Zero deadtime spectroscopy without full charge collection

The Savannah River Technology Center has built a remote gamma monitoring instrument which employs data sampling techniques rather than full charge collection to perform energy spectroscopy without instrument dead time. The raw, unamplified anode output of a photomultiplier tube is directly coupled to the instrument to generate many digital samples during the charge collection process, so that all pulse processing is done in the digital domain. The primary components are a free-running, 32 MSPS, 10-bit A/D, a field programmable gate array, FIFO buffers, and a digital signal processor (DSP). Algorithms for pulse integration, pile-up rejection, and other shape based criteria are being developed in DSP code for migration into the gate array. Spectra taken with a two inch Na(I) detector have been obtained at rates as high as 59,000 counts per second without dead time with peak resolution at 662 KeV measuring 7.3%

Insights into malaria susceptibility using genome-wide data on 17,000 individuals from Africa, Asia and Oceania

The human genetic factors that affect resistance to infectious disease are poorly understood. Here we report a genome-wide association study in 17,000 severe malaria cases and population controls from 11 countries, informed by sequencing of family trios and by direct typing of candidate loci in an additional 15,000 samples. We identify five replicable associations with genome-wide levels of evidence including a newly implicated variant on chromosome 6. Jointly, these variants account for around one-tenth of the heritability of severe malaria, which we estimate as -23% using genome-wide genotypes. We interrogate available functional data and discover an erythroid-specific transcription start site underlying the known association in ATP2B4, but are unable to identify a likely causal mechanism at the chromosome 6 locus. Previously reported HLA associations do not replicate in these samples. This large dataset will provide a foundation for further research on thegenetic determinants of malaria resistance in diverse populations.Peer reviewe

Human Resource Flexibility as a Mediating Variable Between High Performance Work Systems and Performance

Much of the human resource management literature has demonstrated the impact of high performance work systems (HPWS) on organizational performance. A new generation of studies is emerging in this literature that recommends the inclusion of mediating variables between HPWS and organizational performance. The increasing rate of dynamism in competitive environments suggests that measures of employee adaptability should be included as a mechanism that may explain the relevance of HPWS to firm competitiveness. On a sample of 226 Spanish firms, the study’s results confirm that HPWS influences performance through its impact on the firm’s human resource (HR) flexibility

Track A Basic Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138319/1/jia218438.pd

Different approaches in pharmaceutical education: Comparison of three educational models

The role of the pharmacist and of pharmacy education within a modern patient-based approach is important as is having an adequate curricula for a professional pharmaceutical degree. Although there are various approaches in the field of education, this study has focused on three different educational models as exemplified by the Faculty of Pharmacy, Belgrade University, FR Yugoslavia; the Faculty of Pharmacy, Salamanca University, Spain; the School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, USA. It is reported that there are some similarities and specific deviations among the models described in this study. Special effort has been made to correlate the different types of pharmaceutical education with the involvement of chemistry and chemical courses within each of them. There is a difference between the various models and the impact of chemistry in them