Modeling the Response of Black Walnut -dominant Mixed Hardwoods to Seasonal Climate Effects with UAV-based Hyperspectral Sensor and Aerial Photogrammetry

The development of compact sensors in recent years has inspired the use of UAS-based hyperspectral and aerial imaging techniques for small-scale remote sensing applications. With increasing concerns about climate change, spectrally-derived vegetation indices (VIs) have proven useful for quantifying stress-induced vegetation response. The goal of this study was to develop predictive models and assess methodology for modeling the biological response of a black walnut -dominant mixed hardwood stand to seasonal climate events using UAV-based hyperspectral remote-sensing. The derived VIs were evaluated against the means of four seasonal measures of climate calculated for a two-week period prior to the flight date. A best subsets regression was used to create best fitting linear regression models according to Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). The highest-ranked model for total precipitation had an AdjR² of 0.0839 and RMSE of 0.0827 inches. The highest-ranked model for maximum air temperature had an AdjR² of 0.9922 and RMSE of 0.5485 °F. The highest-ranked model for average air temperature had an AdjR² of 0.9987 and RMSE of 0.2256 °F. The highest-ranked model for total solar radiation had an AdjR² of 0.9961 and RMSE of 0.06405 MJ/M². The results indicate that select VIs measured at the canopy level may be useful in estimating the response to at least some measures seasonal climate. The proposed regression models could help local researchers and landowners in making short-term management decisions, as well as further our understanding of climate-induced tree stress for maintaining sustainable forests in Missouri

Police legitimacy among immigrants in Europe: institutional frames and group position

Research on the antecedents of police legitimacy has begun to stress the relevance of a wide range of factors – beyond performance – in shaping public judgements of police (e.g. Jackson et al 2012; Antrobus et al 2015; Mehozay and Factor 2016; Weitzer and Tuch 2006). The ways in which people experience not just policing and but also their wider social, cultural and economic environment – and the location of both police and policed within structures of power, authority and affect – have important effects on lay judgements of police which, in turn, constitute the empirical legitimacy of this foundational state institution

Examining the Psychopathology of Incarcerated Male Firesetters using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III

Research to date has been equivocal on the relationship between firesetting and psychopathology, and has been impeded by studies lacking adequate control samples. The present study examined psychopathology in a sample of incarcerated adult male firesetters (n = 112) and prison controls (n = 113) using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III. Firesetters demonstrated multiple elevated scores on personality and clinical syndrome scales. Logistic regression showed that the borderline personality scale was the strongest personality scale discriminator between firesetters and controls. Major depression and drug dependence were the strongest clinical syndrome scale predictors. However, both clinical syndrome scale predictors appeared to be mediated by borderline personality scores indicating that firesetters are best characterized by responding indicative of borderline personality traits rather than other psychopathological deficits. The results suggest that, relative to other offenders, firesetters face challenges with impulse control, affect regulation, stability of interpersonal relationships, and self-image

Where did it all go wrong? Implementation failure - and more - in a field experiment of procedural justice policing

Objectives: This paper presents the findings from a retrospectively conducted qualitative process evaluation to the Scottish Community Engagement Trial (ScotCET). The study explores the unanticipated results of a randomised field trial testing the effect of ‘procedurally just’ modes of road policing on public perceptions of police. The ScotCET intervention failed to produce the hypothesised results, producing instead significant, and unexplained, negative effects on key aspects of public perception. The present study seeks to examine, from the perspectives of officers implementing the experiment, what the impacts (intended or otherwise) of participation were. Methods: Group interviews were held within the ScotCET experiment ‘units’ to explore how officers had collectively interpreted and framed ScotCET, and responded as a group to its requirements/ demands. Nine groups were held over a 5 month period post experiment completion. Results: Findings indicate that communication breakdowns during the ScotCET implementation led to misunderstandings of its aims and objectives, and of the requirements placed on officers. Within a context of organisational reform and perceived organizational ‘injustice’, commonly cited aspects of police culture were invoked to facilitate officer non-compliance with aspects of the experimental intervention, leading to implementation failures, and, possibly, a diffuse negative effect on the attitudes and behaviours of experiment officers. Conclusions: Organizational structures and processes, and coercive top-down direction, are insufficient to ensure successful implementation of policing research, and, by implication, policing reforms, particularly those that demand alternative ways of ‘doing’ policing and ‘seeing’ citizens. Greater investment in organisational justice and encouraging openness to evidence-led knowledge is needed to promote change

Exploring Uncoupling Proteins and Antioxidant Mechanisms under Acute Cold Exposure in Brains of Fish

Exposure to fluctuating temperatures accelerates the mitochondrial respiration and increases the formation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) in ectothermic vertebrates including fish. To date, little is known on potential oxidative damage and on protective antioxidative defense mechanisms in the brain of fish under cold shock. In this study, the concentration of cellular protein carbonyls in brain was significantly increased by 38% within 1 h after cold exposure (from 28°C to 18°C) of zebrafish (Danio rerio). In addition, the specific activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the mRNA level of catalase (CAT) were increased after cold exposure by about 60% (6 h) and by 60%–90% (1 and 24 h), respectively, while the specific glutathione content as well as the ratio of glutathione disulfide to glutathione remained constant and at a very low level. In addition, cold exposure increased the protein level of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) by about 50% and the mRNA level of the glucose transporter zglut3 in brain by 50%–100%. To test for an involvement of uncoupling proteins (UCPs) in the cold adaptation of zebrafish, five UCP members were annotated and identified (zucp1-5). With the exception of zucp1, the mRNA levels of the other four zucps were significantly increased after cold exposure. In addition, the mRNA levels of four of the fish homologs (zppar) of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) were increased after cold exposure. These data suggest that PPARs and UCPs are involved in the alterations observed in zebrafish brain after exposure to 18°C. The observed stimulation of the PPAR-UCP axis may help to prevent oxidative damage and to maintain metabolic balance and cellular homeostasis in the brains of ectothermic zebrafish upon cold exposure

CMB-S4: Forecasting Constraints on Primordial Gravitational Waves

CMB-S4---the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment---is set to significantly advance the sensitivity of CMB measurements and enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe, from the highest energies at the dawn of time through the growth of structure to the present day. Among the science cases pursued with CMB-S4, the quest for detecting primordial gravitational waves is a central driver of the experimental design. This work details the development of a forecasting framework that includes a power-spectrum-based semi-analytic projection tool, targeted explicitly towards optimizing constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, in the presence of Galactic foregrounds and gravitational lensing of the CMB. This framework is unique in its direct use of information from the achieved performance of current Stage 2--3 CMB experiments to robustly forecast the science reach of upcoming CMB-polarization endeavors. The methodology allows for rapid iteration over experimental configurations and offers a flexible way to optimize the design of future experiments given a desired scientific goal. To form a closed-loop process, we couple this semi-analytic tool with map-based validation studies, which allow for the injection of additional complexity and verification of our forecasts with several independent analysis methods. We document multiple rounds of forecasts for CMB-S4 using this process and the resulting establishment of the current reference design of the primordial gravitational-wave component of the Stage-4 experiment, optimized to achieve our science goals of detecting primordial gravitational waves for $r > 0.003$ at greater than $5\sigma$, or, in the absence of a detection, of reaching an upper limit of $r < 0.001$ at $95\%$ CL.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, 9 tables, submitted to ApJ. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1907.0447