Hopping Conduction and Bacteria: Transport in Disordered Reaction-Diffusion Systems

We report some basic results regarding transport in disordered reaction-diffusion systems with birth (A->2A), death (A->0), and binary competition (2A->A) processes. We consider a model in which the growth process is only allowed to take place in certain areas--"oases"--while the rest of space--the "desert"--is hostile to growth. In the limit of low oasis density, transport is mediated through rare "hopping" events, necessitating the inclusion of discreteness effects in the model. By first considering transport between two oases, we are able to derive an approximate expression for the average time taken for a population to traverse a disordered medium.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

O mal-estar docente perante o uso das tecnologias de informação e comunicação

Revisamos a temática do mal-estar em relação aos computadores e meios de comunicação/informação. A pesquisa é qualitativa, realizada com quinze professores -PUCRS, UNISC, UFRGS- respondendo entrevistas, trabalhadas via análise de conteúdo, categorizadas: semelhanças: lidam bem com as tecnologias informáticas, desconhecendo seu potencial; Gostariam de receber mais capacitação, muitos são autodidatas; Comentam que alunos usam melhor estes recursos, ou têm alunos que não os têm; Demandam tempo em autoformação/atualização, também com seus estudantes, presencial/virtualmente; discrepantes: Tendo ou não computadores pessoalmente, entram na rede em pontos da instituição, mormente docentes das particulares; quando têm laboratórios à disposição, nas particulares recebem mais formação/capacitação; têm satisfações em usar as TIC's: Rapidez de acesso às informações; Poder utilizar a Internet; Diversificam suas atividades em aula; Elas auxiliam no preparo das aulas; Possibilitariam um trabalho colaborativo. Têm insatisfações em usar as TIC's: apontam como mal-estar o medo a sua substituição pela máquina; Pouco tempo para capacitação/ atualização; o Falta de controle/medo a perder o controle da situação; Preocupação de que os alunos acedam previamente ao material. Têm alternativas prospectivas: dedicação; metodologias; capacitação/atualizaçã

Corporate entrepreneurship within the sales unit of a multinational corporation

This research focuses on corporate entrepreneurship within the sales unit of a multinational corporation. The multinational corporation sets the frame for the research where the realization of CE as a management concept is analyzed in the sales unit. The purpose of this thesis is to gain an in depth understanding of entrepreneurship, and corporate entrepreneurship as a management concept. Additionally it is supposed to increase the literature on the topic of corporate entrepreneurship within a sales unit. It aims to bring the research areas of selling and sales behavior as well as corporate entrepreneurship closer together. In order to gain the in depth knowledge required for this thesis an extensive literature review on the topic of entrepreneurship has been conducted. Corporate entrepreneurship builds on the research of entrepreneurship and is referred to as a management concept. The management concept of change management is introduced and its’ link to corporate entrepreneurship is established. The literature review also covers general research on the multinational corporation as well as the sales unit and the entrepreneurial actions already existing in the sales unit. Furthermore a case study approach has been realized to increase the understanding of corporate entrepreneurship in real life. Therefore eight employees of a multinational corporation, who work in the sales unit, have been interviewed with semi structured interviews. The semi structured interviews were approximately one hour long, resulting in taped material of 9 hours. This material has been transcribed and with the help of the analyzing software NVivo clustered. The clusters of NVivo formed the base to answer the research questions. Elements such as sales innovativeness and creative selling, knowledge sharing, an entrepreneurial mission statement, an employee suggestion scheme, freedom resulting in innovation and an active change management are elements realizing corporate entrepreneurship within the sales unit. Sales innovativeness and creative selling is realized in the sales unit through new selling approaches such as cross selling and value based selling. Knowledge sharing holds a great advantage for the employees where successful ideas and tactics for example form country regions are applied to other regions or even the headquarter. Knowledge share also sparks innovation. The entrepreneurial mission statement is necessary to provide guidelines and describe the desired behavior. The entrepreneurial orientation mission statement refers to the overall entrepreneurial orientation of the company. Freedom according to the data of the case study results in innovation and motivation. Therefore general freedom in the work routine characterizes corporate entrepreneurship in the sales unit. Furthermore an active change management which is also present in the sales unit of the case company supports the process of including corporate entrepreneurship as an overall management concept. These results lead to the conclusion that corporate entrepreneurship is realized to a certain degree within the sales unit, but still holds room for improvement. In the end the generalizability of the thesis as well as advices for future research are given

Effects of a Telerehabilitation Group on Continuing Language Treatment after Participation in an Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program (ICAP)

Aphasia is an acquired neurogenic language disorder encompassing oral and/or written language expression and comprehension affecting an estimated two- to two to four million people in the United States, (Simmons-Mackie, 2018; National Aphasia Association, 2016). The primary aim of the current study was to investigate an option for targeted intervention as a follow-up to an Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program (ICAP). There is little research assessing maintenance of communication profile gains following conclusion of the ICAPs, and there are few options that exist as tailored ICAP follow-up programs or continued intervention guided by the ICAP principle features. To address this, a Tele-connect Aphasia Group (TAG) project was initiated to provide continuing intervention after ICAP via telerehabilitation group therapy. Following a formal language assessment via videoconference, six participants completed up to four one-hour aphasia group sessions via telerehabilitation, along with up to sixty minutes per week of individual sessions/coaching over telephone or videoconference, over the course of four weeks. Results demonstrate progress towards personalized communication goals by all six participants. Moreover, participants endorsed the benefit of continuing language therapy at home through participation in group telerehabilitation, especially when supplemented with individual meetings/sessions

Inflammation in Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes: A Potential Target to Improve Outcomes

Background: Inflammation is implicated in the development, progression and long-term complications of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Hyperglycemia and visceral adipose tissue, which are common in people at risk or diagnosed with T2DM, promote inflammation. Hyperinsulinemia, a compensatory mechanism in response to insulin resistance and a result of some pharmacologic treatments for T2DM, may also be proinflammatory, which has important implications for treatment strategies. Purpose: To further understand the effect that diet and its associated relationship with insulin, has on inflammation and T2DM outcomes. Aim 1: Examines the association between fasting insulin and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), a marker of inflammation, in adults without diabetes, assessing the potential mediating role of visceral adipose tissue, operationalized as waist circumference. Using a multinomial logistic regression, with hs-CRP divided into three levels of risk and average-risk as the base group, in the reduced adjusted model we found that fasting insulin was associated with high-risk (RRR = 1.07, p < .001) and low-risk (RRR = 0.91, p < .001) hs-CRP. In the full adjusted model also controlling for waist circumference, the low-risk RRR was 0.97 (p < .001) and high-risk RRR was 1.02 (p = .002), reflecting the attenuation of 69% and 68% for each group respectively, indicating this relationship may be partially mediated by visceral adipose tissue. Aim 2: Examines the association between diet (net carbohydrates and total sugar) and white blood cell count (WBC), a marker of inflammation, as well as glucose control (glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c]). We found a significant association between net carbohydrate intake and WBC (β = 0.001, p = .047) but not between total sugar intake and WBC (β = 0.000, p = .838), after adjusting for potential confounders. We did not find a significant association between HbA1c and either net carbohydrate (β = 0.001, p = .311) or total sugar (β = -0.000, p = .815), after adjusting for potential confounders. Aim 3: Examines the effect of a very low-carbohydrate diet (VLC) compared to a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet (DASH) on fasting insulin, insulin resistance, and inflammation in overweight or obese adults with prediabetes or T2DM and hypertension over 4 months. Overall, the VLC group experienced greater reductions in fasting insulin compared to the DASH group (-3.86 µU/mL, p = .027) and Homeostatic Model Assessment 2-Insulin Resistance (HOMA2-IR; -0.51, p = .029). However, these effects were no longer significant after a Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons. The VLC group experienced greater reductions in WBC (-0.72 K/uL, p = .004), which was maintained after a Bonferroni adjustment. Reductions in IL-6 approached significance in the DASH vs. VLC group (0.77 pg/mL, p = .070), although this was not significant after the Bonferroni adjustment. Statistically significant differences between diet groups were not observed for the other tested inflammatory markers. Conclusions: This dissertation adds to the evidence that prevention and treatment efforts for T2DM may be improved if inflammation is addressed. These results suggest that treatment approaches that simultaneously decrease insulin levels while achieving glycemic control may provide additional anti-inflammatory effects.PHDNursingUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162872/1/missaman_1.pd

Comparison of established and emerging biodosimetry assays

Rapid biodosimetry tools are required to assist with triage in the case of a large-scale radiation incident. Here, we aimed to determine the dose-assessment accuracy of the well-established dicentric chromosome assay (DCA) and cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN) in comparison to the emerging &gamma;-H2AX foci and gene expression assays for triage mode biodosimetry and radiation injury assessment. Coded blood samples exposed to 10 X-ray doses (240 kVp, 1 Gy/min) of up to 6.4 Gy were sent to participants for dose estimation. Report times were documented for each laboratory and assay. The mean absolute difference (MAD) of estimated doses relative to the true doses was calculated. We also merged doses into binary dose categories of clinical relevance and examined accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the assays. Dose estimates were reported by the first laboratories within 0.3-0.4 days of receipt of samples for the &gamma;-H2AX and gene expression assays compared to 2.4 and 4 days for the DCA and CBMN assays, respectively. Irrespective of the assay we found a 2.5-4-fold variation of interlaboratory accuracy per assay and lowest MAD values for the DCA assay (0.16 Gy) followed by CBMN (0.34 Gy), gene expression (0.34 Gy) and &gamma;-H2AX (0.45 Gy) foci assay. Binary categories of dose estimates could be discriminated with equal efficiency for all assays, but at doses &ge;1.5 Gy a 10% decrease in efficiency was observed for the foci assay, which was still comparable to the CBMN assay. In conclusion, the DCA has been confirmed as the gold standard biodosimetry method, but in situations where speed and throughput are more important than ultimate accuracy, the emerging rapid molecular assays have the potential to become useful triage tools

We are preaching with you pastor : congregational input for the accurate and relevant application of the word of God

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1292/thumbnail.jp