bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The chameleon of neuroinflammation: magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of natalizumab-associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
Authors: Wattjes Mike P , Richert Nancy D , Killestein Joep , de Vos Marlieke , Sanchez Esther , Snaebjornsson Petur , Cadavid Diego , Barkhof Frederik
Published: November 2013

Natalizumab is a monoclonal antibody against α4-integrin approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) due to a positive effect on clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcome measures. However, one relatively rare but serious side effect of this drug is a higher risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Since the FDA approval, more than 300 natalizumab-associated PML cases have been documented among more than 100,000 treated MS patients. MRI is a crucial tool in the surveillance of patients treated with natalizumab in order to detect possible signs of PML in the asymptomatic stage. Although classical imaging characteristics of PML are well established, MRI findings in natalizumab-associated PML, particularly in early disease stages, show rather new and heterogeneous imaging findings including different patterns of inflammation with contrast enhancement. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the heterogeneous imaging findings in natalizumab-associated PML in the context of the underlying pathophysiology, histopathology, and the diagnostic procedure. We describe the MRI patterns of PML lesion evolution and complications including immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS). Finally, we present guidelines to differentiate MRI findings in PML from inflammatory demyelinating lesions, to facilitate the early diagnosis of PML in patients treated with natalizumab.
AAC Intervention as an Immersion Model
Authors: Dodd Janet L. , Gorey Megan
Published: November 2013

Augmentative and alternative communication based interventions support individuals with complex communication needs in becoming effective and efficient communicators. However, there is often a disconnect between language models, communication opportunities, and desired intervention outcomes in the intervention process. This article outlines a service delivery model that unites these elements of intervention. The social theory of language acquisition provides the foundation of this immersion model, while adaptations of indirect language stimulation strategies create the support system necessary to develop an independent and functional communicator. The model described in this article may be replicated or modified to meet the needs of individuals in any classroom or intervention setting.
Muscle wasting in collagen-induced arthritis and disuse atrophy
Authors: de Oliveira Nunes Teixeira Vivian , Filippin Lidiane Isabel , Viacava Paula Ramos , de Oliveira Patrícia Gnieslaw , Xavier Ricardo Machado
Published: November 2013

The mechanisms of muscle wasting and decreased mobility have a major functional effect in rheumatoid arthritis, but they have been poorly studied. The objective of our study is to describe muscular involvement and the pathways in an experimental model of arthritis compared to the pathways in disuse atrophy. Female Wistar rats were separated into three groups: control (CO), collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), and immobilized (IM). Spontaneous locomotion and weight were evaluated weekly. The gastrocnemius muscle was evaluated by histology and immunoblotting to measure the expression of myostatin (a negative regulator), LC3 (autophagy), MuRF-1 (proteasome-mediated proteolysis), MyoD, and myogenin (satellite-cell activation). The significance level was set at P < 0.05, and histological analysis of joints confirmed the severity of the arthropathy. There was a significant difference in spontaneous locomotion in the CIA group. Animal body weight, gastrocnemius muscle weight, and relative muscle weight decreased 20%, 30%, and 20%, respectively, in the CIA rats. Inflammatory infiltration and swelling were present in the gastrocnemius muscles of the CIA rats. The mean cross-sectional area was reduced by 30% in the CIA group and by 60% in the IM group. The expressions of myostatin and LC3 between the groups were similar. There was increased expression of MuRF-1 in the IM (1.9-fold) and CIA (3.1-fold) groups and of myogenin in the muscles of the CIA animals (1.7-fold), while MyoD expression was decreased in the IM (20%) rats. This study demonstrated that the development of experimental arthritis is associated with decreased mobility, body weight, and muscle loss. Both IM and CIA animal models presented muscle atrophy, but while proteolysis and the regeneration pathways were activated in the CIA model, there was no activation of regeneration in the IM model. We can assume that muscle atrophy in experimental arthritis is associated with the disease itself and not simply with decreased mobility.
Enhancing airlift fuel efficiency through increased utilization of cargo capacity
Authors: Reiman Adam D. , Main Bryan D. , Anderson Bradley E.
Published: November 2013

This paper addresses the constraints preventing full utilization of an aircraft’s cargo compartment. The fact that many sorties are flown with less than the maximum allowable weight or volume results in more airlift sorties being required to move the same amount of cargo. Various solutions are investigated to more efficiently fill the volume while simultaneously maximizing against the weight constraint. Solving the problem of the inefficient utilization of the airlift cargo compartment space can increase aircraft and aircrew availability, reduce fuel consumption for a given level of output, and reduce the number of flights required into constrained airfields. We recommend a pallet stacking solution moving cargo from Dover Air Force Base to Ramstein Air Force Base that we estimate would reduce C-17 sorties 31.4% when aggregated over a three calendar day period saving over eight million dollars per year.
Distal phalanx fracture in adults: Seymour-type fracture
Authors: Ugurlar M. , Saka G. , Saglam N. , Milcan A. , Kurtulmus T. , Akpınar F.
Published: November 2013

Seymour’s fracture is an extra-articular, transverse, physeal, and juxta-epiphyseal open fracture of the distal phalanx seen in childhood. In this study, we present 10 adult cases of fractures localized to the metaphyseal region, 1–2 mm distal to the insertion of the extensor tendon. Mean age was 38 years. Four patients were treated conservatively with a mallet finger splint. Closed reduction and osteosynthesis with Kirschner wires (K-wires) was performed in three of the patients. Three of the patients had open fractures in whom closed reduction could not be performed. They underwent open reduction and osteosynthesis with K-wires. We recommend that extra-articular distal phalanx fractures mimicking mallet finger in adults are called Seymour-type fracture to establish a common language among clinicians to define this type of fracture. These fractures generally occur by hyperflexion of the distal phalanx and can be treated by conservative or surgical methods. The outcomes of conservative and surgical management of Seymour-type fractures depend on the appropriate reduction as well as efficient physical therapy.
Oral manifestations of systemic disease
Authors: Crossman Timothy , Smith Helen E.
Published: November 2013

Systemic diseases, anaemia and skin conditions may initially present to the GP with oral signs. It is important that GPs have a good understanding of these oral manifestations, prompting appropriate examination and investigation, early diagnosis and effective treatment. This article describes a pragmatic approach to oral examination in the general practice setting and discusses all the common, and some rarer, presentations of systemic disease in adults.
Safety of Levalbuterol Compared to Albuterol in Patients With a Tachyarrhythmia
Authors: Lindquist Desirae E. , Cooper April A.
Published: November 2013

Objective: To determine the safety of levalbuterol versus albuterol in patients with a tachyarrhythmia. Data Sources: A PubMed search was conducted using the MeSH search terms levalbuterol, albuterol, and tachyarrhythmia. Bibliographies of relevant articles were reviewed for additional citations. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Search results were limited to humans and randomized controlled trials. Those studies that excluded patients with predetermined tachyarrhythmias were excluded from this review. Trials that failed to compare levalbuterol and albuterol outcomes were excluded. Data Synthesis: Beta-2 receptor agonists are the mainstay of treatment in patients with respiratory disease, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Racemic albuterol has been linked to poor outcomes due to the fact that it contains both the S-isomer and the R-isomer. Levalbuterol, the “pure” R-isomer, has been thought to decrease cardiac side effects since it only contains the therapeutic component of the racemic mixture. Patients with tachyarrhythmias are at an increased probability to experience harmful, if not fatal, cardiac side effects from these drugs. Limitations of current studies include a lack of data in patient populations with baseline tachyarrhythmias. Conclusions: Tachyarrhythmias put a patient at increased risk of poor outcomes, including death. Evidence for using either racemic albuterol or levalbuterol for respiratory disease management in these patients is lacking and insufficient. Randomized controlled trials show that in intensive care unit patient populations there is no clear advantage to using levalbuterol over albuterol; however, this did not hold true in pediatric populations. No clinical trials exist that look at a direct comparison of these 2 agents in patients with underlying tachyarrhythmias. Further research into the most efficacious and safe β-2 receptor agonists in this specialized patient population should be conducted to help reduce potential harmful outcomes.
Small molecule Me6TREN mobilizes hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells by activating MMP-9 expression and disrupting SDF-1/CXCR4 axis
Authors: Zhang Jing , Ren Xiangliang , Shi Wei , Wang Sihan , Chen Haixu , Zhang Bowen , Wang Zhidong , Zhou Yong , Chen Lin , Zhang Rui , Lv Yang , Zhou Junnian , Nan Xue , He Lijuan , Yue Wen , Li Yanhua , Pei Xuetao
Published: November 2013

Key Points

The small molecule Me6TREN is a new potent and efficacious mobilizing agent of HSPCs and works more effectively than G-CSF or AMD3100. Me6 mobilizes murine HSPCs and functions by upregulating MMP-9 expression and disrupting the SDF-1α/CXCR4 axis.
Clinical characteristics and long-term outcome of young hairy cell leukemia patients treated with cladribine: a single-institution series
Authors: Rosenberg Joshua D. , Burian Carol , Waalen Jill , Saven Alan
Published: November 2013

Key Points

HCL patients ≤40 years at diagnosis treated with cladribine obtain complete and durable responses, but ultimately relapse. There was no increased risk of second primary malignancies in young hairy cell leukemia patients followed for protracted periods.
Genome sequence of Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. fuscansstrain 4834-R reveals that flagellar motility is not a general feature of xanthomonads
Authors: Darrasse Armelle , Carrère Sébastien , Barbe Valérie , Boureau Tristan , Arrieta-Ortiz Mario L , Bonneau Sophie , Briand Martial , Brin Chrystelle , Cociancich Stéphane , Durand Karine , Fouteau Stéphanie , Gagnevin Lionel , Guérin Fabien , Guy Endrick , Indiana Arnaud , Koebnik Ralf , Lauber Emmanuelle , Munoz Alejandra , Noël Laurent D , Pieretti Isabelle , Poussier Stéphane , Pruvost Olivier , Robène-Soustrade Isabelle , Rott Philippe , Royer Monique , Serres-Giardi Laurana , Szurek Boris , van Sluys Marie-Anne , Verdier Valérie , Vernière Christian , Arlat Matthieu , Manceau Charles , Jacques Marie-Agnès
Published: November 2013

Background

Xanthomonads are plant-associated bacteria responsible for diseases on economically important crops. Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. fuscans (Xff) is one of the causal agents of common bacterial blight of bean. In this study, the complete genome sequence of strain Xff 4834-R was determined and compared to other Xanthomonas genome sequences.

Results

Comparative genomics analyses revealed core characteristics shared between Xff 4834-R and other xanthomonads including chemotaxis elements, two-component systems, TonB-dependent transporters, secretion systems (from T1SS to T6SS) and multiple effectors. For instance a repertoire of 29 Type 3 Effectors (T3Es) with two Transcription Activator-Like Effectors was predicted. Mobile elements were associated with major modifications in the genome structure and gene content in comparison to other Xanthomonas genomes. Notably, a deletion of 33 kbp affects flagellum biosynthesis in Xff 4834-R. The presence of a complete flagellar cluster was assessed in a collection of more than 300 strains representing different species and pathovars of Xanthomonas. Five percent of the tested strains presented a deletion in the flagellar cluster and were non-motile. Moreover, half of the Xff strains isolated from the same epidemic than 4834-R was non-motile and this ratio was conserved in the strains colonizing the next bean seed generations.

Conclusions

This work describes the first genome of a Xanthomonas strain pathogenic on bean and reports the existence of non-motile xanthomonads belonging to different species and pathovars. Isolation of such Xff variants from a natural epidemic may suggest that flagellar motility is not a key function for in planta fitness.
A genome-wide survey of maternal and embryonic transcripts during Xenopus tropicalis development
Authors: Paranjpe Sarita S , Jacobi Ulrike G , van Heeringen Simon J , C Veenstra Gert Jan
Published: November 2013

Background

Dynamics of polyadenylation vs. deadenylation determine the fate of several developmentally regulated genes. Decay of a subset of maternal mRNAs and new transcription define the maternal-to-zygotic transition, but the full complement of polyadenylated and deadenylated coding and non-coding transcripts has not yet been assessed in Xenopus embryos.

Results

To analyze the dynamics and diversity of coding and non-coding transcripts during development, both polyadenylated mRNA and ribosomal RNA-depleted total RNA were harvested across six developmental stages and subjected to high throughput sequencing. The maternally loaded transcriptome is highly diverse and consists of both polyadenylated and deadenylated transcripts. Many maternal genes show peak expression in the oocyte and include genes which are known to be the key regulators of events like oocyte maturation and fertilization. Of all the transcripts that increase in abundance between early blastula and larval stages, about 30% of the embryonic genes are induced by fourfold or more by the late blastula stage and another 35% by late gastrulation. Using a gene model validation and discovery pipeline, we identified novel transcripts and putative long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA). These lncRNA transcripts were stringently selected as spliced transcripts generated from independent promoters, with limited coding potential and a codon bias characteristic of noncoding sequences. Many lncRNAs are conserved and expressed in a developmental stage-specific fashion.

Conclusions

These data reveal dynamics of transcriptome polyadenylation and abundance and provides a high-confidence catalogue of novel and long non-coding RNAs.
Effect of spaceflight on Pseudomonas aeruginosa final cell density is modulated by nutrient and oxygen availability
Authors: Kim Wooseong , Tengra Farah K , Shong Jasmine , Marchand Nicholas , Chan Hon Kit , Young Zachary , Pangule Ravindra C , Parra Macarena , Dordick Jonathan S , Plawsky Joel L , Collins Cynthia H
Published: November 2013

Background

Abundant populations of bacteria have been observed on Mir and the International Space Station. While some experiments have shown that bacteria cultured during spaceflight exhibit a range of potentially troublesome characteristics, including increases in growth, antibiotic resistance and virulence, other studies have shown minimal differences when cells were cultured during spaceflight or on Earth. Although the final cell density of bacteria grown during spaceflight has been reported for several species, we are not yet able to predict how different microorganisms will respond to the microgravity environment. In order to build our understanding of how spaceflight affects bacterial final cell densities, additional studies are needed to determine whether the observed differences are due to varied methods, experimental conditions, or organism specific responses.

Results

Here, we have explored how phosphate concentration, carbon source, oxygen availability, and motility affect the growth ofPseudomonas aeruginosain modified artificial urine media during spaceflight. We observed thatP. aeruginosagrown during spaceflight exhibited increased final cell density relative to normal gravity controls when low concentrations of phosphate in the media were combined with decreased oxygen availability. In contrast, when the availability of either phosphate or oxygen was increased, no difference in final cell density was observed between spaceflight and normal gravity. Because motility has been suggested to affect how microbes respond to microgravity, we compared the growth of wild-typeP. aeruginosato aΔmotABCD mutant deficient in swimming motility. However, the final cell densities observed with the motility mutant were consistent with those observed with wild type for all conditions tested.

Conclusions

These results indicate that differences in bacterial final cell densities observed between spaceflight and normal gravity are due to an interplay between microgravity conditions and the availability of substrates essential for growth. Further, our results suggest that microbes grown under nutrient-limiting conditions are likely to reach higher cell densities under microgravity conditions than they would on Earth. Considering that the majority of bacteria inhabiting spacecrafts and space stations are likely to live under nutrient limitations, our findings highlight the need to explore the impact microgravity and other aspects of the spaceflight environment have on microbial growth and physiology.
Factors associated with in-office influenza vaccination by U.S. pediatric providers
Authors: Lin Chyongchiou Jeng , Nowalk Mary Patricia , Toback Seth L , Ambrose Christopher S
Published: November 2013

Background

In the United States, influenza vaccination is recommended for all children 6 months and older; however, vaccination rates are below target levels. A broad sample of U.S. pediatric offices was assessed to determine factors that influence in-office influenza vaccination rates.

Methods

Offices (N = 174) were recruited to participate in an observational study over three influenza seasons (2008–2009, 2009–2010, 2010–2011). Only data from the first year of an office’s participation in the study were used. Associations of coverage and 2-dose compliance rates with office characteristics and selected vaccination activities were examined using univariate regression analyses and linear regression analyses using office characteristics identified a priori and vaccination activities with P values ≤0.10 in univariate analyses.

Results

Influenza vaccination coverage for children 6 months to 18 years of age averaged 25.2% (range: 2.0%–69.1%) and 2-dose compliance for children <9 years of age averaged 53.4% (range: 5.4%–96.2%). Factors associated with increased coverage were non-rural site (P = 0.025), smaller office size (fewer than 5000 patients; P < 0.001), use of evening and weekend hours to offer influenza vaccine (P = 0.004), a longer vaccination period (P = 0.014), and a greater influenza vaccine coverage rate among office staff (P = 0.012). Increased 2-dose compliance was associated with smaller office size (P = 0.001) and using patient reminders (P = 0.012) and negatively related to use of electronic provider reminders to vaccinate (P = 0.003).

Conclusions

To maximize influenza vaccine coverage and compliance, offices could offer the vaccine during evening and weekend hours, extend the duration of vaccine availability, encourage staff vaccination, and remind patients that influenza vaccination is due. Additional efforts may be required in large offices and those in rural locations.
Healing effects of Musa sapientum var. paradisiaca in diabetic rats with co-occurring gastric ulcer: cytokines and growth factor by PCR amplification
Authors: Kumar Mohan , Gautam Manish Kumar , Singh Amit , Goel Raj Kumar
Published: November 2013

Background

The present study evaluates the effects of extract of Musa sapientum fruit (MSE) on ulcer index, blood glucose level and gastric mucosal cytokines, TNF-α and IL-1β and growth factor, TGF-α (affected in diabetes and chronic ulcer) in acetic acid (AA)-induced gastric ulcer (GU) in diabetic (DR) rat.

Methods

MSE (100 mg/kg, oral), omeprazole (OMZ, 2.0 mg/kg, oral), insulin (INS, 4 U/kg, sc) or pentoxyphylline (PTX, 10 mg/kg, oral) were given once daily for 10 days in 14 days post-streptozotocin (60 mg/kg, intraperitoneal)-induced diabetic rats while, the normal/diabetic rats received CMC for the same period after induction of GU with AA. Ulcer index was calculated based upon the product of length and width (mm2/rat) of ulcers while, TNF-α, IL-1β and TGF-α were estimated in the gastric mucosal homogenate from the intact/ulcer region. Phytochemical screening and HPTLC analysis of MSE was done following standard procedures.

Results

An increase in ulcer index, TNF-α and IL-1β were observed in normal (NR)-AA rat compared to NR-normal saline rat, which were further increased in DR-AA rat while, treatments of DR-AA rat with MSE, OMZ, INS and PTX reversed them, more so with MSE and PTX. Significant increase in TGF-α was found in NR-AA rat which did not increase further in DR-AA rat. MSE and PTX tended to increase while, OMZ and INS showed little or no effect on TGF-α in AA-DR rat. Phytochemical screening of MSE showed the presence of saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, steroids and alkaloids and HPTLC analysis indicated the presence of eight active compounds.

Conclusion

MSE showed antidiabetic and better ulcer healing effects compared with OMZ (antiulcer) or INS (antidiabetic) in diabetic rat and could be more effective in diabetes with concurrent gastric ulcer.
Wurtzite copper-zinc-tin sulfide as a superior counter electrode material for dye-sensitized solar cells
Authors: Kong Jun , Zhou Zheng-Ji , Li Mei , Zhou Wen-Hui , Yuan Sheng-Jie , Yao Rong-Yue , Zhao Yang , Wu Si-Xin
Published: November 2013

Wurtzite and kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanocrystals were employed as counter electrode (CE) materials for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Compared to kesterite CZTS, the wurtzite CZTS exhibited higher electrocatalytic activity for catalyzing reduction of iodide electrolyte and better conductivity. Accordingly, the DSSC with wurtzite CZTS CE generated higher power conversion efficiency (6.89%) than that of Pt (6.23%) and kesterite CZTS (4.89%) CEs.
Reduced graphene oxide-TiO2 nanocomposite as a promising visible-light-active photocatalyst for the conversion of carbon dioxide
Authors: Tan Lling-Lling , Ong Wee-Jun , Chai Siang-Piao , Mohamed Abdul Rahman
Published: November 2013

Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) into hydrocarbon fuels such as methane is an attractive strategy for simultaneously harvesting solar energy and capturing this major greenhouse gas. Incessant research interest has been devoted to preparing graphene-based semiconductor nanocomposites as photocatalysts for a variety of applications. In this work, reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-TiO2 hybrid nanocrystals were fabricated through a novel and simple solvothermal synthetic route. Anatase TiO2 particles with an average diameter of 12 nm were uniformly dispersed on the rGO sheet. Slow hydrolysis reaction was successfully attained through the use of ethylene glycol and acetic acid mixed solvents coupled with an additional cooling step. The prepared rGO-TiO2 nanocomposites exhibited superior photocatalytic activity (0.135 μmol gcat
−1 h−1) in the reduction of CO2 over graphite oxide and pure anatase. The intimate contact between TiO2 and rGO was proposed to accelerate the transfer of photogenerated electrons on TiO2 to rGO, leading to an effective charge anti-recombination and thus enhancing the photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, our photocatalysts were found to be active even under the irradiation of low-power energy-saving light bulbs, which renders the entire process economically and practically feasible.
A comparison of gait biomechanics of flip‐flops, sandals, barefoot and shoes
Authors: Zhang Xiuli , Paquette Max R , Zhang Songning
Published: November 2013

Background

Flip‐flops and sandals are popular choices of footwear due to their convenience. However, the effects of these types of footwear on lower extremity biomechanics are still poorly understood. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate differences in ground reaction force (GRF), center of pressure (COP) and lower extremity joint kinematic and kinetic variables during level‐walking in flip‐flops, sandals and barefoot compared to running shoes.

Methods

Ten healthy males performed five walking trials in the four footwear conditions at 1.3 m/s. Three‐dimensional GRF and kinematic data were simultaneously collected.

Results

A smaller loading rate of the 1st peak vertical GRF and peak propulsive GRF and greater peak dorsiflexion moment in early stance were found in shoes compared to barefoot, flip‐flops and sandals. Barefoot walking yielded greater mediolateral COP displacement, flatter foot contact angle, increased ankle plantarflexion contact angle, and smaller knee flexion contact angle and range of motion compared to all other footwear.

Conclusions

The results from this study indicate that barefoot, flip‐flops and sandals produced different peak GRF variables and ankle moment compared to shoes while all footwear yield different COP and ankle and knee kinematics compared to barefoot. The findings may be helpful to researchers and clinicians in understanding lower extremity mechanics of open‐toe footwear.
A Mathematical Key toLa Princesse de Clèves
Authors: Sedley David L.
Published: November 2013

This article interprets Madame de Lafayette’s La Princesse de Clèves as a response to Blaise Pascal’s arithmetic triangle. Pascal used the numbers of the triangle to determine how to divide fairly the stakes of an interrupted game of chance. He called his method “the geometry of chance,” and he touted it as an expansion of “the empire of reason” into formerly ungovernable territory. However, Pascal never applied the arithmetic triangle to games with more than two players, and the love triangle among the central characters in Lafayette’s novel implicitly ridicules this constraint. The frame around the present argument extends its significance beyond La Princesse de Clèves to the modern literary mechanisms whose origins critics have identified with it.
Beyond Interests and Institutions: US Health Policy Reform and the Surprising Silence of Big Business
Authors: Smyrl Marc E.
Published: November 2013

Interest-based arguments do not provide satisfying explanations for the surprising reticence of major US employers to take a more active role in the debate surrounding the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Through focused comparison with the Bismarckian systems of France and Germany, on the one hand, and with the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, on the other, this article concludes that while institutional elements do account for some of the observed behavior of big business, a necessary complement to this is a fuller understanding of the historically determined legitimating ideology of US firms. From the era of the “corporate commonwealth,” US business inherited the principles of private welfare provision and of resistance to any expansion of government control. Once complementary, these principles are now mutually exclusive: employer-provided health insurance increasingly is possible only at the cost of ever-increasing government subsidy and regulation. Paralyzed by the uncertainty that followed from this clash of legitimate ideas, major employers found themselves unable to take a coherent and unified stand for or against the law. As a consequence, they failed either to oppose it successfully or to secure modifications to it that would have been useful to them.
Right-Wing Conspiracy? Socialist Plot? The Origins of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Authors: Quadagno Jill
Published: November 2013

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Did the ACA signify a government takeover of the health care system, a first step on the road to socialism, as conservative critics charged? Or was it, rather, a sellout to the right wing, as liberal single-payer advocates proclaimed? The ACA's key provisions, the employer mandate and the individual mandate, were Republican policy ideas, and its fundamental principles were nearly identical to the Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1993 (HEART), a bill promoted by Republican senators to deflect support for President Bill Clinton's Health Security plan. Yet the ACA was also a policy legacy of the Clinton administration in important ways that rarely are acknowledged, notably Medicaid expansion and insurance company regulation. Although the ACA departed from the liberal vision of a single-payer plan and adhered closely to the objectives of those who believed that the health care system should encourage the free market, it included provisions that will make coverage more affordable, reliable, and accessible.
Party Politics and Enactment of “Obamacare”: A Policy-Centered Analysis of Minority Party Involvement
Authors: Rigby Elizabeth , Clark Jennifer Hayes , Pelika Stacey
Published: November 2013

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) passed with no Republican votes and was accompanied by intense criticism that the reform was “rammed through” the legislative process by the majority party. By contrast, many Democrats emphasized the extensive yearlong debate over health care reform and argued that the final bill represented a compromise of good ideas from both parties. We undertake a policy-centered analysis to help reconcile these conflicting reports of this legislative episode. Drawing on real-time accounts published in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, we compare the success of Democratic and Republican Parties' policy proposals in terms of centrality to the policy agenda and inclusion in the enacted legislation. Our findings indicate that Republican-backed proposals were more present on the policy agenda than in the final legislation — although both were dominated by Democratic policy proposals. In this case, the major limit on majority party power seemed to be intraparty conflict, rather than opposition from the minority party.
Freedom of Conscience: Theory and Practice of Limitations of Rights in the Russian Federation
Authors: Никитина Елена , Nikitina Elena
Published: November 2013

In article some problems of formation of the complete theory of human rights in Russia, in particular the concept of restriction of the rights are considered; the main reasons influencing on realization of institute of constitutional human and civil rights and freedoms are revealed; various cases of illegal restriction of the human rights by the example of the right to freedom of worship and religion are considered.
Holding the Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym: An Evaluation of Temptation Bundling
Authors: Milkman Katherine L. , Minson Julia A. , Volpp Kevin G. M.
Published: November 2013

We introduce and evaluate the effectiveness of temptation bundling—a method for simultaneously tackling two types of self-control problems by harnessing consumption complementarities. We describe a field experiment measuring the impact of bundling instantly gratifying but guilt-inducing “want” experiences (enjoying page-turner audiobooks) with valuable “should” behaviors providing delayed rewards (exercising). We explore whether such bundles increase should behaviors and whether people would pay to create these restrictive bundles. Participants were randomly assigned to a full treatment condition with gym-only access to tempting audio novels, an intermediate treatment involving encouragement to restrict audiobook enjoyment to the gym, or a control condition. Initially, full and intermediate treatment participants visited the gym 51% and 29% more frequently, respectively, than control participants, but treatment effects declined over time (particularly following Thanksgiving). After the study, 61% of participants opted to pay to have gym-only access to iPods containing tempting audiobooks, suggesting demand for this commitment device.

This paper was accepted by Uri Gneezy, behavioral economics.
Commemorating from the Margins of the Nation: El Salvador 1932, Indigeneity, and Transnational Belonging
Authors: DeLugan Robin Maria
Published: November 2013

Recent public commemorations in the US and El Salvador for the 1932 state-sanctioned killing of thousands of indigenous Nahuat in western El Salvador involve Native communities and diasporic Salvadorans who thereby bring attention to the continued marginalization of Native people and cultures. Salvadorans in the US express personal and collective indigeneity while contributing to memory and justice efforts in Izalco, the epicenter of the 1932 violence. Multi-sited ethnography illustrates how Native populations and diasporic others, two publics at the margins of the nation-state, engage popular social memory to acknowledge and commemorate a national tragedy in a process that reconfigures and remakes the meaning of national belonging.
From “Contested” Multiculturalism to “Localized” Multiculturalism: Chinese and Vietnamese Youth in Osaka, Japan
Authors: Okubo Yuko
Published: November 2013

This article examines how everyday experiences of certain subjects at the margins of the state illustrate the gap between official discourses and practices of multiculturalism, and unofficial everyday interpretations or reactions to the former. For this purpose, the article discusses Chinese and Vietnamese youth who experienced educational programs under the framework of “multiculturalism and coexistence” (tabunka kyōsei) in primary school in Osaka, Japan. How do activists and teachers negotiate multiculturalism, and how do these youth remember their experience? The gap found here reshapes or contests state practices and discourses, and thus, illustrates a creative space within state and society.
After the Peace: The Contagion of Violence at the Margins of the Guatemalan State
Authors: Olson Krisjon Rae
Published: November 2013

Formany of the international experts, humanitarian professionals, and newly appointed state workers determined to implement peace in Guatemala between 1996 and 2006, the imperative was clear: prevent further killing and protect human lives. For many Guatemalans, who continued to live with death as a part of their ordinary lives, this sort of peace was simply unimaginable. This article illuminates how powerful institutional forms of the state—dirty wars, the work of activism and impunity, and neoliberal reform—reconfigure deadly struggles and their aftermath. I conclude that an alternative way to evaluate peace processes is to consider their relationship to life, after the peace, where violent death is accepted as a condition of being.
Moral Knowledge and its Enemies: Conspiracy and Kingship in Thailand
Authors: Johnson Andrew Alan
Published: November 2013

In the past five years, Thailand has been beset by coup d’état, street violence, and most recently the devastating floods of 2011. Looming in the background is the failing health of the Thai monarch, that person who has been the most potent symbol of 20th century development for Thais. With these events has come increasing political paranoia. Since 2006, accusations of lèse-majesté have leapt nearly a thousand-fold, and royalist conspiracy theories draw links between all of Thailand’s ills and the plots of sources of power. and see conspiracy theorizing as the questioning of hegemonic sources of knowledge rather than as alternative cosmologies. I draw connections between the problematizing of “truth” via conspiracy theory and Thai ideas of moral knowledge in the idiom of baaramii . Specifically, I see how conspiracy theories about the Thai monarch serve to question the idea of a truth which is self-evident. Many of the conspiracy theories which I discuss here are highly charged in Thailand. Such conspiracy theories have in the past been used to justify the killing or imprisonment of political dissidents and others simply caught in the middle. Yet here, I seek to stand aside from issues of social justice for the moment and focus instead upon how notions of conspiracy become constructed and what function they serve at present in Thai society.
A Baron, Some Guides, and a Few Ephebic Boys: Cultural Intimacy, Sexuality, and Heritage in Sicily
Authors: Palumbo Berardino
Published: November 2013

In this article, I will assemble a comparative frame within which to read social practices connected with the construction/production of collective cultural identities in some Sicilian contexts. The case studies I collect refer to different historical periods (some Sicilian guides to 18th and 19th centuries Grand Tour voyagers, a few poor youths interacting with a gay German baron in 19th- and 20th-century Taormina, and two tour “guides” living today in a Sicilian UNESCO World Heritage List site) and have an unequal analytic thickness (ranging from a pre-textual episode in Taormina where a Sicilian male tour guide interacts with two young European female tourists, to a very long ethnographic experience in a southeastern Sicilian town). Crisscrossing these case studies, I would like to achieve two analytical goals. First, I hope to shed light on some distinctive traits of the historical process through which Sicily and Sicilians entered, and accommodated themselves with, a hegemonic “global hierarchy of value.” Secondly, drawing from some recent critical interpretations, I will discuss the analytical relevance of Michael Herzfeld’s notion of “cultural intimacy” to read the historical and social process I describe.
Humans and Things: Mande “ Fetishes ” as Subjects
Authors: Manzon Agnes Kedzierska
Published: November 2013

The West African Mande use a wide variety of material artifacts (“fetishes”) to influence their lives. They conceive of such artifacts as partners with whom their users actively engage in genuine relationship. Thus, they treat these objects as subjects. Yet anthropologists have typically interpreted such objects, and similar magical artifacts worldwide, as symbols, that is, material representations reifying social and power structures. This article re-examines the traditional anthropological binary and indexical view of the objects in question while exploring these objects’ agency, which I consider as the foundation of their efficacy.
The Missing "One-Offs": The Hidden Supply of High-Achieving, Low-Income Students
Authors: Hoxby Caroline , Avery Christopher
Published: November 2013

We show that the vast majority of low-income high achievers do not apply to any selective college. This is despite the fact that selective institutions typically cost them less , owing to generous financial aid, than the two-year and nonselective four-year institutions to which they actually apply. Moreover, low-income high achievers have no reason to believe they will fail at selective institutions since those who do apply are admitted and graduate at high rates. We demonstrate that low-income high achievers' application behavior differs greatly from that of their high-income counterparts with similar achievement. The latter generally follow experts' advice to apply to several "peer," a few "reach," and a couple of "safety" colleges. We separate low-income high achievers into those whose application behavior is similar to that of their high-income counterparts ("achievement-typical") and those who apply to no selective institutions ("income-typical"). We show that income-typical students are not more disadvantaged than the achievement-typical students. However, in contrast to the achievement-typical students, income-typical students come from districts too small to support selective public high schools, are not in a critical mass of fellow high achievers, and are unlikely to encounter a teacher who attended a selective college. We demonstrate that widely used policies—college admissions recruiting, campus visits, college mentoring programs—are likely to be ineffective with income-typical students. We suggest that effective policies must depend less on geographic concentration of high achievers.
Fifty Years of Family Planning: New Evidence on the Long-Run Effects of Increasing Access to Contraception
Authors: Bailey Martha J.
Published: November 2013

This paper assembles new evidence on some of the longer-term benefits of U.S. family planning policies, defined in this paper as those increasing legal or financial access to modern contraceptives. The analysis leverages two large policy changes that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s: first, the interaction of the birth control pill's introduction with Comstock-era restrictions on the sale of contraceptives and the repeal of these laws after Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965; and second, the expansion of federal funding for local family planning programs from 1964 to 1973. Building on previous research that demonstrates both policies' effects on fertility rates, I find that individuals' access to contraceptives influenced their children's college completion, labor force participation, wages, and family incomes decades later.
Measuring Financial Inclusion: Explaining Variation in Use of Financial Services across and within Countries
Authors: Demirgüç-Kunt Asli , Klapper Leora
Published: November 2013

This paper summarizes the first publicly available, user-side data set of indicators that measure how adults in 148 countries save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. We use the data to benchmark financial inclusion—the share of the population that uses formal financial services—in countries around the world, and to investigate the significant country- and individual-level variation in how adults use formal and informal financial systems to manage their day-to-day finances and plan for the future. The data show that 50 percent of adults worldwide are "banked," that is, have an account at a formal financial institution, but also that account penetration varies across countries by level of economic development and across income groups within countries. For the half of all adults around the world who remain unbanked, the paper documents reported barriers to account use, such as cost, distance, and documentation requirements, which may shed light on potential market failures and provide guidance to policymakers in shaping financial inclusion policies.
The Minimum Balance at Risk: A Proposal to Mitigate the Systemic Risks Posed by Money Market Funds
Authors: McCabe Patrick E. , Cipriani Marco , Holscher Michael , Martin Antoine
Published: November 2013

This paper introduces a proposal for money market fund (MMF) reform to mitigate the systemic risk and externalities that arise from the funds' vulnerability to runs and to protect shareholders who do not redeem quickly when runs occur. Our proposal would require that a small fraction of each MMF shareholder's recent balances, called the "minimum balance at risk" (MBR), be available for redemption only with a delay of 30 days. Most regular transactions in the fund would be unaffected; the requirement would only affect redemptions of the shareholder's MBR. In addition, in the rare event that a fund suffers losses, the MBRs of investors who have recently made large redemptions would absorb losses before those of nonredeeming investors. This subordination of redeeming investors' MBRs would create a disincentive to redeem if the fund is likely to have losses, but would have little effect on incentives when the risk of loss is remote. We use empirical evidence, including a novel data set from the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on MMF losses in 2008, to calibrate an MBR rule that would reduce the vulnerability of MMFs to runs.
Rising Inequality: Transitory or Persistent? New Evidence from a Panel of U.S. Tax Returns
Authors: Debacker Jason , Heim Bradley , Panousi Vasia , Ramnath Shanthi , Vidangos Ivan
Published: November 2013

We use a new, large, and confidential panel of tax returns to study the persistent-versus-transitory nature of rising inequality in male labor earnings and in total household income, both before and after taxes, in the United States over the period 1987-2009. We apply various statistical decomposition methods that allow for different ways of characterizing persistent and transitory income components. For male labor earnings, we find that the entire increase in cross-sectional inequality over our sample period was driven by an increase in the dispersion of the persistent component of earnings. For total household income, we find that most of the increase in inequality reflects an increase in the dispersion of the persistent income component, but the transitory component also appears to have played some role. We also show that the tax system partly mitigated the increase in income inequality, but not sufficiently to alter its broadly increasing trend over the period.
The Portuguese Slump and Crash and the Euro Crisis
Authors: Reis Ricardo
Published: November 2013

Between 2000 and 2012, the Portuguese economy grew less than the United States during the Great Depression and less than Japan during its lost decade. This paper asks why this happened, with a particular focus on the slump between 2000 and 2007. It describes the main facts of Portugal's recent economic history, evaluates some possible explanations for its dismal performance, and proposes a new hypothesis based on the misallocation of abundant capital flows from abroad. I put forward a model of credit frictions to show that if financial integration exceeds financial deepening, productivity will fall, generating a slump as relatively unproductive firms in the non-tradables sector expand at the expense of more productive tradables firms. This explanation can also potentially account for the similarities and the differences between Portugal on the one hand, and Ireland and Spain on the other, during this period, and for some features of the crash in Portugal after 2010.
The Cultural Basis for Oral Health Practices among Somali Refugees Pre-and Post-Resettlement in Massachusetts
Authors: Adams Jo Hunter , Young Samorga , Laird Lance D. , Geltman Paul L. , Cochran Jennifer J. , Hassan Ahmed , Egal Fadumo , Paasche-Orlow Michael K. , Barnes Linda L.
Published: November 2013

Background . Oral health disparities related to socioeconomic status have been well described in the U.S., but oral health among refugee groups has not been well characterized. This article examines oral health among Somali refugees in Massachusetts. Methods . Eighty-three (83) participants were purposively selected for an in-depth, open-ended interview related to oral health. Results . Older individuals associated use of the stick brush with the Islamic practice of cleansing before prayer. When unable to find stick brushes in the U.S., many adopted the Western toothbrush. Parents expressed concern that their children had adopted U.S. practices of brushing with a toothbrush only once or twice a day. Conclusions/implications . Somali oral health practices have changed following arrival to the U.S., but the underlying model for oral health care remains rooted in Islam. By acknowledging the value of traditional practices, dentists may communicate the value of Western preventive and restorative dentistry, and recommend approaches to integrating the two.