The Effect of Continuity on Team Performance in the NFL

The purpose of this study is to determine if player and coaching continuity is significant in predicting team performance in the NFL. First, the relationship will be explored between team performance and team continuity, as a whole. Then, the players and coaching staff will be stratified into different positional categories, and the relationship between the continuity within each of those categories and team performance will be examined. The different player position groups will be broken down into quarterbacks, running backs, receiving corps, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, and the secondary. The coaching staff will be categorized as head coaches, offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators, and special teams coordinators. This research can help NFL franchises make more informed decisions relating to the hiring and firing of coaches, as well as the acquisition and departure of player personnel

How are Swedish healthcare companies entering and operating on the Japanese market

The Japanese healthcare market is full of hinders and barriers for foreign companies. These prevents new companies from entering the market unless they have the resources to spend on adapting to the Japanese market. Despite these hinders and barriers Japan continues to be a market which most healthcare companies wants to enter. Behind all the barrier lies one of the world’s largest healthcare markets. The purpose of this thesis is to look at how Swedish healthcare companies enter and compete by looking at two companies, AstraZeneca and Mölnlycke Health Care. The study was conducted through interviews with employees of the two companies as well as secondary data. The two companies way of entering, expanding and competing on the Japanese market would be compared to three theories, the 2017 Uppsala model, the 1977 Uppsala model and Porter’s five forces. What could be found is a large reliance on networks on the Japanese focus with a large emphasis on good relations with key opinion leaders. What was also found is that even though the barriers of entry were high, once inside the market they would instead protect the company

Sumoylation regulates lamin A function and is lost in lamin A mutants associated with familial cardiomyopathies

Lamin A mutations cause many diseases, including cardiomyopathies and Progeria Syndrome. The covalent attachment of small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) polypeptides regulates the function of many proteins. Until now, no examples of human disease-causing mutations that occur within a sumoylation consensus sequence and alter sumoylation were known. We show that lamin A is sumoylated at lysine 201 and that two lamin A mutants associated with familial dilated cardiomyopathy, E203G and E203K, exhibit decreased sumoylation. E203 occupies the conserved +2 position in the sumoylation consensus ΨKXE. Lamin A mutants E203G, E203K, and K201R all exhibit a similar aberrant subcellular localization and are associated with increased cell death. Fibroblasts from an individual with the E203K lamin A mutation also exhibit decreased lamin A sumoylation and increased cell death. These results suggest that SUMO modification is important for normal lamin A function and implicate an involvement for altered sumoylation in the E203G/E203K lamin A cardiomyopathies

Studien zur religiösen Malerei Jean Jouvenets

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit den religiösen Gemälden des französischen Barockmalers Jean Jouvenet. Der gebürtige Normanne übte seine Tätigkeit in Paris während der kulturellen Blütezeit Ludwigs XIV aus und gilt als einer der bedeutendsten Maler religiöser Themen seiner Zeit. Es war dies jene Periode, in der sich ein akademisches System unter der Leitung Charles Le Bruns zu manifestieren begann und künstlerisch – stilistische Normen für einen staatlichen Kunstbetrieb geprägt wurden. Die Wertschätzung der italienischen Malerei wird gleichermaßen in den königlichen Sammlungen und den akademischen Lehrmethoden offenbar. Insbesondere die Bologneser Schule, galt als erstrebenswertes, wenn nicht zu übertreffendes Ideal. Institutionen wie die Académie de France à Rome waren nur eine Methode, die italienischen Vorbilder zu adaptieren, um mit Hilfe dieser Grundlagen einen einheitlichen französischen Stil zu begründen. Jouvenets Gemälde sind von unterschiedlichen Merkmalen europäischer Schulen durchdrungen, weshalb es sich diese Studie zur Aufgabe gemacht hat, sein religiöses Werk einer genauen Stilanalyse auf italienische, flämische und französische Einflüsse zu unterziehen und die Eigenheiten dieses Künstlers hinsichtlich seiner Bild- und Handlungsgestaltung herauszuarbeiten

The Esophageal Pressure-Guided Ventilation 2 (EPVent2) trial protocol: a multicentre, randomised clinical trial of mechanical ventilation guided by transpulmonary pressure

Introduction: Optimal ventilator management for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains uncertain. Lower tidal volume ventilation appears to be beneficial, but optimal management of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) remains unclear. The Esophageal Pressure-Guided Ventilation 2 Trial (EPVent2) aims to examine the impact of mechanical ventilation directed at maintaining a positive transpulmonary pressure (PTP) in patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS. Methods and analysis EPVent2 is a multicentre, prospective, randomised, phase II clinical trial testing the hypothesis that the use of a PTP-guided ventilation strategy will lead to improvement in composite outcomes of mortality and time off the ventilator at 28 days as compared with a high-PEEP control. This study will enrol 200 study participants from 11 hospitals across North America. The trial will utilise a primary composite end point that incorporates death and days off the ventilator at 28 days to test the primary hypothesis that adjusting ventilator pressure to achieve positive PTP values will result in improved mortality and ventilator-free days. Ethics and dissemination Safety oversight will be under the direction of an independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB). Approval of the protocol was obtained from the DSMB prior to enrolling the first study participant. Approvals of the protocol as well as informed consent documents were also obtained from the Institutional Review Board of each participating institution prior to enrolling study participants at each respective site. The findings of this investigation, as well as associated ancillary studies, will be disseminated in the form of oral and abstract presentations at major national and international medical specialty meetings. The primary objective and other significant findings will also be presented in manuscript form. All final, published manuscripts resulting from this protocol will be submitted to PubMed Central in accordance with the National Institute of Health Public Access Policy. Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.gov under number NCT01681225

Date palm spider mite monitoring system

The spider mite (Oligonychus afrasiaticus McGregor) is an important injurious Pest of date palm. This research was carried out to decision making system in integrated pest of date palm in Abadan, Khoramshhar, Shadegan, Ahwaz, Mahshar and Behbehan regions of Khuzestan province by climatic and geoststistical models from 2008 to 2012. Samples were taken randomly from 10 trees located in one date palm orchards of any villages then the percent injury of date palm pest evaluated. Results showed that the spider mite damages reached to the peak values in July. Forecasting model of damage factors including have been significant at level 1 percent. Variography of distribution on different sites were studied based on Spherical, Exponential, Linear, Linear to sill and Gaussian models and their Kringing maps were driven. The model nuggets for spider mite for Abadan & Khoramshhar, Shadegan, Ahwaz, Mahshar and Behbehan regions were 11.6, 21.2, 11.8, 11.4 and 12.4 kilometers respectively. These results show that errors of the pest damage estimation were low at the distances less than within sampling space. Effective ranges of variograms were 12.4, 12.7, 8.2, 6.5 and 7.2 respectively which indicated the population distribution in region. Sills of models were 0.91, 0.74, 0.67, 0.75 and 0.96 respectively that at the distances more than these thresholds, correlations between the data of damages are at the lowest level and could be monitored. Combining both intelligent model based on meteorological and dispersion index pests on geostatistic has provided possible practical operation of the system of decision making in the form of a computer program

Het archeologische vooronderzoek aan de Heurkensberg te Tongeren

Dit rapport werd ingediend bij het agentschap samen met een aantal afzonderlijke digitale bijlagen. Een aantal van deze bijlagen zijn niet inbegrepen in dit pdf document en zijn niet online beschikbaar. Sommige bijlagen (grondplannen, fotos, spoorbeschrijvingen, enz.) kunnen van belang zijn voor een betere lezing en interpretatie van dit rapport. Indien u deze bijlagen wenst te raadplegen kan u daarvoor contact opnemen met: [email protected]

Development of a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience to Introduce Drug-Receptor Concepts

Course-based research experiences (CUREs) are currently of high interest due to their potential for engaging undergraduate students in authentic research and maintaining their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. As part of a campuswide initiative called STEMCats, which is a living learning program offered to freshman STEM majors at the University of Kentucky funded by a grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, we have developed a CURE for freshmen interested in pursuing health care careers. Our course, entitled “Drug–Drug Interactions in Breast Cancer,” utilized a semester-long, in-class authentic research project and instructor-led discussions to engage students in a full spectrum of research activities, ranging from developing hypotheses and experimental design to generating original data, collaboratively interpreting results and presenting a poster at a campus-wide symposium. Student’s feedback indicated a positive impact on scientific understanding and skills, enhanced teamwork and communication skills, as well as high student engagement, motivation, and STEM belonging. STEM belonging is defined as the extent to which a student may view the STEM fields as places where they belong. The results obtained from this pilot study, while preliminary, will be useful for guiding design revisions and generating appropriate objective evaluations of future pharmacological-based CUREs