Gun Safety in the Age of Kavanaugh

This Essay takes stock of the different approaches adopted and advocated for in evaluating constitutional challenges in Second Amendment opinions throughout the country. The author’s hope is that doing so will help highlight the contours for debate when the Supreme Court does finally start to define some of the limits purported to exist by Justice Scalia. Part I analyzes the paths explicitly rejected by Heller I by reviewing the limits considered allowable by Justice Scalia. Part II considers the ongoing debate between the courts on the application of “strict” or “intermediate” scrutiny for Second Amendment challenges. Part III examines then-Judge Kavanaugh’s Heller II opinion in comparison to the other options, and finally Part IV discusses the implications of Kavanaugh’s novel approach, particularly in light of the recent change in the Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment jurisprudence and the Court’s grant of certiorari in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. City of New York

SRAD Director\u27s Corner: Recognizing the Increasing Importance of the US-ROK Alliance

My first essay as SRAD director sets the stage for the Strategic Studies Institute’s research on the growing importance of South Korea to the US alliance system and security objectives across the Indo-Pacific region, provides reasons why South Korea may become commensurate with Japan as the region’s primary US ally, and proposes ways the United States should leverage this reality to maximize this relationship and maintain a free and open Pacific. This important analysis challenges the orthodox view of South Korea as a self-contained problem set with little relevance to other regional security issues and explains its underappreciated connections to regional stability

SRAD Director\u27s Corner: Emerging Technologies and Terrorism: A Report from NATO\u27s COE Defence Against Terrorism

The Strategic Studies Institute and the NATO Centre of Excellence for the Defense Against Terrorism have solicited expert researchers’ knowledge on emerging threats and technologies to prepare a (forthcoming) report on emerging technologies in terrorism. The information presented here previews this report, including an overview of key factors inhibiting counterterrorism, examples of potential threat scenarios, and recommendations of ways in which the policy and defense communities can keep apace with the challenges that emerging technologies present

SRAD Director\u27s Corner: US Army War College Russia-Ukraine War Study Project

The Strategic Studies Institute at the US Army War College is analyzing the operational events and activities of the Russia-Ukraine War to understand the war’s strategic implications for the US Army and its role within the NATO Alliance. Analysis will further inform theater and national US strategy and may benefit Army doctrine and concepts vis-à-vis the Russian threat. It will also examine how US and allied defense policies should adjust to the current character of war. Lessons learned from Ukraine are relevant to the evolving challenge in the Pacific in the near term and are opportunities for the United States to progress in terms of integrated deterrence and the provision of assistance with and through partners

Sex Differences in the Diets of Forest-dwelling Baboons (Papio anubis)

The ability to eat and switch between many food sources is an adaptative feeding strategy utilized for meeting nutritional needs across different environments, seasons, and physiological conditions. Baboons (genus Papio) excel at both dietary flexibility and foraging selectively, and consequently have one of the most widespread geographic distributions in the Order. To further expand to our understanding of baboon feeding ecology, I analyzed foraging activity and the nutritional characteristics of the diets of the relatively understudied rainforest baboons (Papio anubis) living in Kibale National Park, Uganda. I also investigated if there are differences in food type choice and in the nutritional composition of diets among adult males, adult females, and subadult males. Using long-term data collected by Wildlife Ecology & Nutrition Project, I analyzed foraging time budgets of 23 baboons in relation to both food types eaten and by plant species. I also conducted a preliminary assessment of the overall nutritional intake and diet composition of this study group. To investigate sex/age class differences, I compared both the time spent feeding on each major food type and the daily nutritional intake rates among the sex/age classes. Kibale baboons were found to have a diet composed of 44.6% fruits, 24.1% piths, 10.9% leaves, 5.8% gums, 5.8% seeds, 2.4% roots, 2.4% flowers, 2.2% leaf galls, 1.4% insects, and 0.4% bark. The baboons consumed a relatively high amount of easily digestible carbohydrates and a low amount of crude protein compared to many of the previously studied baboon populations. There were sex/age class differences in mean time spent feeding on insects (χ2(2) = 8.87, p = .01), with subadult males being observed to eat significantly more insects than adult males (p = \u3c 0.01), but not more than adult females (p = 0.06). My results also presented partial evidence that males may have proportionally more crude protein and fat in their diet compared to subadult males and adult females, while subadult males may have diets higher in digestible carbohydrates compared to adults. Most of the findings in this study reinforce established feeding patterns previously observed in baboons, but also support the idea that selective generalists often have diets unique to their environment. The study is less conclusive in terms of determining if there are sex differences in the diets of baboons but does provides pathways for future investigations

Ground State Energy of the One-Component Charged Bose Gas

The model considered here is the `jellium' model in which there is a uniform, fixed background with charge density $-e\rho$ in a large volume $V$ and in which $N=\rho V$ particles of electric charge $+e$ and mass $m$ move --- the whole system being neutral. In 1961 Foldy used Bogolubov's 1947 method to investigate the ground state energy of this system for bosonic particles in the large $\rho$ limit. He found that the energy per particle is $-0.402 r_s^{-3/4} {me^4}/{\hbar^2}$ in this limit, where $r_s=(3/4\pi \rho)^{1/3}e^2m/\hbar^2$. Here we prove that this formula is correct, thereby validating, for the first time, at least one aspect of Bogolubov's pairing theory of the Bose gasComment: 38 pages latex. Typos corrected.Lemma 6.2 change

Trade-offs and synergies of climate change adaptation strategies among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review

Climate change adaptation strategies provide a cushion for smallholder farmers, especially in sub Saharan Africa against the risks posed by climate hazards such as droughts and floods. However, the decision-making process in climate adaptation is complex. To better understand the dynamics of the process, we strive to answer this question: what are the potential trade-offs and synergies related to decision-making and implementation of climate adaptation strategies among small holder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa region? A systematic literature review methodology was used through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement with the four-stage inclusion/exclusion criteria to identify the literature from selected databases (Scopus and Google Scholar). The climate adaptation strategies are organized into five broad categories (crop management, risk management, soil/land management, water manage ment, and livestock management strategies). Evidence suggests that potential trade-offs may arise concerning added costs, additional labor requirements, and competition among objectives or available resources. The synergies, on the other hand, arise from implementing two or more adaptation strategies concurrently in respect of increased productivity, resilience, yield stability, sustainability, and environmental protection. Trade-offs and synergies may also differ among the various adaptation strategies with minimum/zero tillage, comparatively, presenting more trade offs. The development and promotion of low-cost adaptation strategies and complementary climate adaptation options that minimize the trade-offs and maximize the synergies are suggested. Skills and knowledge on proper implementation of climate change adaptation strategies are encouraged, especially at the local farm level

Precession of the Super-Massive Black Hole in NGC 1275 (3C 84)?

The X-ray holes at the centre of the Perseus Cluster of galaxies are not all at the same position angle with respect to the centre of the cluster. This configuration would result if the jet inflating the bubbles is precessing, or moving around, and the bubbles detach at different times. The orientations which best fit the observed travel directions are an inclination of the precession axis to the line of sight of 120 degrees and an opening angle of 50 degrees. From the timescales for the bubbles seen in the cluster, the precession timescale, t_prec, is around 3.3x10^7 yrs. The bubbles rising up through different parts of the cluster may have interacted with the central cool gas, forming the whorl of cool gas observed in the temperature structure of the cluster. The dynamics of bubbles rising in fluids is discussed. The conditions present in the cluster are such that oscillatory motion, observed for bubbles rising in fluids on Earth, should take place. However the timescale for this motion is longer than that taken for the bubbles to evolve into spherical cap bubbles, which do not undergo a path instability, so such motion is not expected to occur.Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

Limits on Gravitational-Wave Emission from Selected Pulsars Using LIGO Data

We place direct upper limits on the amplitude of gravitational waves from 28 isolated radio pulsars by a coherent multidetector analysis of the data collected during the second science run of the LIGO interferometric detectors. These are the first direct upper limits for 26 of the 28 pulsars. We use coordinated radio observations for the first time to build radio-guided phase templates for the expected gravitational-wave signals. The unprecedented sensitivity of the detectors allows us to set strain upper limits as low as a few times 10^(-24). These strain limits translate into limits on the equatorial ellipticities of the pulsars, which are smaller than 10^(-5) for the four closest pulsars