AVIRIS ground data-processing system

The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) has been under development at JPL for the past four years. During this time, a dedicated ground data-processing system has been designed and implemented to store and process the large amounts of data expected. This paper reviews the objectives of this ground data-processing system and describes the hardware. An outline of the data flow through the system is given, and the software and incorporated algorithms developed specifically for the systematic processing of AVIRIS data are described

Parental Serotonin Transporter Polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) Moderates Associations of Stress and Child Behavior With Parenting Behavior.

The serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) is associated with caregiving in nonhuman animals and with affective and cognitive correlates of human parenting, yet its association with human parenting is largely unknown. Using a well-characterized sample of parents and offspring, we evaluated the association of parental 5-HTTLPR with observed positive and negative parenting behavior, as well as its biologically plausible moderation of child-related stress and disruptive child behavior as predictors of parenting. One hundred and sixty-two parents (86% mothers) and their 6- to 9-year-old children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder were ascertained using multiple methods including structured interviews, rating scales, and observed parent-child interaction, yielding strong measures of key constructs. Controlling for multiple youth-level (e.g., sex, 5-HTTLPR genotype, disruptive behavior) and parent-level (e.g., demographics, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) factors, parents with an S allele exhibited significantly less observed positive parenting than those with the LL genotype. Significant Gene × Environment interactions were also observed: Child-related stress was negatively associated with observed parental negativity among SS/SL genotype parents but not LL genotype parents; next, observed disruptive child behavior was positively associated with parental negativity for both genotypes, but the effect was strongest in SS/SL parents. These preliminary findings suggest that parental 5-HTTLPR is uniquely associated with positive and negative parenting behavior, with more specific patterns according to child-related stress and disruptive child behavior. We consider implications for future research evaluating genetic influences on parenting as well as considerations for designing and delivering parenting-based interventions

The JCMT Transient Survey: An Extraordinary Submillimetre Flare in the T Tauri Binary System JW 566

The binary T Tauri system JW 566 in the Orion Molecular Cloud underwent an energetic, short-lived flare observed at submillimetre wavelengths by the SCUBA-2 instrument on 26 November 2016 (UT). The emission faded by nearly 50% during the 31 minute integration. The simultaneous source fluxes averaged over the observation are 500 +/- 107 mJy/beam at 450 microns and 466 +/- 47 mJy/beam at 850 microns. The 850 micron flux corresponds to a radio luminosity of $L_{\nu}=8\times10^{19}$ erg/s/Hz, approximately one order of magnitude brighter (in terms of $\nu L_{\nu}$) than that of a flare of the young star GMR-A, detected in Orion in 2003 at 3mm. The event may be the most luminous known flare associated with a young stellar object and is also the first coronal flare discovered at sub-mm wavelengths. The spectral index between 450 microns and 850 microns of $\alpha = 0.11$ is broadly consistent with non-thermal emission. The brightness temperature was in excess of $6\times10^{4}$ K. We interpret this event to be a magnetic reconnection that energised charged particles to emit gyrosynchrotron/synchrotron radiation.Comment: Accepted in ApJ. 16 pages (single column), 6 figure

The JCMT Transient Survey: An Extraordinary Submillimeter Flare in the T Tauri Binary System JW 566

© 2019 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.The binary T Tauri system JW 566 in the Orion Molecular Cloud underwent an energetic, short-lived flare observed at submillimetre wavelengths by the SCUBA-2 instrument on 26 November 2016 (UT). The emission faded by nearly 50% during the 31 minute integration. The simultaneous source fluxes averaged over the observation are 500 +/- 107 mJy/beam at 450 microns and 466 +/- 47 mJy/beam at 850 microns. The 850 micron flux corresponds to a radio luminosity of $L_{\nu}=8\times10^{19}$ erg/s/Hz, approximately one order of magnitude brighter (in terms of $\nu L_{\nu}$) than that of a flare of the young star GMR-A, detected in Orion in 2003 at 3mm. The event may be the most luminous known flare associated with a young stellar object and is also the first coronal flare discovered at sub-mm wavelengths. The spectral index between 450 microns and 850 microns of $\alpha = 0.11$ is broadly consistent with non-thermal emission. The brightness temperature was in excess of $6\times10^{4}$ K. We interpret this event to be a magnetic reconnection that energised charged particles to emit gyrosynchrotron/synchrotron radiation.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Projected Economic and Financial Benefits of the 2017 Summer Universiade Games.

In Western society, sport economic impact studies are often utilized to showcase the financial benefits for hosting mega sport event or to justify the spending for entering bids or covering infrastructure construction costs. This study projected economic impact of the 2017 Summer Universiade by examining the Taiwanese (the hosting country) residents’ willingness to attendance and estimated individual spending (consumption) while attending the games. Through a series of convenience sampling surveys from February to April, 2017, 1,021 respondents (53.5% males and 45.3% females) reported their potential personal spending, willingness to attend the events, and preferred ticket price range. The results indicated that 61.5% of respondents expressed their willingness to purchase tickets. Projected cost for each individual potential game attendee was about $58 USDs. The ideal general event ticket price should be set around$13.5 USDs. The estimated total revenues based on one million game attendees’ (including local and non-local Taiwanese residents and foreign visitors) personal spending reached $67-million USDs. This revenue figure was projected to generate an economic impact of$154.1-million USDs. The researchers further compared the obtained figures with the finding of past sport economic impact studies and addressed the significance and rationale for selecting a modest impact multiplier for the calculation. Additional recommendations are offered in using impact study results to plan strategies for boosting tourism and winning bids for future events

The Burrell-Optical-Kepler-Survey (BOKS). I. Survey Description and Initial Results

We present the initial results of a 40 night contiguous ground-based campaign of time series photometric observations of a 1.39 deg^2 field located within the NASA Kepler Mission field of view. The goal of this pre-launch survey was to search for transiting extrasolar planets and to provide independent variability information of stellar sources. We have gathered a data set containing light curves of 54,687 stars from which we have created a statistical sub-sample of 13,786 stars between 14 < r < 18.5 and have statistically examined each light curve to test for variability. We present a summary of our preliminary photometric findings including the overall level and content of stellar variability in this portion of the Kepler field and give some examples of unusual variable stars found within. We present a preliminary catalog of 2,457 candidate variable stars, of which 776 show signs of periodicity. We also present three potential exoplanet candidates, all of which should be observable by the Kepler mission

Temperature-Dependent Rotationally Inelastic Collisions of OHˉ and He

We have studied the fundamental rotational relaxation and excitation collision of OHˉJ = 0 ↔ 1 with helium at different collision energies. Using state-selected photodetachment in a cryogenic ion trap, the collisional excitation of the first excited rotational state of OHˉ has been investigated and absolute inelastic collision rate coefficients have been extracted for collision temperatures between 20 and 35 K. The rates are compared with accurate quantum scattering calculations for three different potential-energy surfaces. Good agreement is found within the experimental accuracy, but the experimental trend of increasing collision rates with temperature is only in part reflected in the calculations

MAPK-Dependent Regulation of IL-1-and β-Adrenoreceptor-Induced Inflammatory Cytokine Production From Mast Cells: Implications for the Stress Response

Background: Catecholamines, such as epinephrine, are elaborated in stress responses, and mediate vasoconstriction to cause elevation in systemic vascular resistance and blood pressure. Our previous study has shown that IL-1 can induce mast cells to produce proinflammatory cytokines which are involved in atherogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of epinephrine on IL-1-induced proatherogenic cytokine production from mast cells. Results: Two ml of HMC-1 (0.75 × 106 cells/ml) were cultured with epinephrine (1 × 10-5 M) in the presence or absence of IL-1β (10 ng/ml) for 24 hrs. HMC-1 cultured alone produced none to trace amounts of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-13. IL-1β significantly induced production of these cytokines in HMC-1, while epinephrine alone did not. However, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-13 production induced by IL-1β were significantly enhanced by addition of epinephrine. The enhancing effect appears to involve NF-κB and p38 MAPK pathways. Flow cytometry showed the presence of β1 and β2 adrenoreceptors on resting mast cells. The enhancing effect of proatherogenic cytokine production by epinephrine was down regulated by the β1 and β2 adrenoceptor antagonist, propranolol, but not by the β1 adrenoceptor antagonist, atenolol, suggesting the effect involved β2 adrenoceptors. The enhancing effect of epinephrine on proatherogenic cytokine production was also down regulated by the immunosuppressive drug, dexamethasone. Conclusions: These results not only confirm that an acute phase cytokine, IL-1β, regulates mast cell function, but also show that epinephrine up regulates the IL-1β induction of proatherogenic cytokines in mast cells. These data provide a novel role for epinephrine, a stress hormone, in inflammation and atherogenesis

Maternal Early Life Adversity and Infant Stress Regulation: Intergenerational Associations and Mediation by Maternal Prenatal Mental Health

Early life adversity is a potent risk factor for poor mental health outcomes across the lifespan, including offspring vulnerability to psychopathology. Developmentally, the prenatal period is a sensitive window in which maternal early life experiences may influence offspring outcomes and demarcates a time when expectant mothers and offspring are more susceptible to stressful and salutary influences. This prenatal plasticity constituted the focus of the current study where we tested the association of maternal early life adversity with infant stress regulation through maternal prenatal internalizing symptoms and moderation by prenatal social support. Mother-infant dyads (n = 162) were followed prospectively and mothers completed assessments of social support and depressive and anxiety symptoms across pregnancy. Infants completed standardized stress paradigms at one month and six months. There were several key findings. First, maternal prenatal depressive symptoms significantly mediated predictions of infant cortisol reactivity to the heel stick at one month from maternal early life adversity: specifically, maternal early life adversity positively predicted depressive symptoms in pregnancy, which in turn predicted dampened infant cortisol reactivity. Second, prenatal social support did not significantly moderate predictions of depressive or anxiety symptoms in pregnancy from maternal early life adversity nor did it alter the associations of maternal depressive or anxiety symptoms with infant stress regulation. These results suggest that maternal prenatal mental health is a key mechanism by which maternal early life adverse experiences affect offspring risk for psychopathology. We discuss potential clinical and health implications of dysregulated infant cortisol reactivity with respect to lifespan development