State-Directed Political Protest in US Capital Cities: 1998-2001

Using a new dataset, we analyze four years of political protest events in US state capitals, in order to specify the processes and possibilities for collective action at the state level. Drawing from resource mobilization/political process theory, we test hypotheses regarding density of activist communities, political culture, social capital, administrative capacities, and political processes in affecting the number of protests, rallies, and demonstrations directed at state government. We find that the most important factors include the density of contentious communities of individuals (specifically university students), political culture, Democratic Party control of government, and the option to use direct legislation (a negative effect), while administrative capacity, generalized social capital, and party competition have no effects. We also find strong positive baseline effects for the population size of the state, the relative importance of the capital compared to other cities, and urbanization. We argue that these findings illustrate how aggregate levels of state-level political protest arise out of collective action processes and the mobilization of small groups, as mediated through stable cultural repertoires of political tactics and moderated by certain political opportunities and processes.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 13. 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

Histopathologic parameters as predictors of response to endoscopic sinus surgery in nonallergic patients with chronic rhinosinusitis

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the predictable value of histopathologic parameters in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) for response to endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). - - - - - STUDY DESIGN: Symptomatology was rated in 100 patients prior to as well as 12 and 24 months after surgery. Specimens taken during the procedure were examined and scored for goblet cells, subepithelial thickening, mast cells, and eosinophils. Multiple regression analysis was performed to predict the total score of subjective symptoms before treatment by histopathologic parameters. The correlation between histopathologic parameters and postoperative symptoms was then evaluated. - - - - - RESULTS: Goblet cells were the best predictor correlating with 5 symptoms. Subepithelial thickening correlated with 4 symptoms. Mast cell infiltration correlated with 3 symptoms. Eosinophilic infiltration correlated with only one symptom (P<0.05). - - - - - CONCLUSION: Certain histopathologic parameters in CRS are predictive of favorable response to ESS. - - - - - SIGNIFICANCE: Pathologic evaluation may help the ENT surgeon to predict the persistence of certain CRS symptoms after ESS, even in patients at low risk for surgical failure. - - - - - EBM rating: C-4

Art, Crime, and the Image of the City

This dissertation explores the symbolic structure of the metropolis, probing how neutral spaces may be imbued with meaning to become places, and tracing the processes through which the image of the city can come to be - and carry real consequences. The centrality of the image of the city to a broad array of urban research is established by injecting the question of image into two different research areas: crime and real estate in Washington, DC and the spatial structure of grassroots visual art production in Boston, Massachusetts. By pursuing such widely diverging areas of research, I seek to show the essential linkage between art and crime as they related to the image of the city and general urban processes of definition, distinction, and change. And yet, the research pursued here offers a mixed appraisal of strategies that pin urban prospects to image and image manipulation, from the great crime decline of the past two decades to the rise of the creative economy and application of urban branding campaigns. Across the analyses, I highlight tension between expectations of change and the essentially conservative forces of image. Far from rebranding the city, culture is shown to play a key role in locking in inequalities, undermining revitalization efforts, and generally explaining the reproduction and persistence of place over time, following the logic of the "looking glass neighborhood." Thus, culture is not nearly the tool to revalorize, relabel, and transform place so well depicted in studies nor do the buzz of cultural events shape markets and communities as effectively in "offcenter" cities. Place is not fixed for good, and can be "re-accomplished," albeit through decades-long demographic, cultural, and political processes.Sociolog

Vasoactive intestinal peptide in human nasal mucosa

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), which is present with acetylcholine in parasympathetic nerve fibers, may have important regulatory functions in mucous membranes. The potential roles for VIP in human nasal mucosa were studied using an integrated approach. The VIP content of human nasal mucosa was determined to be 2.84 +/- 0.47 pmol/g wet weight (n = 8) by RIA. VIP-immunoreactive nerve fibers were found to be most concentrated in submucosal glands adjacent to serous and mucous cells. 125I-VIP binding sites were located on submucosal glands, epithelial cells, and arterioles. In short-term explant culture, VIP stimulated lactoferrin release from serous cells but did not stimulate [3H]glucosamine-labeled respiratory glycoconjugate secretion. Methacholine was more potent than VIP, and methacholine stimulated both lactoferrin and respiratory glycoconjugate release. The addition of VIP plus methacholine to explants resulted in additive increases in lactoferrin release. Based upon the autoradiographic distribution of 125I-VIP binding sites and the effects on explants, VIP derived from parasympathetic nerve fibers may function in the regulation of serous cell secretion in human nasal mucosa. VIP may also participate in the regulation of vasomotor tone

Barriers to Asthma Treatment in the United States: Results From the Global Asthma Physician and Patient Survey

BACKGROUND: The Global Asthma Physician and Patient (GAPP) survey evaluated the perceptions of both physicians and patients on the management of asthma. Here we present the results from the United States (US) subpopulation of the GAPP survey. METHODS: The GAPP Survey was a large, global study (physicians, n = 1733; patients, n = 1726; interviews, n = 3459). In the US, 208 adults (aged ≥ 18 years) with asthma and 224 physicians were recruited. Respondents were questioned using self-administered online interviews with close-ended questionnaires. RESULTS: Physician and patient responses were found to differ in regard to perception of time spent on asthma education, awareness of disease symptoms and their severity, asthma medication side effects, and adherence to treatment and the consequence of nonadherence. Comparison of the US findings with the global GAPP survey results suggest the US physician-patient partnership compared reasonably well with the other countries in the survey. Both patients and physicians cited a need for new asthma medication. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to the global GAPP survey, the US-specific findings indicate that in general there is a lack of asthma control, poor adherence to therapy, and room for improvement in patient-physician communication and partnership in treating asthma

Thermochemical properties of different 1-(R-phenyl)-1H-imidazoles

© 2016 Elsevier B.V.Phenyl substituted imidazoles exhibit versatile biological activity. 1-(R-phenyl)-1H-imidazoles with different functional groups R provide a convenient suitcase of molecules with tunable physicochemical properties adjustable for many practical applications. In this work, the absolute vapor pressures of 1-(R-phenyl)-1H-imidazoles (with R = H, 2-methyl, 4-methyl, 2-methoxy, 4-methoxy, 2-fluoro, 4-fluoro, 2-bromo and 4-bromo) at different temperatures have been measured by the transpiration method for the first time. The standard enthalpies of vaporization of these compounds were derived from the temperature dependencies of the vapor pressures. An internal consistency of the standard vaporization enthalpies has been proven by comparison with vaporization enthalpies of parent species, as well as by a group contribution method. A system of group-additivity values is suggested for a quick assessment of vaporization enthalpies of different 1-(R-phenyl)-1H-imidazoles. Gas-phase standard molar enthalpies of formation of 1-(R-phenyl)-1H-imidazoles have been calculated using the high-level quantum-chemical method G3MP2. The combination of experimentally determined standard vaporization enthalpies with the G3MP2 results allows for the prediction of the liquid-phase standard enthalpies of formation for the studied compounds