Towards a best practice for the use of active non-contact surface scanning to record human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts

Active surface scanners emit light or a laser stripe to record the exterior surface of an object or landscape, providing results in three dimensions. The use of active surface scanners to record anthropological and archaeological contexts has increased within the last few years, creating a number of sub-contexts within these disciplines, and allowing a further development of certain applications, such as quantitative analysis, the use of replicas in education and museums, and the creation of digital databases archived in institutions. However with guidance, this paper aims to assess the advantages and disadvantages of active surface scanning and the potential for research with regards to the recording and analysis of human skeletal remains. The key advantages and uses identified include: quantitative digitisation, geometric morphometric studies, conservation, preservation, documentation, and reconstruction. However, surface scanning also has some limitations, including: cost, technological expertise, the need for a power source, computing requirements, and data size. Overall, the application of active surface scanning technology to archaeological skeletal remains will provide a vital digital archive that will serve to preserve the integrity of this fragile and finite resource for future generations. This is particularly important within the current developer-funded environment in which many skeletal collections, including those yielding unique or unusual pathological or morphological features, are re-buried, with only very limited time for analysis

Comprehensive evidence implies a higher social cost of CO2

The social cost of carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) measures the monetized value of the damages to society caused by an incremental metric tonne of CO2 emissions and is a key metric informing climate policy. Used by governments and other decision-makers in beneft–cost analysis for over a decade, SC-CO2 estimates draw on climate science, economics, demography and other disciplines. However, a 2017 report by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine1 (NASEM) highlighted that current SC-CO2 estimates no longer refect the latest research. The report provided a series of recommendations for improving the scientifc basis, transparency and uncertainty characterization of SC-CO2 estimates. Here we show that improved probabilistic socioeconomic projections, climate models, damage functions, and discounting methods that collectively refect theoretically consistent valuation of risk, substantially increase estimates of the SC-CO2. Our preferred mean SC-CO2 estimate is $185 per tonne of CO2 ($44–$413 per tCO2: 5$51 per tCO2. Our estimates incorporate updated scientifc understanding throughout all components of SC-CO2 estimation in the new open-source Greenhouse Gas Impact Value Estimator (GIVE) model, in a manner fully responsive to the near-term NASEM recommendations. Our higher SC-CO2 values, compared with estimates currently used in policy evaluation, substantially increase the estimated benefts of greenhouse gas mitigation and thereby increase the expected net benefts of more stringent climate policies

Dance Dance Revolution Used by 7- and 8-Year-Olds to Boost Physical Activity: Is Coaching Necessary for Adherence to an Exercise Prescription?

OBJECTIVE: To increase opportunities for physical activity (PA) for children in children\u27s homes, we used a Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) (Konami of America, Redwood City, CA) coaching protocol for 7- and 8-year-olds. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We randomly assigned youth to either an Enhanced (coaching) or Basic (no coaching) group. A DDR prescription of 120 minutes/week was provided to 40 children. Motor learning principles guided the coaching protocol, provided by adult graduate students, which took place weekly during weeks 1-5. PA was measured with accelerometry, DDR logs, and Sony (New York, NY) Playstation(®)2 memory cards at baseline and at week 10. RESULTS: Total accelerometer-measured PA was not significantly different between the groups at baseline or week 10; however, vigorous PA increased significantly in both groups at week 10. DDR logs showed a large range from 0 to 660 minutes/week of dance time. Respective playing time for each week (1 and 10) averaged 149 and 64 minutes for the Basic group and 184 and 47 minutes for the Enhanced group. Coaching significantly increased DDR use patterns in this population of youngsters during weeks 1 through 5 (P\u3c0.001). CONCLUSION: Adult coaching deserves further study to determine how to maintain high levels of participation in exergames for youth who live in an obesogenic environment

Sea Level and Socioeconomic Uncertainty Drives High‐End Coastal Adaptation Costs

Abstract Sea‐level rise and associated flood hazards pose severe risks to the millions of people globally living in coastal zones. Models representing coastal adaptation and impacts are important tools to inform the design of strategies to manage these risks. Representing the often deep uncertainties influencing these risks poses nontrivial challenges. A common uncertainty characterization approach is to use a few benchmark cases to represent the range and relative probabilities of the set of possible outcomes. This has been done in coastal adaptation studies, for example, by using low, moderate, and high percentiles of an input of interest, like sea‐level changes. A key consideration is how this simplified characterization of uncertainty influences the distributions of estimated coastal impacts. Here, we show that using only a few benchmark percentiles to represent uncertainty in future sea‐level change can lead to overconfident projections and underestimate high‐end risks as compared to using full ensembles for sea‐level change and socioeconomic parametric uncertainties. When uncertainty in future sea level is characterized by low, moderate, and high percentiles of global mean sea‐level rise, estimates of high‐end (95th percentile) damages are underestimated by between 18% (SSP1‐2.6) and 46% (SSP5‐8.5). Additionally, using the 5th and 95th percentiles of sea‐level scenarios underestimates the 5%–95% width of the distribution of adaptation costs by a factor ranging from about two to four, depending on SSP‐RCP pathway. The resulting underestimation of the uncertainty range in adaptation costs can bias adaptation and mitigation decision‐making

Applying population health approaches to improve safe anticoagulant use in the outpatient setting: the DOAC Dashboard multi-cohort implementation evaluation study protocol

Abstract Background Use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) is rapidly growing for treatment of atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism. However, incorrect dosing of these medications is common and puts patients at risk of adverse drug events. One way to improve safe prescribing is the use of population health tools, including interactive dashboards built into the electronic health record (EHR). As such tools become more common, exploring ways to understand which aspects are effective in specific settings and how to effectively adapt and implement in existing anticoagulation clinics across different health systems is vital. Methods This three-phase project will evaluate a current nation-wide implementation effort of the DOAC Dashboard in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Informed by this evaluation, the DOAC Dashboard will be implemented in four new health systems using an implementation strategy derived from the VHA experience and interviews with providers in those new health systems. Quantitative evaluation of the VHA and non-VHA implementation will follow the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Qualitative interviews with stakeholders will be analyzed using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and Technology Acceptance Models to identify key determinants of implementation success. Discussion This study will (1) evaluate the implementation of an EHR-based population health tool for medication management within a large, nation-wide, highly integrated health system; (2) guide the adoption in a set of four different health systems; and (3) evaluation that multi-center implementation effort. These findings will help to inform future EHR-based implementation efforts in a wide variety of health care settings.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/173841/1/13012_2020_Article_1044.pd