Episode 16 : Compliance Part 2—Areas of Gray and Growth

Part two of our conversation about regulatory compliance focuses on the gray areas of compliance. We discuss the challenges of sharing data, navigating compliance pitfalls when doing business internationally, and how new regulations can have unexpected outcomes for small businesses. We wrap up with a discussion of the rapidly growing job market for compliance professionals

Espacios florecientes: por unos asentamientos de refugiados más ecológicos

Al incorporar iniciativas de agricultura urbana en los entornos de los campos de refugiados se puede ampliar el concepto de alojamiento para incluir la protección contra el clima, abordar las deficiencias nutricionales y aumentar los niveles de dignidad humana, creación de espacios y autosuficiencia

AFRL’s Multi-Satellite Deployment System (MSDS)

One new way to perform missions from space is the concept of clusters of microsatellites that operate cooperatively to perform the function of a larger, single satellite. Each smaller satellite communicates with the others and shares the processing, communications, and payload or mission functions. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is exploring this new paradigm for performing space missions in a partnership program with AFOSR, DARPA, STP and GSFC, called the University Nanosatellite program. Through this program, AFRL is sponsoring the development and launch of 9 university designed and built nanosatellites. The universities are pursuing creative low-cost space experiments to explore and demonstrate the usefulness of nanosatellites in such areas as miniature bus technologies, formation flying, enhanced communications, distributed satellite capabilities, and maneuvering. The satellites are planned to launch on two Shuttle flights in early 2003. The knowledge gained from this program will aid other Air Force programs such as TechSat-21. The Air Force Research Laboratory is also contributing to this effort by designing and building a Multi-Satellite Deployment System (MSDS). The MSDS is a platform designed to deploy multiple satellites to low-earth orbit using the Shuttle as the primary launch vehicle. The MSDS consists of an aluminum platform with two mounting locations, each of which can support a stack of one or more Nanosatellites. The MSDS/Nanosatellite system is attached to the Shuttle Hitchhiker Experiment Launch System (SHELS), and the entire assembly is installed in the Shuttle Payload Bay. Contingent on the success of the University Nanosatellite program first flights, the MSDS will be a viable platform for the launch and deployment of future small satellites

Cardiorespiratory requirements of the 6-min walk test in patients with left ventricular systolic disfunction and no major structural heart disease

The six-minute walk test (6-MWT) is widely used to assess functional status in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). The aims of the present study were: (1) to compare metabolic gas exchange during the 6-MWT in older patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and in breathless patients with no major structural heart disease (MSHD); (2) to determine the exercise intensity of the 6-MWT relative to peak oxygen uptake; (3) to establish the accuracy and reproducibility of the Metamax 3B ergospirometer during an incremental workload. Twenty four older patients with LVSD (19 male; age 76 ± 5 years; BMI 27 ± 4), and 18 patients with no MSHD (12 male; age 75 ± 8 years; BMI 27 ± 4) attended on consecutive days at the same time. Patients completed a 6-MWT with metabolic gas exchange measurements using the Metamax 3B portable ergospirometer, and an incremental cycle ergometry test using both the Metamax 3B and Oxycon Pro metabolic cart. Patients returned and performed a second 6-MWT and an incremental treadmill test, metabolic gas exchange was measured with the Metamax 3B. In patients with LVSD, the 6-MWT was performed at a higher fraction of maximal exercise capacity (p = 0.02). The 6-MWT was performed below the anaerobic threshold in patients with LVSD (83 %) and in patients with no MSHD (61 %). The Metamax 3B showed satisfactory to high accuracy at 10 W and 20 W in patients with LVSD (r = 0.77 - 0.97, p < 0.05), and no MSHD (r = 0.76 - 0.94, p < 0.05). Metabolic gas exchange variables measured during the 6-MWT showed satisfactory to high day-to-day reproducibility in patients with LVSD (ICC = 0.75 - 0.98), but a higher variability was evident in participants with no MSHD (ICC = 0.62 - 0.97). The Metamax 3B portable ergospirometer is an accurate and reproducible device during submaximal, fixed rate exercise in older patients with LVSD and no MSHD. In elderly patients with LVSD and no MSHD, the 6-MWT should not be considered a maximal test of exercise capacity but rather a test of submaximal exercise performance. Our study demonstrates that the 6-MWT takes place at a higher proportion of peak oxygen uptake in patients with LVSD compared to those with no MSHD, and may be one reason why fatigue is a more prominent symptom in these patients

Size tunable visible and near-infrared photoluminescence from vertically etched silicon quantum dots

Corrugated etching techniques were used to fabricate size-tunable silicon quantum dots that luminesce under photoexcitation, tunable over the visible and near infrared. By using the fidelity of lithographic patterning and strain limited, self-terminating oxidation, uniform arrays of pillar containing stacked quantum dots as small as 2 nm were patterned. Furthermore, an array of pillars, with multiple similar sized quantum dots on each pillar, was fabricated and tested. The photoluminescence displayed a multiple, closely peaked emission spectra corresponding to quantum dots with a narrow size distribution. Similar structures can provide quantum confinement effects for future nanophotonic and nanoelectronic devices

Genome-Wide Association Study and Subsequent Exclusion of ATCAY as a Candidate Gene Involved in Equine Neuroaxonal Dystrophy Using Two Animal Models.

Equine neuroaxonal dystrophy/equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (eNAD/EDM) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder of unknown etiology. Clinical signs of neurological deficits develop within the first year of life in vitamin E (vitE) deficient horses. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was carried out using 670,000 SNP markers in 27 case and 42 control Quarter Horses. Two markers, encompassing a 2.5 Mb region on ECA7, were associated with the phenotype (p = 2.05 × 10-7 and 4.72 × 10-6). Within this region, caytaxin (ATCAY) was identified as a candidate gene due to its known role in Cayman Ataxia and ataxic/dystonic phenotypes in mouse models. Whole-genome sequence data in four eNAD/EDM and five unaffected horses identified 199 associated variants within the ECA7 region. MassARRAY® genotyping was performed on these variants within the GWAS population. The three variants within ATCAY were not concordant with the disease phenotype. No difference in expression or alternative splicing was identified using qRT-PCR in brainstem across the ATCAY transcript. Atcayji-hes mice were then used to conduct functional analysis in a second animal model. Histologic lesions were not identified in the central nervous system of Atcayji-hes mice. Additionally, supplementation of homozygous Atcayji-hes mice with 600 IU/day of dl-α-tocopheryl acetate (vitE) during gestation, lactation, and adulthood did not improve the phenotype. ATCAY has therefore been excluded as a candidate gene for eNAD/EDM

Pars pro toto and personhood in Roman cremation ritual: new bioarchaeological evidence for the rite of os resectum

Os resectum, or ‘cut bone,’ is an obscure Roman funerary rite known primarily from literary sources. To date, archaeological examples have been recovered from Rome, Ostia, Herculaneum, and Pithekoussai, but none have been positively identified in the western provinces of the Roman Empire. This paper presents bioarchaeological evidence concerning an unusual pattern of preservation for the bones of a single finger in a burial from a late second to mid-third century A.D. cemetery in the Roman colony of Lincoln, England. It explores the implications of this evidence for the identification and performance of os resectum, and for understanding rites of passage surrounding Roman death. As well as revealing the value of integrating scientific and theoretical perspectives in the investigation of questions surrounding ritual behavior, it is argued that os resectum provides evidence to support the presence of a widespread concept of somatic partibility at the heart of Roman forms of personhood