The use of electro-mechanical aids in industrial management

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston UniversityFrom that eventful day in 1750 When electrical current was first discovered and through the succeeding years Where such famous inventions as the electric light, the telephone, and generation of alternating current, were brought into being, to this present age of electronic development, the electro~echanical aids available to industrial management have mounted in number. Many of the basic inventions of the Nineteenth Century, although they have been improved steadily, are accepted as commonplace. Take for instance, the telephone or the electric light, little thought is given to their importance in everyday life. It takes a sudden power failure to firmly indicate our dilemma. In the modern factory loss of power can result in stoppage of machinery, loss of time and costly damage. Many of the newer windowless plants depend on artificial light for their existence; thus, loss of light by power failure can cause accidents in addition to the foregoing results

Metagenomic-based Surveillance of Pacific Coast tick Dermacentor occidentalis Identifies Two Novel Bunyaviruses and an Emerging Human Ricksettsial Pathogen.

An increasing number of emerging tick-borne diseases has been reported in the United States since the 1970s. Using metagenomic next generation sequencing, we detected nucleic acid sequences from 2 novel viruses in the family Bunyaviridae and an emerging human rickettsial pathogen, Rickettsia philipii, in a population of the Pacific Coast tick, Dermacentor occidentalis in Mendocino County sampled annually from 2011 to 2014. A total of 250 adults of this human-biting, generalist tick were collected from contiguous chaparral and grassland habitats, and RNA from each individually extracted tick was deep sequenced to an average depth of 7.3 million reads. We detected a Francisella endosymbiont in 174 ticks (70%), and Rickettsia spp. in 19 ticks (8%); Rickettsia-infected ticks contained R. rhipicephali (16 of 250, 6.4%) or R. philipii (3 of 250,1.2%), the agent of eschar-associated febrile illness in humans. The genomes of 2 novel bunyaviruses (>99% complete) in the genera Nairovirus and Phlebovirus were also identified and found to be present in 20-91% of ticks, depending on the year of collection. The high prevalence of these bunyaviruses in sampled Dermacentor ticks suggests that they may be viral endosymbionts, although further studies are needed to determine whether they are infectious for vertebrate hosts, especially humans, and their potential role in tick ecology

Public Service Employment: The Experience of a Decade

From 1971 to 1982, the federal government attempted to reduce unemployment by subsidizing positions in state and local governments. These efforts were geared toward helping the unemployed gain human capital that could lead to unsubsidized work, while helping governments provide needed services for their citizens. A variety of approaches were tried in practically every area of program design. The authors reveal what worked.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1125/thumbnail.jp

The Public Service Employment Program

From 1971 to 1982, the federal government attempted to reduce unemployment by subsidizing positions in state and local governments. These efforts were geared toward helping the unemployed gain human capital that could lead to unsubsidized work, while helping governments provide needed services for their citizens. A variety of approaches were tried in practically every area of program design. The authors reveal what worked.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1125/thumbnail.jp

Detection and Identification of Molecular Water Pollutants by Laser Raman Spectroscopy

Laser Raman spectroscopy is evolving into a primary tool for the Identification of molecular water pollutants. This study pushes the limits of detectivity of carbon disulfide and benzene to ~ 20 ppm in water solutions using a high-resolution Raman spectrometer, cooled detectors, and photon counting techniques. The primary limiting factors were found to be the low throughput and the scattered light performance of the monochromator as well as insufficient laser energy. An optomized design for a pollution-measuring instrument is suggested, and a prototype has been built which is useful with any value of excitation energy short of sample degrading. The present instrument scans spectrum windows with fixed preselecting filters followed by a small single monochromator with high throughput. No detector cooling or refinements in signal processing were attempted. The resulting detectivity with 20 mw of laser power was only 1000 ppm. However, the scattered light background or optical noise is unmeasurable except at the laser frequency, where it was a maximum of six percent of full scale measured against the 992 cm-1 Raman band of benzene. Equipped with an ion laser a practical field instrument capable of detectivity of 1 ppm will cost about $20,000. The instrument described herein can be built for$4,000, less laser

A Statement on the Appropriate Role for Research and Development in Climate Policy

This statement is issued by a group of economists and scientists which met at Stanford University on October 18, 2008 to discuss the role of research and development (R&D) in developing effective policies for addressing the adverse potential consequences of climate change. We believe that climate change is a serious issue that governments need to address. We also believe that research and development needs to be a central part of governments’ strategies for responding to this challenge. Solutions to manage long-term risks will require the development and global deployment of a range of technologies for energy supply and end-use, land-use, agriculture and adaptation that are not currently commercial. A key potential benefit of focused scientific and technological research and development investment is that it could dramatically reduce the cost of restricting greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging the development of more affordable, better performing technologies.

Citalopram for Treatment of Cocaine Use Disorder: A Bayesian Drop-The-Loser Randomized Clinical Trial

BACKGROUND: Medication development research for cocaine use disorder (CUD) has been a longstanding goal in addiction research, but has not resulted in an FDA-approved treatment. Rising cocaine use rates underscore the need for efficient adaptive designs. This study compared differences between two doses of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram (versus placebo) on duration of cocaine abstinence and applied adaptive decision rules to select the \u27best efficacy\u27 dose. METHODS: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized Bayesian drop-the-loser (DTL) trial with three arms compared placebo to citalopram 20 mg and 40 mg. Adults (N = 107) with CUD attended thrice-weekly clinic visits for 9 weeks. The primary outcome was longest duration of abstinence (LDA), based on continuous cocaine-negative urine drug screens (UDS). The secondary outcome was probability of cocaine-negative UDS during treatment. A planned interim analysis performed at approximately 50% of recruitment dropped the least-effective active medication. Bayesian inference was used for all analyses with a pre-specified posterior probability (PP) threshold PP ≥ 95% considered statistically reliable evidence RESULTS: Citalopram 40 mg satisfied interim efficacy criteria and was retained for the second half of the trial. For LDA, analyses indicated PP = 82% and PP = 65% of benefit for 40 mg and 20 mg, respectively (each relative to placebo). The odds of having cocaine-negative UDS decreased in all groups over 9 weeks but remained higher for 40 mg (PP = 97.4%) CONCLUSIONS: Neither dose met the 95% PP threshold for the primary outcome; however, 40 mg provided moderate-to-strong evidence for positive effects on LDA and cocaine-negative UDS. The 40 mg dose was declared the winner in this DTL trial

Electrophysiological Responses to Emotional and Cocaine Cues Reveal Individual Neuroaffective Profiles in Cocaine Users

Smokers with stronger neuroaffective responses to drug-related cues compared to non-drug-related pleasant images (C\u3eP) are more vulnerable to compulsive smoking than individuals with the opposite brain reactivity profile (P\u3eC). However, it is unknown if these neurobehavioral profiles exist in individuals abusing other drugs. We tested whether individuals with cocaine use disorder (CUD) show similar neuroaffective profiles to smokers. We also monitored eye movements to assess attentional bias toward cues and we further performed exploratory analyses on demographics, personality, and drug use between profiles. Participants with CUD (n=43) viewed pleasant, unpleasant, cocaine, and neutral images while we recorded electroencephalogram. For each picture category, we computed the amplitude of the late positive potential (LPP), an event-related potential component that reflects motivational relevance. k-means clustering classified participants based on their LPP responses. In line with what has been observed in smokers, clustering participants using LPP responses revealed the presence of two groups: one with larger LPPs to pleasant images compared to cocaine images (P\u3eC) and one group with larger LPPs to cocaine images compared to pleasant images (C\u3eP). Individuals with the C\u3eP reactivity profile also had higher attentional bias toward drug cues. The two groups did not differ on demographic and drug use characteristics, however individuals with the C\u3eP profile reported lower distress tolerance, higher anhedonia, and higher posttraumatic stress symptoms compared to the P\u3eC group. This is the first study to report the presence of these neuroaffective profiles in individuals with CUD, indicating that this pattern may cut across addiction populations

The feasibility of pharmacokinetic-based dosing of hydroxyurea for children with sickle cell anaemia in Uganda : Baseline results of the alternative dosing and prevention of transfusions trial

Pharmacokinetic (PK)-guided dosing of hydroxyurea for children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) could optimize dosing and improve outcomes, but its feasibility has not been demonstrated in low-resource settings where the majority of affected children live. Alternative Dosing And Prevention of Transfusions (ADAPT) is a prospective trial evaluating blood transfusions and the feasibility of determining PK-guided, hydroxyurea maximum tolerated doses (MTD) for children with SCA in Uganda, using portable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and a novel PK software programme (HdxSim). ADAPT enrolled 106 participants, and 100% completed PK testing. PK-guided doses were generated for 78%, of which 38% were within the protocol-defined range. Accurately, measuring serum hydroxyurea concentrations via HPLC and the potential for hydroxyurea degradation impacted the feasibility. Ensuring that people with SCA globally have access to hydroxyurea is imperative, and improving treatment strategies requires ongoing innovation including PK-guided dosing. ADAPT is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05662098)

Targeting White Matter Neuroprotection as a Relapse Prevention Strategy for Treatment of Cocaine Use Disorder: Design of a Mechanism-Focused Randomized Clinical Trial

Cocaine use continues to be a significant public health problem with limited treatment options and no approved pharmacotherapies. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) remains the mainstay treatment for preventing relapse, however, people with chronic cocaine use display cognitive impairments that are associated with poor response to CBT. Emerging evidence in animal and human studies suggests that the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR- γ) agonist, pioglitazone, improves white matter integrity that is essential for cognitive function. This project will determine whether adjunctive use of pioglitazone enhances the effect of CBT in preventing relapse during the early phase of recovery from cocaine use disorder. This paper describes the design of a mechanism-focused phase 2 randomized clinical trial that aims first to evaluate the effects of pioglitazone on targeted mechanisms related to white matter integrity, cognitive function, and cocaine craving; and second, to evaluate the extent to which improvements on target mechanisms predict CBT response. Positive results will support pioglitazone as a potential cognitive enhancing agent to advance to later stage medication development research