Cold War Revival: Neoconservatives and Historical Memory in the War on Terror

Throughout the cold war, neoconservative intellectuals argued that the United States is an inherently virtuous nation engaged a permanent struggle against enemies at home as well as abroad. This essay addresses the ways that contemporary neoconservative voices have tried to revive the narrative of struggle, in part by claiming that the war on terror must be understood as a “present danger” that resembled the cold war. According to these commentators, a victorious strain of American foreign policy was born during the early years of the cold war. After three decades of setbacks and faltering national “will,” these principles were supposedly were reanimated by Ronald Reagan, who eventually carried the nation to triumph. By arguing that Americans are capable of restoring abandoned paths to victory, neoconservatives insist that the lessons of the cold war must be revived and applied to the struggle against radical Islam

Minority Stress, Campaign Messages and Political Participation during the Australian Marriage Plebiscite

Background: The health and wellbeing of sexual minorities is adversely impacted by a set of factors collectively known as minority stress. Recently, negative campaigns preceding gay-rights referenda have put further pressure on sexual minorities. However, active participation in political campaigns is expected to foster wellbeing. This study explores the mechanisms through which political campaigns affect negative emotions in sexual minorities. Method: We conducted a survey with 318 Australian sexual minority individuals during the campaign for the same-sex marriage postal vote in 2017. Results: As expected, exposure to negative campaign messages was associated with emotional distress. This association persisted controlling for the effects everyday stress. The effect of exposure to negative campaign messages was no longer significant when controlling for minority stressors like internalized homophobia, expectations of rejection, and everyday discrimination. Political participation was also associated with emotional distress. Post hoc analyses supported a model whereby minority stressors mediated the associations of campaign messages and political participation with distress. Conclusion: As public votes on the rights of sexual minorities become more common, it is important to develop models that can inform policy in protecting such minorities. Minority stress provides a flexible theoretical framework that can incorporate these new challenges

2014-2015 New Music Festival

Ninth Annual New Music Festival David Noon, Composer-in-Residence Lisa Leonard, Director Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 7:30 pm Spotlight I: Young Composers Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 7:30 pm Master Class with David Noon Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 7:30 pm Spotlight II: The Music of David Noon Commissioned Work Divertimenti for Winds, op. 255 by David Noon. The full score is displayed in the Creative Works collection.https://spiral.lynn.edu/conservatory_newmusicfest/1003/thumbnail.jp

Calibration and Cross-Validation of Accelerometery for Estimating Movement Skills in Children Aged 8-12 Years

This study sought to calibrate triaxial accelerometery, worn on both wrists, waist and both ankles, during children’s physical activity (PA), with particular attention to object control motor skills performed at a fast and slow cadence, and to cross-validate the accelerometer cut-points derived from the calibration using an independent dataset. Twenty boys (10.1 ±1.5 years) undertook seven, five-minute bouts of activity lying supine, standing, running (4.5kmph−1) instep passing a football (fast and slow cadence), dribbling a football (fast and slow cadence), whilst wearing five GENEActiv accelerometers on their non-dominant and dominant wrists and ankles and waist. VO2 was assessed concurrently using indirect calorimetry. ROC curve analysis was used to generate cut-points representing sedentary, light and moderate PA. The cut-points were then cross-validated using independent data from 30 children (9.4 ± 1.4 years), who had undertaken similar activities whilst wearing accelerometers and being assessed for VO2. GENEActiv monitors were able to discriminate sedentary activity to an excellent level irrespective of wear location. For moderate PA, discrimination of activity was considered good for monitors placed on the dominant wrist, waist, non-dominant and dominant ankles but fair for the non-dominant wrist. Applying the cut-points to the cross-validation sample indicated that cut-points validated in the calibration were able to successfully discriminate sedentary behaviour and moderate PA to an excellent standard and light PA to a fair standard. Cut-points derived from this calibration demonstrate an excellent ability to discriminate children’s sedentary behaviour and moderate intensity PA comprising motor skill activity.N/

Modeling payback from research into the efficacy of left-ventricular assist devices as destination therapy

Objectives: Ongoing developments in design have improved the outlook for left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation as a therapy in end-stage heart failure. Nevertheless, early cost-effectiveness assessments, based on first-generation devices, have not been encouraging. Against this background, we set out (i) to examine the survival benefit that LVADs would need to generate before they could be deemed cost-effective; (ii) to provide insight into the likelihood that this benefit will be achieved; and (iii) from the perspective of a healthcare provider, to assess the value of discovering the actual size of this benefit by means of a Bayesian value of information analysis. Methods: Cost-effectiveness assessments are made from the perspective of the healthcare provider, using current UK norms for the value of a quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). The treatment model is grounded in published analyses of the Randomized Evaluation of Mechanical Assistance for the Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure (REMATCH) trial of first-generation LVADs, translated into a UK cost setting. The prospects for patient survival with second-generation devices is assessed using Bayesian prior distributions, elicited from a group of leading clinicians in the field. Results: Using established thresholds, cost-effectiveness probabilities under these priors are found to be low (.2 percent) for devices costing as much as £60,000. Sensitivity of the conclusions to both device cost and QALY valuation is examined. Conclusions: In the event that the price of the device in use would reduce to £40,000, the value of the survival information can readily justify investment in further trials

Effects of point-count duration on estimated detection probabilities and occupancy of breeding birds

Increasingly, point-count data are used to estimate occupancy, the probability that a species is present at a given location; occupancy accounts for imperfect detection, the probability that a species is detected given that it is present. To our knowledge, effects of sampling duration on inferences from models of bird occupancy have not been evaluated. Our objective was to determine whether changing count duration from 5 to 8min affected inferences about the occupancy of birds sampled in the Chesapeake Bay Lowlands (eastern United States) and the central and western Great Basin (western United States) in 2012 and 2013. We examined the proportion of species (two doves, one cuckoo, two swifts, five hummingbirds, 11 woodpeckers, and 122 passerines) for which estimates of detection probability were 0.3. For species with single-season detection probabilities 0.3, we compared occupancy estimates derived from 5- and 8-min counts. We also compared estimates for three species sampled annually for 5yr in the central Great Basin. Detection probabilities based on both the 5- and 8-min counts were 0.3 for 40% 3% of the species in an ecosystem. Extending the count duration from 5 to 8min increased the detection probability to 0.3 for 5% +/- 0.5% of the species. We found no difference in occupancy estimates that were based on 5- versus 8-min counts for species sampled over two or five consecutive years. However, for 97% of species sampled over 2yr, precision of occupancy estimates that were based on 8-min counts averaged 12% +/- 2% higher than those based on 5-min counts. We suggest that it may be worthwhile to conduct a pilot season to determine the number of locations and surveys needed to achieve detection probabilities that are sufficiently high to estimate occupancy for species of interest

Simulating the Gradually Deteriorating Performance of an RTG

Degra (now in version 3) is a computer program that simulates the performance of a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) over its lifetime. Degra is provided with a graphical user interface that is used to edit input parameters that describe the initial state of the RTG and the time-varying loads and environment to which it will be exposed. Performance is computed by modeling the flows of heat from the radioactive source and through the thermocouples, also allowing for losses, to determine the temperature drop across the thermocouples. This temperature drop is used to determine the open-circuit voltage, electrical resistance, and thermal conductance of the thermocouples. Output power can then be computed by relating the open-circuit voltage and the electrical resistance of the thermocouples to a specified time-varying load voltage. Degra accounts for the gradual deterioration of performance attributable primarily to decay of the radioactive source and secondarily to gradual deterioration of the thermoelectric material. To provide guidance to an RTG designer, given a minimum of input, Degra computes the dimensions, masses, and thermal conductances of important internal structures as well as the overall external dimensions and total mass

State-of-the-art monitoring techniques for Samarco tailings dams

Good tailings dam management becomes critical as the complexity of mining projects increases, along with the increasing global focus on safe and sustainable development. The industry standard, and fundamental benchmark for a tailings storage facility, is to provide ‘safe, stable, and economical storage of tailings presenting negligible public health and safety risks and acceptably low social and environmental impacts during operation and post-closure’. Geotechnical stability is a key consideration in many tailings dam failures, and monitoring and instrumentation of tailings dams provides valuable insights into potential tailings dam failure mechanism. Given the extremely high costs of tailing dam failures, such monitoring and instrumentation is a cost effective means of determining the critical parameters that may mitigate the risks and potential consequences of tailings dam failures. This paper discusses the outcomes of a back-analysis of state-of-the art slope monitoring techniques undertaken at a number of sites at Samarco Mine in Brazil. The data are assessed in terms of geotechnical stability and the associated alarm levels. The ability to pre-emptively identify, and respond appropriately to slope instabilities is explored