Letter, Montgomery C. Meigs to Peleg Clarke Jr., November 22, 1865

This handwritten letter, dated November 22, 1865, is written from Montgomery C. Meigs to Peleg Clarke Jr. insisting that the United States Army does not owe Clarke any money for the lumber, supplies, and corn Clarke is claiming were taken by the Army due to Clarke\u27s alleged dealings with the Rebels. Meigs claims that the items were taken as prize of war after the Rebels were forced to abandon them when the Union forced them out of Fredericksburg. The letter is written on Quartermaster General\u27s Office letterhead.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/fvw-manuscripts-clarke/1053/thumbnail.jp

Letter, M. C. Meigs to R. J. Atkinson with Atkinson\u27s Response, March 12, 1863

This handwritten letter, dated May 12, 1863, is from M. C. Meigs to R. J. Atkinson requesting permission for Peleg Clarke to obtain copies of the returns of Captain Springsteed relating to Peleg\u27s property that Springsteed was in possession of. Atkinson\u27s reply on the back of the letter informs Meigs that he had already informed Clarke that he would not be able to share the returns with him and explained how and with whom to make his case.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/fvw-manuscripts-clarke/1041/thumbnail.jp

Implementation and performance of SIBYLS: a dual endstation small-angle X-ray scattering and macromolecular crystallography beamline at the Advanced Light Source.

The SIBYLS beamline (12.3.1) of the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, supported by the US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health, is optimized for both small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and macromolecular crystallography (MX), making it unique among the world's mostly SAXS or MX dedicated beamlines. Since SIBYLS was commissioned, assessments of the limitations and advantages of a combined SAXS and MX beamline have suggested new strategies for integration and optimal data collection methods and have led to additional hardware and software enhancements. Features described include a dual mode monochromator [containing both Si(111) crystals and Mo/B(4)C multilayer elements], rapid beamline optics conversion between SAXS and MX modes, active beam stabilization, sample-loading robotics, and mail-in and remote data collection. These features allow users to gain valuable insights from both dynamic solution scattering and high-resolution atomic diffraction experiments performed at a single synchrotron beamline. Key practical issues considered for data collection and analysis include radiation damage, structural ensembles, alternative conformers and flexibility. SIBYLS develops and applies efficient combined MX and SAXS methods that deliver high-impact results by providing robust cost-effective routes to connect structures to biology and by performing experiments that aid beamline designs for next generation light sources

Pretreatment, Psychological, and Behavioral Predictors of Weight Outcomes Among Lifestyle Intervention Participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)

OBJECTIVE To identify the most important pretreatment characteristics and changes in psychological and behavioral factors that predict weight outcomes in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Approximately 25% of DPP lifestyle intervention participants (n = 274) completed questionnaires to assess weight history and psychological and behavioral factors at baseline and 6 months after completion of the 16-session core curriculum. The change in variables from baseline to 6 months was assessed with t tests. Multivariate models using hierarchical logistic regression assessed the association of weight outcomes at end of study with each demographic, weight loss history, psychological, and behavioral factor. RESULTS At end of study, 40.5% had achieved the DPP 7% weight loss goal. Several baseline measures (older age, race, older age when first overweight, fewer self-implemented weight loss attempts, greater exercise self-efficacy, greater dietary restraint, fewer fat-related dietary behaviors, more sedentary activity level) were independent predictors of successful end-of-study weight loss with the DPP lifestyle program. The DPP core curriculum resulted in significant improvements in many psychological and behavioral targets. Changes in low-fat diet self-efficacy and dietary restraint skills predicted better long-term weight loss, and the association of low-fat diet self-efficacy with weight outcomes was explained by dietary behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Health care providers who translate the DPP lifestyle intervention should be aware of pretreatment characteristics that may hamper or enhance weight loss, consider prioritizing strategies to improve low-fat diet self-efficacy and dietary restraint skills, and examine whether taking these actions improves weight loss outcomes

Multilevel examination of diabetes in modernising China: what elements of urbanisation are most associated with diabetes?

Aims/hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between urbanisation-related factors and diabetes prevalence in China. Methods: Anthropometry, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and community-level data were collected for 7,741 adults (18–90 years) across 217 communities and nine provinces in the 2009 China Health and Nutrition Survey to examine diabetes (FBG ≥7.0 mmol/l or doctor diagnosis). Sex-stratified multilevel models, clustered at the community and province levels and controlling for individual-level age and household income were used to examine the association between diabetes and: (1) a multicomponent urbanisation measure reflecting overall modernisation and (2) 12 separate components of urbanisation (e.g., population density, employment, markets, infrastructure and social factors). Results: Prevalent diabetes was higher in more-urbanised (men 12%; women 9%) vs less-urbanised (men 6%; women 5%) areas. In sex-stratified multilevel models adjusting for residential community and province, age and household income, there was a twofold higher diabetes prevalence in urban vs rural areas (men OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.47, 2.78; women, OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.35, 2.79). All urbanisation components were positively associated with diabetes, with variation across components (e.g. men, economic and income diversity, OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.20, 1.66; women, transportation infrastructure, OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.06, 1.32). Community-level variation in diabetes was comparatively greater for women (intraclass correlation [ICC] 0.03–0.05) vs men (ICC ≤0.01); province-level variation was greater for men (men 0.03–0.04; women 0.02). Conclusions/interpretation: Diabetes prevention and treatment efforts are needed particularly in urbanised areas of China. Community economic factors, modern markets, communications and transportation infrastructure might present opportunities for such efforts. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00125-012-2697-8) contains peer-reviewed but unedited supplementary material, which is available to authorised users