A Comparison of the Mental Health of Police Officers and Correctional Officers in Rural Appalachia

The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of mental health among police officers and correctional officers within rural Appalachia. The main goal of this research was to better understand how the occupational demands of working in the criminal justice field can impact one’s mental health over time. Several research questions were explored, including the prevalence of various mental health problems, associated stressors, the structure of support among officers, and the perceptions of mental health treatment services. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 21 police and correctional officers located in rural Appalachia. Results provided a better understanding of the mental health of rural officers as well as the associated stressors and protective factors. Findings also further explored the perceptions and utilization of the available treatment services

MISINFORMATION AS A DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION

The phenomena of misinformation and disinformation have received no shortage of examination from several academic angles, with a noted gap in how and why these phenomena persist and how information disorder may potentially be addressed. This thesis seeks to do just that, establishing a novel framework for examining mis- and disinformation’s booming proliferation throughout the information environment, specifically through digital media channels. The framework’s foundation is rooted in Christensen’s Disruptive Innovation Theory and Rogers’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory, two paradigms appropriated from the business world to explore information as an innovation for sale in the disrupted information marketplace. Through viewing mis- and disinformation through this lens, a better understanding of the nature and prognosis of the phenomena can be reached and potential avenues for mitigation revealed.Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.Lieutenant, United States NavyLieutenant, United States Nav

AI-powered simulation-based inference of a genuinely spatial-stochastic model of early mouse embryogenesis

Understanding how multicellular organisms reliably orchestrate cell-fate decisions is a central challenge in developmental biology. This is particularly intriguing in early mammalian development, where early cell-lineage differentiation arises from processes that initially appear cell-autonomous but later materialize reliably at the tissue level. In this study, we develop a multi-scale, spatial-stochastic simulator of mouse embryogenesis, focusing on inner-cell mass (ICM) differentiation in the blastocyst stage. Our model features biophysically realistic regulatory interactions and accounts for the innate stochasticity of the biological processes driving cell-fate decisions at the cellular scale. We advance event-driven simulation techniques to incorporate relevant tissue-scale phenomena and integrate them with Simulation-Based Inference (SBI), building on a recent AI-based parameter learning method: the Sequential Neural Posterior Estimation (SNPE) algorithm. Using this framework, we carry out a large-scale Bayesian inferential analysis and determine parameter sets that reproduce the experimentally observed system behavior. We elucidate how autocrine and paracrine feedbacks via the signaling protein FGF4 orchestrate the inherently stochastic expression of fate-specifying genes at the cellular level into reproducible ICM patterning at the tissue scale. This mechanism is remarkably independent of the system size. FGF4 not only ensures correct cell lineage ratios in the ICM, but also enhances its resilience to perturbations. Intriguingly, we find that high variability in intracellular initial conditions does not compromise, but rather can enhance the accuracy and precision of tissue-level dynamics. Our work provides a genuinely spatial-stochastic description of the biochemical processes driving ICM differentiation and the necessary conditions under which it can proceed robustly.Comment: 62 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables, enhancement of Introduction and Discussion section

Assessment of Macroinvertebrate Communities and Food Availability for the Larval Eastern Hellbender Salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) in Northern Georgia

Macroinvertebrates are indicators of stream health and environmental change, and form complex communities in aquatic ecosystems. In addition to their role as indicators of stream health, they also provide a valuable food source for many juvenile salamanders, including the Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis), a species of special conservation concern in Georgia. Therefore, macroinvertebrate diversity is not only an essential indicator of stream health, but also provides additional information on food availability for larval hellbender salamanders, a largely unknown life history stage for the species. We sampled during July of 2016, and report on the Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) richness and diversity of macroinvertebrate communities in Georgia Appalachian streams that were concomitantly monitored for Eastern Hellbender populations. Over 1,200 macroinvertebrates were collected and identified from four streams in Georgia’s Toccoa River basin. These specimens were keyed out to the lowest taxonomic level possible in order to provide a macroinvertebrate profile for streams with stable, healthy hellbender populations with confirmed gilled hellbender larvae. Macroinvertebrate communities comprised over 29 genera across a wide range of functional feeding groups, with biotic indexes indicating both high diversity and high water quality. EPT richness index and percent EPT were also extraordinarily high across all sampled streams (15–21 and 66.1–89.5%, respectively). This macroinvertebrate profile suggests that the larval Eastern Hellbender salamander populations in these streams have diverse macroinvertebrate prey species available to them. This research provides insight into the association of larval Eastern Hellbender populations with macroinvertebrate communities, and can be used by conservation managers to inform preservation of the natural integrity of Appalachian streams

Rare plant stabilization projects at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, 1998-2008

Reports were scanned in black and white at a resolution of 600 dots per inch and were converted to text using Adobe Paper Capture Plug-in.Approximately 15% of the native vascular plant flora of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO) is listed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as endangered, threatened, candidate endangered, or species of concern. Another 15% is considered to be rare in HAVO by park botanists. Restoration actions including alien ungulate and invasive plant control are underway in many areas of the park, and common native vegetation is noticeably recovering in some areas. However, rare plant surveys in the 1990’s indicated that little recovery of rare plant species populations was occurring in spite of partial recovery of park ecosystems. This is understandable in that rare plant research in the park indicates that rare plants in recovering ecosystems are limited by rodents, slugs, loss of pollinators, small population size, and other factors not affected by landscape-level restoration. From 1998-2008, HAVO implemented a program of 10 projects to stabilize populations of 42 of the 62 species in HAVO listed by the USFWS, 12 species not listed but rare throughout the park, and seven species rare in one of the seven ecosystems targeted for rare plant species stabilization. An additional 26 uncommon and common species were outplanted in conjunction with rare plant stabilization, largely for the purpose of restoring plant communities or plant community diversity. Stabilization through augmentation and reintroduction involves establishing enough individuals and small populations to maintain species until recovery efforts could be formulated and implemented. Stabilization was carried out by greenhouse propagation and outplanting with the goal of meeting the Hawai`i/Pacific Plant Restoration Coordinating Committee (HPPRCC) standards of three populations of 25 reproductive individuals per population for long-lived perennials or 50 individuals per population of short-lived perennials. Seed additions were used in three sites. Plantings were placed in 31 locations across seven ecosystems of the park including coastal strand, lowland dry-mesic forest, mid-elevation woodland, montane rain forest, montane mesic forest, upper montane, and subalpine. Plantings were monitored for growth, vigor, and the presence of flowers or fruits, typically one of more times for 1-4 years; all plantings except those in the montane mesic forest were monitored in 2009 or 2010, after 6-12 years

Characteristics of Effective Teaching in Physician Assistant Programs from the Students\u27 Perspective

Purpose: This qualitative study aims to identify the characteristics physician assistant (PA) students find most important for effective teaching by faculty in physician assistant programs. With this information, physician assistant faculty can enhance their teaching effectiveness in the classroom and optimize the environment for student learning. Faculty may also use the data obtained from this study to increase the likelihood of their retention or promotion as student input regarding teaching effectiveness is frequently one of the variables used in faculty evaluations. Methods: Physician assistant students from three physician assistant programs were emailed a survey that asked for their response to an open-ended question: “What are the most important qualities or characteristics for physician assistant faculty to possess for effective teaching in a physician assistant program?” The responses were categorized using Marsh’s Students’ Evaluation of Educational Quality framework. Results: Respondents most frequently listed individual words or phrases that corresponded to the categories of individual rapport and organization. Conclusions: Physician assistant faculty who possess good individual rapport and organizational skills are more likely to be viewed as effective teachers by physician assistant students. Faculty that are lacking those skills could enhance their teaching effectiveness and the opportunity for advancement in their physician assistant program by improving their individual rapport with students and their organizational skills

Carbon sequestration in the subsoil and the time required to stabilize carbon for climate change mitigation

Soils store large quantities of carbon in the subsoil (below 0.2 m depth) that is generally old and believed to be stabilized over centuries to millennia, which suggests that subsoil carbon sequestration (CS) can be used as a strategy for climate change mitigation. In this article, we review the main biophysical processes that contribute to carbon storage in subsoil and the main mathematical models used to represent these processes. Our guiding objective is to review whether a process understanding of soil carbon movement in the vertical profile can help us to assess carbon storage and persistence at timescales relevant for climate change mitigation. Bioturbation, liquid phase transport, belowground carbon inputs, mineral association, and microbial activity are the main processes contributing to the formation of soil carbon profiles, and these processes are represented in models using the diffusion-advection-reaction paradigm. Based on simulation examples and measurements from carbon and radiocarbon profiles across biomes, we found that advective and diffusive transport may only play a secondary role in the formation of soil carbon profiles. The difference between vertical root inputs and decomposition seems to play a primary role in determining the shape of carbon change with depth. Using the transit time of carbon to assess the timescales of carbon storage of new inputs, we show that only small quantities of new carbon inputs travel through the profile and can be stabilized for time horizons longer than 50 years, implying that activities that promote CS in the subsoil must take into consideration the very small quantities that can be stabilized in the long term.We reviewed mathematical models that represent soil carbon dynamics with depth and found thatmost models adopt the diffusion, advection, reaction (decomposition) paradigm. Transport processes play a secondary role in shaping soil carbon profiles, with the difference betweencarbon inputs and decomposition (g) playing a major role. Carbon stocks in the subsoil can be increased by decreasing the rate of change of soil carbon withdepth, increasing vertical transport (v) or decreasing g.imag

Two Conceptions of Irreversible Environmental Harm

The concept of irreversibility plays a large role in the theory and practice of environmental protection. Indeed, the concept is explicit in some statements of the Precautionary Principle. But the idea of irreversibility remains poorly defined. Because time is linear, any loss is, in a sense, irreversible. On one approach, drawn from environmental economics, irreversibility might be understood as a reference to the value associated with taking precautionary steps that maintain flexibility for an uncertain future ( option value ). On another approach, drawn from environmental ethics, irreversibility might be understood to refer to the qualitatively distinctive nature of certain environmental harms—a point that raises a claim about incommensurability. The two conceptions fit different problems. For example, the idea of option value best fits the problem of climate change; the idea of qualitatively distinctive harms best fits the problem of extinction of endangered species. These ideas can be applied to a wide assortment of environmental problems