cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Third Reconstruction: An Alternative to Race Consciousness and Colorblindness in Post-Slavery America

This article establishes a foundation for changes to an American jurisprudence based on universal human dignity instead of the present race-conscious law and policy. In guiding such contemporary reform, there should be minimal reliance on the concept of race and the illusion of a racially divided humanity. Instead, Americans should turn to a new conception of humankind, one that emphasizes the commonality among all individuals. This theory is deemed "humanity consciousness" - a mental transformation necessary to the universal recognition of human dignity and to the effectuation of universal human dignity by legal discourse. This article argues that the equal protection doctrine's focus on "equality" and "race" has failed to move America's disadvantaged groups past the remnants of a post-slavery world. It also asserts that a colorblind application of constitutional principles fails such groups because it ignores the reality of continued subordination of racialized people in America. A shift in emphasis from the Equal Protection Clause to the Privileges or Immunities Clause would best redress violations for all based on the principle of dignified treatment to all people. Ultimately, the intention should be to set forth a post-racialized, reconstructed vision of humanity and make the case for its support under the Constitution.
The Significance of Cap and Base Restraint

Techniques for reducing cap and base restraint are discussed, and a method for assuring effective elimination of restraint with lubricated caps and bases is presented. The effects of cap and base restraint on specimen deformation, stress-strain behavior, compression strength, strength parameters, pore pressures, and volume changes are examined. In general, the effects of cap and base restraint are not significant; the use of lubricated caps and bases is mandatory only when volume changes in drained tests must be measured with very high accuracy.
Grit: A Potential Protective Factor Against Substance Use and Other Risk Behaviors Among Latino Adolescents

Abstract Objective Grit, defined as "working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress," is strongly associated with academic achievement and life success and may also be associated with health outcomes and behaviors. We examined predictors of grit, and the association between grit and health behaviors among at-risk Latino adolescents. Methods We analyzed baseline survey data collected in 2013–2014 from a sample of 1270 9th graders in low-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles. We examined factors associated with grit and whether grit is associated with substance use and delinquent behaviors, controlling for adolescent and parent sociodemographic factors. Results In a sample of mostly Latino adolescents (89.5%), compared to those with low grit, those with high grit had significantly lower odds of alcohol use in the last 30 days (odds ratio 0.30, P P P P Conclusions Grit may be an important candidate protective factor against substance use and other risk behaviors among Latino adolescents.
A DESCRIPTIVE MEASURE OF STABILITY

Summary.-An intuitively straightforward descriptive measure of stability is of. fered. The question of the existence of stable behavioral dispositions is important for theories of personality (Mischel, 1969) and has implications for assessing the true reliability of psychometric instruments (Heise, 1969). Generally, the stab&ty of a measure is regarded as the reliability of the measure across repeated testings (Epstein, 1979). The correlation coefficient, however, reflects the similarity of the relative rankings of cases across multiple measures and so may be high even though the actual scores change across trials.
In-Field Traps and Insecticides for Suppression and Elimination of Populations of Boll Weevils

Grandlure-baited in⋅field traps used at the rate of 10/acre captured 76% of a population of overwintered Anthonomus grandis Boheman estimated to number ca. 25/acre that emerged between the time cotton was planted and the time the plants produced pinhead squares. A combination of in-field traps and insecticides captured or killed 100% of the emerging overwintered weevils during the 23 days between the pinhead square stage of plant growth (June 13) and July 6. The traps alone captured ca. 96% of a late emerging population of ca. 1 boll weevil/acre during July 6–31. The problem of clumping of F1 and F2 progeny proved to be an important factor in the efficiency of the traps.
A Power and Energy Joint Optimization Model and Its Application for Long-term Large-range Wind Power Accommodation

In order to solve wind power accommodation problem in China,this paper proposes to take advantage of clean energy's long-term seasonal fluctuation characteristics over annual or monthly period,or to utilize the complementary nature of power supply and load characteristics in different regions.By building power and energy joint optimization model for long-term large-range wind power accommodation to minimize system operating costs,key problems like temporal-coupling power and energy joint optimization modelling problem,multi-generation,generation and transmission coordinative optimization modelling problem are solved.In addition,quantified decision making for long-term large-range wind power accommodation is achieved by using mixed integer programming(MIP).The model is tested with a practical example of a regional grid power system.The numerical example shows that the model can coordinately optimize different types of generating units and transmission lines in a long period,and improve the accommodation level of wind energy.
Site selection and traverse planning to support a lunar polar rover mission: A case study at Haworth Crater

Abstract Studies of lunar polar volatile deposits are of interest for scientific purposes to understand the nature and evolution of the volatiles, and also for exploration reasons as a possible in situ resource to enable long term human exploration and settlement of the Moon. Both theoretical and observational studies have suggested that significant quantities of volatiles exist in the polar regions, although the lateral and horizontal distribution remains unknown at the km scale and finer resolution. A lunar polar rover mission is required to further characterize the distribution, quantity, and character of lunar polar volatile deposits at these higher spatial resolutions. Here we present a case study for NASA's Resource Prospector (RP) mission concept for a lunar polar rover and utilize this mission architecture and associated constraints to evaluate whether a suitable landing site exists to support an RP flight mission. We evaluate the landing site criteria to characterize the Haworth Crater region in terms of expected hydrogen abundance, surface topography, and prevalence of shadowed regions, as well as solar illumination and direct to Earth communications as a function of time to develop a notional rover traverse plan that addresses both science and engineering requirements. We also present lessons-learned regarding lunar traverse path planning focusing on the critical nature of landing site selection, the influence of illumination patterns on traverse planning, the effects of performing shadowed rover operations, the influence of communications coverage on traverse plan development, and strategic planning to maximize rover lifetime and science at end of mission. Here we present a detailed traverse path scenario for a lunar polar volatiles rover mission and find that the particular site north of Haworth Crater studied here is suitable for further characterization of polar volatile deposits.
Chapter 3 – Orbits and trajectories in an inverse square field

Publisher Summary This chapter explains those applications in which the motion of a spacecraft can be described solely in terms of an inverse square law gravitational force produced by a single astronomical body isolated from the influence of other bodies. This approximation is often valid when the high precision requirements of geodesic or navigational satellites may not be needed. The principal forces that determine the path of a spacecraft are normally gravitation and thrust. In comparison, forces such as atmospheric drag or solar radiation pressure are small and can often be neglected. Kepler's laws are actually more accurate when applied to spacecraft than to planets. This is because planetary masses are not entirely negligible when compared with the sun's mass. The need frequently arises to compute a spacecraft's position in a known orbit as a function of time. This requires the solution of Kepler's equation, hence of a transcendental equation for the eccentric anomaly. In astronomy, particularly because the orbits of the majority of planets and of their moons have only small eccentricities, D’Alembert's method has found very frequent application. It is also useful in application to space technology. The advantage gained by placing communications and other satellites into the geostationary orbit has led to a considerable crowding of this orbit.
Interactive Effects of Fumigation and Fungicides on Potato Response to Nitrogen Rate or Timing

The availability and use of crop protectants including azoxystrobin in combination with fumigation has extended the Central Wisconsin effective growing season by 2 to 4 weeks. This study, evaluating the influence of these crop protection practices on the optimum nitrogen rate and time of application for Russet Burbank potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), was established as two 3-year field trials designed as split-split plot experiments. Both experiments used metam sodium as the main plots and fungicide treatment (chlorothalonil Zn alone or chlorothalonil Zn alternated with azoxystrobin for the first six sprays) as the first split. In-season fertilizer N rate (179, 224, 269, or 313 kg N ha−1) or in-season N timing (N split into two, three, or four applications at 269 kg N ha−1) was the second split. Not fumigating resulted in significantly higher verticillium ratings and severely repressed crop yield and tuber quality responses to both fungicide treatment and N rate. On average, fumigation increased total yield 13.6 Mg ha−1yr−1, U.S. No. 1 tubers by 9 % and U.S. No. 1 tubers >170 g by 5 % over where fumigation was not used. In 2 of the 3 years when azoxystrobin was included in the fungicide program early blight severity was reduced by about 50 %, and on fumigated areas yields were increased 4.8 Mg ha−1, whereas no yield increase was seen from this fungicide treatment on the non-fumigated plots. In these same years, fumigation increased optimum N rate by about 50 kg ha−1; however, there was no apparent interaction with fungicide treatment. Although fumigation, fungicide treatment, and time of N application each influenced tuber yield or tuber quality in some years, in the two more responsive years some interactions between these factors were statistically significant, with benefits generally only seen where plots were fumigated.
Remote sensing of the atmosphere using three-directional scanning-Lidar technique

The extraction of optical parameters of the atmosphere from the scanning-lidar signals is possible only for the horizontally stratified atmosphere. The significant issue this technique is that no reliable methods exist for determining whether the searched atmosphere is horizontally stratified, and if not, where the heterogeneous areas are located. In the paper the essence and specifics for practically locating such areas of heterogeneous, poorly stratified atmosphere, from which lidar data should be excluded from analysis, are considered. To apply the three-directional differential solution, the lidar backscatter signals measured under three elevation angles are selected and analyzed. The theoretical basis of this solution is delineated. The specifics inherent to this remote sensing method are illustrated by simulated and experimental lidar data.
Reliability of low-k interconnect dielectrics

Summary form only given. The talk will be divided in two: Part1: Statistics of BEOL dielectric breakdown • Is the Weibull distribution still viable when the line edge roughness is large in respect to the line-spacing? • Stress dependence of distributions. • Meanings of observed statistical parameters and how to extract the actual parameters that are needed for extrapolation to low failure probabilities at usage conditions.
Deep convolutional neural network for prostate MR segmentation

Automatic segmentation of the prostate in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has many applications in prostate cancer diagnosis and therapy. We propose a deep fully convolutional neural network (CNN) to segment the prostate automatically. Our deep CNN model is trained end-to-end in a single learning stage based on prostate MR images and the corresponding ground truths, and learns to make inference for pixel-wise segmentation. Experiments were performed on our in-house data set, which contains prostate MR images of 20 patients. The proposed CNN model obtained a mean Dice similarity coefficient of 85.3%±3.2% as compared to the manual segmentation. Experimental results show that our deep CNN model could yield satisfactory segmentation of the prostate.
A remembrance of Ines Mandl, the founding editor of Connective Tissue Research.

It is my sad duty to report that Ines Mandl, the founding editor-in-chief of Connective Tissue Research, died on August 5, 2016, at the age of 99. Ines was born April 19, 1917 as Ines Hochmuth, in ...
Interventions for walled off necrosis using an algorithm based endoscopic step-up approach: Outcomes in a large cohort of patients.

Abstract Objectives The minimally invasive step-up approach for treatment of walled off necrosis (WON) involves drainage followed by later necrosectomy as needed, and is superior to primary surgical necrosectomy. Reported series of endoscopic transluminal necrosectomy include highly selected patients. We report outcomes of a large series of patients with WON managed by an algorithm based on an endoscopically centered step-up approach. Methods Consecutive patients with necrotizing pancreatitis from 2009 to 2014, with intervention only for infected or persistently symptomatic WON. The primary approach involved endoscopic transluminal drainage plus minus necrosectomy whenever feasible, with percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) plus minus sinus tract endoscopy if not feasible or sufficient. Surgery was reserved for failures of the step up approach. Results Of 109 consecutive patients with necrotizing pancreatitis, intervention was required in 83, including endoscopic transluminal drainage in 73 (88%) (alone in 49 and combined with PCD in 24), and PCD alone in 10 (12%). 64 (77%) of the 83 patients required endoscopic transluminal and/or sinus tract necrosectomy. Adverse events occurred in 11 (13%). Three patients (4%) failed step up approach and required open surgical necrosectomy. All-cause mortality occurred in 6 (7%) of 83 patients after intervention, including 2 of 3 requiring surgery. Conclusions An algorithm based step-up approach for interventions in necrotizing pancreatitis using primarily endoscopic techniques with adjunctive percutaneous approaches as needed resulted in favorable outcomes with small numbers proceeding to open surgery, and with acceptable rates of major complications and mortality. A purely endoscopic transluminal approach was feasible in approximately 60% of patients requiring intervention in this series.
Staphylococcus aureus From Farm to Fork: Impact From a Veterinary Public Health Perspective

Staphylococcus aureus has long been recognized as a human pathogen of foodborne illness and clinical disease, but it also results in significant losses for the livestock and poultry industries due to poor health, poor weight gain, disease treatment expenses, and loss of food production via carcass condemnation. From a veterinary and public health perspective, S. aureus is a major concern, especially where animal-derived food products and humans intersect including consumers and animal production. The discovery of drug resistant and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) has led to many avenues of research investigating the role of livestock in the distribution and potential impact of livestock-associated S. aureus in community-associated S. aureus and clinically associated disease. The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of S. aureus and MRSA in the livestock industry by describing S. aureus as a cause of disease in animals and the relationship between animals used for food production and humans, and its impact from a veterinary public health perspective.
Inventory, investment, and pricing policies for lot- size decision makers

In this paper, we construct and analyze inventory and investment in quality im­ provement policies under return on investment (ROI) maximization. In our model, the level of quality is represented by the fraction of an order quantity meeting the quality requirements such £is product specifications. The key contributions of this paper are the establishment of an ROI model and characterization of the unique global optimal solution. We also show how the inventory level is reduced when it is optimal to invest additional money in quality improvement. In addition, we derive the unique global op­ timal solutions in closed-form when the investment in quality improvement is a linear function of the quality. Various interesting managerial insights and a numerical example are provided.
Asteroid age distributions determined by space weathering and collisional evolution models

Abstract We provide evidence of consistency between the dynamical evolution of main belt asteroids and their color evolution due to space weathering. The dynamical age of an asteroid’s surface (Bottke, W.F., Durda, D.D., Nesvorný, D., Jedicke, R., Morbidelli, A., Vokrouhlický, D., Levison, H. [2005]. Icarus 175 (1), 111–140; Nesvorný, D., Jedicke, R., Whiteley, R.J., Ivezic, Ž. [2005]. Icarus 173, 132–152) is the time since its last catastrophic disruption event which is a function of the object’s diameter. The age of an S-complex asteroid’s surface may also be determined from its color using a space weathering model (e.g. Willman, M., Jedicke, R., Moskovitz, N., Nesvorný, D., Vokrouhlický, D., Mothe-Diniz, T. [2010]. Icarus 208, 758–772; Jedicke, R., Nesvorný, D., Whiteley, R.J., Ivezic, Ž., Juric, M. [2004]. Nature 429, 275–277; Willman, M., Jedicke, R., Nesvorny, D., Moskovitz, N., Ivezic, Ž., Fevig, R. [2008]. Icarus 195, 663–673. We used a sample of 95 S-complex asteroids from SMASS and obtained their absolute magnitudes and u, g, r, i, z filter magnitudes from SDSS. The absolute magnitudes yield a size–derived age distribution. The u, g, r, i, z filter magnitudes lead to the principal component color which yields a color–derived age distribution by inverting our color–age relationship, an enhanced version of the ‘dual τ’ space weathering model of Willman et al. (2010) . We fit the size–age distribution to the enhanced dual τ model and found characteristic weathering and gardening times of τw = 2050 ± 80 Myr and τ g = 4400 - 500 + 700 Myr respectively. The fit also suggests an initial principal component color of −0.05 ± 0.01 for fresh asteroid surface with a maximum possible change of the probable color due to weathering of ΔPC = 1.34 ± 0.04. Our predicted color of fresh asteroid surface matches the color of fresh ordinary chondritic surface of PC1 = 0.17 ± 0.39.
Chasing the Next Dollar: How Portfolio Workpreneurs Survive and Thrive in Kenya’s Hustling Economy (WITHDRAWN)

Drastic socioeconomic changes over the past decades have profoundly affected the Global North, with the result that the institution of stable, full employment – upheld by the “organization man” – h...
The Future of Musculoskeletal Tissue Regeneration: A Clinical Perspective

Over the past decade significant advances have occurred with our understanding of the molecular pathways related to the repair for hard and soft tissues of the musculoskeletal system. It is essential that this information be translated from the bench to the bedside to create novel treatment regimens that advance the care of patients. The purpose of this chapter is to elucidate therapeutic regimens that may be developed in the future. Over the next two to 10 years there will be an intense focus on developing targeted delivery of bioactive substances that employ minimally invasive surgical techniques. Treatments in the remote future will require knowledge related to the host biologic potential, disease risk stratification and prevention strategies for the musculoskeletal patient. A case study is presented to explore the potential clinical future.
A clonal population of allogeneic bone marrow fibroblasts indirectly mitigates damage in myocardial infarction

Background Reports of cell based cardiac repair have been inconsistent both among studies and within a single study This is particularly true in response to the infusion of various preparations of marrow cells including mesenchymal stem stromal cells MSC While there are many potential explanations for these inconsistent outcomes we hypothesized that heterogeneity among the cells infused may be a contributing factor To address this possibility we used an immortalized clonal population of canine marrow fibroblasts DS as a consistent therapeutic infused weeks after an ischemia reperfusion induced myocardial infarction MI in the canine model Methods and Results MI was induced in six dogs through percutaneous trans luminal catheterization At weeks post MI cardiac magnetic resonance CMR imaging demonstrated deterioration of left ventricular LV ejection fraction EF in all six dogs After this initial CMR study dogs were infused intravenously with either vehicle as control or DS cells cells kg At weeks post infusion weeks post MI the DS treated dogs had significantly better preserved LVEF compared to control dogs p The DS treated group also had better LV diastolic function compared to controls compared to respectively p for left atrial volume index and vs respectively p for mitral E e Although there was no statistically significant difference in arteriole density and fibrotic infarct size between these two groups the DS treated animals had an increased amount of uniform collagen orientation indicating a more parallel alignment of the collagen fibers in the treated dogs which may have contributed to improved diastolic function Conclusion Our study demonstrated a therapeutic benefit of a single intravenous infusion of DS cells during the subacute MI period Based on cell out growth and DS specific PCR assays there were no detectable DS cells in the dogs after hours This corroborates previous studies that also indicated DS cells do not engraft but are sequestered and cleared in the lung within hours Given that circulating monocytes express activation antigens within hours of DS infusion and that we previously showed monocytes in contact with this class of fibroblasts express genes associated with multicellular organismal development we hypothesize that the DS effect is indirect and mediated by monocyte derived activities Further research is warranted to determine the precise mechanism responsible for this therapeutic benefit
Functional Role and Hierarchy of the Intermolecular Interactions in Binding of Protein Kinase Clients to the Hsp90-Cdc37 Chaperone: Structure-Based Network Modeling of Allosteric Regulation.

A fundamental role of the Hsp90–Cdc37 chaperone machinery in mediating conformational development and activation of diverse protein kinase clients is essential for signal transduction. Structural and biochemical studies have demonstrated that characterization of global conformational changes and allosteric interactions in the Hsp90–Cdc37–kinase complexes are central to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying kinase recruitment and processing by the Hsp90–Cdc37 chaperone. The recent cryo-electron microscopy structure of the Hsp90–Cdc37–Cdk4 kinase complex has provided a framework for dissecting regulatory principles underlying differentiation and recruitment of protein kinase clients to the chaperone machinery. In this work, we have characterized functional role and hierarchy of the intermolecular interactions in binding of protein kinase clients to the Hsp90–Cdc37 system. The network analysis revealed important relationships between structural stability, global centrality, and functional significan...
Orthopedic injuries associated with jet-skis (personal watercrafts): A review of 127 inpatients

Abstract Background Personal watercrafts (PWC) account for a disproportionate amount of water based injuries. Current literature suggests those with less PWC experience are more at risk for injury. Previous studies have not specifically evaluated the orthopedic implications of PWC usage or how various mechanisms of injury (MOI) contribute to different injury patterns. Hypothesis PWC injuries will frequently require orthopedic intervention. The presence of an orthopedic injury will result in increased injury severity score (ISS), hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS). Patients visiting our region will have less PWC experience and so are more prone to serious injuries. Materials and methods Retrospective cohort study at a single Level 1 trauma center of admitted patients sustaining PWC injuries from 02/2004–03/2017. The following were studied: demographics, mechanism, season, ISS, hospital and ICU LOS, follow-up, fracture characteristics and management. Results Hundred and twenty-seven patients were admitted due to PWC injury, 66 (52.0%) sustained an orthopedic injury, totaling 103 fractures (48 [46.6%] lower extremity, 26 [25.2%] upper extremity, 14 [13.6%] vertebral, 11 [10.7%] pelvic ring and 4 [3.9%] acetabulum). The mean age of orthopedic patients was 29 years (range 8–62). Handle bar injuries were significantly associated with open fractures, (13 of 25 open fractures, 3 of which became infected). Injuries occurring during the winter were associated with a higher ISS, yet more injuries occurred in the summer. A patient being a “visitor” to the region did not influence ISS. The mean LOS was 12.6 days for orthopedic patients. Eighteen orthopedic patients (27.3%) required ICU admission and 36 (54.5%) patients required orthopedic surgery (mean 2.11 operations). Discussion A majority of PWC injuries resulted in extremity fractures with a moderate percentage requiring orthopedic surgery. Correlations between PWC experience and injury incidence can provide information for increased safety. Level of evidence IV; retrospective.
Sensitivity and specificity of patient-entered red flags for lower back pain

Abstract Background Context Red flags are questions typically ascertained by providers to screen for serious underlying spinal pathologies. The utility of patient-reported red flags in guiding clinical decision-making for spine care, however, has not been studied. Purpose The aim of this study was to quantify the sensitivity and specificity of patient-reported red flags in predicting the presence of serious spinal pathologies. Study Design This was a retrospective nested case-control study. Patient Sample This study consisted of 120 patients with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes for spinal pathologies and 380 randomly selected patients, from a population of 4,313 patients seen at a large tertiary care spine clinic between October 9, 2013 and June 30, 2014. Outcome Measures The presence of patient-reported red flags and red flags obtained from medical records was verified for chart review. The spinal pathology (ie, malignancy, fractures, infections, or cauda equina syndrome) was noted for each patient. Methods The sensitivity and specificity of patient-reported red flags for detecting serious spinal pathologies were calculated from data obtained from the 500 patients. Youden's J was used to rank performance. Agreement between patient-reported red flags and those obtained from medical record review was assessed via Cohen's kappa statistic. Results “History of cancer” was the best performing patient-reported red flag to identify malignancy (sensitivity=0.75 [95% confidence intervals, CI 0.53–0.90], specificity=0.79 [95% CI 0.75–0.82]). The best performing patient-reported red flag for fractures was the presence of at least one of the following: “Osteoporosis,” “Steroid use,” and “Trauma” (sensitivity=0.59 [95% CI 0.44–0.72], specificity=0.65 [95% CI 0.60–0.69]). The prevalence of infection and cauda equina diagnoses was insufficient to gauge sensitivity and specificity. Red flags from medical records had better performance than patient-reported red flags. There was poor agreement between patient red flags and those obtained from medical record review. Conclusions Patient-reported red flags had low sensitivity and specificity for identification of serious pathologies. They should not be used in insolation to make treatment decisions, although they may be useful to prompt further probing to determine if additional investigation is warranted.
Effects of high and low dosages of methylphenidate in children with strong and sensitive nervous systems.

This investigation was undertaken to explore the possible causes and consequences of the finding that attention- and learning-disordered children with sensitive (weak) nervous systems were titrated at higher dosages of methylphenidate than those with strong nervous systems. Pretreatment parent and teacher ratings of hyperkineticassociated behavior were no different for children typed as having strong or sensitive nervous systems or for those subsequently prescribed higher or lower dosages by a child psychiatrist “blind” to their type as well as condition (drug or placebo). However, those titrated at lower dosages, regardless of whether strong or sensitive, were rated as more improved than those given higher dosages. Pretreatment reaction time (RT) data suggested that sensitive types prescribed low dosages had less of a problem sustaining attention, and placebo RT data suggested that strong types titrated at low dosages had more of a problem sustaining attention. A contrast of placebo and drug RTs showed that strong types titrated at lower dosages improved more than strong types given higher dosages, whereas sensitive types given higher dosages improved more than sensitive types given lower dosages. The latter finding is thought to add support to the theory of Gray (1964), who suggested that, paradoxically, the weak nervous system needs a more intense stimulus than the strong to reach the concentration threshold.
Psychoanalysis, Attachment, and Spirituality Part II: The Spiritual Stories We Live By:

Psychoanalysis and attachment theory both developed independently as relational traditions within the confines of their own disciplinary walls (see Hall, 2007, this issue). While both traditions we...
Guest editorial: Special issue on wireless computing and networking

This special issue is devoted to the new research addressing challenges in the areas of wireless computing and networking. Wireless computing and networking has enabled heterogeneous access technologies for providing services to ubiquitous users. The demanding networking environment of wireless communications imposes many challenges, such as channel estimation, network protocol design, resource management, and systematic design. Due to nonuniform spectrum allocation, various radio resource management policies, economic concerns, scarcity of radio resources, and user mobility, overcoming these issues becomes more demanding. This special issue includes ten research articles from five countries including the United States, China, South Korea, Norway, and India which covers various research issues in the areas of wireless computing and networking. These articles can be broadly classified into three categories: (1) data management and query processing in wireless networks; (2) backbone management in wireless networks; and (3) routing in wireless networks. A detailed description of the corresponding works in each category is given below.
The Story of Latino Protestants in the United States

The notion that all Latina/os are Catholics, or that the very essence of Latina/o identity is rooted in Catholicism, has become such a cliche as to be utterly useless. Today, the religious orientat...
Plasmid-mediated iron sequestering systems in pathogenic strains of Vibrio anguillarum and Escherichia coli.

Properties of the host vertebrate and invading bacteria define the conditions that precipitate the onset of an infectious process. In disseminated infections, an important bacterial attribute is the ability to grow in the host vertebrate’s body fluids and tissues.
Nutrition Related Clinical Decision Making of Pediatric Oncology Nurses

Children with a cancer diagnosis have risk factors leading to unique nutritional challenges. Malnutrition in this population is correlated with worse patient outcomes. Nurses are responsible for providing holistic care to their patients; however, the quality of nutritional assessments by pediatric oncology nurses is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate staff nurses' clinical decision making regarding nutritional assessment of children with cancer. A web-based survey composed of a demographic form, vignettes of patients with diverse nutritional status and the New General Self-Efficacy Scale, was distributed to members of the Association of Pediatric Hematology Oncology Nurses. Participants were also asked to rate their confidence in responses as well as select key nutritional cues. Nurses were significantly more likely to under-rate the nutritional status and select far fewer cues than the experts. Further research regarding nutritional assessment is warranted. Evidenced-based guidelines for nutritional assessment of children with cancer should be developed to ensure the highest quality of care is provided to this patient population.
Fire Regime Alteration in Natural Areas Underscores the Need to Restore a Key Ecological Process

Research Natural Areas (RNAs) are federal lands designated to protect exemplary, relatively undisturbed ecosystems where ecological processes may proceed unencumbered with minimal human intervention. Ideally, RNAs serve as properly functioning reference sites for more heavily managed landscapes. However, many RNAs have been modified to some degree by past and ongoing human actions. In the western United States, these actions commonly result in altered disturbance regimes, most notably fire. Ecological disturbance regimes are important components of natural ecosystems, and major changes to such regimes challenge the usefulness of the RNA system as a reference network. To assess the extent of modern departure from their pre-Euroamerican settlement (i.e., pre-1850) fire regimes, we examined 64 RNAs on Forest Service lands in California. We found that 76% exhibited moderate to high fire regime departure. Of these, 87% are burning much less frequently than they would have under the presettlement fire regime and 13% are burning more frequently. Within RNAs, ecosystems historically characterized by frequent, mostly low-severity fire have missed multiple fire cycles and tend to burn at higher fire severities than expected under the presettlement fire regime. We present four case studies that demonstrate how recent wildfires have affected California RNAs. We also indicate where and how future fire management strategies could address altered fire regimes and more effectively sustain target ecosystems within RNAs. Our findings suggest that a re-examination of the hands-off approach to management in some protected natural areas like RNAs is needed.
Core Metadata Element Recommendations for Institutional Repositories at Texas A&M University Libraries

AbstractIn 2017, a working group was formed at Texas A&M University Libraries to propose policies that would ensure the quality and consistency of descriptive metadata in the Libraries’ new DAME (D...
The role of disposition to critical thinking in digital game-based learning

The relationship between the development of 21st-century skills and game-based learning is a field to explore. Among the 21-st century skills, critical thinking is one of the most analyzed skills. This study aims to deepen the relationship between learning and disposition to critical thinking (DCT) in the context of Serious Games (SGs). In particular, starting from the evidence of previous work, that highlighted a positive effect of the DCT on game performance, this study analyzes how the DCT also affects the explicit learning gained by the players. This work highlights that the DCT has a crucial role in explicit knowledge acquisition and how the improvement of game performance is a direct consequence of DCT through a path analysis methodology.
Development of a consistent soil moisture decadal data record from multiple satellites (Conference Presentation)

A key success criterion for any long-term ESDR (Earth System Data Record) is how well it retains internal consistency upon input from multiple data sources. Our approach to achieving internal consistency of a soil moisture ESDR is based on mature data records derived from established cross-calibration procedures leveraged from the GPM mission. The X-band soil moisture estimates in our soil moisture ESDR will be derived from the GPM Level 1C Common Calibrated Brightness Temperatures (GPMXCAL, Biswas et al., 2014). This product suite contains cross-calibrated brightness temperatures from all radiometers considered in the GPM constellation using the GMI as the calibration reference. The double-difference cross-calibration procedures deployed in the GPMXCAL development have been extensively published, evaluated and refined throughout the development and operation of GPM (Berg et al., 2016). The result is a stable and consistent dataset among radiometers (GMI, AMSR2, WindSat, AMSR-E, and TMI) whose X-band cross-calibrated brightness temperatures cover a period of more than two decades (1997–present), providing the basis for producing a long-term consistent multi-satellite soil moisture ESDR. We then apply the same set of inversion algorithms, physical models, and ancillary data to the cross-calibrated brightness temperatures above. This gives us another means to reinforce ESDR consistency because for a given frequency, cross-calibrated brightness temperatures, regardless of their underlying sources, are all now subject to the same analytical inversion procedures to produce soil moisture estimates.
Demystifying Latinos Parental Involvement in School Activities

This paper is about the importance of understanding immigrant Latino parental involvement in the United States’ educational system. Misconceptions regarding Latino parental involvement will be pres...
Two concrete examples of upper-level writing assignments in an algorithms course

This paper discusses two concrete examples of writing assignments given in conjunction with projects in an upper level undergraduate algorithms course. The first is a "white-paper" or experimental research paper that is designed to teach all aspects of the research writing process, including presenting results in both tabular and graphical form. The second is an annotated bibliography coupled with a survey paper with a central theme. Both assignments have been used successfully in two instances of teaching a third or fourth year level writing intensive course in algorithms.
Atomic and electronic structure of the Si/SrTiO3 interface

We predict theoretically the wetting conditions for the layer-by-layer growth of thin ${\mathrm{SrTiO}}_{3}$ (STO) films on Si. The result is in agreement with our recent experiments. The state of the art band offset calculations identify two different possibilities for the band alignment at the Si-STO interface. A very small conduction band offset is predicted for the structure without the chemically induced localization at the interface, and a 0.9 eV conduction band offset is predicted for the structure with chemically induced localized interface states.
Three-Dimensional Printing of a Model Atomic Force Microscope to Measure Force–Distance Profiles

We report a simple means to build a model atomic force microscope (AFM) using 3D printing of thermoplastic materials that are commercially available. The model has many of the key parts of an actual AFM including a z-axis stage, an AFM head with a cantilever assembly, and a laser source that reflects off of the back of the cantilever. Using a magnet attached to the tip of the cantilever and a metal sample, this model AFM enables acquisition of force–distance profiles with characteristic snap-in, pull-off, separate, and contact regions. The model AFM was designed, printed, and used by first- and second-year undergraduate students. Through completion of this project, students learned scientific instrument design and construction via 3D printing and obtained first-hand practice in the measurement of force–distance profiles and the elastic constants of cantilevers. The open design of the model can easily accommodate additional capabilities in which students are interested, e.g., topographical scanning and using cantilevers made from different materials.
Procedures for reducing large datasets of crystal orientations using generalized spherical harmonics

Abstract We present a rigorous methodology for the compaction of crystallographic texture data associated with a given material volume and show that a statistical orientation distribution function (ODF) containing any number of orientations can be compacted to a significantly smaller but representative set of orientations. This methodology is based on the spectral representation of ODFs through the use of generalized spherical harmonic functions. The Fourier coefficients of an initial full-size ODF can be matched with those of a more compact but equivalent ODF. The reduced-size ODF contains a predetermined set of representative orientations whose weights are adjusted using an algorithm for finding the closest reduced-size ODF to a given full-size ODF. To demonstrate the accuracy of the methodology, we consider three measured ODFs of two cubic metals (pure Cu and an Al alloy) and a hexagonal metal (pure Zr) and then subsequently perform plane strain and simple compression simulations with both the initial ODFs and the reduced-size ODFs. We quantitatively demonstrate that texture evolution and stress–strain response simulated with reduced-size ODFs are in excellent agreement with those simulated with initial full-size ODFs.
“I Live in This Neighborhood Too, Though”: the Psychosocial Effects of Gentrification on Low-Income Black Men Living in Washington, D.C.

Gentrification—the process by which middle-class individuals (often White) move into lower-income neighborhoods (often Black), consequently displacing existing residents and changing the neighborhood’s social character—is a relatively new and rapid phenomenon in Washington, DC. From 2000 to 2010, DC had the second fastest rate of gentrification in the USA. Gentrification is a major and disproportionate source of disadvantage for low-income Black DC residents. In light of the relative dearth of psychological research focused on gentrification, this study sought to answer the following research questions: What are Black men’s experiences with gentrification in DC and how are Black men psychosocially affected by the gentrification of their neighborhoods? Data used in this study were obtained in Fall 2013 via nine semi-structured focus groups from nine DC neighborhood clusters. Participants were 83 self-identified Black men between the ages of 18 and 48 (M = 29.96, SD = 6.90) who reported predominantly low socioeconomic status. Black men’s experiences with gentrification in DC included experiencing changing demographics and spaces, being discriminated against by police, blaming the Black community for gentrification and displacement and recognizing the positives of gentrification. Gentrification had negative psychosocial effects on participants, including race-based social exclusion, restricted mobility, reduced social cohesion and sense of community belonging, loss of control, and internalized blame. It is imperative that psychologists and other health professionals recognize and further explore the psychosocial and health consequences of gentrification on longtime Black residents and promote solutions to reduce the stress associated with this understudied driver of racial/ethnic health inequities.
Endotension: What do we know and not know about this enigmatic complication of endovascular aneurysm repair

Abstract As the use of endovascular approaches to treat aneurysm repair continues to increase, more and more patients have been identified with endoleaks. Five types of endoleaks have been defined. Endotension, or type V endoleak, remains controversial owing to its variable definition across studies and the range of proposed treatments. Thus, we performed a review of the reported studies to summarize the diagnosis and treatment of this rare complication after endovascular aneurysm repair to determine what we do and do not know about this rare form of endoleak. The presence of an endoleak places patients at an increased risk of aneurysm sac enlargement and potential rupture. Although additional research is essential and yet difficult to perform, we sought to provide a guide for the management of this perplexing endoleak known as endotension.
Mass spectrometry profiling and quantitation of changes in circulating hormones secreted over time in Cancer borealis hemolymph due to feeding behavior

The crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) is a valuable model for understanding circuit dynamics in neuroscience as it contains a small number of neurons, all easily distinguishable and most of which contribute to two complementary feeding-related neural circuits. These circuits are modulated by numerous neuropeptides, with many gaining access to the STG as hemolymph-transported hormones. Previous work characterized neuropeptides in the hemolymph of the crab Cancer borealis but was limited by low peptide abundance in the presence of a complex biological matrix and the propensity for rapid peptide degradation. To improve their detection, a data-independent acquisition (DIA) mass spectrometry (MS) method was implemented. This approach improved the number of neuropeptides detected by approximately twofold and showed greater reproducibility between experimental and biological replicates. This method was then used to profile neuropeptides at different stages of the feeding process, including hemolymph from crabs that were unfed, or 0 min, 15 min, 1 h, and 2 h post-feeding. The results show differences both in the presence and relative abundance of neuropeptides at the various time points. Additionally, 96 putative neuropeptide sequences were identified with de novo sequencing, indicating there may be more key modulators within this system than is currently known. These results suggest that a distinct cohort of neuropeptides provides modulation to the STG at different times in the feeding process, providing groundwork for targeted follow-up electrophysiological studies to better understand the functional role of circulating hormones in the neural basis of feeding behavior.