Public Health: Women and Gender Issues

The existing gender gap in public health affects the areas of medical research, employment, and accurate diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions for women. Women face a large disadvantage in such areas, and this problem must be addressed through improved policies and initiatives taken by both government and medical institutions

CURRENT ACCOUNTING PRACTICES OF PREOPENING COSTS BY LODGING FIRMS —DO THEY VIOLATE U.S. GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES?

This study examines the practice of accounting for preopening costs in U.S.-based hotels. The study surveyed 225 CFOs, controllers, and senior-level executives of lodging companies during the 2012–2013 period to examine current accounting practices for preopening costs in their firms. The research questions measured the amounts spent on preopening costs, key expenditures included as preopening costs; when/where these preopening costs were expensed, and the incentive operating fee arrangement. Results revealed that many lodging firms did not account properly for their preopening costs in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAPs). As such, the current practice of accounting of preopening costs in lodging firms is better understood and the need for further guidance on treatment of preopening expenses in the next (11th) edition of Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI) is explored

Preparation of SOFC Anodes by Electrodeposition

Anodes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have been prepared by electrodeposition of either Co or Ni into a layer of porous yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), 60 µm thick. The YSZ, having 65% porosity, was prepared by tape casting with graphite pore formers and was attached to the dense YSZ electrolyte. After adding 10 vol % CeO2 by impregnation of aqueous solutions of CeNO3)3, followed by calcination at 723 K, the porous YSZ was made conductive by exposing it to n-butane at 1123 K to form a coating of carbon. As much as 40 vol % metal could be added to the porous layers, while the carbon could then be removed by exposing the anode to humidified H2 at SOFC operating temperatures. The ohmic losses in cells containing 40 vol % Co or 30 vol % Ni were unaffected by heating to 1173 K. Finally, a cell with 15 vol % Cu and 15 vol % Co was prepared by electrodeposition of Cu onto electrodeposited Co. No carbon formation was observed on the Cu–Co anode following exposure to dry methane at 1073 K

A Self-Propelled Biological Process Plk1-Dependent Product-Activated, Feed-Forward Mechanism

Comment on: Park JE, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2011; 108:8200-05.Molecular and Cellular Biolog

A Support Layer for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

The use of a perforated, ceramic layer, laminated on top of a porous electrode, as a support structure for solid oxide fuel cells is described. The support layer can be used on either the anode or cathode side and allows for the fabrication of mechanically robust, impregnated electrodes. Using fuel cells based on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), we demonstrate that the support layer can be made from YSZ or from a composite of YSZ and La0.3Sr0.7TiO3 (LST). It is shown that there is no solid-state reaction between LST and YSZ, even after calcination at 1550 °C. Unlike pure LST, LST–YSZ composites can form a laminated structure on porous YSZ. Unlike pure YSZ, a dense LST–YSZ composite with 60-wt% LST exhibited an electronic conductivity of 7.6 S/cm at 700 °C after reduction in H2 at 1000 °C, making the composite layer attractive for current collection in anode-supported cells

Electrodeposition of Cu into a Highly Porous Ni/YSZ Cermet

The electrochemical deposition of Cu into 0.12 cm and 60 µm thick, highly porous 65 vol % Ni/yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) cermets was investigated. An electrochemical cell in which the electrolyte solution was allowed to flow through a porous Ni/YSZ substrate was used to eliminate mass-transfer limitations and to determine the conditions for which the potential drop in the electrolyte solution was minimized and a uniform Cu layer was produced throughout the porous substrate. The conditions determined from these experiments were then used to electrodeposit Cu throughout a thin, porous Ni–YSZ cermet anode layer on a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) using a standard nonflow-through setup. This SOFC was found to exhibit stable operation while using methane as the fuel

A Comparison of LSM, LSF, and LSCo for Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Anodes

Composite electrodes of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) with La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM), La0.8Sr0.2FeO3 (LSF), and La0.8Sr0.2CoO3 (LSCo) were prepared and tested as solid oxide electrolyzer (SOE) anodes and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathodes at 973 K, using cells with a YSZ electrolyte and a Co-ceria-YSZ counter electrode. The LSM-YSZ electrode was activated by cathodic polarization but the enhanced performance was found to be unstable during electrolysis, with the electrode impedance increasing to near its unenhanced state after 24 h. LSF-YSZ and LSCo-YSZ electrodes exhibited a nearly constant impedance, independent of current density, during both SOE and SOFC operation. The performance of an LSF-YSZ composite for electrolysis current densities above 200 mA/cm2 was unaffected by changing the O2 partial pressure from ~10–2 to 1 atm, while the lower O2 pressure harmed the performance of the LSCo-YSZ composite. The implications of these results for the characterization and optimization of SOE anodes is discussed

Mitotic exit kinase Dbf2 directly phosphorylates chitin synthase Chs2 to regulate cytokinesis in budding yeast

How cell cycle machinery regulates extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling during cytokinesis remains poorly understood. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the primary septum (PS), a functional equivalent of animal ECM, is synthesized during cytokinesis by the chitin synthase Chs2. Here, we report that Dbf2, a conserved mitotic exit kinase, localizes to the division site after Chs2 and directly phosphorylates Chs2 on several residues, including Ser-217. Both phosphodeficient (chs2‑S217A) and phosphomimic (chs2‑S217D) mutations cause defects in cytokinesis, suggesting that dynamic phosphorylation–dephosphorylation of Ser-217 is critical for Chs2 function. It is striking that Chs2‑S217A constricts asymmetrically with the actomyosin ring (AMR), whereas Chs2-S217D displays little or no constriction and remains highly mobile at the division site. These data suggest that Chs2 phosphorylation by Dbf2 triggers its dissociation from the AMR during the late stage of cytokinesis. Of interest, both chs2‑S217A and chs2‑S217D mutants are robustly suppressed by increased dosage of Cyk3, a cytokinesis protein that displays Dbf2‑dependent localization and also stimulates Chs2‑mediated chitin synthesis. Thus Dbf2 regulates PS formation through at least two independent pathways: direct phosphorylation and Cyk3‑mediated activation of Chs2. Our study establishes a mechanism for direct cell cycle control of ECM remodeling during cytokinesis