Alternative Fuel And Energy Production In Aruba: A Case Study

On the island of Aruba, a combination of recently rising oil prices, the socio-cultural influence of the Netherlands, and a desire for a greater degree of long term autonomy are helping to increase interest in natural resource conservation and alternative fuels and energy production methods. The case begins with a citizen facing economic hardships and then paints three alternatives to reduce Aruba’s dependence on oil: 1) possible biodiesel production on the island, 2) the Master Engineer for the country working through negotiations for a wind power “farm” on the island, and 3) the Master Engineer working with the hotel consortium on a plan to air condition Aruba’s hotels using sea water air conditioning (SWAC). In all situations, we are faced with the uncertainty and the challenges involved in cleaner technology implementation

CAS9 transcriptional activators for target specificity screening and paired nickases for cooperative genome engineering

Prokaryotic type II CRISPR-Cas systems can be adapted to enable targeted genome modifications across a range of eukaryotes.1–7. Here we engineer this system to enable RNA-guided genome regulation in human cells by tethering transcriptional activation domains either directly to a nuclease-null Cas9 protein or to an aptamer-modified single guide RNA (sgRNA). Using this functionality we developed a novel transcriptional activation–based assay to determine the landscape of off-target binding of sgRNA:Cas9 complexes and compared it with the off-target activity of transcription activator–like (TAL) effector proteins8, 9. Our results reveal that specificity profiles are sgRNA dependent, and that sgRNA:Cas9 complexes and 18-mer TAL effector proteins can potentially tolerate 1–3 and 1–2 target mismatches, respectively. By engineering a requirement for cooperativity through offset nicking for genome editing or through multiple synergistic sgRNAs for robust transcriptional activation, we suggest methods to mitigate off-target phenomena. Our results expand the versatility of the sgRNA:Cas9 tool and highlight the critical need to engineer improved specificity

Testing Alternative Cultural Explanations of Managers’ Values across the U.S.-Canada Border

Research about the implications that cultural differences have for managers in different parts of Anglophone Canada and the United States, like management studies of regional culture throughout the world, have been based on varied, narrowly focused theories and have reached varied conclusions. Here, we identify and compare theories about immigrant group characteristics and contemporary socioeconomic characteristics that figure strongly in research comparing Canada, the United States, and their regions. We summarize the predictions that each immigration theory and each socioeconomic characteristic makes for the two implications of culture that are most prominent in regional studies of North America – self-reliance and deference to authority. We conclude with thoughts about the potential contributions of culture research about North American regions along with theories of culture emergence and change that need to be revised or added to them to advance research about cultural regions of Europe

Comparing the Accuracy of Three Pediatric Disaster Triage Strategies: A Simulation-Based Investigation

BACKGROUND: It is unclear which pediatric disaster triage (PDT) strategy yields the best accuracy or best patient outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis on a sample of emergency medical services providers from a prospective cohort study comparing the accuracy and triage outcomes for 2 PDT strategies (Smart and JumpSTART) and clinical decision-making (CDM) with no algorithm. Participants were divided into cohorts by triage strategy. We presented 10-victim, multi-modal disaster simulations. A Delphi method determined patients\u27 expected triage levels. We compared triage accuracy overall and for each triage level (RED/Immediate, YELLOW/Delayed, GREEN/Ambulatory, BLACK/Deceased). RESULTS: There were 273 participants (71 JumpSTART, 122 Smart, and 81 CDM). There was no significant difference between Smart triage and CDM. When JumpSTART triage was used, there was greater accuracy than with either Smart (P \u3c 0.001; OR [odds ratio]: 2.03; interquartile range [IQR]: 1.30, 3.17) or CDM (P=0.02; OR: 1.76; IQR: 1.10, 2.82). JumpSTART outperformed Smart for RED patients (P=0.05; OR: 1.48; IQR: 1.01,2.17), and outperformed both Smart (P \u3c 0.001; OR: 3.22; IQR: 1.78,5.88) and CDM (P \u3c 0.001; OR: 2.86; IQR: 1.53,5.26) for YELLOW patients. Furthermore, JumpSTART outperformed CDM for BLACK patients (P=0.01; OR: 5.55; IQR: 1.47, 20.0). CONCLUSION: Our simulation-based comparison suggested that JumpSTART triage outperforms both Smart and CDM. JumpSTART outperformed Smart for RED patients and CDM for BLACK patients. For YELLOW patients, JumpSTART yielded more accurate triage results than did Smart triage or CDM

An Environmental Scan of Academic Emergency Medicine at the 17 Canadian Medical Schools: Why Does this Matter to Emergency Physicians?

OBJECTIVE: We sought to conduct a major objective of the CAEP Academic Section, an environmental scan of the academic emergency medicine programs across the 17 Canadian medical schools. METHODS: We developed an 84-question questionnaire, which was distributed to academic heads. The responses were validated by phone by the lead author to ensure that the questions were answered completely and consistently. Details of pediatric emergency medicine units were excluded from the scan. RESULTS: At eight of 17 universities, emergency medicine has full departmental status and at two it has no official academic status. Canadian academic emergency medicine is practiced at 46 major teaching hospitals and 13 specialized pediatric hospitals. Another 69 Canadian hospital EDs regularly take clinical clerks and emergency medicine residents. There are 31 full professors of emergency medicine in Canada. Teaching programs are strong with clerkships offered at 16/17 universities, CCFP(EM) programs at 17/17, and RCPSC residency programs at 14/17. Fourteen sites have at least one physician with a Master\u27s degree in education. There are 55 clinical researchers with salary support at 13 universities. Sixteen sites have published peer-reviewed papers in the past five years, ranging from four to 235 per site. Annual budgets range from $200,000 to$5,900,000. CONCLUSION: This comprehensive review of academic activities in emergency medicine across Canada identifies areas of strengths as well as opportunities for improvement. CAEP and the Academic Section hope we can ultimately improve ED patient care by sharing best academic practices and becoming better teachers, educators, and researchers