Progress Enrolling Children in Medicaid/CHIP: Who Is Left and What Are the Prospects for Covering More Children?

Outlines the resources and tools in the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 for data-driven enrollment and retention processes in Medicaid and CHIP, remaining barriers, and the need to tailor outreach efforts to specific needs

Handling Authenticity: A Discourse Analysis of Interviews with Signs-following Preachers

The National Geographic Channel’s miniseries “Snake Salvation” resurrected a vested interest with the heavily documented practices of signs-following believers in central Appalachia. The current body of scholarship surrounding these congregations focuses mostly on oral history narratives and explanations of religious fundamentalism; a critical analysis of the discourse shared by these congregation members is noticeably absent. This thesis explores selected interviews with George Hensley, Andrew Hamblin, Jamie Coots, and Alfred Ball through the interdisciplinary application of discourse analysis paired with social disclosure theory to unveil the underlying struggles with power and personal beliefs expressed by each pastor. The research performed throughout this study spans interviews collected and published from the 1940s to 2014. Through a discourse analysis performed on these interviews coupled with support from sociological and communicative theoretical frameworks, this study looks to highlight struggles with power and authenticity present for signs-following pastors

Differential gene expression in the pregnant bovine corpus luteum during maternal recognition of pregnancy

Interferon tau (IFN-τ) is the pregnancy recognition signal secreted by the trophectodermal cells of the developing bovine embryo that prevents luteolysis and maintains critical progesterone production. Recent evidence has suggested in addition to the mechanism of action identified in the uterus, there may be a direct effect of IFN-τ on the corpus luteum (CL). The objectives of this study were to generate a gene expression profile for the CL during maternal recognition of pregnancy, identify all genes where expression is modulated, and characterize the direction and magnitude of gene expression. To accomplish this two CL were collected from each of five cows on Day 14 of the estrous cycle and pregnancy (Day 0 = onset of estrus). Affymetrix Bovine GeneChip® microarrays were used to identify genes significantly up- or down-regulated in pregnant compared to non-pregnant cows. Microarray analysis detected 29 up-regulated and 6 down-regulated genes with a ≥1.5-fold change (P <0.05). From the differentially expressed genes, four were selected for validation with real-time RT-PCR. An additional 17 genes related to prostaglandin synthesis, growth hormone, IGF-1, interferon-tau-related genes, and hormone receptors were chosen for investigation with real-time RT-PCR. Analysis of the PCR results identified four genes, three involved in prostaglandin synthesis and the gene encoding the LH receptor, whose expression was (P <0.05) down-regulated in the pregnant CL during maternal recognition of pregnancy. These results suggest that the presence of the embryo on Day 14 of pregnancy cause the CL to become less competent in intraluteal prostaglandin synthesis, thereby contributing to the extension of luteal lifespan

A simple model for the vibrational modes in honeycomb lattices

The classical lattice dynamics of honeycomb lattices is studied in the harmonic approximation. Interactions between nearest neighbors are represented by springs connecting them. A short and necessary introduction of the lattice structure is presented. The dynamical matrix of the vibrational modes is then derived, and its eigenvalue problem is solved analytically. The solution may provide deeper insight into the nature of the vibrational modes. Numerical results for the vibrational frequencies are presented. To show that how effective our method used for the case of honeycomb lattice is, we also apply it to triangular and square lattice structures. A few suggested problems are listed in the concluding section.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, submitted to American Journal of Physic

Electron-Phonon Scattering in Metallic Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Electron scattering rates in metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes are studied using an atomic force microscope as an electrical probe. From the scaling of the resistance of the same nanotube with length in the low and high bias regimes, the mean free paths for both regimes are inferred. The observed scattering rates are consistent with calculations for acoustic phonon scattering at low biases and zone boundary/optical phonon scattering at high biases.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Radial solitons in armchair carbon nanotubes

Radial solitons are investigated in armchair carbon nanotubes using a generalized Lennard-Jones potential. The radial solitons are found in terms of moving kink defects whose velocity obeys a dispersion relation. Effects of lattice discreteness on the shape of kink defects are examined by estimating the Peierls stress. Results suggest that the typical size for an unpinned kink phase is of the order of a lattice spacing.Comment: 11 pages, 3(eps) figure

Theory of superconductivity of carbon nanotubes and graphene

We present a new mechanism of carbon nanotube superconductivity that originates from edge states which are specific to graphene. Using on-site and boundary deformation potentials which do not cause bulk superconductivity, we obtain an appreciable transition temperature for the edge state. As a consequence, a metallic zigzag carbon nanotube having open boundaries can be regarded as a natural superconductor/normal metal/superconductor junction system, in which superconducting states are developed locally at both ends of the nanotube and a normal metal exists in the middle. In this case, a signal of the edge state superconductivity appears as the Josephson current which is sensitive to the length of a nanotube and the position of the Fermi energy. Such a dependence distinguishs edge state superconductivity from bulk superconductivity.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Low recurrence rate after surgery for dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans

BACKGROUND Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare sarcoma with a propensity for local recurrence. Treatments with wide excision, Mohs surgery, and other approaches have been reported with widely variable local control rates. The objective of this study was to review the experience with a multidisciplinary approach employing wide excision and Mohs surgery selectively in the treatment of patients with DFSP at a single academic institution over the past 10 years. METHODS The records of 62 patients with 63 DFSP tumors who underwent wide excision, Mohs surgery, or a multidisciplinary combination approach from January 1991 to December 2000 were reviewed retrospectively. Primary endpoints included the ability to extirpate the DFSP lesion completely, the tumor recurrence rate, and the need for skin grafts or local tissue flaps. Additional objectives included defining surgical practice patterns at the authors' institution. RESULTS Sixty-three DFSP lesions were removed from 62 patients. At a median follow-up of 4.4 years, no local or distant recurrences were detected in any patient. Forty-three lesions were treated with wide local excision, 11 lesions were treated with Mohs surgery, and 9 lesions were treated with a combination approach. Ninety-five percent of lesions that were approached initially with wide local excision were cleared histologically. Two patients (5%) received postoperative radiation for positive margins after undergoing maximal excision. Eighty-five percent of lesions that were approached initially with Mohs surgery were cleared histologically. The remaining 15% of lesions subsequently were cleared surgically with a wide excision. DFSP lesions that were approached initially with Mohs surgery tended to be smaller. Patients with head and neck lesions most often underwent Mohs surgery or were treated with a multidisciplinary combination approach (87%). CONCLUSIONS Wide local excision with careful pathologic analysis of margins was found to have a very low recurrence rate and was used for the majority of patients with DFSP lesions at the authors' institution. Wide local excision, Mohs surgery, and a multidisciplinary combination approach, selected based on both tumor and patient factors, were capable of achieving very high local control rates in the treatment of DFSP. The evolution of a multidisciplinary approach has provided a level of expertise that no single individual could achieve for the treatment of the full spectrum of DFSP lesions at the authors' institution. Cancer 2004;100:1008–16. © 2004 American Cancer Society.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34385/1/20051_ftp.pd

Phonon and plasmon excitation in inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of graphite

The inelastic electron tunneling spectrum (IETS)of highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG) has been measured with scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) at 6K. The observed spectral features are in very good agreement with the vibrational density of states (vDOS) of graphite calculated from first principles. We discuss the enhancement of certain phonon modes by phonon-assisted tunneling in STS based on the restrictions imposed by the electronic structure of graphite. We also demonstrate for the first time the local excitation of surface-plasmons in IETS which are detected at an energy of 40 meV.Comment: PRB rapid communication, submitte