NSSC-2 operating system design requirements specification

The design requirements and implementation standards for an NSSC-2 operating system are defined. An operating system diagram is presented along with system concepts and terminology

MOSS, an evaluation of software engineering techniques

An evaluation of the software engineering techniques used for the development of a Modular Operating System (MOSS) was described. MOSS is a general purpose real time operating system which was developed for the Concept Verification Test (CVT) program. Each of the software engineering techniques was described and evaluated based on the experience of the MOSS project. Recommendations for the use of these techniques on future software projects were also given

An IMC Approach to Creating a Music Personality

Technology and the popularity of social media has empowered consumers and provided direct access to artists, changing the traditional approach to music artist exposure and the inherent needs of the music fan. Once dependent upon record deals and a traditional mass communication model, today’s artists establish their own brand and attract targeted audiences by promoting a personality coupled with musical talent. The purpose of this study is to apply the direct to consumer principles of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) to brand a music artist and build a loyal following among the millennial generation. A literature review was compiled to investigate past and current consumer trends and identify undiscovered insights for potential research. Then, mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative research was conducted to better understand the music fan adoption process and the appeal certain music artists have with the millennial generation. The researcher created a survey and distributed it to millennials via email and social media. The survey objective was to explore current trends in music consumption and investigate how listeners, specifically millennials, choose to discover new music. Surveys were distributed and analyzed as a part of this study. After analyzing the results, the researcher held two focus groups composed of ten students each on campus at the University of Mississippi. The goal of the focus groups was to gain insights about specific personality traits and qualities members of the millennial generation value and connect with on social media. Finally, the researcher conducted one interview with an aspiring singer/songwriter from Nashville, Kynlie Freeman. Then the researcher generated a digital integrated marketing campaign for the artist and applied the IMC communication model in a social media strategist experiment over a four-month period. Social media content was developed and tested to measure the effect messages have on an audience. The success of the campaign was evaluated by comparing Kynlie’s social media presence and following, songs sold on iTunes and total listens on streaming services, prior to the campaign and after the campaign. The findings from the research supported the hypothesis. The results indicated a social media strategist is a necessity to establishing a millennial fan base whether that person is employed by a music industry entity or is employed by the artist. The findings validated the necessity of identifying an audience, developing a brand persona and communicating that brand through social and digital media to establish a music artist brand and relationship with millennial audiences

Overweight and Obesity in the South: Prevalence and Related Health Care Costs Among Population Groups

Overweight and obesity are leading public health concerns in the United States. Although overweight and obesity are preventable conditions in the majority of cases, their prevalence has increased significantly over the past two decades. Recent estimates indicate that 34.1 percent of Americans are classified as overweight, while 32.2 percent are classified as obese [17]. National estimates of obesity-related health care costs are alarming, yet, to date, no such estimates have been published for the Southern region overall or for population groups in the South. The Southern states have some of the highest rates of adult obesity in the nation

LightBox: a multiwell plate illumination system for photoactive molecule characterization

Multiwell plates (MWPs) are the workhorses of the life sciences. However, biophotonics research with MWPs is limited, in part due to the lack of equipment suitable for photo‐irradiation of photoactive molecules in a MWP‐suitable, high‐throughput manner, either commercially or through open‐source MWP systems. Here we present “LightBox”, a calibrated controllable MWP illumination system with broad applications including screening of photoactive molecules and characterization of photocatalytic chemicals. LightBox is a high intensity, accurately controllable, uniform illumination system designed for MWPs with electronics and a control unit that provides a simple and intuitive interface. LightBox can reach intensities of 0.23 mW/mm2 at wavelengths of 405 nm with variance between well sites of <5%. The usefulness of LightBox is demonstrated by assessing the IC50 of a photosensitizing compound using a live/dead assay following simultaneous irradiation of the sample at a range of concentrations, eliminating uncontrolled variables between concentrations and drastically increasing assessment speed

Electronic polarization in pentacene crystals and thin films

Electronic polarization is evaluated in pentacene crystals and in thin films on a metallic substrate using a self-consistent method for computing charge redistribution in non-overlapping molecules. The optical dielectric constant and its principal axes are reported for a neutral crystal. The polarization energies P+ and P- of a cation and anion at infinite separation are found for both molecules in the crystal's unit cell in the bulk, at the surface, and at the organic-metal interface of a film of N molecular layers. We find that a single pentacene layer with herring-bone packing provides a screening environment approaching the bulk. The polarization contribution to the transport gap P=(P+)+(P-), which is 2.01 eV in the bulk, decreases and increases by only ~ 10% at surfaces and interfaces, respectively. We also compute the polarization energy of charge-transfer (CT) states with fixed separation between anion and cation, and compare to electroabsorption data and to submolecular calculations. Electronic polarization of ~ 1 eV per charge has a major role for transport in organic molecular systems with limited overlap.Comment: 10 revtex pages, 6 PS figures embedde

Changes in pain catastrophizing predict later changes in fibromyalgia clinical and experimental pain report: cross-lagged panel analyses of dispositional and situational catastrophizing

Introduction: Fibromyalgia (FM), characterized by wide-spread diffuse pain and sensory abnormalities, is associated with elevated indices of distress and pain-related catastrophizing compared to both pain-free samples and those with chronic pain conditions. Catastrophizing is a pervasive negative mental set, and is a strong predictor of negative pain-related outcomes such as clinical pain intensity, and physical disability. Situational catastrophizing, measured in the context of experimentally-induced pain, is strongly related to enhanced pain sensitivity, a core aspect of the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia. However, little is known regarding the temporal course of the association between catastrophizing and pain-related "outcomes". Most studies involve only static assessments of pain and catastrophizing at a single time point, which provides little insight into the direction of the observed associations. We sought to investigate the temporal relationships between catastrophizing and indices of both clinical pain (substudy 1) and experimentally-induced pain (substudy 2) in a larger randomized controlled longitudinal trial. Methods: Fifty-seven patients with FM completed catastrophizing, depression, and pain questionnaires as well as laboratory cold pressor pain testing at baseline, post-intervention and three month follow-up during a lifestyle physical activity study. Cross-lagged panel analyses were used to address these temporal relationships. Results: In substudy 1, analyses revealed that pre-to-post changes in dispositional catastrophizing ratings prospectively accounted for unique variance in subsequent post-to-follow-up changes in clinical pain ratings (p = 0.005), while pre-to-post changes in pain ratings did not account for unique variance in post-to-follow-up changes in catastrophizing ratings. An identical pattern was observed experimentally in substudy 2, with pre-to-post changes in situational catastrophizing ratings prospectively accounting for unique variance in subsequent post-to-follow-up changes in experimental pain ratings (p = 0.014), while pre-to-post changes in pain ratings did not account for unique variance in post-to-follow-up changes in catastrophizing ratings. Specifically, initial alterations in catastrophizing were associated with subsequent alterations in clinical and experimentally induced pain. Controlling for levels of depression did not affect the results. Conclusions: These findings provide empirical evidence that catastrophizing processes might precede and contribute to subsequent alterations in the pain experience for FM patients. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00383084

Monte Carlo Exploration of Warped Higgsless Models

We have performed a detailed Monte Carlo exploration of the parameter space for a warped Higgsless model of electroweak symmetry breaking in 5 dimensions. This model is based on the $SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R\times U(1)_{B-L}$ gauge group in an AdS$_5$ bulk with arbitrary gauge kinetic terms on both the Planck and TeV branes. Constraints arising from precision electroweak measurements and collider data are found to be relatively easy to satisfy. We show, however, that the additional requirement of perturbative unitarity up to the cut-off, $\simeq 10$ TeV, in $W_L^+W_L^-$ elastic scattering in the absence of dangerous tachyons eliminates all models. If successful models of this class exist, they must be highly fine-tuned.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures; new fig and additional text adde

Chromosomal deletions on 16p11.2 encompassing SH2B1 are associated with accelerated metabolic disease.

New approaches are needed to treat people whose obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are driven by specific mechanisms. We investigate a deletion on chromosome 16p11.2 (breakpoint 2-3 [BP2-3]) encompassing SH2B1, a mediator of leptin and insulin signaling. Phenome-wide association scans in the UK (N = 502,399) and Estonian (N = 208,360) biobanks show that deletion carriers have increased body mass index (BMI; p = 1.3 × 10 &lt;sup&gt;-10&lt;/sup&gt; ) and increased rates of T2D. Compared with BMI-matched controls, deletion carriers have an earlier onset of T2D, with poorer glycemic control despite higher medication usage. Cystatin C, a biomarker of kidney function, is significantly elevated in deletion carriers, suggesting increased risk of renal impairment. In a Mendelian randomization study, decreased SH2B1 expression increases T2D risk (p = 8.1 × 10 &lt;sup&gt;-6&lt;/sup&gt; ). We conclude that people with 16p11.2 BP2-3 deletions have early, complex obesity and T2D and may benefit from therapies that enhance leptin and insulin signaling

Networking Cities after Paris: Weighing the Ambition of Urban Climate Change Experimentation

Over the past few decades, cities have repeatedly demonstrated high levels of ambition with regard to climate action. Global environmental governance has been marked by a proliferation of policy actions taken by local governments around the world to demonstrate their potential to advance climate change mitigation and adaptation. Leading ‘by example’ and demonstrating the extent of action that it is possible to deliver, cities have aspired to raise the ambition of national and international climate governance and put action into practice via a growing number of ‘climate change experiments’ delivered on the ground. Yet accounts of the potential of cities in global environmental governance have often stopped short of a systematic valuation of the nature and impact of the networked dimension of this action. This article addresses this by assessing the nature, and challenges faced by, urban climate governance in the post-Paris era, focusing on the ‘experimentation’ undertaken in cities and the city networks shaping this type of governance. First, we unpack the concept of ‘urban climate change experimentation’, the ways in which it is networked, and the forces driving it. In the second and third parts of the article, we discuss two main pitfalls of networked urban experimentation in its current form, focusing on issues of scaling experiments and the nature of experimentation. We call for increased attention to ‘scaling up’ experiments beyond urban levels of governance, and to transformative experimentation with governance and politics by and in cities. Finally, we consider how these pitfalls allow us to weigh the potential of urban climate ambition, and consider the pathways available for supporting urban climate change experimentation