113 research outputs found
Reforming the U.S. intelligence community: Successes, failures and the best path forward
In the wake of the 9/11 and Iraqi WMD catastrophes, an increased spotlight was placed upon the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). The widespread criticism of the IC, from both government and public sources, ultimately culminated in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) in 2004. Today, with a wide array of transnational threats to the homeland, as well as the complex, globalized, high-tech world they thrive in, the role of intelligence remains essential to the national security apparatus.
A new shape for the intelligence reform debate is necessary, one that recognizes the unique role the IC plays in policy making and waging conflicts worldwide. The limitations and challenges that distinguish intelligence from other organizational debates need incorporation. This paper presents a historiography of intelligence reform to offer lessons for the present. In condensing the patterns and trends of IC reform history and elaborating on the features that remain, boundaries and necessary perspective on reform are illuminated.
This study ultimately argues for a set of incremental changes, primarily dealing in the day-to-day work of intelligence analysts. In avoiding much of the scholarship\u27s tendency to call for large-scale reorganization, a more feasible and fruitful framework for future reforms emerges.
Over the course of the history I illustrate, the analysts themselves have remained the key cog to U.S. intelligence machinery. This proves even more valid in today\u27s IC. If improving the IC is necessary, it will come from an environment and framework that allow analysts to create the best possible products
Imaging of the Stellar Population of IC10 with Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics and the Hubble Space Telescope
We present adaptive optics (AO) images of the central starburst region of the
dwarf irregular galaxy IC10. The Keck 2 telescope laser guide star was used to
achieve near diffraction-limited performance at H and K' (Strehls of 18% and
32%, respectively). The images are centered on the putative Wolf-Rayet (W-R)
object [MAC92]24. We combine our AO images with F814W data from HST. By
comparing the K' vs. [F814W]-K' color-magnitude diagram (CMD) with theoretical
isochrones, we find that the stellar population is best represented by at least
two bursts of star formation, one ~ 10 Myr ago and one much older (150-500
Myr). Young, blue stars are concentrated in the vicinity of [MAC92]24. This
population represents an OB association with a half-light radius of about 3 pc.
We resolve the W-R object [MAC92]24 into at least six blue stars. Four of these
components have near-IR colors and luminosities that make them robust WN star
candidates. By matching the location of C-stars in the CMD with those in the
SMC we derive a distance modulus for IC10 of about 24.5 mag. and a foreground
reddening of E(B-V) = 0.95. We find a more precise distance by locating the tip
of the giant branch in the F814W, H, and K' luminosity functions. We find a
weighted mean distance modulus of 24.48 +/- 0.08. The systematic error in this
measurement, due to a possible difference in the properties of the RGB
populations in IC10 and the SMC, is +/- 0.16 mag.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, ApJ in pres
Neurology and the histiocytoses: a case of Rosai-Dorfman-Destombes disease
The histiocytoses are a group of rare disorders characterised by the accumulation of neoplastic or non-neoplastic activated histiocytes in various tissues. Phenotypes vary widely from cutaneous lesions or lymphadenopathy that regress spontaneously to disseminated disease with poor prognosis. Neurological symptoms can be a presenting feature or appear during the course of disease. We present a challenging diagnostic and management case of Rosai-Dorfman-Destombes disease in a 48-year-old woman with a relapsing, partially steroid-responsive syndrome comprising patchy, non-length-dependent radiculoneuropathy with diffuse pachymeningitis and widespread systemic disease, and recent dramatic response to novel mitogen-activated kinase pathway inhibition. We discuss the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, recent breakthroughs in pathogenesis and emerging treatment options for Rosai-Dorfman disease and for the histiocytoses with neurological sequelae, including Langerhans cell histiocytosis and Erdheim-Chester disease
Shaping the Development of Prejudice: Latent Growth Modeling of the Influence of Social Dominance Orientation on Outgroup Affect in Youth
Social dominance orientation (SDO) has been theorized as a stable, early-emerging trait influencing outgroup evaluations, a view supported by evidence from cross-sectional and two-wave longitudinal research. Yet, the limitations of identifying causal paths with cross-sectional and two-wave designs are increasingly being acknowledged. This article presents the first use of multi-wave data to test the over-time relationship between SDO and outgroup affect among young people. We use cross-lagged and latent growth modeling (LGM) of a three-wave data set employing Norwegian adolescents (over 2 years, N = 453) and a five-wave data set with American university students (over 4 years, N = 748). Overall, SDO exhibits high temporal rank-order stability and predicts changes in outgroup affect. This research represents the strongest test to date of SDO’s role as a stable trait that influences the development of prejudice, while highlighting LGM as a valuable tool for social and political psychology
A novel causal mechanism for grey squirrel bark stripping: The Calcium Hypothesis
AbstractGrey squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis, damage trees in the UK by stripping bark and eating the underlying phloem; squirrel motivation for damage is, however, unknown. Damage can result in deterioration of timber quality and a significant economic toll on the forestry industry. Prediction of severe damage followed by targeted killing of squirrels is the current recommended management option. However, the use of warfarin (an anticoagulant poison) is now restricted in the UK and other more humane methods of killing are labour-intensive, so an alternative solution is needed. A better understanding of what motivates grey squirrels to strip bark may enable a preventive approach to be developed. Whilst the bark stripping literature has explored predictive factors affecting the likelihood of damage, causal understanding is lacking. The aim of this review is to introduce the Calcium Hypothesis as a possible explanation for bark stripping, with a view to informing the prevention of damage. The Calcium Hypothesis states that grey squirrels damage trees to ameliorate a calcium deficiency. The main predictive factors of bark stripping behaviour each inform and lend support to the Calcium Hypothesis. Calcium is stored in tree phloem, and damage increases with phloem width, providing squirrels with more calcium per unit area ingested. Calcium levels increase in trees as active growth resumes after winter dormancy, this occurs immediately prior to the main bark stripping season of May–July, and trees growing most vigorously are at increased risk of damage. It is likely grey squirrels also have a requirement for calcium during the bark stripping season. Adult females will be under post-parturition pressures such as lactation, and juveniles will be going through their main period of bone growth, both of which likely represent a requirement for calcium – which supports an observed positive correlation between juvenile abundance and bark stripping. A high autumnal seed crop increases juvenile recruitment the following spring, and could also induce a requirement for calcium to a population due to the high phosphorus to calcium ratio of seeds. To further investigate the hypothesis, the extent to which grey squirrels can utilise calcium oxalate, as calcium occurs in bark, should be determined, and also the extent to which grey squirrels undergo seasonal periods of calcium deficiency. Increasing our causal understanding of bark stripping could inform the future development of preventive measures to aid forest management
Packed Ultra-wideband Mapping Array (PUMA): A Radio Telescope for Cosmology and Transients
PUMA is a proposal for an ultra-wideband, low-resolution and transit
interferometric radio telescope operating at . Its
design is driven by six science goals which span three science themes: the
physics of dark energy (measuring the expansion history and growth of the
universe up to ), the physics of inflation (constraining primordial
non-Gaussianity and primordial features) and the transient radio sky (detecting
one million fast radio bursts and following up SKA-discovered pulsars). We
propose two array configurations composed of hexagonally close-packed 6m dish
arrangements with 50% fill factor. The initial 5,000 element 'petite array' is
scientifically compelling, and can act as a demonstrator and a stepping stone
to the full 32,000 element 'full array'. Viewed as a 21cm intensity mapping
telescope, the program has the noise equivalent of a traditional spectroscopic
galaxy survey comprised of 0.6 and 2.5 billion galaxies at a comoving
wavenumber of spanning the redshift range for the petite and full configurations, respectively. At redshifts beyond
, the 21cm technique is a uniquely powerful way of mapping the universe,
while the low-redshift range will allow for numerous cross-correlations with
existing and upcoming surveys. This program is enabled by the development of
ultra-wideband radio feeds, cost-effective dish construction methods, commodity
radio-frequency electronics driven by the telecommunication industry and the
emergence of sufficient computing power to facilitate real-time signal
processing that exploits the full potential of massive radio arrays. The
project has an estimated construction cost of 55 and 330 million FY19 USD for
the petite and full array configurations. Including R&D, design, operations and
science analysis, the cost rises to 125 and 600 million FY19 USD, respectively.Comment: 10 pages + references, 3 figures, 3 tables; project white paper
submitted to the Astro2020 decadal survey; further details in updated
arXiv:1810.0957
Preliminary Assessment of the Efficacy of a T-Cell–Based Influenza Vaccine, MVA-NP+M1, in Humans
A single vaccination with MVA-NP+M1 boosts T-cell responses to conserved influenza antigens in humans. Protection against influenza disease and virus shedding was demonstrated in an influenza virus challenge study
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