Law Enforcement’s Information Sharing Infrastructure: A National Assessment

The September 11 attacks impacted society generally, and law enforcement specifically, in dramatic ways. One of the major trends has been changing expectations regarding criminal intelligence practices among state, local, and tribal (SLT) law enforcement agencies and the need to coordinate intelligence efforts and share information at all levels of government. In fact, enhancing intelligence efforts has emerged as a critical issue for the prevention of all threats and crimes. To date, an increasing number of SLT law enforcement agencies have expanded their intelligence capacity, and there have been fundamental changes in the national, state, and local information sharing infrastructure. Moreover, critical to these expanding information sharing expectations is the institutionalization of fusion centers (FCs). Despite these dramatic changes, an expanding role, and the acknowledgement that local law enforcement intelligence is critical to the prevention and deterrence of threats and crimes, very little research exists that highlights issues related to the intelligence practices of SLT law enforcement agencies and FCs.1 This research describes what agencies are doing to build an intelligence capacity and assesses the state of information sharing among agencies. Specifically, a national survey was developed to examine the experiences of SLT agencies and FCs for building an intelligence capacity as well as to understand critical gaps in the sharing of information regarding intelligence

From Earth to Orbit: An assessment of transportation options

The report assesses the requirements, benefits, technological feasibility, and roles of Earth-to-Orbit transportation systems and options that could be developed in support of future national space programs. Transportation requirements, including those for Mission-to-Planet Earth, Space Station Freedom assembly and operation, human exploration of space, space science missions, and other major civil space missions are examined. These requirements are compared with existing, planned, and potential launch capabilities, including expendable launch vehicles (ELV's), the Space Shuttle, the National Launch System (NLS), and new launch options. In addition, the report examines propulsion systems in the context of various launch vehicles. These include the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM), the Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), the Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU), the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), the Space Transportation Main Engine (STME), existing expendable launch vehicle engines, and liquid-oxygen/hydrocarbon engines. Consideration is given to systems that have been proposed to accomplish the national interests in relatively cost effective ways, with the recognition that safety and reliability contribute to cost-effectiveness. Related resources, including technology, propulsion test facilities, and manufacturing capabilities are also discussed

Classifying children with reading difficulties from non-impaired readers via symbolic dynamics and complexity analysis of MEG resting-state data

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a brain imaging method affording real-time temporal, and adequate spatial resolution to reveal aberrant neurophysiological function associated with dyslexia. In this study we analyzed sensor-level resting-state neuromagnetic recordings from 25 reading-disabled children and 27 non-impaired readers under the notion of symbolic dynamics and complexity analysis. We compared two techniques for estimating the complexity of MEG time-series in each of 8 frequency bands based on symbolic dynamics: (a) Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC) entailing binarization of each MEG time series using the mean amplitude as a threshold, and (b) An approach based on the neural-gas algorithm (NG) which has been used by our group in the context of various symbolization schemes. The NG approach transforms each MEG time series to more than two symbols by learning the reconstructed manifold of each time series with a small error. Using this algorithm we computed a complexity index (CI) based on the distribution of words up to a predetermined length. The relative performance of the two complexity indexes was assessed using a classification procedure based on k-NN and Support Vector Machines. Results revealed the capacity of CI to discriminate impaired from non-impaired readers with 80% accuracy. Corresponding performance of LZC values did not exceed 55%. These findings indicate that symbolization of MEG recordings with an appropriate neuroinformatic approach, such as the proposed CI metric, may be of value in understanding the neural dynamics of dyslexia

Antecedent moisture and temperature conditions modulate the response of ecosystem respiration to elevated CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e and warming

Terrestrial plant and soil respiration, or ecosystem respiration (Reco), represents a major CO2 flux in the global carbon cycle. However, there is disagreement in how Reco will respond to future global changes, such as elevated atmosphere CO2 and warming. To address this, we synthesized six years (2007–2012) of Reco data from the Prairie Heating And CO2 Enrichment (PHACE) experiment. We applied a semi-mechanistic temperature–response model to simultaneously evaluate the response of Reco to three treatment factors (elevated CO2, warming, and soil water manipulation) and their interactions with antecedent soil conditions [e.g., past soil water content (SWC) and temperature (SoilT)] and aboveground factors (e.g., vapor pressure deficit, photosynthetically active radiation, vegetation greenness). The model fits the observed Reco well (R2 = 0.77). We applied the model to estimate annual (March–October) Reco, which was stimulated under elevated CO2 in most years, likely due to the indirect effect of elevated CO2 on SWC. When aggregated from 2007 to 2012, total six-year Reco was stimulated by elevated CO2 singly (24%) or in combination with warming (28%). Warming had little effect on annual Reco under ambient CO2, but stimulated it under elevated CO2 (32% across all years) when precipitation was high (e.g., 44% in 2009, a ‘wet’ year). Treatment-level differences in Reco can be partly attributed to the effects of antecedent SoilT and vegetation greenness on the apparent temperature sensitivity of Reco and to the effects of antecedent and current SWC and vegetation activity (greenness modulated by VPD) on Reco base rates. Thus, this study indicates that the incorporation of both antecedent environmental conditions and aboveground vegetation activity are critical to predicting Reco at multiple timescales (subdaily to annual) and under a future climate of elevated CO2 and warming

Quantification of Hydrological, Geochemical, and Mineralogical Processes Governing the Fate and Transport of Uranium over Multiple Scales in Hanford Sediments

A long-term measure of the DOE Environmental Remediation Sciences Division is to provide sufficient scientific understanding to allow a significant fraction of DOE sites to incorporate coupled biological, chemical, and physical processes into decision making for environmental remediation and long-term stewardship by 2015. Our research targets two related, major obstacles to understanding and predicting contaminant transport at DOE sites: the heterogeneity of subsurface geologic media, and the scale dependence of experimental and modeled results

White matter microstructure of the extended limbic system in male and female youth with conduct disorder

BackgroundPrevious studies of conduct disorder (CD) have reported structural and functional alterations in the limbic system. However, the white matter tracts that connect limbic regions have not been comprehensively studied. The uncinate fasciculus (UF), a tract connecting limbic to prefrontal regions, has been implicated in CD. However, CD-related alterations in other limbic tracts, such as the cingulum and the fornix, have not been investigated. Furthermore, few studies have examined the influence of sex and none have been adequately powered to test whether the relationship between CD and structural connectivity differs by sex. We examined whether adolescent males and females with CD exhibit differences in structural connectivity compared with typically developing controls.MethodsWe acquired diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data from 101 adolescents with CD (52 females) and 99 controls (50 females). Data were processed for deterministic spherical deconvolution tractography. Virtual dissections of the UF, the three subdivisions of the cingulum [retrosplenial cingulum (RSC), parahippocampal and subgenual cingulum], and the fornix were performed and measures of fractional anisotropy (FA) and hindrance-modulated orientational anisotropy (HMOA) were analysed.ResultsThe CD group had lower FA and HMOA in the right RSC tract relative to controls. Importantly, these effects were moderated by sex – males with CD significantly lower FA compared to male controls, whereas CD and control females did not differ.ConclusionsOur results highlight the importance of considering sex when studying the neurobiological basis of CD. Sex differences in RSC connectivity may contribute to sex differences in the clinical presentation of CD

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY) : a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Funding UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (Grant ref: MC_PC_19056). Acknowledgements Above all, we would like to thank the patients who participated in this trial. We would also like to thank the many doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other allied health professionals, and research administrators at NHS hospital organisations across the whole of the UK, supported by staff at the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network, NHS DigiTrials, Public Health England, Department of Health & Social Care, the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre, Public Health Scotland, National Records Service of Scotland, the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) at University of Swansea, and the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The RECOVERY trial is supported by grants to the University of Oxford from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and NIHR (MC_PC_19056), the Wellcome Trust (Grant Ref: 222406/Z/20/Z) through the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, and by core funding provided by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, the Wellcome Trust, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Health Data Research UK, the Medical Research Council Population Health Research Unit, the NIHR Health Protection Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, and NIHR Clinical Trials Unit Support Funding. TJ is supported by a grant from UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_0002/14). WSL is supported by core funding provided by NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre. Tocilizumab was provided free of charge for this trial by Roche Products Limited. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals supported the trial through provision of casirivimab and imdevimab. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, or the UK Department of Health and Social Care. For the purpose of Open Access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. The sponsor was not involved in study design, data collection and analysis or manuscript writing.Peer reviewe

Chasing ambiguity: critical reflections on working with dance graduates

This paper questions whether are we able to foster uncertainty and ambiguity within higher education arts programmes, specifically alongside current institutional demands and embedded pedagogies. If not, then what effect does this have on current dance graduates? I attend to these questions through critical reflections upon my work as a pedagogue, specifically reflecting upon a series of artistic choreographic projects working in collaboration with recent dance graduates. During these choreographic projects, my interactions with the graduates illuminated their struggle to operate within ambiguous creative spaces outside of institutional environments. This struggle manifest in turbulent working relationships and highlighted perceived contradictions or ‘gaps’ between what creative arts education attempts to teach, how it is taught within the institution, and what graduates demonstrate within professional creative practice. Through a recognition and critique of these ‘gaps’, I question whether it is possible to actively work within these ‘messy’ spaces, to chase the ambiguities present, in order to foster sustainable dance graduates that can work more visibly alongside academics and professionals to shape the current dance landscape

Ten papers for teachers of evidence-based medicine and health care: Sicily workshop 2019

A previous article sought to signpost papers that were considered helpful when starting on the journey of practicing evidence-based medicine (EBM). The lead author was invited to run a workshop at the Eighth Conference of the International Society for Evidence-Based Health Care run in collaboration with the Gruppo Italiano per la Medicina Basata sulle Evidenze from 6 November to 9 November 2019. The aim of the workshop was to challenge a group of teachers and educators to consider useful papers for the teaching of EBM/evidence-based healthcare (EBHC). The second aim was to start a database of such studies. The third aim was to share learning and foster discussion from the workshop through journal publication. EBM and EBHC are used interchangeably throughout this article