A New Perspective on the Nonextremal Enhancon Solution

We discuss the nonextremal generalisation of the enhancon mechanism. We find that the nonextremal shell branch solution does not violate the Weak Energy Condition when the nonextremality parameter is small, in contrast to earlier discussions of this subject. We show that this physical shell branch solution fills the mass gap between the extremal enhancon solution and the nonextremal horizon branch solution.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, reference adde

Aspects of D-Branes as BPS monopoles

We investigate some of the properties of D-brane configurations which behave as BPS monopoles. The two D-brane configurations we will study are the enhançon and D-strings attached to D3-branes.We will start by investigating D3-branes wrapped on a K3 manifold, which are known as enhançons. They look like regions of enhanced gauge symmetry in the directions transverse to the branes, and therefore behave as BPS monopoles. We calculate the metric on moduli space for n enhançons, following the methods used by Ferrell and Eardley for black holes. We expect the result to be the higher-dimensional generalisation of the Taub-NUT metric, which is the metric on moduli space for n BPS monopoles. Next we will study D-strings attached to D3-branes; the ends of the D-strings behave as BPS monopoles of the world volume gauge theory living on the D3-branes. In fact the D-string/D3-brane system is a physical realisation of the ADHMN construction for BPS monopoles. We aim to test this correspondence by calculating the energy radiated during D-string scattering, working with the non-Abelian Born-Infeld action for D-strings. We will then compare our result to the equivalent monopole calculation of Manton and Samols

Self-Perceived Leadership Practices of Athletic Training Leaders

Athletic trainers in leadership positions within the National Athletic Trainers\u27 Association (NATA) have the ability and the responsibility to influence the profession of athletic training. The purpose of this study was to assess the self-reported leadership practices, according to the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), for certified athletic trainers (ATC) in leadership positions within the NATA and to examine differences and relationships in LPI scores and demographics. Subjects consisted of 78 of 114 leaders (22 female, 56 male) holding positions in one of the following groups within the NATA: Board of Certification (BOC), Board of Directors (BOD), Education Council Executive Committee (ECEC), Commission of Accreditation on Athletic Training Education (CAATE), or Executive Board members in districts one through ten. The subjects provided demographic information: gender, district, years of experience as an ATC (19.68 ± 6.78), current and previous employment, current and previous leadership positions, and years of leadership experience (8.10 ± 6.38). The LPI (reliability= .70-.85) was used to assess subjects on their self-perceived levels of five leadership practices, 1) Model the Way, 2) Inspire a Shared Vision, 3) Challenge the Process, 4) Enable Others to Act and 5) Encourage the Heart. Each leadership practice has six corresponding questions on a 10-point Likert scale (l= almost never, I0=almost always). ANOVA\u27s were used to assess differences between various demographic variables and the leadership practices. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess relationships between years of leadership and ATC experience with LP! scores (p\u3e.05). ANOVA\u27s revealed consistent main effects for the categories of the LP!, with Enabling Others to Act (50.14±5.06) as the practice utilized significantly more often than all other leadership practices. Additionally, Modeling (47.69±5.27) and Encouraging (46.18±7.45) were used more often than Inspiring (43.79±8.19) and Challenging (43.68±7.35). No main effects or interactions were found for the separate grouping variables of gender (p=.828), employment position (p=.232), leadership title (p=.941), leadership workshop attendance (p=.112), leadership inventory participation history (p=.138) and leadership group (p=.133). Athletic training leaders most frequently tend to empower their subordinates and allow each person opportunities to be successful, as these are the signs of an Enabling leader. Additionally, they may effectively display their own guiding principles (Modeling) and uplift those around them (Encouraging). Years of leadership experience and years of athletic training experience do not have a significant c01Telation with any of the leadership practices. This may be due to all leaders embodying similar traits of each of the five leadership practices. Future studies could focus on demographics such as percentage of time spent performing leadership duties and employment duties, as well as gender specific differences between leaders who have children and family commitments

The ‘strength of weak ties’ among female baboons : fitness-related benefits of social bonds

Thanks to Cape Nature Conservation for permission to work at De Hoop, and to all the graduate students and field assistants who contributed to our long-term data-base. LB was supported by NSERC Canada Research Chair and Discovery Programs; SPH was supported by the NRF (South Africa) and NSERC Discovery Grants during the writing of this manuscript. We are grateful to one anonymous reviewer and, in particular, Lauren Brent for invaluable feedback on earlier drafts of our manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprin

Athletic Training and Physical Therapy Junior Faculty Member Preparation: Perceptions of Doctoral Programs and Clinical Practice

Background: Institutions of higher education suffer from a shortage of appropriately prepared faculty members in athletic training and physical therapy programs. Both professional programs have recently undergone curricular reform and degree change. We sought gain an understanding of the preparation mechanisms experienced by athletic training and physical therapy practitioners for their junior faculty positions. Method: Twenty-six athletic trainers and physical therapists participated in this phenomenological study. Data from one-on-one phone interviews were analyzed following the inductive process of interpretive phenomenological analysis. Content experts, pilot interviews, multiple analysts and member checking ensured trustworthiness. Results: Findings indicate two primary mechanisms prepared the practitioners to become junior faculty members: doctoral degree programs and clinical practice. Doctoral degree programs did not provide experiences for all future faculty roles. Hands-on patient care practice provided participants the context for their teaching and confidence in knowledge aptitude. Conclusion: Doctoral institutions should provide a variety of hands on active learning experiences to doctoral students. Future faculty members can maximize the amount of time they provide clinical care to patients, following the attainment of their professional credential. Clinical competence and proficiency will serve as the foundational basis for their future teaching endeavors and may increase credibility and respect

Documented Newborn Hearing Screenings in Florida Administrative Hospital Data: State Policy Compliance by Hospital Types

Purpose: Florida policy mandates newborn hearing screenings (NBHS) in hospitals. U.S. inpatient administrative hospital data reflects low rates of documented screenings. This analysis investigates inconsistencies between Florida policy and administrative records. Method: Analysis of Florida statutory language was completed. Florida hospital administrative data was retrospectively analyzed using various statistical methods to explore differences in proportions of documented NBHS among distinct hospital types based on profit and teaching statuses. Results: Florida mandate requires NBHS completion in the hospital prior to discharge from the birth facility or within 21 days after birth and allows for billing a third-party payer. The median proportions of screenings in Florida hospitals were as follows: not-for-profit teaching hospitals 0.35 (σ: 0.00-0.83), for-profit teaching hospitals 0.00 (σ: 0.00-0.07), not-for-profit non-teaching hospitals 0.08 (σ: 0.00-0.36), and for-profit non-teaching hospitals 0.05 (σ: 0.00-0.27). Hospital types exhibit significantly different proportions of documented NBHS (χ2 = 194,321.85, p \u3c.0001). Conclusion: Improving administrative documentation practices to align with policy will enhance adherence to statutory regulations. Boosting volume of documented screenings could lead to increased hospital revenue and present opportunities to invest in infrastructure for the NBHS program

Landmark models for optimizing the use of repeated measurements of risk factors in electronic health records to predict future disease risk

The benefits of using electronic health records for disease risk screening and personalized heathcare decisions are becoming increasingly recognized. We present a computationally feasible statistical approach to address the methodological challenges in utilizing historical repeat measures of multiple risk factors recorded in electronic health records to systematically identify patients at high risk of future disease. The approach is principally based on a two-stage dynamic landmark model. The first stage estimates current risk factor values from all available historical repeat risk factor measurements by landmark-age-specific multivariate linear mixed-effects models with correlated random-intercepts, which account for sporadically recorded repeat measures, unobserved data and measurements errors. The second stage predicts future disease risk from a sex-stratified Cox proportional hazards model, with estimated current risk factor values from the first stage. Methods are exemplified by developing and validating a dynamic 10-year cardiovascular disease risk prediction model using electronic primary care records for age, diabetes status, hypertension treatment, smoking status, systolic blood pressure, total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol from 41,373 individuals in 10 primary care practices in England and Wales contributing to The Health Improvement Network (1997-2016). Using cross-validation, the model was well-calibrated (Brier score = 0.041 [95%CI: 0.039, 0.042]) and had good discrimination (C-index = 0.768 [95%CI: 0.759, 0.777]).This work was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) (grant MR/K014811/1). J.B. was supported by an MRC fellowship (grant G0902100) and the MRC Unit Program (grant MC_UU_00002/5). R.H.K. was supported by an MRC Methodology Fellowship (grant MR/M014827/1)