3,351 research outputs found
Facilitating Telecommuting as a Means of Congestion Reduction, MTI Report 09-14
Walls, Safirova and Jiang (2007) note the paucity of studies that examine telecommuting among individuals across organizations and studies that compare telecommuters with non-telecommuters. This study responds to this call by gaining a deeper understanding of telecommuting patterns and adoption behavior through an examination of perceived obstacles and facilitators of telecommuting. The study involved data collection using survey methodology, focus groups, and archival data collection. Respondents include telecommuters and non-telecommuters as well as supervisors from a wide variety of organizations. The study also included collecting benchmarking data regarding telecommuting policies and practices of companies in Silicon Valley in an attempt to understand factors that impact telecommuting
Metabolic engineering of yeast for the synthesis of fatty acid and polyketide-based chemicals
Polyketides and fatty acids are of critical importance as biorenewable chemical precursors, biofuels, and pharmaceuticals. Both are synthesized via complex polyketide or fatty acid synthases, with many using acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA as starter and extender units. We have engineered and combined multiple pathways in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the production of these valuable compounds and to allow the synthesis of novel variants. We have combined enzyme engineering (of the pathway and synthase enzymes), extensive metabolic pathway engineering for increased cofactor and precursor pools, and cultivation strategies to substantially increase titers and yields of a variety of products, including 6-methylsalicylic acid (6-MSA), dihydromonocolin L (DML; precursor to lovastatin), fatty acids (FAs) of varying lengths, and triacetic acid lactone (TAL). S. cerevisiae was engineered for the high-level production of TAL by overexpression of native and variant Gerbera hybrida 2-pyrone synthase (2-PS), engineering of the yeast metabolic pathways, and implementation of various cultivation strategies. These interventions increased TAL titer from 0.07 g/L to 10.5 g/L and yield from \u3c1% to 44% of theoretical yield. Recent work has modified mitochondrial transport mechanisms and implemented cofactor-based driving forces as methods to enhance polyketide synthesis. Fatty acids are also of interest as both biofuel and chemical precursors. We have introduced heterologous fatty acid synthases into S. cerevisiae to allow the synthesis of short/medium chain free fatty acids (C6C12), and have done extensive pathway engineering to increase the levels and secretion of these and long-chain free fatty acids (C16-C18) to the culture medium. Pathway engineering approaches have focused on increasing carbon flux from glucose into the fatty acid and neutral lipid forming pathways, and preventing degradation and re-activation of these fatty acids. A unique combination of gene knockouts and gene overexpression resulted in extracellular long chain FFAs at a titer of 2.2 g/L. Recent work has included enhancing resistance to C6, C8, and C10 fatty acid toxicity, novel approaches for medium chain fatty acid synthesis, and engineering of native yeast regulatory systems to increase synthesis of both polyketides and fatty acids. In the presentation, we will discuss the critical pathways engineered, and examine the synergy between successful strategies for the various fatty acid and polyketide products. We will also present our current research using novel applications of CRISPR/Cas9 to both rapidly select and combine pathway interventions to further increase synthesis an
Tunable pseudogap Kondo effect and quantum phase transitions in Aharonov-Bohm interferometers
We study two quantum dots embedded in the arms of an Aharonov-Bohm ring
threaded by a magnetic flux. The system can be described by an effective
one-impurity Anderson model with an energy- and flux-dependent density of
states. For specific values of the flux, this density of states vanishes at the
Fermi energy, yielding a controlled realization of the pseudogap Kondo effect.
The conductance and transmission phase shifts reflect a nontrivial interplay
between wave interference and interactions, providing clear signatures of
quantum phase transitions between Kondo and non-Kondo ground states.Comment: Published versio
Signatures of quantum phase transitions in parallel quantum dots: Crossover from local-moment to underscreened spin-1 Kondo physics
We study a strongly interacting "quantum dot 1" and a weakly interacting "dot
2" connected in parallel to metallic leads. Gate voltages can drive the system
between Kondo-quenched and non-Kondo free-moment phases separated by
Kosterlitz-Thouless quantum phase transitions. Away from the immediate vicinity
of the quantum phase transitions, the physical properties retain signatures of
first-order transitions found previously to arise when dot 2 is strictly
noninteracting. As interactions in dot 2 become stronger relative to the
dot-lead coupling, the free moment in the non-Kondo phase evolves smoothly from
an isolated spin-one-half in dot 1 to a many-body doublet arising from the
incomplete Kondo compensation by the leads of a combined dot spin-one. These
limits, which feature very different spin correlations between dot and lead
electrons, can be distinguished by weak-bias conductance measurements performed
at finite temperatures.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Zero-field Kondo splitting and quantum-critical transition in double quantum dots
Double quantum dots offer unique possibilities for the study of many-body
correlations. A system containing one Kondo dot and one effectively
noninteracting dot maps onto a single-impurity Anderson model with a structured
(nonconstant) density of states. Numerical renormalization-group calculations
show that while band filtering through the resonant dot splits the Kondo
resonance, the singlet ground state is robust. The system can also be
continuously tuned to create a pseudogapped density of states and access a
quantum critical point separating Kondo and non-Kondo phases.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
Transmission in double quantum dots in the Kondo regime: Quantum-critical transitions and interference effects
We study the transmission through a double quantum-dot system in the Kondo
regime. An exact expression for the transmission coefficient in terms of fully
interacting many-body Green's functions is obtained. By mapping the system into
an effective Anderson impurity model, one can determine the transmission using
numerical renormalization-group methods. The transmission exhibits signatures
of the different Kondo regimes of the effective model, including an unusual
Kondo phase with split peaks in the spectral function, as well as a
pseudogapped regime exhibiting a quantum critical transition between Kondo and
unscreened phases.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; Submitted to Physica E (EP2DS-17 proceedings,
oral presentation), updated Ref
Emigração de médicos brasileiros para os Estados Unidos da América
This article considers, initially, the mobility of doctors throughout the world from a bibliographic database collection and identifies the lack of information regarding Brazilian doctors. The aim is to analyze aspects that determine the emigration of Brazilian doctors to the United States of America. The methodology is based on bibliographic research using the keywords brain drain, medical migration, physicians migration, data migration physicians; identification of articles related to the emigration of doctors throughout the world; elaboration and validation of the questionnaire “Emigration Motives”; identification of doctors that emigrated, using the “snowball” technique; sending of the questionnaire by e-mail to the doctors that emigrated to the USA; tabulation of the forwarded answers; Skype interviews aiming at the validation and illustration of the results obtained in the questionnaire. Initially, the doctors choose to emigrate for personal motives (family, professional opportunities, and, in general, absence of language barriers); when established in the USA, they experience a new way of life that makes them stay (better work condition, quality of life, family and general opportunities); external motives become the cause for staying in the USA (insecurity, professional, political and economic scenarios). The conclusion is that an emigrational process of Brazilian doctors to the USA exists and, at first, the reason to emigrate is not well defined; salary is not mentioned as a primary reason; the presence of the family eases the stay in the country; the proficiency in the English language is fundamental and necessary to restart the professional life as a recently graduated in medicine since there isn’t an university degree or medical specialty degree validation.Este artigo aborda a mobilidade de médicos pelo mundo a partir de levantamento bibliográfico em base de dados e identifica a escassez de informações referentes aos médicos brasileiros. O objetivo é analisar aspectos que determinam a emigração de médicos brasileiros para os EUA. A metodologia baseia-se em pesquisa bibliográfica, utilizando as palavras-chave “brain drain”, “medical migration”, “physicians migration”, “data migration physicians”; identificação de artigos relacionados à emigração de médicos pelo mundo; elaboração e validação do questionário “Motivos de Emigração”; identificação de médicos que emigraram utilizando a técnica “bola de neve” ; envio do questionário por e-mail aos médicos que emigraram para os EUA; tabulação das respostas encaminhadas; realização de entrevistas por Skype com a finalidade de corroborar e exemplificar os resultados obtidos nos questionários. Inicialmente, os médicos escolhem emigrar por motivos pessoais (família, oportunidades profissionais e, em geral, facilidade do idioma); ao se estabelecerem nos EUA vivenciam uma nova forma de vida, o que os faz permanecer (melhores condições de trabalho, qualidade de vida, família e oportunidades em geral); as causas do não retorno ao Brasil passam a ter motivos externos (insegurança, cenários profissional, político e econômico). Conclui-se que existe um processo emigratório de médicos brasileiros para os EUA e, a princípio, a motivação de emigrar não é bem determinada; o salário não é citado como questão primordial; a presença da família facilita a permanência no país; a fluência na língua inglesa é fundamental; e é necessário recomeçar a vida profissional como um recémformado em medicina, pois não existe processo de validação de diploma ou de especialidades
Human epicardial adipose tissue expresses a pathogenic profile of adipocytokines in patients with cardiovascular disease
Introduction: Inflammation contributes to cardiovascular disease and is exacerbated with
increased adiposity, particularly omental adiposity; however, the role of epicardial fat is poorly
understood.
Methods: For these studies the expression of inflammatory markers was assessed in epicardial fat
biopsies from coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients using quantitative RT-PCR. Further,
the effects of chronic medications, including statins, as well as peri-operative glucose, insulin and
potassium infusion, on gene expression were also assessed. Circulating resistin, CRP, adiponectin
and leptin levels were determined to assess inflammation.
Results: The expression of adiponectin, resistin and other adipocytokine mRNAs were
comparable to that in omental fat. Epicardial CD45 expression was significantly higher than control
depots (p < 0.01) indicating significant infiltration of macrophages. Statin treated patients showed
significantly lower epicardial expression of IL-6 mRNA, in comparison with the control abdominal
depots (p < 0.001). The serum profile of CABG patients showed significantly higher levels of both
CRP (control: 1.28 ± 1.57 μg/mL vs CABG: 9.11 ± 15.7 μg/mL; p < 0.001) and resistin (control:
10.53 ± 0.81 ng/mL vs CABG: 16.8 ± 1.69 ng/mL; p < 0.01) and significantly lower levels of
adiponectin (control: 29.1 ± 14.8 μg/mL vs CABG: 11.9 ± 6.0 μg/mL; p < 0.05) when compared to
BMI matched controls.
Conclusion: Epicardial and omental fat exhibit a broadly comparable pathogenic mRNA profile,
this may arise in part from macrophage infiltration into the epicardial fat. This study highlights that
chronic inflammation occurs locally as well as systemically potentially contributing further to the
pathogenesis of coronary artery disease
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