Banking Expectations: Do Bankers Really Understand the Needs of the Small Business Customer?

This study examines the expectations that both small business firms and bankers have regarding the bank selection process. The purpose of the study is to determine whether or not bankers understand the needs of the small business customer. It is based on a nationwide survey of 115 small business firms and 296 banks. In seven instances, statistically significant differences in expectations are noted. The results suggest a communication gap in the small business/commercial bank relationship

Comparison of head impact measurements via an instrumented mouthguard and an anthropometric testing device

The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the efficacy of head impact measurements via an electronic sensor framework, embedded within a mouthguard, against an anthropometric testing device. Development of the former is in response to the growing issue of head impacts and concussion in rugby union. Testing was conducted in a vehicle safety laboratory using a standard impact protocol utilising the headforms of anthropometric testing devices. The headforms were subjected to controlled front and side impacts. For each impact, the linear acceleration and rotational velocity was measured over a 104-ms interval at a frequency of 1 kHz. The magnitude of peak linear acceleration and peak rotational velocity was determined from the measured time-series traces and statistically compared. The peak linear acceleration and rotational velocity had intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.95 and 0.99, respectively. The root-mean-square error between the measurement systems was 4.3 g with a standard deviation of 3.5 g for peak linear acceleration and 0.7 rad/s with a standard deviation of 0.4 rad/s for rotational velocity. Bland and Altman analysis indicated a systematic bias of 2.5 g and − 0.5 rad/s and limits of agreement (1.96 × standard deviation) of ± 13.1 g and ± 1.25 rad/s for the instrumented mouthguard. These results provide the basis on which the instrumented mouthguard can be further developed for deployment and application within professional rugby, with a view to accurately and reliably quantify head collision dynamics

Poisson-event-based analysis of cell proliferation.

A protocol for the assessment of cell proliferation dynamics is presented. This is based on the measurement of cell division events and their subsequent analysis using Poisson probability statistics. Detailed analysis of proliferation dynamics in heterogeneous populations requires single cell resolution within a time series analysis and so is technically demanding to implement. Here, we show that by focusing on the events during which cells undergo division rather than directly on the cells themselves a simplified image acquisition and analysis protocol can be followed, which maintains single cell resolution and reports on the key metrics of cell proliferation. The technique is demonstrated using a microscope with 1.3 μm spatial resolution to track mitotic events within A549 and BEAS-2B cell lines, over a period of up to 48 h. Automated image processing of the bright field images using standard algorithms within the ImageJ software toolkit yielded 87% accurate recording of the manually identified, temporal, and spatial positions of the mitotic event series. Analysis of the statistics of the interevent times (i.e., times between observed mitoses in a field of view) showed that cell division conformed to a nonhomogeneous Poisson process in which the rate of occurrence of mitotic events, λ exponentially increased over time and provided values of the mean inter mitotic time of 21.1 ± 1.2 hours for the A549 cells and 25.0 ± 1.1 h for the BEAS-2B cells. Comparison of the mitotic event series for the BEAS-2B cell line to that predicted by random Poisson statistics indicated that temporal synchronisation of the cell division process was occurring within 70% of the population and that this could be increased to 85% through serum starvation of the cell culture

Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations of hyperluminous infrared galaxies

We present Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 I-band imaging for a sample of nine hyperluminous infrared galaxies (HLIRGs) spanning a redshift range 0.45 < z < 1.34. Three of the sample have morphologies showing evidence for interactions and six are quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). Host galaxies in the QSOs are detected reliably out to z ∼ 0.8. The detected QSO host galaxies have an elliptical morphology with scalelengths spanning 6.5 < re (kpc) < 88 and absolute k-corrected magnitudes spanning −24.5 < MI < −25.2. There is no clear correlation between the infrared (IR) power source and the optical morphology. None of the sources in the sample, including F15307+3252, shows any evidence for gravitational lensing. We infer that the IR luminosities are thus real. Based on these results, and previous studies of HLIRGs, we conclude that this class of object is broadly consistent with being a simple extrapolation of the ULIRG population to higher luminosities; ULIRGs being mainly violently interacting systems powered by starbursts and/or active galactic nuclei. Only a small number of sources, the infrared luminosities of which exceed 1013 L⊙, are intrinsically less luminous objects that have been boosted by gravitational lensing

Flow-Based Cytometric Analysis of Cell Cycle via Simulated Cell Populations

We present a new approach to the handling and interrogating of large flow cytometry data where cell status and function can be described, at the population level, by global descriptors such as distribution mean or co-efficient of variation experimental data. Here we link the “real” data to initialise a computer simulation of the cell cycle that mimics the evolution of individual cells within a larger population and simulates the associated changes in fluorescence intensity of functional reporters. The model is based on stochastic formulations of cell cycle progression and cell division and uses evolutionary algorithms, allied to further experimental data sets, to optimise the system variables. At the population level, the in-silico cells provide the same statistical distributions of fluorescence as their real counterparts; in addition the model maintains information at the single cell level. The cell model is demonstrated in the analysis of cell cycle perturbation in human osteosarcoma tumour cells, using the topoisomerase II inhibitor, ICRF-193. The simulation gives a continuous temporal description of the pharmacodynamics between discrete experimental analysis points with a 24 hour interval; providing quantitative assessment of inter-mitotic time variation, drug interaction time constants and sub-population fractions within normal and polyploid cell cycles. Repeated simulations indicate a model accuracy of ±5%. The development of a simulated cell model, initialized and calibrated by reference to experimental data, provides an analysis tool in which biological knowledge can be obtained directly via interrogation of the in-silico cell population. It is envisaged that this approach to the study of cell biology by simulating a virtual cell population pertinent to the data available can be applied to “generic” cell-based outputs including experimental data from imaging platforms

The Evolution of Radio Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift

We describe a new estimate of the radio galaxy 1.4 GHz luminosity function and its evolution at intermediate redshifts (z~0.4). Photometric redshifts and color selection have been used to select Bj<23.5 early-type galaxies from the Panoramic Deep Fields, a multicolor survey of two 25 sq deg fields. Approximately 230 radio galaxies have then been selected by matching early-type galaxies with NVSS radio sources brighter than 5 mJy. Estimates of the 1.4 GHz luminosity function of radio galaxies measure significant evolution over the observed redshift range. For an Omega_M=1 cosmology the evolution of the radio power is consistent with luminosity evolution where P(z)=P(0)(1+z)^{k_L} and 3<k_L<5. The observed evolution is similar to that observed for UVX and X-ray selected AGN and is consistent with the same physical process being responsible for the optical and radio luminosity evolution of AGN.Comment: 26 pages, 9 Figures, Accepted for Publication in A

SANCDB: a South African natural compound database

Natural products (NPs) are important to the drug discovery process. NP research efforts are expanding world-wide and South Africa is no exception to this. While freely-accessible small molecule databases, containing compounds isolated from indigenous sources, have been established in a number of other countries, there is currently no such online database in South Africa

A transfer function approach to measuring cell inheritance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The inheritance of cellular material between parent and daughter cells during mitosis is highly influential in defining the properties of the cell and therefore the population lineage. This is of particular relevance when studying cell population evolution to assess the impact of a disease or the perturbation due to a drug treatment. The usual technique to investigate inheritance is to use time-lapse microscopy with an appropriate biological marker, however, this is time consuming and the number of inheritance events captured are too low to be statistically meaningful.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we demonstrate the use of a high throughput fluorescence measurement technique e.g. flow cytometry, to measure the fluorescence from quantum dot markers which can be used to target particular cellular sites. By relating, the fluorescence intensity measured between two time intervals to a transfer function we are able to deconvolve the inheritance of cellular material during mitosis. To demonstrate our methodology we use CdTe/ZnS quantum dots to measure the ratio of endosomes inherited by the two daughter cells during mitosis in the U2-OS, human osteoscarcoma cell line. The ratio determined is in excellent agreement with results obtained previously using a more complex and computational intensive bespoke stochastic model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The use of a transfer function approach allows us to utilise high throughput measurement of large cell populations to derive statistically relevant measurements of the inheritance of cellular material. This approach can be used to measure the inheritance of organelles, proteins etc. and also particles introduced to cells for drug delivery.</p

Identifying robust response options to manage environmental change using an ecosystem approach:a stress-testing case study for the UK

A diverse range of response options was evaluated in terms of their utility for sustaining ecosystem services in the UK. Robustness of response options was investigated by applying a ‘stress-testing’ method which evaluated expected performance against combined scenarios of socioeconomic and climate change. Based upon stakeholder feedback, a reference scenario representing current trends in climate and socioeconomic drivers (‘business-as-usual’) was used as a dynamic baseline against which to compare results of other scenarios. The robustness of response options was evaluated by their utility in different environmental and social contexts as represented by the scenarios, and linked to their adaptability to adjust to changing conditions. Key findings demonstrate that adaptability becomes increasingly valuable as the magnitude and rate of future change diverges from current trends. Stress-testing also revealed that individual responses in isolation are unlikely to be robust meaning there are advantages from integrating cohesive combinations (bundles) of response options to maximise their individual strengths and compensate for weaknesses. This identifies a role for both top-down and bottom-up responses, including regulation, spatial targeting, incentives and partnership initiatives, and their use in combination through integrated assessment and planning consistent with the adoption of an Ecosystem Approach. Stress-testing approaches can have an important role in future-proofing policy appraisals but important knowledge gaps remain, especially for cultural and supporting ecosystem services. Finally, barriers and enablers to the implementation of more integrated long-term adaptive responses were identified drawing on the ‘4 Is’ (Institutions, Information, Incentives, Identity) conceptual framework. This highlighted the crucial but usually understated role of identity in promoting ownership and uptake of responses