The National Science Institute (NSI), previously known as The Geek Group, was a not-for-profit educational organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan with over 25,000 members around the world. The NSI sought to provide opportunity for all people through programs designed to foster lifelong education, vocational access, and creativity in technology. The group opened to the public on January 1, 2014.The organizations President & Executive Director chose to close the organization on December 31, 2018 following a sealed search warrant executed by the United States Department of Homeland Security and three other federal agencies. After which Christopher Boden and Leesa B Vogt (AKA: Lis Bokt, Moose) started a Michigan non-profit organization called The Church of Tesla, an ecclesiastical society (which limits the IRS ability to conduct investigations of wrong doing), and continued providing similar information as the NSI did. This new non-profit organization was using a lot of the items that were to be sold off or donated to other non-profits when the NSI was being dissolved to be in compliance with federal 501(c)3 non-profit dissolution rules. On February 24, 2021 an indictment was issued for Christopher Boden, charging him with Conspiracy to Operate an Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business, Operating an Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business, Conspiracy to Launder Money, 13 counts of Money Laundering, 10 counts of Structuring, and Attempted Collection of Debt by Extortionate Means. After accepting a plea agreement, Christopher Boden was sentenced to 30 months in custody, 3 years of supervised release, and a $300 special assessment. The judgement was also made that Boden was to forfeit a sum of $75,000 to the federal government. The judgement was also made that Boden was to forfeit a sum of $75,000 to the federal government.
We study an idealized information model for Doppler-only positioning with low earth orbit (LEO) signals of opportunity from a stationary receiver. Motivated by the observation that Doppler measurements from a satellite pass provide information primarily within the associated orbital plane, we model each satellite contribution as a weighted projection onto that plane. Under this model, the combined information matrix from multiple satellites is a sum of orbital-plane projection operators. Closed-form expressions are derived for the eigenvalues, condition number, and worst-case Cramer-Rao lower bound. For two satellites, the conditioning is governed by the dihedral angle between orbital planes and the relative information strengths of the two links. Monte Carlo evaluation of pass-integrated Doppler Fisher information matrices demonstrates that the proposed surrogate captures the dominant conditioning trends associated with orbital-plane diversity. The results provide a simple geometric framework for understanding the role of constellation geometry in Doppler-only positioning systems.
Spectrum sharing forces radars to vary carrier frequency and bandwidth on a pulse-to-pulse basis within a coherent processing interval (CPI). While the resulting range-Doppler distortion is well-studied, the corresponding velocity estimation limit is not. We show that in the resolved-bin slow-time model of coherent agile-CPI processing, the effective Fisher information for radial velocity is the SNR-weighted energy of the carrier-time lever arm that survives projection out of the range and phase nuisance subspace. The carrier sequence thus sets the projection geometry, while the bandwidth sequence enters only through SNR weighting. Two consequences follow. First, the carrier sequence inflates the bound by a closed-form factor governed by the correlation between carrier offset and slow time: randomized or orthogonalized hops are nearly harmless, while ramp-correlated hops can severely degrade velocity information. Second, under matched filtering at equal pulse energy, the velocity Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) is invariant to the bandwidth sequence; a corollary recasts the output-SNR loss of agile-CPI mismatched filtering as a processing cost entering only through a per-pulse mismatch loss. The bound is verified against a brute-force Fisher matrix and Monte-Carlo maximum-likelihood estimation. The result yields a design principle: carrier hopping should be chosen not only for spectral coexistence but also to preserve the velocity-information residual.
Background: The aim of this study was to explore the perceived causes of suicide from the perspective of those closest to the deceased, providing insights for prevention efforts with a focus on the cultural context of Iran. Suicide remains a significant global public health concern with complex and multifaceted etiologies. Objectives: Understanding the perceived causes of suicide from the perspective of those closest to the deceased can provide invaluable insights for prevention efforts, particularly within specific cultural contexts such as Iran. Methods: This qualitative content analysis study analyzed in-depth interviews with 90 participants who were relatives of individuals who died by suicide in Ilam province, Iran, over a five-year period. Information regarding the 90 deceased individuals (mean age 3731 +/- 16.29) was obtained through a review of forensic files and interview data from their relatives. Thematic analysis followed the framework of Graneheim and Lundman. Results: The deceased individuals were predominantly male (53.68%), married (61.1%), and had low educational levels. Five main themes emerged: Family and marital conflicts, psychological problems, economic hardships, health and trauma factors, and social and legal stressors. Hanging (51.1%) and medication overdose (33.3%) were the most common methods. Conclusions: Suicide is a multifactorial phenomenon influenced by a complex interplay of individual, familial, social, and economic factors. The results emphasize the importance of culturally sensitive prevention strategies in Iran, including mental health support, family counseling, addiction treatment, and socioeconomic assistance.
Coral restoration technologies are vital for rehabilitating degraded coral reefs, with the gardening approach used as the main global method. However, the success of these efforts depends on restoration-related factors, including coral species selection, fragment size, and transplant density. Here we monitored for over one year period fragments of opportunity from four coral species, Acropora hyacinthus, Acropora microphthalma, Porites cylindrica, and Montipora digitata, that were transplanted on "Framed Reef Modules" located at Wuzhizhou Island, Hainan, China. The fragments were divided into three groups, representing three fragment sizes and two spacing regimens, in four replicates: Group 1 (6 cm size; 16 colonies; spacing 30 cm), Group 2 (3 cm; 32 colonies; spacing 15 cm), Group 3 (6 cm; 32 colonies; spacing 15 cm). Coral survival, growth rates, and physiological parameters were continuously monitored. In A. hyacinthus and P. cylindrica, large fragment size and lower transplant density significantly enhanced growth and survival rates. Under high-density transplant condition, smaller A. microphthalma fragments exhibited higher survival rates. Lower density transplantation significantly improved the survival rate of M. digitata, while its growth rate was not affected by either fragment size or transplant density. Environmental factors, such as seawater temperature, turbidity, and nutrient concentrations, significantly affected coral growth during the 90 to 180 days post-transplantation, when increased environmental stress inhibited coral growth rates. This study adds to our understanding of the selection of fragment size and spacing in direct active transplantation of corals of opportunity.
In the surgical treatment of spinal tumors, titanium has conventionally been the implant material of choice. However, they cause significant imaging artifacts, affecting radiotherapy planning and tumor surveillance. Carbon fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone (CFR-PEEK) implants minimize imaging artifacts, improve radiotherapy dosing, and reduce radiation scattering. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the complications, outcomes, and impact on radiotherapy after surgical fixation with CFR-PEEK implants for spinal tumors, with comparison to titanium implants. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched to March 2025. Primary outcomes were hardware failure, deep surgical infection, and reoperation for hardware-related complications or deep surgical infection. Secondary outcomes were local recurrence, mortality, length of hospital stay, and artifact volume. 32 studies were included, of which five were included in the comparative meta-analysis. Compared to the titanium group, the CFR-PEEK group had similar rates of hardware failure (OR = 1.73 [0.40–7.60], p = 0.47) and deep surgical infection (OR = 1.62 [0.49–5.38], p = 0.43). Local recurrence (OR = 0.58 [0.29–1.18], p = 0.13) and mortality rates (OR = 0.52 [0.25–1.09], p = 0.08) were non-significantly lower in the CFR-PEEK group. Length of stay (MD = −3.15 [−9.65, −3.34], p = 0.34) was comparable. CFR-PEEK implants generated significantly lower volume of imaging artifacts compared to titanium implants (SMD = −1.36 [−1.83, −0.90], p < 0.001). Whilst demonstrating non-inferiority in the rates of implant-related complications compared to titanium implants, CFR-PEEK implants significantly reduce artifact generation and may lead to lower recurrence and mortality due to improved radiotherapy planning and delivery. Prospective and randomized trials will further establish the evidence for CFR-PEEK implants in spine tumor surgery. Not applicable.
