A National Dialogue on Health Information Technology and Privacy

Increasingly, government leaders recognize that solving the complex problems facing America today will require more than simply keeping citizens informed. Meeting challenges like rising health care costs, climate change and energy independence requires increased level of collaboration. Traditionally, government agencies have operated in silos -- separated not only from citizens, but from each other, as well. Nevertheless, some have begun to reach across and outside of government to access the collective brainpower of organizations, stakeholders and individuals.The National Dialogue on Health Information Technology and Privacy was one such initiative. It was conceived by leaders in government who sought to demonstrate that it is not only possible, but beneficial and economical, to engage openly and broadly on an issue that is both national in scope and deeply relevant to the everyday lives of citizens. The results of this first-of-its-kind online event are captured in this report, together with important lessons learned along the way.This report served as a call to action. On his first full day in office, President Obama put government on notice that this new, more collaborative model can no longer be confined to the efforts of early adopters. He called upon every executive department and agency to "harness new technology" and make government "transparent, participatory, and collaborative." Government is quickly transitioning to a new generation of managers and leaders, for whom online collaboration is not a new frontier but a fact of everyday life. We owe it to them -- and the citizens we serve -- to recognize and embrace the myriad tools available to fulfill the promise of good government in the 21st Century.Key FindingsThe Panel recommended that the Administration give stakeholders the opportunity to further participate in the discussion of heath IT and privacy through broader outreach and by helping the public to understand the value of a person-centered view of healthcare information technology

Failure of the ERBE scanner instrument aboard NOAA 10 spacecraft and results of failure analysis

The Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) scanner instrument on the NOAA 10 spacecraft malfunctioned on May 22, 1989, after more than 4 years of in-flight operation. After the failure, all instrument operational mode commands were tested and the resulting data analyzed. Details of the tests and analysis of output data are discussed therein. The radiometric and housekeeping data appear to be valid. However, the instrument will not correctly execute operational scan mode commands or the preprogrammed calibration sequences. The data indicate the problem is the result of a failure in the internal address decoding circuity in one of the ROM (read only memory) chips of the instrument computer

Susceptibility of stored-product psocids to aerosol insecticides

The efficacies of commercial methoprene and esfenvalerate aerosols for control of stored-product psocid pests were evaluated in simulated field studies. The efficacies of methoprene, esfenvalerate EC, the carrier Isopar-M™, and a combination of methoprene and esfenvalerate aerosols for control of Liposcelis decolor (Pearman) (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae) and Liposcelis entomophila (Enderlein) nymphs were assessed, and the effects of direct and indirect exposure of Liposcelis bostrychophila Badonnel, L. decolor, and Liposcelis paeta Pearman adults to esfenvalerate EC aerosol were evaluated. The greatest nymphal mortality attained was 76%, indicating that the four aerosols tested were ineffective against L. decolor and L. entomophila nymphs. In the direct and indirect exposure studies, the greatest adult mortalities attained for the three psocid species were 62 and 32%, respectively. Based on these data, esfenvalerate aerosol is ineffective for control of L. bostrychophila, L. decolor, L. entomophila, and L. paeta psocid species. This study shows that methoprene, esfenvalerate EC, and a combination of methoprene and esfenvalerate aerosols were ineffective against the four psocid species tested when applied at rates that are usually effective against other stored-product insect pests

Can disorder induce a finite thermal conductivity in 1D lattices?

We study heat conduction in one dimensional mass disordered harmonic and anharmonic lattices. It is found that the thermal conductivity $\kappa$ of the disordered anharmonic lattice is finite at low temperature, whereas it diverges as $\kappa \sim N^{0.43}$ at high temperature. Moreover, we demonstrate that a unique nonequilibrium stationary state in the disordered harmonic lattice does not exist at all.Comment: 4 pages with 4 eps figure

A TOMM40 poly-T variant modulates gene expression and is associated with vocabulary ability and decline in nonpathologic aging

The Translocase of Outer Mitochondrial Membrane 40 Homolog and Apolipoprotein E (TOMM40-APOE) locus has been associated with a number of age-related phenotypes in humans including nonpathologic cognitive aging, late-onset Alzheimer's disease, and longevity. Here, we investigate the influence of the TOMM40 intron 6 poly-T variant (rs10524523) on TOMM40 gene expression and cognitive abilities and decline in a cohort of 1613 community-dwelling elderly volunteers who had been followed for changes in cognitive functioning over a period of 14 years (range = 12–18 years). We showed that the shorter length poly-T variants were found to act as a repressor of luciferase gene expression in reporter gene constructs. Expression was reduced to approximately half of that observed for the very long variant. We further observed that the shorter poly-T variant was significantly associated with reduced vocabulary ability and a slower rate of vocabulary decline with age compared to the very long poly-T variants. No significant associations were observed for memory, fluid intelligence or processing speed, although the direction of effect, where the short variant was correlated with reduced ability and slower rate of decline was observed for all tests. Our results indicate that the poly-T variant has the ability to interact with transcription machinery and differentially modulate reporter gene expression and influence vocabulary ability and decline with age

The effect of time constraints and running phases on combined event pistol shooting performance.

The combined event is a crucial aspect of the modern pentathlon competition, but little is known about how shooting performance changes through the event. This study aimed to identify (i) how performance-related variables changed within each shooting series and (ii) how performance-related variables changed between each shooting series. Seventeen modern pentathletes completed combined event trials. An optoelectronic shooting system recorded score and pistol movement, and force platforms recorded centre of pressure movement 1 s prior to every shot. Heart rate and blood lactate values were recorded throughout the event. Whilst heart rate and blood lactate significantly increased between series (P  0.05). Thus, combined event shooting performance following each running phase appears similar to shooting performance following only 20 m of running. This finding has potential implications for the way in which modern pentathletes train for combined event shooting, and highlights the need for modern pentathletes to establish new methods with which to enhance shooting accuracy

Improving temperature‐based predictions of the timing of flowering in cotton

Key management recommendations for cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) management require estimates of the timing of crop phenology. Most commonly growing day degree (DD) (thermal time) approaches are used. Currently, across many cotton production regions, there is no consistent approach to predicting first square and flower timing. Day degree approaches vary considerably, with base thresholds different (12.0–15.6 °C) with no consistency using an optimum temperature threshold (i.e., temperature where development ceases to increase). As cotton is grown in variable and changing climates, and cultivars change, there is a need to ensure the accuracy of this approach for predicting timing of flowering for assisting cotton management. In this study new functions to predict first square and first flower were developed and validated using data collected in multiple seasons and regions (Australia and the United States). Earlier controlled environment studies that monitored crop development were used to assess in more detail how temperatures were affecting early cotton development. New DD functions developed predicted first square and first flower better than the existing Australian and U.S. approaches. The best performing functions had base temperatures like those of existing U.S. functions (15.6 °C) and an optimum threshold temperature of 32.0 °C. New universal DD targets for first square (343 DD [°C]) and first flower (584 DD) were developed. Controlled environment studies supported this base temperature outcome; however, it was less clear that 32.0 °C was the optimum threshold temperature from these data. Precise predictions of cotton development will facilitate accurate growth stage assessments and hence better cotton management decisions

GWAS Identifies 44 Independent Associated Genomic Loci for Self-Reported Adult Hearing Difficulty in UK Biobank

Age-related hearing impairment (ARHI) is the most common sensory impairment in the aging population; a third of individuals are affected by disabling hearing loss by the age of 65. It causes social isolation and depression and has recently been identified as a risk factor for dementia. The genetic risk factors and underlying pathology of ARHI are largely unknown, meaning that targets for new therapies remain elusive, yet heritability estimates range between 35% and 55%. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for two self-reported hearing phenotypes, using more than 250,000 UK Biobank (UKBB) volunteers aged between 40 and 69 years. Forty-four independent genome-wide significant loci (p < 5E−08) were identified, considerably increasing the number of established trait loci. Thirty-four loci are novel associations with hearing loss of any form, and only one of the ten known hearing loci has a previously reported association with an ARHI-related trait. Gene sets from these loci are enriched in auditory processes such as synaptic activities, nervous system processes, inner ear morphology, and cognition, while genetic correlation analysis revealed strong positive correlations with multiple personality and psychological traits for the first time. Immunohistochemistry for protein localization in adult mouse cochlea implicate metabolic, sensory, and neuronal functions for NID2, CLRN2, and ARHGEF28. These results provide insight into the genetic landscape underlying ARHI, opening up novel therapeutic targets for further investigation. In a wider context, our study also highlights the viability of using self-report phenotypes for genetic discovery in very large samples when deep phenotyping is unavailable

Cornish identities and migration: a multi-scalar approach

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com. 24 month embargo by the publisher. Article will be released July 2009.In this article we argue that theories of transnationalism have value in exploring the historical context of migration and that historical contexts help to shape such theoretical conceptualizations. Historians of migration have now begun to engage more directly with the literature of transnationalism, focusing on the networks that linked settler and home communities. Here we add to this by examining a nineteenth-century migrant community from a British region through the lens of transnationalism, applying the concept to the case of the Cornish, whose economic specialization produced culturally distinct Cornish communities on the mining frontiers of North America, Australia and South Africa. In doing so, we bring together the issues of scale and time. We review the multiple levels of the Cornish transnational space of the late nineteenth century, which exhibited aspects of both core transnationalism and translocalism. This waned, but in the later twentieth century, a renewed interest in a transnational Cornish identity re-emerged, articulating with changing identity claims in Cornwall itself. To capture better the experience of the Cornish over these two very different phases of transnationalism we identify another subset of transnationalism - that of transregionalism.Leverhulme Trus