Defense Mobilization Research Articles

Strategic Considerations for Enhancing Civil Defense Systems in Subways and Underground Utility Tunnels Amid Evolving National Defense Mobilization Needs

Strategic Considerations for Enhancing Civil Defense Systems in Subways and Underground Utility Tunnels Amid Evolving National Defense Mobilization Needs

More than fear? Brain activation patterns of dental phobic patients before and after an exposure-based treatment

Hyperactivation of brain networks conferring defensive mobilization is assumed to underlie inappropriate defensive-preparation in patients with Specific Phobia. However, studies targeting Dental Phobia (DP) yielded quite heterogeneous results and research concerning the effects of exposure treatments on phobic brain activation so far is missing. This functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study aimed to investigate activation patterns in DP patients during exposure to phobia-related stimuli and the effects of an exposure-based fear treatment on phobia-related activation. Seventeen patients with DP and seventeen non-phobic, healthy controls participated in this fMRI experiment presenting dental-related and neutral auditory and visual stimuli. After completing a short exposure-based CBT program, patients were scanned a second time to illustrate treatment-related changes in brain activation patterns. Pre-treatment fMRI results demonstrate enhanced activation in DP-patients mainly in the precuneus and lateral parietal cortex. Moreover, a small activation focus was observed in the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as parts of classically fear-related structures. Activation in all these clusters decreased significantly from pre- to post-treatment assessment and in the case of the ACC was correlated with dental fear reduction. Activation changes in the precuneus and lateral parietal cortex suggest a pronounced first-person perspective memory processing including a vivid recall of contextual information from an egocentric perspective triggered by exposure to phobia-related stimuli. Besides a treatment-sensitive hyperactivity of fear-sensitive structures, DP may also be characterized by a disturbed memory retrieval that can be reorganized by successful exposure treatment.

"The mere imagination scares me"-evidence for fear responses during mental imagery of pain-associated interoceptive sensations in adolescents with chronic pain.

According to the bio-informational theory of emotion by Lang, mental imagery of fearful stimuli activates physiological and behavioural response systems, even in the absence of sensory input. We investigated whether instructed mental imagery of pain-associated (not painful) interoceptive sensations entails a threat value and elicits increased startle response, skin conductance level (SCL), and heart rate (HR) indicative of defensive mobilization in adolescents with chronic pain. Additionally, self-reported measures (fear, fear of pain, desire to avoid) were assessed. Adolescents (11-18 years) with chronic headache (CH, n = 46) or chronic abdominal pain (CAP, n = 29) and a control group (n = 28) were asked to imagine individualized pain-associated, neutral and standardized fear scripts. During pain-associated compared with neutral imagery, both pain groups showed higher mean HR, with CH also showing higher HR reactivity, while HR acceleration was not observed within control group. In contrast, during pain-associated compared with neutral imagery, startle response magnitude and SCL remained unchanged in all groups. Additionally, overall levels in self-reports were higher during pain-associated compared with neutral imagery, but significantly more pronounced in the pain groups compared with the control group. Results suggest that the mere imagination of pain-associated sensations elicits specific autonomic fear responses accompanied by increased self-reported fear in adolescents with chronic pain. The specific modulation of heart rate shed new light on our understanding of multimodal fear responses in adolescents with chronic pain and may help to refine paradigms to decrease fear of interoceptive sensations in chronic pain.

Patrimonio cultural y defensa ciudadana: la Estación Central de ferrocarriles de Santiago de Chile.

From an expanded notion of cultural heritage based on social and citizen dimensions that contribute new scopes to the complexity of this area, the patrimonial defense experience recorded in the 1990s is analyzed, in which it was intended to denaturalize the railway stations of the Central Station by changing its use and functions by commercial activities. This implied a citizen reaction to stop the projects that involved the loss of the last railway terminal in the city. In the text, characteristics and conditions are systematized that can explain the successful results of this citizen mobilization in defense of a milestone in the railway culture of the city and the country.

Effects of Melatonin Priming on Suaeda corniculata Seed Germination, Antioxidant Defense, and Reserve Mobilization: Implications for Salinized Wetland Restoration

Melatonin priming has been widely reported to positively affect seed germination under abiotic stresses. However, there is still a gap in knowledge on how melatonin priming impacts the seed germination and physiological change of wetland plant species. We assessed the effects of different melatonin concentrations on germination characteristics, antioxidant defense, and reserve mobilization of Suaeda corniculata seeds. Priming of S. corniculata seeds with 50 μM melatonin significantly improved the germination rate, germination speed, germination index, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activity, and soluble sugar content as compared with the control, and effectively reduced the malondialdehyde content, promoted starch, soluble protein, and fat mobilization. However, the stress tolerance ability of S. corniculata seeds was reduced by high melatonin concentration. The structural equation model indicated that the melatonin priming directly affects the seed germination, while also indirectly regulating the antioxidant defense system and reserve mobilization. In conclusion, melatonin priming affects the S. corniculata seed germination under salinization stress in a concentration-dependent manner via both direct and indirect regulatory pathways. Insights into these aspects will advance our understanding of how melatonin priming affects S. corniculata seed germination and provide invaluable information and technical support for the restoration of salinized wetlands in the Momoge National Nature Reserve.

A discursive-images analysis of political posters in Sandinista Nicaragua (1979-1990)

In July 1979 the Popular Revolution in Nicaragua, led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), became victorious. The first years after the revolutionary insurrection were marked by the implementation of a broad program of social transformations. The struggles and experiences built throughout the 1980s, which marked the construction of a new identity and everyday culture in Sandinista Nicaragua, were promoted and recorded through posters that presented or disseminated values and ideas for the new times to come. The graphic documents that illustrated the political-cultural awakening of the Nicaraguan people reveal the challenges faced and the achievements obtained in their struggle for the right of self-determination and for the conduct of a process of revolutionary transformation of society. In this sense, the objective of this article was to carry out a discursive-imagery analysis of the production of political posters in Sandinista Nicaragua during the 1980s, verifying how a discursive-ideological formation centered on the exaltation of nationalism constituted itself as a driving force for the advancement of the objectives of the Nicaraguan revolution. As a result, we found that the graphic posters used in the context of the great campaigns of the Sandinista government were constituted as communicative practices of ideological propaganda and fulfilled an educational and politicizing function, as well as popular mobilization in defense of the Revolution.

Confidence in Science: Perceptions of Harmful Consequences, Scientific Uncertainty, and the Pursuit of Self-Interest in Scientific Research

The author uses risk society theory to develop hypotheses about sources of confidence in science. The focus is on perceptions that science creates harms, scientific knowledge is uncertain, and scientists pursue self-interests. Controls are included for political and religious identity and ideology, science knowledge, and other variables. Data are from two cross-sectional waves of the General Social Survey. Analyses using additional cross-sectional and panel samples from the General Social Survey are used to evaluate the robustness of the findings and to test the direction of causality; these are presented in the Appendix. The results indicate that perceptions of harmful consequences, scientific uncertainty, and self-interested scientists are associated with lower confidence. The results are robust across a variety of topics and types of scientists. The findings suggest that some strategies intended to increase public confidence in science, such as greater transparency or political mobilization in defense of science, might have the opposite effect.

Defensive Mobilization During Anticipation of Symptom Provocation: Association With Panic Pathology

BackgroundAnxious apprehension about feared body symptoms is thought to play a crucial role in the development, chronicity, and treatment of panic disorder (PD). In this study, we therefore aimed to elucidate the role of defensive reactivity to anticipated unpleasant symptoms in PD that can contribute to a better understanding of pathomechanisms of PD as well as identification of potential targets in PD-focused interventions. By measuring amygdala-dependent potentiation of the startle reflex, we aimed to investigate whether 1) patients with PD exhibit a specifically increased defensive reactivity to anticipated unpleasant body symptoms and 2) whether clinical severity of panic symptomatology varies with magnitude of defensive activation. MethodsDefensive mobilization to anticipated threat was investigated in 73 patients with a primary diagnosis of PD with agoraphobia (PDA) and 52 healthy control subjects. Threat of symptom provocation was established by a standardized hyperventilation task and contrasted to threat of shock to the forearm of the participant. ResultsPatients with PDA and healthy control subjects did not differ in their defensive responses during anticipation of shock. In contrast, patients with severe PDA as compared with healthy control subjects exhibited increased defensive response mobilization and reported more anxiety and panic symptoms during anticipation of feared body symptoms. Moreover, startle potentiation during anticipation of hyperventilation covaried with the severity of panic symptomatology. ConclusionsThe present findings suggest that increased defensive mobilization during anticipation of body symptoms is a neurobiological correlate of severe PDA that should be specifically targeted in PD interventions and might be used to monitor treatment success.

Health anxiety is associated with fearful imagery of contracting COVID-19: An experimental study

BackgroundAversive mental images of contracting or having a severe disease are assumed to contribute to the development and maintenance of health anxiety (HA) via the elicitation of fear, arousal and defensive mobilization. The current COVID-19 pandemic is known to trigger fears of contracting COVID-19. MethodsIn this study, we used an experimental approach to investigate whether COVID-19-related mental images lead to a fearful response and whether this is associated with levels of HA. 139 participants vividly imagined neutral, standard fear and COVID-19 related narrative scenes. ResultsStandard fear and COVID-19 scripts prompted higher anxiety, arousal, displeasure and avoidance tendencies as compared to neutral scripts. HA was associated with higher anxiety, arousal, displeasure, imagery vividness and stronger avoidance tendencies during imagery of COVID-19 scenes. No associations were found for anxiety sensitivity, trait anxiety as well as depressive and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, there was no association of HA with emotional responses during imagery of standard fear scenes. LimitationsFear responses were assessed via verbal reports. Future studies should also assess behavioral and physiological correlates of fear. ConclusionsThe present results indicate that individuals with high levels of HA are prone to fearful mental imagery of contracting COVID-19 which might be crucial factor contributing to the exacerbation and chronicity of excessive HA in times of a pandemic.

Hold your breath: Voluntary breath-holding time predicts defensive activation to approaching internal threat

Bodily disturbances, like dyspnea, elicit responses to regain homeostasis and ensure survival. However, this life-saving function can become hyperreactive, which may lead to the emergence of psychopathology. This study investigated whether maximal voluntary breath-holding time (mvBHT), a biobehavioral marker that characterizes sensitivity to respiratory stimulation, predicts defensive mobilization to cues signaling the proximity of a mild electric shock vs. a respiratory threat (shortness of breath elicited by forced breath-holding) and the opportunity to avoid threat delivery in 60 healthy participants. While the startle reflex, a measure of defensive mobilization, generally increased with the proximity of an inevitable threat, shorter breath-holding time was specifically associated with greater startle potentiation when anticipating a respiratory threat but not an electric shock. In contrast, when both threats were avoidable, the startle reflex was comparably inhibited, irrespective of mvBHT. This study suggests that mvBHT specifically predicts hypersensitive responding to an anticipated inevitable respiratory threat.

TRANSFORMATIVE VIOLENCE AND MOBILIZATION IN INDIA AND MEXICO

Why are some violent acts more galvanizing than others? Examining two cases—the gang rape of a twenty-three-year-old student in New Delhi in 2012 and the disappearance of forty-three students in Mexico in September 2014—this article builds a theoretical model that explains how violent acts can trigger mobilization in defense of groups suppressed by structural violence. Such transformative events differ from the cycles of contentious politics that explain mobilization patterns for most social movements. By process-tracing mobilization in both cases, I identify three conditions that must be in place for an act of violence to become transformative: (1) the victims are identifiable as members of a group of known statistical victims; (2) the violence occurs within pre-existing interpretive frameworks; and (3) both an image and narrative of violence are available. Transformative violence helps consolidate existing activist networks and institutional structures, political opportunities, historical memory, and interpretive frames.

Decreased defensive reactivity to interoceptive threat after successful exposure-based psychotherapy in patients with panic disorder

Panic disorder (PD) is characterized by a dysfunctional defensive responding to panic-related body symptoms that is assumed to contribute to the persistence of panic symptomatology. The present study aimed at examining whether this dysfunctional defensive reactivity to panic-related body symptoms would no longer be present following successful cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) but would persist when patients show insufficient symptom improvement. Therefore, in the present study, effects of CBT on reported symptoms and defensive response mobilization during interoceptive challenge were investigated using hyperventilation as a respiratory symptom provocation procedure. Changes in defensive mobilization to body symptoms in the course of CBT were investigated in patients with a primary diagnosis of PD with or without agoraphobia by applying a highly standardized hyperventilation task prior to and after a manual-based CBT (n = 38) or a waiting period (wait-list controls: n = 20). Defensive activation was indexed by the potentiation of the amygdala-dependent startle eyeblink response. All patients showed a pronounced defensive response mobilization to body symptoms at baseline. After treatment, no startle reflex potentiation was found in those patients who showed a clinically significant improvement. However, wait-list controls and treatment non-responders continued to show increased defensive responses to actually innocuous body symptoms after the treatment/waiting period. The present results indicate that the elimination of defensive reactivity to actually innocuous body symptoms might be a neurobiological correlate and indicator of successful CBT in patients with PD, which may help to monitor and optimize CBT outcomes.

Increasing the Voltage Modulation Depth of the RF Produced by NLTL

Lumped nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs) have been studied for the generation of radio frequency (RF) signals in the range of the order of tens of megahertz (MHz) up to a few hundreds of MHz depending on the nonlinear element used in the LC line. The oscillations obtained at the output of these lines are applied in defense mobile platforms and communications systems. Low power NLTLs use varactor diodes as nonlinear elements, which show a strong nonlinear effect with capacitance variation of the order of 90% at their p-n junction with the applied voltage, which is an excellent performance to obtain oscillations at the line output. However, these semiconductor devices operate at low voltage, producing small voltage modulation depth (VMD), low power, and consequently reduced signal range. Looking for increasing the VMD of the signal generated with NLTLs, this work developed a RF amplifier using a metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) model RD06HVF1. A 30-section line using varactor diodes MV209 as nonlinear elements can work as an RF source to obtain oscillations with a frequency of 33.3 MHz at the line output. Using SPICE simulations, it has been demonstrated that an amplifier circuit connected to the output of this varactor diode transmission line can produce an increase of the VMD produced at line output from 10.7 to 40 V approximately, thus allowing higher level power to electromagnetic wave propagation and consequently higher signal range. Experimental comparison using a printed circuit board (PCB) prototype with the corresponding simulation will be also shown.

Enhancing Patient Activation and Self-Management Activities in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Using the US Department of Defense Mobile Health Care Environment: Feasibility Study.

BackgroundPast mobile health (mHealth) efforts to empower type 2 diabetes (T2D) self-management include portals, text messaging, collection of biometric data, electronic coaching, email, and collection of lifestyle information.ObjectiveThe primary objective was to enhance patient activation and self-management of T2D using the US Department of Defense’s Mobile Health Care Environment (MHCE) in a patient-centered medical home setting.MethodsA multisite study, including a user-centered design and a controlled trial, was conducted within the US Military Health System. Phase I assessed preferences regarding the enhancement of the enabling technology. Phase II was a single-blinded 12-month feasibility study that randomly assigned 240 patients to either the intervention (n=123, received mHealth technology and behavioral messages tailored to Patient Activation Measure [PAM] level at baseline) or the control group (n=117, received equipment but not messaging. The primary outcome measure was PAM scores. Secondary outcome measures included Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) scores and cardiometabolic outcomes. We used generalized estimating equations to estimate changes in outcomes.ResultsThe final sample consisted of 229 patients. Participants were 61.6% (141/229) male, had a mean age of 62.9 years, mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of 7.5%, mean BMI of 32.7, and a mean duration of T2D diagnosis of 9.8 years. At month 12, the control group showed significantly greater improvements compared with the intervention group in PAM scores (control mean 7.49, intervention mean 1.77; P=.007), HbA1c (control mean −0.53, intervention mean −0.11; P=.006), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (control mean −7.14, intervention mean 4.38; P=.01). Both groups showed significant improvement in SDSCA, BMI, waist size, and diastolic blood pressure; between-group differences were not statistically significant. Except for patients with the highest level of activation (PAM level 4), intervention group patients exhibited significant improvements in PAM scores. For patients with the lowest level of activation (PAM level 1), the intervention group showed significantly greater improvement compared with the control group in HbA1c (control mean −0.09, intervention mean −0.52; P=.04), BMI (control mean 0.58, intervention mean −1.22; P=.01), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (control mean −4.86, intervention mean 3.56; P<.001). Significant improvements were seen in AM scores, SDSCA, and waist size for both groups and in diastolic and systolic blood pressure for the control group; the between-group differences were not statistically significant. The percentage of participants who were engaged with MHCE for ≥50% of days period was 60.7% (68/112; months 0-3), 57.4% (62/108; months 3-6), 49.5% (51/103; months 6-9), and 43% (42/98; months 9-12).ConclusionsOur study produced mixed results with improvement in PAM scores and outcomes in both the intervention and control groups. Structural design issues may have hampered the influence of tailored behavioral messaging within the intervention group.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02949037; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02949037International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-10.2196/resprot.6993

Mining and Defensive Mobilization

Opposition to the social and environmental impacts of large-scale mining has become more visible in Chile since the early 1990s, yet not all mining projects catalyze mobilization. Building on the concept of defensive mobilization, I argue that opposition is more likely when a project is perceived as a threat to some members of a community. Using a data set of all major mining projects submitted for environmental licensing since environmental impact assessments were implemented in Chile, I identify the conditions under which mining projects lead to opposition. The results, based on binary logistic regression analysis, show that projects threatening agrarian and indigenous communities, where threats to existing water and land uses are especially salient, are more likely to be opposed. Community challenges are also more likely for projects majority-owned by international investors. About four out of every ten proposed projects have faced opposition, and only a handful of projects have ever been definitively rejected, even as projects that are found to violate regulations are increasingly fined and challenged in court as well as facing protests and public scrutiny.

A Analysis of Attack and Defense Mobile Ad Hoc Network Based on OPNET

Due to the broadcast nature of wireless communications, the damage to mobile ad hoc networks is becoming more and more common. We propose a network stability model that can effectively reflect the network performance when the network is damaged in real time. The Ad Hoc network model is built by using the node model supporting the IEEE802.11 standard provided by OPNET software to simulate the network performance of the network under different degrees of damage. This model provides an effective way for the simulation analysis of network performance under the condition of Ad Hoc network damage.

이동형 레이더 전개를 위한 최적화 모델링 연구

이동형 레이더 전개를 위한 최적화 모델링 연구

Urban Indians in a Silver City: Zacatecas, Mexico, 1546–1810 by Dana Velasco Murillo

<i>Urban Indians in a Silver City: Zacatecas, Mexico, 1546–1810</i> by Dana Velasco Murillo

Hypervigilance during anxiety and selective attention during fear: Using steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs) to disentangle attention mechanisms during predictable and unpredictable threat

Anxiety is induced by unpredictable threat, and presumably characterized by enhanced vigilance. In contrast, fear is elicited by imminent threat, and leads to phasic responses with selective attention. In order to investigate attention mechanisms and defensive responding during fear and anxiety, we employed an adaptation of the NPU-threat test and measured cortical (steady-state visual evoked potentials, ssVEPs), physiological (heart rate, HR), and subjective responses (ratings) to predictable (fear-related) and unpredictable (anxiety-related) threat in 42 healthy participants. An aversive unconditioned stimulus (US, loud noise) was 100% predicted by a cue (predictable P-cue) in one context (predictable P-context), but appeared unpredictably within a different context (unpredictable U-context, U-cue), while it was never delivered in a neutral safe context (N-cue, N- context). In response to predictable threat (P-cue), increased ssVEP amplitudes and accelerated HR were found. Both predictable and unpredictable contexts yielded increased ssVEP amplitudes compared to the safe context. Interestingly, in the unpredictable context participants showed longer-lasting visuocortical activation than in the predictable context, supporting the notion of heightened vigilance during anxiety. In parallel, HR decelerated to both threat contexts indicating fear bradycardia to these threatening contexts as compared to the safe context. These results support the idea of hypervigilance in anxiety-like situations reflected in a long-lasting facilitated processing of sensory information, in contrast to increased selective attention to specific imminent threat during fear. Thus, this study further supports the defense-cascade model with vigilance and orienting in the post-encounter phase of threat (anxiety), while selective attention and defensive mobilization in the circa-strike phase of threat (fear).

"The impact of uncertain threat on affective bias: Individual differences in response to ambiguity": Correction.

Reports an error in "The impact of uncertain threat on affective bias: Individual differences in response to ambiguity" by Maital Neta, Julie Cantelon, Zachary Haga, Caroline R. Mahoney, Holly A. Taylor and F. Caroline Davis (Emotion, 2017[Dec], Vol 17[8], 1137-1143). In this article, the copyright attribution was incorrectly listed under the Creative Commons CC-BY license due to production-related error. The correct copyright should be "In the public domain." The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2017-40275-001.) Individuals who operate under highly stressful conditions (e.g., military personnel and first responders) are often faced with the challenge of quickly interpreting ambiguous information in uncertain and threatening environments. When faced with ambiguity, it is likely adaptive to view potentially dangerous stimuli as threatening until contextual information proves otherwise. One laboratory-based paradigm that can be used to simulate uncertain threat is known as threat of shock (TOS), in which participants are told that they might receive mild but unpredictable electric shocks while performing an unrelated task. The uncertainty associated with this potential threat induces a state of emotional arousal that is not overwhelmingly stressful, but has widespread-both adaptive and maladaptive-effects on cognitive and affective function. For example, TOS is thought to enhance aversive processing and abolish positivity bias. Importantly, in certain situations (e.g., when walking home alone at night), this anxiety can promote an adaptive state of heightened vigilance and defense mobilization. In the present study, we used TOS to examine the effects of uncertain threat on valence bias, or the tendency to interpret ambiguous social cues as positive or negative. As predicted, we found that heightened emotional arousal elicited by TOS was associated with an increased tendency to interpret ambiguous cues negatively. Such negative interpretations are likely adaptive in situations in which threat detection is critical for survival and should override an individual's tendency to interpret ambiguity positively in safe contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record