Selective Factors in Human Survival

Author Institution: Miami University, Oxford, Ohi

Improving Healthcare Readiness to Respond to Human Trafficking: A Case Study

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to assess the readiness of a Department of Emergency Medicine (ED) to respond to human trafficking (HT), using an adapted Transtheoretical Model’s Stage of Change Model as a guide. Content analysis allowed for an assessment of 13 system-wide policies and procedures and 25 hours of on-site observations of patient data collection processes and clinical practices during intake, triage, and the medical screening evaluation at three ED sites. Thematic analysis identified five readiness themes based on semi-structured interviews with 22 healthcare personnel from four ED sties. Results indicated that system-wide policies and procedures and patient data collection processes were at the precontemplative level of change across ED sites, meaning low levels of readiness to respond to HT. Clinical practice findings showed participants used their knowledge and expertise with other vulnerable patient populations to raise concerns about possible trafficked individuals seeking medical care, placing clinical practices at the contemplative level of change. Based on findings, recommendations to increase the ED’s readiness to respond to HT included: mandating HT training for all ED personnel to enhance awareness, incorporating HT into current policies and procedures for vulnerable patient populations as well as creating a HT protocol that addresses a procedural work flow, enhancing patient data collection to include HT warning signs, identifying a consistent area to record suspicions in patients’ medical records, and making community referral information readily available for staff. Future research with other EDs can apply the adapted TTM framework to determine the efficacy of this assessment model to assess HT readiness

Downstream influence of swept slot injection in hypersonic turbulent flow

Results of an experimental and numerical investigation of tangential swept slot injection into a thick turbulent boundary layer at Mach 6 are presented. Film cooling effectiveness, skin friction, and flow structure downstream of the swept slot injection were investigated. The data were compared with that for unswept slots, and it was found that cooling effectiveness and skin friction reductions are not significantly affected by sweeping the slot

Using Civic Engagement and Collaboration to Create Community Change: Lessons From Charlotte, N.C.

· The city of Charlotte, N.C. undertook a deliberative democracy process using the AmericaSpeaks “21st Century Town Meeting” process. · The University of North Carolina-Charlotte performed a retrospective, process evaluation of the initiative examining the initiative’s components, coverage, participant feedback, short-term outcomes, and lessons learned. · Early planning and implementation was done by volunteers, which ultimately was not sustainable. A new center, housed within an existing organization, was created to implement the recommendations. · The initiative achieved a number of early successes, such as increasing the number of school nurses, expansion of an early childhood development program and an increase in after-school and summer programs for youth. · While the center continues to provide services, the broad public awareness and ongoing public participation was challenging to sustain

Static Thrust Analysis of the Lifting Airscrew

This report presents the results of a combined theoretical and experimental investigation conducted at the Georgia School of Technology on the static thrust of the lifting air screw of the type used in modern autogiros and helicopters. The theoretical part of this study is based on Glauert's analysis but certain modifications are made that further clarify and simplify the problem. Of these changes the elimination of the solidity as an independent parameter is the most important. The experimental data were obtained from tests on four rotor models of two, four, and five blades and, in general, agree quite well with the theoretical calculations. The theory indicates a method of evaluating scale effects on lifting air screws, and these corrections have been applied to the model results to derive general full-scale static thrust, torque, and figure-of-merit curves for constant-chord, constant-incidence rotors. Convenient charts are included that enable hovering flight performance to be calculated rapidly

The genetic basis for adaptation of model-designed syntrophic co-cultures.

Understanding the fundamental characteristics of microbial communities could have far reaching implications for human health and applied biotechnology. Despite this, much is still unknown regarding the genetic basis and evolutionary strategies underlying the formation of viable synthetic communities. By pairing auxotrophic mutants in co-culture, it has been demonstrated that viable nascent E. coli communities can be established where the mutant strains are metabolically coupled. A novel algorithm, OptAux, was constructed to design 61 unique multi-knockout E. coli auxotrophic strains that require significant metabolite uptake to grow. These predicted knockouts included a diverse set of novel non-specific auxotrophs that result from inhibition of major biosynthetic subsystems. Three OptAux predicted non-specific auxotrophic strains-with diverse metabolic deficiencies-were co-cultured with an L-histidine auxotroph and optimized via adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE). Time-course sequencing revealed the genetic changes employed by each strain to achieve higher community growth rates and provided insight into mechanisms for adapting to the syntrophic niche. A community model of metabolism and gene expression was utilized to predict the relative community composition and fundamental characteristics of the evolved communities. This work presents new insight into the genetic strategies underlying viable nascent community formation and a cutting-edge computational method to elucidate metabolic changes that empower the creation of cooperative communities