Are people ethical? An experimental approach

Individual decision making, ethics, experimental economics

SPECIAL OPERATIONS AND CRYPTOCURRENCY: CONCEPTS TO HARNESS INNOVATION FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

Concepts to harness positive opportunities inside the cryptocurrency ecosystem to advance national security objectives have yet to be fully explored in government organizations. This thesis, focuses on cryptocurrency as a subset of digital assets and attempts to answer the question: Is there utility for cryptocurrency in U.S. special operations (USSOF) and could it support broader U.S. national security strategies? A whole-of-government approach for the responsible development of digital assets should include Department of Defense (DOD) and USSOF perspectives. The cryptocurrency ecosystem does offer utility for special operations as a complimentary tool for tactical concepts and as a component to financial intelligence assessments. International use cases for cryptocurrency offer a framework for USSOF during research and development to deliver exquisite capabilities in support of resistance movements and supplement U.S. security strategies in the financial battlespace. The DoD and USSOF should coordinate with allies and across U.S. government departments to develop a pilot program that places cryptocurrency in the hands of SOF operators and tactical teams with the intent to develop new operational concepts. USSOF should continue to expand public-private partnerships to improve awareness, capacity, and competency in the digital asset ecosystem and leverage blockchain research and development directives to inform innovative concepts for cryptocurrency in special operations.USASOC1SFCMajor, United States ArmyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Bogans, lawyers and teachers: On the interactional achievement of word meanings

The extent to which context, including pragmatic processes, plays a role in understanding the meaning of words has been long debated by scholars working at the interface of pragmatics and semantics. In this paper, we consider how the meanings of bogan, lawyer and teacher are interactionally accomplished in everyday encounters amongst Australian speakers of English. Building on methodological and theoretical insights from interactional pragmatics, the dynamic model of meaning, and dialogic syntax, we propose that locally situated, occasion-specific meanings of terms such as, bogan, lawyer and teacher, may be achieved with respect to contingently-relevant trajectories of social action(s) in sequences of talk, but that participants draw from recurrent sequential practices for doing so. We analyze how speakers generate dialogic resonance through the use of recurrent syntactic frames to co-construct locally situated semantic fields encompassing different words and predicates in-situ, and how these are underpinned by common interactional process that facilitate the negotiation of locally-situated meanings. We suggest that these locally-situated meanings draw from, and so are systematically afforded and constrained by aspects of abstracted lexical meanings to varying degrees, but that participants nevertheless are able to shape the meanings of those words for locally-situated purposes. In sum, we propose that what a word is taken to mean in locally situated interactions is invariably interwoven with the recurrent practices for framing those word meanings across turns of talk

Herbicide effects on the growth and photosynthetic efficiency of Cassiopea maremetens

Herbicides from agricultural run-off have been measured in coastal systems of the Great Barrier Reef over many years. Non-target herbicide exposure, especially photosystem II herbicides has the potential to affect seagrasses and other marine species. The symbiotic benthic jellyfish Cassiopea maremetens is present in tropical/sub-tropical estuarine and marine environments. Jellyfish were exposed to agricultural formulations of diuron or hexazinone to determine their sensitivity and potential for recovery to pulsed herbicide exposure. Jellyfish growth, symbiont photosynthetic activity and zooxanthellae density were analysed for herbicide-induced changes for 7 days followed by a 7 day recovery period. Both the jellyfish and endosymbiont were more sensitive to diuron than hexazinone. The 7-day EC50 for jellyfish growth was 0.35 µg.L-1 for Diuron and 17.5 µg.L-1 for Hexazinone respectively. Diuron exposure caused a significant decrease in(p<0.05) in jellyfish growth at all concentrations and at levels0.1 µg.L-1, a level that is below the regional Great Barrier Reef guideline valuesvalue. Jellyfish recovery was rapid with growth rates similar to control animals following removal from herbicide exposure. Both diuron and hexazinone caused significant decreases in photosynthetic efficiency (effective quantum yield) in all treatment concentrations (0.1 µg.L-1 and above) and this effect continued in the post-exposure period. As this species is frequently found in near-shore environments, they may be particularly vulnerable to herbicide run-off

Quantitative study of rectangular waveguide behavior in the THz.

This report describes our efforts to quantify the behavior of micro-fabricated THz rectangular waveguides on a configurable, robust semiconductor-based platform. These waveguides are an enabling technology for coupling THz radiation directly from or to lasers, mixers, detectors, antennas, and other devices. Traditional waveguides fabricated on semiconductor platforms such as dielectric guides in the infrared or co-planar waveguides in the microwave regions, suffer high absorption and radiative losses in the THz. The former leads to very short propagation lengths, while the latter will lead to unwanted radiation modes and/or crosstalk in integrated devices. This project exploited the initial developments of THz micro-machined rectangular waveguides developed under the THz Grand Challenge Program, but instead of focusing on THz transceiver integration, this project focused on exploring the propagation loss and far-field radiation patterns of the waveguides. During the 9 month duration of this project we were able to reproduce the waveguide loss per unit of length in the waveguides and started to explore how the loss depended on wavelength. We also explored the far-field beam patterns emitted by H-plane horn antennas attached to the waveguides. In the process we learned that the method of measuring the beam patterns has a significant impact on what is actually measured, and this may have an effect on most of the beam patterns of THz that have been reported to date. The beam pattern measurements improved significantly throughout the project, but more refinements of the measurement are required before a definitive determination of the beam-pattern can be made

RAPID RESOLUTION OF HEMORRHAGIC FEVER (EBOLA) IN SIERRA LEONE WITH OZONE THERAPY

Background: Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has ravaged three countries in West Africa. The mortality rate is extremely high, and it is perceived not only as threat to all of Africa but to the entire world. There is no known treatment to date other than administration of convalescent blood or experimental monoclonal antibodies, which both often fail. Ozone therapy (OT) has been in clinical use for decades and has been found to have physiological effects, which should directly inactivate the virus itself, as well as modulate its damaging effects. We present the scientific background and the possibility of ozone therapy as a cure or prevention for EVD in five consecutive patients. Materials and Methods: Ozone therapy administration by a combination of direct intravenous gas administration, rectal gas administration and ozonized water was administered to three patients with known acute EVD, one with apparent acute infection, and one case of extremely high risk. Treatment was carried out for up to ten days despite fast total remission of symptoms. Vitamin C and glutathione supporting supplements were administered. Results: Four symptomatic patients, three with test positive EVD confirmation and one (who suffered Ebola contaminated needle stick contamination three days earlier) without lab confirmation all remitted symptoms within 2-4 days and fully recovered. All four ill cases had an immediate recovery course upon initiation of therapy. The single case of non-symptomatic high-risk exposure treated preventively did not develop symptoms. Conclusion: Ebola virus may have a very narrow window of redox infectivity capacity, which can be easily exploited with OT. OT may be a useful modality in EVD and other viral diseases and should be immediately studied to save lives that might otherwise be lost

Choral Ensembles Holiday Concert, Hodie Christus natus est

KSU School of Music presents Choral Ensembles Holiday Concert, Hodie Christus natus est.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1186/thumbnail.jp

Dr. Bobbie Bailey & Family Performance Center Anniversary Celebration

The School of Music is proud to welcome back to campus several of our esteemed alumni for a special recital as part of the Bailey Performance Center 10th anniversary celebration! The School of Music celebrates the opening of the Bailey Performance Center with featured performances by the KSU Wind Ensemble Brass and Percussion, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Singers, University Chorale and Chamber Singers Alumni Choir, along with pianist Robert Henry, soprano Jana Young, and more!https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1969/thumbnail.jp

Microfabricated wire arrays for Z-pinch.

Microfabrication methods have been applied to the fabrication of wire arrays suitable for use in Z. Self-curling GaAs/AlGaAs supports were fabricated as an initial route to make small wire arrays (4mm diameter). A strain relief structure that could be integrated with the wire was designed to allow displacements of the anode/cathode connections in Z. Electroplated gold wire arrays with integrated anode/cathode bus connections were found to be sufficiently robust to allow direct handling. Platinum and copper plating processes were also investigated. A process to fabricate wire arrays on any substrate with wire thickness up to 35 microns was developed. Methods to handle and mount these arrays were developed. Fabrication of wire arrays of 20mm diameter was demonstrated, and the path to 40mm array fabrication is clear. With some final investment to show array mounting into Z hardware, the entire process to produce a microfabricated wire array will have been demonstrated

Valuing the Child Health Utility 9D: Using profile case best worst scaling methods to develop a new adolescent specific scoring algorithm.

In contrast to the recent proliferation of studies incorporating ordinal methods to generate health state values from adults, to date relatively few studies have utilised ordinal methods to generate health state values from adolescents. This paper reports upon a study to apply profile case best worst scaling methods to derive a new adolescent specific scoring algorithm for the Child Health Utility 9D (CHU9D), a generic preference based instrument that has been specifically designed for the estimation of quality adjusted life years for the economic evaluation of health care treatment and preventive programs targeted at young people. A survey was developed for administration in an on-line format in which consenting community based Australian adolescents aged 11-17 years (N = 1982) indicated the best and worst features of a series of 10 health states derived from the CHU9D descriptive system. The data were analyzed using latent class conditional logit models to estimate values (part worth utilities) for each level of the nine attributes relating to the CHU9D. A marginal utility matrix was then estimated to generate an adolescent-specific scoring algorithm on the full health = 1 and dead = 0 scale required for the calculation of QALYs. It was evident that different decision processes were being used in the best and worst choices. Whilst respondents appeared readily able to choose 'best' attribute levels for the CHU9D health states, a large amount of random variability and indeed different decision rules were evident for the choice of 'worst' attribute levels, to the extent that the best and worst data should not be pooled from the statistical perspective. The optimal adolescent-specific scoring algorithm was therefore derived using data obtained from the best choices only. The study provides important insights into the use of profile case best worst scaling methods to generate health state values with adolescent populations