Synthetic and structural studies of mixed sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide/sodium halide aggregates in the presence of η2-N,N-, η3-N,N,N/N,O,N-, and η4-N,N,N,N-donor ligands

When the important utility amide sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide is combined with hydrocarbon-soluble molecular forms of sodium halide salts, a complex structural chemistry is observed. Through utilization of several different multidentate donor molecules, it is possible to isolate a series of compounds that have structural motifs previously not observed in sodium chemistry

Electoral Accountability and Fiscal Federalism:The Case of Peru

Accountability is at the heart of the democratic enterprise. One commonly touted benefit of decentralization is that it promotes this accountability by allowing sub-national governments to target fiscal policy more precisely to the varying preferences of people in different locales. But if accountability is really functioning as it should, then citizens should use the ballot box to reward and punish local officials for their concrete policy behavior. In other words, we should not only be able to link the presence of decentralization with improvements in local public goods, but we should also be able to connect voting behavior in specific locales with the competence of local politicians. Because of the empirical challenges, few scholars have attempted test this prediction directly. Using government information as well as data coded for this project, we examine the case of Peru, assessing how measures of local government success affect the probability of reelection and recall. We find that, when Mayors manage their waste collection and education portfolios more effectively, they are more likely to win office in subsequent elections. They are also less likely to be removed in recall votes. More than that, when Mayors spend more overall, and especially when they spend more on capital projects, we find that their probability of reelection improves, and their risk of recall declines. Overall, our results show clearly that Peru’s citizens use their votes rationally to reward and punish locally elected politicians. This gives substance and support to the notion that, at least under certain circumstances, accountability can function well under decentralized government

Characterisation of the subtelomeric regions of Giardia lamblia genome isolate WBC6

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in International Journal for Parasitology 37 (2007): 503-513, doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2006.12.011.Giardia trophozoites are polyploid and have five chromosomes. The chromosome homologues demonstrate considerable size heterogeneity due to variation in the subtelomeric regions. We used clones from the genome project with telomeric sequence at one end to identify six subtelomeric regions in addition to previously identified subtelomeric regions, to study the telomeric arrangement of the chromosomes. The subtelomeric regions included two retroposons, one retroposon pseudogene, and two vsp genes, in addition to the previously identified subtelomeric regions that include ribosomal DNA repeats. The presence of vsp genes in a subtelomeric region suggests that telomeric rearrangements may contribute to the generation of vsp diversity. These studies of the subtelomeric regions of Giardia may contribute to our understanding of the factors that maintain stability, while allowing diversity in chromosome structure.This work was supported in part by NIH grant AI43273 to Mitchell L. Sogin. Additional support was provided by the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation and LI-COR Biotechnology

The Politics of Fiscal Federalism: Building a Stronger Decentralization Theorem

We explore how party structures can condition the benefits of decentralization in modern democracies. In particular, we study the interaction of two political institutions: democratic (de)centralization (whether a country has fiscally autonomous and elected local governments) and party (non)integration (whether power over local party leaders flows upwards through party institutions, which we model using control over candidate selection). We incorporate these institutions into our strong decentralization theorem, which expands on Oates (1972) to examine when the decentralized provision of public services will dominate centralized provision even in the presence of inter-jurisdictional spillovers. Our findings suggest that, when externalities are present, democratic decentralization will be beneficial only when parties are integrated. In countries with non-integrated parties, we find that the participation rules of primaries have implications for the expected gains from democratic decentralization. Under blanket primaries, Oates’ conventional decentralization theorem holds but our strong decentralization theorem does not. By contrast, when primaries are closed, not even Oates’ conventional decentralization theorem holds

Rethinking the Political Economy of Decentralization: How Elections and Parties Shape the Provision of Local Public Goods

Decentralization is among the most important global trends of the new century, yet there is still no consensus on how to design political institutions to realize its benefits. In this paper, we investigate the political conditions under which decentralization will improve the delivery of public goods. We begin by incorporating insights from political science and economics into a rigorous and formal extension of the “decentralization theorem”. Our extension assumes inter-jurisdictional spillovers and suggests that the interaction of democratic decentralization (popularly elected sub-national governments) and party centralization (the power of national party leaders over subnational office-seekers) will produce the best outcomes for public service delivery. To test this argument empirically, we make use of a new dataset of sub-national political institutions created for this project. Our analyses, which allow us to examine educational outcomes in more than 125 countries across more than 25 years, provide support for our theoretical expectations

Relationship between diffusion capacity and small airway abnormality in COPDGene.

Impaired single breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO) is associated with emphysema. Small airways disease (SAD) may be a precursor lesion to emphysema, but the relationship between SAD and DLCO is undescribed. We hypothesized that in mild COPD, functional SAD (fSAD) defined by computed tomography (CT) and Parametric Response Mapping methodology would correlate with impaired DLCO. Using data from ever-smokers in the COPDGene cohort, we established that fSAD correlated significantly with lower DLCO among both non-obstructed and GOLD 1-2 subjects. The relationship between DLCO with CT-defined emphysema was present in all GOLD stages, but most prominent in severe disease. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00608764. Registry: COPDGene. Registered 06 February 2008, retrospectively registered

Cardiac Complications in Acute Ischemic Stroke

<p>Introduction: To characterize cardiac complications in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients admitted from an urban emergency department (ED).</p> <p>Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional study evaluating AIS patients admitted from the ED within 24 hours of symptom onset who also had an echocardiogram performed within 72 hours of admission.</p> <p>Results: Two hundred AIS patients were identified with an overall in-hospital mortality rate of 8% (n¼ 16). In our cohort, 57 (28.5%) of 200 had an ejection fraction less than 50%, 35 (20.4%) of 171 had ischemic changes on electrocardiogram (ECG), 18 (10.5%) of 171 presented in active atrial fibrillation, 21 (13.0%) of 161 had serum troponin elevation, and 2 (1.1%) of 184 survivors had potentially lethal</p> <p>arrhythmias on telemetry monitoring. Subgroup analysis revealed higher in-hospital mortality rates among those with systolic dysfunction (15.8% versus 4.9%; P ¼ 0.0180), troponin elevation (38.1% versus 3.4%; P , 0.0001), atrial fibrillation on ECG (33.3% versus 3.8%; P ¼ 0.0003), and ischemic changes on ECG (17.1% versus 6.1%; P ¼ 0.0398) compared with those without.</p> <p>Conclusion: A proportion of AIS patients may have cardiac complications. Systolic dysfunction, troponin elevation, atrial fibrillation, or ischemic changes on ECG may be associated with higher inhospital mortality rates. These findings support the adjunctive role of cardiac-monitoring strategies in the acute presentation of AIS. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(4):414–420.]</p

Separation of Nanoparticles in Aqueous Multiphase Systems through Centrifugation

This paper demonstrates the use of aqueous multiphase systems (MuPSs) as media for rate-zonal centrifugation to separate nanoparticles of different shapes and sizes. The properties of MuPSs do not change with time or during centrifugation; this stability facilitates sample collection after separation. A three-phase system demonstrates the separation of the reaction products (nanorods, nanospheres, and large particles) of a synthesis of gold nanorods, and enriches the nanorods from 48 to 99% in less than ten minutes using a benchtop centrifuge.Chemistry and Chemical BiologyEngineering and Applied Science

Echo Tomography of Sco X-1 using Bowen Fluorescence Lines

We present preliminary results of a simultaneous X-ray/optical campaign of the prototypical LMXB Sco X-1 at 1-10 Hz time resolution. Lightcurves of the high excitation Bowen/HeII emission lines were obtained through narrow interference filters with ULTRACAM, and these were cross-correlated with X-ray lightcurves. We find evidence for correlated variability, in particular when Sco X-1 enters the Flaring Branch. The Bowen/HeII lightcurves lag the X-ray lightcurves with a light travel time which is consistent with reprocessing in the companion star.Comment: Contribution presented at the conference "Interacting Binaries: Accretion, Evolution and Outcomes", held in Cefalu, Sicily (Italy) in July 2004. To be published by AIP (American Institute of Physics), eds. L. A. Antonelli, L. Burderi, F. D'Antona, T. Di Salvo, G.L. Israel, L. Piersanti, O. Straniero, A. Tornambe. 6 pages, 5 figure