Invariance and restriction toward a limited set of self-antigens characterize neonatal IgM antibody repertoires and prevail in autoreactive repertoires of healthy adults.

Analysis of the reactivity of IgM with self-antigens in tissues by a quantitative immunoblotting technique showed striking invariance among newborns in the human and in the mouse. The self-reactive repertoire of IgM of adults was also markedly conserved; it comprised most anti-self reactivities that prevailed among neonates. Multivariate analysis confirmed the homogeneity of IgM repertoires of neonates toward self- and non-self-antigens. Multivariate analysis discriminated between newborn and adult repertoires for reactivity with two of five sources of self-proteins and with non-self-antigens. Our observations support the concept that naturally activated B lymphocytes are selected early in development and throughout life for reactivity with a restricted set of self-antigens.

Modified Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program Applied Within a Time-Limited Corrections Setting

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is an empirically supported therapy developed to treat individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder that has sustained efficacy following completion of the treatment (Linehan, 1993; Van Den Bosch et al., 2005). The core concepts of DBT include mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance, which seek to foster more functional ways of interacting with others, coping with distress, and managing difficult emotions. Using a standard DBT format in a corrections setting can be difficult due to the population's multifaceted composition. The Denver County Jail is a unique corrections setting because it contains a unit specifically developed for male inmates with mental health issues. A corrections modified, time-limited DBT curriculum was developed to fit the needs of this unique population. During the course of the group, staff appeared to be accepting of the group material and initial feedback from inmates and officers was positive.

How Competition Over Limited Natural Resources Impacts the Formation of Culture

This project analyzes the closely linked connection between the competition over limited resources and the formation of culture as it pertains to art and literature. The project is broken into three main topics: the influence of limited resources on competition, the role that competition and other factors have on the formation of culture, and finally how art and literature are reflective of resources, the competition for those resources, and other historical influences. This paper concludes that while there are many factors in the creation of cultures, competition over limited natural resources plays the most integral role in the formation of culture.

Development of a Strengths-Based Model for Insurance Automobile, Property, and Casualty Claims Operations

ABSTRACT \ Employers know that to have a successful organization, they must have the right people in the right jobs. But how will they know whom to place where? The development of a model based upon an individual's personality traits and strengths, and how to best use them, is a good place to start. Employees working in positions in which their traits and strengths are maximized enjoy work more, are more efficient, and are less apt to be absent or to look for work elsewhere. It is a mutually beneficial process of selection for both employers and employees. This model illustrates the process in an automobile and property insurance claims operation through utilization of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators and the StrengthsFinder Profiles.

Efficient sampling of band-limited signals from sine wave crossings

This correspondence presents an efficient method for reconstructing a band-limited signal in the discrete domain from its crossings with a sine wave. The method makes it possible to design A/D converters that only deliver the crossing timings, which are then used to interpolate the input signal at arbitrary instants. Potentially, it may allow for reductions in power consumption and complexity in these converters. The reconstruction in the discrete domain is based on a recently-proposed modification of the Lagrange interpolator, which is readily implementable with linear complexity and efficiently, given that it re-uses known schemes for variable fractional-delay (VFD) filters. As a spin-off, the method allows one to perform spectral analysis from sine wave crossings with the complexity of the FFT. Finally, the results in the correspondence are validated in several numerical examples.

Estimation of Time-Limited Channel Spectra From Nonuniform Samples

This paper deals with the estimation of a time-invariant channel spectrum from its own nonuniform samples, assuming there is a bound on the channel’s delay spread. Except for this last assumption, this is the basic estimation problem in systems providing channel spectral samples. However, as shown in the paper, the delay spread bound leads us to view the spectrum as a band-limited signal, rather than the Fourier transform of a tapped delay line (TDL). Using this alternative model, a linear estimator is presented that approximately minimizes the expected root-mean-square (RMS) error for a deterministic channel. Its main advantage over the TDL is that it takes into account the spectrum’s smoothness (time width), thus providing a performance improvement. The proposed estimator is compared numerically with the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator based on a TDL model in pilot-assisted channel estimation (PACE) for OFDM.