Mobile Music: a musical therapy assistance device

Children suffering from Cerebral Palsy often undergo gait therapy in order to strengthen and coordinate their trunks and legs. The patients often feel unmotivated to perform their gait training because the physical movements associated with it are difficult and there is no immediate reward. Physical therapists (PT) will often play music as an incentive to get the children focused on their physical therapy, but this is inefficient and impedes the PT from analyzing and tuning the patients\u27 gait. Mobile Music is a small device designed for automating musical therapy during gait training. In this paper, we go through several design iterations in order to create a cheap, ergonomic device that will sense motion and use musical stimulation in order to encourage active participation in gait training. While we had some difficulties implementing the motion sensing algorithm in the final device, testing done in the prototype phase showed promising results in accurately detecting participation in physical therapy. We have determined that the problems associated with these are likely due to timing issues in the microcontroller unit due to multiple reasons and the lack of feedback to the device of the audio streaming state. With the addition of a mobile application and some slight changes to the code implementation of the motion sensing algorithm, we believe that these problems can be fixed. Because of the improvement in media player control that a mobile app enables, a newer, lower powered system configuration can be implemented that reduces audio output noise as well as reduce power consumption. These improvements combined with the low cost and simple interface could make Mobile Music into a very viable product with the potential to help children with movement disorders improve their gaits

Convergence: How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector

This report highlights five key trends and how their coming together will shape the social sector of the future. Based on extensive review of existing research and in-depth interviews with thought leaders and nonprofit leaders and activists, it explores the trends (Demographic Shifts; Technological Advances; Networks Enabling Work to be Organized in New Ways; Rising Interest in Civic Engagement and Volunteerism; and Blurring of Sector Boundaries) and looks at the ways nonprofits can successfully navigate the changes. The monograph is by La Piana Consulting, a national firm dedicated to strengthening nonprofits and foundations

Accurate Transfer Maps for Realistic Beamline Elements: Part I, Straight Elements

The behavior of orbits in charged-particle beam transport systems, including both linear and circular accelerators as well as final focus sections and spectrometers, can depend sensitively on nonlinear fringe-field and high-order-multipole effects in the various beam-line elements. The inclusion of these effects requires a detailed and realistic model of the interior and fringe fields, including their high spatial derivatives. A collection of surface fitting methods has been developed for extracting this information accurately from 3-dimensional field data on a grid, as provided by various 3-dimensional finite-element field codes. Based on these realistic field models, Lie or other methods may be used to compute accurate design orbits and accurate transfer maps about these orbits. Part I of this work presents a treatment of straight-axis magnetic elements, while Part II will treat bending dipoles with large sagitta. An exactly-soluble but numerically challenging model field is used to provide a rigorous collection of performance benchmarks.Comment: Accepted to PRST-AB. Changes: minor figure modifications, reference added, typos corrected

Differential responses of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria to long-term fertilization in a New England salt marsh

© The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Frontiers in Aquatic Microbiology 3 (2013): 445, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2012.00445.Since the discovery of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), new questions have arisen about population and community dynamics and potential interactions between AOA and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). We investigated the effects of long-term fertilization on AOA and AOB in the Great Sippewissett Marsh, Falmouth, MA, USA to address some of these questions. Sediment samples were collected from low and high marsh habitats in July 2009 from replicate plots that received low (LF), high (HF), and extra high (XF) levels of a mixed NPK fertilizer biweekly during the growing season since 1974. Additional untreated plots were included as controls (C). Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the amoA genes revealed distinct shifts in AOB communities related to fertilization treatment, but the response patterns of AOA were less consistent. Four AOB operational taxonomic units (OTUs) predictably and significantly responded to fertilization, but only one AOA OTU showed a significant pattern. Betaproteobacterial amoA gene sequences within the Nitrosospira-like cluster dominated at C and LF sites, while sequences related to Nitrosomonas spp. dominated at HF and XF sites. We identified some clusters of AOA sequences recovered primarily from high fertilization regimes, but other clusters consisted of sequences recovered from all fertilization treatments, suggesting greater physiological diversity. Surprisingly, fertilization appeared to have little impact on abundance of AOA or AOB. In summary, our data reveal striking patterns for AOA and AOB in response to long-term fertilization, and also suggest a missing link between community composition and abundance and nitrogen processing in the marsh.This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation award DEB-0814586 (to Anne E. Bernhard). Additional support was provided by the George and Carol Milne Endowment at Connecticut College

Wear Compliance and Activity in Children Wearing Wrist and Hip-Mounted Accelerometers.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to (i) explore children's compliance to wearing wrist and hip-mounted accelerometers, (ii) compare children's physical activity (PA) derived from wrist and hip raw accelerations, and (iii) examine differences in raw and counts PA measured by hip-worn accelerometry. METHODS: One hundred and twenty nine 9-10 y old children wore a wrist-mounted GENEActiv accelerometer (GAwrist) and a hip-mounted ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer (AGhip) for 7 d. Both devices measured raw accelerations and the AGhip also provided counts-based data. RESULTS: More children wore the GAwrist than the AGhip regardless of wear time criteria applied (p<.001 - .035). Raw data signal vector magnitude (SVM; r = .68), moderate PA (MPA; r = .81), vigorous PA (VPA; r = .85), and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA; r = .83) were strongly associated between devices (p<.001). GAwrist SVM (p = .001), MPA (p = .037), VPA (p = .002), and MVPA (p = .016) were significantly greater than AGhip. According to GAwrist raw data, 86.9% of children engaged in at least 60 min MVPA[BULLET OPERATOR]d, compared to 19% for AGhip. ActiGraph MPA (raw) was 42.00 ± 1.61 min[BULLET OPERATOR]d compared to 35.05 ± 0.99 min[BULLET OPERATOR]d (counts) (p=.02). Actigraph VPA was 7.59 ± 0.46 min[BULLET OPERATOR]d (raw) and 37.06 ± 1.85 min[BULLET OPERATOR]d (counts; p=.19). CONCLUSION: In children accelerometer wrist placement promotes superior compliance than the hip. Raw accelerations were significantly higher for GAwrist compared to AGhip, possibly due to placement location and technical differences between devices. AGhip PA calculated from raw accelerations and counts differed substantially, demonstrating that PA outcomes derived from cutpoints for raw output and counts cannot be directly compared

A data-driven, meaningful, easy to interpret, standardised accelerometer outcome variable for global surveillance

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Objectives: Our aim is to demonstrate how a data-driven accelerometer metric, the acceleration above which a person’s most active minutes are accumulated, can a) quantify the prevalence of meeting current physical activity guidelines for global surveillance and b) moving forward, could inform accelerometer-driven physical activity guidelines. Unlike cut-point methods, the metric is population-independent (e.g. age) and potentially comparable across datasets. Design: Cross-sectional, secondary data analysis. Methods: Analyses were carried out on five datasets using wrist-worn accelerometers: children (N=145), adolescent girls (N=1669), office workers (N=114), pre- (N=1218) and post- (N=1316) menopausal women, and adults with type 2 diabetes (N=475). Open-source software (GGIR) was used to generate the magnitude of acceleration above which a person’s most active 60, 30 and 2 minutes are accumulated: M60ACC; M30ACC and M2ACC, respectively. Results: The proportion of participants with M60ACC (children) and M30ACC (adults) values higher than accelerations representative of brisk walking (i.e., moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) ranged from 17-68% in children and 15%-81% in adults, tending to decline with age. The proportion of pre-and postmenopausal women with M2ACC values meeting thresholds for bone health ranged from 6-13%. Conclusions: These metrics can be used for global surveillance of physical activity, including assessing prevalence of meeting current physical activity guidelines. As accelerometer and corresponding health data accumulate it will be possible to interpret the metrics relative to age- and sex- specific norms and derive evidence-based physical activity guidelines directly from accelerometer data for use in future global surveillance. This is where the potential advantages of these metrics lie

Opposing transcriptional programs of KLF5 and AR emerge during therapy for advanced prostate cancer.

Endocrine therapies for prostate cancer inhibit the androgen receptor (AR) transcription factor. In most cases, AR activity resumes during therapy and drives progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, therapy can also promote lineage plasticity and select for AR-independent phenotypes that are uniformly lethal. Here, we demonstrate the stem cell transcription factor Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) is low or absent in prostate cancers prior to endocrine therapy, but induced in a subset of CRPC, including CRPC displaying lineage plasticity. KLF5 and AR physically interact on chromatin and drive opposing transcriptional programs, with KLF5 promoting cellular migration, anchorage-independent growth, and basal epithelial cell phenotypes. We identify ERBB2 as a point of transcriptional convergence displaying activation by KLF5 and repression by AR. ERBB2 inhibitors preferentially block KLF5-driven oncogenic phenotypes. These findings implicate KLF5 as an oncogene that can be upregulated in CRPC to oppose AR activities and promote lineage plasticity

Moving forward with backwards compatibility: Translating wrist accelerometer data

Purpose: To provide a means for calibrating raw acceleration data from wrist-worn accelerometers in relation to past estimates of children’s moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) from a range of cut-points applied to hip-worn ActiGraph data. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of three studies with concurrent 7-day accelerometer wear at the wrist (GENEActiv) and hip (ActiGraph) in 238 children aged 9-12 years. The time spent above acceleration (ENMO) thresholds of 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350 and 400 mg from wrist acceleration data (<5 s epoch) was calculated for comparison to MVPA estimated from widely used children’s hip-worn ActiGraph MVPA cut-points (Freedson/Trost 1100 counts per minute (cpm); Pate 1680 cpm; Evenson 2296 cpm; Puyau 3200 cpm) with epochs of <5, 15 and 60 s. Results: The optimal ENMO thresholds for alignment with MVPA estimates from ActiGraph cut-points determined from 70% of the sample and cross-validated with the remaining 30% were: Freedson/Trost = ENMO 150+ mg, irrespective of ActiGraph epoch (ICC>0.65); Pate = ENMO 200+ mg, irrespective of ActiGraph epoch (ICC>0.67); Evenson = ENMO 250+ mg for 0.69) and ENMO 300+ mg for 60 s epochs (ICC=0.73); Puyau = ENMO 300+ mg for <5 s epochs (ICC=0.73), ENMO 350+ mg for 15 s epochs (ICC=0.73), ENMO 400+ mg for 60 s epochs (ICC=0.65). Agreement was robust with cross-validation ICCs=0.62-0.71 and means within ?7.8?±4.9% of MVPA estimates from ActiGraph cut-points, except Puyau 60 s epochs (ICC=0.42). Conclusion: Incremental ENMO thresholds enable children’s acceleration data measured at the wrist to be simply and directly compared, at a group level, to past estimates of MVPA from hip-worn ActiGraphs across a range of cut-points

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead