Forty years on

Motivated by the fact that 2013–2014 sees the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Office of Technology Assessment at the US Congress, this paper looks at what has come to be called Parliamentary Technology Assessment (PTA). It reviews some examples of proto-technology assessments with parliamentary links, going back 150 years, before examining some of the successes of contemporary PTA as well as some of the challenges that continue to face it. It concludes with several personal recommendations about how PTA might evolve in the coming years.Amb motiu de la celebració del quarantè aniversari de la creació de l'Oficina d'Assessorament en Tecnologia del Congrés dels Estats Units, aquest article examina què és l'assessorament científic i tecnològic als parlaments (PTA). Primer fa una revisió d'exemples de protoassessorament parlamentari que es remunten cent cinquanta anys enrere i, a continuació, examina alguns dels èxits de l'actual PTA, així com alguns dels desafiaments que continua afrontant. L'article conclou amb diverses recomanacions sobre cap a on convindria que evolucionés el PTA els propers anys

Medicaid Spending Growth Over the Last Decade and the Great Recession, 2000-2009

Analyzes Medicaid enrollment and per-capita spending growth by service and compared with other areas of the healthcare system. Examines contributing factors, potential program cuts as a result of states' budget woes, and implications for the safety net

Esther\u27s Rise

Two of the most important parts of my life are my faith and my love of writing music. To conclude my time in Nebraska, I wanted to combine these two facets of my life to create something inspiring and beautiful. To that end, I composed “Esther’s Rise,” a six-movement work that programmatically retells the book of Esther from the Old Testament. To further enhance the story, I commissioned Vera Eva, an international freelance artist, to create a collection of eighteen digital illustrations that help audiences imagine the story unfold. Furthermore, I also paraphrased the biblical text to accompany the illustrations as subtitles. My goal was to create something that audiences could read, watch, and listen to throughout the performance. Each of the six movements are scored for instruments that I believed would best tell the story. Movements one, three, five, and six are scored for a large chamber orchestra, movement two is scored for a chamber orchestra with electronics, and movement four is scored for a small chamber group featuring two vocalists. As a whole, “Esther’s Rise” is connected by four primary themes: the banquet theme, Esther’s theme, Haman’s theme, and the Courage theme. The first four movements each focus on one theme, while movement five, “The Banquet,” combines all four themes. Finally, movement six, entitled “Rise,” focuses on Esther’s theme to finish the story. The story of Esther, regardless of one’s religious affiliations, is a powerful and relevant tale that covers themes of adversity, discrimination, courage, and faith. My hope is that my composition reveals Esther’s incredible story to any audience member. Advisor: Tom Larso

Dual Eligibles: Medicaid Enrollment and Spending for Medicare Beneficiaries in 2007

Provides an update on the share of total Medicaid enrollment and spending on those eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid through 2007, state-by-state estimates of Medicaid enrollment and expenditures for dual eligibles, and a breakdown of expenditures

The Role of Transport in Supporting a Healthy Future for Young People

The Health Foundation commissioned Sustrans and the University of the West of England to ‘assess the role of transport in supporting young people to develop and transition to an independent healthy future’. This report focuses on the transport available to young people and how it’s functioning can shape the long-term health of young people today.The report makes seven policy and research recommendations based on the review of existing literature and analysis of how transport can affect young people’s development and future prospects

Wind Ensemble and Concert Band

Kennesaw State University School of Music presents: Wind Ensemble and Concert Band.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1574/thumbnail.jp

Metal vapor vacuum arc switching

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 1984.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE.Vita.Bibliography: leaves 225-230.by David Banks Cope.Ph.D

mGluR control of interneuron output regulates feedforward tonic GABAA inhibition in the visual thalamus

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) play a crucial role in regulation of phasic inhibition within the visual thalamus. Here we demonstrate that mGluR-dependent modulation of interneuron GABA release results in dynamic changes in extrasynaptic GABAA receptor (eGABAAR)-dependent tonic inhibition in thalamocortical (TC) neurons of the rat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN). Application of the group I selective mGluR agonist dihydroxyphenylglycine produces a concentration-dependent enhancement of both IPSC frequency and tonic GABAA current (IGABAtonic) that is due to activation of both mGluR1a and mGluR5 subtypes. In contrast, group II/III mGluR activation decreases both IPSC frequency and IGABAtonic amplitude. Using knock-out mice, we show that the mGluR-dependent modulation of IGABAtonic is dependent upon expression of δ-subunit containing eGABAARs. Furthermore, unlike the dLGN, no mGluR-dependent modulation of IGABAtonic is present in TC neurons of the somatosensory ventrobasal thalamus, which lacks GABAergic interneurons. In the dLGN, enhancement of IPSC frequency and IGABAtonic by group I mGluRs is not action potential dependent, being insensitive to TTX, but is abolished by the L-type Ca2+ channel blocker nimodipine. These results indicate selective mGluR-dependent modulation of dendrodendritic GABA release from F2-type terminals on interneuron dendrites and demonstrate for the first time the presence of eGABAARs on TC neuron dendritic elements that participate in “triadic” circuitry within the dLGN. These findings present a plausible novel mechanism for visual contrast gain at the thalamic level and shed new light upon the potential role of glial ensheathment of synaptic triads within the dLGN.peer-reviewe