Nonprofit Capacity to Manage Hurricane-Pandemic Threat: Local and National Perspectives on Resilience During COVID-19

This paper examines nonprofits\u27 capacity for responding to simultaneous hurricane-pandemic threat, addressing: (1) strategies nonprofits use to deliver services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) how natural hazards may affect nonprofit roles in emergency service delivery during a pandemic. Data come from a survey of New Orleans-based nonprofits demonstrating effects of pandemic on local nonprofit service delivery, and workshops with U.S. coastal community stakeholders exploring expectations for nonprofit roles in emergency operations nationwide. Nonprofits have applied resilient strategies including virtual operations, staff reductions, and funding diversification, but vulnerabilities remain. Findings guide a research agenda for building nonprofit and community resilience

Image Restoration Using One-Dimensional Sobolev Norm Profiles of Noise and Texture

This work is devoted to image restoration (denoising and deblurring) by variational models. As in our prior work [Inverse Probl. Imaging, 3 (2009), pp. 43-68], the image (f) over tilde to be restored is assumed to be the sum of a cartoon component u (a function of bounded variation) and a texture component v (an oscillatory function in a Sobolev space with negative degree of differentiability). In order to separate noise from texture in a blurred noisy textured image, we need to collect some information that helps distinguish noise, especially Gaussian noise, from texture. We know that homogeneous Sobolev spaces of negative differentiability help capture oscillations in images very well; however, these spaces do not directly provide clear distinction between texture and noise, which is also highly oscillatory, especially when the blurring effect is noticeable. Here, we propose a new method for distinguishing noise from texture by considering a family of Sobolev norms corresponding to noise and texture. It turns out that the two Sobolev norm profiles for texture and noise are different, and this enables us to better separate noise from texture during the deblurring process.open0

Physiological Differences Between Low Versus High Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophic Responders to Resistance Exercise Training: Current Perspectives and Future Research Directions

Numerous reports suggest there are low and high skeletal muscle hypertrophic responders following weeks to months of structured resistance exercise training (referred to as low and high responders herein). Specifically, divergent alterations in muscle fiber cross sectional area (fCSA), vastus lateralis thickness, and whole body lean tissue mass have been shown to occur in high versus low responders. Differential responses in ribosome biogenesis and subsequent protein synthetic rates during training seemingly explain some of this individual variation in humans, and mechanistic in vitro and rodent studies provide further evidence that ribosome biogenesis is critical for muscle hypertrophy. High responders may experience a greater increase in satellite cell proliferation during training versus low responders. This phenomenon could serve to maintain an adequate myonuclear domain size or assist in extracellular remodeling to support myofiber growth. High responders may also express a muscle microRNA profile during training that enhances insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) mRNA expression, although more studies are needed to better validate this mechanism. Higher intramuscular androgen receptor protein content has been reported in high versus low responders following training, and this mechanism may enhance the hypertrophic effects of testosterone during training. While high responders likely possess “good genetics,” such evidence has been confined to single gene candidates which typically share marginal variance with hypertrophic outcomes following training (e.g., different myostatin and IGF-1 alleles). Limited evidence also suggests pre-training muscle fiber type composition and self-reported dietary habits (e.g., calorie and protein intake) do not differ between high versus low responders. Only a handful of studies have examined muscle biomarkers that are differentially expressed between low versus high responders. Thus, other molecular and physiological variables which could potentially affect the skeletal muscle hypertrophic response to resistance exercise training are also discussed including rDNA copy number, extracellular matrix and connective tissue properties, the inflammatory response to training, and mitochondrial as well as vascular characteristics

D-terms and D-strings in open string models

We study the Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) D-terms on D-branes in type II Calabi-Yau backgrounds. We provide a simple worldsheet proof of the fact that, at tree level, these terms only couple to scalars in closed string hypermultiplets. At the one-loop level, the D-terms get corrections only if the gauge group has an anomalous spectrum, with the anomaly cancelled by a Green-Schwarz mechanism. We study the local type IIA model of D6-branes at SU(3) angles and show that, as in field theory, the one-loop correction suffers from a quadratic divergence in the open string channel. By studying the closed string channel, we show that this divergence is related to a closed string tadpole, and is cancelled when the tadpole is cancelled. Next, we study the cosmic strings that arise in the supersymmetric phases of these systems in light of recent work of Dvali et. al. In the type IIA intersecting D6-brane examples, we identify the D-term strings as D4-branes ending on the D6-branes. Finally, we use N=1 dualities to relate these results to previous work on the FI D-term of heterotic strings.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures; v2: improved referencin

Physiological Differences Between Low Versus High Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophic Responders to Resistance Exercise Training: Current Perspectives and Future Research Directions

Numerous reports suggest there are low and high skeletal muscle hypertrophic responders following weeks to months of structured resistance exercise training (referred to as low and high responders herein). Specifically, divergent alterations in muscle fiber cross sectional area (fCSA), vastus lateralis thickness, and whole body lean tissue mass have been shown to occur in high versus low responders. Differential responses in ribosome biogenesis and subsequent protein synthetic rates during training seemingly explain some of this individual variation in humans, and mechanistic in vitro and rodent studies provide further evidence that ribosome biogenesis is critical for muscle hypertrophy. High responders may experience a greater increase in satellite cell proliferation during training versus low responders. This phenomenon could serve to maintain an adequate myonuclear domain size or assist in extracellular remodeling to support myofiber growth. High responders may also express a muscle microRNA profile during training that enhances insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) mRNA expression, although more studies are needed to better validate this mechanism. Higher intramuscular androgen receptor protein content has been reported in high versus low responders following training, and this mechanism may enhance the hypertrophic effects of testosterone during training. While high responders likely possess “good genetics,” such evidence has been confined to single gene candidates which typically share marginal variance with hypertrophic outcomes following training (e.g., different myostatin and IGF-1 alleles). Limited evidence also suggests pre-training muscle fiber type composition and self-reported dietary habits (e.g., calorie and protein intake) do not differ between high versus low responders. Only a handful of studies have examined muscle biomarkers that are differentially expressed between low versus high responders. Thus, other molecular and physiological variables which could potentially affect the skeletal muscle hypertrophic response to resistance exercise training are also discussed including rDNA copy number, extracellular matrix and connective tissue properties, the inflammatory response to training, and mitochondrial as well as vascular characteristics

The development of accounting in UK universities:an oral history

This article reports on the development of the accounting discipline in universities in England and Scotland from the 1960s. Drawing on the oral history narratives of six distinguished accounting scholars who played a significant role in the discipline, this article documents (1) the initial influences on the teaching of accounting in English universities, (2) the different influences on the teaching of accounting in Scottish universities and (3) the influence of US universities and their scholars on the development of academic accounting in the United Kingdom. With a focus on the second wave of accounting professoriate who followed the London School of Economics (LSE) ‘Triumvirate’ of William Baxter, Harold Edey and David Solomons, this article provides first-hand insights into the shape and spread of university accounting education at a crucial stage of its development. This, in turn, develops an understanding of the contemporary academic accounting discipline in the United Kingdom.PostprintPeer reviewe

In Deadly Time: The Lasting On of Waste in Mayhew’s London

This paper examines the temporal dimension of waste in Henry Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor as an instance of how modernity has produced a largely hidden domain of the non-identical and indeterminate. Through a consideration of the phenomena of uselessness, decay and poverty I argue that the temporal dimension of waste is constituted as a corrosive or malign ‘Deadly Time.’ In placing such emphasis on time directed towards death, I aim to show that Mayhew’s undisciplined researches can be seen as a valuable source for understanding why modern thinking struggles to come to terms with waste

Epigenetic regulation of F2RL3 associates with myocardial infarction and platelet function

DNA hypomethylation at the F2RL3 (F2R like thrombin or trypsin receptor 3) locus has been associated with both smoking and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; whether these smoking-related associations form a pathway to disease is unknown. F2RL3 encodes protease-activated receptor 4, a potent thrombin receptor expressed on platelets. Given the role of thrombin in platelet activation and the role of thrombus formation in myocardial infarction, alterations to this biological pathway could be important for ischemic cardiovascular disease. METHODS: We conducted multiple independent experiments to assess whether DNA hypomethylation at F2RL3 in response to smoking is associated with risk of myocardial infarction via changes to platelet reactivity. Using cohort data (N=3205), we explored the relationship between smoking, DNA hypomethylation at F2RL3, and myocardial infarction. We compared platelet reactivity in individuals with low versus high DNA methylation at F2RL3 (N=41). We used an in vitro model to explore the biological response of F2RL3 to cigarette smoke extract. Finally, a series of reporter constructs were used to investigate how differential methylation could impact F2RL3 gene expression. RESULTS: Observationally, DNA methylation at F2RL3 mediated an estimated 34% of the smoking effect on increased risk of myocardial infarction. An association between methylation group (low/high) and platelet reactivity was observed in response to PAR4 (protease-activated receptor 4) stimulation. In cells, cigarette smoke extract exposure was associated with a 4.9% to 9.3% reduction in DNA methylation at F2RL3 and a corresponding 1.7-(95% CI, 1.2–2.4, P=0.04) fold increase in F2RL3 mRNA. Results from reporter assays suggest the exon 2 region of F2RL3 may help control gene expression. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking-induced epigenetic DNA hypomethylation at F2RL3 appears to increase PAR4 expression with potential downstream consequences for platelet reactivity. Combined evidence here not only identifies F2RL3 DNA methylation as a possible contributory pathway from smoking to cardiovascular disease risk but from any feature potentially influencing F2RL3 regulation in a similar manner

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Performance and Operation of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

The operation and general performance of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter using cosmic-ray muons are described. These muons were recorded after the closure of the CMS detector in late 2008. The calorimeter is made of lead tungstate crystals and the overall status of the 75848 channels corresponding to the barrel and endcap detectors is reported. The stability of crucial operational parameters, such as high voltage, temperature and electronic noise, is summarised and the performance of the light monitoring system is presented