817 research outputs found
Barriers to Seeking Campus Therapeutic Services for Sexual Assault
Previous research has found that the majority of sexual assault survivors do not receive therapeutic treatment for their traumatic experience(s), despite the detrimental psychological effects sexual assault can produce (e.g. Kimerling & Calhoun, 1994 Koss & Harvey, 1991 New & Berliner, 2000). The present study examines potential barriers to seeking campus therapeutic services in college women who have experienced sexual assault (or hypothetical sexual assault among those with no history of sexual assault). Overall, knowledge about sexual assault services on campus was quite limited. Knowledge of the location of the campus counseling center was related to an increased likelihood of intending to use campus counseling services if any unwanted sexual experiences occur. The primary reasons students felt they did not or would not use campus therapeutic services after unwanted sexual experiences were examined. Unwanted sexual experiences were found to be significantly predictive of having sought therapy. Respondents who had unwanted sexual experiences had higher levels of PTSD, depression, and alcohol abuse symptom severity than respondents who had not had these experience
Snapshots of a molecular swivel in action
Members of the serine family of site-specific recombinases exchange DNA strands via 180° rotation about a central protein-protein interface. Modeling of this process has been hampered by the lack of structures in more than one rotational state for any individual serine recombinase. Here we report crystal structures of the catalytic domains of four constitutively active mutants of the serine recombinase Sin, providing snapshots of rotational states not previously visualized for Sin, including two seen in the same crystal. Normal mode analysis predicted that each tetramer's lowest frequency mode (i.e. most accessible large-scale motion) mimics rotation: two protomers rotate as a pair with respect to the other two. Our analyses also suggest that rotation is not a rigid body movement around a single symmetry axis but instead uses multiple pivot points and entails internal motions within each subunit
The masses of Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies: The death of the universal mass profile
We investigate the claim that all dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) reside
within halos that share a common, universal mass profile as has been derived
for dSphs of the Galaxy. By folding in kinematic information for 25 Andromeda
dSphs, more than doubling the previous sample size, we find that a singular
mass profile can not be found to fit all the observations well. Further, the
best-fit dark matter density profile measured for solely the Milky Way dSphs is
marginally discrepant (at just beyond the 1 sigma level) with that of the
Andromeda dSphs, where a profile with lower maximum circular velocity, and
hence mass, is preferred. The agreement is significantly better when three
extreme Andromeda outliers, And XIX, XXI and XXV, all of which have large
half-light radii (>600pc) and low velocity dispersions (sigma_v < 5km/s) are
omitted from the sample. We argue that the unusual properties of these outliers
are likely caused by tidal interactions with the host galaxy.Comment: ApJ in press, 16 pages, 7 figures. Updated to address referee
comment
A kinematic study of the Andromeda dwarf spheroidal system
We present a homogeneous kinematic analysis of red giant branch stars within
18 of the 28 Andromeda dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies, obtained using the
Keck I LRIS and Keck II DEIMOS spectrographs. Based on their g-i colors (taken
with the CFHT MegaCam imager), physical positions on the sky, and radial
velocities, we assign probabilities of dSph membership to each observed star.
Using this information, the velocity dispersions, central masses and central
densities of the dark matter halos are calculated for these objects, and
compared with the properties of the Milky Way dSph population. We also measure
the average metallicity ([Fe/H]) from the co-added spectra of member stars for
each M31 dSph and find that they are consistent with the trend of decreasing
[Fe/H] with luminosity observed in the Milky Way population. We find that three
of our studied M31 dSphs appear as significant outliers in terms of their
central velocity dispersion, And XIX, XXI and XXV, all of which have large
half-light radii (>700 pc) and low velocity dispersions (sigma_v<5 km/s). In
addition, And XXV has a mass-to-light ratio within its half-light radius of
just [M/L]_{half}=10.3^{+7.0}_{-6.7}, making it consistent with a simple
stellar system with no appreciable dark matter component within its 1 sigma
uncertainties. We suggest that the structure of the dark matter halos of these
outliers have been significantly altered by tides.Comment: 41 pages, 23 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Environmental drivers of movement in a threatened seabird: insights from a mechanistic model and implications for conservation
Determining the drivers of movement of different life‐history stages is crucial for understanding age‐related changes in survival rates and, for marine top predators, the link between fisheries overlap and incidental mortality (bycatch), which is driving population declines in many taxa. Here, we combine individual tracking data and a movement model to investigate the environmental drivers and conservation implications of divergent movement patterns in juveniles (fledglings) and adults of a threatened seabird, the white‐chinned petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis)
- …