4,960 research outputs found
How effective is lifeline banking in assisting the 'unbanked'?
Many consumers who lack checking accounts are paying relatively high costs to access the nation's payments system. Legislation aimed at opening the system to these unbanked individuals has centered on requiring commercial banks to offer low-cost "lifeline" accounts. But will cost savings alone motivate these consumers to access the payments system through banks?Checking accounts ; Banks and banking - Service charges ; Poverty
Strings, Triangles, and Go-betweens: Intertextual Approaches to Siliusâ Carthaginian Debates
This article examines a case study in Silius Italicusâ Punica using two distinct but complementary approaches to Flavian epic intertextuality: a methodological move to expand and further incorporate computational tools within philology, and a literary theoretical move to combine intertextuality and thematic interpretation. The case study focuses on the debates in the Carthaginian senate described in Punica 2 and 11, both of which Silius adapts from similar scenes in Livy while also drawing on Vergilâs Aeneid. Part 1 of the essay introduces a new tool for finding a range of inexact verbal parallels based on a bioinformatics technique known as sequence alignment. After comparing the method with two other computational tools, Diogenes and Tesserae, we assess our toolâs ability to detect intertexts in the Punica already noted in traditional scholarship. We then analyse a series of computationally identified parallels that have not been commented on previously and find that all three tools can reveal morphologically and syntactically similar phrases of apparent literary interest. Part 2 focuses on a feature of Siliusâ triangulation of Livy and Vergil, the characterisation of the Carthaginian senator Hanno. Through allusions to Vergilâs Drances, Silius turns Hanno from a shrewd judge of Roman character and strength, as he appears in Livy, into a far more ambivalent, Quisling-like figure. Moreover, the effect of blending the two sources is to make more porous the distinctions between nationalities and other categories that structure the readerâs response to Hanno and to the Punica as a whole. In concluding, we suggest that the context in which these literary interactions take place - diplomacy and debate - itself figures the kind of negotiation taking place at a textual level between the various works and their worldviews. The conclusion unifies the methodological and theoretical parts of the essay under the rubric of âtriangulationâ, in part by drawing on the application of the term in the philosophy of Donald Davidson
IL-1β, IL-18, and eicosanoids promote neutrophil recruitment to pore-induced intracellular traps following pyroptosis
Inflammasomes activate caspase-1, initiating a lytic form of programmed cell death termed pyroptosis, which is an important innate immune defense mechanism against intracellular infections. We recently demonstrated in a mouse infection model of pyroptosis that instead of releasing bacteria into the extracellular space, bacteria remain trapped within the pyroptotic cell corpse, termed the pore-induced intracellular trap (PIT). This trapping mediates efferocytosis of the PIT and associated bacteria by neutrophils; bacteria are subsequently killed via neutrophil ROS. Using this pyroptosis model, we now show that the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 and inflammatory lipid mediators termed eicosanoids are required for effective clearance of bacteria downstream of pyroptosis. We further show that IL-1β, IL-18, and eicosanoids affect this in part by mediating neutrophil recruitment to the PIT. This is in addition to our prior findings that complement is also important to attract neutrophils. Thus, the PIT initiates a robust and coordinated innate immune response involving multiple mediators that attract neutrophils to efferocytose the PIT and its entrapped bacteria
Structural Responses of Quasi-2D Colloid Fluids to Excitations Elicited by Nonequilibrium Perturbations
We investigate the response of a dense monodisperse quasi-two-dimensional
(q2D) colloid suspension when a particle is dragged by a constant velocity
optical trap. Consistent with microrheological studies of other geometries, the
perturbation induces a leading density wave and trailing wake, and we use
Stokesian Dynamics (SD) simulations to parse direct colloid-colloid and
hydrodynamic interactions. We go on to analyze the underlying individual
particle-particle collisions in the experimental images. The displacements of
particles form chains reminiscent of stress propagation in sheared granular
materials. From these data, we can reconstruct steady-state dipolar flow
patterns that were predicted for dilute suspensions and previously observed in
granular analogs to our system. The decay of this field differs, however, from
point Stokeslet calculations, indicating that the finite size of the colloids
is important. Moreover, there is a pronounced angular dependence that
corresponds to the surrounding colloid structure, which evolves in response to
the perturbation. Put together, our results show that the response of the
complex fluid is highly anisotropic owing to the fact that the effects of the
perturbation propagate through the structured medium via chains of
colloid-colloid collisions
Report on OTHER proposals for SSPEX
The only unifying factor among the experiments discussed is that they are all unique Opportunities and/or Techniques for High-caliber Experimental Research (OTHER). Thirteen of the experiments are briefly described
Is the endemic Maltese Top-shell Gibbula nivosa extinct?
The trochid gastropod Gibbula nivosa, endemic to the Maltese Islands, has recently only been found in two Maltese bays, where it occurred on seagrass leaves and under stones at depths of 1-4m. Intensive sampling of Cymodocea nodosa and Posidonia oceanica meadows, sediment and pebbles at depths of 2-12m, carried out in 2000 and 2002, resulted only in empty shells but no live animals, suggesting that the species is extinct from these localities where previously good populations were found. However, the occurrence of fresh shells from other Maltese sites suggests that small undiscovered populations may exist. G.nivosa is considered to be âcritically endangeredâ.peer-reviewe
Healthcare Provider Utilization and Patient Outcomes: The Call for Enhanced Coordinated Care for Medicare Beneficiaries
Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and other non-physician health care providers (dentists, optometrists, etc.) has steadily increased in the United States; however, the associated outcomes reported in the Medicare population is limited.
Objective: To evaluate the utilization of different healthcare providers by Medicare beneficiaries and assess resultant patient outcomes.
Methods: Fourteen outreach events targeting Medicare beneficiaries were conducted throughout Northern/Central California during the 2014 open enrollment period. Trained student pharmacists (working under licensed pharmacist supervision) provided beneficiaries with comprehensive medication therapy management (MTM) services. During each intervention, demographic, quality-of-life, health behavior, and health provider/service utilization data were collected.
Results: Of 620 respondents, 525 (84%) and 84 (14%) reported using at least one non-physician healthcare professional or CAM provider, respectively. Beneficiaries who reported using non-physician healthcare providers were significantly (p\u3c0.05) more likely to indicate being âvery confidentâ in managing their chronic health conditions. The number of providers seen with prescriptive authority was correlated with the number of prescription medications taken (rs=0.342, p\u3c0.001). The total number of providers seen was correlated with the number of drug related issues identified (rs= 0.179, p\u3c0.001). Beneficiaries using acupuncturists were significantly (p\u3c0.05) less likely to report having chronic pain.
Conclusion: Many beneficiaries have multiple chronic conditions and increasingly utilize a variety of healthcare professionals. As such, bridging the communication chasm between these professionals can improve humanistic outcomes and minimize medication related issues of Medicare beneficiaries. Coordinated care, a key strategy for improving healthcare delivery under the Affordable Care Act, is a step in the right direction
Creating a three dimensional intrinsic electric dipole on rotated CrI bilayers
Two-dimensional (2D) materials are being explored as a novel multiferroic
platform. One of the most studied magnetoelectric multiferroic 2D materials are
antiferromagnetically-coupled (AFM) CrI bilayers. Neglecting magnetism,
those bilayers possess a crystalline point of inversion, which is only removed
by the antiparallel spin configuration among its two constituent monolayers.
The resultant intrinsic electric dipole on those bilayers has a magnitude no
larger than 0.04 pC/m, it points out-of-plane, and it reverts direction when
the--Ising-like--cromium spins are flipped (toward opposite layers {\em versus}
away from opposite layers). The combined presence of antiferromagnetism and a
weak intrinsic electric dipole makes this material a two-dimensional
magnetoelectric multiferroic. Here, we remove the crystalline center of
inversion of the bilayer by a relative rotation of its constituent
monolayers. This process {\em enhances} the out-of-plane intrinsic electric
dipole tenfold with respect to its magnitude in the non-rotated AFM bilayer and
also creates an even stronger and switchable in-plane intrinsic electric
dipole. The ability to create a three-dimensional electric dipole is important,
because it enhances the magnetoelectric coupling on this experimentally
accessible 2D material, which is explicitly calculated here as well.Comment: Accepted at PRB on May 1, 202
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