Restoring Constitutional Balance: Accommodating the Evolution of War

When drafting the Constitution, the Framers implemented a structural system of checks and balances to guard against the executive tyranny they had experienced under British rule. During the Vietnam War many in Congress perceived the executive branch as over-reaching, and in response they passed the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which was an attempt to place a procedural check on executive power. This Note examines changes in the technology and actors involved in modern warfare against the scope of the Resolution. The 2011 conflict in Libya is presented as a specific example to demonstrate that modern warfare has evolved outside the scope of the Resolution. Based on the assumption that war powers should be balanced between the executive and legislative branches, this Note argues for new war powers legislation that is more broad and flexible in scope to accommodate the evolution of war

Gravitational energy

Observers at rest in a stationary spacetime flat at infinity can measure small amounts of rest-mass+internal energies+kinetic energies+pressure energy in a small volume of fluid attached to a local inertial frame. The sum of these small amounts is the total "matter energy" for those observers. The total mass-energy minus the matter energy is the binding gravitational energy. Misner, Thorne and Wheeler evaluated the gravitational energy of a spherically symmetric static spacetime. Here we show how to calculate gravitational energy in any static and stationary spacetime for isolated sources with a set of observers at rest. The result of MTW is recovered and we find that electromagnetic and gravitational 3-covariant energy densities in conformastatic spacetimes are of opposite signs. Various examples suggest that gravitational energy is negative in spacetimes with special symmetries or when the energy-momentum tensor satisfies usual energy conditions.Comment: 12 pages. Accepted for publication in Class. Quantum Gra

Origin of the butterfly magnetoresistance in a Dirac nodal-line system

We report a study on the magnetotransport properties and on the Fermi surfaces (FS) of the ZrSi(Se,Te) semimetals. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, in absence of spin orbit coupling (SOC), reveal that both the Se and the Te compounds display Dirac nodal lines (DNL) close to the Fermi level $\varepsilon_F$ at symmorphic and non-symmorphic positions, respectively. We find that the geometry of their FSs agrees well with DFT predictions. ZrSiSe displays low residual resistivities, pronounced magnetoresistivity, high carrier mobilities, and a butterfly-like angle-dependent magnetoresistivity (AMR), although its DNL is not protected against gap opening. As in Cd$_3$As$_2$, its transport lifetime is found to be 10$^2$ to 10$^3$ times larger than its quantum one. ZrSiTe, which possesses a protected DNL, displays conventional transport properties. Our evaluation indicates that both compounds most likely are topologically trivial. Nearly angle-independent effective masses with strong angle dependent quantum lifetimes lead to the butterfly AMR in ZrSiSe

ADM Pseudotensors, Conserved Quantities and Covariant Conservation Laws in General Relativity

The ADM formalism is reviewed and techniques for decomposing generic components of metric, connection and curvature are obtained. These techniques will turn out to be enough to decompose not only Einstein equations but also covariant conservation laws. Then a number of independent sets of hypotheses that are sufficient (though non-necessary) to obtain standard ADM quantities (and Hamiltonian) from covariant conservation laws are considered. This determines explicitely the range in which standard techniques are equivalent to covariant conserved quantities. The Schwarzschild metric in different coordinates is then considered, showing how the standard ADM quantities fail dramatically in non-Cartesian coordinates or even worse when asymptotically flatness is not manifest; while, in view of their covariance, covariant conservation laws give the correct result in all cases.Comment: 40 page

Environmental exposures during windows of susceptibility for breast cancer: a framework for prevention research.

BackgroundThe long time from exposure to potentially harmful chemicals until breast cancer occurrence poses challenges for designing etiologic studies and for implementing successful prevention programs. Growing evidence from animal and human studies indicates that distinct time periods of heightened susceptibility to endocrine disruptors exist throughout the life course. The influence of environmental chemicals on breast cancer risk may be greater during several windows of susceptibility (WOS) in a woman's life, including prenatal development, puberty, pregnancy, and the menopausal transition. These time windows are considered as specific periods of susceptibility for breast cancer because significant structural and functional changes occur in the mammary gland, as well as alterations in the mammary micro-environment and hormone signaling that may influence risk. Breast cancer research focused on these breast cancer WOS will accelerate understanding of disease etiology and prevention.Main textDespite the plausible heightened mechanistic influences of environmental chemicals on breast cancer risk during time periods of change in the mammary gland's structure and function, most human studies of environmental chemicals are not focused on specific WOS. This article reviews studies conducted over the past few decades that have specifically addressed the effect of environmental chemicals and metals on breast cancer risk during at least one of these WOS. In addition to summarizing the broader evidence-base specific to WOS, we include discussion of the NIH-funded Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (BCERP) which included population-based and basic science research focused on specific WOS to evaluate associations between breast cancer risk and particular classes of endocrine-disrupting chemicals-including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, perfluorinated compounds, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and phenols-and metals. We outline ways in which ongoing transdisciplinary BCERP projects incorporate animal research and human epidemiologic studies in close partnership with community organizations and communication scientists to identify research priorities and effectively translate evidence-based findings to the public and policy makers.ConclusionsAn integrative model of breast cancer research is needed to determine the impact and mechanisms of action of endocrine disruptors at different WOS. By focusing on environmental chemical exposure during specific WOS, scientists and their community partners may identify when prevention efforts are likely to be most effective

Hiding in plain sight: the globally distributed bacterial candidate phylum PAUC34f

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Chen, M. L., Becraft, E. D., Pachiadaki, M., Brown, J. M., Jarett, J. K., Gasol, J. M., Ravin, N. V., Moser, D. P., Nunoura, T., Herndl, G. J., Woyke, T., & Stepanauskas, R. Hiding in plain sight: the globally distributed bacterial candidate phylum PAUC34f. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, (2020): 376, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00376.Bacterial candidate phylum PAUC34f was originally discovered in marine sponges and is widely considered to be composed of sponge symbionts. Here, we report 21 single amplified genomes (SAGs) of PAUC34f from a variety of environments, including the dark ocean, lake sediments, and a terrestrial aquifer. The diverse origins of the SAGs and the results of metagenome fragment recruitment suggest that some PAUC34f lineages represent relatively abundant, free-living cells in environments other than sponge microbiomes, including the deep ocean. Both phylogenetic and biogeographic patterns, as well as genome content analyses suggest that PAUC34f associations with hosts evolved independently multiple times, while free-living lineages of PAUC34f are distinct and relatively abundant in a wide range of environments.This work was funded by the United States National Science Foundation grants 1460861 (REU site at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences), 1441717, 1335810, and 1232982 to RS, and the Simons Foundation (Life Sciences Project Award ID 510023) to RS. NR was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia. GH was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) project ARTEMIS (P28781-B21) and the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC (Grant Agreement No. 268595). JG was supported by Spanish project RTI2018-101025-B-I00. TW and JJ were funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Joint Genome Institute, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231

Tobacco cues in India: An ecological momentary assessment

Funding for Open Access provided by the UMD Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Tobacco use in India is a major health concern; however, little is known about the influence of tobacco-related social and environmental cues on tobacco use. This study uses ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine real-time tobacco use and exposure to social and environmental cues. Methods: In Hyderabad and Kolkata, participants were recruited, and an EMA application was installed on their mobile phones. Momentary prompts (MP) were randomly used to collect real-time information and end-of-day (EOD) prompts gathered retrospective information on daily basis. Besides personal tobacco use, the surveys asked about exposure to social (e.g., presence of others using tobacco) and environmental cues (e.g., visual and olfactory stimuli). Using the data aggregation approach, bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine the association of tobacco use and cue exposure. Moderating roles of participants’ socio-demographic characteristics were also tested to gain an in-depth understanding of the relationship. Results: Among the 205 participants, around a third (MP, 33.7 %; EOD, 37.6 %) used tobacco at least once during the study period. Tobacco-related social and environmental cues related were commonly reported. In the bivariate models, tobacco use was associated with gender, age, and all the examined social and environmental cues except for seeing restrictions on tobacco use. In the multivariate models, tobacco use was associated with age, gender, seeing others using tobacco, and seeing restrictions on tobacco use. Seeing others in one’s immediate group using tobacco was the strongest predictor of tobacco use in both MP and EOD assessments. Gender and age did not moderate the relationship between cue exposure and tobacco use, although males reported higher tobacco use and cue exposure in general. Conclusions: This research provides data on the ubiquity of social and environmental tobacco cues in India. The EMA approach was feasible and informative. Future cessation interventions and advocacy efforts should address the high prevalence of tobacco use and exposure to pro-tobacco use cues especially among Indian males. Health education campaigns for promoting tobacco use restrictions in private places as well as changing the norms of tobacco use in social settings are recommended

Is Optimism Associated With Healthier Cardiovascular-Related Behavior? Meta-Analyses of 3 Health Behaviors

Optimistic people have reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular-related mortality compared with their less optimistic peers. One explanation for this is that optimistic people may be more likely to engage in healthy behavior like exercising frequently, eating fruits and vegetables, and avoiding cigarette smoking. However, researchers have not formally determined the extent or direction of optimism’s association with health behaviors. Moreover, it is unclear whether optimism temporally precedes health behaviors or whether the relationship is because of shared common causes. We conducted random effects meta-analyses examining optimism’s association with 3 health behaviors relevant for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched for studies published through November 2017 reporting on optimism’s relationship with physical activity, diet, and cigarette smoking. We identified 34 effect sizes for physical activity (n=90 845), 15 effect sizes for diet (n=47 931), and 15 effect sizes for cigarette smoking (n=15 052). Findings suggested that more optimistic individuals tended to engage in healthier behaviors compared with less optimistic individuals, but effect sizes were modest (ractivity=0.07, P\u3c0.0001; rdiet=0.12, P\u3c0.0001; and rsmoking=0.07, P=0.001). Most evidence was cross-sectional (≥53% of effect sizes) and did not consider sociodemographic characteristics (\u3c53% of effect sizes) or psychological distress (\u3c27% of effect sizes) as potential confounders. Optimism is associated with healthier behaviors that protect against cardiovascular disease, although most evidence was relatively low quality. Additional longitudinal and experimental research is required to determine whether optimism causally contributes to healthy behaviors and whether optimism could be an effective target for preventing cardiovascular disease