Beyond Remittances: The Role of Diaspora in Poverty Reduction in Their Countries of Origin.

This paper analyzes the impact of established Diaspora on the reduction of poverty, and identifies ways in which policy interventions, especially from donors of official development assistance, might strengthen that impact. The new policy interest in Diasporas reflects a broader concern with globalization, and specifically the very recent appreciation of the volume of remittances to developing countries by emigrant workers and their descendents. Remittances, however, are far from being the only vehicle for Diaspora influence on the incidence of poverty in their home countries

The Effects of a Multi-Component Wellness Program on Employee Biometrics

Corporate wellness initiatives are gaining momentum as a critical indicator of business performance. Metabolic Syndrome is commonly used within corporations to assess the health of their employees and estimate potential healthcare costs. Using five risk factors (blood pressure, high density lipoprotein (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), fasting blood glucose, and waist circumference) individuals with three or more risk factors are classified as having Metabolic Syndrome. Voluntary pre and post health screenings were conducted at a rural manufacturing plant. A multi-component wellness program was conducted over six months to determine if the program would have significant beneficial effects on employee biometrics and Metabolic Syndrome. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, blood lipids (HDL-C, LDL, TG) and fasting blood glucose were evaluated. Pre-intervention results versus post-intervention results for blood pressure (systolic p\u3c0.001, diastolic p\u3c0.05), HDL-C (p\u3c0.05), blood glucose (p\u3c0.001), and waist circumference (p\u3c0.001) were significant within the non-participant group (n=53). However, blood pressure and blood glucose increased and HDL-C decreased. In the participant group (n=22), HDL-C (p\u3c0.05), blood glucose (p\u3c0.001), waist circumference (p\u3c0.001), weight (p\u3c0.05) and TG (p\u3c0.05) significantly improved, except HDL-C, after comparing pre and post intervention results in the participant group. Metabolic Syndrome prevalence decreased in the participant group (36%, n=8 to 23%, n=5) and increased in the control group (26%, n=14 to 32%, n=17) although no significance was determined. The results support the importance and need for effective employee wellness programs that include on site health screenings

Optimizing the C4.5 Decision Tree Algorithm using MSD-Splitting

We propose an optimization of Dr. Ross Quin-lan’s C4.5 decision tree algorithm, used for data mining and classification. We will show that by discretizing and binning a data set’s continuous attributes into four groups using our novel technique called MSD-Splitting, we can significantly improve both the algorithm’s accuracy and efficiency, especially when applied to large data sets. We applied both the standard C4.5 algorithm and our optimized C4.5 algorithm to two data sets obtained from UC Irvine’s Machine Learning Repository: Census Income and Heart Disease. In our initial model, we discretized continuous attributes by splitting them into two groups at the point with the minimum expected information requirement, in accordance with the standard C4.5 algorithm. Using five-fold cross-validation, we calculated the average accuracy of our initial model for each data set. Our initial model yielded a 75.72% average accuracy across both data sets. The average execution time of our initial model was 1,541.57 s for the Census Income data set and 50.54 s for the Heart Disease data set. We then optimized our model by applying MSD-Splitting, which discretizes continuous attributes by splitting them into four groups using the mean and the two values one standard deviation away from the mean as split points. The accuracy of our model improved by an average of 5.11%across both data sets, while the average execution time reduced by an average of 96.72% for the larger Census Income data set and 46.38% for the Heart Disease data set

A Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) ophthalmosaurid (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) from the Tuxedni Formation, Alaska and the early diversification of the clade

Ophthalmosauridae is a clade of derived thunniform ichthyosaurs that are best known from Callovian (late Middle Jurassic) to Cenomanian-aged (Late Cretaceous) deposits in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Ophthalmosaurids arose prior to the Early-Middle Jurassic boundary, however, very little is known about their diversity and distribution in the earliest phase of their evolutionary history during the Aalenian-Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) interval. Here we describe new diagnostic ophthalmosaurid material from the Early Bajocian (Middle Jurassic) of Alaska. The specimen, UAMES 3411, is a partial disarticulated skull that was discovered in the Middle Jurassic Tuxedni Formation, which was deposited in shallow marine settings outboard of the then-accreting Wrangellia composite terrane. The new material is significant in that it is the first Jurassic ichthyosaur described from Alaska, one of the oldest ophthalmosaurids known and the only Middle Jurassic ophthalmosaurid described from the Northern Hemisphere. The new material adds to a rapidly growing data set on ophthalmosaurid diversity and suggests that the clade was geographically widespread by the Early Bajocian, very early in its evolutionary histor

Use of Psychological Skills by Risk Sport Athletes

Psychological skills can help athletes maximize their physical skills (Smith, Schutz, Smoll, & Ptacek, 1995) and overcome sport-related adversity. These skills may be especially beneficial to athletes performing within natural and unstable risk sport environments. The current study assessed psychological skills among risk sport athletes (N = 232) and the impact of experience on the use of such skills. Risk sport athletes of varying degrees of experience completed a modified version of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI; Smith et al., 1995). Risk sport athletes exceeded the midpoint on all of the ACSI subscales, indicating psychological skills usage. Experienced athletes scored significantly higher (p \u3c .05) on three of the subscales and the total score, then leisure and novice athletes. These findings suggest the use of psychological skills within unpredictable and dynamic risk sport environments

Massive Upper GI Bleeding from Duodenal Invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma successfully treated with embolization and Hemospray®

Direct invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) into the duodenum is a unique and life-threatening complication of HCC that has been rarely reported. A 60-year-old male with known HCC and cirrhosis presented with melena. Computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis showed a 7cm hepatic mass abutting the duodenum. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy demonstrated a large, actively oozing mass in the duodenum treated with Hemospray® followed by transarterial embolization (TAE). Active upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to duodenal invasion of HCC can be successfully treated with Hemospray® Endoscopic Hemostat and TAE