Search

Air pollution monitoring using mobile ground-based measurement platforms can provide high-quality spatiotemporal air pollution information. As mobile air quality monitoring campaigns extend to entire fleets of vehicles and integrate smaller-scale air quality sensors, it is important to address the need to assess these measurements in a scalable manner. We explore the collocation-based evaluation of air quality measurements in a mobile platform using fixed regulatory sites as a reference. We compare two approaches: a standard collocation assessment technique, in which the mobile platform is parked near the fixed regulatory site for a period of time, and an expanded approach, which uses measurements while the mobile platform is in motion in the general vicinity of the fixed regulatory site. Based on the availability of fixed-reference-site data, we focus on three pollutants (ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric oxide) with distinct atmospheric lifetimes and behaviors. We compare measurements from a mobile laboratory with regulatory site measurements in Denver, CO, USA, and in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA. Our 1-month Denver dataset includes both parked collocation periods near the fixed regulatory sites and general driving patterns around the sites, allowing a direct comparison of the parked and mobile collocation techniques on the same dataset. We show that the mobile collocation approach produces similar performance statistics, including coefficients of determination and mean bias errors, to the standard parked collocation technique. This is particularly true when the comparisons are restricted to specific road types, with residential streets showing the closest agreement and highways showing the largest differences. We extend our analysis to a larger (yearlong) dataset in California, where we explore the relationships between the mobile measurements and the fixed reference sites on a larger scale. We show that using a 40 h running median converges to within ± 4 ppbv of the fixed reference site for nitrogen dioxide and ozone and up to about 8 ppbv for nitric oxide. We propose that this agreement can be leveraged to assess instrument performance over time during large-scale mobile monitoring campaigns. We demonstrate an example of how such relationships can be employed during large-scale monitoring campaigns using small sensors to identify potential measurement biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analog memory presents a promising solution in the face of the growing demand for energy-efficient artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge. In this study, we demonstrate efficient deep neural network transfer learning utilizing hardware and algorithm co-optimization in an analog resistive random-access memory (ReRAM) array. For the first time, we illustrate that in open-loop deep neural network (DNN) transfer learning for image classification tasks, convergence rates can be accelerated by approximately 3.5 times through the utilization of cooptimized analog ReRAM hardware and the hardware-aware Tiki-Taka v2 (TTv2) algorithm. A simulation based on statistical 14 nm CMOS ReRAM array data provides insights into the performance of transfer learning on larger network workloads, exhibiting notable improvement over conventional training with random initialization. This study shows that analog DNN transfer learning using an optimized ReRAM array can achieve faster convergence with a smaller dataset compared to training from scratch, thus augmenting AI capability at the edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Points: Question: Does donanemab, a monoclonal antibody designed to clear brain amyloid plaque, provide clinical benefit in early symptomatic Alzheimer disease? Findings: In this randomized clinical trial that included 1736 participants with early symptomatic Alzheimer disease and amyloid and tau pathology, the least-squares mean change in the integrated Alzheimer Disease Rating Scale score (range, 0-144; lower score indicates greater impairment) at 76 weeks was −6.02 in the donanemab group and −9.27 in the placebo group for the low/medium tau population and −10.19 in the donanemab group and −13.11 in the placebo group in the combined study population, both of which were significant differences. Meaning: Among participants with early symptomatic Alzheimer disease and amyloid and tau pathology, donanemab treatment significantly slowed clinical progression at 76 weeks. Importance: There are limited efficacious treatments for Alzheimer disease. Objective: To assess efficacy and adverse events of donanemab, an antibody designed to clear brain amyloid plaque. Design, Setting, and Participants: Multicenter (277 medical research centers/hospitals in 8 countries), randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 18-month phase 3 trial that enrolled 1736 participants with early symptomatic Alzheimer disease (mild cognitive impairment/mild dementia) with amyloid and low/medium or high tau pathology based on positron emission tomography imaging from June 2020 to November 2021 (last patient visit for primary outcome in April 2023). Interventions: Participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive donanemab (n = 860) or placebo (n = 876) intravenously every 4 weeks for 72 weeks. Participants in the donanemab group were switched to receive placebo in a blinded manner if dose completion criteria were met. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was change in integrated Alzheimer Disease Rating Scale (iADRS) score from baseline to 76 weeks (range, 0-144; lower scores indicate greater impairment). There were 24 gated outcomes (primary, secondary, and exploratory), including the secondary outcome of change in the sum of boxes of the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR-SB) score (range, 0-18; higher scores indicate greater impairment). Statistical testing allocated α of.04 to testing low/medium tau population outcomes, with the remainder (.01) for combined population outcomes. Results: Among 1736 randomized participants (mean age, 73.0 years; 996 [57.4%] women; 1182 [68.1%] with low/medium tau pathology and 552 [31.8%] with high tau pathology), 1320 (76%) completed the trial. Of the 24 gated outcomes, 23 were statistically significant. The least-squares mean (LSM) change in iADRS score at 76 weeks was −6.02 (95% CI, −7.01 to −5.03) in the donanemab group and −9.27 (95% CI, −10.23 to −8.31) in the placebo group (difference, 3.25 [95% CI, 1.88-4.62]; P <.001) in the low/medium tau population and −10.2 (95% CI, −11.22 to −9.16) with donanemab and −13.1 (95% CI, −14.10 to −12.13) with placebo (difference, 2.92 [95% CI, 1.51-4.33]; P <.001) in the combined population. LSM change in CDR-SB score at 76 weeks was 1.20 (95% CI, 1.00-1.41) with donanemab and 1.88 (95% CI, 1.68-2.08) with placebo (difference, −0.67 [95% CI, −0.95 to −0.40]; P <.001) in the low/medium tau population and 1.72 (95% CI, 1.53-1.91) with donanemab and 2.42 (95% CI, 2.24-2.60) with placebo (difference, −0.7 [95% CI, −0.95 to −0.45]; P <.001) in the combined population. Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities of edema or effusion occurred in 205 participants (24.0%; 52 symptomatic) in the donanemab group and 18 (2.1%; 0 symptomatic during study) in the placebo group and infusion-related reactions occurred in 74 participants (8.7%) with donanemab and 4 (0.5%) with placebo. Three deaths in the donanemab group and 1 in the placebo group were considered treatment related. Conclusions and Relevance: Among participants with early symptomatic Alzheimer disease and amyloid and tau pathology, donanemab significantly slowed clinical progression at 76 weeks in those with low/medium tau and in the combined low/medium and high tau pathology population. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04437511 This randomized clinical trial examines the efficacy and adverse effects of donanemab, a monoclonal antibody designed to clear brain amyloid plaque, among patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coaching is the most common intervention tool used by sales managers to develop their salespeople, and the ability to effectively coach others is often what makes a sales manager successful. While sales organizations recognize the importance and positive impact of sales coaching, the unfortunate reality is that most sales managers still lack the proper training to coach salespeople effectively. One reason for this is due to the lack of clarity on the sales coaching skills and abilities that drive and improve the sales coaching process. A first step in resolving this problem is to provide practitioners and researchers with a psychometrically-sound measure of effective sales coaching. Without an adequate sales coaching scale, prior sales-related coaching research has relied heavily on managerial coaching scales. Unfortunately, due to potential reliability and validity issues with the managerial coaching scales, the use of those managerial coaching scales may not be appropriate within a sales context. As a result, this study advances a three-factor, 14-item effective sales coaching (ESC) scale that is validated among a sample of B2B salespeople. The ESC scale contains three dimensions–adaptability, involvement, and rapport—that are shown to directly and indirectly influence sales performance. We also demonstrate the ESC scale's ability to explain more variance in sales performance than the most commonly used behavior-based managerial coaching scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution monitoring using mobile ground-based measurement platforms can provide high quality spatiotemporal air pollution information. As mobile air quality monitoring campaigns extend to entire fleets of vehicles and integrate smaller scale air quality sensors, it is important to address the quality assurance needs for validating these measurements. We explore collocation-based evaluation of air quality instruments in a mobile platform against fixed regulatory sites, both when the mobile platform is parked at the fixed regulatory site and when moving at distances of meters to kilometers from the site. We demonstrate agreement within 4 ppbv (for NO2 and O3+NO2) to 10 ppbv (for NO) when using a running median of 40 hourly differences between the moving mobile platform measurements and stationary site measurements. The comparability is strong when only measurements from residential roads are used but are only slightly diminished when all roads except highways are included in the analysis. We present a method for assessing mobile measurements of ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and odd oxygen (OX = O3 + NO2) on an ongoing basis through comparisons with fixed regulatory sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes collaboration among a group of scientists and considers how their experiences are socially shaped. Data analysis of interviews, observations of videoconferences and meetings, and a sociometric survey led to the development of a framework that identifies forms of collaboration that emerged among scientists and factors which influenced collaboration. (Contains 51 references.) (Author/LRW)

Discusses ways in which people discover, shape, or create information as part of their lives and work; considers how resources and rules of people's situations facilitate or limit discovery of information; and introduces the idea of a socio-technical systems design science that is founded in part on understanding the discovery of information in context. (Contains 104 references.) (LRW)

Describes empirical investigations of people's use of relevance criteria. Highlights include a laboratory experiment and a naturalistic study that explored the patterns of movement in use of relevance criteria during real-time document evaluation processes; criteria patterns; and a classification scheme and criteria taxonomy that may enable generalization of criteria across different contexts. (Author/LRW)

This study of an individual information user with a real information problem examined the relevance judgment process using bibliographic records and full-text documents. Results provide a basis for understanding the judgment process in information searching. Deselection of items and the associated application of judgment criteria provide insight into how relevance-judgment occurs. (PEN)

Naturalistic observation and questioning of children grades 1-6 in school library media centers investigated their intentions, purposes, search terms, strategies, successes, and breakdowns in accessing fiction through Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs). Presents a framework of perspectives (individual, social cultural, task, time and timing) to identify problem areas and suggests design options. (PEN)

Using the methods of ethnography of communication, this three-part study investigates time and timing, social elements, and individual information behavior in sense making. Argues that the sense-making concept captures how information behavior creates meaning and that a research focus on information and information-seeking divides people from information systems, specialists, and institutions. (PEN)

Examines elementary school students' use of an online public access catalog to investigate the interaction between children, technology, curriculum, instruction, and learning. Highlights include patterns of successes and breakdowns; search strategies; instructional approaches and childrens' interests; structure of interaction; search terms; and learning effects. (17 references) (LRW)

Reports on research on retrieval behavior of children using a school library online public access catalog. The impact of user characteristics, school setting, interface usability, and information access features on information retrieval are considered. Overall patterns of children's behavior that influence retrieval and findings about strategies and search terms are reported. (34 references) (KRN)

Explores the dynamics of information system use to understand the requirements of intelligent information systems. Highlights include the novice/expert distinction and the development of skills from novice to expert; methods for understanding dynamics; and a study of elementary school children's use of an online public access catalog in grades 1-6. (22 references) (LRW)

The Nigerian city of Lagos experiences severe air pollution as a result of emissions and subsequent atmospheric photochemistry and aerosol chemistry. A year-long study, between August 2020 and July 2021, included measurements of gas-phase and aerosol processes, with surface meteorology at six urban sites. The sites were selected to represent near seacoast conditions, urban sites, and inland locations near agricultural and grassland ecosystems. The observations included continuous concentrations for CO, SO2, NOx, O3, PM2.5, and PM10. Samples were collected and analyzed for speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate chemical composition including inorganic and organic chemical species. The average diel variations in concentrations indicated well-known local photochemistry resulting from the presence of combustion sources, including motor vehicles, petroleum production and use, and open burning. The annual diel characteristics were emission-dependent and were modulated by meteorological variability, including the sea breeze and the seasonal changes associated with monsoons and Harmattan winds. Gases and particulate matter varied daily, consistent with the onset of source activities during the day. Fine particles less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) included both primary particles from emission sources and secondary particles produced in the atmosphere by photochemical reactions. Importantly, particle sources included a large component of dust and carbonaceous material. For the latter, there was evidence that particle concentrations were dominated by primary sources, with little secondary material formed in the atmosphere. From complementary measurements, there were occasions when regional chemical processes affected the local conditions, including transportation, industry, commercial activity, and open waste burning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]