Sex, Promotions, and Title VII: Why Sexual Favoritism Is Not Sexual Discrimination

This Note considers whether a Title VII claim should exist where a supervisor promotes a person with whom he or she is in an romantic relationship, to the exclusion of other qualified applicants. Since the early 1980s, federal courts have expressed differing views as to the validity of such sexual favoritism claims. The difference in views stems mainly from a lack of clarity as to the meaning of the word sex in Title VII. In 1990, the EEOC issued a policy guidance disfavoring Title VII sexual favoritism claims where the underlying relationship is isolated, consensual, and romantic. Professor Joan E. Van Tol has criticized the EEOC for not recognizing sexual favoritism as a distinct form of sexual harassment under Title VII. This Note is a response to Professor Van Tol\u27s arguments. The author disputes Van Tol\u27s arguments and explains the reasons why courts should follow the EEOC in rejecting causes of action for sexual favoritism. In particular, the author analyzes Title VII case law and hypothetical situations to show that the only logically consistent meaning of the word sex in Title VII is a meaning which prohibits gender-based discrimination, but does not prohibit sexual activity regardless of gender

Design for Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)

The goal of this project is to study the performance of a 3D printed mechanical part subjected to topology optimization. A part that is somewhat complex in its load bearing and geometry will be selected. That part will then be designed, finite element analysis will be performed on it to optimize its topology, and then it will be 3D printed and tested. The goal of topology optimization is to either save material cost and/or part weight due to the ability of 3D printing to manufacture parts with complex and obscure geometry

Protein Structure Prediction Using Basin-Hopping

Associative memory Hamiltonian structure prediction potentials are not overly rugged, thereby suggesting their landscapes are like those of actual proteins. In the present contribution we show how basin-hopping global optimization can identify low-lying minima for the corresponding mildly frustrated energy landscapes. For small systems the basin-hopping algorithm succeeds in locating both lower minima and conformations closer to the experimental structure than does molecular dynamics with simulated annealing. For large systems the efficiency of basin-hopping decreases for our initial implementation, where the steps consist of random perturbations to the Cartesian coordinates. We implemented umbrella sampling using basin-hopping to further confirm when the global minima are reached. We have also improved the energy surface by employing bioinformatic techniques for reducing the roughness or variance of the energy surface. Finally, the basin-hopping calculations have guided improvements in the excluded volume of the Hamiltonian, producing better structures. These results suggest a novel and transferable optimization scheme for future energy function development

AFLOW-SYM: Platform for the complete, automatic and self-consistent symmetry analysis of crystals

Determination of the symmetry profile of structures is a persistent challenge in materials science. Results often vary amongst standard packages, hindering autonomous materials development by requiring continuous user attention and educated guesses. Here, we present a robust procedure for evaluating the complete suite of symmetry properties, featuring various representations for the point-, factor-, space groups, site symmetries, and Wyckoff positions. The protocol determines a system-specific mapping tolerance that yields symmetry operations entirely commensurate with fundamental crystallographic principles. The self consistent tolerance characterizes the effective spatial resolution of the reported atomic positions. The approach is compared with the most used programs and is successfully validated against the space group information provided for over 54,000 entries in the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database. Subsequently, a complete symmetry analysis is applied to all 1.7$+$ million entries of the AFLOW data repository. The AFLOW-SYM package has been implemented in, and made available for, public use through the automated, $\textit{ab-initio}$ framework AFLOW.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

TOWARDS ASSESSING PASSWORD WORKAROUNDS AND PERCEIVED RISK TO DATA BREACHES FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CYBERSECURITY RISK MANAGEMENT TAXONOMY

Cybersecurity involves a broad range of techniques, including cyber-physical, managerial, and technical, while authentication provides a layer of protection for Information Systems (IS) against data breaches. The recent COVID-19 pandemic brought a tsunami of data breach incidents worldwide. Authentication serves as a mechanism for IS against unauthorized access utilizing various defense techniques, with the most popular and frequently used technique being passwords. However, the dramatic increase of user accounts over the past few decades has exposed the realization that technological measures alone cannot ensure high level of IS security; this leaves the end-users holding a critical role in protecting their organization and personal information. Despite users being more aware of password entropy, users still often participate in deviant password behaviors also known as ‘password workarounds’ or ‘shadow security’. These deviant password behaviors can put individuals and organizations at risk resulting in data privacy issues, data loss, and ultimately a data breach incident. In this paper, we outline a research-in-progress study to build a risk taxonomy for organizations based on the to identify the risks associated with deviant password behaviors technique based on the constructs of users’ perceived cybersecurity risk of data breaches resulting from PassWord WorkArounds (PWWA) techniques. Additionally, this study aims to empirically assess significant mean difference between Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and employees on their perceived cybersecurity risk of data breaches resulting from the deviant password behaviors and frequency of PWWA techniques usage

Substituent Effects on the Electronic Spectroscopy of Tryptophan Derivatives in Jet Expansions

Electronic excitation spectra of seven tryptophan derivatives entrained in a supersonic expansion have been recorded using both resonantly enhanced two-photon ionization and laser induced fluorescence. Two derivatives, tryptophan amide and tryptophan methyl amide, were found to have substantial low frequency vibrational progressions in their excitation spectra, yet in both compounds this behavior was apparent in only one conformer. Other derivatives did not display as much vibronic activity. Conformers which had vibrational progressions were found to emit in a broad band far to the red of excitation. All other conformers were found to fluoresce most strongly in resonance with excitation. The presence of low frequency vibrational activity and red shifted fluorescence correlates well with the ability of the derivative to form an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the amine and the carboxylic acid. Backbone conformers that contain an intramolecular hydrogen bond are expected to have large dipole moments, which may strongly perturb the electronic structure of the indole chromophore. © 1990 American Institute of Physics

Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary

Part of a series of reports that includes: Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report; Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report; Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical Report; Available at http://sites.bu.edu/cfb/OVERVIEW: This technical summary is intended to argument the rest of the Carbon Free Boston technical reports that seek to achieve this goal of deep mitigation. This document provides below: a rationale for carbon neutrality, a high level description of Carbon Free Boston’s analytical approach; a summary of crosssector strategies; a high level analysis of air quality impacts; and, a brief analysis of off-road and street light emissions.Published versio

Neuromyelitis optica pathogenesis and aquaporin 4

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a severe, debilitating human disease that predominantly features immunopathology in the optic nerves and the spinal cord. An IgG1 autoantibody (NMO-IgG) that binds aquaporin 4 (AQP4) has been identified in the sera of a significant number of NMO patients, as well as in patients with two related neurologic conditions, bilateral optic neuritis (ON), and longitudinal extensive transverse myelitis (LETM), that are generally considered to lie within the NMO spectrum of diseases. NMO-IgG is not the only autoantibody found in NMO patient sera, but the correlation of pathology in central nervous system (CNS) with tissues that normally express high levels of AQP4 suggests NMO-IgG might be pathogenic. If this is the case, it is important to identify and understand the mechanism(s) whereby an immune response is induced against AQP4. This review focuses on open questions about the "events" that need to be understood to determine if AQP4 and NMO-IgG are involved in the pathogenesis of NMO. These questions include: 1) How might AQP4-specific T and B cells be primed by either CNS AQP4 or peripheral pools of AQP4? 2) Do the different AQP4-expressing tissues and perhaps the membrane structural organization of AQP4 influence NMO-IgG binding efficacy and thus pathogenesis? 3) Does prior infection, genetic predisposition, or underlying immune dysregulation contribute to a confluence of events which lead to NMO in select individuals? A small animal model of NMO is essential to demonstrate whether AQP4 is indeed the incipient autoantigen capable of inducing NMO-IgG formation and NMO. If the NMO model is consistent with the human disease, it can be used to examine how changes in AQP4 expression and blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity, both of which can be regulated by CNS inflammation, contribute to inductive events for anti-AQP4-specific immune response. In this review, we identify reagents and experimental questions that need to be developed and addressed to enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of NMO. Finally, dysregulation of tolerance associated with autoimmune disease appears to have a role in NMO. Animal models would allow manipulation of hormone levels, B cell growth factors, and other elements known to increase the penetrance of autoimmune disease. Thus an AQP4 animal model would provide a means to manipulate events which are now associated with NMO and thus demonstrate what set of events or multiplicity of events can push the anti-AQP4 response to be pathogenic

Neuromyelitis Optica Pathogenesis and Aquaporin 4

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a severe, debilitating human disease that predominantly features immunopathology in the optic nerves and the spinal cord. An IgG1 autoantibody (NMO-IgG) that binds aquaporin 4 (AQP4) has been identified in the sera of a significant number of NMO patients, as well as in patients with two related neurologic conditions, bilateral optic neuritis (ON), and longitudinal extensive transverse myelitis (LETM), that are generally considered to lie within the NMO spectrum of diseases. NMO-IgG is not the only autoantibody found in NMO patient sera, but the correlation of pathology in central nervous system (CNS) with tissues that normally express high levels of AQP4 suggests NMO-IgG might be pathogenic. If this is the case, it is important to identify and understand the mechanism(s) whereby an immune response is induced against AQP4. This review focuses on open questions about the events that need to be understood to determine if AQP4 and NMO-IgG are involved in the pathogenesis of NMO. These questions include: 1) How might AQP4-specific T and B cells be primed by either CNS AQP4 or peripheral pools of AQP4? 2) Do the different AQP4-expressing tissues and perhaps the membrane structural organization of AQP4 influence NMO-IgG binding efficacy and thus pathogenesis? 3) Does prior infection, genetic predisposition, or underlying immune dysregulation contribute to a confluence of events which lead to NMO in select individuals? A small animal model of NMO is essential to demonstrate whether AQP4 is indeed the incipient autoantigen capable of inducing NMO-IgG formation and NMO. If the NMO model is consistent with the human disease, it can be used to examine how changes in AQP4 expression and blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity, both of which can be regulated by CNS inflammation, contribute to inductive events for anti-AQP4-specific immune response. In this review, we identify reagents and experimental questions that need to be developed and addressed to enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of NMO. Finally, dysregulation of tolerance associated with autoimmune disease appears to have a role in NMO. Animal models would allow manipulation of hormone levels, B cell growth factors, and other elements known to increase the penetrance of autoimmune disease. Thus an AQP4 animal model would provide a means to manipulate events which are now associated with NMO and thus demonstrate what set of events or multiplicity of events can push the anti-AQP4 response to be pathogenic