Gerrymandering and Compactness: Implementation Flexibility and Abuse

The shape of an electoral district may suggest whether it was drawn with political motivations, or gerrymandered. For this reason, quantifying the shape of districts, in particular their compactness, is a key task in politics and civil rights. A growing body of literature suggests and analyzes compactness measures mathematically, but little consideration has been given to how these scores should be calculated in practice. Here, we consider the effects of a number of decisions that must be made in interpreting and implementing a set of popular compactness scores. We show that the choices made in quantifying compactness may themselves become political tools, with seemingly innocuous decisions leading to disparate scores. We show that when the full range of implementation flexibility is used, it can be abused to make clearly gerrymandered districts appear quantitatively reasonable. This complicates using compactness as a legislative or judicial standard to counteract unfair redistricting practices. This paper accompanies the release of packages in C++, Python, and R which correctly, efficiently, and reproducibly calculate a variety of compactness scores.Comment: 10 pages, 17 figures, 1 tabl

Chitosan-graphene nanocomposite microneedle arrays for transdermal drug delivery

The project focused on the hypothesis that degradable, polymer microneedle arrays are a promising alternative to traditional drug delivery routes, offering the patient a painless, high concentration, and quick delivery of therapeutics through the skin. This project explored chitosan-graphene nanocomposites as potential materials for microneedle arrays; the addition of graphene to chitosan is believed to yield improved mechanical properties and electrical conductivity over pristine chitosan, which will allow for long and slender microneedles and for electrically stimulated drug delivery, and may positively affect the degradation and drug delivery properties of chitosan. Graphene derivatives, such as graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, graphene quantum dots, and magnetic graphene quantum dots were synthesised and then characterised, before they were used as the filler within chitosan nanocomposites. Their effect at varying concentrations upon the mechanical properties, electrical conductivity, drug release, and enzymatic degradation rate of chitosan were assessed. It was determined that reduced graphene oxide was the optimum nanoparticle to reinforce chitosan, achieving the best mechanical and electrical conductivity properties of the nanocomposites. Chitosan-graphene nanocomposite microneedle arrays were shown to passively release small molecular weight drugs at a high delivery quantity and rate. Conductive chitosan-graphene nanocomposite microneedles were tested to determine the effect of electrical stimulation on the release of large molecular weight drugs from the nanocomposite, with substantial improvements in the release rate of large molecular weight drugs when compared to passive diffusion. The microneedle arrays were shown to survive the force of insertion through compressive loading. The depth of penetration of the microneedles was determined through cross-sectional analysis of chicken skin

Cognitive Dissonance and Its Effects on Religious Beliefs

How does an individual change his or her own religious beliefs when contrary evidence is presented? Cognitive dissonance affects Christian college students’ beliefs about a specific religious practice—speaking in tongues. A four-group between-subjects experimental design was utilized. A news story that objectively examined brain activity of those who speak in tongues was presented to a sample of Christian undergraduate students ranging in their beliefs about the issue of speaking in tongues. Cognitive dissonance was induced in two of the four conditions and its effects were measured by calculating participants’ changes in beliefs. It was hypothesized that dissonant cognitions (contradictory belief-disconfirming information) about personal religious beliefs would cause Christian college students to pursue a dissonance-reduction method that enables self-justification, allowing an individual to adhere or more strongly adhere to his or her pre-existing beliefs. Findings surprisingly did not support this hypothesis. Data also revealed that anti-tongue belief groups altered their beliefs more than pro-tongue belief groups

The fertilisation and recruitment dynamics of scleractinian corals on South Africa's high-latitude reefs.

2 The production of coral offspring and their survival through early ontogeny to sexual maturity 3 are both vitally important for the persistence of coral-dominated reefs. Understanding factors 4 which affect these processes is important where limited connectivity occurs. This is the case 5 on the high-latitude Two-mile Reef (TMR) at Sodwana Bay in South Africa. A combination of 6 in situ and ex situ experimental work was conducted, investigating factors which affect the pre7 and post-settlement stages of corals. In vitro experiments conducted on two representative 8 scleractinian broadcast spawning corals, Acropora austera and Hydnophora exesa, revealed 9 that fertilisation success in both species diminishes significantly with a reduction in sperm 10 concentration and water salinity. Fertilisation success was highest for A. austera at 106 sperm 11 ml-1 (56.46% ± 0.83, mean ± SE), and at 105 sperm ml-1 (38.76% ± 1.29) for H. exesa. At 104 12 sperm ml-1 there was a significant reduction in fertilisation of 80% and 58% for the respective 13 species. Additionally, fertilisation success of A. austera and H. exesa decreased significantly 14 by 56% and 79% respectively, when salinity was reduced by 7.06 psu. Ex situ settlement 15 experiments were then conducted to assess the settlement of their larvae in response to the 16 presence of two crustose coralline algae (CCA) a Hydrolithon sp. and Mesophyllum sp. and 17 filtered sea water (FSW) control. Settlement in the presence of Mesophyllum was not 18 significantly different from FSW, but a significant trend was observed in the presence of 19 Hydrolithon, where settlement of both corals peaked. While H. exesa post-settlement success 20 was also greatest in the Hydrolithon treatment (55.00 ± 10.47%), this was not the case for A. 21 austera, which obtained highest post-settlement success in the Mesophyllum treatment (21.67 22 ± 7.23%). However, these trends were not significant. Acropora austera and H. exesa were 23 still capable of settlement 69 and 75 days after fertilisation respectively in FSW. In general, 24 more settlement occurred on container surfaces than on CCA fragments. Results from this 25 study suggest that the inducing effect of CCA is coral and CCA taxon-specific, and that A. 26 austera planulae are more stringent in their settlement requirements. 27 28 In situ experiments were conducted by attaching settlement tiles to concrete Y-frames on TMR 29 for six months to assess how coral recruitment differs according to method of settlement tile 30 attachment onto concrete y-frames and how the exclusion of herbivores and predators affects 31 coral recruitment onto tiles. A new, grooved settlement tile was designed to provide refuge microhabitats on the top surface of the tiles. In total, 32 579 recruits were detected on the 33 settlement tiles, with pocilloporids dominating the recruit composition (64%). 34 35 Grooved tiles were also used to assess whether coral recruit density varied between different 36 microhabitats adjacent to the tile edge (a narrow, 5 mm gap; a wide, 15 mm gap; and tiles raised 37 above the gap). Most recruitment occurred on the vertical edges and towards the edge perimeter 38 of grooved tiles regardless of treatment. The majority of recruitment on the top surface of tiles 39 occurred in the grooves (74.17%). Coral recruit densities differed significantly between the 40 three edge microhabitats, with recruit density significantly less on tiles adjacent to narrow gaps. 41 Raised tiles and tiles with a wide gap had two- and three-fold more recruits (644.33 ± 149.43 42 and 979.29 ± 170.88 recruits m-2) than tiles with a narrow gap (311.05 ± 80.82 recruits m-2). 43 This suggests that the microhabitat associated with the method of tile attachment can have a 44 significant effect on recruitment. Finally, the effect of large herbivores and predators on coral 45 recruitment and the benthic communities was assessed by placing exclusion cages over tiles. 46 Recruit densities had a two-fold reduction when herbivores and predators were excluded. 47 Additionally, CCA cover was also significantly reduced on caged tiles, and the percentage of 48 erect foliose algae, encrusting macroalgae, and turf algae was significantly greater compared 49 to uncaged tiles. This indicates that grazers may assist coral recruitment on TMR. 50 51 This study provided the first assessment of fertilisation success in corals at high-latitude in 52 South Africa and the results are related to information on gene flow and reef resilience. The 53 importance of suitable settlement microhabitats and grazers are also highlighted and stress the 54 need for a multi-faceted management approach to coral conservation. Furthermore, from an 55 experimental point of view, the methodological techniques used to quantify in situ recruitment, 56 such as settlement surface design and attachment technique, may have important implications 57 in quantifying recruit densities and settlement preferences. Such differences must be 58 considered when comparing the results of recruit densities in studies using dissimilar 59 techniques. 6

Differentiation among the North American Triatominae Species (Vectors of the Chagas Disease Parasite) and Their Commonly Misidentified Doppelgängers

Chagas disease is increasingly recognized as a major public health concern in the United States. The disease is caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is spread by blood-sucking insects commonly referred to as kissing bugs (Reduviidae: Triatominae). Limited outreach and educational resources are available regarding Chagas disease for the public and medical or veterinary practitioners that may encounter infected patients. A key challenge, especially in outreach and public health awareness, is differentiating the kissing bug vectors from common look-alike insects that do not feed on blood and do not pose a risk of T. cruzi transmission. The presence of these look-alikes, or Doppelgängers, is associated with both psychological and economic consequences, as they cause needless worry among the public and encounters with these insects have led to unwarranted human and canine blood testing for Chagas disease. In my thesis, I developed outreach materials suitable for use by the lay public as well as veterinarians, medical doctors, pest control operators, public health officials, and others to facilitate the identification of kissing bugs. First, I created identification and pictorial guides to North American Triatominae species and their common look-alikes, including a step-by-step dichotomous key to differentiate key anatomical features useful in discriminating species. Next, I developed a process for manufacturing resin-embedded kissing bugs and look-alike species resulting in high quality products that are safe to handle; these specimens will be long-lasting and valuable in outreach programs to show differences in size, shape, and color that photos alone cannot detai

Persistent monitoring of digital ICs to verify hardware trust

The specialization of the semiconductor industry has resulted in a global Integrated Circuit (IC) supply chain that is susceptible to hardware Trojans - malicious circuitry that is embedded into the chip during the design cycle. This nefarious attack could compromise the missioncritical systems which implement these devices. While a trusted domestic IC supply chain exists with resources such as the Trusted Foundry Program, it\u27s highly desirable to utilize the high yield, fast turn-around time, low cost, and leading-edge technology of the global IC supply chain. Research into the verification of hardware trust has made significant progress in recent years but is still far from a single, comprehensive solution. Most proposed solutions are one-time implementable methods that attempt to detect hardware Trojans during the verification stage of the IC development process. While this is a desirable solution, it\u27s not realistic given the current limitations of hardware Trojan detection techniques. We propose a more comprehensive solution that involves the persistent verification of hardware trust in the field, in addition to several one-time methods implemented during IC verification. We define a persistent verification framework that involves the use of a few ICs from a secure process flow to persistently monitor and verify the operation of several untrusted ICs from the global supply chain. This allows the system integrator to realize the benefits of the global IC supply chain while maintaining the integrity of the system. We develop a system monitor which filters the IO of untrusted digital ICs for a set of patterns, which we refer to as digital signal signatures, to verify the operation of the devices

A Generalized Method for Fissile Material Characterization Using Short-Lived Fission Product Gamma Spectroscopy

Characterizing the fissile content of nuclear materials is of particular interest to the safeguards and nuclear forensics communities. Short-lived fission product gamma spectroscopy offers a significant reduction in analysis time and detection limits when compared to traditional non-destructive assay measurements. Through this work, a fully generalizable method that can be applied to variations in fissile compositions and neutron spectra was developed for the modeling and measurement of short-lived fission product gamma-rays. This method uses a 238-group neutron flux that was characterized for two pneumatic tube positions in the High Flux Isotope Reactor using flux monitor irradiations. This flux spectrum was then used in determining theoretical fission product photopeak emission rates per unit fissile mass during measurement. From these theoretical values, a mathematical method for characterizing the fissile material within a sample was established and demonstrated in several cases. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory\u27s High Flux Isotope Reactor and Neutron Activation Analysis Laboratory provided optimal conditions to conduct high-flux irradiations with short decay periods. Experiments with samples containing nanogram quantities of Uranium 235, Uranium 233, and Plutonium 239 were accurately characterized through measurement of short-lived fission product photopeaks. These measured photopeaks were combined with the simulated theoretical production rates to construct an overdetermined system of linear equations. Once this overdetermined system was solved, it showed high accuracy in quantifying fissile content. These experiments resulted in errors less of than 10\% for quantification of fissile material in single element samples, two element mixed samples, and varying enrichments of uranium on IAEA swipes

Does Aphid Feeding Trigger the Production of H202 in Wild Barley?

In an in vivo experiment to see if the oxidative burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is utilized as a defense mechanism in barley against the bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi), aphids were pre- starved then allowed to feed on cultivated (Hordeum vulgare) and wild barley (H. spontaneum) accessions. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generated in barley leaves in response to aphid feeding was quantified with DAB (3,3\u27-diaminobenzidine) staining. Stained leaves were digitized and analyzed using Fiji. Proportions of stained areas were statistically tested for significance (with pooled t-tests and ANOVA at 5%). No significant differences were detected between wild and cultivated barley, nor between aphid-challenged and control tissues. Therefore, ROS are not a notable component of barley’s defense machinery when preyed upon by R. padi.https://idun.augsburg.edu/zyzzogeton/1024/thumbnail.jp