Charge Asymmetric Cosmic Ray Signals From Dark Matter Decay

The PAMELA and Fermi measurements of the cosmic-ray electron and positron spectra have generated much interest over the past two years, because they are consistent with a significant component of the electron and positron fluxes between 20 GeV and 1 TeV being produced through dark matter annihilation or decay. However, since the measurements are also consistent with astrophysical interpretations, the message is unclear. In this paper, we point out that dark matter can have a more distinct signal in cosmic rays, that of a charge asymmetry. Such charge asymmetry can result if the dark matter's abundance is due to a relic asymmetry, allowing its decay to generate an asymmetry in positrons and electrons. This is analogous to the baryon asymmetry, where decaying neutrons produce electrons and not positrons. We explore benchmark scenarios where the dark matter decays into a leptophilic charged Higgs boson or electroweak gauge bosons. These models have observable signals in gamma rays and neutrinos, which can be tested by Fermi and IceCube. The most powerful test will be at AMS-02, given its ability to distinguish electron and positron charge above 100 GeV. Specifically, an asymmetry favoring positrons typically predicts a larger positron ratio and a harder (softer) high energy spectrum for positrons (electrons) than charge symmetric sources. We end with a brief discussion on how such scenarios differ from the leading astrophysical explanations.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, revtex; v2, additional references adde

Electron and Photon Interactions in the Regime of Strong LPM Suppression

Most searches for ultra-high energy (UHE) astrophysical neutrinos look for radio emission from the electromagnetic and hadronic showers produced in their interactions. The radio frequency spectrum and angular distribution depend on the shower development, so are sensitive to the interaction cross sections. At energies above about 10^{16} eV (in ice), the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect significantly reduces the cross sections for the two dominant electromagnetic interactions: bremsstrahlung and pair production. At higher energies, above about 10^{20} eV, the photonuclear cross section becomes larger than that for pair production, and direct pair production and electronuclear interactions become dominant over bremsstrahlung. The electron interaction length reaches a maximum around 10^{21} eV, and then decreases slowly as the electron energy increases further. In this regime, the growth in the photon cross section and electron energy loss moderates the rise in nu_e shower length, which rises from ~10 m at 10^{16} eV to ~50 m at 10^{19} eV and ~100 m at 10^{20} eV, but only to ~1 km at 10^{24} eV. In contrast, without photonuclear and electronuclear interactions, the shower length would be over 10 km at 10^{24} eV.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Physical Review

The Journey an Internship in Urban Activism, Music Videos: Zombie and Bad Syne, and a Study of Afro-Panamanian Identity & the Reggaetón Music Movement

ABSTRACT THE JOURNEY AN INTERNSHIP IN URBAN ACTIVISM, MUSIC VIDEOS: ZOMBIE AND BAD SYNE, AND A STUDY OF AFRO-PANAMANIAN IDENTITY & THE REGGAETÓN MUSIC MOVEMENT by Lisa Margaret Spencer The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2019 Under the Supervision of Co-Chairs: Dr. Theresa Kenney and Dr. Tami Williams PART I- Under the guidance of Dr. Jill Florence Lackey A major component of my doctorate included an internship in cultural anthropology at UrbAn in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Dr. Jill Florence Lackey. The non-profit organization was housed in the Lincoln Park Village neighborhood. I assisted in planning events in the agency’s the South Side Museum, implementing the South Side Farmer’s Market, executing, and naming, the first “Gathering of the Nations” cultural festival in Kosciusko Park, proofreading a potential multi-cultural studies curriculum for Milwaukee Public Schools, transcribing stories of the city’s homeless youth, and videotaping Milwaukee police officers for a Graduate course at Marquette University, and contributing to other agency projects. A key component of working as a cultural anthropologist is to connect groups and agencies through commonality that ultimately builds understanding and community. The methods and programs established by UrbAn were connected to many aspects of social justice, bringing voice and celebration to outsider, minority, and underprivileged peoples. Storytelling validates identity in personal, cultural, and unified modalities. I was able to use my film, social work, and Spanish language skills to maneuver through the community and serve it in ways best suggested by the agency’s founder and the inhabitants themselves. The project designed by UrbAn organized people to be in community together. Activities, events, and initiatives brought cultural groups together to celebrate their differences, rather than be divided by them. PART II- Under the guidance of Dr. Iverson White and Dr. Theresa Kenney Zombie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zKwiHBlobw&t=7s Bad Syne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fxlf7gyiEQ&t=755s The first music and video images of this first project were created during my Master’s final. I took the footage and during my doctoral studies rented a film camera and expanded my footage, creating the narrative into a full music video. I entitled it, Zombie. The piece explores societal questions and inequities, as well as my relationship to these questions. I also began to explore the relationship between mind, body, and spirit on both a societal and personal level. The second video, Bad Syne, was created mid-way through my doctorate with the permission and supervision of Iverson White. My time working on this piece gave me deeper insight into the lens of a Puerto Rican graffiti and hip-hop artist in New York City. I found the connections to be personal. The videos, like the research and written component of my dissertation, also focused on stories of identity, identities that cross in lines of music and outside art, Latino and Afro-Latino artists who were native to both Panama, Puerto Rico, and NYC. Graffiti art takes an anti-capitalist stand and organizes people to express themselves more freely. Hip-hop does the same. While hip-hop is just one ingredient in both my video and dissertation, this sets, I feel, a quantifiable value on the significance of music for identity and understanding artists that are outside of the colonial power models. There are many Americas, each with their own voices and identities and I know, like Martin Luther King envisioned, there is a new America, where each person can define themselves according to their own accord as the oppressive, systematic structures dissipate and where all people are truly created and allowed to live, equal. Even today in a climate that warns civil war, it is art and music that are among the movements in the forefront of progress. PART III- Under the guidance of Dr. Jeffrey Hayes, Dr. Theresa Kenney, Dr. Gillian Rodger, and Jack Kenney Previous research suggests that the roots of the music genre of reggaetón are in Panama. However, without a more inclusive narrative of how the music was brought forth and by whom, its historical journey is thwarted and the heritage of Panama\u27s voice and a branch of black/mestizo music remains unhonored and unacknowledged. The musical movement of reggaetón emerged from a narrative of the African diaspora, at the time already scattered throughout the West Indies, that migrated to the Central American isthmus in search of work, building the Panamanian railroad and canal. This research aspires to accurately contribute to documenting the relationship between reggaetón and Panama accrediting the music as a black/mestizo genre. This research uses the historical and cultural-anthropological methods to discern the intersection of politics, sociology, and music. This study explores how the reggaetón music movement contributed to Afro-Panamanian-Latino identity and offers an examination concerning its roots in the blended musical styles and socio-politics of the U.S. controlled Panama Canal Zone in the early 1900s. The music styles of reggaetón explored in this paper are from sources in English. This is due to the era being studied in this dissertation focuses on the U.S. controlled Panama Canal Zone, when implemented English was established as the predominant language in the region

Assessing Seasonal and Climate-Related Variability in Rates of Walking and Physical Activity with Time Use Data

Background: Levels of walking as an activity that impacts health and quality of life is related to socioeconomic status and home location but the impacts of climate, season, and weather on walking have been largely understudied in both the transportation planning and public health professions. Purpose: This paper assesses seasonal and climatic effects on walking related activities and demonstrates the utility of the ATUS for active transportation research as few such applications exist. Methods: The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) is used to observe and analyze the seasonality of pedestrianism and general physical activity nation-wide by measuring the effect of month and climate region while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents and their household using statistical regressions. Results: Expected seasonal patterns for physical activity are found, but are paired with counterintuitive results on the influence of climate regions suggesting both weather and culture influences levels of active transportation and recreation. Conclusion: Differences in walking behavior between climatic regions offer one explanation of how respondents’ surroundings impact their daily activities

Effects of Interval Training on Memory Function, in College Students

The purpose of this study was to further investigate if exercise in the form of moderate intensity interval training influences memory function. While past studies have shown cognitive function improvements prior to both acute continuous moderate intensity exercise and high intensity interval training, no studies have been conducted to explore the effects of high intensity interval training on cognitive function. These previous studies also used a different method of measurement, a Stroop test, to measure cognitive function. This method is significantly different than the word recall test used in this study, which was designed to specifically assess cognitive function in a way that is more applicable to a specific population sample representative of college students. The population sample included a total of 20 participants. During the conduction of this study, participants engaged in both experimental and controlled conditions. During the controlled condition the participants were given three minutes to memorize a list of 15 words, followed by 15 minutes in a controlled environment, after which the participants were allowed three minutes’ to recall as many words as they could remember. The experimental portion of this study included the same methodology as the controlled apart from 15 minutes of interval training rather than a controlled environment. This study found no statistical significance between moderate intensity interval training and cognitive function, specifically short term memory. Therefore, this study failed to confirm that moderate intensity interval training evokes cognitive function benefits equivalent to those demonstrated in the previous studies

Traditional vs. Online Universities: Who Is Using Social Media Marketing?

The use of online social communities for online universities seems a topic where usage can be taken for granted. This paper provides an analysis of social media usage by traditional and online universities and compares their activity levels. The paper analyzes the social media activities of the top 53 undergraduate and top 53 graduate online programs as compared to their traditional programs. Despite the need to engage through these social media sites, online universities in general and online graduate-level programs in particular are not taking advantage of these sites to build communities and deepen relationships with students and alumni as are their traditional programs. Universities invest significantly more resources in their traditional programs’ – both undergraduate and graduate programs – social media usage. This is true across the five social media platforms. Recommendations for online university engagement on the top five social media sites are provided

Online Universities: Who Is Creating Virtual Communities?

The use of online social communities for online universities seems a topic where usage can be taken for granted. This paper provides a literature review that shows the importance of community for students and alumni, and builds the case that online universities need to use online communities to deepen relationship. The paper then identifies the top social media network sites that can be used to build online communities and analyzes the activities of the top 54 undergraduate and top 53 graduate online programs at these sites. Despite the need to engage through these social media sites, online universities in general and online graduate-level programs in particular are not taking advantage of these sites to build communities and deepen relationships with students and alumni. Only 40.7% of top online undergraduate and 37.7% of top online graduate programs use any social media tool extensively. Recommendations for online university engagement on the top five social media sites are provided

A Calculated Model of LinkedIn Feature Usage Across Organizational Types: Large, Small, and Non-profits

Intensity of LinkedIn usage is examined by business type: Fortune 200, INC 200, and Fortune 200 Non-profit. The study of approximately 600 organizations finds, contrary to expectations, that non-profits and small businesses utilize the features of LinkedIn significantly less in intensity than large businesses. An eleven factor intensity model is presented and tested to evaluate intensity of usage among the three study groups. This study concludes that SMBs and non-profits need to better utilize the features of LinkedIn to better enable their organizational goals

Understanding young people’s experiences and perceptions of relational bullying: A qualitative study

© 2023 MA Healthcare Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND licence, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Background: Bullying among young people has been acknowledged as a public health concern. Relational bullying is the systematic manipulation and damage of peer relationships; the way in which it is perceived can influence detection and interventions, in view of this, relational bullying warranted further exploration from the perspectives of young people. Aim: To understand the experience and perception of relational bullying among young people. Methods: A qualitative approach underpinned the undertaking of 11 face-to-face interviews with young people aged 12-18 years. Data was thematically analysed. Findings: Seven themes emerged: The complexity of defining bullying; The role of friends; Negative impacts; Social media; Normalisation; Personal resources to aid navigation; External resources to aid navigation. Conclusions: Factors that help and hinder the navigation of relational bullying were identified, the family playing a crucial role in mitigating the negative effects. The findings have the potential to be relevant to other forms of bullying.Peer reviewe