The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) Mission Concept Study Final Report

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory, or HabEx, has been designed to be the Great Observatory of the 2030s. For the first time in human history, technologies have matured sufficiently to enable an affordable space-based telescope mission capable of discovering and characterizing Earthlike planets orbiting nearby bright sunlike stars in order to search for signs of habitability and biosignatures. Such a mission can also be equipped with instrumentation that will enable broad and exciting general astrophysics and planetary science not possible from current or planned facilities. HabEx is a space telescope with unique imaging and multi-object spectroscopic capabilities at wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to near-IR. These capabilities allow for a broad suite of compelling science that cuts across the entire NASA astrophysics portfolio. HabEx has three primary science goals: (1) Seek out nearby worlds and explore their habitability; (2) Map out nearby planetary systems and understand the diversity of the worlds they contain; (3) Enable new explorations of astrophysical systems from our own solar system to external galaxies by extending our reach in the UV through near-IR. This Great Observatory science will be selected through a competed GO program, and will account for about 50% of the HabEx primary mission. The preferred HabEx architecture is a 4m, monolithic, off-axis telescope that is diffraction-limited at 0.4 microns and is in an L2 orbit. HabEx employs two starlight suppression systems: a coronagraph and a starshade, each with their own dedicated instrument

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) Mission Concept Study Final Report

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory, or HabEx, has been designed to be the Great Observatory of the 2030s. For the first time in human history, technologies have matured sufficiently to enable an affordable space-based telescope mission capable of discovering and characterizing Earthlike planets orbiting nearby bright sunlike stars in order to search for signs of habitability and biosignatures. Such a mission can also be equipped with instrumentation that will enable broad and exciting general astrophysics and planetary science not possible from current or planned facilities. HabEx is a space telescope with unique imaging and multi-object spectroscopic capabilities at wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet (UV) to near-IR. These capabilities allow for a broad suite of compelling science that cuts across the entire NASA astrophysics portfolio. HabEx has three primary science goals: (1) Seek out nearby worlds and explore their habitability; (2) Map out nearby planetary systems and understand the diversity of the worlds they contain; (3) Enable new explorations of astrophysical systems from our own solar system to external galaxies by extending our reach in the UV through near-IR. This Great Observatory science will be selected through a competed GO program, and will account for about 50% of the HabEx primary mission. The preferred HabEx architecture is a 4m, monolithic, off-axis telescope that is diffraction-limited at 0.4 microns and is in an L2 orbit. HabEx employs two starlight suppression systems: a coronagraph and a starshade, each with their own dedicated instrument.Comment: Full report: 498 pages. Executive Summary: 14 pages. More information about HabEx can be found here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/habex

Depression and Stress Among HIV+ Adults 1 RUNNING HEAD: DEPRESSION AND STRESS AMONG HIV+ ADULTS Attachment Style, Stigma, and Psychological Distress Among HIV+ Adults

ABSTRACT This study explored the role of adult attachment style in reported experiences of HIV-related stigma, stress and depression in a diverse sample of HIV+ adults. Participants (N = 288) recruited from AIDS service organizations were administered the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, CES-D, HIV Stigma Scale, and a health information questionnaire. Adult romantic attachment style was significantly associated with perceived stress, depression, and HIV-related stigma. Results of regression analyses supported contentions that in addition to HIV symptomatology, other psychosocial risk factors such as attachment style and stigma contribute to perceived stress and depression among HIV+ men and women. Correspondence should be sent to Dr. Shelley A. Riggs, University of North Texas, Department of Psychology, 1155 Union Circle #311280, Denton, TX 76203-1280, [email protected]. Depression and Stress Among HIV+ Adults 3 Considerable evidence suggests that various aspects of personal relationships and psychological status have significant implications for physical health. Studies of individuals with human immunodeficiency virus-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV-AIDS) have often focused on stress and depression due to substantial evidence of their deleterious effects on physical health and the immune system, including those aspects affected by HIV Recently, researchers (Hunter & Maunder, 2001; The current study explored how adult attachment style might relate to the experience of psychological distress and HIV-related stigma, and further how attachment style and selfimage related to HIV stigma together might contribute to the prediction of stress and depression levels in a diverse sample of HIV+ men and women. Attachment Theory Drawing upon ethological, evolutionary, and biological conceptions, Bowlby (1973, 1980) theorized that humans, like other species, were inherently predisposed to seek out and bond with an attachment figure for protection. When security is threatened, fear and anxiety activate attachment behavior, which is defined as "any form of behavior that results in a person attaining proximity to some other differentiated and preferred individual," who is perceived as better able to cope with the world (Bowlby, 1980, p. 39). Although most visible in children when tired, ill, or afraid, attachment behavior can be observed throughout the life cycle in stressful circumstances Although theoretically rooted in the same innate system, romantic attachment style differs from parent-child bonds in several important ways, including reciprocity of Depression and Stress Among HIV+ Adults 5 attachment and caregiving, as well as sexual mating According to Bartholomew and her colleagues (1990; Three insecure adult attachment styles, on the other hand, are characterized by negative internal working models of self and/or other. Preoccupied individuals experience high levels of attachment anxiety because they believe they are unworthy of love and fear abandonment by others. In contrast, dismissing-avoidant adults view themselves as competent and capable and thus experience low levels of anxiety, while they view others as rejecting or unavailable and consequently seek to avoid emotional intimacy. Fearfulavoidant attachment style is characterized by negative internal models of both self and other with high levels of both attachment anxiety and avoidance, and is associated with the poorest adjustment of the four adult prototypes (e.g., Carnelley, Pietromonaco, & Jaffe, 1994; Riggs et al., in press). Although these internal working models self and other tend to persist through the life course and become increasingly resistant to change, they can be modified by different environmental experiences (see Belsky, 1999 for review). Systematic attachment style differences have been found in affective responses to stress HIV and Mental Health A diagnosis of a life-threatening disease is a major source of stress that is likely to activate the attachment system and can affect both physical and emotional well-being. In addition to the stress of chronic illness, HIV+ adults may also struggle to cope with other significant stressors. For example, a diagnosis of HIV may bring financial strain and unwelcome changes in lifestyle and close relationships (Antoni et al., 1991; Maj, 1990; HIV/AIDS is also uniquely related to the likelihood of knowing close friends or partners, who are ill or dead due to HIV/AIDS (Sikkema, Kochman, DiFranceisco, Kelly, & Hoffman, 2003; Stigmatized individuals are also vulnerable to feelings of self-hatred, which can result from the internalization of society's negative views Given the host of stressors associated with HIV+ status, it is not surprising that HIV+ individuals are likely to experience higher levels of stress and depression than healthy controls (see The Current Study Due to evidence suggesting that mental health status may affect the progression of disease We predicted that insecure attachment style would show significant associations with psychological distress, with preoccupied and fearful attachment styles associated with the highest levels of stress and depression. HIV-related stigma has not been previously examined in relation to romantic attachment, so we based our hypotheses on theoretical conceptualizations of the different attachment styles. Because they possess high levels of anxiety and negative internal working models of self, we expected that Depression and Stress Among HIV+ Adults 10 preoccupied and fearful adults would be more likely to endorse higher levels of personalized stigma and negative stigma-related self-image than secure or dismissing adults. On the other hand, due to high levels of avoidance and negative internal working models of others, we predicted that dismissing adults would endorse less concern regarding public attitudes toward HIV and lower levels of disclosure of their seropositve status. Finally, we expected adult attachment anxiety and HIV-related stigma to significantly predict levels of depression and stress above the contribution of demographic and HIV-related health factors. English to participate in a written survey. Women made up almost half (48%) of the sample and age ranged from 19 to 68 (M = 41.5, SD = 8.39). Ethnically, the sample consisted of 54.5% African Americans, 29.5% Caucasians, and 10.6% Latinos. A majority (69%) of participants were below the poverty line with annual incomes less than $10,000. HIV medications were reportedly used by 74.6$10,000 reporting greater concern regarding disclosure and more negative self-image compared to participants earning higher incomes. As a result, gender was used as a covariate in analyses involving perceived stress, and income was used as a covariate in analyses involving HIV stigma. Although not related to the ECR Anxiety and Avoidance subscales, sexual orientation was significantly associated with ECR attachment classification, χ 2 (3, 259) = 13.07, p < .04. Heterosexual participants were significantly more likely to be Secure or Fearful and less likely to be preoccupied or dismissing. In contrast, gay participants were more likely to be Preoccupied and less likely to be Secure, whereas bisexual participants were more likely to be Dismissing and less likely to be Secure or Fearful. Predictors of Stress and Depressive Symptoms Perceived stress and depression were significantly correlated with predictor variables in the expected direction. To test hypotheses regarding the predictive power of attachment style and HIV-related stigma, two hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted with stress and depression as outcomes. Missing data across instruments lowered the total N available for the regression analyses to 237 participants. Those with missing data were more likely to be female, χ 2 (1, 287) = 7.70, p < .006, but otherwise did not differ from participants included in the regressions. Data were entered into the regression models in four blocks. The first two blocks controlled for demographic and health-related predictors and the third block consisted of the ECR attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance scales, all of which were simultaneously entered. Because a new instrument was used to assess HIV stigma, the fourth block was exploratory and the HIVrelated stigma scales were entered stepwise to determine which stigma variables significantly contributed to the variance in our model. The full regression model for perceived stress accounted for approximately 30% of the variance [Adjusted R² = .305, F (11, 225) = 10.41, p < .000] (See [Adjusted R² = .241, F (9, 227) = 9.31, p < .000]. In the final step of the model, higher levels of HIV-related Negative Self-image predicted greater perceived stress, separately accounting for 6% of the 30% total variance explained by the full model. Thus, female gender, bisexuality, greater symptom load, higher levels of attachment anxiety, and a more negative self-image in relation to HIV stigma provided the best model of prediction for perceived stress

Keeping Customers Informed: The South Split Experience

Through the Joint Transportation Research Program, INDOT and Purdue used existing low-cost consumer technology and social media in lieu of an expensive advertising campaign to inform the public of the need for and progress during the downtown Indianapolis I-65/I-70 closure. Key players will show you how to take advantage of what we learned

Ensemble Concerts

Jazz concert was performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall

Social Self-Control Is a Statistically Nonredundant Correlate of Adolescent Substance Use.

The social self-control scale (SSCS), which taps provocative behavior in social situations, was compared with five potentially overlapping measures (i.e., temperament-related impulsivity, psychomotor agitation-related self-control, perceived social competence, and rash action in response to negative and positive affectively charged states) as correlates of tobacco use and other drug use among a sample of 3,356 ninth-grade youth in Southern California high schools. While there was a lot of shared variance among the measures, the SSCS was incrementally associated with both categories of drug use over and above alternate constructs previously implicated in adolescent drug use. Hence, SSC may relate to adolescent drug use through an etiological pathway unique from other risk constructs. Given that youth who tend to alienate others through provocative social behavior are at risk for multiple drug use, prevention programming to modify low SSC may be warranted

Association of Electronic Cigarette Use With Initiation of Combustible Tobacco Product Smoking in Early Adolescence

IMPORTANCE: Exposure to nicotine in electronic (e-) cigarettes is common among adolescents who report never having smoked combustible tobacco. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether e-cigarette ever-use among 14-year-olds who have never tried combustible tobacco is associated with risk of initiating use of three combustible tobacco products (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, and hookah). DESIGN: Longitudinal repeated assessment of a school-based cohort at baseline (fall 2013, 9(th) grade, Mean age=14.1) and 6-month (spring 2014, 9(th) grade) and 12-month (fall 2014, 10(th) grade) follow-ups. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Ten public high schools in Los Angeles, CA were recruited through convenience sampling. Participants were students who reported never using combustible tobacco at baseline and underwent follow-up assessment (N=2,530). At each time point, students completed self-report surveys during in-classroom data collections. EXPOSURE: Self-report of e-cigarette ever-use (yes/no) at baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Six- and 12-month follow-up reports of use of each of the following tobacco products within the prior 6 months: (1) any combustible tobacco product (yes/no); (2) combustible cigarettes (yes/no), (3) cigars (yes/no); (4) hookah (yes/no); and (5) number of combustible tobacco products (range: 0–3). RESULTS: Past 6-month use of any combustible tobacco product was more frequent in baseline e-cigarette ever-users (N=222) than never-users (N=2,308) at the 6-month (30.7% vs. 8.1%, % difference [95% CI]=22.7[16.4, 28.9]) and 12-month (25.2% vs. 9.3%, % difference [95% CI]= 15.9[10.0, 21.8]) follow-ups. Baseline ever e-cigarette use was associated with greater likelihood of combustible tobacco use averaged across the two follow-ups in unadjusted analyses (OR[95% CI]=4.27[3.19, 5.71]) and in analyses adjusted for sociodemographic, environmental, and intrapersonal risk factors for smoking (OR[95% CI]=2.73[2.00, 3.73]). Product-specific analyses showed that baseline e-cigarette ever-use was positively associated with combustible cigarette (OR[95% CI]=2.65[1.73, 4.05]), cigar (OR[95% CI]=4.85[3.38, 6.96]), and hookah (OR[95% CI]=3.25[2.29, 4.62]) use and number of different combustible products used (OR[95% CI]=4.26[3.16, 5.74]) averaged across the two follow-ups. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Among high school students in Los Angeles, those who used electronic cigarettes at baseline compared with nonusers were more likely to report initiation of combustible tobacco smoking over the next year. Further research is needed to understand whether this association may be causal