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The Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays
Get PDFThe Radar Echo Telescope for Cosmic Rays (RET-CR) was deployed in May 2023. RET-CR aims to show the in-nature viability of the radar echo method to probe in-ice particle cascades induced by ultra high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos. The RET-CR surface system detects ultra-high-energy cosmic ray air showers impinging on the ice using conventional methods. The surface detector then triggers the in-ice component of RET-CR, that is subsequently used to search for a radar echo off of the in-ice continuation of an ultra high energy cosmic ray air shower. The two systems independently reconstruct the energy, arrival direction, and impact point of the particle cascade. Here we present RET-CR, its installation in Greenland, and the first operations and results of RET-CR
Perception and production of Mandarin-Accented English: The effect of degree of Accentedness on the Interlanguage Speech Intelligibility Benefit for Listeners (ISIB-L) and Talkers (ISIB-T)
Get PDFPrevious research on the Interlanguage Speech Intelligibility Benefit (ISIB) indicates nonnative listeners may have an advantage at understanding nonnative speech of talkers with the same first language (L1) due to shared interlanguage knowledge. The present study offers a comprehensive analysis of various factors that may modulate this advantage, including the proficiency of both the listeners and the talkers, the mapping of phonemes between the L1 and second language (L2), and the acoustic properties of the phones. Accuracy scores on a lexical decision task were used to investigate both native English listeners’ and native Mandarin learners’ of English perception of native English and Mandarin-accented English speech. Results show clear ISIB-L and ISIB-T effects and demonstrate the dynamic nature of ISIB effects, with both being modulated by speaker and listener proficiency. More striking ISIB effects typically occur at the most extreme ends of accentedness. Additionally, an advantage for common-phoneme over unique-phoneme words in nonnative speech was observed. While nonnative productions of common-phoneme words are more accurate than those of unique-phoneme words, for the most accented productions, nonnative listeners are faster to respond to these unique, often mispronounced, productions.
The nonnative listener advantage at perceiving nonnative speech depends on various factors, including listener proficiency, speaker proficiency, phoneme characteristics, and the acoustics of specific speech tokens
Recruitment and reach in a school-based pediatric obesity intervention trial in rural areas
Get PDFIntroduction: The purpose of this study is to evaluate two recruitment strategies on schools and participant participation rates and representativeness (reach) within a pediatric obesity treatment trial tailored for families who live in rural areas.
Methods: Recruitment of schools was evaluated based on their progress toward enrolling participants. Recruitment and reach of participants were evaluated using (1) participation rates and (2) representativeness of demographics and weight status of participants compared to eligible participants (who did not consent and enroll) and all students (regardless of eligibility). School recruitment, as well as participant recruitment and reach, were evaluated across recruitment methods comparing opt-in (i.e., caregivers agreed to allow their child to be screened for eligibility) vs. screen-first (i.e., all children screened for eligibility).
Results: Of the 395 schools contacted, 34 schools (8.6%) expressed initial interest; of these, 27 (79%) proceeded to recruit participants, and 18 (53%) ultimately participated in the program. Of schools who initiated recruitment, 75% of schools using the opt-in method and 60% of schools using the screen-first method continued participation and were able to recruit a sufficient number of participants. The average participation rate (number of enrolled individuals divided by those who were eligible) from all 18 schools was 21.6%. This percentage was higher in schools using the screen-first method (average of 29.7%) compared to schools using the opt-in method (13.5%). Study participants were representative of the student population based on sex (female), race (White), and eligibility for free and reduced-price lunch. Study participants had higher body mass index (BMI) metrics (BMI, BMIz, and BMI%) than eligible non-participants.
Conclusions: Schools using the opt-in recruitment were more likely to enroll at least 5 families and administer the intervention. However, the participation rate was higher in screen-first schools. The overall study sample was representative of the school demographics
Opioid induces increased DNA damage in prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens
Get PDFOpioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic disease characterized by compulsive opioid taking and seeking, affecting millions of people worldwide. The high relapse rate is one of the biggest challenges in treating opioid addiction. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying relapse to opioid seeking are still unclear. Recent studies have shown that DNA damage and repair processes are implicated in a broad spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases as well as in substance use disorders. In the present study, we hypothesized that DNA damage is related to relapse to heroin seeking. To test our hypothesis, we aim to examine the overall DNA damage level in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) after heroin exposure, as well as whether manipulating DNA damage levels can alter heroin seeking. First, we observed increased DNA damage in postmortem PFC and NAc tissues from OUD individuals compared to healthy controls. Next, we found significantly increased levels of DNA damage in the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) and NAc from mice that underwent heroin self-administration. Moreover, increased accumulation of DNA damage persisted after prolonged abstinence in mouse dmPFC, but not in NAc. This persistent DNA damage was ameliorated by the treatment of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger N-acetylcysteine, along with attenuated heroin-seeking behavior. Furthermore, intra-PFC infusions of topotecan and etoposide during abstinence, which trigger DNA single-strand breaks and double-strand breaks respectively, potentiated heroin-seeking behavior. These findings provide direct evidence that OUD is associated with the accumulation of DNA damage in the brain (especially in the PFC), which may lead to opioid relapse
Assault, Robbery, Mayhem: The Consequences Of Fraternal Campus Loyalty Movements At The University Of Kansas After World War I
Get PDFSubmitted to the Department of History of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for departmental honors
Chord Rotation Capacity and Strength of Diagonally Reinforced Concrete Coupling Beams
Get PDFA database of results from 27 tests of diagonally reinforced concrete coupling beams was analyzed to develop improved force-deformation envelopes (backbone curves) for modeling and analysis of coupling beams. The database, which was selected from a larger set of 60 test results, comprises specimens that generally satisfy ACI 318-19 requirements. The analyses show that the chord rotation capacity of diagonally reinforced concrete coupling beams compliant with ACI 318-19 is closely correlated with beam clear span-to-overall depth ratio and, to a lesser extent, the ratio of hoop spacing to diagonal bar diameter. A simple expression is proposed for estimating beam chord rotation capacity. Coupling beam strength was shown to be more accurately estimated from flexural strength calculations at beam ends than other methods. Recommendations are made for obtaining more accurate backbone curves in terms of chord rotation capacity, strength, and stiffness
Décolletage disputes in early modern France
No full textThis article looks at moralistic reactions to the fashion of décolletage during the seventeenth century in France. No previous research has focused on this specific movement, the scope of which is larger than has previously been acknowledged. A series of publications and sermons took aim at plunging necklines, particularly in church settings. Far from being isolated and discrete episodes, the wave of sermons and works condemning the fashion may be contextualised as part of a concerted campaign initially orchestrated by the secretive Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement. The anti-décolletage rhetoric coincides with the increasing participation and presence of women in culture and society and may be interpreted as an attempt to regulate female agency. The article concludes that this body of clerical works established a blueprint of victim-blaming that has proved to be enduring. Moreover, it gave such sentiments the stamp of religious respectability
The informational “cosplay journey” of Star Wars cosplayers in the context of a Facebook group
Get PDFINTRODUCTION. Research on personal information practices has increased in recent decades. Building on this current of thought, the present study explores information practices in the context of serious leisure, looking specifically at the Rey Cosplay Community Facebook group, an online community of Star Wars cosplayers. The work discusses how these fans seek, organize, and share relevant information during the process of making costumes.
METHOD. This study used participant observation and semi-structured interviews to investigate information behaviours, including information seeking, organization, use, and sharing, of seventeen members in the Rey Cosplay Community with a purposive sampling strategy.
ANALYSIS. The researchers transcribed and jointly coded the collected data with an open coding scheme to identify themes that emerged from the data.
RESULTS. The cosplayers used a myriad of tools to seek, organize, and share information about costume making. Participants identified that their information practices had evolved over time, and they shared sophisticated strategies for sharing work-in-progress photos and updates as well as methods for organizing information for later use.
CONCLUSION. There are a variety of information practices used when making a costume. Participants often seek and acquire relevant information on online platforms and use a combination of traditional physical tools and modern electronic tools to organize information. They also display a rich culture of sharing information when responding to other fans’ information needs. The overall structure that these information practices take can be neatly articulated as a sort of informational “cosplay journey”
The Comparison of Sexual Attitudes and Knowledge of Female College Students, Their Mothers, and Their Same-Sexed Best Friend
Get PDFThis descriptive comparative study was designed to examine the similarities and differences in sexual attitudes and knowledge among female college students, their mothers, and their same-sexed best friend. A convenience sample was drawn from a population living in a rural Midwest state. Three groups of mother (N=24), female community college student (N=21), and same-sexed best friend {N=22) participated. Part I, II, and III of Lief and Reed's Sex Knowledge and Attitude Test was used for data collection. Analysis of variance and Pearson Product-Moment correlation were used for analysis of data. Findings included: (l} no statistically significant differences among the three groups (mother, daughter, and best-friend) between the knowledge scores and abortion, sexual myths, .and autoeroticism attitude subscales; (2) a significant difference in attitudes toward pre and extramarital heterosexual encounters between the group of friends and the group of mothers; {3) no statistically significant difference among the three groups (mother, daughter, and best-friend) between the knowledge scores and attitudes subscales which could be attributed to religion; (4) mothers were the most conservative and the female college students the most liberal in their sexual attitudes; (5) female college students were found to have the most correct sexual information, whereas, her best friend ascribed to more sexual myths; (6) protestants were the most conservative religious group and the group marking other religion the most liberal in sexual attitudes; (7) the group marking other religion was the most knowledgeable on human sexuality followed by Catholics and then the protestant group, and (8) results showed a positive correlation between the total mean knowledge scores and the total mean attitude scores, indicating that the higher the knowledge level, the higher or more liberal the attitude score. Overall, the analyses indicated that similarities do exist in sexual attitudes and knowledge among female college students, their mothers, and their same-sexed best friend. These results support the behavioristic theory of child development of sexual attitudes and knowledge
An interpretable machine learning model of cross-sectional U.S. county-level obesity prevalence using explainable artificial intelligence
No full textBackground
There is considerable geographic heterogeneity in obesity prevalence across counties in the United States. Machine learning algorithms accurately predict geographic variation in obesity prevalence, but the models are often uninterpretable and viewed as a black-box.
Objective
The goal of this study is to extract knowledge from machine learning models for county-level variation in obesity prevalence.
Methods
This study shows the application of explainable artificial intelligence methods to machine learning models of cross-sectional obesity prevalence data collected from 3,142 counties in the United States. County-level features from 7 broad categories: health outcomes, health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, physical environment, demographics, and severe housing conditions. Explainable methods applied to random forest prediction models include feature importance, accumulated local effects, global surrogate decision tree, and local interpretable model-agnostic explanations.
Results
The results show that machine learning models explained 79% of the variance in obesity prevalence, with physical inactivity, diabetes, and smoking prevalence being the most important factors in predicting obesity prevalence.
Conclusions
Interpretable machine learning models of health behaviors and outcomes provide substantial insight into obesity prevalence variation across counties in the United States