REEXAMINING THE LENGTH OF LAW ENFORCEMENT CAREERS

Law enforcement agencies from all sectors, including local, state, and federal agencies, are experiencing a dramatic decrease in staffing. Concurrently, recruitment of new officers has also significantly declined. As law enforcement staffing decreases, agencies struggle to meet the needs of the populations they serve. Reduced staffing also impacts law enforcement’s ability to conduct front-line and collaborative homeland security functions. This thesis examines how changes to law enforcement retirement systems impact the recruiting and retention of officers. This thesis utilizes existing academic literature from varied disciplines to examine the impact that changes in benefits will have on law enforcement staffing and the ability of law enforcement as a sector to participate in homeland security activities. The intent of this thesis is to predict the success or failure of benefits reforms as they relate to recruitment and retention of staff in law enforcement careers.Civilian, Massachusetts State PoliceApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Modulation of the Metabiome by Rifaximin in Patients with Cirrhosis and Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) represents a dysfunctional gut-liver-brain axis in cirrhosis which can negatively impact outcomes. This altered gut-brain relationship has been treated using gut-selective antibiotics such as rifaximin, that improve cognitive function in HE, especially its subclinical form, minimal HE (MHE). However, the precise mechanism of the action of rifaximin in MHE is unclear. We hypothesized that modulation of gut microbiota and their end-products by rifaximin would affect the gut-brain axis and improve cognitive performance in cirrhosis. Aim To perform a systems biology analysis of the microbiome, metabolome and cognitive change after rifaximin in MHE. Methods Twenty cirrhotics with MHE underwent cognitive testing, endotoxin analysis, urine/serum metabolomics (GC and LC-MS) and fecal microbiome assessment (multi-tagged pyrosequencing) at baseline and 8 weeks post-rifaximin 550 mg BID. Changes in cognition, endotoxin, serum/urine metabolites (and microbiome were analyzed using recommended systems biology techniques. Specifically, correlation networks between microbiota and metabolome were analyzed before and after rifaximin. Results There was a significant improvement in cognition(six of seven tests improved,pVeillonellaceaeand increase inEubacteriaceae was observed. Rifaximin resulted in a significant reduction in network connectivity and clustering on the correlation networks. The networks centered onEnterobacteriaceae, Porphyromonadaceae and Bacteroidaceae indicated a shift from pathogenic to beneficial metabolite linkages and better cognition while those centered on autochthonous taxa remained similar. Conclusions Rifaximin is associated with improved cognitive function and endotoxemia in MHE, which is accompanied by alteration of gut bacterial linkages with metabolites without significant change in microbial abundance. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0106913

BEAM EMITTANCE DIAGNOSTIC FOR THE DARHT SECOND AXIS INJECTOR

Low beam emittance is key to achieving the required spot size at the output focus of the DARHT Second Axis. The nominal electron beam parameters at the output of the injector are 2 kA, 4.6 MeV, 2-microsecond pulse width and an rms radius less than 1 cm. Emittance is measured by bringing the beam to a focus in which the emittance is a dominant influence in determining the spot size. The spot size is measured from Cerenkov or optical transition radiation (OTR) generated from a target intercepted by the beam. The current density in the focused DARHT beam would melt this target in less than 1/2 microsec. To prevent this we have designed a DC magnetic transport system that defocuses the beam on the emittance target to prevent overheating, and uses a 125-ns half period pulsed solenoid to selectively focus the beam for short times during the beam pulse. During the development of the fast-focusing portion of this diagnostic it has been determined that the focusing pulse must rapidly sweep through the focus at the target to an over-focused condition to avoid target damage due to overheating. The fast focus produces {approx}1 kilogauss field over an effective length of {approx}50 cm to bring the beam to a focus on the target. The fast focus field is generated with a 12-turn coil located inside the beam-transport vacuum chamber with the entire fast coil structure within the bore of a D.C. magnet. The pulsed coil diameter of {approx}15 cm is dictated by the return current path at the nominal vacuum wall. Since the drive system is to use 40 kV to 50 kV technology and much of the inductance is in the drive and feed circuit, the coil design has three 120 degree segments. The coil, driver and feed system design, as well as beam envelope calculations and target heating calculations are presented below. Operation of the OTR imaging system will be discussed in separate publication (Ref. 1)

Univariate serum metabolomic analysis.

<p>There was a significant increase in fatty acids and intermediates of carbohydrate metabolism after rifaximin therapy in the serum.</p

Consort Flowchart of the Open-label trial.

<p>Consort Flowchart of the Open-label trial.</p

A: Principal Component Analysis of Microbiota.

<p>There was no significant change in the PCO of microbiota before and after rifaximin therapy (yellow dots are before and red dots are after rifaximin) B and C: Composition of microbiota families before (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0060042#pone-0060042-g002" target="_blank">figure 2B</a>) and after (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0060042#pone-0060042-g002" target="_blank">figure 2C</a>) rifaximin. There was a significant decrease in <i>Veillonellaceae</i> and increase in <i>Eubacteriaceae</i> abundance after rifaximin therapy (marked in red).</p

Subset of correlation differences before and after rifaximin.

<p>This figure is limited to the metabolomics and clinical/cognitive features that changed with rifaximin and their interaction with the bacterial taxa. The linkages that significantly changed in nature (positive to negative or vice-versa) or intensity (less to more or vice-versa while remaining positive or negative) with p<0.05 are shown. Nodes: Blue: bacterial taxa, green: serum metabolites, Yellow: cognitive or clinical data. Linkages were dark blue if correlations were positive before and changed significantly to negative, light blue if they changed significantly but remained positive throughout, red if correlations were negative at baseline but changed to positive after therapy and green is negative relationship throughout but a significant change.</p

Correlation networks before and after rifaximin.

<p><u>Legend common for </u><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0060042#pone-0060042-g004" target="_blank"><u>figures 4A, 4B and 4C</u>:</a> The complex correlation network represented parameters that were linked with a correlation coefficient >0.6 (negative or positive) and with a p value <0.05. Red nodes represent bacterial taxa, green ones the serum metabolites, yellow nodes indicate urinary metabolites while blue ones indicate clinical parameters. Red edges represent negative correlation between connected nodes and blue edges indicate positive correlations. <u>A</u>: Correlation network before rifaximin (BCN) with r>0.6 or <−0.6 and p<0.001. <u>B</u>: Correlation network after rifaximin (ACN) with r>0.6 or <−0.6 and p<0.001. <u>C</u>: is the intersection of 5A and B. It demonstrates those nodes and correlations that remain exactly same before and after rifaximin. <u>D:</u> Cumulative Degree Function curve. This graph plots the cumulative degree function of the node frequency distributions before and after rifaximin. It shows that after rifaximin therapy there was a significant reduction in network complexity (p<0.0001). Blue line: before and red line: after rifaximin. <u>E</u>: Correlation difference before and after rifaximin. This figure shows the correlations that significantly changed between the before and after rifaximin state; i.e. if two nodes were connected positively in the before rifaximin network but aftr rifaximin changed to negative, they are represented here. While the color coding of the nodes is similar, red edges demonstrate linkages that were positive in the BCN but became negative in ACN, while blue edges represent correlations that changed from negative to positive after the use of rifaximin.</p

Changes in cognition and cirrhosis severity with rifaximin therapy.

<p>Changes in cognition and cirrhosis severity with rifaximin therapy.</p