 ± 7 to 85 ± 3 kg. Weight loss produced significant decreasesin the frequencies of low QRS voltage; Romhilt-Estes point score ≥ 5points; SV 1 + RV 5 or V 6 > 35mm; RV 5 or V 6 > 26 mm; RaVL > 11 mm; RaVL≥7.5 mm; SaVR > 14 mm; P-terminal force more negative than−0.04 mm·s in lead V 1 ; and T-wave flattening inthe inferior, lateral, and inferolateral leads. Weight losssignificantly shifted the mean P-wave, QRS, T-wave axes rightward, andsignificantly reduced mean RaVL and mean SaVR voltage. Conclusion Substantial weight loss is capable of reversingmany of the ECG alterations associated with morbidobesity.