Is Congress Now the Broken Branch?

The Broken Branch: How Congress is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track by Tom Mann and Norm Ornstein was published in 2006. To be sure, criticism of Congress is a staple of American political discourse—the content varies, but the criticism is ubiquitous. Nevertheless, the volume of criticism has ramped up in the past decade or so, and the fact that two highly respected congressional scholars, Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein—who are also Washington insiders and known to be sympathetic to Congress—have joined in the criticism needs to be taken seriously

The Size of High Schools in South Dakota as a Variable in Developmental Ability

This study attempts to show the relationship of developed ability and achievement to size of high school. The feeling that an ultimate criteria for determining optimum school size should be student achievement prompted an investigation based on the following purposes: 1) to compare the ability and developed ability of student groups from high schools differing in enrollments, using the variable size of high school; 2) to determine whether a relationship exists between first year college grade point average and size of high school; and 3) using the same variable as mentioned previously, to contrast college freshmen English grades. The student sample used for comparing ability and developed ability encompassed 5, 068 South Dakota high school seniors during the 1956-57 school year who met specified criteria. Comparison of college freshmen grade point averages and English scores included the students from this group who entered South Dakota colleges in the fall of 1957 and completed the first year of college. Conclusions of the study were: 1) ability levels of ninth grade students from different size high schools are relatively the same; 2) developed ability of twelfth grade students from different size high schools is significantly different, with a clear and significant difference favoring the larger school groups over the smaller school groups; 3) size of high school has little influence on the achievement of students during their first year of college; and 4) students from different size high schools attain relatively the same English scores during their freshmen year of college

The Ethics and Bundaries of Industry Environmental Campaigns

As scientific consensus points to an environmental crisis, many industry campaigns downplay the industry’s environmental impacts while publicizing adverse effects to the economy that may result from environmental regulations. This project identifies boundaries of responsible industry environmental in terms of the ethical criteria of visibility, veracity, and sensitivity

What are we Managing Anyway?: The Need for an Interdisciplinary Approach to Managing Fisheries Ecosystems

Fisheries managers should really be attempting to manage the fishing fleets and the processing industry, not the fish. Consequently we argue that effective management ought to take an eco-systems approach that is necessarily interdisciplinary, incorporating both natural and social sciences. We ascribe the inadequate results of existing management regimes to scientific uncertainty, political pressures, the regulations\u27 lack of legitimacy among fishers, and excessive reliance on individual fishers (rather than households and communities) as the unit of analysis. In a new interdisciplinary approach, we emphasize the contribution of social science in helping to understand what is defined as Scientific knowledge, how expert scientific and local or traditional knowledge might be integrated, and the role of science in the management process. We conclude by advocating an ecosystem management strategy of periodic (every three to five years) in-depth assessments with explicit requirements for sociological and economic input

A Case Study of the Sewer Bond Issue in Logan, Utah: 1957-1965

A single political issue, public financing of a sewage treatment facility for the city of Logan, was studied in an attempt to determine the effect of certain variables on the formation of public policy. The case study method of research was followed, and conclusions were based on data obtained through personal interviews as well as through study of public documents. Among factors which influenced the decisional process was the degree to which technological knowledge was accepted. Policies developed by the state legislature and the federal bureaucracy to deal with environmental pollution also affected the local situation. A conflict which arose over interpretation of certain of these policies was largely resolved in court

Psychometric evaluation of the SF-36 health survey in Medicare managed care

Data quality and scoring assumptions for the SF-36 Health Survey were evaluated among the elderly and disabled, using 1998 Cohort I baseline Medicare HOS data (n=177,714). Missing data rates were low, and scoring assumptions were met. Internal consistency reliability was 0.83 to 0.93 for the eight scales and 0.94 and 0.89, respectively, for the physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component summary measures. Results declined with increased risk factors (e.g., older age, more chronic conditions), but were well above accepted standards for all subgroups. These findings support using standard algorithms for scoring the SF-36 in the HOS and subgroup analyses of HOS data

Exposure of monocytes to heat shock does not increase class II expression but modulates antigen-dependent T cell responses

Expression of heat shock (HS) proteins (HSP) increases after exposure to elevated temperatures or other types of injury, such as oxldative injury. Because of their function as ‘molecular chaperones', HSP are suggested to participate in antigen processing and presentation. We have previously reported that HS modulates antigen presentation in a human EBV-transformed B cell line. Here we investigated the effects of HS on MHC class II expression and on antigen processing and presentation by human monocytes. Monocytes were isolated from peripheral blood of normal human volunteers, purified by adherence, then exposed to temperatures ranging from 37 to 45°C for 20 min, allowed to recover for 2 h at 37°C and used for immunofluorescence or as antigen presenting cells in autologous and heterologous lymphocyte proliferation assays. No increase in class II expression was detected as assessed by flow cytometry. Monocytes (3 × 104) and lymphocytes (1 × 105) were co-cultured for 5 days in the presence of several antigens [diphtheria toxold, tetanus toxold or purified peptlde derivative (PPD)] and labeled with 1 μCI [3H]thymldlne for 16 h. Pre-exposure to HS (44°C) significantly (P < 0.001) increased T cell responses to diphtheria toxold, whereas the effect on the responses to other antigens (tetanus toxold or PPD) were not significant. HS did not increase heterologous T cell responses nor T cell proliferation induced by the non-processed superantigens such as staphylococcal enterotoxln B. The effect of HS was inhibited by actlnomycln B and thus appeared dependent upon HSP synthesis. HSP-mediated increases in antigen processing may potentiate the ongoing immune response at inflammatory site

Chronic psychological stress was not ameliorated by omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)

Background: Chronic psychological stress and mental health disorders are endemic in Western culture where population dietary insufficiencies of omega-3 fatty acids (n-3FA) from seafood have been observed. Objective: This study was designed to test for a causal relationship between one of the most active components of fish oil, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and chronic psychological stress. Method: A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with parallel-assignment to two groups was designed (Trial Id: ACTRN12610000404022). The interventions were four EPA-rich fish oil capsules per day, delivering 2.2 g/d EPA (and 0.44 g/d DHA), or identical placebo (low-phenolic olive oil capsules with 5% fish oil to aid blinding). The primary outcome was the between-group difference on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) after 12 weeks supplementation. An a priori power analysis determined that group sizes of 43 would provide 80% power to detect a significant between-group difference of 12.5%, at α = 0.05. Ninety community members (64 females, 26 males) reporting chronic work stress were recruited via public advertising in northern NSW, Australia. Results: At baseline the omega-3 index (EPA + DHA as % to total fatty acids in red blood cell membranes) was 5.2% in both groups (SD = 1.6% control group; 1.8% active group). After supplementation this remained stable at 5.3% (SD = 1.6%) for the control group but increased to 8.9% (SD = 1.5%) for the active group, demonstrating successful incorporation of EPA into cells. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis found no significant between-group differences in PSS outcome scores post-intervention (b = 1.21, p = 0.30) after adjusting for sex (b = 2.36, p = 0.079), baseline PSS (b = 0.42, p = 0.001) and baseline logEPA [b = 1.41, p = 0.185; F(3, 86) = 8.47, p \u3c 0.01, n = 89, R-square = 0.243]. Discussion: Treatment increased cell membrane EPA but, contrary to the hypothesis, there was no effect on perceived stress. Limitations included an imbalance of gender in groups after randomization (68% of the males were in the placebo group). While we found no significant interaction between sex and group on the outcome after adjusting for baseline PSS, larger studies with groups stratified for gender may be required to further confirm these findings. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that 2. 2 g/day of EPA for 12 weeks did not reduce chronic psychological stress

Household wealth, neighbourhood deprivation and frailty amongst middle-aged and older adults in England: a longitudinal analysis over 15 years (2002-2017)

Background: frailty is a condition of reduced function and health due to ageing processes and is associated with a higher risk of falls, hospitalisation, disability and mortality. Objective: to determine the relationship between household wealth and neighbourhood deprivation with frailty status, independently of demographic factors, educational attainment and health behaviours. Design: population-based cohort study. Setting: communities in England. Subjects: in total 17,438 adults aged 50+ from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Methods: multilevel mixed-effects ordered logistic regression was used in this study. Frailty was measured using a frailty index. We defined small geographic areas (neighbourhoods) using English Lower layer Super Output Areas. Neighbourhood deprivation was measured by the English Index of Multiple Deprivation, grouped into quintiles. Health behaviours included in this study are smoking and frequency of alcohol consumption. Results: the proportion of respondents who were prefrail and frail were 33.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 33.0-34.6%] and 11.7 (11.1-12.2)%, respectively. Participants in the lowest wealth quintile and living in the most deprived neighbourhood quintile had 1.3 (95% CI = 1.2-1.3) and 2.2 (95% CI = 2.1-2.4) times higher odds of being prefrail and frail, respectively, than the wealthiest participants living in the least deprived neighbourhoods Living in more deprived neighbourhood and poorer wealth was associated with an increased risk of becoming frail. Those inequalities did not change over time. Conclusions: in this population-based sample, living in a deprived area or having low wealth was associated with frailty in middle-aged and older adults. This relationship was independent of the effects of individual demographic characteristics and health behaviours

Household wealth, neighbourhood deprivation and frailty amongst middle-aged and older adults in England: a longitudinal analysis over 15 years (2002-2017)

BACKGROUND: frailty is a condition of reduced function and health due to ageing processes and is associated with a higher risk of falls, hospitalisation, disability and mortality. OBJECTIVE: to determine the relationship between household wealth and neighbourhood deprivation with frailty status, independently of demographic factors, educational attainment and health behaviours. DESIGN: population-based cohort study. SETTING: communities in England. SUBJECTS: in total 17,438 adults aged 50+ from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. METHODS: multilevel mixed-effects ordered logistic regression was used in this study. Frailty was measured using a frailty index. We defined small geographic areas (neighbourhoods) using English Lower layer Super Output Areas. Neighbourhood deprivation was measured by the English Index of Multiple Deprivation, grouped into quintiles. Health behaviours included in this study are smoking and frequency of alcohol consumption. RESULTS: the proportion of respondents who were prefrail and frail were 33.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 33.0-34.6%] and 11.7 (11.1-12.2)%, respectively. Participants in the lowest wealth quintile and living in the most deprived neighbourhood quintile had 1.3 (95% CI = 1.2-1.3) and 2.2 (95% CI = 2.1-2.4) times higher odds of being prefrail and frail, respectively, than the wealthiest participants living in the least deprived neighbourhoods Living in more deprived neighbourhood and poorer wealth was associated with an increased risk of becoming frail. Those inequalities did not change over time. CONCLUSIONS: in this population-based sample, living in a deprived area or having low wealth was associated with frailty in middle-aged and older adults. This relationship was independent of the effects of individual demographic characteristics and health behaviours