2008 Survey of the Performance of American Elections: Final Report

Analyzes results of a survey on the 2008 elections voting experience, voter confidence in the system, reasons for not voting, and support for reform proposals. Examines how age, race/ethnicity, and length of residency affect voters' experiences

Methodology for extracting quasi-random samples from world wide web domains

The purpose of this paper is to describe a process for sampling specific domain name zones on the World Wide Web. Because of the size of the Web, sampling strategies must be employed in order to effectively model and study the Web business environment.  This paper discusses Various efforts employed to sample the Web, which ranged from random generation of Internet Protocol Addresses and domain names, to the process finallyemployed to create descriptive models of the dot-com domain name zones. The paper suggests that sampling the Web Top Level Domains offers a reasonable alternative for business researchers because it requires only familiarity with the use of the simple Web utilities such as File TransferProtocols to obtain initial domain name listings

Polls and elections: Is Loyalty a Powerful Thing? Republican Senate Campaign Strategy and Trump Coattails in the 2016 Election

Presidential candidates provide a boost to their congressional candidate counterparts, in which congressional candidates should ride the proverbial coattails into office (Campbell and Sumners 1990; Stewart 1989). The 2016 election, however, provides an instance in which the presidential coattails were less than desirable. In this article, we argue that state politics determines the optimal strategy for how candidates should position themselves vis‐à‐vis a controversial presidential candidate. Based on our findings, voters rewarded candidates at varying levels for distancing themselves from then candidate Trump. Specifically, the disloyal strategy, in which candidates completely disavowed Trump, worked best in swing states and among Democrats, liberals, and Clinton voters. The ambiguous strategy, in which candidates took an unclear position on Trump, was less effective, but still received gains in appeal among independents and liberals

Col-OSSOS: Colors of the Interstellar Planetesimal 1I/`Oumuamua

The recent discovery by Pan-STARRS1 of 1I/2017 U1 (`Oumuamua), on an unbound and hyperbolic orbit, offers a rare opportunity to explore the planetary formation processes of other stars, and the effect of the interstellar environment on a planetesimal surface. 1I/`Oumuamua's close encounter with the inner Solar System in 2017 October was a unique chance to make observations matching those used to characterize the small-body populations of our own Solar System. We present near-simultaneous g$^\prime$, r$^\prime$, and J photometry and colors of 1I/`Oumuamua from the 8.1-m Frederick C. Gillett Gemini North Telescope, and $gri$ photometry from the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope. Our g$^\prime$r$^\prime$J observations are directly comparable to those from the high-precision Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Col-OSSOS), which offer unique diagnostic information for distinguishing between outer Solar System surfaces. The J-band data also provide the highest signal-to-noise measurements made of 1I/`Oumuamua in the near-infrared. Substantial, correlated near-infrared and optical variability is present, with the same trend in both near-infrared and optical. Our observations are consistent with 1I/`Oumuamua rotating with a double-peaked period of $8.10 \pm 0.42$ hours and being a highly elongated body with an axial ratio of at least 5.3:1, implying that it has significant internal cohesion. The color of the first interstellar planetesimal is at the neutral end of the range of Solar System $g-r$ and $r-J$ solar-reflectance colors: it is like that of some dynamically excited objects in the Kuiper belt and the less-red Jupiter Trojans.Comment: Accepted to ApJ

Improved methodology for introducing threatened hatchery reared fish

Eel tailed catfish, silver perch and Murray cod are three key recreational fishing species that have declined in the Murray-Darling Basin region. This research project will be an important step towards developing methods to restore and enhance stocks of these fish

Sparse Aperture Masking (SAM) at NAOS/CONICA on the VLT

The new operational mode of aperture masking interferometry has been added to the CONICA camera which lies downstream of the Adaptive Optics (AO) corrected focus provided by NAOS on the VLT-UT4 telescope. Masking has been shown to deliver superior PSF calibration, rejection of atmospheric noise and robust recovery of phase information through the use of closure phases. Over the resolution range from about half to several resolution elements, masking interferometry is presently unsurpassed in delivering high fidelity imaging and direct detection of faint companions. Here we present results from commissioning data using this powerful new operational mode, and discuss the utility for masking in a variety of scientific contexts. Of particular interest is the combination of the CONICA polarimetry capabilities together with SAM mode operation, which has revealed structures never seen before in the immediate circumstellar environments of dusty evolved stars.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, SPIE 201

Zebrafish models for translational neuroscience research: from tank to bedside

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is emerging as a new important species for studying brain mechanisms and its deficits. Focusing on selected CNS disorders (brain cancer, epilepsy and anxiety) and using them as examples, we discuss the value of zebrafish models in translational neuroscience, and their contribution to neuroimaging, circuit-level and drug discovery research. Outlining the role of zebrafish in modeling a wide range of human brain disorders, we also summarize recent applications and existing challenges in this field. Finally, we emphasize the potential of zebrafish models in behavioral phenomics and high-throughput genetic/small molecule screening, which is critical for CNS drug discovery and identifying novel candidate genes.Keywords: biomarkers, cancer, zebrafish, epilepsy, brain disorders, anxiet