Strategic Leadership Newsletter: Volume 4, Number 2

Jefferson Strategic Leadership Newsletter reports information relevant to the Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University) Doctor of Management Program in Strategic Leadership (DSL) and its community including personal and professional events and accomplishments, new practices, research, opportunities, and suggestions

Strategic Leadership Newsletter: Volume 3, Number 4

Jefferson Strategic Leadership Newsletter reports information relevant to the Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University) Doctor of Management Program in Strategic Leadership (DSL) and its community including personal and professional events and accomplishments, new practices, research, opportunities, and suggestions. You are encouraged to forward the Newsletter to friends and colleagues to expand awareness and to brand yourself as a community member. You are also invited to recommend people or organizations to be added to the mailing list. Contact Jefferson Strategic Leadership Newsletter by emailing [email protected]

Lower Ankle-Brachial Index Is Related to Worse Cognitive Performance in Old Age

Objective: We aimed to study the associations between peripheral artery disease (PAD) and ankle-brachial index (ABI) and performance in a range of cognitive domains in nondemented elderly persons. Methods: Data were collected within the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 and 1936 studies. These are two narrow-age cohorts at age 87 (n = 170) and 73 (n = 748) years. ABI was analyzed as a dichotomous (PAD vs. no PAD) and a continuous measure. PAD was defined as having an ABI less than 0.90. Measures of nonverbal reasoning, verbal declarative memory, verbal fluency, working memory, and processing speed were administered. Both samples were screened for dementia. Results: We observed no significant differences in cognitive performance between persons with or without PAD. However, higher ABI was associated with better general cognition (β = .23, p = .02, R(2) change = .05) and processing speed (β = .29, p < .01, R(2) change = .08) in the older cohort and better processing speed (β = .12, p < .01, R(2) change = .01) in the younger cohort. This was after controlling for age, sex, and childhood mental ability and excluding persons with abnormally high ABI (>1.40) and a history of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease. Conclusion: Lower ABI is associated with worse cognitive performance in old age, especially in the oldest old (>85 years), possibly because of long-term exposure to atherosclerotic disease. Interventions targeting PAD in persons free of manifest cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease may reduce the incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia

Electronic heat current rectification in hybrid superconducting devices

In this work, we review and expand recent theoretical proposals for the realization of electronic thermal diodes based on tunnel-junctions of normal metal and superconducting thin films. Starting from the basic rectifying properties of a single hybrid tunnel junction, we will show how the rectification efficiency can be largely increased by combining multiple junctions in an asymmetric chain of tunnel-coupled islands. We propose three different designs, analyzing their performance and their potential advantages. Besides being relevant from a fundamental physics point of view, this kind of devices might find important technological application as fundamental building blocks in solid-state thermal nanocircuits and in general-purpose cryogenic electronic applications requiring energy management.Comment: 9 pages, 5 color figure