CONDITIONED TO GRIEVE OR DEAD INSIDE: LINE OF DUTY DEATHS AND MENTAL RESILIENCE

In the course of a firefighting career, firefighters attend line-of-duty funerals for other firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical service (EMS) professionals, and perhaps members of the armed forces from within their community, in addition to funerals of friends and family members. The basic purpose of a funeral in society allows the family and friends to say goodbye to a loved one. The fire service does a lot more. The fire service communal response and normalization of death rituals are something that few, if any, other death-related (DR) occupations do as effectively. This thesis considers the importance of death rituals from a historical perspective. It then examines mental resilience by comparing culture, community, and social identity in the fire service with other DR occupations. Current research on death and trauma in the professional workplace is limited and there is an absence of research connecting consistent participation in death rituals through funeral attendance with mental resilience when encountering death, in particular a line-of-duty death. Policy recommendations include instituting programs that normalize funeral attendance, and additional areas of research include studying those who have had early positive experiences with death and dying and their mental resiliency today.Civilian, FDNYApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Agricultural producer perceptions of climate change and climate education needs for the Central Great Plains

Citation: Hibbs, Amber Campbell, Daniel Kahl, Lisa PytlikZillig, Ben Champion, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Timothy Steffensmeier, Charles W. Rice, and Kenneth Hubbard. “Agricultural Producer Perceptions of Climate Change and Climate Education Needs for the Central Great Plains.” Journal of Extension 52, no. 3 (June 2014). https://www.joe.org/joe/2014june/a2.php.The Central Great Plains Climate Education Partnership conducted focus groups throughout Kansas to gain a better understanding of farmer perceptions and attitudes towards climate change education. Results indicate concern about climatic changes, even if producers are unsure that "human caused climate change" is occurring. Participants indicated they would like access to information through Web-based programs that allow them to manipulate variables relevant to their area and situation. Participants prefer locally relevant information and identified Extension agents as trusted educators. The study provided an expanded understanding of agricultural producer perceptions that will be valuable to individuals or organizations providing climate education

A Tight Upper Limit on Oscillations in the Ap star Epsilon Ursae Majoris from WIRE Photometry

Observations of Epsilon UMa obtained with the star tracker on the Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) satellite during a month in mid-2000 are analyzed. This is one of the most precise photometry of an Ap star. The amplitude spectrum is used to set an upper limit of 75 parts per million for the amplitude of stellar pulsations in this star unless it accidentally oscillates with a single mode at the satellite orbit, its harmonics or their one day aliases. This is the tightest limit put on the amplitude of oscillations in an Ap star. As the rotation period of Epsilon UMa is relatively short (5.1 d), it cannot be argued that the observations were made at a wrong rotational phase. Our results thus support the idea that some Ap stars do not pulsate at all.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 2 style files, accepted for publication in ApJ

Algorithm Selection Framework for Cyber Attack Detection

The number of cyber threats against both wired and wireless computer systems and other components of the Internet of Things continues to increase annually. In this work, an algorithm selection framework is employed on the NSL-KDD data set and a novel paradigm of machine learning taxonomy is presented. The framework uses a combination of user input and meta-features to select the best algorithm to detect cyber attacks on a network. Performance is compared between a rule-of-thumb strategy and a meta-learning strategy. The framework removes the conjecture of the common trial-and-error algorithm selection method. The framework recommends five algorithms from the taxonomy. Both strategies recommend a high-performing algorithm, though not the best performing. The work demonstrates the close connectedness between algorithm selection and the taxonomy for which it is premised.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, accepted to WiseML '2

The Blackbody Radiation Spectrum Follows from Zero-Point Radiation and the Structure of Relativistic Spacetime in Classical Physics

The analysis of this article is entirely within classical physics. Any attempt to describe nature within classical physics requires the presence of Lorentz-invariant classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation so as to account for the Casimir forces between parallel conducting plates at low temperatures. Furthermore, conformal symmetry carries solutions of Maxwell's equations into solutions. In an inertial frame, conformal symmetry leaves zero-point radiation invariant and does not connect it to non-zero-temperature; time-dilating conformal transformations carry the Lorentz-invariant zero-point radiation spectrum into zero-point radiation and carry the thermal radiation spectrum at non-zero temperature into thermal radiation at a different non-zero-temperature. However, in a non-inertial frame, a time-dilating conformal transformation carries classical zero-point radiation into thermal radiation at a finite non-zero-temperature. By taking the no-acceleration limit, one can obtain the Planck radiation spectrum for blackbody radiation in an inertial frame from the thermal radiation spectrum in an accelerating frame. Here this connection between zero-point radiation and thermal radiation is illustrated for a scalar radiation field in a Rindler frame undergoing relativistic uniform proper acceleration through flat spacetime in two spacetime dimensions. The analysis indicates that the Planck radiation spectrum for thermal radiation follows from zero-point radiation and the structure of relativistic spacetime in classical physics.Comment: 21 page

Expression of paramyxovirus V proteins promotes replication and spread of hepatitis C virus in cultures of primary human fetal liver cells

Here we demonstrate that primary cultures of human fetal liver cells (HFLC) reliably support infection with laboratory strains of hepatitis C virus (HCV), although levels of virus replication vary significantly between different donor cell preparations and frequently decline in a manner suggestive of active viral clearance. To investigate possible contributions of the interferon (IFN) system to control HCV infection in HFLC, we exploited the well-characterized ability of paramyxovirus (PMV) V proteins to counteract both IFN induction and antiviral signaling. The V proteins of measles virus (MV) and parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) were introduced into HFLC using lentiviral vectors encoding a fluorescent reporter for visualization of HCV-infected cells. V protein-transduced HFLC supported enhanced (10 to 100-fold) levels of HCV infection relative to untransduced or control vector-transduced HFLC. Infection was assessed by measurement of virus-driven luciferase, by assays for infectious HCV and viral RNA, and by direct visualization of HCV-infected hepatocytes. Live cell imaging between 48 and 119 hours postinfection demonstrated little or no spread of infection in the absence of PMV V protein expression. In contrast, V protein-transduced HFLC showed numerous HCV infection events. V protein expression efficiently antagonized the HCV-inhibitory effects of added IFNs in HFLC. In addition, induction of the type III IFN, IL29, following acute HCV infection was inhibited in V protein-transduced cultures. Conclusion: These studies suggest that the cellular IFN response plays a significant role in limiting the spread of HCV infection in primary hepatocyte cultures. Strategies aimed at dampening this response may be key to further development of robust HCV culture systems, enabling studies of virus pathogenicity and the mechanisms by which HCV spreads in its natural host cell population.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH Roadmap for Medical Research Grant 1 R01 DK085713-01)Greenberg Institute for Medical ResearchStarr Foundatio

Distinct but overlapping patterns of response to words and faces in the fusiform gyrus

Converging evidence suggests that the fusiform gyrus is involved in the processing of both faces and words. We used fMRI to investigate the extent to which the representation of words and faces in this region of the brain is based on a common neural representation. In Experiment 1, a univariate analysis revealed regions in the fusiform gyrus that were only selective for faces and other regions thatwere only selective forwords. However, we also found regions that showed bothword-selective and face-selective responses, particularly in the left hemisphere. We then used a multivariate analysis to measure the pattern of response to faces andwords. Despite the overlap in regional responses,we found distinct patterns of response to both faces and words in the left and right fusiform gyrus. In Experiment 2, fMR adaptation was used to determine whether information about familiar faces and names is integrated in the fusiform gyrus. Distinct regions of the fusiform gyrus showed adaptation to either familiar faces or familiar names. However, there was no adaptation to sequences of faces and names with the same identity. Taken together, these results provide evidence for distinct, but overlapping, neural representations for words and faces in the fusiform gyrus

On identity: Contemporary music research in the Asia-Pacific region. Introduction

Anthropology, as the study of human societies, has always been inclusive of music in some form or another, whether simply referencing a culture’s music through evocative book titles or delving in detail into musical forms and performances themselves. Music is acknowledged as a gateway to understanding a people’s experience*in particular song, which gives voice to human expression not always possible in everyday language. From another angle, music research has increasingly engaged with anthropology and this has occurred most notably in the development of the discipline of ethnomusicology, which grew from comparative musicology, and the publication of one of its key texts, Alan Merriam’s The Anthropology of Music(1964). This issue of The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology(TAPJA) contributes with a special focus on contemporary music research in the Asia Pacific region

Endovascular Thrombectomy for Ischemic Stroke Increases Disability-Free Survival, Quality of Life, and Life Expectancy and Reduces Cost

Background: Endovascular thrombectomy improves functional outcome in large vessel occlusion ischemic stroke. We examined disability, quality of life, survival and acute care costs in the EXTEND-IA trial, which used CT-perfusion imaging selection. Methods: Large vessel ischemic stroke patients with favorable CT-perfusion were randomized to endovascular thrombectomy after alteplase versus alteplase-only. Clinical outcome was prospectively measured using 90-day modified Rankin scale (mRS). Individual patient expected survival and net difference in Disability/Quality-adjusted life years (DALY/QALY) up to 15 years from stroke were modeled using age, sex, 90-day mRS, and utility scores. Level of care within the first 90 days was prospectively measured and used to estimate procedure and inpatient care costs (US$reference year 2014). Results: There were 70 patients, 35 in each arm, mean age 69, median NIHSS 15 (IQR 12-19). The median (IQR) disability-weighted utility score at 90 days was 0.65 (0.00-0.91) in the alteplase-only versus 0.91 (0.65-1.00) in the endovascular group (p = 0.005). Modeled life expectancy was greater in the endovascular versus alteplaseonly group (median 15.6 versus 11.2 years, p = 0.02). The endovascular thrombectomy group had fewer simulated DALYs lost over 15 years [median (IQR) 5.5 (3.2-8.7) versus 8.9 (4.7-13.8), p = 0.02] and more QALY gained [median (IQR) 9.3 (4.2-13.1) versus 4.9 (0.3-8.5), p = 0.03]. Endovascular patients spent less time in hospital [median (IQR) 5 (3-11) days versus 8 (5-14) days, p = 0.04] and rehabilitation [median (IQR) 0 (0-28) versus 27 (0-65) days, p = 0.03]. The estimated inpatient costs in the first 90 days were less in the thrombectomy group (average US$15,689 versus US$30,569, p = 0.008) offsetting the costs of interhospital transport and the thrombectomy procedure (average US$10,515). The average saving per patient treated with thrombectomy was US$4,365. c Conclusion: Thrombectomy patients with large vessel occlusion and salvageable tissue on CT-perfusion had reduced length of stay and overall costs to 90 days. There was evidence of clinically relevant improvement in long-term survival and quality of life.Peer reviewe

Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith for Planetary Resource Exploration

The extraction and identification of volatile resources that could be utilized by humans including water, oxygen, noble gases, and hydrocarbons on the Moon, Mars, and small planetary bodies will be critical for future long-term human exploration of these objects. Vacuum pyrolysis at elevated temperatures has been shown to be an efficient way to release volatiles trapped inside solid samples. In order to maximize the extraction of volatiles, including oxygen and noble gases from the breakdown of minerals, a pyrolysis temperature of 1400 C or higher is required, which greatly exceeds the maximum temperatures of current state-of-the-art flight pyrolysis instruments. Here we report on the recent optimization and field testing results of a high temperature pyrolysis oven and sample manipulation system coupled to a mass spectrometer instrument called Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith (VAPoR). VAPoR is capable of heating solid samples under vacuum to temperatures above 1300 C and determining the composition of volatiles released as a function of temperature