ECHO user's guide

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ECHO User\u27s Guide

Over the past several years, the ECHO classifiers have been developed to incorporate spatial as well as spectral information into the classifier decision criteria. This document contains a comprehensive description of the functional organization of the supervised and the nonsupervised ECHO processes, the manner in for individuals who intend to make use of the ECHO classifiers, although it is also of value to those wanting to understand of implement the ECHO algorithms

The MethaneSAT Mission

The MethaneSAT mission is expected to launch in Q4 of 2022 with a primary goal of providing systematic monitoring of methane emissions from regions accounting for more than 80% of global oil and gas production. High precision measurements from the sensor will allow quantification and mapping of essentially all methane emissions from these regions and identify the location of major point sources and quantify those methane emissions. MethaneSAT has a wide observing swath (~200km), high spatial resolution (~100m x400m), low detection threshold (~2pbb @ 1.5 km2), and targeting capability up to 40° off nadir, enabling it to fill a critical data and observing gap in obtaining quantitative measurements of methane emissions that can be detected by current and planned satellites that either focus on point sources or map the globe. MethaneSAT data will be publicly available and will provide companies, countries and the civil society at-large, the capability to quantify total methane emissions over time and map where they occur, resulting in improved capacity to manage, and reduce those emissions. The science and policy objectives were used to derive the mission architecture that consists of a single space craft in a sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit with agility to meet the frequent site revisit requirements through off-nadir pointing. MethaneSAT consists of two spectrometers, one covering 1249 – 1305nm wavelengths for Oxygen detection and one covering 1605 –1683 nm wavelengths for Methane and Carbon Dioxide retrievals, with 0.1 nm spectral sampling and 0.3 nm spectral resolution. MethaneSAT strongly leverages Ball Aerospace’s heritage designs and spectrometer technologies developed for Landsat, Ozone Mapping & Profiler Suite (OMPS), and the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution (TEMPO)/Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) instruments, with new designs developed a s necessary to meet mission needs. MethaneSAT is packaged into a SmallSat and will launch as a secondary payload on a Falcon 9 rocket

Explanations for 20th Century Tuberculosis Decline: How the Public Gets It Wrong

Abstract Introduction: Historical analysis of health data indicates that the majority of the decrease in tuberculosis mortality during the past century was caused by improved social conditions and public health interventions. The purpose of this study was to assess lay public perceptions regarding why tuberculosis declined. Materials and Methods: A nationally representative sample of 705 adults was surveyed to identify their perceived reasons for the decline in tuberculosis mortality in the 20th century. Openended questions and responses were coded and placed into eight categories. Results: Approximately 52% of decreasing tuberculosis mortality was attributed to "modern medicine," and 220% to "vaccination." Comparatively few of the respondents attributed decreased tuberculosis mortality rates to public health or improvements in social health determinants of health. Males gave more credit to modern medicine and public health, with less to vaccination; the other racial group gave more credit to public health and less to modern medicine; Hispanics gave more credit to modern medicine and less to vaccinations; and the higher income groups gave more credit to vaccinations and public health, but less to modern medicine. Conclusion: The public overly attributes modern medicine as the primary cause of declining tuberculosis mortality rates, the second leading cause of death in the United States during the early 1900s, and gives little credit to the critical role played by public health and improved social conditions. These misperceptions may hinder societal efforts to address and fund important social determinants of health and public health interventions

Risk of Heart Failure in Breast Cancer Patients After Anthracycline and Trastuzumab Treatment: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Clinical trials demonstrated that women treated for breast cancer with anthracycline or trastuzumab are at increased risk for heart failure and/or cardiomyopathy (HF/CM), but the generalizability of these findings is unknown. We estimated real-world adjuvant anthracycline and trastuzumab use and their associations with incident HF/CM. Methods We conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study of 12 500 women diagnosed with incident, invasive breast cancer from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2007, at eight integrated Cancer Research Network health systems. Using administrative procedure and pharmacy codes, we identified anthracycline, trastuzumab, and other chemotherapy use. We identified incident HF/CM following chemotherapy initiation and assessed risk of HF/CM with time-varying chemotherapy exposures vs no chemotherapy. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with adjustment for age at diagnosis, stage, Cancer Research Network site, year of diagnosis, radiation therapy, and comorbidities. Results: Among 12 500 women (mean age = 60 years, range = 22–99 years), 29.6% received anthracycline alone, 0.9% received trastuzumab alone, 3.5% received anthracycline plus trastuzumab, 19.5% received other chemotherapy, and 46.5% received no chemotherapy. Anthracycline and trastuzumab recipients were younger, with fewer comorbidities than recipients of other chemotherapy or none. Compared with no chemotherapy, the risk of HF/CM was higher in patients treated with anthracycline alone (adjusted HR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.11 to 1.76), although the increased risk was similar to other chemotherapy (adjusted HR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.25 to 1.77); the risk was highly increased in patients treated with trastuzumab alone (adjusted HR = 4.12, 95% CI = 2.30 to 7.42) or anthracycline plus trastuzumab (adjusted HR = 7.19, 95% CI = 5.00 to 10.35). Conclusions: Anthracycline and trastuzumab were primarily used in younger, healthier women and associated with increased HF/CM risk compared with no chemotherapy. This population-based observational study complements findings from clinical trials on cancer treatment safety

The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component

Dissecting how genetic and environmental influences impact on learning is helpful for maximizing numeracy and literacy. Here we show, using twin and genome-wide analysis, that there is a substantial genetic component to children’s ability in reading and mathematics, and estimate that around one half of the observed correlation in these traits is due to shared genetic effects (so-called Generalist Genes). Thus, our results highlight the potential role of the learning environment in contributing to differences in a child’s cognitive abilities at age twelve

Governance tools for board members : adapting strategy maps and balanced scorecards for directorial action

The accountability of members of the board of directors of publicly traded companies has increased over years. Corresponding to these developments, there has been an inadequate advancement of tools and frameworks to help directorial functioning. This paper provides an argument for design of the Balanced Scorecard and Strategy Maps made available to the directors as a means of influencing, monitoring, controlling and assisting managerial action. This paper examines how the Balanced Scorecard and Strategy Maps could be modified and used for this purpose. The paper suggests incorporating Balanced Scorecards in the Internal Process perspective, ‘internal’ implying here not just ‘internal to the firm’, but also ‘internal to the inter-organizational system’. We recommend that other such factors be introduced separately under a new ‘perspective’ depending upon what the board wants to emphasize without creating any unwieldy proliferation of measures. Tracking the Strategy Map over time by the board of directors is a way for the board to take responsibility for the firm’s performance. The paper makes a distinction between action variables and monitoring variables. Monitoring variables are further divided on the basis of two considerations: a) whether results have been met or not and b) whether causative factors have met the expected levels of performance or not. Based on directorial responsibilities and accountability, we take another look at how the variables could be specified more completely and accurately with directorial recommendations for executives

Flavor-Specific Inclusive B Decays to Charm

We have measured the branching fractions for B -> D_bar X, B -> D X, and B -> D_bar X \ell^+ \nu, where ``B'' is an average over B^0 and B^+, ``D'' is a sum over D^0 and D^+, and``D_bar'' is a sum over D^0_bar and D^-. From these results and some previously measured branching fractions, we obtain Br(b -> c c_bar s) = (21.9 $\pm$ 3.7)%, Br(b -> s g) K^- \pi^+) = (3.69 $\pm$ 0.20)%. Implications for the ``B semileptonic decay problem'' (measured branching fraction being below theoretical expectations) are discussed. The increase in the value of Br(b -> c c_bar s) due to $B -> D X$ eliminates 40% of the discrepancy.Comment: 12 page postscript file, postscript file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN