Post 9/11 Protection and Policies

Americans have had over two decades to reflect back on how the September 11th attacks shook our nation to its core. The psychological damage done to the American public had a drastic effect on attitudes toward responding to the threat of international terrorists targeting the United States and the potential for internal threats within their own communities. Being members of Gen Z, many of our generation only know the events of 9/11 and its aftermath in retrospect. With this in mind, we examined policies enacted under the Bush administration and their significance in response to 9/11, how they affected American society throughout the 2000s, and how they affect our lives today

Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

Tragedy is an unfortunate inevitability in life. We do not know when, where, why, or how it will happen, only that accidents happen. One moment can change a person’s life, and some moments can change the lives of whole communities, states, and nations. This was the case for the people of East Palestine, Ohio due to a catastrophic train derailment. Emergencies are emotional, chaotic, and traumatizing. They result from situations that are difficult to understand in their immediacy. Government action requires a rapid response to issues that require critical thinking and careful planning. The current polarized political environment mixed with rampant misinformation makes responding to tragedies that much more difficult

Opioid Crisis in Ohio

Chronic pain and unnecessary suffering affect many people and healthcare professionals often respond by giving their patients pain relief through a variety of means. Pain assessment goes alongside any vital test medical staff administer to patients, meaning that pain management comes next. Modern technologies allow for innovative practices to help treat patients experiencing chronic pain, but the most common pain-relief methodology is prescription pain-relievers. In the 1990s, opioids were marketed by pharmaceutical companies as reliable pain-relieving drugs. Concerns about their addictive potential were minimized, suggesting they were low-risk substances. Three decades later, evidence has mounted that Americans are in the midst of a drug epidemic deadlier than any in US history

Hindustani raga and singer classification using 2D and 3D pose estimation from video recordings

Using pose estimation with video recordings, we apply an action recognition machine learning algorithm to demonstrate the use of the movement information to classify singers and the ragas (melodic modes) they perform. Movement information is derived from a specially recorded video dataset of solo Hindustani (North Indian) raga recordings by three professional singers each performing the same nine ragas, a smaller duo dataset (one singer with tabla accompaniment) as well as recordings of concert performances by the same singers. Data is extracted using pose estimation algorithms, both 2D (OpenPose) and 3D. A two-pathway convolutional neural network structure is proposed for skeleton action recognition to train a model to classify 12-second clips by singer and raga. The model is capable of distinguishing the three singers on the basis of movement information alone. For each singer, it is capable of distinguishing between the nine ragas with a mean accuracy of 38.2% (with the most successful model). The model trained on solo recordings also proved effective at classifying duo and concert recordings. These findings are consistent with the view that while the gesturing of Indian singers is idiosyncratic, it remains tightly linked to patterns of melodic movement: indeed we show that in some cases different ragas are distinguishable on the basis of movement information alone. A series of technical challenges are identified and addressed, with code shared alongside audiovisual data to accompany the paper

Using yield response curves to measure variation in the tolerance and resistance of wheat cultivars to Fusarium crown rot

The disease crown rot, caused predominantly by the fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum (Fp), is a major disease of winter cereals in many regions of the world, including Australia. A methodology is proposed, using response curves, to robustly estimate the relationship between grain yield and increasing crown rot pathogen burdens. Using data from a field experiment conducted in northern New South Wales, Australia in 2016, response curves were derived for five commercial wheat cultivars exposed to six increasing rates of crown rot inoculum, where the rates served to establish a range of crown rot pathogen burdens. In this way, the response curve methodology is fundamentally different from alternate approaches that rely on genetic or environmental variation to establish a range in pathogen burdens over which yield loss relationships are estimated. By manipulating only the rates of crown rot inoculum and thus pathogen burden directly, the number of additional confounding factors and interactions are minimised, enabling the robust estimation of the rate of change in yield due to increasing crown rot pathogen burdens for each cultivar. The methodology revealed variation in the rate of change in yield between cultivars, along with the extent of crown rot symptoms expressed by the cultivars. Variation in the rate of change in yield between cultivars provides definitive evidence of differences in the tolerance of commercial Australian wheat cultivars to crown rot caused by Fp, while variation in the extent of crown rot symptoms signifies differences in the resistance of the cultivars to this disease. The response curve methodology also revealed variation in how the different mechanisms of tolerance and resistance act to limit yield losses due to crown rot for different cultivars

Mitigating the risk of Zika virus contamination of raw materials and cell lines in the manufacture of biologicals

Ensuring the virological safety of biologicals is challenging due to the risk of viral contamination of raw materials and cell banks, and exposure during in-process handling to known and/or emerging viral pathogens. Viruses may contaminate raw materials and biologicals intended for human or veterinary use and remain undetected until appropriate testing measures are employed. The outbreak and expansive spread of the mosquito-borne flavivirus Zika virus (ZIKV) poses challenges to screening human- and animal -derived products used in the manufacture of biologicals. Here, we report the results of an in vitro study where detector cell lines were challenged with African and Asian lineages of ZIKV. We demonstrate that this pathogen is robustly detectable by in vitro assay, thereby providing assurance of detection of ZIKV, and in turn underpinning the robustness of in vitro virology assays in safety testing of biologicals

Translating cognitive insights into effective conservation programs: reply to Schakner et al.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2014.09.00

Comparative cognition for conservationists.

Every animal occupies a unique cognitive world based on its sensory capacities, and attentional and learning biases. Behaviour results from the interaction of this cognitive world with the environment. As humans alter environments, cognitive processes ranging from perceptual processes to learned behaviour govern animals' reactions. By harnessing animals' perceptual biases and applying insights from cognitive theory, we can purposefully alter cues to reduce maladaptive responses and shape behaviour. Despite the fundamental connection between cognition and behaviour, the breadth of cognitive theory is underutilised in conservation practice. Bridging these disciplines could augment existing conservation efforts targeting animal behaviour. We outline relevant principles of perception and learning, and develop a step-by-step process for applying aspects of cognition towards specific conservation issues.We would like to thank Nick Davies and several anonymous reviewers for helpful discussions and comments on the manuscript, and Edward Legg and Ljerka Ostojic for feedback on the figures. A.L.G. received generous support from the Gates-Cambridge Trust; A.T. is funded by a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship (BB/H021817/1); B.P. is funded by a Zukerman Research Fellowship at King's College.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2014.06.00