cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Towards Faster FT-IR Imaging by Reducing Noise

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging is a powerful technique that can be used to obtain spatially resolved chemical information from a large sample area in a relatively short time. However, temporal resolution of fast FT-IR imaging is limited by rapid degradation of data quality (due to increased noise) with faster image acquisition. We present various coaddition schemes to reduce noise and improve the quality of images acquired from such systems. The application of the proposed schemes allows for improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) characteristics in the resulting data. These schemes are tested by monitoring the dissolution of a polymer film [poly( alpha -methyl styrene)] by a low-molecular-weight solvent [methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK)]. Pseudo coaddition improved the SNR by ~ 45%, while the SNR for sampling coaddition was found to scale as ~ N0.5 where N is the number of coadded pixels. A total acquisition time of about 100 s was achieved, allowing the dissolution process to be monitored by using image acquisitions separated by 3 min. Low noise concentration profiles, linear solvent penetration rate, and polymer dissolution rate were measured. Detection limits of ~ 5% and quantification limits of ~ 20% were achieved by using optimal coaddition strategies. This result represents an order of magnitude improvement over untreated data.
The Strategy of Selective Excellence: Redesigning Higher Education for Global Competition in a Postindustrial Society.

Resource allocations in American higher education are now governed, on the one hand, by the constraints of a structural fiscal crisis and, on the other, by pressures from business and political leaders that universities help meet the challenges of a new economic order. The result is a seemingly contradictory imperative that higher education do more with less. While achieving this objective may seem impossible for the individual institution or faculty member, the dilemma is being resolved at a systemic level through a combination of institutional responses to market forces and by strategic planning at the state, regional, and federal levels.
Faster Clustering Coefficient Using Vertex Covers

Clustering coefficients, also called triangle counting, is a widely-used graph analytic for measuring the closeness in which vertices cluster together. Intuitively, clustering coefficients can be thought of as the ratio of common friends versus all possible connections a person might have in a social network. The best known time complexity for computing clustering coefficients uses adjacency list intersection and is O(V · dmax2), where dmax is the size of the largest adjacency list of all the vertices in the graph. In this work, we show a novel approach for computing the clustering coefficients in an undirected and unweighted graphs by exploiting the use of a vertex cover, V ⊆ V. This new approach reduces the number of times that a triangle is counted by as many as 3 times per triangle. The complexity of the new algorithm is O(V · hmax2 + tVC) where dmax is the size of the largest adjacency list in the vertex cover and tVC is the time needed for finding the vertex cover. Even for a simple vertex cover algorithm this can reduce the execution time 10-30% while counting the exact number of triangles (3-circuits). We extend the use of the vertex cover to support counting squares (4-circuits) and clustering coefficients for dynamic graphs.
Condensed complexes in vesicles containing cholesterol and phospholipids

Animal cell membranes pose conceptual problems related to the physical chemistry of liquids. An avenue to the solution of some of these problems has been opened by the discovery of liquid–liquid immiscibility in synthetic membranes composed of cholesterol and phospholipids. This discovery has led to the development of a thermodynamic model involving condensed complexes. In this model, the phospholipids with longer fatty-acid chains react reversibly with cholesterol to form complexes. The complexes themselves can have a repulsive interaction with other phospholipids, leading to immiscibility. A striking example of this effect is revealed in the phase diagrams of ternary mixtures of cholesterol, a saturated phosphatidylcholine (or sphingomyelin), and an unsaturated phosphatidylcholine. As found by a number of investigators, all binary pairs are miscible in bilayers, whereas the ternary mixture can form two liquid phases. The model of condensed complexes accounts for this effect. Condensed complexes also have a major effect on the chemical activity of cholesterol and on the ordering of phospholipid acyl chains both in the presence and absence of phase separations. Model calculations of phospholipid order parameters account for several features of the deuterium NMR spectra of labeled phospholipid molecules in bilayer mixtures with cholesterol.
Errors in the estimation of arterial wall shear rates that result from curve fitting of velocity profiles

fan analysis was performed to determine the error that results from the estimation of the wall shear rates based on linear and quadratic curve-fittings of the measured velocity profiles. For steady. fully developed flow in a straight vessel, the error for the linear method is linearly related lo the distance between the probe and the wall, dr,, and the error for the quadratic method is zero. With puisatile flow, especially a physiological pulsatile flow in a large artery, the thickness of the velocity boundary layer. 6 is small, and the error in the estimation of wall shear based on curve fitting is much higher than that with steady flow. In addition, there is a phase lag between the actual shear rate and the measured one. In oscillatory flow. the error increases with the distance ratio dr,/6 and, for a quadratic method. also with the distance ratio dr?idr,, where drz is the distance of the second probe from the wall. The quadratic method has a distinct advantage in accuracy over the linear method when dr,,/6$1, i.e. when the first velocity point is well within the boundary layer. The use of this analysis in arterial flow involves many simplifications, including Newtonian fluid. rigld walls, and the linear summation of the harmonic components. and can provide more qualitative than quantitative guidance
Estimating silicic lava vesicularity with thermal remote sensing : a new technique for volcanic mapping and monitoring

Remote monitoring of active lava domes pro- vides insights into the duration of continued lava extru- sion and detection of potentially associated explosive activity. On inactive flows, variations in surface texture ranging from dense glass to highly vesicular pumice can be related to emplacement time, volatile content, and internal structure. Pumiceous surface textures also pro- duce changes in thermal emission spectra that are clear- ly distinguishable using remote sensing. Spectrally, the textures describe a continuum consisting of two pure end members, obsidian and vesicles. The distinct spec- tral features of obsidian are commonly muted in pu- mice due to overprinting by the vesicles, which mimic spectrally neutral blackbody emitters. Assuming that this energy combines linearly in direct proportion to the percentage of vesicles, the surface vesicularity can be estimated by modeling the pumice spectrum as a lin- ear combination of the glass and blackbody spectra. Based on this discovery, a linear retrieval model using a least-squares fitting approach was applied to airborne thermal infrared data of the Little Glass Mountain and Crater Glass rhyolite flows at Medicine Lake Volcano (California) as a case study. The model produced a ve- sicularity image of the flow with values from 0 to F70%, which can be grouped into three broad textural classes: dense obsidian, finely vesicular pumice, and coarsely vesicular pumice. Values extracted from the image compare well with those derived from SEM anal- ysis of collected samples as well as with previously re- ported results. This technique provides the means to accurately map the areal distributions of these textures, resulting in significantly different values from those de- rived using aerial photographs. If applied to actively deforming domes, this technique will provide volcano- logists with an opportunity to monitor dome-wide de- gassing and eruptive potential in near-real-time. In July 1999 such an effort will be possible for the first time when repetitive, global, multispectral thermal infrared data become available with the launch of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflectance Ra- diometer (ASTER) instrument aboard the Earth Ob- serving System satellite.
The Importance of Relying on the Manual Scoring Error Variance in the WISC-IV Vocabulary Subtest

Classical test theory assumes that ability level has no effect on measurement error. Newer test theories, however, argue that the precision of a measurement instrument changes as a function of the examinee’s true score. Research has shown that administration errors are common in the Wechsler scales and that subtests requiring subjective scoring are the most prone to errors. In this study, graduate students scored fictitious Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children— Fourth Edition Vocabulary subtests that were constructed to yield actual scaled scores of 4, 10 and 16. Results support the conditional error variance hypothesis: Participants made significantly more scoring errors in the low and high ability conditions than they did in the average ability condition. Implications of these findings with regard to the interpretation of extreme scores are discussed.
Design and analysis of a permanent magnet generator for naval applications

This paper discusses the electrical and magnetic design and analysis of a permanent magnet (PM) generation module for naval applications. Numerous design topics are addressed and several issues are raised about the potential improvements a PM generation system can offer. A proposed 16 MW PM generation module design is presented along with a design methodology. The final design offers significant reductions in both weight and volume. Specifically, it is estimated that the PM generation module has a 7x reduction in volume and a 10x reduction in weight compared to similarly rated wound rotor systems. These reductions can provide flexibility to naval architects since power, weight, and volume are integral parts of the design and construction processes. However, further study is necessary to verify the PM generation modules thermal, structural, and mechanical performance.
Hiding Data in Multimedia Streaming over Networks

This paper presents a steganography method to covertly transmit data via normal or delayed B frame packets in multimedia streaming over networks. The proposed covert channels do not change the original traffic pattern. The bandwidth and the impact of the proposed covertchannels on the quality of multimedia transmission are analyzed. Simulations on real video traces are conducted and the results show the proposed covert channels not only achieve relatively high bandwidth but also keep the received video quality high, which makesit practical and not easy to be detected.
Teaching Methods and Tools Used In Food Safety Extension Education Programs in the North Central Region of the United States

One of the ways to ensure food safety is to educate the public. Of the organizations providing food safety education in the United States (U.S.), the Cooperative Extension System (CES) is one of the most reliable. The effectiveness CES programs depends not only on what is being taught but also on how it is taught. Both a needs-based curriculum and how that curriculum is delivered are equally important. This descriptive cross-sectional study using a disproportional stratified random sample identified the teaching methods and tools being used by food safety extension educators of the CES of North Central Region (NCR). A Likert-type scale administered to extension educators revealed that they were adopting a balanced use of teaching methods and tools, and using learner-centered teaching methods in their programs. However, distance education, case studies and podcasts, which are commonly used in education programs, were not being used extensively. We recommend that food safety extension educators of NCR should increase the use of these two teaching methods and tool while continuing to use the current ones. This study has implications for improving food safety education delivery to clients in the NCR and for designing inservice education for food safety extension educators.
Chemical aversion conditioning as a treatment for alcoholism: A re-analysis

Abstract The literature on chemical aversion conditioning is characterized by the lack of controlled clinical research. The existing data derive primarily from methodologically inadequate studies. Although short-term conditioned aversion reactions to alcohol have been demonstrated, the independent efficacy of this technique in clinical treatment remains to be shown. Beyond the failure to demonstrate the value of adding chemical aversion conditioning to more standard treatments for alcoholism, evaluation in terms of broader outcome criteria (e.g. safety, intrusiveness, acceptability, the availability of alternative methods, and cost-effectiveness) indicates that chemical aversion conditioning cannot be recommended as a standard form of treatment for alcoholism.
Improving rule-based systems through case-based reasoning

A novel architecture is presented for combining rule-based and case-based reasoning. The central idea is to apply the rules to a target problem to get a first approximation to the answer; but if the problem is judged to be compellingly similar to a known exception of the rules in any aspect of its behavior, then that aspect is modelled after the exception rather than the rules. The architecture is implemented for the full-scale task of pronouncing surnames. Preliminary results suggest that the system performs almost as well as the best commercial systems. However, of more interest than the absolute performance of the system is the result that this performance was better than what could have been achieved with the rules alone. This illustrates the capacity of the architecture to improve on the rule-based system it starts with. The results also demonstrate a beneficial interaction in the system, in that improving the rules speeds up the case-based component.
Generalized mathematical homogenization of atomistic media at finite temperatures in three dimensions

We derive thermo-mechanical continuum equations from Molecular Dynamics (MD) equations using the Generalized Mathematical Homogenization (GMH) theory developed by the authors for 0 K applications. GMH constructs an array of atomistic unit cell problems coupled with a thermo-mechanical continuum problem. The unit cell problem derived is a molecular dynamics problem defined for the perturbation from the average atomistic displacements subjected to the deformation gradient and temperature extracted from the continuum problem. The coarse scale problem derived is a constitutive law-free continuum thermo-mechanical equation. Attention is restricted to heat transfer by lattice vibration (phonons). The method is verified on several model problems against the reference molecular dynamics solution. � 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
[Met5]enkephalin and δ2-opioid receptors in the spinal cord are involved in the cold water swimming-induced antinociception in the mouse

Mice made cold water swimming (CWS: 4 degrees C, 3 min) produced an opioid-mediated antinociception. Experiments were designed to determine what types of opioid receptors and endogenous opioid peptides in the spinal cord are involved in the CWS-induced antinociception in male ICR mice. Antinociception was measured by the tail-flick test. CWS-induced antinociception was blocked by intrathecal (i.t.) pretreatment with antiserum to [Met5]enkephalin (100 microg, 1 hr), but not by antiserum (100 microg, 1 hr) to [Leu5]enkephalin, beta-endorphin or dynorphin A (1-17). Moreover, i.t. pretreatment with delta2-opioid receptor antagonist naltriben (NTB: 10 microg, 10 min) blocked the antinociception induced by CWS or i.t.-administered [Met5]enkephalin (10 microg). However, the antinociception induced by CWS or i.t.-administered [Met5]enkephalin was not blocked by i.t. pretreatment with delta1-opioid receptor antagonist 7-benzylidene naltrexone (BNTX: 1 microg, 10 min), mu-opioid receptor antagonist D-Phe-Cys-Try-D-Try-Om-Thr-Phe-Thr-NH2 (CTOP: 50 ng, 10 min), or kappa-opioid receptor antagonist norbinaltorphimine (norBNI: 5 microg, 24 hr). These data indicate that [Met5]enkephalin and delta2-opioid receptor in the spinal cord are involved in antinociception induced by CWS.
Rapid development of dopaminergic supersensitivity in reserpine-treated rats demonstrated with 14C-2-deoxyglucose autoradiography.

Dopaminergic denervation supersensitivity has been implicated in the pathogenesis of levodopa-induced dyskinesias, the most common and limiting side effect in the drug treatment of Parkinson's disease, yet the mechanisms that mediate altered drug sensitivity remain poorly understood. In animals models, one key component of denervation supersensitivity is the enhanced efficacy of selective D1 agonists to stimulate locomotion. In rats with chronic dopamine depletion induced by 6-hydroxydopamine nigral lesion, the increased ability of D1 agonists to stimulate regional cerebral glucose utilization (RCGU) in the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) has provided a metabolic correlate to the heightened motor response. In this study, we used the stimulation of RCGU in the SNr as a sensitive in vivo assay of D1 agonist effect to examine the time course of development of supersensitivity in rats following acute dopamine depletion with single doses of reserpine (5.0 mg/kg, i.p.) and alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine (AMPT; 100 mg/kg, i.p.). The stimulatory effect of the D1 agonist SKF 38393 (30 mg/kg) on RCGU in the SNr was first enhanced 6 hr after reserpine/AMPT injection and was maximally enhanced at 12–24 hr (relative 2-deoxyglucose uptake increased 32–51%; P less than 0.05). The response to SKF 38393 returned to control values 5 d after reserpine/AMPT injection. The single reserpine/AMPT injections depleted striatal dopamine to 1–2% of control values from 3–48 hr postinjection, whereas D1 and D2 dopamine receptor densities were unchanged at 24 hr.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
What makes a text persuasive? Comparing students’ and experts’ conceptions of persuasiveness

Abstract Students’ conceptions of persuasion have rarely been considered in the existing persuasion literature. In addition, most studies of persuasion have employed contrived reading materials, rather than naturally occurring texts (e.g., unmodified newspapers or magazine articles). As such, the purpose of this study was to provide competent, undergraduate readers an opportunity to externalize their perceptions of persuasiveness, and to compare these student-determined conceptions of persuasion to those espoused by text-based persuasion and conceptual change experts. In addition, the conceptions of students and experts were compared with those advocated in the literature. The findings suggest substantive overlap between students’ and experts’ conceptions of persuasion. Specifically, participants’ responses revealed that the type and form of supporting evidence as well as the affective nature of the text play important roles in persuasion. These findings are somewhat different than those found in the existing literature. Implications for research and practice are offered.
An integrated first-year curriculum-the Foundation Coalition and the University of Alabama

It is a common perception that integrated first-year curricula involving engineering, math, chemistry, and physics faculty can be established only at small, selective engineering schools such as Rose-Hulman or Drexel. As a member of the NSF Foundation Coalition, The University of Alabama (a large state university in the USA) has established such a curriculum and offered it for the first time in the fall of 1994. The University of Alabama Coalition Team (UACT) is currently made up of 18 faculty from mathematics, chemistry, physics and various engineering disciplines. Their vision of the new first year is that it will produce students who have the competency and desire to continue their study; who understand the fundamentals of engineering; and who have a sense of belonging to a community of learners and scholars. Using the Rose-Hulman and Drexel curricula as models, UACT designed and implemented a first-year engineering curriculum that focuses on: (1) integrating engineering and design with math and the sciences; (2) on active student participation in the learning process; and (3) on using technology to enhance the educational experience.
Learning and teaching about the concepts of matter

Students’ concepts of matter have been ubiquitously studied in science education at all levels of the curriculum. This book brings together the contributions of speakers to a symposium entitled ‘Pa...
Ethnic and Gender Wage Discrimination in Guatemala

This paper compares the influence of gender and ethnicity on wage discrimination in Guatemala using the 2000 Living Standards Measurement Survey. The sample of employees is divided into six ethnic-gender groups: males and females in three ethnic groups (i.e., non-indigenous, major and minor ethnic groups). Normalized regressions are used to estimate wage structures for each ethnic gender group including the inverse of Mill's ratio as a regressor to correct for potential selectivity. Then, the contribution of gender and ethnic discrimination on wage differentials is examined. Findings indicate that, compared to ethnic discrimination, gender discrimination explains a more significant percentage of wage differentials between relevant groups. Additionally, results indicate that forms of wage discrimination differ across ethnic-gender groups.
Quantitative measurement of retinal ganglion cell populations via histology-based random forest classification

The inner surface of the retina contains a complex mixture of neurons, glia, and vasculature, including retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the final output neurons of the retina and primary neurons that are damaged in several blinding diseases. The goal of the current work was two-fold: to assess the feasibility of using computer-assisted detection of nuclei and random forest classification to automate the quantification of RGCs in hematoxylin/eosin (HE and if possible, to use the approach to examine how nuclear size influences disease susceptibility among RGC populations. To achieve this, data from RetFM-J, a semi-automated ImageJ-based module that detects, counts, and collects quantitative data on nuclei of HE Jun-sufficient and Jun-deficient mice subjected to controlled optic nerve crush (CONC); and DBA/2J mice with naturally occurring glaucoma. The result of these efforts was development of RetFM-Class, a command-line-based tool that uses data output from RetFM-J to perform random forest classification of cell type. Comparative testing revealed that manual and automated classifications by RetFM-Class correlated well, with 83.2% classification accuracy for RGCs. Automated characterization of C57BL/6J retinas predicted 54,642 RGCs per normal retina, and identified a 48.3% Jun-dependent loss of cells at 35 days post CONC and a 71.2% loss of RGCs among 16-month-old DBA/2J mice with glaucoma. Output from automated analyses was used to compare nuclear area among large numbers of RGCs from DBA/2J mice (n = 127,361). In aged DBA/2J mice with glaucoma, RetFM-Class detected a decrease in median and mean nucleus size of cells classified into the RGC category, as did an independent confirmation study using manual measurements of nuclear area demarcated by BRN3A-immunoreactivity. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that histology-based random forest classification is feasible and can be utilized to study RGCs in a high-throughput fashion. Despite having some limitations, this approach demonstrated a significant association between the size of the RGC nucleus and the DBA/2J form of glaucoma.
Augmented retinal light scanning display for low vision: Effect of text color and background on reading performance

Color contrast provides little or no improvement in reading speed for low vision observers (Legge et al., 1990). Moreover, when contrast is scaled in proportion to threshold, reading speed is the same for color-defined and luminance-defined text.
Uncharted Territory

Although they might bring great utility to the world, innovations always involve fundamental challenges to the way we think.
Photoproduction of Muon Pairs: ρ 0 → μ + + μ − , ( e , μ ) Universality, and ( ρ , ω ) Phase

Data on photoproduction of muon pairs are reported and compared with quantum electrodynamics. A new average value of ${B}_{\ensuremath{\rho}}=\frac{({\ensuremath{\rho}}^{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\mu}}^{+}+{\ensuremath{\mu}}^{\ensuremath{-}})}{({\ensuremath{\rho}}^{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{all})}=(8.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.6)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}5}$ is obtained. Comparison with ${B}_{\ensuremath{\rho}}$ for electron pairs provides a valid experimental confirmation, to "distances" of 1.6\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}14}$ cm, of ($e, \ensuremath{\mu}$) universality for vertices involving timelike photons. We interpret the paradoxical agreement of values of ${B}_{\ensuremath{\rho}}$ for photoproduction experiments with those for colliding beams in terms of the $\ensuremath{\rho}$, $\ensuremath{\omega}$ phase.
Cognitive Function in Individuals With Psychosis: Moderation by Adolescent Cannabis Use

Prior cannabis use, compared to nonuse, is reported to be associated with less cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. The age of cannabis use and the persistent influence of cannabis use on cognitive function has not been examined across the psychosis dimension. Ninety-seven volunteers with psychosis (schizophrenia, schizoaffective, or bipolar psychosis) and 64 controls were recruited at the Dallas site of the Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes consortium. Cannabis use history obtained in a semi-structured manner was used to categorize subjects into nonusers, adolescent-onset users, and late-onset users. The a priori hypothesis tested was that individuals with psychosis and a history of adolescent cannabis use (ACU) would have better global neuropsychological performance, as measured by the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) battery, compared to those with psychosis and no cannabis use history. BACS Composite scores were significantly higher in individuals with psychosis with ACU compared to individuals with psychosis and no prior cannabis use. In subgroup analyses, ACU influenced global cognition in the schizophrenia/schizoaffective (SCZ) subgroup but not the bipolar psychosis subgroup. Exploratory analyses within the SCZ group, suggest that ACU was associated with better performance in specific domains compared to non-ACU groups. There are distinct associations between age of cannabis use and neuropsychological function across psychotic illnesses. Specifically, ACU is associated with better cognitive function in SCZ but not bipolar psychosis. This age-dependent and diagnosis-specific influence of cannabis may need to be factored into the design of future cognitive studies in SCZ.
BRAF inhibitors - do we need to worry about kidney injury?

The discovery of mutations in BRAF has led to an era of targeted therapies which are clinically used in patients with malignant melanoma, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and hairy cell leukemia.[1–...
Grape Berry Transpiration Is Determined by Vapor Pressure Deficit, Cuticular Conductance, and Berry Size

Developmental changes and factors determining grape berry transpiration were investigated in three genetically diverse Vitis cultivars. Transpiration rates were measured on whole clusters, using a custom-designed cluster chamber, and on individual berries by weighing detached berries over time. Results obtained using the two methods were in good agreement. The chamber method verified the assumption that detaching berries does not alter their transpiration and also showed that rachis transpiration was minor compared to whole cluster transpiration. Berry transpiration fluctuated with vapor pressure deficit which was the main determinant of the driving force. The transpiration rate per berry and, to a lesser extent, the cuticular conductance, peaked when berries were red/purple (~13 Brix) and then declined with further ripening. Due to the decline in cuticular conductance during late ripening, the positive linear relationship between berry transpiration rate and surface area weakened after berries ripened. Despite the similar developmental patterns of berry transpiration and cuticular conductance, Concord (V. labruscana) berries consistently had much lower cuticular conductance than Merlot and Syrah (V. vinifera) berries. These results showed that berry transpiration was determined by both external factors (air temperature and relative humidity) and cultivar-specific internal factors (primarily berry surface area and cuticular conductance).
Inhibitory Effect of Ethanol on Canine Exocrine Pancreatk Secretion

The effects of intravenous ethanol on steady state secretin and pancreozymin-stimulated pancreatic secretion were studied in 25 experiments in 7 dogs. Free flow of pancreatic juice was obtained by direct cannulation of the main pancreatic duct (the minor duct being ligated): a gastric fistula prevented the entry of gastric acid into the duodenum. Ethanol was given in doses achieving varying blood levels: 25.2, 44, 55.2, and 91.5 mg per 100 ml, comparable to those obtained in man by moderate oral intake. After administration of intravenous ethanol, prompt and marked inhibition of volume occurred. ED50 for peak inhibition of volume was 560 mg per kg. Concomitant reduction in concentration and output of HCO3− and a rise in Cl− concentration were observed. No significant alterations in enzyme (protein) concentration of the juice occurred, but output was decreased. Blood glucose was unaltered. The effects of ethanol on external pancreatic secretion were related to the dose and the blood alcohol level achieved. The reduction in volume appears to be due to direct effects on pancreatic secretion rather than damage to the ductal system.
Factors associated with self-identification of an eating disorder history among Latinas meeting criteria for past or current eating disorders.

Objective This paper compared Latinas who self-identified as having had an eating disorder (ED) with those who did not (despite both groups meeting criteria for an ED history) on ED pathology and mental health stigma. Method Seventy-seven Latinas completed an online survey. Results All 77 participants met criteria for lifetime EDs, and 92% met current criteria for an ED; however, 47% did not report having an ED history vs. 53% did report an ED history. There was no difference on binge eating frequency. Those who endorsed an ED history engaged in more compensatory behaviors, had higher EAT-26 scores, and were less fearful of stigmatization due to seeking mental health treatment. Those reporting an ED history were more likely to have met criteria for anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, generally more recognizable EDs than binge eating disorder and other specified feeding or eating disorders, than those who did not report an ED history. Discussion Latinas with certain patterns of eating pathology and those with less fear of being stigmatized due to seeking mental health treatment were more likely to endorse an ED history, which has implications for treatment seeking. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2016)
Qualitative Research and the Study of the U.S. Presidency

Research on the U.S. presidency is among the areas of political science that have suffered in prestige due to its alleged underdevelopment as a "scientific" field. Here, we challenge that charge, and in the spirit of trying to strengthen analyses, we identify some common issues in presidency research (especially that relying on qualitative data) and suggest possible responses. In doing so, we adopt the somewhat unusual tactic of taking a hard look at our own recent work, with an eye to learning from its weaknesses and communicating what we have learned to others.
Independence Pending: Teacher Behaviors Preceding Learner Problem Solving

The purposes of the present study were to identify the teacher behaviors that preceded learners’ active participation in solving musical and technical problems and describe learners’ roles in the p...
Creating and Sustaining a First-Year Course in Quantitative Reasoning

In 2009, the Louisiana Board of Regents ceased to require that all undergraduate students receive credit for either a version of college algebra or calculus. By that time, many universities across the nation had well-established quantitative reasoning (QR) courses. Since the Department of Mathematics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette has been active in mathematics reform, it was natural for the department to expand first-year course offerings by creating a QR course. This chapter describes the development and implementation of this course, which was first offered in Spring 2013. It also gives details about continuing challenges and the resources created to support course instructors and students. Of particular concern was whether students in the QR course would progress through their mathematics courses at the same rate as students with similar background who take college algebra. Data collected on student progress suggest that this is the case. The chapter discusses campus reactions to the new course and closes with a brief reflection on how working to develop the QR course fit into the careers of the developers.
Bigger experiences and the meaning of adventure

ABSTRACTThis study is a phenomenological portraiture of an adventurer that explores the meanings of the adventure experience. Through interview and observation, I reveal four thematic meanings of the adventure experience for the research participant: solitude and camaraderie; escape; challenge; and living life. The implications of these findings for adventure education are discussed.
Consideration of Occupational Lung Disease and Pneumoconiosis in Forensic Pathology

Reports of workers stricken with lung disease sustained during the course of their employment date to antiquity. Despite stringent regulations to mitigate all manners of work place hazards, and the...
The Evolution of Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support

This article focuses on an analysis of trends in the Journal of Positive Behavorial Interventions (JPBI) since its inception. The primary emphasis is on the variables that contributed to the origin of the journal. Key researchers and other professionals felt that there was a need for a new field (with a new journal) in order to meet an unfullfilled demand. This new field would need to emphasize values of human dignity, nonaversive behavioral interventions, and data to support claims of effectiveness. Thus, both values and science were key elements of JPBI right from the very start, and have continued until the present time. These emphases have resulted in JPBI becoming one of the premier journals in the behavioral sciences, with an enthusiastic, competent, and ever growing number of members. The future looks bright.
Meddling with METTLs in Normal and Leukemia Stem Cells

Three recent studies independently identified the m6A RNA modifying enzymes METTL3 and METTL14 as critical regulators of differentiation in both normal hematopoiesis and AML pathogenesis. These studies expand the described roles of the epitranscriptome in maintaining the undifferentiated state in somatic stem cells and human cancer.
LEF/TCF: Its Role in Colon Cancer

Many advances have been made in understanding the role of transcription factors in different types of cancer. With colorectal cancer being the third most commonly diagnosed cancer, studying critical transcription factors such as the lymphoid enhancer factor/T-cell factor (LEF/TCF) transcription factor family may assist in understanding its growth and progression but also serve as a therapeutic target in hopes for better patient outcomes. This chapter will discuss the pathway LEF/TCF transcription factors are known to be involved in, their regulation, and current studies that have investigated their role and function in colorectal cancer and normal cell maintenance.
Quantifying anthropogenic contributions to century-scale groundwater salinity changes, San Joaquin Valley, California, USA.

Abstract Total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations in groundwater tapped for beneficial uses (drinking water, irrigation, freshwater industrial) have increased on average by about 100 mg/L over the last 100 years in the San Joaquin Valley, California (SJV). During this period land use in the SJV changed from natural vegetation and dryland agriculture to dominantly irrigated agriculture with growing urban areas. Century-scale salinity trends were evaluated by comparing TDS concentrations and major ion compositions of groundwater from wells sampled in 1910 (Historic) to data from wells sampled in 1993–2015 (Modern). TDS concentrations in subregions of the SJV, the southern (SSJV), western (WSJV), northeastern (NESJV), and southeastern (SESJV) were calculated using a cell-declustering method. TDS concentrations increased in all regions, with the greatest increases found in the SSJV and SESJV. Evaluation of the Modern data from the NESJV and SESJV found higher TDS concentrations in recently recharged (post-1950) groundwater from shallow (
What is Known About the Safety of Intraarticular Corticosteroid Injections and How Might This Impact Safety in Thoroughbred Racehorses

Abstract There is continuous scrutiny of intraarticular medications used in horses, especially around the use of intraarticular corticosteroids. The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review to assess the evidence available relating to the question “In Thoroughbred Racehorses with naturally occurring joint disease, what is known about the safety of intraarticular medications in horses?” A systematic review was carried out, and 537 articles were identified; 17 were identified for qualitative analysis. This study aims to allow equine veterinary practitioners to assess the available literature for evidence of the potential complications from intraarticular use of corticosteroids in horses. A search strategy was formulated to identify available evidence on the safety of intraarticular corticosteroids in Thoroughbred racehorses. Studies were retrieved from literature search engines, and titles and abstracts were screened for full text inclusion. Studies with the highest evidence quality underwent qualitative analysis with a standardized questionnaire. The results show that there are multiple studies that look at the effect of intraarticular medications from experimental animals, but there are few studies of the highest quality of evidence that address clinical scenarios. Two cohort studies have explored some issues around intraarticular medications. In conclusion, practitioners should be aware that the use of intraarticular corticosteroids may be associated with negative consequences. Only a selection of articles was available, therefore the review is at risk of selection bias associated with the articles that are selected from the literature. An application of this study is it should inform equine practitioners over the status of the current literature on the use of corticosteroids in Thoroughbred racehorses.
Summary and Critique

Unified creep-plasticity (UCP) models have many facets. Because there is no clear demarcation between plastic and creeping behavior, a good model should mimic both behaviors and should pass from one behavior to the other in a continuous manner. Furthermore, since plasticity and creep are both caused by similar physical processes, there should be no specific separation of the processes in the constitutive model. It appears that all of the models examined here have accomplished these basic objectives and in that sense qualify as unified creep-plasticity models. But constitutive modeling is multifaceted as stated above. Some authors have made a great effort to model time-dependent monotonic mechanical loading, others cyclic mechanical loading, and others multiaxial or temperature effects. Each author has also identified microstructural processes which he is modeling, and these are not the same in every case.
Survey on System I/O Hardware Transactions and Impact on Latency, Throughput, and Other Factors

Abstract Computer system input/output (I/O) has evolved with processor and memory technologies in terms of reducing latency, increasing bandwidth, and other factors. As requirements increase for I/O, such as networking, storage, and video, descriptor-based direct memory access (DMA) transactions have become more important in high-performance systems to move data between I/O adapters and system memory buffers. DMA transactions are done with hardware engines below the software protocol abstraction layers in all systems other than rudimentary embedded controllers. Central processing unit (CPUs) can switch to other tasks by offloading hardware DMA transfers to the I/O adapters. Each I/O interface has one or more separately instantiated descriptor-based DMA engines optimized for a given I/O port. I/O transactions are optimized by accelerator functions to reduce latency, improve throughput, and reduce CPU overhead. This chapter surveys the current state of high-performance I/O architecture advances and explores benefits and limitations. With the proliferation of CPU multicores within a system, multi-GB/s ports, and on-die integration of system functions, changes beyond the techniques surveyed may be needed for optimal I/O architecture performance.
Development of ultrafast broadband electronic sum frequency generation for charge dynamics at surfaces and interfaces.

Understandings of population and relaxation of charges at surfaces and interfaces are essential to improve charge collection efficiency for energy conversion, catalysis, and photosynthesis. Existing time-resolved surface and interface tools are limited to either under ultrahigh vacuum or in a narrow wavelength region with the loss of spectral information. There lacks an efficient time-resolved surface/interface-specific electronic spectroscopy under ambient conditions for the ultrafast surface/interface dynamics. Here we developed a novel technique for surface/interface-specific broadband electronic sum frequency generation (ESFG). The broadband ESFG was based on a stable two-stage BiB3O6 crystal-based optical parametric amplifier, which generates a strong broadband short-wave infrared (SWIR) from 1200 nm to 2400 nm. A resultant surface spectrum covers almost all visible light from 480 nm to 760 nm, combined a broadband electronic second harmonic generation (ESHG) with the ESFG from the SWIR laser source. We further developed the steady-state and transient broadband ESFG and ESHG techniques to investigate the structure and dynamics of charges at oxidized p-type GaAs (100) semiconductor surfaces, as an example. Both the steady-state and transient experiments have shown that two surface states exist inside the bandgap of the GaAs. The kinetic processes at the GaAs surface include both the population and recombination of the surface states after photoexcitation, in addition to the build-up of the space photo-voltage (SPV). The build-up SPV occurs with a rate of 0.56 ± 0.07 ps−1, while the population rate of the surface states exhibits a two-body behavior with a rate constant of (0.012 ± 0.002) × 1012 s−1 cm2. The photo-generated electron-hole pairs near the surface recombine with a rate of 0.002 ± 0.0002 ps−1 for the oxidized p-type GaAs (100). All the methodologies developed here are readily applied to any optically accessible interfaces and surfaces, in particular buried interfaces under ambient conditions.
BIM-enabled facilities operation and maintenance: A review

Abstract Building Information modeling (BIM) has the potential to advance and transform facilities Operation and Maintenance (O&M) by providing a platform for facility managers to retrieve, analyze, and process building information in a digitalized 3D environment. Currently, because of rapid developments in BIM, researchers and industry professionals need a state-of-the-art overview of BIM implementation and research in facility O&M. This paper presents a review of recent publications on the topic. It aims to evaluate and summarize the current BIM-O&M research and application developments from a facility manager's point of view, analyze research trends, and identify research gaps and promising future research directions. The scope of this research includes the academic articles, industry reports and guidelines pertaining to using BIM to improve selected facility O&M activities, including maintenance and repair, emergency management, energy management, change/relocation management, and security. The content analysis results show that research on BIM for O&M is still in its early stage and most of the current research has focused on energy management. We have identified that the interoperability in the BIM-O&M context is still a challenge and adopting the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Framework is a potential starting point to address this issue. More studies involving surveys are needed to understand the underlying O&M principles for BIM implementation – data requirements, areas of inefficiencies, the process changes. In addition, more studies on the return on investment of the innovative systems are required to justify the value of BIM-O&M applications and an improved Life Cycle Cost Analysis method is critical for such justifications.
Virtual Reality and the Feeling of Virtue: Women of Color Narrators, Enforced Hospitality, and the Leveraging of Empathy

Many researchers and evangelists argue that V.R. is fundamentally more "moving" than other media because of users' visual immersion in navigable worlds and their empathic identification with another visual perspective. (see Rubin, Bailenson). This essay will analyze women of color's labor as virtual reality's documentary subjects whose digital presence and hospitality within war-torn, emiserated, and inhospitable scenes such as a Lebanese refugee camp, a favela, and a cucumber farm enables a fantasy of virtuous empathy on the part of the viewer. Virtual reality's painstakingly created virtuous identity as the "empathy machine" satisfies desires for prosocial feelings of compassion, empathy, and identification that replace encounters with politics, unwelcome bodies, and protest. Global South women of color, non-white refugee women, and trans women are all virtual objects of identification in virtual reality and video games, platforms that are inextricably connected yet carry very different moral and ethical connotations.