cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Credentialism Across Creeds: Clergy Education and Stratification in Protestant Denominations

In this paper, we explore how Protestant denominations use education to stratify their pastors among lower and higher income jobs and how this use of education intersects with gender. We assume that reliance on education as anindication of job qualification ultimately reflects accommodation to secular norms and hypothesize that it will be practiced most strongly in theologically liberal contexts. Next, we hypothesize that women will benefit from education more than men, a pattern that is typical of secular labor markets. And we predict that education will have a stronger effect on income in denominations where regional clergy administrators have influence in matching pastors to jobs. Data are taken from the 1994 “Ordained Women and Men Study”and consist of career information on clergy in fifteen denominations. Contrary to expectations, clergy degrees have a stronger effect on income in conservative than in liberal denominations. We further find that women clergy receive lower income returns to their degrees in denominations requiring a Master of Divinity for ordination but receive higher returns in the others. Finally, results show that seminary prestige is more beneficial in denominations where pastors are hired directly by congregations rather than placed in congregations by regional clergy administrators.
Orbital metastasis from a malignant melanoma arising in a giant congenital melanocytic nevus

A 58-year-old man with a history of neurosarcomatous malignant melanoma arising from a giant congenital melanocytic nevus (GCMN) developed a metastasis to the right lateral rectus muscle. Incisional biopsy of the tumor was followed by a course of 5000 rads of radiation to the orbit with a resultant diminution in the size of the lesion. While metastases to the orbit from cutaneous malignant melanoma are documented, this report is the first description of such a metastasis from a melanoma arising within a congenital melanocytic nevus. Like other melanomas metastatic to the orbit the site of metastasis was an extraocular muscle, the metastasis occurred late in the patient's course, and the patient died shortly after diagnosis.
Developing a Common Language for Tumor Response to Immunotherapy: Immune-Related Response Criteria Using Unidimensional Measurements

Purpose: Immune-related response criteria (irRC) was developed to adequately assess tumor response to immunotherapy. The irRC are based on bidimensional measurements, as opposed to unidimensional measurements defined by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, which has been widely used in solid tumors. We aimed to compare response assessment by bidimensional versus unidimensional irRC in patients with advanced melanoma treated with ipilimumab. Experimental Design: Fifty-seven patients with advanced melanoma treated with ipilimumab in a phase II, expanded access trial were studied. Bidimensional tumor measurement records prospectively conducted during the trial were reviewed to generate a second set of measurements using unidimensional, longest diameter measurements. The percent changes of measurements at follow-up, best overall response, and time-to-progression (TTP) were compared between bidimensional and unidimensional irRC. Interobserver variability for bidimensional and unidimensional measurements was assessed in 25 randomly selected patients. Results: The percent changes at follow-up scans were highly concordant between the 2 criteria (Spearman r : 0.953–0.965, first to fourth follow-up). The best immune-related response was highly concordant between the 2 criteria ( κ w = 0.881). TTP was similar between the bidimensional and unidimensional assessments (progression-free at 6 months: 70% vs. 81%, respectively). The unidimensional measurements were more reproducible than bidimensional measurements, with the 95% limits of agreement of (−16.1%, 5.8%) versus (−31.3%, 19.7%), respectively. Conclusion: irRC using the unidimensional measurements provided highly concordant response assessment compared with the bidimensional irRC, with less measurement variability. The use of unidimensional irRC is proposed to assess response to immunotherapy in solid tumors, given its simplicity, higher reproducibility, and high concordance with the bidimensional irRC. Clin Cancer Res; 19(14); 3936–43. ©2013 AACR .
Evaluation of data processing and analysis approaches for fresco pigment studies by portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and portable Raman spectroscopy

A portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer and portable Raman spectrophotometer were utilized at the Coriglia, Castel Viscardo excavation site near Orvieto, Italy to study pigments found on fresco. Over eighty fresco samples were analyzed. Identified pigments included vermillion, red ochre, yellow ochre, terre verte, Egyptian blue, and hematite. XRF spectroscopic data were collected utilizing three separate sets of instrument conditions. Various data processing and analysis approaches were evaluated for the XRF and Raman spectroscopic data including scatterplots and analysis of variance on integrated peak areas, live time correction of the XRF spectral intensities, principle components analysis on both the integrated peak areas and spectra, and data fusion of the spectra. Fusion of the high voltage and low voltage under vacuum XRF spectroscopic data provided improved data clustering results over single technique data. Fusion of high voltage XRF spectroscopic data with Raman data also was demonstrated to provide improved differentiation results for certain pigments. Data from individual pigments were then evaluated using these demonstrated best approaches for possible source variations with encouraging results.
Partitioning of solutes in multiphase Ti-Al alloys

First-principles calculations based on a plane-wave pseudopotential method, as implemented in the VASP code, are presented for the formation energies of several transition-metal and non-transition-metal dopants in Ti‐ Al alloys. Substitution for either Ti or Al in g-TiAl, a2-Ti3Al, Ti2AlC, and Ti3AlC are considered. Calculated szero-temperatured defect formation energies exhibit clear trends as a function of the periodic-table column of transition metal solutes. Early transition metals in TiAl prefer the Ti sublattice, but this preference gradually shifts to the Al sublattice for late transition metals; the Ti sublattice is preferred by all transition metal solutes in Ti3Al. Partitioning of solutes to Ti 3Al is predicted for mid-period transition elements, and to TiAl for early and late transition elements. A simple Ising model treatment demonstrates the plausibility of these trends, which are in excellent overall agreement with experiment. The influence of temperature on formation energies is examined with a cluster expansion for the binary TiAl alloys and a low temperature expansion for dilute ternary alloys. Results for Nb-doped alloys provide insight into the relative sensitivity of solute partitioning to individual contributions to the free energy. Whereas the calculated formation energy of Nb ssubstitutiond at zero temperature favors partitioning to a2-Ti3Al, temperature-dependent contributions to the formation free energy, evaluated at 1075 K, favor partitioning to g-TiAl, in agreement with experiment.
Hustle & Flow: A critical student and teacher-generated framework for re-authoring a representation of Black masculinity

This article describes the formation and enactment of a student and teacher‐generated framework for re‐authoring a troubling representation of Black masculinity in a popular culture narrative. This data‐driven framework highlights the ways students and teacher provided a means for literacies to serve students' desire to re‐author images and words they found problematic in the texts they are most drawn to, in addition to fostering methods of critical consciousness, and empowerment. This work provides important recommendations for bridging the divide between in‐ and out‐of‐school literacy teaching/learning contexts in several ways. First, it presents research on literacies, multimodalities, and youth to promote reflective practice and professional development in this area. Second, it explains the context for this work and bridges research on literacy with literacy practice in an after‐school program. Third, it explains a co‐constructed framework for engaging a problematic representation of Black masculinity...
Swinging heart and vector alternans: signs of impending doom

An 80-year-old man with history of atrial flutter and tachy-brady syndrome presented to our hospital with dyspnoea and hypotension. Two days prior, he had undergone atrial flutter ablation and permanent pacemaker placement, and was discharged on dabigatran. Physical examination was remarkable for hypotension, tachycardia, elevated jugular venous pressure (JVP) and pulsus paradoxus. 12-lead ECG revealed atrial flutter and QRS electrical alternans …
Access to care based on state nurse practitioner practice regulation: secondary data analysis results in the Medicare population.

Purpose To examine access to care in the Medicare population based on state nurse practitioner (NP) practice regulation. Data sources Secondary data analysis of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey Access to Care 2011 dataset. Items used to measure access to care were usual source of care, appointment waiting times, and difficulties encountered. States were designated as full, reduced, or restricted NP practice based on data from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners State Regulatory Map. Conclusions Self-reported usual source of care (N = 1,496,251) was not significantly affected by state regulation (p > .05); however, these results were based on only 3% of the sample answering the question. Significant differences were seen in sites for care across state groups (N = 41,650,566, p ≤ .01). Participants in reduced (B = −1.86) and restricted (B = −2.82) states reported lower waiting times than those in full practice states (N = 371,166, p < .01). Participants in reduced practice states had 67% lower odds of having trouble accessing care than participants in full practice states (N = 5,568,495, p = .01). More participants in restricted and reduced states reported cost as a difficulty (N = 1180, p = .03). Implications for practice Access to care based on state NP practice regulation is an important area of study because of the changing nature of health care and the growing support for full practice. This study examined access to care in states with different levels of NP practice regulation, but did not directly measure outcomes in individuals based on NP care. Additional research is needed to examine the impact of state regulation in different patient populations (self-insured, Medicaid, uninsured), and changes in access to care over time as state regulations change.
A context-aware cost of interruption model for mobile devices

Unwanted and untimely interruptions have been a major cause in the loss of productivity in recent years as they are mostly detrimental to the immediate task at hand. Multiple approaches have been proposed to address the problem of interruption by calculating cost of interruption. The cost of interruption (COI) gives as a measure the probabilistic value of harmfulness of an inopportune interruption. Bayesian Inference stands atop among the models that have been applied to calculate this COI. However Bayesian inference based models suffer from not being able to model context accurately in situations where priori, conditional probabilities and uncertainties exist while utilizing context information. Hence, this paper introduces Dempster-Shafer Theory of Evidence to model COI. Along the way, we also identify different contexts necessary for interruption management applications. We also show an illustrative example of a mobile interruption management application where the Dempster-Shafer theory is used to get a better measurement of whether to interrupt or not.
The optimal calibration hypothesis: how life history modulates the brain's social pain network.

A growing body of work demonstrates that the brain responds similarly to physical and social injury. Both experiences are associated with activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and anterior insula. This dual functionality of the dACC and anterior insula underscores the evolutionary importance of maintaining interpersonal bonds. Despite the weight that evolution has placed on social injury, the pain response to social rejection varies substantially across individuals. For example, work from our lab demonstrated that the brain’s social pain response is moderated by attachment style: anxious-attachment was associated with greater intensity and avoidant-attachment was associated with less intensity in dACC and insula activation. In an attempt to explain these divergent responses in the social pain network, we propose the optimal calibration hypothesis, which posits variation in social rejection in early life history stages shifts the threshold of an individual’s social pain network such that the resulting pain sensitivity will be increased by volatile social rejection and reduced by chronic social rejection. Furthermore, the social pain response may be exacerbated when individuals are rejected by others of particular importance to a given life history stage (e.g., potential mates during young adulthood, parents during infancy and childhood).
Coupled SPH-FVM Simulation within the OpenFOAM Framework☆

This paper discusses coupling of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Finite Volume Method (FVM) approaches within the OpenFOAM framework to capitalize upon the benefits of both meshed and meshless methods. In the work described herein, the mesh-free, particle-based, Lagrangian SPH method is used at free surfaces or near deformable boundaries, whereas the grid-based Eulerian FVM method is used over the larger fluid domain. For the SPH portion of the simulation, dynamic virtual particles in addition of real boundary particles are used to mitigate boundary deficiencies. The introduction of artificial viscosity at the air-water interface avoids instabilities associated with the high density ratio. The coupled system is validated by modeling a dam-break problem and comparing it with an experiment.
Impact of PRRS and PED viruses on grower pig performance and intestinal function

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRSV) and porcine epidemic diarrhea (PEDV) viruses are two of the most economically significant diseases to affect the U.S. swine industry today. Yet, little is known about how they impact pig nutrient digestibility, intestinal function and feed efficiency. Therefore, the overall objective of this thesis was to determine the impact of PRRSV and PEDV viruses, alone or in combination, on grower pig performance, tissue accretion and on intestinal function and integrity. To accomplish these objectives, a series of experiments were conducted and are outlined in three research chapters (Chapter 2, 3 and 4). In Chapter 2, an experiment was conducted using growing pigs to assess the longitudinal impact of PRRSV on growth performance, feed efficiency, tissue accretion and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD). In Chapter 3 pigs were infected with PRRSV, PEDV or a combination of both, to determine their impact on growth performance, feed efficiency, ATTD and apparent ileal digestibility (AID). The final research chapter (Chapter 4) assessed the effects of PRRS and PED viruses on intestinal integrity and function. The results from this research indicate that PRRSV significantly reduces overall growth performance and feed efficiency. It also reduces ATTD of nutrients and energy in an industry setting (Chapter 2), but did not reduce AID of nutrients (Chapter 3). Expectedly, PRRSV infection did not affect markers of intestinal health and integrity, but did improve active glucose and lysine transport in the jejunum (Chapter 4). Jejunum sucrase activity was also improved during the 21 day PRRSV infection. However, no differences in the gene abundance of nutrient transporters between PRRSV and healthy
Miscommunication Recovery in Physically Situated Dialogue

We describe an empirical study that crowdsourced human-authored recovery strategies for various problems encountered in physically situated dialogue. The purpose was to investigate the strategies that people use in response to requests that are referentially ambiguous or impossible to execute. Results suggest a general preference for including specific kinds of visual information when disambiguating referents, and for volunteering alternative plans when the original instruction was not possible to carry out.
The ‘climatism’ cartel: why climate change deniers oppose market-based mitigation policy

ABSTRACTMainstream policy responses seek to utilize market mechanisms in an effort to minimize costs for major emitters of greenhouse gases. Presumably, this should win over some climate change deniers who align themselves with think tanks promoting free markets and economic growth. Yet, climate change deniers and free-market activists are as staunchly opposed to market-based climate policy as they are to any other form of climate mitigation. In order to understand why climate change deniers reject market-based policy proposals, an archive of free-market environmental newsletters was analyzed for themes of economic opposition. This analysis revealed how climate change deniers rely upon the concept of a regulatory cartel to connect economic opposition to climate policy with attacks on scientific evidence. Because professional scientists do not operate under conventional private-market incentive structures, neoliberal climate change deniers frame scientific knowledge as an attack on economic freedom when ut...
Morphology and Optical Response of Carbon Nanotubes Functionalized by Conjugated Polymers

Noncovalent functionalization of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) by biological and conjugated polymers promises significant improvements in their properties important for future nanotube-based optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices. Using a combination of molecular mechanics and quantum chemistry methods, we investigate how the deposition of poly-phenylene vinylene (PPV), a conjugated polymer, on the surface of selected SWNTs affects their morphology, as well as their electronic and optical properties. We found that the interaction between PPV and the nanotube is relatively weak (0.1–0.3 eV per repeat unit), and the most stable structures exhibit small coiling angles (≤20°) of PPV chains around the nanotube. PPV functionalization weakly affects optical excitations of the SWNT, resulting in slight red-shifts of the first and second optical bands of the nanotube. In contrast, the absorption spectra of PPV are strongly affected by specific conformational structures of the wrapped polymer. Our analysis ...
Abstract 3714: Metabolomics and proteomics reveal inhibition of glycolysis in withaferin A-mediated prevention of mammary carcinogenesis in MMTV-neu mice.

Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC Plants used in Ayurvedic medicine, which has been practiced for centuries in India for the treatment of different ailments, continue to draw attention for identification of novel small molecule cancer chemopreventive agents. Withaferin A (WA) is one such promising small molecule constituent of the medicinal plant Withania somnifera (also known as Ashwagandha) with in vivo activity against xenografted human breast cancer cells. We have also shown recently that mammary cancer development and pulmonary metastasis in MMTV-neu transgenic mice is inhibited significantly by WA administration. In the present study, we performed metabolomics profiling using plasma and tumor tissues (n=8) and proteomics profiling using tumor tissues (n=3) from control and WA-treated MMTV-neu mice to gain insights into the mechanism underlying in vivo preventive effect of WA. A total of 320 and 328 biochemicals of known identity were detectable in the plasma and tumor tissue, respectively. The WA-mediated mammary cancer prevention in MMTV-neu mice was associated with a statistically significant alteration (P≤0.05) in the levels of 76 biochemicals in the plasma (24 increase, 52 decrease). Metabolomics using tumor tissues revealed alterations in the levels of 24 biochemicals (2 increase, 24 decrease) upon WA administration. One change that was highly consistent in the plasma and tumor tissue from WA-treated mice compared to controls was a decrease in glucose utilization, glycolysis, and TCA cycle activity. Proteomics using tumor tissues confirmed downregulation of many glycolysis-related proteins in the tumor of WA-treated mice compared with control, including M2-type pyruvate kinase, phosphoglycerate kinase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and fructose-bisphosphate aldolase A isoform 2. Downregulation of TCA cycle-related proteins in the tumor of WA-treated mice compared with control included pyruvate carboxylase and isocitrate dehydrogenase. Other altered biochemicals were reflective of changes in arginine metabolism, polyamine biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, lipid metabolism, and catabolism of branched-chain amino acids. These observations indicate that WA treatment prevents mammary cancer in MMTV-neu mice by suppressing glycolysis (Warburg effect) and TCA cycle. This study was supported by the grant CA142604 awarded by the National Cancer Institute. Citation Format: Shivendra V. Singh, Eun-Ryeong Hahm, Joomin Lee, Su-Hyeong Kim, Anuradha Sehrawat, Julie A. Arlotti. Metabolomics and proteomics reveal inhibition of glycolysis in withaferin A-mediated prevention of mammary carcinogenesis in MMTV-neu mice. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3714. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3714
Multiplicative canonical ideals of ring extensions

We study properties of multiplicative canonical (m-canonical) ideals of ring extensions. Let R ⊆ S be a ring extension. A nonzero S-regular ideal I of R is called an m-canonical ideal of the extension R ⊆ S if (I :S(I :SJ)) = J for all S-regular ideal J of R. We study m-canonical ideals for pullback diagrams, and we use the notion of m-canonical ideal to characterize Prufer extensions.
Influencing factors in identifying the optimal age for conducting STEM outreach

Over the years, a constant growth in the need for more STEM professionals has been seen in order to take on our society's more advanced problems. To address this need, a steady growth in STEM-based outreach has been established to inspire young minds to fill this need for future STEM professionals. These programs can be found in a variety of formats, delivering a wide range of content and targeting specific demographics; all with the goal to stimulate interest and gain excitement in STEM. The goal of this paper is to stimulate discussion on how to best optimize STEM outreach by identifying age ranges that may have the most long term impact in developing STEM professionals. This will be undertaken by applying multiple System Engineering philosophies and tools. Such as constructing a conception of the target system, a review of the stakeholders involved, and discussion on the systemic forces involved in STEM outreach. The overall purpose of this paper is to further the discussion and identify additional areas of research that can aid in fully understanding how STEM outreach can be optimized for each grade level.
Regional Disparity of the Relationship Between Land Finance and Urban Land Scale

Focusing on regional disparity relationship between land finance and urban land scale has significant importance on optimazing their relationship as well as introducing difference land finance transformation strategies during the urbanization period. This research took land finance providing resources and funding for urban expasion as the starting point to elaborate the interactive and impacting mechanism between the two factors and calculate the coupling degree between the two factors of 31 provinces. The result shows that the interactive and impacting degree change with economic development level of each province,it is high in developed provinces. Combining with ‘cluster analysis',31 provinces had been clustered into four coordinate categaries: ‘high,moderate,inadequite,and low'. After considering about economic level,national development strategy,land finance scale and its contribution degree to local finance,relationship between land price and urban land scale,relationship between land price and regional population capability,and output value of nonagricultural industry,this reseach found the reason why the relationship between land finance and urban land scale has regional disparity. This research proposed countermeasures about optimizing the relationship between land finance and urban land scale as well as promoting land finance transformation for different regions.
Digital-analog hybrid real-time simulation system of UHVDC and UHVAC power grid

A digital-analog hybrid real-time simulation system of UHVDC and UHVAC power grid is built in the Digital and Analog Hybrid Simulation Laboratory of National State Grid Simulation Center,which is based on SGI super computer and adopts Linux operating system and Hypersim digital real-time simulator.The interconnections between the digital simulation software and the primary physical simulator,or between the digital simulation software and the control and protection system,are implemented with the signal interfaces and the power interfaces.Applications in actual projects prove that the simulation system provides powerful technical support for the research of UHVDC and UHVAC power grid.
Current Trends in Liposome Research

Among the several drug delivery systems, liposomes--phospholipid nanosized vesicles with a bilayered membrane structure--have drawn a lot of interest as advanced and versatile pharmaceutical carriers for both low and high molecular weight pharmaceuticals. At present, liposomal formulations span multiple areas, from clinical application of the liposomal drugs to the development of various multifunctional liposomal systems to be used in therapy and diagnostics. This chapter provides a brief overview of various liposomal products currently under development at experimental and preclinical level.
Comparison of Urine and Oral Fluid for Workplace Drug Testing

AIMS To determine the relative detection rates of urine versus oral fluid testing in a safety sensitive industry and the correlation with diagnosed substance use disorders and possible impairment at work. METHODS The trial involved 1,500 paired urine and oral fluid tests performed in accordance with Australian Standard/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS) 4308:2008 and AS 4760:2006. Workers who returned a positive test were screened for substance use disorders, as defined by DSM-5, and for possible impairment at work following that particular episode of substance use. RESULTS Substances were detected in 3.7% (n = 56) of urine samples and 0.5% (n = 8) of oral fluid samples (p < 0.0001). One worker (0.07%) had a substance detected on oral fluid alone versus 49 workers (3.3%) who had substances detected on urine alone. Twelve workers returned a positive result, defined as being consistent with the use of an illicit drug or a controlled substance without a clinical indication and prescription. Nine workers tested positive on urine alone, one on oral fluid alone and two on both (p = 0.0114). Of note, 6/11 workers who tested positive on urine had possible impairment at work and 2/11 had a substance use disorder versus 2/3 and 0/3, respectively, who tested positive on oral fluid. CONCLUSIONS Urine drug testing performed in accordance with AS/NZS 4308:2008 is more likely to detect overall substance use and illicit drug use than oral fluid testing conducted in accordance with AS 4760:2006. Urine testing performed in accordance with AS/NZS 4308:2008 may also be more likely to detect workers with possible impairment at work and substance use disorders than oral fluid testing performed in accordance with AS 4760:2006.
Measurements of the reflectance, contrast ratio, and scattering properties of digital micromirror devices (DMDs)

Digital micromirror devices (DMDs) are micro-electro- mechanical systems, originally developed to display images in projector systems. A DMD in the focal plane of an imaging system can be used as a reprogrammable slit mask of a multi-object spectrometer (MOS) by tilting some of the mirrors towards the spectrometer and tilting the rest of the mirrors away, thereby rejecting the unwanted light (due to the background and foreground objects). A DMD-based MOS can generate new, arbitrary slit patterns in seconds, which significantly reduces the overhead time during astronomical observations. Critically, DMD-based slit masks are extremely lightweight, compact and mechanically robust, which makes them attractive for use in space-based telescopes. As part of a larger effort to investigate the use of DMDs in space telescopes (sponsored by a NASA Strategic Astrophysics Technologies grant), we characterized the optical performance of Texas Instruments DMDs to determine their suitability for use in multi-object spectrometers. The performance of a DMD-based MOS is significantly affected by its optical throughput (reflectance), contrast ratio (the ability of the DMD to reject unwanted light) and scattering properties (which could lead to crosstalk and reduced signal-to-noise ratio in the spectrometer). We measured and quantified the throughput and contrast ratio of a Texas Instruments DMD in several configurations (which emulate the operation of a typical DMD-based MOS) and investigated the scattering properties of the individual DMD mirrors. In this work we present the results of our analysis, describe the performance of a typical DMD- based MOS and discuss the practical limitations of these instruments (such as maximum density of sources and expected signal-to- noise ratio).
Mechanisms for Decadal-to-Centennial Climate Variability

We really don’t understand what causes decadal-to-centennial climate variability although we have some rudimentary ideas about the possible mechanisms. Which mechanism operates implies the existence and range of possible predictability. These lectures, therefore, have two purposes: 1) to look at the evidence for the various proposed mechanisms and see if any can be chosen as most likely (or if any can be rejected and thereby eliminated from further consideration) and 2) to see which of the mechanisms imply predictability of the decadal variability and which are intrinsically unpredictable. The variety of mechanisms is diverse, and, to save the reader from turning to the end to see how the story turns out, none can be totally eliminated at this stage. Indeed, more than one mechanism may apply at any given time at various places on the globe. It is impossible to be exhaustive in lectures of this type, so it is hoped that these lectures will serve as a guide to the ideas and literature of a field that is rapidly catching on as the realization takes hold that natural variability of the climate is omnipresent and important, and may be predictable.
Provider quality and barriers to care for transgender people: An analysis of data from the Wisconsin transgender community health assessment

ABSTRACTBackground: Transgender people in the United States often lack access to high-quality health care.Methods: A group of researchers and transgender people came together in a community-based participatory research process to survey transgender Wisconsinites about their health care experiences. A multiple regression analysis of survey data was used to evaluate the association between barriers to health care, gender identity, and quality of medical and mental health care provider.Results: Seventy-seven respondents were included in this analysis. Transmasculine respondents were more likely than transfeminine respondents to report barriers to high-quality health care, but having a high-quality medical or mental health care provider was associated with reporting fewer barriers to care across the entire sample.Discussion: This community-based study suggests that health care providers play a key role in facilitating access to care for transgender Wisconsinites in the USA.
Dealing with Disinformation: Evaluating the Case for CDA 230 Amendment

Recent revelations surrounding Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and the role that "fake news" may have played in shaping voter preferences have sparked a broad conversation among researchers, policymakers, technologists, and others on how to combat the spread and influence of disinformation online. Emerging from this conversation has been a number of proposals that seek to pass legislation or promulgate regulations that would make it more difficult for disinformation to flow through the web. To that end, these interventions will confront the long-standing legal protections provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA 230), a key legal provision which broadly shields platforms from legal liability for the actions of third-party users of their services. For the past two decades, this provision has been seen as major driver in the growth of online services, and a cornerstone supporting free expression on the web. Simultaneously, CDA 230 has also been argued to inhibit platform responsiveness to the harms posed by harassment, defamation, sex trafficking, and a host of other activities online. The present-day debates on how to address "fake news" will join the legacy of efforts to reform or eliminate the shield provided by CDA 230. This paper seeks to address three questions given this historical background. First, would modifications to CDA 230 pave the way to an effective response to the challenges posed by disinformation online? Second, if so, should such modifications be made? Finally, how should such modifications be crafted?
Food System Field Experience: STEM Identity and Change Agency for Undergraduate Sustainability Learners.

Background: Experiential STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning increases STEM identity and belongingness in STEM communities. Experiential food systems education affects...
Clinical Evaluation of Leydig Cell Function

Disorders of Leydig Cell function can be primary or secondary to abnormal secretion of LH and FSH. These disorders can be congenital or acquired. The clinical manifestations depend on: (1) location of the defect; (2) age at onset of the disorder; and (3) the nature of associated nonreproductive problems. Because of the critical role of intratesticular testosterone in germ cell maturation, Leydig cell dysfunction often leads to infertility. Testosterone replacement therapy is required for androgen deficient males with primary Leydig cell under-function. Males with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism may be treated with testosterone to normalize serum testosterone levels, but reversal of infertility requires gonadotropin treatment.
Echocardiographic findings in patients with mitral valve prolapse mimicking left atrial tumor.

Echocardiograms in three patients with mitral valve prolapse suggested left atrial myxoma. The echocardiographic features included: excessive mitral leaflet excursion, slow diastolic slope, varving echoes behind the anterior mitral leaflet, abnormal systolic separation of the 2 leaflets and aortamitral discontinuity. Angiograms showed prolapse of the mitral valve with regurgitation and a left atrial filling defect produced in one patient by a voluminous posterior leaflet. The clinical, angiocardiographic and pathological correlations indicate that this lesion gives a characteristic echocardiographic pattern enabling differentiation from other lesions.
Platelet activating factor inhibits fluid transport by corneal endothelium

PURPOSE Given reports of corneal edema after endothelial exposure to platelet activating factor (PAF), the authors have investigated whether PAF can affect the function of corneal endothelium in vitro. METHODS The endothelial side of deepithelialized rabbit corneas was perfused with BSS+ and test agents: PAF, its inactive receptor ligand analog Lyso-PAF, and its antagonist BN52021. Stromal thickness was determined by specular microscopy. Translayer-specific electrical resistance (rho) was measured in cultured bovine corneal endothelial cells grown on permeable substrates at 36.5 degrees C. RESULTS Control corneas perfused with BSS+ or with BSS+ containing Lyso-PAF swelled at a very slow rate (6.2 +/- 0.1, and 7.9 +/- 0.2 microns/hour, respectively). Corneas exposed to PAF swelled appreciably faster and at rates that were a saturable function of PAF (K(m), 2.1 microM); maximal rates of swelling were < 20 microns/hour, indicating no appreciable damage to intercellular junctions. BN52021 prevented PAF-induced swelling (Ki, 1.1 microM). PAF led also to a decrease in rho (from 42.8 +/- 1.4 to 24.5 +/- 0.6 omega cm2 in 1 hour; 46.8 +/- 1.5 to 38.3 +/- 1.4 omega cm2 in control layers; and 43.0 +/- 1.2 to 30.8 +/- 1.6 omega cm2 in layers exposed to PAF+BN52021). Such rho changes are consistent with swelling of intercellular spaces. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that PAF inhibits transendothelial fluid transport on binding to an endothelial cell receptor for it; continuous stimulation of a PAF-induced signaling cascade may lead to such inhibition. From these and other results, fluid transport might result from cascades activating sequentially basolateral and apical transporters or channels.
A Framework for Analyzing Defined Benefit Pension Insurance: The Survivor Benefit Plan for Veterans

Millions of defined benefit pensioners must select a pension insurance method. We present a framework for making this decision within the context of US military veterans’ Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP). Federal government subsidies generate a positive expected net payout for SBP. While insurance outcomes are typically skewed, the asymmetry of SBP outcomes is stark. In a common scenario, 5% (95%) of participants receive 60% (40%) of benefits. An alternative approach incorporates private insurance and investments and often bests the SBP. Actuarially-correct life expectancy, moral hazard, taxes, and individual financial needs all play important roles in selecting a pension insurance program.
Influence of Self-reported Fatigue and Sex on Baseline Concussion Assessment Scores

Background:Baseline concussion assessments are advocated to provide an objective preinjury point of comparison for determining the extent of postconcussion neurological deficits and to assist with ...
Disability in Higher Education: A Social Justice Approach

Federal legislation has been passed to address the rights of individuals with disabilities within educational systems and workplaces. As the number of students with disabilities on college campuses...
Post-Glacial Radiocarbon Ages for the Southern Cordilleran Ice Sheet

The Pleistocene Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS) formed over mountainous terrain in northwestern North America, and last reached a maximum extent around 15 to 17 ka BP. Following this maximum, the ice sheet began to diminish in size. Retreat was rapid in some sectors, but was punctuated by still-stands and readvances in other sectors. Geochronology of CIS retreat is key for understanding the pace and style of this deglaciation, and for testing hypothesized feedbacks between the changing ice sheet and the ocean, atmosphere, and solid earth. One method of reconstructing ice sheet retreat relies on radiocarbon ages of immediate post-glacial organic material. Such ages are minima for deglaciation and are often utilized to infer the timing of ice sheet retreat. This paper describes a database of post-glacial radiocarbon dates on non-marine carbon for the region from 47° to 52°N that was once covered by the southern CIS. The data were collected from published literature. Each entry includes name, lab ID, location, elevation, the material dated, its stratigraphic context, the event dated, additional details, and a reference to the original data. This information is useful for validating numerical models of the CIS, for connecting CIS evolution to climate change, and for reconstructing late Pleistocene environments of the Pacific Northwest.
Characterizing Liver Stiffness with Acoustic Radiation Force

Acoustic radiation force elasticity imaging (ARFI) methods have become a viable clinical option to noninvasively evaluate the stiffness of the liver to evaluate fibrosis stage. Unlike external vibration-based methods such as transient elastography, acoustic radiation force excitations can be focused directly in the tissue of interest, while also providing real-time, ultrasonic B-mode imaging guidance and clinical evaluation. Acoustic radiation force methods are also available to screen for and characterize liver masses. Efforts to standardize and provide more consistent measurements between different manufacturer systems is being addressed by consensus documents and guideline documents, and the RSNA QIBA Ultrasonic Shear Wave Speed group is taking important steps toward characterizing the performance of these systems in calibrated elastic and viscoelastic media.
Third time's the charm: intricate non-centrosymmetric polymorphism in LnSiP3 (Ln = La and Ce) induced by distortions of phosphorus square layers.

Complex polymorphic relationships in the LnSiP3 (Ln = La and Ce) family of compounds are reported. An innovative synthetic method was developed to overcome differences in the reactivities of the rare-earth metal and refractory silicon with phosphorus. Reactions of atomically mixed Ln + Si with P allowed for selective control over the reaction outcomes resulting in targeted isolation of three new polymorphs of LaSiP3 and two polymorphs of CeSiP3. In situ X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the developed method bypasses formation of the thermodynamic dead-end, the binary SiP. Careful re-determination of the crystal structure ruled out the previously reported ordered centrosymmetric structure of CeSiP3 and showed that the main LnSiP3 polymorphs crystallize in the non-centrosymmetric Pna21 and Aea2 space groups featuring distinct distortions of the regular P square net to yield either cis–trans 1D phosphorus chains (Pna21) or disordered-2D phosphorus layers (Aea2). The disordered 2D nature of the P layers in the Aea2 LaSiP3 polymorph was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. A unique centrosymmetric P21/c polymorph was observed for LaSiP3 and has a completely different crystal structure lacking P layers. Consecutive polymorphic transformations at increasing temperatures for LaSiP3(Pna21 → P21/c → Aea2) were derived from optimized synthetic profiles and confirmed by a combination of phonon computations and experimental in situ and ex situ annealings. Crystal structures of the LaSiP3 polymorphs were verified via advanced solid state NMR analysis using 31P MAS and 31P{139La} double resonance techniques. A combination of phonon and electronic structure calculations, NMR T1 relaxation times, UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopy, and resistivity measurements revealed that all the reported polymorphs are semiconductors with resistivities and thermal conductivities strongly dependent on the degree of distortion of P square layers in the crystal structure. Reported here, non-centrosymmetric LnSiP3 polymorphs with tunable resistivity and thermal conductivity provide a platform for the development of novel functional materials with a wide range of applications.
Nueva ruralidad en la novela española contemporánea: un enfoque ecocrítico

This article proposes an ecocritical approach by analyzing the interactions between nature and the social configuration of characters in some of the most representative works and authors of the New Rurality in contemporary Spanish literature. Our aim is to highlight the existing contradictions between the economic and social development that has occurred since the beginning of Modernity and environmental sustainability. During Franco’s dictatorship, rural narrative was a highly pursued subgenre, but it declined with economic development and the arrival of democracy by relating urban space to modernity as an inevitable reflection of the evolution of Spanish society. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, and especially in recent years due to the economic crisis that Spain has suffered through for almost a decade, a number of writers has emerged who propose a return to rural areas in order to restore life, regain environmental balance, and find ethical principles that keep individuals away from the dehumanization of big cities.
RNA immunoprecipitation to identify in vivo targets of RNA editing and modifying enzymes.

Abstract The past decade has seen an exponential increase in the identification of individual nucleobases that undergo base conversion and/or modification in transcriptomes. While the enzymes that catalyze these types of changes have been identified, the global interactome of these modifiers is still largely unknown. Furthermore, in some instances, redundancy among a family of enzymes leads to an inability to pinpoint the protein responsible for modifying a given transcript merely from high-throughput sequencing data. This chapter focuses on a method for global identification of transcripts recognized by an RNA modification/editing enzyme via capture of the RNAs that are bound in vivo, a method referred as RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP). We provide a guide of the major issues to consider when designing a RIP experiment, a detailed experimental protocol as well as troubleshooting advice. The RIP protocol presented here can be readily applied to any organism or cell line of interest as well as both RNA modification enzymes and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) that regulate RNA modification levels. As mentioned at the end of the protocol, the RIP assay can be coupled to high-throughput sequencing to globally identify bound targets. For more quantitative investigations, such as how binding of an RNA modification enzyme/regulator to a given target changes during development/in specific tissues or assessing how the presence or absence of RNA modification affects transcript recognition by a particular RBP (irrespective of a role for the RBP in modulating modification levels); the RIP assay should be coupled to quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).
Of Bias and Exclusion: An Empirical Study of Diversity Jurisdiction, its Amount-In-Controversy Requirement, and Black Alienation from U.S. Civil Courts

Empirical studies find that Black Americans distrust the U.S. justice system because they believe that it will not treat them fairly. The well-developed empirical literature on race and the criminal justice system demonstrates that this belief is well founded. At the same time, the empirical literature on race in the civil justice system is less well developed owing to a lack of data associating racial and other demographic information with court filings. To fill part of that gap, I combine federal filings data with U.S. Census and National Center for Health Statistics data to produce a dataset representing 254,643 actual filings with associated data on race, poverty-rate, and population density. I then use this data to engage in a statistical analysis of race and diversity jurisdiction through the lens of increases in the amount-in-controversy requirement. I find that a large percentage of Black claimants are simply missing from the federal courts. This result is consistent with studies finding a barrier to Black claimant use of the courts arising out of systemic racism which creates and maintains Black Americans’ distrust of the U.S. justice system. The analysis also finds that increasing the amount-in- controversy requirement further decreases filing rates and, thereby, creates a second barrier for Black claimants to access the federal courts. This additional barrier can only serve to reinforce and deepen Black alienation as those Black claimants willing to trust the federal courts are told that federal court is not for people like them. In addition, the analysis to identify hidden or unknown covariates produces evidence of belief that the state courts are biased in other ways including geographic bias, rural court bias, and bias against the poor.