Solar-Terrestrial Science Strategy Workshop

The conclusions and recommendations reached at the Solar Terrestrial Science Strategy Workshop are summarized. The charter given to this diverse group was: (1) to establish the level of scientific understanding to be accomplished with the completion of the current and near term worldwide programs; (2) identify the significant scientific questions to be answered by future solar terrestrial programs, and the programs required to answer these questions; and (3) map out a program strategy, taking into consideration currently perceived space capabilities and constraints, to accomplish the identified program

Lindsay Kropp, Senior Art Exhibition Portfolio

The Senior Art Exhibition was on display in the Baer Gallery in the spring of 2019. This work consists of package design, advertising brochure, stop-motion film, and sculpture.https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/artportfolios/1033/thumbnail.jp

Trend assessment: Applications for hydrology and climate research

The assessment of trends in climatology and hydrology still is a matter of debate. Capturing typical properties of time series, like trends, is highly relevant for the discussion of potential impacts of global warming or flood occurrences. It provides indicators for the separation of anthropogenic signals and natural forcing factors by distinguishing between deterministic trends and stochastic variability. In this contribution river run-off data from gauges in Southern Germany are analysed regarding their trend behaviour by combining a deterministic trend component and a stochastic model part in a semi-parametric approach. In this way the trade-off between trend and autocorrelation structure can be considered explicitly. A test for a significant trend is introduced via three steps: First, a stochastic fractional ARIMA model, which is able to reproduce short-term as well as long-term correlations, is fitted to the empirical data. In a second step, wavelet analysis is used to separate the variability of small and large time-scales assuming that the trend component is part of the latter. Finally, a comparison of the overall variability to that restricted to small scales results in a test for a trend. The extraction of the large-scale behaviour by wavelet analysis provides a clue concerning the shape of the trend

A multi-site, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of buspirone as a relapse-prevention treatment for cocaine dependence

Objective—To evaluate the potential efficacy of buspirone as a relapse-prevention treatment for cocaine dependence. Method—A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 16-week pilot trial conducted at six clinical sites between August 2012 and June 2013. Adult crack cocaine users meeting DSM-IVTR criteria for current cocaine dependence scheduled to be in inpatient/residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment for 12–19 days when randomized, and planning to enroll in local outpatient treatment through the end of the active treatment phase were randomized to buspirone titrated to 60 mg/day (n=35) or to placebo (n=27). All participants received psychosocial treatment as usually provided by the SUD treatment programs in which they were enrolled. Outcome measures included maximum days of continuous cocaine abstinence (primary), proportion of cocaine use days, and days-to-first-cocaine-use during the outpatient treatment phase (study weeks 4–15) as assessed by self-report and urine drug screens. Results—There were no significant treatment effects on maximum continuous days of cocaine abstinence or days to first cocaine use. In the females (n=23), there was a significant treatment-bytime interaction effect (X2 (1)=6.06, p=.01), reflecting an increase in cocaine use by the buspirone, relative to placebo, participants early in the outpatient treatment phase. A similar effect was not detected in the male participants (n=39; X2 (1)=0.14, p=.70). Conclusions—The results suggest that buspirone is unlikely to have a beneficial effect on preventing relapse to cocaine use and that buspirone for cocaine-dependent women may worsen their cocaine-use outcomes. Trial Registration—Clinical Trials.gov http://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Identifier: NCT0164115

Trend assessment: applications for hydrology and climate research

The assessment of trends in climatology and hydrology still is a matter of debate. Capturing typical properties of time series, like trends, is highly relevant for the discussion of potential impacts of global warming or flood occurrences. It provides indicators for the separation of anthropogenic signals and natural forcing factors by distinguishing between deterministic trends and stochastic variability. In this contribution river run-off data from gauges in Southern Germany are analysed regarding their trend behaviour by combining a deterministic trend component and a stochastic model part in a semi-parametric approach. In this way the trade-off between trend and autocorrelation structure can be considered explicitly. A test for a significant trend is introduced via three steps: First, a stochastic fractional ARIMA model, which is able to reproduce short-term as well as long-term correlations, is fitted to the empirical data. In a second step, wavelet analysis is used to separate the variability of small and large time-scales assuming that the trend component is part of the latter. Finally, a comparison of the overall variability to that restricted to small scales results in a test for a trend. The extraction of the large-scale behaviour by wavelet analysis provides a clue concerning the shape of the trend

Traffic Noise at Moderate Levels Affects Cognitive Performance: Do Distance-Induced Temporal Changes Matter?

Urbanization leads to an increased demand for urban housing, which can be met by building dwellings closer to streets. Regulations often limit equivalent sound pressure levels which do not account for changes in time structure that occur when decreasing the road distance. This study investigates the effect of such temporal changes on subjective workload and cognitive performance. A group of 42 participants performed a continuous performance test as well as a NASA-TLX workload test under three different sound conditions, i.e., close traffic, far traffic, both with the same equivalent sound pressure level of LAeq ≈ 40 dB, and silence. Additionally, participants answered a questionnaire regarding their preferred acoustic environment for concentrated working. Significant effects of the sound condition on the multivariate workload results as well as on the number of commission errors in the continuous performance test were found. Post hoc tests showed no significant differences between the two noise conditions, but there were significant differences between noise and silence. This indicates that moderate traffic noise levels can influence cognitive performance and perceived workload. If there is a difference in the human response to road traffic noise with constant LAeq but different time structures, the used methods are not suitable to detect them