Defying the odds: The Christian Coalition in the life cycle of the Religious Right

According to the established theories on the life cycle of social movements, the Maintenance Stage of a movement is a critical time that marks a crossroads. One path leads to victory and the other to oblivion. The odds are strongly against victory for any social movement because the bureaucratic necessities for long-term maintenance of a movement siphon off spontaneity, excitement, and esprit de corps. Few social movements are totally successful and many are absorbed or cooped by established institutions. This study examines how the Religious Right, under the leadership of the Christian Coalition, has defied the odds and has become more powerful while transforming itself into a mainstream political organization. A carefully planned shift in rhetorical strategy has helped the Christian Coalition coopt an established institution, the Republican Party, rather than being cooped by it

Effects on Rotational Dynamics of Azo and Hydrazodicarboxamide-Based Rotaxanes

© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This document is the Published Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Molecules. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22071078The synthesis of novel hydrogen-bonded [2]rotaxanes having two pyridine rings in the macrocycle and azo- and hydrazodicarboxamide-based templates decorated with four cyclohexyl groups is described. The different affinity of the binding sites for the benzylic amide macrocycle and the formation of programmed non-covalent interactions between the interlocked components have an important effect on the dynamic behavior of these compounds. Having this in mind, the chemical interconversion between the azo and hydrazo forms of the [2]rotaxane was investigated to provide a chemically-driven interlocked system enable to switch its circumrotation rate as a function of the oxidation level of the binding site. Different structural modifications were carried out to further functionalize the nitrogen of the pyridine rings, including oxidation, alkylation or protonation reactions, affording interlocked azo-derivatives whose rotation dynamics were also analyzed

Influence of composition and preparation method on the continuous performance of Sn-Beta for glucose-fructose isomerisation

The stability, activity and selectivity of various Sn-Beta catalysts are investigated to identify how the composition of the catalyst, in addition to its method of preparation, impact its ability to continuously isomerise glucose to fructose. Increasing the Sn loading in post-synthetically prepared catalysts leads to a decrease of both activity and stability. Accordingly, materials containing dilute amounts of Sn appear to be most suitable for continuous operation. Furthermore, the method of preparation has a profound impact on the overall performance of the catalyst. In fact, preparation of Sn-Beta by hydrothermal synthesis results in improvements of both activity and stability, with respect to the post-synthetic preparation of an otherwise-analogous material. The improved resistance of hydrothermal Sn-Beta is attributed, through a combination of operando UV–Vis, TPD-MS and vapour adsorption isotherms, to its greater resistance to deactivation by methanol (the reaction solvent). Complementary 119Sn CPMG MAS NMR experiments also indicate the presence of different Sn sites in the hydrothermal material, which, alongside the presence of a less adsorptive siliceous matrix, may be intrinsically less prone to solvent interaction than those present in post-synthetic Sn-Beta

Forecasting pharmaceutical expenditure in Europe : adjusting for the impact of rebates and discounts

European healthcare systems are under constant pressure to contain healthcare expenditure. Understanding future drug expenditure is an important consideration for payers when formulating policies. QuintileIMS publishes European forecasts that are underpinned by its audited volume data and publicly available list prices. With increasing price pressures, list to net price divergence is growing, although some of this information is commercially sensitive and thus not publicly available. The objective of this study was to further develop an established forecast to account for this divergence and explore its impact

Getting More From Your Maze: Examining Differences in Distractors

The present study examined the technical adequacy of maze-selection tasks constructed in 2 different ways: typical versus novel. We selected distractors for each measure systematically based on rules related to the content of the passage and the part of speech of the correct choice. Participants included 262 middle school students who were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 maze formats. Scoring of the maze included both correct and correct-minus-incorrect scores. Students completed 3 criterion-reading tests: the Scholastic Reading Inventory, the AIMSweb R-Maze, and a high-stakes state assessment (the Missouri Assessment Program). Alternate-forms reliability was similar across maze formats; however, with regard to scoring procedure, reliability coefficients were consistently higher for correct than for correct-minus-incorrect scores. Validity coefficients were also similar across format with 1 exception: The coefficients for typical maze scores were stronger when compared with the Missouri Assessment Program scores than the coefficients for novel maze scores

The integration of surgical and dermatological techniques in the treatment of cutaneous aging: multidisciplinary approaches and clinical outcomes - a comprehensive systematic review of current literature

This comprehensive review explores the integration of surgical and dermatological techniques in treating cutaneous aging, highlighting the evolution of anti-aging strategies towards more refined and less invasive methods. As aging skin results from a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, leading to structural and physiological changes, dermatology has advanced to offer multifaceted treatment approaches. We aimed to review advances and evolution in surgical interventions such as facelifts and blepharoplasty. We will discuss noninvasive and minimally invasive techniques, such as Ultherapy and fat grafting, which are widely used and are the best alternatives to traditional surgery. Other techniques, such as thread lifts and novel materials like polydioxanone (PDO) and polylactic acid (PLA) threads, are also reliable techniques for minimally invasive facial rejuvenation

Data-based decision making: Teachers’ comprehension of Curriculum-Based Measurement progress-monitoring graphs

Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

Bird Feces as Indicators of Metal Pollution: Pitfalls and Solutions

Bird feces are commonly used as a proxy for measuring dietary metal exposure levels in wild populations. Our study aims to improve the reliability and repeatability of fecal metal measurements and gives some recommendations for sampling. First, we studied levels of variation in metallic element (arsenic, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel, lead) concentrations: temporal variation within an individual, among siblings in a brood and among-brood/spatial variation. Second, we explored the variation caused by dual composition (urate vs. feces) of bird droppings. Two sets of fresh fecal samples were collected from pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nestlings living in a metal polluted area in summers 2017 (dataset 1) and 2018 (dataset 2). We found a great deal of temporal intra-individual variation in metal levels, suggesting that dietary exposure varied markedly in a short time scale (within a day). A sample from only one nestling per brood did not well describe the brood mean value, and we recommend that at least four siblings should be sampled. Brood level samples give relatively good temporal repeatability for most metals. For all the metals, the levels in the fecal portion were more than double to those in the urate portion. Since the mass proportion of urate in the bird droppings varied a great deal among samples, standardizing sampling, e.g., by collecting only the fecal part, would markedly reduce the variation due to composition. Alternatively, urate portion could be used for biomonitoring of internally circulated bioavailable metal. View Full-TextKeywords: bird feces; calcium; heavy metals; measurement error; pied flycatcher; repeatability; uric acid</div