Competing by Saving Lives: How Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Companies Create Shared Value in Global Health

This report looks at how pharmaceutical and medical device companies can create shared value in global health by addressing unmet health needs in low- and middle-income countries. Companies have already begun to reap business value and are securing competitive advantages in the markets of tomorrow

African-American Community Of Sacramento County

This paper explores the concepts of culture, cultural identity and levels of equity within the African-American community, with a highlighted focus on the community of Sacramento County. In specific, this paper identifies specific social inequities and provides ideas and actions that are currently in place to prevent these inequities, more pointedly education and employment. It is a reflection on the African-American community and a reflective exercise on self identity, culture, cultural identities and equity

Activation of the Listeria monocytogenes Virulence Program by a Reducing Environment.

Upon entry into the host cell cytosol, the facultative intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes coordinates the expression of numerous essential virulence factors by allosteric binding of glutathione (GSH) to the Crp-Fnr family transcriptional regulator PrfA. Here, we report that robust virulence gene expression can be recapitulated by growing bacteria in a synthetic medium containing GSH or other chemical reducing agents. Bacteria grown under these conditions were 45-fold more virulent in an acute murine infection model and conferred greater immunity to a subsequent lethal challenge than bacteria grown in conventional media. During cultivation in vitro, PrfA activation was completely dependent on the intracellular levels of GSH, as a glutathione synthase mutant (ΔgshF) was activated by exogenous GSH but not reducing agents. PrfA activation was repressed in a synthetic medium supplemented with oligopeptides, but the repression was relieved by stimulation of the stringent response. These data suggest that cytosolic L. monocytogenes interprets a combination of metabolic and redox cues as a signal to initiate robust virulence gene expression in vivoIMPORTANCE Intracellular pathogens are responsible for much of the worldwide morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. These pathogens have evolved various strategies to proliferate within individual cells of the host and avoid the host immune response. Through cellular invasion or the use of specialized secretion machinery, all intracellular pathogens must access the host cell cytosol to establish their replicative niches. Determining how these pathogens sense and respond to the intracellular compartment to establish a successful infection is critical to our basic understanding of the pathogenesis of each organism and for the rational design of therapeutic interventions. Listeria monocytogenes is a model intracellular pathogen with robust in vitro and in vivo infection models. Studies of the host-sensing and downstream signaling mechanisms evolved by L. monocytogenes often describe themes of pathogenesis that are broadly applicable to less tractable pathogens. Here, we describe how bacteria use external redox states as a cue to activate virulence

An analysis of the common missile and TOW 2B on the Stryker anti-tank guided missile platform, using the Janus simulation

The U.S. Army is beginning to field the first of six Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCTs) and equip the organic Anti-Tank (AT) Company of the Brigade with the LAV III Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) Platform and the Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided 2B (TOW 2B) missile system. A developmental effort is currently underway to replace the aging TOW 2B and Hellfire missile systems with a common missile that meets both ground and air requirements. With increased range, lethality, and target acquisition capability, the Common Missile (CM) is being designed as the primary weapon system for the Army's Comanche helicopter and is a candidate for the lethality system of the Future Combat System (FCS) within the Army's Objective Force. Additionally, the CM is designed to be "backwards compatible" with existing TOW 2B and Hellfire launch platforms. The objective of this research effort is to determine the increase in operational effectiveness through the employment of the CM in the AT company of the SBCT in three different scenarios, using the high-resolution Janus Combat Model. Operational effectiveness will be assessed and statistically analyzed using lethality, survivability, and engagement range for three measures of effectiveness (MOEs)http://archive.org/details/annalysisofcommo109453438Major, United States ArmyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

A new ICEEMDAN-based transfer entropy quantifying information flow between real estate and policy uncertainty

We quantify the dependence between real estate indices and global economic policy uncertainty for 12 top-advanced countries. Generally, real estate investments are found to be highly risky to information flow from global economic policy uncertainty. amidst policy uncertainty, we find diversification, safe haven, and hedging prospects – based on the market conditions – at short term frequencies only, for the pairs between (a) Japan and the US; (b) Singapore and the US; (c) China and Canada; (d) China and Hong Kong. Our findings underscore market efficiency (inefficiency) at mid-and long-term (short-term) frequencies. In the presence of policy uncertainty, our findings underscore the operability of ingrained market dynamics between real estate investments in the mid-and long-term horizons. It is prudent for investors to combine real estate investments with other asset classes that are less risky to (or are positive recipients of) information flow from global EPU to hedge against adverse market shocks from any asset in the portfolio based on market conditions. Practically, not only should legislations be flexible to the changing market trends in the short term, but they should also be strategically crafted to retain the fundamental market dynamics between real estate investments in the mid-and long-term economic horizons

The Right and the Wren

Metaethical constructivism aims to explain morality’s authority and relevance by basing it in agency, in a capacity of the creatures who are in fact morally bound. But constructivists have struggled to wring anything recognizably moral from an appropriately minimal conception of agency. Even if they could, basing our reasons in our individual agency seems to make other people reason-giving for us only indirectly. This paper argues for a constructivism based on a social conception of agency, on which our capacity to recognize ourselves as having reasons ties us inescapably to others. It argues that mutual recognition is a pervasive feature of linguistic concepts, and builds this into a view called transformative expressivism

Neighborhood Pollution and Subjective Health

In response to a call for more research documenting the association between pollution and subjective health, I use data collected by The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) between 1990 and 2007 to explore the association between neighborhood pollution and subjective health. Using regression analysis, I find that both neighborhood and individual level characteristics contribute to an association between neighborhood pollution and subjective health. Statistically, I also explore gender as a possible modifier in the proposed association and find minimal statistical support. Possible explanations for this finding are discussed in the conclusions. This research gives insight into how pollution may be associated with an individual's well-being. An addition, conclusions expand the implications of my findings on environmental justice campaigns and public health concerns.Master of Art

Aldh2 is a lineage-specific metabolic gatekeeper in melanocyte stem cells

Melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) in zebrafish serve as an on-demand source of melanocytes during growth and regeneration, but metabolic programs associated with their activation and regenerative processes are not well known. Here, using live imaging coupled with scRNA-sequencing, we discovered that, during regeneration, quiescent McSCs activate a dormant embryonic neural crest transcriptional program followed by an aldehyde dehydrogenase (Aldh) 2 metabolic switch to generate progeny. Unexpectedly, although ALDH2 is well known for its aldehyde-clearing mechanisms, we find that, in regenerating McSCs, Aldh2 activity is required to generate formate – the one-carbon (1C) building block for nucleotide biosynthesis – through formaldehyde metabolism. Consequently, we find that disrupting the 1C cycle with low doses of methotrexate causes melanocyte regeneration defects. In the absence of Aldh2, we find that purines are the metabolic end product sufficient for activated McSCs to generate progeny. Together, our work reveals McSCs undergo a two-step cell state transition during regeneration, and that the reaction products of Aldh2 enzymes have tissue-specific stem cell functions that meet metabolic demands in regeneration

Social Media Users Cyberhate Reporting Intentions: Does Users’ Perceptions of Police Effectiveness Matter?

In Kenya, social media platforms are the primary medium for cyberhate, and it predominantly affects university students who have extensive social media usage. Although cyberhate is considered as a criminal offence in Kenya, victims, particularly young people, often do not report victimisation to the police. Despite the well-documented harmful effects of cyberhate, the cause behind its underreporting remains unclear. Studies have established the influential role of attitudes, particularly views of police effectiveness, in shaping the choice to report crimes. However, insufficient focus has been given to examining this relationship, specifically within the context of cyberhate reporting. Moreover, potential variations in perceptions of police effectiveness across different policing contexts also introduce nuances to the relationship. Guided by the Instrumental Performance-Based Model of policing, the study explored the connection between social media users' views of police effectiveness and their intention to report incidents of cyberhate victimisation to the police. A descriptive survey design utilizing a quantitative approach was adopted, targeting undergraduate students at a public university in Kenya. From this population, a sampling frame consisting of 5,121 undergraduates was created by focusing on three faculties, and stratified sampling ensured proportional selection from all strata. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire administered to a randomly selected subset of 378 respondents, of whom 261 returned completed questionnaires. Spearman's correlation results revealed a positive and significant correlation between perceived police effectiveness and cyberhate reporting intentions. The study explored the implications of this finding for the National Police Service and suggested directions for future research