489 research outputs found
Does caffeine consumption affect work performance across different job types?
We propose executing a panel series case study for a large organization in Singapore over a year to examine how caffeine impacts work performance across different job types. Our research question is how does caffeine affect work performance under different conditions due to work type differences. Our dependent variable would be work performance as measured by employeesâ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). We propose to gather data for two of our important independent variables: caffeine use through a recorded pantry system and average sleep hours from a survey. We will analyze the data by using two-factor ANOVA with replication to find the interaction between Caffeine and Work types, as well as regression analysis to determine the impact of key-independent variables. The findings of our study has the potential to influence safety regulations surrounding jobs relating to caffeine, similar to the regulations for alcohol
Relationship of the mucosal microbiota to gastrointestinal inflammation and small cell intestinal lymphoma in cats
Background: The gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota in healthy cats is altered in IBD. Little research has been performed to identify whether specific bacterial groups are associated with small cell GI lymphoma (LSA).
Hypothesis: Mucosal bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae and Fusobacterium spp., are abundant in intestinal biopsies of cats with small cell GI LSA compared to cats with IBD.
Animals: Fourteen cats with IBD and 14 cats with small cell GI LSA.
Methods: Retrospective case control study. A search of the medical records was performed to identify cats diagnosed with IBD and with GI LSA. Bacterial groups identified by FISH in GI biopsies were compared between cohorts and correlated to CD11b+ and NFâÎșB expression.
Results: Fusobacterium spp. (median; IQR bacteria/region) were higher in cats with small cell GI LSA in ileal (527; 455.5 â 661.5; P = .046) and colonic (404.5; 328.8 â 455.5; P = .016) adherent mucus, and combined colonic compartments (free mucus, adherent mucus, attaching to epithelium) (8; 0 â 336; P = .017) compared to cats with IBD (ileum: 67; 31.5 â 259; colon: 142.5; 82.3 â 434.5; combined: 3; 0 â 34). Bacteroides spp. were higher in ileal adherent mucus (P = .036) and 3 combined ileal compartments (P = .034) of cats with small cell GI LSA. There were significant correlations between Fusobacterium spp. totals and CD11b+ cell (P = .009; rs .476) and NFâÎșB expression (P = .004; rs .523).
Conclusions: The bacterial alterations appreciated might be influential in development of small cell GI LSA, and should drive further studies to elucidate the effects of microbialâmediated inflammation on GI cancer progression
Datasphere at the Biosphere II: Computation and data in the wild
Biological Field Stations provide a unique set of opportunities and challenges for digital curation. The stations serve as the center of short-term and long-term biological research, from biomolecular-scale to ecosystems-scale research. They represent some of the last remaining ânaturalâ areas in certain regions. Stations provide unique information about local biotic and abiotic conditions. Data shared among the stations support continental scale and global research initiatives. The stations themselves support a large number of researchers who often come from multiple universities and other research and teaching institutions around the world. Because of this decentralized user base, it is particularly difficult for stations to capture data and other research products generated by research at the stations. The authors, part of a larger NSF funded âEmpowering Long Tail Researchâ project (NSF:#1216872), conducted a survey of field station researchers and then held a two-day workshop to identify challenges and opportunities for âgrand challengeâ research questions that could be enabled through development of cyberinfrastructure. The information gathered through this study will inform future proposals for cyberinfrastructure development.ye
Software-Reconfigurable Processors for Spacecraft
A report presents an overview of an architecture for a software-reconfigurable network data processor for a spacecraft engaged in scientific exploration. When executed on suitable electronic hardware, the software performs the functions of a physical layer (in effect, acts as a software radio in that it performs modulation, demodulation, pulse-shaping, error correction, coding, and decoding), a data-link layer, a network layer, a transport layer, and application-layer processing of scientific data. The software-reconfigurable network processor is undergoing development to enable rapid prototyping and rapid implementation of communication, navigation, and scientific signal-processing functions; to provide a long-lived communication infrastructure; and to provide greatly improved scientific-instrumentation and scientific-data-processing functions by enabling science-driven in-flight reconfiguration of computing resources devoted to these functions. This development is an extension of terrestrial radio and network developments (e.g., in the cellular-telephone industry) implemented in software running on such hardware as field-programmable gate arrays, digital signal processors, traditional digital circuits, and mixed-signal application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)
Towards Green Metaverse Networking Technologies, Advancements and Future Directions
As the Metaverse is iteratively being defined, its potential to unleash the
next wave of digital disruption and create real-life value becomes increasingly
clear. With distinctive features of immersive experience, simultaneous
interactivity, and user agency, the Metaverse has the capability to transform
all walks of life. However, the enabling technologies of the Metaverse, i.e.,
digital twin, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and extended reality, are
known to be energy-hungry, therefore raising concerns about the sustainability
of its large-scale deployment and development. This article proposes Green
Metaverse Networking for the first time to optimize energy efficiencies of all
network components for Metaverse sustainable development. We first analyze
energy consumption, efficiency, and sustainability of energy-intensive
technologies in the Metaverse. Next, focusing on computation and networking, we
present major advancements related to energy efficiency and their integration
into the Metaverse. A case study of energy conservation by incorporating
semantic communication and stochastic resource allocation in the Metaverse is
presented. Finally, we outline the critical challenges of Metaverse sustainable
development, thereby indicating potential directions of future research towards
the green Metaverse
Approximate t-designs in generic circuit architectures
Unitary t-designs are distributions on the unitary group whose first t
moments appear maximally random. Previous work has established several upper
bounds on the depths at which certain specific random quantum circuit ensembles
approximate t-designs. Here we show that these bounds can be extended to any
fixed architecture of Haar-random two-site gates. This is accomplished by
relating the spectral gaps of such architectures to those of 1D brickwork
architectures. Our bound depends on the details of the architecture only via
the typical number of layers needed for a block of the circuit to form a
connected graph over the sites. When this quantity is independent of width, the
circuit forms an approximate t-design in linear depth. We also give an implicit
bound for nondeterministic architectures in terms of properties of the
corresponding distribution over fixed architectures.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figure
The theoretical and empirical basis of a BioPsychoSocial (BPS) risk screener for detection of older people's health related needs, planning of community programs, and targeted care interventions
Background This study introduces the conceptual basis and operational measure, ofBioPyschoSocial (BPS) healthand related risk to better understand how well older people are managing and to screen for risk status. The BPS Risk Screener is constructed to detectvulnerabilityat older ages, and seeks to measure dynamic processes that place equal emphasis on Psycho-emotional and Socio-interpersonal risks, as Bio-functional ones. We validate the proposed measure and describe its application to programming. Methods We undertook a quantitative cross-sectional, psychometric study withn = 1325 older Singaporeans, aged 60 and over. We adapted the EASYCare 2010 and Lubben Social Network Scale questionnaires to help determine the BPS domains using factor analysis from which we derive the BPS Risk Screener items. We then confirm its structure, and test the scoring system. The score is initially validated against self-reported general health then modelled against: number of falls; cognitive impairment; longstanding diseases; and further tested against service utilization (linked administrative data). Results Three B, P and S clusters are defined and identified and a BPSmanaging score(âdoingâ well, or âsomeâ, âmanyâ, and âoverwhelming problemsâ) calculated such that the risk of problematic additive BPS effects, what we term healthâloadsâ, are accounted for. Thirty-five items (factor loadings over 0.5) clustered into three distinct B, P, S domains and were found to be independently associated with self-reported health: B: 1.99 (1.64 to 2.41), P: 1.59 (1.28 to 1.98), S: 1.33 (1.10 to 1.60). The fit improved when combined into the managing score 2.33 (1.92 to 2.83, < 0.01). The score was associated with mounting risk for all outcomes. Conclusions BPS domain structures, and the novel scoring system capturing dynamic BPS additive effects, which can combine to engender vulnerability, are validated through this analysis. The resulting tool helps render clientsâ risk status and related intervention needs transparent. Given its explicit and empirically supported attention to P and S risks, which have the potential to be more malleable than B ones, especially in the older old, this tool is designed to be change sensitive
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The DYMECS project: a statistical approach for the evaluation of convective storms in high-resolution NWP models
A new frontier in weather forecasting is emerging by operational forecast models now being run at convection-permitting resolutions at many national weather services. However, this is not a panacea; significant systematic errors remain in the character of convective storms and rainfall distributions. The DYMECS project (Dynamical and Microphysical Evolution of Convective Storms) is taking a fundamentally new approach to evaluate and improve such models: rather than relying on a limited number of cases, which may not be representative, we have gathered a large database of 3D storm structures on 40 convective days using the Chilbolton radar in southern England. We have related these structures to storm life-cycles derived by tracking features in the rainfall from the UK radar network, and compared them statistically to storm structures in the Met Office model, which we ran at horizontal grid length between 1.5 km and 100 m, including simulations with different subgrid mixing length. We also evaluated the scale and intensity of convective updrafts using a new radar technique. We find that the horizontal size of simulated convective storms and the updrafts within them is much too large at 1.5-km resolution, such that the convective mass flux of individual updrafts can be too large by an order of magnitude. The scale of precipitation cores and updrafts decreases steadily with decreasing grid lengths, as does the typical storm lifetime. The 200-m grid-length simulation with standard mixing length performs best over all diagnostics, although a greater mixing length improves the representation of deep convective storms
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