An Overview of the Kauffman Firm Survey: Results From the 2004-2008 Data

Presents findings from longitudinal data on new businesses founded in 2004, including financing structure; products, services, and innovations; and characteristics of the owners. Examines indicators of growth and survival and effects of the recession

An Overview of the Kauffman Firm Survey: Results From the 2004-2007 Data

Based on surveys conducted over four years, provides an overview of trends among U.S. firms established in 2004 and the business and owner characteristics associated with survival and growth, including level of innovation, structure, and financing

La propagande de l'insécurité : une perspective ethnographique et historique de la propagande japonaise (1853-1945)

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

Diamonds and corkscrews: a hybrid account of realization

Contemporary work in the metaphysics of realization has produced two central theories as to what it is for an individual to realize a kind. According to the ‘flat theory’ of Lawrence Shapiro, an individual realizes some kind by exemplifying or instantiating the properties that define realizations of that kind. With Carl Gillett’s, ‘dimensioned theory’, on the other hand, an individual takes part in the realization of some kind merely by contributing causally towards the properties that define realizations of that kind. Both views are vulnerable to objections. Flat realization is focused on the realization of functional kinds, and, therefore, is poorly suited to describe the realization of scientific or compositional kinds. The dimensioned view handles compositional kinds very well, but has difficulty delineating limits as to what may count as a causal component for sake of realization. If everything qualifies as a causal component of realization, every individual with different causal components begins to resemble a unique realization. If every individual qualifies as a unique realization, every kind constituted by more than one individual will be constituted by more than one realization. This threatens to trivialize the realization thesis, as every kind becomes multiply realizable. In order to resolve these problems, I develop a two-level theory of realization inspired by Lewis’ ‘Mad Pain and Martian Pain’. According to Lewis, pain should be identified only contingently with the physical properties of typical pain. It is also the case, according to Lewis, that pain should be identified only contingently with the functional properties of typical pain. Accounting for this dual contingency suggests two different ways in which a causal role may be fulfilled. On the one hand, a causal role can be fulfilled in the sense in which an individual’s internal systems and structures are understood to produce certain aggregate, object-level capacities. On the other hand, a causal role can also be fulfilled in the sense in which certain object-level capacities are understood as the instantiation of psychological or conceptual abilities. If these different senses of role fulfilment qualify as different ways of realizing a causal role, there will be different, but compatible, ways in which an individual may be understood to realize a particular kind

Health Information Technology in the United States: The Information Base for Progress

Health information technology (HIT) has the potential to advance health care quality by helping patients with acute and chronic conditions receive recommended care, diminishing disparities in treatment and reducing medical errors. Nevertheless, HIT dissemination has not occurred rapidly, due in part to the high costs of electronic health record (EHR) systems for providers of care—including the upfront capital investment, ongoing maintenance and short-term productivity loss. Also, many observers are concerned that, if HIT follows patterns observed with other new medical technologies, HIT and EHRs may diffuse in ways that systematically disadvantage vulnerable patient populations, thus increasing or maintaining existing disparities in access to and quality of care. These and other concerns have led to public and private efforts that aim to increase the pace of and reduce disparities in HIT diffusion by formulating national plans for dissemination, catalyzing the development of standards to encourage interoperability and promoting public-private partnerships to develop HIT infrastructures at the local and regional levels

Stereochemical outcomes of C-F activation reactions of benzyl fluoride

NK and DOH acknowledge support from the University of St Andrews, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, Grant No.: EP/L017911/1), and the EPSRC UK National Mass Spectrometry Facility at Swansea University. This work was also supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the FRQNT Centre in Green Chemistry and Catalysis (CGCC), and the Université Laval.In recent years, the highly polar C-F bond has been utilised in activation chemistry despite its low reactivity to traditional nucleophiles, when compared to other C-X halogen bonds. Paquin's group has reported extensive studies on the C-F activation of benzylic fluorides for nucleophilic substitutions and Friedel-Crafts reactions, using a range of hydrogen bond donors such as water, triols or hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) as the activators. This study examines the stereointegrity of the C-F activation reaction through the use of an enantiopure isotopomer of benzyl fluoride to identify whether the reaction conditions favour a dissociative (SN1) or associative (SN2) pathway. [2H]-Isotopomer ratios in the reactions were assayed using the Courtieu 2H NMR method in a chiral liquid crystal (poly-γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) matrix and demonstrated that both associative and dissociative pathways operate to varying degrees, according to the nature of the nucleophile and the hydrogen bond donor.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A coaching program to improve dietary intake of patients with CKD: ENTICE-CKD

The dietary self-management of CKD is challenging. Telehealth interventions may provide an effective delivery method to facilitate sustained dietary change.This pilot, randomized, controlled trial evaluated secondary and exploratory outcomes after a dietitian-led telehealth coaching intervention to improve diet quality in people with stage 3-4 CKD. The intervention group received phone calls every 2 weeks for 3 months (with concurrent, tailored text messages for 3 months), followed by 3 months of tailored text messages without telephone coaching, to encourage a diet consistent with CKD guidelines. The control group received usual care for 3 months, followed by nontailored, educational text messages for 3 months.Eighty participants (64% male), aged 62±12 years, were randomized to the intervention or control group. Telehealth coaching was safe, with no adverse events or changes to serum biochemistry at any time point. At 3 months, the telehealth intervention, compared with the control, had no detectable effect on overall diet quality on the Alternative Health Eating Index (3.2 points, 95% confidence interval, -1.3 to 7.7), nor at 6 months (0.5 points, 95% confidence interval, -4.6 to 5.5). There was no change in clinic BP at any time point in any group. There were significant improvements in several exploratory diet and clinical outcomes, including core food group consumption, vegetable servings, fiber intake, and body weight.Telehealth coaching was safe, but appeared to have no effect on the Alternative Healthy Eating Index or clinic BP. There were clinically significant changes in several exploratory diet and clinical outcomes, which require further investigation.Evaluation of Individualized Telehealth Intensive Coaching to Promote Healthy Eating and Lifestyle in CKD (ENTICE-CKD), ACTRN12616001212448

One year outcomes of a mentoring scheme for female academics: a pilot study at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The professional development of under-represented faculty may be enhanced by mentorship, but we understand very little about the mechanisms by which mentoring brings about change. Our study posed the research question, what are the mechanisms by which mentoring may support professional development in under-represented groups?</p> <p>The study aims to: (i) to pilot a mentoring scheme for female academics; (ii) to compare various health-related and attitudinal measures in mentees at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year into the mentoring relationship and, (iii) to compare pre-mentoring expectations to outcomes at 6 months and 1 year follow-up for mentees and mentors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Female academic mentees were matched 1:1 or 2:1 with more senior academic mentors. Online surveys were conducted to compare health-related and attitudinal measures and expectations of mentoring at baseline with outcomes at 6 months and 1 year using paired t-tests and McNemar's test for matched cohort data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>N = 46 mentoring pairs, 44 (96%) mentees completed the pre-mentoring survey, 37 (80%) at 6 months and 30 (65%) at 1 year. Job-related well-being (anxiety-contentment), self-esteem and self-efficacy all improved significantly and work-family conflict diminished at 1 year. Highest expectations were career progression (39; 89%), increased confidence (38; 87%), development of networking skills (33; 75%), better time-management (29; 66%) and better work-life balance (28; 64%). For mentees, expectations at baseline were higher than perceived achievements at 6 months or 1 year follow-up.</p> <p>For mentors (N = 39), 36 (92%) completed the pre-mentoring survey, 32 (82%) at 6 months and 28 (72%) at 1 year. Mentors' highest expectations were of satisfaction in seeing people progress (26; 69%), seeing junior staff develop and grow (19; 53%), helping solve problems (18; 50%), helping women advance their careers (18; 50%) and helping remove career obstacles (13; 36%). Overall, gains at 6 months and 1 year exceeded pre-mentoring expectations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This uncontrolled pilot study suggests that mentoring can improve aspects of job-related well-being, self-esteem and self-efficacy over 6 months, with further improvements seen after 1 year for female academics. Work-family conflict can also diminish. Despite these gains, mentees' prior expectations were shown to be unrealistically high, but mentors' expectations were exceeded.</p