237 research outputs found
Active gaming as a mechanism to promote physical activity and fundamental movement skill in children
Progress in Interferometry for LISA at JPL
Recent advances at JPL in experimentation and design for LISA interferometry
include the demonstration of Time Delay Interferometry using electronically
separated end stations, a new arm-locking design with improved gain and
stability, and progress in flight readiness of digital and analog electronics
for phase measurements.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, LISA 8 Symposium, Stanford University, 201
Evaluating the Sensitivity of Mortality Attributable to Pollution to Modeling Choices: A Case Study for Colorado
We evaluated the sensitivity of estimated PM2.5 and NO2 health impacts to
varying key input parameters and assumptions including: 1) the spatial scale at
which impacts are estimated, 2) using either a single concentration-response
function (CRF) or using racial/ethnic group specific CRFs from the same
epidemiologic study, 3) assigning exposure to residents based on home, instead
of home and work locations. This analysis was carried out for the state of
Colorado. We found that the spatial scale of the analysis influences the
magnitude of NO2, but not PM2.5, attributable deaths. Using county-level
predictions instead of 1 km2 predictions of NO2 resulted in a lower estimate of
mortality attributable to NO2 by ~ 50% for all of Colorado for each year
between 2000-2020. Using an all-population CRF instead of racial/ethnic group
specific CRFs results in a higher estimate of annual mortality attributable to
PM2.5 by a factor 1.3 for the white population and a lower estimate of
mortality attributable to PM2.5 by factors of 0.4 and 0.8 for Black and
Hispanic residents, respectively. Using racial/ethnic group specific CRFs did
not result in a different estimation of NO2 attributable mortality for white
residents, but led to lower estimates of mortality by a factor of ~ 0.5 for
Black residents, and by a factor of 2.9 for to Hispanic residents. Using NO2
based on home instead of home and workplace locations results in a smaller
estimate of annual mortality attributable to NO2 for all of Colorado by ~0.980
each year and 0.997 for PM2.5.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Adjacent Slice Prostate Cancer Prediction to Inform MALDI Imaging Biomarker Analysis
Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among men in US [1]. Traditionally, prostate cancer diagnosis is made by the analysis of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and histopathological images of biopsy samples under microscopes. Proteomic biomarkers can improve upon these methods. MALDI molecular spectra imaging is used to visualize protein/peptide concentrations across biopsy samples to search for biomarker candidates. Unfortunately, traditional processing methods require histopathological examination on one slice of a biopsy sample while the adjacent slice is subjected to the tissue destroying desorption and ionization processes of MALDI. The highest confidence tumor regions gained from the histopathological analysis are then mapped to the MALDI spectra data to estimate the regions for biomarker identification from the MALDI imaging. This paper describes a process to provide a significantly better estimate of the cancer tumor to be mapped onto the MALDI imaging spectra coordinates using the high confidence region to predict the true area of the tumor on the adjacent MALDI imaged slice
Predictors of vitamin D status and its association with parathyroid hormone in young New Zealand children.
BACKGROUND: Despite increased awareness of the adverse health effects of low vitamin D status, few studies have evaluated 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] status in young children. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess vitamin D status on the basis of 25(OH)D and its relation with parathyroid hormone (PTH) and to identify possible predictors of 25(OH)D status in young children living in a country with minimal vitamin D fortification. DESIGN: Serum 25(OH)D and PTH concentrations were measured in a cross-sectional sample of children aged 12-22 mo [n = 193 for 25(OH)D, n = 144 for PTH] living in Dunedin, New Zealand (latitude: 45 degrees S). Anthropometric, dietary, and sociodemographic data were collected. RESULTS: The majority of children sampled in the summer (94%; 47 of 50) had 25(OH)D >50 nmol/L; however, nearly 80% of children sampled in the winter (43 of 55) had serum concentrations 60-65 nmol/L, a plateau in PTH was evident. CONCLUSIONS: Seasonal variation in 25(OH)D concentration implies that postsummer vitamin D stores were insufficient to maintain status >50 nmol/L year-round. Examination of the predictors of 25(OH)D in our model shows few modifiable risk factors, and thus effective dietary strategies may be required if future research determines that children with 25(OH)D concentrations <50 nmol/L are at significant health risk. This trial was registered at www.actr.org.au as ACTRN12605000487617
Outcomes of a four-year specialist-taught physical education program on physical activity: a cluster randomized controlled trial, the LOOK study
Quantum state preparation and macroscopic entanglement in gravitational-wave detectors
Long-baseline laser-interferometer gravitational-wave detectors are operating
at a factor of 10 (in amplitude) above the standard quantum limit (SQL) within
a broad frequency band. Such a low classical noise budget has already allowed
the creation of a controlled 2.7 kg macroscopic oscillator with an effective
eigenfrequency of 150 Hz and an occupation number of 200. This result, along
with the prospect for further improvements, heralds the new possibility of
experimentally probing macroscopic quantum mechanics (MQM) - quantum mechanical
behavior of objects in the realm of everyday experience - using
gravitational-wave detectors. In this paper, we provide the mathematical
foundation for the first step of a MQM experiment: the preparation of a
macroscopic test mass into a nearly minimum-Heisenberg-limited Gaussian quantum
state, which is possible if the interferometer's classical noise beats the SQL
in a broad frequency band. Our formalism, based on Wiener filtering, allows a
straightforward conversion from the classical noise budget of a laser
interferometer, in terms of noise spectra, into the strategy for quantum state
preparation, and the quality of the prepared state. Using this formalism, we
consider how Gaussian entanglement can be built among two macroscopic test
masses, and the performance of the planned Advanced LIGO interferometers in
quantum-state preparation
Searching for a Stochastic Background of Gravitational Waves with LIGO
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has performed
the fourth science run, S4, with significantly improved interferometer
sensitivities with respect to previous runs. Using data acquired during this
science run, we place a limit on the amplitude of a stochastic background of
gravitational waves. For a frequency independent spectrum, the new limit is
. This is currently the most sensitive
result in the frequency range 51-150 Hz, with a factor of 13 improvement over
the previous LIGO result. We discuss complementarity of the new result with
other constraints on a stochastic background of gravitational waves, and we
investigate implications of the new result for different models of this
background.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figure
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