Effective Progression of Temporary Virtual Teams Over Time: a Pragmatic Investigation towards the Development of an Internal Structure to Support Knowledge Sharing

Enabled by communications and information technology, temporary virtual teams are able to utilize talent from anywhere in the globe to service customers, solve business problems, and provide unique educational experiences. Temporary virtual teams, however, face many challenges to their effectiveness. In particular, many challenges to effective communication and knowledge sharing exist. To be effective, methods intended to address the unique challenges presented in the temporary virtual team environment are needed. This paper presents practical methodologies that can be used towards the development of an internal structure to support knowledge sharing between temporary virtual teams

Integrated System Test Approaches for the NASA Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle

The Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) is being developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to provide crew access to the International Space Station (ISS) and, together with the Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle (CaLV), serves as one component of a future launch capability for human exploration of the Moon. During the system requirements definition process and early design cycles, NASA defined and began implementing plans for integrated ground and flight testing necessary to achieve the first human launch of Ares I. The individual Ares I flight hardware elements: the first stage five segment booster (FSB), upper stage, and J-2X upper stage engine, will undergo extensive development, qualification, and certification testing prior to flight. Key integrated system tests include the Main Propulsion Test Article (MPTA), acceptance tests of the integrated upper stage and upper stage engine assembly, a full-scale integrated vehicle dynamic test (IVDT), aerodynamic testing to characterize vehicle performance, and integrated testing of the avionics and software components. The Ares I-X development flight test will provide flight data to validate engineering models for aerodynamic performance, stage separation, structural dynamic performance, and control system functionality. The Ares I-Y flight test will validate ascent performance of the first stage, stage separation functionality, and a highaltitude actuation of the launch abort system (LAS) following separation. The Orion-1 flight test will be conducted as a full, un-crewed, operational flight test through the entire ascent flight profile prior to the first crewed launch

In-season nutrition strategies and recovery modalities to enhance recovery for basketball players: a narrative review

Basketball players face multiple challenges to in-season recovery. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on recovery modalities and nutritional strategies for basketball players and practical applications that can be incorporated throughout the season at various levels of competition. Sleep, protein, carbohydrate, and fluids should be the foundational components emphasized throughout the season for home and away games to promote recovery. Travel, whether by air or bus, poses nutritional and sleep challenges, therefore teams should be strategic about packing snacks and fluid options while on the road. Practitioners should also plan for meals at hotels and during air travel for their players. Basketball players should aim for a minimum of 8 h of sleep per night and be encouraged to get extra sleep during congested schedules since back-to back games, high workloads, and travel may negatively influence night-time sleep. Regular sleep monitoring, education, and feedback may aid in optimizing sleep in basketball players. In addition, incorporating consistent training times may be beneficial to reduce bed and wake time variability. Hydrotherapy, compression garments, and massage may also provide an effective recovery modality to incorporate post-competition. Future research, however, is warranted to understand the influence these modalities have on enhancing recovery in basketball players. Overall, a strategic well-rounded approach, encompassing both nutrition and recovery modality strategies, should be carefully considered and implemented with teams to support basketball players’ recovery for training and competition throughout the season

Scope for Credit Risk Diversification

This paper considers a simple model of credit risk and derives the limit distribution of losses under different assumptions regarding the structure of systematic risk and the nature of exposure or firm heterogeneity. We derive fat-tailed correlated loss distributions arising from Gaussian risk factors and explore the potential for risk diversification. Where possible the results are generalised to non-Gaussian distributions. The theoretical results indicate that if the firm parameters are heterogeneous but come from a common distribution, for sufficiently large portfolios there is no scope for further risk reduction through active portfolio management. However, if the firm parameters come from different distributions, then further risk reduction is possible by changing the portfolio weights. In either case, neglecting parameter heterogeneity can lead to underestimation of expected losses. But, once expected losses are controlled for, neglecting parameter heterogeneity can lead to overestimation of risk, whether measured by unexpected loss or value-at-risk

Traffic smoothing using explicit local controllers

The dissipation of stop-and-go waves attracted recent attention as a traffic management problem, which can be efficiently addressed by automated driving. As part of the 100 automated vehicles experiment named MegaVanderTest, feedback controls were used to induce strong dissipation via velocity smoothing. More precisely, a single vehicle driving differently in one of the four lanes of I-24 in the Nashville area was able to regularize the velocity profile by reducing oscillations in time and velocity differences among vehicles. Quantitative measures of this effect were possible due to the innovative I-24 MOTION system capable of monitoring the traffic conditions for all vehicles on the roadway. This paper presents the control design, the technological aspects involved in its deployment, and, finally, the results achieved by the experiment.Comment: 21 pages, 1 Table , 9 figure

Autoantibodies to Peptidylarginine Deiminase 2 Are Associated With Less Severe Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective: Peptidylarginine deiminases (PAD) 2 and 4 are key enzymes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis due to their ability to generate the protein targets of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA). Anti-PAD4 antibodies that cross-react with PAD3 (anti-PAD3/4) have been identified and are associated with severe joint and lung disease. Here, we examined whether anti-PAD2 antibodies were present in patients with RA and defined their clinical significance.Patients and Methods: A PAD2 ELISA was established to screen for anti-PAD2 IgG in sera from RA patients from a prospective observational cohort study (n = 184) and healthy controls (n = 100). RA patient characteristics were compared according to anti-PAD2 antibody status. Multivariable models were constructed to explore the independent associations of anti-PAD2 antibodies with clinical variables.Results: Anti-PAD2 antibodies were found in 18.5% of RA patients and 3% of healthy controls (p < 0.001). Among RA patients, anti-PAD2 antibodies were not associated with traditional genetic or serologic RA risk factors, including HLA-DRβ1 shared epitope alleles, ACPA, rheumatoid factor (RF), or anti-PAD3/4 antibodies. In addition, antibodies to PAD2 were associated with fewer swollen joints, a lower prevalence of interstitial lung disease, and less progression of joint damage. In subset analyses in which patients were stratified by the baseline presence of ACPA/RF or anti-PAD3/4 antibodies, anti-PAD2 antibodies provided additional value in identifying patients with the least progressive joint disease.Conclusions: Anti-PAD2 antibodies represent a novel serologic marker in RA that identifies a genetically and clinically unique subset of patients with less severe joint and lung disease

Garden and landscape-scale correlates of moths of differing conservation status: significant effects of urbanization and habitat diversity

Moths are abundant and ubiquitous in vegetated terrestrial environments and are pollinators, important herbivores of wild plants, and food for birds, bats and rodents. In recent years, many once abundant and widespread species have shown sharp declines that have been cited by some as indicative of a widespread insect biodiversity crisis. Likely causes of these declines include agricultural intensification, light pollution, climate change, and urbanization; however, the real underlying cause(s) is still open to conjecture. We used data collected from the citizen science Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to explore the spatial association between the abundance of 195 widespread British species of moth, and garden habitat and landscape features, to see if spatial habitat and landscape associations varied for species of differing conservation status. We found that associations with habitat and landscape composition were species-specific, but that there were consistent trends in species richness and total moth abundance. Gardens with more diverse and extensive microhabitats were associated with higher species richness and moth abundance; gardens near to the coast were associated with higher richness and moth abundance; and gardens in more urbanized locations were associated with lower species richness and moth abundance. The same trends were also found for species classified as increasing, declining and vulnerable under IUCN (World Conservation Union) criteria

The Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

This paper describes the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), marking the completion of the original goals of the SDSS and the end of the phase known as SDSS-II. It includes 11663 deg^2 of imaging data, with most of the roughly 2000 deg^2 increment over the previous data release lying in regions of low Galactic latitude. The catalog contains five-band photometry for 357 million distinct objects. The survey also includes repeat photometry over 250 deg^2 along the Celestial Equator in the Southern Galactic Cap. A coaddition of these data goes roughly two magnitudes fainter than the main survey. The spectroscopy is now complete over a contiguous area of 7500 deg^2 in the Northern Galactic Cap, closing the gap that was present in previous data releases. There are over 1.6 million spectra in total, including 930,000 galaxies, 120,000 quasars, and 460,000 stars. The data release includes improved stellar photometry at low Galactic latitude. The astrometry has all been recalibrated with the second version of the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC-2), reducing the rms statistical errors at the bright end to 45 milli-arcseconds per coordinate. A systematic error in bright galaxy photometr is less severe than previously reported for the majority of galaxies. Finally, we describe a series of improvements to the spectroscopic reductions, including better flat-fielding and improved wavelength calibration at the blue end, better processing of objects with extremely strong narrow emission lines, and an improved determination of stellar metallicities. (Abridged)Comment: 20 pages, 10 embedded figures. Accepted to ApJS after minor correction

Mathematical model of a telomerase transcriptional regulatory network developed by cell-based screening: analysis of inhibitor effects and telomerase expression mechanisms

Cancer cells depend on transcription of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). Many transcription factors affect TERT, though regulation occurs in context of a broader network. Network effects on telomerase regulation have not been investigated, though deeper understanding of TERT transcription requires a systems view. However, control over individual interactions in complex networks is not easily achievable. Mathematical modelling provides an attractive approach for analysis of complex systems and some models may prove useful in systems pharmacology approaches to drug discovery. In this report, we used transfection screening to test interactions among 14 TERT regulatory transcription factors and their respective promoters in ovarian cancer cells. The results were used to generate a network model of TERT transcription and to implement a dynamic Boolean model whose steady states were analysed. Modelled effects of signal transduction inhibitors successfully predicted TERT repression by Src-family inhibitor SU6656 and lack of repression by ERK inhibitor FR180204, results confirmed by RT-QPCR analysis of endogenous TERT expression in treated cells. Modelled effects of GSK3 inhibitor 6-bromoindirubin-3′-oxime (BIO) predicted unstable TERT repression dependent on noise and expression of JUN, corresponding with observations from a previous study. MYC expression is critical in TERT activation in the model, consistent with its well known function in endogenous TERT regulation. Loss of MYC caused complete TERT suppression in our model, substantially rescued only by co-suppression of AR. Interestingly expression was easily rescued under modelled Ets-factor gain of function, as occurs in TERT promoter mutation. RNAi targeting AR, JUN, MXD1, SP3, or TP53, showed that AR suppression does rescue endogenous TERT expression following MYC knockdown in these cells and SP3 or TP53 siRNA also cause partial recovery. The model therefore successfully predicted several aspects of TERT regulation including previously unknown mechanisms. An extrapolation suggests that a dominant stimulatory system may programme TERT for transcriptional stability