cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A comparison of FDTD algorithms for subcellular modeling of slots in shielding enclosures

Thin slot modeling for the finite-difference time-domain (PDTD) method is investigated. Two subcellular algorithms for modeling thin slots with the FDTD method are compared for application to shielding enclosures in EMC. The stability of the algorithms is investigated, and comparisons between the two methods for slots in planes, and slots in loaded cavities are also made.
The Precarious Nature of Environmental Activism

In this introduction to the special issue on “The Precarious Nature of Environmental Activism”, I describe my own path to environmental activism and the articles contributed to the special issue. I...
Aging and Individual Variation in Interhemispheric Collaboration and Hemispheric Asymmetry

ABSTRACT Thirty younger (Mean Age = 19.9 years) and 20 older adults (Mean Age = 74.7 years) performed Physical and Name Identity letter-matching tasks (matches were either within or between hemispheres) to study age-related changes in 1) the efficiency with which the two hemispheres interact with each other and 2) hemispheric asymmetry. In order to determine whether age-related effects were associated with differences in cognitive resources, the same individuals completed a set of memory span tasks. Performance on the letter-matching tasks indicated that the costs of interhemispheric collaboration were greater for older than for younger participants. However, within the older group, the advantage of spreading processing across both hemispheres increased as memory span decreased, suggesting that older individuals who are challenged by cognitive complexity are more likely to show increased benefits from between-hemisphere processing than individuals who are not so challenged. There was also an overall left ...
Boundary Interactions: Resolving Interdisciplinary Collaboration Challenges Using Digitized Embodied Performances

Little is known about the collaborative learning processes of interdisciplinary teams designing technology -enabled immersive learning systems. In this conceptual paper, we reflect on the role of digitally captured embodied performances as boundary objects within our heterogeneous two-team collective of learning scientists and computer scientists as we design an embodied, animated virtual tutor embedded in a physically immersive mathematics learning system. Beyond just a communicative resource, we demonstrate how these digitized, embodied performances constitute a powerful mode for both inter- and intra-team learning and innovation. Our work illustrates the utility of mobilizing the material conditions of learning.
Relevance and Factors Predicting for Early Lymphocyte Recovery After Allogeneic Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation (BMT).

Abstract 3053 Recovery of the immune system is critical for the success of allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Several groups, including ours, reported that faster lymphocyte recovery was associated with improved outcomes. There is limited information however, on factors affecting lymphocyte recovery and its influence on outcomes specifically after BMT. We retrospectively assessed 536 consecutive patients (pts) with acute leukemia (452 AML/MDS and 102 ALL) who underwent BMT (and engrafted) at our institution between 01/1999 and 12/2010 to determine 1) predictors of early lymphocyte recovery (ELR), and 2) influence on outcomes of ELR defined as achieving absolute lymphocyte count of 1000/μL (ALC1000) by day 100 after BMT. Characteristics of the study population including demographics, graft, disease, and transplant characteristics assessed are described in the Table. Conditioning regimens were classified as reduced intensity (RI), or high intensity (including TBI-, busulfan-, or melphalan-based) conditioning, as previously described. Cox9s proportional hazards regression analysis was used to assess predictors of ELR and NRM on univariate and multivariate (MV) analysis. Pts who developed grade II-IV acute GVHD (aGVHD), received a second graft infusion, or relapsed before achieving ALC1000 were censored at the time of these events for the assessment of predictors of ELR. Only pts who were alive progression-free, and had not developed grade II-IV aGVHD by day 100 were eligible for the assessment of predictors of outcomes in landmark analysis starting on day 100 after BMT. Outcomes were assessed at the median follow-up in surviving pts of 40 months. On multivariate analysis, significant predictors of lower rate of ELR included TBI- or melphalan-based ablative conditioning (HR=0.5, p 0.003) (compared to RI or busulfan-based), and a haploidentical donor (HR=0.4, p 0.05). Preliminary analyses assessing CMV reactivation and grade II-IV aGVHD as time dependent variables showed these factors to be associated with higher and lower ELR, respectively. MV analyses incorporating these factors in prognostic model are ongoing and final results will be presented at the meeting. Among the 246 pts eligible for the outcomes assessment, ELR (HR=0.2, P 1year 0.5, p=0.02; HR 40 mo 0.7, p=0.2) after transplant. There was no impact for ELR on the rate of disease relapse at either one of these time points after BMT. In conclusion, early lymphocyte recovery is an independent prognostic factor for NRM after BMT. Lymphocyte recovery was influenced by the conditioning regimen, the use of a haploidentical donor and the development of aGVHD but not by the infused CD34 cell numbers or disease status at transplant. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
The Inescapability of Ethics and the Impossibility of “Anything Goes”: A Constructivist Model of Ethical Meaning Making

A constructivist model of ethical meaning making is developed. The effort begins by distinguishing three versions of constructivist theory—personal construct psychology, radical constructivism, and...
Philosophy and Literature in Calvino’s Tales

The Watcher has a special place in Calvino’s production. Coming after four years of virtual narrative silence,’ and the outcome of long, agonizing work stretching over a decade, it is difficult to classify (long short story? novella? extended meditation?) and signals a break in the style of that production. To be sure, even earlier Calvino felt (and expressed) the fascination of highly stylized, rarefied, “light” situations, and even later he continued to turn compassionate, somewhat startled, somewhat amused attention to everyday life; but there is no question that beforeThe Watcher his fiction has a more standard structure (more of a conventional plot, more traditionally conceived characters), whereas after it experimental moves take over and dominate the page.
Community Detection With Side Information: Exact Recovery Under the Stochastic Block Model

The community detection problem involves making inferences about node labels in a graph, based on observing the graph edges. This paper studies the effect of additional, nongraphical side information on the phase transition of exact recovery in the binary stochastic block model with $n$ nodes. When side information consists of noisy labels with error probability $\alpha$ , it is shown that phase transition is improved if and only if $\log (\frac{1-\alpha }{\alpha })=\Omega (\log (n))$ . When side information consists of revealing a fraction $1-\epsilon$ of the labels, it is shown that phase transition is improved if and only if $\log (1/\epsilon)=\Omega (\log (n))$ . For a more general side information consisting of $K$ features, two scenarios are studied, first, $K$ is fixed while the likelihood of each feature with respect to corresponding node label evolves with $n$ , and, second, the number of features $K$ varies with $n$ but the likelihood of each feature is fixed. In each case, we find when side information improves the exact recovery phase transition and by how much. In the process of deriving inner bounds, a variation of an efficient algorithm is proposed for community detection with side information that uses a partial recovery algorithm combined with a local improvement procedure.
Assessing the relationship between pupil diameter and visuocortical activity

Visuocortical activity and pupil diameter both increase in tasks involving memory, attention, and physiological arousal. Thus, the question arises whether pupil dilation prompts a subsequent increase in visuocortical activity. In this study, we investigated the extent to which changes in visuocortical activity relate to changes in pupil diameter. The amplitude of the sustained visuocortical response to a flickering stimulus (i.e., steady-state visually evoked potential [ssVEP] power) was examined in 39 participants while pupil diameter was measured. To generalize across stimulus conditions, Gabor stimuli varied in brightness and ssVEP driving frequency. As expected, brighter stimuli prompted pupil constriction and larger ssVEP power. To determine whether momentary fluctuations in pupil size contribute to the ssVEP amplitude under conditions of constant luminance and frequency, the single-trial means from each measure were correlated and the shape of the pupil-diameter waveform related to the ssVEP amplitude time course, both within and between participants. Under constant conditions, changes in pupil diameter were not related to changes in ssVEP amplitude, at any luminance level or driving frequency. Findings suggest that pupil dilation does not systematically prompt subsequent changes in visuocortical activity, and thus is not a sufficient cause of visuocortical modulation in cognitive or affective tasks.
Lignin Process Design Confirmation and Capitol Cost Evaluation: Report 42002/02 -- Review of Design

Harris Group prepared this report on NREL's conceptual design for a process that converts lignin into a hydrocarbon that can be used as a high-octane automobile fuel additive.
On separability of the profit function

The present paper is concerned with deriving conditions on technology which are required for additive separability of the associated profit function. The appropriate representation of technology in this case is the Luenberger shortage function. The paper shows that this function must be simultaneously input-and-output translation homothetic.
Recovery of Vitamin K from Human Milk

A rapid, sensitive and specific procedure for recovery and quantitation of vitamin K in human milk has been developed. Vitamin K was extracted from milk on dry columns, fractionated on TLC, eluted and resolved on an HPLC gradient using electrochemical detection. The entire procedure can be completed in four hours, can detect <20 nanograms of vitamin K, and is suitable for multiple assays. The unique redox properties of vitamin K have been utilized to define conditions which are highly selective for vitamin K and which avoid interference from other fat soluble vitamins. In addition, techniques for electrochemical detection of HPLC gradient chromatography have been developed; thus baseline resolution of the K vitamins is provided.
Relation of C-6 glial cells in culture to myelin.

Abstract C-6 glial cells were shown to contain enriched in their plasma membranes an enzyme, 2':3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase, characteristic of myelin, and, in addition, proteolipid protein and two basic proteins that are identical in their electrophoretic mobilities with the respective proteins found in myelin. The data indicate that C-6 cells exhibit features of myelin-producing glia as well as astrocytes.
Genes and Nutrition in Growth and Development

When I was a student and intern here 35 to 40 years ago, I intended to become a doctor, not a scientist. Although research was practiced in every department, and with distinction in some, the prevailing mood emphasized clinical training. It is strange then that I should appear before you today principally as an advocate of basic research.
Online learning for adaptive optimization of heterogeneous SoCs

Energy efficiency and performance of heterogeneous multiprocessor systems-on-chip (SoC) depend critically on utilizing a diverse set of processing elements and managing their power states dynamically. Dynamic resource management techniques typically rely on power consumption and performance models to assess the impact of dynamic decisions. Despite the importance of these decisions, many existing approaches rely on fixed power and performance models learned offline. This paper presents an online learning framework to construct adaptive analytical models. We illustrate this framework for modeling GPU frame processing time, GPU power consumption and SoC power-temperature dynamics. Experiments on Intel Atom E3826, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, and Samsung Exynos 5422 SoCs demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves less than 6% error under dynamically varying workloads.
Stability of neonicotinoid sensitivity in Frankliniella fusca populations found in agroecosystems of the southeastern USA.

BACKGROUND Insecticide resistance arises at a given location in response to selection acting on novel genotypes or standing variation, or allelic migration. Fitness costs of resistance may slow resistance evolution or result in reversion to susceptibility, but consistent and geographically widespread use of insecticides may provide sufficient selection to offset the fitness costs of resistance. Understanding this relationship is important to the success of insecticide resistance management. We report the existence of fitness costs of neonicotinoid resistance in field-collected populations of the tobacco thrips (Frankliniella fusca), which increasingly challenge upland cotton production in the southeastern USA. RESULTS Populations (14 of 15 in 2015; 4 of 5 in 2016) investigated showed a loss of resistance to imidacloprid after multiple generations without exposure to the insecticide. Populations studied in 2016 were each split into two colonies, and one of each pair was repeatedly exposed to imidacloprid. In three of the four populations that lost resistance, imidacloprid-exposed colonies lost resistance significantly more slowly than did corresponding unexposed colonies. CONCLUSION For imidacloprid resistance to be broadly increasing in the landscapes of the southeastern USA despite fitness costs of resistance, selection for resistance must be sufficient to overcome the costs. Findings encourage investigation into why costs are overcome in this system, potentially including geographic extent of neonicotinoid use or prevalence of low-dose exposure. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.
The Association of Clavicle Fracture With Brachial Plexus Birth Palsy.

Purpose Shoulder dystocia is the strongest known risk factor for brachial plexus birth palsy (BPBP). Fractures of the clavicle are known to occur in the setting of shoulder dystocia. It remains unknown whether a clavicle fracture that occurs during a birth delivery with shoulder dystocia increases the risk of BPBP or, alternatively, is protective. The purpose of this study was to use a large, national database to determine whether a clavicle fracture in the setting of shoulder dystocia is associated with an increased or decreased risk of BPBP. Materials and methods The 1997 to 2012 Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID) was analyzed for this study. International Classification of Diseases , Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes were used to identify newborns diagnosed with shoulder dystocia and BPBP as well as a concurrent fracture of the clavicle. Newborns with shoulder dystocia were stratified into 2 groups: dystocia without a clavicle fracture and dystocia with a clavicle fracture. Multivariable logistic regression was used to quantify the risk for BPBP among shoulder dystocia subgroups. Results The dataset included 5,564,628 sample births extrapolated to 23,385,597 population births over the 16-year study period. A BPBP occurred at a rate of 1.2 per 1,000 births. Shoulder dystocia complicated 18.8% of births with a BPBP. A total of 7.84% of newborns with a BPBP also sustained a clavicle fracture. Births with shoulder dystocia and a clavicle fracture incurred BPBP at a rate similar to that for newborns with shoulder dystocia and no fracture (9.82% vs 11.77%). Shoulder dystocia without a concurrent clavicle fracture was an independent risk factor for BPBP (odds ratio, 112.1; 95% confidence interval, 103.5–121.4). Those with shoulder dystocia and clavicle fracture had a risk for BPBP comparable with those with shoulder dystocia but no fracture (odds ratio, 126.7 vs 112.1). Conclusions This population-level investigation suggests that, among newborns with shoulder dystocia, clavicle fracture is not associated with a significant change in the risk of BPBP. Type of study/level of evidence Prognostic II.
User Attitudes towards Algorithmic Opacity and Transparency in Online Reviewing Platforms

Algorithms exert great power in curating online information, yet are often opaque in their operation, and even existence. Since opaque algorithms sometimes make biased or deceptive decisions, many have called for increased transparency. However, little is known about how users perceive and interact with potentially biased and deceptive opaque algorithms. What factors are associated with these perceptions, and how does adding transparency into algorithmic systems change user attitudes? To address these questions, we conducted two studies: 1) an analysis of 242 users' online discussions about the Yelp review filtering algorithm and 2) an interview study with 15 Yelp users disclosing the algorithm's existence via a tool. We found that users question or defend this algorithm and its opacity depending on their engagement with and personal gain from the algorithm. We also found adding transparency into the algorithm changed users' attitudes towards the algorithm: users reported their intention to either write for the algorithm in future reviews or leave the platform.
Intellectual Property in the Information Age: American & Chinese Perspectives

Innovation is widely seen as a key driver of economic success in the 21st century — and therefore a key driver of national power. And while the secret sauce that yields a highly innovative economy is difficult to identify, let alone replicate, robust and broad intellectual property (IP) protection is widely believed to be an essential component. This paper compares the international IP policy of the two largest powers in the world: the U.S. and China. The U.S. is the world’s leading proponent of strict IP regulation. China, by contrast, has long been seen, by the West at least, as the world’s leading IP scofflaw. Yet Chinese observers — indeed, many observers around the world — believe the US is an IP bully that pushes inappropriate legal standards on other nations in an effort to serve the narrow interests of a few key domestic constituencies. There is substantial (though shrinking) divergence in how the US and China approach IP today, and this contrast reflects major differences in national interest and economic conditions. At the same time, American history itself suggests that convergence in IP law and policy will continue to occur, and may well accelerate, as the Chinese economy expands and matures. National power is a function of economic size but also innovation. Unlike the Cold War, when the US and Soviet economic spheres had little economic contact, the US and China are deeply economically intertwined. Those pervasive economic ties define the relationship. Yet the two states remain politically and militarily competitive — increasingly so under the Xi and Trump administrations — and while true conflict is not on the immediate horizon, its prospect drives substantial concern in the US over China’s acquisition of American IP and innovations, the expansion of Chinese tech firms such as ZTE and Huawei, and its overall approach to IP protection.
Poison frog moms and dads use similar brain cells for parenting

![Graphic][1] Parenting is hard, and everyone takes a different approach. Infant mice are usually reared by mom, whereas songbirds tend to be exemplar co-parents. While scientists know how parenting gets kick-started in feathered and furry vertebrates, other animals, such as poison frogs (
Safety and efficacy of intravesical nadofaragene firadenovec for patients with high-grade, BCG unresponsive nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC): Results from a phase III trial.

442Background: Patients (pts) with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC are at significant risk for disease recurrence and progression. While cystectomy can be curative, many such pts are unwilling or unable giv...
Changes in Polyphenolics during Storage of Products Prepared with Freeze-Dried Wild Blueberry Powder

Wild blueberry (WBB) powder can be added to the formulation of foods to encourage consumption of health-promoting polyphenolics, but the stability of polyphenolics throughout storage is important. We determined the stability of polyphenolics in five products (ice pop, oatmeal bar, graham cracker cookie, juice, and gummy product) prepared with WBB powder. Samples stored at 21 °C, 4.4 °C, or -20 °C (ice pops only) were analyzed at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks for polyphenolic content and percent polymeric color. Total anthocyanins decreased over storage and storage temperatures in all products. However, the ice pop and the refrigerated juice both retained over 90% of their initial total anthocyanin content. The refrigerated oatmeal bar also showed good retention of anthocyanins (86%), but the gummy product retained only 43% and 51% when stored at 4.4 °C or 21 °C, respectively. The lower amount of polyphenolic compounds recovered in the gummies stored at 4.4 °C compared to 21 °C may be attributed to reduced extraction efficiency as a result of gel hardening at refrigerated temperature. Chlorogenic acid and flavonols were generally more stable than anthocyanins throughout storage.
Foreign direct investment screening and congressional backlash politics in the United States

This article examines a particular instance of backlash against economic globalisation – the screening of foreign direct investment in the United States. Although most foreign direct investment is ...
The horizontal in Frege’s Begriffsschrift

This paper addresses an issue with the sign ‘ ’ in Frege’s mature version of Begriffsschrift, i.e., the version in ‘Function and Concept’ and Grundgesetze. The sign is a performative for asserting in that writing down ‘ ’ is equivalent to asserting that p. Frege further says that writing ‘ ’ is also equivalent to identifying the reference of ‘p’ with the truth-value True. It looks as if he holds that asserting that p consists in identifying the True with the reference of ‘p’. Frege’s commitment to it, however, seems to encounter a number of tensions. This paper aims to show that these tensions can be avoided by endorsing a non-assertive conception of identification under which making an identification is not making an identity assertion. The suggested reading leads to an entirely different understanding of the compositionality of the sign ‘ ’ as well as Frege’s conception of assertion and judgment.
Reinvestigation of grain weight genes TaTGW6 and OsTGW6 casts doubt on their role in auxin regulation in developing grains

Abstract The THOUSAND-GRAIN WEIGHT 6 genes (TaTGW6 and OsTGW6) are reported to result in larger grains of wheat and rice by reducing production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in developing grains. However, a critical comparison of data on TaTGW6 and OsTGW6 with other reports on IAA synthesis in cereal grains requires that this hypothesis be reinvestigated. Here, we show that TaTGW6 and OsTGW6 are members of a large gene family that has undergone major, lineage-specific gene expansion. Wheat has nine genes, and rice three genes encoding proteins with more than 80% amino acid identity with TGW6 making it difficult to envisage how a single inactive allele could have a major effect on IAA levels. TGW6 is proposed to affect auxin levels by catalysing the hydrolysis of IAA-glucose (IAA-Glc). However, we show that developing wheat grains contain undetectable levels of ester IAA in comparison to free IAA and do not express an IAA-glucose synthase. Previous work on TGW6, reported maximal expression at 20 days after anthesis (DAA) in wheat and 2 DAA in rice. However, we show that neither gene is expressed in developing grains. Instead, TaTGW6, OsTGW6 and their close homologues are exclusively expressed in pre-emergence inflorescences; TaTGW6 is expressed particularly in microspores prior to mitosis. This combined with evidence for high levels of IAA production from tryptophan in developing grains demonstrates TaTGW6 and OsTGW6 cannot regulate grain size via the hydrolysis of IAA-Glc. Instead, their similarity to rice strictosidine synthase-like (OsSTRL2) suggests they play a key role in pollen development.
Enhancing the perceptual segregation and localization of sound sources with a triple beamformer

A triple beamformer was developed to exploit the capabilities of the binaural auditory system. The goal was to enhance the perceptual segregation of spatially separated sound sources while preserving source localization. The triple beamformer comprised a variant of a standard single-channel beamformer that routes the primary beam output focused on the target source location to both ears. The triple beam algorithm adds two supplementary beams with the left-focused beam routed only to the left ear and the right-focused beam routed only to the right ear. The rationale for the approach is that the triple beam processing exploits sound source segregation in high informational masking (IM) conditions. Furthermore, the exaggerated interaural level differences produced by the triple beam are well-suited for categories of listeners (e.g., bilateral cochlear implant users) who receive limited benefit from interaural time differences. The performance with the triple beamformer was compared to normal binaural hearing (simulated using a Knowles Electronic Manikin for Auditory Research, G.R.A.S. Sound and Vibration, Holte, DK) and to that obtained from a single-channel beamformer. Source localization in azimuth and masked speech identification for multiple masker locations were measured for all three algorithms. Taking both localization and speech intelligibility into account, the triple beam algorithm was considered to be advantageous under high IM listening conditions.
Maintenance of muscle mass in adult male mice is independent of testosterone

Testosterone is considered a potent anabolic agent in skeletal muscle with a well-established role in adolescent growth and development in males. However, the role of testosterone in the regulation of skeletal muscle mass and function throughout the lifespan has yet to be fully established. While some studies suggest that testosterone is important for the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass, an understanding of the role this hormone plays in young, adult, and old males with normal and low serum testosterone levels is lacking. We investigated the role testosterone plays in the maintenance of muscle mass by examining the effect of orchiectomy-induced testosterone depletion in C57Bl6 male mice at ages ranging from early postnatal through old age (1.5-, 5-, 12-, and 24-month old mice). Following 28 days of testosterone depletion, we assessed mass and fiber cross-sectional-area (CSA) of the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius, and quadriceps muscles. In addition, we measured global rates of protein synthesis and degradation using the SuNSET method, western blots, and enzyme activity assays. Twenty-eight days of testosterone depletion resulted in reduced muscle mass in the two youngest cohorts, but had no effect in the two oldest cohorts. Mean CSA decreased only in the youngest cohort and only in the tibialis anterior muscle. Testosterone depletion resulted in a general increase in proteasome activity at all ages. No change in protein synthesis was detected at the terminal time point. These data suggest that within physiological serum concentrations, testosterone may not be critical for the maintenance of muscle mass in mature male mice; however, in young mice testosterone is crucial for normal growth.
DISTYLY IN OREOCARYA CRASSIPES (BORAGINACEAE), AN ENDANGERED PLANT SPECIES

Oreocarya crassipes, an endangered angiosperm native to the Trans-Pecos region in southern Brewster County, Texas, exhibits distyly, a breeding system that includes two floral morphs with reciprocal positioning of the anthers and stigmas. The long-style (LS) morph has stigmas above the anthers, and the short-style (SS) morph produces anthers above the stigmas. In the present study, multiple aspects of distyly were examined across four populations of O. crassipes including morph ratios, variation in floral morphology, and patterns of macroscopic and microscopic floral development of the morphs. Morph ratios vary among populations, but for all of the samples pooled the ratio was 1 LS:1 SS. Distyly was observed to be well established in the species, with stigma height, anther height, and stigma-anther separation significantly different between the two morphs. Floral developmental patterns are similar to those in related species, suggesting a conserved and similarly co-opted developmental pathway for the origin of distyly in the genus and relatives.
Feasibility analysis on simultaneous electron density and attenuation coefficient reconstruction

PURPOSE Creating a viable reconstruction method for Compton scatter tomography remains challenging. Accounting for scatter attenuation when the underlying attenuation map is not known is particularly challenging, and current mathematical approaches to this vary widely. This work explores a novel approach to joint scatter and attenuation image reconstruction, which leverages the underlying structural similarity between the two images and incorporates a deep learning model in an alternating iterative reconstruction scheme. METHODS A single-view computed tomography (CT) imaging procedure for recording Compton scatter is first described. A joint reconstruction model, which iterates between algebraically reconstructing scatter images and estimating the attenuation via deep learning, is then proposed. This model is tested on both a generated dataset of 2D phantom images designed to mimic human tissues as well as a realistically simulated dataset based on real CT images. RESULTS Testing results yield convergence of the model and decent reconstruction quality to distinguish crucial features such as tumors and lesions, demonstrating the potential principled utilities of this configuration and deep learning approach. The model achieved a structural similarity index measure of at least 0.82 for scatter and 0.88 for attenuation reconstructions with the realistically simulated dataset. CONCLUSION The iterative, deep learning approach outlined in this work shows potential for future efficient medical imaging procedures, reconstructing images with limited scatter information.
Virtual interviews - Utilizing technological affordances as a predictor of applicant confidence.

Abstract Purpose In the midst of a pandemic, residency interviews transitioned to a virtual format for the first time. Little is known about the effect this will have on the match process. The study aim is to evaluate resident application processes and perceived outcomes. Methods An electronic survey was distributed to 142 colon and rectal surgery residency applicants (95% of total). Results A total of 77 applicants responded to the survey (54% response rate). Applicants reported high levels of satisfaction with virtual interviews but less comfort. Utilizing the mute button and using notes in a different way from face-to-face interviews were significantly associated with applicant confidence that they ranked the right program highest. A majority of applicants (73%) would recommend virtual interviews next year even if COVID-19 is not a factor. Conclusion While applicants appear generally satisfied with virtual interviews, they also reported less comfort. Applicant confidence was predicted by utilizing the unique technological affordances offered by the virtual platform.
Surface Segregation and Phase Formation in Thin Films of Sofc Cathode Materials

A limiting factor for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) performance is the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode surface. Changes in the surface composition and structure on annealing at 800°C has been studied, since these can influence the ORR. Idealized single crystals of cathode materials La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM) and La1-xSrxCoyFe1-yO3 (LSCF) were grown as heteroepitaxial thin films on lattice matched single crystal substrates. Changes upon heating the films to operating temperature and pressures were characterized using various synchrotron x-ray techniques. Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence (TXRF) measurements, which probe compositional changes, were made at high temperature in real time. The LSM surfaces were found to develop manganese enrichment when heated. Highly strontium doped LSCF were found to develop strontium-rich surfaces. HArd X-ray PhotoElectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES) was used to investigate the electronic structure of the materials. Highly strontium doped LSCF precipitates a surface strontium phase that contains both oxide and carbonate contributions.
Supervenience and explanatory exclusion

This paper argues that there is an inconsistency between Jaegwon Kim's earlier work on supervenience and his more recent work on explanatory exclusion. In his work on supervenience Kim advocates an explanatory agnosticism that, by the time of his later work, is replaced by an endorsement of reductive explanation. My argument is that this tension between Kim's early and later work is unfortunate since explanatory exclusion is highly questionable in its own right and is not reconcilable with his earlier work on supervenience anyway.
Milk and the Risk and Progression of Cancer

Observational evidence suggests that nutritional factors contribute to a substantial proportion of cancer cases, and milk contains numerous bioactive substances that could affect risk and progression of cancer. Cancer results from multiple genetic and epigenetic events over time, so demonstrating a specific effect of nutrients or other bioactive food components in human cancer is challenging. Epidemiological evidence consistently suggests that milk intake is protective against colorectal cancer. Calcium supplements have been shown to reduce risk for recurrence of adenomatous polyps. Calcium supplementation has not been observed to reduce risk for colon cancer, although long latency and baseline calcium intake affect interpretation of these results. High calcium intake from both food and supplements is associated with increased risk for advanced or fatal prostate cancer. Results from epidemiological studies examining the relationship between intake of dairy foods and breast or ovarian cancer risk are not consistent. Animal studies have suggested that galactose may be toxic to ovarian cells, but results from epidemiological studies that have examined ovarian cancer risk and milk and/or lactose intakes are mixed. Dietary guidelines for cancer prevention encourage meeting recommended levels of calcium intake primarily through food choices rather than supplements, and choosing low-fat or nonfat dairy foods.
STUDY OF MODELS FOR THE PREDICTION OF AVERAGE ROAD LOAD OF IN-USE DELIVERY TRUCKS

Coast-down studies of Class 6 trucks were conducted at near-zero road grade and wind conditions. Speed-versus-time data were recorded, smoothed to a quadratic equation to calculate deceleration rates, and reduced by the least-square method using two-, three-, and five-parameter linear models. The estimated parameters were analyzed statistically and compared to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended procedure. The averages of the individual truck road loads for the three models were consistent within 4% when reference conditions of 40 mi/h, 15,000 lb weight, and 65 sq ft projected frontal area were used. These reference conditions represent the median values of experiment conditions that were varied during coast-down tests. At these conditions, road load variations among the trucks averaged 10% and 16% for the two- and five-parameter models, respectively. The coefficients of the five-parameter model displayed instability during sequential estimation, showing multicollinearity. Because of this instability and the significance of the truck-to-truck variations, the two-parameter model seemed most appropriate for predicting the truck road load. At reference conditions, the two-parameter model road load was 10% greater than that from the EPA recommended procedure.
Up, up, and away! The power and potential of fan activism

Editorial for Transformative Works and Cultures, No. 10, special issue, "Transformative Works and Fan Activism."
Creating Responsible Students

(1990). Creating Responsible Students. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas: Vol. 64, No. 1, pp. 54-56.
Effects of Practical Life Materials on Kindergartners' Fine Motor Skills.

A pretest-posttest control group design was used to measure the effect of practical life materials on public school kindergarten children's fine motor skill development over a 6-month period. The dependent measure was a penny posting test. More than 50 different sets of activities were provided to the experimental group (n = 101). Teachers coached students in following specific steps to use tweezers, tongs, and spoons to manipulate a variety of objects. Students then employed the materials during center time in their classrooms. Although experimental and control group teachers reported equal amounts of fine motor activity in their classrooms, significant interaction effects were found indicating the experimental group outperformed the control on the posttest measure. An overall effect size of 0.74 indicates that the type of fine motor activity is important in children's development.
Toxicity and carcinogenicity of nitrofurazone in F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice

Toxicology and carcinogenesis studies were conducted by feeding diets containing nitrofurazone (99% pure) to groups of F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice for 14 days, 13 wk or 2 yr. In the 14-day studies, in which doses ranged from 630 to 10,000 ppm, nitrofurazone was more toxic to mice than to rats. Accordingly, in the 13-wk studies, doses for rats ranged from 150 to 2500 ppm and for mice from 70 to 1250 ppm. At the higher doses, convulsive seizures and gonadal hypoplasia were observed in both species. Evidence of toxicity in rats also included degenerative arthropathy. For the 2-yr studies, rats were exposed to 0, 310 or 620 ppm nitrofurazone and the survival of male rats given 620 ppm was lower than that of controls (33/50, 30/50 and 20/50 in the control, 310- and 620-ppm groups, respectively). Nitrofurazone administration increased the incidences of mammary gland fibroadenomas in female rats (8/49, 36/50 and 36/50 in the control, 310- and 620-ppm groups, respectively). In male rats it was associated with a marginal increase in sebaceous gland adenomas and trichoepitheliomas of the skin, mesotheliomas of the tunica vaginalis, and tumours of the perputial gland. Nitrofurazone caused testicular degeneration (atrophy of germinal epithelium and aspermatogenesis) in rats, and degeneration of vertebral and knee articular cartilage in rats of both sexes. In mice, dietary concentrations of nitrofurazone for the 2-yr studies were 0, 150 or 310 ppm. In mice of each sex, nitrofurazone administration induced stimulus-sensitive convulsive seizures, primarily during the first year of study. In male mice, there was no evidence of any chemically-related carcinogenic effects, but there was a treatment-related decrease in survival (39/50, 31/50 and 27/50 in the control, 150- and 310-ppm groups, respectively). In female mice nitrofurazone induced ovarian lesions with increased incidences of benign mixed tumours (0/47, 17/50 and 20/50 in control, low- and high-dose groups, respectively) and granulosa cell tumours (1/47, 4/50 and 9/50 in control, low- and high-dose groups, respectively).
Federal deposit insurance coverage and bank failures: A cointegration analysis with semi-annual data, 1965–91

This study examines empirically the link between bank failures and statutorially created increases in the extent of federal deposit insurance coverage. The model includes such factors as the percentage of deposits at federally insured banks that was covered by federal deposit insurance (FDICOV), the tangible capital/asset ratio, the commercial bank cost of funds, and the prime rate of interest. Using cointegration techniques involving maximum eigenvalue, trace, and likelihood ratio tests, together with semi-annual data for 1965–91, the study reveals that the bank failure rate is cointegrated with FDICOV, the capital/asset ratio, and the commercial bank cost of funds. Accordingly, it is inferred that—consistent with previous studies—the system of federal deposit insurance very likely induced bank failures during the study period.
A test of the overdue-glaciation hypothesis

Abstract According to a new hypothesis, greenhouse-gas concentrations in the atmosphere should have fallen throughout the last several thousand years and caused a significant cooling of Earth's climate, but early anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide and methane kept temperatures relatively warm. A further prediction is that ice should have begun accumulating in northeast Canada several thousand years ago. We carry out a preliminary test of this hypothesis by reducing atmospheric CO2 and CH4 concentrations to their estimated ‘natural’ levels in an experiment with the GENESIS climate model. In the absence of anthropogenic contributions, global climate is almost 2 °C cooler than today and roughly one third of the way toward full-glacial temperatures. The hypothesis of an overdue glaciation is confirmed, but at a small scale: parts of Baffin Island retain snow cover year-round, and snow cover persists on high terrain in Labrador for 11 months of the year.
Ionian Sea sapropel distribution and late Quaternary palaeoceanography in the eastern Mediterranean

SAPROPELS, dark organic-rich mud layers observed in deep-sea cores of the eastern Mediterranean, indicate that oceanographic conditions in this almost completely land-locked sea were at certain times during the Pliocene and Quaternary significantly different from those observed at present. Regional correlation of Quaternary sections in piston cores collected during the past two decades has shown that these distinct grey-to-black layers, ranging from a few millimetres to as much as 50 cm or more thick, are deposits that for the most part cover laterally extensive areas1. It has been suggested that sapropel formation is directly related to phases of stagnation2,3 which occurred synchronously over much of the eastern Mediterranean4. It was proposed that this lithofacies type was associated with well-developed water mass stratification that induced euxinic conditions on the sea floor5,6 and accumulated primarily during periods of climatic warming. Recent studies indicate that some sapropels also formed during cooling trends within interglacial episodes7. Interpretation of Mediterranean palaeoceanographic conditions during late Quaternary stagnation phases requires a precise determination of both the spatial distribution and the age of sapropels. Correlations are generally made by lithologic, microfossil and oxygen isotope methods. The core-to-core variations (due to hiatuses or repetition of section) require a framework of absolute age determination in order to identify specific sapropels reliably over broad regions6. The study reported here is an extension of lithofacies and chronostratigraphic (based on 14C dating) investigations made by the Smithsonian Institution, of numerous piston cores recovered between the Strait of Sicily in the central Mediterranean and the Nile Cone in the eastern Levantine Basin. The regional distribution of late Quaternary sapropels is outlined and their significance discussed. Two recent hypotheses are also considered: (1) that sapropels are absent in the western Ionian Sea; and (2) that stagnant phases were not basin-wide phenomena8. These latter points contradict prevailing hypotheses4,5. Information available in the Ionian Sea must be compared with data in adjacent basins to interpret properly late Pleistocene and Holocene physical oceanographic events in the Mediterranean.
Grazing the body: violations of land and limb in Inner Mongolia

In this article I document changing patterns of exposure to chronic cold stress and to accidental injury and death from hypothermia in a modernizing pastoral society on degraded Chinese grasslands in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia. Conventions of local culture interact with the environment and with multiple social factors structured by a global political economy to increase susceptibility to these health risks among select male herders in ethnic Mongol communities. In particular, the privatization of rangeland usufruct over the last 15 years has aggravated ecosystem decline, thereby contributing to selective degeneration of both land (in the form of soil erosion) and body (in the form of limb deficiency, amputation, or death). By describing processes of such reciprocal degradation at the margins of a capitalist world system, I hope to promote exploratory social research into the corporeal ramifications of globalization, especially overt connections among changes in land use, health, and body idiom.
Mental rotation is suppressed during saccadic eye movements

We examined whether mental rotation is suppressed during saccadic eye movements. Subjects judged whether a character was normal or mirror-reversed while making no, short, or long saccades. Reaction time was longer under saccade than under no-saccade conditions and was longer when a long saccade rather than a short saccade was made, but only when the characters varied in orientation. These results indicate that mental rotation is suppressed during saccadic eye movements. The implications for theories of cognitive suppression during saccades are discussed.
Production of Antibodies to Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Tolerant Rabbits

Antisera reacting with carcinoembryonic antigens isolated from metas-tases of colonic cancer were produced in mature rabbits injected at birth with heterologous proteins. The antisera were examined by the agarose gel diffusion, immunoelectrophoresis, counterimmunoelectrophoresis, and radioimmunoassay techniques. The anti-CEA antisera did not need absorption with extracts of normal liver and colon to remove antibodies to them and were interchangeable with goat anti-CEA antisera for use in assay systems for circulating CEA. The immunizing procedure using aluminum hydroxide gel as an adjuvant is described.
Expression and Functional Characterization of Mutant Human CXCR4 in Insect Cells: Role of Cysteinyl and Negatively Charged Residues in Ligand Binding

Abstract Human CXCR4 was expressed in Sf9 insect cells using the Bac-to-Bac baculovirus expression system. The recombinant receptor exhibited ligand binding activities with a K d value (3.3 nM) comparable to that of the native receptor. The role of four conserved cysteinyl residues was explored by site-directed mutagenesis. Each cysteine was individually changed to an alanine residue. All of the four mutants showed decreased ligand binding activity with increased K d values although comparable levels of receptor expression were observed. These results suggest that each of these four cysteinyl residues may be important for the ligand binding of the receptor. Evidence suggests that the ionic interaction may be involved in ligand binding. Point mutation of several relatively conserved acidic residues (Asp-10, Asp-262, Glu-275, and Glu-277) to an alanine residue greatly decreased the ligand binding activity and affinity. Since SDF-1α is a highly basic protein, these acidic residues may interact with the basic residues of SDF-1α by ionic pairing in addition to other molecular interactions and play an important role in ligand binding.
Quine and the linguistic doctrine of logical truth

La doctrine linguistique de la verite logique, selon laquelle les verites logiques sont vraies par convention linguistique, a laquelle les positivistes logiques s'etaient rattaches, passe pour avoir ete definitivement refutee par Quine. L'A. analyse les arguments de Quine et vise a montrer qu'une certaine forme de conventionnalisme est toujours tres plausible