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The purpose of this paper is to detail the initial validation of a scale to assess engineering students’ attitudes toward the value of diversity in engineering and their intentions to enact inclusive behaviors. In study 1, we administered the scale four times. We subjected the first administration to exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and the remaining three administrations to both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and tests of longitudinal measurement invariance (LMI). All tests indicated strong evidence for the internal structure of the factor structure of the survey. The four factors were: engineers should value diversity to (a) fulfill a greater purpose and (b) serve customers better; and engineers should (c) challenge discriminatory behavior and (d) promote a healthy work environment. In study 2, we again assessed the structure of the data as described in study 1 and then used the scale to assess potential differences between undergraduate students who participated in activities designed to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (n=116) and those who did not (n=137). Students in the intervention classes demonstrated a small statistically significant increase in their intention to promote a healthy team environment in reference to the comparison classes. No differences were observed between the classes onmore »the other factors. Future directions and implications are discussed.« less

Discoveries of new phenomena often involve a dedicated search for a hypothetical physics signature. Recently, novel deep learning techniques have emerged for anomaly detection in the absence of a signal prior. However, by ignoring signal priors, the sensitivity of these approaches is significantly reduced. We present a new strategy dubbed Quasi Anomalous Knowledge (QUAK), whereby we introduce alternative signal priors that capture some of the salient features of new physics signatures, allowing for the recovery of sensitivity even when the alternative signal is incorrect. This approach can be applied to a broad range of physics models and neural network architectures. In this paper, we apply QUAK to anomaly detection of new physics events at the CERN Large Hadron Collider utilizing variational autoencoders with normalizing flow.

This chapter describes two mechanical expansion microscopy methods with accompanying step-by-step protocols. The first method, mechanically resolved expansion microscopy, uses non-uniform expansion of partially digested samples to provide the imaging contrast that resolves local mechanical properties. Examining bacterial cell wall with this method, we are able to distinguish bacterial species in mixed populations based on their distinct cell wall rigidity and detect cell wall damage caused by various physiological and chemical perturbations. The second method is mechanically locked expansion microscopy, in which we use a mechanically stable gel network to prevent the original polyacrylate network from shrinking in ionic buffers. This method allows us to use anti-photobleaching buffers in expansion microscopy, enabling detection of novel ultra-structures under the optical diffraction limit through super-resolution single molecule localization microscopy on bacterial cells and whole-mount immunofluorescence imaging in thick animal tissues. We also discuss potential applications and assess future directions.

Abstract For most of the scientific disciplines associated with coastal and estuarine research, workforce representation does not match the demographics of communities we serve, especially for Black, Hispanic or Latino, and Indigenous peoples. This essay provides an overview of this inequity and identifies how a scientific society can catalyze representational, structural, and interactional diversity to achieve greater inclusion. Needed changes go beyond representational diversity and require an intentional commitment to build capacity through inclusivity and community engagement by supporting anti-racist policies and actions. We want to realize a sense of belonging on the part of scientists in society at large and enable research pursuits through a lens of social justice in service of coastal communities. Minimally, this framework offers an avenue for increased recruitment of individuals from more diverse racial and ethnic identities. More broadly, the mechanisms described here aim to create a culture in scientific societies in which social justice, driven by anti-racist actions, produces systemic change in how members of scientific societies approach, discuss, and address issues of inequity. We have written this essay for members of the coastal and marine science community who are interested in change. We aim to call in new voices, allies, and championsmore »to this work.« less