Digital, Automated Reactive Target System

In this era, technology is woven into almost every facet of our leisure activities. Although technology has innovated hobbies ranging from chess to soccer, the art of shooting has been neglected. Unnecessary insufficiency such as bullet ricochets off of mechanical steel targets, ineffective progress tracking, and general inaccessibility to outdoor training facilities are all improvable areas of this sport. The Dynamic Automated Reactive Target (D.A.R.T) System aims to fill some of these gaps and help modernize recreational marksmanship. Modeling the system after a dueling tree will optimize the use of the system and allow for different training models to challenge the marksman. The system will utilize accelerometers to collect accurate data regarding target tracking from the user during training, and custom motor controllers allow for optimized movement response times of each target. To ensure safety and increase efficiency, Bluetooth communication will grant the marksman control of the system from anywhere within the range with the use of any portable device. With the algorithms developed, multiple different training simulations can be practiced. In all, the D.A.R.T. System will revolutionize the safety and convenience of shooting sports

Wind Speed and Direction Detection by Means of Solid-state Anemometers Embedded on Small Quadcopters

This work describes the application of a compact, MEMS-based, 2D anemometer to the estimation of a quadrotor's airspeed. Correcting for the vehicle's ground speed provided by internal GPS and inertial units allows this low cost, mobile platform to provide local wind speed estimates. A series of initial, bench-top tests were performed to characterize and calibrate the sensor, which is an improved version of a recently proposed and novel device. Additional full-scale wind tunnel experiments were performed with the sensor mounted on a fixed quadrotor to test the effect of the propellers on the sensor's performance. Keywords: wind sensor; quadcopter; MEMS; UA

A recall-by-genotype study of CHRNA5-A3-B4 genotype, cotinine and smoking topography:study protocol

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies have revealed an association between several loci in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene cluster CHRNA5-A3-B4 and daily cigarette consumption. Recent studies have sought to refine this phenotype, and have shown that a locus within this cluster, marked primarily by rs1051730 and rs16969968, is also associated with levels of cotinine, the primary metabolite of nicotine. This association remains after adjustment for self-reported smoking, which suggests that even amongst people who smoke the same number of cigarettes there is still genetically-influenced variation in nicotine consumption. This is likely to be due to differences in smoking topography, that is, how a cigarette is smoked (e.g., volume of smoke inhaled per puff, number of puffs taken per cigarette). The aim of this study is to determine potential mediation of the relationship between the rs1051730 locus and cotinine levels by smoking topography. METHODS/DESIGN: Adopting a recall-by-genotype design, we will recruit 200 adults from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children on the basis of minor or major homozygote status at rs1051730 (100 in each genotype group). All participants will be current, daily smokers. Our primary study outcome measures will be measures of smoking topography: total volume of smoke (ml) inhaled per cigarette, total volume of smoke (ml) inhaled over of the course of one day, and salivary cotinine level (ng/ml). DISCUSSION: This study will extend our understanding of the biological basis of inter-individual variability in heaviness of smoking, and therefore in exposure to smoking-related toxins. The novel recall-by-genotype approach we will use is efficient, maximising statistical power, and enables the collection of extremely precise phenotypic data that are impractical to collect in a larger sample. The methods described within this protocol also hold the potential for wider application in the field of molecular genetics

Food Security in the Midst of Our Mined Lives: Perspectiveson Food Security and Mining in the Asutifi District of Ghana

Mining inevitably impacts the livelihoods of mining communities in a number of ways. Effects on food production and ultimately food security have been argued variously in the literature. In this study, the mining operations in the Asutifi district and its relationship with supply of foodstuffs in the local district markets as well as food insecurity areanalysed. Using quantitative techniques, semi- structured questionnaires were distributed to 150 respondents in the Asutifi district and responses analysed using frequencies, Cross tabulation, Chi-Square (χ2) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The study found out that crop yield has reduced since mining started and residents largely attributed it to fertility loss from mining activities. Respondents also noted that the reduction in crop yields have affected the supply of foodstuff to the local markets in the district. However, using a Chi-Square (χ2) to test the relationship between mining operations and supply of foodstuff to the local markets, there was no statistically significant association between mining operations and reduction in supply of foodstuffs to the market. Any reduction in supply of foodstuff was largely due to chance. The ANOVA test as well the Tukey HSD Comparison test in variations in the views of respondents on mining operations and food insecurity in future in the district showed a no statistically significant variations or differences in the views of the respondents when grouped according to their respective occupations. All occupational groups agreed that mining operations in the Asutifi district poses a significant threat to food security in the future

Genetic constraint at single amino acid resolution in protein domains improves missense variant prioritisation and gene discovery

: Background: One of the major hurdles in clinical genetics is interpreting the clinical consequences associated with germline missense variants in humans. Recent significant advances have leveraged natural variation observed in large-scale human populations to uncover genes or genomic regions that show a depletion of natural variation, indicative of selection pressure. We refer to this as “genetic constraint”. Although existing genetic constraint metrics have been demonstrated to be successful in prioritising genes or genomic regions associated with diseases, their spatial resolution is limited in distinguishing pathogenic variants from benign variants within genes. Methods: We aim to identify missense variants that are significantly depleted in the general human population. Given the size of currently available human populations with exome or genome sequencing data, it is not possible to directly detect depletion of individual missense variants, since the average expected number of observations of a variant at most positions is less than one. We instead focus on protein domains, grouping homologous variants with similar functional impacts to examine the depletion of natural variations within these comparable sets. To accomplish this, we develop the Homologous Missense Constraint (HMC) score. We utilise the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD) 125 K exome sequencing data and evaluate genetic constraint at quasi amino-acid resolution by combining signals across protein homologues. Results: We identify one million possible missense variants under strong negative selection within protein domains. Though our approach annotates only protein domains, it nonetheless allows us to assess 22% of the exome confidently. It precisely distinguishes pathogenic variants from benign variants for both early-onset and adult-onset disorders. It outperforms existing constraint metrics and pathogenicity meta-predictors in prioritising de novo mutations from probands with developmental disorders (DD). It is also methodologically independent of these, adding power to predict variant pathogenicity when used in combination. We demonstrate utility for gene discovery by identifying seven genes newly significantly associated with DD that could act through an altered-function mechanism. Conclusions: Grouping variants of comparable functional impacts is effective in evaluating their genetic constraint. HMC is a novel and accurate predictor of missense consequence for improved variant interpretation

Era of gapless plant genomes: innovations in sequencing and mapping technologies revolutionize genomics and breeding

Whole-genome sequencing and assembly have revolutionized plant genetics and molecular biology over the last two decades. However, significant shortcomings in first- and second-generation technology resulted in imperfect reference genomes: numerous and large gaps of low quality or undeterminable sequence in areas of highly repetitive DNA along with limited chromosomal phasing restricted the ability of researchers to characterize regulatory noncoding elements and genic regions that underwent recent duplication events. Recently, advances in long-read sequencing have resulted in the first gapless, telomere-to-telomere (T2T) assemblies of plant genomes. This leap forward has the potential to increase the speed and confidence of genomics and molecular experimentation while reducing costs for the research community

Parent-related stress of male and female carers of adolescents with intellectual disabilities and carers of children within the general population:a cross-sectional comparison

Background Carers of children with intellectual disability show high rates of parent-related stress and are at an increased risk for deleterious physical and mental health. Materials and Methods This study investigated the relationship between demographic and social characteristics and parenting stress, within two different cross-sectional samples of carers: those who care for an adolescent with an intellectual disability and carers from a population based sample. Participants were 1152 carers from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia study and 284 carers of adolescents with intellectual disabilities from the Ask study. Results and Conclusions The results supported previous research suggesting carers of children with intellectual disabilities experience high parent-related stress. The results also support the buffer model of social support, as high social support was related to lower parent related stress. Self-rated prosperity, financial pressure and relationship status were also related to lower levels of parent-related stress

Psychopathology of adolescents with an intellectual disability who present to general hospital services

Objective: Adolescents with intellectual disability have increased rates of psychopathology compared with their typically developing peers and present to hospital more frequently for ambulant conditions. The aim of this study is to describe the psychopathology and related characteristics of a sample of adolescents with intellectual disability who presented to general hospital services