Gaps in state funding mean that liberal cities in conservative states are more likely to lobby the federal government

When we hear the term 'lobbying' we tend to think mostly in terms of corporations and ideological groups working to influence policy outcomes at the state and federal level. But cities are often lobbyists too. In new research, Rebecca Goldstein and Hye Young You examine the causes and consequences of lobbying the federal government by American cities. They find that liberal cities in conservative states such as New Orleans, Tucson, and Houston were the most likely to lobby, a trend that they explain may be down to gaps between how much these cities and their states spend on public services and infrastructure

Active Firms and Active Shareholders: Corporate Political Activity and Shareholder Proposals

This article reveals the positions of corporations not only as active players in politics but also as targets of activist shareholders with opposing political preferences. We examine whether a firm's political orientation, as measured by its political spending, serves as a driver of shareholder proposal submissions, one manifestation of shareholder activism. Using data on S&P 500 companies for 1997-2014, we find that the divergence in political orientation between shareholders and corporate management is strongly associated with the number of submissions of shareholder proposals on environmental or social issues. Firms that contribute more to the Republican Party are more likely to be targeted by nonindividual, Democratic-Leaning shareholders. This pattern remains even after controlling for firms' records of corporate social responsibility and Labor relations. This finding implies that corporate political spending prompts shareholders with strong political preferences to target firms on the opposite end of the political spectrum

Three Essays on Lobbying

My dissertation consists of three essays on lobbying activities by special interest groups. The first paper, "Ex Post Lobbying," systematically documents ex post lobbying, the process by which firms allocate resources during the implementation stage after congressional authorization. Previous theories assume all lobbying is done ex ante, where lobbying activities occur before Congress votes. However, my analysis of over 633,731 lobbying reports demonstrates that almost half of lobbying activity from 1998 to 2012, that targeted specific bills, occurred ex post. I argue that the goal of ex post lobbying is to allow firms to bargain over private benefits that will arise from legislation by targeting regulatory rule-making processes that clarify non-specific parts of bills. Ex post lobbying provides a chance for non-participants in the ex ante lobbying stage to claim their share from government policy

Cities with more African Americans rely more on fines for revenue

The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, also focused attention on how police and city officials use fines taken from communities of color to fund city administration. In new research, which examined revenue data from more than 9,000 cities, Michael W. Sances and Hye Young You find that cities with a larger African American population collect a greater number of fines. They also find that the relationship between race and fines is much weaker in cities with Black representation on city councils

How Are Politicians Informed? Witnesses and Information Provision in Congress

How are politicians informed and who do politicians seek information from? The role of information has been at the center for research on legislative organizations but there is a lack of systematic empirical work on the information that Congress seeks to acquire and consider. To examine the information flow between Congress and external groups, we construct the most comprehensive dataset to date on 74,082 congressional committee hearings and 755,540 witnesses spanning 1960-2018. We show descriptive patterns of how witness composition varies across time and committee, and how different types of witnesses provide varying levels of analytical information. We develop theoretical expectations for why committees may invite different types of witnesses based on committee intent, inter-branch relations, and congressional capacity. Our empirical evidence shows how committees' partisan considerations can affect how much committees turn to outsiders for information and from whom they seek information

Feasibility of fetoscopic laser coagulation in triplet pregnancy

Objective To report the experiences of triplet pregnancies complicated by twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) treated with fetoscopic laser coagulation at a single center. Methods Herein, we conducted a retrospective analysis to investigate the management and perinatal outcomes of triplet pregnancies with TTTS treated at a single institution between 2017 and 2022. Results Seven of the 98 triplet pregnancies (7.1%) encountered were complicated by TTTS, and all were dichorionic triamniotic triplets. Of the seven triplet pregnancies complicated by TTTS, four were treated with fetoscopic laser coagulation at our center, at a median gestational age of 20 weeks. No procedure-related complications or maternal complications were observed. The survival rate was higher and perinatal outcomes were better in fetoscopic laser coagulation cases than in other management cases. Four donor and four recipient triplets survived, with a median gestational age of 33 weeks at delivery. Although there were no cases of poor neonatal outcomes, one case was diagnosed with white matter injury, suspected to be hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy on postnatal investigation. Conclusion Fetoscopic laser coagulation is a feasible treatment option for triplet TTTS, provided the attending specialists have extensive experience with this technique

Classification of rice (oryza sativa l. japonica nipponbare) immunophilins (fkbps, cyps) and expression patterns under water stress

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>FK506 binding proteins (FKBPs) and cyclophilins (CYPs) are abundant and ubiquitous proteins belonging to the peptidyl-prolyl <it>cis/trans </it>isomerase (PPIase) superfamily, which regulate much of metabolism through a chaperone or an isomerization of proline residues during protein folding. They are collectively referred to as immunophilin (IMM), being present in almost all cellular organs. In particular, a number of IMMs relate to environmental stresses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>FKBP and CYP proteins in rice (<it>Oryza sativa </it>cv. Japonica) were identified and classified, and given the appropriate name for each IMM, considering the ortholog-relation with <it>Arabidopsis </it>and <it>Chlamydomonas </it>or molecular weight of the proteins. 29 FKBP and 27 CYP genes can putatively be identified in rice; among them, a number of genes can be putatively classified as orthologs of <it>Arabidopsis </it>IMMs. However, some genes were novel, did not match with those of <it>Arabidopsis </it>and <it>Chlamydomonas</it>, and several genes were paralogs by genetic duplication. Among 56 IMMs in rice, a significant number are regulated by salt and/or desiccation stress. In addition, their expression levels responding to the water-stress have been analyzed in different tissues, and some subcellular IMMs located by means of tagging with GFP protein.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Like other green photosynthetic organisms such as <it>Arabidopsis </it>(23 FKBPs and 29 CYPs) and <it>Chlamydomonas </it>(23 FKBs and 26 CYNs), rice has the highest number of IMM genes among organisms reported so far, suggesting that the numbers relate closely to photosynthesis. Classification of the putative FKBPs and CYPs in rice provides the information about their evolutional/functional significance when comparisons are drawn with the relatively well studied genera, <it>Arabidopsis </it>and <it>Chlamydomonas</it>. In addition, many of the genes upregulated by water stress offer the possibility of manipulating the stress responses in rice.</p

Hypereosinophilia Presenting as Eosinophilic Vasculitis and Multiple Peripheral Artery Occlusions without Organ Involvement

We report here a case with hypereosinophilia and peripheral artery occlusion. A 32-yr-old Korean woman presented to us with lower extremity swelling and pain. Angiography revealed that multiple lower extremity arteries were occlusive. The biopsy specimen showed perivascular and periadnexal dense eosinophilic infiltration in dermis and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Laboratory investigations revealed a persistent hypereosinophilia. She was prescribed prednisolone 60 mg daily. Her skin lesion and pain were improved and the eosinophil count was dramatically decreased. After discharge, eosinophil count gradually increased again. Cyanosis and pain of her fingers recurred. She had been treated with cyclophosphamide pulse therapy. Her eosinophilia was decreased, but the cyanosis and tingling sense were progressive. The extremity arterial stenoses were slightly progressed. Skin biopsy showed perivascular eosinophilic infiltration in the dermis and CD40 ligand (CD40L) positive eosinophilic infiltration. The serum TNF-α was markedly increased. These results suggest that CD40L (a member of TNF-α superfamily) could play a role in the inflammatory processes when eosinophil infiltration and activation are observed. We prescribed prednisolone, cyclophosphamide, clopidogrel, cilostazol, beraprost and nifedipine, and she was discharged