User-Relative Names for Globally Connected Personal Devices

Nontechnical users who own increasingly ubiquitous network-enabled personal devices such as laptops, digital cameras, and smart phones need a simple, intuitive, and secure way to share information and services between their devices. User Information Architecture, or UIA, is a novel naming and peer-to-peer connectivity architecture addressing this need. Users assign UIA names by "introducing" devices to each other on a common local-area network, but these names remain securely bound to their target as devices migrate. Multiple devices owned by the same user, once introduced, automatically merge their namespaces to form a distributed "personal cluster" that the owner can access or modify from any of his devices. Instead of requiring users to allocate globally unique names from a central authority, UIA enables users to assign their own "user-relative" names both to their own devices and to other users. With UIA, for example, Alice can always access her iPod from any of her own personal devices at any location via the name "ipod", and her friend Bob can access her iPod via a relative name like "ipod.Alice".Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl

Impact of COVID-19 on employment: sociodemographic, medical, psychiatric and neuropsychological correlates

IntroductionGiven the nature of the persistent physical and neuropsychiatric symptoms reported in the literature, among individuals after acute COVID illness; there is growing concern about the functional implications of the Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). We aim to evaluate associations of sociodemographic, medical, psychiatric and neuropsychological factors with employment status post COVID-19.Methods59 participants were administered a neuropsychiatric assessment and queried about employment status and occupational difficulties months after quarantine. Two levels of comparison were conducted: (1) Those who took time off work (TTO) to those with no time off (NTO); (2) Those who reported occupational performance suffered (PS) to those who did not (PDNS).ResultsTTO vs. NTO exhibited extensive differences across medical, psychiatric and neurocognitive domains. PS vs. PDNS differed on subjective measures of physical and cognitive symptoms, but not on objective testing.ConclusionIndividuals who took time off beyond COVID-19 quarantine experience persistent physical, psychiatric, subjective and objective neurocognitive burden. In contrast, occupational impairment appears to reflect subjective complaints, but not objective measures. Clinical implications are discussed

Anxiety and posttraumatic stress in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19: prevalence, characteristics, comorbidity, and clinical correlates

BackgroundAnxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms have been reported in association with acute and post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC).PurposeThis study aimed to document the cross-sectional prevalence, characteristics and clinical correlates of anxiety and post-traumatic stress in a study of neuropsychiatric sequelae of COVID-19.Method75 participants recruited from a post-COVID-19 recovery program and the community were assessed for sociodemographic, medical, psychiatric, and neurocognitive symptoms and performance. The generalized anxiety questionnaire-7 (GAD-7) and post-traumatic stress disorder questionnaire for DSM5 (PCL5) were utilized to measure anxiety and PTSD symptoms. Established cutoff scoring for the GAD-7 and algorithm-based scoring of the PCL5 were utilized to determine clinically significant anxiety symptoms and PTSD, respectively.ResultsThe cohort was 71% female, 36% ethnic minority, with the main age of 43.5 years, 80% employment, 40% with the prior psychiatric treatment history and 2/3 seeking post-COVID care for PASC. Clinically significant anxiety symptoms were found in 31% and PTSD was found in 29% of the cohort. Nervousness and excessive worry were the most prominent anxiety symptoms, while changes in mood/cognition and avoidance were most frequent in PTSD. There was a high degree of comorbidity between clinically significant anxiety symptoms, PTSD, depression and fatigue. In logistic regression, acute COVID illness severity, prior psychiatric history, and memory complaints (but not objective neuropsychological performance) predicted clinically significant anxiety symptoms and/or PTSD.ConclusionClinically significant anxiety and PTSD are found in approximately 1 of 3 individuals after COVID-19 infection. They are highly comorbid with each other as well as with depression and fatigue. All patients seeking care for PASC should be screened for these neuropsychiatric complications. Symptoms of worry, nervousness, subjective changes in mood, and cognition as well as behavioral avoidance are particularly important targets of clinical intervention

Querying at Internet Scale

We are developing a distributed query processor called PIER, which is designed to run on the scale of the entire Internet. PIER utilizes a Distributed Hash Table (DHT) as its communication substrate in order to achieve scalability, reliability, decentralized control, and load balancing. PIER enhances DHTs with declarative and algebraic query interfaces, and underneath those interfaces implements multihop, in-network versions of joins, aggregation, recursion, and query/result dissemination. PIER is currently being used for diverse applications, including network monitoring, keyword-based filesharing search, and network topology mapping. We will demonstrate PIER\u27s functionality by showing system monitoring queries running on PlanetLab, a testbed of over 300 machines distributed across the globe

Parameters for the depth of the ocean’s productive layer

Here we compare various parameters that are used to define the depth of the ocean’s productive layer, the euphotic zone, during the initiation of the spring phytoplankton bloom in the North Atlantic (47°N/20°W). These are (1) the compensation depth (Zc, where gross photosynthesis balances autotrophic respiration), (2) the depth horizon of 1% of surface photosynthetic active irradiance (Ed(0-,PAR), (3) depth horizon of 1% of surface Ed(488), and (4) the depth of the bottom of the fluorescence maximum. We also use two related parameters, the depth of the mixed layer and the ratio of integral gross production to integral respiration as a scaling factor for a proxy for the critical depth. Over the course of the observational period (25 April - 7 May, 1989), the mixed layer decreased from 162 to 20 m, and Zc decreased from 64 to 35 m. The depth of 1%Ed(0-,PAR) followed the trajectory of Zc, while Ed(488) and the depth of the bottom of the fluorescence maximum were about 10 m deeper, on average. These data support the criterion of the depth of “1%PAR” to describe the productive layer for more productive areas of the ocean. However, 1% of Ed(488) or the bottom of the fluorescence maximum could be used over a broader range of trophic conditions

Engineering a C4 fructose epimerase for production of tagatose

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A survey and classification of storage deduplication systems

The automatic elimination of duplicate data in a storage system commonly known as deduplication is increasingly accepted as an effective technique to reduce storage costs. Thus, it has been applied to different storage types, including archives and backups, primary storage, within solid state disks, and even to random access memory. Although the general approach to deduplication is shared by all storage types, each poses specific challenges and leads to different trade-offs and solutions. This diversity is often misunderstood, thus underestimating the relevance of new research and development. The first contribution of this paper is a classification of deduplication systems according to six criteria that correspond to key design decisions: granularity, locality, timing, indexing, technique, and scope. This classification identifies and describes the different approaches used for each of them. As a second contribution, we describe which combinations of these design decisions have been proposed and found more useful for challenges in each storage type. Finally, outstanding research challenges and unexplored design points are identified and discussed.This work is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (EDRF) through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project RED FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-010156 and the FCT by PhD scholarship SFRH-BD-71372-2010

Protective CD8+ T-cell immunity to human malaria induced by chimpanzee adenovirus-MVA immunisation.

Induction of antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells offers the prospect of immunization against many infectious diseases, but no subunit vaccine has induced CD8(+) T cells that correlate with efficacy in humans. Here we demonstrate that a replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus vector followed by a modified vaccinia virus Ankara booster induces exceptionally high frequency T-cell responses (median >2400 SFC/10(6) peripheral blood mononuclear cells) to the liver-stage Plasmodium falciparum malaria antigen ME-TRAP. It induces sterile protective efficacy against heterologous strain sporozoites in three vaccinees (3/14, 21%), and delays time to patency through substantial reduction of liver-stage parasite burden in five more (5/14, 36%), P=0.008 compared with controls. The frequency of monofunctional interferon-γ-producing CD8(+) T cells, but not antibodies, correlates with sterile protection and delay in time to patency (P(corrected)=0.005). Vaccine-induced CD8(+) T cells provide protection against human malaria, suggesting that a major limitation of previous vaccination approaches has been the insufficient magnitude of induced T cells

CATALISE: A multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study. Identifying language impairments in children

Delayed or impaired language development is a common developmental concern, yet thereis little agreement about the criteria used to identify and classify language impairments inchildren. Children's language difficulties are at the interface between education, medicineand the allied professions, who may all adopt different approaches to conceptualising them.Our goal in this study was to use an online Delphi technique to see whether it was possibleto achieve consensus among professionals on appropriate criteria for identifying childrenwho might benefit from specialist services. We recruited a panel of 59 experts representingten disciplines (including education, psychology, speech-language therapy/pathology, paediatricsand child psychiatry) from English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland,New Zealand, United Kingdom and USA). The starting point for round 1 was a set of 46statements based on articles and commentaries in a special issue of a journal focusing onthis topic. Panel members rated each statement for both relevance and validity on a sevenpointscale, and added free text comments. These responses were synthesised by the firsttwo authors, who then removed, combined or modified items with a view to improving consensus.The resulting set of statements was returned to the panel for a second evaluation(round 2). Consensus (percentage reporting 'agree' or 'strongly agree') was at least 80 percentfor 24 of 27 round 2 statements, though many respondents qualified their responsewith written comments. These were again synthesised by the first two authors. The resultingconsensus statement is reported here, with additional summary of relevant evidence, and aconcluding commentary on residual disagreements and gaps in the evidence base.</p

Phase 2 of CATALISE: a multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study of problems with language development: Terminology.

Background: Lack of agreement about criteria and terminology for children’s language problems affects access to services as well as hindering research and practice. We report the second phase of a study using an online Delphi method to address these issues. In the first phase, we focused on criteria for language disorder. Here we consider terminology.Methods: The Delphi method is an iterative process in which an initial set of statements is rated by a panel of experts, who then have the opportunity to view anonymised ratings from other panel members. On this basis they can either revise their views or make a case for their position. The statements are then revised based on panel feedback, and again rated by and commented on by the panel. In this study, feedback from a second round was used to prepare a final set of statements in narrative form. The panel included 57 individuals representing a range of professions and nationalities. Results: We achieved at least 78% agreement for 19 of 21 statements within two rounds of ratings. These were collapsed into 12 statements for the final consensus reported here. The term ‘Language Disorder’ is recommended to refer to a profile of difficulties that causes functional impairment in everyday life and is associated with poor prognosis. The term, ‘Developmental Language Disorder’ (DLD) was endorsed for use when the language disorder was not associated with a known biomedical aetiology. It was also agreed that (a) presence of risk factors (neurobiological or environmental) does not preclude a diagnosis of DLD, (b) DLD can co-occur with other neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. ADHD) and (c) DLD does not require a mismatch between verbal and nonverbal ability. Conclusions: This Delphi exercise highlights reasons for disagreements about terminology for language disorders and proposes standard definitions and nomenclature. </p