The Role of an Internal Audit in Credit Union Financial Decision Making

The purpose of this paper is to show how an internal audit can be used in credit union financial decision making. The paper analyzes in depth the kinds of data obtainable from an internal audit and the kinds of data required for credit union financial decision making. By utilizing a comparative analysis of the compatability of the two types of data, the paper shows how the data obtainable from an internal audit can be applied to credit union financial decision making

Quantum Mutual Information Capacity for High Dimensional Entangled States

High dimensional Hilbert spaces used for quantum communication channels offer the possibility of large data transmission capabilities. We propose a method of characterizing the channel capacity of an entangled photonic state in high dimensional position and momentum bases. We use this method to measure the channel capacity of a parametric downconversion state, achieving a channel capacity over 7 bits/photon in either the position or momentum basis, by measuring in up to 576 dimensions per detector. The channel violated an entropic separability bound, suggesting the performance cannot be replicated classically.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Effects of 12 Months of Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Naturalistic Study

Background: The need for effective, long-term treatment for recurrent or chronic, treatment-resistant depression is well established. Methods: This naturalistic follow-up describes outpatients with nonpsychotic major depressive (n = 185) or bipolar (I or II) disorder, depressed phase (n = 20) who initially received 10 weeks of active (n = 110) or sham vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) (n = 95). The initial active group received another 9 months, while the initial sham group received 12 months of VNS. Participants received antidepressant treatments and VNS, both of which could be adjusted. Results: The primary analysis (repeated measures linear regression) revealed a significant reduction in 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD24) scores (average improvement, .45 points [SE = .05] per month (p \u3c .001). At exit, HRSD24 response rate was 27.2% (55/202); remission rate (HRSD24 ≤ 9) was 15.8% (32/202). Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (28.2% [57/202]) and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (34.0% [68/200]) showed similar response rates. Voice alteration, dyspnea, and neck pain were the most frequently reported adverse events. Conclusions: These 1-year open trial data found VNS to be well tolerated, suggesting a potential long-term, growing benefit in treatment-resistant depression, albeit in the context of changes in depression treatments. Comparative long-term data are needed to determine whether these benefits can be attributed to VNS

Effects of 12 Months of Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Naturalistic Study

Background: The need for effective, long-term treatment for recurrent or chronic, treatment-resistant depression is well established. Methods: This naturalistic follow-up describes outpatients with nonpsychotic major depressive (n = 185) or bipolar (I or II) disorder, depressed phase (n = 20) who initially received 10 weeks of active (n = 110) or sham vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) (n = 95). The initial active group received another 9 months, while the initial sham group received 12 months of VNS. Participants received antidepressant treatments and VNS, both of which could be adjusted. Results: The primary analysis (repeated measures linear regression) revealed a significant reduction in 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD24) scores (average improvement, .45 points [SE = .05] per month (p \u3c .001). At exit, HRSD24 response rate was 27.2% (55/202); remission rate (HRSD24 ≤ 9) was 15.8% (32/202). Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (28.2% [57/202]) and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (34.0% [68/200]) showed similar response rates. Voice alteration, dyspnea, and neck pain were the most frequently reported adverse events. Conclusions: These 1-year open trial data found VNS to be well tolerated, suggesting a potential long-term, growing benefit in treatment-resistant depression, albeit in the context of changes in depression treatments. Comparative long-term data are needed to determine whether these benefits can be attributed to VNS

Assets and domestic units: methodological challenges for longitudinal studies of poverty dynamics

Tracking change in assets access and ownership in longitudinal research is difficult. Assets are rarely assigned to individuals. Their benefit and management are spread across domestic units which morph over time. We review the challenges of using assets to understand poverty dynamics, and tracking the domestic units that own and manage assets. Using case studies from longitudinal research we demonstrate that assets can afford useful insights into important change

Mesobot : An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Tracking and Sampling Midwater Targets

Mesobot, a new class of autonomous underwater vehicle, will address specific unmet needs for observing slow-moving targets in the midwater ocean. Mesobot will track targets such as zooplankton, fish, and descending particle aggregates using a control system based on stereo cameras and a combination of thrusters and a variable buoyancy system. The vehicle will also be able to collect biogeochemical and environmental DNA (eDNA) samples using a pumped filter sampler

Variation in aggregation propensities among ALS-associated variants of SOD1: Correlation to human disease

To date, 146 different mutations in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) have been identified in patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The mean age of disease onset in patients inheriting mutations in SOD1 is 45–47 years of age. However, although the length of disease duration is highly variable, there are examples of consistent disease durations associated with specific mutations (e. g. A4V, less than 2 years). In the present study, we have used a large set of data from SOD1-associated ALS pedigrees to identify correlations between disease features and biochemical/biophysical properties of more than 30 different variants of mutant SOD1. Using a reliable cell culture assay, we show that all ALS-associated mutations in SOD1 increase the inherent aggregation propensity of the protein. However, the relative propensity to do so varied considerably among mutants. We were not able to explain the variation in aggregation rates by differences in known protein properties such as enzyme activity, protein thermostability, mutation position or degree of change in protein charge. Similarly, we were not able to explain variability in the duration of disease in SOD1-associated ALS pedigrees by these properties. However, we find that the majority of pedigrees in which patients exhibit reproducibly short disease durations are associated with mutations that show a high inherent propensity to induce aggregation of SOD1

The enhancement of stress-related memory by glucocorticoids depends on synapsin-Ia/Ib

The activation of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) by glucocorticoids increases stress-related memory through the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway and the downstream transcription factor Egr-1. Here, using converging in vitro and in vivo approaches, respectively, GR-expressing cell lines, culture of hippocampal neurons, and GR genetically modified mice (GRNesCre), we identified synapsin-Ia/Ib as one of the effectors of the glucocorticoid signaling cascade. Stress and glucocorticoid-induced activation of the GR modulate synapsin-Ia/Ib through two complementary mechanisms. First, glucocorticoids driving Egr-1 expression increase the expression of synapsin-Ia/Ib, and second, glucocorticoids driving MAPK activation increase its phosphorylation. Finally, we showed that blocking fucosylation of synapsin-Ia/Ib in the hippocampus inhibits its expression and prevents the glucocorticoid-mediated increase in stress-related memory. In conclusion, our data provide a complete molecular pathway (GR/Egr-1/MAPK/Syn-Ia/Ib) through which stress and glucocorticoids enhance the memory of stress-related events and highlight the function of synapsin-Ia/Ib as molecular effector of the behavioral effects of stress

Mapping alterations to the endogenous elemental distribution within the lateral ventricles and choroid plexus in brain disorders using X-ray fluorescence imaging

The choroid plexus and cerebral ventricles are critical structures for the production of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and play an important role in regulating ion and metal transport in the brain, however many aspects of its roles in normal physiology and disease states, such as psychiatric illness, remain unknown. The choroid plexus is difficult to examine in vivo, and in situ ex vivo, and as such has typically been examined indirectly with radiolabeled tracers or ex vivo stains, making measurements of the endogenous K+, Cl-, and Ca+ distributions unreliable. In the present study, we directly examined the distribution of endogenous ions and biologically relevant transition metals in the choroid plexus and regions surrounding the ventricles (ventricle wall, cortex, corpus callosum, striatum) using X-ray fluorescence imaging (XFI). We find that the choroid plexus was rich in Cl- and Fe while K+ levels increase further from the ventricle as Cl- levels decrease, consistent with the known role of ion transporters in the choroid plexus CSF production. A polyI:C offspring displayed enlarged ventricles, elevated Cl- surrounding the ventricles, and intraventricular calcifications. These observations fit with clinical findings in patients with schizophrenia and suggest maternal treatment with polyI:C may lead to dysfunctional ion regulation in offspring. This study demonstrates the power of XFI for examining the endogenous elemental distributions of the ventricular system in healthy brain tissue as well as disease models