Soft-bottom benthic assemblages and levels of contaminants in sediments and biota at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary and nearby shelf waters off the coast of Georgia (2000 and 2001)

A series of studies was initiated to assess the condition of benthic macroinfauna and chemical contaminant levels in sediments and biota of the Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) and nearby shelf waters off the coast of Georgia. Four key objectives of the research are (1) to document existing environmental conditions within the sanctuary in order to provide a quantitative benchmark for tracking any future changes due to either natural or human disturbances; (2) to examine broader cross-shelf spatial patterns in benthic fauna and sediment contaminant concentrations and to identify potential controlling factors associated with the observed patterns; (3) to assess any between-year temporal variability in benthic fauna; and (4) to evaluate the importance of benthic fauna as prey for higher trophic levels. Such questions are being addressed to help fulfill long-term science and management goals of the GRNMS. However, it is anticipated that the information will be of additional value in broadening our understanding of the surrounding South Atlantic Bight (SAB) ecosystem and in bringing the knowledge to bear on related resourcemanagement issues of the region. We have begun to address the first three of these objectives with data from samples collected in spring 2000 at stations within GRNMS, and in spring 2001 at stations within the sanctuary and along three cross-shelf transects extending from the mouths of Sapelo, Doboy, and Altamaha Sounds out to sanctuary depths (about 17-20 m). This report provides a description of baseline conditions within the sanctuary, based on results of the spring 2000 survey (Section II), and uses data from both 2000 and 2001 to examine overall spatial and temporal patterns in biological and chemical variables within the sanctuary and surrounding inner-shelf environment (Section III). (PDF contains 65 pages

Optimizing UAS Mission Training Needs Through Tradespace Analysis

The Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) training program requires the reallocation of multiple fully operational UAS from the operational environment to facilitate training. The UAS Project Management Office (PM UAS) is concerned that this practice lacks efficiency. This study sought to: (1) conduct a comprehensive analysis for resource optimization with respect to achieving essential training tasks across multiple UAS, (2) conduct comprehensive cost-benefit analysis to assess the value of allocating a full-time and Gray Eagle platforms to accomplish training versus part-task trainers, and (3) define and quantify measures of performance and effectiveness. To achieve these objectives, this study implemented a tradespace analysis methodology to produce a discrete-event simulation model and a resource optimization tool. The impacts of this project will result in substantial cost savings per fiscal year, allow the client to forecast the resource needs of the organization effectively, and allow for the proper allocation of these resources

Correlations and Fluctuations, A Summary of Quark Matter 2002

Results for correlations and fluctuations presented at Quark Matter 2002 are summarized. These results include Hanbury-Brown Twiss interferometry of a wide variety of species, large scale fluctuations and correlations in $p_t$ and multiplicity, and charge fluctuations and charge balance functions.Comment: published in NPA 715, page 389c (2003

Monte Carlo simulations of the Nickel Kα\alpha fluorescent emission line in a toroidal geometry

We present new results from Monte Carlo calculations of the flux and equivalent width (EW) of the Ni Kalpha fluorescent emission line in the toroidal X-ray reprocessor model of Murphy & Yaqoob (2009, MNRAS, 397, 1549). In the Compton-thin regime, the EW of the Ni Kalpha line is a factor of ~22 less than that of the Fe Kalpha line but this factor can be as low as ~6 in the Compton-thick regime. We show that the optically-thin limit for this ratio depends only on the Fe to Ni abundance ratio, it being independent of the geometry and covering factor of the reprocessor, and also independent of the shape of the incident X-ray continuum. We give some useful analytic expressions for the absolute flux and the EW of the Ni Kalpha line in the optically-thin limit. When the reprocessor is Compton-thick and the incident continuum is a power-law with a photon index of 1.9, the Ni Kalpha line EW has a maximum value of ~3 eV and ~250 eV for non-intercepting and intercepting lines-of-sight respectively. Larger EWs are obtained for flatter continua. We have also studied the Compton shoulder of the Ni Ka line and find that the ratio of scattered to unscattered flux in the line has a maximum value of 0.26, less than the corresponding maximum for the Fe Kalpha line. However, we find that the shape of the Compton shoulder profile for a given column density and inclination angle of the torus is similar to the corresponding profile for the Fe Ka line. Our results will be useful for interpreting X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and X-ray binary systems in which the system parameters are favorable for the Ni Kalpha line to be detected.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 8 pages, 5 figure

2020-2021 KSU Concerto Competition Finals

Students of the KSU School of Music perform in the final round of the 2020-2021 Concerto Competition. Winners will perform with the KSU Symphony Orchestra or the KSU Wind Ensemble when health and safety permit. Presented virtually from Morgan Concert Hall of the Bailey Performance Center.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2328/thumbnail.jp

A polymorphism associated with depressive disorders differentially regulates brain derived neurotrophic factor promoter IV activity

PMCID: PMC3712170Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Entropy Production at RHIC

For central heavy ion collisions at the RHIC energy, the entropy per unit rapidity dS/dy at freeze-out is extracted with minimal model dependence from available experimental measurements of particle yields, spectra, and source sizes estimated from two-particle interferometry. The extracted entropy rapidity density is consistent with lattice gauge theory results for a thermalized quark-gluon plasma with an energy density estimated from transverse energy production at RHIC.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, Revtex, version to appear in PL

Lambda-proton correlations in relativistic heavy ion collisions

The prospect of using lambda-proton correlations to extract source sizes in relativistic heavy ion collisions is investigated. It is found that the strong interaction induces a large peak in the correlation function that provides more sensitive source size measurements than two-proton correlations under some circumstances. The prospect of using lambda-proton correlations to measure the time lag between lambda and proton emissions is also studied.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure, revtex style. Two short paragraphs are added at referees' recommendations. Phys. Rev. Lett. in pres

Negative symptoms and impaired social functioning predict later psychosis in Latino youth at clinical high risk in the North American prodromal longitudinal studies consortium

AIM: Examining ethnically related variables in evaluating those at risk for psychosis is critical. This study investigated sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of Latino versus non-Latino clinical high-risk (CHR) subjects and healthy control (HC) subjects in the first North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study. METHODS: Fifty-six Latino CHR subjects were compared to 25 Latino HC and 423 non-Latino CHR subjects across clinical and demographic variables. Thirty-nine of the 56 CHR subjects completed at least one subsequent clinical evaluation over the 2.5-year period with 39% developing a psychotic illness. Characteristics of Latino CHR subjects who later converted to psychosis (‘converters’) were compared to those who did not (‘non-converters’). RESULTS: Latino CHR subjects were younger than non-Latino CHR subjects and had less education than Latino HC subjects and non-Latino CHR counterparts. Latino CHR converters had higher scores than Latino non-converters on the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes total negative symptoms that were accounted for by decreased expression of emotion and personal hygiene/social attentiveness subsections. Latino CHR converters scored lower on the global functioning:social scale, indicating worse social functioning than Latino non-converters. CONCLUSION: Based on this sample, Latino CHR subjects may seek treatment earlier and have less education than non-Latino CHR subjects. Deficits in social functioning and impaired personal hygiene/social attentiveness among Latino CHR subjects predicted later psychosis and may represent important areas for future study. Larger sample sizes are needed to more thoroughly investigate the observed ethnic differences and risk factors for psychosis in Latino youth