Factors Affecting the Growth of Food and Beverage Manufacturers in New York State

Community/Rural/Urban Development, Marketing,

Sun-Like Magnetic Cycles in the Rapidly-Rotating Young Solar Analog HD 30495

A growing body of evidence suggests that multiple dynamo mechanisms can drive magnetic variability on different timescales, not only in the Sun but also in other stars. Many solar activity proxies exhibit a quasi-biennial ($\sim$2 year) variation, which is superimposed upon the dominant 11 year cycle. A well-characterized stellar sample suggests at least two different relationships between rotation period and cycle period, with some stars exhibiting long and short cycles simultaneously. Within this sample, the solar cycle periods are typical of a more rapidly rotating star, implying that the Sun might be in a transitional state or that it has an unusual evolutionary history. In this work, we present new and archival observations of dual magnetic cycles in the young solar analog HD 30495, an $\sim$1 Gyr-old G1.5V star with a rotation period near 11 days. This star falls squarely on the relationships established by the broader stellar sample, with short-period variations at $\sim$1.7 years and a long cycle of $\sim$12 years. We measure three individual long-period cycles and find durations ranging from 9.6-15.5 years. We find the short-term variability to be intermittent, but present throughout the majority of the time series, though its occurrence and amplitude are uncorrelated with the longer cycle. These essentially solar-like variations occur in a Sun-like star with more rapid rotation, though surface differential rotation measurements leave open the possibility of a solar equivalence.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Ap

Genetic characterization of clinical and environmental Vibrio parahaemolyticus from the Northeast USA reveals emerging resident and non-indigenous pathogen lineages

Gastric infections caused by the environmentally transmitted pathogen, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, have increased over the last two decades, including in many parts of the United States (US). However, until recently, infections linked to shellfish from the cool northeastern US waters were rare. Cases have risen in the Northeast, consistent with changes in local V. parahaemolyticus populations toward greater abundance or a shift in constituent pathogens. We examined 94 clinical isolates from a period of increasing disease in the region and compared them to 200 environmental counterparts to identify resident and non-indigenous lineages and to gain insight into the emergence of pathogenic types. Genotyping and multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) of clinical isolates collected from 2010 to 2013 in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine revealed their polyphyletic nature. Although 80% of the clinical isolates harbored the trh hemolysin either alone or with tdh, and were urease positive, 14% harbored neither hemolysin exposing a limitation for these traits in pathogen detection. Resident sequence type (ST) 631 strains caused seven infections, and show a relatively recent history of recombination with other clinical and environmental lineages present in the region. ST34 and ST674 strains were each linked to a single infection and these strain types were also identified from the environment as isolates harboring hemolysin genes. Forty-two ST36 isolates were identified from the clinical collection, consistent with reports that this strain type caused a rise in regional infections starting in 2012. Whole-genome phylogenies that included three ST36 outbreak isolates traced to at least two local sources demonstrated that the US Atlantic coastal population of this strain type was indeed derived from the Pacific population. This study lays the foundation for understanding dynamics within natural populations associated with emergence and invasion of pathogenic strain types in the region

The impact of provider service networks in Florida Medicaid managed care on enrollees’ satisfaction

Two counties in Florida were selected as pilots in 2006 for the Medicaid Demonstration Program. In reform counties, Medicaid enrollees were required to pick a managed care plan; either a Health Maintenance Organization or a Provider Service Network (PSN). PSNs are a form of managed care that provides health care services directly through a provider or network of organizations to a defined population without an intermediary. There are two types of PSNs: Physician-based PSNs and Healthcare system-based PSNs. The objective of this study is to find the differences in enrollees’ satisfaction between two different types of PSNs. To assess the differences in enrollees’ satisfaction between physician-based PSNs and health system-based PSNs over time, this study used difference-in-difference study design with CAHPS data from 2006 to 2008. The study findings showed that, compared to enrollees in physician-based PSNs, health system-based PSN enrollees had higher satisfaction during the post-reform period. However, the trends in satisfaction for enrollees in health system-based PSNs declined at a greater rate relative to the trends for enrollees in physician-based PSNs. Findings from this study may give other states, facing similar decisions to reform their Medicaid managed care system, information to decide whether to adopt a similar plan or to consider other interventions to improve Medicaid beneficiaries’ satisfaction. PSNs are structured similarly to the new accountable care organizations (ACO) models emerging as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Therefore, study findings may be helpful to in improving patient satisfaction with care in ACOs

Use of Whole Genome Phylogeny and Comparisons in the Development of a Multiplex-PCR Assay to Identify Sequence Type 36 Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Vibrio parahaemolyticus sequence type (ST) 36 strains that are native to the Pacific Ocean have recently caused multi-state outbreaks of gastroenteritis linked to shellfish harvested from the Atlantic Ocean. Whole genome comparisons of 295 genomes of V. parahaemolyticus, including several traced to northeastern US sources, were used to identify diagnostic loci: one putatively encoding an endonuclease (prp), and two others potentially conferring O-antigenic properties (cps and flp). The combination of all three loci was present only in one clade of closely-related strains, of ST36, ST59 and one additional unknown sequence type. However, each locus was also identified outside this clade, with prp and flp occurring in only two non-clade isolates, and cps in four. Based on the distribution of these loci in sequenced genomes, prp could identify clade strains with \u3e99% accuracy, but the addition of one more locus would increase accuracy to 100%. Oligonucleotide primers targeting prp and cps were combined in a multiplex PCR method that defines species using the tlh locus, and determines presence of both the tdh and trh hemolysin-encoding genes which are also present in ST36. Application of the method in vitro to a collection of 94 clinical isolates collected over a four year period in three Northeastern US, and 87 environmental isolates, revealed the prp and cps amplicons were only detected in clinical isolates identified as belonging to the ST36-clade, and in no environmental isolates from the region. The assay should improve detection and surveillance, thereby reducing infections

Resource Allocation as an Outcropping of Strategic Consistency: Performance Implications

Similarities in financial resource allocations across the lines of business of diversified firms may indicate corporate strategic consistency, which may lead to superior corporate performance. In support of this argument, the variance in R&D intensity across the lines of business of 96 diversified firms was found to be inversely related to industry-adjusted return on assets. However, no relationship was found for capital intensity. These results provide partial support for the usefulness of a resource-based approach to the study of diversification strategy

Do Physician-based or Hospital-based Provider Service Networks Better Control Medicaid Expenditures?

In a recent demonstration project, Florida Medicaid enrollees were required to pick a managed care plan that was either a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) or a Provider Service Network (PSN). PSNs are a form of managed care very similar to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that provides health care services directly through a provider or network of organizations to a defined population without a “middle man” such as a third party insurance company and health plan. There are two types of PSNs: Physician-based PSNs and Healthcare system-based PSNs. Physician-based PSNs are created and controlled by physicians groups. Healthcare system-based PSNs are based on safety net hospitals and their outpatient clinics. Health system-based PSNs are integrated delivery systems, which are organizations that combine healthcare providers into one organization and may provide more efficient care with lower cost of care due to economies of scale. The objective of this study was to examine the differences in healthcare expenditures by enrollees in physician-based and health system-based PSNs. Using a difference in difference approach our study found that compared to enrollees in physician-based PSNs, enrollees in health system-based PSNs lowered expenditures to a greater extent over time compared to physician-based PSNs. Findings from this study provide important information to states considering implementing alternative delivery models to control Medicaid costs

An Evaluation of Spirituality among Graduate and Professional Degree Students: Year Two

[Note: This is a continuation of a study that was introduced at the 2013 GERA Annual Meeting.] This ongoing longitudinal study is designed to measure spirituality in graduate and professional degree students utilizing validated survey instruments. Furthermore, the study investigates perceptions regarding the role of spirituality in higher education and professional practice. We hypothesize that significant relationships exist between student perceptions on spirituality and various academic, professional, and vocational outcomes. The study is being conducted at a large, private university in the southeastern United States, which seeks to enrich both the mind and spirit of students while maintaining intellectual and religious freedom. Our study measures spirituality from inter-faith and non-faith perspectives, thereby increasing applicability to a diverse population. Results from our study will be instrumental in examining the influence of an academic institution on validated measures of spirituality. Furthermore, we hope to be the first to examine, from a qualitative and quantitative perspective, the change in daily spiritual experience among students of diverse graduate and professional degree programs at a single institution. We believe our findings have the potential to stimulate constructive dialogue on the imperative to develop methods for improved teaching and learning

Frequency Domain Functional Near-Infrared Spectrometer (fNIRS) for Crew State Monitoring

A frequency domain functional near-infrared spectrometer (fNIRS) and accompanying software have been developed by the NASA Glenn Research Center as part of the Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) Technologies for Airplane State Awareness (TASA)SE211 Crew State Monitoring (CSM) Project. The goal of CSM was to develop a suite of instruments to measure the cognitive state of operators while performing operational activities. The fNIRS was one of the instruments intended for the CSM, developed to measure changes in oxygen levels in the brain noninvasively

Coherent states on spheres

We describe a family of coherent states and an associated resolution of the identity for a quantum particle whose classical configuration space is the d-dimensional sphere S^d. The coherent states are labeled by points in the associated phase space T*(S^d). These coherent states are NOT of Perelomov type but rather are constructed as the eigenvectors of suitably defined annihilation operators. We describe as well the Segal-Bargmann representation for the system, the associated unitary Segal-Bargmann transform, and a natural inversion formula. Although many of these results are in principle special cases of the results of B. Hall and M. Stenzel, we give here a substantially different description based on ideas of T. Thiemann and of K. Kowalski and J. Rembielinski. All of these results can be generalized to a system whose configuration space is an arbitrary compact symmetric space. We focus on the sphere case in order to be able to carry out the calculations in a self-contained and explicit way.Comment: Revised version. Submitted to J. Mathematical Physic