Stein fillings of planar open books

We prove that if a contact manifold $(M,\xi)$ is supported by a planar open book, then Euler characteristic and signature of any Stein filling of $(M,\xi)$ is bounded. We also prove a similar finiteness result for contact manifolds supported by spinal open books with planar pages. Moving beyond the geography of Stein fillings, we classify fillings of some lens spaces.Comment: Minor typos fixe

Stein fillings of contact 3-manifolds obtained as Legendrian surgeries

In this note, we classify Stein fillings of an infinite family of contact 3-manifolds up to diffeomorphism. Some contact 3-manifolds in this family can be obtained by Legendrian surgeries on $(S^3,\xi_{std})$ along certain Legendrian 2-bridge knots. We also classify Stein fillings, up to symplectic deformation, of an infinite family of contact 3-manifolds which can be obtained by Legendrian surgeries on $(S^3,\xi_{std})$ along certain Legendrian twist knots. As a corollary, we obtain a classification of Stein fillings of an infinite family of contact hyperbolic 3-manifolds up to symplectic deformation.Comment: Made changes to reflect referee comments. Proofs of some of the key lemmas are expanded. Final version accepted in Journal of Symplectic Geometr

HR as a Strategic Partner in Redefining and Reexamining Supply Chain Labor Standards

[Excerpt] In today’s global marketplace, organizations no longer operate with linear supply chains or manufacturing models. The issue of global labor standards has been a debated topic since the 1990’s and industry supply chains continue to provoke discussions around labor standards and improving worker conditions[i]. Nike presents the classic example of an organization that exploited its outsourcing model and was ultimately forced to take accountability for its actions in the 1990’s. Today’s millennial generation alongside consumer groups is now addressing Steve Job’s legacy, Apple and its primary supplier, Foxconn. On June 14th 2012, a Foxconn employee jumped to his death from his apartment building; marking the 18th reported worker suicide at Foxconn factories in China in just over two years[ii]. Many additional suicides may have gone unreported. But these deaths and the focus on conditions at Foxconn reflect only a portion of the troubling conditions at Apple suppliers that includes issues around organizational work design and employee working conditions. As consumer confidence in the ability of corporations to be socially responsible deteriorates it is up to the HR function to play a strategic role in navigating and providing strategic solutions to maintaining fair global labor standards within an organization. In this paper, I will discuss the role of HR to be more involved as a line leader that looks to integrate global labor standards compliance as an essential element in an organizations business model. I will also discuss the need for HR to push for the centrality of compliance in organizations along with the necessary layers of oversight while creating an organizational culture that fosters and encourages socially responsible behavior of subcontractors and suppliers

A Comparative Study Of The Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, And Readiness Of American Versus Turkish Language Teachers

Contrasting studies of foreign language teacher education have become a growing interest among educationists and researchers in different countries (Yoder, 1992; McKay & Montgomery, 1995; Baker & Giacchino-Baker, 2000; Stachowski & Sparks, 2007; Firmin, M. W., Firmin, R & MacKay, F. M., 2008; LaFond & Dogancay-Aktuna, 2009; Ozek, 2009). Such studies emphasize the importance of comparing and understanding different education programs and enables student teachers to think more globally with respect to their language career. These contrasting studies investigate different aspects of foreign language (FL) teaching programs. The present study reports a comparison of the student teachers of an American and Turkish university regarding their satisfaction and readiness in language teaching, and their attitudes towards language teaching theories and teacher education program. The study aims to discover the teacher trainees’ perceptions with an in-depth understanding and compare the differences among them. Therefore, the researcher employed an interconnection of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires and interviews. The results indicated that there were some significant differences between the subjects in two groups regarding their readiness, their attitudes towards their education programs and their self-perceptions as teacher candidates

Stein fillings of contact structures supported by planar open books

In this thesis we study topology of symplectic fillings of contact manifolds supported by planar open books. We obtain results regarding geography of the symplectic fillings of these contact manifolds. Specifically, we prove that if a contact manifold (M,ξ) is supported by a planar open book, then Euler characteristic and signature of any Stein filling of (M,ξ) is bounded. We also prove a similar finiteness result for contact manifolds supported by spinal open books with planar pages. Moving beyond the geography of Stein fillings, we classify fillings of some lens spaces. In addition, we classify Stein fillings of an infinite family of contact 3-manifolds up to diffeomorphism. Some contact 3-manifolds in this family can be obtained by Legendrian surgeries on (S³, ξ std) along certain Legendrian 2-bridge knots. We also classify Stein fillings, up to symplectic deformation, of an infinite family of contact 3-manifolds which can be obtained by Legendrian surgeries on (S³, ξ std) along certain Legendrian twist knots. As a corollary, we obtain a classification of Stein fillings of an infinite family of contact hyperbolic 3-manifolds up to symplectic deformation.Ph.D

Increased mRNA expression of CDKN2A is a transcriptomic marker of clinically aggressive meningiomas

Homozygous deletion of CDKN2A/B was recently incorporated into the World Health Organization classification for grade 3 meningiomas. While this marker is overall rare in meningiomas, its relationship to other CDKN2A alterations on a transcriptomic, epigenomic, and copy number level has not yet been determined. We therefore utilized multidimensional molecular data of 1577 meningioma samples from 6 independent cohorts enriched for clinically aggressive meningiomas to comprehensively interrogate the spectrum of CDKN2A alterations through DNA methylation, copy number variation, transcriptomics, and proteomics using an integrated molecular approach. Homozygous CDKN2A/B deletions were identified in only 7.1% of cases but were associated with significantly poorer outcomes compared to tumors without these deletions. Heterozygous CDKN2A/B deletions were identified in 2.6% of cases and had similarly poor outcomes as those with homozygous deletions. Among tumors with intact CDKN2A/B (without a homozygous or heterozygous deletion), we found a distinct difference in outcome based on mRNA expression of CDKN2A, with meningiomas that had elevated mRNA expression (CDKN2Ahigh) having a significantly shorter time to recurrence. The expression of CDKN2A was independently prognostic after accounting for copy number loss and consistently increased with WHO grade and more aggressive molecular and methylation groups irrespective of cohort. Despite the discordant and mutually exclusive status of the CDKN2A gene in these groups, both CDKN2Ahigh meningiomas and meningiomas with CDKN2A deletions were enriched for similar cell cycle pathways but at different checkpoints. High mRNA expression of CDKN2A was also associated with gene hypermethylation, Rb-deficiency, and lack of response to CDK inhibition. p16 immunohistochemistry could not reliably differentiate between meningiomas with and without CDKN2A deletions but appeared to correlate better with mRNA expression. These findings support the role of CDKN2A mRNA expression as a biomarker of clinically aggressive meningiomas with potential therapeutic implications