Dodd-Frank and the Future of Banking

The financial crisis of 2008-2009 set the globally economy into a free-fall, requiring massive government intervention in order to prevent the entire system from crashing down. The Dodd-Frank Act, the largest financial reform since the Great Depression, attempts to move the financial system towards a more stable foundation. Part 1 discusses the causes of the financial crisis and an overview of the Dodd-Frank Act. In part 2 explores the reform in the over-the-counter derivatives market with a focus on the impact to market participants, the impact on the systemic risk of the financial system, as well as the overall U.S. economy. Part 3 analyzes the remittance transfer rule, which also carries the theme of transparency within the cross-border payments space. However, the requirements of the rule will likely result in increased costs and/or decreased choice for U.S. consumers sending money abroad. In general, the Act does move the financial system towards a more stable foundation in some areas. It does not however fully address the drivers of the financial crisis, end \u27Too Big To Fail\u27, or prevent another crisis from happening again. Along the way it creates some unintended consequences that may hamper the economic recovery

Presentation of a Standard Intervention During the Intake Interview

The provision of psychotherapeutic services has undergone many changes in its history. Recently the field of therapy has seen an increased emphasis on providing services in briefer periods of time, which has resulted in greater investigation into the parameters that influence rapid therapeutic growth by clients. Despite this push for quick results, many service agencies continue to utilize initial intake interviews that focus exclusively on gathering diagnostic and demographic information. Therapeutic intervention is therefore reserved for some later time when the clients can be accommodated from the agency\u27s waiting list. The present study investigated the influence of a standard intervention presented during the intake interview on reported psychological distress, therapeutic alliance, and dropouts from therapy. In addition, the relationship of self-efficacy to these dimensions was investigated. Eighty subjects who were clients at a university counseling center in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States were split into two groups. One group received the intervention while the other experienced a standard intake without the intervention. Results indicated that the experimental subjects decreased more in their reported levels of distress between the time of the intake interview and their first counseling session than did the control subjects. Similarly, the experimental subjects reported significantly greater feelings of alliance with their therapists than did the control subjects. The number of dropouts from therapy (defined as those who failed to show for the first counseling session) was similar for the groups. Finally, high versus low levels of self-efficacy did not further explain changes in psychological distress or group differences in therapeutic alliance, although level of self-efficacy was related to level of distress. The results of this study suggest that a client\u27s initial contact with a service agency (i.e., the intake interview) can be utilized to initiate therapeutic gain. It is notable that the observed changes occurred regardless of presenting problems and diagnosis. It was speculated that the therapeutic effects could be enhanced further by expanding this approach to provide specific interventions to individual clients based on initial diagnostic impressions

Production and Functional Analysis of Recombinant Bovine Morphogenic Protein 15

After 40 years of research, in vitro systems for mammalian embryo production produce lower quality embryos than those derived from in vivo sources. Recent reports have demonstrated that in vitro bovine oocyte maturation systems benefit from the addition of oocyte secreted factors, specifically Bone Morphogenic Protein 15 (BMP15) from heterologous sources. However, known amino acid sequence variation and species-specific patterns of post-translational glycosylation lead us to hypothesize that utilization of bovine-specific oocyte secreted factors would be more beneficial than the observed effects of heterologous factors. To test this hypothesis, wild type, bovine BMP15 was cloned using reverse transcriptase PCR from RNA obtained from bovine ovarian tissue. For improved detection and purification of the biologically active recombinant protein, a FLAG tag peptide sequence (Asp-Tyr-Lys-Asp-Asp-Asp-Asp-Lys) was incorporated into the wild type BMP15 gene by PCR. This modified protein was cloned into the pCDNA 3 mammalian expression vector. HEK-293 (human embryonic kidney 293) and FBK (fetal bovine kidney) cell lines were transfected via electroporation and then selected to homogeneity. Collection and purification of rbFL-BMP15 from conditioned medium was accomplished by incubation with anti-FLAG affinity gel and the use of 3X FLAG peptide for elution. Peptides of 15.4 kDa and 17 kDa were noted from the human HEK-293 transfected cell line, while in contrast, bovine FBK cells produced a single 17 kDa protein. Bioactivity and BMP receptor signaling specificity were ascertained using in vitro treatment of HeLa cells and Western blotting for the BMP signaling molecule phosphorylated-SMAD 1/5. Inhibition of this signaling cascade using dorsomorphin, a selective bone morphogenic protein receptor I inhibitor, demonstrated the purified proteins served as BMP15-like agonists. To examine the impact of our purified, bovine-specific peptides on oocyte maturation, cumulus oocyte complexes were in vitro matured for 24 hours in the presence of 100 ng/ml recombinant human BMP15 or rbFL-BMP15 from human or bovine cell lines. Real time quantitative PCR analysis of BMP15 stimulated genes, PTGS2 and TSG6, revealed statistically significant increases in transcript level for treatment with human BMP15 by a Dunnett’s test (p<0.05). In this report, however, we failed to detect a significant affect of rbFL-BMP15 on the gene expression of in vitro mature cumulus oocyte complexes at 24 hours with 100 ng/ml rbFL-BMP15. Future studies including differing time points and concentrations, along with the addition of GDF9 to form a possible heterodimer should be investigated for the possibility of improving bovine oocyte in vitro maturation

Uterine glands impact uterine receptivity, luminal fluid homeostasis and blastocyst implantation

Uterine glands are essential for pregnancy in mice and likely humans, because they secrete or transport bioactive substances that regulate uterine receptivity for blastocyst implantation. In mice, the uterus becomes receptive to blastocyst implantation on day 4, but is refractory by day 5. Here, blastocysts could be recovered from progesterone-induced uterine gland (PUGKO) but not wildtype (WT) mice on day 5 post-mating. Anti-adhesive Muc1 protein and microvilli were present on the luminal epithelium of PUGKO but not WT uteri. A number of known uterine receptivity genes and gland-specific genes were altered in the PUGKO uterus. Next, the uterus and uterine luminal fluid (ULF) were obtained from WT and PUGKO mice on day 3, 4 and 5. Transcriptome analysis revealed that 580 genes were decreased in the PUGKO uterus, however ULF secrotome analysis revealed that many proteins and several amino acids were increased in the PUGKO ULF. Of note, many proteins encoded by many gland-specific genes were not identified in the ULF of WT mice. These results support the ideas that uterine glands secrete factors that regulate ULF homeostasis and interact with other cell types in the uterus to influence uterine receptivity and blastocyst implantation for the establishment of pregnancy

Analysis of leachable Bis Di-tert-butyl Phenyl Phosphate (bdtbpp) in bioprocessing films

The analysis of extractable and leachable compounds from medical grade plastics is a complex issue that is compounded by the presence of many chemical species that are either direct or indirect reaction and/or degradation products of additives, process aids and polymer agents. These compounds may be present at various levels and the potential for adverse effects on cell growth remains to be determined and warrants further investigation. Since many of these films undergo aggressive processing steps, such as, thermal extrusion and gamma irradiation there is the potential for many unknown degradation products to be formed at each step of the processing. In addition, the absolute identification of many of these chemical compounds remains unknown. Within the various applications of single-use disposable bioprocessing, the presence of bis di-tert butyl phenyl phosphate (bDtBPP), a common gamma irradiation degradation product of tris (2,4-ditert-butylphenyl) phosphite (TBPP), has been shown to have a profoundly negative impact on cell growth for certain lines. The presence of bDtBPP even at low levels (on the order of 10ppb) has been shown to inhibit cell growth performance percentages in some lines by as much as 30-50% [1]. The quantitative analysis of this compound becomes increasingly difficult at lower levels due to either; 1) irreversible binding of strongly charged phosphate groups to glassware and other labware used in processing samples, or 2) hydrolytic degradation in aqueous solutions, or 3) any combination of the two. Losses from either of these conditions has been show to give rise to variations in quantitative analysis results as high as 50% when testing ranges are set between 5-100 parts per billion (ppb) in water. To this end, we have investigated the fate of this compound at part per billion levels to gain insight into possible mechanisms associated the variations observed. The hydrolytic degradation as well as irreversible binding to various substrates such as HPLC vials, pipette tips, etc. has been investigated extensively. We propose mitigation strategies which allow for low level quantitative analysis of this compound to achieve a coefficient of variation (CV) within the range of 10-20%, for bDtBPP in water within concentration ranges of 5-100 ppb. References Lindskog, Eva., Blank, Eva., Ullsten, Sara., Yi, Shujian., Ganguli, Pokon., Carter, Jeffrey., Parma, Hernan. Implementation of Raw Material Control Strategies in the Manufacture of Single-Use Bioprocessing Containers; BioPharm International, Volume 28, Issue 1, January 1, 2015

How alternative urban stream channel designs influence ecohydraulic conditions.

Streams draining urban catchments ubiquitously undergo negative physical and ecosystem changes, recognized to be primarily driven by frequent stormwater runoff input. The common management intervention is rehabilitation of channel morphology. Despite engineering design intentions, ecohydraulic benefits of urban channel rehabilitation are largely unknown and likely limited. This investigation uses an ecohydraulic modeling approach to investigate the performance of alternative channel design configurations intended to restore key ecosystem functioning in urban streams. Channel reconfiguration design scenarios, specified to emulate the range of channel topographic complexity often used in rehabilitation are compared against a reference 'natural' scenario using ecologically relevant hydraulic metrics. The results showed that the ecohydraulic conditions were incremental improved with the addition of natural oscillations to an increasing number of individual topographic variables in a degraded channel. Results showed that reconfiguration reduced excessive frequency of bed mobility, loss of habitat and hydraulic diversity particularly as more topographic variables were added. However, the results also showed that none of the design scenarios returned the ecohydraulics to their reference conditions. This indicate that channel-based restoration can offer some potential changes to hydraulic habitat conditions but are unlikely to completely mitigate the effects of hydrologic change. We suggest that while reach-scale channel modification may be beneficial to restore urban stream, addressing altered hydrology is critical to fully recover natural ecosystem processes

Pathways to clinical CLARITY: volumetric analysis of irregular, soft, and heterogeneous tissues in development and disease

AbstractThree-dimensional tissue-structural relationships are not well captured by typical thin-section histology, posing challenges for the study of tissue physiology and pathology. Moreover, while recent progress has been made with intact methods for clearing, labeling, and imaging whole organs such as the mature brain, these approaches are generally unsuitable for soft, irregular, and heterogeneous tissues that account for the vast majority of clinical samples and biopsies. Here we develop a biphasic hydrogel methodology, which along with automated analysis, provides for high-throughput quantitative volumetric interrogation of spatially-irregular and friable tissue structures. We validate and apply this approach in the examination of a variety of developing and diseased tissues, with specific focus on the dynamics of normal and pathological pancreatic innervation and development, including in clinical samples. Quantitative advantages of the intact-tissue approach were demonstrated compared to conventional thin-section histology, pointing to broad applications in both research and clinical settings.</jats:p

EVALUATING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE METHODS FOR USE IN KILL CHAIN FUNCTIONS

Current naval operations require sailors to make time-critical and high-stakes decisions based on uncertain situational knowledge in dynamic operational environments. Recent tragic events have resulted in unnecessary casualties, and they represent the decision complexity involved in naval operations and specifically highlight challenges within the OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, and Assess). Kill chain decisions involving the use of weapon systems are a particularly stressing category within the OODA loop—with unexpected threats that are difficult to identify with certainty, shortened decision reaction times, and lethal consequences. An effective kill chain requires the proper setup and employment of shipboard sensors; the identification and classification of unknown contacts; the analysis of contact intentions based on kinematics and intelligence; an awareness of the environment; and decision analysis and resource selection. This project explored the use of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve naval kill chain decisions. The team studied naval kill chain functions and developed specific evaluation criteria for each function for determining the efficacy of specific AI methods. The team identified and studied AI methods and applied the evaluation criteria to map specific AI methods to specific kill chain functions.Civilian, Department of the NavyCivilian, Department of the NavyCivilian, Department of the NavyCaptain, United States Marine CorpsCivilian, Department of the NavyCivilian, Department of the NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited