Unconventional cyber warfare: cyber opportunities in unconventional warfare

Given the current evolution of warfare, the rise of non-state actors and rogue states, in conjunction with the wide availability and relative parity of information technology, the U.S. will need to examine new and innovative ways to modernize its irregular warfare fighting capabilities. Within its irregular warfare capabilities, the U.S. will need to identify effective doctrine and strategies to leverage its tactical and technical advantages in the conduct of unconventional warfare. Rather than take a traditional approach to achieve unconventional warfare objectives via conventional means, this thesis proposes that unconventional warfare can evolve to achieve greater successes using the process of unconventional cyber warfare.http://archive.org/details/unconventionalcy1094542615Major, United States Army;Major, United States ArmyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Mixed-method study of a conceptual model of evidence-based intervention sustainment across multiple public-sector service settings.

BackgroundThis study examines sustainment of an EBI implemented in 11 United States service systems across two states, and delivered in 87 counties. The aims are to 1) determine the impact of state and county policies and contracting on EBI provision and sustainment; 2) investigate the role of public, private, and academic relationships and collaboration in long-term EBI sustainment; 3) assess organizational and provider factors that affect EBI reach/penetration, fidelity, and organizational sustainment climate; and 4) integrate findings through a collaborative process involving the investigative team, consultants, and system and community-based organization (CBO) stakeholders in order to further develop and refine a conceptual model of sustainment to guide future research and provide a resource for service systems to prepare for sustainment as the ultimate goal of the implementation process.MethodsA mixed-method prospective and retrospective design will be used. Semi-structured individual and group interviews will be used to collect information regarding influences on EBI sustainment including policies, attitudes, and practices; organizational factors and external policies affecting model implementation; involvement of or collaboration with other stakeholders; and outer- and inner-contextual supports that facilitate ongoing EBI sustainment. Document review (e.g., legislation, executive orders, regulations, monitoring data, annual reports, agendas and meeting minutes) will be used to examine the roles of state, county, and local policies in EBI sustainment. Quantitative measures will be collected via administrative data and web surveys to assess EBI reach/penetration, staff turnover, EBI model fidelity, organizational culture and climate, work attitudes, implementation leadership, sustainment climate, attitudes toward EBIs, program sustainment, and level of institutionalization. Hierarchical linear modeling will be used for quantitative analyses. Qualitative analyses will be tailored to each of the qualitative methods (e.g., document review, interviews). Qualitative and quantitative approaches will be integrated through an inclusive process that values stakeholder perspectives.DiscussionThe study of sustainment is critical to capitalizing on and benefiting from the time and fiscal investments in EBI implementation. Sustainment is also critical to realizing broad public health impact of EBI implementation. The present study takes a comprehensive mixed-method approach to understanding sustainment and refining a conceptual model of sustainment

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: energy sources of the turbulent velocity dispersion in spatially-resolved local star-forming galaxies

We investigate the energy sources of random turbulent motions of ionised gas from H$\alpha$ emission in eight local star-forming galaxies from the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey. These galaxies satisfy strict pure star-forming selection criteria to avoid contamination from active galactic nuclei (AGN) or strong shocks/outflows. Using the relatively high spatial and spectral resolution of SAMI, we find that -- on sub-kpc scales our galaxies display a flat distribution of ionised gas velocity dispersion as a function of star formation rate (SFR) surface density. A major fraction of our SAMI galaxies shows higher velocity dispersion than predictions by feedback-driven models, especially at the low SFR surface density end. Our results suggest that additional sources beyond star formation feedback contribute to driving random motions of the interstellar medium (ISM) in star-forming galaxies. We speculate that gravity, galactic shear, and/or magnetorotational instability (MRI) may be additional driving sources of turbulence in these galaxies.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. Accepted by MNRA

Promoter keyholes enable specific and persistent multi-gene expression programs in primary T cells without genome modification

Non-invasive epigenome editing is a promising strategy for engineering gene expression programs, yet potency, specificity, and persistence remain challenging. Here we show that effective epigenome editing is gated at single-base precision via 'keyhole' sites in endogenous regulatory DNA. Synthetic repressors targeting promoter keyholes can ablate gene expression in up to 99% of primary cells with single-gene specificity and can seamlessly repress multiple genes in combination. Transient exposure of primary T cells to keyhole repressors confers mitotically heritable silencing that persists to the limit of primary cultures in vitro and for at least 4 weeks in vivo, enabling manufacturing of cell products with enhanced therapeutic efficacy. DNA recognition and effector domains can be encoded as separate proteins that reassemble at keyhole sites and function with the same efficiency as single chain effectors, enabling gated control and rapid screening for novel functional domains that modulate endogenous gene expression patterns. Our results provide a powerful and exponentially flexible system for programming gene expression and therapeutic cell products

AMI observations of unmatched Planck ERCSC LFI sources at 15.75 GHz

The Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue includes 26 sources with no obvious matches in other radio catalogues (of primarily extragalactic sources). Here we present observations made with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Small Array (AMI SA) at 15.75 GHz of the eight of the unmatched sources at declination > +10 degrees. Of the eight, four are detected and are associated with known objects. The other four are not detected with the AMI SA, and are thought to be spurious.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 4 table

Mammut pacificus sp. nov., a newly recognized species of mastodon from the Pleistocene of western North America

A new species of mastodon from the Pleistocene of western North America, Mammut pacificus sp. nov. is herein recognized, with specimens identified throughout California and from two localities in southern Idaho. This new taxon differs from the contemporaneous M. americanum in having narrower teeth, most prominently in M3/m3, as well as six sacral vertebrae, femur with a proportionally greater mid-shaft diameter, and no mandibular tusks at any growth stage. All known Pleistocene Mammut remains from California are consistent with our diagnosis of M. pacificus, which indicates that M. americanum was not present in California

AMI observations of northern supernova remnants at 14-18 GHz

We present observations between 14.2 and 17.9 GHz of 12 reported supernova remnants (SNRs) made with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Small Array (AMI SA). In conjunction with data from the literature at lower radio frequencies, we determine spectra of these objects. For well-studied SNRs (Cas A, Tycho's SNR, 3C58 and the Crab Nebula), the results are in good agreement with spectra based on previous results. For the less well-studied remnants the AMI SA observations provide higher-frequency radio observations than previously available, and better constrain their radio spectra. The AMI SA results confirm a spectral turnover at ~11 GHz for the filled-centre remnant G74.9+1.2. We also see a possible steepening of the spectrum of the filled-centre remnant G54.1+0.3 within the AMI SA frequency band compared with lower frequencies. We confirm that G84.9+0.5, which had previously been identified as a SNR, is rather an HII region and has a flat radio spectrum.Comment: 12 pages, 24 figures, accepted MNRA

Spectrally and Radiometrically Stable, Wideband, Onboard Calibration Source

The Onboard Calibration (OBC) source incorporates a medical/scientific-grade halogen source with a precisely designed fiber coupling system, and a fiber-based intensity-monitoring feedback loop that results in radiometric and spectral stabilities to within less than 0.3 percent over a 15-hour period. The airborne imaging spectrometer systems developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory incorporate OBC sources to provide auxiliary in-use system calibration data. The use of the OBC source will provide a significant increase in the quantitative accuracy, reliability, and resulting utility of the spectral data collected from current and future imaging spectrometer instruments

AMI observations of Lynds Dark Nebulae: further evidence for anomalous cm-wave emission

Observations at 14.2 to 17.9 GHz made with the AMI Small Array towards fourteen Lynds Dark Nebulae with a resolution of 2' are reported. These sources are selected from the SCUBA observations of Visser et al. (2001) as small angular diameter clouds well matched to the synthesized beam of the AMI Small Array. Comparison of the AMI observations with radio observations at lower frequencies with matched uv-plane coverage is made, in order to search for any anomalous excess emission which can be attributed to spinning dust. Possible emission from spinning dust is identified as a source within a 2' radius of the Scuba position of the Lynds dark nebula, exhibiting an excess with respect to lower frequency radio emission. We find five sources which show a possible spinning dust component in their spectra. These sources have rising spectral indices in the frequency range 14.2--17.9 GHz. Of these five one has already been reported, L1111, we report one new definite detection, L675, and three new probable detections (L944, L1103 and L1246). The relative certainty of these detections is assessed on the basis of three criteria: the extent of the emission, the coincidence of the emission with the Scuba position and the likelihood of alternative explanations for the excess. Extended microwave emission makes the likelihood of the anomalous emission arising as a consequence of a radio counterpart to a protostar or a proto-planetary disk unlikely. We use a 2' radius in order to be consistent with the IRAS identifications of dark nebulae (Parker 1988), and our third criterion is used in the case of L1103 where a high flux density at 850 microns relative to the FIR data suggests a more complicated emission spectrum.Comment: submitted MNRA