Vision 2020: A View of Our Energy Future

The Morning Address was given by The Honorable George Allen. “The Regulatory Framework: Where Are We Headed?” session by Eric Finkbeiner, Senior Adviser for Policy, Office of Governor Robert McDonnell; David Christian, Chief Executive Officer, Dominion Generation; and Professor Joel Eisen, University of Richmond School of Law. Professor Noah Sachs, University of Richmond School of Law, served as moderator. “The Future of Coal” session by John Lain, Partner at McGuireWoods LLP; Cale Jaffe, Senior Attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center; and W. Thomas Hudson, President of W. Thomas Hudson and Associates, Inc. and of the Virginia Coal Association. Stephen E. Taylor, Allen Chair Editor for the University of Richmond Law Review, served as moderator. “Nuclear Power: Is There a ‘Renaissance’?” session by Donald Irwin, Hunton & Williams; Christopher Paine, Director of Nuclear Program, Natural Resources Defense Council (invited); and Michael H. Montgomery, Vice President of Fuel Development, Lightbridge Corporation. Tricia Dunlap, Robert R. Merhige, Jr. Fellow at the University of Richmond School of Law, served as moderator. “Emerging Issues in Energy Policy” session by Mark Rosen, Deputy General Counsel, CNA Corporation; Jefferson Reynolds, Water Policy Director with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality; Kruskaia Sierra-Escalante, Senior Counsel for the International Finance Corporation; and Edward Lowe, General Manager for Renewable Energy Market Development, GE Energy. Andrea W. Wortzel, Counsel with Hunton & Williams and Vice Chair of the Environmental Law Section of the Virginia State Bar, served as moderator. The Closing Address was given by The Honorable Carol M. Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change and Former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (invited)

Evaluation Research and Institutional Pressures: Challenges in Public-Nonprofit Contracting

This article examines the connection between program evaluation research and decision-making by public managers. Drawing on neo-institutional theory, a framework is presented for diagnosing the pressures and conditions that lead alternatively toward or away the rational use of evaluation research. Three cases of public-nonprofit contracting for the delivery of major programs are presented to clarify the way coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures interfere with a sound connection being made between research and implementation. The article concludes by considering how public managers can respond to the isomorphic pressures in their environment that make it hard to act on data relating to program performance.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 23. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

Brief report on the effect of providing single versus assorted brand name condoms to hospital patients: a descriptive study

OBJECTIVES: This study examined condom acquisition by persons in a hospital setting when single versus assorted brand name condoms were provided. METHODS: Condom receptacles were placed in exam rooms of two clinics. During Phase 1, a single brand name was provided; for Phase 2, assorted brand names were added. Number of condoms taken was recorded for each phase. RESULTS: For one clinic there was nearly a two-fold increase in number of condoms taken (Phase 1 to Phase 2); for the second clinic there was negligible difference in number of condoms taken. CONCLUSIONS: The provision of assorted brand name condoms, over a single brand name, can serve to increase condom acquisition. Locations of condoms and target population characteristics are related factors

The efficacy of orthographic rime, grapheme-phoneme correspondence, and implicit phonics approaches to teaching decoding skills

This study compared the efficacy of two decoding skill-based programs, one based on explicit orthographic rime and one on grapheme–phoneme correspondences, to a control group exposed to an implicit phonics program. Children in both explicit decoding programs performed consistently better than the control group in the accuracy with which they read and spelled words covered in the program. Only children in the grapheme–phoneme correspondence program consistently spelled transfer words better than children in the control group. In addition, children in the grapheme–phoneme correspondence group consistently read words more quickly than children in the control group. Children in both explicit decoding programs scored higher than the children in the control group on measures of reading comprehension and oral reading at posttest

Identifying flares in rheumatoid arthritis: Reliability and construct validation of the OMERACT RA Flare Core Domain Set

Objective: To evaluate the reliability of concurrent flare identification using 3 methods (patient, rheumatologist and Disease Activity Score (DAS)28 criteria), and construct validity of candidate items representing the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Clinical Trials (OMERACT) RA Flare Core Domain Set. Methods: Candidate flare questions and legacy measures were administered at consecutive visits to Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH) patients between November 2011 and November 2014. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) core set indicators were recorded. Concordance to identify flares was assessed using the agreement coefficient. Construct validity of flare questions was examined: convergent (Spearman's r); discriminant (mean differences between flaring/non-flaring patients); and consequential (proportions with prior treatment reductions and intended therapeutic change postflare). Results: The 849 patients were 75% female, 81% white, 42% were in remission/low disease activity (R/LDA), and 16-32% were flaring at the second visit. Agreement of flare status was low-strong (κ's 0.17-0.88) and inversely related to RA disease activity level. Flare domains correlated highly (r's≥0.70) with each other, patient global (r's≥0.66) and corresponding measures (r's 0.49-0.92); and moderately highly with MD and patient-reported joint counts (r's 0.29-0.62). When MD/patients agreed the patient was flaring, mean flare domain between-group differences were 2.1-3.0; 36% had treatment reductions prior to flare, with escalation planned in 61%. Conclusions: Flares are common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and are often preceded by treatment reductions. Patient/MD/DAS agreement of flare status is highest in patients worsening from R/LDA. OMERACT RA flare questions can discriminate between patients with/without flare and have strong evidence of construct and consequential validity. Ongoing work will identify optimal scoring and cut points to identify RA flares

TLR9-induced interferon β is associated with protection from gammaherpesvirus-induced exacerbation of lung fibrosis

Abstract Background We have shown previously that murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (γHV68) infection exacerbates established pulmonary fibrosis. Because Toll-like receptor (TLR)-9 may be important in controlling the immune response to γHV68 infection, we examined how TLR-9 signaling effects exacerbation of fibrosis in response to viral infection, using models of bleomycin- and fluorescein isothiocyanate-induced pulmonary fibrosis in wild-type (Balb/c) and TLR-9-/- mice. Results We found that in the absence of TLR-9 signaling, there was a significant increase in collagen deposition following viral exacerbation of fibrosis. This was not associated with increased viral load in TLR-9-/- mice or with major alterations in T helper (Th)1 and Th2 cytokines. We examined alveolar epithelial-cell apoptosis in both strains, but this could not explain the altered fibrotic outcomes. As expected, TLR-9-/- mice had a defect in the production of interferon (IFN)-β after viral infection. Balb/c fibroblasts infected with γHV68 in vitro produced more IFN-β than did infected TLR-9-/- fibroblasts. Accordingly, in vitro infection of Balb/c fibroblasts resulted in reduced proliferation rates whereas infection of TLR-9-/- fibroblasts did not. Finally, therapeutic administration of CpG oligodeoxynucleotides ameliorated bleomycin-induced fibrosis in wild-type mice. Conclusions These results show a protective role for TLR-9 signaling in murine models of lung fibrosis, and highlight differences in the biology of TLR-9 between mice and humans.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112877/1/13069_2011_Article_57.pd

Review of Matrix Metalloproteinases’ Effect on the Hybrid Dentin Bond Layer Stability and Chlorhexidine Clinical Use to Prevent Bond Failure

This review describes the relationship between dentin collagen hybrid bond layer degradation and the Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) after their release by acid etch and rinse adhesives and self etching bonding adhesives that can reduce the bond stability over time. MMP-2, MMP-8 and MMP-9 are indicated as the active proteases that breakdown the collagen fibrils in the hybrid bond layer. Phosphoric acid in the acid etch and rinse bonding process and acid primers in the self etch process are implicated in the release of these proteases and their activation by several non-collagen proteins also released from dentin by the etching. MMPs are released in saliva by salivary glands, by cells in the gingival crevices to crevicular fluid and by pulpal odontoblasts cells to the dentinal fluids. These sources may affect the hybrid layer also. Evidence of the bond strength deterioration over time and the ability of Chlorhexidine to prevent bond deterioration by inhibiting MMP action are discussed. Dentin Bonding procedure utilizing Chlorhexidine for different application times and concentrations are being developed. The application of 2% Chlorhexidine to the phosphoric acid etch surface after rinsing off the acid is the only procedure that has been clinically tested for a longer period of time and shown to prevent bond strength degradation so far. The adoption of this procedure is recommended as means of improving bond stability at this time

Introduction: Toward an Engaged Feminist Heritage Praxis

We advocate a feminist approach to archaeological heritage work in order to transform heritage practice and the production of archaeological knowledge. We use an engaged feminist standpoint and situate intersubjectivity and intersectionality as critical components of this practice. An engaged feminist approach to heritage work allows the discipline to consider women’s, men’s, and gender non-conforming persons’ positions in the field, to reveal their contributions, to develop critical pedagogical approaches, and to rethink forms of representation. Throughout, we emphasize the intellectual labor of women of color, queer and gender non-conforming persons, and early white feminists in archaeology