Boston Hospitality Review: Fall 2015

U.S. Lodging Industry Update – Q2 2015 by Daniel Lesser and Jonathan Jaeger of LW Hospitality Advisors® -- Hotel Crowdfunding Grows Up by Joshua Bowman -- Digital Marketing Budgets for Independent Hotels: Continuously Shifting to Remain Competitive in the Online World by Leora Halpern Lanz and Megan Carmichael -- From Patrons to Chefs, a History of Women in Restaurants by Jan Whitaker -- The Bleacher Bar at Fenway Park: Transforming a Former Indoor Batting Cage Into a Unique Eatery and Bar by Graham Ruggie -- Outrageous by Michael Oshin

Average stresses and force fluctuations in non-cohesive granular materials

A lattice model is presented for investigating the fluctuations in static granular materials under gravitationally induced stress. The model is similar in spirit to the scalar q-model of Coppersmith et al., but ensures balance of all components of forces and torques at each site. The geometric randomness in real granular materials is modeled by choosing random variables at each site, consistent with the assumption of cohesionless grains. Configurations of the model can be generated rapidly, allowing the statistical study of relatively large systems. For a 2D system with rough walls, the model generates configurations consistent with continuum theories for the average stresses (unlike the q-model) without requiring the assumption of a constitutive relation. For a 2D system with periodic boundary conditions, the model generates single-grain force distributions similar to those obtained from the q-model with a singular distribution of q's.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. Uses aps,epsfig,graphicx,floats,revte

The effect of small solar powered 'Bͻkͻͻ' net fans on mosquito net use : results from a randomized controlled cross-over trial in southern Ghana

Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are ineffective malaria transmission prevention tools if they are unused. Discomfort due to heat is the most commonly reported reason for not using nets, but this problem is largely unaddressed. With increasing rural electrification and the dropping price of solar power, fans could improve comfort inside nets and be affordable to populations in malaria endemic areas. Here, results are presented from a pilot randomized controlled cross-over study testing the effect of fans on LLIN use.; Eighty-three households from two rural communities in Greater Accra, Ghana, randomized into three groups, participated in a 10-month cross-over trial. After a screening survey to identify eligible households, all households received new LLINs. Bͻkͻͻ net fan systems (one fan per member) were given to households in Group 1 and water filters were given to households in Group 2. At mid-point, Group 1 and 2 crossed over interventions. Households in Group 1 and 2 participated in fortnightly surveys on households' practices related to nets, fans and water filters, while households in Group 3 were surveyed only at screening, mid-point and study end. Entomological and weather data were collected throughout the study. Analysis took both 'per protocol' (PP) and 'intention to treat' (ITT) approaches. The mid- and end-point survey data from Group 1 and 2 were analysed using Firth logistic regressions. Fortnightly survey data from all groups were analysed using logistic regressions with random effects.; Provision of fans to households appeared to increase net use in this study. Although the increase in net use explained by fans was not significant in the primary analyses (ITT odds ratio 3.24, p > 0.01; PP odds ratio = 1.17, p > 0.01), it was significant in secondary PP analysis (odds ratio = 1.95, p < 0.01). Net use was high at screening and even higher after provision of new LLINs and with follow up. Fan use was 90-100% depending on the fortnightly visit.; This pilot study could not provide definitive evidence that fans increase net use. A larger study with additional statistical power is needed to assess this association across communities with diverse environmental and socio-demographic characteristics

Perceptions on the effect of small electric fans on comfort inside bed nets in southern Ghana : a qualitative study

Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are known to be highly effective in reducing malaria transmission, morbidity and mortality. However, among those owning an LLIN, use rates are often suboptimal. A reported barrier to bed net use is discomfort due to heat. This qualitative study was part of a larger evaluation conducted in communities without electricity in rural Ghana to assess whether 0.8 W solar powered net fans can increase net use.; Twenty-three key informant interviews with household heads in the study communities in Shai-Osudoku District, southern Ghana, were conducted from July to August 2015. The purpose of the interviews was to obtain insight into perceptions of participants about the net fan system in relation to LLIN use.; While all study participants reported using LLINs, with mosquito nuisance prevention as the prime motivation, heat was also mentioned as a key barrier to net use. Respondents appreciated the net fans because they improved comfort inside bed nets. The LED light on the fan stand became the main source of light at night and positively influenced the perception of the intervention as a whole.; The general acceptance of the net fan system by the study participants highlights the potential of the intervention to improve comfort inside mosquito nets. This, therefore, has a potential to increase bed net use in areas with low access to electricity

Force distribution in a scalar model for non-cohesive granular material

We study a scalar lattice model for inter-grain forces in static, non-cohesive, granular materials, obtaining two primary results. (i) The applied stress as a function of overall strain shows a power law dependence with a nontrivial exponent, which moreover varies with system geometry. (ii) Probability distributions for forces on individual grains appear Gaussian at all stages of compression, showing no evidence of exponential tails. With regard to both results, we identify correlations responsible for deviations from previously suggested theories.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, Submitted to PR

Post-transcriptional coordination by an RNA-binding protein

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.RNA-binding proteins can regulate the stability, localization, and translation of their target mRNAs. Post-transcriptional regulation can orchestrate dynamic changes in gene expression, and can coordinate multiple cellular processes in response to various stimuli. Filamentous growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a morphogenetic switch that occurs in response to nitrogen starvation and requires alterations in cell growth, cell cycle, and cell wall functions. Tyl element retrotransposition is also induced under conditions of nitrogen starvation. I describe a role for the RNA-binding protein Khdl in regulating these two responses to environmental stress through its mRNA targets. I identified the RNA targets of Khdl using in vivo crosslinking and immunoprecipitation (CLIP), combined with deep sequencing. This produced a high-resolution map of Khdl binding sites across the transcriptome, and provided unprecedented insight into its biological functions. Khdl regulates multiple post-transcriptional regulatory loops to coordinate the components of filamentous growth and Tyl retrotransposition. Although similar mechanisms were known to transcriptionally regulate these processes, the posttranscriptional coordination is a novel discovery. The feed-forward regulation that Khdl confers on FLO11, which encodes a protein required for filamentous growth, enables asymmetric expression between mother and daughter cells to switch between filamentous and yeast form growth. In this thesis, I describe regulation of gene expression by RNA-binding proteins, methods to identify their target transcripts and recognition sequences, the KH domain, known functions of Khdl, and the phenotypes it coordinates. My work represents the first application of CLIP to budding yeast, and the growing understanding of RNA-binding proteins in this organism facilitated the placement of Khdl into its posttranscriptional regulatory network. While many questions remain regarding the role Khdl plays in regulating cellular activities, this thesis addresses its direct role in key processes.by Joshua Jaeger Wolf.Ph.D

Understanding the Relation between Pulse Duration and Topography Evolution of Polyether Ether Ketones Textures by Ultrashort Infrared Laser Interference Patterning

Advanced polymeric materials, such as polyether ether ketones (PEEK), have been placed as direct substitutes for metals and ceramics in diverse applications, such as the machinery industry and biomedical engineering. Moreover, surface treatments allow the emergence of brand-new properties or the improvement of preexisting ones, such as friction, lubrication, wettability, cellular infiltration, or osseointegration. A paramount approach to achieving topographical modifications is by using laser micro/nanoprocessing techniques such as direct laser interference patterning (DLIP). Herein, PEEK foils are structured with DLIP method using ultrashort pulses. The influence of the pulse duration between 266 fs and 15 ps and the pulse-to-pulse overlap on the resulting surface topography and chemistry is assessed. As a result, well-defined line-like textures with a period of 5.8 μm and aspect ratios up to 0.88 are achieved. Furthermore, it is possible to explore and understand the behavior of surface phenomena such as swelling, increase/decrease of laser–material interaction onset, and laser-induced periodic surface structures formation. A comprehensive topographical and chemical characterization study demonstrates that these distinctive topographical features occur because of multiphoton absorption, incubation effects, and heat accumulation. These phenomena allow structuring polymeric substrates that are low-absorbing and challenging to pattern with conventional nanosecond infrared (IR) laser sources

The gut microbiota of people with asthma influences lung inflammation in gnotobiotic mice

The gut microbiota in early childhood is linked to asthma risk, but may continue to affect older patients with asthma. Here, we profile the gut microbiota of 38 children (19 asthma, median age 8) and 57 adults (17 asthma, median age 28) by 16S rRNA sequencing and find individuals with asthma harbored compositional differences from healthy controls in both adults and children. We develop a model to aid the design of mechanistic experiments in gnotobiotic mice and show enterotoxigeni

Формування первинного капіталу в умовах кризи управління українською промисловістю (1991–1998 рр.)

Стаття присвячена історії початкового періоду ринкової трансформації в українській промисловості. Особлива увага зосереджена на формуванні первинного приватного капіталу в Україні. Розглянуті, зокрема, основні моделі цього процесу в історичній ретроспективі.The article deals with the history of Ukrainian industry market transformation, its initial stage in particular. Special attention has been paid to the private capital accumulation in Ukraine. The main models of this process have been studied in the historical retrospection