Weight Self-Stigma and Drug Use among Young Adults: Examining Sexual Orientation as a Moderator

Sexual minority young adults and individuals with weight self-stigma (WSS) are more likely to experience psychopathology and cope via drug use. Despite a sizeable body of research examining the relationship between WSS and psychological outcomes, researchers have not explored whether sexual orientation contributes to the relationship between weight self-stigma and drug use. Recruiting from Amazon Mechanical Turk and a Midsouth university sample, we surveyed 568 young adults about depressive symptoms, WSS, substance use, and sexual orientation. Sexual orientation was examined as a moderator between self-stigma and drug use. The interaction between sexual orientation and WSS was significant (p \u3c .05), such that for sexual minorities there was a significant positive association of WSS on drug use, while for heterosexual youth the association was not significant. Findings suggest that the compounded stigma associated with being a sexual minority and experiencing internalized weight stigma is related to drug use problems

Business process enterprise and small real estate companies

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2000."September 2000."Includes bibliographical references (leaf 85).According to the work of Churchill and Lewis (1983), the evolution of a firm follows five stages of growth. As a small company progresses through the first two stages, the entrepreneur/owner and the company act as one unit. Once small companies emerge from the first two stages of growth, they have a choice of entering the success-growth stage of small company growth. At this stage, entrepreneurs can no longer complete all the meaningful tasks themselves. This research will address the problem of how and why entrepreneurial real estate development firms have organized their companies as business process enterprises at this stage of growth. There is an important distinction between a business process and a business process enterprise. A business process is the way in which a company performs a particular task, such as developing a project or doing a deal. Many real estate firms at the survival stage of growth believe incorrectly that putting in place an individual business process is the same as designing a business process enterprise that positions a company for future growth. A business process enterprise is an orientation in which a set of well functioning processes is linked together to create a strategic service vision. Three firms that had progressed past the startup stage of growth and were using business processes as a means of managing continued rapid growth were studied. The work of Heskett, Sasser and Schlesinger (1997) was used as a framework to study the cases because the authors see a process enterprise as the way to achieve customer satisfaction. This is done through the creation of a strategic service vision that is carried out through detailed operational service delivery strategies that create measurable value for the customer. Although the firms analyzed by the scholars in this work are large multinational companies, this research has found that the concepts underlying process enterprise are relevant to small firms. Heskett's service orientation makes that theory particularly relevant to real estate companies at this time. Moreover, this work concludes that a business process enterprise orientation becomes important when a real estate company moves from the survival stage of growth to the success stage of growth.by David J. Paladino.S.M

PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission): A White Paper on the Ultimate Polarimetric Spectro-Imaging of the Microwave and Far-Infrared Sky

PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) was proposed to ESA in response to the Call for White Papers for the definition of the L2 and L3 Missions in the ESA Science Programme. PRISM would have two instruments: (1) an imager with a 3.5m mirror (cooled to 4K for high performance in the far-infrared---that is, in the Wien part of the CMB blackbody spectrum), and (2) an Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) somewhat like the COBE FIRAS instrument but over three orders of magnitude more sensitive. Highlights of the new science (beyond the obvious target of B-modes from gravity waves generated during inflation) made possible by these two instruments working in tandem include: (1) the ultimate galaxy cluster survey gathering 10e6 clusters extending to large redshift and measuring their peculiar velocities and temperatures (through the kSZ effect and relativistic corrections to the classic y-distortion spectrum, respectively) (2) a detailed investigation into the nature of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) consisting of at present unresolved dusty high-z galaxies, where most of the star formation in the universe took place, (3) searching for distortions from the perfect CMB blackbody spectrum, which will probe a large number of otherwise inaccessible effects (e.g., energy release through decaying dark matter, the primordial power spectrum on very small scales where measurements today are impossible due to erasure from Silk damping and contamination from non-linear cascading of power from larger length scales). These are but a few of the highlights of the new science that will be made possible with PRISM.Comment: 20 pages Late

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Vampires in the village Žrnovo on the island of Korčula: following an archival document from the 18th century

Središnja tema rada usmjerena je na raščlambu spisa pohranjenog u Državnom arhivu u Mlecima (fond: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) koji se odnosi na događaj iz 1748. godine u korčulanskom selu Žrnovo, kada su mještani – vjerujući da su se pojavili vampiri – oskvrnuli nekoliko mjesnih grobova. U radu se podrobno iznose osnovni podaci iz spisa te rečeni događaj analizira u širem društvenom kontekstu i prate se lokalna vjerovanja.The main interest of this essay is the analysis of the document from the State Archive in Venice (file: Capi del Consiglio de’ Dieci: Lettere di Rettori e di altre cariche) which is connected with the episode from 1748 when the inhabitants of the village Žrnove on the island of Korčula in Croatia opened tombs on the local cemetery in the fear of the vampires treating. This essay try to show some social circumstances connected with this event as well as a local vernacular tradition concerning superstitions

echerches en serie peptidique : protections silylees et racemisation

SIGLECNRS T Bordereau / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Pharmacoeconomic Comparison of Sequential IV/Oral Ciprofloxacin Versus Ceftazidime in the Treatment of Nosocomial Pneumonia

ABSTRACTA retrospective, cost-effectiveness analysis was performed on 106 clinically evaluable patients who participated in a multi-centre, randomized study of sequential IV/oral ciprofloxacin therapy versus ceftazidime for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia. Although nearly half of the ciprofloxacin patients received sequential therapy, the majority were treated with a full IV regimen. Clinical success rates and antibiotic-related adverse events were similar for the ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime groups. Per patient and per day costs of antibiotic acquisition; preparation and administration; treatment of adverse events, and clinical failures were compared. Decision analysis revealed that ciprofloxacin therapy was cost-effective compared to ceftazidime 2 g q8h. Varying the probability of clinical success between 60-99% failed to change the economic decision; costs for ciprofloxacin were always lower than for ceftazidime. Further sensitivity analyses demonstrated that if the ceftazidime price was reduced by 50% (equivalent to 1 g q8h), treatment costs would be similar to ciprofloxacin therapy. Increasing the ciprofloxacin price by 50% (equivalent to a q8h frequency) produced per patient costs similar to ceftazidime, although ciprofloxacin therapy retained a lower cost per day (p<0.0002). For the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia, ciprofloxacin therapy was cost-effective compared to ceftazidime.RÉSUMÉUne analyse rétrospective coûts-efficacité a été menée auprès de 106 patients cliniquement évaluables qui ont participé à une étude multicentres, randomisée, visant à comparer le traitement séquentiel i.v./oral à la ciprofloxacine et à la ceftazidime, dans la pneumonie nosocomiale. Bien que près de la moitié des patients du groupe ciprofloxacine aient reçu le  traitement séquentiel, la plupart d'entre eux ont reçu le traitement complet par voie i.v. Les taux de succès clinique et de réactions indésirables associées aux deux antibiotiques étaient semblables dans les deux groupes. Les coûts d'acquisition des antibiotiques, de préparation et d'administration; de traitement des effets indésirables et ceux associés aux échecs cliniques, par patient et par jour, ont été comparés. L'analyse de décision a révélé que le traitement à la ciprofloxacine avait un rapport coûts/efficacité favorable comparativement à celui de la ceftazidime administrée à raison de 2 g q8h. La variation de la probabilité de succès clinique entre 60 et 99 % n'a pas réussi à modifier la décision économique; les coûts associés à la ciprofloxacine étaient toujours inférieurs à ceux associés à la ceftazidime. Des analyses de sensibilité détaillées ont montré qu'en réduisant le prix de la ceftazidime de 50 %  (équivalent à 1 g q8h), les coûts du traitement à la ceftazidime étaient semblables à ceux du traitement à la ciprofloxacine. Parallèlement, en augmentant le prix de la ciprofloxacine de 50 % (équivalent à  750 mg q8h), les coûts du traitement à la ciprofloxacine par patient étaient semblables à ceux du traitement à la ceftazidime, bien que ces coûts, par jour,  aient été moins élevés avec 1a ciprofloxacine (p < 0,0002). Le traitement à la ciprofloxacine d’une pneumonie nosocomiale a donc un rapport coûts/efficacité avantageux comparativement à celui de la ceftazidime