A new way to talk about small business: The time has come for a common language

There is a steady call for policies and programs to help small business lead the charge in hiring more workers and helping to restore prosperity to areas that have been hurt by the recession. To be successful, however, it is time for academics, policymakers, investors, community leaders, and business owners to have a more fruitful discussion about what small business actually needs. Such a discussion is imperative now, during a time of financial crisis, but it is also necessary if we are to help move the sector forward in the coming years. In this paper, we are proposing that we adopt a common language based on a new small business taxonomy that can make this conversation more productive by bridging the communication gaps between various stakeholders. In an effort to create that common language, support policy creation, and enhance future discussions, this paper lays out a a system of policies and programs – a support structure – for small business using a simple taxonomy of small-business categories based on revenue. Ideally, this will lead to more efficient models for small business growth, including much needed job growth as the nation emerges from the recession.Small business ; Small business - Finance

Molecular Recognition of Small Molecules by Rho-associated Kinase.

Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase (or ROCK) is the first known effector of the Rho GTPase family of proteins, which are responsible for processes such as adhesion, motility, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. ROCK is one of the six clinically-validated kinase drug targets and its inhibition has been suggested as a potential therapeutic mode of action to treat a diverse array of diseases including cancer and autoimmunity. BZD-29 is a 1,4-benzodiazepine-2,5-dione with demonstrated attenuation of disease in the Schistosoma mansoni model of pulmonary inflammation and no general toxicity in rodents. Target identification and validation along with mechanism of action studies have demonstrated that BZD-29 is an ATP-competitive inhibitor of ROCKII. Although high resolution crystal structures exist for both of the two known ROCK isoforms, the molecular contacts necessary for potency and selectivity among the ROCK enzymes remain a topic of research and debate. This thesis describes the design, synthesis, and analysis of a series of analogs of BZD-29, designed to probe and optimize the structural features important for potent inhibition and selectivity for ROCKII. These efforts have resulted in the development of a highly stereoselective synthetic route for the production of chiral 1,4-benzodiazepine-2,5-diones, the design of inhibitors with 110-fold potency over BZD-29 and 10-fold potency over Fasudil, and the establishment of highly successful structure activity relationship models and computational models for use in future analog design.PHDMedicinal ChemistryUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102462/1/laurenkd_1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102462/2/laurenkd_2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102462/3/laurenkd_3.pd

Species diversity and dispersal traits alter biodiversity spillover in reconstructed grasslands

1.Grasslands are among the planet\u27s most imperiled ecosystems, largely because habitat conversion has caused extreme biodiversity loss. In response, managers and scientists aim to recreate grassland habitat, yet these reconstructed grasslands are often species poor and lose diversity through time. One potential mechanism to promote biodiversity in grasslands is spillover, or the targeted dispersal of species across habitat boundaries from areas of high to low biodiversity. There is potential for native species to disperse via spillover from high quality remnant habitat and establish in reconstructions, thus increasing biodiversity. However, plant dispersal and establishment are often context dependent, and the conditions that promote spillover in grasslands are largely unknown. 2.Here we examine the contexts under which spillover can enhance biodiversity in grasslands. Specifically, we investigate whether the species richness of reconstructions and individual plant dispersal traits alter spillover. To do so, we surveyed plant species richness at reconstructed grasslands of varying diversity adjacent to remnant grasslands. 3.We found that spillover from remnants supplies reconstructions with rare species that would otherwise not be present, but only in reconstructions with lower overall richness. Further, spillover was more likely to occur for species with wind dispersed seeds than species with unassisted seed dispersal. 4.Synthesis and applications. Our results show that the context dependency of both dispersal and establishment processes are critical to understanding when and where spillover can promote biodiversity in reconstructed systems. Understanding these contexts will help land managers leverage natural dispersal to mitigate biodiversity loss by anticipating which species are likely to arrive in reconstructions without assistance and when they are likely to establish

Evolving Role of Non-Statin Therapy for the Management of Dyslipidemia and Cardiovascular Risk Reduction: Past, Present, and Future

A plethora of evidence supports the use of statin therapy for primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), yet residual risk among high-risk patients receiving statin therapy remains high. Moreover, statin-associated muscle symptoms and other statin-associated adverse effects (e.g., increased risk of diabetes mellitus) limit the use of statins in high-risk patient populations. Of particular concern are individuals with established ASCVD, familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), or diabetes mellitus plus multiple ASCVD risk factors, all of whom require high-intensity statins, which are more commonly associated with an increased risk of adverse effects

Mentee Workbook Nutrition and Self-Sufficiency of Adults with Disabilities through a Mentoring Program Curriculum

https://digital.library.ncat.edu/ncatbooks/1001/thumbnail.jp

Nutrition and Self-Sufficiency of Adults with Disabilities through a Mentoring Program Curriculum (Complete)

https://digital.library.ncat.edu/ncatbooks/1002/thumbnail.jp

Investigation of humans individual differences as predictors of their animal interaction styles, focused on the domestic cat

Humans' individual differences including their demographics, personality, attitudes and experiences are often associated with important outcomes for the animals they interact with. This is pertinent to companion animals such as cats and dogs, given their social and emotional importance to humans and degree of integration into human society. However, the mechanistic underpinnings and causal relationships that characterise links between human individual differences and companion animal behaviour and wellbeing are not well understood. In this exploratory investigation, we firstly quantified the underlying structure of, and variation in, human's styles of behaviour during typical human-cat interactions (HCI), focusing on aspects of handling and interaction known to be preferred by cats (i.e. 'best practice'), and their variation. We then explored the potential significance of various human individual differences as predictors of these HCI styles. Seven separate HCI styles were identified via Principal Component Analysis (PCA) from averaged observations for 119 participants, interacting with sociable domestic cats within a rehoming context. Using General Linear Models (GLMs) and an Information Theoretic (IT) approach, we found these HCI PC components were weakly to strongly predicted by factors including cat-ownership history, participant personality (measured via the Big Five Inventory, or BFI), age, work experience with animals and participants' subjective ratings of their cat behaviour knowledge. Paradoxically, greater cat ownership experiences and self-assessed cat knowledge were not positively associated with 'best practice' styles of HCI, but were instead generally predictive of HCI styles known to be less preferred by cats, as was greater participant age and Neuroticism. These findings have important implications regarding the quality of human-companion animal relationships and dyadic compatibility, in addition to the role of educational interventions and their targeting for optimal efficacy. In the context of animal adoption, these results strengthen the (limited) evidence base for decision making associated with cat-adopter screening and matching. In particular, our results suggest that greater cat ownership experiences and self-reports of cat knowledge might not necessarily convey advantages for cats in the context of HCI