Probing the structure of the cold dark matter halo with ancient mica

Mica can store (for >1 Gy) etchable tracks caused by atoms recoiling from WIMPs. Ancient mica is a directional detector despite the complex motions it makes with respect to the WIMP "wind". We can exploit the properties of directionality and long integration time to probe for structure in the dark matter halo of our galaxy. We compute a sample of possible signals in mica for a plausible model of halo structure.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Military service and crime: new evidence

BACKGROUND: Evidence indicates that a substantial proportion of military personnel are involved in high-risk and antisocial behaviors that place them at jeopardy for criminal justice system involvement. However, prior research on military service and crime has disproportionately focused on veterans from the Vietnam War era (1955–1975), and has tended to focus on either current or former military members. METHODS: This study employed data from a population-based study (i.e., National Study on Drug Use and Health [NSDUH] between 2002 and 2014). It systematically examines the prevalence of self-reported antisocial behaviors, criminal justice system involvement, and substance abuse among the US civilian population and military service members, including reservists (n = 2206) and those who reported having been separated or retired from military service (n = 20,551). These factors are further examined across the developmental spectrum of adulthood (ages 18–34, 35–49, and 50–64). RESULTS: Results showed that military members were more prone to lifetime arrests and overall substance misuse. However, additional findings emerged suggesting that, while the military population overall seems to be positively associated with higher criminal activity than that found in the civilian population, these findings were based on a specific subgroup of the veteran population. This subgroup is comprised of individuals who likely did not fit in with the military culture and were discharged from the military early in their careers. CONCLUSION: Additional research on identifying this subgroup of military members is encouraged to better concentrate on prevention and treatment measures

The Future is Hera! Analyzing Astronomical Over the Internet

Hera is the data processing facility provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for analyzing astronomical data. Hera provides all the pre-installed software packages, local disk space, and computing resources need to do general processing of FITS format data files residing on the users local computer, and to do research using the publicly available data from the High ENergy Astrophysics Division. Qualified students, educators and researchers may freely use the Hera services over the internet of research and educational purposes

The Hot Galactic Corona and the Soft X-ray Background

I characterize the global distribution of the 3/4 keV band background with a simple model of the hot Galactic corona, plus an isotropic extragalactic background. The corona is assumed to be approximately polytropic (index = 5/3) and hydrostatic in the gravitational potential of the Galaxy. The model accounts for X-ray absorption, and is constrained iteratively with the ROSAT all-sky X-ray survey data. Regions where the data deviate significantly from the model represent predominantly the Galactic disk and individual nearby hot superbubbles. The global distribution of the background, outside these regions, is well characterized by the model; the 1 sigma relative dispersion of the data from the model is about 15%. The electron density and temperature of the corona near the Sun are about 1.1 x 10^{-3} cm^{-3} and about 1.7 x 10^6 K. The same model also explains well the 1.5 keV band background. The model prediction in the 1/4 keV band, though largely uncertain, qualitatively shows large intensity and spectral variations of the corona contribution across the sky.Comment: An invited talk at IAU Colloquium No. 166: The Local Bubble and Beyond. 10 pages (including b/w figures). Color versions of Figs. 1 and 4 are provided separately and may also be found at www.astro.nwu.edu/astro/wqd/paper/hal

X-Ray Constraints on the Warm_hot Intergalactic Medium

Three observational constraints can be placed on a warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) using \rosat PSPC pointed and survey data, the emission strength, the energy spectrum, and the fluctuation spectrum. The upper limit to the emission strength of the WHIM is 7.5 +/- 1.0 keV s^-1 cm^-2 sr^-1 keV^-1 in the 3/4 keV band, an unknown portion of which value may be due to our own Galactic halo. The spectral shape of the WHIM emission can be described as thermal emission with log T=6.42, although the true spectrum is more likely to come from a range of temperatures. The values of emission strength and spectral shape are in reasonable agreement with hydrodynamical cosmological models. The autocorrelation function in the 0.44 keV < E < 1.21 keV band range, w(theta), for the extragalactic soft X-ray background (SXRB) which includes both the WHIM and contributions due to point sources, is less than about 0.002 for 10 arcminutes < theta < 20 arcminutes in the 3/4 keV band. This value is lower than the Croft et al. (2000) cosmological model by a factor of about 5, but is still not inconsistent with cosmological models. It is also found that the normalization of the extragalactic power law component of the soft X-ray background spectrum must be 9.5 +/- 0.9 keV s^-1 cm^-2 sr^-1 keV^-1 to be consistent with the ROSAT All-Sky Survey.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letter

The Nuclear Spectral Energy Distribution of NGC 4395, The Least Luminous Type 1 Seyfert Galaxy

We present X-ray (ROSAT), infrared, and radio observations of NGC 4395, which harbors the optically least luminous type 1 Seyfert nucleus discovered thus far. In combination with published optical and ultraviolet spectra, we have used these data to assemble the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of the galaxy's nucleus. Interestingly, the SED of NGC 4395 differs markedly from the SEDs of both quasars and typical low-luminosity active galactic nuclei, which may be a manifestation of the different physical conditions (i.e., black hole masses, accretion rates, and/or accretion modes) that exist in these objects. The nuclear X-ray source in NGC 4395 is variable and has an observed luminosity of just ~ 10^38 ergs/s. Although this emission could plausibly be associated with either a weak active nucleus or a bright stellar-mass binary system, the optical and ultraviolet emission-line properties of the nucleus strongly suggest that the X-rays arise from a classical AGN.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP (July 1999), 17 pages, including 4 Postscript figure

Psychological perspectives on obesity: Addressing policy, practice and research priorities

Obesity has received much attention from politicians, policymakers, healthcare professionals, the media and the public over the past few decades. Since the formal recognition from the UK government in 1991 that obesity was a sufficient threat to the health of the nation, a targeted response to address the issue has been a policy priority for almost 30 years. A wide range of policies are now in place, including the establishment of nutritional standards in schools, programmes aimed to boost physical activity, and weight management services. However, while some interventions and services have been successful at the individual and community level, there has been little impact at population level. This report looks at what psychological evidence and perspectives can add to help improve our combined response to obesity. It seeks to guide professionals and policy-makers who are working with individuals, groups and populations that are impacted by obesity to take an approach that is guided by psychology. We have sought to produce guidance that recognises and builds on existing services, while identifying areas where further resources, standards, training and staff are required