cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Forecasting and remote sensing outer belt relativistic electrons from low Earth orbit

This study demonstrates the feasibility and reliability of using observations from low-Earth-orbit (LEO) to forecast and nowcast relativistic electrons in the outer radiation belt. We first report a high cross-energy cross-pitch-angle coherence discovered between the trapped MeV electrons and precipitating ~100s keV electrons—observed by satellites with very different altitudes—with correlation coefficients as high as ≳ 0.85. Based upon the coherence, we then tested the feasibility of applying linear prediction filters to LEO data to predict the arrival of new MeV electrons during geomagnetic storms, as well as their evolving distributions afterwards. Reliability of these predictive filters is quantified by the performance efficiency with values as high as 0.74 when driven merely by LEO observations (or up to 0.94 with the inclusion of in-situ MeV electron measurements). Finally, a hypothesis based upon the wave-particle resonance theory is proposed to explain the coherence, and a first-principle electron tracing model yields supporting evidence.
Histone-induced damage of a mammalian epithelium: the conductive effect.

Human semen has been reported to be cytotoxic to rat descending colon by a mechanism involving polyamines (cationic molecules) and collagenase. In this study, we report that histones, cationic prot...
MicroRNAs as regulators of endothelial cell functions in cardiometabolic diseases.

Endothelial cells (ECs) provide nutrients and oxygen essential for tissue homeostasis. Metabolic imbalances and other environmental stimuli, like cytokines or low shear stress, trigger endothelial inflammation, increase permeability, compromise vascular tone, promote cell proliferation, and ultimately cause cell death. These factors contribute to EC dysfunction, which is crucial in the development of cardiometabolic diseases. microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that have important functions in the regulation of ECs. In the present review, we discuss the role of miRNAs in various aspects of EC pathology in cardiometabolic diseases like atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome, and in complication of those pathologies, like ischemia. We also discuss the potential therapeutic applications of miRNAs in promoting angiogenesis and neovascularization in tissues where the endothelium is damaged in different cardiometabolic diseases. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: MicroRNAs and lipid/energy metabolism and related diseases edited by Carlos Fernandez-Hernando and Yajaira Suarez.
Legal Liability of Faculty on Applied Research Projects

University faculty on virtually all campuses must engage in teaching, scholarly activity, and service. The distribution of effort between these three pillars of academe varies from institution to institution, with larger universities generally emphasizing research (one type of scholarly activity), and smaller colleges often focusing on undergraduate education. No matter what the size or nature of the institution, all faculty must do some sort of work to remain current and contribute to the body of knowledge in their field. Basic research, funded by government grants, is likely the most common form of scholarly work among engineering faculty. Applied research, funded by external sources (either government or private) is somewhat less common but growing rapidly and contributes a great deal to scholarly activity on college campuses. The benefits of applied research are three-fold: a technical solution is developed for a “client” (the external funding source), faculty members and student researchers apply their expertise to real-world problems, and the university provides a service to the broader community. Unlike basic research, where fundamental concepts are investigated and technical journal articles produced, applied research focuses on specific problems, and results in study reports, recommendations, and (sometimes) engineering designs. With a decrease in government funding for fundamental research, faculty members are increasingly turning to applied research projects to fill the funding gaps. The issue of legal liability resulting from applied research projects is not often addressed on college campuses. Who is responsible if an engineering disaster results from recommendations made in an applied research report prepared by a faculty member – or even a student? Is it the student? The faculty member? The university? This paper explores the ways legal liability for applied research is handled at two different types of institutions: a large research-oriented state university, and a smaller undergraduate education-focused state college.
Process development and characterization of additively manufactured nickel–titanium shape memory parts:

Additive manufacturing of nickel–titanium has two distinct advantages over conventional methods. It circumvents the difficulties associated with machining of nickel–titanium and it provides a freedom-of-design that conventional processing cannot match. In this article, we analyze the effects of processing parameters on the structural and functional outcomes of selective laser melted nickel–titanium parts. Notably, we expand the parametric envelope compared to the previous studies by utilizing a higher power 300 W laser. Optimal process parameters are identified for additively manufacturing of nickel–titanium parts with verified shape memory behavior and complex structures with accurate features are fabricated.
Prediction of Sound Generated by a Pitching Airfoil: A Comparison of RANS and LES

Simulations of dynamic stall are conducted for a NACA 0012 airfoil at a transitional Reynolds number using URANS and LES. Rotational corrections are applied to turbulence models to refine RANS simulations of dynamic stall, which lead to a significantly stronger dynamic stall vortex, and significant improvement of predicted surface pressure. Far field noise is also computed using the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings formulation of acoustic analogy. The noise from URANS simulation is in good qualitative and quantitative agreement with LES, though some high-frequency components are absent. On the other hand, LES results exhibit strong sound radiation at 30 , which is missing from the RANS results.
A Combination Forecasting Model for Wind Farm Output Power

It is of significance to forecast output power of wind farm for the operation of power grid to which large amount of wind power is connected.By use of BP neural network, radial basis function neural network and support vector machine, a combination forecasting model for output power of wind farm is built.The weights are calculated by three methods, i.e., equal weight average method, covariance optimization combination forecast and time-varying weight combination forecast.Research results show that the forecast accuracy from different methods is diverse one another;even though a method can offer high forecast accuracy in total, at individual point the forecast error of this method may be larger, however combination forecasting model can avoid larger forecast error in each point, so it is favorable to improve forecast accuracy.
Business, peace, and world politics: The role of third parties in conflict resolution

Abstract With the growing role of the private sector in global politics comes increasing challenges and opportunities, an example of which is conducting business in pre- and post-conflict environments. While the extant business literature discusses the work these actors can do to reduce tensions in conflict zones, the role of these actors is notably absent in studies of conflict resolution. In this article, I offer an overview of the findings on conflict resolution processes by scholars in the field of political science. I then draw from business scholarship and offer an overview of the positive contributions the private sector can and does make toward peace. I conclude by highlighting the problems of having disjointed approaches and offering a conceptual framework for how these distinct approaches can be combined to generate a more comprehensive understanding of conflict resolution.
Ultrastructure of the Vaginal Tissue of Rabbits Treated With Collagen Sponge Alone and Medicated with Zinc and Copper Salts and Copper Wire

We tested the reaction of rabbit vaginal epithelium to inserted collagen sponges which have been proposed for human use as intravaginal contraceptive barriers. Some collagen sponges were medicated with zinc and copper sulfate and oher (untreated) sponges were wrapped loosely with copper wire. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy was performed on vaginal tissue after 10days of intravaginal contact with the sponges. The characteristic longitudinal rugate arrangement of polygonal, flat epithelial cells with a dense, even covering of microvilli seen in intact vaginas was not changed by the presence of a collagen sponge for 10days. In the presence of zinc sulfate in the sponge, the microvilli were in general shorter; however, the cells remained flat and continuous, forming visible, longitudinally oriented folds. Sponges containing copper sulfate induced marked changes in the epithelial lining of the rabbit vagina. Cells of differing sizes protruded above the plane of the surface. These cells had a hypertrophic appearance with narrow neck and widening at the top. Microvilli in these cells were very short and widely spaced, in contrast to the profuse microvillous projections in other vaginal samples. Copper wire induced definite abnormalities which were classified into three categories: (1) altered appearance similar to that caused by copper sulfate; (2) localized complete denudation of cells; (3) necrotic changes with penetration of the continuity of epithelial lining and excessive leukocytic infiltration of the lesion at the site of direct contact of the vaginal mucosa with the wire.
2016 Scientific Sessions Sol Sherry Distinguished Lecturer in Thrombosis: Thrombotic Stroke: Neuroprotective Therapy by Recombinant-Activated Protein C

APC (activated protein C), derived from the plasma protease zymogen, is antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory. In preclinical injury models, recombinant APC provides neuroprotection for multiple injuries, including ischemic stroke. APC acts directly on brain endothelial cells and neurons by initiating cell signaling that requires multiple receptors. Two or more major APC receptors mediate APC's neuroprotective cell signaling. When bound to endothelial cell protein C receptor, APC can cleave protease-activated receptor 1, causing biased cytoprotective signaling that reduces ischemia-induced injury. Pharmacological APC alleviates bleeding induced by tissue-type plasminogen activator in murine ischemic stroke studies. Remarkably, APC's signaling promotes neurogenesis. The signaling-selective recombinant variant of APC, 3K3A-APC, was engineered to lack most of the APC's anticoagulant activity but retain APC's cell signaling actions. Recombinant 3K3A-APC is in ongoing National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trials for ischemic stroke.
Peer-Based Anatomy Tutoring for First-Year Medical Students: an Analysis of Peer-Tutoring from the Tutors’ Perspective

In response to student demand for additional anatomy lab instructional time outside of typical teaching hours, a peer-based anatomy tutoring program was implemented at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Peer tutoring is a well-studied form of supplemental instruction, and is known to benefit students and tutors alike. This study aims to address the effect of tutoring on the tutors themselves, specifically in the context of the gross anatomy laboratory. A one-time 12-question survey was distributed to all students who acted as tutors over a three-year period (n = 57), asking them to reflect on their experiences as tutors. Specifically, we aimed to address their thoughts on their career plans and academic achievement as they relate to their experience as tutors, as well as their opinions on effective tutoring techniques. Based on a 100% response rate, 85.7% of tutors reported being “very interested” in incorporating a teaching component to their career, and 73.7% of respondents reported that their experience tutoring influenced this plan. In contrast to an expectation that tutors would skew their residency choices toward anatomy-focused specialties, the distribution of tutors’ anticipated specialty choices actually reflected the overall distribution of the class. The tutors believed their experience tutoring improved their academic and clinical performance. The overwhelming majority reported believing that their experience as a tutor improved their USMLE Step 1 score (90.2%, n = 46). Sixty-one percent (n = 31) reported feeling that the experience as a tutor helped with their clerkship evaluations. Finally, the most effective tutoring techniques were quizzing the students directly and using the tutors’ own notes and study materials from the prior year. This study supports the finding that tutoring provides a significant beneficial effect on the tutors based on their own perceptions, and further studies obtaining quantitative data on academic achievement and clinical performance of the tutors will be beneficial.
Redox regulation: Taking AKTion on HNEs.

Differential redox regulation of kinase isoforms serves to provide intricate control of cellular signaling events. In a new study, a single isoform of Akt, Akt3, is shown to be preferentially modified by lipid-derived electrophiles to modulate downstream signaling events in mammalian cells and zebrafish.
SparseCT: interrupted-beam acquisition and sparse reconstruction for radiation dose reduction

State-of-the-art low-dose CT methods reduce the x-ray tube current and use iterative reconstruction methods to denoise the resulting images. However, due to compromises between denoising and image quality, only moderate dose reductions up to 30-40% are accepted in clinical practice. An alternative approach is to reduce the number of x-ray projections and use compressed sensing to reconstruct the full-tube-current undersampled data. This idea was recognized in the early days of compressed sensing and proposals for CT dose reduction appeared soon afterwards. However, no practical means of undersampling has yet been demonstrated in the challenging environment of a rapidly rotating CT gantry. In this work, we propose a moving multislit collimator as a practical incoherent undersampling scheme for compressed sensing CT and evaluate its application for radiation dose reduction. The proposed collimator is composed of narrow slits and moves linearly along the slice dimension (z), to interrupt the incident beam in different slices for each x-ray tube angle (θ). The reduced projection dataset is then reconstructed using a sparse approach, where 3D image gradients are employed to enforce sparsity. The effects of the collimator slits on the beam profile were measured and represented as a continuous slice profile. SparseCT was tested using retrospective undersampling and compared against commercial current-reduction techniques on phantoms and in vivo studies. Initial results suggest that SparseCT may enable higher performance than current-reduction, particularly for high dose reduction factors.
Design and implementation of a distraction-based polygraph

Currently, polygraphs and the process of lie detection are still not accurate enough, and have a considerable space for specialists to improve them. The lie detection process involves many complicated physiological reactions of the participants, so it requires researchers to focus on different aspects of studying polygraphs and lie detection process.
Blueberry Metabolites Attenuate Lipotoxicity-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction

Scope: Lipotoxicity-induced endothelial dysfunction is an important vascular complication associated with diabetes. Clinical studies support the vascular benefits of blueberry anthocyanins, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. The hypothesis that metabolites of blueberry anthocyanins attenuate lipotoxicity-induced endothelial dysfunction was tested. Methods and results: Human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) were treated for 6 h with either: (i) the parent anthocyanins (malvidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-glucoside); or (ii) the blueberry metabolites (hydroxyhippuric acid, hippuric acid, benzoic acid-4-sulfate, isovanillic acid-3-sulfate, and vanillic acid-4-sulfate), at concentrations known to circulate in humans following blueberry consumption. For the last 5 h HAECs were treated with palmitate or vehicle. HAECs treated with palmitate displayed elevated reactive oxygen species generation, increased mRNA expression of NOX4, chemokines, adhesion molecules, and I?Ba, exaggerated monocyte binding, and suppressed nitric oxide production. Of note, the damaging effects of palmitate were ameliorated in HAECs treated with blueberry metabolites but not parent anthocyanins. Further, important translational relevance of these results was provided by our observation that palmitate-induced endothelial dysfunction was lessened in arterial segments that incubated concurrently with blueberry metabolites. Conclusion: The presented findings indicate that the vascular benefits of blueberry anthocyanins are mediated by their metabolites. Blueberries might complement existing therapies to lessen vascular complications.
Modeling Ultrasonic Beam Propagation in Graphite Composites

A continuing project at the Center for NDE in Ames involves the development of models which predict the probability of detecting flaws using a given inspection system.[1] Our general approach as it applies to through-transmission immersion inspections is as follows. With the two transducers to be used in the inspection, a reference experiment is performed to determine relevant information concerning equipment characteristics and transducer efficiencies. This may be done by placing a calibration specimen into the ultrasonic beam and measuring the time-domain electrical signal in the output cable of the receiver. Using models, we then predict how this received electrical signal would be changed if the calibration specimen were removed and unflawed and flawed components were placed into the beam in turn. The two components are assumed to have identical geometries except for a hypothetical flaw of given type, size, and orientation. If the difference between the predicted output signals for the two components is sufficiently large, compared to system noise, then the hypothetical flaw is said to be detectable.
Functionalities of Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteria of Rice Rhizosphere: Techniques and Perspectives

Phosphorus (P) is the second essential macronutrient next to nitrogen. It is a constituent of the essential macromolecules like DNA, RNA, ATP, phospholipids, etc. and indispensable at all growth stages of all plants. With rice being the staple cereal diet of about 50% in the world and 85% of the Indian population and P being an essential plant nutrient, understanding P metabolism in rice rhizosphere is important to assess fertility status of rice soils. Oxidation-reduction reactions in rice soil open up challenges, opportunities and potentials for manifold microbial activities which are significant for maintenance of fertility and sustainability in rice production systems. Rice production should be enhanced to meet the world food need. Most agricultural soils are P deficient and, therefore, require application of phosphatic fertilizers to sustain crop production. But excess chemical P fertilizer application can cause environmental hazards like pollution, eutrophication, etc. This situation warrants for eco-friendly and economical alternate strategy like biofertilizer application for improving crop production in P-deficient soils. Phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms, viz. Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Azotobacter, Aspergillus spp. etc. can mineralize insoluble P thereby increasing P availability to plants. Therefore, efficient P-metabolizing biofertilizer application would promote plant growth, improve soil health and protect plants from different pathogens without disturbing the environment.
Blueberry bruise detection by pulsed thermographic imaging

Abstract Blueberries are prone to internal bruising damage during harvesting and postharvest handling. Accurate assessment of bruising damage improves profitability by allowing allocation of berries to appropriate product streams. The goal of this study was to develop a pulsed thermographic imaging system and explore its feasibility in non-destructively detecting bruised blueberries. In this paper, the design and construction of a pulsed thermographic imaging system was described. A total of 200 blueberry fruit samples from two southern highbush cultivars (Farthing and Meadowlark) were collected and bruising treatments were applied to half of the samples. Relevant features were extracted and were demonstrated to be significantly different between healthy and bruised fruit. Classification was performed using linear discriminant analysis, support vector machine, random forest, k-nearest-neighbors, and logistic regression classifiers. Accuracies of up to 88% and 79% were obtained for Farthing and Meadowlark berries, respectively. These results demonstrate the feasibility of pulsed thermography to discriminate between bruised and healthy blueberries.
Mixed phenotypic acute leukemia

Mixed phenotypic acute leukemias (MPALs) are a heterogeneous group of rare leukemias constituting about 1% to 5% of all leukemias. MPAL is defined as an acute leukemia that demonstrates expression of a combination of antigens of different lineages so that it is not possible to assign a single lineage to that leukemia. These leukemias have been characterized by relative therapeutic resistance. We present a case of a woman with an acute MPAL diagnosed as a B/myeloid leukemia.
Evaluation of dry reforming reaction catalysts via computational screening

Abstract In this work, a computational screening method introduced in a previous report is employed to determine the optimal operating temperature and reactant feed ratio (CO2/CH4) for catalysts used in the dry reforming reaction of methane aiming for high reactivity and stability. It is found that changes in temperature would affect the rate of the main reaction, coke formation and coke removal, while changes in the feed ratio could modify the boundary dividing coke formation from removal zones. The increase in CO2/CH4 ratio is found to expand the coke removal zone. Four strategies based on stability and reactivity ratings (RT-S and RT-R) of the catalysts are proposed. Type 1, high RT-S and RT-R catalysts benefit from high T and high CO2/CH4 since these promote high rate of reaction and coke removal; Type 2, high RT-S but low RT-R catalysts need the same condition as Type 1 except that the maximum achievable reaction and coke removal rate are lower than Type 1; Type 3, low RT-S but high RT-R catalysts which are located in the coke formation zone should be treated first with high CO2/CH4 to shift them into the coke removal zone before applying the same treatment as in Type 1 by increasing the temperature. If the shift is not possible, the alternative is to operate at low T and low CO2/CH4 to avoid high coke formation; Type 4, low RT-S and RT-R catalysts exhibit the least reactivity and coke-resistance and as a result, the best operating condition that could be used is to operate them at low T and low CO2/CH4 to attain lowest rate of coke formation. The ratings concept extended to the interpretation of experimental data in order to predict the stability of the catalysts is demonstrated on four Pt supported (Pt/SiO2, Pt/TiO2, Pt/Cr2O3 and Pt/ZrO2) and Rh supported catalysts (Rh/TiO2, Rh/Al2O3, Rh/MgO and Rh/SiO2). For these catalysts, experimental apparent activation energies of methane consumption were used as input parameters to predict the rate of coke formation. For the Pt catalysts, the predicted trends of coke formation rate via the ratings concept are in good agreement with the measured carbon deposition rate trend calculated from temperature-programmed hydrogenation: Pt/SiO2 > Pt/Cr2O3 > Pt/TiO2 > Pt/ZrO2. However, in the case of Rh, the measured carbon deposition via the temperature-programmed oxidation could not be well predicted by our extended ratings concept. Thus, the ratings concept is an effective screening tool for reactive and stable DRR catalysts, however further development of the concept via the incorporation of more experimental parameters would make applications to general catalysts achievable.
Session I: Assay and Exposure Technology of In Vitro Microbial Assay Systems Applied to Airborne Agents

Scientists involved with bioassaying air samples tend to view air as containing two parts: gases and particles. The papers in this section will include a discussion of the current microbial mutagenesis bioassay methods applicable to these two phases of air.
Quantum Electrodynamics and Its Predictions

The theories of (special) relativity and quantum mechanics are two of the most fundamental discoveries of modern physics. Since the former is really a property of space-time which is supposed to be obeyed by all physical laws, it was obvious from the beginning that quantum mechanics (which was not relativistic in its original form) must somehow be reformulated as a relativistic theory. This goal was attained by 1929 by means of the method of field quantization. The resulting theory was called quantum electrodynamics (QED) which described the interaction of electrons and photons satisfactorily in the lowest order of perturbation theory. It had, however, an annoying feature that higher order correction terms were always divergent and ruined completely whatever agreement that existed between experiments and lowest order calculations. Because of this difficulty, which originates from the high energy region of momentum space and hence is called an ultraviolet divergence, QED was not taken seriously for nearly 20 years.
Identification of the retinal pigment epithelium protein RET-PE2 as CE-9/OX-47, a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily.

Purpose To identify the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) surface antigen recognized by the monoclonal antibody RET-PE2. Methods A lambda bacteriophage complementary DNA (cDNA) expression library, representing the rat RPE cell line RPE-J, was constructed and screened with the RET-PE2 monoclonal antibody. Transient transfections of the RET-PE2 cDNA, immunofluorescence stainings of tissue sections or cultured cells, and Western blot analyses of tissue and cell detergent extracts served to prove that the protein resulting from expression of the cDNA is the RET-PE2 antigen. Results Three independent cDNAs were cloned that shared overlapping sequences. Sequence alignment with EMBL database entries revealed identity to the published cDNA of CE-9/OX-47, a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. One of the clones encoded the entire open reading frame of CE-9. The expression pattern of the RET-PE2 antigen matched that of CE-9, which is widely expressed. Chinese hamster ovary cells transiently transfected with the RET-PE2 cDNA produced a membrane-localized protein that was recognized by RET-PE2 and CE-9 antibodies. Conclusions The antibody RET-PE2 recognizes the CE-9/OX47 gene product, a transmembrane protein of the immunoglobulin superfamily. Contrary to results reported earlier, RET-PE2 immunoreactivity is widely distributed among different rat tissues--kidney, liver, and testis. In epithelia other than the adult RPE, it is confined to the basolateral plasma membrane. Its apical polarization in the RPE of adult rats supports earlier findings that some proteins that are basolateral in other epithelia exhibit reversed polarity in the RPE.
Large sample properties of a new measure of income inequality

Abstract This paper develops the asymptotic properties of a recently proposed measure of inequality emphasizing the status of the poor relative to the rich. A simulation confirms the asymptotic results are applicable in practice.
MRI for Pediatric Appendicitis in an Adult-Focused General Hospital: A Clinical Effectiveness Study-Challenges and Lessons Learned.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to determine the feasibility and accuracy of MRI for pediatric appendicitis in an adult-predominant general hospital setting where non–pediatric-trained ra...
Breaking White Supremacy: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Social Gospel. By Gary Dorrien. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2018. Pp. xii, 610. $45.00.)

Gary Dorrien's profound book offers a new perspective in civil rights history by tracing the development of the black social gospel leading up to the emergence of Martin Luther King Jr. and the eff...
The Enlightenment as a Baconian Revolution

The great movement in Western thought known as “The Enlightenment” can be characterized as in essence a Baconian revolution. Bacon’s role in fostering an experimental method produced an association with the new science which culminated in Newton and the prospect of technical advances. Moreover, Bacon’s conviction that the philosophy of the past and in particular reliance on the authority of Aristotle was fruitless, made him a potent symbol of the dawning era. Bacon was for the French Encyclopedists a kind of new Aristotle on whom the new age of science and progress would be based. The enormous effectiveness of the movement was to popularize and extend Baconian conceptions in such a way as to transform Western societies in fundamental ways. Modernity as noted by Hegel and Pope Benedict XVI among others is characterized by the restriction of speculative or metaphysical rationality, and the valorization of scientific or empirical rationality. The Enlightenment’s Baconian revolution which was instrumental in this transition is thus a major turning point in the history of the West.
Can AI Solve the Diversity Problem in the Tech Industry? Mitigating Noise and Bias in Employment Decision-Making

After the first diversity report was issued in 2014 revealing the dearth of women in the tech industry, companies rushed to hire consultants to provide unconscious bias training to their employees. Unfortunately, recent diversity reports show no significant improvement, and, in fact, women lost ground during some of the years. According to a Human Capital Institute survey, nearly 80% of leaders were still using gut feeling and personal opinion to make decisions that affected talent-management practices. By incorporating AI into employment decisions, we can mitigate unconscious bias and variability (noise) in human decision-making. While some scholars have warned that using artificial intelligence (AI) in decision-making creates discriminatory results, they downplay the reason for such occurrences - humans. The main concerns noted relate to the risk of reproducing bias in an algorithmic outcome (“garbage in, garbage out”) and the inability to detect bias due to the lack of understanding of the reason for the algorithmic outcome (“black box” problem). In this paper, I argue that responsible AI will abate the problems caused by unconscious biases and noise in human decision-making, and in doing so increase the hiring, promotion, and retention of women in the tech industry. The new solutions to the garbage in, garbage out and black box concerns will be explored. The question is not whether AI should be incorporated into decisions impacting employment, but rather why in 2019 are we still relying on faulty human decision-making.
Soldered copper lap joints using reactive material architectures as a heat source

Abstract Traditional welding and joining techniques require an independent heat source and a skilled operator, which makes complex joints and welding in remote environments difficult. Additively manufactured reactive material architectures can be used as a programmable heat source, minimizing both the joining equipment and any operator hazards. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using reactive material architectures as a programmable heat source to create soldered copper lap joints and compares these joints to traditionally soldered joints.
The Refinement of Flipped Teaching Implementation to Include Retrieval Practice.

There has been growing evidence that flipped teaching (FT) can increase student engagement. Traditional lecture-based teaching (TT) method was compared with FT and FT combined with retrieval practi...
The Role of Non-Cognitive Factors in the SAT Remains Unclear: A Commentary on Hannon (2019)

In the current issue of the Journal of Intelligence, Hannon (2019) reports a novel and intriguing pattern of results that could be interpreted as evidence that the SAT is biased against Hispanic students. Specifically, Hannon's analyses suggest that non-cognitive factors, such as test anxiety, contribute to SAT performance and the impact of test anxiety on the SAT is stronger among Hispanic students than European-American students. Importantly, this pattern of results was observed after controlling for individual differences in cognitive abilities. We argue that there are multiple issues with Hannon's investigation and interpretation. For instance, Hannon did not include an adequate number or variety of measures of cognitive ability. In addition, the measure of test anxiety was a retrospective self-report survey on evaluated anxiety rather than a direct measure of situational test anxiety associated with the SAT. Based on these and other observations, we conclude that Hannon's current results do not provide sufficient evidence to suggest that non-cognitive factors play a significant role in the SAT or that they impact European-American and Hispanic students differently.
Sequential Hypothesis Testing Game

In this work, we study a stopping time game problem in sequential hypothesis testing, where both of the two players perform hypothesis testing with distinct hypotheses. The payoff of the players depends on the order of stopping times. Therefore, apart from designing the decision function concerning the hypotheses, the players also determine the optimal stopping timings. We investigate the cases where the time horizon is finite or infinite and provide sufficient conditions of finding the equilibrium point. Moreover, we fully characterize the structural properties of the equilibrium strategies.
Maintenance and Repair of Overlays

In the event that Bonded Concrete Overlays (BCO) are subjected to distress mechanisms, they may require repair. The types and causes of distress are discussed. Methods for evaluating the extent of distress are discussed, and methods for repairing cracks, spalls and delaminations are described.
Metropolitan Reclassification and the Urbanization of Rural America

We highlight the paradoxical implications of decadal reclassification of U.S. counties (and America’s population) from nonmetropolitan to metropolitan status between 1960 and 2017. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, we show that the reclassification of U.S. counties has been a significant engine of metropolitan growth and nonmetropolitan decline. Over the study period, 753—or nearly 25% of all nonmetropolitan counties—were redefined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as metropolitan, shifting nearly 70 million residents from nonmetropolitan to metropolitan America by 2017. All the growth since 1970 in the metropolitan share of the U.S. population came from reclassification rather than endogenous growth in existing metropolitan areas. Reclassification of nonmetropolitan counties also had implications for drawing appropriate inferences about rural poverty, population aging, education, and economic growth. The paradox is that these many nonmetropolitan “winners”—those experiencing population and economic growth—have, over successive decades, left behind many nonmetropolitan counties with limited prospects for growth. Our study provides cautionary lessons regarding the commonplace narrative of widespread rural decline and economic malaise but also highlights the interdependent demographic fates of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties.
Postacute COVID-19: An Overview and Approach to Classification

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has progressed, a large volume of literature has developed delineating the clinical manifestations of acute infection. Recent reports have also started to describe persistent symptoms extending beyond the period of initial illness or hospitalization. Anecdotes of different signs and symptoms occurring after acute infection have also arisen in the lay press. Here we describe the current existing medical literature on the emerging concept of postacute COVID-19 and suggest an approach to classifying different manifestations of the syndrome. We also review long-term clinical manifestations observed in patients who recovered from infection due to other epidemic coronaviruses and briefly discuss potential mechanisms driving the phenomenon of postacute COVID-19.
The role of nutrition and epigenetics in environmental toxicology

Abstract Variation in nutritional status is one of the many determinants of health or disease with large implications for public health. As evidence for the impact of diet, animal model research has shown that nutritional alterations can lead to increased risk for diabetes, obesity, chronic diseases, in the context of chemical exposures. In relation to toxicologic responses to chemical exposures, nutritional status can impact detoxifying mechanisms associated with chemical exposures subsequently influencing health effects. Nutrients can also directly interact with xenobiotics, thereby altering their toxicokinetics and effects. This chapter provides a summary of the interaction between nutrition and DNA methylation in relation to toxicants in humans, rodents, and in vitro models.
Making a Microaggression: Using Big Data and Qualitative Analysis to Map the Reproduction and Disruption of Microaggressions through Social Media:

Racial microaggressions are defined as subtle racial slights that can be offensive or hurtful. One of the defining characteristics of racial microaggressions is how difficult they can be to respond...
Measurement invariance of information, communication and technology (ICT) engagement and its relationship with student academic literacy: Evidence from PISA 2018

Abstract The present study aimed to examine the measurement invariance of the information, communication and technology (ICT) engagement questionnaire in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) across countries, and further to explore the effects of ICT engagement on student literacy. The sample included 98,758 15-year-old students from 16 countries in PISA 2018. The multi-group confirmatory factor analyses results indicated that the ICT engagement questionnaire was invariant at the residual level so that meaningful cross-country comparisons can be made at the observed level. Furthermore, the multi-level model results indicated that perceived ICT autonomy was a positive predictor, while use of social media was a negative predictor of student literacy across the countries. However, the relations of interest in ICT and perceived ICT competence to student literacy were inconsistent, with some countries showing positive and linear relationships, while others negative and linear relationships.
Operation of Current Mirrors in SiGe BiCMOS Technology at Cryogenic Temperatures

Current mirrors (CMs) are essential building blocks for biasing electronic circuits. The present work demonstrates that errors in mirroring ratios increase at cryogenic temperatures, for all types of SiGe HBT and CMOS CMs. The sources of errors are attributed to the mismatch in operating conditions and a combination of process variations and layout effects. In particular, the effects of layout on device current are found to increase significantly at low temperatures, which can potentially contribute more to the CM error than process variations. Among all investigated CM configurations, the simple CM based on large geometry SiGe HBTs is the most versatile option with small errors, a large operational range, and a simple layout.
Returns to Firm Globalization: Risk Premium or Mispricing?

This paper investigates mispricing (specifically limits to arbitrage) as an alternative to the risk-based explanation of the globalization premium documented by Barrot et al. (2019). We document that the globalization premium is positively correlated with measures of limits to arbitrage. We further show that both displacement risk related to foreign competition and limits to arbitrage exhibit a joint effect on the globalization premium. Interestingly, displacement risk plays an explanatory role only in the presence of limits to arbitrage. Furthermore, when globalization is measured at the firm level, mispricing independently impacts the globalization premium while risk does not. Overall, our evidence is not consistent with a purely risk-based explanation of the globalization premium.
Elementary School Principals' Perceptions of the Instructional Role of the School Library Media Specialist

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL ROLE OF THE SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST By Audrey P. Church, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007 Director: Dr. Michael D. Davis, Professor, School of Education Studies conducted in numerous states by various researchers demonstrate that library media specialists who take an active role in the instructional process positively impact student achievement in their schools. Principals are the instructional leaders of their schools, yet the research indicates that they are not knowledgeable regarding the role of the library media specialist. This study explored Virginia elementary school principals’ perceptions of the instructional role of the library media specialist, the effect of library schedule on these perceptions, and the origin of these perceptions. Principals who responded to the study strongly endorsed the role of library media specialist as teacher of information literacy skills and as instructional partner. There was no statistically significant difference in perceptions based on the type of library schedule in place—fixed, flexible, or mixed/combination. Respondents indicated that they learn about the instructional role of
Babylonian Grammatical Texts

Publisher Summary This chapter demonstrates Babylonian grammatical texts. As far as is known, the phenomenon first occurred in Southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia), where a tradition of grammatical description is attested in texts from the early centuries of the second millennium BC, and continues to be elaborated until the end of the cuneiform writing tradition in Hellenistic times. Along with the first administrative texts comes evidence of the institution that developed and transmitted the writing system—the scribal school. Already the transformation of the writing system itself from a pure logographic system into a mixed logographicsyllabic system in the course of the third millennium is implicit evidence of a good deal of grammatical and phonological analysis. Unlike the verbal paradigms, the principles underlying the organization of these texts are quite obscure. At the least these texts show that Babylonian scribal institutions possessed a format that could in principle provide a kind of description for the whole of Sumerian morphology.
Abstract P043: Alcohol Consumption, Transferrin Saturation and Risk of All-Cause Mortality in The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys

Background: Moderate alcohol consumers have a reduced risk for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Alcohol intake improves iron absorption and also has a profound effect on iron metabolism and thus could in part explain the observed inverse association between moderate alcohol intake and mortality. We sought to investigate whether moderate alcohol confers mortality benefits in part through improvement in iron status. Methods: Publicly available data from two consecutive National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles (1999/2000 and 2001/2002) were obtained and linked to public data on all-cause mortality. Study participants were grouped as never, past, moderate (≤2 drinks/day for men, ≤ 1 drink/day for women) and heavy drinkers (>2 drinks/day for men, >1 drink/day for women). To assess the quality of alcohol data in NHANES, we tested whether self-reported alcohol consumption was associated with biomarkers of alcohol intake (HDL-C and γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT)). Cox-models, weighted...
Public Reason and Political Justifications

principle (unless, it seems, it is absolutely necessary). His argument for judicial restraint in interpretation is mainly based in his affirmation of deliberative democracy, and ultimately of a view about justice. Judges lack "democratic pedigree," he says. The American system is a deliberative democracy in which the system of electoral politics is combined with an aspiration to political reason-giving. The real forum of principle in American government has been democratic rather than adjudicative; consider the founding, the Civil War, the New Deal, and othersprogressivism, the civil rights movement, the women's movement .... [F]undamental principles are best developed politically rather than judicially. 4° Set aside the question of whether this is an overly idealized understanding of American democracy and its legislatures and the alternative view that they resemble interest-based majoritarianism more than deliberative democracy, or the question of whether the American political system (given the "curse of money" and corporate influence in our politics) is rightly called "democratic" at all. 41 We can agree with Sunstein's aspirations, and still assign to the courts a significant role in expressing the democratic principles that the People have developed, legislatively and constitutionally. There is more to deliberative democracy on anyone's account than simply legislative rule by officials elected subject to equal political rights and majority rule. As many advocates, including Rawls, have argued, a deliberative democracy has its preconditions, including an understanding of equal basic liberties and their priority, and a provision of a social minimum of the kind that Rawls sees as a precondition for public reasoning. What makes a democracy deliberative for Rawls is that it is governed by public reason. This is the "ideal of public reason." But ideals are often not followed. Who is to attend to the preconditions of deliberative democracy and the public reason that informs it when elected representatives themselves undermine them? Who is to be the voice of public reason when the legislative branch refuses, perhaps because it is guided by the influences of wealth and other particular interests? The courts can be an essential ingredient of a deliberative democracy in a nation such as ours, with a federal system and widely diverse population that constantly generates democratic conflicts in 139. Id. at 54. Therefore, "[j]udges should adopt a presumption rather than a taboo against high-level theorization." Id. at 57. 140. Id. at 60. 141. Cf Rawls, The Idea of Public Reason Revisited, supra note 14, at 580-81. 2004] 2069