A Physical Picture of Bispectrum Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in the Interferometric Basis

We present a picture of the matter bispectrum in a novel "interferometric" basis designed to highlight interference of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the power spectra composing it. Triangles where constructive interference amplifies BAO provide stronger cosmic distance constraints than triangles with destructive interference. We show that the amplitude of the BAO feature in the full cyclically summed bispectrum can be decomposed into simpler contributions from single terms or pairs of terms in the perturbation theory bispectrum, and that across large swathes of our parameter space the full BAO amplitude is described well by the amplitude of BAO in a single term. The dominant term is determined largely by the $F^{(2)}$ kernel of Eulerian standard perturbation theory. We present a simple physical picture of the BAO amplitude in each term; the BAO signal is strongest in triangle configurations where two wavenumbers differ by a multiple of the BAO fundamental wavelength.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure

Toward a Model of 12-Step Engagement: Predicting Recovery Involvement in Narcotics Anonymous

Substance use disorders (SUDs) affect a significant portion of the population and are noteworthy public health concerns. Mutual help organizations (MHOs) such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are considered evidence-based practices for SUDs. Despite a growing body of research examining mechanisms of change in MHOs, relatively few investigations of 12-step organizations have been theory-driven. Theory-based models of recovery provide a more comprehensive view of the range of individual factors affecting individuals in recovery and how and why they might engage in recovery-related behaviors. Stress and coping theory fills a gap in explaining how improvements occur as a result of MHO recovery engagement from a bio-psycho-social perspective. Although some recovery program-related mechanisms of change in MHOs have proven to be important factors in promoting long-term recovery from SUDs, fewer studies have examined what factors may influence participation in recovery practices. Using a sample of community-based Narcotics Anonymous members from 26 U.S. states, the relationships between stress and engagement in various recovery practices are examined from the perspective of a psychobiological, SUD-specific stress and coping framework. It is hypothesized that the relationship between stress and recovery practice engagement is moderated by abstinence duration, such that individuals at lower levels of abstinence duration would have fewer coping resources to mitigate stress and therefore would evidence a greater association between stress and engagement in higher levels of recovery practices. Results indicated the stress-recovery practice involvement relationship was not moderated by abstinence duration, and stress was not significantly associated with any recovery practices. However, helpfulness of social support received from individuals in recovery, abstinence duration, neuroticism, and substance use severity all significantly predicted recovery practice involvement. Gaining additional understanding of mechanisms that influence recovery involvement will allow clinicians and researchers to enhance interventions and facilitate involvement in beneficial aspects of recovery programs

Representations of Haiti in Western News Media: Coverage of the January 2010 Earthquake in Haiti

On January 12, 2010, the Caribbean nation of Haiti suffered from one of the most devastating earthquake in recent history. The purpose of this study is to explore representations of Haiti in Western news media coverage of the disaster. The researcher utilized Jiwani’s (2006) theoretical framework of common sense stock knowledge to explore the relationship between the Western news media and Haiti, with an emphasis on media framing. Additionally, the method of journalistic discourse analysis was employed as a means of analyzing the 90 article sample. The researcher found that there were several frames that dominated coverage of the disaster which resulted in the marginalization of Haiti and Haitians

Standing to Challenge Familial Searches of Commercial DNA Databases

In April 2018, police officers arrested Joseph James DeAngelo. DeAngelo, the officers claimed, was the “Golden State Killer,” a man who committed dozens of murders and over fifty sexual assaults in California in the 1970s and 1980s. The Golden State Killer had long eluded police, even though his DNA profile linked him to dozens of violent crimes. While law enforcement officials from several jurisdictions in California had collected his DNA from crime scenes, the Golden State Killer’s crimes predated modern DNA analysis. Police found little use for the profile without a suspect’s profile to compare to it. Nearly forty years later, the break in the case that ultimately implicated DeAngelo came when officers ran the Golden State Killer’s DNA profile through an online genealogical DNA database, GEDMatch, and located a familial match—one of DeAngelo’s third cousins. Police traced DeAngelo through his family tree, eventually narrowing in on DeAngelo specifically. Police then obtained DeAngelo’s actual DNA sample by search warrant, and confirmed that DeAngelo and the Golden State Killer are one and the same. DeAngelo’s apprehension and subsequent examples of police using similar tactics to solve cold cases—including the NorCal Rapist—spurred a national debate on DNA and privacy. Direct-to-consumer DNA services, such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA, have dramatically expanded in recent years. Over seven million at-home DNA kits were sold in 2017 alone. As of April 2018, more than fifteen million people have undergone direct-to-consumer DNA testing. Some scientists predict that 60 percent of Americans of European descent have a familial match as close as a third cousin in a commercial DNA database. Based on these statistics and the recent success tracking down the Golden State Killer and NorCal Rapist, police will likely see third-party DNA and ancestry databases as a valuable resource to assist in closing cold cases. Law enforcement agencies across the country have thousands of unsolved cases involving DNA with no suspect profile to conduct a comparison. But what are the Fourth Amendment implications of passing a perpetrator’s DNA profile through an ancestry database or compelling a third-party company to do so? Is such a process considered a search or does it otherwise implicate an expectation of privacy sufficient to trigger the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment? If this process constitutes a search, could an individual challenge the search of a family member’s DNA profile if it eventually implicates them? This Note will address these questions. In Part I, this Note will provide an overview of DNA and its use in criminal investigations and prosecutions. Part II will survey both the Supreme Court’s third-party doctrine, including the Court’s recent decision Carpenter v. United States, and the evolution of the Fourth Amendment “standing” doctrine. Part III will compare DNA and cell-site location information, which the Court analyzed in Carpenter, concluding that individuals have an expectation of privacy in their own DNA profile even when shared with a third party. In Part IV, this Note will push the concept of standing, arguing that the nature of DNA—specifically the interconnectedness of DNA among family members—should allow a related individual to challenge the legality of a search of his familial DNA. Part V will address counterarguments

Evaluating the performance of survey-based operational management procedures

The design and evaluation of survey-based management strategies is addressed in this article, using three case-study fisheries: North Sea herring, Bay of Biscay anchovy and North Sea cod, with a brief history and the main management issues with each fishery outlined. A range of operational management procedures for the case study stocks were designed and evaluated using trends that may be derived from survey indices (spawner biomass, year-class strength and total mortality) with an array of simple and more structured observation error regimes simulated. Model-free and model-based indicators of stock status were employed in the management procedures. On the basis of stochastic stock-specific simulations, we identified the following key determinants of successful management procedures: (i) adequate specification of the stock-recruit relationship (model structure, parameter estimates and variability), (ii) knowledge of the magnitude and structure of the variation in the survey indices, and (iii) explication of the particular management objectives, when assessing management performance. More conservative harvesting strategies are required to meet specified targets in the presence of increasing stochasticity, due to both process and observation error. It was seen that survey-based operational management procedures can perform well in the absence of commercial data, and can also inform aspects of survey design with respect to acceptable levels of error or bias in the surveys

Characteristics of Whooping Crane Home Ranges During the Nonbreeding Season in the Eastern Migratory Population

ABSTRACT In 2001, a reintroduced population of Whooping Cranes, known as the Eastern Migratory Population (EMP), was established in the eastern United States. The breeding range for the EMP was in central Wisconsin and the populated originally migrated to the Florida Gulf coast during the nonbreeding season. Beginning in approximately 2004-05, the wintering range for cranes shifted from the Florida Gulf coast to inland marshes in Florida. Between 2007-08 and 2017-18 the winter distribution of this population expanded north to include areas as distant as southern Indiana. To date, there has been no assessment of habitat use of the EMP across the current winter distribution. The objectives of this study were to identify factors influencing daily home range sizes of wintering Whooping Cranes in the EMP, describe habitat characteristics of areas used by cranes within their daily home range, identify the water depths and vegetation heights of used areas, and assess behavior associations with habitat. During two winters (2014-15 and 2015-16), we used radio-telemetry to track 20 and 23 groups of wintering Whooping Cranes, respectively, each for one full day. We recorded their location, behavior, and the habitat characteristics of their locations. Based on natural clustering of winter areas of Whooping Cranes, we grouped winter sites into three regions: North (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky), Central (Tennessee, Alabama), and South (Georgia, Florida, Louisiana). We calculated home range sizes using a 95% kernel density estimate, and home ranges decreased in size from north (4.9 ± 2.8 km2) to central (3.1 ± 1.0 km2) to south (2.3 ± 0.5 km2). Home ranges in the south were also comprised of the greatest proportion of wetlands compared to other regions (south = 37%, central = 7%, north = 1%). To identify habitat characteristics of winter sites, we compared used locations to randomly generated locations within a crane’s home range separately by region. In the north region, cranes used agricultural areas more often than forests, and used areas with hydric soil that were potentially seasonally inundated during winter. In the central region, cranes selected for both agriculture and wetlands compared to forests. Cranes wintering in the south did not select habitat characteristics out of proportion to their availability within their home ranges. We also measured water depths and vegetation heights of used areas, respective to a crane. In all regions, cranes used areas with water or vegetation below the tibiotarsal joint more often than areas with deep water or tall vegetation. Lastly, we compared foraging and loafing behavior in three habitat types (agriculture, grasslands, and wetlands), both pooled and separately by region. Whooping Cranes in the north foraged more often in agriculture than in grasslands or wetlands. However, in the central region, cranes foraged equally in all three habitats, and cranes in the south foraged in either grasslands or wetlands. Loafing behavior was associated with wetlands compared to agriculture or grasslands in all three regions. The findings of this study are the first description of habitat characteristics of areas used by cranes wintering throughout the current and entire winter range of the EMP. Results from this study will inform land managers of wintering habitat use and can benefit conservation planning with respect to future reintroduction efforts of this endangered species

EVALUATING SPEED DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PASSENGER VEHICLES AND HEAVY TRUCKS FOR TRANSPORTATION-RELATED EMISSION MODELING

Heavy vehicles emit emissions at different rates than passenger vehicles. They may behave differently on the road as well, yet they are often treated similarly to passenger vehicles in emissions modeling. Although not frequently considered in calculating emission rates, differences in the operating speeds of passenger vehicles and heavy trucks may influence emissions. The main goal of this research project was to evaluate whether heavy trucks typically travel at significantly different operating speeds than passenger vehicles and what impact differences in on-road speeds would have on emissions. Average speeds and spot speeds were collected for heavy trucks and passenger vehicles for four arterial segments and spot speeds were collected for two freeway segments in Des Moines, Iowa. Average and spot speeds were collected for four arterial segments and three freeway segments in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area. The results of this research show that heavy trucks and passenger vehicles operate differently on the road. Average and spot speeds were compared for heavy trucks and passenger vehicles by facility. Average and spot speeds for heavy-duty trucks were lower than for passenger vehicles for all locations. Differences could have consequences for project level and regional emissions modeling particularly since the ability to demonstrate conformity is based on the ability to correctly estimate and model vehicle activity