To Find Or Not To Find: Public Accounting Auditors Versus Governmental Auditors

This study examines the impact that the type of auditor (OfficeOffice of the Auditor General (OAG auditor) or CPA firm auditor) has on the number of compliance audit findings reported for select state agencies in a major Midwestern state. In the state studied, The OAG is responsible for conducting compliance audits of government agencies on at least a biennial basis. These audits are either performed by the Auditor General’s state auditors or by Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firms under contract to the OAG. A sample of agencies with audits that were sometimes performed by CPA firms and sometimes by OAG auditors was chosen. A statistical analysis concluded the number of compliance audit findings reported by OAG auditors was significantly higher than the number of compliance audit findings reported by CPA firm auditors, for the same set of state agencies

Performance of a 62Zn/62Cu microgenerator in kit-based synthesis and delivery of [62Cu]Cu–ETS for PET perfusion imaging

The performance of a commercially produced 62Zn/62Cu microgenerator system, and an associated kit-based radiopharmaceutical synthesis method, was evaluated for clinical site production of [62Cu]Cu-ETS (ethylglyoxal bis(thiosemicarbazonato)copper(II)), an investigational agent for PET perfusion imaging. Using 37 generators, containing 1.84 ± 0.23 GBq 62Zn at 9:00 AM on the day of clinical use, a total of 45 patient doses of [62Cu]Cu-ETS (672 ± 172 MBq) were delivered without difficulty. 62Cu elution yields were high (approximately 90%), accompanied by extremely low 62Zn breakthrough (<0.001%). Radiopharmaceutical preparation, from the start-of-elution to time-of-injection, consumed less than five minutes. The 62Zn/62Cu microgenerator was a dependable source of short-lived positron-emitting 62Cu, and the kit-based synthesis proved to be rapid, robust, and highly reliable for “on-demand” delivery of [62Cu]Cu-ETS for PET perfusion imaging

I-Brane Inflow and Anomalous Couplings on D-Branes

We show that the anomalous couplings of $D$-brane gauge and gravitational fields to Ramond-Ramond tensor potentials can be deduced by a simple anomaly inflow argument applied to intersecting $D$-branes and use this to determine the eight-form gravitational coupling.Comment: 8 pages, harvmac, no figure

Examining the Conceptual Design Process for Future Hybrid-Electric Rotorcraft

Hybrid-electric propulsion systems introduce immense complexity and numerous design challenges not previously encountered in aircraft design. Traditional conceptual-level rotorcraft design approaches may not adequately capture the level of propulsion system detail desired for hybrid-electric vehicle conceptual design. As part of a NASA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II contract, Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero) investigated the implementation of several hybrid-electric propulsion architectures onto three rotorcraft configurations. Unique hybrid-electric variants of these configurations were compared against their conventionally-powered counterparts using typical metrics such as payload, range, and energy efficiency. The feasibility and performance of these vehicles was also investigated in the +15 and +30-year timeframes based on third-party estimations for future component performance. Using the lessons learned during this trade study, ESAero then conducted a conceptual design effort for a hybrid-electric tiltrotor demonstrator based on the XV-15. A detailed integration of the hybrid-electric propulsion system into the vehicle airframe was also performed. The hybrid-electric XV-15 concept vehicle was estimated to achieve a 10% reduction in cruise fuel consumption compared to the original NASA XV-15 at the cost of increasing the vehicle empty weight by almost 25%. The success of this design effort suggests that the design of a manned, hybrid-electric tiltrotor is technically feasible at current technology levels

A new method for imaging nuclear threats using cosmic ray muons

Muon tomography is a technique that uses cosmic ray muons to generate three dimensional images of volumes using information contained in the Coulomb scattering of the muons. Advantages of this technique are the ability of cosmic rays to penetrate significant overburden and the absence of any additional dose delivered to subjects under study above the natural cosmic ray flux. Disadvantages include the relatively long exposure times and poor position resolution and complex algorithms needed for reconstruction. Here we demonstrate a new method for obtaining improved position resolution and statistical precision for objects with spherical symmetry

Natural Training Hydration Status, Sweat Rates, and Perception of Sweat Losses During Crossfit Training

International Journal of Exercise Science 9(5): 576-586, 2016. This study assessed 30 male and 20 female well-trained CrossFit (XF) athletes’ natural hydration statuses, fluid intake, and absolute and estimated sweat losses during training sessions lasting 30-47 min. Participants provided a pre-workout urine sample for assessment of hydration by urine specific gravity (USG). Nude pre- and post-workout body mass and fluid intakes were measured to determine sweat losses. To evaluate perception of total sweat loss, participants were asked to estimate their total sweat loss to compare against actual sweat loss. Mean sweat losses did not exceed 1% body mass for men (range = 0.31-1.58% body mass) or women (range = 0.53-1.34% body mass), but sweat rates were nearly double for men (1.663 ± 0.478 L/h) vs. women (0.886 ± 0.274 L/h). Pre-exercise USG indicated euhydration for the majority of participants (32/50 samples = USG \u3c 1.020). Only one participant had a USG \u3e1.030. Mean sweat loss (0.746 ± 0.305 L) and mean sweat loss prediction (0.655 ± 0.404 L) were not significantly different (p = 0.12), and accuracy did not differ (p = 0.44) between men (-9.5 ± 53.7%) and women (+4.3 ± 70.9). No relationship (r = 0.095) was found between sweat loss prediction and fluid intake. Despite high sweat rates, no athletes lost greater than 2% body mass during a strenuous workout. This data combined with consistently normal pre-exercise USG and high fluid intake during exercise suggests ad libitum fluid intake is sufficient to ensure euhydration in the majority of XF participants

Partial and Incremental PCMH Practice Transformation: Implications for Quality and Costs

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102699/1/hesr12085.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102699/2/hesr12085-sup-0002-AuthorMatrix.pd

Ordered Assembly of the Adhesive and Electrochemical Connections within Newly Formed Intercalated Disks in Primary Cultures of Adult Rat Cardiomyocytes

The intercalated disk (ID) is a complex structure that electromechanically couples adjoining cardiac myocytes into a functional syncitium. The integrity of the disk is essential for normal cardiac function, but how the diverse elements are assembled into a fully integrated structure is not well understood. In this study, we examined the assembly of new IDs in primary cultures of adult rat cardiac myocytes. From 2 to 5 days after dissociation, the cells flatten and spread, establishing new cell-cell contacts in a manner that recapitulates the in vivo processes that occur during heart development and myocardial remodeling. As cells make contact with their neighbors, transmembrane adhesion proteins localize along the line of apposition, concentrating at the sites of membrane attachment of the terminal sarcomeres. Cx43 gap junctions and ankyrin-G, an essential cytoskeletal component of voltage gated sodium channel complexes, were secondarily recruited to membrane domains involved in cell-cell contacts. The consistent order of the assembly process suggests that there are specific scaffolding requirements for integration of the mechanical and electrochemical elements of the disk. Defining the relationships that are the foundation of disk assembly has important implications for understanding the mechanical dysfunction and cardiac arrhythmias that accompany alterations of ID architecture