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A main goal of NASA's Kepler Mission is to establish the frequency of potentially habitable Earth-size planets (). Relatively few such candidates identified by the mission can be confirmed to be rocky via dynamical measurement of their mass. Here we report an effort to validate 18 of them statistically using the BLENDER technique, by showing that the likelihood they are true planets is far greater than that of a false positive. Our analysis incorporates follow-up observations including high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, high-resolution imaging, and information from the analysis of the flux centroids of the Kepler observations themselves. Although many of these candidates have been previously validated by others, the confidence levels reported typically ignore the possibility that the planet may transit a star different from the target along the same line of sight. If that were the case, a planet that appears small enough to be rocky may actually be considerably larger and therefore less interesting from the point of view of habitability. We take this into consideration here and are able to validate 15 of our candidates at a 99.73% (3σ) significance level or higher, and the other three at a slightly lower confidence. We characterize the GKM host stars using available ground-based observations and provide updated parameters for the planets, with sizes between 0.8 and 2.9 R ⊕. Seven of them (KOI-0438.02, 0463.01, 2418.01, 2626.01, 3282.01, 4036.01, and 5856.01) have a better than 50% chance of being smaller than 2 R ⊕ and being in the habitable zone of their host stars. © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

Mycobacteriophages Chancellor, Mitti, and Wintermute infect Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 and are closely related to phages Cheetobro and Fionnbharth in subcluster K4. Genome sizes range from 57,697 bp to 58,046 bp. Phages are predicted to be temperate and to infect the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. © 2017 Edgington et al.

We recently used near-infrared spectroscopy to improve the characterization of 76 low-mass stars around which K2 had detected 79 candidate transiting planets. 29 of these worlds were new discoveries that had not previously been published. We calculate the false positive probabilities that the transit-like signals are actually caused by non-planetary astrophysical phenomena and reject five new transit-like events and three previously reported events as false positives. We also statistically validate 17 planets (7 of which were previously unpublished), confirm the earlier validation of 22 planets, and announce 17 newly discovered planet candidates. Revising the properties of the associated planet candidates based on the updated host star characteristics and refitting the transit photometry, we find that our sample contains 21 planets or planet candidates with radii smaller than 1.25 R ⊕, 18 super-Earths (1.25-2 R ⊕), 21 small Neptunes (2-4 R ⊕), three large Neptunes (4-6 R ⊕), and eight giant planets (>6 R ⊕). Most of these planets are highly irradiated, but EPIC 206209135.04 (K2-72e, ), EPIC 211988320.01 (), and EPIC 212690867.01 () orbit within optimistic habitable zone boundaries set by the "recent Venus" inner limit and the "early Mars" outer limit. In total, our planet sample includes eight moderately irradiated 1.5-3 R ⊕ planet candidates (F p ≲ 20 F ⊕) orbiting brighter stars (Ks < 11) that are well-suited for atmospheric investigations with the Hubble, Spitzer, and/or James Webb Space Telescopes. Five validated planets orbit relatively bright stars (Kp < 12.5) and are expected to yield radial velocity semi-amplitudes of at least 2 m s-1. Accordingly, they are possible targets for radial velocity mass measurement with current facilities or the upcoming generation of red optical and near-infrared high-precision RV spectrographs. © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

We propose the measurement of net Λ and Λ helicity, correlated event by event with the magnitude and sign of charge separation along the event's magnetic field direction, as a probe to investigate the chiral magnetic effect (CME) in heavy-ion collisions. With a simple simulation model of heavy-ion events that includes effects of local parity violation, we estimate the experimental correlation signal that could be expected at RHIC given the results of previous measurements that are sensitive to the CME. © 2017 American Physical Society.

We present measurements of bulk properties of the matter produced in Au+Au collisions at √sNN=7.7,11.5,19.6,27, and 39 GeV using identified hadrons (π±, K±, p, and ¯p) from the STAR experiment in the Beam Energy Scan (BES) Program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Midrapidity (|y|<0.1) results for multiplicity densities dN/dy, average transverse momenta ⟨pT⟩, and particle ratios are presented. The chemical and kinetic freeze-out dynamics at these energies are discussed and presented as a function of collision centrality and energy. These results constitute the systematic measurements of bulk properties of matter formed in heavy-ion collisions over a broad range of energy (or baryon chemical potential) at RHIC.

Given the frequency of stellar multiplicity in the solar neighborhood, it is important to study the impacts this can have on exoplanet properties and orbital dynamics. There have been numerous imaging survey projects established to detect possible low-mass stellar companions to exoplanet host stars. Here, we provide the results from a systematic speckle imaging survey of known exoplanet host stars. In total, 71 stars were observed at 692 and 880 nm bands using the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument at the Gemini-north Observatory. Our results show that all but two of the stars included in this sample have no evidence of stellar companions with luminosities down to the detection and projected separation limits of our instrumentation. The mass-luminosity relationship is used to estimate the maximum mass a stellar companion can have without being detected. These results are used to discuss the potential for further radial velocity follow-up and interpretation of companion signals. © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

Business program graduates are expected to perform with cultural sensitivity in international and intercultural professional environments. In order to support student development of the necessary mindset, a variety of assignments and activities have been integrated into the undergraduate International Business (IB) course. This article describes several types of exercises that can be used by anyone teaching this course or one where cultural sensitivity is an important component. No quantitative data are presented, nor are any claims made to the efficacy of these assignments. But student comments point to increased cultural sensitivity and a better understanding of the issues of globalization. © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The impetus for addressing climate change is real and present, but its translation into action lacks immediacy and severity, and involves reorientating our lifestyles and economies towards sustainability. Drawing on focus groups conducted in seven UK communities, specific interventions were identified as encouraging change in the short-term, maintaining momentum in the medium-term and sustaining sustainability in the long-term to address various enablers of, and barriers to, sustainable lifestyles. The findings illustrate that there are multiple entry points and influencing periods for sustainable living. Given the importance of the temporal dimension in encouraging and sustaining practices for sustainable lifestyles, the paper advances a “what works” approach to sustainable lifestyles that can be embedded with practical solutions. This approach creates a synergy between what individuals want to do to live sustainably and how they want to do this with interventions that are known to create meaningful lifestyles changes and maintain sustainable living.

Understanding the impact of network traffic properties on performance behavior in bottleneck links or larger networks is of primary interest to traffic analysts and network designers. Among the contributing factors, variance and correlation properties have been thoroughly studied and a large set of individual results have been obtained. However, these individual contributing factors are not sufficient to predict performance behavior. In this paper we review a unifying and versatile class of ON/OFF models through which the relationship among these parameters can be characterized and their influence on network performance be understood. The analytic performance results from the model show that there is a radically different queueing behavior when the ON period duration follows truncated power-tail distributions (even if truncated), as opposed to model variants where these distribution types are used for the OFF periods. All these models create correlation functions that only decay slowly. This motivates the development of a simple data analysis scheme to distinguish performance relevant correlation. The scheme is described both for interarrival and count processes of traffic data and its effectiveness is shown using real data traces.

The forecasting of energy consumption in China is a key requirement for achieving national energy security and energy planning. In this study, multi-variable linear regression (MLR) and support vector regression (SVR) were utilized with a gated recurrent unit (GRU) artificial neural network of Chinese energy to establish a forecasting model. The derived model was validated through four economic variables; the gross domestic product (GDP), population, imports, and exports. The performance of various forecasting models was assessed via MAPE and RMSE, and three scenarios were configured based on different sources of variable data. In predicting Chinese energy consumption from 2015 to 2021, results from the established GRU model of the highest predictive accuracy showed that Chinese energy consumption would be likely to fluctuate from 2954.04 Mtoe to 5618.67 Mtoe in 2021.

Low graduation rate is a significant and growing problem in U.S. higher education systems. Although previous studies have demonstrated the usefulness of building statistical models for predicting students' graduation outcomes, advanced machine learning models promise to improve the effectiveness of these models, and hone in on the “difference that makes a difference” not only on the group level, but also on the level of the individual student. In this paper we propose an ensemble support vector machines based model for predicting students' graduation. Up to about 100 features, including a set of psychological-educational factors, were employed to construct the predicting model. We evaluated the proposed model using data taken from a state university's longitudinal, cohort data sets from the incoming classes of students from 2011-2012 (n=350). The experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the model, with considerable accuracy, precision, and recall. This paper presents the results of analysis that were conducted in order to gauge the predictive capability of a machine learning algorithm to predict on-time graduation that took into consideration students' learning and development.

Let’s twin and twine together two primary aspects of how America can see herself—the good atoms of Whitman’s leaves of grass, and the engines humming their freedom on the highways that cut across those 19th century fields. Now, Jason Labbe well knows, as Whitman’s atoms become pixels, we find ourselves at a crossroads, learning again and again the consequences of “the indescribable way you shape / a past of little use.” Seeking to find that law or logic to shattering, be it in the memory-echo of personal trauma caught on infinite loop in the mind, or be it the dismal virtualities of the post-modern ether, the poems of Spleen Elegy unfold their rueful nostalgia: “I have something accurate to say that lacks perspective.” That may well be the very accuracy we most need, riding the routes of America, the byways and frontage roads, seeking anyone who is willing for a poem or two to see. —Dan Beachy-Quick "A chunk of broken tar”—that's the color of this book. And the sound of this book is "a train in the static." Its poems count time in "decaseconds of dusk." To read this book is to feel the uneasy passivity and unerring stuckness, the particular absurdity, of certain citizens stuck in this millennium. So many lines made me laugh. And sigh. But not cry. Jason Labbe is great at melancholy. Baudelaire's mosquito is definitely here: "I am Past / who passing lit and sucked your life and left." The future is unthinkable and unalterable. Except. Except! Lucretius' swerve is also here. Atoms may veer randomly, which is extra significant in a book that takes place mostly on the road. "My sutures are beautiful as a tread pattern," he says, and it is easy (and dangerous) to fall in love with Labbe's strangled version of optimism. —Darcie Dennigan

In this Handbook leading researchers, teacher educators, and expert practitioners speak to current and future educators and educational leaders in understandable language about the research that informs best practices for English language learners integrated into the K-12 public school system. Responding to current state and federal mandates that require educators to link their practices to sound research results, it is designed to help educators to define, select, and defend realistic educational practices that include and serve well their English language learning student populations.  A critical and distinctive feature of this volume is its non-technical language that is accessible to general educators who have not been trained in the fields of second-language development and applied linguistics. Each chapter begins with a thorough discussion of the recommended practices, followed by a description of the research that supports these practices. The rigor of reported research is contained, but this research is written in a lay person’s terminology, accompanied by bibliographies for readers who wish to read about the research in technical detail. The volume is structured around four themes:• In the Elementary Classroom• In the Middle and Secondary Classroom• School and Community Collaboration• School and District Reform. Inclusive Pedagogy for English Language Learners is intended for current and future educational administrators, all educators who have a keen interest in school reform at the classroom, school, or district level, and staff developers, policy makers, parents and community groups, and anyone interested in the successful education of linguistically and culturally diverse students.

Research on homeless shelter implementation is limited. Some shelters have lengthy waitlists, which raises important questions about implications of waitlists for individuals with immediate shelter needs. This study used qualitative methods to understand the experiences of shelter seekers who were on a shelter waitlist (N = 59), including individuals who entered the shelter from the waitlist, and those removed from the shelter waitlist for procedural reasons. The average waitlist time was nearly 3 weeks, and 22.0% stayed at least one night on the street or another public place while on the waitlist. Responses to open-ended questions regarding barriers and effectiveness of the shelter referral procedures revealed 4 themes: procedural challenges, procedural benefits, benefits of the temporary stay, and communication challenges. Further research is needed to inform shelter implementation on a larger scale in accordance with current community-wide efforts to coordinate shelter services.

Opioid addiction is a problem within the United States that is impacting all age groups. The elderly are a population that is seldom discussed as being affected by opioids. Physiologically, the older adult is more susceptible for complications associated with an alteration in pharmacokinetics and late diagnosis of diseases such as viral hepatitis C. Health promotion for this population is imperative in the prevention and treatment of opioid addiction problems.