Personality Traits-Based Terrorism Risk Assessment: Determining Reliability Using Open-Source Data

Prominent terrorism case studies of individuals such as Omar Mateen, Dylann Roof, and Mohammed Merah indicate the need for personality trait-based terrorism risk assessment/threat assessment (TR/TA). This chapter provides an overview of Corrado’s, personality-based TR/TA instrument (see Chapter 14) by explaining the origin of each domain and the purpose of inclusion. Furthermore, this chapter displays results from a preliminary instrument validation study conducted on an open-source sample of 158 terrorists. Results of this study suggest strong statistical significance for many of the domains. This suggests the need for future inclusion of personality-based indicators in terrorism risk assessment.

Extending the Breakthrough Listen nearby star survey to other stellar objects in the field

ABSTRACT We extend the source sample recently observed by the Breakthrough Listen (BL) Initiative by including additional stars (with parallaxes measured by Gaia) that also reside within the full width at half-maximum of the Green Bank 100-m Telescope and Parkes radio telescope target fields. These stars have estimated distances as listed in the extensions of the Gaia DR2 catalogue. Enlarging the sample from 1327 to 288 315 stellar objects permits us to achieve substantially better Continuous Waveform Transmitter Rate Figures of Merit (CWTFM) than any previous analysis, and allows us to place the tightest limits yet on the prevalence of nearby high-duty-cycle extraterrestrial transmitters. The results suggest ≲0.0660$^{+0.0004}_{-0.0003}$ per cent of stellar systems within 50 pc host such transmitters (assuming an EIRP ≳ 1013 W) and ≲0.039$^{+0.004}_{-0.008}$ per cent within 200 pc (assuming an EIRP ≳ 2.5 × 1014 W). We further extend our analysis to much greater distances, though we caution that the detection of narrow-band signals beyond a few hundred pc may be affected by interstellar scintillation. The extended sample also permits us to place new constraints on the prevalence of extraterrestrial transmitters by stellar type and spectral class. Our results suggest targeted analyses of Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence radio data can benefit from taking into account the fact that in addition to the target at the field centre, many other cosmic objects reside within the primary beam response of a parabolic radio telescope. These include foreground and background Galactic stars, but also extragalactic systems. With distances measured by Gaia, these additional sources can be used to place improved limits on the prevalence of extraterrestrial transmitters, and extend the analysis to a wide range of cosmic objects.

μ⋆ masses: weak-lensing calibration of the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 redMaPPer clusters using stellar masses

ABSTRACT We present the weak-lensing mass calibration of the stellar-mass-based μ⋆ mass proxy for redMaPPer galaxy clusters in the Dark Energy Survey Year 1. For the first time, we are able to perform a calibration of μ⋆ at high redshifts, z > 0.33. In a blinded analysis, we use ∼6000 clusters split into 12 subsets spanning the ranges 0.1 ≤ z < 0.65 and μ⋆ up to ${\sim} 5.5 \times 10^{13} \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, and infer the average masses of these subsets through modelling of their stacked weak-lensing signal. In our model, we account for the following sources of systematic uncertainty: shear measurement and photometric redshift errors, miscentring, cluster-member contamination of the source sample, deviations from the Navarro–Frenk–White halo profile, halo triaxiality, and projection effects. We use the inferred masses to estimate the joint mass–μ⋆–z scaling relation given by $\langle M_{200c} | \mu _{\star },z \rangle = M_0 (\mu _{\star }/5.16\times 10^{12} \, \mathrm{M_{\odot }})^{F_{\mu _{\star }}} ((1+z)/1.35)^{G_z}$. We find $M_0= (1.14 \pm 0.07) \times 10^{14} \, \mathrm{M_{\odot }}$ with $F_{\mu _{\star }}= 0.76 \pm 0.06$ and Gz = −1.14 ± 0.37. We discuss the use of μ⋆ as a complementary mass proxy to the well-studied richness λ for: (i) exploring the regimes of low z, λ < 20 and high λ, z ∼ 1; and (ii) testing systematics such as projection effects for applications in cluster cosmology.

Weak-lensing clusters from HSC survey first-year data: Mitigating the dilution effect of foreground and cluster-member galaxies

We present a weak-lensing cluster search using Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC survey) first-year data. We pay special attention to the dilution effect of cluster-member and foreground galaxies on weak-lensing signals from clusters of galaxies; we adopt the globally normalized weak-lensing estimator which is least affected by cluster-member galaxies, and we select source galaxies by using photometric redshift information to mitigate the effect of foreground galaxies. We produce six samples of source galaxies with different low-z galaxy cuts, construct weak-lensing mass maps for each source sample, and search for high peaks in the mass maps that cover an effective survey area of ∼120 deg2. We combine six catalogs of high peaks into a sample of cluster candidates which contains 124 high peaks with signal-to-noise ratios greater than five. We cross-match the peak sample with the public optical cluster catalog constructed from the same HSC survey data to identify cluster counterparts of the peaks. We find that 107 out of 124 peaks have matched clusters within 5′ of peak positions. Among them, we define a subsample of 64 secure clusters that we use to examine dilution effects on our weak-lensing cluster search. We find that source samples with low-z galaxy cuts mitigate the dilution effect on weak-lensing signals of high-z clusters ($z \gtrsim 0.3$), and thus combining multiple peak catalogs from different source samples improves the efficiency of weak-lensing cluster searches.

Effects of Leader Networking Behaviors and Vertical Faultlines on Support for Innovation

Leader networking behaviors for innovation (LNBI) is an important yet less studied topic in innovation research. This study investigates the behavioral cascading effect of LNBI on organizational support for innovation. Building on faultline theory and the demographic representativeness approach, we conceptualize vertical faultlines as demographic misalignment across job ranks, and hypothesize their moderating effects on the relationships between LNBI and organizational support for innovation. Results from a large, multi-source sample of 55 work units in a U.S. high-technology firm support the mediation model that senior leaders’ LNBI influences unit-level support for innovation through junior leaders’ LNBI. Moreover, the relationship between junior leaders’ LNBI and unit-level support for innovation was more pronounced in work units with weaker rather than stronger vertical faultlines between employees and junior leaders. Our findings highlight the importance of leader networking activities and structural configurations of workforce diversity in building organizational support for innovation.

In Vitro Techniques Using the DaisyII Incubator for the Assessment of Digestibility: A Review

This review summarises the use of the Ankom DaisyII incubator (ADII; Ankom Technology Corporation Fairport, NY, USA), as presented in studies on digestibility, and its extension to other species apart from ruminants, from its introduction until today. This technique has been modified and adapted to allow for different types of investigations to be conducted. Researchers have studied and tested different procedures, and the main sources of variation have been found to be: the inoculum source, sample size, sample preparation, and bag type. In vitro digestibility methods, applied to the ADII incubator, have been reviewed, the precision and accuracy of the method using the ADII incubator have been dealt with, and comparisons with other methods have been made. Moreover, some hypotheses on the possible evolutions of this technology in non-ruminants, including pets, have been described. To date, there are no standardised protocols for the collection, storage, and transportation of rumen fluid or faeces. There is also still a need to standardise the procedures for washing the bags after digestion. Moreover, some performance metrics of the instrument (such as the reliability of the rotation mechanism of the jars) still require improvement.

Methods for Classifying Nonprofit Organizations According to their Field of Activity: A Report on Semi-automated Methods Based on Text

There are various methods for classifying nonprofit organizations (NPOs) according to their field of activity. We report our experiences using two semi-automated methods based on textual data: rule-based classification and machine learning with curated keywords. We use those methods to classify Austrian nonprofit organizations based on the International Classification of Nonprofit Organizations. Those methods can provide a solution to the widespread research problem that quantitative data on the activities of NPOs are needed but not readily available from administrative data, long high-quality texts describing NPOs’ activities are mostly unavailable, and human labor resources are limited. We find that in such a setting, rule-based classification performs about as well as manual human coding in terms of precision and sensitivity, while being much more labor-saving. Hence, we share our insights on how to efficiently implement such a rule-based approach. To address scholars with a background in data analytics as well as those without, we provide non-technical explanations and open-source sample code that is free to use and adapt.

Prevalence and comorbidities of dementia in Israel: A nationally representative cohort study

ABSTRACTInformation on the prevalence of dementia is rare in the Middle East, including dementia comorbidities with diabetes, ischemic heart disease (IHD), diabetes, and severe mental illnesses (SMI). This study aims to examine the 1-year prevalence of dementia and the aforementioned comorbidities in a representative national Israeli cohort aged 60 and above. The study design was a nationally representative cohort. The source sample comprised 122,829 persons aged 60 and above in 2015. The dementia group consisted of 8,153 patients (6.6%). The rate of dementia approximately doubled for every 5 years of maturation to the age of 84, and dropped thereafter. Dementia was significantly (P < 0.0001) more likely among women (N = 4,899, 7.4%) than men (N = 3,254, 5.7%). Based on multivariate logistic regression models, the group with dementia compared with the group without dementia had statistically significant (P < 0.001) lower odds of diabetes (OR = 0.78) and IHD (OR = 0.87), and significantly higher odds of SMI (OR = 4.96), accounting for age and gender. The prevalence of dementia delineated by age and gender in Israel resembles those found in other developed nations. Generally, dementia was associated with more SMI and less IHD and diabetes.

Characterization of a subsample of the Planck SZ source cluster catalogues using optical SDSS DR12 data

Aims. The Planck catalogues of Sunyaev –Zeldovich (SZ) sources, PSZ1 and PSZ2, are the largest catalogues of galaxy clusters selected through their SZ signature in the full sky. In 2013, we started a long-term observational programme at Canary Island observatories with the aim of validating ∼500 unconfirmed SZ sources. In this work we present results of the initial pre-screening of possible cluster counterparts using photometric and spectroscopic data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR12. Our main aim is to identify previously unconfirmed PSZ2 cluster candidates and to contribute in the determination of the actual purity and completeness of Planck SZ source sample. Methods. Using the latest version of the PSZ2 catalogue, we selected all sources overlapping with the SDSS DR12 footprint and without redshift information. We validated these cluster fields following optical criteria (mainly distance with respect to the Planck pointing, magnitude of the brightest cluster galaxy, and cluster richness), and combined these criteria with the profiles of the Planck Compton y-maps. This combined procedure allows for a more robust identification of optical counterparts compared to simply cross-matching with existing SDSS cluster catalogues that have been constructed from earlier SDSS data releases. Results. The sample contains new redshifts for 37 Planck galaxy clusters that were not included in the original release of PSZ2 Planck catalogue. We detect three cases as possible multiple counterparts. We show that a combination of all available information (optical images and profile of SZ signal) can provide correct associations between the observed Planck SZ source and the optically identified cluster. We also show that Planck SZ detection is very sensitive even to high-z (z > 0.5) clusters. In addition, we also present updated spectroscopic information for 34 Planck PSZ1 sources (33 previously photometrically confirmed and 1 new identification).