Communicating Cyber Consequences

More consideration ought to be accorded “loud” cyber weapons for signaling resolve in 21st century deterrence contests. “Deterrence is at times a necessary or useful instrument of foreign policy, but the correct and prudent use of deterrence strategy is by no means self-evident or easily determined in all circumstances.” In their seminal text, Alexander L. George and Richard Smoke thoroughly examined the topic of deterrence, tracing its historical roots and conducting case studies on its use. The product of this intense study was a formula that encapsulates the essence of deterrence theory. “In its simplest form, deterrence is merely a contingent threat: ‘If you do x, I shall do y to you.’ If the opponent expects the costs of y to be greater than the benefits of x, he will refrain from doing [x]; he is deterred.” Since its pronouncement, this formula has been codified in Department of Defense (DoD) doctrine, most recently in the DoD’s “Deterrence Ops Joint Operating Concept” and it’s “Cyber Strategy.

Information Derived from Incident-Related Material Analysis-DPAA

Copy of Report of Information Derived from Incident-Related Material Analysis-DPAAhttps://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/sdfrancisco_documents/1016/thumbnail.jp

African-American Women Superintendents: Perceived Barriers and Challenges Experienced While Accessing and Serving in the Superintendency

This research study was designed to add to the existing but limited literature that explores perceived barriers and challenges African-American women superintendents experienced while ascending and serving in the superintendency. According to the literature, African-American women are underrepresented in the role of public school superintendents. This study examined the impact of gender and racial discrimination on African-American women superintendent aspirants and those currently serving in the role. This study surveyed and interviewed African-American women superintendents serving in public school districts in North Carolina and South Carolina, examining their perceptions of barriers and challenges experienced while ascending and serving in the superintendency. Race and gender were the two identified themes found in the analysis of survey and interview data. This study determined that race and gender have an impact on African-American women public school superintendents while ascending and serving in the role. All subthemes supported racial and gender biases. Choice of dress, working in a male-dominated field, isolation and exclusion from “good old boy networks,” dispelling the belief that African-American women do not make good administrators, and the lack of acceptance by male and non-African-American administrators and staff were all subthemes of the impact of race and gender. The findings of this study will serve to better prepare African-American women who aspire to and serve in the superintendency when faced with barriers and challenges rooted in racial and gender biases. The findings can be used to better inform school boards, hiring personnel, educational leadership programs, and public school districts of the barriers and challenges African-American women public school superintendents experience and how race and gender impact them in the role of superintendent

Hyperspectral-Assisted Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy for Single Cell Analysis

As the scope of our knowledge surrounding cell response to stimuli widens, the value in an unambiguous understanding of cell-to-cell heterogeneity increases. The advancement of biological imaging relies on studying the smallest unit of life – a single, living cell. Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) has served as a non-destructive method for imaging single cells with most biological platforms being equipped with correlated optical and fluorescence microscopy. While fluorescence microscopy has served as a minimally destructive method for analysis, it may also be compromised by low signal-to-noise and phototoxic effects. To overcome these barriers in live-cell microscopy, we combine a typical biological SECM platform with a variable fluorescence bandpass source for obtaining electrochemical, optical, and spectral data, simultaneously. Our novel imaging platform widens the scope of biological imaging by allowing one to capture spectral data with 1 nm resolution to probe dynamic extra- and intra-cellular interactions via hyperspectral-assisted SECM. To demonstrate the robust capabilities and versatility of our imaging platform, we use hyperspectral-assisted SECM to examine a two-dimensional co-culture system and to investigate two relevant public health concerns: the mechanism of human cytomegalovirus propagation and the mechanism of perfluorooctane sulfonate cytotoxicity within two-dimensional tissue cultures.Doctor of Philosoph

Affection Deprivation and Weathering: An Exploratory Study of Black and African Americans’ Well-Being during COVID-19

This study investigates factors related to the well-being of African Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically, reports of discrimination, perceived stress, and affection deprivation through the lenses of Affection Exchange Theory and the Weathering Framework. Sixty-six individuals participated in a cross-sectional survey study through an online Qualtrics questionnaire. We predicted that Black and African American participants would report experiencing more discrimination during the pandemic than other people of color (POC) due to several overlapping pathways of racism (e.g., stereotype effect, internalized racism, and systemic racism) affecting Black individuals more than others. We also predicted affection deprivation for Black and African American participants would be directly related to their perceived stress. Results from an independent samples t-test indicated no significant difference of discrimination between Black and non-Black participants. However, in post hoc analysis, there was a significant difference of discrimination between Black and White participants, illustrating the greater strain on Black individuals during the pandemic when compared to their White counterparts. Finally, correlational analysis revealed a significant positive association between affection deprivation and perceived stress for Black participants. We believe this relationship reflects an important health problem Black Americans are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which isolation through COVID-19 protective measures (e.g., quarantine) are exacerbating the burden of stress they already bear

The impact of teacher education, administrative support, and teacher self-efficacy on using movement in the elementary classroom

Elementary students spend 7 to 8 hours in school for approximately 175 days of the year. Despite knowing that physical activity can aid in academic success and benefit the overall health of children, it is not widely used in schools outside of physical education and recess. The lack of physical activity (PA) in schools makes it more difficult for kids to achieve 60 minutes of PA. Teachers have to overcome several intrapersonal and environmental barriers to implement classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) successfully. It is not widely known how the influences of education, administrative support, and self-efficacy together play a role in the amount of CBPA a teacher uses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of educational background, administrator support, and teacher self-efficacy to a teacher’s use of classroom-based physical activity. Elementary education teachers (N=44), grades K-5, were surveyed to gather data surrounding their use of CBPA. Results indicate that most teachers are using CBPA at least once per day, and some teachers are using it up to 8 times per day. Results also show an increase in education is related to an increase in the frequency in which a teacher uses CBPA. This group of teachers was confident in their ability to use CBPA. The more a teacher uses CBPA, the higher that teacher’s confidence is in implementing the activities. This group also reported high levels of administrative support, with a majority of that support coming in the form of moral support and encouraging teachers to use different teaching strategies. This study may help to provide information to school administrators who can support teacher education efforts within schools and school districts. These findings provide data to support the creation of a school environment conducive to increasing the amount of movement used in elementary schools today

A volumetric index for the quantification of deep venous thrombosis

AbstractPurpose: The evaluation of treatment strategies for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is assessed through the use of a reliable method of quantifying the extent of the thrombotic process. Previous indices of thrombus burden have suffered from various limitations, including lack of clinical relevance, poor correlation with actual thrombus mass, and failure to include important venous segments in the methodology. The use of a novel scheme of quantifying venous thrombus was evaluated as an alternative method that would avoid some of the drawbacks of existing indices. Methods: The volumes of 14 venous segments (infrarenal inferior vena cava, common iliac, hypogastric, external iliac, common femoral, profunda, superficial femoral, and popliteal and six tibial veins) were calculated from computed tomography (pelvic vein diameter), duplex ultrasound scan (infrainguinal vein diameter), and contrast venography (length of all segments) measurements. A venous volumetric index (VVI) was assigned with the normalization of the values to the volume of a single calf vein. The VVI was validated with the assessment of the ability to discriminate between asymptomatic and symptomatic DVT and between those DVT that were associated with pulmonary emboli and those that were not. Results: With the imaging data, the VVI ranged from 1 for a single calf vein thrombus to 26 for the infrarenal inferior vena cava. Each VVI unit represented 2.3 mL of thrombus, with a maximum possible score of 63 representing a thrombus burden of 145 mL for a single extremity, including the infrarenal inferior vena cava. In 885 patients with DVT, the VVI ranged from 1 to 56, averaging 3.9 ± 0.2 in patients who were asymptomatic and 8.7 ± 0.3 in patients who were symptomatic (P < .001). The VVI was similar in the patients with pulmonary emboli as compared with those without (9.6 ± 1.2 vs 7.7 ± 0.2, respectively). In comparison with the three existing methods of quantifying venous thrombus burden, the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis results suggested that the VVI and the Venous Registry index were better than the other two indices in the discrimination of patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic DVT (P < .001). Conclusion: A novel index of venous thrombus burden, on the basis of actual venous volume measurements, was more accurate than present indices in the differentiation between clinical categories of patients with DVT. As such, it offers an acceptable alternative to current scoring systems. (J Vasc Surg 1999;30:1060-6.

Fate of myelin lipids during degeneration and regeneration of peripheral nerve: an autoradiographic study

Four weeks after labeling myelin lipids with an intraneural injection of 3H-acetate, sciatic nerves were crushed, and the distribution of radiolabeled myelin lipids was followed by autoradiography from 1 d to 10 weeks later. Just prior to crush, silver grains were localized to the myelin sheath. Three days after crush, axons were degenerating and myelin sheaths were breaking down; silver grains appeared over lipid droplets within Schwann cells, fibroblasts, and macrophages. One week after crush the basal-lamina-delimited Schwann-cell tubes (Bungner bands) contained myelin debris, and some tubes already contained regenerating axons. Schwann cells were often displaced to the periphery of the tubes by phagocytes containing heavily labeled myelin debris; extratubal macrophages within the endoneurium contained labeled lipid droplets but no myelin debris. Two weeks after nerve crush silver grains were associated with newly formed myelin around regenerating axons. Many extratubal endoneurial macrophages now contained labeled myelin debris and lipid droplets. By 3 weeks myelination of regenerating axons was advanced, and the myelin sheaths were well labeled. Extratubal macrophages had become the major labeled structure within the nerve because they contained large amounts of labeled myelin debris and lipid droplets. From 4 to 10 weeks after nerve crush the new myelin sheaths continued to thicken and to be well labeled. Debris- laden extratubal macrophages remained the major site of labeled material within the endoneurium. Our results confirm that there is reutilization of myelin cholesterol by Schwann cells to form new myelin, and indicate that some lipid catabolism takes place in Schwann cells and endoneurial fibroblasts prior to infiltration of the nerve by macrophages. However, most of the myelin debris is phagocytized by macrophages within 1–2 weeks following nerve injury. These debris-laden macrophages persist within the nerve for many weeks, indicating that much of the salvaged cholesterol is not reutilized for myelin regeneration

Increased midgestational IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-5 in women bearing a child with autism: A case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Immune anomalies have been documented in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and their family members. It is unknown whether the maternal immune profile during pregnancy is associated with the risk of bearing a child with ASD or other neurodevelopmental disorders.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using Luminex technology, levels of 17 cytokines and chemokines were measured in banked serum collected from women at 15 to 19 weeks of gestation who gave birth to a child ultimately diagnosed with (1) ASD (<it>n </it>= 84), (2) a developmental delay (DD) but not autism (<it>n </it>= 49) or (3) no known developmental disability (general population (GP); <it>n </it>= 159). ASD and DD risk associated with maternal cytokine and chemokine levels was estimated by using multivariable logistic regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Elevated concentrations of IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-5 in midgestation maternal serum were significantly associated with a 50% increased risk of ASD, regardless of ASD onset type and the presence of intellectual disability. By contrast, elevated concentrations of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-6 were significantly associated with an increased risk of DD without autism.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The profile of elevated serum IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-5 was more common in women who gave birth to a child subsequently diagnosed with ASD. An alternative profile of increased IL-2, IL-4 and IL-6 was more common for women who gave birth to a child subsequently diagnosed with DD without autism. Further investigation is needed to characterize the relationship between these divergent maternal immunological phenotypes and to evaluate their effect on neurodevelopment.</p