Collaboration and the Emerging Craft Brewing Industry: An Exploratory Study

In adopting various elements associated with the theory of collaboration, this exploratory study investigates collaboration in the context of predominantly micro- and small craft breweries. The findings revealed that collaboration within other brewers helped increase product quality, gain basic knowledge of new recipes, and enhance strategic knowledge about the industry. The applicability of the elements related to the theory of collaboration was confirmed. For instance, the element of stakeholders of a problem domain was aligned with the notion that craft brewery operators’ actions, including collaboration, can have significant impacts on the problem domain that brought them together. © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LL

Hot-Gas Filter Ash Characterization Project

Large-scale hot-gas testing over the past several years has revealed numerous cases of cake buildup on filter elements that have been difficult, if not impossible to remove. At times, the cake can bridge between candle filters, leading to high filter failure rates. Physical factors, including particle-size distribution, particle shape, the aerodynamics of deposition, and system temperature contribute to difficulty in removing the cake. It is speculated that chemical as well as physical effects are playing a role in leading the ash to bond to the filter or to itself. The Energy and Environmental research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota is working with Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a consortium of companies in partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to perform the research necessary to determine the factors that cause hot-gas cleanup filters to be blinded by ash or to develop deposits that can bridge the filters and cause them to fail. The objectives of this overall project are threefold: first, to determine the mechanisms by which difficult-to-clean ash is formed; second, to develop a method to determine the rate of blinding/bridging based on fuel and sorbent properties and operating conditions; finally, to provide suggestions fro ways to prevent filter blinding by the troublesome ash. The projects consists of four tasks: field sampling and archive sample analyses, laboratory-scale testing, bench-scale testing, and model and database development testing. This paper present preliminary data from Task 2 on determining the tensile strengths of coal ash particles at elevated temperatures and simulated combustor gas conditions

Neuroinflammation and Tau Interact with Amyloid in Predicting Sleep Problems in Aging Independently of Atrophy

Sleep problems relate to brain changes in aging and disease, but the mechanisms are unknown. Studies suggest a relationship between β-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation and sleep, which is likely augmented by interactions with multiple variables. Here, we tested how different cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for brain pathophysiology, brain atrophy, memory function, and depressive symptoms predicted self-reported sleep patterns in 91 cognitively healthy older adults over a 3-year period. The results showed that CSF levels of total- and phosphorylated (P) tau, and YKL-40—a marker of neuroinflammation/astroglial activation—predicted poor sleep in Aβ positive older adults. Interestingly, although brain atrophy was strongly predictive of poor sleep, the relationships between CSF biomarkers and sleep were completely independent of atrophy. A joint analysis showed that unique variance in sleep was explained by P-tau and the P-tau × Aβ interaction, memory function, depressive symptoms, and brain atrophy. The results demonstrate that sleep relates to a range of different pathophysiological processes, underscoring the importance of understanding its impact on neurocognitive changes in aging and people with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease

Inflammation, Amyloid, and Atrophy in The Aging Brain: Relationships with Longitudinal Changes in Cognition

Amyloid deposition occurs in aging, even in individuals free from cognitive symptoms, and is often interpreted as preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathophysiology. YKL-40 is a marker of neuroinflammation, being increased in AD, and hypothesized to interact with amyloid-β (Aβ) in causing cognitive decline early in the cascade of AD pathophysiology. Whether and how Aβ and YKL-40 affect brain and cognitive changes in cognitively healthy older adults is still unknown. We studied 89 participants (mean age: 73.1 years) with cerebrospinal fluid samples at baseline, and both MRI and cognitive assessments from two time-points separated by two years. We tested how baseline levels of Aβ42 and YKL-40 correlated with changes in cortical thickness and cognition. Thickness change correlated with Aβ42 only in Aβ42+ participants (<600 pg/mL, n = 27) in the left motor and premotor cortices. Aβ42 was unrelated to cognitive change. Increased YKL-40 was associated with less preservation of scores on the animal naming test in the total sample (r = –0.28, p = 0.012) and less preservation of a score reflecting global cognitive function for Aβ42+ participants (r = –0.58, p = 0.004). Our results suggest a role for inflammation in brain atrophy and cognitive changes in cognitively normal older adults, which partly depended on Aβ accumulation

Deployment of an Advanced Electrocardiographic Analysis (A-ECG) to Detect Cardiovascular Risk in Career Firefighters

INTRODUCTION: Sudden cardiac death is the leading cause of line of duty death among firefighters, accounting for approximately 45% of fatalities annually. Firefighters perform strenuous muscular work while wearing heavy, encapsulating personal protective equipment in high ambient temperatures, under chaotic and emotionally stressful conditions. These factors can precipitate sudden cardiac events like myocardial infarction, serious dysrhythmias, or cerebrovascular accidents in firefighters with underlying cardiovascular disease. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to deploy and then evaluate the contribution of resting advanced ECG (A-ECG) in addition to other screening tools (family history, lipid profiles, and cardiopulmonary exercise tests, XT) in assessment of an individual fs cardiac risk profile. METHODS: Forty-four career firefighters were recruited to perform comprehensive baseline assessments including tests of aerobic performance, fasting lipids and glucose. Five-min resting 12-lead A-ECGs were obtained in a subset of firefighters (n=21) and transmitted over a secure networked system to a NASA physician collaborator. Using myocardial perfusion and other imaging as the gold standard, A-ECG scoring has been proven useful in accurately identifying a number of cardiac pathologies including coronary artery disease (CAD), left ventricular hypertrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and non-ischemic and ischemic cardiomyopathy. RESULTS: Subjects f mean (SD) age was 43 (8) years, weight 91 (13) kg, and BMI 28 (3) kg/m2. Fifty-one percent of subjects had .3 cardiovascular risk factors. One subject had ST depression on XT ECG, at least one positive A-ECG score for CAD, and documented CAD based on cardiology referral. While all other subjects, including those with fewer risk factors, higher aerobic fitness, and normal exercise ECGs, were classified as healthy by A-ECG, there was no trend for association between risk factors and any of 20 A-ECG parameters in the grouped data

Effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving physical and psychological outcomes of fall-related injuries in people with dementia: a narrative systematic review

Background: The annual prevalence of falls in people with dementia ranges from 47 to 90%. Falls are a common reason for hospital admission in people with dementia, and there is limited research evidence regarding the care pathways experienced by this population. In addition to immediate management of an injury, prevention of further falls is likely to be an important part of any successful intervention. This review aims to assess the effectiveness of interventions for improving the physical and psychological wellbeing of people with dementia who have sustained a fall-related injury. Methods: Systematic review methodologies were employed utilising searches across multiple databases (MEDLINE, CENTRAL, Health Management Information Consortium, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro)) and citation chaining. Studies including people with a known diagnosis of dementia living in the community and who present at health services with a fall, with or without injury, were included. Outcomes of interest included mobility, recurrent falls, activities of daily living, length of hospital stay, and post-discharge residence. Results were independently reviewed and quality assessed by two researchers, and data extracted using a customised form. A narrative synthesis was performed due to heterogeneity of the included studies. Results: Seven studies were included. Interventions clustered into three broad categories: multidisciplinary in-hospital post-surgical geriatric assessment; pharmaceuticals; and multifactorial assessment. Multidisciplinary care and early mobilisation showed short-term improvements for some outcomes. Only an annual administration of zoledronic acid showed long-term reduction in recurrent falls. Conclusions: Due to high heterogeneity across the studies, definitive conclusions could not be reached. Most post-fall interventions were not aimed at patients with dementia and have shown little efficacy regardless of cognitive status. Minor improvements to some quality of life indicators were shown, but these were generally not statistically significant. Conclusions were also limited due to most studies addressing hip fracture; the interventions provided for this type of injury may not be suitable for other types of fractures or soft tissue injuries, or for use in primary care

Second-line treatment for primary central nervous system lymphoma

Failure after first-line treatment was reported in 35–60% of immunocompetent patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). There are currently no reports focusing on salvage therapy. This review analyses prognostic factors and the efficacy of salvage therapy by focusing on data from papers reporting results of first-line treatment in 355 cases. The study group consisted of 173 patients presenting treatment failure. The interval between failure and death (TTD) was compared for age at relapse (≤60 vs >60 years), type of failure (relapse vs progression), time to relapse (≤12 vs >12 months) and salvage treatment (yes vs no). Median TTD was similar in younger and older patients (P = 0.09). Relapsed patients had a longer TTD than patients with progressive disease (P = 0.002). Early relapse led to a shorter TTD than late relapse (P = 0.005). Median TTD was 14 months for patients who underwent salvage therapy and 2 months for untreated cases (P < 0.00001). A multivariate analysis showed an independent prognostic role for salvage therapy and time to relapse. Age and type of failure had no predictive value. Salvage therapy significantly improves outcome and, possibly, quality of life. As many different treatments were used conclusions cannot be made regarding an optimal treatment schedule. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Explaining cross-cultural service interactions in tourism with Shenkar’s Cultural Friction

In this paper, we commence a new dialogue on cross-cultural research in tourism. Using Shenkar’s (2001) metaphor of cultural friction as the analytical framework, we examine crosscultural service interactions between guests and service-providers in a luxury hotel. Cultural friction departs from, and extends, the notion of ‘cultural distance’, as it recognises asymmetry in social-economic conditions and considers the goals and the influence of control and power between the interacting parties. We use the Critical Incident Technique and Narrative Inquiry as the data collection technique and analytical approach respectively. The findings reveal that guests and service-providers use a number of strategies to exert power and gain control during their interactions, including subjective essentialism and stereotyping, to achieve their goals. The implications for tourism and hospitality management include providing cross-cultural sensitivity training to service-providers, ensuring a cultural-diverse employee composition, and to foster cross-cultural understanding amongst employees. We further suggest to develop strategies to facilitate effective cross-cultural service interactions based on evidence about cultural norms, expectations and behaviours from specific cultural groups. Further research is recommended to connect specific interactions between the interacting parties to examine whether the various strategies used leads to effective cross-cultural communication