cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Speckle correlation resolution enhancement of wide-field fluorescence imaging(Conference Presentation)

Structured illumination enables high-resolution fluorescence imaging of nanostructures [1]. We demonstrate a new high-resolution fluorescence imaging method that uses a scattering layer with a high-index substrate as a solid immersion lens [2]. Random scattering of coherent light enables a speckle pattern with a very fine structure that illuminates the fluorescent nanospheres on the back surface of the high-index substrate. The speckle pattern is raster-scanned over the fluorescent nanospheres using a speckle correlation effect known as the optical memory effect. A series of standard-resolution fluorescence images per each speckle pattern displacement are recorded by an electron-multiplying CCD camera using a commercial microscope objective. We have developed a new phase-retrieval algorithm to reconstruct a high-resolution, wide-field image from several standard-resolution wide-field images. We have introduced phase information of Fourier components of standard-resolution images as a new constraint in our algorithm which discards ambiguities therefore ensures convergence to a unique solution. We demonstrate two-dimensional fluorescence images of a collection of nanospheres with a deconvolved Abbe resolution of 116 nm and a field of view of 10 µm × 10 µm. Our method is robust against optical aberrations and stage drifts, therefore excellent for imaging nanostructures under ambient conditions. [1] M. G. L. Gustafsson, J. Microsc. 198, 82–87 (2000). [2] H. Yilmaz, E. G. van Putten, J. Bertolotti, A. Lagendijk, W. L. Vos, and A. P. Mosk, Optica 2, 424-429 (2015). © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Zebras and Biting Flies: Quantitative Analysis of Reflected Light from Zebra Coats in Their Natural Habitat.

Experimental and comparative evidence suggests that the striped coats of zebras deter biting fly attack, but the mechanisms by which flies fail to target black-and-white mammals are still opaque. Two hypotheses have been proposed: stripes might serve either to defeat polarotaxis or to obscure the form of the animal. To test these hypotheses, we systematically photographed free-living plains zebras in Africa. We found that black and white stripes both have moderate polarization signatures with a similar angle, though the degree (magnitude) of polarization in white stripes is lower. When we modeled the visibility of these signals from different distances, we found that polarization differences between stripes are invisible to flies more than 10 m away because they are averaged out by the flies’ low visual resolution. At any distance, however, a positively polarotactic insect would have a distinct signal to guide its visual approach to a zebra because we found that polarization of light reflecting from zebras is higher than from surrounding dry grasses. We also found that the stripes themselves are visible to flies at somewhat greater distances (up to 20 m) than the polarization contrast between stripes. Together, these observations support hypotheses in which zebra stripes defeat visually guided orienting behavior in flies by a mechanism independent of polarotaxis.
Chronic Exposure to Ethanol Alters GABAAReceptor-Mediated Responses of Layer II Pyramidal Cells in Adult Rat Piriform Cortex

This study examined the effect of chronic exposure to ethanol on γ-aminobutyric acid type-A (GABAA) receptor-mediated responses of layer II pyramidal neurons of the piriform cortex. Slices containi...
Perspectives on the use of decision analysis in systems engineering: Workshop summary

This paper summarizes the main discussions that emerged during a National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored workshop in October 2015 in Arlington Virginia, on the use of decision analysis in systems engineering. The workshop participants involved people from academia, industry and the federal government. We present some of the main thoughts of systems analysts about the field of decision analysis and its applications to systems engineering, and conclude with a summary and workshop recommendations.
Self-consistent phonons: An accurate and practical method to account for anharmonic effects in equilibrium properties of general classical or quantum many-body systems

Abstract The self-consistent phonons (SCP) method is a practical approach for computing structural and dynamical properties of a general quantum or classical many-body system while incorporating anharmonic effects. However, a convincing demonstration of the accuracy of SCP and its advantages over the standard harmonic approximation is still lacking. Here we apply SCP to classical Lennard-Jones (LJ) clusters and compare with numerically exact results. The close agreement between the two reveals that SCP accurately describes structural properties of the classical LJ clusters from zero-temperature (where the method is exact) up to the temperatures at which the chosen cluster conformation becomes unstable. Given the similarities between thermal and quantum fluctuations, both physically and within the SCP ansatz, the accuracy of classical SCP over a range of temperatures suggests that quantum SCP is also accurate over a range of quantum de Boer parameter Λ = ℏ / ( σ m e ) , which describes the degree of quantum character of the system.
Patterning of ion-sliced lithium niobate for hybrid photonic integration on silicon

We present a method to pattern ion-sliced LiNbO 3 with controllable size, shape, and crystal orientation for integration on silicon. Measurements of hybrid silicon and LiNbO 3 resonators with coplanar electrodes exhibit a 5.2 pm/V tunability.
17.—Remarks on the Prehistory of the Discovery of Slow Neutrons

Segre in his recent book [1] on Fermi gives an interesting account of the discovery of slow neutrons at the Institute of Physics of the University of Rome on October 22, 1934. He quotes (p. 80) a statement Fermi made many years later in a conversation with S. Chandrasekhar on the process of discovery in physics:‘I will tell you how I came to make the discovery which I suppose is the most important one I have made. We were working very hard on the neutron-induced radioactivity and the results we were obtaining made no sense. One day, as I came to the laboratory, it occurred to me that I should examine the effect of placing a piece of lead before the incident neutrons. Instead of my usual custom, I took great pains to have the piece of lead precisely machined.
Voices from the Shore

Our history texts tell us much about Europeans’ first impressions of America and American Indians. From Christopher Columbus’s first meeting with native people in the Caribbean, European travelers penned descriptions of the land and peoples they encountered. But Europeans knew little of what had happened in North America before they arrived, and they often cared even less, dismissing thousands of years of history as a static prelude to European colonization.
Multiple Myeloma Presenting as a Clivus and Brain Stem Plasmacytoma.

Abstract Multiple myeloma is the most common hematological malignancy. MM can affect many organ systems; therefore, it may mimic different clinical syndromes at presentation. We report an extremely rare presentation of MM. CASE REPORT: A 62-year-old man presented with progressive cervical pain for 2 months and double vision for 2 weeks. Physical exam demonstrated a cranial nerve 6 palsy, nuchal rigidity and no other abnormalities. A magnetic resonance image (MRI) of the brain revealed a 5 cm enhancing mass in the clivus which extended into the brain stem, left internal auditory and carotid canal, nasopharynx, sphenoid and cavernous sinuses, without midline shift or hydrocephalus. MRI of the spine showed 2 small enhancing lesions in thoracic vertebrae 4 and 11. Computer tomography of the chest abdomen and pelvis demonstrated a lesion in the sternum and no other abnormalities. Technetium-99 bone scan showed uptake in the skull base mass only. Complete blood count and metabolic profile were normal except for an albumin of 3.2 g/dL. Serum protein electrophoresis with immunofixation revealed hypogammaglobulinemia without a monoclonal protein. 24 hour urine collection demonstrated monoclonal free kappa light chains. Transsphenoidal stereotactic biopsy of the mass showed an atypical plasma cell proliferation with multi-nucleation and mitotic activity, positive for kappa light chain. Bone marrow aspirate revealed 17% of the nucleated cell to be abnormal plasma cells, some with plasmablastic morphology. He improved rapidly with dexamethasone and was referred for radiotherapy. DISCUSSION: The most common neurologic complications of MM are spinal cord compression due to epidural plasmacytomas or vertebral fractures, and peripheral polyneuropathy due to the presence of antibodies directed against myelin structures or due to amyloid deposits. Brain involvement in MM is uncommon. Furthermore, neurologic symptoms due to plasmacytomas located either in the clivus and brain stem are extremely rare. A MEDLINE search from 1950 until July 2005 revealed only 9 cases of MM or plasmacytoma involving the brain stem. Since there is no published autopsy series on MM patients describing the percentage of patients with brain involvement at death, the denominator is difficult to assess. Clinically, extramedullary involvement from MM bears a poor prognosis, and has been described in cases of plasma cell leukemia. We speculate that the aggressive behavior of the MM in our patient might be consistent with the atypical phenotype of the plasma cells. CONCLUSION: The unusual presentation of this patient adds to the medical knowledge about the clinical spectrum of multiple myeloma.
The sustainability of public pensions: A survey of california cities

The past few years have witnessed the rise of local ballot measures in California to limit public employee retirement benefits. What has happened to pension plans in California? Why is there such an attitude change towards public pensions? This paper, based on a survey of California cities, intends to investigate if public pensions have become unsustainable particularly in the face of the recent recession. The research shows city governments in California are facing both financial and social issues concerning their pension plans. To deal with the problems, cities have adopted strategies to reduce pension benefits, increase employee contributions, cut costs in other areas, and take other measures. Cities also have seen the use of the initiative process to control pension costs, balance their budgets and maintain fiscal sustainability.
Multiparametric photoacoustic microscopy of the mouse brain with 300-kHz A-line rate.

Enabling simultaneous high-resolution imaging of the total concentration of hemoglobin (CHb), oxygen saturation of hemoglobin (sO2), and cerebral blood flow (CBF), multiparametric photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) holds the potential to quantify the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen at the microscopic level. However, its imaging speed has been severely limited by the pulse repetition rate of the dual-wavelength photoacoustic excitation and the scanning mechanism. To address these limitations, we have developed a new generation of multiparametric PAM. Capitalizing on a self-developed high-repetition dual-wavelength pulsed laser and an optical–mechanical hybrid-scan configuration, this innovative technique has achieved an unprecedented A-line rate of 300 kHz, leading to a 20-fold increase in the imaging speed over our previously reported multiparametric PAM that is based on pure mechanical scanning. The performance of the high-speed multiparametric PAM has been examined both in vitro and in vivo. Simultaneous PAM of microvascular CHb, sO2, and CBF in absolute values over a ∼3-mm-diameter brain region of interest can be accomplished within 10 min.
The First Fossil Species of the Extant Genus Cessator Kazantsev (Coleoptera: Lycidae): A New Leptolycini from Dominican Amber

Abstract Cessator brodzinskyi Ferreira and Ivie, new species, is the third lycid species known from Dominican amber. The new species is described, diagnosed, illustrated, and compared with other fossil and extant species. Leptolycus parda Zaya, 1988 is moved to Cessator parda (Zayas), new combination.
Decision-making involving low probability high consequence events under risk and uncertainty

Research in progress described in this paper addresses the problem of decision making in situations involving low probability high consequence events. The traditional Expected Utility Model (EU) has significant limitations in such circumstances as documented in multiple research results. The models discussed in this paper is an adaptation of the Multiple Quantile Model (MQT) representing a rational decision support scheme suited to regular as well as low probability high consequence events to the complex dynamic scenarios, in which decision making has to be based on highly uncertain, often unreliable heterogeneous data and information. The core of this scheme is a combination of the Multiple Quantile Theory with the Transferable Belief Model (TBM) and Anytime Decision making. An example of this approach with numeric simulations is given and the directions of future work are outlined.
Ovarian morphology is associated with insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a cross sectional study.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a very common disorder well known to be associated with insulin resistance and metabolic disease. Insulin resistance is likely involved in the promotion of the PCOS reproductive phenotype and may mediate some of the ovarian morphology seen in the disorder. The phenotype of each individual woman with PCOS can vary widely as can her metabolic risk. This is a cross-sectional study of patients seen in a multidisciplinary PCOS clinic at the University of California at San Francisco between 2006 and 2014. All participants underwent systematic evaluation with anthropometric measurements, comprehensive skin exam, transvaginal ultrasound and laboratory studies at the time of their initial visit to the clinic. Serum samples were stored and androgen studies were carried out on all stored samples at the University of Virginia. Logistic regression was employed to evaluate the association between ovarian volume or follicle number and metabolic parameters (fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, fasting glucose, 2 h glucose, waist circumference) and hyperandrogenism (free testosterone, total testosterone, DHEAS, acanthosis nigricans), controlling for age. Three-hundred thirteen patients seen during the study period met Rotterdam criteria for PCOS and had sufficient measurements for inclusion in our analysis. The odds ratio of elevated HOMA-IR for patients with a maximum ovarian volume >10 cc was 1.9 compared to those with a maximum ovarian volume of ≤10 cc (95% CI 1.0–3.4). The odds ratio of abnormal fasting insulin for patients with higher ovarian volume was 1.8 (95% CI 1.0–3.4) compared with those with lower ovarian volume. Follicle number was not significantly associated with any metabolic parameters. Increased ovarian volume is associated with markers of insulin resistance in PCOS. In concordance with prior studies, we did not find follicle number to be predictive of metabolic risk. Ovarian volume may serve as a useful tool to aid clinicians in their risk stratification and counseling of patients with PCOS.
Lung function measures following simulated wildland firefighter exposures.

ABSTRACTAcross the world, biomass smoke is a major source of air pollution and is linked with a variety of adverse health effects. This is particularly true in the western U.S. where wood smoke from wildland forest fires are a significant source of PM2.5. Wildland firefighters are impacted as they experience elevated PM2.5 concentrations over extended periods of time, often occurring during physical exertion. Various epidemiological studies have investigated wood smoke impacts on human health, including occupational field exposures experienced by wildland firefighters. As there are numerous challenges in carrying out these field studies, having the ability to research the potential health impacts to this occupational cohort in a controlled setting would provide important information that could be translated to the field setting.To this end, we have carried out a simulated wildland firefighter exposure study in a wood smoke inhalation facility. Utilizing a randomized crossover trial design, we exposed 10 p...
Variability, drivers, and effects of atmospheric nitrogen inputs across an urban area: Emerging patterns among human activities, the atmosphere, and soils.

Abstract Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) is a major input of N to the biosphere and is elevated beyond preindustrial levels throughout many ecosystems. Deposition monitoring networks in the United States generally avoid urban areas in order to capture regional patterns of N deposition, and studies measuring N deposition in cities usually include only one or two urban sites in an urban-rural comparison or as an anchor along an urban-to-rural gradient. Describing patterns and drivers of atmospheric N inputs is crucial for understanding the effects of N deposition; however, little is known about the variability and drivers of atmospheric N inputs or their effects on soil biogeochemistry within urban ecosystems. We measured rates of canopy throughfall N as a measure of atmospheric N inputs, as well as soil net N mineralization and nitrification, soil solution N, and soil respiration at 15 sites across the greater Boston, Massachusetts area. Rates of throughfall N are 8.70 ± 0.68 kg N ha− 1 yr− 1, vary 3.5-fold across sites, and are positively correlated with rates of local vehicle N emissions. Ammonium (NH4+) composes 69.9 ± 2.2% of inorganic throughfall N inputs and is highest in late spring, suggesting a contribution from local fertilizer inputs. Soil solution NO3− is positively correlated with throughfall NO3− inputs. In contrast, soil solution NH4+, net N mineralization, nitrification, and soil respiration are not correlated with rates of throughfall N inputs. Rather, these processes are correlated with soil properties such as soil organic matter. Our results demonstrate high variability in rates of urban throughfall N inputs, correlation of throughfall N inputs with local vehicle N emissions, and a decoupling of urban soil biogeochemistry and throughfall N inputs.
Adoption of sustainable business practices in the private club industry from GMs and COOs’ perspectives

Abstract This study applied the theoretical framework of innovation adoption and concept of board support, relevant to private club’s sustainable business practices (SBPs). The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors influencing the adoption of SBPs in the private club industry. The adoption of SBPs has not been addressed extensively in academic research for private club, especially from leaders’ perspectives. The data were collected from 221 general managers and chief operation officers, using an online survey. Three-step hierarchical regression analyses were used to find perceived innovation characteristics and board support on the outcome variable. Board support, perceived by club GMs and COOs, was found to have the biggest influence on adoption intention of SBPs, in addition to significant influences of relative advantage, complexity (ease of use), and compatibility. This study highlighted an important role of board support on GMs’ and COOs’ intention to adopt SBPs, emphasizing the unique structure of private club governance. Understanding what the motivating factors are for club executives to adopt SBPs will enable them to engage in SBPs more effectively in the private club industry. Implications and opportunities for future research were addressed.
Knowledge base compilation

The effective use of knowledge based systems technology to solve complex and real-time problems in embedded system environments requires that the performance of these systems be maximized for conventional processor architectures. This paper presents a technique for the complete compilation of knowledge bases directly into procedural code. The technique is based on determining what actions an interpretive inference engine would take with the specific knowledge base and generating only the code needed to perform those actions. This eliminates the overhead of interpreting a representation of the knowledge base and significantly improves performance. The performance gains produced by this approach will be examined using examples from the High Performance [imbedded Reasoning (HiPER) System, a prototype tool which utilizes this technology.
A Call for Onto-Epistemological Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Care: Centering Global South Conceptualizations of Childhood/s:

In this chapter, we call for onto-epistemological diversity in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Specifically, we discuss the need to center the brilliance of children and com...
Abstract 625: Modest Elevations of Extracellular Sodium Activate Dendritic Cells and Contribute to Hypertension

Recently, it has become apparent that sodium can accumulate in the interstitium of hypertensive humans and animals, and such high salt concentrations drive immune cells toward a pro-inflammatory phenotype through poorly defined mechanisms. We hypothesized that dendritic cells (DCs) are activated by modest elevations of extracellular sodium via formation of IsoLGs leading to hypertension. Isolated mouse splenic DCs were cultured in media with either normal salt (NS, 150 mM NaCl), high salt (HS, 190 mM NaCl) or HS plus the gp91ds-tat peptide which inhibits assembly of NADPH oxidase for 24 hours. DCs exposed to HS demonstrated a marked increase in superoxide production compared to NS (146.3±9.5 vs. 100.0±5.0 % control, p phox and association of p47 phox with gp91 phox . Importantly, we found that the salt-activated DCs promote production of cytokines interferon gamma and interleukin 17 by primed T cells. To determine whether these salt-activated DCs promote hypertension, mice received adoptive transfer of splenic DCs that were cultured for 24 hours in either NS (n = 6); HS (n = 5); or HS plus an IsoLG scavenger (n = 6). Mice were then implanted with radiotelemeters to measure mean arterial pressure (MAP) and infused with a subpressor dose (140 ng/kg/min) of angiotensin II (AngII) for two weeks. This caused no increase in MAP in mice that received NS DCs (+0.8 +/- 3.3 mmHg), whereas MAP increased significantly with AngII infusion in mice that received HS DCs (+13.4 +/- 5 mmHg). This pro-hypertensive effect of salt on DCs was attenuated by scavenging of IsoLGs (-3.3 +/- 4.4 mmHg) during salt exposure. These findings provide a mechanistic link between salt, inflammation and hypertension involving increased oxidative stress and IsoLG production in DCs.
Adipose Tissue-Secreted Factors Alter Bladder Cancer Cell Migration

Background. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer recurrence. This study investigated the role of adipose tissue in bladder cancer progression. Methods. Gene expression profiling was performed on adipose tissues collected from normal weight ( ), overweight ( ), and obese ( ) patients with invasive bladder cancer, and adipose stromal cells (ASCs) were obtained from two normal weight, two overweight, and two obese patients. Conditioned media (CM) was characterized and evaluated for its effects on the proliferation, migration, and invasive potential of T24 bladder cancer cells. Results. Expression profiling demonstrated depot-specific or body mass index-specific differences. Increased T24 cell migration was observed using CM harvested from all ASCs. ASC CM from an obese patient significantly increased T24 cell migration and invasion compared to ASC CM collected from normal weight and overweight patients. We identified abundant expression of CXCL1, PAI1, IL6, CX3CL1, and CCL2 in all CM. Exogenous treatment of T24 cells with PAI1, IL6, and CXCL1 enhanced migration. Depletion of CXCL1, PAI1, and IL6 in an obese patient ASC CM abrogated T24 migration. Conclusion. Factors secreted by adipose tissue influence the migration of bladder tumor cells and could play an active role in tumor progression.
The impact and implications of compact design in the development of magnetic fusion power

Simplified cost-scaling relationships are employed to identify the key economic drivers for fusion power systems. These economic drivers are examined in the context of compact reactor design trends...
Component Mode Iteration Technique Applied to Modal Calculation for Fluid/Structure Interaction

Numerical methods to solve the dynamic interaction of fluid/structure interaction fall into three general areas; boundary element techniques, element-by-element solvers, and reduction algorithms. Amongst the reduction methods there are two general approaches: subspace iteration involves the reduction to a smal Ier eigenvalue problem by assuming Ritz mode shapes whereas component mode synthesis techniques discretize the structure/fluid system into smaller substructures, such that a much smaller global system is solved at the end. The reduced number of eigenvalues and eigenvectors thus calculated are approximations to the lowest natural frequencies and mode shapes of vibration.
NEUROHUMORAL HYSTERESIS AS A MECHANISM FOR AGING IN HUMANS AND OTHER SPECIES: COMPARATIVE ASPECTS

The neuroendocrine control of some humoral substances, including certain hormones and glucose, progressively deteriorates with age in humans and other mammals; these impairments can lead to many other impairments in physiological function. Some neuroendocrine deterioration may be caused by the cumulative damage of regulatory neurons by the very substances that these neurons control. For example, estrogen, glucose, and glucorticoid levels are normally regulated by neurons in the ventromedial and arcuate nuclei of the hypothalamus (for glucocorticoids in rats, perhaps the hippocampus as well). These neuronal areas are impaired, and the regulation of these substances deteriorates, with age. Specific age-correlated neuroendocrine impairments can be accelerated by high levels of estrogen, glucose, and glucocorticoids, and some age-correlated impairments can be specifically attenuated by lowering these humoral substances. The phenomenon of progressive damage of a regulatory locus by the substance it regulates is called here “neurohumoral hysteresis”, since hysteresis means “the influence of the previous history or treatment of a body on its subsequent response to a given force or changed condition.” In the context of a cyclic (humoral) challenge, hysteresis constitutes both a memory and a clock, since each humoral cycle adds further damage to the neuroendocrine substrate, often leading to higher levels of the humoral substance, leading to further damage. Neurohumoral hysteresis may be a vestigial (pleiotropic) property of mature organisms related to the processes which set neuroendocrine negative feedback set-points during development, whose destructive effects are not selected against because they are expressed after procreation. This paper will compare some examples of neurohumoral hysteresis, and suggest that hyperglycemic hysteresis may be a mechanism for many age-correlated impairments, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, in humans.
Investigation of aerosol phosphor thermometry (APT) measurement biases for Eu:BAM

Aerosol phosphor thermometry (APT) utilizes the luminescence intensity ratio (LIR) of emission from two wavelength bands to infer temperature. This work characterizes the impacts of phosphor seeding concentration and laser fluence on the measured emission spectrum and resulting LIR vs. temperature calibration for the phosphor Eu:BAM in both a heated air jet and a tube furnace. Increasing seeding density led to spectral broadening, but this effect had a minimal impact on the LIR over the range investigated. Increasing laser fluence from 5 to 60 mJ/cm2 resulted in a blue shift in the emission spectrum, corresponding to an increase in the particle temperature of approximately 50 K inferred from the LIR, as previously observed in the literature. Heated jet measurements found that the temperature sensitivity of the LIR for Eu:BAM was not significantly affected by increasing laser fluence for the conditions studied. In contrast, the temperature sensitivity of the LIR measured in the tube furnace was significantly lower than in the jet, likely due to the high phosphor particle concentration present in the aggregate powder environment. These measurements highlight the importance of performing LIR calibrations at representative conditions to achieve unbiased APT measurements when relying on the spectral temperature-dependence of thermographic phosphors.
Bruno's Score.

Abstract Many of our experiences in hospice and palliative care medicine are challenging. We support dying patients and their families as they struggle with the transition from life to death and continue to support those in mourning. Many times, in America, it is difficult to even appreciate a glimmer of spiritual grace as our patients die. We easily remain stuck in the material and distance ourselves from the spiritual. Some exits are quite graceful, however. I present the case of an exceptional person, who enjoyed an exceptional life and had an exceptionally graceful dying process and death, in hopes that his story may encourage other healers as much as he inspired me. Bruno was a composer and cognitive musicologist, whose art forms of light and music simultaneously move and challenge virtually all the people and other artists he interfaced with and taught, including his talented wife and family, his friends, his acquaintances, his students, his colleagues, and his deans. He embodied theories as diverse as mathematical strange loops, continually paradoxical/recursive illusory art, contrapuntal fugues, and artificial intelligence. Bruno's spirituality was uncommonly profound. It spanned and interconnected many eclectic faith traditions, theologies, and philosophies, including Taoism, Greek mythology, distributed cognition, mathematics, and Tibetan Buddhism. It resonated strongly with Zen and Christian mysticism. Some of Bruno's being and transformation to nonbeing was obvious; some of it was inscrutable.
Teacher Competencies or Certification Competencies.

Teacher training institutions must be accredited to produce certifiable teachers, or else the teachers will have to be certified by the state's certification board. The question addressed by this a...
A Review of the Currently Available Retrievable and Next Generation Inferior Vena Cava Filters

A review and comparison of the currently available removal and novel Inferior Vena Cava Filters; including design characteristics, composition, delivery methods, and limitations. This article is aimed at aiding interventionists in filter selection by providing easily accessible data. The Inferior Vena Cava filters has and will continue to play a primary role in the prevention of thromboembolic disease, especially in the acute care setting. There are a plethora of publications regarding the safety and efficacy of the traditional removable filter in addition to multiple comparative analyses discussing their intervariability and design characteristics. Over the last three years, the FDA has approved novel filter designs for widespread use. While the research on these “next-generation” filters is relatively limited compared to the traditional designs, the results are promising. Nine of the most commonly used filters in the United States were included in the final review. Manufacture specifications are listed for each filter. The available literature, including clinical trials on the newer generation filter designs, is summarized. Understanding of the variability between filter options, short- and long-term complications, optimal removal time, delivery methods, and retrieval methods will hopefully aid current and future practitioners in optimizing their filter selection to improve patient care.
Effects of mutations in pigeonMc1rimplicate an expanded plumage color patterning regulatory network

Abstract Studies in mammals have shown that the Melanocortin 1 receptor occupies a pivotal role as a nexus for integrating paracrine and autocrine signals to regulate pigment production and type-switching between pheomelanin (red/yellow) and eumelanin (black/brown) pigment synthesis in melanocytes. Inactivating mutations in the Mc1r gene are responsible for recessive pheomelanic reddening traits in several species, while mutations that increase activity cause dominant eumelanic darkening traits in mammals and birds. Previous efforts to associate Mc1r coding variants with color variation in pigeons (Columba livia) have yielded conflicting results. Applying a reverse genomic approach, we discovered a novel 500 base pair frameshifting deletion in pigeon Mc1r that likely inactivates the single-exon gene. Segregation analysis revealed complete cosegregation (LOD = 12.2) with smoky (symbol sy), a recessive pigmentation trait reported in these pages by Willard F. Hollander 80 years ago. We coupled these findings with breeding tests to determine that Dirty (V), a dominant darkening trait, is allelic to sy, and identified two independent V alleles, one of which is associated with melanic morphs of two other bird species. In contrast to observations that Mc1r inactivation results in uniform pheomelanic pelage in mammals, its loss in otherwise wild-type pigeons occurs without apparent pheomelanism, instead increasing plumage eumelanism while leaving black bar pattern elements of the tail and wing largely intact. These findings require reconsideration of Mc1r’s presumed role in pigment type-switching in birds, and suggest the existence of Mc1r-independent pathways for eumelanic pigmentation pattern regulation unknown in mammals.
Caring Differently: Some Reflections

Engaging love, care, and abandonment, but with an emphasis on care, I begin to question politics of care with human skeletal remains. This questioning strongly came to the fore while reflecting on preliminary observations of and interactions with skeletal remains that show evidence of postmortem interventions. These queries include, but are not limited to, the following: How does one not perpetuate colonialism when photographing and presenting bodies, eerily recalling colonial racial-documentation techniques? Are research objectives justifiable when these individuals cannot speak back? These kinds of caring and care-full concerns are important and disquieting. I ultimately ask to care differently about bioarchaeological practices, what they cite, and what they perpetuate. At stake is the importance of emergent politics of practice and tinkering with pointed questions.
Human biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of [18F]DASA-23, a PET probe targeting pyruvate kinase M2.

To assess the safety, biodistribution, and radiation dosimetry of the novel positron emission tomography (PET) radiopharmaceutical 1-((2-fluoro-6-[[18F]]fluorophenyl)sulfonyl)-4-((4-methoxyphenyl)sulfonyl)piperazine ([18F]DASA-23) in healthy volunteers. We recruited 5 healthy volunteers who provided a written informed consent. Volunteers were injected with 295.0 ± 8.2 MBq of [18F]DASA-23 intravenously. Immediately following injection, a dynamic scan of the brain was acquired for 15 min. This was followed by serial whole-body PET/MRI scans acquired up to 3 h post-injection. Blood samples were collected at regular intervals, and vital signs monitored pre- and post-radiotracer administration. Regions of interest were drawn around multiple organs, time-activity curves were calculated, and organ uptake and dosimetry were estimated with OLINDA/EXM (version 1.1) software. All subjects tolerated the PET/MRI examination, without adverse reactions to [18F]DASA-23. [18F]DASA-23 passively crossed the blood-brain barrier, followed by rapid clearance from the brain. High accumulation of [18F]DASA-23 was noted in organs such as the gallbladder, liver, small intestine, and urinary bladder, suggesting hepatobiliary and urinary clearance. The effective dose of [18F]DASA-23 was 23.5 ± 5.8 μSv/MBq. We successfully completed a pilot first-in-human study of [18F]DASA-23. Our results indicate that [18F]DASA-23 can be used safely in humans to evaluate pyruvate kinase M2 levels. Ongoing studies are evaluating the ability of [18F]DASA-23 to visualize intracranial malignancies, NCT03539731. ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT03539731 (registered 28 May 2018)
Genomic alterations in visceral versus nonvisceral “metastatic” site tumor tissue in metastatic prostate cancer (mPC).

167Background: Men with mPC with visceral metastasis, as compared to non-visceral disease have inferior outcomes regardless of therapy (PMID: 25403629). Herein, we hypothesize that visceral versus ...
Course Designs for Critical Thinking in Online Courses in Political Theory: A Comparative Analysis

This paper uses regression analysis to test design features and assignment types on 411 essays scored with the Washington State Critical Thinking rubric over the period of 11 semesters (2013-2019). Quizzes, exams, and specially designed critical thinking exercises (CTEs) are not found to boost critical thinking for online students. Participation in discussions (mainly through post reading), reading, and essay writing are all found to have a positive impact on subsequently measured CT, while the overall number of assignments in a semester tends to operate in the opposite direction. Comparatively, asynchronous discussion is not clearly superior to essay writing when it comes to promoting CT. However, the greatest payoff in online political theory courses might be to find ways to get students to read more (discussion posts and posted materials).
Coalescent-based species delimitation is sensitive to geographic sampling and isolation by distance

Species are a fundamental unit of biodiversity that are delimited via genetic data and coalescent-based methods with increasing frequency. Despite the widespread use of coalescent-based species del...
Chapter 1 – Conventional Wisdom

Publisher Summary The third-person effect has emerged over the past decade as a prominent paradigm for the examination of relationships between public opinion and the mass media following several years of obscurity. The typical circumstance is a survey in which a sample is asked, by questionnaire or interview, how they believe they or others typically behave in regard to some category of media content that might be expected to influence opinion or behavior. People on the whole tend to be quite rational in pursuit of the consequences of these perceptions. They hold the media responsible for distorting reality in certain circumstances. In other circumstances, when these effects are thought to be harmful, they become more willing to censor the media. The ego-defensive aspect of the third-person effect extends well beyond the mass media. It is not an expression of the social properties of the media but a fundamental bias of individuals that occurs with concrete regularity in regard to the media.
Analysis of feeding and drinking behaviors of group-reared broilers via image processing

Abstract Farm managements and system designs could be improved based on the responses of broiler feeding and drinking behaviors. The objective of this study was to develop and validate image processing algorithms for automatic monitoring of feeding and drinking behaviors of group-reared broilers. Sixty Ross® 708 broilers at 26–28 days of age were kept in a 2.9 m × 1.4 m pen with a tube feeder and five nipple drinkers. Broiler behaviors in the pen were recorded and stored in images. Areas of concern near the feeder and drinkers in the images were segmented for broiler-representing pixels which were quantified to estimate bird number at feeder (BNF) and at drinkers (BND). Two days of data (24000 images) were used for algorithm training and testing. The results show that the algorithms had an accuracy of 89–93% for determining BNF. The mean square error between the predicted BNF and real BNF was 0.3-0.4 bird, indicating a good estimation precision of BNF by the algorithm. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the algorithms for determining BND were, respectively, 87–90%, 97–98%, and 93–95%. For most of the time on the sampling days, the feeder was occupied by 7–13 broilers simultaneously and each drinker by 0–1 broiler. Broilers showed spatial and temporal preferences in feeding and drinking, with more birds eating and drinking in areas with less disturbances, within a few hours after light ON and before light OFF, and during flock inspection periods. It is concluded that the algorithms had acceptable accuracies in determining BNF and BND, thus being useful components for vision-based behavioral monitoring systems.
Energy-Efficient Pulse-Based Convolution for Near-Sensor Processing

Near-sensor convolution engines have many applications in Internet-of-Things. Pulsed unary processing has been recently proposed for high-performance and energy-efficient processing of data using simple digital logic. In this work, we propose a low-cost, high-performance, and energy-efficient near-sensor convolution engine based on pulsed unary processing. The proposed engine removes the necessity of using costly analog-to-digital converters. Synthesis results show that the proposed pulse-based design significantly improves the hardware cost and energy consumption compared to the conventional fixed-point binary and also to the stochastic computing-based designs.
Social Justice in an Online Classroom: A Place-Based Approach to Belonging

While online learning and community engagement are not necessarily adversarial, this article explores the tensions between the two and how an online rhetoric course adapted place-based pedagogy to explore the idea of belonging. The assignment described here leverages online learning while sponsoring community engagement. The assignment invites students to learn about and participate in social justice action that, while accomplished virtually by way of Web 2.0 technologies and spaces, still connects students to the places that are significant to them. Such an approach is inherently invested in place-based pedagogy that frames social justice as abstract and complex issues that not only affect nation-states, but that also have tangible implications for privileged and marginalized groups in local communities (Flynn et al., 2010).
The Things Worth Doing Are Worth Doing Slowly, Even Learning Law

Over the course of my career teaching legal writing, I have found that the slower pacing I adopted in my personal life has relevance to my students, who at times struggle with work that is slow and deliberative—the work that lawyers do. Slowing down has tremendous benefits for lawyers who seek to enhance their creativity, craft careful and complete research inquiries, or simply write a coherent email. For lawyers who want to persuade a judge or listen to a client, slow, methodical work is key. My students exist in an information-saturated world, with a point of access in their pocket at all moments, allowing information retrieval with the swipe of a finger. In a world where rapid retrieval of information is easy, what sets lawyers apart is the slow deliberation of that information.
The q–q Boxplot

Boxplots have become an extremely popular display of distribution summaries for collections of data, especially when we need to visualize summaries for several collections simultaneously. The whisk...
Determination of Cutpoints for Symptom Burden in Oncology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy.

Abstract Context Cutpoints can be used as a threshold for screening symptom(s) that warrant intervention(s) and for monitoring patients’ responses to these interventions. Objectives In a sample of oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy, study purposes were to determine the optimal cutpoints for low, moderate, and high symptom burden and determine if these cutpoints distinguished among the symptom groups in any demographic, clinical, and stress characteristics, as well as QOL outcomes. Methods Total of 1329 patients completed a modified version of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (38 symptoms). Using the methodology of Serlin and colleagues, cutpoints were created using symptom occurrence rates and cancer-specific quality of life (QOL) scores. Cutpoints were validated using measures of stress and resilience and a generic measure of QOL (i.e., Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 12 (SF-12)). Results Of the 25 possible cutpoints evaluated, the optimal cutpoint, with the largest between category F statistic, was CP8,15 (Low = 0–8, Moderate = 9–15, High = 16–38 symptoms). Percentage of patients in the Low, Moderate, and High cutpoint groups were 25.3%, 36.3%, and 38.4%, respectively. Significant differences were found among the symptom burden groups in global, cancer-specific, and cumulative life stress (i.e., Low Moderate > High) scores. Conclusion Our findings provide evidence for clinically meaningful cutpoints that can be used to guide symptom assessment and management. These cutpoints may be used to establish alert thresholds for electronic monitoring of symptoms in oncology patients.
VeriMask: Facilitating Decontamination of N95 Masks in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Safeguarding the Future

The US CDC has recognized moist-heat as one of the most effective and accessible methods of decontaminating N95 masks for reuse in response to the persistent N95 mask shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is challenging to reliably deploy this technique in healthcare settings due to a lack of smart technologies capable of ensuring proper decontamination conditions of hundreds of masks simultaneously. To tackle these challenges, we developed an open-source wireless sensor platform---VeriMask1 ---that facilitates per-mask verification of the moist-heat decontamination process. VeriMask is capable of monitoring hundreds of masks simultaneously in commercially available heating systems and provides a novel throughput-maximization functionality to help operators optimize the decontamination settings. We evaluate VeriMask in laboratory and real-scenario clinical settings and find that it effectively detects decontamination failures and operator errors in multiple settings and increases the mask decontamination throughput. Our easy-to-use, low-power, low-cost, scalable platform integrates with existing hospital protocols and equipment, and can be broadly deployed in under-resourced facilities to protect front-line healthcare workers by lowering their risk of infection from reused N95 masks. We also memorialize the design challenges, guidelines, and lessons learned from developing and deploying VeriMask during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our hope is that by reflecting and reporting on this design experience, technologists and front-line health workers will be better prepared to collaborate for future pandemics, regarding mask decontamination, but also other forms of crisis tech.
Arthropod repellents and chemosensory reception

Abstract Arthropod repellents act through chemoreceptor pathways. Chemosensory receptor neurons reside in cuticle-covered sensilla. The receptors consist of at least four different types of ligand-gated ion channels. Repellents have been demonstrated to interact with chemosensory receptors and alter their function. Odorants and tastants must pass through cuticular pores and then traverse the aqueous sensillar lymph to reach the chemosensory receptors. The way that hydrophobic molecules cross the sensillar lymph is not completely known, but it may involve hydrophobic ligand-binding proteins, or pore tubules that connect the pores to the receptor neuron membrane. Many candidate hydrophobic ligand-binding proteins have been shown to bind to arthropod repellents. High-throughput methods of repellent discovery have made use of the emerging molecular-level understanding of arthropod chemosensory reception.