cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Detection and Characterization of Cocaine and Related Tropane Alkaloids in Coca Leaf, Cocaine, and Biological Specimens.

Cocaine, atropine and scopolamine are the three most important alkaloids in the tropane group. The detection of these alkaloids and their metabolites, at trace levels in biological matrices, is reviewed. These matrices include human and rat physiological fluids such as blood, urine, and saliva as well as human body tissue and hair. The detection, isolation, and determination of cocaine and related tropane alkaloids in cocaine-bearing leaf of South American and greenhouse-cultivated coca is discussed. The relationship between tropane alkaloids in coca leaf and their presence in illicit refined cocaine is addressed. A survey of modern methods for the detection of tropane alkaloids, including mass spectrometry, ultraviolet, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, gas and high-performance liquid chromatography and immunoassay techniques, is presented.
SNTS: sensor network troubleshooting suite

Sensor network troubleshooting is a notoriously difficult task, further exacerbated by resource constraints, unreliable components, unpredictable natural phenomena, and experimental programming paradigms. This paper presents SNTS (Sensor Network Troubleshooting Suite), a tool that performs automated failure diagnosis in sensor networks. SNTS can be used to monitor network conditions using simple visualization techniques as well as to troubleshoot deployed distributed sensor systems using data mining approaches. It is composed of (i) a data collection front-end that records events internal to the network and (ii) a data processing back-end for subsequent analysis. We use data mining techniques to automate failure diagnosis on the back-end. The assumption is that the occurrence of execution conditions that cause failures (e.g., traversal of an execution path that contains a "bug" or occurrence of a sequence of events that a protocol was not designed to handle) will have a measurable correlation (by causality) with the resulting failure itself. Hence, by mining for network conditions that correlate with failure states the root causes of failure are revealed with high probability. To evaluate the effectiveness of the tool, we have used it to troubleshoot a tracking system called EnviroTrack [4], which, although performs well most of the time, occasionally fails to track targets correctly. Results show that SNTS can identify the major causes of the problem and give developers useful hints on improving the performance of the tracking system.
Showing up First to the Party: Immigration-Background Activists and Political Party Outreach Efforts

As the proportions of voting-eligible populations in Western European democracies with migration backgrounds increases, parties have increasing incentives to reach out to this potential constituency. They are constrained in their actions by what the other parties have done and how they believe that their traditional constituencies will react, as has been pointed out in prior literature. However, parties are also limited by the problem of knowing how to conduct successful outreach efforts. This paper outlines how initial successes in outreach efforts will generally create a positive “feedback loop” in learning how to conduct campaigns - particularly insofar as parties draw in volunteers and activists from these communities - and tries to identify some of the institutional factors which might make these initial successes more likely. The paper attempts to set forth some potentially interesting new ways to study parties' incorporation of migrant-background voters and activists.
The School and the Textbook

This chapter examines the school textbook and the school experience. While most of this book is focused on learning outside the centralized Greek school, it is difficult to ignore the role that the school played in influencing what children learned in informal learning settings. Historically, the modern school, which is generally an extension of the state apparatus, regulates what children learn and how they learn through the promotion of a state-mandated curricula, the adoption of textbooks and the preparation and selection of teachers through state-designated or supervised teacher-training programs. Informal education in Greece was in many ways regulated by the Greek state and helped serve the state’s interests and agendas.
Ropivacaine Intramuscular Paracervical Injections for Pediatric Headache: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial

Study objective We seek to determine whether ropivacaine cervical paraspinal injections compared with normal saline solution injections provide headache relief to pediatric patients that is sufficient for emergency department (ED) discharge. Methods We enrolled children aged 7 to 17 years in a double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial of patients presenting to a pediatric ED with headache. Subjects were randomized into 1 of 3 groups: bilateral cervical paraspinal injections of either (1) 0.5% ropivacaine or (2) normal saline solution, or (3) a natural history group (not blinded) receiving no headache therapy for the first 30 minutes. Pain scores were assessed at enrollment and at 10-, 20-, and 30-minute intervals after the administration of the injections. After the intervention period of 30 minutes, additional therapy was provided as needed. Primary outcome was the proportion of children discharged with adequate pain relief at 30 minutes without additional therapy. Secondary outcomes included reduction in pain scores, reoccurrence of headache, and re-presentation to health care with headache. Results One hundred fifty-three children were enrolled. The proportion discharged with adequate pain relief 30 minutes after the injections did not differ between the 2 intervention groups (32% in the ropivacaine group versus 28% in the saline solution group; effect difference 4%; 95% confidence interval −14% to 21%). In contrast, only 4% percent of patients in the natural history group were discharged without additional therapy after the 30-minute assessment. Reduction of pain scores (2.0 and 2.2 in ropivacaine versus saline solution), headache reoccurrence, and return to care was similar between the 2 treatment groups. Conclusion Cervical paraspinal injections of either ropivacaine or saline solution were effective for approximately one third of patients.
Developing Clinically Practicable Biomarkers for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Despite significant advances in understanding the biological bases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the field remains primarily reliant on observational and parent report measures of behavior to guide clinical practice, conduct research, and evaluate intervention outcomes. There is a critical need for objective measures to more sensitively and validly quantify risk for ASD, ASD symptomatology, and its change in clinical trials. To maximize public health impact, such biomarkers must be cost effective and utilize accessible and scalable technologies. This letter describes concerns specific to the development of clinically practicable biomarkers for ASD and approaches to optimize understanding of these biomarkers through development of large-scale consortia and clinical networks.
Tutorial: Making Better Use of the Crowd

Over the last decade, crowdsourcing has been used to harness the power of human computation to solve tasks that are notoriously difficult to solve with computers alone, such as determining whether or not an image contains a tree, rating the relevance of a website, or verifying the phone number of a business. The natural language processing community was early to embrace crowdsourcing as a tool for quickly and inexpensively obtaining annotated data to train NLP systems. Once this data is collected, it can be handed off to algorithms that learn to perform basic NLP tasks such as translation or parsing. Usually this handoff is where interaction with the crowd ends. The crowd provides the data, but the ultimate goal is to eventually take humans out of the loop. Are there better ways to make use of the crowd?In this tutorial, I will begin with a showcase of innovative uses of crowdsourcing that go beyond data collection and annotation. I will discuss applications to natural language processing and machine learning, hybrid intelligence or “human in the loop” AI systems that leverage the complementary strengths of humans and machines in order to achieve more than either could achieve alone, and large scale studies of human behavior online. I will then spend the majority of the tutorial diving into recent research aimed at understanding who crowdworkers are, how they behave, and what this should teach us about best practices for interacting with the crowd.
Admission Criteria for Children With Obstructive Sleep Apnea After Adenotonsillectomy: Considerations for Cost.

Study Objectives:Postoperative respiratory complications (PRCs) are common among children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) after adenotonsillectomy. We analyzed postoperative admission guidelines...
Social cognitive or learning theory use to improve self-efficacy in musculoskeletal rehabilitation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To review the rehabilitation research methodological quality and intervention effectiveness of studies that used social cognitive or learning theory principles to improve self-efficacy i...
Hawkes Process Inference With Missing Data

A multivariate Hawkes process is a class of marked point processes: A sample consists of a finite set of events of unbounded random size; each event has a real-valued time and a discrete-valued label (mark). It is self-excitatory: Each event causes an increase in the rate of other events (of either the same or a different label) in the (near) future. Prior work has developed methods for parameter estimation from complete samples. However, just as unobserved variables can increase the modeling power of other probabilistic models, allowing unobserved events can increase the modeling power of point processes. In this paper we develop a method to sample over the posterior distribution of unobserved events in a multivariate Hawkes process. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach, and its utility in improving predictive power and identifying latent structure in real-world data.
Plasma Cell Neoplasms

Plasma cell neoplasms are interrelated by the finding of an expanded monoclonal plasma cell population. The degree of bone marrow involvement, the type and quantity of secreted monoclonal immunoglobulin (M protein), and associated laboratory, radiographic, and clinical findings help to classify these disorders into several entities: Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) Solitary plasmacytoma Plasma cell myeloma (PCM) Monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition diseases The basic genetic events that lead to plasma cell oncogenesis are similar in the different plasma cell neoplasms. Underlying genetic variations likely explain the heterogeneous clinical behavior in patients with these different disorders.
The Intrinsic Learning Goals of Elementary School Students, in Their Own Words:

Applying intrinsic life goals and learning goals increases children’s autonomous motivation to learn and enjoyment of learning. A paucity of field-based intervention studies have focused on helping...
The Direct Correlation between Total Body Surface Area Involvement and PASI Scores in Judging Psoriasis Severity

The Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) is a psoriasis severity measurement tool used by clinicians, which evaluates different regions of the body and rates the corresponding psoriatic lesions...
Fabrication and characterization of a scalable surface textured with pico-liter oil drops for mechanistic studies of bacteria-oil interactions

Texturing a large surface with oily micro-drops with controlled size, shape and volume provides an unprecedented capability in investigating complex interactions of bacteria, cells and interfaces. It has particular implications in understanding key microbial processes involved in remediation of environmental disasters, such as Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This work presents a development of scalable micro-transfer molding to functionalize a substrate with oily drop array to generate a microcosm mimicking bacteria encountering a rising droplet cloud. The volume of each drop within a large “printed” surface can be tuned by varying base geometry and area with characteristic scales from 5 to 50 μm. Contrary to macroscopic counterparts, drops with non-Laplacian shapes, i.e. sharp corners, that appears to violate Young-Laplacian relationship locally, are produced. Although the drop relaxes into a spherical cap with constant mean curvature, the contact line with sharp corners remains pinned. Relaxation times from initial to asymptotic shape require extraordinarily long time (>7 days). We demonstrate that non-Laplacian drops are the direct results of self-pinning of contact line by nanoparticles in the oil. This technique has been applied to study biofilm formation at the oil-water interface and can be readily extended to other colloidal fluids.
Induction of causal relationships from a time-oriented clinical database: an overview of the RX project

The RX computer program examines a time-oriented clinical database and attempts to derive a set of (possibly) causal relationships. First, a Discovery Module uses lagged, nonparametric correlations to generate an ordered list of tentative relationships. Second, a Study Module uses a small knowledge base (KB) of medicine and statistics to create a study design to control for known confounders. The study design is then executed by an on-line statistical package, and the results are automatically incorporated into the KB as a machine-readable record. In determining the confounders of a new hypothesis the Study Module uses previously "learned" causal relationships.
Economical Biofeedback Devices

Most people who have even heard of biofeedback think you need an enormous lab with expensive equipment to “do it.” No so! Biofeedback has emerged in the last decade or so as a particular application of a much broader perspective called cybernetics. Cybernetics attempts to develop a theory of communication and control in machines and in living organisms (Weiner, 1954). The word is from the Greek kybernetes, meaning steersman. It was chosen to describe the basic concept of a feedback mechanism. Using this concept, the central nervous system no longer remains a self-contained organ receiving sensory information and contracting the muscles. In fact, some of its most characteristic activities are explainable only as circular processes traveling from the nervous system into the muscles and reentering the nervous system through the senses.
Arthur M. Heimpel: His Service and Contributions to the Pathobiology of Bacillus thuringiensis and Other Entomopathogens

Arthur MacLeod Heimpel, an outstanding leader in insect pathology, died on 10 November, 1979, at his home in Beltsville, Maryland. He was born in Baie d’Urfe, Quebec, Canada, on 27 June, 1923, the son of Dr. Louis G. Heimpel, a Professor at MacDonald College, and his wife, nee Blanche M. MacLeod. He graduated from MacDonald College, where he received his secondary school education, and completed military duty overseas with the Canadian Army (1943–1946). He did his undergraduate work at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario (B.A., 1948). His graduate years were spent at Queen’s University (M.A., 1949; Ph.D., 1954) and at the University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded the first Ph.D. in Biological Sciences to be granted by Queen’s University. While at Queen’s University, he married Elma Rae Lyle on 26 July, 1947. He is survived by his wife and 5 sons, Gordon, Bruce, Michael, Ernest, and David.
Soil Amino Compound and Carbohydrate Contents Influenced by Organic Amendments

Amino compounds (i.e. amino acids and sugars), and carbohydrates are labile organic components and contribute to the improvement of soil fertility and quality. Animal manure and other organic soil amendments are rich in both amino compounds and carbohydrates, hence organic soil amendments might affect soil processes through these labile components. This chapter first reviews the advances in research on soil concentrations of amino compounds and carbohydrates as impacted by animal manure and other organic amendments. The published papers are mainly on the amino compounds and carbohydrate changes in long-term field trials and laboratory or greenhouse incubations, tracking the fate of amendment-derived amino compounds and carbohydrates in soils. To investigate the amino compound and carbohydrate changes in the short-term (16 weeks), we present a greenhouse pot study (4–16 weeks) which demonstrated that poultry manure increased extractable amino compounds when applied to soil at a high rate, and depressed them at a low application rate. The increase at the high rate was further amplified in rhizospheric soils. Whereas microbial activities promoted carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) mineralization, the presence of ryegrass resulted in lower concentrations of amino compounds and carbohydrates. Finally, we recommend that more types of organic amendments be evaluated for their impacts on soil amino compound and carbohydrate levels, and the relationship in changes between the two types of compounds. Such cumulative knowledge would provide a basis for establishing the specific contributions of amino compounds and carbohydrates to soil N and C dynamics over the course of agricultural seasons and beyond.
Development of nonlinear stochastic models by using stock price data and basic statistics

We employ the classical model building process to develop nonlinear stochastic models for stock market. In this work, three different nonlinear stochastic models are presented. Furthermore, under different data partitioning with equal and unequal intervals, a few modified nonlinear models are developed. Empirical comparisons between the constructed models and GBM (linear) models are also outlined.
Requirements for FDA Approval

In the United States the Food and Drug Administration regulates the sale of medical devices. Questions concerning the approval process of light therapy devices where discussed by a distinguished FDA staff member.
Robust Self-Interference Cancellation for Microstrip Antennas by Means of Phase Reconfigurable Coupler

We propose a robust self-interference cancellation (SIC) technique for microstrip antennas. A microstrip antenna operates as a transmitter located between two identical receiver antennas having orthogonal polarization with respect to each other. The microstrip antennas show out-of-phase electric field distribution in the H-plane. We exploit this characteristic to cancel self-interference (SI) signals through a rat-race circuit, and we achieved more than 50 dB (60 dB) SIC over 180 MHz (120 MHz) at 2.45 GHz. Furthermore, we propose a new phase-reconfigurable rat-race circuit to adjust the SI signals phase response. The proposed technique is robust and resilient to the potential phase offset of SI signals caused by fabrication errors or scatterers nearby the antennas. As a result, the 50 dB (60 dB) SIC bandwidth spreads over 280 MHz (150 MHz). This technique is a good candidate for in-band full-duplex communication systems with dimensions of $\mathbf {1.4\lambda _{0}\times 0.4\lambda _{0}\times 0.05\lambda _{0}}$ and antennas edge-to-edge separation $\mathbf { , and is easily applied to other frequency bands.
The role of evapotranspiration in streamflow modeling - An analysis using entropy

Abstract Informational entropy can be used to elucidate some important relationships between precipitation, evapotranspiration (ET), and discharge over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Entropy does not suffer from any a priori assumptions of linearity or distributional characteristics. In a study of the Southeastern United States, entropy and mutual information were used to identify relationships between hydrologic variables over spatial scales from a few hundred to several thousand km2 and temporal scales from days to months. Two distinct ET data sets were compared- one based on a highly parameterized energy budget approach and the other based on a complex iterative solution and a modified Penman method. It was found that there was a considerable difference in uncertainty between the two methods and that, although they each contained some amount of explanatory information regarding streamflow the more complex approach contained the most shared information. Further, it was found that streamflow entropy, or uncertainty, increased with drainage area, indicating that larger basins have more uncertainty to be reduced, in that more information can possibly be gained through the knowledge of other variables. However, the knowledge of ET reduces a greater proportion of uncertainty in smaller basins (
Future of Planetary Atmospheric, Surface, and Interior Science Using Radio and Laser Links

Scientific studies using spacecraft radio links, which are shared with communications and navigation functions, have been carried out on almost every solar system exploration mission in the past five decades. They have led to numerous scientific discoveries as well as technological advances. These radio science experiments have investigated the interior structure of every planet in the solar system and several of their satellites, the Moon, and several comets and asteroids and sounded the atmospheres of every planet in the solar system except Mercury, and the atmospheres of Pluto and several large satellites, the Io Plasma Torus, Saturn's and Uranus' rings, and the solar corona. Future experiments at Mercury, the Jovian system, asteroid Psyche, and other targets are currently in various planning and development phases. Over the next 30 years, significant advances in radio and laser link science technologies, including one order of magnitude improvement achievable in range rate and range accuracy and advanced calibration techniques, could enable many additional scientific breakthroughs. Future exploration concepts focus on applications of small spacecraft and entry probes and can include constellations for studies of atmospheric dynamics, interior structures, and surface properties. Selected science-enabling technologies specific to small spacecraft instrumentation on future missions are under study. Examples include field tests of radio scattering to determine surface properties, constellations for high-resolution spatial and temporal atmospheric sounding, small science-quality software-defined transponders, miniature ultrastable oscillators, and advanced radio-metric calibrations at the Deep Space Network.
Growth of Physically Short Corner Cracks at Circular Notches

This paper presents and discusses experimental results concerning the initiation and continued growth of cracks in thin circularly notched sheets. Data are reported for specimens and test conditions selected to examine the influence of (1) free surface and (2) inelastic action on the behavior of cracks at notch roots. Results of the study suggest that proximity to a free surface causes first a decrease and then an increase in the growth rate of physically short cracks at notches. This is postulated as being due to blunting of very short cracks and growth in a plane stress field, respectively. Inelastic action at notch roots, by contrast, is associated with increased growth rate within the notch plastic field. Its influence, therefore, is felt over distances equal to the plastic zone size so that its effect need not be restricted to physically short cracks. It is shown that current models which attempt to account for the influence of inelastic action and free surface on crack growth rate through empirical modifications to linear elastic fracture mechanics analysis are, in general, both inappropriate and inadequate.
Translating Experience in Language Teaching Research and Practice

This article explores the way native language teachers translate their linguistic and cultural experience in order to make it understandable to their students in the classroom. It examines how they report on this translation to researchers in two research projects conducted with two Chinese teachers (Kramsch and Zhang 2018) and one Japanese teacher/researcher (Shibahara and Kramsch forthcoming). Drawing on House (2017) and Pym (2010), it shows how the translation of experience takes place on three levels: the overt level of linguistic equivalence; the covert level of functional equivalence through a cultural filter; and the level of a cultural translation that has to be negotiated according to the subjective needs of the participants. These studies reveal that native language teachers tend to prefer overt over covert translations and that they engage in cultural translation not in order to explore but in order to overcome cultural difference. Such findings confront the field of applied linguistics with its age-old challenge as a field called to translate real-world problems of the practice into the language of research and vice-versa.
Address of the 2017-2018 President to the Opening General Session at the 2018 Annual Meeting.

It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as AACP President during the past year. My experience has surpassed my expectations. Many individuals have commented about the passion I demonstrate for what I do and for my students. I am a firm believer that passion is important both in our personal
Crowdsourcing in software engineering: models, motivations, and challenges

Over the past several years, crowdsourcing has entered software engineering practice. While most work is still done through traditional development, contract development, and outsourcing, software projects today increasingly use crowdsourcing for a variety of purposes, including fixing defects, testing their software, or gathering alternative designs for a new user interface. Through mechanisms such as competition sites, expertise sharing sites, bug bounties, and online labor markets, crowdsourcing has begun to reshape the ways in which developers contribute to software projects. This talk explores the models of crowdsourcing that have been applied to software development to date and outlines some of the opportunities that exist for the future.
Thoughts on Legal Writing from the Greatest of Them All: George Orwell

This article discusses George Orwell's theories on writing and applies his thoughts to legal writing.
Silylpalladium Cations Enable the Oxidative Addition of C(sp3)-O Bonds.

The synthesis and characterization of the room-temperature and solution-stable silylpalladium cations (PCy3)2Pd–SiR3+(C6F5)4B– (SiR3 = SiMe2Et, SiHEt2) and (Xantphos)Pd–SiR3+(BArf4) (SiR3 = SiMe2Et...
Identities of Exponential Functions

In this chapter, which is based on [13], we take up some questions prompted by mathematical logic, notably Tarski’s “High School Algebra Problem.” We study identities between certain functions of many variables that are constructed by using the elementary functions of addition x + y, multiplication x• y, and one-place exponentiation ex, starting out with all the complex constants and the independent variables z 1,…, z n. We show that every true identity in this class follows from the natural set of 11 axioms of High School Algebra. The major tool in our proofs is the Nevanlinna theory of entire functions of n complex variables, of which we give a brief sketch. It is entirely parallel to the one-variable theory presented in detail earlier in this book. The timid reader can take n = 1, at least for a first reading.
On the Distribution of Real-Valued Solutions to the Power Flow Equations

The number and nature of real-valued solutions to the nonlinear power flow equations are not completely understood and there are no proven simple methods for computing all solutions. It has been noted that in practice the equations tend to admit many fewer real-valued solutions than what might be estimated using traditional bounds. In this paper we examine a means to calculate the distribution of number of solutions as a function of multiple parameters. This method relies on a reduction technique that resolves to an equation in one variable for which the calculation of real-valued solutions is straightforward. Importantly we examine the fundamental question of whether a real-valued solution in one variable necessarily implies all variables will be simultaneously realvalued. We present topologies for which this favorable property is retained and topologies for which it fails.
Improved hematopoietic differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells through manipulation of the RNA binding protein ARS2

The RNA binding protein ARS2 is highly expressed in hematopoietic progenitor populations and is required for adult hematopoiesis. Recent molecular studies found that ARS2 coordinates interactions between nascent RNA polymerase II transcripts and downstream RNA processing machineries, yet how such interactions influence hematopoiesis remains largely unknown. Techniques to differentiate embryonic stem cells (ESC) to hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) and mature blood cells have increased molecular understanding of hematopoiesis. Taking such an in vitro approach to examine the influence of ARS2 on hematopoiesis, we found that ARS2 suppresses expression of some HSC signature genes and differentiation of ESC to a HPC population (CSMD-HPC) identified by markers expressed on bone marrow resident hematopoietic stem cells. In line with ARS2's ability to promote proliferation of cultured cells, ARS2 knockout ESC showed limited expansion and yielded less CSMD-HPC than wild-type ESC. In contrast, transient ARS2 knockdown led to doubling the number of CSMD-HPC generated per ESC without affecting further differentiation into mature T-cells. Overall, data indicate that ARS2 negatively regulates early hematopoietic differentiation of ESC, in stark contrast to its supportive role in adult hematopoiesis. Consequently, manipulation of ARS2 expression and/or function has potential utility in hematopoietic cell engineering and regenerative medicine.
Composite piezoelectric resonator 1D modeling with loss

Maximizing the benefit of applying piezoelectric materials in composite structures, which are a mix of piezoelectric and elastic elements, requires analytical modeling. In this paper, we describe two main classes of resonators and how to model using network equivalent including material losses. These include extensional devices where the layer areas are parallel to the direction of wave travel as found in a variety of thickness or length mode transducers (BC. Stress T1 = T2 at boundary) and transverse mode resonators (BC. Strain S1 = S2 at boundary) where the major layer area is perpendicular to the wave direction as is found in radial mode or length thickness mode composite resonators. In order to illustrate these models, we will use Mason’s equivalent circuits with elastic, dielectric and piezoelectric loss. It is noted that in order to maintain consistency with the linear equations of piezoelectricity and the wave equation care is required when applying complex loss coefficients to the models. Although these techniques are applicable to other models, we use Mason’s network equivalent circuit because it is intuitive for composite modeling due to the frequency independent turns ratio. Also, because of the independence of the equations describing the elastic layers from the adjoining layer properties which aid in understanding the boundary conditions to impose on the layer boundaries. We will present network models for a variety of applications with loss and show how to calculate their impedance spectra, interface stress, strain velocity and displacement spectra.
Nonasymptotic Connectivity of Random Graphs and Their Unions

Graph-theoretic methods have seen wide use throughout the literature on multiagent control and optimization. When communication networks are intermittent and unpredictable, they have been modeled using random communication graphs. When graphs are time varying, it is common to assume that their unions are connected over time, yet, to the best of our knowledge, there are not any results that determine the number of finite-size random graphs needed to attain a connected union. Therefore, this article bounds the probability that individual random graphs are connected and bounds the same probability for connectedness of unions of random graphs. The random graph model used is a generalization of the classic Erdős–Renyi model, which allows some edges to never appear. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the analytical developments made.
Tin-based ionic chaperone phases to improve low temperature molten sodium–NaSICON interfaces

High temperature operation of molten sodium batteries impacts cost, reliability, and lifetime, and has limited the widespread adoption of these grid-scale energy storage technologies. Poor charge transfer and high interfacial resistance between molten sodium and solid-state electrolytes, however, prevents the operation of molten sodium batteries at low temperatures. Here, in situ formation of tin-based chaperone phases on solid state NaSICON ion conductor surfaces is shown in this work to greatly improve charge transfer and lower interfacial resistance in sodium symmetric cells operated at 110 °C at current densities up to an aggressive 50 mA cm−2. It is shown that static wetting testing, as measured by the contact angle of molten sodium on NaSICON, does not accurately predict battery performance due to the dynamic formation of a chaperone NaSn phase during cycling. This work demonstrates the promise of sodium intermetallic-forming coatings for the advancement of low temperature molten sodium batteries by improved mating of sodium–NaSICON surfaces and reduced interfacial resistance.
Gateway Lunar Habitat Modules as the Basis for a Modular Mars Transit Habitat

This paper provides a summary of the results from a recent concept study of various configurations for a Mars Transit Habitat. The designs considered are composed of modules based on published contractor concepts proposed for the lunar Gateway through NASA's NextSTEP program. Using these Gateway concepts as a starting point for the design of a Mars Transit Habitat has potential advantages. Both Gateway and Mars Transit Habitats will have similar requirements for long-term operations in deep space, autonomous and remote operations when the crew is not onboard, and similar requirements for transferring crew to and from a planetary surface—the Moon and Mars respectively. The contractor designs for Gateway were traded against a monolithic transit habitat previously proposed by NASA's Mars Integration Group. In addition, these concepts were considered for a “shakedown” mission for the transit habitat hardware in cislunar space to build confidence in new systems, including the advanced environmental control and life support systems needed for Mars missions. The results presented include overall vehicle configurations, mass, and volume estimates for the selected design concepts. Two concepts using large expandable modules are identified as leading candidates for a Mars Transit Habitat and the remaining elements are identified as representative of the habitable pressure vessels needed for safe haven configurations, logistics modules, surface habitats, rovers, and descent and ascent crew cabins in the overall Mars Architecture.
Naming the Unknown, Witnessing the Unseen: Mediterranean Ecocriticism and Modes of Representing Migrant Others

espanolEn continuidad con las exploraciones teoricas de la ecocritica mediterranea, este ensayo explora los modos de representacion de los “otros migrantes”. A menudo despersonalizados y reducidos a datos estadisticos, estos migrantes “invisibles” forman de hecho parte de una ecologia mas amplia, en la que se entrelazan los destinos de seres humanos y no humanos, planteando profundas cuestiones eticas. Esa invisibilidad es cuestionada por numerosos artistas, escritores, cineastas y pensadores que presentan la cuestion de los migrantes en el centro de su trabajo, sugiriendo que la unica respuesta a la deshumanizacion de los migrantes es la humanizacion de los seres no humanos atrapados en los mismos problemas generados por la violencia y las fronteras. El ensayo incluye un analisis de las obras de arte submarino de Jason deCaires Taylor y del documental Asmat, “Nombres”, del director Dagmawi Yimer. EnglishIn continuity with the theoretical explorations of Mediterranean Ecocriticism, this essay deals with modes of representation of "migrant others." Often de-personified and reduced to statistical data, these “invisible” migrants are in fact parts of a larger ecology, where the fates of humans and nonhumans are interlaced, prompting deep ethical questions. Such invisibility is challenged by the many artists, writers, filmmakers, and thinkers that bring the migrant question to the center stage of their work, suggesting that the only response to the dehumanization of migrants is the humanization of nonhumans caught in the same predicaments of borders and violence. The essay includes an analysis of Jason deCaires Taylor's submarine artworks and of the documentary Asmat, "Names," by director Dagmawi Yimer.
Heart* to Heart*: Thrombosed HeartWare LVAD Exchanged to a Heartmate 3 LVAD

Introduction Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have undergone technological advances over the past several years, however, device thrombosis remains a feared complication. We present a case of a HeartWare HVAD presenting with pump thrombosis which failed medical therapy and was exchanged for an Abbott HeartMate 3 pump. Case Report The patient is a 38-year-old male with end stage-systolic heart failure due to a HIV associated cardiomyopathy who underwent HVAD implantation six years prior to presentation. The patient was in his usual state of health when he presented to the hospital due to a "high watt" alarm. He was asymptomatic. The patient, who was maintained on aspirin and warfarin, had a presenting INR which was subtherapeutic (1.2). Interrogation of the device logs showed an abrupt increase in power up to 9W with flows >10 L/min (baseline ∼4.5W and ∼5.5 L/min) (Figure). Computed tomography (CT) angiogram did not reveal an outflow graft thrombosis but did note pulmonary edema. The patient was diagnosed with pump thrombosis and was initially treated with two doses of alteplase 20 mg (Figure arrows). The power and flow normalized. Multiple lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) specimens were hemolyzed, but the LDH 3 days after admission ultimately was 3,550 U/L (baseline 268 U/L). Two days later, power spikes recurred. The patient was given one dose of alteplase 50 mg without success. The patient underwent emergent exchange to a HeartMate 3 LVAD via a re-do sternotomy. Surgery was notable for the epicardial ring of the HVAD being firmly incorporated at the left ventricular apex. To minimize trauma, the epicardial ring of the HeartMate 3 was sutured directly onto the epicardial ring of the HVAD. The Heartmate 3 was then inserted through both epicardial rings while the outflow graft was anastomosed to the remnant outflow graft of the HVAD. The patient did well post-operatively and was discharged on post-operative day number 15. Summary A thrombosed HVAD can be successfully managed with exchange to a HeartMate 3 LVAD.
A Kinetic BGK Scheme for Non-equilibrium Gaseous Flow Computation

Accurately computing the inner structure of normal shock waves or oblique shock waves is crucial for many hypersonic applications. As such, it will improve the prediction accuracy of aerodynamics properties and aerothermal effects on hypersonic vehicles and spacecraft during atmospheric entries. Because a shock wave usually has a thickness of a few mean free paths, it is quite difficult to accurately compute the detailed non-equilibrium inner structure across a shock wave with a continuum method. This paper reports a Gas-kinetic Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) scheme for computations of one-dimensional, vibrationally non-equilibrium nitrogen flows through a planar shock wave. The present Gaskinetic-BGK scheme is a generalization of the work of Xu,in that it solves for the shock structure with multiple temperatures, including two translational temperatures, one rotational temperature and one vibrational temperature. The salient features of the present Gaskinetic-BGK method are multi-fold. Its applicability covers a wide simulation regime extending that of continuum flows to the transition flows; it is more computationally efficient than the traditional direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method in time for shock wave simulation; it does not require additional or special techniques to stabilize the shock wave. To provide proper downstream subsonic boundary conditions for very strong shock waves requires the determination of a proper post-shock equilibrium state where all temperatures have accomplished relaxation processes to a common equilibrium temperature. Analytical expressions of a complete set of generalized Rankine-Hugoniot Relations across a planar shock wave are obtained to account for the variant specific heat ratio due to inner energy excitations. Numerical simulation results by the present Gaskinetic-BGK scheme and the DSMC method are found to be in good agreement.
Development in Mathematical Modeling

The chapters in this section represent noteworthy steps in a research agenda with implications far beyond traditional conceptions of models and modeling, addressing key questions such as: How does the K-12 mathematics curriculum need to adapt to prepare students for the rapidly changing nature of “mathematical thinking” outside of school? What does it mean to “understand” the most important “big ideas” in elementary (K-16) mathematics? How do these ideas and understandings develop? How can these developments be documented and assessed, in their earliest manifestations? How can assessments of students’ most important conceptual achievements be based on operational definitions that do not simply reduce them to checklists of factual and procedural knowledge? Our goal here is to briefly describe how these chapters are situated within this larger context.
Impact of Adherence to Ibrutinib on Clinical Outcomes in Real-World Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Background Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a B-cell neoplasm with clonal expansion of small lymphocytes. Ibrutinib, an irreversible inhibitor of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK), is a first-line treatment option, and recent data suggest that strict adherence is directly related to clinical outcomes. Objectives The primary objective of this study was to quantify ibrutinib adherence rates in real-world patients with CLL on ibrutinib; secondary outcomes included progression-free survival and overall survival. Methods This retrospective study included subjects who were treated at a large academic medical center over approximately 5 years. Subjects were at least 18 years, diagnosed with CLL or small lymphocytic lymphoma, and treated with ibrutinib monotherapy for at least 6 months. Adherence was quantified using the medication possession ratio (MPR), which is the ratio of the sum of days' supply of medication in a period over the number of days in that period, and was based on fill history from the medical center's specialty pharmacy. Results For the 32 subjects in this study, the mean ibrutinib adherence rate was 91.7% (range, 84.4%-100%). Only 3 subjects had disease progression, and 1 death was recorded while on therapy (all with MPR < 95%); therefore, analyses of clinical outcomes were unable to be assessed due to a low number of events. There were no statistically significant differences in rates of adherence based on baseline characteristics and adverse drug events. Conclusion In patients with CLL treated with ibrutinib, mean adherence was 91.7%, which is lower than rates seen in clinical trials.
Transit Network Frequency Setting With Multi-Agent Simulation to Capture Activity-Based Mode Substitution:

We propose a bilevel transit network frequency setting problem in which the upper level consists of analytical route cost functions and the lower level is an activity-based market equilibrium deriv...
Research Spotlight: What is the maximum sea level rise that coastal marshes can withstand?

[1] As sea level rises, many coastal marshes worldwide are predicted to submerge. What is the maximum rate of sea level rise that a coastal marsh can survive? Many previous studies of this question have assumed that the coastal wetland landscape is static, but, in fact, many coastal wetlands can adapt to sea level changes. For instance, in tidal marshes, increasing inundation leads to higher rates of sediment deposition, raising the elevation of the wetland and helping it withstand sea level rise. In salt marshes, higher sea levels can lead to increased growth of vegetation, which traps sediment and limits erosion. (Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2010GL045489, 2010)
An Abnormal Normal State

A metallic phase of a high-temperature superconductor reveals unexpected properties in the zero-temperature limit.
On the weak limit of mappings with finite distortion

We give a new proof that the limit of a weakly convergent sequence of mappings with finite distortion also has finite distortion. The result has been recently proved by Gehring and Iwaniec using the biting convergence of Jacobians. We present a different proof using simply the lower semi-continuity of quasiconvex functionals.
Is investment in Africa too low or too high : macro and micro evidence

The authors investigate the relationship between weak growth performance and low investment rates in Africa. The cross-country evidence suggests no direct relationship. The positive and significant coefficient on private investment appears to be driven by Botswana's presence in the sample. Allowing for the endogeneity of private investment, controlling for policy, and positing a nonlinear relationship make no difference to the conclusion. Higher investment in Africa would not by itself produce faster GDP growth. Africa's low investment and growth rates seem to be symptoms of underlying factors. To investigate those factors and to correct for some of the problems with cross-country analysis, the authors undertook a case study of manufacturing investment in Tanzania. They tried to identify why output per worker declined while capital per worker increased. Some of the usual suspects--such as shifts from high- to low-productivity subsectors, the presence of state-owned enterprises, or poor polices--did not play a significant role in this decline. Instead, low capacity utilization (possibly the by-product of poor policies) and constraints on absorptive capacity for skill acquisition seem to be critical factors. If Tanzania is not atypical, the low productivity of investment in Africa was the result of a combination of factors that occurred simultaneously, not any single factor. What does this tell us? First, we should be more careful about calling for an investment boom so that Africa can resume growth. Unless some or all of the underlying problems are addressed, the results may be disappointing. We should also be more circumspect about Africa's low savings rate; it may be low because returns to investment were so low. The relatively high level of capital flight from Africa may have been a level rational response to the lack of investment oportunities at home. Second, there is probably no single key to unlocking investment and GDP growth in Africa. All of the factors contributing to low productivity should be addressed simultaneously.