Healthy Homes Neighbor to Neighbor Model

Ensuring the over health and well-being of a community is dependent not only on the healthcare professionals and resources in that community, but also the accessibility and reach of healthcare knowledge. Healthy Androscoggin established The Neighbor to Neighbor Healthy Homes Program in 2018 in order to spread awareness about environmental health risks in the homes of New Mainers by promoting community-held healthcare knowledge. The New Mainers working with Healthy Androscoggin are community members who have recently resettled in Maine from different African origin countries. The aim of the Neighbor to Neighbor Program, which is a branch of the Healthy Homes Initiative, is to identify and mitigate the most prevalent environmental health risks in the homes of New Mainers in Lewiston, Maine. Healthy Androscoggin collaborated with ambassadors from different African origin countries to educate their friends, families, and neighbors in order to share the Healthy Homes Education and behaviors that are affordable, attainable, and long-lasting. Healthy Androscoggin created and administered two surveys over the course of three weeks in order to evaluate the initial transfer and retention of healthcare knowledge among participating neighbors. Through a partnership between Bates College Environmental Studies Program and Healthy Androscoggin, we developed a third survey that was conducted eight months after the initial Healthy Homes Education session. The third survey aimed to identify what Healthy Homes behaviors were difficult to maintain, if the neighbors remembered all of the information from the initial education session, and if participants noticed changes in their personal health. The surveys consisted of both ‘yes/no’ and narrative questions in which ambassadors followed-up with neighbors about their experience in the program. The results from all three surveys were analyzed in order to recognize the current environmental health concerns among New Mainers, determine the overall success of the health education model, and inform future directions for the program. One major finding from the third survey was that 100 percent of the participants noticed changes in their overall health over the eight-month program period. In addition, 80 percent of the participating neighbors shared their Healthy Homes education with friends, family, and peers not formally enrolled in the program. This demonstrates that the program will continue to function even without the initial education provided by Healthy Androscoggin. Furthermore, this suggests that Healthy Androscoggin successfully promoted community-held healthcare knowledge about environmental health risks in Lewiston was established. Survey 3 also identified a new health concern among New Mainers that had not been explicitly addressed by the program. Some participating neighbors were concerned that their homes were not equipped with carbon monoxide detectors or that the existing detectors were not 3 functioning properly. Perhaps the most noteworthy findings from the third survey was that the Healthy Homes information assisted participants as they searched for new homes, thus encouraging tenants to advocate for their health. One third of participants from Survey 3 moved to new homes over the course of the eight months and explained that their decision to move and criteria for a new home was informed by the Healthy Homes Education. Lastly, multiple neighbors expressed a need for additional support when communicating with landlords about hazards such as lead and radon exposure. This alludes to the broader, systematic barriers that prevent those who are disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards from gaining true autonomy and control over their health. It is clear from the survey results that individual and community actions were successful in promoting community held healthcare knowledge. However, these actions can only go so far without structural, social, and political support

Wireless Sensor Network for Aircraft Cabin Environment Sensing

Wireless sensor networks consist of physically distributed autonomous sensor nodes that cooperatively monitor physical or environmental conditions. One of the greatest benefits of wireless sensor networks is that they are capable of generating a more complete view of the sensed environment by acquiring larger quantities of correlated data than independent sensor monitors. The aircraft cabin is a highly dynamic environment which necessitates the use of more advanced sensing systems. It is with the motivation of painting a better picture of the aircraft cabin environment that such a wireless sensor network is being designed and prototyped. This paper discusses the design considerations required for wireless sensor networks in the aircraft cabin environment, as well as an overview of past and present systems developed for use in aircraft cabin environmental sensing. In addition to the sensor network, supporting tools are also discussed to enable analysis of the data collected. The primary goal of this research is to provide sensing tools to enable better characterization of the aircraft cabin environment

Applying EVM to Satellite on Ground and In-Orbit Testing - Better Data in Less Time

Using Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) in satellite integration and test allows rapid verification of the Bit Error Rate (BER) performance of a satellite link and is particularly well suited to measurement of low bit rate satellite links where it can result in a major reduction in test time (about 3 weeks per satellite for the Geosynchronous Operational Environmental Satellite [GOES] satellites during ground test) and can provide diagnostic information. Empirical techniques developed to predict BER performance from EVM measurements and lessons learned about applying these techniques during GOES N, O, and P integration test and post launch testing, are discussed

Calculation of the properties of the rotational bands of 155,157^{155,157}Gd

We reexamine the long-standing problem of the microscopic derivation of a particle-core coupling model. We base our research on the Klein-Kerman approach, as amended by D\"onau and Frauendorf. We describe the formalism to calculate energy spectra and transition strengths in some detail. We apply our formalism to the rotational nuclei $^{155,157}$Gd, where recent experimental data requires an explanation. We find no clear evidence of a need for Coriolis attenuation.Comment: 27 pages, 13 uuencoded postscript figures. Uses epsf.st

Measurement of scintillation efficiency for nuclear recoils in liquid argon

The scintillation light yield of liquid argon from nuclear recoils relative to electronic recoils has been measured as a function of recoil energy from 10 keVr up to 250 keVr at zero electric field. The scintillation efficiency, defined as the ratio of the nuclear recoil scintillation response to the electronic recoil response, is 0.25±0.01+0.01 (correlated) above 20 keVr. © 2012 American Physical Society

A Multiancestral Genome-Wide Exome Array Study of Alzheimer Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

Importance Previous studies have indicated a heritable component of the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). However, few have examined the contribution of low-frequency coding variants on a genome-wide level. Objective To identify low-frequency coding variants that affect susceptibility to AD, FTD, and PSP. Design, Setting, and Participants We used the Illumina HumanExome BeadChip array to genotype a large number of variants (most of which are low-frequency coding variants) in a cohort of patients with neurodegenerative disease (224 with AD, 168 with FTD, and 48 with PSP) and in 224 control individuals without dementia enrolled between 2005-2012 from multiple centers participating in the Genetic Investigation in Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease (GIFT) Study. An additional multiancestral replication cohort of 240 patients with AD and 240 controls without dementia was used to validate suggestive findings. Variant-level association testing and gene-based testing were performed. Main Outcomes and Measures Statistical association of genetic variants with clinical diagnosis of AD, FTD, and PSP. Results Genetic variants typed by the exome array explained 44%, 53%, and 57% of the total phenotypic variance of AD, FTD, and PSP, respectively. An association with the known AD gene ABCA7 was replicated in several ancestries (discovery P = .0049, European P = .041, African American P = .043, and Asian P = .027), suggesting that exonic variants within this gene modify AD susceptibility. In addition, 2 suggestive candidate genes, DYSF (P = 5.53 × 10−5) and PAXIP1 (P = 2.26 × 10−4), were highlighted in patients with AD and differentially expressed in AD brain. Corroborating evidence from other exome array studies and gene expression data points toward potential involvement of these genes in the pathogenesis of AD. Conclusions and Relevance Low-frequency coding variants with intermediate effect size may account for a significant fraction of the genetic susceptibility to AD and FTD. Furthermore, we found evidence that coding variants in the known susceptibility gene ABCA7, as well as candidate genes DYSF and PAXIP1, confer risk for AD