309 research outputs found

    The Evolution of Los Zetas in Mexico and Central America: Sadism as an Instrument of Cartel Warfare

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    View the Executive SummaryThe United States has diplomatic relations with 194 independent nations. Of these, none is more important to America than Mexico in terms of trade, investment, tourism, natural resources, migration, energy, and security. In recent years, narco-violence has afflicted Mexico with more than 50,000 drug-related murders since 2007 and some 26,000 men, women, and children missing. President Enrique Peña Nieto has tried to divert national attention from the bloodshed through reforms in energy, education, anti-hunger, health-care, and other areas. Even though the death rate has declined since the chief executive took office on December 1, 2012, other crimes continue to plague his nation. Members of the business community report continual extortion demands; the national oil company PEMEX suffers widespread theft of oil, gas, explosives, and solvents (with which to prepare methamphetamines); hundreds of Central American migrants have shown up in mass graves; and the public identifies the police with corruption and villainy. Washington policymakers, who overwhelmingly concentrate on Asia and the Mideast, would be well-advised to focus on the acute dangers that lie principally below the Rio Grande, but whose deadly avatars are spilling into our nation.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1501/thumbnail.jp

    Battling Imposter Syndrome: You Persevered! Luck has no place here

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    The pressure to succeed and set yourself apart from the rest may seem overwhelming! If you identify as an underrepresented minority (URM) in higher education, the pressure intensifies when you are unable to see yourself, relate and/or identify with your college instructors or campus. Research suggests that identifying as an URM and not having visible representation of yourself in the classroom or on campus can lead to something known as Impostor Phenomenon (IP) also known as Impostor Syndrome. IP is the belief that achievement and success occur not because of performance or ability but rather because of luck. IP negatively impacts students’ college experiences especially their self-esteem, academic honesty, mental health and overall academic success and retention (Parkman, 2016). Research also suggests that first-generation students experience IP at higher levels and more often than other students (Martinez et.al, 2009, Terezini et. al, 1996) During this session, we will define IP and its predictors, share testimonials and discuss how grit and other strategies for success assisted students and professionals in overcoming impostor phenomenon

    Real rank boundaries and loci of forms

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    In this article we study forbidden loci and typical ranks of forms with respect to the embeddings of P1Ă—P1\mathbb P^1\times \mathbb P^1 given by the line bundles (2,2d)(2,2d). We introduce the Ranestad-Schreyer locus corresponding to supports of non-reduced apolar schemes. We show that, in those cases, this is contained in the forbidden locus. Furthermore, for these embeddings, we give a component of the real rank boundary, the hypersurface dividing the minimal typical rank from higher ones. These results generalize to a class of embeddings of PnĂ—P1\mathbb P^n\times \mathbb P^1. Finally, in connection with real rank boundaries, we give a new interpretation of the 2Ă—nĂ—n2\times n \times n hyperdeterminant.Comment: 17 p

    Intermediate and high peri-operative cardiac enzyme release following isolated coronary artery bypass surgery are independently associated with higher one-year mortality

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    BACKGROUND: The relationship between cardiac enzyme (CE) release following coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and medium term outcome is unclear. We sought to determine the relationship between post-operative CE release and one-year survival following isolated CABG. METHODS: Over three years 3,024 consecutive patients underwent isolated CABG. Patient characteristics were prospectively recorded in a cardiac surgical database. CE release, taken as the highest single measurement recorded in the first 24 hours post-op, was abstracted from an electronic archive. All cause mortality was taken from a national registry of deaths. RESULTS: Data were complete for 2,860 (94.6%) patients. CK-MB isoenzyme (reference range 5–24 U/l) was recorded in 2,568 (89.8%), total CK in 292 (10.2%). CE release three or more times the upper limit of the reference range (ULR) were recorded in 498 (17.4%) patients, 163 (5.7%) patients had CE more than six times ULR. There were 122 deaths (4.3%). Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that CE release 3–6 times ULR (adjusted HR 2.1 [95% CI: 1.6 to 2.6], p = 0.002) and CE release six or more times the ULR (adjusted HR 5.0 [95% CI: 4.5 to 5.4], p < 0.001) were independently associated with increased one-year mortality. CONCLUSION: Cardiac enzyme release following CABG is associated with increased one-year all-cause mortality. The definition of peri-operative myocardial infarction following CABG should include elevation of CK-MB three or more times the upper limit of normal

    The Index of Global Philanthropy 2008

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    Provides an annual update on the sources and scope of U.S. and international private giving to the developing world. Highlights trends in government aid, private philanthropy and investment, public-private partnerships, and social entrepreneurship

    The Index of Global Philanthropy 2007

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    The 2007 index presents a comparison of all developed countries' aid -- government as well as private -- to the developing world. The new index reveals that U.S. private giving in 2005 (latest available data), in the form of money, volunteer time, goods, and expertise to the developing world was at least 95billion,comparedwith95 billion, compared with 27.6 billion in U.S. government aid abroad

    GAD1 mRNA Expression and DNA Methylation in Prefrontal Cortex of Subjects with Schizophrenia

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    Dysfunction of prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia includes changes in GABAergic mRNAs, including decreased expression of GAD1, encoding the 67 kDa glutamate decarboxylase (GAD67) GABA synthesis enzyme. The underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Alterations in DNA methylation as an epigenetic regulator of gene expression are thought to play a role but this hypothesis is difficult to test because no techniques are available to extract DNA from GAD1 expressing neurons efficiently from human postmortem brain. Here, we present an alternative approach that is based on immunoprecipitation of mononucleosomes with anti-methyl-histone antibodies differentiating between sites of potential gene expression as opposed to repressive or silenced chromatin. Methylation patterns of CpG dinucleotides at the GAD1 proximal promoter and intron 2 were determined for each of the two chromatin fractions separately, using a case-control design for 14 schizophrenia subjects affected by a decrease in prefrontal GAD1 mRNA levels. In controls, the methylation frequencies at CpG dinucleotides, while overall higher in repressive as compared to open chromatin, did not exceed 5% at the proximal GAD1 promoter and 30% within intron 2. Subjects with schizophrenia showed a significant, on average 8-fold deficit in repressive chromatin-associated DNA methylation at the promoter. These results suggest that chromatin remodeling mechanisms are involved in dysregulated GABAergic gene expression in schizophrenia
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