A History of radical political movements in Kansas

Perhaps no state has had, in such a short period of its history, a more colorful series of radical political movements and personalities than Kansas. A number of writers, each taking a single movement, have written in this field. This writer has attempted, as his contribution, to bring these movements up to date, therefore, this is a survey of the major radical movements in Kansas and especially of that movement which brought into political prominence Dr. John R. Brinkley. What were the causes and results of these movements? Were they brought about by agitators or was agitation a result of political and economic conditions

Role of science and judgment in setting national ambient air quality standards: how low is low enough?

The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires listing as criteria air pollutants those pollutants that arise from multiple sources and are found across the United States. The original list included carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, particulate matter, photochemical oxidants (later regulated as ozone), and hydrocarbons. Later, the listing of hydrocarbons was revoked and lead was listed. The CAA requires the EPA Administrator to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for these pollutants using the “latest scientific knowledge” at levels that, in the judgment of the Administrator, are “requisite to protect public health” while “allowing an adequate margin of safety” without considering the cost of implementing the NAAQS. The NAAQS are set using scientific knowledge to inform the Administrator’s policy judgments on each NAAQS. Recently, there has been increasing tension and debate over the role of scientific knowledge versus policy judgment in the setting of NAAQS. This paper reviews key elements of this debate drawing on the opinion of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, in Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, to resolve the conundrum posed by the CAA language. I conclude that scientists should carefully distinguish between their interpretations of scientific knowledge on specific pollutants and their personal preferences as to a given policy outcome (i.e., specific level and form of the NAAQS), recognizing that these are policy judgments as to acceptable levels of risk if the science does not identify a threshold level below which there are no identifiable health risks. These policy judgments are exclusively delegated by the CAA to the EPA Administrator who needs to articulate the basis for their policy judgments on the level and form of the NAAQS and associated level of acceptable risk

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Graft and Recipient Survival in Elderly Kidney Transplant Recipients

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134926/1/jgs13845_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134926/2/jgs13845.pd

Factors affecting willingness to receive a kidney transplant among minority patients at an urban safety-net hospital: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract Background In the US, African Americans (AAs) are four times more likely to develop end stage renal disease (ESRD) but half as likely to receive a kidney transplant as whites. Patient interest in kidney transplantation is a fundamental step in the kidney transplant referral process. Our aim was to determine the factors associated with the willingness to receive a kidney transplant among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in a predominantly minority population. Methods CKD patients from an outpatient nephrology clinic at a safety-net hospital (n = 213) participated in a cross-sectional survey from April to June, 2013 to examine the factors associated with willingness to receive a kidney transplant among a predominantly minority population. The study questionnaire was developed from previously published literature. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with willingness to undergo a kidney transplant. Results Respondents were primarily AAs (91.0 %), mostly female (57.6 %) and middle aged (51.6 %). Overall, 53.9 % of participants were willing to undergo a kidney transplant. Willingness to undergo a kidney transplant was associated with a positive perception towards living kidney donation (OR 7.31, 95 % CI: 1.31–40.88), willingness to attend a class about kidney transplant (OR = 7.15, CI: 1.76–29.05), perception that a kidney transplant will improve quality of life compared to dialysis (OR = 5.40, 95 % CI: 1.97–14.81), and obtaining information on kidney transplant from other sources vs. participant’s physician (OR =3.30, 95 % CI: 1.13–9.67), when compared with their reference groups. Conclusion It is essential that the quality of life benefits of kidney transplantation be known to individuals with CKD to increase their willingness to undergo kidney transplantation. Availability of multiple sources of information and classes on kidney transplantation may also contribute to willingness to undergo kidney transplantation, especially among AAs.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116033/1/12882_2015_Article_186.pd

Shadowing in the nuclear photoabsorption above the resonance region

A model based on the hadronic fluctuations of the real photon is developed to describe the total photonucleon and photonuclear cross sections in the energy region above the nucleon resonances. The hadronic spectral function of the photon is derived including the finite width of vector-meson resonances and the quark-antiquark continuum. The shadowing effect is evaluated considering the effective interaction of the hadronic component with the bound nucleons within a Glauber-Gribov multiple scattering theory. The low energy onset of the shadowing effect is interpreted as a possible signature of a modification of the hadronic spectral function in the nuclear medium. A decrease of the $\rho$-meson mass in nuclei is suggested for a better explanation of the experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure