California's Political Geography

Based on PPIC Statewide Survey data, outlines regional variations in party representation in the U.S. Congress and the state legislature, residents' party affiliation, and ideology on social and fiscal issues. Considers electoral implications

Discovery and Monitoring of a new Black Hole Candidate XTE J1752-223 with RXTE: RMS spectrum evolution, BH mass and the source distance

We report on the discovery and monitoring observations of a new galactic black hole candidate XTE J1752-223 by Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The new source appeared on the X-ray sky on October 21 2009 and was active for almost 8 months. Phenomenologically, the source exhibited the low-hard/high-soft spectral state bi-modality and the variability evolution during the state transition that matches standard behavior expected from a stellar mass black hole binary. We model the energy spectrum throughout the outburst using a generic Comptonization model assuming that part of the input soft radiation in the form of a black body spectrum gets reprocessed in the Comptonizing medium. We follow the evolution of fractional root-mean-square (RMS) variability in the RXTE/PCA energy band with the source spectral state and conclude that broad band variability is strongly correlated with the source hardness (or Comptonized fraction). We follow changes in the energy distribution of rms variability during the low-hard state and the state transition and find further evidence that variable emission is strongly concentrated in the power-law spectral component. We discuss the implication of our results to the Comptonization regimes during different spectral states. Correlations of spectral and variability properties provide measurements of the BH mass and distance to the source. The spectral-timing correlation scaling technique applied to the RXTE observation during the hard-to-soft state transition indicates a mass of the BH in XTE J1752-223 between 8 and 11 solar masses and a distance to the source about 3.5 kiloparsec.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

GRB 090926A and Bright Late-time Fermi LAT GRB Afterglows

GRB 090926A was detected by both the GBM and LAT instruments on-board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. Swift follow-up observations began ~13 hours after the initial trigger. The optical afterglow was detected for nearly 23 days post trigger, placing it in the long lived category. The afterglow is of particular interest due to its brightness at late times, as well as the presence of optical flares at T0+10^5 s and later, which may indicate late-time central engine activity. The LAT has detected a total of 16 GRBs; 9 of these bursts, including GRB 090926A, also have been observed by Swift. Of the 9 Swift observed LAT bursts, 6 were detected by UVOT, with 5 of the bursts having bright, long-lived optical afterglows. In comparison, Swift has been operating for 5 years and has detected nearly 500 bursts, but has only seen ~30% of bursts with optical afterglows that live longer than 10^5 s. We have calculated the predicted gamma-ray fluence, as would have been seen by the BAT on-board Swift, of the LAT bursts to determine whether this high percentage of long-lived optical afterglows is unique, when compared to BAT-triggered bursts. We find that, with the exception of the short burst GRB 090510A, the predicted BAT fluences indicate the LAT bursts are more energetic than 88% of all Swift bursts, and also have brighter than average X-ray and optical afterglows.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter

Note on the Infrared Dichroism of Axially Oriented Polymers

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70441/2/JCPSA6-32-1-313-1.pd

Gender Role Congruence and Self-Efficacy in Emerging Outdoor Leaders

Being a leader in the outdoors requires the competence and confidence to act and make decisions in high-risk situations. However, female leaders may experience an incongruence between the assertive decision-making expected of their leadership role and the passivity expected of their gender role, which can impact their leadership self- efficacy. The purpose of this study was to explore how gender role congruence influences the self-efficacy of male and female emerging outdoor leaders. A convergent mixed- methods design was used by triangulating self-efficacy survey data with in-depth interviews, observations, and reflective drawings from eight student outdoor leaders at a large Midwestern university’s outdoor recreation program. Multiple themes emerged from this study, with the primary result being that participants had highest self-efficacy with gender role congruent behaviors. Both engrained perceptions of gender roles in outdoor leadership and prior experiences contributed to these feelings of self-efficacy. Additionally, the results of this study indicated that women experienced low self-efficacy more often than men and faced specific challenges leading in a male-dominated space. No other known study examining gender and self-efficacy in the outdoors has used such a design, so this research brings a novel contribution to the literature and to outdoor leadership development programs. Advisor: Lindsay Hasting

Frequency Shift of the CO Stretching Band in Polypeptides and Proteins

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70796/2/JCPSA6-23-7-1371-1.pd

The possibility of criminalisation of territorial violations by foreign state aircraft in Estonian criminal law

https://www.ester.ee/record=b544921