The Majorana Demonstrator readout electronics system

The Majorana Demonstrator comprises two arrays of high-purity germanium detectors constructed to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76Ge and other physics beyond the Standard Model. Its readout electronics were designed to have low electronic noise, and radioactive backgrounds were minimized by using low-mass components and low-radioactivity materials near the detectors. This paper provides a description of all components of the Majorana Demonstrator readout electronics, spanning the front-end electronics and internal cabling, back-end electronics, digitizer, and power supplies, along with the grounding scheme. The spectroscopic performance achieved with these readout electronics is also demonstrated

Sleep duration moderates the relationship between perceived work-life interference and depressive symptoms in Australian men and women from the North West Adelaide Health Study

Published online: 24 February 2020BACKGROUND:Mental health disorders are prevalent and costly to workplaces and individuals in Australia. Work-life interference is thought to contribute negatively. The interplay between work-life interference, depressive symptoms and sleep has not been explored to date in population data. The aims of this study were to establish whether sleep duration moderates the relationship between work-life interference and depressive symptoms, and whether this is expressed differentially in male and female respondents. METHODS:Data were drawn from the North West Adelaide Health Study (NWAHS) longitudinal, representative population-based cohort study. Working members of the cohort were invited to participate in a telephone survey about their work conditions, with an 86.7% response rate achieved. Data from 823 respondents were analysed after employing purposeful selection of covariates, using multivariable regression analysis. RESULTS:Sleep duration was found to moderate the relationship between work-life interference and depressive symptoms (F7,815 = 26.60, p < 0.001), and accounted for 19% of the variance observed in depressive symptoms. The strongest effect of work-life interference on depressive symptoms was observed in habitual short sleepers, with the effect weakening as sleep duration increased. The relationship was observed in male and female respondents, but was stronger in females. CONCLUSIONS:Supporting and educating workers about the benefits of sleep for managing the relationship between work-life interference and depressive symptoms may offer a novel strategy for improving worker well-being, particularly when negative facets of work-life interference are not easily remedied or 'reduced'. There is a need for education and support strategies around sleep in Australian workplaces.Layla J. Bunjo, Amy C. Reynolds, Sarah L. Appleton, Jill Dorrian, Céline Vetter, Tiffany K. Gill, Robert J. Adam

bi4africa dataset - open source

The bii4africa dataset is presented in a multi-spreadsheet .ods file. The raw data spreadsheet (‘Scores_Raw’) includes 31,313 individual expert estimates of the impact of a sub-Saharan African land use on a species response group of terrestrial vertebrates or vascular plants. Estimates are reported as intactness scores - the remaining proportion of an ‘intact’ reference (pre-industrial or contemporary wilderness area) population of a species response group in a land use, on a scale from 0 (no individuals remain) through 0.5 (half the individuals remain), to 1 (same as the reference population) and, in limited cases, to 2 (two or more times the reference population). For species that thrive in human-modified landscapes, scores could be greater than 1 but not exceeding 2 to avoid extremely large scores biasing aggregation exercises. Expert comments are included alongside respective estimates

bii4africa dataset

The bii4africa dataset is presented in a multi-spreadsheet .xlsx file. The raw data spreadsheet (‘Scores_Raw’) includes 31,313 individual expert estimates of the impact of a sub-Saharan African land use on a species response group of terrestrial vertebrates or vascular plants. Estimates are reported as intactness scores - the remaining proportion of an ‘intact’ reference (pre-industrial or contemporary wilderness area) population of a species response group in a land use, on a scale from 0 (no individuals remain) through 0.5 (half the individuals remain), to 1 (same as the reference population) and, in limited cases, to 2 (two or more times the reference population). For species that thrive in human-modified landscapes, scores could be greater than 1 but not exceeding 2 to avoid extremely large scores biasing aggregation exercises. Expert comments are included alongside respective estimates