ScreenTrack: Using a Visual History of a Computer Screen to Retrieve Documents and Web Pages

Computers are used for various purposes, so frequent context switching is inevitable. In this setting, retrieving the documents, files, and web pages that have been used for a task can be a challenge. While modern applications provide a history of recent documents for users to resume work, this is not sufficient to retrieve all the digital resources relevant to a given primary document. The histories currently available do not take into account the complex dependencies among resources across applications. To address this problem, we tested the idea of using a visual history of a computer screen to retrieve digital resources within a few days of their use through the development of ScreenTrack. ScreenTrack is software that captures screenshots of a computer at regular intervals. It then generates a time-lapse video from the captured screenshots and lets users retrieve a recently opened document or web page from a screenshot after recognizing the resource by its appearance. A controlled user study found that participants were able to retrieve requested information more quickly with ScreenTrack than under the baseline condition with existing tools. A follow-up study showed that the participants used ScreenTrack to retrieve previously used resources and to recover the context for task resumption.Comment: CHI 2020, 10 pages, 7 figure

Meta-Analysis of Genomewide Association Studies Reveals Genetic Variants for Hip Bone Geometry

Hip geometry is an important predictor of fracture. We performed a meta-analysis of GWAS studies in adults to identify genetic variants that are associated with proximal femur geometry phenotypes. We analyzed four phenotypes: (i) femoral neck length; (ii) neck-shaft angle; (iii) femoral neck width, and (iv) femoral neck section modulus, estimated from DXA scans using algorithms of hip structure analysis. In the Discovery stage, 10 cohort studies were included in the fixed-effect meta-analysis, with up to 18,719 men and women ages 16 to 93 years. Association analyses were performed with ∼2.5 million polymorphisms under an additive model adjusted for age, body mass index, and height. Replication analyses of meta-GWAS significant loci (at adjusted genomewide significance [GWS], threshold p ≤ 2.6 × 10 –8 ) were performed in seven additional cohorts in silico. We looked up SNPs associated in our analysis, for association with height, bone mineral density (BMD), and fracture. In meta-analysis (combined Discovery and Replication stages), GWS associations were found at 5p15 (IRX1 and ADAMTS16); 5q35 near FGFR4; at 12p11 (in CCDC91); 11q13 (near LRP5 and PPP6R3 (rs7102273)). Several hip geometry signals overlapped with BMD, including LRP5 (chr. 11). Chr. 11 SNP rs7102273 was associated with any-type fracture (p = 7.5 × 10 –5 ). We used bone transcriptome data and discovered several significant eQTLs, including rs7102273 and PPP6R3 expression (p = 0.0007), and rs6556301 (intergenic, chr.5 near FGFR4) and PDLIM7 expression (p = 0.005). In conclusion, we found associations between several genes and hip geometry measures that explained 12% to 22% of heritability at different sites. The results provide a defined set of genes related to biological pathways relevant to BMD and etiology of bone fragility

New loci for body fat percentage reveal link between adiposity and cardiometabolic disease risk

To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of adiposity and its links to cardiometabolic disease risk, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of body fat percentage (BF%) in up to 100,716 individuals. Twelve loci reached genome-wide significance (P<5 × 10−8), of which eight were previously associated with increased overall adiposity (BMI, BF%) and four (in or near COBLL1/GRB14, IGF2BP1, PLA2G6, CRTC1) were novel associations with BF%. Seven loci showed a larger effect on BF% than on BMI, suggestive of a primary association with adiposity, while five loci showed larger effects on BMI than on BF%, suggesting association with both fat and lean mass. In particular, the loci more strongly associated with BF% showed distinct cross-phenotype association signatures with a range of cardiometabolic traits revealing new insights in the link between adiposity and disease risk

New loci for body fat percentage reveal link between adiposity and cardiometabolic disease risk

To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of adiposity and its links to cardiometabolic disease risk, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of body fat percentage (BF%) in up to 100,716 individuals. Twelve loci reached genome-wide significance (P <5 x 10(-8)), of which eight were previously associated with increased overall adiposity (BMI, BF%) and four (in or near COBLL1/GRB14, IGF2BP1, PLA2G6, CRTC1) were novel associations with BF%. Seven loci showed a larger effect on BF% than on BMI, suggestive of a primary association with adiposity, while five loci showed larger effects on BMI than on BF%, suggesting association with both fat and lean mass. In particular, the loci more strongly associated with BF% showed distinct cross-phenotype association signatures with a range of cardiometabolic traits revealing new insights in the link between adiposity and disease risk.Peer reviewe

Measuring quality in diabetes care: an expert-based statistical approach

We present a methodology for using health insurance claims data to monitor quality of care. The method uses a statistical model trained on the quality ratings of a medical expert. In a pilot study, the expert rated the quality of care received over the course of two years by 101 diabetes patients. A logistic regression model accurately identified the quality of care for 86% of the patients. Because the model uses data derived from patients&#8217; health insurance claims it can be used to monitor the care being received by a large patient population. One important use of the model is to identify potential candidates for case management, especially patients with complicated medical histories

ON THE USE OF THORIUM IN LIGHT WATER REACTORS

The advantages and disadvantages of the use of thorium bearing fuel in light water reactors have been examined several times from the beginning of the nuclear energy era until the late seventies. The recent motivation for re-examining the use of thorium in light water reactors' once-through fuel cycle is enhancing the cycle proliferationresistance due to reduced plutonium production. Additionally, economic benefits from reducing the initial enrichment needs of high burnup fuels may be obtained. Similarly, it may be possible to rely on the higher melting point and higher thermal conductivity of ThO[subscript 2] to enhance the safety margin of the core. Thorium dioxide is the highest stable oxide form of thorium, which may further improve the spent fuel repository performance. The information obtained in previous studies is reviewed to assess its suitability for application to the current fuel cycle conditions. It is concluded that the thorium fuel experience of the past is insufficient to make a judgement on the feasibility and performance of the thorium bearing fuels in the reactors operating under current conditions. The needs for new research and development efforts in the areas of neutronics, fuel behavior, safety and waste performance are outlined.Idaho National Laborator

Engineering and Physics Optimization of Breed and Burn Fast Reactor Systems

This project is organized under four major tasks (each of which has two or more subtasks) with contributions among the three collaborating organizations (MIT, INEEL and ANL-West): Task A: Core Physics and Fuel Cycle; Task B: Core Thermal Hydraulics; Task C: Plant Design Task; and D: Fuel Design