High-density information storage in an absolutely defined aperiodic sequence of monodisperse copolyester

Synthesis of a polymer composed of a large discrete number of chemically distinct monomers in an absolutely defined aperiodic sequence remains a challenge in polymer chemistry. The synthesis has largely been limited to oligomers having a limited number of repeating units due to the difficulties associated with the step-by-step addition of individual monomers to achieve high molecular weights. Here we report the copolymers of ??-hydroxy acids, poly(phenyllactic-co-lactic acid) (PcL) built via the cross-convergent method from four dyads of monomers as constituent units. Our proposed method allows scalable synthesis of sequence-defined PcL in a minimal number of coupling steps from reagents in stoichiometric amounts. Digital information can be stored in an aperiodic sequence of PcL, which can be fully retrieved as binary code by mass spectrometry sequencing. The information storage density (bit/Da) of PcL is 50% higher than DNA, and the storage capacity of PcL can also be increased by adjusting the molecular weight (~38???kDa)

Business opportunities analysis using GIS: the retail distribution sector

[EN] The retail distribution sector is facing a difficult time as the current landscape is characterized by ever-increasing competition. In these conditions, the search for an appropriate location strategy has the potential to become a differentiating and competitive factor. Although, in theory, an increasing level of importance is placed on geography because of its key role in understanding the success of a business, this is not the case in practice. For this reason, the process outlined in this paper has been specifically developed to detect new business locations. The methodology consists of a range of analyzes with Geographical Information Systems (GISs) from a marketing point of view. This new approach is called geomarketing. First, geodemand and geocompetition are located on two separate digital maps using spatial and non-spatial databases. Second, a third map is obtained by matching this information with the demand not dealt with properly by the current commercial offer. Third, the Kernel density allows users to visualize results, thus facilitating decision-making by managers, regardless of their professional background. The advantage of this methodology is the capacity of GIS to handle large amounts of information, both spatial and non-spatial. A practical application is performed in Murcia (Spain) with 100 supermarkets and data at a city block level, which is the highest possible level of detail. This detection process can be used in any commercial distribution company, so it can be generalized and considered a global solution for retailers.Roig Tierno, H.; Baviera-Puig, A.; Buitrago Vera, JM. (2013). Business opportunities analysis using GIS: the retail distribution sector. Global Business Perspectives. 1(3):226-238. doi:10.1007/s40196-013-0015-6S22623813Alarcón, S. (2011). The trade credit in the Spanish agrofood industry. Mediterranean Journal of Economics, Agriculture and Environment (New Medit), 10(2), 51–57.Alcaide, J. C., Calero, R., & Hernández, R. (2012). Geomarketing. Marketing territorial para vender y fidelizar más. Madrid: ESIC.Applebaum, W., & Cohen, S. B. (1961). The dynamics of store trading areas and market equilibrium. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 51(1), 73–101.Baviera-Puig, A., Buitrago-Vera, J. M., Escriba, C., & Clemente, J. S. (2009). Geomarketing: Aplicación de los sistemas de información geográfica al marketing. Paper presented at the Octava Conferencia Iberoamericana en Sistemas, Cibernética e Informática, Orlando, FL.Baviera-Puig, A., Buitrago-Vera, J. M., & Mas-Verdú, F. (2012). Trade areas and knowledge-intensive services: The case of a technology centre. Management Decision, 50(8), 1412–1424.Baviera-Puig, A., Buitrago-Vera, J. M., & Rodríguez-Barrio, J. E. (2013). Un modelo de geomarketing para la localización de supermercados: Diseño y aplicación práctica. Documentos de Trabajo de la Cátedra Fundación Ramón Areces de Distribución Comercial (DOCFRADIS), 1, 1–27.Berumen, S. A., & Llamazares, F. (2007). La utilidad los métodos de decisión multicriterio (como el AHP) en un entorno de competitividad creciente. Cuadernos de administración, 20(34), 65–87.Birkin, M., Clarke, G., & Clarke, M. (2002). Retail geography and intelligent network planning. Chichester: Wiley.Chasco, C. (2003). El geomarketing y la distribución commercial. Investigación y Márketing, 79, 6–13.Chen, R. J. C. (2007). Significance and variety of geographic information system (GIS) applications in retail, hospitality, tourism, and consumer services. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 14, 247–248.Church, R. L. (2002). Geographical information systems and location science. Computers and Operations Research, 29, 541–562.Church, R. L., & Murray, A. T. (2009). Business site selection, location analysis and GIS. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Clarke, G. (1998). Changing methods of location planning for retail companies. GeoJournal, 45, 289–298.Clarkson, R. M., Clarke-Hill, C. M., & Robinson, T. (1996). UK supermarket location assessment. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 24(6), 22–33.Davis, P. (2006). Spatial competition in retail markets: Movie theaters. The RAND Journal of Economics, 37(4), 964–982.Ghosh, A., & McLafferty, S. L. (1982). Locating stores in uncertain environments: A scenario planning approach. Journal of Retailing, 58(4), 5–22.Härdle, W. (1991). Smoothing techniques with implementation in S. Nueva York, NY: Springer.Harris, B., & Batty, M. (1993). Locational models, geographical information, and planning support systems. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 12, 184–198.Hernandez, T. (2007). Enhancing retail location decision support: The development and application of geovisualization. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 14, 249–258.Hernandez, T., & Bennison, D. (2000). The art and science of retail location decisions. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 28(8), 357–367.Huff, D. (1963). Defining and estimating a trade area. Journal of Marketing, 28, 34–38.Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). (2011). Padrón de habitantes 2011. http://www.ine.es . Accessed 9 Oct 2012.Kelly, J. P., Freeman, D. C., & Emlen, J. M. (1993). Competitive impact model for site selection: The impact of competition, sales generators and own store cannibalization. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 3, 237–259.Latour, P., & Le Floc’h, J. (2001). Géomarketing: Principes, méthodes et applications. París: Éditions d’Organisation.Mendes, A. B., & Themido, I. H. (2004). Multi-outlet retail site location assessment. International Transactions in Operational Research, 11, 1–18.Moreno, A. (1991). Modelización cartográfica de densidades mediante estimadores Kernel. Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia, 6(30), 155–170.Moreno, A. (2007). Obtención de capas raster de densidad. In A. Moreno (Coord.), Sistemas y Análisis de la información Geográfica. Manual de autoaprendizaje con ArcGIS (pp. 685–691). Madrid: Editorial RA-MA.Murad, A. A. (2003). Creating a GIS application for retail centers in Jeddah City. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 4, 329–338.Murad, A. A. (2007). Using GIS for retail planning in Jeddah City. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 4(10), 820–826.Musyoka, S. M., Mutyauvyu, S. M., Kiema, J. B. K., Karanja, F. N., & Siriba, D. N. (2007). Market segmentation using geographic information systems (GIS). A case study of the soft drink industry in Kenya. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 25(6), 632–642.Nielsen Database. (2012). Retailers Database. http://www.nielsen.com/global/en.html . Accessed 12 Oct 2012.Ozimec, A. M., Natter, M., & Reutterer, T. (2010). Geographical information systems-based marketing decisions: Effects of alternative visualizations on decision quality. Journal of Marketing, 74, 94–110.Reilly, W. J. (1931). The law of retail gravitation. New York: Knickerbocker Press.Rob, M. A. (2003). Some challenges of integrating spatial and non-spatial datasets using a geographical information system. Information Technology for Development, 10, 171–178.Rosenblatt, M. (1956). Remarks on some nonparametric estimates of a density functions. Annals of Mathematical Statistic, 27, 832–837.Sede Electrónica del Catastro. (2012). Datos Catastrales. https://www.sedecatastro.gob.es . Accessed 10 Oct 2012.Silverman, B. W. (1986). Density estimation for statistics and data analysis. London: Chapman and Hall.Sleight, P., Harris, R., & Webber, R. (2005). Geodemographics, GIS and neighbourhood targeting. Chichester: Wiley.Suárez-Vega, R., Santos-Peñate, D. R., & Dorta-González, P. (2012). Location models and GIS tools for retail site location. Applied Geography, 35, 12–22.Thaler, R. (1986). The psychology and economics conference handbook: Comments on Simon, on Einhorn and Hogarth, and on Tversky and Kahneman. The Journal of Business, 59(4), 279–284.Wood, S., & Reynolds, J. (2012). Leveraging locational insights within retail store development? Assessing the use of location planners’ knowledge in retail marketing. Geoforum, 43, 1076–1087

Measurement of the antineutrino neutral-current elastic differential cross section

arXiv:1309.7257v1 [hep-ex

Association between Changes in Muscle Quality with Exercise Training and Changes in Cardiorespiratory Fitness Measures in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Results from the HART-D Study

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with a reduction in muscle quality. However, there is inadequate empirical evidence to determine whether changes in muscle quality following exercise are associated with improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in individuals with T2DM. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between change in muscle quality following a 9-month intervention of aerobic training (AT), resistance training (RT) or a combination of both (ATRT) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in individuals with T2DM. Material and Methods A total of 196 participants were randomly assigned to a control, AT, RT, or combined ATRT for a 9-months intervention. The exposure variable was change in muscle quality [(Post: leg muscle strength/leg muscle mass)-[(Pre: leg muscle strength/leg muscle mass)]. Dependent variables were change in CRF measures including absolute and relative VO2peak, and treadmill time to exhaustion (TTE) and estimated metabolic equivalent task (METs). Results Continuous change in muscle quality was independently associated with change in absolute (β = 0.015; p = 0.019) and relative (β = 0.200; p = 0.005) VO2peak, and TTE (β = 0.170; p = 0.043), but not with estimated METs (p > 0.05). A significant trend was observed across tertiles of change in muscle quality for changes in absolute (β = 0.050; p = 0.005) and relative (β = 0.624; p = 0.002) VO2peak following 9 months of exercise training. No such association was observed for change in TTE and estimated METs (p > 0.05). Discussion: The results from this ancillary study suggest that change in muscle quality following exercise training is associated with a greater improvement in CRF in individuals with T2DM. Given the effect RT has on increasing muscle quality, especially as part of a recommended training program (ATRT), individuals with T2DM should incorporate RT into their AT regimens to optimize CRF improvement

Patterns of impact resulting from a 'sit less, move more' web-based program in sedentary office employees.

PURPOSE: Encouraging office workers to 'sit less and move more' encompasses two public health priorities. However, there is little evidence on the effectiveness of workplace interventions for reducing sitting, even less about the longer term effects of such interventions and still less on dual-focused interventions. This study assessed the short and mid-term impacts of a workplace web-based intervention (Walk@WorkSpain, W@WS; 2010-11) on self-reported sitting time, step counts and physical risk factors (waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure) for chronic disease. METHODS: Employees at six Spanish university campuses (n=264; 42±10 years; 171 female) were randomly assigned by worksite and campus to an Intervention (used W@WS; n=129; 87 female) or a Comparison group (maintained normal behavior; n=135; 84 female). This phased, 19-week program aimed to decrease occupational sitting time through increased incidental movement and short walks. A linear mixed model assessed changes in outcome measures between the baseline, ramping (8 weeks), maintenance (11 weeks) and follow-up (two months) phases for Intervention versus Comparison groups. RESULTS: A significant 2 (group) × 2 (program phases) interaction was found for self-reported occupational sitting (F[3]=7.97, p=0.046), daily step counts (F[3]=15.68, p=0.0013) and waist circumference (F[3]=11.67, p=0.0086). The Intervention group decreased minutes of daily occupational sitting while also increasing step counts from baseline (446±126; 8,862±2,475) through ramping (+425±120; 9,345±2,435), maintenance (+422±123; 9,638±3,131) and follow-up (+414±129; 9,786±3,205). In the Comparison group, compared to baseline (404±106), sitting time remained unchanged through ramping and maintenance, but decreased at follow-up (-388±120), while step counts diminished across all phases. The Intervention group significantly reduced waist circumference by 2.1cms from baseline to follow-up while the Comparison group reduced waist circumference by 1.3cms over the same period. CONCLUSIONS: W@WS is a feasible and effective evidence-based intervention that can be successfully deployed with sedentary employees to elicit sustained changes on "sitting less and moving more"

Automated Identification of Acute Hepatitis B Using Electronic Medical Record Data to Facilitate Public Health Surveillance

Automatic identification of notifiable diseases from electronic medical records can potentially improve the timeliness and completeness of public health surveillance. We describe the development and implementation of an algorithm for prospective surveillance of patients with acute hepatitis B using electronic medical record data.Initial algorithms were created by adapting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention diagnostic criteria for acute hepatitis B into electronic terms. The algorithms were tested by applying them to ambulatory electronic medical record data spanning 1990 to May 2006. A physician reviewer classified each case identified as acute or chronic infection. Additional criteria were added to algorithms in serial fashion to improve accuracy. The best algorithm was validated by applying it to prospective electronic medical record data from June 2006 through April 2008. Completeness of case capture was assessed by comparison with state health department records.A final algorithm including a positive hepatitis B specific test, elevated transaminases and bilirubin, absence of prior positive hepatitis B tests, and absence of an ICD9 code for chronic hepatitis B identified 112/113 patients with acute hepatitis B (sensitivity 97.4%, 95% confidence interval 94-100%; specificity 93.8%, 95% confidence interval 87-100%). Application of this algorithm to prospective electronic medical record data identified 8 cases without false positives. These included 4 patients that had not been reported to the health department. There were no known cases of acute hepatitis B missed by the algorithm.An algorithm using codified electronic medical record data can reliably detect acute hepatitis B. The completeness of public health surveillance may be improved by automatically identifying notifiable diseases from electronic medical record data

The Pandora multi-algorithm approach to automated pattern recognition of cosmic-ray muon and neutrino events in the MicroBooNE detector.

The development and operation of liquid-argon time-projection chambers for neutrino physics has created a need for new approaches to pattern recognition in order to fully exploit the imaging capabilities offered by this technology. Whereas the human brain can excel at identifying features in the recorded events, it is a significant challenge to develop an automated, algorithmic solution. The Pandora Software Development Kit provides functionality to aid the design and implementation of pattern-recognition algorithms. It promotes the use of a multi-algorithm approach to pattern recognition, in which individual algorithms each address a specific task in a particular topology. Many tens of algorithms then carefully build up a picture of the event and, together, provide a robust automated pattern-recognition solution. This paper describes details of the chain of over one hundred Pandora algorithms and tools used to reconstruct cosmic-ray muon and neutrino events in the MicroBooNE detector. Metrics that assess the current pattern-recognition performance are presented for simulated MicroBooNE events, using a selection of final-state event topologies

Microencapsulated foods as a functional delivery vehicle for omega-3 fatty acids: a pilot study

It is well established that the ingestion of the omega-3 (N3) fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) positively benefit a variety of health indices. Despite these benefits the actual intake of fish derived N3 is relatively small in the United States. The primary aim of our study was to examine a technology capable of delivering omega-3 fatty acids in common foods via microencapsulation (MicroN3) in young, healthy, active participants who are at low risk for cardiovascular disease. Accordingly, we randomized 20 participants (25.4 ± 6.2 y; 73.4 ± 5.1 kg) to receive the double blind delivery of a placebo-matched breakfast meal (~2093 kJ) containing MicroN3 (450–550 mg EPA/DHA) during a 2-week pilot trial. Overall, we observed no differences in overall dietary macronutrient intake other than the N3 delivery during our treatment regimen. Post-test ANOVA analysis showed a significant elevation in mean (SE) plasma DHA (91.18 ± 9.3 vs. 125.58 ± 11.3 umol/L; P < 0.05) and a reduction in triacylglycerols (89.89 ± 12.8 vs. 80.78 ± 10.4 mg/dL; P < 0.05) accompanying the MicroN3 treatment that was significantly different from placebo (P < 0.05). In post study interviews, participants reported that the ingested food was well-tolerated, contained no fish taste, odor or gastrointestinal distress accompanying treatment. The use of MicroN3 foods provides a novel delivery system for the delivery of essential fatty acids. Our study demonstrates that MicroN3 foods promote the absorption of essential N3, demonstrate bioactivity within 2 weeks of ingestion and are well tolerated in young, active participants who are at low risk for cardiovascular disease

CMB Telescopes and Optical Systems

The cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) is now firmly established as a fundamental and essential probe of the geometry, constituents, and birth of the Universe. The CMB is a potent observable because it can be measured with precision and accuracy. Just as importantly, theoretical models of the Universe can predict the characteristics of the CMB to high accuracy, and those predictions can be directly compared to observations. There are multiple aspects associated with making a precise measurement. In this review, we focus on optical components for the instrumentation used to measure the CMB polarization and temperature anisotropy. We begin with an overview of general considerations for CMB observations and discuss common concepts used in the community. We next consider a variety of alternatives available for a designer of a CMB telescope. Our discussion is guided by the ground and balloon-based instruments that have been implemented over the years. In the same vein, we compare the arc-minute resolution Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the South Pole Telescope (SPT). CMB interferometers are presented briefly. We conclude with a comparison of the four CMB satellites, Relikt, COBE, WMAP, and Planck, to demonstrate a remarkable evolution in design, sensitivity, resolution, and complexity over the past thirty years.Comment: To appear in: Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems (PSSS), Volume 1: Telescopes and Instrumentatio

Potential climatic transitions with profound impact on Europe

We discuss potential transitions of six climatic subsystems with large-scale impact on Europe, sometimes denoted as tipping elements. These are the ice sheets on Greenland and West Antarctica, the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, Arctic sea ice, Alpine glaciers and northern hemisphere stratospheric ozone. Each system is represented by co-authors actively publishing in the corresponding field. For each subsystem we summarize the mechanism of a potential transition in a warmer climate along with its impact on Europe and assess the likelihood for such a transition based on published scientific literature. As a summary, the ‘tipping’ potential for each system is provided as a function of global mean temperature increase which required some subjective interpretation of scientific facts by the authors and should be considered as a snapshot of our current understanding. <br/