You Go To War with the Army You Have‟, Not the Army You Might Want or Need: A Case Study in Army Mediated Crisis Management

In December 2004, an enlisted soldier challenged the Secretary of Defense on international television and caused a media crisis situation in Kuwait and Washington D.C. that created a historic opportunity for military public affairs professionals to react to the press with electronic news gathering (ENG) technology. This case study examines how the Army responded from Kuwait and subjects these events to models of response generated by Coombs (1995) and Hale et al (2005). The intent is to examine the media crisis response strategies employed by the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) and to compare them with strategies that have been identified and addressed in contemporary crisis management literature

Historical Text and Historical Archaeology: Hunting the Narrative of Kievan Rus

This paper focuses on the historical narrative of Kievan Rus between 860 to 1240 and the importance of historical archaeology in order to gain a clearer understanding of its history. Very few sources written in the 9th to 13th centuries in Rus survive today. The Primary Chronicle is the most widely known and available account of the history of Rus for historians to use. However, scholars utilize the chronicle with caution because the original oldest surviving chronicle was written almost two centuries after the first dated entry. We can expect that not everything written in the chronicles was accurate and that changes would have been made. Since the Primary Chronicle is a fundamental piece of literature for historians studying the history of Kievan Rus, I will be closely examining passages from Samuel Cross’s translation of the Primary Chronicle to understand the once-official narrative and identify archaeological evidence that either supports or challenges the official narrative. I will discuss issues regarding: the so-called Norman Controversy, Khazar influence in Kiev, construction and utilization of boats, traditional Scandinavian boat graves, the organization of the city of Kiev, and literacy among non-elite townspeople

Teaching Therapeutic Yoga to Medical Outpatients: Practice Descriptions, Process Reflections, and Preliminary Outcomes

This article describes therapeutic Yoga practices designed for a medical population with mixed diagnoses and a wide range of health challenges. We present preliminary data from 54 adults who participated in Yoga classes at a community medical center serving seventeen counties in Northeast Georgia. Findings suggest that attending therapeutic group Yoga classes can improve health perceptions and mindfulness. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for clinical practice and future research. The Yoga practices are described in detail, for the benefit of teachers and researchers who wish to replicate the practices

Using Markov Chains for link prediction in adaptive web sites

The large number of Web pages on many Web sites has raised navigational problems. Markov chains have recently been used to model user navigational behavior on the World Wide Web (WWW). In this paper, we propose a method for constructing a Markov model of a Web site based on past visitor behavior. We use the Markov model to make link predictions that assist new users to navigate the Web site. An algorithm for transition probability matrix compression has been used to cluster Web pages with similar transition behaviors and compress the transition matrix to an optimal size for efficient probability calculation in link prediction. A maximal forward path method is used to further improve the efficiency of link prediction. Link prediction has been implemented in an online system called ONE (Online Navigation Explorer) to assist users' navigation in the adaptive Web site

Physics-Based Swarm Intelligence for Disaster Relief Communications

This study explores how a swarm of aerial mobile vehicles can provide network connectivity and meet the stringent requirements of public protection and disaster relief operations. In this context, we design a physics-based controlled mobility strategy, which we name the extended Virtual Force Protocol (VFPe), allowing self-propelled nodes, and in particular here unmanned aerial vehicles, to fly autonomously and cooperatively. In this way, ground devices scattered on the operation site may establish communications through the wireless multi-hop communication routes formed by the network of aerial nodes. We further investigate through simulations the behavior of the VFPe protocol, notably focusing on the way node location information is disseminated into the network as well as on the impact of the number of exploration nodes on the overall network performance.Comment: in International Conference on Ad Hoc Networks and Wireless, Jul 2016, Lille, Franc

ISOWN: accurate somatic mutation identification in the absence of normal tissue controls.

BackgroundA key step in cancer genome analysis is the identification of somatic mutations in the tumor. This is typically done by comparing the genome of the tumor to the reference genome sequence derived from a normal tissue taken from the same donor. However, there are a variety of common scenarios in which matched normal tissue is not available for comparison.ResultsIn this work, we describe an algorithm to distinguish somatic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in next-generation sequencing data from germline polymorphisms in the absence of normal samples using a machine learning approach. Our algorithm was evaluated using a family of supervised learning classifications across six different cancer types and ~1600 samples, including cell lines, fresh frozen tissues, and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues; we tested our algorithm with both deep targeted and whole-exome sequencing data. Our algorithm correctly classified between 95 and 98% of somatic mutations with F1-measure ranges from 75.9 to 98.6% depending on the tumor type. We have released the algorithm as a software package called ISOWN (Identification of SOmatic mutations Without matching Normal tissues).ConclusionsIn this work, we describe the development, implementation, and validation of ISOWN, an accurate algorithm for predicting somatic mutations in cancer tissues in the absence of matching normal tissues. ISOWN is available as Open Source under Apache License 2.0 from https://github.com/ikalatskaya/ISOWN

Age and Sex Differences in Steadiness of Elbow Flexor Muscles with Imposed Cognitive Demand

Purpose: These studies determined (1) age and sex-related differences in steadiness of isometric contractions when high cognitive demand was imposed across a range of forces with the elbow flexor muscles (study 1) and, (2) sex differences in steadiness among older adults when low cognitive demand was imposed (study 2). Methods: 36 young adults (18–25 years; 18 women) and 30 older adults (60–82 years; 17 women) performed isometric contractions at 5%, 30% and 40% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). Study 1 involved a high-cognitive demand session (serial subtractions by 13 during the contraction) and a control session (no mental math). Study 2 (older adults only) involved a low-cognitive demand session (subtracting by 1s). Results: Older individuals exhibited greater increases in force fluctuations (coefficient of variation of force, CV) with high cognitive demand than young adults, with the largest age difference at 5% MVC (P = 0.01). Older adults had greater agonist EMG activity with high-cognitive demand and women had greater coactivation than men (PP = 0.03). Conclusion: Older adults had reduced steadiness and increased muscle activation when high cognitive demand was imposed while low cognitive demand induced increased force fluctuations in older women but not older men. These findings have implications for daily and work-related tasks that involve cognitive demand performed simultaneously during submaximal isometric contractions in an aging workforce

The Game-Theoretical Model of Using Insecticide-Treated Bed-Nets to Fight Malaria

Malaria infection is a major problem in many countries. The use of the Insecticide-Treated BedNets (ITNs) has been shown to significantly reduce the number of malaria infections; however, the effectiveness is often jeopardized by improper handling or human behavior such as inconsistent usage. In this paper, we present a game-theoretical model for ITN usage in communities with malaria infections. We show that it is in the individual’s self interest to use the ITNs as long as the malaria is present in the community. Such an optimal ITN usage will significantly decrease the malaria prevalence and under some conditions may even lead to complete eradication of the disease

Toward an integrative Social Identity model of Collective Action: A quantitative research synthesis of three socio-psychological perspectives.

An integrative social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) is developed that incorporates 3 socio-psychological perspectives on collective action. Three meta-analyses synthesized a total of 182 effects of perceived injustice, efficacy, and identity on collective action (corresponding to these socio-psychological perspectives). Results showed that, in isolation, all 3 predictors had medium-sized (and causal) effects. Moreover, results showed the importance of social identity in predicting collective action by supporting SIMCA's key predictions that (a) affective injustice and politicized identity produced stronger effects than those of non-affective injustice and non-politicized identity; (b) identity predicted collective action against both incidental and structural disadvantages, whereas injustice and efficacy predicted collective action against incidental disadvantages better than against structural disadvantages; (c) all 3 predictors had unique medium-sized effects on collective action when controlling for between-predictor covariance; and (d) identity bridged the injustice and efficacy explanations of collective action. Results also showed more support for SIMCA than for alternative models reflecting previous attempts at theoretical integration. The authors discuss key implications for theory, practice, future research, and further integration of social and psychological perspectives on collective action

Ariel - Volume 3 Number 4

Editors Richard J. Bonanno Robin A. Edwards Associate Editors Steven Ager Tom Williams Lay-out Editor Eugenia Miller Contributing Editors Paul Bialas Robert Breckenridge Lynne Porter David Jacoby Terry Burt Mark Pearlman Michael Leo Mike LeWitt Editors Emeritus Delvyn C. Case, Jr. Paul M. Fernhof