America's Veterans: A Sound Investment

In this report, the authors argue that society should leverage the latest generation of men and women leaving the military, and the skills, expertise and experience they bring to the civilian workforce. The authors examine the employment challenges facing the nation's nearly 2.6 million post-9/11 combat veterans as they transition to civilian jobs. They note that recent veterans "have struggled with unemployment rates that exceed the national average" despite recent survey findings that showed "most managers felt that military veterans were "better" or "much better" than civilians in areas such as teamwork, reliability, openness to other cultures and races, and work ethic." General Caldwell and Major Burke knock down several stereotypes about recent veterans and offer recommendations that business and government can undertake to help veterans successfully navigate the civilian labor market

Some consequences of intense electromagnetic wave injection into space plasmas

The future possibility of actively testing the current understanding of how energetic particles may be accelerated in space or dumped from the radiation belts using intense electromagnetic energy from ground based antennas is discussed. The ground source of radiation is merely a convenience. A space station source for radiation that does not have to pass through the atmosphere and lower ionosphere, is an attractive alternative. The text is divided into two main sections addressing the possibilities of: (1) accelerating electrons to fill selected flux tubes above the Kennel-Petscheck limit for stably trapped fluxes, and (2) using an Alfven maser to cause rapid depletion of energetic protons or electrons from the radiation belts

Recent Decisions

Comments on recent decisions by William Fleming, Edward L. Burke, William J. Priebe, Anthony V. Amodio, Richard G. Dytrych, James Kalo, and John A. Pietrykowski

Mountains of Maize, Persistent Poverty

The past two years are a tribute to Zambian farmers; they have responded admirably to government efforts to promote maize production. But ironically, rural poverty remains stubbornly high despite the fact that the government has spent over 2% of the nation’s gross domestic product in supporting maize production and subsidizing inputs for farmers. Why is it that maize production has increased so impressively without making a serious dent in rural poverty? And what are the lessons for the new government?maize, poverty, Zambia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty,

The Enantioselective Construction of Tetracyclic Diterpene Skeletons with Friedel-Crafts Alkylation and Palladium-catalyzed Cycloalkenylation Reactions

Due to the profound extent to which natural products inspire medicinal chemists in drug discovery, there is demand for innovative syntheses of these often complex materials. This article describes the synthesis of tricarbocyclic natural product architectures through an extension of the enantioselective Birch-Cope sequence with intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions. Additionally, palladium-catalyzed enol silane cycloalkenylation of the tricarbocyclic structures afforded the challenging bicyclo[3.2.1]octane C/D ring system found in the gibberellins and the ent-kauranes, two natural products with diverse medicinal value. In the case of the ent-kaurane derivative, an unprecedented alkene rearrangement converted four alkene isomers to one final product

Verapamil protects against progression of experimental chronic renal failure

Verapamil protects against progression of experimental chronic renal failure. Chronic administration of verapamil (Ver) decreases nephrocalcinosis and tubular ultrastructural abnormalities in the remnant model of chronic renal disease. In the present study, the effect of chronic Ver administration on renal function, renal histology and mortality after subtotal nephrectomy was examined. Fourteen days after staged subtotal nephrectomy rats were paired according to renal functional impairment, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and body weight. Rats were pair fed and received either Ver (0.1 µg/g sc bid, N = 10) or saline (0.1ml sc bid, N = 10) for up to 23 weeks. Both members of each pair were sacrificed shortly before the uremic death of controls. At sacrifice, rats treated with Ver had a lower serum creatinine (2.29 vs. 2.99 mg/dl, P < 0.05) and a higher creatinine clearance (318 vs. 164 µl/min, P < 0.05) than controls. In a second experiment, survival was superior in rats treated with Ver than in controls from week seven (P < 0.0025 by week 14). Serum creatinine was higher at week 10 in control rats (1.68 vs. 1.10 mg/dl, P < 0.05). MAP was no different between the two groups, irrespective of the time between Ver administration and the measurement of MAP. Histological damage and nephrocalcinosis were worse, and renal and myocardial calcium content was higher in controls. In conclusion, independent of any effect on systematic MAP, chronic administration of Ver protects against renal dysfunction, histological damage, nephrocalcinosis and myocardictl calcification, and improves survival in the remnant model of chronic renal disease

An open-label trial of tomoxetine in pediatric attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To collect pilot data assessing the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of tomoxetine, a nonstimulant norepinephrine enhancer, in pediatric attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS: An open-label trial of tomoxetine in pediatric ADHD was conducted as part of a multisite clinical trial. Following a baseline assessment, an ascending dose titration was completed during 10 weekly visits. RESULTS: Ten subjects were enrolled at baseline, with eight completing the study. Seven of the eight remaining subjects met efficacy criteria. Significant decreases in symptom severity ratings by parents and study investigators were found. The medication was well tolerated, with transient appetite suppression the most frequently reported side effect. However, subjects\u27 weights remained stable across study visits. DISCUSSION: These preliminary findings suggest that tomoxetine may hold promise as a treatment for pediatric ADHD

Visualizing Kinetically Robust (Co4L6)-L-III Assemblies in Vivo: SPECT Imaging of the Encapsulated [Tc-99m]TcO4- Anion

© 2018 American Chemical Society. Noncovalent encapsulation is an attractive approach for modifying the efficacy and physiochemical properties of both therapeutic and diagnostic species. Abiotic self-assembled constructs have shown promise, yet many hurdles between in vitro and (pre)clinical studies remain, not least the challenges associated with maintaining the macromolecular, hollow structure under nonequilibrium conditions. Using a kinetically robust CoIII4L6 tetrahedron we now show the feasibility of encapsulating the most widely used precursor in clinical nuclear diagnostic imaging, the I-emitting [99mTc]TcO4- anion, under conditions compatible with in vivo administration. Subsequent single-photon emission computed tomography imaging of the caged-anion reveals a marked change in the biodistribution compared to the thyroid-accumulating free oxo-anion, thus moving clinical applications of (metallo)supramolecular species a step closer

Mechanism of Vanadium Leaching during Surface Weathering of Basic Oxygen Furnace Steel Slag Blocks: A Microfocus X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and Electron Microscopy Study

© 2017 American Chemical Society. Basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking slag is enriched in potentially toxic V which may become mobilized in high pH leachate during weathering. BOF slag was weathered under aerated and air-excluded conditions for 6 months prior to SEM/EDS and μXANES analysis to determine V host phases and speciation in both primary and secondary phases. Leached blocks show development of an altered region in which free lime and dicalcium silicate phases were absent and Ca-Si-H was precipitated (CaCO 3 was also present under aerated conditions). μXANES analyses show that V was released to solution as V(V) during dicalcium silicate dissolution and some V was incorporated into neo-formed Ca-Si-H. Higher V concentrations were observed in leachate under aerated conditions than in the air-excluded leaching experiment. Aqueous V concentrations were controlled by Ca 3 (VO 4 ) 2 solubility, which demonstrate an inverse relationship between Ca and V concentrations. Under air-excluded conditions Ca concentrations were controlled by dicalcium silicate dissolution and Ca-Si-H precipitation, leading to relatively high Ca and correspondingly low V concentrations. Formation of CaCO 3 under aerated conditions provided a sink for aqueous Ca, allowing higher V concentrations limited by kinetic dissolution rates of dicalcium silicate. Thus, V release may be slowed by the precipitation of secondary phases in the altered region, improving the prospects for slag reuse