Orbit Feedback using X-ray Beam Position Monitoring at the Advanced Photon Source

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) was commissioned in 1995 as a third-generation x-ray user facility. At that time orbit control was performed exclusively with broadband rf beam position monitors (BPMs). Since then, emphasis has been placed on incorporating x-ray beam position monitors into the orbit control algorithms. This has resulted in an order of magnitude improvement in long-term beam stability vertically, using x-ray BPMs (X-BPMs) on bending magnet beamlines. Additional processing will allow similar improvements horizontally, once systematic effects associated with variable insertion device (ID) x-ray beams are properly compensated. Progress to date and upgrade plans will be presented, with an emphasis on the details of the required digital signal processing.Comment: Invited talk WECI001 at ICALEPCS'01, San Jose, CA 4 pages, 3 figure

Environmental Systems for the Archives of the Stearns County Historical Society, Inc.

The Stearns County Historical Society is requesting support for an HVAC system for its 1,300 sq. ft. archival storage area. The total cost for the project is $75,047. Of this amount,$33,503 is requested from NEH. The purchase and installation of the equipment will require three months and two months of evaluation. As a result of installing a designated HVAC system in the archival storage area, temperature and humidity levels will remain stable throughout the year: 68 degrees Fahrenheit, +/- 2 degrees F., and humidity levels will be 40%, +/-5% RH. The efficiency of the system will be 95%. This will result in $2,000 to$3,000 savings for the area. The savings will be applied to the conservation of the archival collection. The 8,000 plus Research Center patrons will have available to them environmentally stable documents, photographs, negatives, oral histories, diaries, and numerous family and business records which can be used to support sound humanities scholarship

Validity and Wearability of Consumer-based Fitness Trackers in Free-living Children

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(5): 471-482, 2019. Over the past decade wearable fitness trackers (WFTs) have grown in popularity with more recent versions able to capture the pulse rate noninvasively on the wrist of the wearer. Most of evidence on the validity of WFTs have explored adults in clinical settings. Thus, the purpose of this study is to 1) evaluate the validity of a wrist-placed WFT in determining heart rate, and 2) examine the wear compliance of a wrist-placed WFT, in children in free-living settings. In study 1, 19 children (5-12yrs) wore a Fitbit Charge HR© and a Polar chest strap heart rate (HR) monitor for 2 hours while performing sedentary-to-vigorous activities at a holiday camp in December 2016. In study 2, 20 children with mild developmental disabilities (8-13yrs) were asked to wear a Fitbit Alta HR© during summer 2017. In study 1, mean absolute percent difference between the WFT HR and criterion was 6.9%. Overall, \u3e75% of WFT HRs were within 5-10% of the criterion. Bland Altman plots indicated a moderate-to-high level of agreement between the WFT and criterion (mean difference 4.1%; Limits of Agreement 26.8, -18.5%). In study 2, participants had the device in their possession for 43 days (SD±14, range 14 – 56 days) and wore it on 67% of those days (range: 20 – 96%) for at least 10 hours/day. Preliminary evidence suggests that WFTs can provide comparable HR estimates to a criterion field-based measure and children can wear WFTs for extended monitoring periods in free-living settings

Calcium-Sensing Receptor Genotype and Response to Cinacalcet in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the calcium-sensing receptor (CASR) alter the response to the calcimimetic cinacalcet. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: We analyzed DNA samples in the Evaluation of Cinacalcet HCl Therapy to Lower Cardiovascular Events (EVOLVE) trial, a randomized trial comparing cinacalcet to placebo on a background of usual care. Of the 3883 patients randomized, 1919 (49%) consented to DNA collection, and samples from 1852 participants were genotyped for 18 CASR polymorphisms. The European ancestry (EA; n=1067) and African ancestry (AfAn; n=405) groups were assessed separately. SNPs in CASR were tested for their association with biochemical measures of mineral metabolism at baseline, percent change from baseline to 20 weeks, and risk of clinical fracture as dependent variables. RESULTS: There were modest associations of CASR SNPs with increased baseline serum parathyroid hormone and bone alkaline phosphatase primarily with the minor allele in the EA group (all P≤0.03), but not in the AfAn sample. In contrast, there was a modest association of decreased baseline serum calcium and FGF23 with CASR SNPs (P=0.04) primarily with the minor allele in the AfAn but not in the EA sample. The minor allele of two SNPs was associated with decreased percent reduction in parathyroid hormone from baseline to 20 weeks in the EA population (P<0.04) and this was not altered with cinacalcet. In both EA and AfAn, the same SNP (rs9740) was associated with decreased calcium with cinacalcet treatment (EA and AfAn P≤0.03). Three SNPs in high linkage disequilibrium were associated with a higher risk of clinical fracture that was attenuated by cinacalcet treatment in the EA sample (P<0.04). CONCLUSIONS: These modest associations, if validated, may provide explanations for differences in CKD-mineral bone disorder observed in EA and AfAn populations, and for differential biochemical responses to calcimimetics

Amelogenin-deficient Mice Display an Amelogenesis Imperfecta Phenotype

Dental enamel is the hardest tissue in the body and cannot be replaced or repaired, because the enamel secreting cells are lost at tooth eruption. X-linked amelogenesis imperfecta (MIM 301200), a phenotypically diverse hereditary disorder affecting enamel development, is caused by deletions or point mutations in the human X-chromosomal amelogenin gene. Although the precise functions of the amelogenin proteins in enamel formation are not well defined, these proteins constitute 90% of the enamel organic matrix. We have disrupted the amelogenin locus to generate amelogenin null mice, which display distinctly abnormal teeth as early as 2 weeks of age with chalky-white discoloration. Microradiography revealed broken tips of incisors and molars and scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated disorganized hypoplastic enamel. The amelogenin null phenotype reveals that the amelogenins are apparently not required for initiation of mineral crystal formation but rather for the organization of crystal pattern and regulation of enamel thickness. These null mice will be useful for understanding the functions of amelogenin proteins during enamel formation and for developing therapeutic approaches for treating this developmental defect that affects the enamel

Study of 3-prong Hadronic τ\tau Decays with Charged Kaons

Using a sample of 4.7/fb integrated luminosity accumulated with the CLEO-II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR), we have measured the branching fractions of the tau lepton into $K^- h^+ \pi^- \nu_\tau$ and $K^- K^+ \pi^- \nu_\tau$ relative to $h^- h^+ h^- \nu_\tau; K^- h^+ \pi^- \pi^0\nu_\tau$ and $K^- K^+ \pi^- \pi^0\nu_\tau$ relative to $h^- h^+ h^- \pi^0 \nu_\tau$. The relative branching fractions are: (5.16+-0.20+-0.50)*$10^{-2}$, (1.52+-0.14+-0.29)*$10^{-2}$, (2.54+-0.44+-0.39)*$10^{-2}$ and $<0.0154$ at 95% C.L., respectively. Coupled with additional experimental information, we use our results to extract information on the structure of three-prong tau decays to charged kaons.Comment: 16 pages postscript file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Identification and evaluation of risk of generalizability biases in pilot versus efficacy/effectiveness trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract: Background: Preliminary evaluations of behavioral interventions, referred to as pilot studies, predate the conduct of many large-scale efficacy/effectiveness trial. The ability of a pilot study to inform an efficacy/effectiveness trial relies on careful considerations in the design, delivery, and interpretation of the pilot results to avoid exaggerated early discoveries that may lead to subsequent failed efficacy/effectiveness trials. “Risk of generalizability biases (RGB)” in pilot studies may reduce the probability of replicating results in a larger efficacy/effectiveness trial. We aimed to generate an operational list of potential RGBs and to evaluate their impact in pairs of published pilot studies and larger, more well-powered trial on the topic of childhood obesity. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review to identify published pilot studies that had a published larger-scale trial of the same or similar intervention. Searches were updated and completed through December 31st, 2018. Eligible studies were behavioral interventions involving youth (≤18 yrs) on a topic related to childhood obesity (e.g., prevention/treatment, weight reduction, physical activity, diet, sleep, screen time/sedentary behavior). Extracted information included study characteristics and all outcomes. A list of 9 RGBs were defined and coded: intervention intensity bias, implementation support bias, delivery agent bias, target audience bias, duration bias, setting bias, measurement bias, directional conclusion bias, and outcome bias. Three reviewers independently coded for the presence of RGBs. Multi-level random effects meta-analyses were performed to investigate the association of the biases to study outcomes. Results: A total of 39 pilot and larger trial pairs were identified. The frequency of the biases varied: delivery agent bias (19/39 pairs), duration bias (15/39), implementation support bias (13/39), outcome bias (6/39), measurement bias (4/39), directional conclusion bias (3/39), target audience bias (3/39), intervention intensity bias (1/39), and setting bias (0/39). In meta-analyses, delivery agent, implementation support, duration, and measurement bias were associated with an attenuation of the effect size of − 0.325 (95CI − 0.556 to − 0.094), − 0.346 (− 0.640 to − 0.052), − 0.342 (− 0.498 to − 0.187), and − 0.360 (− 0.631 to − 0.089), respectively. Conclusions: Pre-emptive avoidance of RGBs during the initial testing of an intervention may diminish the voltage drop between pilot and larger efficacy/effectiveness trials and enhance the odds of successful translation

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion