The relationship between coffee consumption and serum cholesterol under consideration of smoking history

To provide insight into the stream of Medicare payments over time, a sixteen-year longitudinal study examines three age cohorts of beneficiaries, looking separately at beneficiaries who died during the study period and those who survived. The common wisdom that a small minority of the population accounts for a large majority of health care expenditures is tempered when health care use is examined over an extended period of time. By putting high average costs in the final years of life in the context of a cohort's total lifetime experience, the study shows a leveling of spending over time, resulting in a lower concentration of health care resources on a small fraction of the population.     

0.27-dB/km attenuation achieved by MSP preform process [opticalfibers]

Mechanically shaped preforms (MSP) have been demonstrated to combine economic non-CVD (chemical vapor deposition) processing and low loss, with a published value of 0.63 dB/km and a size of 30 fkm/preform. Improved processing is proposed which results in a minimum loss of 0.27 dB/km at 1550 nm. Preforms capable of yielding 150 fkm have been produced. Reboiling during preform stretching and fiber pulling is identified as the last remaining problem of the process     

The Semantic Web: Collective Intelligence on the Web

The World Wide Web has turned hypertext into a success story by enabling world-wide sharing of unstructured information and informal knowledge. The Semantic Web targets the sharing of structured information and formal knowledge pursuing objectives of achieving collective intelligence on the Web. Germane to the structure of the Semantic Web is a layering and standardization of concerns. These concerns are reflected by an architecture of the Semantic Web that we present through a common use case. Semantic Web data for the use case is now found on the Web and is part of a quickly growing set of Semantic Web resources available for formal processing.     

PIN OLEDs — Improved structures and materials to enhance device lifetime

Abstract— Currently, three issues are identified that decide upon the commercial success of organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs), both in display and lighting applications: power efficiency, lifetime, and price competitiveness. PIN OLEDs are widely seen as the preferred way to maximize power efficiency. Here, it is reported that this concept also delivers the world longest lifetimes. For a highly efficient deep‐red PIN OLED, a half‐lifetime of 25,000 hours for a starting brightness of 10,000 cd/m² and a minimal voltage increase over lifetime is reported. This value corresponds to more than 1 × 10⁶ hours at 1000 cd/m² using an exponent of n = 1.7, which was measured by driving the OLEDs at different starting luminances. Because there is no initial luminance drop, these PIN OLEDs also exhibit a very high 80% lifetime (>300,000 hours at 1000 cd/m²). New record lifetime values for blue and green will be reported as well. Additionally, further topics that have impact on the production yield and cost such as the newly developed air‐stable organic n‐doping material NDN‐26 and top‐emitting structures will be discussed.     

Interactive faceted search and exploration of open social media data on a touchscreen mobile phone

A central challenge of semantic ambient media applications is designing smart user interfaces that are able to dynamically deal with an a-priori unknown number of data categories and data instances received live from different Linked Open Data sources while at the same time being intuitive and easy to use. In the mobile world, this challenge is even more difficult as the mobile devices have limited interaction possibilities and smaller display size. In this paper, we tackle this challenge and present the user-centered, iterative design of a mobile application for faceted search and exploration of a large, multi-dimensional data set of open social media on a touchscreen mobile phone. The application is called Mobile Facets and provides live retrieval and interactive search and exploration of resources like places, persons, organizations, and events originating from different, integrated social media sources like DBpedia, Eventful, Upcoming, Flickr, and GeoNames. In contrast to existing work, we do not know in advance the number and type of data categories and data instances that will be received as the data is queried live from the sources. While developing Mobile Facets, we have applied a participatory design with a small group of five users. For the final prototype we have conducted a task-based, formative evaluation with 12 additional subjects to investigate the applicability and usability of our Mobile Facets application.     

256×256 focal plane array midwavelength infrared camera based on InAs/GaSb short-period superlattices

An infrared camera based on a 256×256 focal plane array (FPA) for the second atmospheric window (3–5 μm) has been realized for the first time with InAs/GaSb short period superlattices (SLs). The SL detector structure with a broken gap type-II band alignment was grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaSb substrates. Effective bandgap and strain in the superlattice were adjusted by varying the thickness of the InAs and GaSb layers and the controlled formation of InSb-like bonds at the interfaces. The FPAs were processed in a full wafer process using optical lithography, chemical-assisted ion beam etching, and conventional metallization technology. The FPAs were flip-chip bonded using indium solder bumps with a read-out integrated circuit and mounted into an integrated detector cooler assembly. The FPAs with a cut-off wavelength of 5.4 μm exhibit quantum efficiencies of 30% and detectivity values exceeding 10¹³ Jones at T=77 K. A noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of 11.1 mK was measured for an integration time of 5 ms using f/2 optics. The NETD scales inversely proportional to the square root of the integration time between 5 ms and 1 ms, revealing background limited performance. Excellent thermal images with low NETD values and a very good modulation transfer function demonstrate the high potential of this material system for the fabrication of future thermal imaging systems.     

Economic effects of regulating the seismic strengthening of older buildings

The marked increase in the awareness of earthquake risk following the Canterbury earthquakes in New Zealand offered a unique opportunity to investigate the economic effect of disaster-mitigation regulations on the commercial building stock. A difference-in-differences (DD) framework was used to determine whether earthquake risk has been capitalized into the property prices of buildings constructed prior to 1976, as a response to the national policy requiring assessment and strengthening (or demolition) of the existing earthquake-prone building stock. A negative externality is found in the policy announcement on affected (pre-1970s) office and retail buildings which caused office buildings to suffer a 12.5% stigma discount. However, retail properties were less impacted suffering a 2.3% stigma loss. The value of the commercial building stock has been affected by the policy. These findings provide policy-makers with timely evidence as to the economic effects of New Zealand’s earthquake-prone buildings policy. Facing losses in property value and financial responsibility for retrofitting their assets, building owners will be looking for a workable set of regulatory and non-regulatory incentives to encourage disaster risk management and protect the built environment.     

Biosynthesis of novel thermoplastic polythioesters by engineered Escherichia coli

The development of non-petrochemical sources for the plastics industry continues to progress as large multinationals focus on renewable resources to replace fossil carbon. Many bacteria are known to accumulate polyoxoesters as water-insoluble granules in the cytoplasm. The thermoplastic and/or elastomeric behaviour of these biodegradable polymers holds promise for the development of various technological applications. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of microbial polythioesters (PTEs), a novel class of biopolymers of general technological relevance. Biosynthesis of PTE homopolymers was achieved using a recombinant strain of Escherichia coli that expressed a non-natural pathway consisting of a butyrate kinase, a phosphotransbutyrylase, and a PHA synthase. Different homopolymers were produced, consisting of either 3-mercaptopropionate, 3-mercaptobutyrate, or 3-mercaptovalerate repeating units, if the respective mercaptoalkanoic acids were provided as precursor substrates to the fermentative process. The PTEs contributed up to 30% (w/w) of the cellular dry weight and were identified as hydrophobic inclusions in the cytoplasm. The chemical and stereochemical homogeneity of the purified PTEs were identified by different methods, and the estimated physical properties were compared to the oxypolyester equivalents, revealing low crystalline order and, for the poly(3-mercaptopropionate) improved thermal stability. The ability to produce PTEs through a biosynthetic route opens up new avenues in the field of biomaterials.     

The Geometric Dilation of Finite Point Sets

Let G be an embedded planar graph whose edges may be curves. For two arbitrary points of G, we can compare the length of the shortest path in G connecting them against their Euclidean distance. The supremum of all these ratios is called the geometric dilation of G. Given a finite point set, we would like to know the smallest possible dilation of any graph that contains the given points. In this paper we prove that a dilation of 1.678 is always sufficient, and that π/2 = 1.570... is sometimes necessary in order to accommodate a finite set of points.     

Dual-colour thermal imaging with InAs/GaSb superlattices in mid-wavelength infrared spectral range

Based on type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice photodiodes, the first report of a dual-colour infrared camera with excellent NETD values<30 mK for the shortwave channel with a cutoff wavelength of 4.0 /spl mu/m and <17 mK for the longwave channel with 5.0 /spl mu/m cutoff is presented. The bispectral system, which offers a simultaneous and pixel-registered detection of both colours, allows remote imaging of carbon dioxide.