Differences in Employees\u27 Average Productivity in Health Services in 2017: A State-Level Analysis

This paper will use linear regression to analyze FRED\u27s weekly earnings data and weekly hours data for 2017 and expects to find whether workers in different states earn a same level of income by performing the same jobs. It hypothesizes that bigger and wealthier states will pay higher compensation to workers, because the cost of living is higher and the state population size is bigger, which translates to a larger customer base for the health services industry. Some social issues, such as aging populations, and some policy implications are also discussed

Adaptive smartphone-based sensor fusion for estimating competitive rowing kinematic metrics.

Competitive rowing highly values boat position and velocity data for real-time feedback during training, racing and post-training analysis. The ubiquity of smartphones with embedded position (GPS) and motion (accelerometer) sensors motivates their possible use in these tasks. In this paper, we investigate the use of two real-time digital filters to achieve highly accurate yet reasonably priced measurements of boat speed and distance traveled. Both filters combine acceleration and location data to estimate boat distance and speed; the first using a complementary frequency response-based filter technique, the second with a Kalman filter formalism that includes adaptive, real-time estimates of effective accelerometer bias. The estimates of distance and speed from both filters were validated and compared with accurate reference data from a differential GPS system with better than 1 cm precision and a 5 Hz update rate, in experiments using two subjects (an experienced club-level rower and an elite rower) in two different boats on a 300 m course. Compared with single channel (smartphone GPS only) measures of distance and speed, the complementary filter improved the accuracy and precision of boat speed, boat distance traveled, and distance per stroke by 44%, 42%, and 73%, respectively, while the Kalman filter improved the accuracy and precision of boat speed, boat distance traveled, and distance per stroke by 48%, 22%, and 82%, respectively. Both filters demonstrate promise as general purpose methods to substantially improve estimates of important rowing performance metrics

Sex differences in the effects of exercise on cognition post-stroke: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there are differences in exercise-associated changes in cognitive func-tion between males and females living with stroke. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of data from a prospective assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty participants (50-80 years, \u3e 1 year post-stroke, able to walk ≥ 5 m). METHODS: Participants were allocated into a 6-month aerobic exercise programme (14 males, 11 females) or balance and flexibility programme (15 males, 10 females). Working memory (Verbal Digit Span Backwards Test), selective attention and conflict resolution (Stroop Colour-Word Test), and set shifting/cognitive flexibility (Trail-Making Test B) were assessed before and after the programmes. RESULTS: There was a group × time interaction in females (effect size 0.28, p = 0.03), which was not observed in males (effect size 0.01, p = 0.62). Females demonstrated a Stroop Colour-Word Interference test change of -2.3 s, whereas males demonstrated a change of +5.5 s following aerobic exercise. There were no differences between exercise groups in either sex for any of the other outcomes (working memory and set-shifting/cognitive flexibility). CONCLUSION: Females living with stroke may demonstrate a greater response to exercise on selective attention and conflict resolution compared with males with stroke. These findings suggest that there may be sex-specific effects of exercise on cognitive func-tion in individuals with stroke

Antarctic Mapping Mission Planning Aids

On November 4, 1995, the Canadian RADARSAT was carried aloft by a NASA rocket launched from Vandenburg Air Force Base. Radarsat is equipped with a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) capable of acquiring high resolution (25 m) images of Earth's surface day or night and under all weather conditions. Along with the attributes familiar to researchers working with SAR data from the European Space Agency's Earth Remote Sensing Satellite and the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite, RADARSAT will have enhanced flexibility to collect data using a variety of swath widths, incidence angles and resolutions. Most importantly, for scientists interested in Antarctica, the agreement for a U.S. launch of RADARSAT includes a provision for rotating in orbit the normally right-looking SAR to a left-looking mode. This 'Antarctic Mode' will provide for the first time a nearly instantaneous, high resolution view of the entirety of Antarctica on each of two proposed mappings separated by 2 years. This is an unprecedented opportunity to finish mapping one of the few remaining uncharted regions of the Earth. The completed maps will also provide two important benchmarks for gauging changes of Antarctica's ice cover. The preparation of a digital mosaic of Antarctica is being conducted under a NASA Pathfinder Project awarded to the Byrd Polar Research Center of The Ohio State University. The primary goal of this proposal is to compile digital SAR mosaics of the entire Antarctic continent using a combination of standard and extended beams during the "Antarctic Mode" of the Radarsat Mission. Agreements with the Canadian Space Agency call for the first Antarctic Mapping Manuever to occur in September, 1997. A mission plan to coordinate that complex acquisition and downlinking of Antarctic data has been developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) will be used as the primary data collection site supported by collections at the Canadian Gatineau and Prince Albert Ground Stations. ASF will process data into images which will be sent to OSU for compositing into map products using state-of-the-art equipment to be designed by Vexcel Corporation of Boulder Colorado. Imaging geometry will be constrained over the Antarctic using active radar transponders constructed by the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan and by corner reflectors deployed by the British Antarctic Survey. Additional ground control is being supplied by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. Final products will be distributed through the ASF and the National Snow and Ice Data Center which are both NASA Data Archive Centers. The mosaics and ancillary information will be prepared on CDROM and will be made available to the science community through NASA DAACs. Science opportunities envisioned for the program are summarized on the accompanying table. These include studying the dynamics and variability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet including studies of regions like the Wordie Ice Shelf and the Larsen Ice Shelf which have recently experienced unexplained and nearly catastropic retreat. Geologic applications include large scale mapping of faults, volcanic features, and mountain building processes (particularly the Transantarctic Mountains). Finally, there is simply the unprecedented opportunity to use these digital maps in studies of many previously unexplored areas of the Southern Continent.NASACanadian Space Agenc

Distinct Costimulatory Molecules Are Required for the Induction of Effector and Memory Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes

A successful T cell immune response has two major products: effector T cells which directly or indirectly remove the antigens, and memory T cells, which allow a faster and more efficient recall response when challenged by related antigens. An important issue is whether costimulatory molecules on the antigen-presenting cells are involved in determining whether T cells will differentiate into effector or memory cells after antigenic stimulation. To address this issue, we have produced mice with targeted mutations of either the heat-stable antigen (HSA), or both HSA and CD28. We show that CD28/B7 and HSA provide two alternative costimulatory pathways for induction of immunological memory to influenza virus. Furthermore, our results revealed that B7 is essential for the generation of effector T cells from either naive or memory T cells, while HSA is not necessary for the generation of effector T cells. Our results demonstrate that the induction of memory T cells and effector T cells can utilize distinct costimulatory molecules. These results have important implications on lineage relationship between effector and memory T cells

Forces during cellular uptake of viruses and nanoparticles at the ventral side

Many intracellular pathogens, such as mammalian reovirus, mimic extracellular matrix motifs to specifically interact with the host membrane. Whether and how cell-matrix interactions influence virus particle uptake is unknown, as it is usually studied from the dorsal side. Here we show that the forces exerted at the ventral side of adherent cells during reovirus uptake exceed the binding strength of biotin-neutravidin anchoring viruses to a biofunctionalized substrate. Analysis of virus dissociation kinetics using the Bell model revealed mean forces higher than 30 pN per virus, preferentially applied in the cell periphery where close matrix contacts form. Utilizing 100 nm-sized nanoparticles decorated with integrin adhesion motifs, we demonstrate that the uptake forces scale with the adhesion energy, while actin/myosin inhibitions strongly reduce the uptake frequency, but not uptake kinetics. We hypothesize that particle adhesion and the push by the substrate provide the main driving forces for uptake